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A human being should realize the aim of his life<\/span>, and this direction is given in all Vedic literatures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101. Vedic literature is meant for human beings, not for animals. Animals can kill other living animals, and there is no question of sin on their part, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature. In the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 it is clearly explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different modes of nature: the activities of goodness, of passion and of ignorance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Community projects for the four orders of human society, combined with family welfare activities, as they are set forth by the institution of san\u0101tana-dharma, or var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama-dharma, are designed to enable the human being to attain his ultimate salvation. Therefore, the breaking of the san\u0101tana-dharma tradition by irresponsible leaders of society brings about chaos in that society, and consequently people forget the aim of life<\/span>-Vi\u1e63\u1e47u. Such leaders are called blind, and persons who follow such leaders are sure to be led into chaos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The word \u0100ryan is applicable to persons who know the value of life and have a civilization based on spiritual realization. Persons who are led by the material conception of life do not know that the aim of life<\/span> is realization of the Absolute Truth, Vi\u1e63\u1e47u, or Bhagav\u0101n, and they are captivated by the external features of the material world, and therefore they do not know what liberation is. Persons who have no knowledge of liberation from material bondage are called non-\u0100ryans. Although Arjuna was a k\u1e63atriya, he was deviating from his prescribed duties by declining to fight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This aim of life<\/span> is attained by performance of yaj\u00f1as. If we forget the purpose of human life and simply take supplies from the agents of the Lord for sense gratification and become more and more entangled in material existence, which is not the purpose of creation, certainly we become thieves, and therefore we are punished by the laws of material nature. A society of thieves can never be happy, because they have no aim in life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n According to this verse, if one develops the mode of ignorance, after his death he is degraded to an animal form of life. From there one has to again elevate himself, by an evolutionary process, to come again to the human form of life. Therefore, those who are actually serious about human life should take to the mode of goodness and in good association transcend the modes and become situated in K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness. This is the aim of human life<\/span>. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that the human being will again attain to the human status.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The age of Kali is very dangerous for the human being. Human life is simply meant for self-realization, but due to this dangerous age, men have completely forgotten the aim of life<\/span>. In this age, the life span will gradually decrease. People will gradually lose their memory, finer sentiments, strength, and better qualities. A list of the anomalies for this age is given in the Twelfth Canto of this work. And so this age is very difficult for those who want to utilize this life for self-realization. The people are so busy with sense gratification that they completely forget about self-realization.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama institution is constructed to enable one to realize the Absolute Truth. It is not for artificial domination of one division over another. When the aim of life<\/span>, i.e., realization of the Absolute Truth, is missed by too much attachment for indriya-pr\u012bti, or sense gratification, as already discussed hereinbefore, the institution of the var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama is utilized by selfish men to pose an artificial predominance over the weaker section. In the Kali-yuga, or in the age of quarrel, this artificial predominance is already current, but the saner section of the people know it well that the divisions of castes and orders of life are meant for smooth social intercourse and high-thinking self-realization and not for any other purpose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Herein the statement of Bh\u0101gavatam is that the highest aim of life<\/span> or the highest perfection of the institution of the var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama-dharma is to cooperate jointly for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 (4.13).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n If realization of the Absolute Truth is the ultimate aim of life<\/span>, it must be carried out by all means. In any one of the above-mentioned castes and orders of life, the four processes, namely glorifying, hearing, remembering and worshiping, are general occupations. Without these principles of life, no one can exist. Activities of the living being involve engagements in these four different principles of life. Especially in modern society, all activities are more or less dependent on hearing and glorifying. Any man from any social status becomes a well-known man in human society within a very short time if he is simply glorified truly or falsely in the daily newspapers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n We should never desire to increase the depth of material enjoyment. Material enjoyment should be accepted only up to the point of the bare necessities of life and not more or less than that. To accept more material enjoyment means to bind oneself more and more to the miseries of material existence. More wealth, more women and false aristocracy are some of the demands of the materially disposed man because he has no information of the benefit derived from Vi\u1e63\u1e47u worship. By Vi\u1e63\u1e47u worship one can derive benefit in this life as well as in life after death. Forgetting these principles, foolish people who are after more wealth, more wives and more children worship various demigods. The aim of life<\/span> is to end the miseries of life and not to increase them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ill-fated yog\u012bs are given a chance in the next birth by being placed in the families of good learned br\u0101hma\u1e47as or in the families of rich merchants in order to execute the unfinished task of V\u0101sudeva realization. If such fortunate br\u0101hma\u1e47as and sons of rich men properly utilize the chance, they can easily realize V\u0101sudeva by good association with saintly persons. Unfortunately, such preferred persons are captivated again by material wealth and honor, and thus they practically forget the aim of life<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 it is said that those who are mah\u0101tm\u0101s, or those whose minds have been so broadened as to be engaged in the service of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, are under the influence of the internal potency, and the effect is that such broadminded living beings are constantly engaged in the service of the Lord without deviation. That should be the aim of life<\/span>. And that is the verdict of all the Vedic literatures. No one should bother himself with fruitive activities or dry speculation about transcendental knowledge. Everyone should at once engage himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the Kali-yuga the population is just a royal edition of the animals. They have nothing to do with spiritual knowledge or godly religious life. They are so blind that they cannot see anything beyond the jurisdiction of the subtle mind, intelligence or ego, but they are very much proud of their advancement in knowledge, science and material prosperity. They can risk their lives to become a dog or hog just after leaving the present body, for they have completely lost sight of the ultimate aim of life<\/span>. The Personality of Godhead \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a appeared before us just a little prior to the beginning of Kali-yuga, and He returned to His eternal home practically at the commencement of Kali-yuga.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While He was present, He exhibited everything by His different activities. He spoke the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 specifically and eradicated all pretentious principles of religiosity. And prior to His departure from this material world, He empowered \u015ar\u012b Vy\u0101sadeva through N\u0101rada to compile the messages of the \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam, and thus both the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 and the \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam are like torchbearers for the blind people of this age. In other words, if men in this age of Kali want to see the real light of life, they must take to these two books only, and their aim of life<\/span> will be fulfilled. Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 is the preliminary study of the Bh\u0101gavatam. And \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam is the summum bonum of life, Lord \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a personified. We must therefore accept \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam as the direct representation of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. One who can see \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam can see also Lord \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a in person. They are identical.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n One can certainly see directly the presence of Lord \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a in the pages of Bh\u0101gavatam if one has heard it from a self-realized great soul like \u015aukadeva Gosv\u0101m\u012b. One cannot, however, learn Bh\u0101gavatam from a bogus hired reciter whose aim of life<\/span> is to earn some money out of such recitation and employ the earning in sex indulgence. No one can learn \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam who is associated with persons engaged in sex life. That is the secret of learning Bh\u0101gavatam Nor can one learn Bh\u0101gavatam from one who interprets the text by his mundane scholarship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This awaits them in due course on quitting the material body. Because they have the highest aim of life<\/span>, going back to Godhead, they are never envious of anyone, nor are they proud of being eligible to go back to Godhead. Their only business is to chant and remember the holy name, fame and pastimes of the Lord and, according to personal capacity, to distribute the message for others’ welfare without motive of material gain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the glorious days, or before the advent of the age of Kali, the br\u0101hma\u1e47as, the cows, the women, the children and the old men were properly given protection.<\/p>\n 1. The protection of the br\u0101hma\u1e47as maintains the institution of var\u1e47a and \u0101\u015brama, the most scientific culture for attainment of spiritual life.<\/p>\n 2. The protection of cows maintains the most miraculous form of food, i.e., milk for maintaining the finer tissues of the brain for understanding higher aims of life<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3. The protection of women maintains the chastity of society, by which we can get a good generation for peace, tranquillity and progress of life.<\/p>\n 4. The protection of children gives the human form of life its best chance to prepare the way of liberty from material bondage. Such protection of children begins from the very day of begetting a child by the purificatory process of garbh\u0101dh\u0101na-sa\u1e41sk\u0101ra, the beginning of pure life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On the other hand, such impoverishment is a good sign as much as the falling of temperature is a good sign. The principle of life should be to decrease the degree of material intoxication which leads one to be more and more illusioned about the aim of life<\/span>. Grossly illusioned persons are quite unfit for entrance into the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Even the most pious has to suffer the condition of material nature. But a pious man is faithful to the Lord, for he is guided by the bona fide br\u0101hma\u1e47a and Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava following the religious principles. These three guiding principles should be the aim of life<\/span>. One should not be disturbed by the tricks of eternal time. Even the great controller of the universe, Brahm\u0101j\u012b, is also under the control of that time; therefore, one should not grudge being thus controlled by time despite being a true follower of religious principles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The conditioned souls under material bondage are prisoners of matter, and therefore self-realization is the ultimate aim of life<\/span>. The whole system of \u0101\u015brama-dharma is a means to detachment. One who fails to assimilate this spirit of detachment is allowed to enter into family life with the same spirit of detachment. Therefore, one who attains detachment may at once adopt the fourth order, namely, renounced, and thus live on charity only, not to accumulate wealth, but just to keep body and soul together for ultimate realization. Household life is for one who is attached, and the v\u0101naprastha and sanny\u0101sa orders of life are for those who are detached from material life. The brahmac\u0101r\u012b-\u0101\u015brama is especially meant for training both the attached and detached.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira is the ideal monarch, and monarchy under a trained king like Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira is by far the most superior form of government, superior to modern republics or governments of the people, by the people. The mass of people, especially in this age of Kali, are all born \u015b\u016bdras, basically lowborn, ill-trained, unfortunate and badly associated. They themselves do not know the highest perfectional aim of life<\/span>. Therefore, votes cast by them actually have no value, and thus persons elected by such irresponsible votes cannot be responsible representatives like Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As a young boy he was expected to be properly dressed, but he went about naked and was uninterested in social customs. He was neglected by the general populace, and inquisitive boys and women surrounded him as if he were a madman. He thus appears on the scene while traveling on the earth of his own accord. It appears that upon the inquiry of Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Par\u012bk\u1e63it, the great sages were not unanimous in their decision as to what was to be done. For spiritual salvation there were many prescriptions according to the different modes of different persons. But the ultimate aim of life<\/span> is to attain the highest perfectional stage of devotional service to the Lord. As doctors differ, so also sages differ in their different prescriptions. While such things were going on, the great and powerful son of Vy\u0101sadeva appeared on the scene.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Those who drink through aural reception, fully filled with the nectarean message of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, the beloved of the devotees, purify the polluted aim of life<\/span> known as material enjoyment and thus go back to Godhead, to the lotus feet of Him (the Personality of Godhead).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The sufferings of human society are due to a polluted aim of life<\/span>, namely lording it over the material resources. The more human society engages in the exploitation of undeveloped material resources for sense gratification, the more it will be entrapped by the illusory, material energy of the Lord, and thus the distress of the world will be intensified instead of diminished. The human necessities of life are fully supplied by the Lord in the shape of food grains, milk, fruit, wood, stone, sugar, silk, jewels, cotton, salt, water, vegetables, etc., in sufficient quantity to feed and care for the human race of the world as well as the living beings on each and every planet within the universe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u015ar\u012bla J\u012bva Gosv\u0101m\u012b Prabhup\u0101da has commented on the kath\u0101m\u1e5btam mentioned in this verse and has indicated \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam to be the nectarean message of the Personality of Godhead. By sufficient hearing of \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam, the polluted aim of life<\/span>, namely lording it over matter, will subside, and the people in general in all parts of the world will be able to live a peaceful life of knowledge and bliss.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Since the ultimate aim of life<\/span> is spiritual realization, the direct way of invoking the holy name of the Lord, as mentioned above, is precisely recommended by Lord Caitanya, and people of the modern age can easily take advantage of this simple process, which is tenable for the condition of the complicated social structure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The desires for acquiring a house, possessing land, having children and becoming prominent in society, the affection for community and the place of birth, and the hankering for wealth, which are all like phantasmagoria or illusory dreams, encumber a human being, and he is thus impeded in his progress toward self-realization, the real aim of life<\/span>. The brahmac\u0101ri, or a boy from the age of five years, especially from the higher castes, namely from the scholarly parents (the br\u0101hma\u1e47as), the administrative parents (the k\u1e63atriyas), or the mercantile or productive parents (the vai\u015byas), is trained until twenty-five years of age under the care of a bona fide guru or teacher, and under strict observance of discipline he comes to understand the values of life along with taking specific training for a livelihood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As long as one is blind to inquiring after self-realization, all material activities, however great they may be, are all different kinds of defeat because the aim of human life<\/span> is not fulfilled by such unwanted and profitless activities. The function of the human body is to attain freedom from material bondage, but as long as one is fully absorbed in material activities, his mind will be overwhelmed in the whirlpool of matter, and thus he will continue to be encaged in material bodies life after life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is for this reason only that the Lord advises in the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 that one give up all so-called religious activities and completely engage in the devotional service of the Lord to become free from all anxieties due to the dangerous life of material existence. To work situated in sad-dharma is the right direction of life. One’s aim of life<\/span> should be to go back home, back to Godhead, and not be subjected to repeated births and deaths in the material world by getting good or bad bodies for temporary existence. Herein lies the intelligence of human life, and one should desire the activities of life in that way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The perfection of human life is attained by following three principles of civilization: protecting the cows, maintaining the brahminical culture and, above all, becoming a pure devotee of the Lord. Without becoming a devotee of the Lord, one cannot perfect one’s human life. The perfection of human life is to be elevated to the spiritual world, where there is no birth, no death, no disease and no old age. That is the highest perfectional aim of human life<\/span>. Without this aim, any amount of material advancement in so-called comforts can only bring the defeat of the human form of life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The devotees, however, worship only the Supreme Lord Vi\u1e63\u1e47u. This worship is not for any material benefit, as desired by all the materialists, even up to the salvationists, mystics and fruitive workers. Devotees worship the Supreme Lord to attain unalloyed devotion to the Lord. The Lord, however, is not worshiped by others, who have no program for attaining love of God, which is the essential aim of human life<\/span>. Persons averse to a loving relationship with God are more or less condemned by their own actions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Vi\u1e63\u1e47u worship is the ultimate aim of human life<\/span>. Those who take the license of married life for sense enjoyment must also take the responsibility to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vi\u1e63\u1e47u, and the first stepping-stone is the var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama-dharma system. Var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama-dharma is the systematic institution for advancing in worship of Vi\u1e63\u1e47u. However, if one directly engages in the process of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it may not be necessary to undergo the disciplinary system of var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama-dharma. The other sons of Brahm\u0101, the Kum\u0101ras, directly engaged in devotional service, and thus they had no need to execute the principles of var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama-dharma.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Devotees are generally attracted by the narratives of the pastimes of the Lord, and even though they do not prosecute austerities or meditation, this very process of hearing attentively about the pastimes of the Lord will endow them with innumerable benefits, such as wealth, fame, longevity and other desirable aims of life<\/span>. If one continues to hear \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam, which is full of narratives of the pastimes of the Lord, at the end of this life, one is sure to be transferred to the eternal, transcendental abode of the Lord. Thus hearers are benefited both ultimately and for as long as they are in the material world. That is the supreme, sublime result of engaging in devotional service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The word baddha-sauh\u1e5bd\u0101\u1e25\u2014”bound in friendship”\u2014is particularly used here. Karm\u012bs, j\u00f1\u0101n\u012bs and yog\u012bs cannot be bound in devotional service. Karm\u012bs fully engage in the activities of the body. Their aim of life<\/span> is to give comfort to the body only. J\u00f1\u0101n\u012bs try to get out of entanglement by philosophical speculation, but they have no standing in the liberated position. Because they do not take shelter under the lotus feet of the Lord, they fall down from the exalted position of Brahman realization. Yog\u012bs also have a bodily concept of life\u2014they think that they can achieve something spiritual by exercising the body through dh\u0101ra\u1e47\u0101, \u0101sana, pr\u0101\u1e47\u0101y\u0101ma, etc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n N\u0101rada Muni asked King Pr\u0101c\u012bnabarhi\u1e63at: My dear King, what do you desire to achieve by performing these fruitive activities? The chief aim of life<\/span> is to get rid of all miseries and enjoy happiness, but these two things cannot be realized by fruitive activity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The purpose is restriction. People have given up all this restriction. Now they are regularly opening wine distilleries and slaughterhouses and indulging in drinking alcohol and eating flesh. A Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava \u0101c\u0101rya like N\u0101rada Muni knows very well that persons engaged in such animal-killing in the name of religion are certainly becoming involved in the cycle of birth and death, forgetting the real aim of life<\/span>: to go home, back to Godhead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nBG Chapters 1 – 6<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\nBG 1.42, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nBG 2.2, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nBG 3.12, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nBG Chapters 13 – 18<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\nBG 14.15, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSrimad-Bhagavatam<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\nSB Canto 1<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\nSB 1.1.22, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.2.13, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.2.13, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.2.14, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.2.27, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.2.28-29, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.2.28-29, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.3.43, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.3.43, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.3.44, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.6.26, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.8.5, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.8.26, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.9.14, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.9.26, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.9.49, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 1.19.25, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB Canto 2<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\nSB 2.2.37, Translation<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 2.2.37, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 2.2.37, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 2.6.26, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 2.7.6, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 2.9.36, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 2.10.4, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB Canto 3<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\nSB 3.3.28, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 3.5.38, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 3.13.11, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 3.19.38, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB Canto 4<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\nSB 4.20.12, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 4.25.4, Translation<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nSB 4.27.11, Purport<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n