720630 - Lecture BG 07.01 & Initiation - San Diego

Lectures by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

720630IN-SAN DIEGO - June 30, 1972 - 40:54 Minutes

Prabhupāda: (singing of Govindam prayers) (break) (prema-dhvani) Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrī Guru and Gauranga. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (devotees offer obeisances)

Prabhupāda: Where is book? Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha (BG 7.1). Where is Pradyumna? He's not here?

Śyāmasundara: No.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. So you read.

Śyāmasundara: We're a little early today. He stayed behind to watch the house.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Śyāmasundara: It's five to seven. (devotees chant japa)

Nanda-kumāra: We didn't read the purport. Should we read the verse first or finish the purport?

Prabhupāda: No. Read the śloka first.

Nanda-kumāra: Same śloka, read again? Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (leads chanting of verse) (Prabhupāda and devotees repeat)

śrī bhagavān uvāca

mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha

yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ

asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ

yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu

(BG 7.1)

Prabhupāda: Now you read the purport.

Nanda-kumāra: Translation: "Now hear, O son of Pṛthā (Arjuna), how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt."

Prabhupāda: So this yoga system is very simple and the sublime. You have to simply engage your mind only on Kṛṣṇa, on the form of Kṛṣṇa, meditation. Simply you think of Kṛṣṇa. And how? Āsakta, āsakti, with attachment. Just like if you love somebody, you want to see him, and attachment is so strong that without seeing him you become restless, that is called āsakti.

Āsakti. We have got āsakti, attachment, for so many material things. So we need not explain what is meant by āsakti, or attachment. So different people have different attachments, but attachment is there. Somebody may be attached to a dog, and somebody may be attached to God, but the attachment is there.

Rūpa Gosvāmī has explained this attachment, very simple. He says: "My dear Lord, as a young man awakens his attachment immediately by seeing a young girl, or a young girl increases her attachment immediately seeing a young boy . . ."

This is natural. Nobody wants to learn in the university how to love a young man or young girl. That is natural. So Rūpa Gosvāmī says that, "When my attachment unto You will becomes such naturally and simultaneous?"

This is very nice explanation. Simply by seeing, "Oh, here is a nice, beautiful girl," "Oh, here is a nice, beautiful boy," similarly, "Oh, here is Kṛṣṇa, here is Kṛṣṇa's kathā, here is Kṛṣṇa's topics. Oh, here is Kṛṣṇa's temple." Just like, another example is given, just like the waves of the river: it goes down.

We have seen that little river . . . what is that? Varta? Always going down. In Japan also, I have seen that little river, with sound, going down, going down. So similarly, as the river is going after the sea spontaneously, without any artificial attempt, so such spontaneous love for Kṛṣṇa, or God, that is the perfection of yoga. This is yoga. Yoga means connection.

So that connection . . . in the beginning we may make, revive, that connection artificially, but when the connection will be spontaneous, without any check, just like the river water is going down incessantly . . . nobody can check it. Ahaituky apratihatā. And why the river is going there? There is no cause. It is going there. Similarly, when our love for Kṛṣṇa will be gliding down like that, without any cause . . . without any cause. Generally . . . the same example again, that spontaneous love does not depend on any cause without. Cause is there. Cause is there: love. There is no other cause.

So it is called ahaituky apratihatā. Ahaitukī means without any cause. Just like we generally go to the temple, to the church, with a cause. Just like in Christian church they go. There is cause: "God, give us our daily bread." The cause is bread. "Therefore I have come to church." But when you go to church without any cause, that is real love. "God will give me bread; therefore, let me go to church," this is also nice, but this motivated faith may be lost. If we approach God for some material benefit, for personal sense gratification, that may break at any time.

So that is not real love. Real love is without cause. And apratihatā. Apratihatā means which cannot be checked. My love for God cannot be checked by any material condition. Nobody can say that, "Because I am poor man, I have to work so hard, I cannot love God now." People say like that. "We shall wait. When I get millions of dollars in my bank balance, then I shall take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now let me earn money."

You see? This is not bhakti or attachment. Mayy āsakta. Mayy āsakta manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ (BG 7.1). Mad-āśrayaḥ means "under My protection," Kṛṣṇa says. So taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa or His representative . . . mat means "My man" also. Mad-āśrayaḥ, take shelter of Kṛṣṇa or His representative, and try to practice the yoga by which you will have spontaneous love for Kṛṣṇa.

So this practice, according to Vedic instruction . . . because we have no attachment. So for making attachment, there are some regulative principles by which you can increase the attachment. Just like we say: "No illicit sex." That means . . . illicit sex means those who are too much attached to sex; otherwise, there is no question of illicit sex.

According to Vedic system one is married, and married means the girl has got a husband and the boy has got a wife. So living on religious principles, they can satisfy their sex life for begetting nice children. So there is no prohibition. That is allowed. But illicit sex means your attachment for sex is increased, not for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is forbidden.

No meat-eating. Meat-eating or fish-eating or egg-eating, non-vegetarian diet, it is simply attachment of the tongue. Nobody dies without meat-eating. That's not a fact. When we were children, we were babies, we were depending on milk, either mother's breast milk or cow's milk. Therefore cow is also our mother. Just like we drink breast milk from my mother, similarly, we drink milk from mother cow.

Therefore meat-eating is prohibited. You cannot kill your mother. That is a great sin. You cannot. But people have become so sinful that they have no consideration that, "I am going to kill my mother. I am so ungrateful that the mother who supplied her blood to feed me, to keep me living, now I am grown-up, I am going to kill my mother." This is my advancement of education, that "I have learned how to kill my mother."

Therefore, in every religion the killing is prohibited or very much restricted. So in your Christian religion, the first item is, "Thou shall not kill." But everyone is violating this first commandment. Then where is your claim to become a Christian? If you violate the injunction given by Lord Jesus Christ, then where . . . how you become a Christian? That is our question. Either Christian or this or that, killing is most sinful. This should be avoided.

Therefore in the beginning, to increase attachment for Kṛṣṇa . . . because my business is to increase my spontaneous attachment for God. That is the business of human life. This is a chance. Because in the human form of life you can do that. And as soon as you increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa, then your life is successful.

Successful means that you haven't got to accept any more this material body. You will get a spiritual body and go to Kṛṣṇa, or go to home, go to back to Godhead. So if you increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa, the benefit is that you make a solution for all the problems of life. It is scientific. Mayy āsakta manāḥ pārtha.

So in the beginning, in order to increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa, you have to follow the regulative principles, "Don't do this." Just like a doctor gives you prescription, "Don't eat this. Don't do this," similarly, there are so many dont’s and so many do’s. So we have to accept the do’s, not the dont’s. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). This is called favorably cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have to accept the do’s, not the dont’s.

Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpa, ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. We have to accept the favorable things. So if illicit sex life is unfavorable for my advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, I must accept it. You cannot argue. That will not help you. Similarly, intoxication. Similarly, meat-eating. Similarly, gambling. Because these are the four pillars of sinful life: illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. The roof of sinful life is held by these four pillars.

So these four pillars, in the beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, when you are actually going to take Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously . . . just like some souls will be initiated today. This means that he is going to take Kṛṣṇa consciousness very serious. So one who is serious to take Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his first business is to break these four pillars of sinful life so there will be no chance of sin. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpam: "One who is freed from all sinful reaction of life . . ." Yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. Puṇya-karmaṇām, pious activities. "Those who are acting in pious life, simply executing pious activities . . ."

Pious activities means yajña-dāna-tapa-kriyā. Pious activities means yajña, performing yajña. Just like there will be fire sacrifice; dāna, charity, giving charity for Kṛṣṇa's propaganda. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is making propaganda, so they require money. Money is Kṛṣṇa's monies. Everyone is holding Kṛṣṇa's money. So the sooner they spare that money . . .

Because if I am holding your money, if I give it to you, then I become released from my criminal activities. Suppose I have stolen something from your pocket and I become conscious, "So this stealing is not good," so as soon as I return unto you, "Please take this money; I was mistaken," so thing is settled up. But if you hold it, then you are criminal. You will be punished.

Similarly, everyone who is holding Kṛṣṇa's money, not returning to Kṛṣṇa, he is a criminal. He will be punished. How they are punished? That you have seen. In India, in recent . . . everywhere, the same thing is going on. There was war between Pakistan and India. So all the rich men had to contribute fifty lakhs, fifty hundred thousand, according to everyone's capacity. Many millions of rupees were collected, and it was put into the gun powder, "Svāhā!" That's all. (laughter)

So if you don't execute this svāhā, then you will have to execute that svāhā. (sings out the word "svāhā!") (laughter) That's all. The Vietnam is going on—svāhā. So many young men—svāhā. So much money—svāhā. You have to do that. Therefore better learn how to make svāhā for Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise you will have to make svāhā for māyā. That's all.

The sooner you give up . . . yajña-dāna. This is called yajña and dāna, and tapas, tapasya. Tapasya means this following, voluntarily accepting, all restrictive principles. Because we are addicted to all this license or nonsense. Not license; it is nonsense. So unless you stop all these nonsense activities, you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gatam . . . if you want to be serious . . . that is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.

So in this way we have to increase our attachment for Kṛṣṇa, and if we increase our attachment for Kṛṣṇa, mayy āsakta manāḥ pārtha yogam . . . this yoga system . . . this yoga system, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is the topmost yoga system. Why it is topmost? Because it teaches how to increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa; therefore it is topmost.

That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: yoginām api sarveṣāṁ (BG 6.47). There are different kinds of yogīs. "Of all the yogīs . . ." Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ. Sarveṣām means "of all." Mad-gata āntarātmanā: "one who is always thinking of Me." You can think of one if you are attached to him; otherwise, artificially you cannot do. That's not possible. If you love somebody, then you will always see his picture, his form, always. These are simple yoga.

And it is said . . . as it is said in the Vedic literature, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38): we have to create our eyes or purify our eyes to see God. And that purification is possible when you apply the ointment of love of God, daily. How to love Kṛṣṇa? Take it as ointment. As we apply some ointment to increase the sight of our eyes . . . doctor gives some prescription. We use it also. So similarly, how to see God? You will see God with these eyes when it is clarified. Premāñjana-cchurita, by the ointment of love of Godhead.

So these are the function, how to love. One has to rise early in the morning. He doesn't like, but, "No. I will have to satisfy Kṛṣṇa." This is the beginning. "Oh, I have to chant sixteen rounds." He is lazy. He doesn't want to do it. But if he loves Kṛṣṇa, he must do it. He must do it.

So in the beginning we have to learn how to love, but when you come to the stage, oh, there is no question of . . . you may follow the regulative principle or not, because love is there. But don't imitate.

Just like in our ordinary love affairs, if I want to love some girl, I bring some flower, I bring some presentation. In this way she thinks, "Oh, it is very nice boy. He has brought me this, that." In this way there are six principles of love. Dadāti pratigṛhṇāti (Upadeśāmṛta 4). You have to give and you have to take. I love somebody. I give him something: "My dear, you take this." And when he offers also, if he also loves you, he also return you. Not exactly for returning. It is love to give and take.

Dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati ca. Opening mind, "My dear lover, I like this," and the other party also opens his mind. Guhyam ākhyāti . . . guhyam means very confidential things. Ākhyāti, disclosed, exchanged. Guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati ca. And bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva, and giving the lover to eat something and accept from him some eatable. These are the six ways of increasing love.

If you act in that way with Kṛṣṇa . . . you are taking so many things from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is giving you everything. Eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Whatever our necessities of life, that is being supplied by Kṛṣṇa. We are taking these fruits, flowers, grains. It is not possible to manufacture these in your factory. It is Kṛṣṇa sending, Kṛṣṇa giving you.

So we are living at the cost of Kṛṣṇa, and after cooking these fruits, flowers or grains, if we do not offer to Kṛṣṇa, is that very good gentlemanliness? I take so much from you, and simply, nicely, and very cleanly cooking the foodstuff, if we offer to Kṛṣṇa, then what is the wrong there? The rascals, they say: "Oh, they are heathens. They are worshiping some stone." Just see.

So these are all less intelligent person. God eats. Kṛṣṇa says: tad aham aśnāmi. "I eat."

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ

yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

tad aham aśnāmi

bhakty-upahṛtam

(BG 9.26)

Kṛṣṇa says that, "My devotee, when he brings something within the categories of vegetables, grains and fruits, because he has brought with devotion and love, I eat them." So when the devotee offers with devotion and love, "Kṛṣṇa, You have given us so many nice things. So I have cooked it. Kindly You take first," oh, how it is nice.

Just like your father has given you so many things and you are obliged, "Oh, our father is maintaining us." And if you cook something and give it to the father first, "My dear father, I have cooked this. It is very nice. You first of all . . ." "Oh, it is very nice? All right, give me." The father will be so much pleased: "Oh, here is my dear son." It is father's property. You cannot give anything to the father.

Similarly, you have nothing to offer to Kṛṣṇa. Simply you have to become little intelligent. That's all. Not rascal. If you remain rascal, then your human life is spoiled. If you become little intelligent, then your human life is successful.

This is intelligence that, "God is giving us . . . God is giving us daily bread. Why not offer to God first?" That is intelligence. And simply, "God is giving me bread. I shall eat. That's all . . ." I am meant for eating only? And why not offering? God will not eat?

Simply you feel gratitude: "Oh, God has given me this bread. Let me offer it to God first of all. Then I take." What is the wrong there? What is loss there?

But these narādhama, lowest of the mankind, they even do not recognize this. Lowest of . . . they have been described in Bhagavad . . . narādhama. Na māṁ duṣkṛtina mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā (BG 7.15). His intelligence, his knowledge, has been taken away by māyā.

He has not this knowledge even that, "God has given me to eat. Why not offer first of all to God?" This intelligence has been taken away by māyā. Therefore they are narādhama. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ.

So those who are narādhama, lowest of the mankind . . . just like here, something being offered to Kṛṣṇa, to God, He will eat it, but He will leave everything for you as prasādam. How? Pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate.

Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate (ISO Invocation). This is God's power. He will eat everything, but He will keep everything for you as prasādam. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya. Taking everything, but still, it is there.

So this is the process, how to increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa. This bhakti-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is nothing . . . we do not say that, "You Christian, you are good. I am Hindu, I am bad." Or "You are bad, I am good." We don't say that. We simply say that, "It is your right now, this human form of body, how to love God." That's all. "You have loved so long dog. Now you try to love God."

That is our propaganda. So we don't criticize anyone. Simply we want to see whether he or she has developed his love of God. That's all. So you can do it either as Christian or as Hindu, as Muhammadan. We don't care for that. But we want to see you that you are actually lover of God.

If you are not, then we tell you, "You try to love God in this way." What is that? Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. Simply hear about Kṛṣṇa. Simply chant about Kṛṣṇa. Is that very difficult? If you have not yet learned how to love God, take this process, and you will learn how to love God. This is our propaganda. It is not difficult.

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ

smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam

arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ

sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

(SB 7.5.23)

These are the nine different processes. So you can execute all the nine processes or eight, seven, six, five, four. But at least, take to one. You will be perfect. If you simply come here in this temple, without doing anything, simply hear about Kṛṣṇa, your life will be perfect.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (devotees offer obeisances) (pause)

(devotees start coming up for initiation)

Prabhupāda: So what are the rules and regulation?

Girl devotee: No eating of meat, fish or eggs, no intoxication, no gambling and no illicit sex life.

Prabhupāda: So your name is Rasa-mañjarī, one of the gopīs. You are the maidservant of Rasa-mañjarī. Take this.

Next, come on.

Śyāmasundara: Jñānasindhu.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. What are the rules and regulation?

Devotee: No illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling, no eating of meat, fish or eggs.

Prabhupāda: And how many rounds you will chant?

Devotee: Sixteen.

Prabhupāda: Minimum. Your is, spiritual name, Jñānasindhu dāsa. Jñānasindhu was one of the ācārya in our disciplic succession.

Next.

Śyāmasundara: Akṣobhya. Akṣobhya Dāsa.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. What are the rules and regulation?

Devotee: No gambling, no intoxication, no meat-eating and no illicit sex. And to chant sixteen rounds each day.

Prabhupāda: Thank you. Akṣobhya. He was also one of the ācārya in our disciplic succession. Come on. So? You want to speak? No. (cut) (end)