Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.5 – February 12, 1976, Māyāpur

My dear Krsna, it is very difficult

Anantaram Sastriji: Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. [devotees repeat] [chants verse, with devotee repeating] [break]

Dayananda: [chants synonyms; devotees repeat]

[01:40]

Translation: "Lord Nrsimhadeva, when He saw Prahlada Maharaja fallen down at the end of His lotus feet, He became very much ecstatic in affection towards His devotee, and immediately raising him, placed His lotus hand upon the head, because His hand is always ready to create fearlessness of all His devotees."

So kala, kala means death. Krsna, He is life and death also. Bijo 'ham sarva-bhūtanam [Bg 7.10]: from Him all living entities come out, or in Him every living entity exists. At the same time, Krsna says, mrtyu aham sarva-haras ca: He is death also. [Bg 10.34] So for the nondevotees He is death, and for the devotees He is life. These are the contradictory qualifications of the Supreme Lord. Death and life are two opposite things, viruddha, and Krsna is both of them. So He adjusts, viruddha; opposite things coincide into one thing. That is Krsna. We cannot adjust opposite things to be one.

So, sva-pada-mule patitam. Lord Brahma, as soon as asked Prahlada Maharaja to pacify the Lord, he immediately fell down at His lotus feet, sva-pada-mule patitam tam arbhakam. Just like we are sometime extraordinarily happy, pleased, when a small child offers his obedience. So naturally, when Prahlada Maharaja, a small boy, five years old, and he fell down at the lotus feet of the Lord, He became very much pleased. So not only for Prahlada Maharaja; anyone in this material world who offers his obeisances before the Deity, don't think it is useless. It is taken into account. Therefore Krsna advises, if you cannot do anything, you do four things: man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

"At least come before Me," just like we do. We come in the temple and offer our obeisances. It is so easy to go back to home, back to Godhead. It is not very difficult task at all. If you cannot do anything-if you cannot read books, if you cannot understand philosophy, if your behavior is not on the standard-still, if you simply offer your obeisances before the Deity, you make progress. You make progress. Undoubtedly. In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu you will find it that this worshiping method-come to the temple, offer obeisances, just like these boys, they are playing mrdahgas, they are playing cymbals, dancing-every item is taken into account. Every item. Not that it is going futile. No. That is Krsna consciousness, that is bhakti-marga, sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat [Bg 2.40]. Simply by playing on the cymbal, on the khol, taking little caranamrta... Everything in detail there is in the Nectar of Devotion, you have read.

So the foolish persons, they do not take care. They think they are very much advanced, they have no need to attend arati or to play on the mrdahga or cymbal. But that is not fact. So many items are there given by the acaryas. If not this, you do this, you do that, you do that-hundreds of items. Take any one of them and you'll be benefited. This is arcana-marga. There are many foolish person, they make propaganda, "There is no need of going to the temple." That is another rascaldom. Because if you come to the temple, you get so many facilities to make advance in spiritual life. This is our mission. We are opening..., spending so much money for opening gorgeous temple. It is not new thing. This is very, very old, coming by parampara system. There are many thousands of temples in India, very old, five thousand, three thousand years old. Why? The acaryas wanted to give facility to the common man to enter into spiritual life. That is the idea.

It is not childish. Rather, the so-called meditation is childish. You cannot... If you do not know what is God, how you can meditate upon Him? Meditation mean dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yogino [SB 12.13.1]. The yogis perform meditation. Why? To concentrate their mind on the Visnu form. You'll find some pictures that everyone is depicted with the Visnu form in the core of the heart. That is real yoga, indriya-samyamaḥ. Real yoga means indriya-samyamaḥ. Our senses are so much disturbed, agitated always. So if you can control your sensory organs to your, I mean, employ them in the matter of understanding God: yoga indriya-samyamaḥ. [SB 11.19.36]

Real purpose of yoga is to control the senses. Very, very difficult. Even five thousand years ago, when Arjuna was being instructed on the yoga system, concentrating the mind, fixing up the mind on Krsna, or Visnu, the same thing, so Arjuna said, "My dear Krsna, it is very difficult." Cancalam hi manaḥ krsna pramathi balavad drḍham [Bg 6.34]. "It is not possible, for me at least." Yes, those who are busy, ksatriyas, vaisyas. Brahmana may be able. Not nowadays brahmana; those who are actually brahmana, because they practice samaḥ, damaḥ, satyam, saucam, controlling the mind, controlling the senses, brahmacari. They can do that. But the ksatriyas and the vaisyas, they cannot, because they have not practiced samaḥ, damaḥ. But at the present moment in this age, Kali-yuga, everyone is sūdra, nobody is brahmana, by the caste system or by birthright. Sudra. Kalau sūdra sambhavaḥ. So in this age, how to concentrate the mind upon Krsna, this practice: chanting.

In Kali-yuga it is very, very difficult to control the mind, to practice meditation. So there is no use of practicing the so-called meditation. Meditation was possible in the Satya-yuga. Krte yad dhyayato visnum [SB 12.3.52]. That is also Visnu, dhyayataḥ. To meditate upon Lord Visnu, that was possible in the Satya-yuga. It is not possible in the Kali-yuga. Kalau tad dhari-kirtanat. Kali-yuga, this is, even the child, a-bala-vrddha-vanitaḥ. [SB 10.16.15] Beginning from the child, a small child, one year old, they are taking part. Practically you can see. They are taking flower, offering. It is imitation, but the effect is there, the same. Either you imitate or you do real-effective. Just like if you touch fire, either knowingly or unknowingly, it will act. It will act. Similarly, sv-alpam apy dharmasya: either this child, the children, they imitate the elderly person, the offering flower, taking prasadam, offering obeisances, they're as good as their father and mother. This is devotional service.

Avaya. Avyaya means it doesn't vanquish. There is no expenditure; it is increasing. Anandambudhi-vardhanam. Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, ceto-darpana-marjanam, anandambudhi-vardhanam [Cc Antya 20.12]. These transcendental activities, transcendental bliss, increases, ananda ambudhi. Ambudhi means ocean. We have seen ocean, but it does not increase, although it is a very big, vast mass of water. Still, when you go to the beach for hundreds year, it does not increase. Anandambudhi, the material world, not vardhanam; it is fixed up. When we walk on the beach we are confident that although the Pacific Ocean is a great, vast mass of water, but we are certain it cannot come up to this. It is limited by the order of God: "You cannot go beyond this." So there is no vardhanam. The temporary ebb tide and flow tide, that is another thing, but actually apūryamanam acala-pratistham. [Bg 2.70] But in the spiritual world, the ocean of transcendental bliss increases. Therefore it is said that anandambudhi vardhanam.

So these little boys who are taking to Krsna consciousness, just like Prahlada Maharaja, maha-bhagavata, he is also playing the part of a child, immediately falling down; so these children who are here, even imitation, it will not go in vain. Krsna is so kind, as it is said here, sva-pada-mūle-patitam tam arbhakam. Although they are innocent children, but when they're offering obeisances to Radha-Madhava, He is observing, "Yes, very good." It is going to their credit. It is not bad. Some may think that these boys are brought here and their life is being spoiled; they are not being educated in the modern way; they're simply chanting, dancing and offering... But that is the real education. Tan manye adhitam uttamam, Prahlada Maharaja. Sravanam kirtanam visnoḥ smaranam pada-sevanam arcanam vandanam dasyam [SB 7.5.23], the devotional service. Tan manye adhitam uttamam. [SB 7.5.24] They are being first-class educated, these boys, they, simply by chanting and dance. Don't be disturbed, that "My child is not being educated." What is this education? This education, this bodily concept of life, it is not education. That "I am this body," "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brahmana," "I am ksatriya," "I am white," "I am black," this education, the whole world this education is going on, nationalism, in the name of nationalism, communism, socialism. They are all bodily concept of life. That is not education. That education is useless, because this kind of education will not stop the process of birth, death, old age and disease. They may be technical education, temporary, some bodily comfort, but this is not taken as education. Real education is brahma-jijnasa, athato brahma-jijnasa. That is real education. What I am, that is brahma-jijnasa. Aham brahmasmi. When he comes to the conclusion that he is not this body, he is spirit soul, that is real education.

So the bhakti-marga is so nice that they are simply staying on the Brahman platform, brahma-bhūyaya kalpate. Sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhūyaya kalpate. Who? Mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate [Bg 14.26]. So our program, this program, anyone who may come here, he is educated how to understand brahma-bhūyaya. That is education. This is not education, the technical education. Nowadays they are very much fond of technical education. That is temporary. That is not education. Electrician comes-suppose the power has failed, and he manipulates and brings the power-that is technical education. But real education is different. That is to understand the atma-tattvam. Apasyatam atma-tattvam grhesu grha-medhinam [SB 2.1.2].

Those who are fully absorbed in family life, grhesu grha-medhinam, they are apasyatam atma-tattvam. They cannot see what is real life, what is the goal of life. So here we see Prahlada Maharaja fell down immediately. That is real education. Brahma asked him, "You just try to pacify," immediately he fell down. And Krsna immediately became compassionate, sva-pada-mūle patitam tam arbhakam vilokya.

The Mayavadis, they say God has no eyes, but here it is said vilokya. How you can say without eyes He can see? But His seeing is different, pasyaty acaksuḥ. [Svetasvatara Upanisad 3.19] He has no eyes like us. What is our..., what is the value of our eyes? As soon as there is no light, you cannot see. But Krsna can see always, either there is light or not. That is the difference. Therefore when in the Vedas it is said that He has no eyes, means He has no this material eyes, which is limited. So here it is said vilokya. Just like we are offering obeisances, the children are offering obeisances to the Lord. Don't think that "Here is Deity made of metal. How He can see?" No. This is rascaldom. He can see. That is His eyes. Either you present Him in material element or in any way, He can see in all circumstances. Therefore it is called... Just like in the Bhagavad-gita it is said, tad aham asnami: "I eat." What it that? Patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati, tad aham asnami [Bg 9.26].

"I eat." The rascals, they cannot see how Krsna is eating what is offered to Him, but He says, "Yes, I eat." So what is that eating? But you have..., you have got so imperfect eyes, you cannot see how the Lord is eating, but He is eating. These things are clearly... Here it is specifically mentioned, vilokya devaḥ krpaya pariplutaḥ, ecstatic, "Oh, how he is nice, this boy."

So in this way we have to understand Krsna, the Lord, devaḥ, how He is working transcendentally. That is pasyaty acaksaḥ, acaksuḥ, srnoti, akarnaḥ. [Svetasvatara Upanisad 3.19] His hearing, His seeing, His eating is different from us. Therefore it is said, ahgani yasya sakalendriya-vrtti-manti [Bs 5.32]. If we offer at His lotus feet something, He eats. He can eat with His leg. Therefore how His eating process can be equal to us? Therefore there are two contradictory: pasyati, acaksuḥ; srnoti, akarnaḥ. This is to be understood. Not that He is impersonal. His personality is different from our personality. We cannot eat with our leg, but Krsna can eat with..., by His leg. He can see by His leg. He can hear by His finger. This is called ahgani yasya sakalendriya-vrtti-manti [Bs 5.32]. He is perfect. In this way you have to understand Krsna.

So as soon as we come in touch with Krsna by devotional service, then we become abhayam, no more fear. And so long we are in the material world, bhayam. So Krsna's another name is Abhaya. Bhajahū re mana sri-nanda-nandana abhaya-caranaravinda re. Abhaya. His name is Abhaya. So if you come in touch with Krsna by devotional service, then there is no more fear. Everyone is afraid. But those who are devotees of Krsna, narayana-paraḥ, narayana-paraḥ na kutascana bibhyati [SB 6.17.28], he is not afraid.

[recording speeds up due to discharging battery]

Just like Prahlada Maharaja. He was not afraid-the Lord has appeared. He was put into so many difficulties by his father, but he was never afraid. Abhayam. If you become in touch with Krsna, then the opposite. In this material world, bhayam, bhayam dvitiyabhinivesataḥ syat [SB 11.2.37]. That means if we understand there is something else other than Krsna, then there is bhayam. Dvita. But if we are firmly convinced that there is nothing but Krsna, sarvam khalvidam brahma, there is no worry. [Chandogya Upanisad 3.14.1] So we have to understand like that...

Thank you very much. [break] [end]