Hamburg, September 4, 1969 Janmastami

visnu-saktih para prokta
ksetrajnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya saktir isyate

"The potency of Lord Visnu is summarized in three categories, namely the spiritual potency, the living entities, and ignorance. The spiritual potency is full of knowledge; the living entities, although belonging to the spiritual potency, are subject to bewilderment; and the third energy, which is full of ignorance, is always visible in fruitive activities."

Visnu Purana 6.7.62

IT IS STATED HERE, visnu-saktih para: "The energy of the Supreme Lord is spiritual." The energy and the energetic are nondifferent. Although the sunshine is the energy of the sun globe, the quality of sunshine and that of the sun globe are the same. The sunshine is bright, illuminating, hot. Similarly, we can understand, in the sun globe the temperature may be very high, but the quality is the same.

So visnu-saktih para prokta. God has one energy. And that energy is spiritual energy. The same energy is manifested in another form: ksetra-jna, or marginal energy, or the energy in which we living creatures are acting.

And anya means that besides these two energies the spiritual energy and the marginal energy, the living entities there is another energy, called avidya. Avidya means ignorance. In that energy one has to enjoy the fruit of his own labor. That is the nature of the material world. This material world is also an energy of Krsna, or God, but here ignorance prevails. Therefore one has to work. Practically one hasn't got to work, but because he is in ignorance he has to work.

So actually there is one energy, the spiritual energy. Krsna, or God, is the whole spirit, and the energy is emanating from Him. Like Krsna, that energy is also spiritual. Sakti-saktimatayor abhinna. In the Vedic language we understand that the saktiman,or the energetic, Krsna, and the energy are nondifferent. So this material energy is also nondifferent from Krsna.

In other words of Vedic language it is said, sarvam khalv idam brahma: "Everything is Brahman." In Bhagavad-gita also, Lord Krsna says, maya tatam idam sarvam. Sarvam means "all." Idam refers to this cosmic manifestation. Krsna says, "I am expanded as this cosmic manifestation, this impersonal feature of Myself." Maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina. He then says, mat-sthani sarva-bhutani naham tesv avasthitah: "Everything is resting on Me, or everything is an expansion of Me. But I am not there."

This philosophy, known as acintya-bhedabheda, or simultaneously one and different, is our philosophy, inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, although it is in the Vedanta-sutras.

Everything is simultaneously one with and different from the Supreme Lord. There are two classes of philosophers. One class says that God and the living entities are different, and the other says that God and the living entities are one. The acintya-bhedabheda philosophy adjusts this conflict by saying that God and the living creatures are simultaneously one and different. They are one in quality just like the energy and the energetic, the sun globe and the sunshine. In sunshine there is heat, there is illumination, light. In the sun globe also there is heat, there is illumination, but the degrees are quite different. You can bear the heat and illumination of the sunshine, but you cannot go to the sun globe or bear the heat and temperature there. The scientists say that if some planet goes within so many millions of miles of the sun globe, it will immediately burn into ashes.

Similarly, God and our self, Krsna and the living entities, are qualitatively one, but quantitatively we are different. The living entities are minute, anu. We are smaller than the atom.

The Srimad-Bhagavatam says that it may be possible some day by scientific research to count how many atoms are within this cosmic manifestation. Still, it is not possible to know the Supreme Personality of Godhead by our ordinary sense perception.Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih. Krsna, or God, is not perceivable by our material senses. It is not possible. Namadi means "beginning from His name," because we try to understand Krsna beginning with the chanting of His holy name, Hare Krsna. Then, after chanting Hare Krsna, when our heart is purified, we can understand His form sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah.

So either His name or His form or His quality or His paraphernalia or His activities none of these can be understood by our material senses. It is not possible. Then how it is understood? Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah. When we take to the transcendental loving service of the Lord, the Lord reveals Himself. We cannot understand Him on our own, but He reveals Himself.

Therefore, sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. Jihva means the tongue. Our first business is to engage our tongue in the service of the Lord. How? By chanting and glorifying His name, fame, qualities, form, paraphernalia, pastimes. This is the business of the tongue. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. When the tongue is engaged, gradually all other senses are also engaged in the service of the Lord.

The tongue is the most important sense within our body. Therefore for controlling our senses it is recommended that one should first of all control the tongue. Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura sings, tara madhye jihva ati, lobhamoy sudur-mati. Our present conditional state is like this, sarira avidya jal. We are packed up in the network of this material body. Like a fish caught within a net, we are caught up by the network of this material body.

Not only this body we are changing nets in various phases of life. There are 8,400,000 forms of bodily networks. These are networks of ignorance. Avidya jal. Avidya means "ignorance." Sarira avidya jal, jadendriya tahe kal. Our imprisonment within these networks of ignorance is being continued because of the dangerous senses.

Out of these dangerous senses, Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, the tongue is the most dangerous. If I cannot control the tongue, the tongue will oblige me to take different types of body one after another. If I am very much fond of satisfying my tongue by flesh and blood, material nature will give me facility to taste fresh flesh and blood by giving me the body of a tiger. If I do not discriminate in eating, material nature will give me the body of a hog, and I will have to accept stool as my food.

We are materially suffering and enjoying according to this body. Therefore the human body is a great opportunity because God realization can begin simply by engaging the tongue. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. By engaging the tongue in the loving service of the Lord one can make advancement in Krsna consciousness.

So this human form of life is a great boon to the living entity who is traveling through the cycle of birth and death, perpetually changing different sorts of body. Here is the opportunity, the human form of body. We can utilize the tongue properly and get out of these clutches.

Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. Seva means "service," and jihva adau, "beginning from the tongue." We should keep our tongue engaged always in chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, because Krsna the sound is not different from Krsna Himself. Krsna is absolute. Nothing is different from Him. Krsna and Krsna's name are not different. In the material sense, everything is different. I myself am different from this body. I am not this body. But Krsna is not like that. Krsna and Krsna's body are the same. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita,

avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-mahesvaram

"Rascals and fools deride Me because I appear as a human being. They are thinking I am an ordinary human being. These rascals do not know My influence and what I am." Param bhavam ajananto: "They do not know My nature. Without knowing Me, they consider, 'Krsna is an ordinary human being.' "

Avajananti mam mudhah. This very word has been used: mudha. Mudha means "rascals." But in spite of this warning, there are so many rascals passing as big scholars. When Krsna orders, "You surrender unto Me," the rascals comment, "It is not to Krsna but to the unborn spirit within Krsna." They are monists. They are philosophizing oneness. But as soon as they come to Krsna they divide: "Krsna is different from His body." They do not know that Krsna is not different from His body, Krsna is not different from His name, Krsna is not different from His fame anything pertaining to Krsna is Krsna.

Krsna's name and Krsna are not different. Therefore, as soon as my tongue touches the holy name of Krsna it associates with Krsna. If you constantly keep yourself associated with Krsna by chanting this mantra, Hare Krsna, then you are easily being purified simply by this process of chanting.

Engage the tongue in chanting. And your tongue wants palatable dishes to taste, so Krsna is very kind. He has given you hundreds and thousands of palatable dishes, remnants of food eaten by Him. You can eat these remnants. In this way, if you simply make it a determination that "I shall not allow my tongue to taste anything not offered to Krsna, and I shall engage my tongue always chanting Hare Krsna," all perfection is within your hold.

Two simple things: Chant Hare Krsna and don't eat anything not offered to Krsna. That's all. Our Krsna prasadam is so variegated. "Variety is the mother of enjoyment." How much enjoyment do you want from your tongue? You can have it simply by eating Krsna prasadam. And the more your tongue is purified, the more you relish the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra.

Anandambudhi-vardhanam. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu states that the chanting increases the ocean of transcendental bliss. The ordinary ocean does not increase. We have no experience of the ocean increasing. If the ocean were able to increase, then all the lands would have been swallowed up long, long ago. The ocean does not increase. But this ocean the ocean of transcendental bliss is increasing.

Some of you must have experienced it, those who are actually relishing. Rupa Gosvami, a great authority in Krsna consciousness, says, "What shall I chant with one tongue? If I would have millions of tongues I could chant a little more. And what shall I hear with two ears?" He's aspiring to have millions of ears and trillions of tongues to relish chanting Hare Krsna. So that is another stage, of course, when this chanting will be so melodious that we shall try to have more ears and more tongues to appreciate it.

Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih. By our present senses we cannot understand Krsna, or God, His name, His form, His quality. Therefore if we immediately try to understand Krsna by His pictures "Oh, Krsna is embracing Radharani and the gopis" we shall be mistaken. Because unless our senses are purified, we shall accept Krsna and Radharani as an ordinary young boy or girl. But actually They are not. Their dealings are pure.

In the Caitanya-caritamrta, Krsnadasa Kaviraja has distinguished that there is a gulf of difference between the loving affairs of the gopis with Krsna and the ordinary, lustful dealings of human beings. He compares the gopis' love of Krsna to gold, and our so-called love in this world to iron. As there is a difference between gold and iron, there is a difference between the loving affairs of the gopis with Krsna and the mundane, lusty affairs between men and women or boys and girls. They are never equal.

Our present impure senses, contaminated senses, cannot understand Krsna. Therefore we should follow this principle: sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. First of all engage in chanting Hare Krsna. "Hare Krsna" refers to Radha and Krsna. Hara is Radha. But don't try to understand by the present senses. Simply chant Their holy names, Hare Krsna.

The dust on the mirror of your heart will be cleansed simply by chanting. Ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam. And there will be no more material condition. That is the next stage. If you chant the Hare Krsna mantra without offense, you are at once freed from all material anxieties. That is the test. How you are advancing in chanting will be tested by how far you are free from material anxieties.

Then real life begins. As long as you are perturbed by material disturbances, you should know that your spiritual life has not begun. This is confirmed everywhere in the scriptures. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati. Bhagavad-gitasays that one who is Brahman realized is always joyful.

"Brahman realized" means that one understands, "I am not this body; I am pure spirit soul, eternal servitor of Krsna." Simply understanding "I am not this body; I am spirit soul" is not enough. That is not sufficient knowledge. Of course, that is good. That is just on the margin between matter and spirit. But you have to transcend this material existence completely and come to the platform of spiritual understanding. So for that purpose you have to go further, after Brahman realization.

Brahma-bhutah prasannatma. If you are actually Brahman realized, the symptom will be that you are always joyful. No anxiety. Why do we have anxiety? Everything is nicely discussed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syat.When we forget Krsna and think there is something other than Krsna, we are afraid. And for those who are realized souls and are convinced that there is nothing but Krsna, where is the cause of fearfulness?

Therefore those who are pure devotees are not disturbed even in the most distressed condition of life. What do they think? They think, tat te 'nukampam: "My Lord, it is Your great mercy that You have put me into this distressed condition." In a distressed condition the devotees take it as an opportunity "I have got a very nice opportunity to remember God constantly. Krsna, You are so kind that You have given me this distress."

So this Krsna consciousness is very nice. The Bhagavad-gita says that if one is situated in Krsna consciousness, even in a terrible situation, a fearful situation, he's not afraid. Just like Prahlada Maharaja, a five-year-old boy. His father tortured him like anything, but the boy was not afraid. This is the Krsna conscious state. The boy was not afraid even in such a tortured condition.

His father challenged him, "Prahlada, with whose strength are you so powerful that you do not fear me?"

Prahlada answered, "My dear father, by whose power are you talking like that?"

So in Krsna consciousness even if one is put into a terrible condition of distress he's not perturbed. Narayana parah sarve. There are many verses like that. We can quote hundreds. Narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati. If one becomes Krsna conscious, he's not afraid in any condition of life. Na kutascana bibhyati, svargapavarga-narakesv api. If he is put into hell or heaven or the spiritual world or any world, he's happy. Tulyartha-darsinah. He thinks everything is the same: "Either You put me in the hell or heaven or this or that, it is all the same."

Because he is always with Krsna, chanting Hare Krsna, Krsna is always with him. So where is the cause of being afraid "Oh, that place is not good; this place is very good"? No. Wherever Krsna is, that place is very good.

So we have to practice and train the tongue very nicely. Engaged the tongue in the loving service of Krsna. It is very nice service. You simply chant and eat Krsna prasadam. Is it very difficult service? Everyone will accept, "Oh, yes." But unfortunately, everyone does not accept. [Chuckles.] You see? Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore says, etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi: "My dear Lord, You are so kind that You have approached Me by transcendental sound." If I take, Krsna is always with me. If I reject, that is my ignorance.

"Krsna is everywhere" means that as soon as we accept Krsna He is with us, and as soon as we reject Him He is far, far away. So Krsna can be with us very easily when we simply chant or engage the tongue in His service.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommends this process. He inaugurated this process in the present age. Although the system is not new, He especially introduced it because His incarnation is to reclaim the fallen souls of this age.

Thank you very much.