730418 - Lecture SB 01.08.26 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1973

730418SB-LOS ANGELES - April 18, 1973 - 37:03 Minutes

Prabhupāda: (leads singing of Jaya rādhā-mādhava)

(prema-dhvāṇī prayers) Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break)

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (leads chanting of verse) (Prabhupāda and devotees repeat)

janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir

edhamāna-madaḥ pumān

naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai

tvām akiñcana-gocaram

(SB 1.8.26)

(men chant)

Prabhupāda: Now ladies. Ladies. (ladies chant) That's all right. Word meaning.

Pradyumna: janma—birth; aiśvarya—opulence; śruta—education; śrībhiḥ—by the possession of beauty; edhamāna—progressively increasing; madaḥ—intoxication; pumān—the human being; na—never; eva—ever; arhati—deserves; abhidhātum—address in feeling; vai—certainly; tvām—You; akiñcana-gocaram—one who is approached easily by the materially exhausted man.

(Audio - 12:31) (Video - 00:58)

Translation: "My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of material progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling."

Prabhupāda: So these are the disqualifications. Material opulence, these things . . . janma, to take birth in very aristocratic family or nation. Just like you American boys and girls, you are born of rich father, mother, nation. So this is, in one sense, it is God's grace. That is also . . . to take birth in nice family or in nice nation, to become opulent, very rich, to become advanced in knowledge, education, all, everything material—and beauty—these are the gifts of pious activities. Otherwise, why a poor man, he does not attract anyone's attention? But a rich man attracts. Educated man attracts the attention. A fool, rascal, does not attract attention. So similarly in beauty, in opulence, these things are materially very beneficial. Janmaiśvarya-śruta.

But when a person is materially opulent in this way, he becomes intoxicated, "Oh, I am rich man. I am educated man. I have got money." Becomes intoxicated. Therefore we advise . . . because they're already intoxicated by these possession. And again intoxication? Then, by nature, these people are already intoxicated. Intoxicated in this sense: Just like if you drink wine, you become intoxicated. You are flying in the sky. You are thinking like that. You have gone to the heaven. Yes. So these are the effects of intoxication. But the intoxicated person does not know that this intoxic . . . intoxication will be finished. It is within the time limit. It is not going to continue. That is called illusion. One is intoxication that, "I am very rich. I am very educated. I am very beautiful. I am very . . . I am born in high family, in high nation." That's all right. But this intoxication, how long it will exist?

Suppose you are American. You are rich, you are beautiful, you are advanced in knowledge, and you are . . . you can be proud of become American. But how long this intoxication will exist? As soon as this body's finished, everything is finished. All, all intoxication. Just like . . . same thing: You drink something, become intoxicated. But as soon as that intoxication is over, all your intoxicated dreams are over, finished. So this intoxication, if you remain in intoxication, hover in the sky and mental platform . . . these are mental platform, egoistic platform, bodily platform.

But you are not this body, not this gross body and the subtle body. This gross body is made of earth, water, air, fire, sky, and the subtle body is made of mind, intelligence and ego. But you do not belong to these eight elements. Apareyam, in the Bhagavad-gītā. This is inferior energy of God. Even one is very mentally advanced, he does not know that he's under the influence of inferior energy. He does not know. That is intoxication. Just like intoxicated person does not know in what condition he is. So this opulent position is intoxication. And if you increase your intoxication . . . the modern civilization is that we are already intoxicated, and increase the intoxication. We have to become out of the intoxication situation. But the modern civilization is increasing that, "You become more intoxicated, more intoxicated, and go to hell." This is the position of the modern civilization.

So Kuntī says that this intoxication position, madaḥ, edhamāna-madaḥ (SB 1.8.26), increasing, pumān, such person, naivārhati, they cannot feelingly address, "Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava." They cannot feelingly. That is not possible. Their feeling, spiritual feeling, is lost. They cannot feelingly address, because they do not know. "Oh, this God is for poor man. They cannot have sufficient food. Let them go to the church and ask, 'O God, give us our daily bread.' We have got enough bread. Why shall I go to church?" This is their opinion. Therefore nowadays, in the days of economic development, nobody's interested in going to the church or temple, "What this nonsense? Why shall I go to the church for asking bread? We shall develop economic condition, and there will be sufficient supply of bread."

Just like Communist country, they do so. The Communist country, they make propaganda in the villages. They ask the people to go to the church and ask for bread. They, innocent people, they ask as usual, "O God, give us our daily bread." Then when they come out of the church, these Communist people ask, "Have you got bread?" They say: "No, sir." "All right, ask us." And then they ask: "O Communist friend, give me bread." And the Communist friend has taken a truckload of bread: "Take. As much as you like, take. So who is better? We are better or your God is better?" They say: "No, sir, you are better." Because they have no intelligence. They do not inquire that, "You rascal, wherefrom you have brought this bread?" (laughter) "Have you manufactured in your factory? Can you manufacture grains, the ingredients of bread, in your factory?" Because they have no intelligence.

Śūdra. They are called śūdra. Śūdra means those who have no intelligence. They take it as it is. But one who is brāhmaṇa, one who is advanced in intelligence, he'll inquire immediately, "You rascal, wherefrom you brought this bread?" That is the question of the brāhmaṇa. You cannot manufacture bread. You have simply transformed God's grain.The grain, the wheat, is given by God, and you have simply transformed. But transforming something from something, that does not become your property.

Just like I give some carpenter some wood, some implement, and salary, and he makes a very nice, beautiful closet. To whom this closet will begi . . . belong? To the carpenter, or to the man who has supplied the ingredients? To whom it will begin? The carpenter cannot say that "Because I have transformed this wood into such nice closet, it is mine." No. It is not your. Similarly, who is supplying the ingredient, rascal? That is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva . . . prakṛtir me aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4). "This is My property. You have not created this sea, the land, the sky, the fire, the air. It is not your creation." You can transform these material things, tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ, by mixing and transforming. You take earth from the land, you take water from the sea and mix it and put it in the fire—it becomes a brick. And then you pile up all this brick and make a skyscraper building. But wherefrom you got this ingredient, rascal, that you are claiming this skyscraper yours? This is intelligent question. You have stolen the property of God, and you are claiming that it is your property. This is knowledge. This is knowledge.

So those who are intoxicated, they cannot understand. They think "It is my property. I have stolen. I have stolen this land of America from the Red Indians. Now it is my property." But he does not know that he's a thief. He's a thief. Stena eva sa ucyate (BG 3.12), in the Bhagavad-gītā. One who takes the property of God and claims his own, he's a thief. Stena eva sa ucyate. Therefore we have got communistic idea, the devotee, Kṛṣṇa conscious person. We have got Kṛṣṇa conscious communistic program. What is that? That everything belongs to God. Just like they are thinking that everything belongs to the state. These Communists, these Moscow, Moscowites, or the Russian, or the Chinese, they are thinking state-wise. But we are thinking not state-wise; we are thinking God-wise. Everything belongs to God. The same philosophy, you extend. Simply you require little intelligence, little intelligence. Why do you think that this state belongs to a few number of people? If you think that there are population, American population, this land of America belongs to this population . . . why do you think like that? You think this is property of God.

So every living entity is a child of God. God is the Supreme Father. Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā: "I am the seed-giving father of all living entities." Sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya (BG 14.4): "In whichever form they may live, they're all, living entities, they're My sons." Actually that is the fact. We all living entities, we are sons of God. But we have forgotten. Therefore we are fighting. Just like in a nice family, if anyone knows, "Father is supplying us food. So we brothers, why should we fight?" Similarly if we become God conscious, if we become Kṛṣṇa conscious, this fighting will be over. "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am Russian," "I am Chinese," these all nonsense things will be over.

Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so nice. As soon as people become Kṛṣṇa conscious, this fighting, this political fighting, national fighting, will be over immediately. Because they'll come to real consciousness that everything belongs to God. And as the children . . . a child of the family has got right to take advantages from the father, similarly if everyone is part and parcel of God, if everyone is child of God, then everyone has got the right to use the property of the father. So that right is not that . . . the right belongs to the human being. According to Bhagavad-gītā, this right belongs to all living entities, never mind whether he's living being or animal or trees, or birds or beast or insect. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We do not think in terms of that, "Simply my brother is good, I am good, and all bad." This kind of narrow, crippled consciousness we hate— we kick out.

We think, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18), in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find.

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne

brāhmaṇe gavi hastini

śuni caiva śva-pāke ca

paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

(BG 5.18)

One who is paṇḍita, one who is learned, he sees every living entity on the equal footing. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava is so compassionate. Lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau (Ṣaḍ-gosvāmy-aṣṭaka 2). They can actually do the beneficial work to the human being. They are seeing, actually feeling, that all these living entities, they are part and parcel of God. Some way or other, they have fallen in the contact of this material world, and, according to different karma, they have assumed different types of bodies.

So paṇḍita, those who are learned, they have no discrimination that, "This is animal; they should be sent to the slaughterhouse. And this is man; he will eat it." No. A actually Kṛṣṇa conscious person, he's kind to everyone. Why the animals should be slaughtered? Therefore our philosophy is no meat-eating. No meat-eating. You cannot. So they'll not hear us. "Oh, what this nonsense? This is our food. Why shall I not eat?" Because edhamāna-madaḥ (SB 1.8.26), he's intoxicated rascal. He'll not hear the real fact.

Just like in the state, because a man is lying street, poor man, has no help, can I kill him? Will the state excuse me? "No, I have killed one poor man. He had no necessity. There was no need for him in the society. So why should he live?" Will the state excuse me that, "You have done very nice work"? No. That poor man is also the subject of the citizen of the state. You cannot kill him. Why not expand this philosophy, that the poor animal or the trees, the birds, beasts, they're also sons of God. You cannot kill. You'll be responsible. You'll be hanged. Just like by killing one poor man on the street you'll be hanged. Never mind it is poor. Similarly, in God's eyes there is no such discrimination. What to speak of God, even a learned man's vision, there is no such discrimination, "This is poor, this is rich, this is black, this is white, this is . . ." No. Everyone is living entity, part and parcel of God.

Therefore Vaiṣṇava is the only benefactor for all the living entities. They try to elevate. A Vaiṣṇava tries to elevate all living entities to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau. Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī, Gosvāmīs: lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau tri-bhuvane mānyau śaraṇyākarau. A Vaiṣṇava has no such view that "This is Indian," "This is American," "This is . . ."

Somebody questioned me somewhere that, "Why you have come to America?" Why not I shall come? I am servant of God, and this is kingdom of God. Why shall I not come? It is artificial to check me. If you check me, then you'll commit sinful activities. Just like government servant, police, has got right to enter any house, anyone's house. There is no trespass. Similarly, a God's servant has got the right to go anywhere. Nobody can check. If he checks, then he'll be punished. Because everything belongs to God.

So in this way we have to see things as they are. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not a crippled idea. Therefore Kuntī says, janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān (SB 1.8.26). Those who are increasing intoxication, such person cannot become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Such person cannot become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Edhamāna-madaḥ. Because they're intoxicated. Just like a intoxicated person, he is now fully intoxicated and talking nonsense. If somebody says: "My dear brother, you are talking nonsense. Here is father. Here is mother," who cares for it? He's intoxicated. Similarly all these rascals, intoxicated rascals, if you say: "Here is God," they cannot understand. Because intoxicated. Therefore Kuntī says, tvām akiñcana-gocaram.

So it is a good qualification, when one becomes freed from these intoxicants, janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī . . . good birth, good opulence, good education, good beauty. They can be used. When the same person becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious . . . just like you American boys and girls are doing. You were intoxicated. But when the intoxication is over, you are doing better service, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like when you go to India, they're surprised how these American boys and girls have become so mad after God. Because that . . . that teaches them that, "You rascal. You learn. Because you imitate from the Western countries. Now see here, the Western country boys and girls are dancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now you imitate." That was my policy.

So it is being fructified now. Yes. So everything can be utilized. Good parentage, if you utilize . . . if you remain intoxicated, do not utilize it, then it is not very good asset. But you can utilize it for good purpose. If you asset, if you utilize the asset for Kṛṣṇa's purpose, it will be better position. The same example: Just like zero. Zero has no value. But as soon as you put one before zero, it becomes ten immediately. Immediately ten. Another zero—hundred. Another zero—thousand.

Similarly these janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī, so long you remain intoxicated with, it is all zero. But as soon as you put Kṛṣṇa, it becomes ten, hundred, thousand, millions. Yes. That is the opportunity. So you have got this opportunity. You American boys and girls, you have got this opportunity. You have got zeroes. Put Kṛṣṇa; you become ten. Yes.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda, Haribol! (Audio end) (Video - 25:14) (kīrtana) (end)