"So long you live, you live very joyfully by enjoying your senses." This is atheistic principle

 

„So those who are interested in spiritual life, they talk of self-realization. And those who are materialistic person, they also talk. They talk about this body, how to keep this body nicely. There are politics, sociology, welfare activities, so many things, all concerning to the body. So there are many talks, just like in the newspaper. In your country especially, bunch of newspaper. So many talks, advertisement, fashion, this news, that news, full up.

So the materialistic person, they read the newspaper, but we read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That is the difference. We are also reading; they are also reading. So nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ, śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ (SB 2.1.2). Śukadeva Gosvāmī said to Parīkṣit Mahārāja, "My dear king, there are many hundreds and thousands of topics for the materialistic person." Sahasraśaḥ. Sahasraśaḥ means thousands. And that is a fact. So many novels, so many fiction, so many so-called philosophy, newspaper, cinema paper, this paper, that paper, so many. Sahasraśaḥ.

śrotavyādīni rājendra

nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ

apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ

gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām

(SB 2.1.2)

Apaśyatām ātma-tattvam. Because they do not know, they have no information of the soul, they are talking about this body, or sometimes about this mind: philosophical speculation, concoction. One philosophy is theorizing something, another philosopher is theorizing something. Lots of literature, all nonsense, because it is mental speculation. I speculate in one way, you speculate in another way. You refute me, I refute you.

So therefore, these talks of the body and talks of the mind, there are varieties. Nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ apaśyatām ātma-tattvam. Why they are engaged in so many talks? Because they do not know, apaśyatām. They have no vision of the soul, ātma-tattva. Gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām. Gṛhamedhī, those interested simply to maintain this body, they are called gṛhamedhī.

Generally, atheist class, they have no interest in God. The atheist class . . . long, long ago, thousands of years ago, there was atheist also. Because there are two classes of men always within this world: atheist and theist, asura and deva, devatā. So not that atheist class men have developed at the present moment. It may be the number has increased, but atheist class of men were long, long ago also. There was Carvaka Muni, he was also called muni. Muni means mental speculator, or thoughtful.

So this Carvaka Muni, he also presented his philosophy, atheism, that ṛṇāṁ kṛtvā ghṛtaṁ yāvaj jīvet sukhaṁ jīvet: "So long you live, you live very joyfully by enjoying your senses." This is atheistic principle.”

(Srila Prabhupada: Lecture on SB 1.2.8 -- New Vrindaban, September 6, 1972)