Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 4.3

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

sa evāyaṁ mayā te 'dya yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam [Bg 4.3]

[break] [01:37]

Translation: "That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend. Therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science."

Prabhupāda: This is very important verse to understand Bhagavad-gītā. By rascal interpretation you cannot understand what is Bhagavad-gītā. It is a mystery. Rahasyam, mysterious. Only a devotee who is in intimate relation with Kṛṣṅa, he can understand. That is clearly stated here. When Kṛṣṅa was speaking Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, it was in the battlefield. It is not a parlor discussing, smoking and discussing Vedānta philosophy. No. It is not like that. Very serious, in the battlefield. And Kṛṣṅa selected Arjuna. Kṛṣṅa selected... At that time, when Kṛṣṅa was present, there were very, very great, learned scholars. Even Vyāsadeva was present there, the Vedavyāsa. And many others—Asita, Devala... Great, great saintly persons and saints. Rājarṣis. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was rājarṣi. Because in the previous verse He said, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg 4.2].

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

So why He selected Arjuna? He was a military man. He was not a Vedāntist. A military man is not supposed to become a Vedāntist, a very great sannyāsī. No. Because the so-called Vedāntists, they cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. It is not possible. It is a mystery. Kṛṣṅa, in other place, He says, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ [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.]

"I cannot be exposed to anyone." Yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ. Therefore, those who are fools, rascals, they consider Kṛṣṅa as fictitious, Kṛṣṅa as a human being, Kṛṣṅa as a historical person. Or "There was no Kṛṣṅa. It is an imaginary writing." Because these rascals, they cannot understand. Unless one is a bona fide devotee and intimately related with Kṛṣṅa, one cannot understand. That is the purport of this verse. One must become a devotee first of all. Because... You'll find in the Eighteenth Chapter: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg 18.55].

[One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.]

Tattvataḥ, in reality, what Kṛṣṅa is, that can be understood through devotion and service. This is what we are preaching all over the world, devotional service, the...

śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam [SB 7.5.23]

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

iti puṁsārpitā viṣṅau bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṅā... tan manye 'dhītam uttamam [SB 7.5.24]

This is the statement of Prahlāda Mahārāja. These are the bhakti process. If one wants to become bhakta, then he must begin with śravaṅam. Just like you have kindly come here to hear about Kṛṣṅa. This is the beginning of bhakti. Unless you hear about the Supreme Person... This is Vedic process. Śruti. Śruti. Veda is known as śruti.

śruti-smṛti-purāṅādi pañcarātrikī-vidhiṁ vinā aikāntikī harer bhaktir utpātāyaiva kalpate [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.101]

[Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upaniṣads, Purāṅas and Nārada-pañcarātra is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society.]

If one does not follow the principle, Vedic principle, smṛti, the Vedic corollaries... Smṛti means literature which is written according to Vedic principle. That is called smṛti. And śruti means the Vedas. Bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā [SB 1.2.12].

[The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedānta-śruti.]

Śruta-gṛhītayā. Śruta-gṛhītayā, there are two meanings: by hearing, or through the Vedic literature. Through the Vedic literature... Only bhakti is...

There are three kinds of departmental study in the Vedas. First thing is sambandha. Sambandha means "What is my relationship with God." This is stated there. In the Vedānta it says, janmādy asya yataḥ: the Absolute Truth is that from whom everything is generated. So everything, amongst everything, I am also, you are also. So you are also coming from that Supreme Absolute Truth. Kṛṣṅa says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7]: "All these living entities..." Sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya [Bg 14.4]:

[It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.]

"In every species, any form of life...," sambhavanti mūrtayo yāḥ, "as many forms are there..." Not only human beings—the animals, the trees, the birds, the aquatics, the insects, everyone, all living entities. Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayo yāḥ: "In any species of life, as many forms are there," ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā, "I am their original father." Bīja-pradaḥ pitā, seed-giving father. So as father places the seeds within the womb of the mother, similarly the material nature is the mother and Kṛṣṅa is the father. The Kṛṣṅa impregnates the material nature, and we come out in different forms: sveda-ja, udbhij-ja and jarāyu-ja and aṅḍa-ja. Sveda-ja means by perspiration, through perspiration. Just like bed bugs. Bed bugs... Because if you keep your bed nasty, do not keep it very clean, then by your perspiration there is generation of these bed bugs. They are called sveda-ja, "by perspiration." And aṅḍa-ja, through the eggs. Just like the birds, the living entity is coming through the eggs. That is called aṅḍa-ja. Sveda-ja, aṅḍa-ja, jarāyu-ja, embryo, just like we are coming from the embryo. Aṅḍa-ja, jarāyu-ja. And udbhij-ja, coming from the seeds, the trees, plants. So within these four groups, all different living entities are coming.

So the..., by gradual evolution, we are coming to the human form of life. So in the human form of life, here there is a prerogative, there is a chance to know what is God and what is my relationship with Him. That is called sambandha-jñāna. Sambandha, abhidheya. Then execution of the duty. Just like sambandha. We can understand, an unmarried girl and unmarried boy, there is first of all sambandha: the father, mother makes the relationship. Then there is function between husband and wife. That is called abhidheya. And why? No, because there is a necessity. What is that? To get children. Sambandha, abhidheya, prayojana. Prayojana. Every sambandha, every relationship is made, every action is done with an aim, the goal, the prayojana. So Vedic literature means sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana. That is to be studied in the human form of life. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [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.]

To study Vedas means to understand what is my relation, what is Kṛṣṅa, what I am, and what is my relationship, and how to act in that relationship, and what is the aim of life.

The aim of life is to go back to home, back to Godhead. That is the aim of life. We are fallen in this material condition of life. We are suffering, but we do not know. We are so fool. Just like animals, we do not know what is the aim of life. Aim of life, that is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā: 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.]

When we can understand that "This process of repetition of birth, death, old age and disease, this is not wanted by me..." Nobody wants to die, but death is forced upon him. He does not think that "This is my problem. I do not want to die, but death is as sure as anything." So this is the problem. Nobody is careful how to solve this problem. They are simply engaged in the, I mean to say, temporary problems. The temporary problems are not problems. Real problem is how to stop death, how to stop birth, how to stop old age and how to stop disease. That is real problem. That can be done when you are liberated from this material world. This is our problem.

So Kṛṣṅa comes here again... Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg 4.7]. Dharmasya glāniḥ. Glāniḥ means when it is distorted. So people are manufacturing, in the name of so-called religion, "This is our religion. This is...," "This is Hindu religion," "This is Muslim religion," "This is Christian religion." Or "This is Buddha religion," and "This is Sikh religion," "This is that religion, that religion..." They have manufactured so many religions. So many religions. But real religion is 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.]

Religion means the codes and the laws given by the Lord, given by God. That is religion. Simple definition of religion is: dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītam. Just like law is given by the state, by the government. You cannot manufacture law. I have repeatedly said. Law is made by the government. Similarly, religion is made by God. If you accept God's religion, then that is religion. And what is God's religion? [aside:] If you stand, you come stand here. Other people are seeing. God's religion is... You'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66].

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

This is God's religion. "You give up all this nonsense religion. You become a devotee, a surrendered soul unto Me." That is religion.

One who does not know what is God, one who does not know how to surrender to Him, he's not religious. Any religion without the conception of God, without knowledge of God, without knowing the surrendering process, that is called..., described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as "cheating religion." Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavaḥ atra. The so-called religious system, which is cheating only, that kind of religion is completely thrown away, kicked out. Because religion means to develop your dormant love for God, or to execute the laws of God. That is... The laws of God is, Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. And how to achieve that? That also Kṛṣṅa says: 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.]

Four principles only. "Always think of Me." Hare Kṛṣṅa. If you chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, then you're remembering Kṛṣṅa. Man-manāḥ. Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa... This is the religion, at least of this age.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā [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.]

There is no other way. You chant. Then any, any scripture you will find. Śabdād anāvṛtti, in the Vedānta-sūtra. Śabdāt, simply by chanting, vibrating, you become liberated. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: 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.]

Kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṅaḥ. Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, "Mahārāja Parīkṣit, this Age of Kali is full of faulty things. It is an ocean of faulty things. But there is one profit, benefit." What is that? Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṅasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet. "If you chant the holy name of Kṛṣṅa, then you become liberated, and you are promoted to the spiritual world." Paraṁ vrajet. One can...

That is our aim. The human form of life is meant for finishing all these problems, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi [Bg 13.9], and go back to home, back to Godhead.

But people do not know... They are not educated what is God, what is God's place, where to go back, what is my position, what is my relation. Nothing of these things are educated or given lessons in any university anywhere. But it is there, the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṅa is personally giving him instruction. Kṛṣṅa is giving instruction to Arjuna. "Arjuna" does not mean that Arjuna is to take that lesson. Every one of us. And it is very old. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, "Don't manufacture new type of religion." What you'll do that? It is simply waste of time. You cannot manufacture anything. But they are after modernized religion. What is this nonsense modernized religions? You are living entity. You are part and parcel of God. It is old relationship, purāṅa. It is said purāṅa. Purāṅa means very old. Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit, nityaṁ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṅaḥ. We have to accept that purāṅa. We are purāṅa, eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. We are not destroyed simply by destruction of this body. We remain. We accept another body. 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.]

This is Bhagavad-gītā. Nobody wants to know this. They manufacture their own commentary. In that way you'll never understand. You'll understand as Kṛṣṅa says, sa eva ayaṁ purātanaḥ. The same thing. What is that same thing? That "I am God. I am Kṛṣṅa. You are My part and parcel." This is eternal relationship. It cannot be broken. But you have forgotten. You have forgotten your relationship with Kṛṣṅa. You have made your relationship with your family, so-called family, so-called country, so-called society, and so on, so on, so on, so on. This is all temporary. Suppose I am Indian today; you are American tomo..., today. But is there guarantee after your death you'll become American or I'll become Indian? Or I'll take my birth in the same family? No. According to my karma, I may become cats and dogs. You may become demigods. You may become something else. But dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg 2.13]. Dehāntara-prāptiḥ means you'll have to accept another body. And there are 8,400,000 species of forms of bodies. Any of them you'll have to accept. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni guṅaiḥ karmāṅi sarvaśaḥ [Bg 3.27].

[The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.]

You are wasted your time as the family member or as the national or this or that, but there is no guarantee that next life will be same countryman or same family. No, there is no such guarantee. Dehāntara-prāptiḥ. You'll have to accept one body, and that body means... Any, out of these four..., according to my karma... Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa jantur dehopapatti [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.]

So these are the instruction of the śāstras. And this is very scientific and very important thing. But unfortunately, we are not taking care of these things. We are very busy with the temporary problems. Temporary problems are not problems. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: āgama apāyinaḥ anityāḥ tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṅa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ [Bg 2.14]: "Your temporary problems, so-called happiness and distress, these are āgamāpāyinaḥ. They come and go." That is not very important. Just like the seasonal changes. The winter season comes; again goes away. For the time being, you may feel very cold, but it will go. Similarly, summer season also, it comes and goes—any seasonal changes. We should not be disturbed with these seasonal changes of happiness and distress.

We should be very serious about the problems of life, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi [Bg 13.9].

That is spiritual advancement. Unless we come to the serious point, unless you have become very intelligent, that "I do not want to die. Why death is there...?" This is intelligence. You may solve your temporary problems, but you cannot, by your so-called materialistic activities, the problem of death. Nobody wants to die. Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś ca aham. Death will come. But the people have become so much unintelligent, they do not take up seriously the real problems. Just like animals. The animals is being taken to the slaughterhouse, and one animal enters to the slaughterhouse store, livestock store, and the all the animals enters. He does not know that "This..., I have to stay here for being killed." He does not know. This is animal. Similarly, if you do not take these problems seriously, you are no better than animal. However you may be advanced for these bodily comforts, you are animal. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke [SB 10.84.13].

[One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.]

Kuṅape tri-dhātuke, this bag of three elements, kapha-pitta-vāyu. If I think that "I am this body, and the comfort of this body is my happiness"—sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]—you are not better than animal. This is animal conception of life. You must know that "I am not this body. I am spirit soul. Circumstantially, I have been put into this body, and again I'll be put into another body. So what is the solution of this problem?" That is Bhagavad-gītā. That is Bhagavad-gītā. If you understand fully what is Bhagavad-gītā, what is the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā, then these questions, the answers are there. You'll find.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa has said... This is old. It is not new type of religion. It is the..., it is the oldest. Bhagavad-bhakti. Bhagavān is there, and the living entities are there. Their relationship is there. Now, by forgetting God, forgetting Kṛṣṅa, we are busy with the temporary problems, but we are forgetting the real problem. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says that bhakto 'si. One has to become bhakta. So bhakta means... Bhagavān, if there is Bhagavān, then there is bhakta, and there is bhakti. But these people are denying the existence of bhakta..., Bhagavān. "There is no God." Now, how he can become bhakta? Or how there will be execution of bhakti? Bhakta, Bhagavān, bhakti, the same thing. Bhakta is in relationship with Bhagavān, and the transaction between Bhagavān and bhakta is called bhakti. Bhakti means ānukūlyena kṛṣṅānuśīlanam [Cc Madhya 19.167].

[When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṅa favorably, as Kṛṣṅa desires.]

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṅānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]

This is the definition given by Rūpa Gosvāmī. Similarly, in Nārada Pañcarātra, the bhakti is defined:

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa- sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170]

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

These are the definition of bhakti. Bhakti..., without bhakti, nobody can become bhakta. Bhakta means one who is executing bhakti. That is bhakta. And the beneficiary, the beneficiary is the Bhagavān.

So those who are engaged in this process of bhakti, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ... [SB 7.5.23].

Viṣṅu means Bhagavān, or Kṛṣṅa. So śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam, you have to hear about Kṛṣṅa. That is śravaṅam. And kīrtanam, one has to chant. This is also kīrtanam. I am speaking to you; this is also kīrtanam. And you are hearing; this is bhakti. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam, about Kṛṣṅa. The chanting, dancing about Kṛṣṅa, this is bhakti. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅam: and remembering about Kṛṣṅa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. If you engage your mind... Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayoḥ [SB 9.4.18].

[Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṅa or about Kṛṣṅa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa's temples and Kṛṣṅa's places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.]

We have to fix up our mind always to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. So if you do not accept this arcana, this temple worship, how you can become..., always be engaged in the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa? These are the processes. These are not sentiments. These the scientific process. If you want... Your business is to become bhakta. That is perfection. And because Arjuna was bhakta, therefore Kṛṣṅa is speaking to him. So if you become... It is not monopolized by Arjuna. If you also become bhakta, Kṛṣṅa will speak to you. Now you say, "Where is God?" Where is God? Here is God. God is speaking. Why don't you see God? God is speaking. You'll find in the Seventh Chapter, if you cannot see God, if you cannot see Kṛṣṅa in the temple, if you cannot see Kṛṣṅa within Bhagavad-gītā, then Kṛṣṅa says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ [Bg 7.8].

[O son of Kuntī [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.]

You see while you drink water. Or anything you drink, you can see Kṛṣṅa there. Rasa. That taste is Kṛṣṅa. So there is no difficulty to see God. These rascals, they said, "Where is God?" Here is God. You are drinking water. Why don't you see... [coughs] [aside:] Give me water.

So Kṛṣṅa can be seen always, provided you want to see God. But we don't want to see God. That is the difficulty. Otherwise, you can see sadaiva. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. Santaḥ, if you are santa... Santa means saintly person. If you become saintly person... But if you remain rogues, thieves, cats and dogs, then how you can see God? You have to become a santa.

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṅa-svarūpaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.38]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṅa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.]

So you have to become santa. If you remain always addicted to sinful activities, how you can see God? That is not possible. You have to give up these rascal, sinful activities. What are the sinful activities? Illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. That's all. You have to give up these. Yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām, te dvandva-moha-nirmuktāḥ [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.]

If you become leader, so-called leader, rascal leader, and you are addicted to illicit sex and intoxication and meat-eating, you must be si... If you are sinful, how you can lead persons? 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.]

Blind man is leading other blind men. Therefore there is no solution. Why the world is in chaos? Because the leaders are all sinful. These are the sinful definition. Striya-sūnā-pāna-dyūta yatra pāpaś catur-vidhāḥ [SB 1.17.38].

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Parīkṣit, thus being petitioned by the personality of Kali, gave him permission to reside in places where gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter were performed.]

So God seeing is not very difficult, provided you are purified, you are pure. So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is a purificatory process. Purificatory process. The first condition... We do not accept any rascal who is addicted to these four principles. We do not make cheap disciples. Our condition is first of all you must give up these things: illicit sex and meat-eating and intoxication, up to the drinking of tea and cigarette. You have to give up. And gambling. So these nice boys, they have given up. They were addicted to all these habits in their previous lives, but they have given up. Therefore they are making progress. Santa. They have become santa, saintly persons. So Kṛṣṅa is paraṁ pavitram. Arjuna, when addressed by Kṛṣṅa after hearing Bhagavad-gītā..., paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [Bg 10.12].

[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]

He understood. Pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān: "You are the most pure." You cannot approach the most pure if you are impure. You must be pure. Therefore this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra is a purificatory process. The more you chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, you become purified.

ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅaṁ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṅaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṅāmṛtāsvādanaṁ sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṅa-saṅkīrtanam [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.]

So take to this Kṛṣṅa..., Hare Kṛṣṅa movement. It is very easy. Even a child can take part. You see. Those children, they are not born of brāhmaṅa family or this family or that family. Never mind. Because they are taking part in chanting and dancing, they are becoming purified. Every step of their dancing being noted, being noted. Ajñāta-sukṛti. Catur-vidhā bhajante mām [Bg 7.16].

[O best among the Bhāratas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.]

So it is a chance. We are opening these centers to give chance how to become purified, how to understand Kṛṣṅa. Then life is successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Haribol. [end]