Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.16

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] Sixth Canto, First Chapter, text number 16. [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

na tathā hy-aghavān rājan pūyeta tapa-ādibhiḥ yathā kṛṣṅārpita-prāṅas tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā [SB 6.1.16]

[break] [01:34]

[purport] "Tat-puruṣa means a person engaging in Kṛṣṅa consciousness as the spiritual master..."

Translation: "My dear King, any sinful person, by practicing the principles of austerity, penance, brahmacarya and other practices, cannot become completely purified as one can by dedicating his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa's lotus feet under the direction of the Lord's bona fide devotee."

Prabhupāda:

na tathā hy-aghavān rājan pūyeta tapa-ādibhiḥ yathā kṛṣṅārpita-prāṅas tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā [SB 6.1.16]

We are discussing the process of purification. Different methods have been described—by prāyaścitta and by tapasya, we have discussed. And then kevalayā bhakta. Bhakti includes everything—karma, jñāna, yoga, everything. And it is specially recommended that by austerities and other methods there is possibility, but it may not be successful. But if we adopt this process, devotional service, then it is sure.

So this purificatory process means nivṛtti-mārga. And pravṛtti-mārga means without any knowledge where we are going on, rushing on—we are doing everything, whatever we like—that is called pravṛtti-mārga. People are generally engaged in pravṛtti-mārga. Especially in this age, they do not care what is going to happen next. Therefore they feel relief that "There is no life after death. Let us enjoy this life to the best capacity. Then after death, never mind what will come." First of all, they deny to believe the next life. And even there is next life, and even if I am going to become cats and dogs, they do not mind. This is the experience of the modern age, irresponsible life.

But our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is teaching people that "Don't live irresponsibly." Take, for example, that you may say, "There is no life." But if I put the argument, "Suppose there is life..." Now this is also supposition, because nobody, those who are in ignorance, they do not know whether there is life or whether there is no life. So you are arguing, "There is no life," but you do not know whether there is life. That is not in your knowledge. So supposing you have to take both the ways and think over it... You are simply thinking on the point that there is no life. Now, why don't you take my proposition, "If there is life?" Because you have not ascertained whether there is life. We say there is life. We take the example: just like this child has got his next life. The child may say, "There is no life next life." But actually that is not the fact. The fact is, there is life. The child will change this body and he will become a boy. And the boy will change this body; he will become young man. That is a fact. But by simply obstinacy if you say there is no life, that you can say. But take this argument: if there is life, then how much irresponsibly you are making your future life so dark. The same example: if a child does not go to school, does not take education, if he thinks, "There is no other life than this life. I shall play all day. Why shall I go to school?" he may say so, but there is life, and if he does not take education, in next life, when he is young man, if he is not posted in a good position, then he suffers. This is irresponsible life.

So before we get next life, we must be free from all sinful lifes. Otherwise we are not going to have better life. Especially going back to home, back to Godhead, one has to finish the resultant action of his sinful life in this life. In the Bhagavad-gītā you will find,

yeṣām tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅāṁ 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.]

To become a staunch devotee of Kṛṣṅa, perfect devotee of Kṛṣṅa, means one has become freed from all reaction of sinful life. Yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpam. No more committing any sinful activities. And whatever sinful activities he had done in his previous life, that is also negated. That is also made negation. There is no more reaction. Yeṣām tu anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām. So people are engaged either in sinful activities or in pious activities. So those who have not only finished the resultant action of their past sinful activities but at the present moment they are simply engaged in pious activities, such person, yeṣāṁ tu anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām, te, such person, dvandva-moha-nirmuktā, without any hesitation, without any doubt, bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ. That is the... So anyone who is engaged in Kṛṣṅa's service with firm conviction and devotion, it is to be understood that he is now free from all reaction of sinful activities. A Vaiṣṅava never commits any sinful activities, and whatever he had done in the past, that is also finished. This is said by Kṛṣṅa. Or in other words, if you devoutly engage yourself in the service of the Lord, then certainly you are freed from all reaction of sinful activities.

So how it is possible? Yathā kṛṣṅārpita-prāṅaḥ. Prāṅaḥ, prāṅair arthair dhiyā vācā [SB 10.22.35]. Prāṅa, prāṅa means life. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa, such person. How this dedication of life to Kṛṣṅa's service can be made possible? That is also stated here: tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā. You have to take shelter of a person who is a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, and you have to serve. That means you have to accept a devotee, a true devotee, a pure devotee, as your guide. That is our process. The Rūpa Gosvāmī says in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, "The first process is, first step is," ādau gurvāśrayam, "to accept guru." Accept guru... Guru means Kṛṣṅa's representative. One who is not Kṛṣṅa's representative, he cannot become guru. Guru does not mean any nonsense can become guru. No. Only tat-puruṣa. Tat-puruṣa means a person who has accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as everything. Tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā. That means Vaiṣṅava, pure devotee.

So it is not very difficult. By the grace of Kṛṣṅa there are pure devotees, so one has to take shelter of him. Ādau gurvāśrayam. Then sad-dharma-pṛcchāt: after accepting a bona fide spiritual master, one should be inquisitive to learn what is the science of Kṛṣṅa. Sad-dharma-pṛcchāt sādhu-mārga-anugamanam. And this Kṛṣṅa consciousness means one has to follow the footsteps of the devotees, sādhu-mārga-anugamanam. So who are those sādhus? That is also mentioned in the śāstra. We have already discussed.

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo 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.]

That two..., twelve personalities are mentioned especially, that they are mahājana, they are authorized, bona fide guru, and you have to follow their path. It is not difficult. So Svayambhū means Lord Brahmā. Svayambhūḥ nāradaḥ śambhuḥ. Śambhu means Lord Śiva. So each of them, out of these twelve mahājana, four are very prominent, that is, Svayambhū means Brahmā, and then śambhuḥ, Lord Śiva, and then kumāraḥ. And there is another sampradāya, Śrī-sampradāya, from Lakṣmījī. So we have to accept a spiritual master who are strictly in these four line of disciplic succession. Then we shall be gainer.

If we accept a so-called guru, then it will not be possible. We have to accept guru in the disciplic succession. Therefore it is recommended here, tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā: we have to serve him faithfully and always honestly. Then our purpose will be served. And if you take to this line of action, dedicating life to Kṛṣṅa and always engaged in the service of Kṛṣṅa under the direction of tat-puruṣa—means who has no other business than to preach Kṛṣṅa consciousness—then our life is successful. We become free from all sinful reaction. And without being purified... Because Kṛṣṅa, or God, is pure. Arjuna said, paraṁ brahma paraṁ brahma 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.]

"My Lord Kṛṣṅa, You are the supreme pure." So unless we are pure, we cannot approach Kṛṣṅa. That is the statement in the śāstra. Without becoming fire, you cannot enter into fire. Similarly, without becoming completely pure, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That is accepted by all religious system. The Christian system is also like that, that without becoming pure you cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

So the human life is meant for this purification. We are working very hard for getting our daily bread. People are not getting their bread sitting idly. That is not possible. They are working very hard. This nice city of Denver is there. It has not sprung up from the jungle or desert. One had to work very hard to make this city so nicely, perfectly standing. So we have to work. If we want happiness, then we have to work. There is no doubt about it. But Kṛṣṅa says that yānti deva-vratā devān [Bg 9.255].

[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.]

Somebody is working to become happy within this material atmosphere by becoming very big man within this world. Or a little more intelligent: they are not happy in this life, but they want to become happy in the next life. Sometimes they go to the higher planetary system. So yānti deva-vratā devān pitṛn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ [Bg 9.25]. So as you work, you get the desired result. But at the last line, Kṛṣṅa says, mad-yājino'pi yānti mām: "If you work or if you worship Me, then you come to Me."

Then where is the difference between going to Kṛṣṅa and keeping within this material world? The difference is 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.]

In this material world even if you go to the topmost planet, Brahmaloka, still, there is birth, death, old age and disease. Or you have to return back again. Just like these people are going to the moon planet and again coming back here. So this kind of going and coming back here is not good. Yad gatvā na nivartante [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.]

If you go to such planet wherefrom you haven't got to come back again to this material world, that is highest perfection. That is Kṛṣṅaloka. So Kṛṣṅa says that "If you are working so hard to become happy in this material world, the same labor, if you worship Me, Kṛṣṅa, then you come to Me." Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām. What is the benefit especially? Now, mām upetya kaunteya duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam nāpnuvanti [Bg 8.15]:

[After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.]

"Anyone who comes to Me, he hasn't got to come back again to this material world."

So our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is teaching people how to go back to home, back to Godhead, Kṛṣṅa. That will make the people happy eternally. So in this life also, Kṛṣṅa conscious people, they are not unhappy. You can see practically. We are sitting in a very nice room and chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa and taking prasādam. Where is unhappiness? There is no unhappiness. And other processes, they have to undergo so many unhappy processes. Here, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, there is nothing unhappiness. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: susukham kartum avyayam [Bg 9.2].

[This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.]

Susukham. When you execute devotional service, it is not only sukham—sukham means happiness—but another word is added, susukham, "very comfortable, very happy." Kartum, to execute devotional service, is great pleasure, great happiness. And avyayam. Avyayam means whatever you do, that is your permanent asset. Other things, that is finishable. Suppose you are very much advanced, educated person. You have passed M.A., Ph.D., and something, something. But it is not avyayam; it is vyayam. Vyayam means it is finishable. As soon as your body is finished, your so-called degrees all finished. Then again next life if you become a human being, of course again there is chance of becoming M.A., Ph.D., but the first M.A., Ph.D. in this life, that is finished.

So whatever we are acquiring here, that is not avyayam. Vyayam means expenditure, and a means "not." Not expenditure. If you have got some money, if you spend, then it is vyayam, finished after some time. Avyayam means you spend as much, still not finished. That is avyayam. So devotional service of Kṛṣṅa is explained as susukhaṁ kartum avyayam. Whatever you do, if you have attained success ten percent, that ten percent your permanent. Therefore it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sanjāyate [Bg 6.41].

[The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.]

Those who could not finish the bhakti-yoga in this life, they get another chance of human life. Not only human life; it is stated they go to the heavenly planet, they enjoy there, and then again come back in this planet. And that also not ordinary man. Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe: he takes birth in very sanctified family, just like brāhmaṅa-Vaiṣṅava, śucīnām, and śrīmatām, very rich family. Then it is his duty.

So those who are born rich... You Americans, you are supposed to be born rich. Actually it is so. So you should think in this term, that "Due to our previous devotional service, by Kṛṣṅa's grace we have got our birth in this country. There is no poverty," śrīmatām. So you should take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness very seriously. You have got the opportunity. You are not poverty-stricken. You haven't got to waste your time, "Where is food? Where is food? Where is food?" Just like in other, poverty-stricken country, they are embarrassed to find out food. But you are very fortunate. So don't waste this opportunity by becoming hippies. Don't waste. Become devotee, Kṛṣṅa's devotee. The Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is there, and we have got so many centers. Just try to learn this Kṛṣṅa consciousness science and make your life perfect. That is our request.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [offer obeisances] [kīrtana] [end]