A Most Moving 'Statue'
Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.28.20
Nairobi, October 30, 1975
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Take a testNairobi, October 30, 1975
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Harikesa: "In fixing his mind on the
eternal form of the Lord, the yogi should not collective view of all His
limbs, but should fix the mind on each individual limb of the
Lord."
Prabhupada:
tasmil labdha-padam cittam
sarvavayava-samsthitam
vilaksyaikatra samyujyad
ange bhagavato munih
[SB 3.28.20]
So as we have explained many times, that this arca-murti... The rascal class of men, they cannot understand arca-murti. They think that "They are worshiping idol." Even amongst the Hindus there are so-called followers of Vedas. They also say that "What is the necessity of worshiping Deity in the temple?" They made very vigorous propaganda in India to stop temple worship. For a short time it has got some reaction, but now it is finished. That rascal propaganda not to worship the Deity in the temple is finished. Nobody cares for that. They think that God is everywhere -- except in the temple. (laughter) That is their view. And God is everywhere; why not in the temple? No. That is their poor fund of knowledge. They cannot accommodate. No. God is everywhere but not in the temple. This is their intelligence, rascals. So we have to follow therefore acarya. Acaryavan puruso veda: one who has accepted acarya... One who knows the sastra and practically behaves according to the regulation of sastra, he is called acarya. Acinoti sastrarthah.
So all the acaryas... In India there are many thousands and thousands of temples, very, very big temples, especially in South India. Some of them you have seen. Each temple is like a big fort. So all these temples were established by the acaryas, not that the people whimsically established. No. Still there is very prominent temple, Balaji temple, Tirupati, Tirumalai. People are going, and the daily collection is more than one lakh of rupees still. Although they have been propagated so vigorously not to visit temples, but people... That is the birthright in India -- they are automatically Krsna conscious, automatically. Therefore all the demigods, they also desire to take birth in India. Automatically.
So the temple worship is essential. So those who are against temple worship, Deity worship, they are not very intelligent class of men, foolish, mudha. Again, the same word.
na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuri bhavam asritah
[Bg. 7.15]
Mayayapahrta jnanah. They are talking very big, big words, that "God is everywhere," but they are forbidding temple worship. Apahrta-jnana. The knowledge is imperfect. A common man can say, "If God is everywhere, why not in the temple?" And if we have to worship God, why not in His original form? The original form, Krsna, when He was present, the original form so many people have seen. They have got photograph..., not photograph, paintings. And it is confirmed in the sastras, in the Brahma-samhita, venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam barhavatamsam asitambuda-sundarangam [Bs. 5.30]. Krsna is described in the Brahma-samhita from so millions and millions of years ago described by Lord Brahma, that venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam. He is always playing His flute, venum. Venu means flute. Kvanantam. And eyes are like the petals of lotus flower. Venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam barhavatamsam [Bs. 5.30]. And on the head He has got the plume of peacock feather. In this way the description is there in the sastra. And when Krsna came... (aside:) Let him... Why do you disturb? Let him do that. Sit down. So sastra says Krsna is like this. And when Krsna appeared on this planet the exactly the same description was there in His form.
So we have to accept the form of the Lord as confirmed in the sastra and as confirmed by the acarya. Then it is perfect. Sadhu sastra guru vakya tinete kariya aikya. We have to understand something very rigidly by three things, the... It must be confirmed by the sastra, and it must be confirmed by the acaryas and by the spiritual master. Very simple thing. We have description of Krsna in the sastra, Brahma-samhita, the treatise given by Lord Brahma. And this Brahma-samhita was collected from South India in handwriting by Caitanya Mahaprabhu and He delivered to His devotees. So the sadhu... Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna. Still, He is playing the part of a sadhu. Sadhu and sastra, Brahma-samhita, and because we have received from Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are delivering to our disciples: "Here is Krsna's form." The sadhu, sastra, guru. It must be confirmed. Then we can accept, not that whimsically if some rascal comes and becomes God by concoction. We cannot accept. It must be confirmed by... (aside:) Why do you bother? Let them. No, no. As he likes. That's all.
So sadhu sastra guru. This is the way. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu was instructing Sanatana Gosvami in various subject matter, and He also described the incarnation in Kali-yuga from sastra that,
krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtanaih-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah
[SB 11.5.32]
He quoted from Bhagavatam, "This is the incarnation of Kali-yuga." So He is Himself yajnaih sankirtanaih-prayaih. So Sanatana Gosvami was prime minister, very intelligent man. So he had inquired from Caitanya Mahaprabhu that "How we can accept the avatara?" So Caitanya Mahaprabhu also said, "From the sastra." And Sanatana Gosvami got it confirmed that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was... He stopped, of course. When he inquired that "Shall I accept this personality who is now preaching sankirtana movement and along with His associates, He is the Supreme Lord?" Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Let us go on further. We don't..."
So this is the way, not whimsically accept any rascal as avatara. No. That is not the process. Or any rascal as God. This rascaldom has killed the whole human society to become atheist. You should be very, very careful of these rascals. As soon as somebody says that "I am God," you shall immediately take him as dog, not God. So God is not so cheap. In the Brahma-samhita the description of God, Krsna, is given, and it is said there,
yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam athavalambya
jivanti loma-bilaja jagad-anda-nathah
visnur mahan sa iha yasya kala-viseso
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
[Bs. 5.48]
Govinda, the adi-purusa, His plenary representation is Maha-Visnu. And what is the description of Maha-Visnu? Yasya eka nisvasita-kalam athavalambya. From one exhaling of the breath, then... Yasyaika nisvasita-kalam athavalambya [Bs. 5.48], all these innumerable universes. We are seeing... We are in one universe. There are many millions of universes. That we cannot see. We are within this universe compact. We can see it is packed up, just like a ball. But there are many such. So all these different universes controlled by one Lord Brahma, they are coming during the exhaling period of Maha-Visnu's breathing. That is God. Who can imagine Him? Yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam athavalambya jivanti loma-vilaja jagad-anda-nathah [Bs. 5.48]. And universes are coming from the, what is called? Hole?
Devotee: Pores.
Prabhupada: Pores. Pores of the body. From breathing in this way. Then just imagine how many pores are there in the Maha-Visnu's body and how many universes are coming. And this is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita:
athava bahunaitena
kim jnatena tavarjuna
vistabhyaham idam krtsnam
ekamsena sthito jagat
[Bg. 10.42]
"This material manifestation is one fourth-part of My energy, so many innumerable universes." And this is the plenary portion of God, Govinda -- not full, but plenary, one part only. And do you think God is so cheap, anyone can become God? You don't take so cheaply that "Here is a God, incarnation. Here is a God." All bogus. Immediately reject them. Sadhu sastra guru vakya.
So this arca-vigraha which you are worshiping, it is recommended by sadhu, by acarya, by sastra. It is not poetic imagination. Don't think that Krsna's form has been carved by the sculptor by some poetic imagination. No. Sadhu sastra guru vakya. It is confirmed by the sadhu, by sastra, by acarya. So why? To give us facility. Give us facility. We cannot see God by this blunt, materialistic eyes. Materialistic eyes means everything we think in the, with reference to our sense gratification. That is materialistic eyes. "Everything belongs to God" -- that we cannot believe or neither we have got the power to understand it. Krsna says, God says, sarva-loka-mahesvaram: [Bg. 5.29] "Everything belongs to Me." Still, we are fighting: "No, this Africa is mine," "This America is mine," or "This India is mine." They are simply fighting, simply fighting on this misconception. It is clearly said, and is a fact. How this land becomes yours? It does not belong to you. You have come for the time being, for, say, fifty years, hundred years. But the land is lying for millions and millions of years. So before your coming the land was there, and after your going away the land will be there. How it becomes yours? But they have no common sense, these rascals. They have no common sense. They are fighting -- "nationalism." Therefore they are described as go-khara, go-khara, animals, cows and asses. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma-ijya-dhih [SB 10.84.13]. Bhauma-idya-dhih, this is nationalism, worshiping the land of birth. This is called nationalism.
So everyone is becoming very great personality by bhauma-ijya-dhih. The land in which he has taken birth is worshipable, not this Deity. Deity is impersonal, but the land is personal. This is their intelligence. Therefore in sastra it is said, yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke [SB 10.84.13]. The mistake begins from this misunderstanding that "I am this body." Therefore all other mistakes What are those? Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke..., sva-dhih kalatradisu: family. "My wife. This is my wife. This is my children. This is my father. This is my mother. We are in a family." Sva-dhih: "They are my kith and kin. Others, they are all my enemies." So this crippled thought Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke sva-dhih kalatradisu [SB 10.84.13]. Because they have no knowledge that "Nobody is my father. Nobody is my mother. I am nobody's son. We are simply assembled together under certain condition, just like some straws gathered together by the waves of the river, and again, by the same river, it is tossed here and there and then the straw remains one." So we can study our history of life, that someone was born in India; someone was born in America; someone was born in Africa, Canada. So we have come together. There was no idea that we shall have to give up our family relationship and come into this society of Krsna conscious. So similarly, we mix together, intermingle, by chance. Not by chance -- by the arrangement of the Supreme, by providence. Karmana daiva-netrena [SB 3.31.1]. So we play the part of the son, the father, the wife, the children, but it is exactly the same -- a straw gathering by the waves of the river. So just like sometimes in a foreign country we make some relationship, brother, father, but that is not actually the fact. The real father is Krsna. Sarva-yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayoyah [Bg. 14.4].
So this is understanding. So we have to return to that understanding. Therefore it is advised how to make our relationship stronger with Krsna. That is recommended here. Tasmil labdha-padam cittam sarvavayava-samsthitam. Don't think that Krsna or God has no head, no tail. No. Sarvavayava samsthitam. Virata-murti. They are repeatedly said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. But His avayava, different parts of the body, they are different from our, this material, at the present moment the material conception. That is different. He... Just like we can pick up our foodstuff by this hand. This hand is not just like Krsna's hand. Krsna's hand appears to be nonmoving. I think my hand is moving, but Krsna is so powerful that even He has got the so-called statue hand, a metal hand or a stone hand, He can capture food which you offer. That you have to understand. When Krsna is described as "He has no hand," that means He has no that limited hand as we have got. He has got... He appears before us just like a stone idol or statue, but He has got all the capacity of the limbs of the body, sarvavayava. He has kindly appeared before us so that we can see. Here it is recommended that samyujyad ange. You have to see each and every part of the body, limb of Krsna. That is meditation.
This arca-vigraha... By offering worship to the Deity, you see the lotus feet is there, the ankle is there, the mark in the sole is there. Everything is there. So each and every part you study and understand, "Krsna is here. Krsna is there." This is meditation. It is not that the rascal's theory that God is everywhere except in the temple. No. It is not like that. He is everywhere. Now He has appeared in this temple specifically to show His mercy how we can study very analytically: "Here is feet. Here is hand. The feet is marked with these symptoms. His hand is like this. His flute is like this. His hair is like this. Eyes are..." Study everything minutely. Then that is meditation, and this will help you to think of Krsna constantly, and that will be trance, samadhi, samadhi, practical. It is not to be imaginary. The Mayavadis, they think that it is imagination. No, it is not imagination. It is confirmed by the sastras, sadhu sastra guru vakya.
So don't be misled by the Mayavadis. As we have got our acaryas, they are instructing, as Bhagavata is instructing, Bhagavad-gita is instructing, we have to follow. And if we cannot follow, then we should see the acaryas, how they are doing. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. In this way we have to make our life perfect.
Thank you very much.
Devotees: All glories to Srila Prabhupada. [break]
Prabhupada: ...on this subject matter, not bring the whole list of questions.
Girl devotee (1): Srila Prabhupada, you said that the demigods, they want to take birth in India, but is there not the same Vedic culture in the heavenly planets? Why do they want to...
Prabhupada: They are missing the opportunity. That is their misfortune. They do not take advantage of the instruction of Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavatam. They are taking to technology. What can be done?
Brahmananda: Her question was of the demigods, that you said that they wanted to take their birth in India, but is not the Vedic culture in the heavenly planets?
Prabhupada: No, heavenly, they... By pious activities they go to the heavenly planets, but they find there inconvenience in God consciousness. Therefore they desire that "By our pious activities we have come to this higher planetary system, and as soon as our reaction, or the resultant action of pious activities will be finished, we shall have to go again to the material, or this Bhurloka. So if remaining little balance of our pious activities, instead of going anywhere, let us take birth in India." They desire like that. Just like Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, janmaobi more iccha yadi tora kita-janma ha-u..., dasa tuara, like that. He is praying, "My Lord, I do not know whether I am sufficiently fit to go back to home, to back to Godhead, but my only prayer is that if You think that I have to take birth again, so kindly give me this opportunity that I may take birth in a place..." Kita janma hau yatha dasa tuya: "Let me become an insignificant ant in the house of a devotee. If I am going to take birth at all, so give me this concession, that let me take birth as an ant even in the house of a devotee." So Bharatvarsa, the devatas, the demigods, they desire to take birth in India because here is the opportunity. Still, so much broken, you will find, you have seen, that when we hold this Hare Krsna festival, twenty thousand, fifty thousand men come automatically. You will find never in any other country. Still in India you will find that. Why? Because they have taken birth in India the facility is there. So it is very unfortunate that Indians are trying to forget Krsna. Very unfortunate. Krpana. If you have got money, if you don't utilize is properly, that is your misfortune. Similarly, in India, those who have taken birth, they have got the opportunity. Bhagavad-gita was spoken in India, but they are reluctant. They're reluctant. This is their misfortune.
Jnana: Srila Prabhupada, is it sometimes more appropriate to worship arca-murti of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai than Sri Sri Radha and Krsna?
Prabhupada: That will be recommended to you by your spiritual master according to your position. There is no stereotyped idea. That you have to take, instruction from your spiritual master, or you have to do according to the instruction of spiritual master. That will be nice.
Girl devotee (2): Srila Prabhupada, when we chant japa in front of arca-murti, do we then therefore, by this verse, meditate on Krsna limb by limb?
Prabhupada: Hm?
Brahmananda: When we chant japa in front of the Deity, does that correspond to this verse of meditating on the Lord limb by limb?
Prabhupada: Yes. You can see. The Lord is everywhere. You can... Anyone can think. All right. Chant Hare Krsna.
Devotees: All glories to Srila Prabhupada. (end)
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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