760326 - Lecture SB 07.09.44 - Delhi

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

760326SB-DELHI - March 26, 1976 - 17.30 Minutes

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (devotees repeat) Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventh Canto, Ninth Chapter, text number 44. (chants verse; devotees respond)

prāyeṇa deva munayaḥ sva-vimukti-kāmā

maunaṁ caranti vijane na parārtha-niṣṭhāḥ

naitān vihāya kṛpaṇān vimumukṣa eko

nānyaṁ tvad asya śaraṇaṁ bhramato 'nupaśye

(SB 7.9.44)

Prabhupāda: Verse number?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Text 44. Ninth Chapter. (continues chanting verse; devotees respond) (break) (chants synonyms, devotees responding) (break) ". . . to go back to home, back to Godhead; eka—alone; na—neither; anyam—any other person; tvad asya—except the . . ." This word is missing? "Except the . . ." Tvad asya?

Prabhupāda: Tvad? Where it is? Maunaṁ caranti vijane na parārtha, naitān vihāya . . . where is tvad asya?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Tvad asya, the translation was not typed in.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Nānyaṁ tvad asya śaraṇaṁ bhramato 'nupaśye: "Except Yourself, I don't find he has got any hope who'll deliver him."

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: (continues chanting synonyms; devotees respond) "Śaraṇam—to take shelter of; bhramataḥ—the living entities rotating and wandering throughout the universe; anupaśye—I can see actually from authorized evidence."

(05:25)

Translation: "My dear Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva, I see there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are simply interested for their own deliverance, and thus, without caring for big, big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayan forest for meditating, taking mauna-vrata, the vow of silence. They are not interested to deliver others. So far I am concerned, I do not wish to be liberated alone and leave aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, nobody can be happy, and therefore I wish to bring them to You, to the shelter of Your lotus feet."

Prabhupāda:

prāyeṇa deva munayaḥ sva-vimukti-kāmā

maunaṁ caranti vijane na parārtha-niṣṭhāḥ

naitān vihāya kṛpaṇān vimumukṣa eko

nānyaṁ tvad asya śaraṇaṁ bhramato 'nupaśye

(SB 7.9.44)

This is the conviction of a perfectly convinced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The preacher who are preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they must be convinced that without accepting Kṛṣṇa consciousness, nobody has any means of escaping these stringent laws of material nature. It is everywhere stated. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti (BG 7.14). But unfortunately, the conditioned souls, although they are very, very much afflicted with the pressure of material nature, they have become callous. Every moment, every second, they are being controlled, and still they are thinking they can do anything and everything independently. So in this way they are suffering. But a learned, saintly person . . . Prahlāda Mahārāja, he thinks that "Without delivering these fallen souls, alone I am not prepared to go back to home, back to God." Naitān vihāya kṛpaṇān.

Kṛpaṇān. Kṛpaṇān means misers. All these persons who are in this material world, they are hankering after material enjoyment, and they have no interest to understand spiritual life. Such persons are called kṛpaṇa. Kṛpaṇa. Tṛpyanti neha kṛpaṇā bahu-duḥkha-bhājaḥ (SB 7.9.45). I have several times discussed this verse, that this material life, especially, material life means sex life. So everyone is suffering for indulging in sex life, but in spite of suffering, they are not satiated. Therefore they are called kṛpaṇa. Kṛpaṇa means miser. Brāhmaṇa means liberal, and kṛpaṇa means miser. Every one of us, we have got this valuable body, human form of body. If we utilize it, then . . . utilize it by brahma-jñāna, then we become brāhmaṇa. And if we do not utilize it, then we are kṛpaṇa.

So here it is said kṛpaṇān. Kṛpaṇān means "These people, these conditioned souls, they are not endeavoring for liberation from this material world." They are so callous, foolish, just like cats and dogs, eating, sleeping and mating. That is their happiness. So they are reluctant. Nobody is interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore you have to . . . by the grace of Kṛṣṇa you have to adopt such means that they may be interested a little about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise they are so dull and miserly, they do not understand that Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very, very important for them. They have no sense even to understand.

But the preacher who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he knows that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness these people are condemned. They cannot be happy. They cannot be liberated. They will simply remain within this material world, accepting one body after another. And whichever material body we accept, it is meant for suffering. It is not meant for any happiness. Tri-tāpa-yātana, the three kinds of material miseries—adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika—he has to undergo.

So only the devotee, Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee, he can deliver them. He goes from town to town, village to village, house to house, to bring this message of Kṛṣṇa and deliver him. Prahlāda Mahārāja is promising, naitān vihāya kṛpaṇān vimumuksa eko: "I do not wish to go alone. Give me some strength so that I can deliver some of them. It is not possible to deliver all of them."

But that is a very important engagement for Vaiṣṇava. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has written in his Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta, we can understand a Vaiṣṇava very nicely when we see that he has converted so many conditioned soul into Vaiṣṇava life. That is estimation of a Vaiṣṇava. If I simply try for myself—I may be very advanced devotee—that is not very much appreciated by Kṛṣṇa. Prāyeṇa deva munayaḥ sva-vimukti-kāmā. Everyone is interested.

There are goṣṭhy-ānandī and bhajanānandī. Bhajanānandī is interested for his own welfare, or they think it that he is not competent enough to preach; therefore he does not go for preaching work. Sva-vimukti-kāmā: "Let me look after my own affairs." "Oil your own machine." So this is another stage, and other stage is a devotee taking all risk, preaching for the benefit of the whole human society. He is called goṣṭhy-ānandī, increasing the number of devotees. That is preferred by Kṛṣṇa.

It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, ya imaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati (BG 18.68): "Anyone who is engaged in preaching this confidential science of Bhagavad-gītā," na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścid me priya-kṛttamaḥ (BG 18.69), "nobody is dearer to Me than he is." If you want very quickly recognition by Kṛṣṇa, go on preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Even it is imperfectly done, but because you are sincere in your capa . . . whatever capacity you have got, if you preach, then Kṛṣṇa will be very much pleased.

I have seen practically. In my Guru Mahārāja's day there was a paper, Dainik Nadiya Prakash. It was being published daily, a piece of paper, just like I was publishing Back to Godhead. And if a small brahmacārī would go to Navadvīpa and would sell a few copies, one paisa a copy, that would be taken as a great preaching by Guru Mahārāja: "Oh, you have sold five copies? Very good." Because people are so reluctant—they are not at all interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness—therefore we become very much engladdened when we see that some of our books and literatures are sold. They will read and be benefited.

So this is the mission of high-class Vaiṣṇava, how to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness among the suffering humanity. And this is the purport of this verse said by Prahlāda Mahārāja, and we are following the footprints of Prahlāda Mahārāja. Never mind even it is imperfectly done, we must execute the orders of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). I may not be so very expert in delivering the message of Kṛṣṇa, but my duty is to try to my best capacity how to distribute this knowledge to the suffering humanity.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)