Kṛṣṇa says never we were mixed up. We are all individuals. And He says, "Never we shall remain... Never there will be time when we shall not exist." That means in the past we existed as individuals, in the present there is no doubt we are existing as individual, and in the future also, we shall continue to remain as individuals. Then when the impersonal conception comes at all? In the past, present, future, there are three times. Huh? In all the times we are individuals. Then when God becomes impersonal or I become impersonal or you become impersonal? Where is the chance? Kṛṣṇa clearly says, "There was never time when I, you, and all these individual kings or soldiers... It was not that we did not exist in the past." So in the past we existed as individual, and in the present there is no doubt. We are existing as individual. You are my disciple, I am your spiritual master, but you have got your individuality, I have got my individuality. If you don't agree with me, you can leave me. That is your individuality. So if you don't like Kṛṣṇa, you cannot become in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is your individuality. So this individuality continues. Similarly Kṛṣṇa, if He does not like you, He may refuse you Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Not that because you are following all the rules and regulations, Kṛṣṇa is obliged to accept you. No. If He thinks that "He's nonsense; I cannot accept him," He'll reject you.
There is no doubt (Lectures)
Expressions researched:
"There is not doubt"
|"There is nothing to doubt"
|"There is then no doubt"
|"there is no doubt"
|"there is no more doubt"
|"there's no doubt"
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
The prakṛti is very powerful. There is no doubt.
In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is stated that sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). Durgā, Goddess Durgā, she is the prakṛti power, and she can create, she can maintain, she can annihilate. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti (Bs. 5.44). But she is acting just like shadow, not independently. Icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. So Govinda is the ultimate background. Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1). Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ... And this is the Brahma-saṁhitā, written by Lord Brahmā. So, and He is personally explaining Himself. What is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead?
That is internal energy, not external energy. Internal. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Daivīṁ prakṛtim means internal energy.
So our business is that we have to take shelter. Instead of taking shelter of the external energy... That is also Kṛṣṇa. There is no doubt. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's energy: nondifferent. But that is not very beneficial to us. We have to take shelter of the internal energy. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Daivīṁ prakṛtim means internal energy.
And Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the, mean, the symbol of internal energy. Therefore we take shelter of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in Vṛndāvana, and that is our perfection of life. Then it will be easier to associate with Kṛṣṇa very easily. That should be our motto.
Praṇipāta means to surrender, and paripraśna means to inquire, and sevayā means service. Three things. You should find out a person who is self-realized, who has experience in the Absolute Truth, and, on your part, you have to surrender there, and you have to inquire, and you have to render service. When these things are completed, there is no doubt about one's spiritual salvation.
If we have actually found out a person who is self-realized and we have surrendered there honestly, with inquiry and service, then we must know that our spiritual salvation is guaranteed. Guaranteed. There is no doubt about it.
And here Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). All the ācāryas, they have admitted this. Even Śaṅkarācārya, who is not Vaiṣṇava. Still he accepts: sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇa devakī-nandana. He has admitted. So Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no doubt. If you want to know Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, here is Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Try to understand, and your life will be successful.
Because he is not in the platform, how he can be understand God? That is not possible. It is not... But we are confident what is God, what is His father's name, what is His name, what is His address, everything. No saṁśaya, no doubt. Everything complete. Asaṁśayam. We are confident that we are going to Kṛṣṇa, back to home, back to Godhead. There is no doubt, asaṁśayam and samagram. Sama means full. What is God meant? Asaṁśayam...
Arjuna has said that "I heard from the śāstras about Yourself, and You are personally speaking that You are the Supreme. And not only that, the great sages like Vyāsadeva, Asita, Devala, great authorities, they also admit that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Therefore there is no doubt. The conclusion is the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa. As it was in the beginning said by Kṛṣṇa, asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu (BG 7.1). Asaṁśayam, "without any doubt."
Just like you are breathing, inhaling and exhaling. So when Mahā-Viṣṇu exhales, innumerable universes come out. And when He inhales, all these universes go into His body. So just imagine how great He is, how big He is. That is not conceivable with our limited sense. But if we believe, then you get the perfect knowledge. There is no doubt. If you don't believe, there is no other way. You cannot understand what is God, or what is His length, what is His breadth.
Either they may be theist or atheist, that doesn't matter. Bhagavad-gītā is accepted by all classes of men in India. And so far outside India is concerned, all scholars, all religionists, all philosophers, they have accepted this Bhagavad-gītā as authority. So there is no doubt about Bhagavad-gītā's being authority. Even Professor Einstein, he was reading regularly this Bhagavad-gītā, such a great scientist. So there are many evidences. So you believe this, that there is a spiritual atmosphere and that is the kingdom of God. And here it is stated that yaṁ prāpya na nivartante, if you somehow or other, you can reach that spiritual atmosphere, then the result is na nivartante, you'll have no more to take this material body, na nivartante. Tad dhāma paramaṁ mama. So you'll become quietly and happily situated in your eternal life. Don't you think?
One yuga means forty three lakhs of, hundred thousands of years. Sahasra means thousand times. That is... Everything is stated there. You can learn. You can understand. So that is called Brahmaloka. And it is also stated, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna (BG 8.16). Even if you reach to the Brahmaloka... You can get long duration of life. There is no doubt. But again, punar āvartinaḥ, you have to die and you have to go to another body and another planet. But I am eternal. We are eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). By destruction of this body, maybe after two hours or four minutes... There are many, many living entities, they live for some minutes, some second, some years. The human in this material world, in this planetary system, we live, say, utmost, hundred years. But in other planetary system they live for millions of years. It is a ques... This world is relative.
Is it guaranteed that because one is son of high-court judge, he'll also become a high-court judge? There is no such guarantee. Everyone is individual. We are sons of God, that's all right, but we have got little independence. If we misuse our independence, then we become lower. Kṛṣṇa is perfect, there is no doubt, but we are part and parcel of. Just like another example. There is a fire and there are sparks of fire. The sparks are very little, small fire particle. Sometimes they fall down from the fire and becomes extinguished. The fiery quality is lost. Similarly, we are all parts and parcels of God, but when, by misusing our intelligence, our independence, we come here in this material world to enjoy, our godly qualities becomes lost. Again if you revive, then you go back to home, back to Godhead.
So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to transfer oneself from this external energy to the internal energy. That is the purpose of all Vedic literature. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). To understand God and go back to home, back to Godhead, that is perfection of life. So here we are in the God's energy. There is no doubt. Mayā tatam, mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni (BG 9.4). Everything. Bhūtāni means all living entities, anything which has grown. The trees, the plants, the hills, the ocean, the sky—everything is resting in God's energy. Mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ. But it is not that... The pantheists, they think that "If God has expanded in everything, then whatever I worship, that is God's worship." No. That is the... Kṛṣṇa said, "No, that you cannot take."
And whatever Brahma-sūtra says, that is viniścita, means ascertained. There is no doubt. Just like Brahma-sūtra says, athāto brahma jijñāsā. Brahma-sūtra says, "Now it is the time for inquiring about the Absolute Truth." "Now" means in this life, human form of life, or...
Just like in Europe and America it is the time now to inquire about the Absolute Truth because materially they are advanced.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Then what will be my profit? Suppose I simply love God. I love. The loving propensity is there in me. I love some boy. I love some girl. I love my country. I love my family. I love my society. I love my country. The loving propensity is there. There is no doubt. Everyone, even cats and dogs, because he is living entity, he has got that loving propensity. A tiger also loves its cubs. But this love, when it will be applied to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is the perfection of life. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). What kind of love? Ahaitukī. To love God not for any other reason, that "God will give me some wealth, God will give me this, God will... I shall take from God this." No. Ahaitukī, no cause, that "Because I am in want of some money, therefore I shall go to church or temple or love God." No.
Kṛṣṇa will help him. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpā. Guru is secondary, another mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is helping within and without. That without help is guru, Kṛṣṇa's representative. So Kṛṣṇa is always ready to help us, and when Kṛṣṇa is helping us, it is very easy to understand Him. Therefore a devotee is beyond all doubts. Beyond all doubts. There is no doubt. Not that blindly we are accepting Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No. We have got all our arguments, scientific, philosophical, anything. Then we accept Kṛṣṇa. That acceptance is nice. That is uttama-adhikārī.
That's all. But you are nothing. You are nothing. This is to be realized. This is called bhakti-yoga. The rascals are puffed up, "I am God." Foolishly. How you can be God? You may have some qualities, very minute quality of God, but you cannot claim that you are God. The same example. The small spark of fire is also fire. Nobody... There is no doubt. A small particle of gold is gold, but it cannot be compared with the gold mine. That is not possible.
Pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya, eternal. Pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-muktaḥ. Mukta means not of this material world. Mukti means anything which does not belong to, in this material world. That is called mukti. So the holy name, chanting of holy name, if we act it properly, without any offense, then we are directly in connection with Kṛṣṇa. There is no doubt. Pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto 'bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ.
That is real jñānī. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu said koṭi-karma-niṣṭha-madhye eka jñānī śreṣṭha. Out of millions of karmīs, one jñānī is śreṣṭha. We sometimes differ with the Māyāvādī philosophers. But they are jñānīs. They are better than the karmīs. There is no doubt. Koṭi-karma-niṣṭha-madhye eka jñānī śreṣṭha.
"I am not expansion of anybody." Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). They are all īśvaras, controller. Viṣṇu-tattva is controller always. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Everywhere Viṣṇu is the Supreme Controller.
So every viṣṇu-tattva is controller. There is no doubt. And they have got equal power. Not that Lord Rāmacandra is less powerful than Kṛṣṇa. No. They have equal power. The example is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya (Bs. 5.46). Just like one candle. You ignite another candle, you ignite another, another, another.
So therefore it is said that vaikuṇṭho mandaṁ jahāsa vaikuṇṭhaḥ. Kṛṣṇa is Vaikuṇṭha. Kuṇṭha means anxiety, doubt, kuṇṭha. If you are doubtful, if you are in anxiety, that is called kuṇṭha. And Vaikuṇṭha means without that thing, doubtfulness or anxiety. So in other words, whatever you do for Kṛṣṇa, there is no more doubt or anxiety. Vaikuṇṭha. Therefore His name is Vaikuṇṭha. Vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane. There is a verse, sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, he engaged his mind to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18).
And not like the theosophists' thinking, "Now I have got human body. It is permanent settlement." No, that is not permanent settlement. According to one's work... Work means all sinful acts. Without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, anyone who acts, he acts sinfully. There is no doubt of it. Because he is acting for sense gratification, and sense gratification means almost 99.9% all sinful activities. Duṣkṛtinaḥ. It is very risky job. Unless you act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness... Yajñārthe karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9). This is the stringent law of the nature, that you have to act only for Yajña, for satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu. Otherwise, you will be entangled. And who is serving Kṛṣṇa? Nobody is serving Kṛṣṇa. So everyone is being entangled. This is the material world.
We don't accept in that way. Arjuna was talking with Kṛṣṇa. He knew that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but, in order to convince us that in future there may not be any misunderstanding about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he requested Kṛṣṇa to show His universal form. So He showed him. So there is no doubt about, about Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
So dharma... generally, people think that "Becoming religious, we shall be economically developed." Dharma artha. "We shall get artha. We shall be..." That is... Automatically it comes. If you are actually following the religious principle, artha will come. There is no doubt. And... But we do not know what is dharma. That is the difficulty. That you have to learn from Kṛṣṇa, athāto brahma jijñāsā, from the guru. And what guru says, Kṛṣṇa says? sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). This is dharma. Anything else, that is all cheating. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavaḥ atra. Kaitava. Kaitava means cheating. And Śrīdhara Svāmī says, "This mokṣa is also another cheating." Mokṣa is another... "I shall make me void. I shall finish my existence, individual existence.
So Ṛṣabhadeva said that "I have got My body," idaṁ śarīram, when He appears to solve our problem, whether God is personal or impersonal. Impersonal is there, there is no doubt, but what is that impersonal? Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat avyakta-mūrtinā (BG 9.4). That is impersonal. No, He's Māyā: "By Me." That means His energy. His energy is distributed throughout the whole creation, cosmic manifestation. But He is still there. Māyā. Unless He is there Not that because He is spread everywhere—vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19)—it does not mean He is finished. That is material understanding. In the materially, if you take a piece of paper and make it a small pieces and throw it, then the original paper is no longer existing. That is material conception.
Asaṁśaya, without any doubt. Just like our path, devotional service, we are fully convinced that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no doubt. So others, they are finding who is God, what is God, they have got doubt. And they do not know also completely what is God. But we know what is God: Supreme Personality, Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Because we have taken the path of devotional service that with firm conviction, and we are making progress in that way. Asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu (BG 7.1). Mayā mano buddhiḥ. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā.
That's very good. But real protection is that "My children, this boy, this girl, has come in my belly. Now this is the last. I shall train them in such a way that next birth, he'll not have a material body." How it is? Yes, it is possible. How? Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). One can give up this material body... Everyone has to give it up. There is no doubt. But one is giving up this body and accepting another body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). But there is another method, that he's not going to accept any more material body. That is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti: (BG 4.9) "After giving up this body, he's not going to accept another material body." Who? Janma karma ca divyaṁ ye jānāti tattvataḥ:
So that is natural. When there is snake, there is no question of sādhu or asādhu. Kill him. Sādhur api, very nice. Modeta sādhur api vṛścika-sarpa-hatyā.
So Prahlāda Mahārāja is Vaiṣṇava. He could understand that "Everything in this material world, even the possession of my father, will be finished. There is no doubt. So what is the use of possessing such thing which will be finished?" Antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ (BG 2.18). This is intelligent person decision, that "Everything in this material world, this body, or anything in relativity with this body will be finished." Kṛṣṇa says and the devotees know it. Therefore they do not want anything of this material possession.
To revive our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And the gist of the Vedas, the śāstra, is Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-śāstra vinijya (?). So if we read Bhagavad-gītā carefully, spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and follow it according to the direction of the Brahmā and his disciplic succession, then Kṛṣṇa will give you all protection from the demons. There is no doubt. That is Kṛṣṇa's business. He said, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). Dharmasya glāniḥ means discrepancy in the matter of understanding Vedas. That is dharmasya glāniḥ.
The example is given in the śāstra, just like candles. Dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya (Bs. 5.46). The... There are thousands of candles, so we get one of them ignited, light up, and then second, then third, then fourth, then fifth—you can go on increasing millions. The each light, each candle, is equally powerful. There is no doubt. Kṛṣṇa's expansion not... The Viṣṇu-tattva... It is called Viṣṇu-tattva. Dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya dīpāyate na hi tathā pṛthag asti hetu (Bs. 5.46). So Viṣṇu-tattva. Viṣṇu-tattva is one, but still... Just like the example, candle. One candle, first candle, is Kṛṣṇa. Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1), govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. This is the conclusion.
We have Daily we understand what is guru. Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, citette kariyā aikya, āra nā kariya mane āśā **. This is that. This is wanted. If you have got real guru and if you follow him, then your life is successful. There is no doubt. But if you have a so-called bogus guru, and without any knowledge of the śāstra, then your life will be spoiled. Especially the Māyāvādī guru, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has warned, māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa (CC Madhya 6.169). Māyāvādī guru means one who thinks that everyone is God. That is Māyāvādī guru. If you approach such guru, then your life is spoiled. Māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. Finished. Your spiritual progress finished. So in this way, guru, arka, these are the training.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
This is because, after all, the Supreme Personality of Godhead maintains all other living entities. If the whole world performs its respective duties and remains in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no doubt that all of its members will live very peacefully and happily. Without wanting the necessities of life, the whole world will be turned into Vaikuṇṭha, a spiritual abode. Even without being transferred to the kingdom of God, by following the injunctions of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and prosecuting the duties of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. all human society will be happy in all respects."
'My dear Uddhava, all persons are engaged in activities, whether those indicated in the revealed scriptures or ordinary worldly activities. If by the result of either of such activities they worship Me in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then automatically they become very happy within this world, as well as in the next. Of this there is no doubt.' We can conclude from this statement by Kṛṣṇa that activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness will give everyone all perfection in their desires.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Nimāi Paṇḍita was at that time only sixteen years old. But He defeated only in composition, Sanskrit composition. The Sanskrit composition, there is rules and regulations. So you know the story. He pointed out many defects in the verses composed by the Keśava Kashmiri. So he was defeated.
So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a great scholar. There is no doubt of it. But in spite of His becoming a great scholar, He is presenting Himself as a great fool. He says, "My Guru Mahārāja saw Me a great..." Even one is very great scholar, he has to abide by the decision of his spiritual master.
So there is interpretation required. So somebody says, " 'On the Ganges' means on the bank of the Ganges." That makes it clear. "On the Ganges" does not mean that in the middle water there is a, I mean to say, residential quarter. No. "On the Ganges" means on the bank of the Ganges.
So when there is such doubt, one can interpret. But when there is no doubt—everyone can understand clearly the meaning—there is no question of interpreting. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's stressing, that gauṇa-vṛttye yebā bhāṣya karila ācārya. Therefore each and every aphorism and verse of Vedānta-sūtra has been indirectly interpreted by the Śārīraka-bhāṣya. Such interpretation, if somebody hears, then his future is doomed.
Initiation Lectures
Now if you don't utilize it, then you can commit your suicide. Nobody can check you. Otherwise you can utilize all these facilities and go directly to Kṛṣṇa.
So this is the process. Initiation means beginning of that perfection. One has to utilize it properly, then there is no doubt. It is assured in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa assures if you believe in Kṛṣṇa, if you believe in His Personality of Godhead, then there cannot be any doubt. And let us execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness and follow the rules and regulation, and then life is sure to be successful. Now chant mantra. Vande ahaṁ śrī guru (chants fire sacrifice prayers, devotees responding) Now chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break) ...bead.
And in this purified state, if we can leave this body ultimately, then there is no doubt we enter into the supreme abode of the Personality of Godhead. These things are very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, and you read carefully. This initiation does not mean... Of course, this chanting will save you, only chanting. But if you read some literatures also, and the philosophy also, then it will be more and more convincing that you are making progress. And in the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā you will find that this is the process by which you can understand practically whether you are making actually progress in spiritual life.
So long we remain forgetful where our service should be given, that is called material life. When we come to that consciousness, that "I have to serve Kṛṣṇa," that is spiritual life. That is difference between material life and spiritual life. We are serving. There is no doubt. We cannot be master. Any one of you who are present in this meeting, none of you can say that "I am the master." Every one of you, servant to somebody. That is our position. But that service is being rendered to mistaken places; therefore we are not happy, neither the person whom we are serving, they are happy. This is the position. But as soon as you serve Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara, then you become happy, the whole world becomes happy. This is a great science. Try to understand. Go on. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
General Lectures
So this is māyā. So if we understand this small philosophy, that constitutionally I am servant... There is no doubt. Nobody can say that "I am free, I am master." Nobody can say. If he thinks like that, that is māyā. It is false. Can anybody say in this meeting that he's not servant of anybody or anything? He must be, because that is his constitutional position. But the difficulty is that by serving our senses, there is no solution of the problem, of the miseries. For the time being, I may satisfy myself that I have taken this intoxication, and under the spell of this intoxication I may think that "I am nobody's servant. I am free," but that is artificial. As soon as the hallucination is gone, he comes to the point, again servant. Again servant.
Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre: (BG 2.20) "Even after the annihilation of this body there is no destruction of the soul." And soul is migrating in different species of life. So we have to take Kṛṣṇa the authority, Veda-Vyāsa the authority. There are many such authorities. So there is next life. There is no doubt. The practical proof there is... And Kṛṣṇa has given many proof. I have spoken in this meeting many times. There is next life. So we should be responsible. This human form of life should not be wasted simply for sense gratification. That sense gratification facility is in every... Even in the cats and dogs, there is that facility. By nature it is already arranged. But the special qualification of this human form of life is to know himself, and to try to understand that "Why I am in miserable condition? Wherefrom I have come? Where I have to go? What is God? What is this world?" This is called Vedānta. Vedānta means to understand all these things.
And if you do not, then either it is Bible or the Koran or Bhagavad-gītā, it has no effect for you. So it is up to you. Not by comparison, but by your own activities. If you actually follow the instruction given by Lord Jesus Christ, you will also develop love of Godhead. There is no doubt. Similarly, if you follow the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, you will also develop. So it is up to you. You try to follow. If you do not follow, simply try to make a comparative study "This is good" or "This is bad," "This is bad" or "This is good," that is called śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8)—simply laboring. Why comparative study? Just see how much you are developing love of Godhead, that's all. Phalena paricīyate. "Whether it is apple is there, that's all right; never mind what is this tree. I'm concerned with the apple." Yes.
When we receive knowledge from imperfect person, the knowledge is not complete. At the present age, mostly the scientists, they cannot give us perfect knowledge, because there are so many "if's." They say, "It may be," "Perhaps," like that. But this is not perfect knowledge. The perfect knowledge means there is no "if," there is no "perhaps," there is no doubt. So we are receiving knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, the supreme perfect being. He says that dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Asmin dehe. Asmin means this, this body. You have got your body; I have got my body. So within this body, there is the proprietor of the body. Asmin dehe. Dehinaḥ asmin. Dehe means the proprietor of the body. I do not see you; I see your body, you see my body.
So He is accepted by the direct disciple, Arjuna; He is accepted by Vyāsadeva; He is accepted by Nārada Muni; and recently, within two thousand years, He is accepted by all the ācāryas of India-Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī; and lately, five hundred years ago, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So there is no doubt about Kṛṣṇa's becoming the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is confirmed, ete cāṁśa kalāḥ puṁsāṁ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam: (SB 1.3.28) "The original Personality of Godhead-Kṛṣṇa." Similarly, in the Upaniṣad, in the Vedas, and Brahma-saṁhitā, if you take evidence from the śāstras, everywhere you will find, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.
So Arjuna was very much compassionate that he practically said, "Kṛṣṇa, I am not going to fight." Then Arjuna also knew that "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So my perplexity can be eradicated only by Kṛṣṇa." Therefore he submitted to Kṛṣṇa, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam: (BG 2.7) "I am in great perplexity." Everyone is in great perplexity. There is no doubt. Anyone in this material world is full of anxiety and perplexity. So it is not only Arjuna's, I mean to say, problem. It is the problem of everyone. So if we want to solve the problems of life, we should accept Kṛṣṇa as the supreme teacher. This is the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā and Arjuna. Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, now I am asking You to become my teacher." (aside:) Don't disturb. "I am asking You to become my teacher and solve my problem."
Therefore we have to receive knowledge from the person who knows past, present, and future. So the best personality—there are so many others—Kṛṣṇa and His representative, both of them are perfect because Kṛṣṇa is perfect, there is no doubt, and one who speaks according to Kṛṣṇa, he is also perfect. A human being or a living being is not expected to become as perfect as Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. Therefore, if a person sticks to the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, does not make any addition and alteration, he is also perfect. Unfortunately, at the present moment especially...
According to our śāstra, there are seven mothers: my original mother, ādau-mātā... Guroḥ patnī is my mother. Dhenu, cow, is my mother. Dhātrī, the nurse, is my mother. Tathā pṛthvī. Also earth is also my mother. So mātā is there, and the sons are there. How you can deny, that "There is no father"? I may not see my father, but there is father; there is no doubt of it. That pitā is personally presenting Himself-ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā: (BG 14.4) "I am the seed-giving father."
So God is there, and there is no doubt of it, but because, due to our foolishness, we think there is no God, there is no father, that is our foolishness. But what is that God, how He is, what is His business, how He is formed—all these things we want to learn, and human life is meant for that purpose. In the life of cats and dogs we cannot understand God, but in the human life we can understand. Therefore in the Vedānta-sūtra the first aphorism is that athāto brahma jijñāsā. This life, in the human form of life...
The message from Caitanya Mahāprabhu as it is, I am delivering. That's all. And it is being effected because I am not adulterating in the kṛṣṇa-kathā. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja; (BG 18.66) I also say the same thing, that "You become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. You surrender to Kṛṣṇa." So there is no doubt that I am really representing the interests of Kṛṣṇa because I am not adulterating. I am not misinterpreting the words of Kṛṣṇa. And it is being effective.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Yes. By the grace of the superior, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo **, we sing every day. If there is blessings of higher authority, everything can be achieved. There is no doubt.
Śyāmasundara: He puts forward five steps for solving problems. (aside conversation-indistinct) The first step is, he says, to observe a problem and think of its nature. The second step is intellectualize the problem further: to analyze the total of difficulties. Three, you make hypothesis which constitutes possible solutions. Four, you analyze these hypotheses in the light of past experience. And five, you put these possible solutions into practice experimentally, and to ascertain the results in actual experience.
Prabhupāda: A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engaged in devotional service, simply by the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, simply by offering regulative obeisances unto the Deity, simply by hearing the glories of the Lord, and simply by eating the remnants of foodstuffs offered to the Lord, realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead very easily. There is no doubt that the impersonalists are unnecessarily taking a troublesome path with the risk of not realizing the Absolute Truth at the ultimate end. But the personalist, without any risk, trouble, or difficulty, approaches the Supreme Personality directly.
Prabhupāda: Why this? Any world, what Kṛṣṇa creates, that is all right. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya, pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇam adaḥ (Iso Invocation). Everything is perfect. The world is perfect. So there is no doubt. But the nature of the world being material, there are three qualities. They are also working perfectly. As you work, so you get the result, reaction.
Śyāmasundara: So what would you say, if Schopenhauer said this is the worst of all possible worlds?
Prabhupāda: Why worst? We don't say worst.
Śyāmasundara: Because it is so full of frustration.
Prabhupāda: Everyone is under the leadership. Just like sometimes we say, "The material scientists say like this, they say like this." He accepts the leadership. So we have to accept the leadership, but if we accept the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, then our life is perfect. Other leadership is māyā, māyā's leadership. But we have to accept leadership. There is no doubt of it. So he accepted the leadership of sex, but he did not admit it, but going on speaking on sex. And those who have taken the leadership of God, they will speak only of God, nothing else. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109), that is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy, that we are eternal servant of God. So as soon as we give up the service of Lord, then we have to accept the service of māyā. So all these different atheists, scientists, they are all servants of māyā instead of becoming servant of God. He is servant, but he is servant of māyā. That is the difference between devotee and the materialistic person.
Hayagrīva: Aristotle defines God as pure form and pure act and purely nonmaterial. He is absolute spirit and is the unmoved mover.
Prabhupāda: Yes. He is absolute spirit, there is no doubt upon it, but why He should come to know Himself through material world? That is defective.
Hayagrīva: Aristotle's God contemplates Himself. He does not have any knowledge of the world...
Prabhupāda: Who?
Hayagrīva: ...as such.
Prabhupāda: Who has no knowledge?
Prabhupāda: Either you be Englishman or Frenchman or this man, you cannot survive. You have to succumb under the dictation of the superior nature. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that—I think Huxley read Bhagavad-gītā; he does not know-that,
- prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
- guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
- ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
- kartāham iti manyate
- (BG 3.27)
This kind of conception, that "I shall survive, I am Englishman," this is a false egotism and bewildered soul. Whatever he may be, Englishman or this man or that man, he must die. That is the law of nature. So intelligent man first of all makes provision "How I shall not die." That is real business of human being. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that if one simply understands Kṛṣṇa, then he survives; otherwise one has to die. There is no doubt. Nobody can...
| Page Title: | There is no doubt (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 23 of Nov, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=53, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 53 |