760212 - Lecture SB 07.09.05 - Mayapur

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Lecture

760212SB-MAYAPUR - February 12, 1976 - 28.06 Minutes

Śāstrījī: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (devotees repeat) (chants verse, with devotee repeating) (break)

sva-pāda-mūle patitaṁ tam arbhakaṁ

vilokya devaḥ kṛpayā pariplutaḥ

utthāpya tac-chīrṣṇy adadhāt karāmbujaṁ

kālāhi-vitrasta-dhiyāṁ kṛtābhayam

(SB 7.9.5)

Dayānanda: (chants synonyms; devotees repeat)

Translation: (03:00) "Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva, when He saw Prahlāda Mahārāja fallen down at the end of His lotus feet, He became very much ecstatic in affection towards His devotee, and immediately raising him, placed His lotus hand upon the head, because His hand is always ready to create fearlessness of all His devotees."

Prabhupāda:

sva-pāda-mūle patitaṁ tam arbhakaṁ

vilokya devaḥ kṛpayā pariplutaḥ

utthāpya tac-chīrṣṇy adadhāt karāmbujaṁ

kālāhi-vitrasta-dhiyāṁ kṛtābhayam

(SB 7.9.5)

So kāla, kāla means death. Kṛṣṇa, He is life and death also. Bijo 'ham sarva-bhūtānām (BG 7.10). From Him all living entities come out, or in Him every living entity exists. At the same time, Kṛṣṇa says, mṛtyu ahaṁ sarva-haraś ca (BG 10.34): He is death also. So for the nondevotees, He is death, and for the devotees, He is life. These are the contradictory qualifications of the Supreme Lord. Death and life are two opposite things, viruddha, and Kṛṣṇa is both of them. So He adjusts, viruddha; opposite things coincide into one thing. That is Kṛṣṇa. We cannot adjust opposite things to be one.

So, sva-pāda-mule patitaṁ. Lord Brahmā, as soon as asked Prahlāda Mahārāja to pacify the Lord, he immediately fell down at His lotus feet, sva-pāda-mule patitaṁ tam arbhakaṁ. Just like, we are sometime extraordinarily happy, pleased, when a small child offers his obedience. So naturally, when Prahlāda Mahārāja, a small boy, five years old, and he fell down at the lotus feet of the Lord, He became very much pleased. So not only for Prahlāda Mahārāja; anyone in this material world who offers his obeisances before the Deity, don't think it is useless. It is taken into account. Therefore Kṛṣṇa advises, if you cannot do anything, you do four things: man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). "At least come before Me," just like we do. We come in the temple and offer our obeisances. It is so easy to go back to home, back to Godhead. It is not very difficult task at all. If you cannot do anything—if you cannot read books, if you cannot understand philosophy, if your behavior is not on the standard—still, if you simply offer your obeisances before the Deity, you make progress. You make progress, undoubtedly. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu you will find it that this worshiping method—come to the temple, offer obeisances, just like these boys, they are playing mṛdaṅgas, they are playing cymbals, dancing—every item is taken into account, every item. Not that it is going futile. No. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is bhakti-mārga, sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt (BG 2.40). Simply by playing on the cymbal, on the khol, taking little caraṇāmṛta . . . everything in detail there is in the Nectar of Devotion, you have read.

So the foolish persons, they do not take care. They think they are very much advanced, they have no need to attend ārati or to play on the mṛdaṅga or cymbal. But that is not fact. So many items are there given by the ācāryas. If not this, you do this, you do that, you do that—hundreds of items. Take any one of them and you'll be benefited. This is arcana-mārga. There are many foolish person, they make propaganda, "There is no need of going to the temple." That is another rascaldom. Because if you come to the temple, you get so many facilities to make advance in spiritual life. This is our mission. We are opening, spending so much money for opening gorgeous temple. It is not new thing. This is very, very old, coming by paramparā system. There are many thousands of temples in India, very old, five thousand, three thousand years old. Why? The ācāryas wanted to give facility to the common man to enter into spiritual life. That is the idea.

It is not childish. Rather, the so-called meditation is childish. You cannot . . . if you do not know what is God, how you can meditate upon Him? Meditation mean dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino (SB 12.13.1). The yogīs perform meditation. Why? To concentrate their mind on the Viṣṇu form. You'll find some pictures, that everyone is depicted with the Viṣṇu form in the core of their heart. That is real yoga, indriya-samyamaḥ. Real yoga means indriya-samyamaḥ. Our senses are so much disturbed, agitated always. So if you can control your sensory organs to your, employ them in the matter of understanding God: yoga indriya-samyamaḥ.

Real purpose of yoga is to control the senses. Very, very difficult. Even five thousand years ago, when Arjuna was being instructed on the yoga system, concentrating the mind, fixing up the mind on Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, the same thing, so Arjuna said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, it is very difficult." Cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛḍham (BG 6.34). "It is not possible, for me at least." Yes, those who are busy, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas. Brāhmaṇa may be able. Not nowadays brāhmaṇa; those who are actually brāhmaṇa, because they practice samaḥ, damaḥ, satyam, śaucam, controlling the mind, controlling the senses, brahmacārī. They can do that. But the kṣatriyas and the vaiśyas, they cannot, because they have not practiced samaḥ, damaḥ. But at the present moment in this age, Kali-yuga, everyone is śūdra, nobody is brāhmaṇa, by the caste system or by birthright. Śudra. Kalau śūdra sambhavaḥ. So in this age, how to concentrate the mind upon Kṛṣṇa, this practice: chanting.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalaṁ

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

(CC Adi 17.21)

In Kali-yuga it is very, very difficult to control the mind, to practice meditation. So there is no use of practicing the so-called meditation. Meditation was possible in the Satya-yuga. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum (SB 12.3.52). That is also Viṣṇu, dhyāyataḥ. To meditate upon Lord Viṣṇu, that was possible in the Satya-yuga. It is not possible in the Kali-yuga. Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. Kali-yuga, this is, even the child, amara vidya manitah. Beginning from the child, a small child, one year old, they are taking part. Practically you can see. They are taking flower, offering. It is imitation, but the effect is there, the same. Either you imitate or you do real—effective. Just like if you touch fire, either knowingly or unknowingly, it will act. It will act. Similarly, sv-alpam apy dharmasya: either this child, the children, they imitate the elderly person, the offering flower, taking prasādam, offering obeisances, they're as good as their father and mother. This is devotional service.

Abhaya. Abhaya means it doesn't vanquish. There is no expenditure; it is increasing. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam (CC Antya 20.12). These transcendental activities, transcendental bliss, increases, ānanda ambudhi. Ambudhi means ocean. We have seen ocean, but it does not increase, although it is a very big, vast mass of water. Still, when you go to the beach for hundreds year, it does not increase. Ānandāmbudhi, the material world, not vardhanam; it is fixed up. When we walk on the beach we are confident that although the Pacific Ocean is a great, vast mass of water, but we are certain it cannot come up to this. It is limited by the order of God: "You cannot go beyond this." So there is no vardhanam. The temporary ebb tide and flow tide, that is another thing, but actually āpūryamānam acala pratiṣṭhām (BG 2.70). But in the spiritual world, the ocean of transcendental bliss increases. Therefore it is said that ānandāmbudhi vardhanam.

So these little boys who are taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, just like Prahlāda Mahārāja, mahā-bhāgavata, he is also playing the part of a child, immediately falling down; so these children who are here, even imitation, it will not go in vain. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, as it is said here, sva-pāda-mūle-patitaṁ tam arbhakaṁ (SB 7.9.5). Although they are innocent children, but when they're offering obeisances to Rādhā-Mādhava it is of value, "Yes, very good." It is going to their credit. It is not bad. Some may think that these boys are brought here and their life is being spoiled; they are not being educated in the modern way; they're simply chanting, dancing and offering. But that is the real education. Tan manye adhitam uttamam, Prahlāda Mahārāja. Śravaṇām kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyām (SB 7.5.23), the devotional service. Tan manye adhītam uttamam. They are being first-class educated, these boys, they, simply by chanting and dance. Don't be disturbed, that "My child is not being educated." What is this education? This education, this bodily concept of life, it is not education. That "I am this body," "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am kṣatriya," "I am white," "I am black," this education, the whole world this education is going on, nationalism, in the name of nationalism, communism, socialism. They are all bodily concept of life. That is not education. That education is useless, because this kind of education will not stop the process of birth, death, old age and disease. They may be technical education, temporary, some bodily comfort, but this is not taken as education. Real education is brahma-jijñāsā, athāto brahma jijñāsā. That is real education. What I am, that is brahma-jijñāsa. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. When he comes to the conclusion that he is not this body, he is spirit soul, that is real education.

So the bhakti-mārga is so nice that they are simply staying on the Brahman platform, brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. Who? Māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate (BG 14.26). So our program, this program, anyone who may come here, he is educated how to understand brahma-bhūyāya. That is education. This is not education, the technical education. Nowadays they are very much fond of technical education. That is temporary. That is not education. Electrician comes—suppose the power has failed, and he manipulates and brings the power—that is technical education. But real education is different. That is to understand the ātma-tattvam. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvam gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām (SB 2.1.2). Those who are fully absorbed in family life, gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām, they are apaśyatām ātma-tattvam. They cannot see what is real life, what is the goal of life. So here we see Prahlāda Mahārāja fell down immediately. That is real education. Brahmā asked him, "You just try to pacify," immediately he fell down. And Kṛṣṇa immediately became compassionate, sva-pāda-mūle patitaṁ tam arbhakaṁ vilokya (SB 7.9.5).

The Māyāvādīs, they say God has no eyes, but here it is said vilokya. How you can say without eyes He can see? But His seeing is different, paśyaty acakṣuḥ (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.18). He has no eyes like us. What is our, what is the value of our eyes? As soon as there is no light, you cannot see. But Kṛṣṇa can see always, either there is light or not. That is the difference. Therefore when in the Vedas it is said that He has no eyes, means He has no this material eyes, which is limited. So here it is said vilokya. Just like we are offering obeisances, the children are offering obeisances to the Lord. Don't think that "Here is Deity made of metal. How He can see?" No. This is rascaldom. He can see. That is His eyes. Either you present Him in material element or in any way, He can see in all circumstances. Therefore it is called . . . just like in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, tad aham aśnāmi: "I eat." What is that? Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, tad aham aśnāmi (BG 9.26). "I eat." The rascals, they cannot see how Kṛṣṇa is eating what is offered to Him, but He says, "Yes, I eat." So what is that eating? But you have, you have got so imperfect eyes, you cannot see how the Lord is eating, but He is eating. These things are clearly . . . here it is specifically mentioned, vilokya devaḥ kṛpayā pariplutaḥ, ecstatic, "Oh, how he is nice, this boy."

So in this way we have to understand Kṛṣṇa, the Lord, devaḥ, how He is working transcendentally. That is paśyaty acakṣaḥ, acakṣuḥ, śṛṇoti, akarṇaḥ. His hearing, His seeing, His eating is different from us. Therefore it is said, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti (BS 5.32). If we offer at His lotus feet something, He eats. He can eat with His leg. Therefore how His eating process can be equal to us? Therefore there are two contradictory: paśyati, acakṣuḥ; śṛnoti, akarṇaḥ. This is to be understood. Not that He is impersonal. His personality is different from our personality. We cannot eat with our leg, but Kṛṣṇa can eat with . . . by His leg. He can see by His leg. He can hear by His finger. This is called aṅgani yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti (BS 5.32). He is perfect. In this way you have to understand Kṛṣṇa.

So as soon as we come in touch with Kṛṣṇa by devotional service, then we become abhayam, no more fear. And so long we are in the material world, bhayam. So Kṛṣṇa's another name is Abhaya. Bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana abhaya-caraṇāravinda re. Abhaya. His name is Abhaya. So if you come in touch with Kṛṣṇa by devotional service, then there is no more fear. Everyone is afraid. But those who are devotees of Kṛṣṇa, nārāyaṇa-parāḥ, nārāyaṇa-parāḥ na kutaścana bibhyati (SB 6.17.28), he is not afraid.

(recording speeds up due to discharging battery)

Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. He was not afraid—the Lord has appeared. He was put into so many difficulties by his father, but he was never afraid. Abhayam. If you become in touch with Kṛṣṇa, then the opposite. In this material world, bhayaṁ, bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt (SB 11.2.37) . . . (indistinct) . . . means if we understand there is something else other than Kṛṣṇa, then there is bhayam, dvitīyām. But if we are firmly convinced that there is nothing but Kṛṣṇa, tan . . . (indistinct) . . . brahma, there is no worry. So we have to understand like that . . . (break) (end)