Lecture at Initiation Fire Sacrifice , Los Angeles , 1969-07-16
Prabhupāda:
sarvāvasthāṁ gato 'pi vā
yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ
sa bahyābhyantaraḥ śuciḥ
śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu
[Garuḍa Purāṇa]
[Either pure or impure, or having passed through all conditions of material life, if one can remember the lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa, he becomes externally and internally clean.]
The purport of this mantra, namaḥ, namaḥ means "I surrender," or "I become submissive," namaḥ. So one has to become submissive. Apavitraḥ pavitro vā. Apavitraḥ means contaminated. This material world is contamination, infection of the spirit soul. We are suffering... Just like in ordinary diseased condition we suffer on account of infection, similarly the..., one who is intelligent, he should understand that this conditional life is suffering. One should not be foolishly very optimistic, that "I am very well situated. I am enjoying life." This is ignorance. Nobody is enjoying life in this material world; everyone is suffering.
[The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities.]
This world is just like blazing forest fire; so everyone is suffering, contaminated. This is the sign, symptoms of contamination, that suffering, threefold miseries—ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika, ādhidaivika. But as the animals they suffer, but they do not understand, this is animal life. The animal is being taken to the slaughterhouse, but still he's happy. This is animal life.
So when one cannot understand his sufferings of this material contamination, his life is animal life. He knows that he's suffering, but he's trying to cover the suffering by some nonsense means: by forgetfulness, by drinking, by intoxication, by this, by that. He's aware of his suffering, but he wants to cover his suffering in a nonsense way. Just like the rabbit. The rabbit, when he's in face to face of some ferocious animal, the rabbit closes the eyes; he thinks he is safe. Similarly, simply by trying to cover our sufferings by artificial means, that is not solution. That is ignorance.
The suffering can be solved by enlightenment of spiritual life, spiritual bliss. That is the way. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. Ānanda means bliss, transcendental bliss. And there is ocean of transcendental bliss. If you want to dip into this ocean, there is chance for you. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt [Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12].
[The aim of life is to come to the platform of happiness, where there is no distress at all, simply happiness.]
Vedānta-sūtra says that we spirit soul, we are by nature full of bliss. That is our nature, ānandamaya. But we have been contaminated by this material affection. So one has to come out of it. That is the process of self-realization, liberation, whatever you call. The process is to come out of this contamination.
So this mantra suggests that either you are contaminated or not contaminated... It is not that... The Māyāvādī philosophers, they say that so long we are contaminated in the māyā, we can adopt any means of self-realization, and after self-realization, when we become liberated, we become one with the Supreme and there is no more any work. This is partially true. Partially true means when actually you realize yourself, then you have no material activities. That is the sign of self-realization.
This is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
[Bg. 18.54]
[One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.]
Self-realization, liberation, the sign is that he becomes joyful, prasannātmā, immediately. If you have actually realized yourself, simply by bluffing that "I am God, I am this, I am..." No. There are signs. If you are God, then you must be as joyful as God, as Kṛṣṇa. If you are suffering still and you are claiming that you are God, that is nonsense. You needn't become God. You, simply if you become in the light of God, you become joyful.
Just like from the darkness of night, if you simply come to the sunshine, immediately your position is changed. It does not require that you have to become the sun. Simply by coming to the sunlight your purpose is fulfilled. So the sunlight and the sun is not different; they are one unit. But sunlight is not sun. That is knowledge. If we, if simply by coming you can come into the sunlight, if I think that I have become identical with the sun, that is nonsense.
Sun, you cannot become identical with the sun. It is so powerful, the temperature is so high and great, that you cannot approach even sun. The scientists say even from so many millions of miles away, if a planet or somebody goes near the sun, immediately he will be burned into ashes. So this is false claim that brahma-bhūtaḥ means one becomes God. No. That means that you come to the light of God. That is also nice, to come to the light of God.
So brahma-bhūtaḥ... Anyway, if you realize yourself that you are not... That brahma-bhūtaḥ means simply to understand that "I am not the material body." To be convinced firmly with all reasons and argument, firmly conviction, this is called faith. Faith is not flickering. One must be firmly convinced. So then you immediately become joyful. Just like if you are implicated with some undesirable affairs and if you, some way or other, your lawyer advises, "Oh, you are free from this implication. The law does not bind you," just like you feel pleasure, "Oh, I'm not in this implication?" "Yes," similarly, as soon as one is convinced that "I am not this material body," then immediately he becomes joyful. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati [Bg. 18.54].
[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]
And what is that joyfulness? There is no lamentation and there is no hankering. If you have hankering, then you are not joyful. If you have lamentation, there is no hankering. If you have hankering, then you are not joyful. If you have lamentation, then you are not joyful. These are the signs. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu.
And if you are actually self-realized soul, in the light of God, then your treatment will be equal to all living entities. Not that "He is animal," "He is man," "He is black," "He is white," "He's this," "He's Indian," "He's American," "He's Chinese." No. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Everyone is spirit soul, son of God, part and parcel of God. This realization. Prasannātmā.
He has no enemy. He becomes enemy-less immediately, because he sees everyone part and parcel of God, everything energy of God, everything belongs to God, everything enjoyable by God, by Kṛṣṇa. In this way he sees in everything Kṛṣṇa, and nothing else. Prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu... That is the beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām. Parām. That is transcendental situation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
So our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to take one from the material concept of life, material consciousness, to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then he will be joyful. He will be no more hankering for anything material, neither he'll be sorry for any so-called material loss. And he'll be equal to everyone: universal brotherhood. So they do not know... They simply talk of these high sounds. But here is the process. If you adopt the process, then you come to the platform. It is open for everyone.
So this mantra suggests that either you are in the material consciousness or not, apavitraḥ pavitraḥ vā, or in spiritual consciousness. It is not that when you are delivered from the material consciousness and come to the spiritual platform, your service stops to Kṛṣṇa. That is not. Our service is eternal. We are serving here Kṛṣṇa, and after leaving this body, when you go directly to Kṛṣṇa, faced with..., the service is there. The service is the main means and the end. Not that this is simply means, and the end is something else. No. It is so nice, it is means and end, both. We are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa here, and when we go to Kṛṣṇa we shall chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, like that.
Devotee: Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: You see the pictures? They are also chanting.
tābhir ya eva nijarūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
[Bs. 5.37]
[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.]
This picture is the symbolic... Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. There is a rasa, mellow—every ānanda. Just like if you take a nice fruit, mango, the taste is pleasing. That is called rasa, that taste. Any way, anything enjoy, there is a rasa. Rasa. You love somebody, you kiss somebody, embrace somebody, there is a rasa.
So this picture is ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. Here we have got that taste of rasa in a perverted manner. But cinmaya-rasa means it continues. This Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs, they are enjoying, dancing, chanting. That is eternally; that is never stopped. It is not that they become old and there is no more enjoyment or they are separated or somebody..., Kṛṣṇa goes somewhere and the Rādhārāṇī goes to somewhere. No. Everything is eternal. They are enjoying.
That is the difference between this rasa and that rasa. This rasa is temporary. Your youthful enjoyment will not exist; it will be finished. Your American life will be finished. Your this life, that life, everything will be finished—and finished forever. Not that you are going to have it again. Therefore this is flashing. It is coming and going. But that life is eternal. That is ānanda-cinmaya.
Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ. This ānanda-cinmaya-rasa is called hladini-śakti, Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate, na tasya karyaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8, Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport].
[The Supreme Lord has multipotencies, which act so perfectly that all consciousness, strength and activity are being directed solely by His will.]
These are Vedic versions, that "The Supreme has nothing to do." Just like here if we enjoy in the hotel some dancing, and next morning I'll have to go into the garbage for bringing money for that dancing. I'll work, go underground to dig out garbage. It is not like that, that Kṛṣṇa has to go next morning to garbage. [laughter] You see? It is not that I'll have to acquire money by flattering somebody or working some..., in hell. No.
Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitā... That is the expansion of His pleasure potency. Kṛṣṇa is Paraṁ Brahman. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [Bg. 10.12].
[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]
When Arjuna understood Kṛṣṇa, he says, confirms, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are Paraṁ Brahman, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead." This is understanding of Gītā. And after reading, I understand that I am God. What is this nonsense? Where do you get this idea? Where it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā? Simply bluffing, all these rascals, scholars and so-called commentators. They're all rascals. They do not know what is Bhagavad-gītā.
Here is Bhagavad-gītā, understanding Kṛṣṇa, accepting, Arjuna, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān śāśvataṁ puruṣam [Bg. 10.12]. The Supreme is puruṣam. He is not female. Just like some rascal thinks that He's Kālī, He's Durgā. No. Kālī, Durgā are His potencies. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva. The Supreme has many kinds of potencies. Goddess Kālī is also one of the potency; Durgā is also one of the potency. Not that Durgā is the Absolute Truth. This is nonsense. That is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā:
chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā
[Bs. 5.44]
[The external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.]
Durgā. What is that Durgā? Durgā is the material nature, very powerful. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktiḥ. She has got the power of creating, maintaining and dissolving. She is so powerful. You have seen Durgā's picture. She has got ten hands. That's a long story, of course, Durgā, Caṇḍī. These are all described in the Vedic literatures. But she is not the Absolute Personality.
Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir eka chāyeva. She is working simply just like shadow. As the shadow moves when the original substance moves, similarly, she is only working under the direction of Kṛṣṇa. That's all. She is the external potency. Similarly, Rādhārāṇī is a pleasure potency, and these gopīs are expansion of Rādhārāṇī, pleasure potency. So they are not ordinary girls, neither Kṛṣṇa is enjoying like us, that in the hotel at dance, and in the morning, the garbage. No. It is not like that. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis [Bs. 5.37].
[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.]
So when you enter into the Kṛṣṇa science you get so much volumes of transcendental knowledge, and we are trying to present before you this knowledge in so many ways, by cleansing your heart from this material contamination. And this initiation is the beginning of cleaning the contamination. Therefore this mantra suggests, apavitraḥ pavitraḥ vā: either you be contaminated or not contaminated. When one is not contaminated, he's relishing this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra by associating with Kṛṣṇa.
Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī, he's also chanting. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is also chanting. But His chanting and my chanting, there is little difference. That chanting is on the transcendental platform, actually relishing with Kṛṣṇa. My chanting... In the beginning there are three stages: offensive stages, liberated stage and relishing stage. So you will be initiated for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, there will be so many offenses. So we have to offend..., we have to defend ourself from the offenses.
There are ten kinds of offenses. You'll get the list. So we shall try to avoid. Then our chanting will be purified. And when the chanting is purified, then immediately you are liberated. And after liberation? Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg. 18.54]: your life of devotional service actually begins.
[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]
Then you relish reciprocation of love with Kṛṣṇa. So everything can be attained simply by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Everything. The means is the end and the means is the whole. It is not that we accept something and give it up and again come to another stage. No. If you have got conviction, if you have got faith, if you are strenuous, immediately you are in the platform. Apavitraḥ pavitro vā sarvāvasthāṁ gato 'pi vā.
So any stage of life, yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣam, anyone who remembers Puṇḍarīkākṣam, Kṛṣṇa...
[aside:] Sit like this.
Yes. Puṇḍarīkākṣam. Puṇḍarīka means lotus; akṣam means eyes. Puṇḍarīkākṣam. Yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ sa bahyābhyantara-śuciḥ: externally, internally, he becomes immediately purified. So keep on chanting, you keep yourself purified, māyā cannot touch you. Māyā's contamination will not touch you. Just like if you take vaccine, the infectious disease will not touch you. Similarly, if you keep yourself vaccinated with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the māyā has no power to touch you. And if you can keep, then you will be accustomed.
Just like a child, when he learns walking, he requires little help. He may fall down, but that doesn't matter. He again stands up. Similarly, in the beginning there may be childlike falldown, but if you stick to the position, then one day you'll be able to walk freely, without any hamper. So this mantra, apavitraḥ pavitro vā sarvāvasthām..., sarvāvasthām, any condition of life, you can simply remember Puṇḍarīkākṣam, Kṛṣṇa. As soon as you chant "Kṛṣṇa," you remember everything.
So this remembering is the whole thing. If you have got always within your heart Kṛṣṇa by sound or by mental thoughts, by work, some way or other, by reading books, any way, if simply you keep your consciousness in Kṛṣṇa, then your life is successful. That's all. And in the Bhagavad-gītā such person who is keeping always Kṛṣṇa within himself, he's certified as the greatest of all yogīs. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ, "Of all the yogīs," mad-gatenāntarātmanā, "simply who is keeping Me within his heart..."
mad-gatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
[Bg. 6.47]
[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]
"He's first-class yogī."
You don't require to labor and pay somewhere some five dollars, ten dollars, and practice this gymnastic. No. It is not possible. And as soon as you come out, you'll again engage yourself in all nonsense activities. No. The first-class yoga system is to keep yourself always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then it is always you are pure. No contamination of this material world can touch you, and you are first-class yogī.
All right.
[chants fire sacrifice prayers]
śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam
sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ
śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and of all the other preceptors on the path of devotional service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇavas and unto the Six Gosvāmīs, including Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Jīva Gosvāmī and their associates. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Advaita Ācārya Prabhu, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and all His devotees, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. I then offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and all the gopīs, headed by Lalitā and Viśākhā.]
bhūtale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine.
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.]
śrīmate bhaktisiddhānta-sarasvatīti nāmine
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.]
kṛṣṇa-sambandha-vijñāna-dāyine prabhave namaḥ
I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrī Vārṣabhānavī-devī-dayita dāsa [another name of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī], who is favored by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and who is the ocean of transcendental mercy and the deliverer of the science of Kṛṣṇa.
śrī-gaura-karuṇā-śakti-vigrahāya namo 'stu te
I offer my respectful obeisances unto you, the personified energy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy, who delivers devotional service enriched with conjugal love of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, coming exactly in the line of revelation of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
rūpānuga-viruddhāpasiddhānta-dhvānta-hāriṇe
I offer my respectful obeisances unto you, who are the personified teachings of Lord Caitanya. You are the deliverer of the fallen souls. You do not tolerate any statement against the teachings of devotional service enunciated by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
vipralambha-rasāmbhodhe pādāmbujāya te namaḥ
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja [the spiritual master of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī], who is renunciation personified. He is always merged in a feeling of separation and intense love of Kṛṣṇa.
gaura-śakti-svarūpāya rūpānuga-varāya te
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda, who is the transcendental energy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He is a strict follower of the Gosvāmīs, headed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
vaiṣṇava-sārvabhaumaḥ śrī-jagannāthāya te namaḥ
I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī, who is respected by the entire Vaiṣṇava community and who confirmed the discovery of the place where Lord Caitanya appeared.
patitānāṁ pāvenebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ
I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ
O most munificent incarnation! You are Kṛṣṇa Himself appearing as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Śrīmātī Rādhārāṇī, and You are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.
bhaktāvatāraṁ bhaktākhyaṁ namāmi bhakta-śaktikam
I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, who is nondifferent from His features as a devotee, devotional manifestation, devotional incarnation, pure devotee and devotional energy.
gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te
O my dear Kṛṣṇa, O ocean of mercy, O friend of the distressed and the source of creation, O master of the cowherd men and the lover of the gopīs, especially Rādhārāṇī, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
vṛṣabhānu-sute devi praṇamāmi hari-priye
I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrīmātī 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.
mat-sarvasva-padāmbhojau rādhā-madana-mohanau
Glory to the all-merciful Rādhā and Madana-mohana! I am lame and ill advised, yet They are my directors, and Their lotus feet are everything to me.
śrīmad-ratnāgāra-siṁhāsana-sthau
śrīmad-rādhā-śrīla-govinda-devau
preṣṭālībhiḥ sevyamānau smarāmi
In a temple of jewels in Vṛndāvana, underneath a desire tree, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda, served by Their most confidential associates, sit upon an effulgent throne. I offer my humble obeisances unto Them.
karṣan veṇu-svanair gopīr gopīnāthaḥ śriye 'stu naḥ
Śrī Śrīla Gopīnātha, who originated the transcendental mellow of the rāsa dance, stands on the shore in Vaṁṣīvaṭa and attracts the attention of the cowherd damsels with the sound of His celebrated flute. May they all confer upon us their benediction.
Hare, Rāma, Hare, Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare, Hare
O Śrīmāti Rādhārāṇī (the divine energy of the Lord Kṛṣṇa), O all-attractive reservoir of pleasure, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, please engage me in Your loving devotional service.
Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. [japa] [end]