Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.16.20

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

pādair nyūnaṁ śocasi maika-pādam ātmānaṁ vā vṛṣalair bhokṣyamāṅam āho surādīn hṛta-yajña-bhāgān prajā uta svin maghavaty avarṣati [SB 1.16.20]

[break] [01:34]

Translation: "I have lost my three legs and am now standing on one only. Are you lamenting for my state of existence? Or are you in great anxiety because henceforward the unlawful meat-eaters will exploit you? Or are you in a sorry plight because the demigods are now bereft of their share of sacrificial offerings because no sacrifices are being performed at present? Or are you grieving for living beings because of their sufferings due to famine and drought?"

Prabhupāda: Read the purport. Read. Long purport.

Pradyumna: "With the progress of the Age of Kali, four things particularly, namely the duration of life, mercy, the power of recollection, and moral or religious principles will gradually diminish. Since dharma, or the principles of religion, would be lost in the proportion of three out of four, the symbolic bull was standing on one leg only. When three-fourths of the population of the whole world become irreligious, the situation is converted into hell for the animals. In the Age of Kali, godless civilizations will create so many so-called religious societies in which the Personality of Godhead will be directly or indirectly defied. And thus faithless societies of men will make the world uninhabitable for the saner section of people. There are gradations of human beings in terms of proportionate faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The first-class..."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Go on.

Pradyumna: "The first-class faithful men are the Vaiṣṅavas and the brāhmaṅas, then the kṣatriyas, then the vaiśyas, then the śūdras, then the mlecchas, the yavanas, and at last the caṅḍālas. The degradation of the human instinct begins from the mlecchas..."

Prabhupāda: Caṅḍālas means the dog-eaters. In the human society, the division of higher class and lower class is determined by the standard of eating. So first-class men, just like brāhmaṅa, Vaiṣṅava, they eat very purified prasādam. Their responsibility is practically does not depend on them. Because Vaiṣṅava... Brāhmaṅa also. Without becoming a brāhmaṅa, nobody can become Vaiṣṅava. So when you speak of Vaiṣṅava, it is to be supposed that he's already brāhmaṅa. Therefore, to bring the neophyte devotees to the perfectional stage, we offer the brāhmaṅa's sacred thread. But if people, after promising everything, and break their promise, that is very abominable. When they're initiated before the Deity, before the Lord, before the fire, they should not break it. That is most sinful if you break your promise. Otherwise, you should not be coming forward for initiation if you cannot keep your promise.

So the first-class, second-class, third-class, fourth-class men are considered according to the guṅa and karma, quality and work. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāg.., er, Bhagavad-gītā, cātur-varṅyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṅa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ [Bg 4.13].

[According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.]

That is the system; not by force one can become first class. According to the śāstra, who is first class, who is second class, who is third class, who is fourth class, who is fifth class, that is to be understood. Guṅa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ. So when one becomes above the guṅas by devotional service... Guṅa means quality. A devotee is on the position of first-class human society because a devotee is engaged in devotional service. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā,

māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena sevate sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg 14.26]

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

"Anyone who is engaged cent per cent without any motive in the devotional service of the Lord," māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena, bhakti-yogena, avyabhicāreṅa, "without any adulteration, such person," māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena sevate, sa guṅān... Guṅān means these material qualities: goodness, passion and ignorance. These are guṅas. Sa guṅān samatītya, samah atītya, "fully transcendental, fully surpassing." Brahma-bhūyāya kalpate: "Then that is the stage of self-realization."

So if one is not even on the stage of self-realization, how he can teach others? That is cheating. That is cheating. If one is not a graduate, if he becomes a teacher, he is not a teacher, he is a cheater. One must be first of all qualified. That qualification means one must be above the three qualities of material nature. Goodness... Even you have to go beyond the quality of goodness. In the material world we have made, concocted, "This is good; this is bad." So even taking it... Actually, everything in the material world is bad. Anything. It is simply mental concoction. We are creating, "This is good; this is bad." The... So long one is in the material world, everything is bad. Even the so-called religious practice, that is also bad in the material world. So therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, sa guṅān samatītya etān: "One has to transcend even the quality of goodness, the so-called goodness."

Actually there is no goodness, because here people dress like in the platform of goodness, but thinking just like animals. That kind of goodness has no value. Actually goodness, that goodness is sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg 14.26],

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

when one transcends the qualities of material nature, above the brāhmaṅa quality. Brāhmaṅa quality is... Suppose... Suppose actually, in comparison to other qualities, that is the first-class quality. Satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavam..., eh? 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.]

When one is situated in these qualities—truthfulness, satyam; śamaḥ, controlling the senses; damaḥ, controlling the mind; śamo dama titikṣā, tolerant—in spite of all tribulation, tolerant—śamo dama titikṣā śaucam, cleanliness. Then jñānam, full knowledge. Full knowledge means "What I am, what is God, what is this material world, what is our relationship." That is called knowledge. And that knowledge, when practically applied in life, that is called vijñānam. Vijñānam. Vijñānam āstikyam. Āstikyam, full faith in the śāstras and in God, that is called āstikyam. If you have full faith in the revealed scriptures, then you are āstikya.

Because you cannot manufacture your God, so-called incarnation God. No. You must have full knowledge of God through the authority of revealed scriptures. That is God consciousness. If you give up the injunction of the scripture, revealed scripture, you consider something as God, that is not God. Or you consider something as religion, that is not religion. Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ, na siddhim sa avāpnoti [Bg 16.23].

[But he who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.]

If you become abhorrent to the injunction of the śāstras, then na sukhaṁ sāvāpnoti, you'll never get happiness. Na sukham..., yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ, na..., na siddhim sa avāpnoti. There is no question of siddhi, perfection, neither there is question of happiness, na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim, and what to speak of going back to home, back to Godhead. It is useless.

Therefore we must abide by the sādhu-śāstra-guru.

[banging sound] [aside:] Ah, what is this sound, is going on now? You can ask somebody to stop.

Sādhu means saintly person. Śāstra means revealed scriptures. Sādhu, śāstra and guru, spiritual master. So we must follow the footprints of saintly person, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc Madhya 17.186].

[Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great personality whose opinion does not differ from others is not considered a great sage. Simply by studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the right path by which religious principles are understood. The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated self-realized person. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahājanas advocate.]

That is the way. We have to follow great superior personalities, just like ṣaḍ-gosvāmī. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, ei chay gosāi jār tār mui dāsa: "I become servant, servant or disciple, of such a person who follows the footprints of the six Gosvāmīs." Otherwise one becomes guru, anyone, just like nowadays they become. They are manufacturing guru. Guru is not manufactured. Guru is in the disciplic succession, one who is strictly follows the footsteps of the ṣaḍ-gosvāmīs. Ei chay gosāi jār. Anyone who is following the footsteps of the gosvāmīs, Rūpa Gosvāmī... Rūpa Gosvāmī gives his Upadeśāmṛta instruction: vāco vegam, krodha-vegam, udaro-vegam, upastha-vegam, jihvā-vegam, mano vegam, etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt [Upadeśāmṛta 1] This is the injunction given by Rūpa Gosvāmī. Vāco vegaṁ. Vāco vegaṁ means the force of talking, vegam. What is the meaning, vegam?

Nitāi: Control. Pushing. Urge.

Prabhupāda: Urge, yes. Just like I am talking some nonsense. That is the vāco vegam; it has no value. We should fix something which has value, one who can control. It is better not to talk than to talk foolish. So that is the world. All foolish talking or foolish literature, it has no value. So it has to be controlled. That is called controlling the vāco vegam. Krodha-vegam. Krodha means anger. So it has also urge. Suppose I am insulted by somebody. Naturally I'll be angry, but if I can control, "All right, let me... He's a foolish. He has done. Why shall I lose my temper?" that is called controlling krodha-vegam. Vāco vegaṁ krodha-vegam, manasa-vegam, mind. It has got so many urges. Mind is driving practically, "Let us go there, let us go there, let us do this, let us..." Never mind sinful or pious, mind is always dictating and rejecting.

So vāco vegaṁ krodha..., manasaḥ-vegam, krodha-vegam, udara-vegam. Udara-vegam is the urge of the belly: "I shall eat this, I shall eat that, I shall eat that." Why? Simply you shall eat bhagavat-prasādam. Prasāde sarva-duḥkhānam [Bg 2.65].

[For one who is so situated in the Divine consciousness, the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such a happy state, one's intelligence soon becomes steady.]

Then udara-vegam, and upastha-vegam, the urge of the genital. That is the most important. The jihvā-vegam, jihvā-vegam, udara-vegam, then genital, the straight line. So if one can control the urge of these three things... Tā'ra madhye jihvā ati, lobhamoy sudurmati. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that out of the urges of the tongue and other senses, down to the genital, up... There are many urges: urge of the mind, urge of the anger, urge of the talking, urge of the tongue, then belly, then genital. In this way, we are driven by so many urges. So out of that, the strongest enemy is our tongue, is our tongue, jihvā-vegam. If one can control the urges of the tongue then he will be naturally able to stop the urges of the belly and the urges of the genital, three straight line.

So these are to be practiced. Etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ [Upadeśāmṛta 1]: "One who has become successful in controlling the urges of all these things," pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt, "now he's free to make disciples all over the world." And they're not, that... I cannot control even my tongue and control my genital, and I become spiritual master? This is nonsense. This is nonsense. You learn first of all. Try to control. Become first-class controller, dhīraḥ. That is called dhīraḥ: not disturbed by any urges. Etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ. Dhīras tatra na muhyati. This word is used, dhīraḥ. Dhīraḥ means very sober, fully controlled. That is called dhīraḥ. Dhīras tatra na muhyati. Unless you become dhīraḥ, you cannot understand what is spiritual life. That is not possible. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati [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.]

Dhīras tatra na muhyati.

So you cannot understand even. Unless you become a dhīraḥ, you cannot understand what is spiritual life, what is spirit. It is not a bogus thing, that I manufacture something, concoct something, and do something, and I become a leader, I become a spiritual master. This is all nonsense. Dhīras tatra na muhyati. The word is dhīraḥ, and dhīraḥ is explained in the Kumāra-sambhava, that dhīraḥ... Just like Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva lost his wife; she committed suicide before her father. That's in Dakṣa-yajña, was learned about Dakṣa-yajña. So Lord Śiva was performing yoga practice meditation, and in the meantime, his wife Devī, she took birth as daughter of Himalaya, King of Himalaya, Pārvatī. So the..., there was fight between the demigods and the demons. So there was a plan that "If by the semina of Lord Śiva one son is born, Kārttikeya, then he'll be able to kill these demons; otherwise, it is very difficult."

So Lord Śiva was engaged in meditation after the death of his wife. In the meantime, his wife took birth in the Himalaya. So now he..., he has to be induced to unite with this Pārvatī. So there was plan made. The plan made that Pārvatī, young age, beautiful girl, and Lord Śiva is meditating naked, and he [she] was offering worshipable flowers on the genital. Still, he was not disturbed. Young girl touching the genital of a person, but he is not disturbed. That is dhīraḥ; that is the example of perfection of dhīraḥ. Even in the presence of being agitated, one who is not agitated, that is called dhīraḥ. Otherwise, everyone becomes agitated. That is natural. A young boy sees another young man or a young man sees another young girl—natural sex appetite, natural. But one who can control that, that is dhīraḥ. That is dhīraḥ. Dhīras tatra na muhyati. That is yoga practice. That is yoga practice, controlling: "When there will be need, I shall use it."

Just like Kardama Muni. Kardama Muni was given the best, beautiful daughter of King Manu. So she was simply serving, not that immediately coming and sexually inclined. She was... So Kardama Muni saw that "This girl came to me, and I have accepted her as my wife, but she is engaged fully, although she is the prince, the daughter of king, very great king. But I'm not giving her any comfort. She has become lean and thin, skinny, but engaged." So he promised that "I am accepting your daughter, but as soon as she will have some children, then I'll leave her. On this condition, I can accept your daughter." The father came with the daughter, that "My daughter has selected you as the proper husband. Please accept her." So he accepted, but he made this condition that "As soon as your daughter will have some children, then I'll leave home. Then I'll accept."

So these are the examples, how to become dhīraḥ. It is not spiritual consciousness, it is not so easy thing that you can go. But by the grace of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it is being easily distributed. That is the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But if we misuse it, even this facility, we do not know what is the aim of life, then we are missing the opportunity. So go on reading.

Pradyumna: "The degradation of the human instinct begins from the mlecchas, and the caṅḍāla state of life is the last word in human degradation. All the above terms mentioned in the Vedic literatures..."

Prabhupāda: This is first-class life, satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavaṁ 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.]

And the lowest class of life... Practically, nowadays all lowest class of life, the life of a caṅḍāla, dog-eaters. So this is the description in the śāstra. Go on.

Pradyumna: "All the above terms mentioned in the Vedic literatures are never meant for any particular community or birth..."

Prabhupāda: It is not that because one has taken birth in the lowest class family—śvapaca, caṅḍāla, dog-eaters—it does not mean that he'll have to remain in that position. Just like uneducated person: It is not that he'll have to remain in that uneducated standard, but he can become educated. He can become educated. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, that there is no check on any particular person, community, to become God conscious. Because God Himself says, Kṛṣṅa says, māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ. Pāpa-yoni, to take birth in lower class of human society, is called pāpa-yoni. But Kṛṣṅa says, "Never mind, pāpa-yoni.

māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim [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.]

Formerly, in the Vedic civilization, even women and śūdra and vaiśya, they were also considered amongst the pāpa-yoni, what to speak of others. But Kṛṣṅa says, "Never mind whatever pāpa-yoni one may be." Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya: "If one takes shelter of My devotee," vyapāśritya, "and works under his direction, then..." Vyapa. That is called vyapāśritya. Viśeṣa rūpeṅa āśritya. "Then he also...," te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim, "he can also go back to home, back to Godhead." There is no bar.

But one has to purify himself by the purificatory process. That is called saṁskāra. Saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ. By purificatory process, one becomes purified, and purified means no more sinful life. That is purification. Yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpam. One who is fully freed from sinful activities:

yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ [Bg 7.28]

[Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.]

So kṛṣṅa-bhajana is not very difficult. Simply we have to follow the four principles of sinful life: no illicit sex, no gambling, no intoxication, no meat-eating. And chant Hare Kṛṣṅa and be happy.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]