Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.2

Prabhupāda:

mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam mahāntas te sama-cittāḥ praśāntā vimanyavaḥ suhṛdaḥ sādhavo ye [SB 5.5.2]

Last night we had discussion on the first verse, Fifth Chapter, Fifth Canto, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that this human life is meant for tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam [SB 5.5.1].

[Lord Ṛṣabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.]

We have to purify our existence. This is the mission of human life. At the present moment we are transmigrating from one body to another, and there are 8,400,000 species of life we are going through according to karma. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa jantur deha upapattaye [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.]

How we develop a certain type of body, that is stated—everything is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—by our karma. I have explained last night, it is just like infection. We are associating with different types of the modes of material nature. Generally there are three types of material nature, three qualities: sattva-guṅa, rajo-guṅa, tamo-guṅa. Now, you multiply these three by three: it becomes nine. And again you multiply nine by nine: it becomes eighty-one. It is mixture. Here these guṅas, the qualities, are not pure. They are mixed up. Just like color mixing. Originally there are three colors: red, yellow and blue. And you mix it... Those who are color expert, they can display many thousands of colors. So similarly, in the nature's way there are different colors or different guṅas, and every one of us, we have got a particular type of guṅa with different desires, different plans, different so many things.

Now, in the human form of life, you have got the chance to discriminate yourself or separate yourself from these colorful different species of life. That is the main duty of human form of life. Labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte [SB 11.9.29].

[After many, many births and deaths one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life as long as his body, which is always subject to death, has not fallen down and died. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Kṛṣṅa consciousness is possible only for a human being.]

We do not know; we have forgotten that how many species of life we have come through, transmigrating from one after another. Therefore this human form of life is called labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte. After many, many births. We should not misuse it. Very responsible life. If you are misled, that is a dangerous civilization. That is going on. Dehātma-buddhi. As our chief guest Mr. Naidu said, that deha means śarīra, mind, and then spirit. Yes. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is explained,

indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhir buddhes tu paratas saḥ [Bg 3.42]

[The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.]

First of all, we are interested with these senses. This body means the senses, different types of senses. Sense objects, the mind. They have twenty-four elements analyzed by the Sāṅkhya philosophy. So when we think of our body, means we are interested with sense gratification. Then, a little forward, we are interested with the mind. First of all body, this gross body made of five: earth, air, fire, water, and ether. Then we become interested with the mental speculation, psychology—thinking, feeling, willing. So indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ [Bg 3.42]. Mind. The mental speculators, the jñānī, they are better than the karmīs. Karmīs means who are simply entrapped with this sensual gratification, that's all. So jñānī, karmī, jñānī, and yogī, and then, when one is interested with the spirit soul and spirit soul's activities, then he is bhakta. That is... Actually the basic principle of activity is the soul. As soon as the soul is gone, there is no more activity, either mental activity or bodily activity. So if we want actually progress of life, then we must realize our constitutional position as the spirit soul, not as the mind, not as the body. Therefore śāstra said,

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [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.]

Go-khara. Go means cow, and khara means ass. If one is under the bodily concept of life, ātma-buddhi, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātu... This body is made of three dhātus: kapha, pitta, vāyu. If we take this body, this bag made of bones and flesh and blood and urine and stool and so many other things, muscles... Kuṅape tri-dhātuke.. This is a material bag. And if one takes this bag as he himself, then, according to that conception of life, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu... [SB 10.84.13]. Kalatra means wife, and through wife there are children, society, friendship and love and so many things. Sva-dhīḥ. And that is our own thing. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ. The nationalism is also like that. Sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ: and the land of birth as worshipable, bhauma ijya-dhīḥ. This bhauma ijya-dhīḥ is nationalism. Of course, there is no such thing in the Vedic literature as nationalism. This is modern product. But this word is there, bhauma-ijya-dhīḥ, the land of birth... That is also explained in some other Vedic literature, jananī janma-bhūmiś ca svargād api garīyasī. People like it, but this is... All are on the bodily concept of life.

So one has to go above. Indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ... [Bg 3.42].

[The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.]

Lord Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhiḥ. That intelligence required. Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī, one of the chief disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was the chief minister in the government of Nawab Hussain Shah, and he was born in a very high class brāhmaṅa family, sārasvata family, and he was very learned scholar in Sanskrit and Urdu and Arabic, very learned scholar. So when he submitted himself after resigning his post as minister, submitted to Lord Caitanya, he put this question, that grāmya-vyavahāre paṅḍita, tāi satya māni [Cc Madhya 20.100].

[I do not know what is beneficial for me or what is detrimental. Nonetheless, in ordinary dealings people consider me a learned scholar, and I am also thinking of myself as such.]

A brāhmaṅa... Still in our India, a brāhmaṅa is addressed as paṅḍita. Brāhmaṅa means paṅḍita. Brāhmaṅa-paṅḍita, brāhmaṅa-vaiṣṅava, that a... Learned scholar. So in the society he was addressed as "Paṅḍitjī." So he protested against it. He said to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, grāmya-vyavahāre: "In ordinary behavior they call me paṅḍita." Grāmya-vyavahāre paṅḍita, tāi satya māni: "And I am such a fool that I accept myself also as a paṅḍita." It is his humbleness. He was paṅḍita, certainly. But he says, "Why I am not paṅḍita?" Because āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni: "I am such a learned scholar that I do not know what is actually good for me. This is my learning. And I have become a leader. I do not know what is the aim of my life, what is my identification. People address me as paṅḍita, and I take it as fact. But actually I am not a paṅḍita. I do not know what I am. I am thinking I am this body. I am thinking I am this mind." So that is our position.

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]

We should know "What I am." That is Vedānta-sūtra. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is human life. Jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. These dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa [SB 4.8.41],

[Any person who desires the fruits of the four principles religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and, at the end, liberation, should engage himself in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for worship of His lotus feet yields the fulfillment of all of these.]

the Bhāgavata has rejected. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra [SB 1.1.2].

[Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṅa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.]

Atra, dharmādi-kāma-mokṣa-projjhitaḥ. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṅa ujjhita—thrown away. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, the most authorized commentator of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he said, atra mokṣa-vāñchā api nirastam[?]. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavaḥ atra, that is also kaitava. Kaitava means cheating. Above that, above mokṣa, that is spiritual platform. That is to be understood.

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.]

After realizing Brahman identification, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that is called brahma-bhūta. And the symptom of that brahma-bhūta stage is na śocati na kāṅkṣati. There is no more lamentation. So long we are in the bodily platform, there are two things prominent: lamentation and aspiration, hankering. Two things. We hanker after things which we do not possess, and what we possess, if we lose, then we cry. This is our position. So if actually he's Brahman realized, then he has no more hankering or lamentation. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati. Then samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Then, from that platform, you can think of equality. Not on the material platform. It is not possible.

So long we are in this material platform, bodily concept of life, then there will be distinction: "I am Indian," "You are American," "You are Englishman," "You are this," "...that," so many things, so many designations. Therefore, if you want to rise up to the platform of spiritual realization, then the formula is sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170]. That is the beginning. That means beginning is the brahma-bhūta platform. Brahma-bhūta... Same thing. It is, Nārada Pañcarātra, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam, and brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [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.]

Bhagavad-gītā, the same thing. Wherever you find the Vedic literature, the same thing. Therefore it is authority. There is no contradiction. In the material platform you write one book, I write one book, then I disagree with you, and you disagree with me. That is material platform. But in the spiritual platform, there is self-realized platform. There is no mistake, there is no illusion, there is no imperfect senses and there is no cheating. That is spiritual platform. So the Bhagavad-gītā says, brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati [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.]

The same thing is confirmed in the Nārada Pañcarātra:

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.]

This is the platform we have to come, spiritual platform, wherein hṛṣīkeṅa... Hṛṣīka means the senses, the material senses and the spiritual senses. So what is the spiritual senses? Spiritual sense is not senselessness. No. Purified senses. In the impurified senses I am thinking, "This body is Indian; therefore I am meant for serving India," "This body is American; therefore I am meant for giving service to America." This is upādhi. But spiritual sense means the sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam—"I am no more Indian, no more American, no more brāhmaṅa, no more śūdra." Then what I am? As Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, as Kṛṣṅa also said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam... [Bg 18.66]. That is spiritual platform, that "I am no more belonging to this dharma or that dharma. I am simply surrendered soul to Kṛṣṅa." This is sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

If one can come to this platform of spiritual understanding, that "I am spirit soul. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. I am part and parcel of God..." Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7]. Kṛṣṅa says, "All these living entities, they are My part and parcel." Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṅi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg 15.7]: "He is struggling for existence, being enwrapped by the mind and the body." This is the position.

So our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is educating people that "You are not this body, not this mind, not this intelligence, but above this. You are spirit soul." So Kṛṣṅa confirms that mamaivāṁśa. So if Kṛṣṅa is spirit, supreme spirit, then you are also supreme spirit. But the only difference is that He is the supreme; we are subordinate. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti... [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13].

[The Supreme Lord is eternal and the living beings are eternal. The Supreme Lord is cognizant and the living beings are cognizant. The difference is that the Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life for the many other living entities.]

This is Vedic injunction. He's also living entity, we are also living entity, but He is supreme and we are subordinate. That is the difference. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. This is our position. This is self-realization. When you understand this, that "Kṛṣṅa, or the Supreme Lord, or God, whatever you say, He's the whole spirit soul, and we are fragmental portion of that spirit soul, and He's the maintainer; we are maintained. He is the predominator; we are predominated," so this is first realization, brahma-bhūta. This is called brahma-bhūta. And if you make more advance in brahma-bhūta stage, then maybe after many births you can understand what is Kṛṣṅa. That is the ver... Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. When one is perfectly jñānavān, wise, then his business is vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ [Bg 7.19]. Then he can understand that Vāsudeva, the son of Vasudeva, Kṛṣṅa, is everything. That realization required. That is the perfection of Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

So this movement is very scientific, authorized, Vedic, and people are accepting them. Therefore I repeatedly request our Indian brothers, "Don't neglect. Take this movement very seriously." That is the only business of human life. Jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. That is...

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān... [SB 1.2.11]

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

Tattva-jijñāsā, that is the main business. Now, what is that tattva? That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam: "Those who are aware of the tattva, they say that tattva means the Supreme Absolute Truth." Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam [SB 1.2.11]. Jñānam, that knowledge, is advaya. Advaya means without any duality. But they are expressed in three different ways—Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān—brahmeti paramātmeti..., according to the stage of understanding. Those who are in the lower stage—we cannot say lower; in the beginning stage—that is Brahman realization. And one who has made further progress, that is Paramātmā realized. And one who has made further progress, that is Bhagavān realization. This is the verdict. So if you realize Bhagavān, then vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

Then you'll understand that Vāsudeva, Bhagavān, He is Paramātmā; He's also Brahman. Rather, He is Para-brahman.

That is confirmed by Arjuna after understanding 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.]

Para-brahman, Brahman realization; Paramātmā realization; and above Brahman and Paramātmā there is Para-brahman. That is Kṛṣṅa. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa... [Bg 7.19]. Who can understand? One, if he... If one understands this, that Kṛṣṅa is Para-brahman—vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti—He's also Paramātmā, He's also impersonal Brahman—sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ: "He becomes the great mahātmā." Sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ [Bg 9.13].

[O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.]

That mahātmā is under the control of daivī-prakṛti, spiritual energy. He's no more under the material energy. As soon as he understands Kṛṣṅa—vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti—he's no more under material energy.

daivī hy eṣā guṅamayī mama māyā duratyayā mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [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.]

This is the way. So this human form of life is very valuable, especially those who are born in India. Those who are born in India, it is automatically Kṛṣṅa conscious. Unfortunately, we are killing that consciousness. This is our advancement of civilization. So our only request is that "Don't kill yourself. Don't commit suicide. Take this Kṛṣṅa consciousness." It is explained very nicely in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṅa is explaining Himself. Why should we not understand Kṛṣṅa? Why? Why we are spoiling our life? Of course, Bhagavad-gītā is very popular book. Practically everyone reads. But unfortunately they do not..., most of them, they do not take Bhagavad-gītā as it is. That is the difficulty. If you take Bhagavad-gītā as it is, you become self-realized, liberated soul. But the misfortune is that we become more than Kṛṣṅa, and we want to comment Bhagavad-gītā in our own way. That is our misfortune. [applause] That is our misfortune.

So don't be misfortunate. Be fortunate. Everything is there. Try to understand Bhagavad-gītā. And here, in the Fifth Chapter, Fifth Canto, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the same thing is recommended by Ṛṣabhadeva to His sons. The first paragraph we have discussed last night. The second paragraph, the Ṛṣabhadeva says, mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. If you want to be liberated from this entanglement of bodily concept of life and mental concept of life and become more and more entangled in the process of transmigration of the soul from one body to another... That is entanglement. And to come out of this entanglement is called mukti. That is mukti: no more material body, no more material mind—everything is spiritual. That is called mukti. So Ṛṣabhadeva recommends that if you want mukti, if you want to come out of the entanglement of bodily concept of life and mental concept of life, then mahat-sevā: associate with mahātmās. Mahat. Mahat means who are not crippled, who are broad-minded. Mahat-sevā. You have to serve him. In the... One Vaiṣṅava ācārya, he says, chāḍiyā vaiṣṅava-sevā nistāra pāyeche kebā. If you do not agree to serve mahat... That is the Vedic injunction. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21].

[Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.]

This is the injunction. So mahat-sevā, the same thing. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram. Dvāram means the way, the gate, the gateway. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2].

If you want to be free from this entanglement... It is very great shackle, repetition of birth and death, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19]. One should understand this implication, how we are implicated. We are thinking, "Now I am very happy." No, next moment you can become a low-graded body, because karmaṅā daiva... If we are acting in a different way, the nature's way is to give you... Kāraṅaṁ guṅa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu [Bg 13.22]. Guṅa-saṅga. As we are associating, infecting the different types of material modes of nature, the body is ready immediately. Everything is explained. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram [Bg 8.6].

[Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.]

At the time of death everything will be, I mean to say, the atmosphere of our death. So, sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ. If you have acted like devas or bhaktas, then tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti [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.]

you can immediately transfer to the spiritual world, go to Kṛṣṅa, go to Vaikuṅṭha. Yānti deva... Yānti deva-vratā devān [Bg 9.25].

[Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.]

If you are thinking of some demigods whom you are worshiping, you can go there. Bhūtejyā yānti bhūtāni, pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ, mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām. If you think of Kṛṣṅa, then you go immediately. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama [Bg 15.6].

[That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.]

Everything is there. So why should we waste our time? Why we should be entangled in this bodily concept of life and become subjected to the transmigration of the soul from one body to another? We should be disgusted, this repetition of birth and death. 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.]

One should be intelligent enough to understand, "Why I should be subjected to birth and death?" Nobody wants to die. Ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya [Cc Madhya 20.102]. Nobody wants the threefold miserable condition of this material life, but it is forced upon us, and we are thinking "independent." That is foolishness. We are not independent. 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.]

As you are associating with the different modes of material nature, the prakṛti, material nature, by pulling your ear, "You'll come on here. Take this body." "No, I don't want." "No, that is not your discretion. Now you have infected, you see. You must take this body." This risk is there. And just to forget ourself we sometimes say, "No, there is no life after death." Why there is no life after death? You were a child. The child became a boy, the boy became a young man, the young man became an old man, and what is the old man? He must have a body, next body. That is not simply mental speculation. This is confirmed by the most exalted authority, by Kṛṣṅa. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, 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.]

As you have changed your body in so many ways from babyhood to childhood, childhood to boyhood, boyhood to youthhood, then, similarly, dehāntara-prāptiḥ.

Now, Kṛṣṅa does not say what kind of body you are going to get. That will depend on your work. Just like this is described as the dress. Now, if this dress is spoiled or torn, you have to purchase another dress. That will depend on your purchasing power. Similarly, after this dress is spoiled, no more usable, you have to purchase another body. That may be a dog's body or a god's body—that depends on your purchasing power. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā that yānti deva-vratā devān [Bg 9.25].

There are deva-lokas—Indraloka, Candraloka, Brahmaloka, so many—millions of years' age, a thousand times better standard of life. That also you can get. Yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ. And if you are in the karma-kāṅḍīya, then you can go to the pitṛ-loka. And bhūtejyā yānti bhūtāni: and if you remain a materialistic person, you remain here. And mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām: and if you worship Kṛṣṅa, if you become a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, then you go to Kṛṣṅaloka. So why should we waste our time? Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna [Bg 8.16].

[From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.]

Even if you go, be promoted to the Brahmaloka, still you have to wander within these so many planets, so many bodies. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru-kṛṣṅa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc Madhya 19.151]

[According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṅa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṅa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.]

In this way we are wandering, different 8,400,000 species of life in different planets. Out of many, many millions of living entities wandering in this way, if one is fortunate, he gets the seed of bhakti-yoga. Then his life is successful. So that bhakti-yoga—Kṛṣṅa consciousness means bhakti-yoga—by the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu we are distributing. We are distributing not whimsically, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted it.

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.]

This is injunction. This is also injunction of Kṛṣṅa. What Kṛṣṅa said, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said the same thing. The difference is that Kṛṣṅa commanded as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu—He's also Kṛṣṅa—He's teaching as a devotee of Kṛṣṅa. That is the difference. The same thing. Kṛṣṅa said that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66], and Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṅa-upadeśa [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.]

He never said that "Whatever I am saying, you say." No, this is not paramparā system. A guru or a preacher or an ācārya does not manufacture anything concocted. He says the same thing. 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.]

That is the difference between ācārya and a bogus man. A bogus man says something that "Now I say like this." No, who are you? No. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam, Kṛṣṅa says. We have to accept that. So, therefore Ṛṣabhadeva says that mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. If you want to be free from this entanglement, then mahat-sevā. Who is mahat, mahat-sevā? That is also stated in the śāstra:

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kapilo kumāraḥ manuḥ prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam [SB 6.3.20]

[Lord Brahmā, Bhagavān Nārada, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti], Svāyambhuva Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Grandfather Bhīṣma, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhāgavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.]

There are twelve mahājanas: Svayambhū, Lord Brahmā; Nārada Muni; and Śambhu, Lord Śiva. Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ [SB 6.3.20]. Kapila, Kapiladeva, who gave us the Sāṅkhya philosophy, Devahūti-putra Kapiladeva, Devahūti-putra; and Kumāra, Catuḥsana Kumāra; Manu, Vaivasvata Manu. Manu... Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam, vivasvān manave prāha [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.]

This Manu is mahājana. So we have to follow. 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.]

You cannot manufacture. Then you are going to hell. Follow these big, big personalities. Then you'll get.

Therefore it is said, mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. Don't manufacture. That is not... Kṛṣṅa says mām ekam. You cannot say, "Then any path will be easy." No. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti [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.]

If you want to know Kṛṣṅa, then you have to accept bhakti, nothing else. Kṛṣṅa never says jñāna or yoga or karma will help you. No, that will not help. That will entangle you more and more—again repetition of birth and death. But if you take bhakti-yoga as Kṛṣṅa says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti... He never says, Kṛṣṅa, that "By mental speculation or by fruitive activities or by gymnastic of the yoga system..." No. Yoginām api sarveṣām. Kṛṣṅa has explained yoga system in the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. And He concludes,

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ [Bg 6.47]

[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.]

"He's first-class yogī who is always thinking of Me within the heart."

Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

This is perfection.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [break]

Guest (1): Brahma-sūtra, as propounded by Vyāsa, is one. It is only one. But after reading Brahma-sūtra, the bhāṣyas—Śaṅkara-bhāṣya, Madhva-bhāṣya and Śrī-bhāṣya as written by Rāmānujācārya—all these things differ in many ways, and the reader is confused to know what is actually existing. Am I to follow this or that or this? Because "Jagat is mithyā," it is said by Śaṅkarācārya. Madhvācārya says, "It's not mithyā. It is realistic." It's contradiction. And Rāmānuja used another way of explanation, that is he says, "It is that, and it is this." And in that way, tava dāsaḥ aham, Madhvācārya says, "I am your slave." Tava dāsaḥ aham, tava dāso 'ham. But Śaṅkarācārya says, "No. Ātmā itself is Paramātmā. There is no question of his saying, tava dāso 'ham." Like that, jagan mithyā, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. And then we see, as propounded by Śaṅkarācārya, as explained by Śaṅkarācārya, the same it is said by Madhvācārya as jagat satyam and brahma satyam: "Both are satya." And when Śaṅkarācārya says that jagan mithyā brahma satyam, the same Brahma-sūtra, it is taken up by Madhvācārya in a different way. He says jagan mithyā, er, I'm sorry, jagat satyam and brahma satyam. And Rāmānuja says in a different way again, most confusing, he says, "At some stage it is realistic, and at a different stage it becomes unrealistic." So, in so many factors, I find that there are so many contradictions there. If you kindly clarify the matter in a very clear and straightforward manner, I will be and people will be much obliged to you. So Swāmījī will have to say something about this, whether the world is temporary or whether the world is unrealistic or not, or is it realistic. And if it is realistic, why Śaṅkarācārya has said that it is mithyā, and Rāmānujācārya says, "At one stage it is realistic, and after some stage it becomes unrealistic"? [applause] And therefore I want clarification so that I can understand.

Prabhupāda: The Śaṅkarācārya is accepted as Māyāvādī, because these Māyāvādī philosophers, they think everything is māyā; even Kṛṣṅa is māyā. So our Caitanya Mahāprabhu... We belong to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu belongs to Madhvācārya-sampradāya. As I have already explained, there are mahājanas. So all mahājanas, they have got different sampradāyas. Just like Lord Brahmā, he has got his sampradāya; it is called Brahma-sampradāya. Similarly, Lord Śiva has his sampradāya; it is called Rudra-sampradāya. Lakṣmījī has got his [her] sampradāya; it is called Śrī-sampradāya. So śāstra says that śrutayo vibhinnaḥ. You hear different types of philosophy from different sources. Na cāsāv munir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam. One cannot be accepted as a great saintly person unless he puts forward his own theory. Therefore, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc Madhya 17.186].

We have to accept the mahājana.

Now, apart from accepting mahājana, we have to use our senses also. Of course, unless we are advanced in our sensual speculation, that is also not possible. But one common sense is: if brahma-satya, how jagat can be mithyā? It is a common sense. The brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā... This jagat is created by Brahman. Janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Brahman means... What is that Brahman? The original source of everything. Janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. Why jagat should be mithyā? Huh? Suppose somebody has created this microphone with hard labor, and if I say, "This is all mithyā," is it very good thing? If Kṛṣṅa has created...

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ [Bg 10.8]

[I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.]

Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ. Kṛṣṅa says that "I am the origin of everything," the same answer. Janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. Who is that person from whom everything has come into existence? So if Kṛṣṅa is fact, Brahman, then He says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ, "I am the origin of everything," how other things can be false? No. We do not accept this philosophy. If Kṛṣṅa is truth, then this world is also truth. It may be temporary—bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19]—but it is not untruth. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore has criticized Śaṅkarācārya, māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa [Cc Madhya 6.169]: "If you accept Māyāvāda philosophy, then your progress is doomed, finished." This is the...

So we are follower of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We do not accept this Śaṅkara's philosophy, that the world is mithyā. No. It is fact. It is fact. Because unless it... But the vision is different. Vision is different. That is called māyā. What is the fact? The fact: this world is created by Kṛṣṅa, or God; therefore it is God's property. But we are thinking our property. That is false. That is the meaning of Śaṅkarācārya's..., that you are thinking that it is your country. No. It is Kṛṣṅa's country. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1].

[Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.]

Everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa. Why you are falsely claiming your, and fighting yourself? This is false. Not the world is false, but the acceptance of the world falsely, that is false. Not the world is false. That is fact.

So we must have common sense to understand, and, I mean to say, understand through other sources also. As Madhvācārya says, "No, jagat satyam," that is fact. How you can say this jagat is false? It is not false. Besides that, that Vyāsadeva, he's the compiler of Vedānta-sūtra, and he has commented himself about Vedānta-sūtra. That is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhāṣyaṁ brahma-sūtrāṅām. And at the end of each chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you'll find, brahma-sūtrasya bhāṣya. So when the author is giving a commentary personally, we should accept that. Why others? So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural commentary given by Vyāsadeva. We should accept. And it begins... Because it is commentary on Brahma-sūtra, therefore it begins with the sūtra, Brahma-sūtra, janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ [SB 1.1.1]. This is the explanation. So the conclusion is that we Vaiṣṅavas, we do not say that this jagat is mithyā. No. The jagat is satya. Unless the jagat is satya, how we are approaching God, the Absolute Truth, through this material, I mean to say, world? How it is possible? You cannot approach the truth through false thing. That is not possible. Therefore our Gosvāmīs' conclusion is that,

prāpañcikatayā buddhyā hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ mumukṣubhiḥ parityāgo phalgu vairāgyaṁ kathyate [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.256]

[On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Kṛṣṅa is not as complete in his renunciation.]

This is the given..., definition given by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī. The prāpañcikatayā buddhyā... This world is material; therefore it is false. So... But hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ. But it has got connection with Hari. Hari has created. Kṛṣṅa has created. How? It is not without..., how you can say, "without any relationship"? If I have created something, it has got..., I have got intimate relationship. Therefore the Rūpa Gosvāmī says that "Any creation of the Lord, if we think it is material," prāpañcikatayā buddhyā hari-sambandhi, mumukṣubhiḥ parityāgaḥ... Those who are... Because these Māyāvādīs, they are after mumukṣā, so mumukṣubhiḥ parityāgaḥ, if they are giving up, then phalgu-vairāgya. It is called phalgu-vairāgya, false renunciation. The world is not false, but the so-called renunciation is false. But the real fact is... Rūpa Gosvāmī says that,

anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṅa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255]

[When one is not attached to anything but at the same time accepts everything in relation to Kṛṣṅa, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Kṛṣṅa is not as complete in his renunciation.]

Anāsaktasya viṣayān. We are after sense enjoyment. That is called viṣaya. Viṣaya means the object of sense gratification. So we should not be very much eager to enjoy. God's creation should be engaged for God's enjoyment, not for my enjoyment. If we are trained up in this way, anāsaktasya viṣayān, we can take prasādam. We have to eat also. But if we think that "These things are made for me. I have to eat," then that is mithyā. "This is given by God, given by Kṛṣṅa, so let me offer it to Kṛṣṅa: 'Kṛṣṅa, it is Your thing. You first of all taste, then I'll take it.' " Anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ. "As it is. But Your thing should be offered to You, and then I shall take." That is yukta-vairāgya.

There are many other things that this kind of false identification... So many Māyāvādīs, they first of all say, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, but after few days, again they come to this jagat and become interested in so-called material service, because he could not realize Brahman. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ [SB 10.2.32].

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

They may rise up to the paraṁ padam, brahma-pada, but anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, because they could not take up the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, they fall down. There are many instances, many sannyāsīs, they give up this world as mithyā and again come to politics, again come to philanthropic work. Why? If jagat is mithyā, why you are coming to politics and philanthropic work? That is āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ [SB 10.2.32]. Again they fall down.

So there are many controversial points. It may take long hours. But so far we are, Vaiṣṅava, are concerned, we don't accept that this world is false. No. Everything is meant for Kṛṣṅa's service. Kṛṣṅa says, bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram [Bg 5.29].

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

He is the proprietor. And He is the bhoktā. So don't try to enjoy this world. That is false. Everything engaged for Kṛṣṅa's—that is reality. So jagat is not unreal. Our attitude, our mentality, is unreal, that "The whole world is for my enjoyment." No. The creator says, bhoktā aham: "I am enjoyer." Why you are claiming you are enjoyer? That is your false claim. So jagat is not false, but our claim to enjoy the jagat, that is false. So we have to convert it, that it is enjoyable by Kṛṣṅa. Then you come to reality.

Thank you very much. [applause] [break]

All the poverty-stricken people may come to us. We shall supply prasādam. [applause] That is the solution. Come on. We shall supply you.

Acyutānanda: [reading question] "After physical death, the soul will take birth as per the saṁskāras, or past deeds. So what made the soul take birth in the very beginning?"

Prabhupāda: What is that? Very beginning?

Acyutānanda: "After the physical death of the body, the soul will take birth as per the past deeds."

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Acyutānanda: "So what made the soul take birth in the first place?"

Prabhupāda: In the first place?

Acyutānanda: What is the first birth? What is the cause of the first birth?

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is stated in the Prema-vivarta:

kṛṣṅa bhuliya jīva bhoga vañcha kare pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare [Prema-vivarta]

[When an individual soul forgets his eternal relationship with God and tries to lord it over the material nature or resources, that condition, that forgetful condition, is called māyā, or illusion.]

As soon as... We are eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa. As soon as we want to become master, that is the beginning of our first birth in the material world. We have got independence. Because, Kṛṣṅa says, mamaivāṁśo jīva bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7]—we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa—so Kṛṣṅa has got full independence, but we are minute; therefore we have got minute independence. Our business is to serve Kṛṣṅa, but as soon as we give up this idea, we want to become master. That is the beginning of our material birth.

Acyutānanda: This question says, "India is the motherland for Kṛṣṅa cult and needs no propaganda. You'll be doing more service for the Kṛṣṅa cult if you demonstrate against America for helping Christian missionaries in India. Please enlighten me."

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṅa is for everyone. Kṛṣṅa never says, "I am for Indian" or "for American." Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya. [applause]

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ yāḥ tāsāṁ mahad yonir brahma ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā [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.]

Kṛṣṅa is father of all living entities in any form of life, not only human, but the cats, dogs and everyone. He is the father of all living entities.

Acyutānanda: "Why doesn't the Kṛṣṅa conscious movement stop cow slaughter? Five thousand cows are slaughtered daily. Why?"

Prabhupāda: Then? Why?

Acyutānanda: Cows are slaughtered. [aside:] Who put this question?

Prabhupāda: You are killing cows? Or what is that?

Guest (2): Why doesn't the Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement stop cow slaughter? Every day five thousand cows are being slaughtered.

Prabhupāda: Yes, we are teaching don't eat meat. So "don't eat meat" means don't slaughter cows and goats and everyone. You are after stopping cow slaughter, but you are advocating goat slaughter. But we are not for any slaughter. Don't eat meat, that's all.

Acyutānanda: There's one question: "If everyone becomes Kṛṣṅa conscious, then how will they make a living?"

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṅa says, yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham [Bg 9.22].

[But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form-to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.]

He is... Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13]. He's supplying everyone. So we have got ten thousand disciples all over the world. Mostly they are Europeans and Americans and Australians. Their expenditure is very heavy. How Kṛṣṅa is supplying, you can see. We are spending ten lakhs of rupees per month, and Kṛṣṅa is supplying.

Acyutānanda: "Did you ever see the lotus Lord or feel His presence?"

Prabhupāda: Hmm? What is that?

Devotee: Do you ever feel Kṛṣṅa's presence, or see Him?

Prabhupāda: Yes, you can feel also. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. This is the formula of seeing Kṛṣṅa:

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.]

If you have developed your love of Kṛṣṅa, then you'll see Him twenty-four hours. Just like you, if you love somebody, you'll always think of him. That is natural. So the first qualification is whether you have developed that love for Kṛṣṅa. Then you'll see twenty-four hours.

Acyutānanda: "What is the easiest method of attaining mokṣa while in family life?"

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Haṁsadūta: [repeats question]

Prabhupāda: That is not recommended in the Vedic śāstra. [laughter] Especially Śaṅkarācārya, he would not accept anyone unless he accepts sannyāsa. He never accepts anybody.

Acyutānanda: "There are many religious movements. How does Kṛṣṅa consciousness take priority?"

Devotee: There are many religious movements. Why is this the topmost?

Prabhupāda: Because it is Kṛṣṅa's movement. He is the topmost. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya [Bg 7.7].

[O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.]

Kṛṣṅa says, "There is no more superior truth than Me." Therefore Kṛṣṅa consciousness is the supreme truth. There is no more superior truth than Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

Acyutānanda: "When a person dies, his soul will take another body. Then why is the population today increasing?"

Prabhupāda: Because they are blocked-up, bottle-necked. They are not going back to home, back to Godhead. Therefore it is crowded. [laughter]

Acyutānanda: "Why does Kṛṣṅa allow us to commit mistakes and later punishes us?"

Prabhupāda: That is His mercy. You want to do something bad. Kṛṣṅa says, "Don't do it." But if you want to do it at your risk, Kṛṣṅa allows, "All right, do it, and suffer yourself." Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. He does not say anything. But if you want to do something else, do it at your risk.

That's all right. Chant Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]