760409 - Lecture Hindi - Vrndavana

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

760409LE-VRNDAVAN - April 09, 1976 - 37:57 Minutes

(Translated from Hindi into English)

Prabhupāda:

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya

jñānāñjana-śalākayā

cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena

tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ

sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale

svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ

dadāti sva-padāntikam

he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho

dīna-bandho jagat-pate

gopeśa gopikā-kānta

rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te

tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgi

rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari

vṛṣabhānu-sute devi

praṇamāmi hari-priye

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca

kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo

vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya

prabhu-nityānanda

śrī-advaita gadādhara

śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa

kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare

hare rāma hare rāma

rāma rāma hare hare

śrī-yudhiṣṭhira uvāca

gṛhastha etāṁ padavīṁ

vidhinā yena cāñjasā

yāyād deva-ṛṣe brūhi

mādṛśo gṛha-mūḍha-dhīḥ

(SB 7.14.1)

Yudhisthira Maharaja is enquiring from Narada Muni that "Maharaja, you have stated the duties and activities of brahmacārī, vānaprastha and sanyasis, regarding how to go back to Godhead, that is become liberated, you have stated all the processes for this. But for us gṛhasthas who are mūḍha-dhīḥ, their intelligence is not so well developed, because we take the material world to be all in all, we don't understand that there is life after we leave this material world." So he enquired on all these matters.

So mūḍha-dhīḥ, this word is used, "we are gṛhasthas, householders, we don't have the intelligence. So you please tell us how we can also be liberated." This is the question he asked. So . . . (indistinct) . . . the mahatmas they are always wandering from village to village, country to country to enlighten the householders. Yudhisthira Maharaja was not an ordinary man, he was directly in touch with the Supreme Lord Himself, the respected family of the Pandavas, and Dharmaraja, this is not an ordinary thing. Yudhisthira was not an ordinary person. But still he was presenting himself as mūḍha-dhīḥ to Narada Muni. atyanta mūḍha, mūḍha means ass. In Bhagavad-gītā this word mūḍha has been used in a number of instances.

na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ

prapadyante narādhamāḥ

māyayāpahṛta-jñānā

āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ

(BG 7.15)

And in another instance:

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā

mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam

paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto

mama bhūta-maheśvaram

(BG 9.11)

So in reality this gṛhastha-āśrama or householder life, there is not much attainment in terms of knowledge about the Lord. So it is advisable for the householder to serve the sadhus or saintly persons, to hear from them about the Lord and His pastimes. This movement of ours, all the saintly persons from all over the world have come to take darśana of the land of Kṛṣṇa, not only in India, although they are foreigners, they are spreading the message of your Lord Kṛṣṇa in every corner all over the world.

This is the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that in every corner of the world the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa be preached. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself, na caitanyat krsnat para-tattvam. Lord Kṛṣṇa has spoken the Bhagavad-gītā and in the end has explained to everyone sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66) but the mūḍha-dhīḥ did not understand. The reason he is mūḍha-dhīḥ, that the the Lord Himself is coming to explain to everyone who is God, and what is our relationship with Him, but the mūḍha-dhīḥ does not understand this. That is why, despite this the Lord came in the form of a devotee, that is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The teachings are the same. Whatever Lord Kṛṣṇa taught everyone for the welfare of the whole world, to teach the same thing Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself advented as Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. That is why when Srila Rupa Gosvami met Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Prayag, he prayed to Him with a śloka:

namo mahā-vadānyāya

kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te

kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-

nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

(CC Madhya 19.53)

So Rupa Gosvami stayed here only, Six Gosvami's, Sri Rupa Sri Sanatana Bhatta Raghunatha Sri Jiva Gopala Bhatta Dasa Raghunatha, they came under the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, to glorify Vrindavana, and to preach the same they wrote many books.

nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau

lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau tri-bhuvane mānyau śaraṇyākarau

vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau

(Sad Gosvami astaka)

So the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His desire, was preached by Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami. And we are also following in their footsteps and preaching the same message. Caitanya Mahāprabhu tells everyone that -you become a guru:

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa

(CC Madhya 7.128)

Caitanya Mahāprabhu tells everyone that you become a guru. So how to become guru, don't know how to become a guru. So then Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, there is not much difficulty for you in doing this because you kindly preach to everyone kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa. yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa, by doing this you become a guru.

And if you have some other desires, to get rid of Kṛṣṇa, to become Kṛṣṇa yourself, if you want to do this foolishness then you cannot become a guru. This is the test for a guru. Who can become a guru? One who can repeat whatever is spoken by the Lord, he is a guru. evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2) Lord Kṛṣṇa when He was speaking the Bhagavad-gītā, He says not today, millions of years ago I had spoken this to sun god, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1), this yoga Bhagavad-gītā is not a new thing. I have explained this in the earlier times to sun god. That is 40 crores of years before, if we consider the age of Manu, 40 crores of years ago Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to sun god. Manu:

imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ

proktavān aham avyayam

vivasvān manave prāha

manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt

(BG 4.1)

Sun god Vivasvan told Manu, Manu Maharaja told Iksvaku, so in this way by disciplic succession, Bhagavad-gītā the words of the Supreme Lord has come.

sa kāleneha mahatā

yogo naṣṭaḥ paran-tapa

(BG 4.2)

So because the chain of disciple succession was lost, this yoga was also lost. This thought we must keep in mind that in our country the Supreme Lord Himself advented and spoke on who He is, in that country to forget God is so unfortunate.

So the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is that it is appropriate for all Indians to travel all over and preach this message of Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa. So this is the mission of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This is not an ordinary religious movement, it is religious but nowadays religions are many. Real religious principles (dharma) is one, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ (SB 6.3.19), dharma or real religious principles cannot be enacted by anyone. These can be enacted only the Supreme Lord. So the dharma that the Lord is propagating is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), that "all of you surrender unto Me." This is the only real religion. The rest are all cheating religion. That is why in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra (SB 1.1.2) all these cheating types of religions has been thrown out from this scripture, projjhita, prakrsta-rupena ujjhita.

In this regard Sridhara Swami in his commentary has said that pious activities, economic development, satisfaction of the senses, and finally liberation from material bondage are all external factors. And the real dharma or religious principle is devotional service to the Lord. This is real, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66).

So the teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is that all of you become guru and to become guru is not a difficult thing. If your intention is not to cheat, then it is not a difficult thing. Because what is the work of a guru? Whatever Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa has spoken in the Bhagavad-gītā, you speak the same. What is the difficulty in this? The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya (BG 7.7) that - there is no truth superior to Me. These are all scriptural evidences:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

(BS 5.1)

and

kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayaṁ

(SB 1.3.28)

and then the Lord Himself says, when Arjuna understood the Bhagavad-gītā, he said, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). So Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth, this is the scriptural conclusion, all the acaryas have accepted this. Sankaracarya has also accepted this sa bhagavan svayam krsna. And Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Nimbarka, Visnusvami, and what to speak of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ (SB 11.5.32) He was always speaking about Kṛṣṇa, the essence of all Vedic scriptures, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). What is the purpose of reading the Vedic scriptures – to understand Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is the conclusion of all Vedic scriptures.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu says the same thing. yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). This preaching of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not very troublesome. We preach all over the world only the words spoken by Kṛṣṇa. The Lord says that there is no truth greater than Me and we also say that look here is Lord Kṛṣṇa and there is nobody greater than Him, no other Absolute Truth other than Him. And these people accept this. This is the advantage in the Western countries that when they are told that, Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayaṁ (SB 1.3.28), that God means Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa means God, they accept this statement. They do not argue that this is our God, that is our God, why Kṛṣṇa should be God? The reason for India's downfall is that there are so many God's now and they have left Kṛṣṇa and Rāma. This is the sad state of affairs.

But the ordinary Indian people they have not forgotten Kṛṣṇa. If they had forgotten Kṛṣṇa then why are there so many people here to hear kṛṣṇa-kathā, not here as this Mathurā is the land of Kṛṣṇa anyway. But wherever the Hare Kṛṣṇa paṇḍāla is set up, we had it in Delhi now, I went to Aligarh also, before this Calcutta, Bombay, till now they have not forgotten Kṛṣṇa. This is the reason for auspiciousness.

If you forget Kṛṣṇa, one Bengali Vaisnava has written a poem, kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare, pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare (Prema-vivarta 6.2). When the living entity forgets Kṛṣṇa and wants material enjoyment, at that time māyā captures him. kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare, pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare. So we are all under māyā:

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni

guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ

ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā

kartāham iti manyate

(BG 3.27)

So all of us, we are under the bodily conception of life, but that is not possible, we are under the influence of prakrti or material nature. prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ and the three modes of material nature, goodness, passion and ignorance and how we interact with these modes results in the kind of body we get.

And the living entity accepts different kinds of bodies over many births, this is called the samsara cakra or cycle of material existence. bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19) You get one body at a certain time and we get its share of enjoyment and suffering whatever is destined. Then according to our karma we get another body. So in this way birth after birth we get different bodies and the enjoyment and suffering destined with it. There is no enjoyment, only suffering. Till the time we accept a material body, whether in Svargaloka, Indraloka, Candraloka we get a body, or a body in Pātāla, Vitala, Atala, Talātala, Rasātala, wherever we get material body that will be painful, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). We have forgotten this. Under the bodily conception of life we think that we can make arrangements to keep ourselves happy here. But this is not possible.

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī

mama māyā duratyayā

mām eva ye prapadyante

māyām etāṁ taranti te

(BG 7.14)

The Lord has described everything in the Bhagavad-gītā. We want to be happy in this material world, but this will not be allowed, punishment, we have forgotten the Lord, so that's why we come to this material world. That is why the Lord personally comes and instructs us, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). There is no difference between the Lord and His words. The Lord is jnana tattva, the Lord and His name are non different, the Lord and His instructions are non different. Similarly if every day we read the teachings of Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa properly, properly because nowadays big big politicians and scholars are teaching Bhagavad-gītā and their only intention is to deny the existence of God, that's all. There is no other intention. And if you study the Bhagavad-gītā under such a person then you can never understand the imports. That is why the Lord says:

tad viddhi praṇipātena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

(BG 4.34)

If you hear the Bhagavad-gītā from these seers of truth then the job is done. And one who is not a seer of truth, but think themselves to be big scholars, big leaders and speak all kinds of nonsense, reading such Bhagavad-gītā will not be of any use.

That is why the secretary of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Svarupa Damodar Gosvami says about a brāhmaṇa, bhāgavata paro diya bhāgavata sthane, if there is a person bhāgavata, whose life is based on the Bhāgavatam, hear from him the Bhāgavatam. Similarly one who is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, one who, to understand Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary thing.

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu

kaścid yatati siddhaye

yatatām api siddhānāṁ

kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ

(BG 7.3)

Even then Kṛṣṇa is sitting in everyone's heart:

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati

(BG 18.61)

The Lord is sitting in everyone's heart, but the devotee of the Lord, one who is for forever making efforts to serve the Lord, to such a devotee the Lord guides him from within.

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ

bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ

yena mām upayānti te

(BG 10.10)

The Lord does not talk with everyone. But one who is a lover of God, one who makes constant efforts to serve the Lord, to him the Lord explains. That is why Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to Arjuna. First He explained that the chain of disciplic succession has been lost and hence the yoga was lost too. I am again explaining it to you, you understand. Why are you explaining to me? I am not a yogi or a sannyāsī, Vedāntī? I am an ordinary householder, and a king at that, always thinking of money. Why are you explaining it to me?

Then the Lord replies:

bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti

rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam

(BG 4.3)

"To be all this is not important, the real thing is that Bhagavad-gītā will be understood by one who is My devotee and dear to Me."

So if we are not a devotee then we will not be able to understand Bhagavad-gītā. For example, we have a honey bottle, one cannot taste the honey by licking the honey bottle. We can taste the honey by opening the bottle and then tasting the honey in it. So similarly this Bhagavad-gītā spoken by the Lord, if someone wants to understand it from the externally, he will not be able to get the taste. From the inside, through bhakti-yoga

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti

yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

(BG 18.55)

All these Americans who have come with me, they were all made devotees. The rules and regulations which need to be followed to become a devotee they follow them. To become a devotee is not an ordinary thing. They are told to give up illicit connections between man and woman—they have given up. And similarly they have been asked to give up intoxicants like bidi, pān, cigarette, coffee—they have given up. And meat eating to be given up—they have given up. And gambling. These four things we prohibit them and before taking first initiation, they have to take a vow to give up these things. They have given up. Those who are sinful, they cannot engage in devotional service.

yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ

janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām

te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā

bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ

(BG 7.28)

Only that person can take to devotional service in a determined way by one whose sinful life is over. These are the four pillars of sinful life – illicit connections with woman, meat eating, intoxication and gambling. These have to be given up if you want to understand the Supreme Lord.

But in Kali-yuga despite being so fallen, there is one facility, which is stated in the scriptures. Śukadeva Gosvāmī explained this to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, when he described the Kali-yuga that it sinful all the way, full of faults. But at the end he says:

kaler doṣa nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ

kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet

(SB 12.3.51)

Kali-yuga is full of faults, it is an ocean of faults but there is one thing which is very beneficial. What is that? kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet. Just by doing hari-kīrtana, chanting the holy names of the Lord, he is freed from all bad association and goes back home, back to Godhead.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has also said the same thing, paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam.

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ

śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam

ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ

sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam

(CC Antya 20.12)

So Kṛṣṇa belongs to you, what can a fallen person like me describe matters relating to Kṛṣṇa to you? We have come to learn from you. From the scriptures we understand that although Kali-yuga is full of faults if we chant the names of Kṛṣṇa congregationally, congregational chanting of Kṛṣṇa's name is called sankirtana, all of us together chant the holy names. And in Kali-yuga this is the only sacrifice possible, according to the scriptures also. yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ

sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam

yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair

yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

(SB 11.5.32)

So by doing saṅkīrtana-yajña one can approach the Lord, there is no expenditure in this act. The other yajñas or sacrifices are impossible in Kali-yuga. There is no money, there are no ingredients and there are no brāhmaṇas to do these yajñas, suitably qualified brāhmaṇas. There are a lot of inconveniences. That is why it is said in the scriptures, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya, chant the names of Kṛṣṇa:

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare

hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

So there is no difficulty in doing this. Caitanya Mahāprabhu who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, is showing us the way that all of you become guru, in every house become a guru, evening time sit down and chant the holy names, read Bhagavad-gītā. For the gṛhasthas, Nārada Muni has given this instruction:

śṛṇvan bhagavato 'bhīkṣṇam

avatāra-kathāmṛtam

śraddadhāno yathā-kālam

upaśānta-janāvṛtaḥ

(SB 7.14.3)

This process has been given that, śṛṇvan bhagavato 'bhīkṣṇamavatāra-kathāmṛtam.

The Supreme Lord is not formless. Formless, just like sun is there, sun is not formless, the sunlight is formless. Similarly:

vadanti tat tattva-vidas

tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam

brahmeti paramātmeti

bhagavān iti śabdyate

(SB 1.2.11)

The Absolute Truth is manifest as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. So for the jñānīs there is knowledge of Brahman, for the yogis there is knowledge of Paramātmā and for the devotees the personal form of Lord as Vrajendranandana Hari, Kṛṣṇa.

So all these teachings are available. All of you at least read the Bhagavad-gītā and chant the holy names. There is no loss for you in this. Our Vedic civilization's varṇāśrama has been dismantled. Brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra are four varnas (social order) and brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsi are four āśramas (spiritual order). This is Vedic civilization, varṇāśrama-dharma.

varṇāśramācāravatā

puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān

viṣṇur ārādhyate panthā

nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṇam

(Visnu Purana 3.8.9)

If we want to worship Visnu, then one must discharge varṇāśrama. But we have given up all this. This is Kali-yuga everything has got disrupted. It can be reinstated. But even if it isn't reinstated this instruction of the scriptures that, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128), preach the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa to everyone. What is the difficulty in doing this? What does Kṛṣṇa instruct?

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto

mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru

(BG 9.34)

To always engage the mind in thinking of Kṛṣṇa, to become His devotee, to offer obeisance's to Him. That's why these temples, why the previous ācāryas built so many temples? So that fools like us will go to the temple at least once and offer their obeisance's at the Lord's lotus feet. There is no difficulty in doing this but we are giving up all this. We are giving up our Indian history and fallen down. If you want to get out of this problem, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi (BG 18.66), the Supreme Lord Himself will take care of your welfare, you just have to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: Jaya. (end)