Bhagavad-gītā 7.1

Prabhupāda:

mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ asaṁśayam samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṅu [Bg 7.1]

[Now hear, O son of Pṛthā [Arjuna], how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.]

So by the end of the Sixth Chapter, Kṛṣṅa has explained the aṣṭa, aṣṭāṅga-yoga-siddhi. Aṣṭāṅga-yoga-siddhi, that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā [Bg 6.47]

[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.]

Always who is thinking of Kṛṣṅa within himself, śraddhāvān, with faith and knowledge, he is first-class yogī.

So how this first-class yoga system helps me? Because the other yoga system, they will disagree, that "Simply by thinking of Kṛṣṅa within one's heart, how one becomes perfect?" That is explained from the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, how simply by understanding Kṛṣṅa you become well aware of everything, this yoga system. In the Vedas also it is stated, yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3].

[If one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of all controllers, one can understand everything else.]

If you, if you simply understand Kṛṣṅa, then you know everything.

Kṛṣṅa is the root of everything. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, śrī-bhagavān uvāca. We should always remember that this Bhagavad-gītā is being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So no more better authority. And God is speaking about Himself. Otherwise, by speculation you cannot understand God. That is not possible. You have to hear from God Himself about God.

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya- prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan... na cānya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan [SB 10.14.29]

[My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.]

"A person who has got little favor," athāpi te deva padāmbu..., "little favor from the lotus feet of Your Lordship, he," jānāti tattvam, "he knows what is tattva, what is the Absolute Truth." Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānu..., prasāda-leśa: little favor, not all. Prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvam, na ca anya ciraṁ vicinvan. Others may go on speculating for years and years, it is not possible to understand.

So similarly, in the Brahmā-saṁhitā, another Vedic literature, it is said, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām [Bs 5.34]. Muni-puṅgavānām, great saintly persons, sages, if they travel for millions of years... Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara. Koṭi, again multiplied by hundreds and hundreds. Vāyor athāpi: on the airplane of air.

Not this metal airplane, but actually air airplane or by the airplane of mind. Mind speed we know. Mind can run within a second many thousands of miles, immediately. Suppose I am sitting here. So I have got my apartment in Los Angeles, ten thousand miles away. I can immediately go... This is called mind-speed.

So with the mind speed, with the velocity of air, if one runs on, to find out the Kṛṣṅa planet, or Kṛṣṅa, still, avicintya-tattva, still, it is inconceivable tattva.

panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām so 'py asti yat-prapada-sīmny avicintya-tattve govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.34]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, only the tip of the toe of whose lotus feet is approached by the yogīs who aspire after the transcendental and betake themselves to prāṅāyāma by drilling the respiration; or by the jñānīs who try to find out the nondifferentiated Brahman by the process of elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.]

Govinda is very, very difficult to understand by mental speculation, philosophical theses. Philosophical theses, speculation, without religion is simply waste of time. And religion without philosophical basis is sentiment. They must be combined together.

So Bhagavad-gītā is that: religion combined with philosophy. If you simply take philosophy, it is dry speculation, no juice. Carvita-carvaṅānām: "Chewing the chewed." There is no benefit. And if you take..., simply take religion without basis of philosophy, then it is fanaticism. That's all. So both should be combined. Religion based on philosophy and logic, that is religion. So that combination is Bhagavad-gītā.

So here in the Seventh Chapter, beginning, opening chapter, it is said, bhagavān uvāca. You are searching after God. Now here is God Himself speaking. So recognized God by all sages: Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Asita, and later on by Rāmānujācārya, by Śaṅkarācārya, by Madhvācārya, by Viṣṅu Svāmī, by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then our Guru Mahārāja.

So our method is very simple: 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.]

So we accept this paramparā system. I may not know what is God, but because my predecessors, ācāryas, confirm it, the "Here is Bhagavān," we accept it. That's all. We save so much trouble by mental speculation. We accept the paramparā system, therefore. And we get the result. So that is the way.

Now here, not only the paramparā system... The paramparā system begins from Kṛṣṅa. As Kṛṣṅa says in the Fourth Chapter, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1]:

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

"I spoke first to the sun-god." It is not said, "First." Many times He has said to many predominating deities. But in this era... This is called the age of Vaivasvata Manu. There are fourteen Manus in one day of Brahmā. So Vaivasvata Manu is the eighth Manu.

That means we are passing through the midday of this era, manvantara. There is fourteen Manus in one day of Brahmā, and this era is called Vaivasvata Manu, because he is the son of Vivasvān. And that Vivasvān is given reference in the Fourth Chapter: imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1]. So if you simply calculate the age of Manu it becomes forty millions of years.

So Bhagavad-gītā is not a new theses. It is coming from time immemorial. So Kṛṣṅa is the original preceptor. So here Kṛṣṅa again personally speaking, the authority, personally... Out of compassion and friendship, love to Arjuna, He's speaking directly to Arjuna. And Arjuna understood Him the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣam [Bg 10.12].

[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]

Puruṣam. Puruṣam means person. He's not imperson. Imperson is the, another feature of the person. Brahmaṅaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. Kṛṣṅa says that "The brahma-jyoti, impersonal Brahman, that is situated upon Me." Ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. Just like we are sitting on this platform. This is pratiṣṭhā. Similarly, the brahma-jyoti is situated on the person of Kṛṣṅa.

The person is the ultimate understanding of the Absolute Truth, not the impersonal feature. That is preliminary understanding or imperfect understanding. There is brahma-jyoti. Just like we are experiencing the sunshine. The sunshine is also experience of the sun-god, but it is imperfect understanding. It is not perfect understanding. If you want to understand the sun-god, then you have to penetrate through the sunshine and reach the sun planet. And then, if..., you are able to see the predominating deity of the sun planet, whose name is Vivasvān.

Similarly, the whole material creation is a part of the brahma-jyoti. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1].

[Everything, both matter and spirit, is non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the Supreme Brahman.]

So you have to penetrate... In the Īśopaniṣad it is said that, requested, it is requesting the..., that "You kindly wind up Your brahma-jyoti so can..., I can see Your face rightly." So ultimately, there is person. Tattva-vastu.

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11]

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

This is the version of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

So Brahman realization is for the persons who are trying to understand the Absolute Truth by philosophical speculation. That is the understanding. Similarly, the localized Paramātmā feature is realized by the yogīs. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1].

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṅa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and becoming fully absorbed in thoughts of Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.]

And the devotees, they realized directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān, ṣaḍ-aiśvarya bhagavān, with full richness, full reputation, full strength, full knowledge, full renunciation. This is the meaning of Bhagavān. I have already explained. So that Bhagavān is speaking.

So mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha [Bg 7.1]: "Those who have developed attachment for Me," mayy āsakta, "only attached to Kṛṣṅa..." That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness: always thinking of Kṛṣṅa. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. This is yoga. It is already explained by the end of the Sixth Chapter. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā [Bg 6.47].

[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.]

One who has developed attachment for Kṛṣṅa, he has come to perfection simply by developing. And this development of attachment is possible by this arcana-vidhi.

Just like our rising early in the morning, offering maṅgalārātrika, then changing the dress, garlanding, dressing, so many things. From morning, four, to..., up to night at ten o'clock, there is program. That is real temple worship. Not that the temple is closed whole day and night, and the pūjārī goes for five minutes and bells the bell, again close. No. There is system. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mār janādau. So, so many activities in temple worship.

So for the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, neophytes, those who are serious to become, to awaken his attachment for Kṛṣṅa, they must take to this arcana-mārga. This is called arcana-mārga, temple worship. Everyone can establish a small temple in his house, and he can begin family-wise: himself, his wife, his children. That is wanted. This Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement wants to see that every house has become a temple of Kṛṣṅa. That is our program. Mayy āsakta... Just to increase the attachment for Kṛṣṅa.

That is needed, especially for the gṛhasthas. For the householders... Still in India, there are many respectable families, they are maintaining a small temple. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sanjāyate [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.]

Yoga-bhraṣṭa, this yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ, this bhakti-yoga, one who could not finish the cent per cent bhakti-yoga in one life, at least he's guaranteed to have next life as a human being. Because Kṛṣṅa says, śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sanjāyate. Śucīnām. Śucīnām means first-class brāhmaṅa, Vaiṣṅava. They are called śuci. The śuci, the, just the opposite word is muci. Muci means most nasty habit, and śuci means most cleansed habit.

So one poet said that śuci haya muci haya yadi kṛṣṅa tyaje and muci haya śuci haya yadi kṛṣṅa bhaje: "If one becomes Kṛṣṅa conscious, even though he's born in the family of muci, he becomes śuci. And even though one is born in the family of śuci, brāhmaṅa, if he rejects Kṛṣṅa, he becomes muci." So muci haya śuci haya yadi kṛṣṅa bhaje and śuci haya muci haya yadi kṛṣṅa tyaje. This is the...

So the highest perfection of life is to awaken our dormant Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is the highest perfection of life. Everyone has got Kṛṣṅa consciousness dormant. It is covered by the influence of māyā. By the influence of māyā. That is also stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta 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. Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we are all part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. So therefore our relationship with Kṛṣṅa is natural. It is natural. Just like my part and parcel of the finger; so without finger, my body's imperfect. Finger must be. So the existence of finger with this body, it is natural. Similarly, to remain with Kṛṣṅa, that is our natural position, constitutional position—remain with Kṛṣṅa as cowherd boy, as gopī, as Kṛṣṅa's father, Kṛṣṅa's mother, Kṛṣṅa's servant, Kṛṣṅa's trees, Kṛṣṅa's Yamunā, Kṛṣṅa's flower, Kṛṣṅa's Vṛndāvana land—remain with Kṛṣṅa in any form you like: śānta dāsya sākhya vātsalya mādhurya. In any mellow, humor, you can remain with Kṛṣṅa. That is our natural position.

But when we try to imitate Kṛṣṅa, to become a imitation Kṛṣṅa... Just like there are so many persons, they say, "I am Kṛṣṅa." This is māyā. Immediately... Because we trying to forget Kṛṣṅa, our relationship with Kṛṣṅa, immediately māyā captures.

kṛṣṅa bhuliya jīva bhoga vañcha kare pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare [Prema-vivarta]

[When an individual soul forgets his eternal relationship with God and tries to lord it over the material nature or resources, that condition, that forgetful condition, is called māyā, or illusion.]

As soon as we desire to forget Kṛṣṅa, or to rebel against Kṛṣṅa, that "Why I shall serve Kṛṣṅa? I am Kṛṣṅa," immediately māyā is there, side by side. Kṛṣṅa is there. Apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṅaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam. When Vyāsadeva, after getting instruction from Nārada, he wanted to write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, so he first of all meditated. Bhakti-yogena manasi, apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṅaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam [SB 1.7.4]. He saw both Kṛṣṅa and His illusory energy, apāśrayam, on the back side.

So Kṛṣṅa is never influenced by the illusory energy, māyā. We become influenced by the māyā. Kṛṣṅa... Just like cloud. Cloud cannot cover the sun. It is our eyes which are covered by the cloud. We see..., we say that "Now the sun is covered by the cloud." No, that is not the fact. Sun is very, very big. Sun cannot be covered by cloud. It is our eyes which are covered by the cloud. Similarly, māyā... We are teeny part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. Therefore we are covered by māyā. Sometimes, not always. Kṛṣṅa..., when we forget Kṛṣṅa,

kṛṣṅa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare [Prema-vivarta]

As soon as we try to forget Kṛṣṅa, immediately māyā is there.

Therefore the reversing process, reversing process, if we want to go back again to Kṛṣṅa, then daivī hy eṣā guṅamayī 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.]

You cannot go back to home, back to Godhead, by your own speculation. That is not possible. Ciraṁ vicinvan. You can go on speculating to become one with God. That is another thing. But if you actually want to know God and see God, then as Kṛṣṅa says, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg 7.14]: simply surrender to Kṛṣṅa and māyā will give you no more trouble. You can see Kṛṣṅa. This is the process.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogam. To... This is yoga system. It is called bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga system. So a neophyte devotee should be engaged in temple worship, but if he does not make further improvement, if he sticks to the simply temple worship, then he remains a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, lower-standard devotee. Lower-standard devotee. But one has to become first-standard devotee; at least, one must... A first-standard devotee is very high position, spiritual position. But at least we must come to the second standard.

The lower standard is,

arcāyām eva haraye pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ [SB 11.2.47]

Arcā, this arcā-vigraha, Deity, Kṛṣṅa, arcāyām eva haraye, the Deity of Kṛṣṅa, yaḥ pūjāṁ śraddhayā īhate, with great devotion and according to the rules and regulation, if one performs, that is very nice. But if he does not improve, na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu, he does not become knowable to the devotees and other persons, then he remains a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. Sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ. Prākṛta means in the material platform. He does not actually promoted to the spiritual platform if he simply remains.

Therefore along with the worship of Kṛṣṅa in the temple, this hearing should be. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam [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.]

Just like we are doing. We do not engage only the devotees to the temple worship, but there must be program for hearing Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the science of God. Otherwise, after some time, simply if you ring the bell, after time you'll be disgusted and the whole thing will be lost, as it has become now in India. There was no instruction about Kṛṣṅa consciousness; they simply attached to the temple and belling. And now it is now zero. Devotion is zero.

So two things must go on, parallel. Then if we..., two things must go, then you are promoted to the second platform, madhyama-adhikārī. Madhyama-adhikārī means at that time he sees four things:

īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ [SB 11.2.46]

Madhyama. Īśvara. By arcana-vidhi, he understands Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by this process, by the regulative process, by the instruction of the spiritual master, by the regulative principles set up in the bhakti-śāstras, just like Nārada Pañcarātra, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. There are many. So at that time, if one comes from the lower platform to the...

Of course, we must know that any devotee, either in the lower platform or in the second platform or on the first platform, they are to be considered as devotees. Not that because one is in the material platform, he's not devotee. He is also devotee. But he has to improve.

The improvement means he must know what is Kṛṣṅa. Simply if he remains attached to the temple worship and does not try to understand who is a Kṛṣṅa devotee and how he has to deal with others... Na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu. We have got some duty to others. This is preaching work. This is preaching work. One should not be satisfied simply by worshiping in the temple. Then he'll remain a neophyte. He must become a preacher, Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Then he comes to the second platform.

So when he becomes a preacher he sees four things. He sees God, Kṛṣṅa, Īśvara; tad-adhīna, and the devotees. Tad-adhīna means those who have accepted Kṛṣṅa as the parama-puruṣa. There is another verse in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata: itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena. Dāsyaṁ gatānām, for the bhaktas, Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Lord, Paradeva.

itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṅa sākaṁ vijahruḥ 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?]

When Śukadeva Gosvāmī described the cowherd boys playing with Kṛṣṅa... So he is remarking that "These boys who are playing with Kṛṣṅa... Who is this Kṛṣṅa?" Itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. Those, those who are impersonalists, those who are attached to the impersonal brahma-jyoti, for them, He is the target. He is the target. From Him, the brahma-jyoti comes. Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. And dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena: "And those who are devotees, for them, here is the Supreme Lord." Dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena.

And māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṅa: "And those who are under the influence of māyā, for them, He's ordinary human child." The same person, different views. One is seeing that the ultimate target of brahma-jyoti, and somebody is seeing that He is the Supreme Lord, and somebody's seeing, "He's ordinary boy." So Kṛṣṅa is visioned under different position. Under different position. But He's the Supreme Lord.

So this yoga system, attachment for Kṛṣṅa, begins from the temple worship and ends into mahā-bhāgavata. Mahā-bhāgavata means who simply sees Kṛṣṅa, nothing... Sarvatra sphūrati haya iṣṭa-deva. Sthāvara-jaṅgama dekhe nā dekhe tāra mūrti [Cc Madhya 8.274].

[The mahā-bhāgavata, the advanced devotee, certainly sees everything mobile and immobile, but he does not exactly see their forms. Rather, everywhere he immediately sees manifest the form of the Supreme Lord.]

Similarly, in the Bhagavad-gītā also:

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṅe gavi hastini śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṅḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ [Bg 5.18]

[The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṅa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]]

He does not see anything but Kṛṣṅa. A mahā-bhāgavata, when a tree..., when he sees a tree, he does not see the form of the tree, but he sees Kṛṣṅa. That is mahā-bhāgavata. That we should not imitate. That is the highest stage, perfectional stage. But at least we come to the middle stage. What is that middle stage? To...

We must understand what is God, what is Kṛṣṅa. Perfect understanding. And tad-adhīna, and His devotees. Īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśa. Bāliśa means innocent person. They are un... I mean to... They do not know actually what is God. And dviṣat. Dviṣat means envious. The four classes of men: God, His devotee, innocent person and envious person, demons.

So the person who is promoted to the second stage, he'll deal with these four classes of divisions differently. Īśvara-prema. One should try to learn how to love Kṛṣṅa. Yato bhaktir adhokṣaje [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.]

That is first class. And tad..., īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca, prema, prema, love for Kṛṣṅa, and maitrī, and to make friendship with the devotees. Prema-maitrī. And kṛpā: those who are innocent, one should be merciful. The devotee should be merciful, just to awaken their Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

And dviṣatsu ca upekṣāḥ: and those who are envious, they should be rejected. These four classes... To try to love Kṛṣṅa, to make friendship with devotees, and to give some service to the innocent public who does not know what is God, and those who are envious, asuras, they should be rejected. The madhyama-adhikārī should not touch the demons, because maybe he may turn again, be demon. Therefore one should be very careful to associate with the demons.

But when one becomes uttama-adhikārī, mahā-bhāgavata, he does not see anyone as demon. He sees, "Everyone is worshiping Kṛṣṅa. I am not worshiping." This is mahā-bhāgavata. Just like Rādhārāṅī. Rādhārāṅī always feels that "I do not know how to love Kṛṣṅa. Oh, he..., here is a gopī. How she loves Kṛṣṅa." That is Her... This is called mahā-bhāva.

So we should not imitate Rādhārāṅī. Caitanya Mahāprabhu... Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He's the symbol of Rādhārāṅī's mahā-bhāva. He says that "I do not love Kṛṣṅa. I do not know how to love Kṛṣṅa." Then if you..., somebody, if somebody says, "Then why You are crying?" "Well, that is a show. I am making a show. I am crying." Then what is the symptom? "The symptom is that if I would have loved Kṛṣṅa, then without Him I have died long, long ago. I should have died. I am living still without Kṛṣṅa; that means I do not love Kṛṣṅa." This is mahā-bhāgavata-bhāva, separation.

āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām marma-hatāṁ karotu vā adarśanān yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo mat-prāṅa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ [Cc Antya 20.47]

[Let Kṛṣṅa tightly embrace this maidservant who has fallen at His lotus feet, or let Him trample Me or break My heart by never being visible to Me. He is a debauchee, after all, and can do whatever He likes, but still He alone, and no one else, is the worshipable Lord of My heart.]

This is mahā-bhāgavata. So mahā-bhāgavata, we should not imitate. But we should not remain also as kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. We must come to the madhyama-adhikārī, middle stage. So these stages will be manifest gradually if we simply try to develop our attachment for Kṛṣṅa.

So this is the beginning: arcā, arcanam. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanam [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.]

Arcanam. Therefore for every gṛhastha... Because gṛhasthas are busy in so many ways, they have no opportunity to preach. But they must take to arcana. Every house, every householder, they must... What is the difficulty?

Just like we have got in this platform, Deity of Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa, everyone can install Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa Deity at home and under the instruction of spiritual master and śāstric regulations. Then if we engage ourselves in arcana-vidhi, then automatically, all the anomalies of life will stop. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā [Cc Madhya 23.14-15].

[In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness.]

This arcana-vidhi is one of the items of bhajana, bhajana-kriyā.

So anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. If every house engages in this arcana-vidhi, so many unwanted things will vanish. You'll have no more interest for seeing cinema or going to the restaurant or smoking biḍi and wasting time by unnecessary talks. So many things. And your life will be perfect. So many nonsense things will go automatically. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. So therefore to become Kṛṣṅa conscious, every house, everywhere, every person, every human being should adopt this arcana-vidhi. Then at least he will save so many unnecessary... Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ [Cc Madhya 23.14-15].

So Kṛṣṅa says that mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha: "My dear Arjuna..." Arjuna is addressed here as "Pārtha," very familial. Because Pārtha, Kṛṣṅa..., Arjuna's mother's name was Pṛthā, Kuntī's name. So... And Pṛthā, Kuntī, happened to be the aunt of Kṛṣṅa. So He's very feelingly, in a familial way, He's addressing, "Pārtha." "My dear Arjuna, Pārtha," mayy āsakta-manāḥ, "simply by increasing attachment for Me," mayy āsakta, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogam... This is yoga. This is perfect yoga. Yoginām api sarve... Mad-āśrayaḥ. "This yoga system should be executed directly under My direction, or under the direction of a representative of Mine."

The spiritual master is the representative of Kṛṣṅa. How he becomes representative? What is the test? The test is... Just like anyone can understand, representative. Suppose a business firm's representative is going to canvass for business, what is his business? He will take the interest of the firm, not his personal interest. He will try to secure business for the firm he's working, not for his personal... That is perfect representative. And if he goes, in the name of the firm's representative, and he does his own business, then he's a liar.

Similarly, Kṛṣṅa's representative means one who speaks about Kṛṣṅa as Kṛṣṅa speaks. And if he adulterates, he's a liar; he's not representative. He's not representative. Kṛṣṅa says, 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.]

and if the representative says, "Just become a devotee of Kṛṣṅa. Just worship Kṛṣṅa. Just offer your obeisances to Kṛṣṅa," he is representative.

Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66],

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

and the representative will say that "You give up all other process. You simply surrender to Kṛṣṅa." He will never say that "I am Kṛṣṅa." He'll never say. He's not representative of Kṛṣṅa. He's a liar. He's not representative.

So to become representative of Kṛṣṅa is not very difficult. Simply one has to become very sincere. That's all. That whatever Kṛṣṅa says, he will say. Just like Arjuna accepted: sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yad vadasi keśava [Bg 10.14].

[O Kṛṣṅa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, O Lord, know Thy personality.]

That is representative. "My dear Keśava, Kṛṣṅa, whatever You are speaking, I accept them all, in toto, without any reformation." That is representative of Kṛṣṅa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said,

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa 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.]

Āmāra ājñāya. One has to carry out the order of God. He is representative. Otherwise liar, misnomer. So therefore Kṛṣṅa says, mad-āśrayaḥ. Mad-āśrayaḥ: "Either under My direction, the direction is there, or My representative's." Mat. Mad-āśrayaḥ means "either under My direction or one who has taken..."

[break] ...we have discussed. But gāyatrī-mantra is the beginning of brahminical culture because without attaining the brahminical qualification, nobody can understand Vedic literature. Therefore a brāhmaṅa, initiated, he's given the gāyatrī-mantra. So that is required. [break]

Indian man: Hare Kṛṣṅa. Your Divine Grace, in order to understand Śrī Bhagavān Kṛṣṅa, we have to take your help, as you said you can explain what are the words of Lord Kṛṣṅa. And in order to understand yourself we have, or we had to take the help of so many other persons.

You speak in English and Sanskrit or Hindi, and at college and at school, so many teachers taught us Sanskrit, Hindi, and history, geography—because there are so many illustrations in your speech also.

Then guru has been defined like this:

ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ [Garuḍa Purāṅa]

Ajñāna timirāndhasya. About jñāna, nothing has been said whether it is spiritual jñāna or material jñāna. So in order to understanding you and, through yourself, also Kṛṣṅa, all these so-called gurus, or, I may say, teachers, they have contributed towards understanding or developing Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

Now, leaving aside these material teachers, I am taking the, taking one spiritual guru who gave me Kṛṣṅa consciousness first and who taught me to worship God, Kṛṣṅa, and to maintain a temple at my own house and to learn the ślokas from Gītā or the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata. And I have learned by rote the grandness of adhyāyas of Bhāgavatam and the Gītā. But, you see, I could not understand anything.

Now, after going through your literature, complete literatures, now the whole light has come to me, and I have been able to understand even that the guru who gave me such Kṛṣṅa consciousness. I don't challenge or question the other findings of their[?] guru. Just like a boy who absent from class, not attending the class, there is no fault of the guru. Guru has been attending his lectures. But I am truant. I am not attending class. So, you see, I can't blame that guru. But now I have understood everything from Your Grace, and now that ajñāna has been removed. I have now become more Kṛṣṅa conscious than before.

So should I give credit to all those gurus who have helped me to understand? Or should I now select, or should I exercise any choice that I should accept this guru or that guru only? So that doubt should be cleared.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Guru is only one. Guru means, as you explained,

ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

One who eradicates the ajñāna, andhakāra, darkness. In the darkness, if somebody brings lamp, ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā... The jñāna-rūpa, torchlight, he's guru. So may be of different degrees, but anyone who opens the spiritual eyes, he's guru. So...

But in the śāstra it is said, gurur api kāryākāryakam ajānataḥ. If I accept some guru, but if later on it appears that he did not know what is to be done, what is to be not to be done, then Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that such guru: parityāgo vidhīyate [Mahābhārata 12.57.7].

[A person who is wallowing in carnal pleasures and material comforts, who is confused about the human goal of life and is devoid of bhakti, and who poses as a guru, such a depraved charlatan must be rejected.]

Such guru should be rejected. But it doesn't matter that degree. Actually, if the guru teaches Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then he may be in lesser degree, but he's accepted as guru. There is no question of rejection.

Because Kṛṣṅa is actually jñāna. One who teaches Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, "One has to know Kṛṣṅa, one has to surrender to Kṛṣṅa," this kind of teaching is required. And if the guru says that "I am Kṛṣṅa. Everyone is Kṛṣṅa," then, "daridra-kṛṣṅa, daridra-nārāyaṅa," he is not a guru. He's not a guru. He's misguiding. Misguiding. Avaiṣṅavo gurur na syāt. This is the śāstric injunction.

Ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṅo vipro mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ. A... Generally, a qualified brāhmaṅa becomes guru. That is natural. Brāhmaṅa is the head of the society. So he is... And without becoming brāhmaṅa, nobody can become guru. That is also fact. Because brāhmaṅa means brahma jānātīti brāhmaṅaḥ, one who knows Brahman, Brahman. So guru must be a brāhmaṅa, mean a qualified brāhmaṅa, not born-brāhmaṅa, so-called brāhmaṅa. Qualified brāhmaṅa.

So still, brāhmaṅa's qualification, ṣaṭ-karma: paṭhana pāṭhana yajana yājana dāna pratigraha. So śāstra says that ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṅo vipraḥ. If one vipra is quite expert in executing the six kinds of business, and mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ, and very well known in the Vedic mantras and hymns and everything complete, but if he is avaiṣṅava, if he is not Vaiṣṅava, he does not know viṣṅu-tattva, or kṛṣṅa-tattva, then he cannot become spiritual master.

Avaiṣṅavo gurur na syād vaiṣṅavaḥ śva-paco guruḥ. But if a Vaiṣṅava, one who knows viṣṅu-tattva, kṛṣṅa-tattva, even if he's born in the family of śva-paca, the dog-eaters, caṅḍāla, he can be accepted as guru.

So the real test is whether the guru is a Vaiṣṅava, whether he know the science of Kṛṣṅa. That is also confirmed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu:

kibā vipra, kibā śūdra, nyāsī kene naya yei kṛṣṅa-tattva-vettā sei 'guru' haya [Cc Madhya 8.128]

[Whether one is a brāhmaṅa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra—regardless of what he is—he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṅa.]

A... It doesn't matter what he is, whether he's a sannyāsī or a gṛhastha or a brāhmaṅa or a su..., born in brāhmaṅa family or... It doesn't matter. Yei kṛṣṅa-tattva. Anyone who knows Kṛṣṅa, he can become guru, not others. So that is the statement of the śāstras. Avaiṣṅava cannot become guru.

Indian man: In your presence I may declare also attending I have found your system of Kṛṣṅa consciousness the best and very practical. Because I, I am a...

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṅa. [end]