19790916 Sunday Feast: Basic Principle of Bhakti-yoga

The following is a Sunday feast lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on September 16th , 1979 in Los Angeles, California.

This is of course very nice, to visit New Dvārakā. We have seen the old Dvārakā which is just in Gujarat state of India. Although many of the remains of the ancient Dvārakā temple are not visible today, some beautiful shrines are there; one of the great tīrthas of India. So, here we have in this community commemorated the New Dvārakā.

Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted that the devotees of Kṛṣṇa around the world, they would appreciate the holy places and pastimes and activities and holy name of Kṛṣṇa, Rāma all around the world. So, to do that he has named certain places and created a mood in certain places to commemorate these great ancient and holy places connected with Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Just like we have New Navadvīpa, New Vṛndāvana, we have here New Dvārakā. New Dvārakā is not a material name, it is a spiritual name. It signifies the love for transcendental life. There is a difference between our material life, which of course we are all immersed in, and transcendental life. Transcendental life is reality, which is not changing, which is permanent, which is filled with bliss and knowledge and this material life is always changing. There is no permanence, and there is a general ignorance of exactly where we stand.

This is due to a basic misconception in material life of who we are. Human being is expected to ask himself: Who am I? We don’t expect it of a dog or a cat or a bird. But a human being is expected to question: Who am I? Where have I come from? What are all the planets, all the stars that we see in the sky at night? Is there life in other planets or not? Is there life after death? All these questions are possible for human being, because his consciousness is more advanced than an animal's. Today is special festival, where a feast will be held just after this, so many people have assembled. All of them are human beings.

Dogs, cats, birds, they have not assembled to hear these words of wisdom from the Bhagavad-gītā. because a human being has got the intelligence to understand. Unfortunately, the animal has not been given that intelligence by God. Therefore, animal cannot inquire into these things. So then what is the difference between a human life and animal life?

I was surprised when I came in the west (I never saw this in India) to see a man running down the street without any clothes on. And then I asked someone what is he doing? and they said – well, he has obtained a form of liberation, he is running down the street naked, now he feels that he is free. He is able to go just like any animal, dog or cat on the street, and I was quite puzzled. Twelve years ago we didn’t see this in America and I hadn’t seen it at all in India. There everybody wears clothes. And they are explaining in this way that they feel the animals are really free so if animals don’t have to wear clothes then why don’t we be free like an animal?

Of course, the desire to be free, desire to have complete freedom from all kind of difficulties and material limitations naturally is a desire of the soul. Every soul is desiring the free life of the spiritual sky. But I doubt that, you see, these people have really studied what is the real way to obtain the freedom.

Imitating an animal is not really freedom. An animal is not a free person. He is simply bound by his nature. When one is a dog, even if we set him upon a very big chair, give him a king’s robe, give him a king’s crown, give him a king’s meal, then if we take on shoe and throw, “bow, bow, bow” he will go and search, he can’t go against his nature. In the same way, all the animals are following their nature.

If we have a stop light ‘red’, ‘green’, when it is a red light, all the cars stop, when it’s a green they go, if we go against the red light, what will happen? You get a ticket. This is because we are human beings we have some responsibility. If a dog goes across a ‘no walk’, does he get a ticket? No, because he is not responsible.

So the difference between an animal life and human life is that animal has no responsibility. He has got no intelligence to understand what is the meaning of life? Therefore, he simply follows his nature. But human being, he is not meant to follow the animals. He is meant to understand what is the whole universe about, what is life all about; is there a creator? Is there a Supreme Lord? These things everyone knows, who studies the Bhagavad-gītā, that this world is created by God, by Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa, God has so many different names, but the Supreme Being is one person, but He has got so many names. Nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ (Śikṣāṣṭaka 2) He has so many names. So some people, they try to understand, but it is described in the Bhagavad-gītā:

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ
(Bg. 7.19)

That it will take such a person many many births. After many births of trying to find the truth, he will realize that Vasudeva, Kṛṣṇa is everything.

Ultimately, one absolute truth is there, you see. So this is the short cut; this process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a short cut. It avoids millions and thousands and hundreds and dozens of births. Of repeated births and death, to find out what is the truth. That actually we are not this body, we are not the mind, we are this living energy, which is spreading consciousness throughout this body and causing this body to be a living body. When the living force leaves the body then this body is simply useless piece of meat, blood, intestine, skin, bone, marrow.

When someone dies, then the relatives all come together and cry that “Oh! Grandfather has died, he has gone away” And they are crying, “ He is gone away, he is gone away” So who is gone? Who has gone? There is his head, there is his hair, there are his hands, there are his feet, there is his skin and everything is there. Why they are saying he is gone? Who is the he? Then we are saying “Oh grandfather, oh loved one, oh husband, oh Bill, oh Mike, oh Gopal Das” Who is that person?

We are taking this body. It's just like, when you see the President, driving down the street, you see his car with a flag on its front ‘President of USA’. But all the windows are dark, you can’t see inside, but you see there is the car, that is the President; so you're seeing the body “Oh there is Mr Jones, there is Mr Parekh, there is Mr Agrawal, there is Mr Swythe” but you don’t see the person , that is our fault. We don’t see the real person; simply we are seeing this body. After five years it will be a different body. Does it mean that he is no longer my friend? But the body is always changing, but friendship is there. So that does not change necessarily. So actually according to the Gītā (2.12), 

dehino 'sdehino 'smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

That we are changing so many bodies in this life. Little baby is crying there; he has got such a small body, after 10 years he will be so big, and another 10 years he will be so big. After another 10 years he will have kids this big, then after another 10 years, he will have kids this big, and after another 10 years, they will have kids that big, then he will be again crouched down, he will be 60, 70.

So he has already changed so many bodies. According to the scientists, after every 7 years they say all the cells change in the body. So how it that we are still saying this is the same person? Because we are not changing, we are the living spirit soul or spirit being or living energy, which is giving the whole consciousness to this body.

That is known in the Vedas as ‘ātmā’ or ‘jivatma’ and Kṛṣṇa is known as Bhagavān or Paramātmā, the super soul, the personality of Godhead. Because He doesn’t forget past, present or future, but we forget; we forget what is our previous birth, we forget what is the previous birth, but just as we change our body, so many times in this life, the same living force in, but the body is changed, every 7 years the scientist say that it is changing, but we say it is changing every moment. There is a little bit of change going on constantly.

So we are the same being, but the body is always changing. So what is death? Death is nothing to fear. At the time of death, this vehicle, this machine is no longer suitable to ride in. So now we have to take a new machine. We get a new birth. So those who know the Vedas, the Vedic literatures of India, they know that according to one's karma, he will suffer or enjoy in the next life.

Sometimes, we are walking down the street and suddenly a dog may bite us or someone may run us over with a car; we didn’t do anyone any harm, at that particular moment, why are we forced to suffer this? Suddenly we get ill, our body gives us tremendous problem; why are we forced to suffer? What have done wrong? But you see, it is not that immediately all get suffering just because I have done something wrong just then. I may have something wrong in my previous birth, 10, 50 births ago, and that is coming down on me now.

One would have a difficulty to create such a computer as what the controllers of the universe have created to understand what Kṛṣṇa has created, how the laws of karma are working. That so many karmas are coming at different levels, some are 10 births back, some are just recent happenings, some are even 100 births; and seven different layers of manifestation, of fructification, already expiration, the different reactions are coming... cause and effect.

Just like in physics, on a subtle level, if I give someone pain, in the future I will get pain. If I do someone good, in the future something will happen to me. But the real thing is we are tied up in this unending chain of repeated birth and death.

So an intelligent human being who knows I am not this body, this body is a machine with senses, which I am able to gather knowledge and certain sensations with. Ultimately I should know who am I, what is this living energy which is existing in every one? Which is that living entity, Who is the ‘ātmā’? Who is this spirit? you see. That is the reason of human birth; so this society of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is first of all established by Śrīla Prabhupāda following in the disciplic succession, from Kṛṣṇa 5000 years ago through Śrīla Nārada Muni, Vyāsadeva and Madhvācārya, coming down to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

There are four bonafide Vaiṣṇava-sampradāyas: Śrī Sampradāya, Rāmānujācārya is the Ācārya of Śrī Sampradāya. Brahma Sampradāya, Madhvācārya is the ādi-guru or the famous Ācārya of Madhva Sampradāya. Then there is Śrī Viṣṇu Swami. Viṣṇu Swami gets his knowledge from Rudra or Lord Śiva. Then there is of course Nimbārka Ācārya, who got his inspiration from the four Kumāras. So these four Vaiṣṇava Sampradāyas, they are all saying basically the same thing.

There is one Absolute Supreme Truth, who is a person and we are His eternal servants, we are also eternal, and we have an eternal relationship, so these four different sampradāya, I mean to say, four different successions of disciples are all leading directly to the same goal.

Vallabhācārya was a contemporary of Lord Caitanya, who respected Lord Caitanya very much, who got much personal instructions from Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and he preaches the Puṣṭi-mārga, which is the worship of Kṛṣṇa in His Gopāla form, you see. We have a very intimate relationship with all of these different successions, you see. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is following in the line of these great Indian Ācāryas and in Bṛhan-Nāradīya Purāṇa, it states:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

There is no other alternative in this iron age than to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or the name of Hari, name of God.

Because it is said three times to give emphasis, the three times mean that actually by trying to good works in this life one thinks that he will avoid bad, that is not possible because this age is so terrible, sinful of an age, that we are forced to do things that we don’t even want to do. Just by the very nature of our living standard, we are forced to commit so many, what we call vikarma bad karma or sinful or harmful things to ourselves and others. So trying to adjust by leading a good life alone will not be possible, because no one can lead such a good life without.. without worshiping God or Kṛṣṇa.

So just karma that is not possible or just furtive activities or good work is not possible. Then second time, jñāna, simply to study of great books of wisdom is not sufficient, because there is no purification of the heart. And who has the patience to sit for hours and days and weeks and months and years and study ancient books of wisdom without doing anything else, which is really what the path of knowledge speculative knowledge of jñāna is all about? The third time harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva. We say in Sanskrit, when things are mentioned three times, it is just like you say “Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it”. That means it is very emphatic. So the third time, it is very emphatic.

There is another process known as mystic yoga, where people practice the process of yoga and get yogic-siddhī. Yogic-siddhī is where one can levitate himself, he can travel anywhere in the universe, he can obtain anything. he can make himselves smaller than atom, big as a mountain, he can read someone’s mind, he can control others' mind, he can do so many wonderful things, he can just reach his hand out and produce a rasagulla or a sweet meat and here take…"mmoooh" Have a sweet meat (devotees laugh). But of course that is also a material facility; very nice indeed, but that does not deny the fact that we still have to know who we are, Who is the Ultimate Truth.

So by getting too much enamoured by these wonderful powers, I mean already the scientists are making 747s, we can already travel practically everywhere we want to, we have the fare. It is a lot easier than sitting in the forest for about 20 or 50 or 100 years and meditating and doing different yogic things, you may not even get it, when you can just go out and buy a ticket for a few 100 dollars, or you can go out a buy a sweet meat for about 50 paisa, about 10 cents in India.

So the real thing is that these three processes which are generally known as yogic processes by many people: karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and aṣṭāṅga-yoga, they are not suited for this material universe in this kali-yuga, in the present day we are in. Bhakti-yoga, or yoga of devotion, even karma if it is mixed with bhakti, that is perfect. ‘I am doing my work to please the Lord and I am giving the fruits, (if I just give in charity that is called karma, good works) but if I give to Kṛṣṇa that is called karma-yoga’. That is called transcendental, because I am connecting myself with the Lord, you see.

Whatever I spend on this body, I get immediate results, I buy some food, I eat it. But this body is not going to be here forever. When this body is gone, then we have to again take another body. So one can make progress and get a better body or he can make regression and he will get an animal body or he can make absolute progress and get completely out of birth and death and get a spiritual body which is our own. He can become a fully transcendentally situated spirit soul free from birth and death. This is known as the perfection or mahā-samādhi, the parama-siddhi, the perfection of all yogic practice. So this bhakti-yoga is the process, whereby one can easily obtain that.

The idea is that one focuses his mind 24 hours a day on the Lord, by chanting His holy name Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Hare Hare, by worshipping the deity. You see, just like here, they have established Nitāi-Gaura, Rukmiṇī-Dvārakādhīśa, Jagannātha, Subhadrā, Balarāma Deities. This is Kṛṣṇa himself, these are not idols. We are not idol worshippers.

According to the Vedas, they have given a description what does God and His great devotees look like. And it describes that because God is omniscience and omnipotent, that if one makes a form in His image, according to the scriptures and begins to worship installed according to the Vedic rites; that He Himself manifests within that very form. He is personally present; that is much different.

If I just say, make an image of a cow or of anything and say alright this is God and worship, that is idolism. That is not allowed. I cannot do by my imagination. But actually God or Kṛṣṇa, he is a person, He's got a form, He's got His friends, He's got His loved ones, He loves all of you. He loves all of us, because we are His children. But we have simply turned our face from Him. Therefore we are suffering in this material world, and when we turn our face back to Kṛṣṇa, then everything is illuminated. So these Deities, They are Kṛṣṇa Himself. Because we don’t have the pure vision to see Him, so He has taken a vision in what appears to be a marble form, or a wooden form, but He is actually present.

So many devotees they worship and they can feel the presence of Kṛṣṇa. This is all authorized by the scriptures. This is not something we've concocted. This is practiced all over India, all over the world. In every Hindu’s home one can find a picture or deity of the Lord Kṛṣṇa or Rāma or some deity. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme of all the deities. They are so many demigods like Śiva, Durgā, they are all worship able, we worship all of them. But just like Lord Śiva is known as vaiṣṇavānām yathā śambhuḥ (ŚB. 12.13.16). He is the greatest Vaiṣṇava. He is the greatest devotee. Although he himself is a great controller; he can give so many facilities, but he is also a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So all these things are great secrets, which are revealed in the Bhagavad Gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and in different Vedic scriptures.

So, just like here it is being practiced, the secret of worshipping the lord. This is the process known as ‘arcanam’. It is a process of yoga, part of the bhakti-yoga system. This can be practiced in everyone’s home. They can have a small deity of Kṛṣṇa and worship with incense offer a little fruit, flower, water; chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and the whole house you see, they can all get together. This creates a united family.

Once a week, if the whole family gets together, chants, before the deity Hare Kṛṣṇa, takes a little sweet meat and the fruit prasad, you see, if we place the food before Kṛṣṇa and then we chant and then we take that that is considered to be sanctified food stuff. The feast that is served is all offered food. This is sanctified. By taking that food one becomes purified.

So we would like that every household should have these deities of Kṛṣṇa, small deities or big, according to one’s ability, husband and wife, they should worship and thus the relationship with Kṛṣṇa is brought into the house just like one of the children, you see. Just like one of their own family members. And He is worshipped in that mood, as the dear most Lord of the family, you see, centre of the whole household. So that is called a Kṛṣṇa conscious house and it becomes protected from all dangers by Kṛṣṇa.

If there any dangers, just like the Pāṇḍavas, the great devotees in the Mahābhārata, there were so many dangers, but they were saved at every step by Kṛṣṇa. So if we take the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, we become protected. So this is known as the practice of bhakti-yoga or practice of devotional service, the yoga of love. We learn to give our mind, our speech, and our body in service to Kṛṣṇa.

It is very wonderful, so wonderful to give in love to Kṛṣṇa. Because we are of course His part and parcel; He is supreme absolute whole, He is everything. We are His atomic portions. When we give something to Him, we become automatically pleased. You see, just like when I feel what I am going to eat tonight, when I put food in my mouth, and it goes to my stomach, you see, my hand also gets the nourishment.

There is once a story about the senses, they decided to call a union meeting. There are so many union strikes nowadays even especially in Bengal in India. Many union strikes nowadays, also all over the world. So the senses they formed the union and the hands, the legs, the palms, the eyes, ears, they all got together and they had a meeting. And they all decided, “We are working so hard day and night, giving all the foods to the stomach. But that stomach doesn’t do anything. It simply sits there and digests the food and enjoys. We are walking, we are lifting, we are chewing, we are seeing, we are doing all the work and simply he is getting all the enjoyment. We are going to go on strike. Enough of this slavery for the stomach!”

So they all went on strike, “Zindabad! Zindabad!” (devotees laugh) “We will overcome for our rights! Why should we simply feed the stomach?! He doesn’t do a darn thing! He simply sits there, getting all the food!” So they went on a big strike. After about three to four days, the hands are all fatigued, the legs were tired out, they couldn’t walk any more, the eyes are getting heavy and everyone was just getting just about worn out. They called an emergency meeting. “All right, all the senses, get together!”. They all got together. “Listen! This is not working; we are getting weak! (devotees laugh). We better stop this strike and feed the stomach again.” So then they all went and they said, “Alright stomach, forgive us!” And then they fed the stomach and from the stomach again all the senses become nourished.

So just like that, you see, we are all part of Kṛṣṇa. He is the Supreme Being and we are His atomic particles. So when we are serving Him, He is like the stomach, we are all happy. As soon as a devotee does a little something, chants, takes a little prasāda, little transcendental food stuff, maybe comes in and sweeps the floor or gives something to Kṛṣṇa, immediately he can feel a little goodness, a little transcendental happiness. This is natural and if one can give his whole life, for that is the most wonderful experience. But of course every one may not in a day be able to make such a sacrifice. Whatever one can, you see, use in the service of Kṛṣṇa, that increases his influence and transcendental experience of who he is, to really reach that spiritual realm. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says:

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
(Bhagavad-gītā 18.66)

“You surrender to Me, I will give you all protection. I will protect you from all type of bad karma, sinful reaction.”

Otherwise who is going to protect us? There is a story about Vālmīki . Before he was Vālmīki he was known as Daśyu Ratnākara. ‘Daśyu’ means armed robber, dacoit, we say in India. He is an armed robber, the worst criminal. So there was this one criminal and he would go and simply attack people any time and take all of their wealth. And he was a notorious bandit. So he had a wife and he had a grandmother and a grandfather who were living with him and his children. And he was stealing and robbing and getting the wealth and bringing home to his family.

Well, there was a great sage, there is a great sage known as Nārada Muni. So Nārada Muni, he was going along and he met this bandit. And so the bandit was going to rob and said, “Alright, give me everything you've got.” Because Nārada Muni, he was just a sādhu, a saint, he doesn’t carry anything but a little musical instrument called vīṇā, like a tambura, like a sitar. “I don’t have anything for that matter” And he played his vīṇā, this string instrument. And that thief became little bit softened and he (Nārada Muni) said, “Why you are doing all this thieving. Don’t you know that you are going to get sinful reaction? Don’t you know that all the people you are killing and stealing from, this is all going to come down upon you? Who is going to take all these sins? Who is going to take all the bad reactions coming? For many births you are going to suffer.” “Why worry, my wife, they are getting my money, my children, my parents, they are all getting the money, they all will take a share.” Nārada says, “No, they won’t take any, you ask them if they will take a share. I say not one will take a share, you ask them anyway, “Who is going to take all these reactions for your activities? Remember every action has a reaction.” And he showed the laws of karma. He could see that for what I have done, for every person I have killed, in a future birth I will be killed. He became very frightened.

He said, “Well thank you great sage, I don’t believe you, though however, I know they will all accept the share of my reactions.” So he went back and requested his son, “My dear son, now you know that I have been doing many murders and many killings and I have robbed so many people. Now of course according to the laws of karma, I have to suffer so many reactions. You have been eating all this food and all the money I have brought home and you have been eating. So my dear son, you will take a portion of this bad reaction from me, so I may not have to suffer so much?”

“Well, listen Daddy, I mean, I didn’t ask to be your son, I mean after all whatever, after all you don’t have to do that. You can feed me any way you like, I mean I am just your son, you know. I can’t take any of those sinful reactions.” (devotees laugh).

He was shocked! Then he went to his own mother, and he said, “Well ma, you know, that I have been doing a lot of stealing, and I met saint and he showed me how for every action I do, there is a reaction. So I have been doing a lot of bad actions and there is going to be heavy reaction for that. Now you have been living off the wealth and all things I brought, so surely you will take, if you take just one-fourth, there are four people here son, wife, you and my father. So if you just take one-fourth of these activities then I will be so much relieved.”

“Well, I am your mother but I never told that you should go out and do all these bad activities. I mean I am very grateful that you are feeding me, but after all, I mean what can I do? I can’t take any of those sinful reactions, I mean I am about to die, I am not going to hell for you.”

So then he told, “Alright, my dear, my dear wife, please…please...I am for you... for your happiness, for your interest, I am going out and risking my life, I am murdering, I am killing, I am stealing. You please, you at least take the share of all these sinful, of the bad karmic reactions.”

“Oh my dear, daśyu baby (devotees laugh) I mean, I have given you my life, and I am just serving you for all my life. But if you go out and get a job you don’t have to go out and kill people. I mean, you can feed me any way you like. I get your good reactions. If you do any good activity I will take. But I am not going to take any of the sins." It has been hard enough this life; I am not going to get tied up to next life too! I am sorry.”

So he was crushed, I mean everyone had refused to accept robbing, so many getting killed, so many times, for the people he had murdered. So he went back to the great saint, and said “Everything you said was correct. No one would take a share of my bad activities. How do I get saved from this heavy burden?”

So then Nārada Muni said, “I will save you. But then you have to stop doing all these bad activities and I have the process for you to purify yourselves” “Well, I can stop, I will stop doing all these murders, I will definitely stop.” “So alright, so you should chant the name Kṛṣṇa. You should chant the name Rāma.” “I can’t chant those names of God. I am too much a violent, sinful person. I can’t chant those kinds of names. You got to give me something like murder, kill, smash, destroy, something nice, I can get into that.”

So then Nārada Muni, he said all right, so you chant “marā, marā, marā, marā….” You chant “marā” one after the, “marā” in Sanskrit and also Bengali even Hindi, means to kill or to hit. But when one says “marā, marā, marā, marā, it becomes “Rāma Rāma Rāma” when one says one after the other. So in this way, he simply sat there chanting “marā, marā, marā, Rāma, Rāma, Rāma…” and so by chanting like that he became fully purified from all the bad reactions. You see, like that, we are doing so many activities, we don’t know what is the reaction. Therefore we have to get some teachings.

So here Śrīla Rāmeśvara Swami, he is the resident guru, ācārya, and he is... so many devotees here. They are here for simply teaching the people how to avoid suffering and how to obtain real transcendental joy in their lives. So we want to attract more people. In fact, I was fascinated, how Rameswar Swami, he was quoting Śrīla Prabhupāda’s idea. You know, Śrīla Prabhupāda, he came here to the west in 1965. And when he came here he didn’t come here begging. You know, so many, even the Indian government used to come in those days and beg for aid. But Prabhupāda, he didn’t come here begging. He came here giving. He gave us Bhagavad-gītā, he gave us this wonderful Indian culture and transcendental knowledge and happiness.

Transcendental joy to make our lives full; you see. So when he came here, he could see that in the west there is no dearth of material affluence. But there is nothing spiritual about it. Therefore people are frustrated, they are unhappy, they are unprotected by Kṛṣṇa. You see, well he of course, coming from India, there is to some extend there is a shortage of technology, there is a shortage of finance, but there is no dearth of culture. No dearth of spiritual wisdom in the Vedic literatures like Bhagavad-gītā.

So Prabhupāda, he would instruct us that we should understand the philosophy of the lame man and the blind man. This is known in Sanskrit ‘andhā-pangu-darśana’. Andhā means blind and pangu means crippled. So if there are two people, one is a blind man, he cannot get along because he cannot see, one is a cripple. He can get along, but he cannot walk. You see, so if the blind man is very healthy and stout, he lifts the cripple on his back. And the cripple can see, so he says ‘you go left, you go right, you go this way’, so together they make a very good team.

So Prabhupāda said it is like that, “In the west I found wonderful, you see technology, wonderful affluence, the people are beautiful, everything is there, but there is no culture, there is no spiritual vision. Therefore it is like the blind leading the blind. They are simply going. You see they create beautiful city, but they create small. They are not going to have any solution. You see, because everything is based on their material vision.

If there is spiritual vision, one can avoid all these things.” So his teaching was, there has to be not only material vision, but there has to be spiritual vision. So there has to be co-operation. So he said there should be, Prabhupāda describes, which Rāmeśvara Swami just mentioned to me yesterday, how he had conceived of this material technology of the west being the blind man, but very stout and strong and the spiritual vision of India, you see joining together, they are the perfect match. In the western countries, Indian culture should be utilized. And together, everything has to be a pair. Then it's perfect.

So he made this scheme for the full renovation and reconstruction of this Los Angeles temple to make it the biggest cultural centre in, if not in the United States, at least in California and Los Angeles. This, in the back here, is the model of that complete reconstruction and what shall we call it, renovation and development of this center. This building, I mean these buildings here with restaurant, boutique, museum, and cultural centre, community centers, wedding centers, the temple everything, all in one. So this is a very beautiful and ambitious project.

So he was telling me how this is the application of that ‘andha panga’ philosophy, using the western affluence and using the Indian culture together, you see. With the Indian spiritual culture, people can get the real meaning in their life. So this is a good chance for everyone to take an active part in developing this community. See, I was recently in London and there the whole community, all the friends of the temple are all very active there in building in a community and some very nice developments are taking place. So now here I see that in Los Angeles a similar type of development is going to take place. So if all the friends of the temple take an active part to see this be a success that would certainly be a transcendental form of bhakti-yoga. This will be the perfection of karma-yoga, to do something to help this.

By either coming and assisting, what kind of help they can use, either coming otherwise donating something, whatever it may be, giving it some good publicity, speaking about it to your friends. There are so many ways. It will be very nice, I think in Los Angeles to have such a wonderful community center. And he is doing so without limiting the book distribution and other preaching programs which are the glory of this community here.

In India, we also use the same philosophy. There we like to bring in some of the western affluence, for our, and combine it with Indian culture to make a wonderful, we have a gurukul there with so many orphans and poor children are coming and getting free education. They are getting there good food with plenty of fruit and milk and grains and all healthy food, organically grown in our own farms. And there we have a cottage industry centre where people from the village are given employment, they all practice devotional principles and they weave cloth and they print books and do very many things; we have our own printing press and things. We have our diary, goshala, with many cows, and paddy fields and sugar cane fields, so many agriculture fields, everyone works in their gardens. So like this, there also we are using the same idea.

Prabhupāda also describes this as they are two sisters. You can say today America is like Lakṣmī. Anyone who is in America, for them finance is not such a difficult thing compared to someone in India. But there culture is not very difficult, culture is available. Just like Sarasvatī. Goddess of learning and goddess of wealth. So both of them, they are daughters of mother Pārvatī. There are the two daughters, so one requires both. Both sisters are required. So that way, here in this community, the idea of two sisters co-operating, that they want to create a cultural centre for Rukmiṇī Dvārākādhīśa. So that all the people, the friends of the community can really have a wonderful centre to come to and feel part of and it is a very wonderful and ambitious program.

So I just wanted to mention that, if anyone was wondering what this marble here is all about. Now I think it is just about time for you all to take the prasādam feast, which is waiting; you don’t want prasāda to get cold. But we have little time for anyone to ask questions. I just like to repeat again that this temple is made simply so people can learn the art, to practice in their own home. Come here for a while and be trained or someone would go to your home and help out to establish a little center in your own house. Or you can chant hare Kṛṣṇa in a park, anywhere. This is a great science of the self, science of the supreme self, you see.

Everything is very clearly given in the Bhagavad-gītā, the great song of God, famous song of Kṛṣṇa. It's a very scientifically and logically written simply spoken by Kṛṣṇa Himself over 5076 years ago. He spoke that. So it is available here, so many literatures available. We request everyone should go into it.

If you are going on a trip, please stop by, I am generally speaking, either at Śrī Māyāpur, the birthplace of Lord Caitanya, about 70 miles north of Calcutta. It is 2 hour drive. And otherwise in Vṛndāvana. We have a very nice center. Vṛndāvana is just by the birth place of Kṛṣṇa, Mathurā. That is the place where Kṛṣṇa lived his whole younger life and has so many wonderful activities, and is worshipped by all the devotees all over the world, the devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Or if you are going through Bombay then you can stop by our Bombay cultural centre right near the airport in Juhu; very wonderful centre.

This Janmāṣṭamī festival, birthday of Kṛṣṇa, over five hundred thousand people attended that festival. It is the cultural centre of Bombay today. The biggest festivals are held there. And many of the great dancers and Vaiṣṇava performers go there and sing and dance and perform. So anyway, whether you come to visit India, you are always welcome to stop in and although I usually I am in the villages doing work with the people in the villages, you can generally see me at Śrī Māyāpur.

We are very much honored that Śrīla Rāmeśvara Swami, he has promised to visit India for Prabhupāda’s disappearance celebration and Govardhana-pūjā in the end of, latter part of October, his health and Kṛṣṇa permitting and if you all spare him. We are anxious to have his association there in India. And if any of you ever like to go for a trip, please ask the temple here, how to get around and visit all the centres, the guest houses and nice facilities, you can have a nice visit, even if you have any friends in India you can always write to them and tell them to get connected with our centre. Try to increase the community.

Let us make a very good co-operation according to Prabhupāda’s desires and awaken the people to their real spiritual heritage of transcendental joy and bliss and knowledge which is given to us in the Bhagavad Gītā for everyone’s benefit. Thank you very much.

(Audience: Jaya)

Jayapatākā Mahārāja: Are there any questions you would like to ask? All right.

Devotee: Why did Kṛṣṇa pick the cow to be holy?

Jayapatākā Mahārāja: Why did Kṛṣṇa pick the cow to be holy? Well of course, you see, for us it is like if we ask somebody why he chose the friends he does. ‘So I like you sir, but I don’t like the friends you keep’, then actually that person might not choose to like you. So of course as to why Kṛṣṇa chose the cow, because we consider He is the supreme controller so He can make any one any way He likes to. So as it happens, He has chosen the cow to be his dear most associate and devotee. That of course nobody can say why He has done that.

But if you like, a few other reasons as to why, we can logically understand some of the good qualities of a cow and why they should not be slaughtered and eaten. You see more than any other animal, of course we can say, there are many reasons. The cow is the animal which gives us the most wonderful food, namely milk.

According to the Vedic scriptures, we have seven mothers, including our own mother and this mother earth. And one of the mothers is also our cow. Because right from the very childhood we are taking cow’s milk. Actually cow’s milk is not the same as any other animal's milk. You see, maybe every mammal feeds their child milk, but that is not really milk that we can take and get any benefit, although some take goat milk and lama milk and so many things. Actually cow milk is special because it is perfect food. It is the perfect food. By taking cow’s milk, ones spiritual capacity to understand transcendental knowledge becomes awakened.

And the cow simply eats grass. It eats just simply grass that is abundant everywhere and it produces milk which is the priceless gift. You see, a cow doesn’t hurt anyone, except maybe in self-defence, it might use its horn, but basically a cow is a very peace-loving animal. You see, so the cow is giving such a wonderful food stuff milk and what are we giving, we are giving a bunch of grass, which is available anywhere, cheap, nobody pays for grass. Of course if you irrigate it, everything nowadays in commercial way, you may put some investment, but the actual grass as it stands is available for anyone, free.

And the cow especially according to the Vedic culture, even I have visited a cultural exhibit of American history and in ancient America they were using the bullocks, the oxen to pull carts across the prairies. So they are bringing home the grains, they are like our father. So according to the Vedic understanding, it is just as we would not kill our father and mother for eating them, similarly how can we kill the bull or the cow for our tongue... sense gratification? You see, that is the terrible sin or bad reaction because the cow is doing no one harm.

Now the other thing is that if the cow leads his normal life, she leads her normal life, it is described in the Vedas that of all the animals a cow is the last animal birth. In fact someone who is a cow, when he dies and again takes birth then he gets... the next birth is the human birth. But they have to serve their term as a cow for the full life and die by natural death. That means when we kill a cow we are depriving that cow the chance of getting human birth, we are disrupting the whole laws of material nature. If that cow is left alone and to die a natural death, the next birth she would become a human being. Not only an ordinary human being, but a human being with best and good qualities expected of any human. So by being a cow, that is a great opportunity. But a cow can’t go back to God, can’t understand what the self is. That only a human can become a great yogī, can have a real understander of the truth. But that is last animal birth. So what you are doing here is completely disrupting the nature again and again. Until you allow the cow to lead her full life, she can’t get out of that. She has got like a prison sentence to serve, so many years as a cow. When she finishes, then she can become a human.

So all these things combined, the cow is the last animal anyone should ever try to create any problem for. It’s very bad reaction for that. It is said if one has to eat meat, then he should eat some chicken, or some this bird or some useless animal. But by killing an animal you also you suffer some reaction. But it is not so grave. Actually best food is not to eat any kind of animal food, except in the form of milk, cheese, butter.

Best thing is to eat vegetarian food which is offered to Kṛṣṇa in love. Take that as prasāda. That is the food of the yogīs. That is real human food because there is no karma, there is no reactions tied up in that. Kṛṣṇa absolves all reactions from pulling the plant out. He absolves all the reactions and he makes it purified food. So in that way the cow, some people worship the cow because she is our mother giving our milk, some people worship because she is the favourite animal of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa used to have spiritual cows and He used to play with them, you see. So, for various reasons, people respect the cow. Some people do because they realize that this cow is going to be in the last birth, he is going to become a human being.

It is said that if the cows are happy then the whole people become happy. Because the cows are such peaceful animals, if they get happy, they have some mystic power though, they have some mystic power that if all the cows in a country are happy they make that whole country very prosperous. And whenever the cows are harassed, that country all the time will have various kinds of forest fires, earth quakes, wars and different problems, even when there's no cause for it.