“…people must be taught how to be satisfied with only what they need. In modern civilization there is no such education; everyone tries to possess more and more, and everyone is dissatisfied and unhappy.”
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This is from the Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.19.21
[This chapter of the Srimad-Bhagavatam is entitled, ” Lord Vamanadeva Begs Charity from Bali Maharaja.” This chapter describes how Lord Vamanadeva (Krishna, disguised as a dwarf) asked for three paces of land in charity, how Bali Maharaja agreed to His proposal, and how Sukracarya forbade Bali Maharaja to fulfill Lord Vamanadeva’s request.]
TRANSLATION
The Personality of Godhead said: O my dear King, even the entirety of whatever there may be within the three worlds to satisfy one’s senses cannot satisfy a person whose senses are uncontrolled.
PURPORT:
… The aim of the varnasrama divisions — brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa — is to train one to control the senses and be content with the bare necessities.
Here Lord Vamanadeva, as an ideal brahmachari [celibate student], refuses Bali Maharaja’s offer to give Him anything He might want. He says that without contentment one could not be happy even if he possessed the property of the entire world or the entire universe.
In human society, therefore, the brahminical culture, ksatriya culture and vaisya culture must be maintained, and people must be taught how to be satisfied with only what they need. In modern civilization there is no such education; everyone tries to possess more and more, and everyone is dissatisfied and unhappy.
The Krishna consciousness movement is therefore establishing various farms, especially in America, to show how to be happy and content with minimum necessities of life and to save time for self-realization, which one can very easily achieve by chanting the maha-mantra — Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
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