Nothing happens without a cause, and the origin of all causes is Krsn's desire.
yad adhatu-mato brahman
deharambho 'sya dhatubhih
yadrcchaya hetuna va
bhavanto janate yatha
"O learned brahmana, the transcendental spirit soul is different from the material body. Does he acquire the body accidentally or by some cause? Will you kindly explain this, for it is known to you." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.8.7)
IF YOU WANT TO receive knowledge, then you must ap proach a guru who is brahmanistham, fixed in the Absolute Truth . That is the qualification of the guru. Brahmany upasamasrayam. These words are there in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The guru is living in Brahman , the Absolute Truth. He has no other business.
Lord Krsna says,
tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darsinah
"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiri· tual master. Inquire fr om him submiss ively and reno der service unto him. The self· realized souls can im- part knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth." [Bhagavad-gltii 4.34] Tatt va-darsina~ means "one who has seen the truth." One who is only imag ining the truth cannot be a guru. The guru must have actually seen the truth.
These are the injunctions in the sastras, the scriptures. Pariksit Maharaja is strictly following the same principles and asking Sukadeva Goswami, bhavanto jsnate yatha: "As you have learned from your predecessor." That is perfect knowledge. Knowledge of the Absolute Truth comes originally from Krsna. Krsna is all-perfect. Arjuna is hearing directly from Krsna, and Arjuna's statement is there in the Bhagavad-gita. He understands that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he acquired knowledge from Krsna.
Pariksit Maharaja's question here is a question asked by intelligent persons: "We living entities have come to the material world and are suffering, but we are part and parcel of Krsna , or God. How, then, have we come to the material world?"
That is a very intelligent question. And he asks, yadrcchaya: "Has it happened automatically, by nature's law?" Or hetuna: "Is there some cause?"
Without any cause, there cannot be anything. That is logic. The rascal philosopher says, "It happened automatically. There was a chunk, and the creation came." That is rascals' philosophy. Jagad ahur anisvaram [Bhagavad-gita 16.8]. The rascals do not accept that there is a cause of this creation. That they do not unde rstand. They do not know, and they theorize. Darwin, for example, could not give any reasonable cause. Some theory: "It may be, perhaps, for millions of years there was no … " He speculated. And he admits, "Whatever I am presenting, it is all my speculation." We have seen a letter he wrote to a friend. He admitted, "Whatever I am presenting, that is speculation."
But science is not speculation. Science cannot be speculation . That is not science. "Two plus two equals four." That is science. And if you speculate-"Two plus two equals five" or "Two plus two equals three" -that is not science.
SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF GOD
The science of Krsna is not speculation. It is exactly science. Tad-vijnanam. Vijnana means science' not speculation.
One should understand God scientifically. That is required, not imagination. The Mayavadi [impersonalists] philosophers say, "You can imagine your God." That is rascaldom. How you can imagine your God? God is God. God means the supreme controller, the Supreme Being. In the dictionary you'll find that God means the Supreme Being. He is also a being like us, individual. We are here face to face. You are one individual; I am one individual. We are talking or hearing. Similarly, God is also an individual.
Krsna told Arjuna,
imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha manur iksvakave 'bravit
"I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to IkFaku." [Bhagavad-gftii 4.1] So K,sna is an individual person. He instructed the sun-god millions and millions of years ago. Arjuna inquired, "How it that possible? You are my contemporary. You and I are the same age." Kr~r:ta said, "Millions and millions of years ago, when I spoke this philosophy to the sungod, you were also present because you are my intimate friend. Whenever I descend, you are also there. But the difference is that you have forgotten; I remember that I said like this."
That is the difference between Krsna and the ordinary living being. Krsna remembers everything, knows everything. Vedaham samatitdni: "I know everything." [Bhagavad-gita 7.26] That is Krsna. But we do not know everything. That is the difference. Krsna is not impersonal. He's a person, but he is not a person like us. His personality is supreme.
Nobody is greater than Krsna. That is the Vedic information. He's an individual, but He has nothing to do. He's such individual. We see Krsna here in the temple in His Deity form with Srimati Radharani. The whole world is going on under Krsna's direction, but He has nothing to do. He's enjoying with Srimati Radharani. That is Krsna's position.
When it is necessary to create or destroy a universe, Krsna doesn't have to pay any attention. He's the reservoir of pleasure, and His pleasure is never disturbed by all these activities. He's perfect.
BEHIND EVERYTHING IS KRSNA'S DESIRE
In our Hare Krsna society I am not perfect. Still, you boys and girls love me, so whatever I say is immediately done. So if an ordinary person like me can do things without his personal endeavor, how much more so for Krsna. No one is equal to or greater than Krsna. How great He is, how powerful He is, you can just imagine. If an ordinary person can do things simply by his desire, why not Krsna also? Where is the difficulty?
In the Bible it is said, "God said, 'Let there be creation,' and there was creation." So that is Krsna. He simply desires, "Let there be creation," and immediately everything is ready. That is Krsna. How is it being done? Automatically? Not automatically. It is done regularly, as you do things. Hetuna: there is a cause. But the origmal cause is Krsna's desire.
isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
"Krsna, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause of all causes." [Brahmasamhita 5.1]
The original desire is Krsna's. The original cause of whatever we are doing is also Krsna. We cannot do anything independently. If I go to heaven or to hell, that is sanctioned by Krsna. Without Krsna's desire I cannot do anything. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita [15.15]:
sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto
mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca
vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham
"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."
THE CAUSE OF OUR NEXT BODY
The rascals say that the world is going on automatically and that we have come into the material world without any reason, without any cause. They say that our coming to the material world is due to the lusty desires of the father and mother. Therefore the child has no meaning; it is a by-product of lusty desire. So if I don't want it, I kill it. Destroy it. This is going on.
But it is not a fact that lust is the cause of the child. A particular child comes into the womb of a particular type of mother. It is not that every mother is producing the same type of child. No. Why? There is a cause. That cause is the child's previous activities. According to our activities, we automatically produce our next body. So there is a cause: our activities.
That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita [13.22]: karanam gunasango 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu. Karanam means cause. What is the cause of one's next life? The cause is the living entity's association with a particular mode of nature: sattva guna [goodness], rajo-guna [passion], or tamo-guna [ignorance]. If the living entity associates with tamo-guna, then he's preparing his next life to be in the lower animal kingdoms or in a most degraded family. Those who associate with the mode of goodness are elevated to the higher planetary systems. The mode of goodness encompasses the brahminical qualities: truthfulness, control of the mind, control of the senses, simplicity, tolerance, full faith in scripture and God, full knowledge, and practical application of knowledge. These are under sattva-guna, the mode of goodness. If you cultivate sattva-guna, then you are elevated to the higher planetary systems.
Why are there so many planets? Because there are different places for different kinds of living creatures.
So there is a cause for everything. Nobody has taken birth in the material world without any cause. And accord ing to the cause, the particular type of body is built up. How this works is a great science. Unfortunately there is no education for this science. Maybe in the future people will take interest. Because we are publishing books and going to the universities and to the professors, there may be interest. There is that possibility now. Otherwise these rascals do not know this science. They do not care about it. Big, big professors, big, big scientists, they are putting forward the theory that life has come from chemicals-chemical evolutionand they are getting the Nobel Prize. And if they are challenged, "Take these chemicals and prod uce a life," they'll balk.
This ignorance is going on. Therefore for future guidance Pariksit Maharaja asked, "How does the living entity get a material body? Does it happen automatically, without any cause? Or is there a cause?"
A SOCIETY FOR LIBERATION
If you infect some disease, automatically you'll suffer from the disease. Your becoming infected is the cause. So if you become cautious not to be "infected" by the lower modes of nature, then you can avoid the cause of a lower birth or suffering. Therefore we have started this Hare Krsna society. Here you'll get the cause of being elevated. There are so many societies. "Birds of a feather flock together." So here is a society. Who will flock here? Who will come here? This society is meant for liberation.
People are suffering so much on account of the material condition of life. Nobody ais happy. That is a fact. But because people are in ignorance, they are accepting unhappiness as happiness. This is called maya. Yan maithunadi-grhamedhi- sukham hi tuccham [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.45]. Maya is very much manifest in sex life. People accept that sex is very nice, but after sex there are so many distresses. Whether the sex is legal or illegal, it doesn't matter. The result is distress. Everyone of us knows this.
We have to make the best use of a bad bargain. We have this material body because the cause was there. The cause was that we wanted to enjoy and did not like to serve Krsna. We are serving Krsna in any case. To serve Krsna is our constitutional position. But sometimes we desire, "Why shall I serve Krsna? Why shall I serve the spiritual master? I shall enjoy." Enjoyment was there by serving Krsna, but we wanted to become an enjoyer independent of Krsna. That is the cause of our falldown.
With Krsna, you can enjoy very nicely. You have seen the picture, how with Krsna the gopis are nicely dancing, enjoying; the cowherd boys are playing. Enjoy with Krsna-that is your real enjoyment. But when you want to enjoy without Krsna, that is maya.
Unless there is darkness, you cannot appreciate the quality of brightness. Therefore Krsna has created darkness, maya, so that you can appreciate brightness. Two things are required. Without brightness the darkness cannot be appreciated; without darkness the brightness cannot be appreciated. The two things are there, side by side. There is sunlight, and there is shadow, side by side. You can remain within the shadow; you can remain within the sunshine. That is your choice.
If we remain in the darkness, then our life is mise rable. Therefore Vedic literature instructs us, tamasi ma: "Don't remain in the dark." Jyotir gama: "Go to the light." This Krsna consciousness movement is an attempt to bring people from darkness to the light. Don't misuse this opportunity. Some way or other you have come in contact with this movement. Properly utilize it. Don't go to the darkness. Always remain in bright light.
Thank you very much.