Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 3.27

Prabhupāda:

...guṅaiḥ karmāṅi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate [Bg 3.27].

[The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.]

We are preaching Kṛṣṅa consciousness all over the world, and we are getting good response because we are preaching Bhagavad-gītā as it is. This book is... Here it is written, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. We do not make any false interpretation so that the reader also spoil and the listener is also spoiled.

So, so many people, sometimes they come forward to give me some credit that I have done very wonderful thing. So I reply that "I do not know how to do something wonderful. I cannot manufacture gold. I cannot show any jugglery. But if there is any credit, then the only credit is I don't adulterate. That's all. The pure milk, I don't show my expert service by adding water in it. That I do not do. So we present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Lord. In the..., all the Vedic literature, Kṛṣṅa is accepted as the Supreme Lord, person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam [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.]

In the Vedānta-sūtra it is inquired, athāto brahma jijñāsā. What is Brahman? This human life is meant for understanding Brahman. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is real education. So that Para-brahman... We are Brahman, but Kṛṣṅa is Para-brahman. 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.]

He is the supreme nitya, eternal. Kṛṣṅa is also eternal; we are also eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. So Kṛṣṅa is al...

[break] ...not a dead stone, and we are also living being. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. And where is the difference between Kṛṣṅa and me? The difference is eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. Kṛṣṅa maintains all these plural number. He is singular number. Nityo nityānām. He is singular number. Then this singular number or plural number, what is the difference? Difference is that Kṛṣṅa is the maintainer and we are the maintained. Kṛṣṅa is the predominator; we are predominated. This is difference.

So our preaching is, this Kṛṣṅa consciousness, that people are searching after God, speculating throughout the whole life, but here Kṛṣṅa is canvassing, "Here I am." "No." Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ [Bg 9.11].

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

God is canvassing, "Here I am," and these people are searching after God. Just see. Why? That is explained here: ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā, false egoism. Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate [Bg 3.27]. He is fully under the control of prakṛti, and still, he is thinking independent. That is vimūḍhātmā, bewildered. So,

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni guṅaiḥ karmāṅi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate [Bg 3.27]

[The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.]

The material world, especially in this age, everyone is thinking, "I am the greatest. Who can become more than me?" Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā. This material world is like that. Everyone is thinking like that. Asuric pravṛtti. Kaḥ āḍhyo 'sti mama samaḥ: "Who is greater than me?" There is a struggle for this vimūḍhātmā competition. But at the end he is under the control of nature—everyone knows it—because ultimately the death will come, and all ahaṅkāras will be taken away. "I don't care for God. I am independent. I am God"—all these ahaṅkāra, false egotism, on account of bewildered, being bewildered, these things will be finished when Kṛṣṅa will come as death. Everything will be finished. Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham [Bg 10.34].

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

Kṛṣṅa has described Himself that "I am death. I am death, and I take away all your possession, that's all, as death." It will be taken away. However intelligent we may be, however proud we may be for our possession, but the death is sure. "As sure as death." And when death comes—the death is also another form of Kṛṣṅa—then He will take everything.

Just like Hiraṅyakaśipu. He was very, very proud of his possession. He was controlling over the three worlds. He was chastising his Vaiṣṅava son, Prahlāda Mahārāja. In this way he was very, very proud. But when Kṛṣṅa came as Nṛsiṁhadeva, everything was finished within a second. So we should not mistake this, I mean to say, fact.

Kṛṣṅa therefore presents that "Your real problem is birth, death, old age and disease, your real problem. You are making solution of all the problems by scientific advancement, by education, by so on, so on, political maneuver, everything. It is all right, but how you are going to solve this 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.]

How you'll solve this problem?" Actually human life is meant for solving this problem, not this temporary problem. Temporary problem will go on. If you don't solve this problem, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi, then any form of life, there will be problems. Even if you are elevated to the heavenly planets, there are also problems. Indra is not very happy there, the king of heavenly planet. Although the higher planets, the duration of life, the standard of civilization, standard of comforts many, many thousand times greater than here, but the same problem—janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi—is there. You cannot avoid it.

But actually our problem is that I... Nobody wants to die, that's a fact, but death is enforced. No young man wants to become old man, but it is enforced. You cannot avoid it. So we should understand—this is sense—that we are not independent. That's a fact. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni [Bg 3.27].

[The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.]

And above prakṛti there is Kṛṣṅa.

mayādhyakṣeṅa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram hetunānena kaunteya jagad viparivartate [Bg 9.10]

[This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.]

So therefore Kṛṣṅa is accepted as the supreme controller. 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.]

Īśvara means controller, one who controls. So everyone has got some capacity to control—every one of us. You are also controlling your family, controlling your business, and I am controlling this institution, and so on, so on. Everyone has got some. In that sense everyone is īśvara. There is no fight on this point. But we are controller of a limited circle, but we are controlled also. That is our position. Not that I am simply controller, but I am controlled by higher authority. So therefore I am not supreme controller. I am controller, īśvara, but here is one, īśvara, Kṛṣṅa, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ. He is supreme controller. Why supreme controller? Because he is not controlled by anyone. That is Kṛṣṅa's position.

Kṛṣṅa, when He was present on this planet He practically demonstrated that He controlled everyone but nobody controlled Him. That is īśvara. That is called parameśvara. Īśvara everyone may be. God everyone may be. But Godhead is Kṛṣṅa. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13].

So we should understand it very nicely, and it is not very difficult. The same controller is coming before us as one of us, as human being. But we are not accepting Him. That is the difficulty. 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.]

That is very regretful. Kṛṣṅa says that "I am coming to exhibit who is the supreme controller, and I am playing as human being so that everyone can understand. I am giving instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā. Still, these fools, the rascals, they cannot understand." So God is there. We give the God's name, Kṛṣṅa; God's address also, Vṛndāvana; God's father's name, mother's name. So why... Where is the difficulty to find out God? But they will not accept. They will not accept. Mūḍha. They have been described as mūḍha.

So this morning these press reporters asking me, "What is the purpose of your movement?" So I said, "To educate the mūḍhas, that's all." This is the sum and substance of this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, that we are trying to educate the mūḍhas. And who is mūḍha? That is described by Kṛṣṅa: na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ [Bg 7.15].

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

Why? Māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. Why māyā has taken away his knowledge? Āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. We have got very simple test, just like a chemist in the small test tube can analyze what is the liquid. So we are not very intelligent; we are also one of so many mūḍhas. But we have got the test tube. Kṛṣṅa says... We like to remain mūḍha, and take education from Kṛṣṅa. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. We do not pose ourselves as very learned scholar and very erudite scholar—"We know everything." No. We are...

Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He also tried to remain a mūḍha. He, when He talked with Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī... He was Māyāvādī sannyāsī. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was dancing and chanting. So these Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were criticizing Him, that "He is a sannyāsī, and He's simply chanting and dancing with some sentimental persons. What is this?" So a meeting was arranged between Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī and Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In that meeting Caitanya Mahāprabhu attended as a humble sannyāsī. So Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī questioned Him, "Sir, You are a sannyāsī. Your duty is to study Vedānta always. So how is that, You are chanting and dancing? You are not reading Vedānta." Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Yes, sir, that's a fact. I am doing because My Guru Mahārāja saw Me a mūḍha, rascal." "How is that?" "He said, guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana [Cc Ādi 7.71]. My Guru Mahārāja saw Me a fool number one, and he chastised Me." "How he has chastised You?" Now, " 'You have no jurisdiction for studying Vedānta. It is not possible for You. You are a mūḍha. You better chant Hare Kṛṣṅa.' "

So what is this purpose? The purpose is, at the present moment, these mūḍhas, how they will understand Vedānta? Better chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. Then you will get all knowledge.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā [Cc Ādi 17.21]

[In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.]

In this age people are so fallen that what they will understand Vedānta, and who has got the time to read Vedānta? So better take the education of Vedānta directly as Kṛṣṅa says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ [Bg 15.15].

[I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.]

So Vedānta knowledge is śabdād anāvṛtti. By chanting the śabda-brahma one can be liberated. So this, this is recommended in the śāstras:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā [Cc Ādi 17.21]

So if one is actually interested how to become liberated from this material bondage, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi [Bg 13.9]

—these are the problems—then, according to śāstra, according to mahājana, one must take to this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra. This is our, I mean to say, purpose.

So even Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was so learned scholar, every one of you know, and He was very popular leader at Navadvīpa. And when He was sixteen years only, He defeated one very great learned scholar, Keśava Kāśmīrī. And he was known as Nimāi Paṅḍita. Actually He was very learned scholar, and His explanation of one verse, ātmārāmāś ca munayo nirgranthā apy urukrame... He described this verse in sixty-four ways. He was such a learned scholar. So He was not a fool, but He represented the fool of this age, that "If you want liberation from material bondage..."

Because this human form of life is meant for that purpose. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānu... [Bg 13.9]. This human life is meant for getting out of this encagement of repetition of birth, death, old age and disease. This is human form of life. It is meant for. Unfortunately there is no education that "Why? I do not want death, but why death is compulsory? I do not want old age; why old age is compulsory? I do not want to take birth; why birth is compulsory?" These are the actual questions or problems of life. And our whole Vedic literature is meant for solving this problem. That is whole purpose. Vedic literature, Vedic civilization, is not meant for working day and night like animals only for maintaining the foodstuff and sense gratification. It is not civilization. According to our Vedic civilization, this is not civilization. This is another form of animal life.

Because Ṛṣabhadeva says, nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye, tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam [SB 5.5.1].

[Lord Ṛṣabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.]

That is the aim. Śuddhyet sattvam. Sattva, our existence, is now polluted, infected. Therefore we have to accept birth, death, old age and disease. The cats and dogs, they cannot get this opportunity how to purify the existence, how to become free from these four principles of material unhappiness. They cannot understand; they cannot study Vedic literatures; they cannot take instruction of Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So if we do not take advantage of our Vedic knowledge, which is found in India, then we are spoiling our life.

Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung a very nice song, hari hari biphale janama goṅāinu: "My Lord Hari, Kṛṣṅa, I have simply wasted my time." Why? Manuṣya-janama pāiyā, rādhā-kṛṣṅa na bhajiyā, jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu [from Prārthanā]:

[O Lord Hari, I have wasted my life. Although I have taken this rare human birth, like a miser, I have not served Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa, and thus I have knowingly drunk poison.]

"I got this human form of life, but I did not take the advantage offered in this life to understand Kṛṣṅa; therefore I have taken poison knowingly. I have taken poison knowingly."

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is very important. It is not something manufactured, mental concoction. No. It is authorized, authorized movement. Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. 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.]

There is no more superior fact than Kṛṣṅa. That we have to understand. And how He is superior? We are taking nature as very wonderful, but behind the nature the manipulator, the controller, is Kṛṣṅa. That you have to understand. That is understanding of Kṛṣṅa.

If... Big, big scientists, they are finding out the wonderful natural laws, but it is their duty to find out, "Who has made this law, and how it is being conducted so nicely?" That answer is there: prakṛtiḥ...

mayādhyakṣeṅa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram hetunānena kaunteya jagad viparivartate [Bg 9.10]

[This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.]

The prakṛti is very powerful. There is no doubt. In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is stated that sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā [Bs 5.44].

[The external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.]

Durgā, Goddess Durgā, she is the prakṛti power, and she can create, she can maintain, she can annihilate. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti. But she is acting just like shadow, not independently. Icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. So Govinda is the ultimate background. Sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam [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.]

Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ... And this is the Brahma-saṁhitā, written by Lord Brahmā. So... And He is personally explaining Himself. What is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

So we should take opportunity of this human form of life, how to understand. Even one has got this human form of life. It is difficult. Kṛṣṅa says,

manuṣyāṅāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin vetti māṁ tattvataḥ [Bg 7.3]

[Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.]

So there are so many things to be learned about Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says that "I am controlling the material nature." Now, if you are actually very great scientist, you find out how Kṛṣṅa is controlling the material... That is... Idaṁ hi puṁsas tapasaḥ śrutasya vā [SB 1.5.22]. Actually education, tapasya, means that you should understand what is the Ultimate Truth and how He is acting. Then your education, your scientific knowledge, is perfect.

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said in the Naimiṣāraṅya,

ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṅāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam [SB 1.2.13]

[O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.]

So whatever you do, it doesn't matter, but try to satisfy the Supreme Lord by your work. That is the perfection of life. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam. You cannot... This is foolishness—"Oh, there is no God." How you can say so? You are completely under the control of the laws of nature, and nature is being controlled by God. How you can say that you are independent of God?

Therefore it is not very good business that people are pulling on, pushing on a type of civilization, godless civilization. They'll never be happy, because we are so controlled that after death we have to accept, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg 2.13]. You have to... You cannot stop death. As you cannot stop... Just like a boy. If he says, "No, no, I will not grow." Father says, "My dear boy, you are playing whole day. Go to school. Learn something. Otherwise in future you will be unhappy. You will not be able to maintain yourself." So if the boy says, "No, no, I have no future. I will not become young man. I shall play," that is not a fact. You have to become a young man, and you have to take responsibility. So similarly, Kṛṣṅa said,

dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati [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.]

So dehāntara-prāpti is there. That's a fact. How you can say, "I'm independent"? This is foolishness. You are not independent. How dehāntara-prāpti? 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.]

according to your karma. In this life we are preparing ourself for the next life. How it is? Yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ [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.]

bhūtejyā yānti bhū... Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām. You have to prepare yourself.

So leaving aside the black side, you take the bright side that you are trying to go to the higher planetary system, Svargaloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka. So you have to prepare yourself. They are going to..., trying to go to the moon planet, but according to our calculation they have never gone to the moon planet. They have never gone because, we find in the śāstras, the moon planet is situated 1,600,000 miles above the sun. And they calculate that 93,000,000's of miles the sun is situated. So 93,000,000 plus another 1,600,000, it becomes 95,000,000 miles. How one can go ninety-five millions of miles in four days? So according to our śāstra, we cannot believe this statement.

So apart from this discussion, you can go to the moon planet. That is also one of the heavenly planet. But you have to prepare for that, sir. That is karma-kāṅḍīya. You have to perform such and such yajñas. It is not that by force you can go any other planet. By force you cannot go even any other parts of the world here. If you want to go to America you have to take passport, visa and so many things. And you'll be allowed to go to the moon planet without any visa or passport? How it is possible? It is common sense. They are so fools that some rascal will take some machine and go there? That is not possible.

So we have to prepare. So Kṛṣṅa says, yānti deva-vratā devān [Bg 9.25]:

"If you want to go to the heavenly planets, you can go. You prepare yourself." Pitṝn yānti: "Pitṛloka you can go." Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām: "But if you prepare yourself for coming to Me, back to home, back..., you can do so." So if we have to prepare ourself to go to other, higher planetary system... And here within this material world, within this universe, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna [Bg 8.16].

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

Even if you go to the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka... The Brahmaloka means you cannot calculate one day's life. That is stated 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.]

Sahasra-yuga. One yuga means forty-three lakhs of years, and multiplied by one thousand, such year is only twelve hours of Brahmaloka life. Similarly, twenty-four hours, one month, one year... So it is very, very long duration of life there, where Brahmā lives. But still, you have to die. Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna [Bg 8.16].

So mad-dhāma gatvā punar janma na vidyate.

These are..., instructions are there, and we are trying to educate people in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. But if we think foolishly that "I am independent," you can do that, but we are not independent. That's a fact. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni [Bg 3.27].

[The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.]

We are fully under the control of prakṛti, and we have to change different types of bodies. There are 8,400,000 different types of bodies. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṅi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati [Padma Purāṅa]. They are all stated. And this human form of life is ver..., very, very rarely we have obtained. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja said that durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma: "This human form of life is very, very difficult to obtain." Somehow or other, we have now this human form of life. Kṛṣṅa said that utilize it very nicely so that the problems of life... And that knowledge is very easy. Kṛṣṅa says, janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ [Bg 4.9]. Simply try to understand Kṛṣṅa. That's all. That will solve. And Kṛṣṅa is explaining Himself, what He is. Where is the difficulty? Unless you make some interpretation foolishly, everything is very, very clear. So you can understand Kṛṣṅa. And if you understand Kṛṣṅa, then result is,

janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [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.]

Where is the difficulty? There is no difficulty.

Therefore our request is, take to this Kṛṣṅa consciousness. It is... If the foreigners can take to it very seriously, so why not Indians? It is Indians' knowledge. Bhagavad-gītā was spoken in India. Why you are neglecting it? Why you are not taking advantage? Why you are falsely proud that you are independent? These are our questions. You are not independent. You are under the full control of prakṛti. So you have to rectify. Tapo divyaṁ yena śuddhyet sattvaṁ yasmād brahma-saukhyam anantam [SB 5.5.1]. That is the..., that we want happiness, but here any happiness... There is no happiness. It is simply distress. But even if we take it happiness, that is temporary. But we want unlimited, unending happiness.

So that you can have if you perform tapasya. Tapasya. Tapasā brahmacaryeṅa śamena damena ca [SB 6.1.13].

[To concentrate the mind, one must observe a life of celibacy and not fall down. One must undergo the austerity of voluntarily giving up sense enjoyment. One must then control the mind and senses, give charity, be truthful, clean and nonviolent, follow the regulative principles and regularly chant the holy name of the Lord. Thus a sober and faithful person who knows the religious principles is temporarily purified of all sins performed with his body, words and mind. These sins are like the dried leaves of creepers beneath a bamboo tree, which may be burned by fire although their roots remain to grow again at the first opportunity.]

That is life. Human life is meant for tapasya, a little tapasya. Little tapasya. Not very difficult. We are asking these boys, European, others, that "You simply give up these four principles of sinful life," because if you remain sinful, you cannot understand God. That is not possible. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is saying, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ [Bg 7.15].

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

One who are engaged in sinful activities, they cannot. That is not possible.

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.]

We have to be free from sinful life.

And now it is practical. Now we are... According to śāstra, we have prescribed, "No illicit sex, no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication." Four no's. Then you become free from sinful activities. And then chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. Your life is successful. It is not very difficult, provided you are serious to take it. So that is our request. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam [Cc Ādi 17.21].

[In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.]

Even if you cannot give up the four principles of sinful life immediately, but you take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, then you gradually get strength. Just like these European, American boys. From their childhood they are trained up for this sinful life, but they have given up completely. Young men. Still, they have given up.

So the method is very simple. Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

If we chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, then the mirror of the core of heart will be cleansed. Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam. And then bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam. This repetition of birth, death, old age and disease, this is just like a fire in the forest. Nobody wants it, but it is forced up on us. Just like nobody wants to set fire in the forest, but it takes place naturally. Similarly, if you remain in this material world then you have to be, I mean to say, put into these tribulations of materialistic way of life. There is no escape. Saṁsāra-dāvānala. It is just like dāvānala. So ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam. As soon as you understand that "I do not belong to this material world"—brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati [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.]

then all problems of life is solved. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

So as soon as one is cleansed of the dirty things in the heart, then he can understand that "I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. My duty is to serve Kṛṣṅa. So let me be engaged in His service and become successful in this human form of life."

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [break]

It is Kṛṣṅaism.

[aside:] What is this? Stopped?

[break] Hinduism means a type of faith, or Muslimism is type of faith. But... As it is described in the English dictionary, religion means a kind of faith. But it is not that type of religion. It is a compulsory fact. Just like sugar is, compulsorily must become, sweet. If sugar is not sweet, that is not real sugar. Chili is not hot—that is not real chili. Similarly, we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. Our duty is to become Kṛṣṅa conscious. There is no question of faith. It is not the question of faith. You may have faith in Hinduism; tomorrow you may have faith in Christianism. Or you may have faith in Christianism, tomorrow in Muhammadan... This kind of faith is not Kṛṣṅa consciousness. It is a compulsory. Just like laws of the state: it is not that it is meant for the Hindus, or for the Muslims, for the Christian. It is meant for everyone. Similarly, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7]. We are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, so it is compulsory to revive our consciousness that we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. It is not a question of faith. Faith you may accept or do not accept, but here it is a question of "must." You must revive your Kṛṣṅa consciousness; otherwise you will suffer.

Mahāṁśa: Any other question? Any other question, please?

Indian (2): If I understand Bhagavad-gītā [indistinct], Kṛṣṅa has given different type of methods for different type of people of different advantages. He's talking about different types of [indistinct Sanskrit], all these things. And also [indistinct] Arjuna questioned Kṛṣṅa. He asked the difference between the two forms of worship. One is the worshiping the form; other is worshiping the guṅas. And actually we find it difficult to understand. What can you enlighten us on this point, that why Kṛṣṅa has given a different type of path which can be followed by different people and these two different type worships? One is the form worship; another is the formless worship, which He explains to Arjuna.

Prabhupāda: The personal form and impersonal form, there are two conception. But Kṛṣṅa explains this, that mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā [Bg 9.4].

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

Avyaktam, impersonal. That is another form of Kṛṣṅa. He says, mayā: "By Me." "I am all-pervading." Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam. That is sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1].

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

Because He is expanded everywhere, that is impersonal. And... But as māyā, He says, "by Me." Then He's person.

So the whole creation is Kṛṣṅa's expansion of energy. Just like the sunshine. Sunshine is also the same quality—heat and light—as the sun globe or the sun-god. But the sunshine is impersonal, and the sun globe is localized. And within the sun globe there is sun-god. So that is the main source of everything. 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.]

Brahmaṅaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. The brahma-jyoti is also staying in Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is the source of brahma-jyoti. So impersonal or personal, whatever you take, that is Brahman. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11].

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

But the beginning, origin, is Kṛṣṅa. That Kṛṣṅa explains, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate [Bg 10.8].

[I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.]

Either you take impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā, whatever you take, that is emanation from Kṛṣṅa. Sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam [Bs 5.1].

So, of course, if you worship impersonal form, brahma-jyoti, that is also Kṛṣṅa. But Kṛṣṅa has said, 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.]

If you want to approach the Absolute Truth through the impersonal form, then it will be little difficult. Perhaps you may not reach the ultimate goal. You may fall down. There are so many instances. We have seen in India so many big, big sannyāsīs, they give up this world—brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā—but after some days they come down to the jagat and engage themselves in political... [break] Why? They could not stay in the Brahman stage. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. By concentrating on the impersonal form they think that they have become liberated, but actually that is not. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ.

So impersonal conception is not purified intelligence. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. You may think that "I have become liberated," but it is not. Why? Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ [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.]

After so much trouble and austerity, penances, you may acquire the position in the impersonal Brahman, but there is chance of falling down from there. Patanty adhaḥ. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they could not find out how to worship Your lotus feet." So unless you come to the personal form of the Absolute Truth, there is difficulty and there is chance of falling down. [break]

He never said, "My avatāra." Mām ekaṁ śaraṅam. Otherwise he'll be misguided.

Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam [Bg 18.66]. This is the most confidential information. Guhyatamam. Sarva-guhyatamam. So if you want to take the most confidential instruction of Kṛṣṅa, then mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja. That is wanted.

Indian (3): Can I put a question, sir? I take Christianity as... [break]

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Harikeśa: He says he takes Christianity as Kṛṣṅa consciousness. What do you say?

Prabhupāda: Everything is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. It is question of degrees. Mama vart..., pārtha... What is that verse? Vartante mānuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ. Everyone is searching after Kṛṣṅa, but they are forward to some step. Suppose Kṛṣṅa is there on the top, and it is one hundred steps. So somebody has covered five steps, somebody has covered ten steps, somebody has covered hundred steps, like that. So everyone is searching after Kṛṣṅa, but there is degrees of realization of Kṛṣṅa. So either Christian, Muhammadan, or any, they are searching after Kṛṣṅa. That's all right. But it is a question of degrees, how far they have gone forward. The last stage is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. That is the final stage.

Indian (4): Swāmījī, is the Kṛṣṅa consciousness is a development of this, only of our Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Prabhupāda: No, it is... Kṛṣṅa consciousness is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. It is not..., nobody's property. It is Kṛṣṅa's instruction.

Indian (5): Swāmījī, what is the color of Kṛṣṅa? It is blue or black? Not according to śāstra, but your experience.

Prabhupāda: So if you kindly advance in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then you will understand. [applause and laughter]

Indian (6): What is the main purpose of meditation? Main purpose of meditation?

Prabhupāda: What is that? Meditation? Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [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.]

This is meditation, that by meditation that try to find out Kṛṣṅa within your heart. Because Kṛṣṅa is situated everyone's heart: īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna 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.]

So that is dhyāna—find out. In the śāstra we understand, "Kṛṣṅa is within my heart." And if you meditate, try to find out Kṛṣṅa, then, if you are fortunate, you'll be able to see Him. This is meditation.

Indian (7): My question is whether the name Kṛṣṅa existed prior to Dvāpara-yuga.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Mahāṁśa: Whether the name Kṛṣṅa existed prior to Dvāpara-yuga.

Prabhupāda: Existed prior to...?

Mahāṁśa: Dvāpara-yuga.

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is always existing. Those who are expert, they are seeing Him. Kṛṣṅa is... Just like Brahmā, Brahma-saṁhitā. He mentions Kṛṣṅa: 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.]

So many, many Dvāpara-yugas before, many millions of Dvāpara-yugas before, he mentioned Kṛṣṅa. Do you understand it? Brahmā said. Brahmā is the first creature in the creation. Many millions of years ago he uttered this word, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ [Bs 5.1].

Indian (8): Is Lord Kṛṣṅa in the Bhagavad-gītā different from the one in Bhāgavatam?

Pūrṅimā-candra: Is Lord Kṛṣṅa in Bhagavad-gītā...

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṅa is one.

Indian (9): May I ask a question, sir. The movement is very popular in the USA and few other countries. To my experience it is not quite popular... This is the country where Kṛṣṅa originated, in India... Not so much in India.

Prabhupāda: It is very popular here also. Otherwise why you have come here? [laughter]

Indian (9): But it is not so popular.

Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṅa is popular in India very much. Every house, they observe Kṛṣṅa Janmāṣṭamī. [applause] Unfortunately you are forgetting. You are forgetting this. That is the misfortune. [laughter]

Indian (10): Swāmījī, to be of service to Godhead is it necessary to renounce the regular life?

Prabhupāda: No. Regular life... Just like Arjuna. Arjuna understood Bhagavad-gītā. So before understanding Bhagavad-gītā, he was a soldier. So after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, he remained a soldier. He did not give up the battlefield—"Now, Kṛṣṅa, I have understood. I give up everything. I am now going to be sannyāsī." No. That is not required. You have to understand what Kṛṣṅa wants you to do. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That you can do in any position. It doesn't require. Karma-phala-tyāga. That is advised by Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya [Bg 18.66]. We have manufactured different types of religious system. And they can be grouped. Some of them are within the group of tyāga, and some of them are within the group of bhoga. Bhoga and tyāga. The karmīs, they are after bhoga, and jñānīs, they are after tyāga. Kṛṣṅa says that "You have to give up both of them, this bhoga and tyāga, both of them. You have simply to surrender unto Me." There is no question of bhoga and tyāga.

Indian (11): [indistinct] But how do we just to meditate and get in touch with that Brahman? He is the thing there that we shall find. Everyone has to know all these [indistinct].

Prabhupāda: It does not say that you go everywhere...

Indian (11): But simply they say that you just have to meditate, transcendental meditation...

Prabhupāda: No, what they say, I do not know. I know what Kṛṣṅa says. That's all. [laughter]

Indian (11): I wanted to know...

Prabhupāda: We are not concerned with others. We are pushing on... Kṛṣṅa consciousness means our mission is to present before you what Kṛṣṅa says. That's all. We are not concerned what other says. We are not con...

Indian (12): Can you see Lord Kṛṣṅa by meditation?

Prabhupāda: Yes, there is in the Sixth Chapter. Mat-para. And He has explained,

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.]

That is first-class yogī, who is always thinking, "Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare." He is first-class yogī.

All right. We have taken. Now no more. Chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. You join with us. [end]

Bhagavad-gītā 3.27

Referenced verses