- manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
- kaścid yatati siddhaye
- yatatām api siddhānāṁ
- kaścin etti māṁ vtattvataḥ
- (BG 7.3)
So not only ordinary human being. What they can understand about God? Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye. What is the perfection of life? One must know. The perfection of life is to understand that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That is perfection of life, when one can understand.
- brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
- na śocati na kāṅkṣati
- samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
- mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
- (BG 18.54)
So after becoming Brahman-realized soul, when he is fully liberated from material contamination—goodness, passion or ignorance—prasannātmā, na śocati na kāṅkṣati, he has no material hankering, neither he laments for any material loss, samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, when he visions all living entities as spirit soul, mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām, at that time he is eligible to understand what is bhakti. And bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55): if you become bhakta, if you have got the opportunity to come to that platform, then you can understand God. Otherwise, God is not so easy to understand. (break) (answering another question) What is your duty? That is the first thing. Do you know what is your duty?
Indian man (1): Duty . . . (indistinct) . . ..
Prabhupāda: You manufacture your duty, but you do not know what is your duty. (laughter) Duty is: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That is your duty. Anything you manufacture duty, that is not duty; that is cheating. (applause) First of all, you learn what is your duty; then talk of duty. In your office if you go, if you say, "Anything I do, it is my duty," no. You must know the particular work you are advised to act by the superintendent or the director, not that you can manufacture your duty. If you execute that duty, then you are dutiful. Otherwise, you are simply creating trouble, just like a monkey. They create their duty, and wherever he goes, "Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!" The monkey's duty is no duty. A man must know what is duty, and he should execute. That is duty.
Indian man (1): As you have explained, Lord Kṛṣṇa . . . (indistinct) . . . Arjuna to do his duty.
Prabhupāda: Well, first of all you try to understand Kṛṣṇa, what He says. Then, if you are dutiful, then you can say who is the other dutiful. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). If you come to that stage of life, then you are dutiful. Otherwise, if you create your duties as monkey, that is not duty. (pause) Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Indian man (2): (indistinct lengthy question)
Prabhupāda: So, our endeavor should be not to be implicated by the material modes of nature, never mind what is the percentage. This material world is always mixed up—some goodness, some passion, some ignorance. Here you cannot possess the material quality in full, cent percent purity. No. That is not possible. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. One quality is overlapping the other quality. Our business is how to become transcendental to all these qualities, not to be touched by any of the qualities of material nature. That is our business. That should be our aim. Nirguṇa. That is called nirguṇa: no more contaminated by the material qualities. That is called nirguṇa.