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If somebody says, "Oh, why shall I serve God?" all right, then you shall have to serve dog. That's all. Therefore he is befooled. He does not know that he has to serve somebody. His constitutional position is like that. He cannot escape

Expressions researched:
"all right, then you shall have to serve dog. That's all. Therefore he is befooled. He does not know that he has to serve somebody. His constitutional position is like that. He cannot escape"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

If somebody says, "Oh, why shall I serve God?" all right, then you shall have to serve dog. That's all. Therefore he is befooled. He does not know that he has to serve somebody. His constitutional position is like that. He cannot escape. So therefore if he denies to serve God, Kṛṣṇa, then he has to serve māyā, illusion, in the hope that "I have become the master."
Lecture on BG 3.31-43 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1969:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Thirty-two: "But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not practice them regularly are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and doomed to ignorance and bondage (BG 3.32)."

Prabhupāda: Yes. If somebody says, "Oh, why shall I serve God?" all right, then you shall have to serve dog. That's all. Therefore he is befooled. He does not know that he has to serve somebody. His constitutional position is like that. He cannot escape. So therefore if he denies to serve God, Kṛṣṇa, then he has to serve māyā, illusion, in the hope that "I have become the master."

Just like in your country the President Johnson was the master. Actually, he was not the master; he was the servant of the country. Now the country has dismissed him. He is no longer master. So our mastership in this material world is like that. Actually, we are servant, but we are thinking master. In a family, I am servant of my wife, I am servant of my children, I am servant of my servants, but I am thinking I am master. "I am master of this family. I am master of this country. I am master of this society." Nobody is master.

The Caitanya-caritāmṛta says, therefore, "The master is only Kṛṣṇa." Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa āra saba bhṛtya: (CC Adi 5.142) "Only Kṛṣṇa, or God, is master, and everyone is servant." Yāre yaiche nācāya se taiche kare nṛtya: "Each servant is dancing according to the order of the Supreme." That's all. Nobody is master. So this false conception of becoming master is called māyā, illusion. Nobody is master. Therefore one who disagrees to become servant of God, he is befooled. It is said, "But those who, out of envy..." He is constitutionally servant, but he is envious: "Why shall I become God's servant? I shall become God." You see? Everyone is claiming, "Oh, everyone is God. Why? What is the use of becoming servant of God? I am God." This is enviousness. So if one refuses to serve God and become envious, "disregard these teachings and do not practice them regularly are to be considered bereft of all knowledge." Because he is servant, but he is thinking, "I am master. I am not serving anyone." This is māyā, bereft of all knowledge. Go on.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Thirty-three: "Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows his nature. What can repression accomplish (BG 3.33)?"

Prabhupāda: So at least he is servant of his nature. There are three kinds of material modes of nature. Somebody is in goodness; somebody is in passion; somebody is in ignorance. So in ignorance, somebody, say, he is intoxicated. He is servant of some intoxication. But he is thinking, after being intoxicated, "Oh, I am God. I am master." You see. This is called befooling him. He is befooled. He is servant of intoxication, and he is thinking, "I am God." Just see. Is it not a farce? By meditation, he will become God. If you are God, why you are meditating? Therefore they are befooled. The direct process is: take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness—"I am eternal servant of God. Let me take to this business. Finish." Perfect knowledge. Go on.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Thirty-four: "Attraction and repulsion for sense objects are felt by embodied beings, but one should not fall under the control of senses and sense objects because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization (BG 3.34)."

Thirty-five: "It is far better to discharge one's own prescribed duties, even though they may be faulty, than another's duties. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous (BG 3.35)."

Thirty-six: "Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force (BG 3.36)?"

Prabhupāda: Here Kṛṣṇa says that "Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous." Now, Arjuna was a military man, a kṣatriya. His business was to fight for the good cause. But in the battlefield he thought that "Why should I engage myself in this killing business? Better retire from it. If I don't get my kingdom, I shall rather beg." This begging business is for us.

Just like we are sannyāsī, or a brāhmaṇa. We are allowed to beg. We are not, of course, begging as professional beggar, but we introduce ourself as beggar. The Vedic culture is that a sannyāsī, when he comes to beg in a householder's house, he receives him very respectfully, and whatever he wants, they want to supply. But they do not want anything, but the introduction is that they take this opportunity of sitting in a householder's home and talk about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is their real business. They are not beggars.

Anyway, this begging business is not for a householder or a military man. Therefore Kṛṣṇa say that "Don't try to imitate the business of a sannyāsī or a brāhmaṇa. You are kṣatriya. Your duty is to fight, so you should follow your own prescribed duty. Don't try to imitate others." But one can attain perfection by being engaged in his own occupation, provided he does it in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Kṛṣṇa is asking him to fight, and he is a professional fighter. So if he fights in accordance with the order of Kṛṣṇa, there is his perfection. This is the purport. Go on.

Page Title:If somebody says, "Oh, why shall I serve God?" all right, then you shall have to serve dog. That's all. Therefore he is befooled. He does not know that he has to serve somebody. His constitutional position is like that. He cannot escape
Compiler:Krsnadas
Created:08 of Oct, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1