Lecture

Prabhupāda: ...do, whatever he eats, everything, then he becomes perfect. Perfect. Simply by understanding God perfectly... Not perfectly; preliminarily. Nobody can understand God perfectly. That is not possible. That is not in our capacity. God is so great, we are so small. But to our small understanding whatever we can know, that are described in different kinds of scripture, and Bhagavad-gītā is also another description of the truth, Absolute Truth.

So here Kṛṣṅa says that anyone who understands this Absolute Truth or the activity or the purpose or the appearance, disappearance about God, what is God, what are His activities... Just like we have got our activities, we have got our identification, similarly, God has got His identification, His activity, His form, everything. Now one has to understand what is that. It is called divyam. Divyam means it is not like this material thing. It is spiritual. So that is a spiritual science.

So the result will be that janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvataḥ [Bg 4.9].

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

Tattvataḥ means truth, scientifically. Two plus two equal to four. This is called tattvataḥ, truth. Similarly, anyone who understands the science of God, then the result will be tyaktvā deham. By quitting this body... We have to quit, leave this body, that is a fact. You'll also not remain in this body, I'll not also remain in this body. But before quitting this body, before leaving this body, if we can simply understand what is God... Doesn't matter whatever you are doing. You remain occupied in your duties, you remain what you are. It doesn't matter. Simply try to understand what is God and what are His activities. Then you'll become liberated.

So much facility is offered. And the Bhagavad-gītā is there. You can understand with all your reason, with all your argument, with all your senses what is God. It is nothing dogmatic. It is all reasonable, philosophical. Unfortunately they have decided that God is dead. How God can be dead? This is another rascaldom. You are not dead; how God can be dead? So there is no question of God's being dead. He is always present, just like sun is always present. Only the rascals, they say there is no sun. There is sun. It is out of your sight, that's all. Similarly, "Because we cannot see God, therefore God is dead," these are rascaldom. It is not very good conclusion.

So one has to understand what is God, divyam. So Kṛṣṅa says anyone who understands this philosophy or science of God, philosophy...

[break] ...called the science of sciences. So therefore I use this word "science." So science of God. Then, after leaving this body, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma na eti [Bg 4.9], he does not come back again to take this conditional material body. Then, he's finished? No. He says, mām eti so 'rjuna: "My dear Arjuna, that person comes to Me." That means you are transferred to the spiritual kingdom, or God's kingdom. Just like we are present here, face to face, you can go there and see and talk. Everything is there simply by understanding. And for that understanding, here is Bhagavad-gītā.

So why don't you take this advantage? We are trying to place before you Bhagavad-gītā. We are not charging anything, fees from you, that "You give me thirty-five dollars" or "fifty dollars." No. We are distributing this knowledge free. Please come and take ad... There is no loss on your part, but there is so much gain. And try to understand it nicely. The result will be tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [Bg 4.9]. If you simply can understand this preliminary thing, what is God, that's all.

Then you have got duty. As soon as you know your relationship with God, then you have got some duties. Oh, when you're engaged in such duties then you are already in the liberated stage. You are already in the liberated stage. Simply by understanding God you become liberated. Your certificate is there; you can enter. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [Bg 4.9].

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

Thank you very much.

[pause] Is that clear?

Devotee: You stated that the reason that we forget is that we change, the body changes. Now when we chant, we remember. What correlation is there between this... I talked to Janārdana before about the horizontal memory and the vertical memory, and I understand... So I wish you could sort of elaborate on why we forget. I don't completely understand.

Prabhupāda: Yes. It is intelligent question. You forget because you have got this material body, and because the material body is changing every moment, every second, therefore we forget. Is it not? You are forgetting. You do not know what exactly you were doing at this time, because your body has changed. Similarly, you do not exactly remember last year on this date at this time what you were doing, because body has changed. Similarly, it is the nature of the body to change, and you forget. That is the nature of this material body. But if you constantly remain in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, that means you stand on the spiritual platform.

Devotee: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: In the spiritual platform you don't forget Kṛṣṅa. In the material platform you forget so many things, but in the spiritual platform you don't forget Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa's duties. So if you can continue in that way, then you continue in spiritual platform, and the result will be that after getting out of this body, you are spiritually situated.

So we have to continue the spiritual stand on spiritual platform by Kṛṣṅa consciousness, always remembering Kṛṣṅa. Smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṅuḥ vismartavyo na jātucit [Padma Purāṅa].

[Lord Viṣṅu should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the śāstras should be the servants of these two principles.]

This is the process. You have to remember always Kṛṣṅa, Viṣṅu. That is called meditation. That is called samādhi. The samādhi, the meditation which is going on, some rascaldom, that is not meditation. Meditation means always thinking of Viṣṅu. That is meditation.

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness is perfect meditation. Always thinking of. And it is certified in Bhagavad-gītā,

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā mad-gatenāntarātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ. [Bg 6.47]

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

So Kṛṣṅa said he is first-class yogī who is constantly in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Śraddhāvān bhajate yo mām. With faith and devotion, always remembering Kṛṣṅa: Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare, sa me yuktatamo mataḥ. Yoginām api sarveṣām, of all the yogīs...

They have opened so many classes of yoga class. Somebody is advertising that you can remain young, you can have better sex power or you can reduce your bodily fat. So that is also possible. That you can do by ordinary exercise. But real purpose of yoga is to concentrate the mind on Viṣṅu always. That is yoga. So that is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. So Kṛṣṅa consciousness is the highest perfectional stage of yoga practice.

Devotee: When we associate with Kṛṣṅa through His name...

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa's name is nondifferent.

Devotee: Yes, right. Sometimes we forget to do our duty very attentively. Sometimes we forget to do the floor[?]. By associating with Kṛṣṅa through His name, then we can remember our duty? Or [indistinct].

Prabhupāda: Yes, you remember. If you remember Kṛṣṅa, then you'll remember all duties of Kṛṣṅa. If you remember... Suppose you are working in an office. If you remember that you have to go to such office at such-and-such time, that means you'll remember all the duties of the office. That is automatically. It is not that while you are going in the office, on the way you know what you have to do there. But because you are remembering the office, that means automatically they are there in dormant stage.

Guest: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: Viṣṅu means all-pervading God. God is everywhere. Just like the sun: the sun is a planet, and there is a sun-god also. In each and every planet there is a predominating deity. Just like in this planet you have got a predominating man, president. Similarly, in each and every planet there is a predominating living creature. In the sun planet the predominating living creature is called sun-god. In the moon planet the predominating deity is called moon-god. And similarly, there are millions of millions of planets, and there is a predominating deity.

So similarly, the original planet, Kṛṣṅaloka, the predominating Deity is Kṛṣṅa, who is Viṣṅu. So just like the sun is situated in the particular planet but the sunshine is spread all over the universe, similarly, Kṛṣṅa or Viṣṅu, although He's in His planet, His energy is distributed all over the creation. Therefore He is all-pervading. Viṣṅu means all-pervading God. He is everywhere. Aṅḍāntara-stha-paramāṅu-cayāntara-stham [Bs 5.35].

[He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.]

He's within this universe, He is within the atom also. He's within you also. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61]. So Viṣṅu means all-pervading.

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

But by our material conception we think that anything which is all-pervading, how it can be localized personally? That is our material conception. Just like I am sitting here, you are sitting here. You cannot be all-pervading. But your mind, because it is finer, the mind can be in so many places. Similarly, when you are still finer intelligence, you are still finer, a spirit soul, you can also become all-pervading.

At the present moment we are hampered, conditioned, by the covering of this material body. Therefore our endeavor should be how we get out of this material body. That formula I've already explained, that tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9].

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

If you simply understand what is God, simply by this understanding, tyaktvā deham, after leaving this body, punar janma naiti, you don't get any more this material body. Simply try to understand

[break] what is Viṣṅu, then you become as good as that Viṣṅu.

Guest: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: First of all you understand Viṣṅu, that He is all-pervading. So Viṣṅu, because He has got spiritual body, similarly, when you get your spiritual body... How you can get? By understanding Viṣṅu. Therefore in the Vedic mantra, Ṛg mantra, it is, tad viṣṅoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sada paśyanti sūrayaḥ [Ṛg Veda 1.22.20].

[The lotus feet of Lord Viṣṅu are the supreme objective of all the demigods. These lotus feet of the Lord are as enlightening as the sun in the sky.]

The sūraya, those who are demigods or Āryans, they are..., their destination is Viṣṅu. But ordinary men, they do not know that. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅum [SB 7.5.31].

[Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṅu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.]

They do not know that their ultimate goal of life is to understand Viṣṅu. Why? Durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ: they are trying to become perfect with this material condition. That is not possible. You have to know Viṣṅu. Then you become perfect. Otherwise, you have to change this body one after another. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19].

You have one body, you remain for some time, then it is destroyed, you get immediately another body, again enter into the womb of mother, again form your body from little..., a pulse-like body to this body and grow to your higher status in your younger age. Then again become dwindled, become old man, and again vanish. So bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19].

[Again and again the day comes, and this host of beings is active; and again the night falls, O Pārtha, and they are helplessly dissolved.]

Everything material will have to change like this. And there are 8,400,000's of different kinds of bodies, and you have to evolve in the cycle of such body. So if you want to get out of this circulation, continually, then here is the formula: tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya. Simply try to understand what is God, or Viṣṅu, then you get that opportunity.

[pause]

Devotee: When you say "understand," do you [indistinct]?

Prabhupāda: What do you mean, "understanding"? Simply hear hear and get out from the other.

Devotee: But I mean [indistinct]. We can't understand Kṛṣṅa with our mind.

Prabhupāda: With your material mind. When you are Kṛṣṅa consciousness, your quality of mind is changed. The mind..., the understanding of God is simply purification of the senses. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136].

[Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṅa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṅa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṅa really is.]

By the present senses you cannot understand what is God, what is His name, what is His quality, what is His form, what are activities. You have to learn this. The Bhagavad-gītā says vetti tattvataḥ. You have to learn.

So now, as you say, that mind... Of course, with this mind you cannot understand. You cannot think of Kṛṣṅa. With this tongue you cannot chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. With these ears you cannot hear what is Hare Kṛṣṅa. With these eyes you cannot see what is Kṛṣṅa. But if you purify... Just like cataractic eyes cannot see, but if you purify the eyes, then you can see everything. The eyes will remain as it is, but you have to purify. The process is purification. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau [Cc Madhya 17.136]. That purification takes place when you engage yourself in the service of Kṛṣṅa.

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement means to engage a person in the service of Kṛṣṅa. Just like the temple is Kṛṣṅa's. You wipe out the floors, you decorate it, collect flowers, engage your eyes to hear about Kṛṣṅa, engage your tongue for chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa. So engage your eyes to see the Deity, engage your legs to go to the temple. In this way, if you engage your senses, present senses for Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then it becomes gradually purified and you... Kṛṣṅa becomes revealed. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva.

You cannot see Kṛṣṅa, but when you are anxious, when you are purified, Kṛṣṅa reveals Himself to you, by your eyes or... If you say, "Kṛṣṅa, please come, I'll see You," that is not possible. Kṛṣṅa is not your order-supplier. He wants to see you how much you are qualified to see Him. When you are qualified, He'll reveal to you. He is everywhere. Simply you have to make your eyes to see Him. That's all. This is the process, Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136]. He reveals.

Similarly, it is confirmed in the Nārada Pañcarātra, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

We have to become first of all free from all designation. If I think I'm American, if I think I am Christian, if I think I am Indian, if I think I am Hindu, if I think I am Muslim, if I think I am this, I am that, these are all designation. When you are free from the designation, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam.... And what is that freedom? "I am Kṛṣṅa's." That's all. I am not American, not Indian, not Hindu, not Muslim, not Christian.

I am Kṛṣṅa's, or God's. That is sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. And as you are convinced that you are God's, or Kṛṣṅa's, then engage yourself not in the designated service, but Kṛṣṅa's service. Tat-paratvena nirmalam. Then everything will be purified. Your eyes will be purified, your ears will be purified, your legs, everything, all senses will be purified.

When your senses are purified, hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate. When with that purified senses... Hṛṣīkena means senses. Kṛṣṅa's name is Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīkeśa means the master of the senses, Govinda. Govinda also means the master of the senses. So the senses which you have got—this hand, leg, eyes, everything—I am not the proprietor.

Practically the proprietor is Kṛṣṅa. So when you engage your all the senses in the service of the master of the senses, that is called bhakti. Hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170]. That hṛṣīkena, that senses, must be purified. How? Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam: being relieved, freed, from all designation.

So the difficulty is that we are not free from designation. We are thinking, "Oh, I am Christian" "Oh, I am Hindu," "I am this," "I am that." Nobody's thinking that "I am Kṛṣṅa's. I am God's." So this designation disease has to be first of all cured. Then you become pure. So long you keep your designation, you are not pure; you are in the material condition. Therefore,

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa- sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170]

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

That is bhakti. You have to be free from all designation. Then when you begin service, then Kṛṣṅa reveals Himself. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam [Bg 10.10].

[To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.]

He is within you. He'll give you intelligence, "This is this. This is this. This is this. This is this." Why? When? Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-purvakam. "When he's in love and faith engaged in My service." Then. Why, otherwise, why Kṛṣṅa will talk with you? He is within you. That's all right. But He'll talk with you when you are qualified.

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness means to make you qualified—qualified to talk with Kṛṣṅa, to see Kṛṣṅa, to understand Kṛṣṅa. And then, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma [Bg 4.9].

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

Then you, by quitting this body, no more you are going to accept any material body. You are directly transferred to Kṛṣṅa. Mām eti kaunteya. This is the simple process.

Devotee: Someone asked me today what was Candra's function...

Prabhupāda: What is this?

Devotee: Candra's function. I wondered what it was.

Prabhupāda: You say that..., that you are not dictionary. So you have to answer all these questions, what Candra's function? What business you have got, Candra's function?

Devotee: But somebody asked me.

Prabhupāda: It doesn't... You ask for Kṛṣṅa. Candra's function, don't you know? It is giving light. That is his function. Candra means moon. You mean to say? Then moon is giving the light. That's all. Everyone knows. A child knows Candra's function. What is that? Candra's function is to give light at night. That's all. Any fool knows.

That is not question. You must put some intelligent question, to understand Kṛṣṅa. Candra's function... Candra means moon. The moon function everyone knows. What is difficulty? You should have at least this common sense to reply. The Candra's function is to give light, that's all.

Guest: Indra's function is to carry water?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: The sanitary engineers' functions, they are coming here, everyone knows. They are called sanitary engineers? The scavengers? Similarly, they are like that, different kinds of engineers. Sanitary engineer, waterworks engineer, light department engineer. That's all. First of all, try to understand what is your function, then try to understand what is other's function. [chuckles] Your function is to become servant of Kṛṣṅa. That's it. How you can know—there are millions and trillions of other beings—what is the function? Here you have to see what is your function. That is,

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa- sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170]

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

You have to purify your senses and be engaged in the service of Kṛṣṅa. We have to first of all see whether I am actually in my own function. That is the sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66].

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

That is the function. We have to give up all other functions. Simply to be engaged in Kṛṣṅa's function. That is my duty. So everyone's function is that. Candra's function, he is giving light under the order of Kṛṣṅa. He is servant of Kṛṣṅa. [end]