Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.20 – July 24, 1974, New York

To understand Krsna is not ordinary thing

Nitai: [leads chanting of verse] [devotees repeat]

...prasanna-enlivened;
manasah-of the mind;
bhagavat-bhakti-the devotional service of the Lord;
yogataḥ-by contact of;
bhagavat-regarding the Personality of Godhead;
tattva-knowledge;
vijnanam-scientific;
mukta-liberated;
sahgasya-of the association;
jayate-becomes effective

[break]

"Thus established in the mode of goodness, the man rejuvenated by loving service to the Lord gains liberation from material association, mukti, and comes to know scientifically of the Personality of Godhead."

Prabhupada:

Bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam. It is not sentiment; it is vijnana. Vijnana means science. To become a devotee does not mean a sentimentalist. Sentimentalist has no value. One who had… There is sentiment. That is emotional sentiment in the… Just like this child is dancing. It is not sentiment-he has no sentiment-but he is dancing from the spiritual awakening. This dancing is not dog's dancing. This is… One who is feeling love of Godhead, he is dancing. The more one feels love of Godhead, he can dance, he can chant, he can cry. There are so many..., eight kinds of asta-sattvika-vikara [Cc Antya 14.99]: transformation of the body, tears in the eyes.

So bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam.

Krsna said to Brahma, jnanam me parama-guhyam. To know about Krsna, it is very, very confidential. It is not ordinary thing. Vijnana. Therefore many scientists, they are also joining our movement. Many Doctor of Philosophy, Chemistry, they are understanding this is a science, and the more you make propaganda, I mean, the higher circle of the society, the learned scholars, professors, scientists, philosophers, they will join. And for them we have got so many books. We have proposal to publish eighty books. Out of them, we have published about fourteen books.

So it is a science. Otherwise, why Srimad-Bhagavatam has devoted eighteen thousand verses for understanding? Hmm? In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra [SB 1.1.2], that cheating, sentimentalism, the so-called religious system, is projjhita, is kicked out. There is no such place here in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Projjhita. Just like you brush something with broomstick or something and throw away the dust, similarly, the dusty things, so-called sentimental religionism, is not here in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. It is a science. Parama-guhyam: very confidential. To understand Krsna is not ordinary thing. Krsna says,

So this truth is understandable through the…, through Krsna or through Krsna's representative. In Bhagavad-gita Krsna says,

Mad-asrayaḥ. Mad-asrayaḥ means "Under My…, under Me." Actually it means, mad-asrayaḥ means, one who has taken the shelter of Krsna, or one who has surrendered to Krsna without any reservation. He is called mad-asrayaḥ, or one who has taken shelter of Krsna perfectly. So this yoga, this bhakti-yoga, as it is stated here, bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ, so bhagavad-bhakti-yoga can be learned when one takes fully shelter at the lotus feet of a bhagavad-bhakta. That is called bhagavad-bhakta. You, you cannot become bhagavad-bhakta independent, without caring for your spiritual master. That is nonsense. That is rascaldom. He will never be able.

We are singing daily, yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado. But you do not know the meaning, unfortunately. Yasya prasadad: if the spiritual master is pleased, then Bhagavan is pleased; not that independently. Yasya..., yasya prasadad. In the ten kinds of offenses, the first offense is guror avajna [Padma Purana, Brahma Khanḍa 25.15-18], disobeying the orders of guru. And especially guru's business is to preach Krsna consciousness. And if a person blasphemes a person who is preaching all over the world Krsna consciousness, that is the greatest offense. But we are reading ten kinds of offenses, gurvastaka, and the guru's... Do you know the meaning, what is that, sri-guru-carana-padma? What is that song? Read it.

Devotee: Sri-guru-carana-padma, kevala bhakati-sadma...

Prabhupada: Ahh.

Devotee: Bando mui savadhana...

Prabhupada: Ah, savadhana mate, "with great care." You sing this song-do you know the meanings? No. Who can explain the meaning? Yes, you explain.

Devotee: Sri-guru-carana-padma means "the lotus feet of the guru." Kevala bhakati-sadma, that he is a reservoir of all devotion, or bhakti. Bando mui savadhana means that we worship him with great awe.

Prabhupada: Hmm. Read. Read the other lines.

Devotee: Jahara prasade bhai...

Prabhupada: Ah, jahara prasade bhai. Then?

Devotee: E bha va toriya jai.

Prabhupada: E bhava toriya jai. If one is, I mean to say, favored by guru, then the path to cross over the nescience is clear. Jahara prasade bhai, e bhava toriya jai. Then, next line.

Devotee: Krsna-prapti hoy jaha ha'te.

Prabhupada: And krsna-prapti hoy jaha ha'te: by the favor of guru one gets Krsna. This is the… Yasya prasadad bhagavat. Everywhere. This is bhagavad-bhakti-yoga. So one who has not attained this state, what is this bhagavad-bhakti? This is rascaldom. That is not bhagavad...

Bhagavad-bhakti-yoga. It is a kind of yoga, or the real yoga. Topmost yoga system is bhagavad-bhakti, and bhagavad-bhakti-yoga begins, adau gurv-asrayaḥ. First of all surrender to guru.

The official initiation has no meaning. Unless one who has fully surrendered to guru, there is no question of initiation. Divya jnana hrde prokasito. Divya-jnana means "transcendental knowledge." So to play tricks with guru, to become diplomat and intriguer, these rascaldom will not help bhagavad-bhakti-yoga. You can get some other things, some material profit, but spiritual life will be spoiled.

So this Krsna consciousness movement is for spiritual enlightenment, not for how to get money, how to earn money. This is not Krsna consciousness. Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches,

Na dhanam. The materialists, they, what they want? They want money. They want many followers and many subordinates, or nice, beautiful wife. This is materialist. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu refuses. Na dhanam: "No, no. I don't want money." This is teaching. Na dhanam na janam: "I don't want to rule over somebody." No. Na…, na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam; a poetic imagination of nice, beautiful wife. "These things I do not want." What is? Then, bhagavad-bhakti-yoga,

Then bhagavad-bhakta do not want even liberation. Why Krsna…, Caitanya Mahaprabhu is saying janmani janmani, "birth after..."? One who is liberated, he does not take any more birth in this material world. Those who are impersonalist, they merge into the effulgence, bodily rays of Krsna, and those who are devotees, they get permission to enter into Vaikuntha, or Goloka Vrndavana. [aside:] Don't make [indistinct].

So if we want prasanna mana, always jubilation-that is spiritual life. Not that always morose, making some plans. That is not spiritual life. You don't find any materialistic person jubilant. He is morose, and thinking, and smoking cigarette and drinking, making some big, big plan. That is materialist. And bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ: prasanna-manaso. In the Bhagavad-gita,

Prasannatma. This is spiritual life. As soon as you become actually in spiritual life-never mind either you in impersonal philosophy or personal philosophy, both of them are spiritualist; only the difference is the impersonalists think that "I am spirit; God is spirit. Therefore we one. We merge into this." Sayujya-mukti. Krsna gives them sayujya-mukti. But that is not very safe, because anandamayo 'bhyasat [Vedanta-sūtra 1.1.12].

Ananda, real ananda, cannot be realized oneself. There must be two. Love does not mean "I love myself" and meditate upon love. No. There must..., must be another person, lover. Therefore dvaitavada. As soon as you come to the bhakti school, there must be dvaitavada: two-Krsna and Krsna's devotee. And the exchange of Krsna and Krsna's servant is called bhakti. The dealings, that is called bhakti. Therefore it is said, bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ. Not monism, oneness. There is always the bhakta, devotee, is trying to please Krsna. They, just like gopis, the topmost devotees, their only business is to please Krsna. That's all.

Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended, ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhū-vargena ya kalpita [Caitanya-manjusa]. There cannot be better method of worship than the process which the gopis adopted. They did not care for anything. The gopis, some of them were engaged in household affairs, somebody was talking with husband, some of them taking care of the children, some, some of them were boiling milk. As soon as there was Krsna's flute, everything left undone. "Where you are going?" Husband, brother, father: "Where you are going?" "No, don't care. Krsna's flute is there; we do not know anything." This is devotion, the highest, topmost. Caitanya Mahaprabhu…, Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so strict that a woman could not come very near to offer him obeisances. From little distance. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as a sannyasi, He was so strict. Of course, that should be the principle, but especially in your country, that cannot be very strictly observed. But at least one should be very careful. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so strict-He's eulogizing the gopis' love of Krsna.

So that gopis' love is not ordinary thing, this. It is transcendental. Otherwise, how Caitanya Mahaprabhu appreciates? How Sukadeva Gosvami appreciated krsna-lila? This krsna-lila is not ordinary thing. It is spiritual. So unless one is situated firmly in bhakti-yoga, they should not try to understand what is the pastimes of the gopis with Krsna. That will be dangerous. Narottama dasa Thakura, he says,

Jugala-piriti: the loving dealings between Radha and Krsna. Jugala, jugala means "couple"; piriti means "love." So Narottama dasa Thakura, exalted acarya, he said, "When I shall be able to understand?" Not that "I have understood everything." Not "I have understood everything." This is nice. This is vijnanam, bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam. So we should be very careful to understand the science. And the science can be understood through the mercy of the spiritual master. Therefore Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says, yasya prasadad: first of all try to please your spiritual master. Then try to understand.

So it is a great science.

This is the process. First of all surrender yourself: "Sir, I'll surrender you." "All right." "Now I don't like it." What is this? What is this surrender, "Now I don't like it"? That means there was no surrender. Surrender does not mean, "Now I surrender, and if you do not please me, if you do not satisfy my senses, then I don't like." That is not surrender. Surrender, the example is given by Bhaktivinoda Thakura: dog. Very good example. The dog surrenders to the master fully. Even the master kills him, he does not protest. This is example.

"Vaisnava thakura, my dear, my revered spiritual master, you are the best of the Vaisnavas. Please accept me as your dog." That is surrender. So real surrender begins,

Asrayah. Asraya loiya bhaje krsna tare nahi tyaje [Narottama dasa Thakura]. One who executes devotional service, taking shelter of bona fide spiritual master, Krsna will never give him up. He will accept him. Asraya loiya bhaje krsna tare nahi tyage ara saba more akarana[?]. Others, they will simply waste their time, that's all. So this is bhagavad-bhakti-yoga. Adau gurv-asrayam sad-dharma-prccha, sadhu-marga-anugamanam [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.74]. Everything is there in the devotional service, in The Nectar of Devotion, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita we are publishing. If you do not understand, if you think that "These books are for sale, and we are all learned. We have learned everything. Finished. Our business is finished," that will not improve the condition.

It is a science. As you learn science… Just like our Svarūpa Damodara, Doctor-so he is now Doctor. We have got another Doctor in New Vrindavan; he is also scientist. So if you want to take the doctorate title, that is also the surrender. There are committees, three-, four-men committees. When they certify, "Yes. This is all right. This thesis presented by such and such, it is approved," then you get. So everywhere there is tad vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet [Munḍaka Upanisad 1.2.12].

So if we are not serious about understanding the science of Krsna, if you take some opportunity to become this, to become that, and make some money, and this and that, then the whole thing is finished. For opportunists there is no Krsna consciousness. For the real surrendered soul: mad-asrayaḥ.

So bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam. Everyone, we are at least here enlisted ourself to become a graduate in bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam. This is the process. Mad-asrayaḥ, Krsna says. Mad-asrayaḥ means yogam yunjan mad-asrayaḥ. To become under Krsna or… That is not possible, because without taking shelter of Krsna's servant, gopi-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasaḥ ...

We have to become servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Krsna. Not aspiring, "I shall become directly servant of Krsna." That is Mayavada. Our process is the servant of the… Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches, the servant of the… The more one has become servant of the hundredth generation down, he is perfect.

So try to understand.

Bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam. This science, who can understand? Mukta-sahgasya. Mukta means "liberated," and sahga means "association." So association means we are always… We are contaminated by the material nature. Sometimes we are good; sometimes we are passionate; sometimes we are rascal. There are three gunas. Some of them are very good, and some of them are passionate and some of them are rascals. So we have to transcend even the platform of so-called goodness. That is called mukta-sahga. Because in the material life, we are always associating with these gunas, three qualities, guna-mayi, maya. Daivi hy esa guna-mayi. Guna-mayi. Guna, these three gunas. So it is very difficult. Sometimes we are in the platform of goodness, then we fall down in the passion, then we fall down in ignorance. Or from ignorance I rise again in goodness and again fall down. This is going on. But therefore you have to become mukta-sahgasya, above all these qualities. Above all. "I am very good man. I am good manager. I am this…," you have to surpass that also. That is called mukta-sahgasya.

But that mukta-sahgasya is possible when we are sincerely engaged in devotional service. Just like the Deity worship. The Deity worship means gradually to become mukta-sahga. Therefore Deity worship is essential. There is process: You must all rise early in the morning; you must take bath; you should offer mahgala-arati. Then after that, after that dressing, some flowering. In this way, if you always remain, then gradually you will become mukta-sahga. [indistinct] The tongue…, as soon as you begin and devotional service that is the stage of mukta-sahga. If you do not fall down, if we strictly follow the instruction of spiritual master and the sastra and be engaged always in devotional service there is no question of fall down. That is called mukta-sahga. But if you deviate, if you do not like, then you will fall down. So when you become mukta-sahga, mukta-sahga begins the change is there, if you follow. If you don't follow then you'll fall down. But if you remain on the platform then we should be able to understand, ...what is that?, bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam. The abosolute Truth about the supreme lord.

So I am very pleased that we are doing nicely and traveling I have seen at temples, so don't deviate. Don't deviate from the instruction given by your spiritual master, make that your life and soul, and follow the regulative principles chant 16 rounds you'll never fall down. Mukta-sahga. Then gradually Krsna will be revealed. Bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam. Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Srila Prabhupada. [end]