So every one of us, we... There are so many big, big scholars. I shall give you one instance. I was talking one big professor who is in Russia, Moscow, Professor Kotovsky. He said, "Swamiji, after death, everything is finished." That bodily concept of life. Even big, big educationist, big, big doctors, philosophers, scientists, they have got this bodily concept of life. So Kṛṣṇa is first of all trying to remove this bodily concept of life. He said therefore, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11). "My dear Arjuna, you are talking like a very intelligent man, but you are lamenting on the subject matter which is not at all lamentable." What is that? Gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. Paṇḍitāḥ means one who is learned. This body, either in living condition of dead condition, it is not the subject matter of lamentation.
Remove (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Those who are wise lament neither for the living or the dead." This Kṛṣṇa philosophy, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is to teach people to understand what is the constitutional position of the living entity. Here it is said that one who is learned, he does not lament either for the living or for the dead body. (aside:) They should be removed from the front range. They should be removed, they should go backwards. (pause) The present civilization is based on the bodily concept of life: "I am this body." "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am black," "I am white," and so on. The whole civilization is going on on this bodily concept of life. Although there is advancement of learning, many universities and educational institutions, but nowhere this subject matter is discussed or taught, "What I am." Rather, they're still more misled by giving them education that "You are born in this land.
Our material father is... Material father means we see the material body. We do not see the soul of the father, neither the father sees the soul of the son. Everyone under illusion we are simply seeing the body and accepting as kinsman. So this illusion was to be removed by Kṛṣṇa, and therefore He said, aśocyān anvaśocas tvam (BG 2.11). "You are lamenting over the body. Oh, it is very regrettable. You are lamenting." Aśocyān anvaśocaḥ. What is this body? It is simply lump of matter. As soon as the soul is out of this body, what is the value of this lump of matter? It will be thrown in the street, and somebody will kick on the face. Nobody will care. Nobody will care. But so long the soul is there, if you touch the hair even—"Why you are touching my hair?" But when the soul is not there, on the same face, if somebody kicks, nobody will care.
The father was asura, and the son was devatā. So asura's son can be devatā. And a devatā's son can be asura. Just like in India. In India nowadays there is a great movement for removing the caste system because the higher caste, brāhmaṇas, they are claiming, due to their birthright, higher position, and the others, they are in inconvenience: "Now, nowadays the brāhmaṇas are doing the same thing, what we are doing, a śūdra. Why he should claim?" So there is quarrel. You see? So devatā and asura, the division is that, of course, the... Of course, according to our śāstra, the brāhmaṇa family means devatā family. But because nowadays they are descendants, they have deviated, deviated from the brahminical culture, they are not to be considered as devatās.
Just like Buddha philosophy, nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa means stopping, stopping all activities. Buddha philosophy is... According to Lord Buddha, his theory is that due to the combination of material elements, this body has come into existence. Now, some way or other, if these material elements are separated or dismantled, then the cause of distress is removed. That is his... Just like you have got a big house and the tenants or the government or tax collector, they give us too much trouble. So if you think that better to dismantle this house so that to get rid of these all troubles...
So this theory, that separating the material elements by which this material body is formed, if they are broken or they are sent back to their original position, then we are free from all distresses, material... But we, at least those who are following this Bhagavad-gītā, this philosophy does not say that the material body is all in all.
The former "I" is the representative of mental speculation, when Arjuna decided that "I shall not fight. They are my relatives, they are my brothers; I cannot fight with them for the matter of kingdom. Rather, I shall forego; I shall become a beggar. I shall... I don't want this kingdom." He argued like that. But after reading Bhagavad-gītā, he said that "My illusion is now removed." Naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā: "My illusion is now removed, and I have got my consciousness by Your mercy. By Your mercy."
So here is the point, that without Lord's mercy, we cannot stand up on the pure consciousness platform. Therefore we have to pray to the Supreme Lord always. That is the instruction of Lord Caitanya. He, He has put up His prayers. I have got this paper. I'll distribute you, to you, after the meeting is over.
That is the living symptom. Because I am living entity, you are living entity, you have got desire, I have got desire. Not this table. The table has no life; therefore it has no desire. The table cannot say that "I am standing here for so many months. Please move me to another place." No. Because it has no desire. But if I am sitting here for three hours, oh, I'll say, "Oh, I got tired. Please remove me from... Please get me another place." So desire must be there because we are living. We have to change the engagement of desires. If we engage our desires for sense gratification, that is material. But if we engage our desires for acting on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, that is our, we're free from all desires. This is the criterion.
That is called karma-yoga. That is called karma-yoga. So Arjuna understood it, and he dovetailed himself with the supreme will of the Lord. And when he was inquired, "Whether you are going or fight or not? What you have settled after hearing Bhagavad-gītā?" he said, "Yes Kṛṣṇa. My illusion is now removed by Your grace, and I have decided to fight. That's all."
Now, that agreement of fighting and in the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, not to fight, that is the difference. In the beginning he was not in agreement with Kṛṣṇa. He made so many arguments with Kṛṣṇa against fighting. And at the end, he agreed. "Yes," he said. He became a yes man. So we have to become a yes man to the Supreme Lord. That's all. That is the perfection of our spiritual life. Now we are all "no men." God says this, I say "no." Stubborn. I say, "no." Now simply we have to say "yes". That's all. In everything we say, "no" at the present.
That portion which is spread all over your body, that you are. That is avināśi, that is immortal. Now what is that? My consciousness. And what is that consciousness? That is the symptom of my presence. I am a soul present in this body, and the consciousness is the symptom. Means as soon as this consciousness is removed, the body has no value. That we are experiencing every day. As soon as from the body the consciousness is out, oh, it is dead body. We are crying, "Oh, my son is gone," "My husband is gone," "My brother..." Why your son is gone? It is lying there in the floor. Why you are crying? "No, no." That gone means that consciousness gone. Gone means that... Therefore the consciousness is the real thing.
So we misunderstand. We misunderstand. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says the misunderstanding of this body identification is at once removed by performing this yajña,
- Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
- Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Then the next installment? Simply, simply understanding that "I am not this body; I am consciousness" will do it? No. That is the first step. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (CC Antya 20.12). If you are actually conscious of being not this body, actually when, then your all material miseries are at once removed. As soon as you come to the real point of understanding that "I am not this body," then the whole misunderstanding of material existence, bhava-mahā-dāvāgni... Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni means... Each and every word is very carefully selected in Sanskrit, and they have got immense meaning, full of meaning. Now, this, why this bhava-mahā-dāvāgni, this very word, I will try to explain.
Yes. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated... (babies making noises) Oh, you should remove, yes.
Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). This knowledge, this transcendental knowledge, was imparted formerly to the kings because the kings were very responsible for the welfare of the citizens. When the kings were not responsible, then gradually the government by the people was introduced. Otherwise, formerly, the kings were very responsible, especially for the advancement of transcendental knowledge of the citizens. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayaḥ. Rājarṣayaḥ means "the sages among the kings."
How He'll help you? He'll help you in the same process, dusting over, I mean to say, dust out, to take out all the dirty things which have accumulated within our mind. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ, hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi. Abhadrāṇi means the dirty things, the dirty things which we have accumulated by our material association, Kṛṣṇa will help us to remove that dirt. Hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām. Because He is a friend of all saintly persons. He's a friend. So our endeavor to become Kṛṣṇa conscious is a saintly endeavor, and so He also cooperates.
And this is the process, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam (SB 7.5.23), chanting and hearing of this Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with aural reception, submissive aural reception.
So just keep yourself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and this cloud of material existence will disappear or you will be above, even you can see them, that will not affect you. This is the process. Go on.
Devotee: "This material feature can be removed at once by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Wherein the offering for the cause of Kṛṣṇa consciousness the consuming agent of such an offering or contribution, the process of consumption, the contributor, and the result of such activities are all combined together Brahman or the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth covered by māyā is called matter. Matter dovetailed for the cause of the Absolute Truth regains its spiritual quality. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a process of converting the illusory consciousness into Brahman or the Supreme.
So senses we have got. That is our spiritual senses. So we have to revive our spiritual senses. We are not senseless. As spirit soul, we have got our original senses, but that senses are now covered by this material contamination. Just like my senses, my hand burns during fever, due to the fever. But when the fever is moved, removed, when I get free from the fever attack, then I feel nice, similarly, we have got our senses; when we are freed from this material contamination, then we have got our proper use of the sense and enjoyment.
We have to wait for that purpose. And if our... If we, in our diseased condition, we go on satisfying the senses, then the disease will be aggravated. So for the present, saṁyatendriya, we have to control the senses just to get us cured from this material disease. That is the way. You have not to kill your senses.
In spite of such instructions, one who does not understand the real nature of the Lord as the eternal, blissful, all-knowing Personality of Godhead is certainly fool number one. This ignorance of the so-called student of Bhagavad-gītā can be removed by the gradual acceptance of the principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is awakened by different, by different types of sacrifices to the demigods, sacrifice to Brahman, sacrifice in celibacy, sacrifice in household life, sacrifice in control of the senses, sacrifice in practicing mystic yoga, sacrifice in penance, sacrifice of material possessions, sacrifice in studying the Vedas, and sacrifice in observing the scientific social institution of varṇāśrama-dharma, or the divisions of the human society.
Just like if you have got some disease, cataract on your eye, that does not mean you cannot see. Because your eyes are suffering from cataract, you cannot see. That does not mean there is nothing to be seen. You cannot see. Similarly, you cannot just conceive what is the form of God now, but if our cataract is removed, you can see. That is required. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). The Brahma-saṁhitā says that devotees whose eyes are anointed with the love of God ointment, such persons, within his heart, seeing God Kṛṣṇa, always, twenty-four hours. Not that... So you require to purify your senses. Then you'll be able to understand what is the form of God, what is the name of God, what is the quality of God, what is the paraphernalia. God as everything. These things are discovered in Vedic literature.
You'll feel, you'll know perfectly well that God is there, Kṛṣṇa is there. And He is the source of all energies. He is the primeval Lord. These things you will learn without any doubt. The first thing is we do not make progress in transcendental knowledge on account of doubts, saṁśayaḥ. These doubts can be removed by culture of real knowledge, by real association, by following the real methods, the doubts can be removed. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness persons, they are not after will-o'-the-wisp, phantasmagoria. No. They're actually making progress to the concrete Supreme Personality of Godhead.
As it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). There is a planet which is called cintāmaṇi-dhāma, Goloka Vṛndāvana. So in that dhāma... As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, mad dhāma. Dhāma means His abode.
Just like a boy who absent from class, not attending his class, there is no fault of the guru. Guru has been attending his lectures. But I am truant. I am not attending class. So you see I can't blame that guru. But now I have understood everything from Your Grace, and now that ajñāna has been removed. I have now become more Kṛṣṇa conscious than before. So should I give credit to all those gurus who have helped me to understand? Or should I now select, or should I exercise any choice that I should accept this guru or that guru only? So that doubt should be cleared.
That is... Therefore because Kṛṣṇa is for everyone, therefore these Americans, the Europeans, Canadians, Africans, they're taking to Kṛṣṇa. The same thing, as I begun, because our relationship is father and son, how it can be disconnected? One might have forgotten, but as soon as the forgetfulness is removed, immediately understands: "Oh, I am Kṛṣṇa's." That this is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are trying to invoke the dormant Kṛṣṇa's love in every human being. And this is the duty of the Indians. Caitanya Mahāprabhu prescribed this duty:
It is simply awakened. Not that artificially we are imposing some impression to the minds of our students that they are hankering after "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa..." No. It is a process to remove all the dirty things from the heart. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). And as soon as the heart is cleansed of all dirty things, material contamination, then we can see what is our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa recommends that "Somehow or other, you try to be attached to Me." And the Gosvāmīs also, Rūpa Gosvāmī recommends, yena tena prakāreṇa manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet: "Somehow or other, try to apply your mind in Kṛṣṇa." It is not very difficult. Here is Kṛṣṇa's form, arcā-mūrti. If you constantly see Kṛṣṇa's form, śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpam Acintya-guṇa-svarūpam.
That is the difficulty. That is the difficulty of Māyāvāda philosophy. That is the kūpa-maṇḍūka-nyāya, that "Because I am a person, I am so much limited, how a person can be unlimited?" That is the difficulty for them. But therefore to remove this difficulty, one has to surrender. Without surrendering, it is not possible to understand. Therefore Kṛṣṇa demands, "Surrender. Then you'll understand." Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). By challenging, you cannot understand actually what is Kṛṣṇa. One has to become submissive.
With the blunt senses you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, you cannot realize Kṛṣṇa. But if you purify... Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Our present senses are blunt senses because it is covered by forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa, or māyā. Therefore it has to be purified. Or the nature of forgetfulness has to be removed. That's all. This is the process. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya (BG 7.8). If you follow this process, that "Here is drinking water, the taste is Kṛṣṇa," that means some percentage of your forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa is removed. Similarly, when you see the sunshine, the moonshine, or you chant oṁkāra... There are other, so many ways prescribed in the later verses. So try to understand Kṛṣṇa in this way. It doesn't require any advancement of education or Vedic knowledge. A simple thing.
As long a tree lives, as long a man lives, as long as animal lives, so you understand, "This life, this life is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa." As soon as the part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, the spark, is taken away from that body, oh, everything goes. No meaning. So nice brain, we are acting—Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose. But as soon as that small particle of Kṛṣṇa's part and parcel is removed from this body, no more Sir Isaac Newton working. Finish.
So jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūtānām: He is the life. He is the life. We can see in every step God. People say, "Can you show me God?" Yes. God is seen in so many ways. You just try to see. If you close your eyes, that "I shall not see God," then who can show you? But you can see God in every step. Jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūteṣu tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu. Tapaś cāsmi, any kind of penance, any kind of perseverance, that is also God.
Dvandva-moha. Dvandva-moha, this duality, that "You are..., you have got different interest, I have got different interest," this is called dvandva-moha. "Your interest is clashing with my interest." This is illusion. This illusion can be removed only by this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore the Lord says that yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpam.
Pāpam means sin. So sin, we commit sins out of ignorance. Our sinful nature is due to ignorance. Just like a person who does not know the laws of the state, he commits something which he does not know, but he is captured, he is arrested under the law. So similarly, all kind of sins we perform, it is due to ignorance. And ignorance is no excuse at the same time. Suppose a child does not know that fire burns, but the child catches fire. The fire is so cruel that it will not excuse.
So we materialists, we don't take into consideration that birth, death, disease and old age are the greatest miseries of our life due to our ignorance. But this ignorance has to be removed if one has to become out of these clutches of birth, death, old age and disease. This is not possible to remove by the so-called material science. Material science cannot remove these miseries. They can remove temporary, something artificially, some of our miseries. Just like we are feeling little warm. If the room was, had been air conditioned, we could feel some comfort. That is temporary. But our ultimate miseries are these four things: jarā-maraṇa-mokṣa. Jarā means old age and birth, death.
The owner of the body: one who knows that "I am not this body, but I am the proprietor of the body."
Just like I am sitting on this throne. I am not this throne, but I am a different person who is sitting on the throne. Similarly, when somebody asks me, "What you are?" if I give my identification... (aside:) These children must be removed. ...with this body, that is my foolishness. In the śāstra it is said,
- yasyātmā buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke
- sva-dhīḥ kalatrādīṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ
- yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij
- janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ
- (SB 10.84.13)
Go-kharaḥ. Go means cows and kharaḥ means asses. Person who is identifying this body as the self. This body is a bag of three dhātus: kapha, pitta, vāyu. According to Ayurvedic treatment, this body is made of kapha, pitta, vāyu.
One who has understood thoroughly Kṛṣṇa as the supreme controller, he is guru. He is guru. Otherwise one cannot be guru. Yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya (CC Madhya 8.128). Who can (be) guru? Guru is not artificial thing, "Guru Mahārāja," "this Mahārāja...," no. One who has firmly understood that Kṛṣṇa is the original cause of everything, He is the Supreme Person—nobody can remove him from that firm convictional position—then he is guru. Otherwise he is not guru. Guru is not so easy thing. Budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ (BG 10.8). One who has understood Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, the supreme maintainer, the Supreme Person, everything, only one, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19)—that is guru. But otherwise, he is not guru, one who has not understood Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirms, yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya (CC Madhya 8.128).
Indian man (1): ...can be removed. Nistraiguṇya, traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna. If there is a contradiction between the principles taught by Vedas and taught by Gītā? Sir?
Prabhupāda: Nistraiguṇya. As soon as you become a devotee, you become nistraiguṇya. As soon as you become a devotee, pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, you are situated on the platform of nistraiguṇya.
Indian man (1): Traiguṇya-viṣayā vedāḥ...
Prabhupāda: Traiguṇya means these three qualities: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. So the whole Vedic literature is describing how to get out of this entanglement of three guṇas. So as soon as you come out of these three guṇas, then you become nistraiguṇya.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Kṛṣṇa can be served in so many ways. Kṛṣṇa is so kind friend, even practically. We had a very big struggle in Bombay for our land. So they wanted to break our temple to drive away. It was a great commotion. All Bombay people know it. But I prayed simply Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, anyway, You have come here. You have sat down here. It will be great insult if You are removed from this place." So Kṛṣṇa heard it, and we won the battle. Now the land is ours. The land is ours. It was a great battle.
So Kṛṣṇa is so kind. So the devotees see like that, that a Pūtanā rākṣasī wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa, but she got the promotion just like His Mother Yaśodā. Kṛṣṇa is so kind. Because Kṛṣṇa took it that "Although this rākṣasī came to kill Me with poison in her breast, but I have sucked her breast.
That this poṭākāśa means the sky within the pot, no, ghaṭākāśa, the sky within the pot, it cannot be made analogy with the sky in the pot and outside. Because they are individual souls. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that they are part and parcel of God sanātana, eternally, not that they have been cut off. Just like the sky within the pot is walled by the wall of the pot, but actually we are not walled. We are individual. Every, every one of us are individual. We are not surrounded by some material wall. This material wall is supposed to be this body. Actually, we are individual, and therefore, because we are individual, according to our individual karma, we have got different types of body. So these are the doubts. When one become completely, I mean to say, cognizant with the Kṛṣṇa consciousness science, his all doubts are removed.
So we have to understand our position. The dirty things should be removed completely, always by hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā. That is the way of understanding. Only way. This Vṛndāvana is so important, valuable. Why? Because anywhere you go in Vṛndāvana, there is the opportunity of hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā. This whole Vṛndāvana is simply cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Unfortunately, we take to other consciousness here. Therefore we become condemned. In Vṛndāvana, if we take other consciousness, then we become condemned. Condemned means he—still, the opportunity's there—condemned to accept a body other than a human being.
Whenever there is disobedience on the part of the kṣatriyas, or the administrative class, against the orders of the learned and intelligent brāhmaṇas, the administrators are removed by force from the posts, and arrangement is made for better administration."
Prabhupāda: Yes. That was the custom. Not that by removing the king from the throne or killing the king, the brāhmaṇas and the sages would come there to sit down on the throne. No. His son will be given chance to become king. The descendant was picked up, and they would take charge of the minor king, advise him, but they will never touch the throne. There are many instances. Just like Veṇa Mahārāja. He became too much atheistic.
Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)
- ekonaviṁśe viṁśatime
- vṛṣṇiṣu prāpya janmanī
- rāma-kṛṣṇāv iti bhuvo
- bhagavān aharad bharam
- (SB 1.3.23)
Translation: "In the nineteenth and twentieth incarnations, the Lord advented Himself as Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa in the family of Vṛṣṇi, or the Yadu dynasty, and by so doing He removed the burden of the world."
Prabhupāda: So ekonaviṁśe. Eka ūna. Ūna means less. Eka means one. And viṁśa means twenty. So this is the way of Sanskrit literature: ekonaviṁśe, "less than one of twenty." That means nineteen. Ekonaviṁśe viṁśatime. And next, twentieth. So Balarāma first appeared, and then Kṛṣṇa appeared. Ekonaviṁśe viṁśatime vṛṣṇiṣu, in the family of Vṛṣṇi, Vṛṣṇi dynasty. Kṛṣṇa's another name is Vārṣṇeya because He appeared in the Vṛṣṇi family. Just like sandalwood. Sandalwood is known as "Malayan sandalwood." Malaya. There is a country, you know. East Asia, Malaysia. Now it called Malaysia. So formerly they were growing sandalwood in large quantity. Now they are growing rubber, no more sandalwood. They are not interested with the sandalwood.
Pradyumna: Translation: "O Brāhmaṇa Vyāsadeva, it is decided by the learned that the best remedial measure for removing all troubles and miseries is to dedicate one's activities to the service of the Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead (Śrī Kṛṣṇa)."
Prabhupāda:
- etat saṁsūcitaṁ brahmaṁs
- tāpa-traya-cikitsitam
- yad īśvare bhagavati
- karma brahmaṇi bhāvitam
- (SB 1.5.32)
Now, in the last verse Nārada Muni says, yena gacchanti tat-padam: "by which one can go back to home, back to Godhead, tat-padam." Padam means abode or position. Position. That is, after liberation, one can get the spiritual position.
Again and again, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). That is not. Now, those who are thinking of worshiping other demigods, that is not recommended. That is not recommended because Kṛṣṇa clearly says, kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). Even there are some inconveniences, Kṛṣṇa is completely able to remove your inconvenience. Kṛṣṇa assures, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi (BG 18.66). So we should stick to the position of devotional service, execute regularly the orders of the spiritual master and the śāstra, and try to understand Kṛṣṇa. And you can understand Kṛṣṇa only by service. There is no other way. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). If you want to see Kṛṣṇa or want to understand Kṛṣṇa, then it can be possible only by your service, nothing else.
Pradyumna:
- tathāyaṁ cāvatāras te
- bhuvo bhāra-jihīrṣayā
- svānāṁ cānanya-bhāvānām
- anudhyānāya cāsakṛt
- (SB 1.7.25)
"Thus You descend as an avatāra, incarnation, to remove the burden of the world and to benefit Your friends, especially those who are Your exclusive devotees and are rapt in meditation upon You."
Prabhupāda:
- tathāyaṁ cāvatāras te
- bhuvo bhāra-jihīrṣayā
- svānāṁ cānanya-bhāvānām
- anudhyānāya cāsakṛt
- (SB 1.7.25)
So, Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead-sākṣāt, not imagination. Here it is said sa eva jīva-lokasya māyā sākṣād... Here, yes. Tvam ādyaḥ puruṣaḥ sākṣād īśvaraḥ. Sākṣāt, directly. Not indirectly. Just like we are meeting face to face. It is not that I am imagining. Face to face, sākṣāt. Sa-akṣa. Akṣa means eyes or senses. With senses. Kṛṣṇa cannot be seen with these material senses. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136).
Just like a lamp is extinguished. You can burn it immediately with a real matches, not false. You can burn it. The capacity is there. Similarly, our spiritual qualities are there already. It is permanent. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That Brahman quality is already there. It is not to be attained. Simply this non-Brahman covering has to be removed.
That is sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). That covering is designation. We are thinking, "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am śūdra," "I am this," "I am that." These are coverings. Actually I am ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Kṛṣṇa is also Para-brahman. Brahman... By quality, He is Brahman; we are also Brahman. But He is Para-brahman. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). He's singular number; we are plural number.
And nobody can say, "This is Indian gold, this is American gold, this is Christian gold, and this is Muhammadan gold." Gold is gold. So actually one who is God conscious, for him, there is no such distinction, because he knows, samaṁ carantaṁ sarvatra bhūtānām: (SB 1.8.28) "God is present everywhere." Simply he has forgotten. That forgetfulness is applicable to anyone, either Hindu, Muslim or Christian. It doesn't matter. The, our business is to rectify that forgetfulness. Rectify. To remove that forgetfulness. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
Everything. And establishing such pious king... Here it is stated, yudhiṣṭhiraṁ prīta-manā babhūva, īśvara, īśvara, niveśayitvā nija-rājya īśvaro yudhiṣṭhiraṁ prīta-manā babhūva. And Kṛṣṇa, why He took part in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra? He wanted that these rascals should be removed, the Duryodhana and company. And Yudhiṣṭhira must be there. Therefore He personally supervised the warfare. He took the reigns of Arjuna's chariot to give him direction: "Kill all these demons. Even Bhīṣma. Even Droṇācārya. Kill all of them, because they have taken side of the wrong side. Kill them." That is Kṛṣṇa's order. "Although Bhīṣma is respectful, respectable, Droṇācārya's respectable, your guru, your grandfather, and such great personality, certainly they are respectable. But because they have taken side of the wrong side, they must be killed. They must be." This is the instruction.
Neither the petrol is false, neither God is false. Everything is right. But this conception, that "This petrol belongs to me," this is false. And as soon as this false conception is moved, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Very simple thing.
So we are trying to remove these rascals' false conception. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We don't say that this world is false. Why this world is false? It is not false. It is fact. It may be temporary, but it is fact. Just like this winter season. It will not stay. It will be for three months. Again summer season will come. So we cannot say that this winter season is false. No. It is not false; it is fact. But it is temporary. So temporary things, although it is real, so if we can utilize that reality, sense of reality, for the supreme reality, then our life is successful. That is called ekānta-bhaktyā. That is stated here: ekānta-bhaktyā bhagavaty adhokṣaje.
There was no hope of getting that land. It was regular fight. The whole Bombay city became agitated. Yes, in Bombay. But we are victorious, because we depended on Kṛṣṇa. I thought... Simply I prayed to Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Lord, You are seated there on that place. If You are removed, then it will be suicidal. You must remain there." My only prayer was that "I don't care for this land, but You are seated there, I cannot tolerate this insult that You will be removed from there." So Kṛṣṇa saved our face. He's still remaining there.
So we should be like that. We should fight to our best, but depend the result on Kṛṣṇa. Don't try to take the credit for yourself. That is wanted.
Pradyumna: "Generally people have many wrong conceptions about both of them. The wrong conception of the jīvātmā is to identify the material body with the pure soul. And the wrong conception of Paramātmā is to think Him on an equal level with the living entity. But both misconceptions can be removed by one stroke of bhakti-yoga, just as in the sunlight both the sun and the world and everything within the sunlight are properly seen. In the darkness no one can see the sun, nor himself, nor the world. But in the sunlight one can see the sun, himself, and the world around him. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī therefore says that for purification of both wrong conceptions, the Lord presented His eternal form before Brahmājī, being fully satisfied by Brahmā's nondeceptive vow of discharging bhakti-yoga."
Prabhupāda: Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). That is clearly said in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, "If you want to know Me, then you have to accept this bhakti-yoga. No other means will...," because without full surrender unto Kṛṣṇa, nobody can know Him.
So when one comes to the spiritual understanding, that is called Brahman realization. Bhāgavata...
So we are all Brahman; simply we have to understand it. It is not that we are abrahman; by some practice we become Brahman, no. Just like gold is gold, but if it is covered with some dirt, the dirt can be removed, and the gold is gold; similarly, we are Brahman, spirit soul. Somehow or other we have come in contact with these material elements, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ (BG 7.4), and we have got this body, covered, and I am thinking, "I am this body." This is ignorance. This is ignorance. So unless one is enlightened by the spiritual knowledge, he remains only just like cats and dogs. And to understand spiritual identification, that is called dharma. Dharma means that. And the ultimate goal of dharma is spoken by Kṛṣṇa, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). We have created so many dharmas:
Sa eva sādhuṣu kṛtaḥ mokṣa-dvāram apāvṛtam. We have got so many attachment for so many things in the material world, and if you simply... You cannot make it zero; that is not possible. You have to purify. Just like if there is some disease in the eyes, if you simply say, "Pluck it out," that is not treatment. Treatment is: you must remove the disease. If there is cataract, by some way or other, then your eyesight will be revived. Similarly, we have got desires, we have got kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mātsarya. These are there. But you have to divert these things for Kṛṣṇa's service. Kāmaḥ kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇe. Just like we have got very much attachment toward doing business, for earning money and become very happy. So Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes, you can do business.
It comes like bubble. Just like we will find in some reservoir of water, big, all of a sudden some bubble comes. Similarly, the heart is the stock of so many dirty things. Dirty things means this experience of this material world. That is called dirty things. Because we are covered. We are spirit soul; we are now covered by these material dirty things. So it can be removed. Sva-tejasā. There is such potency of the spirit soul that it can come out. Simply the attempt should be made, assisted by or guided by a superior person. That is called spiritual master. He can guide, and we can come out of this slumber, sleeping in ignorance.
That is real atonement. If the dirty things are there as it is, simply... Just like one man is diseased. The dirty things are within his body, and he cleanses outwardly with soap and water very nicely, that does not mean that he is freed from the diseased condition. The cause of the disease must be removed. Then he'll be healthy. Simply by superfluous washing the body, one does not become free from diseased condition. So avidvad-adhikāritvāt. So long... Avidvad means ignorance. So ignorance, what is the ignorance? The ignorance we have explained many times, that "I am this body." And everyone is acting on this bodily concept of life. This is called avidyā. Avidyā means ignorance. So avidvad-adhikāritvāt prāyaścittaṁ vimarśanam. So there is no utility for atonement if that ignorance, the dirty things, exist in the heart.
Your purification method immediately begins. Immediately. And if you continue, then you become purified. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). As soon as you are purified... Purification means purification of your heart, that's all. All the dirty things are within our heart. The bodily dirty things, if you wash once, it is all gone. But it is very difficult to remove the dirty things within the heart. That requires purification. So this process, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, begins from the purification of your heart.
Now, the television man was asking how it is possible. It is possible. One may not understand. Just like a child, he does not know how he is produced. I know. I asked my mother in my childhood, "My dear mother, how did I come out from your belly?" I still remember.
"What is this?"That is intelligence. He is devotee. He knows that this kind of atonement is useless. It has no meaning.
So the problem is that within the heart we have got so many dirty things. So unless those dirty things are removed or cleansed, this kind of prāyaścitta or medicine or fine or going to the jail—he is not saved. He will commit the same thing. Again will suffer. Again he will suffer. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). Real problem is that we should stop our suffering. But the karmīs, they are interested in the temporary cure, and they do not know how to cure completely. There will be no more suffering. That they do not know. But a Vaiṣṇava, because he is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he knows what is real suffering—because he understands from Kṛṣṇa.
So one who has the fortune to discriminate, then he can understand Kṛṣṇa very easily.
Therefore this association is required, how to understand Kṛṣṇa, although it is very difficult. But the difficulty is removed by the association of devotees, by the association of Kṛṣṇa. So this opening of different centers in different parts of the world means we are trying to give association of Kṛṣṇa to everyone. There is no discrimination. Just like in the Western countries we are trying to give Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the last four or five years, and people are taking it. We have got now sixty centers, and they're accepting the principles, they're becoming devotees of Kṛṣṇa sincerely. So it is not very difficult task, provided one is sincere and serious. Then as soon as you understand Kṛṣṇa, then what happens to you?
I do not wish to be diseased, and these things are forced upon me. I have to accept, and still, I am so fool, I am thinking I am independent." This is called foolishness, rascaldom.
So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to remove this rascaldom, foolishness. That is the purpose of this movement, that "Sir, you are not independent. You are completely under the grip of material nature, and after death, your all independence finished. You are under the control of material nature, and you have to accept. A type of body will be forced upon you." Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1). So how the next body is formed?
So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means they want to educate people, rectifying the basic principle of misconception: "I am body," "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am fat," "I am thin," "I am black," "I am white"—all bodily conception. This has to be removed first of all. So the śāstra says that if one is in the bodily concept of life, then he is no more better than an animal. No better than an animal. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kunape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). We have discussed many times. This bodily concept of life should be first of all removed. We must be enlightened. Otherwise, if we act on the bodily concept of life, then—not bhadrāṇi, not auspicious—everything is inauspicious, viparītāni. Sambhavanti hi bhadrāṇi viparītāni cānaghaḥ, kāriṇām. Kāriṇām means one who is working. Nobody is... Because dead stone, that is sitting idly, but any..., even a small ant, it is also working. That is the difference between matter and the spirit.
The attachment for home, society, friendship, is natural. But when that attachment is very solid and grown strong, at that time he says, sneha-pāśair dṛḍhair baddham. When the affection with one another is very firmly settled, how one can leave? (aside:) I am feeling warm. Wretched(?). I want to take off, yes. (sound of Prabhupāda removing sweater) It is inconveniently turned. (pause) Sneha-pāśair dṛḍhair baddham utsaheta. When our attachment becomes too much strong, it is not possible to give up this material society, friendship, love, and attachment.
So therefore the whole stress is given, Prahlāda Mahārāja giving, that if we want to begin Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then we have to begin immediately because the more we grow older, our attachment for material things becomes more and more strong, and at that time it is very difficult.
Kṛṣṇa helps, "Yes, you come here, sit down, you do this." In this way, yena mām upayānti te. Kṛṣṇa helps the direction as he can achieve the shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti. We have got so many dirty things within our hearts, and as soon as we are a little inclined to hear about Kṛṣṇa, He removes the dirty things, then we become more and more enthused. In this way, nityaṁ bhāgavata sevayā. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu (SB 1.2.18). Not that cent percent we are cleansed, but even a little percentage cleansed, naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Nityam, daily, there must be bhāgavata-sevā. Everything is sevayā. Prasāda-seva, bhāgavata-sevā. Because, sevā means service. Just like maha-prasāda, not eating. The exact term is sevā. Kṛṣṇa has sent him maha-prasāda. So by taking it, it is sevā, it is service to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa likes it, that you take the prasādam. Therefore it is sevā. In this way, increasing sevā.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Pradyumna: "Śukadeva points out that austerity, charity and the performance of ritualistic ceremonies for counteracting sinful activities are recommended processes, but that by performing them one cannot remove the sin desire-seed from the heart, as was the case with Ajāmila in his youth. This sinful desire-seed can be accomplished very easily by chanting the mahā-mantra, or Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, as recommended by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In other words, unless one adopts the path of devotional service, he cannot be one hundred percent clean from all the reactions of sinful activities."
Prabhupāda: So we shall discuss more tomorrow. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.
For example, a person suffering from venereal disease on account of excessive indulgence of sex life has to undergo some severe pain in medical treatment, and he is then cured for the time being. But because he has not been able to remove the sex desire from his heart, he must again indulge in the same thing and become a victim of the same disease. So medical treatment may give temporary relief from the distress of such venereal disease, but unless one is trained to understand that sex life is abominable, it is impossible to be saved from such repeated distress. Similarly, the ritualistic performances, charity, and austerity which are recommended in the Vedas may temporarily stop one from acting in sinful ways, but as long as the heart is not clear, one will have to repeat sinful activities again and again."
You only because You are the Supreme Enjoyer of all sacrifices. You are the Supersoul of every living entity, and therefore You are the actual owner of everything. Long were our hearts always filled with fear of this demon, Hiraṇyakaśipu. But You are so kind towards us that by killing him, You have removed that fear from within our hearts and have given us the chance to place Your Lordship within our hearts again. For persons who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of Your Lordship, all the opulences which were taken away from us by the demons are counted as nothing. Devotees do not even care for liberation, not to speak of these material opulences. Actually we are not enjoyers of the fruits of sacrifices. Our only duty is to always be engaged in Your service, for You are the enjoyer of everything.' "
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
You will find if you look into the sun disk you will find a one circle is moving like that. Similarly, in the Upaniṣad also, we find that the Supreme Lord is hidden within the brahma-jyotir. The exact verse I forget just now. It is stated that "Please remove this cover so that I can see You actually." So within the brahma-jyotir there is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So ordinarily people are amazed with simply brahma-jyotir. They do not go deep into the matter. So ullaṅhita-trividha-sīma-samātīśāyi. God is beyond the limitation of our thinking and philosophical speculation. Sambhāvanaṁ tava parivraḍhima-svabhāvam: "Your very grave and confidential activities, it is very difficult to understand by ordinary men."
It is never to be extinguished, but it appears, it appears. Just like fire covered with ashes. So again, when ashes are removed, the fire comes. So our position is like that. We are now covered by the ash of this material energy and, as soon as this will be removed... The removal process is Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa—ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12), cleansing process. As soon as we are completely cleansed, we are as good, I mean, as illuminating as Kṛṣṇa.
There are 8,400,000 species of forms in jīva-jātiṣu, the living entities. They're passing through. So this is the chance, human form of life, to get out of this cycle of birth and death. Actually, this is our miserable condition. Kṛṣṇa presents these four things as actually miserable condition. We are trying to remove miseries and get happiness. This is called struggle for existence. Manaḥ ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūto jīva-loke sanātanaḥ. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says that "These living entities, they are My part and parcels, qualitatively as good as I am." So the Vedānta-sūtra says, "The living entities or God, they are meant for enjoyment." Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). By nature ānandamaya. So "Why I am put into this miserable condition?" This is the questions by intelligent human being. And if he remains satisfied with the miseries of this material life, then he's no better than the cats and dogs. Sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13).
Indian man: They removed a tree from there. Digging.
Prabhupāda: Oh. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, what is God, that is simplified, that nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. He is the supreme eternal being amongst many other eternal beings. We are all eternal beings. We living entities, we are... Our position is eternity. As it is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit: "These living entities, they do not take birth or die at any time." Not "Nowadays they are taking more birth and population is increasing." This is all nonsense. Population is neither increasing nor decreasing. It may be... The living entities, they are transmigrating in this material world, not in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world they have got their eternal form. But in the material world, because the living entities have come to enjoy the material resources, therefore, according to the desire, the living entity is getting different forms of body, 8,400,000. But he is not dying. The body is changed. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13).
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." Just like in the Bowery Row, street, you will see, so many drunkards, they are lying.
"I am happy." Just like in the Bowery Row, street, you will see, so many drunkards, they are lying. They are thinking happy, but others, those are passing on the street, they are seeing they are not happy. So this is going on. So this mode of ignorance and passion has to be removed. Unless we remove that, the modes of passion and ignorance, there is no chance of become peaceful and happy. Because in goodness everything is... Just like we have got experience: when the sky is cloudy, we are not very much happy, and as soon as there is sunrise, clear sky, we say, "Oh, today is very nice day." Why? Because the light is there. So when we come to goodness, the light of knowledge is there, and therefore we see, "Oh, it is very nice."
If by chance we get association of a pure devotee, then by his mercy this illusion becomes over. Tāṅra upadeśa, by his instructions. Sādhu-saṅga means tasmād satsu sajjeta buddhimān. Therefore it is advised that everyone should seek association of saintly persons. And by saintly person's instruction, this ghost of ignorance will be removed. Tāṅra mantre. Just like you have seen ghostly haunted persons? In India there are so many cases. So there are chanter also. What is called, enchanter or...? Those who are, if he can make treatment a ghostly...
Sri Isopanisad Lectures
"O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee."
Here is Vedic evidence. This Īśopaniṣad is Veda, part of the Yajur Veda. So here it is said, hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasya apihitam mukham. Just like the sun. There is, in the sun planet, there is a predominating Deity whose name is Vivasvān. We get it, this information we get from Bhagavad-gītā. Vivasvān manave prāha. So in every planet there is a predominating Deity. Just like in your this planet, if not Deity, somebody like president there is. Formerly, there was only one king on this planet, up to Mahārāja Parīkṣit. One king was. There was only one flag ruling over this whole planet. Similarly, in every planet there is a predominating Deity. So here it is said that the supreme predominating Deity is Kṛṣṇa, in the spiritual, in the topmost planet in the spiritual sky.
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
We are only two persons, husband and wife, and he is sending more than twenty person foodstuffs, daily." So, he was convinced that "If I chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, I will not starve. Nārada will send everything, that's all."
So, gradually by chanting they became very highly advanced spiritually. So one day Nārada said to his friend Parvata, "My dear Parvata, I have got a disciple in Prayāga. He was hunter, and I have initiated him to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Let us go and see how he is doing." So, two friends are coming there, and it is the system that the disciple, by seeing the spiritual master, should immediately offer obeisances and receive him very nicely. So when he was going to receive from distant place Nārada, he saw some ants were on the feet, and he was trying to remove them so that they may not die, pressure of his foot... (break)
Actually you can see those who are not educated fairly, they cannot get any good job. Therefore it is, his distress is due to less, poor fund of knowledge. So actually our distress is due to ignorance and in ignorance only, we commit sinful activities. Therefore our topics began that, prāyaścittaṁ vimarśanam. We are trying to remove the ignorance of the people, therefore we are giving the best service to the human society. We are simply trying to remove the ignorance. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12), we are trying to polish or cleanse the heart. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam. As soon as the heart is cleansed, the heart that... Now I am indifferently conscious. I am thinking that "I am American," "I am Indian," or "I am this," "I am that." "I have to work, I have got business." So many you have created. But, our process is, our process is to cleanse the heart.
Festival Lectures
You see the spiritual master. He's not Hindu. You may be thinking, "Oh, he's from India. And these American or these Canadian boys and girls, they've taken some fad. They like these Indian things." No, it's not like that at all. This is not religion. According to Sanskrit definition, religion means that quality of the living entity which after everything is removed... Oh, you can lose all your money, you can lose your family, you can lose your nationality, but when everything is removed, that religion remains. So what is that? What is that quality that's common to every living entity? What is that? Just like fire.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
So by Kṛṣṇa kīrtana, this bodily concept of life is..., in the beginning it becomes vanquished. A tacit example: you are all boys. You have forgotten that this body is Indian or American. You are Kṛṣṇa's. This is the first installment. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (CC Antya 20.12). If this bodily concept of life is removed, immediately all the problems of the world solved. Immediately. All these great writers, thoughtful men, philosophers, politicians, diplomats, and the United Nations, they are trying to solve the problems of the world, but they are increasing the problems. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās (SB 7.5.31). How they can mitigate? It is not possible, because the basic principal mistake is there.
General Lectures
So if the body falsely identified, then we can understand that our identification with this world is also false. The real identification is, as it is stated in the Vedic literature, ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am Brahman." "I am Brahman" means "I am spirit soul. I am not this matter." So this misconception has to be removed. Of course, it is not possible that everyone will understand or everyone will be able to understand it, but even a certain percentage of the human society can understand, immediately there is solution of so many problems—to understand ahaṁ brahmāsmi. And how that solution is made, that is described in the Bhagavad-gītā.
That is our nature. We are hankering after joyful life, but we do not know where to hanker, how to get it. By nature we are joyful. It is said in the Vedānta-sūtra, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt: (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12) "By nature a living entity is joyful." But my joyfulness is covered by this material understanding. So I have to remove this material understanding; then again I shall become joyful.
So this movement is very scientific movement, and we have got authoritative statements. You cannot defy authority, authority. As an authority, minister of this Unitarian Church, in one place he has denied authority, and in another place he has quoted so many authorities. So many authorities he has quoted. Why? If you deny authority, then why you quote other authority?
Never mind," but nature will not allow you to stay even. You... One day it will come, immediately kick you out. You have seen the great President of United States, Mr. Kennedy. He was supposed to be the happiest man in the world, but within a second he was kicked out, immediately. In our country Mahatma Gandhi was very popular leader, but in a second he was removed from the field. So we do not know when we shall be removed immediately by the freaks of nature. Therefore the intelligent man should try to know, "What is my constitutional position? Why I want to stay, but some superpower kicks me out of this stage? Why?" (Why?) This is question. This is called brahma-jijñāsā. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. The Vedānta-sūtra instructs that every human being, not the animals but human being, you should not be bewildered. You should question, "Why I am suffering threefold miseries? Why... I do not want death.
Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, naturally, just like father and the son, there is an eternal relationship. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we have got eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That is now covered by the dirty things of māyā. But as soon as we remove, we cleanse these dirty things from our heart, then immediately we can understand what is Kṛṣṇa and what is our relationship with spirit.
- nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya
- śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
Everyone's heart, there is Kṛṣṇa bhakti. Otherwise, how these Europeans, Americans, Canadians, Japanese, they are taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
That is explained in the Brahma-saṁhitā, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Īśvara... All of us may be īśvara. I am īśvara amongst my disciples. You may be īśvara amongst your family members. But none of us is Parameśvara. So this mistaken knowledge is very much spread at the present moment. So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is specially meant for removing this misconception of understanding God and the jīvas. So our first principle is that we have to discard or disregard the persons who are very much anxious to establish that īśvara and Parameśvara, or the living entity and the Supreme Person, they are equal. We do not support this theory.
You should receive them well, because Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava sevā, nistāra pāyeche kebā. And (in) the śāstra it is said, tadīyānām ārādhanam. Viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param, tasmāt parataraṁ devī tadīyānām ārādhanam.
So I have specially come to request you to remove this restriction and be friendly to the foreign devotees. And you also come there, see how there are so many Jagannātha temples, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temples, how They are being worshiped, how these foreigners, they have become pure Vaiṣṇava. They are strictly observing the four principles of sinful life by negation: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no fish-eating, no egg-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. They are purified. And Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī openly says, tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṁ jāyate nṛṇām. So there is authority.
So things are going according to śāstra and mahājana. Why you should not receive them as Vaiṣṇava and give them proper reception? That is my request. I hope... There are many learned scholars and devotees present here. They should endeavor to remove this, I mean to say, restriction or short-sightedness, and let us combinedly work for Jagannātha to preach the bhakti cult for the benefit of the whole world. Janma sārthaka kari kara para-upakāra (CC Adi 9.41). This Bhārata bhūmi is for para-upakāra, because this knowledge, the Vedic knowledge, is here in the Śrīmad Bhāratavarṣa. So we should assimilate the bhakti cult to the right direction, and making our life successful, we should distribute this knowledge, this cult, all over the world. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. Janma sārthaka kari para-upakāra.
Philosophy Discussions
Śyāmasundara: Darwin did that. He made the appearance and disappearance of animals' bodies seem so mechanically arranged that God was removed from the picture, and it appeared as if combinations of ingredients created animals and they evolved from each other.
Prabhupāda: That is another foolishness. Combination means God. He is combining. Combination does not take automatically. Suppose I am cooking. There are so many ingredients for cooking—they are not combined together. I am the cooker; I am cooking, first of all oil, and the spices, then the rice, then the dahl, then the water. In this way nice foodstuff is coming out. So this combination means God. Otherwise where is the instant the combination is taking place? I place all the ingredients in the kitchen room, and after one hour if I go, "Oh, where is my food?" (laughing) You nonsense, who is cooking your food? You starve. Just take help of a living being, then he'll cook and then you can eat. This is our experience. So why does he say combination? Wherefrom the combination comes? He is such a fool he does not know how combination takes place.
Hayagrīva: And finally he says, "The whole domain of the supernatural, the whole domain of the supernatural, of religion is removed from the region of belief into that of simple hope."
Prabhupāda: No. It is neither hope nor belief. It is fact. To us at least, Kṛṣṇa conscious people, it is fact because Kṛṣṇa is coming and giving instruction to Arjuna, and that is recorded, and we are reading that. So where is it is belief or fiction or something? It is fact.
Hayagrīva: He believed that if man could not, by the exercise of his own energies, improve both himself and his outward circumstances, that is if man could not improve the world to do more good for his, to do good for himself and other creatures, vastly more than God had in the first instance done, the being who called him into existence would deserve something very different from thanks at his hands. In other words that if man couldn't improve the world, then...
Śyāmasundara: So actually, we're removing people from danger, from evil, by making them Kṛṣṇa conscious.
Prabhupāda: Certainly.
Śyāmasundara: So this is a welfare activity.
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. This is best welfare activity in the world. What others can do in comparison to this?
Śyāmasundara: They may be able to remove some of the temporary dangers...
Prabhupāda: Yes. To give some temporary benefit, but again he is fallen.
Śyāmasundara: Step by step there's danger. When we discussed the utilitarians...
Prabhupāda: (indistinct) In Caitanya Mahāprabhu's address, namo mahā-vadānyāya. If I give some charity to a needy man, it will serve for a temporary period, but if you give him Kṛṣṇa-prema, then immediately he'll be transferred to the spiritual world.
Devānanda: So in other words, if a body dies from heart failure, they should immediately be able to remove that heart and put in a fresh heart from somebody who has just died, and it will come back to life. But it doesn't do that.
Prabhupāda: No. There are so many other things, and not only one case of heart failure.
Devānanda: But there are many, for example...
Prabhupāda: Don't you...
Śyāmasundara: We want to stick to Wittgenstein.
Prabhupāda: The main principle is when the body is called dead, why don't you put some chemicals and make it alive again? You say something is wanted. What is that something? That you do not know. But we can say what is that something. We say that something is the soul. That is wanting.
Prabhupāda: That is not a... Personality, I am. Just like delirium, the same personality, but he's talking nonsense in delirium. If you remove the delirium condition, then he becomes again the original person. Delirium is not person.
Śyāmasundara: Oh, I see.
Indian man: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: (indistinct)
Śyāmasundara: When we say that a person is ghostly haunted, does that mean there is another personality which is inhabiting his...
Prabhupāda: He, he is confused because he is also speculating. So these things will remain confused, whether the Absolute Truth is person, imperson. Generally, without spiritual advancement nobody can understand about the Absolute Truth, and so he, that doubt continues. But when there is question of love between the Absolute and the relative, there must be the personal conception, and actually He is person, Kṛṣṇa. So by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, when he gets in touch with the devotee, his impersonal conception of the Absolute is removed, and then he worships the personal aspect of the Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṇa, and devotee. Then his life is successful.
Hayagrīva: Concerning the fall of the soul, Plotinus believes that the human soul never entirely leaves the spiritual realm.
| Page Title: | Remove (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 22 of Nov, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=81, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 81 |