Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, sannyāsīra alpa-chidre bahu kari' mane. An ordinary gṛhastha, or... Gṛhastha only, If he talks with woman nobody will blame. He is gṛhastha. But if a sannyāsī talks with woman very intimately, oh, immediately people will take note of it. Sannyāsīra alpa-chidre bahu kari' mane. That is the practice. He should be very cautious. So a devotee, a sannyāsī, they have got very, very great responsibility. People will very easily criticize them. So Arjuna is considering all these points. Kathaṁ na jñeyam asmābhiḥ pāpād asmān nivartitum (BG 1.38). They may indulge in these sinful activities, how we can indulge? What people will say? Kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṁ doṣaṁ prapaśyadbhir janārdana. "He Janārdana, You are maintainer of the people. So if the people become sinful, so it is very difficult to maintain them." These things are being considered. Kula-kṣaya. So we cannot destroy family. But on one condition we can become free from all this obligation. What is that? Gataḥ śarabyaṁ parihṛtya kartum (SB 11.5.41). Śaraṇyam. Mukunda-caraṇam. One who has dedicated his life simply to serve Mukunda, Kṛṣṇa, Mukunda. Muk means mukti, liberation. And ānanda. Kṛṣṇa gives liberation, His name is Govinda, Mukunda. Hundreds and thousands of names Kṛṣṇa has got. So if one has taken, fully surrendering unto the lotus feet of Mukunda, he has no more any obligation, either these pitṛ, devarṣi, deva, devatā, demigod, ṛṣi, bhūta. He is immune because he is transcendental. But so long one is not a devotee, one who is not fully surrendered to the lotus feet of Mukunda, he must have to follow all these regulative principles and duties. He cannot be released. Everything, account is kept.
Maintain (Lectures, BG)
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Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu. "The wife and my children, they are my kith and kin." Sva-dhīḥ kalatra, sva-dhīḥ. "They are my own." Everyone is working... Even a great economist, Mr. Marshall, he says that economic development begins from family affection. Family affection. So unless one thinks that he has to maintain his wife, children, family, there is no question of economic development. Impetus. So yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu and bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (SB 10.84.13). Bhauma, this earth, as worshipable. Bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile: "And for pilgrimage, one who thinks that the water is tīrtha..." Tīrtha means where one can get transcendental knowledge. Sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ, yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu. "...but has no interest to associate with persons who is expert in transcendental knowledge. Such, these persons, they are called go-khara." Go-khara means cows and asses. So Arjuna played the part of a go-khara. In the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, he played the part of an ordinary person, go-khara, who is identifying this body as self. Therefore he required instruction. Not only... He became so much overwhelmed that he gave up his arrows and bows and sat down, tightly: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, I am not, I cannot fight." And he was crying. Not only he gave up his duty, he was kṣatriya, and he was crying: "Oh, I'll have to kill my kinsmen. No, no, no. I cannot do it."
So I do not know why foolish people, they do not understand what is God. Everything is there. And He comes also, personally. Not only the God's name, address, activities, and everything is there, but He comes personally also. He proves Kṛṣṇa. He proved that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Kṛṣṇa was present, He proved all these things. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). He proved. He had sixteen thousand wives, and each wife, a big palatial building of marble, bedecked with jewels and gardens with pārijāta flowers. These are description. Nobody can maintain sixteen thousand wives in sixteen thousand palaces. Not only that, not that if He enters in one palace, He lives with one wife, the other wives are vacant. No. He expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms. And with each wife He was living comfortably. Each wife had ten children. And those children also had each ten children, grandsons. In this way, Kṛṣṇa's family was more than one crore, Yadu-vaṁśa. So if you study from material point of view, when Kṛṣṇa was present, He proved that He's Bhagavān.
"My dear Arjuna, you are My friend, personal friend, and you are proposing this, which is befitting to the anārya." Anārya-juṣṭam: "This is not for the Aryan. You are kṣatriya, you are meant for fighting for justice, and you are denying to fight? Oh, this is not good." Anārya-juṣṭam: "This kind of proposal, cowardice, can be proposed by the anārya." Ārya means the advanced. One who is advanced in knowledge, in civilization, they are called ārya, Aryan civilization. So in the Aryan civilization there are four divisions to maintain the society in the correct balance. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). The society must be divided into four classes of men. The first-class means most intelligent class of men. They should be trained up as brāhmaṇa. Śamo damaḥ satyaṁ śaucaṁ titikṣā ārjavaṁ jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). So this is the beginning of civilization, not that all śūdras as it is now in this age. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. Kali-yuga, there is no training how to qualify a section of person to become first-class brāhmaṇa.
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.
Who is Bhagavān? Who is God? The person who possesses all the riches, all the strength, all the wisdom, all the beauty, all renunciation, like that. He is called Bhagavān. So there is definition. Nowadays it has become a fashion that so many "Bhagavāns" or "Gods" are coming. But there is definition, there is test, who will be accepted as Bhagavān. So when Kṛṣṇa, Lord Kṛṣṇa was present, He actually showed by His activities, by His behavior, that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For example—it may be unbelievable, but these are in the history of Kṛṣṇa—that Kṛṣṇa married 16,108 wives. Now, it is unbelievable. We cannot maintain even one wife, but He maintained 16,108 wives, and each wife had big palatial buildings. This description we have got. So that means so far riches are concerned, Kṛṣṇa showed that there is no second comparison in the whole history of the world that one is maintaining sixteen thousand wives and each wife has got special palace. These descriptions are there.
Then that's all right. So similarly, when there is duty, when..., because I have already explained that the kṣatriyas are meant for maintaining the social order. The brāhmaṇa is meant for giving good intelligence. The vaiśyas are meant for maintaining the economic condition. So as the government maintains the force, military police, their business is to chastise. This is required for maintenance of the whole thing. So you cannot avoid this war, fighting, when it is for good cause. We should not be so foolish that war can be, I mean to say, completely abolished. That is not possible. If you want to keep the social order, you must have to maintain the military strength, the police strength, and the court or the university. Everything is required. You cannot neglect one of them. Similarly... But if you are afraid of being killed—that is the medicine we are preaching—then you get out of this entanglement. You be situated in your spiritual body. There is no more question of killing. But so long you are in the material world, you have to abide by the rules and regulation of material nature. That you cannot avoid.
We do not neglect this body, but we don't identify it. That is our principle. Just like you have got a car. It is helping you to take you from one place to another. You don't neglect it; we maintain the car nicely. But we never identify. Suppose, some way or other, the car is damaged, is lost. Then I do not become overwhelmed, because I know that I am not this car. I can get another car. That's all.
So anyway, these many, many forms of God, is from the desire of God. Now, out of these... Because God has got some desire, transcendental desire, to enjoy with many. He enjoys with His own energy because He is all-perfect. Just like if I want to enjoy life, I want family, I want a wife, I want children, I want friends, I want servants. So I have to think before having a wife. You see? Because I am limited, so I think twice, whether I am able to keep a wife, then whether I am able to maintain my children. These things are consideration. And actually, in the present society every young man is thinking like that. You see? Whenever the question of marrying is there, they think like that. But that thinking is due to our imperfectness. Because we are not all-powerful, therefore we think like that. But when we give the qualification to God that He is all-powerful, omnipotent, so He can maintain any number of children or any number of wives. Otherwise, there is no meaning of omnipotent. So similarly, God has become many, and He has got a plan behind this thinking of many. Now, out of these manies, if one wants to merge again into the existence of God, so God has no objection.
If sugar has become pungent and chili has become sweet... You purchase chili. If it is not very pungent, you throw it... "Oh, it is not good." Because the dharma of the chili is lacking there. Similarly, if you take sugar and if you find it salty, then you... "Oh, what is this?" So everything has got some characteristic. So we are living entities. We have got our characteristics. That is sanātana. I am sanātana, eternal, and my characteristic is to serve God. If I don't serve God, then the characteristic will remain there. Then I'll have to serve māyā, in the illusion that I have become master. Actually, he's serving, but... Just like one man has got motorcar. So motorcar, to maintain a motorcar, to purchase a motorcar, it requires lots of money. So to get that money, he has to work very hard. And when he gets that money, he purchases a car, and then he has to maintain it by oiling, by supplying so many things. But he's thinking that "Now I have got a motorcar. Very nice." What is that? You are serving your motorcar. That's all.
No, first of all try to understand this, that piercing the knife in the body is not always bad. Similarly, war or fighting is not always bad, provided it is done for right cause. That should be understood. So when the director is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, is directing, so there is no cause of stopping it. He has His plan, He knows. We cannot judge. So He's the Supreme. So that war is necessary because it is desired by the Supreme Lord. To maintain the laws of the world, as to maintain the laws and order of a state, there is violence department, the police department, the military department. Why? The government can stop it. "Oh, this is unnecessary expenditure." No. That is necessity for maintenance of the state. Similarly, war is sometimes necessary for maintenance of the order of the world. But people have misused. That is a different thing. But here, in this battlefield of Kurukṣetra, there is no question of misuse. Because it is under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no such question of misusing. War is necessary, but that does not mean it should be misused. There are so many instances. Just like sex life is necessary for generating for progeny. But that is being misused for sense gratification.
So later on he became a victim of that woman. She was a prostitute. And then he forgot his father and mother, his wife, everything, home, everything forgotten. So he became addicted to that prostitute, and to maintain he became a thief, rogue, burglar, drunkard, anything, someway or other bring money, bring money, bring money. You see. So he was doing that. In this way his life was spoiled. And he begot ten children in that prostitute's womb. So the last child... Naturally the last son, the youngest son because very father's pet. So he was taking care of the son. And his name was Nārāyaṇa. That is the system of Vedic..., children are given..., Nārāyaṇa dāsa. Just like we give name, spiritual name. So when he was old enough, he was going to die out of disease. His so-called prostitute wife neglected. She went away. So the Yamadūtas, the servants of the Yamarāja, they came to take him, because he was the greatest sinner, sinful number one. So he has to go to Yamarāja for punishment. So they came and he was very much afraid. He was seeing, one can see vicious, I mean to say, forms of the Yamarāja. So he was crying.
We ask nobody that "You fulfill all conditions of Kṛṣṇa consciousness; then you come here." No. We simply say "Please come here. We have taken this nice hall, and these boys, they are, I mean to say, giving their blood to maintain the establishment. We don't want anything from you. Please come and chant with us." That is our request. We don't ask you that because we are paying four hundred, five hundred dollars for this building, you give us something. If you give, it is welcome. But we simply request you, please come and chant with us and dance with us and take the prasāda. That's all. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's program. Because we know that Caitanya Mahāprabhu will supply us everything. We don't depend on your contribution, but if you give, oh, that is good for you. But our only request is that please come here. Please chant with us, dance with us. That's all.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "Everything being in full opulence in the Personality of Godhead and naturally existing in all truth, there is no duty for the Supreme Personality of Godhead to perform. One who must receive the results of work has some designated duty, but one who has nothing to achieve within the three planetary systems certainly has no duty. And yet, Lord Kṛṣṇa is engaged on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra as the leader of the kṣatriyas because the kṣatriyas are duty-bound to give protection to the distressed. Although He is above all the regulations of revealed scriptures He does not do anything which is not directed in the revealed scriptures."
Twenty-three: "For if I did not engage in work, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path (BG 3.23)."
Twenty-four: "If I should cease to work then all these worlds would be put to ruination and I would be the cause of creating unwanted population and thereby destroy the peace of all sentient beings (BG 3.24)."
Purport: "Varṇa-saṅkara is unwanted population which disturbs the peace of the general society. In order to check this social disturbance there are prescribed rules and regulations by which the population can automatically become peaceful and organized for spiritual progress in life. When Lord Kṛṣṇa descends, naturally He deals with such rules and regulations in order to maintain the prestige and necessity of such important performances. The Lord is said to be the father of all living entities and if the living entities are misguided, indirectly the responsibility goes to the Lord. Therefore whenever there is general disregard for such regulative principles, the Lord Himself descends and corrects the society. We should however note carefully that although we have to follow in the footsteps of the Lord, we still have to remember that we cannot imitate Him. Following and imitating are not on the same level."
Prabhupāda: Now, Kṛṣṇa at the age of seven years old, He lifted Govardhana Hill. So if we try to imitate, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa lifted the Govardhana Hill. Let me also try." That is not following. You cannot do that. (chuckling) You see? Because sometimes the foolish rascals they say, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa performed rāsa-līlā. Let me also perform rāsa-līlā." Therefore I forbid that don't discuss Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā with the ordinary persons. They cannot understand. They'll simply think that "Oh, it is very nice to dance with girls, boys and girls dancing."
In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is stated that sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). Durgā, Goddess Durgā, she is the prakṛti power, and she can create, she can maintain, she can annihilate. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti (Bs. 5.44). But she is acting just like shadow, not independently. Icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. So Govinda is the ultimate background. Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1). Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ... And this is the Brahma-saṁhitā, written by Lord Brahmā. So, and He is personally explaining Himself. What is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead?
Therefore it is not very good business that people are pulling on, pushing on a type of civilization, Godless civilization. They'll never be happy because we are so controlled that after death we have to accept, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). You have to... You cannot stop death. As you cannot stop...
Just like a boy. If he says, "No, no, I will not grow." Father says, "My dear boy, you are playing all day. Go to school. Learn something. Otherwise in future you will be unhappy. You will not be able to maintain yourself." So if the boy says, "No, no, I have no future. I will not become young man. I shall play," that is not a fact. You have to become a young man and you have to take responsibility.
So because they do not read Bhagavad-gītā, they do not know how to maintain the whole society, therefore there is now chaos. Therefore it is needed. Imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ. The rāja, the kings, the government, or the government, they must study Bhagavad-gītā. Then it will be nice. Imaṁ rāja... And ṛṣayaḥ. Ṛṣayaḥ will give you... Ṛṣayaḥ means great saintly persons, the brāhmaṇas. They should give to the government men... But who is consulting the saintly persons? Just like we are trying to preach this Bhagavad-gītā. We are trying to give the essence of knowledge. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 9.14). Mahātmā. The symptoms of mahātmā is that he is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Lord. Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām (BG 9.14). The Bhagavad-gītā says that catur-vidhā bhajante mām: "Four classes of men comes to worship Me." Bhajana means sevā. Sevā. So sevā means bhakti. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam, arcanaṁ vandanam... (SB 7.5.23). These are the sevā formula. So the devotees are engaged in sevā, in service of the Lord.
You are merged in matter; still, you have got your individual existence. What is your body? This is matter. Is it not? Then are you not merged with matter? Then still you have got your individual existence. Don't you agree? Similarly, I may merge in the spiritual existence, but still, my individuality will be there. You are merged already in this matter. Just like when you leave this body, your body will be transformed into earth. That means it is already merged. Still, you have got separate existence. And what is that separate existence? Due to that spirit. So even in the matter, if the spirit can maintain separate existence, don't you think in spirit it cannot maintain its separate existence?
Merging means just like aeroplane. Aeroplane is flying in the air, in the sky. When it goes too far, it becomes too small, you say, "It has merged into the sky." But it has got, even in that position, it has got its separate existence. Just like a bird, a parrot, enters a tree. The tree is also green, and the bird is also green. When it enters the tree, you see no separate existence of the bird, but it has got a separate existence. Similarly, either you are in material existence or in spiritual existence you are already merged, but you have got your separate existence. Is it clear? Thank you.
Now the fathers have no such power. But in the, up to five thousand years ago, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra gave birth to one hundred sons. Now we are... We say, we are saying that we are overpopulated. But that's not the fact. At the present moment, where there is the question of overpopulation? Now how many of us giving birth hundreds of children? No. Nobody. But formerly, a father could give birth to one hundred children. So there is no question of overpopulation. And even there is overpopulation, we get information from the Vedas: eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān. That one chief living entity, God, He can maintain innumerable living entities.
There is no question of overpopulation. This is a false theory. If God can create, He can maintain also. And actually, this is the fact. I am travelling all over the world. There are so much vacant places upon the surface of the globe that, that ten times more than the present population can be easily maintained. But we, we, we do not know how to use it. In Africa, in Australia, in your America, enough land still lying. But because we have encroached upon the land of Kṛṣṇa, the difficulty's there. China is overpopulated. India is overpopulated. But we, if we take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, these difficulties will be over within a second.
Yes. If I see woman as mother, she must see me as son. That's all. That is the system. The brahmacārī, the sannyāsī go to beg alms from door to door. "Mother, give me some bhikṣā, alms." And it is the duty of the gṛhastha to treat brahmacārī and sannyāsī as their son. As they maintain their children with food, shelter, cloth, similarly the brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs, they are dependent on the society. They should be treated as the sons of the society. And they must supply their necessities, bare necessities. A sannyāsī, brahmacārī, does not want more than what they need. They should not collect more than what they need. Bhikṣā nirvāhana. Not collect more and enjoy at others' cost. No. That is not the business of sannyāsī. They can collect so much as they need. That's all.
The brahmacarya is very strictly enjoined in the Vedic śāstra. Brahma, to maintain brahmacarya, it is advised mātrā svasrā duhitrā vā nāviviktā... Mātrā svasrā duhitrā vā (SB 9.19.17). So one should not sit down with woman in a secluded place, even though the woman is mother, sister of daughter. So much restriction. And why? Balavān indriya-grāmaḥ: "The senses are very powerful." Vidvāṁsam api karṣati. "Oh, senses may be powerful for the fools and rascals." No. Vidvāṁsam api karṣati: "Even one is very learned, advanced, still, senses are so powerful that it can be agitated even before the mother, sister and daughter." This is Vedic injunction, brahmacarya. Tapasā brahmacaryeṇa damena śamena (SB 6.1.13). These are the human life. To accept brahmacarya life, tapasya, controlling the senses, controlling the mind, tyāgena, by giving in charity whatever you possess. These are the different processes.
Similarly, this material world, universe, it is covered by seven layers, and one layer, the first layer is there, and the second layer is ten times thicker than the first layer. The third layer is ten times thicker than the second layer. In this way, this universe is covered tight, very fortified. And there are innumerable universe. They are clustered together. And all these universes together is called the material world. And this is a very fortified place, and the predominating deity of this material world... Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā (Bs. 5.44). There is a power. That is called Durgā. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā, icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā (Bs. 5.44). Although this Durgā is so powerful that she can create, she can maintain and she can dissolve, the whole cosmic manifestation... It is so powerful. At any moment it can dissolute.
Just like several times I have discussed this point, that a big tree, if you have to pour water, then you have to pour water on the root. The tree has millions and billions of leaves, and if you go on pouring water in each and every leaf, neither you'll be able to pour water to all the leaves, neither it is possible to maintain the tree by pouring water on the leaves. You have to pour water on the root. Similarly, our work, our endeavor, whatever we may do, good work or bad work, if it is not done on account of Kṛṣṇa, then that will remain always imperfect. Always imperfect. Therefore it is advised, yoga-sannyasta-karmāṇam: "You just give up your work or place your working capacity, energy..." We have got some energy. We'll work or we'll do anything with our energy. So spiritual self-realization means that energy should be transferred for Kṛṣṇa, or God. That's all. Energy. We have got some stock of energy. That energy should be transferred. You can transfer that energy in so many ways. In whatever way you can do it, it doesn't matter. You have to transfer your energy for Kṛṣṇa.
So He gives you intelligence. Buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam: "I give him intelligence how he can approach Me, how he can excel himself by this Kṛṣṇa consciousness." The help will come from within. And so far ignorance is concerned, that will be vanquished within no time. Teṣām eva aham anukampārtham: "for special favor." Kṛṣṇa has got special favor for persons who are trying to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. He's God, He's God. He's equal to everyone. That you'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā. Samo 'haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo 'sti na priyaḥ (BG 9.29). Just like a rich man. A rich man, he has got many, many, many thousands of people to maintain. Suppose he has got workshop, many, many thousands of workers. So he's looking after the interest of everyone. That's all right. But those who are his personal sons and dependents, oh, he has got special favor for them. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, although He is equal to everyone, still, those who are especially trying to be connected with Him... Because the whole thing is, whole material manifestation is meant for giving us a chance to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. So one who is trying to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, He has got special favor. (aside:) I'll answer later. He has got special favor.
So therefore we have to accept the favorable circumstances. In this age, in this difficult age, if we find the same result by being Kṛṣṇa conscious and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, then I, we should take advantage of it. Why should we stick to certain other principles? That is also good. That's all right, but this is favorable in the present circumstances. That is the point.
- sannyāsas tu mahā-bāho
- duḥkham āptum ayogataḥ
- yoga-yukto munir brahma
- na cireṇādhigacchati
- (BG 5.6)
Sannyāsa... Suppose if you simply renounce the world for your certain difficulty... "The worldly life, household life, is very difficult to maintain. Now let, let me become a sannyāsī. I'll go door to door and beg and I'll have..."
Oh, but as you come, anyone can come. Everyone is welcome. We don't charge anything for this dancing. You go to ball dance and so many other dances, you pay for it. But we don't charge. We simply, our, these students simply beg something because we have to maintain. We don't charge anything. So if you simply come and chant for recreation, it is very nice. Everything is there in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We want music, there is music. We want dancing, there is dancing. You can bring nice musical instruments, you can join. We distribute nice palatable dishes. So practically this is a system of recreation only. (laughter) Yes. If you seriously think, you'll find, this system, there is no labor at all. Simply recreation. Su-sukham (BG 9.2). That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā in the Ninth Chapter you'll find, su-sukham . Everything is pleasing and happy. Find out anything in our system, that this is troublesome. Tell me practically, anyone. "This point is very troublesome." Just put your counterargument. Simply pleasing. It is simply recreation. That's all. You just point out, "Swamiji, this point is not very recreation or not, that is unhappy position." Nothing.
Now, Kṛṣṇa says that simply renouncement is not all. Simply renouncement is not all. There must be some duty. Kāryam. Kāryam means "It is my duty." Now, what is that duty? He has renounced the family life. He has no more botheration how to maintain his wife and children. Then what is his duty? That duty is very responsible duty—to work for Kṛṣṇa. Kāryam. Kāryam means it is the real duty. There are two kinds of duties in our life. One duty is to serve the illusion, and the other, another duty is to serve the reality. When you serve the reality, that is called real sannyāsa. And when we serve the illusion, that is called māyā. Now, either to serve the reality or to serve the illusion, I am in such a position that I have to serve. My position is not to become the master but to become the servant. That is my constitution.
"Oh, this māyā is acting so nicely under the direction of Kṛṣṇa." So offering to the police officer means offering respect to the government. So long the man is in the office, we offer respect. And without office. A gentleman offers respect either in office or not office. That doesn't matter. But actually if you offer to a policeman, māyā means acting as police force. That means you offer to the government, respect to the government. This is the offering of respect. Govindam ādi-puruṣam.
- sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā
- chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti durgā
- icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
- (Bs. 5.44)
This Durgā, this material energy, so powerful, it can create, it can annihilate, it can maintain. But she's acting under the direction of Kṛṣṇa. So I am offering my respectful obeisances to Govinda under whose direction she is acting. So when you offer respect to māyā means we offer respect to Kṛṣṇa immediately. Yes.
Indian: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Your Divine Grace, in order to understand Śrī Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, we have to take your help, as you said you have explained what are the words of Kṛṣṇa. And in order to understand yourself we have, or we had to take the help of so many other persons. You speak in English and Sanskrit or Hindi, and at college, and at school, so many teachers taught us Sanskrit, Hindi, and history, geography, because there are so many illustrations in your speech also. Then guru has been defined like this:
- ajñāna-timirāndhasya
- jñānāñjana-śalākayā
- cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
- tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
Ajñāna timirāndhasya. About jñāna, nothing has been said whether it is spiritual jñāna or material jñāna. So in order to understanding you and, through yourself, also Kṛṣṇa, all these so-called gurus, or, I may say, teachers, they have contributed towards understanding or developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now, leaving aside these material teachers I am taking the, taking one spiritual guru who gave me Kṛṣṇa consciousness first and who taught me to worship God, Kṛṣṇa, and to maintain a temple at my own house and to learn the ślokas from Gītā or the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata. And I have learned by rote the grandness of adhyāyas of Bhāgavatam and the Gītā. But you see I could not understand anything. Now, after going through your literatures, complete literatures, now the whole light has come to me, and I have began to understand even that the guru who gave me such Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I don't challenge or question the other findings of their(?) gurus. Just like a boy who absent from class, not attending his class, there is no fault of the guru. Guru has been attending his lectures. But I am truant. I am not attending class. So you see I can't blame that guru. But now I have understood everything from Your Grace, and now that ajñāna has been removed. I have now become more Kṛṣṇa conscious than before. So should I give credit to all those gurus who have helped me to understand? Or should I now select, or should I exercise any choice that I should accept this guru or that guru only? So that doubt should be cleared.
Prabhupāda: Hmmm. Guru is only one. Guru means, as you explained,
- ajñāna-timirāndhasya
- jñānāñjana-śalākayā
- cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
- tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
One who eradicates the ajñāna, andhakāra, darkness. In the darkness, if somebody brings lamp, ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā... The jñāna-rūpa, torchlight, he's guru. So maybe of different degrees, but anyone who opens the spiritual eyes, he's guru. So... But in the śāstra it is said, gurur api kāryākāryakam ajānataḥ. If I accept some guru, but if later on it appears that he did not know what is to be done, what is to be not to be done, then Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that such guru: parityāgo vidhīyate. Such guru should be rejected. But it doesn't matter that degree. Actually, if the guru teaches Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he may be in lesser degree, but he's accepted as guru. There is no question of rejection. Because Kṛṣṇa is actually jñāna. One who teaches Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, "One has to know Kṛṣṇa, one has to surrender to Kṛṣṇa," this kind of teaching is required. And if the guru says that "I am Kṛṣṇa.
God says that "I am the enjoyer of everything." We are acting in this material world to enjoy something. We are working day and night to get some fruit of our labor and enjoy it. Everyone, either he's doing business or he's a professional man or he's a worker or anything he is, he's working very hard, day and night, to enjoy something. So... But we cannot claim that we can enjoy everything in this world. Although we have got the desire, but limited power to enjoy. The unlimited enjoyer is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like we want to enjoy life, family life. We marry one wife. Or, in some countries, more than one wife—two, three, four. But when Kṛṣṇa married, He married 16,108. So... And sixteen thousand wives were given sixteen thousand palaces. And each wife got ten children. And Kṛṣṇa also expanded Himself into 16,108. That is God. For us, it is very difficult to maintain even one wife at the present moment. This is the difference. Just try to understand what is the meaning of this word bhagavān. Bhaga means opulence. This is one of the opulences, richness. When Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, He was so rich that He could maintain sixteen thousand queens in sixteen thousand very costly palaces, made of marble, the furnitures made of ivory, and the beds were made of silk, and each and every room was decorated, bedecked with jewels, glittering jewels, so that at night there was no need of electricity or lamp. These descriptions are there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of Kṛṣṇa's palace, Kṛṣṇa's sixteen thousand wives, Kṛṣṇa's expansion into sixteen thousand forms. This is Bhagavān. Bhagavān means unlimitedly potential. That is Bhagavān.
Yes, we are not neglecting. We are not neglecting. But we are not worried. That is the difference. We are trying to serve you, but we are not worried about you. Because I know that you will be provided with everything by God. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. It is stated, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaḥ. God is not very poor man that He cannot maintain you. He will maintain you. There may be millions of population. God is quite able to feed them. Why do you think that God is so poor? We have already explained that He is full with all opulences. So it does not matter whether there is increase of population. But if the people are unfaithful, they must be punished with starvation. That is God's will. It is not that they will not be fed. There is no question of overpopulation.
These boys, this boy and girl just now married, I am sending to Australia. The boy has come from Australia, the girl has come from Sweden. Now they are united. Now they are going to maintain our establishment there in Sydney. Just now I am sending them within two or three days. They will take care of the temple and they will preach also. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is expanding by their help. I am alone, but they are helping me. They are my gurus. I am not their guru, (applause) because they are helping me in executing my Guru Mahārāja's order. So it is very nice combination that somebody is going to Australia, somebody is going to Fiji Island, somebody is going to Hong Kong, somebody is going to Czechoslovakia. And we are also negotiating to go to Russia also. There is chance of going to China also. We are attempting. We have already sent two boys to Pakistan—one in Dacca and one in Karachi. (applause)
So in this age especially, the inhabitants, they are manda. Manda means all bad. Nobody is good. And sumanda, matayaḥ. Everyone has got his conception of perfection—all bogus. Sumanda-matayaḥ. Why this is? Manda-bhāgyāḥ: because they are unfortunate. Everyone does not know what he shall eat next morning or in the evening. Everyone is in need. Scarcity all over the world. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyāḥ. And still, they are disturbed, so many. Especially with the increase of Kali-yuga, people will be disturbed by two things especially. What is that? Scarcity of food and taxation. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Durbhikṣa-kara-pīḍitāḥ (SB 12.2.9). Kara means taxation. The people will be embarrassed for want of food, at the same time, every year, increase of taxation. That is stated in the Bhāgavata. Durbhikṣa-kara-pīḍitāḥ. So much disturbed that they will give up their hearth and home and go away in the forest. Durbhikṣa-kara-pīḍitāḥ. Ācchinna-dāra-draviṇā yāsyanti giri-kānanam. Dāra-draviṇā, money, wife, children, everything—they will be disgusted: "Now it is impossible to maintain. Let me go away." Yāsyanti giri-kānanam.
So you should not accept such cheap God. God's description is there in the śāstra. Eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭim (Bs. 5.35). One part, one portion is Paramātmā, the Supersoul. In His Supersoul feature He is present in innumerable universes. Eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi. Jagad-aṇḍa means the universe. It is just like an egg. They are aṇḍa. Aṇḍa means egg. The form is like egg. So there are millions. So to maintain the millions and millions of universes by His one portion, Paramātmā, He is spread. He is called Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. It is a great science. God expands Himself in so many ways, and for the material world He is expanded as puruṣāvatāra: Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. He's expanding like that. Causal Ocean.
This is universal. As soon as you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, as soon as you become God conscious, then your real universal, ideal, universal consciousness develops. Otherwise it is all simply jugglery. There are so many doctrines of universal love, universal friendship, fraternity, but they are fighting, and they are killing simply, because there is no God consciousness. If you are universal, if you are after universal love, then how you can maintain regular slaughterhouse? How you can think that an American gentleman or lady is your countryman and not a cow, and not a goat, not a serpent? Where is your universal idea?
So unless there is development of God consciousness, this universal ideas, oh, these are nonsense. There cannot be. It is all false, jugglery of words. So first business is to understand your identity, identity of God, your relationship, and your action reformed in that way. Then there is question of universal, brotherhood, universal... Otherwise it is simply jugglery of words.
That is enjoined in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: ataḥ pumbhiḥ... In the Naimiṣāraṇya meeting, great meeting of great saintly persons and brāhmaṇas, And Sūta Gosvāmī was president. He was speaking. And he says: ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhāḥ (SB 1.2.13). You all people, assembled here, you are the best of the brāhmaṇas. Dvija-śreṣṭhāḥ. My dear dvija-śreṣṭhāḥ." The ordinary, not ordinary men. Ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ. He's referring to that, varṇāśrama. You cannot. If you want to, if you want to maintain, keep the perfect human civilization, then you must maintain this varṇāśrama. Otherwise, there will be chaos. You have to adjust. Nobody's lower. Nobody's higher.
Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). Kṛṣṇa has divided the society, human society, in four divisions: the brāhmaṇa, the kṣatriya, the vaiśya, the śūdras. These divisions of the human society must be there. If there is no intelligent person, brāhmaṇa, simply śūdras, you cannot be happy. That is not possible. Just like to keep your body, there must be head, there must be arms, there must be belly, and there must be legs. Simply if you have got legs, that is dead body. Even simply you have got head, that is also dead body. Four things must be there. How you can violate? "No, no, we don't require head" or "don't require leg." No, no. Kṛṣṇa says, "no." Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13). "This is My regulative principle. I give you. Just maintain a first-class, intelligent man. Don't disturb them. Give them all facilities. Let them cultivate Vedic knowledge and help you." That is required.
Just like in Europe and America it is the time now to inquire about the Absolute Truth because materially they are advanced. They have seen all material advancements. The scientists are now perplexed that "How we shall maintain ourselves because we have nothing to give anymore? Whatever stock we had, that is finished." Now they are simply to bluff, no more stock to give. They have given us motorcar and atomic bomb and aeroplane and electronic activities. So many things they have given. That's all right. Simply they could not give us relief from birth, death, old age, and disease. That's all. The real problems are there. But they have given some superfluous...
Just like this is also scientific improvement, microphone, but the microphone sometimes goes wrong. That does not mean I stop speaking. We can do without microphone. That is not a very great problem. Suppose science has given us motorcar. That's all right. But sometimes, without motorcar, we walk. Or there is bullock cart. So real problem, which very much disturbing us, that we, all of us, we do not want to die, but the science could not give us any formula assuring that "There is no more death." That is not possible. So athāto brahma jijñāsā.
People are trying to do that, that... When a man get some money, bank balance, he no more works. But that is the tendency, that "Without working, I shall maintain myself happily." That is our tendency. Ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt. Vedānta-sūtra says. Because our tendency is to enjoy life, but we do not know where to enjoy, how to enjoy. And that is called illusion. We are trying to enjoy life in this material world, where there is no enjoyment. There is no enjoyment. Repeatedly śāstra says. Kṛṣṇa says, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam: (BG 8.15) "This place is simply for miserable condition of life." Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam: (BG 8.15) "And still, it is temporary."
He is the maintainer. You cannot get anything without His mercy. There may be ample supply of necessities of life by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, and there may be scarcity. So they are now complaining about overpopulation. There is no question of overpopulation. Kṛṣṇa is quite competent, able to maintain everyone. But as you become godless, as you become disobedient to the laws of God, there will be restriction. You cannot have full supply of necessities of life. That time has already come. All these rascals, godless rascals, they are now suffering.
The only remedy is to become devotee. He is bhartā. He can maintain many millions. There is no question of overpopulation. He can maintain. Bhartā. But nature will not supply. Nature will restrict supply if you become godless. Therefore nature is very strong, strict. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). He'll restrict supply.
You may be Rockefeller or this Tata or Birla. That is very insignificant position. But a Tata, Rockefeller or this, they cannot say, "No, I possess the whole wealth of the universe." That you cannot say. But Kṛṣṇa can say. Therefore He is Bhagavān. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya. Samagra means as much wealth there are. You may imagine. All the wealth belongs to Kṛṣṇa. When He was present on this earth, He showed it. Aiśvaryasya samagra... As much as we can comprehend, He showed. Sixteen thousand wives, sixteen thousand palaces. Who can show it? If we hear of sixteen, we become surprised. We keep one wife, and that is very difficult for us. We have to think over hundred times, "Whether I shall accept a wife to maintain?" You see? But Kṛṣṇa had sixteen thousand wives. But not like us, having more than wife: one wife is crying and another wife is enjoying, no. He also expanded Himself in sixteen thousand forms. Every wife is enjoying the husband. That is Bhagavān. That is Bhagavān. You try to understand Bhagavān. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya. And if you have got more than wife, a few years after, you become impotent. But Kṛṣṇa, in each wife, He begotten ten children. "I will give you ten child."
As soon as one becomes a devotee, this daivī sampat automatically becomes manifested. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ (SB 5.18.12). As soon as one develops his original dormant love of God, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then all the good qualities becomes manifest. Because the good qualities are already there. This is the process. People are trying to make people very honest. But how they can be honest? Unless there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is very difficult to become honest. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. Mahad-guṇāḥ, good qualities, good characteristics, good behavior, moral qualities, cannot be developed if one is not Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is not possible. If people are simply paid to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, then the state will save so much expense. Because they have to maintain huge establishment to stop criminal activities. But if people become devotees, there will be no more criminal activities. That's a fact.
Nobody can act independently, killing the human civilization. That was not possible. Mahārāja Pṛthu was personally checking whether people were following the varṇāśrama-dharma. A brāhmaṇa must follow the brahminical rules and regulation. Otherwise he would not be allowed to call himself a brāhmaṇa. Similarly, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras. This is called secular state. Secular state does not mean everyone is irresponsible. You must be responsible for your particular type of duty, and the government has to see it, that everyone is doing that. That is secular state. Lord Rāmacandra, when He returned from the forest... In His absence Bharata was ruling, and when Bharata requested Lord Rāmacandra to take charge of the kingdom, Lord Rāmacandra was ready but He first of all examined whether the citizens were following the varṇāśrama-dharma. When He was satisfied that the citizens were following the varṇāśrama-dharma, then He took charge of the kingdom and began to maintain them just like father.
Similarly, our position is dog. We must understand it. We cannot live independently. It is not possible. Every living being. Therefore, in the Vedic injunction is nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). God and the living entities, they're... Both of them are living entities, being. But what is the difference between God and living entities? The living entities are maintained by God, and God is the maintainer. That is the difference. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. We cannot maintain ourself. God maintains. Therefore, according to the Christian principle, they go to the church to beg bread from God.
But you cannot say at any stage that "I am independent." That is not possible. Your constitution is to remain dependent. Therefore the Vedas says, eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. He's maintaining you. God is maintaining. That's a fact. We cannot maintain your, ourself. He has given heat, light, air, water, fruits, flowers, grains, everything. Everything is there for you. There is no scarcity. Simply being less intelligent, taking shelter of lusty desires, false prestige, we are mismanaging the gift of God. Therefore we are in scarcity, therefore starvation. By God's arrangement there is everything. Pūrṇam idam (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation). Everything is complete. Pūrṇam adaḥ. This creation is complete. Pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate. Because it is created by God, it is complete, so you cannot find out any deficiency. Pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate.
Verse nine. Prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ. Prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ. Karma, you have to work. You cannot maintain yourself without working. That is material world. Material world is not spiritual world. In the spiritual world you haven't got to work, neither you have to eat. Everything is complete. But in the material world means for your maintenance you have to work. But that work is very simple. Grow some food grains and keep some cows, take the milk, and just prepare nice foodstuff and eat. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam (BG 9.26). Keep Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Deity, at home, and Kṛṣṇa is pleased even you simply offer little fruit and little flower.
We are all hankering after happiness. But we do not know how to get happiness. That is advised by Ṛṣabhadeva, father of Mahārāja Bharata, under whose name this planet is called Bhārata-varṣa. This planet, not this country. Bhārata-varṣa. Formerly it was known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa. So after the reign of Mahārāja Bharata, Emperor Bharata, this planet is called Bhārata-varṣa. But because we have lost our culture now, we are now a small piece of land. Just like Pakistan went. We could not maintain our culture. Formerly, the kings were maintaining the culture and controlling the whole world. So it is warning that those who have not undergone austerities, as Ṛṣabhadeva says, that this human form of body... Everyone has got a material body. The cats and dogs and hogs and trees and everyone has got. But ayaṁ dehaḥ nṛloke, especially in the human society, it is not meant for gratifying the senses, working very hard, whole day and night, like the hogs. The very example is given: hogs. Viḍ-bhujām. Viḍ-bhujām means hogs, the stool-eater. The stool-eater, you'll find the stool-eater, the whole day and night searching after stool: "Where is stool? Where is stool?" At night also, you'll find engaged. Day also, engaged. These are the examples by nature. What for? What is the business? Now, eating stool. And then, as soon as he gets some strength, then sex. Never mind, mother, sister, or anything. This is hog civilization. "Eat whatever you like, no discrimination even up to stool, and then have sexual intercourse. That's all."
| Page Title: | Maintain (Lectures, BG) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 08 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=47, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 47 |