Natural Inclination - The Struggle Between Impulse and Devotion
In his teachings, Śrīla Prabhupāda identifies two distinct types of "natural inclination." The first is the conditioned propensity for sense gratification, which binds the soul to the material world. The second is the eternal, spiritual propensity to serve Kṛṣṇa. The success of human life depends on restraining the former to allow the latter to flourish.
The Material Propensity (Pravṛtti)
Śrīla Prabhupāda frankly addresses the reality that conditioned souls have a deep-seated inclination toward material enjoyment. He specifically lists sex life, meat-eating, and intoxication as natural instincts for the embodied soul. However, he warns that simply following these "natural" urges leads to degradation. True human civilization begins when one learns to restrict these waves of natural inclination.
- A living entity has got natural inclination for vyavaya, sex life; and madya sevah, intoxication; amisa sevah, and meat-eating. A natural instinct there is. But asuras, they do not try to stop it. They want to increase it. That is asura life.
- Every conditioned soul has natural inclination. Pravrtti. But one has to control that. That is human life. If you put yourself in the waves of natural inclination, that is not human life. You have to restrict.
- The human beings, by long material association, life after life, have a natural inclination, by practice, to endeavor to lord it over material energy.
The Spiritual Nature
Beyond the temporary instincts of the body lies the eternal nature of the soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that every living being is originally a servant of God. This spiritual inclination is "natural" in the truest sense because it is intrinsic to our identity. When the senses are purified, they naturally flow toward the service of the Lord, just as a river naturally flows toward the ocean.
- Transcendental loving service for the Supreme Lord is the natural inclination of every living being.
- Indirectly, all the senses are naturally inclined to serve the Supreme Lord. That is called bhakti.
- This attachment of the devotee to a particular form of the Lord is due to natural inclination. Each and every living entity is originally attached to a particular type of transcendental service because he is eternally the servitor of the Lord.
- When the same senses are engaged in the service of the Lord and there is no motive, that is called animitta and is the natural inclination of the mind.
Awakening Spontaneous Love
How do we move from the lower inclination to the higher? Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that by practicing regulated devotional service (vaidhī-bhakti), the dormant natural inclination for spontaneous love (rāgānugā-bhakti) is awakened. He cites the example of the gopīs and Lord Caitanya Himself to illustrate a state where the devotee is so naturally inclined to Kṛṣṇa that they cannot withdraw their mind from Him even if they try.
- By continuously rendering service through the process of vaidhi bhakti, one’s natural inclination is gradually awakened. That is called spontaneous attraction, or raganuga bhakti.
- Caitanya Mahaprabhu continued, "I would like to withdraw My consciousness from You and engage it in material activities, but even though I try, I cannot do so. I am naturally inclined to You only."
- Naturally the gopis were inclined to love Krsna, for He was an attractive young boy of Vrndavana village.
- For everyone who is born in the land of India has a natural spiritual inclination and is taught the basic principles of spiritual life; they merely need to be a little more educated in the Vedic principles.
The Compassion of the Sages
A symptom of one who has revived their spiritual nature is a natural inclination to do good to others. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that great souls and sages are naturally prone to help the common people. Unlike the selfish inclination of the materialist, the devotee's natural instinct is to share the shelter of the Lord with everyone.
- Great souls are naturally inclined to do good to others, and a Vaisnava especially is the most compassionate and merciful personality in society.
- Sages are naturally inclined to do good to the common man, and when they see a personality like Maharaja Pariksit advance in devotional service, their pleasure knows no bounds, and they offer all blessings in their power.
- Consequently you are naturally inclined to do good to others, and but for this you have no interest, either in this life or in the next.
- All the sages who were assembled there also praised the decision of Maharaja Pariksit and they expressed their approval by saying, "Very good." Naturally the sages are inclined to do good to common men, for they have all the qualitative powers of the Lord.
Conclusion
The journey of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the process of realigning our natural inclinations. Śrīla Prabhupāda guides us to stop being victims of our lower instincts and instead embrace our higher nature. When our natural inclination is fully reposed in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we achieve the perfection of peace and happiness.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Natural Inclination. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.