How is Hearing or Speaking about Mundane Topics Harmful to one’s Bhakti?

Article, Sreemad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Thakura Prabhupad

Hearing worldly mundane talk causes oneself more harm than eating delicious food, and by speaking about mundane topics, one causes more harm to others than by wearing stylish clothes. Ordinary, or mundane, talks are just like a prostitute in that they cause immense obstacles to one’s hari-bhajana by polluting and distracting one’s mind.

  • Question: How is hearing or speaking about mundane topics (gramya-katha) harmful, or unfavourable, to one’s bhakti?


    Answer: Sriman Mahaprabhu has said:

    gramya-katha na sunibe, gramyavarta na kahibe
    bhala na- khaibe a-ra bhala na paribe
    S'ri- Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya-lila- 6.236)

    Do not listen to the mundane talk of common men or engage in discussions about mundane topics. Do not eat palatable foodstuffs or dress yourself nicely.

    This statement has been made solely for those who have deep faith in hari-bhajana and an intense taste for it. Eating highly palatable foodstuffs mostly only causes harm to one’s own self; it does not cause so much of a disturbance to others. In other words, eating palatable foodstuffs does not obstruct the hari-bhajana of others. Still, the urge of the tongue is not beneficial since it is harmful to one’s own bhakti. Sriman Mahaprabhu has also said:

    jihvara lalase yei itiuti dhaya
    sisnodaraparayana Krsna nahi paya
    (Chaitanya Charitamrita 6.237)

    Being carried away by the urge of the tongue, one who runs here and there seeking palatable food, thus making the satisfaction of his belly and genitals his principal objective, cannot attain Krsna

    Wearing very nice clothes, however, is quite harmful to others, since people only wear stylish clothing for the sake of others. What does this mean? The only purpose in dressing stylishly is to distract people’s eyes and minds away from Hari-bhajana and make them bid it farewell.

    Hearing worldly mundane talk causes oneself more harm than eating delicious food, and by speaking about mundane topics, one causes more harm to others than by wearing stylish clothes. Ordinary, or mundane, talks are just like a prostitute in that they cause immense obstacles to one’s Hari-bhajana by polluting and distracting one’s mind.

    One who has great interest in these useless talks will surely lack a natural taste for hari-katha. This is to be clearly understood. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami has said, “asadvarta vesya visrja matisarvasva haranih – Please abandon altogether the prostitute of contemptible mundane talk, which plunders the entire treasure of pure wisdom.”

    When five people sit together, they will definitely engage in useless talk. This is why the devotees always remain engaged in speaking hari-katha. When hari-katha is being spoken, no one has an opportunity to engage in useless mundane talk.

    Those who wish to perform Hari-bhajana will not listen to ordinary mundane topics or speak about them, nor will they give their attention to eating palatable food or wearing stylish clothes. This is because the desire for such activities, or interest in them, will definitely cast one far from the path of Hari-bhajana.

    One can never perform Hari-bhajana if one desires to eat palatable food or wear nice clothes. Moreover, the desire for and interest in hearing and speaking ordinary mundane topics will alienate the jiva from Hari-bhajana and lead him down the wrong path. Thus he would bid Hari-bhajana farewell. Consequently, it is particularly essential for one who sincerely desires to perform Hari-bhajana to exercise extreme caution in these matters. Otherwise one’s ruin is inevitable.

Translated from Srila Prabhupadera Upadesamrta by the Rays of The Harmonist team.
Published in Rays of The Harmonist No. 21 Gaura-purnima 2010. Reproduced from https://bvmlu.org/SBSST/wawnrb.html.

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