Bhagavad-gītā 13.1–2PreviousArrival AddressNext

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PrabhupādaDevoteeDevotee (1)Devotee (2)Devotee (3)Devotee (4)DevoteesIndian manNitāiWoman devoteeYoung child

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Nitāi: "O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its owner is called knowledge. That is My opinion."

kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi
sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ
yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
[Bg. 13.3]

So last night we discussed about the questions by Arjuna to Lord Kṛṣṇa. He had six questions. One question is: What is this nature, material nature, prakṛti? And another question is puruṣaṁ, the living being, or the human being. The human being, or the living being. Actually living being, but especially the humankind, they are trying to exploit this material nature. So what is this material nature, and what are these living beings who are trying to exploit? Two questions. The third: kṣetram, the field of activities. Take it as body or as your country or as your property. Whatever you... That is called kṣetra. And kṣetra-jña means the proprietor or the knower. Four questions. And the jñānam and jñeyam: knowledge and the subject matter of knowledge, what is the subject matter of knowledge? These six questions are put before Kṛṣṇa, the spiritual master of Arjuna.

The first answer was there, that Kṛṣṇa said,idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate [Bg. 13.2]. This body. It is very simple question and simple answer. One has to ponder over it, then things will be very clear. He said that kṣetra means "field of activities." Kṣetra… It is called kṣetra. Just like a plowman, it is called the…, what is called, plowman? The kṛśan? The agriculturalist who works in the field?

Devotee: Farmer?

Prabhupāda: Farmer, yes. The farmer and the field. The farmer knows that "I am working on this farm, and there will be some production, and I will enjoy it." So the farmer and the farm, two different things. The farmer never thinks that "I am the farm." He never mistakes this. We also do not commit mistake. Just like if I see this finger, I say, "It is my finger." Nobody says "I finger." Nobody says. Even you ask a child, ask him, "My dear child, what is this?" he'll reply immediately, "My finger." So the knower, that "I am not this body. I am the proprietor or the owner or the occupier of the body," it is simple knowledge. Who says that "I am this body"? Everyone says "my body," "my head," "my hand," "my leg." And still he is confusing, that "I am this body." Just the simple thing. Who says that "I body"? Everyone says "my body." And still he identifies himself with this body. This is called illusion, māyā.

So the whole world is going on on this misconception of life, that "I body." Nobody... He knows "my body," but still he says "I body." "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am white," "I am black," "I am this," "I am that." No. You are neither Indian nor American nor white nor black nor fat nor thin. It is your body which is black, white, fatty, thin or something. This is knowledge. This is knowledge. But the whole world is lacking this knowledge. Therefore there is confusion. Everyone, although he knows that he is not this body, everyone knows. When the father dies, the children cry, "My father has gone." Where is your father gone? Your father is lying on the bed. Why do you say father gone? But he knows actually that father is gone; this is father's body. But during the lifetime he never thought that "My father is different from this body." This is ignorance.

So one who understands this fact, that "My father is different from the body of my father," or "I am different from my body..." Therefore Kṛṣṇa, kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama [Bg. 13.3]. That is real knowledge. Unless one comes to this point, that he is not this body, he is the occupier of the body or the owner of the body… Not owner; occupier. Owner is God. Just like in the house—I have explained already—there are two persons. One occupier, the tenant; and the owner, the landlord. Similarly, this body I have been given by God to use it. Just like the farmer takes some land from the government and he tills over it and produces his foodstuff, grain. But he knows that "Although I am occupier of this field, the real owner is the landlord." Similarly, if we understand this fact, that God has given me this body to work according to my desire, but the body is not my property; it is the property of God, Kṛṣṇa—this is knowledge. So if the property is Kṛṣṇa's, then it should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa's benefit, not my benefit. I can take some profit out of it as Kṛṣṇa's prasādam, whatever Kṛṣṇa gives me, kindly. Just like the landlord gives the house, so the house is utilized for the landlord because I pay rent. I pay rent. The rent is not mine; it is for the benefit of the landlord. Or I occupy some land from the government. So I work on it, but the profit goes to the government; I take little profit out of it. Simple thing. So if we understand that "I am not the proprietor of this body; I am simply occupier, tenant. The rent must be paid to the landlord for his benefit," similarly, either you take this body or this whole world—nobody's property. It is God's property. Actually it is the fact. You European, Columbus came to America, but it was not his property, neither his father's property. It was God's property. So you have come here. You have occupied it. That's all right. But you cannot claim that it is your property. No land anywhere, either America, anywhere. But unfortunately, we are claiming, "This is my property," "This is our property." Why you should come here? How it is your property?

So this is Kṛṣṇa consciousness: if we understand factually that anything which you are using in this world, everything belongs to God. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ... This is the Vedic philosophy. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo 1]. Sarvam, everything. Everything belongs to God. This is real philosophy. Unfortunately, every one of us, we are claiming, "This is my property," "This is our property," "This is my nation's property," "This is my community's property." But that is not the fact. The fact is everything is God's property. The real proprietor is God. I am simply given lease or tenancy to use it properly and pay taxes or rent to the landlord. That is my duty.

Therefore, according to Vedic principle one has to offer sacrifices. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg. 3.9]. Yajña means sacrifice, offering sacrifice to the Lord. In every religion there is a process of sacrifice according to their ritualistic ceremony. Sacrifice means to satisfy the real proprietor or government. That is called sacrifice. I earn something; some percentage of my income I sacrifice for the benefit of the government or the landlord. So why not for God, who is the actual proprietor? What is the reason that you deny to satisfy God, the supreme proprietor? What is the reason? This is called ignorance. Actually, everything belongs to God. I have not manufactured this land, neither this water in the sea, nor the air, nor the sky. So everything is made of these five elements, whatever you should think. Just like this microphone. What is this microphone? It is a product mixing this earth, water, air, fire, sky, that's all. The metal, metal is earth, and you have melted it in fire. The fire belongs to God; the material belongs to God. And because you have manufactured, it becomes to yours? No. Suppose a carpenter manufactures some furniture. The person, he gives him wood, he gives him salary, laboring charges. So when it is manufactured, whose property it will be? It will belong to the carpenter or to the proprietor who has given him facilities? These are very simple things.

So therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to make people understand that everything belongs to God, Kṛṣṇa. Nothing to you. You can simply work on His behalf. But the result of your work must go to God. Karmaṇy evādhikāras tu mā phaleṣu kadācana [Bg. 2.47]. That is... You can work honestly for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya saṁsiddhir labhyate naraḥ [Bg. 18.46]. If you want perfection of your life, then you work, and the result must go to God, or God must be satisfied by your work. That is the perfection of your life.

ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā
varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya
saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam
[Bhāg. 1.2.13]

Everyone is working according to his capacity, that's a fact. But nobody is trying to see that "Whether I am getting perfection by working like this?" That is wanted. And how this perfection can be understood? Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam. If you can satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by your working, that is your perfection. That is your perfection. Just like ordinarily we work: I want to see that master is satisfied. Similarly, the supreme master, Supreme Lord, is God, Kṛṣṇa. So if you can satisfy by your work, then your labor is successful. Otherwise, śrama eva hi kevalam [Bhāg. 1.2.8]—simply wasting time and energy. This is the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and this is the fact.

So Kṛṣṇa therefore says in the next verse that kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata [Bg. 13.3]. Just like a big landlord, he has got fifty houses. So the tenant is occupier, but the proprietor of the fifty houses is the landlord. So here it is Kṛṣṇa saying, God saying, that the living entity who is occupying this body, he is kṣetra-jñaṁ, knower of the occupation. Everyone knows that I am occupying this; I have already explained. This is my body, this is my head, this is my leg; I am here. So this knower is also kṣetra-jñaṁ, one who knows. Another person also, that is Kṛṣṇa, God. Therefore He says, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi: "I am also one of the occupier or the proprietor of this body." Therefore there are two persons—one person is the occupier, and the another person is the proprietor. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, māṁ ca viddhi: "Also understand that I am also in this body."

There is Supersoul within this body, everyone's body. So I am individual person, you are individual person. You know about your body. You do not know, I do not know—but so far we know that it is my body. I do not know what is going on within this body. We are eating foodstuff. How it is transformed into blood and then from blood to muscle and bone and so many things, big factory is going on, we do not know. But Kṛṣṇa knows, God knows, because He has given this body. He knows everything. Therefore He said, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi. Janmādy asya yataḥ [Bhāg. 1.1.1]. This body is manufactured by the agent, the material nature. We do not manufacture. The father, mother, they gives us, they give us this body, but he does not know; neither the father knows, neither the mother knows how this body is manufactured. That is known to God, Kṛṣṇa. He has set up the machine. So therefore He says, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi: "You are also knower of this body. Also, I am also knower of this body," sarva-kṣetreṣu. "But you are simply knower of your body; he knows about his body. But I know about your body, his body, others' body, others' body, that..." That is called God: omniscient, omnipotent. My pains and pleasure, I understand; your pains and pleasure, you understand. But I do not understand your pains and pleasure, and you do not understand what is my pains and pleasure. But God knows your pains and pleasure, my pains and pleasure; therefore He is all-pervading. Otherwise, why do we go to God for offering our prayers and submit, "My Lord, this is my pains and pleasure. Kindly give me relief"? He knows. He can give relief. He is all-powerful. He can give you relief. Otherwise why there is process: go to the church or go to the temple or go to the mosque, offer your prayers? That is religion. In every human society there is some kind of religion to offer prayer to the Lord—everyone knows, anyone who is religious—because He knows everything, and He can mitigate.

So that God comes to inform us how we shall be happy. He comes personally or He sends His son or His devotee. This is going on. We are misled by the illusory energy. We wanted to forget Kṛṣṇa, God, to live independently. And Kṛṣṇa gives us immense opportunity, that "You live independently, as you like. You can do. I shall give you all facilities." That facility is given, because He is within. Sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata. He is sitting in everyone's heart. So I want, I pray to God, "My Lord, give me this facility. I shall enjoy." God does not say that you will be happy by your proposal. He says, "No, this is not good proposal. You do not ask Me anything manufactured by you. You act as I say; then you will be happy." Just like a child. If a child says, "Father, I shall touch this fire," the father will never say, "My dear child, yes, you touch." Father will say, "No, no. Don't touch fire. You'll suffer." But if he persists, then He gives sanction, "All right, you touch your finger with fire, and at your risk." This is going on. We pray to God for our sense gratification the same way: "Father, let me touch this fire." But He does not do. The father does not say. So similarly, this whole material world is going on, this foolish child asking from father, "Give me this facility." Father says, "No, this will not make you happy. You just become obedient to Me." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. That is His desire. But I'll not do that. So then father says, "All right, you want this; you do it at your risk. What can I do?"

So when we act according to our whims, according to our sense gratificatory process, that is our material bondage. It is called conditional life. We are given the facility under certain condition. We have got this body; we have got these senses. They can work under certain condition, because we are not independent. I have got the eyes—God has given me the eyes—but I can see when there is light condition. When there is darkness, it is not possible to see. Similarly, in every activity we are conditioned. Just like people are now trying to go to the moon planet. So many conditions they could not fulfill; therefore they are not successful. Why you should go to the moon planet? It is not meant for you. But they will go by force. They are thinking that "We have become independent now by so-called scientific knowledge." So they have not been successful. Every planet is meant for every other, different kinds of living entities. How you can go there by force? Just like any man outside America, he cannot come here by force. He must take the permission of the American government, visa; then he can come. So how you can go to the moon planet without taking the visa? Simply by your bodily strength? That will not be allowed.

Everything is made for a different... It is said in the Vedic literature,

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-
koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi vibhūti-bhinnam
tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ
[Bs. 5.40]

Just like if you go... If you want to go to the sun planet, the sun planet is there; but you cannot go, because you are not fit to enter into the sun planet. Similarly, you are not also fit to enter in the moon planet or any other planet. Your body is made differently. Why sun planet, moon planet? If you want to live within the water, can do you that? These are the conditions. The fish, they cannot live on the land. You cannot live in the water. You have to abide by the condition. The fish can live very freely in the water, and you can live very freely on the land. But if you by force want to enter the water, you will die. Similarly, if the fish want to live by force on the land, he will die. Everything, we are conditioned.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate
[Bg. 3.27]

The foolish persons, they are all conditioned. But they want to live independently. How it is possible? That is not possible.

So for want of knowledge, for want of understanding our relationship with God, with this world, we are suffering. Nobody can say that "I am not suffering." Everyone, we are suffering. That is our conditional life. Nobody can say that "I am not suffering." How you are not suffering? You are suffering from your bodily condition, by your mental condition, by some obstruction offered by other living entities, by obstruction offered by nature. Where you are free? But still, everyone is thinking, "I am independent. I am free. I can do whatever you like." This called material life of ignorance. Mūḍhā. That has been described in the Bhagavad-gītā, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (7.15). Narādhamāḥ. Narādhamāḥ…, nara means the human being, and adhama means the lowest. The narādhamāḥ, the lowest of the human kind, he does not accept the authority of God. Why? Miscreants. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino. Because we are engaged only in sinful activities, we cannot understand God. Neither we, I mean, surrender to God. These are the formulas. And mūḍhā. Mūḍhā means rascal, fool. He is in every step dependent, and still he is thinking independent. Every moment he is dependent, and he is thinking, "Ah, I am independent. What is God? I don't care for Him." Therefore mūḍhā, one rascal. He is beaten with shoes every moment by the material nature, the agent of God, and he is, still he is thinking that he is free.

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ. Narādhamāḥ means the lowest of the mankind. Why lowest of the mankind? Because this human form of body is meant for understanding God. The cats and dogs, they cannot understand God. That is not possible. They have no intelligence. But a human being, if he likes, he can understand what is God, what I am, what is my relationship with God, how I shall act. Therefore one who does not do this, although nature has given you the opportunity to understand all these things, and if you do not do this, you simply act like cats and dogs—eating, sleeping, mating and defending—then we become mūḍhā, duṣkṛtina.

Now, one can say that "All these people are mūḍhās, or rascals, who have passed this university education, B.A.C., D.A.C. and so many things? They are all mūḍhās?" Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes, they are mūḍhās." Why? Now, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. They have struggled for education, for so many things, but he does not know what is God. Therefore real knowledge is taken away. He is proud of his false knowledge. Real knowledge is, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata [Bg. 13.3]. Etaj jñānam. This is knowledge. God is sitting within everyone's heart, but the so-called educated person, he does not know what is God. So what is the value of his knowledge? Therefore māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. Māyā, the illusory energy, has taken away his knowledge. He is a fool. So real knowledge is that... This technological knowledge, that is not knowledge. Kṛṣṇa says, "This is knowledge." What is that knowledge? That one should know that "I am not this body; I am the proprietor or occupier of the body." Similarly, God is also the supreme proprietor of this body. If you know these three things, then that is knowledge. Otherwise, all simply illusion, ignorance. This is the fact.

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to give this knowledge to the whole world. We have no such discrimination that "This knowledge should be denied to this man or that man." No. Everyone is son of God. Kṛṣṇa says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg. 15.7]. "Everyone, all living entities, they are My part and parcel, but they are differently dressed." Just like we are sitting here differently dressed. Similarly, any living being—it doesn't matter whether he is man or beast or bird or demigod, higher or lower—everyone is living entity, the spiritual spark of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, part and parcel. But according to their desire, according to their motive, they have got this different dress, body. And this body is subjected to the nature's law—birth, death, old age and disease. And we are not happy. Nobody wants to die, either he is a cat or dog or human being or demigod or minister or anyone. Nobody wants to die, but nature forces him: "You must die." This is conditional.

So if we want to become unconditional, then we must surrender to God. That is the demand of Kṛṣṇa: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. And if we take His instruction... It doesn't matter whether you take from Bhagavad-gītā or from Bible or from Koran, but take His instruction and abide by it. Then your life will be successful. Otherwise, if you cannot satisfy God, then whatever you are doing, endeavoring to do, it is simply waste of time and waste of energy. It will not be successful. Therefore people are suffering. They have become godless. They do not surrender to God. They have become so-called independent, and simply they are becoming entangled in the laws of nature. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg. 3.9]. If you do not act for the satisfaction of God, then you will be entangled. You will be entangled life after life. That is not very good thing.

So we are trying to preach this philosophy all over the world. I request all ladies and gentlemen present here to take advantage of this philosophy and try to understand. We have got many books. Simply we are describing about this philosophy. We have got about fifty books like this—big, big books. Either you accept immediately, or if you want to understand through philosophy, science, we have got these books. You can understand. But the fact is this: that unless we surrender to God, unless we act according to His desire, all our activity is simply baffled and waste of energy.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda!

Prabhupāda: Any question? [break] ...just like this body to another body. That body may not be human body. There are 8,400,000's of different kinds of body. So at the time of death your mentality at the moment will give you a similar type of body. It may be higher than human being or lower than human being or the same body. That depends on your mental situation at the time of death.

Devotee (1): Prabhupāda? How long will it take for the soul to transfer from one body to the next body?

Prabhupāda: Within a second. Because the soul is transferred through mind, intelligence and ego. So suppose you can study your mind. You are sitting here. Within a second you can go ten thousand miles away. That is the law of nature. Similarly, according to your mentality you will be immediately transferred to the soul—the small particle—into the semina of the father, and sex is going on. So you are transferred to the suitable father, and he injects to the womb of the mother, and new body immediately begins to develop. And when it is finally developed, you come out and work out.

Devotee (2): Śrīla Prabhupāda, in one of the verses it states that taking birth means accepting this body as oneself.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Devotee (2): And does this mean that liberation means simply one understands he is not this body? Does that means he dies and...

Prabhupāda: That is the beginning of knowledge, jñānam. Then you have to develop this knowledge. Then if you act that you are not this body, you are spirit soul, and you act as spirit soul, then you are liberated. That is liberation. The definition is given, muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ [Bhāg. 2.10.6] Mukti, liberation, means we are now engaged in the bodily concept of life. This is called bondage. And if we give up working on the bodily concept of life, if we actually work on the transcendental platform as spirit soul, that is liberation.

Indian man: Prabhupāda, if we chant... When we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, we gain happiness, peace of mind, here on earth. Should we then desire to live here on earth a long time?

Prabhupāda: That is not in your hands, long time or short time. That you are dependent on nature. As soon as nature will call you, "Get out," you have to go out. It will not depend on your whim. Long time, short time—that is not... But you have to leave this place, that's a fact. Either today or tomorrow or hundred years after, you have to leave. So before leaving this body, we must be fully Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is successful life. Therefore because we do not know how long I shall live in this body, therefore we should begin this business immediately. That is intelligence. Because I do not know how long. It is not under me; it is under the control of the nature. So just like some train is coming. You do not know when it is coming, then you have to finish your business to get the train so that you may not miss the train. Similarly our this human form of life is given to us by God to face the spiritual understanding of life, so that before the death comes I am completely prepared for my spiritual transfer. That is success of life. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is the real business. You cannot find out the history, but the answer is that as soon as you desire to live independently, then you have begun your journey in this material world. When you have begun... Just like if a man is diseased and he goes to the physician, there is no such question, "When you began that disease?" You might have begun one week ago, infected some disease. That is not very important question. You have got disease: you treat it and be cured. When we have begun... You might have begun three hundred years ago or three days before; it doesn't matter. But you are infected with the disease. Just get treatment and be cured.

Young child: How can I be Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Prabhupāda: [laughs] He also questions? What... [break] [end]

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca
yad vikāri yataś ca yat
sa ca yo yat prabhāvaś ca
tat samāsena me śṛṇu
[Bg. 13.4]

[break]

"Now please hear My brief description of this field of activity and how it is constituted, what its changes are, whence it is produced, who that knower of the field of activities is, and what his influences are."

[break]

tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca
yad vikāri yataś ca yat
sa ca yo yat prabhāvaś ca
tat samāsena me śṛṇu

We have discussed that this body is the field of activity. We are acting according to the body. I am the same person, but when I had my boyhood body or childhood body, I was acting differently. This child, they are acting now some way, but when they will get another body, they will act in a different way. Similarly, not only this human form of body, but there are 8,400,000 different types of bodies. We have explained several times, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi [Padma Purāṇa]: "In the water there are 900,000 different forms of body." How many do we know? We do not know all the details. We know there are different types of fishes, and say 100,000 we have seen or experimented, the zoologist. But from the Vedic literature we understand that there are 900,000 forms of body within the water.

So this is called Vedic knowledge. Perfect information is given there. Doesn't say 901 or 950. Exactly, 900,000. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi. Then next, sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati. Then, after aquatic, when the water dries, the vegetation comes out, and that vegetation grow gradually into plants, trees, herbs and so many, big, big trees. Here we have got big, big trees. So from aquatic life they have come to this vegetable life. And one tree standing for thousands of years. They cannot move an inch. This is also life. There is life. The trees, these banyan trees, they are making their arrangement how to stand fixed-up very strong. Nobody can move. The same struggle for existence is going on. As we are struggling to make our position secure, similarly, the trees are also making their position secure. The cats and dogs, they are also making attempt to make their position secure. This is called struggle for existence. So from this tree, just try to remember that there are 900,000 species of aquatics.

We get information from śāstra, there is a fish which is called timiṅgala which swallows big, big whales, just like big fish swallows a small fish. This is struggle for existence. Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. Phalgūni mahatāṁ tatra jīvo jīvasya jīvanam [Bhāg. 1.13.47]. The natural law is that ahastāni sahastānām: "The animals which has no hands"—that means four-legged animals; they have got legs, no hand—"so they are food for animals with two legs and two hands." That means human being. Human being is also animal, more powerful, more intelligent than the lower animals. So the śāstra says ahastāni, "The animals who hasn't got hands, they are food for the animals with two hands." Ahastāni sahastānām and apadāni catuṣ-padām: "And the animals or the living entities which cannot move, apadāni..." Pada means legs. Just like the trees, plants, grass, they cannot move; they have no leg. They have got leg, but they cannot move. They are eating through the legs. Therefore they are called pādapa, means "collecting waters through the leg." Just these trees, they are drinking water from within the earth with their legs. Therefore they push their roots very deep to find out where is water. And if you put little water on the root of the tree, they live. They drink water. They are standing on the riverside drinking water and becoming very flourished. But although they are drinking the same water, still, they are differently constituted the different fruits, different flowers. This is God's creation, we have to understand that.

So apadāni sapadānām, apadāni catuṣ-padām. Apadāni means those who cannot move—these trees, plants, grass—they are eatables for the four-legged animals, catuṣ-padām. Catuḥ means four. Similarly, nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra. Those who are weak, they are food for the strong. That is going on. "Might is right," in the human society also. Just like you Europeans, Americans..., Europeans, they have come. You come this land of America. Because you are strong, you have eaten up all the original inhabitants. [laughs] So this is going on. This is called struggle for existence.

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca [Bg. 13.4]. Why we find so many varieties of life? How it has come into being? It is... Everything will be explained by Kṛṣṇa. He says, tat samāsena me śṛṇu: "From Me you hear." Everyone is inquisitive, "Why there are varieties of life?" I do not know what the modern scientist says, but they do not understand that there is soul in these different types of body. That we have already discussed, that idaṁ śarīraṁ kṣetram ity abhidhīyate. Every different particular living entity... Not particular. We are all living entities, part and parcel of God, but we have entered into different types of bodies according to our desire. That's it. According to... We have got desires, different types of desires. The 8,400,000 bodies means at least we have got 8,400,000 different types of desires. That we have to learn from authorities like Kṛṣṇa. Therefore He says, tat samāsena me śṛṇu: "You try to understand." You cannot speculate. Is there any psychologist who can say that how many different types of thinking, feeling, willings are there? No, they cannot say. But we must know from Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that these 8,400,000 species or forms of life are there because there are 8,400,000 different types of desires, exactly 8,400,000. This is called Vedic knowledge. Exactly what is the fact, that is stated there.

So our process of understanding, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement—we do not hear from any bogus person. We hear from Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says for us, those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious, tat samāsena me śṛṇu: "From Me, because I am the supreme authority, Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa says that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (7.7): "There is no more superior authority than Me." So we get knowledge from superior authority. That is the process of acquiring knowledge. We go to school, colleges, teachers. So why? To receive knowledge. So teacher or school, college, they are in higher authority. Similarly, you go on, higher authorities, higher authorities, higher authorities, you reach to Brahmā, because he is the original creature, and he described the Vedic knowledge. So he is also not higher authority. He also received knowledge from God. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye [Bhāg. 1.1.1]. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata. Ādi-kavaye, the original person.

We have got this body, expanding, expanding. The original person is Brahmā. From Brahmā there was Lord Śiva, and from Śiva there were so many, then these Dakṣas and Pracetasas and many sages gradually. So we are descendant, Manu. Manu also, one of the sons of Brahmā, and from manuṣya... Manu, the name has come, manuṣya. Manuṣya means man. In English also it is called "man." Manu, man. So we are all descendants from the original person, the supreme father, original. So we are not different. Here we have created out of ignorance: "I am Indian; you are European; he is American; he is African; he is black; he is white." That we have created. "He is cat; he is dog." But actually, we are all living entities. Because we have got different types of desire, and that is calculated 8,400[000] types of desires, so we are now in different types of body. This is understanding. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu [Bg. 18.54].

So when we get that spiritual knowledge, brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg. 18.54], prasannātmā, then there is no difference. A learned person who has realized Brahman, spiritual realization, he looks everyone on the equal level. He knows that it is a dog or it is a cat on account of this body. He is neither cat, neither dog, neither I am human being. We are all spirit soul, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is understanding. This is real understanding.

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne
brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
śuni caiva śva-pāke ca
paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ
[Bg. 5.18]

Those who are learned, they see that "Here is a learned brāhmaṇa, and here is a dog, and here is a hog, and here is a dog-eater. There is an elephant. There is a cow. So they are in different dresses only, and the real occupier of the dress, or the body..." That is explained, idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya... What is called? Idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate [Bg. 13.2]. This is only, we have got... According to different desires, we have got these different types of body, kṣetra. Just like field. The cultivator, the farmer, works on the field and gets some result. Similarly, we have got different types of body, and we are working on this body in the bodily concepts of life. That is not advanced life. If we are in the bodily concept of life, that is animal life. When we understand that "I know that I am not this body; I am working with this body," that is knowledge. Abhidhīyate.

And not only I. One should understand. It is clearly stated here; there is no difficulty. Kṛṣṇa says that "The living entity and Myself, we are both within this body." Kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu [Bg. 13.3]. The difference—we are individual soul. We are living, every one of us, living within this body, and there is another living entity. God is also living entity like you and me. The difference is that He is great and we are subordinate. Otherwise... Just like you have got your president. He is a big man of your nation, and we are small men, or you are a small man. But he is also a human being; I am also a human being or you are also. Similarly, God is exactly like us, with two hands and two legs. You see Kṛṣṇa, He hasn't got a hundred legs or a hundred... He has got the same, two legs and two hands, exactly like our body. In the Bible also it says, I think, that "Man is made after the feature of God"? So it is not that we have imagined God with two legs and two hands like us. No. Our this body is made imitating God's body. And the animals, they are also imitating God's body. God has got many forms. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca [Bs. 5.33]. He has got many other forms, innumerable.

So anyway, this is knowledge, that "I am occupying this body. I have got this body according to my desire, and this desire has been fulfilled by God. God is with me, with you. He is within your heart. He understands what you desire. You have come, we have come in this material world to satisfy our different desires. Therefore, there are so many different forms of body." Now you can calculate also. What is that? There are three qualities within this material world. You know, everyone. Some are in goodness, and some are in passion, and some are in ignorance. In the animal or in the vegetable kingdom, in the human society, you will find these three types of men. Take our human society. Some of them are very good men, very truthful, very honest, very learned, and knows what is God. You find such men also. And you will find also very much passionate. And you will find also men like cats and dogs—no knowledge, blind. So there are three types of men. Why? Because there are three qualities or modes of material nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. Now, you mix up these three qualities with another three varieties of qualities. Just like the painter, they mix up different colors. The original color is blue, yellow and red. Now, you mix up these colors. You can... Hundreds and thousands of colors you can make. It requires expert handling. Similarly, originally these three qualities: goodness, passion and ignorance. Now, three into three equal to nine, and nine into nine equal to eighty-one. So we get immediately account for eighty-one varieties, and each variety is thousand and millions. Therefore 8,400,000 is calculated. And we have got so many varieties of life. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyakāḥ [Padma Purāṇa], means the aquatics, there are 900,000; and the trees and plants, 2,000,000; and 1,100,000, these flies and insects. Kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyakāḥ. And then birds, 1,000,000 types of birds. Then 3,000,000 types of beasts. Then 400,000 of human being—civilized, uncivilized, white, red, black, so many varieties. In this way, the whole calculation is 8,400,000 different types of body.

Now Kṛṣṇa will explain that tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk [Bg. 13.4], why there are so many varieties. The living entity is the same, a spiritual spark, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, or God, but why they have assumed these different types of body calculated to be 8,400,000 forms? But each form is part and parcel of God. Not each form, or you can say form also; each living entity. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya
mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir
ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā
[Bg. 14.4]

Kṛṣṇa says—I think in the Fourteenth Chapter it is there—that "I am the seed-giving father of all these forms of life. All these forms of life. They are not automatic, come from anywhere. I am the original father." Therefore those who are fully Kṛṣṇa conscious or fully advanced in spiritual consciousness, they do not make any difference between an insect and a elephant, because he knows very well that the same spirit soul is there within the elephant and within insect, within the microbe. Because the dimension of the spirit soul is very small. You cannot imagine. It is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpita [Madhya 19.140]. Everything is there. So such minute particle is so powerful that it is managing the body of the elephant and it is managing the body of the ant.

You will find even an ant, he has got all the propensities, just like human being. You can study how they are struggling, how they have organized their society, how they are eating, how they are sleeping, how they are begetting children. Everything is there in every life. The four principles of bodily demands, namely eating, sleeping, sex and defense, you will find in the insect, smallest insect, like full stop. I sometimes see at night. They wander on the page of the book, very small. But they have got all the propensities. All the propensities. You can study. Anyone, minute study, you can see. So these things are there everywhere, even to the ant or even to the elephant or to the demigod or any Brahmā or in everything. That's all. That is clear.

So when we get by evolutionary process, come to this human form of life by God's grace, nature's mercy, we can understand what is what. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is explaining to Arjuna, a human being, not to a cat and dog. Therefore He says, tat kṣetram, "that body," how it has become varieties, what is the ingredients. The ingredients are the same. This material body, the ingredients are the four primary gross elements, means earth, water, air, fire and ether or sky, the mind, intelligence and ego. This is the composition of this body. And beyond this composition, I am there, soul. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhuḥ. Those who are in the bodily concept of life, they are thinking, "The senses are everything. So let us enjoy the senses. That is our happiness." No, that is not. Therefore we are not happy actually. Although we are trying to gratify our senses profusely, still we are unhappy, because that is not actually happiness. The actual happiness is of the soul. Unless you satisfy the soul, you cannot be happy, because my real identity is the soul, not this body.

The same example, as I have already said many times, that within the cage there is the bird. You don't take care of the bird, and you simply cleanse this cage—the bird will not be satisfied. He will cry always, "Give me food. Give me food." The another example I gave the another psychiatrist, that this body is a machine—actually it is a machine—and it is being driven by two persons. One is God and one is the living entity, individual. The God is giving direction. The living entity, individual soul, wants to enjoy, so he is on the carriage, same carriage, the Supersoul and the soul. So the Supersoul knows what I want to enjoy, and He is giving facility: "Oh, you want this facility? Now drive your car in this way. You want this facility? All right, drive this way, this way." Actually Supersoul, or God, does not want, but He is so kind. Just like a gentleman, he gives the dog all facility, sometimes going this side, sometimes going this side, sometimes passing stool, sometimes passing urine, and he is standing. He is controlling, but he is giving some facilities: "This dog is my servant. Let him have." This is going on. Without God's sanction, we cannot do anything.

Then why does He give sanction for our sinful activities? Because we want to do it. Because we want to do it. God does not want that you become implicated in sinful life. Therefore thief, he steals very stealthily. God says from within, "Don't steal. You will be implicated. You will be arrested. You will be punished. Why you are stealing?" But he will do. He will do. That is ajñāna. That is ignorance. God is always helping us, but we do not care for God. That is our disease. Therefore we are getting different types of body and suffering. This is the philosophy, real philosophy, that God is there with me in the same bird, in the same... Exactly the same, that the driver is there and the proprietor is there in the same car. The car is a machine; similarly, this body is a machine.

It is stated in the Bhagavatam, machine. Yantrārūḍhāni māyayā.

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni
yantrārūḍhāni māyayā
[Bg. 18.61]

"Īśvara, the Supreme Lord, God, is situated in everyone's heart, and He is directing the travel, or wandering, of the living entity." How? Yantrārūḍhāni: "sitting on the machine of this body." And who has supplied this machine? Māyayā: "the material nature." The material nature, according to the order of God, has given me—you or me or anyone, the cats, dogs—a particular type of machine, this body. And the living entity is driving the machine or driving the car, and God, the Supersoul, is reminding him, "You wanted to enjoy like this? Now you drive your car in this way. You drive your... You wanted to eat everything without any discrimination? Now I have given you the car of a hog. Now you go and eat the stool." And he is very glad. He is enjoying. He is enjoying. He is thinking, "I am eating very nice thing." This is going on. Nānā joni sadā phire, kadarjya bhakṣaṇa kore, tāra janma adhah-pāte jāya. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura is singing that "Those who have taken this path of fruitive activities, they are forced to accept different forms of life and eat all abominable things, and thus he is lost in this material world."

So if we become God conscious, if we become faithful to Kṛṣṇa, or God, then He will give right direction so that you may go again back to home, back to Godhead. And that is our business.

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
[Bg. 10.10]

Now, according to my whims, according to my different desires, I am going deep and deep to the hellish condition of life. I am becoming the worms of the stool, beginning from Brahmā. Now, if... When we have got this human form of life, we should understand, "How things are happening? How I am getting different types of body? How I am dictated according to the body and I am not happy? Now what is the reason? Then what I am? I do not want distress. Why distress is forced upon me? I do not want to die. Why death is forced upon me? I do not want to become old. I want to remain perpetually young. Why old age is forced upon me?" There are so many things. In this way, when we become intelligent enough and approach Kṛṣṇa or His, Kṛṣṇa's, representative, then our life becomes reformed.

This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is for this purpose. They are giving the opportunity to the human society that "You are suffering on account of your whimsical desires. Now you learn how to purify your desire. Then you become happy." This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Desire cannot be stopped. That is not possible. You have to purify your desire. That's all. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Brs. 1.1.12]. I am thinking that "I am this American," I am thinking, "I am this Indian," or I am thinking this and that, and creating my desires accordingly. "It is my duty because I am American." "It is my duty because I am Russian. So let us fight." So this is going on.

So you have to change your desire. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. You have to understand that "I am not this body. I am neither Indian, nor American, nor Russian. I am part and parcel of God. Therefore my business is to serve God." This is called bhakti. When you are self-realized... That is definition of bhakti: sarva upādhi-vinirmuktam. You have to get yourself cleansed from all these designations, that "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Christian," "I am American," "I am this," "I am cat," "I am dog." These are all designations, because I am pure soul, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, and these conceptions are designation. So you have to be educated how to become free from the designation. That is sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Brs. 1.1.12], that when we become free from the designation... It does not mean because I become free from the designation, therefore I become zero. No. I remain, because I am spirit soul, eternal. I may become sometimes American, sometimes Indian, sometimes cat, sometime dog, but that is change of designation, or body. But as spirit soul I am eternal. Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. These things are all clearly stated.

So our request is that all over the world they should take advantage of this knowledge. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a bluffing movement. It is scientific movement for the benefit of the whole world. They are suffering. So that is our request, that let us wash ourself from the designation. Then how it will be possible? It will be possible. What is that?

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi
vidhunoti suhṛt satām
[Bhāg. 1.2.17]

Hṛdy an... This I am thinking, "American," "Indian," "Hindu," "Muslim," this is all dirty things in my heart. You cleanse your heart. Hṛdy antaḥ-sthaḥ abhadrāṇi. The dirty things are within my heart, so if we cleanse our heart, then we become free from this designation. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā [Bhāg. 1.2.18]. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣu. These dirty things will be cleansed if we regularly hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā. Nityaṁ bhāgavata... And bhāgavata means the book Bhāgavata and the person bhāgavata. The person bhāgavata is spiritual master or any exalted devotee. He is bhāgavata, mahā-bhāgavata, bhāgavata. So bhāgavata-sevayā means not only reading Bhagavad-gītā and Bhāgavatam, but we have to study from the person bhāgavata. That is required.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised, bhāgavata paṛā giyā bhāgavata-sthāne: "If you want to learn Bhāgavata, then go to the person bhāgavata who is realized soul." Not professional. That will not help you. Official professional—I go to a temple, to a church, and go back again to hellish condition of... No. You just associate with the person bhāgavata who is realized soul and hear from him this the same book, the same knowledge, Kṛṣṇa's representative. Just like Kṛṣṇa says, tat samāsena me śṛṇu. Me śṛṇu: "Hear from Me or My representative. Then you will benefit."

So these centers are being opened just to give the opportunity to the people who are suffering, not only in this life, life after life.

ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
[Madhya 19.151]

So it is our duty. We have taken this duty on behalf of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa personally comes to teach. Just like He left His Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then He entrusts His devotees to explain to the people in general. We are attempting to do that. We have not manufactured anything or we have got anything of our own. The asset and the property is there. We are simply distributing as peon. That's all. And we have no difficulty. If we simply present Bhagavad-gītā, the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, as it is, then our duty finished. We haven't got to manufacture anything; neither we have power to manufacture anything. Just like there are so many others, they manufacture new type of ideas, new type of philos..., all nonsense. That will not help. Take the real knowledge. Tat śṛṇu. What is called? Tat samāsena me śṛṇu.

Try to understand from the Supreme Personality of Godhead or the real servant of Godhead who will present simply what Kṛṣṇa has said. He will not say anything more or less. That is the identification of real servant. Just like you have got a servant. You say, "My dear boy, you go this errand. Inform him this." So his duty is to carry your news and deliver to the person. Similarly, we who are now in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we should simply take, tat samāsena me śṛṇu. We should hear from Kṛṣṇa and distribute this knowledge. We have no difficulty. Then those who will hear, they will be benefited and we will be benefited. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [break]

Prabhupāda: ...instruction which I have given to you. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra—it is very easy—at least sixteen rounds, and follow the regulative principle, and pray to Kṛṣṇa to help you. Everything will be all right.

[break] ...books, everything is there.

[break] ...Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa personally. So if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, you associate with Kṛṣṇa. And if you associate with fire, you become warm, similarly, if you associate with Kṛṣṇa, then you become gradually Kṛṣṇa-ized. And when you perfect... Just like you put one iron rod into the fire. It becomes warm, warmer, warmer, and at last it becomes red hot. At that time it is fire because it has acquired the quality of the fire, although it is iron rod. So the process is to remain with the fire. Similarly, if you remain with Kṛṣṇa by chanting His holy name, then you will be purified and one day will come—you will be Kṛṣṇa-ized. The process is very simple, chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

That's all.

[break] ...twenty-four hours. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Śikṣāṣṭaka 3]. This is not my word; this is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have to associate with kīrtana. The reading is also kīrtana, and chanting on the beads, that is also kīrtana. There is no difference. So make your life in such a way. Either chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or read books. And when you are hungry, you take little prasādam. Don't take much—then you will sleep more. Take as little as possible. Then you will also sleep... Our business is to conquer over the demands of the body. The demands of the body is eating, sleeping, sex and defense. So spiritual life means make it almost nil. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau [Ṣaḍ-gosvāmy-aṣṭaka 6]. All the Gosvāmīs, they did so. They conquered over sleeping, conquered over eating, conquered over sex desire and conquered defense. So in this way we have to minimize nidrāhāra-vihāra and save time for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. [break] [indistinct] And chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is a botheration.

[break] ...use of industry? That you have created trouble. You can get your food by cultivation. That is stated in the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: annād bhavanti bhūtāni . You produce food grains, and both the animals and the men, they will remain satisfied. And we have got so much land even on this earthly planet. I am traveling all over the world. You can produce food grains so in large quantity that you can feed all the population, ten times population. So we are not interested in producing food grain. We are interested in... [break] ...this is education. You get your admission in this institution, you will understand. [break] If you do not follow the rules and regulation, you'll go to hell. That's all.

Woman devotee: Prabhupāda, how can Lord Śiva get intoxicated and be so pure?

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Devotee: [explaining] How can Lord Śiva get intoxicated and still be pure?

Prabhupāda: We are not concerned with Lord Śiva. We are concerned with Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee (1): Should we beg people to read these books, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Yes, by touching their leg, "Please read." That is the process.

dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya
kṛtvā ca kāku-śatam etad ahaṁ bravīmi
he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrād
caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam
[Caitanya-candrāmṛta 90]

This is the instruction of Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. He says that "Taking a straw in my mouth..." That is a Indian system of to become humble. If I approach somebody with a straw in my mouth, that means I have become very humble to him. So he says, dante nidhāya tṛṇakam, "Taking a straw in my teeth," and padayor nipatya, "and falling down on your leg," kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā ca, "hundred times flattering you," ahaṁ bravīmi, "I want to submit something." Naturally the man will be inclined: "All right, you say it, what you want." So he says, he sādhavaḥ: "You are very nice man, you are very great man, but you kindly forget what you have learned. [laughter] You all nonsense, whatever you have learned, please forget." "Then, what I have to do?" Caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam: "Just take shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Your life will be successful." So we shall flatter, we shall hold our hands, we shall fall on the feet and do everything, but we shall, "You nonsense, please forget what you have learned." That is our submission.

Devotee (2): Prabhupāda, did Jesus read all those books?

Prabhupāda: Yes. You can read also Bible. That is nice.

Devotee (2): He actually learned. He actually traveled to India...

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. We do not say that don't read Bible. Read something, but learn something. Jesus Christ said, "Thou shall not kill." You learn this art. But you read Bible and kill animals, then what is your benefit?

Indian man: So Lord Kṛṣṇa speaks through other beings, or...?

Prabhupāda: First of all try to understand that you read Christ and you violate his order, then what is the use of reading? You follow. Then that is reading.

Devotee (3): Prabhupāda, if we follow these four regulative principles and chant sixteen rounds sincerely every day, all this nonsense knowledge will eventually be forgotten?

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. You can see practically, all of you, what you were and what you are now. That's all. It is practical; it is not theoretical.

Devotee (4): Śrīla Prabhupāda, if someone takes prasādam even once, is it true that they're guaranteed at least a human body in their next life?

Prabhupāda: Yes. You go on simply eating, that's all. [laughter] And all of my devotees, they have come to me simply by eating prasāda. You are also? [laughter] So we give all facilities. If you cannot do anything, please come and eat with us. All right, thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Prabhupāda. [end]

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