This is material world, all fools and rascals. All materialists are fools and rascals, mūḍha. They are called mūḍha. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Because they are fools and rascals, they are committing sinful life, becoming entangled in the transmigration of the soul in different types of bodies, and perpetually suffering. Because as soon as you get this body, you'll suffer, either white body or black body or yellow body. It doesn't matter. Either man's body or animal's body, as soon as you get this body, you must suffer. This is the punishment of nature. You must suffer. A king cannot say that "Because I have this queen's body, king's body, there is no suffering." This is nonsense. You have to suffer. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). At least these sufferings must be there: the sufferings of birth, sufferings of death, sufferings of disease and sufferings of old age. There must be. Either you become king or you become a dog or you become a cat, it doesn't matter, even if you become Brahmā. Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna (BG 8.16). This is the philosophy.
Yellow (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Just like the painter. He knows how to mix the three original color, namely blue, yellow and red. The red color represents passion, and the yellow color represents ignorance, and the blue color represents goodness. So as the color painter, er, painter knows how to mix and make varieties of colors, similarly, the three modes of material nature being mixed up, they are represented in so many different forms of body. So at the present moment, in your human form of body, you are also mixing the same qualities in your different desires. That means you are creating your next body. So at the time of death the thoughts and the activities which will be prominent within your mind, you will get a similar body in next life. Therefore the intelligent man should be very cautious to get the next body. We can get the body like God; we can get the body like the dog. Therefore the best intelligent person should try to endeavor to get the next body like God. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that you endeavor in this life so long you are alive to get a body like God.
So anyway, Kṛṣṇa appears in four colors—red, black, yellow, and white—in different ages. So in this age, Kali Yuga, Kṛṣṇa appears as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, yellow color. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṇam. Akṛṣṇa may be red. Akṛṣṇa may be white. But this akṛṣṇa means pīta, yellow. Because other akṛṣṇa, red and white, was in the Satya-yuga and Tretā-yuga. Therefore here akṛṣṇa means the yellow. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam (SB 11.5.32). He's always surrounded by His intimate devotees. He's surrounded by many devotees. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, wherever He was going, thousands and thousands of people were following His saṅkīrtana, but especially He, He was always surrounded by five special devotees: śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda, śrī-advaita gadādhara, śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. He's Himself, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya; His expansion, Nityānanda; His incarnation, Śrī Advaita Prabhu; His internal energy, Gadādhara; and His external, marginal energy, Advaita Prabhu, er, Śrīvāsa. But He has got another energy, which is called external energy. External energy cannot come in front of God, Kṛṣṇa. This is māyā.
Kṛṣṇa when appears, that is explained in the Bhāgavatam, He appears in different colors. Sometimes in blackish color, sometimes in reddish color. These are explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And in this age Kṛṣṇa appears in the yellow color, Lord Caitanya. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
- kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
- sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
- yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
- yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ
- (SB 11.5.32)
This is explained, authority. There are many other authoritative statements about Lord Caitanya's becoming Kṛṣṇa Himself. Idānīṁ kṛṣṇatām. Śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ. When Kṛṣṇa appeared, the nāma-karaṇa, when Gargamuni was ascertaining His name he said that this child, He has other colors, śuklo raktas tathā pīta. Pīta means yellow. That means some other Kali-yuga He appeared as Lord Caitanya. Idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ, therefore He should be named Kṛṣṇa. These things are there.
So Kṛṣṇa's appearance does not mean that He has become different. The nice example is set here by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, just like a valuable stone. You take your hand, in your hand, you find sometimes yellow, sometimes red, sometimes white, like that. So, tava ceti mat-sakhatvat tavanti janmāni tavāpi abhut.(?) "And because you are My eternal friend, so whenever I appear, you also appear." Just like, those who are personal associates, whenever the chief boss goes, his personal assistants also go. That is natural.
So this is the beginning. We are originally, our function is to render service, and where the service is to be rendered? To the Supreme. That is our natural position. Now, under designation, we are rendering the same service to so many things. That function is already there. Because... Just like the water. Water is liquid always, either black water, or green water or yellow water, or white water, it is always liquid. Because the water has become black, it does not mean the liquidity is lost. Similarly, because we are now in contact with material designation, so our services atti..., service attitude is not lost.
Kṛṣṇa says four classes of men, catur varṇyam... Catur means "four", and varṇa means "division of society". Just like varṇa means color. As there are division of color, red, blue and yellow, similarly human being, human society should be divided according to the quality. The quality's also called color. Catur varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). So there are three qualities in this material world. Three qualities. Or three colors. Red, blue and yellow. You mix it. Then you become eighty-one colors. Three colors, three upon three, multiplied, it becomes nine. Nine upon nine, multiplied, it becomes eighty-one. So there are eight million four hundred thousands different forms of living entities. Due to this mixture of different qualities. Nature is manufacturing different types of body according to the association of the living entity to the particular type of quality.
If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, so all enemies and friends, and learned and fools, rich and poor, man, woman, black, white, yellow, oh, everyone can take part. There is no distinction. There is no distinction, and you derive the same profit. That is recommended. So here also, Kṛṣṇa says, ekaṁ sāṅkhyaṁ ca yogaṁ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati. So therefore we have to accept the favorable circumstances. In this age, in this difficult age, if we find the same result by being Kṛṣṇa conscious and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, then I, we should take advantage of it.
Just like your dress. You are not the dress. But we are differently dressed here. Somebody red color, somebody white color, somebody yellow color. But that color, I am not this color. Similarly this body, I am white man, black man, Indian, American or this, Hindu, Muslim, Christian. This is not my position. This is all diseased condition. Diseased condition. You are trying to get out of the disease.
When Kṛṣṇa was born, then Gargamuni was calculating about His horoscope, and he said to Nanda Mahārāja that "This, your child..." Idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ. Śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ. "Your child had formerly white color." White color... Sometimes some critics criticize us that "Kṛṣṇa everywhere He is black. Why in your temple white?" But it is said that śukla, śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ: "Your son had other colors also, white and red and yellow, and now He has assumed blackish color."
Just like color painter. There are three colors only: blue, red and yellow. But an artist can multiply the colors into many types of colors simply by mixing, simply by mixing. Similarly, these three qualities—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa—these are the main qualities. Now they are mixed together. Sometimes this portion is greater than the other portion. In this way material nature is the greatest artist. You can see how she has manufactured so many bodies, nice bodies, eight million four hundred thousand.
Just like the painter, they mix up different colors. The original color is blue, yellow and red. Now, you mix up these colors. You can... Hundreds and thousands of colors you can make. It requires expert handling. Similarly, originally these three qualities, goodness, passion and ignorance. Now, three into three equal to nine, and nine into nine equal to eighty-one. So we get immediately account for eighty-one varieties, and each variety is thousand and millions. Therefore eight million four hundred thousand, that is calculated.
Now, as we see in the street that the cars are moving in high speed but they are within the orbit, within the line, demarcation of line, white line or yellow line, so there is some brain, there is some management, everything is there, Similarly, all these planets, they are rotating with high speed. Just like this planet. It is rotating 25,000 miles in twelve hours. Is it not? The circumference of this earth is 25,000 miles and... Yes, day and night, twenty-four hours. Almost one thousand miles per hour it is... Now the car is moving seventy miles per hours. It appears very with good speed running.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Because the man remains the same. Simply by his changing the rubber stamp, "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Christian," that does not make any benefit. Therefore our movement is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We don't talk of any religion. The consciousness should be changed. The material consciousness should be changed into spiritual consciousness. That is our propaganda. It is meant for Hindu, Muslim, Christian, anyone. White, black, yellow, everything. Because it is the function of the soul. Soul is not black, white, yellow. Soul is spirit. So one has to realize that "I am spirit soul. I am not Indian nor American nor Englishman nor German nor white nor black. This is my bodily description. I am not this body." This is the beginning of spiritual understanding.
Just like three colors, yellow, red and blue. These three colors, you mix... Those who are artists, those who know the color display... Simply you mix three colors in different way, and it becomes varieties of color. So our heart disease, dirty thing, varieties of sense enjoyment, varieties. So heart is full with varieties of sense enjoyment. Therefore by nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā (SB 1.2.18), by daily, regular worshiping Bhāgavatam, we become free from the dirty things.
One form is Lord Viṣṇu, one form is Lord Śiva and the other form is Lord Brahmā. Brahmā creates, Lord Viṣṇu maintains, and Lord Śiva destroys. Because in the material nature, you cannot have anything permanent. That is material nature. It is just like the flashlight. When you pass through roads and avenue, there are three colors-red, blue and yellow. They're passing through, always. Not that the blue is always existing, or red is always existing, or the yellow is always. Passing, simply. That is the nature, material nature. Here, everything is born. That is called sṛṣṭi, creation.
When Gargamuni was preparing the horoscope of Kṛṣṇa, he said, śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ. Incarnation of God, either white, śuklo raktaḥ, either red, yellow, or black. These colors accepted. So Gargamuni said, śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ: "Your son, this son, formerly He appeared in white color, in red color, in yellow color. Now He has appeared in black color." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was yellow color. Therefore, when it is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, tviṣā akṛṣṇam, "He is not black," that means "He is pīta, He is yellow." Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam (SB 11.5.32). "He is always associated by His devotees."
Just like last time when I was in Europe, everything is now drying. It is yellow. What scientific method you have got? Bring water. Now they are thinking bringing, importing water. Is it possible to import water? That's not possible. So this will be punishment. In the Kali-yuga, the more people will be godless, and this punishment will be there: no water, no food supply. And over and above that, government taxation. You'll be harassed. Three things will go on.
When Gargamuni made the horoscope of Kṛṣṇa, that "This child has three other colors, śuklo raktas tathā pītaḥ. He had His color. Red color and white color and now..., and yellow color. Now He has assumed black color." Śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ. So therefore His name was Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa has another color. Pīta. Pīta-varṇa-gauraḥ. That is Lord Caitanya. Therefore tviṣā akṛṣṇa: "Bodily complexion, not kṛṣṇa." Such Kṛṣṇa, chanting Kṛṣṇa... Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam (SB 11.5.32). Followed by many devotees, Caitanya Mahāprabhu. At least followed by Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu, Gadādhara Prabhu, like that. So this is the description of the incarnation of God in Kali-yuga. Pracchanna-avatāra. There is another avatāra, Kalki.
Just like we have different color, different skin, different color, similarly, tviṣā, by His skin, He is not kṛṣṇa, He is not black. Tviṣā akṛṣṇa. Akṛṣṇa means not black. So "not black" means you can accept any other color which is not black. So that there is proof in the śāstra that Lord, Kṛṣṇa, has also many colors. Śuklo raktas tathā pītaḥ. When, similarly, when Kṛṣṇa's horoscope was made by Gargamuni, he said that "This child formerly had śuklo raktas tathā pītaḥ. He was white color, He was yellow color, and He was red color." So this pītaḥ, yellow color, is also Kṛṣṇa's another color. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam. So here, tviṣākṛṣṇa. Akṛṣṇa means not black. So "not black" means you must take the other three, namely white, red, and pīta.
Su-medhasaḥ. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam. Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He's Kṛṣṇa. Tviṣākṛṣṇam: by complexion golden. Therefore, by complexion, is not kṛṣṇa or blackish. But He's Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has four colors. That is in the śāstra, śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ. So when the colors of Kṛṣṇa is yellow, golden, that is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam (SB 11.5.32). That Lord Kṛṣṇa now, in the form of Lord Caitanya, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, and sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam, associated with His personal expansions, Śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda... This is described. Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam, with these... In the former incarnation, He was killing the demons directly with sword or the sudarśana-cakra, some way or other. Now, in this age, they're already dead.
Just like we are, somebody white, somebody yellow, somebody black, somebody... This is dress. But actually, we spirit soul, we are one. It is by dress we are fighting. "You are Englishman," "I am German," "I am this," "I am Indian," "I am that," "I am man," "I am woman." So many fighting on account of this dress. So when you become dressless, that is the spiritual platform. When you become dressless. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). When we are free from all this designation dress. We are now covered by this designation dress. "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Englishman," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am..." So many, we have created dress. Just like innumerable quantity or quality of dresses, similarly, these are all dresses. So the spiritual platform means sarvopādhi-vinir..., when we become free from all this designation and fixed up in the understanding that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa," that is our real position.
Just like the color displayer, very expert in mixing colors. Actually there are three colors: blue, red and yellow. This blue, red, yellow, the color display of the mix-three into three equal to nine; nine into nine, it becomes eighty-one. So in this material world we, living entities, we are colored in this way. Three into three—sattva, rajas, tamo-guṇa. Three into three equal to nine, and nine multiplied by nine, eighty-one. So there eighty-one colorful living entities are there.
Politicians, they are given first-class classification of prison house. Does it mean the politician want to remain there for good? Why they want to come out? So similarly, here in this material world it is simply vicitra, varieties. We call, "This is first class. This is second class. This is third class." It is simply varieties. Actually, it is all third class. There is no first class, second class. Guṇair vicitrāḥ. Just like you like some color. Somebody likes red color, somebody likes blue color, sometimes yellow color. But after all, it is color, you like this or that. Similarly, sattva-guṇa is yellow color, and tamo-guṇa is blue color, and rajo-guṇa is red color. So you may like this color or that color—after all, it is material color.
There are three modes of material nature—sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. Now mix it up, three into three equal to nine, nine into nine it becomes eighty-one. Again eighty-one... It increases. Those who are expert in mixing color, they know how to make different colors by mixing the original three colors: blue, yellow and red. Similarly, we are in this material world under the clutches of the modes of material nature, and according to different circumstances we are mixing with different modes of nature. Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-yoni-yoniṣu (BG 13.22). Because we are mixing with different types of material nature, next life we are preparing. Tatha dehāntara praptir.
Just like color mixing. Originally there are three colors: red, yellow and blue. And you mix it... Those who are color expert, they can display many thousands of colors. So similarly, in the nature's way there are different colors or different guṇas, and every one of us, we have got a particular type of guṇa with different desires, different plans, different so many things. Now, in the human form of life, you have got the chance to discriminate yourself or separate yourself from these colorful different species of life. That is the main duty of human form of life.
There are three kinds of infection originally: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa, just like originally there are three colors: red, yellow, and blue. Now, you mix up these three colors. Three into three, it becomes nine, and nine into nine, it becomes eighty-one. So those who are expert color mixer, they make varieties of color originally from these three color. Similarly, originally there are three kinds of material modes of nature: goodness, passion, and ignorance. Now mix it. It become nine, and again nine into nine, Therefore there are 8,400,000 forms of life on account of this mixture.
We have to associate either with the modes of goodness or with the modes of passion or with the modes of ignorance. Now, three into three, it becomes nine, and nine into nine, it becomes eighty-one. So mixture. Just like color. There are three colors: blue, red and yellow. Now, those who are expert in manufacturing color, artists, they mix these three colors in different way and they display. Similarly, according to the guṇas or mixture, association—kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya—we get different types of bodies. Therefore we see so many varieties of bodies.
Restriction is meant for human beings, not for the animals. Just like in our common dealings, when you drive your car, you have got some restriction. You cannot drive your car on the left side. That is offense. "Keep to the right." You cannot drive your car when there is red light, or yellow light. You have to follow the restriction. But the dog, if it keeps to the left or crosses the street when there is red light, it is not punished, because it is animal, dog. But if you violate the laws, you'll be punished. Why? That means you have got advanced consciousness.
"You are so beautiful-looking that all of your eyes are just like lotus petals." Sarve padma-palāśākṣāḥ pīta-kauśeya-vāsasaḥ: "And you are very nicely dressed with yellow colored garments and ornaments," and kirīṭinaḥ, "with helmet," kirīṭinaḥ kuṇḍalinaḥ, "earrings, nice earrings, nice jewels, helmets," kirīṭinaḥ kuṇḍalino lasat-puṣkara..., "and with nice flower garlands." This is the description of the inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭhaloka. There is no hat-coat-pant. They are dressed in a different way.
So here is a description of the Vaikuṇṭha-puruṣā. Sarve padma-palāśākṣāḥ: "Your eyes are so beautiful, just like petals of the lotus flower." And pīta-kauśeya-vāsasaḥ. Saffron and yellow. These two kinds of colors of garments because... Those who are Māyāvādīs, impersonalists, they cannot understand that there is another spiritual world and there are spiritual planets, and their inhabitants, their bodily features are like this, their dress are like... Everything is there. But unfortunate persons, they cannot understand. They think everything is here. They are that kūpa-maṇḍūka, frog philosophy, that the frog in the well, he cannot understand beyond that well.
Incubation. So from Africa, if anyone goes anywhere, they require yellow fever injection. So if you haven't got yellow fever injection, then even in the airport, there is arrangement, you have to wait in the quarantine area for six days. You'll not be allowed. So this is... As you have got the laws and the punishment in this government, so why do you think there is no punishment and there is no God? This is utopian. Don't think like that. Utopian. There is God, there is his government, there are his agents, there are witnesses, and... Otherwise why there are different varieties of life? Different varieties of life. Why? Eight million, four hundred thousand species of life. Everyone is a living being. The trees are living being, the fishes are living being, the ants are living being, the mosquitos are living being, and the human being also living being, the demigods also living being, the cats, dogs—everyone is living being. It is simply in different dresses. They're living beings. But why they are situated in different position? According to karma, punished.
Padma-palāśa: their eyes are compared with the lotus petal, very nice. Sarve: "All of you look so nice." Padma-palāśa-akṣāḥ pīta-kauśeya-vāsasaḥ. In Vaikuṇṭha, people, they also dress with yellow cloth, pīta-kauśeya, or this saffron color. This is Vaikuṇṭha dress. Kauśeya, pīta, the dress, garments. Kirīṭinaḥ: "with helmets." Kuṇḍalinaḥ: "with nice earring." Kirīṭinaḥ kuṇḍalino lasat-puṣkara-mālinaḥ, "and very nice flower garland." This is Vaikuṇṭha dress. Lasat-puṣkara-mālinaḥ, sarve ca nūtna-vayasaḥ: all young men. In Vaikuṇṭha there is no old age, although they are eternal. That is the real form of the spirit. The old age is due to this body, material body. Material thing is born and stays for some time, and then it is annihilated. So up to the time of annihilation, it becomes so old, nasty, bad-looking. But in the Vaikuṇṭha there is no such thing. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam.
So the Yamadūtas, their description of the body already given. They are not very good-looking. So when they saw the Viṣṇu-dūta—the description of the Viṣṇu-dūta is in the next verse—they were surprised, that "Wherefrom such nice features of the body..." They have been described here, sarve padma-palāśākṣāḥ. They saw that their eyes were just like petals of the lotus flower, so beautiful. Sarve padma-palāśākṣāḥ pīta-kauśeya-vāsasaḥ. And all dressed in saffron cloth, yellow. Kirīṭinaḥ, with helmet, kuṇḍalino, and earrings. Kuṇḍalino. Lasat-puṣkara-mālinaḥ. And with flower garland. Just imagine if somebody is very good-looking, with helmet and nice earring, bedecked with jewels, and the helmet bedecked with jewels, and cloth yellow, with garland, four hands. Sarve ca nūtna-vayasaḥ. All young, not old like me; all young like you. Nūtna-vayasaḥ.
Just like they have come from Vaikuṇṭha, their bodily feature is different. We have got experience here on this planet in some portion there are black people, some portion there are white people, some portion there are yellow people. There are so many manifestation within this planet. Just imagine how many. This is God's creation, different varieties. Just like we see on this planet. Why on this planet? Even on this Hawaii island how many beautiful things, flowers, trees, and fruits. That is God's creation. Ānanda. Variety is the mother of enjoyment.
Just like three multiplied by three becomes nine. Nine multiplied by nine becomes eighty-one. Eighty-one multiplied by eighty-one, it becomes so many varieties. Expert color men, they take three colors—that blue, red, and yellow—and mixes the color, and varieties of color is manufactured. Similarly, these three guṇas, originally they are coming from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In our society, you have seen very nice boy, doing nicely, all of a sudden, finished. So that is possible. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: overlap. The rajo-guṇa is overlapping tamo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa is overlapping sattva-guṇa; in this way, it is going on. Therefore we see varieties. So that is stated here, that deva-pravarās trai-vidhyam upalabhyate, guṇa-vaicitryāt. Guṇa-vaicitryāt, by mixture of different guṇas. Just like color, painter. There are three colors originally: red, yellow and blue. Now those who are expert, they can mix these. If you mix yellow and blue, it becomes green. Those who are painters, they know. And yellow mixed with red, it becomes orange. In this way those who are painters, they know how to mix color, and varieties come. Guṇa-vaicitryāt.
Those who are botanists, scientists, they know how the color of the flower... So many varieties. They calculate, a little... There is regular principle. Not that by chance it has become yellow, chance it has become red. This is rascaldom. No. There is regular. Parasya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). Everything is being done by the manifestation of energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10).
By our activities we are being placed under the laws of material nature—prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27)—infecting different modes of material nature. Just like if you infect that... This morning some medical officer came to inject me about the yellow fever. So why this injection, vaccine, against the disease? That means if I infect this yellow fever, I will have to suffer. Similarly, the modes of material nature are three: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. And as we are infecting ourself with the three kinds of modes of material nature, we are getting different types of bodies. Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu (BG 13.22). I am put into these laws of material nature, and as I am acting under the influence of different modes of material nature, I am getting a type of body. That is my material position. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19).
The example is given: just like a tree, any tree, say a mango tree. During season, summer season there are flowers in the tree, and then they grow a small green mango, then it becomes yellow or reddish, and then it becomes ripened. Then there is a seed within the mango. And then, when it is over-ripened, it falls down. Then finished, business finished. Similarly... But when the mango is finished, it does not mean the tree is also finished. The tree is there, and again, in the next season, there will be mango and the same changes will go on.
There is a proverb in Bengali that kañcaya noyale bhas pas korbe nyastas (?). Bhas means bamboo. Bamboo, while it is green, you can bend it, but when its yellow or dry, oh, it cannot be bent. It will break. It will be break. Therefore school children... Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja is instructing his class fellows. School children, from five years old, they should be given lesson about Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness. Otherwise, in advanced age, oh, it is not possible. Generally, we find in our class or in this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, the youngsters, they become little more interested, but we don't find any old men.
Suta Gosvāmī said that the kṛṣṇa-sampraśna, because you have inquired about Kṛṣṇa, so it is loka-maṅgalam, it is very much beneficial to the whole world. This saṅkīrtana movement is like that. Anywhere we are going, we are making the whole atmosphere purified. It is not here in India, we have got branches all over the world. In Africa, even those black men, they are also. Because in the spiritual world, there is no such consideration the black, white. Because it is the spiritual platform. The spirit soul is neither black, neither white, neither yellow. This is dress. Just like within the dress we are everyone. The dress may be black, white, yellow, that does not matter.
While making the horoscope of Kṛṣṇa, Gargamuni, he said, idānīṁ kṛṣṇataṁ gataḥ. Śukla-raktas tathā pītam idānīṁ kṛṣṇataṁ gataḥ: "Nanda Mahārāja, your son, this child, has now appeared as kṛṣṇa, blackish." Idānīṁ kṛṣṇataṁ gataḥ. "Otherwise this very child appeared in previous ages." Śukla-raktas tathā pīta: "He... Sometimes He appeared in white color, sometimes red, sometimes yellow." This yellow color refers to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, golden color. So this is also confirmed. If somebody says that "He is Kṛṣṇa. Why He is not blackish?" No. He appears as the devotee of Kṛṣṇa in golden color. We say, therefore, "Golden Avatāra."
Even in their classroom, the elderly young boys and girls, they smoke before the teacher. I have seen it in New York University. So this is not training. Training is he must be very controlled. And if you teach from the beginning, then he will be trained up. There is a Bengali proverb, gancai noale vas, mas korbe tans tas(?): "When the bamboo is green, you can bend it, but when it is yellow, dried, it will crack." So education begins from the very childhood. That is education. Therefore gurukula is required. It doesn't require how much he has learned ABCD and grammar. No. First of all character. That is gurukula living. Let him become dānta, guru-gṛhe. Brahmacārī guru-gṛhe vasan dāntaḥ. How to become sense controller, that is first education.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
That is natural division, throughout the whole universe, anywhere. And because the whole universe is being carried on by the three modes of material nature, goodness, passion, ignorance... And there are mixture also. There are three: goodness, passion and ignorance. Just like there are three colors, yellow, red... (aside:) You stand on... You disturbing... Yellow, red and blue. And those who are artists, they mix with three colors and it becomes nine. And again, the nine into nine, it becomes eighty-one. In this way, all these divisions, different forms of living entities, they are being conducted under some modes of material nature, either pure or mixture. And therefore we find so many varieties.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
According to the Vedic information, He has got many multifarious potencies. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). Different types of śakti. We can see different types of agency, er, what is called, energy, is working within this creation. Take for example the leaves of the tree. Some of them are green; some of them are red; some of them are yellow; some of them are mixed. Similarly fruits—different tastes; flowers—different flavor. Varieties. But wherefrom it is coming? The sunshine. The sunshine is the same, but it is acting in different way, so we see different manifestation. This is crude material example.
So these fourteen Manus we have mentioned yesterday. Now yugāvatāra. Yugāvatāra means just like there are four yugas: Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali. The ages of each yuga we have mentioned already. Now in the Satya-yuga, when the yugāvatāra comes, He is white. He is Hayagrīva in the Satya-yuga, as white as our Hayagrīva brahmacārī. Yes. He is white. And rakta. Śukla-rakta-kṛṣṇa-pīta-krame cāri varṇa. In the Satya-yuga when the incarnation of yugāvatāra comes, His complexion is white. And in the next yuga, Tretā-yuga, the complexion is red. And the next yuga, Dvāpara-yuga, the complexion is black, Kṛṣṇa. And the next, Kali-yuga, the complexion is yellow. Lord Caitanya is yellow.
Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṇam. By complexion He is akṛṣṇa. Akṛṣṇa means not kṛṣṇa, not black. Not black, you may take, if not black, then it may, as there are four colors, so He may be white, He may be red, He may be yellow. Now, out of these three colors, in the Satya-yuga white is already done. And in the Tretā-yuga red is already appeared. Then the balance is pīta. Kṛṣṇa is also done. Then the pīta, the yellow. So therefore His color is very golden colored, yellow. Lord Caitanya's complexion not exactly white like you, but He was golden color, golden with yellowish tint, a very nice complexion, Lord Caitanya's. He is... Therefore His name is Gaurāṅga. Gaurāṅga means white complexion.
And the great astrologer, a famous astrologer who came to see Kṛṣṇa's birth affair, he was Gargamuni. His name was Gargamuni. Yes. So that Gargamuni, by astrology, said to Kṛṣṇa's father Nanda Mahārāja, "This boy, this child who is born as your son, He had three colors before." Āsan varṇās trayo hy asya: "This child had three colors before. I see." Just see the astrology. From astrology he says that "He had three colors before." That means God. "He had three colors before." Gṛhṇato 'nuyugaṁ tanūḥ: "According to the age, according to the millennium, He had three other colors." Śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ: "And He had that white color and red color and yellow color. Idānīm, just now, He has assumed this black color." So this was the astronomical calculation of Kṛṣṇa's birth. Satya-yuge dharma-dhyāna karāya 'śukla'-mūrti dhari'.
Now Lord Caitanya is describing about the incarnation in this age Kali-yuga. He says personally that "In the Kali-yuga, in this age, the complexion of the incarnation is pīta-varṇa, yellow color." 'Pīta'-varṇa dhari' tabe kailā pravartana. And what are His activities? Just like Kṛṣṇa, when He was present, His activities were more or less political. He established the Pāṇḍavas on the throne, and He vanquished the other party, and there were many such instances. Dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya. Formerly the modes was if the king was pious, naturally the citizens were also pious. And that is a fact. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186).
Now, in this age the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya, His color is, the complexion of the body is described as yellow. And what does He do? Prema-bhakti dilā loke lañā bhakta-gaṇa. His mission is to give directly the love of God. That's all. His method is so nice that one who follows His method, he very quickly, instantly, he develops love of God. And when one develops love of God, he becomes perfect. Yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ. We are hankering after love. We want to love somebody. That is the nature of living entity.
Festival Lectures
General Lectures
Prema is mature condition of bhava. Just like a ripe mango and green mango. Green mango is the cause of ripe mango. But to taste ripe mango is better than unripe mango. Similarly, before attaining love of Godhead, you have got different stages. Just like the same mango, it passes through different stages, then one day it comes nice yellow color, fully ripened, and taste is so nice. The same mango. The mango does not change, but it comes to the mature stage. So this... As this example, the mango is in the beginning a flower, then gradually a little fruit. Then gradually it grows. Then it becomes very tight, green, and then, gradually, it becomes little, little yellowish, and it becomes fully ripe. This is the process of everything. In material world also, there are six processes, and the last process is vanquish.
Try to understand it. And this human form of life is the chance to get out of this entanglement. These eighty-one, again if you multiply eighty-one by eighty-one, then it becomes huge quantity. So in this way these qualities are mixed up, colors. Just like three colors, blue, red and yellow. You mix and you produce multi-colors. If you are expert in color mixing... All these picture, whatever you are seeing, there are only three colors—blue, red and yellow—and you mix, varieties of color. Those who are artists, they know it very well. Similarly, these three qualities, three colors. The yellow is sattva-guṇa and the blue is the tamo-guṇa and the red is rajo-guṇa. These colors, they are representation of these three modes of material nature. Redness means passion, and blue, black, that means ignorance, and yellow, yellow is goodness. Therefore you see Kṛṣṇa and all others, they're in yellow dress. Of course in the spiritual world there is no such distinction. There is variety, but there is no inebriety. That is spiritual world.
Just like colors. Varieties of color means three colors: yellow, red and blue. Those who are expert in color mixing, they'll mix these three colors into eighty-one colors. Three into three equals nine; nine into nine equals eighty one. So expert colorists, they can display these three colors into eighty-one. Similarly, the material nature, of course, this is one, one energy, but within this energy there are three qualities: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. By interaction of these three qualities, the manaḥ, buddhi, ahaṅkāra—the subtle elements—are manufactured, and then from the subtle elements, the grosser elements are manufactured.
Just like in our presence we have got practical experience, the sun. The whole material world is maintained by sunlight. The planets are rotating by the heat of sunlight; the vegetation, the water, everything is being conducted by the sunlight. It is by scorching sunlight the water is evaporated from the sea. It is formed into gas, cloud, and it is distributing all over the land. Then vegetation is coming, and it is becoming green, yellow, many colorful. So actually, the sun is the cause of all material manifestations. So if anyone can study what is sun, then he can understand how everything is appearing. That is practical.
Just like an expert artist, he's using three colors: blue, red and yellow. You mix the colors and he will manifest thousands of colors, thousands of colors. So actually the basic position of this material world is the three qualities: sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. Now they are mixed up. Here you cannot find out purely sattva-guṇa. Sattva-guṇa is the topmost quality in this material world. But here in the material world also, you cannot find pure sattva-guṇa. When you come to the pure state of sattva-guṇa, that is transcendental stage, spiritual life. Pure sattva-guṇa means there is no more attack by the other two guṇas. That is pure, śuddha-sattva. That is called śuddha-sattva, pure goodness.
Philosophy Discussions
Śyāmasundara: He separates fact from idea. For instance, I may think this table is red, but it is actually brown. So my idea is incorrect.
Prabhupāda: Your idea may be, but actually it has got a color, either red or yellow. So if you have eye disease, you cannot see actually, but one whose eyes are not diseased, he can see whether it is yellow or red. Just like sometimes glaucoma—you see the moon as two moons, but actually there is one moon. But due to your eye disease you see two moons. But one who is not diseased, he sees one moon. Therefore we have to take knowledge from a person who is not diseased. Not that because my eyes are diseased, I cannot see things right way, I shall say, "Oh, there is no possibility of having right knowledge." That is not correct.
Prabhupāda: God has made the law so perfect that one after—one cause affects something, and that affects another thing, another thing, one after another, so many things, ultimately. So we do not know so many things. We see the fruit, but how the fruit is growing, under which law, we simply explain nature. But it is not nature. There is a law. It is not only growing, the apples are having this nice color outside the skin, they have been painted; everything is perfectly being done by the laws, by the energy of Kṛṣṇa. Just like if you want to make a beautiful fruit, you paint it yellow or red, you take so much time. You apply your energy. The same energy is being applied there. Otherwise why, wherefrom you get the idea that a nice fruit can be painted like this? God is dictating that "You want to make a fruit, paint, you do like this, do like that." So similarly He is doing. But my doing takes so much time, because my energy is so blunt and limited.
Śyāmasundara: By studying the appearance of the leaf, the phenomenon, its nature or its essence will become self-evident—why the leaf is structured in a certain way, what is the...
Prabhupāda: (indistinct) How you can know the structure of this leaf, why it is green some portion, why it is yellow, why there are stem, how it comes...? Do you mean to say that these things should automatically come if I speculate on this?
Śyāmasundara: That is his contention.
Prabhupāda: Then it is nonsense. It will not come. We have to go to a botanist to study.
Śyāmasundara: We can't understand that it's green and that it grows?
Prabhupāda: Well, simply understanding green is not complete study of the leaf. The main questions are why it is green? Why the other leaf is yellow? That is real enquiry. Why this flower is red and that flower is white? And why the leaf is green? This is the real enquiry, "Why?"
Śyāmasundara: That isn't possible to understand...?
Prabhupāda: How it is possible? You explain how is it possible.
Prabhupāda: (indistinct) he is already grown up. Where is the seed? That is nonsense. Seed means those already grown up, fructified. Where do you find the seed? That is nonsense. Just like as example you have got arrow and bow. So long as it is in your hand, it is all right, but when it is thrown, you cannot control it. It is out of your hand. Another example is this (indistinct). You have seen bamboo. When it is green, you can bend it, but when it is yellow, it will break.
Devotee: The Freudian method would be to think back to those seeds and rectify them-think back and back and back and try to remember those seeds.
Prabhupāda: (indistinct) he is already grown up. Where is the seed? That is nonsense. Seed means those already grown up, fructified. Where do you find the seed? That is nonsense. Just like as example you have got arrow and bow. So long as it is in your hand, it is all right, but when it is thrown, you cannot control it. It is out of your hand. Another example is this (indistinct). You have seen bamboo. When it is green, you can bend it, but when it is yellow, it will break.
Śyāmasundara: It is proven in practical experience of psychoanalysis that by remembering some traumatic or shocking experience in the person's life it relieves the emotional tension which has caused the disorder in his personality, and he becomes healthy again.
Prabhupāda: That may be, but if you sow a seed, the seed, when fructified, grown into a tree, then it is no more...
| Page Title: | Yellow (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Rishab, Serene |
| Created: | 23 of May, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=65, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 65 |