760614 - Lecture SB 06.01.48 - Detroit

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Lecture

760614SB-DETROIT - June 14, 1976 - 18.35 Minutes

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (devotees repeat) (leads chanting, etc.)

manasaiva pure devaḥ

pūrva-rūpaṁ vipaśyati

anumīmāṁsate 'pūrvaṁ

manasā bhagavān ajaḥ

(SB 6.1.48)

Translation: (02:06) "The omnipotent Yamarāja is as good as Lord Brahmā, for while situated in his own abode or in everyone's heart like the Paramātmā, he mentally observes the past activities of a living entity and thus understands how the living entity will act in future lives."

Prabhupāda:

manasaiva pure devaḥ

pūrva-rūpaṁ vipaśyati

anumīmāṁsate 'pūrvaṁ

manasā bhagavān ajaḥ

(SB 6.1.48)

This is called tri-kala-jña: past, present and future. So Yamarāja or Lord Brahmā or great personalities, they, even great sages, saintly persons, they know the three features of time. Just like yesterday I told you that there is a astrological system: immediately they will speak what I was in my previous life, what I am now and what will be my future life. So Yamarāja is not ordinary person. He is given in charge; he is also one of the authorities out of twelve authorities. Balir vaiyāsakir vayam (SB 6.3.20). He is one of the authorities about religious performances. So he knows everything even from within his mind, manasaiva pūrva-rūpaṁ vipaśyati, what this person was in the past, because everything is going on exactly on the rulings of the prakṛti, material nature. It cannot be changed. Tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ (SB 1.5.18). This is called destiny.

So destiny cannot be changed. So with the insight of destiny Yamarāja can understand what was this man previously, what is his position now, and what he's going to become in future. Anumīmāṁsate 'pūrvam. Apūrvam means which is not yet in vision. Apūrvam, "future." Manasā bhagavān ajaḥ. That is also . . . So therefore he can give judgment within a second. After death, those who are sinful, they are taken to the Yamarāja's. Just like in the criminal court, those who are criminals, they are taken there. Thieves, rogues, cheater—not ordinary persons, honest persons; they are not taken there. Similarly, only a few number of the whole human society. Now in the Kali-yuga it is increasing. In the Satya-yuga, Satya-yuga, there was no criminal. Everyone was paramahaṁsa. Then, in the next yuga, Tretā-yuga, seventy-five percent paramahaṁsa, first class; twenty-five percent this third class, fourth class. And then in the Dvāpara, half and half. Now in the Kali-yuga, seventy-five percent all rogues and thieves. Maybe twenty-five percent. That is also decreasing. And with the advancement of Kali-yuga, it will be practically nil. This is advancement of Kali-yuga.

Therefore the living entities, means human beings, they have been described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as manda. Manda means all bad. Manda, there are two meanings, "slow" or "bad." Slow means bad. Slow, if you take the meaning of slow, that will be like this, that this human form of life is meant for spiritual realization. That is the advantage. In the cycle of birth and death, we are rotating. Once a chance is given to decide whether we shall rotate in the cycle of birth and death or we shall go back to home, back to Godhead. That decision rests on this life. It is a very responsible life. Labdhvā sudurlabhaṁ idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte (SB 11.9.29). Prahlāda Mahārāja says, durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam (SB 7.6.1): "Don't spoil this human form of life like animals." This is the special prerogative, to realize one's spiritual identity and engage oneself in spiritual activities. That is human life. And if we do not take care of it and give us washed away by the waves of material nature, as Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, māyār bośe, yāccho bhese khaccha hābuḍubu bhai . . . The ocean of nescience, if we place ourself to be carried away by the waves of nescience, then our life is spoiled. If we want to save our life from this being carried away by the waves of material nature, then we must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Jīv kṛṣṇa dās ei viśvās korle to' ār duḥkha nai. This is Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's song, that if we simply accept this truth, that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa," then we are immediately free.

So to come to this understanding in the material world . . . In other ages, they voluntarily used to take up how to make life perfect, but in this Kali-yuga, everyone is manda. Manda means very, very slow. They do not care that there is next life, and we have to take care of it and make our next life spiritual or go back to home, back to Godhead. These things they do not . . . Perhaps this message is being distributed by this movement only. Otherwise, people are in darkness, very slow, and most of them very bad, mandāḥ sumanda-matayo (SB 1.1.10). And if one is a little interested, then he's captured by some party. Sumanda-matayo. Mata means cult. So many cults there are. They'll mislead. So people are attracted by such cults. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyāḥ. And everyone is unfortunate. They have no fixed, I mean to say, arrangement, even for the bare necessities of life. What the animals, birds and beasts, they have got arrangement, they believe in that, but our human society, because we are so advanced, there are so many hundreds and thousands of men, there is no fixed purpose of life. Even in your rich country we see such men without any purpose, without any aim of life. So they are called manda-bhāgyāḥ, most unfortunate. Most unfortunate. Manda-bhāgyāḥ and upadrutāḥ. Over and above that, they are always disturbed. This is the condition of life.

So those who are saintly persons or those who are following the path of Yamarāja . . . Yamarāja is mahājana. As Yamarāja knows, anyone who follows the mahājana . . . Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). We cannot ascertain what is our aim of life, so we have to follow these mahājanas. Yamarāja is mahājana. Baliḥ vaiyāsakir vayam. So, (reading:) "One should not consider Yamarāja an ordinary living being. He's as good as Lord Brahmā. He has the complete cooperation of the Supreme Lord, who is situated in everyone's heart, and therefore by the grace of the Supersoul he can see the past, present and future of a living being from within. The word anumīmāṁsate means that he can decide in consultation with the Supersoul. Anu means 'following.' The actual decisions concerning the next lives of the living entities are made by the Supersoul and they are carried out by Yamarāja."

So actual witness is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everyone's heart He's living. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā:

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi-sanniviṣṭo

smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca

vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo

vedānta-kṛd veda-vid āham

(BG 15.15)

So Supersoul, and there are many other witnesses. We cannot avoid. That we have discussed already. The sun is witness, the moon is witness, the day is witness, the directions are witness. We cannot avoid any one of them. So we must know what is sinful activities, what we should do, what is religious, what is not religious. On the whole, if we, I mean to say, intelligent, then we can learn from Bhagavad-gītā that we become all-perfect as soon as we surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). If we take this . . . Kṛṣṇa comes here on this planet. When He comes within this universe He comes on this planet, and He appears in Vṛndāvana. These are special features of this planet. So He comes to give us enlightenment. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavaty bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7). He comes, He's so kind, and gives us instruction. The most confidential instruction is to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Then our life is successful.

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante

jñānavān māṁ prapadyate

vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti

sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ

(BG 7.19)

Simply by this understanding, kevalayā bhaktyā:

kecit kevalayā bhaktyā

vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ

aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena

nihāram iva bhāskaraḥ

(SB 6.1.15)

Aghaṁ dhunvanti. This material life means full of sinful activities. Either little . . . Sinful activities are sinful activities. It may be, according to the material calculation, these are good sinful activities and these are bad sinful activities. No, sinful activities are sinful activities. And what is our sinful activity? As soon as we forget Kṛṣṇa, everything we do, that is sinful. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ. This is the criterion, test, that if one is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, if he's not a surrendered soul to Kṛṣṇa, whatever activities they are doing, that is all sinful. This is the conclusion. So we should always remain in full understanding, that whether our time is being properly utilized in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then we are saved. Otherwise we are under the clutches of māyā, and Yamarāja is there, and immediately we get a certain type of body for another term of suffering.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: Jaya. (end).