Our business is not to cheat. We have to say frankly, "This is the fact," that's all. But you can cheat: "Oh, it is not Kṛṣṇa. It is this and that, so many things. This 'me' means I. 'I' means you are also I. I am also I." They explain in that way. "The 'me,' the word is 'me.' So 'me' is coming from 'I.' So you are 'I,' I am 'I.'
Therefore it is meant 'me' means you think of yourself; I think of myself. Then you become yogī." That's all. And rascal persons will catch this very . . . "Oh, then I am always thinking of me. That's all right. I am a yogī." That's all.
Because the demons and the rascals, they are simply trying to avoid God. So if somebody teaches, "Oh, why you are thinking of Kṛṣṇa? This 'me' means you, I, I, you. That's all," "Oh, that's nice, very nice." The demonic nature is there: "I am God. I am everything."
So we have to become very cautious, you see, because my material existence means I have got the tinge of demonic nature. And as soon as I get some impetus from another demon, I become again demon. Again I demon. And then out of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has distinctly forbidden, māyāvAdi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa (CC Madhya 6.169):
"If you hear the commentary of the impersonalist demons, then your whole thing is spoiled. Your life is spoiled." Go on. Māyāvadi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. Sarva-nāśa means you lose everything. And because we do not explain demonic explanation that, "I am God; you are God," people do not like. Just like the other day the question was . . . they explained in different . . . they like that explanation, because demonic.
People are generally demonic, more or less. One may be fifty percent demon, another may be eighty percent demon, but everyone in this material world is a demon. Materialistic means demon. Don't you see the example of Hiraṇyakaśipu? What was his fault? He is called a demon. Why? What was his fault? His fault was to . . . not to accept God.
His small child was devotee. He was thinking of God. And the father was angry, "Why you are thinking of God? Why you are thinking of Kṛṣṇa?" Just see. But materially the father was so powerful that he conquered all over other planets. He was so powerful.
So any materialistic person, if he has got more money, wealth, strength, he is worshiped. So this is demon worship. Demons are generally very powerful. They are so-called educated. They are so-called . . . so many things they have got. But the test is: if he has no Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness, he is demon. That's all. That is the study of demon. Yes.
Go on.
Devotee: ". . . devotional service in nine different forms, of which śravaṇam, hearing, is the first and most important."
Prabhupāda: Yes. There are nine different forms of devotional service:
- śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
- smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
- arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
- sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
- (SB 7.5.23)
These nine. So the first principle is śravaṇam, it is said. Śravaṇam means hearing, that's all. The first principle of practicing this yoga, bhakti-yoga, beginning "practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me," this yoga practice begins simply by hearing. You have got these ears.
You simply just lend your ears and you become yogī. And as soon as you become experienced in hearing, you become a preacher—kīrtanam. Immediately. One who has heard nicely, he will try to become a kīrtanīya, or preacher. That is natural. That is natural.
Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. And śravaṇam means hearing, and kīrtanam means preaching or chanting. Then śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam . . . "Oh, I . . . people are hearing so many things daily. They are going to the college, schools, and the meetings and assembly and association. They are all hearing, śravaṇam. They are practicing yoga?" No.
Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, you have to hear and preach and chant of Kṛṣṇa, nothing more. Not that simply by hearing any nonsense things you become yogī. Here it is said: "Practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, Kṛṣṇa." So you have to hear of Kṛṣṇa; you have to speak of Kṛṣṇa. Then your yoga practice is nice. It clearly says, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). Not any other way.