Prabhupāda: Bring water, water. Water? So today is a very auspicious day, Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda’s birthday. Here is the picture of Ṭhākura Sac-cid-ānanda Bhaktivinoda. He was one of the ācāryas of this disciplic succession from Kṛṣṇa. We have got a succession table from Kṛṣṇa, genealogical table. There are two kinds of genealogical tables, one by the semina-father, his son, his son, like that. That is material genealogical table. And there is one spiritual genealogical table, disciplic succession. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, the original father, Supreme Personality of Godhead, He spoke the Vedic knowledge to Brahma, Lord Brahma. He spoke to Nārada. Nārada spoke to Vyāsa. Vyāsa spoke to Madhvācārya. So in this disciplic succession, Lord Caitanya, from Lord Caitanya, the Six Gosvāmīs, and similarly, coming down, down, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, then Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, then my spiritual master, then we are, next generation, my disciples.

Prabhupāda: …colleges, universities, that will be very nice. Ravīndra-svarūpa: I wrote you a while ago. I was working on a doctorate dissertation. Prabhupāda: Huh? Ravīndra-svarūpa: A doctoral dissertation, a Ph.D. dissertation, that when I became a devotee I was studying religion… [Break] Prabhupāda: …Hindu, or I may be a Christian, but the fact is that we are serving somebody. Either you be Hindu or Muslim or Christian or you may profess any religion, but you must be serving somebody. Is it not? So that serving is religion. Try to understand this. Kīrtirāja: Śrīla Prabhupāda? I just wanted to say I found the name of that Council General. His name is A.K. Ray, R-a-y. So do wish to do anything further with it? [end]

Prabhupāda: Yena śarīra-bandhaḥ. People are working very hard, day and night. Karmātmakam. Karmātmakam means that “I shall work and make profit and enjoy.” That is called karmātmakam, fruitive activities. Everyone is working for some profit. So in this way, according to different karma, or according to different association. Everyone is engaged in different karma, or activities. Just like disease. Disease means different type of contamination. This is disease. Doctors, they have got different…, they have to treat different types of diseases by different types of medicine. Why? Because the patient has contaminated a different type of infection.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. So there was a great meeting. Just like we are holding here meeting for a few days, a similar meeting was held thousands of years ago, at least four thousand years ago, in a place which is called Naimiṣāraṇya. The Naimiṣāraṇya is in India. It is near Lucknow. Here is Professor Shivasrava[?]. He knows. The station is called now Nimsar. I think it is in Hardoi District? So still the place is there, and if you sometimes go to India you can visit this place. It is a very nice place for spiritual atmosphere. So formerly all the great sages used to assemble in that Naimiṣāraṇya. It is said that all the demigods used to visit that place. So in that great meeting, Bhāgavata was discussed.

So, imaṁ dharmyam, religious fight. Just like even nowadays also, if the soldier disobeys the order of the commander, that soldier is shot down by martial law. Because to disobey the order of the commander is sinful. So Kṛṣṇa says, atha cet tvam imaṁ dharmyaṁ saṅgrāmaṁ na kariṣyasi. This fight is not ordinary fight. It is not the politician’s fight. “For the sake of religion, you must fight. And if you do not, then sva-dharmam… You are a kṣatriya. Not only kṣatriya, you are a very well known fighter. You have been recognized by so many demigods.” Arjuna got the pāśupata-astra. To test Arjuna’s fighting capacity, sometimes Lord Śiva, when Arjuna was hunting in the forest, so Lord Śiva also, as a hunter, he appeared before him, and when a boar was killed by hunting, Lord Śiva claimed that “I have done this killing.” Arjuna said, “No, I have done this.” So there was controversy, who will claim that hunt, I mean to say, killed animal. So Arjuna was claiming and Lord Śiva, as a hunter, he was also claiming. Then there was fight between Lord Śiva and Arjuna. So Lord Śiva was defeated. So he then disclosed his identity, that “I am very much pleased that you are such a nice fighter.” So he presented him one arrow which is called pāśupata-astra. Similarly, he sometimes fought with Indra. He gave him some astra, weapon. This was the system, that a kṣatriya is presented with a kind of weapon, a brāhmaṇa is presented with Vedas, ...

Prabhupāda: As soon as you make “Hindu religion,” “Muslim religion,” “Christian religion,” immediately it is not religion. Immediately. Because Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya. Why does He say, sarva-dharmān parityajya? [aside:] Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. Because that is not religion. The so-called religions which are going on, they are not religion. That we do not say at the present moment, because you are not so strong. But we have to say that. There is no religion. All cheating. Why Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya? Why? Akṣayānanda: Because there is no other religion. Prabhupāda: Yes. There is no religion.

Degradation. The first degradation is undesirable association, the first degradation; then no more respect for scriptural injunction, second degradation; and then the third step, that aghāyur aśuciḥ, you become infected with the low-grade quality. Jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ. The first-grade qualification is sattva-guṇa; second, rajo-guṇa; and the third, tamo-guṇa. So they believe in the evolution. Now, in this human form of life, what is further evolution? The further evolution is that if you are keeping in sattva-guṇa, in goodness, then you can be promoted, elevated, to the higher planetary system. Ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ. And if you keep yourself in the rajo-guṇa, then you will keep within this Bhūrloka. And if you are infected with the tamo-guṇa, then you again go to lower-grade life, again animal life, plant life. This is the nature’s process. You cannot avoid it. You may be very much proud falsely, but after death, after giving up this body, you are completely… You are already completely under the regulative principle of nature. You cannot violate even. But if you foolishly violate, then you are preparing your next life according to your karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa.

Prabhupāda: So here is a verse, number fifteen, from Bhagavad-gītā, Seventh Chapter: na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ So we have made this verse a standard of examination. We haven’t got to do anything. Everything is there, because Kṛṣṇa is the original guru. Śiṣyas te ‘haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam. Arjuna, in the paramparā system, is teaching us how to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. So this is the qualification how to advance in spiritual consciousness. People are suffering. For want of spiritual consciousness, they are living like animal, dehātma-buddhiḥ. yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijyadhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ Go-kharaḥ means animals—cows and asses. Anyone who is thinking, “I am this body,” he is animal. This is the verdict. Actually he is animal. If the dog is thinking, “I am dog,” and if some gentleman is thinking, “I am Indian,” “I am American,” or “I am Englishman,” where is the difference? To identify the body? There is no difference.

Prabhupāda: …with some Indian wife they were called Eurasian, and Englishman marrying Indian wife, they were called Anglo-Indian. There was a big Anglo-Indian community, and they were given good facilities by the Britishers for government jobs, railways. In railway, almost cent percent. The driver, the guard, the ticket inspector, all—means, semi-important jobs—they were all given to these Anglo-Indians. Because they were not very much educated. And officers, they were all Britishers. Officers, secretaries. And Indians were clerks. [laughs] Indians, they were accepted as clerks only. No officers. In military, Indian Sikhs and Gurkha, especially Sikhs, they were very valiant. Still they are valiant. They were given the post of captain. Not general. General all Englishmen.

Prabhupāda: So, everything is going nice? Akṣayānanda: Yes, by your grace only. Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We have a very beautiful garden for you. Prabhupāda: Hm. Garden? Oh. Akṣayānanda: Guesthouse has improved very much. Now we have about twenty paying guests. And during Śrāvaṇa and Janmāṣṭamī it was completely full. Very, very encouraging. Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Actually, many of our Life Members were turned down. We met some in Delhi. They said they couldn’t get in. The whole thing was full. Akṣayānanda: They were fighting to come. Prabhupāda: So, they are allowed three days free? Akṣayānanda: Only. Also book distribution has improved very much. Prabhupāda: Locally?