720529 - Lecture SB 02.03.11-12 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

720529SB-LOS ANGELES - May 29, 1972 - 55:00 Minutes

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.

etāvān eva yajatām

iha niḥśreyasodayaḥ

bhagavaty acalo bhāvo

yad bhāgavata-saṅgataḥ

(SB 2.3.11)

Prabhupāda: So? Any girls?

etāvān eva yajatām

iha niḥśreyasodayaḥ

bhagavaty acalo bhāvo

yad bhāgavata-saṅgataḥ

(SB 2.3.11)

Then? Word meaning?

Pradyumna:

etāvān—all these different kinds of worshipers; eva—certainly; yajatām—while worshiping; iha—in this life; niḥśreyasa—highest benediction; udayaḥ—development; bhagavati—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; acalaḥ—unflinching; bhāvaḥ—spontaneous attraction; yat—which; bhāgavata—the pure devotee of the Lord; saṅgataḥ—association. (break)

Prabhupāda: . . . factor. Now, translation?

Pradyumna: "All the different kinds of worshipers of multi-demigods can attain the highest perfectional benediction, which is spontaneous attraction unflinchingly fixed upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by the association of the pure devotee of the Lord."

Prabhupāda: This is the secret: association of the pure devotee of the Lord. Without association of pure devotee of Lord, nobody can come to the stage, unflinching faith and devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

I think last purport we did not read? Read it.

Pradyumna: No, we didn't read the last one. Purport: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as the puruṣottama, or the Supreme Personality. It is He only who can award liberation to the impersonalists by absorbing such aspirants in the brahma-jyotir, the bodily rays of the Lord.

The brahma-jyotir is not separate from the Lord, as the glowing sun ray is not independent of the sun disc. Therefore one who desires to merge into the supreme impersonal brahma-jyotir must also worship the Lord by bhakti-yoga, as it is recommended here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhakti-yoga is especially stressed here as the means of all perfection.

"In the previous chapters it has been stated that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of both karma-yoga and jñāna-yoga, and in the same way in this chapter it is emphatically declared that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of the different varieties of worship of the different demigods. Bhakti-yoga, thus being the supreme means of self-realization, is recommended here. Everyone must therefore seriously take up the methods of bhakti-yoga, even though one aspires for material enjoyment or liberation from material bondage.”

"Akāmaḥ is one who has no material desire. A living being, naturally being the part and parcel of the Supreme Whole puruṣaṁ pūrṇam, has as his natural function to serve the Supreme Being, just as the parts and parcels of the body, or the limbs of the body, are naturally meant to serve the complete body. Desireless means, therefore, not to be inert like the stone, but to be conscious of one's actual position and thus desire satisfaction only from the Supreme Lord.”

"Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained this desirelessness as bhajanīya parama-puruṣa-sukha-mātra-sva-sukhatvam in his Sandarbha. This means that one should only feel happy by experiencing the happiness of the Supreme Lord. This intuition of the living being is sometimes manifested even during the conditioned stage of a living being in the material world, and such intuition is expressed in the manner of altruism, philanthropism, socialism, communism, etc., by the undeveloped minds of less intelligent persons."

"In the mundane field, such an outlook of doing good to others in the form of society, community, family, country or humanity is a partial manifestation of the same original feeling in which a pure living entity feels happiness by the happiness of the Supreme Lord. Such superb feelings were exhibited by the damsels of Vrajabhūmi for the happiness of the Lord. The gopīs loved the Lord without any return, and this is the perfect exhibition of the akāma spirit. Kāma spirit, or the desire for one's own satisfaction, is fully exhibited in the material world, whereas the spirit of akāma is fully exhibited in the spiritual world."

"Thoughts of becoming one with the Lord, or being merged in the brahma-jyotir, can also be exhibitions of kāma spirit if they are desires for one's own satisfaction to be free from the material miseries. A pure devotee does not want liberation . . ."

Prabhupāda: Prahlāda Mahārāja said that: "I don't want my liberation alone. Unless I deliver all these fools who are rotting in this material world, I do not want my personal liberation." This is Vaiṣṇava philosophy. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are going to Himalaya or some secluded place for personal benefit. But a Vaiṣṇava, he has no desire for personal benefit. The personal benefit is already there in Vaiṣṇava, because he's in touch with the Supreme Lord by his service. Prahlāda Mahārāja said:

naivodvije para deva duratyaya-vaitaraṇyās

tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ

śoce tad vimukha-cetasa . . .

māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān

(SB 7.9.43)

"My dear Lord, I am not anxious for myself, because I have got the thing. I have no problem how to cross over the nescience or how to go to Vaikuṇṭha or to become liberated. These problems are solved." Why? How you have solved? Now, tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ: "Because I am engaged always in glorifying your activities, so my problem is solved."

Then what is your problem? The problem is śoce: "I am lamenting," śoce tato vimukha-cetasaḥ, "those who are averse to You. Being averse to You, they are working so hard," māyā-sukhāya, "for so-called happiness, these rascals. So I am simply lamenting for them." This is our Vaiṣṇava philosophy. One who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he has no problem. But his only problem is how to deliver the rascals who are simply working hard, forgetting Kṛṣṇa. That is the problem.

Go on. "A pure devotee does not want liberation . . ."

Pradyumna: (continues reading) "A pure devotee does not want liberation so that he may be relieved from the miseries of life. Even without so-called liberation, a pure devotee is aspirant for the satisfaction of the Lord. Influenced by the kāma spirit, Arjuna declined to fight in the Kurukṣetra battlefield because he wanted to save his relatives for his own satisfaction. But being a pure devotee, he agreed to fight on the instruction of the Lord because he came to his senses, and satisfaction of the Lord at the cost of his own satisfaction was his prime duty. Thus he became akāma. That is the perfect stage of a perfect living being."

"Udāra-dhīḥ means one who has a broader outlook. People with desires for material enjoyment worship small demigods, and such intelligence is condemned in the Bhagavad-gītā (BG 7.20) as hṛta jñāna, the intelligence of one who has lost his senses. No one can obtain any result from demigods without getting sanction from the Supreme Lord. Therefore a person with a broader outlook can see that the ultimate authority is the Lord, even for material benefits."

"Under the circumstances, one with a broader outlook, even with the desire for material enjoyment or for liberation, should take to the worship of the Lord directly. And everyone, either an akāma or sakāma or mokṣa-kāma, should worship the Lord with great expedience. This implies that bhakti-yoga may be perfectly administered without any mixture of karma and jñāna. As the unmixed sun ray is very forceful and is therefore called tīvra, similarly, unmixed bhakti-yoga of hearing, chanting, etc., may be performed by one and all, regardless of inner motive."

Prabhupāda: Next?

Pradyumna: "All living entities in different statuses of life within the material creation, beginning from the first demigod, Brahmā, down to the small ant in different statuses of life, are conditioned under the law of material nature, or the external energy of the Supreme Lord. The living entity in his pure state is conscious of the fact that he is a part and parcel of the Lord, but when he is thrown into the material world on account of his desire to lord it over material energy, he becomes conditioned by the three modes of material nature and thus struggles for existence for the highest benefit."

"This struggle for existence is something like following the will-o'-the-wisp under the spell of material enjoyment. All plans of material enjoyment, either by worship of different demigods as described in the previous verses of this chapter or by modernized advancement of scientific knowledge without the help of God or demigod, are illusory only, because despite all such plans for happiness, the conditioned living being within the compass of material creation can never solve the problems of life, namely birth, death, old age and disease. The history of the universe is full of such plan-makers, and many kings and emperors come and go, leaving a plan-making story only. But the prime problems of life remain unsolved, despite all endeavors by such plan-makers."

"Actually, human life is meant for making a solution to the problems of life. Such problems can never be solved by satisfying the different demigods, by different modes of worship, or by so-called scientific advancement in knowledge without the help of God or the demigods. Apart from the gross materialists, who care very little either for God or for the demigods, the Vedas recommend worship of different demigods for different benefits, so they are neither false nor imaginary. The demigods are as factual as we are, but they are much more powerful due to their being engaged in the direct service of the Lord by managing different departments in the universal government."

"The Bhagavad-gītā confirms this, and the different planets of the demigods are mentioned there, including the one of the supreme demigod, Lord Brahmā. The gross materialists believe neither in the existence of God nor the demigods. Nor do they believe that different planets are dominated by different demigods. They are creating a great commotion about reaching the closest celestial body, the Candraloka, or the moon, but even after much mechanical research they have only very scanty information of this moon, and in spite of much false advertisement for selling land on the moon, the puffed-up scientists or gross materialists cannot live there, and what to speak of reaching other, innumerable planets, which they are unable even to count."

"However, the followers of the Vedas have a different method of acquiring knowledge. They accept the statements of the Vedic literatures as authority in toto, as we have already discussed in Canto One, and therefore they have full and reasonable knowledge of God and demigods and of their different residential planets situated within the compass of the material world and beyond the limit of the material sky. The most authentic Vedic literature, accepted by the great Indian ācāryas like Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Madhva, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Nimbārka, Caitanya, etc., and studied by all important personalities of the world, is the Bhagavad-gītā, in which the worship of the demigods and their respective residential planets are mentioned. The Bhagavad-gītā affirms:"

yānti deva-vratā devān

pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ

bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā

yānti mad-yājino 'pi mām

"'The worshipers of demigods reach the respective planets of the demigods, and the worshipers of forefathers reach the planets of the forefathers. The gross materialist remains in the different material planets, but the devotees of the Lord reach the kingdom of God.' " (BG 9.25)

"We also have information from the Bhagavad-gītā that all the planets within the material world, including the Brahmaloka, are but temporarily situated, and after a fixed period they are all annihilated. Therefore the demigods and their followers are all annihilated at the period of devastation. But one who reaches the kingdom of God gets a permanent share in eternal life. That is the verdict of Vedic literature."

"The worshipers of the demigods have one facility more than the unbelievers, due to their being convinced of the Vedic version, by which they can get information of the benefit of worshiping the Supreme Lord in the association of the devotees of the Lord. The gross materialist, however, without any faith in the Vedic version, remains eternally in darkness, driven by a false conviction on the basis of imperfect experimental knowledge, or the so-called material science, which can never reach into the realm of transcendental knowledge."

"Therefore unless they come in contact with a transcendentalist like the pure devotee of the Lord, the attempts of the gross materialist or the worshipers of the temporary demigods are simply a waste of energy. Only by the grace of the divine personalities, the pure devotees of the Lord, can one achieve pure devotion, which is the highest perfection of human life. Only a pure devotee of the Lord can show one the right way of progressive life. Otherwise, both the materialistic way of life, without any information of God or the demigods, and the life engaged in the worship of demigods, in pursuit of temporary material enjoyments, are all different phases of phantasmagoria. They are nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā also, but the Bhagavad-gītā can be understood in the association of pure devotees only, and not by the interpretations of politicians or dry philosophical speculators."

Prabhupāda: So, next?

Pradyumna:

jñānaṁ yad āpratinivṛtta-guṇormi-cakram

ātma-prasāda uta yatra guṇeṣv asaṅgaḥ

kaivalya-sammata-pathas tv atha bhakti-yogaḥ

ko nirvṛto hari-kathāsu ratiṁ na kuryāt

(SB 2.3.12)

Prabhupāda: In the text it is yadā. So why it is divided in that way "yad ā"? The text is yadā. Yadā means "when." Jñānaṁ yadā pratinivṛtta-guṇormi-cakram. Read it.

Pradyumna: (continues chanting) (devotees chant verse)

Prabhupāda: Anyone else? (devotee chants)

jñānaṁ yadā pratinivṛtta-guṇormi-cakram

ātma-prasāda uta yatra guṇeṣv asaṅgaḥ

kaivalya-sammata-pathas tv atha bhakti-yogaḥ

ko nirvṛto hari-kathāsu ratiṁ na kuryāt

(SB 2.3.12)

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Word meaning?

Pradyumna:

jñānam—knowledge; yat—that which; ā—up to the limit of; pratinivṛtta—completely withdrawn; guṇa-ūrmi—the waves of the material modes; cakram—whirlpool; ātma-prasādaḥ—self-satisfaction; uta—moreover; yatra—where there is; guṇeṣu—in the modes of nature; asaṅgaḥ—no attachment; kaivalya—transcendental; sammata—approved; pathaḥ—path; tu—but; atha—therefore; bhakti-yogaḥ—devotional service; kaḥ—who; nirvṛtaḥ—absorbed in; hari-kathāsu—in the transcendental topics of the Lord; ratim—attraction; na—shall not; kuryāt—do.

Prabhupāda: Jñānaṁ yadā pratinivṛtta-guṇormi-cakram. Knowledge, progressive knowledge, so when it comes to the real standard, yadā, jñānaṁ yadā, when the knowledge or speculative empiric knowledge, pratinivṛtta-guṇormi-cakram, no more affected by the waves of these modes of nature. Our present conditioned stage is due to our being carried away by the waves of material nature. They are being carried away.

Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has translated in his song, keno māyār bośe, jāccho bhese', khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi: "Why you are being carried away by the waves of māyā, and sometimes drowned and sometimes on the surface? Why you are taking so much trouble?" Jīv kṛṣṇa-dās, e biśwās, korle to' ār duḥkho nāi (Gītāvalī). As soon as you take it . . . it is a fact, but you are misled. It is a fact that you are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, but artificially you are thinking that you are master—you are master, you are God, you are enjoyer, you are this, you are that. That is artificial.

So real knowledge means when one is not any more disturbed by the influence of the modes of material nature. The modes of material nature is working. Somebody is influenced by passion, somebody is influenced by ignorance, and somebody is influenced by goodness also. That is also bondage. If, on the platform of goodness, if one stops, then he's also bound, he's also conditioned. "I am very learned man; I know what is Brahman," or "I am living very nice, peaceful life," these are the products of jñāna. But if we remain compact within the boundary of such knowledge and do not make further progress, then that is also bondage. That is also bondage.

Therefore one must come to the sense where these waves of material nature cannot act. That is real knowledge. Therefore it is said, jñānaṁ yadā pratinivṛtta-guṇormi (SB 2.3.12). Urmi, urmi means waves; cakram, in the whirlpool of the waves of the ocean of nescience. Just like they are taking pleasure in swimming with the waves. It is voluntarily taking, I mean, shelter of the ocean, and they like being tossed by the waves. And sometimes they are drowned also. That is our position. We have come to enjoy this ocean of material nescience, and there is tossing, and we are thinking we are enjoying. So when one comes to the knowledge that "This is not my platform of enjoyment. Let me go to the land," then he's safe. Then he's safe. Otherwise, he may think that he's enjoying, but he's actually being tossed by the waves of the ocean. And this is knowledge. Jñānaṁ yadā pratinivṛtta.

Ātma . . . ātma-prasāda uta yatra guṇeṣv asaṅgaḥ (SB 2.3.12). Ātma-prasāda. I am eternal part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. I may be very minute part, but because I am now attached with the complete machine, now I am safe. This example I have given so many times, a big machine and a small screw, part of it. When it is detached from the machine, it has no value. But when it is again attached to the machine, even it is very insignificant, small, it has got value. Similarly, ātma-prasāda uta yatra guṇeṣv asaṅgaḥ. Asaṅgaḥ, no more connection with this material nature. But I have my connection with Kṛṣṇa. It may be little, very. I may be very minute, but that, I mean to say, connection is very valuable.

I have given many times this example, that a car running at a speed of sixty miles, and a cycle is running at the rate of ten miles, but as soon as the cyclist catches the car, the cyclist also runs in the sixty miles. So similarly, instead of trying to satisfy our senses independently, if we join with Kṛṣṇa in His rāsa dance—as cowherd boys, gopīs, we join with Kṛṣṇa—then you get the same pleasure as Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Don't try to enjoy independently. Just like here, in this temple, every one of us trying to enjoy life in connection with Kṛṣṇa.

As soon as we are disconnected with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, this kind of foodstuff or this kind of living, simple living, will not satisfy you. You'll be tossed by the waves of material nature, as others are being . . . they are also eating; we are also eating. But in our eating, we have got full satisfaction, and they have no satisfaction. They are eating sometimes here, sometimes there, this restaurant, that restaurant, this place . . . so many advertisement. So as soon as we dovetail our activities with Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa's activities, that is perfection. Jñānaṁ yadā apratihatā, ahaituky apratihatā. That is real activity.

Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6): the activities which, yato bhaktir adhokṣaje, which is meant for rendering service to the Lord, apratihatā, without being checked. Here it is said, yadā apratihatā. Or apratihatā. Both ways you can take. That is kaivalyam. Kaivalya means oneness, when I forget myself. The same example: the screw is no longer a screw, it is the whole machine. It is the whole machine. So similarly, kaivalya means oneness. There is no other anything. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma: everything Brahman.

This stage can be achieved when one is engaged, dovetailed in the service of the Lord. Therefore the last line says, ko nirvṛto hari-kathāsu ratiṁ na kuryāt (SB 2.3.12). This is the highest perfectional stage of life. So anyone, one who . . . anyone who wants blissful life . . . what is the nirvṛti? Hmm? What is the meaning, nirvṛtah?

Śrutaśravā: "Absorbed in."

Prabhupāda: Absorbed in. So anyone who wants to be in transcendental pleasure, absorbed in transcendental pleasure, how he will decline to hear the hari-kathā, transcendental messages of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Hari-kathā. Hari-kathāsu. This is hari-kathā. In our temple, whatever we discuss, that is hari-kathā or kṛṣṇa-kathā. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Hari-kathā. Now read . . . no. Time is up.

Pradyumna: Translation?

Prabhupāda: No, we shall read tomorrow. That's all. Now have kīrtana. (devotees offer obeisances) Begin. Chant.

(kīrtana) (Prabhupāda plays gong) (prema-dvani) Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)