“We see in the street that the cars are moving at high speed but they’re within their ‘orbits,’ their white or yellow lines of demarcation—because there is some brain, some management. So, similarly, with all these planets.”
A talk by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in Tokyo.
asatyam apratistham te
jagad ahur anisvaram
aparaspara-sambhutam
kim anyat kama-haitukam
“The demoniac say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control—it is produced of sex desire, and has no cause other than lust.” [Bhagavad-gita 16.8]
This is the traditional atheistic theory. Asatyam: they say that this material world is false. And jagan mithya: jagat means this cosmic manifestation—which the atheists call false because it is always moving, always changing. In the material world it’s true that everything is changing—just as in your city you see that the cars are moving from here to there. Very busy. Similarly the whole planetary system is moving, changing. Every planet is going around in its orbit. Even the sun. It has got its orbit. Do you follow what I am saying? The sun is moving many thousands of miles per minute. So this is called jagat—everything in the universe is moving, or changing. But it is moving, changing in a certain way.
For instance, the cars we hear now outside our window are moving at high speed, but they are very careful to pass within the passing lane; otherwise there will be a collision. Similarly, all these planets—they have got their own speed for orbiting. And there are hundreds and thousands and millions—they are orbiting but there is no collision. How have these patterns been made? Who has made these freeway lanes and universal lanes?
The cars are moving at sixty or seventy miles per hour, but they are ordered just to remain within the markings of their own lane. Who has made this arrangement? Hmm? The police department, the government. So how can you say there is no control? Ah. This is called upama, an analogy. “Analogy” means that by noting points of similarity, you can conclude some idea. Now, just as we see in the street that the cars are moving at high speed but they’re within their “orbits” (their white or yellow lines of demarcation)—because there is some brain, some management—so, similarly, all these planets are traveling at high speed but staying in their orbit because there is some universal management.
Take this planet. It is moving very, very rapidly, is it not? Now, a car may be moving at seventy miles per hour, which may appear to be a very high speed, but the earth is moving much, much faster, though you cannot understand. The arrangement is so nice—it is perfection. We cannot even understand how perfect it is. We can see that morning—day coming—means the earth is moving. Of course, airplanes move, also—but there are so many jerkings, so many noises. Airplanes are imperfect. But here we see that such perfection has been made: the earth is moving so many thousands of miles per hour, and yet there is no jerking, there is nothing of the sort—you are thinking that you are sitting in the same place. And there is no brain behind all this?
Here on this one planet it requires so much brainwork to move the car in an orderly way on the street—so much police arrangement, so much government, so many scientists, this and that. And the universe has not only one planet but many millions. Yasya prabha prabhavato jagadanda-koti. First of all, there are many millions of universes. And in each universe there are so many planets that you cannot count them. And each planet has got a different climate—different varieties. Not that every planet is of the same nature. You will find that every planet has a different atmospheric condition from those of the other planets. Take the sun. It is so fiery; it is full of fire. The temperature is so high that 93 million miles away from the sun we are feeling excessive, scorching heat. Similarly, the moon is very cold. So all the planets have different atmospheric conditions, and they are moving in their orbits—for all these things there is a good arrangement. And are we going to look at all these arrangements and say there is no good brain behind them? How could that be possible?
But raksasas, demons—they will say, asatyam apratistham te jagad ahur anisvaram: “There is no controller, and it is all false.” False? So minute—all these rules and regulations that are being followed. The sun is rotating in its orbit in such a perfect way that if the sun became a little inclined to this side or that side, the whole world would be frozen or engulfed in a blazing fire. Even the scientists admit this. So the sun must move according to the diagram given by some controller. That is stated in Bhagavatam. The sun is moving by the order of the Supreme. Yasyajnaya. It is stated also in the Brahma-samhita: yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro. Ajnaya means “by the order.”
Now, when there is the question of an order, then there must be an order giver. Otherwise, what is the meaning of order? Yasya ajnaya means “by whose order.” “Whose” refers to somebody bigger who is giving the order, and the sun is carrying out the order. So there is an order giver; there is a controller—the Supreme Lord. How can you say there is no controller? Where is your logic? Can anybody give any logical reason for saying there is no controller in the universe? These raksasas say there is no God, there is no controller—but where is their logic? I ask them, “How can you say this? What is your logic? What is the logic that allows you to say there is no God? Let us discuss.” Can anybody explain their logic? Hmm? What is their idea?
I may be a foreigner, but when I see in the street that the cars are moving in order and the police are on duty, I know there must be a government. I may know or not know, but—this is a common-sense affair—there must be a government. And there is a government. Similarly, when I see that the cosmic order is working so nicely, systematically, and reasonably, how can I say there is no controller? What kind of logic is that? Tell me, anyone. Hmm? Can you say, anyone? The scientists will say there is no isa no controller: jagad ahur anisvaram. But what is their logic? [To a devotee] You can tell us—you sometimes argue on their side. [Laughter.] What is their logic?
Devotee: Well, no controller is ever seen.
Srila Prabhupada: But you have not seen who is the Japanese governmental head. So how can you conclude there is a governmental head? You have not seen the president or the supreme head—how can you say there is one? But you conclude that there must be a governmental head—otherwise, how is everything going on so nicely? You may or may not see so many things, but this is not good logic, that “I have not seen:’ I have not seen the car passing outside our window, but the sound is coming, and so I know the car is there. There must be somebody there—even if you do not see, you have to conclude like that. The sound tells us there must be a car, and the car—there must be a driver. But you have not seen all this. How can you conclude there is a driver?
You stress your seeing power. What is the power of your seeing? You cannot see. Now you cannot see the car. It is beyond your seeing range, beyond the wall. Then how will you conclude that there is a car and, if there is a car, that there is a driver? If there is a driver, there may be passengers, also. So how can you conclude all this? This is a childish reason: “I cannot see.” You cannot see; therefore the driver and passengers don’t exist. That is not good logic.
Devotee: They say that it all happened by chance, that …
Srila Prabhupada: More foolishness—”chance.”
Devotee: If given enough time, then everything—all these natural patterns—will work out like this.
Srila Prabhupada: No. Everything in the universe is already working very nicely. There is no question of giving time. Everything is already working.
Devotee: Well, you point to the fact that the earth isn’t too hot or too cold, but they say that just by chance it came into existence this way.
Srila Prabhupada: No, no. A child will say, “By chance it has come.” That is childish. You must give a solid reason. Take anything, and you can say, “It’s chance.” Anybody can talk like that. That is not reason. When you bring in “chance,” that is not logic. That is not knowledge. If somebody says, “By chance I’ve come into this world,” that is not logic. I must have my father, I must have my mother, and on account of my father and mother being united, I have come. This is scientific. “By chance I have dropped here from the sky”—this is not logic. This kind of “logic” has no value. Do you give any value to this nonsensical logic? No sane man will accept “by chance'”
When you are caught in a crime and convicted, can you say, “By chance I was convicted”? “By chance”? No. If you commit theft, you are arrested and the judge gives you a punishment—you must suffer. This is not “chance.” You may say, “By chance I was convicted,” but that is not chance. There is no question of chance. That is false logic. Nothing takes place by chance—this is sound reasoning. “Chance” means ignorance. One who does not know—he says “chance.” This is ignorance, not knowledge. Knowledge is different.
So the scientists are rascals, you can say. This kind of logic—”I have not seen it,” “It has come about by chance,” “There was a chunk”—these are all nonsensical propositions. There is a controller: this is sound knowledge. Just as you conclude by seeing the arrangement in the city of Tokyo that there is a government, similarly, if you are intelligent enough, then you can understand there must be a supreme controller. That is theism. That is knowledge.
Now, these foolish so-called scientists are simply studying—they want “time to find out.” But actually, if someone is wise, if he’s searching out the answers earnestly, even if it takes him many lifetimes of research he’ll at last come to this conclusion that there is a God. Vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah. Then he becomes a first-class man, a mahatma. But that is very rare.
Most people are duratma—cripple-minded. Anisvaram—”There is no controller; this is a false manifestation.” It is not false. You study everything—you study even one leaf—and you can see so many arrangements, so many fine fibers and veins that are so minutely interworking, one with another. Even in a small vegetable or piece of fruit, you will find there is so much craftsmanship. You cannot say it is “chance.” You cannot do it. That means there is a brain behind it. And who is the brain behind that brain? And who is the brain behind that one, behind that one, behind that one, behind that one? Bahunam janmanam ante: after searching out the ultimate brain for many, many births, then you come to the conclusion that vasudevah sarvam iti. You come to the conclusion that Krsna is the cause of everything. Of course, that is already concluded: Isvarah paramah krsnah—”The Supreme Controller is Krsna.” [Brahma-samhita 5.1]
There are so many subordinate controllers. For instance, this city is being controlled by the police commissioner or somebody else. So above him, above him, above him there is a controller—and above all, the supreme controller is Krsna. That is the conclusion.
isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
“Krsna is the cause of all causes. He is the primal cause, and He is the very form of eternal being, knowledge, and bliss.” [Brahma-samhita 5.1] Krsna is the cause. And He is not alone. Krsna has got so many energies.
Even a tiny person like me—here, Bhaktivedanta Swami—I am not alone. I’ve got so many assistants. So many, all over the world. So even if you take the founder of the Krsna consciousness movement, he is not alone. Similarly, as I’ve expanded through disciples in so many ways and so many places, then just imagine how Krsna can expand—just imagine. He’s the Supreme Lord. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam. Ananta-rupam: although He’s only one person, He can expand Himself in unlimited numbers of forms. And that is how He’s doing everything. Just as I am dictating answers to dozens of letters from all over the world and my assistants are typing and mailing out my replies, similarly, Krsna is also managing alone through ananta-rupam, through unlimited assistants. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate: the Supreme Lord has innumerable potencies. You have to understand that. Although He’s alone, He has ananta-rupam—unlimited expanded forms.
For instance, Krsna is giving direction to everyone. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati: there are millions and trillions of living entities, and in each one’s heart He is sitting and providing remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness. He is managing like that. So if we think that He’s a controller like us, that is our misconception. He is a controller—but a controller with unlimited knowledge, with unlimited assistants, with unlimited potencies. That is how He’s managing.
These atheists, these so-called scientists—they cannot conceive that a person can be so unlimitedly powerful; therefore they become impersonalists. They imagine that if the controller is a person, “He’s a person like me:’ “I cannot do this. Therefore He cannot do it.” And so Bhagavad-gita calls them mudha—fools. Avajananti mam mudha: these fools and rascals cannot understand Krsna, because they are comparing Krsna with themselves. They suppose that Krsna is a person like them. The Vedas inform us that although He is a person, He’s maintaining unlimited numbers of persons. But this point the impersonalistic scientists don’t know—eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman—that one single person is maintaining many trillions of persons.
Each and every one of us is a person. I am a person, you are a person, the insect is a person, the trees are persons—everyone is a person. Everyone is a person. And there is another person—that is God, Krsna. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman [Katha Upanisad]: one person is maintaining all these millions and trillions of varieties of other persons. This is Vedic information. And Krsna also says in the Bhagavad-gita [10.8], aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate: “I am the source of all beings; from Me everyone and everything emanates.” Therefore when someone understands thoroughly that “here is one Supreme Person and He is the leader, He is the controller, He is the maintainer of everything,” then that someone surrenders unto Him and becomes His devotee, you see?
We, Krsna’s devotees, are not fools and rascals. We have got our reason. We have got our philosophy. When we know that Krsna is actually the Supreme Controller, the Supreme Person, the Supreme Maintainer—then we surrender, then we become Krsna’s devotees. It is not blind. We are strongly convinced that this one person is the Supreme Person. Therefore we surrender. We are not blind followers.
aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
As Krsna says, “I am the source of everything; from Me everything and everyone emanates. One becomes My devotee when he understands this thoroughly.” Budha means one who has understood thoroughly.
The atheistic scientists’ theory is aparaspara-sambhutam: everything has taken place by mechanical attraction. Kim anyat kama-haitukam. Kama means lust. A man and a woman become lusty, and there is sex and production of offspring. So the scientists talk like this. They say that the production of the universe is causeless lust, mechanical attraction—that there is no other plan. But there is a big plan they don’t know. In fact, part of the plan is …
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice and a predominant rise of atheism, at that time I descend Myself.” [Bg. 4.7] There—that is the plan. These rascals—this atheist class—they say, kim anyat kama-haitukam: “Lusty desires are the only reason, the only cause for the universe:’ “This infant is going to take birth due to our lusty desires, but we do not want to take the responsibility. Then kill him—what is wrong with that?” Therefore they are making abortion—murdering the child—legal. Kama: “We had some lusty desire, we got a child, but we don’t want him—kill him.” This is going on; this is atheism.
But these are all foolish theories—”by chance,” “by causeless lust.” No. There is a great arrangement. It is just like the traffic control—there is a very great arrangement behind all of this. It is not by chance. By chance have we gotten traffic lanes? No, it is not by chance. How can you say “chance”? So these theories are made by the demons. These demoniac conclusions will not help us. We shall remain in ignorance, with no knowledge.
Any question? Any of our Japanese friends here?
Guest: Yes, I have one question. You mentioned that we can hear a car outside, but that we can’t see the car …
Srila Prabhupada: No—we can see the car, except that we are sitting here. So we do not see the car. But the sound is there, and you conclude that there is a car. Therefore, relying on seeing is not always solid reasoning. Even without seeing, we can conclude there is a car. That is my point.
Guest: I don’t know if I have ever seen God or not …
Srila Prabhupada: No. You have not seen Him, but what is your desire? You want to see Him?
Guest: I want to at least hear God in this world, and I was wondering what is …
Srila Prabhupada: So God is speaking Bhagavad-gita. You are reading and Krsna is speaking. So here it is—God is speaking. And you can also chant Hare Krsna. That is God. Sabda-brahma, spiritual sound vibration—the sound is God. This is the way.
And if you want to see God, you can see Him also. That is prescribed here in Bhagavad-gita. For instance Krsna says, prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh “I am the sunlight and moonlight.” Is it very difficult? It is not a bogus thing that Krsna says, “I am the sunlight.” He is. And He asks you to see. If you see minutely, then you will see Krsna.
You want to see Krsna. Then you should see Krsna as Krsna advises. Krsna says, raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya: “I am the taste of the water or any liquid substance. The taste I am.” Now, whenever you drink water or milk or any other liquid thing—everything has got a different taste—if you think, as Krsna advises you, “This taste is Krsna,” then in that taste you’ll find Krsna. Begin as Krsna says, and then you will see Krsna. It is not difficult. There are so many examples given by Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita.
raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya
prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh
pranavah sarva-vedesu
sabdah khe paurusam nrsu
“O son of Kunti [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.” [Bg. 7.8]
Don’t try to see Krsna in your own way; then you will never find Him. Why do you say, “We have not seen God,” when God is represented in so many ways? You take God’s advice and try to see Him as He advises, and then you’ll see God. That’s a fact. I do not understand—why do they say, “We have not seen God”? You are always seeing God. You are seeing the sunlight, you are seeing the moonlight, you are smelling the good fragrance of a flower. If you are a scholar you are reading the Vedas: pranavah sarva-vedesu—“In the Vedic mantras, “Krsna says, “I am the sound of om.“ And paurusam nrsu: any wonderful, intelligent work somebody has done—that is Krsna.
So you have to see Krsna in this way, as Krsna advises. Then very soon you will see Krsna. There is no question of not seeing. You will see Krsna at every moment. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva: you will see Him twenty-four hours a day. Those who are actually Krsna’s devotees are seeing Krsna; they are seeing nothing but Krsna. There is no question of not seeing Him. But you have to adopt the method for seeing Him.
If you study this Bhagavad-gita minutely—this is the science of God—you will see God, you will see Krsna and understand everything. Therefore we have presented it. But if you misinterpret—if you pollute it by your own interpretation—then you’ll not see Him. These rascals, these scientists and bogus yogis, they are simply polluting. Because they have not linked themselves with the authorized disciplic succession that comes from Krsna, even though they may try to become very learned scholars and very learned leaders, they are simply rascals. Actually they are rascals, because they cannot see Krsna in the things around them. But all the acaryas, the great spiritual masters—they have accepted Krsna. In the Gita Arjuna accepted Krsna as the Supreme Person: sarvam etad rtam manye yan mam vadasi kesava—”I totally accept as truth all that you have told me, O Krsna. Only the demoniac cannot comprehend Your personality.”
Leave a Reply