Lecture at Town Hall – May 7, 1971, Kuala Lumpur

How one surrenders?

Prabhupada: [break] Minister Tun, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to thank you very much for your taking part in this Krsna consciousness movement, which is going on progressively all over the world. This Krsna consciousness movement was practically started millions of years ago, and Krsna says in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita,

So this bhakti-yoga system as it is described in the Bhagavad-gita it was spoken first to the sun-god millions of years ago.

So it is coming down from sun-god to his son Manu, then Manu to Maharaja Iksvaku, the first king in the dynasty wherein Lord Ramacandra appeared. It is very old movement but the parampara system, disciplic succession, was broken. That is stated by Lord Krsna Himself:

Therefore the Bhagavad-gita yoga or bhakti-yoga was originally spoken to Arjuna. So at least from the historical point of view this movement is not less than five thousand years old. So not that we have concocted a religious process and distributing it. No. We cannot manufacture religion. That is not possible, because dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam. [SB 6.3.19]

Dharma means the codes given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just like law means the codes given by the government. You cannot manufacture laws in your home. That is not acceptable. Similarly this dharma, or bhagavata-dharma... Dharma means bhagavata-dharma, because the rules and regulations given by Lord Krsna, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is dharma. It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gita, sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg 18.66]. First of all Krsna said,

He came to re-establish the principles of religion. Then at the last moment He said,

This means the concocted religion made by man, man-made religion, is not religion. Krsna has distinctly forbidden: don't accept such religion, sarva-dharman parityajya, because they are all concocted. Real religion is mam ekam saranam vraja. This is real religion.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam also this statement of Bhagavan Krsna is confirmed: dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra [SB 1.1.2]. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, kaitavaḥ means cheating. Religious principles which are cheating public, that is completely eradicated. Dharmaḥ projjhita. Paramo nirmatsaranam satam vastavam vedyam atra [SB 1.1.2]: it is to be understood by the paramo nirmatsaranam. Nirmatsaranam parotkarsasahanam matsaraḥ. This is the comment by Sridhara Svami.

Sridhara Svami comments on this point that moksabhisandhir api nirastaḥ. People are after religion-dharma, artha, kama, moksa. Generally people go to the churches, to the temple, for religious principles, but actually it is meant for solving economic problems. Just like the Christians, they pray, "O God, give us our daily bread." Similarly, you also go to the temple, you also worship many, many demigods also, go to the temple of Goddess Kali or Durga or Lord Siva: dhanam dehi rūpam dehi rūpavati-bharyam dehi, dehi dehi, to ask from them.

Therefore the modern politicians, they have become very much disgusted with this kind of dharma. They say that if you want dhanam, dhanam dehi, that's all right. Why don't you produce dhanam as others are producing it, by economic development? Why waste your time at the temple? Of course, those who go to temple, they are recognized, even if they are asking something, because they have approached God.

In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated, catur-vidha bhajante mam janaḥ sukrtino [Bg 7.16]. They are su-krtinaḥ. Anyone who goes to the temple or church for asking God for economic solution, bread, bread solution, they are better than the atheist class, because they are at least going to God.

The atheist class of men, they are described in the Bhagavad-gita, duskrtinaḥ. Duskrtinaḥ means miscreants, sinful. Krti means meritorious, but their merit is being misused in wasting time of the very valuable human life.

And they have been described as mūḍha. Mūḍha means the ass. The ass works very hard day and night, but it has no means for [indistinct].

So this human life is meant for getting release from the cycle of birth and death and enquiring about Brahman. That is the instruction we get from Vedanta philosophy: athato brahma-jijnasa. This is the actual inclination of human life. Atha, now you have come through evolutionary process, through various types of species of life. Jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati [Padma Purana], like that. Now this is the point, human form of life: when we can completely get release from the repetition of birth and death. That is real problem. Not that economic problem. Economic problem is already settled up.

Prahlada Maharaja said,

He addressed his demonic friends that "My dear friends, this sense gratification program is already settled up by the type of body you have got." Deha-yogena dehinam. Everyone is getting a certain type of body according to his karma. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that you carry a certain type of body with you at the time of your death. If you..., just like this air carries the flavor of rose flower or a filthy place, similarly, in our present life if we make our life like a rose flower, then I carry the flavor of the rose by my subtle body-mind, intelligence and ego-to form another body. Karmana daiva-netrena jantur deho [SB 3.31.1].

So that facility is given to us by the Supreme, daiva-netrena, by the superior manager. Just like a clerk working in a office, there is a record, service record, and according to the service record he is given promotion or degradation as the authorities like. Similarly, there is a big service record in the superior hand, or in the superior government, and that is counted, and according to our karma we get a type of body next life. This is going on. This is a fact.

So this life, this human form of life, is to get out of this karma-bandhanaḥ. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, yajnarthat karmano 'nyatra, karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg 3.9]. Yajna means Visnu, or Krsna, or Supreme Personality of Godhead. We have to work only for satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is stated in the Visnu Purana, that varnasramacaravata purusena paraḥ puman, aradhyate visnuḥ, nanyat tat-tosa-karanam . By acting according to the varnasrama system, Vedic system... That system is made by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krsna says,

So according to varnasrama-dharma everyone has got a particular type of duty. But that duty is made in order to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not to satisfy your senses. The Bhagavata also confirms the same way:

You can act according to your position. It doesn't matter, either you are a brahmana or a ksatriya, a vaisya, sūdra, a sannyasi, a brahmacarya, vanaprastha or grhastha. These are eight different orders of social system according to daivika. So everyone has got a particular type of duty. Now by discharging that duty we have to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like in a factory there are many departmental work, and everyone is working, but the real purpose is to satisfy the proprietor of the factory, because the supreme enjoyer, or beneficiary, is the proprietor. Similarly, whatever we do, it is meant for satisfying the supreme proprietor. And who is the supreme proprietor? Krsna.

Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita,

If anyone wants peace and prosperity, then he should know these three things: that Krsna is the supreme enjoyer, beneficiary, of everything. Yajna-tapasa. Whatever yajna or tapasya you are discharging, the result should go for enjoyment of Krsna. Bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka. And He is the proprietor, sarva-loka. Not only on this loka, this planet, but there are innumerable planets all over the universe, and there are innumerable universes also. The supreme proprietor is Krsna. Sarva-loka-mahesvaram.

And suhrdam sarva-bhūtanam: and He is actually the well-thinking friend of everyone. Krsna is so nice friend that, as it is stated in the Upanisad, that He is sitting with the jivatma as a friend. Two birds are sitting as friends in one tree. One is jivatma, who is enjoying the fruit of the tree, and the other is simply watching, witness, anumanta upadrasta. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. So Krsna is always trying to give you good advice, suhrt, so that you may come again back to home, back to Godhead. That is Krsna's wish.

So Krsna came, dharma-samsthapanarthaya, as you all know. But what is that dharma? That dharma is surrendering unto Krsna. Sarva-dharman parityajya. Clearly you haven't got to discharge any other kind of dharma. If you are actually interested in becoming dharmic, then this is the process: surrender unto Krsna. "My Lord Krsna, I forgot You for so many millions of years, and I was wandering in different species of life. Now I've come to Krsna consciousness; I'm just surrendering unto You." This is Krsna consciousness movement. We are teaching this simple truth. There is no complication. But this surrendering method is very difficult also. Difficult for whom? Those who are against Krsna. For them, it is very difficult.

That is also stated. Na mam prapadyante. Those who are miscreants, those who are sinful, those who are rascals... These language are used by Krsna; not that I am interpreting. Na mam duskrtino mūḍhaḥ. Mūḍhaḥ means rascal, and duskrtinaḥ means always sinful. Na mam duskrtino mūḍhaḥ prapadyante naradhamaḥ. Naradhamaḥ. Naradhamaḥ means lowest of the mankind. Because this life is meant for sacrificing to Krsna, or God, and we are misusing.

Therefore naradhamaḥ. Adhamaḥ means lowest. "Oh, but there are many educated persons in that group who are not surrendering unto Krsna." Mayayapahrta jnana: their intelligence has no value. No value. The essence of knowledge has been taken away by the illusory energy of God. Because the real essence of knowledge is to surrender unto Krsna. That is stated also by Krsna, bahūnam janmanam ante.

Actually those who are searching after the Absolute Truth, athato brahma-jijnasa, by such speculative process, after many, many, births they have to come to this point of surrender unto Krsna. Because that is the ultimate goal. So those who are taking to the process other than which is recommended by Krsna, they will have to undergo many, many births to come to this conclusion,

He has to come to this conclusion. But such kind of mahatma, great soul, is very rare. Therefore, Krsna consciousness is very difficult also. But it is easy also. The most sublime and very easy. Simultaneous. Most sublime because many, many philosophers, theologists, they come to the conclusion of surrendering to Krsna for many, many births. Therefore it is very sublime.

But at the same time, because it is natural... Krsna and we are related very intimately as part and parcel. Just like my finger is a part and parcel of my body, so there cannot be any separation. If I have got this body, then I have got this finger, I have got this nail, I have got this hair. They are all my part and parcel of the body. Similarly, either the demigods or the great sages or the greatest in the human society, anyone, they are all parts and parcels of Krsna. But how it is separated? It is separated when we, part and parcel, does not give service to Krsna.

Just like this finger is meant for giving service. I want finger to stand like this, immediately it stands. But when it cannot, it means it is in diseased condition. This finger, if just on my command cannot stand up, that means there is some pain and there is some disease. So because we are part and parcel of Krsna, any one of us who is not giving service to Krsna, he is in diseased condition. That is called illusion, maya.

So the Krsna consciousness movement is meant for giving relief to the diseased condition living entity, those who have forgotten Krsna. Diseased condition means one who has suffering from many, many years in diseased condition, one forgets what is the healthy condition. But we should know this is the criterion to understand whether I am mukta or baddha, whether I am liberated or conditioned. Liberated means to be engaged in Krsna's service, and conditioned means otherwise. That is also confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam,

Mukti means when one gives up his situation otherwise, and becomes situated in his own position, constitutional position. That is mukti. Mukti does not mean something very wonderful. Simply this position, as Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, if you do it immediately. You can get yourself free within a second, provided you agree. But the difficulty is you do not agree. That is the disease; that is maya. But if we agree, immediately liberation, svarūpena vyavasthitiḥ.

Svarūpa, my svarūpa, my real constitutional position, is to surrender unto Krsna and abide by His order. That is my position. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was thinking independently. When he was talking with Krsna as friend, "My dear Krsna, there is no necessity of my fighting, because I have to kill my brother, my grandfather and so on, so on. It is better not to fight," so he was thinking in his own way.

That is the disease. And therefore Krsna taught him the Bhagavad-gita, the science of bhakti-yoga, and he enquired from Arjuna, "Now what you have decided? Are you going to fight or not to fight?" He said, karisye vacanam tava, "Yes." Nasto mohaḥ smrtir labdha [Bg 18.73]: "Now I am in my real position. I have got my memory back, and I shall act according to You." And he fought.

So this is Krsna consciousness. This is Krsna consciousness, that we have to give up our own concocted ways of salvation or mukti or so many things, or becoming prosperous, happy. At least we have to simply abide by the order of Krsna as a human being, then that is right, because that is my constitutional position. So this position is attained after many, many births, who are actually wise.

How one surrenders? Because he understands by scrutinizingly studying all the Vedas that Krsna... Vedas means..., knowledge means... [break]

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Significant events during visits to Australia and New ZealandVB25