Kṛṣṇa says that "Both Arjuna, you, Me and all these persons, the soldiers and the kings who are assembled in this Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, don't think that they did not exist in the past nor they will not exist in the future." That means present, you can see. Just like we are sitting together. Present we can see that you are there, I am here. Similarly, in the past also we are existing, and in the future also we shall exist in the same way. As you are individual souls, we are assembled together for understanding something. Similarly, every individual soul is different from one another. We can understand by our present experiment. You are individual soul, I am individual soul. I do not agree with you in every respect, neither you agree with me in every respect. All of us, we have got our individuality. That is our characteristic. That we cannot change. We have got our individuality. We cannot change it. This is our characteristic. And that individuality also meant for giving service. Just like you are all sitting here. Every one of us, we are giving service. Nobody can say... I challenge anybody in this meeting if he can say that he's not serving anybody. No. Everyone is serving. Somebody is serving his family, somebody is serving his boss, somebody is serving his country, his community, his nation—must be serving, must render some service. This is explained by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that the characteristic of individual living entity is to remain eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Kṛṣṇa dāsa. We do not become Kṛṣṇa. This is a false theory. We never become Kṛṣṇa. We cannot become even equal to Kṛṣṇa. Asama. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that God is not only great but nobody is equal to Him. Asama. Asama means not equal. Everybody is below. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmām. That is the statement in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad:
- nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
- eka yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān
- (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13)
This is the distinction between God and others. He's also living entity, just... Kṛṣṇa comes just like ordinary human being, and He works also with us, but that does not mean that Kṛṣṇa is like us. No. That is a mistake. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritāḥ, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11). This is stated, that "Those who are mūḍha"—mūḍha means rascal or asses—"they think that I am also equal to them or they're equal to..." Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā. They deride, they think "Kṛṣṇa is as good as I am." This term(?), thinking like this, is meant for the asses, mūḍha. Muḍḥa means asses, who has no knowledge. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritāḥ, paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto (BG 9.11). "He does not know what is the background of My existence, personality." That is known by the devotees.
So this is the statement of Bhagavad-gītā, and we should try to understand this verse very nicely. Kṛṣṇa says, "I existed." That means Kṛṣṇa existed as the Supreme Lord, not like us. Similarly, we existed also in the past as His servants. That is the explanation of this verse. Because we are eternal servant of God, and that service attitude, being misplaced, we have divided our service spirit in so many ways. Everyone is trying to render service. Big, big leaders, they also want to give some service. So this is our service attitude. It is our eternal attitude. It cannot be changed. Just like faith. Today I am Muslim and tomorrow I may become Hindu. Today I am Christian and tomorrow I may become Muslim. Faith can be changed, but my character is still that I am servant. That cannot be changed. It does not mean... Suppose you are working in office. Now today you are Hindu or tomorrow you become Muslim. Does it mean in the office you be, become master? No. The service is there. Either you change your faith or don't change your faith, your character is still to serve, will continue. That is the reality. That is sanātana. Sanātana means eternal. Try to understand.
So sanātana, this word has been used in three or four places in the Bhagavad-gītā. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūta jīva-loka sanātana (BG 15.7). Sanātana. These living entities, they are sanātana. And another place in the Eighth Chapter in Bhagavad-gītā this sanātana word is used: paras tasmāt tu bhāva 'nya 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). There is another sky. Just like we are seeing this sky. This is called material sky, and we are seeing the sky in one universe. We, according to our Vedic information, the sky which you are seeing, this is the sky of one of the universes. And there are millions of universes. We get this information from Vedic literature, Brahma-saṁhitā: yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). Jagad-aṇḍa means universe and koṭi means millions. So the sky which we're seeing before us, this is one of the sky of the universe. There are millions. And all these universes combined together is one part creation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That we find in the Bhagavad-gītā.