680202 - Lecture CC Madhya 06.254 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1968

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

680202CC-LOS ANGELES - February 02, 1968 - 20:53 Minutes

Prabhupāda:

vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga-

śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ

-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-śarīra-dhārī

yas tam ahaṁ prapadye

(CC Madhya 6.254)

This verse was composed by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. You know Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya? You have not heard?

Devotees: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Who was he? Who was Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya?

Nandarāṇī: He was a great impersonalist who was converted by Lord Caitanya to Vaiṣṇavism.

Prabhupāda: Yes. And Nandarāṇī knows better than you. (laughter) (chuckles) So girls are intelligent (chuckles). Yes. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was a great impersonalist and a great logician. The impersonalist school, amongst them, there are very, very learned scholars. Śaṅkarācārya himself, he was unique scholar. At the age of eight years only, he studied all the Vedas. And not only he studied; he became a critical student, Śaṅkarācārya. He was incarnation of Lord Śiva. Therefore nobody can be compared with him.

So amongst the impersonalist school, there are many great logicians and high class scholars. But according to Vedic principles, God realization does not depend on material intelligence or scholarship. It is stated in the Vedas, nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyaḥ: "You cannot realize the self simply by arguments or very scholarly speeches." No. Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na bahunā śrutena: "Neither by studying many, many different types of Vedic literatures."

Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na bahunā śrutena na medhayā: "Neither by sharp brain or memory." These are good qualifications—to be scholarly, to be a very good speaker and to have very good memorizing power. These are materially very good qualifications. But they are not qualification for realizing God.

Then what is the qualification of realizing God? Yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23). "God can be realized only to whom He reveals." You cannot oblige God to become manifest before you because you are very good scholar or you are a very rich man or you are very good looking or you have got very good memorizing power. No. Yam evaiṣa vṛṇute. When He is pleased, then He reveals unto the devotee.

Therefore our business should be, for God realization, to please Him. And that pleasing process is this devotional service. Let us engage in His service, and when He becomes pleased, "Yes. He's very sincerely . . ." Just like the gopīs. They were village girls, not even born of very high family.

Cowherds, ordinary agriculturists, cowherds men. So their daughters. So how much education you can . . .? There was no education practically. In the village even men . . . in India, still, they are ninety-percent illiterate. And what to speak of the girls; the men are not even literate.

Because according to Vedic civilization it was not necessary that everyone should go to school. There was no necessity. Because things were being learned by śruti, by aural reception. Knowledge from the perfect man, one would hear, and he would become learned. There was no necessity of, I mean to say, learning A-B-C-D. No.

Even in Vedic age, everything was memorized. There was nothing in writing. People were so sharp in brain that once heard from the spiritual master, they will never forget. The brahmacārī system made their brain so powerful that whatever they will hear from the spiritual master, they will keep in the brain and never forget. They will repeat verbatim. Smṛti. This is called retaining power.

So God-realization does not depend on material opulence. Material opulence means to take birth in high family, janma. Janma means high parentage. Then . . . janmaiśvarya, and wealthy, great riches. These are material opulences: high parentage, great riches and great learning and great beauty. These four things are material opulences. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī (SB 1.8.26). Janma means birth, aiśvarya means wealth, and śruta means education and śrī means beauty. So for God realization these things are not essential, but Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can utilize everything. So nothing is neglected. That is another point. But if somebody thinks that "I have got all these opulences; therefore God realization is very easy for me," no, that is not.

So God realization depends on God, because God . . . you cannot oblige God by some force. Just like if you have got money, oh, you can do anything nowadays. If you have got strength of wealth, you can have any power, you can do anything. But that does not mean that you can purchase God. No. That is not possible.

If you have got beauty, you can conquer over very stalwart, very strong men. Just like what is the . . . Cleopatra. You have heard the Grecian history. She was very beautiful, and she conquered many great warriors. So beauty sometimes can conquer even the greatest man, but that does not mean beauty can conquer God. No. That is not possible.

So the vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga (CC Madhya 6.254). To conquer God is bhakti. If you are advanced in devotional service, then you can conquer God. Just like the gopīs, as I was speaking: their parentage was not very high, not at all high. Village, agriculturist, farmers, no education, practical . . . no education at all. And they were not rich at all. Agriculturist, farmers, they are not very rich. So how they conquered Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa was just a play toy in their hands.

Gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī. They conquered Kṛṣṇa simply by devotional service. That's all. They did not know anything except Kṛṣṇa. They did not, I mean to . . . (indistinct) . . . care anything. Simply they’re, always they're thinking of Kṛṣṇa.

The one instance of their absorption in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is explained, that when Kṛṣṇa was going on the pasturing ground, the gopīs were crying at home. Why? They were thinking that, "Kṛṣṇa . . . His body is so delicate, so soft, that we, when we take His lotus feet and place on our breast or chest, we think it is hard, very hard for Him. So Kṛṣṇa is walking in the forest. There are so many particles of stones. They are pricking, and how much Kṛṣṇa is feeling pain."

This thinking made . . . caused their crying, "How Kṛṣṇa is feeling pain." And the whole day, they will think of Kṛṣṇa like that, and when Kṛṣṇa will come back from the pasturing ground, then they will be relieved that "Kṛṣṇa has now come back." This was their business.

Now, this sort of thinking of Kṛṣṇa does not require any riches or any high parentage or any beauty or any education. So we have to develop such Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Our, this Gauḍīya-sampradāya, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's descendants, our line of God-realization is that separation, feeling of separation. Not that we have got Kṛṣṇa within our hand. No. This feeling of separation, worship of Kṛṣṇa by feeling of separation, is better than the worship by directly meeting. Vipralambha-sevā.

So this vairāgya-vidyā, renunciation . . . vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga (CC Madhya 6.254). Bhakti-yoga means vairāgya-vidyā. Vairāgya-vidyā means no more attachment for this material world. That is vairāgya. So bhakti-yoga means vairāgya-vidyā. So this Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya said, vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yogam. This vairāgya-vidyā means bhakti-yogam . . . śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ. So Kṛṣṇa, the supreme original personality, He has come down to teach us this vairāgya-vidyā.

Vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga-śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-śarīra-dhārī (CC Madhya 6.254). Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has appeared in the form of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. So Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya says, "My respectful obeisances unto Him."

So naturally this context came into my mind—these boys' vairāgya. So one who becomes advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, naturally they become disinterested for any material pompishness. They do not care. So vairāgya. This bhakti-yoga means vairāgya-vidyā.

You can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

(devotees offer obeisances) (break)

Prabhupāda: No, wherefrom you got it?

Karandhara: . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Oh. What is the price of this?

Gargamuni: No charge.

Prabhupāda: No. What do they sell?

Gargamuni: Oh. This drum was broken, but he gave it to us free. I do not know what the . . .

Prabhupāda: It was . . . it is broken?

Gargamuni: It was broken, but we fixed it.

Prabhupāda: Oh. All right. When they give in charity, they give something broken. (laughter) Kana goruke . . . kana goru bamanke dan. (Blind cow . . . offering a blind cow to a dwarf.) In India there is a . . . charity is given to the brāhmaṇas. So a man saw that his cow is blind: "All right, give it in charity." (laughter) So . . . (chuckles) charity means . . . (chuckles) Charity should be the first-class thing if it is really charity. But nowadays people give in charity just for name, "Oh, I am giving something."

This charity . . . there are . . . you have read Bhagavad-gītā. There are three kinds of charity: sattvic, rajasic, tamasic. Sattvic, charity in goodness, is with due consideration that "Here should be given the charity." Just like the Vedic injunction is to give charity to the Brahmins. Why? That is the worthy place, to give charity in the hands of Brahmins and Vaiṣṇava. Real Brahmin. I don't say caste ​Brahmin. Because they will employ whatever you give them in the service of the Lord. Therefore charity, that is sattvic charity. There is no question of profit or name. But "Charity should be given here. Here is something, God's service." That is sattvic.

And rajasic means for the sake of name: "Oh, people will say I am so charitable." That is rajasic. And tamasic, one who does not know where the money is going . . . just like in the Bowery Street some, that drunkard comes and polishes the motorcar, and somebody gives five dollars, and he immediately goes to drink. That means this charity means give him impetus for drinking. So if charity creates such drunkard, oh, that is very dangerous. He has to suffer, the man who is giving in charity.

Therefore in charity also there must be consideration. It must be sattvic. So anyway, it has come here. So it is sattvic. Whatever his mind may be, anyway, he has given to this temple; so it is sattvic.

Chant. (break) (end)