Boatman & The Technology Student

[The Story of the Boatman & The Technology Student]

In India, especially in Bengal, there are many rivers. The land is full of rivers. Because it is on the bank of the Bay of Bengal, all rivers are falling. Therefore Bengal, the land of, especially the east Bengal, is full of rivers. One student of technology was going home, and he was on the boat. So the student was asking the boatman, "Do you know what are the stars?" The boatman said, "Sir, we are ordinary boatman. What do we know about these stars?" "Oh. Then your fifty percent of life is wasted, useless." Then he was asking, "Do you know what are these trees? Do you know any science of botany?" He said, "Sir, we are ordinary laborer. What do we know about botany?" "Oh. Then seventy-five percent of your life is useless." In this way the student of technology was asking the boatman, "Do you know this? Do you know that?" And he said that "I am ordinary man. What do I know all these things?" Then all of a sudden there was a black cloud, and there was storm, and the river began to be inflated, and the boatman said, "My dear sir, do you know swimming?" "Oh," he said, "no." Then he said, "Then your cent percent knowledge is spoiled. Now you have to go down to the river. Your life is finished." In this way they dropped in the river, and the technological student, because he did not know how to swim, so the storm and the waves grabbed him.

The idea is that we are making progress, certainly, in technology, in economics, in so many other departments of human necessities. But Bhagavad-gita says that real problem of this world, or real problem of our life, it is said in the Bhagavad-gita, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosanudarsan am. If you are intelligent enough, then you should see the real problem is birth, death, old age and disease. Janma means birth, and mrtyu means death. Janma-mrtyu-jara. Jara means old age, and vyadhi means disease. So actual material problem is this, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi. We have forgotten that "In the abdomen of my mother, how precarious condition I was living in." Of course, we can know from the description of medical science or any other science how the child is packed up there and how much suffering is there. The worms bite the child and he cannot express; he suffers the suffering. Similarly, the mother eats something and the pungent taste also gives him suffering.

So these descriptions are there in the sastras, in the scriptures and authentic Vedic literature, how the child suffers within the abdomen of mother. So these are the sufferings of birth. At least, one child has to remain in that air-packed condition at least for ten months. Now just imagine if you are put into that air-packed condition for three minutes now, you will immediately die. But actually, we had that experience to remain in the mother's womb in that air-packed condition for ten months. So suffering was there, but because the child was incapable of expressing, therefore... Or his consciousness was not so elevated. He could not cry, but the suffering was there. Similarly, at the time of death there is suffering. Similarly, old man. Just like us, we have got so many complaints, bodily complaints. Because now everything, the anatomical or physiological condition, is deteriorating. The stomach is not digesting foodstuff so nicely as when I was young I could digest. So the sufferings are there. Similarly, disease. Who wants disease? So modern technology, they have advanced undoubtedly, but there is no remedy for, I mean to say, to stop birth, death, old age and disease. This is real problem. But because these problems cannot be solved by the modern scientific advancement of knowledge, they have practically set aside or neglected because they cannot solve it.
But there is a solution. There is a solution. That solution of this problem is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, that,

mam upetya kaunteya
duhkhalayam asasvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah
[Bg. 8.15]

"My dear Arjuna, if somebody comes to Me..." "Me" means here the Supreme Personality of Godhead is saying, Krsna. "If somebody comes to Me, then he hasn't got to take birth again in this miserable material condition." Duhkhalayam asasvatam [Bg. 8.15]. Duhkhalayam means the place of miseries. We are thinking that we have made a paradise, but actually the place is miserable, because the threefold miseries, they are there. Either in America or in India or in any other country, China, or any other planet, the material miseries which are three kinds, adhyatmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika... Adhyatmika means miseries pertaining to the body and the mind. Sometimes we are feeling headaches, sometimes we are feeling some other pains. Any things which are pertaining to the body and mind, there is some pain. These are called adhyatmika. Similarly, there are other pains, inflicted by other living entities. They are called adhibhautika. Similarly, other pains also, which is offered by the nature, by the laws of nature. All of a sudden there is earthquake, all of a sudden there is famine, or similar other which we have no control over. So these three kinds of miseries are always there. But under the spell of illusion we are thinking that we are happy. And the illusion means that the material energy is so illusory that however a living entity may be in abominable condition, he thinks that he is happy. You take any animal, just like take the hog:that life is most filthy life. Of course, you have no experience to see in your city, hogs. In India there are many hogs in the city, and they are living in filthy place:they are eating stool, and most abominable life. But even you ask a hog that "You are living in such abominable condition. Let me do you something good," he'll refuse to accept. If you give him something, nice preparation, as we have got in India, halava, he'll not accept it. He will accept stool, because his body is meant for that purpose and he will not like any palatable foodstuff. He will like that stool. This is the spell of maya.

So Krsna consciousness means that if we want, if we are actually educated, then we must try to question that "Why I am suffering?" This is called brahma-jijnasa. In the Vedanta-sutra the first aphorism is athato brahma jijnasa. One should inquire about his existence as soul, not as body or as mind. Because he is neither body nor mind. So this Vedanta-sutra says that athato brahma jijnasa. Atha atah means this is the time, this human form of life, developed consciousness, with greater intelligence than the animals, one should inquire about his spiritual existence. That is real technology. And Srimad-Bhagavata says that parabhavas tavad abodha-jato yavan na jijnasata atma-tattvam. So long one does not inquire about his spiritual existence... Every one of us is born ignorant because we do not know what is our real identity. Generally, we accept that "I am this body," but actually I am not this body. These things can be understood very easily. Suppose you are seeing all along a friend. All of a sudden he dies and you say, "My friend is gone." Well, your friend is lying there with all the body, hands, legs, everything. He's lying there. Why do you say that your friend is gone? Then you have never seen your friend. You have seen only his bodily structure. That's all. Similarly, at the present moment the humanitarian work is going on, but we do not know what is the basic principle of humanitarian work. The Bhagavata answers this: yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke [SB 10.84.13]. A person who is in the knowledge that "I am this body and...," sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma-ijya-dhih, and if one thinks that "In relations with this body, my kinsmen, they will protect me," and if he thinks that "The land where the body is grown, that is the worshipable land," then he is, I mean to say, accepted like animal. Sa eva go-kharah [SB 10.84.13].

So these instructions are there. Unfortunately, we have no time, neither we have desire to understand actually what I am, why I am suffering, what is this world, what is my relationship with this world, what is God, what is my relationship with God. These questions are very important questions, and there is technology to understand these questions. And the Srimad Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam, Vedanta-sutra, all these literatures are there. If you kindly, of course, see to these literatures, you'll find the solution of the problems of life. But we are not interested. That is the difficulty. We are thinking that we are happy, we have no problem, although there are so many problems and we are not happy. This is called maya. Maya means what is not. Ma means not. Ya means this. This is called maya. We are thinking that we are happy, but actually we are not happy. And even if we are happy, how long we are happy? Suppose, taking for example you Americans, you are the richest nation of the world. Your material comforts and everything is greater than other countries, standard of living. But just try to think how long you can remain as American. Say, for fifty years or hundred years, at most. Then... But we do not know what is going to happen in my next life because we do not believe in the next life. But actually there is next life. So if you don't take care of my next life and if we irresponsibly waste our valuable human form of life like ordinary animals... The ordinary animals, they demand something for eating, they want to sleep, they want to defend, and they want to mate. So similarly, if human being is also busy with the four principles of bodily demands, namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending, then, according to Vedic literature, it is said that he is not human being. Dharmena hina pasubhih samanah. If the human being does not understand his real spiritual identity and simply busy with the four demands of bodily necessities, then pasubhih samanah:he's as equal as with lower animals, cats and dogs.

So Bhagavad-gita gives you clue. It is not very difficult to understand this science. The Bhagavad-gita gives you the information of the spirit soul very simply. The Bhagavad-gita says,

dehino 'smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati
[Bg. 2.13]

Just like within this body, when you were a child you were within this body:not exactly this body, but another body, which was so small. Now where is that body? That body is gone. You have got another body. So Bhagavad-gita says, as we are changing body moment to moment, dehino 'smin yatha dehe... [Bg. 2.13]. Dehinah means the soul, the spirit soul, who is embodied within this body, as he is changing body from moment to moment. This is a fact, a medical fact, that you are changing body every moment. Similarly, the last change is called death. But we have to take..., we have to accept another body. But we do not know what sort of body we are going to accept. That technology is wanting in the modern civilization. But there are 8,400,000's of different bodies, and after leaving this body you may enter any of such bodies. You may become, after leaving this body, you can become American or you can become Indian or you can become Chinaman or you can become god in the moon planet or some other planet, or you can become dog, you can become hog, you can become serpent:anything. That requires... That is under the control of the material nature. That is not under your control. But if you take to this Krsna consciousness, it will be under your control. How it is possible? The Bhagavad-gita answers this:

yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrn yanti pitr-vratah
bhutejya yanti bhutani
mad-yajino 'pi yanti mam
[Bg. 9.25]

If you want to enter into another planet, say moon planet or sun planet or Venus planet... There are innumerable planets. The ultimate, highest planet is called Brahmaloka. And the advantage of going to Brahmaloka is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita, that you can get a life, sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmano viduh [Bg. 8.17]. You can get there life for millions and millions of years. But still, there is death and there is birth and there is that old age and there is that disease. But mad-dhama gatva punar janma na vidyate. But if somebody is transferred to that planet which is called Krsnaloka, Goloka Vrndavana, or Vaikuntha, then one hasn't got to come back to this material, I mean to say, temporary existence. So these informations are there, and they are very scientific. They are not dogmatic. If you accept them with reason and argument and with human consciousness, the solutions are there.

So Krsna consciousness is the movement. It is not new movement. This movement is at least, current, since five hundred years before. Lord Caitanya, He started this movement in the fifteenth century. So this movement is current everywhere in India, but in your country, of course, it is new. But our request is that you kindly take this movement little seriously. We do not ask you to stop your technological advance. You do it. There is a nice proverb in Bengal that a woman who is busy in household work is also..., she also takes care for dressing herself nicely. It is the nature of women. When they go out they dress very nicely. So similarly, you may be busy with all kinds of technology. That, that is not forbidden. But at the same time, you try to understand this technology, the science of soul. That is there. It is not a bogus propaganda. It is factual. It is science. As science is not bogus propaganda, similarly this Krsna consciousness is also not bogus propaganda. As science means two plus two equal to four, similarly Krsna consciousness means mitigating the all problems of life. So... And the process is very easy. We are... Not we are. It is recommended by Lord Caitanya that in this age, for self-realization it is this process:

harer nama harer nama harer nama iva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
[Adi 17.21]

Lord Caitanya says that in this age, when our life is very short, we are not very much enlightened in spiritual matters and we are very lazy at the same time, and at the same time we are unfortunate, so under these conditions the people are recommended simply to chant Hare Krsna. Harer nama harer nama harer nama iva kevalam. Now this Hare Krsna movement, you may say that "This ‘Krsna' is Indian name or Hindu name. Why shall we chant ‘Krsna'?" But if you have got any name of God, you can chant that also. Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that God has millions and billions of names. So any name is as good as "Krsna." It doesn't matter. Then why we chant Hare Krsna? Because we are following the footprints of Lord Caitanya, and He chanted this holy name, we are chanting. So we shall request you most humbly that it is..., there is no loss on your part, but the gain is immense. If you take to this chanting Hare Krsna, then gradually your misconception of this life will be cleared off. You will understand your real identity and you will act in that way. And the technology is so nice that you may remain in your business, that doesn't matter. Simply you have to chant Hare Krsna. Suppose you are walking on the street. If you chant Hare Krsna, nobody is taxing you, nobody is bothering you. But if by chanting Hare Krsna, if you derive some benefit, why do you neglect it? That is our submission. So this movement is for making solution of the problems of life, and it can be easily done. And anyone can accept it. It doesn't matter whether he is Indian or American or Hindu or Muslim or Christian. It doesn't matter. Simply this vibration: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

When you are with Krishna, where is the question of darkness?

"The example is given that when the sun is in the sky then where is the question of darkness? Similarly, when Hare Krishna mantra is vibrating on your tongue and you are hearing attentively, then your consciousness become clear or Krishna Consciousness, and there is no question of maya or hazy consciousness. Just as when the darkness and the light come together the darkness cannot stand before the light, so maya cannot remain in the presence of Krishna. Always remember therefore to chant Hare Krishna, and that will save you in all circumstances without any doubt." ~ Srila Prabhupada letter, 13th December, 1972

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"Actually mind carries you to the next body. So mind goes with you. The material mind, material ego, material intelligence become nil when you are completely liberated. But at that time your spiritual mind acts. It is not very difficult to understand. Somebody is acting under the impression... Just like one of our students, he was acting under the impression that he is Frenchman and doing something subversive, and now he is thinking that "I am Krsna's." (chuckles) He has stopped all those nonsense. [break] When he was thinking that he's a Frenchman, that mind was there. And now he's thinking that "I am Krsna's," the mind is there. ~ Srimad-Bhagavatam class 7.9.11, Montreal, August 17, 1968

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"Just as by clapping the hands one can cause many birds to fly away, similarly the birds of all sinful activities which are sitting on the body can be made to fly away simply by dancing and clapping before the Deity of Krsna." ~ NOD, Ch 9)

Cultivate Our Spiritual Potencies By Knowledge

"We want freedom, and we want to travel all over the world and all over the universe. Indeed, that is our right as spirit soul. The spirit soul in Bhagavad-gita is called sarva-gatah, which means that he has the ability to go wherever he likes. In the Siddhalokas there are perfected beings or yogis who can travel wherever they want without the aid of airplanes or other mechanical contrivances. Once we are liberated from material conditioning, we can become very powerful. Actually we have no idea how powerful we are as spiritual sparks. Instead we are very much satisfied staying on this earth and sending up a few spaceships, thinking that we have become greatly advanced in material science. We spend millions and millions of dollars constructing spaceships without knowing that we have the ability to travel wherever we want free of charge.

The point is that we should cultivate our spiritual potencies by knowledge. The knowledge is already there; we simply have to accept it. In former ages people underwent so many penances and austerities to acquire knowledge, but in this age this process is not possible because our lives are very short and we are always disturbed. The process for this age is the process of Krsna consciousness, the chanting of Hare Krsna, which was inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. If, by this process, we can kindle the fire of knowledge, all of the reactions of our activities will be reduced to ashes, and we will be purified.

na hi jnanena sadrsam
pavitram iha vidyate
tat svayam yoga-samsiddhah
kalenatmani vin dati

"In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has achieved this enjoys the self within himself in due course of time." (Bg. 4.38)

What is that sublime and pure knowledge? It is the knowledge that we are part and parcel of God and that we are to dovetail our consciousness with the Supreme Consciousness."

From: Raja-Vidya: The King of Knowledge .. Chapter Seven

Ivabhati - as if it has got a body

Prabhupada:

bahu-rupa ivabhati
mayaya bahu-rupaya
ramamano gunesv asya
mamaham iti manyate

Bahu-rupa means varieties of forms, 8,400,000s of forms. Ivabhati: “It appears like that.” Therefore, when one is advanced in spiritual consciousness, he does not see the varieties of form because these varieties of form are not real. Anyone can understand that. Any form Today we have got a form. Take a photograph of it, and few hours after, the form has changed. So that is not permanent form. It is changing. Just like you see in the cloud. From airplane you can experience. The cloud You are running. You are seeing one form. After few minutes, that form is changing to different form. Therefore it is called ivabhati. You immediately see a cloud just like big elephant, but after a few minutes you see the cloud, the same cloud, is changed into just like a big hill, another, a big tree. So this is going on. Today I am Indian, you are American, but next birth or after few years, although American, the body is changing. Body is changing. Therefore it is written there, ivabhati: “as if it has got a body.” As if. Ivabhati: “It appears.” But maya is so strong Bahu-rupa ivabhati... What is the next word? Mayaya?

Bali-mardana: Mayaya bahu-rupaya.

Prabhupada: Bahu-rupaya. These bahu-rupa, these varieties of rupa, form, is given by maya. So this is intelligence. Just like mother, or like a small child, dressing morning in some way, in the evening another way, changing dresses. Maya is our mother, and she is giving us a different type of dresses, mayaya bahu-rupaya, and therefore we are changing into bahu-rupa. But because we are attached to the dress, so according to the form, we are forming our consciousness. Now I have got a different body, different form, so I have got a different consciousness. You have got a different body; you have got a different consciousness. So everyone, all living entities The dog is thinking Because he has got a dog’s body, he thinks, “I am dog.” “I am American,” the same way. This is all maya. Bahu-rupa ivabhati mayaya bahu-rupaya. Then next?

Bali-mardana: Ramamano.

Prabhupada: Ramamana.

Bali-mardana: Ramamano gunesva...

Prabhupada: Gunesu. And according to the body, he is enjoying different variety of enjoyment. So when I have got a tiger’s body, so my taste for food will be most abominable, fresh blood, like that. And if I have got a hog’s body, then I shall feel pleasure by eating stool. And when I am a Vaisnava Vaisnava’s also transcendental. Or a brahmana’s body. Then I will be pleased with nice foodstuff, sattvic, sattvic foodstuff. Sattvic foodstuff means rice, wheat, and vegetables, fruits, milk products, and sugar. These are foodstuffs in goodness. Similarly, foodstuff in passion, foodstuff in ignorance. These are described in the Bhagavad-gita Eighteenth Chapter. In Hong Kong I saw from the garbage one Chinese woman was finding out rejected serpent-like preparations or something. First of all, it is rejected. It is thrown in the garbage. And from the garbage, according to her taste, she is finding out some nice foodstuff. You see? Just see. Kadarya bhaksana kare, nana yoni... So according to the body. Dehinam Deha yogena dehisu. According to the body, we get different taste of enjoyment. Somebody is enjoying most abominable things, somebody is enjoying very nice, but according to the body.
Therefore, if you become transcendental to your body, then your taste will be transcendental. If your taste is As the body is changing, ramamana, you cannot enjoy. If you are in the transcendental position, you cannot enjoy like the woman in Hong Kong, finding out in the garbage. You see? So people are trying to give service to the humanity. What service they can take, give? I have got a taste for a certain thing. How you can change my taste? Ramamana. I want to enjoy because I am under the grips of material nature. So I have got a certain type of taste. You cannot change it. If I say, “Don’t drink,” unless you are in Krsna consciousness, it is impossible to give up this drinking. That has already been tested. The American government, they are trying. They are spending so much money to stop these intoxication habits of the young men. They cannot because they are ramamana mayaya. They are pulled by the ear of the person: “You must drink this.” Prakrteh kriyamanani. Prakrti, nature, material nature is pulling you: “You must drink.” So unless one is free from the management of the prakrti, prakrteh kriyamanani, it is impossible. So they are trying to give lesson that “Don’t drink.” “Vegetarians.” There are so many societies. In Hong Kong I saw so many societies. Hong Kong or where I saw?

Devotee: Australia.

Prabhupada: Australia. Yes. There are so many societies, vegetarian societies, nondrinking societies. That is nice, but they cannot stay. By forming ordinary society or imposing some law by the state, you cannot stop. You have many laws to stop stealing, still there are thieves. That is not possible. You have so many laws not to do something. But because everyone is under the grip of prakrti, material nature, how he can change? It is not possible. So that is the mistake of the modern civilization. They do not know that by passing laws or giving some moral instruction, we cannot change the habits. Prakrti is very strong, material nature. The only solution is Krsna consciousness. Unless one comes to the Krsna consciousness platform, he cannot give up his habits. It is not possible. So if you want to Therefore it is purificatory process. The more you advance in Krsna consciousness, you become purified from all this influence of maya, because it is acting by mayaya bahu-rupaya. And as soon as you come to Krsna consciousness, even if you have got a different form, a different bodily form, because you are aloof from that, your, you are not affected by the influence of maya.

Just like anyone who is coming to Krsna consciousness in any country, they are forgetting their bodily consciousness. Just like in our society we have got members from different parts of the world. Especially in Africa we have seen. There is very much distinction between white and black. But in our society there is no such distinction. The Indians there, they hated with the Because the Africans are working as servant to Indians. So now this time they agreed to take prasadam, all in the same line. The Europeans, Americans, Indians, Africans, even brahmanas, high caste, all. I also. We sat down to take prasadam. In our Mayapur they are distributing prasadam. Perhaps it is for the first time that Hindus and Muslims are taking prasadam in the one line.

Devotee: All glories to you Srila Prabhupada.

Prabhupada: Yes. It is for the first, at least the first time. And Congress arranged during Congress session, Hindus and Muslims But that was not with heart. And after the Congress meeting was finished, they But here they daily, they are daily coming, taking prasadam. Why not? Prasadam is Krsna’s prasadam. So actually, the United Nations or united people can be possible only in Krsna consciousness. Otherwise it is not possible. The maya. Everyone is under the influence of maya, bahu-rupaya. So long he is under the influence of maya, he must think in terms of his own form. That is temporary, but he is attached to that temporary form. He must think that “I am this, I am that, I am...” So it is a very important verse. . . ."

[Excerpt from: Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.2 Lecture By Srila Prabhupada, Melbourne, April 4, 1972]

The Story of The Cobbler and The Brahmana

[Excerpt from "Raja - Vidya: The King of Knowledge", Ch.3]

It may be noted at this point that the Ninth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita is especially meant for those who have already accepted Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, it is meant for His devotees. If one does not accept Sri Krsna as the Supreme, this Ninth Chapter will appear as something different from what it actually is. As stated in the beginning, the subject matter of the Ninth Chapter is the most confidential material in the entire Bhagavad-gita. If one doesn't accept Krsna as the Supreme, he will think the chapter to be a mere exaggeration. This is especially the case with the verses dealing with Krsna's relationship with His creation.

maya tatam idam sarvam
jagad avyakta-murtina
mat-sthani sarva-bhutani
na caham tesv avasthitah

"By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire
universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me,
but I am not in them."
(Bg. 9.4)

The world which we see is also Krsna's energy, His maya. Here, maya means "by Me," as if one says, "This work has been done by me." This "by Me" does not mean that He has done His work and has finished or retired. If I start a large factory and I say, "This factory was started by me," in no case should it be concluded that I am lost or in any way not present. Although a manufacturer may refer to his products as being "manufactured by me," it does not mean that he personally created or constructed his product, but that the product was produced by his energy. Similarly, if Krsna says, "Whatever you see in the world was created by Me," we are not to suppose that He is no longer existing.

It is not very difficult to see God everywhere in the creation, for He is everywhere present. Just as in the Ford factory the workers see Mr. Ford in every corner, those who are conversant with the science of Krsna can see Him in every atom of the creation. Everything is resting on Krsna (mat-sthani sarva bhutani), but Krsna is not there (na caham tesv avasthitah). Krsna and His energy are non-different, yet the energy is not Krsna. The sun and the sunshine are not different, but the sunshine is not the sun. The sunshine may come through our window and enter our room, but this is not to say that the sun is in our room. The Visnu Purana states: parasya brahmanah saktih: parasya means supreme, brahmanah means Absolute Truth, and saktih means energy. The energy of the Supreme Absolute is everything, but in that energy Krsna is not to be found.

There are two kinds of energy,material and spiritual. Jivas, or individual souls, belong to the superior energy of Krsna, but because they are prone to be attracted to the material energy, they are called marginal energy. But actually there are only two energies. All of the planetary systems and universes are resting on the energies of Krsna. Just as all the planets in the solar system are resting in the sunshine, everything within the creation is resting on Krsna-shine. All of these potencies of the Lord give pleasure to a devotee, but one who is envious of Krsna rejects them. When one is a nondevotee, the statements of Krsna seem to be so much bluff, but when one is a devotee, he thinks, "Oh, my Lord is so powerful," and he becomes filled with love and adoration. Nondevotees think that because Krsna says, "I am God," they and everyone else can say the same. But if asked to show their universal form, they cannot do it. That is the difference between a pseudo god and the real God. Krsna's pastimes cannot be imitated. Krsna married over 16,000 wives and kept them nicely in 16,000 palaces, but an ordinary man cannot even keep one wife nicely. It is not that Krsna just spoke so many wonderful things; He also acted wonderfully. We should not believe one thing that Krsna says or does and reject another; if belief is there, it must be full belief.

[The Story of The Cobbler and The Brahmana]

In this regard, there is a story of Narada Muni, who was once asked by a brahmana: "Oh, you are going to meet the Lord? Will you please ask Him when I'm going to get my salvation?"

"All right," Narada agreed. "I shall ask Him."

As Narada proceeded, he met a cobbler who was sitting under a tree mending shoes, and the cobbler similarly asked Narada, "Oh, you are going to see God? Will you please inquire of Him when my salvation will come?"

When Narada Muni went to the Vaikuntha planets, he fulfilled their request and asked Narayana (God) about the salvation of the brahmana and the cobbler, and Narayana replied, "After leaving this body, the cobbler shall come here to me."

"What about the brahmana?" Narada asked.

"He will have to remain there for a number of births. I do not know when he is coming."
Narada Muni was astonished, and he finally said, "I can't understand the mystery of this."

"That you will see," Narayana said. "When they ask you what I am doing in My abode, tell them that I am threading the eye of a needle with an elephant."

When Narada returned to earth and approached the brahmana, the brahmana said, "Oh, you have seen the Lord? What was He doing?"

"He was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle," Narada answered.

"I don't believe such nonsense," the brahmana replied. Narada could immediately understand that the man had no faith and that he was simply a reader of books.

Narada then left and went on to the cobbler, who asked him, "Oh, you have seen the Lord? Tell me, what was He doing?"

"He was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle," Narada replied.

The cobbler began to weep, "Oh, my Lord is so wonderful, He can do anything."

"Do you really believe that the Lord can push an elephant through the hole of a needle?" Narada asked.

"Why not?" the cobbler said, "Of course I believe it."

"How is that?"

"You can see that I am sitting under this banyan tree," the cobbler answered, "and you can see that so many fruits are falling daily, and in each seed there is a banyan tree like this one. If, within a small seed there can be a big tree like this, is it difficult to accept that the Lord is pushing an elephant through the eye of a needle?"

So this is called faith. It is not a question of blindly believing. There is reason behind the belief. If Krsna can put a large tree within so many little seeds, is it so astounding that He is keeping all the planetary systems floating in space through His energy?

Although scientists may think that the planets are being held in space simply by nature alone, behind nature there is the Supreme Lord. Nature is acting under His guidance. As Sri Krsna states:

mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate

"This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is being created and annihilated again and again." (Bg. 9.10)
Mayadhyaksena means "under My supervision." Material nature cannot act so wonderfully unless the Lord's hand is behind it. We cannot give any example of material things automatically working. Matter is inert, and without the spiritual touch there is no possibility of its acting. Matter cannot act independently or automatically. Machines may be very wonderfully constructed, but unless a man touches that machine, it cannot work. And what is that man? He is a spiritual spark. Without spiritual touch, nothing can move; therefore everything is resting on Krsna's impersonal energy. Krsna's energy is impersonal, but He is a person. We often hear of persons performing wonderful actions, yet despite their energetic accomplishments, they still remain persons. If this is possible for human beings, why isn't it possible for the Supreme Lord? We are all persons, but we are all dependent upon Krsna, the Supreme Person.

We have often seen pictures of Atlas, a stout man bearing a large planet on his shoulders and struggling very hard to hold it up. We may think that because Krsna is maintaining the universe, He is struggling under its burden like Atlas. But this is not the case.

KRSNA & His Expansions

Sri-bhagavan uvaca. Now we will explain. So sri-bhagavan uvaca. Bhagavan, this word, I have explained many times. Bhagavan means the supreme authority. So far authoritative power is concerned, that is analyzed by Srila Rupa Gosvami. Cent percent power or cent percent qualification is in Krsna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. There is... This is called savisesa, personal analysis, not that ...Even somebody is sometimes addressed as Bhagavan, that does not mean he is also equal to the Supreme Person. Just like sometimes Narada Muni is also addressed as Bhagavan. Lord Siva is also addressed as Bhagavan, not only visnu-tattva, but also others. Sometimes they are addressed as Bhagavan.

But in order to particularly point out Krsna, it has been said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. Krsna...

Actually, Bhagavan is Krsna because He has got cent percent qualities of Bhagavan. That is analyzed in Caitanya-caritamrta. He is cent percent Bhagavan. Others, they are also Bhagavan, visnu-tattva, Narayana, He is also Bhagavan. But Srila Rupa Gosvami has analyzed; He is 94%, not cent percent. Or, in other words, you can take it that sad-aisvarya purnah, that is Krsna. And They are also sad-aisvarya, but it is not displayed. Not that... Just like Lord Ramacandra. Lord Ramacandra... Madhva has approved, He, also Bhagavan. Ramadi-murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan [Bs. 5.39]. Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is existing as the Supreme Person along with Rama, Nrsimha, Varaha, many thousands of avataras. They are also Krsna. Kesava dhrta-rama-sarira jaya jagadisa hare. Kesava dhrta-mina-sarira jaya jagadisa hare. So Kesava, Krsna, He is existing with all the incarnation, not that He is existing as Krsna. So when we speak of Krsna, we take it that all His expansion and incarnation.

Therefore it is said ramadi-murtisu kala. They are kala. Kala means partial expansion, not full expansion. Full expansion means purna. So they are also Bhagavan. But krsnas tu bhagavan svayam means bhagavatva, the authority of Bhagavan, is fully expressed in Krsna, not in others. Therefore in the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said... After making the list of different incarnation, it is summarized that ete camsa-kalah pumsah krsnas tu bhagavan svayam: [Bhag. 1.3.28] “All these incarnations mentioned,” ramadi-murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan [Bs. 5.39], “they are partial expansion and expansion of the expansion or expansion of His power, saktyavesa-avatara.”

Just (take) Lord Buddha. He is saktyavesa-avatara. Many saktyavesa-avatara. So in this way Krsna is always existing along with His expansion and incarnation. But the real original Personality of Godhead is Krsna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is being spoken by Krsna. But in order to distinguish Him, Vyasadeva is writing sri bhagavan uvaca. He does not say, sri krsna uvaca just to make it distinguished that krsnas tu bhagavan. So we are pledged to receive knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is our mission, Krsna consciousness. Here is knowledge given by Krsna. Idam tu te guhyatamam pravaksyamy anasuyave. “Now I am giving you this knowledge, very confidential knowledge.” Guhyatamam. Guhya means confidential and guhyatama, more confidential. Comparative, superlative. Positive, comparative and superlative. Guhya is positive. Guhyatara is comparative. And guhyatamam. So this brahma-jnana, Brahman, is guhya, is very confidential because if you achieve brahma-jnana, immediately you become the most important person within this material world. Brahma-bhutah. Brahmana. And brahma-bhutah means above brahmana or brahmana. So that is guhya. Guhya means confidential. To become brahma-bhutah, brahma-jnani, that is guhya.

The Roads of the Foolish and the Wise (PART ONE...)

Krsna is thus explaining Himself as He is. Yet we are not attracted to Him. Why is this? The reason is given by Krsna Himself:

daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te

“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” (Bg. 7.14)

The material world is pervaded by the three qualities of material nature. All living entities are influenced by these qualities. If they are primarily influenced by the mode of goodness, they are called brahmanas, and if they are influenced by the mode of passion, they are called ksatriyas. If they are influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance, they are vaisyas, and if they are influenced by ignorance, they are sudras. This is not an artificial imposition due to birth or social status but is according to guna, or the mode of nature under which one is operating.

catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah tasya kartaram api mam viddhy akartaram avyayam

“According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.” (Bg. 4.13)

It is not that this system refers to the perverted caste system in India. Sri Krsna specifically states: guna-karma-vibhagasah: men are classified according to the guna or the mode under which they are operating, and this applies to men all over the universe. When Krsna speaks, we must understand that whatever He says is not limited but is universally true. He claims to be the father of all living entities—even the animals, the aquatics, the trees, plants, worms, birds and bees are all claimed to be His sons. Sri Krsna asserts that the entire universe is illusioned by the interactions of the three qualities of material nature, and we are under the spell of that illusion; therefore we cannot understand what God is.

What is the nature of this illusion, and how can it be overcome? That is also explained in Bhagavad-gita:

daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te

“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered to Me can easily cross beyond it.” (Bg. 7.14) No one can get rid of the entanglement of the three qualities of material nature by mental speculation. The three gunas are very strong and hard to overcome. Can’t we feel how we are in the grip of material nature? The word guna (mode) also means rope. When someone is bound by three strong ropes, he is certainly very tightly secured. Our hands and legs are all bound by the strong ropes of goodness, passion and ignorance. Are we therefore to abandon hope? No, for here Sri Krsna promises that whoever surrenders unto Him is at once free. When one becomes Krsna conscious—whether in this way or that way—he becomes free.

CONTINUED. . .

A Second Chance (CH. 1) -PART ONE

Separating the Men From the Animals

Sukadeva Gosvami said to King Pariksit: In the city known as Kanyakubja [Kanauj in present-day India] there lived a brahmana named Ajamila who married a prostitute maidservant and lost all his brahminical qualities because of the association of that low-class woman. Ajamila gave trouble to others by arresting them, by cheating them in gambling, or by directly plundering them. This was the way he earned his livelihood and maintained his wife and children. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.21–22)

The Law of Consequences
Although Ajamila was born of a brahmana father and strictly followed the regulative principles—no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no intoxication, and no gambling—he fell in love with a prostitute, and therefore all his good qualities were lost. As soon as a person abandons the regulative principles, he engages in various kinds of sinful activities. The regulative principles serve to keep us on the standard of human life. But if we abandon them, we fall down into illusory life, or maya.

If we want to advance in spiritual life, we must follow the regulative principles and rectify the mistakes of our past lives and this present life. Only those who have become free from all kinds of sinful reactions and are now engaged in pious activities can fully understand God. Persons who commit sinful activities and who are overly attached to bodily comforts and mundane friendship, society, and family affection cannot be spiritually self-realized.

The fault of illicit connection with women is that it destroys all one’s brahminical qualities. Ajamila abandoned all the regulative principles due to his association with a prostitute. He became a cheater and a thief. One who acts dishonestly will be punished. He may escape the king’s or government’s law, but he can never escape God’s law. The materialists think, “I am cheating God, and I can continue to gratify my senses by all nefarious activities.” But the sastras (scriptures) state that such persons are cheating their own happiness in the end, because they will have to accept a material body again and suffer accordingly.
A man who is born in a brahmana family is expected to be truthful and self-controlled, to be fully cognizant of spiritual life and its practical application, and to have complete faith in the statements of the sastras.

If a person does not follow the sastras, he becomes degraded. The great sages and rsis throughout the world have given guidance, and their words are recorded in the sastras. But rascals and fools misinterpret the scriptures and misguide the people. At present, the Bhagavad-gita is interpreted in so many different ways, and these so-called explanations are accepted by the innocent public as authoritative knowledge. One interpreter explains that the battlefield of Kuruksetra refers to the material body and that the five Pandava brothers are really the five senses of the material body. But this is not the proper understanding. How can anyone explain the Bhagavad-gita when he does not understand it? Such an attempt is nonsense.

To understand the bona fide science of God, one must approach a bona fide spiritual master and hear the Bhagavad-gita from him. We have to follow the great personalities, the previous acaryas (spiritual masters). That will be to our profit. We should not speculate and make up our own statements. We should simply accept the injunctions given by the great acaryas, because that is the process of the Vedic system. One must approach a bona fide spiritual master and inquire from him submissively. The Absolute Truth is explained in the scriptures, and the scriptures are explained by the spiritual master or a saintly person. Whatever the bona fide, self-realized spiritual master says must be accepted.

There is no room for interpretation of the sastras. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that Krsna lifted Govardhana Hill just as a child lifts a mushroom. He did it so easily, but people do not believe it. Those who do not believe in the Bhagavatam interpret an indirect meaning. The meaning is clear, and there is nothing to be misunderstood, but these rascals draw their own conclusions nonetheless.

When the language is clear, why should we interpret? By interpretation, so-called scholars and theologians have played havoc with the Vedic literature. No bona fide acarya has ever interpreted the sastras according to his own whims, but many so-called modern scholars and leaders have done so, and therefore people are gliding down into the most abominable conditions of material existence. In the interest of the people, these rascals should be exposed. Therefore we are presenting the Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

A Second Chance PART 1 (Intro.)

As the sinful Ajamila lay on his deathbed, he was terrified to see three fierce humanlike creatures coming to drag him out of his dying body and take him away to the abode of Yamaraja, the lord of death, for punishment.
Surprisingly, Ajamila escaped this terrible fate. How? You’ll find out in the pages of A Second Chance: The Story of a Near-Death Experience.
You’ll also learn many vital truths about the fundamental nature of the self and reality, so you can better prepare yourself for your own inevitable encounters with death and dying.
Even today, people momentarily on the verge of death report encounters like Ajamila’s, lending credibility to the idea that there is life after death.
In 1982, George Gallup, Jr., published a book called Adventures in Immortality, which contained results of a survey on American beliefs about the afterlife, including near-death and out-of-body experiences.
Sixty-seven percent of the people surveyed said they believe in life after death, and fifteen percent said they themselves had had some kind of near-death experience.
The people who reported a near-death experience were then asked to describe it. Nine percent reported an out-of-body sensation, and eight percent felt that “a special being or beings were present during the near-death experience.”
The Gallup survey is intriguing, but it leaves unanswered this basic question: Is there any scientific evidence for near-death experiences, particularly of the out-of-body type?
Apparently there is—from studies of people on the verge of death who, while supposedly unconscious, accurately report events relating to their physical body from a perspective outside it. Heart attack patients, accident victims, and soldiers wounded in battle have all reported such experiences.
Dr. Michael Sabom, a cardiologist at the Emory University Medical School, undertook a scientific study of such reports. He interviewed thirty-two cardiac-arrest patients who reported out-of-body experiences. During a cardiac arrest the heart stops pumping blood to the brain, and so a patient should be totally unconscious. Yet twenty-six of the thirty-two patients reporting out-of-body experiences during cardiac arrest were able to give fairly accurate visual accounts of their resuscitation. And the remaining six gave extremely accurate accounts of the specific resuscitation techniques, matching confidential hospital records of their operations.
The results of Sabom’s study, detailed in his book Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation (1982), convinced him of the reality of out-of-body experiences. He concluded that the mind was an entity distinct from the brain and that the near-death crisis caused the mind and brain to split apart for a brief time. Sabom wrote, “Could the mind which splits apart from the physical brain be, in essence, the soul, which continues to exist after the final bodily death, according to some religious doctrines? As I see it, this is the ultimate question that has been raised by reports of the NDE [near-death experience].”
The true dimensions of that ultimate question are thoroughly explored in A Second Chance, by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founding spiritual master (acarya) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Thousands of years ago in India, the history concerning Ajamila and his near-death experience was related by the great spiritual master Sukadeva Gosvami to his disciple King Pariksit. Their conversation is recorded in the Sixth Canto of the Sanskrit classic Srimad-Bhagavatam, renowned as the ripened fruit of the tree of India’s timeless Vedic literature.
In 1975–76, in the course of translating the Srimad-Bhagavatam into English, Srila Prabhupada translated the story of Ajamila. And as with the rest of the work, in addition to the text he provided an illuminating commentary on each verse.
But this wasn’t the first time Srila Prabhupada had explained the story of Ajamila. During the winter of 1970–71 Srila Prabhupada was traveling with some of his Western disciples in India. They had heard him speak about Ajamila several times, and at their request he now gave a systematic series of lectures on the Ajamila story.
Thus A Second Chance consists of texts from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam (reproduced here in boldface type), selections from Srila Prabhupada’s commentary, and excerpts from transcriptions of his lectures during the ’70–71 India tour.
The history of Ajamila is dramatic, powerful, and engaging. And the sharp philosophical and metaphysical debates that punctuate the action as Ajamila confronts the messengers of death and finds deliverance are bound to excite the interest of those concerned with life’s deepest questions.
-The Publishers

Continued. . .

The Devotee Realizes God by Devotional Service. The Atheist Realizes God in the Shape of Death

Pradyumna: (reading) “...happiness immediately terminates with his body as long as his life, as soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death.”

Prabhupada: Yes. This point we have discussed last night that everyone can see God. To see God is not very difficult job. There are so many points described in the Bhagavad-gita. For the devotees, those who are serious about seeing God, they can see God. God is present everywhere. And God Himself, Krsna, is describing, raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. So everyone drinks water. Now Krsna says, “The taste of the water, I am.” So who has not tasted the water? Everyone drinks water at least four times, five times. So as soon as you drink water, the taste of the water is Krsna. Krsna says, “I am this.” Krsna has described Himself in so many ways. “Amongst the trees, I am this. Amongst the aquatics, I am this. Amongst the nonmovable, I am this.” So why not see God in that way? The atheist class of men, they say, “Can you show me God?” So why don’t you see God? Why you close your eyes? If you have got eyes to see, you can see God everywhere.

Those who are saintly devotees, they are seeing God, Krsna, in every moment. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti [Bs. 5.38]. If you become saintly person by your austerities, penances, then you can see God in every step. Otherwise, if you think that “I cannot become saintly person,” yes, nobody can become saintly immediately. It requires time. But so long you are material person you can see God also in the water. You drink water. You can see God. You can see sunshine. God is there. Prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. So who has not seen the sunshine? Who has not seen the moonshine? So therefore if you have seen moonshine, if you have seen sunshine, you have seen God.
But especially those who are impersonalists, they can see God in that way. Sabdah khe paurusam nrsu.

There are descriptions in the Seventh Chapter, how you can see God in your common dealings. Still, if you do not see God, then you can see, you must see one day God at the time of your death. Mrtyuh sarva-haras caham. Death is God. So the atheist class men, just like Hiranyakasipu, who always challenges God, in spite of so many things wherein we can see God, they deny to see God; therefore God comes before them as death. So everyone has to meet death. So God is there. And you are seeing. But because we are atheist class of men, we are denying, “There is not God.” So Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu says that, “After all, you have to meet with God at the time of death. So before death, why don’t you see God in so many ways?” That is Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. The science of devotional service which is giving you indication how to see God always and everywhere. Go on reading.

Pradyumna: “Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheist class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death. At death everything is finished, and one has to begin a new chapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or lower than the last one. In any field of activity, political, social, national or international, the results of our actions will be finished with the end of life. That is sure. Bhakti-rasa, however, the mellow relished in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, does not finish with the end of life. It continues perpetually and is therefore called amrta, that which does not die, but exists eternally.”

Prabhupada: Yes. Rasa. Rasa means mellow. Everything we have, there is a rasa. Without rasa, we do not deal in anything. So this material rasa or mellow, which we relish in our daily dealings... Suppose our dealings with wife, children, friends or others, enemy also. There is a rasa. When we kill our enemy, there is also some pleasure rasa. When we see something ghastly... In European and Western countries, they want to see some ghastly things in the television. So they enjoy rasa. There is some rasa, relishment. Otherwise, how they are all day, practically, they are sitting before the television and seeing?

So there are twelve kinds of rasas. Five kinds of rasa, we generally experience. The dealings between servants and master, dealings between friend and friend, dealings between mother and the child, dealings between lover and the beloved, dealings between the enemy and enemies. So many ways, there are, on the whole, twelve kinds of rasa. And the, all the rasas are there in Krsna. Akhila-rasamrta. Akhila-rasa. He’s the reservoir of all pleasure.

Even in ghastly behavior, a man is killing another man, there is some enjoyment by killing. Just like Bhima. When he killed Duryodhana, he immediately sucked the blood of Duryodhana’s heart. So there was some pleasure. Because Duryodhana insulted them so many ways. And they were, especially Bhima was finding out the opportunity when he’ll, he would enjoy the rasa by killing Duryodhana. So all, in all our dealings, directly or indirectly, there is some rasa.

Now, in our material dealings, the rasas are temporary. They’ll be finished. As soon as this body is finished, the rasa is also finished. Just like we love somebody, any way, either as friend or as child or as husband or as lover, friend, so many ways. But these rasa will be finished as soon as this body’s finished. I have got some affectionate dealings with my sons. But as soon as the son dies, or I die, the rasa is finished. But if you deal in the same way with Krsna, who is the reservoir of all rasas, it will continue. If you love Krsna as a friend in this life, if you develop your consciousness, Krsna consciousness, as friend of Krsna’s, then tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti [Bg. 4.9], when you go to Krsna, tyaktva deham, giving up this body, then you go there as Krsna’s friend.

Just like Srila Sukadeva Gosvami’s described in the Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam: ittham brahma-sukhanubhutya dasyam gatanam para-daivatena, mayasritanam nara-darakena krta-punya-punjah. The boys who were playing with Krsna, Sukadeva Gosvami says that after many, many births accumulation of pious activities... Because you cannot develop devotional service without pious life. Yesam anta-gatam papam. If you want to become associate with Krsna, then you cannot act as a sinful man. Just like a criminal is not allowed to come out of the jail. He has no freedom. Similarly, if we act sinfully in this life, then we’ll have to remain within this material world, one body after another. So we, we have to give up sinful activities.

Therefore we forbid our students, no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication. Because these are the pillars of sinful life. So we have to give up these things to accelerate our promotion to devotional service. We cannot go on doing this and that at the same time. It is something like that, you ignite fire and pour water. It will be useless attempt. If you want to burn the fire blazing, don’t put water on it. Keep it dry. Similarly, if you want to advance in Krsna consciousness, then you cannot indulge in sinful activities. And when you are proved that you are no more sinful, yesam anta-gatam papam, one who has become freed from the reaction of sinful life, yesam anta-gatam papam jananam punya-karmani...

You have to do something. So if you engage yourself twenty-four hours in pious activities, pious activities in goodness, that is also tainted. But when you actually engage yourself in the devotional service of Vasudeva, as we were discussing this morning, the verse, vasudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah prayojitah, janayaty asu vairagyam... [SB 1.2.7].

So even if we are accustomed to sinful activities on account of bad habits, still, we can engage ourself in devotional service of Vasudeva. So those who are sincerely devotee of Vasudeva, sometimes due to their past habits, may commit something sinful, not knowingly, but habituated; that is excused by Krsna. Api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak. But not wilfully. Wilfully, if we commit some sinful activities, that can be excused once, twice, but not thrice. then you’ll be punished.

Therefore a devotee should not commit wilfully any sinful activities in order to keep himself always fit in devotional service. He should try to keep himself steady, without committing any sinful actions. The primary sinful activities are described, and we try to follow. And if we chant sixteen rounds and keep ourself always aloof from the sinful activities, then it is certain, niscayat, utsahan dhairyat, niscayat tat-tat-karma-pravartanat, sato vrtteh sadhu-sange sadbhir bhaktih prasidhyati.

If you want to advance in devotional service, then you should be enthusiastic, utsahan, dhairyat, with patience, and niscayat, you should be assured that “Because I’m following strictly the direction of my spiritual master and sastras, certainly I shall meet Krsna.” Tat-tat-karma-pravartanat. By following the rules and regulations, sato vrtteh, always trying to be honest and sadhu-sanga...

The sadhu-sanga is very important. Therefore we have created this internal society, International Society so that actually it is happening. People are coming to our society, in our centers, and after one week, automatically he takes a bag and beads and shaves himself. Automatically. Sadhu-sanga is very... Association of sadhu. Solitary bhajana, executing devotional service in a solitary place, is not possible for the neophyte devotees. It is meant for the advanced devotees. If, from the very beginning, without executing the regulative principles, if one wants to execute devotional service in a solitary place, it will be simply disturbing, and he must fall down. There are so many examples, even in this Vrndavana. So we should not imitate. We must, vidhi-marga. The regulative principles must be followed. Then when you are mature, then we can sit down in a solitary place. Otherwise it is not possible.

Chasing The Mirage

Prabhupada: As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, daivi hy esa gunamayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg. 7.14]. The whole material energy is enchanting every one of us by this beauty, the womanly beauty. Actually, there is no beauty. It is illusion. Sankaracarya says that “You are after this beauty, but have you analyzed this beauty?

What is the beauty?” Etad rakta-mamsa-vikaram. It is just like our student(s) Govinda dasi and Nara-narayana molding plaster of paris. At this time, there is no attraction. But this plaster of paris when it will be nicely painted, it will be so attractive. Similarly, this body is combination of blood and muscles and veins. If you cut the upper portion of your body, as soon as you see inside, it is all obnoxious horrible things. But outwardly so painted by the illusory color of maya, oh, it looks very attractive. And that is attracting our senses.

This is the cause of our bondage. We are being bound up by some false illusory beauty of this world. Mirage. The exact example is the mirage. What is mirage? Reflection of the sunlight on the desert appears like water. Where is water there? There is no water. The animal, thirsty animal, is after the mirage. “Oh, here is water. I’ll be satisfied.” Similarly we are hankering after, running after the mirage. There is no peace, there is no happiness. Therefore we have to divert our attention back to Godhead. Don’t run after this mirage. Just turn back to Godhead, back to Krsna. That is our propaganda. Don’t divert your... Don’t engage your senses in the illusory material beauty. Just apply your senses to Krsna, the real beautiful. That is Krsna consciousness. Go on.

Tamala Krsna: “Lord Siva once was in deep meditation, but when the beautiful maiden Parvati agitated him for sense pleasure, he agreed to the proposal and as a result Karttikeya was born.”

Prabhupada: Oh, here is Karttikeya present. (laughter) Yes. Hare Krsna. Go on. (laughter)

Tamala Krsna: “When Haridasa Thakura was a young devotee of the Lord he was similarly allured by the incarnation of Mayadevi.”

Prabhupada: Now here is the difference. Lord Siva, he is the greatest of the demigods. He was also allured by Parvati, and as a result of that attraction, this boy Karttikeya was born. That was the, what is called, conspiracy of the demigods, that unless one son is born out of the semina of Lord Siva, it is impossible to conquer the demons. So Karttikeya is considered the commander in chief of the demigods. But here, another example. Haridasa Thakura. Haridasa Thakura was young boy, about twenty, twenty-four years old, and he was chanting Hare Krsna, and the landlord in that village, he was very much envious of Haridasa Thakura. He conspired and engaged one prostitute to defy him. So the prostitute agreed and at dead of night, with very beautiful dress and she was young, and tried to captivate Haridasa Thakura. But he was not captivated. That is the difference. A Krsna conscious person, even an ordinary person, not in the level of Lord Siva or Lord Brahma, he’s never conquered by maya. But one who is not fully in Krsna consciousness, either he may be Lord Siva or Lord Brahma, he’ll be conquered by maya, what to speak of others. This is the position. Go on. “When Haridasa Thakura was a young devotee of the Lord...”

Tamala Krsna: “...he was similarly allured by the incarnation of Mayadevi, but Haridasa easily passed the test because of his unalloyed devotion to Lord Krsna. A sincere devotee of the Lord learns to hate all material sense enjoyment due to his higher taste for spiritual enjoyment in the association of the Lord. That is the secret of success.”

Prabhupada: Param drstva nivartate. Param, if you get better thing, you give up inferior quality thing. That is our nature. Just like our students, American students, they were all accustomed to meat-eating. But now another student, she is preparing the sweetballs, ISKCON balls, and they are forgetting meat-eating. They do not like any more meat-eating. They have got better engagement, sweetballs. (laughter)

Similarly, that is the way. When you get better engagement... We are hankering after pleasure. Anandamayo ’bhyasat. Every living entity is seeking after pleasure. That is his nature. You cannot stop. If you stop... Just like a child is seeking after some enjoyment, he’s breaking something, enjoyment. But he does not, that... He is breaking, but he’s simply enjoying that breaking. Similarly, we do not know what is enjoyment in this material concept of life. We are breaking and building. In your country I have seen in several places. Nice building is dismantled, and again, in that very place, another building is raised. You see? Breaking and building. Breaking and... “Oh, this building is old. Break it.” The same childish play. You see?

Simply wasting engagement, valuable time of this human form. Breaking and building, breaking and building. “This motorcar is useless. Another ’69 model.” And thousands of people are engaged in that ’69 model. You see? What is that? In essence, the breaking and building, breaking and building. Just like the child. You see? So unless one has got better engagement, Krsna consciousness, surely they will be engaged in this breaking and building, breaking and building. Childish engagement. Param drstva nivartate. And so far our students of Krsna consciousness, they are trying to get two hours more than twenty-four hours. They have got so much, so many engagements.

So unless one is engaged in Krsna consciousness, he must be in the maya’s engagement, same thing. People may eulogize such engagement, “Oh, he’s so moneyed man. He has dismantled such nice building and again constructed another nice building.” So, this is very nice in material estimation, but in spiritual estimation they are simply wasting time. (sings) Hari hari biphale janama gonainu, that song. (sings) Manusya-janama paiya, radha-krsna na bhajiya, janiya suniya bisa khainu.

Knowingly, purposefully, I am drinking poison. Poison. Why poison? Wasting time of this valuable human form of life is drinking poison. Just like a man drinks poison. He does not know what is his next life. He’s going to become a ghost. For years together, he’ll not have this material body as punishment. You have seen? Gaurasundara has written one ghost article in our Back to Godhead. In England, that ghost who fought with Cromwell? There is still fighting. At night, there is sound of fighting going on. You see?

So poison means this human form of life is the chance to get into Krsna consciousness and go back to Godhead. But if we do not engage in this Krsna consciousness, simply engage in this breaking and constructing, then we are simply drinking poison. That means next life I’ll be thrown into the cycle of birth and death in the 8,400,000 species of life, and my life is spoiled. We do not know for how many millions of years I’ll have to travel in that cycle of birth and death. Therefore it is poison. Janiya suniya bisa khainu. I know this, I am hearing. Still,... Janiya suniya bisa... Just like a thief. Janiya suniya, these words are very significant. Janiya means knowing, and suniya means hearing.

So a habituated thief, he knows that “If I steal I shall be put into jail.” And he has heard from scriptures that “Don’t steal. Then you’ll be put into hell.” So he has heard from the scriptures and he has seen practically. He has experienced practically, but still, as soon as he’s freed from the prison life, he again commits the same mistake. Janiya suniya bisa khainu. We know, we are hearing from the scriptures, from authorities, Vedic literatures, that “I have got this miserable conditional body, material body, to suffer threefolds of material miseries; still, I am not very much anxious how to stop this repetition of birth and death. I am drinking poison.” Janiya suniya bisa khainu. Hari hari biphale janama gonainu. These songs are very instructive. Simply purposefully, we are drinking poison. Go on.

Tamala Krsna: “One who is not, therefore, in Krsna consciousness, however powerful he may be in controlling the senses by artificial repression, is sure ultimately to fall, for the slightest thought of sense pleasure will drive him to gratify his desires.” 63: “From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.”

Prabhupada: Our position is, we are constituted of this body. Body means the senses and the controller of the senses or the, what is called, driver, driver of the senses, is the mind. And mind is conducted, thinking, feeling, and willing, the psychology, the science of psychology, that is being conducted under intelligence. And above the intelligence, I am sitting. I am a spirit soul. So how we become victim of this maya, that is described here, that from anger, delusion arises, and from delusion, bewilderment of memory. Bewilderment memory. I have forgotten completely that I am not this body, I am spirit soul, aham brahmasmi; I am part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman, spirit, absolute whole. That I have forgotten. And when memory is bewildered, and as soon as I forget that I am spirit soul, I identify myself with this material world, illusion. Intelligence is lost. I should have used my intelligence to conduct the activities of the mind—thinking, feeling and willing—and because my mind is not controlled, my senses are not controlled, therefore I am fallen. This is the analysis of the whole bodily construction.
[Bhagavad-gita 2.62-72--Los Angeles, December 19, 1968]

Chant, Dance, Take Prasadam

Chant, Dance, Take Prasadam (food offered to the Lord)

So in this age we ask the mercy of Lord Caitanya because we have all forgotten what is our relationship with God. But we have got the dormant love for God. Just like a son and father—the son may forget, he may become a crazy fellow and go out of home, but that does not mean that his relationship with the father is broken. No. That is not possible.

Even if I am a crazy fellow, when the father dies the sons have still the right to inherit the property of the father. The relationship is so strong. Similarly, we may try to forget God due to our craziness, but the relationship cannot be broken, and still God is so kind, He comes Himself, He sends His bona fide servants, He sends his son. In so many ways He is always canvassing, “My dear sons, do not suffer in this abominable condition of material existence. Come back to Me. Come back to home. You enjoy life, eternal life, and blissful life, and life of knowledge.” That is God’s business.

Therefore He is all- merciful. In spite of our being disobedient, in spite of our forgetting, he does not forget. He says, “Whenever there is discrepancy in religious processes, and when there is predominance of irreligiosity...” What is religion and what is irreligion? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. Krsna says, “I come to establish religion,” and again He says, “Give up all sorts of irreligion.” That means surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Any other religion is not religion. That is bogus. We have concocted so many religious principles, but real religion is which teaches to surrender to God, to love God. That is real religion. And we are teaching that.

Our Krsna consciousness movement is no sectarian movement. We don’t say that this is Christian religion or Hindu religion or Mohammedan religion or Buddhist religion. These religions develop in different parts of the world under different conditions. That is simply giving some idea of our relationship with God. But real religion is which teaches how to love God. That is real religion. The first-class religion is that if by following such religious principles you develop your dormant love of God. Then it is first class. And what kind of development? Without any reason. It is not that you go to love God because He supplies bread: “O God, give us our daily bread.” No. No exchange. There is no reason why I should ask. “God is great; I am His part and parcel; it is my duty to love Him.” When you develop this consciousness, this is called Krsna consciousness.

So try to understand this philosophy of Krsna consciousness. It is not a new thing. This Krsna consciousness philosophy was taught five thousand years ago. Not only five thousand years— Bhagavad-gita is the philosophy of Krsna consciousness, and although it was five thousand years ago in our memorable history, but in the Bhagavad-gita it is stated that it was spoken some millions of years ago to the sun-god. So apart from that reference, Bhagavad-gita is eternal because it teaches what is your relationship with God, what is your eternal duty to God, and what is the ultimate end of life.

That is stated in the Bhagavad- gita, and the last instruction of the Bhagavad-gita is that one has to give up all sorts of rascaldom or concocted religion. Simply one has to surrender to God. That is religion. We have developed this human form of life after passing through many millions of lower grades of life, and similarly we have to now develop this Krsna consciousness, love of God. If you will take this Krsna consciousness movement very seriously, then we have volumes of books to convince you what is your relationship with God, what is your duty, what is your ultimate goal of life—these things are all very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gita. But unfortunately, so-called scholars and so-called wise men misinterpret the whole thing. That is why the Lord appeared as Lord Caitanya five hundred years ago to establish the correct principles of Bhagavad-gita, and He showed that even if you do not understand the processes of religion, you simply chant

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

And it is practical. Just like when we were chanting Hare Krsna, all the members who were assembled here were joining in, but when I am now talking about philosophy, some are leaving. It is very practical to see. The Hare Krsna mantra is so enchanting that anyone can take part in any condition. And if he continues to chant, gradually he develops his dormant love of God. His heart will be cleansed of all dirty things, and gradually he will be freed from the material concept of life, and he will be joyful, and he will see everyone as sons of God, and then he will begin his loving transcendental service to Krsna.

So our only request is that you try to understand this Krsna consciousness movement. It is very simple. We are requesting everyone to chant the Hare Krsna mantra and take prasadam. When you are tired of chanting, the prasadam is ready. Immediately you can take prasadam. And if you dance, then all of the bodily exercise is Krsna-ized, and all of the attempts of the yoga processes are attained by this simple process. So chant, dance, take prasadam. Even if you do not hear at first this philosophy, it will act, and you will be elevated to the highest platform of perfection.
Thank you very much. (end)
[Ratha-yatra Lecture at
The Family Dog Auditorium
--San Francisco, July 27, 1969]

Why Do We Chant HARE KRISHNA?

Ladies and gentlemen, this Krsna conscious movement is reviving our original consciousness. At the present moment, due to our long association with matter, the consciousness has become contaminated, just like when the rain water falls down from the cloud, the water is uncontaminated, distilled water, pure, but as soon as the water falls down on this earth, it becomes mixed up with so many dirty things. When the water falls it is not salty, but when it is touched with the matter or earth, it becomes salty, or tasty, or something like that. Similarly, originally, as spirit soul, our consciousness is uncontaminated, but due to our association with the matter at the present moment, our consciousness is contaminated. Therefore we have got so many varieties of consciousness. Disagreements between one person to another is due to this contaminated consciousness. I think some way; you think otherwise. Therefore we do not agree. But originally, your consciousness and my consciousness were one. And what is that one? That conscious, pure consciousness, is "God is great, and I am His eternal servant." That is pure consciousness. As soon as we want to imitate or artificially want to become one with God, immediately the contamination begins. There is a Bengali verse in which it is stated that,

krsna bhuliya jiva bhoga vancha kare
pasate maya tare japatiya dhare

The English translation is that "When an individual soul forgets his eternal relationship with God and tries to lord it over the material nature or resources, that condition, that forgetful condition, is called maya, or illusion." So at the present moment, especially in this age, the forgetfulness of our eternal relationship with God is very strong. And by chanting this transcendental sound, Hare Krsna, the first installment is that our heart or the mind becomes cleansed of all dirty things. This is not a theoretical proposition, but it is a fact. If you go on chanting this mantra, Hare Krsna, it is not difficult. Although it is pronounced in Sanskrit language, everyone can chant it just like in this meeting we began to chant, and you also joined with us. Here, all my students, they are all Americans. None of them are Indian, but still, they have learned it very nicely, and it is not difficult. And there is no expenditure.

So what is this Hare Krsna? Hare means the energy of the Lord, and Krsna means the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So it is a prayer. There are three words only: Hare, Krsna and Rama, three words. That has been arranged in sixteen words: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. So our movement is that we request you to take up these sixteen words- not sixteen words, three words, Hare, Krsna, Rama. But is is arranged in such a way that there are sixteen words. So anyone can take it by heart, these three words, and chant it. It is universal. And if you think that "Oh, Krsna is the name of Hindu god," if you have got any objection, then you may not chant Krsna, but you must have a name for God. Just like somebody, the Muhammadans, call Allah, the Jews call jehovah, or somebody calls something. That doesn't matter. If you think that "Why shall I chant the Indian name Krsna, Sanskrit name Krsna?" so Lord Caitanya says that there are millions and billions of names of God. If you think that this Krsna name is not very suitable, you can accept any name. That doesn't matter.

Our proposition is you chant God's name. That is our proposal. Therefore it is universal. If you like, you can chant jehovah or you can chant Allah, but we request you that you chant God's name. Is it very difficult? It is not at all difficult. Lord Caitanya said that there are innumerable names of God according to different languages, different countries, different societies. And each and every one of them has the potency of God Himself. If there is any God, so God is Absolute; therefore there is no difference between His name and He Himself. Just like in the material world, in the world of duality there is difference between the name "water" and the substance water. The name water is different from the substance water. If you are thirsty, if you simply chant, "Water, water, water, water," your thirstiness will not be quenched. You require the substance water. That is material, but spiritually, the name Krsna or the name Allah or the name jehovah is as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Therefore if you chant Hare Krsna... You may inquire why we are chanting Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna, this name, was chanted by Lord Caitanya, who introduced this movement five hundred years ago in India. We are following the footprints of Lord Caitanya. Because He chanted Hare Krsna, therefore we are chanting Hare Krsna. But Lord Caitanya has recommended that God has innumerable names, and any one of them can be chanted, and there is no hard and fast rules and regulations for chanting. It is not that you have to prepare yourself or you have to educate yourself or you have to adjust yourself for chanting. No. Everyone. Just like immediately we began to chant. You were not prepared, but you joined with us, you clapped with us, you danced with us. So similarly, there is no preoccupation or any rules and regulation. You simply chant. And this is very easy. While walking, you can chant whatever name you like. We like Krsna. We chant always: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. While walking the streets, while you are going in the bus, and whatever, even while working with your hands, you can chant. There is no loss on your part. There is no expenditure on your part, but the gain is very great. Why don't you try it? Try it. That is our request.

So the benefit will be that gradually you shall understand what you are. The whole civilization, modern civilization, is going on under a wrong impression that "I am this body." In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that "One who goes on with the concept of the body, he is no better than an ass or cow." Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke... [SB 10.84.13]. It is a very long verse. But actually we are not this body. So if we chant this mantra, Hare Krsna, then I can understand what I am. And as soon as I understand that I am not this body, then my activities become different, because at the present moment I am acting on the concept of my life as this body. Because this body is born of a particular place in a particular country, therefore I am saying that "I am American," or "Indian," or "China" or "German," due to this body. And because I have got relationship with some woman with this body, therefore I accept the woman as my wife. There are hundreds of thousands of women, but the woman who has got relationship with this body is my wife. There are thousands and millions of children, but one child who has got intimate relation with this body I call my son. So if the body falsely identified, then we can understand that our identification with this world is also false. The real identification is, as it is stated in the Vedic literature, aham brahmasmi: "I am Brahman." "I am Brahman" means "I am spirit soul. I am not this matter." So this misconception has to be removed. Of course, it is not possible that everyone will understand or everyone will be able to understand it, but even a certain percentage of the human society can understand, immediately there is solution of so many problems- to understand aham brahmasmi. And how that solution is made, that is described in the Bhagavad-gita.

This Bhagavad-gita is the science of God. Just like in your Christian Bible or any other scriptures, Muhammadan or Christian or Jews or Buddhists... So aham brahmasmi means that "I am spirit soul," this realization. As soon as this realization is there, then the other things immediately follow. What is that? Brahma-bhutah prasannatma [Bg. 18.54]. Immediately one becomes cheerful. So long we have got this bodily concept of life, we cannot be cheerful. Full of anxiety. And as soon as we understand that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul," the next moment you will be cheerful. There will be no anxiety. I am full of anxiety because on account of this bodily concept of life. Just like one man has got very costly motorcar, and he is running the car on the street. He is very careful so that there may not be any accident in the car, the car may not break. So much anxiety. But a man who is walking on the street, he has no such anxiety. Why the man in the car is so anxious? Because he has identified himself with the car. If the car, if there is any accident to the car, if the car breaks, he thinks, "I am gone. Oh, my car is gone." Although he is different from car, he thinks like that due to identification, false identification. Similarly, because we are falsely identified with this body, therefore we have got so many problems of life. So if we want to make solution of the problems of life, then we have to understand what I am. And unless this question arises in your mind- not only in your mind, everyone's mind- then we should, we must consider that whatever we are doing, that is our defeat because we are doing everything in false consciousness.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said, parabhavas tavad abodha-jatah. Abodha-jatah means one who is born fool. Every one of us is a born fool. Why? From the beginning of our life I know that "I am this body," although I am not this body. Therefore we are all born fools, everyone. And therefore, according to Vedic civilization, one has to take his second birth. One birth is made possible by conjugation of the father and mother. That birth is called animal birth. Janmana jayate sudrah. Everyone, by birth, is sudra, or the lowest class of man. And samskarad bhaved dvijah: "By reformation, one becomes twice-born." And what is that reformation? By understanding oneself, "What I am." Samskarad bhaved dvijah, veda-pathad bhaved viprah: "And after twice, after his second birth, if he tries to understand the spiritual science, the science of God, then he is called vipra." Vipra means quite congnizant. And brahma janatiti brahmanah: "And when he understands that he is Brahman, he is spirit soul, then he becomes a brahmana." Perhaps you have heard that in India the brahmanas are called the topmost men of the society. Why? Because he knows that "I am Brahman; I am not this matter." Brahma janatiti brahmanah. So by understanding Brahman your position will be that prasannatma, you'll be joyful, na socati na kanksati, you will never lament any loss, neither you will hanker after any so-called gain, na socati na kanksati, samah sarvesu bhutesu, and you will look every living entity on the same level. Mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54]. In that stage of realization, you can understand what is God and what is your relationship with God.

Therefore this movement is that one understands himself what he is. It is, of course, very plain question and answer. The other day we had some lectures in a, one Sunday school, and I called one, a small boy, and I asked him that "What is this?" He said, "It is my hand, it is my head, it is my leg, it is my body, it is my pants, it is my..." And I asked him, "Where you are? You are simply saying ‘my, my, my,' and where you are?" So similarly, everyone can understand that what I am? If you think yourself, if you meditate on yourself, if you see your hand, "Am I this hand?" you will say, "No, it is my hand." "Am I this leg?" You will say, "No, it is my leg." "Am I this head?" "No, it is my head." Then where you are? So that person who is thinking within that "It is my hand, it is my head, it is my leg, it is my pant, it is my coat," that you are. So have you seen that thing? You have seen your father, you have seen your mother or you have seen your son. But have you seen the real father who is within the body of the father? Have you seen the real son which is in the body of the son? No. Then your whole conception of education, your whole conception of living condition and problems- in the false world. Therefore this movement is required at the present moment in the world. Ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12].

This will cleanse the status of your mental condition. Ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam. And as soon as you understand yourself, then the whole problem- social, political, economical- everything will be solved. Bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam. And gradually you shall realize your transcendental life. Your transcendental life is joyful. Ananda-mayo 'bhyasat. Transcendental life means always full of joy, joyful. That is our nature. We are hankering after joyful life, but we do not know where to hanker, how to get it. By nature we are joyful. It is said in the Vedanta-sutra, anandamayo 'bhyasat: "By nature a living entity is joyful." But my joyfulness is covered by this material understanding. So I have to remove this material understanding; then again I shall become joyful.

So this movement is very scientific movement, and we have got authoritative statements. You cannot defy authority, authority. As an authority, minister of this Unitarian Church, in one place he has denied authority, and in another place he has quoted so many authorities. So many authorities he has quoted. Why? If you deny authority, then why you quote other authority? So you cannot defy authority. This is not possible. From the beginning of your life, when you were child, you asked your parents, "Mother, father, what is this?" Why? That is the beginning of life. You cannot go even a step without authority. You are governed by authority. You are running your car by authority- "Keep to the right." Why? Why don't you defy it? So authority we have to obey. But the difficulty is: who is authority? That we require to learn who is actually authority. So authority means who has no mistakes, who has no illusion, who does not cheat, and whose senses are perfect. That is authority. That is the definition of authority. A conditioned soul who... Just... "To err is human." Any human being is sure to commit mistakes. However learned he may be, however advanced he may be, he must commit mistake. Therefore this word is, "To err is human." And one must be illusioned. And there is cheating propensity of every man. Even a child, he wants to cheat. The mother asks, "Oh, what is in your hand?" Oh, the child says, "No, mother, nothing," although the mother can see he has got something. So the cheating propensity is there. And above all, your senses are imperfect. You are proud of your eyes: "I want to see." What you can see? If the light is off, your seeing power is immediately gone. If there is no sun, your seeing power is gone. Therefore we see under conditions. Therefore imperfect.

So you cannot get perfect knowledge by imperfect senses, by speculative knowledge. You have to accept authority. Just like if you want to know who is your father, the authority is your mother. The mother says, "Here is your father." You have to accept. You cannot make research. Mother is the last authority, who is your father. Similarly, we have to accept authority, and if the authority is not a conditioned soul, if he is liberated soul, if he is not a cheater, if his senses are not imperfect, if he does not make any mistakes, if he is not in illusion, if you receive knowledge from that authority, then your knowledge is perfect. That is the process.

So we have got such authoritative, I mean to say, literature, Vedic literatures. You can test it by your reason, by your arguments, by your philosophical talks, everything. Religion without philosophical basis, without scientific basis, is sentiment. That religion based on philosophy and science, that is right. So Bhagavad-gita is that book. Any question, any inquiry, any doubt- all the answers are there, and very nicely. Just like one or two verse I shall explain to you. In one place Bhagavad-gita says that..., the Lord says that,

sarva-yonisu kaunteya
sambhavanti murtayo yah
tasam mahad yonir brahma
aham bija-pradah pita
[Bg. 14.4]

The Lord says that there are eight hundred, er, 8,400,000 species of life, different forms of life, species of life. There are aquatics, there are plants, trees, worms, germs, then birds, beasts, and at last, the human species of life, only 400,000's. So Krsna says that "All the species of life- never mind whether he is man or he's a dog, he's a cat- he's a living entity, and I am the seed-giving father of all living entities." Now, how nice, you can understand simply. This verse, if you can understand, then you can have some idea of universal brotherhood. If you want to make universal brotherhood, you must find out the center- the universal father. So these questions and answers are there, and we have got the science of God, the education of science of God, Srimad-Bhagavatam. So these books are meant for human society, and if you take advantage of the knowledge imparted in this book and if you chant this Hare Krsna mantra, you will see how your life becomes improved, how you become full of knowledge, full of bliss, and how you advance in your eternal life.
Thank you very much. If any question, you can make

Humbug Civilization for Temporary Happiness

Prahlada Maharaja continues: “There is only one source of anxiety for me.” Just see—although he had no anxiety for himself, he still had anxiety. He says, soce tato vimukha-cetasah: “I am anxious for those persons who are not Krsna conscious. That is my anxiety. for myself I have no anxiety, but I am thinking of those who are not Krsna conscious.” Why aren’t they Krsna conscious? Maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan [SB 7.9.43]. These rascals have created a humbug civilization for temporary happiness.

Maya-sukhaya. Actually this is a fact. We have a humbug civilization. So many cars are being manufactured every year, and for that purpose so many roads have to be excavated and prepared. This creates problem after problem. Therefore it is maya-sukhaya, illusory happiness, and yet we are trying to be happy in this way. We are trying to manufacture some way to be happy, but this only creates other problems.

In your country you have the greatest number of cars, but that does not solve any problems. You have manufactured cars to help solve the problems of life, but I have experienced that this also creates more problems. When my disciple Dayananda wanted to take me to a doctor in Los Angeles, I had to take the trouble to travel thirty miles before I could even consult the doctor. Once you create cars, then you must travel thirty or forty miles to meet your friends.
You can fly from New York to Boston in one hour, but it takes even longer than that just to get to the airport. This situation is called maya-sukhaya. Maya means “false,” “illusory.”

We are trying to create some very comfortable situation, but we have created another uncomfortable situation. This is the way of the material world; if we are not satisfied by the natural comforts offered by God and nature and we want to create artificial comforts, then we have to create some discomfort also. Most people do not know that. They think that they are creating a very comfortable situation, but actually they are traveling fifty miles to go to the office to earn a livelihood and fifty miles to come back. Because of such conditions, Prahlada Maharaja says that these vimudhans—these materialistic persons, these rascals—have created an unnecessary burden on themselves simply for temporary happiness. Vimudhan, maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato. Therefore, in Vedic civilization it is recommended that one free himself from material life, take sannyasa, the renounced order of life, and prosecute spiritual life with absolutely no anxiety.

If one can execute Krsna consciousness in family life, that is very good. Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a family man, a magistrate. and still he executed devotional service so nicely. Dhruva Maharaja and Prahlada Maharaja were grhasthas, householders, but they trained themselves in such a way that even as householders they were faced with no interruption in their service. Therefore, Prahlada Maharaja says, “I have learned the art of always remaining in Krsna consciousness.” What is that art?

Tvad-virya-gayana-mahamrta-magna-cittah. Simply glorifying the victorious activities and pastimes of the Lord. Virya means “very heroic.”
[Science of Self Realization. CH.7]