Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.100

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting, etc.]

āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni! grāmya-vyavahāre paṅḍita tāi satya māni [Cc Madhya 20.100]

[02:06]

Translation: "I do not know what is beneficial for me and what is detrimental. Nonetheless, in ordinary dealings people consider me a learned scholar, and I am also thinking of myself as such."

Prabhupāda:

āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni! grāmya-vyavahāre paṅḍita tāi satya māni [Cc Madhya 20.100]

So in India, still, a brāhmaṅa is called paṅḍita, paṅḍitjī. Just like you know our Prime Minister was Paṅḍita Jawaharlal Nehru. He happened to be a Sārasvata brāhmaṅa. Sanātana Gosvāmī, he also a Sārasvata brāhmaṅa by caste. But he has placed himself:

nīca jāti nīca-saṅgī patita adhāma kuviṣaya-kūpe paḍi' goṅāinu janama [Cc Madhya 20.99]

He could understand that "These people call me paṅḍita." Paṅḍita means one who knows everything. The ultimate paṅḍita is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā, paṅḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ [Bg 5.18]. Paṅḍita means he sees every living entity on the equal level. That is real paṅḍita. Paṅḍitāḥ sama...

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṅe gavi hastini śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṅḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ [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's really paṅḍita. That is spiritually. And material paṅḍita, that is also mentioned by Cāṅakya Paṅḍita, his moral instruction. He gives description of a paṅḍita:

mātṛvat para-dāreṣu para-dravyeṣu loṣṭravat ātmavat sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyati sa paṅḍitaḥ

[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 never said that anyone who has passed his M.A. degree or Ph.D. degree, he is paṅḍita. No. The test of paṅḍita is here, from moral instruction, that anyone who sees all other woman except his wife as mother, he is paṅḍita. Just see. This is the test. Mātṛvat para-dāreṣu, and para-dravyeṣu, other's property as garbage in the street, nobody touches. And ātmavat sarva-bhūteṣu, and treat everyone as his own self. If anyone has learned these three things, then he is paṅḍita. And spiritually, when one sees that all living entities, may be in different types of bodies, he is spirit soul, part and parcel of God, then he is paṅḍita.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [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.]

So these are Vedic instructions, and Sanātana Gosvāmī, although he was a minister in Muhammadan government, Nawab Hussain Shah's, but in touch with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he has come to his knowledge that grāmya-vyavahāre paṅḍita: "Actually, I am not paṅḍita. But in village, in ordinary common sense, because I happen to be a brāhmaṅa, they call me paṅḍita. I also accept as paṅḍita. But my real position is that I am such a paṅḍita, such a learned man, that I do not know what is good for me. This is my position." He is submitting to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, his guru. Why guru is necessary? Tad vijñānārtham [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

When we are perplexed, that "I do not know what is my actually goal of life, what is benefit here for me..." Just like Arjuna did. When he was talking with Kṛṣṅa on equal terms, two friends... But when he saw that the actual solution is not coming, then he submitted himself to Kṛṣṅa, that "Kṛṣṅa, now we are not friends. We are friends, but treat me as Your disciple." Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ 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.]

So "Make me paṅḍita. I am talking all foolishly. I am kṣatriya, it is my duty to fight, and I am denying it. I know that I am deviating from my duties. So how it has happened? What is the cause? So kindly, śiṣyas te, I am submitting myself before You as Your student." Śādhi māṁ prapannam, "I am surrendering."

So one has to learn the philosophy of life from the person superior, spiritual master. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12]. Do not remain puffed-up, that "I am all-learned, I know everything." That is false. One has to submit. In order to know the solution of life, we have to submit to the proper spiritual master. That is essential. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet. This is Vedic injunction. This abhigacchet, this word is used when it is meant "must." There is no escape. We have seen big, big personalities... Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu; He is Kṛṣṅa Himself, but He accepted Īśvara Purī as His guru. Kṛṣṅa, He also accepted His guru as Sāndīpani Muni. Lord Rāmacandra, He accepted His guru as Vasiṣṭha. So it is necessary. Kṛṣṅa or Rāma, They are Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are the supreme instructor, full of knowledge, everything. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya [Viṣṅu Purāṅa 6.5.47].

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

There is nothing short, but still, to show us example, They accepted guru. That is essential.

So here Sanātana Gosvāmī, he is also born in a very well-to-do brāhmaṅa family. He was well situated as minister in charge of the government of Hussain Shah. So everything was quite all right, and still, he thought himself as nīca jāti. Nīca jāti nīca-saṅgī... What is it?

Yes:

nīca jāti nīca-saṅgī patita adhāma kuviṣaya-kūpe paḍi' goṅāinu janama

If we remain puffed-up, that "I am born in such and such family. I am educated such and such, and I am posted in such and such post, so now my life is successful," that is false. Life is successful when we understand that... Here it is said, āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni. When we understand what is the goal of life, then life is successful. Not the temporary position, "I am getting good salary, I am very nicely posted, I have got good family," and so on, so on. No. One must know the goal of life. The goal of life is that... We are fallen in this material world somehow or other.

As Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, anādi karama-phale, paḍi' bhavārṅava-jale. Now when a man is fallen in the ocean or in the water, he's asking help, you cannot say that "How did you fall? What was the cause?" That we shall discuss later on. First of all, save him. So that is the immediately necessity. There is no... Sometimes we are questioned that "How a living entity fallen in this material world?" Yes, that is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: icchā-dveṣa-samutthena sarge yānti parantapa [Bg 7.27]. Icchā-dveṣa.

Actually, we are servant of God. That is our real position. But we sometimes become envious, that "Why shall I become servant of God? This is slave mentality." Sometimes we are accused, the Vaiṣṅavas are, of slave mentality because they want to serve God. And the Māyāvādīs, they think that "We are so exalted that I am as good as God. I am God." That is their position.

But actually, nobody is God here. Everyone is servant. He's simply falsely thinking that he's God, he's master, he's this or that. You have got very nice example in the life of Mr. Nixon. He was thinking that he's everything: "I am the President." But now what is his position, you can understand. So similarly everyone. Nobody is master. The master is Kṛṣṅa only. That is stated in the Śrīmad..., Caitanya-caritāmṛta, ekale īśvara kṛṣṅa āra saba bhṛtya [Cc Ādi 5.142].

[Lord Kṛṣṅa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.]

The master is there, that is Kṛṣṅa, and everyone is servant. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches that 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 living entities, we are eternally servant of God. Kṛṣṅa means God. One who attracts everyone, that is Kṛṣṅa. And Kṛṣṅa is God, accepted by everyone.

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.]

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.]

These are the Vedic evidences. So actually nobody can be master; everyone is servant. Either we are servant of God or we are servant of dog. That's all. Nobody can be master. If anyone has no master, then he keeps a pet dog to become his servant. That is nature, we can see. One is servant of his wife, one is servant of his pet or government service or this service. Nobody can claim that "I am the master." That is not possible. That is also temporary.

So actually this is the position of all living entities. Everyone is servant. But in the material sense, he is servant of māyā, servant of senses. Servant of māyā means servant of senses. And spiritual life means instead of becoming servant of māyā or servant of senses, we become the servant of Kṛṣṅa, or God. That is the position. Servant we shall remain. We have to change the position. And if we become servant of God, then we become happy. And if we remain servant of dog or māyā, then we remain unhappy. This is the position. We have to change the position. Kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśās teṣāṁ mayi na karuṅā jātā na trapā nopaśāntiḥ [Cc Madhya 22.16].

[O my Lord, there is no limit to the unwanted orders of lusty desires. Although I have rendered them so much service, they have not shown any mercy to me. I have not been ashamed to serve them, nor have I even desired to give them up. O my Lord, O head of the Yadu dynasty, recently, however, my intelligence has been awakened, and now I am giving them up. Due to transcendental intelligence, I now refuse to obey the unwanted orders of these desires, and I now come to You to surrender myself at Your fearless lotus feet. Kindly engage me in Your personal service and save me.]

One intelligent brāhmaṅa, he's offering, "My Lord, I have become servant of so many senses, but neither the senses are satisfied, neither I am satisfied. This is the result of my service. Therefore now I have got my intelligence that I want to become Your servant." This is intelligence. So I have experienced that I became a servant of my family, servant of my society, servant of my country, and so on, so on, but nobody, neither my so-called master was satisfied, neither I was satisfied. We see practical examples, there are many examples. In our country, Mahatma Gandhi, he dedicated his life for the service of the country. Nobody can doubt about his service. But what is the result? His master killed him. He worked for his country, he took country as his master, and he worked so hard, and his countrymen killed him. We should take lesson from this that you cannot satisfy in this material world by becoming servant of your family or community, society, nation. No. It is not possible. You can satisfy very easily Kṛṣṅa by little service. By little service. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt [Bg 2.40].

[In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.]

So this is intelligence, how to become servant of Kṛṣṅa. That is the perfection of life. That means mukti. Mukti does not mean you'll get four hands and eight heads. No. [laughter] Mukti means, as it is defined in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ [SB 2.10.6].

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

That is mukti. Sva-rūpeṅa. Legally, constitutionally, I am servant of God, or Kṛṣṅa. Now I have become servant of dog and māyā. So if I give up this service and again become servant of God, that is mukti. That is mukti. Muktir hitvānyathā rūpam. We are trying to become... Here māyā means "which is not." Mā-yā. We are, every one of us, we are thinking, "I am master." "I am the monarch of all I survey," there is a poetry in English. Everyone is thinking. I make my plan, I make my survey, and I become king. But that is māyā. You cannot become. You are already servant of māyā.

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.]

Everyone is under the clutches of these material laws. You cannot violate even an inch. And still the rascal, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā, by false prestige, he's thinking that "I am the master."

I was asking this morning that what is this independence meaning. Actually, where is independence? This independence, has it meaning? If you are completely under the rules and regulations of the material nature, what is the meaning of this independence? So those who are paṅḍita, they do not take it as independence. They do not take it. Therefore Sanātana Gosvāmī said, āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni: "I do not know what is independence. I am dancing like dog, independence." Therefore he says, āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni: "How independence I can get, that I do not know." Real independence is, as Kṛṣṅa puts in the Bhagavad-gītā, 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.]

One who is intelligent, he sees that "My real problem is janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi, birth, death, old age and disease." So when we get free from these four problems, that is real independence. Otherwise, there is no independence. I may dance with independence, but any moment I shall have to leave my country, my society, my friends, my family, any moment: "Get out immediately. No, no independence." That is my position. So that is intelligence.

So in order to know all these problems of life... Just like Arjuna submitted, and anyone has to submit. One has to... Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

So Sanātana Gosvāmī is teaching us by his personal behavior how to approach the bona fide spiritual master and submit before him, and putting himself praṅipā, blank. Not that "I know something, and what my spiritual master can teach? I know everything. There is no need of spiritual master." No. This will spoil our life. The Vedic injunction is that you must have..., not a so-called guru but... That is also given definition.

tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam śābde pare ca niṣṅātaṁ brahmaṅy upaśamāśrayam [SB 11.3.21]

[Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.]

That is the symptoms of guru. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, because we are discussing Caitanya-caritāmṛta, He said that you become, all of you, become guru. He said. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. He said,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra [Cc Ādi 9.41]

[One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.]

This is Indian mission, para-upakāra. Not exploit others—to give something. That is Indian mission. That is Indian mission, that he has to give something. He has nothing to take; he has to give something. And what is that? That Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches, that āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]. Even if you cannot deliver the whole world or very expansive area, at least, wherever you are, you just deliver them. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa: "You become a guru by My order." So one may say that "I have no qualification. How can I become a guru or how can I deliver these fallen persons?" So Kṛṣṅa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, says, "Don't be disappointed."

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

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

Bās. Simply as messenger, as peon, you simply carry the messages of Bhagavad-gītā, kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Then you become guru. Then you become guru. It is not difficult.

So it is the duty of every Indian not to forget their culture, but bring that culture, pure, wherever you are living, and behave yourself to that culture and teach others. That is Indian mission.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. [break]

Prabhupāda: What is that question?

Vipina: Mr. Deyani, any questions you would like to ask Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Mr. Deyani: Well, I just have one thing here. You stated about Gandhi, and we respect that he was really a great leader of us, but when you stated one point in your lecture, this thing, that Gandhi, mostly, was a servant of the country. But in India, during that period, I didn't see other religious people or the great leaders of India fighting for the country, and they... He's the one...

Prabhupāda: That is admitted. Why you are bringing that question? I mean to say that Gandhi gave the best service to you, but your country is so ungrateful that he killed him. That is my point. So the point is that the best service you can give, but you cannot satisfy everyone. That is material.

Mr. Deyani: No, but my question was, sir, that at some point you have to be, with the servant of the God, you will have to be a servant of your family or the country or something to serve.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that I'm already explaining, that āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra [Cc Madhya 7.128]:

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

wherever you are, you deliver them. That is service. That is service. Wherever you are. Either you are in the family or in the community or in the country or anywhere, you simply give them service, deliver them. Without service, how you can deliver them? And you haven't got to discover anything or make research. What is already there, kṛṣṅa-upadeśa, you teach them, that's all. He'll be delivered. You'll be delivered, he'll be delivered. It is not at all difficult. Not that I have to manufacture some transcendental means. No. The already instruction is there, kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]. Then you deliver yourself, you deliver others also. That is the mission.

So what we are doing? We are not discovering anything. We are simply presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. That's all. Kṛṣṅa said, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

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

We are teaching all over the world the same thing, that "Here is Kṛṣṅa. You always think of Him, you just offer your obeisances, you just become a devotee of Kṛṣṅa," man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī, "worship." So we are teaching. So there is no discovery. It is already there. So that we are carrying simply. Yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128].

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

Kṛṣṅa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65]. We don't interpret. There is no need of interpretation; then there is no authority of Bhagavad-gītā. If I am a third-class man, if I interpret Bhagavad-gītā, then Bhagavad-gītā has no authority. Bhagavad-gītā should be preached as it is. Then you become guru, you can deliver others. This is the process. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda, sometimes when we go preaching, people do not want to take Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Sometimes they actually...

Prabhupāda: So if they want to take, then where is the question of preaching? Because they do not want to take, you have to preach. Otherwise, where is the necessity of preaching? [laughter] You have to prepare yourself in such a way that nobody is dying for your Kṛṣṅa consciousness, but you have to convince him that "Your life is spoiled without Kṛṣṅa consciousness." That is your capacity. They are under the clutches of māyā. They are thinking... [break]

Woman devotee: ...convinced that they have some revelation or some experience that is assuring them of eternal life. So they are not very open to hear about Kṛṣṅa, and they...

Prabhupāda: If they are not open to hear about Kṛṣṅa, then don't waste your time. The simple thing. There are four things. For a preacher, there are four things:

īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ [SB 11.2.46]

When in the lower stage of devotional service, he cannot become preacher. When he's in a little upper, second stage, he can become preacher. So preacher has to see four things. First of all God, īśvara, and tad-adhīneṣu, and those who are devotee. God, His devotees, and bāliśa, innocent, he does not know anything about... So three: God, devotee, and the innocent. And dviṣat, and envious, atheist class. He has to see four things, and he has to deal with four persons differently. With God, īśvare prema: how to advance my love for God, these dealings. Prema-maitrī: and to the devotees, we have to make friendship with them. Prema-maitrī. And to the innocent, we have to preach, kṛpā: "Oh, here is an innocent person. He does not know; he's eager to learn." There teaching is required. Teaching, you cannot teach God or you cannot teach God's devotee. But you can teach only the innocent. And those who are dviṣat, atheist, upekṣā, don't go there, save yourself. These are the four things. So when one is not open to hear, then don't bother yourself. That requires very strong preacher to convince the atheist class, provided he is reasonable also. If he's stubborn, obstinate, then it is also very difficult. But preaching is meant, innocent; that one who is actually sincere but he does not know what is God, what is my relationship with God, there is necessity of preaching. Not to the envious or those who are already advanced, or to God. This is the... Hmm. Boliya.

Indian man: Prabhupāda, as you are giving us a very simple process, which is... I can confirm by [indistinct] Still, it is not [indistinct] Indians coming? Why? Because they are exposed to Kṛṣṅa from their birth; still they are not interested. Nobody wants to listen.

Prabhupāda: Because they have become bara-sāb. Especially in the foreign countries, they become bara-sāb. So that is the misfortune of India. They are giving up their culture and being misguided. So if they actually feel that they must maintain their own culture, then it is not difficult. It is the duty of every Indian, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, that,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra [Cc Ādi 9.41]

[One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.]

If that mentality is developed, that "In India we are born. We have got the greatest culture, recognized by all the world. So I must make my life successful by taking this culture and distribute it to the whole world," that is real Indian culture. If... They are thinking that they are poverty-stricken. Poverty-stricken because they have given up their own culture; therefore poverty-stricken. Otherwise, there is no question of poverty-stricken. So anyway, this is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's message, that every Indian should take advantage of the great culture, Vedic culture, and make his life successful, and after acquiring mature knowledge he should distribute the knowledge throughout the whole world. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's...

Devotee: How can we increase our personal capacity to preach?

Prabhupāda: By preaching. If you preach, then you'll meet with so many obstacles, and you have to prepare yourself how to meet the obstacles. Then you become strong preacher. Resistance. There is no difficulty, but if there is difficulty, atheist class of men, and it is very difficult. So take innocent, those who are actually eager to know. Everyone should be. That is the human life. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. That is human civilization. Everyone should be inquisitive to know about the Absolute Truth, Brahman. But education is different nowadays. People are interested with hammer, how to play on hammer, that's all, technology. There is no question of Brahman. Let Brahman go to hell, now take out the hammer. That Russian emblem? Hammer? And scythe? That's all. Yes?

Indian man: Prabhupāda, the basic confusion is that the Māyāvādīs take Bhagavad-gītā, they can recite the same Sanskrit words and interpret it in their way and convince someone that the ultimate Brahman is impersonal and the [indistinct] Brahman, Kṛṣṅa, is only a technique.

Prabhupāda: That means they misinterpret and they misguide. So people should be intelligent enough that they are impersonalists, but Bhagavad-gītā means Kṛṣṅa, the person, He is teaching. Where is impersonalist? But nobody has any common sense even that Kṛṣṅa says, aham ādir hi bhūtānām. 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.]

This aham is person, so how He can be imperson? And He's talking personally with Arjuna. So how He is imperson? Can the air talk with you? Air is imperson. Sky is imperson. Can he talk with you? What do you think? No, sometimes talks. [laughter] So we should have common sense, that where is the question of... And Kṛṣṅa says in the Second Chapter that "My dear Arjuna, both you, Me and all these soldiers and kings who are assembled here, we existed in the past, we are now existing, and we shall continue to exist in the future." So three things: first person, second person and third person. I am first person, you are second person, and all others third person. So they existed individually in the past, they are existing now, and they will continue to exist like that. Then where is imperson? There are three things, three different phases, past, present and future. In all the times, if they are individual, where is imperson? Rather, Kṛṣṅa has condemned, avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannam manyante mām abuddhayaḥ [Bg 7.24].

[Unintelligent men, who know Me not, think that I have assumed this form and personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is changeless and supreme.]

Those who are rascals, they think avyaktam, impersonal. Now He has become person. Avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ manyante mām. Mām means individual person. Abuddhayaḥ: he has no intelligence. So how He can be imperson? So we have to take the words of Bhagavad-gītā, and then we understand. Why we should be misled by these so-called interpreters?

Indian man: They say that if you develop pure love of Kṛṣṅa, then you'll see only Kṛṣṅa. Your own personality is...

Prabhupāda: But anyway, but Kṛṣṅa, if you think of Kṛṣṅa, the Kṛṣṅa person, He's not imperson.

Indian man: No, but they..., they say that has happened.

Prabhupāda: They say that if you think of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is a person. So you have to begin with person.

Indian man: But they also say one can go directly to Brahman.

Prabhupāda: Never says. Kṛṣṅa never says in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Indian man: This is my basic confusion.

Prabhupāda: Confusion... How you should be confused? Where is Kṛṣṅa says? The basic [indistinct] is imperson? Kṛṣṅa's teaching personally. Where is the imperson? Why you should be misled unless you are also one of them. Kṛṣṅa is always person. He's always speaking aham. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. Person. Aham ādir hi devānām [Bg 10.2]. 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.]

Mattaḥ. This, ahaṁ-śabdaḥ, is used. So they misinterpret just to mislead people; therefore whole India has become godless. This is the misfortune of India. On account of these impersonalists, Māyāvādīs, India is now godless. Very difficult position. So don't be misled by these rascals. Take real Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Then you'll be benefited. That's all.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]