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720424SB.TOK
Pradyumna: "...searching on all sides. But when he was unable to find anyone besides himself, he thought it wise to sit down on his lotus seat firmly and give his attention to the execution of penance, as he was instructed." [SB 2.9.7]
Prabhupada: So he could not find any person. Still he took it seriously and began tapasya. Therefore in the beginning of Bhagavata it is said, tene brahma hrda adi-kavaye: "From heart." Yes. He heard from outside. From the heart the order was, "Yes, now you begin your tapasya." So he began. So Krsna is helping both sides, from externally, internally. Externally he heard. Somewhere the sound came, and internally He confirmed, "Yes." So Krsna is helping us externally by the spiritual master, internally by instruction. Buddhi-yogam dadami. In this way, He is trying to help us. Unfortunately we do not care to take His help. Then why should we not suffer? Antar-bahih. Antar-bahih. There are two things, inside and outside. So Krsna is... Outside He is helping, spiritual master. Spiritual master is external manifestation of the Supreme Lord. Just like if somebody is going somewhere in this Tokyo city. I have to say something. So I apply him, "Will you kindly carry this message to him?" Similarly, Krsna deputes some of His confidential devotees to help the people to become Krsna conscious: "Please go and tell him this." The spiritual master is, therefore, external manifestation of the Supreme Lord. And internally He is sitting there as Paramatma. So both ways, He is helping. And because the business is Krsna consciousness, therefore there is no difference between the external teacher and the internal teacher. Because teaching is the same.
Therefore Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura..., saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastraih: "All the sastras, the spiritual master is accepted as directly Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead," because he is carrying directly the message of Hari. Then again it is explained... Then Mayavadi will say, "Then I am God. Because I am carrying the message of Krsna, therefore I am Krsna." No. Kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya. Not that he has become Prabhu, or God, but he is very dear servitor. Kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya. Because He is carrying an important message, therefore he is very confidential. And because he is very confidential servitor, he is not different from Him. Suppose if I ask somebody to do something very confidential, so that means he is identical with me, because otherwise, how can I trust? Therefore it is clear, not like Mayavadis, that "Because I have been deputed by Krsna to carry some message," not that I have become. But I am equal because the business is the same. Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66], and the spiritual master says the same thing, sarva-dharman parityajya: "Just surrender to Krsna." Therefore, message being the same, they are identical. The persons are identical. But not identical in the Mayavadi sense, that he has become now God. No. He is not God, but he is the most confidential servant of God. This is Vaisnava philosophy. Because spiritual master has to be accepted, saksad-dhari, directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore the so-called spiritual master should not be puffed up, that "Now I have become God." This is Mayavada. This is rascaldom. He is most confidential servant of God, Krsna. Therefore the disciple accepts him as good as God. Therefore the conclusion is simultaneously one and different. Acintya-bhedabheda. Bheda, different, means the spiritual master is a confidential servant, or the servant God. To the disciple he is servant God.
Just like in Christian philosophy, they say, "The father and the son, the same." Is it not? Yes. So similarly, here the father and son, or the spiritual master and God, they are same, but at the same time not same. It is simultaneous. This is called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, simultaneously one and different. I think the Christian philosophy is like that. Christ, son, and God, Holy Ghostthey are simultaneously one and different? Is that? So that is the position. Saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih, kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya **. So we can interpret... When the Christian people say that... Just like they say "only son." So we can interpret... Of course, we are not going to interpret. We can take it that anyone who becomes confidential... Just like father position. He has got many sons. One son who is very obedient, he says, "He is my only son, and others not sons." Does he not, father say, sometimes? "Actually he is my son." Sometimes father says like that. But that does not mean that he has got only one son. He has got many sons, but all of them are useless, worthless. He is only bona fide.
Similar statement is there by Tulasi dasa. He saysTulasi dasa was some Hindi poetthat "The put, the son, and mut, the urine, they come through the same source." That's a fact. Put and mut. Put means son, and mut means urine. So when we beget son, the same genital; when we pass urine, the same genital. Son, he has... You...(?) Liquid. Tulasi dasa saysit is very nicethat "Put and mut, they are coming from the same source. So a put, if he is devotee of the Lord, then he is put. If he is not, then he is mut. Then he is mut." If the son... After begetting son, if the son does not become devotee, then he is as good as mut. I pass urine. Mut son, he says, because he's less than mut. Because mut, I pass urine. The obnoxious thing, that is gone away. But it is present. It is present. The bad smell is constantly giving me trouble. Mut karma's there.(?) So these are very instructive. So why this is? Anyone... Everyone is son of God, but one who is acting as real son of God, he is praised, "He is my only son." This idea, not that God is limited to produce only one son. Why? God has unlimited sons. He is unlimited. If an ordinary man can beget hundreds of sons, just like Dhrtarastra... There are many instances..., Rsabhadeva. So why God should be restricted to beget only one son? I asked this question in church to some Christian priest, that "God is limited or unlimited?" He said, "Unlimited." "Then why you are restricting, limited one son?" He could not answer. You know that? Why you are limiting? He is unlimited. The ordinary person can beget hundreds of thousands. Why God, unlimited, He should be restricted to one son? The interpretation should be... Anyway, that Tulasi dasa says that if he is devotee, then he is son. Otherwise it is urine. The God has begotten many sons... Just like... The only worthy son was Jesus Christyou can interpret it like thatbecause he was giving service to the Lord, to the father. He brought the message of father.
So our interpretation is like that, not that God has got only one son, but he is the only worthy son. All are mut. Anyone who is not God conscious, Krsna conscious, mut put(?). Then? Read the purport.
Pradyumna: "To achieve success in life, one should follow the example of Lord Brahma, the first living creature in the beginning of creation. After being initiated by the Supreme Lord to execute tapasya, he was fixed in his determination to do it."
Prabhupada: Yes.
Pradyumna: "Although he could not find anyone besides himself, he could rightly understand that the sound was transmitted by the Lord Himself. Brahma was the only living being at that time, because there was no other creation. And none could be found there except himself. In the beginning of the First Canto, First Chapter, first verse of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is already mentioned that Brahma was initiated by the Lord from within. The Lord is within every living entity as the Supersoul, and he initiated Brahma because Brahma was willing to receive the initiation. The Lord can similarly initiate everyone who is inclined to have it. As already stated, Brahma is the original spiritual master for the universe. And since he was initiated by the Lord Himself, the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam is coming down by disciplic succession. And in order to receive the real message of Srimad-Bhagavatam, one should approach the current link or spiritual master in the chain of disciplic succession. After being initiated by the proper spiritual master in that chain of succession, one should engage himself in discharge of tapasya in the execution of devotional service. One should not, however, think himself on the level of Brahma, to be initiated directly from the Lord by the Lord from inside, because in the present age no one can be accepted to be as pure as Brahma. The post of Brahma, to officiate in the creation of the universe, is offered to the most pure living being. And unless one is so qualified..."
Prabhupada: Yes. This is important. Who becomes Brahma? A very exalted living being, pure, he is entrusted that "You become Brahma." Brahma is also living being, but because he is very pure... This Brahma post is sometimes not available because there is no such pure living being. So Krsna becomes Himself Brahma sometimes. Go on.
Pradyumna: "The post of Brahma, to officiate in the creation of the universe, is offered to the most pure living being. And unless one is so qualified, one cannot expect to be treated like Brahma directly. But one can have the same facility through unalloyed devotees of the Lord and scriptural instructions as revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam especially, and also the bona fide spiritual master available to the sincere soul. The Lord Himself appears as the spiritual master, and the person who is sincere in heart serves the Lord. Therefore the bona fide spiritual master who happens to meet the sincere devotee should be accepted as the most confidential and beloved representative of the Lord. If a person is posted under the guidance of such a bona fide spiritual master it may be accepted without any doubt that the desiring person has achieved the grace of the Lord."
Devotee: All glories to you, Srila Prabhupada.
Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/classes/sb/2/9/7/tokyo/april/24/1972 Previous: Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.4-8 -- Tokyo, April 23, 1972 Next: Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.9 -- Tokyo, April 25, 1972, Informal Class in Room
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