710702 - Lecture - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1971

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

710702CB-LOS_ANGELES - July 02, 1971 - 10:54 Minutes

Prabhupāda:

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma

sarvatra pracāra hoibe mora nāma

(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

Pṛthivīte means "on the surface of the world." Pṛthivīte. Āche, "there are," yata, "as many." Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi, "towns," grāma, "villages." Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma: "As many towns and villages there are on the surface of the globe," sarvatra pracāra hoibe mora nāma, Lord Caitanya says, "everywhere people will know My name." This is the prediction of Lord Caitanya. Now, after five hundred years have passed, that, I mean to say, opportunity has come.

So your responsibility is very great. I am old man, seventy-five. A few months after, I'll be seventy-five. So I can pass away any moment. But the legacy which I am giving to you, you have to execute. That's your duty. And you have to create so many sincere devotees who will go from village to village, town to town, and establish center. Center is required. Just like here in Los Angeles we are trying to establish a nice center. So Kṛṣṇa has given us the opportunity. We have got a very nice place. Such a nice temple, such nice devotees, and sincere worker. Such kind of temples and workers required everywhere.

But it is not at all difficult. That you are experiencing. I came here empty-handed, just gambling—that's a transcendental gambling. (laughs) (devotees laugh) I thought, let us . . . let me go and take a chance." There was no possibility because, "As soon as I'll say the four restrictions, all of them will go away." (laughs) But Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He has given me the assistance of so many nice boys and girls.

So I am very much thankful to you that you are helping and cooperating. So Kṛṣṇa will bless you, and my guru mahārāja will be very much pleased upon you. So you continue this cooperation. Don't stop it. That will be good for the whole human society as well as for you personally. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so nice. I remember in one of the Shakespeare's books, Merchant of Venice. So when Portia was appealing to Shylock, she was saying: "The mercy is so nice that one who accepts, he also becomes satisfied, and one who distributes, he also becomes satisfied."

So greatest mercy is this distribution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Ordinary mercy: you are suffering—I give you some medicine. Or you are hungry—I give you a morsel of food. You have no shelter—I give you some shelter. People estimate value of these things very high. But that is automatically done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are also giving shelter; we are also giving food. So these things automatically come.

Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so nice that the people who think that this humanitarian work is very valuable, that is automatically done. But at the same time we are giving something which will solve the problems of his life. If one become trained up in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and become a pure devotee, then the effect will be tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9): "My dear Arjuna, such person, Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee, after leaving this body," tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti, "he doesn't get any more this rebirth in material body. His rebirth is in spiritual body."

Just like we are getting now our birth in material body, similarly, if you become perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you will get next birth spiritual body. And spiritual body means:

yad gatvā na nivartante

tad dhāma paramaṁ mama

(BG 15.6)

Mām upetya kaunteya (BG 8.16). Kṛṣṇa has got spiritual body, and you will get also spiritual body. The difference is that Kṛṣṇa never accepts material body, or there is no question of His material body. Because for Him there is no material thing. Just like for the sun there is no question of darkness. Try to understand. Sun, wherever sun rises, there is no question of darkness, automatically.

Similarly, this material energy . . . another example I give you: Just like your President Nixon, if he goes to the prison department, he does not become a prisoner. Even he is on the prison, within the prison walls, he is not considered . . . he is still the supreme free man.

But because President Nixon goes to, I mean to say, supervise the activities in the prison house, if a prisoner, ordinary criminal prisoner thinks, "Oh, here is Mr. President Nixon, so it is very nice; we are also in the same position," no, that is foolishness. That is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāmānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). Kṛṣṇa says: "Because I am acting just like a human being, the foolish, rascal man, they consider that I am one of them."

So Kṛṣṇa . . . for Kṛṣṇa there is no material consideration. Wherever He goes, either in the material world or in the spiritual world, He is the same. There are many instances, you know. You read Bhagavad-gītā. Because another proof is Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna that, "Many, many births you have taken. I also took, but you have forgotten; I have not forgotten. That is the difference."

As soon as we change our body we forget everything. Just like we had some body, some sort of body we had last, in our last birth, but we do not remember. We do not remember where was my country, where were my parents, where were my son. So everything forgotten.

So please continue your cooperation and distribute this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement as far as possible, in every village, in every town. That is my request. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa

Devotees: Jaya. All glories to Srila Prabhupāda! (devotees offer obeisances) (end)