Lecture

Morning Lecture at Kumbha-melā

Prabhupāda: So people do not understand that there is life after death. But Bhagavān says, "Yes, there is life after death." Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg 2.13].

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

So dehāntara-prāpti, two kinds of dehāntara-prāpti: either towards the hell or towards heaven; towards liberation and towards bondage. So liberation means mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. We want liberation. Then mahat-sevā: we have to take shelter of mahātmā. And if you want to go to the darkest region of material existence, then yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam, sense enjoyment... Yoṣit means woman. So the last resort of sense enjoyment is sex life. So if we indulge in sex life, then yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam. Not only directly we indulge in sex life, but even indirectly we associate with person who are only interested in sex life... The whole world is interested in sex life. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etat [SB 5.5.8]. This material world is existing on this mithunī-bhāva. So tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam. Therefore you'll find in the Vedic way of life, sex indulgence is restricted. If we indulge in sex life than it is absolutely required, then we are gliding towards hellish condition of life. And if we follow the path of mahātmās, mahat-sevā, that is dvāram āhur vimukteḥ. We are making progress towards liberation.

So this is a chance. This Kumbha-melā is a chance to get opportunity of mahat-sevā. Mahat-sevā dvāram āhur vimukteḥ. Many... Of course, it is Kali-yuga. There are so many so-called mahātmās in dress for earning livelihood. That kind of mahātmā is not required. Mahātmā is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā: sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ. Actually we have to associate with such mahātmā who is su-durlabhaḥ, not very easily obtainable. And who is that su-durlabhaḥ mahātmā? That is also described:

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ [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.]

So you'll get so many mahātmās who are declaring atheism: "There is no God. I am God. You are God. Where you are searching out God? The God is loitering in the street, the daridra-nārāyaṅa." If you associate with such mahātmā, so-called... They are not mahātmās. They are durātmās. [laughter] So be careful that you may not mistake who is mahātmā. Mahātmā, very simple thing: mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ [Bg 9.13].

[O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.]

Mahātmā has nothing to do with this material world. They are under the care of daivī-prakṛti, spiritual world. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivī prakṛti..., bhajanty ananya-manaso. The symptom is that he's fully engaged in serving Kṛṣṅa. Mām. Kṛṣṅa is original, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we have to catch up the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante [Bg 7.19]. It is not very easy, but it can be done if we have got intelligence. Intelligence is... That Kṛṣṅa says.

[banging sound] [aside:] Who is that making sound?

Kṛṣṅa says, 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 you take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, immediately—of course, we must take sincerely, not a show; everything is seriously—then immediately we become on the path of mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2].

So... And this line of devotional service is sevā, service. Ultimately we are all servants, but in the absence of being mahātmā, we are serving māyā. Service is there. We cannot become master. That is not possible. 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.]

So there are two things: Kṛṣṅa and māyā; light and shadow. If you don't serve Kṛṣṅa, then you have to serve māyā. And those who are serving māyā in the name of Kṛṣṅa, they are called Māyāvādī. Actually, they are serving māyā, but they say that they have become liberated. Vimukta-māninaḥ. They are described as vimukta-māninaḥ. Māninaḥ means one who is not actually the thing, but falsely one is thinking that "I am liberated. I have become equal with Nārāyaṅa." They are called vimukta-māninaḥ. Actually that is not the fact. So we shall be very careful to avoid these kind of mahātmās, who are thinking themselves as Nārāyaṅa, equal to Nārāyaṅa, or sometimes they claim greater than Nārāyaṅa. So we shall be very careful. This melā, there are so many so-called mahātmās. But the symptom of mahātmā is described in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhajanty ananya-manaso [Bg 9.13].

That is the qualification. And to become devotee of Kṛṣṅa, it is not at all difficulty. There is no difficulty. Anyone can become. Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ [Bg 9.32].

[O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth—women, vaiśyas [merchants], as well as śūdras [workers]—can approach the supreme destination.]

Even lowborn, they can also take shelter of Kṛṣṅa, and what to speak of... Kiṁ punar brāhmaṅāḥ puṅyā bhaktā rājarṣayas tathā [Bg 9.33].

[How much greater then are the brāhmaṅas, the righteous, the devotees and saintly kings who in this temporary miserable world engage in loving service unto Me.]

If actually qualified brāhmaṅas, they take shelter, what to speak of... Their progress is very quick. Punyā. Without puṅyā background, sukṛti, nobody can take birth in the family or society of brāhmaṅas.

So brāhmaṅa... First of all, we have to become pure brāhmaṅa. Satya śamo dama titikṣa ārjava,

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.]

These are the brahminical qualification. Unfortunately, nobody is interested to become a brāhmaṅa, and what to speak of becoming a Vaiṣṅava. Vaiṣṅava is above the brāhmaṅas. Ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṅo vipro mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ [Padma Purāṅa]. Brāhmaṅa's business is sat-karma: paṭhan pāṭhan yajan yājan dāna pratigraha. So even a brāhmaṅa is very expert in this brāhmaṅa's business, paṭhan pāṭhan... He has studied Vedas very thoroughly, and he has many students whom he has taught the Vedic knowledge. This is paṭhan pāṭhan. Yajan yājan: he is expert in worshiping the Deity, and he teaches other disciples also. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgara-tan-mandira-mārj anādau. So there are brāhmaṅas who are not Vaiṣṅava, worshiper of demigods other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such brāhmaṅa is not required. Such brāhmaṅas are condemned. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ yajante anya-devatāḥ [Bg 7.20]. Anya-devatāḥ. The Viṣṅu is the original devatā, and then next devatā, Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, and then others. So they are all anya-devatāḥ.

Oṁ tad viṣṅoḥ paramaṁ padam [Ṛg Veda 1.22.20].

[The lotus feet of Lord Viṣṅu are the supreme objective of all the demigods. These lotus feet of the Lord are as enlightening as the sun in the sky.]

So one has to worship Viṣṅu. That is Vaiṣṅava. Viṣṅur asya devatā iti vaiṣṅavaḥ. Vaiṣṅava means that he's not worshiper of any other demigods. There is no question of disrespect for any other demigods. But śaraṅaṁ śaraṅyam. But to take shelter of and to worship is recommended to the Supreme Lord—mām ekam—not everyone. We can show our respectful obeisances even to the ant, but worshipable Deity, or God, is Kṛṣṅa, or Viṣṅu, viṣṅu-tattva. There are many forms of viṣṅu-tattva. Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan [Bs 5.39].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Kṛṣṅa and the different avatāras in the world in the forms of Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, etc., as His subjective portions.]

He's expanded in many forms: Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha... There are so many incarnation of viṣṅu-tattva. They're all one. Advaitam acyutam anādi ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.]

So viṣṅu-tattva, worshipable, or kṛṣṅa-tattva, worshipable. And to pin our staunch faith in Viṣṅu, we should discuss about viṣṅu-tattva. And not viṣṅu-tattva... That is called siddhānta. Siddhānta boliyā citte nā kara alasa: "Don't be lazy to discuss about siddhānta." Ihā haite kṛṣṅe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa: "The more you discuss the thesis—not thesis; the factual presentation of viṣṅu-tattva, māyā, and jīva-tattva, śakti-tattva—then it will be clear what is Kṛṣṅa." Kṛṣṅa is the origin of everything. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate [Bg 10.8].

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

We should try to understand this fact, that Kṛṣṅa is the origin of everything. And if we take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness... Kṛṣṅe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya [Cc Madhya 22.62]. If you become Kṛṣṅa conscious, then your all other duties automatically... The same example as we have given: if you pour water on the root of the tree, then all other duties are automatically done. There is no question of separate attempt—philanthropy, philosophy and nationalism, this "ism," that "ism." We have discovered so many things and diversion of the real duty. That we shall have to concentrate. That is siddhānta.

siddhānta boliyā citte nā kara alasa iha haite kṛṣṅe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa [Cc Ādi 2.117]

We become more and more faithful to Kṛṣṅa by understanding the siddhānta.

So māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva... [Cc Madhya 6.169]. For kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, to avoid this Māyāvādī philosophy, that "Everyone is God. I am God. You are God..." This is atheism. It is cheating atheism. One class of atheism is śūnyavādī: "There is no God." That we can understand, that he is atheist. "There is no God." He publicly declares, "We don't believe in God." But the Māyāvādīs are dangerous because they say that there is God, but without any form—no head, no leg. If you make "no, no, no," then where is the...? It becomes zero, ultimately. Go on making "no, no"—"No head, no tail, no hand, no..." So what remains? So this is another trick for saying there is no God. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said that this class, who gives the negative definition of God—"Not this, not this, not this, not this"—the Māyāvādī, Māyā... They say, "Not this. This is māyā." So this Māyāvādī, they are greater atheist.

veda nā māniyā bauddha haya ta nāstika vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda bauddhake adhika [Cc Madhya 6.168]

So it is very dangerous to associate with Māyāvādīs. Of course, those who are kaniṣṭha, they are..., who are fixed up in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, they can mix with anyone. Nobody can influence. They are protected. If one has become pure devotee, for preaching work he can go anywhere. [break] [end]