761114 - Lecture Hindi - Vrndavana

Lectures by Date, 1976

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

761114LE-VRNDAVAN - November 14, 1976 -31:17 Minutes

Prabhupāda:

om 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

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

(Hindi translated into English)

So gentlemen, devotees, mothers, this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, we are established as the Hare Krishnas in Europe and America. So this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. All of you know, Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, about 500 years ago, a little less, 450 years it must be, advented in Navadvipa and it is substantiated by the scritpures that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṇam (SB 11.5.32).

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ

sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam

yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair

yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

(SB 11.5.32)

These are the words of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the different incarnations the Lord accepts in the various millenniums, in that the incarnation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is described, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṇam (SB 11.5.32), Kṛṣṇa Himself or one who constantly describes Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ, but His bodily color is akṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṇam. It is described in the scriptures, the Lord śuklo raktas tathā pita idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ (SB 10.8.13). Gargamuni when he was examining the horoscope of the Lord at that time he told Nanda Maharaja that, "Maharaja, your son has assumed the colors śuklaḥ raktas tathā pita, this pita color, yellowish color is Caitanya Mahāprabhu, akṛṣṇa. This is stated in the scriptures.

The mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the same as that of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa ordered everyone sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), but the foolish persons did not understand. They did not accept this religious principle, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, the foolish persons could not accept this because, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15), we are also foolish persons but we accept one thing that whatever Kṛṣṇa says is perfect, that's all. There is no need for us to undertake any difficult endeavors, there is no need to become over scholarly. This is all, (aside) Don't talk.

When I was making arrangements to register this Kṛṣṇa consciousness in New York the lawyer Mr Goldsmith and his friend suggested that you make it God consciousness instead of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I refused. If I make it God consciousness then foolish persons will bring in thousands of God's. But God is Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). This is the injunction of the scriptures.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

(BS 5.1)

This is the Vedic injunction. And the Lord Himself says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya (BG 7.7), and Arjuna accepted:

paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma

pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān

puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ

ādyaṁ . . .

(BG 10.12)

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

(BS)

aham ādir hi devānāṁ

(BG 10.2)

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo

mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate

iti matvā bhajante māṁ

budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ aham

(BG 10.8)

This is what we are preaching. It is your Kṛṣṇa from Mathuraji, from Vṛndāvana. And what is the basic principle? Nothing new, whatever the Lord has stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, we are preaching that only. Nothing is manufactured, nor do we have so much brains to manufacture and cater to the modern thinking and present God in that way. It is the same old thing, whatever Kṛṣṇa says, the same thing, that is why our society is named Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Whatever Lord states, we think the same and it is not difficult.

What is the problem in hand? The problem is that this human form of life, it is in this human form of life that a living entity can understand what God is, he can also understand what is our connection with God, and to correct that connection and to work under those injunctions will make our life successful. Sambandha, abhidheya (the regulated activities of the conditioned soul for reviving that relationship), and prayojana. Three things have been mentioned in the Vedas sambandha, abhidheya . . . just like in the Vedanta sutra it is stated, Athāto brahma-jijñāsā (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.1), this human form of life is for inquiring into the Brahman. Jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā (SB 1.2.10) this is stated in the Bhagavatam also. In this human form of life the sole purpose is to inquire into who God is, what is our relationship with God, and by keeping that relationship what is the gain, inquiring into all this, implementing it in our lives, this is human life. These are all scriptural injunctions.

On the way here we saw written on the bus, what is that? "There is no way out other than hard work". So man has started pulling carts, pulling rickshaws and on top of this more hard work needs to be done. That means, what more needs to be done? Become a donkey. What more can be done? But according to our scriptural injunctions, nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛ-loke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1), this human form of life just like hog viḍ-bhujāṁ he works hard day and night to eat stool, whole day, you must have surely seen in Mathura, the hog wanders here and there where is stool, where is stool? The scriptures forbid that human life should not be like this, kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye This is not our civilization. Vedic civilization, to work hard day and night, where are the eatables, no discrimination on eating, just like hog does not discriminate, even stool is good. No discrimination on food and drinks. This is not human life. This is the opinion of Vedic civilization.

So what should be there in human life, tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyed sattvaṁ (SB 5.5.1) Do austerities. Why should austerities be done? Eat drink and be merry. Why should austerities be done? No. If you are leading a responsible life, if you are intelligent, then you must perform austerities, yena śuddhyed sattvaṁ, your current existence is not pure, it must be purified. Just like a diseased person, he has to go to a doctor, take medicines and get cured from the disease, purified, this is needed. If he doesn't do so he is an animal. An animal does not go anywhere to get treated. So that is why it is stated in the scriptures, tapo divyaṁ putrakā, Rsabhadeva was preaching to his sons before retiring that son, one must perform austerities, tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ śuddhyed yasmād brahma-saukhyaṁ tv anantam (SB 5.5.1). So despite Vedic civilization being there in our country, we still ape the process, that like hogs work hard day and night and when the body is strong enjoy sex, there is no discrimination in that just like hogs have no discrimination, who is mother, who is sister, who is daughter, any one will do. This is not life, this is not human life. This is our civilization, tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ śuddhyed.

We all read Bhagavad-gītā and the first thing of Bhagavad-gītā is:

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati

(BG 2.13)

The body will change. Big big politicians, scholars comment, write, on the Bhagavad-gītā, but no one explains that your body will change. Today you are Indian, tomorrow you may be something else, may not be human, even it can be an animal because this is not in your hands. You may act as smart as you can now but when you leave this body:

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni

guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ

ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā

kartāham iti manyate

(BG 3.27)

You may act as smart as you want now but after death, that is in the hands of material nature, that's all. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir, the body will change, and there is no university education on this subject matter. And the change of body that will take place, what kind of body will you get, will that be a body of a hog, or a demigod, or a tree or a fly, all these things are not considered. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ (SB 7.5.31), he is bound by the laws of material nature and yet he does not think and the leaders lead on the path of illusion, andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās, this is going on all over the world.

So in our country this knowledge is there, the Lord Himself comes and speaks, the Vedas and other scriptures are there, Purāṇas and other scriptures are there, great sages, great souls, great preceptors, preached this knowledge. And if we reject all this, work hard like dogs and hogs, there is no other way than to work hard, then this is not correct. Work hard the hog also does, the donkey also does. Is that our purpose also?

So all of you gentlemen present here, our request is that this civilization, that work hard day and night . . . one has to work hard day and night, performing austerities is not ordinary hard work, it is heavy hard work, but work hard for a purpose which will actually benefit you. That is why it is said in the scriptures tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ śuddhyed. Work hard, perform austerities, for what? To attain the transcendental object. Not for eating like the hogs and for sense gratification. Not that kind of hard work. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyed sattvaṁ. We all read Bhagavad-gītā but the Lord says na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin(BG 2.20), there is no one to understand this. For the living entity there is no birth or death. But in the practical field we see that we take birth and we die also. So we don't think about this at all, what is this. We do not take birth nor die then how are we placed in this position that we take birth also and die also and in between birth and death there is disease, there is lamentation. And the Lord Himself tells us what our real problem is. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi- duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9) This is your problem. You make big big plans for solutions to small small problems idam adya mayā labdham imaṁ prāpsye punar dhanam(BG 16.13), today I have so much bank balance, tomorrow I will again earn, so my bank balance will become so much, this demoniac plan, in the sixteenth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā it has been nicely explained jagad āhur anīśvaram (BG 16.8) there is no such thing as God, this is kim anyat kāma-haitukam (BG 16.8), all these principles are going on. At least in India this should not happen. This is happening everywhere else and here also.

So the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is nothing but to awaken all these foolish persons who are covered by ignorance. This is the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the job of awakening is with the Indians. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says:

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya janma yāra

janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra

(CC Adi 9.41)

The mission of the land of India is welfare of others. It may be the mission of other countries to loot the others and bring their wealth. For this purpose the Muslims came here, Mohammed Ghori had come here too, and the English Gentleman had also come earlier, that lets go to India and see how it can be looted. This can be the mission of other countries. The Christian missionaries come here to establish their empire, that's why this movement being run by us is suspected by many people that Americans have come here as CIA. But this is not a fact. Will the CIA become Vaisnava and dance and give up meat eating, what is the need for this? What is the need to become a Vaisnava? Could not the CIA operate in any other way than this? This is illusion. They are all genuine Vaisnavas.

One should not discriminate on the basis of caste and creed on the Vaisnavas. This is forbidden by the scriptures. The Vaisnava does not belong to any particular caste also. In our movement we have Americans, Europeans, Africans, Iranian, Hindus, Muslims, all are there. They have forgotten their castes. The original identity of the living entity which is, jīvera ‘svarūpa' haya — kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa' (CC Madhya 20.108), they consider themselves to be the servant of Lord Kṛṣṇa, that's all. Gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (Padyāvalī 63). This is the teaching of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that I am not a brahmana, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya, I am not a sannyasi, I am not a vanaprastha, I am not a brahmacari, He denied the varnasrama. That what are You? Gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. The one who maintains the gopis, Lord Kṛṣṇa, I am the eternal servant of the servant of the servant of servant, hundred times below. This is the introduction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And to teach this only Caitanya Mahāprabhu has instructed all, ordered all. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says:

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa

(CC Madhya 7.128)

That's all. This is the teaching of Caitanya Mahāprabhu that all of you become spiritual masters. What does one have to do after becoming a spiritual master? In whatever position you are in currently make that successful. You are householders with family and children, do it there. You become the spiritual master of your wife, boy, servants. Make their life succesful if you cannot do more. If you can do more then do it in the society, community, nationwide, as is your capacity but you become spiritual master and do benefit to others. This is the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Amāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa, and I am not learned, how can I become a spiritual master? I need knowledge etc to become a spiritual master. No, there is no need of any knowledge for you. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa, that's all. Whatever Kṛṣṇa has spoken, you repeat that, that's all. You are a spititual master. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

So we have gone to the foreign countries and become spiritual master and they have accepted also, we have done this only. No magic, no creating gold, if someone is diseased in stomach or head to make him all right, all this we do not know. Our only business is yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa, that's all. See, this is Lord Kṛṣṇa and He says this. What does He say? Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 9.34), do four things, always think of Me, become My devotee, and at least offer one obeisances to Me. Who cannot do this? See all these children. Can we not do this? No need to become overly scholarly, over religious. Don't try to be over smart. No need to show magic. Only if one learns these four things man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mām evaiṣyasi asamsayam, (BG 9.34), the Lord is giving assurance, that I am giving you assurance that you will come back to Me, do these four things. What can be a more simpler relgious path than this?

And in the end He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), not difficult at all. Everyone can do, there is no difficulty in doing this. God is for everyone, not only for the Hindus, Indians, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ (BG 14.4), the Lord is there for animals, birds, insects, flies, for everyone. Kṛṣṇa has never said anywhere that He is there for the Indians, Hindus.

This is happenning. Contribute to this movement. This is our request. There are many takers for this, many. They are disgusted with this material civilization. At least a few people are definetly disgusted. And they want this. And that's why when a sadhu, sannyasi from India goes there they go to them, but some of them steal, gamble, someone teaches meditation, someone else cheating, someone teaches gymastics but the real thing that Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa, no one teaches. They themselves become Kṛṣṇa. All this cheating is going on.

Till today in the history not one single perosn became a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. And when we took up the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa, see how many have become. This is a fact. A hundred years ago Vivekananda had gone. After that many others had gone but they could not make even a single devotee of Kṛṣṇa, not even one. Today you see there are thousands, thousands of them. Have I bribed them? No. The fact is, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, what is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, to mal intepret it, misrepresent it, do not create havoc for the world. Whatever the Lord has spoken, repeat that, you will be benefitted and so will the living entities. This is the thing.

So it our request to all of you, you all belong to the land of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa belongs to you, you should all join in this, this is the movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, not only of Mathura and Vrindavana. There is no one in India who does not believe in Lord Kṛṣṇa. Though they may belong to other factions, they all celebrate the appearance day Janamasthami of Lord Kṛṣṇa. When they ask me there how many people are Kṛṣṇa conscious in India, I reply everyone, millions. There is no one in India who does not believe in Lord Kṛṣṇa. Even the Muslims they accept Him. Millions and millions, this is what I reply to them. This is a fact also.

It is our request to you that you are all residents of Mathura. Take this Kṛṣṇa mission seriously and join our movement so that the programs of this movement can be further expanded, help us, all of you come, this is our request. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa, that's all, all of you become spiritual masters. Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Srila Prabhuapda! (cut) (end)