Śrī Īśopaniṣad, Initiations – April 29, 1970, Los Angeles

Now this is the time for self-realization

[PR_ISO verse chanting class]

Prabhupada: Hare Krsna.

Repeat it again.

All right. Hare Krsna.

Congregation: Hare Krsna.

[04:46]

Prabhupada: So you can read?

Gargamuni: So we are on page 16, the last sentence of the second paragraph. It says, "Therefore in order to save themselves, both must follow the instruction of Sri Īsopanisad and thus bring peace to the world."

Next paragraph: "Human beings are not meant for quarreling like cats and dogs. They must be intelligent enough to realize the importance of human life and to realize the aims of human life. The Vedic literature is meant for humanity and not for the cats and dogs. Cats and dogs can kill other animals for food, and for that there is no question of sin on their part, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste buds, he is responsible for breaking the laws of nature, and therefore he must be punished."

Prabhupada: Yes, this is the responsibility of human life. The responsibility of human life, ordinarily you can understand. Several times I have explained also that even the state laws, they are meant for the human citizens. If a cat or a dog transgresses the law, there is no punishment or no arrest. Just like on the road, the direction is that when there is red light, you must stop your car. But if your dog passes in spite of the red light, he is not punishable, because it is animal.

Therefore human life has got a very great responsibility. So if you do not execute that responsibility, then by the laws of nature again you are put into the cycle of cats and dogs. You cannot say that "No, sir, I am not going to be cat again." No. The law is very strict.

You cannot surpass the laws of material nature; Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita. You cannot transgress any law. You know that even for your personal, if you little…, eat more, little, then immediately you are diseased; you will be sick. You cannot transgress. Very nice thing, if you want to eat more, then next day you will have to starve; you will be sick. So you have to accept exactly the same thing as it is allotted to you by the Lord. You cannot transgress. Therefore you have got very great...

The only responsibility is that this human form of life is offered to us, to a living entity, for understanding self-realization. Athato brahma-jijnasa-this is the Vedanta-sūtra-"Now this is the time for self-realization." Brahma, brahma is the Supreme Spirit, or the part-and-parcel spirit. Brahma…, God is called also brahma, but He is Parabrahma. The Mayavadi philosopher, they cannot distinguish that why this word is there, Parabrahma. Parabrahma means the supreme brahma, and brahma, spirit. So we are also brahma. Krsna is also brahma, but He is Parabrahma. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam [Katha Upanisad 2.2.13].

He is the chief brahma. Just like in our ordinary life, everywhere we have got some chief man, a leader, just like you have accepted me as your leader. Similarly, the leaders of the leader, leaders of the leader, go on, go on, go on searching out; when you come to Krsna, He is the leader of everyone. That is Krsna. That's all. Īsvaraḥ paramaḥ krsnaḥ [Bs 5.1].

Everyone is brahma, god, whatever you say, isvaraḥ-but nobody is paramaḥ. Paramaḥ means "supreme." I can be controller of this institution; the president can be controller of this country; but nobody can claim that "I am the supreme controller." That is not possible. That is only for Krsna. That post is for Krsna.

So He is controlling everything. It is stated in the sastra, just like the bull or the horse is controlled by the ropes. It is bound up in the mouth or in the nose. The driver, pushing little this way, immediately he has to turn this way. He is so powerful, he is so stronger than the driver, but in spite of the strength, he is managed to be kept in such a way as soon as the driver pushes like this, immediately he has to go. He cannot say, the animal cannot say, "No, I shall go this way." No: immediately.

Similarly, Krsna, by the reins of the laws of nature, He is keeping everyone under the control. The laws of nature, as soon as push this way, you have to go this way; this way, you have to go this way. You cannot say, "I cannot go." This is the understanding of Krsna consciousness. Foolish people, rascal people, who are claiming to be independent-nobody is independent. Nobody can be independent. His constitutional position is to be dependent, but if he keeps himself dependent under Krsna, then he is happy.

Otherwise he will have to be dependent on maya and suffer.

[aside: All right, thank you.]

He is responsible for breaking the laws of nature, and therefore he must be punished. That's all. Thank you. [devotees offer obeisances]

Begin. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna, Krsna, Hare, Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. I think, er, today we shall…, kirtana will be performed at the end of the func… yes. Now there is time, you can begin your... Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna.

[japa]

[15:47]

Dayananda: [explains about chanting mantras-indistinct] [chants verse word-by-word with devotees in response]

[break] ...deliverance. We are attempting a deliverance from this mental concept of life-mundane consciousness of life and the mental concoctions. So this..., the purport of this mantra, the mantra enjoins, "Whether contaminated or uncontaminated, in any condition of life, if one simply remembers the lotus eyed one, Sri Visnu, one becomes purified, suciḥ." Suciḥ means to become purified.

So this Krsna consciousness process is a purification process. Simply by remembering the Lord, simply by chanting Hare Krsna, one becomes purified. So this is all understood by us initially. Upon taking up this Krsna consciousness process, by becoming in the association of the devotees, we accept, "Yes, I am impure. Therefore I will give up meat-eating, intoxication, gambling, and, ah…"

Prabhupada: Illicit sex.

Dayananda: "…illicit sexual connections. Therefore I will give these things up, these impure activities, and I will engage myself in a purifying process, the Krsna consciousness process." So this association of the devotees is a very important element. As soon as I come into the association of devotees, it becomes clear: "Here are some young people…, here are some people engaged in purification activities. I am so impure."

This modern society is developing a lower class of individual, a fifth-class man, and this Krsna consciousness society is developing first-class men. So simply by engaging in this purificatory process, simply by associating with the devotees, simply by remembering the lotus-eyed one, simply by chanting Hare Krsna and giving up these impure activities, one becomes purified.

So initiation means to begin this purification process. It is a gradual process, not that one becomes immediately purified. Of course, this is the chanting, or the amount of surrender. If one can surrender 100%, then immediately one is Krsna conscious. So this is generally a gradual process, that gradually one surrenders to the lotus-eyed one, Visnu. One surrenders one's words, by money, by life, by intelligence-everything one surrenders to the Lord. So as much as possible, everyone should try to surrender. But initiation, at this point we are surrendering our lives...

Prabhupada: [aside: Let it finish.]

Dayananda: So this initiation is very important. It means that..., that you are agreeing to serve faithfully the spiritual master, carry out the orders of the spiritual master, to worship the spiritual master-not only to worship by bowing down but to worship in service, that we are dedicating our lives to this Krsna consciousness process, spreading Krsna consciousness throughout the world, building up so many centers to improve this [indistinct] Krsna consciousness organization...

Prabhupada: Ah, every one of you, just, ah, Dayananda said that we are producing first-class men. So are you all, I mean to say, agreeing to this? Do you think that we are producing first-class men?

Devotee: Jaya!

Prabhupada: Do you agree to this proposal?

Devotees: Jaya!

Prabhupada: Or if anyone has got any objection, that this is dogmatic? [laughter] Is there anyone who…, anyone who protests against this, that we are producing first-class men? People may say that we…, you are dogmatic, but practically one can see. Eh? These boys and these girls, previously what was their life? And what is their life now? The practical proof, eh?

Most of you coming from Christian group, so before this, you were not even going to church. And since you are in contact with this Krsna consciousness movement, you are twenty-four hours engaged in this temple. You are all young men; you have got so many propensities. You don't go to cinema, you don't go to restaurant, you don't go to club-you don't go to any nonsense place. And let anyone come and compare whether we are not producing first-class men.

Everyone will give his history of life. So this is not dogmatic. This is a fact that we are producing first-class men, our boys and girls. That is the way of making... If you produce cats and dogs, how you can expect peace in the world? You must produce first-class men, first-class woman. Then you can expect peace. Peace is not so cheap thing. If you want peace in the jungle, same of the societies of the animals, cats and dogs-oh, that cannot be.

However you may train a dog nicely, as soon as he will see another dog, oh, immediately he'll attack. That is the animal propensity. So unless there is first-class men, there cannot be. So there is necessity of producing a number of first-class men at the present moment. Therefore Krsna consciousness movement is very important movement. You should all know it, certainly.

[aside: So this arati. Let it finish; who'll take care? Yes.]

[23:17]

[congregational japa]

[25:03]

[kirtana] [end]