Tattva-darśibhiḥ, those who are, who have seen the Absolute Truth, or those who have realized the Absolute Truth, they have concluded that the matter has no permanent existence and spirit soul has no annihilation. These two things would be understood. Asataḥ. Asataḥ means material. Nāsato vidyate bhāvaḥ. Asataḥ, anything asat... Anything in the material world, that is asat. Asat means will not exist, temporary. So you cannot expect permanent happiness in temporary world. That is not possible. But they are trying to become happy. So many plan-making commissions, utopian. But actually there is no happiness. So many commissions. But there is... Tattva-darśī, they know... Tattva-darśī, one has seen or has realized the Absolute Truth, he knows that in the material world there cannot be any happiness. This conclusion should be made. This is simply phantasmagoria, if you want to become happy in this material world.
If you want to be happy
Expressions researched:
"If citizens want to be happy"
|"If we want to be happy"
|"If you want to be happy"
|"If you want to become happy"
|"if they actually want to be happy"
|"if they only want to be happy"
|"if we actually want to be happy"
|"if we at all want to be happy"
|"if you actually want to be happy"
|"if you really want to become happy"
|"if you want to be happy"
|"if you want to keep happy"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 4
According to Vedic civilization, in a monarchy the king is advised by saintly persons and sages. By taking their advice, he can become the greatest executive power, and everyone in his kingdom will be happy, peaceful and prosperous. The great kings were very responsible in taking the instructions given by great saintly personalities. The kings used to accept the instructions given by great sages like Parāśara, Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Devala and Asita. In other words, they would first accept the authority of saintly persons and then execute their monarchical power. Unfortunately, in the present age of Kali, the head of government does not follow the instructions given by the saintly persons; therefore neither the citizens nor the men of government are very happy. Their duration of life is shortened, and almost everyone is wretched and bereft of bodily strength and spiritual power. If citizens want to be happy and prosperous in this democratic age, they should not elect rascals and fools who have no respect for saintly persons.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So their conferences, their United Nation, their scientific advancement, their educational system, philosophy, and so on, so on, everything is meant for how to become happy in this material world. Gṛha-vratānām. The aim is how to become happy here. And that is not possible. These rascals they cannot understand. If you want to become happy, then you must come to Kṛṣṇa. Mām upetya tu kaunteya duḥkhālayam aśāśvataṁ nāpnuvanti (BG 8.15). Kṛṣṇa says, "If somebody comes to Me, then he does not again get this place which is full of miseries," duḥkhālayam. This material world is explained by Kṛṣṇa as duḥkhālayam. Ālayam means place, and duḥkha means distress. Everything is distressful here, but fools being illusioned, covered by the illusory māyā, that distress he accepts as happiness. That is māyā. It is not at all happiness. A man is working whole day and night, and because he's getting some paper where it is written, "We trust in God. Take this paper, hundred dollars. I cheat you." Is it not? "We trust in God. I promise to pay you. Take this paper now. Not even one cent worth. It is written there hundred dollars." So I am thinking I am very happy: "Now I have got this paper." That's all.
If you do not work for that supreme perfect, then you will be bound up and your, this encagement of body will continue. This encagement of body will continue if you work on your own responsibility and not for the supreme purpose of the Supreme Lord, Yajña, or Viṣṇu. That is the secret. Yajña means yajño vai viṣṇuḥ. It is śruti. Śruti means the Vedic literature, the Vedic hymns. They prove it, "Yajña means Viṣṇu." Viṣṇuḥ tu sārthaṁ karma samācara.(?) Therefore we have to work for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu. That is called Yajña.
- saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā
- purovāca prajāpatiḥ
- anena prasaviṣyadhvam
- eṣa vo 'stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk
- (BG 3.10)
The proof of the sacrifice, yajña, is mentioned in the Vedic scripture. After the creation, it was so announced that "If you want to be happy, you must perform sacrifices." Sacrifices.
The Vedic literature is created for guidance of the conditioned souls. Every living being who is in this material world is conditioned by the laws of material nature. And it is a chance, this creation, and especially this human body, is a chance to get rid of this material entanglement. And the chance is open by acting for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu. Saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā. Prajāḥ. Prajāḥ means the living entities, after being created, they were advised that "You perform yajña, or sacrifice, for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu. That will..." Anena, "By this," prasaviṣyadhvam, "you increase your enlightenment." Prasaviṣyadhvam. "And whatever you want, that will be satisfied by this yajña." Devān yajña. That sacrifice.
Yajñārthāt karmaṇaḥ anyatra (BG 3.9). Anyatra. If you do not work for that supreme purpose, then you will be bound up and your this encagement of body will continue. This encagement of body will continue if you work on your own responsibility and not for the supreme purpose or the Supreme Lord Yajña, or Viṣṇu. That is the secret. Yajña means yajña vai viṣṇu iti śrute. Śrute. Śrute means the Vedic literatures, the Vedic hymns. They prove it. Yajña means Viṣṇu. Viṣṇus tu sārthaṁ karma samācara. Therefore we have to work for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu. That is called yajña.
- saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā
- purovāca prajāpatiḥ
- anena prasaviṣyadhvam
- eṣa vo 'stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk
- (BG 3.10)
The proof of this sacrifice, yajña, is mentioned in the Vedic scripture. After the creation it was so announced that "If you want to be happy, you must perform sacrifices." Sacrifices. The Vedic literature is created for guidance of the conditioned souls. Every living being who is in this material world is conditioned by the laws of material nature. And it is a chance. This creation, and especially this human body, is a chance to get rid of this material entanglement, and the chance is open by acting for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu.
So you become yes man and begin this karma-yoga, beginning from your life of eating because eating you require. Without eating, you cannot exist. Therefore, Bhagavad-gītā teaches you that you begin your karma-yoga from the point of eating.
- yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo
- mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ
- bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā
- ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt
- (BG 3.13)
Now, people may say, "Why shall we bother myself about this yajña principle?" No. You have to bother yourself in the yajña principle if you actually want to be happy. The next śloka explains like this:
- annād bhavanti bhūtāni
- parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ
- yajñād bhavati parjanyo
- yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ
- (BG 3.14)
That... Now, why you should have to perform yajña? That is obligatory, not that you are very kind to prepare your foodstuff and offering to Kṛṣṇa. It is very kind. No. It is for your interest. It is for your interest. Why? Now, annād bhavanti bhūtāni. You have to eat. Can you say that "Without eating, I shall continue my life?" No. That is not possible. You have to eat.
So here is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā, Third Chapter, fourteenth verse. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. When I was coming to your village, I saw there are so many agricultural field producing tobacco. So tobacco-producing can give you some money, but you will be shortage of food grains. Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, said that if you want to make happy and prosperous the people in general, then you must produce anna, food grains. Bhagavān has not said anywhere that you produce tobacco, jute and similar other things, which are not required at all.
Similarly, by establishing a godless civilization we are not happy. We are not happy, just like the same way, not supplying foodstuff to the stomach, we are thinking of becoming happy. No, that cannot be. If the senses of the body, parts of the body want to become happy, then he, the senses and the parts of the body, they have to supply foodstuff to the stomach. Similarly, if you want to be happy in this world, there is no alternative without, I mean to say, performing sacrifices. That is recommended here. Evaṁ pravartitaṁ cakram. The circle is... The circle is described in the previous verses, that annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14).
This Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna, and it was recorded by Sañjaya, by the grace of Vyāsadeva. And then Vyāsadeva put the conversation in the Mahābhārata. Mahābhārata means "The History of Greater India." That is Mahābhārata. The whole planet is called Bhārata, Bhāratavarṣa. And the history of the whole planet is called Mahābhārata. In this Mahābhārata, this Bhagavad-gītā is set in for the knowledge of the all human being. It is not meant for the Hindus, for the Indians, for the brāhmaṇas, for the... No. It is meant for everyone to take perfect knowledge from Kṛṣṇa and be happy. If you want to become happy actually, then Kṛṣṇa's instruction you accept. We are already fallen. Now if we want to save ourselves from this fallen condition, take instruction from Kṛṣṇa and do not try to deviate, do not try to interpret in your own whimsical way, in a rascal way. Simply try to understand what Kṛṣṇa says. That's all. Then your life will be perfect.
To satisfy the senses that is sukh. That is happiness. And those who are a little disgusted with sense gratification, indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42). They are mental speculators. They write poetries and utopian theories, "This philosophy, that philosophy." In this way they satisfy the mind. But that is also not happiness. Mental happiness. Mano-rathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ. If you become satisfied by mental happiness, then you'll have to come down again. Asato. Asato mā sad-gamaḥ. Real life is: "Don't stay in this temporary world but go to the real world, paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). You'll find all these things in Bhagavad-gītā. So either on the bodily plane or on the mental plane you cannot be happy. That is not possible. But if you want to be happy then you have to come to the spiritual platform and engage in spiritual activities, sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriyam grāhyam (BG 6.21). Atīndriya means above the material platform of sensual and mental activities.
Now, just this evening, one gentleman was speaking about Ahmedabad, that the students have burned so many buses, they're now uncontrollable. So this is going on all over the world. People are frustrated, because on account of these rascal leaders. They are taking the position of leadership, but they're all rascals and fools, they cannot lead. If you want to be happy, take actual leadership of Kṛṣṇa, then you'll be happy.
. Just like by worshiping Goddess Durgā we want all these things. But we forget that whatever we get, material benefit, with the end of this material body, everything is lost. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that "At the end, I, as death, I take away all your material possession." Sarva-haro mṛtyuḥ.
So that is not good. We, because we are eternal—nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13)—we should be after eternal happiness, eternal benefit. That should be our business. Therefore we should not be karma-ja, not karmī. Neither we should become jñānīs. We should become yogi. And what kind of yogi? Bhakti-yogī. Because there are different types of yoga practices. Out of that, bhakti-yoga is the topmost. Because Kṛṣṇa says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). Without being in the bhakti-yoga, neither you can be happy, nor you can understand what is Kṛṣṇa and what is your relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Evaṁ prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ (SB 1.2.20). If you want to be happy, then bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ, it can be possible. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. That is stated, naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā (SB 1.2.18).
Devotee (1): Prabhupāda? If you follow the essence of any religion, is that the law of God?
Prabhupāda: The essence I have already given: to surrender to God. What else, essence? What is else? The essence is that you surrender to God. You may follow any religious system, it doesn't matter, but whether you know God and whether you have surrendered to Him, that is essence. If you do not know God, then what is the meaning of your religion? And if you do not surrender to God, if you surrender to your senses only, then what is religion? Simply by rubber-stamping religion... That has happened at the present moment. Nobody knows what is meant by religion. And this is the essence of religion: to surrender to God. So if you do not know who is God, where you are going to surrender? You cannot surrender to the air. You must know what is God and what is surrender meaning, gradually. But this is the essence of religion, to surrender to God.
- sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
- yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
- ahaituky apratihatā
- yayātmā suprasīdati
- (SB 1.2.6)
If you want to be happy, ātmā, suprasanna, then you should be a lover, bhakti, devotee of God. This is the essence.
Because spiritual life means tapasya. Formerly great, great saintly persons, they underwent very, very severe tapasya for thousands of years, hundreds of years. Then they attained success. In the Kali-yuga it is not possible to undergo such severe tapasya. There is concession. The concession is that you live a pure life and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This will make sufficient. A pure life: no illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating, no gambling. This is pure life. These boys and girls who have joined this movement, they have given up. They are not dying. Nobody will die if he lives a pure life. Anyone will make progress. Tapasā brahmacaryeṇa (SB 6.1.13). These are the injunction of the śāstra. If you want to be happy, this is the.... Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam (SB 5.5.1).
Sattva means my existence. At the present moment my existence is not śuddha, purified. Just like if your health is contaminated, then you get some disease. So for the soul, the living entity, this disease, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9), this is a kind of disease.
At night I work with dictaphone. So I am sorry... I become sorry if I cannot work. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One must be very much anxious to work. It is not that it is an idle society. No. We have got sufficient engagement. They are editing papers, they are selling papers. Just simply find out how Kṛṣṇa conscious can be spread, this much. This is practical.
So if you want really peace, if you want to be happy, take to this philosophy, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And the beginning is how to develop attachment for Kṛṣṇa. So the process which we have prescribed, this chanting before the Deities and offering prasādam, this will make you gradually advanced. So we shall talk later on further on this subject. If there is any question, you can inquire.
So we have to understand this fact. This is the business of human life. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Everyone should be inquisitive to learn about Brahman, the spirit soul. Not like animals. The animals they have got no inquiry about Brahman. They simply eat, sleep beget some offspring and, in due course of time, die. That is not the business of human being. The business of human being is different. That is advised by Prahlāda Mahārāja:
- kaumāra ācaret prājño
- dharmān bhāgavatān iha
- durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
- tad apy adhruvam arthadam
- (SB 7.6.1)
Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān. Children, kaumāra... Kaumāra means from fifth year to the fifteenth year. These ten years, the boys and girls, especially boys, they should be instructed about religion. Now our government is secular. There is no question of teaching the children about religion, dharmān. Because dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ. If you don't teach your children from the beginning of life about religion, then you are creating so many animals. Dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ. Not only here, everywhere, the whole world, they are, their universities are producing some animals. That's all. Therefore there is so much chaos and confusion all over the world. Varṇa-saṅkara. So if you want to be happy, really, if you want to make your life successful, human life, then you have to take this principle of mayy āsakta manāḥ. You have to increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa. This is the meaning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a sectarian religion. It is the fact.
Śaraṇaṁ suhṛt. Suhṛt means well-wisher. Who can become more well-wisher than God? Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 5.29). Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām. He is... I can be friend, well-wisher, to a limited circle, but God is friend and well-wisher of all living entities. I can take care of my family members, how they are happy, how they are eating, but God is taking care of innumerable living entities. You see? I don't take care of the ants in my room, what they are eating, I do not take care of the bugs in my bed, but God is taking care also of them. He is taking care. He is suhṛt. He wants that "You live. You are given freedom, whatever you like. But if you want to be happy, then give up all this nonsense. Come to Me. Take shelter, Me. I will give you all protection." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66).
Kṛṣṇa gives us full facility. I want to work in this way. All right, you work. Kṛṣṇa says that you don't work. This will not make you happy. You are asking Me facilities to fulfill your desire under certain condition. That you may have from Me. I can give you. But you'll never be happy." That is Kṛṣṇa's order. You'll never be happy. How I shall be happy? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). You'll be happy only by this process. Simply by this process. If you manufacture, by your fertile brain, that: "I shall be happy in this way and that way," you'll never be happy. If you want to be happy at all, then this is My instruction: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śa... (BG 18.66). Kṛṣṇa is repeatedly saying this to everyone.
Just like we create favorable circumstances to enjoy even in this life. Why this struggle for existence? We are trying to make a favorable condition for enjoyment. This is struggle for existence. Nobody is satisfied with the present position. Everyone is struggling hard. But he does not know that any material arrangement, according to my intelligence, will never make me happy. That we do not know. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, "You rascal, nonsense, give up this business." Sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66). "You are rascal number one. You have forgotten your constitutional position. Now you give up all these engagements if you want to be happy." Mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. "Just be under My control." "And what benefit I shall derive?" Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ: "I'll give you protection." Because you're suffering for your sinful activities... everything is sinful activities. Everything.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
I am very glad that these girls, with great difficulty you come to this class. I very much thank you. This is ahaituky apratihatā. The devotional service cannot be checked by any material impediment. It is not conditional, that "Because I am in this condition, I cannot execute devotional service." No. Anyone in any position, in any circumstances, he can become the greatest devotee of the Lord—if he desires.
- sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
- yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
- ahaituky apratihatā
- yayātmā suprasīdati
- (SB 1.2.6)
The real aim of life is how to get satisfaction, full, complete satisfaction. And that satisfaction, complete satisfaction, can be achieved only by prosecution of devotional service. There is no other method. If you want to be happy, free from all cares and anxieties, then you have to engage yourself in devotional service of the Lord. That will make you free from all material anxieties and all material miseries. We are all seeking after that position, how to become completely happy. Our whole struggle for existence... Anyone, in any place, any country, they are all struggling for existence, either human being or animal or birds or beasts, how to become happy. This happiness of the mind, ātmā, is only possible when we are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the only remedy. There is no other alternative.
So the spirit soul has got immense power, immense power. That is only fragment of Kṛṣṇa, part and parcel. Now, just you can imagine what is the power of Kṛṣṇa. A..., a small, fragmental portion of Kṛṣṇa... Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). The living entity, he has got so much potencies. And what potency Kṛṣṇa has got, who is full of spiritual potency? So actually if we want to be happy, as part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we must join Him. That is our value. This example I have given several times, that a small screw of a machine has got immense value when it is attached with the machine. The same small screw, when it is detached from the machine, it has no value. Not even a farthing. Similarly, we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva. Our value is in full when we join Kṛṣṇa, when we dovetail our activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then it is valuable. Otherwise the so-called progress is simply illusion. There is no progress. It is simply illusion. Ato vai kavayo nityaṁ bhaktiṁ paramayā mudā.
no
Actually, there is no happiness in the material world. Kṛṣṇa says, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam: (BG 8.15) "This place is full of misery, full of misery." Now, how you can make it happy? Caitanya-caritāmṛta also says that dvaite bhadrābhadra sakali samāna. In this material world it is our mental creation: "This is happiness. This is distress." Actually, it is all distress. After all, we have to die. After all, we have to finish this business. So what is happiness or distress? Bhāgavata also says that "Don't bother yourself to make yourself happy by working day and night without trying for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is simply waste of time." There is no question of happiness in this material world. If you actually want to be happy, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12), if you want to be placed in real happiness, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhyate (SB 1.5.18).
The spirit soul is originally part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. He should develop his Kṛṣṇa consciousness and go back to home, back to Godhead. That is his real business. But on account of this anartha, created designation, he is suffering. And he is trying to adjust things materially. That will never be possible. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). You go on trying to adjust things on the material platform, it will never be done. Durāśayā. This has been described, durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). This is durāśayā. This hope will never be fulfilled. One must know it certainly. If you want to be happy, if you want to be peaceful, if you want to be elevated again to your original, constitutional position, then you take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and be happy.
So if we want to be happy, these things are required. What is that? Ime jana-padāḥ svṛddhāḥ. Jana-padāḥ, cities and towns, we require. Because we are human beings, we cannot live in the forest. There are certain uncivilized human beings, they are meant for living in the forest because they are not civilized. But civilized men, they require nice towns, cities, full of gardens, parks, and nice roads and paths, nice building. They're all described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about the Dvārakā City, Mathurā City, in the, those days. Still there are some samples. In Mathurā you'll find that outside the city there are many gardens. The gardens... Formerly the guests, kings and big, big men, when they became guests, these garden houses were meant for them. We get this information from many literatures, Vedic literatures.
So brahma-sampattyā. So actually if you want to be happy, then you have to acquire this brahma-sampattyā viśokaḥ, then there will be no more lamentation. Everyone is... Know that it is our Father's property, Kṛṣṇa's property. So there is (indistinct) supply. Why you are fighting? There is no cause of fighting. Actually this is a fact. There's so much space still vacant—especially I've seen in Africa and Australia—ten times population can be accommodated and ten times foodstuff can be produced. But that they will not do. They will not allow. "No, this is my property. You cannot come here. Bow! Bow! Bow!" This is the immigration department, the "Bow! Bow! department." They say, "Why you have come here? Why you have come here?" We say, "It is God's property. Why you are making barking? Is it not your father's property?" But this ignorance is prevailing. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a challenge to all the rascals and fools, that's all. So those who have taken this movement very seriously, they should be very sober and understand at least you must expose all these rascals. That will be very much appreciated by Kṛṣṇa.
Education means knowledge, to get knowledge. And the Vedic direction is that if you want really knowledge, then tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12) "One has to go to the guru, or the spiritual master." Gurum eva abhigacchet. One must go. There is no alternative. Nobody can say that "Without going to the guru we can become happy." That is not possible, according to Vedic principle. Even Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He accepted guru. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality, He accepted guru. So that is our Vedic principle. The beginning of Bhagavad-gītā it is said, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). Imaṁ rājarṣi. Rājarṣi means great saintly kings. They also accepted a predecessor guru.
- imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
- proktavān aham avyayam
- vivasvān manave prāha
- manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt
- (BG 4.1)
- Everything is there.
So if we actually want to be happy, then we should not live like animals, without any restriction, without any... Even in your state, just to keep proper management of the state, there are so many laws. Even you... As soon as you go on the street, you see there is state law immediately, "Keep to the right." Discipline must be there. That is dharma, discipline, to abide by the state laws. There must be some discipline. Similarly, to make yourself advanced in spiritual life, you must have to observe the discipline. Without discipline, it is not possible. Ādau gurvāśrayam.
In every step there is danger. Every step. We are running our motorcars very fast, seventy miles, one hundred miles speed, but any moment there can be great danger. So actually there cannot be any peace in material life. That is not possible. Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam. We have to take therefore shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. If we want to be happy, if we want to be peaceful, then this is the only way. And the... Śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-khara... And in the previous verse, kiṁ grāme paśavo 'pare, na khādanti na mehanti. This eating, sleeping, mating, so it is criticized: "Do the cats and dogs and the camels, they do not eat?"
Durāśā: the hope which will never be fulfilled. What is that hope? They are trying to adjust this material world to become happy. This is durāśā. Durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. Andha, and the leaders, they are also leading in that way: "Give up this Vedic culture. Throw away." The leaders say openly that "Throw away your śāstras in the water. No more śāstra. Now you take to industry, technology, if you want to become happy just like the Americans, like the Europeans." So the leaders, such leaders have been described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, andha. Andha means blind. They do not know how to lead people, what is the aim of life. The aim of life is not to understand or learn some technical knowledge by which we can make some bodily comforts. That is not aim of life. The aim of life is different. We are part and parcel of God. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). Now we are separated. Not separated; just like a criminal is not separated from the state. He is in the state, but in a different condition. Similarly, we cannot be separated from God. That is not possible. We are part and parcel of God.
Those who are cooking in the kitchen very palatable dishes for satisfying the tongue, they are simply eating sinful things. Ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt.
So therefore, if we become sinful every moment, how we can become happy? It is not possible. If you want to become happy, you have to become pious. And the standard of piety is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, devotee of Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest perfection of life.
So ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12) means you'll be get..., you'll be freed from this ignorance that "I am something of this material world." This is wanted. So long we are not realized, self-realized, then we are no better than these cats and dogs, because they do not know that he is not the body. So if we think that "I am this body," then we are no better than the cats and dogs. So if you want to become happy, first of all we must get this knowledge, that "I am not this body." Now we are busy with the bodily demands of life. We are not busy for spiritual demand of life. That is the business of the human being, that "I am not this material body. I am spirit soul. So my business is different from the business at the present moment we are engaged in." Everyone is engaged for satisfying the bodily necessities of life. Everyone. The cats and dogs, animals, they are also busy how to fulfill the demands of the body. The demands of the body are four: āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca (Hitopadeśa). Āhāra means eating, and nidrā... Nidrā means sleeping, āhāra-nidrā-bhaya. Bhaya means to become fearful, to become anxious, full of anxieties. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya. And maithuna, and sexual intercourse. So these are the demands of the body. They are called viṣaya. Viṣaya means so-called enjoyable, viṣaya. But the Vaiṣṇava says that viṣaya chāḍiyā, se rase majiyā, mukhe bolo hari hari. The transcendental sound Hari, Hare Kṛṣṇa, should be chanted, viṣaya chāḍiyā, without any attraction for this viṣaya. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca. Then it will be perfect.
You are hankering after happiness, pleasure. So when your existential condition will be purified and you will be placed in the transcendental platform, at that time you will enjoy eternal happiness. You are all... After all, you are after happiness. Why you are struggling so much hard in this material existence? For happiness. Why you are after sense gratification? For happiness. Why you want to possess? For happiness. Why you want to become beautiful? For happiness. Why you want to eat so many things? For happiness. You go on. The happiness, your ultimate goal. But the happiness which you are now deriving from the sources you have manufactured, that is temporary. If you want to become happy by intoxication, how long? That is temporary. Any way. If you want to be happy by sex indulgence, how long? That is also for a few minutes, few seconds. But if you want eternal, continued happiness, then you have to purify your existential condition, you have to place yourself in the transcendental position, and you will feel that happiness.
And karma means they are not struggling hard to enjoy the fruitive result, as we see generally everywhere, they are working so hard. Big, big buildings, big, big factories, big, big roads, cities, so many things. They are trying to be happy by such advancement of material opulence. They are called karmī. Some of them are trying to be happy within this material, within this world or within this life, and there are others also, they are also performing big, big yajñas, charities, so that next life they may also take birth in very nice family or may be elevated to the higher planetary system where the standard of life is thousand times better than here. There is all arrangement. So they are trying for that. Not only to become very bodily happy in this life, but also next life. But as there is difficulty... Suppose if you want to be happy materially, then... You see how they are working very hard. They have no time. In the morning, at half past five, we go for morning walk, we see, workers are going. At night... You Europeans, you know better than me how they are working very, very hard. What is the idea? To become happy. To satisfy the senses. Similarly, there are others who know that there is life after death. So they are also preparing how "Next life also we'll be happy, we may take birth in very rich family, in higher planet, in heavenly planet."
First of all this material world means anxiety. We are put... We are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Why we are sent to this material world? Icchā-dveṣa sammutthena, sarge yānti parantapa (BG 7.27), because we wanted to enjoy life independent of God, or Kṛṣṇa. This is the disease. We are not independent. If there is no rain and there is no food grains, what your independence will do? No. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14), very practical, that if you want to be happy, either animal or man, bhūtāni, then you produce anna, food grains, sumptuously. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. And there must be sufficient rain for producing sufficient food grains. Yajñād bhavanti parjanyaḥ, and you perform yajña, there will be regular rainfall. Yajñaḥ-karma samudbhavam. Who is following this principle? Yajñaḥ-karma samudbhavam. Kṛṣṇa never says that factories, by factories bhavanti bhūtāni. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni, He says this is practical. We are not interested how to produce anna. We are now interested how to produce tire tubes. So eat tire tube.
So this is going on. Take Kṛṣṇa's instruction as it is, you'll be happy. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a bogus thing; it is very scientific, authorized. Take it very seriously, especially those who are born Indians. They've got the advantage. Don't be misled.
So anyone who has accepted this material world as very comfortable... It is not comfortable; it is simply suffering. Kṛṣṇa says, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). And still, if we want to be happy in this material world, bahir-artha-māninaḥ... These fools, they are trying to be happy within this material world. Material means external energy, bahir-artha-māninaḥ. Na te viduḥ svārtha gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā (SB 7.5.31). This is durāśayā, the hope which will never be fulfilled. But this we do not... Māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān (SB 7.9.43). So unless there is vairāgya, there is no question of happiness. But we cannot attain vairāgya immediately; therefore the vidhi-mārga, vidhi-mārga-bhakti: to rise early in the morning, to attend maṅgala ārati, to offer Deity flowers, fruits, and in this way we shall be engaged twenty-four hours. Then vairāgya-vidyā will gradually develop. Anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje (SB 1.7.6). Then the anartha... This material life is simply anartha, has no meaning, because we are creating another life. Without any spiritual knowledge, if we simply give ourself to the action and reaction of material nature, then we are making progress on the path of mṛtyu-saṁsāra vartmani (BG 9.3). And if we attain Kṛṣṇa, then mām upetya kaunteya duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, nāpnuvanti (BG 8.15). The two ways.
Just like gold mine and a small particle of gold. So small particle has... It will be called gold, and it has got some value. But not as good as the gold mine. This is the difference between God and ourself. We should understand. So if we give up this service to the senses and we engage ourself in the service of the great... Everyone wants to serve the great. That is natural. If one is serving ordinary mercantile firm, he is thinking of getting some service in the government office. That is very secure. So if we seek our service to the supreme government, Kṛṣṇa, or God, then we will be happy. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
If you actually want to be happy... Now you can see, these boys, they are chanting, dancing. This is not artificial. Artificial dancing can be performed one day, two days, then finished. But they are doing twenty-four hours. How they are doing, unless they are feeling some happiness, transcendental happiness? They are not fools. They are not uneducated. They are educated. They are coming from a good family. But they have sacrificed everything, and they are enjoying this Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting and dancing.
If you think that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness you'll be happy, do that. Kṛṣṇa does not object to that. Yathecchasi tathā kuru (BG 18.63). Kṛṣṇa, after advising Arjuna, He simply inquired, "Now I have explained to you everything. Whatever you desire you can now do." So immediately Arjuna replied, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73): "Now I shall execute Your order." That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. God does not interfere with your little independence. If you want to act according to the order of God, then God will help you. Even sometimes you fall down, if you become sincere that "From this time, I shall remain Kṛṣṇa conscious and execute His orders," then Kṛṣṇa will help you, in all respects. Even you fall down, He'll excuse you and He will give more intelligence, "Don't do this. Now go on with your duty." But if you want to forget Kṛṣṇa, if you want to become happy without Kṛṣṇa, He, He'll give you so many chances that you'll forget Kṛṣṇa, you'll forget. Life after life. That's all.
This is the result. Now enjoy the result. As you reap, so you... As you sow, so you reap. Therefore this movement is specially meant for making first-class, second-class men at least. Or even third class, fourth class. But what is this? You are producing sixth-class, seventh-class, tenth-class men, and you expect that there will be no crime, people will be happy, it will be peaceful. That is not possible. If you want to be happy, peaceful, then you must take this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and try to create at least a group of men first class, just like we are doing that. People will see their behavior, their character, their mode of life, and at least they will be attracted.
So we are, at the present moment, in different conditions of life on account of our different activities, pious and impious, dharma, adharma. So pious activities means to be controlled by Kṛṣṇa, and impious activities means to be controlled by māyā. We have to be controlled. Our position is such that we cannot become controller. That is not possible. If we want to become controller, that is my artificial desire. And the resultant action we will have to suffer. First of all you must understand this, that we are controlled. Either you agree to be controlled by Kṛṣṇa or you agree to be controlled by māyā, but you cannot become controller. Is there anyone here who can say that "I am controller"? Is there anyone who will answer this? So I may think that "I am controller," but I am controlled by drugs, by sense gratification, desires—kāma krodha lobha moha mātsarya. So there is no question of the living entity's being independent. That is not possible. He is dependent. But if he becomes dependent on Kṛṣṇa, then life is successful. Exactly the position, the dog. The dog is loitering without being controlled by somebody. He is seeking, "Somebody may control me." He's seeking position. But if he does not get anybody to control him, his life is very precarious; he is not happy. Therefore, if you want to be happy, then we must return to our own original position: to be controlled by Kṛṣṇa. This is perfection of life.
So this is the special mercy for the unalloyed devotee. So unalloyed devotee means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (Brs. 1.1.11). Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). Upādhi means artificially. "I am the husband of this wife." "I am the father of these children." "I am the inhabitants of America." "I am American." "I am Hindu." "I am Muslim." "I am Christian." "I am brāhmaṇa." "I am fat." "I am thin." "I am white." "I am black." So many things. These are all upādhis. So one has to become free from these upādhi. "I am not this. I am not that. I am not this." Then what you are? Gopī-bhartur pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsa (CC Madhya 13.80). When one becomes like that... "I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa, gopī-bhartuḥ." This is called paramparā system. This is our real identification. Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. So if you want to be happy, you cannot become happy by your so-called endeavor, by tidbits: "This I will do and I will be happy." No, this is all nonsense. You can be happy only when you fully surrender to Kṛṣṇa without any abhilāṣa.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that "You surrender to Me, and you'll be free from māyā." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ sara..., ahaṁ tvām (BG 18.66): "I'll give you protection." Mām eva ye prapadyante (BG 4.11). The same thing, whole instruction, is there. Simply if we want to be happy... Happiness you cannot have in this way, by concocting plans. That is not possible. You have seen the whole world, especially in the modern days, so many big, big nations, they are assembled together in the United Nation. Nonsense, where is the unity? Simply disunity. For the last twenty or thirty years they are struggling. Before that, they convened another, League of Nation. So they are making simply plans. And it continues for some time. Then, after fifteen or twenty years, again conflagration of war, especially in the Europe. They're all demons. How the demons can bring in peace by so-called United Nation or League of Nation? That is not possible. They have to give up the demonic activities. They have to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then they will be saved.
There are so many things, natural disturbance. So in either of these three types of miserable condition we are. But those who are foolish, they do not see to it. Under illusion of māyā they think, "Oh, we are very happy." This is called māyā. One is not happy, but he's thinking, "I am happy." And they are trying to become happy in so many other ways.
But that is not the way of seeking happiness. If we actually want to be happy, then you have to inquire about your constitutional position, what I am. That is meditation, to know. You just think over yourself, "Whether I am this body?" If you think that... Suppose you think over your, meditate upon your finger. You'll come to the conclusion that "I am not this finger. It is my finger. I am not this finger." Because if the finger is cut off, that I am not dead, therefore I am not finger. It is very easy to understand. So you meditate on every part of your body. You'll come to the conclusion, if you are sane, that "I am not this body. The body is mine. I am not this dress. The dress is mine." That is the conclusion.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
This, these four kinds of stages of sinful activities, in stock, almost fructified, manifest, all the stages of sinful activities can be immediately nullified. Because it is assured by Kṛṣṇa, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi. It is not imagination. If we believe in the words of Kṛṣṇa, then there is no question of denying this fact. Kṛṣṇa personally says, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣa... Sarva-pāpebhyo (BG 18.66). The kūṭa-stha, phalonmukha, prārabdha, everything, it become immediately nullified, simply by this process, by surrendering: "Kṛṣṇa, I, I was mistaken. I got..., forgot your mastership; You are my eternal Lord. So I was bewildered. I was wandering. Now I have come to my senses. I surrender unto You sincerely. You accept me." This very thing will give you immediately protection from all sinful activities. Kṛṣṇa says,
- sarva-dharmān parityajya
- mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
- ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
- mokṣayiṣyāmi...
- (BG 18.66)
So where is the difficulty? Let us surrender to Kṛṣṇa and execute His will, whatever He... Surrender means I must be prepared to execute the will of Kṛṣṇa; not my whims, but Kṛṣṇa's will. The Kṛṣṇa's will is that you become Kṛṣṇa's devotee. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). Where is the difficulty? You surrender unto Him, and He assures, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). Immediately he becomes relieved from the effects of illusory energy. So there is no difficulty, not at all difficulty. Let us immediately become surrendered to Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. Think of Him always. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ, to become His devotee, always think of Him. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). "Always worship Me. Always offer obeisances." These are the four principles. Anyone can do it. There is no restriction for any caste, creed, nation. Everyone. It is open to the human being. So if we actually want to be happy, we must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There is no alternative. That is our point.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
When a man is dead, the relatives cry, lament, "Oh, my son is gone," "My father is gone," "My wife is gone." But if we think, "Your wife is there lying. Your son is lying there. Why do you say he is gone?" Actually he is gone, but so long he does not go, we think this body as my son, as my daughter. This is ignorance. At the end we can understand, "Oh, this body is not my son," "This body is not my daughter," "This body is not my father," when the end is done. But still, even after that experience, we think that "This body is myself." This is called ignorance. Ahany ahani lokāni gacchanti yama-mandiram. In every moment, every second, we are seeing that body is this matter; the soul, when gone from the body, it has no value. Still, I am thinking that "I shall live in this world eternally, and I shall... Let me enjoy this bodily sense gratification." This is ignorance.
So this ignorance has to be removed if we actually want to be happy and peaceful. Nobody in ignorance can be happy. We have got experience here. Those who are advanced in knowledge, they are comparatively happy in this world, and those who are ignorance, they are not happy. Of course, by the spell of this illusory energy, although he is not happy, he thinks, "I am happy."
Arrival Addresses and Talks
Those who are miscreants, rascals, and lowest of the mankind, and taken all knowledge, and atheistic class of men, they do not know what is God. Others, those who are virtuous, those who are inquisitive, those who are wise, they will try and they will understand what is God. So my appeal to you is that you try to understand this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a bogus movement. It is scientific, authorized. Any scientist, any philosopher and logician may come and we shall prove that there is God and we have got eternal relationship with God. So if you want to be happy, then you must take to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Otherwise the human race is doomed. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā (SB 5.18.12). Anyone who has no God consciousness, he has no qualification. However academically he may be very rich, he has no qualification. Manorathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ. His only qualification is mental concoction. Mental concoction. That's all. He has no other qualification. So we reject all these nonsense. We simply accept a sincere soul who wants to dedicate his life for God's service. So it is not easy thing.
When you are put into the ocean, however expertly you may swim, you will never be happy there. That is not possible. The only remedy is to pick you. If somebody can pick up from the ocean and give you shelter on the land, then you will feel happy. Similarly, our program is not to become happy by so-called adjustment of material condition. That is not possible. Better come to the spiritual platform and act in the spiritual life. Then there is possibility of happiness. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that those who are cultivating spiritual life, spiritual knowledge, for them, after giving up this body there is promotion to the spiritual world. That is eternal, blissful life, and that will make us happy. So if we become serious, if we actually want to be happy, then we must take to spiritual understanding. Of course, in every country or in different parts of the world, there is some religious system. Religious system means to understand spiritual life.
Indian man: When the body dies, the body is finished, but what about the soul? The soul, about the soul?
Prabhupāda: Soul enters another body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). That is the misunderstanding of the modern civilization. They do not know that soul is eternal, it is changing body, different bodies, and there are 8,400,000 different forms of body. According to his desire, he is entering another body. Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu (BG 13.22). As he is associating or he is being infected by the different modes of material nature, he is getting, next life, another body. (break) ...big king or big minister or the body of an ant, as soon as you accept this material body, the suffering is there.
So if you want to be happy, then this is the opportunity. This human form of body is the opportunity. Don't waste this human form of body like cats and dogs. The cats and dogs, they cannot understand that he is not this body, he is spirit soul, but a human being can understand. There is so, so many books of knowledge, and so many self-realized persons. So if anyone wants to understand what he is, he can understand in the human form of body.
Initiation Lectures
Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends this process, that you don't try artificially to become God the great. It is not possible. Simply waste of time. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva. It is not the statement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu; it is the statement of Bhāgavata, but He quoted this. His disciple, Rāmānanda Rāya, quoted this while discussing what is the objective of human life. So He recommends this objective. What is that? Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva. Don't try to be puffed up artificially by your speculative knowledge that you are the same God. Don't try for it. If you actually want to be happy, and if you want, actually, you want to be God realized or Kṛṣṇa conscious person, then the first thing is that you give up this nonsense habit—by speculation, you want to be God. Puffed up: "I am God. I am God. I am God." But you are not God. You are God qualitatively, not quantitatively. Why don't you understand this?
General Lectures
Prabhupāda: Yes, there is gradual evolution. From dog life, from animal life, again by evolutionary process... That is accepted by anthropo... What is called? Anthropology. That they come to the human being, again there is a chance to get out of this bodily embodiment, and you can get yourself free life in the spiritual world. So if you lose this chance, then you again go to the cycle of birth and death in so many forms of bodies. Therefore we should utilize this enlightened body, the human form of body, the civilized form of life, for our next eternal life. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). We should prepare ourself to go to that form of life which has no more birth, death, or disease or old age. Eternal life. Yes.
Student (11): Does it do atheists any good to chant your verses if they only want to be happy through chanting them?
Prabhupāda: Certainly. You may be atheist or theist. The chanting is so powerful, the atheist will be theist. If you are atheist, you can try it. Yes?
Student (12): Is this continual reincarnation only occurring on this earth, or does it occur on other planets?
Prabhupāda: Oh, other planets. All throughout the whole material world.
Just like this finger is working fully in consciousness of my body. Whenever there is little pain I can feel. Similarly, if you dovetail yourself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you are living in your normal condition, your life is successful. And as soon as you are separated from Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the whole trouble is there. The whole trouble is there. So there are many examples we cite every day in this class. So we have to accept this Kṛṣṇa consciousness if we at all want to be happy and be situated in our normal condition. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
So actually, if we want to be happy, then we have to accept the principle of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. Bhakti comes out of love. You cannot make one forced to love you. It comes automatically. That automatic love is there in everyone's heart for Kṛṣṇa. That is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta:
- nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya
- śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
Udaya means it is awakened. Everyone has got love for Kṛṣṇa within the heart. That is natural. But that love is distributed in different ways. How? Yasyātmā-buddhiḥ kunape tri-dhātuke sva-dhiḥ kalatradisu bhauma idya-dhiḥ (SB 10.84.13). This love has been distributed familywise, communitywise, nationwise, countrywise, like that. So this love has to be concentrated, converted, to be love of Kṛṣṇa. That is required. Then everything is perfect. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's teaching, and He practically... Kṛṣṇa-prema-prdaya. To develop love for somebody, that requires very elaborate process. It is not... Because we are in the darkness.
Philosophy Discussions
Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: That sound? (break) ...our philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness if they actually want to be happy. This is a fact. Not sentimentally, but scientifically, philosophically. Let them... Let the biggest scientists, biggest philosopher, come and understand. (break) ...gone away, but nobody saw.
Bali Mardana: Yeah, they saw, but it was very faint. It was not as bright as was expected.
Sudāmā: It did not collide. It did not hit the earth.
Prabhupāda: Oh. But only they saw?
Bali Mardana: No, it was visible to the naked eye, but very faintly, not as bright as it was predicted.
Sudāmā: They had predicted that it was going to be as bright as three...
Prabhupāda: ...millions times...
Prabhupāda: In Calcutta also we had such functions. About thirty thousand people were coming in Bombay.
Monsignor Verrozano: Could you be so kind to say to us something about your movement which is spread in the world.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Our movement is that, that is first-class religious system which teaches how to love God. This is the sum and substance of our movement. There is a Sanskrit statement in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
- sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
- yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
- ahaituky apratihatā
- yayātmā suprasīdati
- (SB 1.2.6)
If you want to be happy, then you must take to the superior type of religious system which teaches the followers how to love God without any motive, and which is never checked by any material condition. God's name is given here as Adhokṣaja. Adhokṣaja means beyond experimental knowledge. God has got many name according to different situation, and one of the name, for the materialistic person, adhokṣaja. Akṣaja means experimental knowledge. Akṣa means eyes or senses. Beyond sense perception. So we cannot speculate about God, but we can understand about God from authorities. This is the conception of Bhāgavata-dharma. So the human life is especially meant for understanding God. That is the version of the Vedānta-sūtra, Vedānta philosophy. The Vedānta philosophy teaches, athāto brahma jijñāsā, "Now this human form of body, which is above the lower grades of forms..." There are 8,400,000 forms of body. The soul is transmigrating, evolution. But when we get this human form of body, our main business is to inquire about God.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: So the real need is Kṛṣṇa. That is missing. Therefore this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. All these Western students, they were in need. Now they have got Kṛṣṇa. This young man, twenty-four years old, he has got all the desires for enjoyment, but he's no more after enjoyment. He's a sannyāsī. He's chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Why? His need is fulfilled.
(break) ... Little playing jugglery? He becomes God. So even the so-called yogīs, they're in need. The so-called jñānīs, they're in need. The so-called karmīs, they are also in need. Only the bhakta... That Dhruva Mahārāja, he said, "No, I am not in need." Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce (CC Madhya 22.42). So therefore this is the only platform to bring man to feel completely fulfilled.
It is very important movement. So I request you all to study this movement and help and join this movement. It is very scientific, authentic and real. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ (BG 18.66). If you want to be happy, you have to take Kṛṣṇa. Then you'll be happy. Otherwise not.
Prabhupāda: (Bengali) Where is the actual attempt to give everyone sufficient food? Where is that attempt? And here in the Bhagavad-gītā it is plainly said, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14): if you want to keep happy the animals and the men, then produce food grain. Who is doing that? They simply passing resolution and raising funds and then eating, themself, at the cost of others. And therefore the price is increasing. One who has got money, he can pay more price, artificial. I am poor man; I have no money. You have got money. You purchase before me, then I starve. But if there is sufficient supply of food grain, then this thing will not happen. You can distribute without any price. That was being done in India. Educated man means unemployment, is it not? So-called education means creating unemployment. They will go with application, "Give me some clerical post, some this post, that post, that post." This is education.
Jayadharma: Some people say that trees may be very happy. How do we know?
Prabhupāda: If you want to become happy like that, be. Stand up. Stand up on the bench and laugh—be happy. (laughter)
Amogha: But they say we are humans; we can enjoy.
Prabhupāda: What enjoy?
Amogha: Television, cinema, dancing...
Prabhupāda: Yes, the dogs also dance and enjoy. The monkey also dance and enjoy.
Paramahaṁsa: But these animals, they're not intelligent enough to enjoy the higher...
Prabhupāda: Why not intelligent? They are intelligent. Otherwise when the dogs jumps from here, and one man goes there and come here, he's enjoying. It is enjoyment. So you are doing like that.
Prabhupāda: When the Rāhu happens to be between the two planets, sun and moon, there is eclipse.
Paramahaṁsa: When the orbits intercross.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Paramahaṁsa: Ketu is below Rāhu?
Prabhupāda: Ketu is not mentioned there.
Paramahaṁsa: Oh. (break)
Prabhupāda: ...another part of Rāhu.
Paramahaṁsa: Hmm.
Prabhupāda: Madhudviṣa Mahārāja, here is a property for sale.
Madhudviṣa: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Nice property. (break) ...only due to difference of time it appears different. (break) ...Vedic instruction. In the spiritual world and the material world the varieties are the same, but the spiritual world is light, and the material world is darkness. Same varieties. There also you will find the same man, woman, or their dealings, love, and the gardens, everything you will... Like this, this is only imitation. So if you want to be happy, go there. Tamasi mā. This is the Vedic instruction. Don't remain in this dark region. Jyotir gama. Jyoti means light. Go there. That is the prerogative of the human form of life. Tamasi mā jyotir gama.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Government... (Hindi) They have admitted in the Parliament.
Dr. Patel: They are frightened in the beginning.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Dr. Patel: I think they are very slow to act.
Prabhupāda: No, the real is that all rogues are in the government.
Dr. Patel: Yes, that is the right thing. Not only rogues, but they are...
Prabhupāda: So why don't you, if you are actually serious, why don't you make propaganda in the country that "Please do not give vote to the rogues"? Don't mention any party. "If you want to be happy, then don't give vote to the rogues." And who is a rogue? The illicit-sex hunters, the intoxicants and the meat-eaters and the gamblers. These are rogues.
Carol Jarvis: Do you think the type of life that your devotees must lead...
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Carol Jarvis: ...is in fact a happy one—getting up very early in the morning...
Prabhupāda: Yes, it is. It is. Just like if you are suffering from some ailments, so you have to follow some rules and regulation so that you may be cured. Do the doctor not prescribe so many things, that "You don't eat like this. You don't do this. You do this"? There are so many don't's and do's. So if you really want to become happy, you have to follow some don't's and do's.
Carol Jarvis: Your Divine Grace, can I ask you how old you are now?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Carol Jarvis: How old?
Prabhupāda: I am eighty years old.
Carol Jarvis: And do you think the Kṛṣṇa movement has helped you? Are you a fit man for an eighty-year-old?
Prabhupāda: At least all my contemporaries have gone away. (laughter) All my young friends and childhood friends, there are no more existing, my relatives. And... So I am moving still all over the world.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They say that the... They don't... Of course, we say education means Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Education means they must learn to sacrifice everything for the topmost.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, they say the topmost is the general mass of everyone, the proletariat, all people combined.
Prabhupāda: That's all right, general. But you know how to make general mass of people happy. That example we give, that the whole body..., you can make the whole body happy simply by supplying food to the stomach. That is the best way. And if you want to make happy every part of the body individual, that will never be successful. You must know where to touch. Just like the huge machine is going on by the expert manipulation of the pilot. He is pushing one works, immediately the plane becomes... It is... So you must know where to touch. If I am layman, I am put into that, then, instead of putting here, I shall put my here, and then it will go down, immediately "ohn-ohn-ohn," finished. So this is nature's way, that you supply food to the stomach, and the energy will be distributed every part. You supply water to the root of the tree, it will be supplied everywhere. That you must know.
natural. But that love is distributed in different ways. How? Yasyātmā-buddhiḥ kunape tri-dhātuke sva-dhiḥ kalatradisu bhauma idya-dhiḥ (SB 10.84.13). This love has been distributed familywise, communitywise, nationwise, countrywise, like that. So this love has to be concentrated, converted, to be love of Kṛṣṇa. That is required. Then everything is perfect. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's teaching, and He practically... Kṛṣṇa-prema-prdaya. To develop love for somebody, that requires very elaborate process. It is not... Because we are in the darkness.
Prabhupāda: The Communists also, they'll do. All old men should be killed. That time is coming. Don't become old. (laughter)
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You are teaching us to remain young forever, Prabhupāda.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: One must become Kṛṣṇa conscious to become young.
Prabhupāda: So many difficulties will come unless there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam (BG 18.66), if you want to be happy.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: That's true. If people are Kṛṣṇa conscious, then the origin(?) of these problems like death and all these...
Bali-mardana: You are instructing us to finish up our business in this life.
Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. It was the prediction of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that in every village, in every town on the surface of the globe, there will be preaching of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's name and the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. (aside:) It is to be translated? So by your transcendental endeavor it is being fulfilled, otherwise who expected that in this remote village of France, Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra would be chanted?
Devotees: Jaya! Haribol! (devotees cheer and clap hands)
Prabhupāda: When Caitanya Mahāprabhu said in every village, in every town, He did not mean that every village and every town in India. He specifically says pṛthivīte, means on the surface of the globe. So the purpose is that without spreading of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, nobody can become happy. That's a fact. The opportunity of human form of life is systematcially being refused by the modern civilization. This material activity only for the bodily comforts of life, that is not human civilization. Human civilization means the human being must know the supreme controller and the aim of life. The real fact is that God is there, the supreme controller, and we living entities, we are His parts and parcels. As parts and parcels of God, we, being separated, we are suffering. An example can be given in this connection, just like a small child is the part and parcel of the body of the mother. So the child is happy when the child is on the lap of the mother. That means the part and the whole must live together. Then there is happiness. Otherwise, there is distress. The modern godless civilization is making the part and the whole separated. Therefore the whole condition is chaotic. You have got experience in your this part of the globe, within fifty years there have been two big, big wars and... Many other parts also. People are not in happiness, on account of godlessness. So actually if we want to be happy in this life and the next life, then we must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And it is not at all difficult: simply chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So I am very glad that you are accustomed to chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Stick to it and you'll all be happy.
Prabhupāda: What is the political position of the Fascists and Communists?
Yogeśvara: Very mixed up.
Bhagavān: They are called Christian Democrats. (laughs)
Prabhupāda: They can manufacture so many. Fertile brain in the tract of deserted world. This world is desert, and they have got fertile brain. They call? The fertile land in the deserted land, in the desert, is called oasis. So similarly, these rascals, they have got fertile brain in the world of desert, where there is no happiness. But they have got fertile brain how to manufacture happiness. And māyā kicks on their face and baffles everything. This is the illusion. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā (BG 7.14). They, the world is desert, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15), but they have got fertile brain, how to become happy. And as soon as they make some arrangement, kicks on his face and broken. That's all. What do you think? Is it right? Sometimes you have got fertile brain. (laughter) This fertile brain, he will not accept. He'll be kicked out. Everything will be finished. If you want to be happy, then you have to go back home, back to Kṛṣṇa. That is the only way. Otherwise, your fertile brain will not help. What do you think, Jyotirmāyī? You are intelligent.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: We keep the ideal style of life. You learn, and do it. I am not encroaching upon your independence, but if you want to be happy, you follow. This is our process. Āpani ācārī prabhu jīveri śikṣāya. You be happy, very ideally, and people will learn. But this can be possible only on the basis of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you make minus Kṛṣṇa consciousness this thing, it will never be possible. Then it will not be possible. All these scheme will be successful if there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Hari-śauri: Only if the chanting and prasādam is there.
Prabhupāda: Prasādam, Deity worship, devotional life. Then it will be all right.
Correspondence
1975 Correspondence
So if we want to be happy in this life and the next we have to worship Visnu. But Gandhi did to satisfy Visnu? He was trying to satisfy his country, and his country killed him. He manufactured so many things which were never found in Bhagavad-gita. Throughout the Bhagavad-gita Krishna is encouraging Arjuna to fight, and Gandhi manufactured non-violence from Bhagavad-gita. Everyone in India knows the Mahabharata, the great battle of Kuruksetra, 640,000,000 soldiers gave up their life in that battle, and Krishna was personally instructing Arjuna to fight, and Gandhi took Bhagavad-gita and preached non-violence. So what was his understanding. At the end of his life he frankly said, "I don't believe there was ever such a historical person as Krishna". So what did Gandhi know about Bhagavad-gita? My only credit is that I have presented Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any speculation, or interpretation, therefore for the first time in the history of the world people are accepting it and living practically according to the principles of Bhagavad-gita.
| Page Title: | If you want to be happy |
| Compiler: | Laksmipriya, Visnu Murti, Serene |
| Created: | 15 of Mar, 2014 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=51, Con=14, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 67 |