710816 - Lecture SB 01.01.02 - London

Lectures by Date, 1971

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

710816SB-LONDON - August 16, 1971 - 62:05 Minutes

Prabhupāda: (sings Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava) (prema-dhvani) Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrī Guru and Gauranga. (devotees offer obeisances)

Prabhupāda: Get some books, more books. Incense. Burn more incense . . . (indistinct) . . . (hums and sings) Thank you.

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (Prabhupāda and devotees repeat) (leads chanting of verse etc.)

Prabhupāda:

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

vedyaṁ vāstavam atra śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam

śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ

sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate 'tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt

(SB 1.1.2)

Try like that. Try.

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

vedyaṁ vāstavam atra śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam

śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ

sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate 'tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt

(SB 1.1.2)

Try once more.

Devotees: (with Prabhupāda)

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

vedyaṁ vāstavam atra śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam

śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ

sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate 'tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt

(SB 1.1.2)

Prabhupāda: So śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte. Śrīmad-Bhāgavata is not some materialistic philosopher's or writer's, as you have got . . . they are called grāmya-vastavaḥ. Grāmya-vastavaḥ means ordinarily these affairs. A man is meeting woman, woman is meeting man—that story, all these novels and fiction and dramas.

It is not like that. Therefore it is said, mahā-muni-kṛte śrīmad-bhāgavate. It is not ordinary person's writing whimsical, some . . . manufacturing some story, narration, and puzzling the brain. No. Śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte: it is beyond all defects of human life.

When a ordinary person writes, he writes with defective instruments. First of all, any man within this world, however great he may be, he must commit mistake. That's a fact. There are many instances: simply for little mistake. Just like Hitler. Hitler planned so gorgeously winning over the world.

A little mistake: as soon as his attention was diverted toward Russia, he was finished. The Britishers tried to divert his attention towards the Russia. Little mistake. Otherwise, Hitler would have come out victorious. There are many instances, in political field, in sociological field.

So however one man may be great, he must commit mistake. This is called conditional life. There is no man in this world who can say that, "I never committed any mistake." Is there any man? No. That is not possible. And he must be illusioned. Illusioned. What is that illusion?

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

(SB 10.84.13)

This is illusion. Go-kharaḥ. Go-kharaḥ means animals: cows and asses. What is the fault of the animals? The animals, they cannot take nice instruction. They do not know that the soul is . . . they are spirit soul, they are not this body. They do not know.

So this is called illusion. I am accepting this body as self. I am accepting my father or my son . . . "Here is my son." What is that? "This body." Now when the son is dead, he is crying, "My son is gone. My son is gone. Oh, my son, where you have gone?" Well, why you are crying? Here is your son. Here is your son, lying on the floor. Why you are crying that "My son is gone, gone, gone"? "No, no, no. My son is gone."

This is illusion. He was all along illusioned to accept this body as his son. But at the time of death, he can understand that, "The body was not my son. The son was a different thing which was within the body." So this is conditional life. Everyone is thinking, "I am this body." Everyone is committing mistake. Illusion and mistake.

Then another thing is cheating. So many rascal philosophers and scientist, they have no knowledge, accurate knowledge, but they are writing books. This is cheating. If you do not know what is what, why you are misleading others by writing books? No. He is making money. So cheating. Cheating, illusion, committing mistake. Three.

And fourth: that the senses imperfect. They are gathering knowledge through senses. I see . . . I want to see personally, "All right, put up the light. Now see." That is your seeing power. You see under condition. Therefore your seeing power is imperfect. Your thinking power is imperfect.

So every sense . . . we are gathering knowledge by the imperfect senses. We are seeing every day, morning, the sun, which is bigger than this earth by fourteen thousand . . . fourteen hundred thousand times, and we are seeing just like a plate. If he's not informed by an authority when he goes to school . . . the teacher of geography, when he informs, "My dear boy, the sun is very, very big," then he can understand.

I am seeing that the one aeroplane is running very fast, flying in the sky. A child sees, "Oh, such a big thing. How it is flying?" He does not know that this machine is not flying independently. There is a pilot. Without this pilot, all this mechanical arrangement is simply void. If that aeroplane is kept down for many thousands of years with all the machine complete, it has no power to fly unless there is a expert pilot who pushes on the button, it will fly. So therefore imperfect senses.

Just like they do not see, the so-called scientist, philosophers, they don't see that who is pushing on this button. This material world is going on. Jagat. Jagat means going on. Gacchati iti jagat. Every planet is going on. This planet is going on. One thousand miles per hour, going on. The sun is moving sixteen thousand miles per second. This is called jagat. Everything is going on. Your motorcar is going on. You are going on. We have a big city, especially in Europe, America, simply going on. This way, this . . . whoosh-whoosh-whoosh. No rest. This is called jagat.

Where he is going on? You have heard Rabindranath Tagore, poet Tagore. He wrote one article that, "When I was in London I saw the people are walking very fast, the cars are going very fast. But I was thinking that, 'This England is a small island; they may not fall down on the sea.' " (laughter) If you let loose your dog, it will go on this way, this way, this way, this way, this way. (laughter) This is jagat, going on. Going on, but condition: "You cannot go beyond this."

Just like these so-called scientists are going to the moon planet and coming back—because conditioned. You have to remain where you are placed by your karma. You cannot move. I cannot move beyond this body. Therefore our senses are all imperfect. We think that, "I have got my legs; I can walk very fast." No. You cannot go fast as it is destined by you. Relative. This is called relative world.

Therefore, here it is said that this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not written by such rascal who is sure to commit mistake, who is sure to become illusioned, who is sure to cheat others and whose senses are imperfect. This is the meaning. Śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte. How it is? Vyāsadeva writing . . .

Five thousand years ago this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was written, and he is describing Lord Buddha's incarnation. Kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati. Sura-dviṣām. Sammohāya sura-dviṣām, buddho nāmnāñjana-sutaḥ kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati (SB 1.3.24), he's writing. Bhaviṣyati means in future tense.

Lord Buddha appeared on this planet 2,600 years ago, and this book was written 5,000 years ago, and indicating that Lord Buddha incarnation of Keśava will appear in the Bihar province, Kīkaṭeṣu, Gayā Pradesh, near Gayā. This Gayā city is still there. And five thousand years ago, either the Gayā city was there or it was predicted that there will be city of the name Gayā. In that province, Lord Buddha, as the son of Añjanā—his mother's name, Añjanā—he will appear to cheat the atheist.

Lord Buddha appeared to cheat the atheist. "Oh, God comes to cheat?" Yes. Sometimes required. Just like one little child has taken away from the pocket of his father one-hundred-dollar bill, and he's going to tear it. And the father says: "Oh, my son, what you will do with this paper? You take these lozenges." And the lozenges is worth one cent. So he's cheated, giving him one-cent-worth thing and he's taking hundred dollars, "Give me." But that is not cheating. That is required. Sometimes a child requires to be cheated to save him from some . . . making mischievous activities.

So when God cheats you . . . just like I was speaking while coming, Vāmanadeva cheated Bali Mahārāja. Bali Mahārāja thought that "I am the king of the whole universe." The Vāmanadeva came: "My dear Bali Mahārāja, you are so charitable man. Will you kindly give Me three feet of land?" The proprietor has come to beg. This is cheating. This is cheating. Chalayasi vikramaṇe balim adbhuta-vāmana. Chalayasi. Chalayasi means cheating.

chalayasi vikramaṇe balim adbhuta-vāmana

pada-nakha-nīra-janita-jana-pāvana

keśava dhṛta-vāmana-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare

(Śrī Daśāvatāra Stotra 5)

So because we are cheater in conditioned stage . . . because that is my qualification, four qualifications. Conditioned life means we must have four disqualification. What is that? To commit mistake, to become illusioned, to become cheater and to possess imperfect senses. This is our qualification. And we want to write books and philosophy. Just see.

One does not consider his position. Andha. One man is blind, and he is saying: "All right, come with me. I shall cross over the street. Come on." And if one believes, "All right . . ." He does not inquire that, "Sir, you are also blind. I am also blind. How you can help me crossing over the road?" No. He is also blind. This is going on. One blind man, one cheater, is cheating another blind man, cheating.

Therefore my Guru Mahārāja used to say this material world is a society of cheaters and cheated. That's all. Combination of cheater and cheated. I want to be cheated because I don't accept God. If there is God, then I become responsible for my sinful life. So therefore let me deny God: "There is no God," or "God is dead." Finished.

Therefore somebody comes, "Yes, I am God." "Oh, sir, you are God? Yes. That's all right." Because he wanted to be cheated, so somebody comes and declares himself that, "I am God," and he is cheated. We cannot accept such God. We shall say: "Oh, you are God? All right, you lift this hill first of all with your finger. Then I shall accept you God."

We don't accept such so cheap God. The rascals may accept some cheap God. No, we don't accept. We accept Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Brahmā said: "God is here, Kṛṣṇa." Brahmā is the original person who distributes knowledge, Vedic knowledge. So we accept Kṛṣṇa. The Brahmā has said. And we see, "Yes. He is God. He is lifting hill. He is killing Pūtanā at the age of three months old only. A seven-years-old boy is lifting hill."

So God must execute uncommon acts, otherwise, how shall I accept God if He's like me? Kṛṣṇa devoured the whole forest fire. His friends appealed, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, there is fire." The cows were crying. Kṛṣṇa said: "Don't worry." Boy of six years old. So that is God.

We accept Rāmacandra as God. He brought big, big stones and floated over the ocean. Does a stone float over the ocean? Yes, it floats under the order of God. He can . . . He can do it. The law of gravitation will not act there. He can change. You can see. Million tons heavy, this earth, so many hills, and Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean—it is floating in the air just like a swab of cotton. You are explaining "weightlessness," but that's all right. But you float such thing. You can say so many things.

Therefore we should accept knowledge from such person who is beyond these four defects of conditional life. What is that? Illusion, mistake, cheating and imperfectness. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is that proof. As I told you, that 2,500 years ago, or 5,000 years ago Vyāsadeva wrote about Lord Buddha's appearance. Still, there is appearance of Kalki from this time, henceforward, after 400,000's of years Kalki will appear. And his name, his father's name, the place where he will appear, that is mentioned in the Bhāgavata.

That means tri-kāla-jña. Mahā-muni, he is liberated. He is incarnation of God. He knows past, present, future and everything. That knowledge is perfect. One who knows past, present and future perfectly, we should take knowledge from him. That is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that we don't accept any knowledge from a person who is defective in so many ways. And what is the value of such knowledge?

He is defective. "Physician heal thyself." A physician suffering from fever, and if I go there, "Sir, I am also feverish. Treat," what is the use of such treatment? His brain is already puzzled. What he can treat? The doctors also, when he become sick, he does not treat himself. He calls another doctor friend to treat him. That is the fashion.

So similarly, one who is imperfect, one who is subjected to so many defects of life, we cannot accept knowledge from them. This is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We don't accept. We accept knowledge from the Vedas, which is perfect. As I have several times explained, that Veda says that stool of animal is impure.

Again, Veda says that the stool of cow is pure. Now, you will say, "Oh, this is contradictory. Sometimes it is said pure, and sometimes . . . this cow is also animal. First of all you said that the stool of any animal is impure, and again you say the cow dung, the stool of another animal, is pure." It is fact—it is pure. So if we accept the standard perfect knowledge from the Vedas, or one who knows the Vedas, then our knowledge is perfect.

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says:

tad viddhi praṇipātena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

(BG 4.34)

One who has seen the Absolute Truth, or one who has known the Absolute Truth, go there and take knowledge by surrendering. Praṇipātena. Praṇipāta means surrendering. Paripraśnena. Don't make question, waste his time. After you surrender, after you render service, then make question. Otherwise, there is no need of question. Don't waste your time, don't waste his time.

An outsider has no right to put any questions, because he is not surrendered. And a spiritual master is not obliged to answer anyone except to his disciple. This is the Vedic way. Don't waste time for unnecessary questions and answers. But we have to do something sometimes. But that is not the way—unless one surrenders fully, praṇipātena, and renders service. Service means whatever the spiritual master wants, "You do this," you must do it, just like a menial servant. Nīcavat. Nīcavat.

Of course here, in your country, there is no . . . in India there is a śūdra class. They are . . . generally they are servant, servant class. That is called nīcavat. So servant class . . . a brahmacārī living at the care of spiritual master, he is advised that "You shall carry out the orders of your spiritual master nīcavat, just like the śūdra class." Because a person coming to spiritual master, they are coming from brahmin family or kṣatriya family or high caste family. But he may say: "Oh, I am coming from a brahmin family, and my spiritual master is ordering to brush his shoes? Oh, how can I do?"

Therefore it is advised nīcavat. When you are serving spiritual master, you should always think that, "I am lowest of the animals." Nīcavat. In that condition you can simply inquire. Otherwise, you have no capacity. There is no need of wasting time, because he will not understand. He will unnecessarily . . . praṇipāta. Praṇipāta means surrender. So nobody wants to surrender, especially in this material world. Everyone thinks, "Oh, I am the lord. I am the monarch of all I survey. Why shall I surrender?" Independent. Especially in the Western countries. They are refusing to surrender to the social laws, to the king's law, everything.

But here is the process: surrender. Surrender means everyone is puffed up with some so-called knowledge, and he thinks that "I am perfectly all right. My knowledge is perfect. Why shall I surrender?" But if you want to receive knowledge actually from the person who has actually knowledge, then you must surrender there. This is the process.

Just like Vyāsadeva first of all: paraṁ satyaṁ dhīmahi. This is surrender. Surrender. Without surrender, we cannot get knowledge. And in another . . . there are many places. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva (SB 10.14.3). To understand the . . . God, understand God, Brahmā says, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya. Leaving, giving up this nonsense habit of speculation, "God is like this, God is like that," prayāsam, jñāne prayāsam.

The jñānīs, they are discriminating, "No, this is not God." The scientists, they will say, "This is the fact." And then, one year after, "No, this is not fact. Now we have improved, another." And again, three years after, they will say another. There is no standard knowledge. What is the final knowledge, they do not know. Therefore these kind of speculative habits or scientific research is simply waste of time. They cannot understand what is the ultimate truth.

Then Vedic injunction is, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya: "Give up this nonsense habit, speculation." Namanta eva: "Be submissive. Admit that you do not know anything. You have to learn from the person who knows." Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. "Then what shall I . . .? All right. I shall not speculate. I have become humble now. Now what to do?" San-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya . . . "Just try to learn about God from the devotee, pure devotee." San-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām.

So in this way we can understand God. That is the process. Arjuna, when he was hearing from Kṛṣṇa, he also surrendered, although he was His friend, very intimate friend, always sitting together, eating together, lying together, talking together. He also accepted Kṛṣṇa, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam (BG 2.7): "I am surrendered unto You, my dear Kṛṣṇa. I have become Your disciple. Please teach me." So this is the Vedic process. This is the Vedic process. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Janmādy asya yataḥ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi (SB 1.1.1).

So the . . . if you, instead of making speculation, if you simply surrender to Vyāsadeva, his writings, śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte, then the result will be kiṁ vā paraiḥ: you do not require to study any other literature. The result will be, if you surrender to the study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that Īśvara, the supreme controller, sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate . . .

Īśvara is already there, but here it is used, the word avarudhyate, "He is locked up." He wants to be locked up. Kṛṣṇa, Paramātmā, He wants to be, but we don't care. But by reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, by discourses in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, īśvara sadyaḥ, immediately, hṛdy avarudhyate.

But in whose heart He becomes locked up? Kṛtibhiḥ. Kṛtibhiḥ means those who are pious. Those who are sinful, they cannot. Kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhiḥ. Two things: he must be pious. That pious, piety, as soon as he surrenders . . . just like Kṛṣṇa says . . . piety, it is not that, "Then I have to become pious first of all; then I shall understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

So it will take long time." No. It will take tat-kṣaṇāt, in a second. In a second. How? Simply by surrender. As soon as you surrender, immediately you become pious. How immediately? Yes, Kṛṣṇa says:

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo

mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

(BG 18.66)

Sarva-dharmān . . . as soon as you surrender: "Kṛṣṇa, I was misled so long. Now, today, I am surrendering unto Your lotus feet. Now, if You like, You kill me or protect me, as You like," then everything is all right.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (devotees offer obeisances) (break) (kīrtana) (end)