Our business is to understand Krsna tattvatah, in truth, not superficially. Then our life is successful

Expressions researched:
"Our business is to understand Krsna tattvatah, in truth, not superficially" |"Then our life is successful"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Those who are impersonalists, they cannot understand. They cannot understand what is the Personality of Godhead. Nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam (BG 7.13). In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, tribhir guṇamayair bhāvaiḥ, mohita. Because they are covered by the influence of three kinds of material modes of nature, one cannot understand what is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). But He reveals Himself to the devotees. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). So our business is to understand Kṛṣṇa tattvataḥ, in truth, not superficially. Then our life is successful. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Not superficially. Try to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth.

741103 - Lecture SB 03.25.03 - Bombay

Kṛṣṇa is always svacchandātmā. He has no anxiety. Svacchandātmā ātma-māyayā. Yad yad vidhatte bhagavān svacchandātmā. Whatever . . . even if He's killing a demon, there is no anxiety. That is Kṛṣṇa. Even if He's killing, He has no anxiety. Svacchandātmā. That is also, I mean to say, confirmed in the Vedic language. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate, na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8; CC Madhya 13.65, purport). So He has nothing to do personally. His energies act. Then try to understand why Bhagavān is attributed with the word svacchandātmā. Because . . . just like a big man: he wants to do something, he simply says to his secretary, "This thing must be done," he does everything. And he is quite confident that, "I have told my secretary, and it will be done." So secretary is a person's śakti, energy. Similarly, if a ordinary man within this world has so much energies or secretaries to act, so just imagine, although Kṛṣṇa is Jagadīśvara, He's managing the whole universe. He's managing. There is brain. The foolish men, they say there is no brain. No, there is brain. But we do not know who is the brain. That is our foolishness. But if we take information from the śāstra, we can understand what is that brain. That brain is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram hetunānena kaunteya jagad viparivartate (BG 9.10) So behind this material energy . . . material energy, just like we see there is cloud, there is thundering sound, there is rain. And from the rain, there is crops, there is food grain. Then we eat those food grains. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. Then, yajñād bhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ (BG 3.14). These things are already stated. Everything, the origin is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Yajña. Yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ. Yajña means we have to satisfy the Supreme Person. That is called yajña. And this process can be executed when the human society is very regulated. Regulated means there must be division of these varṇas and āśramas. Varṇa means four varṇas: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. And four āśramas: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. They have got their respective duties. So unless the human society is divided into these eight scientific division and everyone acts according to his position, there cannot be any peace in the world. That is called varṇāśrama. Varṇāśramācāravatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān, viṣṇur ārādhyate . . . (CC Madhya 8.58). The ultimate goal is to satisfy the Lord, Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). But the foolish people, they do not know their ultimate interest is how to satisfy Viṣṇu, viṣṇur ārādhyate. So when there is dharmasya glāniḥ, then Lord Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, by His incarnation or personally, He comes. Therefore it is said, yad yad vidhatte bhagavān. But because He comes to paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8), He has no anxiety. Svacchandātmā. And He does by His own internal potency. He does not take anyone's help. That is Kṛṣṇa. That is Bhagavān. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. He has got so varieties of energies that everything is done very correctly and perfectly. na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca (CC Madhya 13.65, purport) Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā. Everything is being done perfectly. So there are activities. Those who are impersonalists, they cannot understand. They cannot understand what is the Personality of Godhead. Nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam (BG 7.13). In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, tribhir guṇamayair bhāvaiḥ, mohita. Because they are covered by the influence of three kinds of material modes of nature, one cannot understand what is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). But He reveals Himself to the devotees. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). So our business is to understand Kṛṣṇa tattvataḥ, in truth, not superficially. Then our life is successful. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Not superficially. Try to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth. Therefore here it is said that tāni me śraddadhānasya kīrtanyāny anukīrtaya. Anukīrtaya. Anukīrtana means don't manufacture. Anu means following. Therefore the bhagavat-tattva, or Bhagavān, can be understood by the paramparā system. Anu. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). Rājarṣayaḥ. Formerly, the kings, they were rāja, at the same time great saintly person, ṛṣi. They were not ordinary this king, Nawab Shah, engaged in drinking and dancing. No. They were all ṛṣis. All ṛṣis. Up to Mahārāja Parīkṣit they were trained up in such a way, although it was monarchy, one man's control, but that man is not ordinary man. They were called nara-deva. Nara-deva means Bhagavān in the form of a human being. A king was worshiped, therefore, because they were rājarṣi. Imaṁ rājarṣayo. Bhagavān says, Kṛṣṇa says. Unless the kings, the government head, does not know what is the purpose of this life, what is the purpose of this material world, then how he can rule nicely? It is not possible. He has no purpose. He does not know what is the aim of life. Just like they think that eating, sitting . . . eating and sleeping and sex life and then die. They're like animal life. This is not human life. Human life must know what is the aim of life. That they do not know. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). These foolish people, they are trying to be happy—durāśayā. Durāśayā means the hope will never be fulfilled. That is called durāśayā. Bahir-artha-māninaḥ. Bahir-artha-māninaḥ. These external . . . here is called ātma-māyayā. But there is another māyā. This māyā is external māyā, external energy. That is this material world. They are trying to be happy in this material world by adjusting material things. That is called durāśā. It will be . . . never be fulfilled. Therefore in the history we see, there have been so many material leaders, but they died simply working hard. They could not make things very properly adjusted. There was Napoleon, there was Hitler, there was Gandhi, there was Nehru, there were so many leaders. But nobody could adjust. This is not possible. That is durāśā. Durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. Because they do not know what is the ultimate goal of life. The ultimate goal of life is to understand Viṣṇu. And people are going on. na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ (SB 7.5.31) Andha. Andha means blind man. If one blind man is trying to lead other blind men, then what is the benefit? The leader is blind and the follower is blind. Then there will be no result. They do not know . . . īśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ. They are tied. They are tied hands and legs by īśa-tantra, by the regulative principles of the nature. So one has to learn from the śāstra. daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14) The prapadyante means bhakti-yoga. So the śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam is the beginning of bhakti-yoga. Therefore he says, tāni me śraddadhānasya kīrtanyāny anukīrtaya. Anukīrtaya, "Just speak to us by following the paramparā system." Anu. Anu means following. Anu means always, and anu means following. Anu-gamana, anu-karaṇa. Anu-karaṇa means imitation. Anu-gamana means follower, and go. So here, anukīrtaya. First of all you must know from the authorities what is the truth. Then you speak. Don't speak nonsense. It will not help you or your followers. That is called anukīrtaya. So one has to learn how to describe the Absolute Truth, Bhagavān—how He's acting, how He's merciful, how He is so kind to the living beings that He comes personally. He's more anxious to give us education, enlightenment what is the goal of life. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). And He leaves the literature, He leaves His devotee, He leaves His follower, the paramparā system. Take advantage of this. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for giving the whole human society this advantage of understanding what is the Absolute Truth. It is not a bogus thing. It is actually this anukīrtaya. Anukīrtaya. We are not manufacturing our philosophy. There is no business. Why shall I try for . . . unnecessarily waste our energy for manufacturing? There are so many things to be learned which is already there in the Vedic literature. Just try to learn and distribute it. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra (CC Adi 9.41) That is being attempted. Anyone who has taken birth in this land of Bhārata-varṣa, it is his duty to make his life successful by taking advantage of this Vedic literature. But we are not taking advantage of Vedic literature. We are going to learn technology. That is our misfortune. Technology is śilpa-karma. Just like an artistic man—that is not real education. Real education is how to solve the problem of life, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). That is education. So this education, this transcendental education, is to enlighten people how to become relieved from this entanglement of material life, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi. The beginning of bhakti-yoga is started from the practice of śravaṇam, aural reception, ear. Therefore the mantra is given through the ear, initiation mantra. Then kīrtanam. śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam (SB 7.5.23) There are nine different processes. The most important process is hearing. And as soon as you want to hear, that means you have to concentrate your mind. So naturally the mind becomes, I mean to say, locked. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. But if we sleep, that is another thing that, "Let the lectures go on. Let me have some rest." That is another thing. But if you hear, if you are anxious to hear, then mind has to be engaged. Without attention, you cannot hear. If your mind is something doing, you are thinking of marketing something, or sometimes . . . so you can hear, make a show of hearing, but you are not hearing. Therefore mind is the first thing. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18). If you engage your mind in hearing, then you can describe the things in the Vaikuṇṭha, in the spiritual world. Vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānu . . . So we have to practice. This is bhakti-yoga. First of all we have to engage the mind. Mind. And as soon as you engage the mind in hearing about Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will help you in cleansing your mind. That is the opinion given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). Because everything . . . we cannot understand about God, or we cannot see God, or we do not know what is God, because there are so many dirty things on the mind. Otherwise, as soon as the mind is clear, devoid of all dirty things, you can see. You can understand what is God; you can see God every moment. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilo . . . (Bs. 5.38). So there is no difficulty. God is here, Kṛṣṇa. But one's mind is not clear. He cannot see God; he sees a statue of stone. He sees a statue of stone. And whose mind is clear, like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as soon as He sees Jagannātha, immediately fainted, "Here is Kṛṣṇa." Actually, that is the fact. Here is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is omnipresent. That is God's one qualification: omnipresent. He is present everywhere. So why not present in the temple? He is present here. But we have no eyes to see, because our mind is not clean. So we cannot use the senses to see God. That is the defect. Therefore premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena (Bs. 5.38). By the bhakti process, by devotional service, you cleanse your mind, you cleanse your senses. As soon as your mind is cleansed, then senses are also cleansed. That is helped by Kṛṣṇa Himself, as He says in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ. As soon as Kṛṣṇa sees that you are eager to hear about Him . . . Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). By the first hearing you may not understand about Kṛṣṇa, but if you simply hear with little attention, although you do not understand, still, you will be pious. Because the dirty things means covered with impious activities. So if you hear about Kṛṣṇa, then gradually you will become pious, simply by hearing. Simply . . . just like if there is injection, anti . . . some disease, vaccine. You understand or not understand, it will act. Suppose if you take poison, if you do not understand what is poison, it will act. Similarly, kṛṣṇa-kathā is so powerful that if you simply hear, even if you do not understand, then you will become pious. And by becoming pious . . . because without becoming pious, nobody can understand Kṛṣṇa. It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām (BG 7.28): "those who are twenty-four hours engaged in pious activities." Therefore we engage our students in this bhakti-yoga practice, twenty-four hours routine work, because it is pious activities. So he will be purified. He will be purified. We have got so many times offering ārati, offering prasādam, cleansing the temple, dressing the Deity, talking about Him. Twenty-four hours must be. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Kīrtanīyaḥ, or sevanīyaḥ, sadā hariḥ, twenty-four hours. In this way we become purified. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā . . . (CC Antya 20.12). As soon as your mind is cleansed of all dirty things, then you become fit for going back to home, back to Godhead. So any yoga practice . . . but other yoga practice—haṭha-yoga practice, dhyāna-yoga practice, karma-yoga practice, jñāna-yoga practice—these are very difficult in this age. But if you take to bhakti-yoga practice . . . it is recommended, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. In this age, Kali-yuga, this hari-kīrtana is bhakti-yoga. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ (SB 12.3.52). In different ages, because the people are different, so different methods are prescribed in the śāstra. In the Satya-yuga the meditation method was possible. In other yuga it is not possible. In Tretā-yuga, by sacrificing big, big yajña, performing yajña; in Dvāpara-yuga, by temple worship; and kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt, and in this Kali-yuga, simply by hari-kīrtana, by chanting the holy name of the Lord, you can get the same result. Therefore our process is kīrtana, always. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). So by bhakti-yoga practice you become perfect in all yogic practices, and ultimately you realize God very easily and directly. And that will help you to go back to home, back to Godhead. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā: janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9) Anyone who understands Kṛṣṇa in truth . . . janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. Tattvataḥ means in truth, not superficially. If you understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, as He is . . . and He is speaking Himself about Himself. There is no difficulty. So if you simply accept Kṛṣṇa, what He says, if you follow, then you become perfect and you become fit for going back to home, back to Godhead.