SPD04-04 Bhagavad-gītā Lecture at Melbourne Town Hall, June 27, 1974

SPD04-04
Bhagavad-gita Lecture at
Melbourne Town Hall, June 27, 1974

SPD04-04

[13:57 minutes]

[00:01] [Prabhupada:] "Hallowed be Thy name, my Lord Krsna, the Personality of

[00:08] Godhead. Let Your holy name be glorified." This is our movement. It is

[00:17] not a sectarian;

[00:18] it is very scientific movement. Scientific movement, because at the

[00:23] present moment, we are all godless, forgotten what is God, and what to

[00:30] speak of His name. They do not believe in God, and what to speak of His name,

[00:36] fame, His place, His activities, His form, His quality. How we can know?

[00:45] There is no educational system about the science of God. This movement, Krsna

[00:55] consciousness movement, is teaching the science of God. And if you

[01:04] accept the name of the God, name of God, Krsna-this is also affirmed in other

[01:16] system also-then you will be able to associate with God immediately.

[01:30] Because God is absolute. Absolute means there is no difference.

[01:48] Just like in the relative world... This is relative world. Material

[01:53] world means relative world. Relative world means the son. As soon as I

[02:01] say "the son," there must be a father. As soon as I say "friend," there

[02:09] must be another man, friend. As soon as I say "water," there must be something

[02:17] as water. But in the absolute world, the name "water" and the water is the

[02:25] same. This is called absolute. No different separation. So in the kingdom of

[02:36] God, the God is God, and His son is also God. There, the everything, there is

[02:46] no difference between the name and the substance. Here in this material

[02:51] world, the name and the substance, different.

[02:56] Just like if I am thirsty, I want water, so the water must come to

[03:02] me. If I simply chant "water, water, water," that will not be effective,

[03:09] because it is relative world. But in the transcendental world, Krsna is the

[03:21] name of God, and it is God also. So by chanting Hare Krsna, you are directly in

[03:33] contact with God. This is the meaning of Hare Krsna. [break]

[03:38] ...has got this experience.

[03:40] Therefore I am the enjoyer, purusa. I am changing simply body, this

[03:47] way or that way. This is my position. So one who is intelligent, that "I

[03:55] change body, and different bodies. I am eternal, so what is my eternal

[04:04] business?" this is athato brahma jijnasa. This is called inquiry of the spiritual

[04:14] life. This is very simple thing, that "I am simply changing body. Then what

[04:23] is my real position?" This is intelligent. When a man comes to this position,

[04:32] or this platform, to inquire, "Actually what I am?" that is beginning of

[04:39] human life. Otherwise, it is animal life. The animal also thinks, "I am dog,"

[04:47] "I am tiger," "I am pig," or similarly, if I think, "I am Mr. Such-and-such," "I am president," "I am this," "I am that."

[04:58] You are none of these, sir. These are all

[05:00] designation, for the temporary, for a certain period, ten years, five

[05:06] years, fifty years, utmost hundred years, then finished. But you are eternal.

[05:13] So here it is said purusa, "I am purusa. I am enjoying." So purusa,

[05:22] prakrti-sthaḥ. So long he is in this material body, he, bhuhkte. Bhuhkte

[05:29] means enjoys. Not enjoyment. We think we are enjoying, but we are

[05:36] suffering,

[05:37] actually. And because we cannot understand what is suffering... Suffering

[05:42] there is. Sometimes we come to understand. But we are accepting this

[05:48] suffering as enjoying. A man is working very hard, very hard, whole

[05:58] day. He is... This is not enjoyment. You have got a car, but you are running at

[06:07] seventy miles' speed, going to your business, and there you are earning hundred

[06:13] and thousands of dollars, so you are thinking that you are enjoying. But

[06:18] this labor is suffering, you forget. And in order to forget this suffering,

[06:26] then I take to wine, take to this, take to that, to forget the suffering.

[06:30] So actually we are suffering, but we are accepting it as enjoying.

[06:35] This is called illusion. So whatever we are doing in certain type of body in

[06:42] this material world, that is suffering. That is not enjoying. Because why

[06:50] you are placed? Because I wanted to enjoy life like that. So purusa

[06:56] prakrti-stho hi bhuhkte prakrti-jan gunan [Bg. 13.22]. And this profit is nothing but acceptance of

[07:06] the quality of material nature. And that is very practical. We can

[07:12] understand. Just like we are getting... I get, say, fifty thousand dollar in a

[07:22] check. So I think that "I have got fifty thousand dollars." But what is this

[07:29] fifty thousand dollar? It is a piece of paper. You see? This is called

[07:34] illusion. In this way, you study your life, you will see, if you are sober, if you

[07:42] are actually thoughtful, you will find that "This is not my life. This is

[07.51] not my life. But I am falsely thinking that I am enjoying life." Therefore

[07.59] frustration. Next stage is frustration. Everyone, we are frustrated,

[08.09] because we are in this material world.

[08.12] That, Prahlada Maharaja says, a great devotee, that... His father

[08.18] asked him, "My dear boy, what best thing you have learned?" He said, "My dear

[08.25] father..." He did not say "father." His father was first-class

[08.28] materialist. So he addressed him, "the best of the demons." Because anyone who is

[08.38] very much sensuous, very much attached to sense gratification, they are

[08.44] called demon. And those persons who do not indulge in sense gratification but

[08.53] utilize this body or this life for God realization, Krsna realization,

[09.01] they are called gods.

[09.05] There are two classes of men: demon and god. Those who are engaged

[09.11] in God consciousness, they are not God, but godly. And those who are not...

[09.17] Because this human life is meant for this purpose. Forgetting our father,

[09.23] forgetting our God, we are criminal within this material world. Therefore our only

[09.31] business is how to get out of this prison house and go back to home,

[09.36 back to Godhead.

[09.38] So this Krsna consciousness movement is trying to liberate these

[09.44] foolish persons who are entangled in this material world and changing one body

[09.51] after another, sometimes very happy and sometimes very distressed.

[09.58] The quality is the same, a drop of Atlantic or Pacific Ocean and the ocean.

[10.05] If you taste the drop, a small drop, it is salty, you can understand that

[10.14] the ocean is also salty. But the containing..., the contents of salt, that is

[10.23] very small, and the contents of salt in the ocean, that is very big. That

[10.32] you cannot imagine. It is like that. God is like you and me, a person. But

[10.39] He is Pacific Ocean; we are drop.

[10.46] Yes? What is your question, please? This gentleman...

[11.05] [Madhudvisa:] He wants to know what the doctrine of Krsna consciousness is.

[11.11] [Prabhupada:] Krsna consciousness means that you are part and parcel of

[11.13] Krsna, or God. You being separated, I have already explained, you are

[11.20] suffering in this material world. So you back to your father, go back to your father

[11.26] and be happy. That's all.

[11.42] [Guest:] You're saying that God is spirit, we are spirit, and... What follows from there?

[11.51] [Madhudvisa:] So what is the question?

[11.53] [Guest:] [indistinct]

[11.56] [Madhudvisa:] The question was, "In the Srimad-Bhagavatam," which is a scripture that we study, "it says that Krsna did not want

[12.04] us to come to this material world." The question is, if Krsna did not want us to come, why are

[12.10] we here?

[12.12] [Prabhupada:] Yes. You forced Krsna to allow you to come. Just like

[12:18] sometimes a child forces the father. Father says, "My dear son, do not do,

[12:25] do not do." But he insists, "Well, I must go. I must go." "All right, you

[12:29] go, at your risk." That's all. And you suffer. What can be done? Because you

[12:39] are son of God-God has got independence, full independence,

[12:46] almighty-therefore

[12:48] you have acquired the quality of your father. You have got little

[12:53] independence. So God does not interfere with your little independence.

[13:00] If you persist, that "I must go and enjoy independently," so God says, "All

[13:07] right, you can go." This is the position. You have to take sanction.

[13:14] That is a fact. But when you persist, God sanctions. And you come and enjoy.

[13:25] Beginning from Lord Brahma down to the worms in the stool, gradually,

[13:33] according to your work, according to your desire, you manufacture your

[13:36] different types of body and enjoy and suffer. That's all.

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