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One with the supreme (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 6, 1972:

So there are five kinds of liberation. Sāyujya, the first liberation is supposed to be sāyujya, means, to become one with the Supreme. The Māyāvāda philosophers, monists, they aspire after sāyujya-mukti. But the devotees, Vaiṣṇavas, they do not aspire after sāyujya-mukti. Their, for them, there are other, four kinds of mukti: sārūpya, sālokya, sārṣṭi, sāmīpya. And those who are still further advanced, they do not want any kind of mukti, neither of these five kinds of muktis. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He prays, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye (Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). This is pure devotional prayer. The devotees does not approach the Supreme for any material gain. Pure devotion means without any aspiration of any kind of material gain. Or even spiritual gain.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 9, 1966:

So we have to believe that in future, even after liberation... Now, one thing we must also explain—the liberation, the conception of liberation. So there are different, five kinds of liberation. One of them, liberation, is to become one with the Lord, one with the Supreme. That is called sāyujya-mukti, to merge into the existence of, of the Supreme. That is also another. That is one of the five liberations. That is not the only liberation. That means we all individual beings, we are individual constitutionally. God is the father or creator or whatever, or the source of all life, or source of our existence. Whatever you like, you can say. So we have, we have been created in that way. Eko bahu syāma. God has become many. This is also version of the Vedas that many, all these many, we are also god. Just like the fire diffuses its sparks. The sparks coming out of the fire, it is the..., they are also part and parcel of the fire. Similarly we, we are all parts and parcels of the Supreme. Now, He wanted to become many. He wanted to become many, so He has become many, and we are that many. So we are not different from God.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 9, 1966:

Nobody has given these aquatic animals from anywhere else. They are... They have taken their birth from that water. They are also born of the water. Just like the drops of the water also born of the water, similarly, these living aquatic animals, they are also born of the water. Now, the drop of the water merges into the water and loses his existence—that does not mean—there are other living entities within the water, millions and billions—they also lose their identity. They keep their identity.

So some of the living beings may merge into the existence of the God. That is called sāyujya-mukti. But there are many millions and millions and billions of... Ananta. They want to keep their existence and enjoy the association of God. That is the difference between jñānī and bhakta. The jñānī's ultimate aim is nirveda-brahmānusandhānam(?). They want to become one with the Supreme. He does not, a jñānī does not want to keep himself separately from the Supreme. He wants into the merging.

Lecture on BG 2.23 -- Hyderabad, November 27, 1972:

Similarly, the soul always keeps separate from this material covering. It is simply on account of various plans and desires that he's making for lording over this material nature. Everyone can see. The, every living being is trying to lord it over the material nature. That is his disease. He wants to lord it. He's servant, but artificially, he wants to become Lord. That is the disease. Everyone... Ultimately, when he fails to lord it over the material world, he says, "Oh, this material world is false. Now I shall become one with the Supreme." Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. But because the spirit soul is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, so by nature, he is joyful. He is seeking after joy. Every one of us, we are working so hard to find out some pleasure of life.

So that pleasure of life cannot be had in the spiritual effulgence. Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we get this information that āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). Kṛcchreṇa, after undergoing severe austerity and penance, one may merge into the Brahman effulgence... Sāyujya-mukti. It is called sāyujya-mukti. Sāyujya, to merge.

Lecture on BG 2.46-47 -- New York, March 28, 1966:

So we have got eternal relation with the Supreme Soul. We have got eternal relation with the Supreme Soul qualitatively, qualitatively, not quantitatively. We are one with the Supreme qualitatively. Just like a drop of ocean water qualitatively is equal to the mass water in the ocean. The mass water in the ocean is salty, and the drop of ocean water, if you taste it, you'll find it is also salty. So the chemical composition of the water, either in drop or in vast mass, is the same. But the drop of ocean water is never equal to the vast, I mean to, mass water in the ocean. That is our position. We are in quality... Just God is..., similarly, we are also in quality the same, chemically or constitutionally or qualitatively. But God's power and my power is different. Just like the mass water in the ocean, it can play a havoc. But a drop of water, that... It is not possible by the drop of the water.

Lecture on BG 2.48-49 -- New York, April 1, 1966:

And just the opposite word of kṛpaṇa is brāhmaṇa. I have already explained to you sometimes that brāhmaṇa... Brāhmaṇa means who knows that "I am not this body; I am the... I am the... I am in spirit, conscious. I am soul, spirit, consciousness," one who knows perfectly well this understanding and the science also, that "I am qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord," ahaṁ brahmāsmi. The Vedic mantra says, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That means "I am Brahman. I am not this matter. I am Brahman." So one who knows this science, he is called brāhmaṇa. And that doesn't matter who is he and where he is born. That doesn't matter. Simply knowing this science... Now, the opposite word is kṛpaṇa. Kṛpaṇa means miser. Whom you call miser? The miser is a man who has got enough money but does not spend it. He is called miser. Miser means who has got enough assets, but he does not spend. He simply sees his money and satisfied. He does not spend it, properly utilize it. He is called kṛpaṇa. Is it right, the miser explanation? So kṛpaṇa, who is kṛpaṇa, and who is brāhmaṇa? Brāhmaṇa means who has known that "I am spiritual identity. I am qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord.

Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Bombay, March 25, 1974:

So what is that? Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). Jñāna and karma and bhakti. Bhakti is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, but jñāna is abhilāṣi..., there is desire for liberation, to become one with the Supreme. So that also should be given up. Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). Not covered by the speculative process or fruitive activities. Jñāna-karma.... ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. Simply favorably cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Ānukūlyena... That is bhaktir uttamā. That is first-class bhakti. And if it is mixed up, anyābhi..., with material desire or spiritual emancipation or fruitive activities, then it is not pure devotee.

So if you can approach such pure devotee... As it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, adurlabham ātma-bhaktau. This is ātma-bhaktau, a pure devotee. He can deliver you Kṛṣṇa. "Take Kṛṣṇa. Here is Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa-prema... That is...

The symbolic representation is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Vrndavana, August 3, 1974:

And because it does not merge, therefore they fall down. They again come out. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ... Vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking, "Now I have become one with the Supreme." But actually, that is a false impression. Māninaḥ. Māninaḥ means actually it is not fact, but he's thinking like that. Vimukta-māninaḥ.

Why he's thinking like that? Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. His knowledge is not perfect. Aviśuddha. Viśuddha means perfect, and aviśuddha means not perfect. Unnecessarily he's thinking that "I have become one with the..." I remain the same part and parcel. As Kṛṣṇa says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7).

Just like a big bag of rice, and you put one grain of rice. It remains one grain, but it appears that it has become one with the bag. That is not possible. Therefore Bhāgavata says, "They think like that, but actually it is not the fact." And if you question why they are thinking like that—aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, means intelligence is not very sharp.

Lecture on BG 4.12 -- Vrndavana, August 4, 1974:

That I have explained last night. Just like the fire and heat, that is the same quality. In the heat there is warmth, and the fire there is warmth. Still, the heat is not the fire. This is called inconceivable, simultaneously one and different. This is the perfect philosophy. Everything is one with the Supreme, and at the same time it is different. This is perfect philosophy given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva.

So here, in this material world, people are trying to enjoy. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhim. Everyone is working very hard. Any business he is doing, he is praying, "O My Lord, give me the opportunity that I may get success in my business." So Kṛṣṇa is giving. That is also very nice.

Lecture on BG 5.17-25 -- Los Angeles, February 8, 1969:

Revatīnandana: "He thus knows his constitutional position perfectly well without falsely trying to become one with the Supreme in all respects. This is called Brahman realization or self-realization. Such steady consciousness is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Go on.

Revatīnandana: "Verse 21: Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness for he concentrates on the Supreme (BG 5.21)."

Prabhupāda: There is a word, ātmārāma, in Sanskrit. Ātmārāma means one who is satisfied with his self. He is called ātmārāma. Because self is the basic principle of this body, the soul. So one who is satisfied with his soul, he is called ātmārāma, or self-realized person. One who seeks pleasure externally, he is materialist, and one who seeks pleasure internally, he is spiritualist.

Lecture on BG 6.1 -- Los Angeles, February 13, 1969:

Yes. There is demand. The impersonalists, they have got one demand, that to become one with the supreme impersonal being. But a devotee has no demand. He simply engages himself to serve Kṛṣṇa for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. They do not want anything in return. That is pure devotion. Just like Lord Caitanya said, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye: (Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4) "I do not want any wealth, I do not want any number of followers, I do not want any nice wife. Simply let me be engaged in Your service." That's all. That is the bhakti-yoga system. When Prahlāda Mahārāja was asked by Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva, "My dear boy, you have suffered for me so much, so whatever you want, you ask for it." So he refused. "My dear master, I am not doing mercantile business with you, that I will take some remuneration from you for my service." This is pure devotion. So yogis or the jñānīs, they are demanding that they should become one with the Supreme. Why one with the Supreme? Because they have got bitter experience by the separation of material pangs. But a devotee has no such thing. The devotee remains, although separate from the Lord, he is fully enjoying in the service of the Lord. Go on.

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Sanand, December 26, 1975:

He said that bhukti-kāmī, the material persons who are desiring improvement in this world, in this life, and going to the heavenly planet next life... That is called bhukti. And mukti... Desiring liberation, that is called mukti, and... Or become one with the Supreme Brahman, that is mukti. And siddhi, yogis, they are trying to achieve some success in aṣṭa-siddhi, aṇimā, laghimā. So everyone is desiring. So therefore Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, kṛṣṇa-bhakta niṣkāma: "A devotee of Kṛṣṇa is not desirous of anything, either bhukti, mukti, or siddhi." The purport is, so long you desire something, you'll never get peace of mind. And a bhakta does not desire anything. He is satisfied with any position, whatever is offered to him by Kṛṣṇa.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 15, 1971:

They do not know that there is blissful varieties in association with Kṛṣṇa. They can not accommodate in their brain on account of poor fund of knowledge. Therefore they want sāyujya-mukti, to merge into the existence of the..., to become one with the Supreme. That is possible. You can have it. But it you lose your individuality then you can get eternity, but you cannot get blissful life of knowledge, because you lose your individuality. So that is suicidal. But a living entity being individual soul, he cannot remain in that impersonal state of life. Because the other two factors, namely acquire knowledge and acquire blissful life, is wanting there. It is simply negation of these material varieties. Or eternity only—sat. But there are two other parts, cit and ānanda. That is absent there.

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 18, 1971:

This practically proves that religion is performed for some economic gain. Economic gains are needed for sense gratification. Often when one is baffled in the pursuit of sense gratification he takes to salvation and tries to become one with the Supreme Lord. Consequently, all these states are simply different types of sense gratification. In the Vedas, the above-mentioned four activities are prescribed in the regulative way so that there will not be any undue competition for sense gratification. But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is transcendental to all these sense gratificatory activities. It is purely transcendental literature which can be understood only by the pure devotees of the Lord who are transcendental to competitive sense gratification. In the material world there is keen competition between animal and animal, man and man, community and community, nation and nation. But the devotees of the Lord rise above such competition. They do not compete with the materialists because they are on the path back to Godhead, where life is eternal and blissful.

Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 20, 1971:

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are narrated, and the narration is systematically depicted by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Thus the subject matter is appealing to all classes of persons, including those who seek liberation and those who seek to become one with the Supreme Whole. In Sanskrit the parrot is also known as śuka. When a ripened fruit is cut by the red beaks of such birds, its sweet flavor is enhanced. The Vedic fruit which is mature and ripe in knowledge is spoken through the lips of Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who is compared to the parrot not for his ability to recite the Bhāgavatam exactly as he heard it from his learned father, but for his ability to present the work in a manner that would appeal to all classes of men. The subject matter is so presented through the lips of Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī that any sincere listener that hears submissively can at once relish transcendental tastes which are distinct from the perverted tastes of the material world. The ripened fruit is not dropped all of a sudden from the highest planet of Kṛṣṇaloka. Rather, it has come down carefully through the chain of disciplic succession without change or disturbance.

Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- Caracas, February 24, 1975:

That is pure bhakti. Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167), means the karmīs, they want promotion in the heavenly planets, and the jñānīs, they want to become one with the Supreme or liberation, so it should be uncovered by the result of jñāna and karma and fully devoid of any other desire. That is bhakti. So those who are bhaktas and desiring after liberation, they are not pure bhakta. Because why a devotee shall aspire after liberation? As soon as (he is) a bhakta, he is already liberated. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā,

māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
(BG 14.26)

"He, anyone, who is engaged in pure devotional service, he is transcendental to all these three qualities of the material world, and he is situated in the Brahman platform." Liberation means to be situated on the Brahman platform. So for a bhakta, the liberation is already there.

Lecture on SB 1.2.32 -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1972:

So long we do not accept the Supreme, that is māyā. That is māyā. That is going on. Nobody wants to accept the Supreme everyone wants to become Supreme. Even after performing severe austerities, penances, still, they want to become one with the Supreme. This is also māyā.

Therefore Bhāgavata says, vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking that after undergoing such severe austerities and penances, now he has become God. That is māyā. He does not know. He's not God. But he claims like that, falsely. This is the cause of his suffering. Nobody can be..., can become God or equal to God. That is not possible. The same quotation: ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya (CC Adi 5.142). Only the Supreme God, Supreme Person, Īśvara, supreme controller, is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). You are, why you are, rascal, trying to become Bhagavān, God? This is māyā. He does not know. He's thinking that "I have become God." This is māyā. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ means his intelligence is not yet cleansed. It's still dirty.

Lecture on SB 1.5.8-9 -- New Vrindaban, May 24, 1969:

That is my request." (break)

Sakalam eva vihāya dūrād caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam. You just try to submit yourself on the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. By His mercy you'll find that, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate, you'll find that to become one with the Supreme, it will appear to you just like hell. To merge into the Supreme, that is the highest ambition of the impersonalists. But if you submit yourself to the lotus feet of Caitanyacandra, then you'll find that this conception is just like hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Naraka means hell. You'll find kaivalyam, to become one. And tridaśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. Tri-daśa-pūra means the planets, higher planets where demigods live. Thirty-three million demigods, there are at least thirty-three million planets. Tri-daśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. They are just like phantasmagoria.

The exact analogy of phantasma..., equivalent word in Sanskrit of phantasmagoria, which has no actual existence, is called ākāśa-puṣpa, "flower of the sky." There is no flower in the sky, but you can say.

Lecture on SB 1.5.8-9 -- New Vrindaban, May 24, 1969:

How Nārāyaṇa can be daridra? So it is something like horse eggs. You see? So these words are very... Tri-daśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. By the grace of Lord Caitanya you'll find to merge into the effulgence, to become one with the Supreme will be considered as hell, actually. If you ask any pure devotee, "Do you want to merge into the existence, impersonal Brahman?" he'll deny. If he has got little Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he'll deny, that "What is this merging? This is hellish. We want to dance with Kṛṣṇa. Why shall I merge and lose my existence, individuality?" And karmīs, they are trying to be elevated in the higher planets. Just like they are trying to go to the higher planets by sputniks, similarly, there are ritualistic ceremonies. Yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25). By performing all the ritualistic ceremonies, sacrifices, you can elevate yourself to the higher planets: yānti deva-vratā devān. That is another method. And this method also, another method, they want to go direct by machine. But that tendency is there everywhere, that "We may go to this sun planet, moon planet, this planet."

Lecture on SB 1.5.32 -- Vrndavana, August 13, 1974:

There are different types of position, although they are all spiritual. The one is the sāyujya-mukti, or to become one with the Supreme, merge into the Supreme. This is one position. Another position: sārūpya, the same feature of the body. Just like Nārāyaṇa, four-handed. In the Vaikuṇṭha planets, the inhabitants, the citizens, they have got four hands. When Ajāmila was delivered by the Viṣṇudūtas, they appeared exactly looking like Viṣṇu. That is described. That is called sārūpya. Sārūpya, sārṣṭi (CC Madhya 6.266), same opulence. Or sāmīpya, always near, associate. There are five kinds of... Gacchanti tat-padam. But out of the five, the first one, namely to merge into the existence of the Supreme, that is very dangerous, not safe.

Therefore Vaiṣṇava never accepts sāyujya-mukti, to become one with the Supreme. Because Vaiṣṇava knows that impersonal advancement is risky. They know it perfectly. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava never... Vaiṣṇava is not anxious for any kind of mukti. Dīyamānaṁ na gṛhṇanti. They don't want... Especially Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, they don't want mukti. They are happy wherever they are existing. If they get the chance of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, that is perfection of life.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Hyderabad, August 18, 1976:

There are some contamination, cheating. But all these things are thrown away, projjhita. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpena ujjhita. So Śrīdhara Svāmī has given his comment on this. Atra mokṣa-vāñchā api nirastam. Mokṣa-vāñchā, to become one with the Supreme. That is also another cheating. So Śrīdhara Svāmī has given his comment, very reliable comment.

So dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa. People are busy, at least those who are human beings. Dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ. Beginning with dharma. Economic development, artha. Dharma-artha-kāma, sense gratification. And at the end, mokṣa. Above mokṣa is bhakti. Mokṣa is described in the Bhagavad-gītā,

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
(BG 18.54)

Without being on the platform mokṣa, nobody can enter into the bhakti. It is a misconception that bhakti helps mokṣa. Somebody says, it is not the opinion of the śāstra. Bhakti begins when one is already liberated. Mokṣa. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54).

Lecture on SB 1.7.30-31 -- Vrndavana, September 26, 1976:

Now how the fact is working, that is given by the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, especially Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra (SB 1.1.2). Dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90) is all cheating, all cheating. Up to mokṣa. The aspiration to become one with the Supreme, mokṣa, that is kaitava, cheating. That is the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When you understand that the so-called monism, to become one with the Supreme, it is cheating... That is not fact. Because you cannot remain in the zero. That is not possible. We are part and parcel of God. God is ānandamaya, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). By nature, God is ānandamaya. So if you are part and parcel of God, how you can be nirānandamaya? You are also ānandamaya. That quality is there. But do you enjoy alone? You sit down in a room alone for three hours, you'll feel disturbed, immediately. And what to speak of eternally. It is impossible to remain alone.

Lecture on SB 1.7.30-31 -- Vrndavana, September 26, 1976:

By nature, God is ānandamaya. So if you are part and parcel of God, how you can be nirānandamaya? You are also ānandamaya. That quality is there. But do you enjoy alone? You sit down in a room alone for three hours, you'll feel disturbed, immediately. And what to speak of eternally. It is impossible to remain alone. And for want of ānanda you'll again fall down in this material world. The impersonalists who think that "I have become one with the Supreme..." One with the Supreme means that is eternity, fact, sat. Sat cit ānanda. Simply by becoming sat, eternal, you don't get ānanda. That is not possible. Therefore,

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(Bs. 5.37)

So you have to go to the ānandamaya. Yad gatvā na nivartante (BG 15.6). Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). We have to approach in that way. Otherwise, if we remain in the material world, this will be the result-dahyamānāḥ prajāḥ sarvāḥ.

Lecture on SB 1.8.18-19 -- Bombay, April 9, 1971:

One may say that "Mukti is dirty thing?" Yes. According to Vaiṣṇava calculation it is dirty thing, because Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he said, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Kaivalyam means to become one with the Supreme, mukti. He said, "It is exactly like hell." Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. "And these heavenly planets," the domain or the objective of the karmīs, "that is like flower in the sky." And durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate. Durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. The yogis, their first business is... They get so much yoga-siddhi because first business is indriya-saṁyama. Yoga-siddhi is not obtained easily. One has to practice it. And the first practice is controlling the senses. Durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate.

Lecture on SB 1.8.27 -- Los Angeles, April 19, 1973:

So we have got now this body and self. I am self, but I possess this body. Then when actually we become dependent on Kṛṣṇa, as Kṛṣṇa is self-satisfied, similarly we can be also self-satisfied with Kṛṣṇa. Kaivalya, kaivalya-pataye namaḥ. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they, monists, they want to become one with the Supreme. As Supreme is self-satisfied, they also want to be self-satisfied by becoming one with the Supreme. Our philosophy is also the same, kaivalya. But we depend on Kṛṣṇa. We do not become one with, one with Kṛṣṇa. That is oneness. If we simply agree to abide by the order of Kṛṣṇa, there is no disagreement, that is oneness.

These Māyāvādī philosophers, they think that: "Why shall I keep my individual, separate existence? I shall become merged into..." That is not possible. Because we are created, not created, from the very beginning... We are separated part and parcel. We are separated parts and parcels. therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā: "My dear Arjuna, you, Me, and all these persons who have assembled in this battlefield, we were in the past individuals. We are, at present, individuals, and in the future, we shall continue to remain as individuals. We are all individual."

Lecture on SB 1.8.31 -- Mayapura, October 11, 1974:

That is called kaivalya. So he says: kaivalyaṁ narakāyate: "For a devotee who has got little favor of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, for him, this kaival ya-sukha, happiness of becoming one with the Supreme, is as good as the hell." Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. And tri-daśa-pūra ākāśa-puṣpāyate. Tri-daśa-pūra means where thirty-three millions of demigods live, heavenly planets. It is something like phantasmagoria, ākāśa-puṣpa, which has... Just like in Bengal they say, jokingly, ghoṛā ḍim. Ghoṛā ḍim means a ghoṛā, a horse, never gives eggs. It is fantastics. It is not possible. Similarly, these heavenly planets, for a Vaiṣṇava, is ghoṛā ḍim. They don't care for it. It is no fact.

So kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūra ākāśa-puṣpāyate. Karmīs, they want to go to the heavenly planet. This is the sarcastic remark upon the karmīs. And kaivalyaṁ narakāyate, a sarcastic remark upon the jñānīs. They want to become, want to become one. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūra ākāśa-puṣpāyate, durdānta indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate. Durdānta indriya. Our senses are very powerful, durdānta.

Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Mayapura, October 25, 1974:

A small drop of sea water is the same quality, salty. But that does not mean the drop of sea water becomes the sea. The māyā is so strong. Therefore Bhāgavata says, "The impersonalists, Māyāvādīs, although they think that they have become one with the Supreme, but their intelligence is not yet complete." Ye 'nye, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They think like that: "Now we have become perfect, Nārāyaṇa." But Bhāgavata says, "Sir, you may think like that, that you have become liberated, but you are not liberated because you are still in ignorance, because you are thinking one with the Supreme." Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: "Your intelligence is not yet perfect."

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ (BG 7.3). Siddha... Jñānīs are siddhas. Yogis are siddhas. Although they are trying their best to become perfect, but still, they are missing Kṛṣṇa on account of aviśuddha-buddhi. And therefore āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture on SB 1.8.48 -- Los Angeles, May 10, 1973:

So there are stages of bhaktas. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is very cautious to endow one with this devotional service. He can give mukti very easily. Mukti, to achieve mukti, liberation, that is not very difficult job. But if one becomes a bhakta, devotee, mukti will stand before him with folded hands. Muktiḥ mukulitāñjali sevate asmān.

For a devotee, mukti is not very important. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says that mukti, kaivalyam, one with the supreme, kaivalyam, kevalam, narakāyate: "What is this? It is as good as the hell." That is the opinion of the bhakta. They don't want mukti. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye (Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that "I don't want any material wealth," dhanam. Na janam. "I don't want to be leader of hundreds and thousand of people, president or this or that. No." These are material desires. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu is nullifying everything: "No, I don't want this." Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitām.

Lecture on SB 2.3.1-3 -- Los Angeles, May 22, 1972:

That is their philosophy. So you take any means, the Ramakrishna Mission also says like that. Yata mata tata patha. "You can worship brahma-varcasa, you can worship Devī-māyā; you can worship Vasūn; you can worship Rudra; you can worship anyone; ultimately, you become one with the Supreme." Most misguiding. Here it is... But if you want this particular thing, then you worship this. In the Bhagavad-gītā also, it is confirmed, yānti deva-vratā devān pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ (BG 9.25).

Demigod worshipers will go to the demigods. There are different planets, 33 crores of demigods, and there are thirty-three crores of planets also. The moon planet, according to Vedic literature, that is also one of the planets belonging to the demigod Candra. It is one of the higher planets. So this is the list. If you want something particular... if you want to merge into the effulgence, brahma-jyotir, then you worship... Yajeta brahmaṇaḥ patim.

Lecture on SB 2.3.10 -- Los Angeles, May 28, 1972:

He is the perf... So here it is recommended that "You fools, you rascals..." Akāmaḥ sarva-kāmaḥ, eh, sarva, not akāmaḥ. Sarva-kāmaḥ, mokṣa-kāmaḥ. "You are all rascals." Therefore Vyāsadeva is advising "All right, even though you are rascal, you are full of desires, you are full of becoming one with the Supreme, still, you worship," yajeta puruṣaṁ param, "the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Still, you do that." That is the recommendation. Don't go to others. Now, the question is that bhakti means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Brs. 1.1.11). One must be free from all kinds of desires. That is pure bhakti. Now, it is recommended here that sarva-kāmaḥ, mokṣa-kāmaḥ, "Those who are desiring for all material opulences, those who are desiring for becoming liberated..."

So they are not anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (CC Madhya 19.167). They have desires. So how they can be bhakta? How they can be devotee? Because devotee is pure, he has no... Akāmaḥ. Why it is recommended? The recommendation is there also for demigods.

Lecture on SB 2.4.2 -- Los Angeles, June 25, 1972:

"All right, you do it." That means we become entangled. Therefore, those who are executing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they should try to become free from all material desires. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Brs. 1.1.11).

Jñāna means knowledge. Or the jñānīs, they also want to be become one with the Supreme. And karma. Karma means karmīs, those who want to enjoy. So one should be uncovered, to covered by this jñāna, by karma or by any material desires. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam, ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). Simply favorably serving Kṛṣṇa. Favorably, not unfavorably. Consciousness favorably. Just like Kaṁsa. Kaṁsa was also Kṛṣṇa conscious, but he was simply planning how to kill Kṛṣṇa. That kind of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not good. Of course, Kṛṣṇa is so kind, so any way one becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, he gets the benefit, at least, of liberation. Just like Kaṁsa was liberated. Although he was unfavorably Kṛṣṇa conscious, but he was thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Hiraṇyakaśipu, he was also thinking of Kṛṣṇa. But unfavorably. So that is not bhakti. We must think of Kṛṣṇa favorably. And that is bhakti. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. Culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness favorably.

Lecture on SB 2.4.2 -- Los Angeles, June 25, 1972:

No. It is above. People are generally become religious to get some material benefit. Dharma artha. And as soon as he gets material benefit, he enjoys his senses, kāma. Dharma artha kāma. And when he fails to satisfy his senses, then he wants to become one with the supreme. That's mokṣa. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is above these four principles, dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90). Kṛṣṇa consciousness is transcendental. Therefore one can give up, immediately. Just like sometimes Bharata Mahārāja, under whose name India is called Bhārata-varṣa. He also gave up. He gave up his kingdom at the age of twenty-four years. Young wife, young, nice children, big, whole empire. And it is said that he gave up everything just like one gives up his stool, evacuates. Immediately goes away. So he gave up. So this is actually Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that we become completely free from any material possession, any material possession.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

"I am not this body." Brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20). And out of many millions of jñānīs, one becomes liberated. Liberated means "I am not this body." Actually, he understands that "I am soul." But sometimes the Māyāvādīs, they become liberated, but they think, "Because I am spirit soul, therefore I am one with the Supreme." So 'ham. So 'ham. Actually, I am spirit soul. I am equal in quality. But that does not mean I am the Supreme Soul. Therefore in the next verse you will find: naikātmatāṁ me spṛhayanti kecit. The devotees are not so fool that they will desire to become one with the Supreme, Na ekātmatām, because they are in full knowledge. And those who are not full in knowledge, in full knowledge, and, but thinking that they have become liberated, conception of this body... That is theoretical, not practical. Theoretical. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking that they have become now liberated, Nārāyaṇa. Now he has become equal with Nārāyaṇa. Therefore the Māyāvādīs, because they have become Nārāyaṇa, one with Nārāyaṇa, they are addressing one another, "Namo nārāyaṇāya." "You are Nārāyaṇa, I am Nārāyaṇa, and the everyone is Nārāyaṇa." Then daridra-nārāyaṇa, rich Nārāyaṇa, this Nārāyaṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

Those who are devotees, fully engaged in the service of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, mat-pāda-sevā abhiratāḥ. Abhi means constantly, and ratāḥ means attached, abhiratāḥ—they do not think like that. They do not like that nonsense idea, that "I shall become one with..." How it is? If I am one with the Supreme, how I have fallen in this condition? No. I am not one. I am one in quality, a small particle. We have explained several times that we are also constitutionally the same spirit identity as God is. But we are aṁśa. Just like gold mine and a small particle of gold. You can say, "This is gold," and the gold in the mine, big mine, many millions of tons of gold... Quality is the same. A drop of sea water and the vast sea, the chemical composition is the same, the drop of water. But you cannot say that this small particle or drop of water is equal to the sea. That is nonsense. That is nonsense. That means less intelligent. Less intelligence.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

They do not know that here is the actual form, Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Vigraha. Vigraha means who has got form. They do not know that. Therefore they mistake that that is not... There are many so-called Vaiṣṇavas. They are worshiping Viṣṇu, but thinking of becoming one with the Supreme, imagining. They cannot be one. How it can be? That is not possible. They sometimes give the example: the drop of water, when it mixes with the vast mass of water in the sea, it becomes one. But does it actually become so? No. According to scientific division these, there are the atomic molecules of water. So each molecule and atom is different from one another. Sometimes they call cell or they call molecule. So it app... Just like the sunshine. The sunshine is combination of many millions and trillions of small shining particles. That is sunshine. But each particle has got individual identity.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

"These living entities, they are eternally My parts and parcel, small particle." It is not that sometimes they were one, homogeneous; now they have become part. That we do not get.

Therefore those who have got complete knowledge, they never expect like that: "I shall become one with the Supreme." Na eka, ekātmatām. Na ekātmatāṁ me spṛhayanti. They even hate to desire it. They simply want to remain... That is the constitutional position. Here we are also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, although we are now covered by this material body. That can be dissolved. This material, it can be easily dissolved by bhakti-yoga. Therefore it is said that jarayaty āśu yā kośaṁ nigīrṇam analo yathā. Just like if you have got good digestive power, you eat anything—it will be digested. You will not find any difficulty. Similarly, if you have got strong bhakti-yoga, then you are not any more in material body. You are free. You are in spiritual body. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that māṁ ca yaḥ avyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that māṁ ca yaḥ avyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate. Avyabhicāreṇa means without any deviation. Śuddha-bhakti, pure devotional service. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Brs. 1.1.11). They... Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam means any kind of material desire. The, this desire, that "I shall become one with the Supreme," that is also material desire. That is not spiritual desire. That is artificial.

Now, just like we want to beco..., to hold very big post. So when we are baffled, then we want to become one with the Supreme, Nārāyaṇa. That means "Nārāyaṇa is the husband of Lakṣmī, so I shall become the husband of Lakṣmī. Now, in this material world, I am hankering after Lakṣmī, but I could not get it. Now let me become the husband of..." This is their theory. They want to become Nārāyaṇa. Such a foolish theory. Nārāyaṇa is the Lakṣmī-pati. Can anyone attempt to enjoy Lakṣmījī? Because they are not bhaktas, they think like that, this rascaldom. How I can be Nārāyaṇa? That is not possible.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

So these are all rascal philosophy. This is not. Nobody should become so ambitious as to become one with the Supreme. That is not very good intelligence. Good intelligence is that "I am eternal part and parcel of Nārāyaṇa, and it is the duty of the part and parcel to serve the whole." That is correct philosophy. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body, so it is the duty of the finger to serve the whole body. Whenever I ask any service from the finger, "Come here," it is coming here. "Come here," it is coming here, "Come here." This is the duty. That is the normal condition. If at once with my order the finger cannot come here or come here, then it is diseased—because it cannot give service. So, so long as we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Lord, our duty is to give service. That is the description given by Lord Caitanya. Everywhere in every śāstra, that is the... Jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Eternally we are servant.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

You remain separate, I remain separate, and we enjoy. And you are now asking to become one with me? What is this nonsense?"

So this Māyāvādī philosophy, to become one with the supreme father, is like that. They are suffering here. Kṛṣṇa has created. Kṛṣṇa created him to enjoy with his company, but he did not like that. He suffered in this material world. Now he's thinking of becoming one with the father. What is this? So this is... Therefore here it is said, naikātmatāṁ me spṛhayanti kecit. No pure devotee will desire like that. It is foolish proposal. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. They are called aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, whose intelligence is not yet clear or purified. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking, "Now we have become spiritually realized, vimukta, liberated from material bondage." Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

We have become Nārāyaṇa." Vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking like that. Actually, they are not liberated. That is another, the last snare of māyā, that "You are God." Māyā is still talking that to bewilder him. Māyā's business is to bewilder the living entity. So this is the last snare, that to become one with the Supreme. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-mā...tvayy asta-bhāvāt. Because they have no information that they can go back to home, back to Godhead, and enjoy the company of the Supreme Lord, they think that to become one with the Supreme, that is the highest perfection.

But that is not the perfection. Because our original constitutional position is... Kṛṣṇa, or God, created us to enjoy the company. Just like we are sitting together; we are enjoying. Suppose you had..., none of you would have come here, so what I would have enjoyed alone? So variety is the mother of enjoyment. Therefore real enjoyment is in Kṛṣṇa's company. Therefore a devotee who is actually in knowledge, na ekātmatām. Na ekātmatām. To become one with the Supreme, they never desire.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

Just like we are talking about Kṛṣṇa. We are serving Kṛṣṇa by words. You are hearing: that karmaṇā, the activities of the senses, you are hearing. Karmaṇā manasā, we are thinking; I am thinking. So any way, if we are simply engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service or at least trying to do that, karmaṇā manasā vācā, īhā yasya harer dāsye... But it is not to become one but to serve. If this attitude you keep, so nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate, in any condition of life he is liberated. Any condition life. He may be engaged in some business or in some occupation or this way. If he is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa, how to serve Him, then he is liberated. This is the idea of actual liberation, not by thinking that "I shall become one with the Supreme."

Lecture on SB 3.26.8 -- Bombay, December 20, 1974:

They are nondevotees. They are getting also liberation because thinking of Kṛṣṇa always. So why the devotees also get the same type of liberation? No, for them, better type of liberation. Sāyujya, sārūpya, sārṣṭi... (CC Madhya 6.266). There are five kinds of liberations, and the sāyujya-mukti, to become one with the Supreme, that is obtainable even by the enemies, demons. The devotees, they do not want that kind of liberation. They want to keep their identity eternally and serve Kṛṣṇa. That is perfect. So ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). Therefore bhakti is described, ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. Kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. Anuśīlanam means cultivating the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa. The demons are also cultivating, but that is not ānukūlyena. That is prātikūlyena, how to kill Kṛṣṇa. So that is not bhakti. When we cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness ānukūlyena-anukūla means favorable—that is called bhakti.

Lecture on SB 3.26.21 -- Bombay, December 30, 1974:

These descriptions are there. Nandana-kānana and apsarās there are. So this is also another higher standard of life, duration of life. That is the position of the karmīs.

And the jñānīs, they are hankering after to become one with the Supreme. They have experienced that even the standard of material happiness available in the heavenly planets, that also did not give them complete satisfaction. So they aspire to become one with the Supreme, that "That will give me happiness. I become one with..." Monist. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am one with Brahman." So that is also hankering. Mukti. Mukti means liberation from this material unhappiness and come to the spiritual happiness, "I am Brahman. I am the same Supreme," thinking, concoction, like that. So there is also hankering. And siddhi, yogis, they want many perfection: aṇimā, laghimā, mahimā, prāpti-siddhi, prākāmya, īśitā, vaśitā. There are eight kinds of yogic siddhi. You can become smaller than the smallest, you can become bigger than the biggest, you can become lighter than the lightest, you can get anything you like immediately. These are some of the yoga-siddhis. But this is also hankering.

Lecture on SB 3.26.27 -- Bombay, January 4, 1975:

I shall merge into the existence of the Absolute," this conception, mokṣa, mukti, is also commented by Śrīdhara Svāmī, "This is another cheating, another cheating." Because there cannot be mokṣa. You cannot become one with the Supreme. How you can be? As it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ jīva-loke sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7). Sanātanaḥ. You are part and parcel of the Supreme. How you can become one? So this kind of attempt is also cheating. You cannot become one. Because eternally, sanātana, eternally, you are different. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that "Myself, My dear Arjuna, yourself, and all the soldiers and kings who have assembled in this battlefield, they were the same individual in the past, and they are individual now, and they will continue to remain individual." So where there is oneness? In the past, present, future the individuality is there.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Vrndavana, October 23, 1976:

By becoming one with the Brahman, Supreme Brahman, that is not actually sukha. If it is actually sukha, then why in the śāstra it is said, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho (SB 10.2.32)? By very severe austerities they come to the Brahman platform, monism, to become one with the Supreme, but from there he falls down. Why falls down? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Because they have no information of the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. Unless you come to that point, then there is no possibility of eternal happiness.

Therefore it is said, tapasya, tapo divyam (SB 5.5.1). That is divyam. Kṛṣṇa has explained, janma karma ca me divyam (BG 4.9). That means activities, transcendental activities. Not that Kṛṣṇa is a zero, full stop. No. Actual activities begins when there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. These activities, they're my activities temporarily. They will not give us real happiness. Real happiness means when we come to the platform to be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's activities. Tapo divyam putrakā yena (SB 5.5.1).

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 13, 1975:

They are called karmīs. So bhukti or mukti. Mukti means liberation to get out of this material contamination. That is called mukti, sva-rūpena vyavasthitiḥ. But just like the jñānīs, they want mukti, sāyujya mukti, to become one with the Supreme. So mukti, bhukti, mukti and siddhi. Siddhi means yogic perfection. Aṇimā, laghimā, prāpti, eight kinds of yoga-siddhi. So the yogis, the jñānīs, and the karmis, they want something. They want something. Therefore they are not praśāntā. As soon as, so long you'll want, you... There cannot be peacefulness. There is no question of peacefulness. Caitanya-caritam... Bhukti mukti siddhi kāmi-sakali aśānta, they are not praśāntā. Kṛṣṇa-bhakta-niṣkāma, ataeva 'śānta' (CC Madhya 19.149). Kṛṣṇa bhakta, he does not want anything. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is teaching that.

Lecture on SB 5.5.25 -- Vrndavana, November 12, 1976:

So devotional life, bhakti-yoga, is so exalted that they do not care for heavenly planet, apavarga, mukti, liberation. They do not care. Insignificant. That śloka of Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, he realized this, that kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. The liberation of becoming one with the Supreme is called kaivalyam, kevalādvaitam, oneness. So for a devotee it is as good as the hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. And then? What about heavenly planets, Svargaloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka? Ākāśa-puṣpāyate. Tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāya. In Bengal there is one word, ghorabdin (?), means "no value." Just like horse. Horse never give any egg, but it is said, "It is as good as the egg of horse." That means "There is no such thing, insignificant." So ākāśa-puṣpāyate. Ākāśa-puṣpāyate means it has no value. Simply imagination. Actually that is the fact. Suppose if you go to Svargaloka, become Indra. So that is not permanent by pious activities you can become Brahmā, Indra, and so many demigods. You can hold that post. But ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokān punar āvartino arjuna. Even if you go to the Brahmaloka, what is the benefit? Again you have to come back. Kṣīṇe puṇye punar martya-lokaṁ viśanti.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Nellore, January 8, 1976:

So here it is said, kecit kevalayā bhaktyā (SB 6.1.15). Kecit, somebody—not the karmīs, not the jñānīs, not the yogis—can execute devotional service. The karmīs, it is openly known that they want to enjoy. They want something. Similarly, jñānīs, they want to become one with the Supreme. That is also wanting something. The yogis also, they want something, some mystic power. So karmīs, jñānīs, yogis, all of them wanting something. The subject matter of want may be different, but a bhakta, he does not want anything. He simply wants to be engaged in carrying out the orders of the Supreme Lord. But such person is very, very rare. (break) ...out of many millions of karmīs, one may be jñānī. And out of many millions of jñānīs, one may become mukta. And out of many, many millions of muktas, one may become a bhakta. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). Siddhaye means to become perfect jñānī or perfect yogi.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Nellore, January 8, 1976:

Otherwise bhakti is sometimes mixed with jñāna and sometimes mixed with yoga, mixed with karma. (break) ...because karmīs, jñānīs, and yogis, they have got some desire to be fulfilled. The karmīs, they want to be elevated to the heavenly planet, the jñānīs, they want to become one with the Supreme Lord, and the yogis, they want some power to exhibit so that they may be honored as God. (break) The yoga, mystic power, aṇimā, laghimā, siddhi, like that. But bhakti means one must be freed from all these desires. Therefore Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī gives the definition of bhakti, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam: (Brs. 1.1.11) "without any other desire." "Other" means bhukti, mukti, siddhi: to enjoy this material world or to become one with the God or to get some mystic power. So the bhakti means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, no karmī's desire, no jñānī's desire, no yogi's desire. So anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). So one should be cleansed from the desires of jñāna, karma, yoga. He should be desireless. So these are all material desires.

Lecture on SB 6.1.33 -- San Francisco, July 18, 1975:

This is Vaikuṇṭhaloka. The opulence is also like that. Sārṣṭi. There are five kinds of mukti, liberation. One is sāyujya, to merge into the existence. That is also mukti. But Vaiṣṇava does not like such kind of mukti. They think to merge, to become one with the Supreme and lost our individuality, that is, Vaiṣṇava thinks, as hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Why? We shall keep ourself, our individuality, the body exactly like Kṛṣṇa. In the Goloka Vṛndāvana they keep exactly like two-handed Kṛṣṇa. In the Vaikuṇṭha they also keep themselves four-handed as Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa. So the Vaiṣṇavas are very intelligent. They want to keep themself in as good as God. Sometimes more than God, Vaiṣṇava. That is very intelligent. What is the use of becoming one? I lose my individuality. So that is jñānī's aspiration. But the bhaktas, they want to keep association with Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu in the same opulence, same prosperity, everything, bodily features the same, everything.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- San Francisco, March 3, 1967:

These are the general demands. The lower class of men, they are simply demands of the body, something eating, something eating, defending and mating. And the higher class, little elevated, they are after religiosity and some material gain and sense gratification, or utmost, to become one with the Supreme. But they have no other idea generally. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, "No, above that there is another thing." That is prema, to love God. That is transcendental.

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the topmost, topmost knowledge how to love God and thereby enjoy life. Because we want to love. Unfortunately The other day I was instructing my students that "You just get yourself married." Now, they were confused. Somebody said, "Where to get a nice girl?" Just see. Everyone wants to love, but frustration. The girls will say, "Where is a nice boy?" So the tendency of love is there in everywhere, either in animal or in man, but the lovable object is missing. Missing. That is Kṛṣṇa. If you try to love Kṛṣṇa, then your life will be fulfilled: "Oh, here is lovable object." Premā pum-artho mahān.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Vrndavana, December 2, 1975:

"Bring money, bring money, bring money, bring money." They are called karmīs, sarva-kāma. Their desire is never fulfilled. And akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā mokṣa-kāma (SB 2.3.10), the jñānīs. They want to become united, one with the Supreme, mokṣa-kāma. So Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the mokṣa-kāma Tara madhye mokṣa vāñchā. That is very inferior desire. And Śrīdhara Swami, he has commented on the Bhāgavata verse, atra mokṣa-vāñchā api nirasta. A devotee should not desire even for mokṣa. What is mokṣa? Mokṣa is very insignificant thing for a devotee. Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura has explained, muktiḥ mukulitāñjali sevate asmān. "Mukti, she is standing on my door and flattering me, 'Sir, what can I do for you?' " This is mukti. So why a devotee shall aspire about mukti? No.

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Vrndavana, December 3, 1975:

So there is no question of oneness. This oneness is false. There must be separate existence. Then there is satisfaction. A friend loves his friend and the other friend exchanges love. That is satisfaction, not that, "You are my friend and I am your friend. Let us become one." That is not possible and that is not satisfaction. Therefore those who are Māyāvādīs to become one with the Supreme, they do not know what is satisfaction really. Artificially they try to become one. That is not satisfaction. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The Māyāvādī thinks that "Now I have realized Brahman. I am Brahman, spirit soul. So I'll become one with the supreme spirit soul as soon as this body is finished." Gatākāśa potakāśa, it is said. But that is not real satisfaction. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They think, "Now I am liberated. I am one with the Supreme." But actually he is artificially thinking that. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Because they have no right information how to become satisfied fully, therefore they are aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Their intelligence is not yet pure. It is impure, again material. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture on SB 7.9.19 -- Hamburg, September 7, 1969, (with German Translator):

And then, when one is baffled in sense gratification, he wants liberation. These four principles are generally followed by the materialistic men. Liberation... When one is baffled in adjusting things to his satisfaction, he wants to become one with the Supreme or with the void.

But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, or this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is above these four principles of materialistic way of thinking. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to inquire the value of life and the destination of life. We advocate that human form of life is meant neither for religious ritualistic performances or economic development or for sense gratification or for so-called searching after liberation. Śrīmad-Bhāgavata says that jīvasya tattva-jijñāsaḥ. We have to accept economic development so far as we keep our body and soul together, fit for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We do not recommend that unnecessarily you should give trouble to the body. We do not recommend any man to go to the forest for spiritual realization. We simply recommend that you try to understand what is your constitutional position. If you actually think or meditate very cool-headed what is your actual position, first of all you shall realize that you are not this body.

Lecture on SB 7.9.52 -- Vrndavana, April 7, 1976:

So vāsudeve bhagavati... To full... Surrender to Kṛṣṇa means to become spiritually active. Sometimes the Māyāvādī philosophers, they think that when we become Brahman realized, we become one with the Supreme; then all our activities stop. No, that is (not) the fact. The fact is we are now materially active, and when we finish our material activities, then our spiritual activity begins. You cannot make the living entity as inactive. That is not possible, because we are living; we are not stone. How I can be inactive? That is not possible. Inactivity is for the stones and irons. But we are not stones and irons. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). These Māyāvādī philosophers, they think to stop activity is the highest perfection. No. Our philosophy is stop foolish activities and begin real activities. That is bhakti. Bhakti is not stopping activity. Therefore we are engaging our devotees in so many activities.

Lecture on SB 7.9.55 -- Vrndavana, April 10, 1976:

Karma, jñāna, yoga, they are all material enjoyment. Karma, karmīs, generally we see everywhere. They are working so very hard, making plans how to improve material enjoyment. So they are called karmīs. And jñānīs, their demand is also very great, to become one with the Supreme, to become God. These are material desires. And then yoga, to display, demonstrate magic: "I can prepare gold. I can travel in the sky. I can walk on the water. I can eat broken glasses." Yes. People will gather. "I can remain without any breathing underneath the ground." These things are demonstrated. So people like it, something wonderful. And he says, "I am Bhagavān," and the rascals accept. These things are loka-pralobhanaiḥ. Loka-pralo... These things can mislead the people in general, but they are not very much attractive to the devotees. Devotees are not attracted.

In the history of the devotees there was one devotee of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Īśāna. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to give him some benediction. He was very poor man.

Lecture on SB 7th Canto -- Calcutta, March 7, 1972:

Falsely dressed. Jīva-bhūtaṁ mahā-bāho (BG 7.5). They are superior, superior energy, superior prakṛti, but they are not puruṣa. So the Māyāvādī theory that by salvation means he becomes one with the Supreme. One with the Supreme, how it is possible? The Supreme is puruṣa and I am prakṛti. There must be difference between puruṣa and prakṛti. The prakṛti cannot..., a female cannot artificially become a male. That is not possible. And because we are trying artificially to become the supreme male, therefore, that is māyā. That is māyā. Māyā means which is not fact. Mā-yā, it is false. So falsely we are trying to be puruṣa, enjoyer. This whole world is struggling to become puruṣa, enjoyer, everyone. Nation-wide, society-wide, they are trying to be puruṣa.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 7, 1973:

Thank you very much. (break) ...There are five kinds of mukti: sāyujya-mukti, sārūpya-mukti, sālokya-mukti, sāmīpya-mukti. So sāyujya-mukti, the jñānīs, the nirbheda brahmaṇusandhana, they want to become one with the Supreme. You know this. Monism. That is called sāyujya-mukti. So the enemies of Kṛṣṇa, they get sāyujya-mukti. Or, in other words, the sāyujya-mukti is given to the enemies, not to the friends. But the, there are other muktis. Just like this, take example: darkness. Mukti means you come out from darkness to the light. That is real mukti. Now we are in the material world. This is darkness, tama. Tamasi mā jyotir gamaḥ. This is the Vedic interest. "Don't remain in the darkness." That means in the material world. "Come to the world of light," jyoti, brahma-jyotir. So take this example. Suppose you are in a dark room and I take you to the sunlight, come out. So this is also light. And the sun globe, that is also light. And the sun-god, that is also light. But this light, sunshine light, or sunshine temperature, is not as good as the temperature in the sun globe. Similarly, if you make progress.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 7, 1973:

This Vaiṣṇava wants simply to remain in the service of the Lord. They don't aspire for any kind of mukti. Mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi (Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). So this mukti the sāyujya-mukti, means to become one with the Supreme, it not very safe, because there is, there is want of ānanda and knowledge. Simply to become one, that will not help. Therefore he is actually, constitutionally, a small particle of sac-cid-ānanda. So for want of ānanda, he comes again. Thus we have seen many sannyāsīs, they give up this world as brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, but they do not get any benefit out of it. Therefore they come down again to open hospitals and schools and philanthropic work. They fall down. Now, if it is brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, if jagat is mithyā, then why you are coming again to open hospitals? It is mithyā. But brahma satya. If you have realized Brahman, you are truth.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 3, 1972:

"Those in pure devotional service deride even the conception of liberation." Mukti. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī... Kaivalyam. Mukti's another name is kaivalya. "Everything is one. One, knowledge." That's all. So Prabodhananda Sarasvatī says, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. This conception of liberation, that "I have become one with the Supreme," it is, to a devotee, just like hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. They do not give very much value to such conception, to become one with the Supreme. Or liberation, mukti. And the, this is mokṣa-kāmi, those who are aspiring after... Nirbheda-brahmānu-sandhana, without any difference with the Supreme Brahman. That is called mukti, liberation. And tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate. And the karmīs, they're aspiring after heavenly planets, tri-daśa-pūr. Tri-daśa means thirty. So there are more than thirty millions of demigods in different planetary systems. They are called heavenly planets. So they are ākāśa-puṣpa. Ākāśa-puṣpa means a flower does not grow in the sky; it is something imaginary, phantasmagoria. Tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 10, 1972:

He was quite happy in his present position and wanted only to gain unflinching faith and devotion unto the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. That is the position of the pure devotees. If they can be engaged twenty-four hours each day in devotional service, they do not want anything else, not even the happiness of liberation or of becoming one with the Supreme. In the Nārada Pañcarātra it is also said that any person who has developed even a small amount of devotional service doesn't care a fig for any kind of happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification, or the five kinds of liberation."

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Dharmārtha-kāma, kāma-mokṣaḥ samaya-pratīkṣāḥ muktiḥ mukulitañjali sevate asmān. For a devotee, mukti is not a thing aspirable, because, as it is stated by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, mukti is trying to serve the devotee with folded hands. Because a devotee is already liberated. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26). A pure devotee, who is constantly engaged in devotional service, māyā cannot touch him. He's already liberated. So what he has got to ask from the liberty? He hasn't got to ask. Anywhere a devotee lives, he's liberated.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.5 -- Mayapur, March 29, 1975:

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, "Here is the Paraṁ Brahman." When he is describing Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the cowherd boys, so Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, "These cowherd boys are playing with the Supreme Person who is the source of brahma-sukha." Itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. And for the devotees... There are two kinds of transcendentalist: one Brahmavādi and other, Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava takes this philosophy, that we are servant. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). And the Māyāvādī philosophers, they imperfectly think that they have become one with the Supreme, they have become Nārāyaṇa. That is a misleading philosophy. We should not accept that.

So this Kṛṣṇa, being Paraṁ Brahman, so what will be the platform of His loving affairs? This is to be considered. For brahma-sukha, we are... In this material world we see many saintly persons. They give up everything, sannyāsa. Sannyāsa means giving up everything for the Supreme.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.3 -- Mayapur, March 3, 1974:

That is called praṇāyāma. Dhyāna, dhāraṇā, āsana, praṇāyāma, like that. But that artificial stoppage of sense activities will not be ultimately beneficial. Or thinking that my sense activities may be stopped, I become silent, become one with the supreme—that will also not help us. The real philosophy is, the sense activities must be there, but purified. That is real life. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). Purified. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate. We cannot stop sense activities. That is not possible. Artificially if we stop, even as a big successful yogi or jñānī, it will not act. There are many instances. Just like Viśvāmitra Muni. He was a great yogi. So artificially he was trying to stop the sense activities. But it also failed, the attempt. Later on he met one beautiful woman and he failed in controlling the senses. That is the history. He was the biggest yogi, Viśvāmitra Muni. Similarly, there are many so-called jñānīs also, trying to become one with the Supreme.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.5 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1974:

Hundreds of preparation you can... But what is that? That sugar and milk. So similarly, variety is the mother of enjoyment. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they cannot understand. Therefore they have been described in the Bhāgavata, vimukta-māninaḥ, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They are thinking that now they have become one with the Supreme, Nārāyaṇa. They address between themselves, "Namo nārāyaṇa," that "Everyone has become Nārāyaṇa." This is their... "Everyone is Nārāyaṇa," that's all right, but still, different. That distinction is made by the Vaiṣṇavas. The same example: The different energies, material energy and spiritual energy, they are different. One is superior, one is inferior. But when you go to the central point from where all energies are coming... Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. This is the Vedic injunction, "From where everything is emanating."

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.7 -- Mayapur, March 9, 1974:

That is nandātma... That is the, I mean to say, superior position of nandātmaja, Nanda Mahārāja. So this is philosophy. Ordinary men cannot understand. But Vaiṣṇava philosophy is so nice that instead of becoming one with the Supreme, they want to become the father of the Supreme. This is Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Nandātmāja. Rasika-śekhara. This is also a pleasure. Kṛṣṇa wants to be subordinate to His devotee as son so that He may be punished. He is punishing everyone, but He wants to be punished also. That is His pleasure. And who will punish Him? His father and mother, superior. Or superior lover, Rādhārāṇī, can punish Him.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very scientific and sublime. Try to understand. Always read the books. Don't try to understand Kṛṣṇa ordinarily.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.80-95 -- San Francisco, February 10, 1966:

When a person becomes frustrated by become a man of religiosity, a rich man of economic development, and satisfaction of sense gratification, when he, one has seen that all these things has not given him any peace of mind, then he wants to become out of this scene and become one with the Supreme. This is called salvationist. So somebody is thinking void, somebody is thinking impersonal Brahman. So the last stage is to become extinguished in the void or impersonalism. That is called salvation. Salvation from this material entanglement.

So general people, they have got these four kinds of ideas: religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and at last monism, or become one with the Supreme. That's all. In the Bengal, there is a proverb that mullah do musjik (?). Mullah do (?). Amongst the Muhammadans, the priest is called mullah. So mullah is going very hurriedly, and a person is asking.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.80-95 -- San Francisco, February 10, 1966:

So Kṛṣṇa, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that this emotion, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, developing love of God, is far, far beyond these four principles of perfection, above the idea of becoming one with the Supreme.

pañcama puruṣārtha-premānandāmṛta-sindhu

brahmandi ānanda yāra nahe eka bindu

This pañcama puru... This is fifth dimension. One, religiosity; two, economic development; and three, sense gratification; and four, to become one with the Supreme. So above these four, this is fifth. This is the fifth stage of perfection. What is that? Developing love of Godhead and getting emotion out of that. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says this emotional stage is so transcendental and so elevated that there is no comparison with the other four principles. The perfection of the other four principles is enjoy to become one with Brahman. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says this brahmānanda is just like a drop in comparison with the ocean.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.80-95 -- San Francisco, February 10, 1966:

The perfection of the other four principles is enjoy to become one with Brahman. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says this brahmānanda is just like a drop in comparison with the ocean. This emotion of transcendental love is compared with the ocean, and this brahmānanda, to become one with the Supreme, is just like a drop out of that ocean. So there cannot be comparison. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that there is no comparison. Brahmandi ānanda yāra nāhe eka bindu. Kṛṣṇa-nāmera phala-'premā', sarva-śāstre kaya. Kṛṣṇa-nāme: "If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, then the result is that you develop full-fledged love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

Bhāgye sei premā tomāya karila udaya: "So I am very glad, Caitanya, that You have developed that symptoms by chanting. So it is very good, and it is very nice. You are very fortunate." Premāra sva-bhāve kare citta-tanu kṣobha: "When one becomes..." Just like a man in love in this material world, also, he sometimes becomes just like madman, so similarly... Material manifestation is simply perverted reflection of the real love.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.112 -- Bombay, November 24, 1975:

This is also wanting something, karmī. A jñānī, he wants to stop the small business; he wants to become one with God. That is more dangerous expectation. So that is jñānī. So they also cannot get peace, because there is demand. Karmīs, they want something material, and the jñānīs, they tries to become one with the Supreme. Ekatvam. Ekatvam meaning we make differently, but the jñānīs-sāyujya-mukti, to become one with God. So they cannot be happy also, because there is want. The karmīs, they have got want. They want something. And here also there is want, a different type of want. Karmī wants some material result, immediate sense gratification, and here is also sense gratification. He is expecting something impossible—"I want to become one with God." So they cannot also get peace. That is not possible. And yogi, they also wanting to be something, siddhi, aṣṭa-siddhi. Aṇimā, laghimā, garimā, prāpti, siddhi, īśitva, vaśitva. There are eight kinds of siddhis. The yogis want to get these siddhis and declare that he has become God, the same, like the jñānī.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.21-28 -- New York, January 11, 1967:

The impersonalists think that simply by cultivating knowledge that "I am not matter; I am spirit," or "I am one with the Supreme Spirit; I am now... Out of ignorance, I am thinking different, but when I am fully elevated to the platform of knowledge, then I become liberated." But the..., there is no answer that "Why you have become conditioned?" The impersonalists think that "I am one with the Supreme. Now, due to my ignorance, I have forgotten that I am the Supreme." Because they do not recognize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so they think that impersonal conception of the spirit soul: "I am now... Out of ignorance, I am thinking matter, but as soon as my ignorance is over, I shall become one with the Supreme." So this is the theory of the impersonalists. But they... They cannot give any answer that "Why you have become under the influence of ignorance? If you are the Supreme, then what is the cause that you have become conditioned?

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.29 -- San Francisco, January 21, 1967:

Why do you think foolishly that you are one with God?" So ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Vimukta-māninaḥ means they are thinking that "I am now liberated. I have become one with the Supreme." Te, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Their intelligence is not purified. In other words, it is very gentlemanly said, "Their intelligence is not purified." That means they are in the darkness of knowledge, or grand fool, in other words. So these grand fools, they think that "I have become liberated." They are being kicked every second by the laws of nature; still, they think that "I am liberated."

So such persons... He aravindākṣa, "O the lotus-eyed," āruhya kṛcchreṇa, "to become one with You, they perform severe austerity." That requires, of course... Śaṅkarācārya recommended monism. Oh, nobody can follow his strict principle. So we simply say that "We are follower of Śaṅkarācārya." You cannot approach even the shadow of Śaṅkarācārya. He was so strict and so disciplinary.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 7 -- Los Angeles, May 9, 1970:

This realization is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There are different kinds of realization, but ekatvam, a qualitatively oneness, is always there. The brahmavādi, impersonalist, they think that we are cent percent one with the Lord or the Supreme Absolute Truth, but that is not a fact. If one is cent percent one with the Supreme Lord, then how he has come under the control of māyā? This question, they cannot answer.

So real identity is in the Vedic literature we find that just like the fire, big fire, and the sparks of the fire, they are of the same quality, but the small spark, when he goes out of the fire and falls elsewhere, then, at that time, its fiery quality becomes covered. So this covering becomes manifest according to different qualities. Just like the fire. If a fire spark, if it drops on the water, then it is, it assumes completely extinguished. Similarly, the living entity, although qualitatively the fire, with God, when it contacts the modes of ignorance, his spiritual quality becomes almost extinct.

Festival Lectures

Sri Vyasa-puja -- Hamburg, September 5, 1969:

So this is the feeling of a devotee. Generally, those who are followers of speculative process, or jñāna-mārga, they finally reach to understand that he is one with the Supreme Absolute Truth. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. But the devotional service is so nice that a devotee is not satisfied that "I am one with the Supreme," but by his service he becomes greater than the Supreme. Just like Nanda Mahārāja. He is not anxious to become one with God, but he underwent so great penances that he became the father of God. That is possible. A devotee is so great that he can pray the Supreme Lord as his son. Of course, it is a very subtle science for understanding of spiritual knowledge. So today Nanda-mahotsava is celebrated because the father of Kṛṣṇa... Ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro 'pi san, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said. Although God is unborn and He is the Supreme, still, by love, He accepts one of His devotees as His father and appears as his son. So today is very nice day, that Kṛṣṇa has appeared. The Supreme Lord has appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival -- Chicago, July 3, 1975:

Prabhupāda: That is also another sense gratification, to become one with the Supreme.

Nitāi: "But the Bhāgavatam says that one should not live for sense gratification. One should satisfy the senses only insofar as it is required for self-preservation..."

Prabhupāda: We don't say that "Stop altogether." No. We say, "No illicit sex." We don't say, "No sex." So we should indulge in sense gratification as far as it is required for the maintenance of the body, and balance time, we shall save for brahma-jijñāsā. This is civilization. Otherwise it is animal civilization. So that has come now. So the American people, the leaders, they are now thinking, "What to do?" And call big, big men, and give our program, "Here is to do. Come here to do." This is opportunity. Then?

Nitāi: "Because the body is made of senses, which also require a certain amount of satisfaction, there are regulative directions for satisfaction of such senses, but the senses are not meant for unrestricted enjoyment. For example, marriage..."

Initiation Lectures

Lecture at Initiation Fire Sacrifice -- Los Angeles, July 16, 1969:

The Māyāvādī philosophers, they say that so long we are contaminated in the māyā, we can adopt any means of self-realization, and after self-realization, when we become liberated, we become one with the Supreme and there is no more any work. This is partially true. Partially true means when actually you realize yourself, then you have no material activities. That is the sign of self-realization. This is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
(BG 18.54)

Self-realization, liberation, the sign is that he becomes joyful, prasannātmā, immediately. If you have actually realized yourself, simply by bluffing that "I am God, I am this, I am..." No. There are signs. If you are God, then you must be as joyful as God, as Kṛṣṇa.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Tokyo, May 1, 1972:

"How the living entities became fallen in this material world?" The Māyāvādī philosophy, they say that we are the same with God, but we are now covered by māyā, and as soon as we are free from this māyā's covering, we become again one with the Supreme. This is Māyāvāda philosophy. Practically, the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, also the same, but only difference is that the jīvātmā, he is eternal servant of the Supreme Lord. Actually, if we scrutinizingly study, our constitutional position is to render service. Any one of us who are sitting here, everyone is servant. Nobody can say that "I am master." We are thinking like master, but actually we are all servants—anyone—either you are servant of your family or you are servant of your country or you are servant of your senses.

Lecture on Science of Krsna -- Hyderabad, April 14, 1975:

And if we study philosophy intelligently, then we can understand that living being, jīva, how he can become one with the Supreme? Then why he has become jīva? Jīva is eternally. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ jīva-loka sanātana (BG 15.7). Sanātana. Sanātana means eternally. He is fragmental parts of the Supreme. Not that by māyā he is thinking fragmental parts, but actually he is one. That is Māyāvāda philosophy. But Kṛṣṇa does not say that. Kṛṣṇa says, sanātana. He is fragmental parts, sanātana, eternally. Besides that, it is clearly explained in the Bhagavad-gītā that the spirit cannot be cut into pieces, acchedyo 'yam adāhyo 'yam, so how it becomes a small fragment? Acchedyo 'yam, you cannot cut into pieces, spirit. And it is further explained that these fragmental parts eternally, from the very beginning. Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhagavad-gītā, "My dear Arjuna, you, Me and all these soldiers and kings who have assembled there, they existed like this in the past, they're existing in the same way, and they'll continue to exist like that."

Lecture on Science of Krsna -- Hyderabad, April 14, 1975:

Acchedyo 'yam, you cannot cut into pieces, spirit. And it is further explained that these fragmental parts eternally, from the very beginning. Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhagavad-gītā, "My dear Arjuna, you, Me and all these soldiers and kings who have assembled there, they existed like this in the past, they're existing in the same way, and they'll continue to exist like that." There is no question of becoming one. Past, present, future, always we are distinct. So how they can be one sanātana? We are part and parcel sanātana, eternally. But in quality we are one. In quality we are one. Kṛṣṇa is eternal. We are eternal. Kṛṣṇa is spirit. We are spirit. Kṛṣṇa is also person. We are also person. In this way, we are one but He is the great, and we are servants. This is actual position. And if we claim that after being freed from māyā, we shall become one with the Supreme, that is called Māyāvāda. We eternally, we are separate. Dvaitavāda. That is Madhvācārya's philosophy, dvaitavāda. So if you consider very cool-headed, then Vaiṣṇava philosophy is the best, not this Māyāvāda philosophy.

Lecture -- Nellore, January 4, 1976:

So gold mine and gold earring, both of them are gold, but the quantity of gold in the earring and the quantity of gold in the mine is not the same. This is right understanding. There are two classes of philosophers. One is thinking that "I am one with the Supreme"—monism, or brahma-līna. And the Vaiṣṇava, they are thinking that "We are different from God"—that is the fact—"and God is great, and we are very, very small, minute fractional part of God." So bheda abheda. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu summarizes that bheda and abheda both. In quality we are abheda, but in quantity we are bheda. So therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy is acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. That is the fact. If I am equal to God or if I am God, then how I have become a dog? So this is a controversial going on. But from Bhagavad-gītā, as God explains Himself, He says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). He is the Supreme.

Departure Talks

Departure Lecture -- London, March 12, 1975:

If we accept this principle, then we enter into the Bhāgavata-dharma. Otherwise there is no entrance in the Bhāgavata-dharma.

For the Māyāvādī who wants to become one with the Supreme... You can become one. One means the same thing, a small portion of the water. But our philosophy is not to mix up with the water superficially but enter into the water and live there like fish, big, big fish. That is our philosophy. What is the use of becoming one with the water? Go within the water and live there like a whale fish, perpetually. That is our philosophy. So that is secure philosophy, because as soon as actually you become a big fish within the water, there is no question of evaporation. But if you live, remain superficially on the water, then you will be evaporated again and again thrown outside, then again come as river. So your coming and going, repetition of birth and death, will not stop. But one should become a big fish, there is no evaporation. These things are explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu by Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Śyāmasundara: Just like we might say surrender. The self wills...

Prabhupāda: There is no question of surrender. To become self, that is the Māyāvādī, that I become one with the Supreme Self.

Śyāmasundara: No. He means as a part and parcel of God, because he says, "Faith is the self willing to be itself, authenticity, and to stand transparently..."

Prabhupāda: Then it can be understood that I am part and parcel of the Supreme. So when I remain as part and parcel, that is called faith.

Śyāmasundara: Yes. When I surrender to the idea that I am part and parcel of God, then I am...

Prabhupāda: So that surrender to the idea means, the same example, that a part and parcel of my body, they are engaged in the service of the body. So as soon as you engage yourself in the service of the Lord, that is your self-realization. That is perfect self-realization. Because you remain in your position, your position as part and parcel of the Supreme is to serve Him, practically. So if you engage yourself always in the service of the Lord, that is self-realization. There is no other philosophy.

Page Title:One with the supreme (Lectures)
Compiler:Mayapur, RupaManjari
Created:04 of Oct, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=81, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:81