So in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). Punar janma naiti. If you can avoid next birth... Next birth means to accept another material body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). After giving up this body, we have to accept another body. These rascals, they do not understand it. So many defects in the modern civilization, full of ignorance, and still, they are passing as great scientists, great philosophers, great politicians. Real knowledge they haven't got. So try to give them real knowledge. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ. This is the crucial point, dehāntara-prāptiḥ. One has to accept another body. So if you can find out a means so that you do not accept another body, then you are safe. Because as soon as you accept another body, janma, birth, then where there is janma, there is mṛtyu, death also.
Do not understand (Lectures, BG)
Expressions researched:
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Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
You should understand, the so-called yogis, they are first-class rascal because they do not understand Kṛṣṇa. The jñānīs they are also second-class rascal. Even a big scholar like Dr. Radhakrishnan, he is how, I mean to say, deforming the meaning of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru: (BG 18.65) "You always think..." This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, man-manā: "Always think of Kṛṣṇa, Me, about Me," Kṛṣṇa says. And they will make meaning that you can say also. "Kṛṣṇa says that you always think of Him; you can say also, Think of me." This meaning, they are distorting. So Kṛṣṇa says man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), and this Dr. Radhakrishnan says, "It is not to the Kṛṣṇa person." Just see. Just a big scholar, doctor of philosophy, he cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says directly, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ (BG 9.34). He is interpreting in a different way.
So Arjuna is preparing the ground, how to receive the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā. Because spiritual instruction will begin to separate the soul from the body. Unless one understands that there is a soul different from this body, there is no spiritual education. This is the basic principle. If you do not understand what is soul, what is spirit soul, then where is spiritual education? So Arjuna was affected. He says frankly, dṛṣṭvā tu svajanaṁ kṛṣṇa yuyutsuṁ samupasthitam: (BG 1.28) "What is this? I have to kill my own men." Svajanam. Svajanam means own men. "No, no." Sīdanti mama gātrāṇi: "Oh, I am shivering." Mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati: "My mouth is being dried up." We have got this experience. When there is danger, these things happen, so many symptoms.
I have to work after all. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇera dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Constitutionally, every living entity is a servant. He's serving eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. If he does not serve Kṛṣṇa, then he will have to become servant of māyā. That's all. His servitude, servantship, will not go. Ḍheṅki svarga gele sva-dharmān. (?) Ḍheṅki. Just like a ḍheṅki, you do not understand. The husking machine. Say, a typewriter. So if you send the typewriter to the heaven, what does it mean? It is to be worked as typewriter. Does it mean because it has gone to heaven, the work has changed? No. The work will continue. Either in this hell or heaven, typewriter will kat, kat, kat, kat. That's all. Similarly, our position is servant. If you don't become servant of Kṛṣṇa, then you serve, you become servant of your wife, your children, your relative, your country, your nation, your dog. At last, if you have no family, then you become servant of your dog. You know in your country it is very usual. If he has nobody, then he keeps a dog, and takes it on the street. His dog passes stool, and he is standing, waiting: "Yes, sir. You pass your stool, I am waiting." Just see. It is practical. If you don't become servant of Kṛṣṇa, then you have to become servant of the dog. This is nature's way. Therefore intelligent person will take lesson from it, that "I have to become servant. Why not become Kṛṣṇa's servant? Then I will be happy. There are so many Kṛṣṇa's servants. They are so happy. Why shall I remain the servant of the māyā?" Kāmādīnāṁ katidhā.
So the Māyāvādī impersonalists, they cannot understand that serving Kṛṣṇa is simply pleasure and blissful. They cannot understand. Therefore they become impersonalists: "No. The Absolute Truth cannot be person." That is another side of the Buddha philosophy. Impersonal means zero. That is also zero. So Buddhist philosophy, they also make the ultimate goal zero, and these Māyāvādīs, they also make the ultimate goal... Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). They do not understand that there is life, blissful life, by serving Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, here Arjuna is playing just like ordinary man. So he says to Kṛṣṇa, "You wanted me to fight, to become happy, to get the kingdom, but by killing my own men? Oh, nimittāni viparītāni. You are misleading me." Nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni. "I'll not be happy by killing my own men. That is not possible. How You are inducing me?" So he said, nimittāni ca viparītāni paśyāmi. "No, no." Na ca śaknomy avasthātum: "I cannot stand here. Let me go back. Take my chariot back. I'll not stay here." Na ca śaknomy avasthātuṁ bhramatīva ca me manaḥ (BG 1.30). "I am becoming bewildered. I am puzzled now."
So we have got two kinds of bodies, gross and subtle, and within that, I am living, you are living, soul. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). Asmin dehe, within this body, there is the dehī, the proprietor of the body. So people do not understand that this finishing of this gross body is not actually death or annihilation of the soul. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). Even annihilation of the subtle body does not mean death of the soul. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). There are two kinds of bodies. So when the gross body is annihilated, the subtle body carries me to another gross body. Just like the air carries the flavor of a certain place. If the air is passing over rose garden, it carries the flavor. Although we cannot see, but we can smell. We can understand the breeze is so fragrant, means it is coming over a rose garden. Similarly, filthy place, a bad smell, the air carries. So the subtle body carries the mental situation of the soul and puts him into a particular body according to that mental situation.
So here Arjuna is a fighter, he is engaged in fighting. Now he is thinking that is proper. He is Vaiṣṇava. He is devotee. He is properly thinking that "For my sense gratification I am going to kill my kinsmen? Oh, what a great sinful activity I am going to do." But actually, Kṛṣṇa is not engaging His devotee to act sinfully. No. That is not Kṛṣṇa's business. Although superficially it appears that Kṛṣṇa is engaging Arjuna to fight in the sinful activities, no, that is not sinful. Whatever Kṛṣṇa does, it is not sinful; it is transcendental, the most pure activity. The rascals who do not understand Kṛṣṇa, they say that Kṛṣṇa is immoral. They do not know what is Kṛṣṇa and what is Kṛṣṇa's action. They do not know. They think, "Now, Kṛṣṇa is engaging Arjuna to fight. Oh, it is immoral. Why Kṛṣṇa should engage Arjuna in the fighting business?" So therefore... Or "Why Kṛṣṇa is engaged in dancing with the gopīs? They are wives and sister of other men. It is sinful."
So this is going on. Pratikāram, danger, vipadam. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadam. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadaṁ na teṣām. So samāśritā ye pada-pallavaṁ plavam. Anyone who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, samāśritā ye pada-pallavaṁ plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. Murāri. Murāri means Kṛṣṇa. So puṇya-yaśo. He is simply glorified by pious activities. There is no impious activities in Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the purest. So whatever He does, that is pure. The rascals they do not know this. They think, "Kṛṣṇa is immoral." And He has become a professor, teacher. He does not know, he does not understand Kṛṣṇa. So many big, big professors, learned scholars, they do not understand what is Kṛṣṇa. And they talking about Kṛṣṇa. They are taking the position of instructing about Kṛṣṇa. Just see how rascaldom. You do not know something perfectly, and still, you are talking about it. This is going on. Puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. What is Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyante (BG 7.19). We have to know Kṛṣṇa. Because as soon as you know Kṛṣṇa, you become immediately liberated.
So I do not know why foolish people, they do not understand what is God. Everything is there. And He comes also, personally. Not only the God's name, address, activities, and everything is there, but He comes personally also. He proves Kṛṣṇa. He proved that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Kṛṣṇa was present, He proved all these things. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). He proved. He had sixteen thousand wives, and each wife, a big palatial building of marble, bedecked with jewels and gardens with pārijāta flowers. These are description. Nobody can maintain sixteen thousand wives in sixteen thousand palaces. Not only that, not that if He enters in one palace, He lives with one wife, the other wives are vacant. No. He expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms. And with each wife He was living comfortably. Each wife had ten children. And those children also had each ten children, grandsons. In this way, Kṛṣṇa's family was more than one crore, Yadu-vaṁśa. So if you study from material point of view, when Kṛṣṇa was present, He proved that He's Bhagavān.
Prabhupāda: This is a translation of a Vedic version, ācāryavān puruṣo veda. Ācāryavān, one who has ācārya as his guidance, he is supposed to know everything. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda. That is given there.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "One should not therefore remain in material perplexities but should approach such a teacher. This is the purport of this verse. Who is the man in material perplexities? It is he who does not understand the problems of life. In the Garga Upaniṣad this is described as follows. He is a miserly man who does not solve the problems of life as a human and who thus quits this world like the cats and dogs without understanding the science of self-realization. He is called a miserly man. This human form of life is the most valuable asset for the living entity who can utilize it for solving the problems of life. Therefore one who does not utilize this opportunity is a miser."
Prabhupāda: As a miser does not properly use his asset. Suppose you have got one million dollars, you keep it only, you do not use it properly or you spoil it. Then you are called miser. But if you utilize it properly and gain out of it, then you are intelligent. Similarly, Garga Upaniṣad says, he makes distinction, two classes. One class of men he says kṛpaṇa. Kṛpaṇa means miser. And another class of men he says brāhmaṇa, brāhmaṇas. So he classifies, etad viditvāsmāt ya praiti sa brāhmaṇaḥ. This self-realization process... We shall die. It is sure. Every one of us, we'll die. But we should not die like cats and dogs. That is the difference. We may die. We must die. Nobody can escape death, but before death we must know what is self and self-realization.
Material world means in every step there is danger. That is material world. So therefore we should take guide from guru, from the teacher, from the spiritual master how to make progress, because this... That will be explained later on, that the goal of our life, at least in this human form of life, in the Aryan civilization, the goal of life is to understand our constitutional position, "What I am. What I am." If we do not understand "What I am," then I am equal to the cats and dogs. The dogs, cats, they do not know. They think that they are the body. That will be explained. So in such condition of life, when we are puzzled... Actually we are puzzled every moment. Therefore it is necessary one should approach to a proper guru. Now Arjuna is approaching Kṛṣṇa, the first-class guru. First-class guru. Guru means the Supreme Lord. He is guru of everyone, parama-guru. So anyone who represents Kṛṣṇa, he is also guru.
So other boys, what do they know about Kṛṣṇa conscious...? Prahlāda Mahārāja is liberated from the very birth. So they said: "What is this Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" They could not understand. So he was convincing them: durlabhaṁ manuṣyaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam. This human body is durlabhaṁ. Labdhvā sudurlabhaṁ idam bahu sambhavānte (SB 11.9.29). This human form of body is a great concession given by the material nature. People are so miscreant and foolish. They do not understand what is the value of this human form of life. They engage this body for sense gratification like cats and dogs. The śāstra therefore says: "No, this human form of body is not meant for spoiling like the hogs and dogs." Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛ-loke. Everyone has got a body, material body. But nṛ-loke, in the human society, this body is not to be spoiled. Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛ-loke kaṣṭān kāmān arhati viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). This human form of life, simply working uselessly hard, day and night, for sense gratification. This is the business of the hog and dog. They are doing also the same thing, whole day and night, working hard simply for sense gratification. So therefore in the human society there must be a system of division. That is called varṇāśrama-dharma. That is Vedic civilization.
So these four divisions are always. Now you can name in a different way. That doesn't matter. But in every society and for all time these divisions are there. So according to Vedic system, this system is observed by generation. So he was a kṣatriya. Now, kṣatriya's duty was to fight with the enemy, and he was not executing that, I mean to say, injunction. Therefore, he is conscious that dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ: (BG 2.7) "Oh, I am deviating from my religion also. It is the duty of kṣatriya. No. So I am now perplexed." So yac chreyaḥ syān niścitam: "Now You should kindly, definitely say." Now, here is a position: "I do not understand what is to be done. You kindly..." Yac chreyaḥ syān niścitam. Niścitam means definitely what is right. Brūhi tan me. Now Kṛṣṇa can say, "Well, I have already saying you that you should fight, but you are not carrying out the order." So he says that śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). So he accepted that "All right, whatever arguments we have done so far, let us forget that. Now I accept You as my spiritual master, not my friend."
So unless one is at least conversant with the preliminary knowledge of transcendental matters... That transcendental matter here you can see. Arjuna is perplexed, and now he wants a definite answer. This is the inquiry about transcendental subject matter. So every human being has to inquire. The inquiry must be there. What is that inquiry? That inquiry is that, preliminary, that every human being is suffering. A ignorant man... Just like a cat and dog or an animal. They are suffering, but they do not understand. Suffering they do not understand. Just like we have seen... Of course, here animals are slaughtered in slaughterhouse. In, according to Hindu system, of course, cow killing is not allowed. But there are meat-eaters. So according to Hindu system, if anyone wants to eat meat, he should take a goat. According to Hindu system, only goats and lambs can be killed for meat-eating, no other animals, no other animals. Cow is not... forbidden. Just like, in, in, the Hindus, they do not eat cow's flesh. And the Muslims, they do not eat, I mean to say, hogs. Hog's flesh they do not eat. They have got some sentiment. But meat-eating is also there in the Hindu society, but that is only by goat's meat or lamb's meat, generally goat. Generally goat. Now, these goats are sacrificed before a goddess Kālī, Goddess Kālī.
So our point is that Kṛṣṇa informs Arjuna that "Why you are deviating from your duty? Do you think that your brother or your uncle or your grandfather on the other side, they will be dead after fighting? No. That is not the fact." The point is that Kṛṣṇa wanted to teach Arjuna that this body is different from the person. Just like every one of us, we are different from the shirt and coat. Similarly, we living entities, soul, is different from the gross body and the subtle body. This is the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā. People do not understand it. Generally, people understand that he is this body. That is condemned in the śāstras.
- yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke
- sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ
- yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij
- janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ
- (SB 10.84.13)
Go means cow, and khara means ass. Anyone who is living on the bodily concept of life, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke... The bodily concept of life is meant for the animals. The dog does not know that he's not this body, he's pure soul. But a man, if he's educated, he can understand that he's not this body, he is different from this body. How he can understand that we are different from this body? That is also a very simplified method.
So Arjuna has got the best opportunity. He's hearing from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has got the... He's so fortunate. He's talking with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, face to face, directly. So our business should be we should follow the footsteps of Arjuna. How to follow the footsteps of Arjuna? As Arjuna understood Bhagavad-gītā, you try to understand in that way. Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). "Kṛṣṇa, You are the Supreme Person, Paraṁ Brahman, pavitra, the most pure." So if we, similarly, if we, even if we do not understand Bhagavad-gītā, if we follow that: "Arjuna has understood like this, that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Brahman, Supreme Personality of Godhead," then you understand everything. This is called paramparā. You don't require to, I mean, to tax your brain, what is Kṛṣṇa. Because now we have got poor intelligence. We cannot do that. But you simply accept what Arjuna says. Then you are perfect.
So if we follow their footsteps... Just like Arjuna. That, that is, really we understand. "If Arjuna has understood like this, so let me understand like that." That's all. Simple thing. Then we understand Bhagavad-gītā. But, if we want to speak very learned scholarly, but do not understand what is Kṛṣṇa, this is simply waste of time. As the so-called scholars and philosophers are doing. They do not understand Kṛṣṇa, but talking all nonsense, and such things are very much appreciated by others. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: śva-viḍ-varāha-uṣṭra-kharaiḥ saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ. These rascals, so-called scholars, so-called incarnation, are accepted by similar class of animals. Śva-viḍ-varāha. And actually Vedic understanding is to follow the footsteps of the predecessor ācāryas who understand things. Then our life will be successful. We'll understand.
The frog within the well, he is calculating the dimension of Pacific Ocean. So by this dog, frog philosophical way, we can, we cannot understand what is God. We must receive the knowledge from God Himself, or from a person who knows God. Otherwise, there is no possibility. Now, according to māyā..., Māyāvāda philosophy, they say that there is no duality. It is a kind of illusion that we see difference between God and ourself. That is māyā. Then Kṛṣṇa is not advocating herewith about the impersonal feature of the Lord. He says, ah, He represents... He is God himself. He says "I, I was existing as I am existing now, and in future also, I shall exist like this." So He was speaking as individual person. So in the past He says that "I was individual person." And in the present He's individual person. So why these Māyāvādī philosophy, philosophers, do not understand this direct version from the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Because āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ (BG 7.15). The Māyāvādī philosophers, they do not accept the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. They think God is as good as they are. Therefore they introduce themselves as Nārāyaṇa. But according to Vaiṣṇava philosophy, Nārāyaṇa cannot be equal to any one of us.
Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim. If you accept from the very beginning this principle, that "I must surrender unto the Supreme Lord," then there is no other necessity of prosecuting your spiritual knowledge. That is the final solution of life. Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim. Tapasya means penances, accepting penances for spiritual realization. Now, one who has accepted the worship of the Supreme Lord, he has no more anything to do for spiritual realization. He has realized. And nārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim. And undergoing so much severe penances, if one does not understand what is God, then whole thing is spoiled. Tapasā tathā kim. Whole penances is spoiled because he could not reach to the ultimate goal. So ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim, nārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim. Antar-bahir yadi haris tapasā tathā kim. One who has achieved that knowledge, that he can see within himself and outside always the Supreme Lord, he has no more necessity of any penance. And after undergoing all sorts of penances, if I cannot realize that God is within me and God is without everywhere, then all my penances are spoiled. You see? These are very nice.
We began this verse yesterday. This is the criterion of understanding spiritual life. People generally do not understand that there is another element beyond this body. Generally, people, they are under the impression that "I am this body. I am Indian." Why I am Indian? Because this body's born in India. Therefore, I'm Indian. "I am American." Why? "Because body is born in America; therefore I am American." Similarly, this dehātma-buddhiḥ, bodily concept of life, is going on all over the world. This is ignorance, ajñāna. This is called ajñāna. Jñāna and ajñāna. Jñāna means one who knows that he is not this body. He's spirit soul. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. (aside:) (about microphone) It is... Little strong make it, yes. So when one is freed from the bodily concept of life, he called jñānī. Otherwise, ajñānī. They are so much proud of jñāna. In our India, there are so-called Māyāvādīs. They think of themselves as jñānī-sampradāya.
Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). The formula is there. Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. Simply if you try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa, divyam. They are all divine, transcendental. Kṛṣṇa's activities, Kṛṣṇa's appearance, Kṛṣṇa's worship, Kṛṣṇa's temple, Kṛṣṇa's glories—everything transcendental. So if one understands these things or tries to understand, even he does not understand, tries to understand, then he becomes liberated from this process of birth and death. Kṛṣṇa says. So become very serious to understand Kṛṣṇa and remain in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then this problem, birth, death, old age and disease will be solved, automatically, very easily. There will be no problem.
That is the function of the human life, to understand that "I am eternal." Kṛṣṇa says that "In the past we existed, in the present we are existing, and in the future we shall continue to exist." Then why I have got this type of body by which I am actually, not actually, superficially I am not existing. So this is the problem. A dhīra means a sober man will think of this problem, that "I want to live. Why death takes place? I want to live very healthy life. Why disease comes? I don't want to become old man. Why old age comes?" Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). These are the problems. So solve this problem simply by taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa. And for understand Kṛṣṇa, the Bhagavad-gītā is there, so nicely explained.
So we are not beginning from the gross stage. The Bhagavad-gītā, although it is ABCD of spiritual instruction, it begins from that stage, which stage the jñānīs, the philosophers and the yogis, they are trying to reach. But we have no time. In this age by yoga practice, to come to this stage, that "I am not this body"... Ask any student who are practicing yoga, so-called meditation, they are inclined to this body. They are trying to exercise this body and they think that this is the final. No. Simple truth, very simple truth. Kṛṣṇa, as the supreme authority, presenting very simply, that dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). As in this body there are different changes, similarly the ultimate change is called death. But the spirit soul, as he's existing within this body in spite of all changes, similarly the spirit soul will continue to exist even after the final change of this body. This simple truth. Try to understand this. This is the basic principle of further progress. If one does not understand this point of view, there is no progress. This is ABCD, that "I am not this body."
This is called illusion. But it is not reality. "I am soul." That is reality. So this is called illusion. And then, with this illusory knowledge, imperfect knowledge, we become teacher. That is another cheating. If you have not... They say, all these scientists and philosophers, "Perhaps," "It may be." So where is your knowledge? "It may be" and "perhaps." Why you are taking the post of a teacher? "In future we shall understand." And what is this future? Would you accept a post-dated check? "In future I shall discover, and therefore I am scientist." What is this scientist? And, above all, our imperfectness of senses. Just like we are seeing one another because there is light. If there is no light, then what is the power of my seeing? But these rascals they do not understand that they are always defective, and still, they are writing books of knowledge. What is your knowledge? We must take knowledge from the perfect person.
So the (purport) (?) purpose is that the East and West difference is that the Eastern people, Eastern people means India, they stressed on this sat portion, the permanent portion, the spiritual civilization. Their aim was "How to make this life perfect so that I can become immortal." As I explained the other day, aihistam yat punar janmejaya, yat tat punar janmajayaya.(?) The whole effort was how to conquer over birth and death. So modern people they do not understand that birth and death can be conquered. They can imagine it. Sometimes they say that "By scientific advancement, someday we shall become immortal." They also expect to become immortal. But, expect or not expect, here is the information from Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says; He's not speaking something nonsense or utopian. It is fact that we should be interested in the permanent, permanent life, not temporary life. This life, this material life is temporary.
So Kṛṣṇa says, "That consciousness is avināśi." After the death of, after the annihilation of this body, which we call dead, the consciousness is not dead. That we do not understand. There is no science; there is no philosophy. Everything based on a foolish assumption. They say the consciousness is made possible by combination of matter. The combination of matter, five elements, gross, the subtle elements, they cannot see. Even they see. So their... (aside:) Not now. Their proposition is that this consciousness is a symptom of combination of matter. That is Buddhist philosophy. They do not accept the existence of soul. "The consciousness is a combination of matter." But if it is a fact, then why don't you, if some matter is lacking, why don't you bring that matter or chemical and inject in the dead body and make it again conscious? Why it is not possible? What is your argument? If you say consciousness is combination of matter...
Just like our motorcar is being driven. So when the petrol is finished, matter... Because motorcar running means combination of matter—some machine, made of matter, and some oil, acting—so it is running. Of course, the driver is there. But foolish persons, they do not understand, simply combination of matter will not act. There must be a driver, a living person. Then the motorcar will go. So supposing the combination of matter, that the petrol is finished. So we can bring petrol. Again the motor runs.
So death means that unconsciousness for a long period. That is death. Because the soul is eternal. It will be explained. There is no birth and death. So when this body is annihilated, so the soul remains unconscious for a period, seven months for a human being. Seven months unconscious stage within the womb of the mother. After seven months, the consciousness revives. Just like if you have got an experience under chloroform, unconsciousness. The surgical operation takes place, you do not understand, you do not perceive pains and pleasure, but you remains for a certain hours unconscious. Then, gradually, dream comes. Just, from unconsciousness the dream comes. And from dream, you are awakened. As you go down from awakening stage to dream, dream to unconsciousness, similarly, you come up also, from unconsciousness to dream, from dream to awakening conscious stage.
So death means when this body is lost, gross body, the soul remains in the subtle body—intelligence, mind and ego. That subtle body carries him to another body. But those who are not intelligent, they do not understand what is the subtle body, although it is clearly said subtle body means mind, intelligence. You have got mind, intelligence, everyone knows. But these rascals, because they cannot see mind and intelligence, they think that this man is gone, dead.
So who does not understand there is consciousness all over the body? Tad viddhi. Yena sarvam idaṁ tatam. They'll jump over, "Yes, I am the Supreme God." God's consciousness is also spread all over. That's all right. But is your consciousness spread all over the universe? Both of us, we are conscious. But He is supreme consciousness. Therefore His consciousness is spread all over the universe, all over the creation. In the Thirteenth Chapter, you'll find Kṛṣṇa says, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata: (BG 13.3) "I am also kṣetra-jñam." Supersoul. What is the difference between Supersoul and soul? Soul, consciousness, is spread all over this body. You are soul, your consciousness spread all over your body. I am soul, my consciousness spread all over the body. But my consciousness not spread all over your body, neither your consciousness spread all over my body. But God's, Kṛṣṇa's, consciousness is spread over your body and my body, His body and everyone.
Pradyumna: "He who thinks that the living entity is the slayer or that he is slain does not understand. One who is in knowledge knows that the self slays not nor is slain."
Prabhupāda:
- ya enaṁ vetti hantāraṁ
- yaś cainaṁ manyate hatam
- ubhau tau na vijānīto
- nāyaṁ hanti na hanyate
- (BG 2.19)
- na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
- nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
- ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇo
- na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
- (BG 2.20)
"For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."
So, in different ways, Kṛṣṇa is trying to convince us how the soul is immortal. Different ways. Ya enaṁ vetti hantāram (BG 2.19). When there is fight, so if one is killed or... So Kṛṣṇa says that if one thinks that "This man has killed this man," so, or "This man can kill this man," this kind of knowledge is not perfect. Nobody kills nobody. Then the butchers, they may say that "Then why do you complain that we are killing?" They're killing the body, but you cannot kill when there is injunction "Thou shall not kill."
What is that statement? The soul, definition of soul, Kṛṣṇa is giving?
Viṣṇujana: "Only the material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is subject to destruction (BG 2.18). He who thinks that the living entity is the slayer or that the entity is slain does not understand. One who is in knowledge knows that the self slays not nor is slain (BG 2.19)."
Prabhupāda: Then next?
Viṣṇujana: 20: "For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain (BG 2.20)."
Prabhupāda: Yes. Because eternal, therefore how it can be slain? So soul is never slain. The body is slain. Then?
Viṣṇujana: 21: "O Pārtha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, unborn, eternal and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill (BG 2.21)?" Purport: "Everything has its utility, and a man who is situated in complete knowledge knows how and where to apply a thing for its proper utility. Similarly violence also has its use, and how to apply violence rests with the person in knowledge. Although the justice of the peace awards capital punishment to a person condemned for murder, the justice of the peace cannot be blamed because he orders violence to another according to the codes of justice. In the Manu-saṁhitā,..."
Prabhupāda: Manu-saṁhitā, yes.
Viṣṇujana: "...the lawbook for mankind, it is supported that a murderer should be condemned to death so that in his next life he will not have to suffer for the great sin he has committed. Therefore the king's punishment of hanging a murderer is actually beneficial. Similarly when Kṛṣṇa orders fighting, it must be concluded that violence is for the supreme justice, and as such, Arjuna should follow the instruction, knowing well that such violence committed in the act of fighting for justice is not at all violence. Because at any rate the man, or rather, the soul, cannot be killed. For the administration of justice, so-called violence is permitted. A surgical operation is not meant to kill the patient, but is for his cure. Therefore the fighting to be executed by Arjuna under the instruction of Kṛṣṇa is with full knowledge, and so there is no possibility of sinful reaction."
Prabhupāda: This is the distinction between violence and nonviolence. People are very much advocate of nonviolence, but they are committing, according to their estimation, they are committing every moment violence. But from higher standard there is practically no violence and the things which apparently appear to be violence, if it is properly executed... Just like under the order of high-court judge, one body is being executed. So that is not violence. A justice of higher order is not meant for committing violence. It is justice. Similarly, when, under the direction of the supreme justice, Kṛṣṇa, anything is done, apparently, although it appears violence, it is not violence. It is justice. This is to be understood.
So our movement is to make people in general devotee. Then he'll understand God. Then his life will be successful. That's all. You be yourself devotee and try to make others devotee. Then both your life and the person who is under your instruction, he, everyone is successful. And without being devotee, you cannot make others devotee. That is also a secret. If you remain nondevotee, you cannot convince others. That is not in your power. Therefore the nondevotee class of men, they cannot understand God, they cannot convince others about God. That's a fact. They'll simply present hodge-podge thing, they do not understand clearly, and they present hodge-podge. That's all. Without being... Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). "If anyone wants to understand Me as I am..." Of course, nobody can understand Kṛṣṇa as He is, still, as far as possible. That is only through bhakti. Bhaktyā, it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. It doesn't say that through knowledge, philosophical speculation or through haṭha-yoga system. No. He says bhaktyā, clearly. And in the beginning also He says, "Because you are My bhakta, therefore I shall reveal to you." The whole science is for the devotee. Not for anyone else. Those who are not devotees, their understanding of God is blocked forever. They cannot understand. It is a fact.
Their position is most abominable. Jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ: (BG 14.18) Those who are in the modes of ignorance, jaghanya, very abominable condition. So at the present moment... That is śūdra. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. In this age of Kali, everyone is in the modes of ignorance. Śūdra. They do not know because they have no... One who know that "I am spirit soul; I am not this body," he is brāhmaṇa. And one who does not know, he is śūdra, kṛpaṇa. Etad vidita prāye sa brāhmaṇa. Everyone dies, that's all right, but one who dies after knowing the spiritual truth... Just like here, the students who are trying to understand what is spiritual life, and, somehow or other, if he understands that he's spirit soul, at least, then he becomes brāhmaṇa. He becomes brāhmaṇa. Etad vidita. And one who does not understand, he is kṛpaṇa. Kṛpaṇa means miser. Brāhmaṇa means liberal. These are the shastric injunctions.
So they do not understand that there is a controller. We may theorize and so many ways of our happy life. But you cannot be happy, sir, so long you have got this material body. That's a fact. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). Therefore intelligent persons, they should be... Kṛṣṇa is making everyone intelligent: "You rascal, you are under the bodily concept of life. Your civilization has no value. It is rascal civilization." Here is the point,
- yaṁ hi na vyathayanty ete
- puruṣaṁ puruṣarṣabha
- sama-duḥkha-sukhaṁ dhīraṁ
- so 'mṛtatvāya kalpate
Your problem is how to be reestablished again as eternal. Because we are eternal. Some way or other, we have fallen in this material world. Therefore, we have to accept birth and death. So our problem is how to again be eternal.
Devotee: "Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, do not understand him at all (BG 2.29)."
Prabhupāda: Hear about the soul, (for) the general people, it is amazing. Still, in the modern society, which is so proud of scientific advancement, so far soul is concerned, it is amazement. Nobody understands, still. And those who are hearing about the existence of soul, some of us also in amazement. It is a mysterious thing. And even after hearing... Just like some student. There are many students, they are reading Bhagavad-gītā, which confirms from the very beginning the existence of soul, but still, Bhagavad-gītā they are reading daily, they cannot understand what is soul. Amazement.
Devotee: 30: "O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body is eternal and can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature (BG 2.30)."
Prabhupāda: Now, after putting forward all definitions and arguments from different angles of vision, of different philosophers, thesis, now Kṛṣṇa concludes, "My dear Arjuna, take it for certain that the soul within is eternal." So because we are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even if we do not understand what is the constitutional position of the soul, here, because Kṛṣṇa says, we should accept it. This is called paramparā. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2), disciplic succession. What does He say? Yes. The same verse repeat.
So because we have got body and soul, two different things, we are combination, body and soul. That is already explained very nicely in so many ways. So actually sva-dharma means the occupation of the soul. Because in the material condition we do not understand what I am—whether I am this body or I am soul. Mostly people they do not know that one is soul, not this body. Body is the dress or outward covering, external covering. Subtle covering and gross covering. But so long one is in the bodily concept of life, so one has got different occupational duty according to the conception of the body. So the nature is being conducted by three modes of nature. Therefore, according to one's nature there is occupational duty. That is scientific division. At the present moment there is no such division. Therefore gradually people are degrading to the lowest quality—ignorance, śūdra. They are taking to the śūdra principles. Yesterday I was presented with a paper, Indian government scheme to help people starting small-scale industries, and government is ready to help.
So Kṛṣṇa is encouraging Arjuna because he is a kṣatriya. Sva-dharmam api cāvekṣya. It is his duty. The rascals should not take example that: "Kṛṣṇa encouraged killing. Therefore everyone should kill. There is no sin." Without understanding. This is the difficulty. The rascals they do not understand what is Bhagavad-gītā. They interpret for their favorable condition. That's all. Here is Bhagavad-gītā. They do not read the whole thing from ācārya—misunderstand. Bhagavad-gītā is not encouraging violence. That is not the Bhagavad-gītā's purpose. But a kṣatriya, when there is fight, dharma-yuddha, yuddha dharma... What is that, before we...? Sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ pārtha labhante yuddham īdṛśam. A kṣatriya becomes very satisfied to get such fighting opportunity, yuddham īdṛśam, yadṛcchayā copapannaṁ svarga-dvāram apāvṛtam, labhante yuddham īdṛśam.
Everything, whatever material manifestation, at least in this world... In New York City you see so many big, big buildings and so many machineries, factories and organization, but who has done it? That minute particle, embodied liv..., the soul. Just see. If that minute particle can play so much wonderful thing, just see, just imagine what wonderful things cannot be done by the supreme particle. Or not particle, He is the whole. He is the whole. Because we do not understand the capacity, the energy of the... Just calculate mathematically, mathematically. Now, this particle, the particle is so small that it has been calculated that one ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of the hair is the measurement of the soul. Now, we cannot even imagine, but supposing that point, if that point has got so much energy that it is playing wonderful things, everything is being manufactured by the brain of that small particle, now you can just make a proportion: then the full one, how much wonderful things He can do. If a small particle of... A spark of fire, if it is dropped here, it will at once burn it. Now, you can just imagine the big fire, how much capacity has got.
So the thing is that we, we are, because we are part and parcel of that sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), eternity, blissful and knowledge, therefore our hankering is always to live eternally. Our hankering is always to get full knowledge, and our hankering is always to remain happy. That is our natural hankering. But that is being hampered due to this body. That we do not understand. We are hankering after full knowledge, we are hankering after full bliss, we are hankering after eternity, but we do not know how to obtain that. Here is the information. Here is the information, that you are hankering after all these things through some imperfect instrument. That is not possible. So you have to understand yourself that you are not this body. Whole impediment, whole, meaning choking of your progress, is due to this body. So you have to separate yourself from this body. Simply separating, I mean to say, theoretically will not do. You have to keep yourself, keep yourself always separate, always separate as master of this body, not as servant of this body. That should be your aim of life. Just like you have got a motorcar, nice motorcar. If you want to drive it as a superior master driver, then the car will give you good service, but if you do not know how to drive, then the car will play disaster. Your life will be risky. You life'll be risky. If you simply sit down in a good car without knowing the art of driving, then it will play disaster. You give at once motion, and it will collide with something, and you will be fractured, and whole thing will be dismantled.
The introspective man who is after self-realization, he knows very well, "Suppose if I do in future such and such big business, or such... I can construct such big skyscraper house." But because he's introspective, he knows that "What I shall do with all these things? As soon as I exit from the platform, everything remains here, and I take another form of body, begins another life." That is introspection. The materialistic person they cannot understand what is the future. They are thinking this body is everything. "We have got this body, and when it is finished, it is finished for all." These questions we have already discussed. But actually it is not. This is the first understanding of self-realization, that soul is eternal, it is not annihilated even after the annihilation of this body. This is the beginning of self-realization. So these people they do not understand it. They don't care for it. That is their sleeping. That is their miserable condition. Go on.
This is the gift of Lord Caitanya. Namo mahā-vadānyāya. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī says, "You are the greatest of all charitable persons because You are offering the greatest boon." Kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te (CC Madhya 19.53). "You are offering love of Kṛṣṇa, which will get me to the kingdom of Kṛṣṇa." This is the greatest gift to the human society. But the foolish persons they do not understand it. What can I do? Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī (BG 7.14). The māyā is very strong. If we say that "Here is a small booklet, Easy Journey to Other Planets," they'll not take it. They will make plan of how to go in other planet by sputniks, which is impossible. You cannot go anywhere. That is our conditioned life. Conditioned means you must stay here. You must stay here. Who is allowing to go other planet? For coming to, to take the permanent visa of your country, I had to fight so much, and you are going to moon planet? There is no visa? They will allow you only to enter? It is so easy thing? But they foolishly think that simply "I am the monarch of all I survey." That's all. This planet is the monarch, and all other planets they're all subservient. They will satisfy our senses. This is foolishness. All right. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)
So anyone who does not move the circle of activity, then his life is aghāyur indriyārāmaḥ. His life is full of sin. His life is sinful, simply meant for sense gratification. Aghāyur indriyārāmo moghaṁ pārtha sa jīvati. His life is useless, without any purpose. And actually it has become like that.
Our life has become without any purpose. We do not understand why this human life we have got, why it is distinct from the dogs' life or the hogs' life or the animal life. We do not understand that. We have to understand that this human life is not meant for the animal propensities of life like cats and dog; it is meant for some other divine purpose. We have to get rid of this material encagement and attain our spiritual life and be happy forever. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). One has to return back to the kingdom of God. That is the mission of human life.
The animal did not understand anything. (laughter and applause) Because he is animal he is thinking like that. Everyone thinks others like him. That is the nature. Ātmavat manyate jagat.
There is a story. You will hear it. That one gentleman, he was hard of hearing, hard of hearing. So he is calling his wife Mrs. Such-and-such, Mrs. Such. She is replying, "Yes, I am coming." But he is hard of hearing. He is thinking that my wife is hard of hearing. She is replying, "Yes, I am coming." But this rascal is hard of hearing, so he is thinking my wife, that is my wife's fault, she is hard of hearing. He cannot hear and he is thinking that my wife is hard of hearing. This is the example. A man thinks others like himself.
I have already explained. Because the nature wants to help us because we are now forgotten souls. We have forgotten God. The animals have also forgotten God. They are thinking they are this body, bodily concept of life. They have no knowledge. But when you come to the, by evolutionary process, come to the human form of life, then it is your duty to inquire about the Supreme Brahman. That is Vedānta-sūtra. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. "Now you have to ask about Brahman." Not the matter. So that Brahman is Vedic knowledge. From the material standard, gradually we have to go upwards and come to the point of understanding Kṛṣṇa. That is Vedic knowledge. That is Vedic knowledge. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). To pursue Vedic knowledge means to understand Kṛṣṇa. But if you do not understand Kṛṣṇa and if you speak as, like so many nonsense things, and if you pose yourself as paṇḍita, that is śrama eva hi kevalam. That is stated. Śrama eva hi. Simply wasting time and laboring for nothing.
Now, dharma, everyone is executing his particular occupational duty very nicely. Brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. I am speaking the organized society, not this animal society as at present. Even organized society, a brāhmaṇa is discharging his duties just like a brāhmaṇa. Satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavam, jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). Still... Dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ, he is very nicely executing his duty as a brāhmaṇa, but by executing such duties, if he does not develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then śrama eva hi kevalam. This is the verdict. Then he has wasted time. Because to become brāhmaṇa, perfect brāhmaṇa, means to know Brahman. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. And the Para-brahman, Supreme Brahman, is Kṛṣṇa. So if he does not understand Kṛṣṇa, then what is the use of his executing this brāhmaṇa's duty? That is the verdict of the śāstra. Śrama eva hi kevalam, simply wasting time.
So people do not believe that Kṛṣṇa is a historical person, at the same time, He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They think that He is a very learned man or a great politician, or a beautiful man. Like that. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11). They do not understand the background of Kṛṣṇa.
So this thing is being clarified by the question of Arjuna, aparaṁ bhavato janma. "You are born along with me. You are my contemporary." And paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ. "And the sun-god, or the president of the sun, Mr. Vivasvān, he's long long ago. How can I believe that you talked with him?" This is the question. Aparaṁ bhavato janma paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ, katham etad vijānīyām. "How I shall believe it?" Yes. This is possible, to inquire like that. Tvam ādau proktavān iti. "You first of all spoke this." This is the difference between God and the living entity. The.... God does not forget. We forget. This answer will be in the next verse. Bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi. "I understand. I know everything." In another place Kṛṣṇa..., that "I know the past, present, future." That is knowledge.
So sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā matāḥ.(?) If you do not receive instruction of Kṛṣṇa from the sampradāya, then niṣphalā matāḥ, then whatever you have learned, it is useless. It is useless. That is the defect. So many people are studying Bhagavad-gītā, but they do not understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Because they do not receive through the evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2). The paramparā, unless you go to the paramparā... The same example. If you do not take electricity from the plug which is connected with the powerhouse, what is the use of your bulb and wire? It has no use.
These things are described. So we have to accept Kṛṣṇa like that. And if we make our own interpretation, rascal-like, that will not help us to understand what is Kṛṣṇa and what is Bhagavad-gītā. That is going on, generally. "Kṛṣṇa has no existence." "Kṛṣṇa, there was no Kṛṣṇa. It is story." "There was no battlefield of Kurukṣetra." These things are going on by, spoken by so-called political leaders and scholars. But that is not the fact. They do not understand Kṛṣṇa, simply mislead people. Therefore the world is in chaotic condition.
Try to understand Kṛṣṇa. Then your life will be successful. Kṛṣṇa is explaining. Kṛṣṇa is so kind that... Yadā yadā hi dharmasya (BG 4.7). He'll explain that, why He comes. Ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro 'pi san sambhavāmi yuge yuge, why? Just to remind us, what is Kṛṣṇa. Just to teach us. Because we misunderstand. We are so fools and rascals. We misunderstand Kṛṣṇa. We cannot understand. If we simply understand Kṛṣṇa, then our life is successful. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). The simple thing. Just try to understand Kṛṣṇa. This simple, one thing will make your life successful.
They will put so many theories that there is no God, and none of the theories are practical, neither they can prove it by experimental knowledge. Still, they will insist on. That is their business. And when we say... When somebody says, "You prove it," the answer is, "Well, we are advancing. Some day will come; we shall prove it." That's all. "Some day will come." They do not understand that "Trust no future however pleasant."
Why you are expecting that some day will come when science will be perfect? Throughout the whole history of the human society, never it has been possible that one can give life. There is no such instance in the history. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). The four principles of material inebrieties, namely birth, death, old age, and disease, nobody has been able to check in the past history of human society, and how you can believe that in future these problems, namely janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi, birth, death, old age, and disease, will be solved by the advancement of science? So at least we cannot believe. And no sane man will believe it.
How you can say that you are better than him? You are better than him when you understand how the laws of material nature is working so that one has become tree to stand up for ten thousands of years, and I have got all freedom to move and to make education, to go to the school, colleges, take education, advancement of knowledge. That is the difference between tree and me. So far necessities of the body, material body, is concerned, the demand is there; demand is here. You can accept from that type of body, by this body, simply by understanding, by advancing in knowledge. And the perfection of knowledge is to know who is God. Or where is God. That is perfection. So long one does not understand what is God or the Absolute Truth by whom everything is being emanated, the knowledge is imperfect. Knowledge is not finished. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante: (BG 7.19) "After many, many births of cultivating knowledge, one comes to the understanding of accepting God is the prime source, fountainhead of everything." That is perfection of knowledge.
Just see. He has created sun, He has created moon, He has created everything. How do we claim that this planet belongs to us? It is given to us for living. That's all. Because we are sons of God, therefore we have got right to enjoy the property of God. That is real peace. We are... As a rich man's son, he has got the right to, I mean to say, enjoy the father's property... But if he disobeys, if he becomes disobedient to the father, he is put into trouble. So our position is like that. We do not understand what is God, what we are, what is our relationship with God, what is this material nature, how it is working. These things are actually knowledge.
One should know. The Īśopaniṣad very nicely explains, īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1), everything, what you are seeing, they all belong to God. Don't claim yourself. Similarly, Bhagavad-gītā also says, bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). "I am the proprietor of all planets."
This is bhāva. "Oh, Kṛṣṇa is so great." When one understands greatness of Kṛṣṇa, how great He is. Because people do not understand... They generally speak, "God is great." That is very good. At least, one accepts God is great. But how He is great and what is the extent of His greatness, if we understand, then our regard and reverence for Kṛṣṇa increases. Just like we have got some friend, but if we know the opulence of the friend, how great he is... He may be a very big man, very big business magnate or minister. If we know, then our, "Oh, you have got such a nice friend." Similarly, we should try to understand Kṛṣṇa.
Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). In the previous verse it has been said, tattvataḥ. Not superficially. If we study Kṛṣṇa superficially, then I shall accept another rascal, competitor of Kṛṣṇa. Because we do not know what is Kṛṣṇa. Mūḍhāḥ. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ (BG 9.11).
We have seen practically. These boys, although they are very young, you'll find they have got these beads. I have asked them to chant always. They are chanting as far as possible. So this, this process has to be adopted. If you're actually serious to understand Kṛṣṇa. And if you do not try to understand Kṛṣṇa, then you are making suicide. Ātma-han. They have been described in the śāstra: ātma-han. If I cut my throat, my self, then who can save me? So people do not understand it. And Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, who understands, he has sung, hari hari biphale janama goṅāinu, manuṣya-janama pāiyā, rādhā-kṛṣṇa nā bhajiyā, jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu. So it is our duty, of course, as servant of Kṛṣṇa, to awaken everyone to Kṛṣṇa consciousness by this process of saṅkīrtana movement, but people should take it very seriously, that without taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one is making suicide, he's cutting his own throat, or drinking poison. If you like to drink poison, no can, nobody can check you. That's a fact. If you want to cut your throat, your own self, nobody can check you.
Question: I would like to know if the teachings of Kṛṣṇa can be an assistance to a person, an individual, who is interested in healing on a mass basis vibrations.(?)
Prabhupāda: Yes. For the mass of people, this chanting of holy name of God is very easy and very beneficial, for the mass of people. Mass of people do not understand very much philosophy. Therefore the easiest process of realization of God is to chant these holy names, and that will gradually cleanse the mind, and a man will be able to understand what is God.
Question: Then may I ask something else?
Prabhupāda: Your question and answer, she (the translator) will explain to the people. (translator translates)
Question: The body is the dress of the soul; so when the body falls off and dies, where does the soul go?
Prabhupāda: Just like you give up your one dress, you accept another dress; similarly, when this body, dress, is no more useful, you accept another dress. That you have got experience at night. You leave this body, and you take another body, and you roam in dreamland. That is experienced, everyday experienced. You give up this body; you accept another body, subtle body. So when this gross body is destroyed, the subtle body carries you to another gross body. That is called death.
So today is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's birthday, Rādhāṣṭamī. So we called you for meeting. This Rādhārāṇī, about some, Rādhārāṇī... Because this Rādhārāṇī is the source of spiritual inspiration. Source of spiritual inspiration. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām, jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho... Prakṛtiṁ parām (BG 7.5). The aparā-prakṛti is this material world, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ (BG 7.4).
And there is another prakṛti, parā-prakṛti. That is also mentioned here: mad-bhāvam. Mad-bhāvam means the nature in which Kṛṣṇa is there. In this material nature, although Kṛṣṇa is there, but we do not understand. We cannot see Kṛṣṇa. That is material, forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa. But when you remember Kṛṣṇa even in this material world, then it becomes spiritual.
The Bhagavad-gītā is a standard literature. Most of you know this Bhagavad-gītā. But generally the Bhagavad-gītā is read very superficially, not very critically. We do not understand Kṛṣṇa, the author of Bhagavad-gītā, neither we understand what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, although it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. We read Bhagavad-gītā superficially, not very critically, neither there is any edition so far... Of course, in Sanskrit there are many editions, annotation by Śrīdhara Svāmī, annotation by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, annotation by Viśvanātha Cakravartī, annotation by Śrī Rāmānujācārya. There are many great scholars. But we have no information of those in the western countries. You have no information of those scholars. Ordinary persons with some academic career, they think they are very learned, they can comment on Bhagavad-gītā. Oh, that is not possible. That is not possible. The other day we have already discussed that Bhagavad-gītā can be understood by a person who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, nobody else. Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam (BG 4.3). So here is a chance.
The full knowledge is brahmeti bhagavān iti, brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti (SB 1.2.11). The three things one must know. That is full knowledge. But if you understand partially, either Brahman or Paramātmā... But if you understand Bhagavān... Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. This is Vedic injunction. If you understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you understand Brahman and Paramātmā. But if you simply understand Brahman or Paramātmā, you do not understand Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is said aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, intelligence is not yet pure. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). They, after undergoing severe penances and austerities, they approach the Brahman effulgence, param... Patanty adhaḥ. Again falls down.
Woman: Yes, but if one feels love for another(?), I want to be eternally one.
Prabhupāda: Yes. You become one in the quality of spirit. Do you follow?
Woman: No, I don't understand that I have got a spiritual body really.
Prabhupāda: Oh, then... (chuckles) That you take information from Bhagavad-gītā. There is spiritual body. And why it is difficult to understand? You can understand it that your material body has developed from that atomic existence of spirit. You can understand that?
Woman: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Similarly, from that atomic spiritual existence, you can develop your spiritual body. What is the difficulty? It is the same process. As you have developed your material body, similarly, you can develop your spiritual body. What is the difficulty in understanding it?
Woman: But by merging, we come to be all alone, one spirit.
Prabhupāda: You are merged in matter; still, you have got your individual existence. What is your body? This is matter. Is it not? Then are you not merged with matter? Then still you have got your individual existence. Don't you agree? Similarly, I may merge in the spiritual existence, but still, my individuality will be there. You are merged already in this matter. Just like when you leave this body, your body will be transformed into earth. That means it is already merged. Still, you have got separate existence. And what is that separate existence? Due to that spirit.
Generally, people are karmajā. Karmajā means one who wants to enjoy the fruit of his labor. Everyone in this material world, they have come to enjoy. So therefore they are working so hard. We have seen in big, big cities, especially in the Western world, they are working very, very hard.
- In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma.
- nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma
- yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti
- na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam
- asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ
- (SB 5.5.4)
People do not understand that because we have got this material body, the sufferings are there. We are spirit. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. We are all spirit soul. But somehow or other, some way or otherwise, we have contacted this material world, and we are bound up by our karma, or fruitive, result of fruitive activities. And the result is this body. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur dehopapatti (SB 3.31.1).
They want simply sense enjoyment. But it is said that you can get some immediate profit by worshiping different demigods. That is all right. But that is not your permanent benefit. Because karmaṇā, you are creating... Karmaṇāṁ siddhim. You are getting some profit by your karma, fruitive karma, but you are creating another life, another life. To enjoy the fruitive result of this karma you'll have to wait for next life. So next life means another material body. So another material body means another term of suffering, another chapter of suffering. That they do not understand.
Therefore Ṛṣabhadeva advising that "This is not good. Don't be engaged in karma, fruitive activities." If you be engaged in fruitive activities, karma, then you'll have to accept another material body. That may be a cat's body or dog's body or demigod's body or... Body you'll have to... But as soon as you have a material body, then you'll suffer. The... One who does not understand this philosophy, he's called alpa-medhasa, poor fund of knowledge. Poor fund of knowledge.
Real problem is, as Kṛṣṇa says, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9), that I am implicated with this process of repetition of birth and death, and after birth, there is suffering, old age, disease. He does not consider it. He thinks, "This is natural." No, it is unnatural. One who does not understand this, he's alpa-medhasa, poor, poor fund of knowledge. So Bhāgavatam says, therefore, "All right, if you have got desire also to enjoy this material world, then..." Bhāgavatam says,
- akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā
- mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ
- tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena
- yajeta puruṣaṁ param
- (SB 2.3.10)
This is the recommendation, that akāmaḥ... Akāmaḥ means devotee. A devotee has no desire.
So, but your problem is eternal life. Why you should be engaged iha devatāḥ? Because iha devatāḥ means iha will be finished, your devatā will be finished, you'll be finished, everything will be finished. But your problem is how to come to the eternal point. That is stated also by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā that janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). Not iha. Stand there, in the spiritual world. If you simply try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa, then the result will be that after giving up this body, no more material body. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). No more punar janma.
That is required. But they do not understand it. They want quick result for some sense gratification, but implicate himself in the tangle, entanglement of getting again birth and death. That is going on. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the most beneficial welfare activities to the human society because by awakening them to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are saved from this danger of repetition of birth and death. Thank you very much. (end)
Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). This is the first understanding of knowledge, but people do not understand that within the body there is soul. They are so fool. Therefore they have been described in the śāstra, sa eva go-kharaḥ: (SB 10.84.13) "This class of men, they are no better than the cows and the asses." So you cannot become happy in the assembly of some animals.
Therefore people are so much disturbed at the present moment. There is no sober life, dhīra. If you want peaceful life in the society, then you must accept this program. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13). There must be brahminical class of men, kṣatriya class of men, vaiśya class of men.
But Kṛṣṇa says, na me karma-phale spṛhā. Because He has nothing to desire. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is full with everything. Now, sometimes Kṛṣṇa is misunderstood that Kṛṣṇa, in His boyhood, He had so many girlfriends. Perhaps you may know, who has written, gone through Kṛṣṇa's life. Or in His youthhood, He married sixteen thousand wives. This is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He had 16,108 wives. So sometimes who does not understand Kṛṣṇa, they think, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa was so sensuous. Oh, He kept sixteen thousand wives." No, that is not the fact. What was the fact? The fact is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord... We have got different relationship with the Supreme Lord constitutionally, every one of us.
In material world we are simply becoming contaminated. Therefore karmāṇi limpanti. In the... We are becoming entangled by the reaction of our karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapatti (SB 3.31.1). By karma, the jantu, means living entity, is getting different types of body one after another, one after another. In this way he's wandering 8,400,000 forms of bodies. This is karma. Therefore to the living entities, as we are... We are bound up by the laws of karma. But Kṛṣṇa is not like that. Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti.
This is to be understood. Unless we understand Kṛṣṇa, that He is not bound up by the material laws, then we do not understand Kṛṣṇa. And if anyone understands it perfectly, then what is the result? The result: iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti karmabhir na sa badhyate (BG 4.14). If one understands clearly that Kṛṣṇa is not under any material laws, then he also becomes not bound up by any material laws. Simply by knowing it. Karmāṇi nirdahati ca bhakti-bhājām.
So if we become bound up by pious or impious activities, then we'll have to accept this material body, karma-bandhana. And material body, as soon as you accept this material body, you are under the laws of material nature, especially birth, death, old age and disease. So you become bound up. Therefore this human form of life is especially meant for to get freedom from this bondage—birth, death and old age. But people do not understand. Their brain is so packed up with material things that they have become just like animals. They cannot understand. But anyway, unless one sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). Śāstra has said, go-kharaḥ. Go-kharaḥ means animal. Go means cows, and khara means ass. So anyone who is acting on the bodily concept of life, without any spiritual understanding, he is no better than animal. But he is satisfied... That...
The animal is being sent to the slaughter-house; still he is satisfied. He does not know that "I am going to be slaughtered. I am going in these flocks, but I will be simply waiting for being slaughtered." So as the animal goes, the cows are being slaughtered, so the animals are being slaughtered, so everyone without spiritual consciousness, without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is to be slaughtered by the laws of material nature. They do not know that. Even just like animal. Even if he is slaughtered, he is not sorry. That is the position of the present human society.
Sacrifice for whom? For the Brahman. And Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Brahman. Therefore sacrifice for Kṛṣṇa is brahmārpaṇam, means, sacrificing for the Brahman, Supreme Brahman. Because Kṛṣṇa is described in the Tenth Chapter as the Parambrahman, the Supreme Brahman. Brahman means, we are also all Brahman. Because we are all fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Being, Kṛṣṇa, therefore we are also Brahman. Just like particles of gold is also gold, similarly, we are fragmental portions of Kṛṣṇa. Do not understand that as material fragments... We are not material fragment. But just because we have no other conception at the present moment except material understanding, therefore I am just trying... This is translated into English as "fragment," but not like that material fragment.
Māyāvādī philosophers, they do not know that there is relationship that the Para-brahman and Brahman can be engaged in loving transaction. That they do not understand. They think that Brahman, when merges into the existence of Para-brahman, then business is finished. No. Business is not finished. Because we are individuals. It is not possible to remain without any activity. That is theory, that without any activity we can remain. That is not possible. And if we have no information of the spiritual activity, then we have to come back again to this material activity. That is practical example. There are many sannyāsīs. They so-called merging into Brahman, but they come back in material activities, in politics, in sociology and so on. So therefore these instructions are very valuable. nirāśīr yata-cittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ śārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma. Śārīra, just to maintain your body. Be satisfied. Whatever is supplied by Kṛṣṇa, be satisfied. Don't aspire more and more. Save time for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.... (break).... so that you can, with great enthusiasm, you can make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śārīraṁ kevalam. Not for sense gratification.
Then all our actions will not be binding upon us. Otherwise any little thing we do, yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9), we shall be entangled. And that is material life. If we become entangled more and more, then the process of changing body, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13), it will go on. Na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ (SB 5.5.4). Although this body is temporary, it is full of miseries. That we do not understand. We are thinking that we are very happy. Where is your happiness?
Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that even though you think that by material advancement you have become very happy, but you should always keep in your front janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). Then you have to die. Then where is your happiness? If you can make such arrangement that you will not die, whatever you have created you will enjoy, then it can be said as happiness. But that is not possible. You have to die.
The real science is how to stop this business. That is being advised in Bhagavad-gītā. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma (BG 4.9). People do not understand this, that our real problem is not become promoted to the higher position, but to stop this birth, death, old age, and disease. That is real problem. So Kṛṣṇa says that gata-saṅgasya.
(aside:) Don't sit like that. Don't sit like that.
Gata-saṅgasya. Because we are getting different types of bodies in different planets and different spheres of life on account of our association with the modes of nature, therefore Kṛṣṇa is advising, gata-saṅgasya: "Don't associate with the modes of material nature. That is your business." Not that "You associate with the higher modes of nature."
Chanting of Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, is Kṛṣṇa. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). These are the statement of śāstra. Kṛṣṇa's name, cintāmaṇi, spiritual. It is not material. You cannot go on chanting any material name, "Mr. John Mr. John Mr. John." You will be tired. But you can go on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours; you will never be tired. That is the difference. But they do not understand. And the more you chant, you relish.
Otherwise these European and American boys and girls, four or five years ago they did not know what is Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa's name. Now they are chanting all over the world. This is a fact. One priest, Christian priest, he was astonished. In Boston he issued one pamphlet. He said that "These boys, they are our boys. Some of them are coming from Christian family or Jewish family. But before this, before their taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they did not care for anything, Bible or Church or.... Never. Now, how is that these boys are mad after God?"
So Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's name, or anything in this world, sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma, that is Kṛṣṇa, because it is energy of Kṛṣṇa. And you cannot separate the energy from the energetic. I have already explained that you cannot separate fire or heat or smoke from the fire, because the three things are emanating from the fire. Therefore in the Vedānta-sūtra it is said, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The first code is athāto brahma jijñāsā, "Now, this human life, is meant for inquiring about the Absolute Truth." In cats' and dogs' life we cannot. By evolution process, when you come to human form of life, there is chance of understanding Kṛṣṇa. Therefore when we get this human form of life, if you do not understand Kṛṣṇa, then you are committing suicide, ātma-han, cutting one's throat himself. So we should not be ātma-han. Labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte mānuṣyam arthadam. This human form of life is purposeful. Don't waste. That is the injunction of the śāstra.
When you begin to hear about Kṛṣṇa, then the hearing of kṛṣṇa-kathā, the topics about Kṛṣṇa, is puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. It is, even if you do not understand, it will increase your virtue. Puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi. We have accumulated so much dust by our material contact. By so many years' association with the matter, we have accumulated so much dirty things within our heart. That becomes gradually cleansed. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ, hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi. Hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa is friend of everyone, but He's a special friend to the devotee. That you will find in Bhagavad-gītā. Samo 'haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo 'sti na priyaḥ: (BG 9.29) "I am friend of everyone. Nobody is My enemy, and nobody is My friend. But I am equal to everyone." Sama, sama means equal. Ye tu bhajanti māṁ bhaktyā teṣu te mayi: "But a person who is devoted to Me and is engaged in devotional service with Me, I have got special attention for him."
Revatīnandana: "And such understanding is beneficial for such a person, who easily understands the transcendental activities of the Lord. In the beginning of this chapter, the transcendental activities of the Lord were discussed by the Supreme Lord Himself. One who does not understand the instructions of the Gītā is faithless and is considered to be misusing the fragmental independence awarded to him by the Lord. In spite of such instructions, one who does not understand the real nature of the Lord as the eternal, blissful, all-knowing Personality of Godhead is certainly fool number one. This ignorance of the so-called student of Bhagavad-gītā can be removed by the gradual acceptance of the principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is awakened by different, by different types of sacrifices to the demigods, sacrifice to Brahman, sacrifice in celibacy, sacrifice in household life, sacrifice in control of the senses, sacrifice in practicing mystic yoga, sacrifice in penance, sacrifice of material possessions, sacrifice in studying the Vedas, and sacrifice in observing the scientific social institution of varṇāśrama-dharma, or the divisions of the human society. All of these are known as sacrifice, and all of them are based on regulative action. And within all these sacrifices, the important factor is self-realization. One who seeks that objective is the real student of the Bhagavad-gītā."
Prabhupāda: Yes. Self-realization, "what I am." If one aims to that objective, then his study of Bhagavad-gītā is nice. Yes.
Sacha bole tomare lata... jagat harai dhana kali-yuga dukha lalge haspai (?). This is a Hindi verse by one devotee that this Kali-yuga is so abominable that if you speak truth, then people will come with some rod to beat you. But if you cheat them, bluff them. they'll be bewildered (?), they'll like it. If I say I'm God, people will say, "Oh, here is Swamiji, God." They won't inquire, that "How you have become God? What is the symptom of God? Have you got all the symptoms?" Nobody inquires. So these things happen. Unless one is not fixed up in the self, unless one does not understand what is real self, unless one does not understand what is Superself. So, yoga means to understand this self-realizing process. That is yoga.
Yes. Kṛṣṇa can expand Himself. Just like you are sitting here. You are not in your apartment. Because you are conditioned. When you are in spiritual, liberated, you can also expand. But Kṛṣṇa, because He hasn't got material body, He can expand in million forms. He can sit here, He can sit there. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61), He's sitting everyone's heart. Everyone, by His expansion. Although He is one He can expand. That is because He is great. Just like the sun is great. Therefore if you at noontime you send telegram to your friend who is five thousand miles away, "Where is the sun?" He'll say, "On my head." And you'll see that sun is on your head. Why? because he is great. So Kṛṣṇa being great, He can remain everywhere at one time. That is expansion. You take the example. What is sun? That is a minute creation of Kṛṣṇa. If sun can remain on everyone's head simultaneously, although one may be five thousand, then thousand miles away, Kṛṣṇa cannot remain? Why don't you use your reasoning power? Is the sun greater than Kṛṣṇa? No. Kṛṣṇa can create millions of suns. If sun has got such power, why not Kṛṣṇa? Then you do not understand Kṛṣṇa.
So there are many descriptions in many śāstras that one should avoid asādhu and try to associate with sādhu. Then his life will be successful. Because human life is meant for spiritual advancement of life, not for advancement of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. That is cats and dogs life. Human life means advancement in spiritual life. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam (SB 5.5.1). We have to purify our existence. That people do not know, what is impure existence and pure existence. They do not know. There is no education, there is no science. The... Because we do not, do not understand that we are living entities, we are part and parcel of God. God is eternal, so I am also eternal. God is always fresh. I am also fresh. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇaḥ. Although Kṛṣṇa is the oldest person. Kṛṣṇa is ādi-puruṣa. He must be the oldest. But He... Nava-yauvanaṁ ca. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanam (Bs. 5.33). This is Kṛṣṇa's feature. He is the ādi-puruṣa, the oldest.
As it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). There is a planet which is called cintāmaṇi-dhāma, Goloka Vṛndāvana. So in that dhāma... As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, mad dhāma. Dhāma means His abode. Kṛṣṇa says, "I have got an abode, particular." How we can deny? How is that abode? That is also described in Bhagavad-gītā and in many other Vedic literatures. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). Here, any dhāma, any planet you go... Just like we have got in this planet. But we have to go back from this planet. You'll not be allowed to stay here. You are Americans, that's all right; but how long you shall remain American? These people, they do not understand it. You'll have to go back in some other planet, in some other place. You cannot say, "No, I shall remain here. I have got my visa or my permanent citizenship." No. This will not allow you. One day death will come, "Please exit." "No, sir, I have got so much business." "No. Damn your business. Come on." You see? But if you go to Kṛṣṇaloka, Kṛṣṇa says, yad gatvā na nivartante, you haven't got to come back again. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6).
This is very important. The Bhāgavata statement is there. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). If somebody even does not understand the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā—simply he sticks to the hearing process—then there is the result. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ. Bhāgavata says, "One who is..." Just like these children. Our... We have got so many children, devotees here. It is not possible that they are understanding the subtle philosophical statements of Bhagavad-gītā, but because they are sitting and hearing, they are writing. You see? But whatever he writes, it is right. Just take by a practical example.
So one does not understand what is Kṛṣṇa, then what to speak of loving Kṛṣṇa? If you don't understand somebody, how you will love him? But through the method given by Lord Caitanya, if we accept, it becomes so easy that even mlecchas and yavanas, who never heard of Kṛṣṇa, they are dancing in ecstasy for kṛṣṇa-prema. So if we actually want that siddhi, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3), that perfection of life, we must take to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It teaches how to surrender unto Kṛṣṇa. If we surrender to dog, forgetting Kṛṣṇa, we are under the clutches of māyā.
So if we do not understand Kṛṣṇa as He is, although He is explaining, all the ācāryas are explaining... In our country... You come from India. In our country there are big, five ācāryas who is practically controlling the Hindu society or the Vedic society: Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So we have to follow the footprints, the footsteps of the ācāryas. That is mentioned in the... Ācāryopāsanam. If you want to advance in knowledge, then you must worship the ācāryas. Otherwise what knowledge you will get? You cannot get, manufacturing knowledge or getting knowledge from somebody who has manufactured knowledge. The knowledge must be received by paramparā, by paramparā, as Kṛṣṇa says. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2), sa kāleneha yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa. He again spoke the science of Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna because the paramparā was broken.
Prabhupāda: Then why do you say there is no form of Kṛṣṇa? When you see a photograph of a person, how do you know that he has no form?
Indian guest (1): I do not understand that.
Prabhupāda: If you see the photograph of your father, how do you say that is he impersonal, he has no form? How do you conclude? First of all answer me. I have seen form of Kṛṣṇa. You have seen also form of Kṛṣṇa. There are hundreds and thousands of temples in India. Do you think they are all fools? And they were established by big ācāryas, by Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Lord Caitanya. There is Jagannātha temple. Jagannātha temple, every day hundreds and thousands of people are going to see. In Vṛndāvana there are five thousand temples, Kṛṣṇa. Five thousand, ten thousand people are going. You know. In India there are so many pilgrimages. So do you think all these temples established by our predecessor, they are all fools?
Indian guest (2): Swamiji, we live in the Western world, and some are born here, although the youth and from their date of birth they are all born in India. Perhaps we know very little about Gītā, but this movement have taken to convert people or to convince people, and how do you give these people stages? Because when persons are ignorant, they need primarily some teaching and then, just like in the school, they go step by step. In this movement, how can you or what can you expect, or what would you like to give as an enlightenment for ordinary people? Suppose myself. I am just an ordinary person, and I don't understand anything. Well, what I'd like to know, that I think if you just give those steps would be far better for the audience to just follow that.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That I have already explained, that we are training people in different parts of the world by opening centers. So you come and take the advantage of this center and learn how to do it. This center is open for this purpose, that people may take advantage how to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like you go to a school and you learn how to read and write, and then you pass M.A. examination, similarly, if you think that you have forgotten, you have no knowledge, please come, take the process. And just like these people, they were not born in India. They are not Hindus. They are not Vaiṣṇavas. Their forefathers never heard what is Kṛṣṇa, neither they heard. How they are taking? It is the process. That process we are giving to everyone without any discrimination. We have got students from all communities: Hindus, Muslim, Christian, Parsis, and Africans. The process is so perfect. If you take the process, you will also understand. So for this teaching this process, we are opening center here. You all Indians, your chance is first. So why don't you cooperate and learn? It is open to everyone. It is not a secret thing.
So this is commonsense understanding. People do not understand it, very nice common sense, that the body is changing but the soul is there. Exactly the same example: the mother knows that "My boy, my child, although he has changed body, now he has grown-up, say, fifty years old, but my child he is. He is my child." Where is the difficulty to understand? Anyone can understand. But people do not believe in the transmigration of the soul. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). This kind of education, what is the value? The real knowledge begins when we understand that we are not this body, material body. I am different from body.
Can you change the lawbook according to your interpretation? Then what is the meaning of that lawbook? That is not lawbook. You cannot change. Similarly, if you accept Bhagavad-gītā as the book of authority, you cannot change the meaning. That is not allowed. What right? If you have got some opinion, if you have got some philosophy, you can write in your own book. Why you are, I mean to say, killing others and yourself by interpreting Bhagavad-gītā? You give your own thesis in a different way. But these people, they take advantage of the popularity of Bhagavad-gītā and interpret in a different way according to their own whims. Therefore people do not understand what is Kṛṣṇa. That is the difficulty. And the purpose of Bhagavad-gītā is to understand Kṛṣṇa. And all the so-called scholars' and politicians' commentary is to banish Kṛṣṇa or to kill Kṛṣṇa—the Kaṁsa's policy. The Kaṁsa was always thinking of Kṛṣṇa, how to kill Him. This is called demonic endeavor. So that will not help you.
So in this way you have to understand what is Kṛṣṇa, not superficially. Even superficially you understand, even you do not understand, if you accept Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme, then either you read Vedas or not Vedas, the same thing, because you have come to the conclusion. Suppose if there is fire. So the fire burns. So if you come to fire, if you have felt the heat and light, then either you know chemically what is fire, wherefrom it is coming... You know or may not know, but because you have come to the fire, the action of the fire will be perceived by you. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says either you are very learned scholar or not, whatever you may be, if you simply concentrate your mind and attachment for Kṛṣṇa... Mayy āsakta-manāḥ. Āsakta means attachment. And mind, manas means mind.
We are changing our form of life from one body to another, but if we want to understand God... That is essential. So long we do not understand God, so long we do not go back to home, back to Godhead, our struggle for existence will continue. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). They struggle. Everyone struggles hard to become happy, but that is not possible. Simply searching after, searching after happiness, our time comes: "Finished. Your business is finished. Now get out." That is called death. So death is also Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). Mṛtyu, Kṛṣṇa, comes as death. During your lifetime, if you do not understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness, this Kṛṣṇa will come as death and take away everything what you have got. Sarva-haraḥ. Then your body, your family, your country, your bank, everything business, business—finished. "Now you have to accept another body. You forget about all these things." This is going on. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19).
So, what is the purpose of reading Vedas? Can you say me? Who can say what is the purpose of reading Vedas? That is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). By reading Vedas, any Vedas, you have to understand God. Then it is perfect reading of Vedas. If you do not understand what is God, then what is the use of reading Vedas? Śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8). Simply waste of time. If you have read Vedas, then give me full information of God. Then I can understand that you have read Vedas. If you have no idea of God, then it is useless advertisement that "I have read Vedas."
So anyone who understands Kṛṣṇa in truth... What becomes? Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). Then such person, after quitting this material body, he never comes back again in this material world. Punar janma. Here in this material world, the trouble is that we have to accept one type of body and again give it up and again another type of body, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). Yāvaj jananaṁ tāvan maraṇam. This business is very troublesome. We do not understand. We forget. Under the influence of māyā, we forget what is the trouble of taking birth, what is the trouble of death, what is the trouble of old age, and what is the trouble of disease. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that "Anyone who can understand Me, about Me." Not "about Me," but "about Me." We can understand Kṛṣṇa by His activities, something about Him. Otherwise, He has immense potencies. It is impossible for us to understand. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). There is unlimited energies of Kṛṣṇa; therefore He is called acintya-śakti. Acintya-guṇa. Acintya-śakti, "which is inconceivable." But anyone, if he somehow or other according to his capacity tries to understand in truth, then he becomes immediately liberated so that after quitting this body, he doesn't have to come again in this material world. Then where does he go? Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). "He comes to Me."
So Kṛṣṇa says, jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam... The yoga system... Yoga system is a type of knowledge. Jñānam. Jñānam means knowledge. Jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam idaṁ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ (BG 7.2). "I'm just trying to explain the knowledge, or the devotional knowledge, or the yoga system, by which you can understand Me perfectly. That I am speaking to you in full knowledge." Jñānam, and sa-vijñānam, "with scientific knowledge." Not that bogus knowledge. Sa-vijñānam. Vijñānam means science. With scientific knowledge. Now, modern days, people are advanced. They like to talk on scientific basis. And here is the Kṛṣṇa's statement: sa-vijñānam, "with scientific knowledge." Vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ: "And I shall explain," aśeṣataḥ, "in full explanation, without any reservation." Not that summarily I say something, you do not follow, you do not understand, I finish. No. "I shall fully explain," aśeṣataḥ. Yaj jñātvā, "And if you fortunately can understand," yaj jñātvā neha bhūyo 'nyaj jñātavyam avaśiṣyate, "if you understand this science, then you finish your process of acquiring knowledge."
First of all you persuade yourself; then you talk of your family and relatives. If you understand factually, then you will be able to convince others. But if you don't understand yourself, what is the use of talking family and friends? First of all you. Āpani ācari' prabhu jīvera śikṣāya. First of all, you have to act accordingly; then you can teach others. And if you are not pure, if you indulge in all kinds of sinful activities and you talk of Bhagavad-gītā, what will be effect? There will be no effect. This is going on. They are doing all nonsense, and talking of Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore it is not effective. For last one thousand years Bhagavad-gītā was known in the Western countries, but there was not a single kṛṣṇa-bhakta. Because they did not act accordingly. Simply talked of Bhagavad-gītā. That's all. Simply talking will not do. You have to behave as these people are, these boys and girls are behaving. Then you will understand Bhagavad-gītā. Yes.
Then why do you don't (understand) another spiritual body? What is the difficulty. You accept another body after death. Dehāntaram. So instead of accepting a material body, you accept a spiritual body. That's all. What is the difficulty to understand? Just like you have accepted now this body, American body or English body. You cannot say, "I have an Indian body" or Chinese body or Russian body. In the same way, after giving up this body you can accept spiritual body. What is the difficulty to understand? There is no difficulty. Just like if you take birth in the sun planet, you have to take a body of fire. There are different planets, and the climatic influence are different, but here the scientists, they are calculating from their own point of view. They do not know that God's creation there are different types of body, different types of atmosphere. Just like the fish. They are living in the water. But you take out the fish on the land, immediately he dies.
We are being carried away by the waves of this material modes of nature, sometimes drowned, sometimes on the surface. In this way, our life is going on. Jīv kṛṣṇa-dās, e biśwās, korle to' ār duḥkho nāi. But we can stop this being carried away by the waves of māyā simply if we accept that we are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. We can stop the carrying away.
So the... Therefore... People do not understand this. Kṛṣṇa Himself says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu (BG 7.3). Sahasreṣu means out of millions of men, they are interested how to make life perfect. Nobody's interested, especially in this age. In this age, prāyeṇālpāyuṣaḥ sabhya kalāv asmin yuge janāḥ. The first disqualification is that in this age people do not live for a long time. First disqualification. Formerly, they were healthy and they could live about hundred years. As we have seen, our grandfather, grandfather, they used to live. My grandfather died at the age of ninety-six years.
So for, by standard knowledge, by understanding Vedas, that is standard knowledge. Still, although they are siddhas, still they do not understand Kṛṣṇa. Just like karmīs, jñānīs, yogis, they have taken to standard knowledge. That's a fact. But still, they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. The Māyāvādīs, the impersonalists, the speculators, they cannot understand. They are surprised, that "How Kṛṣṇa can be the Absolute Truth?" Even a, a great scholar, Dr. Radhakrishnan, he's also amazed. He says that "Bhagavad-gītā is mental speculation." And when Kṛṣṇa says on the Ninth Chapter... He writes commentary. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). He says that "It is not up to Kṛṣṇa, but the fact which is within Kṛṣṇa." So he does not know what is Kṛṣṇa, and still, he dares to write commentary on Bhagavad-gītā. This is the difficulty. Kṛṣṇa has no inside or outside. Kṛṣṇa is all spirit, all spirit. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). So he does not know.
So gopīs are also expansion of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency. Gopīs are not these ordinary women; neither Kṛṣṇa is ordinary man. So unless we understand Kṛṣṇa as were discussing this morning, the verse, kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ... Out of many millions of siddhas, one can understand Kṛṣṇa as He is. If we do not understand Kṛṣṇa, then how we can understand gopīs?
So this is not the subject matter of the mental speculators. Better not to read all these books. Because they are not realized souls, neither they are devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Neither do they know what is Kṛṣṇa. So what they will understand about Kṛṣṇa? So if we want to understand Kṛṣṇa, er, gopīs, then we have to learn it from the perfect devotee of Kṛṣṇa, not from the speculators, mental speculators.
So this is the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and Kṛṣṇa is explaining personally. So yaj jñātvā, if we understand the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then there will be nothing unknown. Everything will be known. It is such a nice thing. Yaj jñātvā neha bhūyo 'nyaj jñātavyam avaśiṣyate. Bhūyo means no more to understand anything. Everything is completely known. Then the question may be why people do not understand Kṛṣṇa. That is, of course, a relevant question, and that is being answered by Kṛṣṇa in the next verse.
- manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
- kaścid yatati siddhaye
- yatatām api siddhānāṁ
- kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
- (BG 7.3)
Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu. There are different kinds of men. Just like we know everyone on this planet only, apart from other planets, there are hundreds and thousands varieties of men. Even here we are sitting, so many ladies and gentlemen, there are different varieties. And if you go outside, there are different varieties. If you go to another country—India, Japan, China—you'll find different. Therefore it is said, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu (BG 7.3), out of many, many different varieties of men, kaścid yatati siddhaye, only a few persons decide to understand the philosophy of life.
"But I don't like yajña." Then karma-bandhanaḥ, they are becoming entrapped, working under the influence of certain material modes of nature. Therefore you are infecting that material mode of nature, and according to the infection, you will develop the next body. Just like according to infection you develop the disease, so this material body is disease. That we do not understand. We are soaping this material body, keeping it fit, but we do not know that this is disease. Anyone, does anyone want to keep the disease and say, "My dear disease, please live with me forever"? (laughter) Is there any intelligent man say like that? Disease is to be cured, is to be driven away. In Hindi they say, jara ar para okhane kha na baviya ar.(?) Means "Unwanted guest and disease, you do not give him to eat, and he will go away." He will go away. So any disease, you starve for few days, two days, three days, it will go. And any unwanted guest, you don't supply him food. He will automatically go away. So disease should not be maintained. Disease should be cured.
So this is cheating. Bhrama, pramāda, vipralipsa, karaṇa-pāṭava. One should understand Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa. There are so many Vedic literatures to understand... Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). If you are studying Vedas, if you are Vedantist, then ultimate knowledge will depend how you have understood Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). If you do not understand Kṛṣṇa, what is the use of your studying Vedānta and Vedas? It is useless. Śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8). So don't try to understand Kṛṣṇa in that way. Generally, they understand Kṛṣṇa very easily—they are called sahajiyās—that "Kṛṣṇa was a young boy, and He was joking with the gopīs and dancing with the gopīs, and that is Kṛṣṇa. We can imitate also. We can do also." This kind of understanding means he's a rascal; he's a fool. That is, of course, Kṛṣṇa's, one of the pastimes. But that is not this ordinary young boy and young girl's pastime. That is cinmaya.
So Kṛṣṇa says here that "Ultimate goal is to understand Me," vetti māṁ tattvataḥ, to understand Kṛṣṇa in fact, in truth, not superficially. That is required. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). If you are a great scholar studying all kinds of literature, Vedas, then you must know Kṛṣṇa. If you do not understand Kṛṣṇa and simply you study Vedas, it is useless waste of time.
- dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ
- viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ
- notpādayed yadi ratiṁ
- śrama eva hi kevalam
- (SB 1.2.8)
You are executing your occupational duties very nicely honestly. That is all right. But after executing your duties very honestly and nicely, if you do not awaken your dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then śrama eva hi kevalam. You are simply wasting your time. Useless. When you understand Kṛṣṇa, then it is the highest perfection. Saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ. So nobody is interested. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu: (BG 7.3) "Out of many millions of persons, one may be interested." Otherwise all are in darkness.
Why they do not surrender? Now, because duṣkṛtina, always acting sinful activities, duṣkṛtina, and mūḍha, rascal. He does not know his own interest. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). Mūḍha, rascal. And then narādhama. Narādhama means lowest of the mankind. "This human body was given to him by material nature to understand Me, to surrender to Me, but he will not do this. Therefore lowest of the mankind." "No, he is so educated." No, this is nonsense. If he does not understand Kṛṣṇa, what is the meaning of education? There is no education. Māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. Why these things are...? Āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. He's defying Kṛṣṇa, defying God, "What is God? I am God." This is the position.
This is the version of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrama eva hi kevalam. Simply laboring. Simply uselessly laboring. If you do not awaken your Kṛṣṇa consciousness by studying the Vedas, by studying Bhagavad-gītā, by studying Bhagavad... Simply Bhagavad-gītā. This is the essence of all Vedic literature, although it is ABCD, beginning of spiritual life, spiritual understanding. Unfortunately, people do not understand even the ABCD of this Bhagavad-gītā. And what to speak of becoming graduate and postgraduate? This is the difficulty. If we try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, at least we understand what is Kṛṣṇa, what is God. God is explaining Himself. And we are searching after God, making sear... There are so many institutions. In Oxford University there is a big research department. But here God is canvassing. He's explaining. There was a great controversy.
So the beginning is hearing. We are opening so many centers just to give people chance to hear about Kṛṣṇa. That's all. If you simply hear about Kṛṣṇa, śṛṇvatām, then Kṛṣṇa becomes pleased: "Oh, now he's hearing about Me." Then what does He do? Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. Either you understand or don't understand, it becomes a pious activities on your part. And the more you become pious, you can understand Kṛṣṇa. Because impious persons... Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpam. Impious persons cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. But one who is free from impious activities, yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām... Puṇya-karma. This hearing is puṇya-karma. Janānāṁ puṇya, te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 7.28). If you simply hear. There is no... If you understand, it is very good. Even if you do not understand, the vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the reading of Bhagavad-gītā, simply chanting, you'll be purified. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ, hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi... (SB 1.2.17).
So lowest of the mankind, who does not take full advantage of this human form of life, he's the lowest of mankind. He should not have given this form of human life and developed consciousness, because he is misusing it. But Lord is so kind, gives us chance, gives us chance. The material nature, although it is very powerful, and it is punishing, but here is a chance by the will of God: "All right, let these living entities, who are suffering under different covers of this material body in 8,400,000 species of life, now here he has got a chance, the human form of life after many evolutionary process, many, many thousands and millions. Here is a chance." If you do not understand that "Here is a chance to get me free out of this entanglement," if you don't take the chance, are you not the lowest of the mankind?
Devotee: I don't understand. I don't see how man in one life can achieve a level of consciousness that he could sit with Kṛṣṇa. Don't you have to go through a change, I mean, according to what you do in your life? Don't you either have to be elevated, stay the same, or return...?
Prabhupāda: Yes. That elevation you can achieve immediately simply by changing your consciousness. What do you mean by elevation? A man is called uneducated and another man is called very learned. What is that? He has practiced how to become educated. That's all. Similarly you practice. Here is the practice. And you become elevated. There is no, I mean to say, impediment. Anyone can elevate himself immediately. There is no question of waiting. Because the process of change is going on. If you accept the change immediately, and then you follow, you become elevated.
Third stage. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). And if he follows the rules and regulation, gradually the difficulties are over. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. And when the difficulties are over, then he gets faith—tato niṣṭhā. He gets taste—tato ruciḥ. Athāsaktiḥ, then attachment. Then bhāva, ecstasy, and the highest perfection after that. So difficulty may be there. We are in difficulties, this material life. But we have to come over. That is required. It is not that you cannot come over the difficulties. In every step of our life there are difficulties. The material life is like that. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). In every step there is danger. It is a place like that. Even if you are comfortable in a nice car, you are going, oh, there may be any moment accident. Even you are sitting here, there may be accident. So difficulties, this world is full of difficulties. One who does not understand this difficult position, he's a fool. If one thinks that "I am very comfortable," then he's a fool. This is animal life, just as animal thinks, "Oh, I am very comfortable. I am very nice." And dissatisfaction is human life. He's not happy unless he gets the greatest happiness. That is human life. And if he thinks, "Yes, I am well off. I am very happy," then he is animal. Because there is no happiness here. Full of distress. Full of miseries. How he says that "I am happy"? That means he is ignorant. So difficulties are there. You have to work out. That is the problem.
Student: No, I agree. I agree. But...
Prabhupāda: Yes. So suffering's there. You have to take version from realized souls, from, I mean to say, authorities that this... Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam: (BG 8.15) "This place is full of miseries." So one has to realize it. Unless we understand that this place is miserable, there is no question how to get out of it.
Student: So we have to...
Prabhupāda: Similarly, a person who does not develop this miserable condition of this world, he is not fully developed. Just like the animals. Animals, they do not understand what is misery. They do not understand. They are satisfied... (end)
If you make a study of the air, you'll find many living entities. If you go deep into the water, you'll find living entities. So all over the universe there are full of different types of living entities. And He has divided all these living entities into two classes. Some are moving and some are not moving. Just like trees, plants, grass, they cannot move. Stone. Stone has also life, but it is not developed conscious. It is too much covered, stone life. Similarly, a person, even in human body, if he does not understand his position, he's almost stonelike. So these are stones, trees, grass and so many others. They are "not-moving" living entities. And there are moving entities just like aquatics, beasts, birds, reptiles, human being, demigods, oh, celestial angels, so many. There are moving. So out of the moving entities, very small number are human beings. There are 8,400,000's of species of life. Out of that, only 400,000 species of life are this human body.
So more you become advanced in spiritual consciousness, the material necessities become minimum. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau **. That is possible. That is not story. There are many instances, and the more you become advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, spiritual life, these necessities of life, necessities of body... Because body is different from the spirit soul. The necessities of the body is material, and the necessities of the soul is spiritual. But unfortunately, although the spirit is there, we are so much absorbed in material consciousness, we do not understand what is spirit soul. We are simply busy in taking care of the body. So this is not very good condition. This is material condition. And it is very risky if we simply... Simply to take care of the body means creating different desires. "I shall be happy in this way. I shall be happy in this way." So nature's mercy is that as soon as you think that you will enjoy life like this, she will give you good opportunity. That means changing a body wherein you can enjoy the material facilities very easily.
So our simple method is to see whether somebody is speaking about Kṛṣṇa or what Kṛṣṇa has said. If he does not do so, then immediately accept him āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ, a rākṣasa. How you can accept him as guru? A rākṣasa? That is your mistake. How can you accept a person as guru who has imbibed with rākṣasa. So then what is their position? Duṣkṛtinaḥ. Very sinful. Mūḍhaḥ, rascal, ass. Narādhamaḥ, lowest of the mankind. "No, he's so educated." Māyayāpahṛta-jñānaḥ. His so-called education has no value because māyā has taken away the essence of... Because education means... Veda means knowledge. So the Vedas are there for education. So vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). Ultimately Vedānta, Vedānta means the ultimate knowledge. The end of knowledge. The end of knowledge is to know Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). So after studying Vedas, if he does not understand Kṛṣṇa, then it is to be understood, māyayāpahṛta-jñānaḥ, his knowledge has been taken away by māyā. So simple thing is that Kṛṣṇa is the original guru. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). There is no more better guru than Kṛṣṇa. So anyone who repeats the words of Kṛṣṇa, teach others, he is guru. Otherwise he's a rascal.
We have got difference of body between yourself and myself, and in the body also there are differences. My eyes are different from my hands, my hands are different from my legs. But Kṛṣṇa, being Absolute, He has no such distinction. That they do not understand. Therefore they can not imagine how God, Kṛṣṇa, can have a form. "If He has a form, then the form is like this, our," the Māyāvādīs they say. They believe that when Brahman comes, He accepts a material body. That is defied by Kṛṣṇa: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11), "Because I come as a human being, these rascals take Me as one of the human being." This is the beginning. Mūḍhā, this word is used, very word. Mūḍhā means rascal. Because Kṛṣṇa comes as this child of Yaśodā-mātā, or as the son of Vāsudeva, therefore these Māyāvādīs, they mistake that Kṛṣṇa or Brahman has taken the form, accepting the body from māyā. But that's not the fact. Kṛṣṇa is not under māyā. Kṛṣṇa says, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā: not accepting this material energy. He's ordering, sambhavāmi yuge yuge, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā (BG 4.6).
He is Para-brahman. He has no difference as between the soul and the body. He is complete spiritual body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, sac-cid-ānanda. So there cannot be any difference between Kṛṣṇa and His soul. There is no such thing. But these people, the so-called scholars, they do not understand Kṛṣṇa, but they have the audacity to write comments on Bhagavad-gītā. They do not know what is Kṛṣṇa, but they have the impudency to write comments on Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, "It is meant for you, Arjuna, because you are My devotee," bhakto 'si, priyo 'si me (BG 4.3). Nobody can understand Bhagavad-gītā unless one is very dear to Kṛṣṇa and bhakta of Kṛṣṇa. Nobody can understand. That is the first step. One must be very dear to Kṛṣṇa and one must be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, then he can touch Bhagavad-gītā. Of course, there are so many things, jñāna-yoga, bhakti-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, haṭha-yoga, karma-yoga. So many yogas are there.
So therefore śāstra says, nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate (SB 5.5.1). They do not understand what is civilization. Here Kṛṣṇa said, now, aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani (BG 9.3). But they do not know what is mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. Is there any university where this education is given, what is mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani? Can any big philosopher can say what is this mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani? They do not know. Kṛṣṇa said that "If you do not get Me, here is a chance, human form of body." Aprāpya mām. "If you don't get Me, if you come..., do not come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then what is the result? Nivartante, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani." If you do not take chance... Just like sometimes you have seen somebody takes his bird in the field and let him loose, out of the cage, and the bird goes and he also goes behind. But if the bird takes chance, "Now I am..., now let loose, let me fly away." But that, that he does not do. He again comes into the cage, again. Again he comes. So this human form of body is just like let loose. Now you get the freedom of flying away from this mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani, but that we'll not do. We'll enter again. We'll enter. Everything is clear.
We do not accept Kṛṣṇa's instruction, that "Do not desire any more." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). He advises that "If you desire, then you'll suffer. I'll give you facility to fulfill your desire, that you will get, but that is not good. You will suffer again, again and again." Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). To fulfill your some desire, if this desire is not fulfilled in this life, then you have to accept another body. So another body means you have to enter the mother's womb with so much risk and so much suffering. So so long you'll desire you'll have to accept, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani (BG 9.3), one body after another. And to accept one body, leaving one body, that is very, very miserable condition. That we do not understand but we should understand. Therefore bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ. So as the living entity is desiring, Kṛṣṇa is giving him the facility.
Therefore it is necessity to assemble like this to understand Kṛṣṇa. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is there all over the world just to help the people to understand real God, Kṛṣṇa. This is the purpose of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Because people are suffering, they are all mūḍhas. They do not understand Kṛṣṇa or they deride Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they will, he will go on suffering. Tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān kṣipāmy ajasram andha-yoniṣu (BG 16.19). Those who are envious of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa says, "I put them eternally in the hellish condition of life." So if you want to save yourself from the hellish condition of life, you must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and surrender unto Him. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)
Now people can say that, "What is the use of understanding God? Let God remain in His place. And let me remain in my place. What is the use?" Suppose... We cannot understand God. Now argument may be, "Yes, you don't understand God. There is no necessity of bothering for understanding God." But Kṛṣṇa says, "No." If you don't take that botheration, then you'll never be happy. Neither you'll be liberated. So it is your interest to understand God. Not that God will be profited if you understand Him. No. You'll be profited if you understand Him.
Those foolish commentators do not understand this, that if Kṛṣṇa is unborn, then how He can become like one of us if He is unborn? Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā you will find, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). Because Kṛṣṇa is before you just like an ordinary person, or not ordinary, extraordinary... But here in this world, even extraordinary person, he is also born. He is born. The President Johnson is born. So you are also born. Everyone. Even Brahmā is born. But He is not born.
So how can I deride on Kṛṣṇa as ordinary man? Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā I will find it is said that avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ: (BG 9.11) "Those who are fools, rascals, they think of Me as ordinary man." Yes. But He is not ordinary man. Exactly this word is used, you will find in the Bhagavad-gītā, mūḍha. Mūḍha means the fools, rascals. They think of Kṛṣṇa just like ordinary man. But He is different. He is different from everything of this world because everything of this world is born. You will trace out the history, the birthdate. But you cannot.
That prakṛti is mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Oh. Kṛṣṇa says, "Under My direction this prakṛti is working." The prakṛti, nature, is the agent. The real worker is Kṛṣṇa. We are simply instrument. That is our position. If you have got intelligence, then you have to understand that you are simply an instrument. Just like my hand. What is this hand? This is an instrument. I can pick up. So I am working, not this hand is working. I am working. So people do not understand it. Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā. By false ego he is thinking, "Oh, I am scientist. I am philosopher. I am Rockefeller. I am businessman, I am swami. I am this." Sometimes we think, "I am poor. I am this. I am that."
No. You are simply instrument in the hands of Kṛṣṇa. That is intelligence. Therefore you should work as Kṛṣṇa desires. That is real intelligence. If you work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is real intelligence. And if you work against Kṛṣṇa, that is foolishness. That is the distinction between intelligent and foolishness.
So in this way we shall be implicated with so many sinful activities that our life will be entangled. On account of our foolish civilization we do not understand what is the entanglement of life. The entanglement of life is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13), to change this body. As we are changing body, the child is changing body to become a boy. The boy is changing body to become a young man. The young man is changing body to become an old man. Similarly, when the old man changes the body, he gets another body. If a young man challenges the laws of nature, that he is not going to be old man, that is false prestige. He must have to become an old man. Similarly, if some rascal says that "I don't believe in the next life," that is his foolishness. He has to change his body. Nature's law is going on. You are not controller of the nature, you are controlled by nature. So if we entangle ourself with sinful activities then next life means we get low grade life.
Therefore you are individual, localized, but Kṛṣṇa is all pervading. Kṛṣṇa knows the pains and pleasure of your body. Kṛṣṇa knows the pains and pleasure of my body. Kṛṣṇa knows the pains and pleasure of dog's body, cat's body, everyone's body. That is Kṛṣṇa. Sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata. Sarva-kṣetreṣu. He knows everything. That is Paramātmā feature. Paramātmā feature means He is even within the atom. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-shtaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **.
So this subject matter is very interesting. Of course, Bhagavad-gītā is the ABCD of spiritual knowledge. If we do not understand even the ABCD of spiritual knowledge, then where is the progress? Unfortunately we are neglecting, but it is our duty to propagate this knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā. So we are doing our best and we wish that everyone, especially Indians, should cooperate with this movement. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)
Similarly this body is one identity and I am another identity. So knowledge means when we can understand that it is "my body," not "I body." Not this nonsense. Nobody says, "I body." Everyone says "my body." This is knowledge. But these rascals, these rascals of modern age, they are saying "I body." "I am this body." What you are? "I am this body." What is your interest? "Now anything which is interested with my body." He's not "I body," still he's interested with everything with this bodily relation. There are thousands of girls, women, but a particular woman with whom I have got my bodily relation, that is my wife. That is mine. And combination, the child comes out, "my child." In this way, "my house," "my property," "my body," "my relative," "my friend," "my brother," "my nation," my, my, my, my. But the rascal does not understand that the beginning of "my" philosophy has begun from this body, which I am not.
But there is no facility for studying this subject matter in the university or any educational institution. Therefore they are called mūḍhas. They do not understand what is God. Who was telling me? Some Bengali professor came here, and he said, "I am agnostic." Who told me just now, in the car? So mostly the so-called educated circle, they are agnostics. They do not believe in God, they do not believe in the soul, and still they are passing on as educationists, learned scholars, professor. This is the pity. Therefore one should learn from Kṛṣṇa, this education system at the present moment, you cannot learn anything positively. They are all vague.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca. Why we find so many varieties of life? How it has come into being? It is... Everything will be explained by Kṛṣṇa. He says, tat samāsena me śṛṇu: "From Me you hear." Everyone is inquisitive, "Why there are varieties of life?" I do not know what the modern scientist says, but they do not understand that there is soul in these different types of body. That we have already discussed, that idaṁ śarīraṁ kṣetram ity abhidhīyate. Every different particular living entity... Not particular. We are all living entities, part and parcel of God. But we have entered into different types of bodies according to our desire. That's it. According to... We have got desires, different types of desires. The eight million four hundred thousand bodies means, at least, we have got eight million four hundred thousand different types of desires. That we have to learn from authorities like Kṛṣṇa.
Even if you think, "All right, there are so many miserable conditions. Never mind. Let me adjust and live here permanently," oh, no, that will also not be allowed. Temporary. You may decorate your Paris city. Napoleon tried and other tried. But you cannot live here, sir. You have to go out. But these rascals, they do not understand. They are decorating, decorating. "Tax. Give more tax. Give more tax. Let us decorate." But how you'll... How long you shall live in this decorated city? Even if you live, if you are so much lover, great nationalist of the country, suppose next life you get the... Because when one has very much attraction for a certain land, then he again takes birth in that land, so if you take your birth not as human being or as a cat and dog or a cow, then you'll be sent to the slaughterhouse. Then what is the use of your becoming nationalist? Your men, for whom you have worked so hard, next life, if you take your birth as a cow, the same men will send you to the slaughterhouse. But these rascals, they do not know what is the mystery.
So people do not understand these things. Kṛṣṇa therefore explaining that "This body..." Mahā-bhūtāny ahaṅkāro buddhir avyaktaṁ eva ca indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca. Indriyāṇi, these ten senses, five senses for acquiring knowledge and five senses for acting, ten, and the mind, ten and one, eleven... Indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca pañca cendriya-gocaraḥ. Indriya-gocaraḥ, the object of sense gratification, tan-mātra. Just like rūpa-rasa-gandha-śabda-sparśa. Beauty. Rūpa-rasa, taste. Rūpa-rasa-gandha, smell; śabda, sound; sparśa, touch. These are the objects of enjoyment. Our eyes are there. We are hankering after seeing very beautiful things. Rūpa-rasa. The tongue is there. We are always trying to taste very nice eatables. Gandha. Nose is there. We want to smell very flavorable flowers and other things. In this way we have got indriyas, senses, and this body made of gross elements, and the ahaṅkāra and buddhi, buddhi. Mano buddhir ahaṅkāraḥ. These are the subtle body. In this way this kṣetra, this body, is combination of all these things. Combination of all these things.
Everyone, there is a class of men, they say that we only believe in the Vedas. What you believe? Do you know Kṛṣṇa? "No sir. We accept Kṛṣṇa as a big man, that's all, not as God." That means he does not understand what is Kṛṣṇa. So what is the use of Vedānta? There are so-called Vedantists, they avoid Kṛṣṇa. They'll write comments on Bhagavad-gītā, avoid Kṛṣṇa. This is going on. This is going on.
But actual knowledge means to come to the point of knowledge one has to acquire these qualifications. But if one at once takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness as it is stated, mam ca vyabhicarini. What is that? Mayi ca ananya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī. Bhakti-avyabhicāriṇī. vyabhicāriṇī means mixed with other things. There is karma, jñāna, yoga, and bhakti. So there are, everything must be with bhakti; otherwise there is no success. Even if you are a karmī, you must add bhakti. Then you'll be successful. Yat karoṣi yat juhosi yad aśnāsi kuruṣva mad arpanam (BG 9.27). This is karma-yoga. You may be a businessman, you may be engineer, you may be whatever you may be, it doesn't matter. But bhakti must be there. Then you are successful. If you are devoid of bhakti, then it is useless, waste of time. That is the verdict of the śāstra.
So if you want to become philosopher, then philosophically you try to understand what is brahma-tattva, what is Paramātmā-tattva, what is Bhagavān-tattva. Etaj jñānam, this is jñāna. Not these degrees, MA, Phd. These are all decoration of the dead body. If you do not understand what is the value of life, you do not understand what is tattva, what is Brahman, what is Paramātmā, what is God, if you do not become cleansed, if you do not become a devotee, as they are stated, if you have no ācārya, you have no guru, then you are in darkness. Kṛṣṇa concludes here. Etaj jñānam, "All these items described, this is jñānam." Iti proktam. It is accepted, prokta. Ajñānam yad ato 'nyathā: "And just any other thing besides these things, they are ajñānam."
So you compare. You call any educated person. Just like I told you several times, that that Professor Kotovsky, big man in Russia, he said "That there is no life. After finishing this body, everything is finished." Just see how much ajñānam. He does not know. So the whole world is going on under ajñānam. If they accept this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, there is chance of having jñānam. Otherwise they remain in ajñānam.
Four varṇas: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra; and four āśramas: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, and sannyāsa. These are called varṇāśrama-dharma. So in every varṇa, brāhmaṇa, his qualification is described in the śāstra. Śamo damas titikṣā ārjavaṁ kṣāntir jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). Similarly, kṣatriya, vaiśya. So by discharging one's occupational duty according to varṇa and āśrama, if one does not understand Kṛṣṇa, the Bhāgavata says, śrama eva hi kevalam. Then he's simply spoiling his time and wasting his labor. That's all.
- dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ
- viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ
- notpādayed yadi ratiṁ
- śrama eva hi kevalam
- (SB 1.2.8)
This is the verdict of Vedic literature. He's simply laboring for nothing. One must know Kṛṣṇa-viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ. Viṣvaksena, another name of Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, is viṣvaksena-kathā. Just like we are speaking about Kṛṣṇa, nobody is interested to come here. Nobody is interested. Viṣvaksena-kathāsu notpādayed ratim. They will say, "Oh, I am busy with my occupational duty." But the human form of life is meant for increasing your interest in the matter of viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ. This means kṛṣṇa-kathā.
Now if you say, Kṛṣṇa is in the Goloka Vṛndāvana, far, far away from here. How He accepts?" That is the answer is here, that sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādam. He has got hands. That is the Vedic injunction. Apāṇi-pādo javana-gṛhītaḥ. The Absolute Brahman has no hands and legs, but He can accept anything, He can walk everywhere. Just contradictory. Paśyaty acakṣuḥ. He has no eyes. but He can see everything. This is the difference. He has got His form. That is spiritual form, that is not this material, limited form, but He has got His form. One who does not understand His unlimited form, Brahman form, sarvataḥ... Everywhere He can go, everywhere He can see, everywhere He can accept whatever you offer. Everywhere He can walk. That is His form, but He is not formless.
Jñānī, what is that jñānī? Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). That is jñāna. If you do not understand Kṛṣṇa, if you do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa, what is the value of your so-called knowledge? Śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8). It is simply waste of time. If you do not understand Kṛṣṇa you are studying Vedic literature, you are very good student of Vedas. That's all right. Have you understood Kṛṣṇa? "No sir." Then it is useless. Useless waste of time. Because it is said: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). If you actually understand Vedas, then you must understand Kṛṣṇa. Jñānī, I am jñānī. What kind of jñānī? Simply a speculation? Waste your time? This is not this, this is not this, this is not this? Neti neti vicāra. This is simply called waste of... Kevala-bodha-labdhaye.
So here Kṛṣṇa said, anye tu ajānantaḥ śrutvā, simply by hearing. If you hear from a realized person—of course, interestedly, seriously—then you can get benefit, śrutvā. Śrutvā anyebhya upāsate. Just like it is very natural. Just like these children, they do not understand, or the children's father. Anyone. They do not understand. But if they come here and simply hear. The children, they are also chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, they are offering obeisances, they are offering a lamp, they are playing some instrument, all these things will never go in vain. It is being accounted. This is called ajñāta-sukṛti. By doing this, doing this, doing this repeatedly, one day becomes a great devotee. It doesn't require studying all the Vedic literatures. Simply if one is accustomed to this practice of devotional service and hears the vibration, Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra... Simply by hearing.
It is said, śrutvā anyebhya upāsate. These are upāsanā. You know or do not know, when you offer obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is immediately taken to your credit. "
When you begin to hear about Kṛṣṇa, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ, so Kṛṣṇa is within your heart. He immediately becomes alert. Oh, this man, this human being, is now hearing." Śṛṇvatāṁ sva..., puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. If you simply hear, even if you do not understand what it is being spoken...
Just like the children. They do not understand anything, but they are hearing. They are sitting. They are hearing. Or some woman, they do not understand I am speaking in English. But because they are hearing, it is puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ, they are acquiring it piety. Acquiring. This is called ajñāta-sukṛti, piety acquired without knowledge, ajñāta-sukṛti. Puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. Śravaṇa-kīrtana. One is hearing and one is chanting. Both of them becoming pious. Puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. Hṛdy antaḥ-sthaḥ... And the more you become pious in this way, then all the dirty things within your heart will be cleansed. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12).
So this is going on perpetually, not perpetually, at least for many, many millions of years, for many, many millions of years. But we are, because we are fool, especially in this age of Kali, we do not understand it. Therefore it is said, sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ. You require to be cured of your, this disease, ignorance. That is called... Just like when you become infected with some disease, you go to a physician, and he gives you some injection or some medicine so that you may be cured of the extra fever or extra pain due to your disease. Similarly, those who are advanced in knowledge, their sattva, existence, is cured. That we require. Or everyone requires to be cured of this disease of ignorance. The ignorance, disease of ignorance, means "I am this body. I am this body." I am not this body.
Just like just now two big directors of this Dai Nippon Company came to see me. We have got business with them. So they are meeting so many problems for printing work. They are maintaining about 200,000 people to carry on their business, huge establishment, huge responsibility. But there are problems also. So this material world is full of problem. One who understands, he is called sura, or civilized man. And one who does not understand, he is called asura. Asura, not sura. Aryan, non-Aryan. So amongst the suras, those who can understand the problems of life, there is a system which is called religion. And what is the purpose of religion? Religion is to understand what is God. That is religion. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19).
You can see. You can hear the sound Kṛṣṇa. Are you not hearing Hare Kṛṣṇa? So that is a question of realization. You go on hearing, hearing. The child cannot understand what is the sound. The sound is the same. The car is going on. But his father can understand that with this sound this car is going on. But child cannot understand. So you begin hearing. Then gradually your ignorance will be cleansed, and then you understand that the sound is for car. Therefore you have to begin to hear the sound. Everyone is hearing, but those who are not experienced they cannot understand that this sound is of the car. But the... One understands or not understands, that doesn't matter. But the sound is of the car. That's a fact. So those who are experienced, they are understanding; those who are not experienced, they do not understand. That is the difference. It is the difference of experience. But the sound is of the car—that is a fact. Similarly, the Hare Kṛṣṇa sound is God. Those who are advanced, they can understand. And those who are not yet advanced, by hearing, hearing, they will understand. You want to see God. That is your idea?
Therefore they are accusing us of frauding, cheating, but they do not understand. Even if we take some money from others by so-called fraud or cheat, but it goes to Kṛṣṇa... Just like Gurukṛpā Mahārāja. If you say if he's taking by this way or that way, but what he is doing? He is not smoking with that money. He is not drinking. He is sending to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he is giving the best service. So people may say, "Nonsense people. They're doing this, doing that." But he is giving the best service to Kṛṣṇa because he is not accepting a farthing out of this. And these so-called worldly, honest men, they may be very honest, moral, but they are taking everything for their sense gratification. They are dishonest. They are the greatest fraud. Kṛṣṇa's money they are taking for their own satisfaction. The greatest fraud. Stena eva sa ucyate (BG 3.12). What is that? Ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt (BG 3.13). Bhuñjate te aghaṁ pāpāḥ. Stena eva sa ucyate. What is that? Everyone is thief. Everyone is taking Kṛṣṇa's money for his sense gratification, and they are advertising they are very moral.
This is the world. It is going on. It is simply full of suffering. Simply we are after this phantasmagoria, that our running after something which is actually not fact. It is illusion. So this is the life in the material world. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to save the person from this illusory life of material existence. Let them come to Kṛṣṇa and go back to home, back to Kṛṣṇa. This is our movement. The greatest beneficial movement. We don't want to keep these people in ignorance. They are in illusion, ignorance. So our business is to enlighten him. Kota nidrā jāo māyā-piśācīra: "You are sleeping. Get up, take this opportunity and be Kṛṣṇa conscious. Go back to home. Give up this nonsense place, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15), full of miseries, cheating." This is our movement. The people do not understand. But our predecessor's order is that if you can save even one man, that is fulfillment of your mission. That we are trying. That's all. (end)
So people are surprised. They do not believe that they are... But dhīras tatra na muhyati: Those who are dhīra, sober, intelligent, they understand, "Yes, there is dehāntara-prāp..." The example He's giving, dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). Just like we are changing body, kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, similarly, the old body, "old order changes to a new." Again we get another body. And this is very, very great botheration of life. They do not understand. But it can be stopped. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). It can be stopped. How? Simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa. Janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). You simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself. Where is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa? You haven't got to speculate. You haven't got to manufacture ideas what kind of Kṛṣṇa He is. He is present, dvi-bhuja-muralīdhara-kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa when He was present in the, upon this earth, everyone has seen. Kṛṣṇa has His temple, thousands and millions of temples, Kṛṣṇa. You can see His picture. Description is there, veṇuṁ kvaṇantam, in the Vedic literature.
So this alpa-buddha, less intelligent class, demons, they do not understand this. Why? Kāmam āśritya duṣpūram. Unnecessarily dambha. Just like the same example, dog. The dog is very proud, barking, "Yow! Yow! Yow!" He does not know that "I am chained." (laughs) He's such a foolish that as soon as the master, "Come on." (laughter) So māyā is the master: "You rascal come here." "Yes." And he be see..., proud: "I am something." This doggish civilization, naṣṭa-buddhaya, lost all intelligence... Less intelligent these are called. Kāmaṁ duṣpūram. So kāmam, the lusty desires... On account of this body there is lusty desire. We cannot deny it. But don't make it duṣpūram, never to be satiated. Then finished. Make it limited. Make it limited. Therefore, according to the Vedic civilization, the lusty desire is there, but you cannot use it except for the purpose of begetting a nice child. That is called pūram, means restricted.
Aparā means material, and parā means transcendental. Parā-bhakti. Without coming to the stage of parā-bhakti, one cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. So that parā-bhakti means one must be freed from all sinful activities. Yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpam. Not ordinary man. Yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānām, janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. Those who are always engaged in pious activities, they cannot be engaged in sinful activities. By pious activities, constantly being engaged in pious activities... Then what is that pious activities? Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). Simply if you hear and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ, you become pious. Even you, you do not understand, if you simply engage. So the method is very simple. You can become pious and you can become free from all sinful activities.
| Page Title: | Do not understand (Lectures, BG) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 29 of Nov, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=139, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 139 |