“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

Someone is trying to help. They mean well. They have the best intentions, in fact. They are not looking to provide a temporary thrill. They are not looking to alleviate the pain resulting from a specific loss, to hold a person over until enough time has passed that they forget about the incident. They are not trying to look good, to show how smart they are, or to make fun of others. They want the best for me, you, and everyone else, in fact. They have support for their recommendations, and we might be surprised to learn that there is a scientific basis for the support.

In the following hypothetical situation, you are a father to a young child. The child is reaching that age where they start to ask questions. About what, exactly? Try, everything! They want to know how the car works. They want to know why the car needs a tank full of gasoline. They want to compare life today to when you were a child. They want to know if you ever had trouble falling asleep, since the smartphone was nearby. You have to carefully explain that life was much different back then. The household had only one television. It was not until your teenage years that you owned a portable music player. People tended to appreciate everything they had.

One issue that repeats itself, causing you great distress, where you cannot find the proper resolution, is the child insisting on certain experiences that you know to be harmful. How do you know, for certain? Well, from experience, of course. You went through the same things. You had the same curiosity. You were just as annoying, in constantly pestering your parents to give permission. You lived through the whole ordeal. You remember it to this day. You want your child to avoid the same, since you know the experience is not worthwhile.

The problem is that they keep insisting. What to do? Should you let them go ahead, venture into unknown territory, and see for themselves? You try this a few times. You are just waiting for them to regret the experience. And wouldn’t you know it, that is exactly what happens. Inevitably, the child asks the question. They want to know how you knew. Did you have a crystal ball to show the future? Are you a psychic? Can you read the stars to predict the outcome to events?

As His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains, with material life everything has already been experimented. There is documented history to serve as the formal presentation for the results of a scientific experiment. Every person has come. They arrived through birth. Every person has subsequently left. They departed through death. The same will take place for those living beings who are vibrant today. Shri Krishna revealed the truth of the matter thousands of years ago.

देहिनो ऽस्मिन् यथा देहे
कौमारं यौवनं जरा
तथा देहान्तर-प्राप्तिर्
धीरस् तत्र न मुह्यति

dehino ‘smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.13)

For someone to still indulge, to attempt to turn the temporary into something permanent, to extract enjoyment out of the lifeless, is a waste of time. Prahlada Maharaja refers to it as “chewing the chewed.” The taste has already been extracted. The experience is over. Nevertheless, due to the influence of illusion we think that we can find something from the old experience. We can taste something new, when the reality is that the taste is gone. There is nothing left.

The critic will argue that this is true of everything in life. What need is there to point any of this out? Why are the spiritual leaders of the Vaishnava tradition painting so pessimistic an outlook? What other option do people have? There is another option, in fact. Genuine spiritual life. Real religion. A path that aligns with dharma, which is the inherent characteristic of the individual.

This path is not like chewing the chewed. This is because the beneficiary of the work in this path is nava-yauvanam. He is always fresh and new. His appearance resembles that of a youth recently entering the teenage years. There is no old age. There is no diminishing ability. That ability was never acquired in the first place. The Sanskrit words of anadi and ananta explain that this person has no limits to their ability. They are always in the topmost position. They have been that way since the beginning of time. That stature will continue to last, into the infinite future.

विषया विनिवर्तन्ते
निराहारस्य देहिनः
रस-वर्जं रसो ऽप्य् अस्य
परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते

viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ‘py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.59)

Rather than continue to chew the chewed, I should aim for a higher taste. Once that is found, the previous experiences will be set aside. There is no need to maintain a watchful eye, either. There is practical realization, vijnana, of the distinction. In other words, I can no longer tolerate the inferior. I am in the superior occupation, which has also been experimented by individuals of the highest character, such as Janaka, Bhishma, Shiva, and Prahlada. There is no turning back.

स्वयम्भूर् नारदः शम्भुः
कुमारः कपिलो मनुः
प्रह्लादो जनको भीष्मो
बलिर् वैयासकिर् वयम्
द्वादशैते विजानीमो
धर्मं भागवतं भटाः
गुह्यं विशुद्धं दुर्बोधं
यं ज्ञात्वामृतम् अश्नुते

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
balir vaiyāsakir vayam
dvādaśaite vijānīmo
dharmaṁ bhāgavataṁ bhaṭāḥ
guhyaṁ viśuddhaṁ durbodhaṁ
yaṁ jñātvāmṛtam aśnute

“Lord Brahma, Bhagavan Narada, Lord Shiva, the four Kumaras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahuti], Svayambhuva Manu, Prahlada Maharaja, Janaka Maharaja, Grandfather Bhishma, Bali Maharaja, Shukadeva Gosvami and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhagavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 6.3.20-21)

In Closing:

Already experimented true,
By mahajanas who.

That found the highest taste,
No more in temporary to waste.

Where chewed already for,
To extract nothing more.

Only the crazy to align,
In hope of something to find.

Categories: stories

Tags: dailyprompt, god, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, religion