770323 - Lecture SB 02.03.18-19 at Cross Maidan Pandal - Bombay

Lectures by Date, 1977

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

770323SB-BOMBAY - March 23, 1977 - 46:30 Minutes

Prabhupāda: . . . Bhavānanda Swami, to recite two or three verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the theme of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Read it. The verse begins with taravaḥ kiṁ na jīvanti. Read that verse.

Bhavānanda:

taravaḥ kiṁ na jīvanti

bhastrāḥ kiṁ na śvasanty uta

na khādanti na mehanti

kiṁ grāme paśavo 'pare

(SB 2.3.18)

"Do the trees not live? Do the bellows of the blacksmith not breathe? All around us, do the beasts not eat and discharge semen?" Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda: "The materialistic man of the modern age will argue that life, or part of it, is never meant for discussion of theosophical or theological arguments. Life is meant for the maximum duration of existence for eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, making merry and enjoying life. The modern man wants to live forever by the advancement of material science, and there are many foolish theories for prolonging life to the maximum duration. But the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam affirms that life is not meant for so-called economic development or advancement of materialistic science for the hedonistic philosophy of eating, mating, drinking and merrymaking. Life is solely meant for tapasya, for purifying existence so that one may enter into eternal life just after the end of the human form of life.

"The materialists want to prolong life as much as possible because they have no information of the next life. Therefore, they want to get the maximum comforts of life only in this present life, thinking conclusively that there is no life after death. This ignorance about the eternity of the living being and the change of covering in the material world has played havoc in the structure of the modern human society. Consequently there are many problems, multiplied by various plans of modernized man. The plans for solving the problems of society have only aggravated the troubles. Even if it is possible to prolong life more than one hundred years, advancement of human civilization does not necessarily follow. The Bhāgavatam says that certain trees live for hundreds and thousands of years. At Vṛndāvana there is a tamarind tree (the place is known as Imlitala) which is said to be existing since the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In the Calcutta Botanical Garden there is a banyan tree said to be older than five hundred years, and there are many such trees all over the world. Svāmī Śaṅkarācārya lived only thirty-two years, and Lord Caitanya lived forty-eight years. Does it mean that the prolonged lives of the above-mentioned trees are more important than Śaṅkara or Caitanya? Prolonged life without spiritual value is not very important. One may doubt that trees have life because they do not breathe. But modern scientists like Bose have already proved that there is life in plants, so breathing is no sign of actual life. The Bhāgavatam says that the bellows of the blacksmith breathes very soundly, but that does not mean that the bellows has life. The materialist will argue that life in the tree and life in the man cannot be compared because the tree cannot enjoy life by eating palatable dishes or by enjoying sexual intercourse. In reply to this, the Bhāgavatam asks whether other animals like the dogs and hogs, living in the same village with human beings, do not eat and enjoy sexual life. The specific utterance of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in this connection regarding "other animals" means that persons who are simply engaged in the matter of planning a better type of life consisting of eating, breathing and mating are also animals in the shape of human beings. A society of such polished animals cannot benefit suffering humanity, for an animal can easily harm another animal but rarely do good."

śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-kharaiḥ

saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ

na yat-karṇa-pathopeto

jātu nāma gadāgrajaḥ

(SB 2.3.19)

"Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils." Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda: "The general mass of people, unless they are trained systematically for a higher standard of life in spiritual values, are no better than animals, and in this verse they have been particularly put on the level of the dogs, hogs, camels and asses. Modern university education practically prepares one to acquire a doggish mentality to accept the service of a greater master. Like the dogs, after finishing a so-called education, the so-called educated persons move from door to door with applications for some service, and mostly they are driven away, informed of no vacancy. As the dogs are negligible animals and serve the master faithfully for bits of bread, similarly, one serves a master faithfully without sufficient rewards.

"Persons who have no discrimination in the matter of foodstuff and who eat all sorts of rubbish are compared with the hogs. Hogs are very much attached to eating stools. So the stool is a kind of foodstuff for a particular type of animal. And even the stones are edible by a particular type of animal or bird. But the human being is not meant for eating everything and anything, save grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, sugar and so forth. Animal food is not meant for the human being. For chewing solid food, the human being has a particular type of teeth meant for cutting fruits and vegetables. The human being is endowed with two canine teeth as a concession for such persons who will eat animal food at any cost. It is known to everyone that one man's food is another man's poison. Human beings are expected to accept the remnant of food offered to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the Lord accepts foodstuff from the categories of leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. (BG 9.26). No animal food is offered to the Lord, as prescribed by Vedic scriptures. Therefore, a human being is meant to eat a particular type of food. He should not imitate the animals to derive so-called vitamin values. Therefore, a person who has no discrimination in regard to eating is compared with the hogs.

"The camel is a kind of animal which takes pleasure in eating thorns. Similarly, a person who wants to enjoy family life or the worldly life of so-called enjoyment is compared with the camel. Materialistic life is full of thorns, so one should live only by the prescribed method of Vedic regulations, just to make the best use of a bad bargain. Life in the material world is maintained by sucking one's own blood. The central point of attraction for material enjoyment is sex life. To enjoy sex life is to suck one's own blood, and there is not much more to be explained in this connection. The camel also sucks its own blood while chewing the thorny twigs. The thorns the camel eats cut the tongue of the camel, and so blood begins to flow within the camel's mouth. The thorns, mixed with fresh blood, create a taste for the foolish camel, and so he enjoys the thorn-eating business with false pleasure. Similarly, the great business magnates, industrialists who work very hard to earn money by different ways and questionable means, eat the thorny result of their action mixed up with their own blood. Therefore the Bhāgavatam has situated these diseased fellows along with the camels.

"The ass is another animal who is celebrated as the greatest fool, even amongst the animals. The ass works very hard and carries burdens of the maximum weight without making profit for itself. Human life is meant for earning values. This life is called arthadam, or that which can deliver values. And what is the greatest value of life? It is returning home, back to Godhead, as indicated in the Bhagavad-gītā (BG 8.15). One's selfishness must be aimed at the point of going back to Godhead. The ass does not know his self-interest, and it works very hard for others only. Similarly, a person who works very hard for others only, forgetting his personal interest available in the human form of life, is compared to the ass. In the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa it is said:

aśītiṁ caturaś caiva

lakṣāṁs tāñ jīva-jātiṣu

bhramadbhiḥ puruṣaiḥ prāpyaṁ

mānuṣyaṁ janma-paryayāt

tad apy abhalatāṁ jātaḥ

teṣām ātmābhimāninām

varākāṇām anāśritya

govinda-caraṇa-dvayam

"The human life is so important that even the demigods in the higher planets sometimes aspire after a human body on this earth because in the human body only can one easily go back to Godhead. And in spite of having obtained such an important body, if one does not re-establish his lost eternal relation with Govinda, Lord Kṛṣṇa, he is certainly a fool who has forgotten his self-interest. This human form of material body is obtained by a gradual process of evolution of one body after another in the cycle of 8,400,000 varieties of life. And the poor man, forgetting this importance for his own interest, involves himself in so many illusory engagements for uplifting the position of others as leader of political emancipation and economic development. There is no harm in trying for political emancipation or economic development, but one should not forget the real aim of life: all such philanthropic activities must be dovetailed to returning to Godhead. One who does not know this is compared to the ass who works only for others, without their or his own welfare in mind. The ass is generally engaged by the washerman, whose social position is not very respectable. And the special qualification of the ass is that it is very much accustomed to being kicked by the opposite sex. The ass, when he begs for sexual intercourse, is kicked by the fair sex, yet he still follows the female for such sexual pleasure. A henpecked man is compared, therefore, with the ass. The general mass of people work very hard, especially in the age of Kali. In this age the human being is actually engaged in the work of an ass, carrying heavy burdens and driving ṭhelā and rickshaws. The so-called advancement of human civilization has engaged a human being in the work of an ass. The laborers in great factories and workshops are also engaged in such burdensome work, and after working hard during the day, the poor laborer has to again be kicked by the fair sex, not only for sex enjoyment but also for so many household affairs.

"So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam's categorization of the common man without any spiritual enlightenment into the society of the dogs, hogs, camels and asses is not at all an exaggeration. The leaders of such ignorant masses of people may feel very proud of being adored by such a number of dogs and hogs, but that is not very flattering. The Bhāgavatam openly declares that person, although a great leader of such dogs and hogs disguised as men, may have no taste for being enlightened in the science of Kṛṣṇa. Such a leader is also an animal and nothing more. He may be designated as a powerful, strong animal, or a big animal, but in the estimation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam he is never given a place in the category of man, on account of his atheistic temperament. Or, in other words, such godless leaders of dogs and hoglike men are bigger animals with animals' qualities in greater proportion."

Prabhupāda: So,

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād

bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje

lokasyājānato vidvāṁś

cakre sātvata-saṁhitām

(SB 1.7.6)

Anartha. We living entities, we are part and parcel of God. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). Some way or other, we are now fallen in this material condition, and we are changing bodies. This is the first instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā. There are so many commentators on Bhagavad-gītā, but nobody has pointed out what is the real business of Bhagavad-gītā. The real business is, as Kṛṣṇa says in the beginning of His teachings,

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati

(BG 2.13)

This is the first instruction, that we are changing body on account of the spirit soul, and when the spirit soul changes . . . we are changing every day, every moment, our body—kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā. I was a child; you were a child. We have now changed our body. Similarly, now I am old man. Some of you, you are also old man. We have changed the body.

So what kind of body we are going to have? What change is going to take place? There is no knowledge. So at least in India this condition should be changed. To keep people in ignorance of this bodily concept of life—"I belong to this community," "I belong to that community," "I belong to this body," "I belong to that body"—no. They should be educated to become brahma-bhūtaḥ.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

(BG 18.54)

Sama-sarveṣu bhūteṣu. India's education is not to distinguish that "Here is an Englishman," "Here is a German," "Here is a Christian," "Here is a Hindu," "Here is a Muslim." Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Because India's realization of knowledge is brahmānubhūti, brahma-bhūtaḥ. Then, when one comes to the standard of brahma-bhūtaḥ knowledge, he'll be happy.

It is not possible, of course, to realize Brahman by everyone. That is not possible. But there must be an ideal institution. Unfortunately, at the present moment it is very difficult to find out where is that ideal brāhmaṇa, but there must be. Kṛṣṇa says. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement includes this, that cātur-varṇyaṁ māyā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). There must be division. There may be only a few number of brāhmaṇas, but there must be ideal brāhmaṇas so that people may learn that "Here is the first-class brāhmaṇa. Here is the first-class man. Let us take instruction from him, not from so-called politicians." This is Indian civilization. Don't think . . . formerly, even Lord Rāmacandra, who was the king . . . He is God Himself. Still, He used to consult learned brāhmaṇas, sages, saintly persons, for governmental duties. The division must be there.

So there are so many things to be done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Don't take it that it is simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Chanting is the prime factor, because if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, then gradually everything will be clear in your mind. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (CC Antya 20.12). Whole world is suffering on account of all contaminated things accumulated within our heart. So the Bhāgavata process is to hear from the right person.

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ

hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi

vidhunoti suhṛt satām

(SB 1.2.17)

So our request to all of you is that take this movement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, chanting, very seriously. Don't neglect it. This is the India's gift to the whole of the world. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission.

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra

janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra

(CC Adi 9.41)

India's mission is para-upakāra: not to exploit others but to do good to others. And what is the best thing to do? Because a human being also, he has got the opportunity to understand his position. He's kept into darkness that he is like animal and his only business is how to eat, how to sleep, how to mate. This kind of ignorance, at least in India, we should not take up. Let us combine together. That is my request. Take it very seriously. In America they are now taking it seriously. Perhaps you know. Recently there is a judgment by the Supreme Court in New York. They admitted that Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is genuine religious movement. There was a great opposition against this movement. Our students were being kidnapped, and so many harassments was going on. But by the grace of Kṛṣṇa I went to America in 1965, and now it is '77. After eleven, twelve years of struggle I was loitering in the street. Who cared for me? But it is now being recognized, that "Here is a movement." Now we have to utilize it. I always put this logic to my students, andha-paṅgu-nyāya, that for the benefit of the whole world, American money and Indian culture should combine. (applause) That will bring benefit to the whole world.

So the opportunity is there. Now let our Indians' leader come out. Take this movement very seriously. There will be great advantage to the people of the whole world. This kind of situation, to keep them in darkness, that "I am dog," "I am hog," "I am American," "I am Indian . . ." No. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is real conception of life. What is the difference? If a bulldog thinks that "I am a bulldog," and if a man thinks, "I am American" or "I am brāhmaṇa," what is the difference? The real thing is knowledge. So don't keep this knowledge locked up in your books, but spread it. My only request is: the leaders of India should now come forward and join this movement and take this advantage of doing good to the whole world, para-upakāra. (applause)

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra

janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra

(CC Adi 9.41)

Thank you very much. (applause) (break)

Girirāja: We request you to ask them now. So please . . . a lot of information has been presented, a lot of food for thought. So this is a very important movement, very important subject matter. So we request any of you who have any question at all to please put that question and we can have further discussion.

Lokanātha: Come here and ask the question in the microphone. Please come forward and ask question.

Girirāja: Who will be the first? Asking questions is a sign of intelligence.

Lady: What is the most important thing in life?

Girirāja: The question is, "What is the most important thing in life?"

Prabhupāda: To understand yourself. If you misidentify yourself that you are this body, then you are finished. Our most important . . . athāto brahma jijñāsā. The question should be, "What I am? Am I this body or something else?" That is most important thing. That is the beginning of Vedānta-sūtra knowledge, athāto brahma jijñāsā. The animals cannot ask "Whether I am dog or I am something else?" And if the man is kept into darkness, that he has no question, "Whether I am this or that?" then he is animal. So the most important thing according to our Vedic culture is to understand oneself, "What I am." (break)

Guest (1): . . . to educate?

Prabhupāda: Do you think that you are not taxed? Why should you not be taxed for the proper gain? You are being taxed for so many nonsense things. Why not be taxed for the proper thing? That is intelligence.

Guest (2): What is the importance of health in life, and how does Gurujī advise people to maintain health, and how does it connect to your mission?

Prabhupāda: Where is health? First of all you have to understand that however healthy you may be, you must die. What problem you have solved? Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9), Kṛṣṇa says. It is not my manufacture. However you may try to remain very healthy, nature's law is that you must die. How you can help yourself? After all, you have to meet death. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi. So long you have got this material body, there is no question of health. You must suffer. You may be very great scientist in . . . (indistinct) . . . but the nature's law must act.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni

guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ

ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā

kartāham iti manyate

(BG 3.27)

Foolish persons—ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā—bewildered by false egotism, he's thinking, "I am improving health. I am improving this. I am doing . . ." He's improving nothing. He is completely under the clutches of material nature. He cannot act anything independently. That is the law of nature.

Guest (3): May I know the distinction between Kṛṣṇa consciousness and supramental consciousness described by Śrī Aurobindo?

Prabhupāda: Yes, Kṛṣṇa consciousness means superconsciousness. Kṛṣṇa . . . you are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). Just like father and son. Father knows, "He is my son," and the son knows, "He is my father." So this father, paternal consciousness, is there. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is real consciousness, but we cover it with other consciousness that is polluted. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to purify your consciousness.

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ

tat-paratvena nirmalam

hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-

sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate

(CC Madhya 19.170)

When you become free from all designations of this world—sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam—and you become purified, without any contamination, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then your real business, real life, begins.

Guest (4): Can we solve political problems with this religious basis?

Prabhupāda: Yes. All problems will be solved if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Guest (5): What is a simple solution to understand soul? I would like to understand soul in a simplified form.

Prabhupāda: This is very simple, but we are educated so foolishly that we cannot understand. This is our defect. Kṛṣṇa says, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, bhinnā me prakṛtir aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4): "Arjuna, there are eight material elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, ego." Apareyam: "But these are inferior elements." Itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām: "Beyond this there is another, superior element." What is that? Jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat (BG 7.5). The living entity is superior element. Without the living entity, what is the value of this bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ? This distinction we can experience every day. Here is an important man. Now he's finished, and if you kick on his face, he won't protest. What is the wanting? That jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho—that living force is wanting. So anyone, any child, can understand that "Something is wanting. Therefore this important body is nothing but a lump of matter." Anyone can understand. Everything is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, but we are not serious to understand. That is the . . .

Guest (6): Can the Janata explosion be regarded as a division of Kṛṣṇa consciousness or similar consciousness?

Prabhupāda: You cannot have everyone to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is not possible. It is not so easy.

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu

kaścid yatati siddhaye

yatatām api siddhānāṁ

kaścid vetti māṁ tattvataḥ

(BG 7.3)

It is very, very difficult. But at least there must be one section of people who understand Kṛṣṇa so that people may take advantage of their position.

Guest (7): The first śloka of the Bhagavad-gītā says,

dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre

samaveta yuyutsavaḥ

māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva

kim akurvata sañjaya

(BG 1.1)

I ask you, Prabhu, what is that dharma-kṣetra and kuru-kṣetra?

Prabhupāda: Dharma-kṣetra everyone knows. Kurukṣetra is still dharma-kṣetra. Everyone goes there for religious performances. Where is the difficulty? Why you make it difficult? In candra-grahaṇa, in sūrya-grahaṇa, hundreds and thousands of people still go there. This is dharma-kṣetra. In the Vedic injunction it is said, kurukṣetre dharmaṁ yajet: "When you want to perform religious ritualistic ceremonies, go to Kurukṣetra." So Kurukṣetra is still there, the place is there, the station is there, and it is mentioned in the Vedas, it is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā. Where is the difficulty? Why you create difficulty? It is your fault that creates difficulty. Otherwise Kurukṣetra is dharma-kṣetra since time immemorial. That's all. Now chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Now chanting.

Devotee: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda! (break)

Bhavānanda: So we are continuing our reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Second Canto, Third Chapter, "Pure Devotional Service: The Change In Heart."

bile batorukrama-vikramān ye

na śṛṇvataḥ karṇa-puṭe narasya

jihvāsatī dārdurikeva sūta

na copagāyaty urugāya-gāthāḥ

(SB 2.3.20)

"One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts of the Personality of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy songs about the Lord is to be considered to possess ear holes like that of a snake and a tongue like that of the frogs. "

Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda: "Devotional service of the Lord is rendered by all limbs or parts of the body. It is the transcendental dynamic force of the spirit soul; therefore a devotee is engaged one hundred percent in the service of the Lord. One can engage in devotional service when the senses of the body are purified in relation with the Lord, and one can render service to the Lord with the help of all senses. As such, the senses and the action of the senses are to be considered as impure or materialistic as long as they are employed in sense gratification only. The purified senses are engaged not in sense gratification but in the service of the Lord in toto. The Lord is the Supreme with all senses, and the servitor who is part and parcel of the Lord also has the same senses. Service of the Lord is the completely purified use of the senses, as it is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. The Lord imparted instructions with full senses, and Arjuna received them with full senses, and thus there was a perfect exchange of sensible and logical understanding between the master and the disciple. Spiritual understanding is nothing like an electrical charge from the master to the disciple, as it is foolishly claimed by some propaganda-mongers. Everything is full of sense and logic, and the exchange of views between the master and disciple is possible when the reception is submissive and real only. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that one should receive the teaching of Lord Caitanya with intellect and full senses so that one can logically understand the great mission.

"In the impure state of a living being, the respective senses are fully engaged in mundane affairs. If the ear is not engaged in the service of the Lord by hearing about Him in the Bhagavad-gītā or in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, certainly the holes of the ear will be filled up with some rubbish. Therefore the messages of the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be preached all over the world very loudly. That is the duty of a pure devotee who has actually heard about them from the perfect sources. Many want to speak something to others, but because they are not trained up to speak on the subject matter of Vedic wisdom they are all speaking nonsense, and the people are receiving them with no sense. There are hundreds and thousands of sources for distributing mundane news of the world, and people of the world are also receiving them. Similarly, the people of the world should be taught to hear the transcendental topics of the Lord, and the devotee of the Lord must speak loudly so that they can hear. The frogs loudly croak, with the result that they invite the snakes to eat them. The human tongue is especially given for chanting the Vedic hymns and not for croaking like the frogs. The word asatī used in this verse is also significant. Asatī means a woman who has become a prostitute. A prostitute has no reputation for good womanly qualities. Similarly, the tongue, which is given to the human being for chanting the Vedic hymns, will be considered a prostitute when it is engaged in the matter of chanting some mundane nonsense."

bhāraḥ paraṁ paṭṭa-kirīṭa-juṣṭam

apy uttamāṅgaṁ na namen mukundam

śāvau karau no kurute saparyāṁ

harer lasat-kāñcana-kaṅkaṇau vā

(SB 2.3.21)

"The upper portion of the body, though crowned with a silk turban, if not bowed down before the Personality of Godhead who can award mukti, or freedom, is a heavy burden only. And the hands, though decorated with glittering bangles, if not engaged in the service of the Personality of Godhead, Hari, are like those of a dead man."

Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda: "As stated hereinbefore, there are three kinds of devotees of the Lord. The first-class devotee does not see at all anyone who is not in the service of the Lord, but the second-class devotee makes distinctions between devotees and nondevotees. The second-class devotees are therefore meant for preaching work, and as referred to in the above verse, they must loudly preach the glories of the Lord. The second-class devotee accepts disciples from the section of third-class devotees, or nondevotees. Sometimes the first-class devotees also come down to the category of the second-class devotee for preaching work. But the common man, who is expected to become at least a third-class devotee, is advised herein to visit the temple of the Lord and bow down before the Deity, even though he may be a very rich man or even a king with a silk turban or crown. The Lord is the Lord of everyone, including the great kings and emperors, and as such, rich men in the estimation of mundane people must therefore make a point to visit the temple of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and regularly bow down before the Deity. The Lord in the temple in the worshipable form is never to be considered to be made of stone or wood because the Lord in His arcā incarnation as the Deity in the temple shows immense favor to the fallen souls by His auspicious presence. By the hearing process, as mentioned hereinbefore, this realization of the presence of the Lord in the temple is made possible. As such, the first process of hearing in the routine work of devotional service is the essential point. Hearing by all classes of devotees from the authentic sources like Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is essential. The common man who is puffed up with his material position and does not bow down before the Deity of the Lord in the temple, or who defies temple worship without any knowledge of the science, must know that his so-called turban or crown will only succeed in further drowning him in the water of the ocean of material existence. A drowning man with a heavy weight on his head is sure to go down more swiftly than others who have no heavy weight. A foolish, puffed-up man defies the science of God and says God has no meaning for him, but when he is in the grip of God's law and is caught up by some disease like cerebral thrombosis, that godless man sinks into the ocean of nescience by the weight of his material acquisition. Advancement of material science without God consciousness is a heavy load on the head of human society, so one must take heed of this great warning.

"The common man, if he has no time to worship the Lord, may at least engage his hands for a few seconds washing or sweeping the Lord's temple. Mahārāja Pratāparudra, the great powerful king of Orissa, was always very busy with heavy state responsibilities, yet he made it a point to sweep the temple of Lord Jagannātha at Purī once a year during the festival of the Lord. The idea is that however important a man may be, he must accept the supremacy of the Supreme Lord. This God consciousness will help a man even in his material prosperity. Mahārāja Pratāparudra's subordination before the Lord Jagannātha made him a powerful king, so much so that even the great Pathan in his time could not enter into Orissa on account of the powerful Mahārāja Pratāparudra. And at last Mahārāja Pratāparudra was graced by Lord Śrī Caitanya on the very grounds of his acceptance of subordination to the Lord of the universe. So even though a rich man's wife has glittering bangles made of gold on her hands, she must engage herself in rendering service to the Lord. "

Prabhupāda: Girirāja.

Bhavānanda: Girirāja is coming.

Prabhupāda: Try to explain it also. (end)