God and the Human Beings - The Purpose of Human Life
The gift of the human body is a rare and precious opportunity in the cycle of material existence. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that while animals are bound by the rigid laws of nature and instinct, the human being is endowed with the advanced intelligence required to understand their eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The True Purpose of Human Life
A society that merely focuses on eating, sleeping, mating, and defending is no different from an animal society. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that according to Vedic civilization, the exclusive business of a perfect human being is to inquire about the Absolute Truth and surrender to the Lord.
- Human being, human life, is meant for understanding God and become God conscious.
- According to Vedic civilization, a human being must be God conscious. He should understand what God is, what this material world is, who he is, and what their interrelationships are. This is called sreyas, or ultimately auspicious activity.
- The Bhagavatam says, that the prime duty of the human being is to satisfy the Supreme Lord by the performance of one's occupational duty (SB 1.2.13).
- Srila Vyasadeva is advised by Srila Narada to expand this idea in the Bhagavatam. In the Bhagavad-gita also the same idea is explained: surrender fully unto the lotus feet of the Lord. That is the only business of the perfect human being.
The Intelligence to Know God
The distinction between humans and lower species is the capacity for spiritual realization. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that human beings possess the unique intelligence to take instruction from the Vedic literatures, recognize their dependence on God, and consciously choose to act as devas (godly persons).
- Animals do not have developed consciousness by which to recognize the Lord, but a human being is sufficiently intelligent to take lessons from the Vedic literature and thereby know how the laws of nature are working and derive profit out of such knowledge.
- There are two kinds of human being all the time: asura and deva. Deva means human beings who are connected with the Supreme Lord. Their life is for realization of the Supreme Truth. They are called deva.
- Throughout the universe there are only these two types (suras and asuras) of human being. In the Rg Veda it is stated that the suras always aim at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Visnu and act accordingly.
- As a matter of gratitude, they (human beings) should feel obliged to the Lord for their supply of foodstuff, and they must first offer Him food in sacrifice and then partake of the remnants.
The Lord's Intimate Presence
God is never far away from any living entity. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the Supreme Lord accompanies every soul as the Paramātmā within the heart, and out of immense compassion, He frequently descends to the material world in human-like forms to attract and reclaim conditioned souls.
- You will find in the Bhagavad-gita. Isvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is sitting in everyone's heart. Not only human being, even animals, everyone. So that feature is called Paramatma.
- Not only is He (God) seated in the heart of the human being, but He is also within the hearts of cats and dogs. Bhagavad-gita certifies this fact by the declaration of the Lord, isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese.
- Devotees always want to see the Lord victorious in varied activities, and therefore, to please Himself and them, the Lord sometimes agrees to act as a human being and perform wonderful, uncommon pastimes for the satisfaction of the devotees.
- When the Lord appears on different lokas, or planets, or on this planet of human beings, He displays His transcendental pastimes just to attract the conditioned souls to become His eternal servitors, friends, parents and lovers in the transcendental world.
Attaining the Highest Perfection
To achieve success in this life, a human being must actively practice devotional service. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that by voluntarily accepting tapasya (penance), rendering service to Viṣṇu, and chanting the holy names, a human being can attain the supreme madness of ecstatic love for God.
- As King Rsabha advised His sons, tapasya, or voluntary acceptance of penance for realization of the Transcendence, is the only duty of the human being; it was so done by the Lord Himself in an exemplary manner to teach us.
- The mahatma is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, hearing and chanting about Visnu, not a demigod or human being.
- Anyone who sincerely chants this holy name is quickly elevated to the platform of love of God and becomes mad after God. This madness arising from love of God is the highest perfectional stage for a human being.
- The same Lord Sri Krsna, in the garb of a devotee of Sri Krsna, descended to this mortal world to reclaim the fallen human beings who had misunderstood the Personality of Godhead even after the explanation of the Bhagavad-gita.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda unequivocally establishes that the human form of life is a distinct and highly elevated opportunity meant exclusively for understanding and approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead. While animals are completely bound by the modes of material nature and lack the consciousness to recognize their Creator, human beings are endowed with the spiritual intelligence to study the Vedic literatures, comprehend the laws of nature, and choose the path of śreyas—the ultimate auspicious activity. This choice divides humanity into two definitive camps: the devas, who gratefully acknowledge the Lord's supreme proprietorship and surrender to His lotus feet, and the asuras, who foolishly misuse their higher intelligence for animalistic sense gratification. The Supreme Lord, infinitely compassionate, not only resides in the heart of every human being as the Paramātmā, but He repeatedly descends in human-like incarnations, such as Lord Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, simply to exhibit His enchanting pastimes and reclaim the forgetful souls. By accepting the path of tapasya, strictly performing one's occupational duties to satisfy Viṣṇu, and enthusiastically chanting the holy names, a human being fulfills the very purpose of their existence, ultimately attaining the highest perfectional stage of ecstatic, unalloyed love of God.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God and the Human Beings. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.