So what is that religion? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā very clearly: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). This is religion. Your man-made, so-called, manufactured religion you give up. (indistinct). It has got some temporary value. It has not permanent value. The permanent value of religion is that religion which is given by God. And that is... What is that? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ, you simply surrender unto God. When I speak of Kṛṣṇa, we mean God. And Kṛṣṇa is the best name of God. Kṛṣṇa means "all-attractive." God must be all-attractive. God cannot be attractive for a few men or few, for a..., by a community. No. God must be attractive by everyone. That is God. So, Kṛṣṇa, by His opulences, by His strength, by His beauty, by His knowledge, by His renouncement—everything complete. Therefore He's God. Kṛṣṇa has... These are the attractive features. If one is very rich, he's attractive. If one is very powerful, he's attractive. If one is very beautiful, then he's attractive. If one is very wise, he's attractive. If one is in the renounced order of life, first-class, he's attractive. So Kṛṣṇa has all these opulences; therefore He's accepted as God—not superficially—by great, great saintly persons. Therefore Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord: paraṁ brahma, paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). It is not that because he was Kṛṣṇa's friend, therefore, out of his sentiments he accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He accepted on the authority of the Vedas. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. So according to Vedic system, all sages, all the great saintly persons, all the great kings, everyone accepts Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are many instances.
Now here it is inquired by the sages, saintly persons, from Sūta Gosvāmī,
- brūhi yogeśvare kṛṣṇe
- brahmaṇye dharma-varmaṇi
- svāṁ kāṣṭhām adhunopete
- dharmaḥ kaṁ śaraṇaṁ gataḥ
After the departure of Kṛṣṇa... So long Kṛṣṇa was here, the religious principles were being properly executed. Now, after His departure, who has taken charge of this religious department? This is the question. "Who has taken charge of this religious department?" This is the question by the great sages, saintly persons at the Naimiṣāraṇya. You have heard the name of Naimiṣāraṇya. Then this is the last śloka of the First Chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Then in the next chapter, Second Chapter, vyāsa uvāca, Vyāsadeva said,
- iti sampraśna-saṁhṛṣṭo
- viprāṇāṁ raumaharṣaṇiḥ
- pratipūjya vacas teṣāṁ
- pravaktum upacakrame
Sūta Gosvāmī was very much engladdened that they had questioned about Kṛṣṇa. The question was, "Who has taken charge of the religious system after departure of Kṛṣṇa from this planet?" This is the question. So because the question was about Kṛṣṇa, therefore Sūta Gosvāmī was explaining bhāgavata-dharma in that (indistinct) assembly. He became very much engladdened, "Ah, you have put questions about Kṛṣṇa. Very nice." Because if we simply question about Kṛṣṇa, and hear the answers about Kṛṣṇa, our life (indistinct) life. This is the (indistinct). To become spiritually advanced means, "Just try to question about Kṛṣṇa and try to understand the answers about Kṛṣṇa." Then your life is successful. It is so nice.
So you can make so many questions—intelligent questions must be, of course—about (indistinct), and the answers are there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā. So every (indistinct) this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there, that not just in this meeting we shall discuss about Kṛṣṇa but at every home, every family, you can sit down together at the end of their work and simply question about Kṛṣṇa and try to understand the answers. The books are already there. Answers are already there. So this is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Because people are contaminated by the three qualities. This material world is running on under the influence of three qualities of the modes of material nature, sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. There are three qualities. (break) Therefore you do not find one kind of living entity, because there are three qualities, and again multiplied three by three, it becomes nine qualities, then again multiplied nine into nine, then it becomes eighty-one qualities. 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. In that stage one can understand what is Kṛṣṇa. First of all one has to come to the goodness quality platform. Then he has to transcend that quality of (indistinct), and that position means no more attacked by the other two lower qualities, namely passion and ignorance. So, sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ vāsudeva sarve, that stage is called vāsudeva. Vāsudeva means that Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, appears. That's why Kṛṣṇa's father's name was Vasudeva.
So he was very... Iti sampraśna saṁhṛṣṭo viprāṇāṁ raumaharṣaṇam, Sūta Gosvāmī, he's called Romaharṣaṇa. His father's name was Roma; therefore he's called Romaharṣaṇa. Pratipūjya, when they inquired... Just like we say, "Thank you very much." So pratipūjya, he also offered his respectful obeisances, put very nice proposal, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa question (indistinct). It is very nice. Pratipūjya vacas teṣāṁ pravaktum upacakrame, began to speak, began to answer the question of the sages that "Unto whom the charge of religious principles have been given after the departure of Kṛṣṇa from this planet?" So he's speaking again, nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya (SB 1.2.4)—these are all formalities—"Before speaking anything one should remember the mercy of Nārāyaṇa." Nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam, devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsam. Vyāsadeva is the guru of Vedic knowledge. Therefore Vyāsadeva or his representative, they are... Therefore, according to our system, when you observe the birthday anniversary of spiritual master it is called Vyāsa-pūjā. Actually the worship is going to Vyāsadeva, and his representative is accepting the pūjā. The honor offered to the spiritual master is transferred to Vyāsadeva because Vyāsadeva is the original guru. Therefore it is stated, devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsam. Sarasvatī-devi, knowledge, or the goddess of education, devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsam tato jayam udīrayet. After offering respects to Nārāyaṇa, then Vyāsadeva, Sarasvatī-devi.
So he's answering the question, munayaḥ sādhu pṛṣṭo 'ham: (SB 1.2.5) "My dear sages, great saintly persons, I'm very much honored that you have inquired so nicely," sādhu. Sādhu means (indistinct), that is the (indistinct). That is called sādhu. So this question about Kṛṣṇa is sādhu because Kṛṣṇa is discussed among the sādhus, not amongst the yogis. And who is a sādhu? That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ (BG 9.30), he is sādhu. Bhajate mām ānanda-bhāk. Anyone who is purely devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he's sādhu, not anyone else. Sādhu means he's mahātmā. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ, bhajanty-ananya manaso (BG 9.13). He's mahātmā, who is unflinchingly, without any deviation, engaged in the service of the Lord. He's called mahātmā. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtiṁ āśritāḥ. They are not under the influence of this material qualities, daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. They're under the influence of the spiritual energy. Therefore they're called daivīm. So what is the symptom that one is under the spiritual energy? Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, always engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the symptom. Therefore anything about Kṛṣṇa, that is sādhu. One who is questioning, he's also sādhu. One who is answering, he's also sādhu. And what to speak of one who is always engaged in the service of the Lord. He must be a sādhu. Sadhava sarva-bhūtānām. Titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ suhṛdaḥ sarva-bhūtānām..., sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ (SB 3.25.21). Sādhu means he's tolerant. He's tolerant, titikṣavaḥ. At the same time, kāruṇikāḥ, very merciful. Now these persons, because they are sādhus, they are so much tolerant. Anyone who's preaching about God, they're sādhu, because they have to meet so many dangerous people. Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He was killed, but he faced... Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he was so much (indistinct), he was a Muhammadan, and he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. The Muhammadan magistrate called him, "Why you are chanting this Hindu Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra?" Haridāsa Ṭhākura replied, "Sir, what is the wrong there? Just (indistinct) Hindus they have also become Muhammadans, so suppose I have become a Hindu. So what is the wrong there?" "Oh, you are talking before me? (indistinct) ...kill." He was ordered to be killed in twenty-two bazaars, because he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Similarly Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was a devotee, and his father chastised him so many ways. So as soon as we become a sādhu, there is some danger to be captured by the asādhu. Just like in our, this movement, there are so many (indistinct). Somebody is preaching that this movement is the hippie movement. The hippie movement is discussed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā. Just see the foolish propaganda. In India they manufactured a film, so much propaganda against this movement. We have to meet such enemies. What can be done? This is the nature of this world. As soon as you have become a sādhu, a devotee of the Lord, you create so many enemies—Communists, materialists—but we don't care. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja didn't care, even his father was so (indistinct). Haridāsa Ṭhākura did not care.