Initiation Lecture

Prabhupāda:

...avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate [Cc Madhya 6.154]

[The internal potency of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṅu, is spiritual, as verified by the śāstras. There is another spiritual potency, known as kṣetra-jña, or the living entity. The third potency, which is known as nescience, makes the living entity godless and fills him with fruitive activity.]

This is a verse from Viṣṅu Purāṅa. It is stated there that viṣṅu-śaktiḥ parā, "The energy of the Supreme Lord is spiritual." Energy and the energetic, they are nondifferent. Just like the sunshine is the energy of the sun globe, but the quality of sunshine and the sun globe is the same. It is not different. The sunshine is bright, illuminating, hot. Similarly, we can understand the sun globe, the temperature may be very high, but the quality is the same.

So, viṣṅu-śaktiḥ parā proktā [Cc Madhya 6.154]. God has got one energy. That energy is spiritual energy. And kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā: and the same energy is manifested in another form, which is called kṣetrajña, or marginal energy, or the energy in which we living creatures are acting. Ksetrajñākhya tathā parā. And avidyā-karma-saṁjña anyā, and tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate. And besides these energies, there is another energy, which is avidyā, ignorance.

Karma-saṁjña: and it is based on fruitive activities. Anyā means besides these two energies, spiritual energy and the marginal energy, living entities, there is another energy, which is called avidyā. Avidyā means ignorance. And karma-saṁjña: and in that energy, one has to enjoy his..., the fruit of his own labor. This is the material world.

This material world is also energy of Kṛṣṅa, or God, but here ignorance prevails. Ignorance is prominent. Avidyā, ignorance. Therefore one has to work. Practically one hasn't got to work, but because he is..., one is in avidyā, ignorance, therefore he has to work. Avidyā-karma-saṁjña anyā tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate.

So actually, there is one energy, spiritual energy. Kṛṣṅa, or God, is the whole spirit, and the energies emanating from Him, that is also spiritual. Śaktiḥ śaktimator abhinnaḥ. In the Vedic language we understand that the śaktimān, or the energetic, Kṛṣṅa, and the energy, they are nondifferent. So this material energy is also nondifferent from Kṛṣṅa. In other words of Vedic language it is said, sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1]

[Everything, both matter and spirit, is non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the Supreme Brahman.]

"Everything is Brahman."

In the Bhagavad-gītā also, Lord Kṛṣṅa says that māyā tatam idaṁ sarvam [Bg 9.4].

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

Sarvam means all; idam, this manifestation, this cosmic manifestation, whatever you are experiencing... Kṛṣṅa says that "I am expanded as this cosmic manifestation." Māyā tatam idaṁ sarvam avyakta-mūrtinā. This impersonal feature, avyakta. Mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni nāhaṁ teṣu avasthitaḥ [Bg 9.4]: "Everything is resting on Me, or everything is expansion of Myself." Nāhaṁ teṣu avasthitaḥ: "But I am not there."

This philosophy, acintya-bhedābheda,

[It is the living entity's constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṅa and a manifestation simultaneously one and different from the Lord.]

simultaneously one and different, is our philosophy, inaugurated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although it is in the Vedānta-sūtras. So everything is simultaneously one and different from the Supreme Lord. But there are two classes of philosophers. One class says that God and the living entities are different, and there is another philosopher, monist philosopher; they say God and the living entities are one.

So this acintya-bhedābheda philosophy adjusts that "God and the living creatures, they are simultaneously one and different." They are one in quality, just like the energy and the energetic, the sun globe and the sunshine. In quality, in sunshine there is heat, there is illumination, light. In the sun globe also, there is heat, there is illumination. But the degrees are quite different. You can bear the heat and illumination of the sunshine, but you cannot go to the sun globe, or you can bear the heat and temperature there. The scientist says that so many millions miles away, if somebody goes or some planet goes near the sun globe, it will immediately burn into ashes.

Similarly, God and ourself, Kṛṣṅa and living entities, they are qualitatively one, but quantitatively, we are very minute. Aṅu. We are smaller than the atom. Nowadays there is atomic theory. We can see the atoms within the holes of the windows when there is focus of sunlight. That is called prasareṅu. Prasareṅu means six atoms combined together, then it is visible. Otherwise, atom is also not visible with our naked eyes. There is atomic theory, paramāṅuvāda, in Vedic literature also.

And Bhāgavata says that the scientists may be one day able to count how many atoms are there within this universe. This is not possible, of course, but it is theoretically. The Vedic, er, Śrīmad-Bhāgavata says that "It may be possible one day by scientific research, one can count how many atoms are there within this cosmic manifestation. Still, it is not possible to know the Supreme Personality of Godhead by our ordinary sense perception."

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.]

Kṛṣṅa, or God, is not perceivable by your material senses. It is not possible. Ataḥ, therefore, śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi. Nāmādi. Nāmādi means "beginning from His name." Because we try to understand Kṛṣṅa beginning by chanting His holy name, Hare Kṛṣṅa. Then, after chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa, when our heart is purified, then we can understand His form, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

So either His name or His form or His quality or His paraphernalia or His activities—none of these can be understood by your material senses. It is not possible. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136]. Indriyaiḥ, the senses. Then how it is understood? Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. When we take to the transcendental loving service of the Lord, then the Lord reveals Himself. We cannot understand. He reveals Himself. Therefore sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. Jihvā means tongue. The first business of us is to engage the tongue in the service of the Lord.

So how you can engage the tongue in the service of the Lord? By chanting and glorifying His name, fame, quality, form, paraphernalia, pastimes. This is the business of the tongue. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. When the tongue is engaged, gradually all other senses are also engaged in the service of the Lord.

The tongue is the most important sense within our body; therefore for controlling our senses it is recommended that one should control first of all the tongue. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings in his song: tā'ra madhye jihvā ati lobhamaya sudurmati.

[O Lord, this material body is a lump of ignorance, and the senses are a network of paths to death. Somehow, we have fallen into this ocean of material sense enjoyment, and of all the senses the tongue is most voracious and uncontrollable; it is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world. But You, dear Kṛṣṅa, are very kind to us and have given us such nice prasādam, just to control the tongue. Now we take this prasādam to our full satisfaction and glorify Their Lordships Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa, and in love call for the help of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda.]

Our present conditional state is like this. Śarīra avidyā-jāl, we are packed up in the network of this material body. It is just like a fish is caught within a net. Similarly, we are caught up by this network of this material body. Not only this body—we are changing this net in various phases of life. There are 8,400,000's of forms of this network. This is a network of ignorance, avidyā-jāl. Avidyā means ignorance. Śarīra avidyā-jāl jaḍendriya tāhe kāl. And this network, my imprisonment within this network of ignorance, is being continued on account of these dangerous senses. Sense enjoyment.

So out of these dangerous senses, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says the tongue is the most dangerous. Tongue is the most dangerous. The tongue... If we cannot control the tongue, then the tongue will oblige me to take different types of body, one after another. If I am very much fond of satisfying my tongue by flesh and blood, then nature, material nature, will give me facility to taste flesh and blood fresh and give me a body of the tiger. If I do not discriminate of eating, then material nature will give me a body just like a hog, when we have to accept as our food stool.

So we are so-called materially suffering and enjoying according to this body. Therefore this body, this human form of body, is a great opportunity, because God realization begins by engaging the tongue. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234]. By engaging the tongue in the loving service of the Lord, one can make advance in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, ultimate realization of God, the tongue. So this tongue in the human body can be engaged. In other body, in the cat's body, dog's body, tiger's body... Tiger may be a very powerful animal. No animal is powerful or better than human beings. That is accepted.

So this human form of life is a great boon to the living entity who is traveling through the cycle of birth and death, perpetually changing different sorts of body. Here is the opportunity, human form of body. We can utilize the tongue properly and get out of these clutches. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. So sevā, sevā means service; jihvā ādau, beginning from the tongue.

So if we can keep our tongue engaged, always chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra... Because "Kṛṣṅa," this sound, is not different from Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is absolute. Nothing is different from Him. Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa's name is not different. In the material sense, everything is different. I myself is different from this body. I am not this body. But Kṛṣṅa is not like that. Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa's body is the same.

Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritāḥ [Bg 9.11].

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, "Rascals and fools, they deride at Me because I appear as a human being. They are thinking just like I am ordinary human being." Paraṁ bhāvam ajananto. "These rascals do not know what is My influence and what I am." Paraṁ bhāvam. "What is My nature they do not know. Without knowing Me, they consider, 'Kṛṣṅa is an ordinary human being.' " Avajānanti mūḍha. This very particular word has been used, mūḍha. Mūḍha means rascals.

So in spite of this warning, there are so many rascals passing as big scholars. They say like this. When there is order of Kṛṣṅa that "You surrender unto Me," the rascals comment, "It is not to Kṛṣṅa but the unborn spirit which is within Kṛṣṅa." He does not know that Kṛṣṅa is not different from His body, Kṛṣṅa is not different from His name, Kṛṣṅa is not different from His fame. Anything pertaining to Kṛṣṅa is Kṛṣṅa. They are monists, they are philosophizing that oneness, but as soon as they come to Kṛṣṅa, immediately they divide: "Kṛṣṅa is different from His body," or "Kṛṣṅa's body is different from Kṛṣṅa."

So ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi. So Kṛṣṅa's name and Kṛṣṅa is not different. Therefore, as soon as my tongue touches the holy name of Kṛṣṅa, that means immediately it associates with Kṛṣṅa. So if you constantly keep yourself associated with Kṛṣṅa by chanting this mantra, Hare Kṛṣṅa, then just imagine how you are being easily purified simply by this process, chanting, jihvādau, engaging the tongue in chanting.

And your tongue wants very palatable dishes to taste. So Kṛṣṅa is very kind. He has given you hundreds and thousands of palatable dishes, remnants of foodstuff eaten by Him. You eat. In this way, if you simply make it a determination that "I shall not allow my tongue to taste anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṅa, and I shall engage my tongue always chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa," then all perfection is within your hold. All perfection. Two simple things.

Don't eat anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṅa. That's all. Our Kṛṣṅa prasādam are so variegated, nice varieties... The variety is the mother of enjoyment. How much enjoyment you want with your tongue? You can have simply by eating Kṛṣṅa prasādam. And the more your tongue is purified, the more you relish the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra. Relish. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam.

It is stated by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that it increases the ocean of bliss, transcendental bliss. Ocean does not increase. We have no experience within this material world. If ocean would have increased, then all the lands would have been swallowed up many long, long years ago. Ocean does not increase. But this ocean, transcendental bliss, is increasing. Some of you must have experienced, those who are actually relishing.

The authorities like Rūpa Gosvāmī, he says that "What I shall chant with one tongue? If I would have millions of tongues, then I could chant a little more. And what I shall hear with two ears?" So he's expecting, he's aspiring to have millions of ears and trillions of tongue to relish this chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa. So that is another stage, of course, when this chanting will be so melodious that we shall try to have more ears and more tongue to utilize it.

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 our present senses, we cannot understand what is Kṛṣṅa, or what is God, what is His name, what is His form, what is His quality. Therefore immediately if we try to understand Kṛṣṅa by His picture, "Oh, Kṛṣṅa is embracing Rādhārāṅī or the gopīs," we shall mistake. Because unless our senses are purified, we shall accept Kṛṣṅa and Rādhārāṅī as ordinary young boy or girl and their dealings. But actually it is not. It is pure.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta-kar has distinguished that the loving affairs of the gopīs with Kṛṣṅa and ordinary, these lustful dealings of human beings, there is a gulf of difference. He compared that the gopīs' love with Kṛṣṅa is gold, and our so-called love here is iron. As there is difference between gold and iron, similarly there is difference between the loving affairs of gopīs with Kṛṣṅa and these mundane, so-called lusty affairs between man and women or boys and girls. It is never equal.

Therefore, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi na bhaved... [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234].

[No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṅa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.]

These present senses, these impure senses, contaminated senses, cannot understand Kṛṣṅa; therefore we should follow this principle: sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. First of all, engage chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa. There is Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa. Hara is Rādhā, and Kṛṣṅa there is. But don't try to understand by the present senses, but simply chant Their holy name, Hare Kṛṣṅa. Then ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

When your the dust on the mirror of your heart will be cleansed, and it will cleanse by simply chanting, ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam, and there will be no more any material condition...

That is the next stage. If you chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra without any offense, then immediately the stage will be that you are freed from all material anxieties. That is the test. How I am advancing in chanting will be tested how far you are free from material anxieties. That's all. Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-māha-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam [Cc Antya 20.12]. Then real life begins. So long you are perturbed by material disturbances, you should know that your spiritual life has not begun.

This is confirmed in everywhere. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati [Bg 18.54].

[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.]

Prasannātmā. Bhagavad-gītā says, "When one is Brahman realized..." Brahman realized means one who understands that "I am not this body. I am pure spirit soul, eternal servitor of Kṛṣṅa." Simply understanding that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul," is not enough. That is not sufficient knowledge. Of course, that is good. That is just on the marginal step between matter and spirit. But you have to transcend completely this material existence and come to the platform of spiritual understanding.

So for that purpose you have to go further after Brahman realization. Brahman..., brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg 18.54]. If you are actually Brahman realized, the symptom will be that you are always joyful, no anxiety. Anxiety, why an...? Everything is very nicely discussed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād [SB 11.2.37].

[Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called māyā. Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul.]

When you forget Kṛṣṅa, or God, and if we think there is something else than Kṛṣṅa, then we are afraid. And those who are convinced and realized souls that there is nothing but Kṛṣṅa, where is the cause of fearfulness?

Therefore those who are pure devotees, they are not disturbed even in most distressed condition of life. What they think? They think, tat te 'nukampāṁ: "My Lord, it is Your great mercy that You have put me into this distressed condition." Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṅaḥ [SB 10.14.8].

[My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.]

So in the distressed condition, the devotees take it an opportunity that "I have got a very nice opportunity to remember God constantly. Kṛṣṅa, You are so kind that You have given me this distressed condition."

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness is very nice. If we try to make progress on this line, we'll feel even... Yasmin sthite guruṅāpi duḥkhena na vicālyate [Bg 6.20-23].

[In the stage of perfection called trance, or samādhi, one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This perfection is characterized by one's ability to see the Self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the Self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness, realized through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of the greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.]

Bhagavad-gītā says if one is situated in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, even in the terrible situation, fearful situation, he is not afraid. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. You see? Prahlāda Mahārāja, a five-years-old boy, his father tortured him like anything. But he was not afraid. He was not afraid. This is the Kṛṣṅa consciousness state. The boy is not afraid. Even in such tortured condition, when his father challenged him, "Prahlāda, with whose strength you are so powerful that you do not care for me?" he immediately answered, "My dear father, by whose power you are talking like that?"

So Kṛṣṅa consciousness is so nice that even one is put into the terrible condition of distress, he is not perturbed. Nārāyaṅa-parāḥ sarve... There are many verses like that. We can quote hundreds. Nārāyaṅa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati [SB 6.17.28].

[Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṅa, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord.]

If one becomes Kṛṣṅa conscious, he is not afraid, any condition of life. Na kutaścana bibhyati. Svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api. If he is put into the hell or in heaven or in spiritual world or any world, he is happy. Tulyārtha-darśinaḥ. He thinks everything is all the same. "Either you put me in the hell or heaven or this or that, [it] is all the same." Because he is always with Kṛṣṅa, chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is always with him. So where is the cause of being afraid that "This place is not good; this place is very good"? No. Wherever Kṛṣṅa is there is very good. That's all.

So we have to practice and train the tongue very nicely. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234].

[No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṅa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.]

And the more our tongue is engaged in the loving service of Kṛṣṅa... It is very nice service. You simply chant and eat Kṛṣṅa prasādam. Is it very difficult service? Everyone will accept, "Oh, yes." But unfortunately, everyone does not accept. [laughter] [chuckles] You see? Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore says, etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi [Śikṣāṣṭaka 2]:

[O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of transcendental names, such as Kṛṣṅa and Govinda, in which You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are no hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O My Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.]

"My dear Lord, You are so kind that You have approached me in..., by transcendental sound. Or You are always with me." You can be. If I take, then Kṛṣṅa is always with me. If I reject, then... That is the ignora... "Kṛṣṅa is everywhere" means as soon as we accept, Kṛṣṅa is immediately with us. And as soon as we reject, oh, He is far, far away. So Kṛṣṅa can be with us very easily simply by this chanting or engaging the tongue in His service.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended this process, or He inaugurated this process in this age. Although it is not new system, but He especially introduced, because His incarnation is to reclaim the fallen souls of this age...

[break] ...before advent of Kṛṣṅa he's simply planning, "As soon as Kṛṣṅa will take birth, I will kill him." This is the plan of the demons, to kill God. Atheism. "God is dead." That is also killing, one sort of killing. "There is no God," "I am God." These are all different processes of trying to kill. But God is never killed. Rather, they are killed. That is the whole history, everywhere.

Guest: I don't follow. Is it...? Whose choice, whose complete choice is it to be a demon? Is it the living entity's choice, complete choice, to be demonic, against God, or is it a part of Kṛṣṅa's energy to put demons, or to have created him that way?

Prabhupāda: No...

Guest: Is it completely each individual's choice to be demonic, or...?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Demon means when he is forgotten, when has lost his sense, that is demon. When has lost his sense, that is demon. Demon means māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ [Bg 7.15].

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

Māyā, by the influence of māyā, the true aspect of knowledge is taken away. Anyone who is trying to establish it that "There is no God," he is demon. That's all. There are so many philosophers, so many atheists, so many scientists, their only business is to deny God. They are demons. Yes.

Guest: Then is there individual complete choice?

Prabhupāda: That is ignorance. Yes. Apahṛta-jñānāḥ means just like a madman. For the time being, his natural knowledge is taken away. Crazy. What do we mean by crazy? For the time being, his knowledge is taken away. Similarly, when a living entity is in that position, as somebody has taken away his knowledge, that is demonic condition. But he can reestablished again in knowledge. Just like a crazy man is sent, mental disorder, to hospital for treatment; again he comes as a sane man. Similarly, the demons are just like crazy men. Even they are treated with Kṛṣṅa consciousness, they can be reverted to their own position.

This is temporary. This demoniac nature is temporary due to the contact with māyā. Therefore the whole business is how to get out of the clutches of māyā. Then there is no more demonic nature. It is artificial, superficial. It comes and goes. As it comes artificially, so it can go also. And the driving method is this Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Hmm.

Guest: So māyā is temporary, and the only thing that is eternal is Kṛṣṅa and the spiritual energies.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Spiritual energy. That is eternal. That is eternal. So we are... Due to our ignorance, we have been very much serious with the temporary situation of māyā and we have forgotten the eternal position. This is our present conditional life. Now this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement means His treatment to reclaim the living entity from the clutches of māyā. Then he is situated in his natural position.

[break] Apavitraḥ pavitro vā. One may be in impure condition and one may be in pure condition. Sarvāvasthām, in all conditions. Avastha means all condition. Gato 'pi vā, situated, in any condition situated; yaḥ, anybody; smaret, remembers; puṅḍarīkākṣam. Puṅḍarīkākṣam means "the Lord, whose eyes are like the lotus petal." Lotus eyes. Puṅḍarīkākṣam. Sa, that person becomes; sa bahyābhyantaram. Bahya means externally, and abhyantara means internally. Bahyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ. Śuciḥ means purified.

Another śuci means brāhmaṅa. A brāhmaṅa is called śuci. A brāhmaṅa means a purified person. Not that by birth one becomes pure. No. The purificatory process. There are purificatory processes. Just like in infectious condition, those who are vaccinated, given injection, he is supposed to be purified. He cannot be attacked or infected by the disease. Similarly, in spiritual life also one has to remain purified. The whole process, this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, is to purify the people in general from the contaminated condition of material existence. Purifying. It is purifying process.

A living entity by nature is pure because he is part and parcel of the Supreme Pure, God. But due to his impure condition, he has forgotten his eternal relationship with God. So this initiation means that one is being accepted as student by the spiritual master to promote him gradually to the purified state, where he can realize himself and God. This is the whole process.

In contaminated state we cannot approach. I have given this example many times. Just like if you want to enter into certain place, then you must be adjusted with the conditions. Just like people are going to the moon planet. There it is supposed to be it is very cold. So people go with a certain type of dress by adjusting.

Similarly, if you want to enter into the spiritual kingdom, the abode, the planet where Kṛṣṅa lives, so you must be purified, adjust yourself. Not only to the spiritual kingdom of Kṛṣṅa—any planet you want to enter, you must adjust yourself in that way. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā,

yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ bhūtejyā yānti bhūtāni mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām [Bg 9.25]

[Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.]

If you adjust yourself, then you can go to the higher planetary system. Deva-vratā devān. Devān means the planetary system or the different planets where demigods are living. Just like this moon planet. This moon planet is also another planet of the demigod Candra. I do not know the modern expedition for going to the moon planet, how far it will be successful. I think it cannot be successful. According to Vedic literature, it cannot be successful, because people cannot adjust to enter that planet. One has to adjust, make the bodily condition in that way, so that one can live there.

In this planet also, there are different climates. In India the climate is different, and your Western country, the climate is different. So when one comes to the Western country, he also adjusts with different coats and shirts. In India we can remain naked body practically throughout the whole year, but you cannot live here. So there is adjustment.

So this adjustment, the Bhagavad-gītā says, mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām [Bg 9.25]: "Those who have adjusted themselves to come to Me, he can come." There is no obstruction. So this initiation process, this Kṛṣṅa consciousness, means to adjust your condition so that after leaving this body, you can enter into the planet where Kṛṣṅa lives. These things are very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama [Bg 15.6]: "That supreme abode, where entering, one does not come back again to this material world, that is My supreme abode."

There is...

na yatra bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama [Bg 15.6]

[That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.]

These kind are explained. In that spiritual kingdom there is no need of sunshine, there is no need of moonshine, there is no need of electricity. And one who goes there, he does not come back. He lives there eternally, blissful life of knowledge.

So the initiation process means to give the conditioned soul a chance. This chance can be available in this human form of life. The cats and dogs, they cannot take chance of entering into the spiritual kingdom, or they cannot... It is not possible they can take initiation for purifying the body. So everybody, every human being, should take advantage of this form of life, human form of life, and cultivate this Kṛṣṅa consciousness. And it is very simple, and easy also. For this age, Lord..., by the grace of Lord Caitanya, we have got very easy method: simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa.

This mantra also which we uttered just now, it is said, yaḥ smaret puṅḍarīkākṣam: "Anyone who remembers puṅḍarīkākṣam, Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, immediately he becomes purified." Śuci. Śuci. Śuci means purified. Śrī viṣṅu śrī viṣṅu śrī viṣṅu. Three times. So the Kṛṣṅa and Viṣṅu is the same thing. Kṛṣṅa is the original person of all viṣṅu-tattva.

So anyone who is keeping himself always in touch with the vibration of Kṛṣṅa consciousness—Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—that is the only, I mean to say, guaranteed platform where you can keep yourself purified without any material contamination. And in this purified state, if we can leave this body ultimately, then there is no doubt we enter into the supreme abode of the Personality of Godhead. These things are very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, and you read carefully.

This initiation does not mean... Of course, this chanting will save you, only chanting. But if you read some literatures also, and the philosophy also, then it will be more and more convincing that you are making progress. And in the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā you will find that this is the process by which you can understand practically whether you are making actually progress in spiritual life. Pratyakṣam avagamaṁ dharmyam [Bg 9.2].

[This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.]

This bhakti-yoga system is so nice that one can directly understand how he is making progress, and very quickly. That's a fact. All of our students who have taken to this process, within very short time they are realizing that actually they are making some progress. Therefore they are sticking to the principles and going on.

So my request to you all who are going to be initiated, that you keep always yourself in contact with this chanting, and that will make you, I mean to say, able to be always purified, śuci. Material contamination cannot... And you avoid these four principles: illicit sex life, meat-eating, intoxication of all description. Intoxication does not mean simply liquor.

Intoxication means even tea-drinking. Tea is also intoxication, in slight degree. Tea, coffee, cigarette—everything should be avoided. In India they chew pān. So these things are to be give up, intoxication group, and meat-eating group. Then you make very quickly progress, and by the grace of Kṛṣṅa, 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.]

After leaving this body, one hasn't got to take another material body and suffer. So long we have got this material body, we have to suffer the material pangs. There cannot be any adjustment. So if anyone is serious for ending all troubles... Everyone wants to live peacefully and happily. That is natural, because spirit soul is ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt [Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12]: by nature joyful.

[By nature, the Supreme Lord is blissful.]

He wants to keep himself joyful, but he does not know how eternal joyful life can be attained. That is spiritual life. You cannot become joyful by material adjustment. No. You may be joyful for the time being by drinking or by intoxication, but how long? So long the intoxication influence is there, you may feel something. That is artificially. But that is not actually the state of joyfulness. A real state of joyfulness is to be situated in spiritual life, and when you [are] actually in the spiritual kingdom, then you become sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs 5.1], eternal life, joyful life, blissful life, with full knowledge.

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

So on behalf of Kṛṣṅa, we are trying to distribute this knowledge at least in this part of the world. Now, those who are fortunate, they will take it and be benefited. Our business is to distribute. Now it is up to you. Every individual soul is independent. He may accept or may not accept. That depends on him. But if he accepts, it is good for him. Otherwise, he may make his choice. Kṛṣṅa never..., God never interferes with your independence. No. He will never do that. Then what is the meaning of living being? The dull matter, it has no independence. Even it is a big mountain or big thing, it has no independence. It will stand still. But a small ant, even a microbe, it has got independence, because it is living creature.

So God has made you or given you little independence. That independence does not mean that you shall misuse it. You shall use it properly. And what is that proper use? To be engaged in His loving service. Just like you citizens of this German state, what you are meant for? You are meant for rendering service to the state. Similarly, the whole... This is a small state. America is a small... Or this planet is a small state. But there is a huge state which is called the cosmic manifestation. That state belongs to Kṛṣṅa, or God.

So naturally, you have to render service to the supreme state, supreme will. Then it is all right. Your independence is there. So long you are rendering service to the state properly, your independence as citizen is there. But as soon as you rebel against the state, your independence is gone. Similarly, our this conditioned life is due to our rebellious condition towards God. And as soon as we agree surrender and be one with Him by transcendental loving service, the whole thing becomes adjusted.

So Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement means to teach people and to give them practical suggestion and help to come to that stage those who are fortunate they'll take advantage of it otherwise we shall of course go on canvassing for this business. That's all. [end]