True human civilization means controlling the senses to understand God, not pursuing animal-like sense gratification.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.13 — September 18, 1972, Los Angeles 720918SB-LOS ANGELES [41:46 Minutes] SB-01.03.13_720918SB-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. [sings of Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava] [prema-dhvani] Thank you very much.
Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [obeisances]
Prabhupāda: Recite. Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto One, Chapter 3, text 13.
[leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] aṣṭame merudevyāṁ tu nābher jāta urukramaḥ darśayan vartma dhīrāṇāṁ sarvāśrama-namaskṛtam [SB 1.3.13] Prabhupāda: Ladies. [ladies chant] That's all. Now, word meaning. Pradyumna: [leads chanting of synonyms] aṣṭame—the eighth of the incarnations; merudevyām tu—in the womb of Merudevī, the wife; nābheḥ—of King Nābhi; jātaḥ—took birth; urukramaḥ—the all-powerful Lord; darśayan—by showing; vartma—the way; dhīrāṇām—of the perfect beings; sarva—all; āśrama—orders of life; namaskṛtam—honored by.
[12:24] Translation: "The eighth incarnation was King Ṛṣabha, son of King Nābhi and his wife Merudevī. In this incarnation the Lord showed the path of perfection, which is followed by those who have fully controlled their senses and who are honored by all orders of life." Prabhupāda: So there are some important words in this verse. The first thing is dhīrāṇām. Dhīrāṇām mean sober, gentle.
There are two ways, because there are two kinds of people in this world. One is called dhīra, and the other is called adhīra. Adhīra means almost animal. They cannot control their senses.
The dhīra... One who can control sense, he is called dhīra. In the Rūpa Gosvāmī's obeisances we find, kṛṣṇotkīrtana-gāna-nartana-parau premāmṛtāmbho-nidhī dhīrādhīra priya-karau [Śrī Śrī Ṣaḍ Gosvāmy Aṣṭaka 1]. Kṛṣṇotkīrtana, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is appreciable by the both classes, dhīra and adhīra—those who are advanced by austerities, controlling the senses, and those who are not so, very fallen, both of them, dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau. Another example of dhīra is there in Kumāra Sambhava. Kumāra Sambhava is a Sanskrit book which I think we read in our college I.A. class, by Kālidāsa, poet Kālidāsa.