Indian (2): ...the Pāṇḍavas. So if we do our work so perfect, we can't do it. Otherwise, we... So I am an imperfect devotee. But the question, you see, I was wondering ... all the worldly duties sincerely and honestly to our capacity pride is necessary or inevitable. "Oh, I'm a brāhmaṇa. I'm worshiping God." But pride is necessary that we must do in our own hand. I cannot.
Prabhupāda: Yes. If your life is so made that in every step you are feeling presence of Kṛṣṇa, then it is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the first-class yoga, as it is confirmed by Kṛṣṇa:
- yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
- mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā
- śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
- sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
- (BG 6.47)
Just like these boys, they are being trained up to think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Just like we have constructed this pandal. Our business is to preach Kṛṣṇa. So the energy employed for constructing this temple, that is also Kṛṣṇa, that energy. Somebody is doing... Anything... Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. If our activities are always dovetailed for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction, that is called vairāgya. Vairāgya. A man is engaged in business. That's all right. But if the fruit of that business is made, is meant for Kṛṣṇa, then sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya (BG 18.46). That is sva-karmaṇā. Generally, we work for our sense gratification. "I have got this money. I must use for my sense gratification or for my relative's sense gratification or for my country's sense gratification, for my society's sense gratification." So this is materialism. But when the same thing is turned for Kṛṣṇa's sense gratification, that is spiritual. That is the difference between prema and kāma. Kāma. It has been very simplified by Kavirāja Kṛṣṇadāsa Gosvāmī in his Caitanya-caritāmṛta: ātmendriya-prīti-vāñchā tāre bali 'kāma' (CC Adi 4.165). Ātmendriya-prīti. If you want to satisfy your senses, that is called kāma, lust. Kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā dhare 'prema' nāma. The same thing, when you try to satisfy the senses of Kṛṣṇa, that is called prema.
So we have to divert the activities for Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna, he, in the beginning, he denied to fight. That, our subject matter. He was crying. "No, no, I cannot fight." So apparently Arjuna was very nice gentleman that he is forgetting his claim over the kingdom, he's nonviolent, he's not willing to fight with his brothers, and he was crying so compassionate. So from materialistic point of view, he was very nice. But immediately, as we'll begin tomorrow, Kṛṣṇa says that "Why you are thinking like anārya?" Anārya. Anārya-juṣṭam. "This kind of thinking is not for āryas, Āryans. It is for the non-Āryans." He did not... And the whole Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to Arjuna to make him ārya. And at the end, Kṛṣṇa inquired from Arjuna that "What is your decision?" Yathecchasi tathā kuru (BG 18.63) But Arjuna replied, kariṣye tad-vacanam. Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava. (BG 18.73) "Now I shall fight." And Kṛṣṇa gave him certificate: bhakto 'si priyo 'si me (BG 4.3). "You are very dear friend, and My great devotee." Now, fighting is not very good business, killing. But sometimes, by killing, one can become a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. He was a warrior, fighter. His business was to fight, but he fought for Kṛṣṇa. Then he became a devotee. That is sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya (BG 18.46). He... Arjuna, brāhmaṇa and kṣatriya. Similarly, our..., means sva-karma, guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ. Our, according to Vedic system, there are four divisions. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). Not by birth, but by quality and actual activities. So there are brāhmaṇas. There are kṣatriyas. There are vaiśyas. There are śūdras. There are brahmacārīs. There are gṛhasthas, vānaprasthas, sannyāsa. So everyone should be engaged to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. That is the whole philosophy. Sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya (BG 18.46). "You work as brāhmaṇa, you work as a kṣatriya, you work as a vaiśya or śūdra. It doesn't matter." Even Kṛṣṇa has advised that "If you, even if you think that I am working as a vaiśya, it is not very good, because sometimes I have to speak lie for business's sake. And brāhmaṇa's business is very nice. No." Kṛṣṇa has advised: sa-doṣam api na tyajet: (BG 18.48) "Even in your profession there are so many faults, you should not give it up. You should go on." But the result must be given to Kṛṣṇa. That is the secret. You may work as a brāhmaṇa, as a kṣatriya, as a businessman, as an engineer, as a doctor, as a warrior, whatever you may be. It is, it is never condemned. No work is condemned. Every work is dignified provided it is meant for Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (break)
Chant. (end)