Nitai: "Arrogance, pride, anger, conceit, harshness and ignorance—these qualities belong to those of demonic nature, O son of Prtha."

Prabhupada:

dambho darpo 'bhimanas ca
krodhaḥ; paruṣyam eva ca
ajñanaṁ cabhijatasya
partha sampadam asurim

We have discussed last night some of the divine characteristics, and abhayaṁ sattva-saṁsuddhiḥ;, like that, sixteen divine characteristics. And here the demonic characteristics. We can understand a thing by analysis of characteristics. In the chemical laboratory, things are tested by characteristics. Just like this chemical: "Color is like this. Shape is like this. Then taste is like this. Then chemical reaction is like this." They are stated for each and every chemical, and we can understand the purity by the characteristic. The characteristic is also called dharma. Just like a snake. The snake characteristic is that unnecessarily, without any offense, it bites, and the animal which is bitten, he dies. This is the characteristic. Without any fault... The snake is going, and the other animal is going. Go, but the characteristic of snake is unnecessarily bites. This is the characteristic.

Caṇakya Paṇḍita says, sarpaḥ; kruraḥ; khalaḥ; kruraḥ; sarpat krurataraḥ; khalaḥ;, that "Two kinds of kruraḥ;, envious animals, are there. One is the snake, and the other is envious man." So Caṇakya Paṇḍita said that "Both of them envious, but the envious man is more dangerous than the envious snake." Why? "Now, because the snake can be brought into submission..." (tapping noise) (Aside:) What is that? "...by herbs and mantra." There are snake charmer. They chant mantras, and they apply some herb, and the snake come under subjugation. But khalaḥ; kena nivaryate: "But the snake-like man, he cannot be subdued at any cost."

So there are characteristics. By the characteristics we can understand who is a godly man and who is a demonic man. So they are stated. And the next verse is that daivi sampad vimokṣaya. If one has these divine characteristics, then he is eligible for going to the spiritual world. Vimokṣaya. Daivi sampad vimokṣaya nibandhaya asuri mata [Bg. 16.5]. But these demonic characteristic, dambho darpaḥ; abhimanas ca paruṣyam ajñanaṁ sampad asuri, if we develop this kind of characteristic, then it is our material bondage. So we are the cause of material bondage and freedom from material world. We are, ourself, the cause. There is no other cause. Simply we have to develop either this demonic characteristic or the divine characteristic. So human life is meant for developing divine characteristic, not this demonic char... Demonic characteristic is already there. Just like dambhaḥ;. A dog has also pride: "I am this dog, grr." (laughter) "I am fox terrier. I am this. I am that." So dambhaḥ; is there even in the dog, even in the lower animal, even in the cat. But the divine characteristic, "Oh, I am so low," Trṇad api sunicena, "I am lower than the grass. I am lower than the grass"... This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching. What is this dambhaḥ;? Why I should be pride? What is this pride? So that is ignorance, due to ignorance. When one man is unnecessarily proud, that means it is due to ignorance. And Caitanya-caritamrta author, he describes himself that "I am lower than the worms in the stool."

puriṣera kiṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
jagai madhai haite muñi se papiṣṭha
[Cc. Adi 5.205]

Adambhitvam. In the Ninth Chapter. Just the opposite. Why I shall be proud? What I have got? I am humble servant of Krṣṇa. Let me discharge my duties. But if one is proud after becoming a pure servant of Krṣṇa, that is very good. That dambhaḥ;, that pride, is very glorious. "I am a servant of Krṣṇa." That is very nice. So one become... One has got the tendency to become proud. So if one is proud to become a cats and dog or a tiger or a so-called big man of this material world, that is for his bondage. Asuri. Daivi sampad vimokṣaya [Bg. 16.5]. And that is daivi... If you become proud in daivi sampad, if you become proud by becoming the most confidential servant of Krṣṇa, the same pride is for your liberation. And if you become proud that "I am minister," or "I am this big dog or big...," that is for nibandhaya, your bondage, you will continue material life. By your spiritual pride... Of course, we must be proud after being situated in the spiritual platform. Otherwise that is also ignorance. So two things are there, daivi sampad and asuri sampad. Asuri sampad means more and more entanglement and bondage within this material world. And daivi sampad means your freedom from material world.

So first of all we must decide what we want. Whatever you want, you will have. Krṣṇa is very kind. If you want to remain bound up by the laws of material nature within this material world... Karaṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya [Bg. 13.22]. As we contaminate the different material modes of nature, we get different situation of life, different forms of body, different circumstances. Krṣṇa has arranged everything very accurately. His arrangement is very perfect. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport]. When He does something, He desires only. By His desires, the energies are there. Immediately the energy works. Just like you have got some energy. If you desire, immediately it begins to work. You have got experience. Similarly, we have got limited number of energies, and Krṣṇa has got unlimited number of energies. So if we desire to become something unlimitedly, Krṣṇa can supply you your necessities unlimitedly. Ye yatha maṁ prapadyante [Bg. 4.11]. That freedom is there. If you want to remain as a demon, then Krṣṇa will supply you all the ingredients, how you can flourish as a demon.

Just like there was Hiraṇyakasipu and there was Prahlada. Prahlada was being supplied spiritual advancement of life, necessities, and Hiraṇyakasipu was being supplied for demonic status of life. So it is Krṣṇa's pleasure that whatever you want, you can get it. You get all advantage by Krṣṇa. If you want to become a demon, Krṣṇa will supply you, "All right, you become a demon. You take whatever you want from Me." He will give you. Similarly, if you want to become a demigod or devotee, Krṣṇa will supply you all the necessities. Now it is my choice whether I shall become a demon and whether I shall become a devotee. This is my choice. Krṣṇa is equal to everyone. Samo 'haṁ sarva-bhuteṣu [Bg. 9.29]. Otherwise how He is God? If He is partial to somebody, then He is not God. He must be equal. He is equal to the devotee and nondevotee. Whatever the nondevotees want, Krṣṇa supplies. And whatever the devotees want, Krṣṇa supplies.

But He is very much pleased with the devotee. Therefore, his supplies are very immediate, and the demonic supply, that will depend on his work, karma. It will depend on the karma. And devotee's supply, because this is bhakti, it is immediately there. That is the difference. Krṣṇa says that. Ye tu bhajanti maṁ pritya teṣu te mayi. There are millions of living beings. Some of them are devotees, and many of them are non-devotees. So Krṣṇa is kind to the nondevotees also. Whatever he wants, He will give him. But the necessities of the devotee is the first consideration for Krṣṇa. Ye tu bhajanti maṁ pritya teṣu te mayi. That is Krṣṇa's... As the devotee is only searching the opportunity, how to serve Krṣṇa, similarly, Krṣṇa is also very eager to serve the devotee. That is a reciprocation of devotional service.

Now it is our choice whether we want to become a devotee or whether we want to remain a demon. That is my choice. Krṣṇa says that "You give up this demonic engagement and surrender to Me." That is Krṣṇa's desire. But if you do not agree with Krṣṇa's desire, if you want to enjoy your own desire, then also, Krṣṇa is also pleased, He will supply you the necessities. But that is not very good. We should agree to Krṣṇa's desires. We should not allow our desires, demonic desires, to grow. That is called tapasya. Our desires we should sacrifice. That is called sacrifice. We should only accept Krṣṇa's desire. That is the instruction of the Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna's desire was not to fight, but Krṣṇa's desire was to fight, just the opposite. Arjuna ultimately agreed to Krṣṇa's desire: "Yes," kariṣye vacanaṁ tava [Bg. 18.73]: "Yes, I will act according to Your desire." That is bhakti.

This is the difference bhakti and karma. Karma means to fulfill my desires, and bhakti means to fulfill Krṣṇa's desires. That is the difference. Now you make your choice, whether you want to make your desires fulfilled or if you want to make Krṣṇa's desire fulfilled. If you make your decision to make Krṣṇa's desire fulfilled, then your life is successful. That is our Krṣṇa conscious life. "Krṣṇa wants it; I must do it. I will not do anything for me." That is Vrndavana. All the inhabitants of Vrndavana, they are trying to fulfill Krṣṇa's desire. The cowherds boys, the calves, the cows, the trees, the flowers, the water, the gopis, the elderly inhabitants, mother Yasoda, Nanda, they are all engaged in fulfilling Krṣṇa's desire. That is Vrndavana. So you can turn this material world into Vrndavana provided you agree to fulfill the desires of Krṣṇa. That is Vrndavana. And if you want to fulfill your own desires, that is material. This is the difference between material and spiritual.

The same thing, this house. This house is a house. The next door is a karmi's house, and this house is a temple. What is the difference? The difference is: in this house everyone is engaged to fulfill Krṣṇa's desire, and the other house, everyone is engaged in fulfilling his own desire. Therefore it is temple, and that is house. Otherwise, from the external feature, where is the difference? The same stone, the same wood, the same plants, the same land, the same kitchen—everything is same, and the business is the same. But here the business is to satisfy Krṣṇa, and the other houses, the business is to satisfy one's own senses. That is the difference between kama and prema. When you try to fulfill the desires of Krṣṇa, that is prema. And when you want to fulfill your own desires, that is called kama. There is no other.

Just like the gopis. The gopis are going to Krṣṇa, being captivated by the beauty of Krṣṇa, just like a young girl becomes captivated by seeing a very nice boy, or a nice boy is captivated to see the beauty of a girl. These are sense gratification. There is no prema; that is kama. But the gopis, they are going to Krṣṇa, superficially the same thing, like the young girls are going to a young boy, but they are going for Krṣṇa's satisfaction, not for their own satisfaction. That is the sublime. Therefore gopis are so held in estimation even by Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Ramya kecid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargabhir ya kalpita: "There is no better type of upasana, worship, than it was conceived by the gopis." Caitanya Mahaprabhu admitted that the topmost method of worshiping Krṣṇa is the type of worship offered by the gopis. Topmost. Gopi-bhava-rasamrtabdhi-lahari-kallola-magnau muhur vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau. The Gosvamis were always thinking of the gopis' service to Krṣṇa. Gopi-bhava-rasamrtabdhi.

So now the two things are there. The divine characteristic and the demonic characteristic. Both of them are there, now you have to select which one you want. If you actually want to love Krṣṇa, then take this divine characteristic. There is no cause of helplessness. You can... Just like amanitvam. Here it is said, dambhaḥ;, adambhitvam. Adambhitvam, without any dambhaḥ;. Here it is said, abhayaṁ sattva-saṁsuddhir jñana-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ;. So you can practice this. That is devotional life. You have to practice this. If you want to be divine, your characteristics have to be changed. Here we are busy... (end)

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