731209 - Lecture SB 01.15.31 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1973

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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731209SB-LOS ANGELES - December 09, 1973 - 32:35 Minutes

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Word meaning.

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

viśoko brahma-sampattyā

sañchinna-dvaita-saṁśayaḥ

līna-prakṛti-nairguṇyād

aliṅgatvād asambhavaḥ

(SB 1.15.31)

(break)

viśokaḥ—free from bereavement; brahma-sampattyā—by possession of spiritual assets; sañchinna—being completely cut off; dvaita-saṁśayaḥ—from the doubts of relativity; līna—merged in; prakṛti—material nature; nairguṇyāt—due to being in transcendence; aliṅgatvāt—because of being devoid of a material body; asambhavaḥ—free from birth and death. (break)

Translation: "Because of his possessing spiritual assets, the doubts of duality were completely cut off. Thus he was freed from the three modes of material nature and placed in transcendence. There was no longer any chance of his becoming entangled in birth and death, for he was freed from material form."

Prabhupāda: Viśokaḥ, without any bereavement; brahma-sampattyā, by achieving spiritual assets. This is the sign how one is advanced in spiritual life. That will be tested by this word viśokaḥ, "without any bereavement." That is explained in Bhagavad-gītā the same thing: brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). Prasannātmā means there is no more lamentation and no more hankering. That is prasannātmā. We are subjected to two things. If our possessed . . . if our possession is lost, then we lament, and if we don't possess, then we hanker. So here, viśokaḥ brahma-sampattyā. When one is fully identified with Brahman . . . Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). So when you fully surrender and you become freed from other desire—only surrender to Kṛṣṇa—that is our only business. No more any other business. That is brahma-sampattyā.

Sanātha-jīvitam. Just like the child is sitting on the lap of the father. So the child is confident that, "I'm secure." So it has no more any second desire. In the material world, because we have not surrendered to Kṛṣṇa we are always wandering helpless. Everyone here feeling helpless. Even though one is millionaire, even though one is president, but he's feeling helplessness. This is the position of material conditional life.

bhavantam evānucaran nirantaraḥ

praśānta-niḥśeṣa-mano-rathāntaraḥ

kadāham aikāntika-nitya-kiṅkaraḥ

praharṣayiṣyāmi sanātha-jīvitam

(Stotra-ratna 43)

This is a prayer by Yāmunācārya. He's aspiring, bhavantam evānucaran nirantaraḥ: "I shall always live in Kṛṣṇa consciousness." Bhavantam. He's addressing the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, bhavantam. Bhavantam evānucaran nirantaraḥ. Nirantara means without any stop, continually, "When I shall live in Kṛṣṇa consciousness without any stop?" Bhavantam evānucaran nirantaraḥ. Praśānta-niḥśeṣa-mano-rathāntaraḥ. Man means mind. We are on the chariot, and the mind is the driver and the senses are the horses. So we are being driven here and there by the char . . . this chariot is this body. The mind is the coachman, or the chariot driver, and the senses are the horses. So in this way we are being forced to wander in so many planets, in so many species of life. This is our material condition. Bhrāmayan yantrārūḍhāni māyayā. Bhrāmayan yantrārūḍhāni māyayā. This is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati

bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni

yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

(BG 18.61)

So īśvara, the Supreme Lord, is there. Now He's giving chance, "You living entity, you did not surrender to Me. You wanted to enjoy this material world. So you take this chariot and take this driver and go on." This is going on. Kṛṣṇa is very kind. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). "Whatever you want, you do it. But you'll never be happy." That is the point. "You can do whatever. I will give you chance. I'll give you." Just like you want a Rolls-Royce car. "All right, it is." If you want this car, "All right." So you are changing this car. Sometimes you are carried by the doggish cars, sometimes goddish car. These are all cars, but we are different from the car. We wanted to sit down in a certain type of car, so Kṛṣṇa is giving us the chance. Bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni. Yantra means car, or machine. It is very easy to understand.

So this is going on because . . . and we are identifying with the car. Just like a foolish man, if he rides on a Rolls-Royce car, he's thinking "Now I am very rich man. I have bought a Rolls-Royce car." Similarly, if one body has got inferior car, he thinks that, "I am poor"; identifying with the car. But he's not car. He's different from car. This knowledge is required. This is called viśoko brahma-sampattyā. When we understand our spiritual identity, then we are no more lamenting or jubilation. Equilibrium.

(aside) Read the purport. It is very important verse.

Pradyumna: "Doubts of duality begin from the misconception of the material body, which is accepted as the self by less intelligent persons. The most foolish part of our ignorance . . ."

Prabhupāda: That we were discussing in our walking, that the basic principle of this modern civilization is wrong. Everyone, the so-called advanced scientist, so-called advanced philosopher or politician, everyone is thinking that "I am this body." So on the basic principle they're wrong. Therefore the so-called advancement of civilization is wrong. It's . . . at one point mathematical calculation, if you have done mistake in one point—"Two plus two equal five," if you have made, or "three," the mistake—then the whole calculation will be mistaken. The balance, it will never tally. Similarly, our present civilization—not present; it is always there—now it is very strong bodily conception of life, so the basic principle is wrong. Therefore what . . . whatever we are advancing, that is wrong. Parābhava. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto (SB 5.5.5). Basic principle is wrong, abodha, in ignorance. In ignorance. Abodha means without any perfect knowledge.

So we are born without any perfect knowledge. That is natural. But we have to be taught. We have to sent . . . we have to be sent to school for learning. Therefore these books are there. What for these books are being written? Just for the learning of the human society, so they can learn it. Cats and dogs cannot read this Bhāgavata or Bhagavad-gītā. It is meant for human society. So they should take advantage of this knowledge. But if they remain in the darkness of ignorance, then what is the meaning of their advancement? It has no meaning. So that is going on. They too do not accept knowledge from the authority. They manufacture. How you can manufacture? You are a fool, so whatever you'll manufacture, so-called knowledge, that is also foolish. How can we depend on your foolish knowledge? Abodha-jāta. Everyone is fool. So he cannot manufacture. He has to learn. He has to take knowledge from a person who knows. Then he's perfect.

That is our system. We are taking knowledge from Kṛṣṇa. We are taking knowledge from Bhāgavatam. Therefore our knowledge is perfect. We are taking authority. As we are, we are defective. Our position is sometimes we do mistake—"Two plus two equal to five." But it is not fact. So two plus two must be four. But if we make "five" or "three," that means the whole background becomes wrong. That is . . . we are liable to do that mistake. And illusion. Illusion means two plus two equal to four, I have written "five," but I am seeing it is all right. That is illusion. I'm seeing it is all right: "two." Therefore one should not correct himself. Another person should take the editorial correction work, because the man who has written, he sees that it is right. So this is called illusion.

So to commit mistake, to get into illusion, overpowered by illusion, and cheating. Cheating means you have made mistake, "Two plus two equal to five." "Yes," you're persisting, "Yes, it is right." That is cheating. Everyone in this material world, they're born foolish; still they're manufacturing knowledge. That is cheating. That is going on. The so-called scientists, so-called philosophers, their basic principle is wrong, and they're presenting some theories, and that is being accepted by people. That is cheating. That is cheating. For example, just like the insistence of the scientist that, "Life is production of matter." They have no experience, neither they can make any experiment in the laboratory that from matter one can produce life. But every child knows that, "My father is life and my mother is life, so I am produced by that combination. I am also life." So life comes from life. The dead body of father, the dead body of mother cannot produce. Any man can understand. Very simple thing. But these rascal so-called scientist, they're insisting that life is produced from matter. You see? Insisting, simply. Their only idea that prove that there is no God. Imitation.

That Dr. . . . (indistinct) . . . said that imitation barking is very much appreciated. People go to see imitation bark. If you give a signboard that, "Here is an expert imitator who can imitate the sounds of all animals," he will purchase tickets ten dollars and go and see how this man is imitating. But you don't care for the real dog who is barking. This is the position. The scientific advance means the imitation barking. That's all. The dog is already there. Everyone can see. The barking is there. But if a scientist can imitate how dog bark, then he's advanced. (laughter) The already life is being produced, millions and millions of lives. Now they are going to check life production. Or we see if a rascal scientist says that "Now I have produced one life in laboratory," "Oh, wonderful!" The . . . real life they are going to check, and some imitation life he has produced, he gets Nobel Prize. This is going on. This is going on. Simply wasting public money. That's all. The so-called sci . . .

And now they have failed to go to the moon planet. Now they are trying to go to the Venus planet. People are not asking that, "You have spent so much money, forty million dollars for one coat, going to the moon planet, so what you have done? Hah?" Now suppose when Columbus discovered this American . . . not discovered. Anyway, the people are interested to come here to colonize. Similarly, if you have actually discovered moon planet—not discovered; it is already there—if you have gone there, now go and live there, colonize there, then it is successful. "No. We have gone there. We have seen there is a big crack, and we are studying that." That is our advancement. So in this way foolish people are exploiting innocent public. Yes.

This is our charge against this so-called advancement of life. And they are forgetting real thing. They do not understand what is soul. They do not understand. They do not understand that the soul is transmigrating from one body to another. Soul is immortal. Soul is eternal. These things are described in the Bhagavad-gītā. In the beginning, this is the beginning lesson: dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāram (BG 2.13). This is the beginning of spiritual understanding. But they do not understand this beginning lesson, and still they are advanced. This is going on. Simply cheating. So this cheating process is going on under the misconception that, "I am this body." The basic principle is cheating. Wrong. And on the wrong platform they are building phantasmagoria--big, big ideas.

(aside) Go on.

Pradyumna: "The most foolish part of our ignorance is our identifying this material body with the self. Everything in relation with the body is ignorantly accepted as our own. Doubts due to misconceptions of 'myself' and 'mine,' in other words, 'my body,' 'my relatives,' 'my property,' 'my wife,' 'my children,' 'my wealth,' 'my country,' 'my community' and hundreds and thousands of similar illusory contemplations, cause bewilderment for the conditioned soul."

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is our ignorance. Just like this example is given in the śāstra that the river waves are flowing, water is flowing, and by the combination of the waves many straws come together at one time, and, after some time, again they are distributed, thrown here and there. We have got, everyone, experience. Similarly, in this material world every one of us, we have gathered together like the straws. Actually we are under the waves of the material nature. So when we gather together, we make a community that, "We are Americans," "We are Indians," "We are this," "We are that," "We are family . . ." That is exactly like that. By chance we meet together; again, by the waves of the nature, we are separated: no more son, no more country, no more . . . everything's finished. This is going on. But so long we've gathered together, we take it very seriously. We forget that at any moment we'll be kicked out of this gathering. That is ignorance. They do not try to understand what is our real position.

Real position is that we are being carried by the waves. We have no independence. That is . . . Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, māyār bose jāccho bhese', khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi: "You are being carried away by the waves of material nature. You are sometimes you are becoming drowned, sometimes you're floating. In this way your life is going on." You have no fixity. You have no fixity. The fixity is when you are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Jīva kṛṣṇa-dāsa e viśvāsa korle to' ār duḥkho nāi. When he takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and develops this cult, then he becomes perfect one day. Then tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9), he comes back. Kṛṣṇa gives guarantee, "After giving up this body, he comes to Me." That is perfection.

Otherwise, now I am in this family. Suppose now I am American or Indian. Is there guarantee that next life I shall become American or Indian? No. There's not. Kṛṣṇa does not say that. Kṛṣṇa says, dehāntaram, tathā dehā . . . you have to change your body. You have to change your body. Tathā dehā . . . as you are changing constantly our body—that's a fact—similarly, when this body is no more useful, then you're transferred to another body. That's very simple to understand. Suppose you are living in a room, if it is not good, then we change another body. But that does not mean "I am finished." But these foolish people, the so-called advanced scientists, so-called advanced philosopher, they do not understand this simple thing. And still they are very much proud of their education. This simple thing they do not understand, and they are very proud of edu . . .

(aside) Go on.

Pradyumna: "By assimilating the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā one is sure to become released from such bewilderment."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Therefore you have to understand Bhagavad-gītā is left for you. Kṛṣṇa has left. Before going away from this planet, He gave the instruction: "This is the position. You are like this. Your position is like this. You are now in trouble. You are in material existence. Why you are struggling for existence, simply making your mind as the guide?" Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhāni indriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that "These living entities, they are My part and parcel. They're as good as I am, but . . ." Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhāni indriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣa . . . "They have made the mind, given the power of attorney to the mind, and therefore they are forced to the struggle for existence." This is the statement of Bhagavad-gītā.

So sane man should take lesson from Bhagavad-gītā, that "If I am as good as Kṛṣṇa—Kṛṣṇa is eternal; I am eternal. Kṛṣṇa is spiritual; I am spiritual. Kṛṣṇa never dies or never takes birth; I do not take birth, I never die"—in this way actually if we understand that I'm identical in quality with Kṛṣṇa, then that is called brahma-sampattyā, this knowledge, brahma-sampattyā viśokam. This is it. Then you become free from all lamentation.

(aside) Then? Go on.

Pradyumna: "One is sure to become released from such bewilderment because real knowledge is to know that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is everything, including oneself."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudur . . . (BG 7.19). But Kṛṣṇa says: "The living entities, My part and parcel." So just like father and son—the son is part and parcel of the father's body. So when the son is under the protection of father, that is his natural life. But if the son foolishly wants to live separately, although the father is the most opulent, aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47), full wealth, full opulence, full power, full wisdom, everything . . . Kṛṣṇa, the father, is full, and everyone can share the father's property. That is the, mean, lawful inheritance of the father. Then why you should suffer here? This intelligence is not coming. They are so fool. They are so . . . the father is coming, canvassing, "My dear sons, why you are struggling? You give up this nonsense engagement.

Your so-called leadership of the family, so-called leadership of community, nation, these are all false. This is creation of māyā, illusion. Don't be bewildered with all these things. Just come back to Me. I've come to call you." Oh, but they will not accept. This is their dog's obstinacy. So what can be done? They . . . everyone can share the father's property. Here is also . . . the material world is also God's property. But they'll not understand. They'll make the division, "This portion, United States of America." Then where you got this United States of America? It is Kṛṣṇa's property. Why you are saying, "No, this is Chinese," "This is Russian"? And they're fighting, unnecessarily. Unnecessarily.

So it is a factual thing that if people are saved, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, all these false identification will stop. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). The United Nation, if they simply understand that "Why you are talking of unity? We're already unity, in unity, because this property belongs to Kṛṣṇa. So why you are claiming that, 'This is mine'? " We have created disunity. This is a fact. Otherwise, if the whole . . . they have now created United Nation. They can govern the whole world under United Nation, and let it be accepted that the whole property belongs to the human society. Then where is the trouble? But that thing they will not accept. This is foolishness. This is māyā. Actually it is the property of God. We come here as guest, for fifty years or sixty years or hundred years, then we are kicked out, "Get out!" That we do not understand. Because we are allowed to live here for a certain number of years, we think it is my property. This is ignorance.

So brahma-sampattyā. So actually if you want to be happy, then you have to acquire this brahma-sampattyā viśokaḥ, then there will be no more lamentation. Everyone is . . . know that it is our father's property, Kṛṣṇa's property. So there is immense supply. Why you are fighting? There is no cause of fighting. Actually this is a fact. There's so much space still vacant—especially I've seen in Africa and Australia—ten times' population can be accommodated, and ten times' foodstuff can be produced. But that they will not do. They will not allow. "No, this is my property. You cannot come here. Gow! Gow! Gow!" This is immigration department the, "Bow! Gow! department." They say, "Why you have come here? Why you have come here?" We . . . "It is God's property, sir. Why you are making barking? Is it not your father's property?" But this ignorance is prevailing.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a challenge to all the rascals and fools. That's all. So those who have taken this movement seriously, they should be very sober and understand. At least you must expose all these rascals. That will be very much appreciated by Kṛṣṇa.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. Haribol . . . (obeisances) (end)