761229 - Lecture SB 05.06.11 - Bombay

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

761229SB-BOMBAY - December 29, 1976 - 16:29 Minutes

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (devotees repeat) (Chants verse)

te ca hy aravāktanayā nija-loka-yātrayāndha paramparayāśvastās

tamasy andhe svayam eva prapatiṣyanti

(SB 5.6.11)

Translation: (03:23) "Low-class people, due to their gross ignorance, introduce a system of religion that deviates from the Vedic principles. Following their own mental concoctions they automatically fall down into the darkest regions of existence."

Prabhupāda: Hmm. "Low-class people, due to their gross ignorance, introduce a system of religion that deviates from the Vedic principles." The other day I was speaking that system of religion can be given by God Himself. But they do not know who is God, where is God, what is His principle, why does He want to give us religion. They are so ignorant, especially in this age, they do not believe in these things at all. Very awkward position. So they deride at Vedic principles, nāstik. According to them, bhasmī bhūtasya dehasya kutaḥ punar āgamano bhavet (Cārvāka Muni). The body, which is burned down into ashes, what is the meaning of talking about this body, that again it comes and takes birth in a different form of life? Nobody believes these things. And now everywhere, very precarious condition of this age: mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ (SB 1.1.10).

So therefore the process of reviving their Kṛṣṇa consciousness is Kṛṣṇa's. No other process will help. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was Kṛṣṇa Himself. He advised, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). The only hope is if you go through the śāstras, Vedic literature; that is the way to understand. But at the present moment people are so engrossed with material affairs that they are not interested even to hear or to talk about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is not a very good sign. It is the feverish condition of durbhikṣa. That is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that people in general, when they come to the point of suffering from natural law, then they will revive their nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti. So therefore, as I was speaking in this morning, we have to elevate the human civilization from a platform which is on equal level with hog civilization. We should very carefully study and try to know whether the advancement of civilization which we have accepted is genuine. No. It is not genuine; it is misleading. Our aim of life is not to get a comfortable life for few years. Actually, there is no comfortable life. Still, we consider and forget our real business, self-realization. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām (SB 2.1.2).

So these persons, māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān (SB 7.9.43), they have been described by Prahlāda Mahārāja as the most hated, foolish persons, vimūḍhān. Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa has mentioned this class of men as mūḍha. And Prahlāda Mahārāja has described these classes of men, not only mūḍha but vimūḍha. Vimūḍha means particularly mūḍha. Pramattaḥ. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4). Same thing, vimūḍhān. It is very dangerous civilization. They are spoiling their human form of life. This human form of life is meant for different purpose: tapasya. But they have been engaged in the lives of hogs and dogs, work very hard, get some money and enjoy for sense gratification. This is not human civilization. So following their own mental concoction they automatically fall down into the dark region of existence. Adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisram (SB 7.5.30). Here yesterday I went to Malad to some friend's house. How they are living, middle-class men. In Bombay especially we see they are living very awkward position, not very comfortable life. Still, they stick to the city life, and if we call them, "Come to Hyderabad. We shall give you nice place, nice food, nice milk, nice cloth—that is your problem. We shall give you. Please come and live with us," "No." Therefore it is called hog civilization. Hog, they are living in a filthy place, eating stool. If you request the hog, "Please come with me. I shall give you nice place to live in. I shall give you halavā," they'll not come. So this is the position.

Therefore they fall down. From our . . . fall down means from our spiritual identification we fall down to material identification, upādhi. Material identification, upādhi: designation. I am now speaking, "I am Indian," but "Indian," that is my designation. I am neither Indian nor European. You are not Indian, European. We are giving more stress on the designation. That is the mistake of modern civilization. And in the śāstra such persons who designate himself with this body, they have been described as go-kharaḥ, sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). So we shall be very careful, take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So next . . . (reading) "In this age of Kali people are overwhelmed by the modes of passion and ignorance. Lord Ṛṣabhadeva incarnated Himself to deliver them from the clutches of māyā."

God has no business to come here. He is Vaikuṇṭha-pati. Vaikuṇṭha means vigata-kuṇṭha-yasmād. Kuṇṭha means anxiety. In the spiritual world there is no anxiety, and the material world, it is full of anxiety. Sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt (SB 7.5.5). On account of accepting this false, temporary material world, we are always full of anxiety; and Vaikuṇṭha world, kingdom of God, is just opposite: no anxiety. Why there should be anxiety? Here we have got the fear of birth, death, old age and disease, and in the spiritual world there is no such thing, birth, death, old age and disease. And everything is complete there. There is no fight between one person to one person. In this way, the description is there. The summary is that there is no jurisdiction for the three modes of material nature. It is above the jurisdiction. That is Vaikuṇṭha world.

So long we are in the jurisdiction of three modes of material nature . . . (indistinct) . . . up to that time we shall disagree with one another and there will be trouble. Therefore the Vaiṣṇava religion is meant for the peaceful person. No trouble. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54). Those who have come to the stage of seeing everyone on the equal terms . . . equal terms means spiritually, that we invite everyone. There is no discrimination. We don't care for the designation. We invite everyone to leave aside the designation and come in your original form and be Kṛṣṇa conscious and be happy, for which we are prepared to take all kinds of incon . . . there is no inconvenience, but suppose in the old age I am traveling all over the world. People think that I have taken some hardship. But for Kṛṣṇa's sake, even it is hardship . . . actually, there is no hardship. But even it is hardship, we should take it. Para-upakāra. People are in ignorance, they are suffering, and it is especially India's business to release them from this material suffering and give them information about the Vaikuṇṭha world, the world of no anxiety. And try to train them in different ways. That is the real welfare activities in the human society.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. (end)