View source for Decoration of a dead body (analogy)

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[[Category:Decorated|2]]
[[Category:Dead Body|2]]
[[Category:Prabhupada's Analogies|2]]
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_1" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 1"><h3>SB Canto 1</h3>
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<div id="SB1510_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_1" book="SB" index="141" link="SB 1.5.10" link_text="SB 1.5.10">
<div class="heading">Literatures containing refused remnants of sensuous topics do not glorify the Lord. Such poetry and prose, on any subject matter, is considered decoration of a dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 1.5.10|SB 1.5.10, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">Similarly, there are different kinds of literature for different types of men of different mentality. Mostly the market literatures which attract men of the crow's categories are literatures containing refused remnants of sensuous topics. They are generally known as mundane talks in relation with the gross body and subtle mind. They are full of subject matter described in decorative language full of mundane similes and metaphorical arrangements. Yet with all that, they do not glorify the Lord. Such poetry and prose, on any subject matter, is considered decoration of a dead body. Spiritually advanced men who are compared to the swans do not take pleasure in such dead literatures, which are sources of pleasure for men who are spiritually dead. These literatures in the modes of passion and ignorance are distributed under different labels, but they can hardly help the spiritual urge of the human being, and thus the swanlike spiritually advanced men have nothing to do with them. Such spiritually advanced men are called also mānasa because they always keep up the standard of transcendental voluntary service to the Lord on the spiritual plane. This completely forbids fruitive activities for gross bodily sense satisfaction or subtle speculation of the material egoistic mind.</p>
<p>Social literary men, scientists, mundane poets, theoretical philosophers and politicians who are completely absorbed in the material advancement of sense pleasure are all dolls of the material energy. They take pleasure in a place where rejected subject matters are thrown. According to Svāmī Śrīdhara, this is the pleasure of the prostitute-hunters.</p>
<p>But literatures which describe the glories of the Lord are enjoyed by the paramahaṁsas who have grasped the essence of human activities.</p>
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<div id="SB1945_1" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_1" book="SB" index="361" link="SB 1.9.45" link_text="SB 1.9.45">
<div class="heading">This showering of flowers from heaven is a sign of recognition by great demigods, and it should never be compared to the decoration of a dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 1.9.45|SB 1.9.45, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">When the distant planets were informed of the passing away of Bhīṣmadeva, all the inhabitants of the upper planets as well as of the earth dropped showers of flowers to show due respect to the departed great personality. This showering of flowers from heaven is a sign of recognition by great demigods, and it should never be compared to the decoration of a dead body. The body of Bhīṣmadeva lost its material effects due to being surcharged with spiritual realization, and thus the body was spiritualized as when iron becomes red-hot when in contact with fire. The body of a fully self-realized soul is not, therefore, accepted as material. Special ceremonies are observed for such spiritual bodies. The respect and recognition of Bhīṣmadeva are never to be imitated by artificial means, as it has become a fashion to observe the so-called jayantī ceremony for any and every common man. According to authorized śāstras, such a jayantī ceremony for an ordinary man, however exalted he may be materially, is an offense to the Lord because jayantī is reserved for the day when the Lord appears on the earth. Bhīṣmadeva was unique in his activities, and his passing away to the kingdom of God is also unique.</p>
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<div id="SB11521_2" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_1" book="SB" index="592" link="SB 1.15.21" link_text="SB 1.15.21">
<div class="heading">Human civilization and all activities thereof must be dovetailed with the supreme blessing of the Lord, and without this blessing all advancement of human civilization is like decoration on a dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 1.15.21|SB 1.15.21, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">As we have discussed more than once, one should not be puffed up by borrowed plumes. All energies and powers are derived from the supreme source, Lord Kṛṣṇa, and they act as long as He desires and cease to function as soon as He withdraws. All electrical energies are received from the powerhouse, and as soon as the powerhouse stops supplying energy, the bulbs are of no use. In a moment's time such energies can be generated or withdrawn by the supreme will of the Lord. Material civilization without the blessing of the Lord is child's play only. As long as the parents allow the child to play, it is all right. As soon as the parents withdraw, the child has to stop. Human civilization and all activities thereof must be dovetailed with the supreme blessing of the Lord, and without this blessing all advancement of human civilization is like decoration on a dead body. It is said here that a dead civilization and its activities are something like clarified butter on ashes, the accumulation of money by a magic wand and the sowing of seeds in a barren land.</p>
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<div id="SB_Canto_2" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 2"><h3>SB Canto 2</h3>
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<div id="SB214_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_2" book="SB" index="5" link="SB 2.1.4" link_text="SB 2.1.4">
<div class="heading">The whole materialistic advancement of human civilization is like the decoration of a dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 2.1.4|SB 2.1.4, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">The whole materialistic advancement of human civilization is like the decoration of a dead body. Everyone is a dead body flapping only for a few days, and yet all the energy of human life is being wasted in the decoration of this dead body. Śukadeva Gosvāmī is pointing out the duty of the human being after showing the actual position of bewildered human activities. Persons who are devoid of the knowledge of ātma-tattva are misguided, but those who are devotees of the Lord and have perfect realization of transcendental knowledge are not bewildered.</p>
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<div id="SB_Canto_4" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 4"><h3>SB Canto 4</h3>
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<div id="SB4736_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_4" book="SB" index="263" link="SB 4.7.36" link_text="SB 4.7.36">
<div class="heading">Any aristocracy, any social prestige or any advancement of material civilization without Kṛṣṇa consciousness is as good as the decoration of a dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 4.7.36|SB 4.7.36, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">There is a statement in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (3.11):</p>
:bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
:jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
:aprāṇasyaiva dehasya
:maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
<p>The purport is that sometimes when a friend or relative dies, especially among lower class men, the dead body is decorated. Dressed and ornamented, the body is taken in procession. That sort of decoration of the dead body has no actual value because the life force is already gone. Similarly, any aristocracy, any social prestige or any advancement of material civilization without Kṛṣṇa consciousness is as good as the decoration of a dead body.</p>
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<div id="SB_Canto_7" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 7"><h3>SB Canto 7</h3>
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<div id="SB7224_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_7" book="SB" index="68" link="SB 7.2.24" link_text="SB 7.2.24">
<div class="heading">Nondevotees may possess exalted material qualities, but because they are foolish they have no good qualifications. The designations of the conditioned soul in the material world are decorations of the dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 7.2.24|SB 7.2.24, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">Hiraṇyakaśipu advised his family members that although the gross body of his brother Hiraṇyākṣa was dead and they were aggrieved because of this, they should not lament for the great soul of Hiraṇyākṣa, who had already attained his next destination. Ātmā, the spirit soul, is always unchanged (avikalaḥ pumān). We are spirit souls, but when carried away by mental activities (manodharma), we suffer from so-called material conditions of life. This generally happens to nondevotees. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ: nondevotees may possess exalted material qualities, but because they are foolish they have no good qualifications. The designations of the conditioned soul in the material world are decorations of the dead body. The conditioned soul has no information of the spirit and its exalted existence beyond the effects of the material condition.</p>
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<div id="SB7910_1" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_7" book="SB" index="368" link="SB 7.9.10" link_text="SB 7.9.10">
<div class="heading">"If one is born in a high family like that of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya but is not a devotee of the Lord, all his good qualifications as a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya are null and void. Indeed, they are considered decorations of a dead body."
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 7.9.10|SB 7.9.10, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">There are four varṇas and four āśramas, which divide human society, but the central principle is to become a first-class pure devotee. It is said in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya:</p>
:bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
:jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
:aprāṇasyaiva dehasya
:maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
<p>"If one is born in a high family like that of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya but is not a devotee of the Lord, all his good qualifications as a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya are null and void. Indeed, they are considered decorations of a dead body."</p>
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<div id="SB_Canto_101_to_1013" class="sub_section" sec_index="10" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13"><h3>SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13</h3>
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<div id="SB101234_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_10.1_to_10.13" book="SB" index="493" link="SB 10.12.34" link_text="SB 10.12.34">
<div class="heading">Without bhagavad-bhakti, without glorification of the Supreme Lord, whatever we have is simply a decoration of the dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 10.12.34|SB 10.12.34, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">One should be trained how to glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead by one's respective qualities. Education, austerity, penance or, in the modern world, business, industry, education and so on-all should be engaged in glorifying the Lord. Then everyone in the world will be happy.</p>
<p>Kṛṣṇa comes, therefore, to exhibit His transcendental activities so that people may have the chance to glorify Him in every respect. To understand how to glorify the Lord is actual research work. It is not that everything should be understood without God. That is condemned.</p>
:bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
:jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
:aprāṇasyaiva dehasya
:maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
:(Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 3.11)
<p>Without bhagavad-bhakti, without glorification of the Supreme Lord, whatever we have is simply a decoration of the dead body.</p>
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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAdi17260_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="2195" link="CC Adi 17.260" link_text="CC Adi 17.260">
<div class="heading">If they are without knowledge of devotional service to the Lord, then great nationalism, fruitive, political or social work, science or philosophy are all simply like costly garments decorating a dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 17.260|CC Adi 17.260, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">"All the so-called professors and scientists and their students generally follow the regulative principles of religion, fruitive activities and austerities," the Lord thought, "yet at the same time they are blasphemers and rogues."</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>Here is a depiction of materialists who have no knowledge of devotional service. They may be very religious and may work very systematically or perform austerities and penances, but if they blaspheme the Supreme Personality of Godhead they are nothing but rogues. This is confirmed in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (3.11):</p>
:bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
:aprāṇasyaiva dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
<p>If they are without knowledge of devotional service to the Lord, then great nationalism, fruitive, political or social work, science or philosophy are all simply like costly garments decorating a dead body. The only offense of persons adhering to these principles is that they are not devotees; they are always blasphemous toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotees.</p>
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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="Krsna_The_Supreme_Personality_of_Godhead" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead"><h3>Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead</h3>
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<div id="KB38_0" class="quote" parent="Krsna,_The_Supreme_Personality_of_Godhead" book="OB" index="42" link="KB 38" link_text="Krsna Book 38">
<div class="heading">Without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, civilization is but a decorated dead body. A dead body may be decorated very nicely, but without consciousness such decorations are useless.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:KB 38|Krsna Book 38]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Akrūra also considered the necessity of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. He thought that the transcendental activities, instructions, qualities and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa are all for the good fortune of people in general. The people can remain constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by discussing the Lord's transcendental form, qualities, pastimes and paraphernalia. By doing so, the whole universe can actually live auspiciously and advance peacefully. But without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, civilization is but a decorated dead body. A dead body may be decorated very nicely, but without consciousness such decorations are useless. Human society without Kṛṣṇa consciousness is useless and lifeless.</p>
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<div id="Renunciation_Through_Wisdom" class="sub_section" sec_index="5" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Renunciation Through Wisdom"><h3>Renunciation Through Wisdom</h3>
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<div id="RTW22_0" class="quote" parent="Renunciation_Through_Wisdom" book="OB" index="14" link="RTW 2.2" link_text="Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2">
<div class="heading">Decorating a dead body and taking it to the funeral pyre with pomp is certainly nothing but a flagrant display for entertainment only. The public is similarly cheated when accolades and scholarly degrees are piled on a demon who is an arrant competitor of the Supreme Lord.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:RTW 2.2|Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Decorating a dead body and taking it to the funeral pyre with pomp is certainly nothing but a flagrant display for entertainment only. The public is similarly cheated when accolades and scholarly degrees are piled on a demon who is an arrant competitor of the Supreme Lord. The atheistic, demoniac education imparted to the young in modern universities is simply producing a bunch of demons with titles. Proof of this is the recent incident in which Principal Garg of Aligarh University was murdered by some students. The whole state of Uttar Pradesh is shocked and has opened a probe into this vicious act. The governor has called for a conference of the leaders and teachers, but in the past all such conferences have met with the same frustrating fate: no solution. We think the present conference will also fail. The only means to eradicate the demoniac mentality in society is to teach the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Having taken note of all the disaster and corruption wreaked by the demons, it is the moral responsibility of every citizen in the world to learn and teach the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.</p>
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<div id="Sri_Isopanisad" class="sub_section" sec_index="8" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Sri Isopanisad"><h3>Sri Isopanisad</h3>
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<div id="ISO9_0" class="quote" parent="Sri_Isopanisad" book="OB" index="11" link="ISO 9" link_text="Sri Isopanisad 9">
<div class="heading">In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya, the advancement of education by a godless people is compared to decorations on a dead body. In India, as in many other countries, some people follow the custom of leading a procession with a decorated dead body for the pleasure of the lamenting relatives. In the same way, modern civilization is a patchwork of activities meant to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:ISO 9|Sri Isopanisad 9, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">In the language of the Bhagavad-gītā (7.15), people who are engaged in gross sense gratification are mūḍhas—asses. The ass is a symbol of stupidity. Those who simply engage in the profitless pursuit of sense gratification are worshiping avidyā, according to Śrī Īśopaniṣad. And those who play the role of helping this sort of civilization in the name of educational advancement are actually doing more harm than those who are on the platform of gross sense gratification. The advancement of learning by a godless people is as dangerous as a valuable jewel on the hood of a cobra. A cobra decorated with a valuable jewel is more dangerous than one not decorated. In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (3.11.12), the advancement of education by a godless people is compared to decorations on a dead body. In India, as in many other countries, some people follow the custom of leading a procession with a decorated dead body for the pleasure of the lamenting relatives. In the same way, modern civilization is a patchwork of activities meant to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence. All such activities are aimed toward sense gratification. But above the senses is the mind, and above the mind is the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul. Thus the aim of real education should be self-realization, realization of the spiritual values of the soul. Any education which does not lead to such realization must be considered avidyā, or nescience. And to culture such nescience means to go down to the darkest region of ignorance.</p>
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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="LectureonBG13812BombayOctober51973_0" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="360" link="Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 5, 1973" link_text="Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 5, 1973">
<div class="heading">If you want to become philosopher, then philosophically you try to understand what is brahma-tattva, what is Paramātmā-tattva, what is Bhagavān-tattva. Etaj jñānam, this is jñāna. Not these degrees, MA, Phd. These are all decoration of the dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 5, 1973|Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 5, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">This is real business. Adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvam. Spiritual knowledge. That is eternal knowledge. It will not break. If you learn spiritual knowledge, a little of it in this life, svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt, then you will be saved from the greatest danger. Tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam. If you want to become philosopher, then you philosophize for understanding the tattva-jñāna. And what is tattva-jñāna?</p>
:vadanti tat tattva-vidas
:tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
:brahmeti paramātmeti
:bhagavān iti śabdyate
:([[Vanisource:SB 1.2.11|SB 1.2.11]])
<p>That is tattva-jñāna. Truth. What is that truth? Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti. To understand about Brahman, to understand about Paramātmā, to understand about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is tattva-jñāna.</p>
<p>So if you want to become philosopher, then philosophically you try to understand what is brahma-tattva, what is Paramātmā-tattva, what is Bhagavān-tattva. Etaj jñānam, this is jñāna. Not these degrees, MA, Phd. These are all decoration of the dead body. If you do not understand what is the value of life, you do not understand what is tattva, what is Brahman, what is Paramātmā, what is God, if you do not become cleansed, if you do not become a devotee, as they are stated, if you have no ācārya, you have no guru, then you are in darkness. Kṛṣṇa concludes here. Etaj jñānam, "All these items described, this is jñānam." Iti proktam. It is accepted, prokta. Ajñānam yad ato 'nyathā: "And just any other thing besides these things, they are ajñānam."</p>
<p>So you compare. You call any educated person. Just like I told you several times, that that Professor Kotovsky, big man in Russia, he said "That there is no life. After finishing this body, everything is finished." Just see how much ajñānam. He does not know. So the whole world is going on under ajñānam. If they accept this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, there is chance of having jñānam. Otherwise they remain in ajñānam.</p>
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonSB151213NewVrindabanJune111969_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="137" link="Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969">
<div class="heading">This material qualification means decoration of the dead body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969|Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: Nirañjana means... Añjana... Añjana means ointment or designation, something covering. So nirañjanam. If one is elevated in knowledge, then he becomes free from this designated life. Our material life is añjana life, or designated life. Añjana... Just like we decorate. I think I wrote one article in my Back to Godhead in India, "Decoration of the Dead Body." This material qualification means decoration of the dead body. Actually, the body is dead, but there are certain men who wants to decorate this dead body. In India also, still the custom is in lower class men, when some of their relative die... I hear that here also they do such. They decorate the dead body very nicely. Here also the same system is there?</p>
<p>Devotees: Yes.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: So śāstra says that what is the meaning of this decoration? What benefit the man who is dead, what benefit he's getting? Suppose you make lips very smiling, but actually that man is smiling? (laughter) Similarly, in India also, the cobbler class men, they, during their life, they will dress very wretchedly, not spend money, but after death they will purchase some velvet and cover the body and very nicely decorate, and with band party they'll take, lead the dead body. Aprāṇasyeva dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. So it may be very much pleasing to the relatives. Just like the dead body's decorated. The sons of that dead body may see him, that "Oh, my father is smiling." (laughter) But he does not know where his father has already gone. You see?</p>
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<div id="LectureonSB151213NewVrindabanJune111969_1" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="137" link="Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969">
<div class="heading">To get liberation, nirañjanam-nirañjanam means to get out of this so-called decoration of the dead body—one requires to acquire knowledge.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969|Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So this material civilization is just like decorating the dead body. This body is dead. That is a fact. So long the soul is there, it is working, it is moving. Just like your coat. It is dead. But so long it is on your body, it appears the coat is moving. The coat is moving. But if somebody is very much astonished, "Oh, how nice the coat is moving!" (laughter) He does not know the coat cannot move. The coat is dead. But because the man is there who is putting on the coat, therefore the coat is moving, the pant is moving, the shoe is moving, the hat is moving. Similarly, this body is dead. It is numbered: this dead body will remain for such and such time. That is called duration of life. But people are interested with this dead body exactly like the cobbler class or these decorating men. So decoration of the dead body. Aprāṇasyeva... Aprāṇasya means dead. Aprāṇasyeva maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. Loka-rañjanam: "It is very pleasing to the relatives." That's all. Similarly, to get liberation, nirañjanam-nirañjanam means to get out of this so-called decoration of the dead body—one requires to acquire knowledge.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB11521LosAngelesDecember11973_2" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="289" link="Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973">
<div class="heading">This big nationality, jāti, japas, tapaḥ, these hard work, scientific discoveries, they are very nice, but what kind of popularity it is? Bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ. All these are simply decoration of the dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973|Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Jāti, big nation, big achievement, japas tapaḥ kriyā, big activities... Just like you American people, you are big nation. Your activities are very big, considered in other parts of the world. And your tapasya is there. You have earned this, you have made this America so nice by tapasya, by austerity. It has not come out automatically. You have labored hard. That is called tapasya. So this big nationality, jāti, japas, tapaḥ, these hard work, scientific discoveries, they are very nice, but what kind of popularity it is? Bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ. All these are simply decoration of the dead body. I do not know whether in your country it is a fashion. In India there is a custom that low-class men... Just like cobbler. Cobbler is taken as the low..., those who prepare, expert in skin. So they are generally very poor man. Now they have advanced, because now the Kali-yuga is the age of the śūdras. So they decorate the dead body. If a cobbler's father dies, he brings, he spends money. He brings nice covering cloth, and with flower and everything... So śāstra says that,</p>
:bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
:jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
:aprāṇasyeva dehasya
:maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
<p>If you decorate a dead body, it may be very fanciful to the people, that "This dead body is decorated with costly garments and flowers and all things." So, but the dead body is dead. It is not enjoying. You can be complacent that "My father, the body of my father or my relative, is decorated so nicely." But factually, if you study scrutinizingly, what is the benefit out of this? What is the benefit? Dead body decoration? But people do that. They are accustomed to do that.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB11521LosAngelesDecember11973_3" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="289" link="Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973">
<div class="heading">If you do not know what is the real living force within this body, then if you simply decorate the body, dead body, loka-rañjanam, you may get some applause from ordinary men, but it has no value.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973|Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">When Bhagavad-gītā was taught to Arjuna, Arjuna was lamenting for this body. So Kṛṣṇa, when He was accepted Arjuna's spiritual master, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam ([[Vanisource:BG 2.7 (1972)|BG 2.7]]), then He advised him that "You are talking like a very learned scholar." Aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase ([[Vanisource:BG 2.11 (1972)|BG 2.11]]). "You are talking just like you know..." Just like our so-called scientists, they speak as if they know everything, but real thing they do not know. That is zero. What is spirit, they do not know. They are thinking this body. And according to Vedic knowledge, if one is misguided on the bodily identification of ourself, he is animal. He is animal. He may be Ph.D., D.H.C. or something, but he is animal. Sa eva go-kharaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 10.84.13|SB 10.84.13]]). Because he does not know how the body is moving. And neither they can discover anything. When the body is dead... It is dead from the very beginning, but it was moving. Just like so long petrol is there, the motorcar moves. But as soon as there is... Now there is crisis. So how their motorcars will move? They are concerned. So why their crisis? Because the petrol is the life of the movement of the motorcar. Similarly, that spiritual spark, or spirit soul, is the petrol of this body.</p>
<p>So without knowledge of this, sa eva go-kharaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 10.84.13|SB 10.84.13]]), just like cats and dogs, they cannot understand how he is moving. That he does not know. If a human being also does not understand that how this body is moving, neither they can discover what it is, then what is this? It may be very so-called decoration of the body. A decoration of the dead body, what is the profit thereof? If you do not know what is the real living force within this body, then if you simply decorate the body, dead body, loka-rañjanam, you may get some applause from ordinary men, but it has no value. It has no value.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB11521LosAngelesDecember11973_4" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="289" link="Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973">
<div class="heading">These so-called scientists, philosophers, they are very much advanced, but their only business is how to become happy in this planet. That's all. Their mind is not very broad. Mind is very crippled. Durāśayā. Therefore they are hoping against hope. Still, they are decorating, decorating the dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973|Lecture on SB 1.15.21 -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">In Delhi, when I presented in some library my book Easy Journey to Other Planets, so one gentleman met, "You have got, written some book, Easy Journey to Other Planets?" "Yes." "Then we shall go and come back?" "No, why you shall come back?" "No, no, then I don't want." (laughter) The rascal wants to go to other planet and come back. They are doing actually. They are going to the so-called moon planet and coming back. The first aeronautics from Russia, when he was far, far away, he was just looking after, "Where is my Moscow? Where is my Moscow?" You see. This is our intelligence. You may go far away. There is an example. Just like the vulture, they have got a very good eyesight, very good eyesight. You... Seven miles away from the surface, they can see where there is a dead corpse. So they have got good eyesight, but they are searching after dead corpse only. That is their business. These so-called scientists, philosophers, they are very much advanced, but their only business is how to become happy in this planet. That's all. That is their... Not mahātmā. Durātmā. Their mind is not very broad. What is called? Ah? What is the English word? Crippled. Mind is very crippled. Durāśayā. Therefore they are hoping against hope. They will not live here. Still, they are decorating, decorating the dead body. "This is my apartment, this is my house, this is my country, this is my skyscraper building." Painting. And one day, mṛtyuḥ sarva... Just like Hiraṇyakaśipu. He's challenging, challenging, "Where is your God?" "Ah, here is God! Come on! Finished. Finished. Here is God."</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB231415LosAngelesMay311972_5" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="383" link="Lecture on SB 2.3.14-15 -- Los Angeles, May 31, 1972" link_text="Lecture on SB 2.3.14-15 -- Los Angeles, May 31, 1972">
<div class="heading">Loka-rañjanam means you may please some of the people, "Oh, how you are decorating a dead body." But it has no meaning. It is useless waste of time. Similarly very nice arrangement, big nation, politics, everything, minus Kṛṣṇa consciousness is like that.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 2.3.14-15 -- Los Angeles, May 31, 1972|Lecture on SB 2.3.14-15 -- Los Angeles, May 31, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Big nation. You Americans, you are big nation. But bhagavad-bhakti ... There is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Jāti, big nation. Jāti means big nation. Bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ japaḥ, their activities, tapaḥ, tapasya... They are trying to invent so many nice things, scientifically, mechanically. Or invented machine. Everything. Jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ. Activities, very methodical. On the road there is light arrangement. Everything is all right. But if it is less Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then it is... What is that? Aprāṇasyeva dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. Just like a dead body, if you decorate. A body, dead body, and you apply pomade and nice dress and scent. What is the meaning? Loka-rañjanam. Loka-rañjanam means you may please some of the people, "Oh, how you are decorating a dead body." But it has no meaning. It is useless waste of time. Similarly very nice arrangement, big nation, politics, everything, minus Kṛṣṇa consciousness is like that.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB2321LosAngelesJune181972_6" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="394" link="Lecture on SB 2.3.21 -- Los Angeles, June 18, 1972" link_text="Lecture on SB 2.3.21 -- Los Angeles, June 18, 1972">
<div class="heading">Because within the body there is the soul, who is eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, if he does not come to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness platform and does not engage himself in the service of the Lord, then his hands, legs, heads, everything is dead body's head. The decoration of dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 2.3.21 -- Los Angeles, June 18, 1972|Lecture on SB 2.3.21 -- Los Angeles, June 18, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So the modern material scientists, so-called scientists, actually, they are fools and rascals. As it is mentioned in the Bhāgavatam, sa eva go-karaḥ. Why big scientists and philosophers have been described in the Bhāgavatam as fools and rascals? Because, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke ([[Vanisource:SB 10.84.13|SB 10.84.13]]). Because they consider this body as self. That is their fault. That is their ignorance. The Darwin's theory, this theory, that theory, simply they are bewildered, thinking this body is the self. The body's developing or evolution ... No. So all our senses should be engaged in the service of the Lord. That is perfection. It is indirectly being said in these verses that if our senses are not engaged in the service of the Lord, then it is dead. Śāvau. Śāvau karau no kurute saparyām. Just like a dead man, he has got his legs and hands, but he cannot employ it for any service. It is now flat. Actually, it is flat, but because within the body there is the soul, who is eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, if he does not come to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness platform and does not engage himself in the service of the Lord, then his hands, legs, heads, everything is dead body's head. The decoration of dead body. This is the conclusion.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB6127HonoluluMay271976_7" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="645" link="Lecture on SB 6.1.27 -- Honolulu, May 27, 1976" link_text="Lecture on SB 6.1.27 -- Honolulu, May 27, 1976">
<div class="heading">If one is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, bhāgavata-bhakti-vihīnasya, then his big nationality, jatiḥ, his achievement, japas tapaḥ, his activities, everything bhagavad-bhakti-vihīnasya jatiḥ japas tapaḥ kriyaḥ, all these things are like decoration of the dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 6.1.27 -- Honolulu, May 27, 1976|Lecture on SB 6.1.27 -- Honolulu, May 27, 1976]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So this is all foolish things, that "God is dead," "I don't care for God." But God, actually, God is not dead. You are dead. You are dead actually because this body, the bodily concept of life, this body is dead. Just like you are driving one car. But if you think that "I'm the car..." The car is dead. The car is moving because you are alive. Similarly, this dead body, this body is dead, already dead from the very beginning, but it is moving on account of the soul. This is knowledge. It is dead from the very beginning. Therefore in the śāstra it is said that... What is that? I am just now forgetting. Oh, aprāṇasya hi dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. Aprāṇasya hi dehasya. Deha, deha means this body. So either it is dead or alive, it has no life. Aprāṇasya hi dehasya. Deha, he is not alive. It is always dead. Simply we understand, because we are foolish rascals, we understand that this body is dead when the soul is away. The body is always dead. So bhagavad-bhakti-vihīnasya jatiḥ japas tapaḥ kriyaḥ. If one is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, bhāgavata-bhakti-vihīnasya, then his big nationality, jatiḥ, his achievement, japas tapaḥ, his activities, everything bhagavad-bhakti-vihīnasya jatiḥ japas tapaḥ kriyaḥ, all these things are like decoration of the dead body. Aprāṇasya hi dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. Maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. We are decorating this body with flower, ornaments, nice cloth. How long? So long the life is there. Then it is beautiful. Otherwise no one will do. If you garland... Suppose I become dead and you garland. It may be pleasing to somebody, but what is the value? There is no value.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="General_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="11" parent="Lectures" text="General Lectures"><h3>General Lectures</h3>
</div>
<div id="LectureatChristianMonasteryMelbourneApril61972_0" class="quote" parent="General_Lectures" book="Lec" index="107" link="Lecture at Christian Monastery -- Melbourne, April 6, 1972" link_text="Lecture at Christian Monastery -- Melbourne, April 6, 1972">
<div class="heading">This is the definition given in Vedic literature, that "If anyone develops God consciousness, then all the good qualities will develop automatically. And you give him all kinds of education, but if he is godless, it is all useless." That is compared with decorating the dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture at Christian Monastery -- Melbourne, April 6, 1972|Lecture at Christian Monastery -- Melbourne, April 6, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 5.18.12|SB 5.18.12]]). This is the definition given in Vedic literature, that "If anyone develops God consciousness, then all the good qualities will develop automatically. And you give him all kinds of education, but if he is godless, it is all useless." That is compared with decorating the dead body. Just like dead body. A dead body is decorated. So it may be a satisfaction for the relatives, but what is the use of it, decorating a dead body? Bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ japas tapaḥ kriyaḥ: "Great nationality, great work, great achievement, minus bhagavad-bhakti, God consciousness, is just like decorating the dead body." That's all. What is the use of decorating the dead body? Because actually this body is dead. As soon as the soul is away from this body, it is a lump of matter. So when the soul is off from the body, if somebody decorates that dead body, what is use? It is simply concoction. That's all. Therefore according to Vedic system, as soon as a body is dead, there is no question of decorating. Immediately burn it and finish. Make it into ashes. That's all. The body has no importance. Real, the soul is important, the living force. So we have no education about that living force, and the original living force is Kṛṣṇa, or God. So we have no information. So therefore this education is very, very essential, at least at the present moment. You may educate in any way—Christian way, Hindu way, Muslim—but educate all the people about God consciousness. Otherwise there is doom.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureTokyoApril291972withinterpreter_1" class="quote" parent="General_Lectures" book="Lec" index="113" link="Lecture -- Tokyo, April 29, 1972, (with interpreter)" link_text="Lecture -- Tokyo, April 29, 1972, (with interpreter)">
<div class="heading">Without any knowledge of the living force within this body, if we simply take care of our body, it is just like decorating a dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture -- Tokyo, April 29, 1972, (with interpreter)|Lecture -- Tokyo, April 29, 1972, (with interpreter)]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is on a different platform than this matter. It will be easier to understand that distinction between living body and dead body. So we are talking of the living portion of our existence. The living portion... We have got a living force within this body. Everyone can understand. As soon as that living force is out of this body, this body has no longer any value. It is thrown away on the street. So without any knowledge of the living force within this body, if we simply take care of our body, it is just like decorating a dead body. So do not take this movement as a sectarian, religious movement. It is practically a movement to bestow the essential knowledge of life to the human society.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="section" sec_index="5" parent="compilation" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2>
</div>
<div id="1973_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="6" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1973 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1973 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationFebruary251973Jakarta_0" class="quote" parent="1973_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="1" link="Room Conversation -- February 25, 1973, Jakarta" link_text="Room Conversation -- February 25, 1973, Jakarta">
<div class="heading">Suppose if there is dead body and you're decorating (indistinct) flower. That may be your sentiment because the dead body belongs to your father or mother, like that. It is pleasing to you, but actually what is the value? So similarly, this human civilization is meant for understanding God. If that sense is lacking then it is simply decoration of the dead body. That's all.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation -- February 25, 1973, Jakarta|Room Conversation -- February 25, 1973, Jakarta]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: The highest of the mankind means who has the knowledge of the Supreme. He's called highest, brāhmaṇa. Brahma-jānāti, one who knows Brahman. He's called highest. And the lowest means that he has got this body, human form of body, but he is acting like animal. Just like cats and dogs, they cannot understand what is God. So any person who is not understanding, or trying to understand what is God, he's the lowest of the mankind. Because in the human form of life, it is the chance to understand what is God, but he's misusing it. He's using this body just like cats and dogs. They eat, sleep, have sex intercourse, and die. So these things are there. But if somebody argues that you are saying lowest of the mankind but we see so many Dr. Radhakrishnans, they also do not admit. Therefore the word is used, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. They appear to be very highly learned scholars but their real knowledge has been taken by māyā. Māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. Āsuri- bhāva. Why he can remain so? Because āsuri-bhāva, there is no God. That is their determination. There is no God. Therefore their merit is being misused, they have become the lowest of the mankind. They have become the Fool No. 1 and all that so-called education, academics, knowledge has been taken away by māyā. This is... So we test only whether he's a devotee of God. If he's not a devotee of God then we take either of these: he must be the rascal, or lowest of the mankind, or simply using the merit for sinful activities, or his knowledge has been taken away by māyā. Immediately, we have no difficulty to understand what class of man he is. The test is whether he has got any sense of understanding God. If not then he comes to this group. It is not very difficult to study man, what he is. We have got the formula in the Bhagavad-gītā. (Hindi)</p>
<p>Devotee: Your explanation you've just given was so clear, Prabhupāda. We can easily see. It's so clear.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: (chuckling) Yes, this is the explanation. There is no second explanation. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ ([[Vanisource:BG 7.15 (1972)|BG 7.15]]). This is the only explanation. What explanation can you... Who can give another explanation? There is no second explanation. Bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ, aprāṇasyeva dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. It's like if you decorate the dead body. It may be pleasing to some relatives of the dead body, otherwise what is the value of it? Others will think, "What a foolish man, he is, that decorating the dea..." Suppose if there is dead body and you're decorating (indistinct) flower. That may be your sentiment because the dead body belongs to your father or mother, like that. It is pleasing to you, but actually what is the value? So similarly, this human civilization is meant for understanding God. If that sense is lacking then it is simply decoration of the dead body. That's all. There is no value.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="MorningWalkMay41973LosAngeles_1" class="quote" parent="1973_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="23" link="Morning Walk -- May 4, 1973, Los Angeles" link_text="Morning Walk -- May 4, 1973, Los Angeles">
<div class="heading">Decorating a dead body, yes. So this is another foolishness.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Morning Walk -- May 4, 1973, Los Angeles|Morning Walk -- May 4, 1973, Los Angeles]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Svarūpa Dāmodara: The smell we are getting now from burning the gas or coal is also one of the causes of cancer. The hydro-carbons.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes, the artificial life is the cause of all diseases. And they won't accept our natural life. That they think primitive, "We must advance." What is your advancement? Primitive life was also subjected to death. You are also subjected to death. So where is your advancement?</p>
<p>Svarūpa Dāmodara: Advancement in decorating the dead body.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: (laughs) Yes, yes. Decorating a dead body, yes. So this is another foolishness.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationSeptember21973London_2" class="quote" parent="1973_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="70" link="Room Conversation -- September 2, 1973, London" link_text="Room Conversation -- September 2, 1973, London">
<div class="heading">Layman's advancement is decoration of the dead body. If you decorate a dead body, you can feel satisfaction. But others will laugh, that "What a fool he is, he's decorating a dead body?"
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation -- September 2, 1973, London|Room Conversation -- September 2, 1973, London]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: Layman, well, layman means, we already explained, he's no better than animal. Because layman means one who thinks that "I am this body." He's layman. He has no other information. So layman is equal to animal. So layman's education, layman's advancement is decoration of the dead body. If you decorate a dead body, you can feel satisfaction. But others will laugh, that "What a fool he is, he's decorating a dead body?" Bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ, aprāṇasyeva dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. Layman's business is decorating this dead body, that's all.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1974_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1974 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1974 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationwithMrCHennisoftheInternationalLaborOrganizationoftheUNMay311974Geneva_0" class="quote" parent="1974_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="91" link="Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva" link_text="Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva">
<div class="heading">Anyone who has no brain, lost all brain, it is a dead body. So a dead body you can decorate to your full satisfaction, but what is the use of decorating a dead body?
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva|Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">C. Hennis: It's been very splendid, and I thank you very much indeed for giving me...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: (laughing) But I am very much, I mean, strict on this point, that if the society does not know what is sinful and what is pious, it is all useless.</p>
<p>C. Hennis: Well, let's hope that they'll be a...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: It can be a decoration. That we describe, "The decoration of the dead body." Anyone who has no brain, lost all brain, it is a dead body. So a dead body you can decorate to your full satisfaction, but what is the use of decorating a dead body?</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationwithMrCHennisoftheInternationalLaborOrganizationoftheUNMay311974Geneva_1" class="quote" parent="1974_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="91" link="Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva" link_text="Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva">
<div class="heading">The society has no brain; that means dead body. When a man's brain is gone, he is dead body, maybe he is living. He has no use. Just like a madman. He has got life, but what is the use of that life?
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva|Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: Wherever there is opportunity to instruct about this spiritual subject matter, we must go there. We should not have such discrimination, that city should be neglected. No. Why? They are also human being. They are misled. So we have to give them a little instruction. Everywhere. In cities there is possibility. Whatever we have collected, our men, that is from city, not from the village. So why should we neglect city? Where is the question? (break) All hobgoblin, the last word which I said, "dressing the dead body, decorating the dead body." The society has no brain; that means dead body. When a man's brain is gone, he is dead body, maybe he is living. He has no use. Just like a madman. He has got life, but what is the use of that life? It is already dead. Because his brain is deranged. Is it not? So if the brain is lost, brain is deranged, therefore it is dead body. That is the distinction between living body and dead body. A living man has got brain. He can work with his brain. And the dead bod... The body is there. Why call it dead? Because brain is not working. Brain is dead. That is the difference. Although the hand is there. The dead man has also hand. The leg is there. The dead man has also leg. But why the hand is leg? Because the brain is dead.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="MorningWalkJune121974Paris_2" class="quote" parent="1974_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="110" link="Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris" link_text="Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris">
<div class="heading">Your all acquisition is decoration of the dead body. That is a verse, aprāṇasya hi dehasya mandanaṁ loka-rañjanam. Loka-rañjanam. You can get some rascal and fool, some applause, "Oh, you are so nice. You are decorating dead body." But intelligent man will say "What a fool he is that he's decorating a dead body. That's all."
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris|Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Paramahaṁsa: But people today have reasoned God is dead with their intelligence.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: God is not dead. Your intelligence is dead. You have got a dead body, and you are proud of it. Eh? Decoration of the dead body. And you are decorating the dead body. The body's dead. That's a fact. Because as soon as you, soul, get out, it is dead body. But the body's already there. That means I am occupying a dead body. So long I am there, it is working only. But the body's dead. And you are decorating the dead body. You are so intelligent. You are interested with a dead body. And you have no intelligence to see that actually it is dead body. Because as soon as I will go away, it is dead body. The body is dead, but... Just like motor car. It is dead. If there is no petrol, it is dead. Similarly, your body is dead. Now try to understand. And if somebody decorates a dead body, is he very intelligent?</p>
<p>Bhagavān: No.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Then? Your all acquisition is decoration of the dead body. That is a verse, aprāṇasya hi dehasya mandanaṁ loka-rañjanam. Loka-rañjanam. You can get some rascal and fool, some applause, "Oh, you are so nice. You are decorating dead body." But intelligent man will say "What a fool he is that he's decorating a dead body. That's all."</p>
<p>Yogeśvara: It's like the story of the emperor's new clothes.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Eh?</p>
<p>Yogeśvara: There's a story about an emperor who commissioned a tailor to make some clothes for him. So the commissioner, the tailor, outsmarted him and told the king, "I have made you invisible clothes."</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Oh. (laughs)</p>
<p>Yogeśvara: So the king said, "Oh, how wonderful. I'm the only person with such clothes." So he wore the invisible clothes and went out in public. And because he was the king, everyone was saying, "Oh, just see how beautiful clothes he has." But then one simple person said: "Why is the king walking naked?"</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: So a simple person is more intelligent than the so-called sophisticated citizens. Decorating the dead body. I think in my Back to Godhead I wrote this article.</p>
<p>Bhagavān: One old Back to Godhead.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Eh?</p>
<p>Bhagavān: One old Back to Godhead.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes. "Decoration of the dead body."</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="MorningWalkJune121974Paris_3" class="quote" parent="1974_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="110" link="Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris" link_text="Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris">
<div class="heading">Who glorifies the body of man? We say it is dead body. Dead body means that does not need glorification. It is condemned. We say dead body, decoration of the dead body. We don't say art.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris|Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Paramahaṁsa: But their argument is that when you glorify the body of man with...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: We don't glorify the body of... Who glorifies the body of man? We say it is dead body. Dead body means that does not need glorification. It is condemned. We say dead body, decoration of the dead body. We don't say art.</p>
<p>Paramahaṁsa: Catholic Renaissance Art, they glorified the dead body. Leonardo da Vinci, they glorified the body of man.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: That is called bhūtejya. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as worshiping the material elements. That's all. Here in western countries, that is the prominent thing, bhūtejya.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="9" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1976 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1976 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
</div>
<div id="InterviewandConversationJuly81976WashingtonDC_0" class="quote" parent="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="196" link="Interview and Conversation -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C." link_text="Interview and Conversation -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C.">
<div class="heading">All this material advancement of civilization is very good, provided there is spiritual understanding also. Otherwise it is decoration of the dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Interview and Conversation -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C.|Interview and Conversation -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C.]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Interviewer: What is your opinion of what this movement should be doing in terms of world activities and world affairs that it isn't doing now? Are there some new areas that you may try to influence?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: No, we are pushing on this movement all over the world. It is not that this particular place is important, but our interest is that Western people... They are so intelligent. They are very systematically making improvement in material condition of life. They should know also that spiritual life is more important than material life. Because, for example, we are combination of matter and spirit. So long the spirit soul is there, our body is very important. Otherwise, without spirit, the body has no importance. Everyone can understand. Similarly, all this material advancement of civilization is very good, provided there is spiritual understanding also. Otherwise it is decoration of the dead body. A dead body decorated has no value, but when there is life, then the body is valuable. So material advancement of material civilization means decoration of the dead body. But when there is spiritual understanding, then there is importance of everything.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="ArrivalCommentsinCartoTempleJuly91976NewYork_1" class="quote" parent="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="199" link="Arrival Comments in Car to Temple -- July 9, 1976, New York" link_text="Arrival Comments in Car to Temple -- July 9, 1976, New York">
<div class="heading">Without spiritual consciousness we are dead. Because the body is dead. Because the spirit soul is there, therefore it is moving. The important point is the spirit soul. So if you are simply taking care of the body very nicely, that means you are decorating the dead body. What is the value of it? It is clear? The body is important because the soul is there.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Arrival Comments in Car to Temple -- July 9, 1976, New York|Arrival Comments in Car to Temple -- July 9, 1976, New York]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: They think that we unnecessarily criticize. But we require everything. But just like a man. When he's alive his decoration, his nice dress, everything is very good. But if he's dead, then it is useless. Similarly, without spiritual consciousness we are dead. Because the body is dead. Because the spirit soul is there, therefore it is moving. The important point is the spirit soul. So if you are simply taking care of the body very nicely, that means you are decorating the dead body. What is the value of it? It is clear? The body is important because the soul is there. So long the life is there, if you decorate the body everyone will appreciate. But if you decorate the dead body, people will say "What a fool he is!" Aprāṇasya hi dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. That is simply a popular applause, "Ah, the dead body is decorated," but what is the value of it? Similarly, without spiritual knowledge, this dead civilization simply on the bodily concept of life, it is ludicrous. That we have to condemn. Take Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then everything is... Just like one, if there is zero, then it is ten. Another zero, hundred. But without one, simply zero; it is only useless.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationAugust171976Hyderabad_2" class="quote" parent="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="271" link="Room Conversation -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad" link_text="Room Conversation -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad">
<div class="heading">Without bhagavad-bhakti, this so-called advancement of civilization is simply decorating the dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad|Room Conversation -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: (Hindi or Bengali)</p>
:bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
:jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
:aprāṇasyeva dehasya
:maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
<p>Without bhagavad-bhakti, this so-called advancement of civilization is simply decorating the dead body.</p>
<p>Guest: Correct. Cent percent correct.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: What is the use of decorating the dead body?</p>
<p>Guest: Correct. Yes. We must decorate real...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: And this body is... Either dead or alive, Bhagavad-gītā condemns, gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ ([[Vanisource:BG 2.11 (1972)|BG 2.11]]). So these rascals are interested with this body, and they're proud of their advancement of education. Bhagavad-gītā says nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. So they are passing as great scientists, philosophers, politicians, philanthropists, but all apaṇḍitāḥ. Nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. That means apaṇḍita. (Bengali) The first thing of Bhagavad-gītā lesson is that aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādān ([[Vanisource:BG 2.11 (1972)|BG 2.11]]). "Talking like a learned man, but you are rascal." Apaṇḍitaḥ. One who is not educated, he's a rascal. So He's indirectly saying, "This kind of lamentation is not for the paṇḍita. It is for the rascal." So whole world is interested with this body, and Bhagavad-gītā's teaching begins condemning the concept of body. Gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ ([[Vanisource:BG 2.13 (1972)|BG 2.13]]). Nobody knows this. And they are very learned scholars in Bhagavad-gītā. All these rascals, they're claiming to be learned scholar of Bhagavad-gītā.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1977_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="10" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1977 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1977 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationJanuary201977Bhuvanesvara_0" class="quote" parent="1977_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="35" link="Room Conversation -- January 20, 1977, Bhuvanesvara" link_text="Room Conversation -- January 20, 1977, Bhuvanesvara">
<div class="heading">If one accepts that Christ says, "Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not do this," if one is actually a person with soul, they must accept this. Otherwise where is the use? Dead body. The same thing, as we say, aprāṇasya hi dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. What is the use of decorating a dead body?
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation -- January 20, 1977, Bhuvanesvara|Room Conversation -- January 20, 1977, Bhuvanesvara]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: ...for life that it is a dead body. A dead body. So what is the use of decorating a dead body? So if anyone accepts Christ actually and his instruction, then it proves that he has got a good soul. Otherwise what... He's dead body. That's a fact. If one accepts that Christ says, "Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not do this," if one is actually a person with soul, they must accept this. Otherwise where is the use? Dead body. The same thing, as we say, aprāṇasya hi dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. What is the use of decorating a dead body? A dead body means soul-less. When the soul is not there, it is called dead body. So even one has got the soul, but he does not act... They possesses the soul. Then it is dead body.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationwithRatanSinghRajdaMPNationalismandCheatingApril151977Bombay_1" class="quote" parent="1977_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="138" link="Room Conversation with Ratan Singh Rajda M.P. 'Nationalism and Cheating' -- April 15, 1977, Bombay" link_text="Room Conversation with Ratan Singh Rajda M.P. 'Nationalism and Cheating' -- April 15, 1977, Bombay">
<div class="heading">Bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ tapaḥ. "All austerity, penance, everything is just like decorating the dead body." Just like a body minus life, so what is the use of decorating with sal and silcram(?). Similarly, any person who may be very highly posted, but if he has no bhagavad-bhakti, then it is decoration.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation with Ratan Singh Rajda M.P. 'Nationalism and Cheating' -- April 15, 1977, Bombay|Room Conversation with Ratan Singh Rajda M.P. 'Nationalism and Cheating' -- April 15, 1977, Bombay]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Indian (1): Practicing the principle of Bhagavad-gītā. So to him we can appeal.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes.</p>
<p>Indian (1): And it will, appeal go straight home.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: And therefore I am so much on the..., that a man, harāv abhakta. He is bhagavad-bhakta. (Hindi) This is another proposition.</p>
:bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
:jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
:aprāṇasyeva dehasya
:maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
<p>"Anyone who has no devotional life, for him, belonging to the great family great nation, jāti..." Bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ tapaḥ. "All austerity, penance, everything is just like decorating the dead body." Just like a body minus life, so what is the use of decorating with sal and silcram(?). Similarly, any person who may be very highly posted, but if he has no bhagavad-bhakti, then it is decoration.</p>
:bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
:jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
:aprāṇasyeva dehasya
:maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
<dd>That is little applause from the foolish public.</dd>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
</div>
<div id="1974_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="9" parent="Correspondence" text="1974 Correspondence"><h3>1974 Correspondence</h3>
</div>
<div id="LettertoSadajeewatlaljiBombay20November1974_0" class="quote" parent="1974_Correspondence" book="Let" index="585" link="Letter to Sadajeewatlalji -- Bombay 20 November, 1974" link_text="Letter to Sadajeewatlalji -- Bombay 20 November, 1974">
<div class="heading">A big nation, a big worker, a big ascetic, and all similar big attempts, if they are devoid of bhagavad-bhakti, or devotional service, then such high qualities are exactly like the decoration of the dead body.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Sadajeewatlalji -- Bombay 20 November, 1974|Letter to Sadajeewatlalji -- Bombay 20 November, 1974]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Your attempt is very good, but be guided by the Vedic principles. The Vedic principles are mentioned clearly in the Bhagavad-gita by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna. If we follow the principles, then our attempt in any field of activities will be successful. But if we follow the pasandis who are mayayapahrta jnana, then any attempt to ameliorate the condition of the general people will be a failure. There are many politicians, social workers, and philanthropists all over the world, but their attempt has not been successful on account of theor knowledge being plundered by maya.</p>
<p>It will be my great pleasure to give you guidance from the Bhagavad-gita As It Is in your this great enterprise. You are free to consult me at any time. If you follow actually the principles of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, there it is said if one does not follow the principles of sastra then he does not get happiness neither any good result of his fruitive activities.</p>
<p>So we should not be confused in the matter of violating the orders given by Lord Krishna. bhagavad-bhakti-hinasya/ jatih sastram janas tanah/ apranasyaiva dehasya/ mandanam loka-ranjanam. A big nation, a big worker, a big ascetic, and all similar big attempts, if they are devoid of bhagavad-bhakti, or devotional service, then such high qualities are exactly like the decoration of the dead body.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1976_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="11" parent="Correspondence" text="1976 Correspondence"><h3>1976 Correspondence</h3>
</div>
<div id="LettertoTustaKrsnaHyderabad23August1976_0" class="quote" parent="1976_Correspondence" book="Let" index="462" link="Letter to Tusta Krsna -- Hyderabad 23 August, 1976" link_text="Letter to Tusta Krsna -- Hyderabad 23 August, 1976">
<div class="heading">Generally people are spoiling their lives for decorating the dead body and giving no attention at all to the spirit soul within. Our business is just the opposite, to give more time to the spiritual life and accept material necessities only as required.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Tusta Krsna -- Hyderabad 23 August, 1976|Letter to Tusta Krsna -- Hyderabad 23 August, 1976]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Generally people are spoiling their lives for decorating the dead body and giving no attention at all to the spirit soul within. Our business is just the opposite, to give more time to the spiritual life and accept material necessities only as required. This makes life perfect. This is the Vedic way of life. We do not reject or accept anything until it is seen in the light of our Krsna Consciousness Movement. Anything favorable for Krsna consciousness we accept and anything unfavorable we reject, anukulasya sankalpah pratikulyam-vivarjanam.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>