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Prabhupāda:  
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<div class="lec_verse">
kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ<br />
yajanta iha devatāḥ<br />
kṣipraṁ hi mānuṣe loke<br />
siddhir bhavati karma-jā</div>


<div class="code">660729BG.NY - July 29, 1966</div>


People, they are naturally following leadership, but they do not want to follow the leadership of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Because they want immediate relief from the miseries of this world. They do not want a permanent solution of all miseries. Kṛṣṇa, if we accept the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, then in this very life we can make a solution of all the miseries of material existence.


But instead of following the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, we accept leadership which is also indirectly the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, but it is misrepresented because on account of contamination of this material nature. Material nature is inferior or lower nature. Constitutionally, we are following the leadership, but we want immediate, temporary relief for our miseries. We do not want permanent solution of all miseries. That is the defect of our life. But here is a chance. If we follow the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, then we make a solution of the whole miseries. Kāṅkṣantaḥ,
<mp3player>https://s3.amazonaws.com/vanipedia/full/1966/660729BG-NEW_YORK.mp3</mp3player>


<div class="lec_verse">
kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ<br />
yajanta iha devatāḥ<br />
kṣipraṁ hi mānuṣe loke<br />
siddhir bhavati karma-jā</div>


'''Prabhupāda:''' All glories to the assembled devotees. All glories to the assembled devotees. All glories to the assembled devotees. Thank you very much . . . (break)


Karma-jā means those who are acting here on the line of fruitive activities. Suppose... You have experienced that there are so many political leaders. They follow some particular leader, and they capture the governmental machinery, but after some time they are taken away from the scene. Just like in our country, recently, within one year, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, he's also shifted away, Shastri is also shifted away. In your country, the President Kennedy is also shifted away. We do not take into account that after shifting this position, again we are going to enter into the miserable life of material existence. If we do not make a solution in present life, then we are again going to enter.
:''. . . mayā sṛṣṭaṁ''
:''guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ''
:''tasya kartāram api māṁ''
:''viddhy akartāram avyayam''
:([[BG 4.13 (1972)|BG 4.13]])


Suppose in this life I am elected to be the president of this great state, United States of America, and if my next life I become an ordinary citizen or even an animal... There is no guarantee what I shall become in my next life. That depends on my work because the whole body is given by the material nature. It is not made according to my order supply. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ [[BG 3.27]] . You are given a chance to act here, but according to your act, it will be judged, what you are going to have in your next life. That is your problem. No, don't make this life of fifty years, sixty years, or seventy years, or hundred years, as all in all. You have got a continuous life of transmigration from one body to another. It is going on. You must know that.
This verse was being discussed in our last meeting, that there are four divisions of men in the human society, and that division is natural. That is not artificial, because the whole material nature is working under the influence of three modes of nature—goodness, passion and ignorance. You cannot classify the whole human race into one. So long we are in the material world, it is not possible to make everyone on the same standard. It is not possible, because each and every one is working under the influence of different modes of nature. Therefore there must be division, natural division. This point we have discussed.


Now here is a chance to stop this nonsense of transmigrating from one body to another and suffer the material miseries. Here is a chance. And how that chance you are going to utilize? That we have already discussed. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [[BG 4.9]] . If somebody simply studies critically the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental nature of His activities, simply by knowing this, the benefit will be that tyaktvā deham, after quitting this body, you are not again going to have such a material body, but tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma... [[BG 4.9]]. Punar janma means you are not going to take your birth again in the womb of a mother of this material nature.
But when we transcend this material plane, then there is oneness. There is no more division. Then how to transcend? That transcendental nature is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As soon as we become fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we are transcendental to these material modes of nature.


So just believe it. It is standard. It is accepted by all the great stalwart scholars and ācāryas of repute. Just like Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, great scholars and ācāryas. They have accepted it. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [[CC Madhya 17.186]] . We have to follow the footprints of great saints and sages, those who have achieved success by this indication of Bhagavad-gītā. Don't follow your whims. Take the standard advice. Just try to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Just try to understand Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa. And the result is that after leaving this body, you are no more going to accept any material body, but you enter into the spiritual kingdom and you have your spiritual body which is eternal, full of knowledge and blissful. This is the chance.
:''māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa''
:''bhakti-yogena sevate''
:''sa guṇān samatītyaitān''
:''brahma-bhūyāya kalpate''
:([[BG 14.26 (1972)|BG 14.26]])


So Kṛṣṇa says... Although the chance is there, people, out of foolishness... Exactly this very word has been used in the Seventh Chapter.
You'll find in the ''Bhagavad-gītā'', in the Fourteenth Chapter: "Anyone who is fully engaged in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness activities, he is at once in the transcendental position."


<div class="lec_verse">
''Brahma-bhūyāya kalpate''. We are, by nature, we are not matter. We are Brahman. ''Ahaṁ brahmāsmi''. The propaganda of Śaṅkarācārya was mainly based on this understanding, that "We should not think that we are the products of this material nature." We are not products of material nature. It is by some accident, by freaks of nature, by misfortune or some way or other, we are now in contact with it. But actually I am spirit, Brahman. So that Brahman nature has to be invoked, has to be . . .
na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ<br />
prapadyante narādhamāḥ<br />
māyayāpahṛta-jñānā<br />
āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ<br />
[[BG 7.15]] </div>


We are . . . actually, just like a diseased person, he has to be brought into the healthy condition of life, to cure the disease. So just a man, when he's diseased and when he's healthy, from external feature, the same. Just like I am now healthy. So my external feature—I have got two hands and two legs and face and so many things—the same body, when I am in the diseased condition, you'll find the same hands, the same legs and mouth and everything, but the condition is different. I'll speak something nonsense because the condition has changed in the diseased condition. Similarly, in our diseased condition . . . this material life is our diseased condition.


He has used very strong words, that persons who are miscreants, do not care for vice or virtue, never mind—they don't care which is vice and which is virtue—such persons, duṣkṛtina, those who are always engaged in vicious work, and those who are foolish... Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ. Narādhama means lowest of the mankind. And māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ, and one whose knowledge is deluded by the external energy. These people, they do not take the shelter of Kṛṣṇa. They do not like, although the opportunity is open for everyone. But we may not be like the miscreants, foolish, and lowest of the mankind. Let us become intelligent.
So when we are in the healthy condition, that is called Brahman. That is called Brahman condition, healthy. So that Brahman condition can at once be regained as soon as we engaged ourself fully, cent percent, in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is clearly mentioned in the ''Bhagavad-gītā'', in the Fourteenth Chapter you'll find. ''Māṁ ca yaḥ ’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate'' ([[BG 14.26 (1972)|BG 14.26]]): "Anyone who renders the transcendental loving service unto Me," ''sa guṇān samatītya etān'', "that person immediately transcends the modes of material nature." ''Samatītya''. ''Sama''. ''Samyag atītya'', "perfectly transcending." ''Samatītya''.


Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not very difficult job. It is the easiest and the highest, topmost type of yoga system. In the Twelfth Chapter, you'll find it explicitly stated that one who [is] always in devotional service of Kṛṣṇa, he is the first-class yogi. One who is always constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is the first-class yogi. And that is also stated in the last verse of the Sixth Chapter also, and it is accepted by great scholars and ācāryas. So here is an opportunity. It is very simple, very simple—simply thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Satataṁ cintayantaṁ viṣṇum. Smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṇur vismartavyo na jātucit. Always, simply if you think that Hare Kṛṣṇa, if you think simply Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare, that is sufficient, even if you do not go into the Bhagavad-gītā, if you do not go in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, simply as you are chanting. Kṛṣṇa has given us the ear, and Kṛṣṇa has given us the tongue. No expense, no difficulty. You haven't got to go to college and take degrees to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. It is easy for the rich, for the poor, for the learned, for the fool, for the black, for the white, for the rich, for the poor, everyone. There is no distinction because[?] Kṛṣṇa is for everyone.
Then, transcending the material nature, then he becomes zero? No. That is the real nature. Now, the philosophy which preaches that "After our liberation, after ''nirvāṇa'' of this material existence, there is zero," oh, that is very dangerous theory, because we are not attracted by zero. That is our nature, living entity. Now, suppose I am suffering from some disease and there are so many ailments, and if some doctor comes: "Oh, let me finish your ailments by killing you," oh, will you agree?


Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ [[BG 9.32]] . In the lower nature, everyone thinks, "Oh, I am greater than you." The Hindus think, "Oh, we are greater than Muslim." The Muslim thinks, "We are greater than the Hindus." The Christian thinks that "We are greater than the Jews." The Jews thinks, "We are greater than..." This is material conception. But for Kṛṣṇa there is no lower or higher. Every living being—His part and parcel. He comes here to claim every one of you, "Come on. Come on, My dear sir. Why you are suffering here? It is not for you. Take this chance." Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [[BG 9.32]] .  
You'll say: "No, no, better let me suffer from the disease. I don't want to be killed." Is it not? Will you agree? Suppose you have got too much suffering, miseries of life, and I suggest, "All right, let me cut your throat and kill you, and everything will be finished," "Oh, no, no, no, I'm not agreeable to that." That is the sane man's statement. "Oh, I am not going to be killed for ending my miseries." That is the nature. So the theory that after making end of all these material miseries, there is nothing, void, oh, that is not attractive. That is not attractive at all.


So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so nice, but one who does not care for it, they are satisfied by some temporary relief, and they take to other courses. They do not take the leadership of Kṛṣṇa. Kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ yajanta iha devatāḥ. Iha devatāḥ means these material gods. Material gods means their existence is so long this material world.
And that is not the fact. Real fact is that I am ''sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha'' (Bs 5.1), part and parcel of the Supreme.


Just like here we have got the president, the governor and so many big, big officers. But suppose, somehow or other this whole planet or the whole thing is gone, destroyed—because we can expect destruction every moment, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [[BG 8.19]] — then the whole thing, I mean to say, the president and the governor, everything is gone. Iha devatāḥ. So we are taking shelter of this material world, something big, but that will not exist with the annihilation, with the dissolution of this material world. Everything will be dissolved. Everything will be... So we have to take the leadership of the Supreme. Then it will be the largest perfection, the greatest perfection of life.
The Supreme Lord is ''sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha'', and I am qualitatively one with Him. I am also, although I am small . . . just like a particle of the seawater, that is also salty. That is also salty. The taste of a small drop of seawater is the same as the taste of the big, vast, big ocean of the . . . Atlantic Ocean. So the quality is the same. Similarly, I may be small. I may be a spiritual atom. My position is that I am spiritual atom, and the Supreme Spirit is all, the greatest, but that does not mean I am different from the quality. I am of the same quality. So I am not void. ''Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre'' ([[BG 2.20 (1972)|BG 2.20]]).


Now, Lord Kṛṣṇa says, karmaṇām, karmaṇāṁ siddhim. How in the material world people are working? He is analyzing the process of different occupation. What is that?
If by frustration one commits suicide, oh, that is not the end of his miseries. He creates another misery. He creates another misery by committing suicide. Just like here, in the state law, if somebody attempts suicide and takes some poison, and if by treatment of the physician he's all right, he's again under the law, to be punished. Perhaps you know it. After curing him from that poisonous effect, he is under criminal code of the state: "Why you have attempted suicide?" Similarly, in the laws of nature if you commit suicide, that is another criminal act. So suicidal policy, to end this misery of life, is not all. We must have, I mean to say, greater life.


<div class="lec_verse">
In the ''Bhagavad-gītā'' you have read—already we have discussed—''paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate'' ([[BG 2.59 (1972)|BG 2.59]]): "One has to end this miserable life after finding out a life of bliss and knowledge and eternity." That should be our . . . we should not be trying only to end these miseries of life, expecting something void. No. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa . . . this ''cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam'' ([[BG 4.13 (1972)|BG 4.13]]).
cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ<br />
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ<br />
tasya kartāram api māṁ<br />
viddhy akartāram avyayam<br />
[[BG 4.13]] </div>


These divisions of human society, is created by the Lord, because to elevate ourself from the clutches of this deluding ''māyā'', or illusion. So just like one has to be educated from the lower class to the postgraduate class, similarly, this division of labor is there just to elevate one from the lowest stage of consciousness to the highest stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So that is a cooperation. That is a cooperation.


The Lord says that cātur-varṇyam, four castes or four divisions of human society. You have heard that there is caste system in India. There is caste system in India. There is caste system in India. Sometimes Indians are criticized by the outsiders that they have caste system. But here the Lord says the cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: "This caste system is created by Me. This caste system is created by Me, how?" Guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: "According to quality and according to work." That division in the human society, according to quality and according to work, is there in everywhere, everywhere in the world, not only everywhere in the world, but everywhere in the universe. God's creation cannot be stopped.
Just like my body. My body, there are different parts of my body. The head is the most important part of my body. The next important part is my arms. The next important part is my belly. And the next important part is my legs. But although the head is the most important part of my body, there is no question of neglecting the lowest part of my body, the legs.


God's creation cannot be stopped. Just like in God's creation there is sun, there is moon, there is seasonal changes, nobody can stop this, similarly the cātur-varṇyam, according to quality and karma, that division prevails all over the universe, not only in India but also in your country also. In your country also.
Similarly, although there are divisions in the human society, four divisions, according to the different modes of nature . . . the highest class is called the ''brahmin'', or the most intellectual class. And the next class is called the ''kṣatriya'', just the administrative class. And the next is the ''vaiśya'', or the mercantile, productive class. And the next is the ''śūdras'', or the laborer class. So all of them, they are required. But if they cooperate for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, so there is no strife between these higher and lower classes.


And what are the divisions? Now, what are the guṇa and karma? The guṇa, the quality. There are three qualities. In the material world, there are three qualities: the quality of goodness, the quality of passion, and the quality of ignorance. And either human being or animal or demigods or American or Indian, everywhere these qualities are working. So some of them are in the modes or quality of goodness, and some of them are in the quality of passion, and some of them are in the quality of ignorance. Those who are in the quality of goodness, they are called brāhmaṇas, or the intelligent class of men. In Sanskrit language, because intelligence, intelligence does not mean to know, to have some knowledge of the material things. Intelligence means to know about the spiritual world also. That is intelligence.
We find in the present social, I mean to say, status of our life we are actually existing in four divisions, but there is no cooperation. Practically, everyone is dissatisfied. Take for example the strife between the capitalist class and the laborer class. They, they are trying in different way. There is no compromise. There is always friction. And especially in a country like India, oh, there is always friction, and other countries also.


Because as you know that I am combination of matter and spirit... I am spirit, and I am now entangled in this material body. I am spirit, consciousness. As soon as I am out of this body, I can distinguish or... I cannot distinguish because I will go away. You can distinguish that "Now this real Swamiji's spirit is gone; the Swamiji's material body is here." So it is very plain thing. Therefore we should not only have perfect knowledge of this matter, but we should have perfect knowledge of the spirit also, if we are actually intelligent. Therefore the brāhmaṇas... Why they are called brāhmaṇas? Brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. Brahmin, it is English transcription. But real word is brāhmaṇa, brāhmaṇa. And wherefrom this brāhmaṇa word comes? Brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. That means one who knows the spirit, the spiritual. One who has got complete knowledge of the spiritual world, he is called brāhmaṇa.  
So they are not satisfied. Recently also, in your country also, there was strike by the bus drivers and the subway drivers and administration. So there is always strike. Why? This is due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There cannot be any cooperation unless there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is an essential fact for harmonizing even the present material society. That is required. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so important thing, that cooperation . . .


How one becomes brāhmaṇa? Now you will find distinctly that cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: [[BG 4.13]] "The four divisions of qualitative divisions is set by Me according to quality and karma." Never says, "according to birth," you will find. "According to birth," it is not said here. Although in India it is now misrepresentated that a brāhmaṇa's son is trying to designate himself as brāhmaṇa, but according to Bhagavad-gītā, that is not sanctioned. Bhagavad-gītā says, "according to quality."
The same example can be said here also, that the leg, the hand and the belly and the mouth—what they are? They are cooperating. Cooperating for what? Cooperating for maintaining this body. This is the common interest. And how it is cooperated? To supply everything to the stomach.


Now, just like here is a qualified lawyer, Mr. Goldsmith. He is lawyer. Now, because he is lawyer, his son cannot claim that "Because my father is lawyer, then I am also lawyer." How he can become? The son also must be qualified lawyer. He must pass the bachelor of law degree, examination. Then he can be lawyer. So similarly, here Kṛṣṇa says... Don't misunderstand the Indian caste system as hereditary. No. It is, according to Vedic literature, it is according to the quality.
The brain is working, earning some money; the hand is fetching something and cooking; and the mouth is chewing; and the leg is going; but the whole function is targeted to fulfill the demands of the stomach. If these parts of the body non-cooperate with the stomach, they'll become feeble and weak and there will be no capacity to work.


And what is that quality? Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ: "Anyone who takes his birth, by his birth he's a śūdra." Śūdra means the lowest, in the lowest order. Everyone. Even if he is born in the family of a brāhmaṇa, he is to be considered as a śūdra, janmanā, by birth. And perhaps some of you know that the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas and the vaiśyas, they are called dvija. Dvi means twice, and ja means birth. Twice-born. Twice-born.
Similarly, Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that in whatever division I may be . . . I may be the ''brahmin'', I may be the ''kṣatriya'', I may be the ''vaiśya'' or the ''śūdra''—that doesn't matter. But if we cooperate for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there will be perfect peace in the world. This is a fact.


The bird is also called twice-born. Why? The bird birth is first of all in the egg. The egg is fermented. Then the real bird comes out. Therefore bird is called in Sanskrit language also dvija, twice-born. Similarly, a man, unless he is twice-born, he is a śūdra. Twice-born. How is that twice-born? Because by birth anyone, everyone has got some father and mother because without father and mother, there is no question of birth. So the beast has also got father and mother, and the bird has also father and mother. Similarly, a human being has also got father and mother. So this birth, by father and mother, is not sufficient for becoming a dvija. He has to take his birth again.
So this idea of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very important factor, although people are, I mean to say, they are unknown to this fact, although it is stated in the ''Bhagavad-gītā''. In the world, ''Bhagavad-gītā'' is very popular book. They are reading ''Bhagavad-gītā''. And in Dr. Radhakrishnan's book we understand that ''Bhagavad-gītā'' has been so important book throughout the whole world that there is a sect in Germany who are called Indo-German religious sect.


So janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ. Birth. Birth is not all, everything. The culture, saṁskāra. Saṁskāra means culture. One has to take his birth, rebirth, by culture, by education, by knowledge. That is called cultural birth. So unless one is in the cultural birth, he is to be considered the lower grade person, or the śūdra.  
Perhaps some of you may know. They are acting on the principle of ''Bhagavad-gītā''. So actually, in the ''Bhagavad-gītā'', the most important part is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In every verse, in every chapter, in every conclusion you'll find Kṛṣṇa, the speaker of ''Bhagavad-gītā'', is giving stress on His personal self.


So therefore the system in the, according to varṇāśrama-dharma, that not only by birth, before birth, when the father and mother is going to be combined to beget a child, there are cultural saṁskāras or reformatory measures. How much carefully these things are. They wanted first-class son, not sons like cats and dogs, first-class son. So there is some saṁskāra. There is some purificatory measures, which is called garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. Garbhādhāna means pregnancy, the cultural ceremony before making the mother pregnant. And it is enjoined, you will find in the Bhāgavata, that any family, the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, if they give up this garbhādhāna-saṁskāra, birth-giving ceremony, then that family turns immediately to the classification of the śūdras.  
''Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ'' ([[BG 9.32 (1972)|BG 9.32]]). ''Mām'', this ''mām''. ''Mām'' means "Me," "unto Me." Kṛṣṇa says, "unto Me." But there are many miscreants who are interpreting this ''mām'' as "everyone." As "everyone." Just like when I say: "I want a glass of water," does it mean that you want a glass of water? No. My individuality, "I want a glass of water." But they are making, by jugglery of words, that when I say: "I want a glass of water," that means "Everyone wants a glass of water." Is it a fact? Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa says "I," they identify with the "I" themselves. That is their interpretation. That is misinterpretation.


So nowadays, at the present moment, this cultural program... I am speaking of India and everywhere. There is no such cultural program. That cultural program, that program to beget nice children, the whole program is, we must know, the whole Vedic system is to give the human life the greatest chance of self-realization and get free from these material miseries. That is the whole program. It is not... The Vedic culture does not mean that we shall be like cats and dogs, simply eating, sleeping, mating and defending. No. The human society is a systematic program to give everyone the chance of getting free from this material miseries.
''Bhagavad-gītā'' . . . therefore, although ''Bhagavad-gītā'' is very popular in the world, due to this misinterpretation of so many scholars, they have been not properly understood. That is a fact. The ''Bhagavad-gītā'' explains, very nicely explains, that this ''cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ'' ([[BG 4.13 (1972)|BG 4.13]]), that this division of human society into four classes, that is established by Kṛṣṇa. But He is out of it. He's not one of us. He does not belong to this ''cātur-varṇyam''. Suppose when Kṛṣṇa comes in incarnation, in His body, it does not mean that He belongs to either of these classes, either to the ''brahmins'' . . .


Just like every state is supposed to be welfare state. Every citizen of that state should be happy, should be prosperous. There should be no anxiety. I do not know if every state is taking care of the citizens in that way. People are always full of anxieties. They are creating situation that everyone is full of anxiety. This material world is made so that it is full of anxiety. Whoever is in the material world... Even the bird, you will see, when it is taking some grains, he is also full of anxiety. He is looking like this and that, "Oh, somebody is coming or killing me." So this is the nature.
Just like Kṛṣṇa appeared Himself as the son of Devakī or Vasudeva. Vasudeva was belonging to the royal family, ''kṣatriya''. So Kṛṣṇa played the part just like a ''kṣatriya''. ''Kṣatriya'' means administrative class. But that does not mean that Kṛṣṇa belongs to the ''kṣatriya'' class. It is to be understood. There are ''daśa-avatāras''. There are many incarnations of Kṛṣṇa. Just like the first ''avatāra'', incarnation, is called ''Matsyāvatāra''.


So human society, human society is so arranged that the people, the members of the human society, should be free from all anxiety. Therefore we require good citizens, good father and mother, good system of government, and pious, virtuous, cooperation between God and nature. Everything will be helpful for my spiritual realization, for my self-realization. If I am full of anxiety, how can I make progress in spiritual realization? It is not possible. Therefore it is the duty of the state, duty of the father, duty of the teacher, duty of the spiritual master to give chance to the small children to develop in such a way that he becomes fully realized spiritual soul at the end and so that his miserable life in the material existence is over. That is the responsibility.
:''pralaya-payodhi-jale dhṛtavān asi vedaṁ''
:''vihita-vahitra-caritram akhedam''
:''keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare''
:(Dāsavatāra-stotra)


In Bhāgavata you will see that Ṛṣabhadeva says that "One should not become the spiritual master, one should not become the father, one should not become the mother, one should not become the husband—who cannot give relief from these miseries of material existence". It is the husband's duty also. Because the wife is under the protection of the husband, he has got so much responsibility.
Keśava, Kṛṣṇa, appeared just like a fish. He appeared Himself in the fish community. Oh, but that does not mean that He was fish. If you say, if you think that, taking a fish, "Oh, it is the generation of Kṛṣṇa . . ." Of course, everything is Kṛṣṇa, from another point of view.


Woman class and children class, they are taken in the same category. They require protection. They require protection. That is the Manu-saṁhitā. Na striyaṁ svatantratām arhati. Women should be under the protection. They should be given all protection. So the system of taking... Just like the Hindu system is... Just like a girl. Before attaining the age of puberty, she is handed over to a suitable boy to take charge before she gets youthful energy.
So similarly, Kṛṣṇa . . . because in the previous verse we have discussed, simply by knowing the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, one becomes liberated. How you can understand Kṛṣṇa? By His transcendental nature. That is being described in this verse. ''Tasya kartāram api''. ''Tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhi'': "Although I have established these divisions of the human society into four classes, so I am not one of them." This has to be understood. But as soon as we make it a mistake that, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa, He appeared in the royal family of Vasudeva, so He belonged to the ''kṣatriya'' community, or the administrative class," no. Then you can understand the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa.


So this is the system of varṇāśrama-dharma. This is the system. The whole idea is that everyone should be given the chance of being liberated in this very life. No more waiting for again for further, another life. Who knows that I am going to be human being again? It may be by freaks of nature I become a cat, a dog, a cow, an animal.
And if you have got any doubt, you can ask, you can understand. But as soon as you understand it rightly, you become a liberated person. That is the secret. As soon as you understand the fact as it is, the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, oh, you step forward to your liberation. So similarly, these things are being ascribed one after another. The next ''śloka'':


Now we are very much enthusiastic to become good nationals. Suppose I am American, a very good national. Now, after death, suppose that if I become a cow. Then even I am national of this country, oh, I am destined to be sent to the slaughterhouse. You see? So we should not take the risk of next birth. In this life, in this birth, we should make a permanent solution of all miseries. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Let us become Kṛṣṇa conscious in this very life and make a solution.
:''na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti''
:''na me karma-phale spṛhā''
:''iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti''
:''karmabhir na sa badhyate''
:([[BG 4.14 (1972)|BG 4.14]])


Now, this cātur-varṇyam, this plan of cātur-varṇyam, Lord says... You should always remember that this material creation, whole material creation... There are unlimited number of universes and, I mean to say, planets in each universe. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated, yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi. Jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi [Bs. 5.40] . Jagad-aṇḍa means this universe, and koṭi means hundred millions. Hundred millions. Not exactly one hundred millions, but numberless.
Just see. ''Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti''. ''Karmāṇi''. Just like we are acting something. Anything we are doing, there is some reaction. There is some reaction. In every action there is some reaction. Just like I am speaking here.


<div class="lec_verse">
This vibration is being recorded all over the universe, this sound vibration. You know the radio message, how it is transmitted in the modern world. Similarly, as I am speaking, so whatever I am doing, that is immediately recorded and there will be some reaction. Just like the sound vibration, it reacts who has got some radio machine, there is reacting, similarly, every, any action, either good action or bad action, it will have reaction. That is the law of nature. You cannot be free from the reaction of my action.
yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-<br />
koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam<br />
tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ<br />
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi<br />
[Bs. 5.40] </div>


But here Kṛṣṇa says, ''na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti''. There is no reaction of the activities of Kṛṣṇa. Just like Kṛṣṇa was commanding over Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and practically He was ordering that "You must fight. You must kill the enemy." Now, this act of Kṛṣṇa's has no reaction on Him. One should understand it. ''Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti''.


So this material world is created. It is created for temporary existence. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [[BG 8.19]] , you will find in the Bhagavad-gītā, "This material manifestation is temporary." May be for millions of years, but it is temporary.
If there is any difficulty to understand, we may consult persons who are in the understanding. We may consult books. We may consult authorities. That we can do because enquiry is always allowed. Tad ''viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā'' ([[BG 4.34 (1972)|BG 4.34]]). The, I mean to say, the transcendental enquiry is never forbidden. With sincere purpose, one can make enquiry. But fact is this. If I cannot understand in my present condition, that is my misunderstanding. But the fact is this, that Kṛṣṇa, when He comes, He is not any . . . like any one of us. He's transcendental. Neither any act which He does, it has got reaction. And He says, ''na me karma-phale spṛhā'': "I have no desire for any fruitive activities."


And why this temporary material world is created? Just to give the rebelled, I mean to say, living entities who are averse to God consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to give another chance for developing, for developing. So if we miss this chance, then again, when this material world will be dissolved, oh, we do not know how many millions of years we have to become unconscious. We shall remain in the unconscious, sleeping stage. Then again there will be creation. Then again our body will be created, and... So these are very subtle laws. We should not miss. We should be very much serious about this life.
Just like we want to do something. Suppose I want to do some business. And what is the idea? Because I want to make some profit out of the business, and if there is sufficient profit, I shall be gainer, I shall be rich man, I shall be able to enjoy life and so on, so on, so many things, I have got background. So I have my desires whenever I do something. We conditioned souls, whenever we do something, there is some desire behind it. And what is that desire? For enjoyment. That's all.


So the whole program is made: cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam [[BG 4.13]] . So by birth one is supposed to be the lowborn. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ. Śūdra means without any culture. The man who has no cultural life, he is called a śūdra. And those who are cultured, they are called dvija. Dvija means twice-born. So one has to take his birth twice. He should not be satisfied simply by taking birth by the father and mother. One should be anxious to take his twice-born, to become twice-born, brāhmaṇa. But that chance is... Don't think that you cannot become a brāhmaṇa. You can become a qualified brāhmaṇa provided you abide by the qualification of a qualified brāhmaṇa. Just like to become a lawyer it is not, I mean to say, limited to a certain section or to a certain person. Anyone who takes the qualification of a lawyer, he becomes a lawyer.
But Kṛṣṇa says, ''na me karma-phale spṛhā''. Because He has nothing to desire. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is full with everything. Now, sometimes Kṛṣṇa is misunderstood that Kṛṣṇa, in His boyhood, He had so many girlfriends. Perhaps you may know, who has written, gone through Kṛṣṇa's life. Or in His youthhood, He married sixteen thousand wives. This is described in the ''Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam''. He had 16, 108 wives. So sometimes who does not understand Kṛṣṇa, they think, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa was so sensuous. Oh, He kept sixteen thousand wives." No. That is not the fact. What was the fact? The fact is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord . . .


Similarly, here Lord says, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: [[BG 4.13]] "According to quality and karma, these cātur-varṇya, four classes or four castes or four classes of division of the human society, is created by Me." So brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. If you want to know Brahman... Because that is the prerogative of your life, human life. Vedānta-sūtra says, athāto brahma jijñāsā . Athāto brahma-jijñāsā: "Oh, here is the chance for inquiring about Brahman." Athāto brahma jijñāsā . Now we should take the chance to become a brāhmaṇa. As soon as we begin to inquire about Brahman or the Supreme Brahman, Kṛṣṇa, then my process of becoming the brāhmaṇa begins.
We have got different relationship with the Supreme Lord constitutionally, every one of us. The relationship, as we experience in this material world . . . just like you are my brother, or she is my sister, or he is my father, he is my, so many relationship we have got. So all these relationships are calculated into five. There are . . . practically, there are twelve relationships. Seven relationships are contra, against. Just like you are my enemy. I want to kill you; you want to kill me.


You know that the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas, and the vaiśyas, they have got the sacred thread. You have seen. I have got the sacred thread. This is, of course, not very valuable. It is... (chuckles) It is made of cotton. But this is a badge. This badge is given to a person who is twice-born, who is twice-born.
That is also one of the relationships, but this is contra. This is not favorable. This is called vivarta. Hāsya, something I see in you, I begin to laugh, or something you see in me, you begin to laugh. So there are different . . . altogether, there are twelve relationships in every activities of our life. Out of that, five relationships is very favorable. What is that? Not five exactly, but . . . yes, five.


So anyone can become twice-born. There is no hindrance. You will find in the Bhagavad-gītā,  
Just like I am sitting here on this dais. So I have got some relationship. What is that relationship? That this dais is giving me service silently. There is relationship. I am comfortably sitting here. So this is one relationship. The next relationship is that one wants to serve me or I want to serve him. Out of love, I want . . . oh. Just like some of you: "Swāmījī, I have brought some fruits for you." This is out of love. That means you want to serve me. So this relationship with the dais and that relationship, who comes, and brings forth some fruit for me, that is higher. That is called ''dāsya'', or friendship. So the silent relationship, the servitude relationship, the friendly relationship, then paternal relationship, then conjugal relationship.


<div class="lec_verse">
So these relationships which we find here in this material world, they are reflections of the original relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Because in the ''Vedānta-sūtra'' you find, ''janmādy asya yataḥ'' ([[SB 1.1.1]]): "Everything, whichever you find in this material world, that is born from the Absolute Truth." So in the Absolute Truth there is the relationships, these relationships which we are experiencing here.
māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya<br />
ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ<br />
striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās<br />
te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim<br />
[[BG 9.32]] </div>


But they are perverted. Perverted. Because suppose I accept somebody as master, and I am serving, and as soon as the salary stops, my service is also stopped. Therefore it is perverted. Or I am . . . there is a girl I love, or there is a man I love. Oh, as soon as there is some misunderstanding, we break. So that relationship, that conjugal relationship, that paternal relationship, that friendly relationship.


<div class="lec_verse">
Just like you'll find in the ''Bhagavad-gītā'' that Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, they are in relationship of friendship. Now, when Kṛṣṇa . . . when Kṛṣṇa says that, "I told this ''yoga'', ''Bhagavad-gītā yoga'', to the sun-god, say, some millions of years before," and Arjuna, just to represent our interest, he said, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa, You are my contemporary. How is that You spoke ''Bhagavad-gītā'' forty millions of years before to sun-god?" So Kṛṣṇa answered that ''bahūni me janmāni tava cārjuna'' ([[BG 4.5 (1972)|BG 4.5]]): "Both you and Myself, we were born many times, but you have forgotten. I remember." That is the distinction.
kiṁ punar brāhmaṇāḥ puṇyā<br />
bhaktā rājarṣayas tathā<br />
[[BG 9.33]] </div>


Now, here we see that the friendship of Kṛṣṇa is going on not in this birth, but perpetually that friendship is there. But in the material world, the friendship, it will exist for few years and then break. Therefore it is reflection. It is not real. If you make your friendship with Kṛṣṇa, that will never break. If you make your master Kṛṣṇa, you'll never be cheated.


<div class="lec_verse">
If you love Kṛṣṇa as your son, He'll never die. Similarly, if you love Kṛṣṇa as your lover or husband, He will be the best husband, the best lover. There will be no divorce. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So similarly, there are many . . . because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, He has unlimited . . . He is unlimited, and He has unlimited number of devotees. Now, some of them are trying to love Him as lover or husband.
kaunteya pratijānīhi<br />
na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati<br />
[[BG 9.31]] </div>


Now, what Kṛṣṇa will do? In the previous verse we have read that ''ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham'' ([[BG 4.11 (1972)|BG 4.11]]): "Anyone who wants Me in some sort of relationship, I accept that. I accept that." So the fact is that these wives of Kṛṣṇa—that is the real fact—in their previous life they made tremendous penance to achieve Kṛṣṇa as their husband. Just like in the ''Bhāgavata'' there is a verse, Śukadeva Gosvāmī's describing . . . these things are very sublime things. Of course, if you kindly hear them attentively, you'll feel sublime pleasure undoubtedly.


So it is a chance we should not miss. You can become brāhmaṇa. There is chance. We should not be satisfied that "I am born in America, so I am great. I am born of a great nation." That's all right. You are born of a great nation, that's all right. But next cultural birth, to become a dvija, twice-born, is awaiting. Lord Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes. I give chance to everyone to become dvija." Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ [[BG 9.32]] . Never mind wherever he is born.
In the ''Bhāgavata'', when Kṛṣṇa was playing with boys . . . just like boys play, Kṛṣṇa, when He was playing just like a boy . . . so the Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes that attitude: ''itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena'' ([[SB 10.12.7-11|SB 10.12.11]]). The purport is that, that "Here is a thing, these boys, these boys who are playing with Kṛṣṇa, that for many, many lives they undergone penances to have Kṛṣṇa as their playmate. Now they are enjoying life."


Now the human society, everyone thinks that "He is low; I am big." Everyone thinks. In his own consideration he thinks, "I am the biggest. I am the big; he is lower." That is everywhere. But Lord Kṛṣṇa is not considering who is bigger. He says, "Even who is considering that 'I am lowborn.' " Because if everyone says that I am lowborn, it is propaganda that "You are lowborn. You are lowborn," so I think, "Yes, I am lowborn." Daśa cakre bhagavān bhūta.(?)
So the playmates of Kṛṣṇa, they are not ordinary persons. They underwent many, many births' ''tapasya'', or penances. Just like one has to seek the favor of the Supreme Lord by penances, by ''tapasya'', so they desired like that, and Kṛṣṇa has accepted, "All right. Come on. Let us play." And what is that play? Kṛṣṇa is playing with the boys just like boys play. They say, sometimes make some one body's defeated. So when the . . . He became . . . He has to carry the other boy on his shoulder, so many manufactured playing things.


Just like there was a clique. There was a brāhmaṇa. His name was Bhagavān. So he had some enemies. So the enemies, ten enemies, they sat down in ten places, and wherever he was passing, "Oh, you have become ghost! You have become ghost!" "Oh, how I have become? I am living. How I have become ghost?" Next post he goes, he also says, "Oh, you have become ghost! You have become ghost!" In this way, when he passes ten posts, he thinks, "I might be, I have become ghost. Otherwise everyone says I have become ghost." So daśa cakre bhagavān bhūta.  
So similarly, sometimes Kṛṣṇa was being defeated. So He has to carry other boy on His shoulder. These things were being done. Because we have no idea of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, therefore we take it as trifling. But Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so sublime that all perfection of our desires are there. Whatever we are desiring, whatever desires we have got constitutionally, all those desires will be perfectly fulfilled when we are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You see? So Kṛṣṇa, here He says that na me ''karma-phale spṛhā''. Kṛṣṇa did not require any friend to play with Him.


So if everyone says I am lowborn, I am lowborn, so I also think I am lowborn. But I am not lowborn. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. I am brahmāsmi. I am spirit soul. I am born of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is my father. Take like that. Think like that. That is twice-born. That is twice-born. So Kṛṣṇa says, māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya: [[BG 9.32]] "Anyone who takes shelter of Me, never mind what he is... Never mind he is. He may be lowborn, he may be a śūdra, he may be woman, he may be whatever he may be." Te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim: "He can also go to My kingdom."
Neither Kṛṣṇa had any desire of having a single wife. We require wife. Why do we take the responsible wife? Because we have got some desire to fulfill. That's all. But He is complete in Himself, ''pūrṇa''. A poor man can desire that, "Oh, if I would have bank balance, say, one thousand dollars in the bank, I would have been happy." But a rich man who has got millions of dollars in the bank, does he desire for one hundred dollars in the bank? He has no such desire.


So our duty is to become twice-born. Just by culture, by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, let us take another birth. Let us take another birth. Then you will be recognized brāhmaṇas. Brahmā jānāti. As soon as we know Kṛṣṇa, you are brāhmaṇa. Never mind whether you are born in America or Czechoslovakia or any other place. Doesn't matter. So try to become a brāhmaṇa. Here is a chance.
Similarly, if Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, why He should have desire for His? He is full. Rather, He fulfills others' desires. That is the thing. "Man proposes; God disposes." Why God should have desire? Otherwise He's imperfect. So Kṛṣṇa has . . . here He says, ''na me karma-phale spṛhā'': "Oh, I have no desire to fulfill." Because He is full. Whatever He wants . . . ''Parāsya śakti'' . . . in the Vedic literature, you'll find, ''parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate, svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca'' (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8). The Supreme Brahman, He has got different, diverse energies. As soon as He desires, everything is done immediately.


But how to become a brāhmaṇa? Simply by purchasing two cent worth this thread and getting on the body? No. There are qualities, karma. You have to act like a brāhmaṇa, and you have to acquire the qualification of a brāhmaṇa. Then you can become a brāhmaṇa. There is no impediment. Never mind wherever you were born. That doesn't matter.
If I have to manufacture this stand, oh, I'll have to arrange for so many things. I'll have to go to the brass smith and ask him and give him some money and so many things. But the ''parāsya śaktir'' . . . if I have got . . . even a, even a ''yogī'', even a ''yogī'', there is a ''prāpti-siddhi''. You have heard the name of ''yoga''. The ''yoga'' system is not so plaything as we have got so many branches in America. They are playthings.


So here is... Bhagavad-gītā is giving a chance to everyone to become brāhmaṇa or be qualified person who knows Brahman and who is preparing himself for the next birth in the spiritual kingdom. He is called brāhmaṇa. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam [[BG 4.13]] . Now, the Lord says, tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhy akartāram avyayam: "Although I have created this system, still, I am not there. I am not there." Why? Because Kṛṣṇa is neither brāhmaṇa nor śūdra nor kṣatriya or anything, anything of the material world. He is transcendental. When we go to Kṛṣṇa with spiritual body, we also become like Kṛṣṇa in transcendental body. That chance is given here. So just it is our duty, everyone.
Actually, the ''yoga'' system is so perfect that they get eight kinds of perfection before achieving the real perfection. And what is that perfection, the eight kinds of . . .? ''Aṇimā, laghimā-siddhi, prāpti, īśitā, vaśitā'', like that. ''Aṇimā-siddhi'' means when a ''yogī'' is, is not exactly perfect, when he's on the way of perfection, he gets this opportunity. He becomes . . . he can become the smallest. If you pack a ''yogī'' in a room and lock him, he'll come out. He'll come out.


Lord Caitanya, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He appeared as a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, but He never said that "I am Kṛṣṇa." But from Vedic references we understand that He is Kṛṣṇa. But the same mission. The Kṛṣṇa's mission and Lord Caitanya's mission is the same. How it is same? Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He said that "You surrender unto Me," and Lord Caitanya said, "You surrender unto Kṛṣṇa." The same thing. Lord Caitanya said...
In Benares, India, there was a ''trailiṅga svāmī, yogī''. He was sitting on the street naked. So government took objection, "Oh, you are sitting . . . it is obscene. You cannot." "Oh, I'll sit." Then he was put into the custody. So he came out. He was locked. That is not a very old story, say, about hundred years before, that ''trailiṅga svāmī''. So thrice, four times he was put into the custody, and he came out. So this is the first ''siddhi'', first perfection.


What is the philosophy of Lord Caitanya? Lord Caitanya says, ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛṇdāvanaṁ ramya kaścid upāsanā vraja-vadhu-varga-vīrya kalpita, śrīmad-bhāgavatam amalaṁ purāṇaṁ premā pum-artho mahān śrī-caitanya mahāprabhor matam idaṁ tatradaraḥ na paraḥ. The philosophy of Lord Caitanya is that Kṛṣṇa is the only object of worship. And as Kṛṣṇa is object of worship, similarly, His place, Vṛndāvana, Vṛndāvana-dhāma. Those who have visited India. Vṛndāvana-dhāma, still, if you go to Vṛndāvana without knowing about Kṛṣṇa, you will at once feel Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is such a nice place. So that Vṛndāvana-dhāma is also worshipable.
Similarly, a ''yogī'' also, if he wants . . . perhaps I cited this story. In my childhood I had my teacher and he had his spiritual master, a great ''yogī''. So my teacher used to narrate the story of his spiritual master, that one day he went to the spiritual master, and the spiritual master asked him, "Well, what do you want to eat?" And they replied that, "I want fresh pomegranates from Afghanistan." "All right, sit." So in the room they saw the . . . a branch of pomegranates just with juices just like somebody has snatched the branch from the tree, and it was there. ''Yogī'' they can perform such wonderful things. If I want this thing, I have to endeavor for it, but a ''yogī'' can at once make it. These are some of the preliminary perfections of ''yogī''.


And ramya kaścid upāsanā vraja-vadhu-varga-vīrya kalpita. Now, Kṛṣṇa was worshiped by the damsels of Vrajadhāma. Lord Caitanya recommends, "That is the highest, topmost grade of worship because that was pure love." The damsels of Vraja loved Kṛṣṇa so much, without any return. That's a sublime thing. So He recommended, "That is the highest form of worship."
So Kṛṣṇa is called Yogeśvara. He is the . . . you'll find in the ''Bhagavad-gītā'', He's described as Yogeśvara. He's the master of all yogic principles. So for Him, why there shall be desire for enjoyment. He's so perfect that He hasn't got to marry, He hasn't got to keep a girlfriend. He's so perfect. So this is the nature of Kṛṣṇa we have to understand.


Ramya kaścid upāsanā vraja-vadhu-varga-vīrya kalpita, śrīmad-bhāgavatam amalaṁ purāṇam: "And Śrīmad-Bhāgavata is the spotless Vedic literature." Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is full of Kṛṣṇa consciousness only. That's all. Just like this Bhagavad-gītā is full of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The last word of the Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā is that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: [[BG 18.66]] "You give up everything. You just surrender unto Me," Kṛṣṇa said. One who accepts this philosophy—"I accept Kṛṣṇa as vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ" [[BG 18.66]] — then for him Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the postgraduate study.
Then why He married? He married just to fulfill the desires of His devotees. Those devotees who wanted Kṛṣṇa as their husband, so He accepted them. And when He played the part of a husband, He played very perfectly. Just like when He played the part of a friend, of the boyfriend, He played it very perfectly. When He played the part of a small boy of Yaśodā, He played it perfectly.


And śrīmad-bhāgavatam amalaṁ purāṇaṁ prema pum-artho mahān. Now we are searching. We are searching our self-interest. Everyone is busy of his own interest, but they do not know what is real interest. They do not know what is real interest. The real interest is to invoke the dormant love of Kṛṣṇa. That is my real interest. That dormant love for Kṛṣṇa is there in every one of you.
Just like He was creating disturbances, when He was, say, three years old. Just like children, two year, two years old, they create always disturbance with mother. They don't leave the company of mother. At the same time, they create disturb. So Kṛṣṇa was doing that. Now, the mother decided, "Now, I shall bind You with ropes.


Don't think that because I am born in India, therefore I have got love of Kṛṣṇa within my heart dormant or manifested. No. That dormant love of Kṛṣṇa is within you also. Kṛṣṇa is neither foreign to you or foreign to me. He is for everyone. Therefore love of Kṛṣṇa is there permanently, but it is covered. Simply it has to be invoked.
You are creating so much disturbance." And he took . . . she took a stick, and "If You create disturbance, then I'll beat You." Oh, Kṛṣṇa began to cry. So there is description in the Bhāgavata by Kuntī that "The person who is the object of frightening for everyone, He was afraid of the stick of Yaśodā." Why? He was perfectly playing the childhood.


And what is this process of invoking? This is the process. Just like we are discussing, we are chanting, and we are reading Bhagavad-gītā, we are reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This association will help us. This association will help us to invoke that dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So if we at all want...
So this is the Kṛṣṇa's life. So one has to understand this thing. He was not need . . . here just exactly the same thing, as He says, ''that na me karma-phale spṛhā'': "I have no desire. I no . . ." Why He shall be desire? He is full. Desire, a needy person has desire. But a man who is full, why he shall be desire? ''Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me ka'' . . . ''iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti'' ([[BG 4.14 (1972)|BG 4.14]]).


You will be interested in hearing a story. Not story. It is actual fact. One of my Godbrother who is no longer in this world... His name was Bhaktisāraṅga Goswami. He went to London. Just as I have come to your New York, he went to London and he formed a society also there in which Lord Rolandcey[?], the Marquis of Zetland... He was formerly governor of Bengal during British period, and in our childhood, when we were college student, in boyhood, I saw him. He is very interest in India philosophy. He's a Scotsman but very interested. Lord Rolandcey. So that Lord Rolandcey, he was very kind enough to become the president of that society my Godbrother organized in London. So Lord Rolandcey and that, my Godbrother, is talking. So Lord Rolandcey asked him, "Well, Swamiji, can you make me a brāhmaṇa?" "Yes, why not? Yes, why not? You can become a brāhmaṇa." "So what are the conditions?" My Godbrother said, "The preliminary four conditions." "What are these conditions?" "Now, striya-sūnā-pāna-dyūta yatra pāpaś catur-vidhāḥ: [[SB 1.17.38]] You cannot have any illicit connection with woman, you cannot have any intoxication habit, you cannot indulge in gambling or unnecessary sporting, and you cannot live on animal food." Lord Rolandcey replied, "It is impossible. It is impossible." (laughs)
Now, just to . . . I have tried to explain a little portion of the Kṛṣṇa's activities. When He appeared in this world, He showed His activities just to attract us that, "You are frustrated in friendship? Come on. Make friendship with Me. Oh, you are frustrated in getting a good master? Come on. Serve Me. I am, I become your good master. Oh, you are frustrated in the love of your sons? Oh, have Me as your son." Because here we are frustrated with our sons and daughters. We expect something, but when they are grown up, they go in their own way. We are frustrated.


So these things, these four principles, preliminary, if we actually want to be a brāhmaṇa, then we have to take care of these four principles of life just to become a brāhmaṇa. Yes. Then everyone can become a brāhmaṇa. There is no bar. And whoever becomes a brāhmaṇa, he knows what is Brahman. And Kṛṣṇa is Parambrahman. Parambrahman. You'll find in the Tenth Chapter. He is addressed by Arjuna, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān: [[BG 10.12]] "By studying Bhagavad-gītā I now understand that Kṛṣṇa, You are Parambrahman." Paraṁ dhāma: "You are the shelter of everyone." So He is Parambrahman. So anyone who becomes a brāhmaṇa, he first of all knows what is Brahman —brahma-jijñāsā —the Supreme, the Absolute Truth. And the Absolute... One who knows Absolute Truth and enters into further, postgraduate study, he understands Kṛṣṇa. And as soon as he understands Kṛṣṇa, then his next life in the spiritual world is guaranteed.
So accept Kṛṣṇa as son and He'll be most obedient son, just like He was playing the part before Yaśodā. Similarly, accept Kṛṣṇa as husband or lover, you'll never be frustrated. That is the whole philosophy. Anything, whatever desires you have got, you can establish a relationship with Kṛṣṇa in that desire and you'll be happy, perfectly happy, never to be cheated.


So this is the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the simple process introduced by Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya also supported this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa, that anyone is eligible for going back to the kingdom of Kṛṣṇa. This simple process. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. We have discussed that simply by knowing the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, we become eligible for entering into His kingdom, simply by knowing. So try to know. Try to study what is Kṛṣṇa.
So ''na māṁ karmā'' . . . ''iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti''. Anyone who understands this philosophy, this transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, then what is the result? ''Karmabhir na sa badhyate''. Because every act . . . we are bound up by the reaction of our past deeds. So as soon as we understand the transcendental activities of Kṛṣṇa, at once we become free from all reactions.


And do you know what is the recommendation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu? Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He said that
Because I cannot understand Kṛṣṇa's transcendental activities unless I am actually dovetailed with Him. Why I shall be interested with your activities unless I have got some specific purpose? So similarly, let us develop this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and gradually we shall have . . . now, that is called ''svarūpa-siddhi''. Now, every living entity has got an eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa because we are part and . . .


<div class="lec_verse">
Just like my parts and part of the body, it has got a specific relationship with my body. Just like this hand is the part and parcel of my body. It has got a specific position in the body. My ear is the part and parcel of my body. It has got a specific position in this. Similarly, every living entity has got a specific position in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
kibā śūdra kibā vipra nyāsī kene naya<br />
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya<br />
[[CC Madhya 8.128]] </div>


Now, at the present moment, we are covered. We do not know what is our relationship. But as we make advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and we develop, "Oh, I have got this relationship with my Kṛṣṇa as my . . . as a friend, as a conjugal lover, paternal relationship, master and servant," so many, just like we have got experience. And that is called ''svarūpa-siddhi''. ''Svarūpa-siddhi'' means perfection of one's original, constitutional position. ''Svarūpa-siddhi''. That we shall realize. As we make advance in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, so we gradually . . .


That means "It doesn't matter whether he is a householder or a swami, renounced order, or a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra or a lowborn, whatever he is. That doesn't matter. If he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa, he is a bona fide spiritual master, if he simply knows the science of Kṛṣṇa." This is cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma [[BG 4.13]] . It is the quality.
Just like a man who is diseased. He is diseased, and as he is being cured by treatment, he gets gradually his healthy condition. He can feel, "Yes, I am feeling well. Now I am feeling hunger. Now I am taking food nicely. Oh, yes, I am getting some strength." Similarly, as we make progress in the matter of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then our original, constitutional position becomes revealed. And as soon it is fully revealed, I am free from all these material obligations. Oh, my place is reserved there.


Just like if I go to a medical man or a lawyer, we go there for his qualification. We don't ask him, "Well, sir, are you Christian? Are you Jew or Indian or American or a brāhmaṇa?" No. We are concerned with the qualification. It doesn't matter what he is. He may be an American, he may be an Indian, he may be Christian, he may be Jew, he may be Hindu or Mohammedan. Doesn't matter. He's a practiced medical practitioner, so he's a qualified man. I have gone there for my treatment.
Thank you very much. Now if there is any question, you can ask. (end)
 
Similarly, Lord Caitanya also says the same thing, and Kṛṣṇa also says the same thing. Never it is, He is stressing on birth. Birth is no consideration. Nobody is responsible for his birth. He may be lowborn but what is that? Or he may be highborn. That doesn't matter. But when he comes out from the womb of the mother, he has got his own responsibility. He has to advance his cultural life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is his responsibility. That is his responsibility. Of course, father, mother, state, teacher, friend, they can help us, but ultimately, the responsibility lies with me.
 
If I want to enter into the kingdom of God, or Kṛṣṇa, if we want to be Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no impediment. There is no impediment. Ahaituky apratihatā. In the Bhāgavata says that if one wants to cultivate the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is without any cause and without any impediment. Because it is transcendental subject matter, it does not depend on any material condition, on any material condition. There is no consideration of material impediment. So it is open for everyone. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam [[BG 4.13]] . That is a chance given, that you can become a brāhmaṇa, you can become a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and you can become the spiritual master of the world. That is the... And I think you should take seriously.
 
I am old man. If you, some of you at least understand this science and take up this science, you become future hope of the, this country or the world. That is my request to you, that you should take this chance and become a spiritual master for all the people.
 
Thank you very much. Now let us have some questions if you want. (end)
 
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Latest revision as of 02:08, 29 January 2024

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada




660729BG.NY - July 29, 1966



Prabhupāda: All glories to the assembled devotees. All glories to the assembled devotees. All glories to the assembled devotees. Thank you very much . . . (break)

. . . mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ
viddhy akartāram avyayam
(BG 4.13)

This verse was being discussed in our last meeting, that there are four divisions of men in the human society, and that division is natural. That is not artificial, because the whole material nature is working under the influence of three modes of nature—goodness, passion and ignorance. You cannot classify the whole human race into one. So long we are in the material world, it is not possible to make everyone on the same standard. It is not possible, because each and every one is working under the influence of different modes of nature. Therefore there must be division, natural division. This point we have discussed.

But when we transcend this material plane, then there is oneness. There is no more division. Then how to transcend? That transcendental nature is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As soon as we become fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we are transcendental to these material modes of nature.

māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
(BG 14.26)

You'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā, in the Fourteenth Chapter: "Anyone who is fully engaged in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness activities, he is at once in the transcendental position."

Brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. We are, by nature, we are not matter. We are Brahman. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. The propaganda of Śaṅkarācārya was mainly based on this understanding, that "We should not think that we are the products of this material nature." We are not products of material nature. It is by some accident, by freaks of nature, by misfortune or some way or other, we are now in contact with it. But actually I am spirit, Brahman. So that Brahman nature has to be invoked, has to be . . .

We are . . . actually, just like a diseased person, he has to be brought into the healthy condition of life, to cure the disease. So just a man, when he's diseased and when he's healthy, from external feature, the same. Just like I am now healthy. So my external feature—I have got two hands and two legs and face and so many things—the same body, when I am in the diseased condition, you'll find the same hands, the same legs and mouth and everything, but the condition is different. I'll speak something nonsense because the condition has changed in the diseased condition. Similarly, in our diseased condition . . . this material life is our diseased condition.

So when we are in the healthy condition, that is called Brahman. That is called Brahman condition, healthy. So that Brahman condition can at once be regained as soon as we engaged ourself fully, cent percent, in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is clearly mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā, in the Fourteenth Chapter you'll find. Māṁ ca yaḥ ’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate (BG 14.26): "Anyone who renders the transcendental loving service unto Me," sa guṇān samatītya etān, "that person immediately transcends the modes of material nature." Samatītya. Sama. Samyag atītya, "perfectly transcending." Samatītya.

Then, transcending the material nature, then he becomes zero? No. That is the real nature. Now, the philosophy which preaches that "After our liberation, after nirvāṇa of this material existence, there is zero," oh, that is very dangerous theory, because we are not attracted by zero. That is our nature, living entity. Now, suppose I am suffering from some disease and there are so many ailments, and if some doctor comes: "Oh, let me finish your ailments by killing you," oh, will you agree?

You'll say: "No, no, better let me suffer from the disease. I don't want to be killed." Is it not? Will you agree? Suppose you have got too much suffering, miseries of life, and I suggest, "All right, let me cut your throat and kill you, and everything will be finished," "Oh, no, no, no, I'm not agreeable to that." That is the sane man's statement. "Oh, I am not going to be killed for ending my miseries." That is the nature. So the theory that after making end of all these material miseries, there is nothing, void, oh, that is not attractive. That is not attractive at all.

And that is not the fact. Real fact is that I am sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs 5.1), part and parcel of the Supreme.

The Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, and I am qualitatively one with Him. I am also, although I am small . . . just like a particle of the seawater, that is also salty. That is also salty. The taste of a small drop of seawater is the same as the taste of the big, vast, big ocean of the . . . Atlantic Ocean. So the quality is the same. Similarly, I may be small. I may be a spiritual atom. My position is that I am spiritual atom, and the Supreme Spirit is all, the greatest, but that does not mean I am different from the quality. I am of the same quality. So I am not void. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20).

If by frustration one commits suicide, oh, that is not the end of his miseries. He creates another misery. He creates another misery by committing suicide. Just like here, in the state law, if somebody attempts suicide and takes some poison, and if by treatment of the physician he's all right, he's again under the law, to be punished. Perhaps you know it. After curing him from that poisonous effect, he is under criminal code of the state: "Why you have attempted suicide?" Similarly, in the laws of nature if you commit suicide, that is another criminal act. So suicidal policy, to end this misery of life, is not all. We must have, I mean to say, greater life.

In the Bhagavad-gītā you have read—already we have discussed—paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 2.59): "One has to end this miserable life after finding out a life of bliss and knowledge and eternity." That should be our . . . we should not be trying only to end these miseries of life, expecting something void. No. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa . . . this cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13).

These divisions of human society, is created by the Lord, because to elevate ourself from the clutches of this deluding māyā, or illusion. So just like one has to be educated from the lower class to the postgraduate class, similarly, this division of labor is there just to elevate one from the lowest stage of consciousness to the highest stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So that is a cooperation. That is a cooperation.

Just like my body. My body, there are different parts of my body. The head is the most important part of my body. The next important part is my arms. The next important part is my belly. And the next important part is my legs. But although the head is the most important part of my body, there is no question of neglecting the lowest part of my body, the legs.

Similarly, although there are divisions in the human society, four divisions, according to the different modes of nature . . . the highest class is called the brahmin, or the most intellectual class. And the next class is called the kṣatriya, just the administrative class. And the next is the vaiśya, or the mercantile, productive class. And the next is the śūdras, or the laborer class. So all of them, they are required. But if they cooperate for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, so there is no strife between these higher and lower classes.

We find in the present social, I mean to say, status of our life we are actually existing in four divisions, but there is no cooperation. Practically, everyone is dissatisfied. Take for example the strife between the capitalist class and the laborer class. They, they are trying in different way. There is no compromise. There is always friction. And especially in a country like India, oh, there is always friction, and other countries also.

So they are not satisfied. Recently also, in your country also, there was strike by the bus drivers and the subway drivers and administration. So there is always strike. Why? This is due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There cannot be any cooperation unless there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is an essential fact for harmonizing even the present material society. That is required. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so important thing, that cooperation . . .

The same example can be said here also, that the leg, the hand and the belly and the mouth—what they are? They are cooperating. Cooperating for what? Cooperating for maintaining this body. This is the common interest. And how it is cooperated? To supply everything to the stomach.

The brain is working, earning some money; the hand is fetching something and cooking; and the mouth is chewing; and the leg is going; but the whole function is targeted to fulfill the demands of the stomach. If these parts of the body non-cooperate with the stomach, they'll become feeble and weak and there will be no capacity to work.

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that in whatever division I may be . . . I may be the brahmin, I may be the kṣatriya, I may be the vaiśya or the śūdra—that doesn't matter. But if we cooperate for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there will be perfect peace in the world. This is a fact.

So this idea of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very important factor, although people are, I mean to say, they are unknown to this fact, although it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. In the world, Bhagavad-gītā is very popular book. They are reading Bhagavad-gītā. And in Dr. Radhakrishnan's book we understand that Bhagavad-gītā has been so important book throughout the whole world that there is a sect in Germany who are called Indo-German religious sect.

Perhaps some of you may know. They are acting on the principle of Bhagavad-gītā. So actually, in the Bhagavad-gītā, the most important part is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In every verse, in every chapter, in every conclusion you'll find Kṛṣṇa, the speaker of Bhagavad-gītā, is giving stress on His personal self.

Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ (BG 9.32). Mām, this mām. Mām means "Me," "unto Me." Kṛṣṇa says, "unto Me." But there are many miscreants who are interpreting this mām as "everyone." As "everyone." Just like when I say: "I want a glass of water," does it mean that you want a glass of water? No. My individuality, "I want a glass of water." But they are making, by jugglery of words, that when I say: "I want a glass of water," that means "Everyone wants a glass of water." Is it a fact? Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa says "I," they identify with the "I" themselves. That is their interpretation. That is misinterpretation.

Bhagavad-gītā . . . therefore, although Bhagavad-gītā is very popular in the world, due to this misinterpretation of so many scholars, they have been not properly understood. That is a fact. The Bhagavad-gītā explains, very nicely explains, that this cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13), that this division of human society into four classes, that is established by Kṛṣṇa. But He is out of it. He's not one of us. He does not belong to this cātur-varṇyam. Suppose when Kṛṣṇa comes in incarnation, in His body, it does not mean that He belongs to either of these classes, either to the brahmins . . .

Just like Kṛṣṇa appeared Himself as the son of Devakī or Vasudeva. Vasudeva was belonging to the royal family, kṣatriya. So Kṛṣṇa played the part just like a kṣatriya. Kṣatriya means administrative class. But that does not mean that Kṛṣṇa belongs to the kṣatriya class. It is to be understood. There are daśa-avatāras. There are many incarnations of Kṛṣṇa. Just like the first avatāra, incarnation, is called Matsyāvatāra.

pralaya-payodhi-jale dhṛtavān asi vedaṁ
vihita-vahitra-caritram akhedam
keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare
(Dāsavatāra-stotra)

Keśava, Kṛṣṇa, appeared just like a fish. He appeared Himself in the fish community. Oh, but that does not mean that He was fish. If you say, if you think that, taking a fish, "Oh, it is the generation of Kṛṣṇa . . ." Of course, everything is Kṛṣṇa, from another point of view.

So similarly, Kṛṣṇa . . . because in the previous verse we have discussed, simply by knowing the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, one becomes liberated. How you can understand Kṛṣṇa? By His transcendental nature. That is being described in this verse. Tasya kartāram api. Tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhi: "Although I have established these divisions of the human society into four classes, so I am not one of them." This has to be understood. But as soon as we make it a mistake that, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa, He appeared in the royal family of Vasudeva, so He belonged to the kṣatriya community, or the administrative class," no. Then you can understand the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa.

And if you have got any doubt, you can ask, you can understand. But as soon as you understand it rightly, you become a liberated person. That is the secret. As soon as you understand the fact as it is, the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, oh, you step forward to your liberation. So similarly, these things are being ascribed one after another. The next śloka:

na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti
na me karma-phale spṛhā
iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti
karmabhir na sa badhyate
(BG 4.14)

Just see. Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti. Karmāṇi. Just like we are acting something. Anything we are doing, there is some reaction. There is some reaction. In every action there is some reaction. Just like I am speaking here.

This vibration is being recorded all over the universe, this sound vibration. You know the radio message, how it is transmitted in the modern world. Similarly, as I am speaking, so whatever I am doing, that is immediately recorded and there will be some reaction. Just like the sound vibration, it reacts who has got some radio machine, there is reacting, similarly, every, any action, either good action or bad action, it will have reaction. That is the law of nature. You cannot be free from the reaction of my action.

But here Kṛṣṇa says, na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti. There is no reaction of the activities of Kṛṣṇa. Just like Kṛṣṇa was commanding over Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and practically He was ordering that "You must fight. You must kill the enemy." Now, this act of Kṛṣṇa's has no reaction on Him. One should understand it. Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti.

If there is any difficulty to understand, we may consult persons who are in the understanding. We may consult books. We may consult authorities. That we can do because enquiry is always allowed. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34). The, I mean to say, the transcendental enquiry is never forbidden. With sincere purpose, one can make enquiry. But fact is this. If I cannot understand in my present condition, that is my misunderstanding. But the fact is this, that Kṛṣṇa, when He comes, He is not any . . . like any one of us. He's transcendental. Neither any act which He does, it has got reaction. And He says, na me karma-phale spṛhā: "I have no desire for any fruitive activities."

Just like we want to do something. Suppose I want to do some business. And what is the idea? Because I want to make some profit out of the business, and if there is sufficient profit, I shall be gainer, I shall be rich man, I shall be able to enjoy life and so on, so on, so many things, I have got background. So I have my desires whenever I do something. We conditioned souls, whenever we do something, there is some desire behind it. And what is that desire? For enjoyment. That's all.

But Kṛṣṇa says, na me karma-phale spṛhā. Because He has nothing to desire. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is full with everything. Now, sometimes Kṛṣṇa is misunderstood that Kṛṣṇa, in His boyhood, He had so many girlfriends. Perhaps you may know, who has written, gone through Kṛṣṇa's life. Or in His youthhood, He married sixteen thousand wives. This is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He had 16, 108 wives. So sometimes who does not understand Kṛṣṇa, they think, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa was so sensuous. Oh, He kept sixteen thousand wives." No. That is not the fact. What was the fact? The fact is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord . . .

We have got different relationship with the Supreme Lord constitutionally, every one of us. The relationship, as we experience in this material world . . . just like you are my brother, or she is my sister, or he is my father, he is my, so many relationship we have got. So all these relationships are calculated into five. There are . . . practically, there are twelve relationships. Seven relationships are contra, against. Just like you are my enemy. I want to kill you; you want to kill me.

That is also one of the relationships, but this is contra. This is not favorable. This is called vivarta. Hāsya, something I see in you, I begin to laugh, or something you see in me, you begin to laugh. So there are different . . . altogether, there are twelve relationships in every activities of our life. Out of that, five relationships is very favorable. What is that? Not five exactly, but . . . yes, five.

Just like I am sitting here on this dais. So I have got some relationship. What is that relationship? That this dais is giving me service silently. There is relationship. I am comfortably sitting here. So this is one relationship. The next relationship is that one wants to serve me or I want to serve him. Out of love, I want . . . oh. Just like some of you: "Swāmījī, I have brought some fruits for you." This is out of love. That means you want to serve me. So this relationship with the dais and that relationship, who comes, and brings forth some fruit for me, that is higher. That is called dāsya, or friendship. So the silent relationship, the servitude relationship, the friendly relationship, then paternal relationship, then conjugal relationship.

So these relationships which we find here in this material world, they are reflections of the original relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Because in the Vedānta-sūtra you find, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1): "Everything, whichever you find in this material world, that is born from the Absolute Truth." So in the Absolute Truth there is the relationships, these relationships which we are experiencing here.

But they are perverted. Perverted. Because suppose I accept somebody as master, and I am serving, and as soon as the salary stops, my service is also stopped. Therefore it is perverted. Or I am . . . there is a girl I love, or there is a man I love. Oh, as soon as there is some misunderstanding, we break. So that relationship, that conjugal relationship, that paternal relationship, that friendly relationship.

Just like you'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā that Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, they are in relationship of friendship. Now, when Kṛṣṇa . . . when Kṛṣṇa says that, "I told this yoga, Bhagavad-gītā yoga, to the sun-god, say, some millions of years before," and Arjuna, just to represent our interest, he said, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa, You are my contemporary. How is that You spoke Bhagavad-gītā forty millions of years before to sun-god?" So Kṛṣṇa answered that bahūni me janmāni tava cārjuna (BG 4.5): "Both you and Myself, we were born many times, but you have forgotten. I remember." That is the distinction.

Now, here we see that the friendship of Kṛṣṇa is going on not in this birth, but perpetually that friendship is there. But in the material world, the friendship, it will exist for few years and then break. Therefore it is reflection. It is not real. If you make your friendship with Kṛṣṇa, that will never break. If you make your master Kṛṣṇa, you'll never be cheated.

If you love Kṛṣṇa as your son, He'll never die. Similarly, if you love Kṛṣṇa as your lover or husband, He will be the best husband, the best lover. There will be no divorce. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So similarly, there are many . . . because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, He has unlimited . . . He is unlimited, and He has unlimited number of devotees. Now, some of them are trying to love Him as lover or husband.

Now, what Kṛṣṇa will do? In the previous verse we have read that ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11): "Anyone who wants Me in some sort of relationship, I accept that. I accept that." So the fact is that these wives of Kṛṣṇa—that is the real fact—in their previous life they made tremendous penance to achieve Kṛṣṇa as their husband. Just like in the Bhāgavata there is a verse, Śukadeva Gosvāmī's describing . . . these things are very sublime things. Of course, if you kindly hear them attentively, you'll feel sublime pleasure undoubtedly.

In the Bhāgavata, when Kṛṣṇa was playing with boys . . . just like boys play, Kṛṣṇa, when He was playing just like a boy . . . so the Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes that attitude: itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena (SB 10.12.11). The purport is that, that "Here is a thing, these boys, these boys who are playing with Kṛṣṇa, that for many, many lives they undergone penances to have Kṛṣṇa as their playmate. Now they are enjoying life."

So the playmates of Kṛṣṇa, they are not ordinary persons. They underwent many, many births' tapasya, or penances. Just like one has to seek the favor of the Supreme Lord by penances, by tapasya, so they desired like that, and Kṛṣṇa has accepted, "All right. Come on. Let us play." And what is that play? Kṛṣṇa is playing with the boys just like boys play. They say, sometimes make some one body's defeated. So when the . . . He became . . . He has to carry the other boy on his shoulder, so many manufactured playing things.

So similarly, sometimes Kṛṣṇa was being defeated. So He has to carry other boy on His shoulder. These things were being done. Because we have no idea of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, therefore we take it as trifling. But Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so sublime that all perfection of our desires are there. Whatever we are desiring, whatever desires we have got constitutionally, all those desires will be perfectly fulfilled when we are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You see? So Kṛṣṇa, here He says that na me karma-phale spṛhā. Kṛṣṇa did not require any friend to play with Him.

Neither Kṛṣṇa had any desire of having a single wife. We require wife. Why do we take the responsible wife? Because we have got some desire to fulfill. That's all. But He is complete in Himself, pūrṇa. A poor man can desire that, "Oh, if I would have bank balance, say, one thousand dollars in the bank, I would have been happy." But a rich man who has got millions of dollars in the bank, does he desire for one hundred dollars in the bank? He has no such desire.

Similarly, if Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, why He should have desire for His? He is full. Rather, He fulfills others' desires. That is the thing. "Man proposes; God disposes." Why God should have desire? Otherwise He's imperfect. So Kṛṣṇa has . . . here He says, na me karma-phale spṛhā: "Oh, I have no desire to fulfill." Because He is full. Whatever He wants . . . Parāsya śakti . . . in the Vedic literature, you'll find, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate, svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8). The Supreme Brahman, He has got different, diverse energies. As soon as He desires, everything is done immediately.

If I have to manufacture this stand, oh, I'll have to arrange for so many things. I'll have to go to the brass smith and ask him and give him some money and so many things. But the parāsya śaktir . . . if I have got . . . even a, even a yogī, even a yogī, there is a prāpti-siddhi. You have heard the name of yoga. The yoga system is not so plaything as we have got so many branches in America. They are playthings.

Actually, the yoga system is so perfect that they get eight kinds of perfection before achieving the real perfection. And what is that perfection, the eight kinds of . . .? Aṇimā, laghimā-siddhi, prāpti, īśitā, vaśitā, like that. Aṇimā-siddhi means when a yogī is, is not exactly perfect, when he's on the way of perfection, he gets this opportunity. He becomes . . . he can become the smallest. If you pack a yogī in a room and lock him, he'll come out. He'll come out.

In Benares, India, there was a trailiṅga svāmī, yogī. He was sitting on the street naked. So government took objection, "Oh, you are sitting . . . it is obscene. You cannot." "Oh, I'll sit." Then he was put into the custody. So he came out. He was locked. That is not a very old story, say, about hundred years before, that trailiṅga svāmī. So thrice, four times he was put into the custody, and he came out. So this is the first siddhi, first perfection.

Similarly, a yogī also, if he wants . . . perhaps I cited this story. In my childhood I had my teacher and he had his spiritual master, a great yogī. So my teacher used to narrate the story of his spiritual master, that one day he went to the spiritual master, and the spiritual master asked him, "Well, what do you want to eat?" And they replied that, "I want fresh pomegranates from Afghanistan." "All right, sit." So in the room they saw the . . . a branch of pomegranates just with juices just like somebody has snatched the branch from the tree, and it was there. Yogī they can perform such wonderful things. If I want this thing, I have to endeavor for it, but a yogī can at once make it. These are some of the preliminary perfections of yogī.

So Kṛṣṇa is called Yogeśvara. He is the . . . you'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā, He's described as Yogeśvara. He's the master of all yogic principles. So for Him, why there shall be desire for enjoyment. He's so perfect that He hasn't got to marry, He hasn't got to keep a girlfriend. He's so perfect. So this is the nature of Kṛṣṇa we have to understand.

Then why He married? He married just to fulfill the desires of His devotees. Those devotees who wanted Kṛṣṇa as their husband, so He accepted them. And when He played the part of a husband, He played very perfectly. Just like when He played the part of a friend, of the boyfriend, He played it very perfectly. When He played the part of a small boy of Yaśodā, He played it perfectly.

Just like He was creating disturbances, when He was, say, three years old. Just like children, two year, two years old, they create always disturbance with mother. They don't leave the company of mother. At the same time, they create disturb. So Kṛṣṇa was doing that. Now, the mother decided, "Now, I shall bind You with ropes.

You are creating so much disturbance." And he took . . . she took a stick, and "If You create disturbance, then I'll beat You." Oh, Kṛṣṇa began to cry. So there is description in the Bhāgavata by Kuntī that "The person who is the object of frightening for everyone, He was afraid of the stick of Yaśodā." Why? He was perfectly playing the childhood.

So this is the Kṛṣṇa's life. So one has to understand this thing. He was not need . . . here just exactly the same thing, as He says, that na me karma-phale spṛhā: "I have no desire. I no . . ." Why He shall be desire? He is full. Desire, a needy person has desire. But a man who is full, why he shall be desire? Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me ka . . . iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti (BG 4.14).

Now, just to . . . I have tried to explain a little portion of the Kṛṣṇa's activities. When He appeared in this world, He showed His activities just to attract us that, "You are frustrated in friendship? Come on. Make friendship with Me. Oh, you are frustrated in getting a good master? Come on. Serve Me. I am, I become your good master. Oh, you are frustrated in the love of your sons? Oh, have Me as your son." Because here we are frustrated with our sons and daughters. We expect something, but when they are grown up, they go in their own way. We are frustrated.

So accept Kṛṣṇa as son and He'll be most obedient son, just like He was playing the part before Yaśodā. Similarly, accept Kṛṣṇa as husband or lover, you'll never be frustrated. That is the whole philosophy. Anything, whatever desires you have got, you can establish a relationship with Kṛṣṇa in that desire and you'll be happy, perfectly happy, never to be cheated.

So na māṁ karmā . . . iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti. Anyone who understands this philosophy, this transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, then what is the result? Karmabhir na sa badhyate. Because every act . . . we are bound up by the reaction of our past deeds. So as soon as we understand the transcendental activities of Kṛṣṇa, at once we become free from all reactions.

Because I cannot understand Kṛṣṇa's transcendental activities unless I am actually dovetailed with Him. Why I shall be interested with your activities unless I have got some specific purpose? So similarly, let us develop this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and gradually we shall have . . . now, that is called svarūpa-siddhi. Now, every living entity has got an eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa because we are part and . . .

Just like my parts and part of the body, it has got a specific relationship with my body. Just like this hand is the part and parcel of my body. It has got a specific position in the body. My ear is the part and parcel of my body. It has got a specific position in this. Similarly, every living entity has got a specific position in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

Now, at the present moment, we are covered. We do not know what is our relationship. But as we make advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and we develop, "Oh, I have got this relationship with my Kṛṣṇa as my . . . as a friend, as a conjugal lover, paternal relationship, master and servant," so many, just like we have got experience. And that is called svarūpa-siddhi. Svarūpa-siddhi means perfection of one's original, constitutional position. Svarūpa-siddhi. That we shall realize. As we make advance in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, so we gradually . . .

Just like a man who is diseased. He is diseased, and as he is being cured by treatment, he gets gradually his healthy condition. He can feel, "Yes, I am feeling well. Now I am feeling hunger. Now I am taking food nicely. Oh, yes, I am getting some strength." Similarly, as we make progress in the matter of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then our original, constitutional position becomes revealed. And as soon it is fully revealed, I am free from all these material obligations. Oh, my place is reserved there.

Thank you very much. Now if there is any question, you can ask. (end)