Chapter 2: The Cause of Misery

Just as Mahiṣāsura was expert in all subject matters of opulence, good birth, followers, wealth, austerities, intelligence and knowledge, so in the same way his modern day descendents (our present civilisation) are in possession of much authority over such subject matters. Their austerities, intelligence, knowledge and power to invent means and ways to enjoy the material nature is very great. Performing scientific research, they misuse much of their intelligence, austerities, wealth and followers and as a result of that they create misery in the name of happiness. This is certainly the power of the throwing energy of māyā and the venomous hiss of the snake of time. Due to all of these demoniac activities great evil is brought about in this world. All those scientists who are bewildered by the energy of māyā perform great sinful activities. As a result of those activities these scientists remain completely bewildered for a long time. In that bewildered condition they are unable to surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The fifteenth verse of the seventh chapter of Bhagavad-gītā [7.15] explains as follows:

"Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me." In what way are people in general endowed with demoniac mentality? This is analized in the sixteenth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā verse 7-20 as follows:

"Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them. They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control. It is produced of sex desire, and has no cause other than lust. Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world. The demoniac, taking shelter of insatiable lust, pride and false prestige, and being thus illusioned, are always sworn to unclean work, attracted by the impermanent. They believe that to gratify the senses unto the end of life is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus there is no end to their anxiety. Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, by lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification. The demoniac person thinks: "So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have killed him; and my other enemy will also be killed. I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer, I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice." In this way, such persons are deluded by ignorance. Thus perplexed by various anxieties and bound by a network of illusions, one becomes too strongly attached to sense enjoyment and falls down into hell. Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, they sometimes perform sacrifices in name only without following any rules or regulations. Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demon becomes envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in his own body and in the bodies of others, and blasphemes against the real religion. Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life. Attaining repeated birth amongst the species of demoniac life, such persons can never approach Me. Gradually they sink down to the most abominable type of existence."

The demoniac condition is vividly described in these above mentioned ślokas from the Bhagavad-gītā. In this world there are two types of living entities. One type of living being is the devatā or the godly person and contrary to this type of living entity is the asura or demon. In ancient times there were one or two demons such as Rāvaṇa who after having stolen Sītā from Lord Rāmacandra was demolished by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Rāmacandra, who had accepted the dress of a sannāysī.

Sītā is an incarnation of Lakṣmī. Riches come from Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, and the goddess of fortune is the wife of Nārāyaṇa or Śrī Rāmacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The goddess of fortune cannot stay anywhere but by the side of Nārāyaṇa. She cannot be peaceful unless she is in the company of her husband, Nārāyaṇa. For example, Lakṣmī was carried away by the materialistic Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa kidnapped Sītā, the goddess of fortune belonging to Rāma. As a result, Rāvaṇa's entire family, opulence and kingdom were smashed, and Sītā, the goddess of fortune, was recovered from his clutches and reunited with Lord Rāma. Thus all property, riches and wealth belong to Kṛṣṇa. Nowadays, all the demoniac descendents of Rāvaṇa, having multiplied by hundreds of millions, have employed rivalry and competition in the matter of stealing away Sītā, or the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As a result of competition and rivalry diverse ideals have appeared amongst the demons and have made all of them mutual enemies. All the demons are thinking "Having performed some deception or by playing a trick I will thoroughly enjoy Sītā (or fortune)" but as a result of this type of mentality all of them are being destroyed along with their families like Rāvaṇa was previously. In this world many, many powerful demons such as Hitler, etc. were born but being allured by the desire to enjoy Sītā or Lakṣmī, all of them in the past were destroyed, are being destroyed and will be destroyed in the future. This inclination for unlawful enjoyment, in other words the inclination to enjoy the property of God separate from the interests of the Lord is the primary reason for the statement "in the dispensation of providence mankind cannot have any rest."

Just as it is necessary to medically cure a diseased person so in the same way one should deliberate upon and understand what is material inclination and what is renunciation. Therefore the disease of materialistic sense gratification incited by the Rāvaṇa of modern day demoniac mankind should be stopped. The effort or attempt to change mankind's materialistic tendencies towards sense gratification is imperative. Just as it is necessary to treat a diseased person so mankind's inate purity and good character should be noted and observed. In that way the demoniac mentality and nature should be transformed or changed, and purity good character and truthfulness should be established in human society. In human society there are those people who are pure and clean and those people who are accustomed to being filthy. There are the well-behaved persons and persons who perform wicked acts. There are also those who are lovers of truth and justice as well as tose who are devoted to lying, cheating and stealing. If one throws them all together thinking they are all the same or are all one and thus deluding the people by saying yata mata tata patha (whatever opinion one may have such is the path one should follow), then the cure to materialistic disease will never be possible.

[RTW 1.2]