Detached, this society, friendship and love. We have to understand the falsity of this so-called society, friendship and love. It is just like... because we are being carried away by the waves of māyā. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, māyār bośe, jāccho bhese, Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi. Just like we see sometimes in rainy season, so many plants and creepers and vegetables and so many other things are floating in the river, going. Similarly, we also, all floating in the waves of māyā. Māyār bośe, jāccho bhese, khāccho hābuḍubu. Sometimes drowned, sometimes on the surface, sometimes on the other shore, sometimes on this shore. This is going on. So long we are in this material world, we are being tossed by different currents, and sometimes I am here as the master of some kingdom, and sometimes I am dog of somebody else. This is my position. The same thing. Very good example, that we are being carried away by the waves of māyā. Sometimes we are gathering together. So many straws and vegetables, they gather together.
Drown (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
The disease is caused by some, what is called, disarrangement within the body. So we have to arrange, we have to set up the disarrangement within the body. That is pratikāram. Medicine, counteraction. Similarly, if somebody is coming to kill you, so you also become prepared to kill him. This is pratikāram. If somebody is drowning in the sea, then you have to give him some help, send some boat or some lifeboat so that he can be saved. So we have got so many... This material world is going on. It is full of dangers. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadam (SB 10.14.58). Material world means step by step, simply danger. That is material world. So we have to find out pratikāram, counteraction, how to save yourself from danger. Just like when we walk, we see in so many doors, "Danger."
There, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, anādi karama-phale, pori' bhavārṇava-jale, toribāre nā dekhi upāy: "Somehow or other I have fallen in this ocean of birth and death. I do not know how to get out of it." Just like if you are thrown into the ocean, however expert swimmer you may be, that is not your comfortable life. You have to swim all along, otherwise immediately drown. Similarly, as soon as you get yourself in this material world, you have to struggle for existence. You have to. If you want to stop this struggle for existence, then you must get out of this material existence. That is the problem of life. Anādi karama-phale, pori' bhavārṇava-jale, toribāre nā dekhi upāy.
We are trying to stop people spoiling his life. māyā. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says: māyār bośe, jāccho bhese'. Just like a straw is carried away by the waves of the river, similarly you are being carried by the waves of this māyā, illusory energy. Māyār bośe, jāccho bhese', Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi. Sometimes you are being drowned. Sometimes you are coming out on the surface. Jīva, jīva kṛṣṇa dās, e biśwās korle to' ār duḥkho nāi. If you simply believe, take it for acceptance, that "Kṛṣṇa is our eternal master, I am eternal..." then there is no more carried away by the māyā's waves. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti. This is wanted. Except Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever we are doing, simply we are wasting our valuable life. This is the conclusion. (break)
To understand Kṛṣṇa, that is the special mission of human life. "So I did not try for it. I simply carried away by the waves of māyā." And the Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, māyār bośe, jāccho bhese', Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi. We are being carried away by the waves of this material modes of nature, sometimes drowned, sometimes on the surface. In this way, our life is going on. Jīv kṛṣṇa-dās, e biśwās, korle to' ār duḥkho nāi. But we can stop this being carried away by the waves of māyā simply if we accept that we are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. We can stop the carrying away.
So our counteracting method, even though they are very efficient, still, unless it is sanctioned by Guru and God, they will not be effective. There are many such examples. Some years ago, perhaps you know, in America, they started one very strong and stout ship. It was known... I think it was named Titanic. So it was guaranteed that it will never be drowned; it is so well-looking. And all the important men of America started in that ship for the first time, and after few miles immediately it was drowned. So in spite of all scientific protection, in spite of all good brains behind the manufacture of this Titanic ship, it was drowned. So in this way we have to study that this ārta and arthārthī, because they are, their background is sukṛtina, pious activities, they know that without God's help we cannot mitigate any of our distressed condition or needy condition.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Everyone is suffering, māyār bośe. Under the influence of māyā, the illusory energy, they are being carried away by the waves. Waves mean the three modes of material nature. And suffering. Sometimes being drowned, sometimes up, sometimes relief, sometimes distress. This is going on. So the only way to get out of this anxiety or to stop the perpetual being carried away is to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa also says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: (BG 18.66) "You are suffering; you simply surrender unto Me."
So when one comes to the platform of brahma understanding, that is called brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20). Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā: (BG 18.54) when you come to that platform, understanding of the soul, then you become joyful, free from material anxiety. Just like you are on a ship and it is in danger on the ocean, tottering. At any moment you can drown. But somehow or other, if you come to the land, you feel safety, "Now I am safe." Similarly, this bodily consciousness—"I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am this," "I am that"—that is just on the tottering sea. But if you come immediately on the spiritual platform, then prasannātmā, "Now I am safe." Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54).
You'll be carried away by these two modes of material nature. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura therefore said, māyār bośe, jāccho bhese' Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi. "My dear brother, you are being carried away by the waves of this material nature, two modes of material nature, and you are being harassed. Sometimes you are drowned, sometimes you are up."
So, jīv kṛṣṇa-dās, e biśvās, korle to' ār duḥkho nāi. If you simply believe that you are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, then there is no more carrying out, no more carried away by these two things, lusty, lust and greediness. Therefore it is advised here that śreyāṁsi tatra khalu sattva-tanor nṛṇāṁ syuḥ. Our ultimate benefit rests when you take shelter of the sattva-tanoḥ.
So this universe, this universe is filled up with water, half. Whatever we are seeing, this is only half, like this. The other half we cannot see. So within this water, sometimes that Hiraṇyākṣa demon drowned this whole earth within this water. So at the present moment we cannot find such demons, but there were demons like that. The whole planetary system is floating, but there may be some demon who can take one of them and put within the water. The planets are floating; that is known to everyone. We can see, actually, that such a big, gigantic mass... Even the sun, which is fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth, that is also floating in the outer space.
Therefore we have to follow the path chalked out by Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His immediate disciples, the six Gosvāmīs. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was mad. In Jagannātha Purī at night He become mad, "Where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa?" He'd go on the seaside and drown Himself in the sea. And Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī could not see where is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Sometimes He was stopped by the fisherman and He became exhaus..., all night chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Simply by touching Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Everything was safe, but on the first voyage it was drowned, and all important men of your country, they lost their life. So danger there must be because you are in a dangerous position. This material world itself is dangerous position. So our business is... That danger must be there. Now our business should be how to cross over the sea as soon as possible. So long you are on the sea, you are on the dangerous position, however strong your ship may be. That's a fact. So you should not be disturbed by the sea waves. Just try to cross over the sea. Go to the other side. That is your business. Similarly, so long we are in this material world, there must be dangerous calamities because this is the place of calamity.
So the conclusion is when the world becomes overloaded with the demons, nondevotees, it becomes disturbed, becomes... The mother earth feels load, very much load. So at that time, Kṛṣṇa comes. Therefore it is said: bhāra-avatāraṇāya, just to unload. And bhārāvatāraṇāyānye. Somebody says: bhuvo nāva ivodadhau. Just like if a ship or boat is overloaded, it is very dangerous. It can be drowned at any moment. So sīdantyā bhūri-bhāreṇa.
He engages first-class physician, first-class medicine is being... Does it mean that his life is guaranteed? No. If Kṛṣṇa does not give him protection, despite all supply of good medical treatment and medicine, he'll die. This is a fact. Similarly, if you have got good, nice boat, it is not guarantee that you'll not drown in the ocean. No. At any moment, if Kṛṣṇa does not give you protection... This is our position.
Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet is compared with very sound, secure boat. And boarding it, you can cross over the ocean of nescience. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padam. Bhavāmbudhiḥ. Ambudhi means sea, and bhava means repetition of birth and death, birth and death. Just like in the ocean you are struggling. Sometimes you are drowning, and somebody helps you, saves you from being drowned, and again he throws you in the ocean. Then again struggle. So our life in this material world is like that. We are struggling from the beginning, very beginning of our life. We are simply struggling. We learn from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that after the sex between the man and the woman, the man injects the semina within the womb of the mother, of the woman, and it is emulsified first night, and immediately forms a pealike form.
Where the politician has gone and how what he is doing, they do not know. But they are concerned with the body. My Guru Mahārāja used to say, (aside:) yes? "That one man is drowned, and another brave man comes—I'll save him." As he jumps over the water and brings the coat and shirt, "Now this man is saved." So what people will say, what a nonsense he is, he has brought his coat and shirt and the man is saved? Similarly, these rascals, they are dealing with the coat and shirt of the living entity but they have no knowledge in the university or anywhere where the soul has gone.
Real position is that we are being carried by the waves. We have no independence. That is... Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, māyār bo..., Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi: "You are being carried away by the waves of material nature. You are sometimes becoming drowned, sometimes you're floating. In this way your life is going on." You have no fixity. The fixity is when you are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Jīva kṛṣṇa-dāsa e viśvāsa... When he takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and develops this cult, then he becomes perfect one day. Then tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9), he comes back. Kṛṣṇa gives guarantee, "After giving up this body, he comes to Me." That is perfection.
The material world is such, we must be full of anxieties. That is explained also. Asad-grahāt. Because we have accepted something flickering as shelter. If you accept something which is not permanent, which is tiltering... In a boat suppose which is tiltering, at any moment you will be drowned.
So you cannot be free from anxiety. But if you accept a strong, very big ship, you are assured that "I will not be drowned." Similarly, we are accepting this shelter, that shelter, that shelter, that shelter, avoiding the shelter of God. Therefore we are full of anxiety. If you want to become free from anxiety, then here is the prescription, vaikuṇṭha-caraṇāmbujam, take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
Otherwise you are going by the waves of māyā. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura therefore said, miche māyār bośe, jāccho bhese', Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi: "You are being washed away by the waves of māyā, material energy, illusion. Why you are putting yourself in such dangerous condition, sometimes being drowned, sometimes up, trying to...?" This is struggle for existence. The only remedy, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, jīva kṛṣṇa-dās, e biśvās, korle to' ār duḥkho nāi: "If you accept this principle, that 'I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa,' then you become immediately saved from this washing away by the waves of māyā."
So we have come hear to enjoy, to lord it over the material nature. That is the tendency. So Kṛṣṇa has given us the facility. Just like in the beach, there are many young men who are playing in the sea with surf, but still, the government has watch over it. Government's duty is that they may not be drowned.
So here it is risky. We have come here to enjoy. Actually, we are not meant for enjoying. We are meant for serving. Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, jīvera svarūpa haya-nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa: (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109) "Our real identity is to serve, to remain under the protection..." We are always under the protection, this way or that way, but we are thinking falsely that we are free. We are not free. Kṛṣṇa is taking care of us.
What can I know?" "Oh, your fifty percent of your life is lost." Then all of a sudden there was a cloud, black cloud on the sky, and there was storm. Then at that time the boatman asked, "Sir, do you know how to swim?" "No, I do not know." "Then one hundred percent you have lost.(laughter) You are going to be drowned." He jumped and he drowned.
So this is the point. So you are trying to understand the whole analytical study of the material world. That is very good. But if you do not know how to remember Nārāyaṇa at the time of death, then you are going to be cats and dogs. That's all. Because you are very fond of dog.
Our present conditioned stage is due to our being carried away by the waves of material nature. We are being carried away. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has translated in his song, keno māyār bośe, jāccho bhese', Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi. "Why you are being carried away by the waves of māyā, and sometimes drowned and sometimes on the surface? Why you are taking so much trouble?" Jīv kṛṣṇa-dās, e biśwās, korle to' ār duḥkho nāi. As soon as you take it... It is a fact, but you are misled. It is a fact that you are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, but artificially you are thinking that you are master. You are master, you are God, you are enjoyer, you are this, you are that.
Therefore it is said, jñānaṁ yadā pratinivṛtta-guṇormi. Urmi means waves. Cakram, in the whirlpool of the waves of the ocean of nescience... Just like they are taking pleasure in swimming with the waves.
It is voluntarily taking shelter of the ocean, and they like being tossed by the waves. And sometimes they are drowned also. That is our position. We have come to enjoy this ocean of material nescience, and there is tossing, and we are thinking we are enjoying. So when one comes to the knowledge that "This is not my platform of enjoyment. Let me go to the land," then he's safe. Then he's safe. Otherwise, he may think that he's enjoying, but he's actually being tossed by the waves of this ocean. And this is knowledge. Jñānaṁ yadā pratinivṛtta.
The common man who is puffed up with his material position and does not bow down before the Deity of the Lord in the temple, or who defies temple worship without any knowledge of the science, must know that his so-called turban or crown will only succeed in further drowning him in the water of the ocean of material existence. A drowning man with a heavy weight on his head is sure to drown more swiftly than others, who have no heavy weight.
We don't require much furniture, neither large amount of gorgeous dress. So tapasya required. If we want advancement in spiritual life, we must accept some sort of tapasya. In the Kali-yuga we cannot accept such severe type of tapasya as in the cold, we go underneath, under water, sometimes drowning or sometimes up to this, and then meditate or chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. The minimum. So tapasya must be there.
They will have to change." It is just like straws gathered together by the whims of the waves, and again it is scattered.
So we are going on the waves of māyā. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, therefore, says, māyār bośe, jāccho bhese': "You rascal, you are going, floating under the spell of māyā." Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi: "And sometimes you are drowned and sometimes in the up by the tricks of the waves. Why you are leading such life?" Jīv kṛṣṇa-dās, e biśwās, korle to' ār duḥkho nāi: "You come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and try to understand that you are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa; you are being carried away by the whims of māyā. So that will make you happy."
That is called preya. And śreya means ultimate benefit of life. That one who is inquisitive to understand about the ultimate goal of life, for him there is need of guru, not a fashion. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsur śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). Then what is that guru? That is also explained: śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. Śābde means Vedic literature. Vedic He has drowned himself, he has bathed himself in the ocean of Vedas. Śābde pare ca niṣṇātam. Just like if you take bathing in a river, deep down you'll become refreshed. Similarly, one has to take śābde pare ca niṣṇātam. And what is the symptom? How I shall know that he has taken bathing fully in the ocean of Veda? Brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam, he has finished all desires for material happiness or distress.
That is stated everywhere, in Bhagavad-gītā also, kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ (BG 7.20). So Indra, when his yajña was stopped, so he tried to punish the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana by torrents of, incessant torrents of rain for seven days—havoc. The whole Vṛndāvana was to be drowned under water, and Kṛṣṇa immediately lifted the whole Govardhana Hill. And He stood seven days without taking any food and protected all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. Now God is displaying as God. When these things are there, the rascals will say, "Oh, these are all legends." When God displays Himself as God, the rascals take it as legend. Just see. They do not believe in the śāstras. They interpret in a different way. Is it not? Yes.
So this kind of life, without any responsibility and carried away by the waves of time, is the tenth-class life. This is tenth-class life, ignorance. So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he sings one song, miche māyār bośe, jāccho bhese', Khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi: "By the waves of māyā you are being carried away, and hābuḍubu, sometimes being drowned within the, under the water, and sometimes rising, floating on the water." This is our life, material life. We are being carried away by the waves of nature. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). And sometimes... Just like in the waves of water you will find many straws and vegetables and leaves, they gather together.
The example is given in this connection... Formerly, this was done by the government servants to criminal, to take a man in the middle of the river and drown him, and catching his hair, and when he's almost suffocating, then they again draw from the water and he takes little rest and again put him into the water. So that was the system of punishment. Similarly, whatever little pleasure we are feeling, that is exactly similarly the man, when he's taken from the water, that's all. Again he's to be drowned. This material world is like that.
So from that moment nobody ventured to request again Caitanya Mahāprabhu to excuse him. So when he was hopeless not to be excused by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he came here in this place, Prayāga, and in the confluence of river Yamunā and Gaṅgā he committed suicide. He drowned himself. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew also this incident. So after some time, when he died, say after some months, He simply inquired, "Where is Choṭa Haridāsa now?" So his other associates replied, "Sir, You did not accept him, so he has committed suicide." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Yes, this is very good. This is very good." So vajrād api kaṭhora. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was sometimes harder than the stone, and sometimes He was softer than the flower.
The box was locked and sealed. And he came out from that box—in everyone's presence. We have seen it. And again, he was seen that he was packed up in that way.
So yoga siddhi, these wonderful things are there. Similarly, one can walk on the water. He'll not be drowned. He becomes so light he can float in the air. These are... So siddhya. Siddhya means the persons who reside in that planet, they have got automatically, by taking birth in that... Just like taking birth in the Western countries, America or Europe, you are more opulent than other countries materially. Similarly, in Kṛṣṇaloka also, those who are there, they are automatically all lover of Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, there are many different planets, different kinds of residents. We... What knowledge we have got? But we have to take knowledge from the śāstra. Therefore Vedānta-sūtra says, śāstra-cakṣuṣat.
He's praying to Lord Nṛsiṁha. He says, bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha: "My dear Lord, it is not that the parents can give all protection to the children." Nārtasya cāgadam: "Neither the physician and the medicine can give protection to a patient." Nārtasya cāgadam udanvati majjato nauḥ: "Neither a nice ship or boat can give protection to the drowning man." Taptasya yat pratividhir: "There are many devices for giving protection to different kinds of dangerous position. But they will be useless if, my dear Lord, You neglect him." For example, there are many children who have got their parents, but they are suffering. There are many patients who are being treated by first-class medical assistants and physician, but he is dying. Similarly, there are various means invented by modern science to give protection to people. But they become useless without the attention of the Supreme Lord. For example, in our country, in India, we thought that by independence we shall be very, very happy.
Dayānanda: "...which cannot give relief to the suffering patient, and the boat on the ocean which cannot give protection to the drowning man." (SB 7.9.19)
Prabhupāda: This is very instructive verse. The whole world is planning to give relief to the suffering humanity, but the foolish people, they do not know that you may do your best, but if it is not sanctioned by the Supreme Lord, all these measures will not be of any use. "Why? We have got science, medicine, and relief arrangement. They are all useless?" Yes. They are useful so long, as long as Kṛṣṇa says "Yes." If Kṛṣṇa says "No," then in spite of all this relief, nothing will be done. This is the answer. You can open many hospitals, but if Kṛṣṇa says that "This patient must die," you cannot give any protection. That is not possible.
Even in hospital bed they're reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, and taking benefit. That is real remedy. So after being cured, he'll become a devotee. So this medicine is not cure. This literature is cure, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is real cure. Nārtasya cāgadam. And udanvati majjato nauḥ. Everyone is drowned, either you take figeratively or really. In the samudra, in the sea, ocean, there are always ojhs, (?) waves. So your tiny boat or big ship, that is not safe side. We have got experience. When I was going to New York on ship—I had no money to go by plane—so in the deep sea ocean, especially in the Atlantic Ocean, it was nothing, like a small ball, tottering like this.
At any moment can be capsized. Although very big ship with very big load, but it is nothing in the sea. So that is not sure. There is no surety that because you are in a big ship you'll be saved. No. In your country, it happened, say, fifty, sixty years, the Titantic, or what is that? In the first voyage, everything was drowned, all big, big men. So nature's freak is so strong that you cannot say that "Because I have got a nice ship, I'll be saved." No, that is not possible. Without Kṛṣṇa's protection, this, all these counteracting measures, will be all useless.
Therefore teach people how to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). You can say that "Does it mean that God is partial? He take only care of the devotees and not others?" He takes care of everyone, but everyone is not fortunate to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
This is our condition. We are not independent; completely under the stringent laws of material nature.
So daṇḍya-jane rājā yena nadīte cubāya. The example is very nice, that a culprit is drowned in the water, again taken for some time to take breathing. He was suffocating. Nature... He's not meant to be killed, but he is to be given suffering in that way. So material nature is giving us suffering, miseries like that. Bhayaṁ dvitīya.
He may not be cured. He may not be cured. The parents, even in the presence of parents, the children may suffer. Udanvato, nauḥ. And suppose you have got very good, nice ship. Do you mean to say that you'll cross over the Atlantic Ocean safely? Oh, at any moment it can be drowned. There is no guarantee. You have got very nice jet plane, you are going to San Francisco. Oh, there is no guarantee that you shall reach there. So therefore, unless there is God's sanction, all these remedies, all these protection is useless. Useless.
Festival Lectures
That is the subject matter of Gīta-govinda. The same poet, Jayadeva Gosvāmī, has offered this prayer, pralaya-payodhi-jale-dhṛtavān asi vedam **. He says, "My dear Lord, when there was devastation within this universe, everything was filled with water. At that time You saved the Vedas, stacked in a boat. And you held the boat from being drowned in the water, in the shape of a big fish." This fish first of all was caught in the waterpot just like a small fish. Then it enlarged, and the fish was kept in a bigger water reservoir. In this way the fish was increasing. Then the fish informed that "Devastation is coming. You just save all the Vedas on a boat, and I shall protect it." So Jayadeva Gosvāmī is offering prayer, "My Lord, You saved the Vedas when there was devastation in the shape of a fish."
General Lectures
This is conclusion. They have forgotten. Real interest they have forgotten. The superficial interest. The same example can be given. Just like if you simply soap your shirt and coat and do not take care of your real body, or do not feed your body, then how long we shall exist? My Guru Mahārāja used to give one nice example that a man was drowning. Another man came, that "I shall save this man." So he jumped on the water, and when coming out of the water he brought the shirt and coat: "Now I have saved the man." The so-called service, or any service which is going on, that is serving the shirt and coat. Nobody is serving the soul. That is the mistake of modern civilization. There are many hospitals to cure the bodily diseases, but there is no hospital to cure the disease of the soul.
If you engage good, qualified physician, good medicine, and therefore there is no guarantee of cure. No. There is no guarantee. The medical practitioners say, "We cannot guarantee. We are trying our best. That's all." Similarly, when a person is drowning in the water, if you send a good boat to save him, that is also not guaranteed. In this way, if we study that we are completely dependent on something else... Our process of making ourself independent... We may manufacture so many things for our independence, but śāstra says, unless there is protection from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, these methods and processes will not save us.
If Kṛṣṇa does not like, does (sic:) not wish that "These children will suffer in spite of good parents," so that suffering nobody can check. "This man must drown in spite of very nice good boat and ship"—nobody can check. "This man must die in spite of good physician and medicine"—he must die. Therefore our first relief, guaranteed relief, is this shelter of Kṛṣṇa. If you take shelter of Kṛṣṇa, even there is some deficiencies in the matter of protecting us, Kṛṣṇa will save. Therefore we should depend on Kṛṣṇa. That is called śaraṇāgati, surrender, to believe that "Kṛṣṇa will give us protection." Without Kṛṣṇa's protection, no other protection is valid. There is no guarantee.
Similarly, we spirit souls we have no business in this material world, but because we wanted to enjoy it, leaving the association of Kṛṣṇa, we have been given this ship, this body, to ply over this material ocean. So if you know how to ply the ship over the ocean there is no, I mean to say, fear of being drowned. If you have got a good captain of the ship and the ship is well built, then you'll have no danger. So the captain, he is the spiritual master, and this body is a very good ship. This is, these are the examples given. We have to cross over this material ocean. So we must have a captain and good ship, and favorable air. If the air is favorable, suppose you're going to the western side, and if the wind is blowing toward western side, it will automatically push your boat or ship.
Prabhupāda: Yes. We are spreading the best moral principle, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Guest (4): But don't you come... (sound of jet drowns out) ...who don't like you? Does it not mean a bit of problem?
Prabhupāda: We are getting a better response from the Western countries than in India. In India, we see that the leaders, they do not like it. They are now opening beef shop, wine shop, and we are preaching "No intoxication, no meat-eating." So actually, we are not very favorable to their propaganda. (laughs) They don't like us, the leaders. Now there are big, big signboards. In Juhu we have got a center, and the government has opened beef shop, very big. And wine shop, you'll find everywhere.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: ...artha-sambandhaḥ svapna-draṣṭur ivāñjasā. Actually there is no bewilderment (indistinct) spirit. I am eternal spirit soul, eternal servant. Just like the (indistinct) but it is somehow or other (indistinct) for a time it is covered by the clouds it appears moving. (break) Actually it is not moving. (indistinct) we see that the moon is moving. So we are spirit soul eternally. Just like I am lying down on my bed, bit I am dreaming I have gone to Pacific Ocean and being drowned and so many things, you have come to save me, and so many troublesome things. But actually there is no Pacific Ocean, nothing of the sort. It is simply my dream. So this temporary covering of the body is just like a dream. As soon as you come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, everything is finished.
Prabhupāda: The girl also thought, "Yes, this boy is a genius." So in this way this foolish man was made her husband, and at night, when she came to understand that he was fool number one, she kicked him and asked him, "Get out of my room." So he became very insulted: "My wife has kicked me. I am so fool. So I shall make suicide by drowning in the water." He was crying and remembering the goddess of learning, that "I am so foolish, my dear mother Sarasvatī. You did not favor me, so I shall kill myself." With great lamentation he was going to die. At that time, Sarasvatī became very kind and she appeared, "Kālidāsa, why you are drowning this way?" "My mother, this is my position. I have been insulted by my wife because I am a fool." "All right, from henceforward you shall be very learned."
Prabhupāda: Yes. Guru. Guru, that is required: tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). That is Vedic process. To have, to possess perfect knowledge one must have guru, and guru means one has..., one is actually representative of God, not theoretically, but one who has practically seen and experienced God. We have to approach such guru then by service and by surrender, and by sincere inquiries we shall be able to understand what is God. That is required. The speculation is no use. Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, jānāti tattvam (SB 10.14.29). This is the statement of Vedic literature. "My Lord, one who has received a little mercy and favor of Your Lordship, he can understand. Others may speculate for millions and millions of years, avacintya-tattve. Still they will remain in the fathom of inconceivable energy. There is no possibility." This is not the process. It clearly described in the Bhāgavata, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55), simply through the process of bhakti. Bhakti means śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23), hearing, chanting about Viṣṇu, always remembering Him. Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām (BG 9.14). That is the process. Always glorify the Lord, and devotee's only business is to glorify. That is devotee. Naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaraṇyās tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ (SB 7.9.43). A devotee's consciousness is always drowned in the ocean of the pastimes of the Supreme Lord, unlimited activities, and devotees always think of that activities. Tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta, that is, means that drowned in the ocean of the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Śyāmasundara: Supposing someone else is in danger and you go and rescue them. Isn't that being a hero? Or you decide not to and you go away.
Prabhupāda: But you cannot rescue. You rescue... Just like one man is drowning, and you become hero and jump over the water and take out his shirt and coat, and you come on the shore that "I've saved him." (laughter) This is not saving him. Similarly, you have no eyes to see whom to save. You are simply seeing the dress. So saving the dress, that is not heroism, neither it is protection.
Śyāmasundara: So the real heroes are the devotees, who save actually.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, māyār bośe yāccho bese kācho hābuḍubu bhāi. Just like one man is being carried away by the waves and he is sometimes dipping, sometimes coming out, sometimes dipping, sometimes... So our position is like that, that we are being carried away by the waves of this material nature and we are sometimes being drowned, sometimes coming out. When we come out, we breathe little. We think, "We are now happy." He forgets that "Again I shall have to be drowned." So in this way we struggle. This is called struggle for existence. And "fittest" means when we come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and surrender unto Kṛṣṇa, then our fitness is spiritual. That's all.
| Page Title: | Drown (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 18 of Dec, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=49, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 49 |