Śrī Īśopaniṣad 4: Krishna is the greatest of all | Rus-Split | 07 May 1990 | Gopal Krishna Goswami

Prasad Raaval. So we are going to continue our discussion from the Śrī Īśopaniṣad. The Śrī Īśopaniṣad, as we said yesterday, is a part of the Yajur Veda, and we have so far discussed, not here in Leningrad, but in Moscow, the invocations and Texts 1, 2, 3. So I am going to continue from Text 4. First I will read the Sanskrit, and then our translator will read the translation and part of the purport. I was thinking that tomorrow, since tomorrow is this very auspicious day, the appearance day or birthday of Lord Nrsimhadev, tomorrow I will concentrate on Lord Nrsimhadev līlā and Prasāda Mahārāja's teachings only. You cannot separate Prasāda Mahārāja from Lord Nrsimhadev. So we will read Lord Nrsimhadev's Nila and Prahlad Mahaj's instruction. So now you can repeat after me. Anejad, Anejad, Ekam, Ekam, Manaso, Manaso, Javyo, Javyo, Nainam, Nainam, Reva, Reva, Apnuva, Apnuva, Purva, Purva, Arsha, Arsha, Hāvatanien atyati teṣṭhad. Naḥ mārmaṇyaṇyaṇyaṣṭhasya śrīmaṣṭhāda. Paśmina po mātarīśvādadāti.

Paśmina po mātarīśvādadāti.

So tomorrow we will chant Sanskrit slokas of Prahlāda Mahārāja and all. Om jñāna-timerandasya jñānanjanāśalakya-cakṣaṇ-miletānyena tasmai śrī-gurave namah. Śrī Caitanya Mano-Vestam tapitām yena bhūtale swayam rūpa-kadāmayām dadāti svāpādāntikam. Bande ham Śrī Guru Śrī uttāpāda-kam lan Śrī gurūn vāiṣṇava-nāsta. Śrī rūpaṁ sarvajatāṁ sahāgana-raghunā tanvitāṁ tam sajevām. Sadveitāṁ savaḍhūtam parijana-saitām Kṛṣṇa Caitanya-devaṁ. Śrī Rādhā Kṛṣṇa-padānaṣahāgana-lalitā Śrī Viśākhā-nityaṁ śrā. Jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu Nityānanda Śrī Advaita Gadādhā Śivacādī Gaura-bhaktavandha. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa.

Hare, hare. Hare Rāma.

Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma.

Hare, hare. So in the verses from the Īśā Panishad that we have read so far, it has been established, one, that the Lord is complete and His creation is also complete. To that everyone should understand, since the Lord is the proprietor of everything, he should only accept as much as he needs for his survival. Further, it was established that if somebody desires to live for thousands of years, he may be able to live for thousands of years, but he must work in the consciousness that he is a servant of God. And if somebody does not work in the consciousness that he is servant of God, then he will have to go to hell if he engages in sinful activities. Now in this verse that we are discussing today, the Īśopaniṣad is pointing out at the transcendental nature of the Lord. It is being pointed out that to understand God is not easy. It is being explained that even the demigods cannot understand Him. And even if you were to travel at the speed of the mind and you were running, running, running to try and find God, still you will not be able to understand Him. The powerful yogis cannot understand Him. The powerful jnanis cannot understand Him. So all of you may say, if they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, then what are we doing, wasting our time here? No, you are not wasting your time. You are walking on the path that Krishna wants you to walk on. So the key point of this, the theme of this verse is that God cannot be known by mental speculation. In the Brahma Samhita, a very nice example is given. Yesterday I explained to you the speed of the mind. The speed of the mind is faster than the speed of the sound. It is also faster than the speed of light. So the speed of the mind is so fast that in 1 minute you can go around the world and come back. Now even if you were to travel at the speed of the mind for hundreds of years, still Lord Brahma in the Brahma Samhita says you will not be able to understand God. Very often when you go out preaching, people say, "Can you show me Bhoga?" But we say, "Yes, provided you have the qualification." That qualification is obtained through the process of devotional service. In the purport of this verse, Prabhupada brings out many important aspects that we as devotees must know. One point he makes is that the Lord is always situated in His spiritual abode. He is always situated in one place, just like the sun is situated in one place. But even though He is situated in one place, He controls everyone. It says in the verse that He controls those who supply the air and the rain. Who supplies rain? Who is in charge of rain? Who knows the answer? So even the demigods who are in charge of rain and air, etc., they are all under Kṛṣṇa. Of course, you devotees in the Western world do not have this problem of understanding the difference between the Supreme Lord and the demigods. But people in India are confused on this issue. They think that the demigods and the Supreme Lord, they are all on the same level. There is a big difference between the demigods and the Supreme Lord. Just like in your country you have the president, Mr. Gorbachev, and you have different ministers in charge of different departments. Similarly, there is Kṛṣṇa, the cause of all causes, and the different demigods who are known in English as empowered administrators. So the demigods are all working under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Why is it that we do not worship demigods? We are not against the demigods, we respect the demigods, but Krishna says, if you worship me, there's no need to worship anybody else. Just like when you water the root of the tree, when you water the root of the tree, you automatically, brahm, water all the branches and the twigs and the leaves. Similarly, when we We worship Kṛṣṇa, the source of everything, we automatically discharge our obligations towards the demigods also. Therefore, all results that the demigods can give, we can get by worshipping the Supreme Lord. Sometimes the demigods get puffed up and forget their subordinate position. For example, when Kṛṣṇa was a young child, He one day told His father— His father was a farmer. His father had many cows and a big field. So Kṛṣṇa told his father, "Every year you pay brihbaāsīs, you make this sacrifice for Indra. But now don't do the sacrifice to Indra this year." The father said, "Son, I am a farmer. A farmer has to live on water, water that comes in the form of rain. If I do not please Indra, "Then my rain will not be there, then rain will not come and my crops will suffer." Anyway, because of Nand Mahājā's affection for Kṛṣṇa, he finally did not do the yearly offering for Indra. So the every year sacrifice which Indra was getting from the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana was finally stopped. Indra was very angry. He said, "Okay." I'm going to teach these bridge vasis a lesson now. So Indra created very strong, very big black clouds, and there was thundering, lightning, and unlimited water started pouring in the form of rain. Indra was thinking, I'm going to flood Brindavan with water, and then all these bridge vasis will be drowned, and they will learn their lesson. So Kṛṣṇa, of course, knew what was Indra's plan. Īśvara-sarva-bhūtanam hirdesha-rajinā teṣadhi. Kṛṣṇa resides in everyone's heart. So Kṛṣṇa lifted the Govardhana Hill with one finger like a child carries an umbrella. And for the period that the bridge was, it was standing under the umbrella of Kṛṣṇa, nobody felt hungry or thirsty. Indra then discovered his subordinate position and he apologized to Kṛṣṇa. Once Lord Brahma went to see Kṛṣṇa in Dwaraka. This was the four-headed Brahma. You know there are many Brahmas, do you know that? There are some Brahmas with 1,000 heads also. Big man, secretary will first ask, "Who are you?" So Brahma went to Kṛṣṇa's palace in Dwaraka. So Kṛṣṇa had secretaries, the security men. They said, "You cannot go in. Who are you?" So Brahmājī was puffed up, he said, "Tell Lord Kṛṣṇa Brahmā has come." So the gatekeeper came in and said, "Lord, Brahmā has come to see you." Kṛṣṇa said, "Which Brahmā has come?" So when the security man came out and asked Brahmā, "Which Brahmā?" He was surprised. Then Brahmā said, "The four-headed Brahmā." So when Brahmā went in, what did he see? He saw that in front of Kṛṣṇa they were Unlimited other Brahmas, they were all sitting and giving Kṛṣṇa report, and one of them was Brahma with 100 heads, 1,000 heads, and so on. So then Brahma realized his subordinate position. On another occasion, Lord Brahma had kidnapped— Kṛṣṇa and Bāla Rāma had gone for a picnic along with all the cows and the calves, and Kṛṣṇa and Bāla Rāma were out, ah, great, eating prasāda. Then, and the cows and the cowherd boys were all there eating the grass from the floor, from the earth. So Brahma said, Brahma wanted to test this boy Kṛṣṇa. So he kidnapped all the cows and the cows and the cowherd boyfriends of Kṛṣṇa. So when Kṛṣṇa came back with Bāla-lāma, he saw the cows, cows, all his friends, they were all gone. It's just like when you go on Hare Kṛṣṇa-nāma with a big sankirtana party in downtown Leningrad. One or two of you may go for book distribution a little bit away from the Hare Kṛṣṇa-nāma party, and then when you come back, you see the whole Hare Kṛṣṇa-nāma party is gone. So Kṛṣṇa-bālanāma came back, you saw everyone was gone, missing. But Kṛṣṇa knew that was Brahmā's trick. So Kṛṣṇa at once expanded Himself into unlimited cows, calves, and those cowherd boys. And when these cows and calves went back to their homes, the cowherd boys, their mothers, and everyone were more affectionate to the children and the calves than ever before. So Brahmaji understood that Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary boy, not just a wonder, not a superman, but He is really the Supreme God. So there are so many stories that I'm sure all of you are aware of from the Kṛṣṇa book. Which prove what? Which prove that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord and the demigods are subordinate to him. So we must never underestimate the position of God. You see, everybody is attracted by strength. I am sure you people don't go to the movies these days, but I am sure at one time you may remember that even in the Russian movies, they all— it doesn't matter which movie you see, they always show the hero as a man with a lot of strength who defeats everyone. So Kṛṣṇa has 6 opulences to an unlimited degree. Aśvarasya-samagrasya-vīryasya-yeśaśrīya-jñānavela-gyāvā-caiva-sanna-bhāgā-itim-gnā. These 6 opulences have been defined by the father of Vyasadeva, Parśamāni, to consist of the following. One is aśvarasya-samagrasya. He is the wealthiest of all. There is nobody richer than better than Kṛṣṇa. In your country you may have the richest man, but that richest man of your country may be less, may not be as rich as the richest man in America or England. And then you have the demigods who are richer than the people of this planet. Kūvera, he is the demigod treasurer. He is very, very, very rich. So Kūvera is ochin-bhagati. So, but Kṛṣṇa, is the richest. Ochin-bhagati, Kṛṣṇa. So another opulence of the Lord is viryasha. Viryasha means He is the strongest. There is nobody stronger than Kṛṣṇa. You see people in the Kṛṣṇa book how Kṛṣṇa defeated even when He was a young child so many powerful enemies. If you ever have the chance of going to India, you will probably, if you go to Vrindavan, I'm sure all of you will also do Govardhan parikrama. Parikrama means circumambulating the Govardhan Hill. All our ISKCON devotees, when they come to India every year, they do Govardhan Parikrama. It is 14 miles long mountain. They go on foot around the Govardhan Hill, takes 5-6 hours of walking. Barefooted they walk. So about 5,000 years ago, the Govardhan Hill was bigger than the size is today. So just imagine Krishna lifted that whole hill all alone with one finger. So I am sure you agree that no Olympic gold medal winner could do that either. So another feature of Kṛṣṇa is yasyaśāśraya. He is very beautiful and He is very famous. Doesn't matter, you may go to any village of your country, even where they don't believe in God, but if you ask them, "Do you know the meaning of Bhoga?" They will say, "Da." Another quality of God is that He is the most knowledgeable and the most renowned. For example, can anyone defeat the philosophy of Bhāgavad-gītā? Can these So-called modern people who believe in technology and high life and fast life, can they discredit anything that the Bhagavad-gītā is saying? In your country, people are very fond of using the word science. Is there any document more scientific than the Vedic scriptures, especially the Bhagavad-gītā? Is there any— can anybody deny that there is something within the body that gives life to the body? Nobody can deny, because even in your country When the soul leaves the body, the best of surgeons of your country cannot bring, cannot inject life into that person's body. So, and in any part of the world, has anybody been able to see the soul? No. So you can see that everything that Bhagavad-gītā states is eternal truth. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, annādh-bhāvanti-bhūtāni pājñanam anna-sambhavā, food grains come from rainfall, rainfall comes from sacrifice, Sacrifice means performing religious duties. Now, can anybody defeat this theory? You may have the best of technology, but unless you have rain, crops will not grow. Just like on this very nice day, I saw so many Russian families, they are out in the open garden, they are making arrangements, they are planting the seeds so that they can have good harvest. But unless there will be rainfall, They will not be able to have good harvest. And rainfall is under whom? Rainfall is under whom? Who is in charge of rain? Obviously Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa's doctrine of the Gītā is the most scientific manifesto ever released to humanity. So the point that we were making is only simple, that is that Kṛṣṇa is the most knowledgeable of all. Also Kṛṣṇa is the most renowned. He is the most renowned, and when Kṛṣṇa would be in the midst of the gopīs, He would just pull Himself out, you know, without any hesitation at all. So God is situated in His spiritual abode, but still His energies are working everywhere. Just understanding that God is great is not enough, but we must understand how great God is. That you can understand from this verse of the Bhāgavad-gītā, of the Īśopaniṣad. So if we understand the greatness of God, then we will understand that what is our constitutional position. Why is it that in the Bhāgavad-gītā again and again the opulences of Kṛṣṇa are being described? Kṛṣṇa could just have explained His opulences in one śloka. Because by listening to Kṛṣṇa's opulences from different angles, we will know how great Kṛṣṇa is. So Kṛṣṇa is situated in His spiritual abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, just like the sun, sun disk. The sun disk is situated on the sun planet, but the influence of the sun disk is all pervasive everywhere. So similarly, if the sun disk, which is a creation of Kṛṣṇa, can be situated in one place and have its influence everywhere, you think it is not possible for Kṛṣṇa to be in one place and still be manifested everywhere? Kṛṣṇa has innumerable energies. The great sages have divided it into three groups: antiranga śakti, bahiranga śakti, tṛṣṭhasṭha śakti. Internal energy, external energy, marginal energy. Now the demigods and the living entities like you and me, we belong to the marginal energy. The material energy that we see, this country of Russia, India, America, the whole material creation, huh, That is what you call part of God's external energy. And the kingdom of God, the Vaikuntha Dham, which is never destroyed, is what you call part of God's internal energy. So internal, external, marginal. Please understand this because now we are, we are trying to understand God's unlimited creation and his energies. Why is the living entity described to be marginal? Because the living entity can either associate with the external energy or the internal energy. External means outside, internal means inside. The internal energy is the superior energy of the Lord. The external energy is the inferior energy of the Lord. Just like the prison department is also part of the government, isn't it? But it is not the most important department of the government. It is no doubt part of the government,, but the government would prefer that not too many people live in that prison house. So similarly, the external energy is this creation of the Lord which is working under Kṛṣṇa's direction. Kṛṣṇa says, Maya dakṣinā prakṛti suye te sa cha rā cha ram. This material energy of mine is working under my direction. So this, everything actually is working under Kṛṣṇa's direction. If we associate with the desires of the Lord, then we are under the influence of His internal energy, which is the superior energy. And if we do not follow the laws of God, then we are under the influence of the inferior energy or the external energy. These sparks, as long as they are part of the fire, the sparks are shining. And when that paka falls on the ground, They have no shine at all. So as long as the living entity is linked up with God, he is associated with God and he has spiritual effulgence and happiness. And when the living entity cuts his relationship with God, then the living entity becomes exactly like the pakka that is on the ground without any shine. So Kṛṣṇa has said we belong to the marginal energy. Because we have the free choice of either going up or down. So if we use our intelligence of freedom correctly, then we can be always associated with the, in the, with the superior energy of the Lord. Now we should not think that because the Lord is situated in one place, and because He expands Himself everywhere, God does not have any form. We cannot understand God according to our capacity to understand God. This is the whole problem of modern-day society. We are trying to understand God with our own material senses. Prabhupada used to give the example of Dr. Frog in the well. Dr. Frog was in the well, and he's trying to measure the length and breadth of the well. So he's taking very deep breath, pumping his belly very hard. He is trying to measure how many times the size of my body is the size of this well. And in trying to measure the length and breadth of the well, he is trying to— he takes such deep breath that in the end his belly bursts. So these so-called scientists are trying to understand God through their mechanical processes, or God's creation. And the yogis and the jnanis are busy speculating, but you cannot understand Bhoga by speculation or By anything else except bhakti. So we must understand God is the property of His devotees, not of the philosophers, not of the speculators, not of the materialists. In the 10th chapter of the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa says that even the rishis and the yogis, they can't understand Him. So if the demigods and the yogis can't understand Him, certainly the demons cannot understand Him. The demons They always think they can kill God, like Hiranyakashipu was thinking now he can kill God. The demons underestimate the strength of God. Ravana, he was thinking he'll make a staircase to heaven, and he was also thinking he will kill Ram. So ultimately he was smashed. So Isha Upanishad is telling us, foolish entity, don't waste your time in trying to speculate on the nature of God. Therefore the Īśāpaniṣad from the very beginning is telling us, don't speculate but engage in service to God. Therefore, by the process of devotion to God, we are able to cleanse the heart of the misgivings of the material desires, and as we get purified, Kṛṣṇa becomes revealed to us. Just like from a very great distance you may see a mountaintop. You can probably see that mountaintop 10, 20, 30 miles away. But as you get closer to the mountaintop and then get on the top of the mountaintop, then you can see all the variety that is there on the mountaintop. So from a distance, God cannot be understood. But when we engage in practical service, then you can gradually begin to understand God. You know that story of Narada Muni and the cobbler and the Brahmin? So anyway, the story in brief is this. Narada Muni, on one of his trips back to Godhead, He met a Brahmin on the way, and that Brahmin wanted to know— when the Brahmin heard that Narada Muni was going back to Godhead, he said, "Please ask the Lord, how much more will I have to suffer in the cycle of birth and death? How many more times will I have to suffer the cycle of birth and death in the material world?" So the cobbler also told Narada Muni, "Please find out the same question." So when Narada Muni informed The Brahman, that the Lord said he will have to take many, many more births and deaths. And when the Brahman heard that the Lord was passing an elephant through the eye of a needle, he just could not believe it. He said, "How can, how can anybody pass an elephant through the eye of a needle?" When the Brahman heard that the Lord was passing an elephant through the eye of a needle, he said, "Impossible. How can anybody pass an elephant through the eye of a needle?" But when the cobbler heard that the Lord was passing an elephant through the eye of a needle, he jumped up in great happiness. And the cobbler said that if the Lord can plant a huge banyan tree in a small seed, why can he not pass an elephant through the eye of a needle? So the point is this: the unlimited nature of God cannot be understood by a Brahman who just reads the scriptures and speculates, nor can it be understood by so-called scholars. I remember in 1976 I had come to Leningrad for a few days and I had met a very famous professor who had published a big book on Kṛṣṇa. So we, I met him for 2 or 3 days in a row because I was trying to get him to translate Prabhupāda's Kṛṣṇa book in Russian. This was in 1976, imagine. So that author, they told me that he doesn't believe in Kṛṣṇa. He had published already 2 or 3 books on Kṛṣṇa, but he said Kṛṣṇa is just a historical personality. So there's so many so-called scholars of Kṛṣṇa, but because they're not approaching Kṛṣṇa with the, with the, with the approach of devotional service, they can't understand Him. If you have a bottle of honey and the honey is sealed, the cap is sealed, and you just take the bottle of honey and lick it outside, can you get the taste of honey? You cannot get the taste of honey. To get the taste of honey, you have to open the cap and then taste it. So similarly, to get the taste of devotional service, you have to throw away the cap of Maya. And if you throw away the cap of Maya, then you'll get the taste of bhakti. But if you want to keep the bottle closed with the cap of Maya, Then how can he get the taste of bhakti? Just like in that story of that Brahman and the touchstone. So that Brahmana discovered that that Sanatana Gosvāmī has something more valuable than the touchstone. All of you know that story, I imagine. So there was a Brahmana who had pleased Lord Śiva with his sacrifices. So the Brahmana got a benediction And he was told to go and see a great sage by the name of Sanatana Gosvami in Vrindavan. So when the brahmana went to Sanatana Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami said, "Okay, go under that garbage. There's a stone over there. That stone will turn everything into gold." So the brahmana was very happy because he wanted money. He really saw that everything was becoming gold. But then the brahmana met one intelligent man. Who told him that if this was the most valuable thing that that great sage had, why did he keep it under that heap of garbage? Because when you have something valuable, you don't keep it under garbage, do you? So when the Brahman went back to Sanatana Goswami and said, "Surely you must be having something more valuable than this touchstone because you had this touchstone under garbage. Give me that most valuable thing." And then what did Sanatana Goswami say? —"I'll give you that, but first you throw this touchstone away." He did not say, "Okay, I will give you the most valuable thing and you can have the touchstone in your pocket also." So similarly, to have Kṛṣṇa, you have to throw Maya away. This is the price that you have to pay to understand Kṛṣṇa. Throw Maya out. And if you are going to hesitate in throwing Maya out, then Kṛṣṇa will keep hiding himself from you. Of course, when we talk about throwing Maya, we do not mean that if you are a grihastha, you have to give up your family, or if you have a job, you have to give up your job and you have to become a full-time mendicant. The Vedic system is so complete that regardless of whether you are brahmachari, grihastha, vanaprastha, sannyāsa, life can be adjusted in such a manner that you throw Maya completely out. When Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharma-paritājya mām ekaṁ ca nama-jāham tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣu-samyamāso ca Give up everything and come unto Me. Kṛṣṇa is giving this instruction to all classes of society, regardless of whether you are brahmachari or grihastha or sannyāsi. So Rūpa Gosvāmī has made a very nice statement. Rūpa Gosvāmī says, my dear friend, whatever price that you have to pay in order to get Kṛṣṇa, please pay that price. Don't bargain now. In mature life, you are always bargaining. The employee is bargaining with the employer and the employer is bargaining with the employee. You go to buy some tomatoes in the shop, he says, what, 50 kopeks a kilo? You say, no, 40 kopeks a kilo. But Kṛṣṇa Rūpa Gosvāmī says, when you come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, my dear friend, don't bargain. Follow the standard and get the real thing. In English language there is a phrase, You get what you pay for. That is, whatever you pay, that is what you will get. I am sure that even in the communistic system where everyone is supposed to be equal, when you go to your supermarket or department store, different items are at different prices. So you get what you pay for. If you pay Christian the full price that he is asking you, then there is going to be Brahma Bhuta Prasadaatya Na Sochati Na Kangshati. Then there's going to be spiritual happiness and no lamenting and no hankering. And if you don't want to pay Kṛṣṇa the total price, then you will understand Kṛṣṇa partially. So this verse is telling us how great God is. Nobody can understand God, but only if you take to the process of bhakti can you understand God. So with this we end our discussion of the 4th verse of the Śrī Īśopaniṣad. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Hare Kṛṣṇa. The question is why it is so important for the disciple to understand first the greatness, yes, the greatness of the Lord? Why he doesn't learn first the pastimes of the Lord?

Why should the devotee understand what?

The greatness of the Lord, the first.

Why should? Because when you know how great God is, then you can, you can give your life to Him. I'll give you a simple example. Suppose I introduce this devotee to you and I say, "Oh, here is Mr.— what's your name?" Dīma. "Here is Mr. Dīma." You'll say, "Oh, hello, how do you do?" But suppose I tell you, "Here is Mr. Dīma. He is the son of Mr. Gorbachev and he is the president of 50 other societies in Russia." then you will greet him differently. When you meet some big, suppose you had a chance to meet Mr. Rockefeller. You have heard of Rockefeller in Russia? Suppose somebody told you, "Here is Mr. Rockefeller," then you would say, "Oh." But suppose someone told you, "Oh, here is one American tourist," you will say, "Oh, hello." So similarly, when you know here is Kṛṣṇa, The Creator of everything, the Source of everything. Then you see Kṛṣṇa from a different angle of reverence.

Does it mean that the disciples should become submissive hearing about Kṛṣṇa?

Of course. If you are not submissive to hear about Kṛṣṇa, how will you love Kṛṣṇa?

Two energies. And to which energy does belong the Śiva-tattva?

Prabhupāda says that even the demigods belong to the marginal energy. He says over here, I will read it out to you. The dominating demigods who are empowered to control and administer natural phenomena such as air, light, rain are all classified within the marginal potency of the Absolute Truth. Of course, Lord Śiva is very special. The example is given, from milk you can make yoghurt, but from yoghurt you cannot make milk.

Arjuna in his prayer says that even you yourself Doesn't know. Your greatness. Your greatness. Yes. And it says that only devotee can understand the greatness of the Lord. It seems to be.

Ananta Seśa. Ananta Seśa has thousands of tongues. But Ananta Seśa with thousands of tongues cannot fully describe the unlimited qualities of God. She wants to know the spiritual world. Of course the description of the spiritual world is so vast. That if we were to describe, it would take hours and hours. But in a nutshell, it is as follows. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavad-gītā that it is self-illuminated, doesn't get dark. You don't need any electric bulbs over there. You don't need the sun. Nobody gets old over there. Nobody dies. The men are more handsome than the men on this planet. The women are more beautiful than the women of this planet. Still they don't look at each other. They always look at Kṛṣṇa. So this is what we gave you was just an advertising brochure on the spiritual planet. Just like if you go to your travel agency, they have brochures. One brochure on England, one on America, one on India. So in 2 pages they are giving you a little nutshell of what life is like in England. So Bhagavad-gītā is like a brochure on the spiritual world.

Should a person follow the Desires of the soul to leave this body.

Your mind is saying, "Leave the body." Is that right? In other words, leave the body by spiritually preparing yourself, or leave the body by committing suicide. So committing suicide is sinful. Just like suppose you commit a crime and the judge tells you, "Now spend 10 years in jail." Now when you run away from the jail, Then the police will catch you, isn't it? So when you take your birth, you take your birth with your quota of happiness and distress. Now if you try to break the quota of suffering by running away, it is like you're trying to escape your quota of punishment. So therefore those who commit suicide, they get very severe punishment. What is the punishment? They don't get human body again. You become a ghost. So if you want to become a priest, then commit suicide. If you don't want to become a priest, then accept your quota of suffering and come to Kṛṣṇa.

Now in the material world, only in human form of life we can get spiritual advancement. And what will be our spiritual form in the spiritual world? Does it necessary, will it necessary be form of human being, or it may be form of animal?

In the spiritual world, even if you take on the form of an animal, there is no loss, because even the surabhi cows, are always being touched by Kṛṣṇa. Even to be a blade of grass is great fortune because Kṛṣṇa is going to walk on you. So whatever Kṛṣṇa wants, that will happen. Don't worry. But if you want a human form, Kṛṣṇa will let you have a human form.

Isn't the desire to go to the spiritual world egoistic? Isn't it better to desire only to serve Kṛṣṇa?

Yes, a devotee's desire is just to serve Kṛṣṇa regardless of whether Kṛṣṇa takes him to hell or heaven. But even if you do desire to go to the spiritual world, there's nothing to feel embarrassed about. Because Kṛṣṇa says the desire to serve Him is not selfishness. Just like now at 4:30, if we are going to eat prasāda, you're going to put prasāda in your stomach. But eating prasāda is not selfishness. Because you have to eat in order to survive. If you don't eat, you will die. So similarly, serving Kṛṣṇa is not selfishness because that is our constitutional duty. It is the business of the hand to serve the body.

The Caitanya's mission is sankirtana. And what do followers of Lord Caitanya do in the spiritual world? Because there is nothing to preach, no one to preach.

In the spiritual world they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. And if you are such a dear follower of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Caitanya Mahāprabhu will send you again to the earth to bring back conditioned souls. Of course, all those devotees who are engaged in book distribution today, They are also, it should not be forgotten, members of Lord Caitanya's confidential club, because Lord Caitanya doesn't give this right to do book distribution to anyone except one who is a dear priyottani of Him.