Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.7

Prabhupāda:

[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.]

Vāsudeve bhagavati. Vāsudeva is another name of Kṛṣṅa because Kṛṣṅa appears as the son of Vasudeva. Whenever Kṛṣṅa appears, He appears as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī. Kṛṣṅa is the origin of everyone. So how there can be a father and mother of Kṛṣṅa? Kṛṣṅa is described as sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam [Bs 5.1], the cause of all causes.

[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 says in the Bhagavad-gītā, aham ādir hi devānām [Bg 10.2]. Devānām, the demigods. The first demigod is Lord Brahmā, the first living creature within this universe. Then Viṣṅu, then Lord Śiva, then other demigods, Indra, Candra, Sūrya—many, some millions.

So how Vasudeva can become His father so that His name is famous as Vāsudeva, "son of Vasudeva"? The thing is that Vasudeva formerly underwent severe austerities, and he wanted a son like Kṛṣṅa. So Kṛṣṅa agreed, that "Like Me, there is nobody else." Kṛṣṅa is asamordhva. Nobody is equal to Him; nobody is above Him. Therefore Vasudeva, in his previous birth, he wanted like..., a son like Kṛṣṅa. So He could not find anyone like Him. Therefore He agreed Himself to become his son.

The idea is that Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, when He comes upon this material world just like ordinary human child, He accepts His devotee as His father, His devotee as His mother. That is the way. Therefore Kṛṣṅa appeared as the son of Vasudeva, and He is well known as Vāsudeva. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ [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.]

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that a person advancing in spiritual knowledge must come to the point of understanding Vasudeva..., Vāsudeva. Then his knowledge is perfect. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante. Not ordinary men, but those who are actually searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, such persons, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante, after many, many births of searching like that, he understands that "Vāsudeva is everything." Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ [Bg 7.19].

Such mahātmā, or advanced soul... Mahātmā and kṣudrātmā, or durātmā. Those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge, they are called mahātmā. And the symptom of mahātmā is, mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ bhajanty ananya-manasaḥ [Bg 9.13].

[O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.]

Mahātmā is not changing a dress or having a big beard.

[break] Mahātmā is described, who is mahātmā. Mahātmā... Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. Mahātmā is not under the control of this material energy. He is under the shelter of spiritual energy, daivī-prakṛti. And the symptom is bhajanty ananya-manasaḥ: he has no other business than to serve the Supreme Personality. Bhajanti. Bhaja sevāyām.

This bhaja-dhātu is used in the sense of service, bhajanti. The bhajanti word is used in Bhagavad-gītā many places. Bhajanti. Ārtaḥ arthārthī jijñāsuḥ. Catur-vidhā bhajante mām. Catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ sukṛtino 'rjuna [Bg 7.16].

[O best among the Bhāratas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.]

Sukṛti. Sukṛti means pious. Those who have done pious activities, they come to the position of bhajanti. Not always. That is also explained in another place: yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpam. Those who have finished their sinful activities...

Yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām [Bg 7.28],

[Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.]

those who are actually engaged in pious activity. Therefore, according to our Vedic civilization, people are advised to act piously. If a man is very poor, he has nothing to give in charity or make sacrifice, "Go to the Ganges, take your bath." That is also pious. Pious activities. So in this way the whole life, whole Vedic civilization, is based on inducing people to engage, to be engaged in pious activities. Because by acting piously, one day they come to the stage of bhajana.

India is trained... By culture, by birth, the land of Bhārata-varṣa is puṅya-bhūmi. Still, you will find in Kumbha-melā many millions of people will come to take bath, to take a dip into the Ganges, because they think it is pious. So through the veins of Indians, the spiritual fluid is flowing. Unfortunately the leaders are misguiding them, and they are becoming atheists generally. It is very regretful situation.

So anyway, after many pious activities, one may come to the platform of bhagavad-bhajana.

catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ ...sukṛtino 'rjuna ārto arthārthī jijñāsur jñānī ca bharatarṣabha [Bg 7.16]

[O best among the Bhāratas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.]

Four classes of men. Those who are distressed, ārta, suffering... Everyone is suffering, but those who are acute with suffering. Ārtaḥ arthārthī: those who are in need of some money. Artha, jijñāsuḥ: and inquisitive what is God. And jñānī, means actually those who are in knowledge; they are searching after. Four classes of men begins bhajana. Not the others. Opposite numbers are 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.]

Those who are duskṛtina, background is simple sinful activities, they cannot take.

So here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sūta Gosvāmī is explaining in the meeting of Naimiṣāraṅya. He says, vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ. If you begin your bhakti-yoga, vāsudeve bhagavati... Bhakti-yoga can be applied only to vāsudeve bhagavati. Bhakti-yoga is not applied anywhere. The śāstra does not say. Bhakti means to serve; and yoga, the process. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā also. Bhagavad-gītā is bhakti-yoga. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ [Bg 7.1].

Mad-āśrayaḥ. After taking shelter of Kṛṣṅa or representative of Kṛṣṅa... Kṛṣṅa or representative of Kṛṣṅa you have to take shelter. Mad-āśrayaḥ. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura said, āśraya lañā bhaje, kṛṣṅa tāre na hi tyaje[?]. Anyone who takes āśraya and begins his bhajana, kṛṣṅa tāre na hi tyaje, Kṛṣṅa cannot give him up. Kṛṣṅa will accept him. And in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, 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.]

In the Bhāgavata also it is said, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21].

[Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.]

Those who are inquisitive, brahma-jijñāsā, jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. Śreya means the ultimate benefit, goal of life. People are very much attached to the immediate benefit. Just like children. Children, if you give him two paisa–worth lozenges, he is very much attached. But if you want to engage him in education, he is not very much attached. So there are two things: śreya and preya. Preya means immediate enjoyment, and śreya means future benefit. So śreya uttamam. Everyone is doing something. Just like a child is being educated for future happiness. But this happiness, this material happiness, is temporary. Even if you are educated very nicely, become a big lawyer or high-court judge or anything big post, they are all temporary. Because as soon as the body is finished, everything is finished. Then again you have to take birth. There is no guarantee what kind of birth. Suppose you get birth again in human society. Then you have to take again education, again endeavor, if you want to become some big post.

Therefore everything here is temporary, anitya. Anitya. Anitya means they are not permanent. But here it is said, śreya uttamam. Uttamam means udgata tamaṁ yasmād. This material world is called tamaḥ. Therefore Vedic advice is, tamasi mā jyotir gama: "Don't remain in this darkness. Try to go to the light." Jyotir gama. So uttama means... This word we have..., uttama. The uttama means transcendental, beyond this material world. So there is śreya, ultimate benefit of life, beyond this material world. So one who is interested the śreya, or ultimate benefit of life beyond this material world, for him there is need of accepting a guru. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]. Uttamam, not for this ma... Generally, people go to accept a guru for some material benefit, for cheap āśīrvāda, so that he can become more opulent in this material world. But that is not śreya. These things will be finished. These things will be finished with your body, and body is sure to be finished.

Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham [Bg 10.34].

[I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all things yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience.]

Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that "I am the death, and I take away everything at the death, at the time of your..." Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham. You make all asset. You make good bank balance, skyscraper building, good family, everything, but everything will be taken away at the time of death. Then another chapter. Then you do not know what chapter begins. That will depend on your karma. The same thing, contamination. As you have made your mental condition, sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ [Bg 8.6],

[Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.]

you will get; nature will give a similar body. This is going on. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa jantur deha upapatti [SB 3.31.1].

[The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.]

By karma everyone is working, but even [everyone] is working in three modes of nature. This material world, there are three modes of nature: sattva-guṅa, rajo-guṅa, tamo-guṅa. So if you are working in tamo-guṅa, then you are preparing a body of tamo-guṅa. If you are working rajo-guṅa, then you are preparing a body for rajo-guṅa. Similarly, sattva-guṅa. Everything is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. What is the different result? Ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ. Those who are working in sattva-guṅa, they will go to the higher planetary systems. There are Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka, Brahmaloka, Satyaloka, Siddhaloka. You'll go there. Ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ [Bg 14.18].

[Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds.]

And if you want to remain in the middle planetary system, then that is rajo-guṅa. And jaghanya-guṅa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ. And those who are working in tamo-guṅa, jaghanya, most abominable behavior, they will go to the animal kingdom or the lower planetary system. This is the process. As you are contaminating, kāraṅaṁ guṅa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu [Bg 13.22]. Sat and asat-janma. Why there are so many varieties of life? Cats, dogs, trees, aquatics, birds, beasts, human beings, demigods, civilized, uncivilized, so many. Why there are so many varieties? Kāraṅaṁ guṅa-saṅgo 'sya. As he is associating with different types of qualities, he is getting a different types of body. This is going on.

Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru-kṛṣṅa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc Madhya 19.151]

[According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṅa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṅa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.]

Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, "The living entity is rotating within this universe," brahmāṅḍa bhramite. Sometimes this planet, sometimes that planet, sometimes this body, sometimes that body. In this way he is rotating from time immemorial. But by chance, fortunate, by fortune, if he gets in touch of a proper guru and then he gets Kṛṣṅa... Guru-kṛṣṅa-kṛpāya. By Kṛṣṅa's mercy, he gets guru, and guru's mercy, he gets Kṛṣṅa, simultaneously—if he is actually serious about Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is important, therefore, when we hear about Kṛṣṅa... Therefore sat-saṅga is required, to awaken that Kṛṣṅa consciousness, dormant Kṛṣṅa consciousness within everyone's heart. Everyone's heart, there is. Because he is part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa.

Just like a boy who has left his home from childhood. Somehow or other, he is separated from his rich father, loitering in the street. But he is reminded. He can remember. Similarly, we are all sons of the most opulent father. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ [Viṣṅu Purāṅa 6.5.47].

[Full wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation—these are the six opulences of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.]

Unfortunately, we have forgotten. We are thinking that "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am this," "I am that," and toiling and laboring hard, struggle for existence. Therefore the most beneficial welfare activity is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. We are reminding people that "You are son of such great personality, or Kṛṣṅa. Why don't you go back to your home? Why you are rotting in this material world, suffering?" This is the mission.

So required, this education. When one understands that "I am rotting here in this nasty place..." This is a nasty place. Not only this material planet; anywhere within this material world... Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna [Bg 8.16].

[From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.]

Even if you go to the Brahmaloka, where the duration of life you cannot calculate and the standard of life is very, very good, but still, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartinaḥ, wherever you go, the janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi [Bg 13.9] is there.

[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.]

You cannot avoid it. So this information, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, is even up above Brahmaloka. Therefore it is the most beneficial welfare activities in the world, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, to awaken Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

So this awakening is possible when one is engaged in the devotional service of Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṅa. Just like these boys, these European and American boys, foreign, they have been engaged in the service of Vāsudeva. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam, arcanam. This is arcana. This offering ārati, bhoga, and śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam, chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra and hearing. These are the devotional processes, nine processes.

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.]

So this is called bhakti-yoga.

So here it is said, vāsudeve bhagavati. Vāsudeve, Kṛṣṅa. Who is Kṛṣṅa? Bhagavān, bhagavati. He is not ordinary person, ordinary person. He is bhagavān. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28].

[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]

There are many bhagavāns, but the original bhagavān is Kṛṣṅa. Aham ādir hi devānām [Bg 10.2]. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate [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.]

So in this way, Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme. Therefore here it is said, vāsudeve bhagavati. Don't consider Kṛṣṅa as 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.]

Because He comes to show actually what is God, He comes as human being. That does not mean He is like us, human being. Just like in the prison house, if sometimes the governor goes to inspect and the prisoners think, "Oh, now governor is also one of us. He has become prisoner..." Just like Mahatma Gandhi went to the prison house, and the pickpocket, if he thinks, "Now Mahatma Gandhi is also one of us," this is wrong. This is wrong. 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.]

Because he is mūḍha, the pickpocket, he is thinking that "Mahatma Gandhi is also like me," or "The governor, he has come into the prison house; therefore he is also like one of us." No. Out of His mercy, He comes.

People are searching after God. The so-called speculators, big, big scholars, they are trying to understand God: "God may be like this, may be like that." Why "may be"? You do not know God. Just admit that you do not know. Why you are cheating? "May be" means you do not know. So why don't you say, "I do not know"? But these rascals will say "may be like this." And why "may be"? Here is God. "I am like this," Kṛṣṅa says. Kṛṣṅa says, "Here I am." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate [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.]

And He is worshiped by all sages, saintly persons. When Arjuna admitted Him that "Kṛṣṅa, You are Para-brahman," paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān puruṣaṁ 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.]

"You are puruṣa." Puruṣa means enjoyer. Śāśvata means eternally. Not that "You are now enjoyer, and formerly You were something else." No. Śāśvataṁ puruṣam ādyam, original.

So this is the appreciation of Kṛṣṅa. After reading Bhagavad-gītā, if you do not understand Kṛṣṅa, if you try to banish Kṛṣṅa, then what kind of reading of Bhagavad-gītā? This is all nonsense. If actually one understands Bhagavad-gītā, if he has actually studied, then... Just like Arjuna, he'll admit, "Oh, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [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.]

That is Arjuna's experience after hearing Bhagavad-gītā. And he said that "You are accepted by great personalities—Asita, Nārada, Vyāsa, Devala, big, big personalities." So svayaṁ ca, "You are also speaking Yourself. We have heard from śāstras and authorities, and You are speaking personally; therefore I accept You that You are Para-brahman." This is the study of Bhagavad-gītā.

So God is explaining Himself personally, and He is accepted by authorities, not only in days of yore, formerly, but recently within five hundred, seven hundred years, big, big ācāryas—Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṅu Svāmī—big, big ācār..., stalwart, latest within five hundred years, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, everyone accepts Kṛṣṅa the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And these rascals are searching out what is God. Just see their rascaldom. God is here, and he is searching. So those who are searching after God, and they are, if they are making some proposition, thesis, these are all nonsense, cheating. You do not know God. You admit. That is very good. But why you are making thesis? God is not subjected to your mental speculation.

That is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā:

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.]

Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara. We have got experience of flying by the airplane. It goes five hundred, six hundred, thousand miles per hour. But here it is said, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo vāyor athāpi. On the airplane of the speed of air or on the speed of mind... You can understand the speed of mind. You are sitting here; immediately you can go to London, ten thousand miles away. The speed of mind you can understand. So here it is... Even on the speed of mind, not this one-thousand-mile speed or five-hundred-mile speed. On the speed of mind. The speed of mind means within second it can go millions of miles.

That is the speed of mind. So it is said, panthās tu... And with that speed, if you go on, koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyaḥ, for many millions of years to find out where is God, it is impossible. You cannot. You cannot. Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām [Bs 5.34]. And by whom? Muni-puṅga, great, great saintly persons. So still, avicintya-tattve, still, it remains avicintya-tattva. You cannot understand. Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyaḥ [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3].

[The Supreme Lord is not attained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, nor even by much hearing. He is attained only by one who He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form.]

In the Vedas it is said, "Simply by argument, speculation, you cannot understand." You have to understand God from God or from His representative. Otherwise it is not possible. This is the process.

So therefore it is said that vāsudeve bhagavati. If you engage yourself in devotional service, vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ, not other yoga... Jñāna-yoga, karma-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, haṭha-yoga, they will not be appreciated. Because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, Kṛṣṅa said, 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 never says, "By process of jñāna or karma or yoga..." No. You cannot. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti. Or He speaks to Arjuna Bhagavad-gītā, bhakto 'si priyo 'si me [Bg 4.3].

[That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science.]

So without bhakti, without bhakti-yoga, there is no possibility of understanding what is God. Take it for certain.

Therefore the Bhāgavata says, vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ [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 apply bhakti-yoga in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, vāsudeve bhagavati, then what will be the result? The result is janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam. Two things required for perfection of life: jñāna and vairāgya. Jñāna means perfect knowledge. What is that perfect knowledge? Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am not this, American, Indian, or this and that. I am brahma-vastu. I am part and parcel of God. God is Para-brahman, and I am also part and parcel. Therefore I am also Brahman." The part and parcel of gold is gold. One has to realize that "I am not this body, matter. I am spirit soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul." That is called jñāna, not that M.A., Ph.D., D.H.C. These are not jñāna. They are different expansion of ajñāna.

The so-called university education, D.H.C., Ph.D., they are simply expansion of ajñāna. He is again... Therefore the more a person is so-called scientist, educated, he is more godless. That means he is going deeper and deeper into the ajñāna. Because jñāna means to know God. That is not real jñāna. 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.]

Not ajñānavān. So if you do not know God, if you do not know what you are, if you do not know what is your relationship with God, then what is your jñāna? That jñāna, for eating, sleeping, mating, the cats and dogs they have got. Do you mean to say to have better knowledge how to eat nicely, how to sleep more nicely or to have sexual intercourse nicely, is that jñāna? No. They are all ajñāna. They are the business of the cats and dogs. Real jñāna is to know ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na... [Bg 18.54].

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

That is real jñāna.

So vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ [SB 1.2.7]. If you apply bhakti-yoga to Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of..., then very soon, janayaty āśu... Āśu means very soon. Janayaty āśu vairāgyam. Just see. These boys and girls of America and Europe, they were too much addicted, because their father, mother, their civilization is to be attached to material enjoyment. Actually they were. Now see their vairāgyam. Practical. There is no theoretical. As soon as you engage yourself, vāsudeve bhagavati... These young girls... One of my student is, was... She is girl. She was a great artist, dancing girl in Australia. She gave up everything and came to me: "Swāmījī, make me your disciple." I saw her father and mother in Australia. A very beautiful girl. Very big, big heading in newspaper that "Such-and-such girl has left everything." This is vairāgya. Very profitable business she was earning. All of them. They are all qualified. They are not like our Indian boys and girls, uneducated or illiterate. No. They are well qualified. They can earn any amount of money. But vairāgyam. Janayaty āśu vairāgyam. This, see practically. And jñānam. Bring any so-called svāmī and yogīs and talk with them about jñāna. They will be, I mean to say, victorious, even they are with me for only four and five years.

So this is practical. This is not story. If you actually want jñānam and vairāgyam, then vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ, janayaty āśu [SB 1.2.7], very soon. Ahaitukam. Nobody can give any reason how this man has become... Actually, our Indians are appreciate..., "How these Europeans, Americ..., become so nice devotees." But ahaitukam. Ahaitukam. You cannot ascertain how the reason. It is Kṛṣṅa's favor. It is Kṛṣṅa's favor.

So anyone can take advantage. We are preaching this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, that "You take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, your life will be perfect." And what is the perfection of life? Jñāna and vairāgya. Because everyone is working under the wrong impression that "I am this body"; therefore he is ajñāna. He does not know that "I am not this body." As soon as he comes to the understanding that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul," then jñāna, immediately he will inquire, "Then what is the activities of the spirit soul? So far I have worked for the interest of my this body, but I have done nothing with the interest of my spirit, as I am. I am a spirit soul." That is bhakti-yoga. The activities of the spirit soul, the activities of Brahman, is bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga is not material activities. Bhakti-yoga is spiritual, pure spiritual activities.

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā you will find, māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate [Bg 14.26].

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

Avyabhicāreṅa, unadulterated bhakti-yoga. Yaḥ sevate. Anyone who is engaged in unadulterated bhakti-yoga, sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate, immediately he realizes his identification as Brahman. Sa guṅān. These sattva-rajo-tamo-guṅa, I have described already, he immediately transcends. Mukti means to get out of the influence of the sattva-guṅa, rajo-guṅa, tamo-guṅa. That is mukti. Now, here is the assurance by the Lord Himself: "Anyone who is engaged in unadulterated, without any mixture, without any adulteration, pure bhakti, then..." Avyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena yaḥ sev... Same thing as it is said in the Bhāgavata, bhakti-yogena, bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ [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.]

Sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. He immediately becomes transcendental to these material modes of nature and he becomes Brahman. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na... [Bg 18.54].

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

These things are there.

So we require jñāna. Jñāna means to understand his own self. Our... Unless one understands that "I am not this body," there is no jñāna, anyone, however a scholar he may be. Therefore it is called māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. If we say that a so-called educated person is in ajñāna because he does not know what he is, then... That was admitted by Sanātana Gosvāmī. He was prime minister of Nawab Hussain Shah Khan, and he joined Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement. So he submitted himself, surrendered himself to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by saying that grāmya-vyavahāre loke kaha ei paṅḍita [Cc Madhya 20.100].

[I do not know what is beneficial for me or what is detrimental. Nonetheless, in ordinary dealings people consider me a learned scholar, and I am also thinking of myself as such.]

Grāmya-vyavahāre: "By this usual way, my neighborhood persons they say 'paṅḍita.' "

He was actually very learned scholar in Sanskrit and Arabic and Persian language. He was minister in Nawab Hussain Shah's government. So actually people used to address him, "Paṅḍitjī." But he admits that "These people call me paṅḍita, but I am such a paṅḍita that I do not know what I am. This is my paṅḍita." Grāmya-vyavahāre kaha paṅḍita satya kori māni, āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni [Cc Madhya 20.100]: "I am such a rascal that I do not know what is the ultimate goal of life, and these rascals address me as 'paṅḍita.' "

So you will find many paṅḍitas like this, many learned scholars. And ask him, "What you are?" He is silent. "Wherefrom you have come?" Silent. "Where you are going?" Silent. "What is God?" Silent. So these kind of paṅḍitas will not save you. If you actually want to save yourself from dragging down again to the lower abominable species of life, then you must take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, bhakti-yoga. Vāsudeve bhagavati. Then you will be enlightened. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ, janayaty āśu vairāgyam [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.]

Because vairāgya means detachment. Detachment. When you understand that "I do not belong to this establishment," then naturally you will be vairāgya, that "What interest I have got?" The karmīs are very much attached. Karmīs, they are working very hard. They are thinking that "This material advancement of life will make me happy." But that is not the fact. Therefore they are ajñānī. And the jñānīs, when they are baffled in advancing, or getting peace of mind, or peace by material activities, then they say, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, "This world is false. Brahman is reality." But if he does not engage himself in Brahman activities, then he will also fall, the so-called jñānī.

That has been proved. We have seen so many sannyāsīs. First of all they say, "This is false. The world is false. Let me take sannyāsa." And after remaining a few years of sannyāsa, then he learns how to eat meat, how to drink wine, how to associate with women. Then come. Then he must have some business, that philanthropic work, open some school, open some hospital. Why? If he is full[?] and the whole world is false, why you are interested in opening schools and hospitals and phil... [break] ...to open hospital and open school. No. They are not very much interested. We are interested to open school if there is education for Kṛṣṅa consciousness, as we have opened in Dallas, Texas, small children. That we are interested, because that is Kṛṣṅa. There is Kṛṣṅa. But we are not interested in so-called godless education. That is not our business.

So that is called vairāgya. Vāsudeve bhagavati, vairāgya. This is required. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42].

[Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things—these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.]

This is the... Bhakti means when he realizes, God realization, then naturally he becomes unattached to material activities. That is the test. Not that simply by having tilaka or kaṅṭhi, one becomes a devotee. How much he is detached to the material attraction, that is the test. That is the test. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ janayaty āśu vairāgyam [SB 1.2.7]. If he has no vairāgya, if he is still attached to material things, his devotion is not yet...

So these things are very nice. I will request you to study what is bhakti, what is pure devotion, what is Vāsudeva. Everything is there. It is a science, great science. It is not sentiment, neither it is so-called religious faith. It is a science. Vijñānam. Yad vijñānaṁ samanvitaḥ. So people do not know. Therefore they take it as a religious movement and reject it. No. Don't reject it. It is a science. You try to understand if you have got brain.

So this bhakti-yoga means pure bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga, that is described by Rūpa Gosvāmī,

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṅānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā [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.]

Similarly, in the Nārada Pañcarātra it is stated, bhakti-yoga:

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa- sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [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.]

So long we have upādhi, "I am American," "I am Indian," or "I am brāhmaṅa," "I am śūdra," or "I am black..." These are upādhi, because this is all bodily designation. This brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, these designation to make a systematic progress of human life. But actually, when one becomes pure devotee, he is above all these things. He is above all these things. Caṅḍālo 'pi dvija-śreṣṭho hari-bhakti-parāyaṅaḥ. "Even one is caṅḍāla, if he becomes a pure devotee, then he becomes better than a brāhmaṅa." They are not ordinary things.

So pure bhakti-yoga, this bhakti-yoga, means sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam, one has to be free from all designation. Now, these boys and girls, they have forgotten. Either they are American or Indian or African, they do not remember. They know that they are eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa. That is pure bhakti. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam. This is freedom. Nirmalam means mukti. Mala means dirty things. So long we are enwrapped with the dirty things, there is no bhakti. Tat-paratvena nirmalam. When this nirmala, when dirty things are washed away, you remain in pure spiritual life or spiritual body, then the indriyas, the senses... You have got senses. In the spiritual life you will also... Spiritual life does not means without senses.

Otherwise, why it is said hṛṣīkeṅa? Hṛṣīka means indriya, senses. The senses are purified, not the senses are gone. Just like if you have got cataract, if it is operated, the cataract is taken away, not the eye is taken away. Eyes must remain there. Then what is the use of treatment? Similarly, our senses, at the present moment they are contaminated. You have to make it purified. Tat-paratvena nirmalam. And when it is purified, hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate, with that purified senses, when you serve Kṛṣṅa, that is called bhakti.

So bhakti is not ordinary thing, this bhakti-yoga. You have to understand it. You have to practice it, under training, as these boys and girls are going. Then you will understand what is God. And as soon as you understand God, your relationship with God, then jñāna and vairāgya will be there.

Jñāna... By jñāna you will understand that you are not this material..., any product of this material world. This is called vairāgya, jñāna. And vairāgya means if you are not interested in this material world, then your real interest is spiritual life; that makes your life successful.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Devotee: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]