Renounce material work and embrace Krishna consciousness through active spiritual devotion, not passive emptiness.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Bhagavad-gītā 5.1–2 [radio interference] — Los Angeles, January 22, 1969 690122BG-LOS ANGELES [59:07 Minutes] Bg-05.01–02_690122BG-LOS ANGELES [radio interference] Prabhupāda: “Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial?” Renouncement does not mean voidness. Renouncement is only the negative side. When our spiritual master was physically present, we asked him whether renounced order of sannyāsa is nice or householder life is nice.
So Guru Mahārāja replied that “We are going to enter into the household of Kṛṣṇa. What we have got to do with renouncement?” Actually that is the position. When I speak that “Don’t do this,” “don’t do this” means don’t do this nonsense. “Don’t do this” does not mean you give up nice activities.
Nobody says “Don’t do this.” “Don’t do this” means don’t do rascaldom. Similarly, renouncement means to renounce these material activities. Just like Śaṅkarācārya’s philosophy—to merge into the existence of Brahman. His first condition is you must accept sannyāsa. Śaṅkarācārya’s philosophy is brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: [The spirit soul is truth, and the external energy is untruth.] This material world is false, and Brahman, the supreme spirit, is reality. So their philosophy is to merge into the supreme reality and stop this material activity.
That is the sum and substance of Śaṅkarācārya’s philosophy. Lord Buddha’s philosophy also almost the same. He says nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa also means “extinguish.” Just like this flame is there.
If you extinguish this flame, it is called nirvāṇa. So Buddha’s philosophy is also that extinguish this blazing fire of material activities: stop this; try to understand your life; meditate. This is another science. So Vaiṣṇava philosophy means not only stop this nonsense, but begin actual life. Lord Buddha also wanted to tell the same philosophy; Śaṅkarācārya also wanted to say the same philosophy.
But the people who are followers, they had no stamina to understand what is spiritual activities. Therefore he did not say it; he stopped simply up to nirvāṇa. “Stop this nonsense.” But here Kṛṣṇa says that stop work means stop working this nonsense work. What is that nonsense work?
This material activities—sense enjoyment—it is nonsense. Why nonsense? Because it is animalistic. The animals are also working for sense gratification.