Illusion of Enjoying Sense Gratification
The fundamental illusion of the conditioned soul is the belief that one can become happy by gratifying the material senses. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the living entity, originally a servant of God, comes to the material world with the desire to imitate Kṛṣṇa and enjoy independently. This propensity to enjoy sense gratification is the engine that drives the cycle of birth and death. While the materialist thinks they are the master of their destiny, they are actually becoming enslaved by the dictates of their senses.
Trap of Maya
The desire for sense gratification is the specific mechanism by which māyā, the illusory energy, captures the living entity. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes this condition as a state of forgetfulness. As soon as the soul desires to enjoy separately from the Lord, they are entrapped by material nature and forced to struggle for a flickering "happiness" that is, in reality, nothing but misery.
- As soon as the living entity forgets his real, constitutional position of eternal servitorship to the Lord and wants instead to enjoy himself by sense gratification, he is captured by maya.
- Krsna consciousness movement means we, all conditioned soul, we have come to this material world just to enjoy sense gratification independently. This is our main disease.
- Maya means the condition in which I enjoy material sense gratification. That is called maya. Maya japatiya dhare. Japatiya dhare means catches, catches - All right, come on.
A Futile Struggle
What the materialist calls "enjoyment" is analyzed by Śrīla Prabhupāda as a hard struggle for existence. He notes that while Kṛṣṇa allows the living entity to attempt to enjoy, the result is inevitably frustration. This pursuit lowers the human being to the status of animals like dogs and hogs, who also base their lives on eating, sleeping, mating, and defending.
- He (Krsna) lets us enjoy ourselves to the fullest extent because we have come to this material world to enjoy sense gratification. However, this is called maya, illusion. It is not really enjoyment, but simply struggle.
- Animals like dogs and hogs enjoy sense gratification by eating stool.
- The conditioned soul has to accept all these conditions simply to enjoy sense gratification in this world. Although people declare themselves great scientists, economists, philosophers, politicians and sociologists. they are actually nothing but rascals.
Cause of Entanglement
The urge to enjoy sense gratification is the root cause of karma and transmigration. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that as long as the mind is filled with plans for material enjoyment, the soul must accept a corresponding material body to fulfill those desires. This creates an endless chain of action and reaction.
- 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.
Solution: Satisfying Kṛṣṇa
The only way to break free from this illusion is to change the objective of one's activities. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that a devotee does not stop using their senses but engages them in the service of the Lord. Instead of trying to exploit resources for personal pleasure, the devotee offers everything to Kṛṣṇa, thereby finding true, spiritual satisfaction.
- The first concern of a nondevotee is how to enjoy his personal sense gratification at once, whereas the devotee's first concern is to satisfy the Lord. This is the distinction between the nondevotee and the devotee.
- A devotee should try to engage all beautiful women in the service of Krsna. That is his duty. Not to enjoy them. That is sense gratification.
- Although the pure devotee appears to engage in material activities in the service of the Lord, he knows very well that material enjoyment for sense gratification has no use whatsoever.
Conclusion
The attempt to enjoy sense gratification in the material world is a mirage that leads only to suffering. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that real happiness is found not in becoming a master of the material world, but in becoming a servant of Kṛṣṇa.
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 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.