761015 - Lecture BG 07.01 Hindi - Chandigarh

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

761015BG-CHANDIGARH - October 15, 1976 - 30:02 Minutes

(Translated from Hindi into English)

Praduymna: "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:

mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha

yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ

asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ

yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu

(BG 7.1)

For the past two days we have been discussing about the atheists, demons, that asatyam apratistham te jagad ahur anisvaram (BG 16.8), that there is no God, this is what the demons say. The demons say that there is no God. So there is one more definition of a demon, that is stated by the Lord Himself, that one who is influenced by demoniac quality, they are divided into four classes.

na mam duskrtino mudhah

prapadyante naradhamah

māyāyapahrta-jnana

asuram bhavam asritah

(BG 7.15)

Those who are demons, I have explained who is a demon. There are two kinds of people, one demon and another demigod or godly. Visnu –bhaktah smrto daiva asuras tad-viparyayah (Padma Purana). Those who are devotees of the Lord, who accept the Lord, they are called godly. You must have heard of the word godly. The planets of the demigods, Indra, Chandra, Varun, Vayu, Brahmaji, Sivaji, there are big big demigods like this. Why are they called demigods? They are all devotees of the Lord and they work under the direction of the Lord. The Supreme Lord is the master and the rest are all His servants. This is stated in the Caitanya Mahaprabhu that the master is Lord Kṛṣṇa. Ekala īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya (CC Adi 5.142), Lord Kṛṣṇa is the master, ekala īśvara kṛṣṇa. Isvarah paramah krsnah (Bs 5.1), this is stated in the scriptures, the Supreme Lord Himself is Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), isvarah paramah krsnah and the Lord Himself says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattah parataram nanyat kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya (BG 7.7), these are the injunctions of the scriptures, for those who do not know who God is, the Lord is Himself adventing to tell us who He is. In this land of India, Lord Ramachandra, Lord Kṛṣṇa, are adventing to explain that the Supreme Lord is not formless, being formless is an exhibition of His power. Just like the Lord has said in the Bhagavad-gītā, māyā tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina (BG 9.4), avyakta murti, the entire material world is unmanifested form, avyakta murti. mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah (BG 9.4). All these points have been discussed in the Bhagavad-gītā.

So to say that there is no God is foolishness. The foolish persons, demoniac persons say this. Therefore demons are divided into four categories. One is duskrtinah, which means one who is always engaged in sinful activities. Krti means one who works nicely, he is meritorious, he brain functions all right, but he is engaged in sinful activities, this is called duskrtih. And one whose brain is allright, and uses it for good purposes, that is called sukrtih. That is demons and godly. The godly do sukrtih and demons do duskrtih. The ones who are sukrtih they come to the Lord. Catur-vidha bhajante mam janah sukrtino 'rjuna (BG 7.16). the four kinds of sukrtih, the pious, who are they, artah; artha-arthi, jijnasuh and jnani. The pious when distressed will go to the Lord, "Oh Lord. I am distressed. Please be merciful upon me and show me the way out of this distress." Even though this is not pure devotional service, even then he is called a pious person. One who is distressed and turns to the Lord, although it is not pure devotional service. A pure devotee of the Lord does not ask for anything from Him.

anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam

anukulyena krsnanu-silanam bhaktir uttama

(BRS 1.1.1)

A first class devotee of the Lord never asks for anything from the Lord. He is always ready to offer something to the Lord, "Oh Lord, take whatever I possess from me." Pranair arthair dhiya vaca (SB 10.22.35), take my life, my wealth, and my words, and my intelligence. This is the sentiment of a pure devotee. Just like the Pandavas, the Lord is present before them as a friend, Kṛṣṇa. There kingdom was usurped, their family, wife was insulted, but you can see in the Mahabharata that they never prayed to the Lord that You are our friend and yet all this is happening with us. No. They never said like this. Never. The Lord is always with them but they never prayed to Him that remove our difficulties. This is the sentiment of a pure devotee.

And those who have not reached that stage yet are called pious. In future they will become pure devotees. Therefore it is a scriptural injunction that even if you have a material desire, even then perform devotional service.

akamah sarva-kamo va

moksa-kama udara-dhih

tivrena bhakti-yogena

yajeta purusam param

(SB 2.3.10)

Although it is not correct to ask for anything from the Lord, but an ordinary person, just like Christian people ask from the Lord, 'Oh God give us our daily bread!' That's all right. There is no need to ask for anything from the Lord. The Lord provides each one what he needs. eko bahunam vidadhati kaman (Katha Upanishad 2.2.13) The word Bhagavan means one who fulfills the desires of everyone.

So to approach the Lord for food and drink is not bad, but it is not correct also. The Lord must be approached because, "Oh Lord. I am entangled in this māyā. Please be merciful and once again engage me in Your service." That's all.

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya (CC Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5)

This has been taught to us by Caitanya Mahaprabhu that what should be prayed for from the Lord. So the Lord is nanda-tanjua, when the Lord advented here, He stayed in Vrindavana as the son of Nanda Maharaja. So the Lord is very pleased when He is addressed as Nandanandana. That is why Caitanya Mahaprabhu has taught us ayi nanda-tanuja, he did not say Kṛṣṇa. Vasudeva, He is more pleased when He is addressed as nanda-tanuja. kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ. Somehow or another I have fallen into this ocean of birth and death, the material world, the material world is known as ocean of birth and death. Bhava means repeated birth. Die once and then again take birth. And it is not restricted to only one type of birth, many types, 8400000 species one has to traverse. That is why it is called ocean of birth and death. Don't know what one will be born as. This should be understood.

Human life is for this purpose only, in human form of life one has to leave one body and accept another body, and we should be prepared on what kind of body we are going to get. That the Lord has said in the Bhagavad-gītā, that if you want to be prepared then you decide where you want to go. If you want to go to heavenly planets, there are nice places, Svaragaloka, Janaloka, Mahaloka, Satyaloka, these four planets are there and below also there are Tala, Atala, Patala, Vitala, Talatala, Rasatala. Bhur Bhuvahan om, the Gayatri that you chant oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyaṃ bhargo devasya, threefold planetary systems, if you want to go to the higher planets you can go. yanti deva-vrata devan (BG 9.25), Worship the demigods, you cannot get on to an aeroplane and go to the Moon planet. You have to prepare, if you want to go to the Moon planet there is a way given in the scriptures, through the process of karma kanda you can go to Moon planet. And if you go there you will get—that means our six months is their one day. In this way 10000 years of lifetime you can get. And enjoyment thousands of times more than what you get here. You can get all this. That is why it is said, Svargaloka, Janaloka, Mahaloka, Tapaloka, Brahmaloka, if you want to go the higher planets then present yourself in such a way, then you can go there. Yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah, (BG 9.25), if you want to go the planet of ancestors by performing sraddha ceremony, pious activities, karma kandi activity, and if you want to remain here, that this is my country, this is my India, this is England, nowadays nationalism is in vogue, you can remain here, yanti bhutejya bhutani (BG 9.25), and if you want to come back to Me, then mad-yajino 'pi mam (BG 9.25), then you become devotee of the Lord, then you can go back to Him. That is your decision that where do you want to go. Tatha dehantara-praptir (BG 2.13) we should be prepared for this. Yanti deva-vrata devan (BG 9.25). This the purpose of human life. Not that just like animals lead a life, and there is no God, eat drink and be merry, this is animal life. This is not correct.

Therefore those who do not make a effort to understand God they are called demons. And the demons are divided into four categories, just like I was telling you, one is duskrtinah, sinful person, they only engage in sinful activities, duskrtinah. And the other is mudhah, means ass. He doesn't understand. How can you say God is not existing? If you are not an ass, then you will not say God is not existing. Please think over this. You can think using your body as an example. This body you have, the body I have, we act over smart. Till we are alive if someone catches our arms we get angry. And this body will remain and the part and parcel of the Supreme Lord the living entity will leave this body, then even if someone kicks this body no one will protest. Just like because of the presence of the living enity, the body is honored similarly this cosmic manifestation has the Paramatma in it—that's why it is honored, that's why the sun rises on time—everything is regulated. And the Lord Himself says, māyādhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram (BG 9.10) by the order of the Lord.

So just like because I am in this body, the body is working all right. And if you go further to the office, to the government, because the minister is there, President is there, the government is working fine. If you go the office, the Managing Director is there, that's why the office is running fine. Wherever you may go there must be a doer, an overseer, a master is definitely there. So there is this huge cosmic manifestation, will there not be anyone. Jagad ahur anisvaram. This is such a foolishness. So only a big fool will say that there is no God. Otherwise an ordinary person, wherever you may go, there will be a doer, an overseer, an order giver will be there. They don't think about all this, but come here and say that there is no God. That is why it is said mudah. And why do they remain mudhah, durkrtinah and naradhamah. Those who are constantly performing sinful activities, they get a human birth but they remain most fallen. They are not elevated. By performing sinful activities, even though he has got this human form of life, he is the lowest of mankind, naradhamah.

Therefore it is not appropriate, just this morning I met a person. He was saying I want bread, I want cloth, what I have got to do with God? That's all right you want bread and cloth. But the animal is also like that, in fact he doesn't need cloth, only needs bread. So will man become like an animal, wants only bread. Those who work only for bread, they are hogs. Just like the hog works hard all day long, where is stool, where is stool. So if a human being also does this, where is bread, where is bread, works hard only for this, nothing else, so this is done by the hogs and dogs also. This goes on.

Those who do not love God, those who don't want to understand the topic of God, they are hogs and dogs. Sa eva go kharah (SB 10.84.13), this is the injunction of the scriptures. So if you have got a human form of life, so there is a connection with the Lord anyways . . . (indistinct) . . . just like the government is connected to those inside the jail and those outside the jail. The connection of the government cannot be broken. Similarly the demons are connected with the Lord and the godly are also connected with the Lord. But the difference is that the godly know that the Lord exists and the demons don't know this at all. This is the only difference. Connection is there.

Just like a person comes to the jail, the convicts, why do they come to the jail? They had performed sinful activities, stolen, or something else . . . (indistinct) . . . similarly those who have forgotten the Lord, the demons, the sinful persons they have to come to this material world although the Lord has given scriptures, by reading the scriptures and understanding them, gradually, gradually, mad-yajino 'pi mam. So they become devotees and go back to Godhead.

So why do we have the Vedic scriptures? For this, these foolish persons who have forgotten the Lord and don't want to restablish his relationship with the Lord, he should be taught gradually, that this is the scriptural injunction. This is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that, anadir bahir mukha jiva krsna bhuli gela, ataeva krsna veda purana karila, this living entity looking externally, soce tato vimukha-cetasa māyā-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan (SB 7.9.43)

Prahlada Maharaja said to Lord Narsimhadeva that, "Oh Lord, personally I don't have any miseries because when I chant about Your glories, then I am blissful." Naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaranyas tvad-virya-gayana-mahamrita-magna-cittah, (SB 7.9.43).

"But you look distressed," "Yes I am distressed." "Why?" Soce tato vimukha-cetasa māyā-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan (SB 7.9.43)

I am distressed because of these asses those who don't accept You, who are always distressed, for them I am distressed that how to teach them to become happy.

So a Vaisnava, the meaning of Vaisnava is para dukha dukhi, he is not unhappy for himself, he does not pray to the Lord for himself, he is a pure Vaisnava. But para dukha dukhi, for the foolish people in the material world, who having forgotten the Lord are facing hardships. They work very hard day and night to eat two slices of bread. And even in that there are so many hardships. They don't understand this and think that this is life. And the scriptures forbid that this human life which you have obtained is not to live and work hard like hogs and dogs, like an ass nowadays even rickshaw and handcart also is being pulled by man. They work so hard for two slices of bread still they are instigated to work even harder, even harder. He works like an horse, an ass and even then they are told that your hard work is not enough, work harder, work harder. Is this human life?

Human life is that where whatever God has given us to eat, we eat in peace. The Lord has given us enough to eat, there is no scarcity because the scriptures say, eko bahunam vidadhati kaman nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam (Katha Upanishad 2.2.13). The Lord is eternal, and the living entity is also eternal. na hanyate hanyamane sarire (BG 2.20), the Lord also never dies and the living entity also never dies. Then what is the difference? The body of the Lord is unchanging, but our body is ever changing. So it looks as though the living entity dies. But no. The Lord therefore teaches, na hanyate hanyamane sarire (BG 2.20). Don't think that if the body is destroyed then the living entity dies. No! He is part and parcel of the Lord, mamaivamso jiva-loke (BG 15.7), whatever is the quality of the Lord, the living entity has the same quality. Just like a big piece of gold and the particle of gold. The quality is the same in both. Its not that because it's a particle it is no longer gold but has become iron.

So similarly mamaivamso jiva-bhutah (BG 15.7), whatever is the quality of the Lord, that the living entity is also, pure. This you can all understand. But by the covering of māyā, this material covering, the subtle body has been covered by the gross body, that is called bhava roga. We should get out of this. That is why the Lord descends. The purpose is, "You have a spiritual body, just like I have a spiritual body sat-cid-ananda vigraha, you also have a spiritual body, why are you suffering so much in this material world? You come back to Me, you are My son."

Just like if there is a rich man, his son becomes mad. So the father wants that his son be cured and come home and stay in comfort, I have a lot of property, he can eat drink and be merry. This foolish son has become mad, and is loitering in the streets, naked and suffering in so many ways. The father always remains disturbed by this. So also the Lord is disturbed that we become mad and want to come here to this material world and become happy, that is why the Lord advents. And He explains:

yadā yadā hi dharmasya

glānir bhavati bhārata

abhyutthānam adharmasya

tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham

(BG 4.7)

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām

(BG 4.8)

That is why the Lord descends, those who are devotees or godly, perform devotional service, they want to take darshan of the Lord, they all desire like this, although the devotee does not command the Lord to give darshan but the desire is definitely there that if only I could get the darshan of the Lord once. That is why the Lord comes. Vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, the Lord has so much power he can destroy anyone at any time He wills. But He comes for the devotee. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām.

So the Lord tells the demons that what you say is not correct, there is God, I am there, aham ādir hi devānāṁ (BG 10.2), ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate iti matvā bhajante māṁ (BG 10.8), He has taught everything.

So these demons who say there is no God, He teaches them that I am there, here I am God. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena (BS 5.38), you take darshan. sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66) This demoniac religious principles that you have accepted, and for lifetimes you are only suffering miseries, you have got a human form of life so there is some happiness, and if you get a plant or animal form of life after this birth then how much more you will have to suffer. Think of all this, and after thinking, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66), all the plans that you have made, none of these will work, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi (BG 18.66), I will deliver you from all the sins that you have incurred. That is why Lord Kṛṣṇachandra descends and He instructs us on devotional service, what it is, what is God, to teach us this in the Seventh Chapter He says that:

mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha

yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ

asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ

(BG 7.1)

Asaṁśayaṁ, forget about the demons, the jijnasu and jnani. The artah and artha-arthi are more, the householders. Because in the householder asrama only there are so many sufferings, today there is no wealth, today this is not there, today that is not there. And if it is there, then I want more, I want more, he is called an artha-arthi. And artah is always there, if the wealth is reduced then they get sad, as this will not happen or that will not happen. So artah, artha-arthi are the householders.

And the sannyāsis are jignasu and jnani. So four kinds of people, jignasu, jnani, artah, artha-arthi, catur vidha bhajante mama (BG 7.16) so jnani and jignasu they want to understand who is God, big big philosphical thinkers, they don't deny the existence of God. The atheist deny the existence of God, by saying there is no God. They are most sinful. And those who are not sinful, sukrtinah, they are inquisitive that is there God for real? Is He there or not? He must be there . . . (indistinct) . . . even Professor Einstein had accepted that the more I advance I am seeing that God definitely exists. He is a great scientist. (break) (end)