There are two paths. Adopting the path that leads to your eternal welfare is known as śreyaḥ and adopting the path by which you can obtain pleasure of the senses is known as preyaḥ. Although something may be pleasing to the material senses, the consequences will be detrimental. If, however, you take to the path of śreyaḥ, at first it will be like poison because you have to restrict and withdraw your senses. You have to be regulated. You cannot do whatever you like. It seems like poison at first, but the fruit, the ultimate result, is ambrosia. This is not worldly ambrosia, but the ambrosia of eternal welfare. You can obtain the Supreme Lord, Who is All-Bliss. If you adopt the path of pleasure of the senses, it will seem like ambrosia at first, but the consequences will be like poison—venomous poison. Therefore, which path should you take?

Ninety-nine percent of all people are running after sensuous, apparent enjoyment. They are not thinking about the consequences. They cannot perform worship of God. But those who take to the path of śreyaḥ, those who perform penance, austerity and the like, withdraw the senses from the objects of the senses and worship God. At first it may seem like poison because you are restricted from searching for pleasure and from doing whatever you like, according to your own sweet will. No! This sort of activity is spoiled but, if you can tolerate this, ultimately you will obtain eternal bliss. The candidates for this will be very few. As previously stated, ninety-nine percent of all people are running after sensuous, apparent pleasure. There may be one person, only one person out of a thousand people, who is interested in the path of śreyaḥ.

Now, in this age, we have to take a vote between śreyaḥ and preyaḥ mārga, the path of obtaining one’s eternal welfare and the path of obtaining apparent pleasures. If you want the vote of the general masses, then you will be defeated by advocating the path of śreyaḥ. Perhaps ten or twelve persons will vote for śreyaḥ but several crores (tens of millions) will vote against it. If this were to be decided by the popular vote of the masses, then the preyaḥ path, that which is pleasing, would win.

It is said in Kaṭhopaniṣad:

śreyaś ca preyaś ca manuṣyam etas
tau saṁparītya vivinakti dhīrāḥ
śreyo hi dhīro ‘bhipreyaso vṛṇīte
preyo mando yogakṣemān vṛṇīte
(Kaṭhopaniṣad 2.2)

Kaṭhopaniṣad says there are two paths. One is the path for gaining one’s eternal welfare and the other is the path for obtaining the apparent pleasures of the senses. Human beings may be divided into two categories. There are persons who adopt the path of eternal welfare, and there are persons who adopt the path of obtaining apparent sense pleasure. But those who are wise, who have depth of heart, know that, if you adopt the path of pleasure, you will become entangled in this world of temporary things. You will be in bondage. If, however, you adopt the śreyaḥ path, then you will get absolute bliss. Who can understand this? Only a wise person can—one who is actually wise, not so-called wise. Such a person can differentiate between śreyaḥ and preyaḥ. Thus, he gives up the path of pleasure and adopts the path of eternal welfare.

The path of pleasure is called “yogakṣema”. This means that you give your full energy to gain objects of enjoyment, so that you can experience sense gratification. In this way, all of your energy is spent in the pursuit of the acquisition of money and objects of enjoyment. After attaining all these things, you attempt to retain them. After earning money, all of your energy is spent in trying to preserve it. Those who have chosen the path of sense gratification are behaving like this. Our Parampūjyapāda Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svāmī Mahārāja calls such a person “fool number one”.

Another verse tells us what we should do for our eternal welfare:

labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte
mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvan
niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 11.9.29)

This verse from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the statement of an anchorite, an avadhūta. Here, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is relating to Uddhava the story of an avadhūta who once gave advice to Mahārāja Yadu. This human birth is extremely difficult to get. Durlabham means “difficult to get”. Su-durlabham means “extremely difficult to get”—almost unobtainable. One may get this precious human birth, which is very difficult to obtain, after numerous births (bahu-sambhavānte). Specifically, we come to this human birth after 80 lakhs (8,000,000) of births in various species. In the scriptures, it is said:

jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi
sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati
kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyakāḥ
pakṣiṇāṁ daśa-lakṣaṇam
triṁśal-lakṣāṇi paśavaḥ
catur-lakṣāṇi mānuṣāḥ
(Padma Purāṇa)

You must take birth as an aquatic animal: fish, crocodile, shark, whale, etc. How many times? Nine lakhs (900,000). Those who eat a fish will be killed as a fish two times. You will find many people catching fish and killing them. We also, at some time, have been caught and devoured by them. So much suffering is there! Big fish in the sea eat the smaller fish for their sustenance. Small fish are the life of big fish. We call this “survival of the fittest”. But even the big fish are not safe in the sea. In this way, we pass through nine lakhs of births as aquatic animals. Do we think about this? As fish, we experience extreme, unbearable suffering.

We are also born as trees, mountains and hills. One may argue, “A hill is inert. How can a living being become lifeless?” Actually, a hill is not inert. It grows, but it has an enveloped consciousness. Trees also have some feeling of sensation. They have life in them. Twenty lakhs (2,000,000) of births we pass in this way. So much suffering! Think about this. Don’t take it lightly. Look now at all the living beings in this world, who are born as trees, mountains, etc. All the other living beings are busy enjoying them. When one living being enjoys another living being, the reaction is that he takes birth as a tree, mountain, etc. As trees and mountains, everyone will enjoy us and we will be forced to remain in one place tolerating this.

There are so many worms that live in feces and the stool of animals. We will take birth as such worms for 11 lakhs (1,100,000) of births. After that, we will take 10 lakhs (1,000,000) of births in various species of birds. Some of these birds are food for humans. Chopping up our bodies, they eat us. Tremendous suffering! After that, there are 30 lakhs of births (3,000,000) as beasts such as dogs, cats, goats, etc.

Having passed through these 80 lakhs (8,000,000) of births, we have only 4 lakhs (400,000) of births remaining, which comprise the different human species. We have now obtained this precious, extremely difficult to obtain, human birth. What then should we do? Mānuṣyam artha-dam: Artha means requirement, necessity. What is it we require? Unless we get absolute bliss, we cannot be happy. We may obtain other, unimportant objects that satisfy our immediate needs. But you can get absolute bliss by getting Whom, you get all and by knowing Whom, you know all. Artha-dam means we can get God, the Supreme Lord, Complete Reality. But, anityam: at any moment we may lose this chance. We say that we shall do it in the next birth, but there is no guarantee that in the next birth we will be born as a human being. If, at the time of death, you think about some non-eternal things of this material world, you will obtain a body in an appropriate species in your next birth.

You will find evidence of this in the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the story of Mahārāja Bharata, the eldest son of Ṛṣabhadeva, in which he became a deer. But we have personally seen an instance of this in our Maṭh in Gowalpada, Assam. At that time, many years ago, it was a very beautiful jungle-like area with forests, hills and rivers. All kinds of beasts lived in the area, including tigers and monkeys. The population was comprised of both Hindus and Muslims, the wealthy people coming mainly from the Muslim community. There were generally no quarrels between Hindus and Muslims and they lived peacefully side-by-side. They had love for each other. One Hindu man had to arrange for the marriage of his daughter, but was in need of money for this. No Hindu could possibly lend him so much money, so he went to a wealthy Muslim for help. In that small town, everyone knew everyone else.

“Why have you come?” the Muslim man asked.

“I have come to borrow some money,” the Hindu man explained. “I have to arrange for my daughter’s wedding and I have no money for this. I will pay it back.”

“How much do you require?” the Muslim asked and the Hindu told him. The Muslim knew that the Hindu would never be able to pay him back, as he was very poor. With no expectation of repayment, he said, “Your daughter will be married! Here, I shall give you the money. You are my neighbor.”

The marriage took place and no one in the village knew where the Hindu man had gotten the money. After fifteen years, the Hindu man died.

The Hindu man also had a son, who, by God’s grace, managed to become a well-to-do person. One night, the man’s son had a dream. In the dream, his father came to him and said, “You do not know the circumstances of your sister’s marriage. I borrowed money from the Muslim [whom he mentioned by name] but I was unable to pay him back, even though I gave my word. Because of this, I was born as a dog in the Muslim’s house. You must pay back the money [he told him the amount] and I shall be delivered from this birth.”

The son woke from the dream and was astonished. He thought, “My father never said anything about going to that person for money.” The Muslim was renowned throughout the village. He went to the Muslim’s house and inquired, “Perhaps, my father at some time borrowed something from you?”

“Go, go, go!” the Muslim protested. “You should not think about this!”

“What was the amount?” the son asked.

“Why are you worried about this?” the Muslim asked. But after some persuasion, he told the son what the amount was.

Then the son asked, “Is there a dog in your house?”

“Yes,” the Muslim answered. “How do you know this?”

“May I see him?” the son asked.

The Muslim called the dog out to them. The dog, seeing his son in human form, started to weep. The son then said, “You must take this money!”

He gave back the money to the Muslim, and the dog promptly died.

This is fact. It is not just a story.

We must remember that, after this life, there is no guarantee that we shall get a human birth again. Tūrṇaṁ yateta: we should start bhajana immediately! Anu-mṛtyu yāvan: we must do this before death—as long as the body is fit. Niḥśreyasāya: for one’s own eternal welfare. Try to get that eternal welfare. Eternal bliss is the Supreme Lord, so you should engage yourself in the service of the Supreme Lord. You should worship Him. Only in this human birth can you do this. You can get the objects of enjoyment in any birth, wherever you may go. As long as the elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether are there, then the qualities of those elements will also be there. You will derive sense gratification from them. The ears will be able to enjoy beautiful, sweet sounds. In every birth, you will find sense pleasures, but you will not be able to worship. So, we should perform worship—immediately!

This verse (11.9.29) was explained by our Paramgurudeva, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura, continuously for one month, and still he said that the explanation was incomplete. In spite of his explaining it for one month, he was not satisfied because this is transcendental sound, not material sound. If you want to perform bhajana, then you have to understand this. If you cannot differentiate between transcendental sound and material sound, you cannot make progress in spiritual life.

In our Maṭh, you will find that, every day, the devotees repeat the same thing. Every morning and every evening there is āratika and kīrtana. Is there anything new? They have already heard all this! But our Gurumahārāja and our Paramgurumahārāja instructed us that we must repeatedly hear these things, daily. There is āratika in the morning, āratika at midday and āratika in the evening—the same program every day. We hear the glorification of the Vaiṣṇavas, the glories of the Guru—all is the same every day. Even kṛṣṇa-nāma is the same.

Nārada Gosvāmī has been uttering kṛṣṇa-nāma from time immemorial. But still, he cannot completely taste kṛṣṇa-nāma. When speaking of the glories of the utterance of the names of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ.” At every step, you experience the taste of full, complete, transcendental ambrosia. It will never become stale. God is transcendental and the worshipper of God is also transcendental. God is infinite and the worshipper of God, the Vaiṣṇava, is also infinite. Their qualities are infinite. If you say, “I have finished it—it has become stale! Find something new for me,” then you have not understood anything. Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not hear about the lives of Dhruva and Prahlāda once only. “We have not yet heard the full story,” He would say. We might say that we have heard the biographies of Dhruva and Prahlāda, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu wished to hear the full biographies not one time, but one hundred times. “Again!” He would say, “Please tell Me again.” If, after hearing, you have the desire to hear again, then you have entered into the spiritual, devotional realm. Otherwise, you are outside and have learned nothing about spiritual life—nothing.

When our Maṭh was on Rashbihari Avenue in Calcutta, there was a person who used to attend regularly to hear religious discourses, even in inclement weather. Other persons might not show up, but he would always come. We would praise him, “You have a good taste for spiritual things.” After hearing discourses continuously for eight or nine months, that person suddenly stopped coming to the Maṭh. We asked some of the other people who attended the discourses, “Where is he? What is the matter?” They said, “We have seen him, but we do not know his address.” We thought that perhaps he had left Calcutta, or perhaps he was ill or otherwise indisposed. We had no way to contact him. But, one day, by the Lord’s desire, while I was going through the streets of Calcutta, I met him.

“Oh,” I said, “We have been deprived of your company for a long time. Were you not here in Calcutta?”

“No,” he said, “I have always been here.”

“Then, why have you not been coming? Have you been ill?”

“No,” he said. “I have been to your place. I have heard everything. Your only advice is ‘worship Kṛṣṇa, worship Kṛṣṇa, perform harināma’. If there is some new thing, then I shall come again. I’ve already heard it all.”

So, there is no new thing. You have to do harināma. This person attended the meetings for intellectual stimulation, not for bhajana. If he had come to the temple with the desire to perform worship, then God’s grace would have come to him and at every step he would have found a new taste of ambrosia—a taste of the transcendental. No aspect of transcendental things can become stale. Prasādam cannot become stale. The glories of the transcendental cannot become stale. Nothing of this can become stale. Perhaps, upon hearing about Vraja-maṇḍala, the place of twelve vanas (forests), you say, “I have already heard about the twelve vanas several times. It has become stale. Let me hear about another, new vana!” No! No! Then, you have not heard anything. If you can get merely a glimpse of just one of these vanas, your whole life will be changed and you will be rescued from rebirth. It is written in Caitanya Caritāmṛta that Kṛṣṇa possesses infinite qualities, and sixty-four of these are His principal qualities. If you get even a glimpse of just one of these transcendental qualities, then your life will be successful and you will be rescued. All your afflictions and miseries will be destroyed. But, we are uttering the sixty-four qualities, and we are still experiencing these miseries. This means that these transcendental qualities are not descending into us. We have not touched them, even though we may think that we have. “Phalena phala-kāraṇam anumīyate” (from the doctrines of Nyāya, or logic). By the fruit, we can understand whether or not we have come in contact with Kṛṣṇa. You may perform worship daily, but you cannot say, “I have worshipped for two years. Now I am giving it up to do other things.” When you perform any kind of bhajana, if it comes from the core of the heart, you will never be able to give up the worship of your most beloved. When you get a spontaneous glimpse of contact with Kṛṣṇa, you will experience a thrilling sensation of ecstasy. How could you give that up? You will not wish to give up any form of devotion. When there is the thought in your mind to give up worship, then it means that you have not come in contact with Bhagavān and the transcendental qualities of Bhagavān. Only outside, externally, by intellect and mental capacity, are you trying to imagine Bhagavān. Worship cannot be given up. You must repeat the same thing again and again.

Today I have explained this verse from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Suppose tomorrow I speak on it again, and then again the next day. By the third day, some listeners may say, “Oh, this is the same verse. Why don’t you say something new?” We would say in reply, “Our Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explained this verse for one month and still he was not satisfied. But, after hearing this verse for only three days it has become stale to you! What are you hearing?” When Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī was explaining this verse at the Maṭh at Number One Ultadanga Road, some college students had heard that a very great personality, a saint, who had a glowing, golden complexion, had come. They went to hear him speak and were astonished, as they had never seen such a powerful person before. Again, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī was explaining that śloka. “Tūrṇaṁ yateta,” he said, “Immediately start bhajana! Without losing a moment!”

The students consulted one another. “What is this?” they asked each other. “He is looking at us. He is directing us.”

“You will not allow us to return to our homes?” the students asked.

“No!” replied Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī.

“Oh,” the students thought. “It was a great mistake coming here.”

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī continued, “By traveling on the road, you may die! Start bhajana, right now, immediately!”

The students asked each other, “What can we do?”

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī continued, “If your house is on fire, do you try to extinguish it or do you let everything be destroyed?”

One of the students said, “If I do not extinguish the fire at my own house, then all the other houses will also be destroyed.”

“Let all the houses of the world be destroyed! Are you from this world?

brahma-bhutaḥ prasannātmā
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
(Bhagavad-gītā, 18.54)

You have come from Brahman. If someone flies in the sky, and there is an earthquake, what will he feel? If you remain in this world, then the up and down afflictions of this world will cause you to suffer and disturb your mind. But, if you transcend it, then where will these afflictions be? You do not come from matter. You come from Brahman. You are thinking that you have come from matter but, in actuality, you have no connection with this matter. Immediately, from this moment on, start bhajana!”

The students could not leave. They were trapped. Such was the students’ first lesson given by that great personality, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī. The students were so attracted by his personality that they did not return to their homes. With their books, they remained there. Do we have such power to persuade someone to stay? He had such spiritual attraction and power. Within a very short time, he preached the doctrine of divine love throughout the world.

Nothing spiritual is stale. Our organs of the material senses are stale. We do not feel our spiritual senses. They have not yet manifested themselves. By means of material senses, we are trying to understand the words of a śuddha bhakta. We are trying to get the sweetness of the Deity by means of material senses. It cannot be done. These things are not material, they are spiritual.

nāma vigraha svarūpa—tina eka-rūpa
tine ‘bheda’ nahi—tine ‘cid-ānanda-rūpa’
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 17.131)

The Name, Deity and Form of Kṛṣṇa are all saccidānanda. But we do not understand this. What can be done?