Lecture to Devotees – April 7, 1976, Vṛndāvana

You have done wonderful, miracle

So since the beginning of this meeting the speakers were talking in Hindi, but these foreigners, they could not understand. But out of reverence they were sitting. So I have taken permission to give them the summary of the speeches spoken by the Vaisnavas, especially by Sriman Bhakti-dipak Maharaja. Bhakti-dipak Maharaja is disciple of my elder Godbrother, so naturally he is very affectionate to me especially. Sometimes we lived together, and we follow the same principles of philosophy. So his speech about vaisnave jati-buddhi, arcye visnau-sila-dhir, this is very important. [Padma-purana] Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted that prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama .

He wanted that everywhere in the nook and corner of this world, every city, every town, every village, there should be the chanting Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Chanting should be preached. So by His grace it is going on. Now in the remotest part of the world, even in Australia, the southernmost part of this globe, there also we have got four branches-Melbourne, Sydney-and we have got a very big building, very big temple of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Last year I established, and many hundred thousand devotees they are coming. So certainly the Caitanya Mahaprabhu's foretelling is now spreading. So this bhajana, as our speaker, on Bhaktamala, he said that,

So people say that I have done miracle. Maybe. At least it is the first time in the history that Vedic culture in its true form is being distributed all over the world. We have got many, many appreciation by the learned scholar circle, big, big professors all over the world. They are accepting that this is the first time that India's traditional spiritual culture is being spread. One professor in France, he has plainly said that even Aurobindo or Dr. Radhakrishnan, they presented this Vedic culture in a modernized way, not in its original, traditional form. That is a fact. We don't make any compromise. Therefore we have especially meant Krsna consciousness. Krsna consciousness means to follow what Krsna says. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said, amara ajnaya guru hana tara ei desa [Cc Madhya 7.128]. Ei desa. Wherever you are, it doesn't matter. Either you are in India or in America or France or anywhere, any desa, or any country, wherever you are, just try to deliver them. Because guru's business is to deliver the fallen souls.

Guru's business is not to exploit the sisya. It is the business how to deliver. So who can deliver? Who is actually guru in the parampara system? Evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduḥ [Bg 4.2]. So we have to take the authority of becoming guru from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, recently within five hundred years. His order is that amara ajnaya guru hana [Cc Madhya 7.128]: "You cannot become guru all of a sudden. You must take order from Me." He is jagad-guru. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu says you, all of you, to become guru and deliver. Because there are so many innumerable fallen souls in this age-mandaḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhagya hy upadrutaḥ , we require hundreds and thousands of gurus. But not cheaters. This is the time when required hundreds and thousands of gurus. But who will become guru? That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's injunction, amara ajnaya: "By My order you become guru. Don't be all of a sudden guru. Become guru on My order."

So what is the order of Caitanya Mahaprabhu? He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna Himself. Sri-krsna-caitanya radha-krsna nahe anya [Sri Guru-parampara, text 6]. Krsna varnam tvisakrsnam sahgopahgastra-parsadam... [SB 11.5.32]. He is Krsna Himself. As Krsna orders but by directly, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg 18.66], Krsna can do that. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna, but He is acting as devotee. This is... Krsna-caitanya-namne. Krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namaḥ. Namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te [Cc Madhya 19.53]. Sri Rūpa Gosvami could understand that "Here is Krsna Himself in the form of Krsna devotee. Therefore He can deliver krsna-prema-not only Krsna, but krsna-prema." So He is giving very simple formula:

Simple thing. We don't require to be very learned scholar, M.A., Ph.D. If you simply follow what Krsna has said in the Bhagavad-gita... If you do not go very deep into Krsna consciousness, which is described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam especially, and if you simply read the Bhagavad-gita... We are presenting, therefore, Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any adulteration. They give me so much credit, that "You have done wonderful, miracle," and I do not know how to play any miracle. Our Dipak Maharaja knows me from the very beginning. I do not know how to play magic. I do not know. But only magic is that I don't adulterate. That's all. I don't adulterate. I say simple thing. Krsna said, mattaḥ parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya [Bg 7.7].

So Krsna is the Supreme Lord, Absolute Truth, that's all. What difficulty you have? Krsna says, mattaḥ parataram nanyat [Bg 7.7]. And He says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg 18.65]. Four things: "Always think of Me..." So I am teaching them, "Chant Hare Krsna. You'll think of Him." So man-mana. And who can chant Hare Krsna unless he is a devotee? Ordinary man cannot chant. He has no taste. But these boys, they are taking my words very seriously. I have asked them to refrain from four kinds of sinful activities: illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. They are seriously following. They have no illicit sex. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was questioned by a grhastha devotee, "How we can understand a Vaisnava?" So He summarily replied that "Vaisnava, to become Vaisnava perfectly, asat-sahga-tyaga ei vaisnava-acara [Cc Madhya 22.87]." This is the first principle. Don't associate with asat. Asato ma sad gama. So next line He described who is asat. Asat eka stri-sahgi, krsna-abhakta ara-finished. In two lines we can understand who is a Vaisnava. So I have asked them. These people, European and American, they are ordinarily very much accustomed to these habit: illicit sex, gambling, meat-eating. But upon my word they have given up everything. Asat-sahga-tyaga ei vaisnava acara.

So there are many things. And other thing? They are reading the Vaisnava literature very nicely, and they are pushing the Vaisnava literature all over the world. By their personal efforts they are giving service. We have about sixty-five volumes, books, each book four hundred pages. And they are introducing in the universities, colleges, libraries. Even sometimes they are beaten. In this way these boys, they are helping this movement. And perhaps you'll be surprised that our sale collection from the books is not less than one lakh of rupees per day, sometimes five lakh of rupees per day. So this movement has captured the ideas, spiritual ideas of the Western people, by the grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And as His foretelling, or you are expecting, ambition, prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama , that is being done.

And unfortunately in India they are not received very well. The government is thinking they are..., what is that? CIA. A CIA has become to become Vaisnava dancing in Vrndavana. [laughter] Just see their intelligence. [laughs] And public also, they are not allowed to enter in the Jagannatha temple. These things are going on. So this is very regrettable, and our Sriman Bhakti-dipak Maharaja has strongly protested against this idea. Therefore I thank him very much. Hare Krsna.

Devotees: Jaya! Haribol!

Indian man: [Transl. Dear members, before Srila Prabhupada all the speakers have performed bhajan in Hindi only, perhaps his foreign disciples could not understand anything spoken in Hindi. Therefore he explained to them the summary of it in English. He took permission for this. All his instructions are totally based on Bhagavad-gita and Sri Krsna is the only worshipable Lord...] [end]