Room Conversation

Prabhupāda: ...therefore he very intelligently appointed Kṛṣṅa as his spiritual master. Because everyone is in perplexity about the problem of life. So this very thing happened to Arjuna, and he wanted to go to spiritual master for solution. And the supreme spiritual master was present before him; therefore he submitted: śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam [Bg 2.7].

[Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.]

Kārpaṅya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ...

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṅa: Pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-saṁmūḍha-cetāḥ, yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me.

Prabhupāda: Yac chreyaḥ syāt..., yac chreyaḥ syāt tat brūhi me niścitam. So the spiritual master's duty is how to benefit the disciple, śreyaḥ. What is the translation?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṅa: "Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me."

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. So because he accepted discipleship, so He immediately chastised him, that "You rascal, you are talking like a very learned man, but you are on the platform of bodily conception of life, the platform of the animals." Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke [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.]

Anyone who accepts this body as self, he's animal. He's not even a human being. So the whole world is on this bodily concept of life. That is going on: "American," "European," "Hindu," "Muslim," "black," "white," this, that. They do not know what is education. That is the first education, that "You rascal, you are not this body. You are within the body." So who understands this? And they're declaring that "We are student of Bhagavad-gītā. We have studied Bhagavad-gītā." Hmm? Even Gandhi, he takes photograph with Bhagavad-gītā, but his fighting is for nationalism. The others are doing that. So what is the use of taking Bhagavad-gītā? The Pakistanis are also doing that. But you have taken Bhagavad-gītā, you are doing the same work. So what is your credit? This is going on. So nobody is learning Bhagavad-gītā. It is first time that we are teaching Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Otherwise, everyone is misled. The subject matter is that the soul is different from this body.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṅa: The karmīs will argue that "I am not ready to hear this yet."

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṅa: The karmīs will argue, "I am not ready to hear this yet." Many people, they come and they hear this philosophy, they say, "Very nice. But I am not ready for it yet."

Prabhupāda: But why you have come here, to hear Bhagavad-gītā? Why you have come?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṅa: Generally, they come to take nice prasādam.

Prabhupāda: All right, that is also kṛṣṅa-prasādam. Prasādam means we offer the foodstuff to Kṛṣṅa; then it is prasādam. So you have not come, but you have to come to take prasādam. This, it has got connection with Kṛṣṅa. So therefore we welcome you that at least for eating, you are coming to Kṛṣṅa. Gradually you'll understand Kṛṣṅa, by eating only. Kṛṣṅa is not so easy to be understood, but we are giving you facility to eat kṛṣṅa-prasādam so that one day you can understand this movement. This is the policy. Actually, that is the policy. We are not poor-feeding. That is not our philosophy, like Vivekananda, daridra-nārāyaṅa-sevā. No, we are not after that. We are giving you prasādam. And that is fact, that by eating, eating, eating, eating, you one day will become Kṛṣṅa conscious. Simply by eating. Because you are so dull, you cannot understand the philosophy. You know the belly like the animals. So therefore we are giving facility, "All right, fill up your belly, fill up your belly. And you'll be infected." As you take foodstuff from a infected area, you become infected with some disease, so this is Kṛṣṅa infected, prasādam. You take it, and one day you'll be diseased with Kṛṣṅa consciousness. And that is a fact. Somehow or other, let him come in contact with Kṛṣṅa. He'll be benefited. Somehow or other, let him come to the light. May be dim light or very big light. Light is light. So if anyone understands that there is a soul which is conducting the business of this body, then he can very easily understand that there is a Supersoul who is conducting the business of the whole material manifested world. Mayādhyakṣeṅa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram [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.]

If he's convinced this body is useless, a lump of matter only, but the soul is the prime factor, similarly, he'll very easily understand that there is huge, gigantic material body of earth, water, air, fire, sky, they are working so wonderfully on account of the Supersoul. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: athavā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna. Find out this verse.

Gurukṛpā: Chapter 10, verse forty..., verse 42.

Prabhupāda: Athavā bahunaitena. The Twelfth Chapter.

Gurukṛpā: Chapter 10, verse 42. No? [devotee takes a long time to find verse]

Prabhupāda: One should practice to open this very quickly.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṅa:

athavā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat [Bg 10.42]

[But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.]

"But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe."

Prabhupāda: Read it carefully. As the small soul has entered... Dehino 'smin yathā dehe [Bg 2.13].

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

This is also a small universe. The same elements are working, but the soul is the prime factor. Similarly, this gigantic body. Athavā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena..., viṣṭabhya aham idaṁ kṛtsnam. "The kṛtsnam, the total material energy, millions of universes like that, that is being maintained by Me because I have entered in it in My fragmental portion." Same principle. As I, the individual soul, I am..., because I have entered this body, the body is working so nicely. It looks beautiful; it looks fresh. It is machine. The machine is working very nicely so long the pilot or the driver is there. Similarly, where is the difficulty to understand this universal affair? If we accept the same principle, that "I am a small fragmental portion of Kṛṣṅa. I have entered this body. This body is working so nicely. Similarly, because Kṛṣṅa has entered as Mahā-Viṣṅu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṅu, therefore it is working."

Gurukṛpā: Kṛṣṅa also says, gām āviśya ca bhūtāni [Bg 15.13].

Prabhupāda: Yes. There are so many verses. Another verse is mayādhyakṣeṅa prakṛtiḥ [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 not important. Material energy is not important. My supervision is important." 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.]

The sun is rising and setting by whose order? Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam aham... This is to be understood. And if one understands that because the soul is there within the body, therefore the body is working so wonderfully, then he can very easily understand there must be a soul of this universe. How he can deny it? How he can say that it is working automatically? There is no such experience, working automatically. I have given several times the example: the 747, wonderful aeroplane machine, but that is not important. The important is the pilot who is pushing the button and it is, in such big sky, it will stay balanced; in balance it is flying in six-hundred-miles speed, onh-onh-onh-onhh [imitates sound of plane engine]. And as soon a little... Finished. So it is a fact. Why the security checking? Because sometimes these, what is that, hi... hi...?

Devotee: Highjackers.

Prabhupāda: Highjacks, they attack the pilot. They're not attacking the passengers. [break] [end]