Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.2.5–6

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sixth Canto, Second Chapter, verse numbers five and six. [leads chanting of verses, etc.]

yasyāṅke śira ādhāya lokaḥ svapiti nirvṛtaḥ svayaṁ dharmam adharmaṁ vā na hi veda yathā paśuḥ

sa kathaṁ nyarpitātmānaṁ kṛta-maitram acetanaṁ visrambhaṅīyo bhūtānāṁ saghṛṅo dogdhum arhati [SB 6.2.5-6]

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Prabhupāda:

yasyāṅke śira ādhāya lokaḥ svapiti nirvṛtaḥ svayaṁ dharmam adharmaṁ vā na hi veda yathā paśuḥ

sa kathaṁ nyarpitātmānaṁ kṛta-maitram acetanaṁ visrambhaṅīyo bhūtānāṁ saghṛṅo dogdhum arhati [SB 6.2.5-6]

Just like a child is sleeping on the lap of his mother, feeling secure, completely secure, that "I am on the lap of my mother..." Naturally a child, when it is on the lap of its mother, he is quite comfortable, silent, feeling very secure. So in that position if the mother kills the child... It is like that, that prajā and the king... The prajās... Prajā means the citizens, subjects. They should be feeling so much secure, that "We are under good government. There is no disturbance." Just like during the government of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, they were so secure that even they had no very much anxieties. "Our king is there." The world is full of anxieties, miseries and difficulties. So the good government means when the subjects, citizens, feel secure from all such things.

So here, yasyāṅke śira ādhāya. Suppose I am sleeping very comfortably, feeling secure by keeping my head on your lap, yasyāṅke śira ādhāya lokaḥ svapiti, and dreaming very happily. Svaya dharmam adharmaṁ vā na he veda yathā paśuḥ. You cannot expect all men to understand what is religion and what is not religion, general mass of people. So what is the position of a person or any being who does not know to make distinction what is dharma and adharma? So they have been described. He is described as yathā paśuḥ. Paśuḥ. Paśuḥ means animal. An animal cannot make distinction what is right or what is wrong. That is not possible. Therefore it is said, dharmeṅa hīnā paśubhiḥ samānāḥ: "One who is ignorant of dharma-adharma, he is no better than paśu." Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhiḥ narāṅām [Hitopadeśa 25].

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

Āhāra, eating. I eat, the dog eats, the cat eats. I sleep, the dog sleeps and the cat sleeps. I have sex desire, I satisfy it; the cats and dogs also satisfy it. And I am also afraid of my enemy; the cats and dogs are also afraid of enemy. Then where is the difference between cats and dogs? The difference is that I can be trained up to become religious; the cats and dogs cannot be trained. That is the difference. Dharmeṅa hīnā paśubhiḥ samānāḥ. So if I don't take education and enlightenment how to become religious, I do not know how to distinguish between right and wrong, then yathā paśu—then I am as good as animal.

That is the position at the present moment, that people are not educated to distinguish or to become pious. They are not educated. They are being... Now, at the present moment, education means you learn technology and learn how to earn money, and then, after earning money, you spend it for sense gratification: eating meat, eating wine, going to the brothel, prostitutes. This is modern civilization. So therefore it is the civilization of paśu, animal civilization, polished animals. It is not civilization. It is the duty of the guardian, father, guru, government or elderly relative—everyone should be compassionate with the dependent. The father should be compassionate to the children, that "My children, they have come to me. They are now innocent. If I do not train them nicely..." What kind of training? Na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum. That is the duty of the father, of the guru, how to save the dependent from the clutches of death. This is the duty. The government also. Because death is sure. As soon as we get this material body, the death is sure.

So we are eternal spiritual spark. Kṛṣṅa says that the living entity is eternal: nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. This is the information we get from the authority, that "The living entity is eternal," nitya, śāśvata, "and ever-existing, and does not die on the death or annihilation of the body." Then what is the duty of the father? What is the duty of the government, duty of the guru? Now, how to save him from this repetition of birth and death. And that is the duty. Otherwise to give some food... That also, people cannot give now. Rather, killing their children in the womb. This is Kali-yuga. Whereas it is the duty of the parents how to save the child or the son from the clutches of death, they are now killing. This is advanced civilization. This is going on all over the world. They are going to the medical man and taking help and killing the child within the womb. This is Kali-yuga.

So here it is, the same thing said, that yasyāṅke śira ādhāya lokaḥ svapiti nirvṛtaḥ. The child is sleeping in the womb of the mother, and the mother is killing. Then where to take shelter? Similarly, this example is that "This Ajāmila, he might have committed some sins without knowledge. Now he is no more sinful because he has chanted the holy name of Nārāyaṅa, and he is not to be punished." That is the purpose of the Viṣṅudūta. "So why you are dragging him, trying to take him to Yamarāja to punish him? You do not know that he is innocent. We have to..." The real purpose is that everyone, we commit sinful activities on account of ignorance. Therefore the best humanitarian work is to give knowledge to the humanity, not that one is suffering for want of food and... If I give some food, that is good work, but that is not sufficient. I may give food; that's all right. You give. We also give prasādam free. But that does not mean simply by giving prasādam we are silent. We give knowledge also. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. Food, automatically you have to give. That is... There is no prohibition. But at the same time: knowledge. Without knowledge-giving, if he remains ignorant... Just like the same example: if you have got some children, if you don't give them education, simply feed them, that is not your proper duty. You must give knowledge.

Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is therefore giving them knowledge. The first knowledge is that we are trying to convince everyone, following the footprints of Lord Kṛṣṅa, as He wanted to convince in the very beginning, that dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā [Bg 2.13].

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

This is the first knowledge. One should know that he is not this body. He is spirit soul, different from this body. He is living within this body. This is called knowledge. And at the same time, he should be supplied the necessities of the body. Yāvād artha-prayojanaṁ. Nirbandhe kṛṣṅa-sambandhe yukta-vairāgyam ucyate. Anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255]. Viṣayā. Viṣayā means we need something for our sense gratification. That is allowed. We don't say that "You don't eat." No, you eat, but you eat kṛṣṅa-prasādam. Don't eat anything else. Then gradually your senses will be conquered. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234].

[No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṅa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.]

If you want to realize God, first of all you should engage your tongue in the service of the Lord. It is very astonishing that "Engaging the tongue I become perfect?" Yes. The beginning is the tongue, because tongue is the greatest enemy. People are going to hell on account of being unable to control the tongue. Therefore one has to control the tongue. And controlling tongue means you engage the tongue in the service of the Lord. How? Tongue means you can speak with your tongue and you can eat with your tongue. So engage the tongue chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa and preaching Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is service. And tongue wants to taste. Give him kṛṣṅa-prasādam, very nice. So as soon as you engage your tongue in these two business, then naturally you become purified and your senses become also purified. Then you come to the real platform.

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalaṁ 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.]

This is the bhakti, to engage the purified senses in the service of the master of senses, Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīkeśa means master. Hṛṣika means the senses, and īśa means master. Hṛṣīkeśa. Kṛṣṅa's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa.

So we have to engage our senses. It is not our senses; it is Kṛṣṅa's. We have forgotten it. I am seeing with my eyes. I am very much proud I can see. But why you cannot see when you are blind? The eyes are there. Because the master has withdrawn the sight power. You can be happy with your decoration of the eyes, but you cannot see. So actually I do not see. Just like I have got this spectacle. The spectacle does not see; I am seeing. Similarly, with my eyes I am not seeing; Kṛṣṅa is seeing. Because Kṛṣṅa is seeing, therefore I am seeing. This is the Vedic version, I will find in Upaniṣad. Because the Supreme Brahman is seeing, therefore we are seeing. Because the Brahman is walking... There are many evidences. Just like this ear. Now I am hearing with this ear. You are also hearing. But when I am unconscious, this ear is there, and you call me, "Mr. Mo..., Mr. Sir, Mr. Sir," but I cannot hear. The machine is there. Why you cannot hear? Therefore the Brahman is withdrawn.

So sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahman [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1].

[Everything, both matter and spirit, is non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the Supreme Brahman.]

Everything is working because the Brahman is there. Otherwise it will not work; simply machine. This body, because the Brahman, the soul, is there, it is working. And as soon as the soul is out of this body, it is lump of matter. They are thinking the brain is working. The brain is not working. Brain is a machine. Just like typing. You are typing. The machine is not typing; you are typing. Unless there is touch of Brahman, nothing can work. So when we realize this, that is called brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [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.]

when we understand that "I am simply instrumental." That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhramāyan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [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.]

Actually, we are under the direction of Kṛṣṅa, and He has given us this machine, this body, and we are wandering throughout the whole universe. Ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva. This is our position. We have got this machine, and we are wandering throughout the universe in different planets and different forms of life, and we do not know what is the aim of life.

ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru kṛṣṅa kṛpa 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.]

In this wandering, wandering, wandering, when we come in contact with a bona fide guru, we get the seed of devotional service. That is the aim of life, how to get that. Therefore the Vedic injunction is, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [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.]

You must go. Otherwise your life is useless.

So it is the duty of guru, it is the duty of father, it is the duty of the government, it is duty of the elderly relative to educate everyone. This is human life, not that simply eating like dog and dancing like dog. This is not human civilization. So sa kathaṁ nyarpitātmānaṁ kṛta-maitram acetanam. If I think that "My spiritual master is here. He will save me," and if I do not train him how to save them, then what is the use of having such spiritual master? What is the use of having such father? And what is the use of such government? There is a Bengali poetry by a Bengali Vaiṣṅava: janame janame sabe pitā mātā paya, kṛṣṅa guru nahi mile baja hari ei [Caitanya Mangala, Madhya-khanda].

[Under ordinary circumstances one's own father and mother are worshipable, but in every species one gets a father and mother. Far rarer is to get guru and Krsna. The spiritual master can bestow prema-bhakti to the those who have attained his mercy, therefore he is the topmost father, mother, and friend of everyone.]

As soon as you take birth, there is father. Either you take birth as a snake or you take birth as a human being, without father and mother there is no question of birth. So father and mother you will get in every birth. But kṛṣṅa guru nahi mile baja hari ei: Kṛṣṅa and guru will not be available in every birth. That is very important thing. You cannot get Kṛṣṅa in the form of a snake or a cat and a dog, but you can get Kṛṣṅa in the form as a human being.

Therefore human being, this form of human being... Labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte [SB 11.9.29].

[After many, many births and deaths one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life as long as his body, which is always subject to death, has not fallen down and died. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Kṛṣṅa consciousness is possible only for a human being.]

After many, many millions of years we have got this human form of body. It should not be misused simply like cats and dogs. This is not success of life. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja, although he was five-years-old boy, he advised his class friend that kaumāraṁ ācaret prājñaḥ. He was instructing. He was a devotee. He was preaching, "My dear friend, you just become devotee of Kṛṣṅa." The children protested, "Eh! We shall now play or we shall become Kṛṣṅa conscious? No, no, we shall play." So Prahlāda Mahārāja repeatedly said, "No, no, no. Even we are children, we should not play. We should become Kṛṣṅa conscious." Kaumāraṁ ācaret prājñaḥ. If you are intelligent... Kaumāraṁ. Kaumāram means from the childhood, from five years. Kaumāraṁ ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha. "Why? All right, if you say that I shall become Kṛṣṅa conscious, I shall become. Let us grow now." No. Durlabhaṁ mānuṣyaṁ janma tad api adhruvam arthadam [SB 7.6.1]. "No, no, no. Don't spoil your life in that way. It is... Although we have got this body, human form, but it is also adhruvam. It will not stay."

So before your next death you finish your Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is the real gain of life. Don't wait, that "I shall become old, and when I shall become feeble—there is no more energy—then I shall become Kṛṣṅa conscious." Of course, Kṛṣṅa conscious, one can become in a moment perfect. But that is rarely done. Everyone should be taught Kṛṣṅa consciousness from the very childhood. This is human civilization.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]