Alexander the Great arrested one thief, and he was going to punish him. The thief pleaded, "Sir, you are going to punish me, but what is the difference between you and me? I am a small thief, you are a great thief. That's all. (laughter) You are by force occupying other's kingdom, and you have no right. But because you are strong, or some way or other you have got the opportunity, and you are conquering country after country, country after . . . so I am also doing the same thing. So what is the difference between you and me?" So Alexander considered that, "Yes, I am nothing but a big thief, that's all." So he released him, "Yes, I am no better than you." Just like dacoits. Nowadays there are many thieves who steal scientifically, legally. There are many lawyers, many scientists. They do harm, but legally. Legal murderer, legal cheaters, so many things. We have got experience, every one of us. If you can protect yourself under the cover of law and you cheat others, then it is nice. But you cannot cheat the supervision of the Supreme. That you cannot do. A thief may steal secretly, but there is no secret. There is no secrecy for God. It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ (BG 15.15): "I am sitting in everyone's heart." So suppose you are planning to do something, mischievous activity. You can cheat the man-made law or the man-made police, but how you can cheat Kṛṣṇa? He is sitting within your heart. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ: "I am sitting in everyone's heart." So whatever you're thinking, feeling and willing, it is immediately being observed and noted, "This rascal wants to do this." Besides that . . . this is inside. Then outside there is sun, there is moon, there is day, there is night. Everyone, there are eight kinds of witnesses, whatever you are doing. And karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). Just like a man is punished according to his gravity of criminality, similarly, whatever you are doing . . . here everything is criminal in this material world. Everything is criminal. Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta kaṛ says:
- dvaite bhadrābhadra-sakali samāna
- ei bhāla ei manda—sarva mano-dharma
Dvaite. Dvaite means things which is not directly Kṛṣṇa. Dvaita. Bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt, dvitīya. This dvitīya, this is called māyā. Dvitīya means second. The one is Kṛṣṇa, and māyā is secondary. Just like light, light and darkness. Darkness is not first; light is first. And darkness means where there is no light. Where there is no light, that is darkness. Similarly, darkness has no separate existence. It is simply absence of light, that's all. Real existence is light. So whole creation is . . . just like real existence is the sun. Try to understand, very easy. Sun, but when it is covered by the cloud, it is called darkness. Or it is covered by another planet, then we find darkness. Actually, there is always light. If you go through the cloud, you come to the sunshine. Everyone has got the experience. Down, when you start your plane, it may be very dark, and then, when you go beyond the sky, seven miles above, then you see there is sunlight. And again, if you start your plane in sunlight, in the morning, in daylight, so in the morning, and go to the western side, you will find never night. You will find never night—always light, always light. Sometimes we have got experience, we start from a place, say, at ten o'clock, and going western side. Then, after few hours, we see it is still ten o'clock, and the light is there. This is our practical experience.