Lecture at Māgha-melā

Devotee: At the government camp, Māgha-melā, January 30th, 1971.

Prabhupāda:

[break] ....āna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave-namaḥ

[I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance.]

śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam

[When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?"]

he kṛṣṅa karuṅā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te

[O my dear Kṛṣṅa, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherd men and the lover of the gopīs, especially Rādhārāṅī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.]

tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgi rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari vṛṣabhānu-sute devī praṅamāmi hari-priye

[I offer my respects to Rādhārāṅī, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndāvana. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṅa.]

hare kṛṣṅa, hare kṛṣṅa kṛṣṅa kṛṣṅa, hare hare hare rāma, hare rāma rāma rāma, hare hare

[My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service.]

Ladies and Gentlemen, my previous speaker, Swami Rāghavānandajī, has explained to you about Kṛṣṅa consciousness very thoughtly, and it is very nice. And next speaker, my assistant, Śrīmān Haṁsadūta dāsa Adhikārī, he has explained before you about our activities and our publications.

Actually, this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is the prime necessity of the present age, because we understand from Vedic scriptures that,

bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥśāstraṁ japas tapaḥ kriyā aprāṅasya hi dehasya maṅḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam [Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 3.11]

[A person who has the pure characteristics of a brāhmaṅa due to devotional service, which is like a blazing fire burning to ashes all the sinful reactions of past lives, is certainly saved from the consequences of sinful acts, such as taking birth in a lower family. Even though he may be born in a family of dog-eaters, he is recognized by learned scholars. However, although a person may be a learned scholar in Vedic knowledge, he is not recognized if he is an atheist.]

We have attained independence. Not only we; practically all the people of the world, they have attained so-called independence. But there is no independence. The independence we are searching after, according to our Vedic conception, it is farce, because we are servant of the material nature.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni guṅaiḥ karmāṅi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate [Bg 3.27]

[The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.]

We are simply being pulled up and down by our ear by the prakṛti. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said real independence is,

mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg 7.14]

[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.]

If we want actual independence, what is this independence? Suppose I am now prime minister. But after my death I am no longer prime minister. I am the servant of material nature. By the law of material nature I will be enforced to accept a kind of body which may be better than prime minister or lower than prime minister.

That can be seen by the intelligent person, as Swāmījī has spoken. Only those who are actually in knowledge, they can see where this man is passing. So… But we want independence; that’s a fact. But that independence cannot be attained in this way.

This place is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam. Kṛṣṅa says,

mām upetya kaunteya duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam nāpnuvanti... [Bg 8.15]

[After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.]

This place is full of miseries, threefold miseries. And our problem is how to get independence from the four principles of miserable condition:

janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi- duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam [Bg 13.9]

[Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.]

Those who are intelligent persons, they will see that however I may make my life comfortable by material ways and science, these four things—the troubles of taking birth, the troubles of dying, the troubles of old age and troubles of diseased condition of life—that cannot be solved. That can be solved only by understanding Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā,

janma karma me divyam ye jānāti tattvataḥ 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 want to get freedom from the laws of material nature, then the only process is to understand Kṛṣṅa. You simply try to concentrate your mind on Kṛṣṅa and try to understand Kṛṣṅa. And he is the greatest yogī who simply is trying to understand Kṛṣṅa, thinking of Kṛṣṅa—sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravinda—as Mahārāja Ambarīṣa did, always. This is possible. It is not impossible. Just like Arjuna was advised, yudhyasvamām mam anusmara [Bg 8.7]:

[Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṅa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.]

"You go on fighting, at the same time go on remembering Me." That is possible.

Therefore, this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, how to think of Kṛṣṅa always, that is also instructed in the Vedic literature, Bṛhad Nāradīya Purāṅa:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā [Cc Ādi 17.21]

[In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.]

So our this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is that we are trying to place before the world that there is God, and God is one, and that is Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28].

[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]

Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ [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.]

These are the verdict of Vedas. And, so far our country is concerned, all the ācāryas, including Śaṅkarācārya… There are two sects in India: the Māyāvādī sect and the Vaiṣṅava sect.

All the Vaiṣṅava ācāryas, like Śrī Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, Viṣṅu Svāmī, all of them are Kṛṣṅa worshipers. And the Śaṅkara-sampradāya, they are also Kṛṣṅa sampradāya, but not so seriously as the Vaiṣṅavas. But Śaṅkarācārya has accepted, sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṅa.

So, so far we are concerned, followers of the Vedas and the ācāryas, everyone accepts Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And Kṛṣṅa’s book, the Bhagavad-gītā, because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is accepted all over the world.

There are thousands of editions of Bhagavad-gītā—not only in America; in Europe, in France, in German, in Japan. I have seen all of them. But because they do not follow the principles of ācārya upāsanā, they have commented in a different way. And our this movement is based on the Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any malinterpretation.

Malinterpretation will not help you to understand what is Bhagavad-gītā. As Śrīmān Haṁsadūta has said, just to understand Bhagavad-gītā, one has to become a devotee of Kṛṣṅa; otherwise there is no scope of understanding. Because in the beginning the Lord says that "This system of disciplic chain of succession is now broken. Therefore I am speaking the same yoga system, Bhagavad-gītā, unto you, Arjuna."

But Arjuna was a warrior; he was a soldier, fighter. He was not expected to be a great Vedāntist or Vedic scholar in Vedic literature. That is [indistinct]. Besides that, neither he was a brāhmaṅa; he was a kṣatriya. And he still… Why Kṛṣṅa insisted that "I shall speak to you this lost yoga system of Bhagavad-gītā"? That is explained by Kṛṣṅa: bhakto 'si, priyo 'si me [Bg 4.3],

[That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science.]

"Because you are My dear friend, and you are a devotee."

So…, and Arjuna, how did you understand Kṛṣṅa at the end of hearing Bhagavad-gītā from Him? He says,

paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [Bg 10.12]

[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]

"You are paraṁ brahma." Every one of us, being part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, we are brahma. That is nice. But we are not paraṁ brahma. Paraṁ brahma is Kṛṣṅa. Every one of us īśvaras. Īśvara means controller. Just like some of you are here, coming tonight, magistrates, judges, you are controller; but you are not supreme controller. In this way go on finding out who is the supreme controller. Supreme controller means one who hasn't got to obey others' order. He is supreme controller. Otherwise, everyone may be controller, but he has to obey the orders of a superior.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa's name is Asamordhva. There is nobody equal to Him, nobody greater than Him. Everyone is servant of Him. That is explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta: ekale īśvara kṛṣṅa, āra saba bhṛtya [Cc Ādi 5.142].

[Lord Kṛṣṅa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.]

Only the supreme master, controller, is Kṛṣṅa, and everyone is servant. Our position is servant. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṅera 'nitya-dāsa' [Cc Madhya 20.108].

[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 with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṅa has three varieties of energy.]

Because we are part of parcel of Kṛṣṅa, it is our duty to serve Kṛṣṅa. That is our healthy condition. Just like the part and parcel of your body—take for example, your finger. If this finger does not serve your body, it is in diseased condition; it has to be treated. And when it is actually in healthy condition, it is always serving your body. Similarly, the constitutional position of living entity is to serve God. And who is God? Kṛṣṅa.

Mukti means to be situated in his own constitutional position. That is explained in the Bhagavad..., Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ [SB 2.10.6]

[The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Mahā-Viṣṅu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.]

When a person, a living entity, situated in his own constitutional position, that is called mukti. Mukti does not mean anything else. People are trying for mukti. That mukti can be attained here also, when you are living in this material body, simply by serving Kṛṣṅa. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena yah sevate sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg 14.26]

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

Anyone who is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṅa, he is mukta. He is liberated already. He hasn't got to search out for mukti. Just like Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura says, muktiḥ mukulitāñjali sevate asmān. Those who are actually pure devotee, mukti is standing with folded hands, "What can I do for you?" That is the position of a devotee.

So we are teaching this pure devotional service to Kṛṣṅa all over the world, and they are accepting it. So there is very, very big prospect for spreading this movement, and it is our duty, Indians… Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra [Cc Ādi 9.41]

[One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.]

Anyone who has taken his birth as a human being, he should first of all rectify his own life by understanding all these Vedic literature. They are required. That is also stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta:

anādi-bahirmukha jīva kṛṣṅa bhuli’ gela ataeva kṛṣṅa veda purāṅa kaile [Cc Madhya 20.117]

[Forgetting Kṛṣṅa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy [māyā] gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence.]

This Vedas and the Purāṅas and the Mahābhārata is simply to understand Kṛṣṅa. Just like Swāmījī says,

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo [Bg 15.15]

[I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.]

That is the purpose of the Vedas: to understand Kṛṣṅa. Vedas have no other purpose—simply to understand Kṛṣṅa.

So this science, this propaganda, this Kṛṣṅa consciousness, we are spreading all over the world. They are being accepted. It is done simply by one personality… Therefore…, but if you all join, if you make a scientific program to preach this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement all over the world, then one day we will see that people will be very much obliged to India.

They will think that "We have got something from India." Now India is begging only, from the foreign countries: "Give me money, give me rice, give me wheat, give me soldiers." But this movement, when we have taken to them, there is no question of begging from them—it is to give them. Just try to give something. That is my request.

Thank you very much.

[Devotees offering obeisances] [end]