Evening Darśana

Prabhupāda: Come here. Sit down. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [Hindi]

Devotee (1): We kindly request all of you to please move in a little more down.

Indian man: [Hindi]

Prabhupāda: Ācchā. Ah, Vṛndāvana. So we are publishing these books, altogether about eighty-four books, to prove that kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam. This is our... There is God, and the Supreme Being, Supreme Lord, is Kṛṣṅa. Ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ 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.]

This verdict of Vyāsadeva we are preaching.

[to Pradyumna:] You can speak something about Kṛṣṅa? Hmm?

Pradyumna: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Stand up.

Pradyumna: Stand up?

Prabhupāda: Yes. They'll hear.

Pradyumna:

nama oṁ viṣṅu-pādāya kṛṣṅa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta- svāmin iti nāmine

namas te sārasvate devum gaura-vāṅī-pracāriṅe nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi- pāścātya-deśa-tāriṅe

[break] ...yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṅoti. For one who is...

Prabhupāda: Pramattaḥ.

Pradyumna: One who is pramattaḥ... One who is... Pramattaḥ means mad or illu...

Prabhupāda: More than. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṅa mattaḥ. Mattaḥ means mad, drunkard; and pramattaḥ means more than mad. So generally people, they have become mad after sense enjoyment. Everyone is busy for sense enjoyment. This is material life. And when they are fed up, no more available, so they become tyāgī—frustration, that "Grapes are sour." The jackal jumped over to get the grapes, but when he could not obtain it, then he rejects, "Ah, what is the use of the grapes? It is sour." So karmīs, they are pramattaḥ, mad after enjoying; and jñānīs, being fed up, they say, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: "The world is useless." So this is going on. The karmīs, they want to enjoy this material world, and the jñānīs, they are little advanced. They are... They are fed up, rather. They want to enjoy by becoming one with the Supreme. So there is want. The karmīs want to enjoy this world, and the jñānīs want also. That is demand, mukti. Mukti means to become one with the Supreme Brahman. And the yogīs, they want siddhi, aṣṭa-siddhi—aṅimā, laghimā, prāpti, īśitā... They also want.

Therefore our Vaiṣṅava poet, Kavirāja Gosvāmī, he says, bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta: "Those who are after something—either enjoyment of this material world or enjoyment of spiritually becoming one or to have some siddhis—they want something, so they cannot be happy." Because there is demand, "I want this." Maybe I want better thing than you, but I want; I am in need. So therefore those who are in need, they cannot be happy. Bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta, kṛṣṅa-bhakta niṣkāma [Cc Madhya 19.149].

[Because a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṅa is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jñānīs desire liberation, and yogīs desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.]

Kṛṣṅa-bhakta doesn't want anything. Ataeva śānta. So he is... He is satisfied. Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce [Cc Madhya 22.42]:

[[When he was being blessed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Dhruva Mahārāja said:] ’O my Lord, because I was seeking an opulent material position, I was performing severe types of penance and austerity. Now I have gotten You, who are very difficult for the great demigods, saintly persons and kings to attain. I was searching after a piece of glass, but instead I have found a most valuable jewel. Therefore I am so satisfied that I do not wish to ask any benediction from You.]

"I don't want. I am fully satisfied." Dhruva Mahārāja, he went to the forest, underwent very severe austerity, and when Lord Viṣṅu appeared before him—"Take benediction, whatever you like"—he said, svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce: "I have no more demand. I am fully satisfied."

So this is the teaching. If we want to be fully satisfied, without any demand for sense gratification, then we become happy. And that is available in full Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is... Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye. We don't want. People want money and many followers, nice wife, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu refuses.

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir [Cc Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4]

[O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You.]

"Let me remain Your servant janmani janmani." Mukti means no more janma. So He doesn't want even mukti. Bhukti-mukti-siddhi. For a devotee, either this life or next life, the business is the same: to serve Kṛṣṅa. So this verse, nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma... [SB 5.5.4]. People are mad after sense gratification in different ways. So Ṛṣabhadeva says, "No, no, no, this is not good. You have already obtained a material body as a result of your past karma, and you are suffering." Body means suffering. 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.]

"So you have already got this body, and you are suffering. You are again trying to get another body?" Na sādhu manye: "This is not good." Our whole Vedic civilization is punar janma jayāya, to conquer over punar janma. And here Kṛṣṅa gives the very simple formula: janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti [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 simply understand what is Kṛṣṅa... And what is Kṛṣṅa, for that purpose, we are writing so many books. The scholars, they are appreciating. Otherwise Kṛṣṅa is available very easily. 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.]

But if you want to understand kṛṣṅa-tattvataḥ, then we have got so many books. You can read and try to understand Kṛṣṅa. And when you understand kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28], then your life is successful.

[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.]

And karmīs are warned, na sādhu manye: "This sense gratification is not good." Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa jantur deha upapatti [SB 3.31.1].

[The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.]

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 karma means mṛtyu-saṁsāra, again and again. 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.]

You have to change this body. You do not know what kind of body you are going to get. Therefore eight..., 8,400,000 different forms of body. Any one of them I can get. So if I lose the opportunity of human form of life and be engaged for some years, say ten years, twenty years, fifty years, as very big man, and by my action, if I become a dog next life, then my life is spoiled. We should not spoil our life. We should fully utilize. And how to utilize fully, they are all given, direction, in the śāstra. Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary understanding, and if we understand Bhagavad-gītā, understand Kṛṣṅa at least little bit... That is the end of instruction, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. If we have got faith that what Kṛṣṅa says is right... Sarva-dharmān parityajya. That is explained by Kṛṣṅadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, that faith, śraddhā... Śraddhā he has explained.

śraddhā-śabde viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha niścaya kṛṣṅe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya [Cc Madhya 22.62]

Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66], and one who has got faith in these words—"Yes, if I surrender to Kṛṣṅa, all success will follow"—this is faith.

So faith is the beginning of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.4.15, Cc. Madhya 23.14].

[In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness.]

So if we have got faith in the words of Kṛṣṅa—they are very openly spoken—then our life becomes successful. But we have no faith in Kṛṣṅa. They take Kṛṣṅa as ordinary human being. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ [Bg 9.11].

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

If you say that "You have no faith in Kṛṣṅa. Then you are a mūḍha," he becomes angry. But I don't say; Kṛṣṅa says. We are simply repeating the words of Kṛṣṅa: na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ [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.]

So if we say, people become angry. And we don't say anything. We simply repeat. That is our business. We are not learned scholars, but our mission is to repeat the words of Kṛṣṅa. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order. He says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa [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.]

"You become guru." "Now, how shall I become guru? I am neither learned nor Vedantist, neither sannyāsī. How can I become guru?" "No, no, you have no difficulty. You, on My order, become guru simply..." Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Bās. "You become guru. Whomever you meet, you simply try to convince him what Kṛṣṅa has spoken. Then you become guru." So we request everyone the same thing. And become guru. It is very urgently necessary. I... People are becoming godless, atheist, nonbelievers, and they are suffering. So every village, every home, every neighborhood, they require guru. But who will be guru? One who repeats the instruction of Kṛṣṅa. Yāre dekha tāre kaha. It is very easy.

So people are accepting all over the world the instruction of Kṛṣṅa. These books we are selling. Daily our collection is five to six lakhs of rupees. Now this recent publication, how many copies we have printed, this?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: 220,000.

Prabhupāda: Yes. We expect to sell them very...

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Three months' time.

Prabhupāda: That Bhagavad-gītā, abridged edition, we have 300,000?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Of the abridged edition?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Where is that abridged edition?

Devotee (1): It's in the corner.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So foreign countries, foreign religion, and they are foreigners. So why they are purchasing these?

Devotee (2): Three lakhs fifty thousand copies, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.

Prabhupāda: We are printing huge quantity.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: They just printed fifteen lakhs more.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: New printing is fifteen lakhs, one time, abridged edition.

Prabhupāda: [Hindi] It will distribute India's glories. People will feel obliged to India, that "We have got this knowledge from India." Actually knowledge is here. There is no such knowledge all over the world.

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.]

Paropakāra. India is meant for paropakāra. India is not meant for exploiting others. But unfortunately the knowledge is... Sarasvatī jñāna-khale yathā satī. We have got the store of knowledge, but we have kept it locked up, not distributing to the world. They are called jñāna-khala. One who has knowledge but he does not want to distribute it, that is..., they are termed as jñāna-khala. So we should not be jñāna-khala. In India there is storehouse of spiritual knowledge, and every one of us should make our life successful by assimilating this knowledge and distribute all over the world. There is customer; there is appreciation. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. [Hindi] Why you should be jñāna-khala? Na sādhu manye. Jñāna should be distributed. The modern scientists also, they have... If they have discovered something new, they go and distribute for the benefit of the whole human society. Unfortunately we are distorting the knowledge in Bhagavad-gītā, interpreting in a different way according to my whims, and spoiling my life and others'. This process should be stopped. Present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. You'll be benefited; others... Don't distort. That is our duty.

Indian man (3): Sir, do you not consider it advisable to get that judgment that the Americans have [indistinct] translated into Indian so we can take a look?

Prabhupāda: Yes. That... We require an expert lawyer. There are some technical terms. Ordinary man cannot translate it. If among yourself there is a lawyer, if he helps us translate, we can publish it. There are so many legal... The judgment is wonderful judgment.

Indian man (3): Historical judgment.

Prabhupāda: Yes. I was expecting to fight that case at least for some years, but by Kṛṣṅa's grace he has given on the first day the judgment.

Indian man (3): Was it argued on also?

Prabhupāda: No. Simply we presented our statement. I advised them that "You take my eighty-four books and present before the judge that 'Our statements are here. First of all you read these books, then you give your judgment.' "

Indian man (3): Prabhupāda's judgment.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So [laughs] Kṛṣṅa has given him sense that from the ordinary statement he has understood the whole thing, and he has given judgment immediately. I never exp... This is all Kṛṣṅa's arrangement. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61].

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

He is in everyone's heart, so He has dictated that "You give judgment like this." So he... Otherwise it was impossible. And that is... In many courts... We have been harassed in Australia, many, many, because they are afraid of. Now Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is advancing. The some... One politician has said that "This movement is increasing like epidemic. If we do not check it, within ten years they'll take our government." [laughter] Yes, in America one politician. So actually that is happening. In spite of so much obstacles, we are increasing. Our books are selling. They are advancing.

We are getting more devotees. Our movement is not checked. It is... [break] But you do not know. [laughter] We are dropping from the sky? Our main movement is Europe, America.

Indian man (3): Throughout the world over.

Prabhupāda: All over the world.

Indian man (3): No, all over the world I have heard about...

Prabhupāda: So all over the world does not include Europe?

Indian man (3): No, it does.

Prabhupāda: Then why you ask me? We have got in every country of Europe—England, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Rome, Sweden—everywhere.

German man: But the Pope is agreeing with you in Rome?

Prabhupāda: Eh?

German man: The Pope is agreeing?

Devotee (2): The Pope.

Prabhupāda: Pope.

German man: In Rome. He is agreeing with Hare Kṛṣṅa...?

Prabhupāda: But he agree or... Who cares for his agreement?

German man: With chanting and...

Prabhupāda: We don't care for anyone agrees or not. We push on. That's all. Do you think in India they agree Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Person? Then? We don't care for them. We have to go forward. That is our business. If Kṛṣṅa agrees, that is all right. We don't care for anyone else, agrees or not agrees. If our master agrees—we are servant—and that is our satis... We don't care for ordinary...

Indian man (3): Unfortunately, that this training ground all over the world, excluding India, the birthplace of this. There the movement should be increased. In present you have got temples in here...

Prabhupāda: [Hindi] They say, "What is this Hare Kṛṣṅa? We have chanted Hare Kṛṣṅa many times. Now let us meditate." This is going on.

Devotee (2): The Indian government even does not grant visa for the followers of Hare Kṛṣṅa movement in India.

Prabhupāda: So we are not dependent on Indian government.

Devotee (2): Just a few months long.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Devotee (2): They don't give long-term visa for Hare Kṛṣṅa movement in India.

Prabhupāda: No.

Devotee (2): Just for few months.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Devotee (2): As tourist people.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. Three months. Utmost, six months. And we are losing five to six lakhs of rupees per year for this injustice. I have pointed out the government that "In America they give permanent residentship to so many Indians. I am also. I have got that blue card, formal residence in America. So why don't you give them permanent residence? They are my assistants." "No." This is our misfortune. I am preaching Indian culture all over the world, and I am bringing at least ten lakhs of rupees foreign exchange for my Indian activities, but there is no help from the government. This is our position.

Indian man (4): So now the government has changed.

Prabhupāda: But the machine is the same.

Indian man (3): It may be due to secular state. Maybe that also.

Prabhupāda: No, secular state it was...

Indian man (4): Secularism means it's opposed to religion.

Devotee (2): Different parties, different government.

Prabhupāda: No, no. We have to study the Indian constitution. It is defective, because by the same constitution our present Prime Minister was put into custody for nineteen months. And we are working on the same constitution. So the constitution itself is defective. Anything man-made will be defective.

Indian man (3): It will never be perfect.

Prabhupāda: Therefore I am insisting that "Take the instruction of Kṛṣṅa, you'll be perfect. Don't manufacture."

Indian man (5): You can't have that in authoritarianism. You get that in Delhi, where they feel that they are authority.

Prabhupāda: So become authority. That is... We said that. You become guru, authority. But you learn first of all as celā from the guru. And then you become guru. And without any learning, without any..., how become a guru? That is going on. Everyone is self-made guru. That has to be stopped.

Indian man (5): I feel, in this country at least, the young generation, the present generation, absolutely has got no base, religious base. And...

Prabhupāda: Religious base is there. There is scriptures. But they are not being trained up.

Indian man (5): They are trained, but after some time they...

Prabhupāda: They do not like to be trained up.

Indian man (5): What will happen to this generation after ten, twenty years?

Prabhupāda: No, if the rascals—again we have to say "the rascals"—the rascal leaders mislead them, there is no hope.

Indian man (5): There is no hope.

Prabhupāda: There is no hope. Now, to prove Bhagavad..., from Bhagavad-gītā, nonviolence, how it is possible? Bhagavad-gītā begins with the word yuyutsavaḥ. And now if you want to make it nonviolent, that is misleading. Yuyutsavaḥ means "fighting spirit." Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ [Bg 1.1].

[Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: O Sañjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukṣetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pāṅḍu do, being desirous to fight?]

So where is nonviolence there? But our leaders want to prove Bhagavad-gītā nonviolence. Is not misleading? Hmm? Why you should misinterpret Bhagavad-gītā?

Indian man (5): Swāmījī, there is no salvation for this country?

Prabhupāda: There is. Not everyone is misled. One who can protect himself from this misleading... Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ [SB 7.5.31].

[Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṅu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.]

If they can understand their leaders are blind—they have no knowledge—then they'll be saved. That we are trying. And there is obstacle. When we say, "Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Being," they take objection. They say, "Kṛṣṅa is an ordinary man." Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ [Bg 9.11].

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

This is the struggle going on.

Indian man (5): So we have to leave everything in the faith of Kṛṣṅa.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Indian man (5): We have to leave everything...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Indian man (5): ...at the feet of Kṛṣṅa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam... [Bg 18.66]. That is the instruction.

Indian man (5): Whatever He does, He does all.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Not does. He wants you also to do. He... He does not anything. Everything is done by His... Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8].

[The Supreme Lord has nothing to do. Nothing is equal to Him or greater than Him. He acts in different phases by manifesting His parts and parcels, which are all simultaneously differently situated by His unlimited, variegated potencies. Each potency acts quite naturally in sequences, providing Him full knowledge, power and pastimes.]

He hasn't got to do anything. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca. He has got many names. Still, He acts to teach us. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. He's so kind, but as soon as He comes to teach us, we take Him as ordinary man.

Indian man (5): Is He coming again?

Prabhupāda: Yes. He has already come.

Indian man (5): Eh?

Prabhupāda: He has already come—by His name. Kali-kāle kṛṣṅa nāma-rūpe avatāra.

Indian man (5): Oh, that's correct.

Prabhupāda: This Hare Kṛṣṅa is Kṛṣṅa. He's absolute. His name, His form, His attributes, His paraphernalia—they're all one. So He... This Hare Kṛṣṅa name is not different from Kṛṣṅa. The... Nāma cintāmaṅiḥ kṛṣṅaḥ...

nāma cintāmaṅiḥ kṛṣṅaś caitanya-rāsa-vigrahaḥ pūrṅaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto 'bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ [Cc Madhya 17.133]

[The holy name of Kṛṣṅa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kṛṣṅa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kṛṣṅa’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kṛṣṅa Himself. Since Kṛṣṅa’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with māyā. Kṛṣṅa’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa Himself are identical.]

Nāma is Kṛṣṅa. So He has already come. He's... Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

If you simply take harer nāma harer nāma... [Cc Ādi 17.21].

[In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.]

Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṅasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet [SB 12.3.51].

[My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.]

This is the verdict of Bhāgavata. Kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṅaḥ. We have got a special concession in this Kali-yuga. We cannot execute all the instruction in the Vedas. We are fallen down. But if we chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra—kīrtanād eva kṛṣṅasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet—he becomes liberated from all the faults of this Kali-yuga, and paraṁ vrajet, goes back home, back to Godhead. So Kṛṣṅa is already there. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam, kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva [Cc Ādi 17.21].

[In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.]

This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's... Chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. Wherever you are staying, it doesn't matter. Sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ [SB 10.14.3].

[Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.]

There is very simple formula. You can become liberated simply by chanting. And if you think that you are very learned philosopher, read all these books. Two ways there are. Thing is very simple. Even a boy can chant Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Indian man (5): Rāma and Kṛṣṅa are [Hindi].

Prabhupāda: No. 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.]

Kṛṣṅa has unlimited number of expansions—Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha... There are... Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu, kṛṣṅaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat. Kṛṣṅa is the original person, and Rāma and Kṛṣṅa the same, expansion.

Indian man (5): That's what I mean, Rāma and Kṛṣṅa are the same.

Prabhupāda: Same. Kṛṣṅa is Rāma, and Rāma, Kṛṣṅa. So we chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Rāma. There is no difference. So...?

Indian man (5): We are living in more horrible conditions than what was obtained in the time of Mahābhārata.

Prabhupāda: What?

Indian man (5): And Kṛṣṅa has promised definitely that He would appear whenever there is...

Prabhupāda: Yes, He has appeared, nāma-rūpe avatāra.

Indian man (5): So I think we are passing through a greater hell than what was [indistinct].

Prabhupāda: No, no, the disease is there; the remedy is there. If you take the remedy, so there is no question of suffering from the disease. But you refuse to take the remedy. Just like this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Twelfth Canto. This Kali-yuga is the ocean of faults. Why should we lament for that? The remedy is there. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṅasya mukta... [SB 12.3.51].

[My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.]

You chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, you'll become relieved immediately. So why don't you take the remedy? Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti [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.]

Why you are so much disturbed by māyā? Just surrender to Kṛṣṅa. So it is our choice. We do not do that, and we suffer. Mām aprāpya nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra... Kṛṣṅa is giving personally. A second. And we are not accepting. What can be done? The knowledge is there, the process is there, the authority is there, all the ācāryas, they have accepted, but we are so stubborn, we'll not accept. That is the difficulty. We'll manufacture our own ways. Yato mata tato patha. That is the difficulty. So it is past six. Have some kīrtana. [kīrtana begins] [end]