Transcendental Pills - Part 10

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

This is in continuation of the topic, "Transcendental Pills" which is transcription of Bhagavatam class given by our beloved spiritual master HH Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj. In the previous offering we heard from Maharaj about the various kinds of fears as mentioned in the below shloka from Vairāgya shatakam. Now we shall hear further.

bhoge roga-bhayaṁ kule cyuti-bhayaṁ vitte nṛpālād-bhayaṁ
māne dainya-bhayaṁ bale ripu-bhayaṁ rūpe jarāyā bhayam
śāstre vādi-bhayaṁ guṇe khala-bhayaṁ kāye kṛtāntād-bhayaṁ
sarvaṁ vastu bhayānvitaṁ bhuvi nṛṇāṁ vairāgyam-evābhayam

Very beautiful verse. First fear is bhoge roga-bhayaṁ - bhog means sense gratification. Excessive sense gratification will give you diseased body. This is the greatest fear. If you watch too much TV, then you eyes are going to be bad. If you perform any sense gratificatory activity, you will be completely diseased. We have experience of this. So we have to reduce this sense gratification and that is known as tapa - austerity. If you don't perform tapa, austere life, then you fall down - patha. Either you perform tapa or you patha - That means you fall down. Otherwise you cannot survive. You cannot survive without austerity - tapa. Tapa is voluntary austerity accepted to realise the soul and the Super-soul. That is tapa and bhoga comes in the way. It is an impediment in our realisation. Whatever excessive sense gratification we do will completely mar your body. Please try to avoid this. There is a regulated freedom for enjoyment and we have to follow the rules and regulations in order to enjoy also materially. Otherwise bhoge roga-bhayaṁ. 

There is very nice verse - bhogāna bhuktā - vayam eva bhuktā. Bhogāna bhuktā means "I am not enjoying". Vayam eva bhuktā means that we think that we are enjoying. But, no. We are not the enjoyer. You know camel eats the thorny plants in the desert and the thorns cut his tongue and the blood comes. He thinks that the tree is beautiful and this is nice blood. He is tasting his own blood and he is thinking that the blood is coming from the trees. This is how you are. You enjoy and think that this is the best enjoyment. But you are killing yourself. And the time comes, when his tongue becomes completely sour and that he can't eat the leaves any more. That is bhoge roga-bhayaṁ. 

Krishna willing we shall hear more nectar from Maharaj in the subsequent offering.

Hare Krishna. 

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Sudarshana devi dasi.