Bhakti-rasa is better than liberation, mukti. Because generally the Māyāvādī philosophers, jñāni-sampradāya, they consider mukti means to merge into the spiritual existence, Brahman. Brahma-sayujya-mukti, to, to merge into the impersonal Brahman effulgence of the Absolute. They consider it, that is the highest. And the Buddha philosophers, they think to make all these activities zero, śūnyavādī. Dismantle. Because on account of this combination of matter, earth, water, fire, air, ether, this body's made, and the body is subjected to pains and pleasure on account of this mixture. So Buddha philosophy is that you dismantle this mixture. Let earth go to the earth portion and water portion to the water portion. Then there is no existence of the body, and there is no pains and pleasure. Make it zero. This is called śūnyavādī. And the Māyāvādī, their philosophy is stop this variegatedness. We are suffering pains and pleasure within this material world on account of these varieties. So these varieties, they are on, built on the foundation of the Supreme Spirit. So merge into the Supreme Spirit and get out of these varieties. This is their philosophy. So the Buddha philosophy or the Māyāvāda philosophy, they're almost one, because their ultimate goal is to make things zero.
Ultimate goal (Lectures, Other)
Expressions researched:
"ultimate goal"
Lectures
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
That information we get from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, āruhya kṛccheṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanti adhaḥ: After great perseverance, austerity, penances, they merge into the Brahman effulgence, but they again fall down. They again fall down.
So that is not our ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to take shelter unto the lotus feet of the Lord. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas (SB 10.2.32). Simply to concoct that I become, I have become liberated. And, that... Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. They, those who are thinking that they have become liberated simply by merging into the Brahman effulgence, they are aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, they are still, their intelligence is not very clear, not purified. Why? Now, although they have gone there, and thinking that they are liberated, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ patanti (SB 10.2.32), they'll fall down.
Then we can understand the teachings of the Vedas. Vedas means vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). Any way you go, either... Bhagavad-gītā is also Vedic literature. Bhāgavata is also Vedic literature. So either you take directly Vedas, Īśopaniṣad, or Upaniṣad, the ultimate goal is to understand Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to give Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāra. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung that vaiṣṇava ṭhākura, tomāra kukura baliyā jānaha more. He's presenting himself, "My dear sir, Vaiṣṇava, kindly accept me as your dog." Davita... What is that song? You have forgotten?
In the first part there are four waves, the first being a general description of devotional service. The second concerns the regulative principles for executing devotional service and the third wave is devotional service in ecstasy. In the fourth is the ultimate goal, love of God. These will be explicitly described, along with their different symptoms. The authorized description of bhakti, or devotional service..."
And philosophical speculation refers to the sort of speculation which ultimately arrives at a conclusion of voidism or impersonalism. This conclusion is useless for a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Only rarely by philosophical speculation can one reach the conclusion of worshiping Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā itself. The ultimate end of philosophical speculation, then, must be Kṛṣṇa, with the understanding that Kṛṣṇa is everything, the cause of all causes, and that one should therefore surrender unto Him. If this ultimate goal is reached, then philosophical advancement is favorable, but if the conclusion of philosophical speculation is voidism or impersonalism, that is not bhakti."
So unless one is led to the conclusion vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19), jñāna-vairāgya-karma, anything that you are trying to achieve, if it is not targeted to the realization of Vāsudeva, then it... Śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8). That is the conclusion of Bhāgavata. Whatever you do, the ultimate goal should be realization of Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). All Vedic conclusions should be ultimately to realize Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). This realization is achieved after many, many births of philosophical speculation, mystic yogic exercise or fruitive activities. Koṭi-karmī-madhye eka jñānī śreṣṭha. To become karmī is the third-class stage of life. One has to make progress further, so that one may become self-realized, brahma-bhūtaḥ. So out of many, many karmīs, one jñānī, or one who has realized his identification, he's better.
"It can be concluded that a person who is freed from the bodily concept of life is an eligible candidate for pure devotional service." People generally think that by, through devotional service, one rises to the platform of Brahman-jñāna, nirbheda brahmānu-sandhana. Even the so-called devotees—they are called sahajiyās—their ultimate goal is to merge into the existence of Brahman. That Rajani Sena, Bombay, he's also preaching in that way. And their process is very abominable. The, the sahajiyās, they also think like that, that by sex one can rise to that platform of merging into the effulgence of Brahman.
Bhavānanda: "Their ultimate goal is to become one with the Lord. This concept is simply an extension of the material idea. In the material world..."
Prabhupāda: Our concept is also to become one with God, but not that I become one with God; I agree with God. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). I agree, "Yes, Sir. So long I was foolishly conducted. Now I surrender unto You."
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
That's a fact. Unless the loving propensity is there in the Supreme, how it can be reflected? Because this is perverted reflection only, so there must be the origin. So the Māyāvādī philosophers, they cannot understand this. Because they have got bitter experience of this material world, they try to make zero or without any varieties the ultimate goal. Śūnyavādi. Nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi. The nirviśeṣavāda, impersonalism and voidism, they are of the same nature. The Buddhist philosopher, they say, "Ultimately, everything is zero."
Suppose you are very in exalted position, you are minister or king or some..., but you'll not be allowed to stay. But these foolish persons, they do not know. They do not try to understand that "What is my next position?" Therefore they are called mad. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vi... Madman doing, he does not know what is the ultimate goal because they do not know that there is life after death. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). They do not know that. Therefore they are mad after this sense gratification.
This is the name given by the Arabians to the, this part of the world, on the bank of the Sindhu. From the Sindhu the word "Hindu" has come. So actually, our culture is varṇāśrama-dharma. Therefore śāstra says, varṇāśramācāravatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān (CC Madhya 8.58). In the varṇāśrama-dharma, the ultimate goal is to worship Lord Viṣṇu, whose name is Yajña. Out of many names of Lord Viṣṇu, one name is Yajña, Yajña-puruṣa. So anything performed to satisfy the Supreme Lord, that is called yajña.
So those who are merging into the Supreme Absolute, the jñānīs... Their ultimate goal is to merge into the Absolute Truth in His impersonal feature. That's all right; you can do so. That is also not this material; that is also spiritual. That is not material. If you want to merge... Generally, people think that is the ultimate goal. But that is not the ultimate goal. In the Īśopaniṣad you'll find that it is said that "Please wind up Your effulgence so that I can see the actual face." The same example that the sunshine is light. There is no doubt about it. This is different from darkness. This material world is darkness. Tamasi mā jyotir gamaḥ. The jyoti, the brahma-jyotir... It is recommended in the Vedas that you try to approach the jyoti; don't remain in this darkness of material world. That is the injunction of Vedas.
So yogis, they find out Kṛṣṇa. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yogis try to find out the Paramātmā, and the jñānīs, they are trying to find out the brahma-jyotir, and similarly, the bhakta is trying to find out Kṛṣṇa. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. So in this way Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate goal. But those who are addicted to Brahman or Paramātmā, they are also addicted to Bhagavān, but in different features. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam (SB 1.2.11). Knowledge of Brahman, knowledge of Paramātmā and knowledge of Kṛṣṇa is the same, but in different features. Just like knowledge of the sun planet, knowledge of the sun god and knowledge of the sunshine, they... Knowledge is the same—heat and light—but the heat and light which you receive from sunshine is different from the heat and light from the sun globe, and the heat and light in the sun globe is different from the sun-god.
So after understanding our relationship with Kṛṣṇa... Every understanding has its ultimate goal. So the understanding is that we are eternally related with Kṛṣṇa. Forgetting this relationship, we are now engaged in relationship with this material body, which I am not. Therefore I have to revive my activities which is directly in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And that is called to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And development of that Kṛṣṇa consciousness will be ended in love of, full love of Kṛṣṇa. When we reach that stage, love of God, love of Kṛṣṇa, then we love everyone because Kṛṣṇa is everyone. Without coming to that central point, our love on the material conception of life—equality, fraternity, brotherhood—are all simply cheating process. That is not possible. So come to that stage.
That bhakti, that process of devotional service, is very dear to the actual transcendentalist, very dear. Bhaktiḥ punāti man-niṣṭhā. Man-niṣṭhā. To know simply "I believe in God," that is not sufficient. The ultimate goal is to attain very intimate relationship or love of Godhead. That is required. Of course, to know, to believe in God, to accept God, that is all right. It is better than the atheist. But that is not end. You must develop yourself. You must... You should not simply make God as your order-supplier, but you should be order-supplier. When I become order-supplier to God, that is my perfection. And so long I keep God as my order-supplier, that is not bhakti.
When I become order-supplier to God, that is my perfection. And so long I keep God as my order-supplier, that is not bhakti. Generally, people keep God as his order-supplier: "O God, give us our daily bread," "O God, I am in distress, "O God, I am in difficulty, "O God, I am..." God supplies them. God is supplying. Eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. But that is not ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is that you should supply God. God will be dependent on you. That is bhakti.
So they recommended this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So in the Padma Purāṇa also there is similar passages. In Bhāgavatam also, there are similar passages. In all Vedic literature, the same thing is there. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). The last target and the last goal, ultimate goal, is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). Bhāgavata says, akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā (SB 2.3.10). Even if you are this materially desiring, still, you should go to Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa also confirms, bhajate mām ananya bhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ (BG 9.30). Api cet su-durācāro. One should not ask God. But still, if one asks, he's accepted, because he has come to the point, Kṛṣṇa. That is his good qualification.
Nobody can know Him. But at least to that point, if we can reach... That is also very difficult. Simply to reach to that point, there are the struggle. So many scholars, so many still, coming to the nearest point, still, they say, "Oh, not Kṛṣṇa, not Kṛṣṇa. It is impersonal. It is impersonal." So this knowledge is acquired by the grace of the Supreme Lord, by the association of pure devotees. Satāṁ prasaṅgāt mama vīrya-saṁvidaḥ, one can attain this qualification. And if some way or other, either by faith or by knowledge or by association or by accident, if one comes to this point, that "Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme, is the ultimate goal," then his life is perfect.
So the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, is the ultimate goal. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat asti kiñcid dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, "There is nothing more superior than Me." So this statement of Bhagavad-gītā is also confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by this verse. Ānanda-mātram. In the transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is simply ānandam, blissful. We should note it that this body, our material body, is nirānandam, is without ānanda. We are trying to adjust to have ānanda, or pleasure, by the limited resources of our senses, but actually, there is no ānanda, bliss. It is all miserable.
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
There is no question of śata cakra, or this cakra. No. It is direct contact with Kṛṣṇa. And if one is in direct contact with Kṛṣṇa, what other method does he require? Everything is... Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim. If you are in direct touch with Kṛṣṇa, then where is the necessity of other tapasya? Everything is finished. Your ultimate goal is obtained. And nārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim. And if you could not touch Kṛṣṇa, then where is this nonsense, yoga and jñāna? They're useless. You could not touch Kṛṣṇa. These things are... Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim, nārādhito yadi haris tapasā tathā kim.
Festival Lectures
So, to understand Kṛṣṇa, simply if we read as a formality the Vedic literature, it will be very difficult to understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Vedesu durlābhaṁ. Although all the Vedas are meant for understanding Kṛṣṇa. In the Bhagavad-gītā, it is said, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo. Aham eva vedyo. What is the use of studying Vedas if you do not understand Kṛṣṇa? Because the ultimate goal of education means to understand the Supreme Lord, the supreme father, the supreme cause. As it is said in the Vedānta-sūtra, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Brahma-jijñāsā, to discuss about the Supreme Absolute Truth, Brahman. What is that Brahman? Janmādy asya yataḥ. That Brahman means wherefrom everything emanates. So science, philosophy, means to find out the ultimate cause of everything. That we are getting from the śāstras, Vedic literature, that Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam. Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam.
Miserable condition of life: tri-tāpa-yantanaḥ. So this is called mukti, or liberation, from the misera... Ātyantika-duḥkha-nivṛttiḥ. Duḥkha, duḥkha means distress. So everybody is trying to get out of distress. But he does not know what is the ultimate goal of getting out of distress. Na te viduḥ. They do not know. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). One can be out of distress when he approaches Viṣṇu. Tad viṣṇuṁ paramaṁ padaṁ sada paśyanti sūrayaḥ. Tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam. The Viṣṇu planet... Just like here in the material world they're trying to go to the moon planet, but these foolish people do not know what they'll gain even they go to the moon planet. It is one of the material planets. Kṛṣṇa has already said in the Bhagavad-gītā, abrahma-bhuvanāl lokān.
"Arjuna, you are talking like a very learned man, but you are lamenting on the subject matter on which no learned man laments." Aśocyān anvaśocas tvam.
So such kind of welfare activity concerning the body, like hospital and so many other things, they are good undoubtedly, but the ultimate goal is to see the interest of the soul. That is ultimate goal. That is the whole Vedic instruction. And Kṛṣṇa begins from this point. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). So when Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to do some para-upakāra...
Anyone can become a brāhmaṇa, anyone can become a kṣatriya, anyone can become a sannyāsī, anyone can become a brahmacārī provided he acts according to the quality of the work.
So here Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya: "Everyone has got a particular type of occupational duty, but the ultimate goal of that duty is saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). If you want to make perfection of your duty, then you have to satisfy the Supreme Lord." It doesn't matter what you are. You may be a brahmacārī, you may be a householder, you may be in renounced order of life, and you may be a laborer class, you may be a brāhmaṇa, or you may be administrator. Whatever you may be, it doesn't matter. But your duty, your occupational service, will attain perfection when you try to satisfy the Supreme Lord by your occupation. That is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Just like this child, because it has got a certain type of body, its consciousness is not so developed. But when this body will be grown up, when this girl will be young, then her consciousness also will be different. Not will be, it will develop. Similarly, our consciousness should develop. The perfection, the ultimate goal, the limit of development is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The consciousness is developing one after another in different bodies, but Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that is the ultimate development. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). This is the definition how consciousness reaches its perfection. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante. That perfection is reached after many, many births. Just like aquatics, plants, trees, reptiles, birds, beasts, then uncivilized human form of body, then civilized form of body, and especially the Vedic style of body. That is considered to be the highest perfectional body.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
That is the difficulty, that those who are foolish people, they are taking leading part. That is the defect of modern civilization. One who has no knowledge, he is taking the part of a teacher. So a hodgepodge, must be. He is speaking something hodgepodge. Just like this, one does not know what is Vedānta, and he is reading Vedānta. It is very simple truth. Veda means knowledge, and anta means end. There must be something, ultimate, goal. But the modern process is that we go on unlimitedly, but never we come to the end. Is it not like that? What do you think?
Initiation Lectures
"No, I don't want any more. I am completely satisfied." Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce (CC Madhya 22.42). Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. He said, "I am now completely satisfied. I have, I haven't got to ask anything, benediction." That is the progress and ultimate goal of bhakti. As soon as one is saturated with bhakti, he has no more demand, no more attraction for this material world. Not... Kṛṣṇa attraction means decreasing attraction for the material world. Go on. (chants japa) One can test his advancement for spiritual life, how he is being detached to the material life. That's all. It is not to be taken certificate from others. Just like when you eat, you haven't got to take certificate from others. You'll feel, "Yes, I'm satisfied." That's all. You don't require, while eating nicely, you don't require to take certificate: "Am I eating nicely?"
General Lectures
Otherwise, whatever, however a great philosopher, scientist, or anything you may be, you'll simply hover on the material, mental plane. That's all.
So either you call perfect knowledge or you call happiness, anything, what you call, if you want to know the ultimate goal of your life perfectly, you have to follow a different method. A different method. That method is called avaroha-panthā. There are... All methods of acquiring knowledge can be divided into two groups. One group is called āroha-panthā, or research, inductive process. And another method is called deductive process, or avaroha-panthā. The knowledge coming from the supreme source, that is called avaroha-panthā, and the knowledge which is being sought after by using our imperfect senses, that is called āroha-panthā. Ascending process and descending process. So by ascending process, we can never come to the real knowledge. That is not possible, because our senses are imperfect.
Therefore the impersonalists or the void philosophers, their process of so-called yoga is simply troublesome, and maybe some profit there, but the ultimate profit, they cannot have. It is not possible. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly said that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ: (BG 6.47) "Of all the yogis, the one who is thinking of Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu..." Because that is the ultimate goal. One has to come to the point. That point, of course, one has to come ultimately, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19), after many, many births. It is simply obstinacy. One who does not take to the meditation of God, or they want to meditate in something other, void or impersonal—that is not possible; that is simply troublesome—so simply they are wasting time because ultimately they have come to this point of personal conception of the Supreme Lord. Bahūnāṁ janmanām, after many, many births, if they are fortunate enough to meet some real devotee, then he becomes enlightened.
We are not blindly following. We have not dogmatism. We have got reason, philosophy, and everything, science. If you want to understand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness on the basis of philosophy, logic and science, we are prepared to present to you. But the ultimate goal is to surrender unto the Supreme. So although you will find some of the students joining us, they are not very great philosopher or great scientist or great educationist, but they have accepted the reality, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they are the highest yogis. They are highest yogi. Just like if somebody is offering one million dollars, one may understand it or may not understand it, what is the value of one million dollars. But if one has got that one million of dollars, then he is rich man undoubtedly.
Here is one point. He says that "You have liberated me. Now let me know what is my duty." This is very important point. The Māyāvādī philosopher, they think that liberation is the ultimate goal. Just like in Buddha philosophy, the nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa means annihilation of material existence. Nirvāṇa. They think that as soon as there is annihilation of this material existence, that is the final goal. The Māyāvādī philosopher or the impersonalist, they think that not only to get freedom from this material existence, but to remain in spiritual status, jñānam, simply in the knowledge that "I am spirit soul. I am merged into the spirit soul," that is their goal. But here, the Sanātana Gosvāmī, he belongs to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy. He says, "Now what is my duty?"
So this discussion of rasa-līlā is the summit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not ordinary thing. They're purely spiritual. There is nothing material. But because we are not completely free from material concept of life, we may think that Kṛṣṇa's līlā is something like this material. So that is offense. But that is the ultimate goal, to understand Kṛṣṇa's rasa-līlā. But you have to wait for relishing that Kṛṣṇa's rasa-līlā, to become more perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Anarthāpagamam. Anartha means when one is freed from all anarthas. But it is so nice, even those who are with anartha, misgivings, if they are devotee, if they have got full surrender unto Kṛṣṇa, so they also will derive benefit.
That is sum and substance of rasa-līlā. So if you go to Vṛndāvana and if you like to dance with Kṛṣṇa, the facility is for you. That is the ultimate goal of our life. If you want to love Kṛṣṇa similarly as the gopīs loved, you can have the chance. Or if you want to love Kṛṣṇa as His cowherds boyfriend, that chance is also there. If you want to love Kṛṣṇa as child, that chance is also there. Any capacity you try to love Kṛṣṇa... Kṛṣṇa is ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). "Anyone who worships Me or loves Me in any way, I am prepared to answer." He can answer... Just like Nṛsiṁha-deva. Because Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted to love Kṛṣṇa by becoming enemy, so He also answered as enemy. So there are twelve kinds of reciprocal exchange—seven secondary and five primary.
Because, as I quoted the verse from Bhagavad-gītā, yoginām api sarveṣām (BG 6.47). Sarveṣām means all. There are different kinds of yogis. So "Out of different kinds of many yogis," mad-gatenāntarātmanā, "one who is thinking of Me always within his heart," mad-gatenāntarāt..., śraddhāvān bhajate mām, "and is engaged in My service with faith and devotion," sa me yuktatamo, "oḥ, he is the first-class yogi." He is the first-class yogi. Because yoga means to contact the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the ultimate goal. So if by some process you can at once contact the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is first class. That is made easy in this age. Simply by chanting Kṛṣṇa, you immediately contact. Immediately. So why not take this process? Why not try? Just give a try and reach immediately. That is our proposal. We request everyone, "Try this process." Yes?
So aṣṭāṅga-yoga, meditation, that is not possible. But if you are satisfied by doing some imitation, that is different thing. But if you want right perfection, then you have to execute all the different stages of yoga practice, aṣṭāṅga-yoga. There are eight divisions: dhyāna, dhāraṇā, āsana, prāṇāyāma... So if it is not possible, then it is waste of time. What is the ultimate goal of yoga process or meditation? To contact the Supreme, the Supersoul, the Supreme Lord. That is the aim and object of yoga process. Similarly, philosophical research, jñāna process, that is also, the aim is to understand Supreme Brahman, realize Brahman. So they are recognized process undoubtedly, but according to authoritative description, those processes are not practical in this age. Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. Therefore one has to take to this process of hari-kīrtana.
Well, same goal, you just try to understand. Same goal... Suppose you have to go to the forty-second or one hundredth story. Now, you are stepping one after another. The goal is there, the forty-second story, but you cannot claim, after going a few steps, you say that "I have come to the forty-second story." The path is one. That's all right. But you have to reach the ultimate goal. You do not know what is the ultimate goal. You simply say all paths reach to this goal, but you do not know what is goal.
Just try to understand. Prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ: "I am the shining in the sun and the moon. I am the sound in the sky." So this light, sound, these are scientific studies. Kṛṣṇa says, Bhagavān says, that "I am the sound in the sky." So if you can practically study sound, light, nicely, scientifically, then you'll see Kṛṣṇa also. That is required. Education means to find out the ultimate goal, Absolute Truth. In whatever field of education you may be, that doesn't matter. But try to find out the ultimate. Because in the Vedānta-sūtra it is said, "What is Absolute Truth?" The first question in the Vedānta-sūtra is athāto brahma jijñāsā.
This is not Brahman realization. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Equal: "Oh, if somebody pinches me, I suffer." Lord Buddha preached this Brahman realization, that if you suffer by others' pinching, why should you pinch others? Nonviolence.
So everyone stops to different stages of Brahman realization, but the ultimate goal, as we get from Vedic literature, is mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54). When one is perfect in Brahman realization, he's engaged in devotional service, bhakti. After being liberated from material concept of life, when one is actually in the Brahman state of transcendental life, he can begin this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate... Why? Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). Because without going to that stage, you cannot understand God. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti. It is not said that by meditation, by philosophical speculation, one can understand God. No.
Otherwise, why Kṛṣṇa says that sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66)? Sarva-dharmān means the dharma-śāstra also. Simply surrender. But people are so rigid and so, I mean to say, doggish, that they do not like to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. For them only, so many different ways of convincing. Otherwise, the whole purpose is to induce him to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vidyam. Kṛṣṇa says. All these Vedic literatures, they are meant for bending the stubborn atheist to come to this point. Therefore there are so many ways of... Otherwise, the ultimate goal is to surrender to Kṛṣṇa and chant His holy name.
Actually, our miserable condition of life is due to our forgetfulness. As I said yesterday, day before yesterday, this material existence is a condemned position of the living entities, exactly like a criminal is placed in the prisonhouse. Now, the whole Vedic literature is meant for getting us liberated from this condition of life. So far Bhagavad-gītā is concerned, the same aim is there because at the ultimate instruction, Lord Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That is the ultimate goal. We have to come to that point, to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It may take hundreds of years or hundreds of births, but unless we come to that point, our life is simply frustration. Śrama eva hi kevalam.
By love of God. When you evolve your dormant love of Godhead, your vision becomes different. That is called premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). They are also yogis. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ (BG 6.47). The same process. Either you go through the haṭha-yoga process or jñāna-yoga process, the ultimate goal is Kṛṣṇa, ultimate goal is Viṣṇu.
Therefore the spirit soul is important, not this body. So actual knowledge means to understand what is the spirit soul, what is its nature, what is its necessity, how it is living, what is the ultimate goal. So many things are there. But unfortunately, there is no educational institution. We are trying with little effort to give this education to the people. It is essential because Kṛṣṇa says, gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca. So far material part of our existence is concerned, there are so many institutions or so many government. They are taking... Just like take, for example, hospital. There are hundreds and thousands of hospital, but where is the hospital for treating the spirit soul? They have no knowledge. They have no knowledge even, what to speak of hospital. This is the hospital. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness temple is the hospital for the diseased spirit soul. And everyone is diseased. Come to this hospital.
So Vedic knowledge means ultimately to become a brāhmaṇa. That means to know God. That is Vedic knowledge. And the summary of Vedic knowledge is here in the Bhagavad-gītā, because here God directly is instructing about Himself. Therefore it is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. The ultimate goal of Vedic knowledge is to know God. But we cannot know God. We have blunt senses. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). With these material senses, blunt senses, imperfect senses, we cannot understand God. That is not possible. But if we can please God by your service, by our love, He reveals Himself, revelation. That is the process.
Nikuñja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai yā yālibhir yuktir apekṣaṇīyā **. So the ultimate goal of the spiritual master is that he wants to be transferred to the planet of Kṛṣṇa, where he wants to associate with the gopīs to help them to serve Kṛṣṇa. Some, some of them are, some of the devotees, spiritual master, they are thinking of becoming assistants to the gopīs, some of them are thinking to be assistants to the cowherds boy, some of them are thinking to be assistant to Mother Yaśodā or Nanda, and some of them are thinking to the servants of God. Or some of them are thinking how to become a flower, tree, a fruit tree or a calf or a cow in Vṛndāvana. There are five kinds of mellows: śānta, dāsya, sākhya, vātsalya and mādhurya. The... Everything is there spiritual. That I shall describe next.
We are educating people how to get out of the clutches of illusion that continually, one after another, we have to take birth. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). Real problem is this. So if we take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness—that means if we understand, "What is God? What I am? What is our relationship? What is the ultimate goal of our life?" If these things we understand, then we can get out of the clutches of illusion, repetition of birth, death, old age and disease. This is the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, sum and substance. And to realize this, the method is very simple-chant the holy name of God. We are chanting the holy name of God: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. So our only request is that you have got this human form of body—don't misuse it. Don't waste it like animals simply by eating, sleeping, mating, and defending.
So our request is, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that you study Bhagavad-gītā. You don't require... Because Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). Vedas means if you are actually a student of Veda or Vedānta, Veda-Vedānta, then the ultimate goal is to understand Kṛṣṇa. And if you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, however big Vedāntist you may be, you remain a fool. This is the conclusion of Bhagavad-gītā.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: As far as pushing on your Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, just like constructing this big building, you require some money. So if you go somewhere to take that money, you must please him; otherwise you cannot get money. But his pleasing that man is not the ultimate goal. Ultimate goal is to please Kṛṣṇa. But for pleasing Kṛṣṇa, this is a temporary method I have accepted, just to please Him.
Śyāmasundara: What about the businessman who goes to please that man for his...
Prabhupāda: When a businessman goes to please somebody, he wants the money for himself. That is the difference. But when we go to please somebody, to get some money, our ultimate aim is to please Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth. Therefore the means adopted, even if it is relative truth, that becomes Absolute Truth. The end justifies the means. Because the means is adopted, just like Kṛṣṇa advises Arjuna, "Just go and tell Droṇācārya that his son is dead," although his son was not dead.
Prabhupāda: So how they can be philosopher if they have no ultimate goal?
Śyāmasundara: He says they are not really philosophers; they are mental speculators.
Prabhupāda: So mental speculator anyone can become, without any aim. What is this? Ship without a rudder, a man without aim.
Śyāmasundara: They said that both of these types of persons become bored with themselves and they get a feeling of emptiness or meaninglessness or despair. He calls it despair, hopelessness, nothingness. So that this pleasure...
Prabhupāda: Then he is right. If the ultimate goal is God and God should be known through Jesus Christ, that is a good proposal.
Śyāmasundara: And he says the in-between stage, this stage is (indistinct), in-between stage is...
Prabhupāda: Why if you know that through Jesus Christ, God can be reached...
Śyāmasundara: That is a higher stage he talks about. He is talking about three levels of existence. In the lower stage, there are... Anyway. The second stage is that they fix one point, no matter whether that point is the highest or not, at least there is a point fixed, and they'll act towards that point, like the piety...
Hayagrīva: But isn't... Materialistic pleasure, he says, serves the death instinct, but doesn't materialistic pleasure just bring out more craving for pleasure?
Prabhupāda: He is making death as the ultimate pleasure. Is it not?
Hayagrīva: Death as the ultimate goal of pleasure.
Prabhupāda: That's all, then commit it immediately. Why you are writing so many book? Commit suicide, that everyone can do that.
Hayagrīva: After, after having sex, most people simply go to sleep, and he felt that this was the, sort of the ultimate extinction.
Prabhupāda: That means Freud is a most imperfect person. He is taking sex as very important thing, which the dog enjoys. As a dog's life and a hog's life, the hog has got very good facility. The monkey has got very good facility for sex life, and he is thinking this is ultimate goal, and then sleep. So that is going on. So if sex life is so big thing, the hogs, they have got good facility. The pigeons, they have got very good facility. I think every hour they have four times sex life, these pigeons. So if that is, then you become a pigeon. You pray to God that "Make me a pigeon, make me a hog." Why you are becoming philosopher? Now our philosophy is different—not to become a pig. Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). The life simply for sense gratification, and for that purpose working so hard, but that is the business of the pig.
We can say that "I am emanating from my mother." So the mother does not eat, then how he, his, her body can continue and how she can give another body within the womb? So ultimately we can see that the earth or the water is the source of emanation of everything. Then we can inquire wherefrom the water comes and wherefrom the earth comes, wherefrom the air comes, wherefrom the fire comes. This is philosophy. Then ultimately when we come, come to the supreme point of emanation, janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "Here is the person, here is the source of everything." So that we must know. Simply in the middle struggling for understanding without any perfect knowledge, what is the value of this philosophy and knowledge? There is no value. You must come to the ultimate goal, the ultimate source of everything. "By accident," "perhaps," that, that is not knowledge. Definite knowledge.
Prabhupāda: Well, that means they could not reach to the ultimate goal of knowledge.
Dr. Rao: Not only that, but the scientists, really, they are changing like anything. Einstein developed the theory, and that theory was thought to be superior to that developed by Newton. Now another theory has been developed which is being thought to be superior than that of Einstein. So these things are only relative. The real scientist can see that all these things are relative. Everything is changing. Our conception of life—somebody says that sun is moving; somebody says earth is moving. But (indistinct) calculation you find that eclipse, lunar or..., (indistinct), it does not not matter which thing is moving and which thing is not moving. It is so complicated.
Śyāmasundara: And his idea is that you have to educate...
Prabhupāda: And what is the ultimate goal of that education? So ultimate goal of education is to come to Kṛṣṇa. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). That is education. (indistinct), she is educated. Why? So ultimate knowledge is that, to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. Surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ (BG 7.19).
Śyāmasundara: His idea is that emotions are what are determining good and bad, and if we educate people into scientific reality...
Śyāmasundara: He only talks about behavior.
Prabhupāda: Behavior, that's all right. Whatever behavior, in the ultimate, goal, everyone is dying so how man can change this condition? Then he can say that there is no God, there is no soul.
Śyāmasundara: His idea is that he wants..., he has one idea: that is to be able to control human behavior.
Prabhupāda: What he wants to do? By a man's behavior... Every man is eating. How he can control? He cannot control.
Prabhupāda: Human intelligence, unless he comes to the point of the Absolute Truth and the original cause of everything, then how his intellect is perfect? One must make progress. Progress means to go to the ultimate goal. If the human being does not know what is the ultimate cause, ultimate goal, then what is the value of his intelligence?
Hayagrīva: Marx felt that religion is a symptom of a degraded man. He wrote, "Religion is the sigh of a distressed creature, the soul of a heartless world, as it is also the spirit of a spiritless condition. It is the opium of the people. The more a man puts into God, the less he retains in himself."
Hayagrīva: His ultimate goal is to merge into what he calls the universal ego.
Prabhupāda: That universal ego, so just like I have got some ego, "I am the husband of my wife," "I am the chief man in my family," "I am the president of the state"—these are egos. But you cannot say that "I am the master of this whole universe." That is false ego.
Hayagrīva: So he feels that one can go through the universe assimilating everything, until one finally unifies with the impersonal Absolute.
Prabhupāda: Yes, ethics is the basic principle of purification. Unless one does..., knows what is moral and what is immoral... Of course, in this material world everything is immoral, but still we have to distinguish good and bad. That is called regulative principle. Simply by following the regulative principle, if he does not reach the ultimate goal of spiritual life, so that is also not wanted. The real aim is to come to the spiritual platform and become free from the influence of these laws of material nature. So passion is the binding force in the material nature. Just like in the prison house the prisoners are kept sometimes chained by some iron shackles and other method, so material nature has given the chain, shackles, of sex life, passion, rajas tamaḥ. Kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ. Rajah-guṇah means the modes of passion. So modes of passion means kama, lusty desires, and krodha. When the lusty desires are not fulfilled, one becomes angry.
Hayagrīva: Insofar as man resembles God, he is ethical. Evil forces within man combat his efforts to attain this ultimate goal. Plato is not a determinist. He emphasized freedom of the will and insisted that evil acts are due to man's failure to live up to his responsibility. They do not come from God, who is all-good.
Prabhupāda: Everything comes from God, but we have to make our choice. This ideal example: that the university comes from the government and the prison house also comes from the government, but the prison house is meant for the criminal and the university is meant for the highly learned scholar. The government spends money in both the departments to maintain it; therefore, so far government's recognition is concerned, it has to be maintained.
Hayagrīva: At the same time Origen differed from the later Church tradition in his belief in the transmigration of the soul. Although he believed that the soul was originally created, he believed that it transmigrated, and it transmigrated because the soul, the individual soul, could always refuse to give itself to God, although he believed that ultimately the time will come when everyone will return, and God's rule will be restored to its original integrity. This differed from later Christian tradition, which said that the choice one made in this one lifetime was decisive for all eternity. Origen doesn't believe this. He believes that you can be reincarnated at the end of this lifetime if you don't attain the ultimate goal. You'd be reincarnated in some other form.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is our version of the Vedas. Unless he is liberated or goes to the kingdom of God, he is, repeats, transforms, or transmigrates from one material body to another, because material body is not eternal. You can enter one material body; the material body grows or it remains for sometime; then it becomes old, and then it is useless for any purpose; you have to give up this material body and enter again into a new material body.
Prabhupāda: Yes, because the world activities must be regulated to the ultimate goal, understanding of God. Human civilization is meant for understanding God. So although the Church or the brāhmaṇas may not directly handle administrative activities, but it must be done under their supervision, or under their instruction. That is Vedic system. The brāhmaṇa is the Church, and the kṣatriya, the administrator. So the administrator used to take instruction from the brāhmaṇas, or one who can deliver a spiritual message. This is also mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā, that Kṛṣṇa, millions of years ago, He instructed the message of Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god. Sun-god is the origin of administrators, kṣatriya.
Purports to Songs
Now Govinda dāsa is reminding his mind: "You have experience of your material happiness. So material happiness means, the ultimate goal of material happiness is sex life. But don't you remember how long you can enjoy this sex life?" Capala. "Flickering. Say, for a few minutes or moment. That's all. But for that purpose you are working so hard?" Śīta ātapa. "Don't care for snowfall. Don't care for scorching heat. Don't care for torrents of rain. Don't care for keeping night, night duty. Whole day and night you are working. And what is the result? Simply for that flickering momentous enjoyment. Are you not ashamed of this?" So śīta ātapa, bāta bariṣaṇa, ei dina jāminī jāgi re. Dina means day, and jāminī means night. So "Day and night, you are working so hard. Why?" Capala sukha-laba lāgi' re. "Simply for that flickering happiness." Then he says, ei dhana yauvana, putra parijana, ithe ki āche paratīti re. "There is no happiness actually, eternal happiness, transcendental happiness, in enjoying this life, or this youthful age, or family, society. There is no happiness, no transcendental happiness."
| Page Title: | Ultimate goal (Lectures, Other) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 25 of Nov, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=62, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 62 |