This is verb. So there are pratyayas, kti pratyaya, ti pratyaya, many pratyayas. So bhaj-dhātu kti, equal to bhakti. So bhakti means to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Bhakti cannot be applied to anyone else. If somebody says that "I am a great devotee of Kālī, goddess Kālī," that is not bhakti; that is business. Because any demigod you worship, there is some purpose behind that. Generally, people take to become a devotee of goddess Kālī for eating meat. That is their purpose. In the Vedic culture, those who are meat-eaters, they have been advised that "Don't eat meat purchased from the slaughterhouse or from the market." Actually, this system was never current anywhere, all over the world, that to maintain slaughterhouse. This is latest invention. We talk with sometimes with Christian gentlemen, and when we inquire that "Lord Christ says 'Thou shalt not kill'; why you are killing?" they give evidence that "Christ also ate meat sometimes." Sometimes Christ ate meat, that's all right, but did Christ say that "You maintain big, big slaughterhouse and go on eating meat?" There is no common sense even. Christ might have eaten. Sometimes he... If there was no, nothing available for eating, what could you do? That is another question. In great necessity, when there is no other food except taking meat... That time is coming. In this age, Kali-yuga, gradually food grains will be reduced. It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Twelfth Canto. No rice, no wheat, no milk, no sugar will be available. One has to eat meat. This will be the condition. And maybe to eat the human flesh also. This sinful life is degrading so much so that they will become more and more sinful. Tān aham dviṣataḥ krūrān kṣīpāmy ajasram andhe-yoniṣu (BG 16.19). Those who are demons, those who are sinful, nature's law is to place him in such condition that he will become more and more a demon so that he will never be able to understand what is God. This is nature's law. If you want to forget God, then God will put you in such a condition that you can never understand what is God. That is demonic life. That time is also coming.
Latest (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā. You have to learn toleration. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. He was tolerating. His father became enemy. What is the fault of this little boy, five years? Because he was Kṛṣṇa conscious. His father became enemy.
So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is rather difficult. If you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, you will.... Just like we are experiencing in this land so many obstacles. Now the latest difficulty is they are not sanctioning our plan. "No temple, sir." So we have to tolerate. What can be done? There are so many temples, but we are faulty. Because we are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Our temple will not be sanctioned. So this is going on.
This is not new thing. It is very old thing. As soon as.... Because māyā is very strong. māyā sees that "This person is now Kṛṣṇa conscious. He'll go out of my clutches." Because Kṛṣṇa says, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). Māyā puts obstacles so that he may not go away. But if you stick to your principle, catch Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet very tightly, then you'll be saved. Kṛṣṇa will save. Kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31). So this is our duty. In spite, despite all difficulties, we cannot give up Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We must go on.
So this teaching for the nondevotees. And to punish them, to chastise them, Kṛṣṇa appears. You have seen Kṛṣṇa's life. You will read in our Kṛṣṇa Book up to Ninth Chapter. There was simply killing. No, after Tenth Chapter. When He was in Dvārakā His business was only killing. So many demons, so many Ariṣṭāsura, Aghāsura, Bakāsura, Pūtanāsura, and Jarāsandha, Dantavakra. So this is vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. This is one side.
So long we'll continue in this material body, you'll have to suffer.
But we have no intelligence. We think that "We are like cats and dogs. The cats and dogs, they also eat; we also eat. They sleep; we also sleep. And they have sex; we have also sex. And they defend, we also defend. Their business finished." No. Your business is not finished. Because you are human being, you have got advanced intelligence than the cats and dog. You should know analytically what are the miserable condition of life and try to solve. That is intelligence. That is intelligence. And if we remain satisfied like cats and dogs—"So I have got something to eat, I have got some nice place to sleep and I have also got some other sex for enjoying sex life, and I defend with so many weapons, latest nuclear weapon"—no, śāstra says, "These things are manufactured... These things are maintained by the cats and dogs." Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām. This is common formula between the animals and the man.
But you have got another problem: how to solve this material position. That is required by you. If you do not try to understand what is your problem and if you do not try to solve them, then you are no better than the cats and dogs. This is the shastric injunction. So how to organize the human society so that we may not be called the cats' and dog society? That we must know. If we keep our society only for the purpose of better eating, better sleeping, better sex life and better defense, then we don't improve. That is the business of cats and dogs, even ants. They also know how to eat, how to sleep, how to have sex and how to defend.
Here is God, accepted by all ācāryas. Not that by sentiment. There are ācāryas in India. Actually, practically, our whole civilization is guided by the ācāryas. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda. We have to accept ācārya.
In India, our culture, Vedic culture, depending on ācāryas. Even we differ, we Vaiṣṇavas... There are Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, and there is Māyāvādī ācāryas. So Śaṅkarācārya, he is Māyāvādī, impersonalist; still, he accepts Kṛṣṇa, (as) the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ devakī-nandanaḥ. He has written in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā. He accepts. Nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt, sa bhagavān nārāyaṇaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ. He has accepted. And what to speak of Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya and other ācāryas. Latest ācārya Kṛṣṇa, er, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, five hundred years... These ācāryas are thousands of years ago, they appeared. Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared near about five hundred years ago. He accepted Kṛṣṇa—the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And we are followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda: "One who is ācāryavān, one who is following ācārya, he knows things as they are." Ācāryavān puruṣo veda.
So unless we become ācāryavān... That is the Vedic instruction. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). We cannot understand God, what is God. We cannot make research (because) we do not know what are the symptoms of God, although everything is described in the śāstras. Here also, in the Bhagavad-gītā, the indications are there. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). "There is nobody superior than Me." So this is the shortcut definition of God. Just try to find out a person... God is also a person, but He is the most superior person. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). He is the chief amongst the living beings. Nityo nityānām. He is the wisest of all wise men. Cetanaś cetanānām. What is the difference between God and us? The difference is that He is the maintainer and we are not maintainer. This is the difference.
Just like there is a very nice story. A monkey... Monkeys, they are very busy. Do you know? But their business is to simply destroy. You will find monkey always busy, very active. So in the village there was a carpenter who was bifurcating one big beam by saw. So at the end of his work, half of the beam was cut into two, so he put one block between the two pieces and he went away. And then one monkey came, and he pulled out the block, and his tail was captured in that, between the two, and it was cut. So he went to his society, and he said that "This is the fashion. This is the fashion." Langulim segar(?). He advertised, "To cut one's tail, this is the latest fashion." Similarly, I saw one cinema in my childhood, a similar story. One Mr. Maxlin or something like that, he played that. He was sitting in park, and some naughty boy nailed his tail, that tail coat, when ball dancing. So when he got up that half part of that tail was taken away. So when he was dancing in the ball, everyone is looking to his back side: "What is this? His tail is cut." So he saw in the mirror that "My tail is cut." So he began to dance more nicely, and everyone asked him, "What is...?" "Oh, this is the latest fashion. This is the latest fashion." So everyone began to cut his tail. You see? (chuckles) So this is...
These are the shastric injunctions, and actually it is happening. In Europe and America they are simply chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. They are advancing very quickly to understand. This Bhagavad-gītā, they are now reading as it is. Latest report is, in London we are selling fifteen thousand copies per month. So they are taking interest, because it is presented as it is, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, no rascal interpretation, "This meaning is this, this meaning that." What authority you have got to make like that? Try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Then you'll be benefited.
So one has to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth both outside and inside. Antar bahiś ca bhūtānām acaraṁ caram eva. There are two things. Some of them are moving, or with life, and some of them are not moving. Even living beings... Here it is called bhūtānām. Bhūtānām means living entities. So there are some living entities which are moving, just like we. Cats, dogs, human beings, and flies, and so many living beings, they are moving. And other living beings, just like trees, plants, they are standing one place. Sthāvara-jaṅgama. Sthāvara means one place. Caram acaram. Sūkṣmatvāt, in every living being there is the Supreme Lord. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35). Even within the atom. Sūkṣmatvāt avijñeyam. Because it is so small, minute... That minute means that Kṛṣṇa's part and parcel. Kṛṣṇa is the gigantic virāṭ or vibhu, and we living entities, we are aṇu. Sūkṣmatvāt. So... (aside:) Don't talk.
So mama vartmānuvartante means that just like on the top of, just like there so many skyscraper buildings in America. A hundred and five stories. I think that is the latest. So suppose you have to go to the topmost flat. There is staircase. So everyone is trying to go there. But someone has passed, say, ten steps. Another had passed, say, fifty steps. Another has hundred steps. But you have to complete, say, two thousand steps. So the staircase is the same. Mama vartmānuvartante. Because the aim is to go to the topmost flat. But the one who has passed ten steps, he is lower that one who has passed fifty steps. And the one who has passed fifty steps, he's lower than who has passed hundred steps. So similarly, there are different processes. But all the processes are not the same. They're aiming at the same goal, karma, jñāna, yoga, bhakti, but bhakti is the highest step. Because when you come to the platform of bhakti, then you can understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Not by karma, jñāna, yoga. That is not possible. You are trying, you are going towards that aim, but Kṛṣṇa says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). He does not say, "By jñāna, by karma, by yoga." No. That you cannot understand. You can go forward, steps. But if you want to know Kṛṣṇa, then bhakti. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). This is the process. Therefore mama vartmānuvartante means "Everyone is trying to come to Me, according to their capacity, ability, but one who actually wants to understand Me, the simple process..." Just like the staircase is there, but not in this country, in Europe and American countries, side by side, there is lift, elevator. So instead of going step by step to the highest flat, you take the help of this lift. You go immediately, within a second. So if you take the lift of bhakti, then immediately you come in contact with Kṛṣṇa directly. Instead of going by step by step by step. Why should you take?
Guest (1) (Indian man): Some of the latest findings of the psychologists says that when child grows and becomes a man, his ego also develops and it also becomes a man. Now, if the, if it is all the ego and his personality and identity also dissolved, and, and how he can live or how we can develop or how we can progress? Because the whole, whole progress is this, the progress of ego.
Prabhupāda: First thing is that ego, if you are qualified with false ego, that ego development is dangerous for you. Suppose you are..., you are falsely thinking that you are king. Although you are a servant, you are thinking, "I am king." This is false ego. And if you increase this false ego, then where is the benefit? You are misled. Is it not?
Guest (1): That is the personality of man today.
Prabhupāda: No, personality, falsely, he should be personal. You, you should be egoistic in right way. As your position is. If you falsely think that "I am this," so what is the use of such increasing that ego? It is psychologically wrong. Just like madman, he is thinking, "I am the king of this Ahmadabad." And if he increases that ego, what benefit he'll get? Just like the madman does also. He falls down on the street: "I am the king." So this kind of false ego increasing is simply suicidal. If it is right ego... Therefore the Vedas says that "You are not this body. You are spirit soul. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi." That is right ego. And if I am thinking I am this body, then that kind of increasing the ego is a dangerous. That is actual... The Americans are: "We are the greatest nation." The Indians are thinking, Pakistan is thinking. There is fight. You increase your ego, I increase my ego. Then we fight. What is the benefit of this ego? But if every one of us thinks that "I am servant of Kṛṣṇa," increase that, then there will be happiness. Everyone is thinking, "I am a competitor of Kṛṣṇa." "Why Kṛṣṇa shall become God? I am God." That kind of ego is cause of falldown. It will never become any happy situation.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Just like Arjuna, he'll admit, "Oh, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12)." That is Arjuna's experience after hearing Bhagavad-gītā. And he said that "You are accepted by great personalities, Asita, Nārada, Vyāsa, Devala, big, big personalities." So svayaṁ ca, "You are also speaking Yourself. We have heard from śāstras and authorities, and You are speaking personally; therefore I accept You that You are Parabrahman." This is the study of Bhagavad-gītā.
So God is explaining Himself personally, and He is accepted by authorities, not only in days of yore, formerly, but recently within five hundred, seven hundred years, big, big ācāryas-Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī-big, big ācār..., stalwart, latest within five hundred years. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, everyone accepts Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And these rascals are searching out what is God. Just see their rascaldom! God is here, and he is searching. So those who are searching after God, and they are, if they are making some proposition, thesis, these are all nonsense, cheating. You do not know God. You admit. That is very good. But why you are making thesis? God is not subjected to your mental speculation.
One period. One millennium, Brahmā's one day, it is millions and millions of years. So just like there is night after day, day after night, similarly, the Brahmā's day, Brahmā's night, that is calculated. And one Brahmā's day. You know, that is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ (BG 8.17). So Brahmā's one day means one thousand times of the yugas. The yugas means the Satya-yuga, Kali-yuga, and..., Tretā-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga, and Kali-yuga. So Satya-yuga's duration is about 1800,000's of years. The next, Tretā-yuga, duration about 1200,000's of years. And then Dvāpara-yuga, 800,000's of years, solar years.
We are calculating the years, the time also relative. That is the latest theory of the scientists, law of relativity. My hundred years and Brahmā's hundred years and an ant's hundred years, a germ's hundred years, they are not the same. Similarly time calculation, if you go in the upper planetary system, that time calculation is different. Just like in modern age, the sputnik age, they are flying sputnik. The first sputnik flight, they circumambulated this earth three times in one twenty-five hour and minutes. And they saw that there is night and day. Here in this planet our night and day experience is twenty-four hours. But as soon as you leave this planet, you fly in a different speed, there is three times night and day in one hour and minutes. So similarly everyone lives hundred years, but that hundred years are all relative. An ant's hundred years and man's hundred years is not the same. Similarly, a man's hundred years and a demigod's hundred years not the same. In different planetary system the time is... Similarly, if you go still up and up, the time is relative.
Anartha. Unnecessary. People will not die without coffee and tea. But they have made the whole world self-dependent on coffee and tea, mercantile policy. There is anartha.
So anartha, if you want happy life, peaceful life, progressive life, then you have to curtail these anarthas. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. Without curtailing these anarthas, unwanted things, you cannot become happy. So that is recommended here. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt sākṣād bhaktim adhokṣaje. As soon as you become a devotee, all anarthas become immediately vanquished. Just like here, these Europeans and Americans, they are accustomed to anarthas from the very beginning of their life. And the latest anartha was their intoxication, LSD. But by bhakti-yoga, because they have taken to bhakti-yoga, very easily they have given all these habits. Even government is surprised. In Europe, and especially in America, their government is spending millions of dollars to stop this LSD habit. They cannot do it. They praise our movement in this connection. And as soon as one comes to this movement, he immediately gives up. Immediately, without any hesitation. I make this first condition, that you have to give up all kinds of intoxication. Not only LSD, but even drinking tea, coffee, smoking, everything you have to give up. Chewing pān, everything. And they agree. We do not make any compromise that "You can do any nonsense and still you become initiated. Give me some money." No. We don't make such compromise. You must first of all agree to give up all these sinful activities. Then I can accept you. I can initiate you. This is our process.
So we are reciting from our latest edition of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is Third Canto, Part Four. We have finished Third Canto, publishing. This is very important subject matter. The Kapila, the expounder of Sāṅkhya philosophy, he instructed to His mother, Devahūti. There are two Kapilas. Real Kapiladeva is Kapila. He expounded Sāṅkhya philosophy to instruct His mother. But later on, some imitation Kapiladeva also appeared—atheistic Sāṅkhya philosophy. He has simply dealt with the twenty-four different elements without information of God. Therefore there are two Kapilas. One Kapila is called the devahūti-putra Kapila; another is atheist Kapila.
So about Kapiladeva it is said, Śaunaka Ṛṣ..., that kapilas tattva-saṅkhyātā: "Kapila, the Supreme Person," tattva-saṅkhyātā, "He can explain what is Absolute Truth." Kapilas tattva-saṅkhyātā bhagavān. Without Bhagavān, nobody knows what is the actual position of the Ultimate Truth. Nobody can know it. Therefore Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa or His incarnation occasionally visit to give you information about what is the aim of life. Tattva-saṅkhyātā. Saṅkhyātā means expounder, and tattva means the Absolute Truth. So Absolute Truth is Bhagavān Himself, Kṛṣṇa Himself. So we cannot understand the Absolute Truth or the Supreme Person by mental speculation. That is not possible, especially when we are under the influence of the three modes of material nature because material nature is divided into three status: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, and tamo-guṇa. Those who are in the sattva-guṇa, they are fit for understanding the Absolute Truth. Sattva-guṇa means the brahminical qualification. Satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavam, jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42).
Because they have taken the right thing, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). That they have taken. Either you say blindly... Blindly or knowingly, if you touch fire, it will act. Fire is fire. It is not that because a child takes fire, it will not burn. It will burn. So why these Western young men, they are taking this movement seriously? Because it is acting as fire. It is acting as fire. They have taken fire, and it is acting as fire.
So there is information in the śāstra, accepted by the ācāryas. Just like kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, that is accepted by the ācāryas. Ācāryopāsanam. The Śaṅkarācārya even, although he is impersonalist, he has accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and what to speak of others? Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya and Viṣṇu Svāmī, Nimbārka and, latest, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His followers—all accept Kṛṣṇa the Supreme Personality of..., following the same principle as Arjuna said, "Kṛṣṇa, You are paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12)." So this is simple thing. There is no need of speculation, "What is God?" "Where is God?" Here is God, sir. Here is God. You see. Why you foolish, you are searching? Here is God. He is not... Although Kṛṣṇa has come in a form which you can see... Kṛṣṇa has appeared before you just like stone statue. But He is not stone statue. Of course, stone is also God because stone is another energy of God, just like fire is also heat and light. And the heat is also fire, and light is also fire. Without fire, there cannot be light. Without fire, there cannot be heat So this material world is just like the heat and light of the supreme light, of the supreme fire. Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis tathedam akhilaṁ jagat. Eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā, tathedam akhilaṁ jagat. Just like fire is in one place... Just like sun. It is a, mean, a practical example. The sun is in one place. You have seen. It is light and heat, so expanding the light and heat throughout the whole universe, and as soon as you perceive light and heat, you can understand there is sun. So light and heat can be perceived by anyone.
This is a verse, verse number one, Fifth Canto, Fifth Chapter, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We are publishing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, twelve cantos in sixty volumes, and this is the latest volume, just received today. Therefore I am taking advantage of this volume and reciting one verse. This is in connection with Ṛṣabhadeva's instruction to His sons. Ṛṣabhadeva was a king, and He had one hundred sons. Of all of them, the eldest was Mahārāja Bharata, under whose name India is called Bhāratavarṣa since the time of Mahārāja Bharata. So the instruction was being discussed amongst the royal family members. Formerly all Vedic instructions were discussed amongst the very topmost class of men. Yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas lokas tad anuvartate (BG 3.21). That is the instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā. If the higher level class of men accepts something as truth, then the ordinary, common man follows that.
So the problem of life is discussed here by Ṛṣabhadeva. He says, "My dear boys," nāyaṁ deha deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). Ayam. Ayam means "this," this body, this human form of body. It is also a body, and the dog's body is also a body, material body. It is also made of blood and bone and urine and stool and so many other things. The dog's body is also made the same ingredients. But what is the difference between dog's body and this human body? He advises, ayam deha: "This human form of body..." Deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke. And where this body is obtained? It is obtained in the human society. This intelligent brain and good form of body, it is to be found in the human society. In the human society you will find from this body, big, big professors, big, big philosophers, scientists, mathematicians and..., they are coming, not from the dog society. That is not possible.
Therefore Ṛṣabhadeva says here that tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ śuddhyed (SB 5.5.1). This human life is not meant for, I mean to say, spoiling by working hard like the animals, as we have said that, kaṣṭān kāmān. Kaṣṭān kāmān. We require something, some because we have got this body. Very easy solution is given by Lord Kṛṣṇa: annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). You produce foodgrains. Why you are going to produce tools and implements and... Of course, we do not condemn. But at the sacrifice of producing foodgrains, we simply open big, big tire factory. When I go to Delhi I see, from Vṛndāvana, hundreds and thousands persons are coming from the village on cycle to go to the tire factory, Goodyear tire factory. So now eat tire instead of getting food grains. So this is misdirected civilization. Kṛṣṇa does not say that you produce tire tube. Kṛṣṇa says annād bhavanti bhūtāni: "You produce anna." This is practical solution. We have therefore started in Europe and America farming. And they are very happy. In our latest Back to Godhead the description is published about our farm in France. We have got a very palatial building. We have named it New Māyāpur. What is the place?
This is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sixth Canto. This is our latest publication, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore I am taking advantage of this publication to present before you. So in the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Śukadeva Gosvāmī has given a vivid description of the naraka planets or the hellish condition of life. Fifth Canto, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvāmī has given a vivid description of the naraka planets, or the hellish planets. So this verse I am quoting from the First Chapter, Sixth Canto, that Parīkṣit Mahārāja is asking Śukadeva Gosvāmī "How the people suffering in hellish condition of life can be delivered?" (break) Let him... (break) This is the beginning of the Sixth Chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
At the end of the Fifth Chapter, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has given description of the hellish planets. You have seen in the sky. There are millions and millions of stars or planets, and they are divided into three groups. Everything is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ (BG 14.18). (break) ...sattva-sthāḥ, meaning that those who are in the sattva-guṇa, modes of goodness, they are promoted to the higher planetary system. Madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasaḥ: "Those who are under the influence of passion, they remain in the middle planetary system." And those who are in the lowest grade of tamo-guṇa, adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja, after hearing the pitiable condition of persons in the hellish planets, he became sympathetic. Therefore he is putting the statement before Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Adhuneha mahā-bhāga yathaiva narakān naraḥ: "My dear sir, you have described about the hellish condition of the suffering persons. Now kindly give me any enlightenment how they can be delivered."
Dhīra, one who is sober, he thinks that "What is the use of simply begetting children? One, two, three, that's all. Let me engage now in Kṛṣṇa consciousness." That is dhīra, sober.
So we should not be like this Ajāmila, go on begetting children, children, children, children, up to eighty-fifth year. No. Teṣāṁ yaḥ avamaḥ. The most junior, the small, the latest edition, they are very much fond, father and mother. It is said, bālo nārāyaṇo nāmnā pitroś ca dayito bhṛśam. Pitroḥ, pitroḥ means parents, father and mother, naturally, dayitaḥ, very merciful upon him than all other, bhṛśam, sufficiently. So the idea is that by God's grace, because in the beginning of his life he engaged himself to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, and he was initiated, but later on... But the first assessment of his life, that helped him that Kṛṣṇa gave him the advice, "All right, you keep your this youngest son's name Nārāyaṇa, because you will be naturally attached to this boy and you will call him, 'Nārāyaṇa, please come here. Nārāyaṇa, take your food. Nārāyaṇa, take your drink.' So you will chant 'Nārāyaṇa.' " (pause)
We cannot conceive in our present status of life that one thing can be equal and different from another. But if we think over it (a) little soberly, we can understand. This is the example. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ jīva-loke sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7).
So aṁśa, particle, that is also sanātana. Not that, as the Māyāvādī philosophers say, that because we are now under the illusion, therefore we are thinking as different; otherwise, God and we are the same. This Vaiṣṇava philosophy, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy, acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. There are other Vaiṣṇava philosophers also—viśuddha-dvaita, dvaitādvaita, advaita, like that. So many philosophies are there. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the latest ācārya who appeared five thousand years ago, er, five hundred years ago, I'm sorry, He preached this acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. Means that jīva, simultaneously one and different, one in quality and different in quantity. This is very reasonable. And it is confirmed in the Vedas, Upaniṣad. Just like in Kaṭhopaniṣad it is said:
- nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
- eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān
- (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13)
So Kṛṣṇa is the supreme nitya, eternal, and we are also eternal. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mamaivāṁśa jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7). We are eternal, and Kṛṣṇa is also eternal. That is qualitatively one. Kṛṣṇa is cetana, living force. We are also living force. So in that way, we are one in quality. But His living force and our living force, different in quality. His creative power, my creative power, your creative power, they are different.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Similarly, a guru is sākṣād dharitvena samasta-śāstrair uktas tathā bhāvyata eva, kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya **. He, he is the most confidential, dear servant of Kṛṣṇa. That is guru. That's all. He does not know anything but Kṛṣṇa. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu presenting Himself: gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayoḥ dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80). A guru is always the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa. He does not represent himself direct servant. How he can be direct servant? But if you are in the disciplic succession of the servitude, servant of the servant of the servant, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2), then you become representative. And there is no difference between the original guru, Kṛṣṇa, and the latest guru, Kṛṣṇa. Because the aim is the same. Kṛṣṇa personally says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). And who is representative of Kṛṣṇa, he'll say the same thing: "You surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). The guru will say, "Yes, you become always Kṛṣṇa conscious." Man-manā. Kṛṣṇa says man-manā. A guru says, "You become Kṛṣṇa conscious." The same thing. There is no difference. You become devotee of Kṛṣṇa. You always think of Kṛṣṇa. You always chant of Kṛṣṇa. You always speak of Kṛṣṇa. You do not know anything but Kṛṣṇa. Simply this life is required.
We are trying to convince people that "Your original position is servant of Kṛṣṇa. You have now forgotten that. You revive your Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and you'll become happy." That is our propaganda.
Do not misunderstand that we are trying to spread Hinduism. Hinduism is a fictitious term. Because there is no fixed-up conclusion. Somebody's accepting this, somebody... Even the Jains and the Sikhs and many other sub-religions, they are also ruled by the Hindu rules, Hindu law. So actually this word Hindu is given by the Muhammadans. We don't find this word in the Vedic literature, Hindu. It is later, I mean to say, prakṛta. Or in Bhagavad-gītā you won't find the word Hindu. Or in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Or any other Vedic literature. This is the convention of latest age. Actually, we, the followers or Vedic principles, our system is varṇāśrama-dharma, four varṇas and four āśramas. This is, this can be applicable. But varṇāśrama-dharma is applicable in any, in anywhere. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). The creation of God... Just like sun. Sun is creation of God. Sun is visible everywhere. Not that something American sun and something Indian sun. No. The sun is the same. Similarly, cātur-varṇyaṁ, the four principles of division, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, and śūdra, they are everywhere. It is not the monopoly of India.
Festival Lectures
And at last He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya. That means the so-called dharmas that we have manufactured, man-made dharmas, they are not dharmas. Dharma means what is given by God. But we have no understanding what is God and what is His word. That is the modern civilization defect. But the order is there, God is there—we won't accept. Where is the possibility of peace? The order is there. Kṛṣṇa says, the Supreme, bhagavān uvāca. Vyāsadeva writes bhagavān uvāca. One should know what is bhagavān. Vyāsadeva could have written kṛṣṇa uvāca. No. He says... If one may misunderstand Kṛṣṇa, therefore he writes in every stanza, every verse, śrī bhagavān uvāca. So Bhagavān is there. Bhagavān is speaking. Bhagavān is accepted by all the ācāryas. Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī. Latest, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu also, even Śaṅkarācārya, he also accepts Kṛṣṇa-sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇa. So the verdict of the modern ācāryas, and in the past also, Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Asita, everyone accepted Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Arjuna, who heard from Kṛṣṇa, after understanding Bhagavad-gītā, he said, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān puruṣam ādyaṁ śāśvatam (BG 10.12).
So everything is there. Especially in India, we have got so much asset for understanding God. Simple thing. Everything is there ready made. But we won't accept. So what is the remedy for such disease? We are searching after peace, but we won't accept anything which is actually giving us peace. This is our disease. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to awaken the dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness in everyone's heart. Otherwise, how these Europeans and Americans and other countrymen, they never heard of Kṛṣṇa four or five years ago, how they are taking Kṛṣṇa consciousness so seriously? Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there in everyone's heart. It has to be awakened only.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
People are suffering from anartha, unwanted things. They do not know how to get relief from this entanglement. Therefore vidvān, the most learned scholar, Vyāsadeva, compiled Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhagavate mahā-muni-kṛte. Mahā-muni is Vyāsadeva. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to preach this sātvata-saṁhitā. Saṁhitā means Vedic scripture. Sātvata-saṁhitā. So people are responding, especially in the Western countries. In Africa also, they are responding. Many Africans, they have become Vaiṣṇava now. That is the latest news. And they are receiving very well.
So by Caitanya Mahāprabhu's grace, with the cooperation of the Western youths, this movement is going on. I have traveled all over the countries, as I reported, and everywhere I saw, I was very much pleased that saṅkīrtana is going on. And it is improving. It is not declining. That is my greatest encouragement, that even in my absence, things are going on very nicely, improving. That is very hopeful. Not only that—from the Gurukula we are training small children. There are about more than hundred children in Dallas. They are rising early in the morning, attending maṅgala āratik, boys and girls not more than ten years, not more than five, six years. So that is very hopeful. In future they will become nice Vaiṣṇava. And many children are taking birth. They are very nice devotees. In last, in our Śrīpāda Atreya-rsi's small child, about six months old, as soon as I shout out, "Hare Kṛṣṇa," immediately he'll... He'll laugh. Very nice. There are many such children. So all these children, they are Vaiṣṇavas. Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭaḥ sanjāyate (BG 6.41). That is the...
Initiation Lectures
Prabhupāda: So? Read on.
Sudāmā: Purport. "There are sixty-four kinds of rendering service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, out of which, to accept the uniform dress of a tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa is also an important item. One who accepts this order of life, surely by rendering service unto the Supreme Lord, becomes eligible to cross over the insurmountable ocean of ignorance. All previous sages used to accept such order of life, and later ācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, adopted this order of life and firm conviction in the matter of devotional service. Those who are unalloyed devotees, they add one more staff along with the original three. This extra one is representation of the living entity. There is another sect who are known as ekadaṇḍī sect. They misunderstand the purpose of tridaṇḍa, and by such deviation, Śrīvāsa Swami sannyāsa, who proclaimed to belong to the Viṣṇu Svāmī sect, turned to be impersonalists and follow the footsteps of Śaṅkarācārya, accepting only the ekadaṇḍa. Instead of naming themselves out of the 108 names of Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, this Śrīvāsa Swami sect accepts ten names of the sannyāsī, following Śaṅkarācārya. Lord Caitanya, although in terms of the then practice, accepted ekadaṇḍī sannyāsa order, by His acceptance of tridaṇḍi sannyāsa is understood. This mantra was first chanted by a learned brāhmaṇa of Avantipur after being very much disgusted in this materialistic way of life. This happened long, long years ago because it is mentioned in the Bhāgavatam, which was composed by Vyāsadeva at least five thousand years ago. So it is to be concluded, therefore, that this tridaṇḍī sannyāsīn order is coming down since a time long, long years ago. And within five hundred years of time Lord Caitanya adopted this order of life. And in the latest years His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thakur Prabhupāda adopted it personally and made many of his disciples tridaṇḍī sannyāsīs.
General Lectures
So here in the Bhagavad-gītā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead explaining Himself, Kṛṣṇa. So if you say, "How can I believe that Kṛṣṇa said? Somebody has written in the name of Kṛṣṇa that 'Kṛṣṇa said,' 'God said.' " No. This is called disciplic succession. You will see in this book, Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa, what Kṛṣṇa said, and how Arjuna understood. These things are described there. And the sādhu, saintly person, beginning from Vyāsadeva, Nārada, down to many ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, and latest, Lord Caitanya, in this way, they have accepted: "Yes. It is spoken by Kṛṣṇa." So this is the proof. If saintly persons have accepted... They have not denied. Authorities, they have accepted, "Yes." This is called sādhu. And because sādhu, saintly persons have accepted, therefore it is scripture. That is the test. Just like... It is common sense affair. If the lawyers accept some book, then it is to be understood that this is lawbook. You cannot say that "How can I accept this is law?" The evidence is the lawyers are accepting. Medical... If the medical practitioners accept, then that is authoritative medical. Similarly, if saintly persons are accepting Bhagavad-gītā as scripture, you cannot deny it. Sādhu śāstra: saintly persons and scriptures, two things, and with spiritual master, three, three parallel lines, who accept the sādhu and the scripture. Sādhu confirms the scriptures and spiritual master accept the scripture. Simple process. So they are not in disagreement. What is spoken in the scripture is accepted by saintly person, and what is spoken in the scripture, the spiritual master explains only that thing. That's all. So via media is the scripture. Just like lawyer and the litigants-via media is the lawbook. Similarly, the spiritual master, the scripture... Saintly person means who confirms the Vedic injunction, who accepts. And scripture means what is accepted by the saintly person. And spiritual master means who follows the scriptures. So things equal to the same thing are equal to one another. This is axiomatic truth. If you have got one hundred dollars, and another man has got hundred dollar, and if I have got hundred dollar, then we are all equal. Similarly, sādhu śāstra guru vākya, when these three parallel lines in agreement, then life is success.
Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya, yaśasaḥ, then reputation. His fame, reputation, is still going on. Apart from us... We are devotees of Kṛṣṇa. We may glorify Him. But apart from us, many millions of people are there in this world; still, they know how much reputed and famous is Kṛṣṇa by His Bhagavad-gītā. In all countries, all over the world. This Bhagavad-gītā is read by all philosophers, all scholars, all religionists. Still, those who are reading Bhagavad-gītā... There are many editions in your country. There are many editions. All of them are selling nicely. Our Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, the latest report is from the trades manager of Macmillan Company, who are our publisher. The report is that our Bhagavad-gītā As It Is is increasing in sale, others are decreasing. The reason is that we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any adulteration. Anything, market, if the commodity is pure... Gold, if it is pure, it has more customers. Milk, if it is pure, it has got more customers. So that we are finding. Because we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, we are finding more customers. So, this is the fame. And, yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ. Śriyaḥ, beauty. Kṛṣṇa is Himself very beautiful, and all His associates are very beautiful. That is also opulence.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the President, I am very much thankful to you that you are eager to hear about what Kṛṣṇa wants to speak. Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All ācāryas-Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu, Nimbārka, and latest, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and before that, other ācāryas like Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Asita, Devala, and before that, the original ācārya, Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva—everyone accepted Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We are searching after whether there is God or there is no God. If there is God, what is the nature? What is the form? Whether He is person or imperson? There are so many questions. And to solve all these questions, the God Himself descends and speaks about Himself, and that speaking is this Bhagavad-gītā. God is speaking about Himself personally, personally present. So you can know Him, you can see Him, what He is, what is His function. Just to mitigate all our doubts, God is present here. And Kṛṣṇa says in the beginning of the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā how you can understand God without any doubt and in complete. That is spoken by God Himself.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: God has made the law so perfect that one after—one cause affects something, and that affects another thing, another thing, one after another, so many things, ultimately. So we do not know so many things. We see the fruit, but how the fruit is growing, under which law, we simply explain nature. But it is not nature. There is a law. It is not only growing, the apples are having this nice color outside the skin, they have been painted; everything is perfectly being done by the laws, by the energy of Kṛṣṇa. Just like if you want to make a beautiful fruit, you paint it yellow or red, you take so much time. You apply your energy. The same energy is being applied there. Otherwise why, wherefrom you get the idea that a nice fruit can be painted like this? God is dictating that "You want to make a fruit, paint, you do like this, do like that." So similarly He is doing. But my doing takes so much time, because my energy is so blunt and limited. But His energy is so perfect that immediately (indistinct). The same example, just like Telex. There are so many methods, now this is latest. Immediately type here, immediately there. So before that, one could not believe that how is it I type here and five thousand miles away the type striking. So there is a law. It is not that it is magic.
Śyāmasundara: Oh, I see. Before the Telex there was law, but we didn't know it.
Prabhupāda: Yes. We didn't know it. Similarly, everything is being done under some systematic law, but we do not know it.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. There is one common observation also in science. They say that nothing can come out of nothing. That is already there. But it is not known, due to our imperfect senses.
Prabhupāda: That is science, we do not know.
Śyāmasundara: Nothing can come out of nothing.
Hayagrīva: Huxley did appear to have..., to adhere to the doctrine of transmigration. He says, "The doctrine of transmigration constructs a plausible indication of the ways of the cosmos to man. Every sentient being is reaping as it has sown, if not in this life then in one or other of the infinite series of antecedent existences of which it is the latest turn." In Evolution and Ethics he writes about brahman and ātmān and liberation. He says, "The earlier forms of Indian philosophy agreed with those prevalent in our times, and supposing the existence of a permanent reality or substance beneath the shifting series of phenomena, whether of matter or of mind, the substance of the cosmos was brahman, that of individual man ātmān, and the latter, that is ātmān, was separated from brahman only by its..."
Prabhupāda: That is also not. He is not separated. He is, brahman and ātmān, they are existing, co-existing, and that is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā in the chapter "Kṣetra and Kṣetrajña." The body is the field, and the ātmā, individual soul, is the owner of the field or the worker in the field. So it is also said there is another owner, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ vidhi. As the individual is working in the body, similarly, there is another soul working in the body. So what is the difference between the two? The two is different that the individual soul knows only about his own body, but the other soul, Supersoul, He knows everything of every body. That is the difference. I know the pains and pleasure of my body. I do not know the pains and pleasure of your body. But this Supersoul, He knows the pains and pleasure of this body, of that body, of millions and millions of bodies. That is the difference between the two souls. But the two souls are there. One is called Supersoul, paramātmā, and the individual soul is called ātmā. So ātmā and paramātmā are there. The difference between them is that ātmā knows about his own body and the paramātmā knows everything of all bodies. That is the difference.
| Page Title: | Latest (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 16 of Apr, 2013 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=28, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 28 |