Bhagavad-gītā 16.4 – January 30, 1975, Honolulu

Become Devotee or Remain Demon

Nitai: [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

[break] [02:01]

"Arrogance, pride, anger, conceit, harshness and ignorance-these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Prtha."

We have discussed last night some of the divine characteristics, and abhayam sattva-samsuddhiḥ, like that, sixteen divine characteristics. And here the demonic characteristics. We can understand a thing by analysis of characteristics. In the chemical laboratory, things are tested by characteristics. Just like this chemical: "Color is like this. Shape is like this. Then taste is like this. Then chemical reaction is like this." They are stated for each and every chemical, and we can understand the purity by the characteristic. The characteristic is also called dharma. Just like a snake. The snake characteristic is that unnecessarily, without any offense, it bites, and the animal which is bitten, he dies. This is the characteristic. Without any fault... The snake is going, and the other animal is going. Go, but the characteristic of snake is unnecessarily bites. This is the characteristic.

Canakya Panḍita says, sarpaḥ krūraḥ khalaḥ krūraḥ sarpat krūrataraḥ khalaḥ, that "Two kinds of krūraḥ, envious animals, are there. One is the snake, and the other is envious man." So Canakya Panḍita said that "Both of them envious, but the envious man is more dangerous than the envious snake." Why? "Now, because the snake can be brought into submission..."

[tapping noise] [aside:] What is that?

"...by herbs and mantra." There are snake charmer. They chant mantras, and they apply some herb, and the snake come under subjugation. But khalaḥ kena nivaryate: "But the snakelike man, he cannot be subdued at any cost."

So there are characteristics. By the characteristics we can understand who is a godly man and who is a demonic man. They are stated. And the next verse is there, daivi sampad vimoksaya: if one has this divine characteristic, then he is eligible for going to the spiritual world. Vimoksaya. Daivi sampad vimoksaya nibandhaya asuri mata [Bg 16.5]. But these demonic characteristic, dambho darpaḥ abhimanas ca parusyam ajnanam sampad asuri, if we develop this kind of characteristic, then it is our material bondage. So we are the cause of material bondage and freedom from material world. We are, ourself, the cause. There is no other cause. Simply we have to develop either this demonic characteristic or the divine characteristic.

So human life is meant for developing divine characteristic, not this demonic char... Demonic characteristic is already there. Just like dambhaḥ. A dog has also pride: "I am this dog, hrr." [laughter] "I am fox terrier. I am this. I am that." So dambhaḥ is there even in the dog, even in the lower animal, even in the cat. But the divine characteristic, "Oh, I am so low," trnad api sunicena, "I am lower than the grass. I am lower than the grass"... This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching. What is this dambhaḥ? Why I should be pride? What is this pride? So that is ignorance, due to ignorance. When one man is unnecessarily proud, that means it is due to ignorance. And Caitanya-caritamrta author, he describes himself that "I am lower than the worms in the stool."

Adambhitvam, in the Ninth Chapter. Just the opposite. Why I shall be proud? What I have got? "I am humble servant of Krsna. Let me discharge my duties." But if one is proud after becoming a pure servant of Krsna, that is very good. That dambhaḥ, that pride, is very glorious. "I am a servant of Krsna." That is very nice.

So one become... One has got the tendency to become proud. So if one is proud to become a cats and dog or a tiger or a so-called big man of this material world, that is for his bondage. Asuri. Daivi sampad vimoksaya [Bg 16.5]. And that is daivi... If you become proud in daivi sampad, if you become proud by becoming the most confidential servant of Krsna, the same pride is for your liberation. And if you become proud that "I am minister," or "I am this big dog or big...," that is for nibandhaya, your bondage; you will continue material life. By your spiritual pride... Of course, we must be proud after being situated in the spiritual platform. Otherwise that is also ignorance. So two things are there, daivi sampad and asuri sampad. Asuri sampad means more and more entanglement and bondage within this material world. And daivi sampad means your freedom from material world.

So first of all we must decide what we want. Whatever you want, you will have. Krsna is very kind. If you want to remain bound up by the laws of material nature within this material world... Karanam guna-sahgo 'sya [Bg 13.22]. As we contaminate the different material modes of nature, we get different situation of life, different forms of body, different circumstances. Krsna has arranged everything very accurate. His arrangement is very perfect. Parasya saktir vividhaiva srūyate [Cc Madhya 13.65, purport]. When He does something, He desires only. By His desires, the energies are there. Immediately the energy works. Just like you have got some energy. If you desire, immediately it begins to work. You have got experience. Similarly, we have got limited number of energies, and Krsna has got unlimited number of energies. So if we desire to become something unlimitedly, Krsna can supply you your necessities unlimitedly. Ye yatha mam prapadyante [Bg 4.11]. That freedom is there. If you want to remain as a demon, then Krsna will supply you all the ingredients, how you can flourish as a demon.

Just like there was Hiranyakasipu and there was Prahlada. Prahlada was being supplied spiritual advancement of life, necessities, and Hiranyakasipu was being supplied for demonic status of life. So it is Krsna's pleasure that whatever you want, you can get it. You get all advantage by Krsna. If you want to become a demon, Krsna will supply you: "All right, you become a demon. You take whatever you want from Me." He will give you. Similarly, if you want to become a demigod or devotee, Krsna will supply you all the necessities. Now it is my choice whether I shall become a demon and whether I shall become a devotee. This is my choice. Krsna is equal to everyone. Samo 'ham sarva-bhūtesu [Bg 9.29].

Otherwise, how He is God? If He is partial to somebody, then He is not God. He must be equal. He is equal to the devotee and nondevotee. Whatever the nondevotees want, Krsna supplies. And whatever the devotees want, Krsna supplies.

But He is very much pleased with the devotee. Therefore, his supplies are very immediate; and the demonic supply, that will depend on his work, karma. It will depend on the karma. And devotee's supply, because this is bhakti, it is immediately there. That is the difference. Krsna says that. Ye tu bhajanti mam pritya tesu te mayi. There are millions of living beings. Some of them are devotees, and many of them are nondevotees. So Krsna is kind to the nondevotees also. Whatever he wants, He will give him. But the necessities of the devotee is the first consideration for Krsna. Ye tu bhajanti mam pritya tesu te mayi. That is Krsna's... As the devotee is only searching the opportunity how to serve Krsna, similarly, Krsna is also very eager to serve the devotee. That is a reciprocation of devotional service.

Now it is our choice whether we want to become a devotee or whether we want to remain a demon. That is my choice. Krsna says that "You give up this demonic engagement and surrender to Me." That is Krsna's desire. But if you do not agree with Krsna's desire, if you want to enjoy your own desire, then also, Krsna is also pleased, He will supply you the necessities. But that is not very good. We should agree to Krsna's desires. We should not allow our desires, demonic desires, to grow. That is called tapasya. Our desires we should sacrifice. That is called sacrifice. We should only accept Krsna's desire. That is the instruction of the Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna's desire was not to fight, but Krsna's desire was to fight-just the opposite. Arjuna ultimately agreed to Krsna's desire: "Yes," karisye vacanam tava [Bg 18.73]: "Yes, I will act according to Your desire." That is bhakti.

This is the difference, bhakti and karma. Karma means to fulfill my desires, and bhakti means to fulfill Krsna's desires. That is the difference. Now you make your choice, whether you want to make your desires fulfilled or if you want to make Krsna's desire fulfilled. If you make your decision to make Krsna's desire fulfilled, then your life is successful. That is our Krsna conscious life. "Krsna wants it; I must do it. I will not do anything for me." That is Vrndavana. All the inhabitants of Vrndavana, they are trying to fulfill Krsna's desire. The cowherds boys, the calves, the cows, the trees, the flowers, the water, the gopis, the elderly inhabitants, Mother Yasoda, Nanda-they are all engaged in fulfilling Krsna's desire. That is Vrndavana. So you can turn this material world into Vrndavana, provided you agree to fulfill the desires of Krsna. That is Vrndavana. And if you want to fulfill your own desires, that is material. This is the difference between material and spiritual.

The same thing, this house. This house is a house. The next door is a karmi's house, and this house is a temple. What is the difference? The difference is: in this house everyone is engaged to fulfill Krsna's desire, and the other house, everyone is engaged in fulfilling his own desire. Therefore it is temple, and that is house. Otherwise, from the external feature, where is the difference? The same stone, the same wood, the same plant, the same land, the same kitchen-everything is same, and the business is the same. But here the business is to satisfy Krsna, and the other houses, the business is to satisfy one's own senses. That is the difference between kama and prema. When you try to fulfill the desires of Krsna, that is prema. And when you want to fulfill your own desires, that is called kama. There is no other.

Just like the gopis. The gopis are going to Krsna, being captivated by the beauty of Krsna, just like a young girl becomes captivated by seeing a very nice boy, or a nice boy is captivated to see the beauty of a girl. These are sense gratification. There is no prema; that is kama. But the gopis, they are going to Krsna, superficially the same thing, like the young girls are going to a young boy, but they are going for Krsna's satisfaction, not for their own satisfaction. That is the sublime. Therefore gopis are so held in estimation even by Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Ramya kecid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargabhir ya kalpita: "There is no better type of upasana, worship, than it was conceived by the gopis." Caitanya Mahaprabhu admitted that the topmost method of worshiping Krsna is the type of worship offered by the gopis. Topmost. Gopi-bhava-rasamrtabdhi-lahari-kallola-magnau muhur vande rūpa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau. The Gosvamis were always thinking of the gopis' service to Krsna. Gopi-bhava-rasamrtabdhi.

So now the two things are there: the divine characteristic and the demonic characteristic. Both of them are there; now you have to select which one you want. If you actually want to love Krsna, then take this divine characteristic. There is no cause of helplessness. You can... Just like amanitvam. Here it is said, dambhaḥ, adambhitvam. Adambhitvam, without any dambhaḥ. Here it is said, abhayam sattva-samsuddhir jnana-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ. So you can practice this. That is devotional life. You have to practice this. If you want to be divine, your characteristics have to be changed. [break] Here we are busy with the demonic characteristic, dambhaḥ, vimana, darpaḥ, like that. So you can change it. There is no hoplessness. You can... Simply you have to be practiced, that today you are not a singer..., singer. But you can become an expert singer if you practice singing.

So things are there. The characteristics are there. Now, if you want to be divine character, then you practice all these things. And if you want to remain a demon, then you go on with your own practice..., characteristic which you have already got. So it is up to us to become divine or demon. To go back to home, to back to Godhead, is in our own hand. Now we have to practice it. So I shall make it shortcut [indistinct]. Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. Haribol. Haribol. [offer obeisances] [end]