# Pandal Lecture — March 19, 1972, Bombay > mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha > yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ > asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ > yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu > [[bg/7/1|[Bg. 7.1] ]] How is the Lord, His qualities, form, pastimes, paraphernalia and entourage. First, the name of the Lord. To understand the Lord it is said in the scriptures, we should chant the holy name of the Lord. > naama cintamani krishna caitanya rasa vigraha The name of the Lord is full of consciousness. > Naama caitanya rasa vigraha nitya mukta suddha abhinnatya naama naami Just like the Lord is a conscious substance, *sac-cid-ananda vigraha* (pure eternity, knowledge and bliss), similarly the Lord's name is also a conscious substance and *sac-cid-ananda* *vigraha*. That is the difference between the Lord and us. The material names are there. Just like you are thirsty and you want water. So if say, water! Water! Water! Your thirst will not be quenched. Why? Because this name is a material name (water), while the substance water is different. Duality! The material world is called dual. There is a difference between one thing and another. Here the name and the possessor of the name are not the same. But in the spiritual world there is no difference between the name and the possessor of the name. This we should understand. > naama cintamani krishna caitanya rasa vigraha > cintamani! > All spiritual. > naama cintamani krishna caitanya rasa vigraha, purna suddha. Just like the Lord is *purna* (complete), *purnat purna evasisyate* Similarly the Name is complete and pure, non-contaminated by the material modes, *purna, suddha brhama vastu*. That is why it is called *shabd brahm*. The Hare Krishna *mantra* is shabda brahm. *purna, suddha, nitya* The names of the material world, like my name Mr. such and such, will change whenever the body changes. It even changes within the same body, because it is not eternal. But the Lord's name is *purna*, *suddha*, *nitya*, *mukta*. *Mukta* means eternally free from material contamination. Why? > abinnatya naama naamina Because in the spiritual word the holy name is identical (*abhinna*) with He who is denoted by that name (*naami* or Krishna). The same thing. For example, these American, European boys who are contributing to this movement, they did not have any knowledge of our Hindu traditions, nor are they aware of the *varnashrama dharma* of being a Brahman, *kshatriya*, *vaisya* or *sudra* as these are not prevalent in the western countries. Despite all this just on the basis of the holy name they are so beautiful and pure, it is there for all of you to see. Only on the basis of the holy name!! There is no other magic. They are devoid of any sinful activities, are pure and are chanting the holy name and doing kirtan and just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said, *ceto darpanam marjanam*! The holy name...Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, > ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha\–davagni-nirvapanam > shreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam > anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamritaswadanam > sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam This is the saying of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, especially in Kali yuga. In Satya yuga the name and the possessor of the name were the same. In Kaliyuga the names, even Tulsidas has said that all perfection (*siddhi*) can be obtained on the basis of the holy names. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu has also said, *Iha hoite sarva siddhi hoibe tomar* You simply chant. Just chant the holy names of the Lord. There are three stages in chanting the holy names of the Lord. The first stage is the chanting the holy names with offences. The second stage is *nāmābhāsa* and the third stage is suddha nama or offenseless chanting of the holy names of the Lord. In the *nāmābhāsa* stage the offenses have almost stopped or they become clear of all material contamination. And in the *suddha* *nama* stage his dormant love for Krishna awakens. In the offensive stage of chanting one feels material happiness and distress. These are Vedic injunctions. In the initial stages there will be offenses in chanting the holy names but slowly, ceto darpanam marjanam. As the mirror of the heart gets cleansed, by the process of chanting of the holy names. ceto darpanam marjanam. What needs to be cleansed? *Aham brahmasmi.* I am not this material body, this is ceto darpanam marjanam. What is the reason for all this suffering in this world? Our attachment to the body! This material body is made of three elements, and I think that is me. I am Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Indian, American. These designations are for the body and because we are caught up in these designations we have so much quarrel and suffering. Nothing else! The real aim of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to get rid of these bodily designations. *Sarvapadi vinirmuktam*, to be rid of all bodily designations. In our society there are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, African, people from all countries, religions but they have forgotten all this. They are devoid of all bodily designations. No one here thinks of himself as American, Hindu, Brahman, kshatriya, sudra No! They all think themselves to be Krishna dasa. Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said, > Jivera svarupa haya nitya krishna dasa This is the constitutional position of a living entity. The real position of a living entity is to be the servant of the Lord. But if he falls sick then he questions as to why he is the servant of the Lord. I am the master, he thinks. He doesn't want to be the servant because he doesn't have knowledge about the advantages of being the servant of the Lord. He thinks that by being the servant in the material world he will be kicked about, so I cannot be a servant of anybody. But they don't have knowledge of the Absolute Truth so that is why they don't want to be the servant. Ultimately he wants to become the Lord. First he tries to be a minister or a Birla or a this or that and when everything fails he wants to become God. That is why he is diseased, he does not want to be the servant. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, leave all this, *jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva*. All this mental speculation that I am God. This is simply mental speculation. Is it so easy to be God? We believe that God incarnated as Lord Ramachandra, Lord Krishna and performed such wonderful feats, made a bridge over the ocean, the stones did not sink into the ocean. This is God. Lord Krishna at the age of seven lifted a mountain on his little finger. These acts were incredulous which even the greatest of the yogis could not imitate, what to speak of ordinary human beings! Incredulous! The Lord himself says, > mattaḷ parataram nanyat > kiṣcid asti dhanaṣjaya So not having knowledge of the Absolute Truth results in misguided intelligence. > avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā > mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam > paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto > mama bhūta-maheśvaram Today people are unaware that the Lord is all-powerful and the performer of incredulous feats and that is why we have cheap God's. The result is that everybody has become atheist. This has happened. Everyone thinks he is God, why should I go to the temple, why should I worship anybody, why should I become anyone's devotee, I am myself God! And I am not being sinful, I can do anything! Do all kinds of sinful activity—say big Swamis in their lectures. They say why are you afraid of sinful activities, it is all your imagination. This is what they say. This Godlessness that prevails in the world today. When I went to America they told me that God is dead, which God are you talking about? This was their thinking. Then they wrote in the newspaper that we thought God was dead but Swamji has brought God back through his chanting of the holy names. They accepted this fact. We are all living entities, *na jayate na mriyate.* The living entities are part and parcel of Krishna, they never die nor does he take birth. God whose part and parcel we are, is dead- this is all wrong thinking. Therefore the Lord says, > mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha > yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ Take shelter of the Lord, or the shelter of the devotee of the Lord. The Lord and his devotee- the devotee of the Lord is '*sevak bhagavan'* [servant of the Lord] and the Lord himself is '*sevya bhagavan*' [object of service, Lord]. What is the relationship between the Lord and his devotee? The devotee repeats whatever the Lord has said. He does not manufacture facts or engage in speculation and sideline God. This *Bhagavad Gita* printed by Mcmillan company, '*Bhagavad Gita as it is'*, is selling very well. We started in 1968 and from 1968 till now we have had six editions and in each edition they are publishing not less than 50000 books. And recently we have published the *Bhagavad Gita* enlarged edition. In that we have given the word by word meaning, translation, transliteration, purport of each *shloka* and that is going to be printed by Mcmillan company by August. It is a very heavy book with 1100 pages. The Mcmillan company's trade manager has published a recent report that, he is a business why should he print our books? He says that the demand for '*Bhagavad Gita as it is*' is increasing while the demand for other editions of *Gita* is going down. I have heard from reliable sources that, I will not take names. One well known Swamiji who was invited to speak on *Srimad Bhagavatam* at a rich man's house and the householder told him not to speak Vedanta knowledge but to speak the *Bhagawatam* as it is. So this is the result of our preaching, those who take the name of scriptures, Vedanta and teach all wrong things, that has spoilt the whole thing. One teacher was asked what is the meaning of ... he said ....so the enquirer said I asked the meaning of a word and I now need to understand the meaning of the answer. Caitanya Mahaprabhu when he took sanyas, then Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya a logician and a impersonalist. So when Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Jagannath Puri temple and saw Lord Jagannath he fainted and was unconscious. So Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was the royal priest he was present there. Being a priest he knew that this was not an ordinary event and that Mahaprabhu was not an ordinary devotee. He fainted immediately on seeing the Lord. He even verified with a cotton swab and put it on his nostril to see if he was alive or not. Those who go into Samadhi their life air stops. So when he understood that He is not an ordinary devotee he told his servants to take Mahaprabhu to be taken to his house. And when the other devotees came and chanted Hare Krishna, Mahaprabhu regained consciousness. This was the conditon of Mahaprabhu. So Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya told Mahaprabhu who was only twenty four years old and young enough to be his son. He said you have taken renunciation very early, this is not correct.