Paṇḍāl Lecture – November 11, 1971, Delhi

Here is a child he does not know he has touched the fire

Prabhupada:

I am very glad to hear our beloved Acyutananda Svami speaking about material elements, very nicely and analytically. They're always trying, in the sastras. Actually this movement is taken as one of the so-called religious movements. But it is not that, it is a cultural movement to bring in the foolish persons to the real platform of life.

This movement is helping people to make a solution of all the problems of life. Because we create problems by misunderstanding, just like a foolish person does not know what is the law. He steals something and when he is brought into the court, arrested if he says that, "I did not know there is a law that a thief is punished, I did not know." Or stealing is against law, criminal.

So ignorance is no excuse, similarly out of ignorance we are committing so many sinful life's and we are becoming liable to be punished, that is the law of nature. You cannot avoid it, if you touch the fire it will burn, if a child touches the fire there is no mercy because the fire will not consider that, "here is a child he does not know he has touched the fire." No, no the fire will act, just like here there was little incident of fire. We became all alarmed because fire will prove its worth unless we take precautions. This is the law, that is explained;

The law's of nature are very, very stringent. We have got experience just like if you are to eat some quantity of food, if we eat more, then we will have to starve for three days because you have broken the law. If you require a certain quantity of salt in the food if the salt is more, or the salt is less, then the foodstuff is useless. In this way if we study the law's of nature, then we can understand that we cannot break, just like you cannot break the law's of the state. Similarly the law's of nature means law's of God. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita;

Don't think that the material nature they are acting are reacting automatically, no. Here it is said, mayadhyaksena prakrtiḥ sūyate sa-caracaram, behind the law's of nature there is God. Under His direction everything is moving, as Svami Acyutananda said that, "it is not going on blindly." The sun rising and the sun setting-they are, I mean to say, acting exactly in time, why?

This is the experience of Brahma, the first living creature within this universe,

[break] .. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna.

When we recall that all people have become sinful and rascal, it is not our manufactured word's. It is the statement of the supreme authority Krsna. He says, na mam duskrtino mūḍhaḥ prapadyante, anyone who is not in God consciousness, then he must be classified amongst the duskrtinaḥ. Duskrtinaḥ means-very expert in mischievous activities, that is called duskrtinaḥ.

Krti means-meritorious and duskrtimeans-the wrong way. At the present moment there is virtual[?] advancement of education, we don't speak of our own country but I have travelled all over the world Asia[?] and other European countries. Especially in America, there are so many nice universities, nice arrangement but unfortunately they are producing hippies.

That is the net result, duskrtinaḥ because they are all sinful, and mūḍhas. Mūḍhaḥmeans foolish or rascal behind this material activity there is something that something is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, explicitly stated. But they do not know, the ultimate background of this material world is-they do not know.

Therefore they are mūḍhas rascals, and naradhamaḥ, naradhamaḥ means the lowest of the mankind. Why? This human form of life is meant for understanding God, that is the only business. Human life is not meant for working hard like cats and dogs and hogs. That is not human life, that is not human civilisation.

Viḍ-bhujam, viḍ-bhujam means the stool eater hogs. They are working very hard day and night simply for eating stool and sexual intercourse, that's all. Human life is not meant for that, therefore a human being who does not take advantage of this valuable life to search out God, or to understand God he is no better than asses and dogs.

Therefore they have been called mūḍhaḥ, naradhamaḥ lowest of the mankind, he does not take the opportunity of this valuable life and wastes the time just like cats and dogs and hogs. Therefore they have been called naradhamaḥ. Why? They are educated. They have university, Ph.D.'s, B.Sc.'s and so many titles holder but still they are naradhamaḥ? Yes. Why? Mayayapahrta-jnana, maya has taken his actual knowledge.

Superficially he may be, MA, Ph.D., B.Sc, or something like that but he does not know what he is, what is God, what is his relationship with God, he does not know. Ask anybody, do you know what you are? I have talked to very big big professors in Europe, especially in Moscow. One Professor Kotovsky he said, "Swamiji after destruction of this body everything is finished." This is the drivel of idiot, big big leaders big big educationists they do not believe in the next life, they do not believe. But this is the first instruction in the Bhagavad-gita;

There are so many big big scholars of Bhagavad-gita but ask them, "what you have understood about the dehantara-praptir, transmigration of the soul from one body to another. Can you explain?" He does not know but he is a big scholar of Bhagavad-gita, that is going on.

So the time is very bad especially in this age, so our Krsna consciousness movement is not a sectarian or sentimental fanaticism religious movement, it is a scientific movement. People should take advantage of it, this science is not discovered by us it is already there in the Vedic literature. Vijnanam, yad vijnanam-samanvitam [SB 2.9.31], it is vijnanam, jnanam te 'ham sa-vijnanam [Bg 7.2], pravaksyamy asesataḥ [Bg 9.1]

In the ninth chapter of Bhagavad-gita you will find this verse, jnanam te 'ham sa-vijnanam, asesataḥ. I shall describe. Even the vijnanam, if you should try to understand this Krsna consciousness movement, they should not waste their valuable human form of life like cats and dogs, that is our request. That is our request. People are being so foolish and sinful but the difficulty is that without being free from sinful life we cannot understand God. That is another point.

Na mam duskrtino mūḍhaḥ prapadyante nara. Duskrtinaḥ this very word is very significant, people are engaged in sinful life therefore they cannot understand what is God. And the four principles of sinful life is described in the sastra; striya-sūna-pana-dyūta yatra papas catur-vidha [SB 1.17.38]. Four kinds of sinful life, illicit sex life is actually very sinful and unnecessary killing of animals, or meat-eating. Why human beings should eat meat? Krsna says;

There are so many foodstuffs all over the world we see there is no scarcity of food grains. There is no scarcity of fruits, vegetables, milk, butter, everything is there, not only that they are complaining scarcity of foodstuff. I don't see there is any scarcity of foodstuff and there cannot be any scarcity of foodstuff, we are mismanaging. I have studied especially in Africa and Australia, there are so much unused land still lying vacant. If they put it to. If they utilise for producing food we could provide the whole world of nations 10 times. So there is no. Because creation of God is perfect;

So there is no scarcity in the kingdom of God, only because we are senseless duskrtina mūḍha, we do not manage nicely otherwise there is no scarcity. In God's arrangement everything is there but we have created this "isms". Nationalism, this is my land, this is your land, this is his land. Nobody's land! Everything belongs to God, the land is not created by you, the water is not created by you, the fire is not created by you. Why you are claiming it is yours? That is mistake. So the Krsna consciousness movement is the practical understanding of the whole situation and solving the most important problem of life, death.

Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita;

You are finding out so many problems in your life within the duration of life, say 50 or 60 years at the utmost 100 years. But your eternal problem is this, Krsna says, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duḥkha-dosanudarsanam. You are eternal, you living soul, na hanyate hanyamane sarire, na jayate na mriyate va kadacin [Bg 2.20]. These informations are there, you haven't got to take birth, you do not require to die, na hanyate hanyamane sarire, you live forever. But this is the real problem and there is no scientist, no education, no university, why this problem is not solved? If I am not dying after. After the annihilation of this body, what solution is there? They do not know, therefore they are mūḍhas. They are very much proud of their education and making solution but this is the real problem janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duḥkha-dosanudarsanam.

So actually they may be very much proud but according to our Vedic literature, this is a society at the present moment especially in this Kali-yuga. They have been described, mandaḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhagya hy upadrutaḥ prayena kalav asmin yuge alpayusaḥyuge janaḥ.

In this Age of Kali, the Kali-yuga age has begun 5,000 years ago and the whole duration of Kali-yuga is 432,000 of years. Out of which we have passed only 5,000 years, still there is 427,000 of years remaining. So in this age the symptoms of the people have been described and we are experiencing, so we are.

Our duration of life is reducing in spite of so-called scientific improvement. Even in this Kali-yuga every man is due to live for a 100 years but who is living 100 years? But this problem they cannot solve, the world's people are in illusion. Now there is. We hear from Narayana that one brahmana his son died and he immediately went to Lord Ramacandra, that in the presence of, a son has died. What is the wrong in Your government? Please explain? This is responsible government. This is real responsible government, there are so many things we have to discuss in this Krsna consciousness movement.

It is all practical, scientific, not a religious sentiment. Therefore we can request you, to understand this movement and take advantage of it, that is our only request. We have got to say many things from the sastras. Thank you very much.

Devotees: Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Jaya Prabhupada. [end]