September 16

Once begun, transcendental life, spiritual life or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it will never be stopped. You can finish it even some percentage, you have to begin again from that point to further advancement. That is the… That means spiritual asset is never lost. Material asset is lost with this body. As soon as we change our body, whatever we are acquiring materially in this world, house, business, bank balance, field[?], reputation, education, this will be all finished just with the end of this body. Take for example that we sometimes worship our past leaders. In your country, George Washington, or in our country, Gandhi or somebody else. But this is false because you do not know where is that gentleman Washington has gone. We are simply worshiping a shadow. A photograph, a statue. But we do not know where is actually that spirit soul, his transmigration of the soul. The soul goes to another body and we foolishly worship the dead body, which is useless. This is called bhūtejyā. In Sanskrit language it is called bhūtejyā. Ghost worship. Yānti bhūtāni bhūtejyā. So this is only sentiment. But because all the name, fame, assets materially gained, it ends with that body, it remains with that body. Now you have to begin another body according to your own karma. But the spiritual effect which you acquire, that goes with you. Because you are spirit, it goes with the spirit. And the material asset left with this material…

Prabhupāda: They are working so hard, just like animals, simply for sense gratification. That is the beginning of His speech. But the human form of life is meant for saving time for spiritual cultivation. We should be satisfied with the bare necessities of life, and the time should be saved to cultivate self-realization. That is the basic principle of Vedic civilization. Therefore in Vedic civilization a certain period is devoted for accepting renounced order of life, sannyāsa. Compulsory. This sannyāsa order, as we have accepted, it is compulsory regulative principle of Vedic way of life. The first twenty-five years brahmacārī, strict life of celibacy, student life, without any sex indulgence completely, up to twenty-five years. Then gṛhastha. That is not for also all. If somebody is unable to remain a brahmacārī all through, then the spiritual master gives him permission to marry a suitable girl and become a householder. This is called gṛhastha life. Then, up to fifty years, he can indulge in householder life. Householder life, according to Vedic civilization, is a sort of license for sense gratification. But not for all the time. The injunction is pañcaśordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet. Just after your fiftieth year you must give up, retire from householder. That is called vānaprastha. Vānaprastha means you can take your wife with you and travel all over the world in places of holy pilgrimage just to give up your attachment for family life. In this way, when one is completely ...

Prabhuapda: Yes. Cheaters. Actually they have no knowledge, and they are trying to give knowledge. That is their cheating. They do not admit their imperfectness of knowledge, but they want to give some knowledge, and they are passing on as scientist and philosopher and leaders and getting good, good salary, big salary, making experiment, going to moon planet—simply spoiling money. And poor people are being exacted of the taxes, and they are enjoying life. That’s all. They are practically simply exploiting the innocent people, that’s all, by their forward of so-called scientific knowledge and their resources, income. The government is doing that, and government is supporting all this nonsense. And they will not take actual knowledge. When actual knowledge we want to give, they are not very serious: “Ah, these people are sentimental. We are scientist.” Oh, what, scientists, you have done? Nonsense. [laughs] That is their fault. They do not accept their nonsensical theories. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, “First of all surrender, you rascal. Then talk of knowledge.” Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ [Bg. 18.66]. Sarva-dharmān means including science, philosophy, all this. Sarva-dharmān: “Surrender. I shall give you all protection.”

Prabhupāda: So, sāṅkhyam. Sāṅkhyam means… Sam means complete; khyam means description. “Complete description of creation.” Kāla-viplutam. There is complete description how the cosmic manifestation is created, but people forget it, kāla-viplutam. So this knowledge is existing since the time of creation. Everything materially created has got six stages. The first stage is creation, and the second stage is growth. The third stage is maintenance, the fourth stage is production, the fifth stage is dwindling, and the sixth stage, vanishing. This is anything material. The scientists, they are very much busy. Just this morning our scientist, Svarūpa Dāmodara, was speaking about an article: the scientists are very much busy that the source of supply is being decreased. Just like petroleum. Petroleum, gas, that is diminishing. Now, whole modern materialistic civilization is depending on the motorcars and aeroplanes, transportation. So if the petroleum supply is stopped, then what will be the condition of the society?

Prabhupāda: All the Vaiṣṇavas, they are expert. Just like Rūpa, Sanātana, expert management. [indistinct] expert, even in worldly affairs. Not that “I am so much big devotee that I cannot manage worldly affairs.” Expert. Must be expert. Dakṣa. [pause] Prabhupāda: So she can give me the fruits now. So… [break] …intelligent policy to kill India’s spiritual status. Haṁsadūta: To kill India’s spiritual status? Prabhupāda: That was their policy. Because there was one Britisher politician, Lord Macaulay. His report was… He studied the whole Indian situation. They were very expert politicians. So he reported that “If you keep Indians as Indians, you’ll never be able to rule over them. They must be trained up in such a way that they would think their own culture as useless; this Western culture is very good. That impression must be there. Otherwise, you cannot rule over them.” So the education and everything was going on very silently on this principle. Haṁsadūta: Imperceptibly they introduced this. Prabhupāda: Hmm. That is their administration. And that was going on for the last two hundred years. So India lost. At last moment is… [break] …educated persons, they lost. And the mass of people, they were not educated. They have not lost, but they don’t find any good example by the leaders.

Lakṣaṇam. Brāhmaṇa’s lakṣaṇam, kṣatriya’s lakṣaṇam… Lakṣaṇam means symptoms. One must act as a brāhmaṇa. So he is accepted as brahmātmaja. Of course, everyone can claim that his father is like that. But that does not mean he has acquired the father’s qualifications. That is not meaning. And onward the son may claim that “Such and such big man is my father.” Of course, from social point of view, we sometimes give respect, as it will be seen. Aśvatthāmā, because he happened to be a great personality, Droṇācārya, so he was excused from capital punishment. Otherwise, Arjuna decided to kill him. But because he was a very great man’s son, guru-putra, considering that “If he dies, then guru’s wife will be very much unhappy,” Draupadī advised… She was unhappy on account of death of her sons. So they considered that Aśvatthāmā’s mother, she’s innocent, but on account of the son’s death, she would be unhappy. So considering all these points, he was excused from the capital punishment.