For some reason I woke up this morning thinking about this very important verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam;
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.
I was trying to recall the two occupational paths; the path of sense enjoyment, and the path of renunciation, and the sanskrit words for them. I remembered that the verse and purport was in the first canto, chapter two, so I looked it up and there was the two words my mind was searching for;
“The Vedas prescribe two different types of occupation for the human being. One is called the pravṛtti-mārga, or the path of sense enjoyment, and the other is called the nivṛtti-mārga, or the path of renunciation.”
Both good words for your vaisnava vocabulary. But anyway, as I was searching this verse, I realized just how important this particular verse was. Srila Prabhupada lectured on this verse 13 times. And in one Lecture given by His Divine Grace in Montreal, August 3rd, 1968, Srila Prabhupada begins by saying…
“The real aim of life is how to get satisfaction, full, complete satisfaction. And that satisfaction, complete satisfaction, can be achieved only by prosecution of devotional service. There is no other method. If you want to be happy, free from all cares and anxieties, then you have to engage yourself in devotional servece of the Lord. That will make you free from all material miseries. We are all seeking after that position, how to become completely happy. Our whole struggle for existence…Anyone, in any place, any country, they are all struggling how to become happy. This happiness of the mind, atma, is only possible when we are engaged in Krsna consciousness. That is the only remedy. There is no other alternative.” (Srimad Bhagavatam Lecture Aug. 3, 1968)
I guess this was what I needed to hear this morning before leaving for work.
Full text and purport More
