I am very glad that these girls, with great difficulty, you come to this class. It is very nice. Thank you.
This is ahaituky apratihatā. The devotional service cannot be checked by any material impediment. It is not conditional that, "Because I am in this condition, I cannot execute devotional service." No. Anyone, in any position, in any circumstances, he can become the greatest devotee of the Lord—if he desires.
- sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
- yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
- ahaituky apratihatā
- yayātmā suprasīdati
- (SB 1.2.6)
The real aim of life is how to get satisfaction, full, complete satisfaction. And that satisfaction, complete satisfaction, can be achieved only by prosecution of devotional service. There is no other method. If you want to be happy, free from all cares and anxieties, then you have to engage yourself in devotional service of the Lord. That will make you free from all material anxieties and all material miseries.
We are all seeking after that position, how to become completely happy. Our whole struggle for existence . . . anyone, in any place, any country, they are all struggling for existence, either human being or animal or birds or beasts, how to become happy. This happiness of the mind, ātmā, is only possible when we are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the only remedy. There is no other alternative. So Lord Kṛṣṇa said that:
- yadā yadā hi dharmasya
- glānir bhavati bhārata
- abhyutthānam adharmasya
- tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
- (BG 4.7)
"My dear Arjuna, whenever there is discrepancies in the matter of execution of real purpose of life . . ." That is called dharma. Dharma, this word, either you take it "religion" or "duty" or "nature," as you like, but, as explained before, dharma means your actual, constitutional position. It is nothing artificial. The example again I am repeating: just like fire is hot, warm; fire has light. You cannot separate light from fire or heat from fire. Therefore heat and light is dharma. That is its real religion.
So our dharma, living entity, that is defined very nicely by Lord Caitanya. Our dharma, or religion, is to obey the orders of the Supreme Lord, to become . . . to engage ourself in the loving, transcendental service of the Lord. Whenever this principle is crippled or checked by our material activities . . . just like at the present age they have no idea what is God. They are asking, "What is God?" and they are proud of their education. Just see. This is the godless . . . result of godless civilization. This is discrepancy of dharma.
So at this age, at this stage, when people have forgotten God, when they are speaking that, "God is dead," now this Bhagavad-gītā or this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra has descended, just like Kṛṣṇa says:
- yadā yadā hi dharmasya
- glānir bhavati bhārata
- abhyutthānam adharmasya
- tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
- (BG 4.7)
"At that time, I appear." So this is . . . Kṛṣṇa has appeared in His holy name, Hare Kṛṣṇa. There is no difference between this holy name Kṛṣṇa and the person Kṛṣṇa, because Kṛṣṇa is absolute. There is no difference between His name, between His form, between His quality, between His pastimes, between His abode, between His entourage. There is no such difference. Materially there is difference. I am Indian, I am person, and my place, India, is different. You are American. You . . . this is all designation of this body.
So Kṛṣṇa says that yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham. Now, this sṛjāmi, this word, is used in Sanskrit, "something manufactured." Something manufactured. Just like I make this spectacle case. Or you make. This is called sṛjāmi. But actually we understand like that, but here sṛjāmi, this word, as explained by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, a learned scholar, who said that sṛjāmi means prakaṭā, "I appear."
Now, if you say this word means "manufactured" . . . the Māyāvādī philosopher, they take advantage of this word, and they say that, "Kṛṣṇa or anyone," I mean to say: "incarnation of God, that is created." That means they understand that as so many material things are created . . . anything which we find here in this room, that is created. This Dictaphone, this microphone or anything, that is created. But here, if you say this word in that sense that, "Kṛṣṇa is created. Anything created, that is material. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is also material," then you will be in misunderstanding.