God is love, Part 3
Upendra: Prabhupāda, sometimes there may be differences between what is love of Godhead between Christian and Moslem, Moslem and Buddhist, Buddhist, Hindu. They may quarrel at what is love of Godhead.
Prabhupāda: The quarrel,
they, those who are not in love of Godhead, they must quarrel. That is the...
Because they are cats and dogs. You cannot expect any peaceful condition
between cats and dogs. They will fight. So whatever they may be, so long they
are fighting, that means they are not on the perfectional stage. Where is the
fighting? If you love God, then you love everyone. That is the sign. Samaḥ
sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54). After attaining the stage
of equality, then you can enter into the realm of loving God. Before that, you
have to pass. Just like before entering law college you have to become
graduate, similarly, before entering the realm of devotional service you have
to realize that all living entities are on the same platform. That is
realization. You cannot make any distinction that "This is lower,"
"This is higher." No. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). When a person
is fully learned, he does not make any distinction that "He is human
being, he is cow, he is dog." He sees that he is spirit soul covered in
different dress. That's all. That is his vision, universal equality vision. You
cannot say that dog has no life, the cow has no life. How can you say that
there is no life? That is lack of your knowledge. What is the symptom of life?
You will find the symptom of life is there in human being, in ant also. How you
can say that small creatures, lower animals have no life? That is lack of your
knowledge. Even trees, plants, they have got life. So perfect knowledge
required. So love of Godhead on the basis of perfect knowledge is real love of
God. Otherwise it is fanaticism. So the fanatics, they may fight. That is not
love of Godhead. Of course, it is very difficult to come to that stage, but one
should try. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are all student. We are trying. But
there are degrees also. Just like in a educational institution there is tenth
class, eighth class, fifth class, sixth class. And with the yoga, it is just
like a staircase or a lift. So there are different stages of perfection. The
highest perfection is who is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. That is yoginām api
sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate... (BG 6.47). The highest
perfectional is Kṛṣṇa, thinking always Kṛṣṇa, and Rādhārāṇī. That is the
highest perfectional stage. She has no other business: simply thinking of Kṛṣṇa.
(From Lecture -- Seattle,
October 18, 1968)
THE END
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