751222 - Lecture Festival BG 16.07 Disappearance Day, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati - Bombay

Lectures by Date, 1975

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

751222DB-BOMBAY - December 22, 1975 - 38:41 Minutes

Prabhupāda:

. . . na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro

na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate

(BG 16.7)

Na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate. This is a verse from the Sixteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, where the Lord is describing the symptoms of the demons. This pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca . . . Pravṛtti means inclination, inclined. And nivṛtti means disinclined. So there are two things within this material world. Our inclination is to enjoy the senses. This is general. Everyone within this material world, even the animals, birds, beasts, human being or more elevated than the human beings—the demigods, kinnaras, or the . . . many other higher types of living entities . . . there are different grades of living entities, 8,400,000 different bodies. So what is their pravṛtti, inclination? The inclination is attraction of man and woman. This is the central point of attraction. Puṁsāṁ striyaḥ maithuni-bhāvam etad: the whole material world is existing on this point—sex, man and woman. So this is pravṛtti-mārga. And nivṛtti-mārga: just to stop it. This is called nivṛtti-mārga.

We are within this material world on account of this pravṛtti, sense enjoyment. Those who are inclined to sense enjoyment and do not care to know what is the aim of life, they are called asuras. And those who are trying to avoid the entanglement of this material life and revive the whole original life . . . whole original life means Kṛṣṇa conscious life. Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, our original consciousness is that, "I have got intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa as His part and parcel." That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And the . . . my conception is the bodily conception that, "I am this body. I am born in this country; therefore I belong to this nation, I belong to this community, I belong to this family, I belong to this species," this is called pravṛtti-mārga. This is scientific division, pravṛtti-mārga, nivṛtti-mārga.

Why the scientific? Because this is the fact. Science means fact. I am not this body. I am spirit soul. That is, just like a man suffering from some disease, so that is not his normal life to suffer from some disease. Normal life is to keep healthy life, no disease. That is normal life. So in order to keep to the normal life, we must know how to cure the disease. Just like when you have got fever, you go to the doctor; he says, advises, "You do this" and "You do not do this." The "do not do this" means nivṛtti-mārga, and "do this," pravṛtti-mārga. If you are serious to cure your disease, then you must know what you should do and what you should not do. But just like a man, very foolish man, he is suffering from disease but he does not know how to cure the disease, what to do and what not to do, similarly an animal-like man, a two-legged man, he does not know what to do and what not to do. This is explained here.

Pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca, janā . . . pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca, janā na vidur āsurāḥ (BG 16.7). Janā, there are two kinds of men, asura and daiva. Daiva āsurā eva ca. There are two, all throughout the whole universe, there are two classes of men: one is called daiva, another is called asura. What is the distinction? Viṣṇu-bhaktaḥ bhaved daiva āsuras tad-viparyayaḥ (CC Adi 3.91). One who knows his relationship with God, he is called daiva, and one who does not know, just like animal, they are called asura. There is no particular caste or creed, that here is a caste of asura, caste of daiva. No. Anyone who knows what is God and his relationship with God, sambandha, and then work according to that relation and achieve the goal of life, he is called daiva, or devatā. And one who does not know this, what is the goal of life, what is God, what is my relationship with God, he is asura.

So Kṛṣṇa has described everything in the Bhagavad-gītā, and today, this night, we are trying to explain the mission of Kṛṣṇa. Because the same mission is being carried out by us beginning from Brahmā, and today is a special day, the disappearance day of my Guru Mahārāja, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Goswami. So these ācāryas, they come and they go, that is not like ordinary birth and death. It is called prakaṭa, aprakaṭa; āvirbhāva, tirobhāva. So even ordinarily nobody takes birth and nobody dies, na jāyate na mrīyate vā kadācit (BG 2.20), so what to speak of the ācāryas or Bhagavān. Nobody, a living entity, living being . . . God is the supreme living being, and we are subordinate living beings. Both of us, we are living beings, so what is the difference between the two kinds of living being? The difference is that the one, God, or Kṛṣṇa, He maintains all other living beings, and we are being maintained. This is the difference. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). The plural number living entities—we are plural number, in different species of life—but we are maintained by the Supreme Being.

So this is our relationship. If we understand this relationship, eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān, that is our real understanding. Just like in your office or in a factory, there is a proprietor, he is maintaining so many workers, so many clerks. And what is your duty? To serve him. So similarly, if the Supreme Being, the supreme proprietor, as Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasaṁ

sarva-loka-maheśvaram

suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

(BG 5.29)

If the factory man knows that he is not the proprietor, he is not the enjoyer of the profit—the enjoyer of the profit is the proprietor of the factory, and we are worker—then there is peace. And if the workers fight amongst themselves, that "I am the proprietor," falsely, then there is chaos. There is no production; chaos. Similarly, if we fight ourselves. . . amongst ourselves that, "I am proprietor of India; you are proprietor of America; you are proprietor of Germany," this is false conception of life. Real proprietor is Kṛṣṇa. If we know this, bhoktāraṁ yajña . . . Kṛṣṇa says that bhokta, "I am bhokta, I am the enjoyer." Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasaṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29), "I am the final proprietor, or the supreme proprietor," that's a fact, then there is peace.

This is our relationship, that we are part and parcel. We are not non-important: the factory is going on, or the whole world is going on, on account of the living entities. Apareyam itas tu vidhi me prakṛtiṁ parā. Kṛṣṇa says that, "Beyond this material energy," bhūmir āpo' nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, bhinnā me prakṛtir aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4), "these eight kinds of prakṛti, they are My separated energy. But there is another, superior energy," yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat (BG 7.5). Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtim. Just like same example—in the factory there are ingredients and there are workers. So the ingredients are compared with the material energy, bhūmir āpo' nalo vāyuḥ. They are also the property of the proprietor, and the worker also property of the proprietor, but the workers, because they are living being, jīva bhūtaḥ mahā-bāho yayedam dhāryate jagat, those who are working for development of this material world. The same example.

So this is knowledge. We should understand that everything belonging to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nothing is manufactured by us. So He is the proprietor, but because we are His sons, we have got the legal right to enjoy the property of the father. That is all right, this is real Communism. This is actual understanding of Communism—everything belongs to God. Just like the Communists, they are thinking everything belongs to the state, and the citizens must work and enjoy. So our philosophy is the same. Only difference is that they are, what is called, ignorantly accepting the state is the proprietor. No. If they accept God is the proprietor, Kṛṣṇa is proprietor, then Communism is very perfect. That is missing. That is missing. Actually, God is the proprietor. What is the state? That is artificial. This state, American state or African state, Russian state, these are artificial. Actually the land belongs to God. We are demark—this is India, this is Russia, this is America. That is the beginning of spiritual education, to understand this fact:

īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ

yat kiñcid jagatyāṁ jagat

tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā

mā gṛdha kasyasvid dhanam

(ISO 1)

This is real understanding. Everything belongs to God—īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam—everything, and tena tyaktena bhuñjithā, whatever He gives you as prasādam . . . just like our principle is that we are working for Kṛṣṇa. This is real philosophy. Every one of us, one who is offering ārati, he is also working for Kṛṣṇa, and one who is building this construction, temple, he is also working for Kṛṣṇa. So as worker for Kṛṣṇa there is no distinction. Variety. Variety of service.

So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means variety of service to the Supreme. The example is just like the varieties of different parts of the body, the head is there, the hand is there, the brain is there, the leg is there. The head cannot work like the leg, neither the leg can work like the brain. The hand cannot work like the belly, or belly cannot work like the hand. Varieties. Similarly, there are varieties of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and if we serve Kṛṣṇa with our varieties, sva karmaṇā tam abhyarcya (BG 18.46), then it is everything peaceful. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We do not want to stop the varieties. Varieties must be there. We are not nirveśeṣa-vādī, impersonalist. No. We are completely personalist. Kṛṣṇa is person, Rādhārāṇī is person, the devotees are person, the demigods are person, the cats person, the dogs person, the cows person, the calves person. But what is the meaning of Vṛndāvana? Vṛndāvana means everyone—the father-mother of Kṛṣṇa, Nanda Mahārāja, Yaśodāmāyī; the gopīs, the girlfriends of Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī and others; and the cowherd boys; and the cows, the calves, the trees, the flowers, the fruits, the water. Everyone is for serving Kṛṣṇa. This is Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana means there is variety, and varieties of service, but everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana.

So our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is educating that the varieties of service should be concentrated for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. That is pravṛtti. And what is not satisfying Kṛṣṇa, against the will of Kṛṣṇa, that should be avoided. That is called nivṛtti. Anukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ pratikūlyasya varjanam (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11.676). This is called surrender. Surrender means that Kṛṣṇa asking surrender: sarva-dharmān parityayja mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. What is the surrender means? Surrender means that "Kṛṣṇa, I am surrendering unto You. I was acting whimsically, by the dictation of my different senses," kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mātsarya, like that. Na kāmādīnāṁ katidha na katidhā pālitā durnideśa. The śāstra says you should not steal—an example. But I am stealing. Why? Na kāmādīnāṁ katidha na katidhā pālitā durnideśa (CC Madhya 22.16). I know I should not steal; therefore I go to somebody's house very secretly, or push my hand very secretly in one's pocket. I know that I should not do this, but I am forced to do it. Why? Dictated by my lusty desire. So I have become servant of my six senses. Manaḥ saṣṭhanīndriyāni prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). This is our position. Kamāninā kulya . . . everyone knows. A thief knows that if he commits theft he'll be punished, either by the police or by the laws of God. Everyone knows, but he still commits theft. Why? This is dictated by the lusty desires.

So pravṛtti means we are dictated by our kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mātsarya, and we should agree to be dictated by Kṛṣṇa, that's all. That is intelligent. Pravṛtti, nivṛtti. Our pravṛtti is to abide by the dictation of the senses, and when we learn not to abide by the dictation of the senses but to abide by the orders of Kṛṣṇa or His representative, then your life are successful. This teaching, this learning, means Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not difficult. Everyone can do it. Simply he has to change: instead of being dictated by the senses, one should be dictated by Kṛṣṇa. That requires qualification. Kṛṣṇa is there, everyone's heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). Kṛṣṇa is not far away. But you have to search out where is Kṛṣṇa within your heart. That is called yoga. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yoginaḥ, those who are trying to understand Kṛṣṇa by the yoga process . . . the yoga process means controlling the senses. Without controlling the senses you cannot practice any yoga. Nowadays it has become a fashion, meditation yoga, but that is not bona fide. That is not not only bona fide, that is farce. Real yoga is controlling the senses and concentrating the mind to the Supersoul. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). That is real. And farce yogī is going on like that. And Kṛṣṇa says also in the Bhagavad-gītā:

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ

mad-gatenāntarātmanā

śraddhavān bhajate yo māṁ

sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

(BG 6.47)

He is first-class yogī. Who? "Always thinking of Me.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare

Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

He is first-class yogī." So we are teaching our students to become the first-class yogī, not these yogīs to reduce fat. No. That is not required. Yogī means who is always seeing Kṛṣṇa within the heart. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). This is first-class yogī, bhakta-yogī. Twenty-four hours, satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 9.14). Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām: you have to fix up your mind in Kṛṣṇa by the process of chanting His glories, satataṁ kīrtayanto mām, not otherwise. Mām, Kṛṣṇa.

So people do not understand this, what he should do, what he should not do. Pravṛtti, nivṛtti. Because he cannot distinguish, therefore he is asura. Asura—demons, or atheist. So if we analyze the modern people throughout the whole world, you'll fine 99.9 percent all asuras. But this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so nice that it is invented . . . not invented, it is there in the Vedic literatures. Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He has given us this process of realizing Kṛṣṇa and becoming expert in understanding what we should do and what we should not do, pravṛtti, nivṛtti. And therefore if we know that we should not do this, we should do this, then we become immediately devatā. And if you do not know what we should do and what we should not do, then we remain asura. It is not that because one is asura, he cannot become a devatā. The asura can become devatā, provided he knows these two things: pravṛtti and nivṛtti.

So pravṛtti we have got, just like we have got tendency—cent percent person has it at the present moment—to smoke. This is pravṛtti. But we say don't smoke, nivṛtti. And if we drink, that is pravṛtti. Everyone, even the ant, he is also drunkard. They have scientifically studied, the ants are very much fond of intoxication, therefore they eat sugar. In sugar there is liquor, so the . . . Loke bhāvāya nisamadhya sevā nityasta yanto. Every living entity has got this tendency, bhāvāya. Bhāvāya means sex life; amīṣa, meat-eating; and mada, liquor. Natural tendency. Therefore the country where these things are indulged without any restriction, that is asura, the country of the asura. So especially in the Western countries, and now we have also learned . . . in India, either Hindus or Mussulman, drinking was a sin. Now we have got very easily available liquor. Every door there is a shop, and every door there is meat shop. So India, there was time that they were all devatās, now we are imitating the asuras. On the other hand, the boys and girls from the asuric country, they are becoming the devotee, devatās. So there is no exclusive right for a country to become devatā or demon. A demon can be turned into the devatā and devatā can be turned into demon, provided he does not follow this pravṛtti, nivṛtti. What is pravṛtti-mārga? Pravṛtti-sambhūtānāṁ nivṛtti tu mahābalam. That is life. "I want to smoke; I have got tendency to smoke," pravṛtti. This is pravṛtti; everyone has got. But if you can stop it, then your life is successful. Nivṛtti.

Therefore this nivṛtti means tapasya. If I am habituated to smoke, if I am habituated to illicit sex life, if I am habituated to intoxication and gambling, etc., this is my pravṛtti. But if we can stop it by practice, that is called tapasya. And human life is meant for this tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddyeta satyam (SB 5.5.1). Ṛṣabhadeva's instruction, "My dear sons, you practice tapasya." The human life is meant for tapasya. "I have got tendency to do this, but that will not help me, that will degrade me." So tapasya means instead of being degraded, be elevated. This is called tapasya. Tapo divyam. This human life is meant for this purpose, to practice tapasya, or to practice nivṛtti. Then our life is successful. Tapo divyam putra . . . why tapasya? Why nivṛtti? Yena śuddhyena sattva. Sattva means here existence is impure. Impure means that you are eternal, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20), you do not die after the annihilation of this body, but I am subjected to repetition of birth and death, in different species of life. This is my disease. It is not pure condition of life. Pure condition of life, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, yad gatvā na nirvartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama.

mām upetya kaunteya

duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam

nāpnuvanti mahātmanaḥ

saṁsiddhiṁ paramaṁ gataḥ

(BG 8.15)

That is pure life. If you go to the spiritual world, to Vaikuṇṭhaloka, or Kṛṣṇa's loka, then you get your original, eternal sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), live there eternally. Just like in Vṛndāvana they are always with Kṛṣṇa enjoying life. This is nivṛtti-mārga. So there is a life, eternal life, very blissful life, full of knowledge. If you want to go back to that life, back to home, back to Godhead, then you must practice this pravṛtti-, nivṛtti-mārga.

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching this pravṛtti-mārga, nivṛtti-mārga, both. "You do not do this" and "You do this." "Do this" means rise early in the morning, maṅgala-āratrika. Of course, we must sleep, but not sleep like cats and dogs or animals. Simply sleeping means waste of time. The more you reduce sleeping, then you become perfect. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. All the Gosvāmīs in Vṛndāvana, they conquered over these things. What is this? Nidrā, sleeping; āhāra, eating and vihāra, and sense pleasure. This is called sannyāsa life, reducing sleeping, reducing eating. This is pravṛtti-mārga. We think, "If I can eat voraciously like an elephant, then my life is successful." No. That is not success life. If you can do without any food, that is success. That is success. This is called nivṛtti-mārga. But that is not practical; therefore if we promise that we shall not eat anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa, that is tapasya. If you don't go to the restaurant and eat anything nonsense, that is pravṛtti-marga. But if you want to stop that restaurant-going, then you take Kṛṣṇa prasādam, kṛṣṇa borā dayā moy kori bāre jihvā joy sva-prasāda-anna dilo bhāi. Kṛṣṇa is ready, so many nice, palatable dishes. You take, and stop this restaurant-going. This is Kṛṣṇa's . . . (indistinct) . . . patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). Kṛṣṇa does not say: "Bring something from the restaurant" or this or that. He says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati: anything, little leaf, little flower, little water. Kṛṣṇa is not hungry, but Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He has come to you, so that you can touch Him, you can dress Him, you can decorate Him, you can offer Him, you can live with Him as servant, as friend, as son, as lover. In so many ways, Kṛṣṇa is giving you chance.

So in the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, in the beginning . . . it is not that kaniṣṭha, beginning . . . if anyone immediately becomes so advanced, it is not advancement—it is foolishness. Just like somebody, they declare that, "Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. Why should we go to the temple?" Then if Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, He is not in the temple? Huh? What is this argument? If Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, He is also in the temple. But in the temple I worship directly, and what is the utility? That Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. I am not so advanced that I can see everywhere Kṛṣṇa. Who can see Kṛṣṇa everywhere? That is very advanced stage. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). If you become so advanced that you cannot live without Kṛṣṇa for a moment, then Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. Where is that . . . (aside) Don't. Where is that training? Where is that advancement? Even if I try to meditate, I meditate upon my wife, upon my children, upon my business. This is not the stage of seeing Kṛṣṇa everywhere. That requires training. That requires advanced knowledge, prema. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). If a devotee cannot live for a moment without seeing Kṛṣṇa, He is visible everywhere. Not for the neophyte devotee. So there are different stages.

So this is not fact that Kṛṣṇa is within your mind, therefore you should not go to the temple, you have become so advanced. No. Better go to the temple and see Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not different. Arcye śilā-dhīr guru-darse viṣṇu śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-mati. Do not consider that "Here is a stone, Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa is everything. Stone is also Kṛṣṇa; simply you have to be qualified how to talk with stone Kṛṣṇa. That is your qualification. You have to qualify yourself. Otherwise Kṛṣṇa is stone, Kṛṣṇa is water, Kṛṣṇa is sky, is everything. So this is the philosophy. Kṛṣṇa says, bhūmir āpo' nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ buddhir mano eva ca (BG 7.4): "I am everything." That's a fact. So why do you say there is stone Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is everything. If you have got that eyes to see, you can see Kṛṣṇa everywhere and everything.

So this is the beginning. Therefore you require pravṛtti-nivṛtti to understand how you should think, how you should live, how you should eat, how you should sleep. This training is required. Why it is required? Because to get out of this material bondage, where the birth, death, old age and disease is compulsory. If you want to avoid this, because you are eternal, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20), why don't you think that "If I am eternal, why am I accepting birth, death, old age and disease?" This is intelligence. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is Vedānta-sūtra. Now we should enquire how we can get out of this material entanglement.

So my Guru Mahārāja, in the paramparā system. Kṛṣṇa comes also, that yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). This is dharmasya glānir. One does not know what is his duty, aim of life—everyone. Ninety-nine point nine . . . this is dharmasya glanīr, dharmasya glānir. Tadātmānam sṛjāmy aham: to teach the rascal people to understand what is his duty, what is his aim of life. So not only Kṛṣṇa comes, but His representatives also come. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, He leaves book, He leaves His representative, He comes Himself. In so many ways He is trying to give us the benefit. But we are foolish persons, asura. We do not take the advantage, and continually suffer, mūḍhā janmani janmani (BG 16.20), birth after birth we suffer.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so beneficial that He wants to benefit the whole human society how to stop this process of repetition of birth, death, old age and disease. So my Guru Mahārāja also came for this purpose, and we are also trying to follow his footstep, and we are teaching our disciple to do the same thing. Evaṁ paramparā prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo vidhuḥ (BG 4.2). So this is not a new movement, or some invented "ism". It is old, at least four, five thousand years. What Kṛṣṇa spoke, the other followers also spoke the same thing, and we are also speaking the same thing. It is up to you to take advantage of it or not.

Thank you very much.

Devotee: Jaya, Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)