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740222BG.BOM
Bhagavad-gita 7.7

Bombay, February 22, 1974
Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.) Translation: "O conqueror of wealth (Arjuna), there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread."
Prabhupada:
So the material and spiritual world, everything is manifestation of two energies. That is explained by Krsna. Bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca [Bg. 7.4]. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakrtim param. On these verses we have discussed two days that etad yonini sarvani, whatever is manifested, material or spiritual, both of them are coming from the energy of the Supreme. Just like heat and light, these are two energies of the fire.
So that is, also explained in the Visnu Purana: parasya brahmanah saktis tathedam akhilam jagat.
Tathedam akhilam jagat or sarvam khalv idam brahma, the Vedic injunction. The energy and the energetic cannot be separated. If there is no energy, there is no meaning of the energetic. And there is no meaning of energetic if it has, if he has no energy. So those things are simultaneously present. The example, as we have given several times, that the sun and the sunshine and the heat of the shine, sun, they are always present. Wherever there is sun, there is light and there is heat. So heat and light is the understanding of the presence of sun. Sometimes sun is covered, but still we experience heat and light. Therefore we understand the sun is there. Similarly Krsna, or God, is there. You have to understand by the energies, the material energy and the spiritual energy. That is already explained in two verses.
So now Krsna is summarizing in this verse... Because the whole manifestation, tathedam akhilam jagat, the whole universe is presentation of the energy of the Lord, therefore there is nothing but Lord. Mattah parataram nanyat [Bg. 7.7]. Just like in this material world, we have got experience, the sun is the cause of all material manifestations. When the sunlight or sun heat... Just like Western countries, in this season, the sunlight and heat is practically not present. Therefore it is snowfall. There is no foliage in the trees. Every tree is deserted, due to the sun. And as soon as from the month of April the sunshine will be little more, mean, increased, at once the leaves will come out. In the Western world, this experience... Anywhere. The sun is the cause of everything, all this material world. So you can say that in this material world, there is nothing superior energy than the sun. Similarly, this is also a creation of God, the sunshine. It is stated in the Brahma-samhita: yac caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam. Savita means sun.
Even the sun, which is the supreme cause of this material world, of this universe... All the planets, they are rotating on account of heat of the sun. If the sun moves little this side or that side, everything will be blazing fire or frozen into ice. This is scientific truth.
So as the sun is the supreme cause of this material world, similarly the supreme cause of... There are many millions of universes and millions of suns. They are all caused by the supreme energy of Krsna, bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh and apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakrtim param [Bg. 7.4]. Two prakrtis, para-prakrti and apara-prakrti. So the Vedanta-sutra, that janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1], the original source of everything, Brahman, that is Krsna. Therefore Krsna says, mattah parataram nanyat [Bg. 7.7]. Brahman is not supreme. Then Krsna would have said not... "Brahman is the Supreme." But He says, mattah parataram nanyat. Brahman is the bodily effulgence of Krsna. Yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti [Bs. 5.40]. Brahman is not the supreme cause. Brahmano 'ham pratistha. Brahman is existing on Krsna. Therefore Krsna says, Krsna has the right to say, mattah parataram nanyat: "There is no more superior cause." And in the Brahma-samhita, Lord Brahma also says, sarva-karana-karanam [Bs. 5.1].
So it is not that Krsna is saying only. It is accepted by the supreme Vedic authority, Lord Brahma.
The Vedanta-sutra also says, janmady asya yatah anvayat [SB 1.1.1]. The Bhagavata explains, janmady asya yatah anvayat itaratas ca arthesu abhijnah sva-rat. He's abhijnah. He knows everything. Janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]. That is Krsna. And Arjuna accepted. Arjuna said, in the Tenth Chapter, sarvam etad rtam manye yad vadasi kesava: [Bg. 10.14] "My dear Krsna, whatever You are saying, I accept in toto." This is understanding of Bhagavad-gita. Try to understand Bhagavad-gita as it is. Krsna says, mattah parataram nanyat: [Bg. 7.7] "There is no more superior being or superior authority than Me." If you accept that "There is no more superior authority or supreme being than Krsna," then you study Bhagavad-gita. And if you cut the head and the tail and accept something and reject something, that is not Bhagavad-gita. Take it as it is. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is, not curtailing this or that: "This meaning is that; that meaning is that." No such nonsense. We accept... This is Krsna consciousness movement. Krsna says that He is the supreme authority. We are preaching "Krsna is the supreme authority." Where is the difficulty? We don't manufacture anything. We don't say, "I am the supreme authority." No. I am rascal. I am fool. I am imperfect. But Krsna is Supreme, Krsna is perfect. That is our preaching. As servant of Krsna.
Therefore, because we are presenting Krsna as He is, therefore our preaching is perfect. I may be imperfect, but our preaching is not imperfect. It is very simple. We are preaching all over the world, "Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." And these foreign boys and girls who are after me, they also accepted. They do not say that "Here is another God, sir. Why you are asking?" That is the difficulty in India. As soon as we shall say, "Krsna is the Supreme Lord, Krsna is the..., there is no more superior person than Krsna," others will say, "No, why this gentleman is not superior than Krsna?" That is the difficulty. They'll not accept. Their brain has been full with hodge-podge things. Therefore they cannot take Krsna consciousness so... Of course, at heart, in India, everyone feels for Krsna, but they have been educated in such a wrong way, they cannot accept Krsna as the Supreme, as Krsna says, mattah parataram nanyat [Bg. 7.7]. This is the difficulty.
But unless you accept, unless you come to this point, that Krsna is the Supreme, your education, your knowledge and everything is imperfect. Therefore Krsna says,
If you don't accept in this life... But if you are sincere to understand what is God, then you'll have to wait for many other lives. Life after life, you have to struggle. And then, by the grace of Krsna, if you come in touch with a devotee of Krsna, then you'll understand what is Krsna. That is the beginning, teaching of Krsna. Manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye [Bg. 7.3]. Manusyanam sahasresu. Out of many, many millions of persons, one is trying to make his life perfect. Everyone, mostly, 99.9%, they are blind. Andha yathandhair upaniyamanah. They are being led by blind men. They are blind, and they are led by blind men. Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum [SB 7.5.31]. They do not know that the ultimate goal of life is to understand Visnu, or Krsna, and go back to Him. That is the goal of life. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti [Bg. 4.9]. That is being taught in the Bhagavad-gita. This is the goal of life. But they are misled. They are captivated by this material energy. That will be explained in this chapter also. Tribhir gunamayair bhavaih, mohitam nabhijanati mam ebhyah param avyayam [Bg. 7.13]. They have been bewildered by the three modes of material nature. They are not trying to understand Krsna. They are not trying to follow the instruction of Krsna. Therefore they are in difficulty. The whole trouble is due to this ignorance. Therefore there is great necessity for broadcasting this Krsna consciousness movement. There is great necessity.
So this business was entrusted by... Lord Caitanya started this movement. Actually, Krsna started this movement five thousand years ago and taught this subject matter to Arjuna in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. But unfortunate as we are, we could not take up the mission of Krsna. The mission of Krsna was, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata, tadatmanam srjamy aham [Bg. 4.7]. As soon as there is discrepancy in the matter of discharging religious principle... Means, religious principle means the law of God. Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]. Religion means the laws of God. Religion does not mean "I have manufactured some religion, he has manufactured some religion, he has manufactured some religion, and another man has... Yes, all religions are right." Yata mata tata patha. No. That is nonsense. Religion is one. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. This is religion. Kick out all sorts of religious principles; simply surrender to God, or Krsna. Sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje [SB 1.2.6]. This is confirmed. That is first-class religion, which teaches how to surrender to God and how to become a lover of God. That is religion. Otherwise, they are simply cheating religion.
That is explained in the Bhagavatam. Dharmah projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam vedyam vastavam atra vastu [SB 1.1.2]. Dharmah projjhita, cheating type of religion, is kicked out from this Srimad-Bhagavatam. Projjhita. Prakrsta-rupena ujjhita. And Sridhara Svami gives his comments: atra moksa-vancha api nirastam. Anyone, any type of religion... Just like the Mayavadi philosophy. They are trying to have moksa, to merge into the existence of the Supreme. But Bhagavata says, "No, that is also cheating." Dharma-artha-kama-moksa [SB 4.8.41, Cc. Adi 1.90], catur-varga... The word... First of all, they do not know what is religion. But the... Actually, life, perfection of life, begins from religion, dharma. Then artha. Then following the religious principles, you acquire money, artha. Artha is required. But not in..., sinfully, but properly. Dharma artha kama. Then, you have got senses, you require to satisfy the senses. So artha required for sense gratification. But that artha must be based on religion. This is called dharma, artha, and kama. Dharmartha-kama-moksa. Then, when one actually becomes wise, he is no more attracted by sense gratification, rather, he desires a greater type of sense gratification, namely, he wants to become God, to merge into the existence of God. So that is also a cheating. You cannot become God. [break]
...mam prapadyate, vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah [Bg. 7.19]. That is mahatma, one who has surrendered to Krsna, understanding that Krsna is the cause of all causes, Krsna is the source of material energy and spiritual energy. As it is explained here. And therefore Krsna is the Supreme. And Krsna confirms this fact: mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya [Bg. 7.7]. This is required. This is required. We have to accept this. Krsna says this. And Arjuna, who heard Bhagavad-gita from Krsna, he says, param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan, purusam adyam [Bg. 10.12]. Adyam, "You are the original person. You are the original..." Purusam adyam, in the Bhagavad-gita. Adyam. Therefore Krsna says, mattah parataram nanyat [Bg. 7.7]. This is all confirmed. The audience, Krsna, I mean to say, Arjuna, is accepting, and Krsna is confirming.
Therefore Bhagavad-gita is perfect. Otherwise where is the authority of Bhagavad-gita. If we do not accept the author, or the speaker, of the Bhagavad-gita, and if we do not accept the student of Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna, then where is the study of Bhagavad-gita? It is something nonsense. You have to accept the version of Bhagavad-gita as it is stated by Krsna, and you have to accept the version of Arjuna as it is admitted by Krsna. Then you are perfect in Bhagavad-gita. Otherwise you have simply wasted your time.
This is the version of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Srama eva hi kevalam. Simply laboring. Simply uselessly laboring. If you do not awaken your Krsna consciousness by studying the Vedas, by studying Bhagavad-gita, by studying Bhagavad... Simply Bhagavad-gita. This is the essence of all Vedic literature, although it is ABCD, beginning of spiritual life, spiritual understanding. Unfortunately, people do not understand even the ABCD of this Bhagavad-gita. And what to speak of becoming graduate and postgraduate? This is the difficulty. If we try to understand Bhagavad-gita as it is, at least we understand what is Krsna, what is God. God is explaining Himself. And we are searching after God, making sear... There are so many institutions. In Oxford University there is a big research department. But here God is canvassing. He's explaining. There was a great controversy. What is that professor?
Pradyumna: Professor Al Zayner, Hardy.
Prabhupada: Huh?
Pradyumna: Al Zayner, Professor Zayner.
Prabhupada: Professor Zayner. So I invited him. So he did not dare to come before us. So there was another professor. What is that? Sir...?
Pradyumna: Sir Alistair Hardy.
Prabhupada: Sir Alistair Hardy. He came. He admitted. He's making research. So these things are going on. Why research? Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gita. Everything is explained and commented by so many, many great, stalwart, I mean to say, commentator, especially Sridhara Svami, Ramanujacarya, Visvanatha Cakravarti, Baladeva Vidyabhusana. So many great scholars, they have commented upon Bhagavad-gita. So try to understand Bhagavad-gita as it is. That is the real necessity of life. That we have explained several times.
This human form of life. The... Narottama dasa Thakura says that, hari hari bifale janama gonainu. "My dear Lord, Hari, I have simply spoiled my life." Bifale jan..., hari hari bifale janama gonainu. "I have wasted my time." Why? Manusya-janama paiya, radha-krsna na bhajiya, janiya suniya bisa khainu. "I got this nice human form of body especially for worshiping Radha and Krsna, but I have not done that. Therefore willingly I have drunk poison." Janiya suniya bisa khainu. Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana. The sankirtana movement is not manufactured in this material world. It is released from Vaikuntha, the spiritual world. Golokera prema-dhana... Otherwise why we are chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna...? It is not material sound. Any material sound, you chant thrice, you'll be tired. But you go on chanting Hare Krsna mantra twenty-four hours, you'll never be tired. Therefore it is not a sound of this material world; it is a sound of the spiritual world. Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana, rati na janmilo kene tay. "I am not attracted to this." This is the lamentation of Narottama dasa Thakura, a Vaisnava. Samsara-bisanale, diba-nisi hiya jvale. "In this material existence, this eating, sleeping, mating and defending, with this business, always my heart is burning." Samsara-bisanale, diba-nisi hiya jvale, juraite na kainu upaya. "I did not make any means to get out of this." Golokera prema-dhana. Therefore indirectly he is giving hint that human life is meant for worshiping Radha-Krsna and chanting Hare Krsna maha-mantra.
This is the subject matter of Krsna consciousness movement, to understand that Krsna is the Supreme. Mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya [Bg. 7.7], mayi... Here Arjuna is addressed as Dhananjaya. Dhananjaya means the richest man, who has conquered over wealth. In other sense, only dhananjaya, "a person who has conquered over wealth," he can understand that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Dhananjaya, Arjuna's another name is Dhananjaya, because after Battle of Kuruksetra there was no money. So by the order of Maharaja Yudhisthira, he brought from the Himalaya range a great quantity of gold so that he could expend them for performing asvamedha-yajna, rajasuya-yajna. So therefore from that name, from that person, this title was given by..., I mean to say, Maharaja Yudhisthira to that Arjuna, Dhananjaya.
So mayi sarvam idam protam. The example is very nice. Mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva. Just like pearls. The pearls... Take it. Pearl is round, and the innumerable universes are also round. So all these universes are staying... Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani [Bg. 9.4]. Krsna says. Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah. So everything is resting on Krsna. In another place He says that "I am sustaining all these planets." Of course, we understand law of gravitation according to our theory, but actually, according to Vedic description, the Sankarsana is sustaining all these planets. So anyway, it is to be understood. Just like the, all the planets are floating in the air in weightlessness... How this weightlessness comes? That is explained here. Mayi, "It is resting on Me." Krsna says. Mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva.
So He is the ultimate cause, He is the cause of all causes. Sarva-karana-karanam [Bs. 5.1]. Parama isvarah, the supreme controller. In this way we have to understand Krsna. Then our life will be successful. Because our, this human life is meant for understanding Krsna. Vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]. This is the real knowledge. Unless you come to this real knowledge, your life is unsuccessful. Therefore Krsna says, bahunam janmanam ante: [Bg. 7.19] "Those who will not accept Me in one life, he has to wait for many, many lives, but to come to this conclusion, that vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma... [Bg. 7.19]" If you actually want to become mahatma, then you have to come to this point, that vasudevah sarvam iti [Bg. 7.19]. That is mahatma. Mahatma does not mean by simply changing this dress. Mahatma means who understands Krsna. He's mahatma because his soul is increased in dimension to understand Krsna. Vasudevah sarvam iti sa ma... [Bg. 7.19]. Mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakrtim asritah [Bg. 9.13]. As soon as you become mahatma, then you are no longer under the control of this material nature. That is also confirmed. Mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te. Daivi hy esa gunamayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg. 7.14]. Otherwise, you have to remain under the clutches of maya and punished by him.
These are simple Bengali poetries by Vaisnavas that as soon as you desire to enjoy your senses... That enjoyment of senses will not give you happiness. That is our practical experience. Anybody, call anybody who is engaged in sense gratification, ask him, "Are you happy?" He'll never say. They are... We have practically seen. These Europeans and Americans, they have enough sense gratification. Sense gratification means money and women. So they have got enough of it. Why they are after me, rejecting this? Because sense gratification will never give you satisfaction. That is false satisfaction. Real satisfaction is when you satisfy Krsna. That is satisfaction.
atmendriya-priti-vancha-tare bali 'kama'
krsnendriya-priti-iccha dhare 'prema' nama
[Cc. Adi 4.165]
When you sat..., want to satisfy your senses, then you are under the clutches of kama, lust. But the same endeavor, when you want to satisfy the senses of Krsna, that is called prema, or bhakti.
So Krsna is personally teaching. Why we should satisfy Krsna? Because there is no more a greater authority than Krsna. We are trying to serve here greater authority. Every one of us... We are going to office, we are going to party meeting, we are going to be elected president. So what is that? That I assure that "I shall satisfy your senses. You want this? I shall give you. Please elect me." Everyone is trying to satisfy the senses. Either of own self... He's giving false promise. Actually, he wants to satisfy his own senses. As soon as he becomes minister, he'll satisfy his own senses. But he's getting elected by promising satisfying..., to satisfy your senses. But the sense gratification is going on. But there is chaos because the point is missing. There is no activity for satisfying senses of Krsna. That is the defect of the modern civilization. Therefore one should learn that you are satisfying the senses of others. Try to satisfy the senses of Krsna, because there is no more greater authority than Krsna. We are satisfying the senses of greater authority. That's all. Or my senses. Because my senses are also greater authoritykama, krodha, lobha, moha, matsarya. These are very strongly dictating me, "Do this." I don't want to do this. My conscience is willing (beating?). But my kama, my lust, is forcing me.
So this is my position. So in this position, I'll never be satisfied. If you understand that "Krsna is the supreme authority, and my only duty is to satisfy Krsna," then your life will be successful.
Thank you very much. (end)

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