In Sanskrit language the saintly persons are called santa. Maybe it is Latin derivative, because in Latin there are many words resembling Sanskrit. And Professor Rowe, a great English scholar in India, an Englishman, professor in Presidency College, he wrote one grammar, English grammar. In our childhood we had to read. He has stated that "Sanskrit is the mother of all languages."
Anyway . . . so when God appears, incarnates, descends, His business is to protect the devotees, paritrāṇāya sādhūnām. That is His first business. Vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8): And to kill the unfaithful, miscreants. For them, God does not require to come Himself. But side by side, He does so. If God likes, He can kill thousands of miscreants by one stroke.
So that business does not depend on Him, that He would come to kill a demonic person. The real business is to protect the devotees, the faithful. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja says, kṣemāya bhūtaya utātma-sukhāya cāsya vikrīḍitam: "Actually, You have appeared for these persons, to protect them, for their happiness," sukhāya, "and for their elevation."
Just like Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, or Vedic literature, or any scripture. For whom they are meant? Those who are godly, for their elevation, so that they can elevate more and more. It is not for the atheistic persons. They do not believe in God. So Bible or Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, they are not meant for the atheistic person. So whatever auspicious things are in the world, they are meant for the faithful, not for the atheistic person.
Thank you. Any questions? (break)
Devotee: . . . from the modes of ignorance to the modes of passion to the modes of goodness is a very gradual process?
Prabhupāda: Why gradual? You can immediately transcend all the processes by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. Immediately.
- māṁ ca vyabhicāriṇi
- bhakti yogena yaḥ sevate
- sa guṇān samatītyaitān
- brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
- (BG 14.26)
In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, the Lord says, "Anyone who is engaged in unalloyed devotional service unto Me, so he is transcendental." Sa guṇān samatītyaitān. Guṇān means these modes, different modes—modes of ignorance, modes of passion, modes of goodness. Goodness is also material. That is not spiritual. If you become very good moralist or very religious, following all the rules and regulation, that is good but that is not spiritual. Spiritually, far above. So one . . . we have to transcend the position of worldly goodness.
Somebody asked me this question, "Swāmījī, if a person is moral and dutiful and benevolent, all the good qualification, so what is the use of worshiping God?" My reply was that, that anyone who is not God conscious or Kṛṣṇa conscious, he cannot be good, cannot be moral. It is not possible. Harāv abhakta . . . I am not manufacturing this. This is the statement of Śrīmad-Bhagavatam. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇa mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). So take for example that our, in our country, Mahatma Gandhi, he was considered to be a very good man . . .
(break) . . . religiosity. They may be good, but they are not ultimate good. The ultimate good is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is good for you and good for all. Anyone who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is good in this sense, because he is in transcendental position, and whatever he speaks, because he speaks about God, therefore speaking is not adulterated.
So this position, as soon as you take it a principle of your life that, "I shall simply be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service, or God's service. I shall talk about Kṛṣṇa, I shall work for Kṛṣṇa, I shall write for Kṛṣṇa, I shall read for Kṛṣṇa. Everything for Kṛṣṇa," that is the transcendental position beyond goodness, better than goodness. So one can be situated in this position immediately by surrendering to Kṛṣṇa. It is not very difficult.