Understanding God Beyond Impersonalism

Human dependence on divine power

0:00A devotee, of course, voluntarily offers foodstuff to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then eats. But those who are not offering, those who are not devotees, for them also God is.

0:18That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: «pacāmy annaṁ catur-vidham». Unless God eats in the stomach, you cannot eat, you cannot assimilate. Then you'll have indigestion. «ahaṁ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā». So this is a fact.

0:45Unless God eats, you cannot eat. Unless God sees, you cannot see. Unless God walks, you cannot walk. We are completely dependent. But falsely we claim that we have got eyes; we ask somebody: "Can you show me God?"

1:06But how can you see God? Unless God sees, you cannot see. That is a fact. You are sabotaged. Therefore, one cannot see God unless God sees him, and then we can see.

Limitations of speculation and education

1:22This is the... «yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ». «nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo»... Simply by mental speculation, you cannot understand God. «pravacanena». «na medhayā».

1:40Because you are a great scientist, oh, big brain, therefore you can understand God? No, that is not possible. «nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo», «na medhayā», «na bahunā śrutena».

1:55Because you have studied all the Vedic literature, although the Vedic literature is meant for understanding God... «vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ».

2:08What is the purpose of studying Vedas unless you come to the point of the understanding of God, Krishna? It is useless.

2:21«dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ / notpādayed» «yadi ratiṁ śrama eva hi kevalam». Everyone is executing his allotted occupational duties. That is very good.

2:41But if by... I am discharging your occupational duties. You are doing nicely, that's good. But what is the result? Result must be that you must be interested in hearing about God, that should be the result.

3:04By studying Vedas, by becoming a very religious person, by advanced, I mean, say, philosophy, philosopher, anything, it doesn't matter. But the ultimate goal should be that you must understand God.

3:23Unfortunately, at the present moment, in spite of so-called advancement of education, scientific knowledge and so many things, economic development, they do not understand what is God.

3:37Everyone, more or less, they're impersonalist. They do not understand. Impersonalist means they do not understand what is God. Impersonal. Just like if I say that the president of this country is impersonal.

4:01That means I do not know what is president. Uh, president, if I say president is impersonal, that means I have no knowledge of the president. Nowhere the president is impersonal.

4:16Either in this country or America or Africa or anywhere, the president must be a person. That is the Vedic siddhānta, Bhāgavatam: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate.

4:34The last understanding of the absolute truth is to know Him as a person, Bhagavān. That is perfect knowledge.

Acquiring knowledge through devotional service

4:44Therefore in Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says: bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. The impersonalist, they are generally known as jñānīs. They are very proud of their knowledge.

5:00Bhaktas, some bhaktas are not, uh, I mean, without knowledge. Bhaktas are, ideal bhakta, they have got full knowledge. This is explained in the Bhāgavatam: bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā.

5:20Bhakti means which is, uh, developed after sufficiently hearing about the Vedānta philosophy. That is bhakti. Bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā. Not sentimental.

5:36Sentimental is also good because if he is sincere to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, never mind he has not studied very much, but for his sincerity, God Himself, Krishna Himself gives him knowledge.

5:57That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: teṣām evānukampārtham aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ / nāśayāmy ātma- bhāva-stho jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā.

6:10So it is a false impression that a devotee is, uh, not very wise, or his knowledge is not perfect. That is a wrong impression. Actually, one who is a devotee... Just like our Gosvāmīs, Saḍ-gosvāmīs, uh, Jīva Gosvāmī.

6:32Now, if you study his, uh, books and Sandarbhas, there is no comparison of education. There is no such in the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs; they study Jīva Gosvāmī's annotations on the Bhagavad-gītā.

6:51So it is not a fact that bhaktas are fools or non-educated. No. There are bhaktas...

7:03But their knowledge is... they may be illiterate, but still their knowledge is perfect because Kṛṣṇa is giving knowledge. tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye. Just like Brahmā, he was not in full knowledge.

7:21Still, his knowledge was perfect. How? He was educated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Supreme Godhead is there: īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe. So He is giving jñāna. He's giving.

7:40And Kṛṣṇa says, anukampārtham, because devotees are so much faithful to Kṛṣṇa that Kṛṣṇa is also ready to give them all knowledge.

Examples of sincere spiritual realization

7:55Nobody can say that... You know this Gaura Kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja. My Guru Mahārāja's guru. He was illiterate. He could not sign his name.

8:06But he became the guru of the most erudite scholar of that time, Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī. So was it his foolishness that he accepted a guru like that? No.

8:20When he would speak, this Gaura Kiśora dāsa Mahārāja, he was correctly giving information. How it happened?

8:28yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau / tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ. The process of receiving Vedic knowledge is to have unflinching faith in God and the spiritual master.

8:47Then everything will be revealed. There are many instances. I told you the other story. Caitanya Mahāprabhu met one brāhmaṇa, another illiterate brāhmaṇa.

8:59But he was studying Bhagavad-gītā, and, uh, Caitanya Mahāprabhu inquired... Other friends were criticizing him, that he was taking Bhagavad-gītā and trying to study, but he was illiterate.

9:15But when Caitanya Mahāprabhu inquired by the way, "What you are reading?", he said, "Sir, I cannot read, I am illiterate. But my Guru Mahārāja said that you must read eighteen chapters daily. So what can I do?

9:35I have taken this book, I am seeing only or just trying to utter something. So my other friends, they are criticizing. But this is my position." "So you are reading Bhagavad-gītā?" "No, I cannot read."

9:51"But you are feeling something, I see you are sometimes crying." "Yes, sir, that I am doing." "What is the reason?

9:58If you cannot read, how you are crying? You are understanding, then you are crying, but you cannot read, you say?" "No, one thing I can understand." "What is that?"

10:12"Now as soon as I take this book, Bhagavad-gītā, immediately the picture comes in my mind.

10:19The Kṛṣṇa is driving the chariot and Arjuna is sitting within the chariot, and Arjuna is ordering Kṛṣṇa that 'You drive my chariot in this way, put my chariot this way'. So Kṛṣṇa has become the servant of devotee.

10:42He is acting according to the order of the devotee. So Kṛṣṇa is so great, Kṛṣṇa is so nice, Kṛṣṇa is so loving. When I think all these things, then tears come down. Oh, Kṛṣṇa is so great."

11:03Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately embraced him. "Your Bhagavad-gītā reading is perfect because you are realizing Kṛṣṇa."

Necessity of mercy and submission

11:13So these so-called scholars, they read Bhagavad-gītā, but they do not know what is Kṛṣṇa. Even big, big scholars, say Dr. Radhakrishnan. He does not know what is Kṛṣṇa, but he's writing comments on Bhagavad-gītā.

11:29This is going on. So Bhagavad-gītā is not such a book that it can be understood by the non-devotee who has no idea of what is Kṛṣṇa, because Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhakto 'si priyo 'si me.

11:49Kṛṣṇa selected Arjuna to hear Bhagavad-gītā because bhakto. So without becoming bhakta, without becoming a dear friend of Kṛṣṇa or dear servant of Kṛṣṇa, nobody can understand Bhagavad-gītā.

12:10Therefore it is said in the Vedas: yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas. The Vedic understanding can be achieved by one person who is favoured by the Supreme Personality. Otherwise, nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo.

12:31Otherwise you cannot realize this truth simply by erudite scholarship and talking very much with juggling of words. No, that is not possible. Nāyam ātmā pravacanena.

12:44No medhayā — and because you have got a very sharp brain, fertile brain, therefore you can understand. That is also not possible. Only by the mercy of Krishna you can understand. Anugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvam.

13:10One who has received a little mercy of Krishna, he can understand the tattva of Krishna. Otherwise it is not. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ.

13:23If you want to understand Krishna, then you must become first of all a devotee. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti. So we must execute the process of devotional service. The beginning is śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam.

13:46You must submissively hear about Krishna. Don't be puffed up as knowing something or knowing everything. No, that will not help you. That is accepted by Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

14:06When Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu was talking with Rāmānanda Rāya on the subject matter how the Absolute Truth can be understood, and so Rāmānanda Rāya suggested so many ways — varṇāśrama-dharma, karma-tyāga, sādhanas.

14:30Mahāprabhu rejected: "Yes, this is also good, but there is a further nice method. Try to understand that."

14:42When he came to this point: sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir no vī... This is a verse from Brahmā's statement that one may

14:53remain in his own place, but san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya- vārtām, if he tries to hear about You from saintly devotees, sad-mukharitām.

15:08Sad-mukharitām means uttered through the mouth of a devotee, budha-saṅga-vidhūta-hṛt-tapaḥ. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya. Namanta eva. Very submissive. Then that Krishna, the Lord, ajito 'pi — nobody can conquer Him —

15:30He becomes jito. He becomes conquered. Simply by this hearing process. This is bhakti-rasa. So our devotional process is that we must have class daily and must hear about Krishna. Kṛṣṇa-puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtana.

15:55If you simply hear, you may be educated, not educated, doesn't matter. Krishna does not depend on education or illiterate. Krishna is absolute, all-powerful. He can reveal Himself to anyone. It doesn't matter.

16:12So if we simply hear about Krishna, then gradually, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ, that way, hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti — He'll cleanse your heart.

Purification through congregational chanting

16:36That is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's bhāṣya also: «ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ» by paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam.

16:48The saṅkīrtana movement is so important that simply by hearing, simply by chanting, one becomes clean, śuddhyati heart, and he can understand the Absolute Truth very easily. Thank you.

17:35This is a life member, Mr. Dirga Dukaria from Calcutta. Oh, he has helped us to make so many life members in Calcutta and always taking very active interest. He came to Māyāpur with myself and Garga Muni one day.

17:51And he knows something of construction. So he was saying that he wanted to come to Vrindavan to help us to save money on the construction stuff. God said, Krishna said, we want to finish within six months.

18:15What he gives them? Bash tika. So take his help. He was even willing to help us to get marbles and judge what he was talking about. Oh, he was so much anxious because