Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.26.28 , Bombay , 1975-01-05

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

[break] [01:54]

[Pause]

Prabhupāda:

This is a mantra, Vedic mantra: "The Supreme Lord is worshiped by all the demigods," yaṁ brahmā varuṇendra-rudra stunvanti divyaiḥ stavaiḥ. Varuṇa, Indra and other demigods, even Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā... Śiva-viriñci-nutam [SB 11.5.33] = "He is worshiped by Śiva and Viriñci." Viriñci means Lord Brahmā. So the only Lord, master, is Kṛṣṇa. I have explained, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa [Cc. Ādi 5.142]. Īśvara, the supreme īśvara, controller, is Kṛṣṇa. And He is worshiped by... Yaṁ brahmā varuṇendra-rudra stunvanti divyaiḥ stavaiḥ. He is the objective of worshiping.

So dhyānāvasthita-manasā..., dhyānāvasthita-manasā yaṁ paśyanti yoginaḥ. Yogis, they are desirous of mystic power, eight kinds of mystic power. They also meditate on the Supreme Lord. And the feature of the Supreme Lord on which the yogīs meditate by concentrating their mind is called Aniruddha. Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha..., Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha, Pradyumna. So this is described. Aniruddha is the Deity of the mind, and mind is the central sense of all senses. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ [Bg. 3.42]. In the material conception of life the senses are very prominent. So long we are under the bodily concept of life, our objective is to satisfy the senses. But the master of the senses is the mind, and the controlling Deity of the mind is Aniruddha. Therefore God's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. And bhakti means to serve Hṛṣīkeśa, because He is the proprietor of the senses.

Here it is said, yad hy aniruddhākhyaṁ hṛṣīkāṇām adhīśvaram. Hṛṣīka. Hṛṣīka means senses, and another name of God, or Kṛṣṇa, or Aniruddha, is Hṛṣīkeśa. Senayor ubhayor madhye... [Bg. 1.21]. The Hṛṣīkeśa name is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. Hṛṣīkeśa means hṛṣīkāṇām adhīśvaram. So practically, the senses which you are using, the real proprietor is Aniruddha, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You can utilize the instrument... Just like you hire some instrument to use it for some purpose, but the instrument belongs to somebody else, similarly, our the instrument, the karaṇa, the means of working, or instrument, as you say---the proprietor is Hṛṣīkeśa, or Aniruddha. So we are now utilizing instruments without fulfilling the desire of Aniruddha, or the Hṛṣīkeśa. That means we are using it for sense gratification unlawfully. Therefore we are becoming implicated in sinful activities. [aside:] Who is talking this side? Stop them. So therefore bhakti means that when you don't use the hṛṣīka, or the senses, for any other purpose than to serve the Hṛṣīkeśa, that is called bhakti. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Hṛṣīkāṇām adhīśvaram.

Actually, the proprietor of the senses is Aniruddha, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His expansion.

In the Brahma-saṁhitā we understand that the Lord is one, but He can expand Himself into multiforms. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam. Nava-yauvanaṁ ca. This is... This expansion is going on from time immemorial. Still, the Lord is nava-yauvanam, very young, sixteen to twenty years old, that's all. Purāṇa. Although He is the ādi, origin of all living entities, still He is young. And although He has expanded Himself into multiforms, still He is one. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs. 5.33]. Advaita. Advaita is one, not that because He has expanded Himself into many forms, therefore He has got many..., He has become many. No. He is one, still. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate [Īśo Invocation]. That is absolute knowledge, that the Supreme Lord, if He expands Himself into supreme form, er, unlimited forms, unlimited supreme forms, still He remains supreme. It is not material, material is supreme. If you take one lakh of rupees, if you take one lakh of rupees, then it becomes zero. But in the spiritual world the Absolute means you take the Supreme, the Supreme may expand Himself into many millions of Supreme form, still, the original Supreme remains. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate. These things are spiritual understanding.

So this Aniruddha is the objective of meditation for the yogīs. Nowadays they have manufactured so many objective, but that is not authorized. The authorized is that you have to concentrate your mind upon the form of Viṣṇu known as Aniruddha. That is the real meditation. Viṣṇu has got many forms. "Many forms" means the Viṣṇu forms are all catur-bhuja, four-handed, and the symbolic representation of each hand is śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma: the conchshell, the disc, śaṅkha, cakra, gadā, the club, and the lotus flower. Now the Lord is differently named... Ordinarily, there are twenty-four names. So those names are there according to the situation of the symbolic representation. It begins from the right lower hand, and then it comes to the left lower hand, this śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma, differently situated. Just like begin śaṅkha, then cakra, then gadā, then padma. Then begins cakra, gadā, lotus flower and conchshell. In this way there are different positions of the śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma, and according to that different position, the name is changing = Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, Padmanābha, Nārāyaṇa, like that.

So there are innumerable forms and innumerable names, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs. 5.33], but they are all one. There is no difference, advaita. This is the conception of spiritual understanding. Because these forms, each form has got a separate planet. Just like here in this material world, each demigod has got a separate planet. The demigod Candradeva---he is also demigod---so he has got a separate planet which is called Candraloka. Similarly Sūryaloka, Varuṇaloka, Vāyuloka, Indraloka---many. There are hundreds and thousands of demigods, and they have got their different planets. Similarly, the Lord in the spiritual world has got multiforms, and the each and every form is the predominating Deity of the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The spiritual planets are called Vaikuṇṭha planets. The material planets, they are not Vaikuṇṭha; they are kuṇṭha. Here, in these planets, anyone living, he is always full of anxiety, kuṇṭha. In the Vaikuṇṭha planets there is no such thing as anxiety. That is the difference between the spiritual and material planets. Vaikuṇṭha planets means without any anxiety. Here everyone is full of anxiety, whatever he may be. He may be Lord Brahmā or he may be Mr. Ant, small, very insignificant---everyone is full of kuṇṭha. Sadā samudvigna-dhiyām. Samudvigna, fully anxious, "What will happen next? What will happen next? How things will go on?" This anxiety. He may be very rich man or very poor man, the anxiety must be there. Why? Sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt [SB 7.5.5] = "Because they have accepted this material body."

So Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Saṅkarṣaṇa or other Viṣṇu form, or the living entities who are living there in those Vaikuṇṭha planets, they have no anxiety. There is no anxiety, neither there is influence of this māyā, neither there are the activities of the three modes of material nature. That is called spiritual world, Vaikuṇṭhaloka. They are free. Neither there is birth, death, old age and disease. These things are absent. Everyone is full of transcendental bliss. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt [Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12]. By nature they are ānandamaya, always jolly. And here also, in this material world, when we become free from this material concept of life, bodily concept of life, when we are fully aware of the thing that "I am not this material body; I am spirit soul, ahaṁ brahmāsmi," he also becomes jolly, because he acquires the spiritual quality. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. That is the sign. Prasannātmā. Na śoc... Prasannātmā. What does it mean, prasannātmā? Na śocati na kāṅkṣati [Bg. 18.54] = "There is no hankering, and there is no lamentation." Then it is possible to see everyone on the equal level. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu.

This is the preliminary condition of becoming a devotee, when one has attained this stage, prasanna-manasaḥ. Evaṁ prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ [SB 1.2.20]. This stage can be attained by bhakti-yoga, the simple method. Bhakti-yoga means hearing and chanting = chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That's all. Sit down together, all the family members, and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and read some passages from Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is bhakti-yoga. If possible, install Deity, worship it properly. There is no need of going to cinema, restaurant, eating all nonsense. This will be automatically finished. Anartha. These are anartha, unwanted things. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. If you take to this devotional service, bhakti-yoga, the anarthas, unnecessarily nonsense things---smoking bīḍī, cigarette, drinking tea, going to the cinema, restaurant, and so many other---they are not required. What is the necessity of these things? If you say there is some ānanda, that is not ānanda. Ānanda is here, to hear about the Supreme Lord. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ [SB 7.5.23]---that is ānanda. This is not ānanda. This is false ānanda. But we are accustomed to this. That is our misfortune. Anartha. So come to the bhakti platform, one has to become free from the anarthas. Otherwise bhakti will not be substantial. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. Tato niṣṭhā. When anarthas are finished, no more attraction... Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42]. If one is really devotee, then he will be detached to the anarthas, unwanted things. That is the test of bhakti. And "I am devotee; also I am devotee of bīḍī," that is not devotee. "I am smoking, also chanting." In the Bengal it is said, āmi dugha khai tamogha khai.[?] No, not like that. [laughs]

So that is the test who is a devotee. Simply by advertising himself, advertisements will not do. How much you are freed from the anarthas. Viraktir anyatra syāt. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42]. The example is given = just like if you are hungry, you are hankering after food, but when sufficient food is supplied to you, then the next stage will be, "No, no, I don't want any more. That's all right." "No, no, take more." "No, no, no, no. I am not..." He is satisfied, fully satisfied. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja = he took advantage of bhakti for some material... Not Prahlāda Mahārāja, Dhruva Mahārāja; I am sorry. So when actually saw Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, who came to satisfy him, being pleased upon his austerities, little boy of five years, at that time, when he saw Kṛṣṇa he said, "No, no, I don't want anything." Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce [Cc. Madhya 22.42] = "Svāmin, my Lord, I am fully satisfied. I have no more demand."

That is the bhakti stage---no more demand. The karmīs, the jñānīs, the yogīs, they have got demand. They want something. The karmīs, they want promotion to the higher planets for sensual satisfaction, for higher standard of material living condition, karmīs. The more you are karmīs, you can live very high standard of life just like Europeans, Americans. They are big, big karmīs, big, big manufacture of machine, wonderful machine, and they get money---cost one dollar and they are charging five hundred dollars. You get money and good opportunity for sense gratification. So that is the idea of karmīs. They want higher standard of sense gratification, scientific method of sense gratification. They have got machine even for shaving, even for tooth brushing. So everything machine. The idea is sense gratification. This is karmī. And jñānīs, they have also demand = "I shall become one with God." Ekatvena. But the bhaktas, they don't want ekatvam. That is jñānī. And yogīs, they want mystic powers, because if they can manifest some mystic power, immediately so many foolish person will be followers, and they will get some material reputation, position. So there is demand. And when there will be no demand, that is bhakta stage. Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce [Cc. Madhya 22.42] = "No more varam, Sir. I have taken much varam."

What is that varam? Everything is supplied by Kṛṣṇa. Why the devotee should be anxious for varam, for benediction? Kṛṣṇa says, yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham [Bg. 9.22]. Teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānām. Those who are constantly engaged in the service of the Lord, all that is required by him, that is carried by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself to supply him. He says, yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham. What you have got, He will give protection, and what you have not got, He will supply you---for the devotees. The devotees do not want, but Kṛṣṇa... Just like a child, dependent on the parents. He does not want anything, but the parents are very much anxious, "What my child needs?" The bhakta, devotee, wants how to keep satisfied the Lord, how to keep Him in comfortable position. Just like here the devotees, they are always dressing and giving flower garland and sandalwood pulp and tulasī and cleansing the... Tan-mandira-mārjanādau. What is the idea? That Kṛṣṇa may sit down here very pleasingly. This is bhakta's activity. And Kṛṣṇa's anxiety is, "How My devotees will remain without any want." This business is going on, without any difficulty. So the bhaktas, they will not want anything. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye [Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4].

So the Aniruddha, He is the master of the senses, as it is stated here, hṛṣīkāṇām adhīśvaram. Adhīśvaram: master, proprietor. So the common sense is that if my hand is the property of Kṛṣṇa, why it should be used for me? It should be used for Kṛṣṇa. This is good sense. Suppose something belongs to somebody else. If you use it for your purpose, that is illegal, not lawful. This is my watch. If you take away this watch and use for your purpose, then it is criminal. You cannot say the watch is being used either by him or by... "It is being used, that's all." No. You cannot use it. You can use it only by the permission of the proprietor. Without permission of the proprietor if you use it, then you are criminal or you are sinful. Similarly, we have got all the senses. The senses are meant for working. The eyes are meant for seeing, the ears are meant for hearing, the nose is meant for smelling, the hand is meant for touching, the leg is meant for going, the stomach is meant for eating---so many, we have got, different senses. They are meant for different purpose. But if the purpose is for your sense gratification then you are criminal, because you are not proprietor. This is to understand bhakti. If you do not use all the senses for Kṛṣṇa's purpose, then it is criminal. That is called pāpa.

So you are doing that. Every one of us, who is doing for Kṛṣṇa? Nobody is doing for Kṛṣṇa. Everyone is doing for his own purpose. He is taking one flower. The devotee is bringing the flower = "Oh, very nice flower. Let me take it to the temple and offer it to Kṛṣṇa." That is devotion. The same flower, "Oh, it is very nice flower. Oh, let me pin it on my bunch of hair," that is pāpa. The same thing. You must know how to utilize it. That is called bhakti. Everything can be utilized. Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. That art we have to learn. Anāsaktasya viṣayān.

Viṣayān means objectives for sense gratification, viṣayān. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca [Hitopadeśa]. These are called viṣaya---eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Viṣaya. So we are viṣaya. Everyone are. We are eating. Everyone is eating. Who can say, "I am not eating"? So viṣaya. So our business should be not to be attached for eating. Then shall I starve and die? No, you eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam. Eating is not stopped. Eating is not stopped. Eating means as you are cooking for yourself at home, the same cooking, do it for Kṛṣṇa and offer it to Kṛṣṇa and eat it. That's all. The mode of life should be changed. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not that you shall give up eating. No, how can I give you that? No, it is not possible. Neither Kṛṣṇa says, "Just give up eating." Never you will find in the Bhagavad... Yuktāhāra-vihārasya. You must eat what you need. Yuktāhāra-vihārasya yogo bhavati suddhya... Kṛṣṇa never says that "Unnecessarily you starve." You never find in the Bhagavad-gītā; neither any ācārya will say. Rather, you offer to Kṛṣṇa first-class foodstuff because He is the enjoyer. And Kṛṣṇa is so kind, He will leave everything for you for taking prasādam. So automatically you can satisfy your tongue. You offer to Kṛṣṇa first-class food, and Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He will eat, at the same time He will keep it for you. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate [Īśo Invocation]. Kṛṣṇa's eating is not like that = because you have given Him very nice foodstuff, He will eat everything and nothing for you. [laughter] That is not Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa eats everything, He accepts your service, and keeps everything for you.

So this is bhakti-mārga. It is very nice. Simply you have to learn how to engage your senses. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Your senses are property of Hṛṣīkeśa. As it is said here, hṛṣīkeśa adhīśvaram. Hṛṣīkeśa adhīśvaram. He is adhīśvaram. He is the proprietor. So you must use it. It is not that you stop your senses. That is not required. That is not bhakti. Bhakti means you must engage your senses fully, with more enthusiasm, but it should be for Kṛṣṇa. That's all. If you want to do business, do it very nicely, but give the profit to Kṛṣṇa. Yat karoṣi yaj juhoṣi yad aśnāsi, kuruṣva tad mad-arpaṇam [Bg. 9.27]. Kṛṣṇa says, "Give it to Me." That is bhakti. Nothing is stopped, but you cannot do anything unlawful. Bhakti does not mean you can do anything unlawful. But ultimate issue = whatever you do, if it is for Kṛṣṇa, that is rightful.

Just like materially, Arjuna was trying to become very gentleman, nonviolent, Arjuna = "Kṛṣṇa, I am not going to fight." People very much appreciate, "Just see, Arjuna is so gentle, he is trying to become nonviolent, and Kṛṣṇa is inducing him to become violent." This is the vision of the demons. They do not know whatever Kṛṣṇa desires, that is rightful. Kṛṣṇa wanted Arjuna to fight. That is rightful. And Arjuna wanted to become nonviolent. That is not rightful. Therefore Kṛṣṇa chastised him, kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam [Bg. 2.2] = "Why you are talking like anārya?" Anārya-juṣṭam. "This kind of talking... You are kṣatriya, and you are not willing to fight. What is this? This kind of proposal is made by the anārya, uncivilized. You are a kṣatriya. Your duty is to fight, and you are trying to refrain from the fight? You have become so ignorant? Oh, this is not good." Then, when Arjuna understood that he was not in the right point, declining the fight, kārpaṇya-doṣa upahata-svabhāvaḥ. Kārpaṇya-doṣa. "I am not doing my duty. I can understand. All right. But I am perplexed. Therefore I become Your student." Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam [Bg. 2.7] = "I surrender unto You as śiṣya, as Your disciple. Now correct me." And he was, when he was corrected, the same Arjuna said, "Yes." Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava [Bg. 18.73] = "Yes, I will fight."

This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You have to act by the desires of Kṛṣṇa. That is the proper use of your senses. You cannot use for your purpose. Anything... Just like you are working in some establishment. Anything in that establishment, you can use for the proprietor's business. You cannot use it. Just like in hospital there are blankets. It is written there, "Hospital Property." So long you are in the hospital, you can use it. But you cannot take it outside. Then you are criminal. Similarly, everything... Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1]. Everything belongs to God, and you can use it for the service of God. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam. This is the instruction, Vedic instruction. You can use it as prasādam, but everything should be offered to the Supreme. Yajñārthe karmaṇaḥ loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg. 3.9]. If you do not do that, if you engage yourself always in good activities, as the karmīs they do, and earn money and use it for your own sense gratification, that is pāpa.

Those who are cooking in the kitchen very palatable dishes for satisfying the tongue, they are simply eating sinful things. Ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt.

So therefore, if we become sinful every moment, how we can become happy? It is not possible. If you want to become happy, you have to become pious. And the standard of piety is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, devotee of Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest perfection of life.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]