Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.1.3

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

nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ divā cārthehayā rājan kuṭumba-bharaṅena vā [SB 2.1.3]

[break]

[01:35]

Translation: "The lifetime of such envious householders is passed at night either in sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or maintaining family members."

Prabhupāda:

nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ divā cārthehayā rājan kuṭumba-bharaṅena vā [SB 2.1.3]

This is the description of the persons who are blind. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvam [SB 2.1.2].

[Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor.]

Yesterday we have discussed this verse. Apaśyatām means one who does not see. Apaśyatām, paśyati. Paśyati means "one who sees," and apaśyati, "one who does not see," "blind." So there are two kinds of men within the world: paśyati, apaśyati. Simply having the eyes, one cannot see. This is not... Because our senses are imperfect. We see every day the sun just like a small disc. But it is not a small disc. It is fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this planet. Therefore our sensual perception is not all. That is not perfect. We are deficient: we commit mistake, we are illusioned, we cheat, and our senses are imperfect. As such, there is no possibility of having perfect knowledge by a conditioned soul. That is not possible.

We have to receive knowledge, therefore, from the Supreme Perfect. That is real knowledge. Just like we have got experience that nobody knows that there is soul. Nobody knows. But we have to receive the knowledge from the perfect person, Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says there is soul. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanam..., tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [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.]

Asmin dehe, in this body, there is the proprietor of the body, the soul. But if we want to see... Some rascal says, "Show me where is soul." He cannot see, because he has no eyes to see. These modern materialistic person, they want to see everything, but he does not understand that his seeing power is very limited.

If the light is off, immediately he cannot see. So what is the value of your eyes? Why you are so much proud to see everything? "Can you show me God? Can you show me the soul?" You cannot see. You have no eyes to see. And what you cannot see, you can hear. Just like a blind man, he is sitting; he cannot see. Somebody comes. He inquires, "Who has come here?" Now, if somebody says, "It is such-and-such person," by hearing only he can understand, "Oh, such-and-such person has come." So seeing is not extremely perfect experience. There are other senses.

So which is beyond the sense perception you have to hear. Therefore Vedic knowledge is called śruti. You have to hear. Not by seeing; simply by hearing. Śravaṅam.

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.]

If you want to know the Supreme, then you have to hear from Him. Just like about Kṛṣṅa, we have to hear from Him. Kṛṣṅa is speaking Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṅa is speaking everything. All Vedic knowledge is Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is speaking. How Kṛṣṅa is speaking? That is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye [SB 1.1.1]. Kṛṣṅa spoke to Brahmā. Ādi-kavi means Brahmā. He spoke to him. But if somebody says, "Brahmā..., when Brahmā was born from the lotus flower, there was nobody there. So how he could hear from anybody?" therefore Bhāgavata says, tene brahma hṛdā. Hṛdā means "through the heart." Through the heart he was educated. Therefore Kṛṣṅa's another name is caitya-guru. Caitya-guru means "the guru who is sitting within your heart." Caitya-guru. But He does not speak to anyone. He speaks to everyone, but only the devotee can hear. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te [Bg 10.10]

[To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.]

Unless you are a devotee, unless you are constantly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, He will not speak to you. He speaks, but you cannot hear. You have no ears to hear Him. That is not possible. Kṛṣṅa is speaking. Just like Kṛṣṅa is speaking in the Bhagavad-gītā, 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.]

It is open speaking, but who is hearing? Nobody is hearing. Nobody is hearing. They have got their own conception of life.

Therefore, unless there is mercy of Kṛṣṅa, there is no possibility of understanding Kṛṣṅa. 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.]

By your these blunt material senses you cannot understand what is the name of Kṛṣṅa, nāmādi.

Guest: [Hindi]

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi.

[aside:] That's all right. Why you are bothering?

Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. In these blunt material senses you cannot understand what is this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra. It requires purification of the senses, when you will understand what is Kṛṣṅa's name, nāmādi, what is Kṛṣṅa's form, what is Kṛṣṅa's quality, what is Kṛṣṅa's entourage, what is Kṛṣṅa's pastime. You cannot understand. How you will be understanding? Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. When you are engaged in the loving service of the Lord, beginning with your tongue, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau, by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra and taking prasādam, in this way, gradually, when you will be purified, you will understand what is Kṛṣṅa. He will reveal. Kṛṣṅa reveals. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ [Bg 7.25].

[I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-māyā]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.]

For others, He is covered with yogamāyā's curtain, but for the devotees, He is open.

This is the secret. Vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham 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.]

If you simply study Veda, you will never be able to understand Kṛṣṅa. Therefore so many so-called Vedāntists, they do not know what is Kṛṣṅa. They consider Kṛṣṅa as ordinary human being. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam [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.]

So the mūḍhas, the rascals, they cannot understand Kṛṣṅa. Only the devotees. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg 18.55]. If you want to understand Kṛṣṅa in truth, then you will have to accept this process, bhakti. Kṛṣṅa never says that "By jñāna, by yoga, by karma you can understand." No.

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.]

These things are...

So the gṛhamedhīs, as I have described last night, they are not interested, gṛhamedhis. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām [SB 2.1.2].

[Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor.]

Gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām, those who are simply attached to this bodily conception of life, they are unable to see the truth. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvam. They cannot see. Their only business is... That is described here: nidrayā hriyate naktam.

[aside:] Yes, come if you like.

Their business is, these apaśyatām ātma-tattvam [SB 2.1.2], those who are blind, those who cannot see, the ātma-tattvam, "What I am," such persons, what is their business occupation?

That is the distinction between devotee and nondevotee. A nondevotee, he is very much happy by sleeping. We have seen it practically in Western countries. You know very well. If they can sleep twenty-four, -five hours instead of twenty-four hours, they are very happy. They think that they are getting some profit. Not only Western countries. I have seen long, long, about fifty years ago in Calcutta, the office peons, they took letters for distributing to other men, but what do they do? They will sleep at Dalhousie Square with the peon book. I have seen. They thought that "This sleeping is our gain. We are getting salary. That is another gain. But because without working I am sleeping now for three hours in Dalhousie Square, it is as another gain."

So this is the conception of the... [someone coughs loudly] Disturb [Hindi]. So sleeping is also pleasure, but for the devotees, for advanced devotees, just like Gosvāmīs in Vṛndāvana, śrī-rūpa-sanātana-bhaṭṭa-raghunātha, they conquered over sleeping. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. Vijitau, they conquered over sleeping. That is required. Just like Arjuna is addressed, "Guḍākeśa." He conquered over sleeping. To conquer over sleeping is the success of life, not to be servant of sleeping. That is not required. That is for the conditioned soul. Nidrayā hriyate naktam. For conditioned soul... Therefore we have to practice.

Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. Śrī-gaurāṅga-guṅānuvarṅane śraddhā-samṛddhy-anvitau, nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau. This is the description of the Gosvāmīs. Rūpa Gosvāmī used to sleep generally one and half hour only. And that is also sometimes not sleeping. That is the description in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

So to increase sleeping is no qualification. To decrease sleeping. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṅām [Hitopadeśa 25].

[Both animals and men share the activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. But the special property of the humans is that they are able to engage in spiritual life. Therefore without spiritual life, humans are on the level of animals.]

Eating, sleeping, sex life and defending, these business is meant for the animals. So we have got the animal portion of our life, because we are animals. Unless we come to the Kṛṣṅa consciousness point, we are simply animals. Those who are working on the bodily concept of life whole day and night, they are simply animals. Their business is to sleep as much as possible at night. Nidrayā hriyate naktam.

Otherwise, vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ. Vyavāya. Vyavāya means sex. Two business at night: either sex indulgence or sleep. This is ātma-tattvam apaśyatām [SB 2.1.2].

[Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor.]

Apaśyatām. Those who are awakened to the ātma-tattva, they will simply think, "How much time I have wasted." That is... Avyartha-kālatvam [Cc Madhya 23.18-19]. Avyartha kā... A devotee should be always alert whether he is wasting time or utilizing time. That is devotee's business.

So this nidrayā hriyate naktam or vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ, this is wasting life, wasting time. It should be minimized as far as possible. This is not required. This is the bodily necessities of life. And we have to come to the spiritual platform. We have to be engaged only in spiritual activities. But those who are not interested in self-realization, there must be some engagement. There are two things: Kṛṣṅa or māyā. Just like darkness and light. Where there is Kṛṣṅa there is no darkness. 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.]

"Māyā is just like darkness, and Kṛṣṅa is just like sunlight." So as soon as there is sunlight, there is no darkness. Just like this is night.

What does it mean, night? Means there is no sunlight. Sunlight is there in other part of this globe, but here there is no sunlight; therefore it is darkness. Similarly, as soon as we are not Kṛṣṅa conscious, there is māyā, immediately. Either māyā or Kṛṣṅa consciousness. If you are not in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then you should understand that you are in māyā. And if you are in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then there is no māyā. 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.]

These are the open description. Anyone who is fully surrendered to Kṛṣṅa, he has no māyā.

Now, this does not mean that we shall completely exclude sleeping. That does not... Just like Gosvāmīs. They were liberated person, but they were also sleeping. Because we have got this body, sleeping, rest, is necessary. But we cannot neglect this body. But not that, that we shall increase the necessities of life, increase the necessities of the body. That is... Rūpa Gosvāmī has given: nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṅa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255].

[When one is not attached to anything but at the same time accepts everything in relation to Kṛṣṅa, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Kṛṣṅa is not as complete in his renunciation.]

We have to, I mean to say, mold our life in such a way. What is that? Anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ.

This is viṣaya. Viṣaya means this āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna [Hitopadeśa 25].

[Both animals and men share the activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. But the special property of the humans is that they are able to engage in spiritual life. Therefore without spiritual life, humans are on the level of animals.]

This is called viṣaya. Viṣaya does not mean one who is very rich man, he is viṣayī. No. Anyone, he may be very poor man, if he is attached to this eating, sleeping, mating and defending only, he is a viṣayī. The Locana dāsa Ṭhākura says, viṣaya chāṛiyā, se rase majiyā [Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nityānander Dayā 2]. One has to gradually give up, minimize, this viṣaya. Viṣaya means āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna. Viṣaya.

So Rūpa Gosvāmī gives the instruction, anāsaktasya viṣayān. Anāsakta. Anā..., means no attachment. Sleeping required, but not for attachment. Somebody is living for sleeping, and somebody is sleeping just to give rest to the body. Similarly, eating also. Eating is not prohibited. You have to eat, because you have got this body. But not that simply for eating I am living. This is called yukta-vairāgya.

Rūpa Gosvāmī says, anāsaktasya viṣa... Don't be attached to the viṣaya, eating, sleeping, mating, that "I have to eat so much. I have to satisfy my palate. I have to eat this thing in the restaurant." No. You eat simply just to keep your body fit, not extra. Atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca prajalpo niyamāgrahaḥ [Upadeśāmṛta 2].

[One's devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) overendeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements.]

Don't eat more than it is required for maintaining your body. Similarly, don't sleep more; as much as you require for maintaining your...

Don't have sex life more than it is required. They are allowed. Just like Kṛṣṅa says that "Sex life which is not against religious principle, that is I am." Sex life against religion, what is that? Avaidha-strī-saṅga. Avaidha, illicit sex life, that is against religious principle. Otherwise, to get married and to beget nice children, Kṛṣṅa conscious children, according to śāstra, that sex life is not forbidden. Kṛṣṅa says. So dharmāviruddhaḥ kāma aham, "Which is not against religious principle, that kāma, that kind of lust, I am." But not for other purposes.

In this way we have to mold our life if we are actually interested to become free from this janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam [Bg 13.9], if we actually want to get free from the repetition of birth, death, old age and disease.

[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.]

That is our real problem. People do not understand that this is our real problem. They are simply engaged in some temporary problem. The real problem is that "Why I am dying? In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]: 'The soul does not die even after the destruction of this body.' So why my body should be destroyed?" This is real inquiry. "Why... Can I not get a permanent body which will never be destroyed?" Yes. You'll get. You will get. 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.]

Kṛṣṅa says. "You will get a permanent body. After giving up this body," tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9], "you do not get again material body." "Then where shall I go?" Mām eti: "You come to Me." If you go back to home, back to Kṛṣṅa, then, as Kṛṣṅa has got eternal body, never to be destroyed, similarly Kṛṣṅa has got eternal body.

Don't think that Kṛṣṅa has got a body like us. Just like Kṛṣṅa, when it was inquired by Arjuna, Kṛṣṅa said that "This Bhagavad-gītā philosophy I spoke first of all to the sun-god." That you have calculated, it is about 400,000,000's of years ago He said. How does He remember? That means He does not change His body. We, we forget, because just like in our last, past birth... Now I can remember not all, but some of my incidences of my life I remember. But I do not remember anything of my past life. Death means forgetting about the past life. So because I have changed my body, I have forgotten. But anyone who does not change his body, he does not forget. And that is the proof that Kṛṣṅa..., Kṛṣṅa's body is not ordinary body. Anyone who thinks Kṛṣṅa as one of us, he is a mūḍha. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam [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.]

Because He comes just like a human being, we consider that He is also a human being.

So it is a great science. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja inquired about Kṛṣṅa, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī is describing, and he immediately said, varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ [SB 2.1.1]: "Your question is very glorified." Yad loka-hitam: "It will be..." Varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa.

varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa ātmavit-sammataḥ puṁsāṁ śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ [SB 2.1.1]

Kṛṣṅa praśna and Kṛṣṅa answer. So answer is śrotavya. So śrotavyādi, we are hearing so many answers. Just like you go to the market. We question and answer. There are so many questions, so many answers. But this Kṛṣṅa question and Kṛṣṅa answer, śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ—paraḥ means superior or transcendental—this is not material things. Nārāyaṅaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt. Anything about Nārāyaṅa, that is not of this material world; that is of the spiritual world. Therefore, Kṛṣṅa question and Kṛṣṅa answers, they are not material things. Therefore, if we always engage ourself in Kṛṣṅa question and Kṛṣṅa answer... Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ [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.]

Therefore it is called Viṣṅu. Not that any other śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam. Only Viṣṅu.

Viṣṅu means viṣṅu-tattva. Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan [Bs 5.29]. Viṣṅu-tattva means rāmādi-mūrti. Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha, Kṛṣṅa... There are so many. They are described. They are viṣṅu-tattva. Viṣṅu-tattva, jīva-tattva, śakti-tattva. There are different tattvas. So śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam. If you engage yourself in śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam, that should be for Viṣṅu, not for any other, anyone else. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅam. Smaraṅam, meditation. That is also Viṣṅu. The yogīs, those who are actually yogīs, they meditate upon the viṣṅu-mūrti within the heart. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1].

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṅa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and becoming fully absorbed in thoughts of Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.]

Yogīs, their meditation, Viṣṅu.

So this kṛṣṅa-praśna, Kṛṣṅa question and Kṛṣṅa answer, this is loka-hitam. Anyone hears... In another place Śrī Bhāgavata says, śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ [SB 1.2.17]:

[Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.]

"About Kṛṣṅa, if you hear and speak, it is automatically puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ." As it is said, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ [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.]

So this śravaṅam Kṛṣṅa, Viṣṅu, means puṅya, puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ. Even if you do not understand anything, if you simply sit down silently and give aural reception to the sound vibration of Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, you become purified. Puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ. Śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ [SB 1.2.17].

Simply by hearing, you become pious. Because we are all impious. Unless we are impious, we don't accept this material body. There may be difference of degrees. That does not make... Anyone who has come to this material world, he is to be considered as impious. Therefore Kṛṣṅa said, 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.]

Because all of us are now in this material body means there is pāpa. Otherwise why there is... Just like in the prison house, anyone, he may be Gandhi or he may be a small pickpocket, anyone who is in the prison house, it is to be considered that he is criminal. He is a criminal in the eyes of the government. We may worship Gandhi, that's all right, or any political leader, but government think that he is a criminal. Similarly, we have to accept the government's decision. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa's decision. Kṛṣṅa's decision is that anyone who is in this material world, beginning from Brahmā down to the small ant, some way or other, they are criminal.

kṛṣṅa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare [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.]

The māyā's business is to capture. Just like criminal is arrested by the police, similarly, māyā is also engaged for this purpose. Anyone who forgets Kṛṣṅa, anyone who wants to enjoy, enjoy life, imitate like Kṛṣṅa... Kṛṣṅa is the supreme enjoyer. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ 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.]

He is the enjoyer. But we are imitating. Sometimes we say, "I am Kṛṣṅa. I am God." This is our disease. We want to imitate Kṛṣṅa. We want to become Kṛṣṅa. We want to enjoy like Kṛṣṅa. This is going on. So, so long we have got this propensity, we are sinful. This is the substance.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyaḥ: "If you surrender unto Me... Because you have rebelled against Me. Rebelling against Me, you have come to this material world to enjoy. So I have given you all chances. I have given you chance to become Brahmā, to become Indra or become Candra, to become Nixon, to become Gandhi, to become Jawaharlal Nehru, to become ant, to become cat, to become dog. I have given you all chances, and you have enjoyed. But you are not satisfied. Now, if you have got sense, just surrender to Me."

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ [Bg 18.66]

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

"If you actually want real happiness, then you surrender to Me. I will give you protection from this sinful reaction of life."

So those who are very grossly sinful, their business is in sleeping. Nidrayā hriyate naktam—to sleep at night or to indulge sex life.

Pradyumna: Vyavāyena.

Prabhupāda: Vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ. Vyavāya means sex life. So vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ. The vayaḥ... Vayaḥ means duration of life. The more you indulge in sex life, your duration of life is reduced. That is the scientific method. Therefore the yogīs, they give up sex life. It is a very great science, the breathing. During sex life there is more breathing. So the more you misuse your breathing, your duration of life is reduced. And if you can preserve this breathing, then you can increase your duration of life. Why people are dying nowadays, fifty years, sixty years, seventy years? No. One should live for at least hundred years. But because they unduly indulge in sex life, they die early. Their duration of life is reduced.

So these people, apaśyatām ātma-tattvam [SB 2.1.2],

[Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor.]

those who are ignorant of the ātma-tattvam, they indulge in nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ vyavāyena ca vā. This is their night's business. And day's business... What is the day's business? Divā cārthehayā rājan. During daytime, "Where is money? Where is money? Where is money? Where is money? Where is money? Go here, go there, go there, go..." All right, take money. Then "How to utilize it?" Now, kuṭumba-bharaṅena vā. "Then go to the shop.

Purchase this thing for my wife, for my children, for this, for that." So money earned and spent, and night, sleeping and mating. Then where is your time for cultivating Kṛṣṅa consciousness? Huh? This is the position. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām [SB 2.1.2]. Those who are blind, who do not know what is the value of this life, this human form of life, they are busy in these things. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvam.

But actually, this life is meant for understanding ātma-tattvam. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This life is not meant for like cats and dogs—eating, sleeping, mating and defending. This is all cats' and dogs' business. Therefore those who are engaged only in these business:

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]

[One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.]

Go-khara. Go-khara means... Go means cow, and khara means ass. Those who are acting on this bodily concept of life, they are no better than cows and asses. Therefore one who is inquisitive about ātma-tattva, one who is inquisitive about Kṛṣṅa and such praśna, such inquiries as Parīkṣit Mahārāja did before Śukadeva Gosvāmī... He welcomed it immediately. Varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ [SB 2.1.1]: "Oh, you have questioned very nicely about Kṛṣṅa." Loka-hitaṁ nṛpa: "Oh, it is not only good for you; it is good for all the people of the world."

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is not a sectarian movement. It is good for all human being, because as soon as there is question of Kṛṣṅa, people will hear. Actually, it is happening all over the world. Especially the younger generation, why they are taking interest? Because loka-hitam. They are understanding that it is beneficial. Every student, every disciple, they write me letter how much they are feeling grateful, that "We have got something. Prabhupāda, you have given us something." Of course, I have not given. It is not my property. I have simply informed them, "Here is Kṛṣṅa, and the life's business is to become a devotee." 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.]

This is your business.

So anyone who becomes engaged in this loka-hitam, beneficial to the human society, he will be happy. But he has to control over these things: āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca. [Hitopadeśa 25]

[Both animals and men share the activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. But the special property of the humans is that they are able to engage in spiritual life. Therefore without spiritual life, humans are on the level of animals.]

These animal propensities should be controlled. Then it will be impetus. It will give acceleration to advance in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Therefore we have got the restriction: no illicit sex life, no gambling, no meat-eating, no intoxication. If we can control, if you follow these regulative principles and regularly chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, gradually you'll realize everything. Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṅa-saṅkīrtanam [Śikṣāṣṭaka 1].

So this is the actually understanding of Bhāgavatam. We are speaking on the Second Canto. So Bhāgavatam should not be finished... Now they have become, made a business, finish within seven days, Bhāgavata-saptāha. So what they will understand Bhāgavata? One śloka, you cannot understand in seven months. One śloka, janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. What you will understand? This has become a business. The Bhāgavata never says that "You hear for seven days." Never says it. We have read. There is no mention in the Bhāgavata that Bhāgavata should be heard for seven days. No commentator. There are many, many big commentators—Śrīdhara Svāmī, Jīva Gosvāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī, Vīrarāghavācārya, Madhvācārya, so many big, big. There are... Nobody has mentioned about Bhāgavata-saptāha. And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā [SB 1.2.18].

[By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.]

Nityam: "daily." What you will understand? What is your merit that you will understand?

So everything has become professional. So therefore people are in darkness. One should be very serious, serious to understand the teachings of Bhāgavatam. Then he will actually make profit and make a successful life. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. This... Nityābhiyuktānām. Nityābhiyuktānām. This Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is meant for engaging the people twenty-four hours in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Twenty-four hours. Not that partial: "Twenty-three hours and sixty minutes I will spoil myself in this nidrayā hriyate naktam, and for fifteen minutes I make some Kṛṣṅa consciousness." No, not like that. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ.

tṛṅād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṅunā amāninā mānadena 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.]

Sadā means twenty-four hours. You should have to mold your life in such a way that twenty-four hours you will be thinking of Kṛṣṅa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ [Bg 9.34]. That will make your life perfect.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [end]