(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 02 July 2014, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.13.20)
Question: To cut the knot of material existence with the ‘sword of knowledge’ is so painful. So, what to do?
You need knowledge. It is just like… I just went to the dentist. It is a painful experience and I voluntarily went. I walked in and voluntarily sat down on the chair and the dentist started drilling. When I was a kid, I didn’t do that. I would scream and my mother would have to catch me to go. I would not go; forget it. But now, I voluntarily walk in.
I would run away in school when they would take all the kids to get a tetanus shot. We would have to walk one kilometre to some health house. All the kids from the school, a few hundred, would walk but I would run away. It was too painful!
But then, when you know, when you have knowledge, when you know that the alternative is more painful, then you can do it! So, by knowledge is the only way we can do it. We need to see how material life is actually painful. There is more pain in material life. The medical action is sometimes a quick one, like when you may have to cut something out now so it does not turn into cancer.
But, it is said balavan indriya-gramo, vidvamsam api karsati (Srimad Bhagavatam 9.19.17) that the senses are so strong that even a man of knowledge is suffering. So it is very hard! It is painful or the enjoyment looks SO good and you know that ultimately it is not going to satisfy the soul but it will give you some taste in the here and now. So what to do!?
Therefore, in Krsna consciousness, knowledge is only a support, it only helps us. It is love that we need. We need a higher taste. We need to love it. If we do things in Krsna consciousness that we love then we are strong, then we can do so many things. So, it is love that is the real thing. The love to serve Krsna that can really lift us above.
