741107 - Lecture SB 03.25.07 - Bombay

Lectures by Date, 1974

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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741107SB-BOMBAY - November 07, 1974 - 34:36 Minutes

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (devotees repeat) (break) (Prabhupāda and devotees chant verse) (break)

devahūtir uvāca

nirviṇṇā nitarāṁ bhūmann

asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt

yena sambhāvyamānena

prapannāndhaṁ tamaḥ prabho

(SB 3.25.7)

"Devahūti said: I am very sick of the disturbance of my material senses, for because of this sense disturbance, my Lord, I have fallen into the abyss of ignorance."

Prabhupāda:

nirviṇṇā nitarāṁ bhūmann

asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt

yena sambhāvyamānena

prapannāndhaṁ tamaḥ prabho

(SB 3.25.7)

So this material world is described in the Vedic literature as darkness. And actually it is darkness. Therefore we require the sunlight, the moonlight, the electric light. If it had not been darkness, then why so many light arrangement? Actually, it is darkness. Artificially, we made it light. Therefore Vedic injunction is that "Don't keep yourself in the darkness." Tamasi mā jyotir gama. "Go to the light." That light is the spiritual world. That is directly the effulgence, or bodily rays, of Kṛṣṇa.

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-

koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam

tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

(Bs. 5.40)

So real business of . . . especially of human being . . . the animals, they do not know. They have no capacity to know that we are in the darkness—darkness of knowledge and actually darkness. So one has to be . . . become nirviṇṇā, disgusted. One, intelligent man, should be disgusted. One must be intelligent to know that, "I am eternal." Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. It is the preliminary study of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa is instructing about the constitutional position of the soul: na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre, na jāyate na mriyate kadācit (BG 2.20). Kadācit, at any time, the soul does not take birth, does not die. And more explicitly it is said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. The covering . . . the body is the covering. So after destruction of this body, the soul is not destroyed. Just like if I change my shirt and coat or somehow or other the shirt and coat is destroyed, I, the person who put on this dress, I am not destroyed. This simple knowledge is instructed in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā. There are so many big, big scholars, big, big leaders, and still, they cannot understand that, "I am not this body." This is the result, because they do not study Bhagavad-gītā in the proper way. We have got so many leaders, big, big leaders, they are teaching Bhagavad-gītā. But nobody is fully aware or convinced that, "I am not this body." This is called darkness. This is called darkness. And when one becomes disgusted with this darkness, or this position in the darkness, that is human life. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). Such person who has become disgusted with this material existence, he requires the instruction of a guru.

So here Devahūti, because she is the wife of a great yogī, she understands what is the constitutional position of herself, and she has got her son, the incarnation of God. So she is putting her, I mean, problem to the teacher. It doesn't matter . . . because Kapiladeva is the son of Devahūti, Devahūti does not deny to take instruction from Him. She does not say: "Oh, He is my son. What He can instruct me? I am His mother. I shall instruct." No. Instruction has to be taken from the person who is in knowledge. It doesn't matter what is his position. It doesn't matter, whether he's son or a boy or a śūdra or a brāhmaṇa or a sannyāsī or a gṛhastha. It doesn't matter. You should take instruction from a person who knows, who is in the knowledge.

That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. He said, when He was talking with Rāmānanda Rāya . . . Rāmānanda Rāya was a śūdra by caste. We have got the four division: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. So he was, Rāmānanda Rāya, was by caste a śūdra, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a high-class brāhmaṇa. Not only brāhmaṇa, He was a sannyāsī, the most exalted post. First of all He's brāhmaṇa. Of course, unless one is brāhmaṇa, he cannot take sannyāsa. That's a fact. So He was, from social point of view, He was son of Jagannātha Miśra, grandson of Nīlāmbara Cakravartī. Personally, He was learned scholar, born in a very high-class brāhmaṇa, very beautiful body, young man—all qualified. And He was taking instruction from Rāmānanda Rāya, who was a śūdra. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta, you'll find. So Rāmānanda Rāya, he was not only śūdra, he was gṛhastha. And he was a politician, governor of Madras. Governor of Madras. But he was very exalted in spiritual knowledge. So after converting Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu decided to go to the southern part of India, South India, at that time . . . Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he was a very learned scholar, logician, nyāyī. So he wanted to teach Caitanya Mahāprabhu, because He was a young man. But later on he accepted Caitanya Mahāprabhu as his guru. He was impersonalist, Māyāvādī. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to him the Vedānta-sūtra, that Vedānta-sūtra is personal philosophy. So he was convinced, and he became His disciple.

So when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was going to South India for His touring, he specially requested Him that, "I neglected this person, Rāmānanda Rāya. He was talking with me about spiritual subject matter, very highly elevated, and that I thought that he was a sentimentalist, so I neglected him. But I can understand now that he is a very exalted personality. When You are going to South India, please meet him. Please try to meet him. You'll be very much pleased." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, at Kabur, He met Rāmānanda Rāya, and He was talking about spiritual subject matter, very highly elevated, simply. So because he was born in a śūdra family and a gṛhastha and a politician, so he was hesitating that, "Caitanya Mahāprabhu is a brāhmaṇa and sannyāsī. Such exalt . . ." Hesitating. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that:

kibā vipra kibā śūdra nyāsī kene naya

yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya

(CC Madhya 8.128)

"Don't hesitate. Why you are hesitating because you are a gṛhastha or you are in politics or you are a . . . born a śūdra family? Why you are . . .? I am learning from you." This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching. He did not think anyone negligible. Anyone who is qualified with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can become guru. It doesn't matter where he is born, what is his family and identification. It doesn't matter. He must know the science. It is very practical. Just like when you go to consult an engineer or a medical man or some lawyer, you do not ask him whether he's a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra. If he's qualified, if he can help you in the particular subject matter, you consult with him, you take his help. That is practical. So similarly, in the spiritual matter it doesn't matter what he is. If he knows Kṛṣṇa, then he can become guru. It doesn't matter.

So here also, Devahūti, she was taking lesson from her son because the son knew the science of Kṛṣṇa. It doesn't matter whether one is son or one is something else, or born in śūdra family or brāhmaṇa family or a sannyāsī. We are concerned with the science of Kṛṣṇa. That is required. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita also. He was a politician. You know Cāṇakya Paṇḍita. Under his name there is, New Delhi, quarter: Canakya Puri. He was a great politician, prime minister of Ma . . . Samrat, Emperor Candragupta. He also advises. He has got a moral instruction, Cāṇakya-śloka. He says that viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam: "In the poison pot, if there is nectarine, you should accept it." Don't neglect it because it is on the poison pot. You are concerned with the nectarine. Take it. Viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam amedhyād api kāñcanam. In a filthy place . . . suppose in your lavatory, in a very filthy place, there is gold. So it doesn't matter. You should take it, gold. It is not that the gold is in the filthy place, therefore you should not touch it. Other metal you cannot touch. That is the Vedic injunction. But gold you can take. Amedhyād api kāñcanam. Viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam amedhyād api kāñcanam, nīcād api . . . duṣkulād api. You can take some teachings, even one is born in lower-grade family. And the wife you can accept even she is, if she is qualified, and . . . strī-ratnaṁ duṣkulād api. Strī-ratnam. Ratna means jewel. If one girl is very qualified or beautiful, even she is born of lower family, you must accept. You can marry. This is Cāṇakya Paṇḍita. Strī-ratnaṁ duṣkulād api. Viṣād amṛtaṁ grāhyam amedhyād api kāñcanam, nīcād apy vidyā. If a man born in nīca, in lower-grade family, but if he's qualified, it doesn't matter. That is practically being done.

So this is Vedic system. Not that one is lower in the estimation of the society by birth or so on. But he must be qualified. So here also it doesn't matter. This is going on. That is Vedic system. Devahūti does not deny to take instruction from her son. It is the system . . . (indistinct) . . . it doesn't matter whether he's inferior. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's . . . yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya (CC Madhya 8.128): "You will accept anyone as guru if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa." That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's . . . and Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed everyone to become a guru. The world is suffering for want of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That was His mission. He wanted that from India everyone should become a guru and preach outside, because there is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' sarva-deśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Or tāra' ei deśa. "You become a guru on My order, and you deliver your country or other countries." "So I have no so qualification, I have no education. How I can become guru?" Now, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya: "By My order." "Then what is Your order, Sir?" "Now, My order is yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). This is My order. You simply explain what Kṛṣṇa has said or what has been said about Kṛṣṇa." That is kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. Kṛṣṇa-upadeśa means what Kṛṣṇa is instructing.

The Bhagavad-gītā, the Supreme Personality, Kṛṣṇa, He is instructing. That is kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is speaking about Kṛṣṇa. That is also kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. Kṛṣṇasya upadeśa iti kṛṣṇa-upadeśa, and Kṛṣṇa, subject matter Kṛṣṇa and upadeśa, that is also kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that, "You simply preach kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. Then you become guru."

yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa

(CC Madhya 7.128)

Not only that. He has empowered all Indians.

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra

janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra

(CC Adi 9.41)

This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, to spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the best welfare activity in the human society. The best. There is no more better welfare . . . there are so many welfare activities in the human society, but this kṛṣṇa-upadeśa, to instruct people about the primary principles of Bhagavad-gītā in the human society, that is the best para-upakāra. People do not know how to become happy. They are . . . manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). They are simply making struggle for existence by mental concoction. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). In this material world, they are simply struggling. There is no solution. Therefore the every Indian should study Bhagavad-gītā and, if possible Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and assimilate it and preach all over the world. This is the duty of India. India has no other duty. Para-upakāra.

So with our one man's endeavor, teeny effort, you . . . we can see that so many outsiders, they're attracted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Unless there is something substance . . . they are not illiterate. They are not fools. They are not poor. Why they are attracted? There is something to be learned from Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So if this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spread all over the world regularly, then the face of the world will change. That's a fact. Sarve sukhino bhavantu. This is the Vedic mission, "Let everyone become happy." And how he'll be happy? He cannot become happy by mental concoction. That is not possible. Manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). If one is situated on the mental platform, speculating, he will simply go to the asat. Asat means this material world. Asato mā sad gama. Vedic says: "Don't remain in this asat. Come to the sat. Oṁ tat sat."

So if one is on the mental speculation, manufacturing something for the welfare of the human society, that is not possible. Human society cannot be happy without Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That's a fact. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ

sarva-loka-maheśvaram

suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

(BG 5.29)

If you want śānti, individually or collectively, nationally or internationally, then you must become Kṛṣṇa conscious. What is that Kṛṣṇa consciousness? The summary is that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer: bhoktā. We are not bhoktā. We are simply servant. Just like anywhere, there is a master and the servant. The master is the enjoyer, and the server, servant, is helping the master enjoyment. This is the process. So we living entities, we are eternal servant of God, or Kṛṣṇa. When we speak of Kṛṣṇa, it means God. So we are eternal servant of God. So our duty is to help the master to enjoy. Just like here is Kṛṣṇa. The Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, She is the topmost servitor of Kṛṣṇa. So Her business is to keep pleased always Kṛṣṇa. That is . . . that is the symbolic representation. Rādhā. Rādhā means anaya ārādhyate. She is serving, the best service. Anaya ārādhyate. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is very much fond of Rādhārāṇī, because She gives the best service to Kṛṣṇa in so many ways. She has got sixty-four qualification. That is mentioned. Therefore She is so, I mean to say, pleasing to Kṛṣṇa. Anaya ārādhyate iti rādhā.

So our business is also like that. We are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, and we should give, render, we should render service to the best of capacity. That is our real, constitutional position. But here Devahūti says that bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt. Asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt. At the present moment in this material world, we are busy to enjoy these material senses. This is our position. Everyone is satisfying. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ, manasas tu parā buddhiḥ . . . (BG 3.42). In this way, you go, and when you go beyond the range of buddhi, that is soul. That is spiritual platform.

In the ordinarily we are, in the material platform—we are interested in gratifying senses, "I like it. I must have it." But that sense gratification means we are becoming implicated, implicated in the laws of nature. That is also stated in the śāstra.

nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma

yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti

na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam

asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ

(SB 5.5.4)

This is the instruction in the Vedic literature, that the people in this material world, they are very, very busy. Not only men—even the animals, even the birds, beasts, insect. We see on the beach, there are so many dogs, and they are assembled there for sex. So this is the material world, indriya-prīti. Therefore śāstra says that human life should be considered. They should think, "Whether we shall spoil our life simply by sense gratification, or there is some other business?" Yes, there is some other business. That is tapasya. That is tapasya means we should restrict sense gratification. Sense gratification, either regulated or nonregulated, is meant for animal life. Sense control is the human life. Therefore you'll find in Vedic culture big, big learned scholars, big, big kings, they dedicated their life for tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam (SB 5.5.1). If you want to purify your existence, then you must take to the process of tapasya. Tapo divyam.

And what is that tapasya? Tapasya for realization of God. And then we shall be purified. What is meaning of purify, purification? Purification means we are eternal, and if we become purified from this material contamination, then we get back our eternal life, back to home, back to Godhead. That is required. That is . . . for that we have to accept little tapasya. Not to become sense gratifier like the dogs and hogs. That is not civilization. Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). This human life should be regulated in such a way that he hasn't got to satisfy the senses after taking so much hard labor. The modern civilization is like that. Everyone is engaged in hard labor simply for satisfaction of the senses. So they have become mad. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vi . . . and they are acting without any consideration of the effect. They do not consider whether it is sinful or not. They do not believe in the next life. They do not discriminate what is sinful, what is pious—nothing. Exactly like animals.

So śāstra says: "This is not good." Here also, Devahūti says that bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt. Asad-indriya-tarṣ . . . actually, these senses are not real senses. It is covered, just like my this body, covered with this shirt or this cloth. It is not my real body. Although you see the shirt has got a hand, that hand is not real hand. The real hand is within the shirt. Similarly, our real body is within this body. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Dehe. Dehinaḥ. Dehinaḥ means the real body, or the spiritual body of the soul, is within this body. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe. And the body is changing. Kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā. It is sometimes child, sometimes youth, sometimes a young man, sometimes old man. And then vanishes. It is . . . there are six changes. So this is not real body. But . . . and we are engaged in this unreal body, sense gratification. We have got senses. So therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya-grāhyam (BG 6.21). Atīndriya-grāhyam. Beyond the senses.

Therefore these senses are to be purified. That is called tapasya. Tapo divyam (SB 5.5.1). And . . . yes. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam. When we purify our senses . . . senses you cannot destroy. That is not possible. Just like some . . . somebody said that "You become desireless." Desireless . . . desire is the mental activities. So we cannot be desireless. That is not possible. We have to purify the desire. That is required. That is recommended:

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ

tat-paratvena nirmalam

hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-

sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate

(CC Madhya 19.170)

Bhakti means that. Bhakti means that you are not required to destroy your senses, but you have to purify your senses. And when you purify your senses, then you can serve Kṛṣṇa. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam . . . nirmalam, senses; hṛṣīkeṇa, by the senses; hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam, serve Hṛṣīkeśa, the master of the senses. Kṛṣṇa's senses. We are just like part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Just like this hand or this finger are part and parcel of my body, similarly we are also senses, part and parcel of the spiritual body of Kṛṣṇa. So when we purify ourself, then we act in our original, constitutional position. Just like the finger is meant for serving my body, similarly, when, as soon as we are in the position of our original constitution, then we serve Kṛṣṇa.

So here Devahūti says that bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt: "I am in this material world." In simple words there is a Bengali poem:

kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare

pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare

(Prema-vivarta)

We are purely part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. We are actually the senses of Kṛṣṇa. And when we forget this position and we want to satisfy ourself, that is our material condition.

kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare

pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare

(Prema-vivarta)

Then that is māyā. When we are in ignorance that we are the part and parcel of the Supreme Being and our duty is to satisfy Him . . . hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam (CC Madhya 19.170). This is called bhakti. When we forget it, then we are fallen in this material world, and we are busy in our personal sense gratification and implication. Implication means so long we'll have . . . we'll continue to have this desire to satisfy our senses, we have to accept another body, according to our desire. Kṛṣṇa is so kind. If we want to become a tiger, Kṛṣṇa will give you next life a tiger's body. And if you want to be a devotee, He will give you the same body. If you want to eat stool, then He'll give you the body of a pig. And if you want to . . . that requires our own qualification. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). Yānti deva-vratā devān pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vra . . . (BG 9.25). It is a preparation for the next life, as you want to enjoy your senses. So why not prepare yourself to go back to home, back to Godhead, and prepare your senses like that? That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)