This is a very nice lecture by His Divine Grace from the sixth
Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, recorded July 12th, 1975, in
Philadelphia, PA.
…We are thinking, “I shall be happy in
this way. I shall be happy in this…” Nothing. You shall never be
happy—this is perfect instruction—unless you go back to home, back to
Godhead. Just like a mad boy, he has forsaken his father. His father is
rich man, everything is there, but he has become hippie. So similarly,
we are also like that. Our father is Kṛṣṇa. We can live there very
comfortably without any botheration, without endeavor for earning money,
but we have decided that we shall live here in this material world.
This is called ass. … Therefore mūḍha. We do not know what is our
self-interest. And we are hoping against hope, “I shall be happy in this
way. I shall be happy in this way.” Therefore this word is used, mūḍha.
They do not know what is actually his happiness, and he is trying one
chapter, another, one chapter, another, “Now I will be happy.” The ass.
The ass. Sometimes the washerman sits on his back and takes a bunch of
grass and puts in front of the ass, and the ass wants to take the grass.
But as he moving forward, the grass is also moving forward. (laughter)
And he thinks, “Just one step forward, I shall get the grass.” But
because he is ass, he does not know that “The grass is situated in such a
way that I may go on for millions of years; still, I will not get the
happiness…” This is ass. He does not come to his senses that “For
millions and trillions of years I may try to be happy in this material
world. I will never be happy.”
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Lecture 6.1.26-27
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Philadelphia, July 12, 1975
Prabhupāda:
sa evaṁ vartamāno ‘jño
mṛtyu-kāla upasthite
matiṁ cakāra tanaye
bāle nārāyaṇāhvaye
[SB 6.1.27]
So
vartamāna, everyone is situated under certain condition. This is
material life. I am situated under certain consciousness, you are
situated in certain consciousness, everyone. According to the modes of
nature, we have got different conception of life and different
consciousness. That is called material life. All of us, we are sitting
here. Every one of us has got a different consciousness. Generally, it
is meant for sense gratification. Material life means everyone is
planning, “I shall live like this. I shall acquire money like this. I
shall enjoy like this.” Everyone has got a program.
So Ajāmila
also had a program. What was his program? His program was, as he is very
much attached to his youngest child and whole attention was there, how
the child is moving, how the child is eating, how the child is talking,
and sometimes he was calling, he was feeding, so his whole mind was
absorbed with the activities of the child. In the previous verse we have
already discussed:
bhuñjānaḥ prapiban khādan
bālakaṁ sneha-yantritaḥ
bhojayan pāyayan mūḍho
na vedāgatam antakam
[SB 6.1.26]
Not
only Ajāmila, everyone, they are absorbed in certain type of
consciousness. And what is due to it? How the consciousness develops? It
is said, sneha-yantritaḥ. Sneha means affection. “By the…, affected by
the machine which is called affection.” So everyone is affected by this
machine. This machine… This body is a machine. And it is being worked by
the nature. And direction is coming from the Supreme Lord. We wanted to
enjoy a certain way and Kṛṣṇa has given us a certain type of body,
yantra. Just like you have got different makes of motorcar. You want.
Somebody wants. I want Buick car. Somebody says, “I want Chevrolet,”
some, “Ford.” They are ready. Similarly, our body is also like that.
Somebody is Ford, somebody is Chevrolet, somebody is Buick, and Kṛṣṇa
has given us the chance, “You wanted this kind of car or body. You sit
down and enjoy.” This is our material position. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg. 18.61]. We forget. After changing the
body, we forget what I desired and why I have got this kind of body. But
Kṛṣṇa, He is situated within your heart. He does not forget. He gives
you. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante [Bg. 4.11]. You wanted this kind of body:
you get it. Kṛṣṇa is so kind. If somebody wanted a body so that he can
eat everything, so Kṛṣṇa gives him the body of a pig, so it can eat even
stool. And if somebody wanted a body that “I shall dance with Kṛṣṇa,”
then he gets that body. Now, it is up to you to decide whether you are
going to get a body which will be able to dance with Kṛṣṇa, to talk with
Kṛṣṇa, to play with Kṛṣṇa. You can get it. And if you want a body how
to eat stool, urine, you will get it. So we have to decide, this human
form of life. But if you have no information that “What kind of body I
am going to get next,” if you don’t believe… You believe or not believe,
it doesn’t matter. The nature’s law will act. If you say, “I don’t
believe in the next life,” you may say like that, but nature’s law will
act. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa [SB 3.31.1]. As you are acting, according to
that, you are preparing your next body. So after death—after death means
when this body is finished—then you get another body immediately,
because you have already made the field work, what kind of body you will
get.
So this man, Ajāmila, was engaged in taking care of his
child very nicely, and the whole mind was absorbed in the child. So…
(aside:) Don’t disturb. Therefore he has been described as mūḍha. Here
it is said, bhojayan pāyayan mūḍhaḥ. We are forgetting that some day is
coming. That is ahead. That is called mṛtyu, death. We forget that. This
is our imperfectness. So this man forgot that he was very busy as
affectionate father or affectionate husband. Or anything. I have got so
many relationship. As an affectionate friend or envious enemy, we have
got some relationship. With everyone with this world we have got some.
Either it may be affectionate or envy; it doesn’t matter. So in this way
we are living forgetting that death is ahead. Therefore we are mūḍha.
Mūḍha means rascal, ass, who does not know what is actual interest. Just
like ass. Ass, the… Mūḍha means ass. The ass does not know his own
interest. We have seen that ass is loaded with three tons of cloth by
the washerman, and he cannot go; still, he has to do it. And he does
(not) know that “I am loading so many tons of cloth on my back, and what
interest I have got with it? Not a single cloth belongs to me.” So the
ass has no such sense. Ass means he has no such sense. He is thinking,
“It is my duty. To load upon me so much clothing, it is my duty.” Why it
is duty? Now, “Because the washerman gives you grass.” So he has no
sense that “Grass I can get anywhere. Why I have taken this duty?” This
is the… Everyone is anxious about his duty. Somebody is politician,
somebody is householder, somebody is something else. Because he has
taken up some false duty and working hard for it, therefore he is an
ass. He is forgetting his real business. Real business is that death
will come. It will not avoid me. Everyone says, “As sure as death.” Now,
before death, I have to act in such a way that I may have a position in
Vaikuṇṭha, in Vṛndāvana, and I may have permanent life to live with
Kṛṣṇa. This is our real duty.
But we do not know that. Na te viduḥ
svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum [SB 7.5.31]. We are in this conditioned state
of life because we are separated from our original person, Kṛṣṇa.
Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we have forgotten this. We are
thinking we are part and parcel of America or India. This is called
illusion. They are interested… Somebody is interested in his country;
somebody is interested in his society or family. We have created so many
things, duty. Therefore śāstra says that “These rascals do not know
what is his actual self-interest.” Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā [SB 7.5.31]. He is hoping something which will never be
fulfilled. Therefore he is rascal. We are trying to adjust things within
this material world to become happy, but the rascal does not know that
so long he will remain in this material world, there is no question of
happiness. That is rascaldom.
Kṛṣṇa says that this place is
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam [Bg. 8.15]. This material world, where we are now
living under different change of body one after another, it is
duḥkhālayam. Why I have to change my body? Why not… I am permanent. Na
hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. Therefore we have to learn, we have
to be educated, we have to receive knowledge from the perfect. And
Kṛṣṇa personally, the Supreme Perfect Person, is giving you knowledge.
And if we are so unfortunate that we do not take the perfect
knowledge—we concoct, we speculate, we create our own idea—then it is to
be understood that durāśayā. We are thinking, “I shall be happy in this
way. I shall be happy in this…” Nothing. You shall never be happy—this
is perfect instruction—unless you go back to home, back to Godhead. Just
like a mad boy, he has forsaken his father. His father is rich man,
everything is there, but he has become hippie. So similarly, we are also
like that. Our father is Kṛṣṇa. We can live there very comfortably
without any botheration, without endeavor for earning money, but we have
decided that we shall live here in this material world. This is called
ass. This is the… Therefore mūḍha. We do not know what is our
self-interest. And we are hoping against hope, “I shall be happy in this
way. I shall be happy in this way.” Therefore this word is used, mūḍha.
They do not know what is actually his happiness, and he is trying one
chapter, another, one chapter, another, “Now I will be happy.” The ass.
The ass. Sometimes the washerman sits on his back and takes a bunch of
grass and puts in front of the ass, and the ass wants to take the grass.
But as he moving forward, the grass is also moving forward. (laughter)
And he thinks, “Just one step forward, I shall get the grass.” But
because he is ass, he does not know that “The grass is situated in such a
way that I may go on for millions of years; still, I will not get the
happi…” This is ass. He does not come to his senses that “For millions
and trillions of years I may try to be happy in this material world. I
will never be happy.”
Therefore we have to take the knowledge from the guru who knows things. Therefore guru is worshiped,
ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
The
politician or, what is called, leaders, andha, they will promise you
that “You will be happy in this way. You give me vote, and I shall bring
heaven for you, and let me become minister. That is… You simply wait,
and as soon as I become a minister and president, I will give you such
and such benefit.” So you select Mr. Nixon, and again you become
disappointed. Then we request, “Mr. Nixon, you get out.” And we accept
another fool. This is going on. This is going… But śāstra says you will
not be getting right information in that way. These foolish men, they
will promise you something, and he is unable to make you happy. You will
be again disappointed, again regret. Then what is…, wherefrom I shall
get the right information? That Vedas says, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum
eva abhigacchet: [MU 1.2.12] “If you want right information, then go to
the guru.” And who is guru? That Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains that āmāra
ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. He says, “You just
become on My order.” Guru means who carries the order of Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya
Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa. Or who is Kṛṣṇa’s servant, that is guru. Nobody
can become guru unless he carries the order of the Supreme. Therefore
you will find… Because every one of us is ass, we do not know what is
our self-interest, and somebody comes, “I am guru.” “How you become
guru?” “No, I am self-perfected. I don’t require to read any book. I
have come to bless you.” (laughter) And the foolish rascals, they do not
know, “How you can become guru?” If he does not follow the śāstra or
the supreme authority Kṛṣṇa, how he can become? But they accept, guru.
So
this kind of guru is going on. But you should know, guru means who
carries the order of the Supreme Lord. That is guru. Any rascal who
manufactures some idea is not guru. Immediately kick him out,
immediately, that “This is a rascal. This is not a guru.” Guru is here,
as Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā [Cc. Madhya 7.128].
Guru means the faithful servant of God. That is guru. So you have to
first of all test that “Are you faithful servant of God?” If he says,
“No, I am God,” oh, kick him on his face immediately. (laughter) Kick
him immediately, that “You are rascal. You have come to cheat us.”
Because test is there that guru means faithful servant of God, simple.
You don’t require large definition, what is guru. So Vedic knowledge
gives you indication that tad-vijñānārtham. If you want to know the
science of spiritual life, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU
1.2.12], you must approach guru. And who is guru? Guru means who is the
faithful servant of God. Very simple.
So this is the position.
Without guru, if he is manufacturing his way of life, then he is mūḍha,
rascal. Therefore it is said, mūḍha. He was thinking, “I am so
affectionate father. I am taking care of my son, little son. In all
respect I am feeding him, I am patting him, and so many things I am… I
am very faithful and very honest father.” But śāstra says, “Here is a
mūḍha, rascal.” You see here. It says, bhojayan pāyayan mūḍhaḥ. Why he
is mūḍha? Na vedāgatam antakam. He does not say, does not know, that
“Behind me, the death is awaiting. He has come to take me.” Now, “How
your affection for your so-called son and society and family and nation
will save you? Here is death.” That he cannot answer. He cannot answer
that death is there. So we shall be prepared. That is human life. We
must always know that “There is death behind me.” At any moment he can
capture my neck and take it away. That’s a fact. Is there any guarantee
that you shall live hundred years? No. Even just after few seconds, if
you go to the street, you may immediately meet death. There may be heart
failure. There may be motor accident. There may be something,
something. So to live is wonderful. To die is not wonderful. Because you
are meant for death. As soon as you took your birth, immediately you
begin to die. Immediately. If you enquire, “Oh, when the child is born?”
you say, say, “One week.” That means he has died one week. We are
taking that he is living one week, but actually he has died one week.
That is wonderful, that still he is living, he has not died. So death is
not wonderful because it is sure. It will come—after one week or after
one hundred years. That is not wonderful. So long you live, that is
wonderful.
So we should utilize this time to make solution of the
life that we are repeatedly dying and again accepting another body. So
how they will understand unless they come to the proper guru? Therefore
śāstra, says tad-vijñānārtham: “If you want to know the real problem of
your life and if you want to be enlightened how to become Kṛṣṇa
conscious, how to become eternal, go back to home, back to Godhead, then
you must approach the guru.” And who is guru? That is explained, very
simple thing. Guru never manufactures idea that “You do this and give me
money and you become happy.” That is not guru. That is another process
of earning money. So here it is said, mūḍha, everyone who is simply
living in the fool’s paradise, manufacturing his own ideas like Ajāmila…
Somebody has taken, “This is my duty,” somebody has… He is a fool. You
must know what is your duty from guru. You are singing every day,
guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya, ār nā koriho mane āśā **.
This is life. This is life. Guru-mukha-pad… You accept the bona fide
guru, and what he orders you, carry out. Then your life is successful.
Ār nā koriho mane āśā. You rascal, you do not desire anything else. Are
you not singing daily? But do you understand the meaning? Or you are
singing only? What is the meaning? Who will explain? Nobody knows? Yes,
what is the meaning?
Devotee: “My only wish is that my mind
be purified by the words coming from the mouth of my spiritual master. I
have no other desire but this.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. This is
the order. Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya **. Now citta
means consciousness or heart. “I shall do this only, bas. My Guru
Mahārāja told me; I shall do this.” Cittete koriyā aikya, ār nā koriho
mane āśā. So it is not my pride, but I can say, for your instruction, I
did it. Therefore whatever little success you see than my all my
Godbrothers, it is due to this. I have no capacity, but I took it, the
words of my guru, as life and soul. So this is fact.
Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya **. Everyone should do
that. But if he makes addition, alteration, then he is finished. No
addition, alteration. You have to approach guru—guru means the faithful
servant of God, Kṛṣṇa—and take his word how to serve Him. Then you are
successful. If you concoct, “I am more intelligent than my guru, and I
can make addition or alteration,” then you are finished. So that is the
only. And now, sing further.
Devotee: Śrī-guru-caraṇe rati, ei se uttama-gati.
Prabhupāda:
Śrī-guru-caraṇe rati, ei se, uttama-gati. If you want to make real
progress, then you must be firmly faithful at the lotus feet of guru.
Then?
Devotee: Je prasāde pūre sarva āśā.
Prabhupāda:
Je prasāde pūre sarva āśā. Yasya prasādāt… This is the instruction in
the whole Vaiṣṇava philosophy. So unless we do that, we remain mūḍha,
and this is explained in this Ajāmila-upākhyāna. So today we are reading
this verse, sa evaṁ vartamānaḥ ajñaḥ. Again he says. Again Vyāsadeva
says that “This rascal was situated in that, absorbed in the service of
his son, Nārāyaṇa, of the name.” He did not know… “What is this nonsense
Nārāyaṇa?” He knew his son. But Nārāyaṇa is so merciful that because he
was constantly calling his son, “Nārāyaṇa, please come here. Nārāyaṇa,
please take this,” so Kṛṣṇa was taking that “He is chanting ‘Nārāyaṇa.’ ”
Kṛṣṇa is so merciful. He never meant that “I am going to Nārāyaṇa.” He
wanted his son because he was affectionate. But he got the opportunity
of chanting the holy name of Nārāyaṇa. This is his good fortune.
Therefore, according to this, we change the name. Why? Because every
name is meant for becoming a servant of Kṛṣṇa. So just like Upendra.
Upendra means Vāmanadeva. So if you call “Upendra, Upendra,” or
similarly, that name is taken account of. So that will be explained
later on.
So here also it is said… In the first verse it is said
mūḍha, and the second verse also it is said, sa evaṁ vartamānaḥ ajñaḥ.
Ajña means rascal. Mūḍha means rascal. Ajña means ignorant, ignorant,
who has no knowledge. Jña means one who has knowledge. Ajña mean who has
no knowledge. Mṛtyu-kāla upasthite. So everyone in this material world,
he is mūḍha, ajña. He does not care that “I will have to meet death.
When everything will be finished, all my plans, all my assets,
everything, will be finished.” He does not know that. He knows it, but
he doesn’t care to observing these things.
Therefore everyone is mūḍha and ajña. Then, in spite of the death
has come, matiṁ cakāra tanaye bāle nārāyaṇāhvaye. He is experiencing,
“Now I am dying; death is near.” Still, he is thinking of his, that
child. So yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante [Bg. 8.6]. He has got a
child. His name is Nārāyaṇa. Now, his position is different. But if I
am similarly affected, similarly affectionate to my dog, then what is my
position? Or anything. Naturally, I will think of my dog, and
immediately I shall get the another body like a dog, or dog. This is
nature’s law. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram. At the
time… The test will be at the time of death, what kind of body you are
going to get. So yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvam. The… Just like he is very
much affectionate to his son. He is thinking of his son. Similarly, if
you very much affectionate to your dog or something else, you will think
at that time. Therefore practice Hare Kṛṣṇa so that at the time of
death you can think of Kṛṣṇa and your life is successful.
Thank you very much. (end)
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