In the sastra it is said that one who is a criminal, he should be killed. Therefore in every country, up to date, a murderer is killed, is hanged. That is good for him. If a murderer is killed in this life, punished by the state, government, then his sinful activities and the resultant action is also finished. He's giving his own life. Otherwise, if he escapes, in next life he'll suffer so many troubles. That is, I think they have described in the previous verse. Tad-vadhas tasya hi sreyah. In the verse number 37 it is explained by Krsna that to kill this person, it is for his good. Because he has done so many criminal activities, so by killing him he'll be saved from serious types of sufferings in the next life. Sreya. Tad-vadhas tasya hi sreyo yad-dosad yaty adhah puman. Prayascitta, it is called prayascitta. Prayascitta, in the sastras prayascitta is described. In every religion there is prayascitta, atonement. In Christian religion the prayascitta is also advised. The sinner has to admit that he has committed sin, then he is excused by Christ or God. But not that "Purposefully I'll go on committing sins, and then I shall admit, and I'll go on with this business and I'll be excused." No. That is not. It is quite natural that if you have done something criminal by mistake, then you can be excused by the authorities. But not that because by your admission you were once excused, and you'll go on committing all kinds of sinful activities, and you'll be excused simply by admission. No. That is not possible. The Christians they do like that. On Sunday they go to the church, and they admit their sinful activities of the week, and pay something fine to the priest, and they become free from the sinful activities, reactions. And from Monday, again he begins. And then again on Sunday, he admits.

There was a movement, Moral Re-armament Movement, MRM. So just like we say that by sankirtana one is freed from all sinful reaction, this moral re-armament movement also preached that by your admission you become free from all sinful reaction. But this should not be... Either hari-nama or the Christian method of atonement should not be taken as profession. This is once or twice you can be excused, but not that you take it as a profession. That is great sinful. We have got also nama-aparadha. Dasa-vidha-nama-aparadha-ten kinds of offenses. If you chant Hare Krsna mantra with offenses, then it will not be effective. You must avoid the offenses. You know ten kinds of offenses-guror avajna sruti-sastra-nindanam. There are so many offenses, and one of the offenses is namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhih. He is greatest offender, one who thinks that "By chanting Hare Krsna mantra, I become free from reaction of sinful life. So the whole day I shall go on committing all kinds of sinful activities, and at night or sometime I shall chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsnaeverything will be finished," this is the greatest sin. Namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhih. He's never excused. He is condemned. Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepts a sinful man like Jagai and Madhai on the condition that he does not commit any more any sinful activities. On this condition. Not that "I have become a Vaisnava. I'm chanting Hare Krsna, so I can go on committing all kinds of sinful activities. There will be no reaction." This kind of conviction is the greatest offense. You should remember. Not like that, the Christian atonement.

So we should be very careful about this, namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhih. Factually, we should not take hari-nama as a matter of atonement or subha-kriya. Subha-kriya. Just like there are many subha-kriya, auspicious activities. We should not take chanting of Hare Krsna mantra as some auspicious activity. It is certainly auspicious, but generally people perform some auspicious activities, subha-kriya, to counteract their impious activities. This should not be done. This is also another offense. You cannot utilize hari-nama for any material purposes. Material purpose is... Just like generally, people go to a guru for benefit of some material purpose. "Sir, I have got some cholic pain within my abdomen. Kindly give me your blessing." The materialistic persons, they are after blessing for some material benefit. They are not after Krsna. That is another offense. Therefore to go to guru or to accept a guru, there should not be any material purpose. Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. One should go to a guru for spiritual advancement of life, not as a fashion. People go to a guru as a fashion. My Guru Maharaja used to say that "Don't make a guru just like you keep a dog, as a fashion." Nowadays it has become a fashion to keep a dog. In the European, American countries it is a compulsory fashion to have a dog. Everyone keeps a dog. And they love dog very much, more than anything. (laughter) So now we are also imitating, because India is imitator. Since the Britishers came here, we have become first-class imitator. When the 1914, the war was going on. So it is understood that in high-court, Calcutta high-court, there is leisure hour, tiffin hour. So all the judges were sitting. So one English judge, he asked Sir Asutosh Mukherji, "Mr. Mukherji, now the Germans are coming, and if so, what you are going to do?" Mr. Mukherji, Sir Asutosh Mukherji, he replied, "Yes, as soon as the Germans will come, we shall offer our respect in this way, 'Come on sir.' " "So you'll not counteract? Why?" "You have taught us to make like this, so we shall do that. Because you have simply taught us this, how to obey your orders. So anyone who will come, we shall do this." The idea is the slave mentality... The Englishmen, in an organized way, they taught the Indians how to become servant of the Englishmen. We have seen. It is Gandhi's movement that he dismantled this idea of white prestige. Otherwise, we were taught like that. So this imitation of Englishmen... Formerly, in our childhood, it was the advancement of civilization if one could imitate the English fashion. That was. So we should not make that a fashion. Guru is not a fashion.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, in Bhagavad-gita, in all Vedic literature... Who requires a guru? That is described. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]. He requires a guru. Jijnasuh. Athato brahma jijnasa. That is human life. One who is interested in inquiring about Brahman, he requires a guru. One who has no business for understanding Brahman, simply to make a fashion that "I have a guru," this is useless. It has no value. One must be very much inquisitive to understand the spiritual science. He requires a guru. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh [SB 11.3.21]. Jijnasuh means inquisitive.

So we are discussing the point, "Who requires a guru?" If you are actually serious about understanding the spiritual subject matter, brahma-jijnasa... Not this market value. If you are interested about brahma-jijnasa... Just like the merchant association, they inquire, "What is the value of this share? What is the value of this commodity? What is the val...?" No. Not that kind of inquiries. But sreya-uttamam. Jijnasuh sreya-uttamam. There are two kinds of objective: sreya and preya. Preya means immediately sense gratification. Just like a child. Child wants to play because it gives him immediately some sense gratification, satisfaction. He does not like to go to a school or to study or to take lesson. He does not like. That is actually preya (sreya). Preya... That is sreya, future benefit. So the parents, the guardians, engage him for future benefit. "You must take education. Otherwise, in future you'll suffer without education." So this is called sreya. Similarly, our human life is meant for sreya, not for preya. The modern civilization, they are interested in preya: immediate some sense gratification. That is not wanted. Therefore sastra said sreya, not preya. The modern civilization is that "Eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. Do not care for what is future life." That is condemned civilization. We should know that there is future life, there is birth after death, and we must be prepared. As it is advised in the Bhagavad-gita,

Therefore guru is required who can save you from the karma-bandhana process. Karma-mukta. Karma-mukta. That is required. Not karma-bandhana. Karma-mukta. Sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate. If you are trained up to devotional service,

Thank you very much. (end)