Just like children, they are born after the conjugation of the father and mother, similarly, the father is God; the material world is the mother. We have got this body just like the child gets his body from the mother's womb. The father is the seed-giver. Similarly, as spiritual souls, we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, but we are put into this material world because we wanted to enjoy this material world. Therefore we are put into this material world. And we have got this body, this material body. So in whatever form we may be, either as human being, or as a cat and dog or more than human being, demigod... So whatever forms there are, many thousands... Eighty, eighty lakhs. Eighty-four lakhs, species. Oh. Eight hundred millions of species of life, there are. But all of them claimed by Kṛṣṇa that, "I am their father. I am their father," ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ, "because I am the seed-giving father."
Giver (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
That is bhakti. Even by fighting, you can become a devotee. We have to carry out the order of Kṛṣṇa. That is bhakti.
So you must be qualified to know Kṛṣṇa, then you must be qualified, or automatically you become qualified how to receive His order. This is the way. So unless you understand from where the order is coming, how the order-giver is speaking, if you do not know the science, how you can talk with Kṛṣṇa and receive His order? That is also not very difficult. Kṛṣṇa says, teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam (BG 10.10). Anyone who is twenty-four hours engaged in Kṛṣṇa service, satata-yuktānām, not sporadic, that two minutes I meditate upon Kṛṣṇa and twenty-three hours sixty-eight minutes, ah, fifty-eight minutes I remain to satisfy my senses. That is not kṛṣṇa-bhakti. Kṛṣṇa-bhakti means satata-yuktānām, twenty-four hours engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like these boys are being trained up.
This is not. This is wrong theory. If it comes from the material combination, then why you cannot produce a living entity in the laboratory? In the laboratory, no, that is not... A material... Because... Material creation is there because I wanted a, such a circumstances, atmosphere, and anumantā, the Supreme Lord, He's the supreme sanction giver—He gives me opportunity to enter into a certain type of mother's body, and the material grows.
So the actual fact is from spirit soul, the energy, material energy comes out. Take for example... That I was giving, that chemicals. Now, take one lemon tree. It is a living entity, and it is producing at least hundreds of pounds of citric acid, lemons. Everyone knows. You take fifty lemons today, again take fifty lemons, and if you extract the lemons, you'll find extensive quantity of citric acid. So wherefrom the citric acid chemical comes? Because the living entity's there in the tree. Therefore the conclusion should be the chemicals come from life; life does not come from chemical.
So that is condemned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: śva-viḍ-varāha-uṣṭra-kharaiḥ saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ. So according to Bhāgavata direction, these Nobel Prize winners are exactly like dogs, camels, hogs, śva-viḍ-varāha-uṣṭra and asses. And they are praised by similar animals. That's all. The Nobel Prize winner and the Nobel Prize giver. Both of them are like dogs hogs animal and asses. That's all. This is a fact. They... If, if a person has written some theory, evolution of chemicals, and all rubbish things, it is very nice thing for the so-called dogs and camels, but those who have got eyes to see, one who has heard from Kṛṣṇa, he'll understand this is nonsense. How, from chemical, you can produce life? When he's asked: "Well, sir, if I give you these chemicals, can you produce life?" Immediately he says: "That I cannot say." Why?
"Yes, you are God, I am God. I am the kicking God." (laughter) That should be the answer. "I am the shoe-beater God. Now you protect yourself if you are God." Don't accept this false God.
Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. That is the verdict all... Just like Vyāsadeva, the giver of the Vedic knowledge, he says, bhagavān uvāca: God says. So we have to follow that. So kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata. (aside:) Don't do that.
And this perception, kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānam. If we can understand what is kṣetra and what is kṣetrajñam. Kṣetra means field of activities. There are field of activities in so many ways. Not only of this body; body, mind, intelligence. They are all kṣetra. I am living entity, I am working with them. Similarly, I am working outside also. Not within, not outside.
He is incarnation of God. Kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ.
Svayambhuva Manu, he is also authority. Manu's name is also mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā. Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayaṁ vivasvān manave prāhuḥ (BG 4.1). So therefore Manu is also mahājana, he's authority. There is Manu-saṁhitā. Our Vedic system is conducted, the law, the law-giver is Manu. From Manu, the manuṣya, "man", these words have come, Manu. Descendant of Manu, human society, manuṣya.
So Prahlāda, Prahlāda Mahārāja is mahājana. Janaka, Janaka Mahārāja. Prahlādo janako bhīṣmaḥ, Bhīṣmadeva, grandfather Bhīṣmadeva, the grandfather of the Pāṇḍus. He is also mahājana. Prahlādo janako bhīṣmo baliḥ, Bali Mahārāja, he is mahājana. Vaiyāsakiḥ, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Yamarāja, he is also mahājana.
So we have to follow the footsteps of the mahājana.
It must rotate according to the diagram given by some controller. That is stated in Bhāgavatam, "By the order of the Supreme." Yasyājñayā. Here also, in the Brahma-saṁhitā, yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. The sun is rotating, yasya ājñayā. Ājñayā means by order.
So when the question of order is there, then there must be one order-giver, and there must be one order-carrier. Otherwise, what is the meaning, order? Yasya ājñayā, by whose order. Whose means this whose, somebody bigger who is giving order, and the sun planet is carrying out the order. Yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. So there is order-giver. There is controller, the Supreme Lord, and there is order-carrier, the sun-god. Otherwise who is carrying the order? If it is only a lump of matter, then who will carry out the order? Now, this Tokyo city if it is a lump of matter only, then how the systematic order of traffic rules and regulation is...
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So the present situation is the so-called modern civilization, they have no knowledge of God, although they are trying to study the laws of God. But they should accept at least theoretically there must be God. How I can say God is dead? Because if God is the law-giver, by His order everything is moving nicely. The sun is rising exactly at the time, the moon is rising exactly at the time, the seasonal changes are taking place exactly in due course of time. Everything is going on. Foods are grown for our feeding, for animals. Everything is going on nicely. So how I can say the manager who is managing all these things, He is dead? How we can accept? These are imperfect knowledge or demonic knowledge or rascaldom.
It doesn't matter what type of religion it is, there must be some religion. If there is no religion, then it is animal society. Try to understand. And what is the purpose of religion? The purpose of religion is, if religion is the code given by God, then we must know. Just like a child. A child is abiding by the laws, but he does not know who is the law-giver, how the street is managed, what are the laws. He's to be considered as in ignorance. Just like in our schools and colleges, the state constitution, laws, lawyers, they study. So one may not know, but that is not very good position. But one who knows, his position is better. So simply to know: "There may be somebody, God. He has given us some laws. All right, let us abide by the laws," just like ordinary man doing. But to know, that inquisitiveness is called brahma-jijñāsā. That is required. Human society, human being must be interested in knowing that, the Supreme Absolute Truth, who has given us these codes and laws.
We are hankering after peacefulness of our heart, peacefulness of our atmosphere. So here it is recommended that simply by inquiring about Kṛṣṇa and taking answer of the question, both the questioner and the answer-giver, both will be pleased. Yenātmā suprasīdati. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered, yāre dekha, tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). The world is like the blazing fire in the forest. So this kṛṣṇa-kathā, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, will give them relief. Yenātmā suprasīdati. And the Sūta Gosvāmī said, "You question is very pious question, sādhu, because it is about Kṛṣṇa."
The question was that "After the departure of Kṛṣṇa..." Dharmaḥ kam... What is that? Śaraṇaṁ gataḥ? Hmm? Kāṣṭhām... What is this verse? Kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate...
Let him sit down properly. That is scholarship. You make research work, but... In the śāstra it is said that Kṛṣṇa is the original person of this departmental knowledge. Suppose you are a lawyer. So Kṛṣṇa gives the law. This is research work. Just actually Kṛṣṇa gives. What is Kṛṣṇa gives? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). This is law. The first giver of law is Kṛṣṇa, that "You give up all nonsense. Surrender unto Me." This is law. Then you'll understand everything. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). Religion means the law given by Kṛṣṇa, or God. That is religion. Otherwise, it is not religion. That is cheating. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra (SB 1.1.2). This is cheating religion. If you do not follow Kṛṣṇa, that is cheating.
The Sātvata-saṁhitā, we have already discussed yesterday morning. Vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām (SB 1.7.6). This is Vaiṣṇava. Vidvān. Vaiṣṇava is always vidvān. Vid means knowledge and vān means one who has knowledge. That is called vidvān. Vidvān. So Vyāsadeva, he's known as Veda-vyāsa. He's the giver of Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge is not given by him. The Vedic knowledge is given by Kṛṣṇa Himself. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye (SB 1.1.1). Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, He gave the knowledge to Lord Brahmā. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. Ādi-kavi, the original learned person. Just like this modern nonsense theory that there was in the beginning no life. But that is nonsense. In the beginning there was Brahmā, the most learned person.
The last, yesterday I was giving this example, just like shunting of big, big wagons in the railway line. One engine gives the motion, pushes one wagon, and it pushes other one, kat-kat-kat-kat, like that. You might have seen it.
So motion-giver is Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise you can give very big, big name or very big, big form and dress, they are all useless. Useless. That is being explained by Kuntī, that "We are very big. People says we are Pāṇḍavas. Similarly we have become famous. How? Because You are our friend." Kṛṣṇa is the friend of the Pāṇḍavas. Kṛṣṇa is the friend of Arjuna specifically. Therefore Arjuna is so great warrior. He has got gigantic vigor. So Kṛṣṇa, Kuntī is... Kuntī knows that "What is the value of my sons, Pāṇḍava. They are saying, 'Oh, Pāṇḍavas are so big warriors and heroes.' " Similarly yadubhiḥ. Yadubhiḥ. Kṛṣṇa took birth in the Yadu dynasty. That is already explained. So Kṛṣṇa has made famous the Yadu dynasty because He took His birth in that family.
Svayambhū. Brahmā's name is Svayambhū. The other day we were discussing Svayambhū. Or Ātmabhū. Ātmabhū. Because he is born out of the abdomen of the father, not of the mother. Not... The other... Father is the seed-giving, life-giving agent. So this life was not transferred to anyone else to take the body. The life-giver, father, gave him the body. Therefore Brahmā is called Svayambhū. Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ (SB 6.3.20). They are all mahājanas.
So dharma means the codes or the law given by God. That is dharma. And our life is meant for dharma. Dharma. But unfortunately we have created so many dharmas. But there cannot be so many dharmas. There cannot be. Suppose if gold... Gold is gold, pure gold. There cannot be... Just like they have made twenty-carat gold, fourteen-carat gold, sixteen-carat gold. That is mixture. That is not pure gold. We are preaching, "If you say it is religion, it is pure religion, not carat."
So you have to accept. Kṛṣṇa says, very frankly says, "Surrender unto Me, I give you anapavarga." Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi (BG 18.66), "I shall give you protection." So He is the power for this purpose, and govindam... Govinda means He is the giver of pleasure to the cows and to the senses. Govinda. Govinda, go-dvija-sura-arti-hara-avatāra. Avatāra means incarnation. Govinda, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **, He's the ādi-puruṣa. Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2), He is the original person, even of the demigods, Brahmā, Viṣṇu. People may not misunderstand that Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, they are original. No. Kṛṣṇa says, "They are not original, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara." Aham ādir hi devānām, "I am the original person, above the..., of these demigods also." Therefore, we repeatedly say that we worship that ādi-puruṣaṁ, the original person, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. Not secondary; the first, the first, original person.
Premṇā means out of love. Rājñā nivāritaḥ. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira cannot order the Supreme Personality of Godhead to stay or to undo His decisions. But premṇā, everything is possible. Premṇā. Premṇā means by love. Therefore, if we increase our love for Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa becomes purchased by us. Kṛṣṇa agrees. Kṛṣṇa is the order-giver for everyone, but He accepts the order of the devotee. Just like Kṛṣṇa, while driving the chariot, Arjuna said senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me acyuta: (BG 1.21) "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are Acyuta." Acyuta means who never falls, falls back. So "You have accepted my charioteer post..." So charioteer post means He has to carry the order of the king who is on the chariot. Chariot driver is a driver, and the master is the man who is sitting on the chariot. That is the position. So Arjuna knew that "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Out of friendship, He has become my charioteer, order-carrier." So when he requested Him, rathaṁ sthāpaya me acyuta...
So I replied, "Yes. You are after technology. So you are a beggar. I am not a beggar. I have come here to give something. That is the difference. I have come here to give some culture, and you have come to imitate the Western civilization by technology. That is the difference. You'll remain a beggar, I shall remain a giver. That is the difference." So still I am maintaining that position of giving, not taking. Before me, so many swamijis went there. They did not give, but they took something and came here and advertised themselves as foreign-returned sannyāsī and exploited the people. They lost even their original dress. Everyone knows, I have never changed my dress. Rather, I have given the dress to the foreigners, and they have taken it. The Ramakrishna mission people came to request me that I dress myself in coat, pant, hat. Because they are doing. Their so-called swamis, they are dressed in coat, pant, hat.
"This kingdom is mine. I can do whatever I like, and still, the kingdom is mine." Then the monarchy was failure. Then from the whole world, the monarchy is now wiped out. But the so-called democracy is no good. Because democracy means by votes. So the votes are given by the rascal śūdras. So what is the meaning of electing somebody if the vote givers are also rascal and fool, and the vote-taker is a big food, big rascal, that's all? He manages something, somehow or other to take the votes. Therefore, you see, dacoit is going on. The government is there, and at night you are not secure. You have to take care of yourself, whether dacoits are coming or not. And they are coming. So what is the meaning of this government? If the dacoits are there, rogues are there, thieves are there, miscreants are there, so what is the meaning of government? No. At the present moment the government means that the same rogues and rascals come to become minister and take fat salary and sleep, and you take care of yourself. That is going on.
So here it is said that prāyeṇa etad bhagavata īśvarasya viceṣṭitam. We cannot do anything without the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like in state you cannot do anything without the sanction of the government, similarly the supreme state, the supreme order-giver, Kṛṣṇa or God, without His sanction we cannot do anything. But here it is said that mitho nighnanti bhūtāni bhāvayanti ca yan mithaḥ. Sometimes by His will we kill one another, and sometimes we give protection one another. So does it mean that in different time Kṛṣṇa is giving different intelligence? No. Kṛṣṇa's action is daiva, superior. Just like the high-court, the judge is... Somebody condemning somebody that "This man should be hanged," and other man, "Yes, he must get the degree. He will get the millions of dollars from that person." Now, is he partial? He is giving somebody millions of dollars and somebody is ordered to be hanged. Is he partial? No. He is not partial.
Deha-yogena dehinām. For our sense gratification, a particular type of body is offered. By the order of Kṛṣṇa, through the agency of material nature. Just like father gives the seed, and the mother gives the body, similarly, Kṛṣṇa, the supreme father, He is the giver of the seed, living entity, and according to the living entity's desire, the material nature gives the body. Therefore material nature is mother, and Kṛṣṇa is the supreme father. Tasmin garbhaṁ dadāmy aham. Garbhaṁ dadāmy aham: "I give the seed, garbha, pregnancy."
So we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, and He... According to my desire, He puts me into circumstances, material circumstances; I get a particular type of body. This is the secret of different types of body and transmigration of the body. The foolish scientists, they do not know this science. They are trying to create living entity in the laboratories. It is impossible.
So the saguṇa Brahman means the living entities. Saguṇa Brahman does not mean the God, Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavān, because even if you become servant of God... Just like there are so many nice example, that if an ordinary man beats another man, slap, he immediately becomes criminal. Law is there, "You cannot do that." But the policeman gives you a slap—it is not criminal. If you kill somebody, then you become criminal. But when a soldier kills hundreds of men, he is not criminal. The process is the same, but because one is acting on behalf of the supreme lawgiver, he is immune.
That is, voluntarily, you are restraining himself. Tapasya means voluntary restraint. In India, still, the system is followed in conservative families that a widow cannot marry. There is no widow marriage in India. They, the... Manu-saṁhitā, the law-givers, the saintly persons, Manu-saṁhitā... Why widow marriage is prohibited? The idea is generally, everywhere, in all countries, the female population is greater than the male population. So the idea is that she has become widow. She was once married. Now if again she is married, another virgin girl, she does not get the chance of being married. Therefore there is no widow marriage according to Hindu scripture. And a man is allowed, if he is, I mean to say, able man, he can marry more than one wife. Not that simply marry. To get more than one wife does not mean sense enjoyment. The wife must be maintained very respectfully. She must have good house, good ornaments, good food, good servants, good children. Then one can marry.
Just like in the state laws, if you kill some man, murder, then the state law says that you shall be also hanged. "Life for life."
So this is is not very new. The, in the Manu-saṁhitā... Manu-saṁhitā means Lord Manu, he's the giver of law to the mankind. From Manu, the word man has come. The exact Sanskrit word "manuṣya." Manuṣya means man. So there is some link with Manu, M-a-n-u, and "man." So this Latin word comes from the Sanskrit word, manu. So Manu is supposed to be the law-giver to the humankind. So in the Manu-saṁhitā it is stated there that when the king kills one man, or hangs one man who is a murderer, that is benefit to him. Otherwise, if he's not killed, then he will carry the reaction of his murdering action, and he'll have to suffer in so many ways. The laws of nature are very subtle. They are very diligently administered. People do not know it.
Kṛṣṇa can drink oceans of poison. So that He did not take very seriously, that "This witches have come to poison Me, but she has agreed to give Me milk from her breast. Then she is My mother." This is Kṛṣṇa's conclusion. Therefore Uddhava says, "Such a kind Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, that the enemy, the poison-giver was accepted as mother. So whom I shall worship except Kṛṣṇa?" This should be the conclusion, that "Kṛṣṇa is so kind. Little service..."
So this Ajāmila... And in the beginning of his life we was being trained up by his father, first-class brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇava, but he fell a victim to the prostitute and he forgot everything. But Kṛṣṇa noted that "He has done something for Me." Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. Devotional service, if sincerely done, little only, that is also taken, just like the Pūtanā. She had no desire, but still, consciously, unconsciously, she gave some service.
So everybody of us, we are getting a new type of body. This is a yantra. This is a machine given by Kṛṣṇa through the agency of material nature. This body is made of material nature. I am the owner of the body or driver of the body, and Kṛṣṇa is the giver of the body. We should always remember. Kṛṣṇa is sitting within us, and He knows what kind of body I am desiring. So He is immediately ordering material nature that "You give him such and such body." And she is ready. She can manufacture millions of types of body in a second, material nature. That you have seen, nature, how all of a sudden all the trees become green. Yesterday or day before yesterday, there was no leaf. And the third day, in the morning you see all the trees are full with leaves. How it is done? So nature is so powerful. Immediately. So therefore... Similarly, our bodies, you body, my body, millions and trillions and numberless body, immediately created. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi... (BG 3.27).
That is the law. daivī hi eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). He has to obey. But if he disobeys the order of Kṛṣṇa, he must come down to the jurisdiction of māyā to be forced to obey the orders of material nature.
So brahmādayaḥ, everyone, everyone is servant of Kṛṣṇa. That is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa. Īśvara means controller, order giver, that is one. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa āra saba bhṛtya (CC Adi 5.142). All others, they are... (break) ...it is said, śiva-viriñci-nutaṁ śaraṇyam bhṛtyārti-ham, vande mahā-puruṣa te caraṇāravindam (SB 11.5.33). Śiva-viriñci-nutaṁ. Brahma, viriñci means Brahma and śivaḥ means Lord Siva. They also offer obeisances unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu. Oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam. That is Ṛg Veda mantra, that Viṣṇu is paraṁ padam, supreme. And Viṣṇu is partial expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Mahā-Viṣṇu, not ordinary Viṣṇu. There are different types of Viṣṇu also. Mahā-Viṣṇu, from Mahā-Viṣṇu there is Garbhodak... Mahā-Viṣṇu is called Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
And as witness, as anumantā, as sanction-giver, I am thinking, "Oh, I..." Either you are playing or you are wanting some way. So Kṛṣṇa will give you all facility: "All right, you want? You have it." Māyā is there; she supplies you ingredients, and you and you get your thing. This is going on. Anumantā upadraṣṭā. But the action which you are engaged, the result you have to enjoy. You wanted some facility from Kṛṣṇa. You get it. You wanted to steal something from somewhere. Kṛṣṇa will give you intelligence: "Yes, you steal. Come here. You steal. Here is the opportunity." But when you are arrested, you don't make responsible Kṛṣṇa. You wanted to steal. Here is the facility. That's all. So it is kindness of Kṛṣṇa that He is giving you all facilities.
General Lectures
Therefore I am not independent to move my hand. So upadraṣṭā anumantā. We cannot do anything without being sanctioned by the Supreme Lord. There is an English word, that not even a grass moves without the sanction of the Lord. So that is a fact. So how one is doing nice thing and how one is doing evil things if He is the order giver? That is our independence. We can take sanction from the Lord. If we want to do something evil, I cannot do it without the sanction of the Supreme. Or even if I do something very nice, that also I cannot do without the sanction. So how the Lord gives such sanction? The sanction is like this: just like a child is crying to get something from the parent, and the parent, being disgusted, gives him something, "All right. Take it." Such kind of sanction. When we do something evil, the sanction is from the Lord, but it is not willing sanction. Against the will of the Lord. And when you do something in cooperation with the Lord, that is called bhakti.
Nārada Muni... Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ (SB 6.3.20). Śambhu, Lord Śiva. Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kapilaḥ kaumāraḥ, kapilo manuḥ. Kaumāra, the four Kumāras, Sanat Kumāra, Sunanda, these four Kumāras, and kumāraḥ kapila, Kapiladeva, the original propounder of Sāṅkhya philosophy, Kapiladeva; and Manu, you know, Manu-saṁhitā, the law-giver to the mankind, Svayambhuva Manu, Manu. And Prahlāda Mahārāja, whose instructions we were discussing in the morning. Prahlādo janaka-rāja bhīṣma, the grandfather of the Kurus. Vaiyāsaki, Śukadeva Gosvāmī; or Bali Mahārāja, a grandson of Prahlāda Mahārāja, he is also an authority. And Yamarāja, he is also authority. So we have to follow these authorities. Otherwise, dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyām: we cannot understand the secrecy of religion. So all these twelve mahājanas, they are great devotees of the Lord. Therefore they have become mahājanas, authorized persons.
He was talking with Caitanya Mahāprabhu but he was very learned devotee. So he was feeling hesitation that "Caitanya Mahāprabhu's coming from very high-grade brāhmaṇa, and He is sannyāsa. His position is very exalted. I am a śūdra. How I can advise Him?" He was questioning, and Rāmānanda Rāya was answering. So the answer-giver is in superior position, so he hesitated. So while he was hesitating, Caitanya Mahāprabhu encouraged him,
- kibā śūdra kibā vipra nyāsī kene naya
- yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya
- (CC Madhya 8.128)
He said, "It doesn't matter whether you are a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra or... These are all bodily conception of life. You become above the bodily conception of life. You simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa." Yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā.
So they may say, 'Out of friendship, regard or affection, out of sentiment, he is speaking like that, that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme person, paraṁ brahma.' " But Arjuna immediately rectifies this impression, that "Not only myself, but great authorities like Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Asita, they are also affirming." Vyāsadeva is authority. Veda-vyāsa, he is the giver of Vedic knowledge. So he is accepting. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam he is writing, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). He has given description of the incarnation of God, then he concludes that "All these incarnations, they are part and parcel or plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the name which I have mentioned as Kṛṣṇa, that Godhead, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, He is the Supreme Original Personality of Godhead." That is Vyāsadeva's... So we have to accept. And Arjuna also says, svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me, "You are also personally speaking that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7), 'There is no more superior authority than Me.' " So this is confirmed.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: In his last work Kant seems to shift his position. He says, "Morality thus leads ineluctably to religion, through which it extends itself to the idea of a powerful moral law-giver outside of mankind for whose will that is the final end of creation, which at the same time can and ought to be man's final end. Make the highest good possible in the world your own final end." So he seems to point to an absolute law-giver or an absolute morality, which is God, but he believes that this knowledge of God is ultimately uncertain.
Prabhupāda: Uncertain—for the man who does not possess the perfect knowledge. But if we believe in God, if we know God, we can get perfect knowledge from Him. Then we become perfect.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Hayagrīva: "This would be a commonwealth of which indeed God would be the law-giver."
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the best quality of state. If we abide by the orders of God, or the king or the government abides by the order of God, that is ideal state.
Hayagrīva: He says, "Thus the constitution of the state would be theocratic, but man as priest receiving his bequests directly would build up an aristocratic government," like the brāhmaṇas would receive the knowledge from God.
Prabhupāda: That theocratic government is Manu-saṁhitā. That is Vedic literature given by Manu for the benefit of the human society.
Hayagrīva: He writes, "As it is a delicate task to decide what God has Himself ordained and what derives rather from the authority of an all-powerful parliament or a supreme judicial decision, it would be an indubitable advantage to leave God out of the question altogether and to admit honestly the purely human origin of all cultural laws and instructions." In other words, man is the law-giver...
Prabhupāda: That, that means he has no clear conception of God, because God has to take power from some parliament. God does not take power from anyone. He is God. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataḥ ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ (SB 1.1.1), that the Supreme, God, or Supreme Truth, Brahman, He knows everything. He knows everything in details. And wherefrom? Abhijñaḥ. He is, abhijñaḥ means completely in awareness. Then the question may be raised that "How He got this complete knowledge? From whom He received?" The answer is immediate, svarāṭ. Svarāṭ means independent. That is God. If one has to take knowledge from Mr. Freud, then he is not God. Anyone, if you come to that person that He is independent, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport), naturally He is all-perfect. He hasn't got to become perfect by some process or from some authority. That is God. He is all-perfect automatically.
Prabhupāda: This is conflict. Conflict means if I don't agree with you and if you do not agree with me, that is conflict.
Śyāmasundara: So some progress is made from that conflict?
Prabhupāda: Yes. But the two can(?) fight or conflict and one judgement giver.
Śyāmasundara: And this is progress.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like this morning I was explaining that your statement should be according to the standard process, vidhi-mārga. So sādhu-śāstra-guru, three authorities: saintly persons, scripture, and spiritual master. So all of them should be, should agree. There is a con... Just like two litigants, they go to the court and the judges give judgement. Similarly, whenever there is conflict, to come to a conclusion, we must refer to sādhu, śāstra, and guru. Then we get the right judgement.
Prabhupāda: Yes. He is called ātmā-pama (?). He doesn't require anything from anyone. He is complete. But if anyone offers Him something out of love, it is his benefit who is offering something to God. God doesn't require anything. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā God says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati: (BG 9.26) "A devotee, out of his love, even he offers Me a little leaf, little water, little flower," tad aham aśnāmi, "I eat that." So God is fully satisfied in Himself. Why He desires a patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam from a devotee? It is not for His benefit. But if he begins to offer something out of love, then his love begins with God. He gives him the chance. So offering to God does not mean God is benefited. It is benefit of the devotee that he begins to offer, and if he gradually develops that love, then his life is successful. So it is a chance. God does not require anything, but the giver, whatever he, he gives to God, it is for his own benefit. Just like the example is given, the..., if your face is decorated, then the reflection of the face in the mirror is automatically decorated. So we are reflection of God. If God is decorated then we become decorated. That is the idea.
| Page Title: | Giver (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 01 of Jun, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=36, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 36 |