Student (1): Is that what you're
trying to do in your movement?Prabhupada: No, my movement... I am talking of
yoga syst... What is my movement, that we shall discuss later on. First of all
the question was the yoga. You asked me that. Yoga means to control the mind and
the senses. So if one is not able to control the mind and senses, he does not
know what is the meaning of yoga. That... You read Bhagavad-gita? Bring
Bhagavad-gita.
Revatinandana: Do you understand the necessity of controlling the mind and the senses? Can you see why it is necessary?
Student (1): Yes. Sort of. Not to the full extent I don't see how it's necessary to a full extent, because I can't control the mind and senses.
Prabhupada: Hm. Call Pradyumna.
Student (1): Because I can't completely control my mind and senses.
Revatinandana: The thing that is covered when we are always acting on the sensual platform, agitated in the mind, is we do not experience our self, our eternal self, which doesn't change. We become locked on the temporary platform.
Student (1): In normal life, you mean? Most people, you're talking about.
Revatinandana: Yes. Because all of our attention is lodged in the mind and the senses, and we are lost to ourselves, so any kind of self-realization process means that you have to control the mind and senses or you cannot be self-situated. Beyond being situated in the self, there may be more, but that's the first point. That's the basic point of yoga.
Student (2): Where does Krsna fit into it? Where does Krsna fit into the yoga?
Revatinandana: He wants to know... If being self-situated is one thing, then where does Krsna enter into the system? That's his question.
Prabhupada: Self-situated. When you are self-situated... Just like in the water you are taking bath in a pool. Something has fallen on the water. Suppose your key has fallen. Now you'll have to find out. You are just trying to settle up the water and see where is the key. So when your mind and senses are controlled, then you can talk of Krsna. Before that you cannot talk. Because Krsna is missing, with uncontrolled mind, senses, you cannot capture Krsna. That is not possible. The same example. When the water is agitated, you cannot see where your things have fallen. You have to wait to make the water calm and quiet. Then you'll see, "Here is my key."
Student (2): What are the ways in which... How can we get to Krsna? How do you get to Krsna.
Prabhupada: You come here. Take this. Sixth chapter, the practice of yoga. The process.
Pradyumna: Should I read from the beginning?
Prabhupada: Hmm. You read. Read.
Pradyumna: "To practice yoga..."
sucau dese pratisthapya
sthiram asanam atmanah
naty-ucchritam natinicam
cailajina-kusottaram
tatraikagram manah krtva
yata-cittendriya-kriyah
upavisyasane yunjyad
yogam atma-visuddhaye
"To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place."
Prabhupada: Now, first of all you have to find out secluded place. Yoga practice is not possible in a hotel or in a public place. It is not possible. You have to find out a secluded place. First condition. Then?
Pradyumna: "...and should lay kusa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth."
Prabhupada: Then there is process of making the asana, deerskin, kusasana, then cloth. You have to sit down in that asana. Asana, dhyana, dharana, pran... Then?
Pradyumna: "The seat should neither be too high nor too low."
Prabhupada: Yes, everything is there. "It should not be too high nor too low." Then?
Pradyumna: "And should be situated in a sacred place."
Prabhupada: A sacred place. Just like formerly those who were practicing yoga, they were going to Gangotri where the Ganges is coming down, in the Himalaya, in the Haridwar, in a secluded, sacred place. These are the condition, first condition. So where you are getting these conditions fulfilled? You cannot practice yoga in a hotel or in a club. That is not possible.
Student (2): How do you decide whether a place is sacred or not?
Prabhupada: Sacred place, generally we take as a lonely place, solitary place. If it is not solitary, it is not sacred.
Student (2): Is sacred the same as solitary?
Prabhupada: Yes, they used to sit down in the Himalaya where the Ganges is coming. That is a sacred place. If you go simply on the Ganges side on the bank of the Ganges, Yamuna, you will find immediately purified your mind, immediately. Or on a seaside where there is nobody disturbing. These are sacred places. Then?
Pradyumna: "The yogi should then sit on it very firmly."
Prabhupada: Then yogi has to sit down very firmly like this. Yes, straight, perpendicularly. Then?
Pradyumna: "And should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses."
Prabhupada: Then he has to practice meditation for controlling the mind and the senses. First of all asana place, sacred place, now, asana, secluded place, alone. That is stated. These are the yogic process.
Student (3): What do you mean by control your mind, I mean, control your senses? If your senses are controlled, can you see anything you wish or hear anything you wish? Or taste anything you wish?
Prabhupada: Just explain what is control, mind and senses.
Revatinandana: Well, controlling, being in control of your mind and senses, means that whatever destination you fix up with your intelligence -- you understand, you want a particular result -- then if you are in control of your mind and senses, then it means that it won't disturb you.
Prabhupada: First of all... First of all thing is the, what is the aim of practicing yoga? So to achieve that end, that purpose, you have to control the mind because mind is very flickering, going here, there, there, there. So first of all you must know what is the purpose of practicing yoga, why you should practice yoga. So in order to achieve that goal, you have to concentrate your mind, and therefore you have to control the mind going here and there. That is control. Mind business is acceptance and rejecting. This is mind's business. Immediately I accept, "It is very good;" again, next moment, "No, no it is not good. Reject it." This is called flickering mind. So by yoga practice you have to make your mind in such a way that whatever you decide, that is correct, not the state of rejecting and accepting. So first of all, you have to know why you are practicing yoga. As you asked the question, "Why control of mind?" Then the next question will be "Why you are practicing? What is your aim?" You are going to practice yoga. Why? What is the aim?
Student (1): Is it to realize God?
Prabhupada: That's nice. Therefore you must have to concentrate upon God; therefore you have to control your mind. You have to withdraw your mind from any other engagement, only concentrate on God. Then the... What is God?
Student (1): That's what I'm trying to find out.
Prabhupada: No, if you want to concentrate, find out God... Do you mean to say simply by practicing, you'll find out? You must know what is God. Then suppose you are purchasing some ticket. You do not where to go. You do not know. You say, "I'll have to find out where to go." What is this? Then why you are purchasing ticket?
Student (1): Yeah. How can you focus your mind on God before you know what He is?
Prabhupada: Yes. So then what is God?
Student (1): That's what I came to ask you.
Prabhupada: Then?
Revatinandana: He wants to know. (laughter)
Prabhupada: And that is Krsna. So if you concentrate your mind on Krsna, that is yoga. That is first-class yoga. That is stated. You... List the last...
yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantaratmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah
[Bg. 6.47]
He is first-class yogi who is always concentrating his mind on Krsna.
Student (1): Why Krsna?
Prabhupada: Yes. Only on Krsna. That is... Yoginam api sarvesam [Bg. 6.47]. You read the translation.
Pradyumna: "And of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all."
Prabhupada: That's it. This is the highest yoga. So to concentrate your mind on Krsna, that is highest perfection of yoga.
Student (1): Yeah, but I want to know why Krsna in particular.
Prabhupada: Then if there is question of "Why?" then you do not come to us. You can ask somebody else. Because Krsna is accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all the yogis, all the saintly persons, therefore... There is no question of "Why?" Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. That is the decision of the Vedic literature. All the acaryas. We have to follow, mahajano yena gatah, big personalities. Now in India, the big personalities in the modern age, Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnu Svami, Caitanya, all of them accept krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. Formerly, five thousand years ago, Vyasadeva, before that, Narada -- everyone accepts Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So there is no question about Krsna's being the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Why? Why? Because these people accept, the sastra says, the Vedas says, therefore He is the Supreme Personality.
Student (1): I don't follow at all...
Prabhupada: Then you'll never be able to follow.
Revatinandana: Now, just see, the revealed scriptures...
Prabhupada: No, no revealed scripture... Just like why do you accept the queen as the supreme? Why?
Students: We don't.
Prabhupada: Oh, then, then you are not very sane.
Student (1):. Yeah, but why, there's a thousand...
Prabhupada: You do. You say, "I do not," but you do so. You are... By law you are obliged to do so. If you say publicly, then you will be something else.
Revatinandana: It happened. In Scotland there is one university, Stirling University, and the queen visited there. And she was treated in a very insulting way by the students, and as a result of that, the university and those students, they were put into a great deal of trouble afterward. Of course, the queen is not supreme anymore, but she still is sufficient.
Prabhupada: No, no, I am giving an example. No, officially, she is the supreme of England. That you cannot deny. If you do so, then your position, you know. Similarly, anything... "Call a spade a spade." If everyone says that this is electric lamp, and if you say, "No, I don't say," then what can be done?
Student (3): We can see an electric lamp, but we can't see Krsna.
Prabhupada: No, that... That is... You have to see through the sastra. sastra-caksusa. Just like you see the sun just like a disc, but when you go through the sastra, authorized books, you understand that it is fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth. So what is the value of your seeing? Why do you believe you're seeing so much? Your all seeing is defective. You cannot say that you are perfectly seeing. You cannot say that.
Student (1): Do you believe that there are other ways...
Prabhupada: There is no question of belief. Now let us quest... We believe that "If I see, that is all right," but what is the value of your seeing? You cannot see beyond this wall. Does it mean there is nothing? So what is the value of your seeing? First of all you consider. You are questioning that "I cannot see," but what is the value of your seeing?
Student (3): My seeing the electric lamp tells me that it is...
Prabhupada: Now, now, now, but you are seeing the electric lamp, but why do you believe so much on your seeing power? You cannot see so many things, even though you have got the eyes.
Student (3): I have no reason not to believe.
Prabhupada: No, that is not good. If you say, "I cannot see beyond this wall. There is nothing," nobody will take your words.
Student (3): Well, I don't know about that. I can see the wall.
Prabhupada: You can say you don't know, but you cannot say that because you do not see, therefore it is nothing. You cannot say that.
Student (2): We don't deny that Krsna exists, but, well, you know...
Prabhupada: You have to know by the process, by the process. You have to know by the process. Just like can you see your father?
Student (2): Can I see him?
Prabhupada: Eh. You cannot see? Can you see?
Student (2): Well, I can see him.
Prabhupada: So how you can see? Who is your father, how you can see? Why? Why you accept somebody as your father? Why?
Student (2): Because my mother told me.
Prabhupada: Huh, that's right. (laughter) But you do not see. You do not see. So you have to believe the authority. Then you can see. Your father existed before your birth. So you have to ask from mother, "Who is my father?" And if she says, "This gentleman is your father," then it is all right. It is easy. Otherwise, if you makes research, "Who is my father?" go on searching for life; you'll never find your father.
Revatinandana: So to come to your point, as he was pointing out, in the past, back hundreds of years, thousands of years, all the great authorities of spiritual knowledge and yoga have accepted Krsna as the Personality of Godhead. And these ancient Vedas, they confirm it clearly in many, many places. Now, if someone comes and he says something else than Krsna is God, "I am God" or "This light is God..."
Prabhupada: You find out this verse
Revatinandana: Then its different, you see. That's why not Guru Maharajaji.
Prabhupada: Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam [Bg. 10.12], in the Tenth Chapter.
Pradyumna: 10.10?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Pradyumna:
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum
[Bg. 10.12]
Prabhupada: Yes, go on.
Pradyumna:
ahus tvam rsayah sarve
devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah
svayam caiva bravisi me
[Bg. 10.13]
"Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita, Devala..."
Prabhupada: Now he is referring to great sages, on the authority.
Pradyumna: "...and Vyasa proclaim this of You and now You Yourself are declaring it to me."
Prabhupada: Then? Sarvam etad rtam manye [Bg. 10.14]?
Pradyumna: Sarvam etad rtam manye
Prabhupada: Yan mam vadasi kesava
Pradyumna: ...yan mam vadasi kesava, na hi te bhagavan vyaktim vidur deva na danavah: "O Krsna, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, O Lord, know Thy personality."
Prabhupada: Just see. Immediately he understands Krsna. Sarvam etad rtam manye: [Bg. 10.14] "Whatever You have spoken, I accept it," Then there is no difficulty. And You are accepted by Devala, Narada, Vyasa, and You are speaking Yourself, and later on, all the acaryas have accepted. Then I'll follow: mahajano yena gatah sa panthah [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. I'll have to follow great personalities. The same reason mother says, this gentleman is my father. That's all. Finish business. Where is the necessity of making research? All authorities accept Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You accept it; then your searching after God is finished. Why should you waste your time?
Student (1): Say we say that Krsna is God. Right?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Student (1): Then do you believe that there are other ways, apart from the way that you're going, to get to Krsna?
Prabhupada: Yoga means to understand Krsna.
Student (1): Yeah, right, but I mean practically...
Prabhupada: So when you understand Krsna, then there is no need of yoga.
Student (1): I don't think you could ever understand God.
Prabhupada: No, if you go to the place... Just like if you go to the airport, then you can understand which airship is starting from which gate, which gate. There are so many things you can see. But if you do not approach the airport, simply in other place, how you can study airport? First of all come to Krsna. Then try to understand Krsna. And if you understand Krsna you become liberated. First of all we have to know that "Here is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Then you try to understand. But if you do not approach there, where is your question of understanding Him?
Student (1): Yeah, but somebody else will say, "You come to us, and I'll do this to you, and you'll see God."
Prabhupada: We do... We are not concerned with "some." We are concerned with the authorities, that's all. Somebody says, "He is not your father." We are not concerned. My mother says, "He is father." That's all.
Student (1): Yeah, but if my mother tells me, I only believe it...
Prabhupada: Then you are unfortunate. If your mother tells you lies, then you are unfortunate.
Student (1): Yeah, but I only believe her because I give her the authority. You make Bhagavad-gita your...
Prabhupada: But generally we have to believe. Generally we have to believe mother; there is no other way. To understand the father, generally you have to accept the statement of mother. If your mother tells you lies, that is misfortune.
Student (1): Yeah, but you're not giving us any sort of answer. You're just sort of saying, "Believe in us, assume that you believe in us." So why don't you give us an answer?
Prabhupada: No, believe... You have to believe. You have to believe. Otherwise you cannot make progress. You have to believe.
Student (1): But say you're in a position of not particularly believing in anybody. I mean there's loads of organizations going around, "Believe in us..."
Prabhupada: No, if you don't believe, that is a different thing
Revatinandana: No, what he's saying is this. Now he's saying also, this Guru Maharajaji, he says, "You believe in me, and I'll show you everything." Now he's saying that... What he's accusing is...
Prabhupada: But who cares for the Guru Maharaja?
Revatinandana: He cares.
Prabhupada: Here is Narada, Devala, Vyasa, authority.
Student (3): No, we're not saying we do, but some people do, anyway.
Student (1): Yeah, they'll argue just as convincingly as you.
Prabhupada: But everyone can say, "I am God." Then how you'll understand? If Guru Maharaja says, I can say also. He can say. Then go on studying who is God. The same question: Everyone says, "I am your father," "I am your father," "I am your father," but whom you have to believe? You have to believe only mother.
Student (1): Okay, well who's the mother in this case?
Revatinandana: The sastra, revealed scriptures. They give information about the father.
Prabhupada: sastra-caksusa.
Student (1): What about the Bible? That'll tell me something else, altogether.
Revatinandana: No, it won't. It will tell you almost identical information. If you go in the Bible, it will say, "God is your father." Father means he is sufficient to beget a son. Now, if God is a void, how can a son come out from a void? But if God is a person, then he can have son.
Prabhupada: We have no such experience.
Revatinandana: Similarly, Krsna says, "I am the father of every living being." Therefore Bible and Bhagavad-gita, they are saying the same thing, but not that "God is void or light," not saying that. Somebody else is saying that. Therefore we are very, very skeptical now. He has not got the authority of these scriptures. If he says, "Your father is a void," that is nonsense.
Prabhupada: And where is our experience -- from void a son is born? Where is your experience? Suppose you are a person. You have dropped from the void?
Student (1): I'm not arguing for Divine Light or anything. I'm just trying to...
Revatinandana: No, just take it philosophically. Can a person come from a void? Void means zero. But a person is not zero. He has so many personal qualities.
Student (1): I mean, if you stick to strict logic, you can't, no, right. I mean this isn't logical, is it?
Revatinandana: Sometimes by logic you can find out what is false. What is truth, that we get from authority.
Student (1): You say it is logic because, say, everything in that book fits in with everything else, maybe. So it's a total form of logic in itself.
Student (3): Your logic starts from the assumption that the book is correct.
Prabhupada: Then why you are arguing? That is logic. Why you are arguing? Why don't you accept what I say? Why you are arguing? That is logic.
Student (3): Because so many people say different things which conflict.
Prabhupada: Therefore you are taking the shelter of logic. You are taking the shelter.
Student (1): Logic... Logic is arguing, isn't it?
Prabhupada: No, logic means argument, reasoning. Our logic is because Krsna is accepted by all great persons, authorities, we accept. Our logic is simple.
Student (1): But Christians might say the same thing. They might say, "Look at the Bible, This is our logic."
Prabhupada: Yes, that's all right. They accept God; we accept God. The only difference is they do not know who is God, but we know who is God.
Student (1): No, they know who is God.
Prabhupada: No.
Revatinandana: You won't get any good information about God. "God is great. God created" -- finished. That's not very much information. God's son? A little more information about God's son.
Student (1): But you've got no more right to say you know who is God than they have.
Revatinandana: Oh, well, we have a lot more information about God, you see.
Student: In which way?
Revatinandana: In these Vedas. There's a difference between the arithmetic book you get in the first grade of school and the calculus book in terms of the amount of information. We can tell you more about God because the Vedas give more information than the Bible. But the basic principle -- "God is there. God is a person" -- is in both places.
Prabhupada: Jesus Christ is son of God. Therefore God must be person. A person can beget a son.
Student (1): God exists now.
Prabhupada: Yes, always exists.
Student (1): But therefore where is He?
Prabhupada: Why is He?
Revatinandana: Where is He?
Prabhupada: Where is He? He is with you. He is here. But you have no eyes to see, that's all.
Revatinandana: He says, "I'm sitting in everyone's heart, and from Me comes knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness." If you turn toward Him, He will give you knowledge, and you'll be able to see Him. But you have to find out who to turn toward. Then you can turn. So from saintly authorities, the line of masters and the Vedas, we find out where to turn. And if you turn properly, then by Krsna's grace, you'll see Krsna. He'll reveal Himself in the course of time.
Student (2): Have you all seen Krsna?
Prabhupada: What is that?
Revatinandana: He asked if we have all seen Krsna.
Prabhupada: We are daily, every moment, seeing, every moment. Otherwise, do you mean to say we are blindly following something?
Student (2): No, I'm not saying that. I'm just asking if someone comes along and joins you, do they see Krsna?
Prabhupada: Yes, why don't you see Krsna? There is picture of Krsna. Why don't you see, driving horse? Here is Krsna. Why don't you see? If you see the photograph of your father, is it not seeing your father?
Student (2): No.
Prabhupada: No, then what can I talk with you?
Student (2): All I was saying was is it, when someone comes...
Prabhupada: Your the photograph of your, seeing the photograph of your father, is it not seeing your father? That's your argument?
Student (1): No, it's seeing a photograph of your father.
Prabhupada: False?
Revatinandana: It's seeing a photograph of your father.
Prabhupada: Yes. Now, but God is Absolute. God and God's photograph, there is no difference. God and God's name, there is no difference. Therefore God is Absolute. He is not relative. You can say, "The photograph is not my father," that because it is relative. But God is Absolute. God's name, God's form, God's pastimes -- everything is God. That you have to understand, Absolute nature. Otherwise are these boys and so many thousands and thousands of devotees... They are chanting Hare Krsna. If Krsna, this name, is different from Krsna, are they foolishly simply chanting Krsna?
Student (2): I don't know but...
Prabhupada: Krsna and Krsna's name is the same. Krsna and Krsna's photograph is the same. That you have to understand. Krsna is Absolute.
Student (3): Do you mean Krsna is Absolute, and Krsna is everything?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Student (3): Then why does Krsna have a specific form?
Prabhupada: And why not? Krsna is everything. Suppose I if I say, "I am everything in this, my institution," does it mean I have lost my personality? No, no, if I say, this Krsna consciousness movement... If somebody says that "Bhaktivedanta Swami is everything," does it mean I have lost my personality? That is material understanding. Krsna keeps His personality; still, He is everything.
Revatinandana: Just see. In the government there are so many cabinet ministers, offices, etc. And in every cabinet minister and in every office the will of the Prime Minister is going on. Therefore in one sense the Prime Minister is everything. Still, the Prime Minister is a person who is in control of all those cabinet officers and offices. And you won't find the Prime Minister in each office, but he's there, because of his influence. In the same way you are in Krsna's energies, and He is everywhere through His energies, but He remains the person in control. The same thing.
Prabhupada: That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah [Bg. 9.4]. Although you do not find Krsna in somewhere, but His energy is acting, there. So one who has eyes to see how Krsna's energy is acting, he sees Krsna. Same example. Because the Prime Minister's energy is working in that office, so the Prime Minister is there present. So everything is demonstration of the energy. Just like you are in the room, you have not seen the sun, but as soon as the sunshine is there, you know that sun is there. You see the sun through the sunshine, although it is not that sun has come into your room. The sunshine, coming of the sunshine within your room, is sufficient knowledge to know that here is sun. Sun is there. That is the Vedic statement, that you can understand there is fire when there is heat. If there is light and heat, then you can understand there is fire. That heat and light is sufficient, now, what is the heat and light? This is energy of the fire. So when Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, "These material elements," bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh [Bg. 7.4], earth, water, fire, air, they are My energies, so if one has studied Krsna, then as soon as He sees a great ocean, He sees Krsna: "Oh, this is Krsna's energy." As soon as sees a big anything, fire, water, anything, He sees Krsna, nothing but Krsna because He knows. Exactly in the same way, as soon as you feel heat, you know that there is fire. You don't require to see the fire. But if you feel, "Oh it is hot, oh, there must be fire." This is studying Krsna. And this is called Krsna consciousness, to feel the presence of Krsna everywhere. So everything requires training, undergoing the process. Then it is possible. It is not impossible. So if you also go, the training, the process, you'll also understand. It is not difficult.
Student (3):. To be Krsna conscious, one needs faith that Krsna exists, and...
Prabhupada: Not only "Krsna exists," "What is my relationship with Krsna? What is my duty in that relationship?" everything.
Revatinandana: Just see. Who can produce this? Who can produce something like this? Supposing you take your best chemists and engineers,
Student (3): Well, you must call it God, mustn't you.
Revatinandana: And you see who can produce, right? They cannot produce anything with this texture, this nice smell, you see?
Prabhupada: He knows it.
Student (3): It doesn't smell.
Revatinandana: So many persons can make an artificial flower that's not as nice as that one, but they cannot reproduce that. And then we say that Krsna is the Personality of Godhead, who is full of knowledge, full of beauty, full of power. With full knowledge, beauty and power...
Prabhupada: Because He has got full knowledge, He knows how to... Now, this flower has come from earth, and other flower has come also from the earth. But the fragrance is within the earth. But you cannot take the fragrance from the earth. You do not know. But Krsna is taking. Just see. Therefore His knowledge is perfect. Omnipotent, omniscient. He knows how to take. He knows the process. So many flowers are coming.
Revatinandana: Then, when you can see a flower in this consciousness, then you can see Krsna. Through that flower Krsna is smiling at you. He is offering, He is smiling at you through that flower, and He is there, smiling.
Student (3): I can see God, smiling at me from the flower.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Revatinandana: That's right.
Student (3): I see no relationship...
Prabhupada: So but you do not know who is God. That is the difference.
Revatinandana: Krsna's saying, "I am the cause of everything. From Me the whole creation flows." He is the person who has designed the flower that you cannot design. And if you want to see Him directly, if you want to associate with Him personally, He says, "Only by pure love and devotion can I be seen." Therefore our yoga is to love Krsna. And then you can see everything when you see Krsna.
Student (1): But this is your yoga, right?
Revatinandana: It's Krsna's yoga.
Prabhupada: Yoga means connection. As soon as you study Krsna in this way, you make your connection with Krsna. That is perfection of yoga. Yoga means connection, the Sanskrit word yoga. And the opposite word is viyoga, disconnection. Yoga-viyoga. So yoga means, real yoga means, to connect your relationship, your identity, with Krsna. That is called yoga. So take little prasadam. Come on.
Revatinandana: Take some little sweet.
Student (2): Thank you.
Prabhupada: Come on.
Student (2): I can't.
Prabhupada: No, no, I will give you. So let us stop here. Next I can give some talk.
Revatinandana: All glories to Prabhupada. (Obeisances) So Prabhupada will take some rest now.
Student (3): Thanks very much.
Prabhupada: Hare Krsna. Thank you very much. So bring little milk. Yes. (end)
Revatinandana: Do you understand the necessity of controlling the mind and the senses? Can you see why it is necessary?
Student (1): Yes. Sort of. Not to the full extent I don't see how it's necessary to a full extent, because I can't control the mind and senses.
Prabhupada: Hm. Call Pradyumna.
Student (1): Because I can't completely control my mind and senses.
Revatinandana: The thing that is covered when we are always acting on the sensual platform, agitated in the mind, is we do not experience our self, our eternal self, which doesn't change. We become locked on the temporary platform.
Student (1): In normal life, you mean? Most people, you're talking about.
Revatinandana: Yes. Because all of our attention is lodged in the mind and the senses, and we are lost to ourselves, so any kind of self-realization process means that you have to control the mind and senses or you cannot be self-situated. Beyond being situated in the self, there may be more, but that's the first point. That's the basic point of yoga.
Student (2): Where does Krsna fit into it? Where does Krsna fit into the yoga?
Revatinandana: He wants to know... If being self-situated is one thing, then where does Krsna enter into the system? That's his question.
Prabhupada: Self-situated. When you are self-situated... Just like in the water you are taking bath in a pool. Something has fallen on the water. Suppose your key has fallen. Now you'll have to find out. You are just trying to settle up the water and see where is the key. So when your mind and senses are controlled, then you can talk of Krsna. Before that you cannot talk. Because Krsna is missing, with uncontrolled mind, senses, you cannot capture Krsna. That is not possible. The same example. When the water is agitated, you cannot see where your things have fallen. You have to wait to make the water calm and quiet. Then you'll see, "Here is my key."
Student (2): What are the ways in which... How can we get to Krsna? How do you get to Krsna.
Prabhupada: You come here. Take this. Sixth chapter, the practice of yoga. The process.
Pradyumna: Should I read from the beginning?
Prabhupada: Hmm. You read. Read.
Pradyumna: "To practice yoga..."
sucau dese pratisthapya
sthiram asanam atmanah
naty-ucchritam natinicam
cailajina-kusottaram
tatraikagram manah krtva
yata-cittendriya-kriyah
upavisyasane yunjyad
yogam atma-visuddhaye
"To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place."
Prabhupada: Now, first of all you have to find out secluded place. Yoga practice is not possible in a hotel or in a public place. It is not possible. You have to find out a secluded place. First condition. Then?
Pradyumna: "...and should lay kusa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth."
Prabhupada: Then there is process of making the asana, deerskin, kusasana, then cloth. You have to sit down in that asana. Asana, dhyana, dharana, pran... Then?
Pradyumna: "The seat should neither be too high nor too low."
Prabhupada: Yes, everything is there. "It should not be too high nor too low." Then?
Pradyumna: "And should be situated in a sacred place."
Prabhupada: A sacred place. Just like formerly those who were practicing yoga, they were going to Gangotri where the Ganges is coming down, in the Himalaya, in the Haridwar, in a secluded, sacred place. These are the condition, first condition. So where you are getting these conditions fulfilled? You cannot practice yoga in a hotel or in a club. That is not possible.
Student (2): How do you decide whether a place is sacred or not?
Prabhupada: Sacred place, generally we take as a lonely place, solitary place. If it is not solitary, it is not sacred.
Student (2): Is sacred the same as solitary?
Prabhupada: Yes, they used to sit down in the Himalaya where the Ganges is coming. That is a sacred place. If you go simply on the Ganges side on the bank of the Ganges, Yamuna, you will find immediately purified your mind, immediately. Or on a seaside where there is nobody disturbing. These are sacred places. Then?
Pradyumna: "The yogi should then sit on it very firmly."
Prabhupada: Then yogi has to sit down very firmly like this. Yes, straight, perpendicularly. Then?
Pradyumna: "And should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses."
Prabhupada: Then he has to practice meditation for controlling the mind and the senses. First of all asana place, sacred place, now, asana, secluded place, alone. That is stated. These are the yogic process.
Student (3): What do you mean by control your mind, I mean, control your senses? If your senses are controlled, can you see anything you wish or hear anything you wish? Or taste anything you wish?
Prabhupada: Just explain what is control, mind and senses.
Revatinandana: Well, controlling, being in control of your mind and senses, means that whatever destination you fix up with your intelligence -- you understand, you want a particular result -- then if you are in control of your mind and senses, then it means that it won't disturb you.
Prabhupada: First of all... First of all thing is the, what is the aim of practicing yoga? So to achieve that end, that purpose, you have to control the mind because mind is very flickering, going here, there, there, there. So first of all you must know what is the purpose of practicing yoga, why you should practice yoga. So in order to achieve that goal, you have to concentrate your mind, and therefore you have to control the mind going here and there. That is control. Mind business is acceptance and rejecting. This is mind's business. Immediately I accept, "It is very good;" again, next moment, "No, no it is not good. Reject it." This is called flickering mind. So by yoga practice you have to make your mind in such a way that whatever you decide, that is correct, not the state of rejecting and accepting. So first of all, you have to know why you are practicing yoga. As you asked the question, "Why control of mind?" Then the next question will be "Why you are practicing? What is your aim?" You are going to practice yoga. Why? What is the aim?
Student (1): Is it to realize God?
Prabhupada: That's nice. Therefore you must have to concentrate upon God; therefore you have to control your mind. You have to withdraw your mind from any other engagement, only concentrate on God. Then the... What is God?
Student (1): That's what I'm trying to find out.
Prabhupada: No, if you want to concentrate, find out God... Do you mean to say simply by practicing, you'll find out? You must know what is God. Then suppose you are purchasing some ticket. You do not where to go. You do not know. You say, "I'll have to find out where to go." What is this? Then why you are purchasing ticket?
Student (1): Yeah. How can you focus your mind on God before you know what He is?
Prabhupada: Yes. So then what is God?
Student (1): That's what I came to ask you.
Prabhupada: Then?
Revatinandana: He wants to know. (laughter)
Prabhupada: And that is Krsna. So if you concentrate your mind on Krsna, that is yoga. That is first-class yoga. That is stated. You... List the last...
yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantaratmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah
[Bg. 6.47]
He is first-class yogi who is always concentrating his mind on Krsna.
Student (1): Why Krsna?
Prabhupada: Yes. Only on Krsna. That is... Yoginam api sarvesam [Bg. 6.47]. You read the translation.
Pradyumna: "And of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all."
Prabhupada: That's it. This is the highest yoga. So to concentrate your mind on Krsna, that is highest perfection of yoga.
Student (1): Yeah, but I want to know why Krsna in particular.
Prabhupada: Then if there is question of "Why?" then you do not come to us. You can ask somebody else. Because Krsna is accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all the yogis, all the saintly persons, therefore... There is no question of "Why?" Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. That is the decision of the Vedic literature. All the acaryas. We have to follow, mahajano yena gatah, big personalities. Now in India, the big personalities in the modern age, Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnu Svami, Caitanya, all of them accept krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. Formerly, five thousand years ago, Vyasadeva, before that, Narada -- everyone accepts Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So there is no question about Krsna's being the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Why? Why? Because these people accept, the sastra says, the Vedas says, therefore He is the Supreme Personality.
Student (1): I don't follow at all...
Prabhupada: Then you'll never be able to follow.
Revatinandana: Now, just see, the revealed scriptures...
Prabhupada: No, no revealed scripture... Just like why do you accept the queen as the supreme? Why?
Students: We don't.
Prabhupada: Oh, then, then you are not very sane.
Student (1):. Yeah, but why, there's a thousand...
Prabhupada: You do. You say, "I do not," but you do so. You are... By law you are obliged to do so. If you say publicly, then you will be something else.
Revatinandana: It happened. In Scotland there is one university, Stirling University, and the queen visited there. And she was treated in a very insulting way by the students, and as a result of that, the university and those students, they were put into a great deal of trouble afterward. Of course, the queen is not supreme anymore, but she still is sufficient.
Prabhupada: No, no, I am giving an example. No, officially, she is the supreme of England. That you cannot deny. If you do so, then your position, you know. Similarly, anything... "Call a spade a spade." If everyone says that this is electric lamp, and if you say, "No, I don't say," then what can be done?
Student (3): We can see an electric lamp, but we can't see Krsna.
Prabhupada: No, that... That is... You have to see through the sastra. sastra-caksusa. Just like you see the sun just like a disc, but when you go through the sastra, authorized books, you understand that it is fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth. So what is the value of your seeing? Why do you believe you're seeing so much? Your all seeing is defective. You cannot say that you are perfectly seeing. You cannot say that.
Student (1): Do you believe that there are other ways...
Prabhupada: There is no question of belief. Now let us quest... We believe that "If I see, that is all right," but what is the value of your seeing? You cannot see beyond this wall. Does it mean there is nothing? So what is the value of your seeing? First of all you consider. You are questioning that "I cannot see," but what is the value of your seeing?
Student (3): My seeing the electric lamp tells me that it is...
Prabhupada: Now, now, now, but you are seeing the electric lamp, but why do you believe so much on your seeing power? You cannot see so many things, even though you have got the eyes.
Student (3): I have no reason not to believe.
Prabhupada: No, that is not good. If you say, "I cannot see beyond this wall. There is nothing," nobody will take your words.
Student (3): Well, I don't know about that. I can see the wall.
Prabhupada: You can say you don't know, but you cannot say that because you do not see, therefore it is nothing. You cannot say that.
Student (2): We don't deny that Krsna exists, but, well, you know...
Prabhupada: You have to know by the process, by the process. You have to know by the process. Just like can you see your father?
Student (2): Can I see him?
Prabhupada: Eh. You cannot see? Can you see?
Student (2): Well, I can see him.
Prabhupada: So how you can see? Who is your father, how you can see? Why? Why you accept somebody as your father? Why?
Student (2): Because my mother told me.
Prabhupada: Huh, that's right. (laughter) But you do not see. You do not see. So you have to believe the authority. Then you can see. Your father existed before your birth. So you have to ask from mother, "Who is my father?" And if she says, "This gentleman is your father," then it is all right. It is easy. Otherwise, if you makes research, "Who is my father?" go on searching for life; you'll never find your father.
Revatinandana: So to come to your point, as he was pointing out, in the past, back hundreds of years, thousands of years, all the great authorities of spiritual knowledge and yoga have accepted Krsna as the Personality of Godhead. And these ancient Vedas, they confirm it clearly in many, many places. Now, if someone comes and he says something else than Krsna is God, "I am God" or "This light is God..."
Prabhupada: You find out this verse
Revatinandana: Then its different, you see. That's why not Guru Maharajaji.
Prabhupada: Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam [Bg. 10.12], in the Tenth Chapter.
Pradyumna: 10.10?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Pradyumna:
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum
[Bg. 10.12]
Prabhupada: Yes, go on.
Pradyumna:
ahus tvam rsayah sarve
devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah
svayam caiva bravisi me
[Bg. 10.13]
"Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita, Devala..."
Prabhupada: Now he is referring to great sages, on the authority.
Pradyumna: "...and Vyasa proclaim this of You and now You Yourself are declaring it to me."
Prabhupada: Then? Sarvam etad rtam manye [Bg. 10.14]?
Pradyumna: Sarvam etad rtam manye
Prabhupada: Yan mam vadasi kesava
Pradyumna: ...yan mam vadasi kesava, na hi te bhagavan vyaktim vidur deva na danavah: "O Krsna, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, O Lord, know Thy personality."
Prabhupada: Just see. Immediately he understands Krsna. Sarvam etad rtam manye: [Bg. 10.14] "Whatever You have spoken, I accept it," Then there is no difficulty. And You are accepted by Devala, Narada, Vyasa, and You are speaking Yourself, and later on, all the acaryas have accepted. Then I'll follow: mahajano yena gatah sa panthah [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. I'll have to follow great personalities. The same reason mother says, this gentleman is my father. That's all. Finish business. Where is the necessity of making research? All authorities accept Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You accept it; then your searching after God is finished. Why should you waste your time?
Student (1): Say we say that Krsna is God. Right?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Student (1): Then do you believe that there are other ways, apart from the way that you're going, to get to Krsna?
Prabhupada: Yoga means to understand Krsna.
Student (1): Yeah, right, but I mean practically...
Prabhupada: So when you understand Krsna, then there is no need of yoga.
Student (1): I don't think you could ever understand God.
Prabhupada: No, if you go to the place... Just like if you go to the airport, then you can understand which airship is starting from which gate, which gate. There are so many things you can see. But if you do not approach the airport, simply in other place, how you can study airport? First of all come to Krsna. Then try to understand Krsna. And if you understand Krsna you become liberated. First of all we have to know that "Here is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Then you try to understand. But if you do not approach there, where is your question of understanding Him?
Student (1): Yeah, but somebody else will say, "You come to us, and I'll do this to you, and you'll see God."
Prabhupada: We do... We are not concerned with "some." We are concerned with the authorities, that's all. Somebody says, "He is not your father." We are not concerned. My mother says, "He is father." That's all.
Student (1): Yeah, but if my mother tells me, I only believe it...
Prabhupada: Then you are unfortunate. If your mother tells you lies, then you are unfortunate.
Student (1): Yeah, but I only believe her because I give her the authority. You make Bhagavad-gita your...
Prabhupada: But generally we have to believe. Generally we have to believe mother; there is no other way. To understand the father, generally you have to accept the statement of mother. If your mother tells you lies, that is misfortune.
Student (1): Yeah, but you're not giving us any sort of answer. You're just sort of saying, "Believe in us, assume that you believe in us." So why don't you give us an answer?
Prabhupada: No, believe... You have to believe. You have to believe. Otherwise you cannot make progress. You have to believe.
Student (1): But say you're in a position of not particularly believing in anybody. I mean there's loads of organizations going around, "Believe in us..."
Prabhupada: No, if you don't believe, that is a different thing
Revatinandana: No, what he's saying is this. Now he's saying also, this Guru Maharajaji, he says, "You believe in me, and I'll show you everything." Now he's saying that... What he's accusing is...
Prabhupada: But who cares for the Guru Maharaja?
Revatinandana: He cares.
Prabhupada: Here is Narada, Devala, Vyasa, authority.
Student (3): No, we're not saying we do, but some people do, anyway.
Student (1): Yeah, they'll argue just as convincingly as you.
Prabhupada: But everyone can say, "I am God." Then how you'll understand? If Guru Maharaja says, I can say also. He can say. Then go on studying who is God. The same question: Everyone says, "I am your father," "I am your father," "I am your father," but whom you have to believe? You have to believe only mother.
Student (1): Okay, well who's the mother in this case?
Revatinandana: The sastra, revealed scriptures. They give information about the father.
Prabhupada: sastra-caksusa.
Student (1): What about the Bible? That'll tell me something else, altogether.
Revatinandana: No, it won't. It will tell you almost identical information. If you go in the Bible, it will say, "God is your father." Father means he is sufficient to beget a son. Now, if God is a void, how can a son come out from a void? But if God is a person, then he can have son.
Prabhupada: We have no such experience.
Revatinandana: Similarly, Krsna says, "I am the father of every living being." Therefore Bible and Bhagavad-gita, they are saying the same thing, but not that "God is void or light," not saying that. Somebody else is saying that. Therefore we are very, very skeptical now. He has not got the authority of these scriptures. If he says, "Your father is a void," that is nonsense.
Prabhupada: And where is our experience -- from void a son is born? Where is your experience? Suppose you are a person. You have dropped from the void?
Student (1): I'm not arguing for Divine Light or anything. I'm just trying to...
Revatinandana: No, just take it philosophically. Can a person come from a void? Void means zero. But a person is not zero. He has so many personal qualities.
Student (1): I mean, if you stick to strict logic, you can't, no, right. I mean this isn't logical, is it?
Revatinandana: Sometimes by logic you can find out what is false. What is truth, that we get from authority.
Student (1): You say it is logic because, say, everything in that book fits in with everything else, maybe. So it's a total form of logic in itself.
Student (3): Your logic starts from the assumption that the book is correct.
Prabhupada: Then why you are arguing? That is logic. Why you are arguing? Why don't you accept what I say? Why you are arguing? That is logic.
Student (3): Because so many people say different things which conflict.
Prabhupada: Therefore you are taking the shelter of logic. You are taking the shelter.
Student (1): Logic... Logic is arguing, isn't it?
Prabhupada: No, logic means argument, reasoning. Our logic is because Krsna is accepted by all great persons, authorities, we accept. Our logic is simple.
Student (1): But Christians might say the same thing. They might say, "Look at the Bible, This is our logic."
Prabhupada: Yes, that's all right. They accept God; we accept God. The only difference is they do not know who is God, but we know who is God.
Student (1): No, they know who is God.
Prabhupada: No.
Revatinandana: You won't get any good information about God. "God is great. God created" -- finished. That's not very much information. God's son? A little more information about God's son.
Student (1): But you've got no more right to say you know who is God than they have.
Revatinandana: Oh, well, we have a lot more information about God, you see.
Student: In which way?
Revatinandana: In these Vedas. There's a difference between the arithmetic book you get in the first grade of school and the calculus book in terms of the amount of information. We can tell you more about God because the Vedas give more information than the Bible. But the basic principle -- "God is there. God is a person" -- is in both places.
Prabhupada: Jesus Christ is son of God. Therefore God must be person. A person can beget a son.
Student (1): God exists now.
Prabhupada: Yes, always exists.
Student (1): But therefore where is He?
Prabhupada: Why is He?
Revatinandana: Where is He?
Prabhupada: Where is He? He is with you. He is here. But you have no eyes to see, that's all.
Revatinandana: He says, "I'm sitting in everyone's heart, and from Me comes knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness." If you turn toward Him, He will give you knowledge, and you'll be able to see Him. But you have to find out who to turn toward. Then you can turn. So from saintly authorities, the line of masters and the Vedas, we find out where to turn. And if you turn properly, then by Krsna's grace, you'll see Krsna. He'll reveal Himself in the course of time.
Student (2): Have you all seen Krsna?
Prabhupada: What is that?
Revatinandana: He asked if we have all seen Krsna.
Prabhupada: We are daily, every moment, seeing, every moment. Otherwise, do you mean to say we are blindly following something?
Student (2): No, I'm not saying that. I'm just asking if someone comes along and joins you, do they see Krsna?
Prabhupada: Yes, why don't you see Krsna? There is picture of Krsna. Why don't you see, driving horse? Here is Krsna. Why don't you see? If you see the photograph of your father, is it not seeing your father?
Student (2): No.
Prabhupada: No, then what can I talk with you?
Student (2): All I was saying was is it, when someone comes...
Prabhupada: Your the photograph of your, seeing the photograph of your father, is it not seeing your father? That's your argument?
Student (1): No, it's seeing a photograph of your father.
Prabhupada: False?
Revatinandana: It's seeing a photograph of your father.
Prabhupada: Yes. Now, but God is Absolute. God and God's photograph, there is no difference. God and God's name, there is no difference. Therefore God is Absolute. He is not relative. You can say, "The photograph is not my father," that because it is relative. But God is Absolute. God's name, God's form, God's pastimes -- everything is God. That you have to understand, Absolute nature. Otherwise are these boys and so many thousands and thousands of devotees... They are chanting Hare Krsna. If Krsna, this name, is different from Krsna, are they foolishly simply chanting Krsna?
Student (2): I don't know but...
Prabhupada: Krsna and Krsna's name is the same. Krsna and Krsna's photograph is the same. That you have to understand. Krsna is Absolute.
Student (3): Do you mean Krsna is Absolute, and Krsna is everything?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Student (3): Then why does Krsna have a specific form?
Prabhupada: And why not? Krsna is everything. Suppose I if I say, "I am everything in this, my institution," does it mean I have lost my personality? No, no, if I say, this Krsna consciousness movement... If somebody says that "Bhaktivedanta Swami is everything," does it mean I have lost my personality? That is material understanding. Krsna keeps His personality; still, He is everything.
Revatinandana: Just see. In the government there are so many cabinet ministers, offices, etc. And in every cabinet minister and in every office the will of the Prime Minister is going on. Therefore in one sense the Prime Minister is everything. Still, the Prime Minister is a person who is in control of all those cabinet officers and offices. And you won't find the Prime Minister in each office, but he's there, because of his influence. In the same way you are in Krsna's energies, and He is everywhere through His energies, but He remains the person in control. The same thing.
Prabhupada: That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah [Bg. 9.4]. Although you do not find Krsna in somewhere, but His energy is acting, there. So one who has eyes to see how Krsna's energy is acting, he sees Krsna. Same example. Because the Prime Minister's energy is working in that office, so the Prime Minister is there present. So everything is demonstration of the energy. Just like you are in the room, you have not seen the sun, but as soon as the sunshine is there, you know that sun is there. You see the sun through the sunshine, although it is not that sun has come into your room. The sunshine, coming of the sunshine within your room, is sufficient knowledge to know that here is sun. Sun is there. That is the Vedic statement, that you can understand there is fire when there is heat. If there is light and heat, then you can understand there is fire. That heat and light is sufficient, now, what is the heat and light? This is energy of the fire. So when Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, "These material elements," bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh [Bg. 7.4], earth, water, fire, air, they are My energies, so if one has studied Krsna, then as soon as He sees a great ocean, He sees Krsna: "Oh, this is Krsna's energy." As soon as sees a big anything, fire, water, anything, He sees Krsna, nothing but Krsna because He knows. Exactly in the same way, as soon as you feel heat, you know that there is fire. You don't require to see the fire. But if you feel, "Oh it is hot, oh, there must be fire." This is studying Krsna. And this is called Krsna consciousness, to feel the presence of Krsna everywhere. So everything requires training, undergoing the process. Then it is possible. It is not impossible. So if you also go, the training, the process, you'll also understand. It is not difficult.
Student (3):. To be Krsna conscious, one needs faith that Krsna exists, and...
Prabhupada: Not only "Krsna exists," "What is my relationship with Krsna? What is my duty in that relationship?" everything.
Revatinandana: Just see. Who can produce this? Who can produce something like this? Supposing you take your best chemists and engineers,
Student (3): Well, you must call it God, mustn't you.
Revatinandana: And you see who can produce, right? They cannot produce anything with this texture, this nice smell, you see?
Prabhupada: He knows it.
Student (3): It doesn't smell.
Revatinandana: So many persons can make an artificial flower that's not as nice as that one, but they cannot reproduce that. And then we say that Krsna is the Personality of Godhead, who is full of knowledge, full of beauty, full of power. With full knowledge, beauty and power...
Prabhupada: Because He has got full knowledge, He knows how to... Now, this flower has come from earth, and other flower has come also from the earth. But the fragrance is within the earth. But you cannot take the fragrance from the earth. You do not know. But Krsna is taking. Just see. Therefore His knowledge is perfect. Omnipotent, omniscient. He knows how to take. He knows the process. So many flowers are coming.
Revatinandana: Then, when you can see a flower in this consciousness, then you can see Krsna. Through that flower Krsna is smiling at you. He is offering, He is smiling at you through that flower, and He is there, smiling.
Student (3): I can see God, smiling at me from the flower.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Revatinandana: That's right.
Student (3): I see no relationship...
Prabhupada: So but you do not know who is God. That is the difference.
Revatinandana: Krsna's saying, "I am the cause of everything. From Me the whole creation flows." He is the person who has designed the flower that you cannot design. And if you want to see Him directly, if you want to associate with Him personally, He says, "Only by pure love and devotion can I be seen." Therefore our yoga is to love Krsna. And then you can see everything when you see Krsna.
Student (1): But this is your yoga, right?
Revatinandana: It's Krsna's yoga.
Prabhupada: Yoga means connection. As soon as you study Krsna in this way, you make your connection with Krsna. That is perfection of yoga. Yoga means connection, the Sanskrit word yoga. And the opposite word is viyoga, disconnection. Yoga-viyoga. So yoga means, real yoga means, to connect your relationship, your identity, with Krsna. That is called yoga. So take little prasadam. Come on.
Revatinandana: Take some little sweet.
Student (2): Thank you.
Prabhupada: Come on.
Student (2): I can't.
Prabhupada: No, no, I will give you. So let us stop here. Next I can give some talk.
Revatinandana: All glories to Prabhupada. (Obeisances) So Prabhupada will take some rest now.
Student (3): Thanks very much.
Prabhupada: Hare Krsna. Thank you very much. So bring little milk. Yes. (end)
>>> Ref. VedaBase =>
Room Conversation With Three College Students -- July 11, 1973,
London
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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