SB 3.1.45

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto Three Chapter One,

TEXT 45

tasya prapannākhila-lokapānām
avasthitānām anuśāsane sve
arthāya jātasya yaduṣv ajasya
vārtāṁ sakhe kīrtaya tīrtha-kīrteḥ

TRANSLATION

O my friend, please, therefore, chant the glories of the Lord, who is meant to be glorified in the places of pilgrimage. He is unborn, and yet He appears by His causeless mercy upon the surrendered rulers of all parts of the universe. Only for their interest did He appear in the family of His unalloyed devotees the Yadus.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

There are innumerable rulers all over the universe in different varieties of planets: the sun-god in the sun planet, the moon-god in the moon planet, Indra in the heavenly planet, Vāyu, Varuṇa, and those in the Brahmaloka planet, where Lord Brahmā is living. All are obedient servants of the Lord. Whenever there is any trouble in the administration of the innumerable planets in different universes, the rulers pray for an appearance, and the Lord appears. The Bhāgavatam (1.3.28) has already confirmed this in the following verse:

ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge

In every millennium, whenever there is any trouble for the obedient rulers, the Lord appears. He also appears for the sake of His pure unalloyed devotees. The surrendered rulers and the pure devotees are always strictly under the control of the Lord, and they are never disobedient to the desires of the Lord. The Lord is therefore always attentive to them.

The purpose of pilgrimages is to remember the Lord constantly, and therefore the Lord is known as tīrtha-kīrti. The purpose of going to a place of pilgrimage is to get the chance to glorify the Lord. Even today, although times have changed, there are still pilgrimage sites in India. For example, in Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, where we had a chance to stay, people are awake from early in the morning at 4 A.M. up until nighttime and are constantly engaged, some way or other, in chanting the holy glories of the Lord. The beauty of such a pilgrimage site is that automatically one remembers the holy glories of the Lord. His name, fame, quality, form, pastimes, and entourage are all identical to the Lord, and therefore chanting the glories of the Lord invokes the personal presence of the Lord. Any time or anywhere pure devotees meet and chant the glories of the Lord, the Lord is present without any doubt. It is said by the Lord Himself that He always stays where His pure devotees chant His glories.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, First Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Questions by Vidura.”

COMMENT

So people are looking for God, trying to know Him, to understand Him, to realize Him, but one must be qualified. And the qualification to know the Lord or to see the Lord is to be obedient. Srila Prabhupada used to say disciple means discipline. For the beginning of love is obedience. Sometimes Christians say that they love Jesus, and once, Srila Prabhupada questioned some disciples, that when they say that they love Jesus, they don’t need to change their lives in any way? When Srila Prabhupada asked his disciples what do they say, then they gave different answers but Srila Prabhupada had an answer for all their answers, an answer that Christians might give. Then finally, Srila Prabhupada himself gave the answer that in principle they could not argue with, and that is, that if you actually love Him, you will obey Him. And Jesus himself says, according to the Bible, that there will be many who claim to be my followers, but if they do not obey me, they are not really my followers.

So every organization, every entity requires a head, and within the universe, the planets also have their rulers. The higher planets have their rulers, and as Srila Prabhupada mentions, the sun has its ruler, Sun-God Surya; the moon has its ruler, the moon god, Chandra; and every planet has a ruler, because without a ruler, without a head, there can be no organization and no discipline. But above all of the rulers within the universe is the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, Krishna. So although they are rulers, they are not independent; they are also dependent, and they themselves are obedient to the Lord. In principle, they must be obedient to the Lord. Every authority in the material world is meant to represent the supreme authority, and therefore the Bhāgavatam in the Fifth Canto (SB 5.5.18) says,  gurur na sa syāt, pitā na sa syāj, that no one should become a guru or teacher, no one should become a father, no one should become a mother, no one should become a husband, and no one should become a superior authority unless he or she can deliver his or her dependents from the repetition of birth and death. Now we know that the ultimate deliverer from the cycle of birth and death is Krishna, as He Himself says in Bhagavad-gītā, for those who are surrendered to Him and always wrapped in meditation on Him, He is the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death. So, He is the ultimate deliverer, but because we can’t see Him in the beginning, we can’t hear Him in the beginning directly, we need people who represent Him. And the natural authorities who are meant to represent Him are the parents, the husbands, the teachers, the spiritual masters, and the rulers of the nations and the planets. And in order for them to execute their duties properly, they must be obedient to the Lord. And then by serving them, by serving a child, serving the parents, the wife serving the husband, the disciples serving the guru, and the citizens serving the ruler, ultimately they are serving Krishna, and the result will be that they will go back home, back to Godhead. They will be delivered from the repetition of birth and death. So the Bhāgavatam says that if you are not able to deliver your dependents from repeated birth and death, you shouldn’t be a husband, you shouldn’t be a mother, you shouldn’t be a father, you shouldn’t be a ruler, you shouldn’t be a teacher, a spiritual master. You shouldn’t take a position of authority because you are not qualified.

So sanātana-dharma means service, as we know. The word “dharma” is derived from the root “dhr,” which means “characteristic,” that which sustains, characteristic, that which cannot be separated from a thing. So, for example, we could say the dharma of sugar is to be sweet. You can’t separate sweetness from sugar; its natural characteristic is sweetness. The dharma of the chili is to be hot; you can’t separate being hot from being a chili. So what is the dharma or characteristic of the living entity? It is a service. No one can avoid the principle of service. Someone may say, “I don’t want to serve anyone. I am going to be independent. I am going to do what I want. I am not going to be under anyone else’s control.” But if we look closely, we find that actually, they are under control. They are under the control of their own minds; they are following the dictates of their minds, or they are under the control of their senses. They say, “I don’t want any restrictions. I don’t want someone to tell me I can’t eat this or I can’t drink that. I am going to drink what I want and eat what I want.” But what is actually happening? Their senses are dictating. I want to keep my tongue dictating. I want to eat this, and then they become the servant of their senses. “Oh, my tongue wants to eat this; okay, I will be the obedient servant of my tongue.” So no one is independent; no one is free from the principle of service. Everyone is serving someone or something, even if it is our own mind and senses. So the word ‘Go’ as we know means senses. ‘Gosvami’ is someone who controls his senses. ‘Swami’ means controller. But one who is the servant of his or her senses is ‘Go dasa.’ So if we don’t serve the superior by constitution we have to serve and then we will serve the lower. Instead of serving the higher, you serve the lower, but we have to serve.

So sanātana-dharma means that the weak serves the strong. Of course, ultimately, every living entity is meant to serve Krishna because He is the all-powerful Supreme Lord. But within the material world, the weak serve the strong, and strength really is meant to mean spiritual strength. Of course, there is material strength also included. And therefore, in principle, the children serve the parents, the disciples serve the guru, and the citizen serves the ruler. Now, in the material world, such a situation results in conflict because the central point of Krishna is missing. When the central point is the individual, or my mind and senses, then my interest conflicts with your interests, or family to family, my family interests with your family, or national, my nation’s interest conflicts with yours. But when everyone realizes that he or she is weak in relation to the Supreme Lord, then the Supreme Lord becomes the central point, and we don’t have these different centers of interest. There is only one center of interest, which is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and everyone is engaged in serving Him.

Sometime back, during Srila Prabhupada’s time, there was a conflict in the Chicago temple of ISKCON. I am not sure if it was between the book distributors and non-book distributors, or if it was between different parties of book distributors, maybe different parties of book distributors. So Srila Prabhupada wrote back that the main consideration should be hearing and chanting about Krishna, as we just read today. And if our hearing and chanting about Krishna is disturbed by our conflicts with each other, then its better we just stop book distribution and sit down in the temple and hear and chant about Krishna from morning till night. That would be better than going out to preach and distribute books and fight. And then Srila Prabhupada explained the same point that sanātana-dharma means service, and the principle of service is that the weak serves the strong, but everyone is weak before the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we are aware of that fact, then we will be humble. No one will think, “I am an independent controller,” but everyone will think that “I am also an obedient servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” And therefore, there will be unity in diversity, and there won’t be such conflict.

So we see in the world that people are not God-conscious. Rulers are not. Sometimes they pretend to be or claim to be in order to appeal to the religious sentiments of their followers or their voters, but actually, they are independent. In blunt language, we could say they are demons. They are just pursuing their own personal ambitions for material aggrandizement, for economic gain, and other motives. So there is constant strife, and the people are innocent, but they get tricked by the false leaders, and they take sides and they get involved in the demonic warfare among the world’s leaders. And therefore, when the earth is too much burdened by demonic rulers who increase their military might, the Lord descends (Bg 4.8),

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

That He appears to protect the pious devotees, to destroy the miscreants, and to re-establish the principles of dharma. So here in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we are hearing about the purposes of the Lord’s descent. And in the present verse, Vidura is saying that the Lord descends to protect the rulers who are obedient to Him. And although He is unborn and He has no need to take birth, He is not forced to take birth by karma, He has no need to improve Himself by activities on Earth, but out of His mercy, He descends to deliver the devotees and to destroy the miscreants and to re-establish the principles of dharma.

Srila Prabhupada explains that it is the nature of everything in the material world to deteriorate. Just like you build a house, it is in excellent condition. So everything in the material world deteriorates. So you build a building; it is in excellent condition when it is new, but gradually it deteriorates. You can’t help it. Therefore, we have to make constant efforts to maintain it. Srila Prabhupada told His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja “Do not let one inch of my property deteriorate.” It is a constant effort to maintain; otherwise, things start to break. It is natural. So we maintain them, but eventually, no matter how well we maintain something material, it will become so old that it is beyond repair. It is just the nature of the world, and then we have to build a new one or get a new one.

So the same applies to dharma. The Lord comes and establishes the principles of dharma, but in time, the situation deteriorates, and His devotees try to alleviate the situation. But sometimes, after a long enough period has passed, the situation is beyond the capacity of any human being to repair. Then the Lord Himself comes, dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya. We touched on the fact yesterday that after hearing the description of Krishna’s activities with the gopīs, King Parīkṣit raised the question to Śukadeva Gosvami, “that the Lord appears to establish dharma, but how is it that He Himself could act contrary to dharma by dancing with the wives of other men?” Śukadeva Gosvami replied, first of all, that, and this is a paraphrase of course, everyone belongs to Krishna. The soul is actually an expansion of Krishna, and Krishna is in the heart of every living entity. He already has an intimate relationship with every living entity. So the same Lord who was already within the bodies of the gopīs, in their hearts, just came out of their hearts and danced with them. So what is the problem? He is already right in their body. So what is the problem if He came out of their bodies and danced with them?

And then he explains that, and again, there are different ways of looking at this, and it is a very intricate subject if you go deeply into it. But just stated in simple terms, even if we accept that the soul belongs to Krishna, the Supersoul, and the gopīs’ bodies belong to their husbands, still when the gopīs went to dance with Krishna, a semblance of a body remained at home with their husbands. And therefore, their husbands bore no enmity towards Krishna, because as far as they knew, their wives were still at home with them. But then, the final conclusion of the discussion is that through the rāsa dance, the love dance, Krishna established the highest dharma. In Bhagavad-gītā (18.66) Krishna says:

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

“Give up all other dharma’s and just surrender to me.” 

So in the rasa dance, the gopīs showed the highest dharma which is surrendering to Krishna, completely surrendering. But even higher than surrender to Krishna—well, there is nothing better than surrender to Krishna—but there is a matter of consciousness because surrender can be done externally. Just like in a war, one side can surrender to the other side, but there is no love. That is just for survival. So one can surrender with one’s body, mind, and words but still, not with one’s very self. But in the case of the gopīs, their surrender was with pure love. And therefore, the conclusion is that the pastimes of Krishna with the gopīs demonstrate the highest dharma or the perfection of dharma, which is prema-dharma, love for the Supreme Lord ruled by love, pure love, not material so-called love. Love and that was the case with the gopīs. They, for the sake of pure love for Krishna, if your love means for Krishna, they gave up their chastity, they gave up morality, they gave up dharma, they gave up their families, they gave up their homes, they gave up everything for Krishna. That is prema.

Now, there is a delicate point here because the material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. And in the material world, there is a chance to misapply the principle that love is more important than duty. And that is why we have so many divorces because people think, “Well, why should I be stuck with this husband? I made a mistake. I never should have married him in the first place.” Or, “Why should I be stuck with this wife? If I knew what she was really like before I married her, I never would have married her. And I really love this one.” prema dharma, love is more important than beauty. “Leave the present one, go to the next one.” So, that is not what was going on with Krishna and the gopīs. You all know that Caitanya-caritāmṛta explains that kāma, or lust, desire means the desire for one’s own sense gratification, and prema means the desire to give pleasure to Krishna, not to give pleasure to myself. And the material concept which you might find or not senses.

So, we come back to the point of obedience. That in the conditioned state, we must be obedient to dharma because dharma’s are the laws of God; dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam. And by following dharma, one becomes purified to the stage where he or she does develop pure love of God. And then, one is actually ruled by love, not by dharma. Although as long as we are in the material world and preaching, we follow dharma. Although a liberated soul doesn’t have to follow dharma, but when he preaches, or she preaches, he does follow dharma because he has to set an example for others. Yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhaḥ- whatever the great do, the others follow. And therefore, even if personally one is beyond following the rules and regulations, if one wants to preach, if one wants to live in society, he or she still will follow the principles of dharma to set the proper example for others. So, dharma is important, but rules and regulations are not the end. The end is really pure love of Godhead, or Krishna consciousness.

So, by appearing in the material world, delivering the devotees who are placed in distress by the demons, by upholding the rule of his obedient servants, Krishna upheld the principle of dharma. And in his most intimate pastimes with his most confidential devotees in Vrindavan, he established prema dharma, which is the highest of all. So, internally we aspire for prema dharma, following the footsteps of the gopīs, and externally we do follow dharma - varnashrama-dharma to set the proper example for others. Otherwise, they will become confused and act in ways that are inappropriate for them. They will imitate us. They say, “What one man’s food is another man’s poison.” So, we have to be conscious of that. What might be good for me personally might not be good for people in general. So, something that is good for me personally, that is okay, I can do it on my own, but I shouldn’t do it publicly because there might be people for whom the same thing is poison. And if they see me do it, then they will imitate me, not understanding how I am using it in Krishna’s service. They might just imitate me, and it will be bad for them.

So, acharya means one who teaches by example. Srila Prabhupada wanted us all to be acharya in that sense, teach by examples, and that will please Krishna and our superiors. Then we will be proper parents, husbands, wives, gurus, and superior relatives, rulers. So, we have a great responsibility. Whereas devotees, we don’t live just for ourselves. I mean, we have to take care of ourselves, and we can also be busy taking care of others. We don’t take care of ourselves, which can also lead to problems. In the medical profession, they always talk about taking care of the caregivers because if the caregivers aren’t taken care of, then the caregiver won’t be able to give care anymore.

So, we have to take care of the caregivers, but we also have to take care to take proper care of cared-for people who we are meant to care for. So, it is a responsibility. And the best way to execute it is collectively. We are talking about the strength that we’ve served. And, it is said that – [Unintelligible 00:44:20] in Kali-yuga one gets strength from association or there is strength in a group. And therefore, Srila Prabhupada didn’t appoint one acharya; he wanted us to rule collectively, preach collectively, and that is what we should do here and everywhere, cooperatively. And in that coming together with strength [Unintelligible 00:44:56], then we will be able to give, set the proper example and service, properly can deliver our dependents from repeated birth and death. And Krishna will help.

Just like here, when the rulers of the universe are in trouble, they pray to the Lord to appear, and the Lord does appear. And in the same way, if we are in trouble, we can also invoke the presence of the Lord by hearing and chanting about Him. nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe The Lord Himself says, “I am don’t live in Vaikuntha I don’t live in the hearts of the yogis, but I live wherever my devotees are chanting my glory.” So, if we come together and chant the glory of the Lord, He will manifest Himself and deliver us from our miserable condition and empower us to deliver others. That is paramparā.

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Any questions or comments?

Devotee 1: When you were referring to not being a proper example, maybe somebody who’s advanced and is showing things that they shouldn’t, would it be safe to say, to any of you, that you could say, for someone like Narayana Maharaja. I am not trying to get into politics, but trying to maybe get a better handle on an example. Someone who’s, who’s too advanced, maybe it is developed that brings dharma but doesn’t stop doing normal, but would that example refer to someone who’s may be going to over?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, it could apply to someone who’s going too high or that someone is going too low. Srila Prabhupada has written in The Nectar of Devotion. Following Rupa Gosvami, even the pure devotee continues to act like a neophyte, for the sake of others, to set an example for others, act like a neophyte, seems to follow the rules and regulations. In the same way that Prabhupada, always spoke on Bhagavad-gītā I mean, in general, in the morning, he would speak Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for the devotees, and in the evening, he would speak on Bhagavad-gītā. He didn’t graduate from speaking on Bhagavad-gītā. “Okay, I did that thirty years ago now, I am going to speak on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And not just the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, I am just going to speak on the Tenth Canto because I finished with the whole Bhāgavatam. In fact, I am only going to speak on Krishna and gopīs, because all that dāsya-rasa, sākhya-rasa even vātsalya-rasa.” So, that is one example.

One is too high for people in general, or the other is one could act in a way that is too low. Of course, an extreme example that would not probably apply to us because he is paramahamsa like Vamsi dasa babaji and he had deities, but he didn’t worship them according to the rules and regulations. It was just all about, and that wouldn’t be a good example for others because he was on the spontaneous platform. But we are not, and we have to set the examples for them. And he I don’t know why, but he would smoke beedi. It didn’t affect him because he is paramahamsa. It didn’t make any difference to him at all, but it was, you know, a bad example for others. And it is made, it was the only issue Srila Bhakti Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura recognized him. Ordinary devotees couldn’t recognize his position, but Srila Bhakti Bhaktisiddhanta did because he was on that platform to recognize that he is actually a pure devotee. Because he should be respected as a pure devotee, but not like followed or imitated.

So, I think an example that is more within our experience, we might say, His Holiness Śrīdhara Swami, he read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and then he gave seminars to ISKCON devotee. It is about, the seven habits of highly effective devotees, and they were fine. They are very good talks, and they were meant to help the devotees manage better, function better. But it so happened that a younger devotee, in England, shouldn’t get too specific, but anyway, a younger devotee really got, enchanted by Stephen Covey and the whole idea of the seven habits. And he started to judge more advanced devotees according to what he learned in the seven habits. And when they didn’t measure up to the conception he had of what a good leader should be, based on the seven habits, he became critical and offensive. Well, anyway, it became a fad, things with neophyte things become fad, so it became a fad among a certain group of devotees. So this, quite junior devotee became the temple president because he was following the seven habits, and the whole temple got into seven habits. And then he sort of moved up the ladder, and I mean the temple president in a smaller temple became the temple president in a bigger temple. And guess what happened? It didn’t work; somehow, it didn’t work. And then guess what happened? He left ISKCON and joined the kavi organization, and he became a lecturer on the seven habits.

So that is an example that Śrīdhara Swami could read the seven habits and not lose his spiritual focus. He could use it as a tool, but a lesser devotee could become bewildered by it and lose the spiritual focus. No, Śrīdhara Swami, with all of his, associations with Srila Prabhupada, years of practice, and faith in Srila Prabhupada, the holy name, and its whole process, he could take it as a tool that can be used in Krishna’s service. But a lesser person could lose the focus and get so absorbed in what was meant to be a tool. That, I think, that is the goal, that is the perfection. Sort of go up to that, something that might pertain to us, something that might be good for us. But if it is good for us, personally, you or in a small group, if it becomes too big of a thing, a wider audience, it could have a bad effect on people who aren’t that strong spiritually to use it in the right way. Yes.

Devotee 2: I heard Prabhupada says that to great personality, instruction, and his actions don’t tally, you follow his instructions, and you don’t need to imitate the actions.

Giriraj Swami: Excellent. This is straight from the same section of the Tenth Canto when Maharaja Parīkṣit asks the question-Krishna came to establish dharma that he himself acted contrary to dharma and Śukadeva Swami says that powerful people, that one should follow the acts of powerful people. Using the word “Ishvara” one should follow the acts of powerful people when their actions are consistent with their instructions; otherwise, one should follow their instructions. Exactly, what you said. Like Srila Prabhupada did not attend maṅgala-ārati, generally he didn’t attend maṅgala-ārati. But there was a strong instruction for us that we should. No one would dare to think that Srila Prabhupada is not attending maṅgala-ārati. Why do I have to? He doesn’t have to attend maṅgala-ārati; he doesn’t have to do anything. So we do attend maṅgala-ārati for our benefit.

Once in Ardh Khumba-mela just to show you how great Srila Prabhupada was, as you know, Khumba-mela as it takes place in the month of Magh, January, and it is quite cold, and we were living in tents. And we, there was a pump that drew water from the earth. It was freezing in the mornings when you get up from maṅgala-ārati, and I was very strict, in Boston in general. But it was so cold I also had the tendency to stay in my sleeping bag at four in the morning because it was just too cold. And worse than the cold air was the cold water; it was like a deadly combination. And Srila Prabhupada came to know that we were coming late for maṅgala-ārati, missing maṅgala-ārati. So one morning, and his health was quite frail, his body was old. So he got up, he came out at four in the morning in his gamchā and took this freezing cold bath, filled the bucket with water and with the lota was pouring the streams in cold water just to set the example for us, to stir us out of our lethargy. And we all felt so bad. I mean, and we were afraid he would keep doing it until we started getting up and taking our bath and going to maṅgala-ārati. So we did; we’d get out of our sleeping bag and take a freezing cold bath. So, great souls do that you see.

Devotee 3: Maharaja Ji, [Unintelligible 00:50:31]

Giriraj Swami: The goal for a pure devotee is not to go back to Godhead. The goal for a pure devotee is to please Krishna. So if by staying in the material world, serving the material world, I can please Krishna more, then as a pure devotee, I am happy to stay in the material world and serve here. The desire to go back to Godhead is also a selfish desire. It is a good desire, but it is a selfish desire. And pure devotees, they have no other desire other than to please Krishna. Therefore, it is said that [Unintelligible 01:00:53] whether one lives on heavenly planets or in the hellish planets, or as liberated or not liberated, [Unintelligible 01:01:10] for a pure devotee, they are all the same because you can serve Krishna anywhere. But it doesn’t matter if it is in heaven or in hell, or if he is liberated. Yes

Devotee 3: Maharaja [Unintelligible 01:01:26]

Giriraj Swami: Again, the question has some implicit assumptions that need to be addressed. He says that the hunchback lady of Mathura had some selfish desire to enjoy Krishna’s company. Krishna was merciful to Her. Well, Krishna is merciful to everyone (SB 2.3.10):

akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā
mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena
[yajeta puruṣaṁ param]

Whether you are free of material desires or you are full of material desires, or your desire is liberation, if you engage intensely in bhakti-yoga, you’ll achieve the supreme goal. That is Krishna’s mercy. But it doesn’t mean that because he was merciful to her, it means that she is on the same level as the gopīs. Not at all. Yes

Devotee 4: Maharaja [Unintelligible 01:02:54]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, he is quoting Srila Prabhupada—There are four classes of people. The highest is lazy intelligent. This will be the last answer; we have to go unto other services. There is lazy intelligent, the next is active intelligent, and what next is lazy foolish, and last is active foolish. So the reason lazy intelligent is the highest is not really laziness; it is just a figure of speech. But like Srila Prabhupada he was lazy intelligent, he would basically sit in his room, but by his intelligence, he would inspire devotees all over the world to be active in an intelligent way. So by inspiring others and engaging others, you can do more than just trying to do it all yourself. So that is why lazy intelligence is the highest. Active intelligence means you have the right idea, and you execute it. Lazy intelligence means you have the right idea, and you inspire others to execute it. And then lazy foolish is next; they have bad ideas, but they are too lazy to act on them, so that is alright, go back to sleep. And then the worst, or the most dangerous, are the active foolish. They have bad ideas and pursue them. That is very dangerous; they are the most dangerous. I will just end with a little anecdote from Juhu. One of the devotees, one of the leaders, he had been sick. And naturally, when he was sick, he couldn’t do that much. But even after he appeared to be better, he still wasn’t doing that much. So I went to visit him, and I said, “Are you all right? We are not seeing much of you.” And he said, “Yes, I am better. I am just being lazy intelligent.”

After a couple of days, Srila Prabhupada asks me, “Where is so-and-so? I haven’t seen him for some days.” And I said, “Well, I saw him. He is all right. He is feeling better, but he is being lazy intelligent.” So Srila Prabhupada said, “I know his lazy intelligence. Tell him I don’t want him to be Lazy Intelligent; I want him to be active Intelligent.”

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!