Paṅḍāl Lecture

Prabhupāda: [prema-dhvani prayers]

Mr. Justice Rangarajan, Justice Misra and Lalaji, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your kindly participating in this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. Today, this evening, we are especially enlightened by the nice speech delivered by Justice Rangarajan, little describing about bhakti-yoga. Actually, we are discussing this bhakti-yoga for the last few days.

So bhakti-yoga is the sublime religious principle of the human society. The human society is not human society without sense of religious principle. Dharmeṅa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ [Hitopadeśa]. That is the distinction of human society and animal. In the animal society, there is no religion.

But in the human society, may be in any part of the world, there is some concept of religion, may be Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Christian religion, Buddha's religion, Jewish religion, and so many others. But according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is a test of religion. The test of religion is how much one has advanced in his love for God.

sa vai 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.]

Religion means you must have peace of mind, tranquillity. That is religion. It is not a formality or dogmas. It is the ultimate goal of life.

So this bhāgavata-dharma long, long ago was sometimes discussed by Prahlāda Mahārāja, a great devotee, a boy devotee, five-years-old boy, and he was a great devotee, although born in an atheistic family. His father was a great atheist, Hiraṅyakaśipu. Hiraṅya means gold, and kaśipu means soft cushion. That means complete materialist. The materialist want these two things: woman and money. So Hiraṅyakaśipu was very expert in this business. But fortunately he had a great son, Prahlāda Mahārāja.

So this Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he was in the womb of his mother, he had the chance of hearing about bhāgavata-dharma from Nāradaji. You have heard that there is always fight between the atheist and the theist, or the demigods and the demons, sura asura. So sometimes there was a fight between the asuras and the devas. The asuras became defeated, and Hiraṅyakaśipu left the battle. So as it sometimes appears..., happens in the war, the wife of Hiraṅyakaśipu was captured by the demigods, and she was being taken away, although she was pregnant.

So Nārada Muni met on the way, and he asked the demigods, "Oh, what you are doing this? You are taking away one pregnant woman? What is this?" So Indra replied that "We are not going to do any harm to the woman. But we are concerned with the child within his [her] womb. Because that child is born of Hiraṅyakaśipu, he must be a greater demon. So as soon as the child is born, we shall kill it. Therefore, we are taking this woman." Then Nāradajī said that "This child is not an ordinary child. He is mahā-bhāgavata. So you do not try this attempt. Just release her. I will take her."

So Nāradajī is authority, so demigods accepted his advice, Vaiṣṅava. The demigods are also Vaiṣṅava. Demigods means there are two kinds of population all over the universe: daiva asura eva ca. One class is called daiva, devata, and the other class is called asura. So who is asura and who is a deva? Viṣṅu-bhakta bhaved daiva asuras tad viparyayaḥ [Padma-purāṅa]. That is the definition who is the asura and who is a deva. Only the Vaiṣṅava, they are demigods. And who are not Vaiṣṅava or anything else, tad viparyayaḥ, he is a demon.

In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said, asuri bhāvam āśritāḥ.

na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuri bhāvam āśritāḥ [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.]

The asuri bhāva is defy the existence of God. "Who is God? I am God." Hiraṅyakaśipu was a typical example of this demon. As soon as his son, five years old, he would chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, he immediately object, "Why you are chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa?"

So that is the nature of the demon, to protest always against the theist or godly Vaiṣṅavas. This is not new; it is always there. This world is so made that the predominance of demonic principle is very much aggressed[?]. Just see, even a father, a demon father could not tolerate the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra by his five-years-old son.

Therefore, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has advised,

tṛṅād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṅunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Cc Ādi 17.31]

[One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.]

There will be disturbances. One who is going to engage himself in devotional service, he may be disturbed, because that is the way of this material world. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that tolerate. How toleration? Tṛṅād api sunīcena, humbler than the straw on the street or grass. Everyone is walking over the grass, but it does not protest. Tolerates. Tṛṅād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṅuna.

Prahlāda Mahārāja was typical example of this Caitanya Mahāprabhu's śikṣā. This Hiraṅyakaśipu father tortured Prahlāda Mahārāja in so many ways, but he tolerated. He tolerated. There are many other examples. Lord Jesus Christ, he was crucified. The only fault was that he was preaching God consciousness. Ṭhākura Haridāsa, he was Muhammadan, but he took to this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, and the Kazi...

At that time, there was Muhammadan government. The Kazi called him, "Oh, you are so fortunate, you have taken your birth in Muhammadan family and you are chanting Hindu God's name?" So he replied, "Sir, what is the fault there? Some of the Hindus also take to Muhammadan religion. So what is the fault there?" "Oh, you are talking before me? You are protesting?" So he was flogged with cane in twenty-two bazaar, but he tolerated. So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, don't think it is going very easily. We have to tolerate. Actually we are tolerating so many things, but we cannot stop it.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's advice,

tṛṅād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṅunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Cc Ādi 17.31]

[One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.]

The saṅkīrtana movement must go on. Despite all obstacles put before us, it must go on. That is determination. Bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ [Bg 7.28].

[Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.]

That is the instruction of Lord Sri Kṛṣṅa in the Bhagavad-gītā. Dṛḍha-vratāḥ, unflinching faith. And the Vedas say,

yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23]

[Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.]

Through bhakti you can understand Vedas. Yasya deve parā bhaktir, bhakti, yathā deve tathā gurau. Śri Caitanya Mahāprabhu also said the same thing:

ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru-kṛṣṅa-prasāde 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.]

Ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva. This bhakti cult is not for everyone. It is meant for the most fortunate person, most intelligent person, bhakti cult. Kṛṣṅa said, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

So after many, many births cultivating knowledge, when it comes to the supreme platform, then he can understand bhakti. Then he surrenders himself unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṅa.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja says... This is the instruction of bhakti-yoga. I shall read a few lines.

kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam [SB 7.6.1]

yathā hi puruṣasyeha viṣṅoḥ pādopasarpaṅam yad eṣa sarva-bhūtānāṁ priya ātmeśvaraḥ suhṛt [SB 7.6.2]

sukham aindriyakaṁ daityā deha-yogena dehinām sarvatra labhyate daivād yathā duḥkham ayatnataḥ [SB 7.6.3]

Prahlāda Mahārāja, he could not get to cultivate Kṛṣṅa consciousness because he was born in atheist family, guarded, well guarded, and father was always alert that "My son may not chant Hare Kṛṣṅa." But he was taking opportunity in the school. So he was five-years-old boy, and his class fellows also of the same age. So he used to induce them, "My dear friends, chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, chant Hare Kṛṣṅa."

We have got a little girl, perhaps you have all seen, Sarasvatī. She was admitted in a school in Bombay. And because there was no Hare Kṛṣṅa chanting, she began to cry, "No, I shall not be in this school." Practical. There was [indistinct], she was organizing all the children to chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. But they began something else, so she said, "No, I am not going to this school." So śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sañjāyate [Bg 6.41].

[The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.]

This child must be executing devotional service in her past life. Therefore she has got the opportunity, a Vaiṣṅava father and Vaiṣṅavī mother. And from the very beginning of her life she is becoming Kṛṣṅa conscious.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja is advising his friends, "My dear friends..." The friends were replying, "Now we are children, we shall play. Why you are asking us the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa or Kṛṣṅa consciousness? This is the business of the old men." "No," Prahlāda Mahārāja said. "No, it is not the business of the old men. You should learn it from the very childhood." Kaumāram. Kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]: the first thing is that human life is for cultivating dharma, religion.

The other day I explained that dharma and religion is not the exactly synonymous. Dharma means which you cannot leave. Dharma, the example I gave the other day, just like sugar cannot give up the quality of sweetness. Similarly, the water cannot give up the quality of liquidity. The fire cannot give up the quality of heat and light. Similarly, every living entity has his original characteristic, which is called dharma. That characteristic is described by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṅa-dāsa [Cc Madhya 20.108-109]. This is the characteristic. Svarūpa. Svarūpa means original constitutional position. That is called svarūpa. And mukti means to be situated in that original condition.

That is the statement in the 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.]

That is mukti. As soon as you give up your artificial way of life and you become situated in your original position, that is called mukti. That is... In other words, mukti means brahma-bhūtaḥ. That is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā, brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātma [Bg 18.54]. When one realizes Brahman, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that is brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. At the present moment, we are jīva-bhūtaḥ. We are identifying ourself with matter, with this body: "I am Indian," "I am Hindu," "I am Christian," "I am brāhmaṅa," "I am black," "I am white." These are all designations. This is not my real identity. My real identity is ahaṁ brahmāsmi, "I am spirit soul."

So Bhagavad-gītā says that,

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [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.]

Without being brahma-bhūtaḥ, actual devotional life does not begin. It is not that by devotional service one... Of course, you can take both way. But according to Bhagavad-gītā, it is to be understood that anyone who has taken to this devotional service, he is already in the stage of brahma-bhūtaḥ.

māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena ya 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.]

Mukti means to become transcendental to the three guṅas. Traiguṅya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṅyo bhavārjuna. So bhāgavata-dharma is in the transcendental platform. It is not material. There are two kinds of dharmas: material and spiritual, because we are combination of matter and spirit at the present moment. So long I want to enjoy this material world or to satisfy my senses... This material body means combination of senses. Indriyāṅi parāṅy āhuḥ.

So the platform where we are concerned with the senses, that is called karma, karma platform. Just like people are working very hard day and night in the city. The purpose is to gratify the senses. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham [SB 7.9.45].

[Sex life is compared to the rubbing of two hands to relieve an itch. Gṛhamedhīs, so-called gṛhasthas who have no spiritual knowledge, think that this itching is the greatest platform of happiness, although actually it is a source of distress. The kṛpaṅas, the fools who are just the opposite of brāhmaṅas, are not satisfied by repeated sensuous enjoyment. Those who are dhīra, however, who are sober and who tolerate this itching, are not subjected to the sufferings of fools and rascals.]

So that is karma. Then, indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ [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.]

When you come to the activities of the mind—psychology, metaphysics, philosophical speculation—that is another stage; that is better than this stage, karmī.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu has approved that out of many thousands of karmīs, one jñānī is better. And out of many thousands of jñānīs, one mukta is better, liberated. One who has realized that "I am not this matter, I am Brahman," he is better. He is mukta. Mukta means one... Brahma-bhūtaḥ, he understands. He no more identifies himself with these material activities. That is called brahma-bhūtaḥ. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu approves that out of many thousands of karmīs, one jñānī is better. And out of many thousands of jñānīs, one mukta is better. And out of many thousands of mukta, hardly you can find any bhakta.

Bhakta... So the position of bhakta is very sublime. This is transcendental position, 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.]

But Caitanya Mahāprabhu's grace, this mukti is given very easily by introducing the saṅkīrtana movement. He personally writes. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He wrote only eight verses, which is known as Śikṣāṣtaka, eight verses. And all the Gosvāmīs, they wrote volumes of books on these eight verses. He wrote only eight verses.

So He says that by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, the first benefit will be 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.]

That is cultivation of knowledge. It will automatically come, ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam, if one chants offenselessly. There are ten kinds of offenses. If one chants this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra offenselessly, then immediately he becomes liberated. Nāmābhāsa, mukti. And when he chants Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra in ecstasy, then he is in deep love of God. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He showed the example: He was chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra and was fainting and He was crying. And He writes in His eight ślokas,

yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṅa cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṅa me [Cc Antya 20.39]

He was feeling separation of Govinda, Kṛṣṅa, so intensely that He was thinking one moment as twelve years. Yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṅa cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam. So these are mahābhāva. Great transcendental ecstasy can be achieved simply by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra.

So this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, or bhakti-yoga, Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends, kaumāra ācaret. Kaumāra means the age from five years to fifteen years. So in all schools and colleges this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra should be taught. If you actually want to advance your nationality, India, then you must take to this culture. That will glorify your country. You cannot compete the Westerners by technology. That is not possible. They are meant for that purpose. You are meant for different purpose. Your special advantage is that you were born in this land of Bhārata-varṣa after many, many births, after many, many pious activities. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore says,

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma 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.]

So still, although India is poverty-stricken, they say... Wherever I go, they take that I am coming from a very poor country. We are advertised in that way, because whenever our big men go there, ministers, for begging something. So we have been taken, accepted, as the beggars' country. But in the Berkeley University, when one Indian student protested that I am spreading this Hare Kṛṣṅa movement...

The only protest was by an Indian student. He said, "Swāmījī, what benefit will be there by spreading this Hare Kṛṣṅa movement?" In another place, a girl asked me, "Swāmījī, what is God?" So I asked her, "Are you Indian? You should be ashamed of being called as Indian, because you are asking what is God. You are coming from India, the land of God, and you do not know what is God."

So this is our position. The land where Lord Kṛṣṅa appeared, just ninety miles from Delhi in Vṛndāvana-Mathurā, we are not concerned. I have seen it personally. I do not discuss... I do not want to discuss these things. But my point is that this Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction,

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma 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.]

This bhāgavata-dharma should be taught to our children. There is no use of calling ourself that we are secular. What does it mean? Dharmeṅa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ [Hitopadeśa]. If you have no dharma, then what is the difference between you and the animal? You must have. That is the advice of Prahlāda Mahārāja also.

Prahlāda Mahārāja appeared some millions of years ago, and he was a five-years-old boy, Vaiṣṅava. He says, kaumāra ācaret prājñaḥ. Prājñaḥ means one who knows very perfectly things, prājñaḥ. Kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]. There are different types of dharma, but he specifically mentioned dharmān bhāgavatān iha. Iha means in this life, in this human form of life.

Why in this life? Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. This life, this human form of life, is very difficult to obtain again. You do not know what life you are going to accept next. There is no certainty, because when you die, then you cannot be puffed up that "I don't care for God. I am God." Then you are under the grip 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.]

Then you cannot... You are caught up. Daivī hy eṣā guṅa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā [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.]

Then it will be just what kind of body you should have. 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.]

under superior administration.

Just like in the government service there is service record. And according to the service record, one is promoted or degraded. Similarly, there is record in the God's accountant department, statistic department. Every moment, upadraṣṭā anumantā, God is within you, He is seeing all your activities. If you desire something, God will remind you. So that is good record.

So all this record will be considered about your karma. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa jantur dehopapattaye. It will be decided that "This particular or this individual soul, he has to accept such-and-such body." Daiva-netreṅa jantur. Then that soul is transferred to the father's semina, and the father injects the semina in the womb of the woman. And then in the first night, by emulsification of the two seminas, there is a form like a pea, and that pea grows into the body. This is the secret of different types of body.

So we do not know, we are not certain that what kind of body I am going to get next, but we will have one body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati [Bg 2.13].

[As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.]

As I am getting one type of body from another type... In my this life, I was a child, I was a baby, I was a boy, I was a young man, now I am old man. As I am changing my body differently... I was a small child, I can remember personally. When I was about six months old, I was lying down on the lap of my eldest sister. She was at that time married, and she was knitting. I remember. I was seeing how she was knitting. I can remember. But where is that body? Then another body, another body, another body.

Kṛṣṅa says, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg 2.13]. Similarly, when I give up this body, then I must accept another body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ. But that I do not know. That will be considered by higher authorities, daiva-netreṅa, exactly as I told you that the service record is checked by higher authorities and he is promoted.

So how one can know where one has gone? We keep one man's statue, but we do not know where the man has gone, where the soul has gone. But we keep the statue as if he is staying there. This is called illusion. We do not know where my leader has gone, but I am worshiping the leader's statue on the street, and it has become the place for passing stool on his head by the crows, and we are worshiping. But when you go to worship in the temple, it is idol worship. We are worshiping the statues, but when you go to worship in the temple, "That is idol worship."

So Prahlāda Mahārāja, therefore, advises that this bhāgavata-dharma education must be given from the childhood. Kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]. Because durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. But if you take to this bhāgavata-dharma, then there is no loss. There is no loss.

Because Kṛṣṅa says that even if you cannot execute the bhāgavata-dharma fully in one life... Because we are not guaranteed. Guaranteed, of course, if we follow strictly as Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, that janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. If you simply try to understand Kṛṣṅa—how He appears, how He takes birth, how He disappears, why does He come, what are His activities—if you simply study these Kṛṣṅa activities, then the result is 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.]

Simply by understanding Kṛṣṅa. This is bhāgavata-dharma.

Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu, being compassionate to the all fallen conditions of this age, He said that,

yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

He says that "On My order, every one of you, especially Indians, you become a guru on My order." So "I am a fool. How can I become a guru?" Caitanya Mahāprabhu says āmāra ājñāya, "You simply carry out My order." There is no difficulty to become a guru if you simply carry out without any adulteration the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. What is that order? That is not very difficult. Because He says, yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]. Anyone you meet, you simply repeat what Kṛṣṅa has said. That is bhāgavata-dharma: what Kṛṣṅa has said. 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.]

Mad-yājī, mad-bhakta.

So Kṛṣṅa says... This is kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. He has given upadeśa in the Bhagavad-gītā in many ways—karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga. But His special instruction is, the most confidential instruction is, He said to Arjuna, "Because you are My friend, therefore I am giving you this most confidential instruction." What is that? Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja. This is the confidential instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā.

So it is not difficult. You haven't got to manufacture a religion. Because you cannot manufacture religion. That is not possible. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītam [SB 6.3.19].

[Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyādharas and Cāraṅas.]

Just like the state can give you law; you cannot manufacture law. Similarly, any ordinary man, he cannot manufacture religion. Religion means the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is religion. So this religion, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66], directly spoken by the Supreme Lord. Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends this. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also does not give any manufactured religion. This Caitanya cult is not a manufactured religion. It is also following. This is the process of religion. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [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.]

We have to get the religious principle by the disciplic succession, not that I become an authority automatically and I manufacture religion. That is not religion.

So Śri Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised that "Simply instruct what Kṛṣṅa has said." Kṛṣṅa has also said the same thing: ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati [Bg 18.68]. Na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ [Bg 18.69]. "Anyone who is engaged in preaching the cult of Bhagavad-gītā, no one is dearer to Me than he."

[break] ...in preaching...

[break] That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult. He says, marma-hatāṁ karotu vā adarśanān: "You just break My heart by not being visible."

The Vaiṣṅava devotees, they are not very much anxious to see God. They know, "Why God shall come to me? He is so busy, He has got so many business. Let me do my duty." The Gosvāmīs in Vṛndāvana... Caitanya Mahāprabhu also said, as I repeated the śloka, govinda-viraheṅa me. He was simply feeling separation. He never said that "I have seen God." He never said.

Similarly, Gosvāmīs, the ṣaḍ-gosvāmīs, they are also following the cult of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He rādhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-sūno kutaḥ. Simply searching out, "Where Rādhārāṅī? Where You are? Where the Lalitā, Viśakha, where you are? Where is Nanda-sūna, the son of Mahārāja Nanda, Kṛṣṅa? Where you are all?"

Śrī-govardhana-[kalpa]-pādapa-tale kālindī-vane kutaḥ: "Are you near Govardhana Hill or on the bank of Yamunā?" But they never said, "I have seen Kṛṣṅa." They never said. Not that "Oh, last night I saw, Kṛṣṅa was dancing." Not cheap devotee. Be great, follow. Just like Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says,

ei chaya gosāñi yāra, mui tāra dāsa tāṅ' sabāra pada-reṅu mora pañca-grāsa

Another place he says,

rūpa-raghunātha-pade ha-ibe ākuti kabe hāma bujhaba se yugala-pīriti

These Gosvāmīs, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, liberated devotee, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they teach us how to worship Kṛṣṅa in separation, feelings of separation.

he rādhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-sūno kutaḥ śrī-govardhana-[kalpa]-pādapa-tale kālindī-vane kutaḥ ghoṣantāv iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair mahā-vihvalau [Ṣaḍ-gosvāmy-aṣṭaka 8]

Just like mad after God, "Where is Kṛṣṅa? Where is Kṛṣṅa?" This is called bhāgavata-dharma.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [end]