Lecture Prabhupada: So where is your national? Your national home is back to home, back to Godhead. That is your national, real, actual home. That is called sanatana. That I was explaining. There is another place, material…, spiritual world. That is also called sanatana. And the jiva, the living entity, is also mentioned as sanatana. And Krsna is also mentioned as sanatana. When these three sanatanas come together, that is called sanatana life, and any process that takes us to that sanatana position, that is called sanatana-dharma. That is called sanatana-dharma. We know sanatana-dharma. We have heard it only. But sanatana-dharma is not limited to a certain class of men or certain class of society or certain kind of country. No. Sanatana-dharma is meant for all living entities, because the living entity is sanatana, and God is sanatana, and the place where we can exist eternally, that place is called sanatana. And the process which teaches us to go back to sanatana land, sanatana existence, that is called sanatana-dharma. Try to understand, most of our Hindus, they call the sanatana-dharmi, but sanatana-dharma is not limited for any particular type of society. It is meant for the whole human being, living entity. Living entity sanatana. So when you accept this, when you understand what is sanatana, and we employ ourself in that process, that is called execution of sanatana-dharma. So we are spreading this sanatana-dharma, or Krsna consciousness movement, throughout the whole world, not on the superficial platform of this bodily concept of life. We are teaching everyone that “You are not this body.” Actually we are not, but it is because we are, at the present moment, we are educated as first-class rascals and fools, we are thinking that “I am this body.” This is the defect of the modern civilization. But actually what Krsna is trying to instruct Arjuna… Arjuna means everyone. He’s not simply talking with Arjuna. Arjuna is simply via media. He’s talking to the whole human society, intelligent class of men, that “We existed, we are existing now, and we shall exist also in the future.” This is called sanatana, eternity. So na caiva na bhavisyamah: “In the future we also shall exist.” Now we should consider what is the problem now: I was present in the past, I am now present in the present, and I shall exist in the future. Then what is my problem? The problem is why I am changing this position of eternity? I am sanatana. I am eternal. Aham brahmasmi. That is the real existence, that I am Brahman. Brahman means eternal. But Krsna is Parabrahman. Param means the supreme, the chief. Therefore there are two terms in the Vedic language: atma, paramatma; brahman, parabrahman; isvara, paramesvara. There are two terms. We are not paramesvara, not paramatma, not parabrahman. We are atma, isvara… We can say, “I am isvara.” What does it mean, isvara? Isvara means controller. So, although we are servant, at the same time we are controller. That we can experience. I am now working in the office. I am servant of the establishment, but I’m given some power to control over certain departments. So simultaneously, I am servant and controller. As controller, I can be called isvara, isvara, god, as controller. But I am not controller, Supreme Controller. That I cannot say. Nobody can say that “I am the Supreme Controller.” That you cannot say. You can control, say, a dozen of men. Another can control a hundred men. Another can control a thousand, or millions. But nobody can say that “I am the controller of the whole universe.” That is not possible. That controller is Krsna. Therefore in the sastra it is said, isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]: “The Supreme Controller is Krsna.” You are not supreme controller. Controller means god. So you can become a god, but you are not Supreme God. Therefore we use the word Godhead. Our magazine name is Back to Godhead. Not to “God.” God, there are so many. Even the rascal, he is also god. That is another thing. But Godhead, that is explained in the Vedic literature, isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. This is explanation. Isvarah paramah krsnah, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Krsna. And how is He? Sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. He has got His form. God is not formless. Vigraha. Vigraha means form. But what kind of form? Sat-cid-ananda. Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and ananda means full of bliss. You find that form, Krsna’s picture, always blissful, ananda. You’ll see here is Krsna’s picture. Here He’s enjoying with his pleasure potency, Radharani. That is His own potency. When Krsna, Krsna is Parabrahman, described, param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12] When Arjuna understood Bhagavad-gita, he said…, he addressed Krsna not as Krsna. Before that he was addressing Krsna, because he is friend. Now when he understood Bhagavad-gita, he understood Krsna also. He addressed Him, param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan: [Bg. 10.12] “You are perfect.” So if Krsna is even naughty actually, He’s Parabrahman. So when Parabrahman wants to enjoy… Parabrahman must enjoy. Parabrahman is not without enjoyment, because wherefrom the idea of enjoyment comes unless it is in the Parabrahman? That is described in the Vedanta-sutra, athato brahma jijnasa. Brahman, inquiry about Brahman, Parabrahman, both. So what is that Parabrahman? Janmady asya yatah: [Bhag. 1.1.1] wherefrom everything comes. Everything, all emanations. So this ananda potency… We are seeking after ananda. Every one of us, we are seeking after pleasure. This is struggle for existence. Everyone wants to be happy, peace and pleasure. But wherefrom this idea comes? The Vedanta-sutra says janmady asya yatah: [Bhag. 1.1.1] it also comes from Parabrahman. So if Parabrahman has no such tendency how to enjoy, wherefrom this so-called love in this material world between young boy and young girl comes? There cannot be any existing. It is only perverted reflection of that pleasure potency of Radha and Krsna. It is only perverted reflection. It is not false. It is temporary, perverted. Just like the example is sometimes given to mistake a rope as snake. The Mayavadi philosophers, they give. They say it is maya. But it is not maya. When you mistake a snake as…, mistake a rope as a snake, that is not maya. That is illusion. You can call it maya. But the snake is there. You cannot say, because it is rope, therefore there is no snake. No. Snake is there. Otherwise, how it comes to the idea of snake? The snake is a fact, but you are mistaking the rope as snake. That is your mistake. But snake is not illusion; snake is a fact. Similarly, another example is given. Just like in the desert, the mirage… In the desert sometimes, the animals find that water, there is a vast mass of water, and when they’re thirsty, they jump over and go farther, farther, farther. But because there is no water, he dies. But no sane man goes after that water. But water is not false. That water is being sought in a false place. Similarly, the pleasure, the pleasure between two sexes, man and woman, that is not false. But we are seeking that pleasure in a false place in this material world. Therefore you have (indistinct). It is a great science. So there is the pleasure, this sex attraction. But that sex attraction is not material, Krsna, radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini saktir asmat, ekatmanav api deha bhedam gatau. Try to understand. For Brahman perception, Brahman pleasure, a great saintly person, he gives up everything material. He takes sannyasa, he goes, undergoes severe penances, just to realize brahmananda. So when Brahman… A person, ordinary person, to realize brahmananda, he gives up everything material, do you think Krsna, the Parabrahman, is enjoying something material? Just try to understand. Krsna does not enjoy anything. He’s Parabrahman. For understanding Brahman pleasure, a person is recommended to give up everything material. And when the Parabrahman wants to enjoy, does it means that He’s enjoying something material? This is our nescience(?). This is our misunderstanding. When Parabrahman enjoys, He… But the difficulty is that this Mayavadi philosopher, they cannot understand that in the spiritual world there is also pleasure. Their foolish brain cannot accommodate. Because here in this material world they have got very bad experience of this material… They want to make the spiritual world as zero or imperson due to less intelligence. But actually, real life, real pleasure, eternal pleasure is there in the spiritual world, not in this material world. So from Bhagavad-gita, if you study scrutinizingly each word and each sloka—not by man interpretation, but actually as it is—then we can understand what is our eternal life, what is our eternal pleasure, how we can return and sport there. Everything is explained there. Everyone can go. Everyone can transfer himself in that spiritual world—simply by understanding Krsna. That’s all. And the Krsna understanding is there. Krsna is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gita. He, if you do not introduce your so-called foolish scholarship, then you get actually back to home, back to Godhead, by simply studying Bhagavad-gita. But if you add your foolish rascal scholarship, that “Krsna means this and that means this, this means that,” then you are lost. Study Bhagavad-gita as it is. You get all information how to realize Brahman, aham brahmasmi. So ’ham. Don’t misinterpret. Don’t… There is no… Just like Krsna… This verse is very plain. This verse says, na tv evaham jatu nasam. Where is the difficulty? “My dear Arjuna, both I, you… It is not that I did not exist, you did not exist. Neither this soldier.” Where is the difficulty to understand? Why should we misinterpret? dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre samaveta yuyutsavah mamakah pandavas caiva kim akurvata sanjaya [Bg. 1.1] No. The main meaning is very plain: that Dhrtarastra was asking his father’s secretary, Sanjaya, “My dear Sanjaya, mamakah, my sons and pandavah, my brother’s sons, Pandavas, they assembled,” dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre [Bg. 1.1], “in the Kuruksetra Field, which is known as dharma-ksetra, the religious pilgrimage. After that meeting, what did they do?” Now, where is the difficulty to understand this verse? But unfortunately, one so-called scholar or so-called foolish man will come, he’ll say, “Dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetra means this body.” No. “Where you get this meaning, sir?” But he’ll say, explain in this way: “The Pandava means five senses.” Well, in which dictionary you’ll find? This is going on. This rascaldom is going on. If you’ll give up this rascaldom, simply read Bhagavad-gita as it is, then you’ll become successful in life. That is our preaching Krsna consciousness. Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. (end)
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Jakarta, February 26, 1973