A Regurgitation Of The Past

“Prahlada Maharaja replied: Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krishna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.30)

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श्रीप्रह्राद उवाच
मतिर्न कृष्णे परत: स्वतो वा
मिथोऽभिपद्येत गृहव्रतानाम्
अदान्तगोभिर्विशतां तमिस्रं
पुन: पुनश्चर्वितचर्वणानाम्

śrī-prahrāda uvāca
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām

“For some reason, in this particular lifetime, from my experience, it feels like they never leave us alone. I am not entirely sure who ‘they’ is, but you could say it is the collective. Like a wave that gathers momentum, increasing in size, at some point everyone else has to go along. Better to roll with the tide than to fight it. Those things which we become accustomed to eventually get cast aside, along the way.

“I will give you an example. When I was a child, no one I knew had a personal computer. It was a relatively new invention. We did have something called the typewriter. I remember using it. I believe that was the machine we used in the formal training for touch typing, in the high school class. Today, we are so accustomed to pressing a touch screen that it feels strange when I have to sign my name using a pen. We were forced to change our ways. There was no way to push back against the innovation.

“But the train keeps rolling. The latest thing is ‘generative AI’. I must admit to being a little baffled at this one. It almost seems like stealing. Instead of running an internet search yourself and copying and pasting the relevant portions you want to use for your project, you simply have a chatbot take care of things. I am not entirely against the process, but there is something that rubs me wrong about the whole thing.

“I could not put my finger on it until I heard something amazing from a prominent actress. Her time in the spotlight was almost forty years ago, but she is still out in public, bless her heart. She recently described generative AI as a ‘regurgitation of the past.’ She was essentially incredulous at the widespread adoption, for the feverish pursuit to replace the creativity and ingenuity of the human brain. We had always relied on that creativity. There was no reason to suppress it or to look for shortcuts. That is, of course, until now.

“This got me to thinking. Could not the same accusation be lobbed at societies which give so much attention to ancient books? For instance, the Vedas and Vedic literature in general. Bhagavad-gita was spoken some five thousand years ago. Ramayana is much older than that, and the Puranas supposedly have no known date of origin.

“Yet, people are still writing commentaries. They are still contemplating events which took place so long ago. They are meditating on images from ages past that hardly anyone would believe as factual today. No one has seen a person with a shyama complexion, for instance. A monkey carrying a mountain in his hand? An elephant god? You see what I am saying, right? Are we not regurgitating the past with our reliance in Vedic culture?”

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are taking place all the time, all across the many universes. He uses the example of the clock and the positioning of the sun. It might be morning in my part of the world, but somewhere else it is night. If we were to choose a specific time in the day, there is always some place where the sun is in the corresponding position.

The Sanskrit term is “nitya-lila”. The pastimes are eternal. Krishna is not fixed to a certain time and place. He is purna, or complete. He is a timeless figure. Discussions about Him inherit the same properties. Since time is always moving forward, the glories of the Supreme Lord continue to increase. This explains the voluminous nature to Vedic literature. It is never isolated to a single book or single period of time. The culture associated with that literature is capable of delivering mankind, within any era. Though Krishna may have appeared in this world at a certain point in time, He was equally available to people prior to that. This is why genuine religion is known as sanatana-dharma. There is no beginning and there is no end. The life of associating with Krishna is like having access to an ever-expanding reservoir of nectar.

Only in material life do we continue to regurgitate that which we have already covered. Prahlada Maharaja refers to this as “chewing the chewed”. We are trying to extract a taste out of something that we have long since left behind. There are diminishing returns. There is barely anything remaining, but in our foolishness we give it another try.

On the other side, the person in devotional service can continue to innovate. They do not create new conclusions. They do not make up stories. Rather, while maintaining fidelity to the original teachings they find new ways to glorify. They offer fresh insights into the merciful nature of the Almighty, who is always wishing us well. This glorification is blissful throughout, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita.

मच्-चित्ता मद्-गत-प्राणा
बोधयन्तः परस्परम्
कथयन्तश् च मां नित्यं
तुष्यन्ति च रमन्ति च

mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā
bodhayantaḥ parasparam
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ
tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca

“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are surrendered to Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.9)

In Closing:

Future vibrant and bright,
With constant vision to delight.

An understanding fresh and new,
While fidelity to tradition too.

Like ever-expanding nectar’s lake,
Dip at any time can take.

Vedic culture generously bringing,
Endless glories of Almighty singing.