Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that yei kṛṣṇa tattva-vettā sei guru haya (CC Madhya 8.128): "If anyone is representing as guru, he must know Kṛṣṇa." He must know. Kṛṣṇa cannot be known, but at least . . . just like Kṛṣṇa says, yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9), that . . . one must know Kṛṣṇa in fact, tattvataḥ, in truth. He can become guru. Otherwise, guru is not a . . . so cheap post that everyone can become guru. Similarly, here is the challenge that, "If you are representative of Dharmarāja, you must explain what is dharma and what is adharma." That should be the criterion of test. Not that everyone should be accepted as religious, everyone should be accepted as guru.
This ignorance of the population has created so many nonsense as representing as guru and dharma-jñā. No. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta (SB 11.3.21). The Vedic injunction says, tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam, śābde pare ca niṣnātam. One is advised . . . first of all, who will accept a guru?
Guru is not a plaything that, "I must have a guru, and I will never care to obey his order, but because it is a fashion to keep a guru, I shall keep a guru." That kind of guru is useless, and that kind of disciple is also useless. One must seek after a guru—when? When he is inquisitive to understand the transcendental knowledge. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam.
It is not a fashion. It should be very serious: one who is very much eager to understand transcendental knowledge, śreya uttamam. Jijñāsuḥ śreya. Śreyaḥ and preyaḥ. There are two kinds of paths. Preyaḥ means immediate satisfaction or sense gratification, and preyaḥ means spiritual happiness, er, śreyaḥ. Śreyaḥ means spiritual happiness. Just like children, they are interested with playing—that is preyaḥ—whereas the elderly person, they are interested to give education.
So people . . . what is the meaning of this preaching? Why we are taking interest in preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Because the people in general, they are interested in preyaḥ for their sense gratification, immediate sense gratification. But that is not good for them. Bhāgavata says, nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti (SB 5.5.4): "Simply for sense gratification, they are committing so many sinful activities. It is like . . . just like madman." A madman does not know what he is doing. Similarly, the materialistic persons, they are so much engrossed and become maddened to commit everything simply for sense gratification. Indriya-prīti.
So Ṛṣabhadeva says: "It is not good. It is very risky life." If we indulge in sense gratification, Kṛṣṇa will give us facilities for sense gratification. Just like a monkey. A monkey has very good facility for sex life. A monkey, every monkey has got at least three dozen wives. Perhaps you know it. So he has been given the facility for sense gratification: "All right." But what is his position? He is a monkey. (laughter) Therefore it is called markaṭa-vairāgya (Cc Madhya 16.238).
Markaṭa-vairāgya means that a monkey is renounced. He does not dress, naked. And he lives in the forest. And he eats also fruit, vegetarian. But the nature is that he must have at least three dozen wives. You see? So the so-called sādhus or so-called vairagis, having illicit sex life very secretly, they are just like monkeys. So Rūpa Gosvāmī has said markaṭa-vairāgya. Markaṭa-vairāgya.
So markaṭa-vairāgya is not necessary. Real vairāgya. We do not indulge in so-called sannyāsī or brahmacārī. If one is unable, he must become a gṛhastha, live like a gṛhastha, and not that "I pose myself as a brahmacārī or a sannyāsī, but I have got illicit sex life secretly." This is markaṭa-vairāgya. Markaṭa-vairāgya is not wanted. Real vairāgya. Real vairāgya means one who can sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is vairāgya. Karma-phala-tyāga—that is karma-yoga. One should give up the result of his fruitive activities to Kṛṣṇa. That is karma-yoga.
Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ (BG 6.1). Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ. One who is not desire to enjoy the fruits of his activities, fruitive activities, anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ, but does it as a matter of duty . . . "Kṛṣṇa wants it. Kṛṣṇa will be satisfied by doing this." Kāryam: "It must be done." Just like Arjuna. Arjuna, for his personal interest, he was not willing to fight. But when he understood that "Kṛṣṇa wants this fighting," then he took it as kāryam: "It must be done. It doesn't matter whether I like it or not, but Kṛṣṇa wants it. Therefore I must do it."
That is called anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī (BG 6.1). He is sannyāsī. Na niragnir na cākriyaḥ. Niragnir and akriya. Akriya means they are freed, all kinds of fruitive activities. So they are not sannyāsīs, they are not yogīs, but a yogī is he who gives away the result of his activities to Kṛṣṇa. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ.
So he is asking . . . Viṣṇudūta uvāca, yūyaṁ vai dharma-rājasya yadi nirdeśa-kāriṇaḥ. It is a challenge: "So you are claiming that you are representative of Dharmarāja. So we want to know from you what is dharma." Just like yesterday some gentleman came. He said that he has performed yoga, and he has become Nārāyaṇa. Was not? Was not he speaking?
Guest: He has not come in here. He is not here.
Prabhupāda: Oh. So naturally . . . just like somebody says that, "I am God. I have become God by mystic yoga," so one should challenge him, "What kind of God you are? Whenever there is toothache, you go to the doctor immediately. And you are God?" So I have seen. I have seen one man in America. He had some disciples, some.
And he was claiming everyone is God, he is God. And one day he was suffering from toothache. So I asked him, "What kind of God you are, that you are so much painful, suffering from toothache?" And actually, one should challenge these . . . and they are, practically, another kind of lunatic who claim that, "I am God."
So similarly, this challenge is given by the Viṣṇudūtas to the Yamadūtas, that "You are representative of Dharmarāja. Now explain what is dharma and what is adharma." Brūta dharmasya nas tattvaṁ yac ca adharmasya lakṣaṇam. Tattva, lakṣaṇam: the symptoms of adharma and the truth of dharma.
- kathaṁ svid dhriyate daṇḍaḥ
- kiṁ vāsya sthānam īpsitam
- daṇḍyāḥ kiṁ kāriṇaḥ sarve
- āho svit katicin nṛṇām
- (SB 6.1.39)
"Now explain who is subjected to the punishment of Yamarāja. You have come here to take away this Ajāmila to the court of Yamarāja. But first of all explain who is actually subjected to go to the court of Yamarāja for being punished."
This is the question, and we shall discuss tomorrow about the answer. Hare Kṛṣṇa.