Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.11 , Bombay , 1974-11-11

[noise of firecrackers in background throughout]

Nitāi: [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [devotees repeat]

[break] [01:46]

Prabhupāda:

So Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the real shelter, śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyam. We are seeking shelter, everyone, because we are servant constitutionally. Originally, we are servant of God. So that is our nature, to take shelter. Everyone is seeking a nice shelter. Somebody's seeking some occupation, service of some big man. Somebody's seeking oc..., servitorship of the government, government servant. But the ultimate shelter is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Here Kṛṣṇa's incarnation, Kapiladeva... Kapiladeva is also Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's incarnation and Kṛṣṇa, They are all the same. Svāṁśa, vibhinnāṁśa. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs. 5.33]. Kṛṣṇa has got ananta, unlimited forms, unlimited incarnations. It is said in the Bhāgavatam the incarnations are expanding or going on exactly like the waves in the sea or in the river. You cannot count. So many incarnations, and all of them are Kṛṣṇa. Therefore in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam. Just like Kṛṣṇa as arcā-vigraha, Deity worship in the temple... Now, in India there are many thousands of temples. Now outside India we are increasing---not many thousands, but many hundreds. So Kṛṣṇa is expanding. All these Kṛṣṇas, They are not different; They are one, advaita. Kṛṣṇa in the Vaikuṇṭha and Kṛṣṇa in this temple, They are not different. Advaita. Advaita acyuta anādi ananta. Although ananta, They are not different. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto [Bs. 5.37].

Kṛṣṇa is staying in everyone's heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg. 18.61]. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ [Bg. 15.15]. Kṛṣṇa says, "I am residing in everyone's heart." He is witness. Upadraṣṭā anumantā. Upadraṣṭā. He is seeing all our activities. We cannot hide anything. Therefore we get the resultant action of our karma. Because the witness is Kṛṣṇa Himself within your heart, how you can avoid? Upadraṣṭā, anumantā. And without Kṛṣṇa's permission, you cannot do anything. So why Kṛṣṇa gives permission to do something wrong? Because we want to do it. We persist. Kṛṣṇa does not say that you do anything else than to "Surrender to Me." He says only these things, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam... [Bg. 18.66]. But we want to do something else. But anything else, you cannot do without Kṛṣṇa's permission. Exactly like the child. The child persists to do something, but still wants to take permission from the mother = "Mother, I want this. I want to do this. I want to do this." Mother sometimes says, "No, no, you don't do this." But when he persists, "All right, you do it." It is like that. We are... Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca [Bg. 15.15]. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca. I wanted to do something, and Kṛṣṇa sanctions, and we do. But we do it at our own risk. Kṛṣṇa is not responsible. But without sanction of Kṛṣṇa you cannot do anything. That is a fact.

So here it is said, sva-bhṛtya-saṁsāra-taroḥ. Actually, we are constitutionally servant of Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ bhavāmbudhau. Ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ bhavāmbudhau. What is the...?

Yaśomatī-nandana: Viṣame bhavāmbudhau.

Prabhupāda: Ah! Viṣame bhavāmbudhau. That is our position. Actually we are servant of God, servant of Kṛṣṇa. We are servant in every... Even though we declare independence, we are not independent. We are servant. That is a false declaration, that "We are independent." No. There cannot be independence. Therefore this is self-realization. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

"My dear Lord, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja..." Patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ mām: "I am Your eternal servant, kiṅkara." Kiṅkara means servant. "Now, somehow or other, I am fallen in this ocean of nescience, saṁsāra." Saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka. Unless one has got the knowledge what is this position, where we are staying, we cannot understand. That is called moha. We have discussed this. Illusion. We are under illusion. So Devahūti says, sva-bhṛtya-saṁsāra-taroḥ kuṭhāram. In the Bhagavad-gītā the tree is described, aśvattha tree. So aśvattha, as we have got experience, the banyan tree, the root is very strong. Very strong. So it is also compared, this material world is compared with the aśvattha tree, banyan tree. Very strong root. So... But any tree can be cut with an ax, kuṭhāram. So that kuṭhāram, if we take shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, that is the real kuṭhāram, or ax, to cut the strong root of material existence. Sva-bhṛtya-saṁsāra-taroḥ kuṭhāram. Taṁ tvā gatāhaṁ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyam. Gato mukundaṁ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyam [SB 11.5.41].

There is another, similar verse that... Because we have given up the servitorship of Kṛṣṇa, we are servant of so many other things. We are obliged to serve, ṛṇī. Ṛṇī means debtor. Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṝṇām [SB 11.5.41]. We are debtor to so many persons. We are debtor to the demigods. Just like the sun is demigod. He's giving you heat and light. You are not paying any bill, but you are ad..., taking the advantage of the sunlight and sun heat. Now, if you take the advantage of electric light and heat, you have to pay bill. But here we don't pay bill. That means we are becoming debtor. If we don't pay bill anywhere, then we become debtor. So we are debtor to so many demigods. The sun is supplying heat and light. The king of heaven, Indra, he is supplying water. These rascals, they say it is coming by nature. It may come from nature, but nature is controlled. Just like we are getting water. If somebody says, "Oh, what is that? It is coming from the water tank. So where is the question of paying taxes or rent?" No. The water tank is being filled up by the Municipality. If you don't pay tax, it will be cut off. Similarly, don't think that the water is coming as your father's property. No. You are becoming debtor. You are becoming debtor. Therefore, if you don't pay debts, if you don't perform sacrifices, then there will be scarcity of water. And one day it will come there will be no water. That you expect, because you are not paying any tax. You are thinking, "Water is coming, my father's property." No. Your father's property, that's all right. But you are not father's son at the present moment. You are māyā's son. You don't care for your father.

Therefore father says, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram [Bg. 9.10]. Kṛṣṇa says, the supreme father, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā [Bg. 14.4]. He's the supreme father. You don't care for father. Therefore... The nature is working under the direction of the supreme father. That's a fact. So if you do not care for your father, then the result will be nature will reduce supply. Reduce supply. Nature will not allow to the demons to flourish. No. That is not allowed. Tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān kṣipāmy ajasram andha-yoniṣu [Bg. 16.19]. The demons are always liable to be punished. Some big, big demons like Rāvaṇa, Hiraṇyakaśipu, the Lord personally comes to punish them. Otherwise, the ordinary demons, they are punished by the laws of nature. Kṛṣṇa does not require to come to punish these petty demons. But when there is big, big demons like Rāvaṇa, like Hiraṇyakaśipu, like Kaṁsa, then Kṛṣṇa or Lord Rāmacandra, They come to punish them.

Therefore we have to follow the rules and regulation. That is called sad-dharma. Dharma means the laws given by the God. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam [SB 6.3.19]. Bhagavat-praṇītam. It is given by Bhagavān, the laws. That laws, laws means they are written in books. Because... Just like Manu-saṁhitā. There are many other books, Vedic literature, what is dharma. But real dharma is... Just like law means to obey the government. That is law. Similarly, dharma means to obey Kṛṣṇa, or God. Kṛṣṇa means God. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28]. So dharma means if one does not care for Kṛṣṇa, or God, that is not religion. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat... You cannot make your law at home. Law means the law given by the government. Similarly, dharma means the orders given by God. That is dharma. You cannot manufacture, that "We have manufactured this dharma." That is not dharma.

That is, in the Bhāgavata, is called cheating. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavaḥ atra: "The so-called dharmas, which are cheating the public in the name of dharma, such kind of dharma is kicked out from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam." Dharmaḥ projjhita. Projjhita means prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṇa ujjhita. Just like you sweep over the floor, and the dust you throw away. Similarly, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the real dharma is there. Real dharma. Dharma artha kāma mokṣa [SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90], this is ordinary dharma. Real dharma is, as Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. That is real dharma. And all other dharmas, so-called dharmas, they are simply cheating. Because that will not benefit anybody, the followers or the dictators. So real dharma is... And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam begins from there. If you accept the principles of Bhagavad-gītā, that is the preliminary study, A-B-C-D of dharma, and if you accept this principle, that to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyam...

But this sense comes after many, many births. Not very easily. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate [Bg. 7.19]. After many, many births' struggling, when one comes to real perfection of knowledge, he surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. Why? Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ [Bg. 7.19]. Because at that time he understands perfectly that Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is everything. This is Bhagavad-gītā lesson. Bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca prakṛtir bhinnā me aṣṭadhā [Bg. 7.4]. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām, jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā... [Bg. 7.5]. Everything is Kṛṣṇa's energy. Everything is Kṛṣṇa's energy. Sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat. Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ. Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ [Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.22.52]. Whatever we are seeing, that is exhibition or manifestation of two energies. Just like the sun has got two energies, heat and light. Everyone knows. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa has got many energies.

So out of many energies, three energies have been taken into account. One is the external energy, another the internal energy, and the other is the marginal energy. The external energy is this material world, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca. This is material world. And internal energy is the spiritual world. And marginal energy---we, the living entities. Marginal means we may remain in this material world or we may remain in the spiritual world, living entities. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā there are two kinds of living entities mentioned = kṣara and akṣara. Kṣara, these living entities who are living in this material... Kṣara, they have fallen down. Fallen down in this... And attracted in this tree of saṁsāra, banyan tree. That is described in the Fifteenth Chapter of... So asaṅga-kuṭhāreṇa. We have to disassociate with this tree---asaṅga-kuṭhāreṇa---by detachment. To cut this tree, it is very difficult. But we have to become detached. Detached means... There is a Bengali proverb = dhari mach nacoi pane[?]. Means that "I'll catch the fish but will not touch the water." That is, that intelligence required. You see in the beach... Here we do not see many, many, but in America we see on the beach, old men. They have got no business. They simply waste their time catching fish. Yes. But they are not very interested in this way, nacoi pane[?]. They also touch water also.

[loud firecrackers]

So we have to live in this material world in such a way that we shall do everything for Kṛṣṇa, but we'll have no attachment for this material world. We may have big, big buildings, big, big temples, but we should not be attached to this. But for Kṛṣṇa's sake we must have. Because it is Kṛṣṇa's property. That is our mission. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1]. We have to teach people that "Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. Why you are occupying it unnecessarily?" Stena eva sa ucyate [Bg. 3.12]. "You are thief. Why you are claiming Kṛṣṇa's property, 'This is my land, America,' 'This is my land, India,' 'This is my land, Pakistan'?" It is not your land; it is Kṛṣṇa's land. You are imagining, "This is my land." You come here for, say, twenty years, twenty-five years, fifty years, and fight between yourself, "This is my Pakistan," "This is my Bhārata-varṣa," and fight. And when you die you do not claim either Pakistani or Indian or American or European. You flat, fall flat, that's all. And then taken away this body and thrown. That's all.

This is called māyā, moha, illusion. Ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]. We have discussed this verse. This is illusion. Nothing belongs to us, but unnecessarily we are claiming, "This is my land," "This is my country," "This is my home," "This is my family," "This is my, my, my..." Mama. This is illusion. And in this way we are attached to this tree, saṁsāra-taroḥ, from one branch to another. Now I am Indian. I may be American next life, or I may be something else. I may be a cat, I may be a dog, or I may be a demigod. That will depend on my work. But after death, you are completely under the grip of this material nature. Your dictation will not be that "Make me like this, make me again Indian," or "Again, again make me the nationalist of this country or that country." No. After death, everything is finished. You are no more nationalist or this proprietor or head or this nothing. But this is going on. So long we are in a position, falsely we are thinking, and we are attached and we are suffering. This is the disease.

Therefore he [she] prays that sva-bhṛtya-saṁsāra-taroḥ kuṭhāram. If we transfer our attachment to Kṛṣṇa, then we can understand that vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti [Bg. 7.19]. It is not my land, not your land. It is all Vāsudeva's property. That knowledge comes. When comes? Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante [Bg. 7.19]. But we are giving that knowledge immediately. The knowledge which you are expecting after many thousands of births, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving you immediately. If you are intelligent man, you should take it, take advantage of it. We are preaching that "Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. Everything should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa's purpose, Kṛṣṇa's benefit. He is the beneficiary." Then everything is all right. If one comes to this knowledge---vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti..., īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1]---sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ, then immediately you become the greatest mahātmā. Mahātmā does not mean simply having a big beard and some dress, saffron dress. No. This knowledge, that nothing belongs to...

This is the formula. "I am the bhoktā." The all best foodstuff should be offered to Kṛṣṇa. That is arcana-vidhi. First-class foodstuff, all sandeśa, rasagullā, kachorī and... Best, best foodstuff. Kṛṣṇa is satisfied, of course... If you haven't got very nice foodstuff, Kṛṣṇa can be offered also whatever you have got. "Whatever" means not anything beyond the jurisdiction patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg. 9.26]. You can give Him little fruit, little flower, little leaf, little water. That you can collect without any price; anywhere it is available. Anyone's garden you can go, and if you say, "My dear sir, I'll take a little flower and leaf for Kṛṣṇa," nobody will ask you, "No, don't take." "Take it." Still, at least in India. In also USA also. So that you can collect. If you haven't got to offer... But offer something to Kṛṣṇa. That is required. Bhaktyā. That is bhakti.

That offering is not required... But Kṛṣṇa is not hungry, that He's asking from you little fruit, little flower, little... He is feeding... Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13]. He is supplying all the necessities of everyone. So why He's begging from you? Because He wants that you love Him. That is Kṛṣṇa's want. You are suffering in this material world, you are entangled in this tree from one branch to another, rotating and suffering. So Kṛṣṇa wants that you do not suffer. You give up this business of jumping like monkey from this branch to that branch, but come to Him and surrender to Him. Śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyam. When this knowledge comes, that is perfect knowledge. Gato mukundaṁ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ parihṛtya kartam.

If... This is required. Kṛṣṇa also says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. But if you take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then you are no more debtor to anyone. You are no more debtor. Nāyam ṛṇī na kiṅkaraḥ.

So this is the solution. Otherwise, you are debtor to so many person = devatā, ṛṣi, devarṣi, bhūta, all living entities; āpta, friends, relative, and general people; pitṝṇām, the family in which you are born. Now nation also. That is nṛṇām, āpta, national. So you are debtor to so many persons, but if you surrender to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa says... You may think that "If I surrender to Kṛṣṇa and give up all our duties, then I may remain debtor and I will have to suffer." No. Kṛṣṇa gives you assurance, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ. "I'll give you relief." That is wanted. Therefore Devahūti takes shelter of Kapiladeva. And he [she] says that "You are the kuṭhāram, You are the ax to make me detached." Just like the tree, when it is cut into two pieces, they become detached. Similarly, if our attachment is cut into pieces, two pieces, then the other portion becomes free from this material attachment.

Therefore this, to develop this detachment... Bhakti, bhakti-yoga, or the path of bhakti, means detachment. Bhakti, they are... That is vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yogam [Cc. Madhya 6.254]. Bhakti-yogam means vairāgya-vidyā, the learning in the science of detachment. That is bhakti-yoga. Vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yogam. This verse was composed by Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. When he understood Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he composed one hundred verses. He was a very learned logician of India, Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. So some of the verses are available. Because when the verses were offered to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He torn it and... Because He was a sannyāsī. That was His another vairāgya. Anyway... So this verse is that "You are, Sir, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, You are the same Kṛṣṇa. You formerly came to teach people this vairāgya." Sarva-dharmān parityajya. This parityajya means vairāgya. "Don't care for all this material world. Surrender unto Me." This is vairāgya. Jñāna and vairāgya. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ [SB 1.2.7]. Bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ. If you apply bhakti-yoga to Vāsudeva---vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti [Bg. 7.19]---on this platform, then janayaty āśu vairāgyam. Āśu, "very soon." This is the sign of bhakti-yoga. Janayaty āśu. If a person is advancing in bhakti-yoga, the result will be that he is detached from material attraction. That is the sign.

Just like these European, American boys. They are born to enjoy material happiness. They are, in their country, the affluence of material happiness, money and women, they are thrown in the street. You pick up as much as you like. But they are now vairāgya, because they are devotees of Vāsudeva. They have no more attachment. This is bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga means vairāgya, detachment for material enjoyment. That is the sign. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42]. Not that "I am a big, big devotee, but I have got very great attachment for material enjoyment." That is not bhakti. This is the sign. If you have got bhakti, then you will have no attachment for material enjoyment. That is the test. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktiḥ. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate [Bg. 2.59]. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is... Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā. Param means better, superior things; dṛṣṭvā, by seeing, these lower, inferior things is rejected. That is... Two things cannot go on.

So because we cannot do it ourself, by our own endeavor, therefore we have to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. He will help. Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi [Bg. 18.66]. He'll help. Our only business is to take shelter. Therefore Devahūti says, gatāhaṁ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyam: "You are the only shelter. Therefore I am taking shelter. And You can cut my attachment for this material life. And why You shall do it? Because I am Your eternal servant," bhṛtya. Somehow or other... Anādi karama phale paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale, taribāre nā dekhi upāya. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, that "Somehow or other, I am fallen..." The same prayer as Caitanya Mahāprabhu said:

Dhūlī-sadṛśam. Dhūlī means dust, and bhavāmbudhi is water. So if you are thrown into the water, you may be a very big swimmer, but it is a struggle. It is... There is no peace. Therefore in this material world, however expert you may be to deal with this material world, it is simply struggle. You cannot live here peacefully. That is not possible. Even you become nonviolent, if you don't harm anybody... In our country the ideal man was Mahatma Gandhi. Still, he was killed. Just see. This is material world. This is material world. He was doing harm to nobody, but he was killed.

So bhavāmbudhi, in this material world, or ocean, you may be very expert in swimming, but that does not mean you'll be peaceful. That is not possible. But if you are taken away from the water even one inch, you'll find peace. Therefore the prayer is tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśam. Just as from the water, if you are taken one inch up, then you become..., you feel relieved, similarly, some way or other if you become one of the particles of the dust of lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then you are liberated. That is stated here = sva-bhṛtya-saṁsāra-taroḥ kuṭhāram, jijñāsayāhaṁ prakṛteḥ pūruṣasya namāmi sad-dharma-vidāṁ variṣṭham.

Sad-dharma. Not asad-dharma. Asato mā sad gama. So sad-dharma required. The, in this material world the so-called dharmas, this Hindu dharma, Mussulman dharma and Christian dharma and Buddhist dharma and so many... They are not sad-dharma. They are asad-dharma. "Because I am born in the family of a Christian, I am Christian." "Because I am born in the family of a Hindu, I am Hindu." And next time I may born in the family of a dog. There is no dharma. So these are not sad-dharma. These are all asad-dharma: for the time being. Asad means "that will not stay." You are Hindu. How long you are Hindu? Say, fifty years. Or you are Indian. How long you are Indian? Say, fifty, sixty, hundred years. But again you have to become something else. That we do not know. We are working very hard, "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Indian," "I am American." These upādhi. But the upādhi may be changed next moment. At any moment. So what is your real dharma? This is temporary dharma for the body. What is your real dharma? Real dharma is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. That is sad-dharma. That is sad-dharma. That will continue eternally.

So sad-dharma... Here it is said, namāmi sad-dharma-vidāṁ variṣṭham: "There are many propounder of sad-dharma. But actually, You are the best of the propounders of the sad-dharma because You know the reality." And that is the actual reality. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇam... That is sad-dharma. So the Gosvāmīs worked... Sad-dharma-saṁsthāpanathaya.. Nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpanathaya. So these Gosvāmīs, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's direct disciples, they tried to establish sad-dharma, and we are trying to follow their footprints, footstep, to establish real dharma all over the world. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]