Turning the Face of Mundaners
The "mundaner" is a person whose consciousness is tightly bound by the parameters of the material world. Infected by the four defects of conditional life—mistakes, illusion, cheating, and imperfect senses—the mundaner cannot perceive the spiritual reality that lies beyond his immediate senses. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes the mundaner's life as a tragic pursuit of false lordship and temporary pleasure. However, the Vedic literature, particularly the Bhagavad-gītā, offers a transformative method to save such persons by turning their faces toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Illusion of False Enjoyer
The root cause of the mundaner's entanglement is the false ego. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that although the living entity is strictly controlled by the modes of material nature, the foolish mundaner thinks, "I am the doer." Driven by the desire to enjoy, he performs various activities, but the result is only fleeting happiness or distress followed by the penalty of continued servitude. He chases the mirage of being the "supreme enjoyer," a position that belongs only to Kṛṣṇa.
- He (Krsna) says that the foolish mundaner considers himself the author or doer of all his activities by a sense dictated by his false egoism, without knowing that it is the modes of nature that lead him to do everything in all his engagements.
- Under a false pretense of "enjoyer" dictated by the illusory energy, they (mundaners) think themselves to be really enjoying.
- The foolish mundaner enjoys only the temporary results of his activities - fleeting mundane happiness or distress - and undergoes a severe penalty of servitude dictated by the modes of nature.
- This false position of supreme enjoyer gives them (mundaners) much trouble as they search for lordship over the powers of nature, but still these mundaners cannot give up the spirit of lording it over.
Blind to Transcendence
Because the mundaner's experience is limited to the material sky, he cannot conceive of the spiritual sky or the nature of the Lord. When he hears about Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the gopīs, he projects his own perverted experience of sex life onto the Divine. Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that such persons are "surely unable" to realize transcendental happiness. Kṛṣṇa, therefore, remains covered by His internal potency, yogamāyā, reserving the right not to reveal Himself to those who view Him through mundane eyes.
- A mundaner is surely unable to realize how there can be so much transcendental happiness in the service of the Personality of Godhead.
- Discussed (Sukadeva Gosvami) this act of the Lord's pleasure potency certainly not in relation to sex, but to relish a transcendental taste inconceivable to the mundaners who are after sex life.
- The immeasurable spiritual sky is full of spiritual planets, named Vaikunthas, far beyond the material sky. The mundaners have insufficient information of even the mundane sky, so what can they think of the spiritual sky?
- Yogamaya acts to cover the Lord and His pastimes from the eyes of mundaners, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, where the Lord says that He reserves the right of not being exposed to everyone.
Envy and Imitation
The ultimate disqualification of the mundaner is envy. Foolish persons often deride Kṛṣṇa, thinking Him to be an ordinary man, or they try to imitate His position. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that some mundaners even pose as Kṛṣṇa or claim to have a conjugal relationship with Him without undergoing the necessary purification. This "cheap" relation is condemned. True understanding is reserved for those who approach the Lord with submission, not with an envious or imitative spirit.
- Foolish mundaners actually envy Sri Krsna and deride Him as one who is like other mundaners. The truth about Sri Krsna does not easily enter into the perverted brain of such mundaners infected with the empiric approach to philosophy.
- Mundaners themselves have posed as Krsna, under the false inducement of the illusory energy. This false position of supreme enjoyer gives them much trouble as they search for lordship over the powers of nature.
- Influenced by an envious temperament and dissatisfied because of an attitude of sense gratification, mundaners criticize a real acarya. In fact, however, a bona fide acarya is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead.
Cure: Turning Face
How can a mundaner be saved? The method of the Bhagavad-gītā is to redirect the mundane propensity toward Kṛṣṇa. This is called karma-yoga. Learned devotees do not forcefully stop the mundaners' activities or disturb their minds; instead, they tactfully engage them in working for Kṛṣṇa. By offering the fruits of their labor to the Lord, the mundaners are gradually purified and saved from the "calamities past, present, and future."
- The proselytizing method of "Bhagavad-gita" is to turn the face of all mundaners towards the transcendental service of the Absolute Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna which process can only save the mundaners from all calamities past present and future.
- The learned and liberated souls who are eternal servitors of Krsna sometimes remain in the midst of ordinary activities, just to attract the foolish mundaners to the process of karma-yoga.
- The learned karma-yogis tactfully engage such foolish mundaners in the respective works for which they have special attachments - but in relation with Krsna - without disturbing them in their general activities.
Conclusion
A mundaner is simply a soul looking in the wrong direction—toward the shadow rather than the substance. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that we need not reject the world or stop activity, but we must change our vision. By associating with pure devotees and listening to the message of the Bhagavad-gītā, even the most entangled mundaner can turn his face toward Kṛṣṇa and begin the journey back to the spiritual sky.
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 Mundaners. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.