750202 - Lecture BG 16.06 - Honolulu

Lectures by Date, 1975

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Lecture

750202BG-HONOLULU - February 02, 1975 - 37:03 Minutes

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (devotees repeat) (leads chanting of verse, etc.)

dvau bhūta-sargau loke 'smin

daiva āsura eva ca

daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta

āsuraṁ pārtha me śṛṇu

(BG 16.6)

(break) (02:09)

"O son of Pṛthā, in this world there are two kinds of created beings. One is called the divine and the other is the demoniac. I have already explained to you at length the divine qualities. Now hear from Me of the demoniac."

Prabhupāda:

dvau bhūta-sargau loke 'smin

daiva āsura eva ca

daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta

āsuraṁ pārtha me śṛṇu

(BG 16.6)

Bhagavān, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is addressing Arjuna as . . . sometimes He addresses him as Bhārata, "the descendant of the Bharata dynasty," and sometimes He addresses him as Pārtha, and sometimes He addresses him Dhanañjaya, His friend. This time He addresses him as Pārtha. Pārtha means his mother's name was Pṛthā. From Pṛthā, the word Pārtha comes. His mother happened to be Kṛṣṇa's father's sister. So very intimately and friendly, He addresses him as Pārtha, "My dear son of My aunt." That means, "We have got very intimate relationship. Not only we are friends, but we have got family relationship. So therefore I am speaking you about the truth, that there are two classes of living beings." Two classes of living beings, dvau. Dvau means two. One class is called daiva, or divine, divine nature, and the other class is called demonic nature, āsura.

So in Viṣṇu-Purāṇa there is also reference to this context, where it is said,

dvau bhūta-sargau loke 'smin

daiva āsura eva ca

viṣṇu-bhakto bhaved daiva

asuras tad-viparyayaḥ

Daiva means generally viṣṇu-bhakta. Viṣṇu means the Supreme Lord who is all-pervasive. Everywhere He is present. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, He is Viṣṇu also in His Paramātmā feature. Kṛṣṇa has got three features: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth, is known in three features or three angle of visions. One is Brahman, all-pervasive Brahman. Sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat. So Brahman means His effulgence, bodily rays. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). His prabhā, His bodily rays . . . you may ask, "What is that bodily rays?" You can see every day. Everyone has got bodily rays according to his quality. You see the sun, the bodily rays, the sunshine. There is sun-god within the sun globe, his name is Vivasvān. That is also mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā:

imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ

proktavān aham avyayam

vivasvān manave prāha

manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt

(BG 4.1)

Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). So exactly like that. Here sun is an insignificant part, creation, of the Lord. And the sun has got so much effulgence, bodily rays, that it is illuminating and heating the whole universe. You cannot deny it. This is the position of the sun. And there are millions and trillions of suns, each one sometimes bigger than this sun. This is the smallest sun. There are bigger, bigger suns. So we can understand what is the bodily rays. There is no difficulty. That bodily rays of Kṛṣṇa is called Brahman. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-koṭiṣu vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam, tad brahma (Bs. 5.40). That is Brahman, that prabhā.

So similarly, Kṛṣṇa is present in everyone's heart, localized. This is impersonal expansion. Just like sunshine is impersonal expansion of the sun rays, so similarly, Brahman effulgence is the impersonal expansion of Kṛṣṇa's bodily rays. And the portion by which He is present everywhere, aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham . . . (Bs. 5.35). He is within this universe. He is within your heart, within my heart. He is within everything. "Everything" means even within the atom, paramāṇu. That is His Paramātmā feature. And the last and ultimate feature is Kṛṣṇa's personal body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Vigrahaḥ means form. That form is not like ours. That is sat, cit, ānanda. The body has also three features. Sat means eternal. So therefore, His body is distinct from our body. Our this body is not eternal within the history. When this body is created by the father and mother, there is a date, beginning. And when this body is finished, annihilated, there is another date. So anything within the dates, that is history.

But Kṛṣṇa is not like that. Anādi. You cannot estimate when Kṛṣṇa's body began. Anādi. Ādi, again ādi. He is the beginning of everyone. Anādi. He Himself is anādi; nobody can find out what is the date of His appearance. He is beyond history. So . . . but He is the beginning of everyone. Just like my father is the beginning of my body. Father is the cause of the beginning of my body or your body, everyone. So therefore He has no beginning - that He has no father, but He is the supreme father. That is the conception, Christian conception: God is the supreme father. That is fact because He is the beginning of everyone. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1): "Whatever has come into being, that is from Kṛṣṇa." That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Aham ādir hi devānām (BG 10.2). The devatās . . . this brahmāṇḍa is the creation of Brahmā. He is called one of the demigods. So Kṛṣṇa says, aham ādir hi devānām, "I am the beginning of the devatās, demigods." So if you study Kṛṣṇa in this way, then you become daiva, divine. Divine.

Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for educating everyone to become divine. That is the program. So what is the gain by becoming divine? That is described in the previous verse: daivī sampad vimokṣāya (BG 16.5). If you become divine and acquire the divine qualities, abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ (BG 16.1-3) . . . that is we have discussed already. So if you become divine . . . there is no impediment to become divine. Simply you have to practice for the post. Just like everyone can become high-court judge. Everyone can become the president of United States. There is no bar. But you have to be qualified. If you qualify yourself, you can become any, fitted in any position. Similarly, as it is said, to divine, to become daivī, you have to qualify yourself to become divine. How to become divine? That is already described. We have already . . .

So if you qualify yourself by the divine qualities, then what is the benefit? Daivī sampad vimokṣāya (BG 16.5). Mokṣa. Mokṣa mean liberation. So if you cultivate divine qualities, then you are fit for being liberated. What is liberation? Liberation from repeating birth and death. That is our real suffering. The modern, rascal civilization, they do not know actually what is the end of suffering. They do not know. There is no education. There is no science. They are thinking that "Here this small span of life, say fifty years, sixty years, hundred years utmost, if we get a nice wife, a nice apartment and nice motorcar, running with seventy miles speed, and a nice whiskey bottle . . ." (laughter) That is his perfection. But that is not vimokṣāya. Real vimokṣa, liberation, means no more birth, death, old age and disease. That is vimokṣa. But they do not know even.

They do not know even that there is birth after death. Such a foolish civilization. Although we are experiencing every moment birth and death . . . Birth and death every moment, it is going on so finely. It is Kṛṣṇa's arrangement. Just like this world, this earthly planet, is moving at the rate of one thousand miles per hour. Such a gigantic body, it is also moving. Every, all planets are moving. Even the sun is moving. But we cannot perceive. You ride on a best airplane—there are so many disturbances: sound, moving, sometimes table is moving. But this planet also moving more speedily than the airplane, but you do not perceive. This is Kṛṣṇa's manufacture, perfectly. Pūrṇam idam. This is called pūrṇam idam, everything perfect. Pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). Because He is so perfect, we do not perceive. But it is moving.

Everyone knows that the morning there is sunrise, and in twelve hours, after covering twelve thousand miles, the evening is there. Again twelve thousand miles moving—you are sleeping—in the morning you see again the sun. The sun is there. Sun is not moving, but the world is moving. It is moving so nicely. Not only this earthly planet, but there are millions and trillions of planets within the sky. They are all moving. Seasonal changes, day and night, everything is going on. This is perfection. So those who are in divine nature, they can understand all these things. That is called daivī sampat.

In other philosophy they can say . . . the Christians say, "God is great." The Muslim also say that allahu akbar. That is also same meaning. The Vedic literature also says Brahman, Parabrahman. Brahman means the greatest. Bṛhatvāt bṛhannatvād iti brahma. Brahman means because it is very, very great; and not only great, it is becoming greater and greater. Bṛhannatvāt. So the great understanding, greatness understanding, of Kṛṣṇa or the Absolute Truth is accepted everywhere in civilized human society. But how God is great, that you can find in the Vedic literature. Simply to know God is great . . . just like if you . . . everyone knows that he has got a father. That is not difficult. Anyone who is in this material world, in material world or spiritual world, there is a father. Everyone, father, knows that. But who is my father, how he is, how great he is, what is his qualification, what does he do, what is his father's name, where is his address—that you can understand from Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore it is essential that everyone should read Bhagavad-gītā. Simply to know God is great, that is also good. He is accepting the greatness of God. But if you want to know in detail how great He is, to what extent He greatly is, how the actions of His greatness are going on, how His activities of greatness are going on, then you read Bhagavad-gītā.

Bhagavad-gītā says that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). Kṛṣṇa says, "There is no more greater factor than Me." Everyone knows God is great. "Great" means everyone is small; He is great. Nobody is equal to Him. Nobody is greater than Him. That is the meaning of greatness. So how He is greater than everyone and nobody is equal to Him—everyone is subordinate, everyone is creation of Him—this knowledge, if you get . . . janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). If you understand these factors of the greatness of God perfectly well, then you become fit for being transferred to the spiritual world. That is called daivī sampad. Daivī sampad vimokṣāya (BG 16.5). If you become divine . . . this is cultivation. This is education. This is not sentiment.

People are, try to understand, that this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is Hindu movement: "Kṛṣṇa is one of the Hindu gods." But that is not the fact. Kṛṣṇa is God. God is God. God cannot be Hindu God, cannot be Muslim God, cannot be Christian God. God is God. Just like gold. If the Hindus deal gold, that does not mean gold becomes Hindu gold. Or the Christian deals in gold, that does not become, the gold becomes Christian or Muslim. Gold is gold. Similarly, God is God—the great. Now, if you study how His greatness expands . . . just like here is one example:

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati

bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni

yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

(BG 18.61)

Very simple. Īśvaraḥ, that God, in His Paramātmā feature is sitting within everyone's heart—your heart, my heart, everyone's. God is . . . you haven't got to find out God somewhere else. Therefore the yogīs, they practice, "How to find out God within myself." That is called meditation. Meditation means to find out . . . it is heard from the śāstra, "The God is within my heart. Now let me find out where is God within my heart." That is called yoga, yoga system. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yogī's business is to become engaged in meditation, dhyānāvasthita. Now this meditation is very profusely used in your country especially. But what is the meditation? This is meditation. When you fix up your mind to find out God, Kṛṣṇa, within your heart, that is called meditation, not thinking some foolish objective is meditation. This is meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā. Tad-gatena, mind being fully absorbed in Him, by that mind you can find out.

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is little more than that. Consciousness is above mind. Mind is there. Mind is above the senses. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42). The senses . . . our body means the senses. The senses are prominent. Therefore body is active. But the senses cannot work if the mind is absent. Therefore we call "attentively, concentrating your mind." So mind is above the senses. And the how the mind is acting—thinking, feeling and willing—that is called intelligence. Everything finer. You can see your senses, my senses, but everyone knows that you have got mind, I have got mind, but we cannot see the mind. Can you say, anyone, that "Here is mind"? No, because it is finer. Then everyone has got some intelligence, but can you see intelligence? No. It is still finer. Similarly, there is soul, which is still finer than the intelligence. So how you can see the soul? If you cannot see the mind, if you cannot see the intelligence, then how you can see the soul? Then the source of soul, the Supreme Soul, how you can see?

Therefore it is said, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). If you speculate your senses to find out where is God, where is the soul . . . the doctors are daily operating, heart operation, and so many finer, finer surgical operation, but they cannot find out where is the soul. But soul is there. That we can perceive. When the soul goes away from the body, we can understand, "Now the soul has gone; the body is dead." So you can perceive; you cannot see. It is not understandable by speculating your gross senses. You cannot . . . if you want to see what is mind, what is intelligence, what is soul, what is Supersoul, that is not possible to see by your these blunt eyes, conditional eyes. Everyone is very proud of his senses. Somebody says, "Can you show me God?" But have you got the power to see God first of all? So these things are not very intelligent questions and answer. You have to practice according to the direction of the śāstra.

Just like here is Bhagavad-gītā. You follow the direction, you will understand what is God, what you are, what is this world, what is our relation between ourself, what is our condition, how we can get out of this miserable condition. Everything you will find. In the beginning a small child cannot understand what is mathematic, but if he studies mathematic science, he one day becomes a very big mathematician, the same child. Similarly, this spiritual science, every one of you can become spiritually advanced provided you study the science. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a bluff sentiment. It is a great science. Those who are actually studious, they can understand the science perfectly if they study all our books. We have got twenty volumes books like this already published. And we propose to publish seventy-two volumes, how to understand God. So God is not so cheap thing that "I have become God; you have become God." It is a great science.

So those who want to understand God scientifically, philosophically, let them read these books. That is our presentation, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And those who are unable to read all these books for any reason it may be, then it is a very simple method: chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. It is so sublime. If you simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then you understand clearly what you are, what is God, what is your relationship with Him, what is this world. Everything will be clear. That is the advantage of this fallen age. This age is very, very fallen. People have completely forgotten God. Not completely, because few men are still interested; otherwise why they are joining this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement? We cannot say completely. But gradually it will be completely forgetful of God, day by day.

Just like we can see. Formerly, our forefathers, they used to construct churches, temples, mosque, synagogues, but nowadays nobody is preparing. In the modern history you won't find. They are constructing big, big skyscraper buildings. That we can see. But you don't see anywhere a magnificent church or temple or mosque is being constructed. That means people are going down in the matter of understanding God. They are thinking these buildings are waste of money, unproductive creation. "If we manufacture a skyscraper building, immediately there will be some income. But if I construct a gigantic temple, it will be simply waste of money." They are thinking like that. That means the standard of understanding God is finished. Not to speak of constructing new churches, but . . . we are practically purchasing many churches. They are vacant. I have seen in London, hundreds of churches are vacant. Nobody goes there. Nobody goes there.

So one priest was surprised in Boston that "These boys, they are our boys. They are Christian boys. They are American boys. So previously they were not coming to the church. They did not care for God or to understand what is God. But why they are mad after God now?" That's a fact. These boys, you American boys, you were not interested. But why you are so interested and you are preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world? You are not foolish. I have not bribed you. But why you are doing that? So this is a fact that we have got intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That's a fact.

Just like father and son. They are intimately related. It may be the son has gone out of home for many years, but as soon as he meets his father, again the same love between father and son revives. It does not mean, because the son was out of home for many, many years . . . there is no need of awakening the love of father and son. Similarly, in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said, nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti. The love between Kṛṣṇa and ourself . . . it doesn't matter where we are. All living entities, especially the human being, especially the civilized human being, those who have got sense, they can revive Kṛṣṇa consciousness very easily by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So that is our request, that you are very intelligent boys, American boys. Try to understand Kṛṣṇa. Try to revive your relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Then you will be happy; otherwise not.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)