Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.35

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

paśyanti te me rucirāṅy amba santaḥ prasanna-vaktrāruṅa-locanāni rūpāṅi divyāni vara-pradāni sākaṁ vācaṁ spṛhaṅīyāṁ vadanti [SB 3.25.35]

[break] [00:59]

"O My mother, My devotees always see the smiling face of My form, with eyes like the rising morning sun. They like to see My various transcendental forms, which are all benevolent, and they also talk favorably with Me."

Prabhupāda:

paśyanti te me rucirāṅy amba santaḥ prasanna-vaktrāruṅa-locanāni rūpāṅi divyāni vara-pradāni sākaṁ vācaṁ spṛhaṅīyāṁ vadanti [SB 3.25.35]

In the previous verse it is said, anyonyato bhāgavatāḥ prasajya sabhājayante mama pauruṣāṅi [SB 3.25.34]. Those who are devotees, they assemble together. Bodhayantaḥ parasparam. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, "They discuss about the glories of the Lord." Bodhayantaḥ parasparam. That is sādhu-saṅga [Cc Madhya 22.83].

[The root cause of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṅa is association with advanced devotees. Even when one’s dormant love for Kṛṣṅa awakens, association with devotees is still most essential.]

We have also discussed this. Satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṅa-rasāyanāḥ [SB 3.25.25].

[In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.]

When things are discussed about the Supreme Personality of Godhead amongst the devotees, it becomes a different thing than the discussion in the debating club of the nondevotees. The kṛṣṅa-kathā is not a subject matter for debating club. It is meant for the devotees. Without devotees, nobody can understand. The others, who are not devotee, they simply waste their time in reading Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, such literature. They simply waste their time, because these subject matters are for the devotees.

We have several times discussed this point that the so-called scholars, politicians and philosophers, they read Bhagavad-gītā and comment in a different way. This is their foolishness. They cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. It is not possible. My Guru Mahārāja used to say, "It is just like licking the bottle of honey." Now you want honey. I give you one bottle, but you do not know how to taste it. You began to lick up the bottle. So what you will taste? If you think, "Here is the bottle of honey. Let me lick," you will not get any taste. It must be opened. But the opening key is with the devotee. You do not know how to open it. Therefore it is said, satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṅa-rasāyanāḥ [SB 3.25.25]. The devotees know how to open it, the bottle. And then they can taste. Therefore, sabhājayante yatra pauruṣāṅi.

In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṅa says to Arjuna that "I am speaking to you this science of Bhagavad-gītā." Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1].

[The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.]

Idaṁ yogam. Bhagavad-gītā means bhakti-yogam. So Kṛṣṅa said formerly, say, four hundred millions of years ago. Bhagavad-gītā is not new. It is... First of all it was spoken to sun-god, and from the Manu's age and others' age we can calculate it is about some millions of years ago it was spoken. Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1]. So Kṛṣṅa said, "That very old yoga system I am speaking to you again. It is not a new thing that I am manufacturing for you. No." Everything... God is eternal, and His instruction is also eternal. And the followers are also eternal. There is nothing new. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṅaḥ. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṅaḥ. Very old, but still, it is eternal and fresh. This is spiritual matter. You read Bhagavad-gītā. It was spoken four hundred millions of years ago, and then again, five thousand years ago. Still, if you read Bhagavad-gītā daily, you will find it fresh. You will never find it old. As Kṛṣṅa is never old, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṅa-puruṣam [Bs 5.33],

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

Kṛṣṅa is the purāṅa, the oldest man—but nava-yauvanaṁ ca. But He is always... See. You will find Kṛṣṅa just a young boy of twenty years. Nava-yauvanaṁ ca. So similarly, Kṛṣṅa's words, everything Kṛṣṅa, absolute. His name, His form, His quality, His activities—they are all fresh and new. Otherwise, how the devotees can glorify the same Kṛṣṅa daily with greater enthusiasm? Greater enthusiasm. The more you glorify, you'll feel more enthusiastic to more glorify, glorify, glorify.

This is spiritual. In the material world, if you speak one thing once, twice, thrice, four times, then it becomes disgusting. But how this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra... You are chanting. You can chant twenty-four hours. It will feel fresh and enthusiasm. That is spiritual. Therefore... Therefore it is not a subject matter..., this sound is not like this radio, material sound. It is also sound, but it is spiritual sound, and it is coming from the spiritual world. Just like in the material world we can release some sound—from here, it can be heard from thousands of miles, but not more than that. The spiritual sound, it is released from many, many millions and millions and trillions of miles away, still it can be heard, provided you have got the machine to capture it. That is bhāgavata-prema.

So those who have got..., developed love of Godhead, they can hear. As it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṅa says that "I am speaking to you the old message, Bhagavad-gītā, which I spoke to sun-god some millions of years ago." So "Why You are speaking to me? I am not a Vedāntist. I am not a sannyāsī. I am not any advance in spiritual understanding." People may say. But Kṛṣṅa says, "Yes. You are My bhakta." Bhakto 'si. Therefore to understand Bhagavad-gītā means one has to become first of all a bhakta. The so-called nondevotee, atheist class, scholar and politician, they cannot understand. It is not possible. They cannot enter into it. The same thing, licking up the honey bottle, that's all. What you will taste? It is not possible. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says,

tad viddhi praṅipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg 4.34]

[Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.]

The same example can be... You can go to a person who knows how to open the bottle of honey. Then you can taste. Otherwise, if you simply lick up the book, Bhagavad-gītā, becoming a very big scholar, you will never taste it. You will never taste it. You can satisfy yourself, "Now I am licking up daily Bhagavad-gītā, thrice," but what you will understand unless you are a devotee? You will not understand. The bottle is packed up.

So here it is said, paśyanti te me rucirāṅy amba santaḥ. "They can see Me, santaḥ." Not these rascals and fools. They cannot see. 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.]

Bhagavān says in the Bhagavad-gītā, that "I am not exposed to these fools and rascals, nondevotees." Why I say "fools and rascals" to the nondevotees? I am not saying; Kṛṣṅa says. 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.]

Mūḍha means rascal. Mūḍha means rascal. And duṣkṛtinaḥ, duṣkṛtinaḥ mean always engaged in sinful activities, no restraint. They can eat everything, they can drink everything, they can do everything, without any restriction. They think, "What is that in drinking and eating in the matter of religion?" That is the new invention of svāmīs and yogīs, that "You can do everything, and still you become advanced."

But that is not possible. One has to become a pure brāhmaṅa. Then why, in the Vedic civilization, a pure brāhmaṅa is so respected? Because they are symbolic representation of the Vedas. Satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavaṁ jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyam [Bg 18.42].

[Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṅas work.]

That is brāhmaṅa, who has got this qualification, satyam, who has taken the Absolute Truth as the aim of life. People, ordinary people, how they will know? Satyaṁ śaucam, very clean always, tri-sandhyā-snāna, taking bathing thrice. Satyaṁ śaucaṁ śamam, controlling the mind, not that "I am servant of my mind. I shall do whatever my mind dictates." These are the qualification of brāhmaṅa. Śamaṁ, damam, controlling the senses. These are the symbolic representation of the Vedas.

So therefore satāṁ prasaṅgān, that one has to discuss about the Supreme Personality of Godhead amongst the satām, santaḥ. Satām, santaḥ, the same thing. Santaḥ. Here the word is used, santaḥ. Paśyanti me, te me rucirāṅy amba: "Mother, they can see, santaḥ." Santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. In the Brahma-saṁhitā again this word is used, santaḥ.

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 the Kṛṣṅa, Govinda, Śyāmasundara, is meant for the santa, not for the narādhamas, duṣkṛtina, mūḍhas. They cannot understand. One has to qualify himself to be sinless. Na māṁ duṣkṛtinaḥ... This is said, and another paragraph is there, yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām: "Those who are completely free from sinful activities," yeṣāṁ tu anta-gatam, "no more touch with sinful life," 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.]

"They can fix up their devotional service to Kṛṣṅa." It is not so easy. But one can become immediately a santa, within a second.

How? That also, Kṛṣṅa says, that,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi... [Bg 18.66]

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

The qualification is: unless one is sinless, he cannot understand Kṛṣṅa. He cannot understand what is kṛṣṅa-bhajana. But if one is eager—he's actually very eager—he can do it immediately. What is that? Surrender to Kṛṣṅa. Sarva-dharmān parityajya: give up all these nonsense so-called religious principle. Simply surrender to Kṛṣṅa, "Kṛṣṅa, I was forgotten about You. Now I surrender unto You fully. If You like, You can kill me; if You like, You can give me protection." This is surrender, not business: "Kṛṣṅa, if You give me this nice thing, then I will surrender." That is not surrender. That is business.

When Prahlāda Mahārāja was offered benediction that "My dear Prahlāda, you have suffered so much for Me even from your father. Now your enemies are all off. You can ask any benediction you like," Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "What is this, my dear Lord? Am I a bāniyā, vaṅik, that because I have suffered for You, I shall ask some benediction? No, no, don't offer me like that. Because You are the supreme powerful, whatever I want, I can get from You. And I am born in the asura families. I am inclined for this material enjoyment. So don't delude me, my dear Sir. Then I can ask You. And why shall I ask You? Because I have seen my father, so powerful even the demigods were afraid of him, and You have finished all his power within a second. So why shall I ask for these things? Kindly engagement in the service of Your servant. This much I want. I don't want anything."

Therefore a devotee never asks anything material from the Supreme Personality. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu has taught us, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye [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.]

They are simply satisfied by glorifying the Lord. That is their only satisfaction. If they get the opportunity of glorifying the Lord, as it is said in the previous verse, that sabhājayante mama pauruṣāṅi... [SB 3.25.34]. Mama pauruṣāṅi, the glorious activities of the Lord. This is the way of bhajana. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ [Bg 9.14].

[Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.]

This is the way of bhakti-yoga. Simply glorify this... Your glorification, so much activities... Kṛṣṅa therefore comes to give advantage to the devotees for glorifying Him—because He acts. Paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg 4.8].

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

To kill the demons and to give protection to the sādhus, He has to work. From the very beginning of Kṛṣṅa's birth, the enemies are there, demons are there. Kaṁsa advised his, I mean to say, constables, "So be very careful. As soon as there is Kṛṣṅa's birth, immediately inform me, and I shall kill Him." He was always thinking of Kṛṣṅa, a first-class Kṛṣṅa conscious, always, but to kill Him.

Similarly, you will find there are so-called religionists, their only purpose, so-called scholars, their only purpose is how to kill Kṛṣṅa. You will find so many commentaries by the politician, by the so-called scholars, but their only aim is how to kill Kṛṣṅa, how to take away Kṛṣṅa from Bhagavad-gītā. No mention of Bhagavad-gītā..., of Kṛṣṅa. They will talk so many nonsense, but they will never say that "Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He should be worshiped." They will never say. That means asuras. Āsuraṁ bhāvam āś... Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ [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.]

"Oh, they are very big, big scholars, sir. You are talking about them as mūḍhāḥ, narādhamāḥ?" Yes. Because although they are so-called scholars, their real knowledge has been taken away. Māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. Why this punishment, that their knowledge has been taken away? Āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. "They are simply thinking of killing Me, that's all." How to evade kṛṣṅa-bhakti, that is their whole propaganda.

So we should not be like that. If we want to be fixed up, then, in devotional service, then, as it is advised by Kapiladeva... He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnate. He says, paśyanti te me rucirāṅy amba santaḥ: "They can see that..." So unless God has got form, how one can see? How God can be nirākāra? God is never nirākāra, but He's sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. His ākāra is not like us. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

His form is sac-cid-ānanda. This body is not sac-cid-ānanda. Sat means eternal, and cit means full of knowledge, and ānanda means full of bliss. So if we study, "Is our body eternal?" No, sir. It is temporary, say, fifty years, sixty years, utmost hundred years. So it is not eternal, it is not sat. Asat. Asato mā sad gama, the Vedic injunction, that "Don't keep yourself in this asat body. Just get your original sat body, eternal body." We are not interested. We are simply interested with this temporary body: "I am this body." I am not this body. I am spirit soul. I am within this body. This is knowledge. This is called siddhi. So long I am thinking, "I am this body," then I am cats and dogs. They are thinking like that. But when I know that "I am not this body. I am the spirit spark, spirit soul. I am encaged within this body," that is knowledge. That is knowledge. So those who are self-realized spirit soul, they can see.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg 18.54]

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

That bhakti means they can see God, Kṛṣṅa, and they can serve Him. 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.]

Bhakti means to engage your senses, hṛṣīka, in the service of the Hṛṣīkeśa. That is bhakti.

So here it is said, paśyanti te me rucirāṅi. Kṛṣṅa is so beautiful, rucirāṅi. Rucira means very attractive. Now, fortunately, people in Bombay say that our Deity here is more beautiful. They say there is no such Deity in Bombay city. So this is our duty, to dress Kṛṣṅa in such an attractive way that people at least see that it is very beautiful. Then he becomes a devotee, simply by appreciating. Simply by appreciating, if they say, "Now the Deity worship is very nice," then they go a step forward, step forward immediately, simply by appreciation. Then other things will come gradually. Therefore the temple worship should be exactly to the routine, to the instruction of the śāstra and guru and ācārya, so that the worshiper in the temple as well as the visitor, both of them will benefit. They will be gradually seeing.

Kṛṣṅa is so kind that He has consented to appear in a way so that we can see. At the present moment we cannot see Kṛṣṅa as He is spiritually embodied, sad-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, because we have no eyes to see sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

So here is also sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, arcā-mūrti. It is not idol worship. The atheist class may say so, but it is not so. Those who have got eyes, they can see. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He entered the temple of Jagannātha, immediately He fainted: "Oh, here is My Lord. Here is My Lord." So one has to become santaḥ. Then one can see. But it is culture, by culture. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva [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.]

When you develop that culture, when you develop that love for Kṛṣṅa, then you will see immediately and you will faint: "Oh, here is my Lord."

So prasanna-vaktra aruṅa-locanāni. Prasanna-vaktra. Prasanna means pleasing. Somebody was talking that "Your Deity is just like trying to talk with me." Prasanna-vaktra. Yes. He is here to talk with you, but He is waiting whether you're interested to talk with Him. That's all. Kṛṣṅa says that teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam [Bg 10.10].

[To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.]

He talks, but with whom? Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānām. One who is twenty-four hours engaged with love and faith in the service of the Lord. To whom. Just like if you want to talk with some big man, then you must have qualification. Is it possible that if you want to talk with the big man here, immediately you like? No. You cannot talk. You must be fit to talk with him. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa is ready to talk with you. He has come. He has descended in arcā-mūrti to talk with you, to be visible by you. Now you make yourself ready and fit to talk with you; then He will exchange conversation. Santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. This is possible. This is a qualification.

So rūpāṅi divyāni vara-pradāni. Divyāni. Divya means divine. Divyāni. Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, janma karma ca me divyam [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.]

Divyam. They are not material things. One has to see. So if you say, as it is said, sākaṁ vācaṁ spṛhaṅīyāṁ vadanti. Spṛhaṅīyām, very favorably you talk... Suppose if I say, "You have no eyes. You are blind," this is not favorable. So the nondevotees, Māyāvādīs, they say that God has no eyes. So it is indirectly saying, "God is blind." So if I say, "You are blind. You nonsense, you are blind," is it favorably talking? Most unfavorable. Directly insulting. So those who are talking about God, nirākāra—no eyes, no leg, no head, no tail, nothing, nirākāra—they are simply blaspheming, not spṛhaṅīyām. God does not want to hear such nonsense things. Therefore it is said, sākaṁ vācaṁ spṛhaṅīyāṁ vadanti. You cannot say that "Kṛṣṅa is blind. Kṛṣṅa is lame. Kṛṣṅa has no hands. Kṛṣṅa has no nothing, nothing," indirectly saying, "Kṛṣṅa has..., does not exist." This kind of addressing Kṛṣṅa, nirākāra, is not favorable talking with Kṛṣṅa.

Favorable talking—if you want to talk with Kṛṣṅa, then you must consult the Vedic literature how Kṛṣṅa is worshiped.

veṅuṁ kvaṅantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.30]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.]

"My Lord, Kṛṣṅa, Govinda, is playing on His flute." Veṅuṁ kvaṅantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam [Bs 5.30]: "His eyes are just like petals of the lotus flower." Aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam: "Oh, He has some nice peacock feather." These are the Vedic description of Kṛṣṅa, not that the devotees have imagined some... Just like Māyāvādī says, "Just imagine the form of God." God's form cannot be imagined. That is not God. Anything imagination is not fact. It must be factual. And the factual information you get from the Vedas. Not only you get the Vedas; when Kṛṣṅa was present on this earth He exhibited His rūpa, His form, His activities, His līlā. Everything He exhibited so kindly. So you have to think of this kṛṣṅa-līlā, Kṛṣṅa's form, Kṛṣṅa's activities. Janma karma ca me divyam [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.]

They are divine. They are not material, because Kṛṣṅa has got divine body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

But to favor us, because devotees are always anxious to see, therefore He comes.

When Kṛṣṅa said, paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, sambhavāmi yuge yuge... [Bg 4.8].

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

He comes for two business. First business is paritrāṅāya sādhūnām. The sādhus, the santas, or the devotees, they are always, I mean to say, given trouble by this atheistic class of men. So therefore they have no other means. They simply think of Kṛṣṅa. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. Even his father was giving him trouble, so much trouble that he was..., he wanted to kill him somehow or other. So they... Here, the santas, they come. They have to suffer so much trouble by the demons. Therefore we have already discussed that verse that, what is that? Titikṣavaḥ. Titikṣavaḥ kāruṅikāḥ [SB 3.25.21].

[The symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.]

A santa means he has to suffer. Just see in the Western countries the Lord Jesus Christ. He was preaching about God, God consciousness. That was the only fault, and he was crucified. Just see. He was crucified. The state ordered him to be crucified because he is talking. Similarly, Hiraṅyakaśipu, his five-years-old boy, he was talking only of Kṛṣṅa, Nārāyaṅa. So therefore his father became enemy. He was trying in so many ways to kill him.

This is the very old story, that if you become a devotee, you must be prepared to be put into miserable condition by the demons. That is their business. Āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ [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.]

Asuras... Just like even Kṛṣṅa, even God Himself, He was attempted to be killed by Kaṁsa. Not only that; He engaged so many demons—Pūtanā, Aghāsura, Bakāsura, Mahīśāsura, so many asuras. But Kṛṣṅa is always Kṛṣṅa. Paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. He is able to finish these duṣkṛtas or the asuras by His omnipotency. That He can do. But the asuras are always. Their only business is to give trouble to God and His devotee.

Therefore it is advised, titikṣavaḥ kāruṅikāḥ suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām [SB 3.25.21]. A devotee should be so advanced that in spite of being troubled by the asuras, he should tolerate, titikṣavaḥ, and still he should be kind upon him, not that "This man is talking against me, against God. Therefore I shall be angry and drive him away." No. Titikṣavaḥ kāruṅikāḥ. Everyone in this material world, more or less, they are asuras, atheists. So if you want to preach, then you have to learn tolerance and speak in such a way that these asura can become also devotee. That is the business.

So here it is said that sākaṁ vācaṁ spṛhaṅīyāṁ vadanti. So we should pray in such a way Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, spṛhaṅīyām. Don't think He is dead stone. That is the conclusion of the atheist class of men. No, dead, no. You talk in such a way that He will be pleased upon you. He will be pleased. He is pleased, He is satisfied in Himself, but He wants to see that you are also talking about Him pleasingly. That's all. Therefore He comes. Paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. You talk unpleasingly or pleasingly, it doesn't matter to Kṛṣṅa. But if you talk pleasingly, then you become benefited. You become benefited. So therefore there are stotra. Therefore Kṛṣṅa's another name is Uttamaśloka. Uttamaśloka means He is worshiped, God is worshiped, by the best selected words, not patchy words. No. All selected words. So you will find in so many prayers, not only in our Vedic scripture and other scripture also, in Bible, in Koran, the prayer. Prayer is also devotion. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam, arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyam [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.]

Vandanam, this vandanam. The Christians and the Muhammadans, they offer vandanam. Although they do not worship the Deity, but they offer prayers to the Lord. That is also good. That is also bhakti.

Arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-ni... There are nine different processes. So you accept all of them or some of them or at least one. Then your life is successful. Spṛhayanti. Very selected words. You surrender to Him, but don't talk things which does not please Him. You don't say that "God is formless. God has no eyes, no leg, no head." These things are there. Just like in the Vedas it is said, apāṅi-pādo javano grahītā, that "He has no hand, but He can accept your offerings." But if He has no hand, then how He can offer your offerings, er, how He can accept your offerings? He has His hand, but not like our hand. He can extend His hand millions of miles. Just like Kṛṣṅa leaves His Goloka, Goloka Vṛndāvana. That planet is many millions and trillions of miles away, but He can accept what you offer. That is Kṛṣṅa's hand. Not like Your hand, three feet. No. Therefore sometimes in the Vedas it is said that "God has no hand." That means He has no this material hand. But He can accept your offerings. That means He has got hand, but that is a different type. That is explained, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

So in this way we have to study the science of God, the science of Kṛṣṅa. Then our life will be successful. And tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [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.]

And if we can understand Kṛṣṅa's activities, Kṛṣṅa..., Kṛṣṅa's form, Kṛṣṅa's quality, then we become fit for going back to home, back to Godhead. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti... [Bg 4.9]

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Devotees: Jaya. Haribol. [end]