Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.1 in Hindi – December 24, 1976, Bombay

This is the instruction of Rsabhadeva. He is eternal personality of Godhead. Rsabhadeva. He is an authority. One of the principle one. The Jains also follow Rsabhadeva. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is for everybody. God is neither Hindu, nor Muslim, nor Jain. God is God eternally. Just like gold, if a Hindu has gold, it is not Hindu-gold. It is gold. If some Muslim has gold, it is not Muslim-gold. Similarly the Supreme Lord is one. Eka brahma dvitiya nasty. This is our illusion that there is Hindu dharma, Muslim dharma, Christian dharma, Jain dharma. Dharma should be one. About dharma Yamaraja explains, dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]

Dharma refers to that which is given or spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. [Aside: That child.] Just like the laws. Law. India is our country. The laws of India can be made only by the government. It is not that the Hindus make a law, the Muslims make a law, the Christians make a law. No. The law will be accepted only that which is enacted by the government. If you walk on the road it says, "keep to the right" or "keep to the left." It must be followed by the Muslims or Hindus or Christians simply because it is the government's rule. Similarly whatever the Supreme Personality of Godhead says that is dharma. This is the simplest definition of dharma. dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam. [SB 6.3.19] In the Bhagavad-gita the Supreme Lord personally comes and explains, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru. [Bg 18.65]

Whether you address the Supreme Lord as Krsna, or as Alla, or you call Him as Christ, but what is your duty? man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru. By whatever name you address Him, your duty is to always remember Him. Man-mana. Bhava mad bhakto, become a devotee of the Lord. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has also instructed. We have started this Hare Krsna movement. Caitanya Mahaprabhu never said that you only chant the name of Krsna. He said to chant the name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead provided you know Him. If you know Him you will also know His name. But if he has no information of the Supreme Lord then whose name will you chant? If you have no acquaintance with some friend then how would you know him by his name?

Caitanya Mahaprabhu is praying, "O Lord, You have got so many names." There must be for He is unlimited. He is not limited. Limitless. So His holy names are also unlimited. In our sastra, there is "Visnu-sahasra-nama" or one thousand names of Lord Visnu. ramadi-mūrtisu kala-niyamena tisthan nanavataram akarod [Bs 5.39] The Supreme Personality of Godhead has got innumerable incarnations. They have got Their respective names as well. You chant any of Their names. Whichever name you like. It is not that only Krsna's name…Krsna's name is the principle name, this is the Vedic statement.The Supreme Lord has millions and trillions of names, but the principle name is Krsna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. ete camsa-kalaḥ pumsaḥ krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. [SB 1.3.28]

Therefore we, who follow the Vedic conclusion, accept the name "Krsna" as the Supreme. If you think that Krsna is the name of a Hindu God then you may chant any other name of the Supreme Lord which you know. The main subject of our preaching is harer namaiva kevalam. [Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126] Simply chant the holy name of the Lord. There is no restriction. If you have got some other name of the Supreme Lord…But the problem is nowadays in the world neither people know who God is, nor what God's name is. They have no acquaintance with the Supreme Lord so how will they know His name? This is the difficulty. Otherwise any name of the Lord you chant you will get benefit. namnamakari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis, The holy name of the Lord is invested with all energies of the Lord. Just like the Supreme Personality of Godhead possesses all energies, almighty, in the same way the Lord's name possesses all potencies. Absolute. There is no difference between the name and the person-the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Otherwise why do we chant His name? Because, He is Bhagavan-the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we chant the Lord's name all the time, as the Lord Himself says, man-mana bhava mad bhakto, [Bg 18.65] if you simply chant the Lord's name you become a devotee. There is no difficulty. Simply chant the Supreme Lord's name. Whatever name you prefer provided it should the Supreme Lord's name. But if you ascertain Him as formless then where is the question of the poor fellow's name? He is finished then and there. So here Rsbhadeva, the Lord's incarnation, is imparting some instructions to His sons. Retire. Previously big, big kings used to retire. Nowadays there is no question of retirement until one is shot dead by bullets. They don't even think about retirement. There should be retirement. The principle of Vedic varnasrama is highly scientific. For some years one should remain brahmacari-student, for some years one should remain grhastha, it is not that one remain grhastha for whole life. That is not Vedic civilization. Remaining some years…Twenty-five to fifty years, when the senses are most strong. The grhastha life is a concession-licence to enjoy sense gratification. Actually there is no need for it. But people cannot follow it, therefore gradually try to abstain. First student life-brahmacari. He is taught what is the value of life. brahmacari guru-kule vasan danto guror hitam. [SB 7.12.1] He is taught about peacefulness, self control and so on. From the very beginning he is taught matrvat para-daresu, or treat all women as mother. Go to each and every house and beg "Oh mother, give me some alms." That way he learns to address all women as mother. All women are mother. That is also Canakya Panḍita's instruction.

Canakya Panḍita is explaning who is a Panḍita? One who sees all women as mother and nothing else. He has no other relationship. This is taught to him from the beginning of his life. If he learns like that then he will not call women anything but mother. Matrvat para-daresu, and para-dravyesu lostravat, treat others wealth as rubbish in the street. Just like rubbish in the road nobody even touches, like that. para-dravyesu lostravat. atmavat sarva-bhūtesu treat all living entities as good as yourself, atleast learn this much that if somebody comes to sever your head you feel pain. Therefore why you cut anyone's throat? Why do you open slaughter house?

A person who follows these three things, yaḥ pasyati sa panḍitaḥ, one who is educated about these three things matrvat para-daresu, para-dravyesu lostravat atmavat he is Panḍita or learned. Not that one becomes Panḍita by studying B.A., M.A. Such persons are not accepted as learned by our Vedic standard. One passes B.A., M.A. and keeps illicit connection with other women, eat meat, fish etc, and steal anothers money as soon as there is opportunity. This is not Panḍit. This is foolish. This is Vedic civilization. Therefore one is trained as a brahmacari. How to become peaceful, how to control the senses and how to sacrifice everything for the service of the Guru? Guror hitam. The life of a brahmacari is simply meant for the benefit of the guru and not for Himself. This is the traning given to a brahmacari.

If he is unable to remain a life long brahmacari then the spiritual master instructs him to get married with a suitable good girl. Grhastha asrama. By having a good foundation in the beginning the grhastha life becomes restrained life. In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated dharmaviruddho bhūtesu kamo 'smi [Bg 7.11] kama, lusty desire which is not against the religious principles, that I am. Krsna says. Sex life is not bad provided it is within the jurisdiction of dharma. So grhastha life is a concession for sex life and nothing else. There is no need for it. But if someone is unable to advance quickly it is a concession for him. That is Grhastha. From the age of twenty-five up to the age of fifty you enjoy life. Then at the age of fifty you should retire because the foundation was laid in the beginning of life. Big big kings and saintly persons used to retire at the age of fifty for there is no more necessary for it. So Rsabhadeva who was the emperor of the whole world, before retiring he was giving instructions to his sons. A few lines from his instructions I am trying to explain to you all. My dear sons, nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke, kastan kaman arhate viḍ-bhujam ye [SB 5.5.1]

My dear sons, this body that you have got, human form of body, is not ordinary. After many births …. Bahu sambhavante [SB 11.9.29] After going through 8,400,000 species of life, one attains this human form of body. After going through 8,000,000, why 8,000,000, after passing 8,300,000 species of life one obtains the human form of life. Tatha dehantara praptir [Bg. 2.13] This is the very first instruction the Supreme Lord imparts. One must change his body. It is not that when this body is finished and burnt to ashes everything is finished. Just like the atheistic people think, bhasmi-bhūtasya dehasya kutaḥ punar agamano bhavet [Caravaka Muni]. "Just enjoy life. Don't worry about vice and virtue. When this body will be burned in the fire then what is left? That's all." Only foolish people speak like that. But the real fact is that the spirit soul who is so minute, kesagra-sata-bhagasya satadha kalpitasya ca [Svetasvatara Upanisad 5.9],

You take the tip of the hair, and one thousandth part of that hair is the size of the soul. That minute spiritual particle-the soul is situated within an ant and within an elephant as well. Through the subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego the spirit soul enters into the womb. And thus he receives a new body. This process is called, Mrtyu samsara vartmani. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself said, aprapya mam nivartante mrtyu-samsara-vartmani [Bg. 9.3] If in this life you do not endeavor to go back to Godhead and not remain entangled in the cycle of birth and death, the process of which is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita and all other scriptures, if we don't study and learn all that but live a life like dogs and asses then again the same cycle, mrtyu samsara vartmani. The Supreme Lord Himself has said,

If one does not follow these instructions of Bhagavad-gita due to lack of faith or thinking them to be useless, or tries to distort the meaning whimsically and thereby bring about ruination to himself and others. Actually what is the purpose of Bhagavad-gita? The purpose of Bhagavad-gita is that we have forgotten the Supreme Lord, we don't know who God is, that's why the Lord personally descends to teach everyone.

This is decination of religious principles. Dharmasya glanir, whatever the Supreme Lord ascertains as religion that nobody accepts, they simply speculate. That is called glanir. So whenever there is a declination in religious principles at that time The Supreme Personality of Godhead appears. He comes and explains "My dear sons, this is religion." The Lord Himself comes, His incarnations come, His devotees come, His servants come just to explain this one thing that you have completely forgotten the Lord and became independent, that is your sheer foolishness.

Actually foolish people consider themselves to be independent. What is your independence? prakrteḥ kriyamanani gunaiḥ karmani sarvasaḥ You are completely under the control of material nature. daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg 7.14] You cannot get out. You cannot go beyond this. Mam eva ye, material nature has full control over you just so that you can surrender to the Supreme Lord. mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te. [Bg 7.14] As soon as we surrender unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead you are no more under the control of Maya. These things are all described in the scriptures. Every sastra tells us only one thing, just surrender unto the Supreme Lord. You will be happy. No matter how big plan you make, you cannot be happy by any other means.

Similarly Rsabhadeva also speaks the same thing. My dear sons, this present body, nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke. I am not this body. But because I am trying to enjoy this material world I have received a suitable body to do so according to my karma. According to one's past deeds one receives a human body, one gets a dog body, one receives a demigod body and one receives a fish body. Actually all are spirit souls.

"I am the father of everyone." It is not that I am the father of human beings and not of the goats. That's not true. I have got a body and a dog has also got a body. But my body is special. The speciality is that dogs, sheeps, asses and hogs cannot work hard like me. This is stated. There are four kinds of human beings. One kind is like dog. sva-viḍ-varahostra-kharaiḥ. One kind is like dogs, one kind is like camels, one kind is like asses and another kind is like that of hogs. There is a nice explanation about this.

The dogs are four legged, the hogs are four legged, the camels are four legged and the asses are also four legged animals. If we, being two legged, act like dogs, hogs, camels and asses, therefore sastra warns us that having received the human form of life you should not act like dogs, hogs, camels, and asses. Then we are no better than them. Kastan kaman arhate viḍ-bhujam ye. [SB 5.5.1] No. These animals work so hard whole day, especially the pigs, you might have seen how they wander about whole day and night. For what? Vid-bhujam ye. Where is stool? Get it. We want to eat. And as soon as they are fat and healthy immediately sense gratification without any discrimination. Pig. That's why they are called so. No discrimination for food. No discrimination for sex.

Therefore Rsabhadeva is forbidding his sons. "My sons, you have got this human form of life. Do not use this human body like hogs." Though He has used very strong words, it is right for the scriptures do not speak anything wrong. We work hard only and whatever foodstuffs we get we eat without any discrimination. Get strong and indulge in sense gratification. This is not human life. This is the first position. Ayam deha. nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke. [SB 5.5.1] The other bodies we may get but there also the same business will go on. Animal life. This modern civilization is actually not modern. This is going on from ancient time. But human society now is full of such types of people. Otherwise why it is stated sva-viḍ-varahostra-kharaiḥ. Let me explain to you a little.

Actually modern day education is meant for, do not feel bad, becoming dogs. Why do I say it is meant to become dog? Suppose you yourself pass M.A. Phd, Dhc or whatever but if you don't get a job then you lower than a dog. Having been educated you move about everywhere but "No vacancy, no vacancy." Recently it was in the news paper there were two or two and half lakhs applications for five hundred posts. What is the value of this education? Education refers to…our educated person is a brahmana. He is not a servant of anyone. A ksatriya is not a servant of anyone. A vaisya is not a servant of anyone. Only sūdras are servant.

This is described in the Bhagavad-gita. Therefore for Kali-yuga it is said, kalau sūdra sambhava. In Kali-yuga almost everybody is a sūdra. This is the condition. Actually in the human society there should be four varnas or social orders. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself has said,

These divisions must be there, otherwise there will be chaos in the human society. The brahmana is the head-brain. The ksatriya is the arms to give protection to the society. The brahmana will give instruction from the sastra that such and such way you lead your life. And vaisya will produce foodgrains. This is also necessary. Just like in the body the brain is required, the arms are required, the stomach is required and the legs are required. Similarly, catur-varnyam maya srstam, [Bg 4.13] if there are sūdras only, if there are vaisyas only then the dicipline and balance of the society will be ruined. Then Rsabhadeva further explains that one should not live in a chaotic society. One should utilize the human live properly because after all what is the goal of human life? To stop this mrtyu samsara vartamani, [Bg 9.3] they don't know that after giving up one body they will have to accept another body. But there are persons who know, dhiras tatra na muhyati. The Supreme Personality of Godhead said,

One who is sober. Everybody is restless. Nobody is sober. So this movement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu is meant for everyone both dhira and adhira, sober and restless. In the prayers to the Six Gosvamis it is written,

Just like we are sitting here, we haven't picked only the dhiras to sit here, many adhiras are also sitting here. No problem. Krsna-kirtan is such that all combinedly dhiras, adhiras, foolish, learned, rich, poor, brahmanas, sūdras, everyone can participate. But one must undergo austerity. Tapo divyam. Austerity. This is Indian culture. Big, big kings, especially the brahmanas and ksatriyas at some point of life must take retirement. Just to undergo austerity. Tapo divyam. It must be done. If one refuses to undergo austerity then as the Lord says, mam aprapya, the connection with the Lord, though it can never be broken, but will be forgotten. By austerity the relationship between the Supreme Lord and the living entities can be revived. And if you do not perform austerity then, nivartante mrtyu-samsara-vartmani. [Bg 9.3] You will have to go back again to the cycle of birth and death. You will have to take birth as a human being, as a tree, as an ass, as a demigod and so on so on. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has instructed,

In this way the living entities wander about throughout the universe. Sometimes in the higher planets sometimes in the lower planets. Mrtyu samsara vartmani….But one must die. There are big, big scientists, we also have scientists with us, but the Supreme Lord says,

Suppose you are able to temporarily mitigate suffering through scientific process, but your four primary sufferings remain as it is. Janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi. You have to take birth, you have to die, you have to become old and you have to suffer from disease. Do you have any solution to that scientifically? No. The only solution to that is this tapo divyam. In order to attain transcendental knowledge, in order to attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead one must perform tapasya. To perform tapasya in Kali-yuga is also very difficult, because the living entities in this age of Kali is very fallen. Prayena alpayusa, first of all short lived. It is stated in the sastra that people in Kali-yuga would live for 100 years. But who lives for 100 years? By 20, 50, or 60 years they die.

This is the position of Kali-yuga. The only tapasya for Kali-yuga is Hari kirtana or congregational chanting of the holy name of Hari. Tapasya. There is no other tapasya. You cannot go to forest, you cannot go to the mountain. You cannot perform tapasya like big, big, ascetics. These things are not possible. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has prescribed,

In Kali-yuga no form of tapasya is possible. Let there be only one tapasya and that is chanting of the holy name of the Supreme Lord. You can do it anywhere. You can come to the temple and chant or you can chant at home. People are accepting this process in Europe and America. It is not that only my disciples are chanting the name of Hari, but others also have started chanting the holy name of Hari. We have got pictures of that. This is our Indian culture. Why should we reject it? You have nothing to spend. There is no difficulty to do it. Stay wherever you are, whether you are a grhastha, or a brahmacari, or a brahmana, or a cobbler, there is no consideration at all. Simply chant the holy name of Hari. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Srila Prabhupada. [end]