740316 - Lecture SB 02.01.01 - Vrndavana

Lectures by Date, 1974

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

740316SB-VRNDAVAN - March 16, 1974 - 47:25 Minutes

Pradyumna: (leads chanting of verse, etc.) (Prabhupāda and devotees repeat)

śrī-śuka uvāca

varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ

kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa

ātmavit-sammataḥ puṁsāṁ

śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ

(SB 2.1.1)

(break)

Translation: "Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, your question is glorious because it is very beneficial to all kinds of people. To hear the answer to this question is the prime subject matter of hearing, and it is approved by all transcendentalists."

Prabhupāda:

varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ

kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa

ātmavit-sammataḥ puṁsāṁ

śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ

(SB 2.1.1)

Śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ. The . . . here in this material world we are busy in questioning and answering or hearing. Question, hearing and answering. This is the whole world. Even in the material field, you go to the market, you inquire, "What is the price of this thing?" and you hear the description of the thing and the price of the thing. So the praśnaḥ, the question, was made by Śukadeva . . . Mahārāja Parīkṣit just at the point of his death, "What I have to do now?" This is very intelligent. Only intelligent man can understand what is the value of this question, "What I have to do now?" Because intelligent person knows that "I am going to leave this body."

I am speaking . . . Parīkṣit Mahārāja is talking with Śukadeva Gosvāmī at the point of death. He was given notice that, "Within seven days you'll be bitten by a snake and you'll die." This was a curse by a brāhmin boy. So he was ready. He was not afraid. Nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati (SB 6.17.28). He could retaliate. He was a great devotee. He could counteract the cursing of the brāhmin boy, but he did not do so. Because, because he was cursed, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam came. He was perplexed what to do, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī appeared there, and everyone accepted the verdict of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, "Mahārāja, you are a great devotee. So I shall quote from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and you hear only. That's all. You have nothing to do. Simply you hear."

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ

smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam

arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ

sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

(SB 7.5.23)

These are the nine different processes of devotional service. So generally, we are expected to execute all the nine different processes, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ . . . Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam about Viṣṇu, not for any other demigods. No. Viṣṇu. The Māyāvādīs, they take it that, "We can hear of any demigod, of anyone," because they are nirākāravādī. So "You can imagine anyone and hear about him." But śāstra does not say. Śāstra does not say that you can hear about anybody. No. Śāstra says, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, about Viṣṇu.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

(CC Adi 17.21)

This is the śāstra's injunction, that if you have to chant . . . if you have not to chant, means you must chant. Kalau nāsty eva gatir anyathā. You cannot avoid it. If you actually want relief from this conditional life, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15), then you must . . . this is the only means. Kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā. karma, jñāna, yoga, there are different processes of self-realization, karma, jñāna, yoga, but it is stressed, nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva, not karma, not jñāna, not yoga. Simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is required. That is the preaching of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this, this verse of Agni Purāṇa:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

(CC Adi 17.21)

So this is the bhakti process, chanting and hearing. So chanting, hearing, or questioning and answering, the same thing. So when Parīkṣit Mahārāja was perplexed what to do at the time of death, so many great sages and saintly persons, brāhmins, they came there, because the king is going to die. So not only of this planet, from other planets also, many, many exalted person came. Somebody prescribed something, somebody prescribed something. So he was perplexed. Fortunately, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī arrived there, and he advised, "Mahārāja, you simply hear harer nāma, the name, the form, the quality, the pastimes. About Kṛṣṇa, you simply hear." That was the . . . therefore . . . and Parīkṣit Mahārāja was a devotee from the very beginning of his life. He's a grandson of Arjuna and Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Naturally, he was kṛṣṇa-bhakta. He . . . Kṛṣṇa was his grandmother's brother also. There was family relation. And he studied thoroughly . . . although when he was born he did not see Kṛṣṇa, but still, he knew that Kṛṣṇa saved the whole Pāṇḍava family.

Kṛṣṇa, when brahmāstra was released by Aśvatthāmā to kill the Mahārāja Parīkṣit while he was within the womb of his mother, Kṛṣṇa personally saved him. Because He wanted . . . because in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, everyone died, of the Kuru dynasty. Only the son, this Abhimanyu's son, Kṛṣṇa, uh, Arjuna's grandson, was within the womb of his mother; therefore he was not killed in the battlefield. Still, Aśvatthāmā, the son of Droṇācārya wanted to kill him, and he released brahmāstra, and it was going to kill the child. At that time his mother, Uttarā, approached Kṛṣṇa that, "I am feeling that my womb will be . . . abortion there may be." So Kṛṣṇa saved. This is the history. So after his birth, because he saw Kṛṣṇa within the womb, so after his birth, as soon as he came out of the womb of his mother, he was looking here and there, "Where is that personality?" Therefore his name is Parīkṣit. Parīkṣit means he was examining, "Who is that? Who is that man?"

So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was so fortunate. So fortunate. From the very beginning of his life, he saw Kṛṣṇa. Just like this child. These are fortunate children. Yoginām . . . that . . . śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sanjāyate (BG 6.41). This child who was dancing before me, he's not ordinary child. Otherwise, how he could dance symmetrically? He had his practice in his previous life, and he has got the chance to get Vaiṣṇava father and mother, and from the very beginning of his life, he is chanting, dancing. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was like that. So to get the chance of having good father, śucīnāṁ . . . śucīnām means brāhmin-vaiṣṇava, especially brāhmin. And śrīmatām. Śrīmatām means very rich. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given his comment, śucīnām means highly cultured brāhmin, and śrīmatām means highly rich vaiśya. So to take birth in this family, cultured family, rich family, is not ordinary thing. It is not ordinary thing. It is the result of pious activities. Pious activities. The pious activities means you get your birth in a very good, aristocratic family, rich family or brāhmin family. That is the result of pious activities. You become very beautiful. You become very learned. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī (SB 1.8.26). Four things: Janma means birth. Aiśvarya means riches, wealth. Aiśvarya. Janma aiśvarya and śruta. Śruta means education. To become learned man, to become very educated, that is also a result of pious activities. To take birth in rich family, that is also result of pious activities. To become very beautiful, that is also result of pious activities. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān.

Unfortunately, when we get these opportunities, very nice family or nice nation, beautiful body, education, we should consider that it is due to our past pious activities; therefore they should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa. Because pious activities mean to approach Kṛṣṇa. Those who are impious, sinful, they cannot approach Kṛṣṇa. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Those who are narādhamāḥ, lowest of the mankind, always engaged in sinful activities, and rascal, may be very educated—māyayā apahṛta-jñānāḥ, their educational value has been taken away by māyā. As, just like nowadays it has become: the more one is educated, the more one is atheist. We have received one report just now, Bombay. They are . . . that singing, Hare Kṛṣṇa singing, "Nuisance," they say. You see. How degraded human being has become, "Hare Kṛṣṇa singing is nuisance. And cinema singing is very good." Just see. They have become simply rascals, dogs and hogs. Simply.

So we should be very much careful of our next birth. Because . . . yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). This is the verdict of Kṛṣṇa. At the time of death, whatever thought is there, you get next birth a similar body. The mind, mind creates the body, gross body. As we have got this gross body, so within this gross body there is the subtle body: mind, intelligence and ego. These rascals, they do not know that when the gross body is annihilated, it does not mean that the soul is finished. No. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). This is the verdict. Don't think because the gross body is now finished, therefore the person is finished. No. The person is there within the subtle body, and the subtle body will carry him. Just like the fragrance is carried by the air—you cannot see what is this fragrance, but you can smell. A very good smell, where from it came? That is subtle carrying. Similarly, the soul is carried after annihilation of this body, gross body, material. Mind, intelligence, ego—that is also material, but subtle. You cannot see. Everyone knows that I have got mind, I have got soul, but you cannot see. Neither I can see. But there is. But one who does not know what is soul, what is subtle body, they become perplexed. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, dhīras tatra na muhyati. Dhīra, those who are sober, one who knows how things are going on, dhīras tatra na muhyati.

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati

(BG 2.13)

So one has to become dhīra. These, nowadays, the modern civilization is a rascaldom. Everyone is adhīra. He does not know . . . in the Western countries, big, big professors, they do not know how the soul is existing, how the transmigration of the soul is taking place, how the body is changed, what is the purpose of life, what is the perfection of . . . nothing they . . . simply like cats and dogs. Work very hard like an ass and enjoy like cats and dogs, āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām (Hitopadeśa 25). This life is most degraded life, that at the present moment we see that people are suffering because they have simply become animals, all over the world. Simply taking care of this body. But here Parīkṣit Mahārāja, now he knows that, "Taking part of the body is now finished, I have to take care of the soul." Therefore he wanted to ask from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, "Now what I have to do? Shall I fully think of Kṛṣṇa?" Because he was a Kṛṣṇa devotee. Naturally, he was thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 9.14). A devotee, he always thinks of Kṛṣṇa. That is devotee.

So we have to practice: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This is the chance. This is the chance for remembering Kṛṣṇa. Satataṁ smartavyaṁ viṣṇum. Viṣṇu, Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Viṣṇu, has to be remembered always. Here . . . the śloka is there: tasmād bhārata sarvātmā.

tasmād bhārata sarvātmā

bhagavān īśvaro hariḥ

śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca

smartavyaś cecchatābhayam

(SB 2.1.5)

Icchatā abhayam. Abhayam means fearlessness. One should be . . . abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ. There are three necessities . . . four necessities of conditioned life: eating, sleeping, mating and fearing. So one has to become abhayam, no more fear. How? When you take shelter of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. Nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati (SB 6.17.28). If you take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then . . . therefore Parīkṣit Mahā . . . er, Śukadeva Gosvāmī: icchatā abhayam. Those who are actually willing to become fearless, hero, they must always . . . satataṁ kīrtayanto mām (BG 9.14), always chanting and hearing about Kṛṣṇa. That is wanted. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for that purpose, to become abhayam, no more fear. Why one should fear? Kṛṣṇa assures, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31).

So if we take shelter of the supreme abhayam, Kṛṣṇa . . . therefore one Vaiṣṇava kavi has sung, bhaja huṅ re mana śrī-nanda-nandana, abhaya-caraṇāravinda re. Abhaya-caraṇa. Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet is to become free from fearfulness. Bhaja huṅ re mana śrī-nanda-nandana. Particularly śrī-nanda-nandana. Nanda-nandana means that Kṛṣṇa has got many forms: Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, then Viṣṇu, Mahā-Viṣṇu. Ananta. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). But His real form is in Vṛndāvana, the son of Nanda Mahārāja. Therefore he is advising, bhaja huṅ re mana śrī-nanda-nandana. Kṛṣṇa . . . there are Māyāvādī philosopher, they say that the Absolute Truth, the Supreme, has no name. Yes, for the persons with poor fund of knowledge, they may not find out Kṛṣṇa's name. But in the śāstra we have got thousands of name, viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma. But what are those name? Name means His behavior with His devotees. Just like "Nanda-nandana." Kṛṣṇa is the father of everyone—ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4)—everyone. So how He has got a father? Oh, that is His mercy. He accepts one devotee as His father. And when He's addressed in relationship with His devotee . . . Nanda Mahārāja wanted Kṛṣṇa as his son. Kṛṣṇa agreed, "Yes, I shall become your son." So everyone, if you want Kṛṣṇa as your son . . . not to become God, but to become the father of God. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they want to become God. But we Vaiṣṇava, we want to become the father of God. This is Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Father of God means he controls God. He's not controlled by God. So a devotee can get such position. Everyone is being controlled by God, but a devotee is so exalted that Kṛṣṇa says that, "I wish to be controlled by you." This is Kṛṣṇa's position. Therefore the Vaiṣṇava kavi advises, bhaja huṅ re mana śrī-nanda-nandana, abhaya-caraṇāravinda re. Durlabha mānava . . . durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge taraha e (Govinda Dāsa Kavirāja).

Now we have got this human form of body, durlabha, very, very rare. This human form of body is obtained after many millions of years. Not very easily. Because we had to come through the evolutionary process, 8,400,000 species of life. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati (Padma Purāṇa). Therefore this human form of life should not be wasted. Here is the solution of all the problems of life. Don't neglect it. Therefore it is advised, durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge taraha e bhava-sindhu re. E bhava-sindhu. This is the ocean, this is the ocean of nescience, ignorance. What is that? Bhava. Bhava-sindhu means take birth again and again, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). This is very botheration. And there is no guarantee what kind of . . . therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja . . . he's also devotee. He's going to Vaikuṇṭha. There was no doubt about it. Still, for our lesson, he inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī that, "What is my duty now, now I am going to die?" This is intelligence.

So Parīkṣit Mahārāja had a notice of death for seven days, but we do not know what is the notice. We can die immediately. So how much for us it is necessary to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Parīkṣit Mahārāja had some time. This Bhāgavata-saptāha is imitated under Parīkṣit Mahārāja's . . . Parīkṣit Mahārāja had only seven days' time, so he might have listened to the Bhāgavata lesson for seven days. But for us, it is not that we observe a Bhāgavata-saptāha and finish our business. No. Our business is nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā.

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ

hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi

vidhunoti suhṛt satām

(SB 1.2.17)

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu

nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā

(SB 1.2.18)

Nityam. Not that for seven days. Seven days is meant for Parīkṣit Mahārāja, because he had no more time. His seven days was sufficient nityam. So we should not imitate that, that "I'll hear seven days." That is also a formality. Actually, to understand one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it requires at least seven months. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ (SB 1.1.1). My Guru Mahārāja explained this verse in Dacca for three months, janmādy asya. Actually, it is so important. The beginning.

So we must be very serious to understand Bhāgavatam. If we can understand even one line, one verse, our life becomes sublime. It is so nice. There is no comparison of this literature, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That we are actually finding in the Western countries, how nicely they are receiving these granthas. We have translated into English, and they're enjoying. Actually that is the fact. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Now, our problem, what is this problem? Problem is that we have got so many dirty things within the heart. The first dirty thing is that, "I am this body." "I am Indian," "I am Englishman," "I am American," "I am brāhmin," "I am kṣatriya," "I am śūdra," "I am fat," "I am thin," "I am black" and "White . . ." These conceptions, these are all dirty things. "I am not this body," that is real knowledge. Therefore Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). To cleanse the dirty things from the heart, that is my first business. And what is that dirty things? To identity myself with this body. That is the dirty things.

The whole world is in distressed condition on account of this dirty thing, that "I am this body." This is the conception of the ass. It is said in the . . .

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

(SB 10.84.13)

Go-kharaḥ. Go-kharaḥ means . . . go means cow, and kharaḥ means ass. Yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile. Now many persons come here in Vṛndāvana, tīrtha, but what do they think? They think, "Let me take bathing in the Yamunā River. Then my business is finished." But no. Śāstra says that you should approach to a bhāgavata, a devotee who is living in Vṛndāvana, pure devotee, and surrender unto him. That is tīrtha-yātrā. Not that coming here and taking bathing in the Ganges or . . . they are going to dūre vāry-ayanaṁ tīrtham. General people think, in this Kali-yuga at least, that if you go thousand miles away from your home, then your tīrtha is finished. Just like in Calcutta there is Ganges, but people come to Haridwar to take bathing in the Ganges. Now, what is the difference between the Haridwar Ganges and Calcutta Ganges? But he thinks, "If I go three thousand miles and take bathing there, that is real Ganges." So dūre vāry-ayanaṁ tīrtham. These are the symptoms of the Kali-yuga. Yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicit. Many thousands of people come to Vṛndāvana, but they think by taking bathing in the Yamunā, his tīrtha is finished. Or going to Prayāga, taking bath . . . Christian also, they go. They take bathing in the . . .? Water of . . .? Jordan?

Devotee: Jordan River.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So . . . no. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā (SB 1.2.18). If you have to cleanse your heart from all misgivings, then you have to do this: śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). You hear about Kṛṣṇa. Where? Kṛṣṇa is speaking about Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā, "I am this. I am that." You hear. Or you hear about Kṛṣṇa from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ. So if you hear . . . Kṛṣṇa is within your heart. He can understand. If you are seriously hearing, then Kṛṣṇa can understand. Not that karma-kāṇḍīya-vicāra. "Let me hear on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for seven days, and I'll get . . . I have got now one lakh of rupees, I'll get three lakhs." That is karma-kāṇḍīya-vicāra. That is not wanted. The hearing of Bhāgavatam means to cleanse your heart, that you are not this body, you are spirit soul, eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. That is purification. When you come to this understanding, that "I am not this body. I am spirit . . . ahaṁ brahmāsmi," then . . . brahmāsmi, finished? The Māyāvādī says as soon as you come to this conclusion, brahma-bhūtaḥ, then your business is finished. No. Your business begins there. That is the verdict of Bhagavad-gītā.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

(BG 18.54)

After being liberated, brahma-bhūtaḥ, then bhakti begins. People misunderstand that by bhakti one gets mukti. No. One who is engaged in bhakti, he is always . . . he has already got mukti. Muktir mukulitāñjali sevate 'smān. Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura says that if one has attained to the platform of bhakti, then mukti is hankering after his feet, "What can I do for you?" Muktiḥ svayaṁ mukulitāñjali sevate 'smān dharmārtha-kāma-gatayaḥ samaya-pratīkṣāḥ (Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta 107).

So bhakti is above mukti. Therefore a pure devotee does not aspire for mukti. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye (CC Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye, mama janmani janmani. He says, janmani janmani. Janmani, when He says janmani, it is not mukti. Because mukti means you stop your material transmigration from one body to another. That is mukti. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, mama janmani janmani. A devotee doesn't require mukti. Janmani janmani tvayi bhaktiḥ. If you are situated in the devotional service of the Lord, then you are already mukta. Avyabhicāriṇī.

yo māṁ bhakti-yogena

vyabhicāreṇa sevate

sa guṇān samatītyaitān

brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

(BG 14.26)

Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā . . . (BG 18.54). This is the verdict. So for a devotee, mukti is not very big thing. Mukti's already there if he's actually a pure devotee. A pure devotee means just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu says. He has no other desire. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīm (CC Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). Everyone is desiring in this material world for riches, wealth, dhanam, and janam, good family, high aristocratic family, or good follower, leader, minister, janam; they are aspiring popular votes. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitām. And next is to have a very beautiful, obedient wife. These are the aspirations of material life. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: "I do not want all these things." Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīm. This is bhakti life. When one is free from all such material desire, he's fit for executing devotional service. That is mukti.

Therefore we have to cleanse our heart. Our heart is always aspiring how to get money, how to get women, how to get prestige, how to become leader, how to become minister, how to become guru. These are the things always hankering in our heart. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). First of all cleanse your heart. And that is also said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā (SB 1.2.18). Nityam. Not seven days. Nityam. Read every day, especially those who are in Vṛndāvana. Every day, as much as possible, read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā. Nityam. Then our heart will be cleansed, and we shall know what is our constitutional position, what is our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and then if we serve in that relationship, our life is perfect.

So here Parīkṣit Mahārāja asked that, "Shall I think of Kṛṣṇa, or I shall hear about Kṛṣṇa?" And Śukadeva Gosvāmī's congratulating him, varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ (SB 2.1.1): "Yes, it is very nice." Varīyān, first class, glorious. Varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ kṛto loka-hitam. "Now, your question is so nice that when I shall answer, it will be beneficial for the whole universe, loka-hitam." Loka-hitam. Because this Bhāgavata is so nice, transcendental subject matter discussed about Kṛṣṇa, it is loka-hitam. It should be spread all over the world. Loka does not mean your country or your society, brāhmin society, gosvāmī society. No. Loka-hitam: for the benefit of the whole world. That is loka-hitam. Not only of this world, but other worlds also—of the whole universe. Loka-hitaṁ nṛpa. "My dear King, your praśna . . ." So this message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be spread all over the world. Ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati (BG 18.68). Na ca tasmāt manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ (BG 18.69). Don't make it stagnant that, "This Bhāgavata is meant for a certain class of men, and it is to be recited by certain professional men, and make some money, and provide your family, and you become . . . bās. Very good, religious." No. Loka-hitam. Bhāgavata should be spread.

That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Whole world, whomever you meet, you speak of Kṛṣṇa. That is guru. That is gosvāmī. Not that gosvāmī profession means that I make a means of my livelihood: I bring money from outside and engage in my son's marriage and daughter's marriage. That is not gosvāmī. One who is engaged in loka-hitam, spreading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam all over the world, that is gosvāmī. Gosvāmī means . . . go means indriya; svāmī means . . . indriya means senses, and svāmī means the master. One has to control. If one is busy only family matters . . . what is this family? It is simply sense gratification, sexual intercourse. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). So if one is engaged in these family affairs only, sexual affairs, he's not a gosvāmī. Gosvāmī means who has . . . one who has . . . where from this gosvāmī comes? Rūpa Gosvāmī. Vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva . . . they, they were not family men. They were not in sense gratification. They were in the service of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṇa. That is gosvāmī. We must know what is gosvāmī. Loka-hitaṁ ratam. Anyone who is on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is engaged to preach Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, throughout the whole world . . . pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt. A gosvāmī means he must have disciples all over the world. That is gosvāmī. Not that within some area. These are the things. We should scrutinizingly study what is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, what is Bhagavad-gītā, what is a preacher, what is gosvāmī. These things we must study. Loka-hi . . . these will be discussed by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, that what is what. You'll find in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Therefore it is our duty: nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Nityam. Not that seven days. Nityam. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu (SB 1.2.18). First of all we have to hear. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. We acquire pious result of hearing. And the result will be manifested . . . hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi . . .

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ

hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi

vidhunoti suhṛt satām

(SB 1.2.17)

Then he must be free from the material bondage. That is called hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti—washed off. If it is not completely washed off, if it is partially washed off, naṣṭa-prāyeṣu . . . naṣṭa-prāya means we have got all these filthy things within the heart. It is not yet cleansed fully, but even some percentage is cleansed, then . . . nityaṁ bhāgavata . . . but how it can be cleansed? The process is to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That will be explained:

śrotavyādīni rājendra

nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ

apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ

gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām

(SB 2.1.2)

These verses are very nice, I mean to say, instructive verses, and you try to read them regularly, every morning. Or whenever you find time. Then you will understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Everything is explained there. Then the dirty things in our heart will be cleansed, and then we will understand what is our constitutional position, and what is our duty, and how to execute it.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya . . . (break) (end)