Bhagavad-gītā 9.11

Pradyumna: ...yakṣeṅa prakṛtiḥ... [Bg 9.10]

[This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.]

Prabhupāda: No. Next verse. This we have discussed last night.

Pradyumna: Oh. [leads chanting of verse]

[Prabhupāda and devotees repeat]

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram [Bg 9.11]

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

[break]

...foolish men; mānuṣīm—in a human form; tanum—body; āśritam—assuming; param—transcendental; bhāvam—nature; ajānantaḥ—not knowing; mama—Mine; bhūta—everything that be; maheśvaram—supreme proprietor.

[01:13]

Translation: "Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be."

Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṅa is not an ordinary man. Therefore Kṛṣṅa warns this: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ [Bg 9.11]. Mūḍha, rascals. To accept God as man and to accept man as God, this is rascaldom. Rascaldom means to accept a man as God and to accept God as man. This is rascaldom. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ.

We can understand who is an intelligent man and who is a rascal by this criterion. In another place Kṛṣṅa says, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ [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.]

"Mūḍhās, rascals, they do not surrender unto Me." Kṛṣṅa is canvassing... Especially in India He appeared. He is canvassing, 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.]

He is canvassing. But the mūḍhas, they will not accept it. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ. "Oh. Why shall I accept Kṛṣṅa? I have got my own God. I manufacture my God." So we have got very short-cut criterion to understand a rascal and intelligent man. What is that? If he is a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, then he is intelligent man. If he is not, then he's rascal. That's all.

"No, he does not accept Kṛṣṅa as God, but he has many other gods." Especially in our Hindu society they say, the Māyāvāda philosophers, they say that everyone is God. How everyone can be God? If everyone is God, then what is the significance of God? Even not demigods... In śāstra says, yas tu nārāyaṅaṁ devaṁ brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ [Cc Madhya 18.116]. Not to speak of ordinary demigods, but big, big demigods, just like Brahmā, Lord Śiva...

Even Viṣṅu. Of course, Kṛṣṅa is viṣṅu-tattva. Kṛṣṅa is not in the category of jīva-tattva. There are jīva-tattvas, there are śakti-tattvas, there are viṣṅu-tattvas. People do not know it. Therefore in the next line it is said, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. They do not know what is viṣṅu-tattva, what is jīva-tattva, what is śakti-tattva, how things are working. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ [Bg 9.11].

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

Mama bhūta-maheśvaram: "I am the Supreme Person."

In another place Kṛṣṅa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat [Bg 7.7]:

[O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.]

"There is no more superior personality than Me." This is... These are the fact. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, 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.]

"Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." You can become god, I can become god, He can become god, but Supreme God is Kṛṣṅa. If we accept that we are all gods... But still, there is distinction: "Here is male god, here is female god, here is child god, here is an educated god, here is a foolish god." If we are all gods, then we have to qualify these gods in this way.

There are differentiation from one god to another. That means one god is superior than the another god. That you have to accept. So in this way, if you go on making progress who is the best god, then you come to Kṛṣṅa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1]. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. So the param, paraṁ brahma, impersonal they say. No. Vigraha, person, just like you and me, person. But they cannot imagine how a person can become so powerful, as in the previous verse it is said, mayādhyakṣeṅa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram [Bg 9.10].

[This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.]

A person is directing.

Just like we direct. A big businessman, he is sitting in his room alone, but he is directing the whole factory, whole business, everything. That is being done. Although Kṛṣṅa is in Goloka Vṛndāvana, He has nothing to do... Why God has something to do? Then what kind of God He is? Here we see practically a big man, a big minister, a big prime minister or president, he is also sitting, giving direction. He has nothing to do. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa also, He has nothing to do. Kṛṣṅa is enjoying. Just like you see Kṛṣṅa's form, He is enjoying with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī. He has nothing to do. That is confirmed in the Vedic literature: na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate. Why God should be busy doing something?

So paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. They do not know what is God, although God is appearing before them. We have got the name of God, the fame of God, the pastimes of God, the demonstration of His different energies of God. Everything is there. Still, we are searching after God, and unfortunately we are manufacturing a man-god. Therefore we are mūḍhas. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ [Bg 9.11].

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

Here is God, accepted by all ācāryas. Not that by sentiment. There are ācāryas in India. Actually, practically, our whole civilization is guided by the ācāryas. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda. We have to accept ācārya.

In India, our culture, Vedic culture: depending on ācāryas. Even we differ, we Vaiṣṅavas... There are Vaiṣṅava ācāryas, and there is Māyāvādī ācārya. So Śaṅkarācārya, he is Māyāvādī, impersonalist; still, he accepts Kṛṣṅa the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṅaḥ devakī-nandanaḥ. He has written in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā. He accepts. Nārāyaṅaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt, sa bhagavān nārāyaṅaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ. He has accepted. And what to speak of Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya and other ācāryas? Latest ācārya Kṛṣṅa..., er, Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, five hundred years...

These ācāryas are thousands of years ago, they appeared. Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared near about five hundred years ago. He accepted Kṛṣṅa the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And we are followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.14.2]: "One who is ācāryavān, one who is following ācārya, he knows things as they are." Ācāryavān puruṣo veda.

So unless we become ācāryavān... That is the Vedic instruction. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet [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.]

We cannot understand God, what is God. We cannot make research because we do not know what are the symptoms of God, although everything is described in the śāstras. Here also, in the Bhagavad-gītā, the indications are there. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat [Bg 7.7]:

[O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.]

"There is nobody superior than Me." So this is the shortcut definition of God. Just try to find out a person... God is also a person, but He is the most superior person. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13].

[The Supreme Lord is eternal and the living beings are eternal. The Supreme Lord is cognizant and the living beings are cognizant. The difference is that the Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life for the many other living entities.]

He is the chief amongst the living beings. Nityo nityānām. He is the wisest of all wise men. Cetanaś cetanānām. What is the difference between God and us? The difference is that He is the maintainer and we are maintained. This is the difference. We are not maintainer. Nobody can say... One can say that "I am God," but nobody can say that "I am maintaining everyone." No, that is not possible. These are the simple definition of God given in the Vedic literature. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13]. We have necessities of life, but who is supplying the necessities of life? That eka, that one person, eka.

So it is a great science, to understand God. It is not an ordinary thing simply by speculation or by so-called meditation you become God. God is God always. You cannot become God if you are not God. Kṛṣṅa... Kṛṣṅa was God when He was three months old on the lap of His mother. Kṛṣṅa was God when He was four months old. Kṛṣṅa was God when He was seven years old. Now we are chanting jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-bihārī gopī-jana-ballabha giri-bara-dhārī [Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava]. Kṛṣṅa was gopī-jana-ballabha. He was always meant for pleasing the gopīs. But that does not mean that He was not God.

Giri-bara-dhārī. When gopīs were in danger, incessant rain in Vṛndāvana, He immediately lifted the whole Govardhana Parvata. Immediately showed: "Here is, I am. I am God. I can give you protection." Giri-bara-dhārī. One side, gopī-jana-ballabha, just like ordinary boy He is pleasing the gopīs by His joking behavior. But that does not mean He is not God. So one imitates the joking behavior of Kṛṣṅa, but one cannot imitate lifting the Govardhana Hill. That is not possible.

Therefore those who are mūḍhas, they deride at Kṛṣṅa. They cannot believe how a person can become the supreme authority. Otherwise, one who knows the... Budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ.

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ [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.]

Those who are budhas, they are Kṛṣṅa conscious. They are devotees of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa ye bhaje sei baḍa catura. Without being very, very intelligent, nobody can become Kṛṣṅa conscious, devotee of Kṛṣṅa. These mūḍhas cannot become. It is not possible. If you want to remain a mūḍha, then you cannot understand. When your mūḍhatvam, your "unwisdom" will go... How it will go? Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

If you cultivate knowledge, spiritual knowledge, for many, many births, bahūnāṁ janma.

Because you will not accept Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by saying by Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says, "Yes, I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead." If you don't believe it, then you have to cultivate knowledge for many, many births. You have to take birth and cultivate spiritual knowledge, again die, again come, again come, again take birth. This will go on continuously. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante [Bg 7.19]. And if you are fortunate enough to become wise enough, then you will understand, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ [Bg 7.19]: "Oh, Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṅa, is everything."

That is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,

vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam [SB 1.2.7]

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

If you become devotee of Vāsudeva, bhaja vāsudevam, then very quickly you will become jñānavān. First of all, one becomes jñānavān; then he surrenders to Vāsudeva. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66].

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

This is one process. Another process is you become a devotee of Vāsudeva, then jñāna, vairāgya will automatically come. You'll... Because the human life, the perfection of human life, is to accept jñāna and vairāgya. That is perfection. In our Vedic civilization, this is the process, perfection.

There are different stages of life: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. So what is the sannyāsa law? Sannyāsa means perfection: jñāna and vairāgya. Who can take sannyāsa, renounced order, unless he has got full knowledge? As Śaṅkarācārya explains, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Unless one understands fully that "Our these material engagements, they are simply waste of time..." He can attain perfection knowledge. Jñāna-vairāgya-yuktāya [SB 1.2.12].

[The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedānta-śruti.]

Unless there is perfection of knowledge, jñāna, there cannot be vairāgya. And unless there is vairāgya, unless you become detestful of this material existence, there is no question of liberation. Jñāna-vairāgya-yuktāya.

So this jñāna and vairāgya can be achieved simply by becoming a devotee of Vāsudeva. That is the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ, janayaty āśu vairāgyam [SB 1.2.7]. Āśu vairāgya: very soon. Just like these boys, these American, these European boys, they are young men. Now they have taken sannyāsa and dedicated their life for service of Kṛṣṅa. They are vairāgya. They are coming from opulent nation, very rich men, rich nation. Their parents are very rich. There is no scarcity of food. There is no scarcity of money. There is no scarcity of women in the Western countries. But they have left everything. Simply boys. They are all within thirty. How much a young man may have propensities for enjoying this material way of life! And when there is facilities. But how they have taken to it? This is the proof.

vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam [SB 1.2.7]

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

This is proof.

So actually if we want jñāna and knowledge... Because human life is meant for jñāna and knowledge. Human life is not meant for living like animals, cats and dogs. Cats and dogs cannot be elevated to the platform of jñāna and vairāgya. That is not possible. A human being can be elevated by education, by culture, to the platform of jñāna and vairāgya. That is the ultimate goal. Śrī Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings therefore,

hari hari bifale, janama goṅāinu, manuṣya-janama pāiyā, rādhā-kṛṣṅa nā bhajiyā jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu [Iṣṭa-deve Vijñapti 1]

[O Lord Hari, I have wasted my life. Although I have taken this rare human birth, like a miser, I have not served Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa, and thus I have knowingly drunk poison.]

This is jñāna, regretting, "My dear Lord, I got this very opportune moment to possess this human form of life, manuṣya-janama pāiyā, but my duty was to worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa." That is the highest perfection of worshiping. Ramya kecid upāsanā vraja-vadhu-vargabhir ya kalpita. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended, "The upāsanā, the worship which was invented by the gopīs to worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa, ramya kecid upāsanā, there is no more perfect upāsanā."

So this rādhā-kṛṣṅa-upāsanā is the perfection of upāsanā. Even it is better than viṣṅu-upāsanā. In the material way of life viṣṅu-upāsanā has been recommended as the highest. Ārādhanānāṁ paraṁ devi viṣṅor ārādhanaṁ param. It is the statement of Lord Śiva to Pārvatī, that "Of all ārādhana, viṣṅu-ārādhanam is the best."

ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṅor ārādhanaṁ param tasmāt parataraṁ devi tadīyānāṁ ārādhanānāṁ [Cc Madhya 11.31]

Tasmāt parataram. "Even better than viṣṅu-ārādhana is to worship the Vaiṣṅavas." Mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhika [SB 11.19.21].

[Firm faith in the blissful narration of My pastimes, constant chanting of My glories, unwavering attachment to ceremonial worship of Me, praising Me through beautiful hymns, great respect for My devotional service, offering obeisances with the entire body, performing first-class worship of My devotees, consciousness of Me in all living entities, offering of ordinary, bodily activities in My devotional service, use of words to describe My qualities, offering the mind to Me, rejection of all material desires, giving up wealth for My devotional service, renouncing material sense gratification and happiness, and performing all desirable activities such as charity, sacrifice, chanting, vows and austerities with the purpose of achieving Me—these constitute actual religious principles, by which those human beings who have actually surrendered themselves to Me automatically develop love for Me. What other purpose or goal could remain for My devotee?]

Kṛṣṅa has said also that "Anyone who is worshiping My devotee, pure devotee, that is better worship than one who is worshiping Me directly."

So Śrī Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says that "I got this opportunity of human life, but instead of worshiping Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa, I have worshiped so many things." Somebody is worshiping his body, somebody is worshiping his mind, somebody worshiping his country, somebody is worshiping his something else, something else, or somebody is worshiping some other demigods also. But that is not recommended in the śāstra, at least in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ yajanty anya-devatāḥ [Bg 7.20]. There are worshipers of other demigods, but they have been described in the Bhagavad-gītā as hṛta-jñānāḥ. Hṛta-jñānāḥ. Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments, naṣṭa buddhayaḥ, "one who has lost his intelligence." These are the verdict of the śāstra.

Therefore one who has taken only to Kṛṣṅa worship, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam [Bg 18.66],

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

only Kṛṣṅa, he is intelligent. And one who is not intelligent, mūḍha, he does not take to Kṛṣṅa. This is straight meaning of Bhagavad-gītā. You can make your own meaning, but if you want to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, this is the meaning. You cannot accept the worship even of big, big demigods. What to speak of minor demigods, even big demigods just like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva... You can worship. Vaiṣṅava is ready to give respect even to the ant. And why not Lord Śiva? And why not Lord Brahmā or any other demigods? They offer. But they offer in which way? As servant of Kṛṣṅa.

Just like in the Brahma-saṁhitā, there is: sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā [Bs 5.44].

[The external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.]

This is worship of Durgā. A Vaiṣṅava, Brahmā, is offering respect to Mother Durgā. So similarly, a Vaiṣṅava never disrespects any demigod. Why demigods? They are so exalted. They do not disrespect even an ant. Tṛṅād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṅunā, amāninā mānadena [Cc Ādi 17.31, Śikśāṣṭaka 3].

[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.]

A Vaiṣṅava should be ready to give respect to anyone, all living entities, because all living entities are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. They should offer respect to everyone. Just like this finger is my part and parcel of the body. If you respect my body and kill my..., cut my finger, shall I be happy? No. Therefore Vaiṣṅava knows this, that "Even a small ant, he is the part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. So if I kill this ant, Kṛṣṅa will be unhappy. Kṛṣṅa will be unhappy."

There was a vyādha. In the Padma Purāṅa this story is there. He was habituated to kill animals. Vyādha, you know, hunter. So he was killing so many animals half-dead. So Nārada Muni was passing through that forest, he was very much aggrieved, "Who is this rascal, killing these animals half, and they are flapping out of painful condition? Let me see this rascal." So he searched out this vyādha, hunter. The vyādha was very busy in his hunting. So he thought... Because, after all, Nārada Muni is a Vaiṣṅava, after seeing him personally his heart was immediately little clarified. So he offered respect: "Sir, you have come here for some tiger skin or deerskin. I shall give you, but don't disturb in my business. Please let me do my business."

So Nārada Muni said, "All right, you do your business, but one thing I request: Why you are not killing these animals all at a time? Why you are killing half? It is great sin." Then it stuck to his brain: "Sin? Oh. What is this sin?" Then he described the effects of sin. Then he said, "I have been taught by my father to do this business. So if I do not do this business, how shall I live?" So Nārada Muni said, "If I guarantee your living, would you give it up this business, this profession?" "Why not? If I get my living means, then I can give up." So it was agreed that he will give up his business of hunting. And Nārada Muni said that "I will give you all necessities of your life. Come on."

So it is a long story. I am making shortcut. So Nārada Muni asked him that "You sit down on this bank of Ganges, and here is the tulasī plant. You worship it, and I will send your food. Don't be worried." So next morning it was declared in the village, "That heinous hunter has become a Vaiṣṅava." So people, generally, they are inquisitive. They came to see. It is the custom when you go to see a saintly person, you take some fruits or flowers or some rice or some āṭā. So huge stack of rice and āṭā and fruits and flowers also. They were surprised: "Why Nārada Muni is sending so much? We are simply husband and wife." In this way they become Vaiṣṅava. And after some time Nārada Muni, with his friend Parvata Muni, he wanted to see his devotee.

So he asked Parvata Muni that "My dear friend, will you come with me? I shall show my devotee who was formerly a hunter." So Parvata Muni knew that "You can play wonderful. So let me see this devotee." So when Nārada Muni was coming, this devotee was going to receive the spiritual master. This is the custom, to receive the spiritual master from distant place with all honor by bowing down. But he was jumping. He was jumping. So when he came near, the Parvata Muni first of all asked him, "My dear son, you are great devotee, but while coming here why you are jumping?" He said that "On the ground there are so many ants, sir. So I do not want to kill these ants."

This is the effect of devotional service. The same man who was taking pleasure by killing one animal half-dead, he is not prepared to kill even an ant. This is called bhakti. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṅais tatra samāsate surāḥ [SB 5.18.12].

[All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?]

If one becomes a devotee of the Lord, akiñcana-bhakti, then sarvair guṅaiḥ, all good qualities will come out automatically. Because every living entity is part and parcel of God. God is all-good. Therefore every living entity potentially, constitutionally, he is also good. As God is good, we are also good. But due to our material association, we have become bad. So if we revive our old position, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then automatically we shall become all-good. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has recommended, therefore, ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

If you want to see the..., to stop this blazing fire of material existence, then you have to spread this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement all over the world. And the practical effect you can see, what is already done, how they have become. Our limit... There are limitation; we cannot accept anyone and everyone as disciple, unless he agrees tacitly to give up some preliminary principles. Just like illicit sex life. Anyone who comes to me to become my disciple, the first condition is no illicit sex life, no intoxication, up to drinking or smoking or even drinking tea and coffee and chewing pān. These are also intoxicants. So one cannot take all these things. No intoxication. No illicit sex. Unless you have got connection with woman by marriage tie, there cannot be any sex life. These are the pillars of sinful life. Yatra pāpaś catur-vidha. Striya-sūnā-pāna-dyūtaḥ yatra pāpaś catur-vidha [SB 1.17.38].

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Parīkṣit, thus being petitioned by the personality of Kali, gave him permission to reside in places where gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter were performed.]

If you actually want to make progress in spiritual life, you must accept at least these four principles. This is tapasya. Tapasā brahmacaryeṅa tyāgena, śauca..., satya-śaucābhyām [SB 6.1.13].

[To concentrate the mind, one must observe a life of celibacy and not fall down. One must undergo the austerity of voluntarily giving up sense enjoyment. One must then control the mind and senses, give charity, be truthful, clean and nonviolent, follow the regulative principles and regularly chant the holy name of the Lord. Thus a sober and faithful person who knows the religious principles is temporarily purified of all sins performed with his body, words and mind. These sins are like the dried leaves of creepers beneath a bamboo tree, which may be burned by fire although their roots remain to grow again at the first opportunity.]

These are the tests, the prescription.

So to become purified, one must be purified of this material existence. Then he can understand what is God. Then he can serve God. With these material senses it is not possible to serve God. That is not possible. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136].

[Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṅa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṅa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṅa really is.]

These indriyas, the present indriyas, contaminated by material existence... You cannot understand by simply hearing about God. Therefore you have to purify yourself. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

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

This is the definition given by Nārada Muni, how one can become a devotee, how one can be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. This is the formula. What is that? Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam, first condition: one has to give up all designation. "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṅa," "I am śūdra," "I am this," "I am that," these are all designation of the body. But we are not this body. So if we can give up this bodily designation, that is called sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam. Then one has to become purified on the standard of devotional service.

Unless one is engaged in devotional service, there is no question of purification. Then you'll fall down. These are the statements in the śāstras. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ [SB 10.2.32]. You can elevate yourself to the Brahman effulgence, brahma-jñāna, āruhya kṛcchreṅa, with tapasya, with severe austerities. But if you cannot understand Kṛṣṅa, if you do not take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, then you'll again fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-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.]

So a devotee, if you become a devotee, you'll never fall down. Kṛṣṅa will give you protection. Kṛṣṅa says, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṅaśyati [Bg 9.31].

[He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.]

He will give you protection. Otherwise you are helpless. You can fall down at any moment. But if you take shelter of Kṛṣṅa... So there are so many facilities for perfection of life. Simply by accepting Kṛṣṅa, mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja. If you do not do that, then you are a mūḍha, rascal. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajā... [Bg 9.11].

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

"How much powerful is Kṛṣṅa; what He can do for me," without knowing this, we do not surrender to Kṛṣṅa.

Therefore it is necessity to assemble like this to understand Kṛṣṅa. This Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is there all over the world just to help the people to understand real God, Kṛṣṅa. This is the purpose of Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. Because people are suffering; they are all mūḍhas. They do not understand Kṛṣṅa or they deride Kṛṣṅa.

Therefore they will..., he will go on suffering. Tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān kṣipāmy ajasram andha-yoniṣu [Bg 16.19]. Those who are envious of Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa says, "I put them eternally in the hellish condition of life." So if you want to save yourself from the hellish condition of life, you must take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness and surrender unto Him.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [end]