# March 28 ## Spoken on March 28 *Lectures from this day: 9 recordings* --- **[1966: Bhagavad-gītā 2.46–47](spoken/1966/660328bg.ny.md#id4)** > So we are discussing for the last few days on the constitutional position of ourself, myself, yourself—the soul, pure soul. Now, we have discussed that this pure soul is distinct from this material body. And we can understand this constitution of the soul by the presence of consciousness. The Lord says, Kṛṣṇa says, that *avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam*. You can understand what you are. You are present all over your body. You are present all over your body. Wherever you can try by pinching your body, you will feel some pain, this, this part of this body or this part of this body. And this pain feeling will be stopped as soon as the consciousness is taken away from this body. Dead body, where there is no consciousness, the dead body does not feel even he is chopped up by some chopper, because the consciousness is gone. Therefore, it is not very difficult to understand that "I am the consciousness. I am not this material body." We have discussed all this point. > Now, so far scriptures are concerned, there are different scriptures all over the world in the civilized society, but *Bhagavad-gītā,* the Lord says that "The essence of all scripture is to understand my constitutional position." That's all. All the rituals... We should not be stuck up to the rituals or to the formulas of the... Of course, in the preliminary stages we require to stick to the formulas of religious scripture. But we must know that the whole idea is targeted to understand my real position. That is the whole idea of all scripture. --- **[1968: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.1–3](spoken/1968/680328sb.sf#id45)** > You may say that when we do something bad, why God gives us sanction? God does not give us sanction, but we force Him to give us sanction. Therefore He gives us sanction. Otherwise, He does not give sanction. But because we want to do it persistently, so God gives us sanction: "All right. You can do it. And you have to enjoy or suffer the result." Therefore in the *Bhagavad-gītā,* the last instruction is that *sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja* : "Don't try to do according to your whims. You just surrender unto Me, abide by Me. Then I shall give you all protection. But if you want to do according to your own whims, and if you do not hear Me, what can I do? You do that and enjoy the result." > We living entities, we are also *vibhinnāṁśa.* We are also part and parcel, but we are separated. Therefore we haven't got the full potency of God. We have got potencies of God. The six potencies, namely opulence, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation, we have also got these in minute quantity. Whatever we see here, the richest man in the world, that is only minute particle of the richness of God. Because we are part and parcel, minute part and parcel, therefore we have got all the opulences in minute form. --- **[1969: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.6](spoken/1969/690328sb.haw#id7)** > So I answered that actually this is not material advancement. Material advancement means to have easily the material needs. What are our material needs? The mat... Because we have got this material body, our material needs are four: we want to eat something; without eating we cannot exist, so either a human being or an animal, everyone who has got this material body requires to eat something. Then he must have some shelter to rest. Eating and sleeping—*āhāra, nidrā*. The Sanskrit word is *āhāra nidrā*. Then every material living entities... > Actually I see you are very beautiful, you are very nice, or I can talk with you; but to understand you fully it requires further, further, further, further knowledge. Similarly, that means... My point is seeing... We acquire knowledge by our senses, by seeing, by touching, by tasting, by hearing, by smelling. When I see something, I appreciate, "Oh, it is very beautiful," or "It is very ugly." That is my knowledge acquired by seeing. I taste something, a nice mango. By smelling I can understand, "Oh, it is very sweet." By hearing I can understand, "Oh, this music is very nice." --- **[1971: Bhagavad-gītā 7.1–2](spoken/1971/710328bg.bom#id71)** > Therefore Kṛṣṇa knowledge is so perfect. And if we take the real process, *śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam*,* the devotional service... Because Kṛṣṇa says, *bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ*. Here... In the Fourth Chapter, He says that *yo jānāti māṁ tattvataḥ.* Now here, in the Seventh Chapter also, Kṛṣṇa says again: *tattvataḥ.* The *tattvataḥ* word is very much used about understanding Kṛṣṇa. Not superficially, but in truth one has to understand. > So therefore Kṛṣṇa says particularly here, *mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan...* We have to execute the Kṛṣṇa consciousness *yoga* system under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. *Mad-āśrayaḥ.* Then *asaṁśaya,* without any doubt; *samagram,* in fullness. In fullness means *brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti*. Kṛṣṇa is *sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. --- **[1972: Bhagavad-gītā 7.11–13](spoken/1972/720328bg.bom#id7)** > So here Kṛṣṇa says, *balaṁ balavatāṁ cāhaṁ:* "I am the strength." So long Kṛṣṇa allows you to use the strength, you can become proud of your strength. But as soon as He withdraws, then you are useless. This is Kṛṣṇa conscious. If anyone understands this philosophy, that "I possess this strength, I possess this wealth, I possess this beauty, I possess such and such education, riches—but they are all Kṛṣṇa's gift. Actually I do not possess anything. Kṛṣṇa has given them to use, and He has given the privilege to me to use it. But I must know that these things are possession of Kṛṣṇa," this is Kṛṣṇa consciousness sense. Therefore because we are wrongly thinking that "I am the proprietor of this thing; I possess this thing," this is *māyā*. When you come to the conclusion that "I do not possess anything; everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. I am simply allowed to use it, that's all..." Everything. We are claiming, "This is our country," "This is my land." Actually it is not so. The land belongs to Kṛṣṇa. He has already explained it, *bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ* : > Putrārthe kriyate bhāryā*. *Bhāryā* means wife, and *putra* means son. For begetting a son, a wife is accepted—not for enjoying sex life. At the present moment it has become so. Wife means legalized prostitute. They say marriage is legalized prostitution, because they are habituated to prostitution, so it becomes legalized. But actually the *dharma,* religious principle, means *putrārthe kriyate bhāryā Putraḥ piṇḍaṁ prayojanam*. That is Vedic injunction. So Kṛṣṇa says *dharmāviruddho kāma: "*When this lusty affair is sanctioned by religious principle, that kind of lust I am." That means if you beget son according to the religious principle, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise, if you become unnecessary lusty and attack your wife or somebody, that is sinful. --- **[1974: Bhagavad-gītā 4.8](spoken/1974/740328bg.bom#id18)** > Another place this the word *duṣkṛti* is used. *Duṣkṛti* means... *Kṛti* means meritorious, one who has got merit, nice merit. But it is employed for sinful activities, they are called *duṣkṛti.* And one who uses his merit for pious activities, he is called *sukṛti. Catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ sukṛtino 'rjuna*. Those who are *sukṛtinaḥ,* pious, they can be engaged in devotional service. *Catur bhajante.* This word *bhajana* is used. *Bhajana* is meant for the *sukṛtina,* those who are pious. Not the impious. *Bhajana* is not possible for the impious because Kṛṣṇa says *na maṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ*. They cannot take to *bhajana. Māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ.* They pose themselves as very much advanced, but actually *māyā* has taken away their knowledge. They cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. They will accept some..., something imitation. > Simply cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness favorably, not unfavorably. Kṛṣṇa consciousness... Just like demons like Kaṁsa; he was also Kṛṣṇa conscious. What was his purpose? He was conscious, he was making plan how to kill Kṛṣṇa. That's all. That is not *anukūla. Ānukūlyena.* We should be Kṛṣṇa conscious favorably. "What Kṛṣṇa wants, and how can I serve Him?" That is *anukūla.* And "Kṛṣṇa wants this, I'll not do this. Rather I shall kill Kṛṣṇa. I shall read *Bhagavad-gītā* to kill Kṛṣṇa. There is no Kṛṣṇa. There was no Kṛṣṇa. There was no battlefield of Kurukṣetra. It is imaginary," that means the Kaṁsa's program, for killing Kṛṣṇa. So we should not adopt that. That is *pratikūla* Kṛṣṇa consciousness, reading Kṛṣṇa's books but trying to kill Kṛṣṇa. So this is going on: "Not to Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa says, *man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru*, and a learned scholar, commentator, is saying, "It is not to Kṛṣṇa, not to the person Kṛṣṇa." This is going on. This kind of consciousness will not help us. *Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanam*. --- **[1974: Lecture](spoken/1974/740328mw.bom)** > The incidences are so described that anyone can remember. And by remembering these incidences, he becomes liberated. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. --- **[1975: Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.4](spoken/1975/750328cc.may#id12)** > So if you don't go through Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it will be very difficult to understand Kṛṣṇa. That is practical. Just like you young boys and girls from Western countries. You have taken up Kṛṣṇa so seriously. Why? Because we are trying to understand Kṛṣṇa through Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So we should follow this principle. There will be no difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa. And as soon as you understand Kṛṣṇa, your life is successful. Of course, we cannot understand Kṛṣṇa fully. As far as possible, at least if we understand that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this much is sufficient. This much is sufficient. *Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam*. Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya*. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ*. Aham ādir hi devānām*. These things are there, already stated, but the so-called scholars and politicians, they misinterpret in a different way and mislead the people. That is going on. Therefore, in spite of *Bhagavad-gītā* being read all over the world for the last two hundred years, not a single person became a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. This is the defect. So let us try to understand Kṛṣṇa through Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and as we have repeatedly said, that through Caitanya Mahāprabhu you understand Kṛṣṇa and spread this cult all over the world. People are suffering for want of knowledge of Kṛṣṇa. > So Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says... In the beginning Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was appreciated by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī as *mahā-vadānyāvatāra.* There are many incarnations of Kṛṣṇa, *keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare, keśava dhṛta-nṛsiṁha-rūpa jaya jagadīśa...,* many incarnations. But this incarnation, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is *anarpita-carīṁ cirāt.* The mercy of this incarnation is unlimited. It was never given before. That is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy. He distributed the most confidential part of love of Godhead. Although we are living in this fallen age, Kali-yuga, but He is giving the topmost platform of loving Kṛṣṇa, *anarpita-carīṁ cirāt.* Therefore He is supposed to be the most munificent incarnation. *Namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te*. He is giving directly *kṛṣṇa-prema.* It is very difficult to understand Kṛṣṇa, and what to speak of His loving affairs. It is very difficult. --- ## Letters on March 28 *Letters from this day: 16* --- **[1960: Letter to Dr. Y.G. Naik M.Sc. Ph.D](letters/1947-1965/600328_dr._y.g._naik_m.sc._ph.d)** > Principal Gujarat College, Dean, Faculty of Science, Gujarat University Ahmedabad --- **[1967: Letter to Brahmananda](letters/1967/670328_brahmananda)** > If you expect that Payne is coming with $20000.00 second mortgage money then we shall not lag behind. We are prepared to pay the balance $5000.00 and other fees at any cost. --- **[1967: Letter to Brahmananda Satsvarupa Rayarama Gargamuni Rupanuga Donald](letters/1967/670328_brahmananda_satsvarupa_rayarama_gargamuni_rupanuga_donald)** > "A person who is not in Krishna consciousness has no good qualifications. However so called gentleman one may be or academically educated he may be he is hovering over the mental plane and therefore he must commit nuisance being influenced by the external energy. --- **[1968: Letter to Mahapurusa](letters/1968/680328_mahapurusa)** > It is very good news for me that you are regularly chanting your 16 rounds; try to increase the rounds, but don't decrease. Yes, if you can inject this Krishna Consciousness to the young children, it will be a great service to the humanity and to the Lord. --- **[1969: Letter to Jadurani](letters/1969/690328_jadurani)** > Govinda dasi has already written you letter to come here as soon as possible. I hope you come before I leave this place on the 31st March 1969. This tape may be returned to L.A. address. --- **[1970: Letter to Satsvarupa](letters/1970/700328_satsvarupa)** > Regarding opening of a branch in Providence, Rhode Island, it is very encouraging. Both Nandakisora and Sri Dhama are nice devotees and I am sure they will be successful in conducting the new center. It is a good news for me. --- **[1970: Letter to Syamasundara](letters/1970/700328_syamasundara)** > Since a few weeks I have not received any letter from you and I understand also that some of you have moved to George's place. I shall be glad to know what is the program there. --- **[1971: Letter to Anandini](letters/1971/710328_anandini)** > I am so glad to hear how nicely you are engaged in devotional service there in our Philadelphia temple, under the expert guidance of Nayana Bhirama. I have received so many favorable reports about the activities there in Philadelphia and am so glad that you are there also and helping out. As the temple is growing more and more, so can your service expend also. --- **[1971: Letter to Bali-Mardana](letters/1971/710328_bali-mardana)** > In the meantime I have received one letter from Hanuman that one lady is prepared to donate a nice piece of land and $50,000 for erecting a Radha-Krsna Temple. --- **[1971: Letter to Hanuman Amogha Gopala](letters/1971/710328_hanuman_amogha_gopala)** > I have also received your telegram and I have already informed you that if need be I am prepared to go there but when things are completely matured. --- **[1971: Letter to M. Chatherjee](letters/1971/710328_m._chatherjee)** > Still I shall be glad to answer all your questions in this regard, After reading the Anubhasya explanation given by Srila Prabhupada. In the meantime, if possible, kindly explain what you mean by Visnupad and what you mean by Prabhupada. --- **[1971: Letter to Manibandha](letters/1971/710328_manibandha)** > Yes, the difficulty in these marriages is that our brahmacharies are getting themselves married with no means of support. --- **[1971: Letter to Rupanuga](letters/1971/710328_rupanuga)** > In continuation of my last letter to you dated 23rd March, with regards to your proposal for helping the disturbed members of the greater society by Krsna consciousness, it is a very nice idea. --- **[1973: Letter to Satadhanya](letters/1973/730328_satadhanya)** > I am very much glad to hear that you have decided to return to Japan and help Trivikrama Maharaja. By now you should have the full fare and be getting ready to go there. I have heard from Trivikrama that they are distributing large amounts of BTGs therein Tokyo, 500 to 1000 per day. --- **[1974: Letter to Srimate Lilavati Munshi](letters/1974/740328_srimate_lilavati_munshi)** > In continuation from my last letter to you, I wish to inform you that I have now arrived in Bombay a week ago. --- **[1977: Letter to Candravali](letters/1977/770328_candravali)** > Regarding keeping the cows, unless there is sufficient grazing land and cultivation, it is very difficult. But there has been some discussion about having a farm in California. You may write to Ramesvara Maharaja and Satsvarupa Maharaja in this regard. ---