Advanced Civilization

     The common understanding of an Advanced Civilization in today's context is to be advanced in Technology, having a comfortable lifestyle, Earning Lots of money and having enough or rather lavish facilities to enjoy the senses to the fullest. This is the yard stick that is generally used to gauge the Advancement in Civilization. Owing to this yardstick Countries like United States of America, Great Britain etc are considered as First world Countries and more advanced in civilization then others. Undoubtedly these countries are advanced as far as Material comforts and Technology is concerned , however the ancient Vedic scriptures of India have a different perspective on Advancement in Civilization.

    

     As per Bhagavad Gita, the living entities in this world are not the material bodies which is visible with the eyes, but they are eternal spirit souls possessing different kinds of bodies. It is something  like a driver sitting in a car where Car is compared to the material bodies and the driver is compared to the spirit soul. So the material body is dead in itself and cannot be animated unless the spirit soul resides in it, just like a car cannot move without a driver.

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraḿ yauvanaḿ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati [ B.G. 2.13]

" As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change"

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
nāyaḿ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaḿ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [ B.G. 2.20]

"For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."

The above verses from Bhagavad Gita, suggest that the living entity is not the body but is the soul within the body which changes its body from boyhood to youthhood to old age, and the soul does not die or take birth but is eternal.

So from Vedic point of view, the civilization is centered around advancement of the spirit soul and not of the temporary material body. This means that the defination of Advancement as per Vedic terms is advancement in spiritual consciousness, which leads one to understand their real identity as spirit souls and eternal loving servants of the Supreme Soul Sri Krsna or God. As per great thinkers and philoshophers of the Vedic science the allotted time of a human being should be utilized in advancing spirtually and accept whatever is needed to keep the soul and the body together to perform Krsna Conscious or God Conscious activity.

Spending more than required time on material advancment is considered to be a waste of time  in this all precious human form of life. Since this most intelligent form of life is obtained after passing through 8, 400, 000 speicies of life forms in innumerable lifetimes, and spending this time in human body for advancement of temporary material things which will be taken away at death is considered less intelligent. More so, even if materially a person is opulent and very successful, he still cannot feel happy because of his misidentificaiton of the body as the self. Since the soul is the real  identity of a living entity , one has to perform activities conducive to please the soul instead of the body, in order to enjoy. For example if the a bird in the cage is not fed and only the cage is taken care of nicely, the bird will soon die due to neglect and suffering. So inorder to enjoy or eternally feel happy one has to enquire about the characteristics of the soul. As per the scriptures spirit soul is a minute particle of the Supreme soul Sri Krsna or God and only by pleasing Krsna the spirit soul can feel happy , Just like,  by watering the roots of a plant all the leaves are nourished also.

  Coming back to our topic on Advancement in Civilization , if we observe closely we find that the modern advanced civilizations are just doing the opposite, they are using their entire energy and time in this human form of body, to build big " worlds tallest builings", great man made monuments to attract tourists , increasing the facilities for sense enjoyment like, casinos, bars, restaurants, movies etc and using all the technology available inorder to improve techniques and methods of increaing material comforts. Which as per the Vedic yard stick is a mere waste of time, energy and opportunity lost in the human body. The premise for such a behaviour is manily due to the lack of basic knowledge about the self. Today though we have educational institutions which are drawing heavy tuition fees to provide infrastructural and technological facilities, we are still ignorant about our own self and hence there is no satisfaction or happiness, since we are trying to become happy by improving our  outer dress only without trying to take care of the real body.

  Vedic Wisdom, of which Bhagavad Gita is the essence, can help the misguided population to understand the real interest of every human being and has the capacity to  changes lifes for good to provide with peace and happiness for which everyone is hankering today. It is evident , that our educations have made us good artist rather than knowledgable persons, what we consider knowledge for example in understanding computer technology , in constructing high rise buildings and etc is a mere art , since it by this knowledge we are not able to solve the real problems of life that are birth , death , old age and disease. Bhagavad Gita explains what real knowledge is

vidya-vinaya-sampanne

brahmane gavi hastini

suni caiva sva-pake ca

panditah sama-darsinah [ B.g. 5.18]

"The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]. "

amanitvam adambhitvam
ahimsa ksantir arjavam
acaryopasanam saucam
sthairyam atma-vinigrahah


indriyarthesu vairagyam
anahankara eva ca
janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-
duhkha-dosanudarsanam


asaktir anabhisvangah
putra-dara-grhadisu
nityam ca sama-cittatvam
istanistopapattisu


mayi cananya-yogena
bhaktir avyabhicarini
vivikta-desa-sevitvam
aratir jana-samsadi


adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam
tattva-jnanartha-darsanam
etaj jnanam iti proktam
ajnanam yad ato 'nyatha  [ B.g. Verses 13.8-13.12]

"Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; non attachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth--all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance. "

Above verses describe what true knowledge is and what we receive in our today's educational systems is by far nowhere near to what is defined as knowledge. Also in the vedic vocabulary ignorance is compared to darkness and knowledge is compared to light, since one cannot see any thing in darkness similarly even after receiving Masters, and PhD degrees from the vedic point of view we cannot see the reality, since we have not even touched true knowledge about the soul. And there can be no advancement without knowledge or in other words we cannot make any advancement of civilization when we are in ignorance of our identity as spirit souls. So it is imperative that we take to this process of understanding the true knowledge from the Vedic wisdom and Bhagavad Gita AS it is which is readily available, and correct our misidentificaiton and wrong notions on Advancement Of Civilization.

 The modern advancement can be termed as " advancement " not of civilization but of destruction, by increasing the technology and other material comforts, we have given rise to unemployment, wars, depression, greed, lust , disease  and pollution . We have ecologically put nature into imbalance and hence we see the problems we face with the untimely weathers.

 The need of the hour is not a more advanced computer system, but a process to educate people about their identities and encouraging activities pertaining to their spiritual nature , in order to change the consciousness of the human society. The best method recommended to achieve this for this age of Kali is  chanting the holy names of God, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare collectively and individually as confirmed in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

kaler doña-nidhe räjann

asti hy eko mahän guëaù

kértanäd eva kåñëasya

mukta-saìgaù paraà vrajet [ S.B. 12.3.51]

"My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mahä-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom."

Human form of life

Over the years modern science has speculated and researched to find out the number of species on earth, the method that main stream science has adopted is experimental which is commonly known as "seeing is believing", but without going much in detail regarding the imperfectness of this method, which is based on imperfect senses of the human being and imperfectness of the instruments developed by the human beings by these imperfect senses, it is extremely difficult to understand or gauge the vast variety of species that inhibit this tiny planet earth in the entire universe.


For those who have faith and logical thinking can ponder on the information given in the ancient Vedic Writings like the Srimad Bhagavatam about the construction and constitution of this material universe of which our earth is  but a tiny speck. In connection to this, the Vedas give us a exact statistics of the number of inhabitants in this entire universe. As per the Vedic Writings among the living entities there are many species which can be seen in our ordinary experience. Vedic literature gives a detailed statistics on the number of species of different living entities that are present in the universe, which is as follows

jalajä nava lakñäëi sthavarä lakña-viàçati kåmayo rudra-saìkhyakaù, pakñiëäà daça-lakñaëam, girimsa lakhani pasau manuñyäù catur-lakñäëi

"  There are 900,000 species of aquatic animals, 2,000,000 species of immovable beings like the trees and  vegetation, 1,100,000 species of reptiles and insects, 1,000,000 species of birds , 3,000,000 species of four legged beasts  and 400, 000 species of human beings."

From the statistics seen above it is evident that the human species are less in number as compared to others. Moreover human body is endowed with advanced intelligence than the other species of life. Humans are termed as rational beings, since our body has the intelligence and capability of distinguishing  right from wrong, acquiring knowledge and using our brain to accomplish many tasks.
Further the Vedic Scriptures inform us that even within  the 400, 000 species of human beings many are uncivilized , like the aborigines, they are similar to animals , in the sense that they are intelligent enough to cater to the basic necessities of eating , sleeping, mating and defending. Human body is unique in many ways , but the most precious gift that human body has is the advanced intelligence. This intelligence has been bestowed upon human beings for a higher purpose. Vedic texts inform that this intelligence  should be used to enquire about the Supreme Person " atatho Brahman jijnasa"  which means Now enquire about the Absolute Truth.

This verse conveys a very strong meaning. It says " Now" you enquire about the Absolute Truth, this implies that now we have a suitable body  and necessary facilities in the form of human form to enquire about the Absolute truth. Out of 8,400,000 species of life, only Human form of life is gifted with a higher intelligence , by which it is possible to enquire and understand the source of our existence and achieve eternal happiness. Now the question is why should I endeavor so much to understand the source, I might have come from somewhere , but now I have this form , I will enjoy as much as I can , what is the need to understand the supreme. As per the Vedic literature, even though you may be the richest man in this world , the opulence that you receive is temporary, since as per the law of Karma whatever actions you have performed in this life will determine your next life, so if one only enjoys by eating , sleeping, mating and defending in this human form of life, which is done by animals in a better way, by natures law one will be degraded to the animal form again. It is mentioned in the Vedic literatures that  every living entity has to gradually evolve from these various species of life to obtain this most valuable human form of life. Hence one has to go through numerous species of life forms, becoming a tree ,snake,  rat, cat, dog, pig , etc and after going through each of these 8,400,000 species of life forms one receives the benediction of this human form of life.

 Hence it is a rare opportunity and if one wastes this opportunity only in sense gratification, simply using his intelligence for satisfying the basic necessities of life i.e eating, sleeping , mating  and defending in a sophisticated way , is considered most unfortunate and foolish as per the Vedic literature. This is compared to a person , who receives a million dollars and does not invest it to gain profits in the future, and instead insanely exhausts it by spending it only for his leisure and finally becomes bankrupt again. The human body is a platform  from which,  by utilizing it properly to perform activities conducive to advanced spiritual life can go to higher planets or even Back to Godhead where he does not face the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease OR  one can misuse it  and waste his life in false pursuits to satisfy the senses  which will only drag him down to the hellish regions and again to continue the process of birth ,death old age and disease through 8,400,000 species of life.

   The current Age of Kali, is called the age of quarrel and disagreement, this is the age,where the people are always anxious and quarrelling on trivial issues, mostly people are less intelligence and do not have much interest in spiritual topics. People in this age have short life spans and are very unfortunate because they are cheated very often, People are short sighted, and passionate. In short as Sukadeva Goswami said to Parikshit Maharaj, that this Age of Kali is a ocean of faults, but by chanting the holy names of God , i.e , Hare Krsna Hare Krnsa Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama  Hare Hare, one can become liberated  without much endeavor, this is the only good thing about this age.

kaler doña-nidhe räjann
asti hy eko mahän guëaù
kértanäd eva kåñëasya
mukta-saìgaù paraà vrajet  [ S.B. 12.3.51]
 
"My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom."
 
So in this Age of Kali , it is very difficult to expect an ordinary man to read and understand the importance of Human form of life, only by saintly association and chanting the holy names of God, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare , can ones mind be cleansed of all the anxieties and he will be able to understand the unique gift of  this human form of body.

The Three modes of Material nature

In Bhagavad Gita 14th Chapter, Lord Krsna explains the Three modes of natures that are controlling the activities of all the living entities in the material world. Lord Krsna says,

sattvaḿ rajas tama iti

guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ

nibadhnanti mahā-bāho

dehe dehinam avyayam [ B.g 14.5]

"Material nature consists of three modes — goodness, passion and ignorance. When the eternal living entity comes in contact with nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he becomes conditioned by these modes."

 These three modes control the activities of the pure living entity in this world based on their desires and permitted by their karma. It is very important to understand these three modes of nature and how they act upon a living entity, In the Bhagavad Gita for our understanding Lord Krsna gives the symptoms by which one can recognise these three modes in a person. 

" The manifestations of the mode of goodness can be experienced when all the gates of the body are illuminated by knowledge. [ B.g. 14.11]"
"O chief of the Bhāratas, when there is an increase in the mode of passion the symptoms of great attachment, fruitive activity, intense endeavor, and uncontrollable desire and hankering develop.[ B.g 14.12]"
"When there is an increase in the mode of ignorance, O son of Kuru, darkness, inertia, madness and illusion are manifested." [ B.g.14.13]

Moreover he also explains that mode of goodness is purer than the other two modes of nature viz passion and ignorance, Since in mode of goodness one develops knowledge.

tatra sattvaḿ nirmalatvāt
prakāśakam anāmayam
sukha-sańgena badhnāti
jñāna-sańgena cānagha [ B.g 14.6]

"O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode become conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge."


Srila Prabhupada says in his purport that mode of goodness is better than the others because in this mode one is able to see all the things in their right prespective and hence it gives chance to develop devotional service to Godhead.  So if one wants to develop this Love for Godhead and become eternally blissful he has to work inorder to maintain this mode of goodness and eventually transcend this . Modes of passion and ignorance are not conducive qualities for developing devotional service and hence they should be completely avoided.

Just like inorder to become a Masters of Science one has to atleast have a Bachelor's deegree , similarly inorder to develop the transcendental love for Godhead one has to be situated in the mode of goodness atleast, that is a pre- requisite. It is for this reason as Srila Prabhupada explains, that the four regulative principles viz no meat eating, no intoxication, no gambling and no illicit sex  have to be followed strictly for whoever is interested in spiritual progress. Since these four acitivies are considered to be the four pillars of sinful life and prominently are in the mode of passion and ignorance, avoiding them will help in cultivating the mode of goodness.

As explained by Lord Sri Krsna in Bhagavad Gita, these three modes are constantly competing to gain supremacy

rajas tamaś cābhibhūya
sattvaḿ bhavati bhārata
rajaḥ sattvaḿ tamaś caiva
tamaḥ sattvaḿ rajas tathā [ B.G. 14.10]

"Sometimes the mode of goodness becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance, O son of Bharata. Sometimes the mode of passion defeats goodness and ignorance, and at other times ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy."

In this case one has to very firmly practice the four regulative principles and at the same time Chant the holy names of the Lord Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare to cleanse the dirt from the heart or in other words to cleanse the  affects of mode of passion and mode of ignorance to remain constantly situated in the mode of goodness. In age of Kaliyuga chanting the holy names of the Lord is the recommended process as mentioned in the scriptures.

harer näma harer näma
harer nämaiva kevalam
kalau nästy eva nästy eva
nästy eva gatir anyathä [ C.c adi 17.21]

“‘In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari."

Mode of goodness though conducive to attain devotional service is not the target, since even in the mode of goodness, the living entity is not liberated. So the ultimate aim is to transcend all these three modes of material nature and be situated in transcedence as confirmed by Bhagavad Gita

guṇān etān atītya trīn
dehī deha-samudbhavān
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair
vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute [ Bg. 14.20]

"When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life."

From all these evidences it is very clear that inorder to be happy in this life and to make a permanent solution to all the problems, one has to transcend these three modes of nature viz goodness, passion and ignorance. But as we see around us, we only see these modes to be in prominence in every part of the globe, practically more than 95% of the human society is being conditioned by modes of passion and ignorance. An employee in a company is continously motivated to develop the mode of passion in order to be promoted or for that matter to keep the job itself, the media is constantly bombarding peoples mind with images of sex, violence, cheating etc, schools and colleges are only imparting technical knowledge which will fetch them good jobs only without teaching the value of life. If we consider our current situation, and compare the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, we  can understand that no wonder people  are unhappy. Be it the richest nation of the world America or a poor country like India.  There is no science in any university which teaches how to transcend these three modes of material nature and become happy as recommended by Lord Sri Krsna. the mode of goodness which is the first step towards understanding God, has become very scarce. Hence it is a very precarious condition that we are in and it needs to be addressed with great concern, but unfortunately there is not many people interested in this and only the devotees of the Lord all over the world are trying to make menial efforts to make this science understandable. The statement  of Sukadeva Goswami in Srimad Bhagavatam when he was speaking to Maharaja Parikshit, which was documented about  5000 years ago appear to be coming true.

kaler doña-nidhe räjann
asti hy eko mahän guëaù
kértanäd eva kåñëasya
mukta-saìgaù paraà vrajet [ S.B. 12.3.51]

"My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mahä-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom."

Chant and be happy

 Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare