The Nectar of Devotion

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Pradyumna: [reading:] "...happiness immediately terminates with his body as long as his life..., as soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death."

Prabhupāda: Yes. This point we have discussed last night, that everyone can see God. To see God is not very difficult job. There are so many points described in the Bhagavad-gītā. For the devotees, those who are serious about seeing God, they can see God. God is present everywhere. And God Himself, Kṛṣṅa, is describing, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ [Bg 7.8].

[O son of Kuntī [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.]

So everyone drinks water. Now Kṛṣṅa says, "The taste of the water, I am." So who has not tasted the water? Everyone drinks water at least four times, five times. So as soon as you drink water, the taste of the water is Kṛṣṅa.

Kṛṣṅa says, "I am this." Kṛṣṅa has described Himself in so many ways. "Amongst the trees, I am this. Amongst the aquatics, I am this. Amongst the nonmovable, I am this." So why not see God in that way? The atheist class of men, they say, "Can you show me God?" So why don't you see God? Why you close your eyes? If you have got eyes to see, you can see God everywhere.

Those who are saintly devotees, they are seeing God, Kṛṣṅa, in every moment. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti [Bs 5.38].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṅa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.]

If you become saintly person by your austerities, penances, then you can see God in every step. Otherwise, if you think that "I cannot become saintly person," yes, nobody can become saintly immediately. It requires time. But so long you are material person you can see God also in the water. You drink water; you can see God. You can see sunshine; God is there. Prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ. So who has not seen the sunshine? Who has not seen the moonshine? So therefore if you have seen moonshine, if you have seen sunshine, you have seen God.

But especially those who are impersonalists, they can see God in that way. Śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu [Bg 7.8].

[O son of Kuntī [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.]

There are descriptions in the Seventh Chapter, how you can see God in your common dealings. Still, if you do not see God, then you can see..., you must see one day God at the time of your death. 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.]

Death is God. So the atheist class men, just like Hiraṅyakaśipu, who always challenges God, in spite of so many things wherein we can see God, they deny to see God; therefore God comes before them as death. So everyone has to meet death. So God is there. And you are seeing. But because we are atheist class of men, we are denying, "There is not God."

So Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu says that "After all, you have to meet with God at the time of death. So before death, why don't you see God in so many ways?" That is Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, the science of devotional service which is giving you indication how to see God always and everywhere.

Go on reading.

Pradyumna: "Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheist class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death. At death everything is finished, and one has to begin a new chapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or lower than the last one. In any field of activity—political, social, national or international—the results of our actions will be finished with the end of life. That is sure. Bhakti-rasa, however, the mellow relished in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, does not finish with the end of life. It continues perpetually and is therefore called amṛta, that which does not die, but exists eternally."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Rasa. Rasa means mellow. Everything we have, there is a rasa. Without rasa, we do not deal in anything. So this material rasa or mellow, which we relish in our daily dealings... Suppose our dealings with wife, children, friends or others, enemy also, there is a rasa. When we kill our enemy, there is also some pleasure rasa. When we see something ghastly... In European and Western countries, they want to see some ghastly things in the television. So they enjoy rasa. There is some rasa, relishment. Otherwise, how they are all day, practically, they are sitting before the television and seeing?

So there are twelve kinds of rasas. Five kinds of rasa we generally experience: the dealings between servants and master, dealings between friend and friend, dealings between mother and the child, dealings between lover and the beloved, dealings between the enemy and enemies. So many ways there are, on the whole, twelve kinds of rasa.

And the..., all the rasas are there in Kṛṣṅa. Akhila-rasāmṛta. Akhila-rasa. He's the reservoir of all pleasure. Even in ghastly behavior, a man is killing another man, there is some enjoyment by killing. Just like Bhīma: When he killed Duryodhana, he immediately sucked the blood of Duryodhana's heart. So there was some pleasure. Because Duryodhana insulted them so many ways, and they were..., especially Bhīma was finding out the opportunity when he'll..., he would enjoy the rasa by killing Duryodhana. So all, in all our dealings, directly or indirectly, there is some rasa.

Now, in our material dealings, the rasas are temporary. They'll be finished. As soon as this body is finished, the rasa is also finished. Just like we love somebody, any way, either as friend or as child or as husband or as lover, friend, so many ways, but these rasa will be finished as soon as this body's finished. I have got some affectionate dealings with my sons, but as soon as the son dies or I die, the rasa is finished. But if you deal in the same way with Kṛṣṅa, who is the reservoir of all rasas, it will continue. If you love Kṛṣṅa as a friend in this life, if you develop your consciousness, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, as friend of Kṛṣṅa's, then tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti. [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.]

When you go to Kṛṣṅa, tyaktvā deham, giving up this body, then you go there as Kṛṣṅa's friend.

Just like Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī's described in the Bhagavad-gītā..., Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena, māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṅa kṛta-puṅya-puñjāḥ [SB 10.12.11].

[All the boys would be differently engaged. Some boys blew their flutes, and others blew bugles made of horn. Some imitated the buzzing of the bumblebees, and others imitated the voice of the cuckoo. Some boys imitated flying birds by running after the birds' shadows on the ground, some imitated the beautiful movements and attractive postures of the swans, some sat down with the ducks, sitting silently, and others imitated the dancing of the peacocks.

Some boys attracted young monkeys in the trees, some jumped into the trees, imitating the monkeys, some made faces as the monkeys were accustomed to do, and others jumped from one branch to another. Some boys went to the waterfalls and crossed over the river, jumping with the frogs, and when they saw their own reflections on the water they would laugh. They would also condemn the sounds of their own echoes.

In this way, all the cowherd boys used to play with Kṛṣṅa, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence for jñānīs desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead for devotees who have accepted eternal servitorship, and who for ordinary persons is but another ordinary child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results of pious activities for many lives, were able to associate in this way with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one explain their great fortune?]

The boys who were playing with Kṛṣṅa, Śukadeva Gosvāmī says that after many, many births' accumulation of pious activities... Because you cannot develop devotional service without pious life. Yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpam. If you want to become associate with Kṛṣṅa, then you cannot act as a sinful man. Just like a criminal is not allowed to come out of the jail. He has no freedom. Similarly, if we act sinfully in this life, then we'll have to remain within this material world, one body after another.

So we, we have to give up sinful activities. Therefore we forbid our students: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication. Because these are the pillars of sinful life. So we have to give up these things to accelerate our promotion to devotional service. We cannot go on doing this and that at the same time. It is something like that you ignite fire and pour water. It will be useless attempt. If you want to burn the fire blazing, don't put water on it. Keep it dry. Similarly, if you want to advance in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then you cannot indulge in sinful activities. And when you are proved that you are no more sinful, yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpam, one who has become freed from the reaction of sinful life, yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmāṅi...

You have to do something. So if you engage yourself twenty-four hours in pious activities, pious activities in goodness, that is also tainted. But when you actually engage yourself in the devotional service of Vāsudeva, as we were discussing this morning, the verse, vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ, janayaty āśu vairāgyam... [SB 1.2.7].

[By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṅa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.]

So even if we are accustomed to sinful activities on account of bad habits, still, we can engage ourself in devotional service of Vāsudeva.

So those who are sincerely devotee of Vāsudeva sometimes, due to their past habits, may commit something sinful, not knowingly, but habituated; that is excused by Kṛṣṅa. Api cet su-durācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk [Bg 9.30].

[Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.]

But not willfully. Willfully if we commit some sinful activities, that can be excused once, twice, but not thrice. Then you'll be punished.

Therefore a devotee should not commit willfully any sinful activities in order to keep himself always fit in devotional service. He should try to keep himself steady, without committing any sinful actions. The primary sinful activities are described, and we try to follow. And if we chant sixteen rounds and keep ourself always aloof from the sinful activities, then it is certain, niścayāt, utsāhān dhairyāt, niścayāt tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt, sato vṛtteḥ sādhu-saṅge ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati [Upadeśāmṛta 3].

If you want to advance in devotional service, then you should be enthusiastic, utsāhān; dhairyāt, with patience; and niścayāt, you should be assured that "Because I'm following strictly the direction of my spiritual master and śāstras, certainly I shall meet Kṛṣṅa." Tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt. By following the rules and regulations, sato vṛtteḥ, always trying to be honest and sādhu-saṅga... The sādhu-saṅga is very important. Therefore we have created this internal Society, International Society, so that actually it is happening. People are coming to our Society, in our centers, and after one week, automatically he takes a bag and beads and shaves himself. Automatically.

Sādhu-saṅga is very... Association of sādhu. Solitary bhajana, executing devotional service in a solitary place, is not possible for the neophyte devotees. It is meant for the advanced devotees. If, from the very beginning, without executing the regulative principles if one wants to execute devotional service in a solitary place, it will be simply disturbing, and he must fall down. There are so many examples, even in this Vṛndāvana. So we should not imitate. We must... Vidhi-mārga. The regulative principles must be followed. Then when you are mature, then we can sit down in a solitary place. Otherwise it is not possible.

Then. You read.

Pradyumna: "This is confirmed in all Vedic literatures. The Bhagavad-gītā says that a little advancement in bhakti-rasa can save the devotee from the greatest danger—that of missing the opportunity for..., of human..., for human life."

Prabhupāda: Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. Just like Ajāmila. Ajāmila, when he was young, he was executing devotional service just like a pure brāhmaṅa under the direction of his father. But when he was young, he was captivated by prostitute and fell down, became a thief, drunkard and cheater. So many ways his life became sinful. But at the end of his life, when he was just going to die, he simply chanted "Nārāyaṅa." His youngest son's name was Nārāyaṅa. So when the Yamadūtas, the messengers of Yamarāja... [break]

...carrying him. So he thought that his youngest son, because he was beloved, would save him. So he chanted... Not chanted; he called his youngest son, Nārāyaṅa. Immediately he remembered Nārāyaṅa. Because in the beginning he was a devotee of Nārāyaṅa. So immediately, because he remembered Nārāyaṅa, Nārāyaṅa immediately sent His messengers to take him back to Vaikuṅṭha. So therefore this is the instance. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt [Bg 2.40].

[In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.]

Go on.

Pradyumna: "The rasas derived from our feelings in social life, in family life or the greater family of altruism, philanthropism, nationalism, socialism, communism, etc., do not guarantee that one's next life will be as a human being."

Prabhupāda: Yes. They do not know that. The so... There are so many welfare workers, but they do not know even that there is next life. This is the position of the present civilization. Because I may be a great philanthropist, but my next life will be according to my karma. Just like by becoming philanthropist I may do so many sinful activities. Because when one is mad after something... Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ [Bg 7.20]. When..., then his knowledge becomes bewildered. They do not care to do anything, either sinful... Generally, they act sinfully. But according to our acts, 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.]

the superior authority will examine your karma. Not so-called philanthropism.

Actually philanthropism has no meaning, because according to the law of karma... Suppose you are suffering with some disease. So because you are being supplied first-class medicine, there is no guarantee that your disease will be cured. We have seen many cases. Similarly, according to Vedic conclusion, the happiness and distress, they're destined.

tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ tal labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukham [SB 1.5.18].

Duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ labhyate. Just like nobody tries to become distressed. Everyone tries to become happy. So why distress comes? I try for happiness. Suppose happiness comes. But I do not try for distress. Why distress comes? We cannot explain why distress comes. You take care of all possibilities. Still, there is distress. Why? Now, this is the destiny. If you have to suffer some distress, you must suffer. That is called distress.

So Bhāgavata says therefore that as you don't try for distress and it overcomes you, similarly if you don't try for happiness, if you have got some happiness, it will overcome you. It will come automatically. Therefore we should not try either for happiness or for distress. We should simply try to develop our Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is our business. Tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovidaḥ. A learned man should try for that only. That means this Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

Tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovidaḥ na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ. We are wandering upary-adaḥ. Upary-adhaḥ. Upari means sometimes we are going in the higher planetary systems, Brahmaloka, Janaloka, Satyaloka, sometimes going downward, Tala, Atala, Vitala, Pātāla, Rasātala. Or sometimes higher species of life, sometimes lower species of life. In this way, we are wandering according to our karma. This is material existence. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore says,

ei rūpe bhramāṅḍa 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.]

A living entity is wandering in this way, sometimes on the higher level, sometimes on the lower level, but he's changing one chapter, another, one chapter, another. That is not very good, to repetition of birth and death. So a living entity, if he's very fortunately..., fortunately he meets some good association, good devotees, then his life changes.

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

So this movement, Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, is a process to give chance everyone. Just like we are holding this meeting. It is a chance given to everyone to hear about Kṛṣṅa, to learn about devotional service. And if it attracts him, if he says, "Yes, it is nice," then it is called śraddhā. So śraddhā, by repeated hearing, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam [SB 7.5.23],

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

if we hear repeatedly, then we develop our dormant Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

In everybody there is dormant Kṛṣṅa consciousness. So that is also stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta: nitya-siddha kṛṣṅa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya. Kṛṣṅa bhakti is there. It is not artificially we acquire it. It is already there. But we are in the forgotten stage. Therefore, by repeated hearing, it is awakened. Śravaṅādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya. If we hear Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, then śuddha-citta. 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.]

The, the heart, the mirror of the heart, will be cleansed. And as soon as it is cleansed, we awaken, we remember, "Oh, I am eternal." Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṅa dāsa [Cc Madhya 20.108-109]. This remembrance comes, that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa." And when he understands that he's eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa and he engages himself in that service, then immediately he becomes liberated.

Liberation, mukti... Mukti means to be situated in his own constitutional position. That is mukti. So our constitutional position is eternal servitorship of Kṛṣṅa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṅera dāsa [Cc Madhya 20.108-109]. So if we can simply understand that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa. Let me again engage, be engaged in Kṛṣṅa's service," and if he's actually engaged, then immediately he's liberated.

So devotees are already liberated, those who are actually serious. Mukti svarūpeṅa 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.]

Hitvā anyathā rūpaṁ svarūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ. This is the definition of mukti. Mukti means hitvā anyathā rūpam. We are acting at the present moment anyathā. Anyathā means somebody's thinking that "I am the maintainer of this family," "I am the minister of this state," "I am this," "I am that." So many. Upādhis.

So when we give up these designations, then that is mukti. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena-nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

And so long we are designated, we don't care for Kṛṣṅa, we care for society, friendship, love, country, philanthropism, this "ism," that "ism," that is our bondage.

If you serve Kṛṣṅa, then naturally you serve everything.

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ [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 serve Kṛṣṅa, then Kṛṣṅa gives you opportunity to serve everyone. That is... Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja, he served Kṛṣṅa; even his atheist father was delivered, because he happened to be the father of a Vaiṣṅava. So to serve Kṛṣṅa is the best service to the nation, to the family, to self, to everybody. This is the secret of success. Kṛṣṅe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya. If you simply serve Kṛṣṅa, then all other duties are very well performed. You are no longer debtor to any other obligation.

Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṅāṁ pitṝṅām [SB 11.5.41].

[O King, one who has given up all material duties and has taken full shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, who offers shelter to all, is not indebted to the demigods, great sages, ordinary living beings, relatives, friends, mankind or even one's forefathers who have passed away. Since all such classes of living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, one who has surrendered to the Lord's service has no need to serve such persons separately.]

We have got so many obligations: to the demigods, to the sages, to the forefathers, to the ordinary human beings, living entities. But if you take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness... Here we get immunity from all the obligations. Sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṅaṁ śaraṅyaṁ gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam. These are the śāstric injunctions.

So simply by discharging devotional service, loving devotional service unto Kṛṣṅa, you become free from all obligations. There is no more obligations. Otherwise, why Kṛṣṅa says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi... [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 take to Kṛṣṅa seriously, if you surrender, then He gives you protection from the reaction of so many obligations.

Go on.

Pradyumna: "We prepare our next life by our actual activities in this present life. A living entity is offered a particular type of body as a result of his action in the present body."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa jantor deha upapattaye [SB 3.31.1]. Our next life means according to the karma, activities, in this life. They're judged at the point of death. The..., our activities are judged, and then we are given opportunity by the laws of nature to be carried in another mother's womb to get another gross body. We have got two kinds of bodies: the gross body and the subtle body. When this gross body is stopped working, the subtle body works.

We have got experience every night. When you are lying down on bed, you are dreaming. You have gone somewhere else from your room and you are acting. That means the subtle body is acting. Similarly, when this body's stopped, nobody works, no more working, or the machine is broken, then, at that time, the subtle body carries you to another machine.

This body is machine. Yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [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.]

This is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. This is yantra. So just like your car, you are driving one car, the car is stopped for some reason; it is no more working. Then what do you do? You get down. You get another car. Similarly, when this body's not working, then you give up this body; you take another body.

Now, taking another car means as you are paying for it. If you are paying very lump sum, you can [get] a better car. But if you cannot pay, then you have to accept a low-grade car. Similarly, the price means according to your karma, you are offered a car. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni guṅaiḥ karmāṅi sarvaśaḥ [Bg 3.27]. Prakṛti.

[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.]

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati bhrāmāyān sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [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.]

Māyā creates a car for you, a carrying conveyance, this body. So that conveyance is according to karma. So if you act piously in this life, then next life you get good body. 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.]

Sattva-sthā. If you are in goodness, then, in the modes of goodness, then you are promoted to higher standard of life. Ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ. And if you are in passion, then you remain here. And adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ. And if you are ignorant, then you go to animal life or lower grade of life. This is the law of karma.

But instead of improving your karma, karma-kāṅḍīya-vicāra, fruitive activities, if you take to devotional service and simply try to understand what is Kṛṣṅa, then you are no longer within the influence of this good work or bad work. You are transcendental. Immediately after death, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9], you are no more subjected to this gross body...

[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.]

[break] ...understand Kṛṣṅa. You can understand Kṛṣṅa simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234]:

[No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṅa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.]

simply by your service attitude, to serve Kṛṣṅa, beginning with the tongue. It is very wonderful. But utilizing your tongue, you can achieve Kṛṣṅa very easily, by the tongue. By the tongue if you simply chant, without any offense, Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, and by the tongue if you simply taste Kṛṣṅa prasādam, and by the tongue if you speak about Kṛṣṅa, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṅa upadeśa [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.]

you understand Kṛṣṅa. The three business of the tongue: tasting the prasādam, chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra and preaching about Kṛṣṅa. By these three things you understand Kṛṣṅa, and as you understand Kṛṣṅa, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti [Bg 4.9], you are transferred to the spiritual kingdom.

[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.]

Thank you very much. [end]