View source for We are the cause of material bondage and freedom from material world. We are, ourself, the cause. There is no other cause. Simply we have to develop either this demonic characteristic or the divine characteristic

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{{terms|"we are the cause of material bondage and freedom from material world. We are, ourself, the cause. There is no other cause. Simply we have to develop either this demonic characteristic or the divine characteristic"}}
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonBG164HawaiiJanuary301975_1" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="383" link="Lecture on BG 16.4 -- Hawaii, January 30, 1975" link_text="Lecture on BG 16.4 -- Hawaii, January 30, 1975">
<div class="heading">These demonic characteristic, dambho darpaḥ abhimānaś ca pāruṣyam ajñānaṁ sampad āsurī, if we develop this kind of characteristic, then it is our material bondage. So we are the cause of material bondage and freedom from material world. We are, ourself, the cause. There is no other cause. Simply we have to develop either this demonic characteristic or the divine characteristic. So human life is meant for developing divine characteristic, not this demonic char... Demonic characteristic is already there.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 16.4 -- Hawaii, January 30, 1975|Lecture on BG 16.4 -- Hawaii, January 30, 1975]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Nitāi: "Arrogance, pride, anger, conceit, harshness and ignorance—these qualities belong to those of demonic nature, O son of Pṛthā."</p>
<p>Prabhupāda:</p>
:dambho darpo 'bhimānaś ca
:krodhaḥ pāruṣyam eva ca
:ajñānaṁ cābhijātasya
:pārtha sampadam āsurīm
<p>We have discussed last night some of the divine characteristics, and abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ, like that, sixteen divine characteristics. And here the demonic characteristics. We can understand a thing by analysis of characteristics. In the chemical laboratory, things are tested by characteristics. Just like this chemical: "Color is like this. Shape is like this. Then taste is like this. Then chemical reaction is like this." They are stated for each and every chemical, and we can understand the purity by the characteristic. The characteristic is also called dharma. Just like a snake. The snake characteristic is that unnecessarily, without any offense, it bites, and the animal which is bitten, he dies. This is the characteristic. Without any fault... The snake is going, and the other animal is going. Go, but the characteristic of snake is unnecessarily bites. This is the characteristic.</p>
<p>Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says, sarpaḥ krūraḥ khalaḥ krūraḥ sarpāt krūrataraḥ khalaḥ, that "Two kinds of krūraḥ, envious animals, are there. One is the snake, and the other is envious man." So Cāṇakya Paṇḍita said that "Both of them envious, but the envious man is more dangerous than the envious snake." Why? "Now, because the snake can be brought into submission..." (tapping noise) (Aside:) What is that? "...by herbs and mantra." There are snake charmer. They chant mantras, and they apply some herb, and the snake come under subjugation. But khalaḥ kena nivāryate: "But the snake-like man, he cannot be subdued at any cost."</p>
<p>So there are characteristics. By the characteristics we can understand who is a godly man and who is a demonic man. So they are stated. And the next verse is that daivī sampad vimokṣāya. If one has these divine characteristics, then he is eligible for going to the spiritual world. Vimokṣāya. Daivī sampad vimokṣāya nibandhāya āsurī matā ([[Vanisource:BG 16.5|BG 16.5]]). But these demonic characteristic, dambho darpaḥ abhimānaś ca pāruṣyam ajñānaṁ sampad āsurī, if we develop this kind of characteristic, then it is our material bondage. So we are the cause of material bondage and freedom from material world. We are, ourself, the cause. There is no other cause. Simply we have to develop either this demonic characteristic or the divine characteristic. So human life is meant for developing divine characteristic, not this demonic char... Demonic characteristic is already there. Just like dambhaḥ. A dog has also pride: "I am this dog, grr." (laughter) "I am fox terrier. I am this. I am that." So dambhaḥ is there even in the dog, even in the lower animal, even in the cat. But the divine characteristic, "Oh, I am so low," Tṛṇād api sunīcena, "I am lower than the grass. I am lower than the grass"... This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's teaching. What is this dambhaḥ? Why I should be pride? What is this pride? So that is ignorance, due to ignorance. When one man is unnecessarily proud, that means it is due to ignorance. And Caitanya-caritāmṛta author, he describes himself that "I am lower than the worms in the stool."</p>
:purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
:jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha
:([[Vanisource:CC Adi 5.205|CC Adi 5.205]])
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