This ignorance that "I am this body" is a great burden, a burden upon us. So when you get out of this burden, then you feel relieved. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. Means when actually one understands that "I am not this body; I am soul," then he has to work so hard for maintaining this body, so he gets relief, that "Why I am working so hard for this lump of material thing? Let me execute my real necessity of life, spiritual life." That is great relief. That is great relief.
Lecture by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, London, August 25th, 1973
Bhagavad-Gītā, Chapter 2 verse 25.
Original audio and transcript HERE
..So those who have surrendered to the material nature, he has to suffer. He has to suffer. There is no way out. You have accepted this body. You must suffer.
Kleśada āsa dehaḥ. This material body means suffering. So they do not know this. They are making so many arrangements and plans how to become happy, how to become peaceful, without any miserable
condition, but the rascals, they do not know that so long you have got this material body—either a king's body or an ant's body—you must have to suffer. They do not know.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa says here that you take care of the soul. Tasmād evaṁ viditvā. Just try to understand the soul is important. You haven't got to lament for this body. This is already settled up:
so much suffering, so much comforts, you'll get. Although the body, material body... Because the material body is also created according to the three qualities. Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya
sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu (BG
13.22). When the inquiry is that why one has got the king's body and why he has got, one has got the pig's body—there are so many other bodies, 8,400,000 different types of
bodies—so why the difference is there? That difference is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: kāraṇam. Kāraṇam means cause. Why these varieties are..., kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅga asya. Asya, jīvasya. He is
associating with different kinds of qualities, and therefore he's getting a different type of body. Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya. Therefore our business should be not to associate with the material
qualities…
Brāhmaṇa knows that "I am spirit soul," ahaṁ brahmāsmi…. By such knowledge one becomes prasannātmā. Means relieved. As you feel relief... If there is burden on your head, and when the burden is taken away you feel relieved, similarly, this ignorance that "I am this body" is a great burden, a burden upon us. So when you get out of this burden, then you feel relieved. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. Means when actually one understands that "I am not this body; I am soul," then he has to work so hard for maintaining this body, so he gets relief, that "Why I am working so hard for this lump of material thing? Let me execute my real necessity of life, spiritual life." That is great relief. That is great relief. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). The relief means there is no more hankering, no more lamentation. These are the brahma-bhūtaḥ.
(Audio and full transcript HERE)
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