Shukadeva Gosvami advised, "You hear about Krishna. This is the most important subject matter."

Profound conversations to make you happy

Shukadeva Gosvami explains the science of Krishna consciousness to Maharaja Parikshit over the last 7 days of his life

Subject matters fit for human beings

Rajendra Maharaja Parikshit – rajendra means the emperor of the world – he was taking instruction at the point of his death. ... King Parikshit was just awaiting his death within seven days. Therefore he was consulting learned sages what to do. So Shukadeva Gosvami advised, "You hear about Krishna. This is the most important subject matter."

... The human society has got many thousands varieties of subject matter to hear. Just like newspapers... in every country, they are being published not only once, twice, thrice, four times in a day and they are giving news of the city and the subject matters are very important, say, for two minutes or five minutes, then the newspaper is thrown away, nobody cares for it.

But people have got the tendency to hear. That is a fact. Now, what subject matter you are interested to hear, that depends on your quality. Because the whole world is running on under three qualitative divisions. And under these three qualitative divisions, some of them are very intelligent class of men, some of them are administrator class of men, some of them are trader class of men, some of them simply worker. So this subject matter is also divided into three groups according to the quality of the readers or hearers.

Here Shukadeva Gosvami says, "For ordinary general people, there are many thousands varieties of subject matter for hearing." Just like you have got, especially in your country, so many varieties of magazines. So some time ago I was seeing that there is a society, Diabetic Society. All the diabetic persons are members of the society and they have got magazine, and that is also distributed very widely. So that is nice division, different division. ... So Shukadeva Gosvami says the subject matter for hearing for the people in general, there are varieties, varieties. Why varieties? Why not one? Why people are not interested in one subject matter? That is replied in the next line: Shrotavyadini rajendra nrinam santi sahasrashah, apashyatam atma-tattvam [Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.2]. Apashyatam means those who are blind. Pashya means to see, a [prefix] means negation. Those who are blind, those who cannot see, what is that? Atma-tattvam. Apashyatam atma-tattvam: Those who are blind to the subject matter of self-realization.

There is a subject matter of self-realization. Just like we are body, mind, and soul. The soul is covered by the underwear – mind, intelligence, and ego, and the underwear is covered by the gross coat, this body. This is our position. So those who are blind to the subject matter of the soul, those who are thinking "I am this body," they are very less intelligent class. They are almost animal. The animal cannot think beyond his body. A dog is thinking, "I am this body." The cat is thinking, "I am this body." Beyond this he has no power. He is so low-grade. Therefore, he is called animal. But a human being can understand that "I am not this body." A human being can meditate, he can see his hands. Am I this hand? Am I this finger? No. The answer will come, "No, it is my hand. It is my finger." Similarly, you study – this is called meditation – you study yourself. So many things, so many subject matters. Take, for example, miseries of life. You can meditate upon that "I don't want these kind of miseries, but they are enforced upon me." This is subject matter for meditation. So a man dies. A man dies means his body is finished. But a person who is in different sense of knowledge, he wants to think over subject matter, what is that thing which is no longer existing so that the man is dead? These are the subject matters for one who is interested in self-realization, atma-tattvam. This is called atma-tattvam, to understand oneself, what I am. This is very important part of knowledge in human form of life. In the human form of life, if he does not come to this stage of inquiring, "What I am? Am I this body, am I this mind, am I this intelligence, or I am something else?" then apashyatam atma-tattvam: those who are blind to see the self, for them there are so many subject matters. The newspaper will supply, the magazine will supply.

Just like, for example, our students in the Krishna consciousness movement, they never read newspaper nor any other magazine. They simply read these Krishna consciousness books. We have got so many books – KRSNA, Nectar of Devotion, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, Srimad-Bhagavatam in twelve parts. So we have got about twenty books already published, and our program is to publish at least sixty books like this. So our subject matter is very vast. We have no time to read newspapers, neither any magazines. Just like a big scientist reads scientific magazines, and a medical man reads medical journals. He does not waste his time in big, big captions in the newspaper. He has no time. So those who are interested in self-realization, that is the only business for the human form of life.

Human form of life means to make solution of all the problems of material life. Every one of us, we are searching after happiness, that's a fact. But we are misguided. I am asking somebody, "Will you give me any information how I can become happy?" But he is also rascal. He gives you some wrong information. And you try it and you will fall down, there is no happiness. This is going on. The inquiry is there: "Where is happiness? What I can do?" But unless one is fortunate to come in contact with a person who can give you information of Krishna, you cannot have happiness. This is a fact. So Vedic instruction is there that if you want happiness, if you want solution of the problems of life, then tad-vij&ntdile;anartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet [Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12]. In order to learn that science where I can get happiness, one must approach a guru, a spiritual master. This is Vedic instruction. Not only Vedas, in all the shastras. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said, tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijñasuh shreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21: "any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation."].

Who is to seek out that guru? Not ordinary person. Ordinary persons who are trying to know the news of the world, they do not require any guru. There is no necessity. Their subject matter is supplied by the newspaper, magazines, and so many other things. But guru is needed for whom? Jijñasuh shreya uttamam. One who is inquisitive to learn about the transcendental subject matter, uttama.