Discourse at the Māgha-melā
А. Ч. Бхактиведанта Свами Прабхупада · Аллахабад · 1971
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Opening prayers and introductory remarks
Devotee: At the government camp, Māgha-melā, January 30th, 1971. [break] ....āna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayācakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave-namaḥ["I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance."]
śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-talesvayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam["When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?"] he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindhodīna-bandho jagat-pategopeśa gopikā-kāntarādhā-kānta namo 'stu te["O my dear Kṛṣṇa, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherd men and the lover of the gopīs, especially Rādhārāṇī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You."]
tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgirādhe vṛndāvaneśvarivṛṣabhānu-sute devīpraṇamāmi hari-priye["I offer my respects to Rādhārāṇī, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndāvana. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa."] hare kṛṣṇa, hare kṛṣṇakṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa, hare harehare rāma, hare rāmarāma rāma, hare hare["My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service."]
Prabhupāda: Ladies and Gentlemen, my previous speaker, Swami Rāghavānandajī, has explained to you about Kṛṣṇa consciousness very thoughtly, and it is very nice.
And next speaker, my assistant, Śrīmān Haṁsadūta dāsa Adhikārī, he has explained before you about our activities and our publications.
Overcoming material illusion and suffering
Actually, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the prime necessity of the present age, because we understand from Vedic scriptures that,
bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasyajātiḥśāstraṁ japas tapaḥ kriyāaprāṇasya hi dehasyamaṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam[Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 3.11]
We have attained independence. Not only we; practically all the people of the world, they have attained so-called independence. But there is no independence.
The independence we are searching after, according to our Vedic conception, it is farce, because we are servant of the material nature. BG 3.27प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः ।अहंकारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते ॥२७॥prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāniguṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmākartāham iti manyateThe spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.
We are simply being pulled up and down by our ear by the prakṛti. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said real independence is, BG 7.14दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया ।मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते ॥१४॥daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayīmama māyā duratyayāmām eva ye prapadyantemāyām etāṁ taranti teThis divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.
If we want actual independence, what is this independence? Suppose I am now prime minister. But after my death I am no longer prime minister. I am the servant of material nature.
By the law of material nature I will be enforced to accept a kind of body which may be better than prime minister or lower than prime minister. That can be seen by the intelligent person, as Swāmījī has spoken.
Only those who are actually in knowledge, they can see where this man is passing. So… But we want independence; that’s a fact. But that independence cannot be attained in this way. This place is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam.
Kṛṣṇa says, BG 8.15मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् ।नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः ॥१५॥mām upetya punar janmaduḥkhālayam aśāśvatamnāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥsaṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥAfter attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.This place is full of miseries, threefold miseries.
And our problem is how to get independence from the four principles of miserable condition:
BG 13.9अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् ।आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः ॥८॥इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहंकार एव च ।जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम् ॥९॥असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु ।नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु ॥१०॥मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी ।विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि ॥११॥अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् ।एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोऽन्यथा ॥१२॥(8)amānitvam adambhitvamahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavamācāryopāsanaṁ śaucaṁsthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ(9)indriyārtheṣu vairāgyamanahaṅkāra eva cajanma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam(10)asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥputra-dāra-gṛhādiṣunityaṁ ca sama-cittatvamiṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu(11)mayi cānanya-yogenabhaktir avyabhicāriṇīvivikta-deśa-sevitvamaratir jana-saṁsadi(12)adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvaṁtattva-jñānārtha-darśanametaj jñānam iti proktamajñānaṁ yad ato 'nyathāHumility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.
Those who are intelligent persons, they will see that however I may make my life comfortable by material ways and science, these four things—the troubles of taking birth, the troubles of dying, the troubles of old age and troubles of diseased condition of life—that cannot be solved.
That can be solved only by understanding Kṛṣṇa.
Methods of spiritual concentration and chanting
Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, BG 4.9जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ॥९॥janma karma ca me divyamevaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥtyaktvā dehaṁ punar janmanaiti mām eti so 'rjunaOne who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.
If you want to get freedom from the laws of material nature, then the only process is to understand Kṛṣṇa. You simply try to concentrate your mind on Kṛṣṇa and try to understand Kṛṣṇa.
And he is the greatest yogī who simply is trying to understand Kṛṣṇa, thinking of Kṛṣṇa—sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravinda—as Mahārāja Ambarīṣa did, always. This is possible. It is not impossible.
Just like Arjuna was advised, yudhyasvamām mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7]: "You go on fighting, at the same time go on remembering Me." That is possible.
Therefore, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, how to think of Kṛṣṇa always, that is also instructed in the Vedic literature, Bṛhad Nāradīya Purāṇa:
CC Adi 17.21হরের্নাম হরের্নাম হরের্নামৈব কেবলম্ ।কলৌ নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব গতিরন্যথা ॥ ২১ ॥harer nāma harer nāmaharer nāmaiva kevalamkalau nāsty eva nāsty evanāsty eva gatir anyathā“ ‘In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.’
So our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is that we are trying to place before the world that there is God, and God is one, and that is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam SB 1.3.28. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ [Bs. 5.1].
These are the verdict of Vedas.
Understanding Bhagavad gita through devotion
And, so far our country is concerned, all the ācāryas, including Śaṅkarācārya… There are two sects in India: the Māyāvādī sect and the Vaiṣṇava sect.
All the Vaiṣṇava* ācāryas*, like Śrī Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, Viṣṇu Svāmī, all of them are Kṛṣṇa worshipers.
And the Śaṅkara-sampradāya, they are also Kṛṣṇa* sampradāya,* but not so seriously as the Vaiṣṇavas. But Śaṅkarācārya has accepted, sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇa.
So, so far we are concerned, followers of the Vedas and the ācāryas, everyone accepts Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
And Kṛṣṇa’s book, the Bhagavad-gītā, because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is accepted all over the world.
There are thousands of editions of Bhagavad-gītā—not only in America; in Europe, in France, in German, in Japan. I have seen all of them.
But because they do not follow the principles of ācārya upāsanā, they have commented in a different way. And our this movement is based on the Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any malinterpretation.
Malinterpretation will not help you to understand what is Bhagavad-gītā.
As Śrīmān Haṁsadūta has said, just to understand Bhagavad-gītā, one has to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa; otherwise there is no scope of understanding.
Because in the beginning the Lord says that "This system of disciplic chain of succession is now broken. Therefore I am speaking the same yoga system, Bhagavad-gītā, unto you, Arjuna."
But Arjuna was a warrior; he was a soldier, fighter. He was not expected to be a great Vedāntist or Vedic scholar in Vedic literature. That is [indistinct]. Besides that, neither he was a brāhmaṇa; he was a kṣatriya.
And he still… Why Kṛṣṇa insisted that "I shall speak to you this lost yoga system of Bhagavad-gītā"? That is explained by Kṛṣṇa: bhakto 'si,* priyo 'si me*, "Because you are My dear friend, and you are a devotee."
So…, and Arjuna, how did you understand Kṛṣṇa at the end of hearing Bhagavad-gītā from Him?
The supreme controller and soul's position
He says, BG 10.12अर्जुन उवाचपरं ब्रह्म परं धाम पवित्रं परमं भवान् ।पुरुषं शाश्वतं दिव्यमादिदेवमजं विभुम् ॥१२॥आहुस्त्वामृषयः सर्वे देवर्षिर्नारदस्तथा ।असितो देवलो व्यासः स्वयं चैव ब्रवीषि मे ॥१३॥arjuna uvācaparaṁ brahma paraṁ dhāmapavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavānpuruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyamādi-devam ajaṁ vibhumāhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarvedevarṣir nāradas tathāasito devalo vyāsaḥsvayaṁ caiva bravīṣi meArjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala and Vyāsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.
"You are paraṁ brahma." Every one of us, being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we are brahma. That is nice. But we are not paraṁ brahma. Paraṁ brahma is Kṛṣṇa. Every one of us īśvaras. Īśvara means controller.
Just like some of you are here, coming tonight, magistrates, judges, you are controller; but you are not supreme controller. In this way go on finding out who is the supreme controller.
Supreme controller means one who hasn't got to obey others' order. He is supreme controller. Otherwise, everyone may be controller, but he has to obey the orders of a superior. Therefore Kṛṣṇa's name is Asamordhva.
There is nobody equal to Him, nobody greater than Him. Everyone is servant of Him. That is explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta: ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya [Cc. Ādi 5.142].
Only the supreme master, controller, is Kṛṣṇa, and everyone is servant. Our position is servant. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa' [Cc. Madhya 20.108].
Because we are part of parcel of Kṛṣṇa, it is our duty to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is our healthy condition. Just like the part and parcel of your body—take for example, your finger.
If this finger does not serve your body, it is in diseased condition; it has to be treated. And when it is actually in healthy condition, it is always serving your body.
Similarly, the constitutional position of living entity is to serve God. And who is God? Kṛṣṇa. Mukti means to be situated in his own constitutional position. That is explained in the Bhagavad..., Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
SB 2.10.6निरोधोऽस्यानुशयनमात्मनः सह शक्तिभिः ।मुक्तिर्हित्वान्यथा रूपं स्वरूपेण व्यवस्थितिः ॥६॥nirodho 'syānuśayanamātmanaḥ saha śaktibhiḥmuktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁsva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥThe merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Mahā-Viṣṇu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.
When a person, a living entity, situated in his own constitutional position, that is called mukti. Mukti does not mean anything else. People are trying for mukti.
That mukti can be attained here also, when you are living in this material body, simply by serving Kṛṣṇa. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:
BG 14.26मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते ।स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ॥२६॥māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇabhakti-yogena sevatesa guṇān samatītyaitānbrahma-bhūyāya kalpateOne who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.
Anyone who is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he is mukta. He is liberated already. He hasn't got to search out for mukti. Just like Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura says, muktiḥ mukulitāñjali sevate asmān.
Those who are actually pure devotee, mukti is standing with folded hands, "What can I do for you?" That is the position of a devotee.
Spiritual responsibility and Vedic purpose
So we are teaching this pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa all over the world, and they are accepting it.
So there is very, very big prospect for spreading this movement, and it is our duty, Indians… Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, CC Adi 9.41ভারত–ভূমিতে হৈল মনুষ্য–জন্ম যার ।জন্ম সার্থক করি’ কর পর–উপকার ॥ ৪১ ॥bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya janma yārajanma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra“One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.
Anyone who has taken his birth as a human being, he should first of all rectify his own life by understanding all these Vedic literature. They are required. That is also stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta:
CC Madhya 20.117কৃষ্ণ ভুলি’ সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্মুখ ।অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসার-দুঃখ ॥ ১১৭ ॥kṛṣṇa bhuli' sei jīva anādi-bahirmukhaataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha“Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy [māyā] gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence.
This Vedas and the Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata is simply to understand Kṛṣṇa. Just like Swāmījī says,
BG 15.15सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि संनिविष्टोमत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानमपोहनं च ।वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्योवेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम् ॥१५॥sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭomattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ cavedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyovedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāhamI am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.
That is the purpose of the Vedas: to understand Kṛṣṇa. Vedas have no other purpose—simply to understand Kṛṣṇa. So this science, this propaganda, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we are spreading all over the world.
They are being accepted.
It is done simply by one personality… Therefore…, but if you all join, if you make a scientific program to preach this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world, then one day we will see that people will be very much obliged to India.
They will think that "We have got something from India." Now India is begging only, from the foreign countries: "Give me money, give me rice, give me wheat, give me soldiers." But this movement, when we have taken to them, there is no question of begging from them—it is to give them.
Just try to give something. That is my request. Thank you very much. [Devotees offering obeisances] [end]