Consequences of Enjoying Sense Gratification
The drive to enjoy the material senses is often portrayed by modern civilization as the goal of life, but the Vedic literature reveals it to be a dangerous trap with dire consequences. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that every attempt to enjoy sense gratification binds the living entity further to the material world. It acts as the fuel for the cycle of birth and death, degrades the consciousness, and ultimately serves as the greatest enemy of the self. Far from being free, the person addicted to sense gratification is paving the way for future suffering.
Entanglement in Birth and Death
The primary consequence of seeking pleasure in the material world is the continuation of material existence. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that as long as the mind is active with plans for enjoyment, the soul must accept a material body to execute those plans. He explains that these desires are recorded in the subtle body as bīja, or seeds, which sprout into future fruitive activities and subsequent births.
- As long as we desire to enjoy sense gratification, we create material activities. When the living entity acts in the material field, he enjoys the senses, and while enjoying the senses, he creates another series of material activities.
- While in the subtle body, we create many plans to enjoy sense gratification. These plans are recorded in the spool of one's mind as bija, the root of fruitive activities.
- Those interested in materialistic activities remain in the cycle of birth and death. Pravrtti-marga, or the inclination to stay in the material world to enjoy varieties of sense gratification, has been explained in the previous verse - SB 7.15.50-51.
Degradation of Consciousness
The pursuit of sense gratification is not benign; it actively degrades the living entity's spiritual standing. Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that when one tries to imitate Kṛṣṇa by lording it over nature, one's spiritual identity is "extinguished." This mentality can drag a person down to the level of lower species, where sense gratification is the only standard of life.
- The living entity wants to imitate Krsna and tries to lord it over material nature in order to enjoy sense gratification; thus he forgets his original position, and his illuminating power, his spiritual identity, is extinguished.
- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura remarks that residing in Vrndavana with a view to enjoy sense gratification surely leads a so-called devotee to a lower species.
Ultimate Enemy
Although sense gratification feels pleasurable in the beginning, Śrīla Prabhupāda describes it as the "ultimate enemy." He compares enjoying the results of pious activities for personal sense gratification to eating the fruits of a poisonous tree. What appears to be happiness is actually the very thing that defeats the soul's purpose.
- While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.
- The wealth and riches acquired through previous pious activities should not be misused for sense gratification. Enjoying them for sense gratification is like enjoying the fruits of a poisonous tree.
Punishment and Ruin
Finally, the misuse of resources for sense gratification leads to inevitable punishment. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that it is the duty of Yamarāja to punish those who have forgotten God. Furthermore, he explains that those who squander their assets on enjoyment will eventually become poverty-stricken and "doomed" both materially and spiritually.
- It is the Yamaraja's duty to see that these rascals who have forgotten Krsna, or God, and come here to enjoy material sense gratification, they must be punished. Because material sense gratification is always sinful.
- When a person is sinful, he loses both the chance for spiritual advancement and the chance for material opulence. If one enjoys the material world for sense gratification, he is certainly doomed.
- Such people (those who act for sense gratification) will gradually become poverty-stricken, for they cannot use things which are to be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord for their own sense gratification.
Conclusion
The consequences of enjoying sense gratification are far-reaching and destructive. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that this pursuit is the antithesis of spiritual life, leading only to misery, degradation, and punishment. The wise, therefore, renounce the desire to enjoy the senses and instead engage them in the service of the Master of the senses, Hṛṣīkeśa.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Enjoying Sense Gratification. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.
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