Whether we choose to be godly or demoniac, Lord Krsna supplies whatever we need to pursue our goal.
dambha darpa 'bhimanas ca
krodhah parusyam eva ca
ajnanam cabhijatasya
partha sampadam asurim
"Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance-these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of prtha." (Bhagavad-gitil 16.4)
We discussed last night some of the divine characteristics, and here Lord Krsna lists some demoniac characteristics. We can understand something by analysis of its characteristics. In the chemical laboratory, things are tested by characteristics: "The colour is like this. The shape is like this. The taste is like this. The chemical reaction is like this." When these characteristics are stated for a chemical, then we can understand its purity.
The characteristics of a thing are also called its dharma. A snake, for example, will bite without provocation, and the bitten animal dies. This is the snake's characteristic.
Canakya Pandita says, sarpah krurah khalah krurah sarpat kruratarah khalah. There are two kinds of envious animals. One is the snake, and the other is the envious man. And according to Canakya Pandita, "Both of them are envious, but the envious man is more dangerous than the envious snake." Why? "Because the snake can be brought into submission by herbs and mantras." There are snake charmers who chant mantras and use herbs to subjugate snakes. But khalah kena nivaryate: "The snakelike man cannot be subdued at any cost."
By characteristics we can understand who is a godly man and who is a demoniac man. The next verse says daivi sampad vimoksaya nibandhaya asuri mata. If we have divine characteristics, we are eligible to go to the spiritual world vimoksaya. But if we have the demoniac characteristics mentioned in today's verse, then we are in material bondage.
We are the cause of our material bondage or freedom from material bondage. There is no other cause. We simply have to develop either the demoniac characteristics or the divine characteristics. Human life is meant for developing divine, not demoniac, characteristics.
Demoniac characteristics are already there. Take dambhah, pride, for example. A dog has pride: "I am this dog, grrr." "I am a fox terrier. I am this. I am that." Pride is present even in dogs and cats and lower animals. But divine characteristics are rare: "Oh, I am so low. I am lower than the grass ." Trnad api sunicena. This is one of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings. Why should I be proud? Pride is due to ignorance. Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, the author of the Caitanya-caritamrta, describes himself: "I am lower than the worms in the stool."
PROUD TO BE KRSNA'S SERVANT
Why should I be proud? What have I got? "I am the humble servant of Krsna. Let me discharge my duties." If one is proud to be aspiring to become a pure servant of Krsna, that is very good. That pride is glorious. "I am a servant of Krsna." That is very nice.
We have the tendency to be proud. Your pride to become cats or dogs or tigers or so-called big men of this material world is the cause of your bondage. But pride to become the most confidential servant of Krsna is the cause of your liberation. If you become proud and think, "I am a government minister" or "I am a big dog," that is the cause of your bondage. You will continue in material life. Of course, spiritual pride is glorious only when one is actually situated on the spiritual platform. Otherwise, that pride is also ignorance.
So two things are there: daivi sampad (godly qualities) and asuri sampad (demoniac qualities ). Asuri sampad means more and more entanglement and bondage within the material world. And daivi sampad means freedom from the material world.
First of all you must decide what you want. Whatever you want you will have. Krsna is very kind. If you want to, you can remain bound up by the laws of material nature within the material world. As we a re contaminated by the different material modes of nature, we get different situations of life, different forms of body, different circumstances. Krsna has arranged everything very accurately. His arrangement is perfect. When He wants to do something, He does it simply by His desire. By His desire His energies do the work.
We also have some energies, and when we desire to do some thing, our energies begin to work. We have a limited number of energies, and Krsna has an unlimited number of energies. If you desire, Krsna can supply your necessities unlimitedly. That freedom is there. If you want to remain as a demon, then Krsna will supply you all the ingredients you need to flourish as a demon.
KRSNA GIVES WHATEVER WE WANT
We can consider the examples of Hiranyakasipu and Prahlada. Prahlada was being supplied the necessities for spiritual advancement in life, and Hiranyakasipu was being supplied for the demoniac status of life. It is Krsna's pleasure to give you whatever you want. You can get all advantages from Krsna. If you want to become a demon, Krsna will supply you: "All right, become a demon. Take whatever you want from Me." He will give you what you want. Similarly, if you want to become a demigod or a devotee, Krsna will supply you all the necessities. It is my choice whether I shall become a demon or a devotee. Krsna is equal to everyone. Otherwise how is He God? If He is partial to somebody, then He is not God. He must be equal. He is equal to the devotee and the nondevotee . Whatever the nondevotees want, Krsna supplies. And whatever the devotees want, Krsna supplies.
But He is very pleased with the devotee. Therefore, the devotee's supplies are given immediately, whereas the demoniac person's supplies depend on his work, or karma. That is the difference. Krsna says that ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya mayi te tesu capy aham: "Whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him." [Bhagavad-gita 9.29] There are millions of living beings. Some of them are devotees, and many of them are nondevotees. Krsna is kind to the nondevotees also. Whatever the nondevotee wants, Krsna will give him. But the necessities of the devotee are the first consideration for Krsna . As the devotee is only searching for the opportunity to serve Krsna, Krsna is also very eager to serve the devotee. That is the reciprocation of devotional service.
It is our choice whether to become a devotee or remain a demon. Krsna says, "Give up this demoniac engagement and surrender to Me." That is Krsna's desire. But if you do not agree with Krsna's desire, if you want to enjoy your own desire, then Krsna is pleased to supply your necessities. But that is not very good. We should agree to Krsna's desires. We should not allow our demoniac desires to grow. We should sacrifice our desires. That is called tapasya. We should only accept Krsna's desire. That is the instruction of the Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna's desire was not to fight, but Krsna's desire was to fight-just the opposite. Arjuna ultimately agreed to Krsna's desire: "Yes, I will act according to Your desire." That is bhakti.
This is the difference between bhakti and karma. Karma means to fulfil my desires, and bhakti means to fulfil Krsna's desires. That is the diffe rence. Now you make your choice-whether you want to ful-fill your desires or Krsna's . If you decide to fulfil Krsna's desires, then your life is successful.
VRNDAVANA CONSCIOUSNESS
That is our Krsna conscious life. "I must do it. I will not do anything for myself." That is the mood of Vrndavana. All the inhabitants of Vrndavana are trying to fulfill Krsna's desire. The cowherd boys, the calves, the cows, the trees, the flowers, the water, the gopis, the elderly inhabitants, mother Yasoda, Nanda-they are all engaged in fulfilling Krsna's desire. That is Vrndavana. You can turn the material world into Vrndavana provided you agree to fulfill the desires of Krsna. That is Vrndavana. And if you want to fulfill your own desires, that is the material world. This is the difference between material and spiritual.
For example, we have this house -a temple-and our neighbors have their house, a karmi's house. What is the difference? The difference is that in this house everyone is engaged in fulfilling Krsna's desire, and in the other house, everyone is engaged in fulfilling his own desire. Therefore this is a temple, and that is only a house. Otherwise, from the external features, what is the difference? The same stone, the same wood , the same plants, the same land , the same kitchen-everything is the same. But here the business is to satisfy Krsna, and in the other houses the business is to satisfy one's own senses. That is the difference between kama and prema. When you try to fulfill the desires of Krsna, that is prema. And when you want to fulfill your own desires, that is called kama. There is no third thing.
Consider the gopis. They are going to Krsna, being captivated by His beauty, just as a young girl becomes captivated by seeing a very nice boy, or a nice boy is captivated to see the beauty of a girl. That is sense gratification. That is not prema; that is kama. When the gopis go to Krsna, it is superficially the same as young girls going to a young boy, but the gopis are going for Krsna's satisfaction , not for their own satisfaction . That is sublime.
Therefore even Caitanya Mahaprabhu held the gopis in high esteem. ramya kacid upasana vrajavadhu- vargena ya kalpita: "There is no better type of worship than was conceived by the gopis." Caitanya Mahaprabhu admitted that the topmost method of worshiping Krsna is the type of worship offered by the gopis. The six Gosvamis also were always thinking of the gopis' service to Krsna.
So two things: the divine characteristics and the demoniac characteristics. Now you have to select which one you want. If you actually want to love Krsna, then take the divine characteristics. You can practice those. That is devotional life.
Thank you very much.