Anucintayan, constantly thinking of Himself only. It is not very difficult process. One has to learn this process from the experienced person in this line. Tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). One should approach a person who is already in the practice. So abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena. This is called abhyāsa-yoga, practicing. Abhyāsa... How to remember the Supreme Lord always. Cetasā nānya-gāminā. The mind, the mind is always flying to this, to that. So one has to practice to concentrate the mind into the form of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa always, or in the sound, in His name which is made easier. Instead of concentrating my mind—my mind may be very restless, going hither and thither, but I can concentrate my ear into the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa and that will also help me. That is also abhyāsa-yoga. Cetasā nānya-gāminā paramaṁ puruṣaṁ divyaṁ. Paramaṁ puruṣa, that Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual kingdom, in the spiritual sky, one can approach, anucintayan, constantly thinking. So these processes, the ways and means, all are stated in the Bhagavad-gītā and there is no bar for anyone. It is not that a particular class of men can approach. Thinking of Lord Kṛṣṇa is possible, hearing of Lord Kṛṣṇa is possible by everyone.
Easier (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Consciousness is there. Just absorb it in Kṛṣṇa. Consciousness must be absorbed in some thought. Make it Kṛṣṇa thought always. Make your program in such a way that you cannot go out of Kṛṣṇa thought. Just like businessmen, they're always thinking, "What profit is there? What is the bank balance? And how the business is going? How the profit is going?" They're always thinking of that. Somebody is thinking something. Everyone. If one is after some woman, he's thinking of that woman always. If one is after some man, he's also thinking of that man. So thinking must be there, some subject matter of thinking. That we have to change to Kṛṣṇa thinking some way or other. Transferring the thinking or consciousness to Kṛṣṇa. You do it in whatever way you like, but there are some standard way. If you follow, that will be easier. People have some idea of God, they accept. But simply having some idea of God one cannot think. But here is a solid God, Kṛṣṇa, with two hands playing flute, and one can think of Him. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti yaṁ śyāmasundaram (Bs. 5.38). They're thinking of whom? Śyāmasundara. Śyāma, blackish, but very beautiful. Śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpam. With transcendental qualities. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. "I am worshiping that Govinda." So we have to mold our life. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So you have got another good assistant?
Or other way, if you understand God, then you understand everything. One way is ascending process, one process is descending process. Just like on the roof there is some sound. Now we are here, we are not on the roof, we may conjecture or theorize what is that sound. Somebody will say some cat must be there, somebody will say that some man must be there. In this way, we can go on speculate. This is also one process. This is called ascending process. And descending process means if there is one person on the roof, he says, "This sound is due to this," then that is also perfect knowledge. So we get knowledge from the higher authorities, that is perfect knowledge and that is easier.
So if you study yourself, what I am, am I this body, I am this hand, I am this finger, I am this hair? Go on studying, one day it will, you will come to the point of understanding, but it will take many, many years. But if you take from the authority, just like Kṛṣṇa says that the living force within the body, that living force is changing from one type of body to another. Just in our life experience, everyone of us knows that I was a child, I was a boy. Just like I am an old man. I remember when I was playing on the lap of my eldest sister, I remember still, and my body at that time six months old. But I still remember my eldest sister, she was nine years older than me, and I was playing on her lap and she was knitting. (end)
He said that "My Lord, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, You are the most munificent incarnation because You are distributing love of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore I offer You my respectful obeisances on account of Your distributing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and this is possible because You are Kṛṣṇa Yourself." Kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne. "Simply You have assumed the name of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya." So these are the injunction of the śāstras, and if you follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu...
And Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, gives you the easiest method. He says that "In this age simply chant Kṛṣṇa and you'll get all perfection." So that is the easiest process. Therefore if you follow the footprints of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then it become easier. Kṛṣṇa says sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66) in the Bhagavad-gītā. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says "All right. You cannot give up all of a sudden everything. You just join in this chanting." That is more magnanimous, you see.
We ask nobody that "You fulfill all conditions of Kṛṣṇa consciousness; then you come here." No. We simply say "Please come here. We have taken this nice hall, and these boys, they are, I mean to say, giving their blood to maintain the establishment. We don't want anything from you. Please come and chant with us." That is our request. We don't ask you that because we are paying four hundred, five hundred dollars for this building, you give us something. If you give, it is welcome. But we simply request you, please come and chant with us and dance with us and take the prasāda. That's all. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's program. Because we know that Caitanya Mahāprabhu will supply us everything. We don't depend on your contribution, but if you give, oh, that is good for you. But our only request is that please come here. Please chant with us, dance with us. That's all. Yes?
So gradually our life is being reduced. Yes. In the Satya-yuga, it is stated, that people used to live for one hundred thousands of years. And then, in the Tretā-yuga, they used to live for one thousands of years. No. In the Dvāpara-yuga for one thousand. And in the Tretā-yuga, ten thousand years. In the Dvāpara-yuga one thousand years. And now it has come down to one hundred years in this Kali-yuga. That also, one hundred years is not completed. Now we are dying within sixty or seventy and gradually it will be reduced to twenty to thirty years. That is also mentioned.
So what was possible in the Satya-yuga by meditation, that is not possible in this age. That is not possible. Therefore the methods have been made easier. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. What was being possible, to attain perfection of life by meditation in the Satya-yuga, that was possible in the Tretā-yuga by offering of big sacrifices. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ. Makhaiḥ means big sacrifices.
And dvāpare paricaryāyām. That very thing was realized in the Dvāpara-yuga by temple worship. There... From that in Dvāpara-yuga in India so many temple worship flourished, not only in India, all over the world. Church worship is also temple worship. Mosque worship is also temple worship. It may be different for different countries and different class of people, but the whole thing is temple worship. Temple worship. There are, in the temple there are nine kinds of different process of worship.
This is service. Especially it is ordered to the Indians, the inhabitants of the Bhārata-varṣa. Because in Bhārata-varṣa it is easier to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Because by nature, because they have taken birth in this land of Bhārata-varṣa, in the blood there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But unfortunately, the leaders are inducing them to forget Kṛṣṇa. This is the misfortune of present-day Bhārata-varṣa. You go to the village and if there is bhāgavata-pāṭha, hundreds and thousands of people will gather immediately. Immediately. Not only in the village. In the town, when we held Kṛṣṇa festival in Bombay, Calcutta, twenty-thousand, thirty-thousand people come. By nature. We cannot expect this big assembly in other countries. That is my experience. But India, because it is Bhārata-varṣa, it is very easy.
But we are sacrificing this birthright, Bhārata-varṣa. Oh, we are misled in such a way that we are forgetting, trying to forget Kṛṣṇa: "Throw away these śāstras. Throw away these ... Throw away... And put all impediments to the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement." This is our misfortune. Actually, every Indian is Kṛṣṇa conscious. Sometimes they ask me in foreign countries that "How many Kṛṣṇa conscious people are there in India." And cent percent, all. Even Mohammedans. What to speak of the Hindus.
That is internal energy, not external energy. Internal. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Daivīṁ prakṛtim means internal energy.
So our business is that we have to take shelter. Instead of taking shelter of the external energy... That is also Kṛṣṇa. There is no doubt. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's energy: nondifferent. But that is not very beneficial to us. We have to take shelter of the internal energy. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Daivīṁ prakṛtim means internal energy.
And Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the, mean, the symbol of internal energy. Therefore we take shelter of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in Vṛndāvana, and that is our perfection of life. Then it will be easier to associate with Kṛṣṇa very easily. That should be our motto.
Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11). Here it is said, "People who are attached to the bodily conception of life are so absorbed in materialism that it is almost impossible for them to understand that there is a transcendental body which is imperishable, full of knowledge and eternally blissful." So we have now surrendered to the bodily concept of life. We have to understand, therefore, what is our spiritual life. The Bhagavad-gītā teaches in the beginning that "You, you have surrendered to the bodily con..., but it is wrong. You'll never be happy. You try to understand your spiritual identification." And surrender to the spiritual energy. That is required. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). Otherwise, you cannot avoid Kṛṣṇa.
Guest (1): If you're rich, were you saying, if you're rich, you get knowledge, you get knowledge easier because you're rich?
Prabhupāda: No, no, no. I said that by your pious work you get four results. By your pious work... Because every work, we have, we are just today discussing what is real work and what are the reaction of the work and what is not, I mean to say, prescribed work. These things are we have discussed. Now, so far the pious work, which is called, in Sanskrit language, which is called puṇya-karma, we get four results, four kinds of results. By pious work, we get very good birth. Good birth means to take one's birth in aristocratic family or in rich family. That is, materially concerned, very good birth. So by pious work, one can become a good birth, can get his birth in a good family. And he can become a rich man also. Just, just like in this world we see. Somebody is working very little, but he's gaining much. Another body is working very hard the whole day; still, he's not getting much. Why? Because due to his pious work, he is getting very easily riches. So richness is also result of pious work. And similarly, one student is becoming very quickly a scholar; another, he cannot. So this is also result of pious work. Similarly, beauty is also due to pious work. I discussed this point. And what was your point?
Guest (1): Do you get more wisdom quicker or it's more to come by if you have a lot of money?
Prabhupāda: Not necessarily. I don't say that. That is different thing. But richness is due...
Guest (1): I understood what you said before.
Just like animals. They are not expected to be in knowledge. A man is expected to be in knowledge and he must know that "I am not this body." Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). So one has to know that "I am not this body, but circumstantially and according to my association with the modes of nature, I am transferring, transmigrating from this body to another body."
So therefore in the Vedic culture the karma-kāṇḍīya-yajña is recommended. At least, you get a better body. Don't go to the lower body. Ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ (BG 14.18). Better body in higher planetary system. That is karma-kāṇḍīya-vicāra. Therefore yajña. Yajñāyācarataḥ karma. Everything should be easier. Yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ. The same thing.
Just like here. We are performing yajña, the saṅkīrtana-yajña. We are preparing food for Kṛṣṇa. That is yajña. And when we eat the remnants of foodstuff, that is also yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ, remnants of foodstuff. Yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santaḥ. Aśina. Aśina means eating. After offering in the yajña, if you eat, yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santaḥ, you become a santaḥ, saintly person. And yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ, mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ. He becomes free from all sinful reaction.
Prabhupāda: Recreation? Dancing. (laughter) Come on, dance with us. Is it not recreation? And when you get tired take prasādam. Do you want more recreation than this? What is your answer. Is it not recreation?
Devotee: Yes. I think it is difficult for someone who comes from...
Prabhupāda: Why difficult? Dancing is difficult? Chant and dance?
Devotee: It's easier for a devotee who lives in the temple.
Prabhupāda: Oh, but as you come come, anyone can come. Everyone is welcome. We don't charge anything for this dancing. You go to ball dance and so many other dances, you pay for it. But we don't charge. We simply, our, these students simply beg something because we have to maintain. We don't charge anything. So if you simply come and chant for recreation, it is very nice. Everything is there in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We want music, there is music. We want dancing, there is dancing. You can bring nice musical instruments, you can join. We distribute nice palatable dishes. So practically this is a system of recreation only. (laughter) Yes. If you seriously think, you'll find, this system, there is no labor at all. Simply recreation. Su-sukham (BG 9.2). That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā in the Ninth Chapter you'll find, su-sukham . Everything is pleasing and happy. Find out anything in our system, that this is troublesome. Tell me practically, anyone. "This point is very troublesome." Just put your counterargument. Simply pleasing. It is simply recreation. That's all. You just point out, "Swamiji, this point is not very recreation or not, that is unhappy position." Nothing.
These are the statement. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). You have been captured by māyā. You have forgotten Kṛṣṇa. Just try to surrender unto Him. This is the teachings of Lord Caitanya. And they are accepting, these Western outsiders, because they have no hodgepodge in their mind, you see. They have cleansed. So I have said that kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), that, and they are getting the result. And chant Kṛṣṇa's name. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's name, nondifferent. (Sanskrit—indistinct) There is no difference. Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's quality, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's entourage, they are all the same. Anything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. That is absolute knowledge. So it has become easier for them because they are accepting as they are stated in the śāstra. If we neglect the śāstra-vidhi, yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ, na siddhim sa va (BG 16.23). So the defect at the present moment: that we are manufacturing our own concoctions. This should be stopped. You take as it is stated in the śāstra. Kṛṣṇa says that "I am the Supreme," mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). We accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: (BG 10.8) "I am the origin of everything." The Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So why don't you accept? Why you comment in a different way? No. Why you comment like this? When Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī (BG 18.65), "Oh, it is not to Kṛṣṇa, it is something within Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa is not divided in that way—"something within and something without." He is absolute. We are divided within our soul, outside of this material body, but not Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says one who thinks Him as ordinary human being, he is a mūḍhāḥ. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum... (BG 9.11). "Because I appeared as a human being, mūḍhās, those who are rascals, they think Me as ordinary human being." No. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto. He does not know what is immense power behind. That Kṛṣṇa showed. Kṛṣṇa, when He was present, when He was seven years old, He lifted the Govardhana Hill. We have to accept that, not that we make some comment upon it, because we think Kṛṣṇa is ordinary boy, "How seven-years-old boy can lift?" But we forget that He is Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa can throw so many innumerable planets in the sky, floating just like cotton swab, is it very difficult for Kṛṣṇa to lift a mountain?
So Lord Caitanya is accepted as Kṛṣṇa Himself. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam... (SB 11.5.32). There are many evidences in the śāstra. So it is due to Lord Caitanya's mercy, if we go through the methods... Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared as a devotee to teach us how to execute devotional service. So if we follow the footprints of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then kṛṣṇa-bhakti becomes very easily available. Therefore, first of all we offer our respect to śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda, śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. Then we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa... Because by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, it will be easier to approach Kṛṣṇa. Tad viddhi praṇipātena... (BG 4.34), as it is stated. So,
- manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
- kaścid yatati siddhaye
- yatatām api siddhānāṁ
- kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
- (BG 7.3)
So Kṛṣṇa consciousness, although it is very difficult, by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, it has become easily available. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu has recommended, paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. He has recommended śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana. Although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, His word is sufficient, still, whatever He said, He gave reference to the śāstra. Otherwise it is not, I mean to say, authority. That is recommended in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet (SB 12.3.51). These are the recommendations.
Just like if you want to study whether man is mortal or immortal, there are two processes. Deductive process, you take the idea from superior person that man is mortal. If you accept, then your knowledge is perfect. But if you want to approach the knowledge by inductive process, by studying each man, whether he is mortal or immortal, you may study thousand, two thousand, five thousand, but you cannot study all the men. Therefore your conclusion remains always defective. You cannot do that. Therefore the best process is knowledge is to receive from the person who is authorized. Actually, you do that. We go to a school, we go to college, to receive knowledge from the superior person. That is our process. That is perfect knowledge. You cannot manufacture knowledge.
Therefore real knowledge of everything can be had from the Bhagavad-gītā. If you study it nicely, it is very easier and perfect. Bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ viddhi pārtha sanātanam (BG 7.10). Sanātanam. Sanātanam means eternal. It is not that bīja, that which is produced and again it is vanquished. Sanātanam. In another place Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā. All living entities...
That you have to search, and for which you have to undertake some voluntary penance. You are trying to get the unlimited happiness and you are not prepared to sacrifice anything? What is that sacrifice? You have to sacrifice little time. Come here and hear this Bhagavad-gītā and chant with us. Is it very great sacrifice? And you will learn everything. Just to sacrifice little time. In former days they used to sacrifice their whole life for realizing self-realization. Deva-munīndra-guhyam. Even the demigods, even great saintly persons, they sacrificed everything; still, they were unsuccessful. You see? Now, for this age, Lord Caitanya mercifully has given you so much easier process for God realization. There is no comparison. Simply to sacrifice a little time. Śravaṇam. Simply hear. You haven't got to pay any charges. Śravaṇam. Simply you have to sit down a little patiently and hear. You'll realize it. It is such a nice thing. Lord Caitanya, therefore, recommended this process. In this age no process will help you for self-realization but this process.
Indian man (3): So many times Lord Kṛṣṇa told us: mama vartmānuvartante yantrārūḍhāni māyayā, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 18.61). I want to know why He's so unkind and He allows us to sin. That people, He wants to go. They are very persevering. And He again said, yatato hy api kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ, indriyāṇi pramāthīni. He should have helped the nature, how to leave the whole universe, so (that) if mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ, if the (indistinct) the way, the royal road, the royal road of Kṛṣṇa, Lord Kṛṣṇa, should be very easier.
Prabhupāda: So mama vartmānuvartante means that just like on the top of, just like there so many skyscraper buildings in America. A hundred and five stories. I think that is the latest. So suppose you have to go to the topmost flat. There is staircase. So everyone is trying to go there. But someone has passed, say, ten steps. Another had passed, say, fifty steps. Another has hundred steps. But you have to complete, say, two thousand steps. So the staircase is the same. Mama vartmānuvartante. Because the aim is to go to the topmost flat. But the one who has passed ten steps, he is lower that one who has passed fifty steps. And the one who has passed fifty steps, he's lower than who has passed hundred steps. So similarly, there are different processes. But all the processes are not the same. They're aiming at the same goal, karma, jñāna, yoga, bhakti, but bhakti is the highest step. Because when you come to the platform of bhakti, then you can understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Not by karma, jñāna, yoga. That is not possible. You are trying, you are going towards that aim, but Kṛṣṇa says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). He does not say, "By jñāna, by karma, by yoga." No. That you cannot understand. You can go forward, steps. But if you want to know Kṛṣṇa, then bhakti. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55).
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Again. (Pradyumna repeats whole verse one word at a time with devotees and Śrīla Prabhupāda repeating) Next you. (devotee recites whole verse one word at a time with devotees and Śrīla Prabhupāda repeating) Hm. Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja. Janmādy (SB 1.1.1). (Kīrtanānanda recites with devotees and Śrīla Prabhupāda repeating until the word tene when Śrīla Prabhupāda interrupts) This, this word abhijñaḥ or abhijñaḥ (pronounces differently), both ways you can pronounce. So it is easier for you, as it is spelling abhijñaḥ, or abhijñaḥ, as you like. Yes. (Kīrtanānanda continues with Śrīla Prabhupāda and devotees repeating) Thank you. Viṣṇujana Mahārāja. (Viṣṇujana recites with Śrīla Prabhupāda and devotees repeating) Karandhara Prabhu. (Karandhara recites with Śrīla Prabhupāda and devotees repeating) You. (devotee recites with Śrīla Prabhupāda and devotees repeating) Any more? Anyone else? Hm. (Śrīla Prabhupāda chants verse twice, one line at a time and devotees repeat)
So, if you chant these mantras, at least one in one day, your life will be glorious. This mantra, bhāgavata-mantra, not only Bhāgavata, every Vedic literature is a mantra. Transcendental sound. So practice resounding this mantra. So we have taken so much labor to put in diacritic mark, all the words, word meaning, utilize it. Don't think that these books are only for sale. If you go to sell these books and if some customer says, "You pronounce it," then what you will do? Then he will understand, "Oh, you are for selling, not for understanding." What do you think? Eh? So therefore it is necessary now, you have got nice books, each and every śloka, verse, should be pronounced. Therefore we have given this original verse in Sanskrit, its transliteration with diacritic mark—these marks are universally accepted amongst the scholars. So all the scholars of Sanskrit, they agreed to use this mark for pronouncing Sanskrit language.
These gigantic universes, they are coming out from the hair holes of the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu or from His... Just like sometimes infected persons, they distribute germs from breathing, from perspiration. That is scientific. Similarly, Mahā-Viṣṇu's breathing and perspiration within the Causal Ocean, bringing forth so many universes. And each and every universe, there are so many planets, and one of the planets is this, earth, earthly planet.
So sometimes this earthly planet was thrown into the water, Garbhodaka-samudra, Garbhodaka Sea, and God took the form of a boar, having two tusks—because it was easier. Just like shovel, you take something like that. So He took the earth. So that is described: kṣitir iha vipulatare tiṣṭhati tava... No. What is that? Daśana-śikhare? The, this is described in Jayadeva's prayer. Vasati daśana-śikhare dharaṇī tava lagnā. Vasati, "is resting"; vasati daśana-śikhare, "on the top of the tusk." Keśava dhṛta-śūkara-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare. So He's yajñeśa. It is not that He's... is shape was just like hog, but He's not hog. Don't misunderstand. His shape was a gigantic hog. You can just imagine what kind of hog He was. The shape was like hog, but He was resting the whole planet, earthly planet, on the tusk. Vasati daśana-śikhare dharaṇī tava lagnā śaśini kalaṅka, keśava dhṛta-śūkara-rūpa. Here it is stated, saukaram. Saukaram means like hog. Not that He's hog. He's yajñeśa. He can take any shape. Just like here is, God has assumed the shape of a lion, half-lion, half-man. So He's all powerful, He can take any shape, any form, but He is not that form. That is for the time being. For the time being, He assumes so many forms. The real form is Kṛṣṇa, the original form. Keśava dhṛta-śūkara, sūkara-rūpa or śūkara-rūpa. "My Lord Keśava, You have assumed this form."
So there are many millions and millions of forms of God. According to time, necessity, circumstances, He assumes different forms. Because it is His business:
So for a devotee, there is no need of controlling senses. It automatically becomes controlled. Just like we have taken the vow we are not going to eat anything except kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Oh, the sense is already controlled. There is no question of asking a devotee, "You don't drink, don't this, don't this, don't this." So many don'ts. Simply by accepting kṛṣṇa-prasādam, all don'ts there, already there. And it becomes very easier. Others, if one is requested that "You don't smoke," it will be very difficult job for him. For a devotee, he can give up at any moment. He has no problem. Therefore the same example, that these senses are very strong undoubtedly, as strong as the snake. But if you break the poison teeth, the poison teeth, then it is no more fierceful. Similarly, if you engage your senses in Kṛṣṇa, no more controlling. It is already controlled. Protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate.
And the whole world is problem for ordinary persons, but to us it is not problem. Because we see everything Kṛṣṇa's. If there is problem, it is Kṛṣṇa's problem. Why my problem? Kṛṣṇa can know how to solve problem. So we have no problem practically. Kṛṣṇa's problem. Kṛṣṇa will see to it. Just like Arjuna was encouraged that nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savyasācin. "You don't worry about your victory. I have already arranged." So we should have such faith and conviction and let us try. Let us do very sincerely and seriously. Then everything Kṛṣṇa will do. I haven't got to do anything.
So in the Kṛṣṇa form, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, He simply wanted that "You surrender; then you'll understand Me." But in the Caitanya Mahāprabhu, not only understanding Him, but one gets love of Kṛṣṇa, the highest stage. Therefore He is addressed as namo mahā-vadānyāya, the topmost charitable personality. He is giving kṛṣṇa-prema.
So the process is there. And actually it is so happening all over the world. How the Christian priests are surprised that "These boys, these Christian boys or these Jewish boys, they never came to the church. They did not inquire even what is God. Now they have left everything and they are mad after God. How it is po... How it is?" Because we have adopted the process enunciated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; therefore it has become easier. Otherwise, to understand Kṛṣṇa only, it will take millions of years, simply to understand Kṛṣṇa. And what to speak of becoming lover of Kṛṣṇa? If I do not understand you, I cannot become your lover. You... We cannot love an unknown person. Is it possible? You must know him. You must behave with him. You must study him. He will study you. Then there is question of love. But Kṛṣṇa-caitanya Mahāprabhu has given us such a nice process: ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). By chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, immediately...
Because we do not love Kṛṣṇa... We have got intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa as part and parcel. It cannot be separated. It cannot be separated. But any way, some way or other, we have lost or forgotten that intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti. That is nitya-siddha, eternally fact, that Kṛṣṇa loves us and we love. Kṛṣṇa loves. Therefore He comes personally. He comes as devotee to deliver us back to home, back to Godhead. Unless He loves, how it is possible? Kṛṣṇa is coming in so many ways. He is sending His devotee. He is leaving Bhagavad-gītā for study to understand Kṛṣṇa. That is... Kṛṣṇa loves. Simply teaches that... Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta says that nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti. This kṛṣṇa-bhakti, love of Kṛṣṇa, it is not something that artificially trained up. Artificial things...
So similarly, you have to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. But we do not know that. Durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. These rascals, they are thinking that "Without Kṛṣṇa, without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without satisfying Kṛṣṇa, we shall adjust by this material advancement." That is durāśayā. Everything has been discussed. It will never be possible, sir. If you don't take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness... This is your wrong idea, that you will be able... Durāśayā. Therefore this very word is used, durāśayā. Āśā. Āśā means hope. So this is a wrong hope. You cannot. The exact, the same example: If the combined together, all the senses, they pass resolution—"Not to give any food to the stomach, and we shall be easier, not to work so hard"—but that is durāśayā. That is not possible. You are hoping wrongly. That is not possible.
So durāśayā ye... Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). Then why people are leading in that way, the so many political leaders, social leaders? Nobody speaks of Kṛṣṇa. They are simply making plan... This party, the Communist Party, is making one plan. The other party is making plan; another party... But the world is suffering. So therefore they have been described in the śāstra: andha. Andha means blind, rascal They do not know. Actually they have no knowledge that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness the human society can be happy. That is not possible. They do not know this. But by Kṛṣṇa's grace, by our guru-paramparā's grace, we understand, we people who are conducting this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that without being Kṛṣṇa conscious, nobody will be happy. Therefore our struggle is different. We are trying to make the people actually happy. Sarve sukhino bhavantu: "Everyone become happy." Otherwise, what is the use of collecting so much money and constructing such big building and inviting them, "Please come here. We have got nice room, and you shall get food without any hard work"? Why we are...? Still, they will not come. Still, they will not come. Now, in this village, we have got such a nice building. We invite, "You come here and..." But still, how many are coming? So therefore i
"Any boy who will be able to control these bulls, then I will offer my daughter to him." So all the princes who came to control the bulls, they got their hands and legs fractured by the pushing of the bull. Nobody could... Then Kṛṣṇa came. And Kṛṣṇa controlled the five bulls, expanding Himself into five strong boy, and He was offered Satyabhāmā.
So in kṣatriya marriage it was not so easy. The boy had to show how much powerful he is. Then the girl would be offered. Not only that; there will be killing. The opposite party may be killed. When there is fight, there is killing. And by killing, the blood is smeared over here. That is the red sign. That is the red sign, now used with vermillion. Not by killing. Yes, it has become... It is made easier. (laughter) Formerly the red sign was not so easy. There must be blood. That is kṣatriya. Kṣatriya means the fighting race, fighting caste, king, royal. They must be very chivalrous fighting, not timid. A kṣatriya cannot be timid. Brāhmaṇas kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdra, they are trained differently. Brāhmaṇa—for understanding Vedic knowledge and guide the other three subdivisions, namely kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, not śūdras. Śūdras were not supposed to understand Vedic knowledge. Especially brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas.
Indian man (8): And is it so, that in Śrīmad-Bhāgavata it is also written, many really great men want to be here in Kali-yuga, because it is easier to be for salvation? Only by...
Prabhupāda: Yes. That I am speaking. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya. Kṛṣṇasya kīrtanād eva mukta-saṅgaḥ param. Simply by chanting. Therefore we practically see that these Western people, they are not coming from high-class brāhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava family, but still, by kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya they are becoming so liberated that they are preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world.
Indian man (8): Another thing, my last question. I shall not disturb you. The name is power, and to utter name...
Prabhupāda: The name is the person. This is absolute. Absolute.
Indian man (8): Personified.
Prabhupāda: Not personified. He is person.
Pradyumna: (repeats verse)
Prabhupāda: Again. (devotees repeat verse again) Anyone can recite? All right. See the book and recite.
Śyāmasundara: Śrī-śuka uvāca ātma-māyām ṛte rājan parasyānubhavātmanaḥ.
Prabhupāda: Parasya. The transliteration is the long a. You have seen? You just try to follow the transliteration. That will be easier.
Śyāmasundara: Parasyānu...
Prabhupāda: Parasyānubhava, bhavātmanaḥ. Ātmā.
Śyāmasundara: Yes. Long a over a. Atmanaḥ.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Now, beginning.
Śyāmasundara: Parasyānu...
Prabhupāda: No. First line. (devotees repeating)
Śyāmasundara: Śrī śuka uvāca ātma-māyām ṛte rājan parasyānubhavātmanaḥ.
Prabhupāda: Read it again.
Śyāmasundara: Śrī śuka uvāca ātma-māyām ṛte rājan parasyānubhavātmanaḥ na ghaṭetārtha...
So in this age it is very difficult to become exactly Vedic brāhmaṇa. That's very, very difficult because everyone has become śūdra. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. In the Kali-yuga you cannot find out exactly a qualified brāhmaṇa. Very rare, very rare. Therefore Vedic brāhmaṇa is not possible. It is... Our movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is creating pāñcarātriki-vidhi. Pāñcarātriki-vidhi-brāhmaṇa means there is no evidence of, there is no certainty whether one is brāhmaṇa or son of brāhmaṇa because so many things are lacking. But, if he has got little taste of Kṛṣṇa understanding, he should be encouraged. That is pāñcarātriki. Just like if there is little fire you fan it-fan it and it will come out a big blazing fire. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to do that, and it is easier because in the śāstra it is said by Śukadeva Gosvāmī that there is one opportunity. "My dear King, Parīkṣit, I've described to you about the faulty nature of this Kali-yuga, but there is a very good opportunity for the people, fallen conditioned souls, of this Kali-yuga." "What is that?" Kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ: "The, in the Kali-yuga, it is like the ocean of fault. But still there is one very good opportunity." "What is that?" Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet: (SB 12.3.51) "You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and become liberated and go to back to home, back to Godhead."
Still, the chanting of the holy name is so powerful that it will make you... Because it is directly associating with God. Dhyāyet. So as soon as chant, immediately there will be meditation, śuddha-bhāvena cetasā, by consciousness, by the mind, by intelligence. So this is the recommendation.
(reads purport) "The process of meditating on the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within oneself and the process of chanting the glories or pastimes of the Lord are the same." There is no difference. This is called advaya-jñāna: no difference, absolute. Either you chant, hear, or you try to see within your heart the Supreme Lord—the same thing. "The only difference is that hearing and fixing the mind on the pastimes of the Lord is easier than visualizing the form of the Lord within one's heart, because as soon as one begins to think of the Lord, especially in this age, the mind becomes disturbed, and due to so much agitation, the process of seeing the Lord within the mind is interrupted." Suppose one is big businessman. He is always thinking of his business, how to sell this, how to purchase this. This is... His mind is absorbed with these things. So if he sits down to meditate upon the Lord, it will not be possible. It will not be possible. His mind will be disturbed, and he will think of his business transaction. So that is natural. But if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa loudly, you will be forced to hear "Kṛṣṇa," and that Kṛṣṇa immediately comes within your mind by force. So it is better process than sit down and think of Kṛṣṇa.
"When there is sound vibrated passing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, however, one is forced to hear.
Prabhupāda: That I have already explained. This is called tapasya. You have to do something which you may not like to do. That is tapasya.
Guest (2): ...you do not like to do.
Prabhupāda: That is advised: tapo divyaṁ putrakā. Yajña-dāna-tapaḥ kriyaḥ (SB 5.5.1). This is called tapasya. I do not like to do something, but I have to do it because I have accepted somebody as authority. This is tapasya. So this has to be practiced. But it will be easier by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. There will be no Just like these boys, European, American boys. They are strictly following the rules and regulation, but it has become not very difficult, very easy, because they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is the only method.
Guest (2): But is not to accept authority, the authority of God, is that not to speculate about God? How can I accept authority without knowing what God is? As soon as I say, "I know God," then obviously I am speculating.
Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa: His question is, "Is it not speculation to say that one knows God? As soon as he thinks that he knows God..."
Prabhupāda: You know also God. You know also God.
Guest (2): No, I don't.
Prabhupāda: No, You are... Or do you think you are independent of God?
Guest (2): I don't know what God is.
There are two kinds of strong avidyā, ignorance, unawareness. Sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. Rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa is covering. Tamo-guṇa is very densely covering, and rajo-guṇa little open, and sattva-guṇa means prakāśa, there is illumination, brahminical qualifications. When one is in the sattva-guṇa then he can understand that "I am not this body. I am different from this body." For them, those who are in the sattva-guṇa, for them it is easier. So therefore the process is Human civilization means not to drag somebody who is already in the sattva-guṇa or in the family of sattva-guṇa, to drag him down to the tamo-guṇa. The modern civilization is like that. The allurement of material civilization is so strong and so bad that those who are by pious activities born in brāhmaṇa family, they are being dragged to the tamo-guṇa behavior like śūdras. They are learning how to drink, how to eat meat, how to have illicit sex. These are the symptoms of tamo-guṇa, lowest type of tamo-guṇa. There are different degrees of guṇa. The degrees are so mixed up. Therefore three guṇas is manifested into 8,400,000 different forms of life, mixture. You can calculate. We have several times calculated. Three multiplied by three equals nine. Nine multiplied by nine, eighty-one. So therefore there are so many varieties. So human civilization should be so arranged that never mind, it is so mixed up, you have to gradually draw him again to the sattva-guṇa. That is human civilization. Not that drag him again to the tamo-guṇa. Somebody, by pious activities, by good work, he's already in the sattva-guṇa, but the arrangement The social, political, economical arrangement is so bad that one is dragged to the tamo-guṇa. This is not civilization. This is degradation. Civilization means elevation. The aim is how to become disconnected with this material body. This is civilization. Otherwise that is not civilization. It is animal life. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kunape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13).
And what is that surrendering? Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, mām evaiṣyasi asaṁśayaḥ (BG 18.65). Without any doubt. He is giving assurance. Four things only. Always think of Kṛṣṇa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī mām. Anyone can do it. Everyone can offer Kṛṣṇa patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ (BG 9.26). Everyone can hear from Kṛṣṇa what is Kṛṣṇa. Where is the difficulty? The difficulty is that we want enjoyment in this material world. That is the difficulty. Therefore it is recommended that akiñcanānāṁ mayi bhakti-bhājām. For a devotee there is no problem. He is not attracted by liberation or by Svargaloka, by yogic perfection. He is not at all interested. Bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmi-sakali 'aśānta'. Because they cannot get śānti because they want something The bhukti, the karmīs, they are working so hard. They want some material profit or go to the Svargaloka to enjoy more. This is bhukti. And mukti, they are also undergoing severe austerities, penance, tapasya, for becoming one. Kaivalya sukham. Kevalādvaita. They are also working. And the yogis, they also work very hard. Yoga practice is not so easy. Dhyāna, dhāraṇā, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, samādhi. It requires And especially in this age it is not so easy. It was easier in the Satya-yuga. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇu (SB 12.3.52). Samādhi, that was possible. And now it is not possible. Our bhakti-yoga is so easy, simply man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), very simple thing. So we should take to bhakti, devotional service, and reject everything. Niṣkiñcana. That will make your life successful.
I know. I asked my mother in my childhood, "My dear mother, how did I come out from your belly?" I still remember. So my mother showed me her navel: "You come out from this place." So anyway, a child cannot understand, but when he grows up, he understands everything. So how Kṛṣṇa consciousness acts, how this transcendental sound cleanses your heart, you may not understand in the beginning, but if you take to it and if you practice it, then you understand. Then you can understand. And in the Vedānta-sūtra it is said, śabdāt anāvṛttiḥ. As from the sound the whole material existence has come into being, similarly, from sound also, you can go back to the spiritual existence. So this sound vibration... The oṁkāra is also the same sound as..., om, but this is easier, Hare Kṛṣṇa. You cannot have so ecstasy by vibrating om, but because it was chanted by the greatest authority, Lord Caitanya, it has got special power. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). The scriptures indicate that we have to follow the footprints of great authorities. Tarko apratiṣṭham. You cannot come to the right conclusion simply by arguing. You may be a very good logician and you can argue very nicely, but another man, he may be a greater logician than you. He can nullify all your arguments. There is possibility. So tarko apratiṣṭhaḥ.
Therefore simply by argument and logical conclusion, you cannot approach to the Absolute Truth or real truth. Tarko apratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnāḥ. And if you consult yourself scriptures... Just like Bhagavad-gītā, if you read yourself, you get one kind of impression, and if you hear explanation from an authorized person, you get another impression. The book is the same, but by hearing from the authorities, you get a better impression, better understanding. There are so many examples like this. Tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnāḥ. Now there are many scriptures in the world. The Hindus have got the Vedas; the Christians have got the Bible; the Muslims, they have got Koran. Now, if you read all these scriptures, you will find something contradictory. Just like animal killing. Animal killing, more or less, there are in every scripture, restricted or nonrestricted. There is none nonrestricted. Restricted. Even in the Koran, the animal killing is restricted. Animal is to be killed in the, in certain Bakri Eid ceremony and in the Masjid. Similarly, animal killing amongst the Hindus, they are to be done in the temple of Goddess Kālī. But no slaughterhouse is recommended. Anyway...
Guest: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: This is easier process. "This child belongs to Kṛṣṇa. He has kindly given me prasādam." This is not easier? Which is easier?
Guest: That is a particular kind of approach of...
Prabhupāda: Eh? It is not a fact?
Guest: It's a fact.
Prabhupāda: But it is not easier? If you teach one child that "If you meditate upon Kṛṣṇa within," that is easier? Or if you say that "The fire which you are cooking on, this is Kṛṣṇa's"? Which is easier? So why you become more than child? You should remain always child, then you will get knowledge, real knowledge. That is the mistake. "I am now grown up. I cannot accept as child." What is the difference between child? A child also learns ABCD and a grown up man also uses ABCD. In what sense he is grown up? The ABCD is there. But when you are grown up can you give up ABCD? Can you give up ABCD when you are grown up? What do you mean by grown up? What is the difference between child and you? You also use ABCD, he also uses ABCD. But his knowledge of ABCD is not so perfect as yours.
"Oh, I am a very great devotee." No. Simply theoretical understanding, "I am a great devotee..." From the very face it will be understood. Face is the index of mind, how you are thinking. If you are thinking of Kṛṣṇa always, then your face will be beautiful. Therefore it is called pratyakṣam avagamaṁ dharmyam, direct perception. There is no theoretical. It is practical. Pratyakṣyam avagamaṁ dharmyaṁ su-sukham.
Then to become such spiritually advanced, is it very difficult task? No. Su-sukham: very easy and very happy. How it is happy? Happy because this spiritual consciousness is developed by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. That is very pleasing. With music, with musical instrument we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. There is no trouble. Even a child can take part, experience. A child also claps; he also dances. So what can be easier method than this? Any other method you take, you have to exercise, you have to tax your brain, press your nose, or so many other things. But here automatically you chant before ārātrika and you become spiritually enlightened. Even the child becomes. Therefore it is susukham, very happy to execute. Susukham kartum avyayam (BG 9.2). And whatever you do, little, that becomes a permanent asset, avyayam. It is never to be vanished. Even one percent of devotional service you execute, it will help you again to begin from that point.
They regular chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, sixteen rounds. In this way we are training. Not only we are training these young boys, but we are training their sons and children. We have got a very nice school in Dallas, Texas. From the very beginning they are being taught about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, how to rise early in the morning, how to take part in the maṅgala ārātrika, how to take prasādam. Then teaching, they are learning Sanskrit and English especially, a little geography, mathematics. We have started a school. So do not take this movement very insignificantly. Try to understand this movement with all your intelligence. As Caitanya-caritāmṛta author says, caitanyera dayāra kathā karaha vicāra. Vicāra. Just put your judgment. Try to understand with logic and try to understand with philosophy. Not as a fanatic. Vicāra. Vicāra karile citte pābe camatkāra. And if you rightly judge this movement, you will find it very sublime.
So we have got four branches now in India, out of 102 branches all over the world. But especially this movement is easier for the Indians because by birth they are imbibed with the Kṛṣṇa consciousness idea. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said,
- bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra
- janma sārthaka kari' kara paropakāra
- (CC Adi 9.41)
So Indians are meant for welfare activities for the whole world. And how they will do? Not by begging: "Give me rice, give me milk powder, give me money, give me this." No. If you spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world, then you will be respectful. People will like it. They are very hungry for this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So I am struggling alone. I require many Indians to join and spread this movement all over the world.
So people do not understand. Therefore they are called mūḍhas. They are simply making arrangement how to become happy. It is not possible to become happy here. That's a fact. But still they are. Therefore they are called mūḍhas, rascals. Which will never be possible, and they are trying for that. You see, whole world is trying to be happy. They are discovering so many technological arts, but they are dying. They cannot. They have invented horseless carriage, having very, I mean to say, speedy carriages, but there are so many dangers. Every moment the life can go, the motor accident. It is happening in the Western country. So whatever you do for the advancement of material civilization, you are one side increasing more danger. If you did not discover these aeroplane and motorcar, then death would not have been so easier. You could live at least for some days. But because you have discovered some facilities, your death is also very become near. So this is prakṛti. You are trying to solve the problem in one way, and the problem is becoming more dangerous and difficult by the laws of nature. That these rascals cannot find even. They continually working. There is a verse in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, paśyann api na paśyati. They are so big rascals that paśyann api na paśyati: even they are seeing every moment that "All our endeavors are being baffled," still, they'll try for it. They'll try for it, again and again. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). These things are... Punaḥ punaḥ, again and again, chewing the chewed, this is their business. Therefore they are called mūḍhas. The mūḍhas, they do not find that "All our attempt..."
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
In this connection, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī suggest that the person..., that the person eligible for Kṛṣṇa consciousness or devotional service can be classified by his particular taste. He says that devotional service is a continual process from one's previous life. No one can take to devotional service unless he has had some previous connection with it. For example, suppose in this life I practice some devotional service to some extent. Even though it is not one hundred percent perfectly performed, still, whatever I have done will not be lost. In my next life, from the very point where I stopped in this life, I shall begin again. In this way there is always a continuity. But even if there is no continuity, if only by chance a person takes interest in a pure devotee's instruction, he can be accepted and advance in devotional service. Anyway, for persons who have a natural taste for understanding books like the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, devotional service is easier than for those who are simply accustomed to mental speculation and argumentative processes."
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
It is all suffering. Maybe first-class suffering, (laughter) but it is suffering. So they are all in the darkness, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu appeared to dissipate, tamo-nudau, to dissipate this darkness of the whole human society. That is Their kindness. They are...
So Nityānanda Prabhu, being prakāśā, He is manifesting Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He's canvassing the same thing. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is canvassing to accept Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and to accept Kṛṣṇa consciousness through the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu and Their other assistants is easier, easier. Therefore we see practically, we have taught our disciples to chant first of all the Pañca-tattva, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya (devotees chant) prabhu-nityānanda, śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. Thank you. So through the mercy of this Pañca-tattva, easily you can approach Kṛṣṇa, easily. Otherwise how it is possible? These Europeans, Americans, they did not know what was Kṛṣṇa. Four or five years ago they were unknown. How they have become so devotee of Kṛṣṇa that ten thousand miles, crossing over the sea, they have come here at Māyāpur, unless they have got developed love for this? Their coming is not so easy from neighboring villages, but it costs. They have spent lakhs of dollars—one dollar equal to eight rupees—and they have come here. Why? Through the mercy of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (end)
This is Nityānanda Prabhu's business. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says that gaurāṅgera balite habe, pulaka śarīre, hari hari balite, nayane ba'be nīra. Gaurāṅga. So to become immediately in ecstasy of transcendental love, if we chant this śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda, it is easier. There is no offense in chanting this Pañca-tattva, but there is offense if you do not properly chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. There are ten kinds of offenses, you know. But in chanting śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda, there is no aparādha. You chant in any way; you'll get the result. This is the difference, taste. This is variety. Although there is no difference by chanting śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda and Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, mahā-mantra, but still by chanting this Pañca-tattva, you'll get immediately, quickly, result. Therefore our process is to chant the holy names of the Pañca-tattva and then we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. That is perfect. And neither mixing. The mixing taste is called rasābhāsa. Rasābhāsa. And we don't manufacture anything. Just follow. We disagree with the persons who chant that bhaja nitāi-gaura rādhe-śyāma. No. We must follow strictly. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). We cannot manufacture simply for some worldly cheap reputation and prestige. If we manufacture something, that will not help us. We must follow. Mahājano yena. Dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. We must follow the mahājanas. So you'll find in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the Kavirāja Gosvāmī, in every chapter he begins, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda, jaya advaita..., gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. This is the process.
Similarly, in Muslim, those who do not follow the Koran, they are called kafirs. Similarly, those who do not follow the Vedic principles, they are called nāstika or mlecchas. Nāstika means those who do not believe in the Vedic principles, they are called nāstika, atheist. And those whose behavior is not very clean, they are called mlecchas. So in comparison to Hindu mode of living and others in the world, there is very great difference, social sanctity and personal sanctity. So therefore, formerly the mlecchas means the Muhammadans, because they are meat-eaters, they do not take bath daily and there are so many things. So even those persons who were delivered by Lord Caitanya, but the author says that He could not deliver the Māyāvādīs, the impersonalist sannyāsīs. That means it was easier for Him to deliver the mlecchas, but it was difficult for Him to deliver the Māyāvādīs. In other words, the author is trying to place the position of the Māyāvādī sannyāsī less than the mlecchas. Less than the mlecchas.
So, sabe eḍāila mātra kāśīra māyāvādī. Māyāvādī means materialist. Māyā means this matter, and vādī means those who stick to this principle of material... There are different kinds of materialists. Because we should always know that up to the point of intelligence, it is matter. First point is the senses, the gross. The grossest type of materialist is that they are addicted to sense gratification. So this is materialist. And above this, there are mental speculators.
Kṛṣṇa says, "Out of many millions of persons, one is interested how to become siddha." Siddha means liberated, one who is not entangled with this material atmosphere. He is called siddha. So out of many millions of people, one may be interested how to become free from this material entanglement. And yatatām api siddhānām (BG 7.3), and out of many such siddhas, one may understand Kṛṣṇa. Kaścid vetti māṁ tattvataḥ. So it is not so easy to understand Kṛṣṇa, but when Kṛṣṇa comes personally as a devotee and shows us the ways and means how to approach Kṛṣṇa, then it becomes easier. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So if we follow the methods, the method prescribed by Kṛṣṇa is very easy, but still, because we misunderstand Kṛṣṇa... Therefore, if we go through the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then we can easily understand Kṛṣṇa. That is recognized by Rūpa Gosvāmī, the younger brother of Sanātana Gosvāmī. Two of them were ministers. So Rūpa Gosvāmī has described,
- namo mahā-vadānyāya
- kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
- kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ
- (CC Madhya 19.53)
He said, "Caitanya Mahāprabhu, You are Kṛṣṇa. Now, this time, You have appeared as Kṛṣṇa Caitanya in order to give everyone Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa made some condition, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), but here now, as devotee of Kṛṣṇa, You are distributing Kṛṣṇa without any condition. Therefore mahā-vadānyāya:
Arrival Addresses and Talks
Prabhupāda: Why they do not love the animals? Because imperfect. But the Kṛṣṇa conscious person will never kill an animal or give trouble to animal even. But that is universal love. If you love only your brother or sister, that is not universal love. Universal love means you love everyone. That universal love can be developed by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, not by otherwise.
Woman Guest: I know some of the devotees have had to sever relationships, so to speak, with their material world parents, and it gives them some degree of grief, because their parents don't understand. Now what do you tell them to kind of make this easier?
Prabhupāda: Well, a boy who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is giving the best service to his parents, families, countrymen, society. Without being Kṛṣṇa conscious, what service they are giving to their parents? Mostly they are separated. But, as Prahlāda Mahārāja was a great devotee and his father was a great nondevotee, so much so that his father was killed by Nṛsiṁhadeva, but Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he was ordered by the Lord to take some benediction, he said that "I am not a merchant, Sir, that by giving You some service I'll take some return. Please excuse me." Nṛsiṁhadeva was very much satisfied: "Here is a pure devotee." But the same pure devotee requested the Lord, "My Lord, my father was atheist, and he has committed so many offenses, so I beg that my father may be liberated."
General Lectures
Prabhupāda: Yes. Why not? (laughter)
Young woman (1): Thank you.
Prabhupāda: Yes?
Young man (2): What is the outcome of continuous practice of the chant "Oṁ?"
Prabhupāda: Oṁ is also another form vibration of Lord. Oṁ. That is also accepted in Bhagavad-gītā. So Hare Kṛṣṇa or oṁ, practically the same value, but this is easier. Yes. And because Hare Kṛṣṇa was chanted by Lord Caitanya specifically. Oṁ is generally added (when) just beginning one mantra. That is the Vedic way. Oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paś... Oṁ is also addressing the Lord. Oṁ. And Hare Kṛṣṇa is also addressing. But this is easier and recommended for this age. Otherwise, transcendentally or spiritually, there is no difference.
Young woman (3): What do you believe in reference to Ramakrishna? He was in the Hindu faith.
Prabhupāda: Not Hindu faith. What is your belief of Ramakrishna?
Young man (2): Well, I've read a little about him, and he supposedly...
Prabhupāda: What he is? What you have studied about him?
My dear boys and girls, I thank you very much for participating in our saṅkīrtana. It is very simple, chanting the sixteen words Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Actually there are only three words: Hare, Kṛṣṇa, and Rāma. It is not difficult. Everyone can immediately, within a second, can chant these three names, Hare, Kṛṣṇa, and Rāma. But to make it still easier and suitable, they have been arranged in two lines of eight words each line. That is very rhythmic, and one feels immediately transcendental pleasure to chant. It is not hackneyed. We have chanted about exactly half an hour, but if we chant even twenty-four hours, you'll never feel tired. That is the significance, practical. You will feel more and more enthusiastic to chant. Our boys and girls do that. In the beginning, of course, you may not understand, but you take to this practice of chanting, you'll feel immediately transcendental pleasure. I saw, although some of you could not join us in dancing and chanting, but you were, from your seat, you were trying to dance. That I have seen. It is practical. We have seen even children, they immediately take to this dancing and chanting. So it is not very difficult. The most easy process of transcendental realization. We don't ask you to press your nose, or put your head downwards, or make some gymnastic. No. In whatever condition you are, it doesn't matter. You simply chant these sixteen names. There is no secrecy. We are not charging any fees, that "You pay me so many dollars, I'll give you a secret mantra, and you chan..." No. It is open. It is distributed freely. Simply you have to take it. That's all. The result will be, oh, great. Make an experiment. You have no loss. You haven't got to pay anything. But if you take this, the result will be very, very great, which has no comparison in this world. That is practical.
So your business is how to become happy, because by nature you are happy. Diseased condition, that happiness being checked. So this is our diseased condition, this material, conditional life, this body. So as one intelligent person puts himself under the treatment of a physician to get out of the disease, similarly, human life is meant for putting himself to the expert physician who can cure you from your material disease. That is your business. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). That is the injunction of all Vedic literature. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is teaching Arjuna. Arjuna is surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, śiṣyas te 'ham māṁ prapannam: (BG 2.7) "My dear Kṛṣṇa, so long I was speaking with You just as friends. Now I surrender unto You as Your student, as Your disciple. You become my spiritual master and teach me properly." This is the process. Arjuna is exampling himself that he's accepting Kṛṣṇa as the spiritual master, teacher. And then Kṛṣṇa began to teach the Bhagavad-gītā, and he changed his decision, and he was freed from all anxieties. This is spiritual life. So this spiritual realization is easier than any kind of material realization because we are not meant for material realization. We are meant for spiritual realization, the human form. So that we should take advantage of. That is the mission of human form of life. If we miss this, then we are committing suicide.
Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance. Can you not do this? Even a child can do it. What we are appealing? "Please come chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance." What did these boys? One year before they did not know anything. So they, along with their wives and children, they are now dancing and chanting. That's all. Is it very difficult process, to come and chant and dance? The easiest process in the world! Without any education, without any knowledge. Simply come, chant and dance. If... There is a realized practical example, these boys and girls. They began with this chanting and dancing. Now see their faith, their advancement, their knowledge, their temperament, their attitude. So much advanced. You cannot compare with any other group in this world. So easier. So take to this movement; your life will be sublime. Easiest process. There is no charge. There is no fee. We don't charge anything. We don't say that "I give you some secret mantra. You give me some dollars." No. It is open: "Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." (end)
Guest (7): Swamijī, an old guest has been wandering around. He's called Fred Robinson. He's been forecasting doom to happen very shortly for the human race and says that it is far too hopeless to try and grab for the spiritual plane until one goes back to the land, back to simple living and where one just makes one's task to supply food for the children, the new children of the new age. And then yoga and the spiritual disciplines will flow much easier. What would you say to that?
Prabhupāda: Yes. We are also distributing food. Yes. In our Māyāpur daily we are distributing food to two thousand, three thousand. So that is one of our program, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and distributing prasādam. We are distributing... When I started this movement I was cooking myself and distributing prasāda. But we do not discriminate that "He is needy..." Everyone is needy. So actually, everyone is in need of spiritual understanding. So by distributing food, the spiritual food, simply by eating, he will be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even if he does not do anything. But actually, we are inviting persons to come, sit down, chant with us Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and take prasādam and go home. That's all. This is our program. So prasādam is already included. And there is the question of needy men. So we invite any needy man to come and join with us, and we shall feed him. That's all. We invite anyone. But they do not like to come to us to chant. That is the difficulty. "Oh, we'll have to go there and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." So they are afraid. So what can I do? We invite everyone, "Please come here, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, dance with us, and when you are hungry, take some food. We are prepared to give you." So our program is very easy. And actually, these boys and girls, they were not advised in the beginning to become my initiated student. I simply invited, "You please come." I was chanting in the Tompkinson Park in New York, and many of them were coming. So I invited them, "Please come with me. Take some prasādam."
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is on a different platform than this matter. It will be easier to understand that distinction between living body and dead body. So we are talking of the living portion of our existence. The living portion... We have got a living force within this body. Everyone can understand. As soon as that living force is out of this body, this body has no longer any value. It is thrown away on the street. So without any knowledge of the living force within this body, if we simply take care of our body, it is just like decorating a dead body. So do not take this movement as a sectarian, religious movement. It is practically a movement to bestow the essential knowledge of life to the human society.
So religion is a kind of faith, but faith can be changed. But the knowledge which is essential in life, that cannot be changed. Therefore this culture, although it appears like a religious system, but it is the essential knowledge of life. Religion or faith, you can change from one to another, but you must know the essential value of your life. And because we have no, I mean to say, connection at the present moment with the essential knowledge of life, we are thinking that you are separate from me, I am separate from you. Just like we are all human being, but for want of adequate knowledge, I am thinking, "I am Indian," you are thinking you are Japanese, somebody is thinking he is American, and yet another is thinking that he is something else. Actually we are one. We are energy of Kṛṣṇa, or God. So, just like in dream I accept a different position, forgetting my real identification, and I think that I have gone far away from home, and I am flying, or I am in the forest—so many things I may dream—but that is not actual fact.
These boys... I am poor Indian. I came with forty rupees. And I have not bribed them; neither I have got that money. (laughter) But how they are mad after God. It is practical. Now you bribe them and take away—they will not go. They will not go. Many fathers, mothers came to induce them to take home, but they are not going. So what is the intoxication? This is the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This intoxication is: they have given up all intoxication; they are now intoxicated with Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa. Yes. One Draft Board officer came to see in our camp: "So what is the facility that these boys have joined Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, whether it is very easier than the Draft Board?" But when he enquired he saw that these boys and girls are prohibited illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. He thought that it is harder than the Draft Board. Here, the Draft Board, they do not make any condition, but here are so many condition which is very, very difficult to follow. So this is called Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy-practical.
So every human being should accept this mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and that is the purport of the verse Rūpa Gosvāmī first offered to Lord Caitanya, that namo mahā-vadānyāya: "You are the most munificent incarnation." Why? Now, "You are distributing Kṛṣṇa-prema, love of Godhead. People do not know what is God, and You are distributing love of Godhead." One cannot love anybody unless he knows the other party very well or very intimate dealings. Then there is question of love. Love, there is no question of love. If I do not know you, you do not know me, when we live ten thousand miles away, there is no question of love. Love means when there is intimacy.
Prabhupāda: So if you have to translate, why not translate from English? That will be easier for me, and they will also understand. Tike? If he has to translate, then why not let me speak in English so that they will also understand?
Indian man: I will translate.
Prabhupāda: So Bhagavān means the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Absolute Truth is realized in three phases: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). Absolute Truth can be realized in the beginning as impersonal Brahman, which is the objective of the jñānīs, and next, Paramātmā, which is the objective of the yogis, and at last, the last word in the absolute understanding is person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ultimate issue is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just like we understand that in the sun globe there is the Supreme Person or the sūrya-nārāyaṇa, or the chief person within the sun planet. His name is also given in the Bhagavad-gītā-Vivasvān. The Lord says in the Fourth Chapter, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam: (BG 4.1) "I first of all explained this science, this yoga system of Bhagavad-gītā, to Vivasvān, the sun-god." Vivasvān manave prāhur manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt. And Vivasvān, the sun-god, he explained to Manu, and Manu explained to his son. In this way, by the disciplic succession the knowledge has come down. So when we speak of jñāna, knowledge, it must be learned from a person. So Bhagavān, the last word in the understanding of Absolute Truth, He says in this Bhagavad-gītā.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: He says, "If life realizes a plan, it ought to manifest a greater harmony the further it advances, just as the house shows a better and better idea of the architect as stone is set upon stone. If, on the contrary, the unity of life is to be found solely in the beginning in the impetus that pushes it along the road of time, the harmony is not in front but behind. The unity is given at the start as an impulsion, not placed at the end as an attraction." But he's...
Prabhupāda: So this can be utilized. Suppose an artist is trying to improve this building. So if he takes instruction from an experienced artist how to improve, then it becomes easier, and if he tries himself, it takes long, long time. He should take the artistic idea from a person who is perfect in artistic idea, then his work will make progress very swiftly. Otherwise he is already imperfect, he may think "This is better," but it may not be better because he is imperfect. So he has to take instruction from a perfect person, then the progress will be very swift. (break)
Hayagrīva: Well, this can be taken from the individual point of view or from the idea that God is the architect of the universe. But according to the system of yugas, there is a greater harmony in the beginning, and as the universe winds down, this harmony disintegrates-Tretā-, Dvāpara-, and Kali-yuga. Yet there's a plan.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Without religion the human society is animal society. So religion must be there, and religion means to understand God, to learn how to love God, how to obey His orders, and actually real religion means to accept the order of the Supreme Lord, God. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā this fact is taught. God is personally teaching that "You become My devotee, always think of Me," man-manā bhava mad-bhakto, "worship Me," mad-yājī, "and if you cannot do anything more, you simply offer your obeisances unto Me." Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). Without any big, I mean to say, attempt for religious system, if one has got the idea that there is God, and even without seeing Him if he follows His instruction, always think of Him... Either you think of Him as personal God or as localized or all-pervading, but God has got form. One has to think of the form of the God. That is easier. And if God is accepted as impersonal, that is very troublesome. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, kleśaḥ adhikataras teṣām avyakta āsakta cetasām. Those who are impersonalist, for them to think of God becomes very difficult job. Who is God and what to think of, so the so-called meditation is very difficult. But if you have got really conception of a God, just like we have got Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead... Although He has got different incarnations, forms, He is the Supreme, so we think of Him. That is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We can think, because we have got the form, we have got the Deity in the temple, we have got the picture in our room, and so we have got definite conception of God and definite instruction of God. So this system, following the Bhagavad-gītā, is definitive understanding of God, so people may take this system, and by practical example they can see how those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious, how they are advancing in the religious system, in every system, because God has instructed everything—religious, political, social, cultural, philosophical, science, physics—everything perfectly. God, God means He gives perfect instruction. So this perfect instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā, we, we have accepted. Not accepted; we have known. God is there; you accept or not accept, it doesn't matter. So those who are fortunate, they will see the actual form of God, follow His instruction, and be perfect in the life. That is wanted.
Prabhupāda: So "This kind of way of life is not good. I have to change it." This is called tekhe sekhara. When he is actually in danger, he takes precautions of danger. But one who is intelligent, he understands by hearing that "If you do like that, then you will fall in danger." So that man is intelligent who learns by hearing from the authorities. And one who actually experienced the awkward position, and then he changes his consciousness... That is also one of the processes, but this is better. Therefore our process is to approach the bona fide teacher and learn from him everything. That is brahmacārī life. Not by practical experience. That is Vedic knowledge. The experience is already there. You simply hear and take it. Then it becomes easier. But if you expect that "First of all let me fall down into the ditch, then I shall cry..." Better man is, he takes advice, "Don't go there. You'll fall down in the ditch." Just like Kālidāsa. Kālidāsa was in the beginning he was a great fool. So he was cutting a tree, sitting on the branch. So some intelligent men was going around, "What you are doing, nonsense? You shall fall down." He didn't care, but cutting, he actually fell down. Then, "Oh, you are very intelligent! How did you say? How did you foretold?" Then they saw that he was a first-class fool. So "This boy should be taken to the king's daughter to become her husband." The girl was so intelligent that the challenge was that "Any man who will defeat me in argument, I shall marry." But she was so intelligent that nobody could defeat. So all the learned scholars, the father was asking, "Bring me an intelligent boy to marry her." So they did not find any intelligent boy. Whoever comes, he is defeated. So they decided "Now, because she is so determined to have a very nice husband, we shall make this boy her husband, this fool number one." So they took him there and instructed that "That girl..." and he will show his finger like this. "You'll show this."
Prabhupāda: Purport.
Hari-śauri: The group of transcendentalists who follow the path of the inconceivable, unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord are called jñāna-yogīs, and persons who are in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engaged in devotional service to the Lord, are called bhakti-yogīs. Now, here the difference between jñāna-yoga and bhakti-yoga is definitely expressed. The process of jñāna-yoga, although ultimately bringing one to the same goal, is very troublesome, whereas the path of bhakti-yoga, the process of being in direct service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is easier and is natural for the embodied soul. The individual soul is embodied since time immemorial. It is very difficult for him to simply theoretically understand that he is not the body. Therefore, the bhakti-yogī accepts the Deity of Kṛṣṇa as worshipable because there is some bodily conception fixed in the mind, which can thus be applied. Of course, worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form within the temple is not idol worship. There is evidence in the Vedic literature that worship may be saguṇa and nirguṇa—of the Supreme possessing or not possessing attributes. Worship of the Deity in the temple is saguṇa worship, for the Lord is represented by material qualities. But the form of the Lord, though represented by material qualities such as stone, wood, or oil paint, is not actually material. That is the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord.
Śyāmasundara: That is an a priori fact, that I think therefore I am.
Devotee: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Śyāmasundara: But we cannot..., pure thought process, I cannot do anything more than think myself. I can think that I think therefore I am.
Prabhupāda: You can think, but if you are helped by somebody else who knows the way, then it becomes easier. You are thinking of driving a car. If somebody expert... (break) ...that is practical. Yes.
Śyāmasundara: He says that it is very difficult because the nonego objects are always trying to lead us astray.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Therefore you have to take advantage of an experienced man who knows things. He does not accept any superior.
Śyāmasundara: He says that the moral goal, the moral reality of (indistinct) is the ultimate in superiority...
Prabhupāda: That morality we have already discussed, what is the morality. You can create your own morality, I can create my own morality. What is actual morality?
Śyāmasundara: Maybe that's a good place to end. (end)
Purports to Songs
So worship, worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa or the Supreme Lord, and, at the same time, association of saints and sages, that makes our life successful. Association of good persons and, at the same time, simultaneously, devotional service to the Lord. These two things combinedly can make our life successful.
Woman: How do you call devotion to the Lord?
Prabhupāda: Eh? Yes. Lord... We worship Kṛṣṇa, the symbol of Supreme Consciousness. Because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that kleśa adhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām. If you take up impersonal, simply consciousness, then you have to pass through difficult process, but if you accept the symbol, Kṛṣṇa, the symbol of Supreme Consciousness, that will be easier for you. Yes. It is said. So Kṛṣṇa... I can concentrate my mind. I can focus my mental activities in the service of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Because He is Supreme Consciousness, therefore automatically I concentrate on the Supreme Consciousness. So
- bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana-
- abhaya-caraṇāravinda re
- durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge
- taroho e bhava-sindhu re
Then he says that "What I am doing? What is my present occupation?" The present occupation is:
Then he prays to the Gosvāmīs. Hā hā svarūpa, sanātana, rūpa, raghunātha. "My dear Gosvāmī Prabhus," svarūpa. Svarūpa was Svarūpa Dāmodara was personal secretary of Lord Caitanya. He was always keeping with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and whatever He wanted, he immediately arranged for that. Two personal attendants, Svarūpa Dāmodara and Govinda, they were always, constantly with Lord Caitanya. So Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura also praying Svarūpa Dāmodara. And then the Gosvāmīs. The next disciples of Lord Caitanya were the six Gosvāmīs: Śrī Rūpa, Śrī Sanātana, Śrī Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, Jīva Gosvāmī, and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. These six Gosvāmīs were directly instructed by Lord Caitanya for spreading this movement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura is praying also their mercy. And after the six Gosvāmīs, the next ācārya was Śrīnivāsa Ācārya. So he's also praying Śrīnivāsa Ācārya.
Actually, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura was in the disciplic succession after Śrīnivāsa Ācārya. Or almost he was contemporary. And his personal friend was Rāmacandra, Rāmacandra Cakravartī. So he is praying that "I always desire the company of Rāmacandra." Devotee's company. The whole process is that we should always be praying mercy of the superior ācāryas. And we should keep company with pure devotee. Then it will be easier for us to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness to receive the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is the sum and substance of this song sung by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura. (end)
| Page Title: | Easier (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | MadhuGopaldas, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 18 of Apr, 2013 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=54, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 54 |