They may be very great scholars, academic scholar, but in the matter of understanding God, they're mūḍhas, asses. Why? Māyayā apahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ (BG 7.15). At the present moment, people are mostly āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. Āsuri, āsuri bhāva means to defy God: "There is no God. God is dead. I am God. You are God. So many Gods are loitering in the street. Why you are finding out God?" These are so many statements. So God has become so cheap. There are so many incarnations of God, especially in India. It is a breeding ground of Gods, so many. So that is, means they do not know what is God. Mūḍha. They think God is so cheap thing. But from the śāstra we understand, from Bhagavad-gītā we understand... When Kṛṣṇa was asked by Arjuna, "How You are controlling the whole cosmology, Your vibhūti, Your power, energies?"
There is no God (Lectures, BG)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to preach all over the world that kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). You are searching after God. You are taxing your brain so much. But in spite of taxing your brain, you say sometimes that "There is no God," or "God is dead," or "Everyone is God," and so on, so on. But our proposition is that why you are taxing your brain? Here is God. Here is God, Kṛṣṇa. By authorities, by Vedic version, by His activities. If we read life of Kṛṣṇa, we can see that He's Kṛṣṇa, God, from the very beginning of His birth. God is not manufactured by some mystic power. God is God, and dog is dog. A dog cannot become God; God cannot become dog. That is the difference.
So we have to accept the Vedic injunction. So although both the nature, the spiritual nature and material nature, is coming from the same source, Absolute Truth... Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Everything is emanating from Him. Still, there is inferior nature and superior nature. What is the difference between inferior and superior? In the inferior nature or the material nature, God consciousness is almost nil. Those who are in the modes of goodness, they have little God consciousness. And those who are in the modes of passion, they have got less degree; and those who are in the modes of ignorance, there is no God consciousness. Completely absent. Degrees.
However they make progress in material advancement of science and economy and everything, oh, they cannot be happy. They cannot be happy. The whole thing is the wrong process. Here is the process recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, that yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi. Yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi. Unless you work. No work is condemned. Whatever you do, that doesn't matter. But if that work is done on behalf of the Supreme Lord, that makes you purified. That makes you happy. But that science is lacking altogether all over the world, not only here or there. The whole thing... In Russia they are preaching godless civilization: "There is no God." Here also there are even some churches. I know they are preaching that God is dead. You see? They are preaching like that. So the condition is very precarious at the present moment. And we are preaching Bhagavad-gītā and the formula, but the formula is practically very difficult to apply in the present circumstances. You see? Yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi. People have gone so much ahead in material, I mean to say... Material civilization means only sense gratification. That's all. It has nothing more than this. And actually we are seeing that as much as we are making economic progress, as much money we are getting, the next program is how to spend it for sense gratification, how to spend it for sense gratification.
Here it is emphatically emphasized that dūreṇa hy avaraṁ karma buddhi-yogād dhanañjaya: "By application of this God consciousness, you throw away all other work. Any work which you cannot do with God consciousness, don't do it." Now, here is the injunction in Bhagavad-gītā that "Anything which you cannot do with God consciousness, stop doing." But the whole world is engaged, doing things in which there is no God consciousness. There is no God consciousness. And here it is enjoined that buddhau śaraṇam anviccha kṛpaṇāḥ phala-hetavaḥ: "Only those who are kṛpaṇa, those who are not self-realized, they are hankering after sense gratification. They want to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But you don't be. Arjuna, you don't be. If you want to be spiritually situated, if you want to work from the spiritual platform, then you don't do it. You work on the spiritual platform and don't do anything which you cannot do in God consciousness." This is clearly stated here. Now, it is, of course... It depends on us whether to accept it or not accept it, because God has given us independence. You'll find also in the Bhagavad-gītā at the end that after the instruction is given, the Lord inquires from Arjuna that "I have given you all instruction necessary. Now whatever you like, you do." So this is the position. The Lord never interferes with the little independence that has been offered to us. We have got little independence because we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Oh, so under certain percentage we have got independence.
We have come to a certain stage of our civilized life, that we want to banish God altogether. Not only saying "no," but we now prepare to agree to the point that there is no existence of God. So how much foolish we are becoming day by day in the name of advancement of civilization. You see?
So we should correct this. Now, we shall try to understand our position and try to say "Yes, there is God, and I am servant of God." That's all. You have to learn that thing only. No more we have to say that there is no God. We may say there is no God, but that does not mean that there is no God. You see? Just like an upstart. He says that "I don't believe in the government. There is no government. I am all in all." So that madman say like that, that does not mean that there is no existence of government. He is a madman who says like that. So that sort of, I mean to say, madness, we should give up. We should be submissive.
There is God. The only example—several times I have cited—that existence of God can be perceived with very simple... What is that? Just like you can perceive your existence in this body by the consciousness... You have got consciousness. That point we have discussed several times.
So whatever you do it doesn't matter, but try to satisfy the Supreme Lord by your work. That is the perfection of life. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). You cannot... This is foolishness—"Oh, there is no God." How you can say so? You are completely under the control of the laws of nature, and nature is being controlled by God. How you can say that you are independent of God?
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.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa has said... This is the old. It is not new type of religion. It is the, it is the oldest. Bhagavad-bhakti. Bhagavān is there, and the living entities are there. Their relationship is there. Now, by forgetting God, forgetting Kṛṣṇa, we are busy with the problems, but we are forgetting the real problems. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that bhakto 'si. One has to become bhakta. So bhakta means... Bhagavān, if there is Bhagavān, then there is bhakta, and there is bhakti. But these people are denying the existence of bhakta, Bhagavān. "There is no God." Now, how he can become bhakta? Or how there will be execution of bhakti? Bhakta, Bhagavān, bhakti. The same thing. Bhakta is in relationship with Bhagavān, and the transaction between Bhagavān and bhakta is called bhakti. Bhakti means ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167).
What is that eye? Just like a small child. If I say to the small child, so "Sun is there in the sky, and the child will say, "Show me where is the sun." And if somebody says, "Yes, come on, I shall show you sun. Come on the roof. I have got a torch-light." As it is not possible to show the sun at night, although the child is insisting, similarly, the so-called scientists who are claiming that there is no God, they're just like the child. You have to understand. Just like a man who is advanced in knowledge, he knows that sun is there. Although I cannot see at night, but sun is there. He's convinced. Similarly, those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge, they can see God in every moment. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38).
So here Kṛṣṇa says that yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati (BG 4.7). As soon as there is decadence of people's love of Godhead... That means when people become forgetful, almost forgetful. Because at least some people remember that there is God. But generally, in this age, they are forgetful. That is dharmasya glāniḥ. And by forgetting God the people cannot be happy. That is also another cause. People are thinking that "God is dead. We have no obligation to God. There is no God." This sort of thinking will never make the people happy. And actually, it is happening. They have become atheistic. The modern civilization is Godless, but people are not happy. Therefore God or His representative comes when people forget his relationship with God.
So real religion is to understand what is our relationship with God. And then the relationship is, as it is found in the Bhagavad-gītā and confirmed by great ācāryas like Lord Caitanya.
Now another point of dharma is, as Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa is describing here, is dharmasya vedoktasya glānir vināśa. Now this is ordinary sense of religion. Just like everyone has got some scripture. The Hindus, they have got Vedic scripture. The Muslims, they have got Koran. The Christians, they have got Bible, Old Testament, New Testament. Similarly, there are many other religious sects, they have got their own scripture. So Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa says that vedoktasya dharmasya. Dharma means the rules and regulations as they are prescribed in the scriptures.
Just like state laws. State laws, there are some rules and regulation in the lawbook, in the statute book of the particular state. Similarly, dharma, another meaning of dharma is, it is the law of God. Maybe differently described in different countries according to different climatic condition or situation. But in every religious scripture the obedience to God is instructed. That is a fact. No scripture says that there is no God and you are independent. Either it is Bible or Koran or Vedas or even Buddhist literature, Buddhist scripture.
Generally, according to Buddha philosophy, there is no soul, no God. But they have to obey Lord Buddha. So there is also God because Lord Buddha is accepted by the Vedic literature.
Why you are preaching nonviolence?" Therefore he had to give up Hindu religion. He said that "I do not care for your Vedas. It is my propaganda to stop animal killing. So if you follow me, then you must stop animal killing." Ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ. So later on, of course, Lord Buddha was patronized by a great emperor, Aśoka, and therefore practically all Indian population turned to be Buddhist, with few exceptions.
Then Śaṅkarācārya came and he preached this almost Buddhism. The Buddha, Lord Buddha preached that there is no God, there is no soul. This body is combination of matter and if we dissolve this material combination then there is no more perception of misery or happiness. That is nirvāṇa. That is his philosophy. But later on, Lord, I mean to say, Ācārya Śaṅkara, he appeared and he preached that brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. This bodily combination is temporary, or mithyā. He said flatly that it is false. False means... Of course, Vaiṣṇava philosophy, they say temporary. Temporary or false you can take on the same category. But Śaṅkarācārya said that brahma satyam. That spirit soul, Brahman, that is reality, and this external feature of the Brahman, or the body, that is false.
They are called duṣkṛtina. This duṣkṛtina, or miscreant, is described in another place also in the Bhagavad-gītā. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). The purpose is, Kṛṣṇa says, that those who are miscreants, always disobeying the laws of nature or always denying the prime factor behind the wonderful activities of nature, such miscreants, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ. Mūḍhāḥ means they are rascals. They cannot...
They will put so many theories that there is no God, and none of the theories are practical, neither they can prove it by experimental knowledge. Still, they will insist on. That is their business. And when we say... When somebody says, "You prove it," the answer is, "Well, we are advancing. Some day will come; we shall prove it." That's all. "Some day will come." They do not understand that "Trust no future however pleasant."
Why you are expecting that some day will come when science will be perfect? Throughout the whole history of the human society, never it has been possible that one can give life. There is no such instance in the history. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). The four principles of material inebrieties, namely birth, death, old age, and disease, nobody has been able to check in the past history of human society, and how you can believe that in future these problems, namely janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi, birth, death, old age, and disease, will be solved by the advancement of science? So at least we cannot believe. And no sane man will believe it.
Therefore those who are trying to defy the presence of God, saying, "God is dead. There is no God," and trying to prove by so-called scientific method there is no God, the matter is working out of his own way, and things are taking place—there are so many theories—they are called classified as miscreant. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ. Miscreants, and mūḍhāḥ means rascals. Mūḍha... Real meaning of mūḍha is ass. Ass has no knowledge. He is working day and night, oh, very... But he does not know what for he is working. He has no ambition, he has no information where is the destination of perfection. Therefore they are called mūḍhāḥ. Mūḍhāḥ means rascals. So na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Narādhama means lowest of the mankind. Na prapadyante: "They do not surrender unto Me, God." Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ.
Now the question may be that "Why they do not surrender? Why they do not believe in God? Why they do not take to God consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness? They are very educated, advanced. They have got university degrees. But why they do not do it? They are supposed to be very culturally advanced." So the answer is given there in the Bhagavad-gītā, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. Because their intention is to deny God, therefore although they are very much advanced in so-called education, the effect of knowledge has been taken away by the illusory energy of māyā.
Just like Lord Buddha preached his philosophy, śūnyavāda philosophy, nirvāṇa philosophy, because it was needed at that time. It is not permanent philosophy. Any philosophy except Kṛṣṇa philosophy... Nothing is permanent. They are temporary. They have got temporary use. The real use is Kṛṣṇa philosophy. Real use, Kṛṣṇa philosophy. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam... (BG 18.66).
So when there was... People may question that "Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa." Keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare. "Then why he preached atheistic philosophy?" He preached, "There is no God." Śūnyavāda. But there was necessity at that time. Why? That is explained by Jayadeva Gosvāmī:
- nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātaṁ
- sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam
- keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare
At that time, people were killing animals like anything in the name of yajña. In the Vedas there are prescriptions that in the yajña a paśu can be, an animal can be slaughtered. In some yajña, not all. Tāmasika-yajña.
In the Brahma-saṁhitā, Brahmā writes, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Kṛṣṇa personally says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). Arjuna, who heard Bhagavad-gītā, he accepts. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). The ācāryas, Śaṅkarācārya, Mādhvācārya, Rāma..., they accept Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was.... Then what evidence want you more? What is your knowledge? You do not accept so many authorities? You are so proud? That is our misfortune. Manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ, and disturbed condition of life. That is our misfortune.
This is the position. Otherwise where is the difficulty of understanding God? "God is dead. There is no God. I am God, you are God." So many theories. Why? Here is God. God personally comes to show you what is the position of God, and He has shown what is the meaning of God. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya balasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ. What is the meaning of Bhagavān, He has shown. Still, we are so unfortunate, we cannot accept. Because we are not free from the contamination. Yeṣām. One can understand. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām.
Has that been stopped? No. That is now... Now, seven hundred years before, the sun was rising on the eastern side. Has the material science stopped the sun rising on the eastern side? Has it gone to the western side? No. Then what is this advancement? Simply defying the existence of God, is that the advancement of knowledge? If we materially calculate that... Practically the major questions which are embarrassing us... Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). We are embarrassed with the material miseries of life. That has not been solved. The major questions have been set aside. Simply by thinking that "There is no God. We are God. Science is everything," oh, do you think that is advancement of knowledge? No.
So therefore ajñānena āvṛtaṁ jñānam. This is, this sort of advancement of knowledge in the material science is also another type of ignorance. The Lord says, ajñānena āvṛtaṁ jñānam: "Real knowledge is now covered. Real knowledge, being covered by nescience," ajñānena tena muhyanti jantavaḥ, "therefore they are actually perplexed." So by the name of so-called advancement of knowledge the whole population of the world, they are now perplexed. Even we do not go into the details, but any sane man will admit that we are not advancing. Actually we are degraded in so many ways.
That is not bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga is simply in connection with Kṛṣṇa. Bhakti-yoga cannot be applied to anyone, anything else. How Buddha philosophy can be dovetailed with bhakti-yoga? Bhakti-yoga means to understand God. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti. You'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā, Eighteenth Chapter. By bhakti-yoga you can understand Lord, the Supreme Lord, God. But in Buddha philosophy there is no God? That you know? So where is bhakti-yoga?
That is bhakti-yoga. Because they accept God. Unless you accept God there is no question of bhakti-yoga. So Christian religion is also Vaiṣṇavism because they accept God. Maybe in the, some stage different from this. There are different stages of God realization also. The Christian religion says "God is great." Accept! That is very good. But just how great God is, that you can understand from Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But there is acceptance that God is great. That is therefore that is beginning of bhakti. You can apply that bhakti. Even the Mohammedan religion. That is also bhakti-yoga. Any religion where God is the target, that is applied in bhakti. But when there is no God or impersonalism, there is no question of bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga means bhaja jayukti bhaja-sevayā(?). Service. Service means three things: the servitor, the served, and service. One must be present who will accept service. And one must be present to render service. And in the via media, the process of service. So bhakti-yoga means service. If there is nobody to accept the service, then where is the bhakti-yoga? So any philosophy or religious principle where there is no acceptance of God, the Supreme, there is no application of bhakti. Yes.
So we are dying from the date of our birth. That is a fact. So Bhagavad-gītā gives you the solution of these four problems. And Kṛṣṇa here is suggesting, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. If you take shelter of Kṛṣṇa and if you think of Kṛṣṇa always, your consciousness becomes always overwhelmed with Kṛṣṇa thoughts, then Kṛṣṇa says the result will be asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu (BG 7.1). "Then you will understand Me perfectly, without any doubt."
Everyone is hankering after what is God, what is the nature of God. Somebody says there is no God, somebody says God is dead. These are all doubts. But here Kṛṣṇa says, asaṁśaya. You'll be doubtless. You'll feel, you'll know perfectly well that God is there, Kṛṣṇa is there. And He is the source of all energies. He is the primeval Lord. These things you will learn without any doubt. The first thing is we do not make progress in transcendental knowledge on account of doubts, saṁśayaḥ. These doubts can be removed by culture of real knowledge, by real association, by following the real methods, the doubts can be removed. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness persons, they are not after will-o'-the-wisp, phantasmagoria. No. They're actually making progress to the concrete Supreme Personality of Godhead.
If we adopt that process, then everyone can become mayy āsakta-manāḥ, Kṛṣṇa āsakta-manāḥ. We have to accept the process. That process is called yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. You have to accept the yoga system under the protection of Kṛṣṇa personally or His bona fide devotees, representative. Then you will be... Then what will be the result? The result will be asaṁśayam, without any doubt. Now people are educated in all other institution about God, but they are all full of doubts, full of doubts: "What kind of God? What is the nature of God? Whether there is God? Whether there is no God?" So many doubts. But if you accept this Kṛṣṇa consciousness yoga system, then you can understand Kṛṣṇa asaṁśayam, without any doubt. And samagram, in fullness, not that partial. Partially understanding of God, that is also understanding, but it will again take time, because unless you fully understand what is God, you cannot go back to home, back to Godhead. That is the formula.
That is called māyā. Just like we are living under the sunshine always. At night there is some difficulty to see the sun, but sun is there, and I am also here. That's a fact. Everyone knows. Now, the earthly planet has turned around. The sun is on the back side of this earth. It is in America now. So sun is there, the American people are seeing sun, but on account of the different position of this earth we cannot see the sun. That does not mean there is no sun. The sunshine is always existing. It is shadowed by this earthly planet. Similarly when... Our relationship with God or Kṛṣṇa is always existing, but when there is some intervention, māyā, then we think, "There is no God" or "I am God," like that.
So this misconception of life, that "I am God," "There is no God..." Atheists and voidists, they say like that. The voidists, they say śūnyavādi. They say, "There is no God." And the impersonalists, they say that there is God, but there is no head, there is no leg, there is no hand, there is no mouth, there is no, no, no... Ultimately, what is their God? If God has no head, no leg, no body, no mouth, then what is that God? That is also another way of explaining God as zero. The voidists, they directly say, "There is no God. We don't believe in God." That is understandable. But this impersonal explanation of God, that is not understandable. What is this? "God has no leg, neither God has no head, God has no hand, God has no mouth." Then what is that God? They cannot say.
So our real business is to understand Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself. Then there is no difficulty. If you want to know me, you can imagine so many things: "Swamiji may be this. Swamiji may be that, like that, like this, like that." They are all imperfect. But if I tell you about myself openly that "I am like this," then your knowledge is perfect. Everyone says, "There is no God." Somebody says, "God is there, but He has no form," and somebody says, "He has any form you like. Imagine any form." In this way speculation is going on all over the world. Actually they are not interested in God. That is the plain simple thing. They do not want to know God, and they think there is no need of understanding. But that is the only need, to understand God. That they do not know. Therefore they are called fools and rascals, mūḍha. Mūḍho nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam. So Kṛṣṇa therefore left His instruction behind Him that "These mūḍhas, rascals, after studying Bhagavad-gītā they may understand Me. I am keeping behind Me."
Because... Hatred? That is always. Not today. Every day. When Kṛṣṇa was born, there was a Kaṁsa who was planning how to kill Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa was born, you know that? So Kṛṣṇa... To kill Kṛṣṇa... There is a section of men who want to kill Kṛṣṇa always. They are called demons, or rākṣasas. So the rākṣasas... More or less, everyone in this material world are demons. But those who are intelligent, from this demonic life they come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Others who do not come God consciousness, they remain demons, and their business is just like Kaṁsa, Rāvaṇa, simply making plan how to kill God or kill Kṛṣṇa. That's all. "There is no God." That is their propaganda. "I am God." That's all. So these demonic elements are always there. You have to do your own business. That's all.
If he is required to explain how these universal planets are floating, how this human body is rotating, how many species of life, how they are being evolved... These are all scientific knowledge. Physics, botanics, chemistry, astronomy, everything. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, yaj jñātvā, if you understand this knowledge, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you'll have nothing to know. That means you'll have complete knowledge. We are hankering after knowledge, but if we are in knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if we know Kṛṣṇa, then all knowledge is included.
So tac-chakti viṣaya vivikta-svarūpa viṣayakaṁ jñānam. You'll have full knowledge about the constitutional position of yourself, this material world, the spiritual world, God, our interrelationship, time, space, everything. There are many things to be known. But the principal thing is that the God, the living entities, time, work, and this material energy. These five things are to be known. You cannot deny that "There is no God." God is controller, supreme controller. You cannot say that you are not controlled. There is controller. Just like in the state, you cannot say there is no controller.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa said in the beginning of this chapter that jñānaṁ me. Jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam (BG 7.2). It is a great science. It is not a speculative; it is not imagination. Just like sometimes they create imagined God. The impersonalists, they think there is no God. "God is not personal, but is impersonal. So you can imagine any form." That is rascaldom. That is not Kṛṣṇa; that is not God. How, with your limited senses, imperfect senses, you can imagine God? Whatever you imagine, that is rascaldom, that is not Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid vetti māṁ tattvataḥ (BG 7.3). If you want to know Kṛṣṇa, then you must become Kṛṣṇa's devotee. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). You cannot understand by your so-called scholarship, imaginative power. That is not possible. Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, jānāti tattvam (SB 10.14.29). Again that tattvam. "One who has achieved a little favor of You, he can understand you by tattvata, in truth." Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda, padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, jānāti tattvam, na cānya, na ca anya, ciram, for good, for many, many millions of years, vicinvan, simply by speculating. That is not possible. There are many places like that.
That Kṛṣṇa explains, that "They are My energies." Because we have to know, so... To understand Kṛṣṇa means one must know what is this earth, what is this water, what is this fire, what is this air, what is this sky, what is this mind, what is this ego. These material things, they should know that wherefrom these things came. They only theorize that water is combination of some chemical, hydrogen, oxygen. But wherefrom the chemical came, hydrogen, oxygen? That they cannot answer. So therefore this is called acintya-śakti. Acintya-śakti. If you do not apply, if you refuse, acintya-śakti, in God, acintya-śakti, inconceivable energy, then there is no God. Acintya-śakti-sampannaḥ.
Now you can understand what is that acintya-śakti. Acintya-śakti you have got also, acintya-śakti, everyone, because we are part and parcel of God. Therefore minute... But we are... What is the ratio? The ratio is, it is said in the śāstra... What is that? Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca jīva-bhāgaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate (CC Madhya 19.140). Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya. Just giving an idea. What is that? The tip of the hair, just a small full stop, you divide this point into one hundred parts. And that one part again divide into one hundred parts. That is, mean, one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. That is a full-stop-like. That is the magnitude of the jīva, spirit, spiritual spark, molecular parts, atomic parts. So keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca jīva-bhāgaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate (CC Madhya 19.140).
Just like here it is said mano buddhiḥ. Manasas ca parā buddhiḥ. Finer or superior than the mind is intelligence. That is... Another place it is also explained that gross thing means these senses. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhuḥ. This is gross vision. I see a man means I see his body, his eyes, his ear, his hands and legs and everything. That is gross vision. But finer than these gross senses, there is mind which is controlling the senses. That you do not see. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42). Then mind is controlled by the intelligence. Manasas ca parā buddhiḥ. So you have to study like that. Simply like layman if you dismiss that "There is no God, there is no soul," this is simply rascaldom, simply rascaldom. Don't remain rascals. Here is Bhagavad-gītā. Learn everything very particularly, very minutely. And it is open for everyone. Kṛṣṇa spoke Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, not for Arjuna. He came for everyone because He loves everyone. Everyone is son.
When the tape recorder is replayed again, you'll find that I am speaking again. But that speaking and my present speaking is different. Therefore that speaking is separated energy. Now I am speaking directly. That is not separated. But when it is transferred to another matter, that is separated energy.
So this material world is separated energy from Kṛṣṇa, but it is energy, His energy—His energy, acting under His direction. But this material energy is not independent. The material scientists, they are thinking that there is no God, matter is working by actions and reactions. But that is not the fact. Matter is dependent on the direction of the Supreme Lord. That will be stated in the Ninth Chapter: mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). "This prakṛti, this material energy, is acting under My superintendence." How material energy can act independently? That is not very good understanding. Suppose this electric fan is running on, but it is not running on independently. There is electric energy, there is powerhouse, there is the superintending engineer in the powerhouse. So at the end there is living force. Matter cannot work independently. We have no such experience. Anything you take, matter, material, it has no power to work independently. Behind that, there is spiritual existence.
Just try to understand Kṛṣṇa by your daily experience. Kṛṣṇa says that "When you drink water and when you quench your thirst, when you feel the nice taste of water, that taste I am." Kṛṣṇa says. So you can understand Kṛṣṇa daily as soon as you drink water. Why one should say that there is no God? You just try to appreciate God according to the prescription given by God. Then you'll understand.
Just like a doctor gives you medicine and he gives you direction also that "You drink this medicine, take the bottle and take two drops or five drops," as he gives direction. Then gradually you understand that by taking that medicine, you are being cured, you are feeling in health. Similarly, this prescription given by Kṛṣṇa... This is meditation actually. When we meditate upon the taste of the water, that means we are meditating on Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ: "I am the sunshine, moonshine." So who has not seen the sunshine? If you have seen sunshine and if you follow this prescription given by Kṛṣṇa, then early in the morning you'll see Kṛṣṇa. Why do you say that "I have not seen Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not present before Me"? But you follow Kṛṣṇa's instruction, and He will be present.
So such persons, duṣkṛtina, always engaged in mischievous activities, always engaged to work hard like an ass and does not take the advantage of human being, they are called duṣkṛtina, mūḍha, narādhama. Then one may say, "All right, these people are lowest of the mankind or like an ass or miscreant, but there are many, many educated persons, highly elevated in discussing philosophy. Why they do not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Why they say that "God is nirākāra. There is no God. I am God. You are God"? Why do they say? Why do they not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness? This question may be raised also. "They are not fools. They are very highly learned. They have undergone tapasya, sannyāsī. Why do they not take shelter of Kṛṣṇa?" Kṛṣṇa is answering to that question, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ (BG 7.15). Yes, they are advanced in knowledge undoubtedly, but because they are āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ... Āsuraṁ bhāvam means atheistic principle: "There is no God. I am God." This is called atheistic or āsura. Just like Rāvaṇa. He was very much materially advanced. He was very good scholar in Vedic literature. He was son of a brāhmaṇa also, very powerful. But he did not believe in Rāma, God. That was his only fault. Therefore he is described as asura, rākṣasa. Similarly, Kaṁsa, Hiraṇyakaśipu. So anyone, however materially he may be advanced in education or knowledge, may be Ph.D. or D.H.C. or something like that, if he does not believe in God, he is to be supposed that māyā has taken away his real knowledge. In spite of his education, he is fool number one. Māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ.
Why such things take place, that a learned man becomes foolish without understanding Kṛṣṇa? Because āsuraṁ bhāvam, because he has accepted the atheistic principle, "There is no Kṛṣṇa. There is no God." Only for this reason, in spite of educational qualification, he cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. And because he cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, therefore he cannot take to devotional service. These are the descriptions. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). But there are certain jñānīs who are actually sincere to know the Absolute Truth. Such persons, even they may be misled in one life or two lives, three lives, but at the end they come to the conclusion that Kṛṣṇa is everything. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān (BG 7.19). Here it is said that māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. So long there is influence of māyā, he is lost of real knowledge. But in spite of that, if he makes progress in understanding the Absolute Truth, then, after many births, not in one birth—bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19)—when he comes to the actual point of knowledge, that Kṛṣṇa is everything, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, prapadyante (BG 7.19), he surrenders. That means to surrender unto Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of all knowledge, all activities, all tapasya, all yoga. If one does not reach that point, then he is simply wasting his time and energy.
They are welcome in the sense that because they have come to God, in course of time, they will also become as good as the man in knowledge—if they continue. But generally it happens: one who goes to the church for some profit, if the profit is not there, he'll say, "It is nonsense." He gives up all connection with church. I have got information from one of my Godbrothers. He is German. He told me that during wartime many Germans, they went to war, and their wives, sister, all woman class, they went to church and prayed for the return of their husband, brother or son. But they did not return, and all of them became atheists: "Oh, there is no God. There is no God." Sometimes it happens like that, that "We want God as my order-supplier. If He does not supply the order, then He becomes no God. There is no God." That is the defect of this kind of prayer. But if they continue...
Envious. Everyone is envious of Kṛṣṇa. That is demon. Just like Kaṁsa. In this tract of land, Mathurā, there was Kaṁsa. He was so envious that he ordered to his servant that "As soon as Kṛṣṇa is born, please bring the child. I shall kill Him." This is asūya. So at the present moment, practically the whole world, they want to be godless. The scientists and the..., everyone is trying to prove that "There is no God. There is no Kṛṣṇa. This is all sentiment." Especially in the Communist countries. So if you become demon, Communist, or in favor of them, then you are also infected with asūya, envious of Kṛṣṇa. Then you cannot understand. Then you cannot understand. Kṛṣṇa is very strict. But the devotees are very lenient. Kṛṣṇa doesn't want to speak even with demons. But the devotees are so kind, they go to the demons and pray, "Kindly hear. Kindly hear about Kṛṣṇa." This is...
Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā, by false, puffed-up position, "I am this." This is false, puffed-up position. This is not a permanent position. But we are falsely proud of our position, that "There is no authority. There is no God. Whatever I am doing, it is all right. Nobody can check me." This is madman's, crazy.
- piśācī paile yena mati-cchanna haya
- māyā-grasta jīvera se daśā upajāya
And when a person is ghostly haunted, as he talks all kinds of nonsense, similarly, one who has come under the grip of this material nature, māyā-grasta ye, he's talking all nonsense, all nonsense. All these politicking, all politics, sociology, everything, without reference to the salvation of soul, or self-realization, without knowing our spiritual position, they're all nonsense talks.
- piśācī paile yena mati-cchanna haya
- māyā-grasta jīvera se daśā upajāya
Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kono bhāgyavān jīva. Bhāgyavān jīva means those who are coming into our contact, they're bhāgyavān, they're getting the opportunity of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, guru kṛṣṇa kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151).
Here, we find in the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says, mayādhyakṣeṇa: (BG 9.10) "Under My superintendence." So we have to accept it. Unless you prove that anything, any material happenings, can take place without a spiritual brain behind it... Then you can say, "Oh, there is no God. There is no God. There is no brain." But you cannot prove anything wonderful without a brain behind it. How can you say that these wonderful happenings in the material nature is going on without any brain behind it? Because we cannot conceive how much big brain that is, therefore we set aside, dismiss, "Oh, there is brain." Because our brain is tiny, we cannot think of... The same philosophy, frog philosophy. Frog's calculation of Atlantic Ocean. Avan mānasa-gocaraḥ. In the Vedic literature it is said that we cannot describe it by our words. We cannot think of it with our mind. Inconceivable. Inconceivable. Because it is inconceivable, therefore we say it is void. No, this is not void. The ultimate cause cannot be void. How it can be void? Do you think from void something comes out? Do you think your body has come from something void? No. Behind this body is your father, your mother. How can you say that everything has come out of void. This is all, I mean to say, less intelligence. Whoever says like that, they are called asuras or less intelligent. Less intelligent persons, they become asuras because they cannot calculate. They cannot think of. Their brain does not provide provision to think of all these things, a dull brain.
Whenever there was an ant, he was jumping. So Nārada inquired that "While you were coming here, why you were jumping?" So he said, "Sir, there were so many ants. So how can I kill ant?" Just see. The same man who was without any kindness killing so many animals, he has become kind to the ant even.
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.
Therefore when the soul goes away, these rascals says, "heart failure." Not heart failure, the soul has gone from the heart. Heart is also mechanical thing, but the sitting place of the soul is there. So heart failure means the soul has gone from the heart. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi—hṛdi means heart. The location also being specified—here is soul and Supersoul. Find out, if you have got such scientific method. But they cannot find it out. Therefore, the rascals say there is no God, there is no soul, simply this lump of matter, that's all.
So anyone who thinks like that, he's described as go-khara. Go-khara means, go means cows and khara means asses. Those who are identifying with this body as the self... Yasyātmā buddhi-kunape tri-dhātuke. Kunape. This body is a bag of bones and flesh with urine and stool and blood and so many other things. But if you are scientist, advanced, then I can supply you immense bones, immense blood, immense urine, immense stool, manufacture one body if you are scientist. I give you ingredients. Immense, any quantity. But you just manufacture one ant. And still you are thinking that "science, science." You cannot do anything.
"My lord, so far my knowledge concerned, I have tested so many men, everyone is insane. It is a question of degree. Now if you consider that he was insane, you, that is your business to punish him, or not punish him. But so far my knowledge is concerned, I have studied so many men and I have found they are all insane." Actually that is the position.
What does it mean, insanity? When his brain is not acting nicely. That is insanity. So anyone who is in this material world, they are against God consciousness. That is the sign of insanity. He's under the strict regulation of God, still he defies, "There is no God. There is no God, I am God." This is insanity. Piśācī pāile yena mati-cchana haya. So how these different types of insanity is visible, that will be explained, Kṛṣṇa. Tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yadṛk ca. Not one kind of body or one kind of insanity, different types of insanities. Yac ca yadṛk ca yad vikārī. This vikārī means transformation. Everyone's brain is vikārī, not in order. Yat vikārī yataś ca yat. How such kind of transformation, vikārī, this derangement has taken place. Sa ca yo yat prabhavaś ca. And prabhavas, everyone, every living entity has got a particular type of prabhavaḥ.
That's all right. But that īśvara is not sublime. I may become īśvara amongst my disciples, but I am not the supreme, I'm not īśvara of everyone. So īśvara is actually Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1), the śāstra says. There are īśvaras, rulers. That's all right. But the supreme ruler is Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac cid ananda vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). This is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, and Kṛṣṇa also says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). "There is nobody else superior than Me." That is the fact.
People are searching after Īśvara, "Can you show me God?" "There is no God." "God is dead." So many philosophers and theories are there, but actually there is God. Here is God, Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānandaḥ vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that "Only īśvara is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme." Ekala īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya (CC Adi 5.142). "All others, they are servants." Nobody is actually īśvara. And we find it practically. Everyone in this material world, he may become an īśvara is his group, but he is also controlled by somebody superior. That is the position of this relative īśvara. But Kṛṣṇa is absolute īśvara. Nobody is īśvara above Him. That is Kṛṣṇa. So, everyone is trying to be īśvara. This is the material world. Everyone is trying to be īśvara.
I have seen many big, big gentlemen that for nothing they will speak lies, for nothing, without any profit. They will speak so many lies. Na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate. To become truthful is one of the brahminical qualifications. Satyam. That is required. But the asuras, they don't care for. They will go on, telling lies, volumes of lies. They don't mind for it. These are the symptoms. Na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu. And their life is aimless, not actual life. Real life means with aim. The asuras, they have no aim. They do not know what is the aim, neither they follow. Then? Other symptom?
- asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te
- jagad āhur anīśvaram
- aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ
- kim anyat kāma-haitukam
- (BG 16.8)
Their other philosophy is that there is no God. Jagad āhur anīśvaram (BG 16.8). As soon as you say that "God has created the cosmic material world, the sky. God has created," they will laugh at you "Ha, God has created. Why you bring God?" Someone was telling me that in some scientific conference they first of all warn that "Don't bring God in any of your statements." What is that? Do you know? So these asuras, their first business is how to convince people that everything has taken place by accident or by combination of matter. There is no question of accepted God, the creator. That's all. What is that?
That is also according to taste. You like some sour things; another likes some sweet things. So the person who likes sour things, he says, "Oh, it is very nice." And one who likes sweet things, he may say, "No, it is not so good. This is very nice, the sweet." But either the sour or the sweet thing is prepared by the same cook. You cannot say it is false. It is the energy of the same cook, so you cannot say it is false.
So it is a false... When the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs say that jagan mithyā, Jagad āhur anīśvaram (BG 16.8), "There is no God..." The Bauddha philosophers, they say that "This jagat, this world, has come into existence by combination of matter." The modern scientists also say. They say that "Chemical evolution, by combination of chemicals, everything has come out, but there is no creator." They will deny this. This is the symptom of the asura. So from this instruction you can understand who is a rascal and asura. As soon as they say that "There is no God. The world is created by chance. By chance..." Aparaspara-bhūtam. Aparaspara: "One thing mixed with another thing..."
The beginning we see that... Vivekananda Swami, he took sannyāsa and meditation. Later on, after his touring in the Western countries, he came to India to open hospitals, schools, like that. But if the world is false, then why you are coming to open school and hospitals? Because they could not get... And some other sannyāsī also, he is now taking part in politics. If jagat is mithyā, why you are taking part in politics? These question are there.
Actually they do not know what is what, what is the adjustment. But our philosophy, Vaiṣṇava philosophy, we don't say that "There is no God" or "This world is created by accident or combination of matter." We don't say that. We say that God is the creator. Not we say, but the Vedānta says. The essence of Vedic knowledge, Vedānta philosophy, Vyāsadeva, he says that janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "The source of janma or creation, the maintenance and annihilation, the source..." Where it is? Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. This is Vedic information. That is Brahman, wherefrom everything is coming. The same thing is said in the Vedānta-sūtra. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Athāto brahma jijñāsā.
Nitāi: "They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control. It is produced of sex desire, and has no cause other than lust."
Prabhupāda:
- asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te
- jagad āhur anīśvaram
- aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ
- kim anyat kāma-haitukam
- (BG 16.8)
This is the atheistic theory, asatyam. They say that this material world is false. Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Jagat, jagat means this cosmic manifestation which is gacchati, going. In the material world, everything is going. Just like in your city you see the cars, motor cars. They are going here and there, gacchati, very busy. Every man is going here and there. Similarly, the whole planetary system also, beginning from its birth up to the annihilation it is going, moving, orbit. It is going. Everything is going, moving. Even the sun, it has got its orbit. Yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā samasta..., aśeṣa-tejāḥ, yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. The... Just like the earth has its orbit—it is rotating—similarly, every planet is rotating. The sun is also rotating. And so far I calculate, it is sixteen thousand miles per minute or second. I calculated once. The sun is rotating sixteen thousand miles either per minute or per second. I forget now.
So there is order-giver. There is controller, the Supreme Lord, and there is order-carrier, the sun-god. Otherwise who is carrying the order? If it is only a lump of matter, then who will carry out the order? Now, this Tokyo city if it is a lump of matter only, then how the systematic order of traffic rules and regulation is... It is not only lump of matter, but there is somebody, the government or the king or the president, who is maintaining the order. This is conclusion. This is analogy. Then how you say that there is no controller? Where is your logic? Can anybody give any logic that there is no...
These rākṣasas, they say there is no God, there is no controller, but where is the logic? How you can say so? What is your analogy? What is your logic, that you say there is no God? Let us discuss. Can anybody say here? What is the idea? If things are going on systematically, the planets are moving in the orbit systematically, everything is going on... Just like same example. Always remember. I may be foreigner, but because I see that on the street the cars are moving in order, the police is standing, there must be government. That is... I may know or not, but this is common sense affair. There must be government, and there is government. Similarly, when I see that the cosmic order is working so nicely, systematically and reasonably, then how I can say there is no controller? Where is my logic? Tell me, anyone. Can you say, anyone, why they say there is no controller? Jagad āhur anīśvaram (BG 16.8). What is their logic? You tell. You are sometimes on their side. (laughter) What is their logic?
Nitāi: "They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control. It is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust."
Prabhupāda:
- asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te
- jagad āhur anīśvaram
- aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ
- kim anyat kāma-haitukam
- (BG 16.8)
This is the verdict of the asuras. We have discussed the characteristics of asuras for the last two days. Now, gradually, Kṛṣṇa is explaining the demonic characteristic. He has explained the divine characteristic extensively before this. Now He is explaining what are the demonic characteristics. So, nāpi cācāraḥ. They even do not know how to live nicely. That verse we have already discussed last night.
Therefore they say, jagad āhur anīśvaram (BG 16.8). Anīśvaram: "There is no pilot. It is moving automatically." This is asuric conclusion. How it can move? Where is your experience that simply combination of material thing can move the machine? Where is your experience? How do you say like that? It is very common sense. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said these rascals, these demons, they say, jagad āhur anīśvaram: (BG 16.8) "There is no controller." He's thinking. The scientist thinking. He's practically doing in the laboratory, that he is a spiritual soul. He is mixing the chemicals, hydrogen, oxygen, acid and alkaline. He's mixing, and there is reaction. Then something is coming out. He's doing that. Still, he says, "There is no God." What is this foolishness? Why do they say like that? Therefore they are asuras. They do not admit the existence. Big, big chemist...
Recently there is a book "Chemical Evolution." He wants to prove it, that by combination of chemicals the life has come in. That is not the fact. The fact is: life has come from life. You cannot manufacture life by combination of chemical. Chemical comes from life. In our book... What is that book? "Life Comes From Life." I have given this reason, that even though you think that chemical combination brings the living force, but the chemical is coming from life. Just like citric acid. The citric acid we see practically. There is a tree, lemon tree. This is life.
They say because they are not very intelligent. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, mūḍha. Mūḍha. That is stated in the Seventh Chapter. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Those who are duṣkṛtina... Duṣkṛtina means very intelligent, but the intelligence is being misused in mischief-mongering. They are called duṣkṛtina. Kṛti. Kṛti means very nice brain, but duṣkṛti—the brain is used for creating misgivings. They will explain like that. But we should be very much careful not to become their victim. So although the atheists say there is no God, jagad āhur anīśvaram (BG 16.8), but we are convinced that God is the origin-janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1)—of both matter and spirit. So aparaspara-sambhūtam, they simply explain that it is the result of combination only.
Just like acid and alkaline combine together. Just like soap. Soap is combination of acid and alkaline. The caustic soda is alkaline, and the fat is acid. So you mix this acid and alkaline—there is another product. This is chemical science. So the acid and alkaline, they also come from the, I mean to say, life. Or if it does not come from the life, the product is made by another life.
So, on the basis of this vision, that "there is no God, there is no background of this material creation, this material creation is false..." There are so many other conclusions of the demonic people. Demon and atheist, the same thing. So Kṛṣṇa says, on this blind vision, etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya. Accepting these are the basic principles of this material creation. Etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya naṣṭa ātmānaḥ. Lost their spiritual consciousness. Naṣṭa means lost. Ātmānaḥ means the soul, the Supersoul. So ātmā, Paramātmā. The Supersoul is Paramātmā, and we are soul. So they have no knowledge. The defect of the modern civilization...
The demons and the rākṣasas, they're existing always. As I have told you, two classes of men are always there. But in this age the number of atheist class, or demons, are very much increased. Otherwise, material world means for the demons, atheistic class. Just like the prisonhouse. The prisonhouse means it is meant for the criminals. One may be a first-class prisoner, one may be a third-class prisoner, but it is prisonhouse. Similarly, anyone who is in this material world—never mind whether he is Lord Brahmā or the insignificant ant—they are more or less all criminals. Criminal means disobeying. Disobeying the Lord or His order, they are materially criminal.
Therefore I am eternal servant of God," Simple thing. "God is great." Everyone says, "God is great," but he is trying to be as great as God. How it is possible? If you are so powerful—you can become as great as God—then why you are trying to become God if you are actually as great as God? That answer they cannot give. Why you have fallen into this material world as a very, very small, insignificant? God is not insignificant. That is demonic idea. Therefore it is called etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya. Their vision is not very correct. Etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya naṣṭa ātmānaḥ. Naṣṭa means lost, lost. Just like if you are lost of your intelligence, you can talk all nonsense. Naṣṭātmānaḥ. "There is no God" means naṣṭātmānaḥ. He's not very intelligent. He has lost his intelligence. Ātmānaḥ. Naṣṭātmānaḥ. Why naṣṭātmānaḥ? Alpa-buddhayaḥ: the intelligence is not very sharp, alpa, poor fund of knowledge. Poor fund of knowledge. On account of poor fund of knowledge they think like that: "There is no God. I am God," and so on, so on, "There is no basic principle of this creation." They do not know.
| Page Title: | There is no God (Lectures, BG) |
| Compiler: | Mayapur, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 04 of Oct, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=51, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 51 |