Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.15 , Vṛndāvana , 1972-10-26

Prabhupāda:

In the previous verse it is said,

These things we have discussed last morning, that we have to engage ourself fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by hearing...

[aside:] Not like that. Don't sit like...

Śrotavya, by hearing. In other words,

These are the devotional process. Hear. First of all, hearing. Hearing means the perfect knowledge, hearing from the authority. Because we are ignorant. Just like we go to school, colleges, and hear from the teachers, from the professors, similarly, hearing means hearing from the authority, not from the rascals. That is hearing. Just like in the Vedas it is said, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. To hear the right news, the perfect knowledge, you must approach the bona fide spiritual master. Gurum eva abhigacchet. Must! It is not that "I can get knowledge at home. Why shall I go to guru? I do not find any guru."

These things are current very much. "It may be there is no guru." Not at all. You cannot say that. Just like there are imitation coin. You have met with some imitation coins. That does not mean there is no real coin. You are unfortunate; you met with imitation coin. So don't make that calculation that "There is no real coin, all imitation." That is nonsense. There is imitation coin, and there is real coin. It is up to you to find out which is the real and which is the imitation.

So Bhāgavata gives you direction that "If you are actually serious about finding out a guru..." Guru... Who requires a guru? Who requires? Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta [SB 11.3.21]. One should surrender unto guru. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam: one who is inquisitive to understand the transcendental knowledge. The ordinary man does not require to search out the guru to find out astrology = "Gurujī, kindly tell me what will be the price next...?" Not that guru. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam: one who is serious to understand about the transcendental knowledge. Uttamam. Udgata-tamam: beyond this material world.

This material world is tama, darkness. So if one is very serious to inquire about the world of light, for him there is need of guru, not for ordinary person. Guru, we should not make a guru as a fashion. Everyone makes a guru, "Let me have a guru also, any kind of..." No. That is not required. Guru is required by somebody who is serious to know about the transcendental world, the world of light. Tamasi mā jyotir gama. The world of jyoti. Na tad bhāsayate sūryo na candra [Bg. 15.6]. That world, where there is no need of sun, moon, electricity.

There is another world. That we get information from Bhagavad-gītā. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ [Bg. 8.20]. There is another nature, which is sanātana, eternal. This world, this material world, is not eternal. Just like we have got this body. This is not eternal; it is temporary. It has got some particular date of his birth, and it has got some particular date of his annihilation. Similarly, this gigantic body, universe, it is created at a certain date, and it will be annihilated at a certain date. This is material world. But there is another world. That information we get from Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literature. Spiritual world.

This material world is only one-fourth of the whole creation. Ekāṁśena sthito jagat.

This is only one part. The three-fourths part is the spiritual world. In this world the living entities, they are very small number. All these living entities throughout the whole universe, fourteen worlds, they are only some limited. But in the spiritual world the number of living entities are unlimited. This information we have to hear. Therefore here it is said, śrotavya: one must hear. Śrotavya.

Therefore Vedic knowledge is called śruti. It has to be acquired by hearing, śruti. Not by seeing, not by experimental knowledge. That is not possible. Because it is beyond, beyond our sense perception. Acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet [Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma parva 5.22]. Don't try to understand by false argument, dry argument, which is beyond your conception, beyond your reach. Simply waste of time. Then how to know? Now, śrotavya. You have to hear. That is the only means.

The example I have given several times = Just like if you want to know who is your father, it is to be śrotavya. From where? From the authority, my mother. You cannot manufacture your knowledge who is your father. No. You cannot speculate. That is not pos ... Because it beyond your reach. The father was existing before your birth, so how you can understand father by experimental knowledge? That is not possible. You have to accept the statement of your mother. That's all. Finished.

Similarly, Vedas---our mother of knowledge. Purāṇas---our sisters of knowledge. So we have to consult from the Vedas and from the right person. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU 1.2.12], from the guru. Not that you purchase one book, Vedas, from the market, and you become a Vedāntist. No. That is not possible. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet. Must go to understand. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā [Bg. 4.34]. These are the injunctions.

Śrotavya. This is the process of śrotavya. Tad viddhi praṇipātena. You have to hear by surrendering. First of all you have to find out where you can surrender. Because everyone is big man. Why he shall surrender? So unless he finds out somebody where he can surrender to, then that is the beginning of transcendental knowledge. Śrotavya.

So who can be a bigger personality than Kṛṣṇa? So hear from Kṛṣṇa, hear from Vyāsadeva, hear from Nārada, hear from their representative, Nārada's representative, Vyāsadeva; Vyāsadeva's representative, Madhva Muni. Similarly, in that paramparā system... Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayaḥ viduḥ [Bg. 4.2]. So we have to catch up the paramparā, disciplic chain, bona fide spiritual master, and from him we have to hear. Śrotavya.

Now, in the next verse it is said that yad-anudhyāsinā. Dhyeya. Simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa, hearing about Kṛṣṇa, speaking about Kṛṣṇa, meditating upon Kṛṣṇa, worshiping Kṛṣṇa, you become perfect. That is assured in the Bhagavad-gītā = man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg. 18.65].

So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very simple. We are teaching people that "Here is God, Kṛṣṇa. We can give you the name, address, form and everything." Yes. Kṛṣṇa says, tad dhāma paramaṁ mama. He is giving His address. Yad gatvā na nivartante [Bg. 15.6] = "Where you go, you don't require to come back." Tad dhāma paramaṁ mama. So Kṛṣṇa is giving information about His abode. So simply you have to qualify yourself to go there. That's all.

That qualification is simply man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. "Simply think of Me." And if you simply think of Kṛṣṇa, you become the greatest yogī.

He is the first-class yogī.

So we are teaching our people to become the first-class yogī. People are very much attached to the yoga system, mystic yoga system. But the goal of yoga system is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa's name is Yogeśvara. By practicing yoga, if you don't find Kṛṣṇa, then śrama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8], then simply you have wasted your time for nothing. For nothing. Yes. That is the version. Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim. Tapasya, austerity, means to understand Kṛṣṇa.

So if we understand Kṛṣṇa, then there is no need of any more tapasya. Tapasya business is finished. And if you do not understand Kṛṣṇa, simply undergoing tapasya, it is simply waste of time.

So here it is the same thing = yad-anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ karma-granthi-nibandhanam. Nibandhanam. It is tightly inter-knotted, our karma-granthi. We had some types of activities in our past lives, and we have got this body. Everyone. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye [SB 3.31.1]. The different types of body, 8,400,000 species of life, different types of body, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi [Padma Purāṇa], 900,000 species in the water. In this way, planets, creepers, serpents, insects, birds, beasts, then human form. This is the process of evolution.

So each body is a concession by Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is sitting in everyone's heart. You want to do something. Just like for doing something you must have particular type of instrument, similarly, the body means particular type of instrument. So you desire to do something, Kṛṣṇa gives you a particular type with the senses, and you act. This is the change of body. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa. Daiva-netreṇa, by superior examination it is settled up that "This man or this beast is dying..." Of course, for lower than animals, they have got natural process of evolution. But when you come to the human form of body, you have got responsibility. Now you can make your next life better than this or lower than this.

Just like one man is given the chance of become some minister or magistrate. If he does very nice, he is promoted; otherwise degraded. Similarly, this human form of life is meant for understanding God. That is the only business. If we don't understand what is God, what is Kṛṣṇa and our relationship with Him, then we are missing the point. Then we become entangled. Entangled. This entanglement is karma-granthi-nibandhanam, by our karma. By different kind of karma, we are becoming entangled.

So to unknot this, I mean to say, binding of entanglement, [it] is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, yajñārthe karma: "You work simply for Yajña, for satisfaction of Yajña." Yajña-pati, Viṣṇu, or God, or Kṛṣṇa. Yajñārthe karma, anyatra karma-bandhanaḥ. "If you do not act for Kṛṣṇa, do not act for Viṣṇu, for Yajña, then karma-bandhana." Yajñārthe karmaṇaḥ anyatra karma-bandhanaḥ. So this is karma-bandhana.

This karma-bandhana begins from our attachment to this material world. How our material attachment increases? That is also explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etam [SB 5.5.8]. Mithunī-bhāvam. There is sex impulse between man and woman. There are two classes of living entities---man and woman, or male or female. So the male is attracted by the female, and the female is attracted by the male. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam. But what is that attraction, central point? Sex life.

So this mentality, this propensity, is there not only in human body, but in the animal body also, that same propensity, sex life. So... But everyone is searching after, "Where is a male? Where is a female?" And when they are united, the karma-granthi becomes tighter. That's all. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etaṁ tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ [SB 5.5.8]. They are searching after, and as soon as they are united, they become tightly knot. Hṛdaya-granthi.

So this is called saṁsāra, this is called material existence = one life after another, one life after another, one life after another. This is called karma-granthi-nibandhanam. So if we want to unknot this tight fitting of our heart... Now, again it is said that as soon as the male-female is united, then further tightening begins. What is that? Ataḥ kṣetra. Ataḥ kṣetra, gṛha, āpta, vitta.

In this way, first of all, we are united, husband and wife. Then we want a nice apartment or house, gṛha. Then, to maintain the house, we require a field, field of activity. Generally, formerly, they were agricultural. So you must have income. Ataḥ gṛha-kṣetra-suta. Then children, then āpta, friends. Ataḥ gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittaiḥ then again, money. In this way, our attachment increasing. Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]. In this way, our illusory position, moha, increases, one after another, one after another. This is called karma-granthi-nibandhanam. Karma-granthi-nibandhanam.

Therefore the Vedic civilization is to educate from the very beginning a child to become a brahmacārī. That is the basic principle of education. Prahlāda Mahārāja said, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]. Not that "In old age, when I shall retire, I shall see what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness." That will be very difficult. From the very beginning of life, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān... Especially... There are many kinds of religious principles, but dharmān bhāgavatān. Prahlāda Mahārāja says. "Real dharma is Bhāgavatam," means our understanding our relationship with God, Bhagavān. That is real dharma. Dharmān bhāgavatān.

So here the same thing is explained, that yad-anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ. Simply by chanting or hearing or meditating upon Kṛṣṇa, yad-anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ karma-granthi-nibandhanam. This asinā... Just like we require a knife to cut the knot, similarly, if we want to cut the knot of this material existence... Unfortunately, people do not understand that what is the wrong in the material existence. They haven't got even the simple knowledge. They think it is all right. They are ignorant, so much ignorant that dehātma-buddhi, they consider... The bodily concept of life = the body is finished and everything is finished.

This is the philosophy going on, all over the world. Big, big professors, philosophers, scientists, they are on this platform of thinking. I met one big professor in Moscow. He is Professor Kotovsky. He said, "Swāmījī, after finishing this body, everything is finished." Just see. He is a professor. He has no knowledge that there is life after death.

So world is going like that. They do not know what is karma-granthi, what is transmigration. Nothing. Simply superficial. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ. Blind men, they are leading other blind men. Therefore they are kept in ignorance, and the world is suffering therefore. They do not know what is the goal of life. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ [SB 7.5.31]. They are trying to adjust things by illusory energy. That's all. Therefore, andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ. It is exactly like the..., a blind man is trying to lead other blind men. This is going on.

Therefore this is the process, yad-anudhyāsinā. You have to take one knife. This is knife. What is that? Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ [SB 7.5.23]. This is knife. If you want to get rid of this entanglement of material existence, one body after another, then this is the only instrument by which you can unknot the knot and come out of the entanglement. Chindanti. This very word is used, chindanti: "It cuts." Chindanti kovidās tasya. Kovida means very intelligent person. Unless one is very intelligent, he cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

It is not our manufactured words. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ [Bg. 7.15]. So our test is if anyone is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is either of these = duṣkṛtinaḥ, mūḍhāḥ, narādhamāḥ, māyayā apahṛta-jñānāḥ. This is our conclusion. You may say it is very sectarian, but Kṛṣṇa says. What can I do? [laughter] [laughs] Kṛṣṇa says. So therefore, as soon as we find out a person he has no knowledge of Kṛṣṇa, we put him either of these categories = mūḍhāḥ, duṣkṛtinaḥ, narādhamāḥ, māyayā apahṛta-jñānāḥ. These are their qualifications.

Therefore it is said here, chindanti kovidāḥ, he is neither of these rascals = miscreants, mūḍhāḥ, narādhamāḥ and māyayā apahṛta-jñānāḥ. Kovida, very intelligent. Kovidās tasya ko na kuryāt kathā-ratim. Anyone who has understood that simply by hearing about Kṛṣṇa, talking about Kṛṣṇa, working for Kṛṣṇa one can become released from this entanglement, who will not accept it?

For example, just see in the Western countries = all the younger generation, they are so much addicted to intoxication. And the government is spending millions of dollars how to stop it. But they have become animals. But just see how wonderful is this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Anyone who is coming to us, immediately, by our restriction... Because as soon as he is initiated, he is made to promise no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. From that very date he gives up everything. And here are so many samples attending.

So chindanti karma-granthi-nibandhanam. Immediately. It is not story. It is practical. Karma-granthi-nibandhanaṁ kovidās tasya chindanti. They are trying so much. That, we have got very practical experience, that even one cannot give up drinking tea. It is very difficult. Nobody can give up drinking tea. Nobody can give up smoking. And what to speak of meat-eating and gambling and illicit sex. But Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so nice that even children, boys, young boys and girls, they give up very easily, simply coming to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So this is a fact = chindanti kovidās tasya, simply by hearing about Kṛṣṇa, simply chanting about Kṛṣṇa. There is no other medicine. There is no other magic or mystic power. So they are giving up. If we take sincerely Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all these things, entanglements, will immediately be vanquished. That's a fact. Kovidās tasya. Chindanti kovidās tasya ko na kuryāt kathā-ratim.

So this is the easiest process. If one is very, very intelligent, then he takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, and his life becomes successful, he becomes free from so many addictions... This is the result of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate [SB 5.18.12]. Simply by becoming a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, all the good qualities of the demigods... Demigods... Just like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Nārada, there are many, many demigods. They are good, qualified; otherwise, how they are posted in such exalted position? They are very qualified.

So simply by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious, the all the good qualities of the demigods, or all godly qualities, will manifest. There is no doubt about it. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra... [SB 11.2.42]. They will be reluctant. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate [Bg. 2.59]. They will find something so nice that they will give up all this nonsense. This is the process. Unless you give something better, how one can give up his bad habits?

Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu = He delivered Jagāi-Mādhāi. They were all this addicted to illicit sex, meat-eating, drinking and intoxication, gambling. That is their business. So Nityānanda Prabhu went to deliver them, that "First of all, these rascals should be delivered." Therefore He went there. They were very angry. They hurt Him by throwing one stone on His forehead, and blood came out. Still, Nityānanda Prabhu said, "All right, I don't mind. Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." This is preaching, Nityānanda.

But when Lord Caitanya heard it, He became very angry. He wanted to kill them immediately. So Nityānanda Prabhu requested that "In this incarnation You have promised not to accept any weapons. Please become," I mean to say, "kind upon them." This is the person... This is the business of guru. Guru introduces with God and prays to God, "Please excuse him." This is guru's business. And by the request of guru, God agrees to excuse him. This is the process.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu simply asked them that "I can accept you simply if you agree not to commit any more sinful activities." This is the condition. Not that you go on with your sinful activities and go on chanting also. This is called nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhiḥ [Padma Purāṇa, Brahma-khaṇḍa 25.16]. There are many persons, they think, "Oh, we are expert in chanting. So in the morning let us commit all kinds of sinful activities, and in the evening I shall chant; it will be counteracted." Not that kind of chanting required. That is offense, greatest offense. Nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhiḥ.

One must give up for good all the propensities for sinful activities. Then take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and it will act. Otherwise, if you go on keeping both the lines, that "Whole day I shall commit all sinful activities, and at night I shall chant..." Just like in Christian Church there is a system, confession = at the end of the week they go to the church and they confess before the priest, "I have done so many sinful activities." So pray something and he says, "All right, excused." Again, from Monday, begins sinful activities. Yes. Not like that.

Once you stop sinful activities, you cannot commit again. Then Kṛṣṇa will save you. Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi [Bg. 18.66]. Kṛṣṇa is not so fool that you simply once surrender to Him and then commit sinful activities and again surrender to Him. No. That will not be allowed. Kṛṣṇa can excuse you once or twice, but if you commit... [break] ...offense, then it will act and people will be benefited. Chindanti kovidās tasya ko na kuryāt kathā-ratim.

So kathā-rati, attraction for kṛṣṇa-kathā. Simply let us hear, let us chant, let us think of Kṛṣṇa. That will make us very much rapidly progressive on the spiritual path.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: Jaya!

Prabhupāda: [break] Five rasas are primary and seven rasas are secondary. This... [break] [end]