So, if you chant these mantras, at least one in one day, your life will be glorious. This mantra, bhāgavata-mantra, not only Bhāgavata, every Vedic literature is a mantra. Transcendental sound. So practice resounding this mantra. So we have taken so much labor to put in diacritic mark, all the words, word meaning, utilize it. Don't think that these books are only for sale. If you go to sell these books and if some customer says, "You pronounce it," then what you will do? Then he will understand, "Oh, you are for selling, not for understanding." What do you think? Eh? So therefore it is necessary now, you have got nice books, each and every śloka, verse, should be pronounced. Therefore we have given this original verse in Sanskrit, its transliteration with diacritic mark—these marks are universally accepted amongst the scholars. So all the scholars of Sanskrit, they agreed to use this mark for pronouncing Sanskrit language.
Universal (Lectures, SB)
Expressions researched:
" universalist"
|" universality"
|" universally"
|"universal"
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So religion is like that. There are... As this is a small state or small city, London... It is small city in comparison to the universe; it is nothing, a spot. So there are so many rules and regulation and laws, and the Supreme Lord, who is maintaining, creating this universe, there is no law? How do you think like that? For a small city, an insignificant city... In our estimation, it is not insignificant, but in comparison to the universe, what is the value of this London city or New York city? As soon as you go a little high up, say, twenty-five miles above, you cannot see your city. It is all finished. Similarly, there are so many cities in the stars and planets, upwards. So many universes, so many seas, mountains, skyscraper, houses, we cannot see. Because in the universe these are all simply insignificant particles only. So if in this insignificant particle there are so many state laws, you just imagine to manage this universal affair, the Supreme Lord, how much laws and regulation must be there. Who can deny it? Deny means he's a rascal. But intelligent man will understand that if in a small place there are so many rules and regulations, and in so big place, so universal—aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu—there are laws.
So there are 330,000,000's officers of Kṛṣṇa. Must be. Such a huge affair. If for managing a small shop, we have got so many things... This is manager, this is assistant manager, this is... In such a huge universal affair, there Kṛṣṇa has got assistants. And 330,000,000 assistants within one universe, and there are innumerable universes. And each and every universe, there must be similarly 330,000,000's or like that. They are called demigods. Demigods means exactly under the position of God. Just like here there is governor. Immediately under him there are secretaries. Similarly these demigods, they are different officers, secretaries, directors under God. We don't deny the existence of demigod, but we don't worship that he is God. We worship, we give him all respect. Just like if the queen's secretary comes here, we shall give him all respect because he's queen's secretary. But we'll never accept that he is king. No. That is not possible. That is sane. It is not that... We Vaiṣṇavas, we are prepared to offer respect even to the ant, and why not to the secretary? When we offer to a big officer, it is not that we are flattering. It is the etiquette, it is the duty, to offer respect to the respectable persons.
So as it is statewise, fire brigade is ready, similarly, universally, this material world is also, there is chance of fire at any moment. We do not want it, but it will take place. Therefore this material existence is called saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka **. And the forest fire is compared, especially mentioned: this fire cannot be extinguished by your fire brigade. You cannot send fire brigade to the forest. I've seen in Naimitad(?). From Katgudang(?) station, about, oh, one mile up in the hill there is fire. So long ago. So I asked the man, "What is that?" "That is fire." So nobody went there to set fire, but the fire is blazing. You see? So how this fire can be extinguished? Can you send fire brigade or buckets of water? No. That is not possible. Then it will go on, the fire? No. It will be extinguished. How? Saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam **. Just like this forest fire can be extinguished only if there is cloud upon it—if there is rain. You cannot send fire brigade. That means this is the indication that this fire of this material world can be extinguished through the exigency of spiritual master, because he has received the mercy cloud. Cloud. Just like cloud has taken water from the sea, similarly, the spiritual master takes mercy, receives mercy, from the ocean of mercy, Kṛṣṇa, and he pours it over this saṁsāra-dāvānala.
So Śukadeva Gosvāmī learned from his father, Vyāsadeva, mahā-bhāgavata, and he realized it, svānubhāvam. What is this book? Akhila-śruti-sāram ekam. Akhila means "all, universal." There are many scriptures, many religious scriptures, especially the Vedas. Śruti means Veda. Śruti is learned by hearing, not by reading. You can understand Vedic principle even though you are illiterate, provided you hear them, aural reception. God has given you the ear. And if you try to hear submissively, to receive something, then it will be fruitful. Submissive. Śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-mano..., jñāne prayāsam. This is the Brahmā's realization when he met Kṛṣṇa. So he said this verse, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva, namanta eva, san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. People who are endeavoring to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of his puffed-up knowledge, they will never be able to.
So these things are explained very nicely in the Bhagavad-gītā. Everyone in India knows Bhagavad-gītā, and not only in India, throughout the whole world Bhagavad-gītā is very well known and widely read book of knowledge. I have traveled all over the world. In every country there are different language, translations of Bhagavad-gītā, and in Japanese countries there is Bhagavad-gītā, in Muslim countries there is Bhagavad-gītā. So Bhagavad-gītā is the universal book of knowledge, and our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on this Bhagavad-gītā. We have not manufactured anything. The same thing, which is very, very old, at least from historical point of view it is five thousand years old, but from scriptural point of view it is more than forty millions of years old. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on this Bhagavad-gītā, because it is full of kṛṣṇa-sampraśno. Here Sūta Gosvāmī says, yat kṛtaḥ kṛṣṇa-sampraśno loka-maṅgala. "The questions raised by you," bhavadbhiḥ, "by you, loka-maṅgala." The Bhagavad-gītā should be read very widely, and should be understood very widely. That is the only source of auspicity for the human society.
God is not monopolized by anyone. God is for everyone. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayo yāḥ (BG 14.4). Sarva-yoni, all kinds of species of living entities, all forms, not only human being, but aquatics, trees, plants, insects, reptiles, birds, beasts, animals... There are 8,400,000 species of life in the land, in the sky, in the water. All of them are sons of God. This is universal brotherhood. When we can think all living entities... Because the central point is missing. Central point is God, but we are making central point—somebody is making his own self, his body; somebody is making his family; somebody is making his society, community, or nation; or somebody is making the whole human race. But they are all imperfect. Unless we can make... All the living entities are our own men... Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). That is learned. That is knowledge. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ.
We have got two diseases in the material world. One is śocati, and the other is kāṅkṣati. The things which we haven't got we desire to possess, kāṅkṣati. And the things which we possess, it will be spoiled, it will be lost. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says that everything in this material world is temporary. Smaro nityam anityatam. So when we engage our mind in these temporary things, that is śocana and akāṅkṣa. And when we are elevated to the spiritual platform, then there is no more śocana and akāṅkṣa. This is the symptom. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati, samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu (BG 18.54). At that time it is possible to re-establish samatā. We are very much anxious to re-establish our universal brotherhood, but from the material platform it is not possible. Unless we come to the platform of brahma-bhūtaḥ, we cannot expect samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). These things are there in the Bhagavad-gītā.
So therefore here is the explanation, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ. Paro dharmaḥ. Here it does not say that "Hindu religion is the best" or "Christian religion is the best" or "Muhammadan religion is the best." No. That religion is best which teaches the follower how to love God. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharma yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). If one is lover of God, then he is lover of everyone because he knows everyone is part and parcel of God. If you love your father, then you love your brother. But if you do not know who is your father, then how you can say "universal brotherhood"? This is all hypocrisy. You first of all know. You must first of all know what you are, what is God, what is your relationship with God. And when it is perfectly understood, then there is the possibility of samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18).
Actually, we have to reach to the point of Personality of Godhead, person. Before that, Brahman realization and Paramātmā realization, that is partial realization of the Absolute Truth, because Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. The impersonal Brahman is resting on Kṛṣṇa. Just like the sunshine. Sunshine is very all-embracing, wide, widely spread all over the universe, the sunshine. But the sunshine is resting on the sun globe. We see the sun globe, localized. It is floating in one corner of this universal sky. But the sunshine is covering the whole universe. That does not mean the sunshine is more important than the sun globe. And if you can penetrate within the sun globe, then you'll find there is sun-god.
So these two things are material position, na śocati... But when you come to the brahma-bhūta stage, spiritual platform, then these two things will be absent. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Then you will be able to see everyone on the spiritual platform. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). Then you are learned. You are seeing the cats and dogs and a human being, a learned man, because you don't see the dress, outward covering, tabernacle, but you see, "Here is a spirit soul, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa." That is universal brotherhood. Not by passing resolution with the United Nations and fighting. That is not possible. You have to come to the stage of spiritual platform; then there is question of love, brotherhood, equality, fraternity, otherwise, all bogus propaganda. It's not possible. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54). Then real, pure devotional service begins. Then we become completely fit to serve Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa accepts your service at that time.
Because our all lamentation is due to our material identification. Śocati kāṅkṣati. We are simply lamenting for our loss, and we are simply hankering for some gain. This is material activities. Everyone is struggling to gain something which he does not possess, and he's lamenting for something which he has lost. But when he realizes himself that "I have nothing to gain and nothing to lose; I have nothing to do with this material world," that is called brahma-bhūtaḥ. That is Brahman realization. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati, samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu (BG 18.54). At that time, he realizes that all living entities, they are spirit soul, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). That is equal vision—not the bodily vision. So long we have got bodily vision, there cannot be any equality. That is not possible. When one sees only to the spiritual existence of a living entity, there is question of seeing equally, equal vision, universal brotherhood. That is possible. Not on the bodily platform. That is not possible.
They are concentrating on the matter: matter is evolving. Matter does not evolve; matter is dead. It is due to the presence of the spirit soul it evolves. That they do not understand, although actually we are seeing. Just like a child born. If the child is born dead, it is simply dead matter. It does not grow. It is our practical experience. But if the child is living, or the spirit soul is within that body, then it develops. Similarly, the whole cosmic manifestation, this big universe, unless there is, in the center, the Supreme Spirit, how it develops? It cannot develop. Either you take this body or take this universal body—without the spirit being entered within it, there cannot be development. The modern scientists, they have no knowledge. They cannot understand this. They are so poor fund of knowledge. Practically we are seeing every day. This body has developed, your body, my body, how it has developed? Because I, the spirit soul, you, the spirit soul, enter into the matter. Therefore, it has developed. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1).
So we can very easily understand by the example of our own body. This body, as we, spirit soul, enter into this body, the existence of body continues. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So the body is not created first. The... Because the living entity enters into the body, therefore the body's created. Similarly, this gigantic body, universal body, cannot come into existence automatically. That is not a very good theory. How...? There is no such example. Unless the living entity is there, this body... We get this experience—it does not grow. If a child is born dead, that body does not grow. Therefore it is to be concluded there is something. Even if we do not accept the spirit soul, there must be something on account of the presence of that something, the body's growing. Similarly, take this gigantic body of the universe; unless there is something like that, as we are in this body, how this gigantic universe can go? This is common reasoning. We do not find that a..., matter is growing automatically. No. A tree, a tree is growing, daily growing new leaves new twigs, new flowers. Because that living entity is within the tree. You cut the tree and throw it aside. There will be no more growing. It will dry. It will dry.
Upendra: "This part of the spiritual sky, called the mahat-tattva, is only an insignificant portion of the whole spiritual sky, and within this mahat-tattva there are innumerable universes. All these universes collectively is produced by the Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu called also the Mahā-Viṣṇu who simply throws His glance only to impregnate the material sky to manifest." Text 2. Translation: "Another plenary part of the puruṣa is lying down within the water of the universe from the navel lake of His body which has sprouted the lotus stem (which is the body of the universe) and on the top, from the lotus flower Brahmā the master of all engineers of the universe, is generated." Purport: "The First puruṣa is the Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From the skinholes of Him innumerable universes have sprung up. In each and every one of them the puruṣa enters as the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. He is lying in half portion of the universe full with water of His body. And from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu has sprung up the stem of the lotus flower the birth place of Brahmā who is the father of all living beings and the master of all the demigod engineers engaged in the matter of perfect design and working of the universal order. Within the stem of the lotus there are fourteen divisions of planetary system and the earthly planets are situated in the middle. Upwards there are other better planetary systems and the topmost system is called Brahmaloka or the Satyaloka. Downwards the earthly planetary system there are seven downwards planetary systems domiciled by the asuras and similar other most materialistic living beings. From this Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu there is expansion of the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu who is the collective Paramātmā of all living beings. He is called Hari and from Him all incarnations within the universe are expanded."
Prabhupāda: Yes. This Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the father of Brahmā who has created all these innumerable planets. And in one of the planets there is Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. In that planet the ocean is of milk. There are different kinds of ocean, as we get information from Vedic literature. As we have got here the ocean of water, similarly there is ocean of milk, there is ocean of oil, there is... Just like you have got oil within earth, similarly in those planets there are oil ocean, milk ocean. So there is one planet within this universe which has got ocean of milk. And in that milk ocean there is another Viṣṇu, who is called Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Kṣīra means milk and udaka means water.
Prabhupāda: In the Bible also it is said, "God said 'Let there be creation,' and there was creation." That means God is the origin of creation. Yes. Go on.
Upendra: "That is the verdict of Veda." Text 3. Translation: "It is conceived that all the universal planetary system are situated on the extensive bodily features of the puruṣa but He has nothing to do with the created material ingredients."
Prabhupāda: This is universal form of the Lord, virāṭ-puruṣa. Here is also. This is more or less imaginary. But virāṭ-puruṣa... Just like Arjuna was shown the virāṭ-puruṣa, universal form. That is not eternal. That was causal or temporary; for the time being it was shown to Arjuna.
How? Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35). He is within every universe; not only within every universe, He is within every atom. That is Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa. Don't think that Kṛṣṇa, because He is playing as a cowherd boy or He is playing as a friend of the gopīs, therefore He is ordinary man. The rascals imitate Kṛṣṇa. They say, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa has enjoyed the gopīs? Oh, let me gather some young girls and enjoy." But you become universally represented everywhere. Then you enjoy. Rascal. He cannot do that. (laughs) He can simply imitate how to be in the midst of young girls and enjoy. That is the difference. Thank you very much. (end)
Gṛheṣu. We are now compact in our home. You take universal home or your house home or this body home, we are within. So gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām. Because we have taken that the home business is everything. Gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām. And who has taken like this? Apaśyatām ātma-tattvam (SB 2.1.2), one who cannot see the, "What is the value of my existence," ātma-tattvam. So for them, śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ (SB 2.1.2), they have got many things to hear. Here, of course, in India, we have got newspaper, four pages, five pages, but in the foreign countries, especially in America, they'll present newspaper, so big. Therefore there is paper scarcity. You see? Unnecessarily printing so much, huge quantity of newspapers. And people... Sometimes they do not touch it.
That cannot be fulfilled by so-called material advancement of life. It is not possible. So Vyāsadeva saw the pūrṇaṁ puruṣam. Pūrṇaṁ puruṣaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam. And he saw māyā also, but māyā is not conquering over him. Because Kṛṣṇa is pūrṇam, māyā cannot conquer. In full light there cannot be darkness. Any amount of darkness, you put before the sunshine, there is no possibility... It cannot stand. Within the sun globe, within the orbit of the sun, any amount of... Because the sun globe is so big and the orbit is so big that the whole universal darkness you bring there, there will be no darkness. Just imagine. It is not imagine; it is fact. The universal darkness, all the darkness of the universe, you bring before the sun, it will not effect. It cannot effect. Because the sun is full light. It is not that imitation light. Here we have got this imitation light. The big amount of cloud is there.
So the heat increased. Radiation heat increased. One weapon was released by Aśvatthāmā, another by Arjuna to counteract, and the heat was so terrible that dahyamānāḥ prajāḥ sarvāḥ, all the inhabitants of different planets, they felt the great heat produced by two brahmāstras. And sāṁvartakam amaṁsata. The sāṁvartaka fire is explained in the śāstra, that in the Kali-yuga... At the last there will be Kali-yuga. In the Kali-yuga there will be no rainfall. So everything will dry. Not this Kali-yuga, but at the end of the universal life there will be great fire all over the universe. That is called sāṁvartaka. And everything will be ablaze. This fire will take place on account of the heat increase of the sun. It is said that the present temperature of the sun will be increased twelve times, so naturally there will be fire. As we know, sometimes there is forest fire. Similarly, the fire will take place, and everything will be burned into ashes. Then there will be rain. After heat... You have got experience when the atmosphere is too hot, then the rain falls. Same process. When everything will be burned into ashes there will be rain, torrents of rain, and it is said just like the trunk of the elephant, the rainfall will be like that. So everything will be covered with water. That is annihilation. Pralaya-payodhi-jale dhṛtavān asi vedam **. Then there will be pralaya, and by the grace of the Lord the Vedas will be saved. Keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare.
So the devotional service is so nice that—this example I have given many times—just like in front of your house there is small letterbox, a red letterbox, but if you put your letters within that box it will go ten thousand miles away. Therefore it is post office. It is not a box. It is post office. The post office has kindly come before your door for your convenience, so that you can put your letters there and it will go to the destination. Similarly, this arcā-vigraha, He is just like that. Although Kṛṣṇa is universal, still He has agreed to take your service. That will be accepted. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā,
- patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
- yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
- tad ahaṁ (bhakty-upahṛtam)
- aśnāmi...
Kṛṣṇa says, "My devotee, with affection," yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. Kṛṣṇa is not hungry. Kṛṣṇa has not come to you for accepting your offering because He is hungry. No. He is not hungry. He is self-complete, and in the spiritual world He is served, lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam, He is served by hundreds and thousands of goddess of fortune. But Kṛṣṇa is so kind, because if you are seriously lover of Kṛṣṇa, He is here to accept your patraṁ puṣpam. Even you are the poorest of the poor, He will accept whatever you can collect—a little leaf, a little water, a little flower. Any part of the world, anybody can secure and offer to Kṛṣṇa. "Kṛṣṇa, I have nothing to offer You, I am very poor. Please accept this." Kṛṣṇa will accept. Kṛṣṇa says, tad aham aśnāmi, "I eat." So main thing is bhakti, affection, love.
In Sanskrit language you will find exact example is given, naṭo nāṭyadharo yathā. Just like you have gone to see a performance, dramatic performance, and some of your relatives, say your brother or father, is playing there, but he is dressed in such a way that you can not recognize he is your father. Although he is in your front, the father or the brother whom you see every day, this man, being, has dressed himself in such a way, he is playing the part of a king or something else, you can not understand. Somebody says, "Did you see your father is playing?" "Where is my father? Where is my father?" This is the position. Because Kṛṣṇa is playing His part in a different way. He has ot so much business because He is directing the whole universal affair.
But they do not actually know that ultimately the Absolute Truth is a person, the Supreme Person, Bhagavān. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas, tattva-vidaḥ (SB 1.2.11). Tattva means one who knows tattva. They know that ultimately the Absolute Truth is person, not imperson. Therefore Bhāgavata says, vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam (SB 1.2.11). What is the Absolute Truth? Absolute Truth means tattvam. So Bhāgavata says, vadanti tat tattva-vidaḥ: "Those who are aware of the Absolute Truth, they say like this." What is that? Brahmeti... Yad, yaj jñānam advayam. Advayam: "He is without any duality, but the Absolute Truth is known as in three features: by somebody as Brahman, by somebody as Paramātmā, and somebody as Bhagavān."
- Actually He is Bhagavān. Paramātmā is His universal feature.
- eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ
- yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ
- aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-sthaṁ
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
- (Bs. 5.35)
Eko 'py asau, only one portion. That is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, athavā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna, viṣṭabhyāham... (break) ...this universe is only one only. That also, we cannot estimate what is the length and breadth, how many planets are there, and still, we are proud of becoming God. But God creates such millions of universes. Eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭim. Koṭi, million. Yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ. He is creating, and everywhere He is present. How He is present? Aṇḍāntara-stha. He's present within the universe and within the heart of all living entities, even within the atom. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara... That is Kṛṣṇa. That is only by His one part. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **.
Here, Kuntī's addressing Kṛṣṇa: Viśveśa. Viśva means the universe. Īśa, īśa means the Lord, the controller. So viśveśa, He is controlling. He's controlling. So nicely the universal affairs are going on. The sun is rising just in due time. Everything is going on nicely. There is no mismanagement. Everyone can understand. The seasons are changing; the seasonal fruits and flowers, they are coming out. Everything is going nicely. But how things are going nicely if there is no controller? But they have no common sense. If we see any establishment very nicely going on, we immediately understand the manager or the director or the controller of this institution is very nice. Similarly, if we see things of these universal affairs are going on very nicely, then we must know that there is a good controller. Who is that controller? That controller is Kṛṣṇa. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Therefore He is addressed, "Viśveśa, O the controller of the universe."
So without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the philosophy of equality, fraternity, as in your country they profess, it is not possible. Artificial. Without coming to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that every living entity is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, or God, this equality, fraternity, big, big words, universal brotherhood, it is impossible. That is not possible. Therefore one has to become learned scholar, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). Then he will be able to see equally. Just like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira is thinking of all prajās, not only... Otherwise, the language would have been "human being." No. Prajā, "All, all kinds of prajā." This is universal understanding.
So deva-vrata. Deva-vrata is Bhīṣmadeva. Vrata means vow, and deva means God. So he took brahmacārī-vrata: "I'll, I remain ever-celibate. I'll never marry." It is called deva-vrata. Naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī. This is possible in high-class society, that "I shall remain celibate all the life, naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī." They do not marry.
So therefore Kṛṣṇa's name is bhava-bhāvana. Bhava-bhāvana. This world is called bhava-saṁsāra, bhava-saṁsāra. Bhava means become. There is another nature, spiritual world, that is not bhava, that does not become. It is always existing, nitya. Nitya-loka. Vaikuṇṭha-loka. But this material world is called bhava. Bhava-saṁsāra. Bhava means it appears and again disappears. Everything here—just like your body, my body—it has appeared at a certain date and it will disappear at a certain date. Similarly, the whole universal body also, it has appeared at a certain date and it will disappear at a certain date. So bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). It becomes manifested, again it becomes disappeared. Therefore it is called bhava-saṁsāra. But still, although it is temporary, the arrangement is so nice, pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate.. (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation). Everything is complete. It is not false.
The modern elected executive head of the state is just like a puppet because he has no kingly power. Even if he is enlightened like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, he cannot do anything out of his own good will due to his constitutional position. Therefore, there are so many states over the earth quarreling because of ideological differences or other selfish motives. But a king like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira had no ideology of his own. He had but to follow the instruction of the infallible Lord and the Lord's representative, and the authorized agent, Bhīṣmadeva. It is instructed in the śāstras the one should follow the great authority and the infallible Lord without any personal motive and manufactured ideology. Therefore, it was possible for Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira to rule the whole world, including the seas, because the principles were infallible and universally applicable to everyone.
When demons are, demonic civilization is there, then the whole planet becomes overburdened with their sinful activity. It is very easy to understand. Where in the state everyone is rogue and rascal, then the state becomes overburdened. Overburdened means the duty of the state for arranging police, military and other things becomes very much confused. Similarly, if the people are all law-abiding citizens then the government has no burden. Let things go on nicely, everything is going nicely. Similarly, this is also great state, the universal state. So when people become rascals, rogues and demons, it becomes very much overburdened. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati (BG 4.7). Dharmasya glānir bhavati. Dharma means not a sentiment. Dharma does not mean. Dharma generally is translated as "religion." So everyone can say, "I have got my own religion, you have got your own religion.
So Kṛṣṇa worship is so easy, universal. Other worshiping method you have to collect so many things, then you can worship. Or you must have temple, you must have church, you must have worshiping place. But Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. And you can collect this patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalam anywhere. You can worship Kṛṣṇa anywhere, but you have to learn how to worship. What is that learning? Bhaktyā, that is the method. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). This patraṁ puṣpam is not important thing. The important thing is bhakti, devotion. That is wanted. Without bhakti, if you offer Kṛṣṇa very big plate, Kṛṣṇa is not hungry to take your food. He'll not accept it. He'll not accept anything if you do not offer with your love, bhaktyā, love and serving spirit: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are so opulent.
So as this body is created by my energy, my subtle energy and my gross energy... It is also... The whole energy... I am also emanation from God. The total energy is God. I am fragment, fragment energy, but still, I have got the same function. Just like I am put into the womb of the mother through the semina of the father. Now, according to my energy, I have placed into a suitable condition. If I have worked for becoming dog, then through the semina of the dog I am put into the womb of a dog mother. And if I have worked as a god, then through the semina of the father, I am put into the womb of a mother. So in this way, my conservation of energy worked there, the supply is there, and I form the body. This body is formed... This is creation. So as my body is formed, similarly, this whole universal body is formed. That is creation. They do not understand. They are so rascal that they do not understand that creation is a fact, and the original creator is God. So in the scriptures, "God created this world," that is fact, but unfortunately, they do not know how it is created. Lack of knowledge. So that is explained here, tritve hutvā ca pañcatvam, how things are developing. From the spirit soul there is total material energy. Energy is coming.
Pradyumna: Translation: "Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard that out of His causeless mercy Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, who is universally obeyed, rendered all kinds of service to the malleable sons of Pāṇḍu by accepting posts ranging from chariot driver to president to messenger, friend, night watchman, etc., according to the will of the Pāṇḍavas, obeying them like a servant and offering obeisances like one younger in years. When he heard this, Mahārāja Parīkṣit became overwhelmed with devotion to the lotus feet of the Lord." (SB 1.16.16)
Prabhupāda: So this is the exchange of love between the Lord and the devotee. It is not Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead... He's master, the Supreme, but we may not calculate the master and the Supreme by our material experience. Just like in our material experience we see the master is always master and the servant is always servant. But in the spiritual world, sometimes the master is the servant also. This is called Absolute, Absolute world. Here there is distinction between master and the servant, but in the spiritual world there is no such distinction. Sometimes the servant is rendering service to the Lord, and sometimes the Lord is serving to the master. Just like Kṛṣṇa, when He was playing with His friends, so they were sporting, and in the sporting there is defeat and victory. So if some of the friends would become victorious, then the challenge was that one who will be defeated, the victorious person will ride on his shoulder. That was the challenge. So when Kṛṣṇa became defeated, the other boys, they rose up and got up on the shoulder of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa had to carry them.
This material world is devī-dhāma, under the... You have seen the picture of Durgā. So material nature is also devī, devī-dhāma. And maheśa-dhāma. Above this, there is maheśa-dhāma, the region of Lord Śiva. Devī-maheśa-hari-dhāmasu. Then the Vaikuṇṭhas. And the topmost is kṛṣṇa-dhāma. That dhāma, or that universal system, that is very, very big, many times. This material universe is considered one fourth creation. It is one... Ekāṁśena sthito jagat (BG 10.42). In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, "This material world is one fourth creation of God." And the three-fourth creation is the spiritual world. Just imagine. This material world, this universe, which you are seeing, the big sky, dome, this is one universe. That is also stated. We get all this information from Vedic literature. This universe is only one single universe, and there are so many planets, stars. These are all stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). Jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi. Jagad-aṇḍa means universe, and koṭi means millions, 100,000 one hundred times.
So Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He, although He is all-pervading, universal, He has agreed to accept your service just to give you liberation from this misunderstanding, no ātma-tattvam. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that Kṛṣṇa, God, is great. How great He is, you cannot imagine. But still, He has agreed to accept your service, becoming small. That is greatness. In the material world, if something is big, very big, he cannot become, or it cannot become small. Just like, say, for... Elephant is very big animal. You ask the elephant, "Please become like an ant." "Oh, that is not possible, sir. That is not possible." But God is so great that although He's universal, He can enter into the atom. That is... Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān: "Greater than the greatest, smaller than the smallest.
They cannot understand even Christianity that Lord Jesus Christ said, "Thou shalt not kill," and they are very busy simply in killing business. And still, they're Christians. First of all, let us see who is a Christian. Similarly, every religion, simply by rubber stamp, "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Christian," but they do not know what is religion. They do not know. Therefore (in) the Bhāgavatam you'll find religion, religious person, who is a religious person first-class religion? Religious person means who has learned to love God. That is religious person. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje, ahaituky aprati... (SB 1.2.6). And this religion is universal. To love God, you don't require any education, don't require any rubber stamp. God is one, and you are part and parcel of God. You try to love. You have got the loving propensity. You love God, and you'll be satisfied, you'll be happy. Everyone is trying to love God, somebody else. Love is not alone. Love must be two. So that two, Kṛṣṇa and myself, that is called love.
So you try to love God and you'll see that you're loving even an ant. There are many examples I can cite in the history, how a man became universal lover. I have told you many times the story of a hunter. The hunter was taking pleasure by killing animals half, and when the same hunter became a devotee, he was not prepared to kill even an ant. So this is love of Godhead. This is the science. The same hunter who was killing every day so many animals, when he became a great devotee of Lord, he was not willing—because he becomes vastly learned. To become lover of God means fully enlightened in consciousness. He sees that "Here is an ant. This living entity, a small living entity, is also part and parcel.
Actually human life is meant for making a solution to the problems of life. One can never solve such problems by satisfying the different demigods, by different modes of worship, or by so-called scientific advancement in knowledge without the help of God or the demigods. Apart from the gross materialists, who care very little either for God or for the demigods, the Vedas recommend worship of different demigods for different benefits, and so the demigods are neither false nor imaginary. The demigods are as factual as we are, but they are much more powerful due to their being engaged in the direct service of the Lord in managing different departments in the universal government. The Bhagavad-gītā affirms this, and the different planets of the demigods are mentioned there, including the one of the supreme demigod, Lord Brahmā.
This is universal movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because it is concerned with the soul, consciousness. Therefore you have named the word consciousness. Consciousness belongs to the soul, that is the symptom of presence of soul. At the present moment because the soul is in the body, if I pinch your body then you will feel, consciousness, feel pains or pleasure. But as soon as the soul is gone out of the body, if I chop off your body with a dagger, you will not protest. The consciousness is gone. Yena sarvam idaṁ tatam avināśi tu tad viddhi, yena sarvam idaṁ tatam. Sarvam idam, this body. This body, wherever you pinch it you feel pain. Why? Because consciousness is there. So Kṛṣṇa advises that consciousness is eternal. Therefore we have to purify our consciousness, then our life is successful.
So the great body, this universal body, as Kṛṣṇa showed universal body to Arjuna, so it is possible for Kṛṣṇa to show the universal body, virāḍ-rūpa. You cannot show. You cannot show. It was Arjuna's request to exhibit the virāḍ-rūpa because Arjuna knew it that "Because I am accepting Kṛṣṇa God, so many God will be there later on. A man will claim to become God. But as I am requesting Kṛṣṇa to show the virāḍ-rūpa, similarly, if some fool accepted the another fool as God, he should request him, 'Please show your virāḍ-rūpa.' Then accept him. Otherwise don't accept." So God has virāḍ-rūpa. So both God and we are, living entity, are of the same quality. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi means so 'ham. These words, Vedic words, are there to indicate that "Qualitatively, I am as good as God. He is spirit soul; I am also spirit soul. He has got creative power; I have got creative power. He has got senses; I have got senses." Everything just similar, facsimile. In the Bible it is said, "Man is made after God." Is it not said like that? That means God has exactly the same form. And therefore man is made also, the same form. So in this way both God and the living entities, they are anādi. Anādi, there is no beginning.
The example is given: just that the sun is localized in one place, but he is managing the whole universal affair by his heat and light. That is potency. That does not mean... For time immemorial, sun is supplying unlimited quantity of heat and light all over the universe day and night. There is no stoppage. It is not that sun's heat and light has been stopped because it is night. It is night for us, but his heat and light is being distributed. It is distributed. But still, has the sun has diminished by a small quantity? If it is possible even for the material thing... Sun is nothing but an insignificant material thing. There are millions of suns, millions and trillions of suns. That is admitted even by modern science. So this sun is only an insignificant portion of the sun category. This universe is the smallest. There are many big, big universes, and each and every universe, there is sun, there is moon, there is other things. And all these universes combined together is one fourth energy of Kṛṣṇa. Ekāṁśena sthito jagat.
So ultimate profit of life is to go back to home, back to Godhead. Because we are suffering on account of separation from God. This is our cause of suffering. Instead of becoming servant of God we have become the servant of senses. That is the cause of our suffering. Therefore three things, if we can understand thoroughly, that Kṛṣṇa, or God, is the proprietor and enjoyer of the whole universe or creation and... Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). He is the proprietor of all universal planets, and suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām, and He is the real friend of everyone. Jñātvā, "One who knows," Kṛṣṇa says, mām, "Me, then he gets śānti." Otherwise, there cannot be any śānti.
So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is universal. It is meant for everyone, and the process is very simple. Simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. But if you think that "I am not satisfied by..., for accepting this simple process. I must go through science, philosophy, logic," yes, we have got dozens of books, four hundred pages each, at least. We have got twelve books. You can read them. Go through science, philosophy, logic, sociology, politics, anything. You will understand what is Kṛṣṇa.
So we have got many foodstuff in the vegetarian kingdom, and Kṛṣṇa asks you that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati: (BG 9.26) "Anyone who is offering Me..." This is universal. Patram means a leaf. Just like a leaf. Puṣpam, a flower. And patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalam. Phalam means a fruit. And toyam means water. So any poor man can offer Kṛṣṇa. There is no need of, I mean to say, luxuriant foodstuff, but it is meant for the poorest man. The poorest of the poor men can secure these four things—a little leaf, a little flower, a little fruit, and little water. Any part of the world. Therefore He is prescribing, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati: "Anyone who offers Me with love and devotion..." Tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam. "Because it is brought to Me with love and devotion," aśn āmi, "I eat." Kṛṣṇa is not hungry, neither He is poor. But the main thing is bhaktyā, devotion and love. So whatever you offer Kṛṣṇa with devotion and love within this group as prescribed by Him, Kṛṣṇa accepts it. So you can offer anywhere. It does not matter that you have to offer in temple. Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. So you offer and eat that. This cauliflower is also flower. This is also flower. (chuckles) And potato is fruit. Fruit, flower. Yes.
There are different forms of life, 8,400,000 forms of life. They are all sons of Kṛṣṇa. It may be a small ant or he may be exalted personality like Lord Brahma. Everyone. So if we know the Kṛṣṇa science, then we can understand it. This universal brotherhood, that we all, in different forms of life we are all sons of the Supreme Lord, supreme father... He says in another place, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ: (BG 15.7) "All the jīvas, they are My part and..." Just like the son is part and parcel of the body of the father, similarly, we are also sons, everyone, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. And if you are really advanced in knowledge, then paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). Then you are actually paṇḍita, not falsely to be called paṇḍita and number one fool. That is not paṇḍita. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. The defect of the modern civilization is that there is no paṇḍita. All rascals. All rascals. Therefore they have demarcated, "This is India," "This is America." No. Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. Then there will be peace. If in the United Nation they simply pass one resolution with determination, that "The whole planet belongs to Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we are all His sons," there is no trouble.
There is no scarcity. Kṛṣṇa has created this world in such a way that there is no question of starvation in any part of the world. There is no question. Sufficient. Pūrṇam idam (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation). There is no question of starvation. But because we have rebelled against the principle of universal brotherhood we are all suffering. I have several times said that there are ample space. There is no question of scarcity. Ample space. I am traveling all over the world. So much space lying vacant in America, in Africa, Australia. Why the Chinese or the Indians should be congested, overpopulation? But they will not allow. "It is my country." "Have you got visa?" immigration. "Yes, I have got." "All right, three months. Then get out." This is going on. Because they are rascals, they are falsely claiming, "This is my country. This is my property. Nobody can come here." This is a dog's philosophy. Just like the dogs. They have selected one neighborhood, and three, four dogs, they live peacefully. Not peacefully—they also fight amongst them. But if another dog comes, immediately the four, five dogs will attack: "Why you have come here? Why you have come here? Gow! Gow! Gow!"
If in a small state, say this California state, there are so many magistrates, so many courts in different towns, and if you calculate, in comparison to this universe, what is this California state? You can see at night there are millions and billions of planets glittering in the sky, and this earthly planet is one of them. That's all. And in this earthly planet there are so many countries—America, Canada, United States, Mexico, India, China... There are so many countries, and there are so many cities. And each and every city, there are so many courts and magistrates. Just think that this planet is only a spot in comparison to the universal construction. So how we can think that there is no control, there is no government, everything has come out of its own course? This theory is foolish theory. There is controller. There is controller, and He is called Īśvara. Īśvara means God. There is management of God. It is very commonsense understanding.
Suppose there is some injury in your finger or any part of the body. You do not know how subtle work is going on to cure it. Medicine is not cure; medicine is only helping. But there is automatic way of curing. Even your energy, this is your energy. My bodily pains and pleasures, so many things are going on. Just like so many, you cannot count even how many hairs are there on your head. You cannot count. But it is your hair, and it is produced by your energy. You have got so much energy that as soon as you cut your hair, immediately next moment it begins to grow. Thousands and millions automatically growing. As soon as the body is dead, then no more growing, because energy is gone. So similarly, as in your body so much subtle energies are working, just imagine this universal body of Kṛṣṇa, virāṭ-rūpa, how much subtle energies are working. So that we do not know. That is our ignorance.
In the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the universal planetary system have been very nicely explained, and within the planetary system there is some planet, some planetary system which are called hellish planet. Actually in every scripture, not only in Bhāgavata, in other religious scripture, the description of hell and heaven are there, some way or other. So in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you'll find where are those hellish planets, how it is distant from this planet. Just like modern astronomy, they have got calculation, how far the moon planet is there from here, what is the distance, what is the distance between earthly planet, the sun planet. Similarly, there are hellish planets also. Just like... We have got practical experience. Even on this planet, there are different conditions of atmosphere. Western countries, nearing the North Pole, the climate is different from India because it is near the equator. As there are differences of atmosphere and condition of life within this planet, similarly, there are particular planets also, the condition of life, atmosphere and everything different.
In India, the system is when a girl is married to a boy, so—in your country also, everywhere, the same system—just like the nephew of the boy calls the girl "Aunt." Now, how she becomes aunt? Because, in relationship with her husband. Before the marriage, she was not aunt, but as soon as he (she) is related with her husband, the husband's nephew become the nephew. Just try to understand the example. Similarly, if we reestablish our relationship, or our original relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is for everyone, therefore I become for everyone. That is real universal love. The artificial, so-called universal love cannot be established unless you have established your relationship with the central point. Just like you are Americans. Why? Because you are born in this land. So another American is a member of your country, but if you become something else, then you have no relationship with another American. So we have to reestablish our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Then the question of universal brotherhood, justice, peace, prosperity will come. Otherwise, there is no possibility. Central point missing. How there can be justice and peace? It is not possible.
So our knowledge is perfect because we know that we are very small particle of spiritual spark. That is our constitutional position. And God is the Supreme, the greatest spiritual identity. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān. He's supplying all the necessities of the small, spiritual sparks. Because we know rightly, and as we are part and parcel of God, minute particles, therefore our duty is to serve God. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body; this finger is not enjoyer. The body, or the chief place in the body, the stomach, he's the enjoyer. Similarly, God is the center of all creation, the whole universal body. Therefore He's enjoyer; we are servitor. So our conception is very clear. Therefore we are liberated. Liberation means to become free from all false conception of life. That is liberation. Liberation does not mean that you have got now two hands, and, as soon as you are liberated, you'll have ten hands. No. Liberation means that you become free from all nonsensical, false conception of life. That is liberation.
The whole material world, one who is not God conscious, is simply hankering, hankering. Or, if he loses something, he's lamenting. That is two business are there. But a God conscious person, Kṛṣṇa conscious person, has no lamentation, no hankering. If anything is lost, he knows that it is God's wish. "God desired this. That's all right." And he knows that "Everything is provided by God; why shall I hanker?" Na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Then universal brotherhood: "As I am part and parcel of God, my brother is also, my friend is also, the dog is also like that, the cow is also like that. They're all part and parcel of God as spirit, as spiritual spark. Therefore they're all equal. Why shall I envy him? Why shall I utilize(?) him? Why shall I trouble him?" These good consciousness, good qualities, automatically develop. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā. Anyone who has developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all the good qualities of the demigods will manifest in his body. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ (SB 5.18.12). The demigods are supposed to be very highly qualified. So all the godly or demigodly qualities will manifest. They are... Vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca. The Vaiṣṇava becomes the ocean of mercy to others. They're going door to door: "Please be Kṛṣṇa conscious. You'll be happy." Actually that is the fact. So who can be merciful than these Vaiṣṇavas? They are giving the right contribution to the society. They need it.
So gradually the history of Ajāmila. We have already narrated, he was inhabitant of Kānyakubja. It is historical incidence. It is not a fiction, manufactured something. No. History, itihāsa. So in the Vedic literature they are... Everything is itihāsa, history. Just like in the park we were talking of the Milk Ocean. The Milk Ocean is there in some part of the universe, top, near Brahmaloka. So it is not fiction; it is itihāsa, means history. We do not know the universal history. We may know some history of our country or this planet, that's all. But there are millions and trillions of planets.
We are not interested with the lump of newspaper. We are interested in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Why? Because within this literature there is glorification of the Supreme Lord, how He is conducting the whole universal affair, how the sun is rising exactly in time by His order, the moon is rising exactly by His order, not a minute's deviation. The big, big ocean, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, very big, powerful, but still within the limit. The Pacific Ocean cannot come beyond the jurisdiction. So who is managing this? Yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. Even the biggest planet within this universe, the sun, it is also rotating in his orbit by the supreme order. So there is supreme order everywhere. There is government. There is ruling. But the rascals, they cannot see. They simply believe in the direct experience. Direct experience is not first-class experience. The first-class experience is to receive knowledge from the person who knows. That is first-class experience.
This will be explained, next verse, how He is controlling, how things are managed. We can see practically that universal affairs, how things are being managed. Exactly in the right time, the sun is rising, the moon is rising, and they're working exactly to the time. In this season, the sun will stay during daytime so many hours. Exactly we find. Not that this year he's staying from six to six, and next year he's not appearing. No. There is no question of accidents. The same date, same month, and the same appearance of the sun and the moon. Everything. And still we say "There is no God," "God is dead," "There is no controller." This is foolishness. Mūḍha. The mūḍhas, the asses... Mūḍha means asses, one who has no knowledge. It is commonsense affair. That if everything is going on so nicely, how I can think there is no controller? In your house, in your office, if everything goes very nicely, systematically, there is the director, there is the manager, superintendent, and everything is going nice, how, without these things, how the whole universal affair can go so nicely? That is not accidental, that there was a chunk and immediately it became a this and that. No. There was no accident. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). There is no question of accidents. Kṛṣṇa says, "Under My supervision, everything is going on."
So not all of them sinful and subjected to be brought for justice before Yamarāja. Just like magistrate, criminal magistrate. He is... In every city the district magistrate, not all the people are brought there, only the criminals. So he is so powerful that through his mind he can see the past and the future, tri-kāla-jñā, by mind. And because he is so powerful, he is addressed here as Bhagavān. I have several times explained, Bhagavān means the most powerful, full of opulences. So those who are in charge of departmental affairs within this universal kingdom, they are also sometimes addressed as Bhagavān. And Aja, Aja is Brahmā. Aja means who does not take birth. So Brahmā also did not take birth like ordinary human being. He sprouted like the lotus flower from the abdomen of Mahā Viṣṇu..., Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Therefore he is called Aja or Svāyambhu, Svāyambhu: "personally born, not through the womb of the mother." Brahmā was not born through the womb of mother; therefore he is called bhagavān ajaḥ.
So Hiraṇyakaśipu did not like that his son was becoming a devotee. So he chastised the teachers because he was king, emperor, very powerful. He conquered all the universal planets, he was so powerful. So the teachers became very much frightened. So when they were asked, "What nonsense you have taught my boy, spoiled? He has become a devotee," so they said,
- na mat praṇītaṁ na para-praṇītaṁ
- suto vadaty eṣa tavendra-śatro
- naisargikīyaṁ matir asya rājan
- niyaccha manyuṁ kad adāḥ sma mā naḥ
So the teacher said, "Sir, we have not taught this. I do not know how your son has learned all this devotional service. By nature he is so like that." Prahlāda was doing that. Because the teachers were very much cautious that "This Prahlāda has got tendency to become a devotee," so they were very careful. But Prahlāda Mahārāja, what he did do, as soon as there is tiffin hours, all the teachers gone, he would immediately call all the class friends and stand up on the bench and speak on bhagavad-bhakti. Perhaps you have seen that picture.
Reading is also smaraṇam. That śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam. It is clear? Śravaṇam means hearing, kīrtanam means chanting, and smaraṇam. When you read, you remember God's activities, Kṛṣṇa's activities, His devotee's activities. Therefore it is smaraṇam. This is also one of the prescribed methods. But if anyone cannot read even... Suppose if he is not educated, illiterate. Does it mean that he will not get Kṛṣṇa consciousness? He will get, simply by hearing. The process is so perfect and nice, there is no need of education even. Illiterate person, simply if he gives aural reception submissively, he will get the benefit. Therefore it is universal. It is good for everyone—educated, noneducated, learned, fool, rich, poor, everyone. Man, woman, child, adult—everyone can take part and take benefit out of it. It is so nice.
But the soul is the same. By external affection in the material world under different qualities, he's appearing different. Therefore, we have got 8,400,000 of species of life, by different consciousness. When one comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is no such differentiation, there is one consciousness. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme, I am His servant, that's all. So long one does not come to this platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no possibility of so-called eternity, fraternity, unity, universal brotherhood, that is not possible. It is impossible because they are all contaminated.
Well, when you feel Kṛṣṇa, that is, He is... Kṛṣṇa is the central point. If you know what is milk, then you know what is butter, what is cheese, what is yogurt, everything, because everything is milk product. So if you know Kṛṣṇa, everything is Kṛṣṇa product, so you know everything. That is universal knowledge. That is oneness. When you know what is milk, then, in spite of so many varieties of preparation of milk, you know it is milk. That is oneness. When you know, understand Kṛṣṇa, that "Whatever we are seeing, in our presence, experiencing, they're all different energies of Kṛṣṇa..." Just like you are sitting here, and if there is fire, you, you see the li..., by the light of the fire, it is illuminated. By the heat of the fire, you are feeling warm. So whatever there is, it is due to fire. Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to understand Kṛṣṇa, and as soon as you understand Kṛṣṇa, you understand everything.
So we have been discussing instruction of Prahlāda Mahārāja, a five-years-old boy, instructing his class fellows. So self-analysis. And he says, "When self-analysis is complete, then the result will be that the person who is in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness after studying self-analysis, his vision will be universal." That is the stage of universal understanding.
- vidyā-vinaya-sampanne
- brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
- śuni caiva śva-pāke ca
- paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ
- (BG 5.18)
In the Bhagavad-gītā you have read that a learned person, who is actually learned, he sees everyone on the equal level, sama-darśinaḥ. How? Vidyā-vinaya-sampanne. A person who is very highly learned, very gentle, civilized, vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe, and a brāhmaṇa, still higher, intellectual personality, gavi, a cow, hasti, means an elephant, śuni, the dog, śva-pāke ca, and the dog-eaters, śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama, all these—there are different varieties of living condition—but still, one who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he sees everyone on the same level. How it is, that? Has he become a madman, that a highly intellectual person and the dog, he sees on the equal level? Yes. Because he is not seeing on the material platform; he is seeing on the spiritual platform. In the spiritual platform, there is no distinction. The all distinction is due to our material conception of life. Varieties, the bodies, there are 8,400,000 varieties of bodies, and because we are under the concept of this bodily, I mean to say, identification, therefore we see so many varieties.
The father asked the best thing the boy learned from his teachers, and the boy, five-years-old boy, replied, "My dear best of the demons." He never addressed his father, "My dear father," because his father was atheist number one, godless, and he was a great devotee of God. So when the father inquired, he straightly replied. He knew that his father was very powerful demon, but he was not afraid, although he was five-years-old boy. He plainly replied, "My dear the best of the demons,' sura-varya, asura varya. Asura means demons, and varya means the best, first-class demon. So "I think," tat sādhu manye-sādhu means honest, very good, very nice—"that is very nice." What is that? Dehināṁ: "For the entities who have accepted this material body..." He is speaking universally. Not for himself or for his father, but he was speaking generally for everybody. Everybody. Anyone. Dehināṁ. Dehi means this body. We are different from this body. We have several times discussed this point. So in Sanskrit word there are two implications in the understanding of our existence.
So what is that real feeling? One must be aware of his position; then one can express his feeling. Feeling should be very sincere and automatic. And what is our position? That has been taught by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us how to pray. He says in His prayer, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye (Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). Jagadīśa: "O My Lord of the universe." Jagat-īśa. Jagat means universe and īśa means Lord. So it does not matter whether you are Hindu or Muslim or Christian or anyone. It does not matter. But you must know that there is a supreme controller of this universe. How can you deny it? Therefore this word has been used very nicely by Caitanya Mahāprabhu: Jagadīśa. Jaya jagadīśa hare. It is universal. Now if you think that "My father is jagadīśa," that is your conviction, but jagadīśa is meaning the Supreme—no controller there. Everyone is controlled.
That is mukti. Mukti means hitvā anyathā rūpam. Mukti means when you give up your material contaminated life. Hitvā anyathā rūpaṁ sa guṇena avasthiti. To be, I mean to say, situated in the constitutional position, that is called mukti. So our constitutional position is that God is great and we are small. And our position is that God is the Supreme and we are subordinate, and our business is to serve God. This is our position. We are serving, but instead of serving God, we are serving dog. That is the position. But service is there. So when you, actually when we serve God, then we can serve everyone. Because that is real position. Just like if you love your father, then you can love your brothers also. Because you know that "If I don't love my brothers, then father will not be pleased." The center must be the father. So without loving father, you cannot love your family members. Similarly, without loving God, you cannot love, exhibit love, in any way. You may advertise yourself, universal brotherhood and so on, so on. This will be all failure because the center is missing. The present defect is that the center is missing; therefore there is no peace in the world. So we have to search out the center. What is that center?
| Page Title: | Universal (Lectures, SB) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 19 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=62, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 62 |