Bhagavad-gita 10.8 Prabhupada: …iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah: “I am the origin of everything.” Everything means universe also. Whatever you can imagine, that comes within the category of everything. So if Krsna is the source of everything, then if you love Krsna, then you love universe. Actually that is so. If you love your father, then you love your brother. If you love your country, then you love your countrymen. Suppose we are in foreign country, and here is one gentleman from India. I am from India. So naturally we ask, “Oh, you come from India? Which part of India you come?” Why attraction for that person? Because I love India. And because he happens to be Indian, therefore I love him. So the love begins from the origin. If you love your body, then you love your finger. If you are careless of your body, your health, you don’t care for your finger. Therefore Bhagavad-gita says that aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah [Bg. 10.8] Iti matva bhajante mam. One who has understood this fact, that God is the origin of all emanations… One who has understood this fact very nicely, scientifically, then, by loving God, you love everything, universe. If you think that “God is something manufactured by my imagination,” then you cannot love universe or God. You have to understand the position of God. In every literature, in every scripture… Just like in your Bible it is said, “God said, ‘Let there be creation.’ So there was creation.” So creation is the universe. So God created this universe. So if you love God, then you love the universe. That is automatically. If I say, “I love my body”—everyone loves his body—that does not mean I do not love my finger. So a God conscious person… There is a nice example. A hunter… In Sanskrit language it is called vyadha. He was hunting in the forest and killing the animals, boar and other, deer and so many animals—hunter’s business is to kill animals—so half-dead. And Narada was passing through that road. He saw that “These half-dead animals are flapping. Who has killed them in that way, half-dead? Why not full kill?” So he went to the vyadha, hunter, that “Why you are doing this business? Better kill them altogether so that they may not suffer. It is a great sinful act.” So he explained, “Oh, I do not know what is sinful or not, pious. My father has taught me this business. I am doing this.” So Narada explained him, “So it is not a very good business. You better do another business for your livelihood. Simply killing, and half-killing. Better kill them fully. That is also [not] very good.” So he said, “Then I am committing sins?” And Narada said, “Yes, you are committing sins.” “Then, if I give up this business, how shall I eat, my living?” Narada said, “All right, I shall give you your necessities of life. I shall supply you. You give up this business.” So he was initiated, and he was seated in a sacred place. So the villagers understood that a vyadha, a hunter, has become a great saint. So everyone was coming and offering some rice, some flowers, some fruits. So he was executing his devotional service according to the instruction of Narada. Then, after some time, Narada wanted to show that devotee to his friend, Parvata Muni, and he was coming to that devotee, hunter devotee. At that time the devotee was going to receive Narada, and while going, he was very careful that an ant may not be killed on the path. So he was jumping. Whenever there was an ant, he was jumping. So Narada inquired that “While you were coming here, why you were jumping?” So he said, “Sir, there were so many ants. So how can I kill ant?” Just see. The same man who was without any kindness killing so many animals, he has become kind to the ant even. This is universal. As soon as you become Krsna conscious, as soon as you become God conscious, then your real universal, ideal, universal consciousness develops. Otherwise it is all simply jugglery. There are so many doctrines of universal love, universal friendship, fraternity, but they are fighting, and they are killing simply, because there is no God consciousness. If you are universal, if you are after universal love, then how you can maintain regular slaughterhouse? How you can think that an American gentleman or lady is your countryman and not a cow, and not a goat, not a serpent? Where is your universal idea? So unless there is development of God consciousness, this universal ideas, oh, these are nonsense. There cannot be. It is all false, jugglery of words. So first business is to understand your identity, identity of God, your relationship, and your action reformed in that way. Then there is question of universal, brotherhood, universal… Otherwise it is simply jugglery of words. If you are thinking of universal way, how you can give protection to a human being born in America, and send a cow to the slaughterhouse. What is your reason? Guest: This would be a personal love. Prabhupada: Universal means all. You have to love everyone. Guest: If I didn’t love the cow as equally with a child, then it is a personal love because I’m defining qualifications. Prabhupada: But how can you avoid this personal? Guest: Because to love the child only, I have to exclude other things, meaning the cow. Prabhupada: But personal, child is the person. How can you avoid person? Guest: How can what? Prabhupada: How can you avoid person? When you love, how can you avoid a person? What do you mean by love? Whenever you love universally… In the universe there are so many men, animals, and plants, and beasts, and birds, and so many things. So we have to love everyone. That is universal. You cannot discriminate, “Oh, this is not universal. This is universal.” Universal means all-including. So how you can avoid this person or imperson? You have to love everyone. That is universal. Guest: If I don’t do that, then I have a love with limitations, and this is false. This would be… Prabhupada: No. Not limitation. The point is: if you love the root, then you love everything. Just like if you pour water on the root of the tree, then the branches, the flowers, the leaves, the fruits, and everything is nourished. So you have to know the technique, how to love the whole. If somebody is loving the tree—he is putting water in each every leaf, every branch, every flower—he is spoiling his time. Another intelligent man goes and he pours one bucketful of water on the root. Oh, it is distributed. This is foolishness, that without knowledge of the root, you want to love the branches. Your body. You love your body. Why do you supply your food in the stomach? Why not to the eyes, to the ears, to the nose? Why not individually, every finger, every hand, every part, every hair? No. As soon as you put the foodstuff to the stomach, the energy is at once distributed everywhere. Similarly, universal love means to love God. They do not know the technique. Just this man, this hunter, he loved God, and he became lover of the ant automatically. There was no need of separate education that “You love this ant, you love this cow, you love this tree, love this country, love this man, love white man, black man, this man…” No. As soon as you love God, and you understand what is God, then you love everything. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that sarva-yonisu kaunteya murtayah sambhavanti yah tasam brahma mahad yonir aham bija-pradah pita [Bg. 14.4] People are accepting Bhagavad-gita as something Indian or Hindu, but actually it is not. It is universal. Krsna says that there are so many forms of living entities. There are 8,400,000 different types of bodies. “And all of them are My sons.” So if you love Krsna, then you love white man, you love American, you love European, you love Indian, you love cow, you love dog, you love serpent—everything. So you have to know the techniques. Simply by theoretical knowledge you cannot make any improvement. And these are practical examples. Because there is no love for God at the present moment, all this nonsense universal love, fraternity, are going to hell. Therefore we are interested in this Krsna consciousness movement. You have to change your consciousness, make it full with Krsna or God. Then everything will be all right. All right. Thank you. And if you kindly come and inquire in this way, we shall be very glad to answer as far as possible. Now let us have little kirtana. It is quarter to nine. Please join with this kirtana, Hare Krsna. It is very simple. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare (Prabhupada leads kirtana) (end)
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
New York, January 6, 1967