720200 - Lecture SB 01.01.01 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

720000SBVID-LOS ANGELES - ??, 1972

Video - SB 01.01.01

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

janmady asya yato 'nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat

tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah

tejo-vari-mrdam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo mrsa

dhamna svena sada nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi

This is a prayer offered by Srila Vyasadeva before writing Srimad Bhagavatam. He offers his respectful obeisances to Bhagavate Vasudeva. 'Bhagavate' means the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is known as Vasudeva. He appears, Lord Krishna appeared as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore He's called Vasudeva. Another meaning is that He is all-pervading. Everywhere he is present. So, Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the origin of everything. "janmady asya yatah" 'Janma' means creation. Creation of this material world, cosmic manifestation is from Vasudeva. 'Janma-adi' means creation, maintenance, and annihilation. Anything in this material world has three features. It is created at a certain date. It exists for a certain number of years, and then it is dissolved, annihilated. That is called 'janmady asya-janmasthiti yah' So everything is taking place from the Supreme Personality of the Lord. The cosmic manifestation is also emanating from Him. It is existing on His energy, external energy, or it is being maintained by His external energy and as everything material dissolves ultimately or annihilates. So after annihilation the power merges into Him. The power, the energy is extended from Him and maintained by His energy and again when it is dissolved it merges into Him. This is the way of creation, maintenance and dissolution. Now the question is that the supreme power or the supreme source, what is the nature of that supreme source? Is it matter or living force? The Bhagavata says, "No it cannot be matter." From matter has nothing is created automatically. We have no such experience. Unless there is some living force behind the matter there cannot be anything created. We have no such experience. Just like anything material, suppose the motor car, it has got all the machine equipped, subtle machines, but still the motor car cannot move automatically. There must be a driver. And the driver is a living force. Therefore, the original source of everything must be a living force. This is the conclusion of Bhagavatam. And what kind of living force? That means He knows everything. Just like an expert motor mechanic, he knows everything, therefore, he can detect , when the motor car stalls, he can immediately detect how the motor car has stopped. So he tightens one screw or does something so that it is again in motion. Therefore in Bhagavatam is says, that the original source of all emanation knows everything. 'nvayad itarastas carthesv' Directly and indirectly. He's so expert. Just like I am the creator of this body. I am a living soul. As I desired, I have created this body. By energy. By my energy. According to my desire, I have produced this body. But although I am claiming my body, I do no know how the body is working. That is unknown to me. I cut my hair, but I do not know how the hair grows again. I cut my nails. But I do not know how the, what is the function going on inside so that even after cutting the nails and hair, again it grows. Neither I do know I'm eating, I know because I'm eating something substantial, it is transforming into different types of secretions within my abdomen and the secretion is distributed. I have known it from some medical practitioner or medical science, but so far I am concerned, I do not know how my foodstuff is transforming into blood. How the blood is transmitted in different parts of my body, and then again I get energy. Actually I do not know. But the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He knows, indirectly and directly, both, how this material cosmic manifestation is working. He knows everything. How the sun is rising. How the moon is rising. How the oceans are steady. It is not trespassing on the land. Such a big ocean it can over flood immediately any city or any land within a second. But it is not doing that. So the direction is there. Therefore Bhagavatam says that the original source of everything is sentient. Conscious. And consciously is controlling everything. "nvadyad itaratas carthesv abhijnah" 'Abhijnah' means completely cognizant. The next question may be raised that, wherefrom He got the knowledge? He's the origin. Because we have got this idea that any living being, he gets knowledge from others. Just like we have got our knowledge from our spiritual master. My disciples are getting knowledge from me, so then knowledge is also given by somebody. It has got a source. But, if the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin, How He got this knowledge of creation, maintenance? The answer is 'sva-rat.' He did not get knowledge from anyone. He is self-sufficient Himself in knowledge. That is the nature of God. He does not require to get knowledge from anyone superior because nobody can be superior than God. Neither equal to God."asamordhva" Nobody is equal to Him. Nobody is greater than Him. Now we have got experience that the first creature, living creature within this universe is Lord Brahma. So, he also got knowledge without any help from others, because he is the first living creature. So there was no other living creature, so how he got knowledge? So does it mean this original source is Lord Brahma? People may question, but Bhagavatam says no. He's the original teacher of this universe, that's all right, but he's also a created being. Because the cosmic manifestation was created by God, The Supreme. And after this creation Brahma was created. Therefore he's a created being. After the cosmic manifestation. And because God, or the Supreme Lord, He's the creator, so He's not one of the created beings. He creates but He is not created. But Brahma is created. Therefore he gets knowledge from the Supreme Creator, who is independent. Now the process is just like we approach a teacher, the spiritual master to get knowledge. So there was no visible living creature before Brahma. So how he got knowledge? The answer is "tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye" 'Adi-kavaye' The first created living being Brahma was educated from within the heart. That means Krishna, Vasudeva, or the Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart. He is situated in Brahma's heart also. He is situated in your heart, my heart. And 'hrda' this very word is used. 'Hrda' means heart. So He can educate anyone from within the heart. But why we are not aware of Him? Theoretically we know, but practically in our conditioned state we cannot understand how He is directing us. But He's directing us. That's a fact. Brahma is not ordinary living being, therefore he could take direction from the Supreme Lord within the heart. We can also take when we are qualified, exactly like Brahma. Brahma appeared to serve the Lord. To fulfill the desire of the Lord. Just like we engage one carpenter and I ask him to make a cabinet for me. I give him the ingredients, tools, or wages, and he creates a cabinet. Similarly, God created the ingredients and the manufacturer also and Brahma created this universe. But he's not he original creator. The original creator is Krishna. As such, the original proprietor is also Krishna because He has created the ingredients. Actually when we work in practical field, the ingredients we cannot create. Suppose we construct a very high skyscraper building, but the ingredients, namely the earth, stone, wood, iron, which are the ingredients of the house, that we cannot create. That is created by God. We simply transform. We take earth, dirt from the earth and mix it with water. The water is created by God. The earth is created by God. Then we mix it and make a lump like brick and put it in the fire. The fire is also created by God. In this way if we study scrutinizingly the ingredients and the materials which we are handling, they are not our creation. They are creation of God. We simply handle them. And because we handle them it does not become our property. This is sense. Suppose I am worker, I'm handling some other things, materials, and preparing something, that does not mean when the thing is manufactured, complete, it become my property. No. How it can be? Therefore the philosophy is that everything belongs to Krishna, God. I also belong to Him. And whatever I do, manufacture, that also belongs to Him. This sense to understand that everything belongs to God. I also belong to God. My intelligence belongs to God. The ingredients of physical elements with which we work, that also belongs to God. Then where is the scope for my claiming that I am proprietor? This is called illusion. So this Krishna Consciousness movement is meant for reviving the original consciousness of the human society because in the cats and dogs or animals, such consciousness cannot be invoked. They are so dull and in the lower stage of consciousness, it is not possible for them to understand

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anything beyond their body. Animal thinks that he's particular type of body. A dog thinks that he is, the body is he. He has no other knowledge. But a man can understand that I am not this body, I am working with this body. Just like, I am working with my hand, that does not mean 'I am hand.' I am walking with my legs, it does not mean I am leg. I am working with the help of the hands and legs Instrumental. Therefore, the instrument is not identified with me. This knowledge can be achieved by a human being. A dog, a cat, cannot understand. Therefore the conclusion is that this knowledge, this is called 'jnana.' 'Jnana' means one who knows that I am not this body. The animals have no knowledge that they are not this body. But a man by the cultivation of knowledge, by nice analysis whether I am this body or not. Whether I am this hand, whether I am this leg, whether I am this head. In this way, with analytical study we can come to the conclusion that I am not this body. And I am changing bodies. Therefore I am eternal. This body is temporary. So I am giving up one type of body, accepting another type of body. In this way in the present state I'm conditioned. Now when the question arises in mind, how I became conditioned? Why I am changing this body to another body? Why if I am eternal that also I can understand that I have changed so many bodies. But I know I had a childhood body, babyhood body. That body is gone, but I am existing. Therefore the conclusion should be that, I am eternal, the body is not eternal. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, "antavanta iime deha" 'Deha' means body. They are 'anta-vantah,' finishable. At a certain date it will finished. "antavanta ime deha nityasyoktah saririnah" But the proprietor of the body, the living soul, living being, he's eternal. "nityasyoktah saririnah" So these things are very nicely explained in Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic literature. So we are making an attempt to push this Vedic literature to the human society who are still unaware of the vast treasure of knowledge lying in Vedic literature. We are therefore translating all these authentic literatures into English. We have already got about two dozen books, small and voluminous also. This book is one of the parts of the Srimad Bhagavatam. First part of the first canto. And there will be sixty volumes like this to complete the whole Bhagavata literature. So we have completed almost twenty. If Krishna permits we shall finish the other forty volumes also. So this Krishna Consciousness movement is not a sentimental religious type of faith. It is the actual function of the human society. For want of this knowledge, Krishna consciousness, there are things, topsy-turvy. People do not know how to adjust things, they are busy with material comforts, but as you have explained, that material comforts are also needed for the upkeep of the body, but that does not mean we shall forget our real business. Just like I am taking service from a motor car, but that does mean to keep the motor car in good condition is my business. That is one of my business, but my real business is how to live. So, similarly, a living entity has got this vehicle, it is just like a motor car. We have got this body means it is like a vehicle. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita: "prakrteh kriyamanini guhaih karmani sarvasah bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya," It is said in the Bhagavad-gita: "isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati" This body is just like a car. The driver is there and the proprietor of the car is also there. The proprietor of the car is giving direction to the driver that, "You go this way, and you go that way," and driver is driving, Similarly, this motor car or body is occupied by two souls. One is called Supersoul. Superior soul, or the real proprietor. And the other is individual soul. They are sitting together. And the Superior soul, 'paramatma' He's giving direction to the driver. "You go this way, and that way." "yantrarudhani mayaya" 'yanta' means a machine vehicle. This body is just like a machine vehicle, like motor car. So I am sitting there and I am carried by the vehicle under the direction of the Supersoul. So, actually I'm helpless, but that does not mean, I'm helpless does not mean I have no responsibility. I have got responsibility. I accepted this body under some hallucination that I shall be happy. So in this way if we study Srimad Bhagavatam we get real knowledge of our position, and then the mistaken way of life can be checked and the human society will be in perfect peace and order.