700515 - Lecture ISO 10 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1970

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

700515IP-LOS ANGELES - May 15, 1970 - 23:06 Minutes

Prabhupāda:

oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ

pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate

pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya

pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate

(ISO Invocation)

īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ

yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat

tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā

mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam

(ISO 1)

kurvann eveha karmāṇi

jijīviṣec chataṁ samāḥ

evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto 'sti

na karma lipyate nare

(ISO 2)

asuryā nāma te lokā

andhena tamasāvṛtāḥ

tāṁs te pretyābhigacchanti

ye ke cātma-hano janāḥ

(ISO 3)

anejad ekaṁ manaso javīyo

nainad devā āpnuvan pūrvam arṣat

tad dhāvato 'nyān atyeti tiṣṭhat

tasminn apo mātariśvā dadhāti

(ISO 4)

tad ejati tan naijati

tad dūre tad v antike

tad antar asya sarvasya

tad u sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ

(ISO 5)

yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtāny

ātmany evānupaśyati

sarva-bhūteṣu cātmānaṁ

tato na vijugupsate

(ISO 6)

yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtāny

ātmaivābhūd vijānataḥ

tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka

ekatvam anupaśyataḥ

(ISO 7)

sa paryagāc chukram akāyam avraṇam

asnāviram śuddham apāpa-viddham

kavir manīṣī paribhūḥ svayambhūr

yāthātathyato 'rthān vyadadhāc chāśvatībhyaḥ samābhyaḥ

(ISO 8)

andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti

ye 'vidyām upāsate

tato bhūya iva te tamo

ya u vidyāyām ratāḥ

(ISO 9)

anyad evāhur vidyayā-

nyad āhur avidyayā

iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ

ye nas tad vicacakṣire

(ISO 10)

So this verse is very important.

anyad evāhur vidyayā

anyad āhur avidyayā

iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ

ye nas tad vicacakṣire

(ISO 10)

So here is one word, iti śuśruma. Śuśruma means heard. The word meaning is there. "It is heard." In the Vedic disciplic succession, it is never said, "It is experienced." That is the secret of Vedic understanding. No student will . . . just like in the material world, they are engaged in research work. They are trying to find out what is the Absolute Truth or . . . even in this material world, just like people are now engaged in researching what is there in the moon planet.

So this is material policy, to try to understand things by his own experience. Pratyakṣa, direct—experimental knowledge. The Vedic understanding is different. It is śruti. Śruti means to hear from authoritative source. That is real knowledge. Just like I have given many times this example that if you want to know your father by experimental knowledge, is it possible? Not possible. Then how to know my father? By hearing from the authority, mother. That's all. Simple thing.

Similarly, things which are beyond our experimental knowledge you should not try to understand by your imperfect senses. That is not possible. If you cannot know your material father by experimental knowledge, how you can know the supreme father by experimental knowledge? The original father . . . the father of the father, father, father, you go on searching father, and the original father is Kṛṣṇa. So if you cannot understand your material father, the next generation, by experimental knowledge, how you can know God, or Kṛṣṇa, by experimental knowledge? Can you answer this, anyone?

So people are searching what is God. And searching, searching, searching, and they fail. They say: "Oh, there is no God. I am God." Finished. You see? This is not possible. Here it is said, iti śuśruma. This is Vedic knowledge. Heard, śuśruma. Wherefrom śuśruma? From the storekeeper? No. Dhīrāṇāṁ. Śuśruma . . . iti śuśruma dhīrāṇām. What is dhīrāṇām? From the sober sect. Not this fanatic sect, but the sober sect, dhīra. Dhīra means whose senses are not agitated by material influence. Or svāmī, or gosvāmī, he is called dhīra.

There are different kinds of agitations. The first agitating agent is the mind. Then the another agitating agent is this tongue. Another agitating agent is our speaking power. Vāco-vega krodha-vega. Another agitation is when we become angry. When we become angry, we forget. We do any nonsense due to the agitation of anger. When we speak in anger, we speak so many nonsense things.

Vāco-vegaṁ krodha-vegaṁ manasa-vegaṁ jihvā-vegam (NOI 1). Jihvā-vegam, agitation of the jihvā, tongue. Don't you see? For the agitation of the tongue so many advertisement: "Oh, here is this liquor," "Here is this chicken," "Here is this beef." What for? To satisfy the agitation of the tongue. Does it mean that without beef, without chicken, without liquor we cannot live? Is it a fact? It is not a fact.

For living, we have got so many nice things. God has . . . Kṛṣṇa has given—īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1)—for human being. You can take these grains, these fruits, the nice things, the milk. The milk is produced hugely. It is not for the cow itself, who is producing the milk; it is for human being. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā. That is the allotment.

God's allotment is, "You, Mr. or Miss Cow, or Mrs. Cow, although you are producing milk, you cannot drink it. It is for the human. Better. Better animal. Not that you are . . . what you will do by drinking milk?" No animal . . . of course, in infant stage every animal living mother's milk. That is nature's . . . but so far the cow's milk is concerned, that is specifically meant for the human being.

So tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā. What is ordained by Kṛṣṇa, or God, you take it. But we have got the agitation of the tongue. Why shall I be satisfied simply taking grains, milk and vegetables and fruits? Let me maintain hundreds of slaughterhouse and kill these animals. After taking their milk, although she becomes my mother, for my tongue agitation let them be killed. You see?

So this is not . . . you haven't got to hear from such nonsense, but you have to hear from the dhīrāṇām, those who have controlled their senses. That is the gosvāmī or svāmī. One who has six kinds of control - control of the mind, control of the tongue, control of anger, control of speaking, control of the genital and control of the belly. The six kinds of agitating agents: the mind, the tongue, the belly, the genital, the speaking . . . so one who has control over these six things, he is called dhīrāṇām. Dhīra. Sa eva dhīra.

Just like in Kumāra-sambhava. There is a nice poetry made by a great poet, Kālidāsa. It is called Kumāra-sambhava. This Kumāra-sambhava, we had our prescribed books in our intermediate I.A. class, Kumāra-sambhava. So Kumāra-sambhava, the fact of the Kumāra-sambhava is that when Pārvatī suicided herself in the Dakṣa-yajña, then Lord Śiva was very angry. He left this world. That's a Dakṣa-yajña story. You might have heard from Bhāgavatam. So he was engaged in meditation, and there was fight between the demons and the demigods. They wanted a very nice general. So it was concluded that with the semina of Lord Śiva, if a son is born, then he'll be able to fight this great fight between the demons.

So Lord Śiva was in meditation, completely naked. So this Pārvatī was sent to worship the Śiva-liṅga just to agitate him for sex. But he was not agitated. He was still silent. So that particular instance is given by Kālidāsa: "Here is a dhīra." Dhīra. He is naked. A young girl is worshiping the genital, touching it—still he's not unagi . . . not agitated. So that is the example of being dhīra. Dhīra means there may be causes for agitation, but one shall not be agitated. That is called dhīra.

In spite of presence of the agent of agitating . . . just like there is a very nice foodstuff, but still, my tongue should not be agitated. There is a very nice girl or boy—still, I shall not be agitated sexually. In this way, when you are able to control the six agitating elements, then you become dhīra. Dhīra. Not that he had . . . Lord Śiva had no sexual potency, but he was dhīra. That is the example. Just like Kṛṣṇa danced with so many girls, but there was no sex appetite. That is called dhīra.

So you have to hear from such person, dhīra. Here it is stated, iti śuśruma dhīrāṇām. Dhīrāṇām. Then your knowledge will be perfect. If you hear from adhīrāṇām, those who are not controlled, then it is useless knowledge. But here it is in the Vedic version of Īśopaniṣad, iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ ye nas tad vicacakṣire. So the student has approached the spiritual master and he says that, "We have heard like this. Now it may be kindly explained."

So teacher or the spiritual master is not inventing something. The same old thing. Just like the Bhagavad-gītā, the old thing is being explained again by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna. So we have no . . . nothing to research. Everything is there. Simply we have to hear from a person who is dhīra, who is not agitated by the six kinds of agitating agents. That is the process of Vedic knowledge.

tad viddhi praṇipātena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

(BG 4.34)

So always remember that we have to learn from a person who is dhīra, who has control over these agitating agents.

Thank you. (devotees offer obeisances)

(kīrtana) (Prabhupāda plays gong) (break) (end)