Prabhupāda: No. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ. Dṛḍha-vratāḥ: "One who is always chanting about Me and endeavoring with great determination to reach Me, he is mahātmā."
Guest (1): As you have said, nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu vā mad-bhakteṣ . . .
Prabhupāda: Tiṣṭhāmi. That's it. Therefore a devotee's position is sublime. Kṛṣṇa comes as a devotee also. Actually this happened. Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he happened to be a Muhammadan, Lord Caitanya's devotee. So in those days, five hundred years ago, there was some Hindu-Muslim . . . still that is going on.
So he did not, went to Jagannātha temple to create some disturbance. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also did not ask him that, "You go to Jagannātha temple. Who can check it?" Of course, if Caitanya Mahāprabhu had ordered, he would have gone. Neither he wanted to go, neither Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that, "You must go." Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to come to him. Tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ. This is the practical. He came to the devotee where he was chanting.
So instead of approaching God, if you chant, God will approach you. That is a fact, we see. Instead of Haridāsa Ṭhākura going to Jagannātha, Jagannātha Himself was coming to him. Every day Lord Caitanya would come and ask and sit down, "How you are feeling? What you are doing?" Then He would go to take bath in Samudra. Daily.
It was Caitanya Mahāprabhu's . . . and when Haridāsa Ṭhākura expired, He personally took the body and cremated on the bank of the Samudra, and He performed the funeral ceremony. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was so . . . and he was given the title nāmācārya, "authority of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra."
Very nice that you are cultivating this knowledge. It is very nice. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). This cultivation of spiritual knowledge means perfection of life. But people do not try for it. Therefore Gītā says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu: "Out of many thousands of men, one may try to cultivate knowledge for spiritual advancement." And yatatām api siddhānāṁ (BG 7.3): "Out of many such persons who are cultivating spiritual knowledge, hardly one can understand what is Kṛṣṇa."
Guest (1): Very correct. Very correct. To understand Him is a lot.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is liberation. Janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). To understand Kṛṣṇa . . . nobody can understand Kṛṣṇa, but still, to such an extent if one can understand Him, then he immediately becomes liberated. Immediately. And not to speak of developing his love of Kṛṣṇa, simply by knowledge, by real knowledge if one understands Kṛṣṇa, oh, that is sufficient to make him liberated. And those who are devotees, for them liberation is very insignificant. Muktir mukulitāñjaliḥ sevate 'sman (Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura).
Guest (1): On the first day of this inauguration, I was there, and there were definitions about karma-yoga.
Prabhupāda: Oh, the governor. (laughter) Just see. He is speaking of karma-yoga. Slaughtering ten thousand cows, that is karma-yoga. This nonsense speaking of karma-yoga.