"Converting Crows Into Swans"

livingentity · September 6, 2003

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.33

Los Angeles, April 25, 1973

Listen

<font color="red">_____</font color>

Devotee:

apare vasudevasya

devakyam yacito 'bhyagat

ajas tvam asya ksemaya

vadhaya ca sura-dvisam

"Others say that since both Vasudeva and Devaki prayed for You, You have taken Your birth as their son. Undoubtedly You are unborn, yet You take Your birth for their welfare and to kill those who are envious of the demigods."

Prabhupada: So there are two purposes of incarnation. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita.

yada yada hi dharmasya

glanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya

tadatmanam srjamy aham

[bg. 4.7]

The Lord says that whenever there is irregularities, dharmasya, of religion, irregularities... Glanih. Glanih means irregularities. Just like you are executing some service. There may be irregularities. Then it becomes polluted. So yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati... Dharmasya glanir bhavati means development of irreligiosity. That means if your wealth is diminished, then your poverty is increased, balanced. If you increase this side, the other side will go up and if you increase that side, the other side... But you have to keep balance. That is required.

So in the human society, they are meant for keeping balance. What is that balance? They do not know that... It is just like balance. One side spirit, another side matter. We are now, actually, we are spirit soul. Somehow or other we have been encaged within this body, material body. For that purpose, so long we have got this body, we have got necessities of the body, eating, sleeping, mating, defending. These are the necessities of the body. Soul does not require all these things. Soul has nothing to eat. That we do not know. Whatever we are eating, that is, that is for keeping of this body. So the bodily necessities are there, but if you simply look after the bodily necessities and do not care to look after the necessity of the soul, that is foolish civilization. No balance. They do not know.

Just like a rascal. He's simply washing the coat, but does not take care of the body. Or a bird is in the cage and if you take care of the cage and don't take care of the bird within the cage... The bird is crying: "Ka Ka. Give me food, give me food." But you are taking care of the cage. This is foolishness. So why we are unhappy? Why, in your country especially... You are supposed to be the richest country in the world. You have no scarcity. No scarcity of food, no scarcity of motor car, no scarcity of bank balance, no scarcity of sex. Everything is there, complete, in full abundance. And still why a section of people are frustrated and confused like the hippies? They are not satisfied. Why? That is the defect. Because there is no balance. You are taking care of the bodily necessities of life, but you have no information of the soul. And there is necessity of the soul also. Because soul is the real subject matter. Body is the covering only.

So it is said that... No I'm explaining that verse. Dharmasya glanir bhavati. This is dharmasya glanih, pollution of duty. Dharma means duty. Dharma is not a kind of faith. In English dictionary it is said: "religion means a faith." No, no. It is not. Dharma means the actual constitutional duty. That is dharma. So if you have no information of the soul, if you do not know what is the need of the soul, simply you are busy on the bodily necessities of life, bodily comfort... So bodily comfort will not save you.

Suppose a man is very comfortably situated. Does it mean that he will not die? He'll die. So simply by bodily comforts you cannot exist. Survival of the fittest. Struggle for existence. So when we simply take care of the body, that is called dharmasya glanih, polluted. One must know what is the necessity of the body and what is the necessity of the soul. The real necessity of life is to supply the comforts of the soul. And the soul can be comforted not by material adjustment. Because soul is a different identity, the soul must be given spiritual food. That spiritual food is this Krsna consciousness. If you give the soul the spiritual food...

Food, there are, when one is diseased, you have to give him diet and medicine. Two things required. If you simply give medicine, no diet, that will be not very successful. Both things. So this Krsna consciousness movement is meant for giving food, means diet and medicine, to the soul. The medicine is the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Bhavausadhac chrotra-mano-'bhiramat ka uttamasloka-gunanuvadat puman virajyeta vina pasughnat [sB 10.1.4]. The Pariksit Maharaja said to Sukadeva Gosvami that: "This Bhagavata discussion which you are prepared to give me, it is not ordinary thing." Nivrtta-tarsair upagiyamanat. This Bhagavata discussion is relishable by persons who are nivrtta-trsna. Trsna, trsna means hankering. Everyone in this material world is hankering, hankering. So one who is freed from this hankering, he can taste the Bhagavata, how palatable it is. It is such a thing. Nivrtta-tarsaih... Similarly bhagavata means also, the Hare Krsna mantra is also bhagavata. Bhagavata means anything in relationship with the Supreme Lord. That is called bhagavata. The Supreme Lord is called Bhagavan. Bhagavata-sabda, and in relationship with Him, anything, that bhagavata-sabda turns into bhagavata-sabda.

So Pariksit Maharaja said that the taste of Bhagavata can be relished by a person who has finished his hankering of material desires. Nivrtta-tarsair upagiyamanat. And what is, why such thing should be tasted? Bhavausadhi. Bhavausadhi, medicine for our disease of birth and death. Bhava means "become". Our... At the present moment, we are in diseased condition. They do not know what is the diseased condition, what is the healthy condition, these rascals. they do not know anything. Still they are passing on as great scientists, philosophers... They do not inquire that: "I do not want to die. Why death is enforced upon me?" There is no such inquiry. Neither is there any solution. And still they are scientists. What kind of scientists? If you can...

Science means that you advance in knowledge so that your miserable condition of life can be reduced, minimized. That is science. Otherwise, what is this science? They are simply promising; "In future.But what you are delivering just now, sir?Now just now you suffer as you are suffering, go on suffering. In future we shall find out some chemicals." No. Actually atyantika-duhkha-nivrtti. Atyantika, ultimate. Atyantika means ultimate. Duhkha means sufferings. That should be the aim of human life. So they do not know what is atyantika-duhkha. Duhkha means suffering. So atyantika-duhkha is pointed out in the Bhagavad-gita. "Here is the atyantika-duhkha, sir." What is this? Janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi. Birth, death, old age and disease.

So what you have done for vanishing or making, or nullifying this duhkha, these sufferings? So there is no such thing in the material world. Atyantika-duhkha-nivrtti. Ultimate relinquishment from all kinds of suffering is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. What is that?

mam upetya punar janma

duhkhalayam asasvatam

napnuvanti mahatmanah

samsiddhim paramam gatah

[bg. 8.15]

So you should read all this. You have got: Bhagavata, everything explanation. This is atyantika-duhkha-nivrtti, ultimate relinquishment from all sufferings. What is that? Mam upetya. "One who approaches Me or one who comes to Me, back to home, back to Godhead." So they have no knowledge what is God and whether one can go back to home, back to Godhead. It is a practical thing or not. No knowledge. Simply like animals. That's all. No knowledge. They pray: "O, God, give us our daily bread." Now ask him: "What is God?" Can he explain? No. Then whom we are asking? In the air? If I ask, if I submit some petition, there must be some person. So I do not know what is that person, where to submit this petition. Simply... They say that He's in the sky. The sky, there are so many birds also, but that is not God. You see. No knowledge, no knowledge. Imperfect knowledge, all. And they're passing on scientists, philosophers, great thinkers, writers, and... All rubbish, all rubbish. The only book is Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita. All rubbish. In the Bhagavata it is said:

tad-vag-visargo janatagha-viplavo

yasmin prati-slokam abaddhavaty api

namany anantasya yaso 'nkitani yat

srnvanti gayanti grnanti sadhavah

[ SB 1.5.11]

And on the other side: na yad vacas citra-padam harer yaso jagat-pavitram pragrnita karhicit tad vayasam tirtham...[ SB 1.5.10]. Tad vayasam tirtham. Any literature which has no connection with the knowledge of God, tad, tad vayasam tirtham, that is just like the place where the crows take enjoyment. Where the crows take enjoyment? In the filthy place. And the swans, the white swans, they take pleasure in a nice, clear water where there is garden. where is birds.

So there are, even in the animals, there are divisions. Swan class and crow class. Natural division. The crow will not go to the swan. The swan will not go to the crow. Similarly in the human society, there are crow class men and swan class men. The swan class men will come here because here everything is clear, nice, good philosophy, good food, good education, good dress, good mind, everything good. And crow class men will go to such and such club, such and such party, naked dance, so many things. You see.

So this Krsna consciousness movement is meant for the swan class of men. Not for the crow class of men. No. But we can convert the crows into swans. That is our philosophy. One who was crow is now swimming like swan. That we can do. That is the benefit of Krsna consciousness. So when the swans become crows, that is material world. That is Krsna says: yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati [bg. 4.7]. The living entity is encaged in this material body and he's trying to gratify the senses, one body after another, one body after another, one body, after another. This is the position. And dharma means to gradually turn the crows into swans. That is dharma.

Just like one man may be, may remain, may be very illiterate, uncultured, but he can be converted into educated, cultured man. By education, by training. So that possibility is there in the human form of life. I cannot train a dog to become a devotee. That is difficult. It can be done also. But I may not be so powerful. Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu did. When He was passing through the jungle, Jharikhanda, the tigers, the snakes, the deers, all the animals, they became devotee. They became devotee. So what was possible for me, uh, Caitanya Mahaprabhu... Because He's God Himself. He can do anything. We cannot do that. But we can work in the human society. It doesn't matter, however fallen a man is. If he follows our instruction then he can be turned.

That is called dharma. Dharma means to bring one to his original position. That is dharma. So there may be degrees. But the original position is that we are part and parcel of God, and, when we understand that we are part and parcel of God, that is our real position of life. That is called brahma-bhuta stage, understanding his Brahman realization, identification. So Krsna comes... This explanation...

Just like Kunti says that: apare vasudevasya devakyam yacito 'bhyagat. Vasudeva and Devaki prayed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead that: "We want a son like You. That is our desires." Although they were married, they were, they did not beget any child. They engaged themselves in tapasya, severe tapasya. So Krsna came before them: "What do you want?Now we want a child like You." Therefore here it is said: vasudevasya devakyam yacitah. Yacitah. "Sir, we want a son like You." Now what, where there is possibility of another God? Krsna is God. God cannot be two. God is one. So how there can be another God to become the son of Vasudeva and Devaki? Therefore God agreed that: "It is not possible to find out another God. Then I shall become your son."

So people say that because Vasudeva and Devaki wanted Krsna as their son, He appeared. Kecit. Somebody says. Vasudevasya devakyam yacitah. Being requested, being prayed for, abhyagat, He appeared. Ajas tvam asya ksemaya vadhaya ca sura-dvisam. Others says the same thing, as I was explaining. Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam [bg. 4.8]. Actually Krsna comes to pacify His devotee. Just like He appeared to pacify, to satisfy His devotee, Vasudeva and Devaki. But when He comes, He does the other business. What is that? Vadhaya ca sura-dvisam. Vadhaya means killing. Sura-dvisam.

There is a class of men, they are called asuras. They are sura-dvisam. They are always envious of the devotees. They are called demons. Just like Prahlada Maharaja and his father Hiranyakasipu. Hiranyakasipu is the father of Prahlada Maharaja, but because Prahlada Maharaja was a devotee, he became envious. That is the nature of the demons. So much so envious, that he was prepared to kill his own son. The only fault is that little boy, he was chanting Hare Krsna. That is his fault. The father could not. Therefore they are called sura-dvisam, always envious of the devotees. Demon means always envious of the devotees. This material world is nuisance place that...

Just you have got a very nice example. Just like Jesus Christ, Lord Christ. So what was his fault? But the sura-dvisam, the envious persons killed him. And if we find, if we analyze, what is the fault of Jesus Christ, there is no fault. The only fault he was preaching about God. And still he'd find so many enemies. He was cruelly crucified. So you'll always find this, sura-dvisam. So Krsna comes to kill these sura-dvisam. Therefore vadhaya ca sura-dvisam. These envious persons are killed.

But this killing business can be done without the presence of Krsna. Because there are so many natural forces, war, pestilence, famine. Anything. Just set on working. Millions of people can be killed. So Krsna does not require to come here to kill these rascals. They can be killed simply by Krsna's direction, nature's law. Prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah [bg. 3.27]. Srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka [bs. 5.44]. The nature has got so much power that it can create, it can maintain, it can annihilate, dissolute, everything. Nature is so powerful.

Srsti-sthiti-pralaya. Srsti means creation and sthiti means maintenance and pralaya means destruction. These three things nature can do. Just like this creation, material creation is natural, nature, cosmic manifestation. It is being maintained. By nature's mercy, we are getting sunlight, we are getting air, we are getting rains and thereby we are growing our food, eating nicely, growing nicely. This maintenance also being done by nature, But at any time everything can be finished simply by one strong wind. Nature is so powerful. So for killing these demons, nature is already there. Of course, nature is working under the direction of Krsna. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [bg. 9.10]. So if Krsna says that these demons may be killed, then nature's one blast, one strong wind will, can kill millions of them.

So for that purpose Krsna does not require to come. But Krsna comes as it is stated here, that: yacita. Krsna comes when He is requested by devotee like Vasudeva and Devaki. That is His coming. That is the cause of His coming. And simultaneously when He comes He also shows that, that "Anyone who is envious of My devotees, I kill them. I kill them." Of course, His killing and maintaining, the same thing. He's absolute. Those who are killed by Krsna, they immediately get salvation, which requires millions of years to get. So people say like that, that Krsna came for this purpose or that purpose, but actually Krsna comes for the benefit of the devotees, ksemaya. What is the meaning of ksemaya? For maintenance?

Devotee: "For the good."

Prabhupada: For the good. For the good of the devotees. He's always after seeing good of the devotees. Therefore from this instruction of Kunti, our business should be always how to become devotee. Then all good qualities will come upon us. Yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah. If you simply develop your devotion, dormant devotion, natural devotion... We have got natural devotion.

Just like father and son, there is natural affection. And the son has got natural devotion to the father, for father, for mother. Similarly, we have got our natural devotion. When we are actually in danger, even the scientists, they also pray to God. But when they are not in danger, they defy. God. So therefore danger is required in order to teach these rascals that there is God. So that is natural. Jivera svarupa haya nitya-krsna-dasa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. That is our natural... Artificially we are trying to banish God. "God is dead, there is no God, I am God, this God, that God." This rascaldom we shall give up. Then we shall be given all protection by Krsna.

Thank you very much. (end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.33 -- Los Angeles, April 25, 1973

September 6, 2003

Prabhupada's miracle of conversion:

crows into swans

hippies into happys

--------------

So this Krsna consciousness movement is meant for the swan class of men. Not for the crow class of men. No. But we can convert the crows into swans. That is our philosophy. One who was crow is now swimming like swan. That we can do. That is the benefit of Krsna consciousness. So when the swans become crows, that is material world. That is Krsna says: yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati [bg. 4.7]. The living entity is encaged in this material body and he's trying to gratify the senses, one body after another, one body after another, one body, after another. This is the position. And dharma means to gradually turn the crows into swans. That is dharma.

-----------

The last limit of dharma is full unalloyed surrender

of the soul:

"Bhaktivinoda places a straw between his teeth,

prostrates himself before the two Goswamis,

Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana,

and clasps their lotus feet with his hands.

'I am certainly the lowest of men.”

he tells them weeping,

“but please make me the best of men

by teaching me the ways of saranagati.'"