Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.39

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat]

neyaṁ śobhiṣyate tatra yathedānīṁ gadādhara tvat-padair aṅkitā bhāti sva-lakṣaṅa-vilakṣitaiḥ [SB 1.8.39]

[break]

Prabhupāda: Word meaning.

Pradyumna: na—not; iyam—this land of our kingdom; śobhiṣyate—will appear as beautiful; tatra—then; yathā—as it is now; idānīm—now; gadādhara—O Kṛṣṅa; tvat—Your; padaiḥ—by the feet; aṅkitā—marked; bhāti—is dazzling; sva-lakṣaṅa—Your own marks; vilakṣitaiḥ—by the impressions.

[03:12]

Translation: "O Gadādhara [Kṛṣṅa], our kingdom is now being marked by the impressions of Your feet, and therefore it appears beautiful. But when You leave, it will no longer be so."

Prabhupāda: So in the Cāṅakya śloka there is a very nice verse:

śarvarī-bhūṣaṅaṁ candra pṛthivī-bhūṣaṅaṁ rājā nārīṅāṁ bhūṣaṅaṁ patiḥ vidyā sarvasya bhūṣaṅam

Everything looks beautiful when one is related with something in very intimate relation. Just like at night the sky becomes beautiful when there is moon. Everyone can understand. The sky becomes... The sky is there, vast sky, at night. But on the full-moon night, when the moon is there and the stars are there brilliantly, it looks very nice.

Similarly, the state looks very nice if there is good government, good king, good president. Then everyone is happy, everything going on nicely. Similarly, nārīṅāṁ bhūṣaṅaṁ patiḥ. A girl looks very beautiful... Girls are naturally beautiful. But she looks very beautiful when she has got a husband. Nārīṅāṁ bhūṣaṅaṁ patiḥ. And vidyā sarvasya bhūṣaṅam: but if a person, however ugly he may be, if he's learned scholar, that is his beauty. Similarly, there are kokilānāṁ svaro rūpaṁ nārī-rūpaṁ pati-vratam. These are there.

Similarly, everything will look very beautiful when Kṛṣṅa is there. When Kṛṣṅa is there. So Kuntīdevī is thinking that "When Kṛṣṅa will be absent, our this kingdom will not be beautiful. So long Kṛṣṅa is with us, we Pāṅḍavas, our kingdom, Hastināpura, everything beautiful." It is said, tvat-padair aṅkitā bhāti. "Kṛṣṅa, You are now in our kingdom. You are walking. So by the impression of Your footprints, everything is beautiful. There is sufficient supply of food, fruits, water. Everything looks beautiful. But when You leave us, then it will not look beautiful." That is being described. Neyaṁ śobhiṣyate. Śobhiṣyate. "It will not look beautiful."

So it is not only applicable when Kṛṣṅa was present and Kuntī was speaking. It is not that the truth was there. It is always. With the advancement of our civilization, if we don't bring..., we cannot..., if we cannot bring Kṛṣṅa in the center, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then it will never become beautiful. This is the philosophy. You bring Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Practically anyone can appreciate that this... You are all boys and girls. When you were outside this Kṛṣṅa consciousness, just think over, your beauty was there, but at the present moment, because you are in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, you look very, very beautiful. That's a fact. Nobody can deny it. You compare with other boys and girls and the boys and girls here. Anyone... In your country, they have given you the name "bright-faced." Do you know? The newspapers. Yes. In Philadelphia, one lady was inquiring that "Are you Americans?" Perhaps you know all these things.

So actually your countrymen, those who are sober, they are seeing that "How these boys and girls are becoming so nice, jolly, beautiful." Because at the present moment in your country all young generation mostly they are confused, hopeless. We see every day—morose, black-faced. Why? Because they're missing the point. There is no aim of life. But these devotees, Kṛṣṅized, they look so beautiful. Why? Because Kṛṣṅa is there. That's all. It is a fact. Any sane man will admit.

So what is fact now, what is..., what was fact before, during five thousand years ago when Pāṅḍavas were there, that Kṛṣṅa in the center, everything becomes beautiful—that can be done at any time. Kṛṣṅa is always there. Simply you have to invite Him, "My Lord, please come and be in the center." That's all. Everything will be beautiful. The same example, sometimes as I give you, that there are zero... Zero has no value. But you bring one by the side of zero, it becomes ten times beautiful, immediately. So our point is that you do whatever you are doing. We don't stop you. We never say that "Stop everything of material..."

But we have to stop anything which is against Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Because we do not stop... It doesn't mean that we shall not stop meat-eating. We must stop. This is against advancement in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. You cannot commit sinful activities. Kṛṣṅa says, 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.]

Kṛṣṅa says that "You surrender unto Me, and I shall rescue you, make you liberated from all kinds of sinful reaction."

Every one of us, life after life, we are committing simple sinful activities, knowingly or unknowingly. Knowingly, I may kill one animal. That is sinful certainly. Even we do it unknowingly, that is also sinful. Just like while we are walking on the street, we are killing so many ants, unknowingly. So in our ordinary dealings—while cooking, while taking water, while using pestle and mortar for smashing spices—we are killing so many animals. So unless we remain Kṛṣṅa conscious, we are liable to be punished for all these unknowingly committing sinful activities.

Knowingly, of course, you'll be... That's a fact. Unknowingly. Knowingly or unknowingly. Just like fire. A child unknowingly touches the fire. Does it mean the fire will excuse the child? No. The nature's law is so strict, so stringent, that there is no question of excuse. In the ordinary law also, ignorance is no excuse for legal obligation. If you go to the court, and if you say, "My lord, I did not know that the result of this action is this, criminal," that is not pleading that you will be excused.

So therefore Kṛṣṅa consciousness must be there. If we actually want to be free from the reaction of sinful life that we are doing, knowingly or unknowingly, then Kṛṣṅa consciousness must be there. Kṛṣṅa says, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi [Bg 18.66]. Therefore it is recommended, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Cc Ādi 17.31].

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

Always we have to be engaged in chanting: Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma..., so that Kṛṣṅa will save us. Knowingly we cannot commit any sinful activities. That is one thing. Unknowingly also we cannot do it. Then we'll be liable.

Therefore if you remain in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, if you always keep Kṛṣṅa within your mind, then... Just like when the sun is there, there cannot be any darkness. Similarly, if you keep kṛṣṅa sūrya, the Kṛṣṅa sun... That is our motto in the Back to Godhead: kṛṣṅa sūrya sama māyā andhakāra [Cc Madhya 22.31].

[Kṛṣṅa is compared to sunshine, and māyā is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, the darkness of illusion (the influence of the external energy) will immediately vanish.]

Kṛṣṅa is just like brilliant sunshine, and the māyā, ignorance, is just like darkness. But when or while or where the sun is there, there cannot be any darkness. Similarly, you keep Kṛṣṅa in consciousness always, there cannot be any ignorance; there cannot be any darkness. You'll be walking very freely in bright sunshine of Kṛṣṅa. Don't try to make Kṛṣṅa absent. That is Kuntī's prayer. "My dear Kṛṣṅa, You are going to Dvārakā..." This is an example. They are not going. Kṛṣṅa is not going from the Pāṅḍavas.

Just like in Vṛndāvana. In Vṛndāvana, when Kṛṣṅa left Vṛndāvana for Mathurā... So in the śāstra it is said, vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya na padam ekaṁ gacchati: Kṛṣṅa does not go even one step from Vṛndāvana. He doesn't go. He's so much attached to Vṛndāvana. Then we see that Kṛṣṅa left Vṛndāvana, went to Mathurā. So how is that, He went so far away? And did not return for many years? No. Kṛṣṅa actually did not leave Vṛndāvana. Because since Kṛṣṅa left Vṛndāvana, all the inhabitants of gopī, they were simply thinking of Kṛṣṅa and crying. That's all. That was their business. Mother Yaśodā, Nanda Mahārāja, Rādhārāṅī, all the gopīs, all the cows, all the calves, all the cowherd boys, their only business was to think of Kṛṣṅa and cry. Absence, separation.

So Kṛṣṅa can be felt, Kṛṣṅa can be present more acutely in separation. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's teaching: to love Kṛṣṅa in separation. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu in separation: govinda-viraheṅa me. Śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṅa me [Śikṣāṣṭaka 7].

[O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.]

He was thinking that "Everything is vacant without Govinda, without Kṛṣṅa." So everything is vacant, but Kṛṣṅa consciousness is there. Kṛṣṅa consciousness is there. That is the highest perfectional... When we'll see everything is nothing, simply Kṛṣṅa consciousness is there, that is the highest. That is the gopīs'...

Therefore gopīs are so exalted. Not for a single moment they could forget Kṛṣṅa. Not for a single moment. Kṛṣṅa was going in the forest with His cows and calves, and gopīs at home, they were disturbed in the mind: "Oh, Kṛṣṅa is walking bare-footed. There are so many stones and nails. There is pricking Kṛṣṅa's lotus feet, which is so soft that we think our breast as hard when Kṛṣṅa puts His lotus feet. Still He's walking." They are absorbed in this thought. And they are crying. So they are so anxious to see Kṛṣṅa back home in the evening that they are standing on the way, on the roof: "Now Kṛṣṅa is coming back with His..." This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is... Kṛṣṅa cannot be absent from a devotee when he's too much absorbed in Kṛṣṅa thought. This is the process of Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

So here Kuntīdevī is very much anxious that Kṛṣṅa will be absent. But the effect will be, when Kṛṣṅa will be absent physically, He will be more, I mean to say, accurately present within the mind of the devotee. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's teaching is that vipralambha-sevā. By His practical life. He's finding out Kṛṣṅa: govinda-viraheṅa me. Śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṅa me. What is that verse? Cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam. Cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam, śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṅa me. He's crying like torrents of rain coming out of the eyes, and He's feeling everything vacant for want of Kṛṣṅa. Separation. Vipralambha. So sambhoga and vipralambha. There are two stages of meeting Kṛṣṅa. Sambhoga means when He's personally present. That is called sambhoga. Personally talking, personally meeting, personally embracing, that is called sambhoga. And there is another, vipralambha. The two ways a devotee can be benefited.

At the present moment, when we are in this material world, we do not see directly Kṛṣṅa. We see Kṛṣṅa... Just like I was explaining in the sea beach. We see Kṛṣṅa indirectly. Just like if you see the Pacific Ocean, you can remember Kṛṣṅa immediately if you are advanced. How you can remember Kṛṣṅa? You can think of. That is called meditation. Not some rascaldom. This is meditation. Now you can think of the Pacific Ocean, that "Such a vast mass of water, and so many big, big waves. I am standing a few yards from it, but I am safe. I am safe.

Because I am confident that this ocean, however powerful it may be, however its waves are very fearful, I am sure it will not come up to this." How it is happening? Now, yasyājñayā: by the order of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa has ordered, "My dear Pacific Ocean, you may be very big and powerful, but you cannot come beyond this line." You can remember immediately Kṛṣṅa, God: "God is so powerful that even this Pacific Ocean is abiding the order, obeying the order of Kṛṣṅa." In this way you can think of Kṛṣṅa. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

You see the sunrise, immediately you can remember Kṛṣṅa. If you have read Bhagavad-gītā, it is stated there, 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.]

"I am the shining of the sun. I am the shining of the moon." So if you have learned how to see Kṛṣṅa, you can see in the sunshine Kṛṣṅa. You have not created the sunshine. You have not created the sun, you so-called scientists. You can talk all jugglery of words only, but it is beyond your capacity to know what is the sun. It is beyond your capacity. You cannot know. But you can know śāstra-yonitvāt. The Vedānta-sūtra says: through the śāstra. Just like in the Brahma-saṁhitā, about the sun it is stated,

yac cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṅāṁ rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.52]

[The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.]

Now you study this Vedic literature, what is this sun. The sun is described as the eyes of all the planets. Now you think over, meditate. Yes, it is a fact. Because unless there is sunrise, then... You cannot see at night. That is not possible. And what is the sun? Sun is the eyes of the Lord. This is one... Moon is one eyes, and the sun is one eye. And in Veda, in the Upaniṣad, it is said when Kṛṣṅa sees, then you can see. When Kṛṣṅa sees. So Kṛṣṅa is seeing with His eyes, the sun, then you can see. This is fact. You cannot see anything if Kṛṣṅa does not see.

So you think over of the sun. Then what is the sun? Now, it is the king of all planets, rāja. Rāja means king. Samasta-sura-mūrtiḥ. And what is the nature? Aśeṣa-tejāḥ: unlimitedly hot. Unlimitedly. Aśeṣa-tejāḥ. Then what is his function? Yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. Sun has got his orbit. So God has ordered that "You just travel within this orbit—not here, not there." The scientists says that if the sun is moved a little this side, the whole universe will be ablaze, and if it moves this side, the whole universe will be frozen.

But by the order of the Supreme, it is neither going even..., even one ten-thousandth part of an inch this side or this side. Exactly in the line. Exactly during, in the time, fixed time, at 5:30 it must rise. So there must be some discipline. There must be some obedience. There is some order. In this way the śāstra says, yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. By whose order the sun is moving in the orbit? Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi: "I worship that original person, who is giving direction even to the sun, even to the ocean, even to the moon. Everything is going on under His order."

So where is the difficulty to understand God? There is no difficulty. If actually one is sane man, if he has got some brain substance, not stool substance, then he can understand God in every step. Every step. Every step. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ śabdaḥ khe... [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.]

Everything explained there. Why they speak lies, that "I have not seen God"? Why don't you see God as God directs you to see? Why do you manufacture your own way? You cannot see God by your own way. That is not possible. Then you will remain always blind.

That is happening at the present moment. The so-called philosophers and scientist, they are trying to see God in their own way. And it is being supported by rascals, that "You can find out in your own way to see God." That is not possible. You cannot see God in your own way. You have to see God by God's way. Then you can see Him. It is not possible to see God in you... What you are? Just like if I want to see President Nixon, can I see him in my own way?

So how you can expect to see God in your own way? Is it not rascaldom? I cannot see even an ordinary man in big position in my own way. I have to apply, I have to take the sanction of the secretary, appoint some time, and so on, so on. And I am expecting to see God in my own way. And these rascals are supporting this view that "You can see God in your own way. As many ways you invent, they're all bona fide." This is rascaldom.

So the world is full of rascals and fools. Therefore God consciousness, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, has become a vague idea. Otherwise, if one wants to see God as Kuntīdevī is requesting, that "You remain always...," one can keep God always within his heart. He's always there. Therefore we have to apply as it was done by Mahārāja Ambarīṣa: 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.]

We can use our senses in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. First thing is that we have to fix up our mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. Then... Mind is the center of all sensual activities. If your mind is absent, in spite of having your eyes, you cannot see; in spite of having your ears, you cannot hear. Therefore mind is considered the eleventh sense. There are ten senses—five working and five knowledge-acquiring—and the mind is the center.

So indriyāṅi parāṅy āhuḥ. Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. Indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ [Bg 3.42].

[The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.]

Kṛṣṅa is explaining that we take the senses are very prominent. But beyond the senses there is another, superior thing. That is mind. Beyond this mind, there is intelligence. And beyond this intelligence, there is soul. So how they can appreciate existence of soul if they cannot understand the psychological movement of the mind? Behind that mind there is intelligence. They... Ultimate, utmost, they can approach to the intellectual platform. But one has to go beyond the intellectual platform to understand what is soul or what is God. Otherwise, it is not possible.

So everything is there, but we have to understand through the right channel. Therefore Vedic information is, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet samit-pāṅiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

This is Vedic injunction, that if you actually serious about understanding that supernatural transcendental subject matter, you must approach a bona fide spiritual master.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]