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Cc M 20-103 WDC 1976-07-08 Survival of the Fittest
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ANNOUNCER: The following is a
class on the Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
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given by His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda,
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recorded on the 8th of July,
1976, in Washington D.C.
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PRADYUMNA: “Translation: Actually
I do not know how to inquire
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about the goal of life and
the process for obtaining it.
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Being merciful upon me,
please explain all these truths.”
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PRABHUPĀDA:
‘sādhya’-‘sādhana’-tattva puchite nā jāni
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kṛpā kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ āpani
[Cc. Madhya 20.103]
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The injunction in the Bhagavad-gītā
is that tad viddhi, try to understand.
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Not try, but must try.
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The human life is meant for
understanding tattva, the Absolute Truth.
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That is the special
advantage of the human life.
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If a human being does not inquire or
he’s not trained up to inquire about it,
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it is a great disadvantage
and it is enviousness.
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[indistinct] …human
life, the chance is there,
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to make a solution of
the whole problem,
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struggle for existence,
survival of the fittest.
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This is going on life after life.
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Now here is a chance, human life,
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he can understand what is the
goal of life and how to achieve it.
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He can be trained up.
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So if that opportunity is refused to
the human society by the guardians,
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by the government, it is a great
misservice, a great disadvantage.
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To keep them in darkness
of animal propensities…
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Because we are changing
our body, here is a chance,
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after many evolutionary process,
many thousand and millions of years.
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We are going to the park.
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How many plants and creepers are there,
how many animals, how many aquatics?
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We have to come through all these
processes, evolutionary process.
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So here is a chance.
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Therefore for the human being it is advised
that try to understand the goal of your life.
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tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyam
[MU 1.2.12]
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That is Vedic instruction.
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Must try.
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From the very beginning,
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if children are not trained up to
inquire about the goal of life,
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they are kept in darkness, simply eat, drink,
be merry and enjoy, that is not civilization.
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They must be trained up.
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The opportunity must be given,
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so that he can inquire more
and more about the goal of life.
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The goal of life is, as Caitanya
Mahāprabhu will explain,
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that we are intimately
related with God.
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Somehow or other, we are fallen
down in this material world.
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We are by mistake
accepting this body as self,
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and we are being trained up also,
only to see the bodily interests,
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just like cats and dogs.
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The animals also, they are
interested with the body only.
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They have no other interest.
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But if a human being is
kept in the same darkness,
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simply bodily interest, that
is a great disadvantage.
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So Sanātana Gosvāmī, he understands
that, because he has already begun,
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‘ke āmi’ ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya’
ihā nāhi jāni—‘kemane hita hara’
[Cc. Madhya 20.102]
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There are so many things with
which we have to struggle.
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This is called struggle for existence,
even the modern scientists, they call…
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It is not a very peaceful situation.
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The same question was
raised by Sanātana Gosvāmī,
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that why there should be
struggle for existence?
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Why not easy life, peaceful life?
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Why some outer elements,
they are giving us opposition?
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I want to be happy, but there is
opposition, that is struggle for existence.
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This question should
be there: Why?
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Even with a fly we have to fight.
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I am sitting, without doing any harm
to the fly, but it attacks, bothers me.
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There are so many.
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Even if you sit down without any offense…
Just like you are passing on the street,
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there is no offense, but from one
house all the dogs begin to bark:
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“Why you are coming here?
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Why you are coming here?”
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There was no cause of his
barking, but because it is dog,
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his business is “Why you are
coming, why you are coming?”
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Similarly, we have no freedom
to go from one place to another,
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at the present moment.
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There is immigration department: “Why
you are coming here, why you are…?”
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In many places we have
been refused to enter.
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We have been refused
from the airplane.
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“No, you cannot enter, go
back,” so I had to go back.
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So, so many disadvantages.
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padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām
[SB 10.14.58]
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In this material world, you
cannot live very peacefully.
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Not very; not peacefully at all.
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There are so many impediments.
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The śāstra says, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām
[SB 10.14.58]: every step there is danger.
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Not only from these lower animals,
but from the human society,
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by nature, on which
we have no control.
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So in this way, our life is not very
happy in this material world,
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and we should be advanced
in inquiring about it,
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so why there are so
many impediments?
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That is human life.
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That is human life.
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So how to inquire…, how to become
happy, what is the goal of life?
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Sanātana Gosvāmī… Not only Sanātana
Gosvāmī, he’s representing us.
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We do not know, we do not know.
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So by the mercy of
Caitanya Mahāprabhu,
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or by the mercy of the servants
of Caitanya Mahāprabhu,
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one can be enlightened as to
the…, what is the goal of life,
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why there is struggle for
existence, why there is death.
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I do not want to die;
why there is birth?
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I do not wish to enter
into the mother’s womb
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and remain packed-up
condition for so many days;
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I do not want to become old man; but
these things are enforced upon me.
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Therefore our business is…, real business
is how to solve these questions,
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not to arrange for
economic development.
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Economic development, whatever
we are destined, we shall get it.
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Either happiness or
distress, we shall get it.
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Just like we don’t try for
distress, but it comes.
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It is enforced upon us.
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Similarly, the little happiness which you
are destined to obtain, that will also come.
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That is śāstra’s advice.
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Don’t waste your time to get
artificially some happiness.
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Whatever you are destined to get
happiness, it will come automatically.
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How it will come?
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yathā duḥkham ayatnataḥ
[SB 7.6.3]
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The same way, just like you don’t try
for distress, but it comes upon you.
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Similarly, even if you
don’t try for happiness,
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whatever you are
destined, you will get.
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So don’t waste your time bothering about
this so-called happiness and distress.
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Better engage your valuable time to
understand what is the goal of life,
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why there are so many problems, why
you have to struggle for existence.
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This is your business…
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This is Kṛṣṇa
consciousness movement,
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that we are inducing people
to understand the problem,
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it is not a sectarian movement
or so-called religious movement.
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It is educational
cultural movement.
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Every man has to
understand the goal of life.
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Every man has to understand why
there is struggle for existence,
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if there is any remedy,
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if there is any process where we can live
very peacefully without any disturbances,
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without any… These are the
things to be learned in human life,
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and one should approach…
Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī,
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he was minister, very
educated, well placed,
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but he has approached
Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
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So we should approach,
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the Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu,
or His representative, and surrender.
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tad viddhi praṇipātena
[Bg. 4.34]
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The way is not challenging,
“Can you show me God?”
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These are challenges, not this way.
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God is everywhere, but first of
all make your eyes to see God,
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then you challenge, “Can
you show me God?”
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This, this attitude will not help us.
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Submissive.
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tad viddhi praṇipātena
[Bg 4.34]
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This is the injunction of the śāstra.
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If you want to understand the
science, transcendental science,
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tad viddhi try to understand it—
but praṇipātena, very humbly.
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Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī
is submitting very humbly.
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So, tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena [Bg. 4.34]
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First of all praṇipāt, then
paripraśnena, questioning.
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Don’t waste your time,
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by questioning some spiritual master
or somebody unless you have praṇipāt.
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You must be ready to accept the answer
which he gives; then make inquiry.
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If you think that “I
have to test his answer,
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because I am more learned
or more advanced than him,”
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then don’t go there, don’t propose
anything or inquire anything.
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You first of all settle
up, that whatever…
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“I am going to inquire
something from somebody,”
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so whatever answer
he’ll give, you’ll accept.
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Then there is question of inquiry.
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Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Sanātana
Gosvāmī, he is completely surrendering.
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He said that “I am blank, I do not
know actually how to inquire You.
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So kindly, You speak everything,
what is the subject matter of inquiry,
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and what is the
answer of such inquiry.
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I am completely blank slate, I
am simply submitting to You.”
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Sādhya, the goal of life, and sādhana,
the process by which one can approach.
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So “I do not know anything about it,
simply I’m depending on Your mercy.”
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That is kṛpā kari.
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That is surrender.
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In this way, we can make advancement
in our spiritual education,
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and we must carry out the
order of the spiritual master.
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Just like you are singing daily,
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guru-mukha-padma-vākya
cittete kariyā aikya
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āra nā kariha mane āśā
[Śrī Guru-vandanā 2]
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āra nā kariha mane āśā—
do not think otherwise.
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Simply whatever… First of all, select
who will be your spiritual master.
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You must know the preliminary law,
just like if you want to purchase gold,
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at least you must know
where gold is available.
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If you want to purchase
diamond… So you must know,
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if you are so foolish that
you go to a butcher shop,
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and ask him to supply
diamond or gold,
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then you’ll be cheated.
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Then you’ll be cheated.
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You must know at least where to
go and purchase gold or diamond.
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These are valuable things… That
requires little intelligence and sincerity.
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If we are sincere that “I want to
purchase gold or diamond…”
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This is crude example,
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but the spiritual inquiry…,
if one is actually serious,
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about understanding the goal
of life, spiritual knowledge,
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then, Kṛṣṇa is situated
in everyone’s heart.
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He understands how this
person is sincerely seeking.
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Then He’ll give direction
that “You do this.”
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He is giving direction
in every respect.
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We are, we want to do so many
things, so Kṛṣṇa is giving us facility.
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Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati
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bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni
[Bg. 18.61]
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He is giving all facilities, but
when one becomes actually,
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very much eager to understand Kṛṣṇa,
God, He is very glad to give instruction,
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that “You go to such and such person and
you submissively inquire, and you’ll be…”
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guru-kṛṣṇa kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
[Cc. Madhya 19.151]
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By the mercy of guru,
by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa,
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one can make advancement
in spiritual understanding.
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So one must be sincere,
then every direction is there.
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Thank you very much.
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Subtitles by Gopī Kāntā Dāsa, Causelessmercy.com