Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.12.4
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Bombay, April 15, 1976
So this is called anartha. Anartha means things which are not wanted. This is the distinction between East and West. If I can lie down... The Eastern civilization is that "If I can lie down on the floor, where is the necessity of a bedstead or a cot? There is no. If I can lie down, keeping, resting my head on the arms, why there is necessity of pillow? If I can, say, drink water with my palms like this, what is the use of any waterpot?" Minimize. Minimize. Spiritual life does not mean artificially increasing the necessities of life. Nidrāhāra-vihāraka. Even the most important necessities of life, āhāra... Everyone has to eat something. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca. These are bodily necessities: eating, sleeping, sex, and taking precaution from danger. These are bodily necessities. But spiritual advancement means, as Rūpa Gosvāmī and other Gosvāmīs showed us example, they conquered over this, nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau **—to conquer over sleeping, to conquer over eating, to conquer over sex, and to conquer over fearing. Fearing, we have got... We are afraid because we are thinking, "I am this body." Bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśitaḥ syāt. The question of fear comes... Just like this body. If there is some danger, why we are fearful? Because I am thinking, "I am this body." Dvitīyābhiniveśitaḥ. I am soul, every one of us spirit soul. Kṛṣṇa is spirit soul. So even after the destruction of body, I do not die. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. But this realization we are lacking. Therefore, when there is some danger about my body, I become fearful. This is dvitīya... But that does not mean unnecessarily we expose to danger. No. But we must have this consciousness, that "This body is temporary.
Even it is destroyed, I am not going to die. But if Kṛṣṇa likes to be destroyed, let it be done so. Where is the question of fear?" But that does not mean I'll not take any precaution. I must take precaution. But I shall not be overwhelmed. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ. If I think... Just like in car, there was some little accident the other day. So although there was accident, we did not care. We began to walk. Because we know that "Because there is some accident, then we are lost"—no. So the more we become spiritually advanced, these things come in. Nidrāhāra vihārakādi. Those who are accustomed to material habit, at the time of drinking tea, if he does not get a cup of tea he becomes mad after it, because too much materially inclined. But you have given up. You know that "Without drinking tea, I am not going to die. Why shall I be, unnecessarily take all these things?" This is spiritual life. Spiritual life does not mean go on increasing your material necessity and you become spiritual. No. Minimize. Minimize. Yāvad artha-prayojana. As much as required. We shall talk very measured thing. That is spiritual life.