How to be fully Kṛṣṇa consciousness? BG 18.45-46 |Rus Split| 12.12.92 | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī Mahārājā

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. So the verse is not on the board, so we will just read the translation and the word meaning. So yesterday we had done Text 44. Today we will do Text 45 and Text 46 because Text 45 has no purport. Sway sway karmān bhi rātā, sām siddhim labhate naraha, svākārmaṇe rātā siddhim, yathā bhūndati tāc śrūnu. Now Text 46. Yathā pravartī bhūtānām. Yatha pravartir bhutanam, yatha parabritim bhutanam, yena sarvam idam tatam, yena sarvam idam tatam, svakarmanatam abhyarca, svakarmanatam abhyarca, siddhim vindati manava, siddhim vindati manava. Yatha pravartir bhutanam, yena sarvam idam tatam. Swākārmanatām adhīrasyā siddhim vidānti mānavā. So in this verse it is being explained how one can realize perfection. In the previous verses, Kṛṣṇa has explained the duties of the different varnas. In other words, it does not matter whether you are a Sudra or a Kṣatriya. Or a Vaishya or a Brahmana, if you follow the advice of this verse, then you can achieve perfection. The key to realizing perfection is not your birth, not your social status, not your educational background, not your external beauty, but whether you are serving the Supreme Lord or not. Why do we worship the Supreme Lord? That is also explained in this verse. Because the Lord is the source of all beings. So you can be a member of any one-hour ashrama. As long as the Lord is worshiped, one is marching towards perfection. Just like in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, there's a story of a Brahman called Kūrmādaṣ. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when he was traveling in southern India, he came to a Brahman's house whose name was Kūrmādaṣ. Kūrmādaṣ was a Brahmana and he was in the grihastha ashram. He was not happy in grihastha life, so he told Caitanya Mahāprabhu, please take me with you. I don't want to live at home. Grihastha life is hellish. Talk to any grihastha today, he'll tell you it's hellish. Don't enter into it. They say it's hellish, but still they enter into it all the time. So, so Karmadāsa, he was saying, I don't want to live in this grihastha life. Please take me with you. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, no, you can't come with me. Stay where you are and still perfect your life. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave the formula, following formula: chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, read Śrīmad-Bhāgavad-gītā and Bhāgavatam, worship the Deity of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with faith, associate with devotees, and reside in a sacred place of worship. So technically, sacred place of worship means Vṛndāvana, Mathura, Dvāraka, Mayapur, So this means all of you have to go to Vrindavan now. I'm sure all of you would be ready for that. But it costs a lot of money these days. And if all the devotees were to come from the whole world, the Vrindavan ashram would not have enough place. So what you have to do is convert your own place of residence into Vrindavan. So visit the Hare Krishna temple nearest to you. Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave these 5 guidelines. And anybody who follows these 5 guidelines can, in whichever ashram he may be, work towards perfection. Why do we worship the Supreme Lord? This is also explained in this verse, because the Lord is the source of all beings. So Krishna is the source of all beings. He's the source, the cause of everything. Therefore we worship the Lord, because the Lord is the greatest. So the Lord is the cause of all causes. The devotee understands that not a blade of grass can move without God's permission. Therefore, all his actions are dedicated to the pleasure of the Supreme Lord. In the purport, Prabhupada quotes the Vedanta Sutra, janma dasa yatha ha. That means everything— I worship that person from whom everything is emanating. So the beginning of life for every living entity is the Supreme Lord. He is the cause of everything, everything that you can see and you cannot see. So this is the difference between the devotee and the non-devotee's vision. Now in the purport, Prabhupada talks about the two energies of the Lord, antiranga shakti, bahairanga shakti, internal energy and external energy. Actually the Lord has innumerable energies. You can't even enumerate them, count them. But the great sages have summarized these energies into three categories. Internal, external, and marginal. Internal energy is antaranga shakti. External is bahiranga shakti. Marginal is tithāśtaka shakti. So when the living entities engage in service to the Lord, they are under the influence of the internal energy of the Lord. When the living entities rebel against the Lord, they are under the influence of the bahiranga shakti of the Lord. And why is the living entity considered marginal or titishta? Because in that position he can swing either to come under the influence of the internal or the external energy. So those who are intelligent, they come under the influence of the internal energy. They know that everything that the external energy is manifesting, it is only a perverted reflection of the reality. What is the meaning of perverted reflection? It means that the reflect— it is a reflection, just like you look at a picture of yourself in the mirror. So what do you see in the mirror is your reflection. So what we are seeing in the material world is to some extent a reflection of what exists in the spiritual world, but it is perverted, contaminated, polluted, and as a result There is no substance in this perverted reflection, or in other words, there's no real happiness in this area. So therefore it is said that those who are intelligent, they opt to come under the influence of the internal energy of the Lord. So by the cultivation of spiritual association, by the cultivation of spiritual knowledge, by the execution of japa One gets inspired to keep under the protection of the internal energy of the Lord. Now, as the Paramātmā, the Lord is situated in everyone's heart. So Paramātmā is the expansion of the Lord, just like the sun disc. The sun disc is in the sun planet, but its influence is everywhere. So the Lord resides in His Gauka Vrindavan abode. But his presence is being felt everywhere. He's all-pervasive. You observe the presence of the Lord by seeing the energies of the Lord in action. And the Lord is also present in every living entity as the Paramātmā. And as the Paramātmā, the Lord is witnessing every activity that we engage in. So the Supreme Personality of Godhead is all-pervasive. Many times people say, can you show me God? Prabhupada used to say, "Yes, when you see the sun and the moon, just consider these two to be the eyes of the Lord. When you taste water, just consider water to be the taste or the representation of the Lord." Rāsoham apsukānteya. Kṛṣṇa says, "That taste which comes in water, that taste is My representation." Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna in the 10th chapter, "Know that all opulent," beautiful and glamorous creations are actually all coming from Me. You see anything beautiful or glorious, you must understand this is only a fragmental portion of Krishna's creation. Anything extraordinary, we must recognize, is the result of Krishna's creation or Krishna's opulence. So all outstanding attractive things are emanating because there is a person who is the cause of all causes. Sarva-karna-kāraṇa. Just like there are many strong people, but the strength in the strongest person represents Kṛṣṇa. So anything outstanding is a result of its origin being in Kṛṣṇa. Just like in English they learn A, B, C, D, and in Sanskrit they learn k, k, g, g, and in Russian you'd learn Abe vege. So the A Krishna says is me. I am that A in Abe vege. So of letters, A is the beginning. So that is I. And he's also inexhaustible time. You and I get destroyed, but time doesn't get destroyed. They say in English, and I'm sure you have a Russian equivalent, time heals everything. Just like somebody may die, you may feel very sorry, but with the passage of time, you gradually forget it. So time is inexhaustible. Man may come, man may go, building may be built, building may be destroyed, a new car may be bought, a new car may be destroyed, but time stays on. And then in the, in the water, there's many different types of fishes. Amongst all the different types of fishes, which is the most powerful fish? Shark. So Krishna says, of fishes, I'm the shark. There are many rivers flowing, but which is the most sacred river? So Krishna says, of rivers, I am the Ganges. So Krishna is saying that I am the cause of everything. So when you see something beautiful, you must at once recognize the beauty in this person or in this thing is due to Krishna. When a beautiful— when a young man sees a beautiful woman or a woman sees a beautiful man, Nobody really bothers to find out what is the cause of the beauty in the other person. The real beauty is due to the presence of the soul, Ātmā. If the Ātmā is not there, then you will not be attracted to the other person's beauty. So therefore, the real beauty is the presence of the Ātmā. And if the Ātmā is there, then the living entity can move. Amongst the animals, which animal is the king of animals? Lion. So Krishna says among animals, I am the lion. And amongst birds, who is top best? Garuda. Krishna says among birds, I am Garuda. So the best in every category is always Krishna. Then there amongst different type of snakes, there's one snake which has thousands of heads, and what is that? Ananta. So he says amongst the snakes, nagas, I am the Ananta Seva. So Krishna is the cause of all causes. Now those who worship the Lord, they get the intelligence by which their faith in recognizing God as the cause is consolidated. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, te saṁ siddhāva yuktānām vajjatāṁ priti-pūrvakam adhādi-yogi-buddhi-yogam tam inamām upāntite. Those who worship Me with devotion, I give them the intelligence by which they can come to Me. So in this purport, Prabhupāda talks about worshiping Kṛṣṇa fully. Prabhupāda says everyone should be engaged in devotional service to the Lord in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So what does it mean, full Kṛṣṇa consciousness? It means, as Kṛṣṇa explains, sarva-dharmaṁ paritaja mām ekaṁ śrī-nām rāja "Āṁ tvam sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣaṁ imāso caḥ." Give up all varieties of religiousness and just surrender unto Me, and I will protect you from all sinful reaction. So full Kṛṣṇa consciousness means surrendering everything in your possession to the Supreme Lord. What do you have? What is in your possession? You may say, "I have nothing in my possession." Umina yasnīya dengit. No money. All the denik is with the mafia. I have nothing. But you have a lot with you. We will explain what Thakur Bhaktinath said you have. Thakur Bhaktinath said, Manasa dehageyo kichur mora, arpilam tuya pade nanda kishora. Oh, Sannam Maharaj Nanda, I place everything at your lotus feet. First of all, I offer you my mind, manasa. So we begin our spiritual life by offering our mind. When you offer your tongue, it helps you to offer your mind. And how do we offer our tongue? By chanting. So we, when we chant Hare Krishna, we begin the process of even offering the mind. So what does it mean to offer the mind? Practically, what does it mean? It means think about Krishna, think about his desires, think about his instructions. Think about what will please him. Just like in this period of the Prabhupada marathon, what should all the devotees be thinking? What will please Krishna most? And what does Krishna say in the 18th chapter? What will please him most? One who preaches, then he's redeemed. Yes, one who preaches my glories. And what is the medium for preaching Krishna's glories? Book distribution. So day and night, think, how can I distribute these books more and more? How can I counter every negative argument that the other person may make? How can I develop so much determination that heat and cold, honor and dishonor, carrying a backpack is not going to disturb me? How can I develop the conviction that even if my body is giving me a little trouble, I'll still go out as a Sankirtan soldier? How can I, who may be living outside married, doing a job, doing business. So these are just some samples of how you can offer the mind to Krishna. When you're meditating through your mind on activities independent of Krishna, then the mind is being used for destructive purposes. And when the mind is being used to dovetail the direct desires of the spiritual master and the Lord, then it's being used for constructive purposes. Then Thakura Bhaktivedanta said, manasa They hug you. Then offer, my dear Lord, I offer you my body. So you have this body, senses, organs, offer them all to the Lord. Use your body to fulfill the mission of the Lord in this life. Use your intelligence to help fulfill the mission of the Lord. Then, all my possessions. So Krishna doesn't see what you give, he sees how much you keep. Just like sometimes in India and America, we go to rich people to ask for donations. The man is so rich, he has 20, 25 cars in the garage, and he'll give $100 and think he has done a big thing. So Krishna doesn't see what you gave. He sees how much you're keeping in your pocket. Then he determines whether you're giving or stealing. So offer everything to the Lord. Just like there was a devotee called Kola Vechara Sridhar. He was making his living by making cups out of banana leaves. And on the banks of the Ganges, he would sell those cups. So he was earning just few kopeks a month, but he was still spending 50% of his income in worshiping Mother Ganges. So Lord Chaitanya became very pleased by this man's renunciation. So the Lord came and manifested his transcendental form, and he told Kola Vaita Sridhar, any benediction you want, He said, give me only one benediction. Please may I always remain at your lotus feet in the association of devotees. So offer your body to the Lord. Then Thakur Bhaktinath says, my house, my wife, my children. So if you don't have a house, don't worry, you can still come to Krishna. And if you don't have a wife and children, still no problem, you can come without your wife and children. And if you have a wife and children, try and bring them also. But if they don't come, at least you must come. Not if they don't come, you also don't come. So this is surrender. Whatever you have, offer it to the Lord. And anyone who does that, his life will be successful according to this verse. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. So have you understood this verse? Are all of you taking part in the Prabhupada marathon? Even our guests? There's so many guests here. Yeah, how many people are taking part in the Prabhupada marathon? But some are working hard, some are not working hard. So any, I can take one question. If, let's say, one person, some person, he learns about Hare Krishna mantra in the last days of his life and he starts chanting, then when he changes body, he can't get liberation. So that's what Krishna decides. You see, it's hard to answer these type of questions. You have to look at 100 things. So these things are to be decided by Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa says, if your mind is at me while dying, then you'll come back to me. If we pray him, can Kṛṣṇa come here to our presence, maybe in disguise or something like that? Yes. When you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is personally present. Don't you see these pictures of Kṛṣṇa in the walls, in the books? That is Kṛṣṇa. This Kṛṣṇa is non-different from the real Kṛṣṇa.