Pradyumna: (leads chanting,
etc.)
idam mamacaksva tavadhimulam
vasundhare yena
vikarsitasi
kalena va te balinam baliyasa
surarcitam kim hrtam amba
saubhagam
Translation: "Mother, you are the reservoir of all
riches. Please inform me of the root cause of your tribulations, by which you
have been reduced to such a weak state. I think that the powerful influence of
time, which conquers the most powerful, might have forcibly taken away all your
fortune, which was adored even by the demigods."
Prabhupada: Kalena va te balinam
baliyasa. Time is very powerful. Another place in the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is
said, kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa.
tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad
bhramatam upary adhah
tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham
kalena
sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa
So in due course of time, everything happens. That is the
nature's law. When I was also a child, I was looking very beautiful, but kalena,
in due course of time, I'm now old man, a ugly man. Nobody likes. (laughter) So
this is the influence of time, influence of time. So influence of time will act.
You cannot check it. Influence of time, that is nature's law. Daivi hy esa
gunamayi mama maya [Bg. 7.14]. That is maya's strength. How you can check? It is
not in your power.
So this is another question by
Dharmaraja to mother earth, "Whether you are now in tribulation by the influence
of time?" Surarcitam kim hrtam amba saubhagam. So we should remember saubhagam,
opulence, can be taken away, in due course of time. You cannot check it. Suppose
in America you are all fortunate. You have got very nice roads, very nice cars,
very nice skyscraper building, government, food, everything very nice. But in
due course of time everything can be taken away. You cannot check it. Sastra
says therefore, tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovidah. Everything will be taken away,
or ultimately, destruction. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita. You can
find out, somebody, the verse. Mrtyuh sarva-haras caham, mrtyuh sarva-haras ca
aham. In due course of time, death will come, and it will take everything, what
you possess. Mrtyuh sarva-haras caham. That death is Krsna.
Pradyumna:
mrtyuh sarva-haras caham
udbhavas ca
bhavisyatam
kirtih srir vak ca narinam
smrtir medha dhrtih
ksama
"I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all
things yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence,
faithfulness and patience."
Prabhupada: So Krsna is acting
everywhere by His energy. This kala, this time, is another form of Krsna. Just
like Krsna has got various forms, advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs
5.33]. Advaita, one, without a second. Acyuta, does not fall. That is the
difference between Krsna and ourself. We are part and parcel of God, Krsna, but
Krsna is acyuta, He does not fall down. We fall down. This is the difference.
The example is... Just like the fire, big fire, and the sparks, they are also
fire. The quality of big fire and the small sparks of fire, they're the same.
Therefore qualitatively, we are one with Krsna. As Krsna has got propensities,
we have got also propensities. Krsna has got creative power, we have also got
creative power. In this way, compare anything. In minute quantity... Krsna has
got independence, full independence; we have got independence, but not full
independence. But we have got independence. So that is the difference. Advaitam
acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs 5.33]. Krsna has got various forms, but His real
form is Krsna. God has got many forms, but the original form is that, playing on
flute, curved in three places with barhavatamsam asitambuda-sundarangam, with a
feather on the head. These are Vedic description of Krsna. It is not an artistic
paint, but it is taken from the Vedic literature, what is the original form of
Krsna. Govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami **. That is original form. Krsnas
tu bhagavan svayam.
Advaitam acyutam anadim
ananta-rupam [Bs 5.33]. Ananta-rupam, ananta, unlimited, unlimited. It is
described in the sastras. How unlimited? Just like in a big river you sit down,
or on the ocean, if you count the waves, is it possible? There is no
possibility. But there are waves always, twenty-four hours going on, going on.
But if you want to count them, it is not possible. That is described. Just like
the waves of river or... Not satiated. You'll find in the Pacific Ocean in your
front, the waves are constantly coming. It is never satiated. So Krsna's
incarnations are also like that, incessantly coming, one after another, one...
Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs 5.33]. So ananta-rupa, how many rupa,
how many forms we have seen Krsna's? No. That is not possible.
So the conclusion is all these
forms, ete, all these, ca amsa-kalah... Amsa means plenary portion, not
personally. Amsa... And kala means portion of the portion. Just like first of
all, Krsna. Then His next expansion is Balarama. His next expansion is
Sankarsana. Next, Aniruddha, Pradyumna. Sankarsana, Aniruddha, Pradyumna. In
this way, next expansion Narayana. Then, from Narayana, another quadruple
expansion: Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Sankarsana... Then Maha-Visnu, the origin of
this material creation. Yah karanarnava-jale bhajati sma yoga-nidram
ananta-jagad-anda-saroma-kupah [Bs. 5.47]. Yah karanarnava-jale bhajati sma
yoga-nidram anantam. That is Maha-Visnu. Yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam athavalambya
jivanti loma-vilaja jagad-anda-nathah [Bs. 5.48]. So from His breathing nostril,
ananta, unlimited number of potential universes, are coming, and -- exhaling,
inhaling -- and unlimited going within. This is Maha-Visnu. This Maha-Visnu is
also plenary portion of Krsna. Yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam athavalambya jivanti
loma-vilaja jagad-anda-nathah [Bs. 5.48]. So many things are described in the
Brahma-samhita. But still, He is acyuta, anadi, He has no cause. He is
causeless. Sarva-karana-karanam: [Bs. 5.1] He is the cause of everyone, but He
has no cause. Anadi, anantam. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam adyam
purana-purusam [Bs 5.33]. He's the origin person, original person. Purana, very
old, must be very old because everything... Janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]. From
Him, everything has come. Therefore Purana, Purana means old. Nutana and Purana.
Nutana means "just very recently," and Purana means very old.
So we are also old. In the
Bhagavad-gita you find this verse, nityah sasvato 'yam purano na hanyate
hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. Do you remember, any one of you, this verse from
the Bhagavad-gita? Eh? But you don't read. So I am writing all these books
simply for selling, not for reading. This is not good. And if somebody asks you,
"You are so much eager to sell your books. Do you read your books?" Then what
you will say? "No, sir, we don't read. We sell only. Our Guru Maharaja writes,
and we sell." That is not good business. You must read. Why I am writing so many
books? Not a single moment waste. If you want to become successful in Krsna
consciousness, don't lose even a single moment. That should be the first
determination. Avyartha-kalatvam [Cc.Madhya 23.18-19], Rupa Gosvami says. Forget
sleeping, eating, mating. This is all material necessities. If you increase
these things, then you cannot make any progress in spiritual life.
Therefore we say, "No illicit
sex, no intoxication." You are already intoxicated. Why you are increasing
intoxication? This maya means intoxication. Pisaci paile yena mati-cchanna...
Just like a person, when he's ghostly haunted, he calls his father by ill names,
but he cannot recognize even his father. So all of us, we are already under the
clutches of maya. That is the position of intoxication. And again intoxication?
So what will be our condition? Therefore it is prohibited. First of all,
whatever intoxication you have already got, just try to cure it. Don't increase
it. So everything... The physical necessities means we have already got it, but
it is meant for decreasing, not increasing. Pravrttir esa bhutanam nivrttis tu
maha-phala. We have got general tendency, loke vyavayamisa-madya-seva.
Everything is there in the sastra. Nitya hi jantoh. Jantu means living entities.
So, it is eternally existing, loke vyavaya, sex intercourse, amisa, eating
non-fruital things. Amisa means "which is not fruits and vegetables." Meat,
fish, eggs, they are called amisa. And they are called niramisa. Niramisa means
fruits, vegetables, milks, food grains, sugar. These are niramisa. And eggs,
fish, meat and so many other things, they are called amisa. So amisa. Amisa
means these things. Seva, eating. And vyavaya. Vyavaya means sex life. Loke
vyavayamisa-madya, intoxication. It is not that Vedic civilization did not know
how to eat meat and how to drink liquor. It is all known. But they are
prohibited, "Don't eat." It is not that then they were unknown, now it is
discovered by scientific advancement. Loke vyavayamisa-madya-seva nitya hi,
nityasti, asti, it is there. It is not that because one is not educated now to
use sex life... Nobody requires education. It is automatical. But people are now
very much advanced in understanding sex life. So many books, Freud philosophy,
this philosophy. And after all, this is already there. What is the need of
philosophy? Without your rascal philosophy, everyone knows how to use sex life.
But they are thinking this is advancement. Nitya hi. It is already there. Who
was speaking yesterday? Jayatirtha. That his niece, seven years old, she is also
dating. So this is already there.
So to increase it no credit. To
decrease it is credit. That is credit. Nitya hi jantoh. It is already there.
Pravrttir esa bhutanam. Bhutanam means "of all living entities." Amongst the
ants, they are very intoxicant. Therefore they find out sugar. The all kinds of
liquor preparation is made from sugar. You know that? Sugar is fermented with
acid and then distilled. It becomes liquor. And the ants are very much fond of
sugar. You keep up one piece of sugar candy. Then the news will be immediately
spread, and all the ant class will go there: "Here it is, sugar, yes. Gold
rush." (laughter) You see? So every living entity has got a tendency for certain
class of thing, especially sex and eating nonvegetarian things. If you eat
vegetarian fruits and flowers and grains, you'll not eat more than you require.
That is nature. You'll eat only what is needed by yourself. You cannot eat any
more. It is very good. If you don't eat... Atyaharah prayasas ca prajalpo
niyamagrahah. Atyahara, eating more than needed, is against spiritual life.
Atyaharah prayasas ca prajalpo niyamagrahah. Everything is there. Rupa Gosvami
has said. Atyahara means eating more than you require, or eating, enjoying more
than. We require, ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithuna. We require little, little
everything... [break] ...for spiritually advancing. They remain without dress.
Even in the severest type of cold, they remain without dress, sitting, only
smearing the body with some ashes. They'll take bath in the morning and cover
the body with ashes, not very thick. But he'll sit down whole day and night and
chant Hare Krsna. No business. No endeavor for food. If food comes, by God's
grace, they will eat; otherwise no, they'll not go anywhere. Completely
dependent: "If God gives, then I shall eat. Otherwise we shall not endeavor."
This is our first endeavor, what to eat, where to live, where to sleep, where to
have sex life. This is our all endeavor. They stop all this endeavor. That is
spiritual life. Stop everything. That is called... And I am going in a secluded
place and thinking, "How many women I have hunted." What is this nonsense? Eh?
And showing, "I have become very much advanced. I am leader." And my leading is
I'm thinking of woman. That's all. And money.
This is not spiritual life. This
is all cheating. Dhohka-bhaje(?) they are called, dhohka-bhaje,(?) cheaters.
Don't be cheaters. Krsna knows whether you are cheater or you are sincere. If
you are sincere, then He will give you intelligence how you will make progress.
Tesam satata-yuktanam... Find out this verse.
tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam
priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
[Bg.
10.10]
To whom, He gives direct instruction? Satata-yuktanam:
one who is twenty-four hours busy in His service. Twenty-four hours, satata.
Satata means, read it.
Pradyumna:
tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam
priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
[Bg.
10.10]
"To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with
love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."
Prabhupada:. Yes. So Krsna is
within you. He knows whether you are cheater and whether you are sincere. So
therefore He says, "Those who are sincere and twenty-four hours engaged in My
service, I give them intelligence." What kind of intelligence? "To... As he may
come back to Me, that kind of intelligence." Because that is our aim, back to
home, back to Godhead.
So Krsna is prepared to help you.
Paramatma. Sarvas... In another place it is said, sarvasya caham hrdi
sannivistah. Read Bhagavad-gita thoroughly and be sincere and make your life
successful. Don't be cheater. Read, and follow, and Krsna will help you, this
life. Don't expect another life to prepare. "It is guaranteed human life?"
somebody's asking. Even if it guaranteed, why should you take the chance of
another life? Finish this business within this life. Take help from Krsna, take
help from books, take from your spiritual master. Why another life? Another
life... Suppose you get another human life. Is it guaranteed? You may fall down
again. So my Guru Maharaja used to say that "Finish all business in this life."
Na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum. Finish this business of birth, death, old age
and disease in this life. You can do that. This is our main business, not to
make arrangement for eating, sleeping, mating and defending under different
garb, under different pretext. That is not our business. Our main business
is...
Therefore... Kalena sarvatra
gabhira-ramhasa. There it is said, kalena va te balinam baliyasa. Kala, time, is
very powerful. Time... In time everything can be done. In time you can become
very happy, and in time you can become very distressed, very much distressed,
unhappy. Time can give you. And time is also Krsna, kala-rupena. When... You'll
find in the Bhagavad-gita that, in the Eleventh Chapter... I've just now forget
that..., that "Who are you?" Kala. The virad-rupa, the universal form seeing,
Arjuna said, "Who are You, Sir?" So He said that "I am in the kala-rupa, in the
form of time, now. I have come to kill the all, all of you." So therefore our
business should be that this life should be utilized only for complete Krsna
consciousness. No other business. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's cult. And it is
not very difficult. Not at all difficult. Kirtaniyah sada harih [Cc. adi 17.31].
But it is difficult. It is very difficult. It is to chant Hare Krsna mantra
twenty-four hours. Those who are not accustomed, they'll become mad simply by
chanting. It's difficult. You cannot imitate Haridasa Thakura, that "Now I
shall go in a secluded place and chant Hare Krsna." It is not possible, sir. It
requires great advancement of spiritual life when one can concentrate in
chanting Hare Krsna. It is not so easy.
Therefore, for neophytes, we must
have many engagements. In the neophyte stage, if you try to imitate the advanced
stage, then it will be simply ludicrous. In the neophyte stage we must be always
engaged. Krsna has got different venues of rendering service. You can serve
Krsna in so many ways. Karmana manasa vaca etavaj janma-saphalyam dehinam iha
dehisu. Karmana manasa vaca sreya-acaranam sada. Karmana manasa, we have got
three venues: by working, karmana; by thinking, manasa; karmana manasa vaca, and
by speaking. We can do things. Karmana manasa vaca. So this tridanda-sannyasa
means... There are four dandas. One danda is the, what is called, symbol of his
person. And the other three dandas, they are symbol of his body, mind, and
speeches. This danda means, perhaps you know, do not know. You try to under...
So karmana, this danda, means "I have taken now vow to engage myself, even
whatever assets I have got." So I have got my assets. I can work with my body, I
can work with my mind, and I can work by speaking. So tridanda-sannyasa means
one who has devoted his life, means his activities, his body and his speeches.
That is tridanda-sannyasa. Anyone who has devoted his mind, his body and his
speeches for the service of the Lord, he is sannyasi. Sannyasi does not mean
simply changing the dress and thinking otherwise. No. Sannyasi, anyone, it does
not matter whether the dress is changed or not, if one is fully engaged by his
body, mind and words, sa sannyasi.
Anasritah karma-phalam karyam
karma karoti yah, sa sannyasi, Krsna says. Who is sannyasi? Anasritah
karma-phalam. "I shall speak for Krsna." Then what profit you'll get? "No matter
what is profit, I shall speak for Krsna. That's all." Sa sannyasi, Krsna says.
"This is my duty, karyam." Karyam means duty. "It is my duty to speak for Krsna
only. That's all. I am not going to speak anything." He's a sannyasi. Anasritah
karma... Now, if you engage some lawyer to speak for you in the court,
"Immediately bring me two thousand dollars." He'll charge. But a sannyasi, he'll
speak twenty-four hours for Krsna, no expectation of profit. That is sannyasi.
Twenty-four hours engaging the body for Krsna's work -- he's a sannyasi.
Twenty-four hours thinking of Krsna -- he's a sannyasi. This is sannyasi. No
other business. Anasritah karma-phalam karyam karma... Everyone is working for
his personal benefit, "How much money I shall get? How much name and fame and
reputation I shall get?" For his personal profit. And that is material. That is
material. As soon as you work for your personal benefit, that is material. And
as soon as you work for Krsna's benefit, that is spiritual. That's all. This is
the distinction between material and spiritual. Everything in relationship with
Krsna.
So the Krsna consciousness
movement is very scientific, authorized. Try to understand Krsna. We have got so
many literature. Don't waste a single moment. Kalena. And Canakya Pandita, the
moral instructor... He's not spiritual instructor, but moral instructor. But he
has said that ayusah ksana eko 'pi na labhyah svarna-kotibhih. One moment of
your life, if it is wasted without any profit, just imagine how much loss you
have suffered. Because you cannot get back one moment of your life again even if
you are prepared to pay millions of dollars. That you cannot get back. Nineteen
seventy-four, 19th January, passed -- you cannot get it back again. If you, any
rich man comes forward, "Please get me back again 1974, 19th January," "No, sir,
that is not possible." Any price you offer, it is not possible.
So just imagine, if we waste our
time, how much loss we are suffering. We calculate loss and gain. So don't waste
time. Kala, kala is very... Yoga system means to save time. The whole process,
mechanical process, of yoga, mystic power, means to save time. We have got a
limited duration of life. Suppose one is destined to live for... Utmost they
will live, anyone, but nobody goes to live for hundred years -- say, seventy,
eighty, sixty or something like that. Gradually it is reducing, and it will
reduce twenty to thirty years. That will be duration of life. Because people are
becoming more and more sinful. So that is fixed up. A body is given to us by the
superior power, and the duration of life is also fixed up. Even the greatest
scientist, he cannot increase a moment's time for his life. That is not
possible. A moment's life. Professor Einstein was a great scientist, but he
could not find out any means that instead of living for, say, eighty years, he
could live eighty years, one day. No, that is not possible. That is not
possible. Your destiny, duration of life -- fixed up. And how it is fixed up?
The machine is breathing. Machine is breathing. Just like the clock goes on,
tick-tick, tick-tick, tick-tick. As soon as the tick-tick stops, then whole
things is lost. Similarly, our breathing is going on, tick-tick, tick-tick,
tick-tick, a fixed time. Just like you wind your clock, so that winding will
help, tick-tick, for a certain duration of time, say, twenty-four hours.
Similarly, there is winding in our life, a spring. That "tick-tick" means this
breathing. So if you... Breathing exercise means if you can stop breathing, then
you increase your life. That is called samadhi. No more breathing. That is
Vedic, I mean to say, yogic success. Stop breathing. There are yogis, perfect...
not these gymnastic-wala, no. Real yogis. They can remain without breathing for
days together. That means the days he does not breathe, so much time saved: he
increases his life. Suppose daily if he stops breathing for three hours, that
means daily he saves three hours time. So in hundred years about..., so many, so
much time. So in this way, the yogi can live for three hundred years, four
hundred years, six hundred years. Still there are yogis. This is called yogic
success.
So kala, to control... You cannot
control time. Just like if you have got one hundred dollars, if you deposit in a
bank, you will get some interest, but you cannot make without any endeavor two
hundred dollars. No, that is not possible. But if you don't spend it, then the
hundred dollars remains. Similarly, your duration of life is there, and it is
being wasted by breathing. If you can control the breathing process, then your
life can be increased. This is yogic... But after all, we are under the full
control of time. Kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa. That is explained here. Kalena
va te balinam baliyasa. Very, very strong -- there is no power. Your so-called
scientific power... You cannot struggle against the influence of time. So save
time. Save time.
Another process is, save time, if
you chant Hare Krsna mantra, then the time is not lost. Time is not lost. Hare
Krsna mantra, read book, Krsna book. Any moment, any time you spend for thinking
of Krsna, working for Krsna, chanting for Krsna, eating for Krsna, dancing for
Krsna, that time is saved. That time is saved. Therefore it is recommended,
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam, kalau nasty eva nasty eva... [Adi
17.21]. Otherwise, by yoga process, it is not... How many men can actually
practice yoga? It is all farce. This is possible. Even a child can take part,
Hare Krsna mantra.
Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.
[break]
Sudama: ... questions.
(microphone makes noises)
Prabhupada: (commenting on mike)
Purchase something better. Instead of diverting your attention always, pay
little more. In Bengali it is said, sastarthin abastra:(?) "If you purchase
something cheap, it will always give you trouble." Better spend once, costly
things, nice things. That is...
Sudama: Any
questions?
Prabhupada: Yes?
Devotee (1): Was Lord Jesus in
pure Krsna consciousness?
Prabhupada: These are old
questions, always asked. What is that, huh? What is that question?
Satsvarupa: Was Lord Jesus in
pure Krsna consciousness?
Prabhupada: Yes. He also taught
about God. Krsna consciousness means God consciousness. So why Jesus? Anyone
speaks... But one must know. There are degrees. Just like a person... Somebody
knows to some extent, other knows to some extent, other knows to some extent,
other knows to some extent. Or somebody understands to some extent. So Krsna
consciousness means complete understanding of Krsna. Just like there are steps;
if you want to go to the 104th floor, there are so many steps. So everyone is
going, aiming, to that 104th, but one has covered ten steps, one has covered
twenty, another hundred, like that. The aim is the same, but you cannot say that
one who has already covered one hundred steps, he is as good as one who has
covered two steps. There is that difference. Here is a person who has covered
only two steps; here is another person who has covered fifty steps; here is
another person who has covered hundred steps. Suppose you have to fulfill five
hundred steps. So proportionately, that is the position. But the steps are
already there. So any religious system -- it doesn't matter Hindu religion or
Christian religion or Muhammadan religion -- it is the question of how the
followers are covering the steps. They are going on the same staircase, but it
is the question of...
So ultimate success is... That is
described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir
adhoksaje: [SB 1.2.6] "The highest perfection is that when you understand God
and you are in love with God." That is success. You are in love in God. It
doesn't matter how we have learned to love God, either Christian religion or
Hindu religion or Muhammadan, but if you have got that success, that you have
learned how to love God, then your life is successful. Then there are different
stages of loving platform, and when you love Krsna as Radharani did... That is
not possible, but that is the aim, and that is the highest perfection. But the
beginning is love, how you are in love with God. Santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya,
madhurya. So unless you come to that... If you love these material things, then
you should know that you are not in love with God. If you are in love with God,
then you'll forget material love. That is the test. Bhaktih paresanubhavo
viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. Bhakti, love of Godhead, the symptom is that
he's no more in love with material things. That is the test. You cannot... Just
like you cannot love two persons. That is divided. One love concentrated, that
is perfect love. Similarly, another example is given that we are all hankering
after love. Because we do not find whom to love, therefore we place our love
even cats and dogs. We love a dog. Anyone who has no other object to love, no
children, no family, no wife -- all right, keep a cat, keep a dog. But love is
there.
So that love is deserved for
Krsna, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So the more we learn how to love
the Supreme Lord, that is perfection of life. Sa vai pumsam paro dharmah. And
what kind of love? Ahaituky apratihata: that love is not motivated, that "I want
this thing; therefore I shall love." Here in this material world the so-called
love, lust, is motivated. "I'll get so much sense gratification; therefore I
love a boy or a girl." That is not love; that is lust. Love means without any
motive. Without any motive. Ahaituki. And that, that love cannot be checked by
any material impediments. Ahaituky apratihata yayatma suprasidati. If you can
reach that love of Godhead, then you'll feel, "Oh, I am so fortunate." Otherwise
we remain unfortunate. So love is there everywhere. Even in cats' and dogs' love
there is love. But the perfection is when you actually find the person to love
and you actually do it, that is perfection.
Bali-mardana: Prabhupada, you
stated that on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra all the warriors who were dying in
the presence of Krsna, they all gained liberation. So I'm wondering... Each one
of us has within our heart also the representative of Krsna. So when we die, why
is not everyone liberated?
Prabhupada: But you have no sense
of Krsna. You have no sense of Krsna. Or actually you do not die. That is
another thing. This death means in the... That is described in the Bhagavatam.
Those who die before Krsna, they attain their original position, svarupa. So
that is real success. Otherwise, there is no death. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire
[Bg. 2.20]. It is not death; when our body is destroyed, that does not mean we
are dead. You are spirit soul, I am spirit soul, every one of us, but we have no
death. That is another illusion. Tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati
[Bg. 2.13]. This so-called death, it is not death. Dhira, one who knows, one who
is sober, he knows that "This man or this boy or this father is dying... He's
not dying. Dehantara-praptih: he is just changing another body. He's changing
an..." So actually we have no death. The change of body. So we are accepting
this change of body as death. That is another illusion. Dhiras tatra na muhyati.
One who is sober, he is not bewildered. He knows that... Suppose we are sitting
here. We are sitting here, and after a few minutes we shall go away. That does
not mean we are dead. We are in this apartment; we go to another apartment.
Tatha dehantara-praptih. Similarly, nobody dies. It is change of body, from this
body to another body. So we have no death. This is illusion. So what is your
question?
Bali-mardana: Simply that we have
Krsna within our heart. So why...
Prabhupada: Krsna why within
heart? Krsna is everywhere. Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham. He is
within the atom. Antar bahih. Kunti prayed... You have... I do not remember, but
Kunti's prayer, that "Krsna, You are within and without present, but nobody can
see You." This is Krsna's position. Krsna is within yourself, and Krsna is
without. But we do not see Krsna. The example is, nato natyadharo yatha. Nata, a
dramatic player, is dancing on the stage, and his son or relative seeing, he
cannot understand that who is dancing. He's dancing before him, but because he's
dressed in such a way that he cannot understand, "Oh, he's my brother" or
"father" or..., "dancing." No. Therefore this example has been given, nato
natyadharo yatha. Krsna is everywhere, but because nato natyadharo yatha, we
cannot understand. This is our position. That requires knowledge. That requires
knowledge. Krsna is everywhere, not only within. He's everywhere.
Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
**. So Krsna can be seen only by person who has developed love for Krsna;
otherwise, Krsna is everywhere, everyone is seeing, but he cannot see. That is
the difficulty.
Bali-mardana: So all these
warriors on the battlefield, they were all Krsna conscious?
Prabhupada: Huh?
Bali-mardana: So all these
warriors on the battlefield, they were all Krsna conscious? Is that
correct?
Prabhupada: Yes. At least for the
time being, they knew that Krsna has come. Suppose a prominent man comes in a
big meeting. Is not everyone conscious of that person?
Bali-mardana: Jaya.
Devotee (2): Srila Prabhupada,
you state that spirit soul has form.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Devotee (2): Otherwise, how is
the material body grown to accommodate the spirit soul? Just like a shirt has no
form, but when it's put on the body, it takes the shapes of the body. Does that
mean that the spirit soul has the shape of the body that is accommodating
it?
Prabhupada: Yes. You have got
body, shape, very minute shape. That we cannot see, we cannot measure. Therefore
in the Bhagavad-gita it is said, anumeyam, or... What is that? You cannot
measure. What is that word used? Aprameyam. Aprameyam. You cannot measure. But
it has a form. How, what is the length and breadth of that form, that is not in
your power. In your power, but not materially. That is... If you have got
spiritual power, then you can measure it. And that measurement is also given in
the sastra. What is that? One ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. Hair
is a very small point. And divide it into ten thousand parts. That one part is
the measure, magnitude of the soul.
kesagra-sata-bhagasya
satadha kalpitasya
ca
jiva-bhagah sa vijneyah
sa canantyaya kalpate
[Cc. Madya
19.140]
Everything is there. But you have no eyes to see, how to
see one ten-thousandth portion of the top of the hair. You cannot see even the
original top of the hair. Everything is there. We must have eyes. So Krsna is
also there. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu
vilokayanti [Bs. 5.38]. You were saying that Krsna is within the heart, but who
is seeing? Is it seen by the yogis, bhakti-yogis? Because he has got love for
Krsna. A bhakta is always seeing, "Krsna is with me."
Devotee (2): Does that mean that
the spirit soul in my body is shaped like this body?
Prabhupada: Yes. Spirit soul, he
has got hands and legs and everything. That is body. Form means hands and legs,
not without form. The same example. Because I have got my form, therefore my
dress... This body is described as dress. The dress has got two hands, just like
your coat has got two hands; actually, coat, the cloth has no hands, legs. That
is impossible. But because you have got your hands, your coat has assumed the
hands. So this material dress... These hands and legs are there because
originally we are spirit soul, we have got hands and legs. This is the proof
that we are not formless. With form. Because this body has been described as
dress, outward dress, different dress. Just like we are, somebody white,
somebody yellow, somebody black, somebody... This is dress. But actually, we
spirit soul, we are one. It is by dress we are fighting. "You are Englishman,"
"I am German," "I am this," "I am Indian," "I am that," "I am man," "I am
woman." So many fighting on account of this dress. So when you become dressless,
that is the spiritual platform. When you become dressless.
Sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. When we are
free from all this designation dress. We are now covered by this designation
dress. "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Englishman," "I am Hindu," "I am
Muslim," "I am..." So many, we have created dress. Just like innumerable
quantity or quality of dresses, similarly, these are all dresses. So the
spiritual platform means sarvopadhi-vinir..., when we become free from all this
designation and fixed up in the understanding that "I am eternal servant of
Krsna," that is our real position. Yes?
Devotee (3): If Krsna's name,
fame, form and paraphernalia, everything is equal, then is it not true that the
devotee who worships the Lord in the temple, or sings, you know, authorized
songs in the Vaisnava songbook, is not that the same, equal level as chanting
the maha-mantra?
Prabhupada: Hm?
Devotee (3): Is chanting Vaisnava
songs on an equal level with maha-mantra?
Prabhupada: Yes. Yes, that is
also... But first of all understand what is the maha-mantra. He Krsna, Hare
Krsna, "O the energy of Krsna, please accept me." This is the prayer. This is
addressing, He Krsna, Hare Krsna, "Hara, please, now I am engaged in this
material service; kindly accept me in Your service." This is meaning of Hare
Krsna. So a relationship, requesting something. So all these songs are like
that, requesting relationship. Therefore they are the same. Nirbandhah
krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate. All right. Chant Hare Krsna.
(end)
>>> Ref. VedaBase =>
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.24 -- Hawaii, January 20, 1974
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.