Mantra 2

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 5.5.1

Los Angeles, January 20, 19

Therefore in the Vedic literature sometimes these planets are called dvépa. Dvépa means island. Çvetadvépa. This planet is called Jambüdvépa. Just like in the ocean, there are many hundreds of small, big island. Similarly, the ocean of air or outer space, there are so many planets. They are called dvépas. So éçäväsyam... So all this belongs to God. And we, we are, because we are His sons, we have got the right to use our father's property, but not illegally. What is allotted to us by our father we can accept, that's all. One who lives... That is stated in the Éçopaniñad, that kurvann eveha karmäëi jijéviñec chataà samäù. If you accept this principle, then you can live for hundreds of years without any sin. Otherwise you become complicated in the laws of material nature. And so long we are complicated, entangled by the laws of material nature, then we shall have to transmigrate from this one kind of body to another kind of body, and our material existence will be prolonged.

Room Conversation

—

October 9, 1977, Våndävana

Gurukåpä:

kurvann eveha karmäëi

jijéviñec chataà samäù

evaà tvayi nänyatheto 'sti

na karma lipyate nare

Prabhupäda: How many things we have to do for preaching, for teaching. And live hundreds of years. That is jijéviño çataà yaù?

Mantra 3

SB 10.87.17 Purport

Life is without purpose for one who remains ignorant of his most well-wishing benefactor and thus fails to worship Him. Such a person's breathing is no better than the breathing of a blacksmith's bellows. The gift of human life is a fortunate opportunity for the conditioned soul, but by turning away from his Lord, the living being commits spiritual suicide.

In the words of Çré Éçopaniñad (3),

asuryä näma te lokä

andhena tamasävåtäù

täàs te pretyäbhigacchanti

ye ke cätma-hano janäù

"The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance." Asuryäù means "to be obtained by demons," and demons are persons who have no devotion for the Supreme Lord, Viñëu. This definition is stated in the Agni Puräëa:

SB 10.87.22 PURPORT

One's material body is destined to remain intact for only a short time, and so it is called kuläyam, subject to "dissolving into the earth" (kau léyate). Nonetheless, if properly utilized it can be one's best friend. When one is immersed in material consciousness, however, the body becomes a false friend, distracting the bewildered living entity from his true self-interest. Persons too much infatuated with their own bodies and those of their spouses, children, pets and so on are in fact misdirecting their devotion to the worship of illusion, asad-upäsanä. In this way, as the çrutis state here, such people commit spiritual suicide, insuring future punishment for failing to carry out the higher responsibilities of human existence. As the Éçopaniñad (3) declares,

asuryä näma te lokä

andhena tamasävåtäù

täàs te pretyäbhigacchanti

ye ke cätma-hano janäù

"The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance."

Those who are overly attached to sense gratification, or who worship the impermanent in the form of false, materialistic scriptures and philosophies, maintain desires that carry them into more degraded bodies in each successive life. Since they are entrapped in the perpetually rotating cycle of saàsära, their only hope for salvation is getting a chance to hear the merciful instructions spoken by the Supreme Lord's devotees.

Morning Walk

March 14, 1976, Mäyäpur

Mahäàça: Yesterday you said that one cheater takes from the other cheater; so he is a cheater, he is taking from other cheaters.

Gurukåpä: You mentioned in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam that one cheater takes the money, another cheater takes it...

Prabhupäda: No, no, his business is cheating. His business is cheating. He said, "These rascals want to be cheated, so why not cheat?"

Madhudviña: So we shouldn't be so angry at him. Some people are serving coffee because people want coffee. Some people are selling béòés because people want béòés. So if some people want to be cheated, so he is simply performing a function of society.

Prabhupäda: That is the world. Therefore the whole world is the society of cheater and cheated. That is the version of my Guru Mahäräja. The whole so-called human society means a bunch of cheaters and cheated. That's all.

Païca-draviòa: Éçopaniñad says, asuryä näma te lokäù. He is going to hell even though he knows that he is cheating. He is also going to hell even if he is consciously cheating.

Prabhupäda: So don't be cheater; don't be cheated. That is intelligence.

New Vrndavana

My Dear Yamunacarya,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letter dated nil.

You write to say how you were saved from a commitment of suicide. So you have seen the mantra in Isopanisad:

ye ke catma-hano janah

So not only you, but almost all the conditioned souls within this material world, practically 99% of the whole population is committing suicide. As it is natural for a gentleman to try to stop a person committing suicide when it so happens just in one's presence, similarly when we see that so many men and women are simply committing suicide as described in the Isopanisad ye ke catma-hano janah, let us try to save them through this Krsna Consciousness Movement.

I am very glad that you are going with Kirtanananda Maharaja to colleges. So try to understand the philosophy* nicely and spread it to your best capacity so that these suiciding men can be saved as far as possible. It is not, however, possible to check the suiciding policy of the modern society, but my Guru Maharaja used to say that if he could save one person then He would consider His mission successful. Similarly, if we individually could save at least one person, many of the suiciding men can be saved.

So do your best and Krsna will give you necessary intelligence and help, and try to push on this Movement as far as possible.

Hope this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

* Read 'Nectar of Devotion' repeatedly.

Mantra 4

SB 8.5.26 PURPORT

The living entities are innumerable, but the Lord is one. No one is greater than Him, and no one is equal to Him. Thus the Lord is the supreme worshipable object, as understood from the Vedic mantras (na tat-samaç cäbhyadhikaç ca dåçyate). The Lord is supreme because no one can evaluate Him by mental speculation or jugglery of words. The Lord can travel more quickly than the mind. In the çruti-mantras of Éçopaniñad it is said:

anejad ekaà manaso javéyo

nainad devä äpnuvan pürvam arñat

tad dhävato 'nyän atyeti tiñöhat

tasminn apo mätariçvä dadhäti

"Although fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence." (Éçopaniñad 4) Thus the Supreme is never to be equaled by the subordinate living entities.

SB 10.87.24 PURPORT

"Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds." (SB 10.14.3)

In this regard, the Taittiréya Upaniñad (2.4.1) refers to the Supreme as yato väco nivartante apräpya manasä saha, "where words cease, and where the mind cannot reach. " The Éçopaniñad (4) states,

anejad ekaà manaso javéyo

naitad devä äpnuvan pürvam arçat

tad dhävato 'nyän atyeti tiñöhat

tasmin apo mätariçvä dadhäti

"Although fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is more swift than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence."

ELEVATION TO KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS

When we understand Kåñëa in perfection, we can understand that there is in actuality no inferior or material energy, but that everything is spiritual. We can understand that on the higher platform whatever we are experiencing are the actions and reactions of the different energies of the Supreme Lord. When we understand Kåñëa perfectly, then these distinctions of superior and inferior energies will disappear. Whatever is engaged in the service of Kåñëa is superior energy. In the higher sense, everything is serving Kåñëa, and those who are highly elevated understand this.

That the Lord has various energies is confirmed in Vedic literatures. Yet the Supreme Lord personally has nothing to do. How is this? He has not to strive for wealth, for all wealth is His; nor for knowledge, for all knowledge is His; nor for power, for all power is His; nor for beauty, fame or renunciation, for they are all His in full. Nor does He directly manage universal affairs, for He has many assistants who can conduct affairs while He remains in His abode. This is confirmed in Çré Éçopaniñad:

anejad ekaà manaso javéyo

nainad devä äpnuvan pürvam arñat

tad dhävato 'nyän atyeti tiñöhat

tasminn apo mätariçvä dadhäti

"The Personality of Godhead, although fixed in His abode, is more swift than the mind, and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He has control over those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence." (Çré Éçopaniñad, Mantra 4)