Category:Miseries of Life
Theme Analysis
Śrīla Prabhupāda presents a comprehensive analysis of the condition of the living entity within the material world, emphasizing that suffering is an intrinsic aspect of material existence. He explains that the soul, although spiritual and naturally blissful, becomes covered by material contamination and is consequently subjected to the threefold miseries. The analysis distinguishes between superficial temporary sufferings and the fundamental problems of existence—birth, death, old age, and disease—asserting that true freedom is only possible through the revival of one's original consciousness.
- The Threefold Miseries: The material world subjects the living entity to three specific types of suffering: those arising from the body and mind (adhyatmika), those inflicted by other living entities (adhibhautika), and those caused by natural disturbances (adhidaivika).
- The Four Real Problems: While society attempts to mitigate temporary inconveniences, the real miseries of life are birth, death, old age, and disease, which cannot be solved by material science or economic development.
- Futility of Material Solutions: Artificial methods such as intoxication, suicide, or technological advancement are condemned as ineffective attempts to escape misery, often leading to further entanglement and suffering in future bodies.
- The Illusion of Happiness: Material happiness is described as a temporary cessation of misery or a hallucination born of forgetfulness; true happiness is absent as long as one is bound by the laws of karma and nature.
- The Ultimate Solution: Freedom from misery is not achieved by negation alone but by positive engagement in devotional service (bhakti-yoga), surrender to the Supreme Lord, and hearing from bona fide spiritual sources.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Freedom from Threefold Miseries of Life.
Pages in category "Miseries of Life"
The following 57 pages are in this category, out of 57 total.
1
A
- A pure devotee does not want liberation so that he may be relieved from the miseries of life. Even without so-called liberation, a pure devotee is aspirant for the satisfaction of the Lord
- Although the living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and is fully cognizant, he nonetheless becomes entrapped by material contamination and suffers all the miseries of material life
- As long as one is interested in karma and jnana, he continues enduring the miseries of material life - birth, old age, disease and death
B
- Bhagavad-gita is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. And the result will be, if he properly follows the instruction, then he can be freed from all miseries of life, all anxieties of life and all fears of life
- Both the brahmanandis and the premanandis are transcendentalists, and they have nothing to do with the inferior, material nature full of the existential miseries of life
- By surrendering (unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead), one will not only be released from all miseries in this life, but at the end he will reach the Supreme God
- By the laws of nature one is offered another body to fulfill his unsatisfied desires, and upon taking birth again, accepting another material body, one voluntarily accepts the threefold miseries of life
E
- Even though there are so many miseries in materialistic family life, he cannot break free. Why? He thinks that sex life and eating palatable dishes are most important. Therefore, in spite of so many miserable conditions, he cannot give them up
- Every one of us wants to remove the miseries of life, but we do not know how to do it. The solution is given here, and it rests on us to assimilate it or not
F
- Foolish people who are after more wealth, more wives and more children worship various demigods. The aim of life is to end the miseries of life and not to increase them
- Fools who cannot perceive repeated birth and death and the other miseries of materialistic life cannot be sure of what will happen to them in their next birth
H
- Hearing from the perfect source of the Supreme Being, one can get answers to solve the miseries of life, which begins with self-realization
- Herein (SB 2.2.6) it is suggested that anyone who wants to make an end to these miseries of life, namely repetition of birth, death, disease, and old age, must take to this process of worshiping the Supreme Lord and not others
I
- I have got this body. I am suffering. I am undergoing threefold miseries, threefold miserable condition of life. Why I shall make another body, again undergo the threefold miseries of life
- If your misery comes by nature, your happiness will also come by nature. Don't bother about it. That is the instruction of Prahlada Maharaja. If you receive the miseries of life without effort, you will similarly achieve happiness without effort
- In the laws of nature if you commit suicide, that is another criminal act. So suicidal policy, to end this misery of life, is not all
- In the material conception, one thinks himself to be the Lord of all he surveys; consequently he is always troubled by the threefold miseries of life
- It is not possible to make a solution to the miseries of life by artificial intoxication. The solution is made by Krsna consciousness
M
- Material society, friendship and love are all different phases of lust. Home, country, family, society, wealth and all sorts of corollaries are all causes of bondage in the material world, where the threefold miseries of life are concomitant factors
- Materialistic persons are very enthusiastic to maintain their family members, wife and children, and that there are also many mystic speculators who are engaged in speculating about liberation from the miseries of material life
- Maya inflicts the miseries of material life upon the jiva. If a person artificially tries to be something he is not, then he can expect only misery
N
- No one can adjust the sufferings of material existence, but by spiritual culture one can elevate himself from the effects of such miserable life
- No one is interested in inquiring about this matter (Why one is forced to suffer the threefold miseries of material life). Moksa, liberation, means getting free from the threefold miseries of life as well as birth, old age, disease and death
O
- One may be materially, academically very learned, so-called learned, but he does not know what is the aim of life, why he's put in this material condition, ke ami kene amaya jare tapa-traya. They are trying, tapa-traya, and miseries of life
- One must realize the nullity of the material phenomenon, considering it a passing phantasmagoria, and must endeavor to make a solution to the miseries of life
- One should simply surrender unto the feet of God to make a solution to all miseries of life. That is the instruction of Krsna directly in the Bhagavad-gita, and of Srimad-Bhagavatam by Brahma, the supreme father of all living beings
P
S
- Simply by knowing this science of Krsna, if we can get liberation from these material miseries of life, why should we not try for this? Let us try for Krsna consciousness. It is a very nice subject matter and very easy
- So this is not the solution. You cannot make a solution of the misery of your life by artificial intoxication. That is not possible. You have to make the solution by this Krsna consciousness
- Sri Narada Muni personally experienced that the most feasible and practical way to open the path of salvation or get relief from all miseries of life is to hear submissively the transcendental activities of the Lord from the right and bona fide sources
- Such misery of human life is distinct from the natural comfortable life enjoyed even by the animals
- Such wonderful topics always counteract the miseries of the materialistic way of life. Therefore great sages like Narada always speak upon Srimad-Bhagavatam because it gives one the facility to hear and chant about the wonderful activities of the Lord
- Suffering without knowledge or remedy, means animal life, one who cannot understand his suffering & thinks, "Oh, I am very well off. I am very well situated." But that is animal consciousness. One should be cognizant of the threefold miseries of life
T
- The entire world is under the illusion that people will be happy by advancing in materialistic measures to counteract the miseries of conditional life, but this attempt will never be successful
- The lowest of fools do not understand material miseries; they pass their lives merrily and do not inquire into the miseries of life
- The miseries of life are divided into three categories, namely miseries arising from the body and mind, miseries arising from other living entities, and miseries arising due to natural calamities
- The miseries of life, namely birth, death, old age and diseases, are present everywhere within the material world. BG 1972 purports
- The real miseries of life is birth, death, old age and disease. You cannot do anything. So where is your advancement of knowledge? The scientists cannot stop death, cannot stop birth
- The whole Vedic philosophy of life is that one should get rid of the material encagement of gross and subtle bodies, which only cause one to continue in a condemned life of miseries
- There are many mystic speculators who are engaged in speculating about liberation from the miseries of material life and who therefore undergo various austerities and penances
- There are sufferings imposed by natural phenomena. So because we have got this body, we are subjected to threefold miseries of life. And we are hankering after eternal life, blissful life, life of knowledge
- They (the impersonalists) misunderstand the miseries of prison life to be the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. This is due to their poor fund of knowledge
- They have many subject matters for hearing - political, scientific, social, economic and so on - but due to a poor fund of knowledge, they set aside the question of the ultimate miseries of life, namely miseries of birth, death, old age and disease
- To end the unwanted miseries of life, one must become a devotee
W
- We are embarrassed with the material miseries of life. That has not been solved. The major questions have been set aside. Simply by thinking that "There is no God. We are God. Science is everything," oh, do you think that is advancement of knowledge? No
- We can manufacture something that will accelerate death, but nothing that will stop death. Those who are intelligent, however, are not concerned with the fourfold miseries of material life, but with elevation to the spiritual planets
- We should not simply be trying to end the miseries of this life simply out of frustration, but we should engage ourselves in activities that will raise us to spiritual life
- When the living entity now covered by the modes of material nature is freed from ignorance, passion, and so-called goodness, he becomes one with the Absolute Truth. Such oneness is called mukti, or freedom from the miseries of material life
- When we defy the laws of God, we are put into threefold miseries of life. That is called material existence. And when we abide by the laws of God, then we are happy. We should know this fact