Lecture to Railway Workers

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Prabhupāda: Ladies and gentlemen I thank you very much for your coming here and participating in this great Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. This is the religion of the religions, there are hundreds and thousands of religious principles all over the world but this is the basic principle of religion. Religion means to understand God that is the short description of religion. Because from the śāstra’s we understand that religion is the codes and laws of the Lord or God, 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.]

You cannot manufacture religion, religion is the given codes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I have several times explained this that the law cannot be manufactured by any private person. Law is given by the state by the king, what the king says or the state orders that is law. Just like on the road when you drive your car you have to keep left, that is the given law of the state. Similarly in America the car is kept on the right, so you cannot say that somewhere it is said keep right and somewhere it is said keep left—which one is right? Which one was the right direction? The right direction is the word of the state, similarly religion means what is spoken by the Lord that is religion.

And this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is therefore the religion of the religions. Just like philosophy is called as the science of the sciences, similarly the Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is the religion of the religions. Now take for example, the Hindu religion or the Christian religion or the Muslim religion. What is the ultimate goal? Love of Godhead, Lord Jesus Christ he also preached how to love God. The Mohammedan religion also preaches to realise the Supreme Lord, Allah-u-akbar. In Buddha religion they primarily they are atheist but Lord Buddha is incarnation of Kṛṣṅa therefore it is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that God, Kṛṣṅa, appeared as Lord Buddha to cheat the atheists.

The atheist class they did not believe in God but Lord Buddha came before them He said, “yes there is no God, that’s right but whatever I say you take it.” So the atheist class took it, “yes whatever You say we shall take it.” But the atheist did not know that He is the incarnation of God. Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, sammohāya sura-dviṣām [SB 1.3.24], sammohāya sura-dviṣām, sura-dviṣām—means the atheist class. Sammohāya—just to bewildered them, you don’t believe in God, that’s all right but you take My words, ahimsa parama-dharma, don’t kill animals. Lord Buddha appeared, sadaya-hṛdaya-darśita-paśu-ghātam, He was... The Lord became very much compassionate when people in the name of religion in the name of Vedas were much addicted to killing of animals.

nindasi yajña-vidhe rahaha śruti-jātaṁ sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagad-īśa hare [Daśāvatāra-stotra]

The Vaiṣṅava, the devotee of Lord Kṛṣṅa, he knows what is Lord Buddha, he says, Vaiṣṅava kavi Jayadeva Gosvāmī that, “my dear Lord,”nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātam. You appear for stopping killing of animals but people began to give you evidence from the Vedas that animal killing is sanctioned in the Vedas. There are, certainly, sacrificial animal killing but not the slaughterhouse animal killing or any time or anything, no. That animal killing was also to test the power of the Vedic mantra, not for eating purpose. That’s a different story.

Lord Buddha appeared to stop this animal killing and when people wanted to give evidence from the Vedas that animal killing is sanctioned in the Vedas, why you are stopping? Therefore He had to say, “I don’t care for your Vedas,” nindasi yajña-vidhe rahaha śruti-jātaṁ. Therefore Lord Buddha is accepted amongst the Vedic followers as atheist. But Vaiṣṅava, one who knows Kṛṣṅa they see Lord Buddha as the incarnation of Kṛṣṅa for the time serving purpose. At that time it was needed to stop animal killing therefore He presented a different type of philosophy.

So that is also inaction, acts enacted by the Lord and it was stopping animal killing. Therefore my point is that religion means whatever God says, enacts, that is religion. It may be for the time being or it may be eternal. So this Kṛṣṅa conscious religion, as it is stated by the Supreme Lord in the Bhagavad-gītā, 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.]

This is eternal religion of the living entities. It does not matter where he is born, he may be an Indian, he may be an American, he may be a Canadian or... But this is the eternal religion.

To surrender unto the Supreme Lord, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja. This surrender is the beginning of bhakti or devotional service, śaraṅāgati. Surrender means śaraṅāgati. Śaraṅāgati means my Lord I was wondering so many periods of lives in 8,400,000 of species of life in different forms of life, sometimes aquatic, sometimes birds, sometimes bees, sometimes trees, sometimes insects, in this way I was transmigrating from one life to another.

Now in this human form of life I have got my senses that You are the supreme and I am eternally related with You:

vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ 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.]

After transmigrating many many forms of life when actually becomes, when one actually becomes wise, jñānavān, full knowledge. At that time he surrenders unto Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa says surrender unto Me, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. Jñānavān, not the foolish, one who has actually knowledge, one who is all actually wise he surrenders to Kṛṣṅa and he is mahātmā, sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ. There are many mahātmās simply by changing the dress but actually as Kṛṣṅa says—what is mahātmā? That mahātmā means—who is a surrenders soul onto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, he is mahātmā.

[break] Bhajanty ananya-manaso [Bg 9.13],

[O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.]

these are the symptoms of mahātmā.

Mahātmā means—bhajanti ananya-manaso without any other deviation of the mind, simply devoted to Lord Kṛṣṅa. Mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja his only surrender is unto Kṛṣṅa because Kṛṣṅa means everything. Just like if you water on the root of the tree you are watering all the leaves, branches, twigs and flowers and fruits and everything in the tree. Similarly sarvārhaṅam acyutejyā [SB 4.31.14],

[As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.]

if you worship Lord Kṛṣṅa then you worship all demigods, all humanity, all nationalities

[break]. There is many difficulties to self realise and unless the human body a human being does not realise what he is, what is God, what is this manifestation material manifestation, how we are related with one another. These are called ātma-tattvam, parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam [SB 5.5.5]. This so-called civilisation, daily fighting for a piece of land and they are dying and they do not know where they are going, completely unknown. After death everything is finished, we do not know where is now Mahatma Gandhi, where is now Jawaharlal Nehru, where is Hitler, where is Shubhash Chandra Bose.

We do not know this is called darkness but if you refer to the śāstras you can understand where they have gone. Where one has gone you can understand from the śāstras by his activities, by his activities. Suppose you know that a friend of you he has passed IAS examination, so you can understand even if you do not see him that he must get a nice government service. Similarly by the activities of a man you can know where he has gone after death.

There is life after death that is a fact, 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.]

So ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā [Bg 14.18],

[Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds.]

those who are engaged or in contact with the modes of goodness of this material world they are promoted in the higher planetary systems. Madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ, those who are addicted with the modes of passion they remain in this material world or between the Bhū, Bhuvar and Svar. And those who are most degraded, jaghanya-guṅa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ, so they glide down to the animal life. In this way you can judge where your friend or your relative has gone after death. Kṛṣṅa also says that,

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

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

If you are worshipper of demigods then you can go to the planet where the particular demigod is there. Similarly you can go to the pitṛ-loka, the karmis they are worshipping pitṛ-loka by offering piṅḍa. You can go there and yānti bhūtejyā bhūtāni. Those who are materialists they shall remain in this material world, mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām, and one who is devoted simply engaged in the service of the Lord he will go back to home, back to Godhead. These are the informations we get. So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is training people directly how to go back home back to Godhead directly.

As Kṛṣṅa says that, janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ [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.]

anyone who knows perfectly well what is Kṛṣṅa, why He comes down, why He acts just like ordinary human being and what is the intention and purpose of His coming here. These things you’ll find them in Bhagavad-gītā He says everything completely and after all returning Bhagavad-gītā or Kṛṣṅa to understand Bhagavad-gītā means to understand Kṛṣṅa. Then, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaun…

[break] So why don’t you see that, as soon as you see the sunshine you remember Kṛṣṅa. As soon as you see the moonshine you remember Kṛṣṅa, as soon as you see something wonderful you understand this is a power expansion of Kṛṣṅa. In this way Bhagavad-gītā everything is stated you try to understand Kṛṣṅa then as Kṛṣṅa says, janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. You can understand Kṛṣṅa in truth, there is no difficulty, no difficulty at all. This life, again, if you surrender to Kṛṣṅa, if you are engaged in Kṛṣṅa service that is highest stage.

This understanding of Kṛṣṅa, that Kṛṣṅa is sunshine, that Kṛṣṅa is moonshine, Kṛṣṅa is the taste of the water, Kṛṣṅa is the sound in the sky, Kṛṣṅa is, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca [Bg 7.4],

[Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies.]

Kṛṣṅa is water. In this way if you simply understand, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa and if you chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, your life becomes sublime. What is the difficulty? What is the difficulty attempting? If there is any difficulty people are searching after God and God is canvassing at your door, why don’t you take? How much foolishness it is? Eh?

Everyone says where is God can you show me God? God is dead, there is no God. I am God, you’re God. What is the not? Here is God Kṛṣṅa accepted by Arjuna who saw Kṛṣṅa face-to-face. Accepted by all the ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṅu Svāmī all the big ācāryas, accepted by Rāghava, accepted by Vyāsa, accepted by Lord Caitanya, and we are following in their footsteps. So [break] however obstinate that we do not like to take the actual thing. We want to be bewildered by the rascals and fools that is our misfortune. [indistinct] we want to be cheated therefore they come and cheat us. But really God is Kṛṣṅa try to understand and be successful in your life. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa Hare Kṛṣṅa. [end]