Initiation lecture [partially recorded]– May 21, 1969, New Vrindavan

690521IN-NEW VRINDAVAN [23:34 Minutes]

Everyone is trying to become God: 'I shall be the great man of this country'

Prabhupada:

The Vedic literature informs that labdhva sudurlabham idam [SB 11.9.29]. Idam means "this." "This" means this body, this opportunity, human form of life, developed consciousness, full facility. The animals, they have no facility. They are living in the jungles. But we can utilize these jungles, these forests, for so many comfortable situation.

So we have got developed consciousness, intelligence. We can utilize. So it is called arthadam. Artha. There are two meanings of artha. Artha-sastra. Artha-sastra means economics, how to increase wealth. That is called artha. So arthadam. This human form of life can bestow upon you artha.

Artha means something substantial. Generally we understand substantial means money. If somebody gets money, that is substantial for material comforts, of course, but real substantial thing is Krsna consciousness. That is real substance, arthadam.

So Vedic literature, Vedas' meaning, when it is said arthadam, "In this life you can achieve the substance," that substance means Krsna consciousness. Otherwise, taking it substance means multimillionaire or millions of dollars, that is also artha, but anityam. That is anityam. That substance will not be carried by you.

You have come here empty-handed from the womb of your mother, and when you leave this place, you will also go empty-handed. Not that because you have earned millions of dollars, Mr. Rockefeller or Ford, you can carry this. No. The Rockefeller Center will remain there, where it is. You have to go empty-handed.

So now, when it is said arthadam, "You can achieve the substance," that does not mean this artha, temporary, which will not be carried by me. It will be left behind. That is going on. I create something in this life.

As much as my this body is created by the father and mother, similarly, I also create. That creative energy is there in me because I am part and parcel of God. So God creates; I also create. That creative energy is within me, but a very minute quantity.

That creation is nothing in comparison with God's creation. God has created this whole universe, and what you can create? You can create, utmost, a city like New York. That's all. You can create. That's all right. In that sense you are god also. Part and parcel of God is also god, but small god. Just like your earring, that is gold. So that gold is not equal to the gold mine. That gold mine is different.

Therefore the philosophy is "simultaneously one and different." We are, every one of us, we are simultaneously one with God and different from God. One in quality. The quality of God is also in me. I am of the same quality.

Just like a drop of sea water and the vast water, ocean. The quality, analytical, chemical composition, is the same, but the quantity of component parts are different. This is called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva: "inconceivably, simultaneously one and different."

The Mayavada philosophy, they say that "We are God. Everyone is God." But we say that "Yes, everyone is God, but not that God, the Supreme God." Everyone is American, but not that American like President Nixon.

This commonsense knowledge the Mayavadi hasn't got. But they are puffed up: "Oh, I am the same. I am..." So 'ham: "I am the same." How you are the same? If you are the same, why you are fallen in this condition?

They will say, "It is maya. It is illusion." No. Why you are in illusion? If you are great-"God is great"-if you are that great, then why you are captured by illusion? Then illusion is great, not God is great.

This commonsense philosophy they do not understand. Therefore my Guru Maharaja used to say, "Poor fund of knowledge." Whenever he used to designate these Mayavadi philosophers, he would say, "Poor fund of knowledge."

So this is the opportunity to... You are part and parcel of God. Don't try to become artificially like God. That is not possible. That will be simply waste of energy. This is maya. Everyone under the spell of maya, they are working very hard. Why?

Everyone is trying to become God: "I shall be the great man of this country" or "My country shall be the greatest country in the world." That means God is great, and everyone is trying to be great like that. That is competition. So you are trying, I am trying, he is trying, everyone is trying. Therefore there is competition, there is trouble, there is anxiety. This is called maya.

But our Bhagavata philosophy says that "Don't try artificially in that way. Better remain what you are. Better remain..." Just like the same example: If you want to be the greatest man in your country, just like President Nixon, so you have to work very hard.

And that is also for temporary. It will be finished within five years. Then you are ordinary man again. So better remain in your own capacity, and try to become Krsna conscious, or God conscious. Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommends this process, that you don't try artificially to become God the great. It is not possible. Simply waste of time.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva [SB 10.14.3]. It is not the statement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu; it is the statement of Bhagavata, but He quoted this. His disciple, Ramananda Raya, quoted this while discussing what is the objective of human life.

So He recommends this objective. What is that? Jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva. Don't try to be puffed up artificially by your speculative knowledge that you are the same God. Don't try for it.

If you actually want to be happy, and if you want..., actually, you want to be God realized or Krsna conscious person, then the first thing is that you give up this nonsense habit-by speculation, you want to be God. Puffed up: "I am God. I am God. I am God." But you are not God. You are God qualitatively, not quantitatively. Why don't you understand this?

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, jnane prayasam. Jnanis, the empiric philosophers, they simply speculate and try to prove that "I am God." That means asurim bhavam asritah. The atheist says that "There is no God," and here the Mayavadi philosopher says, "Yes, there is God, but God I am." That's all.

It is the same philosophy, atheism. He is also denying, that "There is no separate God. I am God." That atheistic philosophy, like Buddha philosophy, "There is no God..." But Buddha Himself is God.

That is another..., Bhagavata interpretation is that he is cheating the atheist person. The atheists, they say, "There is no God," and Lord Buddha said, "Yes, there is no God, but you follow me." But he is God. Kesava dhrta-buddha-sarira jaya jagadisa hare. So Bhagavata therefore says, sammohaya sura-dvisam [SB 1.3.24]. It is something like that, a naughty boy does not want to go to school. So somebody, some friend, says, "Yes, you don't go to school. All right, you sit down. Now, what is this?" "Oh, this is cow." "What is this?" "This is leg." "Can you count how many legs are there?" "Yes. One, two, three, four." So...

[aside:] What is that?

Hayagriva: Somebody's coming, some vehicle.

Prabhupada: All right. You please sit down. So the boy is satisfied that "I am not going to school. This gentleman is very nice. I didn't want to go to school, and he says, 'Yes, don't go to school.' " But "You sit down here. What is this?" "This is cow." "And what is this?" "This is cow's leg." "What is this?" "One leg, two leg." That means he is being educated, but he does not know. He says that "Ah..."

So Lord Buddha's philosophy is like that. The atheistic people, they are against God: "Yes, there is no God. But you take this philosophy, ahimsa. Don't kill animals." That means if they stop animal-killing, then one day they will be able to understand what is God. Some day.

Because so long one is accustomed to kill animals, he will never be able to understand what is God. That is Buddha philosophy. He situated the atheistic people on the line of understanding God.

So this is, in one way, cheating. But this cheating is not cheating. Just like father or guardian sometimes cheats the young boy. That is not cheating; that is for his good. But actually, if you take the, I mean to say, behavior, it is something like cheating.

So the Mayavada philosophy... This Buddha philosophy is also another Mayavada philosophy. Both of them are, on the face value, atheistic, denying the existence of God.

One is saying, "There is no God"; another is saying, "It is impersonal," in this way. But our philosophy is neither atheistic nor impersonal. It is directly person. Isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs 5.1]. Directly we say, "There is no..."

Krsna, in the Bhagavad-gita, says, mattah parataram nasti: "There is nobody greater than Me." If God is great, how anybody can be greater than Him? It is right. Eh? Nanyat parataram nasti: "There is nothing more greater than Me." Aham sarvasya prabhavah [Bg 10.8]

"I am the origin of everything." Vedanta-sutra says, "Brahman, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the source of everything." And here is the direct answer by Krsna, aham sarvasya prabhavah: "I am the source of everything."

So we follow this philosophy. Krsna consciousness movement means we directly take Bhagavad-gita as the evidence of existence of God. And if you want to know God, you cannot know God by speculation. He is so great, He is so unlimited, and we have got limited senses, limited capacity. It is not possible. Simply we can understand God by the mercy of God.

So here is the mercy of God, Krsna, He Himself speaking about Himself. You learn God. God is speaking about Himself. You haven't got to speculate. And He, by His pastimes, by His activities, He...

[aside:] What is that sound coming? That car? Oh.

By His activities, He proved Himself that He is complete God, from His childhood. So Bhagavata says... Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that "Don't be situated in the speculative method, that you are God, you are something-'There is no God,' or 'I am God, this God, that God.'

Give up this habit kindly. Give up this nonsense habit." There is God, and you are not God. You are God partially, part and parcel, just like I have explained. So we have to give up this nonsense habit. Jnane prayasam udapasya. Udapasya means give up.

Then what is next? Namanta eva. Just be submissive. Don't be puffed up artificially. You are being slapped always by the laws of material nature. Don't think that you are independent. It is foolishness to say that "I am independent. I don't care for anything of..." No.

You have to care. You are being kicked every moment by the laws of nature. You should know it. You are not independent. Therefore be namanta eva, be submissive. Namanta eva. Jnane prayasam namanta eva, be submissive. Namanta eva. Jnane prayasam namanta eva san-mukharitam bhavadiya-vartam [SB 10.14.3].

San-mukharitam. And try to hear about the Supreme Lord from the right source. San-mukharitam. San, sat. Sat-mukharitam. Sat means eternal, and mukharitam means speaking, coming out from the mouth of a person who is eternally situated.

Who is eternally situated? Not this body. Eternally situated, I am, I am real "I am," the spirit soul. So the spirit soul can speak when he is Krsna conscious; otherwise he is covered. His speaking power is stopped.

Just like an unconscious man is without any consciousness, but he has got the life-the soul is there-similarly, in the other species of life, although the soul is there, it is not..., the soul is not speaking. The outward, the influence of the soul...

[aside:] What is this?

That means the soul is not manifested there fully. Labdhva sudurlabham [SB 11.9.29]. That is being manifested from aquatic life to plant life, then in insect life, then bird's life, then beast's life, at last human life. Out of human life, there are civilized life, uncivilized life. And out of the civilized life, there are atheists and theists, and those who are actually developed conscious. That is Krsna consciousness.

The consciousness is developing from the lowest status of living condition, aquatic, then plants, trees, then insects, flying insects, then birds, then four-legged beasts, so many, then two hands, two legs, gorilla.

Similarly, human, uncivilized, then civilized, Aryans, then our Vedic knowledge. In this way consciousness is increasing. That is the real evolutionary theory. Darwin has simply taken some imaginative... He might have taken from Padma-Purana.

In Padma-Purana these are very nicely explained, how many species of life are there. They have given account: "So many species in water." Jalaja nava-laksani: "Nine hundred thousand species in water." Sthavara laksa-vimsati: "Trees and plants, there are two millions." Exact number.

Now, if you are scientist, if you are botanist, if you are physiologist, you can try it and see. But these are already there. Manusah catur-laksani: "The human species, there are also 400,000's." So out of this, the Aryan family, the civilized man, the Aryan families are understood to be the highest civilized... [end]