Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.31
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Honolulu, May 30, 1976

Pradyumna: “The order carriers of Yamaraja were snatching the soul from the core of the heart of Ajamila, the husband of the prostitute. But with resounding voices the messengers of Lord Visnu, the Visnudutas, forbade them to do so.”

Prabhupada:

vikarsato ’ntar hrdayad dasi-patim ajamilam yama-presyan visnuduta varayam asur ojasa

So the Yamadutas were dragging Ajamila—not this body, but the soul. Body will stay there, but the soul (indistinct). Now wherefrom? Vikarsato antar hrdayad. From the core of the heart. Now, from the sastra you can understand where the soul is. Soul is not in the brain, not in the here, there. No. Therefore when the soul is taken away, going away from the heart, we say “heart failure.” Heart failure means the soul has gone. The soul lives in the heart. This is proof from the sastra. Not only the soul, but the Supersoul also is there. Supersoul is God, Krsna, and the individual soul, they’re living together. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese [Bg. 18.61]. Isvara, the Supreme Lord, He’s also there, very minute form, anor aniyan mahato mahiyan. The dimension of the soul is also mentioned in the sastra: one ten thousandth part of the tip of a hair.

kesagra-sata-bhagasya satadha kalpitasya ca jivah bhago sa vijneyah sa canantyaya kalpate [Cc. Madya 19.140]

Very minute. So just see that minute portion of God is so powerful. Ha? Just like potassium cyanide. Minute quantity, if you take one grain, immediately you’ll die. Immediately you die. Similarly, if some ordinary material thing is so powerful, just imagine the spirit soul, how much powerful he is. And they have no machines to find out. How they will find out? One ten-thousandth part of the hair, we cannot see—the tip of the hair is so small—and divided into ten- thousandth part. That one part is dimension of the soul. Everything is there in the sastra, Upanisads. Kesagra-sata-bhagasya satadha kalpitasya ca jivah bhago sa vijneyah [Cc. Madya 19.140], and… It is very powerful. We can take the example that very minute quantity of potash cyanide. There is no taste. In chemical analysis there is a taste. So up to date, nobody has tasted potash cyanide, because as soon as chemist will taste, immediately, he’ll not be able to say what is this. (laughing)

So you have to understand from the sastra, sastra-caksusa. The Vedas say that you have to see through the sastra, through the authoritative sastra. With these blunt eyes what can you see? You’re so much anxious. Everyone says, “Can you show me God?” What you can see? What is the power of your eyes? You cannot see even your eyelid. The eyelid is attached to the eye. Can you see? So how you can see God? You’re so imperfect. Just like if there is some particle within the eyelid, we become embarrassed. But the eye is attached. Why not see and take it away? This is practical. So what is the power of your eyes? You cannot see the nearest and you cannot see distant place. You cannot see in darkness. So many conditions. So you’re always under the conditions, and you declare “Independent.” How foolishness it is. Your senses are all imperfect. No senses are perfect. You can use the senses under certain condition only. I’m claiming “This is my hand,” and as soon as there is some nervous disability it is paralyzed, finished.

So actually we are claiming that “This is mine,” but you have no right to claim it. You’re dependent. Suppose if you live in a rented apartment, you cannot claim that this is your apartment. It belongs to the landlord. You’re allowed to stay here under certain conditions. You’re not proprietor. Similarly, this body is Krsna’s. What is this body? Bhumir apo analo vayuh kham mano buddhir… It is constituted of these things: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego. And Krsna says, bhinna me prakrti astadha: “These are Mine, My things.” You cannot create water. You cannot create earth. You cannot create fire. You cannot create ether. Nothing. So this body is pancabhuta, five elements. So you have not created. Krsna has created. So how it is your body? It is Krsna’s body. He has given you the concession that you can live. “You can live peacefully. You can enjoy the products which are given to you. I have given you food grains. I have given you fruits, flowers. Or, even if you want to eat meat, that also I have given you.” You cannot produce an animal. So everything you are eating, given by God. Your body is given by God. Your mind is given by God. And you, you also the soul, you’re also part and parcel of God. So what is your independent existence? There is no independent existence. This is knowledge. Not only that. Because you have forgotten that everything belongs to Krsna, He is also sitting within you. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna… [Bg. 18.61] Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivis… Again He says hrdi, “in the heart.” Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivista, mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca [Bg. 15.15]. Everything is there. The Lord and the living entity, both are within his heart.

So those who are yogis, they want to find out that “God is sitting with me. Let me see by meditation.” That is yogi’s business. Dhyanavasthita tad gatena manasa pasyanti yam yogina. This is yoga system. Dhyanavasthita tad gatena manasa pasyanti. Not that manufacturing something nonsense, just so that you’ll be stout and strong to enjoy sex, or your power of business brain will expand. This is not yoga. These all bluff. Real yoga system is to find out within the heart where is God. My business is that I’ve forgotten God. The karmis, they…, karmis, real karmis, they do not forget. The upstarts, the rascals, they forget. Karmis also… Just like they go to church or to go to temple, they ask some favor from God. Arto artharthi jnani jijnasuh. Catur-vidha bhajante mam. In the Bhagavad-gita everything explained: four kinds of men begins God consciousness. And what kind of man he is? Sukrtina, one who has background of pious life, not the rogues and rascals. Little pious activities one has done. Ajnata-sukrti. So far everyone has got some charitable disposition of mind, in that disposition of mind, if by chance he gives to some Vaisnava some money, that becomes a credit. That is called ajnata-sukrti. He does not know that “I am getting some…” Of course people, they pay to saintly person, brahmana, that datavyam iti yad dhanam: “Here charity should be given.” So that charity goes into his credit. Catur-vidha bhajante mam sukrtino ’rjuna—those who have got background of pious life. So even one goes to the church, “God, give us our daily bread,” he’s not ordinary person. He’s pious man. He has gone to God to ask. He has not gone to anyone. No. “My Lord, I’m very poor man. I have no money. Kindly give me some money.” That also accepted. Of course, he should not be foolish, that “God is giving me everything without asking, so why should I bother God, asking?” That is advanced devotion. Therefore pure devotee, they do not ask anything from God. They simply want to give service. “Why should I ask? God knows my necessities.” He says, yoga-ksemam vahamy aham [Bg. 9.22]. My duty is, this body belongs to God, I belong to God, my mind belongs to God, everything belongs to God. And I simply have to offer, “My dear Lord, I have brought this little flower, this fruit, kindly accept it.” Nothing belongs to you. The fruit is God’s. The flower is God’s. You are God’s. Simply you have to change your consciousness. This is Krsna consciousness. Everything is given by God. You have not manufactured the fruit or flower or your body or… Nothing. This is Krsna consciousness, when you understand that “Everything belongs to God. Why it should be utilized for other purpose?” It should be utilized for God.

There is another example. Just like somebody drops his money bag, unconsciously drops. So somebody picks up and he thinks, “Oh, here is so much money. Put it in my pocket.” (laughter) He’s a thief. He’s a thief. That is karmi. Karmi is trying to simply take from God’s property and putting in his own pocket. That is karmi. “Bring me more. Bring me more. Bring me more.” And the jnani, he sees that one purse is there, somebody has left, so “Why shall I touch it? Let it remain there.” He doesn’t touch anyone’s property. Jnani: “Why shall I be criminal? Let it remain.” He’s jnani. But a bhakta, he finds a purse, so what his duty? He does not put into the back pocket, neither he throws away, let it be there. He finds out, “Who is the proprietor? Who is the proprietor?” So he can ask somebody if anyone has lost anything. So somebody says, “Yes, yes. I have lost my purse.” So you can examine whether it belongs to him: “I will now examine it.” “Sir, here is the purse.” “Yes, it is mine.” So these three men, who is best? Ha? The man who takes the purse and puts in his pocket, he, or the man who neglects, brahma satyam jagan mithya, “Why shall I touch? It is mithya. This is false.” Eh? He is good? Or whoever puts in the pocket, he is good? Or one who finds out and gives to the proprietor? Who is good?

Devotee: The honest man.

Prabhupada: The last one, devotee. Therefore devotee’s business is to know that everything belongs to Krsna; it must be used for Krsna. This is Krsna consciousness. He’s neither tyagi or bhogi. Bhogi means takes the thing and utilizes for his own sense gratification. That is called bhogi, sense gratification: “Oh, I have got this bag. Very nice. It will help me in going to the restaurant for (indistinct).” That is bhogi. And tyagi means “Oh, this is all material. Why shall I touch? Aham brahmasmi. I’m Brahman. I am nothing.”(laughter) He’s better than the rascal who takes the money and uses his own purpose, karmi. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, (Bengali). The jnani, he does not touch anyone’s property. That is very good. Then the karmi, because karmi takes other’s property and utilizes it for his own purpose. But bhakta is neither karmi nor jnani.

So there are two kinds of religious systems. The karmis… Karma-kanda and jnana-kanda. The Vedas, there are three kandas; therefore Vedas’ name is trayi. Trayi means there are three different phases of activities—karma-kanda, jnana-kanda and upasana-kanda. That is the teaching of the Vedic literature. So when Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja… [Bg. 18.66]. Because there are two kinds of men in this world. One is karmi, and one is jnani. Karmis are trying to use all the money of the world and utilize it for sense gratification. They are karmis, sarva-kamo… They’re described in the sastra—sarva-kamo. Akamah sarvo-kama, moksa-kama udara-dhih. So when Krsna says that sarva-dharman patityajya, sarva means “all.” So generally, in the material world two things are going on. The karmis are busy try to earn money for their sense gratification, and the jnanis, they’ve given up the world as mithya. Brahma satyam jagan mithya. “Brahman is truth, and this is all mithya.” So Krsna said, “You give up all this business.” Mam ekam saranam vraja: “You do everything for Me. That’s all. Don’t utilize the assets of the world for your sense gratification, neither you give it up as mithya. Why mithya? I’ve created.” Why it should be mithya? Mithya means false. Whatever God has created, that is not false, everything. So our Krsna consciousness view is that everything created by God is not mithya. It is fact. Everything is fact. We don’t say unnecessarily, “This is mithya. This is false.” Why it is false? God is truth. If He has created anything, that is also truth. Why it should be false? That is Vaisnava view. Truth does not come out of untruth. Truth comes from truth. Something comes from something; something does not come from nothing. This is voidism.

So we should not be impersonalists. We should not be voidists. Nirvisesa sunyavadi. Sunyavadi means voidist, and nirvisesa means impersonalist. The whole world is going on like that. So we should be careful about this voidists and impersonalists. We should take direct instruction from Krsna, and He advises, yat karosi, yat juhosi, yat asnasi, yat tapasyasi kurusva tat mad-arpanam: “You can do whatever you like, but the result should be given to Me.” karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kada… “Then you become Krsna conscious.” Of course, Krsna does not advise that “You become a thief, and all the money stolen, you bring to Me.” He does not say that. That is not. But even if you are a thief, still you can offer. Don’t use it for your sense gratification. Yat karosi. “Whatever you’ve got. If you cannot earn honestly, dishonestly, you give it to Me.”

So this is Krsna consciousness, and from this verse we can understand that the atma, the soul, is within the heart. Why they are searching the soul? So the… If you want to find out where is soul, and if you dissect the heart, then soul is gone. (laughter) That is another danger. (laughs) Better understand from the authority. That is knowledge. Sastra-caksusa. Sastra… From authoritative statement of sastra you’ll see. Don’t see by your blunt eyes, rascal, this consciousness. Then you’ll never find the actual fact. Sastra-caksusa, authority. Just like here. Sastra says, “Here is the soul.” The Yamaraja is snatching, dragging the soul, not his leg or hand. There’s no business. As soon as the soul is gone, the leg and hand and everything becomes a lump of matter. That’s all. What is the use of it? So vikarsato ’ntar hrdayad, antar-hrdayad, core of heart. Antar means within the heart. Antar-hrdayad dasi-patim. Nowadays, sometimes one becomes a prostitute. That is very usual now. But in India still, nobody will marry a prostitute. Nobody. Still. In the Western country, never mind he’s a prostitute, she’s a prostitute, if she marries—Ph.D. certificate, that’s all. So this is old custom. Once one girl becomes prostitute, she’ll never be touched. Krsna married sixteen thousand wives. Krsna can do anything. That is another thing. So these sixteen thousand girls were kidnapped by that Bhaumasura. So without finding any way how to escaped from this asura’s hand, they appealed to Krsna that “You save us. This is our position.” So Krsna is bhakta-vatsala. He came and released them and killed the Bhaumasura and asked them, “Now you can go to your father’s house.” So they began to cry. Why? “Now our fathers will not accept us because we have been kidnapped.” Just see. “We have been kidnapped. I have no right to go to the father. And we’re not married also.” “Then, what you want?” “You kindly marry us.” “All right. Come on.” (laughter) This is Krsna. Yes. “You have no shelter. You’re taking My shelter? Come on. I shall give you all palaces. Come on.” This is Krsna. Take shelter of Krsna. Never mind what is your position. Krsna will accept you and give you all comfort. Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami. He will not kick out, even you are a prostitute. “I will give you protection.” So why shall…, we should not take shelter of Krsna? This is very natural conclusion.

Thank you very much. (end)