अध्याय 2 : गीता का सार (श्लोक 2 . 51)

अध्याय 2 : गीता का सार

श्लोक 2 . 51

कर्मजं बुद्धियुक्ता हि फलं त्यक्त्वा मनीषिणः |

जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः पदं गच्छन्त्यनामयम्  ५१ 

 

Translation by His Divine Grace Srila A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 

Antya-līlā: Chapter eight: Rāmacandra Purī Criticizes the Lord

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Srila Prabhupada speaks on: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Madras, Jan. 2, 1976

Audio for this lecture: https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/760102sbmad/
Prabhupada Radio: https://prabhupadaradio.com

Prabhupāda:

śrī-prahrāda uvāca
kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
[SB 7.6.1]

This is Prahlāda Mahārāja. He is one of the authorities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There are twelve authorities mentioned in the śāstras:

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
balir vaiyāsakir vayam
[SB 6.3.20]

This is the statement of Yamarāja about the authorities of dharma. Dharma means bhāgavata-dharma. I think I have explained last night, dharma means bhāgavata-dharma. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ [SB 6.3.19]. Just like our Mr. Chief Justice gives judgment on the law. So the law cannot be manufactured by any common man or any businessman. No. Law can be manufactured only by the state, by the government. Nobody can manufacture. That will not give us... If in the high-court, if somebody pleads, "Sir, I have got my own law," Mr. Justice will not accept. [laughs] So similarly, dharma you cannot manufacture. Either you are a very big man... Even Chief Justice, he cannot make a law. The law is given by state. Similarly, dharma means bhāgavata-dharma, and other so-called dharmas, they are not dharmas. They will not be accepted. Exactly in the same way, law manufactured at your home is not accepted. Therefore dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ [SB 6.3.19].

And what is bhagavat-praṇītaṁ dharma? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, we know, everyone. He came, Kṛṣṇa came. His mission was dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya, for establishing the religious principles, or reestablishing. Dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg. 4.7]. So sometimes there is glāni, discrepancies, in the matter of discharging the principles of dharma. At that time, Kṛṣṇa comes. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg. 4.8]. Yuge yuge sambhavāmi. So this dharma... Kṛṣṇa did not come to reorganize the so-called dharmas---Hindu dharma, Muslim dharma, Christian dharma, Buddha's dharma. No. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra [SB 1.1.2]. The dharma which is a type of cheating process, that kind of dharma is projjhita. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṇa ujjhita, means it is thrown away or kicked out. So real dharma is bhāgavata-dharma, real dharma. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja said, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]. Actually dharma means God and our relationship with God and acting according to that relationship so that we may attain the ultimate goal of life. That is dharma---sambandha, abhidheya, prayojana, these three things.

The whole Vedas are divided into three states. Sambandha: what is our connection God. That is called sambandha. And then abhidheya. According to that relationship we have to act. That is called abhidheya. And why do we act? Because we have got the goal of life, to achieve the goal of life. So what is the goal of life? The goal of life is that to go back to home, back to Godhead. That is goal of life. We are part and parcel of God. God is sanātana, and He has His own abode, sanātana. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ [Bg. 8.20]. There is a place ever-existing. This material world, it will not exist forever. It is bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg. 8.19]. It is manifested at a certain date. Just like your body and my body, it is manifested on a certain date; it will stay for some time; it will grow; it will give some by-product; then we become old, dwindling, and then finished. This is called ṣaḍ-vikāra, of anything which is material. But there is another nature where there is no ṣaḍ-vikāra. That is eternal. So that is called sanātana-dharma. And the jīvas, we living entities, we are also described as eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. And the Lord is also addressed as sanātana. So our real situation is that we are sanātana, Kṛṣṇa is sanātana, and Kṛṣṇa has His abode, sanātana. When we go back to that sanātana-dhāma and live with the supreme sanātana, Kṛṣṇa... And we are also sanātana. The process by which we can achieve this highest goal of life, that is called sanātana-dharma. We are executing here sanātana-dharma.

So sanātana-dharma and this bhāgavata-dharma, the same thing. Bhāgavata, Bhagavān. From the word Bhagavān, bhāgavata has come. So this bhāgavata-dharma has been described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He says, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa [Cc. Madhya 20.108]. We are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is. But at the present moment, with our material connection, instead of becoming the servant of God, or Kṛṣṇa, we have become servants of so many other things, māyā, and therefore we are suffering. We are not satisfied. There cannot be. It cannot fit. Just like you take one screw from the machine. If the screw somehow or other falls down, it has no value. But the same screw, when you fit to the machine or the machine is not working for want of one screw, it is in disturbed condition, so you take that same screw and fit it, and the machine working and the screw becomes very valuable. So we are part and parcel of God, Kṛṣṇa. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg. 15.7], He says, Kṛṣṇa. So we are now separated. We are fallen down. Another example is just like big fire and the small sparks. The small spark is also fire so long it is with the fire. And if somehow or other the sparks fall down out of the fire, it extinguishes; there is no more fire quality. But if you take it again and put it into the fire, again it becomes spark.

So our position is like that. Somehow or other, we have come to this material world. Although we are a small particle, fragmental parts of the Supreme Lord, but because we are in this material world we have forgotten our relationship with God, and our... Manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. We are struggling against the laws of material world, so many other things. Here also we are serving, because we are eternally servant. But because we have given up the service of the Supreme Lord, we have been engaged as servant of so many things. But nobody is satisfied, as Honorable Justice said, that nobody is satisfied. That's a fact. It cannot be satisfied. It cannot be satisfied because we are constitutionally servant of God, but we have been placed in this material world to serve so many other things which is not fitting. Therefore we are creating plans of service. That is called mental concoction. Manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg. 15.7]. A struggle. It is a struggle.

So we are making different plans, but it will not be successful. That much I explained last night, that we are thinking independent and we are planning so many things independently to become happy. It is not possible. That is not possible. That is māyā's illusory play. Daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā. You cannot [indistinct]. Then what is the ultimate solution? Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg. 7.14]. If we surrender to Kṛṣṇa, then we revive our original position. That is... Kṛṣṇa consciousness means instead of keeping so many things in consciousness... They are all polluted consciousness. The real con... We have got consciousness, that is a fact, but our consciousness is polluted. So we have to purify the consciousness.

To purify consciousness means bhakti. Bhakti, the definition given in Nārada Pañcarātra... Rūpa Gosvāmī... Rūpa Gosvāmī says,

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
[Brs. 1.1.11]

This is first-class bhakti, that there is no other motive. Anyābhilā... Because here in the material world, under the control of the material nature, prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartā... [Bg. 3.27]. We are under the full control of the prakṛti, material nature. But because we are foolish, we have forgotten our position, so ahaṅkāra, false ahaṅkāra. This is false ahaṅkāra: "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am kṣatriya." This is false ahaṅkāra. Therefore Nārada Pañcarātra says sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. So one has to become free, uncontaminated from all these designations, "I am Indian," "I am American," I am this," "I am that," "I am..." Sarvopādhi vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam. When he is purified, nirmalam, without any designation, that "I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is ahaṁ brahmāsmi.

Kṛṣṇa is Para-brahman. He is described in the Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā. Arjuna... Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam [Bg. 10.12]. Arjuna recognized, and he said, "You are recognized by all the authorities." Prahlāda Mahārāja is one of the authorities. I have described the authorities. Brahmā is authority, Lord Śiva is authority, and Kapila is authority, Kumāra, four Kumāras, they are authorities, and Manu is authority. Similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja is authority. Janaka Mahārāja is authorities. The twelve authorities. So Arjuna confirmed that "You are speaking, Yourself, that You are the Supreme Lord," mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat [Bg. 7.7], "and from discussion of Bhagavad-gītā, I also accept You Para-brahman. And not only that, all the authorities, they also accept You." Recently, in our time, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, all the ācāryas, they also accept Kṛṣṇa. Even Śaṅkarācārya, he accepts Kṛṣṇa. Sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ. So Kṛṣṇa is accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all the ācāryas.

So we have to learn from the ācāryas, not any common man or any self-made ācārya. No. That will not do. Just like we... Sometimes in the court we give some judgment from the other court, and that is taken very seriously because it is authority. We cannot manufacture judgment. Similarly, ācāryopāsanaṁ, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is recommended. We have to go to the ācāryas. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda: "One who has accepted ācārya in the disciplic succession, he knows the things." So all the ācāryas, they accept Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nārada, he accepts; Vyāsadeva, he accepts; and Arjuna also accepts, who personally listened to Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavad-gītā. And Lord Brahmā. Yesterday somebody questioned that "Whether there was the name of Kṛṣṇa before Dvāpara-yuga?" No, there was. In the śāstras there are Kṛṣṇa. In the Vedas, in Atharva Veda and others, Kṛṣṇa name is there. And in the Brahma-saṁhitā---Lord Brahmā, he wrote Brahma-saṁhitā---it is clearly explained there, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādiḥ. Anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [Bs. 5.1]. And Kṛṣṇa also says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya [Bg. 7.7]. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo [Bg. 10.8]. Sarvasya means including all the devatās, all the living entities, everything. And the Vedānta says, janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. So Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Supreme Person, īśvaraḥ paramam, from Lord Brahma. He is the distributor of Vedic knowledge. And Kṛṣṇa says also, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [Bg. 15.15]. This is ultimate goal.

So the bhāgavata-dharmam, bhagavān, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. In the list of the incarnation given in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is name of Kṛṣṇa also. But at the conclusion, Vyāsadeva says, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28]. He concludes that "All the incarnation mentioned here, they are aṁśa-kalāḥ, part, partly manifestation or part of partly manifestation." Kalāḥ means part or partly. "But the name which is mentioned here, Kṛṣṇa, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. [break] Ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. So Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is accepted by all the ācāryas. And in the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna says, asamordhva. Asama: "There is no equal to you, asama; and urdhva, nobody is greater than You." That is God. Supreme means who has no equal, neither anyone is greater than. Everyone is under. That is called asama urdhva. This is there.

So there cannot be any competitor of God. God is one. Ekaṁ brahma dvitīyaṁ nāsti. But He expands in different way. That is explained in the Varāha Purāṇa, svāṁśa vibhinnāṁśa. He expands as Viṣṇu-tattva. That is svāṁśa. And He expands as jīva-tattva. That is vibhinnāṁśa. So we are also expansions of God, vibhinnāṁśa, a small fragmental portion. The qualities are there, very, very small quantity. But the whole potency is there in Kṛṣṇa. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13]. So there is one supreme living being, a supreme eternal, and that is Kṛṣṇa. This is... And to cultivate this knowledge is called bhāgavata-dharma. So Prahlāda Mahārāja, he learned this bhāgavata-dharma when he was a baby within the womb of his mother; he learned this bhāgavata-dharma. So the devotees---śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ---they are engaged with these nine different phases of bhakti.

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
[SB 7.5.23]

So they are different devotees who have accepted one of them. Just like śrī-viṣṇu-śravaṇe parīkṣit. Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he simply heard, listened from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the bhāgavata-dharma. He simply heard. He did not do anything else. Simply by hearing. And abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane. Vaiyāsaki, the son of Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he simply explained bhāgavata. So both of them got the same goal of life, liberation. And liberation means muktir hitvā anyathā rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa avasthitiḥ. This is called mukti. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said.

Mukti means... Just like a person has fallen sick. He cannot work. He cannot go to his office or... So many disadvantages. But when he is cured of the sickness or fever, he again comes to his normal life. Similarly, when we come to our normal life, that is called mukti. Mukti does not mean "Now I have got two hands; I'll get four hands or two heads or five heads." Not like that. Simply to come to our normal condition. That is the definition of bhakti also. Real mukti means to be situated in bhakti. That is mukti. Mukti... Simply to understand that "I am Brahman," that is not mukti. That is mukti... That is like convalescent stage. Just like a man has no fever, but he is not cured. There may be relapse again. There is possibility of relapse, typhoid fever. So the brahmānubhūti, Brahman realization, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, it is mukti but it is not very secure position. One may fall down again. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam = ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukti-māninaḥ. Vimukti-māninaḥ. They think they are Brahma-līna. They think that they have become mukta. But actually they are not muktas. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. He is thinking like that. Why? Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ [SB 10.2.32]. His intelligence is not yet purified. As soon as it is purified, then it is bhakti.

Therefore Bhagavān says that bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate [Bg. 7.19]. He is a jñānavān that... Jñānavān means "I am not this body; I am not matter; I am spirit soul." That is jñāna. Jñāna means there must be vairāgya, detestfulness, that "I have nothing to do with this material world." Jñāna-vairāgya. If there is real jñāna, then there will be vairāgya. Because we are suffering on account of an attachment to this material world, so jñāna means that "I have nothing to do with this material world because I am not this material body." Everyone is engaged in this bodily engagement, so-called, so many "isms," all the activities of the world, because on account of this bodily conception of life. So when one becomes freed from the bodily conception of life he comes to the understanding of Brahman identification, and that is the beginning of mukti. That is not mukti.

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg. 18.54]. As soon as one realizes that "I am not this body, so why I should be interested in so-called social life or political life or this life, that life, because they are all due to this bodily conception of life?" So when one understands that "I am not this body, so what business I have got, this bodily conception of activities?" Prasannātmā, "I have no responsibility. I have no more responsibility with this bodily platform," prasannātmā, he gets relieved of so many engagements on account of this body = "I am Indian. I am a Hindu. I am brāhmaṇa. I am chief of this family. I have to take care of the so many persons," and so on, so many responsibilities. And so he feels relieved = "No, I have no responsibility." Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati [Bg. 18.54]. If he does not identify himself with this matter, then if the matter is lost or gained, what he has got to do with it? Na śocati na kāṅkṣati. Because you have got material attachment, therefore something material lost we lament, and something material we do not possess, we hanker. The two kinds of diseases. So brahma-bhūtaḥ means these things are the symptom = he is joyful, prasannātmā, na śocati na kāṅkṣati, and samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Then he can see, vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇi gavi hastini, śuni caiva śva-pāke..., paṇḍita... [Bg. 5.18]. He has become paṇḍita. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. When these conditions are fulfilled, mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg. 18.54]---then he enters into devotional service.

So devotional service is not a sentiment. It is most scientific, just to become freed from the contamination of this material world. That means one who is devotee, he is already mukta; he is liberated. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that,

māṁ cāvyabhicāriṇi
bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
[Bg. 14.26]

So if you want to be brahma-līna, so that is... Actually brahma-līna means to be engaged twenty-four hours in devotional service. That is brahma-līna. There is not a second vacant without Kṛṣṇa's service. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me: "I am seeing everything vacant without Govinda." That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He is thinking simply on Kṛṣṇa. And without Kṛṣṇa, everything is zero. So simply to make the material world zero, śūnyavādi... Just like the Buddhist philosophers, they think śūnyavādi. And the Māyāvādī, nirviśeṣa. They are practically the same. The Buddhists say, "There is no God." And the Māyāvādīs say, "There is God, but He has no head, tail, nothing." It is in the indirect way to say there is no God. What is difference? If somebody says, "There is no God," and if somebody says, "There is God, but He has no head, He has no tail, He cannot eat, He cannot sleep," negatively---the same definition in a negative way. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that veda na māniyā bauddha haila nāstika. Our standard of philosophy, especially Vaiṣṇava philosophy... Anyone who does not accept the Vedic principle... Because vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [Bg. 15.15]. If you do not accept the Vedic authority, then how you can understand God, Kṛṣṇa? That is not possible. So anyone who says, "There is no God. I don't care for the Vedas," he is calculated as nāstika. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said...

The Buddhists, they decry the authority of Vedas. He had to do that. There was no way. Jayadeva Gosvāmī offered his prayer to Lord Buddha = nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātam. Śruti. In the Vedas there is recommendation of yajña, and in some of the yajñas there is recommendation of killing paśu. So Lord Buddha, he preached ahiṁsā paramo dharma, no killing of animals. So these paṇḍitas, they will give evidence that in the Vedas there is description of killing animals. How you can stop it? So therefore he said, "I don't care for your Vedas." Nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātam. Why? Why he did so? Sadaya-hṛdaya-darśita-paśu-ghātam. He was so much compassionate to see unnecessary killing of animals. Sadaya-hṛdaya. Therefore ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ. That was his... Although he is the incarnation of God... Keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra, jaya jagadīśa hare. So the Vaiṣṇava can understand what is Lord Buddha and why he decried the authority of... Because there was no other way. So,

nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātaṁ
sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam
keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare
[Daśāvatāra Stotra 7]

So a Vaiṣṇava can understand what kind of part he is playing. So in this way there are different activities going on, and they have been taken as different, I mean to say, types of dharma. But real dharma is bhāgavata-dharma. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. This is dharma. That is called bhāgavata-dharma, intimate relationship with the Lord, Bhagavān. Brahmeti bhagavān iti... Brahmeti paramātmā iti bhagavān iti. Tattva-vit. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam [SB 1.2.11]. There is no difference between Brahman and Paramātmā and Bhagavān. But still, there is difference. This is called acintya-bheda-bhedābheda. There are two kinds of philosophers = bheda and abheda, oneness and different. So these bheda, abheda, combine together. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy, acintya bheda abheda, simultaneously one and different. So other gods, they are also gods. We are also god. You are also god because god means controller. Your Honor, Chief Justice, he is also controlling the whole high-court. I am controlling this institution; you are controlling your family or office or factory. So in that sense everyone is god, controller. But he is not Supreme God. That is not. Supreme God is Kṛṣṇa. We may be īśvara, god, but Supreme God is Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ [Bs. 5.1]. That is the verdict of Lord Brahmā.

Even Brahmā, he is also worshiping the Supreme God. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye muhyanti yatra sūrayaḥ. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ [SB 1.1.1]. So God is svarāṭ. He is not dependent on any other controller. That is God. We are god, that's all right, but we are controlled even by the material nature, what to speak of other things. So we are not independent. Independent God is Kṛṣṇa. Svarāṭ. He is described as svarāṭ. Svarāṭ means independent. He is not controlled by anyone. That is real God. And we are may be god, but imitation god or small god. But the great... "God is great." That "great" God is Kṛṣṇa.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja says that kaumāra. The boys... He was taking the opportunity of teaching his class friend. He was five-years-old boy, and his father was a great demon, Hiraṇyakaśipu = "Don't talk of God." So in this way he was in a very precarious condition. Still, because he was a Vaiṣṇava he was taking the opportunity of preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So he was asking... The boys were very eager to play, and he said, "No, no, no, my dear friends, don't play. Let us discuss something about bhāgavata-dharma." Therefore he says that kaumāra ācaret prājñaḥ: "Don't think that in the old age we shall discuss about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Immediately, in this age," kaumāra, "if you are really intelligent." Why? Is there any guarantee that you become old man? You can die at any moment. So take this opportunity. Until the next death comes you take this opportunity in the matter of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is Prahlāda Mahārāja's instruction. "There is no guarantee. Why you are thinking that way, that now you are five years old; you will live for five hundred years? No. There is no guarantee. At any moment you can die."

Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. This body, human form of body, is obtained after many, many millions of years through evolutionary process. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati [Padma Purāṇa], 8,400,000 species of life we had to come through. Then we have got this body, human form of life, and civilized. Civilized, according to our Vedic conception, a civilized means ārya, ārya. When Arjuna was declining to fight, Kṛṣṇa condemned him, anārya-juṣṭam: "You are just like..., speaking like an anārya, not an ārya. It is your duty. You must do it." Anārya-juṣṭam akīrtiṁ karam arjuna. "You'll be defied by others. Don't do it." So an ārya... Aryan means who accepts this varṇāśrama-dharma, four varṇas, four āśrama. Varnāśramācāravatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān viṣṇur ārādhyate [Cc. Madhya 8.58]. The real aim is to go back to home, back to Godhead, Viṣṇu. So this is the process. If we execute this varṇāśrama-dharma rightly, then we gradually make progress towards spiritual realization. It is so arranged in that way, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, not by birth but by qualification. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam [Bg. 4.13]. If these qualifications are found anywhere else, you should accept that. Even...

That is explained by Nārada, that yasya hi yal-lakṣanaṁ proktaṁ varṇabhivyañjakam [SB 7.11.35]. Just like in the court, there is no such race or caste as lawyers. Anyone who knows law, he is accepted a lawyer. Similarly, the quality of brāhmaṇa is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā = śamo dama titikṣa satyaṁ śaucam ārjavam, jñānaṁ-vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg. 18.42]. So you can train anyone. Just like you can train anyone as lawyer, you can train anyone as an engineer or medical practitioner, similarly, you can train anyone as brāhmaṇa. That is wanted. That is wanted. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is like that. We are trying to train some men as real brāhmaṇa because brāhmaṇa is the head, is the brain of the society. If the society has no brain, it is in chaotic condition. Brahma-jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ. So some section of the people must know what is Brahman, what is God, and they should preach all over the world. That is the greatest necessity at the present moment. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to do that, although we are captivating or attracting some younger section, especially in Western countries. But Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends that kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān [SB 7.6.1]. Training should start immediately from the childhood.

So we are opening one gurukula in Vṛndāvana to train brahmacārī. First of all brahmacārī. The society, the students, should be brahmacārī. Brahmacārī gurukule vasan dānto guror hitam [SB 7.12.1]. Everything is there. Now we have to introduce these things. Otherwise the human society is already fallen, and it will fall down more and more, and it will be hellish condition, and so only hope is this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So I request you all to take this movement very seriously and try to help us.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. [applause] [break] Any question?

Acyutānanda: Kindly remain seated. Kindly remain seated. We will have some moments for questions and answers, which will be followed by our cinema. [break]

Prabhupāda: So far our philosophy is concerned, we want to be freed from sinful activities, because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said,

yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ
janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām
te dvanda-moha-nirmuktā
bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ
[Bg. 7.28]

We are trying our best to become a perfect devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So to become a perfect devotee means he must be sinless. If one is sinful he cannot become perfect devotee. So according to śāstra, this animal-killing is sinful. Striya-sūnā-pāna-dyūtā yatra pāpaś catur-vidhā [SB 1.17.38]. These four kinds of sinful activities, namely illicit sex, striya... That is also... In our Vedic culture this is common morality. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita even says that mātṛvat para-dāreṣu. Anyone, any other woman, the wife of other gentleman, she should be considered as mother. This is civilization. So what to speak of illicit sex? But people are degrading. That is another thing. But this is our standard of civilization. Even a great politician, he says, "Who is paṇḍita? Who is learned?"

mātṛvat para-dāresu
para-dravyeṣu loṣṭravat
ātmavat sarva-bhūteṣu
yaḥ paśyati sa paṇḍitaḥ
[Cāṇakya Paṇḍita]

He doesn't say one has to take degrees. By behavior one should be understood. So these four principles, namely illicit sex, animal killing and intoxication...

Indian man: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: Yes. So these are sinful activities, and our position is how to become sinless. Therefore we do not recommend animal killing. That is not possible.

Acyutānanda: Another question. [break] [repeating question] This is a world of śakti or energy. There is a worldwide rise in prices of energy resources, like oil, coal, gas and electricity. This means that there is a depletion of these energy resources. Naturally, there will be worldwide destruction of mankind and other living beings and materials in the near future. What are your views?

Prabhupāda: So yes, these material things, they are energies. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā = bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, bhinnā me prakṛtir aṣṭadhā [Bg. 7.4]. The petrol is also another form of Kṛṣṇa's energy. Parasya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport]. Any energy. There are many millions of energies. Na tasya kāryaṁ kāraṇaṁ ca vidyate. Kṛṣṇa has nothing to do, because everything is being done by His energy. Although He is the ultimate source of everything, but He is doing everything by His energy. Parasya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. And it appears that it is being automatically done. No. It is not automatically done. It is done by Kṛṣṇa's energy. So this material energy is also Kṛṣṇa's energy. It is not a different energy. Kṛṣṇa says, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ. Now, this petrol is liquid thing, so āpa. It is a kind of liquid thing, āpa, so it is Kṛṣṇa's energies. So our Vaiṣṇava philosophy is that Kṛṣṇa's energies should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So everything can be utilized for service of Kṛṣṇa. So when you use this petrol for Kṛṣṇa's..., spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if we can use one thousand or one hundred thousand motorcars using petrol for spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is the proper utilization of petrol. [applause]

Indian lady: [indistinct]

Acyutānanda: [repeating lady's question] Kṛṣṇa says to perform your sva-dharma, so how does one know what is his sva-dharma? [to lady:] Am I correct?

Prabhupāda: That is sva-dharma. When Kṛṣṇa says, "You surrender unto Me," that is your sva-dharma. Because you are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, your business is to serve Kṛṣṇa. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body, so I say, "Finger, please come here," he immediately comes. This is the normal condition of the finger. Similarly, if you are really healthy, in normal condition, then you must be ready to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is your sva-dharma. If the finger cannot come immediately on my order on my head, that means it is not in normal condition; it is in diseased condition. [applause] Similarly, when you cannot serve Kṛṣṇa, that is your diseased condition. [laughter] [applause]

Indian man: [indistinct] many incarnations, including Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa gave Bhagavad-gītā. That doesn't means that the author has not given all the gods, whether including Kṛṣṇa... [break]

Acyutānanda: ...nations, so...

Prabhupāda: So that I have already explained, that incarnation---whose incarnation? The question will be = whose incarnation?

Indian man: God. God.

Prabhupāda: God's. So that God is Kṛṣṇa. [applause] You do not know that. Now learn it.

Indian man: Is not Rāma a God?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Incarnation means somebody's incarnation. So who is that somebody? That is Kṛṣṇa. That's all. If you do not know it, you understand now.

Acyutānanda: One more question, last question. [relating question] Is it necessary that a person should pass through the three āśramas---brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha---before coming to sannyāsa?

Prabhupāda: That is the normal rules and regulation, that especially brāhmaṇa, he must go through the four āśramas---first of all become brahmacārī, then gṛhastha, then vānaprastha, then take sannyāsa. This is for the brāhmaṇas. And for the kṣatriyas---brahmacārī, gṛhastha and vānaprastha. And for the vaiśyas---brahmacārī, gṛhastha. And for the śūdras, only gṛhastha. This is the process. This is normal process. But either one is brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya or vaiśya and śūdra, if he takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness he becomes above these rules and regulations. [applause] Yes.

māṁ cāvyabhicāriṇi
bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
[Bg. 14.26]

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is that it is giving immediate lift to everyone to come to the transcendental platform, brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. But general state is varṇāśrama-dharma. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was discussing with Rāmānanda Rāya, He first of all said, "What is the aim of life?" Caitanya Mahāprabhu asking. So Rāmaṇanda Raya replied that "First of all to begin this varṇāśrama dharma." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, eho bāhya, āge kaha āra [Cc. Madhya 8.59] = "Yes, this is all right. But this is external. If you know something better, please tell Me." So in this way, step by step, Caitanya Mahāprabhu... This varṇa, āśrama, dharma, karma-tyāga, karma-sannyāsa and karma-miśra-bhakti, jñāna-miśra-bhakti---everything was described by Rāmānanda Rāya, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu not rejected; He said, "It is all right, but if you know something better..." Then at last, when Rāmānanda said... [aside:] Stop it. When Rāmaṇanda said that, quoting one verse from Śrīmad-Bhagavatam, sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ [SB 10.14.3], that it doesn't matter what you are; you remain in your post. Sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatām. Through the oral reception if you hear about Kṛṣṇa, then you become perfect. That is the statement.

So this is required at the present moment, that you remain whatever you are, either brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, Englishman, Indian. It doesn't matter. You try to understand Kṛṣṇa, that's all. If you do that, then everything will be perfect. And that can be very easily done by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given this mantra---it is from śāstra---harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam, kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva [Cc. Ādi 17.21]. In this age, in Kali-yuga, it is very difficult to bring back the fallen population again to the standard of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya. It is practically lost now. The best thing is that all of them combine together---brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, or even less than śūdra, kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā [SB 2.4.18]. Take to this process of chanting and hearing of the Lord's name. Everything will be all right.

[break] ...entities, we have no such distinction. It is confirmed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He was discussing with Rāmānanda Rāya. He was a governor of this Madras province under the regime of Mahārāja Pratāparudra of Orissa. And he was politician, but he was a very learned scholar in Kṛṣṇa science. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu was talking with him. So because he was a śūdra by birth and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not only very exalted position, brāhmaṇa and sannyāsī... So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was questioning, and he was answering, so he felt little hesitation, that "Sir, You are so exalted. I am a gṛhastha and a politician, and how can I..." Immediately Caitanya Mahāprabhu encouraged him, "No, no, no, don't hesitate."

kibā śūdra kibā vipra nyāsī kene naya
ye kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei 'guru' haya
[Cc. Madhya 8.128]

He said, "Don't hesitate. It doesn't matter whether he is a gṛhastha or sannyāsī or brāhmaṇa or śūdra. If he knows Kṛṣṇa, he is guru." He is guru. That is wanted. We are teaching that Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one man becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious or knows... And Kṛṣṇa also says, janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti... [Bg. 4.9] [break] "Anyone who knows..." [end]

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अध्याय 2 : गीता का सार (श्लोक 2 . 50)

अध्याय 2 : गीता का सार

श्लोक 2 . 50

बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते । 

तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ॥५०॥

Translation by His Divine Grace Srila A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 

Antya-līlā: Chapter seven: The Meeting of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Vallabha Bhaṭṭa

Audio for this chapter: https://media.prabhupadavani.org/audio/CC_z_Antya_07_The_Meeting_of_Sri_Caitanya_Mahaprabhu__and_Vallabha_Bhatta.mp3

Text for this chapter: https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/7/

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Srila Prabhupada speaks on: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Vṛndāvana, Dec. 2, 1975

Audio for this lecture: https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/751202sbvrn/
Prabhupada Radio: https://prabhupadaradio.com

Prabhupāda: ...this table here.

kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
[SB 7.6.1]

Prahlāda Mahārāja, our predecessor guru... There are twelve mahājanas: Brahmā, Svayambhū, Nārada, Śambhu, Kapila, Kumāra, Manu, Prahlāda, Janaka, Bhīṣma, Bali, Vaiyāsaki, vayam. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. It is said in the Vedas that we have to follow the footprints of mahājana. Mahājana means great authorized devotees. And they have been described, twelve. Svayambhū means Lord Brahmā; Nārada, Nārada Muni the great saint; Śambhu, Lord Śiva... Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kaumāra [SB 6.3.20]---the four Kumāras, sanat-kumāra ādi. Then Kapila, Kapiladeva, Devahūti's son. There are two Kapilas. So one is imitation; one is real. The real Kapila, He is known therefore Devahūti-putra, "the son of Devahūti." Devahūti was the daughter of Manu, Vaivasvata Manu. So in this way, kapilaḥ kumāro manuḥ. Then Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja was the son of Hiraṇyakaśipu, the famous demon.

So it is not that a demon's son will be demon. That is not... Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be achieved by anyone. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ [Bg. 9.32]. Pāpa-yoni means to take birth in low class family or demonic family. So pāpa-yonayaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says openly, ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ. Anyone, it doesn't matter, even if he is born in a pāpa-yoni... Pāpa-yoni means generally less than the śūdras. According to our Vedic system, four classes, varṇāśrama, social and spiritual division. The social division is brāhmaṇa first, then kṣatriya, then vaiśya, then śūdra. This is social division, and there is a spiritual division = brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. This is compulsory regulation for becoming human being. Without varṇāśrama institution there is no recognition of human being. Without being trained up in the varṇāśrama system there is no question of becoming human being. So actually it is not by birth as human being but by culture. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja is one of the twelve mahājanas. So he is speaking to his class friends. He was only five-years-old boy, and he took the opportunity of preaching bhāgavata-dharma whenever he got some opportunity. So at that time Prahlāda Mahārāja's father, Hiraṇyakaśipu, was a great demon. He would not allow Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So still, Prahlāda Mahārāja, although he was a boy, he used to take opportunity for preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness among his friends. So in the tiffin hours, when the boys were left free to play, so Prahlāda Mahārāja used to call them, "My dear friends, sit down. Let us talk about Kṛṣṇa consciousness." So he is preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He is saying to his friends, "My dear friends," kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]. The friends were very much anxious to play, and Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "My dear friends, don't play. Sit down. Sit down." Why? "A very important subject matter, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, bhāgavata-dharma."

Dharma..., there are many dharmas. Especially nowadays there is Hindu dharma, Mussulman dharma or Christian dharma or Sikh dharma, Ārya dharma, this dharma, hundreds and thousands. But in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is declared, dharmo projjhita-kaitavo atra, atra śrīmad-bhāgavate: "In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam all rascaldom, cheating type of religion, is kicked out." This is bhāgavata-dharma. Bhāgavata-dharma means bhagavān, bhāgavata-śabda. From bhagavān the word bhāgavata has come. So bhāgavata-dharma means relationship with God, Bhagavān. Therefore you will see in the Bhagavad-gītā, it is... Bhagavad-gītā means the dharma, or the religious principle, preached by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā is bhāgavata-dharma. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That is bhāgavata-dharma. So dharma means bhāgavata-dharma. Any other dharma which does not teach anything about God, that is cheating, kaitava.

Dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣa [SB 4.8.41]. Dharmārtha. Dharma, the religious principles; artha means economic development; kāma means sense gratification; and mokṣa means liberation. So above mokṣa there is bhāgavata-dharma. When one has attained actually mokṣa... Mokṣa means mukti, liberation. What is that liberation? Mukti hitvā anyathā rūpaṁ svarūpena vyavasthitiḥ [SB 2.10.6]. This is called mukti. Mukti does not mean that after mukti one is finished, one becomes nirākāra or another two hand grow. Not like that. It is a change of consciousness. That is called mukti. Real mukti means change of consciousness. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. Actually, every living being is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg. 15.7]. So when we forget this position---I do not become the servant of Kṛṣṇa, but I become the servant of my society, my family, my nation, my dog, my cat---this kind of dharma is not mukti. When one understands ahaṁ brahmāsmi, when one understands properly that "I am not this body. I do not belong to any particular nation, family or relationship," ahaṁ brahmāsmi, this is called brahma-bhūtaḥ.

So long we identify with particular society or nation or community, then we are not brahma-bhūtaḥ. This is called upādhi-bhūtaḥ, designation. "I am Hindu." This is designation. Just like gold. Gold cannot be designation. Gold is gold. Because gold is in the hand of a Hindu, it does not become Hindu gold. Or the gold is in the hand of a Muslim; therefore it is Muslim gold. No. Gold is gold. Similarly, dharma is dharma. There cannot be any Hindu religion or Muslim religion or Christian religion. There is no possibility. As soon as you designate, then it is not dharma; it is cheating. That is rejected in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo atra [SB 1.1.2] = "All cheating type of religious system is rejected." That is required. So that bhāgavata-dharma, Prahlāda Mahārāja says that kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatan iha [SB 7.6.1]. From the very beginning, kaumāra. Kaumāra means from five year to fifteenth year, or five year to tenth year, then kiśora, kaiśora. That is division.

So anyway, just like we send our children to school at the age of five years, every country... In India also that is the system. When a child is five year, four years some months, he is old, his education begins. So Prahlāda Mahārāja says from the very beginning of education the bhāgavata-dharma must be taught. This is kaumāra ācaret prājño, if one is intelligent. If one is ass or cow or animal, he cannot understand. Prājña: "One who has known." One who knows the value of life, he is called prājña. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpena jñā. Jñā means one who has knowledge. So he says, Prahlāda Mahārāja, that kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]. There are dharmas according to country, society, but real dharma is bhāgavata-dharma. That is instructed in the Bhagavad-gītā also = sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. Who is mām? Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavān. You will see in the Bhagavad-gītā, śrī-bhagavān uvāca.

So Bhagavān says that "surrender unto Me." Opportunity. Kṛṣṇa comes to give the opportunity. He is canvassing. Not only in this universe, in every universe He is going. That is calculation is there. Out of four hundred crores of years, Kṛṣṇa appears in one universe. In this universe, when He comes, He appears in this land of Vṛndāvana. Therefore Vṛndāvana is so valuable. This is Kṛṣṇa's place. When He comes here... Just like when the governor goes to a city he has got his own resting house, similarly, when Kṛṣṇa comes to teach us dharma, dharmasya glānir bhava... Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg. 4.7]. So what is that dharma? This bhāgavata-dharma. When the rascals forget what is the relationship with Kṛṣṇa, what is the relationship with God, he becomes entangled in this material affair, māyā. He is harassed, harassed in this way, that he has to take birth one after another, beginning from Brahmā down to the small ant. There are so many varieties of life.

So according to karma, karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa [SB 3.31.1], by superior arrangement one has to accept a type of body. That we are forgetting. We are thinking that we shall remain free like this. That is not possible. Your every inch of activity is being recorded and at the end of life these things will be taken into account, karmaṇā. And by the superior arrangement you have to accept one type of body. Today you may become a prime minister, but your activities will be recorded, and tomorrow after your death you may have to accept the body of a dog. That is the law of nature.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate
[Bg. 3.27]

These rascals, they are thinking, "I am free. I can do anything and whatever I like." No. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni. You have to... Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu [Bg. 13.22]. As you are infecting the different types of modes of nature, you are making your next life like that.

So we should be very careful. Therefore the others accept... Because without this varṇāśrama system of religious principles, we can declare there is no scientific understanding of the modes of material nature, how we are contacting, how we are becoming infected and where is our next life. But if we... Śāstra-caksusat. If you see through the śāstra, then you can understand.

ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā
madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ
jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā
adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
[Bg. 14.18]

Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. Unfortunately, we do not take care of it, and we make our own interpretation. This rascaldom is going on. And perhaps we are the only society who is proclaiming, "Here is God, Kṛṣṇa. Take it." We are the only society in the whole world. Otherwise they are all misled, all misled.

So anyway, others may cooperate or noncooperate, we don't mind. But we cannot change our policy. Our policy is = Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the Supreme"; we must declare throughout the whole world that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya [Bg. 7.7]. We shall declare to the whole world that "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. There is no more superior anyone than Kṛṣṇa." This is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. We are preaching this. In this temple we are asking eveyone, "Here is Kṛṣṇa. Always think of Kṛṣṇa. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." Then you will have to think, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa" means thinking of Kṛṣṇa. As soon as you hear the name of Kṛṣṇa, man-manā. And who will do that? Mad-bhakta. Unless you become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, you cannot waste your time, "Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa." That means simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra you become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī.

Now this worship of Kṛṣṇa = the whole day is engaged for Kṛṣṇa's maṅgala-āratika, for Kṛṣṇa's chanting, for Kṛṣṇa's cooking, for Kṛṣṇa's prasādam distribution, so many ways. So our devotees all over the world---there are a 102 centers---they are simply engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is our propaganda. Always, no other business. We don't do any business, but we are spending at least twenty-five lakhs of rupees, twenty-five lakhs of rupees every month, but Kṛṣṇa is supplying. Teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham [Bg. 9.22]. If you remain Kṛṣṇa consciousness, fully dependent on Kṛṣṇa, then there will be no scarcity. I started this Kṛṣṇa business with forty rupees. Now we have got forty crores of rupees. Is there any businessman in the whole world within ten years with forty rupees he can increase forty crores? There is no example. And ten thousand men, they are eating prasādam daily. So this is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham [Bg. 9.22]. As soon as you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, you simply depend on Him and work sincerely and then Kṛṣṇa will supply everything. Everything.

So this is practically being manifested. Take, for example, in the Bombay, now the land is one crore of rupees' worth. And when I purchased this land I had..., might be three or four lakhs. So it was completely speculation, because I was confident that "I shall be able to pay. Kṛṣṇa will give me." There was no money. That's a long history. I do not wish to discuss. But I have got now practical experience that you depend on Kṛṣṇa---there will be no scarcity. Whatever you want, it will be fulfilled. Teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānām. So be always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then everything will be fulfilled, any desire, if you have got.

akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā
mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena
yajeta paramaṁ puruṣaḥ
[SB 2.3.10]

There are three classes of men = akāma... Akāma means devotee. He has no desire. He has no... Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Brs. 1.1.11]. Personally he has no desire. His only desire is how he will glorify Kṛṣṇa. That is the only desire. Akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo. He is akāma. And sarva-kāma means the karmīs. They are desiring, "Bring money, bring money, bring money, bring money." They are called karmīs, sarva-kāma. Their desire is never fulfilled. And akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā mokṣa-kāma [SB 2.3.10], the jñānīs. They want to become united, one with the Supreme, mokṣa-kāma. So Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the mokṣa-kāma... Tara madhye mokṣa vāñchā [Cc. Ādi 1.92]. That is very inferior desire. And Śrīdhara Swami, he has commented on the Bhāgavata verse, atra mokṣa-vāñchā api nirasta. A devotee should not desire even for mokṣa. What is mokṣa? Mokṣa is very insignificant thing for a devotee. Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura has explained, muktiḥ mukulitāñjali sevate asmān: "Mukti, she is standing on my door and flattering me, 'Sir, what can I do for you?' " This is mukti. So why a devotee shall aspire about mukti? No.

nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve
na kutaścana bibhyati
svargāpavarga-narakeṣv
api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ
[SB 6.17.28]

Just like Nārada Muni. He is going to the hellish planet also for preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So a devotee is not afraid of going anywhere for the service of the Lord. That is devotee. He has no personal desire; simply how to glorify.

So this Prahlāda Mahārāja, he is our guru. Out of the twelve mahājanas, he is one of them. So he is advising, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]. Why so early, kaumāra? Prahlāda Mahārāja says, durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma: "This human form of life is very, very rarely obtained in the process of evolution, 8,400,000's of different species of life." After that, we have got this durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. It should not be wasted, living like cats and dogs. Everyone should be trained up in this bhāgavata-dharma. Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam. And "Yes, it is important, that's all right. But let me live for hundred years, then we shall talk about Kṛṣṇa." And Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "No." Adhruvam: "You do not know when you will die. At any moment you can die." Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām [SB 10.14.58]. Therefore, before your next death, you realize Kṛṣṇa. Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam. But arthadam. Arthadam means even if you live for a few years and if you take the chance of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, still, you are benefited. You are still benefited.

So this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa is so important that you can think always that "Death is coming. Death is at my door. Let me finish my chanting. Let me finish my chanting." Always you should think like that, that "Death is already coming, so let me chant." So this is called bhāgavata-dharma, and Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means bhāgavata-dharma. So you read Prahlāda Mahārāja's instruction very nicely and utilize it in your life. Your life will be successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. [end]

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अध्याय 2 : गीता का सार (श्लोक 2 . 49)

अध्याय 2 : गीता का सार

श्लोक 2 . 49

दुरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धञ्जय

बुद्धौ शरणमन्विच्छ कृपणाः फलहेतवः  ४९ 

Translation by His Divine Grace Srila A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 

Antya-līlā: Chapter six: The Meeting of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī

Audio for this chapter: https://media.prabhupadavani.org/audio/CC_z_Antya_06_The_Meeting_of_Sri_Caitanya_Mahaprabhu_and_Raghunatha_dasa_Gosvami.mp3

Text for this chapter: https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/6/

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Srila Prabhupada speaks on: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Hong Kong, April 20, 1972

Audio for this lecture: https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/720420sbhk/
Prabhupada Radio: https://prabhupadaradio.com

Prabhupāda: [indistinct] You all understand English?

Children: Yes!

Prabhupāda: Thank you. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. Very good. [chuckles] Oh, nice.

[Prabhupāda leads kīrtana; obeisances]

[09:36]

kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
[SB 7.6.1]

This is a verse spoken by Prahlāda Mahārāja, Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he was a five-years-old boy, like all these children. Kaumāra. Kaumāra age is called from five years to ten years. That is called kaumāra. So Prahlāda Mahārāja was born of an atheist father. The father was atheist number one, Hiraṇyakaśipu. He is described as rākṣasa, demon, like that. Daitya. Daitya means demon.

There are two classes of men. One class is called daitya and the other class is called devata. Dvau bhūta-sargau loke daiva āsura eva ca [Bg. 16.6]. There are two classes of men, known as daiva, and another, asura. Viṣṇu bhaktaḥ bhaved daiva āsuras tad viparyayaḥ. Those who are devotees of the Lord, they are called daiva or devata, demigods. And those who are just the opposite number, they are called daitya, or demon.

So Hiraṇyakaśipu was atheist. Fortunately, he was so fortunate that he got a great Vaiṣṇava devotee son, Prahlāda Mahārāja. You have heard his name, Prahlāda Mahārāja. He is one of the mahājanas. There are twelve mahājanas in the śāstras. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ.

tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnā
nāsau munir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam
dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ
mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ
[Cc. Madhya 17.186]

The mystery of religious life is very, very secret. Secret means for ordinary man it is very difficult to understand. Therefore śāstra says tarko 'pratiṣṭhāḥ. If you want to learn what is spiritual life simply by your argument, dry, philosophical speculation, it will never be achieved. Tarko 'pratiṣṭhāḥ śrutayo vibhinnā. If you study the Vedas... There are different Vedas, principally Sāma, Yajur, Atharva, Ṛg--- but you cannot understand the objective of the Vedas simply by studying yourself. Therefore Vedas says, Kaṭhopaniṣad, tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham samit-pāṇiḥ [MU 1.2.12]. Like that. In every śāstra the injunction is if you want to understand the essence of Veda, then you must approach a realized, self-realized person. In the Bhagavad-gītā also the same thing is said. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā [Bg. 4.34].

So Prahlāda Mahārāja, although he was born of a father who was atheist number one, godless, by the grace of Nārada Muni he became a great devotee. So his father was very careful that nobody comes and instructs his son about Vedic way of life or God consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He was very careful not to allow anyone. He appointed teachers for his son, strictly prohibiting about... Just like nowadays it has become..., what is called? State? Secular state. "Don't talk of God." This is the present situation of the world, atheist class. "Don't talk of God."

But they do not know that they have not much improved by "Don't talk of God." The situation is becoming grimmer and grimmer. But they have no eyes to see. They have no eyes to see. This godless civilization will not make them happy. That's a fact. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad guṇa manorathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ [SB 5.18.12]. If one is godless, then however qualified he may be from the material point of view, he is useless. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad guṇā. He cannot have any good quality. Why? Manorathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ. Because he is on the mental platform. So by speculation on the mental platform, he will accept which is not spiritual. Asata. Asato māṁ sad gamaḥ. That is the Vedic injunction. Don't keep yourself in the asata, but you try to transcend to the sat platform, oṁ tat sat. That means spiritual platform.

So those who have no spiritual knowledge, they are on the mental platform. There are many platforms of our life. Indriyānī parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhir [Bg. 3.42]. So ordinarily we are bodily, we think, "I am this body." This is called... Body means my senses. So civilization based on this bodily concept of life are interested only sense gratification. That is their aim of life. Indriya-tarṣaṇāt[?], sense gratification. And those who are disgusted with sense gratification, they go little higher on the mental platform, mental speculation, just like philosophy, poetry, like that. Gross means they are working very hard day and night for sense gratification, just like hogs and dogs.

That is stated in the śāstra. Nāyaṁ deha deho bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye [SB 5.5.1]. Ṛṣabhādeva says that this human form of life is not meant for working so hard like cats and dogs. That is not recommended. Ayam deha. But the material world, people are so enchanted that working day and night they think, "I am enjoying." This is called māyā. Actually he is working day and night, and he is thinking that "I am happy. I am making progress." This is called māyā.

So the world situation is very, very downward. Don't think that you are making progress. It is not progress. Śāstra says, parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam [SB 5.5.5]. So long a human being is not interested in the subject matter of ātma-tattva, "What I am," then whatever he is doing, he is becoming defeated. He is not victorious; he is defeated. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto.

Abodha-jāto. He is a rascal, fool. He does not know what is his interest. He does not know that by nature's law,

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate
[Bg. 3.27]

By nature's law we have to transmigrate in so many species of life---from aquatics to plants, trees, then insect, then flies, then birds, then beast, then uncivilized human being. Then we have got this civilized form---especially those who are born in India, because in India the varṇāśrama-dharma is here.

India, Hindu... "Hindu" is a foreign name given by the Muhammadans. Actually our real position is followers of the varṇāśrama-dharma: four varṇas and four āśramas. This is the stepping stone for civilized life, varṇāśrama = brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra; and brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa.

This system of social order, I mean to say, spiritual and material, it is so systematically done that one who follows this system, automatically he becomes at the end Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is his highest objective. Unfortunately, they do not know it. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatim hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ [SB 7.5.31]. They are enchanted by the glaring materialistic..., material energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Just like we come from airport to this hotel. This city is very nice. Not only this city; I am traveling all over the world. There are very, very nice cities in Europe, America and other countries also. It is all right. You decorate this city nice, you make your life very comfortable. But if you forget Kṛṣṇa, then you are defeated. Then you are defeated. That is the instruction given by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna. Yuddhyasva mām anusmara [Bg. 8.7]. Arjuna did not stop his fighting capacity. He was a kṣatriya. And Kṛṣṇa did not encourage him that "You should stop fighting." Rather, Arjuna was trying to stop fighting, Kṛṣṇa said, "No. You are kṣatriya. You cannot stop fighting."

So don't think that by becoming Kṛṣṇa consciousness..., Kṛṣṇa conscious, one becomes a vagabond. No. One gentleman talked with me that "Your Vaiṣṇava philosophy has made our country coward." No. You do not know what is Vaiṣṇava. In India there were two great fights = one, the fight between Rāma and Rāvaṇa, and the another great fight was between these two, Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas. In both the fighting the hero was Vaiṣṇava. The hero, Hanumānjī, Vajrāṅgajī, who fought on behalf of Lord Rāmacandra, he is a Vaiṣṇava. And Kṛṣṇa..., and Arjuna, who also fought on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, he is a kṣatriya. So they do not know what is Vaiṣṇava philosophy.

Vaiṣṇava philosophy means the Vaiṣṇava is ready to do anything for God's sake. That is Vaiṣṇava. It is approved by God, Kṛṣṇa, then they are ready to do anything. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not that by Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement everything, our daily routine work, will be stopped. No. I am very glad to see that these small children are being trained here in such a far distant place from India. I thank our Bhūrijana Prabhu for this work. But this is the aim for training them in Kṛṣṇa consciousness = brahmacārī. And if one becomes very solid in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then his further progress of life...

Just like I was quoting the instance of Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja was a devotee from the very birth, but he was a great king, he was a great ruler. Dhruva Mahārāja, he was also a devotee from the very beginning of his life, but he was a great ruler, a great king. So do not misunderstand that by accepting Kṛṣṇa consciousness everything will be stopped. No. Nothing will be stopped.

Simply one has to change the consciousness. That's all. Just like Arjuna did. Arjuna was a fighter in the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. He remained a fighter after hearing Bhagavad-gītā. He did not change his position as a fighter, as a kṣatriya. But in the beginning he was thinking non–Kṛṣṇa conscious. He was thinking of his personal interest, personal sense gratification. But at the end he decided to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.

This is the difference, materialism and spiritualism. If you want to satisfy your senses, that is materialism, and if you want to satisfy Kṛṣṇa's senses, that is spiritual. You have to satisfy. Our position is... [end]

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अध्याय 2 : गीता का सार (श्लोक 2 . 48)

अध्याय 2 : गीता का सार

श्लोक 2 . 48

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय |

सिद्धयसिद्धयोः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते  ४८ 

Translation by His Divine Grace Srila A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 

Antya-līlā: Chapter five: How Pradyumna Miśra Received Instructions from Rāmānanda Rāya

Audio for this chapter: https://media.prabhupadavani.org/audio/CC_z_Antya_05_How_Pradyumna_Misra_Received_Instructions_from_Ramananda_Raya.mp3

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Srila Prabhupada speaks on: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Delhi, Nov. 15, 1971

Audio for this lecture: https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/%C5%9Br%C4%ABmad-bh%C4%81gavatam-761-711115sb-delhi/
Prabhupada Radio: https://prabhupadaradio.com

Prabhupāda: [prema-dhvani] Thank you very much. [devotees offer obeisances]

Dr. Atmaram, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your kindly coming here and participating in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Today I shall discuss one chapter from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is Seventh Canto, Sixth Chapter, the statement by Prahlāda Mahārāja. [SB 7.6.1]

Prahlāda Mahārāja was a great devotee, and his father was a great atheist. The struggle between the theist and the atheist is perpetual; it is not new. Actually, anyone who is in this material world, he is supposed to be atheist. Because just like the government gets together all the criminals in the prison house, similarly, those who are disobedient to the laws of the Supreme Lord, such criminals are sent into this material world.

icchā-dveṣa-samutthena
sarge yānti parantapa

[Bg. 7.27]

Icchā and dveṣa. Icchā means desiring, and dveṣa means hating. These two things are there; it is natural. A living entity… Even in God there is such things, but in God, because He is absolute, His hiṁsā, dveṣa or love is the same thing, advaya-jñāna. Just like, for example, those who are scientifically searching after God, the jñānīs, they also merge into the existence of God; and similarly the enemies, the atheists, just like Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa, Kaṁsa, they were killed by God, but they got the same salvation. That is God, absolute.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja was a son of atheist. His father would not allow him to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but he was naturally Kṛṣṇa conscious, and as soon as he would get some opportunity in the school… Because the school was also full of students who were born of atheistic father. So as soon as he would get some opportunity, in the tiffin hour, he would speak something about God consciousness. So that chapter is here. He is teaching to his fellow students:

kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam

[SB 7.6.1]

This is the science. Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma: this human form of body is very, very difficult to obtain. In this material world there are 8,400,000 species of life: jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthavarā lakṣa-viṁśati [Padma Purāṇa]. The aquatic animals, there are nine lakhs, 900,000's. Similarly, sthavarā. Sthavarā means those who cannot move, just like trees, plants, hills, they are called sthavarā. And those who can move, they are called jaṅgama. Sthāvara-jaṅgama: moving and not moving. But all of them are living entities.

So this non-moving entities, namely the trees, the plants, the grass, they cannot move, apadāni. They are called apadāni, apadāni catuṣ-padām. Everything is described there, the nature's law. Ahastāni sahastānām apadāni catuṣ-padām [SB 1.13.47]. Nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. Ahastāni sahastānām: just like man has got hands; therefore he eats some animal which has no hand, only legs—that means paśu. Similarly, apadāni catuṣ-padām. Apadāni means one who hasn't legs, cannot move—that means the trees and the plants and the grass and the straw—they are foodstuff for the catuṣ-padām, for the animals: goats, cows, buffalo. They eat them. Nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra: and those who are weak, they are eatable by the strong.

In this way, jīvo jīvasya jīvanam: every living entity is the food of some other living entity. Just like we are eating here animals—not we, but some of us—but we are also eatable by the tigers, because the tiger is strong. So nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra. In the jungles there are snakes, big snakes—they eat small snakes. So this is struggle for existence is going on.

So we have to pass through all these lives: this tree life, the aquatic life… When the whole world was merged into water, pralaya-payodhi jale [Śrī Daśāvatāra Stotra 1], at that time the living entities were in fish form, aquatics. Then as the land dried, the living entities began to take the forms of trees, plants and grasses. Then gradually, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyakāḥ [Padma Purāṇa]. Kṛmayo means insects. There are different kinds of insects; there are eleven lakhs species. And then, pakṣiṇāṁ daśa-lakṣaṇam. You know, every one of you have seen, that worms, they develop their feathers. The ants also, at the time of death they develop their feather.

So from the insect life, the evolution comes to the birds' life, pakṣiṇāṁ daśa-lakṣaṇam. And we have to pass through these 10,000 species of life in the bird life. Then paśavaḥ triṁśal-lakṣāṇi: then 300,000's of species of life in the animal kingdom. Then we get mānuṣaḥ catur-lakṣaṇi: there are 400,000 species of life in the human form of body.

Out of them, ninety percent, they are not to be considered as human being—uncivilized. Maybe ten percent, five percent only, civilized. Amongst the civilized beings, most of them, they are not following the Vedic principles, or even they are following Vedic principles… In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha [Bg. 2.42]: simply falsely talking of Vedas, but he does not know what is Veda, what is the purpose of Veda.

The purpose of Veda is stated in the Vedānta-sūtra, that "Vedānta means the last stage of knowledge, or the topmost understanding of knowledge." Veda, veda means knowledge, and anta means this end, Vedānta. So Vedānta, in the Vedānta-sūtra, the first aphorism is called athāto brahma jijñāsā. Athāto brahma jijñāsā means that this Vedānta, or this Vedas, they are not meant for the animals. The animals cannot understand what is Veda. They have got knowledge of this āhāra-nidra-bhaya-maithuna.

We are trying to improve our material status: how to eat, how to sleep, how to mate, how to have sense enjoyment, sex life, and how to defend. So the defending process, the so-called advancement of civilization in eating, mating and sleeping, these things can be learned without any scientific knowledge. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām.

Eating—we are eating; the dog is also eating; the tiger is also eating; the elephant is eating; the ant is also eating; but they have no problem. The elephant is eating at a time forty kilos, and the ant is eating one grain, but by the arrangement of the Supreme Lord the one grain is also there, and the forty kilos are also there.

Who is providing for the elephant? Who is providing for the tiger? And who is providing for the ant? But there is arrangement. In the Vedas it is stated, eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān.

nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān

[Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13]

These are the statements of Vedas, that the nityo, the Supreme Lord, is eternal, and we, the living entities, we are also eternal:

na jāyate na mriyate vā
nityaḥśāśvato 'yaṁ
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

[Bg. 2.20]

So we are also eternal, and Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, or the Absolute Truth, or the paraṁ brahma, Paramātmā, He is also eternal. We are equal in quality; and similarly, God is also living force, the creative force—we are also creative force. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. Then what is the difference between God and me? The difference is He is eko; He is only one. God is one and we are many, bahūnāṁ. Then what is our relationship? Eko, this one, is feeding all these numer..., manys.

So by nature—either you call by nature or by God's arrangement—these problems, āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna, is already there. You can see it that out of 8,400,000 species of life, there is only 400,000 species of life in the human kingdom. Out of them, most of them are uncivilized. But except the so-called civilized human being, there is no problem for their eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So why the civilized man will have the problem of eating, sleeping and mating? Why? What is the reason?

Because in his civilized form he wants to forget God. That is the fault; that is the offense of the so-called human civilized life. Therefore they are suffering. And Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā,

teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham

[Bg. 9.22]

He is supplying food to everyone. Suppose there are 8,400,000 species of life, and if He is supplying 8,300,000 species of life, why not for the 100,000 species of life, the civilized human form of life? Why? Why God should be so much partial? No, that is not the thing. The real thing is that the so-called civilized man, they are trying to forget God. That is their fault.

Our process is that whatever you may be—you may be a scientific man, you may be something else, it doesn't matter—but you must see whether you are making perfection of your life. That formula is there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is said there,

ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā
varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya
saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam

[SB 1.2.13]

You may be engaged in any occupational duty of your life. Duty means according to position. A scientist's duty is to work in the laboratory; a lawyer's duty is to practice in the court; a businessman's duty is to go and keep up his shop nicely. So there are different kinds of duty. You cannot say that everyone will have the same duty. That is not possible. Just like in our body there are different parts of, limbs. The mouth is doing something, the hand is doing something, the belly, the abdomen, is doing something, the leg is doing something. Similarly, as there is division in the body, there must be social division in the social body. That is called varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ.

Scientifically we have divided—not we, but by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ

[Bg. 4.13]

There are four divisions of the human society according to quality and according to karma. Not by birth. He never says by birth. This is not accepted in the śāstras, that these divisions of social life should be calculated by birth. No: by guṇa, by quality, and by karma.

Just like Dr. Atmaram is scientist because he has acquired the qualities of a scientist, and he is working in his laboratory for scientific research; therefore he is scientist. Similarly, there are divisions. Now there are many divisions, but formerly there were grossly four divisions only: the brāhmaṇa, the kṣatriya, the vaiśya and the śūdra. The most intelligent class of men were know as brāhmaṇas, and the next, the administrator class of men, they are called kṣatriyas, one who gives protection to the citizen from attack by others. So they are called kṣatriyas. And similarly, those who are producing the food products, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg. 18.44].

So the intelligent class, the administrative class, the productive class and the śūdra, the laborer class—this is most scientific division. As there is scientific division in the body—there is brain, there is hand, there is abdomen, there is leg—similarly, these divisions are there, and they have their duty. The brāhmaṇas, they should be truthful: satyam, śamo, damaḥ, titikṣā ārjavaṁ, jñānaṁ vijñānam [Bg. 18.42].

This vijñānam science is the subject matter for the brāhmaṇas. It is not the understanding of God is unscientific. Jñānaṁ me sa-vijñānam [Bg. 7.2]. Vijñānam: if we don't understand through science what is God, then that knowledge of God… Just like foolish person, they ascribe some, I mean to say, faulty behavior in the affairs of gopīs, because they know..., they do not know. They have no scientific knowledge of Kṛṣṇa.

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that,

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye

[Bg. 7.3]

Not all men—manuṣyā. According to Śrī Rāmānujācārya, manuṣyā means one who has got control over the śāstra. He is called a manuṣyā, śāstra adhikāram. He has described manuṣyā. When he is commenting on this verse, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye [Bg. 7.3], Śrī Rāmānujācārya, he says, manuṣyāśāstra adhikāra yajña: "Those who are fit for understanding the śāstras, the Vedas, they are manuṣyā." Otherwise, according to ācārya, they are not considered as manuṣyā.

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ
kaścin vetti māṁ tattvataḥ

[Bg. 7.3]

Those who do not understand what is Kṛṣṇa scientifically, they commit that mistake. Unfortunately, in our society, the so-called reciters of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they jump over the Tenth Canto, and especially the five chapters describing the rāsa-līlā of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, without understanding Kṛṣṇa, because they want cheap adoration from materialistic persons who are very much fond of sex life. So these so-called reciters, they take advantage of this weakness of the public, and at once they go to that rāsa-līlā chapter and recite. Therefore this impression has come.

Otherwise, one who knows scientifically Kṛṣṇa, he will not jump over like that to recite the five chapters in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describing Kṛṣṇa's līlā with gopīs. That is very scientific; but these rascals, they do not know. They do not understand what is Kṛṣṇa. They think of Kṛṣṇa as ordinary man:

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā
mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam

[Bg. 9.11]

And because they want cheap audience, they have caused this defamation against the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was sannyāsī. No woman could offer Him respect, coming nearer. He ordered that "Women should offer Me respect from a distant place." He has given another verse, that niṣkiñcananam..., niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad bhajanonmukhasya [Cc. Madhya 11.8]: those who are desiring to understand Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad bhajanon mukhasya. Niṣkiñca means one who has no more desire for any material sense enjoyment; they are called niṣkiñca, and such person can engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā:

yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ
janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā
bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ

[Bg. 7.28]

So this bhagavad-bhajan is not for ordinary man. Those who are completely uncontaminated from all sinful activities, such person can be engaged in devotional service. Therefore our students are forbidden the prime principles of sinful life: illicit sex life, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. So when these people are trying to reach Kṛṣṇa, being completely pure from all contamination of sinful life, does it mean they are going to worship Kṛṣṇa who is sinful? Is that very reasonable?

But we do not understand Kṛṣṇa; therefore Kṛṣṇa says,

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ
kaścin vetti māṁ tattvataḥ

[Bg. 7.3]

So understanding of Kṛṣṇa is not for ordinary man, but the most scientific and pure soul. Because Kṛṣṇa says only persons who are siddhas, in the perfectional stage of life, he can understand; not all. Those who are in the perfectional stage of life, brahma-bhūta [SB 4.30.20], out of them, yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin, out of them one may—kaścin means one—may understand Kṛṣṇa. And so far His connection with the gopīs, that is not understandable by persons who are not free from sinful activities.

Therefore there are twelve cantos in the Bhagavad-gītā, er, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and nine cantos are there for understanding what is Bhagavān. Just like here in the Seventh Chapter…, Seventh Canto, Prahlāda Mahārāja is describing about the bhāgavata-dharma. Bhāgavata-dharma means to understand God. Bhagavān is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and bhāgavata means the knowledge about the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends here,

kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha

[SB 7.6.1]

This bhāgavata-dharma should be taught to the students from the very childhood, kaumāram. Kaumāra age is from five years to sixteen years. That is the recommendation: kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān. Why kaumāram? Because if we do not teach the students what is Bhagavān… The scientific knowledge of the students, every educational quality, can be achieved or attained when it is attempted in childhood. In old age it is not possible.

Some times ago I read in the paper in the Yurjand[?] district one father and one daughter appeared in B.A. examination. The daughter passed nicely; the father failed. Therefore any educational system should be taught from the beginning of life. This Prahlāda Mahārāja says, kaumāra ācaret prājño. Prājño means one who is actually in knowledge, they should teach the science of God, bhagavad-vijñāna, this bhagavad-vijñāna:

evaṁ prasanna-manaso
bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ
bhagavat-tattva-vijñānaṁ

[Bg. 7.1]

It is not sentiment; it is vijñānaṁ.

evaṁ prasanna-manaso
bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ

[Bg. 7.1]

If you train yourself in the bhagavad-bhakti-yoga, then you'll become very joyful, prasanna-manaso. That is the scientific knowledge of God. The symptom... If anyone says that "I know what is God," the symptom must be there. What is the symptom? Joyfulness.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

[Bg. 18.54]

So this bhakti-yoga is so nice that if we execute it properly, according to the scientific way:

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

[SB 7.5.23]

These are the scientific process. The first process is that you must hear. As you go to college and hear the professor then you become advanced in that particular type of knowledge, similarly, you must hear first of all. Without hearing, how you can understand God? Without hearing, you cannot understand any ordinary subject matter. How you can understand the Absolute Truth without hearing? Therefore the Vedānta recommends, athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now you inquire about this human form of life. Now inquire about God." But where is that education? Where is that education?

I was invited to speak in Massachusetts Technological Institute. So my first challenge was that "Where is your technology by which you can distinguish a dead man and a living man? What is that technology? How you distinguish, this dead man and the living man?" I speak of my father, my brother: "Here is my father, here is my brother," but when they are dead, I say, "My father has gone; my brother has gone." Where he has gone? He is lying there. Where is your science to see what…, who was your father, who was your brother? Where is that science? If you say, "This body is my father," then the body is lying there; why you are crying? Why you are saying that "My brother is gone"? That means you have never seen your brother, never seen your father—so in blindness.

So what is the use of that scientific knowledge? If you have got scientific knowledge, if you say that "This is a lump of matter, chemicals," then replace that chemical and make him alive again. That is scientific knowledge—not theory. Just like Darwin's theory: he has no knowledge, scientific knowledge, how these bodies are evolutionary. He says "something missing," or so many theories. No.

Here is the scientific theory, that Prahlāda Mahārāja says, durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. He knows the science; therefore he says durlabhaṁ. This human form of life is very rare. Why? Because he knows that the soul had to pass through so many millions of bodies: vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya [Bg. 2.22]. Just like we change our dress, one dress to another, similarly the soul is changing from the aquatic body to the plant life, to the plant life to the insect life, from insect life to bird's life, to bird's life to beast's life, from beast's life to human form—this evolution.

The body is not evolving; the soul is getting different types of body according to his desire, either by nature's arrangement or by his own will. So long he is living within the bodies less than human body, it is nature's arrangement.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

[Bg. 3.27]

karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa
jantur dehopapattaye

[SB 3.31.1]

These are scientific statements. The difference is that we do not consult this scientific knowledge; we want to make research with our blunt senses. That is not possible. We have to take scientific knowledge from the authorities, Vedas. Just like Veda says that stool, animal stool, is impure, but the cow's stool is pure. Now you can argue both of them are animal by physiological, biological condition. So why one animal's stool is pure and other animal's stool impure? But if you analyze scientifically you will see the cow dung is full of antiseptic property.

So if you take knowledge, scientific knowledge, from the Vedas, you save the time. That is deductive knowledge. You take the knowledge from the perfect and you get perfect knowledge: yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati [Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3].

But if you take knowledge from imperfect, then your knowledge is imperfect. Therefore scientific knowledge should be taken from the Vedas; it is everything there. Simply we have to search out a qualified professor, tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. This evābhigacchet means "must"; otherwise he will not be able to understand.

So God's knowledge is scientific, jñānaṁ me sa-vijñānam. So this religion without scientific knowledge is simply sentiment; it has no value. Generally religion is going on under sentiment; therefore the condition of the human society is so fallen. But the whole science is described there. It must be learned from the qualified professor; otherwise... And religion means, it is stated, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ [SB 6.3.19]. Religion is not unscientific, because it is coming from the most perfect, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13]. Aparuṣa. "How it is coming?" you can say. Therefore the Supreme Personality comes personally and establishes religion—most scientific. He comes here,

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

[Bg. 4.8]

So a man cannot give religion. Man-made religion is not religion. But the religion given by God, that is religion. And what is that religion?

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

[Bg. 18.66]

Kṛṣṇa says that "You give up everything, simply surrender unto Me, and I will give you all protection and all knowledge."

teṣām evānukampārtham
aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ
nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho
jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā

[Bg. 10.11]

So if you… Our only disease is that we have revolted against God; therefore we are under the clutches of māyā, illusion.

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te

[Bg. 7.14]

This is the process. We are placed under the clutches of māyā, therefore we are in illusion; we do not know what to do. But if you put yourself under the protection of the Supreme, then you know everything.

But you cannot claim that you are independent. You are not independent. That is another māyā. We are dependent; every one of us, we are dependent. Just like we Indians, we are dependent on the government. So where is your independence? You want to do something, but the government will not allow it—then you are dependent. In any condition you are dependent.

I talked with Professor Kotovsky in Moscow. So there were many talks. I ultimately, I told Professor, "After all, you have surrendered to something, somebody. You have surrendered to Lenin, and we have surrendered to Kṛṣṇa." So the principle of surrender is there, either you become Communist or this "ist" or that "ist." So our conclusion is that "Why should we surrender to Lenin? Let us surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam [Cc. Antya 20.12].

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: Jaya. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! Hari haribol! [end]

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