Entanglement Caused by the Desire for Material Enjoyment
The material world is a prison house designed for those who wish to imitate the Supreme Lord. The specific crime that keeps the living entity bound within its walls is the desire for material enjoyment. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that this desire is not merely a psychological preference but the very engine of material existence. This article explores how the craving for sense gratification forces the soul to wander through the universe and how this entanglement can be severed only by the superior taste of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Engine of Repeated Birth
The laws of nature are strict: one receives a body according to one's desires. Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that as long as there is even a slight trace of desire for material enjoyment, the soul cannot enter the spiritual sky. Instead, nature awards a new vessel—a "machine"—in each life to facilitate these unfulfilled hankerings. Thus, the living entity is entangled in an endless cycle of creating new karma to satisfy old lusts.
- So long I'll have a pinch of desire for enjoying this material world, I'll have to accept a typical body. This is the law of nature.
- The sarga, the repetition of birth, is due to our strong desire for material enjoyment. So long we do not discard this desire of material enjoyment, we have to take our birth repeatedly.
- The point is that a living entity has immense and unlimited desires for material enjoyment, and he has to transmigrate from one gross body to another until these desires are exhausted.
Illusion of Happiness
Under the influence of māyā, the conditioned soul falsely imagines that satisfying material desires will bring happiness. In reality, these desires are compared to "unwanted creepers" that choke the heart or to being "haunted by ghosts." The pursuit of material enjoyment distracts the soul from its real self-interest, leading only to frustration and further bondage.
- A conditioned soul falsely thinks himself happy in the material world, but if he is favored by the instructions of an unalloyed devotee, he gives up his desire for material enjoyment and becomes enlightened in Krsna consciousness.
- Desires are compared to being haunted by ghosts and witches, because while these aspirations for material enjoyment or spiritual oneness with the Supreme remain, no one can relish the actual transcendental taste of devotional service.
Impossibility of Peace
Peace is the exclusive property of the desireless. Because karmīs want sense gratification, jñānīs want liberation, and yogīs want mystic powers, they are all agitated. The pure devotee, having kicked out the desire for material enjoyment, is the only one who is niṣkāma (desireless) and therefore the only one who is peaceful.
- Because a devotee of Lord Krsna is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jnanis desire liberation, and yogis desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.
- As long as one is unable to stop the desire for material enjoyment, there is no possibility of becoming liberated from the entanglement of material existence.
Vanquishing the Desire
How does one stop a force as powerful as a river's waves? Artificial renunciation or repression is useless. The only method to vanquish the desire for material enjoyment is to replace it with the desire to hear about Kṛṣṇa. When a devotee sincerely hears the messages of the Lord (śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ), the Lord Himself acts as the cleaner within the heart, removing the dirt of material desire.
- Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.
- As soon as one enters into Krsna consciousness, his desire for material enjoyment is at once vanquished, and he gradually becomes free from material entanglement.
- The waves of a river flow incessantly, and it is very difficult to stop them. Similarly, the waves of desire for material enjoyment are so strong that they cannot be stopped by any process other than bhakti-yoga.
Conclusion
The entanglement caused by the desire for material enjoyment is deep and ancient, but it is not eternal. By associating with pure devotees and taking shelter of the holy name, the living entity can awaken from the dream of false happiness. When the desire for personal enjoyment is completely vanquished, the soul regains its original, blissful consciousness and returns home, back to Godhead.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Desire for Material Enjoyment. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.