Without Early Rising There Is No Taste (Ruchi)

Transcript

2:42Chanting the holy name: practical points

Dear ones, Hare Krishna! Today, dear Vaishnavas, I wanted to speak on a very important topic—chanting the holy name of the Lord, our practice—and, with your blessings, to discuss some practical points. If you don’t mind. Thank you very much.

3:39An extremely important topic

I find this topic extremely important. I myself am a small, struggling sadhaka: I struggle with the mind, with the senses, that is, with maya. The soul lives in the body conditioned above all by the modes of ignorance and passion. And to be born in the age of Kali means to be a great sinner. It means that practicing spiritual sadhana naturally is very hard. Very hard. Mandah sumanda-matayo, as it says at the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam: the sages of Naimisharanya describe this age as terrible. A terrible age in every respect.

4:34There are many texts that glorify the holy name of God. …Na shaknoti patakam pataki narah: a sinful person is unable to commit as many sins as the holy name of Krishna, uttered even once, frees him from. Nama chintamanih krishnash chaitanya-rasa-vigrahah: Krishna and His holy name are one Absolute Truth; there is no difference between them. The transcendental level means the level beyond the influence of prakriti, and prakriti acts through the modes.

5:38Prakriti is maya-shakti, the energy of the Lord whose duty is to deceive the tatastha-shakti, the living beings. The modes are meant to deceive and, through that deception, to bind—nibadhnanti. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna says that the modes bind the living being.

6:11The modes are very strong: they are a divine energy

The modes are very strong because they are a divine energy. Krishna says:

7:11Intelligent people worship Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Intelligent people, feeling how the modes of material nature tear them apart, will worship the Lord—so the Bhagavatam says. And now we speak in the present tense: intelligent people worship Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, which comes to us above all from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Not so much from the Kali-santarana Upanishad as precisely by the mercy of Gaurasundara. Every day we chant this mantra—the names of Hari, Krishna and Rama.

7:24If the holy name, uttered even once, can free us from more sins than we are even capable of committing, then why is it that, chanting about twenty-eight thousand holy names every day—that is sixteen rounds, our standard—we do not feel freed from anarthas? We do not feel free from the mind, from the senses. And joy does not come.

8:32This is said in the future tense: when will such a moment come? And it doesn’t come, or if it does, then very rarely. So today I have prepared a list of practical points without which it is impossible to progress in chanting the holy name, and that means in spiritual life as a whole. The first rule. What do you think it is? Hare Krishna, Prabhu.

9:34Right now we are speaking not about people in general but about a devotee who is serious about spiritual life and wants to experience its sweetness. He wants to perform his bhajana, his worship, not merely on the platform of faith, shraddha, but on the platform of ruchi, taste.

10:21Ruchi moves the body of an advanced devotee

Once the stage of nishtha, firm faith in Krishna, has been passed, ruchi moves the body of an advanced devotee. But to experience ruchi, one has to work hard: stop identifying with the body and conquer one’s anarthas. And if a person—a devotee, a bhakta-sadhaka—has not learned to get up between three and four in the morning, precisely in this window… Not necessarily earlier and not necessarily later. Although some advanced sadhus may get up even at two. But one should distinguish advanced sadhus from those who imagine themselves to be such—those are two very different things. We are now speaking about sincere devotees adorned with simplicity, who humbly try to please Guru, Krishna and the Vaishnavas, who humbly try to render their service to nama-rupa-bhagavan—Krishna incarnate in the holy name, manifest through the holy name.

11:31The holy name is the object of our service

The holy name is the object of our service. The holy name is the vishaya, and the devotees are the ashraya: the ashraya renders service, and the vishaya enjoys the service. The holy name, being chintamani, a conscious living being, the Supreme living being, accepts our service. An entire puja is spoiled if a person comes to it without washing after using the toilet: in doing so he commits a huge seva-aparadha, an offense in worship. In the same way, by not performing certain preliminary actions, a person deprives himself of opportunities—he blocks his own access to the holy name. It is impossible to wake up late and feel taste, sweetness, real steadiness.

12:30You can get up at five, at six, even at seven in the morning. And to a greater or lesser extent we will have a certain good mood karmically, because spiritual practice will bear fruit anyway. Even if a person goes to the Deities without washing and commits a seva-aparadha, there will still be fruit. Namaparadha-yuktanam namany eva haranty agham: even if a person chants the holy name with nama-aparadhas, it will still work, say the scriptures.

13:26Nothing but the holy name purifies a person

Because nothing but the holy name purifies a person. Life circumstances vary. But we must strive in every way to rise early, and this is rule number one. If we cannot solve this issue, our practice is not worth a penny: it will be completely nullified, because we will block our access to sattva-guna, which is the platform for spiritual life.

13:58At the very beginning of the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that sattva is superior to rajas and tamas. We cannot despise sattva as something material, since we ourselves are under the sway of matter in the form of rajas and tamas. When steady devotional service is established in a person…

14:44One comes to firm nishtha, to a very steady practice, through nityam bhagavata-sevaya—regular, constant service to Bhagavan and to the bhagavata. Bhagavan is the Lord; the bhagavata is the devotee of the Lord, and also this book, the Bhagavatam, puranarko ’dhunoditah, which shines like the sun in the age of Kali. One comes to nishtha by following all the rules and regulations of spiritual life. And when a person has become established in his bhajana, in his sadhana, then rajas and tamas, in the form of lust, anger, greed, envy and other worthless qualities, literally let go of the soul. And the soul gains the ability simply to breathe.

16:00One gripped by lust cannot practice

Because if a person is gripped by lust, he cannot practice properly. If a person is gripped by anger and resentment, he cannot practice. If a person is gripped by greed, passion, sensual pleasure, he cannot practice properly. There will be an appearance of practice, but not a heartfelt involvement in spiritual life, and it will not be ruchi. Our task is, at any cost, to become established not merely in nishtha, firm faith in Krishna, but to have a steady taste. That is at least the minimum task.

16:33No one says that in this life we can attain bhava, for bhava is moksha-laghuta-krit sudurlabha. One who has attained bhava simply laughs at liberation. But bhava is sudurlabha—very hard to obtain, says Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu. Therefore we must, at any cost, develop ruchi, which is followed by asakti, strong attachment to the Lord.

17:28Resolutely giving up the desire to enjoy

For this we must resolutely give up all desires to enjoy in this world and rush toward the holy name, which is the Lord Himself. But all of this will remain theory if a person has not learned simple, elementary things.

17:48There is no talk of goodness if one gets up late

It is impossible to speak of goodness if a person gets up late. This is an unambiguous, absolutely direct, categorical conclusion. There is a verse in the Bhagavad-gita where Krishna says that what is day for the sage is night for the ordinary person, and vice versa. It also has a literal meaning. Srila Prabhupada sometimes explained it this way: when the materialists sleep, the devotees are literally awake.

18:20Therefore we must learn. We must learn at any cost. No one who comes to an ashram and moves into a temple is asked, “Can you get up for mangala-arati or not?” He is obliged, as a matter of course, to be at every mangala-arati. If a resident of the ashram cannot do this, he is disqualified from ashram life. This means that everyone is capable of it; people just find reasons.

19:00The brahma-muhurta is a very important time

19:04Rajas and tamas drag us into the abyss of material activity. The brahma-muhurta is a very important time. Of course, a devotee gets up early in the morning not to watch movies or scroll through the feed on his smartphone. He gets up to perform nama-seva—service to the holy name. Are there any questions about this?

19:28QuestionHow can one give up the desire to enjoy, if that desire is natural to the soul?

19:48How to give up the desire to enjoy? Right now we are talking about rising early. If a person regularly gets up around four in the morning, he is able to change himself. If he doesn’t, he is not able to change himself. And everything happens gradually: shanaih shanaih, Krishna says—gradually, step by step. Any more questions about rising early?

20:09QuestionI asked some devotees how long it took them to get up early consistently. Some say eight years, some say five. I have never heard of anyone, even living in a brahmachari ashram, learning to get up early within a month and then doing so steadily ever after—specifically around three or four. How long does it take to learn to get up between three and four?

20:55You can start tomorrow. There is no problem with it. All the talk about eight, ten, twenty, three years, whatever—it all comes from the mind. There is nothing difficult here at all. Life simply doesn’t force us, and we live in a relaxed mode. If there are chronic illnesses or difficulties—one of our respected prabhus, for example, has a very serious illness—then completely different rules apply. But ordinary people who are more or less healthy can do it the very next day.

21:50Talk of “owls” and “larks” comes from the mind

All the talk about “night owls” and “early birds” is just empty chatter. It all comes from the mind. My experience is different. The people who came to the nama-hatta in Troieshchyna—that was in 2008, 2009, 2010, and I was saying the same things back then—had a problem with rising early then, and they have it now. Years have passed, and nothing has changed at all. A person somehow hangs around the devotees, because devotees are simply decent people. Where else will you find people like that? All kinds turn up among them too, but as a community there is nothing better. So he hangs around: who else would he go to? Especially as the years go by. What, go to a restaurant? Drinking whiskey is boring. Or devouring meat. Some, of course, sink to that level, but on the whole we just stay near the devotees like this. Friends of Krishna, so to speak—and no taste.

22:44We call this kirtaniyah sada harih: a person is constantly with his bead bag and drags out his sixteen rounds over the whole day. Yes, we need to become one who is kirtaniyah sada harih—we will talk about that later. Any more questions about rising early?

23:06QuestionFor example, today the nama-hatta goes on late, and you get home late. How do you get up early then?

23:28You simply have to get up, and then it will somehow come.

23:48Krishna will arrange everything—He is Bhagavan

I guarantee you: Krishna will arrange everything. He is Bhagavan. If we do this as an offering to Him—yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat—if we do everything to please Krishna, Krishna will help. Dadami buddhi-yogam tam: Krishna will give intelligence.

24:00An Ayurvedic rule

There is an Ayurvedic rule. If, for example, a person regularly goes to bed at ten and gets up at four, but one day goes to bed at twelve, that is, two hours later, then from the point of view of Ayurveda—I am speaking now not of the bhakti-shastras but of Ayurveda—he is prescribed to get up one hour later. If he went to bed two hours later, he should get up one hour later, not two. And in this way he will more or less stay in his established rhythm. It is purely a matter of habit. I am not saying that if a person wakes up one day at five or even six, that’s it, he is already under the influence of Satan. No. But there is the rule, and there is the exception. If we are talking about the rule—a spiritual rule, a rule of spiritual life—we need to take it as our standard.

24:56And I can even give this recommendation: we should come close to a standard of half past three. Four is already a little late. Just try it, believe me, dear devotees. All that sweetness that comes at a festival, in the dhama, when we go on pilgrimage, comes not because something extraordinary happens there. It is just the mood. We tune in to the festival: “Now I’ll be a real devotee for a week.” And we don’t get enough sleep there, but we get up early in the morning: well, everyone has gone to mangala-arati, am I going to be the odd one out? And we intensify our devotional service, we serve a lot, and we already feel: oh, something is changing! And then—bang, and it’s all forgotten.

26:01So the question is what standard we choose for ourselves. We must sincerely pray to Krishna, and He will help in every matter. Yoga-kshemam vahamy aham: He will certainly help His sincere devotee. He will give intelligence: “Krishna, please give me understanding.” He will give what is lacking and preserve what we have. We simply need to sincerely follow mahajano yena gatah sa panthah—to follow in the footsteps of the great mahajanas. Srila Prabhupada never made allowances: even if devotees went to bed at twelve or one, he would scold them afterward for not coming to mangala-arati. Someone will say, “Aha, how can that be?” That’s how. Prabhupada is a guru, and guru means “heavy.” And he knows: if you give an indulgence here, everything will be destroyed.

26:59No indulgences in the first rule of spiritual life

Therefore there must be no indulgences in this very first rule of spiritual life. Any more questions?

QuestionWhat about going back to sleep after four? I got up, chanted my sixteen rounds, and then slept for another hour?

27:06Going back to sleep is fine, but preferably not for an hour. And not for two hours. Preferably 10–15 minutes. Then get up, then another 10–15 minutes—an hour later, two or three hours later. It is better like this. And then a person will be protected from tamas and rajas—above all from tamas.

27:40Sleep goes hand in hand with inattention and dullness

For sleep always goes hand in hand with pramada and alasya, that is, with laziness and inattention, with this kind of dullness. Excuse the expression, but sleep is always the brother of these things. That is why daytime sleep is not recommended. Although, again, Srila Prabhupada did sleep during the day—an hour, an hour and a half—but at night Prabhupada slept two hours. We don’t take Prabhupada as our model in this matter at all, because Prabhupada is an absolutely phenomenal personality. He gave us a standard, and we must follow that standard.

28:13Taking a nap during the day—Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did that too: after kirtan He would lie down and rest for a while. But you simply experiment: sleep for an hour, fifteen minutes, twice for fifteen, four times for fifteen, once for ten. Just experiment. There is life, and we should use it like human beings and feel what changes. Just feel what changes. It is very simple, I think. Anything else, devotees?

28:55QuestionWhy is it necessary to get up at exactly this time?

Because that is how the world is arranged, how the muhurtas are arranged, how the subtle energies are arranged: half past three is the most auspicious time. That is why it is called the brahma-muhurta: brahma means “spiritual.” How many muhurtas are there in all? Twenty-eight? Well, something like that, right? Forty-eight minutes each. No, wait: twenty-four hours divided by forty-eight minutes—how much is that? Does anyone know? Well, all right, never mind.

29:37The day is divided into muhurtas, into periods of forty-eight minutes. And each muhurta has its own deity: each period of time has a presiding deity. And in each period we should engage in a particular activity. During the day we should work, not chant japa. In the morning we should chant japa, not sleep. In the evening we should go to bed, not get stuck on the internet. In fact, what are our problems with getting up usually connected with? With the fact that we don’t know how to organize our evening.

30:21Please analyze your life. There are all kinds of circumstances now. We live in wartime: shelling, terrible things happening. You didn’t sleep half the night—fine, no problem, you can sleep. If a person gets up at four in the morning five days a week and does otherwise two days a week, that won’t contaminate him much: he has the habit of getting up at four. But if he lives differently seven days a week, or even five days a week, that is not good. Then he has no habit, and he must develop it. Any more questions?

31:04QuestionTo sleep for fifteen minutes, should one set an alarm?

Yes, to sleep for fifteen minutes. Try it, just try it. I think the alarm works differently for different people, but in general it is a universal thing. Everyone has had this experience: you are dropping off your feet, your eyes are closing, but you sleep just a little—and you’re refreshed, practically instantly.

31:40Sleep is a need of the intelligence

Because, according to the Third Canto of the Bhagavatam, sleep is a need of the intelligence, not even of the physical body. Svapa is one of the functions of buddhi, the intelligence. Anything else?

31:47QuestionThere are different schools of psychology, and some say that rigid attachment to time is bad for the psyche: the past is gone, the future hasn’t come, only the present matters. Maybe it is psychologically healthier not to be attached to a schedule?

32:32Whoever is happy is right—that is the principle by which we judge. Srila Prabhupada established principles, and we take his bliss and happiness as our guide. Srila Prabhupada received this from his predecessor teachers. These are universal laws. We have our own experience of dealing with this world, and we are not forbidden to rely on our own experience.

33:07No one can take away our freedom of choice

Lord Krishna gives us freedom of choice. No one can take away our freedom of choice: we act as we wish. Right now we are setting out principles that we have received through the parampara—not through some sensory experience, but through the parampara. Hare Krishna. Anything else?

33:17QuestionIn today’s reality there are, for example, long air-raid alerts, and until half past three you don’t sleep, you wait. Then there is no way to get enough sleep. What should one do in such a situation?

33:38Let me stress it once again: if there are unforeseen circumstances—illness, air-raid alerts, war—that is an exception. If a person stayed awake right up to half past three, then everything is already thrown off, completely. Up to half past three—I understand, but that is an exception. It is an exception.

34:25We act according to circumstances and pray to Krishna

We act according to circumstances and pray to Krishna: “Krishna, give me understanding.” Dadami buddhi-yogam tam. But you know, on Ekadashi, according to the injunctions of Hari-bhakti-vilasa, one was supposed not only to fast without water but to stay awake all night, and then, after breaking the fast, also not sleep the whole day and go to bed only in the evening. Hare Krishna.

34:43I am not calling for that—not at all, dear devotees, I want to stress this. By the way, thank you for raising this question. I am by no means calling on anyone to go without enough sleep.

35:07Chronic sleep deprivation leads to mental illness

No, because chronic lack of sleep leads to mental illness. That is a fact, it is simply statistics. Unless, of course, you are Srila Prabhupada or someone of his caliber—there completely different laws are at work.

35:35Rise early and still get enough sleep

I am not calling on anyone to go short of sleep. I am calling on you to learn to get up early and still sleep enough. For Krishna says that one who does not sleep enough cannot practice meditation, yoga—he will not become a yogi. Therefore we need to organize our evening and organize our morning. There will certainly be an element of austerity: in the morning you will have to force yourself. That is a fact; that is how it is for me. I don’t know, maybe some of you wake up on your own. Who was that falling over? Ah, our prabhu has woken up. Hare Krishna!

36:10QuestionWhoever goes to bed earlier gets up earlier?

Absolutely right—in order to get enough sleep. Correct. It is all very simple: we just have to learn to go to bed earlier. Our life has become so habitual: “It’s impossible, it’s impossible, it’s impossible to go to bed early.” Well, then there will be no holy name. That’s it. We have to understand at least this. We simply have to humbly agree: then there will be no holy name. Accept it, because that is the law. If “that’s it, it’s impossible,” then know: that’s it, I won’t be able to progress. Therefore, dear devotees, we must get up early in the morning. Definitely, simply definitely.

37:13We underestimate Krishna’s abilities. He is capable of anything; it is no trouble at all for Him to organize our life. He will look at our sincerity. Sincerity shows in our efforts aimed at pleasing Guru and Krishna, at carrying out their instructions. That will be our sincerity—how we try. And not like this: “I did it any old way—oh well.”

37:55Give advice to a fool, and he will take offense

If you give advice to a fool, he will take offense and get angry. Srila Prabhupada said, “If you want to test a fool, give him good advice: he will be offended.” Did anyone just get offended about rising early? Hare Krishna. Well, again, if, for example, a person is at war, sitting in the trenches, completely different rules apply there. We are not talking about such cases now, devotees. We are talking about the ordinary life of an ordinary materialist, which is what we are: a grihamedhi, with a wife, children, a house, a car. And somehow all of this has to be integrated here—ecstasy, the transcendental.

38:42QuestionWhat if only the husband has managed to get himself up for mangala-arati, while his wife and children still want to sleep in—won’t the family lose goodness? Or does everyone need to get up? After all, the husband should be the spiritual leader of the family. He manages to get up, but his wife is still lazy and the children are still small.

39:03The husband manages, but the wife is lazy. Well, fine. Is this a normal situation, is it forgivable? Forgivable—to whom? To the holy name? No, wait. There is me and Krishna. What do my wife, children and all the other living beings of this universe have to do with it? There is me and Krishna—and that’s it. Everything else is my service to Krishna. I am the good one, of course. And who is the wife? She is the object of our service. The wife is the object of our service. Therefore, if the lady wants to sleep, you should let her sleep. Will that answer do?

40:08It is not a matter of educating anyone. People will be the way they are anyway: wives, husbands, children. We open the scripture and read: prarabdha-karma works very precisely. Can I really influence anyone? I myself can’t learn to get up early in the morning—what do my wife or children have to do with it? How can I change another person if I can’t change myself?

41:06Only by changing yourself can you influence others

Only if a person has managed to change himself, to receive the mercy of the Lord, can he then influence others—and again, influence them by grace. Achar-prachar: inspiring others with your radiance, with your enthusiasm. This is very important. Anything else about getting up?

41:11QuestionWhat if the body won’t get up? Even if it gets up, it crawls to the alarm clock, switches it off and crawls back into its burrow. Not regularly, but from time to time.

41:33Well, from time to time is fine. We have already discussed this question, and I think it should be clear, devotees. If something happens irregularly—we get sick, we grow old, we die… Once you’ve died, that’s it, you don’t have to get up. But in the next life, be so kind. Please understand: there is regular practice, and there are exceptions within this rule, within this practice. Illness comes—of course, when a person is ill, he needs to sleep a bit more. That is natural. But we are simply disorganized, and ignorance prevents us from organizing our bedtime.

42:17We have to honestly admit this to ourselves: until I sort out this area of my life, nothing will change. Admit it to yourself honestly and accept it. And if it’s “no, for me it will be different”—fine, no questions. Any more questions, devotees? Arguments? And I still have eleven points here.

43:22QuestionJanmashtami is coming soon. What should I do if it’s hard to stay awake until midnight: wait or go to bed?

44:05Of course one needs to get enough sleep. But you can go to bed. Should one perform austerity? Austerity should be performed—divine austerity, tapo divyam. With fanaticism? Yes, with fanaticism, but in goodness. The main thing is that the fanaticism be in goodness. Twelve o’clock, a quarter past twelve—that is pure goodness: the Lord was born at midnight. It is grace.

44:25Everyone has their own conscience, their own relationship with Krishna. There are different options. You can go to bed at nine in the evening on Janmashtami and remain a pure devotee. And you can eat on Ekadashi and remain a pure devotee. Anything at all. Everyone has a conscience, a relationship with Krishna, and each has their own body. And Krishna expects sincere effort from us. Krishna expects austerity from us: tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam shuddhyet.

45:06QuestionCan it be a criterion that, while performing austerity, I start getting irritated and angry and think, “Why do I need all this?” Are there any criteria at all when performing austerity—for example, if you start getting irritated?

45:28Naturally, during austerity both irritation and anger will come. So should one stop? It doesn’t follow. Sometimes one should, sometimes not. Is that tama-guna? Well, yes, austerity in tama-guna. Look, we have two options. We are in tama-guna to begin with, and we can perform austerity in tama-guna, or we can not perform austerity in tama-guna. It is very simple.

46:10But we are not in goodness, if we are honest. Everyone has their own relationship with Krishna. We must try to please Krishna. There must be fanaticism—in goodness. Therefore we need to regularly go and bow down before devotees who have advanced in this direction and say: “For the last ten Janmashtamis, the last ten years, I barely manage to stay up until midnight, and then for a week I am completely off balance. What should I do?” Receive concrete, individual, personal instructions and directions—and follow them. But who goes and asks? Who goes and asks—that is the question.

47:11No one goes and asks. That is the problem. It is like trying to cure yourself without a doctor when the illness is serious and requires professional treatment: not just a diet invented for yourself, not just pills invented for yourself, without knowing medical science. How can one be cured without a doctor? The answer is obvious: in no way. Therefore we must go—tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya—ask questions, serve and humble ourselves. But that is hard, because there is too much pride. And that is our failure.

48:05Can one conquer oneself with so much pride?

Is it possible to conquer oneself, to surpass oneself, when there is so much pride? Impossible. So one has to simply drag out a material existence, this material life. How many incarnations already, my God! Do you think this is the first such disorganized life? Not the first and not the last, unfortunately. How many lives already—bahunam janmanam, very many lives. And nothing changes, because there is no qualification, no adhikara.

48:56In fact, association with sadhus is one of the points we will discuss. Consult them. If you are not receiving instructions, consult a sadhu on questions of the holy name. You need to find at least one sadhu on the whole planet whom I can inquire from, whom I can ask specific questions about the practice of the holy name, about my everyday life in the context of the practice of the holy name. Do you understand this phrase? About my everyday life in the context of the practice of developing a relationship with Krishna. Find at least one sadhu. “But there are no sadhus nearby. They died out along with the dinosaurs. They remain only on the pages of the Bhagavatam and the Chaitanya-charitamrita: there were sadhus back then, but now what?”

50:06These are very serious things, very serious. There is no point in simply dragging out this miserable material existence, this miserable material life—simply tastelessness. The human form of life: two arms, two legs, a human head, a human brain—and a person simply drags out a material existence.

50:56You do not deserve to enjoy what dogs and hogs, eaters of stool, enjoy: above all sex and all the other material pleasures. That is what an animal enjoys. Tapo divyam: human life—two ears, a nose, two nostrils, lotus lips, a head with a human brain—is given in order to perform divine austerity, divya-tapas, which can give us brahma-saukhyam, that is, spiritual happiness, not the material happiness that arises from the contact of the senses with their objects.

51:39The senses simply come into contact with objects: the ears hear beautiful music, the eyes see beautiful things. This is rajas, enjoyment in rajas—Krishna speaks about this. But alas, alas, alas, I don’t understand these things.

52:15The body is given for tapasya and spiritual happiness

The human body is given in order to perform tapasya and, by means of this tapasya, to attain spiritual happiness—brahma-saukhyam, brahma-nirvana, as Krishna says, spiritual bliss. Hare Krishna. Any more questions, devotees? That’s all? Then we will continue next time. Please come. Hare Krishna!