Lecture at the home of Mr. Mitra – January 30, 1971, Allahabad

Somewhere or elsewhere my food is there

Devotee: [introducing recording] At the home of Mr. Mitra, Prabhupada speaks in front of the judges and members of the Bar. Thirtieth of January, 1971.

[kirtana] [break]

Prabhupada: [indistinct]

Ladies and Gentlemen, this Krsna consciousness movement is known also as bhagavat-dharma. Bhagavat-dharma means the religious principles by which the lost relationship between God and the living entities are reestablished. At the present moment we are forgetful of our relationship with God, or Krsna. When I speak "Krsna," Krsna means God, and when I speak "God," God means Krsna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28].

Īsvaraḥ paramaḥ krsnaḥ [Bs 5.1]. People are searching after God, "Where is God?" But they do not see that here is God: Krsna. Krsna appeared Himself five thousand years ago in India, and He exhibited His godly qualities, established Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His various activities, and still people are dying to see God. That is very regrettable.

At least in India one should not be speaking to know what is God, what is God's qualities, what is God's pastimes, what is God's name, what is God's form. This is due to forgetfulness. Krsna is God. That is accepted by all the acaryas. We are guided. Our Indian civilization, our religious life, our culture, our Vedic knowledge, they are all directed by the acaryas. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita, in the chapter, the Thirteenth Chapter, it is..., there are different states for God realization, or self-realization, and one of the item is acarya-upasanam: to follow the footsteps of the acaryas.

So all the acaryas in India-Madhvacarya, Ramanujacarya, Visnu Svami, Nimbarka and Sripada Sahkaracarya… Although Sahkaracarya's philosophy and Vaisnava philosophy there is little difference of opinion, but still Sripada Sahkaracarya has accepted Krsna as the Supreme Lord: sa bhagavan svayam krsnaḥ.

He has very expressly stated in his comments on Bhagavad-gita that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And people may not be misdirected; therefore he specifically mentioned "the son of Devaki and Vasudeva." Just like our identification in the law court is made by the father's name, so Sripada Sahkaracarya has not only mentioned the father's name-the mother's name.

So Krsna is accepted not in this modern age but in the past also, like Vyasadeva, Narada, Asita, all of them have accepted. And Lord Caitanya also. His method is krsna-bhakti. His philosophy is aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanaya: "The only worshipable Lord is Krsna." He specifically mentions vrajesa-tanaya, "the son of Nanda Maharaja, the King of Vrajabhūmi." Aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam [Caitanya-manjusa]-and His abode, Vrndavana.

Krsna, Krsna's name, Krsna's form, Krsna's abode, Krsna's pastimes, Krsna's entourage-they are all Absolute Truth. There is no difference between Krsna and Krsna's name, because Krsna is Absolute. There cannot be any difference. Just like in the Bhagavad-gita it is stated, maya tatam idam sarvam [Bg 9.4]: His all-pervasive nature. There cannot be anything except Krsna. Maya tatam idam sarvam. So how Krsna vibration can be different from Krsna? That is stated in the sastras also: abhinnatvan nama-naminoḥ [Cc Madhya 17.133].

Krsna and His name, they are identity. There is no difference. Therefore in this age it is recommended… Not only for this age, but other ages also. The importance of chanting holy name of the Lord is there in all Vedic scripture, but it is specially mentioned that it is useful in this Age of Kali, because they cannot perform any other method. It is impossible.

There are different methods-karma, jnana, yoga and bhakti-but everything is leading to bhakti. When karma leads to bhakti, that is called karma-yoga. When jnana leads to bhakti, that is called jnana-yoga. And when yoga… Actually, yoga means bhakti-yoga. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita,

Amongst all the yogis, a person who is constantly engaged to think of Krsna within himself, dhyanavasthita-yogino..., pasyanti yam yogino [SB 12.13.1]. Dhyana means to concentrate the mind upon Visnu or Krsna. That is real life. Therefore in the sastras it is stated that the yogis who are engaged in meditation, they try to find out Krsna, or Visnu. Krsna and Visnu is the same.

So this Krsna consciousness movement is a practical movement for reviving our dormant consciousness about Krsna. There is no separation from Krsna, as the father and the son cannot be separated. But there is sometimes forgetfulness on the part of the son to forget his father. That is our present position.

So I wish to recite one or two slokas from Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was in course of instruction given by Maharaja…, Emperor Rsabhadeva to His sons. Emperor Rsabhadeva, He was the emperor of the whole planet. Formerly-perhaps you will not disagree-that the king or the emperor in India, this place, they used to rule over the all the parts of the world, up to Maharaja Pariksit. There was only one flag, one king. That we get from Mahabharata history.

So long, long ago, when this Bharata-varsa name was not also given… Previously the name of this planet was Ilavati-varsa. Then after Rsabhadeva, when His eldest son, Maharaja Bharata, became the emperor, this planet was known as Bharata-varsa, the whole planet. Unfortunately, as with the beginning of this Kali-yuga, after the death of Maharaja Pariksit, the influence of Kali began to rise.

This Bharata-varsa became, I mean to say, separated by different states. Just like recently we have got experience, twenty years ago there was no existence of Pakistan, but unfortunately Pakistan has now become a different state. Similarly, the whole world was previously one-Bharata-varsa-but for want of cultural deficiency it has been separated in so many small, small parts all over the world. That is the history of Mahabharata.

So this separation is due to cultural deficiency, and that is Krsna consciousness. Just like wherefrom these Muhammadans came? They did not come from any other part. They were inhabitants of this country, but because they culturally deviated, therefore they were known as Muhammadans. And similarly, there are many others also. This is a cultural difference only. They acquired a different culture, and they wanted to be separate.

Now, if you study the history of the world, then the world cannot give us history more than 2,600 years or 3,000. What was the cultural unity of this world before 3,000 years? The cultural unity was this Krsna consciousness. That's the fact. If there are research scholars, they will find it out. Even still some temples are found in Russian country and other countries also, in South America. So the culture was one: Krsna consciousness. Gradually it deviated.

So Rsabhadeva, the father of Maharaja Bharata, at that time there was no division. There was only one unit, Bharata-varsa, and Maharaja Rsabhadeva, before His retirement… He wanted to retire from His royal order, so He wanted to give some instruction to His sons. He had one hundred sons. People are now clamoring about population of…, increase of population, but at that time you can see there were persons who could beget one hundred sons. You see there was no question of increasing population, because this is not a problem.

We should understand: increasing population is no problem, because there is no question of supply of food. The supply of food comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So if He likes, He can feed many, many millions of population, although we may think it is increasing.

Because from Vedic literature we understand,

The Supreme Lord is the supreme nitya, eternal. God is eternal, and we are eternal. We are plural number, and God is singular number: nityo nityanam. Just like in our modern age also there is one supreme person. Suppose in our country we have so many individual personalities, citizens, but there is one supreme person-the president. So similarly, there are innumerable living entities all over the universe, all over the creation, but amongst these innumerable plural number living entities there is one who is called the Supreme, paramesvara. We get it from Vedic literature.

Krsna also says,

He claims that "I am the only enjoyer." Actually, the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, is the enjoyer because He is the proprietor, sarva-loka-mahesvaram. But He is not a proprietor of which you have got experience. He is suhrdam sarva-bhūtanam. And Vedas also confirm this: eko bahūnam vidadhati kaman [Katha Upanisad 2.2.13]. That one Personality of Godhead, He maintains all other plural number personalities.

So my point is that Rsabhadeva is a prominent historical personality; therefore His name is mentioned in the history. And it is also known that He had one hundred sons. There may be others also who could beget more than one hundred sons. So there was no question of increasing population. Problems we have created, civilized men. The birds, bees, snakes, they don't care for increasing population. There is enough food. They are not anxious in the morning, "Where shall I get food?" They are confident, that "Somewhere or elsewhere my food is there."

No birds, no beasts die of starvation. It is simply a problem in the human society, because we have forgotten God, Krsna. Formerly also in India there was no scarcity during Maharaja Yudhisthira's kingdom, Maharaja Pariksit's kingdom, and what to speak of Maharaja Ramacandra's kingdom. There was no question of scarcity. The scarcity comes out of our own creation.

Everything is full; everything is complete in the creation of God. But trouble is that because we have forgotten God, therefore there are so many troubles. People have become godless asuras, and they create trouble, that "It is not the creation of God; it is the creation of the asuras." And who is the asura? Asura means who are against the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are called asuras. Just like Ravana. Ravana was the son of a brahmana. He was very learned scholar-everything was complete-but he denied to accept Lord Rama as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore he is called raksasa, asura. So many good names are there.

So in the sastras also we see there are two classes of men: daiva asura eva [Bg 16.6]. One class of men are gods, demigods, daiva; and another is asura. And who is daiva and asura? Visnu-bhaktaḥ smrto daiva asuras tad-viparyayaḥ [Padma Purana]. The visnu-bhaktaḥ, those who are devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, they are called demigods, or godly. Others, viparyayaḥ, those who are just the opposite number, they are called asuras. This is the definition.

So Rsabhadeva, before retirement, as it is the duty of the father to give instruction to His sons before retirement, to see the family affair or the state, similarly Rsabhadeva instructed to His hundred sons. You will be interested to know also that out of His one hundred sons, eleven became yogis…, er, nine became yogis, and eleven became ksatriyas, and balance, they were ordinary persons. No-they were brahmanas; they became brahmanas. Yes.

Now the father was ksatriya. Rsabhadeva, He was emperor, He was ksatriya, so His sons naturally we should consider as ksatriyas. But how some of them became brahmanas and some of them became yogis and some of them became brahmanas? That is the regulative principle, according to sastra. Not by birth one is ksatriya or one is brahmana or one is sūdra, but by qualities.

Just like some of the respectable gentlemen who are sitting here, so some of you are lawyers, some of you are judges. So it is by qualification. Not that because your father was a lawyer, therefore you have become a lawyer, or because your father was a judge, therefore you have become a judge. No. It is the qualification.

Similarly, Bhagavad-gita also states,

Guna and karma: qualities and actual work. One must have passed his examination in law, and he must be practicing; then he is called a lawyer or a judge. Not that because he has passed, that because he has gone to the law office. He must practice also. Similarly, the brahminical qualities one should acquire, and he must practice in life as a brahmana. The ksatriya also must acquire the qualities, and he must act according to ksatriya regulative principles. Similarly, vaisya, a sūdra.

These are stated in the Bhagavad-gita. The brahminical qualifications are stated there. The ksatriya qualifications are stated there. The vaisya qualifications are stated there. The sūdra qualification is stated there. And in the Srimad-Bhagavatam you will find Narada Muni says to Maharaja Yudhisthira that yasya hi yad..., yasya hi yad laksanam syad varnabhivyanjakam [SB 7.11.35]. Varna, this classification of social order, brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sūdra, and less than that, that is accepted by the symptoms, laksana, characteristics, not by birth.

Yasya hi yad laksanam syad varnabhivyanjakam. Varnabhivya means these four social orders. Abhivyanjakam, expressing by the laksanam, by the characteristics.

If such characteristics are found in some other group, then that group or that person should be accepted according to that characteristic.

So these things are there. So actually Vedic culture is not stereotype. It is not stagnant; it is dynamic. So we have to, at the present moment, if we are really serious about our culture through this Krsna consciousness movement, we have to spread this Vedic culture and collect and pick up who is in brahminical qualification, who is in ksatriya qualifications, who is a vaisya.

Don't make it that these systems of division of the social order is only monopolized by Indians. No. It is not that. It should be spread. Then people will accept also. Just like these boys and girls, they are being trained up to become as qualified brahmanas. So if you don't accept them, that "They are not brahmanas," that is not according to sastra. That may be your whimsical estimation, but actually we have to find out. Because when Krsna says, when God says that,

"I have created these four orders of society according to quality and according to work," how you can deny this facility to others? Anything created by God is enjoyed by everyone, not that a particular type of society or a particular type of community. God's gift is enjoyable by everyone. That is actually spiritual communism. That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, that same Narada Muni, when he was speaking to Yudhisthira Maharaja, he says that whatever property is there, whatever things are there, either in the sky or in the land or in the water, everything belongs to God; and all the sons of God, all the living entities, they have right to enjoy the property of the father. That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

So if we actually want to give our Vedic culture to the world, we should think in that light, as it is given to us by our acaryas or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So this culture, Krsna consciousness culture, is being spread all over the world on this principle, and people are accepting. And our only request is that those who are thoughtful Indians and responsible leaders of the society, they should take this movement very seriously.

It is not a concocted idea given by me. No. It is authorized, and it is on the principles of Vedic knowledge, and it is the duty of the Indians to understand this cultural movement very seriously and spread it all over the world. That is our business. Therefore this was indicated by Lord Caitanya, bharata-bhūmite manusya janma haila yara. Anyone who has taken birth as a human being,

Such person, first of all let him realize his constitutional position. Because there are facilities. In India we have got this Vedic literature.

Why our great sages and saintly persons have made so many literatures? Because it is an opportunity for the Indians to self-realize, realize his constitutional position. And there is so much help. Just like Bhagavad-gita given by the Lord Himself for self-realization. So therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommends that anyone who has taken his birth as a human being should realize his constitutional position, and taking help from the acaryas and great sages and Lord Krsna, and then spread that knowledge all over the world, para-upakara.

Because in other parts of the world, they are not so advanced in spiritual knowledge. That is a fact. They agree to that. And it is our duty to spread this spiritual knowledge all over the world. If you do not do that, then it is called jnana-kala[?]. We are miser. We have become miser, krpana. Krpana. These two words, brahmana and krpa. Brahmana means liberal, and krpa… There is a Bengali word that if a brahmana gets one lakh of rupees, he is still a beggar. Why he is a beggar? Because he does not keep anything for his sense gratification; he immediately distributes.

So you have to create brahmanas, real brahmanas, who can distribute this Vedic knowledge all over the world. That is the present need. We have to create actually brahmanas, liberal, not that "I know this. I shall not let know any other." That is krpana. Just like krpana means miser. He has got money, but he does not want to distribute it or utilize it properly. He is called krpana. Krpanaḥ phala-hetavaḥ [Bg 2.49], in the Bhagavad-gita it is said.

Krpana, those who are miser, they simply want to enjoy the fruits of his labor himself. But our culture is brahminical culture. Become liberal. Just purify your own life, then take the knowledge and distribute to the whole world.

So this is a teeny attempt. Of course, personally I am trying to do; but if all Indians they join with this movement, I think the whole world will be Krsna conscious.

Thank you very much. [devotees offer obeisances] [end]