760725 - Lecture - London

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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760725L2-LONDON - July 25, 1976 - 34.17 Minutes

Prabhupāda: Somebody fanning, and water also. (chants maṅgalacaraṇa prayers)

śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ

sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale

(break)

sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ

śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca

he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho

dīna-bandho jagat-pate

gopeśa gopikā-kānta

rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te

tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgi

rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari

vṛṣabhānu-sute devi

praṇamāmi hari-priye

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca

kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo

vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya

prabhu-nityānanda

śrī-advaita gadādhara

śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa

kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare

hare rāma hare rāma

rāma rāma hare hare

So śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhiṣṭam. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's ambition, or mission. Śrī-caitanya-mahāprabhu mano 'bhiṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale. His ambition was propagated, or established, by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī. They were ministers in charge of the then Pathan government in Bengal and very learned scholar in Urdu and Sanskrit, but after meeting Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Rāmakeli village in the district of Malda in Bengal, North Bengal . . . that was supposed to be the capital of Nawab Hussain Shah. So then they joined to preach this saṅkīrtana movement, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. So their mission was to establish the Rādhā-Govinda Mandir, as many as possible. They first started in Vṛndāvana, Madana-mohana temple. Most Indians present here, they know. There are . . . (break) . . . temples in Vṛndāvana. There are five thousand temples in one small city of fifty thousand population, but the most important, because they were established by the Gosvāmīs—Rūpa, Sanātana, Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, Dāsa Raghunātha—the six Gosvāmīs, direct disciple of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The Sanātana Gosvāmī established first the Madana-mohana temple. Then Rūpa Gosvāmī established Govindajī's temple. Then Jīva Gosvāmī established Rādhā-Dāmodara temple, then . . . (break) . . . Gosvāmī established Rādhā-Madana-mohana temple. Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī, he established Śyāmasundara temple. These are important temples.

So this mission, one of the items is to establish temples, as many temples as possible, especially Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temples. So by the grace of the Lord . . . in London there was no Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temple. Now we have . . . (indistinct) . . . and not that these temples are being worshiped by any Hindus or Indians, but all sorts of people. There is no distinction. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission is this. Yei bhaje sei baḍa, abhakta hīna chāra (CC Antya 4.67). Anyone who is devotee of Kṛṣṇa, yei bhaje, who is engaged in devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, yei bhaje se baḍa, he is big. Our calculation of big, small, not by the caste system. Yei bhaje: "Anyone who worships or who is engaged in devotional service of the Lord . . ." There is no particularly any person or any society or any caste or any nation is said. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, yei bhaje se baḍa. Yei bhaje sei baḍa, abhakta hīna chāra. And one who is not a devotee, he is the lowest and abominable.

yei bhaje se baḍa bhakta hīna chāra

kṛṣṇa bhajanete nāhi jāti kulādi vicāra

(CC Antya 4.67)

So far Kṛṣṇa bhajana is concerned, there is no such distinction of caste, creed, nation, religion, no. Everyone. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's word, and Kṛṣṇa's personal words are, in the Bhagavad-gītā, māṁ hi pārtha 'vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ (BG 9.32). People are generally against the mlecchas, yavanas or the caṇḍālas because according to Vedic system, the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas, they are supposed to be pious family, brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas. Less than that, even woman, they are not so pious. So in that sense there is discrimination. But Kṛṣṇa says that māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ. Anyone, it doesn't matter, even he belongs to the pāpa-yoni, low-grade family. And because women and śūdras and vaiśyas are also considered as less important, so Kṛṣṇa mentions, striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim: "Even women, śūdras or the vaiśyas, everyone can be elevated to the higher, transcendental platform, parāṁ gati." Parāṁ gati. Gati means advancement, stepping forward, gati. So everyone is given this advantage of stepping forward. Stepping forward . . . (aside) Is it finished or not? Eh?

Indian man: No. Just they're offering.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Stepping forward, there are two ways. Stepping forward, gatiḥ. One way, go to hell, and another way, go to Kṛṣṇa, stepping forward. So who is going to back to home, back to Godhead, and who is going to hell? There are two ways. I think the Christians also believe like that: either go to heaven or go to hell. Actually, there are two ways, stepping forward. So here Kṛṣṇa says, the greatest authority, that,

māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya

ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ

striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās

te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim

(BG 9.32)

This step forward means going back home, back to Godhead. And another stepping forward there is:

matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā

mitho 'bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām

adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ

punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām

(SB 7.5.30)

Another, this process, is those who are not Kṛṣṇa conscious . . . Matir na kṛṣṇe. Their consciousness is not for Kṛṣṇa. Matir na kṛṣṇe. Why they are not Kṛṣṇa conscious? They cannot be? No, they cannot be. Matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā, by personal deliberation or by congregation deliberation, svato mitho. Matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ, or by the instruction of the spiritual master. Matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā mitho 'bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām.

Gṛha-vratānām. Gṛha, there are different meanings of gṛha. Especially gṛha, we mean the home, house. Gṛha-vrata and gṛhastha, they are two different. Gṛhastha means although he is in gṛha, household life, his purpose is to go back to home, back to Godhead. They are called gṛhastha. And whose only purpose is to live at home—decorate the home, decorate the wife, decorate the children and make money to live very comfortably—they are called gṛha-vrata or gṛhamedhi. They are not gṛhastha. Gṛhastha means although he's living with wife, children, family, but his purpose is how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, how to go back home, back. They are called gṛhastha. So gṛhasthāśrama is as good as other āśramas. There are four āśramas. Vedic civilization means four varṇas and four āśramas: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, and brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. So those who are not following this principle of varṇāśrama-dharma, living like cats and dogs—they also live with wife, children—that sort of living is called gṛha-vrata. Gṛha-vratānām. Matir na kṛṣṇe: "They cannot become Kṛṣṇa conscious." Matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā mitho 'bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām. Why? Now, adānta-gobhiḥ. Go means senses. Go means cow. Go means land also. So anyone who has taken the vow of sense gratification . . . that is the modern world, that "Somehow or other, satisfy senses." They cannot control the senses. Adānta-go. Adānta. Dānta means control. Adānta, not controlled. Adānta-gobhiḥ. So what is that? Viśatāṁ tamisram: "They are going towards hell," because this sense gratification process, unrestricted sense gratification process, he is creating a situation of different mentality, and that mentality will be prominent at the time of death, and according to that situation he'll get his next birth. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6).

Therefore we have to become very, very careful. This life I may be born in big nation, America, or English nation or some other nation or family, but if I create a mentality of cats and dogs or if I do not take advantage of this human form of life—I remain dull as the trees or the animals—then next life we have to accept a similar body. This is the law of nature. You can say or I can say that "I do not believe in the next life," but that is not the fact. The fact is . . . just like if a child says that "I do not believe the next stage or next life, to become a boy," or if a boy says that "I don't believe next stage, to become a young man," or a young man says: "I do not believe that I shall become an old man," that is concoction. The nature's law will drag him, one after another. Similarly, the old man's body, when it is finished, you'll have to accept another body according to your mentality at the time of death. This is the law of nature.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the best welfare activities for the human society to save them from a dangerous type of life. It is a very scientific movement. The fools and rascals, they do not know that there is next life and one has to accept a type of body given by nature. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantor deha upapatti (SB 3.31.1). According to karma, the nature . . . just like if you infect some disease without any knowledge, so that disease, infection, will develop. If you have infected the smallpox germ, then it will develop. You may believe or not believe, or you may know or not know, it doesn't matter. Nature's way is like that. Similarly, we are contaminating within this material world different infection of the modes of material nature—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. So that is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā: kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgaḥ asya sad-asad yoni janmasu. One is getting higher type of birth, one is getting lower type of birth, why? Kāraṇaṁ guṇa saṅgo 'sya (BG 13.22): the cause is different contamination of the material modes of nature. Therefore in human form of life we should not be irresponsible animals. The animals, they do not know what he is contaminating, what he is going to take birth next. That is nature's way. But when you come to the human form of life, you have got your discrimination. You have to make your choice whether you are going to hell or you are going back to home, back to Godhead. That you have to make your choice.

If you don't make your choice, if you miss this opportunity, then you are committing suicide. You are knowingly drinking poison. As Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, hari hari biphale janama goṅāinu: "My Lord Kṛṣṇa, I have wasted my time without any meaning, without any good result." Why? No, manuṣya-janama pāiyā rādhā-kṛṣṇa nā bhajiyā, jāniyā śuniyā viṣa khāinu: "I got this human form of life. It was an opportunity to worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, but I did not do it. I simply wasted my time in sense gratification. This means knowingly I have drunk poison." So anyone can drink poison if he likes. Nobody can check. But it is a fact that if one does not become Kṛṣṇa conscious in this human form of life, he is drinking poison knowingly. That's a fact.

So people should be very careful, take advantage of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a blind, sentimental religious faith. It is a great science, vijñānam. Jñānaṁ me parama-guhyaṁ yad vijñāna-samanvitam (SB 2.9.31). Jñānaṁ te 'haṁ pravakṣyāmi yad vijñāna-samanvitam. These are the words. It is vijñāna, a great science. Don't think that, "These people are sentimentally chanting and dancing." That is the process, very easy made for this age. But if you think yourself that you are a great scientist, great philosopher, then we have got eighty-four books of four hundred pages. If you have got actually learning, you can study them. We can convince you. And people are becoming convinced. We are selling books all over the world, daily, sixty thousand dollars' worth. People are receiving, and they are appreciating. We have got big, big learned scholars' opinion.

So the idea is that you must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Otherwise you are drinking poison knowingly. Anyone, it doesn't matter what you are, either you are Indian or Englishman or American or Hindu or Muslim, it doesn't matter. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means God consciousness. I may say "Kṛṣṇa"; you may say some other name. But this human form of life is meant for this purpose, to understand Kṛṣṇa, or God. Not vague idea—clear idea what is God, how He looks, what does He do—so many things we have to know. It is not vague idea. Simply to have a vague idea of God, that is also good, but that is not perfect. You must know what is God. So how you can know God? The God is explaining Himself, coming down for your benefit. That is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself, "I am like this. You see Me. You know Me. I am explaining Myself." And still, if we do not take advantage of understanding God, then just imagine how we are drinking poison knowingly. How rascal we are, that God Himself is explaining before me everything about Him, and we are not taking advantage of this opportunity, and I am thinking I am independent and . . . this is rascaldom. You are not independent. You are completely under the control of the laws of material nature. How you are independent? So this foolishness must be stopped. That is the purpose of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Don't remain rascals, fools. Take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and be happy.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. (break)

Indian man: (indistinct) . . . praising anyone that can perform even, praying to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So the fundamental is the four things. Please explain.

Devotee: He's talking about the four principles which are compulsory to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Indian man: Yes, compulsory.

Prabhupāda: Yes, because we are now dull brain. Anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is described as rascal.

na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ

prapadyante narādhamāḥ

māyayāpahṛta-jñānā

āsuriṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ

(BG 7.15)

This is Kṛṣṇa's words, that anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he must be in one of these groups. What are the groups? Duṣkṛtinaḥ—meritorious sinful person. A person is merit. He has got merit. Just like a thief, a rogue, a cheater, he has got merit undoubtedly. Without being meritorious, they cannot be expert thief or expert rogue or expert politician. (laughter) So they have got merit, but duṣkṛtinaḥ. Kṛti means merit, and duṣ means abominable. Merit is being used for bad purposes or sinful purposes. They are called duṣkṛtinaḥ. This is one group. Another group—mūḍha. Mūḍha means fools, rascals or children, those who have no knowledge or one who does not know what is the purpose of life. They are called mūḍhas. And another group is called narādhama. Naradhāma means the lowest of the mankind. The highest of the mankind is one who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, and the lowest, one who does not know what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the lowest of the mankind. This human life, human form of life was given to him by laws of nature to understand Kṛṣṇa, or God, but he's not using it. Misusing it. They are called narādhama. And then, next group is māyayāpahṛta jñāna. You can say, "There are so many learned persons. They are not Kṛṣṇa conscious. They are after drinking and eating meat and . . . they are education." So then, He says that "They are educated. They have so-called educated, but their real knowledge is taken away." Just like one is rich man, but his money is taken away. So these four groups . . . so why this meritorious person or educated person, they do not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness? That means dull brain. So in order to make the dull brain suitable for understanding Kṛṣṇa, these four principles of austerities is the first need: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication. Then his brain, the finer tissues of the brain, will develop to understand Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise it is not possible.

Devotee: There's one more question, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Indian woman: Main hindi me bol sakti hoon. Jo hai wo soul ek hota hai person ka to marne ke baad jab doosri sharir me apne karmanusar chala jata hai doosri yoni me to pitra phir us insaan ke us kul ke liye kaise reh jata hai. (Can I speak in Hindi? The soul is one. The person after leaving the body, the soul, enters another body and according to their past deeds, they enter into another family. Then the forefathers for that person's lineage, how does it stay back?

Prabhupāda: Pitar. What is this pitar?

Indian man: Forefathers. Pitṛu.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So there are different processes. English samajh leti hain aap? Ye Bhagavad-gītā me bataya hai marne ke baad jo maha papi hota hai vo nark lok me jata hai kutta hota hai aur jo sadharan jo apna theek - theek kaam karke bolta hai uska ambition hota hai, koi sochta hai hum swarg-lok me jaye. Sahdharan yehi samajhta hai. Kisika maut ho gaya to bolta hai 'pitaji aap swargwas ho gaya'. Itna hi wo samajhta hai ki swarg - lok aur prithvi-lok bhi hai aur ye do hai, aur hai brahm-lok hai, satya-lok hai, bhu-lok hai, golok hai, wo bhi hai. To ye sab dikhne me Bhagavad-gītā acchi tarah se bataya hai. (Can you understand English? In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that after leaving the body, one who is a sinful person, he goes to hell and becomes a dog. And an ordinary being, who does his work with clean conscience has an ambition, he thinks I must go to heaven. The ordinary being understands this only. If anyone dies then they say: "Father you have gone to heaven". He can understand only this much, that there is earth planet and heaven. He does not do there are other worlds like Brahma planet, Satya planet, Bhu planet, and Goloka is there also. So Bhagavad-gītā explains all these planets very nicely.)

yānti deva-vratā devān

pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ

bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā

yānti mad-yājino 'pi mām

(BG 9.25)

Aap jaise chahe, kahan jana chahte hain aap uska nischay kar lijiye aur shastra me uska vidhi hai to samsar aap pas kijiye to us lok me aap ja sakte hain. Ye vichar hai. (What you desire, where you want to go, you decide that and there is a procedure in the scriptures. You finish your earthly duties and you can go there. This is the thinking.)

'Indian lady:' Prashn ye hai ki husband-wife hote hain to husband ko itna belief nahi hota hai God me aur wife ko hota hai to us wife ka kya aage . . . (The question is this that husband-wife are there, so the husband does not have very firm faith in God but the wife has full faith—so what happens to the wife in future . . .

Prabhupada: Wo apne dham me jayega aur wo apne dham me jayega. (He will go to his planet and you will go to your planet.) (end)