720828 - Lecture SB 01.02.25 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

720828SB-LOS ANGELES - August 28, 1972 - 52:19 Minutes

(Govindam prayers playing. Prabhupāda singing along)

Prabhupāda: (prema-dhvani) Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to you Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: (sings Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava) (prema-dhvani) Thank you very much.

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

Prabhupāda: (Hums) Hmm. Recite.

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

Canto One, Chapter Two, text 25. (leads chanting of verse) (Prabhupāda and devotees repeat)

bhejire munayo 'thāgre

bhagavantam adhokṣajam

sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ kṣemāya

kalpante ye 'nu tān iha

(SB 1.2.25)

Prabhupāda: Ladies. (ladies chant) That's all. Now, word meaning.

Pradyumna:

bhejire—rendered service unto; munayaḥ-atha-agre—thus before all the sages; bhagavantam—unto the Personality of Godhead; adhokṣajam—the Transcendence; sattvam—existence; viśuddham—above the three modes of nature; kṣemāya—to derive the ultimate benefit; kalpante—deserve; ye—those; anu—follow; tān—those; iha—in this material world.

Translation: "Previously, all the great sages rendered service unto the transcendental Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān, due to His existence above the three modes of material nature. They worshiped Him to become free from material conditions. Whoever follows such sages is also eligible for liberation from the material world."

Prabhupāda: Hm. So in the beginning, there was no impersonalists or voidists. These are later addition. In the Vedas it is stated, oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ (Ṛg Veda 1.22.20). It is a Vedic mantra. Sūrayaḥ, those who are great sages, they're always looking forward to see the lotus feet of Viṣṇu, tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam. So in another Vedic mantra there is:

yaṁ brahmā varuṇendra-rudra-marutaḥ stunvanti divyaiḥ stavair

vedaiḥ sāṅga-pada-kramopaniṣadair gāyanti yaṁ sāma-gāḥ

dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino

yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ surāsura-gaṇā devāya tasmai namaḥ

(SB 12.13.1)

Yaṁ brahmā. Brahmā is the original living creature within this universe; so he worshiped the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead. He worshiped not the impersonal brahma-jyotir; he worshiped the person. Yaṁ brahmā varuṇendra—they were the first creation, and the sages Marīci, Vasiṣṭha, Ātreya . . . there are seven great sages, first-born. All of them worship the Personality of Godhead. Bhejire munayo 'thāgre. Agra means in the beginning of creation. Later on they have deviated, or as the ages are going on, people are becoming degraded in their standard of spiritual understanding.

In the Satya-yuga, cent percent people were aware of their spiritual necessity of life. Next yuga, seventy-five percent. Next yuga, fifty percent, fifty percent. And this yuga, Kali-yuga, seventy-five percent are rascals, and twenty-five percent, they are little wise. And out of that twenty-five percent, mostly they are fruitive actors. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu (BG 7.3). So in this fallen age, they have manufactured so many things. But actually in the beginning, agre, in the beginning—agre means in the beginning—all the sages, they worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.

Bhejire munayo 'thāgre bhagavantam. There are . . . absolute Truth is manifested in three phases: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti (SB 1.2.11). So Bhagavān is the last word in the Absolute Truth. So here it is said they did not worship Brahman or Paramātmā; they worshiped directly bhagavantam adhokṣajam. Adhokṣajam. Another name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is adhokṣajam. Akṣaja, akṣaja means direct perception. Direct means sense perception.

Just like we see so many things directly with our eyes; we touch with our hands, we smell by our nose. These are direct perception by our senses. But bhagavantam, Bhagavān, is adhokṣajam. He is beyond direct perception. Adhokṣajam. Adhaḥ, you cannot reach there by direct perception. Just like I do not see God. Then what do you see? Your seeing power is very limited. Why don't you accept that? So He's not appreciable by limited senses. Therefore His name is Adhokṣaja. Adhokṣaja.

Sattvaṁ viśuddham. Sattvaṁ viśuddham. Sattva, goodness, sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa. That sattvam, or existence, His existence is adhokṣaja, beyond our sense perception, and viśuddham. Apāpa-viddham, as it is stated in the Īśopaniṣad, viśuddham. He is never touched by the material contamination. Viśuddham. Sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ vasudeva-śabditam. Here, however good we may be, there is some material touch. But so far Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is concerned, His existence is viśuddham. Therefore He's called paraḥ. Nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ. Paraḥ means above this material world, transcendental.

So the material nature is created, everything here created at a certain point, but because He's above, therefore He is not within this creation. We cannot take Kṛṣṇa as one of the created being like us. We are all created being. But Kṛṣṇa is not created. He is above creation. Before creation, He was existing; therefore His existence is not within this creation. That is adhokṣaja. Within this creation we can understand by experimental science, but which is beyond this creation, because we cannot reach there, adhokṣaja . . . because we take everything by direct perception, but that is beyond direct perception. Adhokṣaja.

Kṣemāya kalpante ye 'nu tān iha. That is our real benefit, adhokṣaja. In the beginning also of this chapter it is said, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). The same word, adhokṣaje. Ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati. If you want real happiness, then you engage yourself in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṣemāya. Then you'll be happy. And if you take to other demigods, those who are material, that will be not your perfect happiness or permanent happiness.

Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, yajante anya-devatāḥ. Kāma, kā . . . what is that? Hṛta-jñānāḥ. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ (BG 7.20). We have read, we have discussed, that if you want, if you want to fulfill this desire, then you worship this demigod. If you want to be beautiful, then you worship Umā. If you want money, then you worship Prajāpati, the treasurer of the demigods, Kuvera. And in this way there are different recommendation. But the conclusion is that Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ (BG 7.20): this material kāma, lust, desires, for this purpose they go, they worship different demigods.

There is no necessity. Kṛṣṇa stopped demigod worship to His father. When His father was going to arrange a festival for worshiping Indra, and He stopped it. The father was so affectionate, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa doesn't want it. All right, stop it." But Indra became very angry: "Who is this boy, stopping my worship?" So he wanted to show his power. So for seven days, torrents of rain. And Kṛṣṇa showed His power. He lifted the Govardhana Hill, giri-vara-dhārī, Govardhana Hill to protect the Vṛndāvana vāsī. Then he came to his senses that, "He's not ordinary cowherd boy. I'm . . . He's my master." Then he . . .

So Kṛṣṇa is adhokṣaja. Adhokṣaja means beyond our sense perception. Therefore we have to know Kṛṣṇa from Kṛṣṇa, not by our speculation. Kṛṣṇa may . . . that is frog philosophy. Frog philosophy. He's simply calculating with reference to his teeny well, three feet. So if we want to speculate, what experience we have got, what knowledge we have got that we can speculate to understand the supreme, all-pervasive Supreme Personality of Godhead? That is not possible. Therefore His name is Adhokṣaja.

If you want to know Kṛṣṇa, then you have to take to this process of devotional service, rendering service unto Him. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau (Brs. 1.2.234). Bhejire, bhejire, bhaj-dhātu. Bhaja means sevāya. So bhejire. You have to take to this devotional service. And Kṛṣṇa also says: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55).

He doesn't say by knowledge or by work or by yoga, mystic yogic power, one can understand God. No. That is not possible. These are all akṣaja, within the range of our sense perception. But bhakti is not within the range. Bhakti is the transcendental process. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Brs. 1.1.11). Jñāna and karma, knowledge and fruitive activities, they are of this material world. And anyābhilāṣa—they're all of this material world, anyābhilāṣa, desiring other than Kṛṣṇa.

So, leaving aside all these processes, we have to simply serve Kṛṣṇa ānukūlyena, favorably, as Kṛṣṇa wants. So at the present moment, Kṛṣṇa, what does He want? How do you know it? Yes, we can know it. Kṛṣṇa, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He appeared, and He has declared His mission. What is that? Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). He says: "Whomever you meet, you simply speak of Kṛṣṇa." Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. Kṛṣṇa-upadeśa, the instruction given by Kṛṣṇa or the instruction given about Kṛṣṇa.

Just like this Bhāgavata, this is instruction about Kṛṣṇa, how to know Kṛṣṇa. And instruction given by Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavad-gītā. He says: "I am like this. I am like this." So we haven't got to make any research. Whatever is already stocked there, let us distribute it. What capacity we have got to find out Kṛṣṇa by research work? That's not possible. That is akṣaja. Akṣaja. Kṛṣṇa is adhokṣaja. Your paltry research work with limited power of sense, how you can find out Kṛṣṇa? That's not possible.

So we have to take instruction from Kṛṣṇa to understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says that, "I am the supreme." You have to accept that, in the Bhāgavata. You cannot interpret in a different way: "Yes, Kṛṣṇa is supreme, all right. But . . ." Not like that. Take it as it is. Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8): "I am the original source of everything." Because our inquiries—every scientist, every philosopher is trying to find out the ultimate source. That is called progressive science or philosophy. But here we get the information. Why should we take so much trouble?

Kṛṣṇa says aham ādir hi devānām (BG 10.2): "I am the original of all demigods." Just like Brahmā. Brahmā is the first demigod within this universe, but he is not original. Original is Kṛṣṇa. Aham ādir hi devānāṁ maharṣīṇām. So He says that He is the ādi, ādi-puruṣam. Brahmā says ādi-puruṣam, the original person. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. So He's the ādi-puruṣa, He's the original source. Every Vedic literature declares, every authority declares. He comes Himself to declare, but still we are so rascal, we are finding out, making research work, "What is the ādi-puruṣa?"

This is called rascaldom. Everything is there, but the rascal will simply spoil their own time and spoil others' time making research work. This is called illusion. Everything is there. Sun is there, brilliant, and one is searching sun with a lamp. What is the use of this lamp? The sun is self-effulgent, you can see. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is self-effulgent—by śāstra, by authority, by action, everything. Why you are wasting your time? Wasting your time? Yes. What is the reason?

The reason Kṛṣṇa says: duṣkṛtina. Duṣkṛtinaḥ, narādhamāḥ. Because they are very, very sinful, duṣkṛtina. Mischievous, miscreants, simply wasting money. They're taking huge salary, huge research fees from the government, and simply misleading person. That is their business. Miscreants. Actually, they want money, but to take the money he has to bluff. Without bluffing, how he can take money?

Then they will present themselves, "I am great scientist, I am great philosopher, so give me money, millions of dollars. I'll go to the moon planet, I'll go to the Mars," and taking money and wasting. And because we are rascals, we are also, "Oh, they are making so much advancement, yes." Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). We are following blind leaders. Because we are blind, we do not know. This is the position. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ. So we have to open our eyes. How these eyes are opened?

ajñāna-timirāndhasya

jñānāñjana-śalākayā

cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena

tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

(Gautamīya-tantra)

We are blind. We can have our eyes through the medium of bona fide spiritual master. That is required. Ādau gurvāśrayam.

So this adhokṣajam, Kṛṣṇa, we have to worship. Adhokṣaja. So we cannot see if it is beyond our sense perception. How we can worship Him? Therefore you have to take shelter of the spiritual master who has seen Him. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34). You try to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead by surrender, praṇipātena, paripraśnena.

First of all, surrender. Not asking before surrender. This is not allowed. If one is not surrendered, then he should not put any question, because the first principle is lost. First of all you must surrender, then put question. And when you put question, don't argue. Take it.

Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was putting . . . when Arjuna surrendered himself to Kṛṣṇa, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam (BG 2.7): "Now I become . . ." Because in the beginning he was talking like friends. So friends' argument, there is no end. Because everyone thinks that, "I am your friend. Why shall I be defeated by you?" So that talk, sort of talks, will not solve your problem how to see God. That is not possible.

Therefore, you must follow the principles done by Arjuna. He surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, "Kṛṣṇa, I know You are my friend, but unless I surrender unto You, I accept You my spiritual master, it is not possible to know." Therefore he surrendered: śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam. Kṛṣṇa also immediately took him as disciple and immediately chastised him, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11): "You're talking like a very learned scholar, but you're fool number one. You do not know what is knowledge."

So we must go to certain person, such a person who can actually give us knowledge. Ādau gurvāśrayam. So in the Bhagavad-gītā:

. . . praṇipātena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

(BG 4.34)

Tattva-darśī, one who has seen the Absolute Truth, he can give you real . . . so guru and Kṛṣṇa . . . ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva, guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya (CC Madhya 19.151). Both—Kṛṣṇa's mercies and spiritual master's mercy. Kṛṣṇa's mercy is there, Bhagavad-gītā. He has already given you. And try to understand this Bhagavad-gītā through the bona fide spiritual master, Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then you'll learn. Then you'll learn what is adhokṣaja, beyond your sense perception. Then you will understand gradually. Svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ: He becomes revealed. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234).

The spiritual master's duty is to engage you in devotional service, especially engage your tongue, jihvādau. Jihvā means tongue. Tongue means engaging your tongue for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. And when you are tired, take kṛṣṇa-prasāda. That is on your tongue. So simply engage your tongue; he'll give you Kṛṣṇa.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda! (devotees offer obeisances)

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Begin.

(kīrtana) (Prabhupāda plays gong)

Prabhupāda: (prema-dvani) Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)