“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2)

Download this episode (right click and save)

राज-विद्या राज-गुह्यं
पवित्रम् इदम् उत्तमम्
प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं
सु-सुखं कर्तुम् अव्ययम्

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ
su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

1. Sleeping on a precisely configured mattress

“Are we really any better than the animals? Just hear me out. Take the example of the dogs living on the streets. They don’t have an owner. They are alive, somehow. Go figure. No planning commission. No government office from which to collect a living wage. No elaborate system of charity.

“The dogs sleep on the ground. They manage. We human beings go to great lengths to find exactly the right fit for a mattress. One person prefers firm, while another likes plush. I like the traditional coil system, while memory foam seems to be taking over in market share.

“At the end of the day, we are all sleeping. Once asleep, we lose track of where we are. I swear to you, one of the greatest memories I have of sleeping is this one time when the electricity went out for hours. It was in a tropical area, with mosquitoes everywhere and blistering heat. I fell asleep on a mattress that might as well have been a wooden board. I had to put on the blanket to keep the bugs from biting, but even in those conditions my sleep was terrific.”

2. Going on dates

“People might get upset by me saying this, but how is the whole dating system any different from prostitution? You are paying money. You are trying to create a specific experience. The end-goal is the same. You usually are not looking for anything meaningful.

“Moreover, how is it any different than what the animals experience? They get along with their business and then move on. They take what they need and then renounce; no attachment. They don’t care at all about feelings. Human beings are following the same path, if you ask me. In the absence of marriage, the lifestyles are basically identical.”

3. Building a nuclear weapons arsenal

“When I was growing up, the big thing in the news was the nuclear arms race. Which country would stay in the lead? Who would have more ICBMs and other such weapons that could travel across oceans and cause immense destruction? Since the countries were competing in this area, a term commonly used was ‘mutually assured destruction.’

“That is to say, there was no real winning in this war. One side could annihilate the other at any moment. This is like the animals, but only worse. The animals will use their own weapons to defend against attackers, but they don’t create elaborate schemes. They are not looking to be better at defense than their neighbor. There is no such thing as bragging rights.”

4. Travelling far and wide to satisfy the taste buds

“Dogs are fine rummaging through the garbage. They will accept whatever is left over. They don’t mind. They are not embarrassed to eat what others don’t want. It is only food, after all.

“Meanwhile, we human beings have to travel far and wide to get the exact taste hankered for at the moment. And what is the purpose? Will we be any happier? Actually, the next time we reach for the same indulgence, the experience better be exactly to our liking. Otherwise, we will be upset.”

5. Paying no attention to time on the macro level

“The animals don’t have to think about the future. They don’t know how old they are or how many years are remaining in that specific life experience. You could say they are lucky in that way.

“It seems human beings are trying to reach the same level of ignorance. It is not easy to do, considering the visual evidence surrounding us. Premature departure. The loss of loved ones. Aging. Disease. The best way to forget is intoxicants. A heavy indulgence, no less, to make sure that there is no cognizance of time.”

…

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada gives the blunt assessment. He shoots straight. No need to mince words, as the automatically generated dramatic effect is necessary. It is a wakeup call to reassess and realign priorities. It is a call to action, to be aware of the dwindling time remaining.

The basis for the judgment is simple. Interest. What is the purpose to action? What is the underlying goal of activity? What are the long-term hopes and expectations? To which destination is the individual or community trying to reach?

The basis of the interest is the bodily concept of life. The comparison to animalistic life only makes sense. The four basic activities are eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. These are based on the body, identifying with the temporary covering that does not truly represent the individual.

Human civilization begins with knowledge of the soul. This is the individual. Spirit is distinct from matter. The living force has consciousness. Matter does not. The rock cannot do anything on its own. A higher force must act upon it. The superior energy can manipulate the rock. The rock cannot do anything to spirit.

नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।
न चैनं क्ल‍ेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥

nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi
nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ
na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo
na śoṣayati mārutaḥ

“The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.23)

Interests should then align with this discovery. If I am spirit soul, I should do what will benefit spirit. I have the connection to matter. There is no denying the reality. The distinction is that the association does not have to stay.

It gets broken at the time of death. It gets created again at the time of birth. There are changes along the way. I was living in completely different circumstances ten years ago, for instance. I saw a certain set of people on a daily basis. I was working towards specific goals. I enjoyed in a certain way.

Today, everything has changed. Those people are not in my life anymore. They have been replaced by others. It is like I am an actor working on a different film. There is a new cast and a new stage. There might be a shift in the sequence of events, as well. Whereas before I was approaching the final act, right now I am only at the beginning.

If the human society follows the path of the animals, there is no hope for a better life. There are only temporary gains and setbacks. One day someone is at the top of the animal-like kingdom, and tomorrow they have fallen way back to the bottom.

Without identifying the soul and its properties, there is no system of knowledge that lifts up the human condition. There is a reason the knowledge is referred to as raja-vidya in Sanskrit. It is the king of education.

न रूपम् अस्येह तथोपलभ्यते
नान्तो न चादिर् न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा
अश्वत्थम् एनं सु-विरूढ-मूलम्
असङ्ग-शस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा
ततः पदं तत् परिमार्गितव्यं
यस्मिन् गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः
तम् एव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये
यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी

na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate
nānto na cādir na ca sampratiṣṭhā
aśvattham enaṁ su-virūḍha-mūlam
asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā
tataḥ padaṁ tat parimārgitavyaṁ
yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ
tam eva cādyaṁ puruṣaṁ prapadye
yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī

“The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. So doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.3-4)

That education has a purpose. There is an accompanying culture. The knowledge is not limited to questions on an examination or certificate credentialing from a respected institution. The knowledge is for the living being, in the auspicious human form of body, to reach the highest destination possible. That place from which once going, one never has to return.

In Closing:

Not for sleep caring,
Only how survival faring.

Indulge and then immediately cast aside,
With temporary interest only to reside.

Animals time this way spending,
Human life towards that side trending.

Raja-vidya for education true,
For travel highest destination to.

Categories: the five

Tags: god, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, prabhupada