760802 - Conversation B - New Mayapur
Prabhupāda: Jaya. So Aniruddha, you are going to stay here? You are going to stay? That's nice. He's a big devotee. He says, "I am big devotee." So, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. (devotees and children chant in unison) (aside to Hari-śauri:) Boil with four times water.
Hari-śauri: Boil?
Prabhupāda: With four times water. And when it is (indistinct).
Hari-śauri: All boiled down.
Prabhupāda: Then squeeze it.
Hari-śauri: When do you want it? Now? (chanting becomes louder and faster, clapping)
Prabhupāda: (chanting ends) Come on. (children laughing) Distribute to the fathers, mothers. Give him one more, he has.... All right, give them first.
Devotee (1): They came from London, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: Oh.
Devotee (1): They came to Paris to see you, and when they learned that you were here, they came all the way here to...
Prabhupāda: Oh, give them this garland. [break] ...he begins with surrender. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja BG 18.66 . So anyone who voluntarily offers obeisances, immediately he becomes fifty percent advanced. Because.... Who is talking? This material world means nobody wants to surrender. Everyone wants to become master: "I am the monarch of all I survey." Everyone is planning how to become a master. Therefore the struggle for existence. Nobody wants to become a servant. You know very well in European history, Napoleon wanted to become the master of all Europe. Hitler wanted also. Similarly, there were so many leaders, sometimes Roman leaders, sometimes Greek leaders, sometimes French leaders, sometimes German leaders, English leader. The whole European history is full of fighting, war. The basic idea is that everyone wanted to become master. That is the material disease. We are now discussing Bali Mahārāja. He also wanted to become master of the whole universe. So that is the material disease. Actually, master is one, Kṛṣṇa. There cannot be two masters. There is only one master, that is Kṛṣṇa, or God. But in the material world, because we have forgotten the real master, every one of us is trying to become master. This is material disease. Not only in one life, but life after life. The cats and dogs, they also want to be master. The dog, if he finds another dog coming, he immediately begins barking very loudly, "Why you are coming here?" So this mastership competition is going on life after life, sometimes as human being, sometimes as animal, sometimes as fish, aquatic, sometimes as demigod, bird. This is the whole material situation. And the difficulty is that we cannot become master, but on account of our false ambition that "I shall become master," we are becoming servants of material nature. We are acting in a certain way to become master, creating a situation, mentality, and at the time of death, when this body finishes, the mind absorbed in that mastership idea takes me to another body according to my ambition, so I become again manifest in different body to exhibit my mastership. Another chapter begins. So they do not know how these subtle laws of material nature is working to give us opportunity to become master according to our idea, false idea. And we are actually suffering, sometimes as human being, sometimes as animal, sometimes as trees, sometimes as dog. So the mastership cannot be attained. That is not possible. In the false idea to become master we are becoming slaves of the laws of material nature. This is real position, and that is suffering. So when one comes to this understanding, that we are not master, we are servant, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate BG 18.66 . After many, many births, if by chance one gets the association of the servant of the Lord, then he understands that he is not master, he's servant of Kṛṣṇa. And then he surrenders. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ BG 18.66 . Such great soul who has understood that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa," he's a very great soul. Sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. Very, very rare to be found. But that is the fact. The sooner we learn that we cannot become master, we are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, let us surrender to Kṛṣṇa and remain in our own position as servant, then it is perfection of life. Therefore one who surrenders, one who offers.... This is the beginning, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru BG 18.66 . Namaskuru. Kṛṣṇa says namaskuru. Namaskuru means "Just offer your obeisances unto Me." So in the absence of.... Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, but Kṛṣṇa sends His representative. So if we begin, offer namaskuru, to the representative, it goes to Kṛṣṇa, and then gradually, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, one becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious and becomes situated in his own original consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and that is perfection of life. Thank you very much.
Bhagavān: So let us pay our obeisances. (devotees offer obeisances)
Prabhupāda: So what is this?
Hari-śauri: What is it? (child whispers "It's a hat") It's a hat.
Prabhupāda: Oh? You are just now coming? You have got, Mālatī? (speaks Hindi with Indian lady) So what is the news of Amster..., what is it?
Hari-śauri: Amsterdam.
Prabhupāda: Amsterdam.
Woman devotee: It is very nice. They are preparing for installation of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa on September lst, and otherwise the saṅkīrtana is distributing Bhagavad-gītās, about fifteen hundred a week.
Prabhupāda: Ācchā.
Woman devotee: Between Holland and Belgium, they both speak the same language, so the books are distributed between these two countries.
Prabhupāda: Holland and?
Woman devotee: Belgium. Parts of Belgium speaks Dutch, and the other half speak French. So in the Belgium, in the half that speaks Dutch, they are taking many Bhagavad-gītās. Appreciating it very much. And one library, the head of all the libraries, he has taken an interest in your books.
Prabhupāda: How's your father?
Woman devotee (2): Um, not as well as you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Woman devotee (2): He's not as well as yourself.
Prabhupāda: He's suffering?
Woman devotee (2): Very much.
Prabhupāda: What is the disease?
Woman devotee (2): He's looking after roses in his garden. Oh, um...
Prabhupāda: But your father is young man. What is his age?
Woman devotee (2): He's sixty years old.
Prabhupāda: Sixty is just like my son. Yes, twenty years difference, father and son. I am eighty, so anyone who is sixty must be like my son. Of course, my first son was born when I was twenty-four, but twenty years, there are many, father. And mother and son, twelve years, thirteen years difference, there are many. So you have come here. Very nice. Stay here. Where is your husband? Bhūgarbha is here?
Bhagavān: He's in Germany.
Prabhupāda: He has gone German?
Bhagavān: To buy some trucks for traveling.
Prabhupāda: He's good preacher. He's now distributing books very nicely. You are also good distributor books. Huh? In the beginning she was distributing nicely. So preaching is our life. The more we preach, the more we are successful. Yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching.
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa
yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa'
CC Madhya 7.128
This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Every one of you become guru and deliver the residents of your neighborhood. Ei deśa. Wherever you are living, just deliver them. Become their guru. How to become guru? It is not difficult. Yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa CC Madhya 7.128 . What Kṛṣṇa has said instruct them. You simply repeat it, that's all. You become guru. So this should be preached all over the world. You learn from Bhagavad-gītā and repeat. You simply say, "Kṛṣṇa said four things: man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru CC Madhya 7.128 . 'Just always think of Me.' Kṛṣṇa said. 'And just become My devotee. Just worship Me and offer obeisances.' Kindly do these things." So if you can induce one person to do these four things, you become guru. Is there any difficulty? Then you become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. How? Always think of Kṛṣṇa. Worship Kṛṣṇa and offer obeisances. Here is our temple, please come, offer obeisances. Offer little flower if you can secure. Otherwise, obeisances sufficient. And chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. You become guru. To inform this message is difficult? Not at all. You may carry the message. If he's fortunate, he'll do it. Even he does not do it, you are carrying the message, you become recognized by Kṛṣṇa. Na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ CC Madhya 7.128 . You are doing sincerely, then you are recognized by Kṛṣṇa. Just like a canvasser, salesman, goes to the market, tries his best to secure some business. The master sees the report how he has worked. Even though he has not secured a single paisa business, but he has tried to introduce the goods, then he's bona fide(?). He's bona fide(?). Similarly, we have to simply carry the message of Kṛṣṇa and try to convince people. If one is convinced, it is good, if not, doesn't matter, I am not going to.... Then you are recognized by Kṛṣṇa. Recognition means you become the dearest servant of Kṛṣṇa. Then what do you want more? If Kṛṣṇa recognizes that "You are My most dear servant," then what do you want more? Yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa CC Madhya 7.128 . So this message was to be carried by all Indians. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's desire.
bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra
CC Adi 9.41
This is para-upakāra. So all Indians should take up this mission and do welfare activity. That is India's special function. How many devotees are there in Amsterdam?
Woman devotee (1): Fifty.
Prabhupāda: Building is very big?
Bhagavān: Yes. Nice building.
Woman devotee (1): There's two buildings, one for the gṛhasthas behind the temple, and then the āśrama for the brahmacārīs.
Prabhupāda: Rented or purchased?
Woman devotee (1): We own the gṛhastha āśrama, and the temple is rented. It's to our advantage to rent it, for some reason, so they are renting it.
Hari-śauri: You were thinking about walking? It's about 6:15, so this would be a good time if you want to go down.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Bhagavān: All glories to Prabhupāda.
Devotee: Haribol! (end)