Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 7.1

Prabhupāda:

śrī bhagavān uvāca mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṅu [Bg 7.1]

[Now hear, O son of Pṛthā [Arjuna], how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.]

The yoga system which is known as bhakti-yoga... [children making noise]

Devotee: [indistinct] take the children outside.

Girirāja: The children won't understand the lecture.

Prabhupāda: Everyone is trying... Not everyone; at the present moment, practically nobody wants to understand what is God. Everyone is busy to fulfill the desires and necessities of the body.

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

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

Go-kharaḥ. Go means cow and kharaḥ means ass. So according to Vedic culture, one who has accepted this material body as self... Ātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke. This body is a combination of matter, and the living force within this body is not this combination of matter; it is the spirit soul. That one has to understand before coming to the platform of spiritual life. So long one is attached with this material body it is not possible to understand what is spiritual life. If one continues to be attached to this material body, he is no better than go-kharaḥ, cows and asses, animals.

So our Vedic culture... Vedic culture means that human culture, not animal culture. Animal culture means to satisfy the needs of the body, and Vedic culture or human culture means to satisfy the needs of the soul. That is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. One who is reading Bhagavad-gītā... In India practically everyone reads, but because one does not take the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā as it was instructed by Kṛṣṅa, he cannot take the benefit of Bhagavad-gītā's instruction. One tries to understand Bhagavad-gītā by erudite scholarship, or good position in the society—political, social, economical—but that is not the way to understand Bhagavad-gītā. The way to understand Bhagavad-gītā is said in the Bhagavad-gītā,

tad viddhi praṅipātena paripraśnena sevayā updekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg 4.34]

[Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.]

Unless you approach a person who is representative of Kṛṣṅa and tattva-darśī, who has seen the truth, jñānī, and full of knowledge, from him you can understand what is Bhagavad-gītā, what is Bhagavān. Otherwise you cannot understand. 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.]

If you remain covered by the material energy, then you cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. The purpose of Bhagavad-gītā is to understand real religious life. Religion means the order which is given by God to carry out. That is religion. Those who are unknown of this fact, they are not religious. They may be some faith or blind belief, but religion means dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅitam [SB 6.3.19].

[Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyādharas and Cāraṅas.]

Religion means the order, or the law, given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is religion.

So to know God, the God, He is personally giving instruction how to know God. Kṛṣṅa says, bhagavān uvāca. Here it is not... Vyāsadeva is not speaking; Kṛṣṅa said. Because sometimes Kṛṣṅa is misunderstood; therefore Vyāsadeva writes or says in this connection, bhagavān uvāca. Bhagavān means the fully opulent, samagrasya. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya [Viṣṅu Purāṅa 6.5.47]:

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

He is the most powerful, the supreme rich, supreme wise, supreme beautiful and at the same time supremely renounced. These qualification makes one Bhagavān. So 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.]

That is the verdict of Vedic literature. So īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ [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.]

Bhagavān is also sometimes called Parameśvara. Īśvara means the ruling power or the personality who controls. So every one of us, we have got some controlling power either in the society or family or community or government or international. Everyone has got some capacity to control, but nobody is supreme controller. Supreme controller means that He is no more controlled by anyone. Other controller, they are controllers, but they are controlled by somebody else. But Kṛṣṅa is not that kind of controller. He is the supreme controller means He controls everyone but nobody has above Him to control. Therefore He is called Parameśvara. Īśvaraḥ means controller.

Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1]. He is not nirākāra; vigraha. Vigraha means form, but His form is different from our form. Therefore He is described as sac-cid-ānanda. Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and ānanda means full of transcendental bliss, eternal bliss. The beginning is eternal, so eternal life, eternal complete, full knowledge and eternal bliss; this is the composition of Kṛṣṅa's body. But mūḍhas, rascals, they think Kṛṣṅa as ordinary human being. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam [Bg 9.11].

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

Fools and rascals, mūḍhāḥ—mūḍhāḥ means fools and rascals—because they see that Kṛṣṅa is incarnation just like ordinary human being, cousin of Arjuna or nephew of Kuntī, like that. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. Kṛṣṅa comes just like ordinary human being, but that does not mean He is ordinary human being. Therefore Vyāsadeva says bhagavān uvāca. If you consider Kṛṣṅa as ordinary human being, then you are missing the point.

And I have already given the definition of Bhagavān. One of the qualification of Bhagavān is 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.]

Jñāna. He has got full knowledge. He hasn't got to take knowledge from anyone else. Svābhāvikī jñāna. Bhagavān means svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅam..., this is Vedic injunction.

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca [Cc Madhya 13.65, purport]

Svābhāvikī, all full knowledge He has got. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ [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.]

He is the creator of everything. So how He got this knowledge to float these big, big planets in the air? That... There is knowledge. There is art. Just like when you float a big aeroplane in the sky, it requires knowledge, it requires technology, art. It is not flying automatically; that is a mistake. So if to float an ordinary airship it requires so much knowledge, so much technology, how much knowledge is there when you see that the biggest planet, the sun, is floating in the air, and it is lying in one corner of the sky and exactly in time it is rotating, yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ? There is knowledge; there is art, who has fixed it. Therefore in the Vedas it is said, yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ [Bs 5.52].

[The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.]

He is also rotating in the orbit by the order of Govinda. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.

So there are so many things to learn and to understand what is God and what is Kṛṣṅa. God means Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28].

Na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8].

[The Supreme Lord has nothing to do. Nothing is equal to Him or greater than Him. He acts in different phases by manifesting His parts and parcels, which are all simultaneously differently situated by His unlimited, variegated potencies. Each potency acts quite naturally in sequences, providing Him full knowledge, power and pastimes.]

God means nobody is equal to Him and nobody is greater than Him. That is God. There is no competition that in this quarter there is one God and another neighborhood there is another God, just like it has become a fashion, so many Gods, competition is going on. No. There is no competition. God is one. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate, na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate. That is God. So because God is complete in knowledge, therefore we have to take knowledge from Him, not from the persons who has got incomplete knowledge. That knowledge is not perfect. We must take knowledge from the person..., we have to take knowledge from the person:

tad viddhi praṅipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg 4.34]

We have to approach. 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.]

We have to approach a superior person, guru, and take knowledge from him. The most superior person is Kṛṣṅa. You may doubt others, that may be, but when you come to Kṛṣṅa, that is perfect knowledge. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28].

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.]

So Kṛṣṅa is so kind that He comes in, once in... We were calculating yesterday, what is, how many years after? You were there? Ah, some billions of years after. We can calculate from the śāstra because He comes once in the day of Brahmā. The Brahmā's duration of life is there in the Bhagavad-gītā, sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṅo viduḥ [Bg 8.17].

[By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahmā's one day. And such also is the duration of his night.]

Forty-three lakhs of years multiplied by thousand becomes twelve hours of Brahmā, and similarly twelve hours at night, that is one day and night. Such thirty times makes a month, such twelve times makes a year, and similarly hundred years is the duration of life of Brahmā. So according to śāstra we understand once in the day of Brahmā Kṛṣṅa appears.

Why does He appear? Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati..., tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7]. Dharmasya glāniḥ. What is that dharmasya glāniḥ? Disobedience to Kṛṣṅa's order. That is dharmasya glāniḥ. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya. Dharma is one. As God is one, similarly dharma is also one. There cannot be many dharmas. There are many dharmas practically we see: Hindu dharma, Muslim dharma, Christian dharma, Buddha dharma, this dharma, so many dharma. But real dharma is one. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ. Para means transcendental. These are material dharma: "I am Hindu," "You are Muslim," "You are Christian," "You are this," "You are that." These are..., means an attempt to raise oneself to the platform of real dharma. But real dharma is one for everyone. What is that? Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ. That is transcendental dharma. Yato bhaktir adhokṣaje [SB 1.2.6].

[The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.]

The dharma by following which one becomes a Kṛṣṅa conscious person or godly person, one who understands God, his relationship with Him and acting according to that relation, that is real dharma. So our, everyone's, all living entities' dharma means to know that we are eternal servant of God. That is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṅa-dāsa [Cc Madhya 20.108-109]. And in the Bhagavad-gītā also Kṛṣṅa instructs the same dharma, that "You are, the living entities, you are all My part and parcel, and it is your duty to cooperate with Me without any reservation." That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66].

So the Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by Kṛṣṅa personally when He was present for the benefit of the human society, for all nations. It is not for the Hindus or the Indians; it is for everyone. God is for everyone. Kṛṣṅa also says, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ, 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.]

Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7], every living entity is part and parcel, and He is the supreme father of everyone. So our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is trying to re-establish the real dharma, not fictitious dharma. That is bhāgavata-dharma. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also the same thing is spoken where Kṛṣṅa ends Bhagavad-gītā: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja. From the same point Vyāsadeva begins Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ [SB 1.1.1], and he describes about dharma: dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra [SB 1.1.2].

[Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṅa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.]

All cheating type of religious system are projjhita. Projjhita means to throw away, kick out.

So our this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is bhāgavata-dharma: to teach throughout the whole world that God is great and we are small particle, part and parcel of God, our duty is to serve God. That is bhakti. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṅānuśīlanam [Cc Madhya 19.167].

[When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṅa favorably, as Kṛṣṅa desires.]

When you favorably serve Kṛṣṅa, be ready to get orders from Kṛṣṅa and serve Him, that is perfection of life. That is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja. And if we daily manufacture a kind of dharma according to my concoction or we accept everything as real dharma, that is a mistake. Dharma means the order given by God, and if you follow that, or execute that order as Arjuna did, then you are dharmika, you are religious. Just like Arjuna, he followed Kṛṣṅa's order. Kṛṣṅa wanted him to fight. Of course, he was a kṣatriya, his duty was to fight, and Kṛṣṅa wanted him to fight. But he was hesitating because the other party with whom he had to fight, they happened to be his family member, most dear kith and kin, some of them are nephews, some of them gurus, teacher, grandfather. So all of them—it was a family fight—so Arjuna was not willing to fight, but Kṛṣṅa wanted to fight. And after learning from Him the essence of Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66], he agreed to fight. That is bhakti-yoga. Even by fighting, you can become a devotee. You have to carry out the order of Kṛṣṅa. That is bhakti-yoga.

So you must be qualified to know Kṛṣṅa, then you must be qualified, or automatically you become qualified how to receive His order. This is the way. So unless you understand from where the order is coming, how the order-giver is speaking, if you do not know the science, how you can talk with Kṛṣṅa and receive His order? That is also not very difficult. Kṛṣṅa says, 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.]

Anyone who is twenty-four hours engaged in Kṛṣṅa's service, satata-yuktānām, not sporadic, that two minutes I meditate upon Kṛṣṅa and then twenty-three hours sixty-eight minutes, ah, fifty-eight minutes, I remain to satisfy my senses. That is not kṛṣṅa-bhakti. Kṛṣṅa-bhakti means satata-yuktānām, twenty-four hours engaged in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Just like these boys are being trained up. They have not come to me for some monetary benefit. What monetary benefit I can give to them? They are, rather, bringing money, and I am constructing big, big temples—their money. So still they are engaged in carrying out my order. There is no payment, no monetary benefit, because they have understood me, that "He is representative of Kṛṣṅa."

That we have to find out, the representative of Kṛṣṅa. That is also not very difficult, who is representative of Kṛṣṅa. Representative of Kṛṣṅa is he who simply repeats the instruction of Kṛṣṅa, does not say anything nonsense. He is representative of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

He does not say any big, big, bombastic thing. Very simple thing, that "Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer obeisances." It doesn't require M.A., Ph.D. education to learn these four things. Anyone, even a child, can do it. It is very easy. If you daily see the Deity in the temple, or if you have got Deity at home, even a child will be practiced to think of Kṛṣṅa. It is not at all difficult. And if you chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, that is also thinking of Kṛṣṅa.

So man-manāḥ, and if you continue this, then mad-bhakta, you become His devotee. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. Mad-yājī, then if you can, you can offer to Kṛṣṅa. Is it very expensive? No. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg 9.26].

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

You can offer Kṛṣṅa a little water or a tulasī leaf. Or if tulasī leaf is not available, any leaf. He does not say tulasī leaf. So what is the difficulty to secure a little water, a leaf or a small flower? Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam. The real thing is bhakti. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam. So, mad-bhakta, if you are poorest of the poor you can become a devotee. Ahaituky apratihatā yenātmā samprasīdati. If you want to become a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, there is no impediment throughout the three worlds within the universe. You can become a devotee, it is so easy. If you want to be a rich man it requires so much trouble. Rather, so long you do not desire to become a rich man, you are peaceful. And as soon as you desire to become a rich man, it will be all activities begin: how to acquire money this way or that way, this way... So, everyone tries to become rich man because generally one thinks that at old age I'll get some income and I shall sit down very peacefully. So you are already sitting down peacefully. Why you take another means?

Of course, these things we are not going to discuss, but bhakti means no desire. 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.]

Then bhakti is very easy. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam [Cc Madhya 19.167].

People are very busy for knowledge and fruitive activities. Everyone in Bombay is working so hard day and night to get some result, and the jñānīs, when they are disgusted, they try to become jñānī. Jñānī generally means one who wants liberation, mukti, by merging into the existence. Bhakti is above this, jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam [Cc Madhya 19.167]. If you want to become a bhakta then you have to disregard the process of fruitive activities and the speculative method of understanding God, jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam. Then what I have to do? Ānukūlyena kṛṣṅānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā. Simply you have to be ready to execute the order of Kṛṣṅa, Bhagavān. Ānukūlyena, what Kṛṣṅa says, you have to do that, just like a servant. Servant faithfulness is, as soon as the master orders something, he is ready. You have to become like that.

So to become ready to serve Kṛṣṅa does not require much knowledge or very advanced in fruitive activities. These are material things. Spiritually, when you understand that you are eternal servant of God, Kṛṣṅa, and if you become fully convinced and do the needful, then you are liberated immediately. Mukti means, it is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ svarūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ [SB 2.10.6].

[The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Mahā-Viṣṅu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.]

If you understand that you are eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa, that is mukti. And so long you are thinking that you are master of something, that is bondage. This is the difference between mukti and bondage. Bondage means to think of becoming master. "I am the lord of this universe," or "I am trying to become a lord or master," this is bondage. And when you fully understand Kṛṣṅa and become engaged in His service, that is mukti.

So for a devotee, there is no question of mukti. A devotee is already mukta. Why? Kṛṣṅa says, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi [Bg 18.66]: "Immediately, as soon as you surrender to Me, immediately I give you protection." You are awaiting some fruitive result of your past karma, that is bondage. You have to take birth and you have to serve according to that karma. Then from that position you are immediately liberated. Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi... Then you are mukta. So if you remain in the position to serve Kṛṣṅa, then you are always mukta. Muktiḥ mukulitāñjali sevate asmān. A great devotee, Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, he said this muktiḥ mukulitāñjali, "With folded hands she is standing at my door, 'What can I do for you?' " Maidservant. So devotee is not after mukti, because they are already muktas. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [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.]

He is already nirmala, without a tinge of material motive. Therefore he is able to serve Kṛṣṅa. Hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170].

So Kṛṣṅa personally instructing Bhagavad-gītā to understand Him, so we should take advantage of this, otherwise we are missing this opportunity this human form of life. Kṛṣṅa is not teaching Bhagavad-gītā to some cats and dogs. He is teaching to the most influential person, imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg 4.2].

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

So Bhagavad-gītā is meant for the rājarṣi, very rich, opulent, at the same time saintly person. Formerly all the kings were rājarṣi—rāja and ṛṣi combined together. So the Bhagavad-gītā is not meant for the loafer class. It is to be understood by the heads of the society: yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ [Bg 3.21].

[Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.]

So those who are claiming to be the leaders of the society, they must learn Bhagavad-gītā, how to become practical and actual leader, then the society will be benefited. And if we follow the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā and Kṛṣṅa, then all problems will be solved. It is not a sectarian religious sentiment or fanaticism. It is not that. It is a science—social science, political science, cultural science. Everything is there.

So our request is that every one of you become a guru. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order. He wants that everyone must become a guru. How? That He says:

yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

This is guru. Suppose you are family member. So many living entities, your sons, your daughters, your daughter-in-law or children, you can become their guru. Exactly like this you can sit down in the evening and talk about the Bhagavad-gītā, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṅa-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]. You haven't got to manufacture something. The instruction is there; you simply repeat and let them hear—you become guru. It is not difficult at all. So that is our preaching. We do not want to become alone guru, but we want to preach in such a way that every..., the chief man, or any man, he can become guru in his surrounding. Anyone can do that. Even a coolie, he can also. He has got family, he has got friends, so even though he is illiterate, he can hear the instruction of Kṛṣṅa, and he can preach the same. This we want. And we invite all respectable gentlemen, leaders, to learn this. It is very simple: 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.]

and by executing this order of Kṛṣṅa, He assures, mām evaiṣyasi, "You come to Me." Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama [Bg 15.6].

[That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.]

Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [Bg 4.9]. Very easy thing.

[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.]

So our only request is the leaders of the society should take up the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā very seriously, learn himself and teach to others. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. It is not at all difficult; it is very easy. Everyone can do it. But the result will be that as soon as you understand..., people understand Kṛṣṅa, janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ [Bg 4.9], anyone who understands Kṛṣṅa, the result is tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti... After giving up this body he does not accept any more material body; he stays in his spiritual identity and enjoys the society of Kṛṣṅa. That is Vṛndāvana. Gopījana-vallabha. Kṛṣṅa... Kṛṣṅa, Vṛndāvana means that Kṛṣṅa is the center. He is the lovable object of everyone. The gopīs, the cowherd boys, the calfs, the cows, the trees, the fruits, flowers, the father, mother—everyone is attached to Kṛṣṅa. That is Vṛndāvana. So this is the replica, this Vṛndāvana, and there is real Vṛndāvana. This is also real. In the absolute there is no difference. But for our understanding there is original Vṛndāvana,

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

veṅuṁ kvaṅantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ govindam... [Bs 5.30]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.]

This is the description, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

So there is dhāma, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara, beyond this material world. So if we like, we can go there. Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām, Kṛṣṅa says. You can go to the higher planetary system,

yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ bhūtejyā yānti bhūtāni mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām [Bg 9.25]

[Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.]

If you are preparing to go to some other, better planet, that is the chance in the human being. But if you live like cats and dog, then where is promotion, where is Kṛṣṅa, and where is Goloka? Everything is spoiled. Our only request is don't spoil your time, valuable time. Be prepared for being transferred to Kṛṣṅa. And the method is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Take to it and be benefited.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Haribol. Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]