Indra-yaga-krtodyaman. According to Vedic system, there are different types of sacrifices to offer respect and obeisances to the demigods. Just like the sun is supplying light, the moon is supplying moonshine. Similarly, Indra is supplying the cloud. Similarly, there are different demigods. And in the Bhagavad-gita, devan ya yajayanti deva-bhavanthese things are described. In the Vedic literature it is prescribed that "You should satisfy these demigods by sacrifice, deva-yajan." So in the village of that Vrndavana, the father of Krsna, foster father of Krsna, Nanda Maharaja and his associates, they were yearly performing the Indra-yajna. Because they were agriculturists, they depended on rain, sufficient rains. And he had many cows. Nanda Maharaja was a farm man. He is agriculture and cows. The mercantile people, the vaisya community, they are recommended three things: krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam [Bg. 18.44]. Krsi means agriculture, and go-raksya means cow protection, and vanijyam means trade. So Nanda Maharaja belonged to the vaisya community. So he was well-to-do man, very rich man, and he had 900,000's of cows. 900,000 of cows he was protecting. Formerly, according to Vedic civilization, a man was considered to be rich man in proportion of his stock of grains and livestock, cows. That's all. Dhanyena dhanavan. A man was considered to be rich man if he has sufficient quantity of grains in his possession. Similarly, if one has sufficient number of cows in his possession, he was considered rich man. Not that bank balance. There was no such bank, neither this paper money. They actually possessing the foodstuff and milk. And actually this is economic solution. If you have got sufficient milk, then you can make so many nice nutritious, full of vitamin values preparation and grains. There is no question of economic starvation if you have got simply grains and cows. So that was the standard of economic solution in days yore.

He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He knew everything what they were doing and what was the purpose. Because He is present in everyone's heart, so He knows everything. But because He was playing just like a boy, cowherd boy, so as if He did not know anything, He asked, inquired from His father, and the elderly persons who were assisting His father for preparing the sacrifice.

"My dear father, I very respectfully and humbly I am inquiring. What is this arrangement? Why you are busy in making some sacrificial ceremony, and what is the reason, and what is the result?" Kim phalam: "What is the result of doing this?" Kim phalam kasya ca uddesah: "By whom... Whom you are trying to satisfy?" Kena va sadhyate: "And what is the purpose of this sacrifice? So I cannot understand. Will you kindly explain to Me?" Etad bruhi mahan kamo: "I am very much anxious. Kindly explain to me." Etad mahan kamo mahyam susrusave pitah: "Oh, I am your most obedient son, so you kindly explain to Me." This question was posed.

"Now, if you think that it is very confidential, it cannot be disclosed, then I think for a person like you who is doing publicly such sacrifice, you should (sic:) not explain to Me." Na hi gopyam hi sadhunam: "Sadhu, those who are saintly person, for them there is no secret." There is no secret. There is no privacy. A sadhu, sadhu has no privacy. Just now in our ordinary social affairs, there is difference between private life and his public life. Now, if somebody is teacher... Now, he is very good teacher. He can very good... He can explain very nicely a subject matter, but his private life is not very good. Then he is not a teacher. He is not a sadhu. That is Vedic conception. One must be a teacher according to his own behavior in life. There is no secrecy or privacy. Now, we think that "We don't mind what is private character. We don't mind. We are concerned with his teaching." No. That sort of teaching will not have any effect. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, apani acari prabhu jiveri siksaya: a teacher must demonstrate in his practical life what he is teaching. That is the meaning of acarya. Acarya means the teacher must demonstrate things by applying the same thing in his own life. That is called acarya. Therefore Krsna said that "You cannot disclose anything. You cannot keep anything private. Please disclose." Udasino 'rivad varyam atmavat suhrd ucyate: "And even if it is very confidential, I am your son. You can explain to Him. I am your well-wisher."

"Whether this is a superstition?" Just see how Krsna is speaking. "Whether it is a superstition or it has got some actual effect." You should not do anything, religious rituals, under superstition. That is the recommendation of Krsna. Krsna does not like that people should perform anything under superstition. Suppose if you are sacrificing, if you are doing some ceremony, you must have thorough knowledge that there must be the result. There must be the result. Just like there are many sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature, putresti-yajna. Putresti. Suppose a man has no son, and if he performs that sacrifice, he will have a son. That is a fact. Similarly, so many things there are.

This is the only religious principle, and everyone will have all his desires fulfilled by this chanting." So the brahmanas, those who are priestly class, they thought that "If people take to this only chanting, then what about our churches and mosque and temples? They will not come." So they lodged a complaint to the magistrate that "This is not Hindu religion. He has discovered something in His own fertile brain, so we do not recognize it." So this complaint was lodged before the magistrate, and the magistrate took step, first of all warned Him that "Don't chant Hare Krsna." Then, when He did not care, then sent some constables, and the drums were broken. Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu started civil disobedience movement. So He did not care for the magistrate. He started sankirtana throughout the whole city of Nabadwip. Then they approached the magistrate's house. Just the other day there was a procession in your city. So this civil disobedience movement was started first by Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Now, there was some compromising talk with the magistrate, and in that talk the Caitanya Mahaprabhu first questioned. Because he was Mohammedan, Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that "In your religion there is killing of father and mother. What sort of religion this is?" The Kazi replied, "How do you say that we are killing our father and...?" "Yes. You are killing your mother. Cow gives you milk, delivers milk. You drink the milk, and you kill the cow. Therefore you are killing your mother." So the Kazi replied that "In your Vedic literature also, I have seen. There is cow sacrifice." So Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, "That is not cow sacrifice. That is rejuvenation of cow. Old cows were sacrificed in the fire, and again a new life was given by the Vedic mantra. But because there is lack of such expert brahmanas to chant that mantra, therefore cow sacrifice in this age is forbidden."

"So, whether you are confident of the result of this sacrifice?" He is asking His father. Just see. Krsna was a boy, and He is asking His father, "Whether you are confident of the result of this sacrifice? You are going to satisfy the demigods, sacrifice. Or," athava laukikah, "or it is simply a custom, village custom, that you are doing it?" Laukikas tan me prcchata sadhu bhanyatam: "Now I am very much inquisitive to learn from you. Please explain."

He says, "My dear boy, water is very essential because without rains we cannot have any produce. Therefore... This rain is controlled by Bhagavan Indra. The heavenly king Indra, he controls the megha." Megha means cloud. He is the master of the cloud. He can send cloud, and he can stop cloud. He is representative of God, so he has got the power. Te 'bhivarsanti bhutanam prinanam: "So when he allows this raining, people become satisfied. They get their produce."

"Therefore it is our duty. Because he supplies us water, so it is our duty to show him respect by this sacrifice." This is the Vedic injunction. Just like we pay departmental tax. We pay to the Con Edison bills for the supply of electricity and gas. Similarly, we pay the bills of the telephone. But we have no program to pay the bills of the sun who is supplying us so much light. (aside:) What is that?

"Now, this water is so important that it will produce grains and we shall live. And for perfection of our life we must first live. So this is very important thing, so we have to satisfy Indra."

He says, "My dear boy, we should not give up this parampara." Parampara means coming from disciplic succession or from generation. My father did it, my father's fathers did it. So every religious ceremony, and according to Vedic rituals, they are from parampara, family or society-wise or community-wise. In every country there is. So he says that "This parampara, this successive generation, we have been doing this, and we should not give it up." He understood the Krsna's purpose, that "He is asking. He is very intelligent boy, so He is asking me all these questions just to forbid me." That He's just... "Like father like son." The father was also intelligent.

"Now, supposing there is somebody." Because these atheists, they do not believe in God, now they are giving arguments. "Now, suppose there is somebody as God or some supervisor or something like that. But still, he is obliged to give Me the effect. Therefore I am not going to ask mercy from that superior personality, God or something else. I have to work." And this is also fact. Suppose you are going to appear in some examination. Now, the university is giving you some designation. Now, that designation practically depends on your passing the examination. What is the use of flattering that examiner? That is the argument. There is no... His argument is that "You are after the sacrifice of satisfying the Indra." So indirectly He says that Indra is appointed by the Lord and he has to supply water. He is officer. So what is the use of flattering him? Just like there are many officers in the New York City. One is in charge of the waterwork department. So there is no question of flattering that waterworks department officer. You pay your tax, you work nicely, and water will be supplied to you. But if you don't pay your tax, however you flatter that officer, your connection will be cut off. So it depends on your work. It depends on your work.

"So, therefore, there is no... Father, there is no necessity of satisfying this Indra. You are simply wasting your time. You are simply wasting your time."

"Everyone is acting according to the modes of nature he has acquired, so whatever nature we have acquired..." His purpose is that "By nature we are mercantile people." Because His father was maintaining cows, so he is considered a mercantile man. Vaisya-karma svabhava-jam. Krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam vaisya-karma svabhava-jam [Bg. 18.44]. So He is giving stress that "Let us perform our duty as mercantile men honestly, and that will bring us result. Why should we go to worship these demigods?"

He is giving so much stress on karma. There is no question of bhakti here. So dehan uccavacan. There are difference of high-grade body and low-grade body. There are different kinds of body. Somebody has got very high grade bodyvery intelligent, very rich, very beautiful, very wealthyand somebody has low-grade body. So dehan uccavacan jantuh prapyotsrjati karmana: "Now, these high-grade and low-grade bodies are obtained according to the work he has done." Satrur mitram udasinah karmaiva gurur isvarah: "And one is the leader or one is a teacher or one is enemy or one is friendeverything is judged by this karma, by work." Just see how much he is giving stress on work. Karmaiva. Karmaiva gurur isvarah.

"Therefore you don't bother yourself about worshiping this god or that god, demigod. You just be faithful to your work, and then that will give you good result." Anjasa yena varteta tad evasya hi daivatam.

He is condemning, that one's profession... He has... Lord Krsna has in the Bhagavad-gita also said like that. Sva-karmana tam abhyarcya [Bg. 18.46]. One should not give up his own profession. Never mind even it is faulty. You have heard it from me. Just like He has given the example that fire, fire is so pure, still there is fault. There is smoke. So in spite of all fault one should not give up his own work, but he should do it faithfully and nicely and the result will come. Ajivaikataram bhavam yas tu. And He says here that "Anyone who gives up his own natural profession, natural aptitude, profession, so..." Na tasmad vindate ksemam jaran nary asati yatha.

"Now, according to scripture, we are vaisya, and we should live not in the brahminical way or ksatriya's way or sudra's way, but we should live just like vaisyas; and we are actually agriculturists, and we are actually protecting cows. Therefore we are vaisyas. Our duty is to stick to our, faithfully stick to our business, stick to our work. What is the use of worshiping this god or that god?"

Now He is forwarding the atheistic theory of Kapila, sankhya philosophy. Sankhya philosophy. Sankhya philosophy theory is that there is no controller, there is no God, but the world is moving under nature's interaction. Just the modern scientists also say like that. The world... Every action of this material world is being acted... Just like sankhya philosophy is based on this philosophy, that a man and woman is attracted and they have sex life and the son is produced, and there is no other reason for population. Simply a man wants a woman and a woman wants a man. That natural tendency is there, and when they combine together there is a birth of a child. So this is a natural sequence. Sankhya philosophy is based on this principle. They do not believe that above this, there is God. Nirisa. Above this, there is God. There is God's control. Actually there is God. Sexual intercourse is not the cause of a child. According to Bhagavata, a living entity, before his death he is, by superior judgement it is thought that "Where this living entity, where this particular man or dog or anything... He is dying. Where it will be placed?" So when that place is sanctioned, the place is selected, that "This particular man should go in such and such body," then he is at once transferred to the semina. That small particle, spiritual particle, is transferred to the semina of the father, and the father injects the semina into the mother's womb, and it gets a particular type of body according to his karma. That is Bhagavata's version. But the Sankhya philosophy, they say, because they have no idea that there is spiritual spark, they think simply that, simply the father and mother's or man and woman's sex life produces life.

"So therefore we are not going to the city. We are inhabitants of this village. So it is better to worship this land, this land, this land, Govardhana." Because Krsna was herding His cows on the Govardhana Hill, so indirectly He hinted that "We should worship this Govardhana Hill, and that is our duty."