760517 - Lecture about Mayavada Philosophy - Honolulu

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

760517LE-HONOLULU - May 17, 1976 - 63.41 Minutes

Prabhupāda: So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa, renounced order of life, at the age of twenty-four. When He was only twenty-four, years old, young man, He took sannyāsa. And Śaṅkarācārya, he also took sannyāsa at the age of eight years. Śaṅkarācārya was exterminated from the, extricated from the brāhmaṇa society. Therefore he took sannyāsa, gave up the whole society, friendship and love, so-called, at the age of eight years. He was born of a widow; therefore he was not accepted in the society. So when his mother died, he called for the neighbors to help him for the funeral ceremony. Nobody came to help him, because he was considered a bastard. In the society, say one thousand—how long?—one thousand five hundred years ago, was very, very strict. So he set fire in his house - house means cottage - and went away. So the funeral ceremony was performed along with the burning of the house.

So he was great, he became very great scholar. It is said that Śaṅkarācārya is incarnation of Lord Śiva. Śaṅkara, śaṅkara svayaṁ. Śaṅkara is known as Lord Śiva. This Śaṅkarācārya was also a great devotee of Lord Śiva. This Māyāvādī, they worship especially Lord Śiva. So the Māyāvādī means that Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His name, His fame, His quality, His entourage—everything belonging to Kṛṣṇa—these philosophers, followers of Śaṅkarācārya, they believe they are māyā. Māyā means this material. Their philosophy is that nirviśeṣa-vāda. Ultimately, everything is impersonal, almost akin to the philosophy of Buddha. Zero, void.

So nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi. Our mission is to defy this nirviśeṣa, impersonalism and voidism. Our Kṛṣṇa is not void; He is the person, Supreme Person, but not made of this māyā. He is person eternally. Here we are made person by māyā. Your body and my body, we are person undoubtedly, but this body is made of māyā. Māyā means it will not exist: "which has no eternal existence." Whatever body we have got, it will be finished after some years, and it will never come in existence. It was never in existence before, neither it will again come into existence. Just like exactly the each and every wave of the ocean, it is temporary. That particular wave was never in existence, and after it subsides it will never become again of the same size, same, like that. Every wave, it is coming and again going. This morning we were singing about Lord Brahmā, sung by Vidyāpati: kata catur anana, mari mari yāvat. Catur anana: four faces, Lord Brahmā. Many, many Brahmā is coming and going, what to speak of . . . this material universe is like that. You come, you take a form, and again this form is vanquished. Again you take another form. That form which you had in your last life, that is gone. So this is called māyā.

So any philosopher who takes Kṛṣṇa also subjected to these, I mean to say, laws of māyā, they are called Māyāvadi. Māyāvadi, or śūnyavādi, practically the same. There are two kinds of Māyāvadis. They are called Māyāvadi of Sāranātha and Māyāvadi of Vārāṇasī. Some of you who have gone to India might have seen Vārāṇasī, very ancient city, pilgrimage, many thousands and thousands years ago. Nobody knows. Even we hear about the city of Vārāṇasī at the time of Hariścandra, long, long ago, many millions of years ago. So, Mathurā also. These are very, very old cities, Vārāṇasī. So the Vārāṇasī is mostly inhabited by these Śaṅkarites, and just a few miles off from Vārāṇasī there is one place which is called Sāranātha. In this place the bodha philosophers flourished. They came from Gayā, Gayā Province. Gayā Province is now known as Gayā . . . the city Gayā is still there, but this province is called now Bihar, and Gayā is one of the ancient cities also.

There is a Viṣṇu temple in Gayā. So people go to worship Lord Viṣṇu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also, before taking sannyāsa, He went to Gayā to worship Lord Viṣṇu. Worship Lord Viṣṇu here in Gayā means to offer śraddhā, oblations to the forefathers. According to Vedic scripture, if some of my relatives or father and forefather did not get the body—are in the, what is called, ghost body . . . one has become a ghost. Ghost means one who does not get this gross body lives in subtle body.

There are two kinds of bodies: subtle body and gross body. Gross body is made of this earth, water, fire, air, sky; and subtle body is made of mind, intelligence and ego. So one who is too much attached to this material world or too much sinful, sometimes they are punished by not getting this gross body. They live in the subtle body, and that is called ghost. Ghost will be present before you, but you cannot see him. Generally these ghosts are mischievous, because they do not get gross body. They want to enjoy life, but without gross body they cannot enjoy. Therefore sometimes a ghost takes shelter of another gross body, and that person who is such ghostly haunted, becomes ghostly haunted and speak like the ghost.

So according to Vedic system, supposing that my father or grandfather or any relative had obtained this ghostly body, could not get this gross body, so in his name oblations are offered on the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu in Gayā, gayā piṇḍadāna. Then that person gets again gross body—means again he is allowed to enter into the womb of a material mother, and another gross body is formed by the materials supplied by the mother. The form is made according to the form of the mother, and the living entity comes out of the womb and begins his karma again.

So this Gayā city is still existent. The temple is existent, and people go there. So Lord Buddha flourished in this Gayā Province. Kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is predicted where the list of the incarnation of Godhead is given in the Fourth Chapter, I think. In that list, Lord Buddha's name is mentioned. Not only his name, but his mother's name: añjana-sutaḥ kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati (SB 1.3.24). Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was compiled by Vyāsadeva five thousand years ago, and Lord Buddha was to appear in between from this date, about 2,600 years ago he appeared. Therefore the word is given there bhaviṣyati, "future." Five thousand years ago it was future tense; therefore bhaviṣya.

So śāstra is like that: bhūta, bhaviṣya, vartamān. Bhūta means "past," and bhaviṣya means "future," and vartamān means "present." Śāstra will give you direction about past, present and future. That is śāstra. That is called scripture. Even there is system of astrology, it is called Bhṛgu-saṁhitā. From that Bhṛgu-saṁhitā, still, if you go to India, there are many scholars expert in Bhṛgu-saṁhitā astrology. They will tell you, if you approach one of them, he will give you the history of your past life, the history of your present life, and the history of your future life. Their astronomical calculation they give you. At least you will understand so many things of your past life. That will be the evidence. And it will be future life also. Bhṛgu-saṁhitā. That Bhṛgu Muni made this scientific knowledge long, long ago. He has left such calculation, those who are expert. It is simply calculation. They will make a check, and from that check the ślokas are there: "This check means . . . this calculation means this; this calculation means like this."

So they are also Māyāvadi. The followers of Buddha philosophy, they are Māyāvadi, and the followers of Śaṅkarācārya, they are also Māyāvadis. So Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa especially to defy these two kinds of philosophical methods, Māyāvadi. Māyā, it is already stated in the Padma Purāna,

māyāvādam asac-chāstraṁ

pracchannaṁ bauddham ucyate

mayaiva vihitaṁ devi

kalau brāhmaṇa-mūrtinā

(Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa 25.7)

Lord Śiva is speaking to his wife, Pārvatī. You know Lord Śiva and Pārvatī. Pārvatī is the personified god of this material energy, Pārvatī, Durgā. The personified energy, Durgā. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā durgā (Bs 5.44). She is so powerful, she can create a universe, she can maintain, and she can dissolve also—dissoluter. She is so powerful. So she is the wife of Lord Śiva. And what is the position of Lord Śiva? He is so much in the renounced order of life that he can give his devotee material opulence like anything, but he himself lives underneath a tree. And his wife so powerful that she creates, maintains and annihilates the universe, but she remains as very obedient, submissive wife of Lord Śiva. You have seen the picture of Lord Śiva and Pārvatī sitting always underneath a bael tree.

So what is their business? Their business is: Pārvatī is perpetually asking her husband about spiritual matters, everything, and the husband is replying. That is the duty of husband, and that is also the duty of wife. Wife should get enlightenment from the husband, and she should give service. The husband is well situated; she is not discomforted, always looking to the comfort of the husband. And it is the duty of the husband to enlighten the wife always. Therefore husband is accepted as guru, pati-guru. In India, when a woman speaks of her husband, she says pati-guru, "my husband-master,"pati-guru. And it is not the system, Vedic system, to call the husband by name, as in the Western country the husband is called by his name. No. Out of respect, the wife does not call the husband by his real name.

So this talking is going on perpetually. So when Pārvatī, Durgā, she is asking her husband, "What is this Māyāvada philosophy?" That is there mentioned in the śāstras of the Māyāvada. So Lord Śiva is explaining what is this Māyāvada philosophy. He said that māyāvādam asac-chāstraṁ (Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa 25.7). Asac-chāstraṁ is a temporary information. Asat means "temporary," "that will not exist." There are two things: sat and asat. Sat means what is eternal, perpetual—no beginning, no end. Sanātana. And asat means just the opposite: "which is temporary." So śāstra means it must give you knowledge of the eternal world. That is śāstra. Whole śāstra, whole Vedic literature is meant for, to awaken you to your sat position, eternal position. Now we are in temporary position with this body, on account of getting this material body. Everything here temporary. Now anyone can understand: nothing in this world is permanent. Everything is temporary. It may be for few years or few hours or few minutes, but it is limited. Even your life in the Brahmāloka, that is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, so many millions of years you can live there, but it is also temporary. It may be millions of years; that is also limited, because within the time eternal, some millions of years, that is also temporary; some hundreds of years, that is also temporary. So everything here, temporary.

So Māyāvada śāstra is stated by Lord Śiva as asat-śāstra, temporary. Just like our law books. They, today, what is law, tomorrow somebody in the assembly, legislative assembly, nullifies: "No, this law is not required." They are manufacturing law every day, because here the law is temporary. Today you formulate one law; tomorrow you will find it is not very good—change it. So here everything is asat, temporary. It suits for some time, and again it becomes unsuitable, rejected, and takes some other. Old order changes, yielding place to new. This is going on, therefore asat. The Māyāvada is described, the Śaṅkara philosophy is described, by Śaṅkara himself, Lord Śiva, that it is asat-śāstra. Asat-śāstra means it was temporary requisition. It is not permanent knowledge. It was required for the time being. What is that? That the Māyāvada philosophy was requisitioned by Śaṅkarācārya to defy the Buddha philosophy.

Buddha philosophy is Māyāvada, because it is also temporary. When Buddha philosophy flourished in India . . . that is described in Bhāgavata and other scriptures. Just like Jayadeva kavi, the Vaisnava poet, Jayadeva. He is worshiping Lord Kṛṣṇa, thanking Him for His accepting the incarnation of Lord Buddha: keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare (Gītā Govinda, Daśāvatāra-stotra 9). A devotee, in whatever form the Lord is there, because he is devotee he gives glorify, all glories to the Lord, keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra (Gītā Govinda, Daśāvatāra-stotra 1). When Kṛṣṇa appeared as a big fish, so the devotee is glorifying, keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare (Gītā Govinda, Daśāvatāra-stotra 1). When Kṛṣṇa appeared as the boar, this Vaiṣṇava is also glorifying: keśava dhṛta-śūkara-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare (Gītā Govinda, Daśāvatāra-stotra 3). So similarly, there are so many glorification of daśāvatāra by Jayadeva. Amongst the daśāvatāra, particularly this Buddha avatāra is one of them. So Jayadeva says, keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare (Gītā Govinda, Daśāvatāra-stotra 9). Why He accepted buddha-śarīra? Sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam (Gītā Govinda, Daśāvatāra-stotra 9). He was very much compassionate to see unnecessarily animal slaughter. Kṛṣṇa, God, is always kind. So when unnecessarily animal slaughter is done, He also becomes compassionate. He is compassionate always; He becomes so compassionate that He comes to stop this nonsense. That is buddha-śarīra. Lord Buddha appeared when there was too much animal slaughter.

nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātaṁ

sadaya-hṛdaya-darśita-paśu-ghātam

(Gītā Govinda, Daśāvatāra-stotra 9)

Paśu-ghātam is never tolerated by any person in spiritual consciousness. In Christian religion also, first commandment is, "Thou shalt not kill." So killing business is not very compatible with religious life, or spiritual life. In every religion. In Muhammadan religion also there are devotees that are allowed to kill on a particular day, not daily. Qurbani. They are called qurbani.

So anyway, Lord Buddha appeared to stop this animal slaughter. He, he was born in Vedic family, kṣatriya family, princely order. That is Vedic order, brahmāna, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. So . . . but he enunciated a new type of religion, which is called Buddha religion. So the main purpose of this religion was to stop animal slaughter. Ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ. Ahiṁsā means nonviolence. Nonviolence. But in the Vedas there are recommendation, sometimes animal slaughter. Very rarely. The purpose is another. That animal slaughter is not actually slaughter; it is an experiment. Just like we experiment in biological laboratory, killing some animal, and see the physiological nervous system, anatomical. But the medical science cannot give them life. They simply slaughter and experiment. But in the Vedic system, the experiment is made by offering an old animal, bull, within the fire, but that old bull again comes out with a new body. It was the test to see how the Vedic mantras are being pronounced. If they are properly pronounced . . . (break) . . . make the animal alive again by chanting of mantra. So therefore it is forgiven.

But Lord Buddha appeared when people were too much engaged in animal sacrifice without any purpose. Actually it was for eating only. In the name of Vedic sacrifice they were killing animals and eating—a propagation for animal eating. At that time it became so excessive, paśu-ghātam, animal slaughter, that the Lord became compassionate, and He appeared to stop this. He originated a new set of . . . set-up of religion: No more animal killing. No more. This Buddha . . . according to Buddhism . . . the other day . . . Śyāmsundara, you were present? We were talking with that president of Dai Nippon, eh?

Śyāmsundara: I heard the tape.

Prabhupāda: So he was Buddhist. So I asked him whether he takes flesh. So he began to laugh. He said, "Yes, I am Buddhist. In our religion it is forbidden. But I take. What can be done?" He admits. So Buddha religion strictly forbids animal killing or flesh eating. That is real Buddha religion. Keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra, sadaya-hṛdaya-darśita-paśu-ghātam (Gītā Govinda, Daśāvatāra-stotra 9).

Now the Śaṅkarācārya's mission was because the whole of India under the patronage of Emperor Aśoka, all Indian people, they became Buddhist. Lord Buddha, he was incarnation of God, so he was very powerful. So śaktyāveśa-avatāra. So he converted practically the whole population of India, Buddhist. They gave up Vedic type of religion. Now this Śaṅkarācārya's mission was to reestablish again Vedic culture and stop this Buddha philosophy. Buddha philosophy later on deteriorated in so many abominable condition. Actually, it came down to the point of again animal killing under the name of Kāpālika. The Kāpālika process is very vicious—they kill their disciples, and so many things there are, the Buddha Kāpālika. It became a vicious religious system. So Śaṅkarācārya wanted to stop.

So now the Buddha philosophy flourished for temporary relief, for stopping the animal killing, and the Māyāvada philosophy also flourished to stop the Buddha philosophy. So both of them are asat-śāstra. Asat means emergency regulation. They are not for our eternal life. Eternal life, religion, or our occupational duty, is different. That is devotional service, eternal. In any condition, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo (SB 1.2.6). There are different types of religion all over the world. Each religion has got a certain motive to benefit the human society. So there are different types of religions, originally on some philosophical basis. So let them remain. We have nothing to bother or fight with them, because after all, every religion has got some good motive to elevate the person to a certain stage of understanding. They are called dharma, or religion.

But there is supreme religion. These are all temporary religion—Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianism and Muhammadanism. There are so many "isms." They are all temporary. Temporary in this sense, that because one is born in Hindu family or in Christian family, he is automatically Christian. Even if he does not accept the principles of Christian or Hindu, because he is born in the family of a Hindu or Christian or Muhammadan, he is accepted as Hindu, Muslim. But that is due to this body. The body is also temporary; therefore that sort of religion is also temporary. As soon as the body is changed, now the religion is changed. Everything is changed with the change of body. Not only in human society, but if the body is changed . . . suppose today I am a human being; tomorrow I may become a tree. That is also plant society. So tree is standing for thousand of years—he is very happy—but if you are asked to stand for three hours, you will die practically. So why? Because due to the change of body the toleration is there. All sense enjoyment is offered by the laws of nature according to the change of body. Deha-yogena dehinām (SB 7.6.3). Deha-yogena. This philosophy practically is unknown to the world, that the body changes and our sense gratification, material enjoyment, is offered according to the body. Just like a hog: hog's sense enjoyment is stool-eating. He enjoys life by eating stool. Why? Because he has got a particular type of body. Deha-yogena dehinām. According to this body, we enjoy our senses.

So this is going on. Therefore the religious system according to the body, it is temporary. That is temporary religion. Permanent religion is different. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā says, Kṛṣṇa:

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja

(BG 18.66)

That is religion. That is actual religion: that you give up all system of religion. Religion . . . we take religion as occupational duty. Religion is also duty. The Christian has got a certain type of duties to be performed; a Hindus, they have got certain types of duties. So religion actually means duty, occupational duties. So Kṛṣṇa says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja

(BG 18.66)

This is real religion. Kṛṣṇa says in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā,

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ

dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya

sambhavāmi yuge yuge

(BG 4.8)

That "I come down to establish the principles of religion." Then He says in the last instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-dharmān parityajya: "Give up all religion." Now one may question that He came to establish the principles of religion; now He says, that "Give up all types of religion." So what is this? Contradictory. No, it is not contradictory. He is asking to give up all types of religion, but He is offering another religion, mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja: "Just surrender unto Me."

So really, religion means to surrender to God. Religion means to abide by the orders of God. That is religion, simple definition of religion. Religion: dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat (SB 6.3.19). Just like good citizen. What does it mean, "a good citizen"? Who abides by the laws of the state, he is a good citizen. Who does not violate the . . . just like in your country I see, in parks, in beaches: "No dogs allowed." The law is there, but everyone is breaking that law. Everyone is taking the dog to create disturbance. You see? I see the signboard: "Dogs are not allowed here." But it is deliberately violated: "Dogs are allowed there." This is not good citizenship. Good citizenship means abiding by the laws of the state.

Just like in your road, it is said, "Keep to the right." So you cannot drive your car on the right side. (aside) Oh? No? Right side you have to drive. "Keep to the right, not on the left side." In this way, good citizenship means to abide by the laws of the state. Similarly, a religious man means who abides by the laws of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Just like Christian religion, the laws, God's order: Ten Commandments. So one who abides by that commandment, he is really religious. Or in other religion also, there are rules and regulations. Just like in Vedic system, a religious person must avoid these four principles of sinful life. What is that? No illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating, no gambling. Yatrādharmaś catur-vidhaḥ (SB 1.17.38). Adharma, "irreligion."

So similarly, in every religion there are some “do's” and “do not's.” So anyone who abides by these “do's” and “do not's,” he is religious. It does not matter whether he is a Christian or a Muslim or a Hindu or Buddhist. It does not matter. But if he strictly abides by the laws given in that religion, then he is a good man, religious man. So . . . and there is no fight between religious men. Fight is between irreligious men. But amongst the . . . I have read in some book—that Aquatic Gospel?—that formerly, during Lord Jesus Christ's time, some meeting were held occasionally among all religious people, all religious people. And in one meeting some Hindu's name was there; he is very prominent.

Anyway, so there are different types of religion. The aim is to abide by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So according to time, according to country, according to planet, according to people. Just like in some religion it is ordered, "Thou shalt not kill." That means the type of people, you can understand, what type of people—they were very much busy in killing affairs. Otherwise why it is ordered, "Thou shalt not kill"? But here in the Bhagavad-gītā it is,

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja

(BG 18.66)

That is also another. Here is one type of order, "Thou shalt not kill," and here is one type of order, that,

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja

(BG 18.66)

"You give up all types of occupational duty and you simply surrender unto Me." To whom the instruction is given? To Arjuna. So according to the country, according to the position, time, religious instructions are there. So therefore you cannot say all religions are on the same platform—because the people are different. But if you can transcend all types of religions and simply surrender unto the Supreme Lord, that is real religion. That is real religion.

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁśaraṇaṁ vraja

(BG 18.66)

And in the Bhagavad-gītā . . . Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo (SB 1.2.6). That is first-class religion. You can compare all types of religion. According to your judgment, you can say, "This religion is first class, this religion is third class." That you can say, and there is like that, because the whole material nature is controlled by three modes of material nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. So some of the religions are on the group of goodness; some of them are on the group of passion; some of them are in the group of ignorance. But everyone's aim is to make some link with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But it is executed according to the time, circumstances, mentality, like that.

Therefore if the chief aim is God realization, by any religion, the Bhāgavata recommends that type of religion is first class which directly gives connection with God. That is first class.

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo

yato bhaktir adhokṣaje

(SB 1.2.6)

Adhokṣaja. Adhokṣaja means the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whom you cannot realize by your material senses. God is there, but because we cannot realize, therefore somebody is saying, "God has no form," "There is no God," "God is dead," "God is impersonal," "God is void." That means they have no actually knowledge what is God. They have, they know that there is God, but they do not know actually what is God. But this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving, presenting, the Supreme Personality of Godhead direct: "Here is God, Kṛṣṇa. Here is God." God says personally,

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat

kiñcid asti dhanañjaya

(BG 7.7)

"There is no more superior truth than beyond Myself." And śāstra confirms, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28): the Supreme Personality of Godhead, personally.

There are many other gods. They are expansions of His personal energy, His personal self, His external energy. God means God and His different energy. Just like sun. Sun is the light, but sun has got two energies: one energy is light, and the other energy is heat. As you find the heat and light . . . similarly others, there are so many other energies in the sun. The scientific men, they know. But generally, we laymen, we understand that two energies are acting: heat and light. So similarly, the whole cosmic manifestation is made by exchange of this heat and light. That's all. Every scientific man will admit. These trees, this land, this water—everything whatever you see—it is simply an exchange of heat and light of the sun.

As we get this experience from this material sunshine, or sun heat and light, similarly we can get experience of God by manifestation of energy. That is stated in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa:

parasya brāhmaṇaḥśaktiḥ

sarvedam akhilam jagat

eka-sthāne-sthitasyāgner

jyotsnā vistārina yathā

(Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.22.53)

Parasya brāhmaṇaḥśaktiḥ tathaiva akhilam jagat, very nicely mentioned. Just like the heat, the same example: the sun globe is a heating substance, very high temperature. It is fixed up in a place, eka-sthāne. You can see—everyone can see—on the vast sky, and the sun is lying in one corner of it. Eka-sthāne sthitasyāgner. Agni, the fire. The sun is situated in one place, but he is creating all this material existence by his heat and light. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is situated in His transcendental position, eka-sthāne, in one place, but He is expanding His heat and light and different energies, and by exchange of different energies the whole cosmic manifestation is before us. Parasya brāhmaṇaḥśaktiḥ. Parasya. Whatever we see, that is the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energy. That's all. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's energy is not different, but at the same time, energy is not Kṛṣṇa. Just like sunshine and the sun, there is no difference. Both of them are light and heat. But still, the sunshine is not the sun. When sunshine enters into your room, it does not mean that sun has entered in. Sun is many millions of miles away, but still by his energy he has entered your room. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is far, far away,

goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ

(Bs 5.37)

He is always enjoying in Goloka Vṛndāvana, dancing and enjoying,

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-

lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam

(Bs 5.29)

So these informations are there in authorized Vedic literature. We can understand what is Kṛṣṇa, what is God, what He is doing, what is His name, what is His father's name—everything we can give—in full detail. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Everyone knows a flimsy idea there is God, but we can give actually who is that God, what is His name, what is His address, what is His father's name, what is His mother's name—everything. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So the Māyāvada philosopher, they do not believe in this. That is called māyā. But it is fact: if one is fortunate enough, then he can understand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy by the grace of Kṛṣṇa and guru.

guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

ei rupe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva

(CC Madhya 19.151)

All living entities, they are hovering in this universe, in different species of life, in different planetary system, in different standard of life. In this way, they are simply rotating. Just like . . . what is that wheel? Huh? Sometimes goes up, sometimes goes down?

Devotee: Ferris wheel.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Govinda dāsī: Ferris wheel.

Prabhupāda: So that we are on this wheel: sometimes we are going very up, again then coming down. Kabhu svarge kabhu narake ḍubāya (CC Madhya 20.118). Sometimes in heaven and sometimes in hell. But I am the living entity.

So that is described in the Bhāgavatam, that māyā, ātma-māyām ṛte rāja (SB 2.9.1). This is māyā. I am eternal; why am I sometimes in heaven and sometimes in hell? This sometimes is, in the eternal life, this sometimes is nothing. It is compared just like dream, svapna-draṣṭur ivāñjasā (SB 2.9.1). Just like dream. We dream for, say, in our present in this body, we dream for say a few minutes or a few hours. This is also dreaming for millions of years, that's all. But one can wake up from this dream by the grace of Kṛṣṇa and a bona fide spiritual master. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151): the seed of devotional service. And if he sows that seed within the heart, and waters it . . . just like if you sow a seed on the ground, you have to put little, little water. So that watering pouring means this hearing and chanting. Śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana (CC Madhya 19.152). Secana. Secana means sprinkling water.

So if you want to make your life successful, then you should hear. You should take the seed of devotional service from the spiritual master. He will give you hint: "This is this." He will culture it, cultivate it, and it will grow. And for cultivating, the process . . . just like the same seed is grown by cultivating, by sprinkling water, so you have to continuously hear about Kṛṣṇa and chant about Kṛṣṇa. Then that seed of devotional service will fructify, and then it will grow. Our Govinda dāsī has got good experience how the seed fructifies and grows tulasī tree. So similarly, bhakti-latā-bīja, it will grow if you sprinkle water, with this water: hearing and chanting. Then it will become a nice tree or plant. It will produce fruit. And when the fruit will taste, your life will be successful: "Oh, it is so nice."

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is just trying to distribute the seed of devotional service to everyone. But if he is fortunate, he will take it, he will water it, it will grow, and at last will take shelter on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and the fruits will be enjoyed. That means eternal, blissful life. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (kīrtana) (break) (end)