710716 - Arrival - Detroit

Conversations by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

710716AR-DETROIT - July 16, 1971 - 07:24 Minutes

Prabhupāda: It has become very satisfactory that so many devotees, boys and girls, are taking part in this great movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is very important movement, because it is correcting the human civilization. There is a great defect in the modern civilization, that people are accepting this body as self, and based on this mistake in the foundation, everything is going wrong.

The basic principle of civilization—accepting this body as the soul—is the beginning of all problems. The great philosophers, scientist, theologist and thoughtful men, they do not know what is the defect. Recently I was in Moscow. I had a nice talk with a big professor of Indology, Professor Kotovsky. So he was speaking that, "Swāmījī, after this finishing, annihilation of this body, everything is finished."

So I was astonished that a learned professor who is posing himself on a very responsible post, he has no idea about the soul and the body, how they are different, how the soul migrating from one body to another. And everyone is accepting this body as the self and, "There is no life after death, therefore make the best use of this bad bargain and enjoy sense gratification as far as possible."

But this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is checking this wrong progress of human civilization. Our first proposition is that, "You are not this body, you are spirit soul. Some way or other, you are in contact with this material world, and you have got this material body, and under illusion, you are accepting something which you are not." So basic principle of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to correct the wrong foundation of the human civilization.

In the Bhagavad-gītā this is the beginning of spiritual knowledge. When Arjuna was identifying himself with this body and bodily relationship, Kṛṣṇa first of all corrected that "You are not this body." So if we do not understand these first steps of spiritual knowledge, then where is the question of making further progress? Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (SB 10.84.13). This is the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Yasya ātma-buddhiḥ: one who has accepted as self kuṇape tri-dhātuke, this bag of bones and flesh and blood . . . this body is made of . . . according to Vedic medicine or Vedic anatomy, it is made of three elements—mucus, bile and air. Tri-dhātuke. Apart from that medical science, this body, one who accepts this body as self as sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu, and persons in relationship with this body as kinsmen, own men, bhauma ijya-dhīḥ, and the land where we take our birth as worshipable, sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13), he is accepted as go-kharaḥ. Go means cow, and khara means ass. That means animals. The animal, they accept this, that "I am this body." But human form of life, which is so advanced in knowledge . . .

Airport speaker: Ladies and gentlemen, I have to ask you to clear the boarding area so we can start our flight.

Prabhupāda: If . . . they are speaking us? They are speaking about ourself? We shall stop? All right. Then we shall go?

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! Hare Kṛṣṇa! (end)