Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 4.9

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

janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so'rjuna [Bg 4.9]

[break] [03:10]

Translation: "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."

Prabhupāda:

janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so'rjuna [Bg 4.9]

This is very important verse. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti. Our problem is this transmigration of the soul, one body to another, this is going on. Because you do not know how to get out of it. Modern education, they do not know even what is soul, what is this body, how the transmigration of the soul taking place. All blunt. There is no educational institution all over the world to understand this science, although it is the most important science for the human being. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9]. No more transmigration of the soul.

The soul, in its original, spiritual body, can be transferred from this material world to the spiritual world. And there is the spiritual world, as I've already explained, that is three times creation of the Lord. This is only one-fourth, this material world. So our problem of human life is to get out of these material clutches and transfer ourselves to the spiritual world. That is real problem, not this food problem, that problem. This will go on. So long you are in the material world, such problems will come and go. They're not permanent. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: āgamāpāyinaḥ anityāḥ tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata. These problems, they'll come and they will go, just like seasonal changes.

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṅa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata [Bg 2.14]

That is real knowledge. We should not be disturbed by the material problems. You cannot avoid them. So long... Just like if you are in the winter season, how you can avoid cold, infection by cold, or affection by cold? You cannot avoid. That does not mean because it is..., the season is very cool and you cannot take bath. No. You must take bath. That is Āryan civilization. Still in India we'll find in the villages severe cold, still the people are taking bath early in the morning. They are accustomed. But now we are giving up. Now we are rising at seven o'clock, because we are advanced in education. And if there is maṅgala-ārātrika, it is nuisance. This is our advancement of civilization at the present moment. But if you go in the villages, you'll find that the villagers rising early in the morning, they're taking bath, changing cloth, and chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa as far as possible. Still in the mass of people of India, the Kṛṣṅa consciousness is still existing; it is not yet lost.

And they believe in the next birth, next life, past life. They believe in God, in Kṛṣṅa. They're satisfied with that position. But the modern leaders, they do not like it. They want to make them intoxicated so that they can work like an ass for the morsel of food. But this is not the problem. Real problem is here, stated, that you should stop the disease of birth and death. That is real problem. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma [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 human life is meant for making a solution of the repetition of birth and death. That is real problem. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam [Bg 13.9].

[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.]

We are finding fault with so many things, but real..., with really we should find fault with this process of repetition of birth and death. People are now being educated in this way, that there is no more life. You have got this life, and you enjoy the senses as far as possible. That is nāstika theory. This nāstika, or atheism... There were many saints in India also. One of them is Cārvāka. He's very famous atheist. His philosophy is hedonism. Ṛṅaṁ kṛtvā ghṛtaṁ pibet yāvaj jīvet sukhaṁ jīvet. His theory is, because in India the luxury is to eat something which is cooked in ghee—lucī, purī, halavā—so Cārvāka Muni says that you take loan from your friends if you have no money and eat as much as possible ghee. Ṛṅaṁ kṛtvā ghṛtaṁ pibet yāvaj jīvet sukhaṁ jīvet. And so long you live, you live by gratifying your senses. Here sukham means sense gratification.

But according to Vedic civilization, sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriyam grāhyam [Bg 6.21].

[The stage of perfection is called trance, or samādhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.]

What is the actual happiness, that is beyond your senses. Not sense gratification. But because we are materially absorbed, we think indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur [Bg 3.42].

[The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.]

Indriya, the senses, all in all. To satisfy the senses, that is sukha, that is happiness. And those who are a little disgusted with sense gratification, indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ [Bg 3.42]. They are mental speculators. They write poetries and utopian theories, "This philosophy, that philosophy." In this way they satisfy the mind. But that is also not happiness. Mental happiness. Mano-rathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ. If you become satisfied by mental happiness, then you'll have to come down again. Asato. Asato mā sad-gamaḥ. Real life is: "Don't stay in this temporary world, but go to the real world," paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ [Bg 8.20]. You'll find all these things in Bhagavad-gītā. So either on the bodily plane or on the mental plane you cannot be happy. That is not possible. But if you want to be happy, then you have to come to the spiritual platform and engage in spiritual activities, sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriyam grāhyam [Bg 6.21]. Atīndriya means above the material platform of sensual and mental activities.

So spiritual activities means devotional service. Spiritual activities mean devotional service, activities in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhakti-yogam. Bhakti-yoga means, as I have repeatedly explained, that you have to forget your identification with the matter, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam [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.]

You have to forget your body as American, Indian, brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, śūdra, Hindu, Muslim. That you have to forget. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi, "I am spirit soul." That is real identification. And when the spirit soul is active, sometimes the Māyāvādī philosophers, they think, "Now I've realized that I am not this body, I am not matter, I am spirit soul, so now I have become Nārāyaṅa. I have become the Supreme." But no, that is also mistake. When you realize that "Supreme is the Supreme Brahman, Para-brahman. I am part and parcel of the Supreme. I am also Brahman, but I am not the Supreme Brahman; therefore my business is to serve Para-brahman," that is real spiritual life. That is the beginning of spiritual life.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [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.]

Parā bhakti. Parā-bhakti, that is real spiritual life. Parā aparā. Aparā bhakti means on the material platform—generally, the Deity worship. This is the beginning. But as you go on worshiping the Deity, you realize your spiritual identity. Then you do not see the Deity as made of stone or wood; you see directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and you can talk, you can receive an inspiration. This is the beginning.

arcāyām eva haraye pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ [SB 11.2.47]

We should learn how to do good to the people in general. They have forgotten their relationship with God. You should be sympathetic for them, that "They're suffering on account of their forgetfulness of God. Let us do some service to them. Invoke. Awaken them. Awaken their Kṛṣṅa consciousness." That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. It is the best welfare activities to the human society. Because he has got..., he has forgotten Kṛṣṅa, he's suffering, and if you awaken his Kṛṣṅa consciousness then he will be happy. Just like a rich man's son, he has forgotten that his father is very rich, or his father has left immense property. But forgetting his real position, he's loitering in the street, hungry. You can call him, "All right, you take some food." That is not real benefit; that is temporary. But if you awaken his real consciousness, that he is the son of a very rich man, his father has got immense property, "Why don't you go back to your father and be happy?" that is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. That is stated here. Janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo vetti 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.]

One has to understand Kṛṣṅa tattvataḥ, in truth, not superficially. What is Kṛṣṅa? Kṛṣṅa is the supreme leader. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13]

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

Supreme leader, perfect leader, without any mistake, without any illusion, without any cheating and without any imperfection of the senses. We have to take direction from such leader, then our life will be successful. And because we are taking direction from imperfect leaders, cheater leaders, therefore we are meeting with so many problems.

Kṛṣṅa says that,

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7]

That I have already explained, what is that glāniḥ. The glāniḥ is when we forget Kṛṣṅa. Then our activities become polluted. Just like a servant: if he forgets that there is master, then he becomes polluted. He steals, he mismanages things, things become very disordered. But if he has got the sense that "I have got my master. Everything belongs to my master," and if he acts accordingly, that is very nice.

So we do not know what is the constitutional position of Kṛṣṅa and what is my constitutional position. That is called sambandha-jñā—my relationship with Kṛṣṅa. Every one of us has got a relationship. Kṛṣṅa says in the Fifteenth Chapter, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7]. Just like sons are part and parcel of the father. Father's body extends as son and daughter. Similarly, we are also expansion of Kṛṣṅa's body. We are vibhinnāṁśa. Kṛṣṅa expands in two ways, svāṁśa and vibhinnāṁśa. The vibhinnāṁśa expansion we are, we living entities. But because we have forgotten Kṛṣṅa—we have come to enjoy this material world—we are becoming infected with the modes of material nature, and accepting different types of body, 8,400,000 species of life. But somehow or other if we come in contact with Kṛṣṅa, by the mercy of Kṛṣṅa's confidential devotees, then our life becomes success. That is described here. 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.]

Then this transmigration of the soul stops. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti.

Punar janma naiti does not mean that soul is finished. No. This body, material body, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. This material body, when it is dissolved, pañcatvaṁ prāpta, mixes with these five elements, earth, water, fire, air, it does not mean that the soul is finished. The soul is there. The soul is transmigrating to another body. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa [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 the supervision of the external energy and superior superintendent, we are transferred to a different body by the subtle body, mana, buddhi, ahaṅkāra. But these foolish people, they do not know how the soul is... They do not know what is soul and how the soul is being transferred. But these things are all explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Just like we cannot see the flavor, but when the flavor passes through, carried by the air, we can smell. Similarly, we can smell how the soul is being transferred. These processes are explained in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Therefore our duty is to know Kṛṣṅa. Janma karma. Kṛṣṅa comes, Kṛṣṅa appears, Kṛṣṅa disappears. Why Kṛṣṅa comes? Why Kṛṣṅa is not seen? Janma karma. Why He acts? Why He takes birth in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra? Why He teaches Arjuna? Why He dances with the gopīs? So many things, Kṛṣṅa's life. We have read Kṛṣṅa book. There are so many activities. They're all transcendental, although they're written just like ordinary story activities of a person. But they are not ordinary things. If you simply read Kṛṣṅa book, although it looks like story, then you become delivered from these clutches of repetition of birth and death. It is so nice. Because you will understand Kṛṣṅa, what is Kṛṣṅa, and here it is said, janma karma me divyaṁ ye 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.]

It is explained. The people who are reading Kṛṣṅa book very seriously, and tries to understand Kṛṣṅa, he will understand. Kṛṣṅa is very kind. As soon as he begins reading Kṛṣṅa book with a little faith and adherence, Kṛṣṅa will be very much pleased. 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.]

As soon as Kṛṣṅa is within your heart, so when you read Bhagavad-gītā or Kṛṣṅa book with little seriousness, then Kṛṣṅa understands, "Now he is serious to understand Me." He's with the... You haven't got to search out Kṛṣṅa. He's already within you. Simply you have to become little serious: "Kṛṣṅa, kindly give me knowledge so that I can understand." Buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam.

If you are serious devotee, if you are in love with Kṛṣṅa, teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam [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.]

if you are engaged in His worshiping, in chanting, 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.]

If you simply follow these four principles, simply thinking of Kṛṣṅa, simply, always, sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayoḥ [SB 9.4.18].

[Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṅa or about Kṛṣṅa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa's temples and Kṛṣṅa's places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.]

Simply meditate. This is meditation. Meditation means you see the form of Kṛṣṅa, and whenever you go, the impression of the form will be within your eyes; and if you think of Kṛṣṅa, your life is successful. Therefore the Deity of Kṛṣṅa should be seen. That is the benefit of the eyes. The ears should be engaged hearing about Kṛṣṅa. The tongue should be engaged for eating Kṛṣṅa's remnants of foodstuff, prasādam. The nose should be engaged for smelling the flower which is offered to Kṛṣṅa, or the tulasī. In this way, when you engage all your senses... The legs should be utilized for coming to this temple to see Kṛṣṅa, not to going to the cinema rascal. Then your life will be successful. You'll understand Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is very kind. He says, teṣāṁ satata-yuktānām [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.]

if you engage all your senses for understanding Kṛṣṅa with devotion and faith, prīti-purvakam, with love... The love is the basic principle of understanding Kṛṣṅa. But you will develop your love.

The love means, just like it is said, dadāti pratigṛhṅāti. You are coming into the temple. If you give something, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, little things, "Kṛṣṅa, I have brought it. I could not bring any very costly thing, but I've collected these patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ," Kṛṣṅa is pleased, tad aham aśnāmi. Kṛṣṅa says,

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi... [Bg 9.26]

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

Because he has brought it. Kṛṣṅa is not beggar. Kṛṣṅa can create millions of fruits and flowers. He's ātmārāma. He's fully satisfied in Himself, He's so opulent. But He wants that you should also love Kṛṣṅa and give Him something. That He wants. Therefore He comes, paritrāṅāya sādhūnām [Bg 4.8].

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

Therefore He comes. He's not poor. Kṛṣṅa is all-opulent. Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam [Bs 5.29]. He's always being worshiped by many hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune. Here we worship Goddess Lakṣmī, goddess of fortune, "Mother, give me some money." And that also does not stay. Lakṣmī's another name is Cañcala; sometimes she favors and goes away. But Kṛṣṅa is so opulent that millions of goddess of fortune are engaged in His service. So why He's asking you, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ [Bg 9.26]? He's asking out of love, that "You try to love Me. If You are so poor you cannot give Me anything, all right, give Me little flower, little fruit. I will be satisfied." Kṛṣṅa is so kind.

And still you are not taking the opportunity of understanding Kṛṣṅa. Just see how much unfortunate we are. As you serve Kṛṣṅa, you understand Kṛṣṅa. You cannot understand Kṛṣṅa otherwise, unless you render service. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. 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.]

If you simply exact your senses, your nice brain, "Kṛṣṅa is like this, Kṛṣṅa is like that," but if you are not a devotee, Kṛṣṅa will not reveal Himself. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-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.]

The rascal's mental speculation will not help him to understand Kṛṣṅa, what He is. That is not possible. His all activities are divyam, transcendental. We cannot understand with our material blunt senses. That is not possible. Therefore the śāstra says, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. These blunt senses, you cannot understand Kṛṣṅa. Or Kṛṣṅa means His name, His form, His quality, His activities, His pastimes, so many things. Janma karma.

So how Kṛṣṅa will be understood then? Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. If you engage your tongue in His service, then that is the recommendation of Vedic literature, that first of all you have to engage your tongue. Kṛṣṅa's service begins from the tongue, because tongue has got two functions, namely to vibrate, to speak something, and to taste something. So you engage. You simply engage your tongue for chanting and glorifying Kṛṣṅa, and eat prasādam, then the two tongue's business will be finished. Sevonmukhe. You eat Kṛṣṅa's prasādam.

kṛṣṅa baro doyāmoy, koribāre jihwā jay, sva prasād-anna dilo bhāi sei prasādanno pāo, rādhā-kṛṣṅa-guṅa gāo

Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has taught that our tongue is very fastidious, wants to eat this thing, that thing, this thing, that thing. Even after... We have seen: he has eaten sumptuously at home, but as soon as he comes out, "Let us go to the restaurant. Let us have a cup of tea, a little this or that." The tongue is always dictating, "You eat this, you eat that, you eat that, you like that." That is going on. So if you want to control your tongue, then give him Kṛṣṅa prasādam, that "I'll not accept anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṅa." Then your tongue becomes controlled. And if you can control your tongue, your other senses will be automatically controlled. And yogic perfection means controlling the senses. Yoga indriya-samyamaḥ.

So a devotee of Kṛṣṅa is the first-class yogī. That is accepted by Kṛṣṅa.

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ [Bg 6.47]

[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.]

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement means to train people to become the topmost yogī. Topmost yogī. Because they have controlled their senses: no meat-eating, no intoxication, not even smoking or drinking tea. This is yoga [indistinct]. Not that simply by pressing nose one becomes yogī. Practical life. After performing yoga, "Oh, my tongue is now dry, give me one bīḍī. [indistinct] one bīḍī." That is not yoga practice—smoking gañja, bīḍī, intoxication, tea, and he has become a yogī. These are useless, all bogus. Yoga means he has controlled his senses. Yoga indriya-samyamaḥ. The yoga practice means controlling the senses and engaging the mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. That is yoga system.

yaṁ brahmā varuṅendra-rudra-marutaḥ stunvanti divyaiḥ stavair vedaiḥ sāṅga-pada-kramopaniṣadair gāyanti yaṁ sāma-gāḥ dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino... [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.]

Dhyānāvasthita, meditation, always seeing the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. Nowadays they have manufactured some meditation, something light, this, that, all nonsense. Dhyānāvasthita-manasā, mind being absorbed. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayor [SB 9.4.18].

That is real yoga system, meditation. Now it is... The age of meditation... Meditation is not meant for this age. Meditation is meant for the Satya-yuga. What is that verse? Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṅum [SB 12.3.52].

[Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṅu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra.]

Kṛte. Kṛte means Satya-yuga. People were very restrained, all paramahaṁsas. In those days it was possible to meditate. At the present moment our mind is so disturbed. We are disturbed in so many ways, meditation is not possible in this age. Maybe there may be one or two persons who can meditate. The real meditation means to think of Kṛṣṅa. 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.]

That is real meditation.

So in this way, if we engage our life, that means bhakti-yoga. Then Kṛṣṅa reveals, ataḥ sri-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136].

If you simply speculate, tax your senses to understand Kṛṣṅa by so-called scholarship, that will not help you. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. You engage your tongue in the service of the Lord, then He'll reveal. It is a revelation. It is not speculation. The speculators cannot understand what is Kṛṣṅa. That is not possible. Those who are actually devotees, teṣāṁ satata-yuktānām [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.]

twenty-four hours engaged in the service of the Lord. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyam... [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.]

Out of these nine methods, all the nine, or eight, seven, six, even one, if you engage yourself. Just like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, he engaged himself simply for hearing—he become perfect, simply by hearing Bhāgavata from Śukadeva Gosvāmī. And Śukadeva Gosvāmī also became perfect, simply by reciting Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrī viṣṅoḥ smarane, śravaṅe parikṣid abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.265]. This is also kīrtana. Abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane. Prahlādaḥ smarane. Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was put into so many difficulties by his father. He could not resist; he was a poor child, five years. And the rascal father was teasing him in so many ways. So what could he do? He was simply thinking of Kṛṣṅa, "What can I do?" So there are so many processes. If you take one of the processes your life will be successful—simply by thinking of Kṛṣṅa.

Janma karma me divyaṁ, yo jānāti tattvataḥ. Who can know? Yo jānāti tattvataḥ: to whom Kṛṣṅa reveals, he can know. He can know what is Kṛṣṅa. And as soon as you have done this business, you have understood Kṛṣṅa, then tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9]: no more birth in this material world.

[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.]

To take birth in this material... Because you have got this body, therefore we have to suffer threefold miseries. We foolishly... You are trying to make adjustment to become happy here. It is not possible, because this place is recommended by Kṛṣṅa, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam [Bg 8.15]: it is a place of miseries.

[After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.]

How you can become happy here? This is illusion. You can never be happy in this material world, but you are trying to become happy in... So many politician, social workers, this and that, simply wasting their time. They cannot be. You have to accept the leadership of Kṛṣṅa. Then you will be happy. If you accept the leadership of rascals, fools, you cannot be happy. Demons. They'll put you into difficulties.

Now, just this evening, one gentleman was speaking about Ahmedabad, that the students have burned so many buses, they're now uncontrollable. So this is going on all over the world. People are frustrated, because on account of these rascal leaders. They are taking the position of leadership, but they're all rascals and fools; they cannot lead. If you want to be happy, take actual leadership of Kṛṣṅa, then you'll be happy.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya... [end]