Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.43 [partially recorded] – March 24, 1972, Bombay

720324SB-BOMBAY [11:42 Minutes]

Srimad-Bhagavatam is sound avatara

Prabhupada: …just like when we at night, we are nasta-drsam. Even though we have got these eyes, we cannot see; we require light. For a moment there was no electric light-you immediately became blind. That is our position. We are very much proud of our eyes. We see…, we say, "Can you show me God?" There are so many questions. But what is your eyes? Your eyes, if there is no light, electricity, you cannot see. And you want to see God with these eyes, these imperfect eyes? But they say, "Can you show me God?" So the answer is, "Can you see God?" You have to make the eyes nasta-drsam. Our eyes, our senses, are so imperfect, it is not possible to understand Krsna. Ataḥ krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136].

So you have to rectify your faulty senses-eyes, hands, everything. Then you can understand Krsna. That is stated here: kalau nasta-drsam. In this age, kalau… This is called Kali, Age of Kali-fighting. Quarrel means disagreement and fight, kalau. Kalau nasta-drsam esa puranarko 'dhunoditaḥ [SB 1.3.43]. This Purana, this Bhagavata-Purana, is just like sunshine, or sun: adhunoditaḥ. So we should take advantage of this sunshine, Krsna, Krsna's…, what is called, sabdha incarnation. This Srimad-Bhagavatam… Krsna has many incarnations. Just like here, we are worshiping the Deity, this is called arca-avatara. Similarly, this Srimad-Bhagavatam is sound avatara. Krsna can appear as avatara in anything, because this sound means from sky, and this arca is from stone.

Krsna claims, bhūmir apo analo vayuḥ kham buddhir [Bg 7.4]. Kham means akasaḥ. From the akasaḥ, from the sky, there is sabdha, sound vibration. That is the symptom that existence of akasaḥ. And this arca-mūrti, that is also made of stone, but Krsna..., the stone is nothing but energy of Krsna; the sound is energy of Krsna. So as the sunshine is energy of the sun… When there is sunshine, the energy of the sun, you can understand the sun is there. Similarly, from anything, if you have got realization, you can understand Krsna-energy. So this is, this Srimad-Bhagavatam, is sound vibration incarnation of Krsna: apurna, puranarko adhunoditaḥ.

So if we study Srimad-Bhagavatam regularly, just according to the direction of the acaryas, then we can become God conscious, Krsna conscious, very easily. Nityam bhagavata-sevaya [SB 1.2.18]. Not officially, but nityam: daily, regularly, we should hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from the authorized source. Then our life is successful.

These things will be explained gradually.

Now, it is established that after departure of Krsna, knowledge and dharma is described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita. Bhagavad-gita, personally He speaks about Him, and Srimad-Bhagavatam the great sage, mahamuni, Vyasadeva is speaking about Krsna. So when this question was raised in Naimisaranya by the great sages and saintly person, the Sūta Gosvami was speaking. He replied, munayaḥ sadhu prsto 'ham [SB 1.2.5]. This was the answer when the question, that "After departure of Krsna, where we can find dharma, jnana?"

That is the inquiry of human life: athato brahma-jijnasa [Vedanta-sūtra 1.1.1]. This is jnana and dharma. Without jnana and dharma-knowledge and religion-that is not human society. Everyone should be inquisitive: athato brahma-jijnasa. That is brahma-jijnasa. Jijnasa means inquiry. Everyone should be interested to inquire about dharma and jnana. That is human life. Tapo divyam.

The Rsabhadeva, the father of Maharaja Bharata, under whose name this land is called Bharata-varsa, Bharata, his father Rsabhadeva instructed His one hundred sons that "My dear sons, this life," nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke [SB 5.5.1], "this body in the human society is not meant for working so hard like the dogs and hogs for sense gratification." This is not meant for. Don't waste your time in that way. Simply for sense gratification to work so much hard, that is done by the dogs and hogs. Tapo divyam. "This life is meant for understanding God," tapo divyam, "for which one must undergo all kinds of austerity and penances." Austerity and penance means sacrificing our indulgence in sense gratification-little sacrifice required.

Formerly, great, great sages, they went to forest and Himalaya to meditate, just like Dhruva Maharaja went. When five-years-old boy, in order to find out God, he went to the forest and meditated. Of course, he was successful, but at the present moment it is not possible to accept such kind of austerity. But therefore the sastra gives us very short-cut austerity-chant Hare Krsna:

A little austerity. A little austerity. We are asking our students to chant this Hare Krsna, sixteen rounds at least-this much austerity. But Kali-yuga is so strong that even this sixteen rounds is also very difficult. So we are so much fallen, but still, although we are fallen, if we chant this mantra Hare Krsna, as recommended by the sastras: harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam... Just like a small child: he tries to walk, sometimes falls down, again he tries to stand up. But we must try to come to the perfectional point by chanting this Hare Krsna mantra.

So the Sūta Gosvami is replying after hearing the question: munayaḥ-this is plural number, "all the sages," sadhu prsto 'ham, "Oh, your question is very, very nice," sadhu, most, I mean to say, worshipable. Sadhu prsto 'ham. munayaḥ sadhu prsto 'hambhavadbhir loka-mahgalam [SB 1.2.5]. "Your question about Krsna, that after departure of Krsna, where is now jnana and dharma?" Dharma, jnana. Now see, simply because it is related with Krsna, Sūta Gosvami became so engladdened, that "Your question is very, very nice," sadhu prsto. Why it is nice? Because loka-mahgalam.

This Krsna discussion is so nice that as soon as we begin it, and so long we discuss about Krsna, it is loka-mahgalam-the whole period is auspicious. At that time Yamaraja cannot touch you. The death, the time, the influence of time cannot touch you. If you go on in Krsna consciousness, then the influence of time cannot touch you.

How influence of time has touched us? We are eternal, but we have been under the clutches of birth and death. This is the influence of time. Not that time is changing, but the influence of time is changing. I am getting this body, another body, another body… This is influence of time. So if you are constantly in Krsna consciousness, twenty-four hours, this influence of time cannot touch us. This is the secret.

So we recommend, therefore, our Krsna consciousness movement, that in whichever position you may be, it doesn't matter. Please try to chant this holy name: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.

Devotees: All glories to Srila Prabhupada. [end]