False show

SB Canto 1

The magician shows by his tricks that he is cut to pieces, burnt to ashes or made unconscious by hypnotic influences, but all are false shows only.

SB 1.15.35, Purport:

The Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead is neither impersonal nor formless, but His body is nondifferent from Him, and therefore He is known as the embodiment of eternity, knowledge and bliss. In the Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava Tantra it is clearly mentioned that anyone who considers the form of Lord Kṛṣṇa to be made of material energy must be ostracized by all means. And if by chance the face of such an infidel is seen, one must clean himself by jumping in the river with his clothing. The Lord is described as amṛta, or deathless, because He has no material body. Under the circumstances, the Lord's dying or quitting His body is like the jugglery of a magician. The magician shows by his tricks that he is cut to pieces, burnt to ashes or made unconscious by hypnotic influences, but all are false shows only. Factually the magician himself is neither burnt to ashes nor cut to pieces, nor is he dead or unconscious at any stage of his magical demonstration.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

So long you identify with this body when you are in the material conception of life, there is no question of spiritual understanding, there is no question of joyfulness, there is no question of freedom from lamentation and hankering and there is no question of equality. It is all false show.

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Mauritius, October 5, 1975:

Artificially you have opened this United Nation, but your conception is, "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim." So how it can be, there can be unity? It is not possible. That is not brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. That is prakṛta stage, identifying with this body. So long you identify with this body when you are in the material conception of life, there is no question of spiritual understanding, there is no question of joyfulness, there is no question of freedom from lamentation and hankering and there is no question of equality. It is all false show.

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).

If he is actually in such position like Haridāsa Ṭhākura then why he should be attracted by material things? That is a false show only. That is not possible for ordinary person. Therefore ordinary person must be physically engaged. That is not physical, that is also transcendental.

Lecture on SB 1.7.19 -- Vrndavana, September 16, 1976:

Pure devotion means to pray to the Lord, begging some service. "My Lord, kindly engage me in Your service." That is the perfection of life, when one is engaged in the service of the Lord in love. You can become a very great saint and live in a secluded place and become puffed-up that you have become very great personality, and people may come to see him, that "He's not to be seen, he's engaged in chanting." My Guru Mahārāja has condemned this. He said, mana tumi kisera vaiṣṇava. "My dear mind, your mental concoction, you are thinking that you have become a very big Vaiṣṇava. You do not do anything and sit down in a secluded place and imitating Haridāsa Ṭhākura, chanting. So you are a nonsense." Mana tumi kisera vaiṣṇava. Why? Nirjanera ghare, pratiṣṭhāra tare. To get some cheap adoration as a great chanter. Because if one is actually chanting, why he should be attracted by woman and biḍi? If he is actually in such position like Haridāsa Ṭhākura then why he should be attracted by material things? That is a false show only. That is not possible for ordinary person.

Therefore ordinary person must be physically engaged. That is not physical, that is also transcendental. Always busy in some business of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is wanted. Not that, "Oh, I have become a great scholar and I have now learned how to become a great Vaiṣṇava. I chant sixty-four rounds, and think of my wife somewhere, and then good-bye to Govindajī and leave Vṛndāvana." These rascaldom do not follow. Govindajī drives such rascals away from Vṛndāvana. So Vṛndāvana, one who is living in Vṛndāvana, he must be very anxious how to spread the glories of Vṛndāvana-candra all over the world. That is wanted. Not that Vṛndāvana-candra is my private property and I sit down in a place and lick up. No, that is not wanted. That is not wanted. That is condemned by my Guru Mahārāja.