761216 - Lecture BG 16.08 - Hyderabad

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Lecture

761216BG-HYDERABAD - December 16, 1976 - 25:38 Minutes

Prabhupāda:

asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te

jagad āhur anīśvaram

aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ

kim anyat kāma-haitukam

(BG 16.8)

So we are discussing for the last few days about the asuras, demons.

(aside:) Stop.

So the beginning is, na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate. The asuras, they are aśuci, unclean. That is their misfortune, that they cannot understand what is the right way, what is the wrong way. So śuci, cleanliness, is the first qualification of the daiva-prakṛti, or devatās. There are two classes of men. One class is devatā, and the other class asura. So asura class, they will have to suffer. They cannot get liberation from the material bondage. Mūḍhā janmani janmani mām aprāpya eva (BG 16.20). Unless we achieve the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, our sufferings in the material world will continue. It will not stop. We are trying to stop all kinds of suffering by adjustment of this material world. That is not possible. That is stated in the śāstra: durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). Durāśayā, hopeless.

Big, big asuras like Rāvaṇa, he also wanted to be happy himself and others by material adjustment. He proposed that "There is no need of acting piously to go to the heavenly planet. I shall construct a staircase so anyone can go." Rāvaṇera svarge sidi. So that was failure. Just like we are now trying, the modern scientists, we are trying to go to the moon planet. It is failure. They will never be able to go there. I have discussed this point. We are conditioned. We cannot live one place to another without being proficient or without being eligible. Just like even in this planet you cannot go to the other country. Suppose from India if we want to go to America, it requires arrangement, not that all of a sudden you can go to America or the Americans come here. There is international arrangement—visa, passport, immigration, so many things. So many obstacles are there even in this planet, and what to speak of going to other planet. It is not possible. You must be efficient; then you can go. That we get information from the Bhagavad-gītā:

yānti deva-vratā devān

pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ

bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā

yānti mad-yājino 'pi mām

(BG 9.25)

So in this life you have to prepare yourself. Then you can go to the higher planetary system.

ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā

madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ

jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā

adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ

(BG 14.18)

You can go, sarva-ga. Every living entity can go wherever he likes, but he must fulfill the condition because we are in the conditional state. The material world means we are conditioned. So in order to be eligible to go to the higher planetary system like moon planet and others, we must be efficient to prepare ourself. So that preparation means the more you become situated in the sattva-guṇa, śaucam . . . Satyaṁ śaucam, the brahminical qualification, ārjavam āstikyam, jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). Unless you acquire the qualities of sattva-guṇa, you cannot go even in the higher planetary system, what to speak of going beyond the universe. Beyond the universe, beyond this, there are Vaikuṇṭhaloka, or the Brahmaloka, brahma-jyotir. Then topmost is the Goloka Vṛndāvana. But you can go there. Kṛṣṇa says, mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām (BG 9.25). If you prepare in this life, then you can go there. There is no impediment. Simply you have to be purified. This bhakti-mārga is the process of purification.

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ

tat-paratvena nirmalam

hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-

sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate

(CC Madhya 19.170)

If we want to go to Vaikuṇṭha planet or Goloka Vṛndāvana planet, beyond this material sky, that is . . . There is another sky. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ avyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). These informations are there in the Bhagavad-gītā. There is another sky, which is called paravyoma. That is spiritual sky. That spiritual sky is eternal. When everything is annihilated within this material sky, that remains eternally. That is called sanātana-dhāma. So sanātana. Jīva is sanātana. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7). It is stated there. So jīva is sanātana. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). And Kṛṣṇa is also sanātana. In the Eleventh Chapter Kṛṣṇa is addressed, sanātanam. And here there is another sky, which is called sanātana. Avyaktaḥ avyaktāt sanātanaḥ. So this sanātana-dhāma and sanātana association . . . Kṛṣṇa is sanātana, living entity is sanātana, and there is a sanātana-dhāma. The cultivation of knowledge how one can go back to that sanātana-dhāma and associate with the supreme sanātana and remain yourself sanātana, that is called sanātana-dharma.

So we have to cultivate that sanātana-dharma, means we have to purify ourself from the material qualification or material designation. Here we have got material designation: "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am this and that." So one has to become free. That is purification, when we understand that, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu introduced Himself, that "I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a śūdra, I am not a sannyāsī, I am not a brahmacārī, but I am servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa," gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80). If we come to this understanding, that is our purification.

Just like in our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we have got people from all different countries, all different religious system, caste, creed, colors, but they have forgotten their material designation. If these American boys or English boys would have thought that they are Englishmen, then they could not mix with us Indian in such humble way, because they have their prestigious position. And actually, materially they are advanced and opulent. Why they should come with me, an Indian, poor Indian? No. Because they have forgotten. Their designation they have forgotten. Similarly, we have to forget this material designation due to this body. This is bodily conception of life.

So nowadays it is going on very strong, "nation." We do not have any such conception in the śāstra, "national idea." The division is deva and asura. It doesn't matter where you are born. Even in India . . . Suppose you are born in a brāhmaṇa family. It does not mean that you cannot become an asura. And even if in Europe and America if you are born in the mleccha and yavana family, it does not mean that you cannot become a brāhmaṇa. No. Kṛṣṇa says openly, māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ (BG 9.32). Pāpa-yoni, lowborn. Pāpa-yoni . . . There are . . . They are mentioned in the śāstras, kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ (SB 2.4.18). They are considered as caṇḍāla, less than the śūdras. Kirāta means Africans, the black. In our country also there are Santals, very black. They live in the forest. Every country, aborigines. They are called kirāta. So Huns . . . There are Huns on the northern side of Germany. Āndhra, kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ. Many. But Śukadeva Gosvāmī says that they can be purified, śudhyanti prabhaviṣṇave, if they become Vaiṣṇava. Prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ. If one becomes Vaiṣṇava, then he is transcendental to this material designation.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is an endeavor to make everyone a pure Vaiṣṇava. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). Then he will be nirmala. In that nirmala stage, when he engages himself in the service of the Lord, that is called bhakti. Bhakti is not the activities of this material world. Bhakti is the activity sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26). To become identified with Brahman, that is not sufficient. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. That is not sufficient. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). When you become free from this material designation, brahma-bhūtaḥ stage, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that is a stage, neutral stage. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati. Means you become free from the material anxieties. Material life means śocati, kāṅkṣati. Always people want something, and whatever he has got, if he has lost, he laments for something. This is our material life. But when you come to the Brahman platform, na śocati na . . . This is the first qualification—no more lamentation, no more hankering. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). Then sarveṣu bhūteṣu, every living entity, he can . . . He knows that every living entity is the son of Kṛṣṇa. Ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4), Kṛṣṇa says. So why shall I distinguish between this person to that person? Everyone is Vaiṣṇava. That is mahā-bhāgavata. Mahā-bhāgavata does not see any distinction. He sees everyone, paṇḍitāḥ sama . . .

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne

brāhmaṇe gavi hastini

śuni caiva śva-pāke ca

paṇḍitāḥ sama . . .

(BG 5.18)

When one has attained this stage, then he can execute devotional service. Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54).

So to become a bhakta is the highest position, highest perfection of life—beyond this material existence. That is possible. Kṛṣṇa says,

māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya

ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ

striyo śūdrā tathā vaiśyās

te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim

(BG 9.32)

Everyone is eligible to go back home, back to Godhead. So this movement is to execute this Kṛṣṇa's mission. He wants it. Why He says, māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ? Pāpa-yonayaḥ means suffering. Here in this material world either you are in pāpa-yoni or ucca-yoni, there is suffering. So Kṛṣṇa is . . . Kiṁ punar brāhmaṇāḥ puṇyā bhaktā rājarṣayas tathā (BG 9.33). Even the pāpa-yonis, they can be relieved, what to speak of those who are born in good family, brāhmaṇa, puṇya, rājarṣaya, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya. Of course, in this age it is very difficult to find out the qualified brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. Kali-yuga, everyone is almost śūdra. And still, striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim. They can be elevated. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement is para-upakāra, para-upakāra, because within this material world, with material designation and material environment, they are all suffering. Kṛṣṇa is more unhappy for our suffering because we are His sons. Suppose your son is suffering—you will suffer also, not that the son is suffering. Similarly, because we have come to this conditional state of life, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19), we sometimes . . . once we take birth and again we die—this is not very good proposal. But these rascals, they do not know how nature is working. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). We are leaving one body and accepting another body. This is a great botheration. But the rascal so-called scientist, politician, they do not know this. I therefore say "rascals." They are very much proud of their learning, advancement of science, but they cannot understand the simple truth spoken in the Bhagavad-gītā: dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). There is dehāntara-prāptiḥ. Dhīras tatra na muhyati.

So people are surprised. They do not believe that they are . . . But dhīras tatra na muhyati: those who are dhīra, sober, intelligent, they understand, "Yes, there is dehāntara-prāp . . ." The example He's giving, dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). Just like we are changing body, kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, similarly the old body, "Old order changes to a new." Again we get another body. And this is very, very great botheration of life. They do not understand. But it can be stopped. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). It can be stopped. How? Simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa. Janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). You simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself. Where is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa? You haven't got to speculate. You haven't got to manufacture ideas what kind of Kṛṣṇa He is. He is present, dvi-bhuja-muralīdhara-kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa when He was present in the . . . upon this earth, everyone has seen. Kṛṣṇa has His temple, thousands and millions of temples, Kṛṣṇa. You can see His picture. Description is there, veṇuṁ kvaṇantam, in the Vedic literature.

veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ

barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam

kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

(BS 5.30)

Why? What is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa? And simply if you understand Kṛṣṇa . . . Janma karma ca me divyam (BG 4.9). They are not ordinary activities. Janma karma ca me divyam—transcendental. If you simply understand Kṛṣṇa, then we can save from this botheration of repetition of birth and death. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). He does not accept any more this material body. Then where does he go? Mām eti: "He comes to Me, back to home, back to Godhead."

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to introduce this movement in the human society. It is not meant for any particular class of men, a particular country or particular religious system. No. It is meant for everyone. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that it is the duty of the Indians,

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra

janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra

(CC Adi 9.41)

First of all make yourself perfect. You can make yourself perfect because in the Bhāratavarṣa there are this Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vedic literature. Just study them. And therefore we are publishing so many books on the basis of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and people are appreciating very much all over the world. So it is the duty of every Indian to make his life perfect by understanding Bhagavad-gītā at least, and spread the message. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Every one of you can become a guru. He says that. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa. Wherever you are, you can deliver the persons, surrounding person in your neighborhood. "How can I become guru? I have no qualification." No. There is no need of qualification. Simply repeat. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Very simple thing. Anyone you meet: "My dear friend, just hear little." "What is that?" "Now, Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You kindly think of Kṛṣṇa. Just offer your obeisances to Kṛṣṇa, just become a bhakta and chant His holy name." Bas. Your guru duty is finished. So it is not very difficult task. Anyone can do this. And then everyone will be benefited. And that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. (end).