Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 4.11

Prabhupāda: [Chanting jaya rādhā-mādhava] [break]

[01:02]

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

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ [Bg 4.11]

[All of them—as they surrender unto Me—I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.]

[break] [03:55]

Translation: All of them—as they surrender unto Me—I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.

Prabhupāda:

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ [Bg 4.11]

Everyone is seeking to find out Kṛṣṅa, directly or indirectly. Kṛṣṅa means the all-attractive. All-attractive. Bhagavān means the all-attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead. So indirectly or directly, everyone is seeking Kṛṣṅa, the all-attractive. Ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt—the Supreme Bliss.

We can give an example. Just like we take care of our body. We want to keep body very fit, healthy and beautiful, very nicely kept. Why? Why we take care of our body? Because I, the spirit soul, part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, I am living in this body. Therefore I take care of my body. Nobody takes care of the dead body. This is a fact. Either I take care of my body, or my family's body, or my wife's body, or my children's body. Why? Because the part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa is there. The soul is there. And as soon as the soul is gone, the part and parcel is gone from the body, the body has no value. Throw it away. The same body. This is practical. Therefore I love my body because the part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa is there. Or you love your body; I love your body, only for the reason, jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūtānām—the part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa is there. Then why the part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa is taken care of? Because it is part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. Therefore ultimately, my love goes to Kṛṣṅa, all-attractive.

So everyone is seeking for happiness, but they are misled. Although they are trying to approach Kṛṣṅa, they are misled. One can directly come to Kṛṣṅa, but they do not want. They indirectly. So indirectly and directly, everyone is seeking Kṛṣṅa. Mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that,

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11]

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

The Absolute Truth, tattva... That is tattva. Vadanti tat tattva-vidaḥ. Who can speak of tattva unless one is completely conversant with the tattva? Tattva means truth. So vadanti tat tattva-vidaḥ. Those who are conversant with the Absolute Truth, they say. What do they say? Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam [SB 1.2.11]. The Absolute Knowledge, without any duality, advayam. What is that? Now, Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān.

The Absolute Truth is described in different ways by different people according to angle of vision. But the object is the same. There may be different types of religious systems, but the object is Kṛṣṅa. Somewhere it is openly expressed, and somewhere it is covered. Just like Brahman, Brahman realization, impersonal realization, Brahman realization. For the jñānīs, those who are seeking out the Absolute Truth by speculative knowledge, they want to make these varieties of material world as void, the Buddha philosophy, śūnyavādi. Because they are disgusted with these material varieties, therefore they want something opposite. That opposite is voidism, śūnyavāda. The śūnyavāda or, little more further, that is brahmavāda, without any varieties, simply the light, brahma-jyoti. This is also another realization. Śūnyavāda, to make this material world null and void, they come to the impersonal Brahman effulgence. This is Brahman realization.

And then, for the yogīs, the localized aspect, Paramātmā. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61].

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

By meditation. This is Paramātmā realization. And then, ultimately, Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like we general, people in general, we can see the sunshine, but everyone knows—at least, scientists know—that the sunshine is coming from the sun globe. If you have got power to go to the sun globe, you can see what actually the sun globe is. And if you go still further, penetrate into the sun globe, then you will see there is a sun-god, sun-god. His name is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā: Vivasvān. In the beginning of this chapter, Fourth Chapter, Kṛṣṅa said, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1].

[The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.]

So within the sun globe there is the person, the predominating deity whose name is Vivasvān.

So it requires a little qualification, how to go to the sun planet. Sun planet is a fact. It is not fictitious. We are every day seeing. But we have no such power to go to the sun planet, neither we have got the power to enter into the sun planet. That is inability. Not that it is illusion. Kṛṣṅa is illusion or Kṛṣṅaloka is illusion—no, it is not illusion; it is fact. Goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya [Bs 5.43]. In the Vedic literature we find description of the planet of Goloka Vṛndāvana, the abode of Kṛṣṅa. It is stated, goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni. Nija-dhāmni. Nija-dhāmni means the personal abode. Kṛṣṅa is person. God is person. Just like governor. The governor is a person, and he has got his personal place, the government house. Similarly, the Supreme Lord... Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti [SB 1.2.11].

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

He is person, and He has got His abode. That is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā:

goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya devī-maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu te te prabhāva-nicayā vihitāś ca yena govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.43]

Goloka-nāmni, the planet... We have given our picture of Goloka Vṛndāvana. As far as possible taking description from the śāstra, we have given. The Goloka Vṛndāvana is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā:

cintāmaṅi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa- lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.29]

So Govinda has got place. Goloka-nāmni. The place name is Goloka Vṛndāvana, goloka-nāmni. Nija-dhāmni. That is His personal abode. Although every dhāma, every planet, everywhere, all over the universe, all over the creation, that is Kṛṣṅa's dhāma, God's place... 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 proprietor of everything. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1].

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

Everything, that is the property of Kṛṣṅa, or the Supreme Lord. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. One has to learn this, that everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam. This is Vedic instruction. We have created trouble because we have forgotten the real proprietor. We are trying to become proprietor individually and collectively: "This is India. This is our India," "This is America. It is our America," "It is Germany, our." Nothing our. Everything Kṛṣṅa's. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa.

And everyone has got the right... Because everyone is the son of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā,

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

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

As the sons have got right to enjoy the property of the father, similarly we, all living entities, not only human beings but trees, plants, animals, everyone, all living entities, sarva-yoniṣu, they are all sons of God, or Kṛṣṅa, and everyone has got right to live at the cost of Kṛṣṅa. And He's also feeding everyone. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. All the necessities of life is being supplied by Kṛṣṅa. In Africa there are millions of elephants. They are also supplied food, at a time, forty kilos. And the ant is also, within the hole of your room... [break] ...according to law. Don't encroach upon others' property. Mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā [Īśo mantra 1].

Whatever is allotted for you, that is... Everything is prescribed. Everything is there. But the... Why this arrangement is made? They do not know.

The arrangement is made that mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha... [Bg 3.23].

[For, if I did not engage in work, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path.]

Of course, particularly the name of manuṣyāḥ has been... Because in the human life, God consciousness can be developed, not in the animal life. Therefore here particularly it is mentioned, mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ: "Everyone is trying to approach Me, but according to different angle of vision, according to capacity." The capacity is somebody's trying to go up to the Brahman effulgence, somebody's trying to understand the Supreme Paramātmā within everyone's heart, and somebody's trying to understand and go directly to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The Vaiṣṅavism is directly. Directly. Kṛṣṅa says, 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.]

If you go directly... Just like if you reach the sun planet or the predominating deity of, namely, the sun-god, Vivasvān, then naturally you know what is sunshine and what is sun globe. Similarly, if you directly go, if you directly can understand what is Kṛṣṅa, then you understand what is impersonal Brahman and what is localized aspect, Paramātmā. It is... Brahmaṅo 'haṁ pratiṣṭhā, Kṛṣṅa says. What is this Brahman? Just like the sunshine is situated on the sun globe. Sunshine, although it is very big, it is covering the whole universe, but it is coming from the sun globe. So similarly, the Brahman effulgence may be very, very great, but it is coming as the bodily effulgence of Kṛṣṅa. That we get information from Brahma-saṁhitā:

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṅḍa-koṭi- koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.40]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upaniṣads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth.]

So actually, either you try to realize impersonal Brahman, or by yogic process the localized Paramātmā, or directly you want to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are all the same. All the same. But this differentiation is due to my angle of vision. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham [Bg 4.11].

[All of them—as they surrender unto Me—I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.]

If you want to realize only the Brahman effulgence, all right, you can do that. Or if you want to realize Paramātmā by yogic principle, by meditation, all right, Kṛṣṅa says, it is also all right. And if you want to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead in directly contact with Him, directly playing with Him as cowherds boy, directly dancing with Him like the gopīs, directly treating Him as your son like Yaśodā-mātā, you can do also. Kṛṣṅa is open to everyone, and you can approach Kṛṣṅa in any capacity—as Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But it is up to you to relish which one is relishable for you. That is up to you. But Kṛṣṅa is prepared to accept you in any way you like.

So Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān, they are the same one truth, but it is difference of realization. Just like you see one big mountain from a distant place, you'll see just like something, hazy cloud. If you go still further, you'll find something greenish. But if you go actually to the mountain, you'll find so many varieties. So many varieties. There are houses, there are trees, there are men, there are animals. Similarly, to the spiritual world. First of all, this material world becomes... Just like Lord Buddha, he did not say anything further than making this material world as void, śūnyavāda. That is a fact. If you are... In the previous verse it has been stated, vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhāḥ [Bg 2.56].

[One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.]

If you are attached to these material varieties, then you cannot enter into the spiritual varieties, or in the spiritual world. Kṛṣṅa is so kind. If you have got a pinch of desire to enjoy this material world, then you'll have to remain here as..., either as Lord Brahmā or as a small ant, according to your karma. But when you completely become free from material attachment, then the spiritual world is... So when the Buddha philosophy says śūnyavāda, nirvāṅa, nirvāṅa, it means the same thing, vīta-rāga: you have to become detached. You have to make this material enjoyment zero.

The bhakti also says, bhakti formula, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]:

[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]

"You have to make your heart cleansed of all material desire." Then spiritual life will begin.

yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ [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.]

This is the process. So artificially, the Buddha philosophy or Śaṅkara philosophy, they, artificially if you want to make it nirvāṅa, zero, that is not possible. Avyaktāsakta-cetasām... Te..., kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām [Bg 12.5].

[For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progrese in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.]

Avyakta means zero, impersonal. If you become attached to simply making zero, or impersonal, that is not possible. Because we are accustomed. We are... As living beings, we want varieties. Variety is the mother of enjoyment. We cannot remain in the zero position. You have got experience. Just like when you fly on the plane, after some hours, four, five hours, you become disgusted. You want to come down. Everyone has got this experience. Because the sky is zero, we cannot remain there more than four or five hours or six hours. We must come down. In the sea also. We have got all these experience. If you remain on the ocean for three, four days... Because it runs on. When I first went to America, I went by ship. So thirty-five days. So after four, five days, it was disgusting. As soon as we saw one island, then we became relieved. [laughter] You see?

So the śūnyavāda philosophy will not give you happiness. After śūnya, after making this śūnya... Suppose you are passing through the sky, śūnya, if you get another, if you go the moon planet or other planet, then you become happy. Then you become happy. But if you don't get any planet, then you have to come back again on this planet. Similarly, the śūnyavāda philosophy will not make you happy unless you... Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated,

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ [SB 10.2.32]

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

The meaning is that "My Lord, Aravindākṣa..." Kṛṣṅa is addressed... Because His eyes are just like the petals of lotus flower, He's called Aravinda, and Aravindākṣa. Barhāvataṁsa, aravindākṣa. So "My dear Aravindākṣa, lotus-eyed Kṛṣṅa." Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa. "The persons who are thinking that they have become liberated, now they have become Nārāyaṅa..." Oh.

Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking like that. Māninaḥ means falsely thinking. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād... "They have no information of Your lotus feet or You. They do not accept Your personality." Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. "Their intelligence is not clear." Aviśuddha: it is still impure, because they could not understand.

The full knowledge is brahmeti bhagavān iti, brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti [SB 1.2.11].

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

The three things one must know. That is full knowledge. But if you understand partially, either Brahman or Paramātmā... But if you understand Bhagavān... Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3].

[If one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of all controllers, one can understand everything else.]

This is Vedic injunction. If you understand Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you understand Brahman and Paramātmā. But if you simply understand Brahman or Paramātmā, you do not understand Kṛṣṅa. Therefore it is said, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, intelligence is not yet pure. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ [SB 10.2.32]. They, after undergoing severe penances and austerities, they approach the Brahman effulgence, param... Patanty adhaḥ: again falls down. The same example: You may go very high. Just like nowadays, the attempt is being made, they are going to the moon planet or Venus planet. We do not know whether they are going or not, but we hear from the advertisement. So because they do not get any shelter, they come back. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ [SB 10.2.32]. Because they do not get any shelter, the shelter of lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, from this impersonal conception of philosophy, they again come to this material world. Therefore you'll find there are so many big, big svāmīs, first of all they give up this world. Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: "This world is mithyā. Let us take to Brahman. Let us become Brahman." But after keeping in..., some days in so-called Brahman, they again come back to open hospital, school. Because there they could not get anything; therefore something must be done, profession. So open hospital and raise fund. That's all.

So unless you get shelter on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, you'll be attracted by these material activities. But when you are attracted by the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, then vīta-rāga-bhaya-śoka... Then, as we... Vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ [Bg 4.10].

[Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me—and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me.]

Mām upāśritāḥ. When you take shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, then you become vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhāḥ [Bg 2.56].

[One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.]

Otherwise, you'll be attacked by..., attracted by this material world. So therefore, artificial śūnyavāda philosophy, it may be, for the time being, necessity, śūnyavāda... Just like Lord Buddha preached his philosophy, śūnyavāda philosophy, nirvāṅa philosophy, because it was needed at that time. It is not permanent philosophy. Any philosophy except Kṛṣṅa philosophy... Nothing is permanent. They are temporary. They have got temporary use. The real use is Kṛṣṅa philosophy. Real use, Kṛṣṅa philosophy. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam... [Bg 18.66].

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

So when there was... People may question that "Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṅa," keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare. "Then why he preached atheistic philosophy?" He preached, "There is no God." Śūnyavāda. But there was necessity at that time.

Why? That is explained by Jayadeva Gosvāmī:

nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātaṁ sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare

At that time, people were killing animals like anything in the name of yajña. In the Vedas there are prescriptions that in the yajña a paśu can be..., an animal can be slaughtered. In some yajña, not all. Tāmasika-yajña. Anyway, Vedic injunction is there. So when Lord Buddha started this nonviolence, ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ, the Vedic scholars approached him that "How you can prescribe this ahiṁsā? There is already sanction in the Vedas, paśavo vadhāya sṛṣṭāḥ... How you can stop it?" So Lord Buddha said, "I don't care for your Vedas." Therefore he is considered as atheist. Anyone who doesn't care for Vedas, they are technically called as atheist. Veda nā māniyā bauddha haila nāstika. Nāstika means atheist.

Anyway... Then Śaṅkarācārya came. Śaṅkarācārya wanted... Because by the propagation of Lord Buddha, whole India became Buddhist. And Śaṅkarācārya wanted to establish Vedas again. So they were temporary necessities, for certain reason. Because people were addicted so much in violence, in killing the animals, therefore Buddha philosophy was needed. Again, this Buddha philosophy was driven out. The Śaṅkara, impersonal, philosophy was established. But again, the ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya and other Vaiṣṅava ācāryas, at last, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they established that brahma satyam means brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11].

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

Both, three, Absolute Truth.

So these are the philosophical development. So Kṛṣṅa is summarizing this philosophical development here in this one line, that mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ. Either you follow Buddha philosophy or Śaṅkara philosophy or Vaiṣṅava philosophy, the ultimate goal is Kṛṣṅa. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya [Bg 7.7].

[O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.]

So you have to approach Kṛṣṅa through these different types of philosophy. They are partial realization. Just like Brahman realization means eternity realization, Paramātmā realization means eternity and knowledge, and Bhagavān realization means eternity, knowledge and blissfulness. Sac-cid-ānanda. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

If you realize Kṛṣṅa, then you realize simultaneously... Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3].

[If one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of all controllers, one can understand everything else.]

You realize Brahman, you realize Paramātmā and you realize Bhagavān. That is our duty.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, 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.]

Because ultimately Kṛṣṅa. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate, ahaṁ sarvasya... [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 Kṛṣṅa says... Vedānta says also, janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. Brahman, Paramātmā, they are expansion of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is the original. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya [Bg 7.7]. This is the truth. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says that either you follow the Brahman path or Paramātmā path, either as a jñānī or yogī or as a bhakta... Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha. Anyone actually who is seeking after self-realization, there are three divisions. Either you have to realize as impersonal Brahman or as localized Paramātmā or as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But if you realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then automatically you realize impersonal Brahman and Paramātmā also. Just like if you have got one crore of rupees, then one hundred rupees, ten rupees or one thousand rupees or one lakh of rupees, they're all included, similarly, if you realize Kṛṣṅa... Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, 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.]

that everyone is trying to realize the Absolute Truth. Either in the shape of Brahman or Paramātmā or nullifying these material varieties, śūnyavāda, they are trying to approach Kṛṣṅa. So Kṛṣṅa is so kind that He's giving direct opportunity, direct opportunity, that "You can surrender unto Me, and I'll take charge of you." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja, 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.]

So why not take this opportunity? Our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is to preach or to train people how to approach directly. It is possible. One may say that "If it is so difficult subject matter, how one can approach Kṛṣṅa directly?" No. That is Kṛṣṅa's grace. You can... Just like in a building, high building, there are two ways: the staircase is there and the lift is there. You can take either of them. If you go to the topmost flat step by step, you can go. But if... Why don't you take this opportunity of taking the lift and go immediately, within a minute? So Kṛṣṅa consciousness is that. If you are actually serious to go to the spiritual world, take the bhakti-yoga process. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is preaching personally bhakti-yoga. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ.

So take opportunity of this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. It is very, very easy. And anyone can take it. You have seen that our process, chanting, this process is accepted even by a small child. He also dancing, he's also chanting. Don't think that these things will go in vain. The small child who is dancing and chanting, it will be recorded in his history. Puñji-budha. Kṛta-puṅya-puñjāḥ [SB 10.12.11].

[All the boys would be differently engaged. Some boys blew their flutes, and others blew bugles made of horn. Some imitated the buzzing of the bumblebees, and others imitated the voice of the cuckoo. Some boys imitated flying birds by running after the birds' shadows on the ground, some imitated the beautiful movements and attractive postures of the swans, some sat down with the ducks, sitting silently, and others imitated the dancing of the peacocks.

Some boys attracted young monkeys in the trees, some jumped into the trees, imitating the monkeys, some made faces as the monkeys were accustomed to do, and others jumped from one branch to another. Some boys went to the waterfalls and crossed over the river, jumping with the frogs, and when they saw their own reflections on the water they would laugh. They would also condemn the sounds of their own echoes.

In this way, all the cowherd boys used to play with Kṛṣṅa, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence for jñānīs desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead for devotees who have accepted eternal servitorship, and who for ordinary persons is but another ordinary child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results of pious activities for many lives, were able to associate in this way with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one explain their great fortune?]

This is called ajñāta-sukṛti. The center is open to give chance people to hear about Kṛṣṅa, to chant about Kṛṣṅa, to see Kṛṣṅa, to take prasādam of Kṛṣṅa. So we request: take advantage of these facilities and be fully Kṛṣṅa conscious and make your life successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Haribol. Jaya... [end]