Lecture in Hindi – October 10, 1976, Aligarh

Prabhupada: ….yajna, sahkirtana-yajna, through that render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In Vedic scriptures two words are often found. One is su-medhasa and the other is alpa-medhasa. The word medha means brain substance. When there is more brain substance a person becomes intelligence. And if the brain substance is less then one becomes fool, ass. So two words; one is alpa-medhasa and the other is su-medhasa. It is there in the Bhagavad-gita that one who worships the demigods by giving up the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, tad bhavaty alpa-medhasa, he is alpa-medha, his brain substance is less. Just like you worship goddess Durga. By worshiping Durga you achieve material opulence. Dhanam dehi, rūpavati bharyam dehi, yasom dehi; give me wealth, give me beautiful wife, give me reputation, you receive these things. By worshiping Durga you get fame, beautiful wife, wealth. Whatever is described in the sastra is not imagination. It is fact. But this is for whom? It is for him whose medha or intelligence is less. Tad bhavaty alpa-medhasa [Bg 7.23]

Less intelligent because I have come to your house and you are serving respectfully and while leaving you have given me five thousand rupees also. You have done all that on this condition that the moment I step out of your house you will snatch away all these things from me. Now I am sitting in your house. You have collected five or ten thousand rupees and gave to me. But you have given with this condition that as soon as I am about to leave, you will snatch it away. If I take that money then am I not alpa-medhasa? Am I not a fool? You gave me money on the condition that when I leave you will take it away. So what is the use of taking such money? An intelligent man will say what I will do that money? If you are going to take it away when I leave then what is need of giving it to me? One who takes, he is alpa-medhasa. Similarly in this life I have got wealth, property, beautiful wife, but when I will give up this body everything will be taken away from me. Mrtyuḥ sarva-haras caham [Bg 10.34]

The Supreme Lord explains in the Bhagavad-gita. What is the meaning of mrtyu or death? Death means whatever you have accomplished, whatever assets you have will be taken away. And you will be awarded another body. You cannot take with you all these wealth, property and so on. Whatever body you receive according to your karma you have to accept it and suffer the consequences. Therefore sastra says…The Supreme Lord Himself said, to beg from the Supreme Lord the material opulence is for whom? antavat tu phalam tesam tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam [Bg 7.23]

All these opulences will be finished when the body is finished. You can take nothing with you. Therefore one who is hankering after these things he is called alpa-medhasa. And su-medhasa, what is his function? By developing our relationship with the Supreme Lord, by understanding the Supreme Lord, and by engaging in the service of the Supreme Lord, let us make out lives successful. That is called su-medhasa. The intelligent persons achieve so much benefit after quitting this body. What the benefit? Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9]

After giving up this body he will not accept another material body again. What happens to him? mam eti, [Bg 4.9] he goes back to Godhead. To go back to Godhead one receives a body similar to that of the Supreme Lord. Spiritual body. Therefore all the sastras have ascertained that your ultimate goal of life is Visnu. The scriptures also state which incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead one should worship in each yuga. So for Kali-yuga this is mentioned. That krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam, [SB 11.5.32] the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna Himself has incarnated, and the complexion of His body is akrsna and not Krsna. When Krsna appeared, His body was blackish. But the Supreme Lord's incarnation in Kali-yuga, He is Krsna Himself, but His bodily hue is akrsna. Akrsna means not blackish. It can be red, it can be white, it can be yellow. These are the different colors of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in different yugas. When Garga Muni was preparing Krsna's astrological chart, at that time he said like this. "O Nanda Maharaja, this son of yours, He has previously,

This son of yours had previously appeared in red color in Satya-yuga, sometimes in white color, sometimes in yellow color. He had already incarnated like that before. But now this child who has come as your son, His complexion is blackish. So akrsna may mean red, or white, or yellow. But in Kali-yuga, this Gaurahga Mahaprabhu is yellow or golden. Therefore sastra says, krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam, He is none other than Krsna, but His bodily complexion is akrsna or yellow. And sahgopahgastra-parsadam [SB 11.5.32]

He is surrounded by His associates. Just like we sing the song, Sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. They are all His associates. These topics are described in the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. What color in which yuga, what kind of bodily features, these are all described. So about Kali-yuga it is said that His color is akrsna, yellow and He will be surrounded by His associates. krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sahgopahgastra-parsadam [SB 11.5.32] And this form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yajnaiḥ sahkirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ, this incarnation of the Supreme Lord will be served and worshiped by those who are intelligent, whose brain substance is plentiful through the performance of the congregational chanting of the holy name. By installing the Deity forms of Nitai and Gaura and performing kirtana which you just saw, the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is completed. It is so simple. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nitai-gaura, the Panca-tattva, keep Their pitctures and perform kirtana of Hare Krsna along with all of your family members. That is service to the Supreme Lord. Not very difficult. Not difficult at all. Very simple. Keep Nitai-Gaura's photo at home and there are family members. Sit down together and perform kirtana just like these boys did. You served the Supreme Lord. No need of complication. Whether you build a temple or not, you make your house a temple. Those who have wealth they should utilise it all in the service of the Supreme Lord. But those who have nothing, for them what is the difficulty? Keep a pitcture of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and all the family members together sit down and chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna. What is the loss? And you attain the shelter of the Supreme Lord. Simply by this much action a person attains God. This is the advantage of Kali-yuga. Whether you can offer something to the Supreme Lord or not, He is neither a beggar nor is He poor, but out of love and devotion if someone offers Him something then the Lord eats.

The rich man can offer so much to the Lord. But one who has nothing, a poor man, for him the Lord says, "Don't feel sad. Give me a leaf, leaf is available anywhere, and give Me a flower, tthat is also available. Give Me little water." Even the poorest man can collect all these things. Suppose a poor man comes to your house and says, "Sir, may I take a flower from your house?" "What will you do?" "I will offer it to God." You will say, "Yes, yes take it." Everyone will say like that. There is no such fool who would say "No." Of course there are such fools in Europe and America. There are many trees filled with fruits in their garden. They would rather let the fruits fall to the ground and rot. But if anyone asks for it, No. They say this is beauty. The fruits rot and dry in the sun, this is beauty. Anyway,

Anyone can collect this. Keep Gaura-Nitai's picture anywhere and whatever little you can collect, there is no need of education, the whole world is chanting Hare Krsna. They are not taught A.B.C.D. Simply by hearing the sound they chant. Now even the young boys have started clapping their hands. There is no difficulty at all. This is the practice of Kali-yuga. Yajnaiḥ sahkirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ [SB 11.5.32]. Those who are wise and intelligent they worship the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya through the process of sahkirtana-yajna. That's all. yajnaiḥ sahkirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ. Everyone of you can do this in your own house. To serve the Supreme Lord one should be careful not to commit any offense. While serving Krsna there is consideration of offense. That is called sevaparadha. Whereas Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Jagannathaji do not take any offense. You get as much benefit as you offer service to Them. So let us do some more kirtana. [end]