Independent Woman Isn't Happy

Independent Woman Isn't Happy

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.5
Bombay, November 5, 1974

download  flash player

 

Take a test

---

Nitai: "Maitreya said: When Kardama left for the forest, Lord Kapila stayed on the strand of the Bindu-sarovara in order to please His mother, Devahuti."

Prabhupada:

pitari prasthite 'ranyam
matuh priya-cikirsaya
tasmin bindusare 'vatsid
bhagavan kapilah kila
 [SB 3.25.5]

So father... What is the name?

Nitai: Kardama Muni?

Prabhupada: Kardama Muni. Kardama Muni left home. So Kardama Muni was a great yogi. So he was not interested family life, but once he desired that "Let me marry." So Vaivasvata Manu, he brought his daughter Devahuti, and she was married with Kapila, er yes...

Devotee: Kardama.

Prabhupada: Hm?

Nitai: Kardama.

Prabhupada: Kardama Muni. So Kardama Muni, the wife, a king's daughter, but she was serving the husband, and... The yogi, in a cottage he was living, and she was king's daughter, princess. So working, working, she became very skinny. So Kardama Muni took (com)passion upon her that "This girl has come to me. She is not in a comfortable position." So by his yogic power, he created big palatial house, many servants, maidservants, garden, everything. Not only that. Kardama Muni created one airship. It was just like a small city. The modern airship -- they have prepared 747 -- can carry about five hundred passengers. Of course, very big. But Kardama Muni created an airship just like a small city. In that airship there was nice lake and palaces and garden, and not only that, the airship traveled all over the universe. They could not make any airship to go to the moon planet. But Kardama Muni, by his yogic power, he created an airship which could go to all the planets. This is yogic power. Anima laghima prapti. All kinds of siddhi, material siddhi. Whatever he likes, he can do. That is yoga-siddhi. Not simply pressing the nose and making some gymnastic. One must gain the yogic siddhi. By the, by the siddhi-yogi, he can do everything he likes. He can become smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest. Whatever he likes he can get immediately in hand. Wherever he likes, he can go. That is yoga-siddhi.

So this Kardama Muni was a siddhi-yogi, and his wife, Devahuti... So he had nine daughters, and they were all distributed to the Prajapatis. Just like Daksa Maharaja, Prajapati, and there were many others. And the only son was this Kapiladeva. He is incarnation of God, Krsna. And He is one of the mahajanas. Mahajana means authority. There are twelve authorities according to Vedic sastra. One of them is this Kapila.

svayambhur naradah sambhuh
kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo
balir vaiyasakir vayam
 [SB 6.3.20]

This is a statement of Yamaraja. Yamaraja is also one of the authorities. So Svayambhu. Svayambhu means Brahma. And svayambhur naradah. Narada Muni, he's also authority. And Sambhu, Lord Siva, he's authority. Similarly, Kapiladeva, He's also authority. These authorities should be followed. If we want to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and if we want to understand what is the purpose of religious life, then we have to follow these mahajanas. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. Dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. Dharmasya tattvam.

So dharmasya tattvam is explained by the Dharmasetu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna; sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. That is actually dharma. And all these mahajanas -- svayambhur naradah sambhuh kapilah [SB 6.3.20] -- they also follow the same principle. Therefore we cannot understand very easily what is the truth of religious system, but if we follow these mahajanas, then we can understand. So that Kapila Muni is explaining to His mother the glories of devotional service. So if we follow Him, then we also get informed what is the truth of devotional service. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. Here another feature is that pitari prasthite aranyam. So it is the system of varnasrama-dharma, pancasordhvam vanam vrajet. One who has passed over fifty years of age, he must give, leave home, and go to the forest, and completely devote his life for spiritual realization. That is the system, varnasrama-dharma. The name "Hindu" is a foreign name, given by the Muslims on the other side of the ocean. They used to say the inhabitants of this part of the world as "Hindu." Actually, you won't find this word Hindu in any Vedic literature. The Vedic literature you'll find: varnasrama-dharma. Civilized human being means who are following strictly the varnasrama institution, four varnas and four asramas. So four varnas means brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, and four asrama means brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa. So for brahmanas, the four asramas should be followed. Brahmana should become a child born in brahmana family and trained up nicely as brahmacari. Then he becomes a grhastha. Then he gives up the home. That is called vanaprastha. And after that he takes sannyasa.

So this Kardama Muni did it. Because he was a yogi, he strictly followed the principle. So as soon as Kapiladeva was grown up, the mother, Devahuti, was given in His charge and Kardama Muni left home. Therefore it is said that pitari prasthite aranyam matuh priya-cikirsaya. Now it is the duty of the son. Women should be under the protection. In the Manu-samhita it is said that woman should not be given freedom. Na stri svatantryam arhati. They cannot properly utilize freedom. It is better to remain dependent. That is very good. Independent woman cannot be happy. That's a fact. We have seen in the Western countries, on, in the name of independence, so many women are unhappy. So that is not recommended in the Vedic civilization and on the varnasrama-dharma. So therefore the mother, Devahuti, was given under the charge of his (her) grown-up son, Kapiladeva. And Kapiladeva was fully cognizant that He has to take care of His mother. Therefore matuh priya-cikirsaya. It is the duty of the father to protect the girl very nicely. Women are very delicate. They should be given... So during childhood, until she attains, I mean to say, youthhood, puberty, the girl is under the protection of the father. Still, in India, the father takes care of the girl until she is married to a suitable boy, the father takes. And then the young husband takes care of the young girl, wife, and then some children are born, and then grown up. Suppose a man marries at the age of twenty... That is, I mean, the highest. A boy is married not later than twenty-five years. And the girl is not, married not later than sixteen years. That is the system. So a sixteen-year girl and twenty-five-year boy, if the child is born, then when the man if fifty years old, the child becomes twenty-five years old. So he can take charge.

So taking this calculation, even Kapiladeva was twenty-five years old, He was quite able to take charge of His mother Devahuti. So He knew that "Father left My mother in My charge, and therefore I must take charge of My mother and keep her always pleased." Matuh priya-cikirsaya. This... The boy is not irresponsible. He is always ready to please His mother. Here we have given these pictures in this Bhagavatam. Here Kapiladeva in a brahmacari dress, and mother is taking lesson from the son. Now, sometimes it is asked, "How the mother will take lesson from the son?" That is the prerogative of the male. Stri... In the Bhagavad-gita it is also said, mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah [Bg. 9.32], striyah... Striyah sudras tatha vaisyah. A woman is considered in the level of sudra. Although a woman is married with a brahmana, the woman is not offered the sacred thread. And in the Bhagavad-gita it is also accepted like that by the Supreme Personality... Striyo vaisyas tatha sudrah. And another place it is said that Mahabharata was compiled by Vyasadeva because the direct Vedic knowledge is not understandable... Stri-sudra-dvija-bandhunam trayi na sruti-gocara [SB 1.4.25]. Trayi means Vedic literature. They cannot understand. Stri-sudra-dvija-bandhunam: women, and the sudras, and dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu means born in a brahmana family, but not qualified as brahmana. They are called not brahmana. They are called dvija-bandhu.

So this Mahabharata was made by Vyasadeva for these stri-sudra-divja-bandhunam. Therefore Mahabharata is called "Fifth Vedas." There are four Vedas, Sama, Yajuh, Rk, Atharva, and Mahabharata is the fifth Veda. And the essence of Vedic knowledge is given within the Mahabharata, this Bhagavad-gita. So although woman is inferior than the man, still, the Vedic civilization is so perfect that the man, as father, as husband, or as son, takes care, full care of the woman. This is Vedic civilization. Therefore it is said that matuh priya-cikirsaya. The son was ready always to see that "Mother is not unhappy. My father has gone away. So she may not feel the absence of my father." This very word is very significant, matuh priya-cikirsaya. He was always ready to take care of the mother. And the best care is to give her knowledge. Because women are supposed to be less intelligent; therefore they should be given knowledge. And they should also follow. They should follow the father's instruction, they should follow the husband's instruction, they should follow grown-up, learned, scholar like Kapiladeva. Then their life is perfect. Dependent, remain dependent.

Tasmin bindu-sarovare avatsit. They lived there in the Bindu, on the bank of the Bindu-sarovara, lake. Avatsid bhagavan kapilah. Now, Kapiladeva is Bhagavan. There is another Kapiladeva, Kapila Rsi. He is atheist. But here, this Kapiladeva is authority and Bhagavan, incarnation of Krsna, Bhagavan. Most powerful. Bhagavan means most powerful, all-powerful.

aisvaryasya samagrasya
viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana-vairagyayos caiva
sannam bhaga itingana
 (Visnu Purana 6.5.47)

Bhagavan, all-powerful means that aisvaryasya, all opulence, all wealth, all reputation, all knowledge, all beauty, all renunciation. In this way, Bhagavan is opulent. Six opulences. And these six opulences is fully represented in Krsna. Therefore Krsna is accepted: krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. And others, they are expansion or incarnation. Visnu-tattva. In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, the Gosvamis, they have analyzed the characteristics of Bhagavan. The first Bhagavan is Lord Brahma. Lord... Not first... First Bhagavan is Krsna, but the Bhagavan realization, the opulences realization, begins from Lord Brahma. He is jiva-tattva. Jiva-tattva means he's ordinary living being like us. If you become powerful in spiritual strength, then you can also have the post of Lord Brahma. And better than Lord Brahma is Lord Siva. And better than Lord Siva is Visnu, or Lord Narayana. And the best of all of them is Krsna, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. That is the analysis of the Vedic sastra. So all sastras accept... the Brahma-samhita and, I mean to say, other, all sastras... Krsnas tu... Even Sankaracarya accepts. Sa bhagavan svayam krsnah. Sankaracarya. He... These Mayavadi philosophers, impersonalists, he also accepts Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And all the acaryas-Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnu Svami, Nimbarka, and lately, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu -- all accept krsnas tu bhagavan svayam.

So Kapiladeva is incarnation, and He instructed His mother Devahuti. Therefore to distinguish two Kapilas... One Kapila is the atheist Kapila, and the other Kapila is Bhagavan Kapila. Therefore Bhagavan Kapila is known as Devahuti-putra Kapila. Both of them expounded the Sankhya philosophy, but the atheist Kapila expounded without understanding or without perception or realization of God, and here, Kapiladeva, He's expounding Sankhya philosophy to His mother personally. Just like Krsna personally expounded the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, His friend, similarly, Kapiladeva, Bhagavan, He expounded the Sankhya philosophy to His mother, Devahuti, and that we are explaining.

So next verse is:

tam asinam akarmanam
tattva-margagra-darsanam
sva-sutam devahuty aha
dhatuh samsmarati vacah
 [SB 3.25.6]

So this philosophy, we'll begin from the next verse, and we shall be... [break] ...of understanding Krsna. Because Krsna and Krsna's name is identical... [break] We should always remember this, that you cannot chant and dance with any material name. Because Krsna's name is spiritual, He's Krsna, therefore if you go on chanting for twenty-four hours, you'll never feel tired. That is the advancement. So, so here, Kapiladeva... This is tattva-jnana. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita,

manusyanam sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah
 [Bg. 7.3]

Just like these Mayavadis, they cannot understand that this chanting of Hare Krsna name is actually getting direct association with Krsna. Therefore Prakasananda Sarasvati in Benares, He considered Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as a crazy fellow. Crazy fellow. Why? Now, because He was sannyasi, and He was not reading Vedanta-sutra. He was simply chanting and dancing. So some devotee of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu very much praised Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu at the, in the presence of Prakasananda Sarasvati, and Prakasananda Sarasvati became very angry, "Ah, don't talk of this rascal sannyasi. He is a sannyasi, He does not read Vedanta-sutra, and in sentimental moods He chants and dances. Don't talk about Him. Better don't go there." So that devotee became very sorry, and he arranged a meeting between this Mayavadi sannyasi and Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Then, in the meeting... Caitanya Mahaprabhu was beautiful, very beautiful in His bodily features. So... It is summary I am speaking. So the Prakasananda Sarasvati inquired from Him that "You are a sannyasi. You do not engage Yourself in studying Vedanta-sutra, but in sentiment, with some foolish devotees, You some chant and dance. What is this?" So Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, "My dear sir, My Guru Maharaja saw Me a great fool number one." Guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasana [Cc. Adi 7.71]. "Therefore He has chastised Me." "What is that?" " 'You don't read Vedanta-sutra. You chant Hare Krsna mantra.' He has ordered Me like that. Because I am a fool, I have no knowledge; therefore he has given Me this engagement, chanting Hare Krsna. So I am chanting this Hare Krsna mantra, and I do not know. I become mad after chanting. And I get, I feel transcendental pleasure. And sometimes I act like a madman. So My Guru Maharaja has said that 'You are very fortunate. You are very fortunate.' " Then Prakasananda Sarasvati very mildly said, "It is all right, You're chanting. What is the wrong if You study Vedanta-sutra?" Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that "Vedanta-sutra We know, but not like you. We know. If you don't mind, then I can explain Vedanta-sutra." So He explained Vedanta-sutra that Brahman, Brahman means "the biggest." So Brahman is sad-aisvarya-purna, biggest, means He's full of all opulences. That is biggest. He's the richest. He's the wisest. He's the most beautiful. He's most famous. And... In this way He explained that Brahman, the biggest, He cannot be impersonal. He's personal. He gave many instances from Vedic literature. In this way, He convinced that "The way you study Vedanta-sutra, that is not the proper way. Vedanta-sutra means to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna."

As Krsna says, vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]. By the study of Vedas, if you have attained perfection, then you should know what is Krsna. Krsna also said. Yatatam api siddhanam [Bg. 7.3]. Siddha means those who are liberated. Liberated means those who have no more the bodily concept of life. They are called liberated, brahma-bhuta [SB 4.30.20]. Prasannatma. So long one is in the bodily concept of life, he's conditioned. He's conditioned. He's conditioned; he's not liberated. And when one understands fully that he's not this body, he's pure soul, bhagavata, when he realizes, then that stage is called liberated. So liberated stage is not final. If you simply understand that you are not this body, you are a spirit soul, that is not sufficient. You must act as Brahman. You must act as Brahman. Then you will stay.

So,

brahma-bhutah prasannatma
na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu
mad-bhaktim labhate param
 [Bg. 18.54]

So bhakti is attainable for the liberated person. Bhakti is not for the conditioned soul. Bhakti is for persons who are already liberated. How it is possible? Yes, it is possible. Krsna says,

mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena
bhakti-yogena sevate
 sa gunan samatityaitan
brahma-bhuyaya kalpate
 [Bg. 14.26]

If you engage yourself in devotional service,

sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
 [SB 7.5.23]

Tan manye adhitam uttamam. One who is engaged in these nine different processes of devotional service... The first beginning is sravanam, hearing. So under the direction of the spiritual master and the sastras, immediately he is liberated person. He doesn't require to make separate endeavor for becoming liberated. Because immediately he engages himself in devotional... Mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena [Bg. 14.26]. Avyabhicarena, unfailing. Strictly. Drdha-vrata. Satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah [Bg. 9.14]. Drdha-vrata, firm conviction that "I am engaged in Krsna's service. I am now free from all material contamination." Drdha-vrata.

So one has to do it. This is tattva-jnana. Tattva-jnana. Here it is said, tattva-marga-agra-darsanam. This is tattva-jnana. of course, as it is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate [SB 1.2.11]. The Absolute Truth are differently understood according to the different position of the student. The Absolute Truth... Some of them understand that Absolute Truth as impersonal Brahman. And some of them understand the Absolute Truth as localized Paramatma. And some of them understand the Absolute Truth as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, or Visnu. They are not different. Brahman, Paramatma and the Supreme Personality of Godhead -- they are one. They are simply different phases. It is simply angle of vision. Just like a mountain from a very distant place, you'll see just like hazy cloud. And if you come nearer, then you see something green, very high, raised, I mean to say, earth. That is one vision. But you are seeing the mountain. From the distant place you see it is hazy cloud. As you come nearer, you see something green. And if you actually enter the mountain you'll find there are so many houses, so many trees, so many animals. The vision is the same mountain. But on account of my different position, I see hazy cloud or something green or something animated. But the final stage is the varieties. A mountain, there are so many trees, so many animals, so many men, so many houses -- varieties.

So the Absolute Truth is not without varieties. That is spiritual variety. That is not material variety. But the Mayavadis, they think that... Because they are seeing the Absolute Truth from distant place, far away, they think that in the Absolute Truth there is no variety. As soon as there are varieties, it is material. That is their misunderstanding. No. The Absolute Truth is described in the Brahma-samhita:

cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-
laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
 [Bs. 5.29]

There are, in the spiritual world, there are Vaikunthalokas. There are inhabitants, the devotees. They're all liberated persons. They're aksara. They do not fall down. Ksara aksara. We are ksaras. We have fallen down in this material world. But there are devotees in the spiritual world, in the Vaikunthaloka, they never come down. Never come down in this material world, but they are also persons like us, but eternal persons, with full knowledge and life of blissfulness. That is the difference between them and us.

So that is tattva-jnana. Unless we understand the varieties of the Absolute Truth, if we simply stick to the indefinite, impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, then there is chance of falling down. Generally, they fall down. Aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah patanty adhah anadrta-yusmad-anghrayah [SB 10.2.32]. Because they are not allowed to enter into the Vaikuntha planets, they simply remaining in the Brahman effulgence, and that does not stay. They fall down. Again they come down in these material varieties. We have seen many, many sannyasis. They first of all give up... Brahma satyam jagan mithya: "The jagat is mithya." And aham brahmasmi: "I have no more anything to do. I have become Narayana." Then he comes down again to feed the daridra-narayana. That's all. He becomes Narayana, but he comes to take activities in feeding... But why? It is mithya. You have already left. Why do you come here again? That means he hasn't got anything. The unnecessary labor... Aruhya krcchrena. They undergo severe penances and austerities, and they reach up to the impersonal Brahman, but because there is no pleasure... Suppose if I send you in a nice aeroplane in the sky... There is no varieties. Just like so many aeronautics. They, after flying in the impersonal sky, they become tired. And sometimes they pray to God, "Please let me go back to the land." And I have read in the paper, when the Sputnik was carrying the Russian aeronautics, he was simply seeing down, "Where is Moscow?" (laughter) "Where is Moscow?" Because this impersonal traveling was very much agitating, he was finding out, "Where is Moscow?" So this kind of realization of the Absolute Truth will not stay, will have, will have to fall down. Exactly like that. The Russian aeronautics, without getting any shelter in the sky, he was simply hankering after Moscow. That my book, that Easy Journey to Other Planets... One gentleman, he became very much enthusiastic, that "Oh, we can go to the other planet?" And "Yes, you can go. Read this book." "Then I shall come back again?" "And why you shall come back again? You shall remain there." "No, no, no. I don't want that. I don't want that. I shall go and come back."

So this is the, I mean, the mentality. Why this mentality? The mentality is that "Without varieties we cannot enjoy." Variety is the mother of enjoyment. So the impersonal Brahman realization, or Paramatma realization, does not give us steady ananda. We want ananda. Anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). The living entity, or Brahman, or Parabrahman... Just like our Krsna. He's Parabrahman. He's enjoying ananda. Similarly, we also, being part and parcel of Krsna, mamaivamso jiva... [Bg. 15.7], we want ananda. So ananda cannot be in impersonalism, or voidism. That is not possible. Ananda means varieties. When you get varieties of foodstuff, made of the same ingredient -- same, I mean to say, grains, or milk and sugar -- but we can prepare hundreds and thousands of preparations... At least, hundred preparations, and we enjoy: this is pera, this is baraphi, this is ksira, this is rabri, this is dahi, and so many things. So variety is required. Variety is required. So therefore the last word of tattva-jnana is to understand Krsna, who is full of variety.

So here Kapiladeva is tattva-marga, tattva-marga-agra-darsanam. So Kapiladeva is the incarnation of Supreme Personality of Godhead. He would explain to His mother. That we shall read from the next verse, what is tattva and how we can approach the tattva-jnana and how we can enjoy. Not that simply dry speculation. Dry speculation. One, that professor, who has said, that "This Bhaktivedanta's book is not dry speculation. Order all the books made by him." So our, this Krsna consciousness is not dry speculation. There are varieties, but they are spiritual varieties. People misunderstand that these varieties are material things. They want nirvisesa, nirakara, void. But our philosophy is not voidness. It is full of varieties and full of transcendental bliss.

Thank you very much. (end)

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.5-6 -- Bombay, November 5, 1974

HOME

© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.

Approach a Proper Guru

Approach a Proper Guru

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.04
Bombay, November 4, 1974

download  flash player

 

Take a test

---

Nitai: "Sri Suta Gosvami said: The most powerful sage Maitreya was a friend of Vyasadeva. Thus being encouraged, Maitreya, pleased by Vidura's inquiry about transcendental knowledge, spoke as follows."

Prabhupada:

dvaipayana-sakhas tv evam
maitreyo bhagavams tatha
prahedam viduram prita
anviksikyam pracoditah
 [SB 3.25.4]

So this is the process of getting knowledge, to approach the proper person, guru, and submissively hear from him about transcendental knowledge. Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya [Bg. 4.34]. Don't try to receive spiritual knowledge or transcendental knowledge very cheaply. Although it is very easy, there is no difficulty, but the process must be known. Just like any machine -- we have got experience -- just like sometimes our typewriter machine or this dictaphone does not work. So if we go to the proper person, who knows the work, he immediately tightens one screw or changes something; it works. The process we must know. So if I go to a pan-wala for repairing my machine, that will be not good. He does not know the process. He may know to..., how to make pan, bidi; but doesn't matter, he does not know how to repair a machine.

Therefore the shastric injunction is, Vedic injunction, that tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. If you want to know transcendental knowledge, tad-vijnana... Tad-vijna... It is also vijnana. Actually, human life is meant for understanding tad-vijnana. Tad-vijnana means transcendental knowledge, not material knowledge, bodily. Bodily... Even a medical practitioner, he does not know, he has no knowledge of the spirit soul. He simply studies the mechanical arrangement of the body. The body's a big machine made by nature. It is called yantra. Actually it is a machine. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said,

isvarah sarva-bhutanam
hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati
bhramayan sarva-bhutani
yantrarudhani mayaya
 [Bg. 18.61]

Yantrarudhani mayaya. This body is machine. The, those who are very much attached to this machine, for them, the yoga system is recommended because... One who is very much in the conception of the body, so they have been taught just to concentrate the mind on some practice, some gymnastic, so that mind may be concentrated and he can focus the mind towards Visnu, Lord Visnu. Real purpose is to understand Visnu, the Supreme. So the yoga system is therefore a mechanical arrangement. But the bhakti system is above the machine, above this mechanical arrangement. That is... Therefore it is called tad-vijnana. The mechanical understanding is material, and above that, tad-vijnana.

So tad-vijnanartham, if you want to understand spiritual knowledge, then you have to approach a guru. Guru. Guru means weighty, I mean to say, one who has got better knowledge. Heavy. Guru means heavy, heavy with knowledge. And what is that knowledge? "I have got so much knowledge." No. Transcendental... Tad-vijnana. Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet, samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham [MU 1.2.12]. That heaviness is brahma-nistham, how much one is attached to Brahman, Parabrahman, Bhagavan. That is guru's qualification. Brahmany upasamasrayam. This is the mantra of Kathopanisad, tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet. Similarly, in the Bhagavata also it is said, tasmad gurum prapadyeta [SB 11.3.21]. Tasmat, "Therefore one must approach guru." The here, in the Upanisad also gives definition who is guru. Guru means srotriyam brahma-nistham [MU 1.2.12], "one who has received knowledge by hearing Vedas," srotriyam. Because Vedas are called sruti.

So those who are in the line of hearing from the preceptorial succession, disciplic succession... As it is said in the Bhagavad-gita, evam parampara-praptam [Bg. 4.2]. Not, I mean to say, upstart knowledge. Standard knowledge. Standard knowledge is received from the parampara system, disciplic succession. Therefore it is said, srotriyam. Srotriyam means "who has heard from the parampara system." Srotriyam... And the result is brahma-nistham: "He is firmly fixed up in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Brahma-nistham. He has no other business. This is two qualifications. He must have heard the Vedic knowledge through the disciplic succession. It does not require that he is very learned scholar. No. Simply he must hear from the authority. Srotriyam. You have... Krsna has given you, God has given you the ear. This is our system. Simply they hear and they become big, big preacher. It doesn't require that he has to pass M.A., C.B.A.C., or Ph.D. examinations. Hearing is sufficient. Sthane sthitah sruti-gatam tanu-van-manobhih. You remain in your position, in your place. You do not require to change it. Sthane sthitah.

Sthane sthitah means the varnasrama, four varnas and four asramas. Brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, and four asramas: brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha, sannyasa. So this is civilization. Unless the society is divided into these eight divisions, that is animal civilization. That is not human civilization. You must be systematized, regulated system. Just like in this body there are different divisions: the head division, the arm division, the belly division, and the leg division. Similarly, without these four divisions, no society can be conducted very nicely. Then it will be chaos. So sthane sthitah means to remain in these regulative principles of varnasrama. That is called sthane sthitah. You remain in your position. It doesn't require you have to change. It is not that a sudra, without becoming a brahmana... Of course, sudra will become brahmana -- by hearing. Brahmana means brahma janatiti brahmanah. If he hears, even a sudra, he can understand what is Brahman. Then he becomes brahmana. So this is required. Sthane sthitah sruti-gatam tanu-van-manobhih. With great attention, body, mind and words, intelligence -- with everything, one must hear.

So here we see, viduram pritah. Vidura was hearing from Maitreya Rsi, and Maitreya Rsi was very much pleased. Priti. Unless you satisfy your teacher, or guru, very nicely, you cannot get the right knowledge. That is natural. If you receive your guru, give him very nice place, he can sit comfortably, and he's pleased with your behavior, then he can speak very frankly and very freely, which will be very much beneficial for you. Therefore this word is... He was talking. He was preaching. He was giving instruction to Vidura, being pleased, priti. Maitreya Rsi was very much pleased. That is also recommended in the Srimad-Bhagavad-gita: tad viddhi pranipatena. Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya [Bg. 4.34]. Simply going and asking the spiritual master or guru, and not to accept his instructions, then don't waste your time. Don't waste your time. In a challenging spirit, if you go to a spiritual master, without any service, sevaya, and pranipatena... Pranipatena... Prakrsta-rupena nipata. Nipata means fall down, and pra means prakrsta-rupa, sufficiently. No reservation. This knowledge, the transcendental knowledge, is based on this pranipata. Therefore Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: [Bg. 18.66] "You just surrender unto Me." And similarly we have to surrender to Krsna or His representative.

 

So guru is representative, external representative. Internal guru is Krsna Himself. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese arjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]. Not that Isvara, Krsna, is in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrndavana. He is everywhere, even within the atom. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah [Bs. 5.37]. That is Paramatma. Atma is... I am atma, you are atma. We are all situated locally. You are situated within your body, I am situated within my body. But Paramatma is situated everywhere. That is the difference between atma and Paramatma. Atma and Paramatma... Those who are mistaking that "There is no difference between atma and Paramatma," no, there is difference. They are one in one sense, that both of them-cognizant. They are living entities. Cetanas cetananam. Cetanas cetananam, nityo nityanam. But they are different. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, ksetrah ksetra-jnah. Ksetra-jnam capi mam viddhi sarva-ksetresu bharata [Bg. 13.3]. Ksetra-jna means the proprietor of the ksetra, this body. Body is called ksetra. So I am proprietor. Not proprietor, I am occupier. Just like in a house, the tenant and the landlord. The landlord is the occupier, tenant, and the landlord is the proprietor. Similarly, we atmas, we are simply occupier of this body. We are not proprietor. The proprietor is Paramatma. Sarva-ksetresu bharata. So if the proprietor says that "Get out of this house," or some, by law... Similarly, when the Paramatma says, "Now you have to leave this body," you have to leave this body. So this is Vedic knowledge.

So one must approach a proper guru. The guru's qualification is, in every sastra, that... Just like in the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said, tad viddhi..., er, tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]. One does not require to accept a guru unless he is inquisitive to understand the ultimate goal or benefit of life. Ordinary man who is interested with the bodily comforts of life, he doesn't require a guru. But generally, the, at the present moment, guru means who can give you some bodily medicine. Approaches some saintly person, "Mahatmaji, I am suffering from this disease." "Yes, I have mantra. Take this..." That sort of guru is accepted. So same bodily... Or some bodily wealth, bodily... No.

tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah
 [Bg. 4.34]

One should approach guru for seeing the tattva, the Absolute Truth. That is necessary. Not for any material benefit. One should not search out a guru for, I mean to say, curing some material disease. For that, there is medical practitioner. Why should you search out after a guru? But people search out, that "I have got some material disease, and if somebody can cure, some saintly person, then he's guru or he's Bhagavan. I am poor. If he can give me some money, then he's guru." No. The sastra does not say like that. Guru means srotriyam brahma-nistham [MU 1.2.12]. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam, sabde pare ca nisnatam [SB 11.3.21]. Guru means who knows the Vedic sastra, the Vedas. He knows the Vedic conclusion. And the Vedic conclusion is to understand Krsna. That is Vedic conclusion. Vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15].

Therefore those who are trying to understand Krsna, or partially... We cannot understand fully Krsna. That is not possible. We have not so capacity. Because Krsna is so big. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta. So with our limited knowledge we cannot understand... Even Krsna does not understand Himself, Krsna is so great. Krsna Himself, He does not know why He's so much attractive. Therefore, to understand this knowledge, why Krsna is so attractive, He became Lord Caitanya, taking the ecstatic emotion of Srimati Radharani. Radha-bhava-dyuti. That's a very great science. Krsna is such that Krsna... Of course, it is our calculation that Krsna does not understand Himself. So to understand Krsna, fully Krsna, it is not possible. But as far as our limited knowledge is concerned, if we understand Krsna so much, that is our perfection. That is our perfection. Therefore Krsna says, janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvatah [Bg. 4.9].

So if we understand Krsna as a human being like us, avajananti mam mudhah [Bg. 9.11], then we are mudhas. "Krsna is also... Krsna's body is made of these maya elements, or external elements, like us." Just like our body is made of these material elements. If we think Krsna also made of that elements, of these material elements, ksitir apo 'nalo vayuh, then we are mistaken. Krsna is... Here, in the previous verse, we have learned: atma-mayaya. There are... Of course, this material energy is also atma-maya, Krsna's. Not ours. Mama maya. Krsna says, mama maya. Daivi hy esa gunamayi mama maya [Bg. 7.14]. This material world is Krsna's. We cannot say mama maya. No. We are under the control of this material nature. But Krsna is the controller of the material nature. That is the difference. We are controlled by the material nature, but Krsna is not controlled, but He's controller. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [Bg. 9.10]. One who understands this, that this prakrti, this material nature, is working under the direction of Krsna, that is our real knowledge. How the things are going on? That is not possible to understand. But the summary, sum total, if we simply understand... Janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]. Everything is emanated from the Supreme Absolute Truth, Krsna. That much knowledge is sufficient. Then you can increase -- how they are working. How, by Krsna's energies, the material energy is working by the direction of Krsna, that is advanced knowledge. But on the whole, if we... As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [Bg. 9.10]. That is perfect knowledge. If we think that this matter is working independently, as modern scientists, they think that chemical evolution... No. No chemical evolution. Life does not produce by chemical evolution. Life is from life. That... Just like Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, that aham sarvatra, aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate [Bg. 10.8]. The answer is given there. The Vedanta-sutra, the question is "What is Brahman?" And the answer is there... athato brahma jijnasa, janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]. Indirectly given. The Brahman, Parabrahman, is that from whom everything emanates.

Everything means... There are two things: jada and cetana, living entities and nonliving entiti..., jada. Dull entities. Matter is dull. So everything means including both. Matter is also coming from Krsna, and these cetana, or living entities, they are also coming from... And the whole world is combination of this matter and cetana -- your body, my body. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakrtim param, jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat [Bg. 7.5]. This material energy is inferior, and the spiritual energy is superior. And superior why? Because the superior energy, the living entity, jiva-bhuta, they are controlling. Not controlling. They are trying to utilize. Just like we advanced living entities, human beings, we have created the modern civilization by utilizing the matter, utilizing the matter. That is our superiority. But we are also prakrti. Apareyam viddhi me prakrtim param. We are para-prakrti, spiritual energy. This is the understanding. In this way we have to understand tattva-jnana. The human life is meant for understanding tattva. Jivasya tattva-jijnasa. The Vedanta-sutra: athato brahma jijnasa. Jijnasa, tattva-jijnasa, the same thing.

So explanation of Vedanta-sutra is Srimad-Bhagavatam. Srimad-Bhagavatam begins that what is that tattva. Janmady asya [SB 1.1.1]. Janmady asya, from whom everything has emanated, or the Supreme, which is the source of everything, so what is the nature of that source? That is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam: janmady asya yatah anvayad itaratas ca arthesu abhijnah [SB 1.1.1]. That source is abhijnah, cognizant, not matter. Matter is not cognizant. Life. Janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1], cognizant. So these scientists' theory, modern theory, that life comes from matter, this is wrong. The life comes from life. Because in the Bhagava..., Srimad-Bhagavatam it is explained that janmady asya yatah anvayad itaratas ca arthesu abhijnah [SB 1.1.1]. The identity from whom everything emanates, He's abhijnah, cognizant. He can understand. So cognizant means life. Not only that. Tene brahma hrda adi-kavaye. He instructed knowledge to Lord Brahma, about Vedic knowledge. So unless one is living entity, how he can impart knowledge?

So actually, the Absolute Truth is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, or the Vedanta-sutra's explanation, natural explanation,... Actually, Srimad-Bhagavatam was written by Vyasadeva. Here it is said, dvaipayana-sakha. Dvaipayana means Vyasadeva. Vyasadeva compiled this Brahma-sutra, and he explained it, bhasyam brahma-sutranam **, this Srimad-Bhagavatam. If we read some artificial comments on Brahma-sutra, we'll misunderstand. Generally, these Mayavadis give prominence of the comment given by Sankaracarya about Brahma-sutra, Sariraka-bhasya. But that is unnatural. The natural commentation is given by the author himself, Vyasadeva. So we have to understand... Vyasadeva has written Brahma-sutra, and we have to understand the meaning of Brahma... Brahma-sutra means codes only. So codes can be explained by the author himself. So our process is to accept the Brahma-sutra. Brahma-sutra-padais caiva hetumadbhir viniscitaih [Bg. 13.5]. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita. So Brahma-sutra is nyaya-prasthana. Nyaya-prasthana: very logically, transcendental knowledge. So brahma-sutra-padais caiva hetumadbhir viniscitaih [Bg. 13.5]. So we must... Therefore, according to our Vedic system, the acarya must understand Brahma-sutra and explain. Then he'll be accepted as acarya.

Therefore two sampradayas, the Mayavadi sampradaya and the Vaisnava sampradaya, both of them have explained the Brahma-sutra. Otherwise, they are not authorities. Without understanding Brahma-sutra, nobody can understand what is Brahman. Therefore here it is said that Vidura understood the anviksikyam, transcendental knowledge, from Maitreya. Who is Maitreya? Dvaipayana-sakha. He's the friend. That means he has association with Vyasadeva. Just like friend and friend, the one friend knows the other friend, what is his position, what is his knowledge. So Maitreya was friend of Vyasadeva. That means he knows what Vyasadeva knows. So we have to approach such spiritual master or instructor who is in disciplic succession of Vyasadeva. Vyasadeva. Everyone claims that "We are also following Vyasadeva." But not superficially. Actually following Vyasadeva. Just like Vyasadeva accepted Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Arjuna said, param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12], he accepted Krsna as the Parabrahman, the Supreme Person. So one may say that "Arjuna was friend of Krsna; he might have accepted like that." No. He gave evidence that "Vyasadeva also accepts You. Vyasadeva also accepts You, 'You are the Parabrahman.' " Vyasadeva begins the comments on Vedanta-sutra: om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. He begins, janmady asya yatah, param satyam dhimahi [SB 1.1.1].

So if we actually are interested to understand spiritual knowledge, we must approach the representative of acarya. Pratijane. And acarya means who follows Vyasadeva. Just like Maitreya, dvaipayana-sakha. Maitreyo bhagavan. He has been addressed as Bhagavan. Of course, the Supreme Bhagavan is Bhaga... Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. But other powerful persons, just like Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, or Vyasadeva, Maitreya, very, very big personalities, they are also sometimes addressed as Bhagavan. Naradadeva. They are bhagavan. Actual Bhagavan is Krsna. But they have attained, as far as possible... It is not possible to have the cent percent knowledge of Krsna. Nobody can do that. Even Narayana cannot do that. Even Bhisma cannot do that. But those who are, I mean to say, devotees or followers of Krsna's instructions fully, they are also sometimes called bhagavan. But that bhagavan does not mean artificial bhagavan. Bhagavan means he knows what Krsna has taught. He's also bhagavan. Bhagavams tatha, praha, he said, idam, viduram, unto Vidura, and pritah, being pleased. Not that simply talking between friends and friends. No. Being pritah. Just to... He's also eager. He's also eager, and he's also very much pleased. Vidura was eager to receive the transcendental knowledge, and Maitreya was pleased upon him.

How one can be pleased? That is the process. Pranipatena sevaya. You can please one simply by surrendering to himself and by rendering service, "Sir, I am your most obedient servant. Please accept me and give me instruction." Sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam prapannam [Bg. 2.7]. Even Arjuna was a very intimate friend of Krsna, still, while learning Srimad-Bhagavad-gita from Him, he surrendered himself to Krsna and said that "I am no more your friend." Of course, friend is also, a friend of Krsna is also surrendered. That is... But specifically he said, sisyas te 'ham. Sisya means "You can rule over me now." Sas-dhatu. Sas-dhatu. From sas-dhatu, sastra, sisya, sastra, these things have come. So sisyas te 'ham. Sisya means "Now I am under Your full control. You can use me in whatever way You like." So in this way, anviksikyam pracoditah.

So this is the process of asking. Pariprasna is asking question. Of course, one, the sisya, must ask. He must... But not challenge. Just to understand. Jijnasuh sreya uttamam. Not to defeat the spiritual master. But one should be inquisitive, inquire from the spiritual master, being jijnasu, very inquisitive to understand the spiritual science. Not that "I know better than you. Let us talk." No. That is not with guru. You must find out a guru where you can surrender, pranipatena. If you don't find a person where you cannot surrender, don't waste your time and his time. First of all surrender. So this is the process of understanding transcendental... Anviksikyam pracoditah.

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. (end)

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.4 -- Bombay, November 4, 1974

HOME

© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.

Eat, Drink, Be Merry, For Tomorrow ... Back to Godhead

Eat, Drink, Be Merry, For Tomorrow ... Back to Godhead

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.02
Bombay, November 2, 1974

download  flash player

 

Take a test

---

Nitai: "Saunaka continued: There is no one who knows more than the Supreme Lord Himself. No one is more worshipable or more mature a yogi than He. He is therefore the master of the Vedas, and to hear about Him always is the actual pleasure of the senses."

Prabhupada:

na hy asya varsmanah pumsam
varimnah sarva-yoginam
visrutau sruta-devasya
bhuri trpyanti me 'savah
 [SB 3.25.2]

So we have been discussing about the incarnation of Kapiladeva, devahuti-putra Kapiladeva, the propounder of Sankhya-yoga. So in the previous verse He has been explained as bhagavan atma-mayaya. Bhagavan... Bhaga means opulence, and van means "one who possesses." Bhagavat-sabda. In Sanskrit, when the meaning is "one possesses," then these pratyayas are used, vat-pratyaya, mat-pratyaya. So the real word is bhagavat-sabda, and the first word is bhagavan. So bhaga means opulence. So all the opulences are there in Bhagavan. It is said in the Vedas,

nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman
 (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13)

What is that Bhagavan's opulences? This is: eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. Bhagavan, singular number, and nityo nityanam, and nityanam, plural number.

So these jivas, we, we are plural number. Jiva-bhagah sa vijneyah sa canantyaya kalpate. How many jivas are there, there is no limit. Nobody can count. Ananta. Ananta means you cannot get the limit, that "So many millions or so many thousands." No. You cannot count. So all these jivas, we, living entities, we are being maintained by that one. This is the Vedic information. Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. Just like we maintain our family. One man is earning, and he is maintaining his family, wife, children, servants, dependents, workers, so many. Similarly, that one, Bhagavan, is maintaining all the living entities. You do not know how many there are. In Africa there are millions of elephants. They are also eating forty kg's at one time. So that, they are also being maintained. And the small ant, that is also being maintained. There are 8,400,000 forms of different bodies. Who is maintaining them? Maintaining, Bhagavan, that ekah. Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. That is a fact. So why He'll not maintain us? Especially those who are devotees, who have taken shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, leaving aside everything simply for His service.

Just like in our Krsna consciousness movement. We have got more than one hundred centers. And one center... We were just reading from the statement of Nava Bharata Times how they are well managed. But we have no business. We have no source of income. That is the only source of income -- Krsna's shelter. Samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam. Therefore sastra says that "You take shelter of Krsna." Krsna comes also to say the same truth. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. He never said that "You do this and do that. Then I shall give you for your maintenance." No. Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami: "Not only I shall give maintenance, but I shall protect you from the resultant action of sinful life." So much assurance is there. So sastra also says, tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido na labhyate yad bhramatam upary adhah [SB 1.5.18]. Tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovidah. Kovida means intelligent, very intelligent person. So what should he try for? Tasyaiva hetoh: to get shelter at the lotus feet of Krsna. Human life should only endeavor how to get in touch of the lotus feet of Krsna. That should be the only one business.

Tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido na labhyate yad bhramatam upary adhah [SB 1.5.18]. (aside:) Let them sit down. Upary adhah. Upari adhah. Upari means higher planetary system. There are seven planetary system. This is in the middle. We are in the Bhurloka. Those who are chanting gayatri-mantra, om bhur bhuvah svah tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi... So there are fourteen planetary systems within one universe. So we living entities, we are wandering in different types of forms of body and in different planets. That we are... According to our karma, sometimes down, sometimes up, in this way we are wandering. Therefore sastra says, "Just like you are wandering in this way, your business is how to become materially happy, how to satisfy your senses. But don't do that. Don't do that." Then? What shall I do? Tasyaiva hetoh. "How to understand Krsna -- for that purpose you should endeavor." Then how shall I eat? "No, that eating and sleeping, the business of the body, that is already arranged. That is already arranged. You don't have to work for it." Kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa. Tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham. Our endeavor is to achieve happiness. That is our struggle for existence.

Sastra says, tal labhyate duhkhavat. Duhkhavat means... Just like we don't want anything unhappy or miserable condition of life, but we get it. We don't endeavor for it. Nobody says, "Let there be fire in my house. Let my child die." Nobody aspires these things. Everyone thinks that "My child may live. There may not be any danger. I'll get so much money." Nobody thinks of the opposite. But the opposite number comes. The catastrophes come. You don't pray for it. You don't go to the temple for praying, "My Lord, let there be fire in my house." Nobody goes. He goes for something better. So sastra says that "Which you do not pray for, still, it comes, duhkhavat, without your invitation, similarly, whatever happiness you'll have to enjoy, that will also come." Tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham. Therefore the conclusion is that "Don't try for your so-called happiness or so-called distress. Try to achieve that position where you can understand Krsna and get shelter at His lotus feet." This is human endeavor. Tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido na labhyate yad bhramatam upary adhah [SB 1.5.18]. Upary adhah.

Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu says to Rupa Gosvami,

ei rupe brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-krpaya paya bhakti-lata-bija
 [Cc. Madhya 19.151]

We are wandering in this way, up and down, brahmanda bhramite. Brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva. If one is fortunate, he can get the information of devotional service to Krsna. He gets this information. So this assembly, this Krsna consciousness movement, is an attempt to make people fortunate. From the unfortunate position, to become fortunate. Everyone is unfortunate, at least in this age. Mandah sumanda-matayo manda-bhagyah [SB 1.1.10]. Now see everyone. Everywhere, there is simply problems. There is simply problem. One problem in one country, another problem in another country. There is strife, there is government... There is... Even the president, and he is also, has to meet so many problems. At the end he has to be dragged down. Now he's going to die in the hospital. What to speak of others. The problem, only problem. Therefore everyone is unfortunate. This is the conclusion. You may think that "I am very fortunate." President Nixon was thinking, "I am very fortunate. I have become the President of United States." But now he's realizing, "I am the most unfortunate."

So this is for everyone. Don't think that "Only the culprit is President Nixon, and we are, I am very safe." There is a Bengali proverb: ghunte pore gobar hase.(?) Gobar means cow dung, and ghunte means... What is called in English? The dried cow dung. So dried cow dung is used for fuel. So when the dry cow dung is being burned into the oven, the safe oven is laughing, "Oh, you are being burned. I am in safe side." (laughter) He does not know that when he'll be dry, he'll be put into the fire also. So we are laughing that "President Nixon is in trouble. I am very safe. I have got so much bank balance." No, nobody's safe. They... As like the same, cow dung soft. When it will be dried up, it will be put into the fire. And that dryness will come to everyone. That is a fact. What is that? Death. You may be safe at the present, for a few years, but you cannot avoid death. "As sure as death." And what is the result of death? The same. As the president is taken out from his position, everything, all honor, all money all..., even life, similarly, at the time of death Krsna says, mrtyuh sarva-haras ca aham: "I come as death and plunder everything, whatever you have got." Your bank balance, your skyscraper building, your nice wife, your children -- you have to give up. You cannot say, "My dear death, kindly give me some time. Let me adjust." "No adjustment. Immediately get out."

So foolish people, they do not know what is the miserable condition of this material life. Therefore Krsna says real knowledge is janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi [Bg. 13.9], to know that "However great I may be, these four principles of miserable condition of life, there are." It is existing in the Brahmaloka, in the Patalaloka, everywhere, sarvatra. Gabhira-ramhasa. Tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa. In the due course of time. This is the most wonderful thing. That is, that was questioned by Dharmaraja to Maharaja Yudhisthira, that "What is the most wonderful thing in this world?" He said, ahany ahani bhutani gacchantiha yamalayam: "Every moment so many people are dying." Sesah sthavaram icchanti kim ascaryam atah param: "But those who are living, he thinks that 'My friend has died, but I will live forever.' " No. The same thing. The soft cow dung will be dried up, and the same condition.

So Bhagavan, Bhagavan is not like that person. Therefore it is said, bhagavan atma-mayaya. When Bhagavan... We come here to stay for some days, say fifty years or hundred years, enjoy or suffer life, but Bhagavan does not come for that purpose. Na mam karmani limpanti [Bg. 4.14]. That is stated in the previous verse. And the second verse it is further... Na hy asya varsmanah: "Nobody is greater than Him." Bhagavan means the person, nobody is greater than Him and nobody is equal to Him. That is Bhagavan. Everyone is lower. The Caitanya-caritamrta karaca says, ekale isvara krsna ara saba bhrtya [Cc. Adi 5.142]. Ara saba bhrtya. Only one master is Krsna, and others, beginning from Brahma... Brahma, Visnu, Mahesvara, Indra, Candra, all these demigods... There are hundred and thousands. Thirty-three million demigods. And then this naraloka, there are so many rich men, Rockefeller, Ford, Birla and others, others... So they are bhrtyas, all servants. When Krsna will order, "My dear Mr. such and such, now give up your place. Go away," finish. So therefore they are all servants. This is the position beginning from Brahma down to the ant.

yas tv indra-gopam athavendram aho sva-karma-
bandhanurupa-phala-bhajanam atanoti
karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
 [Bs. 5.54]

Everyone is enjoying or suffering the sequence of his karma. Yas tu gopam. Indra-gopa, a small insect. It's name is indra-gopa. Beginning from this indra up to that Indra, the king of heaven, everyone is enjoying and suffering about his karma. Yas tv indra-gopam athavendram aho sva-karma. Sva-karma, one's own activities, we are creating. We are creating our next body in this life. As we have got this life as the resultant action of my past karma, similarly, I am creating another body, after death, on account of my present karma. This is going on.

So we should work in such a way that we may not get another body next life. That is wanted. That is wanted. And how it can be done? It can be done very easily. What is that? Simply try to understand Krsna. Simply try to understand Krsna. This is the simple method.

janma karma me divyam
yo janati tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti...
 [Bg. 4.9]

Very simple. And to understand Krsna is very difficult? Yes, it is very difficult. But it is very easy also. How? Now, Krsna says, bhaktya mam abhijanati [Bg. 18.55]. If you become devotee of Krsna, then you understand Krsna very easily. Krsna does not say by jnana, by karma, by yoga, you can understand Him. No. That is not possible. Naham prakasah sarvasya yogamaya-samavrtah [Bg. 7.25]. He is... It is stated here that varimnah sarva-yoginam. There are many different varieties of yogis, and He is the greatest yogi. Therefore He is known as Yogesvara. Yatra yogesvaro harih [Bg. 18.78]. So He is far, far above all yogic processes. The yogic, yogis, they can show you some magic. The yogi can walk over the water. There are so many. Anima-laghima-siddhi. But see Krsna's yogic mystic power that big, big planets, they are floating in the air. Can you do that? Can you float even a small piece of stone, floating in the air? Then see... Therefore it is said here, varimnah sarva-yoginam. What yogis can, these ordinary yogis can show? Of course, we are foolish persons. If some yogi shows some mystic power, and little gold if he can manufacture, we accept him as God. But we forget the real yogi who has created millions of gold mines, floating in the air. So we Krsna conscious persons, we are not so fool that we shall accept this kind of yogi as Bhagavan. We want the foremost yogi. Varimnah sarva-yoginam. That Krsna, Yogesvara. We accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because why? Now, because we are trying to become devotee. And Krsna says, bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah, tato mam jnatva tattvatah... [Bg. 18.55]. That, the verse...

So very simple process. The first thing is, the problem of life is how to conquer over death. We are now accepting death as compulsory. No. Death is not compulsory. Just like to be put into the prison house is not compulsory. It is due to my work. Because I have become criminal, therefore I have been put into the jail. It is not compulsory that everyone has to go to the jail. That is not. So similarly, we living entities, our proper place is the Vaikunthaloka.

paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo
'vyakto 'vyaktat sanatanah
 [Bg. 8.20]

yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
 [Bg. 15.6]

Everything is there. You can have eternal blissful life of knowledge, sac-cid-ananda. It is not compulsory that you shall rot in this material world. But if you like, you can go there. The easiest process. Easiest process is janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvatah. You try to understand Krsna, why He comes, what are His activities, wherefrom He comes, why He comes in the form of a human being. You try to understand, study. And Krsna is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gita. So where is your difficulty? God is personally explaining what He is. If you accept Bhagavad-gita as it is, then, after giving up this body, tyaktva deham punar janma naiti [Bg. 4.9], no more birth and death. You get your spiritual body, sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], and happily live in the family of Krsna. Because He is also providing you here, and there also, He'll provide you with very nice preparation. As we have learned from this, what is that, Nava Bharata Times, how our people are eating preparations from milk very nicely. So back to home, back to Godhead, and eat, drink and be merry in Krsna's company. That is our process.

Thank you very much. (end)

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.2 -- Bombay, November 2, 1974

HOME

© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.

Fire Is Fire, Gold Is Gold, God Is God

Fire Is Fire, Gold Is Gold, God Is God

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.1
Bombay, November 1, 1974

download  flash player

 

Take a test

---

Prabhupada:

kapilas tattva-sankhyata
bhagavan atma-mayaya
jatah svayam ajah saksad
atma-prajnaptaye nrnam
 [SB 3.25.1]

So we are reciting from our latest edition of Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is Third Canto, Part Four. We have finished Third Canto, publishing. This is very important subject matter. The Kapila, the expounder of Sankhya philosophy, he instructed to His mother, Devahuti. There are two Kapilas. Real Kapiladeva is Kapila. He expounded Sankhya philosophy to instruct His mother. But later on, some imitation Kapiladeva also appeared -- atheistic Sankhya philosophy. He has simply dealt with the twenty-four different elements without information of God. Therefore there are two Kapilas. One Kapila is called the devahuti-putra Kapila; another is atheist Kapila.

So about Kapiladeva it is said, Saunaka Rs..., that kapilas tattva-sankhyata: "Kapila, the Supreme Person," tattva-sankhyata, "He can explain what is Absolute Truth." Kapilas tattva-sankhyata bhagavan. Without Bhagavan, nobody knows what is the actual position of the Ultimate Truth. Nobody can know it. Therefore Bhagavan Krsna or His incarnation occasionally visit to give you information about what is the aim of life. Tattva-sankhyata. Sankhyata means expounder, and tattva means the Absolute Truth. So Absolute Truth is Bhagavan Himself, Krsna Himself. So we cannot understand the Absolute Truth or the Supreme Person by mental speculation. That is not possible, especially when we are under the influence of the three modes of material nature because material nature is divided into three status: sattva-guna, rajo-guna, and tamo-guna. Those who are in the sattva-guna, they are fit for understanding the Absolute Truth. Sattva-guna means the brahminical qualification. Satyam samo damas titiksa arjavam, jnanam vijnanam astikyam brahma-karma svabhava-jam [Bg. 18.42]. They can understand. Therefore, in our Vedic conception of human society there must be a class of men, actually brahmana. Then they will be able to expound the real truth of life. If everyone becomes sudra, then the Absolute Truth cannot be understood.

Just like at the present moment, kalau sudra-sambhavah: "In the Kali-yuga, everyone is sudra." It is hardly to be found, a qualified brahmana. Of course, there are, but very rare. Practically brahmana is not a single there, especially in this age.

prayenalpayusah sabhya
kalav asmin yuge janah
mandah sumanda-matayo
manda-bhagya hy upadrutah
 [SB 1.1.10]

The people of this age, they are short-living and manda, very slow in everything, not interested. Actually human life is meant for understanding the spiritual value of life, but on account of the people being sudras, they are not interested. They are forgetting the real purpose of life. Manda. Manda means slow and bad. Everyone is bad or slow. Mandah sumanda-matayah. And they have got... Everyone has got a particular type of understanding. Sumanda-matayah. That is not bona fide. Sumanda-matayo manda-bhagyah: "And everyone is misfortunate, unfortunate." Upadrutah: "And they are disturbed by so many causes." And the gradually, the situation will be like this. It is already manifest. Anavrstya durbhiksa-kara-piditah: [SB 12.2.9] "There will be no rain in the sky, and there will be scarcity of foodstuff," and kara-piditah, "and government will levy tax very heavily." These are already predicted, and we are experiencing. So this age is very miserable. Kali-yuga is very miserable. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He is Krsna Himself. He came. He advised all people of the world that "You simply chant Hare Krsna." Very simple thing. Harer nama harer nama. It is not His invention, but it is in the sastras, Puranas. This advice is there,

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
 [Cc. Adi 17.21]

In this age, people being all sudras, less intelligent, unfortunate, disturbed, how they will be able to understand the Absolute Truth or the aim of life?

So anyway, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that,

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
 [Bg. 4.7]

So similarly, some time before, some hundreds and thousands of years, Kapiladeva appeared, devahuti-putra Kapiladeva. His father's name is Kardama Muni. So after Kapiladeva's birth, when He was grown up... That is the system of Vedic civilization. When children are grown up, the father retires. He takes sannyasa, or goes out of home simply for cultivating spiritual life, not that throughout the whole life, rot in this material world, no. Pancasordhvam vanam vrajet. That is the injunction of the sastra. We have got eight kinds of asrama, er, four kinds of asrama and four kinds of varnas. So the... Formerly they used to follow very strictly. So Kapiladeva's father, Kardama Muni, after the son was grown up, he left his home, giving in charge of his wife. The wife was given in charge of the grown-up boy, not that the boy was in charge of the..., no. So that incident, that narration, is stated in this part.

So kapilas tattva-sankhyata bhagavan. Kapila is Bhagavan. Nowadays Bhagavan is so cheap. They misuses of the word. But here you will find that Bhagavan is not an ordinary man. Avajananti mam mudhah [Bg. 9.11]. Because Bhagavan Krsna appeared as human being, so the mudhas, rascals and fools, they think of Krsna as ordinary human being, mudha. Mohitam nabhijanati mam ebhyah param avyayam, tribhir gunamayair bhavaih, mohitam [Bg. 7.13]. So still there are devotees who can understand. Just like Arjuna understood that "Krsna, although He's my friend, playing the part of my friend, but He is Supreme Personality of Godhead." Therefore, when Krsna instructed Arjuna for our benefit... Arjuna is in perfect knowledge, but aiming at Arjuna, Krsna is giving instruction for all human society, and he admitted. After knowing Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna said, param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan: [Bg. 10.12] "My dear Krsna, You are the Parambrahma." Parambrahman. Every one of us, Brahman. Brahman means spirit soul. We are not this body. Bhagavata... This is realization, self-realization. That is Vedic culture. One must understand what he is. We should not keep ourself in ignorance like cats and dogs, thinking that "I am this body," "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am brahmana," "I am ksatriya," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," or so many designations. That is bodily designation. So when one comes to the spiritual understanding, that is called Brahman realization. Bhagavata...

So we are all Brahman; simply we have to understand it. It is not that we are abrahman; by some practice we become Brahman, no. Just like gold is gold, but if it is covered with some dirt, the dirt can be removed, and the gold is gold; similarly, we are Brahman, spirit soul. Somehow or other we have come in contact with these material elements, bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh [Bg. 7.4], and we have got this body, covered, and I am thinking, "I am this body." This is ignorance. This is ignorance. So unless one is enlightened by the spiritual knowledge, he remains only just like cats and dogs. And to understand spiritual identification, that is called dharma. Dharma means that. And the ultimate goal of dharma is spoken by Krsna, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. We have created so many dharmas: Hindu dharma, Mussulman dharma, Christian dharma. These are manufactured. Of course, there is indication how to execute dharma, but real dharma -- when you come to the conclusion, vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah [Bg. 7.19].

bahunam janmanam ante
jnanavan mam prapadyate
vasudevah sarvam iti
sa mahatma sudurlabhah
 [Bg. 7.19]

So this is... Krsna consciousness movement is for this purpose, that we... We are not preaching any particular sectarian religious system. No. We are preaching the real what is meant by religion. Religion means dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]. Nobody knows what is dharma. This is the position. Because dharma means the order of the Supreme Being. That is dharma. Just like law means the order of the government, similarly, dharma means the order of the Supreme Being. That is dharma. This is the simple definition of dharma. So God is one; His order is one. How there can be different dharmas? It is not possible. That is ignorance. When we create different dharma, that is due to ignorance: Hindu dharma, Muslim dharma, Christian dharma or this dharma, that dharma... No. Gold is gold. Does it mean that if a Christian possesses some gold, it becomes Christian gold? Or Hindu possesses some gold, it becomes Hindu gold? No. Gold is gold. Either it is in possession of Hindu or Muslim or Christian, it doesn't matter. Gold is gold. So we are preaching that, that "Here is dharma, to surrender unto the Supreme Being." That is dharma. Sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg. 18.66]. This is bhagavata-dharma. Everyone should be taught how to surrender to God.

So God is one. God cannot be two. When there is competition of God, they are not God. Just like it has become nowadays -- in every state there is a God. That is not... Krsna is not that kind of God. He is the Supreme God. Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita, mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya: [Bg. 7.7] "Nobody is superior than Me." So that is... We are preaching. We are teaching people. These Americans and the Europeans, they have taken it seriously because they are fortunate. They have no information of these hodgepodge gods. That is their opportunity. I have told them, given the information that Krsna, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. I have not given any wrong information. Right information. Bhagavan means Krsna. God means Krsna. So I have given them this information as a peon, that "Here is God," and they have taken it seriously. Therefore they are advancing. See practically. Why they are advancing? Because they are not misled. They have been given the right information, and they have taken it seriously, and they are trying their best to do, to render service. That is the reason. People are surprised how these Americans and Europeans have become such great devotees and dancing in ecstasy. They are surprised. Yes, it is surprising. Even in their country the priests are surprised. But what is the reason they are advanced? Because they have taken the right thing, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. That they have taken. Either you say blindly... Blindly or knowingly, if you touch fire, it will act. Fire is fire. It is not that because a child takes fire, it will not burn. It will burn. So why these Western young men, they are taking this movement seriously? Because it is acting as fire. It is acting as fire. They have taken fire, and it is acting as fire.

So there is information in the sastra, accepted by the acaryas. Just like krsnas tu bhagavan svayam, that is accepted by the acaryas. Acaryopasanam. The Sankaracarya even, although he is impersonalist, he has accepted Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and what to speak of others? Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya and Visnu Svami, Nimbarka and, latest, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His followers -- all accept Krsna the Supreme Personality of..., following the same principle as Arjuna said, "Krsna, You are param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12]." So this is simple thing. There is no need of speculation, "What is God?" "Where is God?" Here is God, sir. Here is God. You see. Why you foolish, you are searching? Here is God. He is not... Although Krsna has come in a form which you can see... Krsna has appeared before you just like stone statue. But He is not stone statue. Of course, stone is also God because stone is another energy of God, just like fire is also heat and light. And the heat is also fire, and light is also fire. Without fire, there cannot be light. Without fire, there cannot be heat So this material world is just like the heat and light of the supreme light, of the supreme fire. Parasya brahmanah saktis tathedam akhilam jagat. Eka-desa-sthitasyagner jyotsna vistarini yatha, tathedam akhilam jagat. Just like fire is in one place... Just like sun. It is a, mean, a practical example. The sun is in one place. You have seen. It is light and heat, so expanding the light and heat throughout the whole universe, and as soon as you perceive light and heat, you can understand there is sun. So light and heat can be perceived by anyone. Therefore Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh: "I am the light and heat of the sun." Of course, moon, there is no heat. There is cooling effect. Two things are there. So all these are energies of Krsna. Prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. So why people say, "Can you show me God?" You are seeing daily, every moment. But because you are fool, you have no sense of understanding. As soon as there is some heat, any man can understand there is fire. As soon as there is smoke, anyone can understand there is fire. Similarly, if you can feel the energy of the Lord, then you can feel the presence of the Lord immediately.

Now here, these boys, these girls, they are worshiping Krsna, and they are becoming devotee. What is the sign of devotee? The sign of devotee is that the devotees are no more interested with material enjoyment. That is devotee. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. So these young boys and girls, they do not go to cinema. They do not smoke. They do not go any restaurant or club. Why? Virakti! Don't want this! What to speak of here, poor country, but in the European, American countries, everything is available very cheap. But they are not interested. They are interested to sit down on the floor without any chair and follow me, whatever I say. They have no sufficient eating even. I cannot give them to their standard. Still... Why? Because they don't want this material happiness. That is the test. That is the test. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. When one will become detestful to material enjoyment, you will know, or he'll know. Personally one can understand how much he is advanced in spiritual life. Spiritual life does not mean that a sannyasi is smoking and drinking tea, one gallon of tea. That is not spiritual life. He must be detestful. So this dharma, or spiritual life, means to have no more interest in material activities but only in the understanding of God, the Supreme, and His service. That is spiritual life.

So actually the human life is meant for that purpose, because sense gratification, material happiness, the hogs also, they are enjoying. The enjoying... The hog is also whole day and night searching after stool, and after eating stool, when they get some strength, then sex without any discrimination of mother or sister or anyone. Hog's life. Therefore sastra says, "Don't lead a hog's life." Nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye [SB 5.5.1]. Vid-bhujam means the stool-eater. They are also working so hard day and night simply for eating stool. And as soon as there is some strength, hypophosphate... Because stool contains all good chemicals. Hypophosphate, they say, who have tested... Of course, I do not know. They say that it is full of hypophosphates, and if you take hypophosphate... Sometimes doctor prescribes sera of hypophosphate for the weak people. So actually the hogs are very fatty. Therefore those who are meat-eaters, they like hog's flesh very nicely.

So anyway, this human life is not meant for imitating the hog's life. Human life is meant for tapasya. Tapo divyam putraka yena suddhyet sattvam [SB 5.5.1]. This is Vedic civilization, tapasya, the state, different grades of tapasya -- brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra -- give them chance -- grhastha, vanaprastha, brahmacari. They are all meant for inducing people to come to this perfectional stage of understanding God. This is called varnasrama-dharma. Real purpose of this is varnasrama, four varnas and four asramas. Why? Now,

varnasramacaravata
purusena parah puman
visnur aradhyate pantha
nanyat tat tosa-karanam
 [Cc. Madhya 8.58]

The whole aim is how to worship the Supreme Lord. That is human life. So if we make these divisions, so any class of men, if he comes to this social system of varnasrama-dharma, then automatically... Just like if you admit your son in a school, there is first class, second class, third class or eighth class. In this way he makes progress. One day that son comes out as a graduate. So the human society must accept. This is school of varnasrama-dharma. Then gradually he will be educated and he will come to the understanding. Brahma janatiti brahmanah. One day he will understand what is Brahman, and that is brahmana. Veda-pathad bhaved vipro brahma janatiti brahmanah. Janmana jayate sudrah. By birth everyone is a sudra. He has to be educated. Samskarad bhaved dvijah. Dvija means twice-born. One birth is by the father and mother, and the next birth is by the spiritual master and Vedic knowledge. So Vedic knowledge is the mother, and spiritual master is the father. Then one becomes dvija. Therefore the sacred thread is offered, that "He is now divja. He has accepted the spiritual master to learn what is spiritual life." That is the significance. Then he is allowed to read this Vedic literature, the essence of Vedic literature. Nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam idam [SB 1.1.3], this Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is the essence. Nigama means Vedic. Nigama-kalpa-taru. Kalpa-taru means desire tree. A tree, desire tree, means whatever you like, you can take from it. Similarly, Vedic knowledge is so perfect, any knowledge, perfectly if you want to know, then you must... Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet srotriyam [MU 1.2.12]. Therefore Vedic knowledge is called sruti. Srotriyam brahma-nistham.

So when things are mismanaged and people forget the aim of life, at that time the Supreme Lord comes. Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati [Bg. 4.7]. So dharmasya glanih means the human society, when missing the aim of life, at that time, when things are very much mismanaged, then out of compassion... Because God is more anxious to get us back to home, back to Godhead, than we are, because we are in ignorance. We do not know what is the kingdom of God, how to go back there, how to become happy. We have all forgotten. Therefore Krsna comes at interval. He sends His representative, the devotee. That is going on. So sometimes He comes personally; sometimes He sends His incarnation. The Kapiladeva is an incarnation of the Supreme Person, Krsna. Therefore it is stated here, kapilas tattva-sankhyata bhagavan. Incarnation of Bhagavan is also Bhagavan. Bhagavan atma-mayaya. Atma-mayaya means... Maya means illusion, maya means affection, and maya means energy. When Krsna comes, or Krsna's energy, or Krsna's incarnation comes, that is not by force. Just like we. We are forced to come. Karmana daiva-netrena [SB 3.31.1]. We have to accept a certain type of body by force, not atma-mayaya. Suppose I have got this human form of body. I cannot demand that "Next life I will have like this." No. That is not possible. Next life you will get according to your karma. Just like you are being educated. You cannot say that "Make me the high-court judge." That is not possible. If you are qualified, then you become. Similarly, karmana... You have to qualify yourself. So there are 8,400,000's of different forms of life. So by your karma, next life you can become a devata, a demigod. Even if you like, you can become Indra, Candra. Or you can become cats and dogs. That depends... Karmana daiva-netrena [SB 3.31.1]. So this will depend on my karma.

But Krsna or His incarnation, when He comes, it does not depend on His karma, because He is above karma. He is fully independent. Therefore it is said, atma-mayaya: "by His own energy," not by any external energy, forced by. Just like if the governor goes to the prison house, it is not that he has been forced to come to the prison, he is a condemned person, no. He goes there out of his good will to see how things are going on. But when an ordinary person is put into jail, he has been forced. He has been proved a criminal. So if the criminal thinks that "Here is governor. Now we are one, the governor and myself, one..." The pocket, pickpocket, criminal, if he thinks like that, that... Similarly, avajananti mam mudha manusim tanum asritam [Bg. 9.11]. Therefore rascals and fools, they think Krsna is one of them, the same thing, as the criminal thinks the governor, as... Mahatma Gandhi went to jail, and if a pickpocket thinks that "Now Mahatma Gandhi and myself are the same..." No. Therefore it is said, atma-mayaya. Mahatma Gandhi went to jail just to show the people: "Now, if you want to drive away the Britishers, so disobey their law, and they will put us into jail, and that jail will be effective." Jail svarajyake mandira hai. Mahatma Gandhi said. That was a policy, not that Mahatma Gandhi had to go to jail; he was a fit (?) for that person. Similarly, this is an example.

Similarly, when Krsna or His incarnation comes in this material world, He maintains His position. That, the same thing. Mahatma Gandhi maintained his position. It is not that because Mahatma Gandhi went to jail, he became unpopular and nobody would respect him. No. He is respect was still there. Similarly, when the incarnation of God, Krsna, He comes, He is not ordinary man. He is not ordinary man. He comes out of His good will. Param bhavam ajanantah. The rascals, they do not understand what is Krsna, and they think that "Krsna is like one of us, a human being, like that. He is..." No, that is not Krsna understanding. Krsna...

manusyanam sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah
 [Bg. 7.3]

Krsna understanding is not so easy. It is said by Krsna, "Out of millions of people, one become siddha." Siddha means self-realized. And yatatam api siddhanam: [Bg. 7.3] and after becoming siddha, out of many millions of siddhas, one can understand what is Krsna.

But it is our great fortune that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He appeared. He is Krsna Himself, and He has given us a very, I mean to say, easy process to understand Krsna. What is that? This is the easiest process, that you come here and hear about Krsna. That's all. You haven't got to do anything. Simply come here. We are opening all these centers just to invite you, "Please come here and hear about Krsna."

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam
 [SB 1.2.17]

If you hear about Krsna, you become purified. Hearing about Krsna means associating with Krsna. This secret they do not know. But we are canvassing, "Please come and hear about Krsna. Your life will be perfect."

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. (end)

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.1 -- Bombay, November 1, 1974

HOME

© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.