740816 - Lecture SB 01.05.35 - Vrndavana

Lectures by Date, 1974

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

740816SB-VRNDAVAN - August 16, 1974 - 36:08 Minutes

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (devotees repeat) (leadms chanting of verse, etc.)

yad atra kriyate karma

bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam

jñānaṁ yat tad adhīnaṁ hi

bhakti-yoga-samanvitam

(SB 1.5.35)

(break)

Translation: "Whatever work is done here in this life for the satisfaction of the mission of the Lord is called bhakti-yoga, or transcendental loving service of the Lord. And what is called knowledge becomes a concomitant factor."

(break)

Prabhupāda:

yad atra kriyate karma

bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam

jñānaṁ yat tad adhīnaṁ hi

bhakti-yoga-samanvitam

(SB 1.5.35)

A similar passage is there, saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam. Ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ.

ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā

varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ

svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya

saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam

(SB 1.2.13)

Similar. Bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam. Bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam or hari-toṣaṇam, the same thing. So first of all we must know what is bhagavat, or Hari—then we may try to satisfy Him. Unfortunately, we do not know what is God. Where is the question of satisfying Him? This is the . . . at the present moment, vague idea, what is God; practically no idea. What is their God? "God is good." They . . . sometimes they say: "God is great," but what is that God, how great He is, how He is good, nobody knows. So where is the question of hari-toṣaṇam? If I do not know . . . somebody says that, "You go and satisfy Mr. Such-and-such, Mr. John." So I do not know who is Mr. John, where does he live, what does he do, then how can I satisfy him? This is the position.

So hari-toṣaṇam or bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam can be possible when we actually know what is God. Otherwise there is no question. So, so far we are concerned, Kṛṣṇa conscious devotees, we know who is God. Therefore this business is possible by us, not by others. We know what is God. We have no vague idea. We know who is God, where does He live, what does He do, His name, address, His father's name—everything we know. Therefore we can satisfy. We are competent to satisfy because we know exactly who is God. That is Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). How do you know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Yes. By history, by authority, by His action, everything complete. We know historical . . . from historical point of view, Kṛṣṇa is there in the Mahābhārata. Mahābhārata means, "The history of great India." Mahā means great. So greater India. Greater India, this is history, Itihāsa. Itihāsa means history. So there is Kṛṣṇa, in the itihāsa, in the history. In the Vedas also, there is name of Kṛṣṇa. In the Yajur Veda, there is name of Kṛṣṇa and His father's name, Vasudeva. Everything is there. And besides that, Kṛṣṇa appeared as He is five thousand years ago, and He acted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So where is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa?

Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47)—everything complied. Kṛṣṇa, the richest personality, the most beautiful personality, the most wise. He has given the Bhagavad-gītā. Apart from other instruction, the Bhagavad-gītā is there. Who has given such wise instruction throughout the whole world, throughout the whole universe? Nobody has given. God means the wisest, the richest, the most powerful, the most beautiful. So He was so beautiful that 16,108 very, very beautiful women . . . and this is married. And unmarried, many millions, they were attracted by Kṛṣṇa, the most beautiful. Śyāmasundara. His name is sundara, "Very beautiful." Although śyāma, blackish, still He's so attractive.

Kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobham (Bs. 5.30). Kandarpa-koṭi. He's so beautiful that He can surpass in His beauty the Cupids, millions and millions of Cupids. His name is Madana-mohana. Madana-mohana. Madana is Cupid. Cupid enchants everyone, but he is enchanted by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore His name is.

So bhagavat-toṣaṇam, we must know first of all who is God, who is Bhagavān. So śāstra says, authority says, and history says. What more proof you want? Huh? What more proof? Is there anyone to challenge Kṛṣṇa? Everything is there. Still, why you are searching after God? This is foolishness. This is foolishness. Owls', owls' philosophy. Owls' philosophy . . . the owl will not open the eyes to see the sun. Just open your eyes, you see, this here is sun. "No, there is no sun." This is owls' philosophy. Close the eyes; meditate. And the God is here, "No, I'll not open my eyes."

So we do not follow this philosophy, owls' philosophy. We follow real philosophy. What is that real philosophy? Śruti-pramāṇam, evidence from the Vedas, history, aitihya-pramāṇa, history. And anumāna-pramāṇa. There are many: pratyakṣa, anumāna, aitihya . . . so out of that, there are so many evidential processes, but according to followers of the Vedic principle, their process is śruti-pramāṇam. Śruti-pramāṇam means if it is mentioned in the Vedas, Upaniṣad, then it is pramāṇam. Śruti-pramāṇam. So Vedas, there are four Vedas and 108 Upaniṣads, and then eighteen Purāṇas, then this Mahābhārata. So all these are Vedic literatures. Śrīmad Madhvācārya describes them, these are Vedic literature. Not only the four Vedas—Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg, Atharva—but expansion of Vedas. Purāṇas, they are also Vedas.

So in the Purāṇa, in the history, in the Vedas, by the authorities. Just like Brahmā, the best authority because he is the first living being created within the universe. Ādi-puruṣa . . . not ādi-puruṣa; ādi-kavi. Ādi-puruṣa is Kṛṣṇa. Brahmā is ādi-kavi, the original learned scholar. So our theory of creation means first of all Brahmā is created. So Brahmā is called ādi-kavi. Tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye (SB 1.1.1). Ādi-kavaye means Brahmā. So Brahmā's knowledge, what does he say? Brahmā says, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. Brahmā says Govinda, Kṛṣṇa. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). He's giving description about Kṛṣṇa in the Brahma-saṁhitā. And the description of Kṛṣṇa's abode: cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam. Everything is there. This is authority, śruti. Kṛṣṇa is very much fond of tending cows. Surabhīr abhipālayantam. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu. He has got His abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, where the residential houses are made of cintāmaṇi, touchstone. Touchstone, we have heard the description: touchstone means the stone which you touch to the iron, and the iron becomes gold. So such touchstone, they're used as brick. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu (Bs. 5.29).

And kalpa-vṛkṣa. This is Kṛṣṇa's abode. They are not like this. They are all spiritual. Here it is, everything is material, but there is spiritual touch. That spiritual touch we are describing in the Bhagavad-gītā, bījo 'haṁ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 7.10). Without spiritual touch, there is no question of material manifestation. That is not possible. This body, your body, my body, this is material—everyone knows. It is made of earth, air, water, fire, like that. But how it is manifested? How the beautiful body is manifested? Because there is spiritual touch. The spirit soul is there. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā . . . (BG 2.13). This external body is changing, but it is forming on account of that spiritual touch. That spiritual touch means Kṛṣṇa. Bījo 'haṁ sarva-bhūtānām. So therefore the origin of everything is Kṛṣṇa. Just like the origin of a big tree is the root. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is the ādi-puruṣam. Govindam ādi-puruṣam, sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1). Just like in the tree there are trunks, branches, twigs, sub-branches, leaves, flowers, so many things. But the cause is the root.

So here it is said that hari-toṣaṇam. Bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam (SB 1.5.35). The root must be satisfied. If you want to maintain the tree, then the root, or the original cause of the tree, should be satisfied. Then everything is satisfied. So here in this material world they are trying to be happy, but they do not know how to become happy. They are put into the ocean of nescience. May be very expert swimmer, but simply swimming will not save you. You must know how to save. So here it is said, yad atra kriyate karma. Everyone is doing something. Vaidikī laukikī vāpi (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.200). There are two kinds of karmas. Vaidikī means according to the Vedic rituals. Performance of big, big sacrifices and so many other, that is called vaidikī. And laukikī . . . just like we have got good experience nowadays: there are so many activities, factories, mills, and scientific research work, so many. This is laukikī. So Kṛṣṇa does not say . . . yes. Sūta Gosvāmī does not say that simply by vaidikī activities, big, big ritualistic ceremonies, you can be happy. You can be happy even by laukikī. Laukikī mean these material activities. Generally, people understand, big, big factories nowadays, or agriculture or anything, there are laukikī. Laukikī means for maintenance of the body. So Nārada Muni recommends that yad atra, anything you are doing, kriyate. Atra means in this material world. Atra. Yad atra kriyate karma bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam (SB 1.5.35). It doesn't matter that you do not understand these Vedic rituals, but you want to develop the economic position of your country by industrial enterprises. Yes, that is also good. That is also good. How? Bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam. If it is conducted for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, then it is good.

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement does not say you stop anything. No. Whatever you have got liking, you can do, but bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam: by your work you try to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. This is our proposal. We do not say the negative, stop. No. And it is confirmed in the śāstras, ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhāḥ . . . generally, according to Vedic principle, there are four division of karma. Varṇāśrama . . . not four, eight division, according to varṇa and āśrama. Ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ. The division of work must be there; otherwise the society cannot go on very nicely. If everyone is brāhmaṇa, not interested in anything material or simply . . . because it is, after all, material world. If everyone becomes brāhmaṇa, no it will not go. There must be others. Kṣatriyas means the statesman, protector, politician, diplomat. Kṣatriyas. And there must be vaiśyas also, productive class of men. They must produce. Economic development, that is also required. Otherwise, how human society will go on? Not only intelligent class of men—the protector class of men, the productive class of men and the worker class of men. Suppose we are constructing this temple. If we devotees remain "Hare Kṛṣṇa," then who will construct this temple? Everything is required. We do not say this, "Stop this" or "Stop that." No.

So that division, different division, is scientifically made in the Vedic conception of life, varṇāśrama: four varṇas and four āśramas. Āśrama for spiritual advancement and varṇas for material advancement. So we want both of them, because our life is combination of spirit and matter. It is not that . . . to make the best use of a bad bargain. Suppose you have got a car. It is not very good car. It's not American car, but Ambassador. (laughter) Thrice breaks. But you have to utilize it. Bad bargain. Similarly, some way or other, we have got this material body; we cannot neglect it. We don't say that, "Neglect. Don't care for the body." No. Why?

That is the instruction of the Gosvāmīs: anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255). Don't be attached to the bodily demands. Bodily demands means eating, sleeping, sex life and defending. These are bodily demands. So if we say that "I am not this body, so I don't care for this eating, sleeping . . ." no. That is not. It is not vairāgya. This kind of renunciation is not recommended by our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, the Gosvāmīs recommend anāsaktasya viṣayān. You do not be attached to the demands of the body, but you utilize it for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Eating is required. If you don't eat nicely, then body cannot be maintained. But anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255). Eating is required, but not eating too much—not eating to the taste of the tongue, unnecessarily eating meat, fish, eggs. Why? You are human being. For you, Kṛṣṇa has given so much varieties of foodstuff: fruits, vegetables, nice rice, ḍāl, milk, ghee. Why should you go to the meat-eating? This is required. You eat like human being, not like cats and dogs. But eating is not prohibited. That is not our philosophy. Don't eat like cats and dogs, but eat like human being.

Similarly, sleeping also. Sleep; you require some rest. But don't sleep twenty-six hours. Not like that. Utmost six hours to eight hours, sufficient for any healthy man. Even the doctor says, if anyone sleeps more than eight hours, he is diseased. He must be weak. Healthy man sleeps at a stretch six hours. That is sufficient. That's all. And those who are tapasvīs, they should reduce sleeping also. Just like the Gosvāmīs did: only one and a half hour or utmost two hours. That also sometimes not. Actually, we should reduce this. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. This is gosvāmī. Gosvāmī does not mean go-dāsa. Go means senses, and dāsa means servant. If we keep the title gosvāmī and become servant of the senses, it is cheating. You must be gosvāmī, means you must be master of the senses. Self-control. So what the Gosvāmīs did? Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau. Very humble and . . . Nidrā means sleeping, āhāra means eating and vihāra means sense enjoyment. Vijitau, they conquered over.

So our process is to follow the Gosvāmīs. Ei chay gosāi yāṅr tāṅr mui dās. So we should try to follow the Gosvāmīs. We should keep in view what they did. They used to, I mean to say, pass their time in kṛṣṇotkīrtana-gāna-nartana-parau. Kṛṣṇotkīrtana-gāna-nartana-parau premāmṛtāmbho-nidhī dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau. Dhīrādhīra. There are two classes of men in the world: dhīra and adhīra. Dhīra means saintly persons, sober, those who have controlled their senses, gosvāmīs. And adhīra, just the opposite. So these Gosvāmīs, six Gosvāmīs, they were popular to the both classes of men, dhīra and adhīra. Their character was so sublime, nice, that even in this Vṛndāvana when Sanātana Gosvāmī was there, the village men, they would accept Sanātana Gosvāmī as the leader of the village. Actually, they were leader. But to pose himself as leader, but cannot control others, gaya mane mora āpni moro. Not like that. He must able be to lead them. So although Sanātana Gosvāmī was interested kṛṣṇotkīrtana-gāna-nartana-parau, he was not disinterested with others who were not devotees. They were also interested. Not interested, but sympathetic. They were not interested with the materialists, but the ordinary householders, they would fight, husband and wife, and come to Sanātana Gosvāmī for settlement. And whatever Sanātana Gosvāmī would give judgment, they will accept. They will accept. He was . . . they were very popular, Gosvāmīs. And they were staying sometimes here, sometimes there, sometimes Rādhā-kuṇḍa, sometimes . . . they were not staying in one place.

So our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, its only aim is how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Method, that is intelligence: What method we should accept so that our this process of, or the propaganda of Kṛṣṇa consciousness may go on very nicely. The process should be only to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, hari-toṣaṇam. That is the recommended Vedic process.

ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā

varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ

svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya

saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam

(SB 1.2.13)

Saṁsiddhi means perfection. So perfection, if we want perfection of our activities, then we shall try to satisfy by our activity the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You may say that, "I do not see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face-to-face. How I shall be able to know that I am satisfying or dissatisfying Him?" That you can know through your spiritual master. It is not very difficult. If your spiritual master is satisfied, then you should know that Kṛṣṇa is satisfied. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. There is no difficulty. Yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi. You cannot satisfy Kṛṣṇa by dissatisfying your spiritual master. That is not possible. That is not possible. You must satisfy. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. Do not take the excuse that, "I do not know God. I do not meet Him. How I shall know that I have satisfied Him or dissatisfied Him?" No. Śāstra says: "Yes . . ." It doesn't matter. Therefore it is called paramparā. Paramparā. As you receive the knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, from Arjuna and from Nārada, from Brahmā, like that, come down to your spiritual master, similarly, as you receive the knowledge step by step, one after another, similarly, you satisfy also the Supreme Personality of Godhead from this step, this step, this step, this step. This is the process. Just like you come down step by step by step by step, similarly you go up step by step by step by step.

So this is the process, bhagavat-toṣaṇam or hari-toṣaṇam. Also this way. And to receive the knowledge from Bhagavān, that is also paramparā system. The paramparā system must be maintained, and if it is done nicely, then as it is stated here, yad atra kriyate (SB 1.5.35), whatever you do, that is for your perfection. If you keep this paramparā system and if you try to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then whatever you do, that is perfection. It doesn't matter. The test is whether Kṛṣṇa is satisfied, whether your spiritual master is satisfied. Then you are perfect.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)