670111 - Lecture BG 10.08 - New York

Lectures by Date, 1967

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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670111BG-NEW YORK - January 11, 1967 - 20:42 Minutes

Prabhupāda: . . . iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ (BG 10.8): "I am the origin of everything." Everything means universe also. Whatever you can imagine, that comes within the category of "everything." So if Kṛṣṇa is the source of everything, then if you love Kṛṣṇa, then you love universe. Actually that is so. If you love your father, then you love your brother.

If you love your country, then you love your countrymen. Suppose we are in foreign country, and here is one gentleman India, from India; I am from India. So naturally we ask, "Oh, you come from India? Which part of India you come?" Why? Attraction for that person . . . because I love India. And because he happens to be Indian, therefore I love him.

So the love begins from the origin. If you love your body, then you love your finger. If you are careless of your body, your health, you don't care for your finger. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says that:

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo

mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate

iti matvā (bhajante māṁ)

budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ

(BG 10.8)

Iti matvā bhajante mām. One who has understood this fact, that God is the origin of all emanation . . . one who has understood this fact very nicely, scientifically, then, by loving God, you love everything, universe.

If you think that, "God is something manufactured by my imagination," then you cannot love universe or God. You have to understand the position of God. In every literature, in every scripture . . . just like in your Bible it is said: "God said: 'Let there be creation.' So there was creation." So creation is the universe. So God created this universe. So if you love God, then you love the universe. That is automatically. If I say: "I love my body"—everyone loves his body—that does not mean I do not love my finger.

So a God conscious person . . . there is a nice example. A hunter—in Sanskrit language it is called vyādha—he was hunting in the forest and killing the animals, boar and other, deer and so many animals—hunter's business is to kill animals—so half . . . half-dead. And Nārada was passing through that road. He saw that, "These half-dead animals are flapping. Who has killed them in that way, half-dead? Why not full kill?" So he went to the vyādha, hunter, that "Why you are doing this business? Better kill them altogether so that they may not suffer. It is a great sinful act."

So he explained, "Oh, I do not know what is sinful or not, pious. My father has taught me this business. I am doing this." So Nārada explained him, "So it is not a very good business. You better do another business for your livelihood. Simply killing, and half-killing—better kill them fully. That is also very good." So he said: "Then I am committing sins?" And Nārada said: "Yes, you are committing sins." "Then, if I give up this business, how shall I eat, my living?" Nārada said: "All right, I shall give you your necessities of life. I shall supply you. You give up this business."

So he was initiated, and he was seated in a sacred place. So the villagers understood that a vyādha, a hunter, has become a great saint. So everyone was coming and offering some rice, some flowers, some fruits. So he was executing his devotional service according to instruction of Nārada. Then, after some time, Nārada wanted to show that devotee to his friend, Pārvata Muni, and he was coming to that devotee, hunter devotee. At that time the devotee was going to receive Nārada, and while going, he was very careful that a ant may not be killed on the path. So he was jumping. Whenever there was an ant, he was jumping.

So Nārada inquired that, "While you were coming here, why you are jumping?" So he said: "Sir, there are so many ants. So how can I kill ant?" Just see. The same man who was without any kindness, killing so many animals, he has become kind to the ant even.

This is universal. As soon as you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, as soon as you become God conscious, then your real universal, ideal universal consciousness develops. Otherwise it is all simply jugglery. There are so many doctrines of universal love, universal friendship, fraternity, but they are fighting, and they are killing simply, because there is no God consciousness. If you are universal, if you are after universal love, then how you can maintain regular slaughterhouse? How you can think that an American gentleman or lady is your countryman, and not a cow, and not a goat, not a serpent? Where is your universal idea?

So unless there is development of God consciousness, this universal idea, oh, these are nonsense. There cannot be. It is all false, jugglery of words. So first business is to understand your identity, identity of God, your relationship, and your action reformed in that way. Then there is question of universal brotherhood, universal . . . otherwise it is simply jugglery of words.

If you are thinking of universal way, how you can give protection to a human being born in America, and send a cow to the slaughterhouse? What is your reason?

Guest: This would be a personal love.

Prabhupāda: Universal means all. You have to love everyone.

Guest: If I didn't love the cow as equally with a child, then it is a personal love, because I'm defining qualifications.

Prabhupāda: But how can you avoid this personal?

Guest: Because to love the child only, I have to exclude other things, meaning the cow.

Prabhupāda: But personal . . . child is the person. How can you avoid person?

Guest: How can what?

Prabhupāda: How can you avoid person?

Guest: I don't understand.

Prabhupāda: When you love, how can you avoid a person? What do you mean by love? Whenever you love universally . . . in the universe there are so many men, animals, and plants and beasts and birds, and so many things. So we have to love everyone. That is universal. You cannot discriminate, "Oh, this is not universal; this is universal." Universal means all-including. So how you can avoid this person or imperson? You have to love everyone. That is universal.

Guest: If I don't do that, then I have a love with limitations, and this is false. This would be . . .

Prabhupāda: No. Not limitation. The point is, if you love the root, then you love everything. Just like if you pour water on the root of the tree, then the branches, the flowers, the leaves, the fruits and everything is nourished. So you have to know the technique, how to love the whole. If somebody is loving the tree—he is putting water in each every leaf, every branch, every flower—he is spoiling his time. Another intelligent man goes and he pours one bucketful of water on the root—oh, it is distributed.

This is foolishness, that without knowledge of the root, you want to love the branches. Your body. You love your body. Why do you supply your food in the stomach? Why not to the eyes, to the ears, to the nose? Why not individually, every finger, every hand, every part, every hair? No. As soon as you put the foodstuff to the stomach, the energy is at once distributed everywhere. Similarly, universal love means to love God.

They do not know the technique. Just this man, this hunter, he loved God, he became lover of the ant automatically. There was no need of separate education that, "You love this ant, you love this cow, you love this tree, love this country, love this man, love white man, black man, this man . . ." No. As soon as you love God, and you understanding what is God, then you love everything. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that:

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya

sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ yāḥ

tāsāṁ mahad yonir brahma

ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

(BG 14.4)

People are accepting Bhagavad-gītā as something Indian or Hindu, but actually it is not. It is universal. Kṛṣṇa says that there are so many forms of living entities. There are 8,400,000's of different types of bodies. "And all of them are My sons." So if you love Kṛṣṇa, then you love white man, you love American, you love European, you love Indian, you love cow, you love dog, you love serpent—everything.

So we have to know the techniques. Simply by theoretical knowledge you cannot make any improvement. These are practical example. Because there is no love for God at the present moment, all this nonsense universal love, fraternity, are going to hell. Therefore we are interested in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. You have to change your consciousness, make it full with Kṛṣṇa, or God. Then everything will be all right.

All right. Thank you. And if you kindly come and inquire in this way, we shall be very glad to answer as far as possible. Now let us have little kīrtana. It is quarter to nine. Please join with this kīrtana, Hare Kṛṣṇa.

It is very simple: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma. (Prabhupāda leads kīrtana) (prema-dhvani) (break) (end)