720327 - Lecture - Bombay

Lectures by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

720327LE-BOMBAY - March 27, 1972 - 17:26 Minutes

Prabhupāda: . . . ignorance, this is ignorance. Therefore jñāna and vairāgya is stressed here. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Kṛṣṇa . . . Śrī Kṛṣṇa, our original father, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pita (BG 14.4), He is not very happy to see that we are struggling very hard within this material world for sense gratification. Only our objective is sense gratification. Therefore He comes out of compassion: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati (BG 4.7).

As soon as people forget the principles of religion, dharmasya glānir bhavati . . . abhyutthānam adharmasya, as soon as people become irreligious, then as soon as the people become without any religion, the irreligious principles flourish, abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7). At that time Kṛṣṇa, God, comes: paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8). Now this vināśāya and paritrāṇāya, both contradictory.

He is killing the demons and He is giving protection to the devotees, but the result is one. The killing devotees means that they are also being promoted to the spiritual world. Anyone who is killed by God, Kṛṣṇa, he immediately gets liberation from material bondage. Therefore Kṛṣṇa's killing and Kṛṣṇa's petting, there is no difference. Advayam: they are the same.

So Kṛṣṇa comes when there is discrepancies in the religious principles. He comes down. In this age, the Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Kṛṣṇa directly ordered this sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), but we could not take it very nicely. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā (BG 9.11). Even a great philosopher, he says that, "This is too much. Why Kṛṣṇa says that sarva-dharmān parityajya?"

He says sophist. But actually that is not the fact. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He has the right to ask like that: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja. That He is asking. Just like father can ask, can oblige, can ask very strongly his son, "You must do it." But it is up to the son to do it or not to do it. That choice is always there. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says that, "You have created so many religions, but real religion, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja."

The other day some gentleman was asking me, "So why there are so many religions?" The reply is that so many . . . religion is one. God is one; religion is one, because religion means the codes, the law given by God. So this law is this, that: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja. So therefore religion is one, but because we are disobedient to the orders of God, or Kṛṣṇa, we have manufactured so many religions. So they are not actually religions. They are concoctions, a kind of faith. That will not help us. Therefore we have already explained, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). Again the same thing is repeated:

vāsudeve bhagavati

bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ

janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ

jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam

(SB 1.2.7)

Therefore we should take this principle, bhakti-yoga, vāsudeve, kṛṣṇe. Vāsudeva means Kṛṣṇa.

So Lord Caitanya appeared. He is Kṛṣṇa, but He appeared as a devotee. Kṛṣṇa, when He saw that, "I ordered the world to give up all other engagements and simply surrender unto Me, but they could not take it properly. They misunderstood," therefore He came again as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as a devotee: bhakta-rūpaṁ-bhaktākhyaṁ namāmi bhakta-śaktikam (CC Adi 1.14).

He came as a devotee. Because Kṛṣṇa appearing as a devotee and teaching us how to approach Kṛṣṇa, that is Lord Caitanya's vision. This is confirmed in the Vedic literature:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ

sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam

yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair

yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

(SB 11.5.32)

This is the definition given in the Vedic literature, that in this age, Kali-yuga, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ means either you say who is always describing Kṛṣṇa-varṇaite, always describing Kṛṣṇa, or he belongs to the same category. Varṇaṁ means "category" also. There is vipra-varṇa, śūdra-varṇa, like that.

So kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ mukti sarva, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, always describing Kṛṣṇa, and tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ, but His bodily complexion is not like Kṛṣṇa; it is yellowish. That is also mentioned in the śāstras. Idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ. Śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ (SB 10.8.13).

Gargamuni, when he made horoscope of Kṛṣṇa at Nanda Mahārāja's house, he said: "Nanda Mahārāja, your this son formerly was sometimes white and sometimes red, sometimes yellow, and now He has appeared as black."Śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ.

So this pīta color is Caitanya Mahāprabhu, or Kṛṣṇa. He is Kṛṣṇa, but He is fair complexion. That is also mentioned in the śāstra. These ślokas were very nicely explained by Jīva Gosvāmī. So we follow the footsteps of Jīva Gosvāmī. So this verse recommends that in this age:

kālo saṅkīrtana-prāyair

yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

(SB 11.5.32)

This form of God, Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, dancing with His associates, sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam . . . He has got His associates, five as . . . four associates; including Himself, five: pañca-tattvātmakaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ. Pañca-tattvā. He is associated with Lord Nityānanda, Advaita Prabhu, Gadādhara and Śrīvas.”

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya

prabhu-nityānanda

śrī-advaita gadādhara

śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

So therefore our method is bhakti-yoga. Everything is bhakti-yoga: vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ (SB 1.2.7)–the bhakti-yoga through Lord Caitanya. Because Kṛṣṇa Himself is teaching how to approach Him by bhakti-yoga.

So if we follow the path of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then it is very easy, very easy, because the master Himself teaching how to approach the master. Just like a teacher takes the pen from the student and he instructs, "Hold it; do like this. This is like . . . this is A, this is A."

So the master is not student, that he is writing A-B-C-D, but he is teaching the student, "Write A-B-C-D like that." Similarly, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the master, Kṛṣṇa Himself. That was detected by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī:

namo mahā-vadānyāya

kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te

kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-

nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

(CC Madhya 19.53)

He could understand. When he first met Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Prayāg he said: "Sir, You are mahā-vadānyāya. You are so magnanimous." Why? Kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te: "You are distributing kṛṣṇa-prema, love for Kṛṣṇa, which is very, very difficult." Kṛṣṇa says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati (BG 7.3). Nobody can understand Kṛṣṇa, and what to speak of kṛṣṇa-prema. It is very, very difficult.

But Caitanya Mahāprabhu distributed this kṛṣṇa-prema just like anything: "Take kṛṣṇa-prema." Factually you see. Because this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is being pushed on in the line of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, how easily and quickly these European and American boys are taking it, because through the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu it has become possible. Kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te: by simply chanting His name:

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya

prabhu-nityānanda

śrī-advaita gadādhara

śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

(Pañca-tattva Mahā-mantra)

Quick, I mean to say, entrance in the kṛṣṇa-prema. Kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is described by Rūpa Gosvāmī: namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te. Kṛṣṇāya: and they could detect also, Rūpa Gosvāmī that, "You are no other than Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise who could give kṛṣṇa-prema so easily? If Kṛṣṇa Himself can give it, so You are giving it." So Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, never He disclosed Himself that He is Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Although He was detected many times by His expert devotees like Sanātana Gosvāmī, Rūpa Gosvāmī, but He never said that, "I am Kṛṣṇa." He never said. Sometimes in Vṛndāvana some Vṛndāvana residents, they came to eulogize Him that, "Sir, You are Kṛṣṇa. We can understand." So He closed His ears like this, "Don't say like that. Oh, it is great offense to speak a common man as Kṛṣṇa." Yes.

So this is a teaching of Lord Caitanya, that to accept Kṛṣṇa as ordinary man is also offense, and similarly to accept an ordinary man as Kṛṣṇa, or God, that is also offense. He taught us that. That is going on nowadays. Any common man, he is declaring himself that, "I am God," and people are accepting. This is offense. We should understand who is actually Kṛṣṇa from the direction of the śāstra, not that any bogus man comes before us and declares himself that, "I am Kṛṣṇa and God," and we shall accept.

This is not good. But at the present moment there is no protection of the ruler. Everybody can go on like everything; there is no check. But this was not possible when there were kṣatriya kings in this country, in Bhārata-varṣa. Nobody could pretend as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Kṛṣṇa's time also, one king, he pretended himself that "I am Vāsudeva." So he was killed by Kṛṣṇa. So that is another story.

So our process, as recommended by Sūta Gosvāmī, that: vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ (SB 1.2.7). We should render devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva: oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya (SB 1.1.1). Then this process will elevate us. Janayaty āśu (SB 1.2.7). Āśu means "very soon," "without delay."

Āśu vairāgyaṁ, that is required. Vairāgyaṁ: we must be detestful of this material world. We should not be very much optimistic. Pessimistic. But when you are spiritually advanced, then there is no difference between this material world and spiritual world. That is another stage. But in the beginning we should be detestful. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 2.59). We should try to find out the better position of spiritual life.

If we entangle ourself with this materialistic way of life, we can gratify our senses for the time being, but that will not help us. The śāstra condemns: "This kind of sense gratification is there in the life of dogs and hogs." So we should not waste our time simply by sense gratification like dogs and hogs. We should take to the principles of bhakti-yoga and make our life successful by developing real knowledge, jñāna, and become detached to this material world.

So next verse is said . . . (end)