Prabhupāda: And if we repeat that, what is our fault? (laughter) (Hindi) We say Kṛṣṇa says that "He is a rascal who does not surrender to Me." (laughs) Kṛṣṇa has chastised in so many places. Tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān (BG 16.19). "Those who are envious, like that, I put them in the darkest region of hellish conditions." (laughter) Kṛṣṇa says like that. Another place He says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā: (BG 9.11) "A person who is rascal, he considers Me as ordinary human being." (break) Thank you very much. (indistinct conversation) (laughter) Very good. (laughs) Very nice.
Ian Polsen: I have come to ask Your Grace because I cannot make spiritual progress without the grace of the spiritual master.
Prabhupāda: Thank you. You will make progress. Your attitude is very nice. This is the asset. Hm.
Ian Polsen: My next question is...
Prabhupāda: Our Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,
- tṛṇād api sunīcena
- taror api sahiṣṇunā
- amāninā mānadena
- kīrtaniyaḥ sadā hariḥ
- (Cc. Ādi 17.31)
The... (aside:) You are feeling uncomfortable? You can give him some seat.
Ian Polsen: No, thank you. I can sit here.
Prabhupāda: (laughs) The, our present conditional life is rebellious. We have rebelled against the authority of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord. It is very simple thing. Just like a person, a citizen, if he becomes rebellious, then he is arrested and put into custody, and his life becomes conditioned, he has no freedom. Similarly, as soon aw we are rebellious to the authority of the Supreme Lord, we are captured by māyā—that is also an energy of Kṛṣṇa—and we become conditioned. So this is our position. So in this conditional life we can never be happy, that's a fact. So we have to transcend this conditional life and again become engaged in our constitutional position. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now our consciousness is polluted. We are thinking different way. Just like a madman thinks that..., sometimes he says, "I am the king." He stands sometimes in the midst of the road: "Stop, I order you!" Does he not? Madman. (laughs) Nobody cares for him, but he says, thinks like that. Similarly, under the spell of this illusory energy, we are thinking differently. Somebody, I am thinking "I am Indian," you are thinking "Englishman," he is thinking "American." I am thinking "I am proprietor of this," I am thinking "I am the master of this." So many ways. These things are all madman's proposition, that's all. So this madness can go when we actually surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Then we can understand things as they are. So we are training our students in that way. If anyone is serious, then he can make his life successful, even during this span of life. So I'm very glad that you have got this attitude. So it is very simple thing. Hm? There is a Bengali verse, (Bengali). Just like a person ghostly haunted, he speaks so many nonsense, up to somebody's declaring "I am God." First of all "I am this; I am that. I am this; I am that. I want to become this. I want to become this." And when he is frustrated with everything, then he says, "I am God." That is also another illusion. How you can become God? So, insanity. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means sanity, that's all. So to come to that position of sanity, Lord Caitanya has given us very simple method: chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That's all. If anyone sincerely chants without any offense, then his life is successful.