Prabhupāda: Just like if a man is diseased, so the physician imposes upon him some restriction, do and do not. So if by mistake we give up the do not's, then it is useless. He should observe the do not's. Then he'll be cured. And if he does not observe the do not's—whatever he likes, he does—that means his disease is increasing. Therefore it is useless. The real aim of life is how to get out of the clutches of māyā which is forcing me to accept the cycle of birth and death. That is my disease. Therefore tapasya. Tapasya means restricted life, not unrestricted life. So if we do not follow the restricted life, that means I shall continue my disease or increase my disease. The modern civilization, we are teaching how to enjoy this material world to the fullest extent, bhogaiśvarya, sense gratification, and for sense gratification, material opulence. But he does not know that he is killing himself. He is aggravating the disease. He has to accept another body. But that he does not know, that he'll have to take birth and die, again the same business. That he does not know. Therefore this civilization is misguided. Yesterday we were reading, tapo divyaṁ yena śuddhyet sattvam (SB 5.5.1). We have to purify our existence. So this aim is missing—how to purify it. Sattva. I am eternal. Now I am existing in a condition, birth and death. That they do not know. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). He does not know his interest. He's thinking, "This is life. Let me enjoy. And there is no life after death, and even there is, who cares for it?" This is going on.

Guest: That tapasya means?

Prabhupāda: Tapasya means restricted.

Guest: Protect your mind... Wed it to the soul, and take away from all extraneous things which are made up of māyā, is that not the meaning?

Prabhupāda: Tapasya means to rescue the soul from this material condition, yena sattvaṁ śuddhyet, to purify your existence. What is the impurification? Impurification is that the soul is subjected to repetition of birth and... That is impurification. That he does not know. So he is missing the goal of life, and he's thinking this temporary so-called happiness for twenty years, forty years, fifty years, or utmost hundred years, that is his objective. That is a misleading. He does not know the aim of life. He thinks this material enjoyment to make this body stout and strong and enjoy senses like the hogs. Therefore it has been (said), na arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). The suar, hog, he is thinking, "I am eating stool. I am getting fatty. That is my life. And I am enjoying sex without any discrimination." No discrimination of sex, either mother or sister and daughter—it doesn't matter. This is hog's life. He does not know, as soon as he becomes fatty he'll be captured, and the bhaṅgīs will... what is called? Toast, make him a toast. In our country they do. In outside of the village they hang the pig, and with fire.

Guest: Roast it.

Prabhupāda: Roast. And he, it cries, "Chyaa, chyaa, chyaa." And it is roasted, and they enjoy. But that he does not know. He is getting very strong, but he does not know that he's going to be roasted. Therefore he is misguided. He does not know nature's law.

Guest: Sir, isn't the real bhakti... dvijātmānaṁ brahma-rūpaṁ deha-tyāgi vibhayaḥ tena kartavyam... That type of bhakti is a tapasya. Then you... (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: But who is going to take the bhakti? You are going to take sense enjoyment.

Guest: That bhakti is a tapa itself. That bhakti is amongst the tapas.

Prabhupāda: Yes, bhakti means tapasya. Just like they are in the bhakti line; they are doing tapasya. They are rising early in the morning, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, observing maṅgala-ārati, no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no intoxication, so many things. It is tapasya. Whole thing is tapasya, tapa, because by this tapasya the contamination of the soul will be cured. Then, if he understands Kṛṣṇa, then he is transferred to the spiritual world. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). He does not come again to accept this material body, and he permanently lives in the spiritual world. That is perfection. The modern civilization, they do not know all these things. They are misguiding, that "You earn to your best extent. Work very hard like hogs." And there is advertisement, "Work hard, the nex...." (loud sounds of thunder as storm approaches) They are pulling on ṭhelā, rickshaw, still, their leaders advising, "Work hard. Work still more hard." A human being is pulling on ṭhelā and rickshaw, and still hard work. And that rascal does not know that this hard work like hogs and dogs will not make the solution. But they are enthusing, "Yes, work hard. Be stout and strong," as if becoming stout and strong will save him. That's not possible.

Guest: Modern civilization is a civilization of class, and Vedic civilization was a civilization of soul. We can say that is all.

Prabhupāda: That is the real civilization. Soul is enwrapped with this material body, and it has to be stopped. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma (BG 4.9). That is civilization. And he has no knowledge, na te viduḥ, what is the civilization. Then andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). The rascal leader is also blind and the followers are blind, so both of them are doomed. Therefore the conclusion is, the modern civilization is misguided. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ. Big, big leaders, they promises big, big ideal, that "I shall give you this facility. Just elect me." What facility he will give? No facility. He gives some false promise and gets his election and claps. Śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-kharaiḥ saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ (SB 2.3.19). He does not know what is the aim of life. Puruṣaḥ paśuḥ. He is animal also. And the other animals clapping, "Oh, we have got such a big leader." Big elephant, yes. (laughter) And elephant he may be, but he is, after all, an animal. What he'll do? Misguided. (loud sounds of thunder)

(Srila Prabhupada Morning Walk, December 27, 1976, Bombay)

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Modern Civilization Is Misguided