Evening Lecture at Gītā-Nagarī Farm – July 16, 1976, Port Royal

Prabhupāda: [sings Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava] Thank you very much. [devotees offer obeisances]

[05:45]

So Kṛṣṅa consciousness means to follow the instruction of Kṛṣṅa. Our life has a certain aim in this material world. Sometimes we forget. Material world means forgetting our aim of life. That is natural. The basic principle of material life is forgetting Kṛṣṅa:

kṛṣṅa-bahir jīva bhoga-vāñchā kare nikaṭa māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare [Prema-vivarta]

When we forget… Forgetfulness is our nature. We are not as perfect as God; therefore there are so many inefficiencies. So forgetfulness is also another material quality. So material life means forgetting Kṛṣṅa. Māyā means when one has forgotten his relationship with Kṛṣṅa. That is called māyā. So Kṛṣṅa is very kind. When we forget too much… This material world is forgetfulness, but still, according to the Vedic system, Kṛṣṅa consciousness is maintained to some extent if you follow the Vedic principles. Then we revive our God consciousness, our relationship. That is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He was talking with Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, that the Vedic principle is to revive or to remind our relationship with Kṛṣṅa. In the Bhagavad-gītā also 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.]

the real purpose of Vedic knowledge is to come to the understanding of Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is trying to revive the original, constitutional position. So one of them, in Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, is village organization, as you are trying here. Kṛṣṅa, in His natural life, is a village boy in Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana is a village. There is no factory, there is no motorcar, there is no big, big skyscraper buildings; it is village. That Kṛṣṅa likes. In the śāstra it is said, vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya padam ekaṁ na gacchati [Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.5.461]. Kṛṣṅa is so fond of that Vṛndāvana village life, with His cowherd boys and cowherd girls, gopīs, mother Yaśodā, father Nanda, and Upananda, uncles, and big family, the cows and the calves, the trees, the Yamunā River. He is satisfied in that life. So at least those who are Kṛṣṅa conscious, they should be satisfied with simple life in the village. That is part of Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

But it does not mean that we shall avoid city life or town life. No. Everything, every place is Kṛṣṅa’s place. Everywhere there should be Kṛṣṅa consciousness. But if we keep ourself within the village and properly organize, as Kṛṣṅa personally showed us the example… He was personally taking care of the cows, calves. When He was a child, He was taking care of the calves. When He was grown up, He was taking care of the cows, although He was a very rich man’s son; Nanda Mahārāja was the village king. But still, He was working hard whole day, going in the morning to the pasturing ground and coming back in the evening. Then He used to take His bathing, change dress and immediately go to sleep. This was Kṛṣṅa’s pastime. So we should follow His footprints. What is that verse? Aśraddadhānaḥ dharmasyāsya…

Devotee: …dharmasyāsya parantapa.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

māṁ aprāpya nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani [Bg 9.3]

[Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.]

So whatever Kṛṣṅa has taught by His personal life, by His teaching, to follow that is Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

Everything is there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. His personal life is there, and Bhagavad-gītā, His teachings are there, and He comes for this purpose: 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.]

those who are naturally God-conscious, to deliver them, to make their life perfect, in this life. This life should be the last material life, and next life they should go directly to Kṛṣṅa, mam eti. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti [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.]

If we become fully Kṛṣṅa conscious, simply try to understand what is Kṛṣṅa, there is no difficulty. Kṛṣṅa is the supreme controller. There is a supreme controller—that we have to accept, as we were discussing in the bus this morning. There is no way out. [laughter] There is no way out, that you will deny the supreme controller. So many [indistinct]. If you are a sane man, you’ll understand very easily. And that supreme controller is Kṛṣṅa. He comes personally and 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.]

There is no other controller above Kṛṣṅa; therefore He is the supreme controller, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ [Bs 5.1], the supreme controller.

[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.]

The supreme controller, He is giving us instruction. If we follow His instruction, very simple, and remain in this village, satisfied with simple life, agricultural produce, milk, cows—how many nice things you have produced—where is the difficulty? There is no economic problem. You are getting so much milk that it is becoming a problem how to utilize it. [laughter]

And there is scarcity of milk. In India we are in scarcity of milk. So, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṅijyaṁ [Bg 18.44].

[Farming, cow protection and business are the qualities of work for the vaiśyas, and for the śūdras there is labor and service to others.]

If you have got enough milk, you can make trade. Vānijyaṁ, that is Kṛṣṅa’s instruction. You can… It is not that we hate the modern system. No. We do not hate anything. Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṅa-sambandhe [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 2.255]. We want to try to engage everything in Kṛṣṅa’s service. That is our [indistinct]. The modern machine is there; we don’t hate it. We must find out the means how this machine can be utilized for Kṛṣṅa’s service. So if you have got excess milk, you can make it powdered milk, and you can send to India in any amount—it will be consumed. At least we can use it in our different centers; we can distribute. So there is no question. Besides that, you can prepare ghee from milk. From milk, first of all drink as much as you like, then convert it into yogurt next day, next day, next day. And then, when that is also enough, then churn it, take out butter—buttermilk and butter—and drink the buttermilk with capātī. It is very palatable, very nutritious. Then butter, if you have got excess butter, then turn into ghee, and ghee can be preserved for years. There’s no question of preservation. You send it to cities and towns. And we are now encouraging to open prasāda distribution restaurant. They can utilize the ghee. Then where is the problem? There is no problem. Each drop of milk you can utilize to the perfect utility point. Simply.

And if there is excess cows, you have got some woods, so you cut out the trees and make an encirclement and keep them there. They will live there. So there is no problem. Kṛṣṅa was maintaining 900,000 cows. There is no problem. But give protection to the cows. That is the order of Kṛṣṅa. We cannot be ungrateful, that we kill our mother. Milk is so important. We are drinking the milk of the cow, and in exchange, if we cut throat of the mother, that is not civilization. That is barbarism, less than animal. Animals also, they have respect for mother. So try to give protection to the cows—that is the way of pious activity—and you’ll be not in scarcity. And live village life, simple life, and be satisfied with the bare necessities. There is no need of luxury. And save time and chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. This is ideal life.

So I am very pleased that you are doing that, and do it more nicely, so that others may be attracted. This town life, industrial life, factory life, is asuric life. It is killing the human civilization. It is killing civilization. So there are many other businesses for a Kṛṣṅa conscious person, because in the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṅa speaks all round: sociology, politics, philosophy, religion, culture, economics… Everything is there. If you simply try to follow Kṛṣṅa’s instructions, then you get cultural life all round.

So this is an ideal village. Develop it more and more. Our Paramānanda is there. He is very experienced, and others are there. Do it very nicely. I am very happy to see that things are going nicely. Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [offer obeisances]

[21:50]

[kīrtana] [end]