New York City - Bg. 4.13
The following is a lecture of the Bhagavad-gita Chapter 4, Verse 13, Given by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in New York in 1973
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- “catur-varnyan maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah tasya kartaram api mam viddhy akartaram avyayam”
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- This is a verse from Bhagavad-gita. Most of you know this book, Bhagavad-gita.
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- It is a very famous book of knowledge and we are presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is.
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- This Krishna consciousness movement means to present Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any adulteration.
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- So, Krishna says four classes of men. “catur-varyan”
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- ‘Catur’ means four and ‘varnyam’ means division of society.
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- Just like ‘varnyam’ means color. As there are division of color, red, blue, and yellow,
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- similarly human being, human society should be divided according to the quality.
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- The quality is also called color.
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- “catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah”
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- So, there are three qualities in this material world. Three qualities.
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- Or three colors. Red, blue, and yellow. You mix it. Then you become 81 colors.
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- Three colors. Three upon three, multiplied it becomes nine. Nine upon nine multiplied, it becomes 81.
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- So, there are 8,400,000 different forms of living entities. Due to this mixture of different qualities.
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- Nature is manufacturing different types of body according to the association
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- of the living entity to the particular type of quality.
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- Living entities are part and parcel of God.
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- Suppose God is the big fire and living entities are just like sparks.
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- The sparks, they are also fire. The sparks also, if one spark falls on your body, on your garment, it burns.
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- But it is not as powerful as the big fire.
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- Similarly, God is all-powerful, God is great.
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- We are part and parcel of God, therefore our greatness is very, very small. Infinitesimal.
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- God is great. Therefore He has created so many universes.
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- We cannot account for even one universe.
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- This one universe which we see, the sky, the dome, within that sky, outer space,
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- there are millions and trillions of stars, planets, they’re floating.
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- Floating in the air, everyone knows.
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- We can float one Sputnik in the sky and we take so much credit,
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- that we have become very, very great scientist. We don’t care for God.
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- This is foolishness. Foolish person will say like that.
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- But one who is intelligent, he knows that God is floating millions and trillions
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- of planets in the sky, and what have we done in the comparison?
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- This is intelligence.
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- So we have become very much proud of our scientific knowledge,
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- and therefore, at the present moment, we defy the existence of God.
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- Sometimes we say that “I have become God now.”
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- These are foolish statements. You are nothing in comparison to the intelligence…
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- He’s also intelligent. Because we are part and parcel of God,
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- that we can study what is God if we simply study ourselves.
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- Just like if you study a drop of sea water,
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- if you analyze chemically, you’ll find so many chemicals in that drop.
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- So you can understand what is the composition of the sea.
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- The same composition, but in greater quantity.
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- That is the difference between God and ourself.
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- We are small gods, we can say, small gods. Teeny, sample gods.
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- Therefore, we are so much proud.
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- But we should not be proud because we should know that all our qualities are taken from God.
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- Because we are part and parcel.
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- So originally all these qualities are there in God.
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- And therefore Vedanta-sutra says what is God, what is the Absolute Truth?
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- “Athatho brahma-jijnasa”
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- When [we] inquire about God, about the Absolute Truth, the answer is immediately given:
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- “janmady asya yatah.”
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- The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything comes, everything emanates.
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- So everything is coming from God. He’s the original source of all supplies.
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- Now what is our position? There are innumerable living entities.
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- “Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam”
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- That is Vedic information. God is also a living entity, like us, but He’s the chief living entity.
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- And we are also living entity.
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- Just like one father. Father may have got twenty children. Twenty sons.
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- Formerly, they used to have one hundred sons.
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- Now the fathers have no such power.
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- But in the, up to five thousand years ago, King Dhritarastra gave birth to one hundred sons.
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- Now we are… We say, we are saying that we are overpopulated.
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- But that is not the fact. At the present moment, where is the question of overpopulation?
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- Now, how many of us giving birth hundreds of children? No. Nobody.
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- But formerly, a father could give birth to one hundred children.
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- So there is no question of overpopulation.
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- And even there is overpopulation, we get information…, information from the Vedas:
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- “eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman.”
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- That one chief living entity, God, He can maintain innumerable living entities.
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- There is no question of overpopulation. This is a false theory.
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- If God can create, He can maintain also.
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- And actually, this is the fact. I am traveling all over the world.
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- There are so much vacant places upon the surface of the globe
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- that ten times more than the present population can be easily maintained.
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- But we, we, we do not know how to use it.
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- In Africa, in Australia, in your America, enough land still lying.
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- But because we have encroached upon the land of Krishna, the difficulty’s there.
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- China is overpopulated, India is overpopulated.
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- But if we take to Krishna consciousness these difficulties will be over within a second.
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- Krishna consciousness means to take everything Krishna’s.
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- I am also Krishna’s. That is Krishna consciousness.
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- Actually, that is fact. Everything…Krishna means God.
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- Everything belong to God. I also belong to God. “Isavasyam idam sarvam”
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- Everything belongs to God. That’s a fact. But we do not accept the fact.
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- We take something illusory. Therefore it is called ‘maya.’ Just like the Americans.
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- They are claiming this land is for the American group.
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- Similarly, other nations, they’re…but the land actually belongs to God.
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- The land, the sky, the water, and the products in the land, in the sky, in the water,
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- everything belongs to God. And we are children of God.
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- We have got the right to live at the expense of the father.
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- Just like we live, small children. They live at the cost of father.
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- Similarly, we also live by the arrangement of God.
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- Why should we claim that this is our property?
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- This is the idea of spiritual communism.
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- In Bhagavata these things are stated, how to feel spiritual communism.
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- In the spiritual communism…
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- The present communists, they are thinking of the human being only.
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- And the animals are being sent to the slaughterhouse.
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- Although the human being and the animal is born in the same land…
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- Actually they are also nationals. National means one who’s born in that particular land.
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- So why not these animals, nationals?
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- But because they have no Krishna consciousness, they cannot think so broadly.
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- They think nationalism means it is limited to the human being. Not to the animals, not to the trees.
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- But when you become Krishna conscious, you understand that the trees, the plants, the reptiles,
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- the aquatics, the human beings, the beasts, everyone, each and everyone, part and parcel of God.
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- According to their karma, they have got different bodies, the color, as I explained.
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- According to “karanam guna-sango ‘sya sad-asad-janma-yonisu”
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- These things are described in the Bhagavad-gita.
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- One has got a different type of body according to his karma. “Karmana daiva netrena jantor deha upapattaye.”
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- By karma we create next body. So this is a great science.
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- People do not know how things are taking place, how there are so many species of life,
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- how one is so-called happy, one so-called distressed. Why one is rich, one is poor.
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- Why there are so many planets.
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- Why some of them are demigods and some of them are human beings, some of them are animals.
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- It is a great science but there is no cultivation of this knowledge in the modern universities or educational institutions.
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- Perhaps we are the only group of men, we are trying to propagate this science of Krishna consciousness.
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- But it is a perfect science to understand the position.
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- Now Krishna says: “catur varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah.”
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- Now the…When we are animals, we had to pass through animal bodies.
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- By evolution, we have come to this human form of body.
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- Now it is an opportunity to get out of this cycle of birth and death.
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- This is our real problem. But people, because they have no education, poor fund of knowledge.
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- There is no educational institution how transmigration of the soul takes place.
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- They do not know. Big, big M.A., Ph.D.'s.
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- But they do not know what is the actual position of the living entity.
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- But that is the real problem. They do not know the real problem. The real problem is…
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- It is stated in the Bhagavad-Gita: “janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi,” birth, death, old age and disease.
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- This is real problem. Nobody wants to take birth. At least nobody wants to die.
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- Birth and death. Wherever there is birth, there must be death.
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- Anything which is born must die. So, “janma-mrtyu.” And old age.
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- So long you live, you have to change your position. So one position is this old age.
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- Just like we have become old, there are so many complaints. “Jara.”
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- And “vyadhi.” And when we become diseased. Everyone should become diseased.
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- Everyone should become old. Everyone must die. This is the problem.
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- “Janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi duhkla-dosanudarsanam.”
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- We are trying to mitigate all our miserable conditions of life. That is struggle for existence.
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- We are scientists. We are discovering many counteracting processes to get out of distressed condition.
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- But the difficult position, “janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi,” we are avoiding.
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- Because we cannot do anything. We cannot even…
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- The so-called science, they cannot solve this problem,
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- although sometimes they falsely become proud that by science we shall become immortal and so on.
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- These things were tried before also by atheistic class of men like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu.
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- But it is not possible to become successful, to stop birth death, old age and disease.
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- That is not possible. If there is any possible process, that is Krishna consciousness.
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- That is Krishna consciousness.
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- If you become Krishna conscious, then you can get a body.
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- Not get… You have already got the body, spiritual body.
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- And upon that spiritual body, this material body has developed.
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- Just like dress. Your coat is cut according to your body.
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- Similarly, this material body is cut according to our spiritual body.
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- We have got our spiritual body. This material body is covering. “Vasami jirnani,” just like dress.
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- You shirt and coat is the covering of your real body.
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- Similarly, this body, gross body and subtle body, made of material elements…
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- The gross body is made of earth, water, air, and fire.
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- And the subtle body’s made of mind, intelligence, and ego. This is the shirt and coat.
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- Within this shirt and coat, there is the soul.
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- So the soul is now encased in this material body.
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- And our business in the human form of body. In animal form of body, we cannot do this.
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- But the human form of body we can understand that, “I am not this body.”
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- The body, this material body, is an outer encasement, because I have got this body,
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- I am subjected to birth, death, old age and disease.
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- Now, in the human form of body, I understand it. So if I take the process,
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- how to get out of this cycle of birth and death, then our human life is successful.
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- This is Krishna consciousness movement. How, we are helping people how to get out of this material body,
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- and revive your own spiritual body, and in that spiritual body, you go back home, back to Godhead.
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- This is the process. “Tyaktva dehamjpunar janma naiti.”
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- But people are so attracted to this material body that they are prepared to become cats and dogs next life,
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- but they are not prepared to go back to home, back to Godhead.
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- This is the problem. So why this problem?
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- Because the human society is in chaos. A chaotic condition.
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- There must be division of four classes.
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- One class must be brahmana, intelligent class of men.
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- And one should be ksatriya, one class, the administrators.
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- Because human society, they require good consulting brain, good administrators,
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- good producers, and good workers. That is the division of brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra.
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- Therefore Krishna says: “catur varnyam maya srstam.”
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- In order to keep smooth facilities for human life, there must be four divisions.
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- If you say that, “We don’t require brahmana.”
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- If you don’t require brahmana, then you’ll suffer. Just like you have got this body.
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- And if you think, “This part of the body is very expensive, always eating. Cut it off.”
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- Then you’ll be dead. Similarly, just to keep your body in good condition, in living condition,
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- you must have your head, you must have your arms, you must have your belly, you must have your legs.
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- You cannot say that, “I can avoid this part of the body.” No.
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- Similarly, “catur varnyam maya srstam,” the four divisions of the society must be there.
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- Otherwise it will be chaotic or dead body.
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- So at the present moment, the difficulty is there is no brahmana, there is no ksartiya.
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- There are only the vaisyas and sudras, belly, vaisya means belly, and sudra means the leg.
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- So if out of the four divisions, one is wanting……………
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- ……………God. That is brahmana. And keeping in view God, they teaches others to become God conscious.
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- Without becoming God conscious, the human society is simply animal society.
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- Because animals cannot be God conscious, however you may go on preaching amongst the animals,
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- cats and dogs. It is not possible. Because they have no brain to understand what is God.
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- So in the human society, if there is no brahmana who can teach about God,
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- who can elevate persons to God consciousness, then it is also animal society.
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- Simply eating, sleeping, and sex life and defense, these are the business of the animals also.
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- The animals also know how to eat, how to sleep, how to enjoy sex life, how to defend.
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- They know in their own way.
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- So simply to do these business does not mean human being.
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- Then human, the mission of human being will not be fulfilled.
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- There must be the four classes of men, as Krishna recommends: “catur varnyam maya srstam.”
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- There must be a brahminical class of men, a ksatriya class of men, a vaisya class…
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- There are already. But they’re not very scientifically settled, as it is propounded in the Bhagavad-gita.
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- “Catur varnyam maya srstam.” These are, “guna-karma-vibhagasah.” ‘Guna’ means according to quality.
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- So in India, these four classes of men are there, but they are in the name.
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- Actually it is also in the chaotic condition.
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- Because nobody is following the prescription as given by Bhagavad-gita,
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- “guna karma-vibagasah.”
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- In India, although a person born in a brahmana family, but his guna, qualities, are less than sudra,
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- but still he’s being accepted as a brahmana. That is the difficulty.
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- Therefore, India’s condition is so chaotic.
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- But this is a scientific process. You Western people, you should try to understand that.
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- And our boys and girls who have joined, they are trying to understand, and execute the principles.
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- So if you take up this Krishna consciousness movement, which is meant for the brahmanas,
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- if you become brahmana by quality, then your, the Western nations will be…
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- especially in America, they’ll be first class nation.
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- They’ll be first-class nation. You have got intelligence. You have got resources.
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- You are also inquisitive. You catch up good things.
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- So you have got good qualities. You take up this Krishna consciousness movement seriously,
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- and you’ll become the first-class nation of the world.
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- That is my request. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.