KKS Lecture Cape Town, South Africa

26/03/2006

We’re reading from the Bhagavad Gita As it is, the third chapter entitled: Karma
Yoga. So, the third chapter of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is entitled “Karma Yoga”, text
no.33.

sadrsam cestate svasyah

prakrter jnanavan api
prakrtim yanti bhutani
nigrahah kim karisyati

Translation: Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for
everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes. What can
repression accomplish?
(reads purport)
(Invocatory prayers)

Once upon a time, there was a king who
was a great devotee of the Lord and this
king was daily worshipping the Deity of
Lord Visnu. This king was faithfully
performing his puja early in the
morning, faithfully every day, he was
making elaborate arrangements for the
worship of his beloved Lord on the altar.
And naturally, he took the service on the
altar as sacred, and he took it as a duty
before anything else. So in other words,
looking upon that king, he seemed to be
a very serious devotee. One day, while
the king was engaged in his worship, a
great sage arrived. So the king was very
confused: “what to do now? Go receive
the sage and stop my worship or
continue my worship and meet the sage
after? What shall I do, what would be
the correct thing to do? On the one
hand you want to respect a saintly
person…” he was thinking, “…on the
other hand you want to not neglect your
worship.”
So he decided that he would simply act
as if he hadn’t heard that the saint
arrived and he just continued his
worship and then afterwards he met the
saintly person and offered him all
respects and so on. As a result for this
activity, for neglecting a saintly person,
as a result of this, the king in his next
life became an elephant because an
elephant is generally a little slow in
reacting.
So because the king was so slow in
reacting to receive the saintly person,
therefore in his next life he got the huge
body of an elephant which is somewhat
slow in reacting. He became the
elephant Gajendra!
Gajendra, was the king of the elephants.
In fact in Srimad Bhagavatam we
understand that there are not only
elephants on this planet but actually that
elephants, lions and such kind of
animals exist on various planets
throughout the entire universe and it was
described that Gajendra, as an elephant,
was the king of the elephants, still king,
but this time elephant and not on this
planet, no, on a higher planet.
One day Gajendra went to take his bath
in the company of many female
elephants, or at least a group, and they
were spraying each other with their
trunks, in a lake of water which was
filled with water lilies and in the
background there were beautiful
mountains: one with a golden peak-not
like Table mountain but with a golden
peak- one with a silver peak and one
with an iron peak, three mountains- very
nice, wonderful place!
So, there the king of elephants was
enjoying and sporting in the water and
having lots of fun, until suddenly, out of
nowhere a crocodile appeared!
And this crocodile attacked him
ferociously, ferociously, and the
crocodile just latched on to its leg and
the crocodile was hanging on this leg.
Anyway, it became a big fight between
the two and at times they were loose
from each other, at times they were
locked in a great fight but because the
king of elephants, although unlimitedly
strong and in fact stronger than the
crocodile in physical strength, still the
king was not in its element and because
the king of elephants was not in his
element, namely in the water, it was
difficult for him, whereas the crocodile
was within his element and had
something to eat during the fight and
therefore the crocodile remained strong
but the elephant gradually lost its
strength and in due course of time the situated properly according to his
elephant with the crocodile now, again nature, then even when one is very
latched on to the leg! The elephant was powerful, he becomes weakened with
coming to the stage where it was losing time.
its strength- the critical stage. At that
point, the elephant remembered
something from its previous life,
remembered that at that time he had
worshipped the Supreme Lord and the
elephant was slowly, through his thick
and foggy brain, remembering the
Supreme Lord and then prayed to the
Supreme Lord for protection.
It is said that then, Lord Visnu appeared
in that particular spot on the back of His Therefore a devotee should not repress
bird carrier Garuda, and it is stated that his nature but a devotee should find a
although, although Gajendra at that time position where he is comfortably
was in great pain because a crocodile situatued according to his nature in
was hanging on its leg, still, with his spiritual life and then, progress with the
trunk, he picked up a lotus flower and practice of Krsna consciousness. That is
offered it to the Lord. explained in the purports of Srimad
Bhagavatam and that is relating to this
verse that we are describing here from
Bhagavad Gita:

The Lord then saved him from that

crocodile, cut the head of the crocodile,
the crocodile turned out to be some
demigod who had been cursed and so
on. Crocodile also got some mercy
since the Lord cut his head; even when
the Lord cuts your head, it is a very
auspicious thing. And the elephant
Gajendra, was saved by Krsna directly.
“Even a man of knowledge acts
Now, this story is a famous story from according to his own nature, for
Srimad Bhagavatam and Srila everyone follows the nature he has
Prabhupada begins to explain this story acquired from the three modes. What
and he explains in this story that, one can repression accomplish?”
may be very powerful but if one is not
Yes, it’s very difficult; it’s very difficult
for a long time to do something against
our nature. How long, how long can we
do it? Who can act against his nature?
There is only, only one way that one can
possibly act against ones nature. How?
How can you act against your nature?
But there is one way it can possibly be
done. How?
It can be done, on the strength of love!
On the strength of love, one can tolerate
anything, on the strength of, of real love
one can even sacrifice his nature
therefore it is stated here that as long as
a person is under the influence of
material nature, and not yet on the
transcendental platform, then he can not
in any way neglect that nature.
But a person, who is fully, fully in Krsna
consciousness, who has developed love
of God, such a person, he couldn’t care
less about his personal position; such a
person cares only about the happiness of
Krsna!
We see the example of the Gopi’s, it is a
famous example. It is said that one day
Narada Muni, the great sage Narada,
was travelling throughout the universe
as ever, glorifying the Supreme Lord
and Narada came before the Supreme
Lord.
And Narada, in the presence of the
Supreme Lord, was told by the Lord that
the Lord had a headache. So Narada
was expressing great concern: “Is there
anything I can do? Is there anything I
can do to help in this situation?”
“Yes, well…”, the Lord said, “…there is
one thing you can do. You could give
the dust of your feet.” Narada says,
“The dust of my feet?” And the Lord
says, “Yes, I will take the dust of But then the Gopi’s said, “That…that’s
your feet and put in on My head and that all right. We will go to hell, but the
will cure, that will cure my headache.” Lord’s headache will be cured.”
So Narada, “How could I say no, but
how could I do that! I am very fallen.
You are the Supreme lord, how could
even, even hear this? Please don’t
speak like this. That would be the
greatest offence on my part. I can not
do it, oh no, please my Lord, please
don’t ask me this?”
Then Lord Narayana told Narada, “All
right, My dear Narada. Go to
Vrndavana, go and meet My devotees-
the Gopi’s of Vrndavana- and ask them
if they will give the dust of their lotus So this is an ancient story also, and it
feet to place on My head to cure My shows the level of pure devotion. So in
headache.” this narration we are making this
So Narada took the order of the Lord, distinction between pure devotion to
went to Vrndavana, met the Gopi’s and Krsna and conditional devotional
asked the Gopi’s, “will you give the dust service to Krsna. Conditional
of your feet to cure the headache of the devotional service, where we think: “I
Lord?” have my nature, I have my needs, I am
the one that I am and have to be the one
that I am!” It is said there are four
different classes, in the Bhagavad Gita
Krsna says, “catur-varnyam maya
srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah”,

The Gopi’s said, “Yes, yes! Please take.”

Narada said, “But my dear girls! My
dear girls, don’t be so foolish. Don’t
you realise that it is a great offence to
give the dust of your feet to put on the
head of the Lord! Don’t you realise?
Didn’t you hear any scriptural
knowledge?” The Gopi’s said, “ No no,
we know that, we know that; we know
that if the Lord takes the dust of our feet
and places it on His head that would be that, all over the world there are four
a great offence on our part and we classes of people: there are intellectuals,
would suffer tremendously for that, there are administrators or military men,
probably even go to hell!” there are farmers or business men and
there are labour class who are not very
intellectual.
It is said in the Vedic culture, the
intellectual class was the priestly class
who would study the Vedic scriptures
and who would act according to the
injunctions of the scripture. The
intelligent class of man is meant for this.
That class of man is described to be in
the mode of goodness. So a class of
man who can dedicate his life according
to the injunction of scripture and put
scripture, the direction of scripture,
before his own personal desires and
feelings, such a person is in goodness.
Such a person is on the path of
elevation.
A person who is ruled by the mode of
passion
but pure in passion and is respectful to
those who are in goodness, can become
a ksatriya.
A ksatriya is one who protects religious
principles and proper moral standards
and who dedicates his life to the welfare
of others and works under the direction
of those who are spiritually pure, but a
ksatriya himself being in the mode of
passion cannot always control his senses
and therefore needs a certain amount of
sense enjoyment.
A vaisya is by nature mixed; he is under
the influence of passion and ignorance.
A vaisya by nature, being passionate is
interested in personal gain and profit,
and being under the influence of
ignorance, is not religiously dedicated to
the principles of purity. Although a
vaisya will certainly follow spiritual
principles, when it comes to the choice
between profit and principle, well, what
can he do! What to do, if it’s between
profit and principle, lets take the profit
and we can always follow the principles
tomorrow!
So we know this mentality in us as well,
we know this mentality: “Well, what can
you do, you know, lets go for the
advantage and then tomorrow again I’ll
be a holy person, I’ll follow all the
principles…”
A sudra by nature, finds principles
something repressive. A sudra by
nature hates principles because these
principles they interfere with my own
natural expression of what I am, the
person that is really me, deep down
within there lives a person and that
person I‘m trying to discover as I’m
exploring the entire universe, I’m
exploring the depth of my personality
and the more I do so, the more free I
become! The more real I become! And
therefore the more spiritual I become!
Because through spirituality must be
freedom, total free expression of the true
nature of being!
True or not?
(devotee 1): True
Maharaja: True! True or not?
(devotee 2): not true
Maharaja: Not true? Not true! My God,
we have a debate. You see that! This
man in the corner there is disagreeing
with you! Chee! Oh, boy! You’re in
trouble! And why not? (To devotee)
you’re elder so we give you the first
chance. You were so bold to speak, now
you can’t sit there and act numb…
hmm…you challenge the lady!
Why is it not true? I said that the true
and pure freedom of expression,
unchecked, is the most wonderful,
beautiful spiritual thing in the world.
And you say it’s not true! Oh, my God!
It is true, it is true, you change your
mind! (laughs) you’ve convinced him!
But there’s someone in the corner there
who maybe…
(devotee 2): I thought maybe that is a
little selfish.
Maharaja: Selfish uh? Ya, to detect an
element of selfishness: “ME, and MY
desires and MY personal experience and
what I feel, deep in MY being” you see
the selfish element there and what do
you say?
(devotee 1): it has to start here…
Maharaja: It has to start here, it doesn’t
have to end here as well (laughs) it starts
there and where does it go from there?
(devotee 1): it has unlimited
possibilities.
Maharaja: There are unlimited
possibilities, yes, all right. Yes, it has to
start here, that’s true;
I
mean…Let me say something about
nature, our own nature. What is our
nature? What is our nature? Have you
also had this experience that there is
more than one inside of you? Have you
ever experienced a split personality
within yourself? Have you? Nobody? ‘
No, never! Never heard that, no’…uh?
(devotee): I get it all the time.
within us. Who are we really?
Behind every gentleman or behind
every lady there is a hidden personality,
the personality that wants to break
loose! The personality that wants to
break all the borders!

Maharaja: You have it all the time. Vraja

Krsna has it all the time! (laughs) all
right. So often?

(devotee): it’s happening so often, I cant

even see it.

Maharaja: I see. It’s happening so often, The personality that just wants to be
you can’t even see it anymore. Yes, free! ‘Why don’t we do it! Why don’t
you’ve been to a doctor? (laughs) we do it in the road!’ Well…well John,
what shall I say. It does make a mess
(devotee): that’s why I came here. you know, it does make a mess we can
see. So, what is this? ‘Are we imposing
Maharaja: I see, just asking. But there is all kinds of Victorian morals upon
an element in us where we are many ourselves?
times divided, where we many times see
there is two sides in us: one side wants
to do it and the other side says ‘well,
maybe better not, maybe better not’.
One side thinks, ‘I’ll put in my pocket’
the other says, ‘well, maybe don’t do
that, maybe don’t’ and so on and so on.
Because, in Bhagavad Gita we see that
nature is described as being of two
kinds: the lower nature and the higher
nature! Mmm! Oh, you know, even
Disney figured it out: The Beast and The
Beauty!,

And are we trying to behave according

to all kinds of false standards out of
prudeness? Are we simply prude and
conservative, Victorian? Is that what is
going on? And are we just repressing
our true nature out of fear or is there
But all within us, all within us, living
another reason for it?’ What do you
think?
(devotee): Security.
Maharaja: Security, security. Ya! Yes,
whatever you do leaves its traces, leaves
its mark. So a little security helps, you
know, if you just go in the road you just
might also pick up something in the
road, you know, that you didn’t want, it
might get out of hand in the road, it may
drag us down also to the low life. So
lower nature, higher nature…low life is
connected to suffering. If we go for free
sex, then what will come of that? Does
free sex set you free?
I’m asking all kind of nasty questions
(laughs) but I want some answers also,
somebody who is bold. This is Cape
Town, I think in Cape Town, these
things you can ask…yes?
(devotee): It doesn’t set you free.
Maharaja: It doesn’t set you free. Why
not?
(devotee): because there’s many
consequences and also you may not
want the consequences…
Maharaja: What are the consequences?
(devotee): well, unwanted progeny and
…
Maharaja: Unwanted progeny…
(devotee): …and all kinds of diseases…
Maharaja: Kids and diseases. Is there
any similarity between the two? (laughs)
(devotee): I have no answer for that.
Maharaja: All right.
(devotee): just kidding.
Maharaja: Just kidding. Right, okay.
Well, it is true that whatever you do in
this world, every action is causing a
reaction, it effects our consciousness
and the more we go for free sex, with
this and that one and then that one as
well and why not this one also, and so
on and so on; the more we wind up
exactly where our friend, who is sitting
in the corner there, whatever his name
is, said that we would wind up in the
realm of selfishness: ‘ME! I am the
greatest! ME, so wonderful!’
Just like, I was on the plane, being a
sanyassi, living a life of celibacy and
then the movie started on the big screen
and it was all about Don Jaun and Don
Juan came up to this girl and grabbed
her hand and said, “and if I kiss on this
spot…” that’s where I walked out and
went to sit on the seat of the stewardess,
so I could look the other direction,
because I thought this is not for a
sanyassi: Don Juan! And who is this
Don Juan anyway? Don Juan,
conquering and conquering and not only to people, but to things as
conquering the world! And what’s he well… ‘The earth!
conquering? With each conquest, his
ego is growing and growing.
Psychologically speaking, Karl Yaung
identified that as ‘a swollen ego.’ He
said that someone like Don Juan would
be suffering from an extraordinary
swollen ego, an ego as big as the moon!

The earth is simply there for my

enjoyment, oh yes it is! It is! Doesn’t it
say in the bible that God gave man
supreme dominion over all that be? Yes
it does, yes it does and it is all for us to
enjoy, isn’t it great, isn’t it wonderful, a
whole planet for ME and my
enjoyment? Wonderful!’

So something like that, ‘ I, Don Juan,

am irresistible!’ and so on. In other
words, he is only caring about himself.

So what happens, when we become

caught up in selfishness? Is that, we see
that everything in this world, is for MY
pleasure! Selfishness is that, ‘ it’s for
my pleasure. You are for my pleasure,
he is for my pleasure, he is for my And yes…I saw a very nice poster, and
pleasure, everyone is for my pleasure the poster was called “The happy home”
and people ought to just simply exist for and there was a lovely happy home,
MY pleasure and if I can arrange it like very lovely: a nice garden
that, very good! So if I can be master
and everyone can be slave, wonderful!
Wonderful! I am master and they
naturally are slaves! Great, it is
wonderful! Where shall I live? Mmm,
let me see…could I somewhere in this
neighbourhood maybe find a nice
dwelling place, maybe just a little bit
over the hills there…’ So this master-
slave dynamics, this dynamics of
exploitation which then goes of course
with picket fence and a beautiful little
cottage and they had some nice little
pets in the garden and fruit trees and it
looked lovely. A little lovely corner-
Happy Home- on planet earth, the only
problem was, that planet earth, didn’t
exactly look anymore like the globe as
we know it but it looked rather, just like
you sometimes have these round pieces
of cheese and it looked just like one
chunk of the cheese and everything else
had already fallen off!
So this is what we’re doing now. Have
you noticed a little greenhouse effect?
I don’t know what the weather’s been
like on the Cape, but I know what it was
like when I just came back from Gaura
Purnima in India to Europe, my God!
On Gaura Purnima, there was snow in
Europe! And ice! Snow and ice, in
Europe, in March, that is not normal.
Correct? That is not the way it’s
supposed to be. But sure enough, and it
had been going on since November and
just didn’t stop! It didn’t stop. Super-
intense, everyone sitting inside near the
heater, walking from the house to the
car, from the car into the shopping mall,
back into the car, back into the house
looking from behind the window ‘ how
long is this gonna last?’ something’s
going on. Some say. It’s because all the
cold water is melting at the polar caps
and going into the Gulf Stream and
therefore the weather is extreme.
Whatever may be. But with this
selfishness, we are destroying the world!
We are destroying the life of so many
people. Did Don Juan ever think of all
the abortions he caused? That you don’t
see in the movie!
It’s all rosy and romance and so on but,
you know, what about the ugly side of
the story and the girl? And she’s stuck
and then what’s she going to do? All
alone, yes, and so on.
And he’s not so rotten; he’ll pay the
medical bill! Thanks a lot! And then
who gets the karma? - Both of them!
And what is the karma for that? It’s
heavy duty! This goes in the category
of ‘heavy duty karma’- abortion! You
better stay away from that, if you don’t
want to get burnt, baby! Because you’re
going to be baby to, again, and you’re
going to get it for that abortion you were
involved it! ‘ But I was only 13!’
Doesn’t matter! 13- old enough to know
better!
So, the lower nature gets us all so
entangled in all kind of things because
in the lower nature, the selfishness is
predominant and then we don’t care
about the consequences, and then what
to do? ‘ I mean we can’t take care of the
child. I can’t marry the girl, we are too
young! No, we can’t do that and then
what to do, I mean, we can’t have it
anyway- the poor, little dear, would not
get a proper chance in the world, we’re
doing it a favour by killing it in the
womb before it comes out! We’re
saving it from so much misery, better we
kill it now! It’s only tissue anyway. So
if we simply just surgically remove the
tissue there won’t be any problem, I
mean it’s not really life, I mean it’s like
hardly developed, it’s basically tissue in
a state of development which eventually
at the time of birth will manifest into life
but if we are quick enough, and we just,
you know, with proper anaesthesia and
so on, nicely remove it very painlessly,
quickly done. Done! Best solution, best
solution!’ So, in this way, freedom,
freedom!
I remember 1965, oh yes, I was there, I
had a guitar, sure enough, you had to
have one in’65.
And there I was and I couldn’t play a
single chord but that didn’t matter either,
because just on the open strings…and I
will yell out, and on top of my lungs:
FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM!
My favourite band was called ‘The
Animals’ and my favourite song, ‘ It’s
my life and I do what I want!’ and I did
and boy oh boy, shoo! It was complex.
So the lower nature basically is all based
on our personal enjoyment, everything
for ME and it’s not only Don Juan,
there’s also his female counterpart of
course, ‘tadam tadam tadamm, I wrap
the guys around my little finger…’ that’s
also going on. So, whoever, but the
same thing again, she dresses to kill, oh
yes, dress to kill and for what? She
loves to be loved, she loves to be loved!
That’s what it is all about! - To see them
squirm, to see them crawl, to feel the
power of simply controlling them ,
oh she loves to be loved!
So all this is part of the entanglement of
the lower nature. Because, true love is
something different. True love is not
that self-centred type of desire:
‘ all for my enjoyment!’- But it is
actually making sacrifice, it means to
give. So in the higher nature, we speak
about sacrifice-‘sacrifice?’ It was
always one of those words together with
‘duties, principle, sacrifice...the kind of
words that I thought, why did my
parents harass me with these words?
Sacrifice! Yuck! Can’t we just be free?’
But we see that within sacrifice, we
grow because within sacrifice when we
give for someone else we become a
greater person.
I remember here in South Africa being
in one college programme and one girl
told, she said, “Why are you guys
against sex? What’s your problem with
it? What’s your problem with it?” she
says, “I have 10 boyfriends!” and she
says, “And I like it!”
And all the students, they go: “YYeh!
Yeh man. What is your hang up
actually? I mean, what is it, you know?
What’s the hang up you guys got?”
So, ooh, I was thinking, how am I going
to get out of this one! Anyway, Krsna
gave me some inspiration. And I told the
girl, I said, “ Okay, it maybe very nice
that you are having 10 boyfriends and
you’re enjoying but there is a higher
purpose in life for a women and that is
not to just have boyfriends but also to
have a child. But if your child has 10
fathers and is not sure which one it is, it
gets confusing, isn’t it?
So better, for the benefit of the child
have only one, have only one and that
will help for the whole relationship, for
the child and the parents to develop
nicely.” And she was quiet and at the
end of the programme she said, “ that
man, he said a lot of wise things!”, she
said.
It is a fact. So we make a sacrifice, we
make a sacrifice for the benefit of
someone else and the more we sacrifice
for the benefit of someone else, the
more actually…the greater we become,
the more actually our heart becomes free
from lust and greed and anger and envy
and other low qualities. So the
development of these qualities of the
mode of goodness, the spirit of sacrifice,
the spirit of tolerance, the spirit of self
control and are not simply going for
everything the senses see, but see, “Is
this really beneficial? Is this activity, not
only beneficial for myself, but is this
activity beneficial for all? Because I
will not build my happiness upon the
suffering of others.”

Are you ready to live like that? Yeh,
that’s a step up uh? From just being free
and being ME to the point where we say,
‘I will not build my happiness upon the
suffering of others’, you are right
maybe, after all! So, that is the mode of
goodness. Within the mode of
goodness, we will not build our
happiness upon the suffering of others
and we will therefore act in a way that is
good for us, and good for the world,
good for all others. If that would only
become like the predominant mood in
Cape Town, it would really be what it
supposed to be, it would become a
wonderful place to stay and even the
weather might improve due to improved
karma! Who knows! It’s not impossible.
So, back to that- the mode of goodness,
the life of sacrifice, the life of following
higher principles, the life of following
principles which benefit all is higher,
than just doing whatever comes in the
mind, whatever the senses dictate. Still
higher than that, is the life of pure
devotional service because within the
life of pure devotional service, one
doesn’t just follow the life of sacrifice
but one begins to put the pleasure of
Krsna before anything else.
Krsna, is the well-wisher of all living
being: suhrdam sarva-bhutanam and
because Krsna is the well-wisher of all
living beings, therefore by serving
Krsna, we also become the well-wisher
of all living beings. And being the well-
wisher of all living beings, yes then we
have really come to the other end of the
scale, the other end of the spectrum, in
terms of…from selfishness we have
gone to selflessness. At that point we
live a life of giving then we are over the
thing of taking, ‘what’s in it for me?’
Because, in the world, it’s the world of
the ‘have’ and ‘have nots’ and the
‘have’s’ are really happy that they have
it and the ‘have nots’, they really hate
the guts of those guys that have it! And look at the sacrifice of our devotees,
in this way we live with fences, with then who sacrifices greater?”
nice electricity on them or other And I asked that question. Low and
varieties and ‘armed response’- a world behold, it turns out that there was a
of ‘have’ and ‘have nots’! Calcutta doctor in the audience! And the
But if we live in a world where Calcutta doctor in the audience he
everyone is simply working selflessly, said… he started a whole thing and said,
for the welfare of all, understanding that “ the vaisnava’s are so much greater
the true welfare of all is not simply because all we do is fix the body but we
material…we can go to the streets of don’t do any thing for the soul.
Calcutta, and we can see how the sisters We may be repairing bodies and curing
of Mother Theresa are still picking up diseases but we do not change, we do
the leper patients off the street and it’s not change the mentality of a person.
rough, it is rough! Why did someone come in this
I have been at night, walking past the condition? Due to sinful life! But we fix
Howrah Bridge and that bridge starts as the body, we fix the machine and he
a fly-over leading into the bridge and walks away and again engages in sinful
there’s leper colonies living under the activity, we are not changing his life…
bridge. And I’ve seen how they without actually changing a person’s
attacked a dog with a rock and smashed life, that’s insufficient”, the doctor said.
its head and I have seen, how their noses He was right; he’s probably a life
have rotted away from the leprosy and member!
how their fingers have become little
stumps, but still, they killed the dog,
cooked the dog and ate the dog! Right
there, and I go “heavy, heavy!” it was.
And those same colonies, they take off
the street and they cure their disease and
they give them some education, they
give them some material facility, isn’t it
great, isn’t it great! Yes it is, it is great.,
it is great. But I remember, that I was in
Calcutta, and I was giving one lecture in
our temple in Calcutta in the morning, I
was giving a lecture and I was also
remembering in that lecture a doctor in
Calcutta and this doctor in Calcutta, was
working so hard and I remember that I
saw that his house filled with patients:
sitting in the corridors on the floor and
they were sitting in the garden with
bloody bandages and what not! And
this doctor was working for, like, you
know, just practically peanuts and
working very hard. So I was Because, you know, I think he heard it
remembering that doctor in that lecture before, the philosophy. That it is a fact-
and speaking about the glories of that simply welfare work for the body won’t
doctor. do it, we have to something for the
And then I was saying, “ if we look at eternal benefit of the soul. What’s the
the sacrifice of that doctor and if we point to take some leper off the street?
Very nice. It is good, it is great. But not
great enough! Because, the karma of
that leper would not improve and again
he will suffer.
We have to do something. If we want to
do welfare work, if we want to make
sacrifice, if we give up selfishness and
really want to do some welfare work for
the world, then we have to do something
that people get eternal benefit, eternal
benefit.
Srila Prabhupada, was such a person
who totally selflessly, gave everything
in his life for the benefit of others. And
helped others to take up spiritual life-
which is the greatest thing to do-and
then supported them throughout.
Prabhupada did not just travel around
the world to preach, but Prabhupada also
did also everything he could to support
people in their spiritual life and to train
people in their spiritual life and to make
it possible, and therefore now it’s so
easy.

That means we have to free them from

karma, free from sinful reactions. This
is the highest position of selflessness,
greater than being a doctor! Greater that
we sacrifice our life for the Absolute
Truth than for the mundane truth of
science…Greater than any such thing,
we give everything for the benefit of all
in the world. This is what we see in the
great and pure devotees. Srila
Prabhupada, for those who don’t know,
is there on that picture also on the
vyasasana in the form of a murti.
Here we are, like you know, in our
devotional attire, look at me, you know.
I’m doing pretty good in the world. I’ve
got like, a whole bouquet of roses
around my neck and what else I do not
get, so many things. And it’s an easy
life in a way, everything is ready, and all
I have to do is either look on the Internet
at Krsna.com, or buy from any Hare
Krsna temple a ‘Back To Godhead’
magazine, which gives a full address
list. Krsna.com and boom, there it is! -
‘Your nearest Hare Krsna temple in the
world.’
It’s pretty easy. You know, Krsna.com…
and sure enough, there it is- prasadam!
Or that nice vegetarian food, you know,
that famous Hare Krsna kitchen, that
kitchen- religion and all that sort of
mmm…All that, so easily available
from the Internet. Like, that you
know…ADSL and right there- you got
it, wherever you are! And you’re on
holidays in Greece and sure enough
there’s your address and you go to Spain
and where would you want to go?
London – healthy, wealthy wise…we
were just there a few days ago and it’s
going strong, we had spinach roles on
the plane. We made it all the way to
South Africa, until the next prasadam,
we survived!
So, Prabupada, did not just preach a
very high philosophy, did not just preach
a very high goal of making…and did not
just try to inspire us to make the greatest
sacrifice, to just dedicate our lives to
serving Krsna and to become the well-
wisher of all living beings, but
Prabhupada himself, showed it by his
example and made it easy for us, gave
us help, gave us support, gave us
programmes by which we can actually
do it and simply made it possible for us
to be our natural self- at least the one we
are for now!
The one we are now, where we start
with, it’s got to start here. Yes, you
were right! (to devotee). It’s got to start
here, its got to start with us. And
Prabupada made a connection for us,
that we too, can live a natural life and
yet, take advantage of the Bhagavad
Gita As It Is and of all the spiritual
knowledge. That’s wonderful and that is
this movement and everyone is
welcome, welcome to some or somehow
or other take advantage of it and that
will certainly save us, save us from the
predicament that Gajendra the elephant
came in, where a crocodile was hanging
on his leg! Yes. Gajendra had not
expected it, he had not expected it that
the nice beautiful lake: golden, silver
mountains, not just Table mountains but
golden silver mountains and lotuses.
Not just a little lake, no, beautiful! He
had not expected to be attacked, right
there at the height of his enjoyment. We
may also not expect, just as we are
playing a nice CD in our quadraphonic
sound system within the car…Boom!
(accident)
‘ Blood pressure is going down, quick,
quick! Emergency, blood pressure is
going down., emergency emergency!’
and so on. And then…floating around
the room looking down upon the doctors
and so on, and then see if you can get
back in or not and then where will you
go, do you know? Where will you go?
Who knows where he will go?
But, Bhagavad Gita…for one who
follows Bhagavad Gita throughout his
life, he knows! He knows very well
what his destination will be and that
destination will be auspicious.
So can we do a little more than just ‘be
here now’, can we look a little further
than the nose is long ‘mmm, what am I
smelling?’ it’s not all about smelling
smelling, tasting, tasting, touching
touching, having, having, but we take it
a step further: where am I going, going,
going….? Where will it all end, end,
end….? And with the Bhagavad Gita,
we have some security! So with that, I
have come to ‘the end’: a lion appears
on the screen…or a mountain with a
snow cap and then all the names will
scroll on the screen and the names that
are scrolling on the screen you can read
them here, in the Bhagavad Gita just at
the end of the introduction. The first
name that appears on the screen in big
caps is the name of Krsna! And the next
name is Brahma, Narada, Vyasa,
Madhava…and then many other names,
you cant read them all, you know how it
is at the end of a movie (laughs) but then
you see some big names like
Bhaktivinoda, Gaura Kisora,
Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati and A.C
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada! And
then you understand, this whole
information was not just a product of
someone’s brain, but it actually was like
a proper production coming down
directly from Krsna Himself! Bhagavad
Gita- As It is! ‘The end’.
And here we have your writing. I am
very happy to see the attempts of our
authors. I’m very happy to share these
creations with everyone. Sometimes the
handwriting is also a little tough.
Questions:
1.) If I am to take initiation, ask a
guru, how will this help me in
my life even if the guru lives far
away?
Well, it’s very simple. Taking
initiation from a guru is quite an
involved thing; it’s not a small thing.
One is, there are four regulative
principles: no meat fish or eggs, no
gambling, no intoxication, no illicit
sex. That’s quite something. you have very little time for japa
Number two is that on has to chant etc?
everyday 16 rounds of the maha-
mantra.
Yes, first the love is in practice. We can
say, ‘love under construction’, just as
‘work in progress’, ‘house under
construction, - ‘love under construction.’
You cannot just love like that; so-called
love at first sight doesn’t go so deep.
Love at first sight may be initial
attraction but how deep does it go? So
therefore, love for Krsna develops by
finding out more and more about Krsna:
who He is, what He does, what He says,
and what He likes.

That’s very potent and powerful.

And then, additionally, one promises
to accept the orders of the spiritual
master without questioning them and
to simply surrender to them and
follow the direction of the spiritual
master in one’s life. The spiritual
master is one’s best friend, sudrira
suhrdam, one has a firm friendship
and one is trusting; that my spiritual
master knows better than I know
myself what is good for me and if
we actually act upon that, then the
result will be that we will get great
benefit because the spiritual master, And then if we begin to act in such a
whatever direction he’s giving us way that is pleasing to Krsna, then
he’s not taking it from himself, he’s gradually everything becomes
taking it from Krsna and Krsna is favourable. Then we begin to slowly
perfect. Therefore under the develop our love for Krsna because
directions of the spiritual master, our Krsna is wonderful and by acting in a
life will become perfect. way that is pleasing to Him, we too will
become pleased, because Krsna’s
directions are perfect: full of depth and
Looks like similar handwriting, but wisdom and whoever dedicates his life
not the same. to that, will see that his life will become
perfect.
2.) How can we act out of love for
Krsna in an everyday way when
 3.) Please could you tell me if
Srimati Radharani does not wear
tilaka?
No, I don’t know actually these things.
I’m sorry; you have to ask somebody
who knows more than me.
4.) How can anartha’s be removed?
Please expand on what the
anartha is and is it a material
energy?
Okay. The word anartha means
stumbling block, it’s a stumbling block
on the path of spiritual advancement.
‘A-nartha’- that which not gives benefit,
‘nartha’ means benefit, that which not
gives benefit. So, we have so many
things, anartha’s, stupid things. Like
everybody knows smoking is a stupid
thing but still people go on, keep on
doing it.
So many things are stupid things but we
just do these stupid things. Why?
Because we are stupid! So, how can
anartha’s be removed? If we see that we
are stupid and that we keep on doing
things of which we know that we
shouldn’t but somehow or other we cant
stop it, that’s’ the time when we need
help. That’s’ the time when we need
help from someone who’s situated better
than we are. And that’s the point if we
really want to remove our anartha’s we
have to take help of a person who is free
from anartha’s. If someone is free from
anartha’s, then he can help us to also
become free from such stumbling
blocks, from these stupid attachments
that actually have no benefit to us and
anyone else but still we are conditioned
by them. So we need to take shelter
from someone who’s free.
So the devotees are being trained to
become free of such anartha’s and to
only engage in activities that are
beneficial. Like I remember that I use to
go to a bar on a Saturday night and then
met everybody and I was speaking with
everybody and I thought that I was
having an interesting Saturday night and
then I would forget something in the bar.
And then on Sunday morning I would
go back to the bar and the smell, the
smell in the place on Sunday morning
was so bad, so bad that I wondered ‘how
was I here last night having a good time
when it stinks like this, this morning?’
So, that’s an anartha, to name one. And
there are many anartha’s on the
waterfront that I will for now leave for
what it is.
 5.) I heard that in the spiritual world
one can attain a body similar to
Krsna’s. Is this at all true?
Well, the body of Krsna is wonderful,
because the body of Krsna is eternal and
it is fully blissful, everything about that
body is blissful. So in the spiritual
world also you can have a totally
blissful body;
a body where you don’t feel any pain,
nothing at all and a body where you can
eat without limitation. This is for the
kids, you can eat sweets in the spiritual
world and you never have to go to the
dentist, never, never! They don’t have
dentists in the spiritual world.
There’s no such thing. And you don’t
have to stop eating, you can eat as much
cake as you like- this is not only for the
kids but the adults as well- you can eat
as much cake as you like and you don’t
blow up like you know, where one says
‘maybe it’s time to stop.’ No, in the
spiritual world there is no limit to the
enjoyment you can have. You don’t
have to go to bed, you don’t have to
sleep- you can- but you don’t have to
because one never becomes tired, you
don’t run out of energy, you don’t run
out of steam and time is not a factor to
worry about. What shall we say! So in
this way we can get a body similar to
Krsna’s body and we can engage in an
eternal relationship with Krsna and that
exchange with Krsna, that is the ecstasy
of the spiritual world and all that is true.
6.) Not doing something for the
sake of not wanting to get the
attached karma, is this then not a
selfish act?
Yes, it is very self-centredness if you
just avoid different activities because
you don’t want the karma, still a selfish
element. But it’s not as selfish as pure
gross selfishness. Pure gross
selfishness, where we just exploit
anything and everyone, is obviously
worse. But it is true. The gopi’s when
they were ready to take the headache of
Krsna; they had no selfish motivation at
all. So that’s beyond the level that is
suggested here. The gopi’s were selfless.
Next question…
7.) What is a selfish servant?
A servant who wants some gain, some
personal gain from the service. It takes
time. Begin as a selfish servant. Better
a selfish servant than trying to be a
selfish master because in being a selfish
servant, we are on the path of going
towards selflessness. But in being a
selfish master, we become Johnny the
self-kicker.
8.) Why does Prabhupada say we
are part and parcel of Krsna?
Because he’s repeating the Bhagavad
Gita: mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-
bhutah sanatanah, saying we are the
separated part and parcel of Krsna; it
doesn’t say part and parcel but
separated part and parcel of Krsna. So
we are part and parcel of Krsna because
everything is Krsna’s energy but
although we are part and parcel of
Krsna, we are not Krsna, we’re just a
part of His energy and all the energy is
part of Krsna. The parcel, the part and
parcel; that we are parts may be easy to
understand but that we are parcel, okay
not a parcel: a post man and with a
ribbon around it like that, your name on
the tag. But parcel, meaning we have
the same, we are of the same nature.
The word parcel, here, implies that we
are of the same nature as Krsna. Not
only are we parts of Krsna but, we are of
a similar nature as Krsna is and yet, we
are not Krsna, we are just…and we can
never become Krsna and are only
eternal servants of Krsna. And if we
surrender to that it would become
ecstatic and if we don’t, we will suffer
and suffer and suffer and suffer! Good
luck!
And it says one should end a lecture on
a light note, so with these light words I
think I have to find a befitting end for
this lecture and with that I thank you
very much for tolerating me all this
time. It’s a pleasure being back at the
Cape and we hope that there will be
more opportunity to spend together in
the next few days. Hare Krsna! Srila
Prabhupada ki, Jaya!