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give uP everything And Surrender to KÅÑËA apälitänädåtä ca bhavadbhir loka-pälakaiù coré-bhüte ‘tha loke ‘haà yajï ärthe ‘grasam oñadhéù
(S.B 4.18.7) “My dear King, not only are grains and herbs being used by non-devotees, but, as far as I am concerned, I am not being properly maintained. Indeed, I am being neglected by kings who are not punishing these rascals who have turned into thieves by using grains for sense gratification. Consequently I have hidden all these seeds, which were meant for the performance of sacrifice.” Purport: That
which happened during the time of Påthu Mahäräja and his father, King Vena, is also happening at this present moment. A huge arrangement exists for the production of largescale industrial and agricultural products, but all these products are meant for sense gratification. Therefore despite such productive capacities there is scarcity because the world’s population is full of thieves. The wordcoré-bhüteindicates that the population has turned to theft. According to Vedic understanding, men are transformed into thieves when they plan economic development for sense gratification. It is also explained in Bhagavad-gétä that if one eats food grains without offering them to the supreme personality of Godhead, Yajïa, one is a thief and liable to be punished. According
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to spiritual communism, all properties on the surface of the globe belong to the supreme personality of Godhead. The population has a right to use goods only after offering them to the supreme personality of Godhead. This is the process of accepting prasäda. Unless one eats prasäda, one is certainly a thief. It is the duty of governors and kings to punish such thieves and maintain theworld nicely. this is notstarve. done, Indeed, grains will longer be produced, and people If will simply notno only will people be obliged to eat less, but they will kill one another and eat each other’s flesh. They are already killing animals for flesh, so when there will no longer be grains, vegetables, and fruits, they will kill their own sons and fathers and eat their flesh for sustenance.
A S ociety Full
oF
thieveS
The purport is very significant. Actually this whole chapter is very significant, because we have seen in this chapter that what is happening today was actually also happening 5000 years ago. It is being pointed out over here that if the grains and the natural resources are not used to be offered in the form of sacrifice,Yajïa for the Lord, the material nature willnot cooperate. It is specifically stated here, “Consequently, I have hidden all theseseeds, which are meant for the performance of sacrifice.” By these seeds,the reference is to the basic ingredients that we need for our survival. The basic ingredients that we need for our survival are under the control of material nature, which in turn is under the control of the Lord. So the word “coré-bhüte” is very significant. Coré means thieves. As it is stated by Çréla Prabhupäda in the purport, “Those who only enjoy the gifts that are being offered by the Lord, and do not in turn utilize them to serve the Lord, are branded in the Bhagavad-gétä to be thieves.” Presently we see a society full of thieves, because they are utilizing the gifts that material nature is providing, and instead of using them for Yajïa, they are using them for their own sense gratification. The Lord says that in the very beginning of creation, He sent forth different demigods and living entities and toldthem, “Be thou
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happy by performing Yajïa for Viñëu.”’ So Yajïa for Viñëu is the constitutional position of the living entity, and when the living entity does not fulfill this role, he is branded as a thief. And just like when a thief is detected, he is arrested and punished; similarly, the living entities who are acting like thieves, will definitely be detected and arrested, and later on punished. Sometimes we see that people take to dharma, that is, a religious path to realize economic gains. Generally, people have no faith in the religious process, but they still adopt a religious process so that they can get some economic gain. And after they get their economic gain, they go to the third step—that is käma they want sense gratification. And after they get sense gratification, they wantmokña. Therefore, it is stated, “People take to religious life to get some economic gain. When they get some economic gain, they want sense gratification. And when they have had enough of sense gratification, they want to become one with the Lord.” But, the Çrémad-Bhägavatam says, “Religion should not be taken for material gain, but rather should be utilized to solve the purpose of human life.” Religionshould be utilized for realizing ultimate liberation, and not for sense gratification. There are two words in the sanskrit language, one is äpavarga and the other is pavarga. Apavarga means ultimate liberation and pavarga means that which leads to bondage. So this word pavarga begins with the Sanskrit word pa, pha. And there are five principles of material life which are summarized by the utilization of this Sanskrit word ‘pavarga’. It is pa, pha, ba, bha, ma. Just like on the back of the Bhägavatam, if you read the Sanskrit pronunciation guide, you will find that this pa, the sanskrit word starting withpa leads to pa, pha, ba, bha, ma. These are the five principles of material life, and these five principles of material life are responsible for keeping the living entity in the material world.
PAvArgA The first of this is pa. Pa means pariçrama, and pariçrama means hard work. One of the principles of material life is that one has to
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work very hard. One has to work hard from morning to night. For survival everyone has to work, whether it be anant who needs only a grain for survival, or whether it bean elephant who needs a lot for survival. Everyone has to struggle, everyone has towork very hard. Even the tiger for example --- the tiger eats once a week. Why? Because the moment the tiger comes out of the cave,there is another animal that goes and warns everyone that the tiger is coming, soall the other animals run away and hide. But still bynature’s law, after the tiger works hard for one week, generally a week, he gets food. The point is that one principle of material life ispariçrama i.e. hard work. Everyone has to work hard from morning to night. The point is whether we are rich or poor, in order to survive in the material world, we have to work very hard. The next word is pha. Pha means foam. The Bhägavatam explains that the individual works very hardfrom morning to night and result that foam his mouth. In the he is sothe tired thatisfoam comescomes out ofout hisofmouth because of night the hard work that he had to perform all day. Pa, Pha, Ba. Bha means ‘vyartha’, which means waste. Another principle of material life is that there is a lot of wastage. We can see in all societies, developed or undeveloped, so much of nature’s resources are being completely wasted. Çréla Prabhupäda once went by train from Bombay to, I believe, Delhi, and saw so much land that was not being utilized, and he said, “If all this land was being utilized, then there would be so much morefoodstuff in India, and there would be no food crisis.” That is another principle of material life—‘vyartha’ i.e., where there is wastage. We can see wastage especially in the opulent societies, where so much is thrown away. Especially in the western countries, we see thatin order to maintain high food prices, they very gladly dump thousands and thousands of tons of food in the sea, so that their farmers can have a high standard. In America, they dump the grains in the sea. In Brazil, they dump coffee in the sea. And in Canada last year, they dumped thousands of tons of milk powder in the sea,so that artificially, the
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prices could be kept high. They were not worried that the same ingredients could be utilized for feeding some hungry people. This is the third principle of human life,vyarhta i.e., wastage. Then the fourth principle of human life is Bha. Bha means fear. Everyone in the material world is worried and is scared about somebody else. The individual is worried that his next door neighbor might understand his business secrets and also become rich like him. The developed countries are worried that the other country may gain nuclear supremacy and thereby may be able to destroy them. That is a feature of materiallife, bha—fear. Everyone is worried that what they possess may not be taken away, and in order to protect what they possess, they make somany plans, which eventually are all destroyed by material nature. Somebody may work very, very hard, and even though foam may come out of his mouth, still he may acquire a lot of wealth, but then he is in constant anxiety that his wealth may not be taken away, the government may not tax his wealth. And then the last principle of material life is ma—måtyu. Måtyu means death. Regardless of who it is, everybody has to surrender to death. These are the five principles of material life: hard work resulting in foam, wastage, fear, and ultimately culminating in death. The transcendentalist does not want to utilizedharma for following these five principles of material life. He wants to take to the path of dharma to realize freedom from the cycle of birth and death. In this verse it is being pointed out that unless one doesnot utilize these natural resources for yajïa, one is contradicting the laws of material nature.
KrSnA ’S tricK In some states of America like New York and New Jersey, they are very seriously rationing water. So here is a country that has been able to send the most advanced spacecrafts into outer space, but why can not they produce rain? The point is that nobody can
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contradict the laws of nature. Nobody can duplicate them. We may make so many plans, but material nature will frustrate everything. Even for example, the manufacturing of these nuclear weapons. This is also Kåñëa’s trick. Kåñëa is tricking people to think, “Oh, make these nuclear weapons, they will protect you.” But then Kåñëa is going to use these very same nuclear weapons to destroy the godless civilization. For example, in America, recently there was a conference of the leading scientists of Russia and America, and the leading countries of the world. The conclusion was that even if a city like Boston, for example, just receives a nuclear bomb weighing one ton, only one ton, all the medicine of the United States will not be able to cure the number of people who would be injured by the nuclear blast. Just a one ton drop, just in one city, Boston, all the medicines available and all the doctors in the United States willnot be to cure theisnumber would thisenough blast. The point that thisofispeople Kåñëa’swho trick. Theyget areinjured tryingby to challenge God, so God has now given them a toy, and by utilizing this toy they will destroy themselves.
SPirituAl communiSm Kåñëa says in the Gétä, bhümir äpo ‘nalo väyuù khaà mano buddhir eva ca ahaìkära itéyaà me bhinnä prakåtir añöadhä
(B.G 7.4)
“Earth, water, fire, air and ether—these five are the gross material elements.” There are five gross elements and three subtle elements. Bhümi—Earth is one of the gross elements. These grains that we see, they are coming from the ingredients that belong to the Lord. It is not that they are independent of the Lord. For example, in Russia, right after the Russian revolution in 1917, the Russians were
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going to church and pray, “God, please give us our daily bread,” and the communist party workers would be standing right outside the churches with their trucks loaded withbread loaves, and when the people would come out of the church they would inquire, “Did God give you your bread?” And naturally the people would say no. Then the communist party workers would say, “OK, we will give you bread. So who is better, the communist party workers or God?” But the point is, where did the communist party workers get the grains to make that bread from? It all came from bhümi—earth. Prabhupäda talks about spiritual communism. This is spiritual communism—recognizing that everything belongs to the Lord,and only accepting what is needed for one’s survival. That is known as the philosophy of “Simple living and High thinking.” Materialistic philosophy as we often say is “High living and simple thinking.” Spiritualist philosophy is “Simple living, highthinking.” Prabhupäda says in the the dutythe of the kings and governors to punish suchpurport thievesthat andittoismaintain world nicely.
merciFul glAnce There is a very nice statement in the prayers of Queen Kunti where she says, “My dear Lord, due to your merciful glance, the earth is giving enough grains and the trees are giving enough fruits. The mountains are giving enough minerals, and the oceans are giving enough diamonds and pearls.” So the basic necessities of life: fruits, by minerals, andthe diamonds and are all beingrain, provided earth, by ocean, by thepearls—these mountains, due to the merciful glance of the Lord. And because the merciful glance is there, there is peace and prosperity in society, but todaynobody knows the technique of getting the Lord to give Hismerciful glance. For realizing peace and prosperity in society, one does not need big educational institutions or planning commissions. For realizing peace and prosperity in this society, what is needed is the merciful glance of the Lord, and the Çrémad-Bhägavatam is teaching how one can realize the merciful glance of the Lord.
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KingS AS AgentS
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SenSe grAtiFicAtion
The kings and the governors instead of punishing the culprits for defying the laws of God, are themselves becoming so corrupt. For example, there are big scientists that the government in every country hires and gives them a salary, and these scientists are saying “It is OK to eat meat, it is OK to perform these various sinful activities.” The government instead of punishing is actually inducing the people to commit sins. For example, if you walk out of this temple and just drive till Dorchester, you will see so many bill-boards saying, “Try this drink, try this cigarette, try this meat product,” in other words, somebody is constantly whispering in your ears, “Please try, please try, please try.” Just like if you are walking and somebody is always telling you in your ears, “Come on, try this, try this, try this”so then you say “OK, let me try it.” The government is permitting the living entities to be contaminated by saying that these sinful activities areallowed. And the governments themselves when they run short of money, what do they do these days to raise money? Organize lotteries! This is not only in the west, but now, even in India, every stategovernment has large scale lotteries in order to make money.
exAmPle
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AuSterity
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SimPlicity
The conclusion is that the governors and the kings, instead of being God conscious or being representatives of the Lord, are just the representatives of sense gratification. Butin the Vedic history we see that the kings were the examples of austerity and simplicity. For example in the ninth canto of the Çrémad-Bhägavatam there is a very beautiful story of Mahäräja Rantideva. Mahäräja Rantideva was the King of a very bigKingdom, but he was also much surrendered tothe wishes of the Lord. Mahäräja Rantideva and his entire family fasted for forty-eight days and they were about to break their fast with the aid of a glass of water and some foodstuffs made of milk and sugar. As they were about to break their fast,a Brähmaëa walked in saying
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“My dear King, I am very hungry, please give me some food to eat.” Mahäräja Rantideva very gladly parted with someof the foodstuff he had, which he did because he saw the presence of Näräyaëa in that Brähmaëa. In the purport Çréla Prabhupäda says that thevaiñëava is not like the impersonalists. Like the impersonalists—there are classes of people in India who say that Näräyaëa only resides in the heart of the poor people, theDaridra-Näräyaëa. But what does that mean?—that Näräyaëa does not reside in the hearts of the rich people? This is not feasible. So Mahäräja Rantideva parted with a little bit of the food stuff because he saw Näräyaëa the Supreme Lord in his heart. After thebrähmaëa left, Mahäräja Rantideva and his family were about to eat again when alaborer walked in, and he also said, “My dear King, I am very hungry! Please give me some food to eat”. Mahäräja Rantideva also gave him some food and was just left with a little bit of food when a hungry dog walked in saying “My dear King, I am very hungry! Please give me some food,” Mahäräja Rantideva parted with the little bit of food thathe was left with. This is the quality of thepandit, he sees everyone with an equal vision. So Mahäräja Rantideva saw everyone with an equal vision, whether it was a brähmaëa, or a laborer, or a dog, and now Mahäräja Rantideva was left only with his glassof water, and as he wasabout to drink the glass of water, acaëòäla walked in saying, “My dear King, I amvery very thirsty, can you give me something to drink?” and Mahäräja Rantideva very gladly gave him the water that was left with him.
StAndArd
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A v AiSnAvA
After Mahäräja Rantideva had parted with the food thathe had and the water, he composed a very nice verse for the Supreme Lord. He Said na kämaye ‘haà gatim éçvarät paräm añöarddhi-yuktäm apunar-bhavaà vä ärtià prapadye ‘khila-deha-bhäjäm antaù-sthito yena bhavanty aduùkhäù
(S.B 9.21.12)
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So he said, “My dear Lord, I have no desire for anything for my own self, nor do I desire to realize any of the eight perfections, rather I am ready to take on the sufferings of all the living entities and just stay in the material world and go on suffering”. This prayer of Mahäräja Rantideva is very instrumental to the vaiñëava. This is the standard of the vaiñëava, this is the standard he hopes to attain, i.e, no personal desire, nothing for himself. Also “I do not want to realize any of the eight mystic perfections, rather take on the miseries that the other living entities are suffering, take on these sufferings and somehow or another, makethe others comfortable.” Just like Mahäräja Rantideva displayed in his own life, he was starving for forty-eight days, he had fasted for fortyeight days and when he was about to break his fast, he partedwith the food and the water when somebody else in distress came to him. He did not say, “I am so hungry now get out. Let me first eat.” He willingly withthe thedistress food and because he was ready to take on theparted suffering, of water the other entities. This is the platform that avaiñëava tries to attain, the platform where there is no personal desire. There is no personal desire for any economic gain, nor liberation, but the only desire isto take on the suffering of other living entities. As we have said in our discussion, majority of the people in the society today are those who are trying to forget God. A vaiñëava has to put himself in the frame of mind of Mahäräja Rantideva, to think on a platform similar to Mahäräja Rantideva, and be concerned about all these other living entities who are not trying to follow the instructions of the Lord. This is the goal that every vaiñëava should have somehow or the other, I may become Kåñëa Conscious in a manner that my desire is only to save the other living entities even if it meansthat I have to undergo personal inconveniences.
conStAnt Anxiety As we have often said, material comfort to avaiñëava is just like a coffin. A person after death is buried in a coffin, or in countries like
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India, he is nicely decorated and put on a soft mattress and later on he is burnt. The point is whether a dead body is placed in a coffin, or on a soft bed which is later burnt, it is all useless. Similarly, to a vaiñëava, material comfort is something that he detests. And his constant anxiety is how to become Kåñëa Conscious, how to remember the Lord always, how to utilize everything for the Lord, and how to help the Lord fulfill his mission. The Supreme Lord can be best helped in establishing His mission when we remember the instructions, the prayers of Öhäkura Bhaktivinoda. Öhäkura Bhaktivinoda says, “My dear Lord, I place my body, my mind, my words, my family, my children and everything I possess at Your lotus feet. You may use them as You see fit.” So similarly, the vaiñëava wants to place everything at the command of the Lord. When Kåñëa says in the Bhagavad-gétä, sarva-dharmän parityajya mäm ekaà çaraëaà vraja ahaà tväà sarva-päpebhyo mokñayiñyämi mä çucaù
(B.G 18.66)
He just does not mean that do not worship the demigods and worship Me—No! When He says, “sarva-dharmän parityajya”, He means give up everything and come to Me. That means, give up your false ego, give up your possessions, give up your family members, give up everything and come to Me, utilize everything for Me. So we have to understand the purport of the Bhagavad-gétä which is “sarva-dharmän parityajya”, i.e is, tosurrender everything to the Lord. Rupa Goswämé says, “One who offers his body, mind, and words to serve the Lord, such a person is to be considered to be already liberated, though he may be existing in the material world.”
Hare Kåñëa!
CHAPTER
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offenceless chanting
a p ostman This initiation ceremony, that is being performed, is a ve ry important ceremony for one who wishes to advance in spiritual life. In the Bhagavad-gétä, and in all the revealed scriptures, there is emphasis that if one wants to advance in spiritual life he must accept a bonafide spiritual master. The qualification of a bona-fide spiritual master is that he repeats the instructions of the previous äcäryas. The bona-fide spiritual master is just like a postman. As a postman only delivers the mail without opening it, the bona-fide spiritual master alsojust delivers the message and the instructions that he has heard from the previous spiritual masters. All those devotees who are being initiated make promises or vows.They agree that they will chant a minimum of 16 rounds a day. They agree to avoid the sinful activities, such as indulgence in intoxication, eating meat, fish or eggs, illicit sex, and gambling. And, the revealed scriptures point out that if one wants to chant the Hare Kåñëa mantra and realizethe full potency of that mantra, one must avoid 10 offences. There are 10 offences that one who wants to advance in spiritual life must avoid while chanting the holy names. This is explained in the Caitanya-Caritämåta (Cc. Adi 8.24)
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‘kåñëa-näma’ kare aparädhera vicära kåñëa balile aparädhéra nä haya vikära
“There are offenses to be considered while chanting the Hare Kåñëa mantra, therefore, simply by chanting Hare Kåñëa one does not become ecstatic.” The point is that Kåñëadäsa Kaviräja, theauthor, is saying that there are offences which one should keep in mind. Justby chanting the Hare Kåñëa mantra, and committing the offences, one cannot become ecstatic or be absorbed in love of God.
VaisnaVa aparadha In the purport Çréla Prabhupäda reports as follows: “There are 10 offenses to be avoided in chanting the Hare Kåñëa maha-mantra. The first offense is to blaspheme great personalities who are engaged in distributing the holy name of the Lord.” It is said inthe çästra, “One cannot distribute the holy names of the Hare Kåñëa maha-mantra unless one is empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Therefore, one should not criticize or blaspheme a devotee who is thus engaged. So it is very important that the devotees of the Lord who have dedicated their lives for propagating the mission of the Lord should not be criticized. This actually a great offense. So one who is chanting the Hare-Kåñëa mantra, he adopts a very humble position and does not engage in fault-finding with those who have dedicated their lives for propagating the Kåñëa-Consciousness movement. Prabhupäda in this connection says, “To blaspheme the great saintly persons who are engaged in preaching the glories of the Hare Kåñëa maha-mantra is the worst offense at the lotus feet of the holy name.” One should not criticize one who preaches the glories of the Hare Kåñëa maha-mantra. If one does so, he is an offender. The Näma prabhu, who is identical with Kåñëa, will never tolerate such blaspheming activity even from one who passes as a great devotee. The point is that it does not matter how exalted one’s
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position may be, but the Näma prabhu (Näma prabhu is defined as one who is propagating the holy name of the Lord) should never be criticized. This is considered to be one of the greatestoffenses.
demigods
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The second offence is described as follows; “In this material world, the holy name of Viñëu is all-auspicious. Viñëu’s name, form, qualities, and pastimes are all transcendental. Therefore, if one tries to separate the absolute Personality of Godhead from His Holy Name, or His transcendental form, qualities, andpastimes, thinking them to be material, that is offensive.” Similarly, to think the names of demigods, such as Lord Çiva, to be as good as Lord Viñëu, or in other words to think Lord Çiva and the other demigods to be other forms of God and therefore equal to Viñëu is also blasphemy. This is the second offense at the lotus feet of the Lord. This second offence should be carefully understood. The Bhagavad-gétä states, “There is a difference between the worship of the demigods, and the worship of the Supreme Lord .” TheBhagavadgétä confirms that the demigods are subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now, if one considers that the chanting of the names of the demigods is equal to that of Lord Viñëu, that is an offence. And also, if one thinks that the Personality of Godhead is different from His name, that is also a great offence. In the Padma Puräëa, it is said näma cintämaëiù kåñëaç caitanya-rasa-vigrahaù pürëaù çuddho nity a-mukto ’bhinnatvän näma-näminoù
(quoted in Cc. Madhya 17.133)
“There is no difference between the Lordand His holy name.” The Lord is absolute. He is identical to His Holy Name and at no point should be considered that the Holy Name and theLord are different entities.
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guru -a Vajna The third offense at the lotus feet of the holy name is calledguruavajïä. It is to consider the spiritual master to be material and therefore envy his exalted position. So this is known as guruavajïä—to disobey the orders of the spiritual master. The disciple must consider the spiritual master’s orders to be his life and soul. This is stated by Bhaktivinoda Thakur. Bhaktivinoda had said, “Just like one cannot separate the body from the soul, similarly, the disciple cannot separate the instructions of the spiritual master from his mission.” So the spiritual master’s instructions should be taken very seriously. The spiritual master should not be expected to just say what the disciple wants to hear. The spiritual master is not like a professional politician who will only come and tell the disciple what the disciple wants to hear. A spiritual master’s instruction may be very shocking, but the disciple should accept the instruction with faith. In theBhagavadgétä we see that Arjuna was very attached to his family, relatives and so on. But Lord Kåñëa shocked him by saying, “Give up these attachments to your family and relatives, andgo and kill them.” That instruction from Lord Kåñëa shocked Arjuna, but he accepted it. Similiarly the spiritual master’s instruction should be accepted. It should notbe expected that the spiritual master would only say what thedisciple wants to hear.
The desire of the spiritual master is that the devotee be engaged in Kåñëa Consciousness all the time. We all have taken our births in certain parts ofshould the world. allhimself take a Kåñëa Conscious birth also. The disciple take We upon the principal service to spread Kåñëa Consciousness in the area where he joins the Kåñëa Consciousness movement. This is known as theprabhu dattadesa, that is the area where one joins Kåñëa Consciousness. In that area one decides to spread this Kåñëa Consciousness. The desire of the spiritual master is that the disciple take thisprabhu dattadesa, or the area wher he should spread Kåñëa Consciousness, very seriously. And he becomes Kåñëa Conscious so that he can become a partial instrument in spreading the message of Lord Caitanya.
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For example, all those who are being initiated today, they have all come to this Kåñëa Consciousness movement through the Montreal Radha-Kåñëa temple; therefore, I would request them to dedicate their lives to spreading Kåñëa Consciousness in this part of the world. And those who are being initiated must also understand that within the Kåñëa Consciousness movement there are several spiritual masters, but they should not discriminate between one spiritual master and the other. They should not think, “My spiritual master is better than the other spiritual masters in the Kåñëa Consciousness movement.” All the spiritual masters are working together under the order of Çréla Prabhupäda, which is coming from the Governing Body Commission to fulfill the instructions of Çréla Prabhupäda.
srila prabhupada ’s position Also, the disciples must understand the special position that Çréla Prabhupäda occupies within this Kåñëa Consciousness Society. Çréla Prabhupäda is accepted as the jagad-guru or the supreme äcärya to appear on this planet toestablish the Kåñëa Consciousness movement. Disciples must understand the hard work that Çréla Prabhupäda has put in establishing these Kåñëa Consciousness temples all over the world, and in writing more than 80 books. On our own, we would not be able to make a single disciple. If at all we are attracting people to this Kåñëa Consciousness movement, it is because of the strong foundation that Çréla Prabhupäda has laid for this movement. It was he who sacrificed his entire life to fulfill the instructions of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, his spiritual master. So we should understand the special position that Çréla Prabhupäda occupies in this society, and we should bevery faithful to his instructions also. Whatever ability we have, whatever examples we give, whatever instructions we give, they are all coming from Çréla Prabhupäda. Our position is just like that of a parrot, who just repeats what he has heard. Also, the disciples must understand that the scriptures
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explain that there is the diksa-guru (initiating spiritual master), who initiates one into Kåñëa Consciousness, and there is also the çikñä-guru (an instructing spiritual master) who trains a disciple in Kåñëa Consciousness. Çikñä-guru is the person who explains to the neophyte devotee how to engage into devotional service, how to chant the Hare Kåñëa mantra, trains the disciple and makes him ready for initiation when he is presented tothe diksa-guru, or guru who initiates him. One can have several çikñä-gurus, and the chief çikñä-guru generally is the chief of the local temple, namely, the temple president or the regional secretäry, whatever it may be. So one should also listen to the çikñä-guru. One should not think that he can jump over the çikñä-guru and go to the diksa-guru. That is also not very desirable. So one should follow the diksa-guru, but also one should be respectful to the instructions of the çikñä-guru. If we want to expand thisKåñëa Consciousness movement, then all of us have to work together. This must beclearly understood. So I would like to request the disciples who are being initiated today, to be very respectful and cooperate with the temple authorities, and by cooperating with the temple authorities and listening to them, one actually pleases the spiritual master also.
Vedic literatures The fourth offence is, “To blaspheme Vedic literatures such as the Vedas and the Puräëas.” The Puräëas are known as the fifth Veda, and the topmost of all Puräëas is the Çrémad-Bhägavatam. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam has been described byCaitanya Mahäprabhu to be the spotless Puräëa. This spotless Puräëa propounds the highest truth, love of God. The devotees do not think that thePuräëas are not equal to the Vedas, or that they are inferior to the Vedas. And, the Vedas are accepted to be the words of the Supreme Lord, and the entire purport of the Vedas is to teach us how to love Kåñëa, how to fulfill the real mission of human life. So we should be very
offenceless
chanting
19
respectful to the Vedas. Prabhupäda used to explain that the Vedas are like our mother, and they are giving us information about our father, the Supreme Lord. So a devotee does not blaspheme the Vedas, and he also does not blaspheme thePuräëas. There are 18 Puräëas in all, and the Puräëas are accepted as the fifth Veda.
the glories
of
the holy name
The fifth offence is, “To consider the glories of the holy name to be exaggeration.” The Vedic scriptures point out that thechanting of the holy names are very powerful. By chanting the holy names of Kåñëa even once, one can free oneself of thousands of sins. So if we think that this is exaggeration, in reality it could not be so powerful, then that is speculation. In thePadma Puräëa it is stated that by taking to the names of Kåñëa, one can free oneself from the cycle ofisbirth and death.that So by if any onethe of names us thinks that this description exaggeration, taking of Kåñëa one cannot go back to Godhead, then that is a great offence. Related to this offence is the sixth offence, that is, “To consider the holy name of the Lord to be imaginary.” So if we consider that this holy name is imaginary, this is not a bona-fide mantra, I amjust chanting it due to some sentimental feeling, this is a great offence.
genuine atonement The seventh offence is “To think that, since the Hare Kåñëa mantra can counteract all sinful reactions, one may be able to go on with his sinful activities and at the same time chant the Hare Kåñëa mantra to neutralize them, it is the greatest offense at the lotus feet of Hari Näma.” So very simply this meansthat by chanting the Hare Kåñëa mantra, we are freeing ourselves of so many sinful activities that we have performed. Now, if a devotee thinks that by chanting this Hare Kåñëa mantra, one realize so much benefit, now he can commit some sins on the side, that is a great offense.
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The devotee, especially after initiation, takes spiritual lifevery seriously. He is very careful as not to commit any mistakes at all, especially intentionally. If some sin take place accidentally, then it is another thing. But, intentionally, to think that now I am chanting Hare Kåñëa and I am becoming purified, so let me also do some sins on the side and it will be covered by my chanting, this is a great offense. There are some religious people who think that they can sin during the week, and on Sunday go to a church or temple, atone and then come back and sin again. But the devotee cannot think, “Now let me sin, then I can chant. That will be atonement. And then again I will sin, and then again I will chant.” No! We believe in genuine atonement. And genuine atonement means giving up sinful activities once for all, and engaging the senses in the service of the Lord.
a cry The eighth offence is as follows: “It is offensive to consider the chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mantra to be a religious ritualistic activity.” Performing religious ceremonies, following vows and practicing renunciation and sacrifice are all materially auspicious activities. The chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mantra must not be compared to such material religiosity. This is an offense atthe lotus feet of the Lord. So we perform various rituals, but to consider that the chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mantra is a ritual is a great offense. When we chant the Hare Kåñëa mantra, we should chant with some love, with some feeling, and with the desire to please Kåñëa. Not that I have a quota to perform, so I will just run through my 16 rounds. This is like a formality or a ritual. For example, there are many people who come to the temple, and when they see this beautiful deity of Radha-Kåñëa, they consider this to be just a statue. They think worshiping the deity is something of a ritual. But, one who is advanced in spiritual life understands that this deity is non-different from Kåñëa. He does
offenceless
chanting
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not think it is a ritual. So similarly, the devotee who chants Hare Kåñëa does not think this is just a normal routine that he has to perform, but he thinks that this chanting of Hare Kåñëa is a cry to the father to please engage in devotional service. So he chants Hare Kåñëa with love and faith.
spiritual significance
of
the mahamantra
The ninth offence is, “To preach the glories of the holy name among persons who have no intelligence and no faith inthe subject matter.” Such people should be given the chance to hear the chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mantra, but in the beginning they should not be instructed about the glories of the spiritual significance of the holy name. By constant hearing of the holy name, they will naturally be purified and thus they will be able to understand the transcendental position of the holy name. So what this means is that one may instruct the chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mantra to every individual that one sees. Caitanya Mahäprabhu has said, “Whoever you see, tell him about Kåñëa.” But you don’t have to tell him the spiritual significance of the Hare Kåñëa mantra. The spiritual significance of the Hare Kåñëa mantra will be understood as one advances in chanting the Hare Kåñëa mantra. So we may tell everyone to chant Hare Kåñëa, but we don’t have to explain the spiritual significance of the Hare Kåñëa mantra to everyone till we see that he is sincere in chanting.
business
of
spiritual life
The tenth offense is as follows: “If one has heard the glories of the transcendental holy name of the Lord, but nevertheless continues in the materialistic concept of thinking, ‘I amthis body and everything belongs to me,’ and does not show respect and love for chanting the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra, that is an offence.” In other words, the whole business of spiritual life is to give up material desires,
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and if you are maintaining material desires in spite of chanting the Hare Kåñëa mantra, then spiritual progress will become very very difficult. This is comparable to someone who is trying to light fire and pour water on it at the same time. That isnot possible. So one, who is serious about advancing in spiritual life, must give up all types of sense gratification, all types of material desires because the maintenance of these material desires will keep him in prison of this material world. This Kåñëa Consciousness is a very practical technique for perfecting one’s life. It is not necessary that one has to be in the renounced order essentially. One can also be a householder, but the instruction is the same. Whether one is a householder or a sannyäsé or Brahmäcari or vanaprastha, the instruction is the same, “Offer everything to the Lord.”
Hare Kåñëa!
CHAPTER
one
in
Divine
consciousness LiKe
3
The
is
LoTus LeAF
brahmäëy ädhäya karmäëi saìgaà tyaktvä karoti yaù lipyate na sa päpena padma-patram ivämbhasä
(BG 5.10) “One, who performs his duty without attachments, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf, is untouched by water.” Purport: Here brahmaëi means in Kåñëa consciousness. The
material world is a sum total manifestation of the three modes of material nature, technically called the pradhäna. The Vedic hymns sarvaà hy etad brahma (Mäëòükya Upaniñad 2), tasmäd etad brahma näma-rüpam annaà ca jäyate(Muëòaka Upaniñad 1.2.10), and, in the Bhagavad-gétä (14.3), mama yonir mahad brahma indicate that everything in the materialworld is a manifestation of Brahman; and although the effects are differently manifested, they are nondifferent from the cause. In the Éçopaniñad it is said that everything is related to the Supreme Brahman, or Kåñëa, and thus everything belongs to Him only. One who knows perfectly wellthat everything belongs to Kåñëa, that He is the proprietor of everything and that, therefore, everything is engaged in the service of the Lord,
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naturally has nothing to do withthe results of his activities, whether virtuous or sinful. Even one’s material body, being a gift of theLord for carrying out a particular type ofaction, can be engaged in Kåñëa consciousness. It is then beyond contamination by sinful reactions, exactly as the lotus leaf, though remaining in the water, is not wet. The Lord also says in the Gétä (3.30), mayi sarväëi karmäëi sannyasya: “Resign all works Me [Kåñëa].” conclusion is that a person without Kåñëa unto consciousness actsThe according to the concept of the material body and senses, but a person in Kåñëa consciousness acts according to the knowledge that the body is the property of Kåñëa and should therefore be engaged in the service of Kåñëa.
The LoTus FLower
This fifth chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä is called Karma-yoga— Action in Kåñëa Consciousness. In this verse the Lord isnot telling Arjuna that he should not do his duty. Rather, the Lord is telling Arjuna that one should perform one’s dutywithout attachments— this is the first point. And the second point is surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord. One who does thesetwo things, the Lord informs Arjuna that such an individual will not be affected by the sinful reactions, and the comparison is with the lotus flower that remains in water, but is untouched by the water. The point is that in this human form of life, we must learn the technique by which we can live in this material world just like a lotus leaf lives within water. The lotus leaf is not touched by the water though it is in the water. Similarly, the human being must live in such a manner in the material world that he is not touched by the evil factors that guide material existence. This human life should be utilized to perform actions in Kåñëa Consciousness, but unfortunately, instead of performing actions for the pleasure of Kåñëa, or actions in Kåñëa Consciousness, the human beings are busy performing actions for the pleasure of theirsenses, similar to animals.
one in divine consciousness is like the lotus leaf
AcTion
in
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KrsnA consciousness
In the Vedas, there is a nice example given that a mouse is very scared of the mouth of the cat. To the mouse, the mouth of the cat is fearful because it knows that that is going to trap him to death as soon as the cat sees the mouse. But the same mouth of the cat is the place of shelter and comfort for the kitten. The cat keeps the kitten in its mouth, and the kitten feels very comfortable, the mouse on the other hand feels the blows of death in the mouth of the cat. Similarly, if somehow or the other we learn the technique to perform action in Kåñëa Consciousness, then even though we are living in the material world, we will feel protected and sheltered. Otherwise, this material world will give us nothing but misery. DuKhALAyAm AshAswATAm
The point is that if we follow this Kåñëa Consciousness philosophy, if we follow this message of the Bhagavad-gétä, then the living entity can lead a life independent of anxiety. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä where the Lord says, brahmä-bhütaù prasannätmä na çocati na käìkñati samaù sarveñu bhüteñu mad-bhaktià labhate paräm
(BG 18.54)
“One who is transcendentally situated does not have these anxieties of lamentation and hankering.” But material life, independent of God’s direction means life of anxiety and suffering. Kåñëa declares in the Bhagavad-gétä that this material world has two principle characteristics. The first characteristic is that there is misery in this material world, and the other characteristic is that everything within the material world is very temporary. The miseries present themselves in a variety of forms. At times, one who thinks that he has everything material in his
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possession cannot comprehend that this material world is full of misery. Actually if we carefully analyze, we can see how the material world is presenting misery. For example, birth—when a child is born from the mother’s womb, the child always comes out crying. And as the child grows up, he naturally begins to get diseased also. Nobody today wants to get diseased, but by the laws of nature one has to get diseased. Modern scientists may be proud that they are discovering the solution to various diseases, but still the fact remains that there are more sick people today than ever before. Then old age—nobody wants to get old. When the grey hair begins to appear, everyone tries to hide it by dyeing it. When the wrinkles begin to appear on the cheeks, they try their best to cover it up, because old age is reminding us of the impendig death. And then finally death—nobody really wants to die. Even if at an old age one is given a choice to have his life prolonged, in most cases the individual will say, “Yes, please prolong my life.” The other characteristic of this material world, as we had said, is that everything is temporary. Nothing stays very long. Everything is created, then eventually destroyed. This is brieflythe description of the material world in which we are living, and in the Bhagavadgétä there is also a description of the spiritual sky thatis beyond this material universe. It is described thatbeyond this material universe which is nothing but misery, there is another universe which is transcendental in nature, and one who goes to that abode, never returns to this material world. our reAL DesTinATion
The Bhagavad-gétä is pointing out our destination. Our destination is that transcendental abode, and not this material universe in which we are already entangled and getting further entangled. The transcendental abode of the Lord is our real destination, and the real knowledge of the Bhagavad-gétä and the other vedicscriptures guides us how to go back to that destination. The entire purpose of this vedic philosophy is to enablethe living entity to understand
one in divine consciousness is like the lotus leaf
27
that he is a part and parcel of the Lord, and because the living entity is part and parcel of the Lord, he must be engaged in devotional service to the Lord in some manner or the other. In the Bhagavadgétä Kåñëa says, mamaiväàço jéva-loke jéva-bh ütaù sa nätanaù manaù-ñañöhänéndriyäëi prakåti -sthäni karñati
(BG15.7)
“All these living entities are My eternal parts and parcels.” Just like your hand. Your hand is part andparcel of your body, but fi the hand is not engaged in serving your body, then the hand has no function at all. Similarly, the living entitie s are all parts and parcels of the Lord and the living entity, namely the human being, has some usefulness only as long as it is engaged in serving the Lord in some manner. Service has to be there in the human form of life. The question is whom should we serve? Who should be our master? That is the question. One cannot deny serving. The communist philosophy attempts to contradict the Vedic philosophy. The Vedic conclusion is that there is a Lord and every living entity is His part and parcel, and hence, one must serve the Lord. But the communist philosophy is that there is no God. Everything belongs to the state. Everyone is equal. But if we analyze the life in these communist countries also, we will see that they are also serving some master. It may be Lenin, it may be Stalin, it may be Mao, it may be somebody else, but if you track it down, they will also acknowledge one person to be the Supreme. KrsnA is suppLier …
When the Russian revolution took place, the Communist party people would send their trucks with bread in it, parked in front of the churches. This was around 1918, and when the people were coming out of the churches, the communist party workers would question, “Did God give you your bread?” since the Christia ns have
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a habit of praying, “God give us our daily bread.” And natur ally most of the people said no. And then they said, “OK, here is some bread. Now who is better, God or the Communist party?” And naturally due to the heavy propaganda, the people started saying, “Yes, the Communist party is better.” But if we analyze where the ingredients of that bread come from—that bread may have been supplied by the Communist party, but the Communist party did not make the ingredients—the wheat. That came from earth. That was not produced in a factory. These days they are even producing synthetic blood, but nobody has been able to produce synthetic food, and even if they produce it, they will not put it into their stomachs. The point is that everything is actually being supplied by God. We may be proud of our success, but our success is also coming from what is supplied by nature. Take for example this country of Canada. Canada is considered to be a rich country, but why is it considered to be rich? Because it has so many natural resources. But who is supplying these natural resources. Not the liberal party, not the conservative party, not the NDP party. The natural resources have been planted over there by the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavadgétä Kåñëa says, “This material manifestation is Mine.” So these ingredients have been planted over there by the Supreme Lord, but today we see that we want to enjoy God’s property without acknowledging that God is the provider and the creator and hence, the real enjoyer, and we are not the real enjoyers. The Middle-East countries may be very proud of the oil wealth that they have, but who has planted the oil over there? Not the ruling party or the royal family, but again by the will of the providence the oil was planted there. The point to understand is that everything is coming from God, or Kåñëa, and hence, everything should be utilized in the service of God or Kåñëa. When we try to enjoy independently of Kåñëa then we becomelike thieves. This is stated in the Bhagavad-gétä, iñöän bhogän hi vo devä däsyante yajïa-bhävitäù
one in divine consciousness is like the lotus leaf
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tair dattän apradäyaibhyo yo bhuìkte stena eva saù
(BG 3.12)
“Those who want to enjoythe results and thefruits without offering them back to the demigods and theSupreme Lord are to be considered to be the thieves.” This is the wording of theBhagavad-gétä. The prison house
Kåñëa is the proprietor, Kåñëa is the enjoyer, and if we try to link ourselves with Kåñëa, then that is perfection. Kåñëa is all pure. Kåñëa is all satisfying. If we really want enjoyment then we must try to understand how we can establish our relationship with God. This is the special privilege that this human body is offering. That is, how can we establish our relationship with God? The reason the living entity is suffering is because he is forgetting his relationship with the Lord. This material world is considered in the Vedas to be like a prison house. Now who are the people living in the prison house? Those who are criminals. Those who have defied the laws of the government. They are arrested and put in the prison house. Similarly, those who have been defying the orders of God are put into this material world where they are experiencing nothing but misery and suffering. We may not like hearing the use of the word criminal, but facts have to be spoken. The truth may hurt, but the truth has to be spoken. qualification a sädhu iswho thatgoes he does not look to flatter hisThe audience, unlike of a politician to a place and finds out what the problem is, and just speaks on that line. The qualification of a sädhu is that he presents the truth of the Vedas. He presents the message that he has heard from his spiritual master, exactly as it is, without making any compromises. BhAgAvAD giTA As iT is
There is a nice story in this connection. When our spiritual master first came to the West in 1966, he was approached by seve ral swamis
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who were living in New York to make a living and to attract cheap popularity. These swamis requested, “Do not tell these young Americans to shave their hair, or to wear dhotiand kurta, or to follow regulative principles like no meat, fish and eggs, no intoxication etc.” He was requested, “Do not tell them.” But our Swamiji refused to make any compromises, because Swamiji was not in America to make some wealth, or to attract some cheap followers. Swamiji was in America to present the truth of the Bhagavad-gétä, therefore this translation of the Bhagavad-gétä is called, “Bhagavad-gétä As It Is.” That is, the message of the Bhagavad-gétä hasbeen presented to the public in the same mood that Lord Kåñëa has spoken it to Arjuna. In the Bhagavad-gétä Lord-Kåñëa tells Arjuna, sa eväyaà mayä te ’dya yogaù proktaù purätanaù bhakto ’si me sakhä ceti rahasyaà hy etad uttamam
(BG 4.3)
“I am imparting this science to you because you are My most confidential friend and devotee, therefore you will be able to understand the transcendental secrets of this great science.” So this Bhagavad-gétä is a great science. And this Bhagavad-gétä has to be understood in the manner that Arjuna understood it from Lord Kåñëa, and in the end Arjuna’s delusion was completely gone. So Arjuna was selected to be the recipient of this great science of the Bhagavad-gétä only on the basis of one qualification, namely that he was a devotee and friend of Lord Kåñëa. If we want to understand the real message of the Bhagavad-gétä, we have to take theassistance of a devotee of Kåñëa. We cannot understand the Bhagavad-gétä with our own material senses. We cannot understand the Bhagavad-gétä just because we may be Sanskrit scholar or great philosopher, but the Bhagavad-gétä and the Supreme Lord can be understood by the process of devotional service, or taking shelter of one who is a devotee and intimate friend of Kåñëa.
one in divine consciousness is like the lotus leaf
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prAsADAm
The Bhagavad-gétä is giving us instructions on how to lead this human form of life. For example, in the Bhagavad-gétä, Kåñëa is telling us what type of foodstuffs we should eat, what type of foodstuffs we should not eat. Kåñëa says, patraà puñpaà phalaà toy aà yo me bhaktyä prayacchati tad ahaà bhakty-upahåtam açnämi prayatätmanaù
(B.G 9:26)
“Offer Me little water, a fruit, a vegetable, or a leaf with love and I will accept it.” In the human life, we must discriminate. In animal life there is no discrimination. The animal’s discrimination power is very low. Of course, it has some discriminatory abilities, but relative to the human being, its ability is considerably less. But in human life, we can discriminate, and we can discriminate between what is good for us in the long run and what is not good. A child when he is young just wants to play, but the mother forces the child to study because if the child does not study, she thinks that in the long run the child will not secure a good job. Similarly, we have to discriminate and perform only those activities which will help us in the long run. If we perform activities that may give us temporary pleasure at the moment, but in the long run will be harmful, then that is not intelligence. For example, itis pointed out in the Vedas that for eating meat, even if one just eats a small piece of meat, one has to take birth equal to the number of hair in that animal’s body. In the short run one says, “I must have meat because I like it. Without meat I cannot live.” But in the long run youmust understand that for every piece of meat that you are eating you will have to take birth—not once or twice, but equal to the number of hair in that animal’s body, and you will be slaughtered just like that animal that you are eating has been slaughtered.
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So we should discriminate and eat that, which will give us benefit now and in the long run. If we eat foodstuff that is offered to the Lord, it becomes what is known as prasadam, or the Lord’s mercy, and by eating prasadam, the brain tissues get purified, and then one is more clearly able to see what is right and what is wrong. umBreLLA
in
Age
oF
KALi
The Bhagavad-gétä says, “Those who take My names, they will be able to understand Me.” Therefore the next point is to take the names of Kåñëa. The names of Kåñëa can be taken byanyone, under any situation. By and large, the people in this age are not very interested in spiritual life, but still the Lord hasgiven us this system, which is very easy and practical for realizing our relationship with the Lord, and that is the medium of chanting the holy names of Kåñëa. It is stated in the Atharva veda: “In this age of Kali, by taking the names of ‘Hari’, one can escape the evil influence of Kali.” Just like in the winter season, if you want to escape the effects of the cold, you wear warm clothes. Or in the rainy season, to escape the rainfall you carry an umbrella. Similarly if we want to escape the evil influence of the age of Kali,then the best process is to chant the holy names of Kåñëa. The holy names of Kåñëa are non-different from Kåñëa, and anyone who chants these holy names ofKåñëa will be able to realize transcendental bliss, because by chanting the holy names the material desires gradually disappear, and the chanting of the holy names enables one to establish relationship with the Lord. This verse is advising that one who does his duty without attachments, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf isuntouched by water. If we want to live in the material world and not be touched by the material world, then we should chant the names of Kåñëa, we should offer our foodstuff to Kåñëa, and to the extent possible we
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should use the fruits of our labor for propagating the message of the Supreme Lord. If we renounce the fruits of our action, if we try to cultivate divine consciousness by chanting the holy names, Kåñëa guarantees that such an individual at the expiry of his life can return to the transcendental abode that wehave described—which is completely free from all misery, where it never gets dark, it never gets cold, it never gets hot, where there is absolutely no misery and nothing but happiness. This Hare Kåñëa chant is nothing new—this is not a concoction, this is something very, very old. In fact this is the oldest of all chants. There is a saying in the material world, “You judge a thing by its results.” We also go by that opinion—judge a thing by its results. The results are evident. All over the world people aretoday chanting the maha-mantra, and realizing happiness. Recently, in the front page of the New York Times, there was an article “Hare Kåñëa invades Russia.” And this article was reproduced in almost every major paper of the world. In this article theypointed out how all over Russia this “Hare Kåñëa mantra” has become so popular, and all over Russia people are chanting Hare Kåñëa and reading the Bhagavad-gétä. This has happened not onlyin Russia, but it has happened in almost every country of the world, because attraction for Kåñëa is something very natural. Kåñëa is the real father. He is not somebody artificial who is being imposed upon us. And if we chant the names of Kåñëa, we will really experience pleasure and bliss. There is no amount of material investment or financial investment that can provide us with such an experience. So, our request to all of you, who are very kindly assembled here—you have taken time off from your busy schedules which means you definitely have some attraction for Kåñëa—is to please perfect your lives. Obviously, the path of perfection has already started by your coming to this beautiful Radha-Kåñëa temple, and many of you, as we said earlier, appear to becoming regularly. Just go on perfecting your lives. Goon withdrawing from sinful activities, and by chanting the Hare Kåñëa mantra the path of perfection will
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definitely be realized. This is our only request. Even though we are staying in the material world, we should be detached, like the lotus leaf is untouched by water. And that consciousness can be possible if we take to the chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mantra and read the Bhagavad-gétä, and with this process try to perfectour lives. Hare Kåñëa!
CHAPTER
4
Pure and fearless VaikuËÖha deVoTees çré-rudra uväca dåñöavaty asi suçroëi harer adbhuta-karmaëaù mähätmyaà bhåtya-bhåtyänäà niùspåhäëäà mahätmanäm
SB 6.17.27 Lord Çiva said: My dear beautiful Pärvaté, have you seen the greatness of the Vaiñëavas? Being servants of the servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, they are great souls and are not interested in any kind of material happiness. Purport: Lord Çiva, the husband of Pärvaté, told his wife, “My dear
Pärvaté, you are very beautiful in your bodily features. Certainly you are glorious. But I do not think that you can compete with the beauty and glory of devotees who have become servants of the servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Of course, Lord Çiva smiled when he joked with his wife in that way, for others cannot speak like that. “The Supreme Lord,” Çiva continued, “is always exalted in His activities, and here is another example of His wonderful influence upon King Citraketu, His devotee. Just see, although you cursed the King, he was not at all afraid or sorry. Rather, he offered respect to you, called you mother and accepted your curse, thinking himself faulty. He did not say anything in
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retaliation. This is the excellence of a devotee. By mildly tolerating your curse, he has certainly excelled the glory of your beauty and your power to curse him. I can impartially judge that this devotee, Citraketu, has defeated you and your excellence simply by becoming a pure devotee of the Lord.” As stated by Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, taror api sahiñëunä. Just like a tree, a devotee can tolerate all kinds of curses and reversals in life. This is the a devotee. Indirectly, Lord Çiva forbade Pärvaté to excellence commit theofmistake of cursing a devotee like Citraketu. He indicated that although she was powerful, the King, without showing any power, had excelled her power by his tolerance. So this verse is being spoken by Lord Çiva to Pärvaté. Parvati, because of her exalted position as the wife of Lord Çiva, wasbecoming very puffed up and she wanted to curse Citraketu. Citraketu’s qualification was that he was a great devotee of the Lord. In other words, through this sloka Lord Çiva is warning Pärvaté that, näräyaëa-paräù sarve na kutaçcana bibhyati svargäpavarga-narakeñv api tulyärtha-darçinaù (SB 6.17.28)
“Do not underestimate the power of a Vaiñëava.” In the previous verse, Çiva tells Pärvaté, “My dear beautiful Pärvaté, the servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are such great souls that they are not interested in any type of material happiness.” So the devotees of the Lord, as explained by LordÇiva in this verse, possess the quality that for the service of Näräyaëa, they do not hesitate to either go to hell or heaven. For the service of Näräyaëa, they are willing to tolerate any type of difficulties also. As the verse says, “Devotees only engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Näräyaëa, never fear any condition of life. For them all the planets, liberation and hellish planets are all the same as these devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord.” The devotees of the Lord are not interested in any personal benefit of any type. They are interested only in
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seeing that Kåñëa is being served. Rupa Goswämé explaining the same point states that those who are engaged in the service of the Lord, have no desire for liberation or materialgain or merging into the Supreme, but their only desire is to render devotional service without any motivation. Just like Närada Muni—Närada Muni in order to serve the Lord travels all over. He travels tothe heavenly planets, and he also travels to the hellish planets. Similarly, the devotees of the Lord in order to execute the mission of the Lord, in order to serve the Lord are willing to undergo all types of difficulties also. As Caitanya Mahäprabhu said, the devotee is just like a tree. The characteristic of a tree is that the tree is extremely tolerant. The tree isso tolerant that in the winter months the tree is standing all alone inthe snow, and in the summer season, the sun is shining very sharply, but still does not rebel or retäliate against anyone. So Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu emphasized that the tree. devotees of the Lord should be just like the tree, as tolerant as the In order to fulfill the mission of the Lord, the devotees may have to go through some difficulties or they may be able to execute the mission in a very pleasant situation, but the devotee is not affected by either of this because his concern is just to carry out the desire of the Lord. The Bhagavad-gétä explains that the Lord appears to establish principles of religion and annihilate the miscreants. And in the Caitanya-Caritämåta, Çréla Prabhupäda says that the devotees of the Lord also appear for these two reasons. The devotees of the Lord also appear just to helpthe Lord establish the principles of religion and annihilate the miscreants by defeating their atheistic philosophies.
The CulT
of
VrndaVan
Essentially, it is explained in theCaitanya-Caritämåtathe two types of devotees. Goñöhänandé and Bhajanänandés. The Bhajanänandés are those who derive comfort just by chanting the holy names
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of the Lord, performing some other devotional practices, and going up occasionally to talk about the Lord. These are called the Bhajanänandés. As opposed to this, the other category ofdevotees are called Goñöhänandé. Goñöhänandé are those who follow the regulative principles very strictly, who are completely committed tochanting the holy names, but at the same time want to broadcast the cult of Våndävana. They also consider that it is their responsibility to broadcast the cult of Våndävana. The cult of Våndävana means the mood of devotional service to the Personality of Godhead.
Power
of
deVoTion
The devotee always has faith that by taking shelter of Kåñëa, the impossible can become possible. We can see that in the case of Dhruva Mahäräja. Dhruva Mahäräja was prevented by his stepmother from sitting on the lap ofhis father, and his stepmother gave one intelligent warning. She said, “If by the mercy of the Personality of Godhead you can take birth in my womb, then you will be able to sit on your father’s lap.” Anyway, on the advice of Dhruva Mahäräja’s mother, Dhruva Mahäräja went to the forest and started meditating on the Personality of Godhead. He started meditating, performing great austerities. And in the end, Dhruva Mahäräja acquired so much power because of the devotion and faith in the Personality of Godhead that just bypressing this toe, the whole earth was going down. So here is a case where a young boy was from sitting on the service, lapof hishe father, but a little later,even afterprevented having rendered devotional had acquired so much power that just by pressing his toe the whole universe was bending. Just like it is explained that when the elephant sits on a boat, the boat really goes right down. So he had acquired so much power that when he was controlling his breath, the whole world was suffocating to the extent that even the demigods went running to Kåñëa saying that they are all being suffocated. And then the Lord had to assure them, “Do not worry, you will not suffocate.” Here the point is that by meditating on the Personality of Godhead,
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by having faith in the process of devotional service and undergoing these austerities Dhruva Mahäräja had acquired such great powers that he was able to perform a task that no one could have done otherwise. Those who do not have complete faith in the Personality of Godhead are those who think that God is limited and can never understand Dhruva Mahäräja’s case. Prabhupäda comments onthis in the bhägavatam saying, “They could never understand that how this boy who at one time was prevented from even sitting on his father’s lap, later on was able to acquire such great power.” The impersonalists are those who try to limit God, and they will never be able to understand it. God is a person, and God is unlimited and inconceivable. And because he is inconceivable he can inject his devotees with the greatest potencies. Without the grace of Kåñëa, nobody can broadcast His glories, but when Kåñëa sees that the devotee has formed faith in Him andKåñëa that heempowers is executingthe devotional service with determination, then devotee. Because, as we said that the devotee also appears on this planet to establish the principles of religion and to annihilate themiscreants by defeating their atheistic and nonsense philosophy.
PreaChing
is
The essenCe
In the Caitanya-Caritämåta, Prabhupäda talks about the three types of devotees: kaniñöha-adhikäré, madhyama-adhikäré and uttamaadhikäré. Just who like even within Kåñëa Consciousness society we meet people say, “I am inthe a neophyte stage, I cannot engage in this sankirtan activity.” Isn’t it? So Prabhupäda says that those who think that they can justchant the names of the Lordand cannot engage in preaching and broadcasting sankirtana, they are kanisthaadhikari, because these people just see the Lord in the temple or the church, and they are not willing to take chances for the pleasure of the Lord. To be in that position is not a very desirable position. For a Vaiñëava, the most desirable position is to be in the position of the madhyama-adhikari, because the madhyama-adhikarisees those who
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do not have any knowledge about God and tries to bringthem on the path of devotional service.
It is said that uttama-adhikari descends to the level of the madhyama-adhikari to engage in broadcasting the glories of the Lord. Though the uttama-adhikari sees every living entity in his true spiritual position, but in order to broadcast the mission of the Lord, he has to descend to the position ofmadhyama-adhikari and be completely emerged in preaching the glories of the Lord. If somebody is in this Kåñëa Consciousness Society, and at the same time presents different reasons for abstaining from this vital task, then it should be clearly understood that the mission of the Kåñëa Consciousness movement is not being understood. Understanding the basic regulative principles, understanding the process of chanting is only partial understanding. Complete understanding is when one puts himself in the position of the Goñöhänandé—that is, vaidhi-bhakti he wants to to immerse follow thehimself path ofinto , but at the same time he wants the madhyama-adhikari spirit of preaching.
VaikunTha Means ... Execution of devotional service means placing the devotee in Vaikuëöha. Vaikuëöha means a place where there is absolutely no anxiety. So when one is rendering devotional service in his pure form, he is in Vaikuëöha. Just like when you are having avery ecstatic kirtana in the temple, you forget all your worries, isn’t it? When you are dancing in a very ecstatic kirtana, when you are jumping in front of the deities, you are completely immersed in the process of hearing and chanting the names of the Lord, youforget all your problems. Similarly, if one is engaged in executing devotional service, whatever duty is assigned to him, very enthusiastically and with firm faith, then one places him in Vaikuëöha—that is a place where there are no anxieties. The material world is branded as kuntha—kuntha means a place full of anxieties, and the spiritual
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world is branded as Vaikuëöha—that is a place of no anxieties. So if one is engaged in rendering devotional service tothe Lord, whether in hell or in heaven, enthusiastically, with conviction, then he is in Vaikuëöha. And Rupa Goswämé says, “One who is rendering devotional service with his body, mind, and words, is considered to be a liberated person, though he may be engaged in so many socalled material activities.”
VaikunTha PlaTforM In order to broadcast the mission of the Lord, the devotees inmany cases have to act in what is known as very hellish conditions, but if their body, mind, and words are dedicated to the Lord, then not only are they liberated, but also the whole place becomesVaikuëöha, because Vaikuëöha means a place where Näräyaëa is worshipped, and Näräyaëa within thebut heart every entity. TheHis non-devotee cannot feel Hisis presence, theofdevotee can feel presence, so even if one is engaged in performing let us say sankirtan in a very hellish place, like a nightclub, if his mind, body, and words are dedicated to the service of the Lord then that place becomes Vaikuëöha because the Lord of the universe is being worshipped over there. If a devotee is utilizing mind, body, and words, then though he may be engaged in performing material activities, he is considered to be liberated according to Rupa Goswämé. The conclusion is, it is not the activity that determines whether one is liberated or not, but whether the body, mind, and words are being utilized in the service of the Lord or not, that determines whether one is in Vaikuëöha or not. Therefore, like Öhäkura Bhaktivinoda said, “My dear Lord I dedicate my body, my mind, and my words to your lotus feet. Everything that I possess—my wife, mychildren, my house, this is all Yours.” That is the Vaikuëöha platform, and in that platform one is completely freed from any effects. We have to constantly measure whether we are in Vaikuëöha or not. Now how do we measure that? Just like if we are sick—
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how do we measure whether we are recovering or not? When you are sick, you constantly see the thermometer, isn’t it? You put the thermometer every few hours to see what your temperature is, and you are anxiously waiting for your temperature to go down so you can resume in your normal activities. And the materialist is constantly waiting for his temperature to go down so that he can engage in sense gratification again. The devotee also wants to see his temperature. He also wants to see how healthy he is or not, and how does he determine that? There is a very simple formula given in the scriptures. If someone sees that his material desires have gone down, then we can say that his spiritual temperature is good and we can say that he is spiritually healthy. But if we see that the material desires are still there, then we can conclude that spiritually the individual is unhealthy. And when we seethat he is spiritually unhealthy, then just like a sick man when he discovers that he is unhealthy, he at once goes to a doctor or at once approaches someone so that the unhealthy portion can be cured. One thing we should clearly understand is that untill the material dirt is removed from the heart, one will not be able to dedicate his body, mind, and action for the service of the Lord. One will hold back something. So spiritual life means that you Do not hold back anything. Spiritual life means you work toward dedicating your body, mind, and words for the pleasure of theLord and if that is done, then one ison the Vaikuëöhaplatform, and on the Vaikuëöha platform you can see that these material desires are just illusory. Trying to fulfill material desires is just like a man shooting the wrong man. Sometimes you see that a criminal or evena police may end up shooting the wrong man. Their target is somebody else, but they end up shooting somebody else. Sothe poor innocent man gets victimized. Similarly, fulfilling material desires is like shooting at the wrong man, because the goal of material desires is to realize happiness but they are not able to realize happiness because they are attempting to find with a material process instead of a spiritual process.
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The leaders are creating ignorance, the leaders are making people more and more aware about their bodily identities, and they are just helping the living entity glide further in the mode of ignorance. The living entity is already in the mode of ignorance, but due to listening to the advice of the leaders and the scientists—the scientists are also just bluffing and because nobody is challenging, they are just going on, just like the wolf that carries away the sheep. Because the living entities in the material world are listening to leaders who themselves are blind, they are actually landing themselves in a very very unfortunate, position. As the Bhägavatam says, “The characteristics of people in this age are that they are misguided, unfortunate and unhappy.”
The CharaCTerisTiCs
of a
deVoTee
So in a humble state of mind, the devotees of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement should meditate upon this conversation of LordÇiva and Pärvaté about the characteristics of a devotee. That is, those who are interested in pleasing the Lord, to them hell or heaven is immaterial, but the essential characteristic is the desire to serve the Personality of Godhead. A devotee does not blame others for his poor performance. He does not blame others for some difficulty in which he may land himself. Just like Parékñit Mahäräja when he saw that the cow was standing and was hurt by Kali, he went and asked, “Who has caused you this harm, please tell me.” And she refused to say anything saying, “No, I will not tell you who has caused this harm because I have been caused this harm because of my misdeed . The devotee, when he is in a difficult position, or when during sankirtan some difficult position arises, he just does not blame somebody else, rather he blames himself. If we dedicate our mind, body, and words, remembering that this is not only the mission of the Lord to establish the principles of religion, but it is also the mission of the devotees of the Lord to help establish the principles of religion, then one would be considered to be inVaikuëöha.
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Please CoMe
freedom
and
by surrender
helP Me…
Caitanya Mahäprabhu in the Caitanya-Caritämåta very humbly stated, “I am like a gardener because the process of devotional service is like a transcendental tree.” And it says that this transcendental tree, unlike other trees, can also walk. Normally a tree cannot walk, but he says that this transcendental tree can also walk, and he says, “I being a gardener, however, can only plant fruits in alimited area, and I being a gardener can only eat the limited number of fruits. I cannot eat unlimited fruits, I can eat only a limited number of fruits.” Therefore, He says in theCaitanya-Caritämåta, “If however I am helped by others, then I can increase the acreage of that which will be planted, and then more people could eat the fruits of the tree.” And what is the result of eating the fruit of thistree? By eating the fruit of this tree, one will gain freedom from the cycle of birth and death. This fruit of the transcendental tree is love ofGodhead. By executing devotional service, one will eat the fruit of the tree— that is love of Godhead—and as this love of Godhead develops, one will gain freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Caitanya Mahäprabhu is begging for help inplanting more area. Caitanya Mahäprabhu is requesting others, “please come and help Me plant on more area.” So the devotees of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement have to become transcendental gardeners. Just like Caitanya Mahäprabhu called Himself a gardener, the devotees of this movement have to become transcendental gardeners and they have to plant more and more seeds so that whoever receives this seed knowingly or unknowingly—just like we explainedyesterday, the two types of devotional service. One is calledjnata-sukrti and one is called ajnata-sukrti. Ajnata-sukrti means rendering devotional service unknowingly. But even if one renders devotional service unknowingly, he is still saved from going to hell. So the devotees have to become expert gardeners and they have to plant these seeds of devotional service because the more seeds of devotional service are planted, the more fruits there will be. And anyone who eats these fruits will gain freedom from thecycle of birth and death. Just
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like Queen Kunti says, “Now take this final drug of Kåñëa prema and become free from anxiety.” Similarly, Caitanya-Caritämåta explains that anybody who eats this fruit will gain freedom from the cycle of birth and death and become happy. To summarize, this is the instruction of LordÇiva in the verse that we discussed today. Lord Çiva is warning Pärvaté, “Do not underestimate the value of the devotee” because Pärvaté wanted to curse Citraketu. Lord Çiva was saying, “Do not underestimate the devotees of the Lord, we have material desires we can at once identify that we are not being a truedevotee of the Lord.” And Lord Çiva goes on to say that the devotees of the Lord are also not scared of any condition, that is, they may be in hell, or they may be in heaven, it does not matter to them because they are interested only in serving Näräyaëa, and wherever they are, as long as one’s body, mind, and action is dedicated to the Lord, that place becomes a Vaikuëöha. Vaikuëöha means a place of no anxieties. Similarly, when our devotees go, for example, in a mall or bank or wherever, that very radius where that devotee is operating, becomesVaikuëöha. And even the non-devotees when they come in contact with the devotees and engage in some type of service or the other, the individual at once benefits. Thus, the devotees are interested in planting these seeds of devotional service in as many placesas they can.
In this verse there is a word used ‘Näräyaëa-parah’ which means one becomes completely dependent upon Kåñëa. Just asthe child becomes completely dependent upon the mother for care, the devotee is completely dependent upon the Lord’s mercy. And depending upon the Lord’s mercy, the devotee dedicates his body, mind and words for the pleasure of the Lord, and if one executes devotional service in this mentality, then he is on theVaikuëöha platform, and anyone who comes in contactwith him, will also be injected with this seed of devotional service. Hare Kåñëa!
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pure Heart By fulfillinG tHe lord’s inner desire präyeëa deva munayaù sva-vim ukti -kämä maunaà caranti vijane na parärtha-niñöhäù naitän vihäya kåpaëän vimumukña eko nänyaà tvad asya çaraëaà bhramato ’nupaçye
(SB 7.9.44) “My dear Lord Nåsiàhadeva, I see that there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayas or the forest to meditate with vows of silence (mauna-vrata). They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Kåñëa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore, I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet.” Purport: This
is the decision of the Vaiñëava, the pure devotee of the Lord. For himself he has no problems, even if he has to stay in this material world, because his only business isto remain in Kåñëa consciousness. The Kåñëa conscious person can go even to hell and still be happy. Therefore Prahläda Mahäräja said, naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaraëyäù: “O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence.” The pure devotee isnever unhappy
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in any condition of life. This is confirmed in Çrémad-Bhägavatam (6.17.28): näräyaëa-paräù sarve na kutaçcana bibhyati svargäpavarga-narakeñv api tulyärtha-darçinaù
“Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Näräyaëa, never fear anycondition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord.” For a devotee, being situated in the heavenly planets and being in the hellish planets are equal, for a devotee lives neither in heaven nor in hell but with Kåñëa in the spiritual world. The secret of success for the devotee is not understood by the karmés and jïänés. Karmés try tobybebecoming happy byone material adjustment, and jïänés wanttherefore to be happy with the Supreme. The devotee has no such interest. He is not interested in so-called meditation in the Himalayas or the forest. Rather, his interest is in the busiest part of the world, where he teaches people Kåñëa consciousness. The Kåñëa consciousness movement was started for this purpose. We do not teach one to meditate in a secluded place just so that one may show that he has become very much advanced and may be proud of his so-called transcendental meditation, although he engages in all sorts of foolish materialistic activity. A Vaiñëava like Prahläda Mahäräja is not interested in such a bluff of spiritual advancement. Rather, he is interested in enlightening people in Kåñëa consciousness because that is the only way for them to become happy. Prahläda Mahäräja says clearly, nänyaà tvad asya çaraëaà bhramato ‘nupaçye: “I know that without Kåñëa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy.” One wanders within the universe, life after life, but by the grace of a devotee, a servant of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, one can get the clue to Kåñëa consciousness and then not only become
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happy in this world but also return home, back to Godhead. That is the real target in life. The members of the Kåñëa consciousness movement are not at all interested in so-called meditation in the Himalayas or the forest, where one will only make a show of meditation, nor are they interested in opening many schools for yoga and meditation in the cities. Rather, every member of the Kåñëa consciousness movement is interested in going door to door to try to convince people about the teachings of Bhagavad-gétä As It Is, the teachings of Lord Caitanya. That is the purpose of the Hare Kåñëa movement. The members of the Kåñëa consciousness movement must be fully convinced that without Kåñëa one cannot be happy. Thus the Kåñëa conscious person avoids all kinds of pseudo spiritualists, transcendentalists, meditators, monists, philosophers and philanthropists.
Mauna -vrata This verse of Prahlada Mahäräja is very significant. Prahlada Mahäräja here is trying to pacify Lord Nåsiàhadeva. Lord Nåsiàhadeva had taken away the life of his father who was a demon, and Prahlada Mahäräja isoffering different prayers trying to pacify the Lord. Here Prahlada Mahäräjatalks about different types of transcendentalists. Essentially in society, there are two classes of people: the transcendentalist and the atheistic. Here Prahlada Mahäräja is talking about different types of transcendentalists. One type of transcendentalists that Prahlada Mahäräja makes a reference to, are those people who observe the vow of mauna-vrata—that is the vow of abstaining from speech. They think that speaking is great pleasure, therefore abstain from speaking. I remember in 1976, Çréla Prabhupäda, myself and a few other devotees went to a big festival in Kuruksetra and one of the main attractions of that festival was a swami who was observing mauna-vrata for a long time. He had not spoken to anyone for an extended period, and everyone was going around paying respects tohim. But Prabhupäda
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said, “What is there for him to speak, what is great if he does not speak.” So one type of transcendentalists are those who observe the vow of mauna-vrata and then, there are those transcendentalists who, attempting to save their own selves, go to the Himalayas, or a secluded place.
Good, B etter ,
and
Best
One common denominator in these transcendentalists is that they do not understand that without taking the shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Kåñëa, the living entity can never be happy. Prahlada Mahäräja criticizes these transcendentalists who arejust interested in their own liberation, and he described the position of aVaiñëava by stating, “I do not want to leave aside all these poor fools and rascals.” That is, he does not want to take a path by which he alone may realize some benefit, even mukti-liberation, while the other poor fools stay behind. Prahlada Mahäräja says that, “I, as a transcendentalist, do not want to go back to Your home, My Lord, alone, leaving all these conditioned souls back because I understand that it is only by Kåñëa Consciousness that these living entities can become happy.” We can see from Prahlada Mahäräja’s statement, and Prabhupäda’s purport, the purpose of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement. For example, Çréla Prabhupäda says, “The members of the Kåñëa Consciousness movement are not at all interested in socalled meditation, rather every memberof the Kåñëa Consciousness movement is interested in going door to door to try and convince people about the teachings of the Bhagavad-gétä.” Using Prahlada Mahäräja’s statement and the purport of Çréla Prabhupäda, we can see that the real transcendentalist is not just interested in his own liberation, but he also shows his concern for those who are not trying to establish their relationship with theLord. These transcendentalists that Prahlada Mahäräja talks about are just interested in their own self-realization. And for their own self realization, they willundergo
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austerities, but when it, is a question of undergoing austerities for the benefit of others, they are not ready todo that. This is not a very high class of devotional service. Just like in the English language you have good, better, and best. Best is better than better, better is better than good. Similarly, there are many types of transcendentalists, and certainly following a transcendental path for selfish purposes is better than not following any transcendental path. But asthis verse of the Bhägavatam proves, and as it is confirmed in the purport, the highest, topmost transcendentalist is one who adopts a spiritual path not only for his own self-realization, but also by which the blind humanity can be guided.
My Heart
is
BleedinG …
Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu, the Personality of Godhead, had expressed a similar feeling 500 years ago. Caitanya Mahäprabhu could see the age of Kali progressing, and he could see that the percentage of sinful people was also increasing. So when Caitanya Mahäprabhu met Haridäsa Öhäkura, He said, “Haridäsa, in this age of Kali, the brähmaëas are almost non-existent. The brähmaëas are gradually disappearing. These people are committing very serious violence and they are killing very innocent cows and animals.” Caitanya Mahäprabhu was expressing great concern to such an extent that He exclaimed, “Seeing the condition of these living entities, Haridäsa, My heart is bleeding.” Just like Prahlada Mahäräja is saying, “My dear Lord, it is causing me great anxiety seeing these conditioned entities who areforgetting you.” Likewise, Caitanya Mahäprabhu also states, “Seeing thesebrähmaëas who are committing sinful activities, My heart is very sad.” Like Prahlada Maharaj, likeCaitanya Mahäprabhu, the genuine devotee of the Lord does not want to tolerate irreligion. Just as Caitanya Mahäprabhu said that in this age of Kali, thesymptoms of sins are increasing, we see today a society, where right from top to bottom, everybody is engaged in performing sinful activities. The
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leaders are blind and those who are following are also blind. But the leaders do not understand what their real responsibility is. For example, when King Vena was in power, he was very sinful, but the brähmaëas who knew the purpose of responsible administration were able to remove King Vena by cursing him and replacing him by King Påthu. The point is that today the majority of peopledo not even know the basis on which the government should be formed. The Bhägavatam informs that the leaders must beconcerned about the spiritual health of the people.
Blind leaders Just like the government considers it their responsibility to maintain roads and highways so that the traffic can move, similarly the ideal government should also consider it their responsibility to keep the roads and open by which people can go back to Godhead. The highways present day leaders have the no understanding of how to keep the roads and highways open by which the people can go back to Godhead. They are just interested in creating facilities by which some sense enjoyment can be realized. It is commonly understood by all sections of society that the goal of human life is sense gratification. This is the marginal inclination of every living entity today. And the government is busy passing laws which have no respect for the religious laws of the scriptures. The point is that the leaders today have no understanding how to pave the roads by which, the society can be guided on the path back to Godhead. The government is busy making laws that show absolutely no respect for the religious scriptures. Actually, laws are supposed to be made by which people can become happy, isn’t it? The purpose for making laws is to make people happy. The purpose of electing a government is that the government will facilitate happiness. The moment the government cannot facilitate happiness, the government is thrown out. For example, about 8 months ago, the conservative government in Canada had proposed
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an increase in some tax on gasoline, and the Canadians said, “Oh, that is going to reduce my sense gratification because this government wants to increase the tax on gasoline.” So they threw the government out within a minute. The point is that everyone expects the government to pass only those laws that will make them happy. But on what basis should that happiness be? We are trying to find a balance as to what basis should the laws be made on. For example, according to man-made laws, the killing of animals is not sinful. Therefore everyone is allowed to kill any type of animal. Anyone is allowed to inflict any amount of cruelty on animals—it just does not matter, because according to the government laws, killing of animals, causing cruelty to animals, is not a sin. However, after one dies, one may not have ended up being in the government jail, but he willend up being in God’s jail. Yamaraja and his soldiers are not going to listen to the government laws, and let one go free. The government laws have it, so by performing sinful activities, one does not end up permitted landing oneself in the government jail. But because theselaws are against the laws of the Lord, after death, the living entity lands himself in the jails of Yamaraja. And when one has to enter the prison house of the hellish planets, he cannot tell Yamaraja, “Oh, my prime minister and my senator had allowed that law.” It will betoo late then. The present-day society is being led by people who are just making laws which guarantee you entrance into the jails of the different hellish planets. Not just one jail—every hellish planet has a different cell, and one will have to go on experiencing punishment in one cell after another. Just like sometimes when a criminal commits multiple offenses like he has killed one man, stabbed another man, plus he has robbed a bank, then he gets a sentence that runs one after another. He may get 10 years for the murder, 5 years for the stabbing, and another 2 years for robbing the bank. Thus he may get 17 years of imprisonment that run up one after another. Similarly, by following the laws that are being made by leaders who are blind to the laws of the Lord, one is being
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guaranteed entrance into the different jails of the different hellish planets.
a B urden
of
love
This natural inclination towards sense gratification has to be replaced. The natural inclination towards sense gratification which is there in the materialistic society has to be replaced by following some austerities, some spiritual rules. Now this may appear to be a burden, but this is called ‘‘a burden of love’’. Why is this called a burden of love? Because by following these principles of austerity, one will benefit in the long run. Therefore these are called burden of love. Just like a mother. A mother is taking care of a young child. The child cries day and night. The child passes stool and urine, and these are all a great burden on the mother, but the mother considers this to be a burden of love. In executing Kåñëa Consciousness, we should not be worried about experiencing the burden of love, because we should understand that this burden of love is going to help us in the long run. This burden of love should be practised by the members of the Kåñëa Consciousness society. For example, one has to remain clean—now in order for one to remain clean, one has to go through a lot of austerities. One has to take bath twice a day, one has to kee p all one’s clothes clean. In the western society you may have these automatic machines, but in places like India almost everyone has to wash one’s clothes by hand and then dry it. Then you have to keep the house clean. In other words, in order to maintain oneself clean, one has to go through a lot of burden, but even the materialist is interested in keeping everything clean because he knows that if he does not keep it clean, he will fall sick and will become diseased. Therefore, he is willing to go through the austerity of cleanliness, he is willing to go through the austerity of doing the work to keep the environment where he lives clean, so that he may not fall sick. The point is that if we undergo some burden for ome s benefit in the long
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run, then that burden can be executed with love. So following the regulative principles may appear to be burdensome. Getting up in the morning for mangala-arti, it may appear to be very troublesome, or coming to the class or being awake in the class may appear to be troublesome, or doing very attentive rounds may appear to be troublesome, but these are all burdens of love , because in the long run they will guarantee one’s entrance into the Kingdom of God, where once again one will experience happiness. The transcendentalist does not hesitate undergoing these burdens because he knows that these burdens will help him in the long run.
a H ypocrite The devotee is not a hypocrite. The society is led by hypocrites. For example, in the Middle-East countries they have very strict laws. In Arabia, the lawsThere are soisstrict that there are no countries nightclubslike in Saudi that whole country. no prostitution in that whole country. The leaders of the society in these countries, to engage in prostitution, alcohol, and other sinful activities, go to places like Bombay, London, Switzerland, Paris. This is hypocrisy. They are making a show that we are following Islamic laws, therefore we are not serving any alcohol, there is no prostitution, there are no cinema halls, but in order to engage in all this, all the rich people leave Saudi Arabia, and come to Bombay and London to engage in the same nonsense. The conclusion is that the society is led by hypocrites. The leaders may make a very famous speech, asking the audience to sacrifice for the country, but they themselves are not ready to sacrifice anything. Just like the politicians in India, they are always making speeches, “Give up this, giveup that for the benefit of the country,” but on their side they are amassing a huge fortune. The Kåñëa Consciousness devotees, unlike the standard materialists, are not hypocrites. They genuinely want tofollow what they preach. And as they follow what they preach, they become more and more potent to broadcast the mission of the Lord.
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vacuuM cleaner The devotee wants to serve the Lord by understanding the desire of the Lord, just like Prahlada Mahäräja. Prahlada Mahäräja has carefully understood the desire of the Lord. And therefore he is working to execute that desire of the Lord. And inorder to execute the desire of the Lord, heis not hesitating in experiencing difficulties. We have to keep the heart clean. To keep the body clean, you have to go through so much effort, isn’t it? We just gave the example, you have to clean your clothes, take your bath, clean the house, pass the vacuum cleaner, and buy all these different powders to keep everything clean, so that no animals or insects come, or that you won’t fall sick. To keep your body and environment clean, you have to make so many efforts. Just understand how much more effort you have to make to keep your heart clean. If you have to keep your heart clean, you have to surrender to the inner desires of the Lord, and try to understand, dedicate yourself to the inner desires of the Lord. If one is able to dedicate oneself to the inner desires of the Lord completely, then one will also be able to keep one’s heart clean. Caitanya Mahäprabhu said, “This execution of devotional service along with the chanting of the holy nameis what cleanses the heart.” The biggest concern of the transcendentalist is to keep the heart clean, and in order to keep the heart clean, he is ready to experience the burdens of love.
a G enuine transcendentalist The transcendentalist understands that except this process of Kåñëa Consciousness, there cannot be any satisfaction or happiness. Therefore the transcendentalist is interested in reducing the anxiety of the Lord. There was this great devotee, greatvaiñëava, Vasudeva Datta, who, seeing the suffering ofhumanity and the nature of things they were performing, felt very concerned, just like Prahlada is feeling very concerned. Vasudeva prayed to the Lord, “My dear Lord, you may please transfer the sinful reactions of all these people unto
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me, and take them all back to Godhead.” Thevaiñëava follows the footsteps of great vaiñëavas like Vasadeva Datta and Prahlada, and is very concerned of the nature of the sins being performed. In the material world there is a saying, “Misery loves company.” If one man is miserable, he loves to see that his neighbor is also miserable. But in spiritual life we do not believe in that. In spiritual life we know that if one is not following the instructions of the Lord, he is in misery. Therefore the genuine transcendentalist uses Prahlada Maharaj and Vasudeva Datta as models to follow, and works in that direction.
Prahlada Mahäräja should not be considered an ordinary entity. He is one of the twelve Mahajans. Mahajan means one who has authority. He is an authority on the principles of devotional service. We should take Prahlada Maharaj as a model to follow. In the material world, if someone is trying to become a movie star, then he tries to imitate all the great movie stars, how they became famous. tries to imitate atheir actingwants stylestosoimitate, that he wants can also become He famous. Similarly devotee to copy, wants to take the instruction of the great spiritual authorities. Prahlada Maharaj is one of the twelve great spiritual authorities that this Kåñëa Consciousness movement follows, and weshould mold our lives according to the instructions of Prahlada Maharaj. One of the characteristics of the devotee is that he wants to reduce the burden of the Lord, just like Vasudeva Datta. Caitanya Mahäprabhu told Haridäsa Öhäkura that he is very concerned at the suffering position of humanity. Haridäsa Öhäkura said, “Mydear Lord, please do not be in anxiety. Somehow or the other these entities,yavanas, will be saved.”
aiM
of
Krsna consciousness MoveMent
Prabhupäda says in the purport, the devotees of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement consider it as their responsibility to enlighten everyone about Kåñëa Consciousness. Therefore he says, thus a Kåñëa Conscious person avoids the pseudo-spiritualists, transcendentalists, meditators, philosophers, and philanthophers
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because the real aim of the Kåñëa Consciousness movement is to reduce the burden of the Lord. If a manis walking, carrying a heavy load and you go up to him and say, “I can help you carry some of this load,” the man feels very relieved, isn’t it? Just like that, there is a heavy load on the Lord because the Lord is very concerned seeing the living entity suffer and therefore if the devotees of the Lord help the Lord take this load off, the Lord becomes very indebted to them. This is confirmed in the eighteenth chapter of the Bhagavadgétä where the Lord says, na ca tasmän manuñyeñu kaçcin me priya-kåttamaù bhavitä na ca me tasmäd anyaù priyataro bhuvi (BG 18.69)
“Those who are engaged in broadcasting my glories are very very dear to Me.” We want to become dear to the Lord. In the material world everybody wants to become dear to abig person. If we want to become dear to the Lord, we should execute Kåñëa Consciousness in sankirtan mentality—that is, attempt to broadcast the mission of the Lord also, and that will certainly make us very dear to the Lord. In fulfilling the desires of the Lord, one may carry some burden also— in the sense that one may find it very difficult, but because one is doing it for the pleasure of the Lord, that burden becomes a burden of love. We gave the example of a mother, even when her child day and night, she considers this a burdenshe of has love.toIfclean we follow the principles of religiousness, dharma and at the same time we attempt to execute the mission of the Lord, the desire of the Lord, to save the living entities, even if we have to experience difficulties, or some inconvenience, or go through some austerities, these austerities, inconveniences are in reality,burdens of love. If we execute it, always remembering that I am executing this activity to serve the Lord, to fulfill the Lord’s desire, then the Lord will reciprocate, and as Kåñëa says in the Gétä, “na me bhaktaù praëaçyati”—“My devotee will never perish or fail.”
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Krsna ’s HeadacHe In the period of the marathon, or any other period where one has to do sankirtan, one may be requested to work extended hours, one may have to go out in the cold, but he does not let these things bother him because he is interested in seeing that Kåñëa is served. When Uddhava approached the gopés to get some dust from their feet to cure Kåñëa’s headache, the gopies agreed at once, even though they would have experienced inconvenience by going to hell. When Uddhava had approach the brähmaëas, the yogis, and the jïänés, they refused because they were not concerned if Kåñëa would be satisfied or not. They were concerned of what would happen to themselves. The members of the Kåñëa Consciousness movement have to put themselves in the frame of the gopés. Just like the gopés, in every action they performed, they were thinking, “Will Kåñëa be happy with this or not?” If Kåñëa would be happy with that, they would go ahead and perform that. Similarly, the members of this Kåñëa Consciousness society also have to constantly test, “Is Kåñëa going to be happy with this activity that I am doing or not?” If Kåñëa will be pleased, then even if there is danger of one’s going to hell, one still performs it for the pleasure of the Lord.
Hare Kåñëa!
CHAPTER
6
take Spiritual life very SeriouSly In the olden days, I remember even in Montreal we used to have the istha-gosthis every Sunday, and we used to begin theistha-gosthi by reading from the Nectar of Devotion. Of course, those day s the temple was very small. It is not possible to hold every week now because we have so many different activities that have to be performed with a restraint on manpower. So today also, we shall begin our isthagosthi with a little bit of discussion on spiritual topics, and then talk about the plans that we have, and make the floor open to any questions or comments that any of you may have. law book
for
Devotional Service
In the Nectar of Devotion, certain characteristics for rendering devotional service to the Lord are described. We shall discuss them. The first characteristic of the devotee is thatbriefly he is always anxious to utilize his time in the devotional service of the Lord. He does not like to be idle. He serves 24 hours a day without deviation. This is Rupa Goswämé’s instruction. Rupa Goswämé needs no introduction—he was especially instructed by Caitanya Mahäprabhu to prepare the manual for devotional service, and the manual for devotional service is called the Nectar of Devotion. I remember in Los Angeles in 1972, this Nectar of Devotion was released by Çréla Prabhupäda, and Prabhupäda lifted up the book and
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said, “This is our law book for devotional service.” In the lawbook for devotional service, it is stated that one ofthe characteristics of a devotee is that he is always anxious to utilize his time indevotional service all the time, full 24 hours. And this law applies to everyone who wants to be a devotee of the Lord. Serving 24 H ourS
a
Day
It is not that this law applies only to brahmäcärés or sannyäsés— No. This law, that anyone who wants to get the mercy of the Lord must engage in devotional service 24 hours daily, applies to every initiated disciple in the Kåñëa Consciousness movement. Just like, the bee is very attached to the honey, similarly the devotee is very attached to the name of Kåñëa and to the process of devotional service. Because Kåñëa is absolute, devotional service to Kåñëa is the same as serving Kåñëa. By rendering the process of devotional service, one also develops the different qualities of the devotee. It is explained that these different qualities are the natural qualities of the soul, and if we execute devotional service 24 hours a day then these qualities will automatically manifest themselves. Just like within a match there is the ability to light a fire, or within milk there is the ability to produce butter, or within a knife there is the ability to cut something. When that match is touched, lit with the proper source, it lights fire; when the milk is churned, butter comes. Similarly, when we execute the process of devotional service 24 hours a day, these 26 qualities which are lying dormant within us at the moment, will manifest themselves. We should never forget that our business is to engage in devotional service 24 hours a day. Prabhupäda used to say that when the devotee goes to sleep, he dreams about Kåñëa. This way the devotee is always engaged in the process of devotional service. Another characteristic that Rupa Goswämé Prabhupäda mentioned is that a devotee is always reserved and perseverant. He is always grave. He tries hard to achieve the goal of succeeding in devotional service.
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Material attraction
Yet another characteristic isthat he is always detached from material attraction. The reason that we are in the material world is because of this material attraction, and if we get attracted tomaterial activities for objects again, we will continue to stay in the material world. In the Çrémad-Bhägavatam, Mahäräja Rsabhadeva after describing that the sense gratification is the activity of a madman says, “O living entity, you do not realize that this body which is presently giving you trouble is because of your materialistic activities in your previous lives. And now again you want to get attracted to materialistic activities? What a shame!” The devotee stays away from all types of material attractions because they keep him away from the lotus feet of the Lord. The lotus feet of the Lord are only accessable to those who are materially exhausted. We should take spiritual life very seriously, always keeping the enemy in the forefront of our mind. We do not want to keep the enemy behind. We always want to beware of the enemy so that we can keep our spiritual position safe. no reSpect
of
Self
Another characteristic is that a devotee never longs for any material respect in return for activities. The devotee does not long for any respect for his service. He is ready to offer all respects to others, but for himself, he does notmay want respect. should bemay very carefully understood. One be any working veryThis hard, and one be executing devotional service very successfully, but the devotee always remembers that Kåñëa says in the Gétä, “I am the ability in man.” And Kåñëa also says in the Bhagavad-gétä, “I am the source of intelligence.” So the devotee is able to perform some activities successfully. He does not want some respect for that, because Kåñëa is the ability. Kåñëa has manifested his ability through that particular devotee, and if he is very intelligent, that also is coming from Kåñëa. Therefore, the devotee does not hanker for any respect,
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but he is ready to offer all respects to others. And if he issuccessful in some task, he gives the credit to his spiritual master and the Supreme Lord. Because the Supreme Lord clearly says that He is the ability in man. Of course this does not mean that one does not follow the vaiñëava etiquette in dealing with different individuals in different levels of spiritual realization. The vaiñëava etiquette is there, but even if one is dishonored, one takes to the mercy of Kåñëa, and from his own side he always attempts to behumble. Devotee
iS
alwayS certain
The next characteristic is that the devotee is always certain that Kåñëa will bestow His mercy upon him. It isexplained in reference to this characteristic that the devotee hopes against hope that Kåñëa will bestow His mercy upon him. He never gets discouraged. He is confident that if he endeavors in executing devotional service to the best of his ability, Kåñëa will definitely help him out. This also we should be aware of, because very often when things get difficult, we tend to get discouraged. But we should always remember that Kåñëa is watching us, and if we persist hoping that Kåñëa’s mercy will fall, Krishna will definitely benedict the devotee. You see from the first worldly biography that Prabhupäda had translated the wholeBhagavad-gétä, and then he could not find any publisher who was ready to publish it. But then he finally found someone who was ready to help in the publishing, and when he went back to Calcutta he found out that his servant had sold the manuscript. But still Prabhupäda persisted and then translated the whole Gétä again. Imagine translating the wholeBhagavad-gétä by hand! At that time Prabhupäda had no assistance, no secretäries, no typists. He hand-wrote the whole translation, and still even though it was stolen, he still persisted. The devotee is always hoping that Kåñëa’s mercy will fall upon him,and he will be successful in fulfilling the orders of the spiritual master and the Lord.
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Serve
One more characteristic is that the devotee is always very eager to serve the Lord faithfully. He wants to serve the Lord with love. In the Bhagavad-gétä Kåñëa says that He wants our devotional service with love, not just out of compulsion. Kåñëa Consciousness is defined to consist of three characteristics—pavitram, su-sukham, avyayam. Pavitram means the process of devotional service is the purest. Su-sukham means that it is happily performed. So if one renders devotional service happily and enthusiastically with love for Kåñëa, then Kåñëa will also reciprocate. Ofcourse, in the initial stages we may execute devotional service as a matter of duty, but if we sincerely do it as a matter of duty, that duty will culminate in love, then we will want to lovingly serve Kåñëa. Just like themother. A conscientious mother takes care of her child with love. She does not take care of the child grudgingly. Similarly, the devotee wants to serve Lord Kåñëa faithfully with love.Whatever duty is assigned, he is ready to execute it with love and faith. We should always remember that whatever service we do for Kåñëa, it should be done with love and faith. Our mentality should not be that I should try to get out of this service by some excuse or some pretext or the other. We should always remember that Kåñëa as the Paramätmä is situated within everyone’s heart, in that position He knows whether we are able to serve Him honestly or not able to serve Him. So we should never lose sight of the fact that whatever service we are asked to do, we should do it with love and faith that Kåñëa will accept our service. Very often when we are assigned something, we may turn our anger against the temple authority that is assigning us thatservice, but we should understand that since that serviceis being requested for the pleasure of Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s objectives, there is nothing to lose. Sometimes our devotees say that I have been exploited or that I have been overused, but there is no question of spiritual exploitation. Whatever service one has done stays to one’s
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eternal spiritual credit, otherwise the wholeBhagavad-gétä would become false. In the Bhagavad-gétä Kåñëa says, nehäbhikrama-näço ’sti pratyaväyo na vid yäte sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya träyate mahato bhayät
(SB 2.40)
“Whatever service one has rendered to Me, that will never go in vain.” If one has worked hard for Kåñëa, Kåñëa isnot going to forget that. We should always keep this in mind that devotional service, whatever we do will never go in vain, and whatever service we are asked, we should do it with love for the pleasure of the Lord.
coal -l ike Heart
Another characteristic is that the devotee is very attachedto chanting the holy name of the Lord. This we all know. We should be very attached to the chanting of the holy name. Prabhupäda used to give the example that just like a fish cannot live outside of water even for a minute, the devotee does not want to stay away from the chanting of the holy name, even for a minute. When one cannot chant the holy name because of the service that he may be rendering, then one could always meditate on the holy name, the different pastimes of Lord, he has created thisthe material manifestation, how thethe Lord willhow annihilate this, how Lord is performing such wonderful activities in association with his devotees. If we do not have this attachment for the holy name, that means the material disease is very strong within our heart. That means, material desires are still very dominant. So these material desires can be quenched if we develop attachment for the holy name. Prabhupäda used to say that the heart is as black as coal. Normally, coal cannot become white, but the chanting of the holy name is so powerful that it can convert the black coal-like heart into a white heart.
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krSna only…..
Another characteristic is that the devotee is always eager todescribe the transcendental qualities of the Lord. When you love someone, you always want to talk about him.Similarly, the devotees love Kåñëa, and because they love Kåñëa, they are always anxious to talk about His Bhägavatam glories. There are so many glories about Kåñëa, and the explains that the person who describes these glories and the person who hears these glories, all are benefited. The devotees are not interested in prajalpa. They are not interested in idle talk. Somehow or the other, they should get attracted to describe the transcendental glories of the Lord. Even when we meet each other, we should be talking, “Oh, you know that in the Bhägavatam it says, Kåñëa is this, Kåñëa is that.” Always talk about describing Kåñëa’s transcendental glories, both to the devotees and to the non-devotees. living
in
Devotee aSSociation
Another characteristic is that the devotee is very pleased to live in a place where the Lord’s transcendental pastimes are performed. That means that wherever the Lord’s pastimes are performed and His associate devotees are living, the devotee wants to live there. Caitanya-Caritämåta advises that one should avoid the association of non-devotees. The Lord’s pastimes are being performed not just in Våndävana, Mathura, or Dvaraka, but they are being performed wherever the Lord is being worshiped. Like wehave a very beautiful Sri Sri Radha-Manohara temple here, the Lord is also performing His pastimes here. Every morning the Lord is greeted inarati, devotees dance and chant in front of the Lord. The devotee wants to live in the association of other devoteesin the location where the Lord’s different pastimes are being performed. act like krSna ’S agentS
These are briefly the nine characteristics of devotional service that Rupa Goswämé recommends. It is also important to keep in
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mind the six characteristics that Rupa Goswämé outlines in the Sri Upadesamrta as necessary for success in spiritual life. We all have heard these things again and again, but just like in theBhagavadgétä Prabhupäda says, “Repetition is necessary to drive a point home.” Even though we have heard these things, we still forget them. Rupa Goswämé advises utsähän niçcayäd dhairyät tat-tat-karma-pravartanät saìga-tyägät sato våtteù ñaòbhir bhaktiù prasidhyati (NOI-3)
One should always be enthusiastic, one should have confidence that the process of devotional service will succeed, one should be patient, one should follow the rules and regulations, one should avoid the association of non-devotees, and one should follow the instructions the great if we keep six of guidelines in our mind forofsuccess in äcäryas spiritual. So life, then thethese process devotional service becomes very easy. It is very important that we take part in temple’s spiritual programs. It is very hard to be linked up to Kåñëa all thetime. There are no paramahaàsas here, to remember Kåñëa allthe time, like the instructions that we have just read. It is hard, but it becomes easy if we come and see the beautiful form of Kåñëa every morning, if we come and hear the Bhägavatam class, if we come to guru-puja. Then these services help us to reinforce our faith in the process of devotional service, and if our faith keepsgetting reinforced, then we will be able to succeed in the performance of devotional service. Please continue to come regularly to these programs, and if any of your god-brothers or god-sisters do not come, you should be Kåñëa’s agent and tell him, “Why aren’t you coming to the temple program? It is so lively. You will feel so spiritually strong.” We should all act like Kåñëa’s agents and encourage everyone to take part in these programs for the pleasure of the Lord.
CHAPTER
the Cure
for
7
our prIDe
evaà sa nirviëëa-manä nåpo gåhän niçétha utthäya mahodayodayät alabdha-nidro ’nupalakñito nåbhir hitvä gato vena-suvaà prasuptäm
(SB.4.13.47) Thinking like that, King Anga could not sleep at night. He became completely indifferent to household life. Once, therefore, in the dead of night, he got up from bed and left Vena’s mother (his wife), who was sleeping deeply. He gave up all attraction for this greatly opulent kingdom, and, unseen by anyone, he very silently gave up his home and opulence and proceeded towards the forest.
Purport: In this verse the word mahodayodayät indicates that by
the blessings of a great soul one becomes materially opulent, but when one gives up attachment to material wealth, that should be considered an even greater blessing from the great souls. It was not a very easy task for the King to give up his opulent kingdom and young, faithful wife, but it was certainly a great blessing of the Supreme Does notality of Godhead that he could give up the attachment and go out to the forest without being seen by anyone. There are many instances of great souls’ leaving home in this way in the dead of night, giving up attachment for home, wife and money.
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Do
not
by surrender
ImItate anImal
In reality, if we analyse the materialists in society today wewill see that the human being has become expert in imitating the animals. How? ähära-nidrä-bhaya-maithunaà ca sämänyam paçubhir dharmo hietat teñäm adhikonaräëäm viçeño dharmeëa hénäù paçubhiù samänäù
(Hitopadeça) Translation: Both animals and men share the activities of eating,
sleeping, mating, and defending. But the special property of the humans is that they are able to engage in spiritual life. Therefore, without spiritual life, humans are on the level of animals. The animals are interested for example, in mating without restricting and to an unlimited degree, and human being also is specializing in that. The animals, for example, are interested in eating without restriction or discrimination and human being is alsoat that stage. The human being today is just becoming expert in imitating the animals, and as a result, instead of utilizing this human life to become self-realized, he is becoming bodily realized. That is, he is just trying to find out the material means of the different senses and trying to satisfy that. The society today does not believe in the science of self-realization, but believes in the science of bodily realization, which is what the animals also believe in.
GIft from K. C. The Caitanya Caritämåtaexplains that the difference between the gift to the society from the Kåñëa Consciousness movement and the gift from these other philanthropic organizations is that one is attempting to take care of only the body which is perishable and the other is attempting to take care of that entity which is eternal and permanent. Like it is explained, there are three separate entities— one is the material entity within the body, the other is the spiritual
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entity, the soul, and then there is Supersoul, theParamätmä. The material sciences are all aimed at trying to satisfy the material entity that is subjected to destruction over a limited period. It is a limited period because it is not very long, the maximum it can extend itself to is one 100 years or 110 years, whereas, the gift of the Kåñëa Consciousness society is that it is teaching people the science by which they can take care of that entity that is eternal and everlasting. The Gétä explains, na jäyate mriyate vä kadäcin näyaà bhütvä bhavitä vä na bhüyaù ajo nityaù çäçvato ’yaà puräëo na hanyate hanyamäne career
(BG 2.20)
“The characteristic of the eternal entity is that there is no birth or death. Another characteristic of this eternal entity is that it is the oldest.” The majority of the population today is associating with the mode of passion and ignorance, and there is almost no trace of associating in the mode of goodness, leave aside in the mode of pure goodness. And what happens when thepeople are associating in the mode of passion and ignorance? This is explained in the Çrémad Bhägavatam that those who are associating with the modes of passion and ignorance, it results injust an increase of lust, anger, and greed. This is the position of the society today. Day by day, they are just increasing their lust, anger, and greed. We can see that. There may still be so many millionaires who are earning far in excess of what they need for their maintenance, but even these millionaires, just to get an extra dollar, will struggle andwork hard to any extent. We can see that they are increasing their lust, anger, and greed because of association with the modes of passion and ignorance. The leaders of the society are expert in increasing the people’s involvement in the mode of ignorance. The leaders of the country are telling people day and night, “Just think about your body. Just think that you are American first, and then something else.”
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Similarly, that is happening all over theworld. The leaders are busy making political speeches by which they are making the people think, “Think that you are Canadian first.” Like in Quebec, the politicians were attempting to make people think, “Think that you are first Quebecen, then Canadian.” Like in the western provinces of Canada now, where there is a right to separatism, people are being made to think, “Think you are first a citizen of western Canada, then Canada, then the world.” The leaders are just increasing the people’s involvement in the modeof ignorance by just making them feel that they are their bodies. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam says, mandasya manda-prajïasya vayo mandäyuñaç ca vai nidrayä hriyate naktaà divä ca vyartha-karmabhiù
(SB 1.16.9)
“The characteristics of people in the age of Kali is that they are lazy, unfortunate, misguided, and unhappy.” The population today is misguided and hence, unhappy —No one is preaching that this material world is temporary. No one! And the living entity thinks that he can go on enjoying sense gratification eternally. Sometimes we see that in Taverns—our devotees go to Taverns to do sankirtan— they can see people who are enjoying, who are drinking one after another drink, and they want to go on drinking, but when it is one or two o’clock in the night, the manager comes and says, “Now it is time to close the shop. You have to get out.” But the does not does not want to get out. He is enjoying. He wants to go on drinking, but the manager comes and says, “No, now the tavern is going to close. Get out.” Similarly, the material world functions in a similar way. The living entity, ‘even if he is enjoying, would want to go on enjoying, but death is going to come and say, “Now it is time to get out.” And the living entity will forcibly have to get out. The living entity, as long as he does not realize what is or wherein lies his real benefit, as long as he does not understand the difference between matter and spirit, he can never be happy. Therefore, the
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gift of the Kåñëa Consciousness society is considered the highest benefit because it gives people information about the eternal entity that is existing within everyone’s body.
mahaprabhu ’s merCy Caitanya-Caritämåta explains, mahä-kåpä-pätra prabhura jagäi, mädhäi ‘patita-pävana’ nämera säkñé dui bhäi
(Cc Adi 10.120)
“Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu has freely given this love of God to the entire humanity, including the most fallen entities like Jagäi and Madhäi.” We all know how fallen these two entities were. They were drunkards, womenisers, meat-eaters; they were performing every type of sinful activity. And Prabhupäda explains in the purport that at that time, 500 years ago, there were only a few people of this type, but today it is no longer considered to be shameful to indulge in these things. Rather, if in the modern society, one is not engaging in meat-eating, if one is not engaging in unrestricted illicit sex, if one is not engaging in gambling and consumption of alcohol, he is considered to be insane. The society is so degraded that if somebody wants to abstain from these sinful activities, he is considered to be insane. We can see practically that when somebody joins the Kåñëa Consciousness society, the parents and other members of society are very upset of this fact, and when they succeed in kidnapping a devotee back into material life, the first thing they do is that they force him to engage in one of these illicit activities, because these illicit activities are no longer considered abominable by thesociety. The point we are illustrating is that the society today is in a very, very degraded position. They are very unfortunate. The people do not know what or where is their benefit, like Prahläda Mahäräja says,
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na te viduù svärtha-gatià hi viñëuà duräçayä ye bahir-artha-mäninaù andhä yathändhair upanéyamänäs te ’péça-tantryäm uru-dämni baddhäù
(SB 7.5.31)
“The living entities have no understanding of where lies their real benefit.” Therefore, this philosophy of Caitanya Mahäprabhu is that the utilization of the human life is to accept the directions of the revealed scriptures. This has to be propogated with the greatest vigor because the living entities today, as the Çrémad-Bhägavatam says, are completely misguided. The Bhägavatam clearly says that the leaders are going to misguide the people in the age of Kali. The leaders we know, are misguiding the people, therefore, those who are being misguided, their vision hasto be corrected and that can only be corrected by the members of this Kåñëa Consciousness society.
postDateD Cheques The Çrémad Bhägavatam says that the humanity can be happyonly by taking to the process of Kåñëa Consciousness. The happiness of the universe can be realized if somehow or other they are made to take to the process of devotional service. The process of happiness for the world is not by making some material arrangement, not by signing material treaties, and not by promising economic growth. The materialists are always promising. Prabhupäda used to call it post-dated cheques. They are always making promises, but we can see that these promises are not being realised as time goes on. The real solution to the suffering of society or the real solution to the desire of the individual to become happy is to somehow or theother take to the process of Kåñëa Consciousness. Kåñëa Consciousness is the process by which the living entity can become happy, can put to end to his sinful activities and can get out ofdistress. This is confirmed by Rupa Goswämé in theBhakti-rasämåta-sindhu, where
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he says that by taking to the process of devotional service, the living entity terminates the performance of sinful activities, and as soon as the living entity terminates the performance of sinful activities, he experiences a blissful life.
bIG feast all alone
We have information that during the time that Caitanya Mahäprabhu was on this planet, even millionaires gave up everything to take to the cause of propagating the mission of the Lord. For example, Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé—he was a millionaire at that time. Prabhupäda explains that 500 years ago, his income wasmore than one lakh rupees a month—that is about $12,000 a month, 500 years ago. If you were to multiply by the annual inflation rate of 10%, if you were to multiply by the inflation of the past five hundred years, 500 X 10 i.e. 5,000, so if you were to multiply that by 5,000 you can see that this income is not a small amount. Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé was the son of a very very rich father, in fact he was one of the richest men at that time. When he heard about Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s movement, he developed agreat attraction towards it, and he was thinking of joining it, but his father was very worried. Just like these days, no one wants to see his son join the Kåñëa Consciousness movement, Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé’s father and mother also were in great anxiety, and so they got him married to a very beautiful girl, hoping that he would get attached to this young girl and give up the desire, the thought of going with Caitanya Mahäprabhu. But Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé stillgave up the company of material people and joined Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s movement because he wanted to propagate Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s philosophy. And then, even after he left, his father would still send men to Raghunätha Goswami trying to bring him back. But Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé was determined not to come back and he was getting an allowance of about four hundred rupees a month from his father which he was using for distributing prasadam to all
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the brähmaëas. And after some time, Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé even stopped his father’s servant from coming to see him every month with this money. Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé became a mendicant, and he started living by begging his food on thefootsteps of the Jagannatha Puri temple. Caitanya Mahäprabhu had put Svarupa Damodara, his private secretäry, in charge of Raghunätha Das’ spiritual training. Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé who had led a life of such great comfort, started obtaining his food by standing on the footsteps of the Jagannatha Puri temple, and as time went on he even stopped that. Caitanya Mahäprabhu once inquired from Svarupa Damodara, “Where is Raghunätha, I do not see him these days at all,” and he replied that he does not stand on the staircase anymore for food, but now he is only picking the rice which is thrown away by the brähmaëas of this temple when they wash their rice—when rice is washed in water, the dirty rice is thrown out— now he is just taking that rice and eating. Caitanya Mahäprabhu went to Raghunätha’s house and said, “You arehaving these big, big feast all alone. Why do not you invite us also?” Previously, when Raghunätha was getting his allowance fromhis house every month, he would invite all the brähmaëas and Caitanya Mahäprabhu also. But we can see from this story that how Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé, who was born in such a rich family, gave up everything, gave up all material comforts, gave up everything just to be an active member of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s sankirtan movement. The devotee of the Lord does not maintain any attachment, just like King Anga. He displayed complete renunciation by giving up all the facilities that he had. The devotee of the Lord wants to give up all pride, all anger, just to immerse himself in the desires of the Lord.
prIme DesIre
of the
Devotee
As we said, the prime desire of the devotee is to try to fulfil the mission of the Lord. The mission of the Lord is to re-establish the principles of religion, because if the principles of religion are re-
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established, then the society can benefit. Sometimespeople say that the Lord appeared to kill the miscreants, but actually there isno need for the Lord to appear to kill the miscreants. The Lord’s energiesare so powerful that they can take care of the killing job. For example, recently in Italy they have had a severe earthquake in which thousands and thousands of people have died. It was not necessary for the Lord to appear, just one of his energies did the work and so many people died. But the Lord appears to establish the principles of religion. This is the prime desire of the Lord that somehow or the other the principles of religion be established, and as we said we can see in the society today, nobody has any understanding about what is the real goal of life. Nobody is understanding that the goal of human life is to render service to the Does notality of Godhead or to follow the revealed scriptures. Prabhupäda explained that just like Lord Kåñëa appeared 5,000 years ago, he has appeared again in the present age in the womb of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement. Prabhupäda explained that Kåñëa has appeared in the womb of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement to take care of the demons. Just like Kåñëa appeared 5,000 years ago to take care of Kamsa and the other demons, Lord Caitanya also was able to destroy the demons and the imdoes notalists by his philosophy. Prabhupäda has explained that Kåñëa has appeared in the present age in the womb of the Kåñëa Consciousness movement. And this Kåñëa Consciousness movement can destroy the demons, but the process of destroying has been adjusted for the present age. The process of taking care of the demons, as we said, has been adjusted in the age. That is, in the previous ages, the demons were taken care of by killing them. But in this age the process of taking care of the demons is not the same. The process of taking care of the demoniac mentality is to somehow or the other to enlighten them about the science of Kåñëa Consciousness. The enlightenment would take place through the mediumof book distribution, through the medium of prasadam distribution, or through the medium of directly talking and through the medium of maintaining very nice
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temples of the Lord so that those demons who are completely misled can be brought to the temples of theLord, and they can get the opportunity of hearing the transcendental message of theLord. So, Kåñëa has taken birth in the womb of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement to re-establish the principles ofdharma. The principles of dharma were lost—science of the Bhagavadgétä was first imparted “imaà vivasvate yogaà” to the sun-god, Vivasvan, but then the science was lost and therefore it became necessary for Kåñëa to impart this scienceto Arjuna again, and then over a period of time, the science was again lost, and then Caitanya Mahäprabhu re-established this science. And then again after the disappearance of Caitanya Mahäprabhu, foolish followers were beginning to misrepresent His philosophy and again it became necessary for a great does notality like Öhäkura Bhaktivinoda to appear and re-establish the principles of dharma. Similarly, the Kåñëasuccession Consciousness it exists is in the disciplic tracingmovement back 5,000asyears, andtoday, the purpose of this movement being born in the western countries in 1965 isonce again to re-establish the principles ofdharma. That is, again to reestablish the principles of religion by which the society can benefit. This is the prime purpose, to re-establish the principles of religion. And the principles of religion can be re-established if every member of the society understands the purpose, and dives into this ocean, this nectarean ocean of Caitanya Mahäprabhu.
relIshInG
the
blIss
The mission is to make the suffering humanity happy by getting them to take to this Kåñëa Consciousness. And the process of getting people to take to Kåñëa Consciousiness is known as the process of sankirtana, and it is explained in the Caitanya-Caritämåta that the water in the ocean in which Caitanya Mahäprabhu is swimming with his associates is so sweet, unlike the water of other rivers and oceans where it is salty. This water is so sweet that one who tastes it
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just feels like tasting more and more. Anyone who takes part in this activity of helping to propagate the missionof the Lord, establish to the principles of religion, and relishes the bliss more and more. Çréla Prabhupäda once said that this execution of Kåñëa Consciousness is like wrestling. A wrestler—the more he wrestles, the more he practises, the stronger he becomes. This Kåñëa Consciousness is of that type. The people with the greater faith, themore tolerant they are in executing Kåñëa Consciousness, the more tolerant we are in trying to understand the desires of the Lord, the greater we willbe, the stronger we will be spiritually. “All of them who are surrendering unto Me, I reward them accordingly .” This month of December is known throughout ISKCON as the month of marathon. That is, the month in which everyone gives up everything else to just try and take advantage of the festive mood in which the people are, to try to take advantage of the spending mood which theservice. peopleAs are,weand getsaid themintothe engage in some type of in devotional have past, there are two types of devotional service. One is devotional service performed knowingly, and one is performed unknowingly. That is, unknowingly means that the does not may donate something for something which will end up being used in the service of the Lord. But he also obtains benefit, just like, even if a child wants to touch fire, the child’s hand will get burned. The fire would not say that you were ignorant, therefore your hand is not going to be burned. Similarly, the nature of devotional service isso potent that knowingly or unknowingly, anyone who renders service, he derives permanent benefit. Throughout ISKCON, traditionally, the month of December is the month of the marathon in which everyone takes part with the greatest enthusiasm to try and push on this Kåñëa Consciousness to the maximum effort possible. One positive result of taking part in this sankirtan process is that it forces the devotee to become very very humble. Sankirtan is the process by which one is forced to become humble. Anywhere, if you have a garbage bag—a lot of garbage accumulates in it—when the garbage is full,
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you go and throw the garbage out. Similarly, by staying back in the temple, or by doing activities other than sankirtan, very often pride and other things develop in the living entity, but this sankirtan is the process where one is forced to dump out his pride, because it forces the living entity to become very very humble, for we have to approach the materialists in a very humble frame of mind, and then we are successful in convincing the other entity to take the product, the book, or whatever we are offering.
Dump your prIDe This sankirtan is a very purifying activity. It purifies even the devotee because it forces the devotee to dump out his arrogance and pride, and adopt a very humble posture, and humility is always an asset in spiritual life. So this month of December is the month where everyone takes part in the Christmas marathon very enthusiastically to try and get peopleto perform devotional service knowingly or unknowingly. This Kåñëa Consciousness is the only thing that can benefit the entire humanity, and the devotees of the Kåñëa Consciousness movement are convinced that except for this, there is no other alternative. Every attempt should be made to broadcast this Kåñëa Consciousness to the people in the present month because this is the only source of relief for the present humanity. Kåñëa wants His devotees to always work for Him. Imagine if we all had plenty of opulence, then it is pretty sure we would have become like the Vatican, where there is so much of opulence that people are getting spoiled, but Kåñëa is forcing the entire society to struggle from morning till night to maintain itself and to expand. He is forcing all the devotees to work hard. If Kåñëa wanted, he could have made the Pandavas victorious very easily. Kåñëa did not need the battlefield of Kuruksetra to madethe Pandavas victorious or to re-establish Yudhiñöhira on throne, but Kåñëa wanted the Pandavas to work hard to get that bliss. It is just like if you get
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something very easily in the material world, you donot really relish it. But if you get something with great difficulty, you relish it more. Say we were just chanting Hare Kåñëa and donations were pouring in blindly, we would not really relish the execution of devotional service very much, but now we have to struggle and because we have to struggle, we can relish every penny that comes in. And we value it even more. This is a part of Kåñëa’s plan to make His devotees work from morning till night, to maintain Histemples, to distribute books, and distribute Krsna Consciousness. Hare Kåñëa!
CHAPTER
8
the goAL iS to Serve kriShnA eva madhyavasäyainaà munayo güòha-manyavaù upavrajyäbruvan venaà säntvayitvä ca sämabhiù
(SB 4.14.13)
The great sages, having thus decided, approached King Vena. Concealing their real anger, they pacified him with sweet words and then spoke as follows. munaya ücuù nåpa-varya nibodhaitad yat te vijïäpayäma bhoù äyuù-çré-bala-kérténäà tava täta vivardhanam
(SB 4.14.14) “The great sages, having thus decided, approached King Vena. Concealing their real anger, they pacified him with sweet words and then spoke as follows.” Purport: “The
great sages said: Dear King, we have come to give you good advice. Kindly hear us with great attention. By doing so, your duration of life and your opulence, strength, and reputation will increase.”
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According to Vedic civilization, in a monarchy the king is advised by saintly persons and sages. By taking their advice,he can become the greatest executive power, and everyone in his kingdom will be happy, peaceful and prosperous. The great kings were very responsible in taking the instructions given by great saintly personalities. The kings used to accept the instructions given by great sages like Paräçara, Vyäsadeva, Närada, Devala and Asita. In other words, they would first accept the authority of saintly persons and then execute their monarchical power. Unfortunately, in the present age of Kali, the head of government does not follow the instructions given by the saintly persons; therefore neither the citizens nor the men of government are veryhappy. Their duration of life is shortened, and almost everyone is wretched and bereft of bodily strength and spiritual power. If citizens want to be happy and prosperous in this democratic age, they should not elect rascals and fools who have no respect for saintly persons.
AdvAntAge of the humAn Life Here, we see that the great sages are addressing the King and telling him, “We have come to give you good advice, so please hear us.” But unfortunately, King Vena was so deep into the modes of passion and ignorance that he was not able to appreciate the good advice of the brähmaëas. Very often in our preaching we meet people and we humbly tell them, “Please take to Kåñëa Consciousness, please take advantage of the human life,” but they are unable to take advantage of this because they are completely influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance. Similarly, King Vena, because he had this power, he was completely intoxicated with it and hence, was unable to appreciate the advice of thebrähmaëas. The great sages, namely thebrähmaëas’ interest was to try and engage the population on the path of God Consciousness by showing them the path of devotional service becausethe qualification of the enlightened entity—that is the brähmaëa—is that he knows how to utilize this human form of life. Just like a smart businessman
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knows how to make the best use of money, a devotee of the Lord knows how this human form of life can be utilized, and because of this knowledge he is interested in seeing that the entire humanity takes advantage of the human life and engages in practicing the principles that are explained in the revealed scriptures.
tAke SheLter
of
krSnA
In this verse, the brähmaëas are strictly saying, “By doing so, your duration of life and your opulence, strength and reputation will increase.” A similar sentiment is expressed by Queen Kunti. Queen Kunti, addressing the Lord, says, ime jana-padäù svåddhäù supakvauñadhi-vérudhaù vanädri-nady-udanvanto hy edhante tava vékñitaiù
(SB 1.8.40)
“My dear Lord, the trees are giving unlimited fruits, the rivers are full of water and minerals, and the mountains are also giving minerals, there is plenty of opulence all around, and all this opulence is all around because of your merciful glance”. The point is that if one engages in the performance ofYajïa, the Lord bestows His merciful glance, and the result of the merciful glance is that there isopulence. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä where the Lord says, “Food grains come from rains, and rains come from sacrifice.” The brähmaëas are here making the point, which is confirmed in the Bhagavad-Gétä, “Unless King Vena, you learn to perform Yajïa, you will not be able to realize unlimited opulence.” The Bhägavatam says that whatever one may desire, one should take shelter of the Lord. The Bhägavatam states, “whether one wants liberation completely, or one wants materialbenefits, or one wants to fulfil some material ambition, or one wants merging, liberation, one should take shelter of Kåñëa.” Thebrähmaëas are
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also making the same point in a different way. They are saying, ‘‘If you take shelter of Kåñëa, if you take to the process of devotional service, then your duration of life will increase. You will get wealth, you will get strength, plus you will get reputation.” If we desire to be successful in life, we have to takeshelter of Kåñëa. The Bhagavadgétä also confirms that one may take shelter of Kåñëa under a variety of situations. The Gétä states catur-vidhä bhajante mäà janäù sukåtino ’rju na ärto jijïäsur arthärthé jï äné ca bh aratarñabha
(BG 7.16)
That four types of people come to the Lord: one who wants some knowledge, one who is in distress, one who is inquisitive, and one who may desire material wealth. But the Gétä says, “All these four are to be considered pious.” The point we are making is that human life should be utilized for executing the principles of devotional service. And whatever one may desire, whether it may be wealth, liberation, or devotional service, one should take shelter of the Personality of Godhead. And this is exactly what thebrähmaëas are doing. They are feeling sorry that King Vena is not abiding by the directions of the revealed scriptures, so they are trying their bestto stress to him that human life should be utilized for practicing the principles of God-consciousness. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam also states that väsudeva-parä vedä väsudeva-parä makhäù väsudeva-parä yogä väsudeva-paräù kriyäù väsudeva-paraà jïänaà väsudeva-paraà tapaù väsudeva-paro dharmo väsudeva-parä gatiù
(SB 1.2.28, 29)
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whatever one may desire, one should take shelter of Kåñëa. The Bhagavad-gétä states, “In the very beginning of creation, the Lord sent forth the demigods and men and said, ‘Be thou happy by the performance of Yajïa or sacrifice’.” From the very beginning of creation, the happiness could be realized by performingYajïa. Since King Vena was not performingYajïas, the brähmaëas knew he would be in distress because unless one performsYajïa, one cannot realize happiness.
goAL
of
ALL ActivitieS
The Bhägavatam says, “The purpose of the vedic studies is to understand Vasudeva.” This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä where the Lord says, “By all thevedas, I am to be known.” Though there may be different portions in the Vedas—there is thekarmakäëòa portion, the jïäna-käëòa portion, etc., but the real purpose of the vedic study is to understand Vasudeva. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam explains, “The purpose of entire vedic scriptures is to bring the living entity to understand Vasudeva, the Personality of Godhead.” Then it says, “The goal of all sacrifices is to understand Vasudeva.” The goal of sacrifices is not to realize some personal benefit.
Take the example of different yogis who go through such great austerities but do not understand that the goal of sacrifices is to please Vasudeva. Prabhupäda gives the example that in the summer months some yogis light fire all around them and sit in the middle of the fire. And in the very cold season, they go in the cold water and stay in that water for extended periods. This is their process of performing sacrifices. But that isnot recommended. The Bhägavatam says that the goal of all sacrifices should be to serve Vasudevaand not just to acquire some materialbenefit or fame. If one may surround himself with burning fire in the height of summer, or if one dips himself in cold water when it is extremely cold, it is not service to Vasudeva. Therefore, the Bhägavatam rejects this and says, “Only perform those sacrifices which are for the pleasure
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of Vasudeva.” Then it says, “One of Kåñëa’s names is Yogesvara. Yogesvara means the master of yoga.” And in the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä the Lord states, “The topmost yogi isone who is meditating upon Me.” Thus, the goal of yoga is also to understand Vasudeva. The goal of yoga is not to improve one’s body so that he can further extend sense gratification. These days we see alot of people jogging. Even if it is –20°, we have seen people jogging on the street from early in the morning to late at night, at all hours. The other day I was being driven from the Vancouver temple to the airport at 12:00 midnight, and I saw three people jogging at this hour. But the goal of their jogging is to get sense gratification—they can get better muscles, better body, and further engage in sense gratification. Similarly people take to yoga so that they can further engage in sense gratification. However, the Bhägavatam says, “Yoga should be utilized just for servingVasudeva, and real yoga is to meditate on the Supreme who is situated in the heart as theParamätmä.” Then it says, “The goal of fruitive activities should also be to serve Kåñëa.” People want to engage in activities, they want to earn money. OK, earn money, but use that money for Vasudeva. You want to do big business—do big business. You want to engage in fruitive activities—do it, but give the offering toKåñëa. Even if one wants to engage in fruitive activities, the goal should be to serve Kåñëa.
goAL
of
knowLedge
Further it says, “If you want to be very knowledgeable, then have this knowledge about Vasudeva, but do not speculate.” Those who want to become knowledgeable, they are always speculating. They are speculating not only about what human life is meant for, but they are also speculating on the Absolute. They are also speculating about who the Lord is, and they are also speculating on the words of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gétä the Lord says, “There are four types of people who do not understand Me, and one of them is the
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speculator.” The jnani, or those who speculate, they are described in the Bhagavad-gétä to be miscreants. The purpose of jïäna is not to speculate, but the purpose of jïäna is to understand Vasudeva, the cause of all causes.
goAL
of
AuSterity
Then it says, “This tapo—austerity can only be performed in the human life.” Tapocannot be performed in the animal life. You cannot tell the animals, “Oh, please refrain from these sinful activities.” You cannot tell the animals, “You must fast today” or “You must get up at this time.” You cannot tell these things to the animals. Tapo or austerity is strictly for human beings. Therefore, theBhägavatam is stating that one must perform tapo in the human form of life, but again the goal of that austerity should be to serveVasudeva. Just like the politicians—in India it isthe very common, it used especially during the British days that politicians would goto onbeafast. They would fast for 2 weeks, 3 weeks, or 4 weeks to get some dead goal realized—to get fame, they would go on a hunger-fast. That type of tapasya is rejected by the Bhägavatam. Actually, one who does not eat for 20 days is undergoing austerities. Recently in Ireland six people underwent a fast for 40 days—when they were about to die, they broke the fast. Naturally, everybody enjoys eating, sonot to eat for 40 days is definitely austerity, but the goal of that austerity had some political motivation. Therefore it is rejected. TheBhägavatam says, “The goal of the austerity should be to pleaseVasudeva.”
goAL
of
dhArmA
Next it says, “The goal of the religious process should be to please Vasudeva.” Generally people take dharma (religion) for either liberation or some economic wealth. But the Bhägavatam says, “The topmost goal of life should be to serve Vasudeva.” So the goal of religion should be to serve Vasudeva. And religion should
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not be for some economic benefit or some fame, though initially somebody may take to religion with these different motivations, but they should culminate in service to Vasudeva. Therefore, the Çrémad-Bhägavatam states dharmaù projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra paramo nirmatsaräëäà satäà vedyaà västavam atra vastu çivadaàkià täpa-trayonmülanam çrémad-bhägavate mahä-muni-kåte vä parair éçvaraù sadyo hådy avarudhyate ‘tra kåtibhiù çuçrüñubhis tat-kñaëät
(S.B 1.1.2)
“This Çrémad-Bhägavatamrejects the other processes and rejectsthe principles of dharma, artha, käma, mokña, and instead it propounds the highest truth.” This is what this verse is stating. The goal of dharma should be to please Vasudeva, and pleasing Vasudeva should be the topmost goal of life.
devotionAL Service The point we were making in quoting this verse from theBhägavatam and the other verses prior to this was that from whatever angle one may look, the goal has to be to serveVasudeva. And Vasudeva can be served, according to the Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu, if one takes to the process of bhakti, or devotional service. Rupa Goswämé talks about devotional service and says that broadly there are three different stages of rendering devotional service. First stage iscalled rendering devotional service in practice. The second is called devotional service in ecstasy. And the third is devotional service in pure love of Godhead. And devotional service in practice has two symptoms. Devotional service in ecstasy has four. And devotional service in pure love of Godhead has six areas of division. Prabhupäda gives the example of a child. A child, when he is young and grows older, starts to walk because the parents know that the child has the ability to walk. The capacity to walk is inherent in the child and as the child approaches the age of one,
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the parents begin to teach the child how to walk, because the child has the capacity to walk—he just needs a little bit of direction. Similarly, devotional service is lying dormant within the heart of every living entity, but it has to be lit, and the process of lighting is known as the process of executing devotional service in practice. The members of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement are actually practising the first stage of devotional service—that is, devotional service in practice.
vAidhi BhAkti In this stage, that is the preliminary stage—devotional service in practice is divided into two areas. One is calledVaidhi-bhakti, the other is called Rägänuga bhakti. Vaidhi-bhaktimeans that one follows the rules and regulations very rigidly. One follows these rules and regulations even if he does not feel like following. In the Bhagavadgétä we see that Arjuna did not want to engage in this battle. Arjuna did not want to engage in the battle ofKuruksetra, but when Kåñëa told him to fight for Him, Arjuna willingly agreed to fight. Similarly, Vaidhi-bhaktimeans that there are certain regulations given, and we follow these regulations. Vaidhi-bhakti as we said means the process where one follows certain regulations with the understanding that by my performing, my following these regulations, I will be able toexecute devotional service. In the Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu it is explained that this Vaidhi-bhakti includes rules. What are the rules? You must chant 16 rounds attentively, you must come to mangal-arati, you must come to class, you must come to guru-puja, you must be there to greet the Deities. These rules are there, which is known as the process of Vaidhi-bhakti, in order to help the living entity free himself from the madness in which he has been living for a long time. Prabhupäda explains in theNectar of Devotion that just like a madman is taken to a psychiatrist, and that psychiatrist cures him, isn’t it? How does he cure him? He has several sittings with him,
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and in the process of several sittings he is able to cure the madman. Just like the psychiatrist can cure a madman, every living entity in the Bhägavatam is called mad—one who is leading a life based on the principles of sense gratification. TheBhägavatam says that one who is not following the instructions of the Lord in thehuman life should be considered mad. So each of us is mad, and this madness can be cured only if you go to a psychiatrist. And the psychiatrist is the process of devotional service. The process ofVaidhi-bhakti is a therapy by which our madness can be cured, and our desire to serve the Lord can be solidified. We should not underestimate the process of Vaidhi-bhakti. If we underestimate the process ofVaidhi-bhakti, we are underestimating the words of all the great äcäryas, including Rupa Goswämé Prabhupäda. This is a great insult to them. We should understand that if we are serious about rendering devotional service, then we should take to the process of Vaidhi-bhakti veryisrigidly and then with great sincere desire, and once this Vaidhi-bhakti executed, we will get to the stage of Rägänuga-bhakti. Rägänuga-bhakti is the stage where one develops spontaneous love for God, where one has developed love of God to the extent that even without being told, he wants to go on doing it. In the beginning, one takes to the process of Vaidhi-bhakti, but then he gets to the stage where he thinks, “Oh, these are my Deities. I have to work for them. I have to sew clothes for them. I have to make garlands for them. I have to bathe them.” In other words, he is automatically thinking how, he does not want to waste a minute to serve the Lord.
do not Become SAhAjiyA If we are serious about executing devotional service, then we must be very enthusiastic. We should not think, “I have reached the stage of Rägänuga-bhakti, that I do not have to attend mangal-arati or anything, and still I love Kåñëa.” That isSahajiyä. If one does not follow the process of Vaidhi-bhakti rigidly, in spite of being told one
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hundred times, that means he has no sincere desire toserve Kåñëa, and eventually such a person will not be able to live long in the association of devotees because if one does not take to this process seriously, the madness continues. Just like ifone does not take the doctor’s medicine completely, he cannot be cured completely. He will continue to remain sick. The medicine for us from material desires is this process of Vaidhi-bhakti. And we should take to the process of Vaidhi-bhakti with great enthusiasm. Prabhupäda says that enthusiasm is the key to going back to Godhead. He says in the Nectar of Instruction that one should not take the process of going back to Godhead lightly, but should take it very enthusiastically.
goAL
of
humAn Life
To summarize, the goal of human life is to execute devotional service which the brähmaëas are advising King Vena in this verse. And this devotional service can be performed if one understands that devotional service means serving Vasudeva, and devotional service can be practised very nicely if one takes to the process of Vaidhi-bhakti and executes it very rigidly. And whenever one executes Vaidhi-bhakti very rigidly, with great attention—-if you have a valuable diamond, you do not fool around with it, you make sure that the diamond cannot be stolen.—Similarly, the process of Vaidhi-bhakti is like a diamond. You should relish this diamond, not grudge over it. This diamond is so valuable. Therefore the devotee relishes the process of Vaidhi-bhakti. And if we can relish the process of Vaidhi-bhakti, we will be able to develop spontaneous love of God—-that is Rägänuga-bhakti. If this process of Vaidhibhakti is not executed sincerely, this will result in part-time love for Kåñëa, and the rest of the time love for material senses. We do not want to be part-time devotees of Kåñëa. If you do not want to be part-time devotees of Kåñëa, take to the process of Vaidhi-bhakti and develop love of God. Hare Kåñëa
CHAPTER
9
A BrÄhmAnA And A VAisnAVA mä jätu tejaù prabhaven maharddhibhis titikñayä tapasä vidyayä ca dedépyamäne ‘jita-devatänäà kule svayaà räja-kuläd dvijänäm
(SB 4.21.37) The brähmaëas and the vaiñëavas are personally glorified by their characteristic powers of tolerance, penance, knowledge, and education. By dint of all these spiritual assets, vaiñëavas are more powerful than royalty is. It is therefore advised that the princely order shoud not exhibit its material prowess before these two communities and should avoid offending them.
Påthu Mahäräja has explained in the previous verse the importance of devotional service for both the rulers and the citizens of the state. Now he explains how one can be steadily fixed Purport:
in devotional service. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, while instructing Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé, has compared the devotional service of the Lord with a creeper. A creeper has a feeble stem and requires the support of another tree to grow, and while growing, it requires sufficient protection so that it may not be lost. While describing the system of protection for the creeper of devotional service, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu has especially stressed protection from offenses unto the lotus feet of Vaiñëavas. Such offenses are called vaiñëavaaparädha. Aparädha means “offense.” If one commits vaiñëavaaparädhas, all of his progress in devotional service will be checked.
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Even though one is very much advanced in devotional service, ifhe commits offenses at the feet of a Vaiñëava, his advancement is all spoiled. In the çästras it isfound that a very great yogé, Durväsä Muni, committed a vaiñëava-aparädha and thus for one full year had to travel all over the universe, even to Vaikuëöhaloka, to defend himself from the offense. At last, even when he approached the Supreme Personality of should Godhead in Vaikuëöha, he was refused offenses protection. Therefore one be very careful about committing at the feet of a Vaiñëava. The most grievous type of vaiñëava-aparädha is called gurv-aparädha, which refers to offenses at the lotus feet of the spiritual master. In the chanting of the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this gurv-aparädha is considered the most grievous offense. Guror avajïä çruti-çästra-nindanam (Padma Puräëa). Among the ten offenses committed against the chanting of the holy name, the first offenses are disobedience of the spiritual master and blasphemy of the Vedic literature. The simple definition of Vaiñëava is given by Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu: a person who immediately reminds one of theSupreme Personality of Godhead, Kåñëa, is a Vaiñëava. In this verse, both Vaiñëavas and brähmaëas are mentioned. A Vaiñëava is a learned brähmaëa and is therefore designated as brähmaëa-vaiñëava, brähmaëa-paëòita or as a Vaiñëava and brähmaëa. In other words, a Vaiñëava is supposed to be a brähmaëa already, but a brähmaëa may not be a pure Vaiñëava. When a person understands his pure identity, brahma jänäti, he immediately becomes a brähmaëa. In the brähmaëa stage, one’s understanding of the Absolute Truth is mainly on the impersonal view. When abrähmaëa, rises tobased the platform of personal understanding of the however, Supreme Godhead, he becomes a Vaiñëava. A Vaiñëava is transcendental even to a brähmaëa. In the material conception, the position of a brähmaëa is the highest in human society, but a Vaiñëava is transcendental even to a brähmaëa. Both the brähmaëa and Vaiñëava are spiritually advanced. A brähmaëa’s qualifications are mentioned in Bhagavad-gétä as truthfulness, mental equanimity, control of the senses, the power of tolerance, simplicity, knowledge of the Absolute Truth, firm faith in the scriptures, and practical application of the brähminical qualities in life. In addition to all
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these qualifications, when one fully engages in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he becomes a Vaiñëava. Påthu Mahäräja warns his citizens who are actually engaged in the devotional service of the Lord to take care against offenses to the brähmaëas and Vaiñëavas. Offenses at their lotus feet are so destructive that even the descendants of Yadu who were born in the family of Lord Kåñëa were of destroyed due to offenses at any theiroffense feet. The Supreme Personality Godhead cannot tolerate at the lotus feet of brähmaëas and Vaiñëavas. Sometimes, due to their powerful positions, princes or government servants neglect the position of brähmaëas and Vaiñëavas, not knowing that because of their offense they will be ruined. This instruction of Påthu Mahäräja to his citizens is very significant. He is stating that the positions of thebrähmaëas and the Vaiñëavas should be very carefully understood, and the people should make sure that offenses are not being committed at the feet of the brähmaëas and the vaiñëavas. And in the purport, Prabhupäda explains how a vaiñëava is in a more exalted position than even a brähmaëa. We had discussed yesterday the conversation between Rämänanda Ray and Caitanya Mahäprabhu, and we had pointed out how Caitanya Mahäprabhu concluded that the position of a vaiñëava, one who is an unalloyed devotee of the Lord, is higher than one who follows the varëäçrama. The same point is made again over here by Prabhupäda in the purport. A brähmaëa has seven qualities, which are described in the eighteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä, and the qualities of a vaiñëava are also described in different places in Çrémad Bhägavatam, such as when Lord Kapila was instructing his mother Devahüti, and then when Närada Muni was instructing the Pracetäs.
Three Types
of
BirTh
According to NäradaMuni’s instruction to the Pracetäs in the fourth canto of the Çrémad-Bhägavatam, kià janmabhis tribhir veha çaukra-sävitra-yäjïikaiù
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karmabhir vä trayé-proktaiù puàso ’pi vibudhäyuñä
(SB 4.31.10) There are three different types of births that a living entity takes. The first birth is known as the birth by the semen, that is when the child comes out of the mother’s womb due to the relationship of the father and the mother. The second birth is described as when one takes initiation from a bonafide spiritual master, and that is called sävitra in sanskrit. The sävitra stage is when one takes initiation, and after taking initiation, one begins to follow certain rules and regulations in chanting the Hare Kåñëa mantra till astage is reached where he accepts a third initiation which is known asbrähmaëa initiation. That is the stage where one can worship Viñëu. It is only after one accepts the second initiation, the initiation of abrähmaëa, that one is qualified to do Deity service or cook in the temple of the Lord. The point now is that it is also stated in the revealed scriptures that in this Kali-yuga, everyone is açüdra—kalau çüdra-sambhavaù. The principle characteristic of this age is that everyone is açüdra. It does not mean that the çüdra cannot become a brähmaëa. A çüdra can also, upon gradually obtaining the necessary qualifications, become a brähmaëa.
A B rAhmAnA In the Vedas it is stated that abrähmaëa, who does not execute
caëòäla,abrähmaëa. devotional service is whereas if In a caëòäla executes devotional service, helike can abecome other words, the brähminical stage is acquired not on the basisof birth by semen, but on the basis of possessing the qualities of abrähmaëa. For example, an engineer—one does not acquire an engineering status on the basis of his birth in the family of an engineer, but one acquires that status on the basis of qualification. This is confirmed in thefourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä where the Lord states cätur-varëyaà mayä såñöaà guëa-karma-vibhägaçaù
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tasya kartäram api mäà viddhy akartäram avyayam
(BG 4.13) Here “guëa” means according to the quality. The spiritual understanding is that the brähmaëa is not rubber stamped. The brähminical status is acquired on the basis of one possessing the genuine qualification, and if one does not have the symptoms of a brähmaëa, if one is not displaying the qualities of abrähmaëa, then even if one is born in the family of a brähmaëa he is considered to be a caëòäla. Thus, the brähmaëa is not on the basis of birth by semen, but on the basis of obtaining the genuine spiritual qualification. The first great Vaiñëava who condemned this understanding was Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Öhäkura, and he openly criticized in his early preaching days this concept that one is a brähmaëa on the basis of birth and not by qualification, and his criticism was so severe that the brähmaëas had conspired to kill him. One of the police constables who was aware of this came and warned Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Öhäkura that you should be careful because there is danger to your life. The vaiñëavas or the transcendentalists obtain their knowledge from the scriptures, and as they obtain their knowledge from the scriptures, they do not get misled by the accusation that one born in a caëòäla family has to remain a caëòäla, and one born in a brähminical family is a brähmaëa just on the basis of his birth. Prabhupäda in the purport points out that avaiñëava is known as brähmaëa-vaiñëava or brähmaëa-pandita, whereas a brähmaëa is only known as a brähmaëa. A vaiñëava- not only has the qualities of a brähmaëa, but besides having the qualities of abrähmaëa, he is also an unalloyed devotee of the Lord. Whereas, one can have the qualities of a brähmaëa and at the same time, also believe that the Supreme could be impersonal in nature. Thus, we should carefully understand the difference between a vaiñëava and a brähmaëa, and this has been explained in the purport that we discussed. If one wants to be abrähmaëa, one can
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certainly acquire the qualities which a brähmaëa is supposed to acquire, but it does not necessarily follow that one will worship the Personality of Godhead in His personal feature, in His personal form. Whereas, a Vaiñëava is one who not only has the qualities of a brähmaëa, but also is convinced that the Supreme is a person, and the Supreme is the Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Kåñëa.
how GreAT Lord
is…
In the purport Prabhupäda states when a brähmaëa rises to the platform of personal understanding of the Supreme Godhead, he becomes a vaiñëava. A vaiñëava is transcendental even to the brähmaëa. So, in this connection, Prabhupäda used to relate the story of the brähmaëa and the cobbler. There was a brähmaëa who was performing the vedic rituals very regularly, and a cobbler who had unflinching faith in the powers of the Lord. Once when Närada Muni was on his way back to report to the Lord, thebrähmaëa requested Närada Muni to inquire from the Lord how many more times will he have to undergo birth and death in the material world. And the cobbler also presented the same request. When Närada Muni was returning, he asked the Lord to answer these two questions. The Lord replied thatthe brähmaëa can be told that he will have to take several births and deaths again in the material world, whereas the cobbler can be told that he willrealize freedom right after this life. And the Lord stated that when thebrähmaëa inquired what He was doing, tell him that I waspassing an elephant through the eye of a needle. When Närada Muni returned, he met the brähmaëa, and the brähmaëa inquired about the Lord’s response, NäradaMuni replied that the Lord stated that he would have to take his births several more times. Now the brähmaëa was performing all Vedic rituals very religiously and he was convinced that this was his last birth, so the brähmaëa doubted the words of the great sage Närada. To double check if Närada was not joking, or speaking something incorrect, he said, “OK, tell me, what the Lorddoing when you met
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him.” And he said, “He was passing an elephant through the eye of a needle.” And the brähmaëa said, “See, I knew you were joking. How can one pass an elephant through the eye of a needle?” And when the cobbler was informed that the Lord was pa ssing an elephant through the eye of a needle, he just jumped up in ecstasy saying, “How great the Lord is, He can plant a whole tree in a small seed—why can’t he pass an elephant through the eye of a needle.” Here, through this story we can see the difference between the concept of a vaiñëava and a brähmaëa. A brähmaëa may spend his time in acquiring the qualities, but unless one understands the personal nature of the Lord, one cannot also understand that the Lord is inconceivable. Thebrähmaëa or those who follow the path of impersonal realization are unable to understand and appreciate that the Supreme who is the creator of everything is inconceivable. They cannot understand how the Lord can create everything, the
Vaikuëöha, Lord His spiritual abode at the same can timebebepresent presentineverywhere and still in be a person.but Therefore, they conclude that the Lord is impersonal. In other words, they are limiting God. They are limiting God’s abilities, though they have the qualities of honesty, truthfulness, austerity, still because they are limiting God’s abilities, they think that the Lord is impersonal in nature. Whereas avaiñëava not only has the qualities of abrähmaëa— it is not that one can think, “Now I am avaiñëava—I don’t need to acquire the qualities of abrähmaëa,” No, this is very clearly stated in the purport by Prabhupäda. Prabhupäda states, brähmaëa“ vaiñëava.” A vaiñëava is known as vaiñëava-brähmaëa, whereas a brähmaëa is only a brähmaëa. A vaiñëava is one who has all the qualities of a brähmaëa, plus the fact that he worships the Lord in his personal feature, and understands that the Lord is inconceivabl e. The qualities of abrähmaëa are mentioned in Bhagavad-gétä as çamo damas tapaù çaucaà kñäntir ärjavam eva ca jïänaà vijïänam ästikyaà Brahmä-karma svabhäva-jam
(BG 18.42)
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which very briefly are as follows: peacefulness—a brähmaëa is supposed to be very peaceful; self-control—the desire to satisfy the different senses may emerge, but by dintof knowledge a brähmaëa is able to control it; austerity; purity; tolerance; honesty; wisdom; knowledge; and religiousness. These are the qualities of the brähmaëa
firsT QuALiTy
of A
VAishnAVA
The qualities of a vaiñëava, as we said, include the qualities of a brähmaëa. For example, Lord Kapila in describing the qualities of a vaiñëava, says titikñavaù käruëikäù suhådaù sarva-dehinäm ajäta-çatravaù çäntäù sädhavaù sädhu-bhüñaëäù
(SB 3.25.21) that the first quality of a vaiñëava is tolerance. The nature of the material world is that there are so many agitations, there are so many disturbances, but a vaiñëava is expected to become a dhéra— one who can tolerate all these agitations. In this verse which we are discussing, it is explained that one who has control over his senses is a king. So, a devotee of the Lord, known as avaiñëava has to tolerate external disturbance and internal disturbance. The internal disturbance is there in the the form form of of the the mind, different demanding satisfaction; and in the senses, subtle element presenting so many different proposes all the time. The mind is always presenting proposals for satisfaction. So, that is internal disturbance. And the external disturbance is that when a vaiñëava is out preaching, when a sädhu is out trying to broadcast the message of the Lord, he will get insulted, he will get offended, but he has to remain equipoised. Preaching is not easy because when one goes out and preaches, one has to make himself very humble, one has to make himself humble to both honor and dishonor.
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In the third canto of the Çrémad-Bhägavatam, in the purport to this verse, Prabhupäda says asädhu has to be extremely tolerant because even though he is presenting the most exalted message, most of the people do not want to receive it. So, we go and knock at doors. We tell people, please take this book, please take this knowledge, and please give us a little donation in exchange. And the people say, “Why are you begging? We don’t want this knowledge.” Lord Jesus Christ, a great devotee of the Lord, was crucified; the great sage Haridäsa Öhäkura was whipped in twentytwo marketplaces, but he still was tolerant and he went on with his determination to chant the holy names of the Lord. This quality of tolerance is very important for a vaiñëava or a sädhu because a sädhu is always prepared to accept dishonor.
whAT
is
preAchinG
Preaching means dumping out your false ego. When you go to preach, you are forced to dump out your false ego. For example, you have a garbage can and when the garbage piles up you have to throw the garbage out. Similarly, when you go out to preach, it does not matter by what process you are preaching, you have to be prepared to tolerate insults, you have to be prepared to be put in jail, one has to be prepared to face all types of inconveniences, and when one is prepared to face these inconveniences on behalf of the Supreme Lord, one is practising tolerance. But, when he is not prepared to accept insult, when is notheprepared accept dishonor on behalf of the Lord, thathemeans is not atogenuine vaiñëava. So we should always remember that preaching means dumping out your false ego, and preaching means being extremely tolerant. Caitanya Mahäprabhu stated: tåëäd api su-nécena taror iva sahiñëunä amäninä mäna-dena kértanéyaù sadä hariù
(The Çikñäñöaka Prayers 3)
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that one should be more humble than the straw in the street. The straw is so kind that everyone is walking over it, but it does not protest. More tolerant than a tree—the tree is so tolerant, summer may come, winter may come, but the tree is standing straight giving shelter to whoever comes over there. The thing is that this quality of tolerance must be there in avaiñëava.
The reAL meAninG
of
mercy
Another quality of avaiñëava mentioned by Lord Kapila to his mother Devahüti is mercifulness. Avaiñëava is defined as one who is merciful, not just to the 400,000 human species, but to the entire 8,400,000 species. That isreal mercy. Mercy means being merciful to the entire creation of the Lord. Just like, these days the present rulers do not know the meaning of population. Population means the entire 8,400,000 species, not just the 400,000 species in the human category. A vaiñëava is merciful, and he is merciful to the entire creation of the Lord. Just like when Parékñit Mahäräja saw that the kali was entering into his kingdom, he at once set out to strike it out, to send it away. He did not want anyone to be harmed in his kingdom. Thus, the real exhibition of mercy is when you are compassionate towards all living entities. And regarding this exhibition of mercy, there is an example of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. When Caitanya Mahäprabhu traveled through the forest of Jhära-khaëòa, he danced and chanted the holy names, and not only did everyone in his party, but also all the animals in the jungle and started dancing. The point is means that the devotee of the Lord iskaruëika he understands that mercy being compassionate to the creation of the Lord, including animals. Just like Prabhupäda used to say, when you go out on these harinäma parties and chant Hare Kåñëa, not only are you giving benefit to all the human beings who hear the Hare Kåñëa chant, but also the benefit is being realized by so many creatures that you cannot see, by so many insects, by the trees, flowers, by everyone. A vaiñëava, understanding the real meaning of mercy, chants the holy name of the Lord so that everyone can benefit.
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A T rue friend Another quality stated by Lord Kapila is that avaiñëava is a true friend to all living entities. Not like he has some friends and some enemies—No. The sädhu has no enemies. The sädhu may be an enemy of the other people, but he on his part has no enemies.” For example, the devotees of this Kåñëa Consciousness movement are trying to present this philosophy—we have no enemies. The materialists to whom we preach, consider us to be their enemies, but they are not our enemies. We are their friends, they are our friends. We want them to become Kåñëa consciousness, butbecause we are presenting the truth which is unpalatable to them, the sädhu becomes their enemy. But, the sädhu on his part is a friend of everyone, because he wants everyone to takeshelter of the Supreme Lord and perfect his life. Avaiñëava is also defined to mean that he is not unfriendly to anyone. A common principle in material life is that we have friends and we have enemies. But the sädhu has no enemies. He is friendly to everyone; no one is his enemy. Even the atheists, for example, are not his enemy. He is very peaceful.
sAdhu ’s ornAmenTs Sädhu is one who is decorated with these different sublime qualities, including sädhava. Sädhava means one who abides by the scriptures. The materialists are also decorating themselves, but they are decorating themselves with ornaments, mink coats, suits, and so on. Whereas the devotee, or a sädhu decorates himself with these transcendental qualities that we have briefly discussed, and one of them we said is sädhava, which means to abide by the scriptures. He strictly follows the process of vaidhi-bhakti. He strictly follows the process of sadhana-bhakti. He strictly follows what is there in the revealed scriptures without any interpretation. This point of sädhava is also to be very carefully understood because sometimes we see that people think that one can be a vaiñëava and still take a little bit of luxury, with the instructions
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freedom
by surrender
of the spiritual master, the great äcäryas and the vedic scriptures— no. A sädhu or a genuine vaiñëava has complete faith in the scriptures and the great äcäryas-sädhava. The injunctions of the Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu, which constitutes a law book of adevotee, should be very carefully followed. And if onevery carefully follows these instructions, then one will become an empoweredvaiñëava. Without the grace of Kåñëa, no one can be an empowered creature. In order to become an empowered vaiñëava, one has to develop all these different qualities that we havediscussed. In the fourth chapter of the Çrémad Bhägavatam, there is a very nice section where Närada Muni is instructing the Pracetäs about different qualities, and one of the verses is wherehe describes again the qualities of a vaiñëava. The point is that these qualities of a vaiñëava, which we have discussed, and the qulalities of a brähmaëa—these should be carefully cultivated. Likein the purport, Prabhupäda says, Caitanyathe Mahäprabhu instructing Sri Rupa Gosvämé has“Sri compared devotionalwhile service of the Lord with a creeper.” This devotional service is like a creeper. If we do not take care of it properly, if we do not cultivate these qualities properly, if we do not avoid the offences that I have listed briefly, there will be thorns that will comein the path of devotional service. And the nature of the thorn is that it makes your walking more difficult. If we do not follow these principles very strictly, we will notice that devotional service will be checked, the advancement will be checked.
Hare Kåñëa!
