Unity is possible in Krishna consciousness only
Unity is possible in Krishna consciousness only
26-05-2017
ISKCON Vrindavan
So we thank you, all of you for joining us this morning for the study of Bhagavatam – Nityam bhagavata-sevaya. In the Middle East I was there, one programme called Nityam bhagavata-sevaya and devotees assemble, recite Bhagavatam every day. Nityam bhagavata-sevaya. So this morning, seventh Canto chapter fifth, text number twelfth, please repeat.
sa yadanuvratah pumsam
pasu-buddhir vibhidyate
anya esa tathanyo ham
iti bheda-gatasati [SB 7.5.12]
sah—that Supreme Personality of Godhead; yada—when;
anuvratah—favorable or pleased; pumsam—of the conditioned
souls; pasu-buddhih—the animalistic conception of life
vibhidyate—is destroyed; anyah—another; esah—this; tatha—as
well as; anyah—another; aham—I; iti—thus; bheda—distinction;
gata—having; asati—which is disastrous.
When the Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased with the living entity because of his devotional service, one becomes a pa??ita and
does not make distinctions between enemies, friends and himself. Intelligently, he then thinks, "Every one of us is an eternal servant of
God, and therefore we are not different from one another. This is how he thinks"
Purport
When Prahlada Maharaja's teachers and demoniac father asked him how his intelligence had been polluted, Prahlada Maharaja said, "As far as I am concerned, my intelligence has not been polluted. Rather, by the grace of my spiritual master and by the grace of my Lord, Krsna, I have now learned that no one is my enemy and no one is my friend.
We should also be thinking like this and talking like this. After having received the blessings of our spiritual masters and the blessings of
Lord Sri Krishna Balaram ki jai!
‘This mistaken idea has now been corrected and therefore unlike ordinary human beings, I no longer think that I am God and that
others are my friends and enemies.’
Isvaro aham -I am Isvara. Aham bhogi aham this aham that. A long list, the demoniac nature.
‘This mistaken idea has now been corrected and therefore unlike ordinary human beings I no longer think that I am God and that others are my friends and enemies.’ You want to be God? No? Or do you want to serve God? A question asked to a person who was showing some tendency or some inclination towards becoming God. This was in America in early days.
One Bhakta was around Prabhupada – Bhakta Tyton or Teeton. So Prabhupada – ‘You want to serve God or you want to be God?’ So this person ‘I want to be God’ {Laughter}. Because he wanted to be God he was looking for someone who could make him God. So when he met Prabhupada and Prabhupada asked ‘you want to be God?’ This person thought ‘finally I have met someone who could make me God. If he is making this offer I am sure he can make me God
otherwise why would he enquire?’ Then Prabhupada made further enquiries and he said ‘do you want to be God?’ ‘Yes yes.’ ‘That means now you are not God. You want to be God? That meant you are not God now.’ Then Prabhupada said ‘one who is not God cannot be God.’ God did not become God, God is always God. And one who is not God could never be God.’ Finished, all his aspirations were destroyed and then he decided to be servant of God. Then he became very good servant of God –Giriraj Swami Maharaj. { Haribol}.
My mistaken idea has now been corrected. Now I am rightly thinking that everyone is eternal servant of God and that our duty is to serve the supreme master for then we shall stand on the platform of oneness as servants. Oneness as servant servants – all servants, everybody is servant so that is the oneness how we are all one. In a different sense, not mayavada sense.
‘Demons think of everyone as a friend or enemy, but Vaisnavas say that since everyone is a servant of the Lord, everyone is on the same platform. Krishna Balaram ki Jai. Therefore a Vaisnava treats other living entities neither as friends nor as enemies, but instead tries to spread Krsna consciousness, teaching everyone that we are all one as servants of the Supreme Lord but are uselessly wasting our valuable lives by creating nations, communities and other groups of friends and enemies. In this list, very easily could be added as different religions.
And then one religion becomes an enemy of another religion and then they have battles. And then there are Shia Muslims and I am Sunni Muslims and I will get you, kill you. We’ve all become enemies like that.
We just had a nice kirtana, nagar sankirtana on Young Street in Toronto and then we were returning to the temple so we took our seats in the car, in the vehicle and then one person he approached me. I was in the front seat and he asked me ‘where are you going?’ I said to the temple, Hare Krishna. He said ‘no no, you are not going to the temple. And I said ‘please tell me where I am going’ and he said ‘you are going to hell.’ We just had nice kirtana and this person was ready to send me to hell. Then he pulled a Bible and was reading ‘One who does not accept Jesus in the heart, they will end up in hell.’
So this is the friend and enemy. Even religionists could think and do things in these terms. So they are not serving God and are not favoured by God as Prahlad Maharaja mentioned he was favoured by God. ‘You are not serving God, you are serving death!’ Even our Trump, the President of America he was in America and he said ‘These terrorists they are not serving God, they are serving death.
They are worshipping death, killing everybody.’ Everyone should come to the platform of Krsna consciousness and thus feel oneness as a servant of the Lord. In India in general there is some broad thinking, friendly thinking. India is normally friendly country. There was a war between China and India a long time ago, in early 60’s 1960’s so India was spreading the awareness s of friendship, giving that message ‘Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai.’
Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai. I was just a little boy at that time, and small village but we were also going around in the Gullies, ‘Hindi Chini Bhai
Bhai, Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai.’ I had no idea what we were talking about. Hindi – Hindi is a language and Chini is a sugar {laughter}.
They’re supposed to be Bhai Bhai – this is how I was thinking. Not even understanding what is this Hindi and what is this Chini. So later on I realised Hindi means people of Hindustan and Chini means the people of China- Chinese and they are supposed to be brothers. I understood the meaning when I grew up and understood the Hindi language also, but then only when I met Srila Prabhupada and studied the Bhagavad Gita as his feet, then this mistaken idea or I had no idea that bhai bhai that there are two persons who are bhai bhai, brothers.
What does that mean? It must mean common father otherwise what kind of bhai bhai- brothers are they? Aham bija pradah pita – I am the seed giving father of all the living entities, Krishna says. That’s it, so it was all clear. Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai, and then we could then expand – why Hindi Chini? All Stans – Khalistan, not only Pakistan but this Stan that Stan. All Stanas, people all over the world are brothers.
The brotherhood, the brotherhood that they talk about – universal brotherhood, so how is that possible? So we realise that we all have common father and that is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Some call him Jehovah, some call him Allah – Allah the Great, some call him Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari Hari. Although there are 8,400,000 species of life, a Vaisnava feels this oneness. In Italy there was a Saint – Saint Francis? He used to address Sister Bird and Brother tree and he was known for that. When he went around he would say Brother went around Brother Bird or Sister Tree he used to talk like this. So brotherhood not limited to human species but there are 8,400,000 varieties.
Aam Admi Party they say. Our Party is Aam Admi – for all the human beings our party. But our party is Aam Atma Party, for all of atmas. Not making any distinction, protection for all atma’s protection. So Prabhupada was not thinking of only human beings or only Gentlemen –Gentlemen only! No, Ladies also. Otherwise there’s a bheda in there, buddhi bheda.
Intelligence becomes prostitute and runs away giving up the devotional master Sri Krishna and goes here there and makes distinction ours and there’s. Men, woman makes distinctions human beings and animals the cows. Prabhupada cared for cow protection Go Mata Ki Jai! Also trees – tree should not be unnecessarily cut, Prabhupada writes in one of the purport.
So much deforestation also, to serve mother earth trees are essential and trees are even essential for our survival. They serve us we serve them, Hari Hari. So Prabhupada writes in purport that the government should not allow the cutting of the trees in the forest unless those trees or paper made from those trees are going to be used for BBT publications. Then the Government should allow the cutting of the trees, not otherwise.
Prabhupada was seeing the animals, the cows, the trees and not only big nations; he used to say big nations. He went to the tiniest country In the world, Mauritius. Just a little spot, a little dot. He went to America and to Mauritius also – he did not make that bheda, that distinction and favouring one, friendly to some big nation and inimical towards others. And then he said ‘this is the United Nations of the spiritual world!’
Devotees on the dais, he used to introduce devotees from China, maybe not China in those days. From America, from Africa, from here and there – and this is United Nations, otherwise why call it UNO? It is not United nations it is disunited. And he used to say, every time he drove by that UN building in New York. He used to say ‘yet another additional flag. Yet another additional – after few months another…another.
What kind of United – This is disunited, they are breaking into pieces, this is disunited.’ So unity is possible in Krishna consciousness only. The Isopanisad advise why lament, why be in illusion? Ekatvam anupasyatah. Oneness, yes Prabhupada also has said ‘one becomes Pandit. When the Supreme Personality Godhead becomes pleased with a living entity because of his devotional service, one becomes a Pandit. Right there in translation Prabhupada has put in this thought. Pandit – he becomes Pandit, and does not make distinction between enemies and friends. Pandit – Panditah what? Sama darsinah.
panditah sama-darsinah [BG 5.18]
nanusocanti panditah is also there, no lamentation. panditah sama-darsinah panditah sama darsinah. He is looking at what? He sees with equal
vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant like that. The longer list and at the end says- panditah sama darsinah sama drishte is possible for pandit, for one who has also vision like this, he is pandit. He is learned. ya pashyati sah panditah. Who was it? Chanakya.
matravat para daresu – all the Daras, all the women are matravat, the property, the sampati of others. It is theirs, I will not touch – it is
their’s. And in this context what we are reading, what Prahlada Maharaja is thinking atmavat sarva bhuteshu- He is thinking all the bhutas, all the living entities are what? Atmavat, nicely said.
Atmavat- just like myself, others are just like myself as if they are me, myself. So how could I hurt others? Hurting others is like hurting me.
If I beat myself, hitting others, beating others and killing others is like killing myself.
atmavat sarva bhuteshu – They are like me or they are like me or they are Krishna’s. They belong to my Krishna, or they belong to my father supreme father. We are brothers, sisters. So this is Krishna consciousness. There is a relationship of master and servant, both master and servant are one because of their spiritual identity. This is also ekatvam. Spiritual Master is also servant of the Lord.
kintu prabhorya priya evatasya vande guroh sri-cara?aravindam
One line says saksad-dharitvena that’s fine. That’s fine welcome. At the same time the saksadhari is kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya. He is very dear, he is a very dear servant a very dear devotee of Supreme Personality of Godhead. For that reason also vande guroh sri-caranaravindam. And Prabhupada is talking ‘ekatvam. The spiritual master, my master is also servant and servant is also servant, or servant may also take the position of spiritual master. Or superior, father is superior – like that. Ultimately everyone is a servant of Lord so Ekatvam, oneness. Although there is- this is Ekatvam. Thus the conception of ekatvam for the Vaisnavais different from that of the mayavadi. So as you can imagine, you can think now or later what Prabhupada is pointing at.
na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate
na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate
parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate
sva-bhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6-8)
The Lord has mayavadis. The trouble with mayavadi’s is their misconception in that they don’t accept this Shakti of the Lord. Shakti and Shaktiman there are two. Energy and the energetic, they think only the energy exists, this exists. And the living entities are aham brahmasmi. So temporarily they have come under the illusion, Brahma has come under the illusion – this is their Brahma.
This is what this Brahma is, they think that this living entity who is Brahma has now come under illusion and as soon as you come out of this illusion, immediately you’re back with unachieved they call it. The living entity now separated under illusion is amsa and as soon as he realises brahma satya jagat mithya – This Jagad is mithya, Brahma is satya. Then he is back with Brahman – aham brahmasmi. But what does the Lord say in the Bhagavad Gita about this living entity?
mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah [BG 15.7]
Lord is amsi and the living entity his amsa, part and parcel of Supreme personality of Godhead, for how long? Sanatanah– forever-parts and parcels forever so that’s a good news! We are parts and parcels of the Lord – not Lord, but parts and parcels. Tiny, tiny Lords, separated. This energy of the Lord, and then again although we’re all living entitles, although we’re all servants – oneness is there. At the same time, we are not one. Each energy is meant to serve the energetic differently; each one is eternally living as energy, entity serving the Lord. Hari Hari. We are different,
simultaneously one and different.
One with the Lord and different from the Lord, but those who are different from the Lord – the living entities, each one is also different from each other. They are not all, they are all living entities as one –no! Each one is different, each one is different. There’s a beauty of the creator. Amazing each one looks different, talks different, thinks differently -all spiritual and eternal and different.
So we are all one and not one and we are different from each other and not also. This is the correct understanding. When a family member is killed by an enemy, all the members of the family would naturally be inimical to the murderer, but Hiranyakasipu saw that Prahlada had become friendly with the murderer. Who is the family member here? Hiranyaksh.Hiranyaksh is a family member. ‘My brother, my brother was killed by our enemy, that Vishnu is murderer! Look, this child of mine, my son, my son, my son. What have you learnt?’
Nice dialogue that is going on between Prahlad Maharaja and his father, wonderful dialogue. Which goes on in fact, which goes on and on and on forever between father and son – demon father, demon father, demon father and devotee son. When this kind of dialogue goes on ‘what has happened to you?’ Just see! Our children have been brain washed! This Swamiji, Bhaktivedanta Swami has brain washed our children.’ Sometimes- well I say this, there was car wash centres in America.
Car wash, now it is coming in India also but first time I saw this car wash centre. Then I would think that Hare Krishna centres are brain washing centres, brain washing centres. And so many parents took note of children have been brain washed and then they dragged ISKCON, Prabhupada to the court ‘who has brainwashed our children?’ Why has this happened?’ So we are talking about Buddhi here, Lord giving us intelligence. Lord favours and then gives intelligence to his devotees so he becomes Pandit.
So when I was a little boy I used to accompany my mother to the temple as a little boy and my mother used to get me to fold my hands, ‘okay fold your hands’ and so I did. What next? ‘Pray.’ ‘What prayer?’ ‘Oh God give me intelligence,’ So finally Lord given me intelligence, favouring me. I joined Hare Krishna movement. But Mother is thinking ‘Hey! What kind of intelligence God has given you? I didn’t want you to pray so that you would end up getting Krishna, ending up becoming a Hare Krishna.’ So she was not happy.
So this goes on between parents and children of different parties, who is crazy? Materialists say Hare Krishnas are crazy and Hare Krishnas say ‘they are crazy.’ This goes on. Therefore he asked, "Who has created this kind of intelligence in you? Have you developed this consciousness by yourself? Since you are a small boy, someone must have induced you to think this way." Hiranyakashipu enquired ‘since you are a small boy, someone must have induced you.’ Hiranyakashipu smiles when he hears the first reply. Hiranyakashipu was amused, a little amazed and amused ‘okay, this is a child. He is a little immature, he is thinking like this, talking like this. Then he is asking ‘is it yourself or someone else has worked on you?
jahasa buddhir balanam bhidyate para-buddhibhih [SB 7.5.6]
Para-buddhibhih – by someone else buddhibhih, brainwashing – he is talking like this, childish talk jahasa. Then Hiranyakashipu wanted to know ‘who is it? Who is it? Tell me.’ And then he said ‘Yan Mayaya’ Who’s Maya – because of who’s Maya. These people are ours, they are there and these are outsiders. This kind of distinction, bheda buddhi this is done by who’s Maya? Illusory Maya, mama maya duratyaya. mama maya, who’s maya? mama maya- my maya, duratyaya – very difficult to overcome, and what does- one of the functions of this maya is? She makes you think this dvandva – ours
and theirs and this and that, so many things. Enemy and friends and on and on and on this fight goes on.
He said that Bhagavan he has taught me this. Or Narada Muni on behalf of Bhagavan has taught me this. pasu buddhi vidyate, Lord gives buddhi and to some he gives pasu buddhi. Animal- like buddhi, animal intelligence.
Now as I read this Buddhi – the very last think that Sukadeva Goswami said to King Pariksit – one of the last items in the twelth canto on the seventh day of the recitation of the Srimad Bhagavatam, ‘very soon the snake is on the way and is going to be reaching on time.’ So just prior to that, Sukadev Goswami’s final instruction to King Pariksit, ‘pasu buddhim jahi imam rajan.
So this thought, thinking what? This pasu buddhi, this kind of animalistic thinking kill this, you kill this thought. pasu buddhi, this animal like thought, that I will die. You have nothing to do with the death. bheda-abheda, janma-mrtyu, this bheda. So don’t think in terms of death, abandon this thought that you will die.
na jayate mriyate va kadacin, no death no birth for the soul, there is no birth or death. And like that there is another page to go, time is flying when you have fun, what happens? Time flies. They also say time stands still. Only in the present when there’s a Bhagavatam class everything stops, standstill. We are in present only.
There are some managers, time keepers sitting around looking at the watch and keeping track. And of course there’s a biological clock also, biological clock. Around nine o clock there is an alarm. They have an amusing way of speaking; ringing and we are waiting to hear a very favourite prayer {laughter}. Maha prasade..When will that day come, time come?
om namo bhagavate vasudevaya-to wake up, maha prasade – then one jumps. Hari hari, so maybe I’ll just quickly read and finish. Or tomorrow’s speaker will read the purport?
Prahlada Maharaja wanted to reply that an attitude favourable toward Visnu can develop only when the Lord is favourable. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, K?sna is the friend of everyone.
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati [BG 5.29]
The Lord is never an enemy to any of the millions of living entities, but is always a friend to everyone. What about devotees? Devotees are also, Lord is suhrdam sarva-bhutanam and devotee is suhrdam sarva-dehinam. sadhava sadhu bhusana. Remember that verse from Srimad Bhagavatam? Lord is
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam and devotee is suhrdam sarva-dehinam.
This is the same, this is also oneness between Lord and the Lord’s devotees, so they’re thinking alike. They are thinking alike. Devotees think like God. Not everything they could think, different things. But they think like God. That is how like father, like son. Children are God’s so they think like father, think like father. And when they think like this, that becomes high thinking.
Simple living and high thinking, high thinking is thinking like God, thinking like Krishna. That is high thinking. So Lord is always friend of
everyone and devotees are also friend of everyone. They also pray,
sarve sukhinah bhavantu Sarve santu niramayah
sarve bhadranni pashyantu makashcid-duhkha-bhag-bhavet
This is also high thinking, God thinks like this and devotees also think like this sarve sukhinah, sarve sukhinah.
ma kashcid-duhkha-bhag-bhavet
sarve bhadrani sarve santu niramayah
Let everyone become free from diseased condition, disease. I was invited for hospital opening and then I chanted this prayer, part of that is let everyone become free from disease.
sarve santu niramayah
The owner of the hospital said ‘Maharaja! You have prayed that let everyone become free from disease. I have just now opened my hospital. How could my business run if everyone. So this is happening. Broad thinking, high thinking. Wishing well and if there’s something you could do for their welfare.
If one thinks that the Lord is an enemy, his intelligence is pasu-buddhi, the intelligence of an animal. He falsely thinks, "I am different from my enemy, and my enemy is different from me. The enemy has done this, and therefore my duty is to kill him." This is seen all over the world, this philosophy, this tendency is all pervading. What you read in the pages of Bhagavatam here. This misconception is described in this verse as bheda-gatasati. The actual fact is that everyone is a servant of the Lord, as confirmed in Caitanya-caritamrta by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
jivera svarupa haya-krsneranitya-dasa
Bhakti Vinod Thakur says,
jiva krishna das ei vishvas karle tara dukha nahi.
’Just by knowing this, thin much ‘ei jiva krishna das.’ This living entity is servant of Krishna. karle tara dukha nahi there is no suffering. So
this is the propagation, how important this propagation of Krishna consciousness so that people could be happy.
As servants of the Lord, we are one, and there can be no questions of enmity or friendship. If one actually understands that every one of us is a servant of the Lord, where is the question of enemy or friend? Any question? No question, if we understand. For those who think in terms – they have not understood, so we have to understand.
Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Each statement here is like a vedavakya. That’s why we are also stopping every now and then, because there is so much has been said. Like the sutras. Each sentence becomes like a sutra, Vedanta sutra. We have to unpack, unpacking – analyse and then we have to contemplate. Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord, yes? If we have heard this then what we have to do? What do you think? We have to praise service of others and not be proud of his own service. Hanuman was a little proud one time after building the
bridge, when a little squirrel had come. She was picking up some particle, dust particles and climbing up the big boulders and those rocks, and then shaking her body and dumping all fifty gram of sand.
So Hanuman saw ‘Hey, get out of..’ So she was putting some cement in those rocks but Hanuman thought ‘what is this? We are building big mountains and she’s bringing five grams, fifty grams of sand. Get out.’ Did Hanuman appreciate that? No. Rama was observing ‘come, come here.’ Then when he was called he was looking behind. We always do that, huh? When you are sleeping, and the person who is sleeping and he wakes up and begins looking behind. Just to give impression ‘no, not me no! Maharaja is pointing out someone behind me, not me’ ‘No you Hanuman, you.’ Then Lord gave this lecture. ‘What do you think who you are?’ A trina dapi suni chena lecture, amanina manadena lecture. So this is a way of Vaishnava thinking, just
see.This is a way of Vaishnava thinking, Vaikuntha thinking, they think in Vaikuntha like this. And if we wish to back back to Vaikuntha, which we call going back to Godhead, unless we are trained and become perfect in thinking the way- not thinking the way. There’s no question of going back to Vaikuntha.
We are not fit for going back to Vaikuntha, we are not fit for going back to home, unless we begin thinking the way Vaikunthavasis, Golokavasis think. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of
another servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuntha competition. There is no question of enmity between servants.
Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to the best of his ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. If we could learn one of these things mentioned, that’s good enough for us to go back home, back to Krishna. Since everyone is a servant, everyone is on the same platform and is allowed to serve the Lord according to his ability. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita15.15. What are 15.15?
Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattah sm?tir jnanam apohanam ca
The Lord is situated in everyone's heart, giving dictation according to the attitude of the servant. However, the Lord gives different
dictation to the nondevotees and devotees. Two kinds of dictations, devotees one dictation, nondevotees another dictation. Just like this is what mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam. Jnanam for somebody, smritir jnanam for somebody, apohanam for another – the nondevotee. So one who says ‘God
exists, God exists’ that dictation is coming from God and for one who says ‘God doesn’t exist! Show me God!’ That kind of dictation is also
coming from God. That kind of dictation is also coming from God also.
‘Is your father in?’ ‘Let me find out, check.’ And the little boy had gone looking for his father and when his father found out that such and such gentleman ‘I don’t want to see him. Tell him that I am not here.’ So child goes back to the door and he said ‘my father said..’ ‘What did your father say?’ ‘He is not here. My father said he is not here.’
So God does not exist, who said? God says. If you want to hear it like that, if you deserve that kind of sravanam, okay so it’s available. Logic is there and arguments are there and reasoning – all, everything is all there eternally from beginning of creation. Such forgetfulness also existing and source is the Lord so Prabhupada said, dictations, two kinds of dictations. So devotee gets one kind nondevotee get yet another kind.
The nondevotees challenge the authority of the Supreme Lord, and therefore the Lord dictates in such a way that the nondevotees forget the Lord's service, life after life, and are punished by the laws of nature. But when a devotee very sincerely wants to render service to the Lord, the Lord dictates in a different way. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita 10.10. What is 10.10?
tesam satata-yuktanam bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te
Very important. "To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me." Everyone is actually a servant, not an enemy or friend, and everyone is working under different directions from the Lord, who directs each living entity according to his mentality.
End of the purport.
Srila Prabhupada ki…. jai.