Material Life

 

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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Śrī Gaura-Pūrṇimā Lecture

 

Today as most of the world celebrates Gaura Purnima, (Appearance day of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu), I was reminded of a lecture given by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada on Gaura Purnima in Mayapur, India, March 16th, 1976. So with pleasure we are posting this famous Gaura Purnima lecture in its entirety. 

Prabhupāda:…Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. You are worshiping Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and there is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Deity also. There are some parties, they protest, “Why Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Deity should be placed along with Kṛṣṇa?” But they do not know śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. It is not different. So Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa. It is confirmed by the śāstras. Here it is said, channaḥ kalau yad abhava. In the Kali-yuga, directly He does not appear as the incarnation like Nṛsiṁhadeva or Vāmanadeva or Lord Rāmacandra, yes, but as devotee. So He’s the same incarnation, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Abhavat. “Therefore sometimes You are called as tri-yuga.” There are four yugas, but He is known… Because in three yugas He appears distinctly, and in the fourth yuga, the Kali-yuga, as devotee, therefore He’s called tri-yuga. So today is the birthday or appearance day of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and this is the birthplace, this Māyāpura, and you are all present here. It is a good fortune. Always remember Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and chant śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda…

Devotees: …śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda.

Prabhupāda: This will make your life perfect.

Full Lecture
Śrī Gaura-Pūrṇimā Lecture
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.38
Given by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Māyāpur, March 16, 1976

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa:
“In this way, my Lord, You have appeared in different incarnations—as human beings, as animals, as a great saintly person, as demigods and as a fish and a tortoise. In this way You maintain the whole creation in different planetary systems and kill the demoniac principles in every age. My Lord, You therefore protect the principles of religion. In the age of Kali You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore You are known as Tri-yuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.”

Prabhupāda:
itthaṁ nṛ-tiryag-ṛṣi-deva-jhaṣāvatārair
lokān vibhāvayasi haṁsi jagat pratīpān
dharmaṁ mahā-puruṣa pāsi yugānuvṛttaṁ
channaḥ kalau yad abhavas tri-yugo ‘tha sa tvam
So here is a very specific statement about Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is avatāra. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the same Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He’s channa. Channa means covered, not directly, because He has appeared as a devotee. Avatāra… Rūpa Gosvāmī has found out that He’s avatāra of Kṛṣṇa. All the devotees, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Rūpa Gosvāmī, and in the śāstra, and the Upaniṣad, Mahābhārata, in every… Sādhu-śāstra. Avatāra should be confirmed by great devotees, personalities, and must be collaborated with the statement in the śāstra. So here is another statement in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The directly, it is stated in the Eleventh Canto, you know,
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanaiḥ prāyair
yajanti hi sumedhsaḥ
[SB 11.5.32]
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, when He was being described before King Nimi by Karabhājana Muni the different incarnation in different millenniums, yuga-dharma-vṛttam… Caitanya Mahāprabhu is also described by Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura, yuga-dharma-pālo. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is described here as channaḥ kalau. In the Kali-yuga He’s not appearing as other incarnations, not like Nṛsiṁhadeva or many, Vāmanadeva, Lord Rāmacandra. He is appearing as a devotee. Why? Now, this is the most magnanimous avatāra. People are so foolish, they could not understand Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ [Bg. 18.66], they took it: “Who is this person ordering like that, Sarva-dharmān parityajya? What right?” That is our material disease. If somebody is ordered to do something, he protests, “Who are you to order me?” This is the position. God Himself, Kṛṣṇa, what can He say? He orders, the Supreme Person, Supreme Being. He must order. He’s the supreme controller. He must order. That is God. But we are so foolish that when God orders that “You do this,” we take it otherwise: “Oh, who is this man? He’s ordering like that. And sarva-dharmān parityajya, ‘giving up everything’? Why shall I give Him?” Sarva-dharmān: “I have created so many dharmas, ‘isms.’ I shall give it up? Why shall I give it up?” Therefore the same Lord came again as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Today is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s appearance day, so we must discuss this very thoroughly, that, that Rūpa Gosvāmī understood it. Therefore we have to go through guru. Rūpa Gosvāmī is our guru. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura said,
rūpa-raghunātha-pade, hoibe ākuti,kabe hāma bujhabo, śrī-yugala-pīriti If we want to understand the transcendental position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then we have to go through guru, guru-paramparā system. Otherwise it is not possible. Rūpa-raghunātha pade hoibe ākuti. Unless we accept this process, unless we submit… This whole process is submission. Kṛṣṇa wants this. Sarva-dharmān parityajya [Bg. 18.66]. So if you want to approach Kṛṣṇa, you have to become very submissive. And to whom? “Kṛṣṇa is not here. To whom I shall submit?” No. To His devotee, to His representative. The business is submission. So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared this day for giving mercy to the fallen souls who are so foolish, they cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He is personally teaching how to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And that is this kīrtana. You’ll find. You have seen the picture in our Teachings of Lord Caitanya that in Prayag He was engaged in chanting, and Rūpa Gosvāmī is offering his obeisances. That is the first meeting with Rūpa Gosvāmī, and he composed this verse, namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te… [Cc. Madhya 19.53].

Devotees: …kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So this is channaḥ-avatāra. He’s Kṛṣṇa, He has come to give you kṛṣṇa-prema, but He’s acting like a Kṛṣṇa devotee. This is covered. He is not commanding now, “You do this.” Yes, He’s commanding, “Do this,” but in different way. Because people misunderstood, “Oh, who is this person commanding?” Even some so-called rascal scholar, he has said, “It’s too much to demand.” They have remarked like that. Yes, sophisticated persons, they are thinking like that. But our process is to submit. Unless we submit, there is no hope of advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s teaching.

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
[Cc. Ādi 17.31]
If you want to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then you have to take this principle, tṛṇād api sunīcena. You have to become humbler than the grass. Grass, it is lying on the street. Everyone is trampling down. Never protests. In the lawn you are… Everyone is trampling the grass. There is no protest. Taror api sahiṣṇunā. And tolerant than the tree. The tree is giving us so much help. It is giving us fruit, flower, leaves, and when there is scorching heat, shelter also. Sit down underneath. So beneficial, still, we cut. As soon as I like, I cut it down. But there is no protest. The tree does not say, “I have given you so much help, and you are cutting me?” No. Tolerant. Yes. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has selected, taror api sahiṣṇunā. And amāninā mānadena. For oneself one should not expect any respectful position, but he, the devotee, should offer all respect to anyone.

Amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Cc. Ādi 17.31].
If we acquire this qualification, then we can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra without any disturbance. This is the qualification. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to teach these principles. He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. There is no… Na caitanyāt kṛṣṇāt para-tattvaṁ param iha. Para-tattvam, the Supreme Truth, is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The Supreme Truth is Kṛṣṇa, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu is not different from Kṛṣṇa.
Na caitanyāt kṛṣṇāt para-tattvaṁ param iha, yad advaitaṁ brahmopaniṣadi [Cc. Ādi 1.3].
The Brahman, advaita, monists’ Brahman, which is described in the Upaniṣad, yad, that factor, yad advaita brāhmaṇopaniṣadi, Paramātmā, and the Paramātmā, Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān—this is the three features of the Supreme Absolute Truth.

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate
[SB 1.2.11]
The Absolute Truth is one, advaya-jñāna. There is no difference. But He, according to our qualification of understanding the Absolute Truth, He appears as Brahman, impersonal Brahman; He appears as localized Paramātmā, Supersoul; and He appears as the beloved Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, according to the receiver. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante [Bg. 4.11]. That is meant. If you want to understand the Absolute Truth as impersonal Brahman, you realize that. If you want to realize the Absolute Truth as Paramātmā, everywhere, all-pervading, you can realize Him. And if you want to see Him as the most beloved, then you can also have. That is the meaning of ye yathā māṁ prapadyante. You can realize the Absolute Truth any way. He is prepared to manifest Himself as you desire. So “as you desire” does not mean… That also, He is present because, here it is stated, nṛ-tiryag-ṛṣi-deva-jhaṣāvatāraiḥ. According to the evolutionary process, so there was water all over the universe. So at that time, daśa-avatāra, keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare. Similarly, He became tortoise. Then He becomes Nṛsiṁhadeva, He became Vāmanadeva—so many. That is going on, nitya, nitya-līlā. Don’t think the avatāra comes only to the human society, nṛ. But He appears amongst the animals, amongst the insects, amongst the trees. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā there is statement, “Among the trees, I am this tree. Among the animals, I am this animal. Among the persons… Among the fighters, I am this, I am this.” He’s everything, but just to point out a few… In another place He says, raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya [Bg. 7.8]. He is prepared to be appreciated by you in any condition of life if you take His instruction how to realize Him. And if you manufacture your own way, no, that is not possible. That is… Even if you are most ordinary man, still, you can realize Him. There is no difficulty. How? Kṛṣṇa said, raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya: “My dear Arjuna, I am the taste of the water.” Now, who does not drink water? Anyone? The animal also drinks water and the human being also drinks water. But the animal cannot understand God, although God is there in the water, and the man can understand because he is human being. Therefore a human being is different from animal. If we remain like animals—we are drinking water, but we are not realizing Kṛṣṇa—then you are animal. This is animals. And if we drink water—everyone drinks water many times—so many times we can remember Kṛṣṇa. And that is the process of devotional… Smaraṇam.
Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam [SB 7.5.23]

So every time, if you drink water and remember Kṛṣṇa, then you are on the devotional service. Where is the difficulty? But the rascals will not take it. That is the… Where is the difficulty? Everyone drinks water, and as soon as you drink water when you are thirsty, and the taste of the water appeases your thirst, so if you simply remember that “In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that this taste is Kṛṣṇa,” then immediately you remember Kṛṣṇa. And as soon as you remember Kṛṣṇa, it is devotional service, smaraṇam. Where is the difficulty? Where is the difficulty for becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious? Raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ: “I am the illumination of the moon and the sun.” So who does not see the moonshine and the sunshine? In daytime you see the sunshine and at night you see the moonshine. So if you see the sunshine and moonshine and if you remember Kṛṣṇa’s instructions that “This sunshine, moonshine, I am,” so where is the difficulty?

raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya
prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu
(śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu)
[Bg. 7.8]
 Now, if you think, “Eh, I am so learned Vedantist. Why shall I study the sunshine-moonshine and what? I shall chant oṁ.” (laughter) “Rascal, this oṁ I am. (laughter) You are so big Vedantist. You chant oṁ, but that I am.” Praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu. Every Vedic mantra is chanted after the vibration of omkara. Oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūr… This is the Vedic mantra always, every Veda. So either you become Vedantist or ordinary human being—does not know anything—you can realize Kṛṣṇa. There is no difficulty. So Kṛṣṇa taught everything for becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious, but still, we are so rascal we could not understand Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa came again: “These rascals failed to understand Me, and now I shall teach how to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa by My personal behavior.” That is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by His personal… Don’t think that because He’s playing the part… Just like somebody is giving massage to my body. So he’s not giving properly. So immediately I take his hand and I began to give massage, “Do like this. Do like this.” That does not mean I am masseur or I am servant of that person. Similarly, don’t forget that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. You are worshiping Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and there is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Deity also. There are some parties, they protest, “Why Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Deity should be placed along with Kṛṣṇa?” But they do not know śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. It is not different. So Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa. It is confirmed by the śāstras. Here it is said, channaḥ kalau yad abhava. In the Kali-yuga, directly He does not appear as the incarnation like Nṛsiṁhadeva or Vāmanadeva or Lord Rāmacandra, yes, but as devotee. So He’s the same incarnation, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Abhavat. “Therefore sometimes You are called as tri-yuga.” There are four yugas, but He is known… Because in three yugas He appears distinctly, and in the fourth yuga, the Kali-yuga, as devotee, therefore He’s called tri-yuga. So today is the birthday or appearance day of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and this is the birthplace, this Māyāpura, and you are all present here. It is a good fortune. Always remember Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and chant śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda…

Devotees: …śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda.

Prabhupāda: This will make your life perfect. Thank you very much. (end)

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