Prabhupada 0084 - Just Become a Devotee of Krsna
Lecture on BG 2.22 -- Hyderabad, November 26, 1972
So our proposition is that to receive knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, the perfect person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We accept śāstra, means which is infallible. There is no mistake. Just like when I was walking near the cowshed, heaps of, piles of cow dung was there. So I was explaining to my followers that if such heaps of animal, I mean to say, man stool was heaped up here, nobody would come here. Nobody would come here. But the cow dung, there are so much heaps of cow dung, still, we find it pleasure to go through it. And in the Vedas it is said, "Cow dung is pure." This is called śāstra. If you argue, "How it can, it has become pure? It is an animal stool." But the Vedas, they... Because the knowledge is perfect, that even in argument we cannot prove how animal stool becomes pure, but it is pure. Therefore Vedic knowledge is perfect. And if we take knowledge from the Vedas, we save so much time for investigating, or researching. We are very much fond of research. Everything is there in the Vedas. Why do you waste your time?
So this is Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge means which is spoken by the Supreme Lord. That is Vedic knowledge. Apauruṣeya. It is not spoken by common man like me. So if we accept Vedic knowledge, if we accept the fact as it is stated by Kṛṣṇa, or His representative... Because His representative will not speak anything which Kṛṣṇa does not speak. Therefore he's representative. The Kṛṣṇa conscious persons are representative of Kṛṣṇa because a Kṛṣṇa conscious person will not speak anything nonsense, beyond the speaking of Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference. Other nonsense, rascal, they will speak beyond Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), but the rascal scholar will say, "No, it is not to Kṛṣṇa. It is something else." Where you get this? Kṛṣṇa directly says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). So why do you deviate? Why do you say something else : "It is something within Kṛṣṇa"? You'll find... I don't wish to name. There are so many rascal scholars. They interpret like that. Therefore in spite of Bhagavad-gītā being a book of knowledge of India, so many people are misguided. Big... Due to these rascal scholars, so-called scholars. Because they simply misinterpret.
Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). We say, we are preaching this cult: "Be Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Offer your respects..." You have to offer your respect to anyone. You are not supreme. You have to flatter somebody to get some service. That is an... Even if you get nice position, you have to flatter. Even if you get a president, become president of the country, you have to flatter your countrymen: "Please give me vote. Please... I shall give you so many facilities." So you have to flatter. That is a fact. You may be very big man. But you have to flatter somebody. You have to accept some master. Why not accept Kṛṣṇa, the supreme master? Where is the difficulty? "No. I shall accept thousands of masters except Kṛṣṇa." This is our philosophy. "I shall accept thousands of teachers except Kṛṣṇa. This is my determination." Then how you can be happy? The happiness can be achieved only by accepting Kṛṣṇa.
- bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
- sarva-loka-maheśvaram
- suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
- jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
- (BG 5.29)
This is the process of śānti. Kṛṣṇa says that you accept that "I am the enjoyer. You are not enjoyer." You are not enjoyer. You may be president or you may be secretary; you may be whatever you may be. But you are not enjoyer. Enjoyer is Kṛṣṇa. One should know it. Just like in your... I have come, coming, just replying one letter from the Andhra Relief Committee. What this relief committee will do if Kṛṣṇa is not satisfied? Simply by raising some funds? No, that is not possible. Now there is raining. Now you'll get benefit. But that raining depends on Kṛṣṇa, not on your fund-raising capacity.