Janmāṣṭamī Lecture

Prabhupāda: [chants maṅgalācaraṅa prayers]

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

[I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master who, with the torchlight of knowledge, has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance.]

śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam

[When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?]

he kṛṣṅa karuṅā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te

[O my dear Kṛṣṅa, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherd men and the lover of the gopīs, especially Rādhārāṅī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.]

tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgi rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari vṛṣabhānu-sute devi praṅamāmi hari-priye

[I offer my respects to Rādhārāṅī, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndāvana. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṅa.]

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṅavebhyo namo namaḥ

[I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṅava devotees of the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and they are full of compassion for the fallen souls.]

śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

[I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.]

hare kṛṣṅa hare kṛṣṅa kṛṣṅa kṛṣṅa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

[My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service.]

His Excellency, the High Commissioner; ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for your coming here and participating in this ceremony, Janmāṣṭamī, advent of Kṛṣṅa. The subject matter I've been ordered to speak on is advent of Kṛṣṅa.

Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā,

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 fact, that we can achieve such a stage of life when we can stop our birth and death... Sa 'mṛtatvāya kalpate. This morning, I was explaining this verse:

yaṁ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṁ puruṣarsabha sama-duḥkha-sukhaṁ dhīraṁ so 'mṛtatvāya kalpate [Bg 2.15]

[O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.]

Amrtatva means immortality. So the modern civilization, they have no idea, either the great philosopher, great politician or great scientist, that it is possible to attain the stage of immortality, amṛtatva. We are all amṛta. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, na jāyate na mrīyate vā kadācin [Bg 2.20].

[For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.]

We living entities, we never die, never take birth. Nityaḥ śāśvato yaṁ, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. Every one of us, we are eternal, nityaḥ, śāśvato; purāṅa, the oldest. And after annihilation of this body, we do not die. Na hanyate. The body is finished, but I have to accept another body. Tathā dehāntara prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā [Bg 2.13].

[As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.]

This simple thing, at the present moment they are lacking knowledge, that we, all living entities, part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, we are eternal, we are blissful and we are cognizant. Kṛṣṅa is described in the Vedic śāstra:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam [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.]

Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. God, Kṛṣṅa... When I speak Kṛṣṅa, that means God. If there is any important name... God, it is sometimes said God has no name. That's a fact. But God's name is given by His activities. Just like Kṛṣṅa accepted the sonhood of Mahārāja Nanda or Yaśodāmāyī or Devakī or Vasudeva. Vasudeva and Devakī were Kṛṣṅa's real father and mother. Nobody is real father and mother of Kṛṣṅa, because Kṛṣṅa is the original father of everyone, but when Kṛṣṅa comes here, advents, He accepts some devotee as His father, as His mother.

Kṛṣṅa is the original, ādi-puruṣaṁ. Ādyaṁ purāṅa-puruṣam nava-yauvanaṁ ca [Bs 5.33]. He is the original person. Then must be very old? No. Adyam purāṅa puruṣam nava-yauvanam ca. Always fresh youth. That is Kṛṣṅa. When Kṛṣṅa was on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra—you have seen the picture—He's just like a boy of twenty years or, at utmost, twenty-four years old. But at that time, He had great-grandchildren. Therefore, Kṛṣṅa is always youth. Navayauvanam ca. These are the statements of Vedic literatures.

advaitam acyutam anādiṁ ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṅa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca vedeṣu durlābhaṁ adurlābhaṁ ātmā-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.]

So, to understand Kṛṣṅa, simply if we read as a formality the Vedic literature, it will be very difficult to understand what is Kṛṣṅa, vedesu durlābhaṁ, although all the Vedas are meant for understanding Kṛṣṅa. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo [Bg 15.15].

[I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.]

Aham eva vedyo. What is the use of studying Vedas if you do not understand Kṛṣṅa? Because the ultimate goal of education means to understand the Supreme Lord, the supreme father, the supreme cause. As it is said in the Vedānta-sūtra, janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Brahma-jijñāsā, to discuss about the Supreme Absolute Truth, Brahman. What is that Brahman? Janmādy asya yataḥ. That Brahman means wherefrom everything emanates.

So science, philosophy,āstras, Vedic literature, that Kṛṣṅa is the cause of all causes. Sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam. Sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam [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.]

Cause of all causes. Just like try to understand: I am, I am caused by my father. My father is caused by his father. He is caused by his father, his father... Go on searching, then you'll ultimately come to somebody who is the cause. But He has no cause. Anādir ādir govindaḥ [Bs 5.1]. I may be cause of my son, but I am also result of the cause, my father. But the śāstra says that anādir ādir, He is the original person, but He has no cause. That is Kṛṣṅa.

Therefore, Kṛṣṅa says that janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ [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.]

The advent of Kṛṣṅa, it is very important thing. We should try to understand Kṛṣṅa, why He advents, why He comes on this material world, what is His business, what are His activities. If we simply try to understand Kṛṣṅa, then what is the result? The result is tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [Bg 4.9]. You get that immortality. The aim of life is to achieve immortality. Amṛtatvāya kalpate.

So in the advent of Kṛṣṅa, we shall try to understand the philosophy of Kṛṣṅa. His Excellency was speaking of peace. The peace formula is there, spoken by Kṛṣṅa. What is that?

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati [Bg 5.29]

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

If the politicians, diplomats, they are trying to establish peace in the world... The United Nation is there, and there are many other organizations, they are trying to have real peace and tranquillity, no misunderstanding between man to man, nation to nation. But that is not happening. That is not happening. The defect is that in the root is wrong. Everyone's thinking, "It is my country. It is my family. It is my society. It is my property." This "mine" is illusion. In the śāstra it is said, janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]. This "I and my" philosophy is illusion.

So this illusion means māyā. Māyā... If you want to get out of this illusion, māyā, then you have to accept the Kṛṣṅa's formula: mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā for guidance if we accept the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Everything is there. Peace is there, prosperity is there. So that is a fact. Unfortunately, we do not accept it. That is our misfortune. Or we misinterpret it. Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, 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 says that "You always think of Me," man-manā bhava mad-bhakto, "become My devotee"; mad-yājī, "you worship Me," māṁ namaskuru, "and offer obeisances unto Me." Is it very difficult task?

Here is Kṛṣṅa's Deity. If you think of this Deity, Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa, is it very difficult? Man-manā. You come into the temple and, just as a devotee, offer your respect to the Deity, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto. As far as possible try to worship the Deity, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg 9.26].

[If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.]

Kṛṣṅa does not want your whole property. Kṛṣṅa is open to the poorest man for being worshiped. What He is asking? He says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati: "With devotion, if a person offers Me a little leaf, a little fruit, a little water, I accept." Kṛṣṅa is not hungry, but Kṛṣṅa wants to make you devotee. That is the main point. Yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. That is the main principle. If you offer Kṛṣṅa little things... Kṛṣṅa is not hungry; Kṛṣṅa is providing food for everyone. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. But Kṛṣṅa wants your love, your devotion. Therefore He is begging little patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ.

Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto [Bg 18.65]. There is no difficulty in understanding Kṛṣṅa and to accept Kṛṣṅa consciousness. But we'll not do that; that is our disease. Otherwise, it is not difficult at all. And as soon as we become devotee of Kṛṣṅa, we understand the whole situation. Our philosophy, Bhāgavata philosophy, is also communism, because we consider Kṛṣṅa the supreme father, and all living entities, they are all sons of Kṛṣṅa.

So Kṛṣṅa says that He is the proprietor of all planets, sarva-loka-maheśvaram [Bg 5.29].

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

Therefore whatever there is, either in the sky or in the water or in the land, they're all Kṛṣṅa's property. And because we are all sons of Kṛṣṅa, therefore every one of us has the right to use the father's property. But we should not encroach upon others. This is the formula of peace. Mā gṛdha kasya svidhanam, īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1].

[Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.]

Everything belongs to God. You are sons of God. You have got the right to use father's property, but do not take more than you need. That is punishable. These things are stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Stena eva sa ucyate [Bg 3.12],

[In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajña [sacrifice], supply all necessities to man. But he who enjoys these gifts, without offering them to the demigods in return, is certainly a thief.]

in the Bhagavad-gītā, "He's a thief." If anyone takes more than he needs, then he's a thief. Yajñārthāt karmaṅo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg 3.9].

[Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṅu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.]

If for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṅa... Yajña means Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa's another name is Yajñeśvara. So you act for Kṛṣṅa, you take prasādam, Kṛṣṅa. That what we are teaching here. In this temple, we are residing Americans, Indians, Englishmen, Canadians, Africans—different parts of the world. You know that. Not only in this temple, all over the world.

[break] ...when we forget this philosophy, that Kṛṣṅa is the supreme father, Kṛṣṅa is the supreme proprietor, Kṛṣṅa is the supreme enjoyer and Kṛṣṅa is the supreme friend of everyone. When you forget this, then we come into this material world and struggle for existence, fight with one another. This is material life. So you cannot get... The politicians, diplomats or philosophers, they have tried so much, but actually nothing has become fruitful. Just like the United Nation: It was organized after the second great war, and they wanted that "Peacefully we shall settle everything." But there is no such thing. The fighting is going on between Pakistan and India, between Vietnam and America, and this and that. It is not the process.

The process is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Everyone has to understand this fact, that we are not proprietor. Proprietor is Kṛṣṅa. That's a fact. Just like America. Say two hundred years ago the Americans, the European migrators, they were not proprietor—somebody was proprietor. Before them, somebody was proprietor or it was vacant land. The actual proprietor is Kṛṣṅa. But artificially you are claiming that "It is my property." Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]. This is called māyā.

So Kṛṣṅa advents for give us lesson. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg 4.7]. Kṛṣṅa says, "My dear Arjuna, I come when there is discrepancies in the process of religious life." Dharmasya glānir bhavati. And what is dharma? The simple definition of dharma is dharmāṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītam [SB 6.3.19].

[Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyādharas and Cāraṅas.]

This is dharma. Dharmāṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītam. Whatever... Just like what do you mean by law? Law means the word given by the state. You cannot make law at home. That is not possible. Whatever the government gives you, that "You should act like this," that is law. Similarly, dharma means the direction given by God. That is dharma. Simple definition. You create dharma. I have created this dharma, another man creates another dharma—these are not dharma.

Therefore, where the Bhagavad-gītā ends, that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ [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 dharma—to surrender to Kṛṣṅa. Any other dharma, they are not dharma. Otherwise, why Kṛṣṅa asks, sarva-dharmān parityajya: "Give up"? He said that dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge: "I advent to establish the principles of religion." And at last He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya. That means the so-called dharmas that we have manufactured, man-made dharma, they are not dharmas. Dharma means what is given by God. But we have no understanding what is God and what is His word. That is the modern civilization defect. But the order is there, God is there—we won't accept. Where is the possibility of peace?

The order is there. Kṛṣṅa says, the Supreme, bhagavān uvāca. Vyāsadeva writes bhagavān uvāca. One should know what is Bhagavān. Vyāsadeva could have written kṛṣṅa uvāca. No. He says... If one may misunderstand Kṛṣṅa, therefore he writes in every stanza, every verse, śrī bhagavān uvāca. So Bhagavān is there. Bhagavān is speaking. Bhagavān is accepted by all the ācāryas—Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṅu Svāmī; latest, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu , even Śaṅkarācārya, he also accepts Kṛṣṅa: sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṅa. So the verdict of the modern ācāryas, and in the past also, Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Asita, everyone accepted Kṛṣṅa the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Arjuna, who heard from Kṛṣṅa, after understanding Bhagavad-gītā he said, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān puruṣam ādyaṁ śāśvatam [Bg 10.12].

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

So everything is there. Especially in India, we have got so much asset for understanding God. Simple thing. Everything is there, ready made. But we won't accept. So what is the remedy for such disease? We are searching after peace, but we won't accept anything which is actually giving us peace. This is our disease.

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is trying to awaken the dormant Kṛṣṅa consciousness in everyone's heart. Otherwise, how these Europeans and Americans and other countrymen, they never heard of Kṛṣṅa four or five years ago, how they are taking Kṛṣṅa consciousness so serious? Kṛṣṅa consciousness is there in everyone's heart. It has to be awakened only. That is described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta:

nitya-siddha kṛṣṅa-bhakti 'sādhya' kabhu naya śravaṅādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya [Cc Madhya 22.107]

[Pure love for Kṛṣṅa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.]

It is awakened. Love for Kṛṣṅa, devotion for Kṛṣṅa, is there within everyone's heart, but he has forgotten. So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is simply meant for awakening that Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is the process. Just like when you are sleeping, your..., I have to call you loudly—"Mr. Such-and-such, such and such, get up. You have got this business." No other senses will act when you are sleeping. But the ear will act. Therefore, in this age, when people are so fallen they will not hear anything, if we chant this Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, he'll be awakened to Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is practical.

So actually if we are anxious for peace and tranquillity in the society, then we must be very serious to understand Kṛṣṅa. That is our request. Don't take it neglectfully, the Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. This movement can solve all the problems of life, all the problems in the world—social, political, philosophical, religious, economical—everything can be solved by Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Therefore, we request those who are leaders—just like His Excellency is present here—you should try to understand this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. It is very scientific, authorized. It is not a mental concoction or sentimental movement. It is most scientific movement. So we are inviting all leaders from all countries: try to understand. If you are sober, if you are actually reasonable, you'll understand that this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is the sublime movement for welfare of the whole human society. That's a fact. Anyone may come, we are prepared to discuss this subject matter. Kṛṣṅa bhūliyā jīva bhoga vāñchā kare [Prema-vivarta 6.2].

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

We should not... Our human life, the ultimate goal of human life, is to achieve immortality. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [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 our... We have forgotten this. We are simply leading the life of cats and dogs, without any knowledge that we can achieve that perfection of life when there will be no more birth, no more death. We do not understand even that there is possibility of amṛtatvam. But everything is possible. Amṛtatvam. Nobody wants to die, that's a fact. Nobody wants to become old man, nobody wants to become diseased. This is our natural inclination. Why? Because originally, in our spiritual form, there is no birth, no death, no old age, no disease. So after evolutionary process down from the aquatics, birds, beasts and plants, trees, when you come to this form of human form of body, after... Aśītiṁ caturaś caiva lakṣāṁs tād jīva-jātiṣu [Brahma-vaivarta Purāṅa]. This is evolutionary process. We come to the human form of body. Then we should know what is the goal of life.

The goal of life is amṛtatvam, to become immortal. That, you can become immortal simply by becoming Kṛṣṅa conscious. Kṛṣṅa says. It is a fact. We have to simply understand. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. If you try to understand Kṛṣṅa in truth, tattvataḥ, then, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9], after giving up this body, you don't accept any more material body.

[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.]

And as soon as you don't accept any material body means you become immortal. Because by nature we are immortal.

So Kṛṣṅa advents, Kṛṣṅa advents to teach us this lesson, that "You are immortal by nature. As spirit soul you are part and parcel of Me. I am as immortal, so you are also immortal. Unnecessarily, you are trying to be happy in this material world."

mamaivāṁso jīva bhūto jīva-loke sanātanaḥ manaḥ saṣṭanindriyāni prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg 15.7]

Simply struggle for, unnecessarily. The best thing is that you have enjoyed sense life in so many varieties of life—as cats, as dogs, as demigod, as tree, as plants, as insect. Now, in this human form of life, don't be captivated by sensuous life. Just try to understand Kṛṣṅa. That is the verdict of the śāstra. Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye [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.]

To work very hard like dogs and hog for sense gratification is not the ambition of human life. Human life is meant for little austerity. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam [SB 5.5.1]. We have to purify our existence. That is the mission of human life. Why I shall purify my sattva, existence? Brahma-saukhyam tv anantam. Then you get unlimited pleasure, unlimited happiness. That is real pleasure.

ramante yogino 'nante satyānanda-cid-ātmani iti rāma-padenāsau paraṁ brahmābhidhīyate [Cc Madhya 9.29]

[The Supreme Absolute Truth is called Rāma because the transcendentalists take pleasure in the unlimited true pleasure of spiritual existence.]

So at least in India, all the great personalities, saintly persons, sages and ācāryas, they have cultivated this spiritual knowledge so nicely and fully, and we are not taking advantage of it. It is not that those śāstras and directions are meant for the Indians or for the Hindus or for brāhmaṅas. No. It is meant for everyone. Because Kṛṣṅa claims,

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ yaḥ tāsāṁ mahad brahma yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā [Bg 14.4]

[It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.]

Kṛṣṅa claims that "I am everyone's father." Therefore, He is very much anxious to make us peaceful, happy. Just like the father wants to see his son is well-situated and happy; similarly, Kṛṣṅa also wants to see every one of us happy and well-situated. Therefore He comes sometimes. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati [Bg 4.7]. This is the purpose of Kṛṣṅa's advent.

So those who are servants of Kṛṣṅa, devotees of Kṛṣṅa, they should take the mission of Kṛṣṅa. They should take up the mission of Kṛṣṅa. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's version.

āmāra ajñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa yare dekha, tare 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.]

Kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Just try to preach what Kṛṣṅa has said in the Bhagavad-gītā. That is the duty of every Indian. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari para-upakāra. [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.]

So Indians, Indians are meant for para-upakāra. Indians are not meant for exploiting others. That is not Indians' business. Indian history is all along for para-upakāra. And formerly, from all parts of the world used to come to India to learn what is spiritual life. Even Jesus Christ went there, and from China and from other countries. That is history. And we are forgetting our own asset. How much we are callous. Such a great movement, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, is going on all over the world, but our Indians are callous, our government is callous. They do not take. That is our misfortune. But it is the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. He says any Indian, bhārata bhūmite manuṣya janma, if he's human being, he must make his life perfect by taking advantage of this Vedic literature and distribute the knowledge all over the world. That is para-upakāra.

So India can do. They are actually appreciating. These Europeans, American young men, they are appreciating that how great... I get daily dozens of letter, how they are benefited by this movement. Actually, that is the fact. It is giving the life for the dead man. So I shall specially request the Indians, especially His Excellency, kindly cooperate with this movement, and try to make successful your life and others' life. That is the mission of Kṛṣṅa, advent of Kṛṣṅa.

Thank you very much. [end]