Arrival Address at Bhaktivedanta Manor
Prabhupāda: ...given the facility of assembling in this nice house, this good boy George Harrison. We must give him all glories. We must be thankful to him that he has given us the facility, and Kṛṣṅa will bless him more and more. So far Gopījana-vallabha, Rādhā-Mādhava, our simple worshipable Supreme Personality of Godhead, Rādhā-Mādhava, He is always enjoying in company with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī, Rādhā-Mādhava. He does not go outside Vṛndāvana. Kṛṣṅa, original Kṛṣṅa, He does not go even a step out of Vṛndāvana leaving aside the gopīs. Vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya na padam evaṁ kutra gacchati. He does not go anywhere.
So people are making research to find out God. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said,
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, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyaḥ. Those who are searching after God... Those who are not searching, they are useless. Those who are searching, jñānī, jijñāsu, so they are searching after God, but if they try to approach God, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara, by... Just like airplane. I have come here within twelve hours, from Calcutta to London. So not this airplane, but panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampra..., vāyor athāpi. Vāyu.
If... This airplane is floating on the air, but if the air becomes aeroplane itself or the mind becomes... You know the speed of mind. You can go on the mind millions of miles within a second. That science has not yet discovered, how to go in the speed of mind. The yogīs know. The perfect yogīs, they can travel on the speed of mind. That is also material science. So even on the speed of mind or on the speed of the velocity of the air, if you try to go to approach God, find out where is God... And the time? Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara [Bs 5.34]. Not one day, two day or one hour, two hour, but many millions of years, koṭi-śata-vatsara. Koṭi-śata-vatsara, with the speed of mind or air velocity, if you go to find out God, still, avicintya-tattva, inconceivable. Inconceivable.
So Kṛṣṅa is not so easy to approach by the nondevotees. Vedeṣu durlabha. Or even by studying Vedas, durlabha. Durlabha means not approachable. Not approachable. Vedeṣu durlabha adurlabha ātma-bhaktau [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.]
But to His devotees He's very easy. He's very easy. Just like the gopīs. Gopīs, they are village girls, not educated, not brāhmaṅa, not Vedāntist. But Kṛṣṅa is within their palms, within their hands. So this bhakti-yoga is so nice that Kṛṣṅa, or God, who is unapproachable by any other method—however efficient it may be, it is not possible—only by love and devotion in service He can be approached.
It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti [Bg 18.55].
[One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.]
Kṛṣṅa has explained in the Bhagavad-gītā all system—jñāna-yoga system, haṭha-yoga system, karma-yoga system, rāja-yoga system. But at the end He says that "If anyone actually wants to know Me, that is bhakti." Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ. If anyone wants to know Kṛṣṅa as He is... Kṛṣṅa has different features, especially three: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11]
[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]
—as impersonal Brahman, all-pervasive Paramātmā, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So if anyone wants to know actually what is Kṛṣṅa...
Of course, it is not possible to know Kṛṣṅa, but Kṛṣṅa reveals to the devotee, svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136], revelation.
[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.]
Just like Kṛṣṅa is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā. People should know. Why they are searching unnecessarily? Rascaldom. You cannot search out Kṛṣṅa, God, by speculation. If He reveals Himself by His causeless mercy, being merciful upon you, being pleased upon you, then you can understand Kṛṣṅa. You cannot search out Kṛṣṅa. That is not possible.
So the process is explained by Kṛṣṅa Himself:
bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśate tad-anantaram [Bg 18.55]
[One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.]
If you understand Kṛṣṅa through this process, bhakti process, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11],
[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]
without any motive of material gain, that is called... That is beginning of bhakti. Bhakti means without any motive of material gain. That is bhakti. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam. Śūnyam means zero. All material desires becoming zero, then bhakti begins. Then bhakti begins. Before that, there is no question of bhakti.
So bhakti science is very subtle science, but it is very simple thing to the bhaktas. One who knows things as it is, a very simple thing. Similarly, those who have taken to this bhakti-yoga seriously, for them it is very simple. For others it is very difficult. It is very difficult. Therefore we should go, approach to persons who are... 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 should approach person who knows the bhakti science and... Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23].
[Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.]
And by devotional service to Kṛṣṅa and the spiritual master, then bhakti science becomes revealed. Without revelation, nobody can understand bhakti science, and without understanding bhakti science, nobody can understand Kṛṣṅa.
Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.
Devotees: All glories to Prabhupāda. [end]