From the breathing of Mahā-Viṣṇu, the small particles are coming, and they are developing into big manifestation of universal form. Similarly, our desire is also very small. We are very small, one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. Still, we have got desires and everything. And according to the desire, as soon as there is creation, everything fructifies, everything comes out. It is called suptotthita-nyāya. Suptotthita-nyāya means just like one man is sleeping, and in the morning, when he is awakened... In the sleeping stage he forgot himself. He is wandering in dream, some other part of the world. He forgot this body and the bodily circumstances, everything. But as soon as he is awakened, he remembers everything. That darkness of ignorance, covering, is immediately gone, and he remembers that "I will have to do this. I will have to do that. I will have to go to my office or my business place." But when sleeping, he forgot everything. Similarly, in the dormant stage after annihilation, we living entities, we forget everything. Just like at night we are forgetting everything of this bodily activities, and again, during daytime, we are forgetting everything of the night dream. This is going on. Similarly, at the time of annihilation, prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām. Kalpa-kṣaye. When this millennium will be ended, at the end of Brahmā's life, at that time the living entities will stay in the body of the Mahā-Viṣṇu. (aside:) What is that sound? And again, when we are let loose from the deha, and there is creation, our old remembrances all come in, and we begin our life. This is the process of going... Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). Sva-tejasā apibat tīvram ātma-prasvāpanaṁ tamaḥ.
So the darkness is there, and the light is also there. Simply we have to be awakened. Therefore Vedas, they instruct us that "Don't sleep! Get up!" Uttiṣṭhata prāpya varān nibodhata jāgrata. Similarly, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura also sings, kota nidrā jāo māyā-piśācīra kole. Jīv jāgo, jīv jāgo, gauracānda bole. Gauracānda means Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He says, "O the living entities, you get up! Be awakened!" We may say, "Now we are awakened." This is not awakened. This is also slumber in darkness of ignorance. Real awakening is when we come to our spiritual consciousness. That is real awakened. Yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī. This is not, this awakening stage, this is not real awakening. Real awakening comes when we understand, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. At the present moment we are not awakened, still sleeping, because we are thinking, every one of us, "I am this body," "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim." In this way we are conscious of the designation. So we have to get out of the designation, and when we shall understand our real identity, not this bodily identity but spiritual soul identity, that is called brahma-bhūtaḥ. Otherwise we are jīva-bhūtaḥ. So long we are identifying with this body, we are still sleeping. Kota nidrā jāo māyā-piśācīra kole. Just like a child sleeps on the lap of the mother, similarly, we are sleeping on the lap of mother material nature. This is our position.
So we have got the power to be awakened. Sva-tejasā. That power we have got, but we have to awaken it by good association, by sādhu, sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83). Sādhu-saṅga is good association. Then we are awakened. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). If we have little faith that we require awakening of spiritual consciousness, we should not sleep under the spell of this material consciousness... A little faith will help us. It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. Mahato bhayāt. There is great dangerous position. That we do not know because we are sleeping. If a man is sleeping and somebody is coming to kill him, he does not know that "Somebody is coming to kill me. Immediately I will be dead." There are so many cases of murder while a man is sleeping. Similarly, in this sleeping state of ignorance, that "I am this body," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Christian," there is greatest danger. So somebody required. A man is sleeping, and another man is coming to kill him. A third person is required to awaken: "Mr. such and such, get up, get up, get up! The man is coming to kill you." So the ear is open, although the man is sleeping, all other parts of the body, limbs of the body are inactive. So the ear is open. So therefore the Vedic mantras are called śruti. We have to hear the mantra, Vedic mantra. Just like if a man is bitten by snake, he is caused to hear the snake charmer's mantra—still there are—so that he can become awakened. And it is said in the Cāṇakya Paṇḍita śloka, mantrauṣadhi-vaśaḥ sarpaḥ. Mantra is powerful still—by mantra, a snake-bitten person can be brought into life. There are still some snake charmers in the villages. In our Māyāpura there is a Muhammadan, he can cure the snake-bitten case by mantra still.
So this mantra is required, the Vedic mantra, to hear mantra. This chanting of these verses is also hearing the Vedic mantra. So we should take chance, and the most important mantra is mahā-mantra. Mahā-mantra. We are sleeping, but this mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, if we hear somehow or other... Therefore the greatest beneficial activity or welfare activity is to chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra so that others can hear. But unfortunately, when we chant loudly, others they think, "It is nuisance." That is the difficulty. But actually it is the process of awakening: "Get up, get up, get up, get up."