Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.5 Pradyumna: Translation: “O descendant of King Bharata, one who desires to be free from all miseries must hear about, glorify and also remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and the savior from all miseries.” Prabhupada: tasmad bharata sarvatma bhagavan isvaro harih srotavyah kirtitavyas ca smartavyas cecchatabhayam Icchata abhayam. So Sukadeva Gosvami is giving instruction to Maharaja Pariksit what is to be done at the point of death. We have already discussed this point, that we must know the responsibility of our next life. Just like a child is given education for the next life, to become youthful, to get into higher education, admission. Then a youth is given higher education for better life in future. That is natural. Every one is expecting future prospect. Similarly, we, every one of us, we are changing our body exactly the same way as the child is changing his body to boyhood, the boy is changing his body to youthhood, the youth is changing his body to old body. Similarly, after old age, there is next stage is death. So after death, what is the proposal? That they do not know. And practically we are experiencing that although I am changing body, I was a child, I was a boy, I was a young man, now I am old man, so there was past and future in every stage. Similarly, in this stage as I am remembering my past life… I can remember, you can remember… I was a child, I was a boy, I was a young man. I was doing like this. Everything I remember. Even if I forget, I had my past life and again I expect my future life. Past, present and future. Why the future should be zero? We have experienced so long, both past, present and future. Why in this old age I shall be future-less, void? There is no life after death? That is the foolishness. That we are not preparing. Those who are not preparing, they are engaged in various topics. srotavyadini rajendra nrnam santi sahasrasah apasyatam atma-tattvam grhesu grha-medhinam [SB 2.1.2] They have created a life of material enjoyment, and therefore they have many things to hear, srotavyadini. So many newspaper, magazines, books, fictions, simply for wasting time. There is no discussion in those literatures about future life. None of these literatures. Take any literature of the modern world. There is no discussion about the future life. But the future life is there. You cannot deny it. The future life is there. But there is no discussion. Therefore these rascals have been described as apasyatam atma-tattvam [SB 2.1.2] These rascal, they do not see what is the future. They do not believe in future. Big, big professors, big, big politicians, they do not believe even that there is life after death. And why there is no life after death? We are experiencing that life after life… Just like this child’s activities at the present moment will not be the same when she will get another body as young woman. That will be different activity. So according to our change of body we have got different engagements. A child talks all foolish things; nobody cares for it. But the same child, when he gets another body, if he talks foolish, then he will be called, “Oh, you are so fool. You are talking like this.” Because the body has changed. So body is changing. That’s a fact. But apasyatam atma-tattvam [SB 2.1.2], one who does not know that the spirit soul is eternal and changing body, they are blind, apasyatam atma-tattvam [SB 2.1.2]. They are simply engrossed in this bodily concept of life. Grhesu grha-medhinam. Compact, encaged in this body, encaged in society, encaged in nationalism, encaged in religion, encaged in ideas, philosophy. But there is no question of discussing about the soul. Apasyatam atma-tattvam [SB 2.1.2]. So for them, these foolish persons, those who are not seeing the actual position, constitutional position of the soul and the future of the soul, for them there are many topics, unlimited. Srotavya, sahasrani, hundreds and thousands. Nrnam santi sahasrasah. Apasyatam atma-tattvam [SB 2.1.2]. This sloka we have discussed. And what is their subject matter of discussion? The subject matter is that nidraya hriyate naktam vyavayena ca va vayah [SB 2.1.3]. At night they sleep or indulge in sex life, and in daytime, diva carthehaya rajan kutumba-bharanena va, and the daytime is wasted, “Where is money? Where is money.” And if he gets money, “How to purchase this thing for that boy? How to purchase for my wife and for my brother?” Kutumba-bharanena va. “Purchase this. Where is milk? Where is rice? Where is…?” In this way we are wasting time, although this human form of life is meant for Brahman realization. Athato brahma jijnasa. They have forgotten that. They have forgotten that. Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami is reminding that… And they… Of course at the end of life, at the time of death, one must do it, but not only at the end of life. One must practice from the beginning of life. Just like Prahlada Maharaja said, kaumara acaret prajno dharman bhagavatan iha [SB 7.6.1]. This prescription given by Sukadeva Gosvami: tasmad bharata sarvatma bhagavan isvaro harih srotavyah kirtitavyas ca smartavyas cecchatabhayam This is bhagavata-dharma. This is bhagavata-dharma, everything in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Dharma means bhagavata-dharma. Otherwise that is not dharma. Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]. Dharma means to understand God, our relationship with God, and how to work in that relation. That is dharma. Sambandha, prayojana. Sambandha, abhidheya, prayojana. Caitanya Mahaprabhu prescribes this. The whole Vedic civilization is based on this, that you must know what is your relationship with God. It doesn’t matter whether you are Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Buddhist. A civilized man must have some religious process. That is all over the world. Now we are giving up. We are giving up. Everyone is giving up. Therefore dharmena hinah pasubhih samanah. Dharmena hinah pasubhih… When we give up the religious principle… Religious principle means to abide by the law of God. That is religion. But we do not know what is God and what is His order. We forget it. So at the present moment, dharmena hinah pasubhih samanah, it is a civilization of cats and dogs, not human beings, because they have given up dharma. But the sastra says that this human life is meant for understanding God, nothing else. Other things are already arranged. You are harassed by the problems of eating, sleeping, mating, but there is no such question. Eating arrangement is there. Even the birds and bees, they are confident. They have no office-going, they are not lawyers, engineers, politicians, to earn their bread, but the bread is ready for them. Even for the beast, birds, so they are confident. So this is not problem. Real problem is to understand God. And what will the benefit by understanding God? Then the problem of your birth, death, old age and disease will be solved. That is the real problem. We are undergoing repetition of birth, death, old age and disease. These problems can be solved simply by understanding what is God. This is the solution. That is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita: janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvatah tyaktva deham punar janma naiti… [Bg. 4.9]. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti. This is the solution. Janma karma me divyam. Krsna says, God says, that “If you try to understand Me, what is My position, why I descend, what is My activities, what is…” That is described here, srotavya. You have to understand. How you will understand? By hearing. God has given you the ear. If you simply hear, if you simply hear… There is no question of education. It is not that one who is not educated, he will not understand what is God. He will understand, because the ear is there. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh: [SB 7.5.23] Visnu, of Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you hear. Therefore we are opening so many branches, just to give people the chance of hearing. And as soon as you perfectly hear, the next position will be to glorify. Just like these European, American boys. First of all they heard. Now they are preaching. Sravanam kirtanam. Because they have perfectly heard, therefore they are very enthusiastic. They are going all over the world. They are preaching. And so srotavyah kirtitavyas ca. If one has actually heard, known about God, then next stage will be he will be very much enthusiastic to speak to others. That is preaching. Srotavyah kirtitavyas ca smartavyah. Smartavya means remembering. Unless you remember what is God, what is His form, what is His quality, what is His pastimes, what are His activities, what are His entourage, everything about God, if you hear… Just like if you hear Bhagavad-gita, you understand everything, what is God. And that is our only duty. I have seen in this Delhi near Jawarmal Street the small Muhammadan boys, they are reading Koran. That is very good. From childhood they should learn, learn about God. And that is recommendation in Bhagavata. Prahlada Maharaja said that kaumara acaret prajno dharman bhagavatan [SB 7.6.1]. Kaumara, from the beginning of life, children should be engaged. Therefore we have opened the Gurukula, Dallas. The small children, four years, five years old, they are hearing about Krsna, about God. They are chanting about Krsna, they are rising early in the morning, attending mangala-aratrika. Anyone goes there… Even the education superintendent came to visit our temple. He was astonished that “How these children are happy. How children, they are being educated.” So this is to be introduced. Kaumara acaret prajno dharman bhagavat…, durlabham manusam janma. This human form of life is durlabham. Durlabham, very rare to achieve. It is not so easily obtained. We have to pass through evolutionary process, 8,400,000 species of life, aquatics… Jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati. We have to pass through aquatics, animals in the water, then trees, plants, then insects, birds, beasts. After all, we get this human form of life, especially civilized form of life, with some idea of religion. If we do not utilize it… Religion means to understand God. That is religion. In religion, a godless religion, where there is no conception of God, that is not religion. That is called cheating religion. In the name of religion, but there is no conception of God. That is not religion. Then here it is said that srotavyah bhagavan harih. If you do not know who is Bhagavan, if you do not know who is Hari, if you do not know who is Isvara, then what you will hear about Him? That is the problem. Those who are after God, they make God nirakara. “There is no akara. There is no form.” God is the origin of all forms, but the poor God has no form. Just see. This is the conclusion. He is the origin of all forms, yato va imani bhutani jayante, from whom everything is coming out. Janmady asya yatah [Bhag. 1.1.1]. Everything… We have also come from God. We are also claimed as sons of God. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, sarva-yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayo yah [Bg. 14.4]. There are 8,400,000 species of life, and they have got forms. They are sons of God. So where is our experience that a son who has got a form, his father is impersonal, no form? Where you have got this experience? If the son has got form and the father is formless, how it can be? What is the reason? Where is the argument? But they are concluding like that. I am the son of my father, so my father has got a form. I have got a form. His father has got form. His father has got form. Even if we do not see the tenth generation, up to, whether it was form or formless, but it is supposed that he must have a form. So similarly, if you ultimately go to the supreme father, then how it is formless? No. Formless is not the actual realization of God. That is the beginning. That may be beginning. To realize the energy of God, that is formless. Just like the sun. The sunshine is formless, but the sun globe is not formless, or the person, the predominating Deity within the sunglobe, he is not formless. The sunshine is formless. So this formless realization… Just like the sun. Sun is also light. Sun is also heat. The sunshine is also light, sunshine is also heat. But this heat and light, energy of the sun, they are not actually the sun. It is only the energy. This is described in the Visnu Purana, that, eka-desa-sthitasyagner jyotsna vistarini yatha parasya brahmanah saktis tathedam akhilam jagat Just like a fire is there in one place, in a particular localized place, but it expands in heat and light, similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is there. He is person. That is described in the Brahma-samhita. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah [Bs. 5.37]. That is God. Although He is everywhere present by His energy, it does not mean that He is lost, He has lost His personality. No. Purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate. He is so perfect and complete. Just like you take the example of the sun. For millions and millions of years, unlimited temperature, light and heat is coming out, but still, it is the same. Purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate. Similarly, God is so perfect, so complete, that unlimited number of suns and energies… We are also energy. We sons of God, we are also energy. That is described in the Bhagavad-gita: apareyam itas tv anyam prakrtim viddhi me param jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat Prakrtim param. This material world is apara-prakrti, and prakrti, nature or energy, this is inferior energy, the matter, dull matter. But apareyam. Bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh, earth, water, air, fire, they are inferior energy of the Lord. But there is another, superior nature. That is described. Apareyam. These energies, bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh, earth, water, air, they are inferior. There is another superior. What is that? Jiva-bhutam, these living entities, maha-baho, yayedam dharyate jagat, who are controlling now. This Delhi city is important. Why important? Because the jiva-bhuta, the living entities, they are handling this material, cement and stone and wood and so many other material things. And they are constructing buildings. And therefore the importance of this Delhi city is there. If all the people, all the living entities, leave this Delhi city, it is not even one-farthing worth. Jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat. In Calcutta, in 1942, when there was bombing and all the Calcutta was vacated, a house at that time which was rented at two hundred rupees, they were asking, “Give me twenty-five rupees,” because the living entities vacated. Similarly, the importance of this material world is there because we living entities are there. And we have come here. Krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vancha. All the living entities, they have come into this material world to enjoy material enjoyment. Therefore this material world has value. Otherwise, if all the living entities go back again, back to home, back to Godhead, this matter has no value. So we are also prakrti. We are also energy of God. And because we are trying to utilize the resources of matter, therefore material things have got value. Otherwise, it has no value, zero. But our business is… That is stated here, that because we are now entangled with this matter… The matter is not our business. Our only business is how to get out of the matter. That is our real business. If you want that business, then the prescription is here. What is that? Srotavyah kirtitavyas ca. Unless you hear, how you can understand your position? When you understand God, Krsna, and you understand that you are part and parcel of God, or Krsna, then you can understand your position: “Oh, we are part and parcel of God.” Krsna is the Supreme Person, sad-aisvarya-purnam, full of all opulences. Just like a mad son loitering in the street, when he understands with good brain that “My father is so rich, so powerful, and why I am loitering in the street like a madman? I have no food, no shelter. I am going from this door to door and begging,” then he comes to his consciousness. That is called brahma-bhuta stage. “Oh, I am, I am not this matter. I am spirit soul, part and parcel of God. Oh.” That is consciousness. This consciousness we are trying to arouse. This is the best welfare service to the people, to awaken his lost consciousness. He is foolishly thinking that “I am of the material product, and I have to adjust my things in this material world.” This is the foolishness. Actual intelligence is that is Brahma-bhuta, aham brahmasmi. Bhagavata.: “I am part and parcel of God. God is supreme Brahman. I am, being part and parcel…” Just like part and parcel of the gold, gold mine, it may be small earring, it is also gold. Similarly, the small particle of sea water is also the same quality, salty. Similarly, we, being part and parcel of God, we have got the same qualities. Qualitatively, we are one. Why we are hankering after loving? Because there is love in Krsna. We are worshiping here Radha-Krsna. Originally there is love. Therefore we, being part and parcel of God, we are also trying to love. A man is trying to love another woman, woman is trying to love another man. This is natural. This is not artificial. But it is perverted in the material covering. That is the defect. When we are free from this material covering, then we are qualitatively anandamayo ’bhyasat, as jolly… As Krsna is dancing always… Krsna you will never find… You have seen the picture of Krsna. He is fighting with the Kaliya serpent. He is dancing. He is not afraid of the serpent. He is dancing. As He is dancing with the gopis in rasa-lila, similarly, He is dancing with the snake. Because He is anandamayo ’bhyasat. He is anandamaya, always jolly. Always. You will see Krsna… Krsna… Just like in Kuruksetra the fighting is going on. Krsna is jolly. Arjuna is morose because he is living entity, but He is not morose. He is jolly. That is the nature of God. Anandamayo ’bhyasat. This is the sutra, in the Brahma-sutra, that “God is anandamaya, always jolly, always cheerful.” So you can become also cheerful when you go back to home, back to Godhead. That is our problem. Therefore how we can go there? The first thing is we must hear. Srotavyah. Just try to hear what is God, what is His kingdom, how He acts, how He is cheerful. These things are to be heard. Sravanam. Then as soon as you are convinced, “Oh, God is so nice,” then you will be eager to demonstrate or to broadcast this news to the whole world. This is kirtanam. This is kirtanam. sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam [SB 7.5.23] This is life. This is life. Otherwise, talking nonsense, taking a newspaper in the morning, and “This party has done like this, this man has declared war, that man has defeated this,” these are simply waste of time, simply waste of time. If we waste our time, then we are not preparing for the next life. Actually, human form of life is meant for preparing for the next body. Sada tad-bhava-bhavitah. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram [Bg. 8.6] If we actually serious about our life, to get free from all the problems of life, then this is the only medicine. What is that? Tasmad bharata sarvatma bhagavan isvaro harih, srotavyah. One has to hear. It is not very difficult. But people have become so rascal, so foolish, they will not hear. They will not hear. We are requesting. We have not manufactured anything. It is all authorized, authorized books. Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavata, Vedic literature. We are simply inviting them. Now where is there, I mean to say, sectarianism? If we say to you, either you are Hindu or Muslim or Christian, if we say that “Please hear about God,” where is sectarianism? Where is sectarianism, “Your life is meant for…,” if we preach that “Your life is meant for hearing”? Now, we are presenting Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If you don’t accept Supreme Personality of God, Krsna, then what is your Supreme Personality of Godhead you present? Then you compare who is actually Supreme Personality of Godhead. What is the meaning of Supreme Personality of Godhead? Why you are taking? Why you are taking sectarian? Krsna claims, sarva-yonisu kaunteya [Bg. 14.4]. All forms of life. Not only human forms of life, even animal forms of life, vegetable forms of life, aquatics. They are all… Actually that is the fact. We are not this form. We are not this body. But according to our mentality, by nature’s law we are getting a particular type of body. Actually, I am spirit soul. Dehino ’smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara [Bg. 2.13]. Just like I am developing my ideas, youthful ideas. I am getting youthful body. I am developing childish ideas, getting childhood body. So as you develop, Krsna, or God, has given you full freedom. You have come to this material world to enjoy. Now you make your plan of your enjoyment. God will give you a particular type of body and you enjoy. Just like the hog, he is enjoying. He is enjoying. What he is enjoying? Enjoying stool. It is very good for him enjoyment. But it is not for enjoyment for you. You’ll…, that, “Oh, what a nasty animal it is. It is eating stool.” But he is enjoying. So this is the business of God, thankless task. Everyone wants to enjoy life in a different way, and he has to find out a particular type of body. In the human form of body you cannot eat stool. Your mouth, your hands, your legs are differently made. So for eating stool, you must have a particular type of body, mouth, taste, tongue, everything different. Then you will enjoy stool. A tiger, his body is different because he wants to enjoy fresh blood from another animal. So he has got a different type of body. Therefore Narottama dasa Thakura says, nana joni sada phire kadarya bhaksana kare, kadarya bhaksana kare. We get different types of body and we eat different types of all nasty things. Nasty things. Because we have got a particular type of body. But actual human body is that, Krsna conscious body. As Krsna says, patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati tad aham bhakty-upahrtam asnami prayatatmanah Krsna says, “Give me patram puspam, vegetables, flowers, grains, milk.” So you can prepare hundreds and thousands of preparations from these article, and you take the remnants of foodstuffs of Krsna, that is human life. Not to eat kadarya, kadarya, nasty things. That is not human life. So if you continue to eat all the kadaryas, then you get ultimately the body of a hog, no discrimination even for stool. That is the laws of nature. prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate [Bg. 3.27] Prakrti, nature, will give you chance, “All right, you want this?” Mind… You are creating… Mind is the creating force. So if you create a certain type of body, next life you get a body. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram, sada tad-bhava-bhavitah [Bg. 8.6] So similarly, if we are going to create another body by thinking and feeling and willing in this life, why not get a body like Krsna? That is Krsna consciousness movement. Think of Krsna. Think of Krsna. That is Krsna’s advice. Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. Krsna wants that you come back home, but you have to get the body. How you can get the body? Man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah. You simply think of Krsna. Don’t think of the hog or hoglike animals. You think of Krsna. You have to think something. Why not think Krsna, so nice figure, no, so attractive figure? So srotavyah, and thinking. Sada tad-bhava-bhavitah. Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. The… Hear also. Unless you hear about Krsna, how you can become…? How your mind can be absorbed if you do not know what is Krsna? So Krsna is describing Himself. Krsna-katha. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission is therefore krsna-katha. Yare dekha tare kaha krsna-upadesa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. Krsna-upadesa. Krsna-upadesa. This is the mission. What Krsna says, you just preach. You become spiritual master. That is not very difficult. Everyone can become spiritual master. Krsna’s speaking is there in the Bhagavad-gita. You simply repeat what Krsna says. You become spiritual master. It is not very difficult. Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam. You simply say that “You become devotee of Krsna.” Where is the difficulty? No difficulty. Krsna says, man-mana bhaktah. You say, “You become Krsna’s bhakta.” Actually, we are doing that. We are not doing any miraculous thing. People say that “Swamiji, you have done miracles.” But what miracles I have done? I am simply repeating Krsna’s words. That’s all. So everyone can do that. Everyone can take this matter very seriously. His life will be successful. He will make others successful. It is so nice thing. Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami says, tasmad sarvatma bhagavan. You must speak about Bhagavan. You must know what is Bhagavan, that Bhagavan is Krsna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. There are many Bhagavans. That’s all right. Or incarnation of Bhagavan. But Bhagavata says, ete camsa-kalah pumsah krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [Bhag. 1.3.28]. Particularly says that “All the incarnations are described, but at the end, the Bhagavata points out that ‘There are so many Bhagavans.’ ” That’s all right. Not so many. I mean not everyone. Not pantheism, not like that. Bhagavan has got innumerable incarnations. They have been described, but particularly pointing out that “Bhagavan is Krsna.” Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. And Krsna also says in Bhagavad-gita, mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya: [Bg. 7.7] “My dear Dhananjaya, I am the Supreme. There is nobody superior to Me.” Aham adir hi devanam: “I am the origin of all the devas.” Devas means, principle devas, Brahma, Visnu, Mahesvara. So Krsna is the origin of Brahma, Visnu, Mahesvara. And what to speak of others. Aham adir hi devanam. And so many things there are. aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah [Bg. 10.8] One who understands that “Here is Supreme Personality of Godhead,” He is budha, he is in knowledge. Budha bhava-samanvitah. So that bhava required. Unless we understand what is God, what is His nature, how He acts, what is our duty, what is our relationship, then we are nothing better than cats and dogs, simply… srotavyadini rajendra nrnam santi [SB 2.1.2], simply talking, talking, talking, and reading and reading, but no understanding of God. This is useless life, cats’ and dogs’ life. So this Krsna consciousness movement is saving people from becoming cats and dogs just to make them human being. Thank you very much. (end)
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Delhi, November 8, 1973