One has to become freed from all designations. What is the designation? “I am American,” “I am Indian,” “I am African,” “I am this,” “I am that.” These are all designations. Actually, I am spirit soul. I have got this designation on account of my accepting this material body, but I am not this body.
This is the first instruction in the Bhagavad-gita. Spiritual instruction begins from this platform, that “I am not this body.” Because the bodily concept of life is just like animal life. The dog thinks that “I am this body”; the cat thinks, “I am this body.” But if a human being thinks that “I am this body,” then what is the difference between us, cats and dogs? Humans must try to understand, “What am I?” Where have I come from? and where do I go after death? This is called knowledge. And when he comes to the understanding aham brahmasmi, “I am spirit soul”, then he can be successful.
Just like Socrates, he realized, when he was asked by the judge, “Mr. Socrates, how you want to be entombed?” he answered, “First of all, capture me; then you entomb me. You are seeing my body. You have no vision that I am soul.” This is the right vision. The ancient Bhagavad-gita says, therefore: panditah sama-darsinah vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini suni caiva sva-pake ca panditah sama-darsinah [Bhagavad-gita 5.18]
Panditah means one who is learned. He sees everything equally, because he does not see the body. He sees the spirit soul, both in the different kinds of human being… Somebody may be very rich, or somebody may be very, very poor, but because he is panditah, one who is learned, he only sees the spirit soul.
What is the difference between man and animal? Man knows, at least, he should try to know “What am I? What is God? What is this world? What is our relationship?” This is man’s business. This is called athato brahma jijnasa. In the Vedanta-sutra, the first aphorism is atha atah brahma-jijnasa: “This human form of life is meant for inquiry about the spirit, Supreme Spirit, Brahman.” That is the beginning of spiritual education.
So spiritual education — first to understand “What I am,” then “What is God,” “What is this world.” “What is our relationship,” then “What is God’s position,” “What is my position,” “How I shall deal with God” — this is spiritual education, and human life is meant for this purpose.
Joyfulness means freedom from all anxiety. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati. One who has no more hankering and no more lamentation. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati, samah sarvesu bhutesu… And he sees everyone on the spiritual platform, equally. And then the life of devotion, service to the Lord, begins.
This is the process. This is the process of understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is recommended that one should become free from unnecessary designations. Because, accepting designations means ignorance.
So long as our consciousness is not clean, there is no possibility of rendering pure service to the Lord. Hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam means “senses purified by being freed from designation”. When it is purified in connection with activities of Krishna, or God, then he can render pure service to the Lord, Hrsikena. That is called bhakti.
Bhakti, pure devotion, is not artificial. It is the activity of healthy spiritual consciousness. Just as a man who is diseased differs from the man who is cured and healthy. The disease is forgetfulness of his relationship with God. Then when he is cured, when he is in a healthy state, there will be no more trouble in the world. Peace and prosperity can be established when people are no more in the designation stage, when they are free. It is not expected, however, that a hundred percent of the population of the world will be free from all contamination. But even if a small percentage, one percent or less than that can achieve purity, then the face of the world will change.