Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1

Prabhupāda:

śrī-prahrāda uvāca kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam [SB 7.6.1]

This is Prahlāda Mahārāja. He is one of the authorities of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. There are twelve authorities mentioned in the śāstras:

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam [SB 6.3.20]

[Lord Brahmā, Bhagavān Nārada, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti], Svāyambhuva Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Grandfather Bhīṣma, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhāgavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.]

This is the statement of Yamarāja about the authorities of dharma. Dharma means bhāgavata-dharma. I think I have explained last night, dharma means bhāgavata-dharma. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītaṁ [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.]

Just like our Mr. Chief Justice gives judgment on the law. So the law cannot be manufactured by any common man or any businessman. No. Law can be manufactured only by the state, by the government. Nobody can manufacture. That will not give us... If in the high-court, if somebody pleads, "Sir, I have got my own law," Mr. Justice will not accept. [laughs] So similarly, dharma you cannot manufacture. Either you are a very big man... Even Chief Justice, he cannot make a law. The law is given by state. Similarly, dharma means bhāgavata-dharma, and other so-called dharmas, they are not dharmas. They will not be accepted. Exactly in the same way, law manufactured at your home is not accepted. Therefore dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītaṁ [SB 6.3.19].

And what is bhagavat-praṅītaṁ dharma? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, we know, everyone. He came, Kṛṣṅa came. His mission was dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya, for establishing the religious principles, or reestablishing. Dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg 4.7]. So sometimes there is glāni, discrepancies, in the matter of discharging the principles of dharma. At that time, Kṛṣṅa comes. Paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg 4.8].

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

Yuge yuge sambhavāmi. So this dharma... Kṛṣṅa did not come to reorganize the so-called dharmas—Hindu dharma, Muslim dharma, Christian dharma, Buddha's dharma. No. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, 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.]

The dharma which is a type of cheating process, that kind of dharma is projjhita. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṅa ujjhita, means it is thrown away or kicked out. So real dharma is bhāgavata-dharma, real dharma. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja said, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]. Actually dharma means God and our relationship with God and acting according to that relationship so that we may attain the ultimate goal of life. That is dharma—sambandha, abhidheya, prayojana, these three things.

The whole Vedas are divided into three states. Sambandha: what is our connection God. That is called sambandha. And then abhidheya. According to that relationship we have to act. That is called abhidheya. And why do we act? Because we have got the goal of life, to achieve the goal of life. So what is the goal of life? The goal of life is that to go back to home, back to Godhead. That is goal of life. We are part and parcel of God. God is sanātana, and He has His own abode, sanātana. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ [Bg 8.20]. There is a place ever-existing. This material world, it will not exist forever. It is bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19]. It is manifested at a certain date. Just like your body and my body, it is manifested on a certain date; it will stay for some time; it will grow; it will give some by-product; then we become old, dwindling, and then finished. This is called ṣaḍ-vikāra, of anything which is material. But there is another nature where there is no ṣaḍ-vikāra. That is eternal. So that is called sanātana-dharma. And the jīvas, we living entities, we are also described as eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. And the Lord is also addressed as sanātana. So our real situation is that we are sanātana, Kṛṣṅa is sanātana, and Kṛṣṅa has His abode, sanātana. When we go back to that sanātana-dhāma and live with the supreme sanātana, Kṛṣṅa... And we are also sanātana. The process by which we can achieve this highest goal of life, that is called sanātana-dharma. We are executing here sanātana-dharma.

So sanātana-dharma and this bhāgavata-dharma, the same thing. Bhāgavata, Bhagavān. From the word Bhagavān, bhāgavata has come. So this bhāgavata-dharma has been described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He says, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṅa dāsa [Cc Madhya 20.108].

[It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṅa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṅa has three varieties of energy.]

We are eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa. This is. But at the present moment, with our material connection, instead of becoming the servant of God, or Kṛṣṅa, we have become servants of so many other things, māyā, and therefore we are suffering. We are not satisfied. There cannot be. It cannot fit. Just like you take one screw from the machine. If the screw somehow or other falls down, it has no value. But the same screw, when you fit to the machine or the machine is not working for want of one screw, it is in disturbed condition, so you take that same screw and fit it, and the machine working and the screw becomes very valuable. So we are part and parcel of God, Kṛṣṅa. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7], He says, Kṛṣṅa. So we are now separated. We are fallen down. Another example is just like big fire and the small sparks. The small spark is also fire so long it is with the fire. And if somehow or other the sparks fall down out of the fire, it extinguishes; there is no more fire quality. But if you take it again and put it into the fire, again it becomes spark.

So our position is like that. Somehow or other, we have come to this material world. Although we are a small particle, fragmental parts of the Supreme Lord, but because we are in this material world we have forgotten our relationship with God, and our... Manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṅi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. We are struggling against the laws of material world, so many other things. Here also we are serving, because we are eternally servant. But because we have given up the service of the Supreme Lord, we have been engaged as servant of so many things. But nobody is satisfied, as Honorable Justice said, that nobody is satisfied. That's a fact. It cannot be satisfied. It cannot be satisfied because we are constitutionally servant of God, but we have been placed in this material world to serve so many other things which is not fitting. Therefore we are creating plans of service. That is called mental concoction. Manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṅi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg 15.7]. A struggle. It is a struggle.

So we are making different plans, but it will not be successful. That much I explained last night, that we are thinking independent and we are planning so many things independently to become happy. It is not possible. That is not possible. That is māyā's illusory play. Daivī hy eṣā guṅa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā. You cannot [indistinct]. Then what is the ultimate solution? Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg 7.14].

[This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.]

If we surrender to Kṛṣṅa, then we revive our original position. That is... Kṛṣṅa consciousness means instead of keeping so many things in consciousness... They are all polluted consciousness. The real con... We have got consciousness, that is a fact, but our consciousness is polluted. So we have to purify the consciousness.

To purify consciousness means bhakti. Bhakti, the definition given in Nārada Pañcarātra... Rūpa Gosvāmī... Rūpa Gosvāmī says,

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṅānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā [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.]

This is first-class bhakti, that there is no other motive. Anyābhilā... Because here in the material world, under the control of the material nature, prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni guṅaiḥ karmāṅi sarvaśaḥ, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartā... [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 under the full control of the prakṛti, material nature. But because we are foolish, we have forgotten our position, so ahaṅkāra, false ahaṅkāra. This is false ahaṅkāra: "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṅa," "I am kṣatriya." This is false ahaṅkāra. Therefore Nārada Pañcarātra says sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ [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.]

So one has to become free, uncontaminated from all these designations, "I am Indian," "I am American," I am this," "I am that," "I am..." Sarvopādhi vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam. When he is purified, nirmalam, without any designation, that "I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is ahaṁ brahmāsmi.

Kṛṣṅa is Para-brahman. He is described in the Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā. Arjuna... Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam [Bg 10.12].

[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]

Arjuna recognized, and he said, "You are recognized by all the authorities." Prahlāda Mahārāja is one of the authorities. I have described the authorities. Brahmā is authority, Lord Śiva is authority, and Kapila is authority, Kumāra, four Kumāras, they are authorities, and Manu is authority. Similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja is authority. Janaka Mahārāja is authorities. The twelve authorities. So Arjuna confirmed that "You are speaking, Yourself, that You are the Supreme Lord," mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat [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.]

"and from discussion of Bhagavad-gītā, I also accept You Para-brahman. And not only that, all the authorities, they also accept You." Recently, in our time, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, all the ācāryas, they also accept Kṛṣṅa. Even Śaṅkarācārya, he accepts Kṛṣṅa. Sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṅaḥ. So Kṛṣṅa is accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all the ācāryas.

So we have to learn from the ācāryas, not any common man or any self-made ācārya. No. That will not do. Just like we... Sometimes in the court we give some judgment from the other court, and that is taken very seriously because it is authority. We cannot manufacture judgment. Similarly, ācāryopāsanaṁ, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is recommended. We have to go to the ācāryas. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda: "One who has accepted ācārya in the disciplic succession, he knows the things." So all the ācāryas, they accept Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nārada, he accepts; Vyāsadeva, he accepts; and Arjuna also accepts, who personally listened to Kṛṣṅa, Bhagavad-gītā. And Lord Brahmā. Yesterday somebody questioned that "Whether there was the name of Kṛṣṅa before Dvāpara-yuga?" No, there was. In the śāstras there are Kṛṣṅa. In the Vedas, in Atharva Veda and others, Kṛṣṅa name is there. And in the Brahma-saṁhitā—Lord Brahmā, he wrote Brahma-saṁhitā—it is clearly explained there, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādiḥ. 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.]

And Kṛṣṅa also says, 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.]

Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo [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.]

Sarvasya means including all the devatās, all the living entities, everything. And the Vedānta says, janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. So Kṛṣṅa is the Absolute Supreme Person, īśvaraḥ paramam, from Lord Brahma. He is the distributor of Vedic knowledge. And Kṛṣṅa says also, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [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.]

This is ultimate goal.

So the bhāgavata-dharmam, bhagavān, kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam. In the list of the incarnation given in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is name of Kṛṣṅa also. But at the conclusion, Vyāsadeva says, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ 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.]

He concludes that "All the incarnation mentioned here, they are aṁśa-kalāḥ, part, partly manifestation or part of partly manifestation." Kalāḥ means part or partly. "But the name which is mentioned here, Kṛṣṅa, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam. [break] Ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam. So Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is accepted by all the ācāryas. And in the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna says, asamordhva. Asama: "There is no equal to you, asama; and urdhva, nobody is greater than You." That is God. Supreme means who has no equal, neither anyone is greater than. Everyone is under. That is called asama urdhva. This is there.

So there cannot be any competitor of God. God is one. Ekaṁ brahma dvitīyaṁ nāsti. But He expands in different way. That is explained in the Varāha Purāṅa, svāṁśa vibhinnāṁśa. He expands as Viṣṅu-tattva. That is svāṁśa. And He expands as jīva-tattva. That is vibhinnāṁśa. So we are also expansions of God, vibhinnāṁśa, a small fragmental portion. The qualities are there, very, very small quantity. But the whole potency is there in Kṛṣṅa. 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.]

So there is one supreme living being, a supreme eternal, and that is Kṛṣṅa. This is... And to cultivate this knowledge is called bhāgavata-dharma. So Prahlāda Mahārāja, he learned this bhāgavata-dharma when he was a baby within the womb of his mother; he learned this bhāgavata-dharma. So the devotees—śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ—they are engaged with these nine different phases of bhakti.

śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam [SB 7.5.23]

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

So they are different devotees who have accepted one of them. Just like śrī-viṣṅu-śravaṅe parīkṣit. Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he simply heard, listened from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the bhāgavata-dharma. He simply heard. He did not do anything else. Simply by hearing. And abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane. Vaiyāsaki, the son of Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he simply explained bhāgavata. So both of them got the same goal of life, liberation. And liberation means muktir hitvā anyathā rūpaṁ svarūpeṅa avasthitiḥ. This is called mukti. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said.

Mukti means... Just like a person has fallen sick. He cannot work. He cannot go to his office or... So many disadvantages. But when he is cured of the sickness or fever, he again comes to his normal life. Similarly, when we come to our normal life, that is called mukti. Mukti does not mean "Now I have got two hands; I'll get four hands or two heads or five heads." Not like that. Simply to come to our normal condition. That is the definition of bhakti also. Real mukti means to be situated in bhakti. That is mukti. Mukti... Simply to understand that "I am Brahman," that is not mukti. That is mukti... That is like convalescent stage. Just like a man has no fever, but he is not cured. There may be relapse again. There is possibility of relapse, typhoid fever. So the brahmānubhūti, Brahman realization, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, it is mukti but it is not very secure position. One may fall down again. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukti-māninaḥ. Vimukti-māninaḥ. They think they are Brahma-līna. They think that they have become mukta. But actually they are not muktas. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. He is thinking like that. Why? Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ [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.]

His intelligence is not yet purified. As soon as it is purified, then it is bhakti. Therefore Bhagavān says that bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

He is a jñānavān that... Jñānavān means "I am not this body; I am not matter; I am spirit soul." That is jñāna. Jñāna means there must be vairāgya, detestfulness, that "I have nothing to do with this material world." Jñāna-vairāgya. If there is real jñāna, then there will be vairāgya. Because we are suffering on account of an attachment to this material world, so jñāna means that "I have nothing to do with this material world because I am not this material body." Everyone is engaged in this bodily engagement, so-called, so many "isms," all the activities of the world, because on account of this bodily conception of life. So when one becomes freed from the bodily conception of life he comes to the understanding of Brahman identification, and that is the beginning of mukti. That is not mukti.

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that 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.]

As soon as one realizes that "I am not this body, so why I should be interested in so-called social life or political life or this life, that life, because they are all due to this bodily conception of life?" So when one understands that "I am not this body, so what business I have got, this bodily conception of activities?" Prasannātmā, "I have no responsibility. I have no more responsibility with this bodily platform," prasannātmā, he gets relieved of so many engagements on account of this body: "I am Indian. I am a Hindu. I am brāhmaṅa. I am chief of this family. I have to take care of the so many persons," and so on, so many responsibilities. And so he feels relieved: "No, I have no responsibility." Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati [Bg 18.54]. If he does not identify himself with this matter, then if the matter is lost or gained, what he has got to do with it? Na śocati na kāṅkṣati. Because you have got material attachment, therefore something material lost we lament, and something material we do not possess, we hanker. The two kinds of diseases. So brahma-bhūtaḥ means these things are the symptom: he is joyful, prasannātmā, na śocati na kāṅkṣati, and samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Then he can see, vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṅi gavi hastini, śuni caiva śva-pāke..., paṅḍita... [Bg 5.18].

[The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṅa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]]

He has become paṅḍita. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. When these conditions are fulfilled, mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg 18.54]—then he enters into devotional service.

So devotional service is not a sentiment. It is most scientific, just to become freed from the contamination of this material world. That means one who is devotee, he is already mukta; he is liberated. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that,

māṁ cāvyabhicāriṅi bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg 14.26]

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

So if you want to be brahma-līna, so that is... Actually brahma-līna means to be engaged twenty-four hours in devotional service. That is brahma-līna. There is not a second vacant without Kṛṣṅa's service. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṅa me: "I am seeing everything vacant without Govinda." That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. He is thinking simply on Kṛṣṅa. And without Kṛṣṅa, everything is zero. So simply to make the material world zero, śūnyavādi... Just like the Buddhist philosophers, they think śūnyavādi. And the Māyāvādī, nirviśeṣa. They are practically the same. The Buddhists say, "There is no God." And the Māyāvādīs say, "There is God, but He has no head, tail, nothing." It is in the indirect way to say there is no God. What is difference? If somebody says, "There is no God," and if somebody says, "There is God, but He has no head, He has no tail, He cannot eat, He cannot sleep," negatively—the same definition in a negative way. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that veda na māniyā bauddha haila nāstika. Our standard of philosophy, especially Vaiṣṅava philosophy... Anyone who does not accept the Vedic principle... Because vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [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.]

If you do not accept the Vedic authority, then how you can understand God, Kṛṣṅa? That is not possible. So anyone who says, "There is no God. I don't care for the Vedas," he is calculated as nāstika. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said...

The Buddhists, they decry the authority of Vedas. He had to do that. There was no way. Jayadeva Gosvāmī offered his prayer to Lord Buddha: nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātam. Śruti. In the Vedas there is recommendation of yajña, and in some of the yajñas there is recommendation of killing paśu. So Lord Buddha, he preached ahiṁsā paramo dharma, no killing of animals. So these paṅḍitas, they will give evidence that in the Vedas there is description of killing animals. How you can stop it? So therefore he said, "I don't care for your Vedas." Nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātam. Why? Why he did so? Sadaya-hṛdaya-darśita-paśu-ghātam. He was so much compassionate to see unnecessary killing of animals. Sadaya-hṛdaya. Therefore ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ. That was his... Although he is the incarnation of God... Keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra, jaya jagadīśa hare. So the Vaiṣṅava can understand what is Lord Buddha and why he decried the authority of... Because there was no other way. So,

nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātaṁ sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare [Daśāvatāra Stotra 7]

So a Vaiṣṅava can understand what kind of part he is playing. So in this way there are different activities going on, and they have been taken as different, I mean to say, types of dharma. But real dharma is bhāgavata-dharma. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. This is dharma. That is called bhāgavata-dharma, intimate relationship with the Lord, Bhagavān. Brahmeti bhagavān iti... Brahmeti paramātmā iti bhagavān iti. Tattva-vit. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam [SB 1.2.11].

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

There is no difference between Brahman and Paramātmā and Bhagavān. But still, there is difference. This is called acintya-bheda-bhedābheda. There are two kinds of philosophers: bheda and abheda, oneness and different. So these bheda, abheda, combine together. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy, acintya bheda abheda, simultaneously one and different. So other gods, they are also gods. We are also god. You are also god because god means controller. Your Honor, Chief Justice, he is also controlling the whole high-court. I am controlling this institution; you are controlling your family or office or factory. So in that sense everyone is god, controller. But he is not Supreme God. That is not. Supreme God is Kṛṣṅa. We may be īśvara, god, but Supreme God is 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.]

That is the verdict of Lord Brahmā.

Even Brahmā, he is also worshiping the Supreme God. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye muhyanti yatra sūrayaḥ. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ [SB 1.1.1]. So God is svarāṭ. He is not dependent on any other controller. That is God. We are god, that's all right, but we are controlled even by the material nature, what to speak of other things. So we are not independent. Independent God is Kṛṣṅa. Svarāṭ. He is described as svarāṭ. Svarāṭ means independent. He is not controlled by anyone. That is real God. And we are may be god, but imitation god or small god. But the great... "God is great." That "great" God is Kṛṣṅa.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja says that kaumāra. The boys... He was taking the opportunity of teaching his class friend. He was five-years-old boy, and his father was a great demon, Hiraṅyakaśipu: "Don't talk of God." So in this way he was in a very precarious condition. Still, because he was a Vaiṣṅava he was taking the opportunity of preaching Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Preaching Kṛṣṅa consciousness. So he was asking... The boys were very eager to play, and he said, "No, no, no, my dear friends, don't play. Let us discuss something about bhāgavata-dharma." Therefore he says that kaumāra ācaret prājñaḥ: "Don't think that in the old age we shall discuss about Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Immediately, in this age," kaumāra, "if you are really intelligent." Why? Is there any guarantee that you become old man? You can die at any moment. So take this opportunity. Until the next death comes you take this opportunity in the matter of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is Prahlāda Mahārāja's instruction. "There is no guarantee. Why you are thinking that way, that now you are five years old; you will live for five hundred years? No. There is no guarantee. At any moment you can die."

Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. This body, human form of body, is obtained after many, many millions of years through evolutionary process. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṅi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati [Padma Purāṅa], 8,400,000 species of life we had to come through. Then we have got this body, human form of life, and civilized. Civilized, according to our Vedic conception, a civilized means ārya, ārya. When Arjuna was declining to fight, Kṛṣṅa condemned him, anārya-juṣṭam: "You are just like..., speaking like an anārya, not an ārya. It is your duty. You must do it." Anārya-juṣṭam akīrtiṁ karam arjuna. "You'll be defied by others. Don't do it." So an ārya... Aryan means who accepts this varṅāśrama-dharma, four varṅas, four āśrama. Varnāśramācāravatā puruṣeṅa paraḥ pumān viṣṅur ārādhyate [Cc Madhya 8.58].

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṅu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varṅa and āśrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varṅas and āśramas.’]

The real aim is to go back to home, back to Godhead, Viṣṅu. So this is the process. If we execute this varṅāśrama-dharma rightly, then we gradually make progress towards spiritual realization. It is so arranged in that way, brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, not by birth but by qualification. Cātur-varṅyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam [Bg 4.13].

[According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.]

If these qualifications are found anywhere else, you should accept that. Even... That is explained by Nārada, that yasya hi yal-lakṣanaṁ proktaṁ varṅabhivyañjakam [SB 7.11.35].

[If one shows the symptoms of being a brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.]

Just like in the court, there is no such race or caste as lawyers. Anyone who knows law, he is accepted a lawyer. Similarly, the quality of brāhmaṅa is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: śamo dama titikṣa satyaṁ śaucam ārjavam, jñānaṁ-vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg 18.42].

[Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṅas work.]

So you can train anyone. Just like you can train anyone as lawyer, you can train anyone as an engineer or medical practitioner, similarly, you can train anyone as brāhmaṅa. That is wanted. That is wanted. So our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is like that. We are trying to train some men as real brāhmaṅa because brāhmaṅa is the head, is the brain of the society. If the society has no brain, it is in chaotic condition. Brahma-jānāti iti brāhmaṅaḥ. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ. So some section of the people must know what is Brahman, what is God, and they should preach all over the world. That is the greatest necessity at the present moment. So our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is trying to do that, although we are captivating or attracting some younger section, especially in Western countries. But Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends that kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān [SB 7.6.1]. Training should start immediately from the childhood.

So we are opening one gurukula in Vṛndāvana to train brahmacārī. First of all brahmacārī. The society, the students, should be brahmacārī. Brahmacārī gurukule vasan dānto guror hitam [SB 7.12.1]. Everything is there. Now we have to introduce these things. Otherwise the human society is already fallen, and it will fall down more and more, and it will be hellish condition, and so only hope is this Kṛṣṅa consciousness. So I request you all to take this movement very seriously and try to help us.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [applause] [break] Any question?

Acyutānanda: Kindly remain seated. Kindly remain seated. We will have some moments for questions and answers, which will be followed by our cinema. [break]

Prabhupāda: So far our philosophy is concerned, we want to be freed from sinful activities, because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said,

yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām te dvanda-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 are trying our best to become a perfect devotee of Kṛṣṅa. So to become a perfect devotee means he must be sinless. If one is sinful he cannot become perfect devotee. So according to śāstra, this animal-killing is sinful. Striya-sūnā-pāna-dyūtā yatra pāpaś catur-vidhā [SB 1.17.38].

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Parīkṣit, thus being petitioned by the personality of Kali, gave him permission to reside in places where gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter were performed.]

These four kinds of sinful activities, namely illicit sex, striya... That is also... In our Vedic culture this is common morality. Cāṅakya Paṅḍita even says that mātṛvat para-dāreṣu. Anyone, any other woman, the wife of other gentleman, she should be considered as mother. This is civilization. So what to speak of illicit sex? But people are degrading. That is another thing. But this is our standard of civilization. Even a great politician, he says, "Who is paṅḍita? Who is learned?"

mātṛvat para-dāresu para-dravyeṣu loṣṭravat ātmavat sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyati sa paṅḍitaḥ [Cāṅakya Paṅḍita]

[One who sees others' wives as his mother, who sees all others' possessions as insignificant as a lump of clay, and who sees all living beings as himself—such a person is considered a learned man.]

He doesn't say one has to take degrees. By behavior one should be understood. So these four principles, namely illicit sex, animal killing and intoxication...

Indian man: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: Yes. So these are sinful activities, and our position is how to become sinless. Therefore we do not recommend animal killing. That is not possible.

Acyutānanda: Another question. [break] [repeating question] This is a world of śakti or energy. There is a worldwide rise in prices of energy resources, like oil, coal, gas and electricity. This means that there is a depletion of these energy resources. Naturally, there will be worldwide destruction of mankind and other living beings and materials in the near future. What are your views?

Prabhupāda: So yes, these material things, they are energies. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, bhinnā me prakṛtir aṣṭadhā [Bg 7.4].

[Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies.]

The petrol is also another form of Kṛṣṅa's energy. Parasya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate [Cc Madhya 13.65, purport]. Any energy. There are many millions of energies. Na tasya kāryaṁ kāraṅaṁ ca vidyate. Kṛṣṅa has nothing to do, because everything is being done by His energy. Although He is the ultimate source of everything, but He is doing everything by His energy. Parasya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. And it appears that it is being automatically done. No. It is not automatically done. It is done by Kṛṣṅa's energy. So this material energy is also Kṛṣṅa's energy. It is not a different energy. Kṛṣṅa says, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ. Now, this petrol is liquid thing, so āpa. It is a kind of liquid thing, āpa, so it is Kṛṣṅa's energies. So our Vaiṣṅava philosophy is that Kṛṣṅa's energies should be utilized for Kṛṣṅa. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. So everything can be utilized for service of Kṛṣṅa. So when you use this petrol for Kṛṣṅa's..., spreading Kṛṣṅa consciousness, if we can use one thousand or one hundred thousand motorcars using petrol for spreading Kṛṣṅa consciousness, that is the proper utilization of petrol. [applause]

Indian lady: [indistinct]

Acyutānanda: [repeating lady's question] Kṛṣṅa says to perform your sva-dharma, so how does one know what is his sva-dharma? [to lady:] Am I correct?

Prabhupāda: That is sva-dharma. When Kṛṣṅa says, "You surrender unto Me," that is your sva-dharma. Because you are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, your business is to serve Kṛṣṅa. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body, so I say, "Finger, please come here," he immediately comes. This is the normal condition of the finger. Similarly, if you are really healthy, in normal condition, then you must be ready to serve Kṛṣṅa. That is your sva-dharma. If the finger cannot come immediately on my order on my head, that means it is not in normal condition; it is in diseased condition. [applause] Similarly, when you cannot serve Kṛṣṅa, that is your diseased condition. [laughter] [applause]

Indian man: [indistinct] many incarnations, including Kṛṣṅa. So Kṛṣṅa gave Bhagavad-gītā. That doesn't means that the author has not given all the gods, whether including Kṛṣṅa... [break]

Acyutānanda: ...nations, so...

Prabhupāda: So that I have already explained, that incarnation—whose incarnation? The question will be: whose incarnation?

Indian man: God. God.

Prabhupāda: God's. So that God is Kṛṣṅa. [applause] You do not know that. Now learn it.

Indian man: Is not Rāma a God?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Incarnation means somebody's incarnation. So who is that somebody? That is Kṛṣṅa. That's all. If you do not know it, you understand now.

Acyutānanda: One more question, last question. [relating question] Is it necessary that a person should pass through the three āśramas—brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha—before coming to sannyāsa?

Prabhupāda: That is the normal rules and regulation, that especially brāhmaṅa, he must go through the four āśramas—first of all become brahmacārī, then gṛhastha, then vānaprastha, then take sannyāsa. This is for the brāhmaṅas. And for the kṣatriyas—brahmacārī, gṛhastha and vānaprastha. And for the vaiśyas—brahmacārī, gṛhastha. And for the śūdras, only gṛhastha. This is the process. This is normal process. But either one is brāhmaṅa or kṣatriya or vaiśya and śūdra, if he takes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness he becomes above these rules and regulations. [applause] Yes.

māṁ cāvyabhicāriṅi bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg 14.26]

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is that it is giving immediate lift to everyone to come to the transcendental platform, brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. But general state is varṅāśrama-dharma. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was discussing with Rāmānanda Rāya, He first of all said, "What is the aim of life?" Caitanya Mahāprabhu asking. So Rāmaṅanda Raya replied that "First of all to begin this varṅāśrama dharma." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, eho bāhya, āge kaha āra [Cc Madhya 8.59]: "Yes, this is all right. But this is external. If you know something better, please tell Me." So in this way, step by step, Caitanya Mahāprabhu... This varṅa, āśrama, dharma, karma-tyāga, karma-sannyāsa and karma-miśra-bhakti, jñāna-miśra-bhakti—everything was described by Rāmānanda Rāya, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu not rejected; He said, "It is all right, but if you know something better..." Then at last, when Rāmānanda said... [aside:] Stop it. When Rāmaṅanda said that, quoting one verse from Śrīmad-Bhagavatam, sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ [SB 10.14.3],

[Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.]

that it doesn't matter what you are; you remain in your post. Sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatām. Through the oral reception if you hear about Kṛṣṅa, then you become perfect. That is the statement.

So this is required at the present moment, that you remain whatever you are, either brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, Englishman, Indian. It doesn't matter. You try to understand Kṛṣṅa, that's all. If you do that, then everything will be perfect. And that can be very easily done by chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given this mantra—it is from śāstra—harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam, kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva [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, in Kali-yuga, it is very difficult to bring back the fallen population again to the standard of brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya. It is practically lost now. The best thing is that all of them combine together—brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, or even less than śūdra, kirāta-hūṅāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā [SB 2.4.18]. Take to this process of chanting and hearing of the Lord's name. Everything will be all right.

[break] ...entities, we have no such distinction. It is confirmed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He was discussing with Rāmānanda Rāya. He was a governor of this Madras province under the regime of Mahārāja Pratāparudra of Orissa. And he was politician, but he was a very learned scholar in Kṛṣṅa science. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu was talking with him. So because he was a śūdra by birth and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not only very exalted position, brāhmaṅa and sannyāsī... So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was questioning, and he was answering, so he felt little hesitation, that "Sir, You are so exalted. I am a gṛhastha and a politician, and how can I..." Immediately Caitanya Mahāprabhu encouraged him, "No, no, no, don't hesitate."

kibā śūdra kibā vipra nyāsī kene naya ye kṛṣṅa-tattva-vettā sei 'guru' haya [Cc Madhya 8.128]

[Whether one is a brāhmaṅa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra—regardless of what he is—he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṅa.]

He said, "Don't hesitate. It doesn't matter whether he is a gṛhastha or sannyāsī or brāhmaṅa or śūdra. If he knows Kṛṣṅa, he is guru." He is guru. That is wanted. We are teaching that Kṛṣṅa consciousness. If one man becomes Kṛṣṅa conscious or knows... And Kṛṣṅa also says, janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti... [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.]

[break] "Anyone who knows..." [end]