Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.7.6 Śrīla Prabhupāda's Speech at The Opening of the Hyderabad Temple

Prabhupāda:

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām [SB 1.7.6]

This is a description of Vyāsadeva. Vidvān. Even from literary point of view, if you see the contribution of Vyāsadeva, it is not possible in any age. So many books. Four Vedas, Vedānta-sūtra, Upaniṣads, Purāṅas, and the most important contribution is the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That is his last contribution. Under the instruction of his spiritual master, Nārada Muni, he contributed Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, amalaṁ purāṅam. Amalaṁ purāṅam means there is no material contamination. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa [SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90],

[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.]

there are material contaminations. But above this is the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vyāsadeva introduces dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṅāṁ satāṁ vāstavaṁ vastu vedyam atra [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.]

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam... Dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa. There are some contamination, cheating. But all these things are thrown away, projjhita. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpena ujjhita. So Śrīdhara Svāmī has given his comment on this: atra mokṣa-vāñchā api nirastam. Mokṣa-vāñchā, to become one with the Supreme, that is also another cheating. So Śrīdhara Svāmī has given his comment, very reliable comment.

So dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa. People are busy, at least those who are human beings, dharmeṅa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ, beginning with dharma. Economic development, artha. Dharma-artha-kāma, sense gratification. And at the end, mokṣa. Above mokṣa is bhakti. Mokṣa is described in the Bhagavad-gītā,

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.]

Without being on the platform mokṣa, nobody can enter into the bhakti. It is a misconception that bhakti helps mokṣa. Somebody says; it is not the opinion of the śāstra. Bhakti begins when one is already liberated. Mokṣa. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg 18.54]. Without Brahman, without Brahman realization, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, there cannot be jubilation, prasannātmā. This is the sign. What is prasannātmā? Na śocati na kāṅkṣati. The material disease is everyone is hankering after something which he hasn't got. And when he loses that thing, he's lamenting. These two business: śocati kāṅkṣati. So brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā, when one is actually self-realized, brahma-bhūtaḥ, na śocati na kāṅkṣati. This is the symptom. Then samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Then it is possible to see equally everyone. Paṅḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ [Bg 5.18].

[The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṅa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]]

So that is liberated stage. So when one has come to the liberated stage, from there he can begin mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg 18.54]. Bhakti means the activities of the liberated stage. That is not material things. So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is little difficult to understand because these activities are for the persons who have already attained mokṣa. Sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated,

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

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

So do not misunderstand that bhakti is lower than something else. There are karma, jñāna, yoga, bhakti. Bhakti is the ultimate. So if you want to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth, take from His instruction, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg 18.55].

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

If you want to know Kṛṣṅa or the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead, brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11]...

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

The Absolute Truth is realized from three angles of vision: impersonal Brahman, localized Paramātmā, and ultimately Bhagavān. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. So if you want to understand Bhagavān, Brahman realization is possible. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padam [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.]

This paraṁ padam, Brahman realization. And Paramātmā realization: dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1].

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṅa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and becoming fully absorbed in thoughts of Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.]

But if you want to realize the last phase of the Absolute Truth it requires bhakti. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg 18.55].

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

manuṣyāṅāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ [Bg 7.3]

[Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.]

This is the word used by Kṛṣṅa personally. Nobody understands Him, tattvataḥ, what He is actually. We understand superficially, "Kṛṣṅa was born in Mathurā, and He was the son of Vasudeva, and so on, so on." But one has to understand Kṛṣṅa tattvataḥ: in truth. And Kṛṣṅa says, janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ [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.]

Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti, he immediately becomes lib... If you understand simply Kṛṣṅa, tattvataḥ, then immediately you become liberated. The result is tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9]. We are changing our body, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19]. We are accepting... People do not know even this. We have talked with many big, big professors in Europe, in Moscow also, and they say, "Swāmījī, after the annihilation of this body, everything is finished." But we get instruction from the Bhagavad-gītā, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam [Bg 2.20].

So we are missing our own culture that we do not take very much care to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We make our wrong interpretation and spoil the whole thing. These habits should be stopped. Otherwise, our culture is almost already lost. Then this bhāratīya culture... It is very important culture. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said that,

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma 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.]

Para-upakāra. The bhārata-bhūmi is meant for doing good to others. Bhārata-bhūmi is not meant for exploiting others. This is not bhāratīya mission. Para-upakāra. So every Indian... That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. Because every Indian is born Kṛṣṅa conscious; naturally he has got instinct. Don't destroy it. Don't destroy it. That is our request. You have got already. We have seen practically, whenever we hold some festival in Calcutta, Bombay and other big cities, thousands of people, twenty thousand, fifteen thousand, thirty thousand people come. They are hankering. So if we simply introduce this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, you'll very soon see that the face of India is different. Anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣāt. We have captured so many anartha. Anartha means meaningless life. Anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje lokasyājānataḥ [SB 1.7.6]. The foolish people, they do not know it. Therefore vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām. The sātvata-saṁhitā is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

So let us combinedly preach the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhagavad-gītā ends, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekāṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. This is the end of Bhagavad-gītā's instruction, that "Give up all nonsense. Just take shelter under My lotus feet." If you hesitate, that "If I give up everything..." You haven't got to give up everything, but you have to understand the meaning of life. Arjuna, when he understood Bhagavad-gītā, he did not give up his profession as a military man. But what was the change? The change is Kṛṣṅa inquired from Arjuna: "What is now your decision? I have spoken to you everything about jñāna and guhya-guhyatamam. Now you consider upon it, and whatever you like you do." Yathecchasi tathā kuru [Bg 18.63]. So upon this, Arjuna replied naṣṭo mohaḥ: "My illusion is now over." Naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā: "My memory is now returned." Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava [Bg 18.73]: "I shall act according to You." This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Try to understand what is the purpose of Bhagavad-gītā. You haven't got to give up everything. You can be engaged in everything, but if you utilize everything according to the instruction of Kṛṣṅa then it will be successful. Otherwise it will be failure. So we have tested all these things, how many programs and plans we have made, and everything has failed. Why not try to take the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, the instruction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and try to utilize it for practical life? And it will be successful. There is no doubt about it.

I am speaking from my practical experience. Now these foreigners, they are neither Hindus nor Indian nor brāhmaṅas. How they are taking? They are not fools and rascals. They are coming from respectable family, educated. So we have got our centers in Iran also, in Tehran. I am just coming from there. We have got so many Muhammadan students, and they have also taken to it. In Africa they have taken to it. In Australia they have taken to it. All over the world. So that is the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission.

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma [CB Antya-khaṅḍa 4.126]

[In every town and village of the world, the chanting of My name will be heard.]

This is the prediction of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. As many towns and villages are there all over the world, this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement will be spread.

So there is no credit for me, but it is only a teeny attempt, and humble attempt. So if one man could do, if you say, some success, so why not all of us? Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given power of attorney to all Indians. Bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra [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.]

He's speaking to the manuṣya, not to the cats and dogs. So, manuṣya-janma yāra janma sārthaka kari'. First of all, try to understand what is the purpose of life. That is called janma sārthaka. Janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra. Go. Everywhere there is very good demand for Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

So everyone should be prepared. Everyone should understand Bhagavad-gītā. Of course, it is not possible for everyone to go. Still, if one understands... That is also Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order: āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa [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 says, "Every one of you become a guru." "How can I become guru? I am not very learned scholar. I have no education." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, "No. Even though you are not very much educated or not born of a very high family, you simply yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. That's all. You become a guru." Kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Don't adulterate it, but as Kṛṣṅa says, you say. You become guru. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission.

So I have tried that. I have tried to follow the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction, and I am presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. There is no magic, there is no jugglery, and people are taking. If you do that, everyone will be happy, the world will be happy, and India's glory will be spread all over the world.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda! [applause] [end]