(with translator)

Prabhupada:

pravrttiṁ ca nivrttiṁ ca
jana na vidur asuraḥ;
na saucaṁ napi cacaro
na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate
[Bg. 16.7]

Indian man: There's something in between.

Prabhupada: That's all right.

Indian man: It's not connecting.

Prabhupada: Now here is the description of the asuras as stated by Krṣṇa. There are two classes of men, asura and deva. Daiva and asura. Viṣṇu-bhakto bhaved deva asuras tad-viparyayaḥ;. The devas, devataloka... (aside) Don't talk.

Indian man: (indistinct)

Prabhupada: No... And whatever it may be, why you are interpreting? You stop. In the upper planetary system, beginning from the sun, there are Suryaloka, Candraloka, Maṅgala, Bhur, Brhaspati, up to Saturn, there are different lokas. So the upper planetary system, beginning from Surya, they are called devaloka. They are all devotees of the Lord; therefore they are called devata. They are not pure devotees, but they are not disobedient to the orders of the Supreme Lord. Suddha-bhakta means they do not come to the material world. Anyabhilaṣita-sunyam [Brs. 1.1.11], the suddha-bhaktas, nitya, nitya-siddha, they do not come to this material world. They are everlastingly liberated soul, engaged in the service of Narayaṇa. This material creation is exhibition of one-fourth energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The three-fourth creation is in the spiritual world, Vaikuṇṭhaloka.

So in this material world they have come... All of us, beginning from Brahma down to the insignificant ant, we have come here for material enjoyment. And in this material world, according to different desires and karma, they are getting different types of bodies. Karmaṇa daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapatti [SB 3.31.1]. Karmaṇa, by our work, and by the supervision of the supreme power we are getting different types of body. So there are two kinds of living entities. One kind of living entities, they are trying to go back to home, back to Godhead. They are called devatas. And the asuras, they are not aware of the spiritual world; neither they are endeavoring to go back to home, back to Godhead. So Krṣṇa has described about the devotees in so many ways. Now He is discriminating who are the demons. So for the asuras there is no knowledge what is the aim of life. So they are described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam also,

na te viduḥ; svartha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninaḥ;
andha yathandhair upaniyamanas
te 'pisa-tantryam uru-damni baddhaḥ;
[SB 7.5.31]

These asuras, or the persons who are in ignorance, in material enjoyment, they do not know what is the goal of life. Everyone is in the bodily concept of life, and they are trying to improve the condition of bodily comforts. The more we are interested in the bodily comforts of life the more we are asuras. So these asuras, they are not very cleansed, na saucam. Na saucaṁ napi ca acaraḥ;: "They have no good behavior, neither they are very clean." Therefore, according to varṇasrama-dharma, the brahmaṇas are called suci, means pure. But this suci... The opposite word is muci. So there is a Bengali Vaiṣṇava poet. He says that

suci haya muci haya yadi krṣṇa tyaje
muci haya suci haya yadi krṣṇa bhaje

The purport is that if somebody takes to Krṣṇa consciousness, even he is born in the family of muci, then he becomes suci. And if a person born in the brahmaṇa family or kṣatriya family but he does not take to Krṣṇa consciousness, then he becomes a muci. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, maṁ hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuḥ; papa-yonayaḥ; [Bg. 9.32]. Papa-yoni means muci, less than the sudras. If he takes to Krṣṇa consciousness, te 'pi yanti paraṁ gatim, they are also eligible to go back to home, back to Godhead. So even a muci or a papa-yoni born in the low grade family, if he takes to Krṣṇa consciousness, he becomes a devata. This is also confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam by Sukadeva Gosvami,

kirata-huṇandhra-pulinda-pulkasa
abhira-sumbha yavanaḥ; khasadayaḥ;
ye 'nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayaḥ;
sudhyanti tasmai prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ;
[SB 2.4.18]

So it doesn't matter where we are born. If we take to Krṣṇa consciousness, then he becomes a suddha, suci, purified, and he is eligible to go back to home, to back to Godhead. So to take the shelter of a pure devotee means he knows what is pravrtti and what is nivrtti. All our Vedic literature is meant for nivrtti. Pravrttir eṣa bhutanaṁ nivrttis tu maha-phala. These, all living creatures, who are struggling for existence in this material world, that is their pravrtti, to enjoy this material world. But when one becomes inclined to nivrtti, he becomes devata. So this Krṣṇa consciousness movement which was inaugurated by Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu is for nivrtti-marga. Nivrtti-marga means "No more material enjoyment. Let me make progress towards Krṣṇa consciousness." Therefore this devotional service or bhakti-yoga, it is called nivrtti-marga. This is confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam,

vasudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogaḥ; prayojitaḥ;
janayaty asu vairagyaṁ
jñanaṁ ca yad ahaitukam
[SB 1.2.7]

Bhakti-yoga... And Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭacarya, he was a impersonalist, followers of the Saṅkara philosophy. When he became convinced about the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, he wrote one hundred slokas, prayers to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Amongst that sloka, one of the prominent sloka is

vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga-
sikṣartham ekaḥ; puruṣaḥ; puraṇaḥ;
sri-krṣṇa-caitanya-sarira-dhari
krpambudhir yas tam ahaṁ prapadye
[Cc. Madhya 6.254]

He said that "This Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the same Krṣṇa. He has come to teach vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga [Cc. Madhya 6.254]." Bhakti-yoga means vairagya-vidya, no more this material enjoyment—that is vairagya. Jñanaṁ ca yad ahaitukam [SB 1.2.7]. The result of jñana is vairagya. Vairagya-vidya. Bhakti-yoga is vairagya-vidya means that bhaktiḥ; paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. Bhakti means one is making progress towards Krṣṇa consciousness, and automatically he becomes detestful to the material world. Srila Rupa Gosvami has given the example: just like hungry man. If he is given food, he takes it, but as he takes it, he becomes satisfied. And when he is fully satisfied, he does not require any more food. There is another sloka given by Yamunacarya. He says,

yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ; krṣṇa-padaravinde
nava-nava-rasa-dhamany udyataṁ rantum asit
tad-avadhi bata nari-saṅgame smaryamane
bhavati mukha-vikaraḥ; suṣṭhu niṣṭhivanaṁ ca

He says that "Since I have been engaged in the service of the Lord," yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ; krṣṇa-padaravinde, "since I have begun my life to serve Krṣṇa, since that time, whenever I think of sex life I spite (spit) on it." So therefore, when we stop our desires for material enjoyment... Anyabhilaṣita-sunyaṁ jñana-karmady-anavrtam [Brs. 1.1.11]. Karma means to desire to be elevated in the higher planetary system, Svargaloka. [break] ...jñana. The jñanis, they are trying to elevate themselves to the impersonal Brahman. So these are not pure devotional service. [break] Anyabhilaṣita-sunyam [Cc. Madhya 19.167], no desire for material conception of life. So jñana is also another desire, negative desire, to become free from this material world. That is desire. Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said,

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami sakali asanta
krṣṇa-bhakta niṣkama ataeva santa
[Cc. Madhya 19.149]

He said that bhukti-kami, the material persons who are desiring improvement in this world, in this life, and going to the heavenly planet next life... That is called bhukti. And mukti... Desiring liberation, that is called mukti, and... Or become one with the Supreme Brahman, that is mukti. And siddhi, yogis, they are trying to achieve some success in aṣṭa-siddhi, aṇima, laghima. So everyone is desiring. So therefore Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, krṣṇa-bhakta niṣkama: "A devotee of Krṣṇa is not desirous of anything, either bhukti, mukti, or siddhi." The purport is, so long you desire something, you'll never get peace of mind. And a bhakta does not desire anything. He is satisfied with any position, whatever is offered to him by Krṣṇa.

narayaṇa-paraḥ; sarve
na kutascana bibhyati
svargapavarga-narakeṣv
api tulyartha-darsinaḥ;
[SB 6.17.28]

Anyone who is narayaṇa-parayaṇa, he does not fear whether he is going to hell or heaven. Because wherever he goes he is with Narayaṇa, he is safe. It doesn't matter whether it is hell or heaven. That is offered by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His prayer,

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundariṁ
kavitaṁ va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi
[Cc. Antya 20.29, Sikṣaṣṭaka 4]

The idea is that a bhakta does not require any material happiness or distress. He does not require any monistic proposition to merge into the existence of the Supreme. And neither he desires any jugglery of aṣṭa-siddhi yoga. So in order to become devata, not to become asura... Asuras are always against Krṣṇa. There are many examples like Ravaṇa, and Hiraṇyakasipu, Kaṁsa. There are many. So we should remember that devata means who is fully surrendered to the lotus feet of Krṣṇa. So there are many symptoms of the asuras. They are all described in the Sixteenth Chapter. It requires a long time to discuss. It is not possible to discuss all the symptoms. But one of the most important symptom of the asura is here described, asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad ahur anisvaram [Bg. 16.8]. Their main proposal is that there is no creator God.

The modern scientists, philosophers, Western people, they don't accept that God is the creator of everything. And their theory of creation is the chemical composition. One gentleman has written one book, "Chemical Evolution." They think that chemical combination is the cause of life. So the asuras' theory of creation is aparaspara-sambhutaṁ kim anyat kama-haitukam. It is a chance theory, but we don't accept. We are preaching against them, writing books against them. We are challenging this atheistic theory of creation. So this asuric... The Krṣṇa consciousness movement is against the asuras. Every time, always, Krṣṇa also comes down to kill the asuras. Paritraṇaya sadhunaṁ vinasaya ca duṣkrtam [Bg. 4.8]. [break] Asuras cannot flourish by their atheistic theory. Unless one comes to Krṣṇa consciousness, he has to be put into the different types of asuric yoni to suffer in this material world. And if we continue this Godless civilization, Krṣṇa says here,

tan ahaṁ dviṣataḥ; kruran
saṁsareṣu naradhaman
kṣipamy ajasram asubhan
asuriṣv eva yoniṣu
[Bg. 16.19]

He keeps them always put into this asuric yoni, everlastingly forgetting the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and suffer in this material world. So so long we remain in the asuric tendency, then we cannot understand Krṣṇa. That is also described by Krṣṇa in the Seventh Chapter,

na maṁ duṣkrtino muḍhaḥ;
prapadyante naradhamaḥ;
mayayapahrta-jñana
asuraṁ bhavam asritaḥ;
[Bg. 7.15]

So we should generally conclude that anyone who does not take to Krṣṇa consciousness, they fall in the groups of duṣkrtinaḥ;, muḍhaḥ;, naradhamaḥ;, mayayapaḥ;rta-jñanaḥ;. So in the beginning we discussed napy acaraḥ;, sadacara. So even one is short of sadacara, Krṣṇa says, api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak, sadhur eva sa mantavyaḥ; [Bg. 9.30]. Even one is not fully in sadacara but if he has taken Krṣṇa consciousness fully, he is a sadhu. So to take to this Krṣṇa consciousness is made very easy during this Kali-yuga.

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
[Cc. Adi 17.21]

Kalau, in this age, if you take to Krṣṇa consciousness, simply chant Hare Krṣṇa, Hare Krṣṇa mantra, then you become devata. This is our program. So our only request is to you, that in whatever position you are—it doesn't require to be changed—simply take to Krṣṇa consciousness. Chant Hare Krṣṇa maha-mantra, and gradually you'll become devata. That is the recommendation of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sthane sthitaḥ; sruti-gataṁ tanu-vaṅ-manobhiḥ;. Remain in your place but be Krṣṇa conscious. It is not difficult at all. Thank you very much. Hare Krṣṇa. (end)

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