we must serve the people through loving service to God.

It is not a matter of my personal opinion. It is a fact that just as we water the tree by watering it's roots, not by watering it's leaves and branches, in a similar way if we want to serve mankind, we must serve the people through loving service to God. The service that God has requested is that we deliver His suffering children back to their original home in the spiritual sky. If we simply serve the outer covering of the self, without serving the self within, we are not doing real service. Such service is only superficial, like blowing on a boil for temporary relief without removing it for permanent relief.

If your friend's son has run away from home, he desperately wants his son to return. If you see that boy on the street and you give him some money so he can get something to eat, but you do not return him to his father, have you served his father by feeding that boy? No. You have the given the boy the facility to remain a little longer away from home. So if you really want to serve God, you must bring his lost children back to Him. Then your service to man will be real service to God. Otherwise, your service to man, although apparently good, will actually be a disservice.

Vedic society is a fully rounded society in which all aspects of life are covered. A Vedic government makes sure that everyone is well fed, well clothed, and well housed and that everyone is happily employed according to their psycho-physical nature. This system of management is known as the varnashram system. And, most importantly in a Vedic society everyone is given full education and practical training how to utilize the human form of life for going back to home, back to Godhead. In such a situation, serving mankind by liberating them from the cycle of birth and death is the best service to God. By this one stroke all sufferings arising from birth, death, old age, and disease are immediately mitigated.

So I hope that you will understand that the science of how to give permanent relief to all the souls entangled in the cycle of birth and death is not rubbish.

By Sankarshan Das Adhikari

By Siva’s Benediction

A brahmana in Kasi Varanasi once prayed to Lord Siva, “I want to give my daughter in marriage, but I have no money. Please give me money.” Lord Siva told him, “Go to Vrndavana and meet with Srila Sanatana Gosvami. You can ask him to give you some wealth for your daughter’s marriage.” The brahmana went to Vrndavana, by foot, and there he asked the villagers there for the whereabouts of a person named Sanatana Gosvami. As they all knew him, they pointed out his residence.

Srila Sanatana Gosvami was practicing bhajana near the Yamuna River at Kaliya-hrada, the former abode of the very poisonous snake named Kaliya. Kaliya-hrada was close to the Yamuna, and therefore its surrounding area was full of sand. Srila Sanatana Gosvami wore only a loincloth. He used to go begging door-to-door for a small amount of prasada (Krsna’s food remnants), and would take as his meal only one dry chapatti (flat bread), with no salt.

The brahmana arrived at his cottage and told him, “I went to Sankara Mahadeva, Lord Siva, and he told me to meet you. He said you will give me some wealth for my daughter’s marriage.” Sanatana Gosvami replied, “I have no possessions. You can see that I have nothing but a loincloth.” Then he thought, “Oh, Siva cannot tell a lie. He is my bosom friend.” Thinking of Lord Siva and contemplating further, he remembered a touchstone he had once disgarded and then forgotten. Now he told the brahmana, “Go to the Yamuna and remove some of the sand, and there you will find a touchstone. It is somewhere in the sand, though I don’t remember where.”

The brahmana found the jewel, touched it to iron, and the iron turned into gold. He was very, very happy that Lord Siva had told him to come to Vrndavana, and thought with gratitude, “My prayer has been answered by him.” On the way home, however, his greed for money increased and he began thinking, “Why did Sanatana Gosvami keep the touchstone in the sand? It had no use there. He must have still more valuable jewels.”

He thus returned, and Sanatana Gosvami asked him, “Why have you come back?” He replied, “I’ve come because I know that you have more valuable jewels than this.” Sanatana Gosvami then said, “Go and throw the touchstone in the Yamuna. The brahmana did so with all his power, and then Sanatana Gosvami told him, “Come here. Come here.” He gave him the mantra, “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” and said, “I do not have worldly jewels, but I have transcendental jewels. The jewel of Lord Krsna and Sri Radha will come to you in a very short time. So remain here. Your daughter’s marriage will take place automatically. Stay here and chant Hare Krsna.” That brahmana followed his instruction and became a very elevated saint.

KRSNA IS Master and WE ARE Servant

We are encouraged to search for Krsna, yet we should never forget that on our own we can never find Him. It is He that must come to us. The path of bhakti is a descending process. It is super-subjective – it always has been and always will be. In the words of the German philosopher Hegel, “He is for Himself and by Himself”.

aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate

"I am the cause of everything. Everything comes from Me. Mattah sarvam pravartate – and everything is coming out of Me. Even search about Me also comes from Me, worship of Me is coming from Me, I am worshiping Myself and I am showing it to you all." (Gita 10.8)

nayam atma pravacanena labhyo
na medhaya na bahuna srutena
yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas
tasyaisa atma vivrnute tanuh svam

"The Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, or even by much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person, He manifests His own form." (Katha Up. 1.2.23)

In the words of Srila Sridhara Maharaja:

"This one path we recommend. By His grace we can know Him - no other alternative. Yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas. Whoever is graced by His selection to know Him, he can only know, otherwise it is impossible. All rights reserved! The only path, the srota path – grace, krpa – that is the way."

But how do we qualify to attain that krpa? If we seek after His service, then He may come to us. We learn this from the example of Maharaja Prataparudra, who desired the darsana of Mahaprabhu but was refused even when Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya requested the Lord. Yet when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu witnessed the king's affection for Ramananda Raya and saw his humble service attitude at the Ratha-yatra festival, He at once granted him His association and service.
.

== THE KEY ==

trnad api sunicena
taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih

"One can chant the Holy Name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respects to others. ln such a state of mind one can chant the Holy Name of the Lord constantly." (Siksastaka 3)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja says:

"Our attitude in the search for Sri Krsna should be that we are most unfit. This is the qualification for the finite to approach the Infinite. To think ourselves qualified is a disqualification in our search after the infinite. We may take the Name of the Lord, the divine sound, but the process is such that we must be mindful to that. Otherwise, our search will be in vain; our attempt will be lost. What will be the attitude? Trnad api sunicena – we must think of ourselves as the meanest of the mean, the humblest of the humble. Sincere. Our forbearance must have no limit."

"We should be conscious that hindrances and obstacles are almost sure to attack us, but we must deal with them with humility and forbearance. Slow and steady wins the race. Our march towards the infinite is a long journey, not to be finished within a few hours, a few days or a few years."

In most instances, we see that generally a jiva takes many lifetimes to reach perfection. Though at first this may sound harsh and unpleasant, it is consoling to notice that the grace of the all-merciful Lord never ceases and the spiritual assets of the progressing jiva are never lost under any circumstances. Those that are spiritually advanced can feel that He is there. He is our best friend and He is in the background of everything.

tyaktva sva-dharmam caranambujam harer
bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi
yatra kva vabhadram abhud amusya kim
ko vartha apto ’bhajatam sva-dharmatah

"One who has forsaken his material occupations to engage in the devotional service of the Lord may sometimes fall down while in an immature stage, yet there is no danger of his being unsuccessful. On the other hand, a non-devotee, though fully engaged in occupational duties, does not gain anything." (Bhag. 1.5.17)

Sometimes the mercy of the Supreme Lord may take an apparently unpleasant form, as in the story of the great devotee Citraketu, who had to take birth as a demon. However, his previous knowledge and application of that transcendental knowledge was not lost. Though Citraketu was so powerful that he was quite competent to curse mother Parvati in retaliation, he did not do so. Instead, he very humbly accepted her curse and bowed his head before Lord Siva and his wife. This is appreciated as the standard behavior of a Vaisnava.

"Our guardians have told us that this attitude of humility must be maintained at all times, in all that we do – taking the Name, cooking for the Lord's pleasure, cleaning the temple, hearing or speaking of Him. It is like adding salt to a preparation – it will give us the proper result since only then are our devotional activities ‘palatable’ to Him. He may then be pleased and thus we may achieve the goal of our life – going back to Godhead."

"Yam evaisa vrnute – only one way, appointment must come from that quarter. The visa can only be granted by that domain. The passport officers are helpless, they cannot give any visa. It must come from the other world. Yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas – yes, you may come in, you are desirable. That sort of visa is compulsory, before entering that land." (Srila Sridhara Maharaja)
.

== THE VISA ==

Faith, surcharged with an attitude of eagerness to please Him, is the only means through which we can attempt to approach Him, and then – and only then, He may manifest Himself.

“Sraddha, sadhu-sanga, serving tendency—that is the visa.” As we have heard, Srila Sridhara Maharaja is the one who gives the visa. We may ask: Who is the appointed consul? There may be a number of them – just as one country has a number of representatives posted in various countries. But, at least for us, it is quite clear – it is our guru. Our only concern should be, “How can I please him?” For if I please him, then even though I may be disqualified in so many ways, I still have a chance for that krpa – just as Amogha was told by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

"You are the object of My affection because you are the son-in-law of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. Everyone in Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya's house is very dear to Me, including his maids and servants and even his dog. And what to speak of his relatives?" (Cc. Madhya 15.283-284)
.

== WHO SERVES WHOM? ==

"Externally disciples seem to be the servant, but internally we consider guru is the servant of so many disciples. He tries to make them fit for the service of Krsna, just as when you go to the temple to worship with certain things, so many things are cleaned in such a way that it may be acceptable by Krsna. So guru is also serving, he is helping so many persons so they may be fit to serve Krsna. He is rendering service to so many." (Srila Sridhara Maharaja)

On the other side, there are some gurus who take service from their disciples while thinking of themselves as guru, as Srila Puri Maharaja said, “If you think that you are a guru – you are a gauru, a cow.”

Taking the position of a guru inspired by false ego, for cheap adoration, or to exploit others by taking donations, or for any other ulterior motive (subtle or gross) other than to guide souls in their search for Krsna is very wrong!

guravo bahavah santi
sisya vittapaharakah
durlabhah sad-guru devi
sisya santapa-harakah

"O goddess, there are many gurus who are expert at taking away the money of their disciples, but a real guru who is expert at taking away the miseries of his disciples, is very rare." (Padma Purana)

Such an attitude of exploitation can never satisfy Krsna, nor can it benefit the jiva who is supposed to be a recipient of the highest truth. Such a jiva is then bereft of his eternal prospect. The charlatan who poses as a guru will never be given entrance into that highest realm, for the eternal associates of Sri Krsna will bar his entrance there. It is a conscious world and nothing can pass unnoticed by them. Those agents are on high alert so that no unqualified person can disturb the pastimes of the Lord.

It is very unfortunate that this kind of posturing can be seen in Vaisnava society today.

Accepting the position of an acarya is not a light matter and should be taken up only by the instruction of a higher agent directly or via inspiration. If an individual has truly been inspired by a divine agent or has been inspired by maya to live in a fools paradise—this will be shown in his words and deeds. As the saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

== THE BEST SERVANT ==

Though he is our guardian and master, simultaneously Sri Guru is the best servant.

na ca tasman manusyesu
kascin me priya-krttamah
bhavita na ca me tasmad
anyah priyataro bhuvi

"One who is explaining this secret of Bhagavad-gita to My devotees, that person he is priya-krttamah – he is most dear to Me. Gita is my most favorite thing, and he who distributes the inner meaning of Gita is the most favorite to Me. He who continues the line of Gita to the public, he is My best devotee." (Gita 18.69)

While serving his guardians and serving us by presenting us with many invaluable instructions and insights through his spoken and written word, our Divine Master has received recognition from the higher agents, as well as from a number of nirupadhi Vaisnavas—those free from malice.

The spoken word, sound—this is the method by which a genuine Vaisnava and acarya is recognized. In the same way, those that are not properly situated in guru-tattva are revealed by the medium of sound and are then checked by those genuine agents.

Furthermore, due to his good-hearted nature and infinite kindness, Srila Guru Maharaja always thinks of our ultimate good, although he has been used and abused a number of times. In spite of all these personal ‘injuries,’ our Gurudeva does not stop giving and trusting.

As a result of his selfless sacrifice, Sri Guru creates a unique association of sincere, loving and caring individuals who are genuinely advanced in spiritual life. We consider ourselves truly fortunate for having the privilege of association and service of such Vaisnavas.

The Shield of the Holy Name (Maha Mantra)

"If you don't chant your sixteen rounds, it's like you've left the door open to your place. So when it's your turn for Maya to attack, when it's your turn to get bombarded by the modes of material nature, if you haven't closed your door properly, Maya will just walk right in and you'll be finished. And if you do chant your sixteen rounds, you have that protection, you have that shield. It's like you locked your door against Maya. So when it's your turn to get hit up by Maya, she'll say, ‘Forget this one; it's too much trouble,' and she'll move on to somebody weaker."

That made me chant all my rounds all these years. That lecture made me realize how important chanting sixteen rounds is. You have that shield that wards off Maya.

Breakdown Of The Maha Mantra

• O Krsna! Please attract my mind by pulling it to You.
• O Hari! Please capture my mind by Your unsurpassed sweetness.
• O Krsna! Please purify my mind with knowledge about devotional service given to me by Your own devotee.
• O Krsna! Please make me able to relish Your transcendental name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc.
• O Krsna! Please make me able to relish Your transcendental name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc.
• O Hari! Please make me fit to serve You.
• O Hari! Please make me able to relish Your transcendental name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc.
• O Hari! Please direct me to do some particular service for You.
• O Rama! Let me hear about Your most cherished pastimes in the company of Your dearest devotee.
• O Hara (Radha)! Please reveal to me Your most cherished pastimes with Your beloved Sri Krsna.
• O Rama! Please reveal to me Your most cherished pastimes with Your beloved Sri Radha.
• O Rama! Please engage me in remembering Your transcendental name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc.
• O Rama! Please make me fit to serve You while remembering Your transcendental name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc.
• O Hari! Having accepted me as one of Your own servitors, please enjoy me as You please.
• O Hari! Please enjoy with me in Your transcendental way.

At the present moment our minds are polluted with the dirt accumulated over millions and millions of lifetimes of sense gratification. Even though our original pure nature is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss, due to our mental contamination we are presently suffering in the realm of temporality, ignorance, and misery. By the purificatory process of chanting the holy names of God we can revive our original, pure nature and thus relish the sweetest happiness at every minute.
Chant:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Lord Caitanya taught this philosophy through the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. He taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the Lord and that since the Lord is the absolute whole, there is no difference between His holy name and His transcendental form. Thus by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord by sound vibration.


At His birth, in His childhood and in His early and later boyhood, as well as in His youth, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, under different pleas, induced people to chant the holy name of Hari [the Hare Krsna maha-mantra] .


In His childhood, when the Lord was crying He would stop immediately upon hearing the holy names Krsna and Hari. During His pauganda age He became a serious student and also taught disciples. In this way He used to explain the holy name of Krsna everywhere. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was a student, He asked whomever He met to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. In this way He inundated the whole town of Navadvipa with the chanting of Hare Krsna.

Just prior to His youthful life, He began the sankirtana movement. Day and night He used to dance in ecstasy with His devotees. The sankirtana movement went on from one part of the town to another, as the Lord wandered everywhere performing kirtana. In this way He inundated the whole world by distributing love of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu lived in the Navadvipa area for twenty-four years, and He induced every person to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and thus merge in love of Krsna. For His remaining twenty-four years, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, after accepting the renounced order of life, stayed at Jagganatha Puri with His devotees. For six of these twenty-four years in Jagganatha Puri He distributed love of Godhead by always chanting and dancing. Beginning from Cape Comorin and extending through Bengal to Vrndavana, during these six years He toured all of India , chanting, dancing and distributing love of Krsna.

The activities of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His travels after He accepted sannyasa are His principal pastimes. His activities during His remaining eighteen years are called the antya-lila, or the final portion of His pastimes. For six of the eighteen years He continuously stayed in Jagganatha Puri, He regularly performed kirtana, inducing all the devotees to love Krsna simply by chanting and dancing. For the remaining twelve years He stayed in Jagganatha Puri, He taught everyone how to taste the transcendental mellow ecstasy of love of Krsna by tasting it Himself.

One may raise the question how all three worlds became inundated with love of Krsna, since Caitanya Mahaprabhu performed kirtana only in the Navadvipa area. The answer is that Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna Himself. The entire cosmic manifestation results from the Lord’s first setting it in motion. Similarly, since the sankirtana movement was first set in motion five hundred years ago by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s desire that it spread all over the universe, the Krsna consciousness movement, in continuity of that same motion, is now spreading all over the world, and in this way it will gradually spread all over the universe. With the spread of the Krsna consciousness movement, everyone will merge in an ocean of love of Krsna. (CC Adi-lila 13:22-38)

O most munificent incarnation! You are Krsna Himself appearing as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krsna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You. (Rupa Goswami CC Madhya-lila 19.54)


Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare,

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Material Gain is Benediction or Poison?

There are two classes of men — namely the kṛpaṇa and the brāhmaṇa. A brāhmaṇa is one who knows Brahman, the Absolute Truth, and who thus knows his real interest. A kṛpaṇa, however, is one who has a material, bodily concept of life. Not knowing how to utilize his human or demigod life, a kṛpaṇa is attracted by things created by the material modes of nature. The kṛpaṇas, who always desire material benefits, are foolish, whereas brāhmaṇas, who always desire spiritual benefits, are intelligent. If a kṛpaṇa, not knowing his self-interest, foolishly asks for something material, one who awards it to him is also foolish. Kṛṣṇa, however, is not a foolish person; He is supremely intelligent. If someone comes to Kṛṣṇa asking for material benefits, Kṛṣṇa does not award him the material things he desires. Instead, the Lord gives him intelligence so that he will forget his material desires and become attached to the Lord's lotus feet. In such cases, although the kṛpaṇa offers prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa for material things, the Lord takes away whatever material possessions the kṛpaṇa has and gives him the sense to become a devotee. As stated by the Lord in theCaitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.39):

āmi — vijña, ei mūrkhe 'viṣaya' kene diba?

sva-caraṇāmṛta diyā 'viṣaya' bhulāiba

"Since I am very intelligent, why should I give this fool material prosperity? Instead I shall induce him to take the nectar of the shelter of My lotus feet and make him forget illusory material enjoyment." If one sincerely prays to God for material possessions in exchange for devotional service, the Lord, who is not foolish like such an unintelligent devotee, shows him special favor by taking away whatever material possessions he has and gradually giving him the intelligence to be satisfied only by rendering service to His lotus feet. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments in this regard that if a foolish child requests his mother to give him poison, the mother, being intelligent, will certainly not give him poison, even though he requests it. A materialist does not know that to accept material possessions means to accept poison, or the repetition of birth and death. An intelligent person, a brāhmaṇa, aspires for liberation from material bondage. That is the real self-interest of a human being.

A devotee may foolishly ask for material benedictions, but Lord Kṛṣṇa does not give him such benedictions, despite the devotee's prayers. Therefore people who are very attached to material life do not generally become devotees of Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu. Instead they become devotees of the demigods (kāmais tais tair hṛta jñānāḥ prapadyante'nya-devatāḥ [Bg. 7.20]). The benedictions of the demigods, however, are condemned in Bhagavad-gītā. Antavat tu phalaḿ teṣāḿ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām: "Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary." A non-Vaiṣṇava, one who is not engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is considered a fool with a small quantity of brain substance.

SBG 6.9.50

Teachings of Prahlada Maharaj - Chapter Five

God Realization Is Everywhere

Maharaja Prahlad informed his class fellows about the all-pervasiveness of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Soul is all-pervasive, but that does not mean that He has lost His personality. That is significant. Although He is all-pervading, still He is a person. According to our material perception, if something is all-pervading,

then it has no personality, no localized aspect. But God is not like that. For example, the sunshine is all-pervading, but the sun also has a localized aspect. The sun is localized in one place, and you can see it. Not only is there the sun, but within the sun planet there is a sun-god, whose name is Vivasvan. We get this information from Vedic literature; there is no way to understand what takes place on other planets but by hearing from authorized sources. The difference in modem civilization is that we hear a scientist say, "We have seen the moon; it is such and such," and we believe it. We have not gone with the scientist to see the moon, but we believe him.

Belief is the basic principle of understanding. You either believe me or him; that depends on you. If you believe a scientist, that isinformation, and if you believe the Vedas, that is also information. It is up to you which source you believe. According to Vedic instruction, we take infallible information from the Vedas. As I have explained, an ordinary man who is conditioned by material nature has four defects. What are those four defects? The first is that a human being is sure to commit mistakes, however great a scientist he may be. Not very long ago in this country, there was a disaster when a scientist sent a satellite up but at once it burned to ashes. So there was a mistake. There must be mistakes. This is the nature of conditioned life. The mistake may be very great or very slight--that doesn't matter. But a human being conditioned by material nature is sure to commit mistakes.

Further, man is illusioned. He accepts one thing for something else because his senses are imperfect. For example, we accept this body as the self. Actually, I am not this body; therefore the acceptance of the body as self is called illusion. The whole world is going on under the illusion that "I am this body." Therefore there is no peace because everyone is illusioned. I am thinking that I am Indian, you are thinking that you are American, and a Chinese man is thinking that he is Chinese.

What is this "Chinese," "American, and"Indian"? It is the body. This is illusion.

To cheat is another condition of life. I am a fool, but I will boast that I am very learned. Everyone who is illusioned and commits mistakes is a fool, but still one poses himself as being freed from all mistakes. And above all, our senses are imperfect. We view the sun as a small disc. Why? It is far, far greater than this earth, but we see it as just a disc. We have these imperfect senses, and we are subject to become illusioned and commit mistakes, and we are influenced by the propensity to cheat.

How can one expect real knowledge from such conditioned souls? There is no possibility to receive actual knowledge from them. So, in this world, whether a man is a scientist, a philosopher or whatever he may be, or however educated he may be, because he is conditioned, he cannot give complete information. This is a fact. How do you get complete information? The process is the disciplic succession of Vedic

knowledge. You can read in Bhagavad-gita that Lord Krsna says to Arjuna, "The knowledge of Bhagavad-gita was first spoken by Me to the sun-god, and the sun-god spoke it to his son, Manu. In turn, Manu spoke this knowledge to his son Iksvaku, and then Iksvaku spoke the same to his son. In this way the knowledge has come down, but unfortunately that disciplic succession is now broken. Therefore, O Arjuna, I am now preaching the same knowledge to you because you are My very dear friend and good devotee." This is the process of accepting knowledge. We have to accept the transcendental vibration.

The entire Vedic knowledge is a transcendental vibration to help us to understand the Supreme Lord. So Prahlad Maharaja says that the Supreme Soul is identical with the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the Brahma-samhita also the same information appears--that the Supreme Lord, although situated in His own transcendental abode, is all-pervading. Although He is all-pervading, present everywhere, still by our imperfect senses we cannot see Him.

Prahlad Maharaja says, "Although He is not seen, He can still be perceived. One who is intelligent can perceive the presence of the Supreme Lord everywhere." How is this possible? During the daytime onewho is in the light can see that the sun is up, even though he is in a room. Because it is daytime, because it is light, he can understand that the sun is shining. Similarly, those who have understood the whole material creation, those who have understood the whole cosmic situation, know that everything is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord.

What do we see with these present material senses? We can hear and understand the five gross elements and also the finer elements; we can understand that we have mind and intelligence. Similarly, we can understand that there is soul. We can understand fire, water, earth, sky, mind and intelligence. And, if a man is further advanced, he can understand that there is a soul, and, above all, there is Supersoul. We see what is visible to the material eye. We can see earth, water, fire.

But we cannot see air, although we can perceive it. By touch we can understand the air. We can understand that there is sky by sound. We can understand that we have mind because we are thinking, feeling and willing. Similarly, we can understand that we have an intelligence that guides the mind. If we go still further, we can understand, "I am consciousness."

The visible things around us are also expansions of the inferior energy of the Supreme Lord. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that we should try to understand that which is spread all over the body because that is eternal.

We have to understand from the authorities, but we can also perceive it. We know that there is consciousness spread all over the body. If I pinch any part of my body, there is consciousness. Similarly, consciousness is spread all over this universe. But that is not our consciousness. That is God's consciousness. We know every part of our body. We can perceive, "This is my finger," or "This is my ear." Similarly, God, the Supreme Soul, is all-pervading by His consciousness.That is Krsna consciousness.

Our process is to dovetail our consciousness with Krsna consciousness--that will make us perfect. It is not that we merge into that consciousness. In one sense we can say "merge," but still we keep our individuality.

That is the difference between impersonalist philosophy and Krsna's conscious philosophy. The impersonalist philosophy says that we merge into the Supreme and lose our individuality. We can say that we merge into the Supreme, but we keep our individuality. How is that? An airplane starts from the airport and climbs up and up, and when it goes very high we cannot see it because it merges into the higher sky. We can simply see sky, but the airplane is not lost--it is still there. Another example is that if a green bird enters into a big green tree, we cannot distinguish the bird from the tree, but they both exist. Similarly, the supreme consciousness is Krsna, and when we dovetail our individual consciousness with the Supreme, we then become perfect. An outsider may see that there is no distinction between God and men, but it is due only to a poor fund of knowledge. Every individual person, every individual being, maintains his individuality, even though he is dovetailed with the Supreme.

Prahlad Maharaja says that we cannot see consciousness--either supreme consciousness or individual--but it is there. How is it there? We can understand the supreme consciousness and our individual consciousness simply by perception of blissfulness. Because we haveconsciousness, we can feel ananda, or pleasure. Without consciousness there is no feeling of pleasure.

Because of that consciousness we can enjoy life by applying our senses in whatever way we like. But as soon as consciousness is gone, we cannot enjoy. I am present because of consciousness, and I am part and parcel of Krsna, as stated in Bhagavad-gita.

This consciousness exists because we are part and parcel of the supreme consciousness. For example, a spark is a tiny part and parcel of the fire, yet the spark is also the fire. A drop of the Atlantic Ocean possesses the same quality. as all the ocean water--it is also salty. Similarly the pleasure potency which we feel is the presence of consciousness, and that same pleasure potency also exists in the Supreme Lord. Paramesvara means the supreme controller. We are also isvara, or controller, because we are in some control. For example, I have some controlling power to take a drink of water when I cough. According to our capacity, everyone of us has some controlling power. But we are not the supreme controller. The supreme controller is God.

Because He is the supreme controller, He is controlling all these universal energies by His different potencies. We can also understand and feel. I am controlling my bodily affairs as far as possible, but because I am not the supreme controller, if there is something wrong in this body, I have no control. I speak of this hand as "my hand" because I am working with this hand and am moving it according to my desire. I am actually the controller of my hand. But I am not the controller of your hand. If I desire that your hand move. that is not in my power;that is in your power. You can move your hand if you like. I am not the controller of your body, but the Supreme Soul is the controller of both your body and my body. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita. The Lord says that you are present in your body and that this body is the field of your activities.

Whatever you are doing according to the body is limited. An animal which is bound up in a certain tract of land can move there and cannot go beyond what that space allows. Similarly, your activity and my activity are bound up within the limits of our bodies. My body is my field of activities, and your body is your field of activities. But Krsna says, "I am present in every field." He is present as Supersoul. I know when I cough, but you do not know how I feel, and similarly, I do not know what you are doing. Krsna however, as Paramatma. knows what is going on in my body, in your body, and in thousands of millions and billions of other bodies. Therefore He is the supreme controller. We have our limited energy, but He is transcendental to this limited energy. He has unlimited opulence. By His controlling power, by His supreme will, this material creation is moving. That is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita where Krsna states, "Under My superintendence the whole material nature is working. All wonderful things that you see in this material world are due to My supervision, My supreme control."

Prahlad Maharaja now gives his conclusion. "My dear friends,because the Supreme Lord is present everywhere and because we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, our duty is to be merciful to all living entities." When a person is in a lower position, we have a duty to help him. Because he is helpless, the small child is dependent on the mercy of the parent. In the relationship of the small child and the parent there is a reciprocation of feeling. The child is always dependent on the parent. "Mother, I want this." "Yes, my dear child." We should becompassionate to all living entities and should show them mercy. How can we show our mercy? There are millions and millions of poor men, so how can we show them all mercy? They want so many things.

People are very proud that they are going to serve the poor. In what way are they going to serve? Are we able to supply clothing and food to all the needy persons of the world? That is not possible. How, then, can we be merciful to every living entity? The fact is that we cannot show any mercy to the living entities through material considerations. That is not possible. Prahlad Maharaja is showing his class friends real mercy. They were all fools, devoid of Krsna, consciousness, and therefore he was showing them how to become Krsna conscious. This is the highest mercy. If you want to show any mercy at all to the living entities, then enlighten them in Krsna consciousness as Prahlad Maharaja did. Otherwise, it is materially beyond your power to show mercy.

"My dear demoniac friends," Prahlad says, "give up this demoniac life. Give up this nonsense." The belief that there is no God is the demoniac feature that Prahlad Maharaja requests his demoniac friends to give up. They were thinking, "Who is God? There is no God." We find in the Bhagavad-gita that people of this mentality are called miscreants, for they always try to make mischief. They are very well educated attorneys, lawyers and so on, but their plan is to cheat. We have practically experienced it. They are highly educated with so many qualifications and are nicely dressed, but their mentality is more base than that of a dog. "This man has some money, so let us conspire to cheat him." They are simply miscreants.

What are they cheating for? Simply for sense gratification, just like an ass who does not know the purpose of life. He takes the hundred pound burdens on his back, and he is kept by the washerman, who loads his back as much as possible. In this way the ass works the whole day with this burden simply for a few morsels of grass. Similarly, materialistic people will simply be satisfied to eat a simple piece of

bread or something similar, but they work very hard. Therefore they are compared to asses. They are always planning something mischievous. They are the lowest of mankind because they do not believe in God. Why? Their actual knowledge has been plundered by the influence of this material energy. Because they deny the existence of God, illusion impels them: "Yes, there is no God. Work hard and commit sins so that you may go to hell."

Prahlad Maharaja requests his demoniac friends to just give up this idea that there is no God. If we give up this nonsensical idea, then the Supreme Lord, who is beyond our perception, will be pleased and show His mercy to us.

Teachings of Prahlada Maharaj - Chapter Four

I Love Krsna More Than Anything!

Now Prahlad Maharaja makes a further statement about the complications of material life. We must always remember that Krsna consciousness is not a method for criticizing household life. Household life is recommended, but under the condition that one should not forget about his spiritual advancement in life. The difficulty is that in the material concept of life we forget our spiritual ideal. We should,

therefore, be very cautious in dealing with the materialistic world.Because our position is forgetfulness, there are so many regulations on how to become a householder, how to become a brahmacari and how to execute the renounced order of life.

So we have to revive our Krsna consciousness, which is the privilege of this human form. If we fail to revive our Krsna consciousness, then we miss the highest opportunity. We should always remember that. Prahlad Maharaja's position is that one should learn Krsna consciousness from one's childhood. Why? If we do not practice

Krsna consciousness from childhood, in the advanced stage of materialistic life we may be completely forgetful. Although in his childhood he preached in this way, Prahlad Maharaja himself was a householder, but he was a cautious householder. It is not harmful to become a householder and live with family, children and wife, but one should not forget his spiritual advancement--he should be Krsna conscious.

Prahlad Maharaja always reminds us that if we do not practice, if we do not know what the aim of our human form of life is, then we willmiss the opportunity for perfection. That is the point. Here it is said that if you do not practice, if you do not know Krsna consciousness from childhood, it is very difficult later, when you are materially advanced.

There is a very simple example: if a boy is not educated from childhood, it is not possible when he is advanced in age. I have actual experience of this. A father and a daughter both took a B.A. examination, and the daughter came out successful while the father failed. In the advanced stage of life it is no longer possible to absorb any sort of education. If in our advanced stage we sit down for the matriculation examination, we shall fail, and a boy of fourteen will pass. Therefore Prahlad

Maharaja warns that everyone should learn the importance of the science of Godhead from childhood. Otherwise, when one is complicated in family life, it will be impossible. Of course for this age, as I have already explained, Krsna consciousness is easily obtainable by the process of chanting. Generally, however, in the advanced stage of life it is very difficult to have any sort of education.

Prahlad also gives another picture. First of all, the attraction for wife has already been explained. Now he explains the attraction for children. It is customary in the Vedic system that a daughter is given in charity to the son-in-law at the age of twelve or thirteen years. At that time she goes to her father-in-law's house. Her father thinks, "Oh, how can she go?" She is always on her father's mind, and he also thinks of his brother, his old father--all these complications. Similarly,

Arjuna was thinking, "How am I to kill my grandfather? How is this possible?" These family relationships and family affections are very predominant, and they are all impediments to becoming Krsna conscious. We have to be very cautious that our family affections do not overcloud our Krsna consciousness. We should always know that the family relationships of this material world are simply a perverted reflection

of the real relationships in the spiritual world. This family is false--not exactly false, but temporary. It is temporary, but we are eternal; we should not be misled by temporary affection. That is being explained here. Sometimes we are strongly attached to our nicely decorated apartments and nicely made dresses. We think, "How shall I leave these?" This is the materialistic way of life--there is no end to it. Here is a

very nice example. The silk worm entangles itself in its own saliva, and when the imprisonment is finally made, the silk merchants go there and take the silk prison house of the worm and remove the silk. Before the worm comes out, the silk merchant takes the cell, otherwise, if the silk worm cuts its way out, there is no silk. In the same way, our entanglement becomes so tight that we cannot come out of this cell of family attraction. Even though there are so many miseries in the materialistic way of life, we cannot break free. Why? We think that sex life and palatable eating are very nice. Therefore, in spite of so many miserable conditions, we cannot give them up.

In this way, when one is too much entangled in family life, one cannot think of his real benefit--to escape from material life. He becomes entangled. Although he is always disturbed by the threefold miseries of materialistic life, still because there is family affection he cannot come out. He does not know that he is spoiling his limited duration of life simply for the affection of family. He is spoiling the

life that was meant for realizing his eternal self, for realizing his real spiritual life. But, since he is entangled in such family affection, he does not understand what he is doing. If we inquired ofevery family man, or anyone, whether or not he is happy in his material way of life, everyone will say, "I am not happy." But still, no one can cease material activities. Why? Because everyone has become entangled.

Although one is unhappy, he does not express that unhappiness. Why? He is expected to maintain the family which he has created. His only affection is maintenance of the family, and he becomes more and more entangled. Even if one is educated, due to that affection one commits so many sinful activities.

Prahlad Maharaja is trying to impress upon us that detachment is not possible, even if one is highly educated, unless one is trained from the very beginning. That is Prahlad's point of view. Even in the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that unless one is Krsna conscious, he cannot become a perfect gentleman. No one can become qualified with high character unless he is Krsna conscious. Why? Because he is hovering on the mental plane, a person who is not in Krsna consciousness has no other direction than to commit sinful activities.

Prahlad says that material entanglement is something like a prison house. If we are not trained from the very beginning of our life about Krsna consciousness, the aim of human life, then we are shackled, just as in the prison house one is shackled with iron chains. We should always remember that the aim of human life is to get out of this material entanglement. If we are not taught at an early age, from the very beginning of school life, or at some stage of life, then the opportunity of this human life will be lost. That is his instruction. "Therefore, my demoniac friends," he addresses them again, "please give up the company of those who are simply after material enjoyment.

"Just make your associations with persons who have taken to Krsna Consciousness." That is his advice. He says to his friends that this Krsna consciousness is not difficult to attain. Why? Krsna consciousness is very dear to us, but we do not understand it. Anyone who takes to Krsna consciousness becomes more and more affected by it and forgets his material consciousness. How? It is very dear to us, but we have forgotten it.

If you are in a foreign country, you might have forgotten your home and family, your family members and friends who are very dear to you. But all of a sudden, if you remember about your home and friends, you at once become very preoccupied. "How shall I meet them?" I know in San Francisco one of our friends left his young children and went to another country, and the eldest child has now grown up. A letter came from the eldest child, and at once the father remembered and sent some money.That affection automatically came, even though he had forgotten for so many years. Similarly, our affection for Krsna is so intimate that as soon as there is some touch of Krsna consciousness, we at once revive our whole relationship with Him.

Everyone has some particular relationship with Krsna the Supreme Lord, that he has forgotten. As soon as we are dovetailed with Krsna consciousness, gradually the old consciousness of our relationship with Krsna is revived. And when our consciousness is actually in the clear stage, we can understand our particular relationship with Krsna. Someone has a relationship with Krsna as friend. Someone has a relationship with Krsna as son and parent, or as lover and beloved or husband and wife. All these relationships are pervertedly reflected in life in the material world. But as soon as we come to the platform of Krsna consciousness, that old relationship with Krsna is revived. We love--everyone of us. I love myself. That is a fact. I love myself, and that self has an intimate relationship with Krsna because the self is part and parcel of Krsna. The self is within this body, and

I love my self better than the body. Similarly, because my self is part and parcel of Krsna, I love Krsna more than anything. But we have forgotten that Krsna is all-pervading. God is all-pervading. This memory has simply to be revived. As soon as we revive our Krsna consciousness we can study everything in relationship with Krsna. Everything then becomes factually lovable. Now I love you or you love me. That love is on the ephemeral stage of this body. But when love of Krsna is developed, I will not love you only, but I will love every living entity because the outward designation, this body, is forgotten. When a man becomes fully Krsna conscious, he does not see, "Here is a man, here is an animal, here is a cat, here is a dog, and here is a worm." He sees everything as part and parcel of Krsna. This is very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gita. "One who is actually learned in Krsna consciousness becomes a lover of the universe." Unless one is situated on the Krsna conscious platform, there is no question of universal brotherhood.

Now we are talking of universal brotherhood. If we actually want to implement the idea of universal brotherhood, then we will have to come to the platform of Krsna consciousness, not material consciousness. As long as we are in material consciousness, our lovable objects will be limited. But when we are actually in Krsna consciousness, our lovable objects will be universal. That is stated by Prahlad Maharaja. "Beginning from the ant or the nonmovable plants and trees and extending to the highest living creature, Brahma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is present everywhere by His expansion as the Paramatma, the feature of the Lord in everyone's heart. As soon as we become Krsna conscious, that extension of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Paramatma, induces us to love every object in relation with Krsna."

Teachings of Prahlada Maharaj - Chapter Three

Family Illusion

Prahlad Maharaja told his friends, "You have to begin Krsna consciousness immediately." All the boys were born of atheistic,materialistic families, but fortunately Prahlad was a great devotee of the Lord from his birth. Whenever he found an opportunity, when the teacher was out of the room, he used to speak: "My dear friends, this is the time. This is the time to begin Krsna consciousness."

Now, as we have stated, someone might have said, "But we are just boys. Let us play. We are not going to die immediately. Let us have some enjoyment, and then we shall begin Krsna consciousness." People do not know that Krsna consciousness is the highest enjoyment. They think that the boys who have joined this Krsna consciousness movement are foolish. "They have left everything, and by Prabhupada's influence they have joined." But actually this is not so. They are all intelligent, educated

boys, coming from very respectable families; they are not fools. They are actually enjoying life, otherwise they would not have spared their valuable time for this movement.

Actually there is joyful life, but people do not know. They say,"What is this Krsna consciousness?" When one grows into the sense gratification process, it is very difficult to get out of it. Therefore, according to Vedic regulations, in student life, beginning from five years of age, boys are taught about spiritual life. That is called brahmacarya. A brahmacari is one who has dedicated his life for supreme

Krsna consciousness or Brahman consciousness. He is called a brahmacari. He is always situated in the Supreme (Brahman).

Brahmacarya has so many rules and regulations: according to brahmacari regulations, however rich one's father may be, one should be trained by the brahmacari system, under the guidance of a spiritual master, and he should work in the asrama of the spiritual master just like a menial servant. How is this possible? We are getting actual experience that very nice boys coming from very respectable families do not hesitate to do any work here. They are washing dishes, cleansing

floors--everything. One student's mother was astonished at her boy when he visited home. Before, he would not even go to the store, and now he is engaged twenty-four hours a day. Unless one feels pleasure, how is it possible that he can engage himself in such a process as Krsna consciousness? This is only due to Hare Krsna. This is our single asset--Hare Krsna. One can be very jolly, simply by Krsna consciousness.

Actually there is joyful life. But unless one is trained, one cannot live it.

Prahlad Maharaja says that everyone is attached to family affection. If one is attached to family affairs, he cannot control his senses. Naturally, everyone wants to love. Society, friendship and love are needed. They are demands of the spirit soul, but they are being pervertedly reflected.

Generally, I have seen that many ladies and gentlemen in your country have no family life, but they have placed their love in cats and dogs. Because he or she wants to love someone but does not see anyone suitable to his desire, he therefore prefers to place his valuable love in cats and dogs. Our concern is just to transfer the love--which has to be placed somewhere--to Krsna. This is Krsna consciousness. If you transfer the love to Krsna, that is perfection. But, because we do not know where to place our love, being frustrated and cheated, we at last place our love in cats and dogs. Everyone is entangled by this material, perverted love.

It is very difficult to develop spiritual life when one is advanced in material love. It is very difficult because this bondage of love isvery strong. Therefore, Prahlad's proposition was that one should learn Krsna consciousness immediately from childhood. When a boy is five or six years old, he is sent to school to be trained. When he is too young it is not possible for him to go to school, but as soon as his

consciousness is developed, he is sent for education. Prahlad Maharaja says that one's education should be Krsna Conscious, and it should begin immediately. When one is between the ages of five to fifteen years, he is considered a boy.

After sixteen years one becomes a young man. He goes on to forty years, and then after forty years he is elderly; then, after sixty years, he is an old man. Prahlad Maharaja says that one should be taught Krsna consciousness from the beginning, from five to fifteen years of age. This is a very valuable time; you can train any boy in Krsna consciousness, and he will be perfect.

When one becomes a little more advanced in materialism, it is difficult to develop spiritual life. What is materialism? Materialism means that everyone of us in this material world, although we are spirit soul, somehow or other wants to enjoy this material world. Don't try to find out when it began, but actually that is the situation. This world is meant for enjoyment.

Enjoyment is already present in my spirit soul, but we have come here to partake of contaminated enjoyment, just like a man who is on the Bowery and thinks he's enjoying. Some animals enjoy by eating stool. According to the body, we have different kinds of enjoyment. The basic principle of enjoyment is sex life. Therefore, you will find sex life not only in human society, but in cat society, dog society, bird society--everywhere. During daytime, a pigeon has sex at least twenty

times. This is his enjoyment. The basic principle of material life is sex life.

Srimad-Bhagavatam says that material enjoyment is based upon nothing more than the combination of man and woman in sex life. In the beginning a boy thinks, "Oh, that girl is nice," or the girl says, "That boy is nice. And when they meet, that material contamination becomes more prominent. My heart is already attached to material enjoyment, but as soon as I actually enjoy it, it becomes more attached, completely attached. How? As soon as a boy and girl are married, they want an

apartment. Then, to maintain that apartment, they need some income. Then, when there is income, they want to have children. Then when they have children, they want social recognition--society, friendship and love. This goes on increasing. Everything requires money: where is money? A man who is too materialistic will cheat anyone, kill anyone, beg, borrow or steal--anything to bring money. He knows that his buildings, his family, his wife and children cannot continue to exist here. They are just like bubbles in the ocean: they have come into existence, and after a little while they will be gone. But he is too much attached. He will sacrifice his spiritual advancement in life for this. His perverted consciousness--"I am this body. I belong to this material world. I belong to this country. I belong to this community. I

belong to this religion."--becomes greater and greater.

Where is his Krsna consciousness? He becomes so entangled that money becomes more valuable to him than his own life. He can risk even his own life for money. Everyone is trying to get money. Who? The householder, the laborer, the merchant, the thief, the dacoit, therogue. What is the distinction? Everyone is after money. This is called illusion. One loses himself in the midst of this entanglement.

Prahlad Maharaja says that in this state, when you are too much implicated in materialism, you cannot at once begin Krsna consciousness. Of course, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is so kind that even if you have missed the chance to become Krsna conscious in your childhood, it is better late than never. If you do understand, then begin immediately in whatever position you are. Even though you missed the opportunity to begin Krsna consciousness from childhood, begin now. That is Caitanya

Mahaprabhu's teaching. He never said, "Because you did not begin Krishna consciousness from your childhood. you cannot make progress." No. He is very kind. He has given us this nice process of chanting: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Whether you are a young man or an old man--no matter what you are--just begin. You do not know when your life will be finished. If you begin sincerely, even for a moment, it will have great effect. It will save you from the greatest danger.

Although only five years old, Prahlad Maharaja speaks just like a very experienced man because he received experience from his spiritual master, That will be disclosed later. Experience should not be derived from age, but from knowledge received from a superior source. One cannot become a wise man simply by advancement of age. No. That is not possible. Knowledge has to be received from a superior source. It doesn't matter whether he is a five-year-old boy or a fifty-year-old

man. In Sanskrit this is phrased: "One becomes an old man without age."

He is only five years old; how can he become an old man? One becomes old by advancement in knowledge. Prahlad Maharaja is speaking just like an old man. Suppose a man is already married and Prahlad says, "You take to Krsna consciousness." He will think, "Oh, how can I leave my wife? We talk so nicely together, sit together and enjoy. How can I leave?" It is a very strong combination.

I am an old man, seventy-two years old. I have been away from my family during the last fourteen years. Yet sometimes I also think of my wife. This is quite natural. But that does not mean that I have to go back. This is knowledge. One should at once understand: this is illusion. According to the Vedic system, one has to forcibly give up family life at the age of fifty. One must go. There is no alternative. The first twenty-five years are for student life. From five years to

twenty-five years, one should be educated very nicely in Krsna consciousness. The whole basic principle should be Krsna conscious, nothing else. Then life will be successful. Life will be pleasing and successful, both in this world and in the next. For twenty years, from five to twenty-five, a boy should be trained. Krsna consciousness necessitates giving up material consciousness altogether. That is called perfect Krsna consciousness. But if someone is not able to capture the

essence of Krsna consciousness, then he is allowed to have a good wife, be married, and live a peaceful householder life. And, because he has the basic principle of Krsna consciousness, he will not entangle himself in the material world. If one lives a simple life--plain living and high thinking--he can progress and can cultivate the same Krsna consciousness even within the family.

So family life is not condemned. But if a man forgets his spiritual identity and simply becomes entangled in material affairs, then he is lost. His life's mission is lost. If one thinks, "I cannot protectmyself from the attack of maya," then let him be married. That is prescribed. We don't have illicit sex life. If you want a girl, if you want a boy, get married. Live in Krsna consciousness.

A person who is trained from the very beginning naturally becomes disinclined toward the material way of life, and at the age of fifty he gives it up. How do you start giving it up? That is also a concession: the husband and wife leave the children. If from twenty-five to fifty he remains in family life, he must have some grown-up children. So he entrusts all his family affairs to them. According to the Vedic system, a boy is married at the age of twenty, and a girl is married at twelve

years. So, family affairs are entrusted to some of the boys who are family men, and the husband and wife go on pilgrimages to try to forget these attachments. When the gentleman is completely matured, he asks his wife to go home to his children, and he remains alone. That is the system. Otherwise, if we remain attached to material consciousness, then we will not perfect our Krsna consciousness. So we have to give

ourselves a chance, step by step. Otherwise, if we become too materially complicated, we shall miss the opportunity of this human form of life.

Family life means that we have very loving children, and we are loved. We attract, our wife talks very nicely, and we give very nice instructions. "You do this. You do that." Thus we enjoy life. But we do not know that this enjoyment is false. We are standing on a false platform. At once, in the twinkling of an eye, we may have to give this up. Death is not under our control. From Bhagavad-gita we learn that if one dies while too much attached to one's wife, the result will be that

he will get his next life as a female. And if the wife is very attachedto the husband, it is for her benefit; she gets her next life as a man.Therefore, according to the Vedic system, chastity is greatly stressed. This has nothing to do with Krsna consciousness; it is simply a matter of ending material consciousness. If a woman is chaste and simply thinks of one man, then the result will be that she will get a man's body in the next life. Similarly, if you are not a family man but are attached

to a cat or dog, then your next life will be as a cat or dog. That is also a fact. It is better to love a woman and be attached to her. It is better to have a woman's body than to have a cat's or dog's body. These are the rules of karma, or material nature.

The whole point is that one should begin. If one thinks, "After finishing my sporting life, when I am old and there is nothing else to do, then I shall go to the Krishna Consciousness Society and hear something," at that time one can go, but one should have the opportunity now and should utilize one's life from the very beginning. Therefore, this Society's main object is to give everyone a chance to begin Krsna consciousness at any stage. And, by this process of Hare Krsna, Hare

Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, it is very quick. There is an immediate result.

We shall request all the ladies and gentlemen who are very kindly attending our lectures or reading our literature to go home, and at your leisure hour, dance and chant, or read our books. You will find it very nice. That is our request. That is what our Society is spreading.

Teachings of Prahlada Maharaj - Chapter two

"We Are Spoiling Our Lives!"

Prahlad Maharaja instructs his young friends: "My dear friends, material enjoyment involves agitating the senses. You have this material sense enjoyment, my dear friends, and your only thought is how to enjoythese senses. That's all." In possession of a particular body, we have particular senses, and we enjoy. For example, a camel enjoys thorny twigs. Why? Camels are very fond of thorny twigs because when they chew the twigs, blood comes out of the tongue, and they taste their own blood. The camel thinks this is very nice. He eats thorny twigs, the twigs cut his tongue, and blood oozes out. He tastes his own blood, but he thinks, "I am enjoying." This is sense gratification. Sex life is also like that. We taste our own blood, and we think we are enjoying. This is our foolishness.

The living entity who has contacted this material body is a spiritual being, but because he has a tendency to enjoy, to exploit this material energy, he has contacted a body. There are 8,400,000 species of living entities, each with a different body, and according to the body, they have particular senses in order to enjoy a particular type of pleasure. Prahlad Maharaja says that this body and its particular type of enjoyment go together. Suppose you are given thorny grass or twigs: "Ladies and gentlemen, here is very nice food. It is certified by the camels. It is very good." Would you like to take it? "No! What nonsense are you offering me?" Because you have a different body, you have no taste for that. But if you offer it to a camel, because of his particular body, it is a very nice meal.

One man's food is another man's poison. If one is offered something which is not his food, he cannot take it. The stool-eating hog will not accept nice foodstuffs such as cake. Give him stool, and it will be very nice. But if you are offered the stool, because you have a different body you will say, "What are you offering?"

There are different kinds of material enjoyment, but those who are actually intelligent know that such enjoyment is due to the body. Actual happiness, however, is that which is not enjoyed by material senses but by the spiritual senses. Because we are spirit, we have spiritual senses. Now these are covered by matter, and therefore we are entrapped. Therefore, you should not endeavor to achieve material happiness. It will come. The lower animals have no business profession, but still they eat and live. So Prahlad Maharaja says, "You need not endeavor for material pleasure. That will come. Because you have a body, it is predestined that bodily enjoyment--as you are fit to enjoy it--will come. If misery comes without our calling for it, so happiness will come without our calling for it."

Therefore, we should not be very anxious to aggravate our senses to increase material happiness. In any civilization, those who have no spiritual happiness always hanker after sense enjoyment. Prahlad Maharaja says, "Your life is limited. Although it is very valuable, it is also very limited. And our duty is to dovetail ourselves in some way in Krsna consciousness and to act accordingly. You should not try to increase your material sense enjoyment. You cannot increase it. There are so many different kinds of bodies, and they are guided by nature's law: you have to eat like this, you have to live like this, you have to sleep like this. It has already been arranged."

Our higher intelligence comes with this human body. Because we have higher consciousness, we should try for the higher enjoyment in life, which is spiritual enjoyment. And how can that spiritual enjoyment be achieved? You should not waste your time simply hankering for material pleasure. Then, what is to be done? One should absorb himself in serving the Supreme Lord, who gives the pleasure of liberation. We should turnour attention to achieving the lotus feet of Krsna, who can give us liberation from this material world.

How long do we have to engage ourselves? Prahlad Maharaja says, "We are now in material entanglement. Now I have this body, I will quit this body after a few years, and then I will have to accept another body. Once you take up one body and enjoy as your body's senses dictate, you prepare another body by such sense enjoyment, and you get another body as you want it." There is no guarantee that you will get a human body. That will depend on your work. If you worked just like a demigod, you get a demigod's body. And if you worked just like a dog, then you get a dog's body. This is not in your hands; it is in the hand of nature. Our duty is not to speculate on what we are going to get next. At the present moment, let us understand that we have this material body. Now, if we want to develop our spiritual consciousness or Krsna

consciousness, then we should at once engage ourselves in this Krsna activity. That is auspicious for further progress.

How long should you do it? As long as this body does not stop working. We do not know when it will stop functioning. The great saint Pariksit Maharaja got seven days notice: "Your body will fall in a week." But we do not know when our body will fall. As soon as we are on the road, there may immediately be some accident. We should always be prepared. Death is always there. We should not optimistically think,

"Everyone is dying, I shall live." Why will you live if everyone is dying? Your father has died, your mother has died, your sister, your other relatives--why should you live? You will also die. And your children will also die. Therefore, before death comes, as long as we have this human intelligence, let us engage in Krsna consciousness. This is the prescription of Prahlad Maharaja.

This material body is called purusam. Everyone is anxious to enjoy. Purusa means to enjoy, or the enjoyer. There is no one in this material world who does not like to enjoy sense gratification. Therefore, the body may be what it is--either male or female--but the desire, the ambition, is to enjoy material life. So the body is called purusam.

We do not know when this body will stop, but let us immediately engage in Krsna consciousness and act accordingly. "But if I immediately engage myself in Krsna consciousness, what about my living?" That is arranged for. I am very happy to inform you of the confidence of a student in one of our branches. There was a disagreement. One student said, "You are not looking after how to maintain the establishment," and

he replied, "Oh, Krsna will supply."This is a very nice conviction; I was glad to hear it. If cats and dogs and hogs can get food, and if we are going to be Krsna conscious and fully devote our service to Krsna, will He not arrange for our food also? Is Krsna ungracious? No.

In Bhagavad-gita you will find that the Lord says, "My dear Arjuna,I am equal to everyone. No one is the object of My envy, and no one is My special friend, but for one who engages in Krsna consciousness, I have special attention." If a small child is completely dependent on the mercy of his parents, the parents have special attention for that child. Although the parents are equally good to all the children, for the small children who are always crying, "Mother!" they have great concern. "Yes, my dear child? Yes?" This is natural.

If you are completely dependent on Krsna, who is supplying food to the dogs, birds, bees--to 8,400,000 species of life--why should He not supply to you? This conviction is called surrender. But we should notthink, "Because Krsna is supplying my food, I shall now sleep." No, you have to work, but without fear. One should engage himself in Krsna consciousness.

Now calculate our duration of life. In this age it is calculated that we can live at most to a hundred years. Formerly, a human being used to live up to 100,000 years. In the Satya Yuga, or age of Goodness, they used to live 100,000 years. In the next age, Treta Yuga, they used to live for 10,000 years, and in the next, called Dvapara Yuga, they used to live for 1,000 years. Now, in this age, called Kali Yuga, the estimation is for decreases still further. Anyone can understand this.Suppose my grandfather lived 100 years, and my son is going to live for fifty years, and his son is going to live for thirty years. This is the progress of our modern civilization. We are very proud that we are happy and are improving our civilization. The result, however, is that we try to enjoy material life, but the duration of our life is shortened. This is called maya, illusion.

Now, accepting that we live for 100 years, the duration of life is reduced for those who have no information of spiritual life, who have not conquered sense enjoyment, or who are unable to control the mind. The lifetime of those who are too much addicted to sense gratification, according to this calculation, is at the utmost fifty years. Even if one has fifty years, if he has no information of spiritual life, his night is wasted in sleeping and sex life. That's all. He has no other interest. And in the daytime, what is his concern? "Where is money? Where is money? I must maintain this body." And when he has money: "Now let me spend for my wife and children." Then where is his spiritual realization? At night he spends his time in this way, and by day he spends time in that way. Is that his mission in life? How horrible such a life is.

The average person is illusioned in childhood--playing football and sporting. Up to twenty years, easily, you can go on like that. Then when you become old, for another twenty years you cannot do anything. When a man becomes old, his senses cannot function. You have seen many old men; they have nothing to do but rest. Just now we have received a letter from one of our students that his grandmother is paralyzed and has been suffering for the last three and a half years. So, in old age, everything is finished as soon as you are sixty years old. Therefore, from the beginning to twenty years of age, everything is spoiled; and even if you live for a hundred years, another twenty in the last stage of life is also spoiled. So forty years of your life are spoiled in that way. And in the middle age there is a very strong sex appetite, so another twenty years can be lost. Twenty years, twenty years, and twenty years--sixty years gone. How long are you going to live?

This is the analysis of life by Prahlad Maharaja. We are spoiling our life instead of using it.

Teachings of Prahlada Maharaj - Chapter one

There are two kinds of men in this world; one is called the demon, and the other is called the demigod. What is the difference between them? The main difference is that the demigods or godly persons are devoted to the Supreme Lord, whereas the demons are atheistic. They do not believe in God because they are materialists.
These two classes of men always exist in this world. At the present moment, due to this age of Kali (Quarrel), the number of demons has increased, but the classification has existed since the beginning of creation.
This boy Prahlad Maharaja happened to be the son of the most atheistic person and the most materially powerful as well--so you will be interested to hear this history. Because the society was materialistic, this boy had no opportunity to glorify the Supreme Lord. The characteristic of a great soul is that he is very eager to broadcast glorification of the Supreme Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, for example, was very much eager to broadcast the glorification of God, but demoniac people misunderstood him and crucified him.
Prahlad Maharaja was a five-year-old boy, and, when he was in school, as soon as there was a recreation period, when the teacher was off, he would say to his friends, "My dear friends, come on. We shall speak about Krsna consciousness." I am just opening a scene. This is Srimad-Bhagavatam, Seventh Canto, Sixth Chapter. The devotee Prahlad is saying, "My dear boys, my dear friends, this is the time, in this young
age, to prosecute Krsna consciousness." Before that, he had held discussions with his little friends, but they said, "Oh, we shall now play. Why take up Krsna consciousness?" In answer to this, Prahlad Maharaja is stating, "If you are intelligent, then you must begin Krsna consciousness from childhood!"
Srimad-Bhagavatam offers bhagavata-dharma, or scientific knowledge about God. Bhagavatam means the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and dharma means the regulative principles of understanding Krsna consciousness. This human form of life is very rare. It is a great opportunity. Therefore, Prahlad says, "My dear friends, you are born as civilized human beings, so this is the greatest opportunity." Although it is temporary--I do not know what is the length of my life--it is calculated that in this age the human body is meant to exist not more than a hundred years. But as the age of Kali advances, duration of life, memory, mercy, religiousness and all other such assets decrease.
Although it is temporary, you can achieve the highest perfection of life while in this human form. Why is this so important? This is the opportunity--you can understand the Supreme Lord, the all-pervading Lord. For other life forms this is not possible. By the gradual evolutionary process we come to this plane, so this is the opportunity, this human form of life. By nature's law, a human body is ultimately given to you so that you can promote yourself to the spiritual life and go back home, back to Godhead.
The ultimate goal of life is Visnu. In another verse, Prahlad Maharaja will say: "People who are in this material world, enamored by the material energy, do not know what the goal of human life is." Why? They have been enchanted by the glaring external energy. They have forgotten that they are spiritual energy. This is explained later on, but here he says, "This life is an opportunity to understand the ultimate goal of perfection, Visnu." Why should we be very anxious to know Visnu, or God? Prahlad Maharaja gives a reason: "Visnu is the dearmost person. That we have forgotten." We all seek for some dear friend--everyone searches in this way. A man searches for dear friendship in woman, and woman searches for dear friendship in man. Or else a man searches in man, and woman searches in woman. Everyone searches after some dear friend, some sweet friend. Why? We want the cooperation of a dear friend who will help us. This is part of the struggle for existence, and this is natural. But we do not know that our most dear friend is Visnu, the Supreme parcel of the Supreme Lord." That is the platform of real understanding. Personality of Godhead. We are searching after some dear friend, but we do not know who this dear friend can be.
Those who have read Bhagavad-gita will find this nice verse in the Fifth Chapter: "If you make friendship with Krsna, the Supreme Lord, then you can understand perfectly that everything that exists in this world or other worlds is all the property of Krsna. He is the proprietor and enjoyer of everything." Why are you performing austerity? Why are you performing religious rituals? Why are you giving in charity? Why do you engage in righteous activities? Whatever formulas you have manufactured are meant for pleasing the Supreme Lord, and nothing more.By your ctions, by your righteous activities, when the Supreme Lord is pleased, you will get the result. If by your actions you want to gain either material happiness or spiritual happiness, if you want to live on this planet or on other planets, if you want to be a human being or you want to be a tiger, cat or dog, whatever you like you will get. Therefore He is the most sincere friend. Whatever you want from Him, you
can get. But the intelligent man does not want anything that is materially contaminated.
In Bhagavad-gita you will find that Krsna says that one can elevate oneself to the highest planet, which is known as Brahmaloka, where the duration of life is millions and millions of years. You cannot figure the duration of life there; your arithmetic will be ineffective. The statement in Bhagavad-gita is that Brahma's life is so long that 4,200,000 years make one day to him. Krsna says, "Whatever position you want, beginning from the ant right up to Brahma, you can have. But the repetition of birth and death will be there. However, if, somehow or other, by discharging Krsna consciousness in devotional service, you come to Me, then you don't have to come back again to this miserable material condition." Prahlad Maharaja said the same thing: We are searching for the most dear friend, Krsna, the Supreme Lord. Why is He the most dear friend? By nature He is dear. What is the dear most thing within yourself? Have you analyzed? You are yourself the dearmost thing. I am sitting here, but if there is a fire alarm I shall at once take care of myself: "How can I save myself?" We forget our friends and even our children: "Let me first of all save myself." Self-preservation is the first law of nature. Atma, self, in the grossest sense refers to the body. In the subtler sphere the mind is atma, and in the real sense atma means the soul. In the gross stage we are very fond of protecting the body, and in a subtler stage we are very fond of protecting the mind. But above this mental, intellectual plane, where the atmosphere is spiritualized, we can understand: "I am not this mind and not this body. Aham brahmasmi--I am a part and Prahlad Maharaja says that of all living entities, Visnu is the supreme well-wisher. Therefore we are all searching for Him. When a child cries, what does he long for? He longs for the mother. But he has no language to express this. By nature, he has his body, born of the mother's body, so there is an intimate relation with the mother's body. The child won't like any other woman. The child cries, but when the woman who is the child's mother comes and picks him up, at once he is pacified. He has no language to express all this, but the real demand is there. Similarly, we are trying to protect the body. This is self-preservation. It is a natural law of the living entity, just as eating is a natural law and sleeping is a natural law. I defend the body because within the body there is soul.
What is this soul? The soul is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. As we want to protect the hand or the finger because it is a part of the whole body, similarly we try to save ourselves because this is the defending process of the Supreme. The Supreme does not need defense, but this is a manifestation of our love towards Him, which is now perverted. The finger and the hand are meant to act in the interests of the whole body; as soon as I want the hand to come here, it comes, and as soon as I want the finger to play on the drum, it plays. This is the natural position. Similarly, we are searching for God, to dovetail our energy for the Supreme, but, under the spell of illusory energy, we do not know it. That is our mistake. Now, here is an opportunity, in human life. You have come to understand about Krsna consciousness, about your real goal of life, because you are human beings. I cannot invite cats and dogs to sit down here. That is the difference between cats and dogs and human beings. A human being can understand the necessity of life. If he loses the opportunity, it is a great catastrophe.
Prahlad Maharaja said, "God is the dearmost personality of all. We have to search for God." Then what about the material necessities of life? Prahlad Maharaja replies to this, "You are after sense gratification. I know that. Sense gratification is automatically achieved by contact with this body." Because a hog has a certain type of body, his sense gratification comes from eating stool, the very thing which is most obnoxious to you. At once, after evacuating, you leave to get free from the bad smell--but the hog is waiting. As soon as you evacuate, he will at once enjoy. Other animals are not attracted because one's form of pleasure-seeking is due to his particular body. There are different types of sense gratification according to different types of bodies. Therefore, Prahlad says, "My dear friends, sense gratification is achieved according to one's particular type of body." Everyone who has a material body receives sense gratification. Don't think that the hogs eating stools are unhappy. No, they are getting fat in that way. They are very happy.
Now, if a hog can achieve sense gratification, why not a human being? But that is not our achievement. That is given by nature; the facilities of a hog's body are offered by nature, and the facilities of a dog's body are also offered by nature, or God. Why should you labor for facilities which you are destined to receive anyway, by nature's law? In every form of life the bodily demands are satisfied by the arrangement of nature. This gratification is arranged, just as there is an arrangement for distress. Do you like fever? No. Why does it come? I do not know. But it does come, does it not? Yes. Did you try for it? No. So how does it come? By nature. That is the only answer. Similarly, if miseries come by nature, your happiness will also come by nature. Don't bother about it. That is the instruction of Prahlad Maharaja. If you can receive the miseries of life without effort, similarly, you can have your happiness also without effort.
Then, what is the real purpose of this human form of life? You have to cultivate Krsna consciousness. Other things will be obtained by nature's law, or God's law. Even if I don't try, whatever I am to achieve because of my past work and my particular type of body will be supplied. At any stage or in any form of life, facility is given for sense gratification. As you do not try for misery, so also happiness will take place without your control. Your real concern, therefore, should be to seek out the higher goal of human life.

Krsna, the Reservoir of Pleasure

Krsna--this sound is transcendental. Krsna means the highest pleasure. All of us, every living being, seeks pleasure. But we do not know how to seek pleasure perfectly. With a materialistic concept of life, we are frustrated at every step in satisfying our pleasure because we have no information regarding the real level on which to have real pleasure. For the last few weeks we have been learning that we are not this body; we are consciousness. Not exactly consciousness, for consciousness is actually the symptom of our real identity: we are pure soul, now merged within this material body. Modern material science lays no stress on this; therefore the scientists are sometimes misled in their understanding of spirit soul. But spirit soul is a fact, which anyone can understand by the presence of consciousness. Any child can understand that consciousness is the symptom of the spirit soul.
Now the whole process we are trying to learn from the Bhagavad-gita (The Song of God) is how to bring ourselves to this level of consciousness. And if we act from the level of consciousness, then we may not be pushed again into the level of this bodily conception; and, if we can continue on that level, if we can continue to act in pure
consciousness, then, at the end of this body we shall be free from material contamination, our spiritual life will be revived, and the ultimate result will be that in our next life, after leaving this body, we shall have our full, eternal spiritual life. Spirit, as we have already discussed, is described as eternal.
Even after the destruction of this body, consciousness is not destroyed. Rather, consciousness is transferred to another type of bodyand again makes us aware of the material conception of life. That is also described in the Bhagavad-gita. At the time of death, if our consciousness is pure, we can be sure that our next life will not be
material--our next life will be spiritual. If our consciousness is not pure at the point of death, then, after leaving this body, we shall have to take another material body. That is the process which is going on. That is Nature's law.
We have now a final body. The body which we see is the gross body. It is just like a shirt and coat: within the coat there is a shirt, and within the shirt there is a body. Similarly, the pure soul is covered by a shirt and coat. The garments are the mind, intelligence and false ego. False ego means the misconception that I am matter, that I am a product of this material world. This misconception makes me localized. For example, because I have taken my birth in India, I think myself Indian. Because I have taken my birth in America, I think myself American. But as pure soul, I am neither Indian nor American. I am pure soul. These others are designations. American, or Indian, or German, or Englishman; cat or dog, or bee or bat, man or wife: all these are designations. In spiritual consciousness we become free from all such designations. That freedom is achieved when we are constantly in touch with the supreme spirit, Krsna.
Krsna can be in constant companionship with us because He is omnipotent. Therefore, He can be fully in touch with us by His words. His words and He are not
different. That is omnipotence. Omnipotence means that everything relating to Him has the same potency. For example, here in this material world, if we are thirsty and we want water, simply repeating "water, water, water, water," will not satisfy our thirst, because this word has not the same potency as water itself. We require the water in substance. Then our thirst will be satisfied. But in the transcendental, absolute world, there is no such difference. Krsna's name, Krsna's quality, Krsna's word--everything is Krsna and provides the same satisfaction.
Some people argue that Arjuna was talking with Krsna because Krsna was present before him, whereas in my case, Krsna is not present. So how can I get directions? But that is not a fact. Krsna is present by His words--the Bhagavad-gita. In India, when we speak on the Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam, we regularly perform worship with flowers, or with other paraphernalia, as is required for worshiping. In the Sikh religion also, although they have no form of the Deity, they worship the book
Granthasahib. Perhaps some of you are acquainted with this Sikh community. They worship this Grantha. Similarly, the Moslems worship the Koran. Similarly, in the Christian world, the Bible is worshiped. It is a fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is present by His words. Krsna is also present by His words.
These personalities, either God or the son of God, who come from the transcendental world, keep their transcendental identities without being contaminated by the material world. That is their omnipotence. We are in the habit of saying that God is omnipotent. Omnipotence means that He is not different from His name, from His quality, from His pastimes, from His instruction. Therefore, the discussion of Bhagavad-gita is as good as discussion with Krsna Himself.
Krsna is seated in your heart, and in my heart too. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrddese 'rjuna tisthati. God is situated in everyone's heart.God is not away from us. He is present. He is so friendly that He remains with us in our repeated change of births. He is waiting to see when we shall turn to Him. He is so kind that though we may forget Him, He never forgets us. Although a son may forget his father, a father
never forgets his son. Similarly, God, the original father of everything, everybody, all living entities, will never forsake us. We may have different bodies, but they are our shirt-coats. That has nothing to do with our real identity. Our real identity is pure soul, and that pure soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. There are
8,400,000 species of life. Even the biologist and the anthropologist cannot calculate this accurately, but from authoritative, revealed scripture we get this information. Human beings represent 400,000 species, and there are 8,000,000 other species. But Krsna, the Supreme Lord, claims that all of them, whether beast, man, snake, god, semi-god, demigod--anything whatever--all of them are, in reality, His sons.
The father gives the seed, and the mother receives the seed. The body is then formed, according to the mother's body. And when the body is completely formed, it comes out--either from cats, from dogs, or from man. That is the process of generation. The father gives the seed, and it is emulsified with two kinds of secretion in the womb of the mother, and on the first night the body is formed just like a pea. Then, gradually, it develops. There are nine holes that develop: two ears, two eyes, nostrils, a mouth, a navel, a penis, and an anus.
According to his last karma, or action, one gets this body to enjoy, or to suffer. That is the process of birth and death. And after finishing this life, again one dies, and again one enters into the womb of some mother. Another type of body then comes out. This is the process of reincarnation.
We should be very diligent as to how we can discontinue this process of repeated birth and death and change of body. That is the prerogative of the human form of life. We can stop this process of repeated change through birth and death. We can get our actual spiritual form again and be blissful, full of knowledge and eternal life. That is the purpose of evolution. We should not miss this. The entire process of
liberation begins just as we have now begun this chanting and hearing. I wish to point out that this chanting of the holy name of God (Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) and hearing the truths of the Gita is as good as bodily association with Krsna. That is stated in the Gita. This process is called kirtan. Even if one does not understand the language, still, just by hearing, he acquires some piety. His assets lead him to a pious life, even if he does not understand--it has such power.
There are two topics concerning Krsna. Two kinds of topics, actually. One topic is this Bhagavad-gita. It is spoken by Krsna. And the other topic concerning Krsna is Srimad-Bhagavatam. That is spoken about Krsna. So there are two types of Krsna katha (topics), and both of them are equally potent because they are connected with Krsna.
Because the Bhagavad-gita is spoken on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra some people have asked what we have to do with the battlefield. We have nothing to do with any battlefield. We are after knowledge of the spiritual sphere. Then, why should we bother about this battlefield? Because Krsna is on the battlefield, and therefore the
whole battlefield has become Krsna-ized. Just as when an electric current is passed into some metal, the whole metal becomes surchargedwith electricity; so too, when Krsna is interested in some matter, that matter becomes Krsna-ized. Otherwise, there would be no need of discussing the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. That is His omnipotence.
This omnipotence is also described in Srimad-Bhagavatam. There are many Krsna kathas. The Vedic literature is full of them. Vedas mean that they are Krsna kathas. Scripture, including the Vedas, may appear to be different, but they are all meant for Krsna katha. If we simply hear these topics on Krsna, then what will be the result? It is pure transcendental vibration, and the result will be spiritual
consciousness.
We have accumulated many inauspicious things within our hearts due to our material contamination during the course of many, many births. Many, many births--not only this birth, but part births as well. So, when we search into our hearts with the Krsna katha, then the contamination we have accumulated will be washed off. Our hearts will be cleansed of all rubbish. And, as soon as all the rubbish is cleared off, then we are situated in pure consciousness.
It is very difficult to eradicate all the false designations from oneself. For example, I am Indian. It is not very easy to immediately think that I am not Indian, but pure soul. Similarly, it is not a very easy task for anyone to end his identification with these bodily designations. But still, if we continue hearing the Krsna katha, it will be very easy. Make an experiment. Make an experiment to see how easily you'll be able to free yourself from all these designations. Of course,
it is not possible to clear out the rubbish from the mind all of a sudden, but we are immediately aware that the influence of the material nature has become slackened.
The material nature is working in three modes--goodness, passion, and ignorance. Ignorance is hopeless life. Passion is materialistic. One who is influenced by the modes of passion wants this false enjoyment of material existence. Because he does not know the truth, he wants to squeeze out the energy of the body just to enjoy this matter. That is called the mode of passion. As for those in the mode of ignorance, they have neither passion nor goodness. They are in the deepest darkness of life. Situated in the mode of goodness, we can understand, at least theoretically, what I am, what this world is, what God is, and what our interrelationship is. This is the mode of goodness.
By hearing Krsna katha, we will be freed from the stages of ignorance and passion. We will be situated in the mode of goodness. At least we'll have the real knowledge--knowledge of what we are. Ignorance is like the animal existence. The animal's life is full of suffering, but the animal does not know that he is suffering. Take the case of a hog. Of course, here in New York City no hog is seen. But in villages in India one sees the hog. Oh, how miserable his life is, living in a
filthy place, eating stools and always unclean. Yet the hog is very happy by eating stools, and having constant sexual intercourse with the she-hog and just getting fat. The hog gets very fat, because of the spirit of enjoyment which is there--although, for him, it is sensual enjoyment.
We should not be like the hog, falsely thinking that we are very happy. Working hard all day and night, then having some sex life--we think that in this way we are very happy. But this is not happiness. This has been described in the Bhagavatam as a hog's happiness. Man'shappiness is when he is situated in the mode of goodness. Then he can understand what true happiness is.
In our daily routine, if we hear this Krsna katha, the result will be that all the dirty things in the heart, accumulated life after life, will be cleared out. As a matter of fact, we will see that we are no longer in ignorance or in passion, but are situated in the mode of goodness. What is that position?
We will find ourselves joyful in every circumstance of life. We will never feel morose. In the Bhagavad-gita we find that this is our brahma-bhuta (highest stage of goodness) situation. The Vedas teach us that we are not this matter. We are Brahman. Aham brahmasmi. Lord Sankaracarya preached this gospel to the world. We are not this matter; we are Brahman, spirit. When spiritual realization is actually accomplished, then our symptoms will change. What are those symptoms? When one is situated in his own spiritual consciousness, then he will have no hankering and no lamentation. Lamentation is for loss, and hankering is for gain. Two diseases characterize this material world: What we do not possess, we hanker after. "If I get these things I'll be happy. I have no money, but if I get a million dollars, then I'll be happy." And when we have a million dollars, somehow it will be lost. So we'll cry, "Oh, I have lost it!" When we hanker for earning, that is a kind of distress. And when we suffer loss, that is also distress. But if we are situated in brahma-bhuta, we will neither be distressed nor will we hanker. We will view equally everyone and everything. Even if we are situated in the midst of fiery turbulence, we will not be disturbed.
That is the mode of goodness.
Bhagavatam means the science of God. If the science of God is persevered in, we will be situated in the brahma-bhuta status. From that brahma-bhuta status, we have to work, for work is recommended here. So long as we have this material body, we have to work. We cannot stop working; it is not possible. But we have to adopt the tactics of yoga, and in this way, even by doing some ordinary work, which, by destiny or
circumstances we are put into, there is no harm. Suppose that, in one's own occupation, one must speak a lie or his business can't go on. Lying is not a very good thing, so one concludes that the business is not based on very moral principles and one should therefore give it up. In the Bhagavad-gita, however, we find instruction not to give it up. Even if we are put in such circumstances that our livelihood cannot go on without some unfair practice, we should not give it up. But we should try to make it purified. How is it purified? We should not take the
fruitive result of our work. That is meant for God.
Sukrta means pious activities. And duskrta means impious activities. On the material level we can be pious or impious. Either we are performing some pious activities, or we are performing some impious activities--or we have a mixture, pious and impious. Lord Krsna advises that we should act with knowledge of, or devotion to the Supreme. What does that knowledge mean? It means that I am the part and parcel of the supreme consciousness, or that I am not this body. If I identify myself as an American, as an Indian, or this or that, then I am on the material Plane. We should identify ourselves as neither Americans nor Indians, but as pure consciousness. I am a subordinate consciousness of the supreme consciousness; in other words, I am the servant of God. God is the supreme consciousness, and I am His servant. So, for our present understanding, subordinate means servant.
We don't ordinarily carry out the work of a servant in relationship to God. Nobody wants to be a servant, but everyone wants to be the master, because to become a servant is not a very palatable thing. But to become the servant of God is not exactly like this. Sometimes the servant of God becomes the master of God. The real position of the living entity is to be the servant of God, but in the Bhagavad-gita we can see that the master, Krsna, became the servant of Arjuna. Arjuna is sitting in the chariot, and Krsna is his driver. Arjuna is not the owner of the chariot, but in the spiritual relationship we should not cling to the concept of the material relationship. Although the whole relationship, just as we have experience of it in this world, is there in the spiritual world, that relationship is not contaminated by matter. Therefore it is pure and transcendental. It is of a different nature. As
we become advanced in the spiritual conception of life, we can understand what the actual position in the spiritual, transcendental world is.
Here the Lord instructs us in buddhi-yoga. Buddhi-yoga means that we have full consciousness that we are not this body; and if I act with this understanding, then I am not body--I am consciousness. That is a fact. Now, if we act on the level of consciousness, then we can overcome the fruitive result of good work or bad work. It is a transcendental stage.
It means that we are acting on another's account--on the Supreme's account. We are not liable to loss or gain. When there is gain, we should not be puffed up. We should think, "This gain is for the Lord." And when there is loss, we should know that this is not ourresponsibility. It is God's work--His. Then we will be happy. This we have to practice: everything on account of the Supreme. This transcendental nature we have to develop. This is the trick of doing work under these present circumstances. As soon as we work on the level of bodily consciousness we become bound by the reaction of our work. But when we work through spiritual consciousness, we are not bound either by pious activities or by vicious activities. That is the technique.
Manisinah--this word is very significant. Manisin means thoughtful. Unless one is thoughtful, he cannot understand that he is not this body.But if one is a little thoughtful he can understand, "Oh, I am not this body. I am consciousness." Sometimes, in our leisure time, we can see, "Oh, this is my finger, and this is my hand. This is my ear, and this is my nose. Everything is mine, but what I, what I?" I am feeling this is mine, and that I am. Simply a little thought is required. Everything is mine--my eyes, my finger, my hand. My, my, my, and what is the I? The I is that consciousness, in which I am thinking, "This is mine."
Now, if I am not this body, then why should I act for this body? I should act for myself. Then, how can I work for myself? What is my position? I am consciousness. But what kind of consciousness? Subordinate consciousness--I am part of the supreme consciousness. Then, what will my activities be? My activities will be under the guidance of the supreme consciousness, just as in the office, the managing director
is the supreme consciousness. For example, in the office everyone is working under the direction of the manager; therefore they have no responsibility. They have only to discharge their duties. Either pious or impious duties--never mind. In the military line, too, the order of the captain or the commander is there. The soldier has to execute it. He does not consider whether it is pious or impious. That does not matter. He simply has to act, then he is a real soldier. He acts in that way and
he gets his reward. He gets title and honor. He doesn't care. The commander says, Just go and kill the enemy, and he is rewarded. Do you think that by killing one gets reward? No--it is for the duty discharged.
Similarly, here the situation is that Krsna is instructing Arjuna.Krsna is the supreme consciousness. I am consciousness, the part and parcel of the supreme consciousness. So my duty is to act according to that supreme consciousness. For example, I consider my hand as a part of my body. Now, it is moving in its own way. "As I want, let my hand be moved. Let my legs be moved. Let my eyes be opened and see." So, I am dictating, and these parts are working. Similarly, we are all part s and parcels of the Supreme. When we train ourselves to move and act in accordance with supreme consciousness, then we become transcendental to all these pious or impious activities. That is the technique. What will the result of this technique be? We become free from the bondage of birth and death. No more birth and death.
Modern scientists and philosophers do not think about these four things: birth, death, disease, and old age. They set them aside. "Oh, let us be happy. Let us enjoy this life." But human life is meant for finding a solution to this bondage of birth, death, disease and old age. If any civilization has not found a solution to these four problems, then that is not a human civilization. Human civilization is meant for
finding a complete solution to these things.
So here in the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says, Karmajam buddhi-yuktah. Karmajam means whenever there is action there will be somereaction. If one acts in badness, there will be a bad reaction. But reaction, either good or bad, is, in the higher sense, all suffering.Suppose that by good action I get a good birth, fine bodily features,and a good education. All these good things I may have, but that does
not mean that I am free from material pains. The material pains are birth, death, old age and disease. Even if I am a rich man, a beautiful man, an educated man, born in an aristocratic family, etc., I still cannot avoid death, old age, and disease.
So, we must not be concerned with pious activities or impious activities. We must be concerned with transcendental activities only.That will save us from this bondage of birth, death, old age and disease. That should be our aim in life. We should not be hankering after good or bad things. For example, suppose one is suffering from some disease. He is lying in bed, eating, passing nature's call
uncomfortably, and taking bitter medicines. He always has to be kept clean by the nurses; otherwise there is an obnoxious smell. While he is lying in this condition some friends come to him and ask how he is feeling. "Yes, I am feeling well." What is this well? Lying in bed uncomfortably taking bitter medicine, and unable to move! Yet despite all these inconveniences he says, "I am well." Similarly, in our material conception of life, if we think, "I am happy," that is foolishness. There is no happiness in material life. It is impossible to have happiness here. In this condition, we do not know the meaning of happiness. That's why this very word is used, manisinah--thoughtful.
We seek happiness by some extraneous, artificial means, but how long does it last? It will not endure. We again come back to sorrow.Suppose, by intoxication, we feel happy. That is not our actual happiness. Suppose I am made unconscious by chloroform, and I don't feel the pain of an operation. That does not mean that I am not having an operation. This is artificial. Real pleasure, real life exists.
As is commanded in the Bhagavad-gita by Sri Krsna, the thoughtful give up the reaction of work, being situated on the level of pure consciousness. The result is that this bondage of birth and death, disease and old age comes to an end. This end is in union with the true identity, Krsna, the reservoir of pleasure and eternal bliss. There, indeed, is the true happiness for which we are intended.