Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.6 Engagement

Prabhupāda:

...puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati [SB 1.2.6]

[The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.]

Yayātmā suprasīdati, or samprasīdati. Samprasīdati means samyak, fully satisfied, prasīdati. Everyone is searching after peace and tranquillity of the mind. Mind's nature…

[aside:] Why you are standing?

Mind…, mind's nature is very flickering. This accepting something and rejecting something—that is mind: saṅkalpa, vikalpa, the exact word in Sanskrit. I decide to do something, but next moment I reject it. Therefore mind is not in peace, and we are trying to be satisfied in so many ways. At last, in human form of life, we take to religious principles of life.

In the animal society there is no question of religiosity, but in the human form of life, especially civilized human society… Every society has got some form of religious principles. It doesn't matter whether it is Hinduism, Muhammadanism, Sikhism or Jewism, Christianism—there is some form of religious principles.

Everything is attempted for satisfying the yoga principles also. Yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ—by controlling the mind. Mind is also indriya, the principal sense. We have got senses, and mind is the center of all senses, indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur [Bg 3.42].

[The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.]

This body means combination of senses, but above the senses there is the mind. If the mind is disturbed, the senses cannot act. If the mind is in disorder, then the man is called mad, because he cannot use his senses properly. He cannot think properly, he cannot feel properly, neither he can act properly.

So Sūta Gosvāmī, who was speaking Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to the sages at Naimiṣāraṅya… Those who are Indians, they are well acquainted with the Naimiṣāraṅya land; it is in the Hardoi district, near Lucknow. The station, railway station, is named Nimsar, and the place is very nice for spiritual cultivation.

So that place was specially fixed up for executing religious ritualistic performances, and some thousands of years ago—at least five thousand years ago—there was a great meeting of the saintly persons in which Sūta Gosvāmī was presiding, and he is teaching to the great sages that if you want to satisfy your mind, if you want to become peaceful, then you should take to the transcendental system of religion.

There are different kinds of religions, but the prime religion is described here: yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. So far we are concerned—we are propagating Kṛṣṅa consciousness—sometimes we are put many questions about different types of religious systems. We take the advantage of this verse, that sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje.

We do not mind what kind of religion you are following—you may be a Christian, you may be a Jewish or you may be Hindu or Mussulman or any other followers of religion—but the test is whether you are advancing in the matter of loving God. Yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. Bhakti means bhaja-dhātā-sevayā[?]. When a man is engaged in service, that is called bhakti. That is man's nature—not only man's nature; that is the nature, characteristic, of all living entities: to serve.

The other day I was seeing one picture—yes, I think Mr. Pandiya's house—that a lioness is also serving the cubs. That service spirit, that is the characteristic of living entities: to render service to others, either out of love or out of sense of superiority. To render service. Any one of us who are sitting in this meeting, if we ask, "What is your prime business?" you must admit that your prime business is to serve. So this service is the characteristic of the living entity. Nobody can say that "I am not servant." He must be servant, everyone.

And Lord Caitanya says that "The prime duty of living entity is to understand that he is eternal servant of God," jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṅera 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.]

That is our real, constitutional position. We are eternal servant of God; therefore we are engaged in different types of services.

Somebody is engaged in the service of his personal self, somebody is engaged in the service of the family, somebody is engaged in the service of the society, community, nation or international, humanity. Just like in our country, Mahatma Gandhi was engaged in the service of his county. There are many great politicians, they have become great because they have rendered service to the nation or to the people. That is the nature.

So here it is defined: that is also dharma. To render service to others, that is called dharma. Dharma means dhṛ-dhātu: you cannot escape it. That is called dharma. Dharma cannot be changed. Just like water is liquid—liquidity is the characteristic, or dharma, of water. Sugar is sweet—sweetness is the characteristic, or dharma, of sugar.

Anything you take, you analyze. Just like in medicine there are herbs, different herbs, and in the British pharmacopoeia or in any pharmaceutical book, the characteristics, the chemicals, the characteristics are described there: the taste is like this, the form is like this, the reaction is like this. So these characteristics is to be understood as dharma.

The English translation of dharma, "religion," is described as "a kind of faith." But in Sanskrit dharma does not mean that. Dharma means the exact characteristic of that particular thing; that is dharma: it cannot be changed. Faith—today you are Hindu, tomorrow you can become Christian; today you are Muhammadan, tomorrow you can become a Hindu—that faith can be changed, but characteristic cannot be changed. We have to understand in that way.

So here it is described: sa vai puṁsāṁ para dharmo. That is the perfect characteristic of human being. Perfect. Sa vai puṁsāṁ para. Paraḥ means transcendental, not material. Paraḥ or varo[?]. And the material activities are called avaro[?], aparā. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā it is described: aparā, iyam. Aparā, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ: "These material elements, they are My bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā."

Bhinnā means separated—eight kinds of material energies separated. Then again it is said, apareyam. Apareyam means "inferior." These eight kinds of material gross and subtle elements are inferior energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parā [Bg 7.5]:

[Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which are all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.]

"Besides this, or beyond this, you try to understand another prakṛti, another nature, which is parā." Parā means transcendental, beyond this material conception. Here also it is said, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharma [SB 1.2.6].

[The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.]

Paro or parā, the same thing; one is masculine, one is feminine.

So here it is said dharma parā. Parā means superior. Inferior dharma and superior dharma. Inferior dharma means to serve some material purposes. Therefore in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra. Vyāsadeva says that kaitava-dharma… Kaitava means pretending, or false, or cheating. And Śrīdhara Svāmī, the great commentator on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he said, atra mokṣa-vāñchā projjhitam api nirastam[?].

Because people are very much interested in four kinds of religious principles: dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa. Dharma…, generally people go to church or temple for artha—for some material purpose—"O God, give us our daily bread." Or the Hindu goes to a temple to beg something: "You give me this." So generally people are interested for some material benefit. Why? Dharma, artha, kāma—kāma means sense gratification. "If I get some material riches, then I can satisfy my senses according to my desires." In this way there are different angles of vision of dharma.

But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is dealing with transcendental dharma—the original characteristics of the living entity. Therefore here Sūta Gosvāmī says, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo: "That is transcendental religion." What is that? Yato, "By executing which," bhaktir adhokṣaje, "one can advance his natural love for God." Everyone has got natural love for God. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is described that,

nitya-siddha kṛṣṅa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya śravaṅādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya [Cc Madhya 22.107]

[Pure love for Kṛṣṅa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.]

Nitya-siddha: it is everlasting, nitya-siddha. Kṛṣṅa-bhakti—love for God is everlasting, within everyone. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṅa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya. It is not that I practice and I get it, just like by practice one becomes drunkard, by practice one becomes smoker, by practice…, so many things. But this dharma, this paro dharma, the transcendental religion, is not achieved by practice. It is already there: nitya-siddha kṛṣṅa-bhakti.

As for example and evidence, you can see that these American boys and girls—there are thousands—they are taking to kṛṣṅa-bhakti. Four years ago they did not hear even the name of Kṛṣṅa, they did not know what is Kṛṣṅa, but now they have become pure devotees of Kṛṣṅa. It is not by practice. The practice which they were taught from the beginning of their lives—in European and American lives—that drinking, meat-eating, illicit sex, gambling, these things are not natural, but unnaturally they were taught. But as soon as they have come to the natural position—nitya-siddha, dormant, everlasting—they have given up their artificial habits.

Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate [Bg 2.59],

[The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.]

in the Bhagavad-gītā: "When a man becomes addicted to something good, he gives up bad habits." Just like a child, a boy, he plays sometimes very mischievously, but when he is grown up or he is given to the practice of study, he no more acts mischievously—he reads and writes, he goes to school and becomes sober and gentle. This is called the paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate.

You cannot by force teach something unless it is natural. So kṛṣṅa-bhakti is natural to everyone—everyone. How it is evoked? That is stated, śravaṅādi-śuddha-citte [Cc Madhya 22.107]:

[Pure love for Kṛṣṅa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.]

if you patiently give aural reception to the news of Kṛṣṅa, or God. That is the our motto of preaching.

Our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is based on this principle, to give aural reception of the message given by Kṛṣṅa or the message about Kṛṣṅa. The message given by Kṛṣṅa is Bhagavad-gītā—everyone can take this message from Kṛṣṅa; there is no hindrance. Similarly, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is message about Kṛṣṅa or Kṛṣṅa's devotees. So if you simply give aural reception to these messages of Kṛṣṅa, or God, then your dormant Kṛṣṅa consciousness becomes evoked naturally.

Therefore our process of Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, we are opening different centers all over the world just to give people the chance of hearing about Kṛṣṅa. And if he hears about Kṛṣṅa, kṛṣṅa-kirtanam… "Hear" means one should speak. I am speaking; you are hearing. So this is called śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ.

Hearing means śravaṅaṁ; and speaking, or describing, or chanting, means kīrtanaṁ. Kīrtayati iti kīrtanam. And saṅkīrtanam, saṅkīrtanam means bahubhir militvā kīrtayati iti. When we assemble together, many men, women meet together and glorify or chant or speak about Kṛṣṅa, that is called saṅkīrtanam. So kīrtanam and saṅkīrtanam.

The saṅkīrtanam is very nice in this age. Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. This is the injunction of the śāstras, that:

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṅuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt [SB 12.3.52]

[Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṅu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra.]

In the Satya-yuga people could advance in spiritual consciousness by meditation. Meditation is not very easy. It was possible in the Satya-yuga. Just like Vālmīki Muni meditated for sixty thousands of years, and he got perfection, because people would live at that time for one hundred thousands of years. So that was possible in those days. In the present age it is not possible.

Our mind is so much disturbed, and we are engaged in so many activities, that it is impossible to meditate. One or two may be able, very expert in the affairs of meditating; but for the mass of people it is not possible. So kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṅuṁ. Meditation means Viṣṅu, not something impersonal or fictitious. The yogīs, they meditate, they fix up their minds on Viṣṅu, Viṣṅu-murti—Paramātmā. So Paramātmā is Viṣṅu-murti:

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61]

[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.]

"In everyone's heart the Supreme Personality of Godhead is living." So simply we have to meditate upon Him, and then we can realize.

So that meditation was very nice, easy, possible in the Satya-yuga. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṅuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ. But in the next millennium the same thing, the same achievement, was possible by performing great sacrifices. That is also not possible, because so many tons of ghee wanted, so many tons of grains wanted to execute the Vedic sacrifices. So nobody has got money, neither ghee is available, so many. Neither yajñic brāhmaṅa is there—the priest who would execute the yajña.

The first test was how the mantras are being chanted, whether perfectly or not. That test was that an animal should be put into the fire, and if the mantra is chanted perfectly, then the same animal would come out with new life, not that… Sometimes people allege that in the yajñas animal sacrifice is there. Yes, it is there, but not for the purpose of eating. It was to test.

Just like biological test and examination are done first by the students on animals, similarly, this test of the yajña was there. They would ignite the fire by mantras, and next test is to put an animal in the fire, and the animal comes out with a new body—the body is changed—this was the test. So that is not possible. There is no yajñic brāhmaṅas, neither you can get paraphernalia for executing properly the details of the sacrifice—that is not possible.

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṅuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ [SB 12.3.52]

[Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṅu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra.]

And the temple worship was possible to be done perfectly in the Dvāpara-yuga. Nowadays, even the old temples are neglected; nobody is taking care properly. The Christian churches, temples or churches, in England, in America also, they are now being sold because people are not taking care. In Los Angeles we have actually purchased one big church and converted into temple. Similarly, we are trying to purchase one big church in England also, London. So people are gradually becoming atheists, not interested in going to the church or temple. So there are difficulties. So that is also not recommended in this age.

Of course, our…, in our temple there is Deity worship. We take side-by-side two processes: the bhāgavata process and pañcarātriki process. This Deity worship, the Deity standing before you, we worship Deities on the pañcarātriki system just to purify. This Deity worship helps one to become purified. The whole process of religion is to purify, to purify ourself. Because on account of contamination of the material energies we have forgotten. We have forgotten our real position, ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am spirit soul." That I have forgotten.

So religious process means to purify yourself. Here it is recommended that sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo: "That is first-class religious process." What is that? Yato bhaktir adhokṣaje: "That religious process which advances you to understand your position." Your position is constitutionally everlasting servant of God. Unfortunately, we have forgotten God. We have forgotten our relationship with God.

But the service attitude is there, because my characteristic is to render service; therefore instead of giving service to God, or Kṛṣṅa, I am giving service to so many things. Actually I am giving service to my senses. I do not give anyone service in the material world. In the material world nobody gives service to anyone—everyone gives service to his senses, indriya-prīti. A man supposed to be giving service to his country. Actually he does not give service to the country; he gives service to his senses.

Of course if we analyze, people may not like it, but that is the fact. Just like husband and wife: husband gives service to the wife, wife gives service to the husband—but the motive is not service but sense gratification. Therefore in Western countries we see so many divorce cases—in India also this is also introduced—that as soon as there is discrepancy in the matter of sense gratification, the husband and wife separate. In the Bhāgavata it is stated especially in this Kali-yuga, dāmpatye ratim eva hi. Dāmpatye means the relationship between husband and wife will depend on sex power, dāmpatye ratim eva hi. These are all stated there.

So the spirit is there, but it is perverted. The real spirit… Because I am covered by this material gross and subtle elements, therefore my service spirit is being misused. It is misused. Just like… The service spirit is there. If somebody hasn't got a family to serve, sometimes a man keeps a dog, a women keeps a cat, because the service spirit is there.

Therefore Sūta Gosvāmī says that characteristic, or service spirit, can be fulfilled perfectly when it comes to the platform of serving the Supreme Lord: yato bhaktir adhokṣaja. Adhokṣaja, another name of God. God means beyond the perception of our material senses. Adhokṣaja, ada kṛta[?] akṣaja. Akṣaja means direct perception. Just like we see directly, we see touch direct…, we touch directly, we smell directly. But God is not to be perceived by direct perception.

I cannot see God directly; therefore I have got the form of God. But the form of God is not different from the original God. This Kṛṣṅa playing on flute is stated in the śāstras, in the Brahma-saṁhitā:

veṅuṁ kvaṅantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam kandarpa-koṭi-kaminīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.30]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.]

It is not that artists have carved out this form out of his imagination. It is Kṛṣṅa, when He was present personally on this planet. People have seen—the form is there. And besides that, in the beginning of the creation Brahmā, when he realized by tapasya the Personality of Godhead, he wrote Brahma-saṁhitā. That Brahma-saṁhitā is accepted by Lord Caitanya; therefore we accept the authority of Brahma-saṁhitā. That is our way of understanding, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam: by paramparā system we try to understand the transcendental subject matter.

So the process, the perfection of our religious system which can satisfy our mind, is the bhaktir adhokṣaje, transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord, who is beyond the perception of our material senses. And that kind of service is apratihatā—it cannot be checked by any material condition. Apratihatā. If you engage yourself in the service of the Lord, you will never be, I mean, stopped by any condition of material life. It is not that because one is very busy, therefore he cannot serve God, or one is very rich or poor or black or white. Never. Apratihatā. Anyone who takes to the process of pure devotional service, he will never be checked, apratihatā.

And ahaitukī. God should be served not with a purpose or with a motive—ahaitukī. Demigods are served—not served; they are worshiped—with a motive, but Kṛṣṅa is served without any motive. That is perfect service. Ahaituky apratihatā: without any motive, ahaitukī; and apratihatā—it cannot be checked. Even the poorest man or the richest man, both of them can serve Kṛṣṅa. Even the brāhmaṅa or the lowest-born caṅḍāla—both of them can serve Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā,

māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ striyo śūdrās tathā vaiśyās te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim [Bg 9.32]

[O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth—women, vaiśyas [merchants], as well as śūdras [workers]—can approach the supreme destination.]

"One who has taken properly My shelter," vyapāśritya... Vi means specifically, not whimsically. Specifically means according to the rules and regulations of śāstra. "Such person," māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ, "even if he is born in pāpa-yoni, it doesn't matter"; striyo śūdrās tathā vaiśyās te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim, "they also attain the highest perfection of life."

In another place, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is said,

kirāta-hūṅāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ ye 'nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ śudhyanti prabhaviṣṅave [SB 2.4.18]

Apart from this striyo śūdrās tathā vaiśyās, there are still lower—they are called Kirāta, Hūṅa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa. They also, if they take shelter of a pure devotee, yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥśudhyanti, they become purified.

So there is no question of checking anyone in the matter of developing Kṛṣṅa consciousness, or devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond our material perception. That is possible. That is described here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that if you want real peace, if individually everyone is peaceful, naturally, collectively everything is peaceful...

People are disturbed because you may be satisfied in your own way, but others may not be satisfied. Then there is disturbance. Just like in this country the Indians may be satisfied by their own methods, but the Africans may not be satisfied. And if one is dissatisfied and other is satisfied, there will be disturbance.

So here it is particularly mentioned that if you come to the Kṛṣṅa consciousness platform, yato bhaktir adhokṣaje, if you engage yourself in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then your ātmā, or mind, or soul, will be fully satisfied, yayātmā suprasīdati. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said that,

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ [Bg 5.29]

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

Kṛṣṅa says māṁ, "unto Me," śāntim ṛcchati.

So you go either way. All the śāstras—if you actually care for the śāstras—you'll find this indication everywhere, hariḥ eva sarvatra gīyate: the glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is everywhere. Therefore śāstra says that somehow or other if you come to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, ārādhito yadi haris, if you come to the point of rendering service to Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, tapasā tataḥ kim, there is no more necessity for austerity, penances, meditation.

It is finished, because you have come to the point: nārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim [Nārada Pañcarātra]. And after all meditation, austerities, religious ritualistic ceremonies—everything—if you do not come to the point of Hari, then tapasā tataḥ kim, then what is the value of your austerities—because you are missing the real point.

The same thing is described in the next verse:

dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ notpādayed ratiṁ yadi śrama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8]

[The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.]

You execute your prescribed duties, or dharma, very nicely. You may be Christian, you may be Hindu—whatever it is you are thinking that you are doing very nicely, the execution of your particular type of religious system—but the test is that dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ viṣvaksena-kathā… Viṣvaksena means… God's another name is Viṣvaksena.

So viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ ratiṁ yadi notpādayed: "If you do not become attached to the topics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead…" The people are not. Just like here, in this hall, if there would have been some political meeting there would have been throngs of people, you see. But because it is on Kṛṣṅa, or God, nobody is interested. Nobody is interested.

So Bhāgavata says that you may be very faithful in discharging your duties. You may be a businessman or you may be a professional man or whatever you may be, you are thinking that "I am doing my duties very nicely." But the test is that after doing your duties very nicely, if you do not develop Kṛṣṅa consciousness—that is the prime aim of life—or God consciousness, the Bhāgavata says, "It is simply waste of time and labor." Śrama eva hi kevalam.

Because this life is meant for understanding Kṛṣṅa, or God. Athāto brahma-jijñāsā, that is the Vedānta-sūtra. This life, human life, is especially meant for enquiring about the Supreme Absolute Truth. If that enquiry is not evoked in human life, it is simply a waste of time. That means we are spoiling the human form of life. In many places…

parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam [SB 5.5.5]

A person working very nicely, and he is thinking victorious in every field of activities, but Bhāgavata says that "You are being defeated. You are not victorious." Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto. You are born ignorant, without God consciousness, without understanding your relationship with God. And if you continue like that—you are thinking that you are victorious in your business, in your profession, in your occupation—but they are all defeats.

There is a practical example. We have got a friend in London, perhaps you know his name, George Harrison. His house is a palatial building—he is a very rich man—but the former owner of the house is living there as ghost. This is practical. He was very rich man, the owner of the house, former owner of the house, and he invented so many things, so he got enough money and he was too much attached to the palace. The whole money he acquired, he constructed that house. Now after death, due to his too much attachment to that house, he is living there as a ghost. This is possible. Not only as ghost, but sometimes as rat, as cat, as a snake—this is the law of nature.

If you have got too much attachment for this material world, then you will have to come back again, and according to your karma you have to accept a body. There are 8,400,000's of forms of body. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa [SB 3.31.1]:

[The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.]

by your work and by superior administration you'll have to accept a particular type of body. Therefore we should take advantage of this human form of life.

All the material facilities that we have got, we should utilize everything, how to develop our Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is paro dharma. That is described by Sūta Gosvāmī: sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo. Don't spoil your life simply under some fictitious ideas. Be actually acquainted, well versed, with the direction given in the śāstras, and comply with the principles. Then life will be successful.

That is our propaganda. We are trying to preach this cult of Kṛṣṅa consciousness just to awaken the general people to his consciousness that will save him from becoming a ghost or dog or cat or something next life. We are preparing the next life. If you don't believe in the śāstras, that is a different thing. But this is the law. Here the whole natural process is nature is trying to take you to Kṛṣṅa consciousness; but if you avoid the nature's law, then you are in the cycle of birth and death, 8,400,000's of different types of forms.

Suppose if we get the form of a tree by our karma, then the next life, how much it is severe to stand up in one place for thousands of years. Therefore tūrṅaṁ yateta anumṛtyu patetu[?] yāvan [SB 11.9.29].

[After many, many births and deaths one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life as long as his body, which is always subject to death, has not fallen down and died. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Kṛṣṅa consciousness is possible only for a human being.]

The injunction is that you try to evoke your Kṛṣṅa consciousness before the next death comes. Death is sure. Whatever you are manufacturing, when death will come it will take away everything. Kṛṣṅa says, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham [Bg 10.34].

[I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all things yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience.]

Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś. Mṛtyuḥ means He takes away everything—your house, your family, your country, your dress, your apartment—everything finished. Then you have to accept another body, and you have to cultivate…, you have to construct another house, another society, another… This is bondage. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19]: coming once for some years, working very hard, creating a very favorable situation and unfavorable situation, and having a next life. This is going on.

Therefore Lord Caitanya said,

ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru-kṛṣṅa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc Madhya 19.151]

[According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṅa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṅa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.]

The living entities, they are rotating, wandering, in so many ways all over the universe, brahmāṅḍa bhramite—sometimes as Brahmā, sometimes as an ant, sometimes as demigod, sometimes as tree. It is going on, ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite. So a living entity who is fortunate while wandering in this way, he gets the touch of guru and Kṛṣṅa, and then his life is successful.

Because guru-kṛṣṅa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. We take it, we get it, the bīja. Just like you get a very valuable seed of a lotus flower, but if you don't utilize it, the bīja will remain; but if you utilize it, the bīja, or the seed, will grow, and one day you will have a very nice lotus flower.

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is trying to give people the bīja, the seed of Kṛṣṅa consciousness, and if he cultivates, his life becomes successful—he goes back to home, back to Godhead. This is a great science. Therefore as I told you yesterday also, today also, try to understand—it is very scientific, authorized, and not a concocted idea; it is based on the śāstras.

So take advantage of this movement. And it is very easy to execute. As I told you that if you go to the meditation process, it is very difficult—that is not possible. But in this age the process has been made very easy: kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt [SB 12.3.52].

[Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṅu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra.]

Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt, ādau gurv-āśrayam. Guru-kṛṣṅa-kṛpāya: just try to approach the bona fide guru, or the representative of Kṛṣṅa, and under his direction you take the seed and sow it in your heart and water it.

And what is that watering process? Śravaṅa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana [Cc Madhya 19.152]. This is watering process. If you continue hearing, chanting, that is the watering process of the seed, and that will grow. This is the process—very easy. Everyone can chant; everyone can hear. Why you lose this opportunity? Please take it, that is our request, and be successful in your life.

Thank you very much.

Audience: [applause] All glories, all glories… [break] [end]