SPD08-03 Bhagavad-gītā 2.13, April 11, 1973, New York
SPD08-03
Bhagavad-gita 2.13,
April 11, 1973, New York
Bhagavad-gita 2.13,
April 11, 1973, New York
[09:39] [Prabhupada:] Dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara,
[09:53] So this is a statement by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, bhagavan uvaca,
[10:07] that you are not this body. The first instruction for spiritual understanding
[10:18] is to know that "I am not this body." This is the beginning. The so-called yogis,
[10:33] they are exercising the body, studying the psychology of the mind by charts,
[10:43] by so many humbug. But our philosophy: that we are not this body.
[10:53] Then where is the question of exercising the body and spiritual realization?
[11:00] If I am not this body, then how I can realize myself simply by some gymnastic process?
[11:14] So this is the mistake, the karmis, jnanis and the yogis. The karmis, fruitive worker,
[11:26] materialistic person, they want bodily comforts. Their only idea is how to get the best
[11:37] comfort of this body. This body means the senses. We have got eyes, ears, nose, mouth,
[11:53] tongue, hands, genital-so many senses we have got.
[12:01] So as soon as we are in the bodily concept of life, immediately the necessity is for sense gratification.
[12:15] But Krsna says to Arjuna that "You are not this body." So therefore my self-interest
[12:30] does not depend on my bodily comforts. They do not know this. Everyone, at the present moment,
[12:41] in this age, their only business is how to gratify the senses. Atheistic principle. Just like there was
[12:54] a great atheist, Carvaka Muni. All classes of philosophers there were in India. The Western countries,
[13:11] they have got little information, but in India, there was cultivation of all kinds of philosophy.
[13:22] So atheist philosophy was there. Carvaka Muni is the chief of the atheist class of philosophers.
[13:32] So he said hedonism. The Western philosophy is hedonism, that "Eat, drink, be merry and enjoy."
[13:45] This philosophy. So long you have got this body, eat, drink, be merry and enjoy.
[13:54] The Carvaka Muni also said like that. Rnam krtva ghrtam pibet. In India, bodily enjoyment means first tongue,
[14:11] tongue's enjoyment. Everywhere. Here also, tongue's enjoyment. So if we want to control our senses...
[14:24] Therefore Bhaktivinoda Thakura, following the footsteps of previous acarya, he says that
[14:35] "Control your tongue." Control your tongue. And in the Bhagavata also it is said,
[14:47] ataḥ sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiḥ [Brs. 1.2.234]. With our these blunt senses,
[14:57] we cannot understand Krsna. It is not possible. The senses are so imperfect
[15:08] that you cannot acquire any perfect knowledge, material or spiritual, by the senses.
[15:14] That is not possible. Ataḥ. Even if you cannot know perfectly the affairs of this material world...
[15:25] Just like they are studying the moon planet, the nearest planet. Besides this moon planet,
[15:31] there are millions and trillions of other planets. They cannot say anything,
[15:37] because the senses are imperfect. How you can understand? I can see, say, up to one mile.
[15:51] But when there is question of millions and trillions of miles, how you can use your senses
[15:57] and have the perfect knowledge? So you cannot have even material knowledge perfectly
[16:05] by using these senses, what to speak of God and spiritual knowledge. That is beyond,
[16:15] avah-manasa-gocara, beyond your conception. Therefore sastra says,
[16:22] ataḥ sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiḥ [Brs. 1.2.234].
[16:28] If you want to know God by mental speculation, that is frog philosophy,
[16:37] Dr. Frog, calculating Atlantic Ocean, sitting down in the well. This is called frog philosophy.
[16:48] You cannot understand. Then how it is possible to understand? The next line is,
[16:55] sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty. If you employ your tongue in the service of the Lord,
[17:06] He'll reveal Himself to you. He'll reveal, revelation.
[17:15] So therefore we have to control the tongue. What is the tongue's business?
[17:24] The tongue's business is taste and vibrate. So you vibrate in service of the Lord,
[17:36] Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna means "O Krsna, O the energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service."
[17:46] Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare... This is the meaning of Hare Krsna.
[17:51] It has no other meaning. "O my Lord Krsna and O the energy of Krsna, Radharani
[17:58] especially, kindly both of You engage me in Your service." As Narottama dasa Thakura says,
[18:10] ha ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta-juta [Hari Hari Bipale]: "My Lord, Krsna, You are well known as
[18:23] the son of Nanda Maharaja. And Your eternal consort, Radharani, She's also known as the
[18:31] daughter of King Vrsabhanu. So both of You are here." Ha ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta...,
[18:41] karuna karaha ei-bara: "Now I have come to You. Please both of You be merciful upon me."
[18:50] This is Hare Krsna: "Be merciful upon me." Narottama-dasa kaya na theliha rahga-paya:
[19:02] "Your lotus feet, You have got. Don't neglect me or push away with Your lotus feet."
[19:14] I think if Krsna kicks and push away, that is our great fortune. You see?
[19:23] If Krsna kicks with His lotus feet, "You go away," that is also a great fortune.
[19:29] What to speak of accepting? Just like when Krsna was kicking on the hood of the Kaliya.
[19:43] So the Kaliya's wives prayed, "My dear Sir, I do not know this culprit, Kaliya,
[19:55] how he became so fortunate that his hood is being kicked by You.
[20:06] Your touch of lotus feet, great, great sages, saintly persons are trying to meditate
[20:13] upon millions of years, but this Kaliya... I do not know what did he do in his past life
[20:24] that he's fortunate that his hood is being kicked by You."
[20:31] So this is our position, that we cannot understand Krsna by our mental speculation,
[20:44] limited sense. That is not possible. We have to engage-sevonmukhe hi jihvadau-
[20:50] beginning from jihva, tongue. Tongue is the greatest enemy, and it is the greatest friend also.
[21:02] If you allow the tongue to do whatever it likes-smoking, drinking, eating meat,
[21:12] and this and that-then it is your greatest enemy. And if you do not allow the tongue,
[21:21] you can control the tongue, then you can control the all the senses, automatically.
[21:30] Ta'ra madhye jihva ati, lobhamay sudurmati, ta're jeta kathina samsare, krsna baḍa
[21:40] dayamay, karibare jihva jay, sva-prasadanna dila bhai, sei prasada anna pao, radha-krsna-,
[21:49] guna gao, preme ḍako caitanya-nitai [Prasada-sevaya I]. So tongue should be used always for glorifying the
[22:02] Supreme Lord. That is our business with the tongue. And the tongue should not be
[22:09] allowed to [eat] anything except krsna-prasada. Then you become liberated,
[22:17] simply by controlling the tongue. And if you allow the tongue to do anything,
[22:25] then it is very difficult. So the spiritual education, as Krsna says, begins when you
[22:37] understand that "I am not this body, and satisfying the senses is not my business,
[22:47] because I am not this body." If I am not this body, why shall I bother myself to satisfy
[22:57] the body only? Body means the senses. This is the first instruction.
[23:04] So the karmis, jnanis, yogis, they're all trying to satisfy the demands of the body.
[23:15] The karmis are directly doing that: "Eat, drink, be merry, enjoy." That is their philosophy.
[23:25] Jnani, he's also, he's simply trying to understand that "I am not this body." Neti neti neti neti:
[23:37] "This is not, this is not, this is not, this is not, this is not..." The yogis, they are also trying
[23:45] to come to the point of controlling the senses by bodily exercise, hatha-yoga.
[23:56] So their center of activity is body. Center of activity is body. And our philosophy begins that
[24:10] "You are not this body." You see? When they will pass their M.A. examination in studying this
[24:19] body, then they may be able to understand what is their function. But our philosophy begins that
[24:29] "You are not this body." Postgraduate study. "You are not this body." That is Krsna's instruction.
[24:40] We have seen so many big, big politicians and scholars in India, they write comments
[24:50] on Bhagavad-gita, but they write on this bodily concept of life. We have seen in our country
[25:01] the great leader Mahatma Gandhi, his photo is with Bhagavad-gita. But what did he do
[25:08] throughout his whole life? The bodily concept: "I am Indian. I am Indian."
[25:16] Nationalism means that bodily concept of life: "I am Indian," "I am American,"
[25:23] "I am Canadian." But we are not this body. Then were is the question of "I am Indian,"
[25:31] "I am American," "I am Canadian"? So they have no this knowledge. The bodily concept of life,
[25:39] they're absorbed, and still they're authority of Bhagavad-gita. Just see the fun.
[25:47] And Bhagavad-gita teaches in the beginning, "You are not this body."
[25:53] And they are in the bodily concept of life. Then just try to understand what is their position.
[26:01] What they can understand Bhagavad-gita? If one is feeling that "I belong to this nation,
[26:09] I belong to this family, I belong to this community, I belong to this cult,
[26:14] I belong to this..., I belong to this religion...," everything is bodily concept of life.
[26:22] The yogis, they are also trying to understand by bodily exercise.
[26:28] The jnani is also trying to know, understand fully, that "I am not this body."
[26:35] And the karmis, they cannot understand. They are as animals.
[26:39] The animals cannot understand that he's not body.
[26:43] So factually the karmis, jnanis, yogis are a little maybe elevated than the animals.
[26:54] That's all. They are on the animal platform, but it is little elevated.
[27:05] So I give this example-perhaps you heard it-that the dry side of the stool.
[27:18] India, they pass stool on the open field. So at the end of day, because there is sunshine,
[27:28] the upper side of the stool becomes dried up, and the lower side, still moist.
[27:35] So somebody says, "This side is very good." He does not know. It is stool after all,
[27:46] in this side or that side. So these rascals, they are on the bodily concept of life,
[27:54] and they are thinking that "I am nationalist," "I am yogi," "I am this," "I am that," "I am that..."
[28:04] You see? This is the philosophy.
[28:07] So long you are in the bodily concept of life, we are no better than the animal.
[28:15] That is the Bhagavata philosophy. You are animal. Yasyatma-buddhiḥ kunape tri-dhatuke.
[28:26] Yasyatma-buddhiḥ kunape tri-dha..., sva-dhiḥ kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhiḥ,
[28:32] yat-tirtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janesv abhijnesu sa eva go-kharaḥ . So go-kharaḥ
[28:43] means, go means cow, khara means ass. Animals. So who is that? Now, yasyatma-buddhiḥ kunape
[28:52] tri-dhatu. This bag of tri-dhatu-kapha, pitta, vayu-if one thinks that "I am this body.
[29:04] I am this body, and, in bodily relation..." Because in bodily relation I have got my family,
[29:10] society, children, wife, country, and therefore they are mine. So yasyatma-buddhiḥ
[29:19] kunape tri-dhatu..., sva-dhiḥ. Sva-dhiḥ means thinking, "They are mine. I am theirs."
[29:27] Sva-dhiḥ kalatradisu. Kalatra means wife. Through wife, we get children; we expand.
[29:37] The Sanskrit word is stri. Stri means expansion. I remain one. As soon as I get wife,
[29:45] I get..., become two. Then three, then four, then five. Like that. That is called stri.
[29:55] So our expansion, these expansions, these material expansion, bodily expansion,
[30:02] means illusion. Janasya moho 'yam aham mameti . This illusion increases,
[30:12] that "I am this body, and in bodily relation, everything is mine." Aham mama.
[30:21] Aham means "I," and mama means "my."
[30:26] So, so long one shall remain in the bodily concept of life, his illusion will increase.
[30:37] It will never decrease. Therefore the first instruction of Krsna to Arjuna...
[30:48] Because if Arjuna would not have been in that position of illusion, that
[30:55] "I am this body, and the other side, my brother, my grandfather, my nephews,
[31:02] they're all my relation. How can I kill?"... This is the illusion. Therefore to dissipate
[31:12] this illusion, darkness, Krsna begins the first lesson, that "You are not this body."
[31:31] You'll have to change this body as you have already changed. You have already changed.
[31:39] You were a baby. You change your body to child. You change your body to boyhood.
[31:47] You change your body to youthhood. You change your body to old man. Now, after change is...
[31:55] As you have already changed so many times, similarly, there will be another change.
[32:01] You'll have to accept another body. Very simply logic. You have already changed.
[32:17] Because they are in the bodily concept of life, "I am this body.
[32:22] And the body has no change." Body's changing. He's seeing actually in this life.
[32:29] Still he'll not believe that "After changing this body, I'll get another body." It is very logical.
[32:44] Exactly in the same way as we have changed so many times this body, I'll have to change.
[32:50] Therefore, one who is intelligent, he should try to understand that "What kind of body I am
[33:00] going to get next?" That is intelligence. So that is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita,
[33:08] what kind of body you can get.
[33:13] Yanti deva-vrata devan pitṝn yanti pitr-vrataḥ, bhūtejya yanti bhūtani mad-yajino 'pi yanti mam [Bg. 9.25].
[33:24] If you want to go to the higher planetary system, where demigods live for hundreds and
[33:31] thousands and millions of years... Just like Brahma. Brahma's one day you cannot calculate.
[33:41] So in higher planetary system, you have got thousands and thousands of better facility
[33:46] for sense gratification and duration of life, everything. Otherwise, why the karmis,
[33:54] they want to go to the heavenly planet? So yanti deva-vrata devan.
[34:05] So if you try to go to the higher planetary system, you can go. Krsna says.
[34:11] There is process. Just like for going to the moon planet, one must be very expert
[34:19] in the karma-kanḍa, fruitive activities. By karma-kanḍa, you get, by the resultant
[34:27] action of your pious activities, you can be promoted to the moon planet.
[34:33] That is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. But you cannot enter moon planet by your
[34:40] this process: "By force we shall go with this aeroplane and jets and sputniks." Oh, that is not possible.
[34:50] Suppose I have got a nice motorcar in America. If I want to enter in
[34:59] another country forcibly, is it possible? No. You must get the passport, visa;
[35:07] you must get sanction from the government. Then you can enter.
[35:09] Not because you have got a very good car, you'll be allowed. So we cannot by force...
[35:18] This is foolish attempt, childish attempt. They cannot go. Therefore nowadays they are stopped.
[35:23] They do not speak. They are realizing their failure. In this way, you cannot.
[35:30] So..., but there is possibility. You can go if you adopt the real process.
[35:38] You can be promoted. Similarly, you can go to the Pitrlokas by offering sraddhas
[35:49] and pinḍa. You can go to the Pitrloka. Similarly, you can remain in this loka, bhūtejya.
[35:56] Similarly, you can go back to home, back to Godhead. So who is intelligent? And if you ask,
[36:07] "What is the benefit by going to the planet, back to home, back to Godhead?"
[36:14] that is assured in the Bhagavad-gita, mam upetya kaunteya duḥkhalayam asasvatam
[36:21] napnuvanti [Bg. 8.15]: "If you come to Me, then you won't have to accept again this material body,
[36:30] which is full of miserable conditions. You will remain in your spiritual body."
[36:38] So our Krsna consciousness movement is meant for, I mean to say, allowing,
[36:48] elevating all living entities... Of course, it is not for all. It is very difficult.
[36:56] But anyone who has accepted this Krsna consciousness movement,
[37:01] if he follows the principle, then he's surely going to home, back to home, back to Godhead.
[37:12] That is certain. But if you deviate, if you become attracted by maya, that is your business.
[37:21] But we are giving you information: this is the process, a simple process.
[37:28] Chant Hare Krsna maha-mantra, be purified, be..., remain always liberated from material clutches,
[37:37] and tyaktva deham. Mam upetya. Janma karma me divyam yo janati... If you simply try to understand
[37:46] Krsna, then tyaktva deham, after quitting this body, mam eti, "You'll come to Me."
[37:56] So this is our philosophy. It is very simple. And everything is explained in the Bhagavad-gita.
[38:03] You try to realize and preach this cult for the benefit of the whole world. Then everyone will be happy.
[38:16] Thank you very much.
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