Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.14.44 – April 8, 1973, New York

I am crying just to make a show. Actually I am not devotee of Krsna

Pradyumna: "...feeling empty for all time because you might have lost your most intimate friend, Lord Krsna? O my brother Arjuna, I can think of no other reason for your becoming so dejected." [SB 1.14.44]

Prabhupada: Hmm. So Krsna was the intimate friend of Arjuna. Not only to Arjuna; all the Panḍavas. So they cannot tolerate separation from Krsna. This is the sign of Krsna devotee. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that "I have no love for Krsna." The verse, just now I forget. Na prema-gandho 'sti [Cc Madhya 2.45]. "So you have no love for Krsna. You are always crying for Krsna, and still you say that you have no love for Krsna?" "No, I am crying just to make a show. Actually I am not devotee of Krsna." "Why?" That "Because if I could have been a devotee of Krsna, how could I live without Him? I have not died, still. That means I have no love for Krsna." This is the sign of love-that a lover cannot live for a moment without being associated with the beloved. This is sign of love.

So this love, it can be appreciated only between Radha and Krsna or between the gopis and Krsna; not otherwise. Actually we do not know what is the meaning of love. Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, that,

Govinda-vira. Vira means separation. Meant, Radharani… Caitanya Mahaprabhu was playing the part of Srimati Radharani. Krsna, when He could not understand Himself… Krsna is unlimited. He is so unlimited that Krsna Himself cannot understand. That is unlimited. The unlimited cannot understand about His unlimitedness. Therefore Krsna took the ecstasy of Srimati Radharani, and that is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. That picture is very nice: Krsna, taking the ecstasy, love of Radharani, appears as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri-krsna-caitanya radha-krsna nahe anya [Sri Guru-parampara 6].

So by worshiping Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, you simultaneously worship Radha and Krsna. Radha-Krsna is very difficult to worship. So whatever we are worshiping Radha-Krsna, that is Radha-Krsna in His Narayana form-Laksmi-Narayana. In the beginning we should worship Radha-Krsna in the level of Laksmi-Narayana, with awe and veneration, very strictly following the rules and regulation. Otherwise, Radha-Krsna in Vrndavana, they, the devotees, they do not worship Krsna because He is God, but they worship Krsna. Not worship; He is above worship.

It is simply of love. Just like loving your lover: it does not mean worship. It is spontaneous, heart's business. So that is the Vrndavana position. So even though we are not on the highest standard of the Vrndavana level, still, if we do not feel separation of Krsna, then we must know that we are not still perfect devotee of Krsna. That is wanted: feeling separation. Therefore Yudhisthira Maharaja could understand that "Krsna is no longer on this planet"; therefore he saw so many inauspicious symptoms.

Now, when Arjuna came back, he was asking, "Why you are so morose? Have you done this? Have you done that?" Everything. Now he is concluding, "I think your so great moroseness is due to separation from Krsna, as I was feeling." Kaccit presthatama. Presthatama, this is superlative. As in the English language there is positive, comparative and superlative, similarly Sanskrit. Prestha is positive, prestha para is comparative, and presthatama is superlative.

Krsna is the presthatama, beloved, in the superlative degree. Kaccit presthatamena atha. Presthatamenatha hrdayenatma-bandhuna. Atma-bandhu, suhrt. In Sanskrit there are different terms, atma-bandhu, suhrt, bandhu, mitra-they all mean friend, but of different degrees. Different... Mitra means ordinary friend. As you have got, "He is my friend," that does not mean he is my intimate. So the best friend is suhrt. Suhrt means "without any return." If you think of somebody how he will be happy, that is called suhrt.

So hrdayenatma-bandhuna. Krsna was always thinking of Arjuna, and that is the relationship. Krsna says, sadhavo hrdayam mahyam [SB 9.4.68]. As the devotee always think of Krsna, similarly Krsna also thinks of the devotee. He thinks more. That is the reciprocation.

ye yatha mam prapadyante
tams tathaiva bhajamy aham
[Bg 4.11]

If you think of Krsna twenty-four hours, Krsna will think of you twenty-six hours. [laughter] Krsna is so kind. If you do some service for Krsna, Krsna will reward you hundred times. But people, they do not want. They think, "What we shall benefit by serving Krsna? Let us serve my dog." You see? This is the misunderstanding. And our attempt is to awaken the dormant love of Krsna. Everyone has got love-the stock of love is there-but it is being misused. They do not know where to place that love so that… Because they do not know, therefore they are frustrated. Therefore they are frustrated.

So our Krsna consciousness movement is simply to educate people that "You are loving. You are mad after a appropriate lover who can love you also. But that you cannot find out within this material world. That you will find out when you love Krsna." That is our Krsna consciousness. It is nothing very superfluous or concocted. Everyone can understand that "I want to love somebody." Hankering. But he is finding frustration because he does not love Krsna. This is only.

Only if you turn your loving spirit to Krsna, then you are fully…, you will be fully satisfied, yayatma samprasi..., suprasidati [SB 1.2.6]. We are trying to peace of mind, to have peace of mind, full satisfaction. That full satisfaction can be achieved only when you learn how to love Krsna. This is the secret. Otherwise you cannot. Because…, because you want to love and get satisfaction, that is completed when you come to the platform of loving Krsna.

So these Panḍavas, they are also on the..., on the level of loving Krsna. Everyone is on the platform, but it is the difference of degrees. The same love. Somebody is loving his family, somebody is loving his wife, somebody is loving his society or friendship-society, friendship, they say divine[?]. But the ultimate, ultimate point of love is when you come to Krsna. Sa vai pumsam paro dharmo [SB 1.2.6]. Dharma means duty. That is dharma. Or the characteristics.

Dharma does not mean the religious fanaticism. No. That is not the Sanskrit meaning. Dharma means the real characteristic. I have several times explained that the water is liquid; that is the eternal characteristic of water. When water becomes hard, that is not eternal characteristic of water. Water is by nature liquid. Even when the water becomes hard, just like ice, the tendency is to become liquid again. Again. Again liquid.

So our real position, constitutional position, is to love Krsna. But now we have become hard-hearted not to love Krsna. Just like water becomes hard, ice, on account of some circumstantial position. When the temperature is very low, the water becomes hard. Similarly, if we do not love Krsna, then our hearts will be harder and harder and harder. Heart is there for love, but why you are so hard-hearted? Why you are so much hard-hearted that we kill another fellow being or another animal-we do not care for it-for my satisfaction of the tongue? Because we have become hard-hearted. Hard-hearted. On account of not being a lover of Krsna, we are all hard-hearted.

Therefore the whole world is unhappy. But if you hrdayena… Therefore it is said, presthatamenatha hrdayenatma-bandhuna. If you love Krsna, who is our real friend, as Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, suhrdam sarva-bhūtanam [Bg 5.29]...

So when you actually become a devotee of Krsna, because Krsna's qualities are there within you, although in small quantity, so you also become suhrdam sarva-bhūtanam. Suhrdam sarva-bhūtanam means friend of all living entities. Suhrdam. What is the business of Vaisnava? Vaisnava business is to become compassionate with the persons who are suffering materially. This is Vaisnavism. Therefore Vaisnava's description is,

Patitanam pavanebhyo. Patita means "fallen."

So all living entities, being fallen in this material condition, they are all suffering. So Vaisnava sympathy is there. If actually there is any sympathizer for the fallen conditioned souls, he is a Vaisnava. He knows how, why they are suffering. Therefore he wants to give him the information: "My dear friend, you are suffering simply for forgetting your real lover, Krsna. Therefore you are suffering." This is the message, Vaisnava's message. For this message Krsna comes Himself as the Supreme Lord. He also says,

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam
[Bg 18.66]

Your loving propensity has been distributed in so many things, but you are not happy, because if you don't love Krsna, whatever you do in the name of so-called love, you will commit sinful life, disobedience. For example, if you are disobedient to the state law, that means your all activities are sinful. You may color it, "Oh, this is very nice," but that…, that will not. Nature, because you are servant of Krsna, jivera svarūpa haya nitya krsna dasa [Cc Madhya 20.108], your eternal position is to serve Krsna. So without this knowledge, whatever service you are going to render to somebody else, and that is sinful.

There is the same example. If you don't obey the state laws, and you become a philanthropist… So I have seen in India. In India, when there was Independence movement-not only in India, in every country-when there was Independence movement, many persons were hanged, condemned to death. But you are a great lover of the country. But on account of his intense feeling for loving his country, he was hanged, because the law…, he disobeyed the government law. Just try to understand. Similarly, if we disobey the supreme government laws, that is called dharma. Dharma means the supreme government law. Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19].

Dharma means… And what is that dharma? Krsna says, it is very simple thing, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam. Real religion is to surrender to Krsna, or God. That is real religion. Without that point, all religions, they are cheating simply. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra, Srimad-Bhagavatam [SB 1.1.2] begins.

Cheating religion. If there is no love of God, that is not the… Simply some ritualistic formula, that is not religion. Just like Hindus go, as a ritualistic formula, to the temple, or the Muslim goes to the mosque, or the Christian go to the church. But they have no love for God; simply official.

Because they have to stamp themselves with some religious mark: "I belong to Hindu religion," "I belong to Christian religion." That is only for fighting, that's all, because there is no love. If you…, if you are religious, that means you must be God conscious. So if you are God conscious, if I am God conscious, where is the cause of fighting? So that point they are missing; therefore such kind of religion is cheating religion, because there is no love.

So first thing is that we have to learn how to love. Sa vai pumsam paro dharmo [SB 1.2.6]. That is first-class religion. Religious system you follow, yato bhaktir adhoksaje. If you know how to love Adhoksaja, that when there is question of love, then the next question will be, "Whom shall I love?" Therefore, Krsna's another name is Adhoksaja. Adhoksaja means "beyond your sense perception." Here we love something which is within the category, or within the jurisdiction, of my sense perception. I love a girl or a boy, or somebody, my country, my society, my dog-everything-but that is within the jurisdiction of your sense perception. But God is beyond your sense perception. But still you have to love, and that is religion.

God is beyond sense perception, but if you love, although it is…, He is beyond your sense perception, then you will realize God. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234]. Just like we are worshiping here Radha-Krsna. Those who are not lover of Krsna, they will think that "These foolish person, they have brought a doll made of marble, and they are simply wasting their time." You see? Because he has no love. He has no love; therefore he cannot appreciate this worship of Krsna, for want of love. And one who is lover of Krsna... Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as soon as He entered the temple of Jagannatha: "Here is My Lord," He immediately fainted.

So what is the difference between the… There is the difference: a lover of God, he can see everywhere God is present.

If you have actually [indistinct] lover of God, then you will see God in every step. Every step. Then, just like Prahlada Maharaja. Prahlada Maharaja, when he was being attacked by his father, he was looking over the column, pillar, and the father thought that his God might be there in the pillar, so he immediately, "Your God in this pillar?" "Yes, my father." "Oh." Immediately broke. To keep the words of His devotee, God came out.

So appearance and disappearance of God is for the devotee.

God comes for two business: to give protection to the devotee and to kill the demons. So for killing the demons, He does not require to come. He has got immense power. Simply by His indication, any person can be killed. There is sufficient power, Durga-devi. But He comes for His devotee, because His devotee is very much anxious. He is always seeking protection of the Supreme. So because the devotee will be satisfied by seeing Him, therefore He comes. That is the reason. Because His devotees are always feeling separation, just to give him relief, incarnation of God comes. Pralaya-payodhi jale dhrtavan asi vedam [Sri Dasavatara Stotra 1]. Different incarnation come just to give relief to the devotees. Otherwise He has no business.

Then in the India there is a class of Hindus... They called so, but actually they are known as Arya, Arya-samaj. The Arya-samajis' opinion is, "Why God should come? He is so great; why He should come here?" The incarnation, they do not believe. The Muslims also, they do not believe incarnations. They also press the same plea, that "Why God should come? Why He should appear like human being?" But they do not know, neither they can answer this question, "Why God would not come?" They say that God cannot come, but if I put the question, "Why God cannot come?" what is the answer? If God is all-powerful, why you are curtailing this power, that He cannot come? What kind of God is He? God is under your law, or you are under God's law?

So this is the difference between lover of God and the demons. The demons cannot think. They think that "Maybe there is some God. He must be aloof, formless." Because he has got the experience of this form: limited. So therefore Mayavadi philosopher says that when God comes, the impersonal-He takes the form of maya. That is called Mayavadi. They actually do not believe in God. Impersonalism, sūnyavada. Nirvisesa-sūnyavadi. Some of them are nirvisesa: "Yes, there may be God, but He has no form."

And Mayavadi… Both of them are Mayavadi, sūnyavadi, the Buddhists and the Sahkarites, so they do not believe. But we, Vaisnava, we know how the atheists are cheated. Sammohaya sura-dvisam [SB 1.3.24]. Lord Buddha came to cheat the atheist. The atheists do not believe in God, so Lord Buddha said, "Yes, you are right. There is no God. But you just try to hear me." But he is God. So this is cheating. "You don't believe in God, but believe in me." "Yes, sir, I shall believe." And we know that he is God. [laughter] Kesava dhrta-buddha-sarira jaya jagadisa hare [Gita Govinda, Sri Dasavatara Stotra 9]. Just see maya. So sometimes cheating is required for the less intelligent class of men. But we are not cheating. We are very simple. Why should we cheat? Krsna says,

So we say, "Please come here. Here is Krsna, and you simply think of Him." Where is the difficulty? Here is Radha-Krsna, and if you daily see, naturally you will have impression within your mind about Radha and Krsna. So at any place, anywhere, you can think of Radha and Krsna. Where is the difficulty? Man-mana. You chant Hare Krsna. As soon as you chant "Krsna," immediately you remember the form of Krsna in the temple, nama-rūpa. Then you are hearing about Krsna; you remember about His qualities, His activities, nama, guna, rūpa, lila, parikara, vaisistya. In this way this, this you can practice. Where is the difficulty? This is the beginning of practice.

Actually Krsna is there, but because I have no eyes to see Krsna, I am thinking, "Here is… Where is Krsna? It is a stone, statue." But he does not know the stone is also Krsna. Stone is also Krsna. Water is also Krsna. Earth is also Krsna. Air is also Krsna. Without Krsna, there is no other existence. That the devotee can see. Therefore, whenever he sees stone even, he sees Krsna. Here the atheist will say that "You are worshiping stone." But they are not worshiping stone; they are worshiping Krsna, because they know that there is no…, nothing else except Krsna. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena [Bs 5.38]. That stage we have to arrive. How you can say stone is not Krsna? Krsna says… You have to understand Krsna as Krsna said. So Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita,

"They are mine." Just like I am speaking. I am speaking; it is being recorded and will replay, the same sound will come. And if you know that "Here is our spiritual master..." But the... I am not there. The sound is now different from me. Bhinna. Bhinna means "separated." But the..., as soon as the record is played, everyone will know, "Here is Bhaktisid…, Bhaktivedanta Swami." If you know. So that requires education. That Krsna... [break]

So our process is very simple. Simply engage your tongue. Leave aside all other senses. The tongue is very strong. And tongue is our bitterest enemy, and tongue can be your most intimate friend, this tongue. Therefore the sastra says that sevonmukhe hi jihvadau: just engage your tongue in the service of the Lord, and He will be revealed. Very nice. Now what…, what we do with the tongue?

We talk: talk of Krsna. We sing: chant of Krsna. We eat: taste, eat Krsna prasada. You will understand Krsna. Any foolish person, any uneducated or any position of life, you can use your tongue for Krsna's service. Don't eat anything which is not eaten by Krsna-your tongue becomes your most intimate friend. And don't talk anything except Krsna. If you follow these two principles, Krsna will be within your grip.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. Haribol. [offer obeisances] [end]