“Then Lord Krishna blew His conchshell named Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of Herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell named Paundram.”
What is Real Intelligence?
The sastra says, “You may be god in your own atmosphere, in your own jurisdiction. You may think that you are God. But the Supreme God is Krishna .” Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam/ eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13). His personality is different from your personality, from my personality. What is that difference? He supplies all the necessities of all other personalities. God is supplying us food, as the Bible explains (“God, give us our daily bread.”). This is nice, this is sukrti, this is punyavat.
If someone like a communist claims, “Oh, what God? We are creating our own food,” they are duskrtina, rascals. But if someone goes to the church or temple for asking something to God, he is pious. At least, he has approached God. One day when he will become an advanced devotee and stop asking for material things from God. He will understand, “Why shall I bother God? He is supplying food to everyone — cats, dogs, ants, elephants. Why wouldn’t he provide me with food? Let me just serve Him. If I am engaged in His service, why wouldn’t He maintain me? If He wants, I will starve. That doesn’t matter. But I must engage myself in the service of the Lord.”
This is higher intelligence. Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate [Gita 7.19]. This intelligence comes after many, many births of endeavoring for self-realization. It does not come easily.
Know There is a Witness to Everything
There is no question of scarcity for devotee. A devotee is not in need of anything. Why he should be? If a non-devotee gets everything from God, why would a devotee not get what he wants? Just like the government that takes care of prisoners in a prison house — although the prisoners have gone against the government, the government maintains them. In fact, many people who are unemployed prefer to enter the prison house so they will get free food.
If God can fulfill the needs of those who do not worship Him,
why would He not fulfill the needs of His dear devotees?
All living entities in this material world are prisoners. isvarah sarvabhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati/ bhramayan sarvabhutani yantrarudhani mayaya [Gita 18.61]. The Supreme Lord Krishna , or Hrsikesa, is sitting in everyone’s heart as Paramatma, and He is guiding. Just as two birds are sitting on a tree, Krishna and the living entity, jivatma and Paramatma, are residing inside the body. The jivatma is eating the fruit of the tree, while Paramatma is just a witness. Anumanta upadrasta. Paramatma is watching, Hrsikesa is seeing that you are doing this. So we may forget what nonsense we may have done in our last life, but Paramatma the witness is there. You have to get a body according to your work. Karmana daiva-netrena [Bhagavatam 3.31.1]. And Paramatma is also giving advice.
We have forgotten Krishna , and we have rebelled against Krishna . We want to act according to our whims. When a child wants to do something according to his whims, the concerned father checks him, “My dear child, do not do this.” But if the child insists on doing it, the father reluctantly allows him to do: “Alright, do it.” The Paramatma is always guiding us, but we ignore His guidance. This is our position. Arjuna accepted Krishna , “I shall be guided by You, although You’ll not fight.” In this verse, Krishna is referred to as Hrsikesa, and He’s guiding Arjuna. Hrsika means the senses, Hrsikesa means the master of the senses. Sarvatah pani-padam tat: “God has His hands and legs all over the universe.” This means that the hands and legs that we possess are actually His hands and legs; He is the master. As soon as God withdraws the power of your hand, they get paralyzed. Therefore the real proprietor is Krishna , not you. You have been given the facility to use it, not for your sense gratification but for serving the Lord. If you satisfy the Lord, then your life is perfect.
Everything belongs to God — this is self-realization. My body, mind and intelligence belong to God. I am a spirit soul, part and parcel of God. isavasyam idam sarvam [isopanisad 1]. If you don’t use it for God, that is called demonism. And if you use it for God, that is devotion.
We get our body according to our karma. We have entered into this body and are working according to past karma. The Christian theologians do not believe in karma. While I was a student in Scottish Churches College, our Professor Dr. W.S. Urquhart expressed his disbelief in the law of karma. He argued, “If I am suffering or enjoying for my last karma, who is the witness? Because some witness must be there that I have done this.” At that time we were not very expert. But the Bhagavad-gita says how Paramatma or Hrsikesa is the witness and sanctioner. The Christians have no idea of Paramatma. Sometimes they talk about the holy ghost — not a clear idea. But this Hrsikesa is clear idea.
Satisfy the Ultimate Master
Bhakti, or the devotional path, is meant for satisfying the master of the senses. Hrsikena hrsikesasevanam bhaktir ucyate [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. When you serve the master of the senses (Hrsikesa) with your senses (hrsikena), that is called bhakti. That is selfrealization. isavasyam idam sarvam. Everything belongs to God; nothing belongs to us — this is Bhagavata communism. As the communists say, “Everything belongs to the state,” we say “Everything belongs to God.” We never say that anything belongs to anyone. No. Just as in a house, every son can use his father’s property, similarly, everything belongs to God, and one can utilize God’s property as much as he requires. If he takes more than what he needs, he is considered a thief, and thus he will be punishable. Ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam. That is spiritual communism. All wealth within this universe belong to God, and we as children of God have got the right to take advantage of this wealth, but not more than what we require.
We are marginal energy of Krishna . We are now put into this material energy because we wanted to enjoy this material world. Krishna is actually the only enjoyer (bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram [Gita 5.29]). He is also enjoyer of My energy, because my energy is derived from Krishna ’s energy. Just like master and servant — the master is paying him for food and other comforts. So how the energy should be utilized? For the master, not for his sense gratification. This is perfection of life. You produce anything by your energy, but do not use it for your sense gratification. Then you become perfect. Hrsikesa, the master of the senses, will give you intelligence about how to do it. Krishna gave Arjuna the intelligence for winning the war. Arjuna was a military man, and he utilized his military strength for Krishna ’s purpose. That is the perfection of life.
Even by fighting, you can be a great devotee, just like Arjuna. Arjuna was not chanting on the beads, but he was fighting. Krishna says, “Oh, you are My great devotee (bhakto ‘si priyo ‘si me [Gita 4.3]).” So bhakti means you utilize your energy for Krishna . Then your life is perfect.
Thank you very much.