720222 - Lecture SB 07.09.43 - Visakhapatnam

Lectures by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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720222SB-VISAKHAPATNAM - February 22, 1972 - 37:14 Minutes

Prabhupāda:

(tvad-vīrya-gāyana) . . . mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ

śoce tato vimukha-cetasa indriyārtha-

māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān

(SB 7.9.43)

Here is a verse spoken by Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja you know, a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. From the very beginning of his life he was a great devotee. From the womb of his mother, he was a great devotee. It is possible. When his mother was pregnant, the demigods . . . there was fighting between the demigods and the demons. And while his mother was pregnant, she was being dragged, taken by Indra under custody, and on the way Indra was met by Nārada Muni. Nārada Muni objected, "What is this, that you are dragging a pregnant woman? What is this?"

Indra explained that, "Because she is the wife of Hiraṇyakaśipu, a demon with whom we have just finished our fighting; she (he) has gone away. So we are taking this lady under our custody so that as soon as she gives birth to a child, we will immediately kill so that the demonic descendants will be no more." Nārada replied that "This child is not a demon. He is a great devotee, mahā-bhāgavata. So do not do this. Better give this lady under my custody. I shall take care of her, and you can go."

So Nārada Muni is the spiritual master of all demigods, so he immediately accepted the words of the great sage Nārada. Not only accepted, but they offered their respect by bowing down to the child who was in the womb of his mother. A Vaiṣṇava, it doesn't matter whether he is a child or in the womb of his mother, he's respectful. Just like Kṛṣṇa, when He was in the womb of His mother, Devakī, the demigods also offered their prayers and obeisances, you know, garbha-stuti; that is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

So the Vaiṣṇava and the Lord are equally respected, even by the demigods. A Vaiṣṇava is not different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Advaya-jñāna. In the material world, there is difference between the master and the servant. But in the spiritual world, the servant is as much respectful as the master. That is spiritual world. Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80).

Vaiṣṇava means that to become the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said like that. We don't want, as the Māyāvādī philosophy, they want to become God, advance. No. Nobody can become God. That is not possible. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-nitya kṛṣṇa-dāsa (CC Madhya 20.108-109): the real identity of living entity is eternal servant of the Lord, kṛṣṇa-dāsa.

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly explained, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūta (BG 15.7). In the Bhagavad-gītā, or any Vedic literature, there is no such mention that the jīva is as good as the Supreme Lord. It is never stated. Aṁśa, minute particles. Just like the sun and the sunshine. Sunshine is combination of minute luminous molecular parts. There are finer atomic parts, lumination, combined together, that is called sunshine. That minute particle, shining minute particle, is never equal to the sun. Similarly, jīva is minute particle of the supreme sun, Kṛṣṇa. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūta (BG 15.7). So as the small molecular particle, shining particle in the sunshine, cannot become the sun, similarly, the molecular particle of the Supreme Soul, the jīvātmā, is never equal to the Supreme Lord.

The another name of the Supreme Lord is asama-urdhva. Asama. Asama means never equal. What to speak of ordinary living entities, in the śāstra it is stated that even Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva cannot be equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the injunction.

yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ

brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ

samatvenaiva vīkṣeta

sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam

(CC Madhya 18.116)

If anyone thinks that Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu . . . they're all viṣṇu-tattva, bhagavat-tattva; Rāma. If somebody thinks that Nārāyaṇa is as good as Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā, sa pāṣaṇḍi bhaved dhruvam: he becomes a pāṣaṇḍī.

So this human form of life is meant for realizing our relationship with the Supreme Lord. That is the mission of this human form of life. So our duty in this human form of life is to realize our original relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Prahlāda Mahārāja says . . . there is a stotra offered by Prahlāda Mahārāja. When Prahlāda Mahārāja's father, Hiraṇyakaśipu, was killed by Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva, He was very angry. Because this Hiraṇyakaśipu, although father of Prahlāda Mahārāja, he persecuted him in so many ways. The only fault was that he was a devotee. That is the nature of the demoniac world. Even one's son becomes a devotee and if the father is demon, then he'll be angry. That was actually happening.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja, Vaiṣṇava, he is speaking to the Lord, naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaraṇyāḥ (SB 7.9.43): "My dear Lord," para. Para means He is transcendental, not of this material world. Udvije: "I am not anxious." Because everyone is anxious. In this material world, everyone is always anxious, either in peace or war, it doesn't matter. In peace, so-called peace . . . there is no peace. Actually, it is a place for struggle for existence with māyā. So there cannot be any peace.

So everyone is full of anxiety. That is also explained by Prahlāda Mahārāja, that sadā samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahāt (SB 7.5.5). When his father . . . after all, father and son, the relationship is very affectionate. So even though father was not happy that his son was growing to be a great devotee, still, one day he called his son, "My dear son, what best thing you have learned from your teachers?" So Prahlāda Mahārāja is answering. He knew that his father was a demon, so he is addressing directly: tat sādhu manye asura-varya dehinām. Asura-varya. "My dear father, you are the best of the asuras." (laughter) Asura-varya. Varya means the best. "My dear father," tat sādhu manye asura-varya dehinām, "I think," dehinām, "for the living entities who have accepted this material body . . ."

There are living entities who do not accept this material body. They are in the spiritual world. Their number is greater than the number of the living entities within this material world. They are called nitya-siddha, eternally perfect. And here in this material world, the living entities are called nitya-baddha. Nitya-baddha means eternally conditioned. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja says, tat sādhu manye asura-varya dehinām. Dehinām means in this material world. We are not this deha, this body. We are dehī: only accepting. Just like I am not this shirt; I am different from this shirt. This is called self-realization. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi, I am spirit soul. That is jñāna. So long I am identifying with this body, then my . . . I am in ignorance, I am a go-kharaḥ. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kunape tri-dhātuke, sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13).

But unfortunately, these people are going under the identification of this body: "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am white," "I am black," "I am learned," " I am fool," " I am rich," "I am poor." All these designations are our ignorance. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja says dehinām. Anyone who has accepted this body, tat sādhu manye 'sura-vārya dehināṁ sadā samudvigna-dhiyam. Because the living entity, although spirit soul, he has accepted this material body, asat. Asat means which will not exist. This body will not exist, but we forget that. This is the most wonderful thing in this material world. Everyone is dying every moment, still, one who is living, he thinks that he will live forever. That is the most wonderful thing.

ahany ahani lokāni

gacchanti yama-mandiram

śeṣaḥ sthitam icchanti

kim āścaryam ataḥ param

(Mahābhārata, Vana-parva 313.116)

So our position is in ignorance, and therefore we are always full of anxiety. Just like this war between India and Pakistan . . . (indistinct) . . . the anxiety is not yet over; it is going on. There may be another war. So in this material world you cannot be free of anxiety. That is not possible. Sadā samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahāt (SB 7.5.5). Asad-grahāt means because we have accepted something which is temporary, not permanent—take, for example, this body—therefore, we must be always full of anxieties.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja advised that "The best thing which I have learned is that you should give up this material world." Tyaktva . . . gṛham andha-kūpaṁ ātma-pātaṁ vanaṁ gato yad dharim āśrayeta: "My dear father, I have learned this best thing," that tyaktva . . . gṛham andha-kūpam. "This world, material world, which is just like a dark well . . . if a man is thrown into this dark well as he is in this precarious condition of life, similarly, anyone who is in the material world, he is put into the dark well. Therefore, somehow or other, we have to get out of this" and vanaṁ gato yad dharim āśrayeta (SB 7.5.5), "We shall accept the shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari." The father became very much angry. Mūrkhāya upadeśa hi prakopāya na śāntaye: if you give good instruction to a mūrkha, to a foolish person, he will be angry. He will not rectify himself, but he will be angry on that count.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja was . . . (indistinct) . . . the great devotee in the world. There are many descriptions of his characteristic and activities. In Bhāgavata, Prahlāda-caritra is everyone knows. So when his father was killed, he said, naivodvije para deva duratyaya vaitaraṇyāḥ. Duratyayā. Duratyayā means very . . . very difficult to cross over this ocean of nescience, material world. It is very difficult. We do not know how we have been put into this ocean of nescience. We are traveling, going through 8,400,000 species of life. Sometimes in different species of life in different types of planets and different types of body we are passing through.

We do not know that. We know. We know even in this life we can understand that I have passed over so many bodies. I had my childhood body, I had my boyhood body, I had my youthhood body, now I have got a different body, which is old man's body. Similarly, I shall give up this body and I will have to accept another body by the laws of nature. Tatha dehāntara-prāptir. As we are changing our body even in this present life, similarly, after giving up this body, I have to accept another body. Tathā dehāntara prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). But the problem is what kind of body I am going to have in my next life. That is to be thought over.

Therefore, there is no guarantee. And this time I may have so very nice body in a very aristocratic family; next life it may be the same aristocratic standard or in the higher planetary system in heavenly body, and it may also be that I can get the body of a cat and dog. Therefore, it is very essential that we should be prepared for the next body. Because after we will give up this body, and our pains and pleasure is according to the body. That is also the statement of Prahlāda Mahārāja, sukham aindriyakaṁ daityā deha-yogena dehinām: we get a standard of happiness or distress. Take for example only happiness, forget our distress.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja says, sukham aindriyakaṁ daityā deha-yogena dehinām. One who has got his body in the Khatau's family or any nice family, so his standard of happiness is already fixed up according to the body. He has got a body in such family or in such species of life, so his standard of life is also fixed up according to his karma-yogena. Jantur dehopapattaye. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1). Karmaṇā, by our act. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī (SB 1.8.26). By pious activities, one can get these four things: birth in high family, rich family, brāhmaṇa family, cultured family, janma; aiśvarya—riches, opulence; śruta—education; and śrī—beauty.

So I say to my American and European disciples always that your nation, American nation, you have got your birth in a very rich nation or rich family. In America every family is rich, because there the poorest man earns monthly not less than four to five thousand of rupees, according to our . . . (indistinct) . . . the poorest man. And what to speak of the richest man. So janma, aiśvarya, śruta, śrī, these things are achieved out of pious activities. Therefore in the Vedas, the karma-kāṇḍa vicāra, mean, performing great sacrifices, they are mentioned, saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā, performing yajña.

In order to keep ourself happy within this material world, we have to perform yajña. That we are forgetting. There is no yajña performance. Therefore, as we are forgetting to live according to the direction of the Vedas, we are meeting with so many dangerous ways of life. Take, for example, in our country, twenty years ago, there was no fight between Punjab and Bengal. Now, because we are advanced, we have got independence, now the fighting is between Punjab and Bengal. This kind of advancement we are making, and we have to face such calamities more and more if we forget performance of yajña.

yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo

mucyante sarva kilbiṣaiḥ

bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā

ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt

(BG 3.13)

Everything is explained there. So unfortunately, we are forgetting our Vedic culture, and we are very much puffed up as if we are advancing. This is not advancement. We learn many industrial houses, commercial houses, they have contributed enough lumps of money to the war fund, defense fund. What for? To burn the money in gunpowder, that's all. But they are not prepared to burn the money in sacrifice.

So you have to meet all these calamities more and more. This is the fact. You cannot avoid. The law of nature, the law of God is there. You may deny the existence of God, but the God's agency, Durgā-devi, Cāṇḍī, is there. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). Durgā, the goddess Durgā, the material energy, she is working under the direction of Kṛṣṇa. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ

suyate sa-carācaram

hetunānena kaunteya

jagad viparivartate

(BG 9.10)

So Kṛṣṇa also says, daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14), the same thing. As Kṛṣṇa says mama māyā duratyayā, similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja also says duratyayā: it is very difficult to supplant the laws of nature. If you don't act according to the direction . . . Veda means knowledge. So in the Vedas, they are giving direction how to live. Even if you want to be materially prosperous, you have to follow these rules and regulations. And if you want to get out of this material world, these are the rules and regulations. Otherwise, we have to meet always . . . already there are calamities. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9), the calamities of birth, the calamities of death, the calamities of old age, the calamities of disease, they are already there. And above that, the calamities of war, pestilence, famine, earthquake and so many other things.

So we are passing through, but we are not aware how to avoid it, how to become free from this life of anxiety. That is being described by Prahlāda Mahārāja. He says that, "For me, my Lord, I am not at all anxious. I am completely free from all these calamities." Just see. He was a boy of five years old only, but he is confident that he is not subjected to the calamities. Duratyaya-vaitaraṇyāḥ. Why? Tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ (SB 7.9.43), "Because I have learned to fulfill my heart by glorifying Your wonderful activities." Kīrtanam. Kīrtanam means to describe or to sing the glorious activities of the Lord. That is called kīrtanam. Kīrtana does not mean always that we have to chant or sing with musical instrument. I am speaking to you Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, this is also kīrtanam.

So we have to accept this principle, kīrtanam, always. This kīrtanam is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Every one of us, never mind, this happiness is already fixed up. When you are born in this family, your standard of happiness is already fixed up. Don't bother. The time which you have got, valuable time, save it for becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is required. Save it. Don't bother always for further happiness, further happiness, further happiness. Happiness already is standard. This is . . .

tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido

na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ

tal labhyate duḥkha vad anyataḥ sukhaṁ

kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā

(SB 1.5.18)

The standard of happiness and distress. Just like this morning I was walking in the . . . (indistinct) . . . I saw some poor men, they were taking bath in the pit and washing their cloth. So I told them that he is also living in Bombay and here are other gentlemen, so why they could not become like them? The opportunity is open for every one of us. So why one man is like this and one man is like that? That is destined; that is called destination. Kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā. The standard of happiness and standard of distress will be there according to karma. Therefore, our duty is not to be disturbed by this so-called happiness and distress. We should save time and must advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ (SB 7.9.43). Simply always thinking of the wonderful activities of the Lord.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja says that, "For personally I have no anxiety, because I have learned the art how to become happy. I have learned the art, always thinking of Your glorious activities." There are so many glorious activities of Kṛṣṇa, so we can think of. If you take a flower, you can think of glorious activities of Kṛṣṇa: how artistically, how nicely the flower is made. You cannot say it is made by nature. It is made by Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ (BG 9.10). Prakṛti, nature, is producing, that's all right, but under the direction of Kṛṣṇa. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8, CC Madhya 13.65, purport).

Just like your mill is running. A common man cannot see where is Mr. Dharamsey Khatau, but it is going on under your direction, that's a fact. Similarly, everything is going on under the direction of Kṛṣṇa. If we understand this fact, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So while drinking water, we can remember Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi sūryayoḥ (BG 7.8), "The taste of the water I am." So we are drinking water several times in a day. As soon as we drink water, we can remember immediately, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa, how nice Kṛṣṇa. He has given us this nice water, tasteful water. This is Kṛṣṇa." This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So we have to practice this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we have to teach others to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, and that requires huge amount of energy. We should be prepared. This is India's gift. The people are taking all over the world. Unfortunately, I am trying single-handed; nobody is cooperating in India. They will throw millions of dollars in the gunpowder, but not for this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is very important movement. Every philosopher, every scientist should come forward, try to understand this movement and do the needful. That is my request.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)