Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda's Appearance Day Lecture

Prabhupāda: ...one hundred and third?

Pradyumna: The lecture is now, then we'll have ārati.

Prabhupāda: So this is the hundred and third birth anniversary. [some discussion in background about the number] You remember? One hundred third, this is? One hundred and three anniversary?

Pradyumna: 1872... 1977 it is. One hundred and fourth. One hundred and fifth.

Hari-śauri: Seventy-three, seventy-four, seventy-five, seventy-six, seventy-seven... Hundred and fifth.

Devotee: The first one's not 1872.

Hari-śauri: Hundred and fifth.

Prabhupāda: Fourth? Anyway, this is the auspicious day of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī... Hundred fourth?

Pradyumna: Third.

Prabhupāda: Third. Hundred and third birth anniversary. So this is formal—hundred and third or fourth or first or second. It is eternal. It is eternal. Just like Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has described, nitya-līlā. Nitya-līlā means it is going on. Just like just now it is eleven o'clock. This eleven o'clock, and when it becomes twelve o'clock noon, it does not mean that eleven o'clock is passed. Eleven o'clock is existing somewhere. In India it is eleven o'clock, and somewhere else it is ten o'clock, and when in India it will be twelve o'clock, that eleven o'clock will be somewhere else. Therefore one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, whatever you take, that is going on. It is not that one is finished. That is material calculation. Material calculation, this body we have got. When this body will be finished, it is finished forever. It will never come. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir [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.]

But in the spiritual world there is no such thing as finished. Nitya-līlā. Nitya-mukta. We have to understand that. In the material world, one minute's lost, it is lost forever. Cāṅakya Paṅḍita has given us instruction from the material point of view:

āyuṣaḥ kṣaṅa eko 'pi na labhyaḥ svarṅa-koṭibhiḥ sacen nirārthakaṁ nītaḥ kā ca hānis tato 'dhikaḥ [Cāṅakya Paṅḍita śloka 34]

[Even one moment of life spent cannot be regained for millions of gold coins. Therefore, what greater loss is there than time spent uselessly?]

Āyuṣaḥ kṣaṅa eko 'pi. Suppose I shall live fifty years or a hundred years maximum. So out of them, one moment lost, it will be never returned. From our birth... When a child is born we ask the parents when the child is born. The parents said, "This child was born in the morning, ten o'clock." So if the child is born at ten o'clock, and I am asking at eleven o'clock, the one hour life of the child lost. Eleven o'clock means the child has already died one hour out of his one hundred years.

So for Vaiṣṅava it is not like that. It is not like that. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20].

[For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.]

This is material calculation: one hour lost, two hours lost. The body's life is transient; it is losing one moment, one hour. But spiritual life is different. Nityaḥ śāśvato yam, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. So, as Kṛṣṅa comes, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7]. Kṛṣṅa is eternal, but still, He appears. The same example: just like the sun is in the sky, but we see in the morning it appears; in the evening it retires. That is defectness of our eyes. Actually the sun is always there. So similarly Vaiṣṅava, as Kṛṣṅa comes, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir, similarly, a Vaiṣṅava—means the confidential servant of Kṛṣṅa—he also comes for some purpose by the order of the master. So their life and Kṛṣṅa's life, it is same. There is no question of past, present, future. Nityaḥ. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20].

[Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.]

So Stirova avibha[?] they are the same thing as the appearance and disappearance of sun. And Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, our master, spiritual master, he also came in this world to execute some mission of life or mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So he executed it, and when it was required, he left this place and went to another place to do the same business. Just like the sun rises at six o'clock, and seven o'clock there is six o'clock in another place, and it is eight o'clock another place, it is going on, nitya-līlā.

So we have nothing to lament for disappearance. We should simply remember his activities. That is required. Vaiṣṅave kriye mutra vikhilabhda[?]. We cannot understand the activities of the Vaiṣṅava, but they come, any Vaiṣṅava comes, for some particular mission. Prahlāda Mahārāja, he says,

naivodvije para duratyayā-vaitaraṅyās tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ śoce tato vimukha-cetasa māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān [SB 7.9.43]

[O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities. My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies and countries. I am simply concerned with love for them.]

Prahlāda Mahārāja said to Nṛsiṁhadeva, "My Lord, I have nothing to grieve, because wherever I shall sit down, glorifying Your activities, I immediately became merged into the ocean of nectarine. So I have nothing to grieve. But one thing I am sorry: I am in grief for these vimūḍhas." Vimūḍhān. Mūḍha means rascal, and vimūḍha, particularly rascals. Every living being within this material world, they are mūḍhas because they are forgetting their relationship with Kṛṣṅa. Mūḍho nābhijānāti māṁ param avyayam [Bg 7.25].

[I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-māyā]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.]

This is mūḍha. All living entities, more or less, we are all mūḍhas, particularly vimūḍhān. Because there are different types of living entities: jalajā nava-lakṣani sthāvarā lakṣā viṁśati kṛmayo [Viṣṅu Purāṅa], 8,400,000 species of life.

So the evolution is going on. When we come to this stage of human form of life, here is a chance to get out of this evolutionary process. This is the chance. Asatim caturam caiva brahma jīva-jātesu. In the Padma Purāṅa the evolutionary theory... Not theory; it is fact. Darwin's evolutionary theory it may be, but in the Vedic literature the evolution theory it is existing since very, very, millions of millions. It is not crazy fellow's evolution theory. It is fact. So in this evolutionary theory, fact, we see that the bahūnāṁ janmanām ante, bahunāṁ sambhavān [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.]

After many, many evolution, millions of years, we get this chance of human being, to become human being. But in this human form of life, if we still remain a mūḍha, then we are vimūḍhān. Vimūḍhān means..., vi means viśeṣa. Here is a chance. And Kṛṣṅa personally is giving His instruction to the human being: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. This is the chance. But still, we are not accepting. Therefore vimūḍhān. Mūḍha, the cats and dogs, they cannot understand. If we give instruction to the dog, "My dear dog, chant Hare Kṛṣṅa [indistinct]." But a human being, either he may be known to Kṛṣṅa or not known to Kṛṣṅa, he can be trained up. Just like in your country, in Europe and America, they did not know even what Kṛṣṅa. But since we have started this movement, Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, you have become so many devotees of Kṛṣṅa. That is possible because human being; they can be trained up.

So in spite of all these facilities for the human being, if he's not trained up to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then he is vimūḍha. He does not take the advantage. Na mām duṣkṛtina mūḍha [Bg 7.15].

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

[break] ...in this human form of life, he is classified as duṣkṛtina, mūḍha, narādhama, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ, he's described. He must be either of these categories. So things have degraded so low that in India they're asking "What is God?" This is Kali-yuga. In India, where Kṛṣṅa comes personally, where Lord Rāmacandra comes, where Lord Buddha comes, where Caitanya Mahāprabhu comes, in that country now young men are asking, "What is God?" This is Kali-yuga.

So we should not remain vimūḍha. We should become intelligent. And to make us intelligent, Kṛṣṅa comes, Kṛṣṅa's devotees come, some messenger comes. And Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is one of the messengers of Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu to preach Kṛṣṅa consciousness. And not only he preached, but he trained up many disciples to preach this Kṛṣṅa consciousness all over the world. So by his grace we are also endeavoring to do something. This is called paramparā system. So we should take advantage of this Vaiṣṅava mission. As Caitanya... Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "They are very anxious." Vaiṣṅava means para-duḥkha-duḥkhī. Kṛpaṁbudhir yas tam, ahaṁ prapadye [Cc Madhya 6.254]. Para-duḥkha-duḥkhī.

[”Let me take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṅa, who has descended in the form of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to teach us real knowledge, His devotional service and detachment from whatever does not foster Kṛṣṅa consciousness. He has descended because He is an ocean of transcendental mercy. Let me surrender unto His lotus feet.]

Vaiṣṅava... Our Guru Mahārāja, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he is Vaiṣṅava, cent per cent Vaiṣṅava. And he was para-duḥkha-duḥkhi. This is Vaiṣṅava. He criticized nirjana bhajana. He has personally written one song, mana tumi kīsera vaiṣṅava. Nirjanera ghare pratiṣṭhāra tare, tava hari-nāma kevala kaitava. Mana tumi kīsera vaiṣṅava. He has written long song. Jarera pratiṣṭhā sukhala vishta. Vaiṣṅava means he doesn't want any material profit or material opulence or material reputation. He doesn't want. This is chāyā. But in the material world everyone is busy for three things—material profit, material reputation—[Sanskrit] pūjā—and material adoration. This is not Vaiṣṅava's business. Vaiṣṅava never cares for all these things. Vaiṣṅava is always thinking how to do good to the suffering humanity. Lokānāṁ-hita-kāriṅau. About Six Gosvāmīs it is said, nānā-śāstra-vicaraṅaika-nipuṅau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau lokānāṁ hita-kāriṅau tri-bhuvane mānyau śaraṅyākarau. This is Vaiṣṅava. Nānā-śāstra-vicaraṅaika-nipuṅau. In the śāstra, everything is there. Just like Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given us Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu to understand what is bhakti. We have tried to translate it into English, the Nectar of Devotion. So why? Rūpa Gosvāmī was the minister in the government of Hussain Shah. Very opulent position. Tyaktvā tūrṅam aśeṣa-maṅḍala-pati-śreṅīṁ sadā tucchavat bhūtvā dīna-gaṅeśakau karuṅayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau [Śrī Śrī Ṣaḍ Gosvāmy Aṣṭaka 4].

[I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvāmīs, namely Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, and Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, who kicked off all association of aristocracy as insignificant. In order to deliver the poor conditioned souls, they accepted loincloths, treating themselves as mendicants, but they are always merged in the ecstatic ocean of the gopīs' love for Kṛṣṅa and bathe always and repeatedly in the waves of that ocean.]

They resigned the high post of ministership and joined Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu for pushing on and on this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. Tyaktvā tūrṅam aśeṣa-maṅḍala-pati-śreṅīṁ sadā tucchavat bhūtvā dīna-gaṅeśakau karuṅayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau.

So Vaiṣṅava means para-duḥkha-duḥkhī. They are simple-thinking. There are so many politicians and humanitarians and so many, but nobody knows how to do good to others. Nobody knows. They do not know. The real fact is, as Kṛṣṅa explains Himself, that,

aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa mām 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.]

This is the real suffering of the humanity. I especially speak on humanity, because in the human form of life one can actually understand what is the position, what is the value of life. The value of life one should understand that we are in the cycle of birth and death. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19]. Once we take birth, and again we die. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi duḥkha-doṣānu-darśanam [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.]

So one should be intelligent to understand that "I am eternal." I learn from Bhagavad-gītā and Vedic literature that ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am eternal. Why I am dying?" This is intelligence. This is intelligence. Otherwise cats and dogs. A dog, a cat, does not know why he is dying. Neither he knows that he is eternal. But a human being can take information from the śāstra that he is eternal and he does not die on the destruction of the body. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. Kṛṣṅa is giving this information. Tathā dehāntara. This is our real unhappiness, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi. But if we are kept into darkness about this and simply we become busy with some superficial things, bahir-artha-māninaḥ. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅu durāśayā. It is durāśayā.

So all these leaders, the political leaders, they do not know what is the value of life. The durāśayā, with some hope which will never be fulfilled, they are busy with that. Therefore a Vaiṣṅava is para-duḥkha-duḥkhī. He knows what is the real suffering of humanity, and he tries to estab... Sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau. Nānā-śāstra-vicāraṅaika-nipuṅau. Real sad-dharma. Dharma means occupation. Dharma does not mean that you believe in something. That is the description in the..., "a faith." Faith is different thing. But real dharma means the occupational duty. Just like government law. Government law, if you go on the street, you'll find "Keep to the left." There is no question of faith. You must keep on the left; otherwise you are criminal, you'll be punished. That is dharma. The real meaning is this, that dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītam [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.]

the laws given by God. That is the simple definition of dharma.

So if we don't accept the dharma, then we'll be punished. That is stated in the Bhāgavata. Dharmasya asya parantapa. Aśraddadhānāḥ. If you have no faith in the words of God... 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.]

Kṛṣṅa is saying, "If you do not become devotee, if you do not think of Kṛṣṅa, then you will not get Kṛṣṅa." If you remain continuously, birth after birth, forgetful of Kṛṣṅa, and that is very dangerous. What is that danger? Nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani: again you'll be in the cycle of birth and death, birth and death, birth and death. Not that today you are Indian; you shall get the birth again as Indian. No. Today you may be Indian, prime minister; tomorrow you may be a dog in some other country. They do not know these laws.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni guṅaiḥ karmāṅi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate [Bg 3.27]

You are not independent. Nobody is independent. Today you maybe something; tomorrow you may be something. But you must search out your real life. That is intelligence. That is intelligence. That intelligence is given by the Vaiṣṅava.

Therefore Vaiṣṅava has got a very great responsibility. My Guru Mahārāja pointed out, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura,

mana tumi kīsera vaiṣṅava? pratiṣṭhāra tare, nirjanera ghare, tava hari-nāma kevala

Formerly people used to know that "If I take a mālā and sit down in a secluded place..." Of course, that is good; that is not bad. But the real business of Vaiṣṅava is not for himself, but for others. Just like the example given by Rūpa Gosvāmī: nānā-śāstra-vicāraṅaika-nipuṅau sad-dharma saṁsthāpakau lokānāṁ hita-kāriṅau. Lokānāṁ-hita-kāriṅau, not personal hita-kāriṅau. Personal hita-kāriṅau is not high-class Vaiṣṅava—"I shall become liberated. Let me give up everything and sit down." Sometimes that is also good, but sometimes we take it to get cheap adoration from innocent public, that "Here is a Vaiṣṅava. He sits down." No. My Guru Mahārāja, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he was not that type of Vaiṣṅava. You should remember. That is his special gift. He wanted every one of his disciples to go and preach the cult of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted. Here we are in this Caitanya Mahāprabhu's country, birthplace. We should remember. Caitanya Mahāprabhu of course asked every Indian to take His mission. At least Bengalis should take Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu... What is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission?

āmāra ājnāya guru hañā, tara ei deśa yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

E[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.]

ven if you cannot go outside, it doesn't matter. Wherever you are, either you are here in Nabadwip or in Calcutta, anywhere, so you just become a guru. Don't remain a rascal. You become a guru. "Now, how can I become a guru? I am not very educated." No! You don't require to be very highly educated rascal. Simply repeat Kṛṣṅa consciousness as Kṛṣṅa said—you become guru. Unfortunately, we don't care for Kṛṣṅa's instruction. We are busy with this ism, that ism, that ism.

So we should remember—I don't wish to take much time—just to say Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he took this Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction very seriously, and he wanted his disciple to do. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura also wanted that, and Bhaktisiddhānta... This Māyāpur is meant for this purpose: to spread Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement all over the world, as it was desired by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma sarvatra pracāra [CB Antya-khaṅḍa 4.126].

[In every town and village of the world, the chanting of My name will be heard.]

So the beginning is there. We are preaching all over the world, and you, my dear friends from Europe and America, you have taken this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. Again I shall repeat the same logic: andha-paṅgu-nyāya. Andha-paṅgu-nyāya. Andha means blind, and paṅgu means lame. Both of them are useless. Andha cannot see, he cannot walk; and the lame man cannot walk. Andha can walk but cannot see, and the lame man can see but cannot walk. Now let them both combine together. So the whole world is suffering for want of Kṛṣṅa consciousness, or spiritual life. If American money and Indian culture mix together, the whole world will be benefited. That is my ambition. Take Indian culture and help with American money. The whole world will be happy. Andha-paṅgu-nyāya. And if the andha is taken on the shoulder... If the paṅgu is taken on the shoulder of the andha, then the lame man can give direction.

So actually this logic is coming to be true, and there is now agitation. People are feeling the pressure of this movement, and in Europe, America there is opposing party. But don't be afraid. Take this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement very seriously. It is not a national movement or some social movement. It is the movement to uplift the position of the whole human society. So that was the mission of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. Somehow or other we are taking it little seriously. Let all the Americans, Indians, especially young men... Don't misunderstand these Europeans and Americans CIA. Don't be mad, crazy fellow. They have taken Kṛṣṅa consciousness. They have nothing to do with politics. And you also, young men, you also join on the basis of Kṛṣṅa consciousness and do something philanthropic for the whole human society. [end]