There is a proverb in Bengal, khābo ki khābo nā yadi khāo tu pauṣe. "When you are perplexed, Whether I shall eat or not eat,' better not eat." Sometimes we come to this point, "I am not very hungry, whether I shall eat or not eat?" The best course is not eat, not that you eat. But if you eat, then you can eat in the month of December, Pauṣa. Why? It is... In Bengal... Bengal is tropical climate, but when it is winter season, it is advised that "If you eat it is not so harmful because it will be digested." The night is very long, or the cold season, the digestive power, is nice. So when we are confused, "to do or not to do," jābo ki jābo nā yadi jāo tu śauce: "When you think, 'Whether I shall go or not?' better don't go. But when it is a question of answering the call of nature, you must go." Jābo ki jābo nā yadi jāu tu śauce, khābo ki khābo nā yadi khāo tu pauṣe. These are very common sense. Similarly, Arjuna is now perplexed, "Whether I shall fight or not fight?" That is also everywhere. When there is declaration of war between the modern politicians, they consider... Just like in the last Second World War, when Hitler was preparing for war... Everyone knew that Hitler was going to retaliate because in the first war they became defeated. So Hitler was again preparing. One, my God-brother, German, he came in 1933 in India. So at that time he informed that "There must be war. Hitler is preparing heavy preparations. War must be there." So at that time, I think, in your country the Prime Minister was Mr. Chamberlain. And he went to see Hitler to stop the war. But he would not. So similarly, in this fight, to the last point, Kṛṣṇa tried to avoid the war. He proposed to Duryodhana that "They are kṣatriyas, your cousin-brothers. You have usurped their kingdom. Never mind, you have taken some way or other. But they are kṣatriyas. They must have some means of livelihood. So give them, five brothers, five villages. Out of the whole world empire, you give them five villages." So he... "No, I am not going to part with even an inch of land without fight." Therefore, under such condition, the fight must be there.
It is a question of... (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So in the animal life, it is not possible to change one's nature, which is given by the material energy, prakṛti. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni (BG 3.27). Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya, kāraṇaṁ guṇa-sangaḥ asya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu (BG 13.22). Why? All living entities are part and parcel of God. Therefore originally the characteristic of the living entity is as good as God. Simply it is a question of quantity. Quality is the same. Quality is the same. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). The same example. If you take a drop of sea water, the quality, the chemical composition is the same. But the quantity is different. It is a drop, and the sea is vast ocean. Similarly, we are exactly of the same quality as Kṛṣṇa. We can study. Why people say God is impersonal? If I am of the same quality, so God is also person, how He can be imperson? If, qualitatively, we are one, then as I feel individually, so why God should be refused individuality? This is another nonsense.
Just like a man freed from the attack of fever or any disease, when he's recovered, he finds himself happy: "Oh, now my disease is now gone. I am happy." Similarly, as soon as we come to the spiritual understanding of our existence, then our life will be joyful. That is a sign. Whether a man is freed from this material existence, mukti... Mukti can be achieved even in this life. Mukti. Mukti. It is, it is, it is a question of conviction. Now we are convinced firmly that "I am this material body. And as soon as... I gave you the other day the example of Socrates. He was convinced that "I am not this body." So he was offered poison. He gladly took it, that "What is that? I shall take it!" Because he was mukta-puruṣa. It is... He is liberated soul. "Never mind. You want to kill me. Kill me. I don't mind. All right." So this liberation. This is liberation.
As the soul is within the body and the body is changing every moment, similarly, the last stage of change is called death. Death is nothing but the final change of this present body. That's all. And our death condition is for seven months only. As soon as I leave this body, at once I am injected into other's mother's body according to my karma. I may be injected to a queen's womb; I may be injected to a dog's mother. You see? That is due to my karma. You see? The father is present there. The dog father is present there. The king's father is present there. The devatā father is present there. There is no scarcity of father, but it will depend on my karma, which kind of father I shall take shelter. So these things are, have to be accepted from the authoritative scriptures like Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavata. And then it will be possible for us to understand the things as they are. There is no question of sectarianism. There is no question of this "ism" or that "ism." It is a question of pure knowledge.
Dehinaḥ, of the living soul, the body is changing. Similarly, after death, after so-called death... Because there is no death. After stoppage of the function of this gross body, the soul is transferred to another gross body. This statement we get from Bhagavad-gītā. And if we accept this statement, "This is fact," then our spiritual life immediately begins. Without this understanding, there is no question of spiritual understanding. Everything vague, simply mental speculation, "maybe," "perhaps." These theories are being forwarded by so-called scientists and philosophers. But we don't accept such things as "perhaps," "maybe." No. We accept what is fact. It is not a question of belief; it is a question of fact. So this is the fact.
This is the distinction of the soul being spirit. You take anything of this material world, they can be burned. It is the question of temperature only. Even iron is being burned, any metal, any hard thing, stone is being burned, everything is being burned. But here it is said that soul cannot be burned. So does it mean that it is stronger than iron and stone? But it is very fragmental, minute, atomic portion. But it cannot be burned. So all these symptoms... Cannot be burned, cannot be cut into pieces. So here the Māyāvādī theory will fail. If the soul cannot be cut into pieces, then how the soul has become enwrapped with māyā? They give the example, ghaṭākāśa-poṭākāśa. Of course, they say that it is covered, it is not cut into pieces. But the soul is separated, I mean to say, a separate identity constitutionally.
This, all these Vedic scriptures, they are interrelated. They are not contradictory. If somebody says that "We find some contradiction from Vedic literature, from this literature to that literature," no. There is nothing at all, any contradiction, even, even in the preachings of the great ācāryas. I am speaking of India. There were many great ācāryas, I mean to say, reformers, came. Lord Buddha also appeared in India. Then, after Lord Buddha, Śaṅkarācārya came. Then, after Śaṅkarācārya, Śrī Rāmānujācārya came. Then, after Śrī Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, and then, lately, Śrī Caitanya, Lord Caitanya. He came. But you will find a link, a link, although superficially we may see that Lord Buddha is speaking something which is contradictory to Lord Śaṅkarācārya's teaching, or Rāmānujācārya is speaking something which is contradiction to Śaṅkara. No. There is no contradiction. It is the question of studying how they are paving way for ultimate spiritual realization. That requires a very, I mean to say, substantial knowledge, how they are paving the way, just step by step.
So consciously or unconsciously, we are committing. Suppose I am not willingly killing any animal, but unconsciously I am killing so many living entities by my walking, by my so many things. They are called pañca-yajñas in the Vedic... So, and even if we do not kill animals, simply by eating vegetables, they are also life. It does not mean that vegetarians are not killing. They are also killing. The law is that a living entity lives by killing other living entities. That is the law. Those who have got hands, they are killing those who have got legs. Just like man is killing animal. The animal is eating the grass, those who have no legs. So this is the law. But our thing is that we have to offer yajña. Killing of animal does not mean that if a man kills a cow or goat for eating, he is killing, and those who are vegetarian, they are not killing. They are also killing. A vegetable has also got life. So it is not the question of killing. It is the question of offering yajña. It is the question of offering yajña.
Now, suppose, theoretically accepting that if I am directly associating with Supreme Lord, then what else I want more? In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ. If you actually get the association of the Lord, then what else you have got to gain? You have got everything with you. So that is a fact. It is a question of realization only. And as soon as we get advanced in this chanting of this Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, then we shall gradually realize that actually God is with us. God is dancing on my tongue in the form of sound. You see?
There is no question of faith. It is not the question of faith. You may have faith in Hinduism; tomorrow you may have faith in Christianism. Or you may have faith in Christianism, tomorrow in Mohammedan. This kind of faith is not Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is a compulsory. Just like laws of the state. It is not that it is meant for the Hindus, or for the Muslims, for the Christian. It is meant for everyone.
Similarly, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). We are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, so it is compulsory to revive our consciousness that we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. It is not a question of faith. Faith you may accept or do not accept but here it is a question of "must." You must revive your Kṛṣṇa consciousness; otherwise you will suffer.
Everything is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is question of degrees. Mama vart..., pārtha... What is that verse? Vartante mānuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ. Everyone is searching after Kṛṣṇa, but they are forward to some step. Suppose Kṛṣṇa is there on the top, and it is one hundred steps. So somebody has covered five steps, somebody has covered ten steps, somebody has covered hundred steps, like that. So everyone is searching after Kṛṣṇa, but there is degrees of realization of Kṛṣṇa. So either Christian, Mohammedan, or any, they are searching after Kṛṣṇa. That's all right. But it is a question of degrees, how far they have gone forward. The last stage is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That is the final stage.
Yes. Not created, expanded. Kṛṣṇa expanded. Created means that it comes to the historical point. But na jāyate. Expanded. The actual word is expanded. Eko bahu syāt. He expanded Himself in so many. Not created. Expand means the things are there, now it is expanded. Just like the sun and sunshine. Sunshine is not created. Wherever there is sun, there is sunshine. But if you get sunshine in the morning, if you say, "Now the sunshine is created," that is a mistake. It is our misconception. The sun and the sunshine are always there. It is a question of appearance and disappearance, that's all. Everything expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Without any exception. Some of them are expansion of His material energy, some of them are expansion of His spiritual energy, some of them are expansion of His marginal energy. So everything expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). So because everything expansion of Kṛṣṇa's, therefore nothing but Kṛṣṇa. But still they are different. This is the whole basic principle of philosophy. Simultaneously one and different.
Brāhmaṇa means the most intellectual, most intelligent person. Intelligent means one who knows, who has got sufficient knowledge. So brāhmaṇa means he has got sufficient knowledge even up to the understanding of the Absolute Truth. Brahma jānātīti brāhmaṇaḥ. So that is first-class men, brāhmaṇa. So intellectuals or very intelligent class of men, these are everywhere, all over the world. You may call them brāhmaṇa or not, but a class of men, very intelligent, that is available in every part of the world. So brāhmaṇa means the intelligent class of men. And kṣatriya means they are less than the brāhmaṇas. And vaiśyas means less than the kṣatriyas. And śūdras less than all of them. It is a question of intelligence.
So cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13). Kṛṣṇa says, "These four varṇas are created by Me." So anything created by God, that is not monopoly for any class of men or for any country. Just like the sun is created by God. The sun is the thing which is enjoyed by all parts of the world. But there are countries, Western countries, where sun is not visible, covered by the cloud.
Yes. So it is a question of practice. Just like a child born, he does not know how to smoke, how to drink, but by association he becomes a drunkard, a smoker, intoxication. By association. So it is a question of association only. Saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ. If the association is good, our carrier is being spoiled because we are not keeping good association. So this is explained here, that: "But when the yogi engages himself with sincere endeavor in making further progress." Just like in business also, there are so many association, corporation. Because by becoming member of that corporation the particular type of business flourishes. They have got exchange. They can make exchange, bill of exchange, stock exchange. So association is so important.
You have to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa or His representative. Āśraya. Āśraya means to take shelter. You cannot practice this yoga separately. You have to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa or His devotee. That is called mad-āśraya. Or mad-āśraya means "one who has taken shelter of Me." One may say that "How can I take shelter of Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is not here present." He's present everywhere. It is a question of realization. Then you can take shelter of His representative. Mad-āśraya. Asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac... (BG 7.1). Asaṁśayam, "without any doubt," samagram, "in complete," yathā, "as," jñāsyasi, "you can understand," tac chṛṇu, "you hear from Me." Kṛṣṇa is describing Himself, how you can increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching throughout the whole world about the knowledge of the Absolute. There is no question of religion or dogmatism. It is a question of cultural advancement in knowledge. Every human being has got right to understand the absolute knowledge. That is the only business of human being. There is no other business. Unfortunately, for want of training, we are wasting our advanced intelligence for the same business as the cats and dogs are engaged. That is the difficulty. Cats and dogs, they cannot understand what is absolute knowledge. They are busy where to find out food, where to find out shelter, where to find out facility for sexual intercourse, and where to find out shelter to avoid danger, defense, in other words, defense.
It is just like television nowadays. You can see things happening thousands of miles away in television, and you can explain to your friends. This is like that. It is a question of seeing power. So now we have got the instrument, television machine. It is not difficult to understand. In the football ground the matches is going on, and it is being relayed in your room. It is alike that.
Yes, we have got our books. You can see in our books, every word, Sanskrit word, is given, the equivalent English. We give the roman transliteration, explanation, so there is no difficulty. Just like here is one of my students. He has learned Sanskrit now. He can read, he can write, he can edit. So it is a question of learning. There is no difficulty.
To know ourself, what we are, that is siddhi, not to be busy with the bodily comforts of life which are being executed by the cats and dogs and hogs. The hog is whole time engaged how to maintain his body, how to have nice sexual intercourse, and how to eat anything he likes. You will find the hog life, practically. In our country, in India, in the villages the village hogs they are loitering whole day and night, "Where is stool? Where is stool?" So if human life is meant for that purpose, from early in the morning till one goes to sleep, simply find out where is money, "Where is money? Where is money? Where is money?" then where is the difference between this pig life and the human life? If human life is meant for that purpose, "Where is money? Where is money?"... Of course, for the human being the money is very sweet; similarly, to the hog the stool is very sweet. So it is the question of sweetness, not the matter. Taste. So he finds good taste in stool, and we find good taste in money.
So therefore Kṛṣṇa said that "One who does not take care of My instruction," aśraddadhānāḥ, "no faith..." Aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣāḥ (BG 9.3). Puruṣa means any man, any human being, living being, but a human being because otherwise who will hear Kṛṣṇa? The cats and dogs will not hear. That is not possible. They have no capacity. But you are all human being. Either you are Australian or Indian or American or..., you can hear Bhagavad-gītā. There is no doubt about it. It is a question of explaining in your language. So we are trying to do that. The Bhagavad-gītā, the message of Bhagavad-gītā, is not sectarian. Don't take it like that. It is science how to make the whole human society peaceful and happy. It doesn't matter whether you are Australian, American, Indian, or African. And practically we see—we have got branches all over the world. Those who have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are happy. So take it very seriously. Don't neglect it, that "It is a sectarian religion of the Hindus or..." No. Kṛṣṇa is not for the Hindus.
So psychiatrists generally their patients are crazy fellows. Generally they treat crazy fellows. Is it not? No sane man goes to a psychiatrist. (laughter) Is it not a fact? So all these crazy men sometimes makes the psychiatrist a crazy also. So more or less, everyone is crazy. That is the... It is not my layman's opinion. It is the opinion of a big medical surgeon. There was a case in the court, murder case. The murderer pleaded that "I became crazy, mad, at that time." That is generally... So the medical man was called to examine. He was great civil surgeon in Calcutta. So he gave his opinion in the court that "So far I have treated many patients, so my opinion is that everyone is more or less a madman. More or less. It is a question of degree." So our opinion is like that, that anyone who is not under the direct connection with God, he's a crazy man. He's a madman. Now you can treat. So we are also psychiatrists. We are pushing this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So because anyone who is in this material world—more or less crazy, madman. Because he doesn't care for God, therefore he's crazy. He is completely under the control of God, but still, he has the audacity to say, "No, I don't believe in god." Crazy man. So anyone who does not believe in God, he's a crazy fellow. You can treat him. Everyone is patient.
So similarly we are also producing, with our perspiration, water. And the water is salty also. We have got, everyone, experience. Now it is the question of limited and unlimited. We are limited. We are producing a little quantity of water by perspiration which contains salt, salty water. If I am able to produce unlimited quantity of water, salty, that is sea and ocean. That is sea and ocean. What is the (this) sea and ocean? That is perspiration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has got such potency, unlimited. Unlimited potency. So where is the difficulty to understand that when Kṛṣṇa says: ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8), "I produce everything..." The chemists, the scientists, they're beginning from chemical, but wherefrom the chemical came? That came from Kṛṣṇa. If some chemicals come, come from an insignificant lemon tree, how much chemicals can come from Kṛṣṇa?
So the Vedic literature teaches us that tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ: "In the spiritual matter, you cannot argue." Your argument will be failure because you may be very good arguer, but I may come. I can cut all your arguments. And somebody else comes—he cuts all my arguments. It is a question of logic. So there are many logical experts. So by arguments we cannot reach the Supreme Truth. Tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnāḥ. Not by purchasing books from the market and reading it. No. That also will not help you. Tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnāḥ. If you purchase Bhagavad-gītā, you purchase Bible, you purchase Koran, or... So many, there are, literatures. They are also authorized. That's all right. But you cannot learn them by your own study.
It is not śāstra, it is the opinion of medical science also. The medical science. In India there was a case, a murderer. So his pleader, lawyer pleaded that "This man, when committed this murder, he was insane." So the judge called for the civil surgeon to examine him whether he has got such tendency, insanity. So he gave evidence, "My lord, so far my knowledge concerned, I have tested so many men, everyone is insane. It is a question of degree. Now if you consider that he was insane, you, that is your business to punish him, or not punish him. But so far my knowledge is concerned, I have studied so many men and I have found they are all insane." Actually that is the position.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Therefore I said in the beginning, there is some difference of meaning between "religion" and dharma. Religion and dharma. Religion is a faith, but dharma is the original characteristic of the living entity. And here Kṛṣṇa says that "You give up all types of faiths," because we have created so many faiths within this world, according to time, circumstances, country, atmosphere, everything, we have got different faiths. But Kṛṣṇa says it is not the question of faith; it is the question of actual relationship. Because every living entity is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, and the duty of part and parcel is to render service to the whole, therefore Kṛṣṇa came to establish this type of religion, this first-class religion. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). So any religion.
So these informations are there in the Vedic literatures. And it is a fact that we are transmigrating from one body to another, one planet to another. That is a fact. Just like I have come to your country, similarly I may go to another planet. It is the question of how to go there, what is the means. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.
- yānti deva-vratā devān
- pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ
- bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā
- yānti mad-yājino 'pi mām
- (BG 9.25)
So it is the question of creating the mind, the intelligence. Therefore if you constantly keep yourself, your mind, absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, then you get next time, next life, a body like Kṛṣṇa, which means sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Kṛṣṇa's body is not like us. But we think that Kṛṣṇa is like us. That is also condemned in the Bhagavad-gītā: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). "The rascal fools, they think Me as ordinary human being." They, all the big, big ācāryas of our country, Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, many, many big, big stalwarts, they have accepted, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Are they fools that they are worshiping a human being? Are they fools, so big, big scholars, stalwarts? No. Only the fools consider that Kṛṣṇa is ordinary human being. He comes to give us lesson what is actually God.
So if Kṛṣṇa is God, then floating or make this mountain weightless, is it very difficult task for Him? No. He entered the ocean. Unless He knows the physical laws how to enter the ocean... It is technique only. Modern scientists, they are also entering, by machine. They're floating by machine. That is also physical science. So, if you know the physical science still more perfectly, you can float in the air without machine, you can enter within the water without machine, you can lift the mountain without machine. It is a question of perfect knowledge. (knocking sound) What is that knock, sound?
Gosvāmī was speaking to the king, that speaking must be very important to everyone. So all the great sages... Even the father of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Vyāsadeva, who is the compiler of so many Vedic literatures, he also came there to hear his sixteen-years-old boy. He was so elevated. It does not matter whether a man is old or young; it is the question of knowledge. So Śukadeva Gosvāmī was so elevated that so many persons assembled there. And the Sūta Gosvāmī, who spoke the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for the second time amongst the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya, he was also present in that meeting, and he heard from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and he repeated to the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya. So śrī-kṛṣṇa-śravaṇādhi-prāyeṇa parama-praśna kṛta eṣa tu varīyan. Śukadeva Gosvāmī is congratulating Mahārāja Parīkṣit, that "You have raised the question of Kṛṣṇa, understanding Kṛṣṇa. It is very welcome." Yaḥ praśno 'pi śrotavyādiṣu paraṁ: "Such kind of question is the topmost question, topmost question. There is no more better question than this." In other words, when you become inquisitive to understand the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then that very questions will elevate you to the highest perfectional stage.
So all of them are searching about the... Devotees, they have finished their searching. They have found out the real truth. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1), the Supreme. So it is a question of degrees of spiritual understanding. So there are three million serious sādhus in India. None of them ever attended such Mahatma Gandhi's meeting, neither they invited Mahatma Gandhi. No. They never never recognized, recognized. Because what they have got to do with these political affairs? Just like... They know, this is the business of the crows. The crows will take interest in such meeting. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). What these politicians will do? They'll simply make plan. That's all. Hitler will make one plan, Mussolini will make one plan, Churchill will make another plan. Your Roosevelt will make another plan, Gandhi will make another.
So it is not to be done. It is not to be done. Therefore people are not happy. They are committing simply sinful activities. How they can become happy? But if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, simply depend on Kṛṣṇa's glancing, tava vīkṣitaiḥ, if you depend on Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will supply you everything. There is no question of scarcity. It is a question of production. And sometimes we find that the grains and fruits are produced in huge quantity. One cannot finish. So it is a question of Kṛṣṇa's glance. If Kṛṣṇa likes, He can produce huge quantity of grains and fruits and vegetables. And if He, Kṛṣṇa controls, then what your meat will do? You can eat me, I shall eat you. That will go on, but that will not solve the problem. Therefore for real peace of life, tranquillity and everything, sufficient supply of foodstuffs, sufficient supply of milk and water, everything, arrangement is there. Simply we have to depend on Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore the Vedic instruction is "Because you are confused, because you do not know which path to follow, therefore you must approach a guru." Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). This word abhigacchet is used when there is compulsory, "You must." You cannot say that "Without going to guru, I shall chalk out my own path." No, that is not possible. Therefore this very word is used, gacchet. In Sanskrit all words are meaningful. Gacchet means it is a question of must, not that "I may and may not." Nowadays it is going on, and there is many rascals who come here in your country to preach that "There is no need of guru. You can become your own guru yourself." That is not Vedic injunction. Vedic injunction is you must go to a guru, tad-vijñānārtham, in order to understand the transcendental science. And that is natural.
So the, not only it is the question of Arjuna or Kṛṣṇa, everyone of us. In the Upaniṣad it is said that Paramātmā, Kṛṣṇa, and the living entity they are sitting on the same tree, samāni vṛkṣe. One living entity is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other living entity is simply witnessing, anumantā. So Kṛṣṇa, He's situated in everyone's heart, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). Because without His sanction, the living entity cannot do anything. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo (BG 15.15), Kṛṣṇa says that "I am seated in everyone's heart." So, the living entity wants to do something out of his own whims, Kṛṣṇa says, or Kṛṣṇa gives good consultation that "This will not make you happy, don't do this." But he is persistent, he will do it. Then Kṛṣṇa sanctions, Paramātmā, "All right, you do it, at your risk." This is going on. Everyone of us (is) very intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is sitting in everyone's heart. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, that He is simply waiting, "When this rascal will turn his face towards Me." He simply is, he is so kind. But we living entities, we are so rascal, we shall turn our face to everything except Kṛṣṇa. This is our position.
This is the secret. Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau (ŚU 6.23). If one has strong faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead and as much faith in the guru, yathā deve tathā gurau, then the revealed scriptures become manifest. It is not the education. It is not the scholarship. It is faith in Kṛṣṇa and guru. Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta says guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). Not by education, not by scholarship, never says. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya, by the mercy of guru, by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. It is a question of mercy. It is not a question of scholarship or opulence or richness. No. The whole bhakti-mārga depends on the mercy of the Lord. So we have to seek the mercy. Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, jānāti tattvam... (SB 10.14.29). Prasāda-leśa, leśa means fraction. One who has received a little fraction of mercy of the Supreme, he can understand.
So it is the question of advancement. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His followers taught us that if you feel separation... How you will feel separation unless you love? And you simply worship the Supreme in a feeling of separation, then that is perfection. Then that is perfection. Therefore the Gosvāmīs, their prayer, their method of worshiping the Lord at Vṛndāvana... They left their ministerial post and went to Vṛndāvana by the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So what was their process? The process was tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat. They gave up their materialistic way of life as very insignificant. They were ministers.
Just like there are steps; if you want to go to the 104th floor, there are so many steps. So everyone is going, aiming, to that 104th, but one has covered ten steps, one has covered twenty, another hundred, like that. The aim is the same, but you cannot say that one who has already covered one hundred steps, he is as good as one who has covered two steps. There is that difference. Here is a person who has covered only two steps; here is another person who has covered fifty steps; here is another person who has covered hundred steps. Suppose you have to fulfill five hundred steps. So proportionately, that is the position. But the steps are already there. So any religious system—it doesn't matter Hindu religion or Christian religion or Muhammadan religion—it is the question of how the followers are covering the steps. They are going on the same staircase, but it is the question of...
It is just like touchstone or infection. You know or do not know, it will act. Because kṛṣṇa-bhakti, love for Kṛṣṇa, is there in everyone's heart. If it is not so, how you all young boys and girls are taking very seriously? It is a question of two, three years, or less than that, our students are joining, but they are becoming first-class kṛṣṇa-bhaktas, devotees. Even in India, they also are surprised that how these Europeans and Americans are coming to such nice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Not only Europeans, Americans, but Africans also. This is the proof that love for Kṛṣṇa is there in everyone's heart. That is stated by Caitanya-caritāmṛta kaṛacā, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja. Kṛṣṇa-bhakti nitya-siddha. Eternally, it is a fact. Simply it has to be awakened. Just like attraction for the opposite sex. A girl or a boy. That is natural. It is not unnatural. It has... Nobody goes to a school and colleges how to love, how to be attracted by young man. No. It doesn't require any education.
So one thousand miles, two hours. So 25,000 miles it will take fifty hours. But by other arrangement, it was circum(am)bulated one hour, twenty-five minutes. So, similarly, by other arrangement it can be done in one minute, in one second. It is a question of arranging. It is, therefore, all relative. Everything is relative. You cannot walk... The ant cannot walk. Therefore it should be like this, it should be like that, according to my convenience. No, relative. You have got greater power, greater speed than... My speed, your speed, may (be) different. Therefore what is one hundred years for me, it may be one second for you. It is relative, all relative truth. In your calculation it is one hundred years. In my calculation it is one second. Therefore Brahmā's duration of life is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ (BG 8.17). Brahmaṇe, Here also divyam. Sahasrābdam. Now divyaṁ sahasrābdam. Brahmā's one day, one twelve hours, daytime, we cannot calculate. Our, according to our calculation it is... Sahasra-yuga. Sahasra-yuga. Yuga. Yugas means these Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali. That means forty three hundred thousands of years. And thousand times, forty three hundred thousands of years, that makes Brahmā's one day of twelve hours.
It is very painful. Even for us Indians—we are born in India, tropical climate—still, when the temperature is more than hundred, it becomes intolerable. And what to speak of you? You are born in a different temperature. Similarly, we cannot tolerate lower temperature. If it is below fifty degree, it is intolerable for us. So there are different climates, different temperature. And in Canada they tolerate forty degree less than zero. So it is a question of different condition of life. But we are conditioned: high grade temperature, less temperature, high grade cold. But we can we trained up to any kind of conditional life. That capacity we have got. There is a Bengali proverb, śarīre na mahāśaya ya sahabe taya saya,(?) means "This body is," means, "it can tolerate any condition, provided you practice it." It is not that, that you are under certain condition, and if you are changed, it becomes so intolerable that you cannot live. No. If you practice...
So one who is too much absorbed with the thought that "This is my car" or "I am car," he suffers more. But if one knows that "I am not this car. All right, there is some accident. It can be repaired or it can be... That doesn't matter." It is a question of absorption of the thought. The materialistic person, because they are like animal, he suffers more. And for the devotees, as it is advised in the Bhagavad-gītā,
- mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
- śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
- āgamāpāyino 'nityās
- tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata
- (BG 2.14)
So this devotional service, this line of action, is so nice that if we practice, if we make advance, then even in this material world, staying, there will be no more suffering. That is called jīvan mukta. Jīvan mukta means although he is in this body, but he is not suffering the bodily miserable condition. It is a question of absorption of thought. I have read in some paper that Mr. Stalin, the communist leader, he had to undergo a surgical operation of operating on the belly. But doctor wanted to, what is called, chloroform, but he said, "No, there is no need. You can go on with your operation." So even in ordinary life it is possible. Because the mind is absorbed in a different way, even a surgical operation does not disturb a man. Similarly, what to speak of spiritual life, if your mind is always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa thought, Kṛṣṇa consciousness... That is stated mad-gata-cetasaḥ, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa advises also. What is His advice? Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru: (BG 18.65) "You always think of Me."
Caitanya Mahāprabhu or the ācāryas are present here. It is a question of realization. The more you strictly follow the regulative principles, chant sixteen rounds regularly, the more you'll realize.
Because God, Kṛṣṇa, is omnipotent. He can accept your service. He can bless you even from the picture. That is God's potency. If you think that this is just like ordinary picture... Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). You know the story of Sākṣi-gopāla in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The..., a atheist is thinking that "Here is a stone statue." And the devotee is thinking that "Here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." It is a question of quality of advancement. The story, I may recite, that two brāhmaṇas, one young and one old, went to Vṛndāvana. So the younger brāhmaṇa, young man, he served this old man on the way.
So this māyā is law-and-order energy of God. And we, those who have come to this material world, we are all criminal energy now. We are not actually criminal. Just like a man born is not criminal, but by association he becomes a criminal, or by association he becomes a godly man. It is a question of association. Similarly, the spirit soul, as son of God, he is pure. He is as pure as anything. As God is pure, similarly the son of God is also pure. But as soon as he forgets God and wants to become free, or wants to become imitation God... Here in this material world everyone is trying to become an imitation God. God is one. God cannot be two. But here the struggle for existence means that these, I mean to say, living entities who are put into this material world, every one of them is trying to become an imitation God.
So the Vaiṣṇava, I mean to say, Mahārāja Parīkṣit, he was very much distressed when he heard about the hellish punishment of the criminals. So he's asking him, mahā-bhāga, "My dear fortunate." He's asking Śukadeva Gosvāmī... Śukadeva Gosvāmī was naked. He was so renounced that after his birth, he left his home. And he was traveling, wandering, and when he met Mahārāja Parīkṣit he was only sixteen years old and naked, but he is accepted as the spiritual master of this great king because he was full of knowledge. It is a question of knowledge. It is not the question of age. He was only sixteen years old and he was not even properly dressed, but God kindly sent him for instructing this king. So he is asking, "Mahā-bhāga, can you explain how these suffering men can be delivered from this hellish suffering?" So he was feeling. This is the sentiment of Vaiṣṇava. They cannot see the suffering humanity. They always try to reform them and to get them as... Not only the devotees; the Lord also, He is so compassionate He sends His son, His most confidential son, Jesus Christ. He comes Himself, He sends His incarnation, He sends His knowledge. Just like this Bhagavad-gītā is knowledge. He speaks Himself about this knowledge. His representatives are there by disciplic succession. So we can take advantage of all these things. Still, there is Kṛṣṇa. Still there is speaking Kṛṣṇa and His representative, and everything is there. Simply we have to take advantage. That's all. But the spell of māyā is so strong that it does not allow.
Don't consider that Deity is a marble statue. No. Svayaṁ bhagavān. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. As soon as He saw Jagannātha Deity, He immediately fainted. "Oh, here is My Lord." Not like us: "Oh, here is some statue." No. It is the question of appreciation. So you appreciate or not appreciate, the Deity is the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally. We should always remember. So we shall be very careful before the Deity, not to commit offense. In serving Him, in offering Him prasādam, in dressing Him, we should always think, "Here is personally Kṛṣṇa." He is personally, but due to our lack of knowledge, we cannot understand it.
Sa pāśa-hastāṁs trīn dṛṣṭvā puruṣān ati-dāruṇān. So, at the time of death there are so many disturbance. We have got experience, but you have forgot because bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). But these things are observed by the sinful person. The Yamadūta, they come to take to the sinful, sinful person, not devotees. Just like the whole population of the city, they are not all subjected to the prison laws. Some criminals. Similarly, this Yamadūta goes to such sinful persons. They are not all. But it is the question of Ajāmila... He was so sinful that automatically the Yamadūtas came, and they wanted to take him.
So when you come to this senses, that "I am punished by māyā on account of my forgetting Kṛṣṇa consciousness; therefore my duty is to come back again to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and be saved from the punishment of the material nature," that is human duty. You cannot say that "I don't want Kṛṣṇa consciousness." If you don't want, then you must suffer. If you want to save yourself from suffering, then you must take to Kṛṣṇa. It is a question of "must." It is not your option. Your option is there. Because you are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, you have got little independence. But if you misuse that independence, then you are punishable. You cannot. Just like everyone has got little independence to violate the laws of the state. You can do that, but that is punishable. So if we take the risk of being punished, then we can violate the laws of nature or laws of God. The laws of God is very simple thing. It is not very difficult.
No. There is perfection everywhere in the spiritual world, but it is a question of variety, taste. When you take rasagullā, don't take kachori, that does not mean kachori is not perfect. It is a question of taste. Somebody likes kachori, somebody likes rasagullā. Not that kachori is inferior to rasagullā; rasagullā is inferior to kachori.
Here is the practical example. So don't think like that. God is not so poor. Everything belongs to God. So, if you are sincere, oh, God will supply you everything. Yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham (BG 9.22). Lord Kṛṣṇa says, "One is engaged in My service, yoga-kṣema, for his necessities." Yoga-kṣema means "Whatever he has got, for protecting those things, and whatever he has not got, to supply those things, I am responsible." So it is the question of belief and practical engagement. The more you become faithful, the more you become convinced, "Yes, God is my master. Yes, Kṛṣṇa is my master. He's supplying everything." But he cannot be your servant. Mind that. If you make God your order-supplier—"My dear God, I am in need of something for my sense enjoyment. Please supply"—that He will not agree. Therefore those who go to God for sense enjoyment and become frustrated, they say, "There is no God." This atheism and declaration that there is no God, it is a question of sense gratification. So God is not meant for satisfying your senses. You are meant for satisfying God's senses. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And because the atheist class, they do not want to serve the senses of God, therefore they make imperson. As soon as we make God impersonal, there is no sense that "I have now to supply." And here to see the picture: God is eating. God is eating. He has become so dependent on His devotee that, if the devotee will give Him something to eat, then He will eat. So that is the position.
Although the atheist class of men may think that they are engaged in idol worship, it is not idol. Those who are atheist, they may see idol, stone. But those who are devotees, they see sākṣād brajendranandana hari. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He entered the Jagannātha temple, as soon as He saw Jagannātha, immediately fainted, "Oh, my Lord, here You are." So it is a question of vision. Somebody is going to Jagannātha temple, he is seeing a wooden carved statue, that's all. And he is surprised, "Why for this wooden carved statue so many people are coming?" Because they are not devotee, they cannot understand. But one devotee, thousands and millions of devotees are going every year. Are they going to worship an idol? So this is the difference between the devotee and the nondevotee. A devotee knows that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa and everything is the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energy. Therefore, they want to employ everything to the service of the Lord, and they remain always blissful, transcendental. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break)
Śītoṣṇa. Śīta means winter, and uṣṇa means summer, warm and cold, cool. We see practically that the expert electrician by the same electric energy is running on the heater and the cooler. The cooler is also working under electric energy, and the heater is also working. So ephemerally heat is opposite to coolness, and coolness is opposite to heat. But both of them are working under the same energy; simply it is a question of adjustment by the expert electrician. So God is one, and His energy is also one, and there is no separation of energy from the energetic. Just like fire and heat. Heat cannot be separated from fire. But still, heat is not fire. I may be heated by high temperature, but if there is fire, then I will be burned—different action—although both of them are the same, heat and fire.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Yes. We cannot work unless we derive some pleasure. Just like the, in the Ahmedabad, the dramatic performance, he was killing animal, and he was attracted by killing, that's all. The butchers... I have seen in Calcutta, while passing through, one hotel man was cutting the throat of a chicken, and the chicken was, after being cut, the throat, it was jumping like anything. You see. And he was laughing. He was taking pleasure. It was for me so horrible, but he was taking very nice pleasure: "This half-cut chicken is jumping." And his son was crying. And he was asking, "Why you are crying? Why you are crying?" So it is the question of different qualities. One is attracted, and one, he finds that, that they are detracted. Go on.
Just like we are worshiping the form of Rādhā-Govinda, Rādhā-Mādhava, Rādhā-Dāmodara. So this form, atheists will say that "This is statue." But a theist person, who knows Kṛṣṇa, he will see this form of Kṛṣṇa not different from the original person, Kṛṣṇa. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He entered the Jagannātha temple, He immediately fainted, "Here is My Lord." Others who are going in the Jagannātha temple, they are seeing something made of wood. Therefore śāstra forbids, arcye śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhir sa eva narakaḥ. Arcye śilā-dhīr. Arca-mūrti, the form worshiped in the temple, if somebody thinks it is made of wood, it is made of stone, that is nārakī-buddhiḥ. No devotee will say. Only the nondevotee, atheist class of men will say it, that "They are worshiping wood. They are worshiping stone." But a devotee knows that His worshipable Lord is present here personally. It is a question of revising, of reforming this perception. The whole Kṛṣṇa consciousness process is reforming or purifying the senses.
Just like Kṛṣṇa says that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, tad aham aśnāmi (BG 9.26). Now, one can say that "Kṛṣṇa is far, far away in the Goloka Vṛndāvana. How He will eat?" That is material conception. Kṛṣṇa can eat even He is in Goloka Vṛndāvana, provided the foodstuff is offered by a devotee. Yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. It is a question of bhakti. Then Kṛṣṇa eats. Kṛṣṇa is present in His Goloka Vṛndāvana, in His dhāma. He does not go out, but His expansion goes out and takes, accepts the service of the devotee. This is the bhagavat-tattva-vijñānam. One should understand the bhagavat-tattva-vijñānam. It is a science, how He takes... We have got our limited sense that "I am sitting here." If you offer my foodstuff some yards off from me, I cannot reach, because I am limited. But Kṛṣṇa can expand His hand. He Himself comes.
This is the injunction of Sanātana Gosvāmī. Just like by chemical manipulation, by mercury, with kāṁsya, bell metal... This is the suggestion given by Sanātana Gosvāmī, that, as bell metal can be transformed into gold by mixing with mercury, similarly—it is a question of manipulating—similarly, by expert manipulation, even a, any man, not low or high, it doesn't matter, any man can be transformed into a brāhmaṇa, dvija, twice-born.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So Sanātana Gosvāmī's first question was, ke āmi, kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya āpani kaha prabhu kisera hita haya. Tāpa-traya, we have explained several times that there are three kinds of miserable conditions: pertaining to the body; pertaining to the mind; on account of harassment by other living entities and by natural disturbances. There are three kinds of miserable conditions within this material world. But when one takes shelter of spiritual master and seriously engages himself in devotional service, he has no more any miserable condition. The miserable condition means... It is a question of understanding. The beginning of spiritual life is to understand that "I am not this body." That is the beginning. So if I am properly trained up to understand that "I am not this body," then where is my tāpa-traya, miserable condition? Because miserable condition is due to this body. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). We feel sometimes cold, sometimes warm.
That's all? So He's the source of brahmajyoti. So if we have such realization that Kṛṣṇa is absolute, and if we realize... It is a question of realization.
Now, when you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, if we chant mechanically, then the effect is different. I have already given you ten kinds of offenses there are in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So mechanical way of chanting is also another offense. So offenseless chanting... Of course in the beginning, neophytes, we are apt to commit so many offenses. But we should be careful that the chanting should be offenseless.
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
You have seen the sparrows, the pigeons, they're having sex life three hundred times daily, you see, although they are very vegetarian. Yes. And the lion is not vegetarian, but it has got sex life only once in a year. So it is not the question of vegetarian or nonvegetarian. It is the question of understanding higher standard of knowledge. When one comes to the standard of high elevated knowledge, naturally he becomes vegetarian. Because paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). Paṇḍita means one who is very highly learned, paṇḍita. Sama-darśinaḥ. Sama-darśinaḥ means he does not distinguish between a man, learned man...
Cornerstone Ceremonies
So if you dedicate your life, that is all-perfect. If you cannot dedicate your life, give some money. But if you can..., poor man, you cannot give money, then you give some intelligence. And if you are fool, then give your words. So any way, you can help this movement and do the welfare activities for India and outside India. So that is my request. I welcome you. Of course, today is ekādaśī. We are, mostly we are fasting. Some prasādam will be given. So it is not the question of prasādam; it is the question of the important work we are taking in hand, how to spread a God consciousness movement. Otherwise, you will never be happy. Simply material consciousness, gṛha-kṣetra... Ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). This material civilization means the sex desire. Woman is hunting after man; man if hunting after woman. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhavam etaṁ tayor mithaḥ. And as soon as they are united, they require gṛha, apartment; gṛha-kṣetra, land; gṛha-kṣetra-suta, children, friends, money; and the moho, the illusion, ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8), "It is I, it is mine." This is material civilization. But the human life is not meant for that.
General Lectures
Just like... I will explain. Now, how this change of body is being done? That change of body is being done according to your mentality. Just like here you have got different dresses, different features, different modes of life, all these boys and girls and ladies and gentlemen who are sitting. Why? Due to different modes of mind. Somebody likes to keep hair, somebody like to cleanse hair. Why? This difference. Difference due to mind. So according to your mind at the time of your death, the position, the status of your mind will give you a next body. So if your mind is God conscious, then you get your body next like God. And if your mind is dog conscious, then you get your body, next body, a dog. So it is a question of training your mind so that at the point of death if you keep yourself Kṛṣṇa conscious mind, then you get as good a body like Kṛṣṇa. This is the whole philosophy. And Kṛṣṇa's body is sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), full of bliss, full of knowledge, eternal. So we are hankering after eternal body, blissful body, and full of knowledge. That should be the destination. That is our aim. So to fulfill that aim, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very nice thing.
What is that? Oh. More pleasurement? Oh. There is no question of pleasure or distress. Pleasure must be there always, but it is the question of curing. Just like when you are under the treatment of an expert physician, he says that "You shall eat like this. You shall sleep like this. You shall mate like this. You shall do like this," so it may not be pleasure, but if I want to cure myself, we have to accept the physician's direction. It is pleasure because the physician is taking him to the healthy state of life. So as soon as he gets that he is getting healthy or he is getting out of the diseased condition, that becomes pleasurable—"Oh, yes, I am being cured. I am being cured." So apart from that point of view, it is not the question of whether it is pleasurable or nonpleasurable, but (if) you want to cure yourself from the disease, you have to follow the directions. That is the process. Yes.
You are seeing every day, sun. Now the sun means there are three divisions: the sunlight, sunshine; the sun globe; and the sun deity. Don't think in the sun planet there is no living entities. That is a wrong conception. As in this planet there are living entities, similarly, in the sun planet also, there are living entities, but their bodies are differently constructed. Just like your body is differently constructed. You cannot remain in the water. But the fishes, the aquatics, they can remain in the water. It is the question of construction of the body. But you cannot say that "Because I cannot live in the water, therefore nobody can live in the water." That is nonsense. This is nonsense. So they, our scientists are so-called nonsense only. They say, "No, there cannot be any existence of living entity in the moon pla..., moon planet or sun planet." They say like that. But our Vedic literature does not say like that. Living entities... It is said, sarva-gaḥ. They can go anywhere, and they can live anywhere.
That is possible, practical. If you have got, I mean to say, very eager attraction for a certain thing, in spite of your acting differently, you are thinking of that. There are many examples. Suppose somebody beloved, your son, is ill at home. You have come to office to work. You are working but you are thinking, "How is the boy? How the child is there? How the child is there?" It is a question of love only. So there are certain processes, regulative processes. If you follow those processes, then automatically you become a lover of Kṛṣṇa. Just like one process: this chanting. You go on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and you'll find very soon you become a lover of Kṛṣṇa. Just like the boy. Here is our Tamāla Kṛṣṇa. He says that "I was attached to drug habit, to intoxication habit, meat-eating. Now my attachment is now changed. I am now for Kṛṣṇa." So automatically he has become pure. It is so nice.
Now, it is a question of believe or not believe. That is a different thing. We believe. We take it. Because it is said by Kṛṣṇa, we take it, accept it. And we apply our reason also, not blindly take it, that if I see that in every planet, in our this planet there is a president... Formerly, in this planet also, there was only one king, and he was ruling over all the planets. Gradually, people have divided their interests and become different nations. From Vedic history we can see... I understand... Somebody was telling me that in Australia also there is some Śiva temple here. Who was telling me that? He was telling me. So the archaeological investigation has found so many relics, and in the Vedic literature we also find the mention of all the island, sapta-dvīpa, seven islands. Seven islands means Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australia, and Oceania.
Yes. Munayo sādhu pṛṣṭo 'haṁ bhavadbhir loka-maṅgalam. When a question about Kṛṣṇa, or God, he congratulated them, "My dear sages, your question is very welcome because it is the question of God." So there may be questions, but every sincere man must question what is God and try to learn it. That will bring auspicity all over the world. Simply in schools, colleges, in business, in assembly, in society there must be some discussion about God. Then it will be very much auspicious for all the world. There must be some question. The question may be offered in the beginning, but if the question is sincere and if he takes the answer sincerely, then he will understand about God.
Yuyutsavaḥ, it is called yuyutsavaḥ. So yuyutsavaḥ means when two parties are fighting, they are called yuyutsavaḥ, "Desiring to fight, they prepared." So actually these two groups of brothers, cousin brothers, they assembled there for fighting to decide their fate. So everything is clear. Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā (BG 1.1), assembled, yuyutsavaḥ, for fighting. And who are they? It is the question of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the father of the Duryodhana, and he is asking his private secretary, Sañjaya. Sañjaya was relaying the fight in the battlefield, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra was blind. Just like television. So he was seeing the fight from the heart. It means there is still more finer science, that you don't require machine to see it by television, what is going outside. You can see within your heart. So this Sañjaya was seeing the battle, and he was relaying to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.
Yes. If Bismillah means Hare Kṛṣṇa... It is a question of language. So if meaning the same thing, Hare Kṛṣṇa... Hare Kṛṣṇa means we are addressing the Supreme Lord and His energy. Hara means the energy of the Supreme Lord, and Kṛṣṇa means the Supreme Lord. So we are addressing, "My dear Lord, my dear the energy of Lord..." Because Lord and His energy, they are, they are always existing. Just like sun and the sunshine, they're always existing. Sunshine is the energy, but sun is the energetic. Similarly, the Lord is there and His energy's also there. So we are praying both to the energy and to the Lord: "Please engage me in Your service. I am serving māyā. I am not happy. Therefore, please engage me in Your..." My, my constitutional position is to serve. Just like you're all sitting here. Every one of you are servant. If you consider that you are master, that is a mistake. That is māyā. Every one of you are servant. So "I am serving, but now I am serving māyā. I'm not happy. Let me serve You." This is the meaning of Hare Kṛṣṇa. So if it means that, there is no objection. It is a question of language. It does mean (indistinct). Of course, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says the, the person whose name we chant, holy name, in each, in each holy Allah, or something like that, that is not objected if it is actually meaning the Supreme.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: How is that? That you have to learn. (laughter) You practice yoga and you learn. Just like Hanumān, he jumped over the sea. So it is a question of becoming bigger. Just like you can jump over this space, but if you have got bigger body, then you can jump bigger space. That is called mahimā-siddhi. So if you increase you body proportionately, then you can cross the sea from here to here. Your legs become bigger and your jumping becomes more bigger. This is the process. It is called mahimā-siddhi. Again he carried the hill. Rāmacandra asked him, "You bring Me that medicine from there." He could not find it so he got up the whole hill. So those are yogic siddhis.
Prabhupāda: Yes, but spirit is, according to our philosophy, the spirit is realized in three phases, brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). The supreme spirit is realized in three phases. An example is given, just like you see from a distant place the mountain, you see just like a hazy cloud. You go forward, you will see something, substance, green, and if you enter it you'll see so many trees, so many animals. So you are seeing the same object but according to your understanding, somebody is saying, "Oh, it is a cloud." Somebody is saying, "It is some green (indistinct)," and somebody is saying, "No, it is very nice place." It is a question of where he is standing, to understand God. So those who are standing in distant place, for them imperson. Just like we are seeing the sunshine imperson, and the sun globe localized, and if you have got capacity to enter into the sun globe, you'll see sun god. Similarly, God is realized in three capacities, brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). Either impersonal Brahman, or localized Paramātmā, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But if you somehow or other approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is Kṛṣṇa. Then you understand the other two things. And Kṛṣṇa is explaining, brahmaṇo ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. "I am the resting place of brahmajyoti." Brahmā-saṁhitā says, yasya prabha (Bs. 5.40), this brahmajyoti, impersonal brahmajyoti is the bodily rays of Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, Paramātmā, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna (BG 18.61), that is another feature of Kṛṣṇa. He is sitting in everyone's heart. Just like the sun is reflected in thousands and millions of (indistinct). There are no so many suns, there is only one sun. How you will (indistinct)? So God is one but according to realization, one who has seen the (indistinct), he says, "Oh, there are millions of suns." And one who has not seen the (indistinct), he has seen only sunshine, "Sun is impersonal." It is a question of (indistinct) person who is realizing. But actually God is a person, sat-cit-ānanda-vigraha. That is (indistinct). We have got clear conception of God, sat-cit-ānanda-vigraha, Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: No. Suppose just like Jesus Christ instructed his disciples, "Thou shall not kill." Say two thousand years ago in the Western countries, the men were killers, that's all. But we'll see Bhagavad-gītā, five thousand years ago, Kṛṣṇa is arguing that "If our women become widows then they'll be polluted. There will be varṇa-saṅkara, unwanted children, the society will go to hell." How much elevated society. Five thousand years ago. It is a question of place. It is a question of place. If Darwin says... Here in the Bible it is said that "Thou shall not kill," so that means two thousand years ago they were simply killers. That does not mean five thousand years there were no highly elevated personalities. That is his lack of studying. He is too much localized. He has no broadened knowledge, neither he has studied all the books, contemporary books; therefore he has poor fund of knowledge. He's very poor in his knowledge. Just like, still, there are many Americans... You Americans are completely different from others. You cannot say that all the Americans are drunkards and irresponsible; therefore, they are also. Side by side some moral is still there. You don't drink; you don't take meat; you are all God conscious; side by side there is. So how you can write history that "Such and such, 1971, '72, all Americans were LSD"? How you can conclude like that?
Śyāmasundara: They may find three or four bodies...
Prabhupāda: That it is a question of time, and it is the beginning.
Prabhupāda: Trainer, yes. So the raw tiger is kept in the cage and the trainer comes for several days, he simply whips. Then for several days whips and gives some food, and then he comes with the whip and food. So he does not whip, he gives some food. In this way tiger becomes tamed by him. So he plays before the trainer only. He has got that whip. Because he is animal, he has got that impression, "He will kill me." Therefore he plays. As soon as this man goes away, he will immediately attack, anyone comes. Just like dog, he fears the (master); for others he jumps over. So it is a question of training. So he has got the conscience. My point is that he has got the conscience, "Oh, here is my trainer. He will kill me." He has got this conscience. This is good. "If I attack, oh, he will kill me. But here is an ordinary man, I can kill him." So he has difference of conscience. Even the tiger, even the cats, and the dogs. This discrimination, power of discrimination, is there in the animals also. But that is not consciousness. Real consciousness is to accept Kṛṣṇa. That is real consciousness. (break)
Prabhupāda: It is not belief. It is not the question of belief. It is the question of fact. Just like a man if he says, "I don't believe that I shall become old," then that is his ignorance or foolishness. He must become old man, or the body must become old. So if a man thinks that, when I shall become old, that is immortality of soul, that when I shall become old means when my body will become old. He will continue. It is common sense affair. It is a fact. Where is the question of belief or not belief?
Prabhupāda: No. We don't follow that. Suffering, actually there is no suffering, because a spirit soul is different from the body. The same example: Just like when there is accident in the motorcar, the motor driver or the owner of the car is not actually suffering. But because he has identified his motorcar with himself, therefore he is suffering. Similarly, either you say God and all God's personal parts and parcels, the living entities, the spirit soul, he has no suffering. But the ordinary spirit soul, because he has identified himself with the matter, he suffers, whereas God, because He has full knowledge and is always apart from this material world, nāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ, just like Bhagavad-gītā. There is..., God has no suffering. It is a question of, just like the same example: In a motorcar I am sitting and my friend is sitting. There is some accident; the motorcar is lost. So this man who possesses the motorcar, he suffers, but I do not suffer. I am in the same car, but I do not suffer. What is the difference? The difference is that I have full knowledge that I am not this car, but he, being identified with the car, being ignorant, he is suffering. So it is a question of knowledge where there is suffering and no suffering.
Prabhupāda: It is not a question of faith, it is a question of fact. Then it is, the same example, just like Arjuna. He decided to become nonviolent in the beginning, but at the end he decided to fight and kill. Now which is piety and which is sinful? Actually, this decision to kill by the order of Kṛṣṇa is piety, because he satisfies the higher authorities. So in this material world we concoct that "This is sinful, this is piety," but actual sinful and piety is decided on the order of the Supreme God. That is (indistinct). So if you have no connection with God, so our these thoughts of sinful and piety, they are simply mental concoction. It has no value.
Prabhupāda: Anxiety is there when I think that I am finite. Just like when I think that Mr. Bhatiwalla(?) is trying to get us out, then we are in anxiety. And if we know that there is no such thing, we can live here... So we want to live infinitely. When that is disturbed, there is anxiety. Therefore it appears that we are infinite. But we have been put into finite condition. That is the cause of anxiety. Now, therefore, the intelligent person should try to come to the platform of infiniteness. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa says that tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). There are many others... There are many devotees, just to avoid this birth, death, old age, many have attained success. These things are stated in Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore the conclusion is it will become anxietyless to have infinite life. One must (indistinct) Kṛṣṇa conscious. This is the conclusion. And there is no question of avoiding. If you avoid, then you..., it must be remain entangled. It is a question of must. You must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness if you actually... Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends that, that when he was asked by his father what is the best thing he had learned, he said this is the best thing: that he should give up this materialistic way of life and take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. That is the best thing.
Prabhupāda: No. The existence is there. The essential, essence also is there, but it is a question of awareness and not awareness. One who knows, he is brāhmaṇa; one who does not know, he is kṛpaṇa. Just like human beings, one who knows what is Brahman, he is called brāhmaṇa, and one who does not know what is Brahman, he is called a kṛpaṇa. Kṛpaṇa. Kṛpaṇa means miser. He got the opportunity to understand Brahman but he did not care for it, just like a man has got money but he could not utilize it. Similarly, the opposite word of brāhmaṇa is kṛpaṇa. Those who are trying to understand the essence, they are brāhmaṇa, brāhmaṇa. Veda pathād bhaved vipra brahma jānātīti brāhmaṇaḥ: by studying Vedas, trying to understand the essence. And Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). Really, to understand Vedas means to understand Kṛṣṇa. So those who are trying to understand Kṛṣṇa, they are human being. Others, they are not human being.
Prabhupāda: That is also his foolishness, because a child can be trained up to become a brahmacārī so that he will have no inclination for sex. It depends on the child's training. The unscrupulous father and mother, they enjoy sex life before the child, and they imitate. I have seen it. I have seen it in Agra. There are two small children. In life, what do they know? The female child laid down, and the man child, just like they have seen father and mother-sex. He does not know anything, but he is imitating. So imitating, imitating, the sex life is there, it becomes prominent. Similarly, you train the children not to have any sense of sex life, he will become brahmacārī. So he has not studied. He has seen some abominable family's children. So they learn these things. Whatever you teach, they imitate. So if you keep the children aloof from this sex-life society, he will remain a brahmacārī. There is many instances. That is the Vedic civilization. The children are immediately, as soon as four, five years old, he is sent to the gurukula, and under the discipline he forgets sex life, practically. But still if he has little, that is natural when he is young man, so a guru sees that still tendency for sex life, he is allowed, "Go on, marry and become a gṛhastha." Otherwise, if he is perfectly controlled over sex life, he becomes a sannyāsī, vānaprastha, the whole life. Just like my Guru Mahārāja, he was never married. So he could..., that can be trained. Why he is saying the child is? Child can be trained. Even without sex he can live throughout whole life without any disturbance. That can be trained up. It is a question of education.
Prabhupāda: That is brahmacārī. That is recommended in the Vedic culture, that from the very beginning of his life, divert his attention for spiritual activities, he, he will forget about sex life. That is the experience. Not only a trained-up child, even a grown-up person, if he takes Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously, he also forgets sex life. So that is possible by training, one can forget sex life. That, that is experience of Yamunacārya. He expressing, yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravinde. He says that "Since my, my mind and attention has been diverted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness activities, as soon as I thing of sex life, I spite on it." That is possible. It is simply question of training. And if one indulges in sex life without any restriction, the physical problem is there. He will be impotent. He will not be able to, even though he has got sex organs, he will not be able to use it. That is nature's way of punishing. There are so many impotent person. So it is a question of training. So the Vedic training is to train the small child, from the very beginning of his life, how to avoid sex life. That cannot be artificially done, but there is a process of training. By accepting that training one can remain without sex life throughout the whole life. That is possible.
Prabhupāda: That I have already explained. Just like child does not know. He simply sees the fan is running-superficially. But he does not know that there is electricity power, and there is a powerhouse. So that is lack of knowledge. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). After many, many births, one comes to the real knowledge, and that is vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19). Then he knows that Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is the original (indistinct). It is a question of knowing, and knowing through the direct current via media-guru. Otherwise he remains in darkness. Therefore guru-namastaya. Ajñāna timirāndasya. Everyone is blind by the darkness of ignorance. Jñānāñjana śalākayā. And the guru's business is to lighten ignorance, the śalāka. What is called, śalāka?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Therefore we should have faith by experience that everything has got some proprietor, so why not the whole cosmic manifestation has proprietor? This is faith. You may not have seen the, who is the proprietor, but it is a question of faith. Everything I see has got a proprietor or owner, so who is the owner of this whole cosmic manifestation? This depends on faith. You may not have seen it. One says, "Who is that God? I don't see any proprietor." Then wherefrom it comes? "Ah, by accident." Is that any explanation? That is faith, that as everything has got some proprietor or some manufacturer, so why not this whole cosmic manifestation a proprietor? But you cannot say that "I am proprietor." There is some proprietor. That is faith. Just like we go, strolling in the morning, by the path. The (indistinct) park is part of high government. You know it is the property of the government. That just three yards after there is sea, now who is the proprietor of this sea? If this land is..., proprietor is the high government, now who is the proprietor of the water? There must be somebody. I may not know. That is faith. It is common sense. If the land is the property of somebody, so whose property is the sea? But there must be somebody. That is faith. Common sense. But they have no common sense even.
Prabhupāda: So it may..., it can be taken figuratively, that when one forgets his position, that is a kind of death also. One forgets himself. But actually soul is eternal, and what Augustine says as spiritual death, that is his forgetfulness. Just like in unconsciousness one forgets his identity, but if he is dead then he cannot revive consciousness. Similarly, it is little difficult for the bodily concept of life persons, but there are many proofs and understanding that soul is eternal. He, of course, until he gets his freedom from this material existence, he is spiritually dead. Even though he is working in this material form, because he has forgotten his real identity, that is also a kind of death. Yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī. This śloka explains how one is dead and how one is alive. When one is forgetful of his spiritual consciousness, God consciousness, he is supposed to be dead, and when he, one is alive to the spiritual consciousness or God consciousness, he is alive. In this sense, it is a question of two stages, awakening stage and forgetful stage, but actually a soul is eternal. He never dies, even after the annihilation of this body.
Prabhupāda: He reciprocates to the advanced devotee. Just like it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrva... (BG 10.10). One who is in full love with God, He talks with him. He does not talk with ordinary rascals. And in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti: (Bs. 5.38) one who has developed love of God, such person always sees God within his heart. So it is a question of Just like Kṛṣṇa says, that "I am talking to you because you are My devotee," bhakto 'si. Why God should talk with nondevotee? He has no business. Just like king, he talks with his immediate officials, minister. He does not talk with the street man. How you can expect? How this street man can express that "I want to talk with the king or the president"? There is no question. He talks. He talks with the qualified devotees, not with others.
| Page Title: | It is a question of... (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | MadhuGopaldas, Mayapur, Rishab |
| Created: | 22 of Mar, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=83, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 83 |