Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.45 Nitai: “In this life, any person to the proportionate degree of the varieties of work, either religious or irreligious, as they are performed in the next life also, the same person to the same degree, the same variety, the resultant action of his karma must enjoy or suffer.” Prabhupada: yena yavan yathadharmo dharmo veha samihitah sa eva tat-phalam bhunkte tatha tavad amutra vai So in the previous verse we have discussed, dehavan na hy akarma-krt. Anyone who has got this material body, he has to work. Everyone has to work. In the spiritual body also you have to work. In the material body also you have to work. Because the working principle is the soul—soul is living force—so he is busy. Living body means there is movement. There is work. He cannot sit idly. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, “Not even for a moment one can be idle.” That is the symptom of living being. So this working is going on according to the particular body. The dog is also running, and a man is also running. But a man thinks he is very much civilized because he is running on motorcar. Both of them are running, but a man has got a particular type of body by which he can prepare a vehicle or cycle, and he can run on. He is thinking that “I am running in greater speed than the dog; therefore I am civilized. This is the modern mentality. He does not know that what is the difference between running on fifty miles speed or five miles speed or five thousand miles speed or five millions miles of speed. The space is unlimited. Whatever speed you discover, it is still insufficient. Still insufficient. So this is not life, that “Because I can run in more speed than the dog, therefore I am civilized.” panthas tu koti-sata-vatsara-sampragamyo vayor athapi manaso muni-pungavanam so ’py asti yat-prapada-simny avicintya-tattve govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami [Bs 5.34] Our speed… What for speed? Because we want to go to certain destination, that is his speed. So the real destination is Govinda, Visnu. And na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnu. They are running in different speed, but they do not know what is the destination. Our one big poet in our country, Rabindranath Tagore, he wrote an article—I read it—when he was in London. So in your country, western countries, the motorcars and the…, they run in high speed. So Rabindranath Tagore, he was poet. He was thinking that “These Englishmen’s is country so small, and they are running on so great speed they will fall in the ocean.” He remarked like that. Why they are running so fast? So similarly, we are running so fast for going to hell. This is our position, because we do not know what is the destination. If I do not know what is the destination and try to drive my car in full speed, then what will be the result? The result will be disaster. We must know why we are running. Running means just like the river is running in great tide, flowing, but the destination is the sea. When the river comes to the sea, then its destination gone. So similarly, we must know what is the destination. The destination is Visnu, God. We are part and parcel of God. We are… Somehow or other, we are fallen in this material world. Therefore our destination of life will be to go back to home, back to Godhead. That is our destination. There is no other destination. So our Krsna consciousness movement is teaching that “You fix up your goal of life.” And what is that goal of life? “Back to home, back to Godhead. You are going this side, opposite side, toward the side of hell. That is not your destination. You go this side, back to Godhead.” That is our propaganda. So we have not manufactured this; this is the standard. Just like Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam [Bg. 18.66] “Why you are unnecessarily running just like dog?” That street dog, we have seen just now on the beach, he has no master. So sometimes he is running this way, sometimes this running way, and he saw us. He knows—after all, he is a living being—that “There are some Vaisnavas. So let me go with them if they will give us shelter.” That is the purpose. He was coming. You were making, “Hut!” (laughter) But he wanted some master, because a dog without master, his position is very precarious. Without master… So we are all servant. Every one of us, we are all servants of maya. Maya means we are servant of our desires. We are servant of our different desires. Somebody is thinking, “I shall be happy in this way”; somebody is thinking, “I shall be happy in this way.” In this way we have got different desires, and we are servant of the desires. So servant of desire means just like the street dog. He is also desiring: “If these gentleman will accept me as his dog?” But he is going there, and he is driven away: “Hut! Hut!” He is going to some house, moving his tail, “My dear sir, will you give me some food?” “No, no. Go away.” We are also going also: “My dear sir, will you give me some service?” “No vacancy. Get out.” This is our position. Hana mayara dasa kori nana abhilasa. Because we are constitutionally servant of God, but we have given up that service, we have now become the servant of maya. Therefore our life is frustrated, because you do not know “What is my actual position.” Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches, jivera svarupa haya nitya krsna dasa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teaching, that “Why you are going door to door like a dog: ‘Will you give me some food, give me some duty? I am prepared to serve you,’ and refusing, nana abhilasa, and desiring again and again, this way, that way?” But I do not know what is my real destination, how I shall be happy. That information is given by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that “You are suffering in this way for a permanent service to become happy. Why you are going here and there? You are servant of Krsna. Go there. Then you will be happy.” This is Krsna consciousness movement. We are teaching people that you are suffering life after life. Now the human society has come to such a position that they do not know that there is life after this life. They are so advanced. Exactly the cats and dogs, they do not know that there is life after life. That is here stated: yena yavan yathadharmo dharmo veha samihitah. Iha, iha means “in this life.” Sa eva tat-phalam bhunkte tatha tavat amutra vai. Amutra means “next life.” So we are preparing our next life in this… Yatha adharmah, yatha dharmah. There are two things: you can act piously or impiously. There is no third, no third path. One path is pious; one path is nonpious. So here both are mentioned. Yena yavan yathadharmah, dharmah. Dharma means constitutional. Dharma does not mean, as it is stated in some of the English dictionary, “a kind of faith.” Faith may be blind. That is not dharma. Dharma means original, constitutional position. That is dharma. I have several times said… Just like water. Water is liquid. That is its dharma. Water, if by circumstantially it becomes solid, ice, but still, it tries to become again liquid because that is its dharma. You put ice, and gradually it will become liquid. That means this solid condition of the water is artificial. By some chemical composition the water has become solid, but by natural course it becomes liquid. So our present position is solid: “Don’t hear anything about God.” But natural position is that we are servant of God. Because we are seeking master… The supreme master is Krsna. Bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka mahesvaram [Bg. 5.29]. Krsna says, “I am the master of the whole creation. I am the enjoyer.” He is the master. Caitanya-caritamrta also said, ekala isvara krsna. Isvara means controller or master. Ekala isvara krsna ara saba bhrtya: “Except Krsna, they are, any big or small living entity, they are all servants, except Krsna.” You will therefore see: Krsna is not serving anybody. He is simply enjoying. Bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka… Others like us, they first of all work very hard, and then enjoys. Krsna never works. Na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate. Still, He enjoys. That is Krsna. Na tasya… This is the Vedic information. Na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate: “God, Krsna, He has nothing to do.” You see, therefore, Krsna always dancing with the gopis and playing with the cowherd boys. And when He feels fatigue, He lies down on the Yamuna and immediately His friends come. Somebody fans Him; somebody gives massage. Therefore He is the master. Anywhere He goes, He is master. Ekala isvara krsna. Isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. The supreme controller is Krsna. “Then who is controller?” No, there is no controller of Him. That is Krsna. Here we are director of such and such, president of United States, but I am not supreme controller. As soon as the public wants, immediately pulls me down. That we do not understand, that we are posing ourself as master controller, but I am controlled by somebody else. So he is not controller. Here we will find a controller to some extent, but he is controlled by another controller. So Krsna means He is controller, but nobody is there to control Him. That is Krsna; that is God. This is the science of understanding. God means He is controller of everything, but He has no controller. So we are, at the present moment in different conditions of life on account of our different activities, pious and impious, dharma, adharma. So pious activities means to be controlled by Krsna, and impious activities means to be controlled by maya. We have to be controlled. Our position is such that we cannot become controller. That is not possible. If we want to become controller, that is my artificial desire. And the resultant action we will have to suffer. First of all you must understand this, that we are controlled. Either you agree to be controlled by Krsna or you agree to be controlled by maya, but you cannot become controller. Is there anyone here who can say that “I am controller”? Is there anyone who will answer this? So I may think that “I am controller,” but I am controlled by drugs, by sense gratification, desires—kama krodha lobha moha matsarya. So there is no question of the living entity’s being independent. That is not possible. He is dependent. But if he becomes dependent on Krsna, then life is successful. Exactly the position, the dog. The dog is loitering without being controlled by somebody, he is seeking, “Somebody may control me.” He’s seeking position. But if he does not get anybody to control him, his life is very precarious; he is not happy. Therefore, if you want to be happy, then we must return to our own original position: to be controlled by Krsna. This is perfection of life. So here it is said generally, yena yavan yathadharmah. Adharma I have already explained. Dharma means to become servant of Krsna, and adharma means to become servant of maya. This is the distinction between dharma and adharma, religious and irreligious. Dharma means the order of God, Krsna. Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]. As I have explained several times… Just like law. Law means the order of the government. If somebody, ordinary man, makes some law, nobody will accept that law. That is not law. But government gives some law that “Keep to the right,” you have to obey it. If you break this law, you will be punished. You can say, “What wrong I have done? Instead of going to the right, I have gone to the left. Both ways there are roads and streets.” The government says, “No, I ordered you to keep to the right. You have violated. You must be punished.” Simple thing. This is adharma: “You have violated the laws of the government. You must be punished.” So a dog, of course, if he violates the law, he is not punished. The punishment is meant for the human being, because he has got developed sense. He cannot violate the laws. If he violates… All the books, laws, everything—education, culture, philosophy, science—it is all meant for the human being, not for the cats and dogs. So the human being must know what is the actual law. That is dharma. Therefore in the human society there is some form of dharma. Either you are Christian or Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist, throughout the whole world, any civilized nation, they have got some dharma or religious system. Why? Through it, you should understand what is the goal of your life. If you do not know that, then proportionately, as you are ignorant, fool, you will be punished. You will be punished. So nature’s way, evolution… The punishment is beginning from the aquatics. Then gradually, gradually, by evolutionary process, nature gives the chance that from aquatics you become plants and trees; then from plants and trees you become insect, reptiles; then from that, you become bird; then from that, you become beast; and from that beast, you become human being. In this way, by evolutionary process, you come to the platform of becoming a human being. Now, developed consciousness, you have to decide, “Where… Whom I shall serve now? I have… So long I have served the laws of material nature, and it has brought me to this platform.” Now you have to decide, “What kind of service I shall accept?” That is human life. Athato brahma jijnasa. Jijnasa means enquiry. A sane man will understand that “I have been engaged in different types of service, now by evolutionary process, I have come to the human form of life. What is my real service? Under whom I shall work? Shall I loiter in the street like the dog, or find out some good master?” This is human life. Athato brahma jijnasa. So the sastra… You have to learn from the sastra that who is the master. I have to serve. The master is Krsna. And that is our natural position. And if we do not serve Krsna, if we serve a big man or a demigod or any other but he is not Krsna, that is adharma. So dharma and adharma, these two things, are there. You serve either of them. But the result—according to your service. If you are serving as high court judge, that salary, and if you serving as ordinary, what is called, washer of dishes, that salary cannot be equal. You cannot expect, becoming a dishwasher, to draw the same salary as the high court judge is drawing. That is not possible. Therefore it is said, sa eva tat-phalam bhunkte. You get… You can become high court judge. There is no, I mean to say, obstacle. You could be qualified like the high court judge. Now you are qualified like this, so you have to accept this. Therefore it is said, sa eva tat-phalam bhunkte tatha tavat amutra vai. Amutra. So our life is continuity, eternal. Just like a boy takes education, expecting to become one day high court judge. But one who has not taken education—he simply played in the street—how he can become a high court judge? It is not possible. Therefore it is said, sa eva tat-phalam bhunkte tatha tavat amutra, “in future life.” But these rascals, they do not know what is future life. This is modern civilization. They are so rascal. But there is future life. So in this life, if you prepare yourself for the next life, then you are intelligent. If you remain irresponsible rascal, do not know what is going to happen next life, then you will have to suffer. That we must know. How I shall know? What I shall prepare for, and where shall I go? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita: yanti deva-vrata devan [Bg. 9.25]. If you act in goodness, then you will be promoted to the higher planetary system, devan, where demigods live. They have ten thousand years of life, very high standard of life. Yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah. And if you are attached to pitr-loka, you can go there. Bhutejya yanti bhutani. And if you are materially attracted, then you will remain in this material… Mad-yajino ’pi yanti mam: “If you My become devotee, you’ll come to Me.” Now it is your choice. Make your choice, what you want. So what is the difference between going to the heavenly planet and going to Krsna? The difference is abrahma-bhuvanal lokan punar avartino ’rjuna: “My dear Arjuna, if you go even to the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka, you will again fall down.” Then? Mad-gatva na nivartante: “If you come to Me, you will have not…” So why not select this, that “I have to work for the next life. Why not devote this life for Krsna? I shall go back to home, back to Krsna”? This is intelligence. I am suffering so many lives, accepting this fish life or the tree life, the plant life, the moth life, the insect life, the serpent life, the bird’s life. And not only bird’s life—there are so many varieties of birds, beginning from the eagle. There is a big eagle bird. We have no information. They are very big bird. They are flying in the sky, and their rest is from one planet to another. Just like here you find the birds, they are flying from one tree to another. Similarly, there are so big birds… They are called garuda. So garuda, these birds, they start their flying from one planet and sits in another planet. Just try to understand what is their flying. Not only that, they also lay eggs while flying, and the eggs, while falling down, it becomes another bird. And these birds can pick up elephants for eating. So this is God’s creation. So if you want to become such a big bird, you can become. (laughter) Yes. Ye yatha mam prapadyante. God is so kind. Whatever you desire, you will get. Therefore it is depending upon our discretion, that “What kind of desire I shall maintain?” That desire is Krsna consciousness. Then you will be happy. Otherwise, you prepare your next life and you suffer or enjoy and again next life, again next life… That is not very good. Bhutva bhutva praliyate. Nobody wants that, that “I accept some position: again it is lost. Again I accept another position, again it is lost.” So we are becoming so dullheaded by so-called education, we do not know anything of these things, that there is next life and I can become immortal; I can avoid death, birth, death, old age and disease. There is no discussion of these scientific… It is only the Krsna consciousness movement which is giving all this information. It is very scientific and authorized. So I am very glad, so many devotees here. Try to make your life perfect by accepting Krsna consciousness and studying the philosophy and practicing the method. Then you will be happy. Thank you very much. (end)
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Laguna Beach, July 26, 1975