ISO 10 · Los Angeles · 1970-05-15

Vedic process of receiving knowledge

2:39ISO 0.2ईशोपनिषद्ॐ पूर्णं अदः पूर्णं इदंपूर्णात् पूर्णं उदच्यतेपूर्णस्य पूर्णं आदायपूर्णं एव अवशिष्यतेoṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁpūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyatepūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāyapūrṇam evāvaśiṣyateThe Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.[Īśo Invocation] ISO 1ईशावास्यं इदं सर्वंयत् किञ्च जगत्यां जगत्तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथामा गृधः कस्य स्वित् धनम् || 1 ||īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁyat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagattena tyaktena bhuñjīthāmā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanamEverything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.

2:49ISO 2कुर्वन्न् एव इह कर्माणिजिजीविषेत् शतं समाःएवं त्वयि न अन्यथा इतो अस्तिन कर्म लिप्यते नरे || 2 ||kurvann eveha karmāṇijijīviṣec chataṁ samāḥevaṁ tvayi nānyatheto 'stina karma lipyate nareOne may aspire to live for hundreds of years if he continuously goes on working in that way, for that sort of work will not bind him to the law of karma. There is no alternative to this way for man.ISO 3असुर्या नाम ते लोकाअन्धेन तमसा आवृताःताम् ते प्रेत्य अभिगच्छन्तिये के च आत्म हनो जनाः || 3 ||asuryā nāma te lokāandhena tamasāvṛtāḥtāṁs te pretyābhigacchantiye ke cātma-hano janāḥThe killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance.

2:56ISO 4अनेजत् एकं मनसो जवीयोन एनत् देवा आप्नुवन् पूर्वम् अर्षत्तत् धावतो अन्यन् अत्येति तिष्ठत्तस्मिन् अपो मातरिश्वा दधाति || 4 ||anejad ekaṁ manaso javīyonainad devā āpnuvan pūrvam arṣattad dhāvato 'nyān atyeti tiṣṭhattasminn apo mātariśvā dadhātiAlthough fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence.ISO 5तत् एजति तत् न एजतितत् दूरे तत् व अन्तिकेतत् अन्तर अस्य सर्वस्यतत् उ सर्वस्य अस्य बाह्यतः || 5 ||tad ejati tan naijatitad dūre tad v antiketad antar asya sarvasyatad u sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥThe Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything.

3:04ISO 6यः तु सर्वाणि भूतानिआत्मनि एव अनुपश्यतिसर्व भूतेषु च आत्मनंततो न विजुगुप्सते || 6 ||yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtānyātmany evānupaśyatisarva-bhūteṣu cātmānaṁtato na vijugupsateHe who sees systematically everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything never hates anything or any being.ISO 7यस्मिन् सर्वाणि भूतानिआत्म एव अभूत् विजानतःतत्र को मोहः कः शोकःएकत्वं अनुपष्यतः || 7 ||yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtānyātmaivābhūd vijānataḥtatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śokaekatvam anupaśyataḥOne who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?

3:13ISO 8स पर्यगात् शुक्रम् अकायम् अव्रणम्अस्नाविरं शुद्दं अपाप विद्धंकविः मानिसी परिभूः स्वयंभूःयथा तथ्यतो अर्थान् व्यदधात् शाश्वतीभ्यः समाभ्यः || 8 ||sa paryagāc chukram akāyam avraṇamasnāviram śuddham apāpa-viddhamkavir manīṣī paribhūḥ svayambhūryāthātathyato 'rthān vyadadhāc chāśvatībhyaḥ samābhyaḥSuch a person must factually know the greatest of all, the Personality of Godhead, who is unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without veins, pure and uncontaminated, the self-sufficient philosopher who has been fulfilling everyone's desire since time immemorial.

3:13ISO 9अन्धं तमः प्रविशन्तिये अविद्याम् उपासतेततो भूय इव ते तमोय उ विद्यायां रताः || 9 ||andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśantiye 'vidyām upāsatetato bhūya iva te tamoya u vidyāyām ratāḥThose who engage in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the culture of so-called knowledge.ISO 10अन्यत् एव आहुः विद्ययाअन्यत् आहुः अविद्ययाइति शुश्रुम धीराणांये नः तत् विचचक्षिरे || 10 ||anyad evāhur vidyayā-nyad āhur avidyayāiti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁye nas tad vicacakṣireThe wise have explained that one result is derived from the culture of knowledge and that a different result is obtained from the culture of nescience.

3:13Prabhupāda: So this verse is very important. ISO 10अन्यत् एव आहुः विद्ययाअन्यत् आहुः अविद्ययाइति शुश्रुम धीराणांये नः तत् विचचक्षिरे || 10 ||anyad evāhur vidyayā-nyad āhur avidyayāiti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁye nas tad vicacakṣireThe wise have explained that one result is derived from the culture of knowledge and that a different result is obtained from the culture of nescience.So here is one word, iti śuśruma. Śuśruma means heard. The word meaning is there.

4:07"It is heard." In the Vedic disciplic succession, it is never said, "It is experienced." That is the secret of Vedic understanding. No student will... Just like in the material world, they are engaged in research work.

4:40They are trying to find out what is the Absolute Truth or... Even in this material world, just like people are now engaged in researching what is there in the moon planet.

4:59So this is material policy, to try to understand things by his own experience. Pratyakṣa, direct; experimental knowledge. The Vedic understanding is different. It is śruti. Śruti means to hear from authoritative source.

5:35That is real knowledge. Just like I have given many times this example that if you want to know your father by experimental knowledge, is it possible? Not possible. Then how to know my father?

6:00By hearing from the authority, mother. That's all. Simple thing. Similarly, things which are beyond our experimental knowledge you should not try to understand by your imperfect senses. That is not possible.

Hearing from the realized authority

6:29If you cannot know your material father by experimental knowledge, how you can know the supreme father by experimental knowledge? The original father...

6:45The father of the father, father, father, you go on searching father, and the original father is Kṛṣṇa.

6:54So if you cannot understand your material father, the next generation, by experimental knowledge, how you can know God, or Kṛṣṇa, by experimental knowledge? Can you answer this, anyone? So people are searching what is God.

7:20And searching, searching, searching, and they fail. They say, "Oh, there is no God. I am God." Finished. You see? This is not possible. Here it is said, iti śuśruma. This is Vedic knowledge.

7:36Heard, śuśruma. Wherefrom śuśruma? From the storekeeper? No. Dhīrāṇāṁ. Śuśruma..., iti śuśruma dhīrāṇām. What is dhīrāṇām? From the sober sect.

7:57Not this fanatic sect, but the sober sect, dhīra. Dhīra means whose senses are not agitated by material influence.

Controlling the senses and diet

8:15Or svāmī, or gosvāmī, he is called dhīra. There are different kinds of agitations. The first agitating agent is the mind. Then the another agitating agent is this tongue. Another agitating agent is our speaking power.

8:43Vāco-vega krodha-vega. Another agitation is when we become angry. When we become angry, we forget. We do any nonsense due to the agitation of anger. When we speak in anger, we speak so many nonsense things.

9:10Vāco-vegaṁ krodha-vegaṁ manasa-vegaṁ jihvā-vegam [NoI 1]. Jihvā-vegam, agitation of the jihvā, tongue. Don't you see?

9:16For the agitation of the tongue so many advertisement: "Oh, here is this liquor," "Here is this chicken," "Here is this beef." What for? To satisfy the agitation of the tongue.

9:34Does it mean that without beef, without chicken, without liquor we cannot live? Is it a fact? It is not a fact. For living, we have got so many nice things.

9:49God has..., Kṛṣṇa has given*—īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam* [Īśo mantra 1]*—*for human being. You can take these grains, these fruits, the nice things, the milk. The milk is produced hugely.

10:04It is not for the cow itself, who is producing the milk; it is for human being. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā. That is the allotment.

10:16God's allotment is, "You, Mr. or Miss Cow, or Mrs. Cow, although you are producing milk, you cannot drink it. It is for the human. Better. Better animal. Not that... What you will do by drinking milk?" No animal...

10:43Of course, in infant stage every animal living mother's milk. That is nature's... But so far the cow's milk is concerned, that is specifically meant for the human being.

10:55So tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā. What is ordained by Kṛṣṇa, or God, you take it. But we have got the agitation of the tongue. Why shall I be satisfied simply taking grains, milk and vegetables and fruits?

11:17Let me maintain hundreds of slaughterhouse and kill these animals. After taking their milk, although she becomes my mother, for my tongue agitation let them be killed. You see? So this is not...

11:42You haven't got to hear from such nonsense, but you have to hear from the dhīrāṇām, those who have controlled their senses.

Qualifications of a spiritual leader

11:51That is the gosvāmī, or svāmī. One who has six kinds of control: control of the mind, control of the tongue, control of anger, control of speaking, control of the genital and control of the belly.

12:18The six kinds of agitating agents: the mind, the tongue, the belly, the genital, the speaking... So one who has control over these six things, he is called dhīrāṇām. Dhīra. Sa eva dhīra.

12:46Just like in Kumāra-sambhava. There is a nice poetry made by a great poet, Kālidāsa.

12:59It is called Kumāra-sambhava. This Kumāra-sambhava, we had our prescribed books in our intermediate I.A. class, Kumāra-sambhava. So* Kumāra-sambhava,* the fact of the Kumāra-sambhava is that when Pārvatī suicided herself in the Dakṣa-yajña, then Lord Śiva was very angry.

13:27He left this world. That's a Dakṣa-yajña story. You might have heard from Bhāgavatam. So he was engaged in meditation, and there was fight between the demons and the demigods. They wanted a very nice general.

13:45So it was concluded that with the semina of Lord Śiva, if a son is born, then he'll be able to fight this great fight between the demons. So Lord Śiva was in meditation, completely naked.

14:08So this Pārvatī was sent to worship the Śiva-liṅga just to agitate him for sex. But he was not agitated. He was still silent. So that particular instance is given by Kālidāsa: "Here is a dhīra." Dhīra. He is naked.

14:42A young girl is worshiping the genital, touching it; still he's not unagi..., not agitated. So that is the example of being dhīra. Dhīra means there may be causes for agitation, but one shall not be agitated.

15:05That is called dhīra. In spite of presence of the agent of agitating... Just like there is a very nice foodstuff, but still, my tongue should not be agitated.

15:23There is a very nice girl or boy; still, I shall not be agitated sexually.

15:33In this way, when you are able to control the six agitating elements, then you become dhīra. Dhīra. Not that he had..., Lord Śiva had no sexual potency, but he was dhīra. That is the example.

15:59Just like Kṛṣṇa danced with so many girls, but there was no sex appetite. That is called dhīra.

16:11So you have to hear from such person, dhīra. Here it is stated, iti śuśruma dhīrāṇām. Dhīrāṇām. Then your knowledge will be perfect.

Authenticity in the disciplic succession

16:30If you hear from adhīrāṇām, those who are not controlled, then it is useless knowledge.

16:39But here it is in the Vedic version of Īśopaniṣad, iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ ye nas tad vicacakṣire. So the student has approached the spiritual master and he says that "We have heard like this.

17:03Now it may be kindly explained." So teacher or the spiritual master is not inventing something. The same old thing. Just like the Bhagavad-gītā, the old thing is being explained again by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna.

17:22So we have no..., nothing to research. Everything is there. Simply we have to hear from a person who is dhīra, who is not agitated by the six kinds of agitating agents. That is the process of Vedic knowledge.

17:43BG 4.34तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया ।उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः ॥३४॥"tad viddhi praṇipātenaparipraśnena sevayāupadekṣyanti te jñānaṁjñāninas tattva-darśinaḥJust try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

17:49So always remember that we have to learn from a person who is dhīra, who has control over these agitating agents. Thank you. [devotees offer obeisances] [kīrtana] [Prabhupāda plays gong] [end]