Lecture

The Nectar of Devotion

Pradyumna: [reading] ...Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, the reservoir of all rasas, or relationships, which are called neutrality, or passive adoration; servitorship; friendship; parenthood; conjugal love; comedy; compassion; fear; chivalry; ghastliness; wonder; and devastation. He is the supreme attractive form, and by His universal and transcendental attractive features, He has captivated all the gopīs, headed by Tārakā, Pālikā, Śyāmā, Lalitā and, ultimately, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī. Let His Lordship's grace be on us..."

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṅa is the reservoir of all rasas. Rasa is a very peculiar word. Rasa, it may be translated into English as "taste," as "mellow," or as "humor." So our relationship with Kṛṣṅa, there is some taste. Without taste, we cannot continue our relationship with anyone. There must be some taste. So these rasas, or tastes, are twelve kinds. Primary rasa is the relationship between inert things and our... Just like I am sitting on this chair. So the comfort I am feeling, that is the rasa, taste. We want very nice cushion, sitting position. So that tasting, that "I am now comfortably seated," this is called śānta-rasa. Then above the śānta-rasa, there is dāsya-rasa. Dāsya-rasa... Just like my students, my disciples, they want to serve me, and I want to take service from them. This is also an exchange of rasa, a taste. Śānta, dāsya.

Similarly, next advanced stage is sakhya-rasa. Sakhya means friendship. Just like one is serving somebody, but if that service is very intimate, then there is the rasa of friendship, dāsa..., sakhya-rasa. And when that is advanced...

[feedback noise] [aside:] What is this sound?

When that is advanced, it becomes vātsalya-rasa. Vātsalya-rasa means the taste of relationship between parents and the children. These are advanced. Śānta-rasa, dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, and then vātsalya-rasa, parenthood, filial love. And above this, there is mādhurya-rasa. Mādhurya-rasa means the taste between husband and wife, lover and the beloved. That is called mādhurya-rasa. Similarly... These are the primary rasas.

[aside:] The draft is coming this side, or...? It is open?

Śyāmasundara: I'm just closing it because the noise from outside is coming in.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Śyāmasundara: Just closing the doors because the wind was blowing through them.

Prabhupāda: No, wind is coming from this side.

Others: No. No, from this side.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Indian man: The door is half-closed.

Indian man (2): Yes, yes. Close it. One of you close it. That's better.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. So our relationship with Kṛṣṅa, or God, there are different rasas. These are the primary rasas. And there are secondary, indirect rasas. Just like Kaṁsa. Kaṁsa wants to kill Kṛṣṅa. That is also another rasa.

[aside:] So what are the rasas, indirect rasas? Just read.

Pradyumna: "...which are called neutrality, servitorship..." Oh, indirect. "Comedy, compassion, fear, chivalry..."

Prabhupāda: Eh? What is that?

Pradyumna: Uh, comedy.

Prabhupāda: Comedy, hāsya-rasa, creating a situation that everyone will laugh. That is also rasa. Hāsya-rasa. Then?

Pradyumna: Compassion.

Prabhupāda: Compassion. Suppose you find some poor man lying on the street. You feel compassionate. That is also another rasa, compassion rasa. Then?

Pradyumna: Fear.

Prabhupāda: Fear. Suppose if you find a tiger or a something ghostly, you become afraid. That is also rasa. Then?

Pradyumna: Chivalry.

Prabhupāda: Chivalry. Suppose you are fighting with an enemy. You are defeating him, you are killing him. That is also another rasa. Then?

Pradyumna: Ghastliness.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Ghastliness. That means after killing somebody... Just like a butcher. The butcher is enjoying by killing. Ghastly. Just like the hunter was killing every animal. He was also enjoying some rasa. Then?

Pradyumna: Wonder.

Prabhupāda: Wonder. You see something which is very wonderful, astonishing; that is also rasa. In this way, according to śāstra, there are twelve rasas—five primary and seven secondary. But all these rasas are there in Kṛṣṅa. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is called Akhila-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Akhila rasāmṛta. You can enjoy, you can have contact with Kṛṣṅa with any of these rasas; therefore He's called Akhila... We have written a small book, Kṛṣṅa, the Reservoir of All Pleasure. Ghastly or wondrous rasas or chivalrous rasas, although they are not exactly like the five primary rasas—conjugal love, paternal affection, friendly love...

Just like Bhīṣma. Bhīṣmadeva was enjoying the chivalry rasas when he decided that "This day, I must kill Arjuna. Either Kṛṣṅa will have to break His promise..." Kṛṣṅa promised that He would not take any weapon in the battle; He should remain neutral. Because both sides, they were relatives. So it is not good to take part partially in one party and neglect other. Of course, it was divided... Kṛṣṅa divided Himself: His soldiers, one side, and Kṛṣṅa, one side. He said, Duryodhana and Arjuna, that "I shall remain neutral, but I am dividing My strength in this way. One side, I am, and one side, My soldiers." So Duryodhana thought that "What shall I do with Kṛṣṅa? Better take His soldiers." So he took the soldiers in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. And Arjuna said that "I want You."

Just like the same thing happened in general politics also. When Gandhi started the movement, noncooperation movement, so he selected some very big men of India, big, big lawyers like C. R. Das, Motilal Nehru. So C. R. Das, at that time, about fifty years ago, he was earning about fifty thousand rupees per month by his legal practice. He said that "Gandhiji, you take all my money, but let me practice. Don't ask me to boycott the British court." But that was on the, one of the programs. So Gandhiji said, "No, I don't want your money. I want you." And actually that was very effective. So similarly, Arjuna also decided that "I don't want Your soldiers. I want You." So these are different rasas.

So the fact is, the idea is that you can make your relationship with Kṛṣṅa with any kinds of rasas. Because beyond these twelve rasas, there is no other rasa. There are... These twelve rasas is complete: five primary and seven secondary. Direct and indirect. Therefore our Gosvāmīs' instruction is that you establish your relationship with Kṛṣṅa. Yena tena prakāreṅa manaḥ kṛṣṅe niveśayet. Somehow or other, you establish, you fix up your mind in Kṛṣṅa.

Just like Kaṁsa. He fixed up his mind on Kṛṣṅa how to kill Him. He was always thinking... He was also Kṛṣṅa conscious, that... But he was thinking, "As soon as Kṛṣṅa will take birth, I shall immediately kill Him." And he was anxious, "Whether He is born? Whether He's born? Whether He's born?" So when his sister, Devakī, was pregnant, he was thinking of the pregnant..., Kṛṣṅa, within the womb, "When He will take birth? When He will take birth? When He will take birth?" That was... That was also Kṛṣṅa consciousness, but that kind of Kṛṣṅa consciousness is not bhakti. The indirect Kṛṣṅa consciousness, that is not bhakti. That is attachment for Kṛṣṅa. That will also give benefit. Just like Kaṁsa and other enemies of Kṛṣṅa who were killed by Kṛṣṅa, they got immediately salvation. Immediately got salvation.

So the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī teaches that even if you be attached to Kṛṣṅa in adverse condition, in opposite condition, that is also good, because Kṛṣṅa is there. The example can be given in a different way: just like sandalwood. Sandalwood, you rub it in any way, standing or horizontal, in this way, the pulp will come out and it will give you comfort, it will give you relief. Similarly, you make your contact with Kṛṣṅa ānukūlyena... Especially it is recommended: ānukūlyena kṛṣṅānu-śīlanam [Cc Madhya 19.167], favorably.

[When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṅa favorably, as Kṛṣṅa desires.]

That is surrender. Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyaṁ vivarjanam. Surrender means to accept Kṛṣṅa favorably in five rasas. You serve Him in śānta-rasa. You serve Him in dāsya-rasa, in sakhya-rasa. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna served Kṛṣṅa in sakhya-rasa, as friend. Sakhyam ātma-nivedanam.

There are nine different processes of devotional service:

śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam [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.]

There are nine different processes. So you can adopt either all the nine processes, as Ambarīṣa Mahārāja accepted all the nine processes: sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṅṭha-guṅānuvarṅane [SB 9.4.18].

[Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṅa or about Kṛṣṅa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa's temples and Kṛṣṅa's places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.]

So we can do that. Or eight. Or seven. Or six. Or five. Or four. At least one. At least one. Some way or other, become connected with Kṛṣṅa.

Just like śrī-viṣṅoḥ śravaṅe parīkṣit. Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he simply listened about Kṛṣṅa. That's all. At the last stage of his life, he was given seven days' life, that "After seven days, you'll die." So he took the full opportunity of seven days, and he simply listened to Parīkṣit Mahārāja. That's all. Uh, to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śrī-viṣṅoḥ śravaṅe parīkṣid abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.265]. And Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he simply narrated about Kṛṣṅa, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is kṛṣṅa-kathā. Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission is, yāre dekha, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṅa upadeśa. This is the mission.

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.]

So the Caitanya Mahāprabhu is so kind that He wants to send gurus all over the world.

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma [CB Antya-khaṅḍa 4.126]

[In every town and village of the world, the chanting of My name will be heard.]

That is His mission. He wants that "All over the world, as many villages and towns are there, everywhere, this My mission must be spread." And who will do it? That is also, He gave instruction:

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara paropakāra [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 is India's mission. India's mission is that janma sārthaka kari': "Just make your life successful, and spread this knowledge all over the world." This is India's mission. India's mission is not to imitate technology and work like ass day and night. This is not India's business. Indians are not meant for this purpose. Those who have taken birth in Bhārata-varṣa, they are not ordinary human being. Naturally they are Kṛṣṅa conscious. Unnaturally they are being forced to be otherwise. Therefore it is misadjustment. It is not taking place.

If you, even in this age, in this city, big city, as soon as there is some religious meeting, thousands and lakhs of people gather. Why? They are meant for this purpose. Artificially they are being withdrawn: "Don't think of Kṛṣṅa. Don't think of religion." Most artificial. Therefore there is fight. There is always fight. Now Andhra is fighting Telinga. Telinga is fighting this way. No peace. India, such a peaceful land. Here we are killing cows. They are killing animals. You are fighting. You are doing so many sinful activities artificially. This is not our business.

Our business is different. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra, janma sārthaka kari' [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.]

Here you have got the advantages to fulfill the mission of life. Janma-sārthaka kari'. Here is Bhagavad-gītā. Here is Vedas. Here is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Here is Kṛṣṅa. Here is Lord Rāmacandra. Here is Vyāsadeva. And we are going to learn technology? How much degraded we have become, just consider. The..., our mission should be, first of all, we must assimilate all the knowledge given by all the great saintly persons—Kṛṣṅa and others—and distribute this knowledge all over the world. And the whole world is also expecting like that. Therefore as soon as the so-called rascal svāmī goes there, and they immediately gather: "Here is one svāmī from India. We may get something." But they are cheating. They are cheating and taking money and having illicit sex, and enjoying and coming back. Therefore they could not do anything.

But the whole world is waiting for India's culture, India's bhakti, India's spiritual knowledge. Just see the example. Why they have left their fathers' property, their opulence of country, and they are after me? I am a poor man. Only this reason, that they're hankering. And we have got the commodity to deliver to them. This business should be done from India's part. If we want to imitate them, then we'll create another havoc. That we are doing so. Now we have made secular state, killing state. One cow was attempted to be killed. Mahārāja Parīkṣit immediately took his sword: "Who are you? You are killing cow in my kingdom?" And they are ten thousand or forty thousand cows are being killed, and you want to become happy by plan-making? Simply rascaldom. India, you cannot do it.

India's business is different. That you have forgotten. We are simply trying. That there is a Bengali, nice song: apana dhana vilaye viye viksa mage pare tache[?]. We have thrown away our own culture, and we are begging from others, "Give me, sir, this. Give me, sir, this. Give me, sir, this." Most abominable condition. Just try to understand. India... This is the order of Kṛṣṅa, Gaura Kṛṣṅa—Kṛṣṅa's also order—that anyone who is preaching this Bhagavad-gītā, na ca tasmāt manuṣyeṣu kaścit me priya-kṛttamaḥ [Bg 18.69]. "Nobody's dearer than him to Me."

So this Bhagavad-gītā should be taken as it is. One should assimilate. The Indian people, those who are... As Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra [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.]

Those who are actually human being, not cats and dogs, for them, this is the duty. The duty is to assimilate. What is our asset? Our asset is spiritual asset. Now we are giving up. Bhagavad-gītā's not allowed to be instructed in the schools and colleges. How much degraded we are. And we are becoming very proud of our advancement of civilization, material assets.

This is simply... Māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. These are described as māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. There is school, college, not only in India, everywhere, all over the world, they... Actually there is no jñāna, knowledge. They're all fools and rascals. We can clearly declare—it may not be very palatable—the whole world is full of rascals and rogues. That's all. How we can say? Now we can say it from the text of the Bhagavad-gītā. What is that?

na māṁ prapadyante mūḍhāḥ duṣkṛtina narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsurī-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.]

Na māṁ prapadyante. As soon as we see a person who is not a surrendered soul to Kṛṣṅa, or God, then what he is? He is duṣkṛtinaḥ, full of sinful activities. Anyone who does not surrender to God, or Kṛṣṅa, he is... What he is? He must be either of these groups: duṣkṛtinaḥ, always sinful; mūḍha, rascal, asses; na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ narādhamāḥ [Bg 7.15], lowest of the mankind; and māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. If you say, "There are so many educated person. They're not surrendering to Kṛṣṅa, or God. They're godless. So they have no value?" No, no value, actually, because their actual knowledge has been taken away. Māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. Why? Āsurī-bhāvam āśritāḥ. Because they're following the philosophy of atheism. That's all. This is the root cause.

So Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, this Nectar of Devotion, is giving us the hint that after all, you want to enjoy life. That is your purpose. Actually, everyone's mission is that. But you cannot enjoy. As soon as there is question of enjoyment, there must be other party. You cannot enjoy alone. That is not possible. There must be other party. So you enjoy your life with Kṛṣṅa—either in sakhya-rasa or dāsya-rasa or vātsalya-rasa or ghastly rasa.

Just like Bhīṣmadeva: he enjoyed Kṛṣṅa's association by ghastly rasa. As I was going to explain, that he decided to kill Arjuna with two proposition, that "Either this day I shall kill Arjuna, or Kṛṣṅa has to break His promise and..., to save His friend." That was his promise. So when Bhīṣmadeva was trying to kill Arjuna, his ratha, his chariot, became shattered and Arjuna fell down. So when Kṛṣṅa saw, "Now Kṛṣṅa..., Arjuna is going to die," so immediately He took one wheel of the chariot and immediately appeared before Bhīṣmadeva: "Stop fighting; otherwise, I am going to kill you." So immediately Bhīṣmadeva gave up his weapons.

So this is not breaking His promise, but this is another rasa, that Kṛṣṅa wanted to show Bhīṣma that "You wanted to break My promise. Now see, I am..., I have broken My promise. Are you all right?" [laughter] He wanted to please His devotee. That's all. Otherwise, Kṛṣṅa could kill many millions of Bhīṣma, standing there only. But He came before him that "You wanted to break My promise. Now you see, I have broken My promise. But I have not taken My disc. Then this wheel I have taken. Please stop." So immediately he gave up his weapons.

But when Bhīṣma was piercing the body of Kṛṣṅa with arrows, he was coming..., he did not spare even Kṛṣṅa, his charioteer. He pierced the body of Arjuna as well as Kṛṣṅa. And there was bleeding. So Bhīṣma, at the last stage of his life, in sarasvajya[?], he was thinking of Kṛṣṅa, how He was coming forward before Bhīṣma in bleeding condition. This is ghastly rasa. This is ghastly rasa. We want to see Kṛṣṅa dancing, or we want to offer Kṛṣṅa flower—this is also one rasa. But Bhīṣma was also seeing Kṛṣṅa in another rasa. You'll find the Bhīṣma's prayers to Kṛṣṅa in his sarasvajya state, while he was lying on the bed of arrows; in Bhāgavata you'll find.

So this is also another rasa. These things have been explained by great commentators, that how this is also very pleasing to Kṛṣṅa. Bhīṣma was piercing His body; the blood was coming out. Still, how it is pleasing? So that has been explained by Viśvanātha Cakravartī that when a lover is kissing and biting, that is also pleasure. The biting also pleas... Although blood is coming out, that biting is also plea..., very pleasing. This has been explained by Viśvanātha Cakravartī. These things are possible.

So try to establish your relationship with Kṛṣṅa in any way, and that is the instruction of Rūpa Gosvāmī. So any way you es... Because you cannot enjoy life beyond these twelve rasas. The, all the twelve rasas you can find. Raso vai saḥ. This is the Vedic instruction. Raso vai saḥ labdhānandi bhagavān. So you just contact the Supreme Personality of Godhead in exchange of any kind of rasa; you'll feel pleasure. That is only...

You want pleasure. You want pleasure. The whole life, everyone is working so hard. Why? He wants some pleasure of life. But that pleasure you cannot have like dacoit, damn dogs and hogs. Don't try to take pleasure in the material world. Just as the hog is also enjoying pleasure by eating stool, that kind of pleasure will not make happy. It may be happy for the particular body, but actually it is not happiness. If you want happiness, then you have to establish your relationship with Kṛṣṅa in..., by any of these rasas. Then you'll be..., feel happy.

Therefore Bhāgavata instructs,

nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyed sattva yasmād brahmānandam [SB 5.5.1]

[Lord Ṛṣabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.]

This is the instruction, that "Don't try to get happiness like the dogs and hogs." That is not actual happiness. That will simply entangle you. Just like I am now human being. Due to my material rasas, because I want to enjoy material rasas... Because enjoyment means sense gratification.

indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhir... [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.]

So we are trying to enjoy life, first of all gross enjoyment with these material senses, and subtle enjoyment with mind, intelligence. But you have to go, transcend. Raso vai saḥ. If you are..., want real happiness, then, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, sukham ātyantikam yat tad atīndriya grāhyam [Bg 6.21].

[The stage of perfection is called trance, or samādhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.]

Atīndriya. We have to purify these indriyas, the senses and... That is called tapasya. Tapo divyam [SB 5.5.1]. By tapasya, by taking little austerity, by tapasya... Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ śuddhyed.

At present, our sattva, this existence, this is not śuddha. This is not pure. Therefore we have to undergo the tribulation of material nature, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi. But we don't want this. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam [Bg 13.9].

[Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.]

We don't want. Although we are trying to be happy, but we do not know how to become, I mean to say, free from the material contamination. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi. They are trying to open hospitals. Just like one Sindhi gentleman, he has contributed about five or seven crores of rupees to start a hospital here. That gentleman, not..., some, his relative came to see me. So I said that "However magnificent hospital you may start, you cannot stop death. That is not possible. That is not possible."

You may try in your own way. The whole struggle is how to mitigate our suffering condition. But the suffering condition is continuing. You... You may open nice hospital, but you cannot stop death. That is not possible. You may invent nice medicine, up-to-date, scientific medicine, but you cannot stop the disease. They do not see this. You can invent so many contraceptive methods—still you cannot stop, I mean to say, life. Janma, birth, birth control, there are so many medicines. But where is the stoppage of birth? The population is increasing. Neither you can stop death, neither you can stop birth, neither you can stop old age. There are so many rascal Gods—they are becoming old. Why they becoming old? God never becomes old. It is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṅam nava-yauvanaṁ ca [Bs 5.33].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.]

God is always just like young boy. Why these rascal Gods becoming older? So janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi [Bg 13.9]—jarā means old age, and vyādhi means disease; birth, death—you cannot stop.

So if you want real happiness, then you have to take the real method. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. It is not a bluff. It is most scientific. You are... Your aim of life is how to become happy, but you do not know how to become happy. You are under the illusion. You are thinking that "This thing will give me happiness. That thing will give me happiness." No. And what is that happiness? Happiness, that is explained here: in twelve rasas.

So you accept these twelve rasas in exchange of your affairs with Kṛṣṅa. Then you'll be happy. You may take... You become even enemy of Kṛṣṅa, just like Kaṁsa. If you do not like to become friend of Kṛṣṅa, then you become enemy of Kṛṣṅa, if you like. Because you cannot go beyond these twelve rasas. Still. Kāmād bhayād dveśyād lobhāt, it is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The gopīs approached Kṛṣṅa actually by lusty desires, the kāmāt. Bhayāt: and Kaṁsa was thinking of Kṛṣṅa out of fearfulness. Dveśyāt: the Śiśupāla, he was always envious of Kṛṣṅa. He was also thinking of... Kāmād bhayād dveśyād lobhāt. Some way or other, be in relationship with Kṛṣṅa, and you'll be happy. You'll be happy, this life and next life.

janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [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.]

This is the simplest point. You simply try to understand Kṛṣṅa. There is no difficulty. If you do not foolishly misinterpret Bhagavad-gītā, it is very easy to understand Kṛṣṅa. Very easy. There is no difficulty. But we are rascals. We misinterpret: "Oh, Kṛṣṅa means this. Kṛṣṅa does not mean this." 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.]

Kṛṣṅa means... Somebody, "black spot." What is that?

Śyāmasundara: "The dark unknown."

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Śyāmasundara: "The dark unknown within us."

Prabhupāda: Now somebody, some big sannyāsī, very famous in your country, he's explaining Kṛṣṅa, "Something dark within us which we do not know, that is Kṛṣṅa." That is explanation of Kṛṣṅa. "Kṛṣṅa is not dvi-bhuja-muralīdhari-śyāmasundara; He's something dark which you do not know." This is the explanation of big scholar, big svāmī.

So in this way, we are being misled. Take it, Kṛṣṅa, as He is. Kṛṣṅa says that "I am the Supreme." Accept it, Supreme. Actually He's supreme. Who can be bet..., more supreme than Kṛṣṅa? Prove it by śāstra, by history, by incidences, by action—everything. By votes also. If there are so many rascal Gods, but if you take vote, still in this age, the votes for Kṛṣṅa will be greater. Still. Although we are so fallen. So how we can escape Kṛṣṅa? And śāstra says, confirm, kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam SB 1.3.28].

[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]

If you want the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is Kṛṣṅa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

Īśvara means controller. So everyone is controller, but nobody's supreme controller. That is not possible. Even the so-called Gods, they also, when there is some toothache, they go to the doctor. They cannot control even toothache.

So these kind of Gods will not help you. Take to Kṛṣṅa. Take to Kṛṣṅa as Kṛṣṅa says, the method: 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 [Bg 18.66].

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

Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [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.]

Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate [Bg 10.8].

[I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.]

These things are there in the Bhagavad-gītā. You take it, practice it, and see how your life becomes successful and how you become happy. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much. [break]

There are five kinds of mukti: sāyujya-mukti, sārūpya-mukti, sālokya-mukti, sāmīpya-mukti. So sāyujya-mukti, the jñānīs, the nirbheda brahmaṅusandhana, they want to become one with the Supreme. You know this. Monism. That is called sāyujya-mukti. So the enemies of Kṛṣṅa, they get sāyujya-mukti. Or, in other words, the sāyujya-mukti is given to the enemies, not to the friends. But the..., there are other muktis. Just like this, take example: darkness. Mukti means you come out from darkness to the light. That is real mukti.

Now we are in the material world. This is darkness, tama. Tamasi mā jyotir gamaḥ. This is the Vedic interest. "Don't remain in the darkness." That means in the material world. "Come to the world of light," jyoti, brahma-jyoti. So take this example: Suppose you are in a dark room and I take you to the sunlight, come out. So this is also light. And the sun globe, that is also light. And the sun-god, that is also light. But this light, sunshine light, or sunshine temperature, is not as good as the temperature in the sun globe. Similarly, if you make progress...

So sāyujya-mukti is also liberation. Sāyujya-mukti, to become one, Brahman, brahma-jyoti. Brahmajyoti means assembly of small spiritual sparks. Just like the sun, sunshine, a combination of shining molecular parts; similarly, brahma-jyoti, sāyujya-mukti means you become... Because you are spiritual spark. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7].

[The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.]

So you are also spark, part and parcel of God; therefore you assemble with the other sparks, brahma-jyoti. Those who have no information of the other spiritual planets, Vaikuṅṭha or Goloka Vṛndāvana, they think to become one with the spiritual sparks, that is ultimate. For them, this is the place, sāyujya-mukti.

But this sāyujya-mukti, you cannot stay here. Either by further progress you have to go to the spiritual planets, otherwise you'll fall down. Just like the same example. Suppose you have got some aeroplane and you go very high in the sunshine. So what is the benefit? If you do not get shelter in the moon planet or in another planet, then you have to come back again. Similarly, sāyujya-mukti means you become one of the spiritual sparks, but, because you're part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, you are sat-cid-ānanda. Sat, cit... There are..., you have got three things within you. This mukti, sāyujya-mukti, is the sat only—eternity. You can eternally remain. But you have got other two things to fulfill: that cit and ānanda.

So, so if you want to fulfill all the pleasures of life, sat-cit-ānanda, then you have to take shelter of Kṛṣṅa. The śāstra says, āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛtaḥ-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ [SB 10.2.32].

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

One who has no information of Kṛṣṅa, one who does not take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, he may take the sāyujya-mukti after severe penances and austerities, but again he'll fall down, because he wants ānanda. Simply impersonal, without any varieties, he cannot have ānanda. That spiritual variety is available in the Kṛṣṅaloka, in the Vaikuṅṭha.

So for want of spiritual variety, you'll again like to come into the material variety. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Ye 'nye ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas [SB 10.2.32]. So this kind of mukti is not first-class mukti. Therefore Vaiṣṅavas, they do not want it. Vaiṣṅava does not want any kind of mukti. This Vaiṣṅava wants simply to remain in the service of the Lord. They don't aspire for any kind of mukti. Mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi [Cc Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4].

[O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You.]

So this mukti, the sāyujya-mukti, means to become one with the Supreme, is not very safe, because there is..., there is want of ānanda and knowledge. Simply to become one, that will not help.

Therefore he is actually, constitutionally, a small particle of sac-cid-ānanda. So for want of ānanda, he comes again. Thus we have seen many sannyāsī, they give up this world as brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, but they do not get any benefit out of it. Therefore they come down again to open hospitals and schools and philanthropic work. They fall down. Now, if it is brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, if jagat is mithyā, then why you are coming again to open hospitals? It is mithyā.

But brahma satya. If you have realized Brahman, you are truth. Then why truth is coming to untruth? Because they could not get any pleasure. They want pleasure. Simply sitting down, that "I am now Brahman, Brahman," that will not help. You must act as Brahman. You must get pleasure acting as Brahman. Then there will be ānanda. Otherwise, it is not possible. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ [SB 10.2.32].

These are the śāstric injunction.

Indian man: Swāmījī, you write... [break]

Prabhupāda: ...but our proposition is that you cannot sacrifice Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Simply you become attached with modern things. That is our proposition. We don't... Our, our proposition is that you do modern things. That is the instruction of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṅāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam [SB 1.2.13]

[O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.]

Modern things you do, but you try to see whether you have become perfect by doing these modern things. Now you are engaged in modern things, and instead of being perfect, next life you get a body of hog and dog, then what is the benefit of these modern things? [end]