760716 - Lecture at Gita-Nagari - Port Royal

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

760716LE-PR - July 16, 1976 - 26.52 Minutes

Prabhupāda: (sings Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava) Thank you very much. (devotees offer obeisances)

(05:45)

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to follow the instruction of Kṛṣṇa. Our life has a certain aim in this material world. Sometimes we forget. Material world means forgetting our aim of life. That is natural. The basic principle of material life is forgetting Kṛṣṇa:

kṛṣṇa-bahir jīva bhoga-vāñchā kare

nikaṭa māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare

(Prema-vivarta)

When we forget . . . forgetfulness is our nature. We are not as perfect as God; therefore there are so many inefficiencies. So forgetfulness is also another material quality. So, material life means forgetting Kṛṣṇa. Māyā means when one has forgotten his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That is called māyā. So Kṛṣṇa is very kind. When we forget too much . . . this material world is forgetfulness, but still, according to the Vedic system, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is maintained to some extent if you follow the Vedic principles. Then we revive our God consciousness, our relationship. That is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He was talking with Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, that the Vedic principle is to revive or to remind our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. In the Bhagavad-gītā also Kṛṣṇa says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15): the real purpose of Vedic knowledge is to come to the understanding of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to revive the original, constitutional position. So one of them, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is village organization, as you are trying here. Kṛṣṇa, in His natural life, is a village boy in Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana is a village. There is no factory, there is no motorcar, there is no big, big skyscraper buildings; it is village. That Kṛṣṇa likes. In the śāstra it is said, vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya sa kvacin naiva gacchati (Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.5.461). Kṛṣṇa is so fond of that Vṛndāvana village life, with His cowherd boys and cowherd girls, gopīs, mother Yaśodā, father Nanda, and Upananda, uncles, and big family, the cows and the calves, the trees, the Yamunā River. He is satisfied in that life. So at least those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious, they should be satisfied with simple life in the village. That is part of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

But it does not mean that we shall avoid city life or town life. No. Everything, every place is Kṛṣṇa's place. Everywhere there should be Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But if we keep ourself within the village and properly organize, as Kṛṣṇa personally showed us the example . . . he was personally taking care of the cows, calves. When He was a child, He was taking care of the calves. When He was grown up, He was taking care of the cows, although He was a very rich man's son; Nanda Mahārāja was the village king. But still, He was working hard whole day, going in the morning to the pasturing ground and coming back in the evening. Then He used to take His bathing, change dress and immediately go to sleep. This was Kṛṣṇa's pastime. So we should follow His footprints. What is that verse? Aśraddadhānaḥ dharmasyāsya . . .

Devotee: . . . dharmasyāsya parantapa.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

māṁ aprāpya nivartante

mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani

(BG 9.3)

So whatever Kṛṣṇa has taught by His personal life, by His teaching, to follow that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Everything is there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. His personal life is there, and Bhagavad-gītā, His teachings are there, and He comes for this purpose: paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8), those who are naturally God-conscious, to deliver them, to make their life perfect, in this life. This life should be the last material life, and next life they should go directly to Kṛṣṇa, mam eti. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). If we become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, simply try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa, there is no difficulty. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme controller. There is a supreme controller—that we have to accept, as we were discussing in the bus this morning. There is no way out. (laughter) There is no way out, that you will deny the supreme controller. So many . . . (indistinct) . . . if you are a sane man, you’ll understand very easily. And that supreme controller is Kṛṣṇa. He comes personally and says,

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat

kiñcid asti dhanañjaya

(BG 7.7)

There is no other controller above Kṛṣṇa; therefore He is the supreme controller, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (BS 5.1), the supreme controller. The supreme controller, He is giving us instruction. If we follow His instruction, very simple, and remain in this village, satisfied with simple life, agricultural produce, milk, cows—how many nice things you have produced—where is the difficulty? There is no economic problem. You are getting so much milk that it is becoming a problem how to utilize it. (laughter)

And there is scarcity of milk. In India we are in scarcity of milk. So, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ (BG 18.44). If you have got enough milk, you can make trade. Vānijyaṁ, that is Kṛṣṇa's instruction. You can . . . it is not that we hate the modern system. No. We do not hate anything. Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 2.255). We want to try to engage everything in Kṛṣṇa's service. That is our . . . (indistinct) . . . the modern machine is there; we don’t hate it. We must find out the means how this machine can be utilized for Kṛṣṇa's service. So if you have got excess milk, you can make it powdered milk, and you can send to India in any amount—it will be consumed. At least we can use it in our different centers; we can distribute. So there is no question. Besides that, you can prepare ghee from milk. From milk, first of all drink as much as you like, then convert it into yogurt next day, next day, next day. And then, when that is also enough, then churn it, take out butter— buttermilk and butter—and drink the buttermilk with capātī. It is very palatable, very nutritious. Then butter, if you have got excess butter, then turn into ghee, and ghee can be preserved for years. There's no question of preservation. You send it to cities and towns. And we are now encouraging to open prasāda distribution restaurant. They can utilize the ghee. Then where is the problem? There is no problem. Each drop of milk you can utilize to the perfect utility point. Simply.

And if there is excess cows, you have got some woods, so you cut out the trees and make an encirclement and keep them there. They will live there. So there is no problem. Kṛṣṇa was maintaining 900,000 cows. There is no problem. But give protection to the cows. That is the order of Kṛṣṇa. We cannot be ungrateful, that we kill our mother. Milk is so important. We are drinking the milk of the cow, and in exchange, if we cut throat of the mother, that is not civilization. That is barbarism, less than animal. Animals also, they have respect for mother. So try to give protection to the cows—that is the way of pious activity—and you’ll be not in scarcity. And live village life, simple life, and be satisfied with the bare necessities. There is no need of luxury. And save time and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is ideal life.

So I am very pleased that you are doing that, and do it more nicely, so that others may be attracted. This town life, industrial life, factory life, is asuric life. It is killing the human civilization. It is killing civilization. So there are many other businesses for a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, because in the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa speaks all round: sociology, politics, philosophy, religion, culture, economics . . . everything is there. If you simply try to follow Kṛṣṇa's instructions, then you get cultural life all round.

So this is an ideal village. Develop it more and more. Our Paramānanda is there. He is very experienced, and others are there. Do it very nicely. I am very happy to see that things are going nicely. Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. (offer obeisances) (kīrtana) (end)