You know Krsna, you know everything (Srila Prabhupada)

Lecture by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
given in Seattle, October 4, 1968 

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You are a scientist? All right, it doesn't matter. By your scientific research work you find out the Supreme, then it is your perfection. You are businessman? Oh. With your money just find out the Supreme. You are a lover? Just find out the supreme lover. You are after taste, aesthetic sense, beauty? If you find out the Supreme, your searching after beauty will be satisfied.

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So we are interested in capturing the original person. (chuckles) We are not interested with any subordinate. Govindam adi-purusam [Govinda the Original Person]. But if one can capture the original person, then he captures everyone. Just like the same example. In the Vedas it is said, in the Upanisad: yasmin vijnate sarvam evam vijnatam bhavanti. ["Try to find the one by knowing whom everything is known"]. If you can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead or the Absolute Truth, then you understand everything. There is no need of understanding separately. Yasmin vijnate sarvam etam vijnatam bhavanti. Similarly, in the Bhagavad-gita also it is said,

yam labdhva caparam labham
manyate nadhikam tatah
yasmin sthito na duhkhena

gurunapi vicalyate

[Bhagavad Gita 6.20-23]
 

["Upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty"]

Now we are, everyone, searching after some standard of life where we will have no anxiety. That is the aim of everyone. Why we are struggling? We are trying to approach a certain point. Just like two parties playing on football, they are, each one of them, trying to approach the goal. That is victory. So everyone is trying to gain something, according to different position, according to different idea. Not everyone is searching after the same thing. Somebody searching after material pleasure, somebody searching after intoxication, somebody is searching after sex, somebody is searching after money, somebody is searching after knowledge, somebody is searching after so many things. But there is one thing. If we can get that, attain to that perfection, then we shall be satisfied and we shall say that "We do not want anything."

svamin krtartho 'smi varam na yace  

[Chaitanya Caritamrta, Madhya 22.42] 

["O Lord, I am so satisfied that I do not wish to ask any benediction from You"]

There are many instances. So there is like that, and that is Krsna. If you can simply understand Krsna, then your knowledge is perfect, you understand everything. You understand science, you understand mathematics, you understand chemistry, physics, astronomy, philosophy, literature, everything. It is so nice. So Bhagavata says therefore that,

samsiddhir hari-tosanam 
[Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.13]

["The highest perfection one can achieve is to please the Personality of Godhead"]

Whatever department of knowledge or whatever department of activities you are engaged in, it doesn't matter. But if you can find out the Supreme by your pursuit of knowledge, that is your perfection. You are a scientist, all right, it doesn't matter. By your scientific research work you find out the Supreme. Then it is your perfection. You are businessman? Oh. With your money just find out the Supreme. You are a lover? Just find out the supreme lover. You are after taste, aesthetic sense, taste, beauty? If you find out the Supreme, your searching after beauty will be satisfied. Everything. Krsna, that is Krsna. Krsna means all-attractive. You are searching after something. If you find Krsna then you'll see yes, your goal is attained. Therefore His name is Krsna.

Krsna means "all-attractive." He is attractive to the lover, He's attractive to the wise, He's attractive to the politician, He's attractive to the scientist, He is attractive to the rogues. Rogues also. When Krsna entered the arena of Kamsa, different kinds of people saw Him differently. Those who were invited from Vrndavana, they were young girls. They saw Krsna, "Oh, the most beautiful person." Those who were wrestlers, they saw Krsna as thunderbolt. They also saw Krsna, but they say, "Oh, here is thunderbolt." Just like however strong you may be, if there is falldown of thunderbolt, everything is finished. So they saw Krsna as thunderbolt, the wrestlers. And the elderly persons, elderly ladies, they saw Krsna as loving child. So you can establish relationship with Krsna any way. There are twelve kinds of rasas, humor. Just like sometimes we want to see a very pathetic scene in some drama, some ghastly scene. Somebody is murdering somebody and we take pleasure in seeing that. There are certain kinds of person... There are different kinds of sporting. One of our student in Montreal, he was saying that his father took pleasure in bull fighting in Spain. When the bull is killed by fighting, he was taking pleasure. So different kinds of men. One person is seeing, "It is horrible," another person is enjoying, "Oh, it is very nice." You see? So Krsna can accommodate. If you want to love horrible things, Krsna can present yourself as Nrsimhadeva, "Ah." Yes. And if you want to see Krsna as very loving friend, He is Vamsi-dhari, Vrndavana-vihari. If you want Krsna as loving child, then He's Gopala. If you want child as loving friend, he's Arjuna. Just like Arjuna and Krsna. So there are twelve kinds of humors. Krsna can be accommodated with all the humors; therefore His name is Akhila-rasamrta-sindhu. Akhila-rasamrta-sindhu. Akhila means universal; rasa means mellow, humor; and the ocean. Just like if you try to find out water and if you go before the Pacific Ocean, oh, unlimited water. There is no comparison how much water is there. (chuckling) Similarly, if you want something and if you approach Krsna, you'll find unlimited supply, unlimited supply, just like ocean. Therefore it is said in the Bhagavad-gita,

yam labdhva caparam labham manyate nadhikam tatah

["Upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain"] 

If anyone can approach or gain that Supreme Absolute, then he will be satisfied and he will say, "Oh, I have no more hankering. I have got everything complete, in full satisfaction."

yam labdhva caparam labham 
manyate nadhikam tatah 
yasmin sthite

["Upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position"]

And if one is situated in that transcendental position, then what happens?

gurunapi duhkhena na vicalyate
 
["One is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty"]

If there is very severe test of distress, he's not, I mean to say, faltering. 

There are many instances in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Just like in the Bhagavad-gita the Pandavas were placed in so many distressed condition, but they were never faltering. They never asked Krsna, "My dear Krsna, You are my friend. You are our friend, the Pandavas. Why we are undergoing so much severe test of difficulties?" No. They never. Because they were confident that "In spite of all these difficulties, we shall come out victorious because Krsna is there. Because Krsna is there." This confidence. This is called saranagati, surrender. There are six points of surrender unto Krsna. One point of surrender is to believe that "Krsna will protect me." Just like a small child has got full faith in his mother: "My mother is there. There is no danger." Confident. I have seen it. Everyone. I have got... I'll narrate one practical experience. In Calcutta, in my younger days, I was traveling in tram, and my youngest son, he was with me. He was only two years old, or two or two and a half years old. So the conductor, out of joke, asked him, "Give me your fare." So he first of all said like this: "I have no money." So the conductor said, "Then you get down." He immediately said, "Oh, here is my father." (makes some gesture) (laughter) You see. "You cannot ask me to get down. My father is here." You see? So this is the psychology. If you have approached Krsna, then even the greatest fear will not agitate you. That is a fact. So such a thing is Krsna. Try to achieve this greatest boon, Krsna. And what Krsna says?

kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati 
[Bhagavad Gita 9.31]

["O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes"]

"My dear Kaunteya, son of Kunti, Arjuna, declare in the world that My devotees will never be vanquished." Will never be vanquished.

kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati

Similarly, there are many passages in the Bhagavad-gita. I'm quoting from Bhagavad-gita because this book is very popular all over the world, and... Try to understand, read this book, very valuable book of knowledge. So Krsna says,

aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
[Bhagavad Gita 10.8]

["I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts"]

Who can worship Krsna? That is described here, that budha. Budha means most intelligent person. Bodha, bodha means knowledge, and budha means one who is wise, full of knowledge. Everyone is after knowledge. Here you have got this Washington University. There are many students. They have come here to acquire knowledge. So one who has acquired the perfection of knowledge or the highest platform of knowledge, he is called budha. So not only budha but bhava-samanvitah. Bhava means ecstasy. One must be very learned and wise, at the same time he must feel ecstasy spiritually. "Such person," Krsna says, iti matva bhajante mam. "Such persons worships Me or loves Me." One who is very intelligent and one who is transcendentally very full of ecstasy, such person loves Krsna or worships Krsna. Why? Because iti matva, "by understanding this". What is "this"?

aham sarvasya prabhavo 

["I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds"]

"I am the origin of everything, sarvasya." Anything you bring, that is, if you go on, search out, then you will find ultimately it is Krsna.

The Vedanta also says the same thing. What is Brahman? 

athato brahma jijnasa
[Vedanta-sutra 1.1.1]

["Now is the time to inquire about Brahman – the Absolute Truth"] 

This life, this human life... We have now... In other life we have enjoyed sense pleasure to the fullest extent. What we can enjoy in this human life? In other life... Of course, according to Darwin's theory, just prior to this human life there was monkey life. So the monkey... You have no experience. In India we have got experience. Each and every monkey has got at least hundred girls with him. Hundred, one hundred. So what we able to enjoy? Every, each, they have got party, and each party, one monkey has got a least fifty, sixty, not less than twenty-five. So a hog's life, they have got also dozens of... Dozens. And they have no distinction, "Who is my mother, who is my sister, who is my relative." You see? So they're enjoying. So do you mean to say that human life is meant like that – like monkeys and hogs and cats and dogs? Is that perfection of human life, to satisfy sense gratification? No. That we have enjoyed in various forms of life. Now? The Vedanta says, athato brahma jijnasa. This life is for inquiring and understanding Brahman. What is that Brahman? isvarah paramah brahma or parama, 

isvarah paramah krsnah 
[Brahma Samhita 5.1]

["Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Godhead"]

And Krsna is Para-brahman. Brahman, we are all Brahman, but He is Para-brahman, the Supreme Brahman. isvarah paramah krsnah.

Just like you are all Americans, but your President Johnson is the supreme American. That is natural. Vedas says that the supreme of everyone is God.

nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam 
(Katha Upanisad 2.2.13)

[He is the supreme eternally conscious person]

Who is God? He is the most perfect eternal, He is the most perfect living force. That is God.

eko bahunam vidadhati kaman 
(Katha Upanisad 2.2.13)

["Who maintains all other living entities"] 

eko bahunam vidadhati kaman. The meaning is that one living force is supplying all the demands of all other living entities. Just like in a family the father is supplying the necessities of the wife, the children, the servant, a small family. Similarly, you expand it: the government or the state or the king is supplying the necessities of all the citizens. But everything is incomplete. Everything is incomplete. You can supply your family, you can supply your society, you can supply your country, but you cannot supply everyone. But there are millions and trillions of living entities. Who is supplying food? Who is supplying hundreds and thousands of ants within the hole in your room? Who is supplying food? When you go to the green lake there are thousands of ducks. Who is taking care of them? But they are living. There are millions of sparrows, birds, beasts, elephants. At one time he eats hundred pounds. Who is supplying food? Not only here, but there are many millions and trillions of planets and universes everywhere. That is God.

nityo nityanam eko bahunam vidadhati kaman

["He is the supreme eternally conscious person who maintains all other living entities"] 

Everyone is dependent on Him, and He is supplying all the necessities, all the necessities. Everything complete. Just like this planet, everything is complete.

purnam idam purnam adah
purnat purnam udacyate
purnasya purnam adaya
purnam evavasisyate
[Isopanisad, Invocation] 

["The Personality of Godhead [Complete Whole] is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance"]

Every planet is so made that it is complete in itself. The water is there, reserved in the seas and oceans. That water is taken away by the sunshine. Not only here, in other planets also, the same process is going on. It is transformed into cloud, then distributed all over the land, and there is growing of vegetables, fruits and plants, everything. So everything is complete arrangement. That we have to understand, that who has made this complete arrangement everywhere. The sun is rising in due time, the moon is rising in due time, the seasons are changing in due time. So how you can say? There is evidence in the Vedas there is God. In every scripture, every great personality, devotee, representative of God... Just like Lord Jesus Christ, he gave information of God. Although he was crucified, he never changed his opinion. So we have evidences from scripture, from Vedas, from great personality, still, if I say, "God is dead. There is no God," then what kind of man I am? This is called demon. They'll never believe it. They'll never believe... Yes. Just the opposite demon is budha. Budha means very intelligent, wise man. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is said, therefore,

krsna yei bhaje sei bada catura

["Unless one worships Krishna, he cannot be called intelligent"]

Anyone who becomes attracted by Krsna and loves Him... Worshiping means loving. In the beginning it is worshiping, but at the end it is love. Worshiping. So,

iti matva bhajante mam budha
[Bhagavad Gita 10.8]

["The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service"]

Anyone who is wise, who is intelligent, who knows that Krsna is the cause of all causes...

isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
[Brahma Samhita 5.1] 

["Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes"]

sarva-karana: everything has got cause, cause and effect. So you go on finding out what is the cause of this, what is the cause of this, what is the cause of this, then you'll find Krsna.

sarva-karana-karanam

["He is the prime cause of all causes"]

And Vedanta says,

janmady asya yatah 
[Vedanta-sutra 1.1.2]

["The Absolute Truth is the supreme cause of all emanations"]

You cannot say something has sprang automatically. That is foolishness. Everything has a source of generation. Everything. That is intelligence. Don't say... Just like modern science says that "There was a chunk and there was creation – perhaps." That is also "perhaps," you see. So this kind of knowledge is useless. You must find out. If I ask the scientist, "What is the cause of this chunk?", they cannot reply. So find out the cause, and you'll find that... If I cannot find, then we have to follow...

mahajano yena gatah sa panthah 
[Chaitanya Caritamrita, Madhya, 17.186]

["One should accept whatever progressive path the self-realized predecessors advocate"]

We have to follow the authorized acaryas. If you be Christian, just follow Jesus Christ. He says, "There is God." Then you accept there is God. He says that "God created this. He said that 'Let there be creation,' and there was creation." So we accept this, "Yes. God created." Here also in the Bhagavad-gita God says, Krsna says,

aham sarvasya prabhavo 
[Bhagavad Gita 10.8] 

["I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds"]

"I am the origin." So God is the origin of creation.

sarva-karana-karanam
[Brahma Samhita 5.1] 

["He is the prime cause of all causes"]

He is the cause of all causes.

So we have to take the examples of great personalities, we have to study authorized books and Vedas, and we have to follow their example; then Krsna consciousness or God realization or God consciousness is not difficult. It is very easy. There is no, I mean to say, any stumbling block on the path of your understanding what is God. Everything is there. The Bhagavad-gita is there, the Srimad-Bhagavatam is there. Even you accept, your Bible is there, the Koran is there, everywhere. Without God, there cannot be any book or scripture. Nowadays, of course, they are manufacturing so many things. But in any human society the conception of God is there – according to time, according to the people, but the idea is there. Now you have to understand, jijnasa. Therefore Vedanta-sutra says that you try to understand God by inquiry, inquiry. This inquiry is very important. In our process, adau gurvasrayam sad-dharma prcchat: one has to accept a bona fide spiritual master and he has to inquire from him, sad-dharma prcchat. Similarly, in the Srimad-Bhagavatam also says that,

jijnasuh sreya uttamam 
[Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.21]

"One who is inquisitive to understand the Absolute Truth, he requires a spiritual master."

tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam 
[Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.21]

Jijnasuh means inquisitive, one who inquires. Inquiry is natural. Just like a child: with the development of his life he inquires from the parents, "Father, what it is? Mother, what it is? What it is? What it is?" This is nice. A boy, child, who is inquiring, that means he is very intelligent boy. So we should be intelligent and inquire, jijnasa. Brahma-jijnasa. This life is for brahma-jijnasa, to understand, to inquire about God. Then a life is successful. Athato brahma jijnasa. And after inquiring, inquiring, inquiring, understanding, understanding, understanding, then what is the ultimate stage? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita:

bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate 
[Bhagavad Gita 7.19]

After many, many births of inquiry, when one becomes actually a wise man, man of knowledge, then what happens? Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate: "He surrenders unto Me," Krsna says. Why?

vasudevah sarvam iti
[Bhagavad Gita 7.19]

["Knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is"]

He understands that Vasudeva, Krsna, is the cause of all causes.

sa mahatma su-durlabhah
[Bhagavad Gita 7.19]

But such kind of great soul is very rare, to understand it. Therefore Caitanya-caritamrta says, sei bado catura: he is very intelligent.

So these are the definition of intelligent person. So if we want to be intelligent, we can adopt the process how to become intelligent. But on the other hand, if we are actually intelligent, why not take this Krsna consciousness immediately and become intelligent? Without, without going to the process, you take... It is offered to you by the most magnanimous incarnation, Lord Caitanya. He's offering you,

krsna-prema-pradaya te 
[Chaitanya Caritamrta, Madhya 19.53]

["You who are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa"]

He's giving you love of Krsna. Rupa Gosvami offered his obeisances to Lord Caitanya,

namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te

["Obeisances unto You, most munificent incarnation, who are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa"]

"O my dear Lord Caitanya, You are the most charitable, magnanimous of all incarnations. Why? Because You are directly giving love of Krsna. The love of Krsna which cannot be achieved after many, many births, You are delivering cheaply, 'Take it immediately.' "

namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te krsnaya krsna-caitanya

["Obeisances unto You, most munificent incarnation, who are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa, and who is Kṛṣṇa Himself appearing as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu"] 

They could understand that "You are Krsna"; otherwise it was not possible by anyone to offer Krsna-prema, love of Krsna, so cheaply. "You are Krsna, You have got that power." And actually He is so. Krsna failed to give Krsna-prema, love of Krsna, when He came personally and taught Bhagavad-gita. He simply said,

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja 
[Bhagavad Gita 18.66] 

["Abandon all varieties of duties, religion, and spirituality, and just surrender to Me"]

But people misunderstood Him. Therefore Krsna came as a devotee and offered Krsna-prema to the people in general. So our request to everyone [is] that you take this Krsna consciousness movement, and you will feel that "I don't want any more, anything more. I am satisfied, fully satisfied."