Paṅḍāl Lecture

Prabhupāda: [Sings Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava] [prema-dhvani] [devotees offer obeisances]

[04:53]

Śyāmasundara: Would everyone kindly, at this time, be seated. Please move back and sit down, everyone, please. Thank you. Please, everyone sit down. Everyone would like to hear the transcendental words of His Divine Grace.

Those who are standing are blocking the way of at least five other people. All of those who are sitting, move back, please move back, so everyone can see and hear His Divine Grace. Please. Everyone be seated, all of these people.

Prabhupāda: [chants maṅgalācaraṅa prayers]

om ajñāna-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 devi 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.]

vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca kripa-sindhubhya eva ca patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namah

[I offer respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, who can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.]

śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

[I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.]

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.]

[06:42]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your participating in this meeting, Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. This Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is very much authorized. It is nothing like concocted mental speculation. It is authorized on the basis of Vedic knowledge, specifically, directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṅa, five thousand years ago when there was no history of other religion. In the modern age, any religion you can take into consideration, they are not older than 2,600 years. But so far this Bhagavad-gītā is concerned, it was spoken in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra five thousand years ago.

We should consider what were the religion of the world 2,600 years ago, because modern history cannot place before you any chronological list of religious evolution within 2,600 years. There was human society before 2,600 years. And what was their religion? We think, from Vedic evidences, the whole world was in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. There was one God: Kṛṣṅa; one scripture: Bhagavad-gītā; one consciousness: Kṛṣṅa consciousness; and one work: service of the Lord.

From Mahābhārata, the great history of India, we can understand that up to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the whole world was ruled by one flag, this Vedic culture. Gradually it deteriorated, as we have practical experience. Twenty years ago there was no Pakistan, but now Pakistan is existing. Similarly, the whole planet was known as Bhārata-varṣa. This Bhārata-varṣa name was after the king Mahārāja Bharata, the son of Ṛṣabhadeva. Before that, this planet was known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa. And after the king Mahārāja Bharata—he was a great king—he also left his kingdom at the age of twenty-four years, very young boy, for searching after spiritual realization, self-realization.

That is the way of Vedic culture, or Indian culture. Not that up to the last point of our death we shall stick to the worldly affairs. The Vedic culture divides the whole society into four social orders and four spiritual orders. The four social orders is division of intelligence. The most intelligent class of men are called the brāhmaṅas. And next than the brāhmaṅas are the kṣatriyas. It is all calculated on the basis of intelligence. There are different kinds of people all over the world on account of more or less intelligence.

So brāhmaṅa means the most intelligent class of men—the scientists, the poets, the philosophers, like that. The religionists, they are called brāhmaṅas. And the administrator class is called the kṣatriyas, and the productive class are called the vaiśyas, and the laborer class, or the working class, is called the śūdra. That is natural division.

In the Bhagavad-gītā... We are trying to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Our this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is to preach Bhagavad-gītā. We have not invented something, but we are preaching Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any malinterpretation. Therefore, because we are presenting pure Bhagavad-gītā, people are accepting it very quickly. Unfortunately, before this, in the Western countries there was so many translation of Bhagavad-gītā, but everyone's attempt is to make Kṛṣṅa minus Bhagavad-gītā. They are commenting Bhagavad-gītā without Kṛṣṅa; kingdom of God without God. That is their attempt. But we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is.

In the Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṅa. We are presenting in that way. We are presenting Kṛṣṅa in the Western world. When I first went there, the people were saying, "God is dead," exactly in the same way as in our country also. We have been misled by so-called leaders. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ. There is a statement in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,

na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ [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.]

But actually we are misled by the so-called blind leaders. They have no vision what is the actual goal of life. Not only in a particular country; everywhere the same mischief is going on. Therefore, as a blind man, if he leads other blind men, there will be catastrophe, similarly, because we are led by blind men, the whole world is in catastrophe. Nobody is in peace. Everyone is unsatisfied in spite of so much material education, advancement of material education, because the missing point is Viṣṅu. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅum [SB 7.5.31].

So the Vedic literatures, the Vedic civilization, is pointing out to Viṣṅu. As you know in the Ṛg mantra, Ṛg Veda: tad viṣṅuṁ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ. Those who are actually intelligent, brāhmaṅas, they are looking after self-realization, making the target on the Supreme Lord, Viṣṅu. That is the missing point. In the Bhagavad-gītā we are taught by the Lord Himself to give us enlightenment, what is the aim of life. That aim of life the Lord Kṛṣṅa Himself says in the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [Bg 15.15]. The ultimate target of life is to understand Kṛṣṅa. That is Bhagavad-gītā's teaching. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam.

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaṁ vedānta-vid vedānta-kṛd cāham [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.]

Unfortunately, we do not understand or do not try to understand or do not like to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. If we try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then we have to accept a certain prescribed process. Not that because one is very erudite scholar academically, because one has got some degrees of the university he will be able to understand Bhagavad-gītā. It is not like that. Even a very layman, illiterate man, without any understanding of the Vedas, if he is a devotee, he can understand Bhagavad-gītā, whereas a person, very erudite scholar, with reputation, he cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā.

I shall cite one example when Lord Caitanya was traveling in the South India. When He was in the Raṅganātha temple of South India, one brāhmaṅa was reading Bhagavad-gītā, and his friends and neighbors knew that the brāhmaṅa was illiterate. He could not know even what is written there, but still he was trying to read Bhagavad-gītā. So some of his friends were criticizing him: "Hello, brāhmaṅa. How you are reading Bhagavad-gītā?" He knew that "They are criticizing," so he remained silent.

But Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw that he was reading Bhagavad-gītā with transcendental ecstasy. He therefore approached him, "My dear brāhmaṅa, what you are reading?" The brāhmaṅa could understand that this gentleman, or this sannyāsī—Caitanya Mahāprabhu at that time was a sannyāsī—He was not joking; he was serious. So he informed Him, "My dear Sir, I am reading Bhagavad-gītā, but I am illiterate. My Guru Mahārāja asked me to Bhagavad-gītā..., to read Bhagavad-gītā a few chapters daily, although he knew that I am illiterate. So I am trying to read Bhagavad-gītā, but I cannot actually read it."

But Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "But I sometimes see that you are in full ecstasy, and sometimes you are crying." He said, "Yes, Sir. I feel some ecstasy." "What is that?" He said that "As soon as I take this Bhagavad-gītā in my hand I feel that Kṛṣṅa is the chariot driver of Arjuna. So I feel that how Kṛṣṅa is kind, that He has accepted a menial service of His devotee.

He is driving the chariot, and Arjuna is ordering Him, senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me 'cyuta [Bg 1.21]:

[Arjuna said: O infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see who is present here, who is desirous of fighting, and with whom I must contend in this great battle attempt.]

'My dear Kṛṣṅa, Acyuta, please put up my chariot between the two soldiers.' And He is carrying out the order. So when I see that Kṛṣṅa is so kind that He can become an order-carrier of His devotee, that is giving me feeling, and I am therefore crying." Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately embraced him and said, "My dear brāhmaṅa, you are actually reading Bhagavad-gītā."

That is the fact. If after reading Bhagavad-gītā we do not realize what is Kṛṣṅa, what is our relationship with Kṛṣṅa, what is our duty towards Kṛṣṅa and what is the ultimate goal of life, then it is useless study. It has no meaning. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṅa prescribed it, how to read Bhagavad-gītā. Don't try to read Bhagavad-gītā made by some commentator who has no knowledge of Kṛṣṅa. One who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, he has no business to comment on the Bhagavad-gītā. That is the purport stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.

You'll find in the Fourth Chapter, Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṅa says to Arjuna,

imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam vivasvān manave prāhur manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt [Bg 4.1]

[The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.]

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ sa kāleneha [mahatā] yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa [Bg 4.2]

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

So Kṛṣṅa said to Arjuna, "My dear Arjuna, this Bhagavad-gītā was first spoken by Me to the sun-god, Vivasvān. Vivasvān spoke to his son, Manu. And Manu, by his turn, spoke to his son Mahārāja Ikṣvāku." So if you take the history of Manu, then it becomes 400,000's millions of years ago Bhagavad-gītā was spoken.

So Bhagavad-gītā is not a new thing. If we accept Bhagavad-gītā as it is, if we believe in the words of Bhagavad-gītā, or Kṛṣṅa, then Bhagavad-gītā is the oldest. It is not a new thing. It was long, long ago spoken to the sun-god Vivasvān. The sun-god, the president or the predominating Deity in the sun planet, is known as Vivasvān.

So we have to study Bhagavad-gītā as it is by the paramparā system, as Śrī Kṛṣṅa says, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam. Not that whimsically somebody purchases a book from the market and takes his pleasure to make an interpretation of his own intelligence. Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by Kṛṣṅa. He did not leave it for being interpreted by an ordinary man.

There is no need of explaining Bhagavad-gītā in a different way. Just like in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā we understand the statements very clearly:

dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ māmakāḥ pāṅḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya [Bg 1.1]

[Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: O Sañjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukṣetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pāṅḍu do, being desirous to fight?]

The meaning is very clear. Dharma-kṣetre: the land of pilgrimage, the holy land of pilgrimage; kuru-kṣetre: the land which is known as Kurukṣetra. It is not fictitious; it is actual fact. Still there is Kurukṣetra, and people go there to perform religious ritualistic ceremonies. And in the Vedas it is written clearly, dharma..., kurukṣetre dharmam ācaret. That is the statement of the Vedas. So from time immemorial this Kurukṣetra, land of Kurukṣetra, is known as dharma-kṣetra. So what is the difficulty to understand dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre? There is no difficulty.

Unfortunately, some unscrupulous commentator says that "Kurukṣetra means this body." Where is the chance of interpreting like that, "Kuru-kṣetre is meaning 'body' "? In no dictionary you will find that kuru-kṣetra is meant by body. Neither there is any chance. Interpretation is required when you cannot understand the word very clearly. In that case you can interpret.

Just like the example is gaṅgāyāṁ ghoṣapali: "There is a neighborhood which is known as ghoṣapali on the Ganges." Now one may question how on the Ganges—Ganges is water—there can be a neighborhood? Then you can interpret that "It is not on the Ganges water, but it is on the bank of the Ganges." There there is chance of interpretation. But when you can clearly understand that "The thing is like this: Kurukṣetra is a place, and that is a place of pilgrimage," why should you interpret that Kurukṣetra means the body? In this way Bhagavad-gītā is being misinterpreted.

In the Ninth Chapter, when Kṛṣṅa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 9.34], one great commentator, very erudite scholar, he says, "It is not to Kṛṣṅa; it is to the unborn principle which is within Kṛṣṅa." But he does not know what is Kṛṣṅa, and he has the audacity to comment on the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṅa is not different from within and without. Kṛṣṅa, being absolute, there is no such difference. As we have got difference, I, the spirit soul, is different from my body, but Kṛṣṅa is not like that. There is no such difference that Kṛṣṅa's soul and Kṛṣṅa's body. Kṛṣṅa is complete whole, pūrṅa. There is no such difference. The person who does not know what is Kṛṣṅa, if he tries to comment upon the transcendental knowledge imparted by Kṛṣṅa, that is simply impudent.

So in this way, if we try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then we become liberated, we become a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, we become fully Kṛṣṅa conscious. That is the objective of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṅa therefore says, "Arjuna, I am trying to deliver this knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā unto you because you are My devotee." Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam [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.]

"Without you, nobody can understand what is the mystery of this Bhagavad-gītā knowledge."

Therefore we should understand that Bhagavad-gītā is meant for a person who is a devotee and dear to Kṛṣṅa, not for the demons, who are against Kṛṣṅa. The demons are trying to kill Kṛṣṅa. Just like Kaṁsa: his only business is making plan how to kill Kṛṣṅa. Just like Rāvaṅa: his only business is how to kill Lord Rāma. So there are two classes of men. One class of men is called demigod, devatā, and the other class is called demon. And who is demon and who is devatā? Viṣṅu-bhakto bhaved deva āsuras tad-viparyayaḥ. One who is devotee of Lord Viṣṅu, he is called deva, demigod. All the demigods like Sūrya, Candra, Indra and many others, they are all appointed servants of Kṛṣṅa.

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, therefore, it is said,

ekale īśvara kṛṣṅa āra saba bhṛtya yāre yaiche nācāya se taiche kare nṛtya [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.]

Very simple language: "The only master, only īśvara, parameśvara, is Kṛṣṅa." That is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā also:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam [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.]

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also it is confirmed, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ 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.]

Even Śaṅkarācārya, whom we call impersonalist, he has accepted in his comment on Bhagavad-gītā that "Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead appearing as the son of Devakī and Vasudeva." Similarly, all other ācāryas—Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṅu Svāmī, Nimbārka and, lately, Caitanya Mahāprabhu... Of course, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is both ācārya and Kṛṣṅa Himself. Apart from His being Kṛṣṅa, if we take the part which He played as ācārya, that is, He also accepts Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeṣa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛndāvanam [Caitanya-mañjusā].

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is to be worshiped along with His transcendental abode, Vṛndāvana. The most pleasing form of worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopīs of Vṛndāvaṅa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless authority on everything, and pure love of God is the ultimate goal of life for all men. These statements, for which we have the highest regard, are the opinion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.]

So we have to follow the ācāryas, not these casual interpretations, interpreters, to understand Bhagavad-gītā. Then we will be misled. We cannot understand. Because Kṛṣṅa says that "The mystery of Bhagavad-gītā will be understood by you because you are My very dear friend." So... "Because you are My devotee." So unless one is devotee, how one can understand Bhagavad-gītā and Kṛṣṅa? That is not possible. Kṛṣṅa says plainly in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yas cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg 18.55]:

[One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.]

"Only through devotional service one can understand." Although Kṛṣṅa has explained in the Bhagavad-gītā jñāna, yoga, karma and other things, dhyāna, but He specifically recommends that simply by devotional service you can understand Him. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ.

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also, the same thing is confirmed:

evaṁ prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ bhagavat-tattva-vijñānam... [SB 1.2.20]

Bhagavat-tattva-vijñānam. It is a science. It is not a mental speculation or whimsical theorizing, that "God may be like this, God may be like that," and different philosophers will differ from one another. It is not like that. It is a great science. As two plus two equal to four, nobody can make it "Two plus two equal to five" or "Two plus two equal to three." Anywhere, science is science, fact. Similarly, Bhagavad-gītā you cannot interpret differently. Just like "Two plus two equal to five"—that cannot be. You have to accept "Two plus two equal to four."

So if you try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then you will be benefited. Our process of preaching this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is only that we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any malinterpretation. And you are practically seeing that all over the world this Bhagavad-gītā principle, Kṛṣṅa the Supreme Lord, is being accepted.

All these boys and girls who are dancing in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, four years ago, four years back, they never heard of Kṛṣṅa. Of course, some of them knew Bhagavad-gītā, because Bhagavad-gītā is very widely read. But because Bhagavad-gītā was not properly presented, although for the last hundred or two hundred or more than that years, Bhagavad-gītā is widely read all over the world, there was not a single kṛṣṅa-bhakta. But since Bhagavad-gītā is being presented as it is, within four years there are hundreds and thousands of kṛṣṅa-bhaktas.

That is our point, that you present the thing as it is, without any adulteration. Just like milk, pure milk, if you supply, automatically there will be many customers. But if you sell milk adulteration, adulterating with water, you can cheat somebody for some time, but you cannot cheat all for all the time. That is not possible.

So it is now necessary. It is India's culture. People are hankering after this culture, Kṛṣṅa culture. So you should prepare yourself to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Then India will conquer all over the world by this Kṛṣṅa culture. Be... Rest assured. We are hankering after help from others. Our government men go there in America: "Please give us wheat. Please give us money. Please give us soldiers." Simply begging business. But here is a thing which you can give to them. Simply begging does not glorify your country. Try to give something to the others, to other countries. That is the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. [applause]

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara paropakāra [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.]

We are meant for doing welfare activities to the whole world. We are not meant for exploiting. We have something to give to the whole world. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He says, "Everyone who has taken birth as a human being of this, in this country, Bhārata-varsa..." Specifically He said,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara paropakāra

Without being human being, nobody can perfect his life. Animal, they cannot make perfect his life. It is not possible. By nature they are stopped. But a human being, he can perfect his life. And especially in India there is treasure of knowledge, Vedic knowledge. Why you neglect it? And the summarized knowledge is Bhagavad-gītā.

So if we simply try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, we understand immediately the science of God. And because we are all parts and parcels of God, we are actually hankering after uniting with God. That is our seeking. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt [Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12]. God is ānandamaya, and we, being part and parcel of God, or Kṛṣṅa, we are also ānandamaya. But we are seeking ānanda in a different atmosphere, in the material atmosphere. Therefore we are being baffled. The only remedy is that you take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness and you will be happy.

So it is the duty of every Indian to understand this science. It is a science; it is not a dogma thing, bluffing thing. It is a science, and spoken by the Lord Himself, and understood by all the ācāryas. Kṛṣṅa says ācāryopāsanam. We have to understand things through the ācāryas. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.14.2].

[One who follows the disciplic succession of ācāryas knows things as they are.]

One who is not following the footsteps of the ācāryas, he cannot understand anything. Kṛṣṅa also says tad-vijñānārtham. No, Kṛṣṅa... That is said in the Kaṭhopaniṣad: tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

Kṛṣṅa says, tad viddhi praṅipātena paripraśnena sevayā [Bg 4.34].

[Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.]

So everywhere the same instruction is there, that "You approach to a person who is coming in disciplic succession," evaṁ paramparā-prāptam [Bg 4.2],

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

"and try to learn Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Your life will be sublime. Your life will be successful." That is our mission. We have given so many important books. We have got magazines. If you want to understand through intelligence and philosophy, we have got volumes of books we can deliver. You try to understand. If you simply read our book Kṛṣṅa in two parts, I am sure you will become Kṛṣṅa conscious, undoubtedly.

Or if you feel that you cannot read or you have no money to purchase book, never mind. Lord Caitanya has given you very simple path: chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. If you chant this mantra with faith and devotion, without any offense, but simply by chanting you will realize yourself, you will realize God, Kṛṣṅa, and your life will be successful.

Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam [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.]

These are the statements of Vedic literature. Simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, one can cleanse his heart of all the dirty things. And as soon as the dirty things are moved, then you become liberated. Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam: immediately the blazing fire of material existence is extinguished.

These are the processes recommended in the Vedas. We are simply preaching the authorized principles of the Vedas, and we request you all to accept it. Not accept it blindly, but take it with all your reason and intelligence. Just like Caitanya-caritāmṛta says,

caitanyera dayāra kathā karaha vicāra vicāra karile citte pābe camatkāra [Cc Ādi 8.15]

It is not that we are forcing something. By force you cannot do anything. That is artificial. That is not. But it is a fact that in everyone's heart there is Kṛṣṅa consciousness, because that is pure consciousness. Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, naturally, just like father and the son, there is an eternal relationship. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we have got eternal relationship with Kṛṣṅa. That is now covered by the dirty things of māyā. But as soon as we remove, we cleanse these dirty things from our heart, then immediately we can understand what is Kṛṣṅa and what is our relationship with spirit.

nitya-siddha kṛṣṅa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya śravaṅādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya [Hari-bhakti-vilāsa]

Everyone's heart, there is kṛṣṅa-bhakti. Otherwise, how these Europeans, Americans, Canadians, Japanese, they are taking to Kṛṣṅa consciousness? We have Muhammadans also. Many Muhammadans, they are taking to Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Therefore it is to be understood that Kṛṣṅa consciousness, or love for Kṛṣṅa, is existing in everyone's heart. It is simply to be awakened. Nothing more.

How it is awakened? Śravaṅādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya. If you simply give your aural reception to the kṛṣṅa-kathā. Kṛṣṅa-kathā means what is spoken by Kṛṣṅa, the Bhagavad-gītā, and kṛṣṅa-kathā means speeches and words which are spoken about Kṛṣṅa. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also kṛṣṅa-kathā, and Bhagavad-gītā is also kṛṣṅa-kathā. One is directly spoken by Lord Kṛṣṅa, and one is spoken by Lord..., I mean to say, Vyāsadeva, the great saint Vyāsadeva, about Kṛṣṅa. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that "You preach this kṛṣṅa-kathā to everyone, and then you become a spiritual master under My order."

So if we strictly follow these principles, if we simply say what Kṛṣṅa says, what Kṛṣṅa desires... Kṛṣṅa says, 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.]

If you cannot do anything, simply speak to your friend, "My dear friend, please surrender unto Kṛṣṅa." You surrender first of all yourself and speak to others, "Please surrender unto Kṛṣṅa." Your life becomes sublime and successful.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [applause] [end]