Canto 1: Creation Chapter 2: Divinity and Divine Service

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.8

dharmah svanusthitah puḿsāḿ
visvaksena-kathāsu yah
notpādayed yadi ratiḿ
śrama eva hi kevalam
SYNONYMS
dharmah — occupation; svanusthitah — executed in terms of one's own position; pu
ḿsām — of humankind; visvaksena — the Personality of Godhead (plenary portion);
kathāsu — in the message of; yah — what is; na — not; utpādayet — does produce;
yadi — if; ratim — attraction; śramah — useless labor; eva — only; hi — certainl
y; kevalam — entirely.
TRANSLATION
The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are onl
y so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the
Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
There are different occupational activities in terms of man's different concepti
ons of life. To the gross materialist who cannot see anything beyond the gross m
aterial body, there is nothing beyond the senses. Therefore his occupational act
ivities are limited to concentrated and extended selfishness. Concentrated selfi
shness centers around the personal body — this is generally seen amongst the low
er animals. Extended selfishness is manifested in human society and centers arou
nd the family, society, community, nation and world with a view to gross bodily
comfort. Above these gross materialists are the mental speculators who hover alo
ft in the mental spheres, and their occupational duties involve making poetry an
d philosophy or propagating some ism with the same aim of selfishness limited to
the body and the mind. But above the body and mind is the dormant spirit soul w
hose absence from the body makes the whole range of bodily and mental selfishnes
s completely null and void. But less intelligent people have no information of t
he needs of the spirit soul.
Because foolish people have no information of the soul and how it is beyond the
purview of the body and mind, they are not satisfied in the performance of their
occupational duties. The question of the satisfaction of the self is raised her
ein. The self is beyond the gross body and subtle mind. He is the potent active
principle of the body and mind. Without knowing the need of the dormant soul, on
e cannot be happy simply with emolument of the body and mind. The body and the m
ind are but superfluous outer coverings of the spirit soul. The spirit soul's ne
eds must be fulfilled. Simply by cleansing the cage of the bird, one does not sa
tisfy the bird. One must actually know the needs of the bird himself.
The need of the spirit soul is that he wants to get out of the limited sphere of
material bondage and fulfill his desire for complete freedom. He wants to get o
ut of the covered walls of the greater universe. He wants to see the free light
and the spirit. That complete freedom is achieved when he meets the complete spi
rit, the Personality of Godhead. There is a dormant affection for God within eve
ryone; spiritual existence is manifested through the gross body and mind in the
form of perverted affection for gross and subtle matter. Therefore we have to en
gage ourselves in occupational engagements that will evoke our divine consciousn
ess. This is possible only by hearing and chanting the divine activities of the
Supreme Lord, and any occupational activity which does not help one to achieve a
ttachment for hearing and chanting the transcendental message of Godhead is said
herein to be simply a waste of time. This is because other occupational duties
(whatever ism they may belong to) cannot give liberation to the soul. Even the a
ctivities of the salvationists are considered to be useless because of their fai
lure to pick up the fountainhead of all liberties. The gross materialist can pra
ctically see that his material gain is limited only to time and space, either in
this world or in the other. Even if he goes up to the Svargaloka, he will find
no permanent abode for his hankering soul. The hankering soul must be satisfied
by the perfect scientific process of perfect devotional service.
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Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the Int
ernational Society for Krishna Consciousness
The completely bewildered material civilization is wrongly directed towards the
fulfillment of desires in sense gratification. In such civilization, in all sphe
res of life, the ultimate end is sense gratification. In politics, social servic
e, altruism, philanthropy and ultimately in religion or even in salvation, the v
ery same tint of sense gratification is ever-increasingly predominant. In the po
litical field the leaders of men fight with one another to fulfill their persona
l sense gratification. The voters adore the so-called leaders only when they pro
mise sense gratification. As soon as the voters are dissatisfied in their own se
nse satisfaction, they dethrone the leaders, The leaders must always disappoint
the voters by not satisfying their senses. The same is applicable in all other f
ields; no one is serious about the problems of life. Even those who are on the p
ath of salvation desire to become one with the Absolute Truth and desire to comm
it spiritual suicide for sense gratification. But the Bhāgavatam says that one s
hould not live for sense gratification. One should satisfy the senses only insom
uch as required for self-preservation, and not for sense gratification. Because
the body is made of senses, which also require a certain amount of satisfaction,
there are regulative directions for satisfaction of such senses. But the senses
are not meant for unrestricted enjoyment. For example, marriage or the combinat
ion of a man with a woman is necessary for progeny, but it is not meant for sens
e enjoyment. In the absence of voluntary restraint, there is propaganda for fami
ly planning, but foolish men do not know that family planning is automatically e
xecuted as soon as there is search after the Absolute Truth. Seekers of the Abso
lute Truth are never allured by unnecessary engagements in sense gratification b
ecause the serious students seeking the Absolute Truth are always overwhelmed wi
th the work of researching the Truth. In every sphere of life, therefore, the ul
timate end must be seeking after the Absolute Truth, and that sort of engagement
will make one happy because he will be less engaged in varieties of sense grati
fication. And what that Absolute Truth is is explained as follows.
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As it is explained in the first śloka of the First Chapter of the Bhāgavatam, th
e Supreme Truth is self-sufficient, cognizant and free from the illusion of rela
tivity. In the relative world the knower is different from the known, but in the
Absolute Truth both the knower and the known are one and the same thing. In the
relative world the knower is the living spirit or superior energy, whereas the
known is inert matter or inferior energy. Therefore, there is a duality of infer
ior and superior energy, whereas in the absolute realm both the knower and the k
nown are of the same superior energy. There are three kinds of energies of the s
upreme energetic. There is no difference between the energy and energetic, but t
here is a difference of quality of energies. The absolute realm and the living e
ntities are of the same superior energy, but the material world is inferior ener
gy. The living being in contact with the inferior energy is illusioned, thinking
he belongs to the inferior energy. Therefore there is the sense of relativity i
n the material world. In the Absolute there is no such sense of difference betwe
en the knower and the known, and therefore everything there is absolute.