Vedic culture teaches humanity's eternal connection to God through dharma, not changeable religious faith.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Lecture — July 4, 1971, Los Angeles 710704LE-LOS ANGELES [68:22 Minutes] Lecture_710704LE-LOS ANGELES [kīrtana] [prema-dhvani] Prabhupāda: Thank you very much. [devotees offer obeisances] This light… Devotee: Do you want me to turn it off? Prabhupāda: I don't want. All right, leave it. You can reach [indistinct]. [11:06] oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ [I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance.] śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam [When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?] vande 'haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca [I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and of all the other preceptors on the path of devotional service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇavas and unto the Six Gosvāmīs, including Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Jīva Gosvāmī and their associates. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Advaita Ācārya Prabhu, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and all His devotees, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. I then offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and all the gopīs, headed by Lalitā and Viśākhā.] he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te [O my dear Kṛṣṇa, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherd men and the lover of the gopīs, especially Rādhārāṇī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.] tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgī rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari vṛṣabhānu-sute devi praṇamāmi hari-priye [I offer my respects to Rādhārāṇī, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndāvana. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa.] hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare [My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service.] So ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for your coming here and participating in this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
This movement is chiefly on the basis of realization of God. It doesn't matter which particular section, caste or creed or color and nation you belong to. It doesn't matter. Our mission is that you should be God conscious.
That will make you happy. Without becoming God conscious, you cannot be happy. That is the basic principle of our life. We are part and parcel of God. [child making noises] In your Christian Bible also, [aside: This child.] that “Man is made after God.” So we have got intimate relationship with God.
Just like father and son: this relationship cannot be broken. A son may be forgetful of his father, of his parent, but the relationship is there. As soon as the father and the son meet, they revive their consciousness: “I am son, he is father.” That is natural. Similarly, in the Bhagavad-gītā we understand that the living entities—not only human society, but also other living entities. There are 8,400,000 species of living entities, of which 400,000s are human beings.
Out of that there are many, I mean, species of human form who are not civilized. The civilized form of human society is called the Āryan society, Āryan family, and the Āryan family means following the Vedic principles—those who are following Vedic principles. Throughout the whole world all the civilized nations, mostly they belong to the Āryan family, and five thousand years ago all of them belonged to this Vedic culture. We get it from the great history of India, which is called Mahābhārata.
Mahābhārata. Mahā means “greater,” and bhārata means “India.” So Mahābhārata means “the great history of India.” So if we refer to the great history of India, it is understood that the... History also, modern history also says, “Indo-Āryan stock.” So five thousand years ago the whole planet was known as bhārata, Bhārata-varṣa, or in the modern language, India. [aside: Don't make that sound.] So this Vedic culture is original culture of the human society—there are many proofs.
But somehow or other we have become separated. In course of time different religions have sprung up, but every religion has got a history, a certain date of beginning. Just like Christian religion: it has a date of beginning, after the death of Lord Jesus Christ. Similarly, Muhammadan religion, it has got a date of beginning.