ISKCON Mayapur Lectures

It'It''s Urgent, Please Respond

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:34:00 +0000

It's me, Emanuel. I really don't mean to inconvenience you with my email but am sorry, I made a little trip to UK, and I misplaced my luggage that contains my passport, cell phone, ticket and credit cards. I know this may sound odd, but it all happened very fast. I've been to the US embassy, they're willing to assist me fly without my passport but I'm out of cash, and I have to pay for my ticket. Please, can you lend me some funds right now? I'll be willing to pay you as soon as I get home.

Please reply as soon as you get this message, so that I can forward you my details to send funds to me in England in other to get a ticket home.

I await your response.
Emanuel Kaseder

It'It''s Urgent, Please Respond

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:33:00 +0000

Please reply as soon as you get this message, so that I can forward you my details to send funds to me in England in other to get a ticket home.

I await your response.
Emanuel Kaseder

HH Radhanath on HH Bhakti-tirtha Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:22:00 +0000

Click here to listen to / download this lecture.

Date: February 25, 2008 (Vyasa-puja of HH Bhakti-tirtha Swami)
Verse: Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.12.57
Speaker: HH Radhanath Swami
________________________________

rucaye pradat kardamaya tu madhyamam
daksayadat prasutim akutim ca yata apuritam jagat

TRANSLATION: The father, Manu, handed over his first daughter, Akuti, to the sage Ruci, the middle daughter, Devahuti, to the sage Kardama, and the youngest, Prasuti, to Daksa. From them, all the world filled with population.

PURPORT: The history of the creation of the population of the universe is given herewith. Brahma is the original living creature in the universe, from whom were generated the Manu Svayambhuva and his wife Satarupa. From Manu, two sons and three daughters were born, and from them all the population in different planets has sprung up until now. Therefore, Brahma is known as the grandfather of everyone, and the Personality of Godhead, being the father of Brahma, is known as the great-grandfather of all living beings. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (11.39) as follows:

vayur yamo 'gnir varunah sasankah
prajapatis tvam prapitamahas ca
namo namas te 'stu sahasra-krtvah
punas ca bhuyo 'pi namo namas te

"You are the Lord of air, the supreme justice Yama, the fire, and the Lord of rains. You are the moon, and You are the great-grandfather. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You again and again."

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Twelfth Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled "Creation of the Kumaras and Others."

________________________________

HH Radhanath Swami: In Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krsna speaks: aham bija-pradah pita, that he is the seed-giving father of all living beings. Acintya-bhedabheda-tattva is an all pervading force that pertains to every aspect of the material and spiritual workings, the inconceivable nature of simultaneous oneness and difference. There are eight million, four hundred thousand species of life, and unlimited living entities who are within these various species, so much variegatedness, but at the same time, there is always oneness. In this instance, we are all coming from the same source. We are factually all brothers and sisters, whether we are mosquitoes, or whether we are prime ministers.

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave an order to Haridasa Thakur and Nityananda Prabhu to preach, this was his message. "Go to everyone, do not discriminate what is their caste, what is their race, what is their education or economic condition. Go to everyone and give this simple message: Worship Krsna, chant the Holy Names of Krsna, speak about Krsna. Krsna is your mother, Krsna is your father, Krsna is your real wealth, Krsna is your very life and soul. "

Srila Prabhupada emphasized this. We could have our League of Nations or United Nations or so many other philanthropic, social, and political efforts to try to create unity in human society, but unless we have realization about real common connection that spirit souls are part of Krsna, children of Krsna, there is no possibility of any substantial peace in this world.

In this particular verse, Manu and Satarupa are just born from the body of Brahma. In the verses to come, Svayambhuva Manu, with folded palms, approaches Brahma and surrenders to him. He says, "I am yours. Give me any order and my life is to execute your order." He was sincere.

Brahma was so pleased with him. He said, "Because your respectful to your superiors, because you are not envious of others, and because you are really surrendered to execute the order that is given to you by the Supreme Lord through me, you will be powerful."

Lord Caitanya taught, mahajano yena gatah sa panthah, that the only way to perfection is to follow the footsteps of the mahajanas. Svayambhuva Manu was one of the twelve mahajanas. We should study very carefully this particular incident from Srimad Bhagavatam. He is surrendering to his guru, his father, Brahma, knowing him to be the representative of Krsna. Then Brahma gives him instruction. He said, "You should procreate living being, you should rule over the world according to the principles of pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord, and you should perform yajna or sadhana for his satisfaction." Then a very key instruction here, he said, "The best service that you or any leader can render is to protect all living beings within the material world. If you sincerely and honestly act as a protector of others, you will please the Supreme Personality of Godhead and he will empower you."

This is the first duty, according to Lord Brahma, who is the first guru after Krsna in our parampara, of a leader, to protect one's subordinates. Protection can in a simple way be classified as physical protection, emotional protection, spiritual protection. Srila Prabhupada, as our acarya, has exemplified this for all of us to learn from, and to try to put in practice by trying to follow in his footsteps. Here in Sri Mayapur Dham, we have been told by devotees who were here for the first Gaura Purnima festival, there were very simple facility. At night, when devotees were sleeping, Prabhupada was going around to see that everyone had their mosquito nets and everyone was fed nicely. He was so worried about the comforts of the devotees. He writes in his purports that he built temples and guesthouses in Vrindavan and Mayapur especially so that the devotees from all other the world could come to India to these holy places and feel comfortable, feel protected.

One of the first temples in ISKCON was Bury Place in London. It began with just a few devotees, but soon, the Hare Krsna explosion took place and Prabhupada came to Bury Place, Radha Londonisvara's temple, and he saw devotees sleeping on the stairways, sleeping in the hallways. It was so overcrowded. So he approached George Harrison, "My devotees are suffering. They don't have proper accommodation. They have given up so much. Can you find a spacious place for them?" On the basis of Srila Prabhupada's concern for the physical condition of his devotees, Bhaktivedanta Manor was purchased and developed.

Emotional care. Srila Prabhupada made every devotee feel so valuable. He was so encouraging. Even by a glance or a smile or by some kind words or by chastisement, even when he chastised devotees, the devotees felt. . . I don't know their minds, but their hearts were feeling ecstatic because they knew, "He is chastising me because he really cares about me. He is trying to help me. He is protecting me." If you chastise someone and it breaks their heart, then we're not really following Prabhupada's footsteps. Prabhupada was melting people's hearts by his chastisement. They felt he was protecting them.

I remember one time, I was a very insignificant - I still am a very insignificant devotee - doing some deity worship, milking some cows. I handed Srila Prabhupada a little rose, a wild rose that I just picked from the forest as I was going to see him. He smiled at me with such gratitude and he said, "Thank you very much" in such a way that I felt like I just built a temple [laughter], I felt like I just distributed a million books. Prabhupada protected us by encouraging us and making us feel valued and appreciated for whatever efforts we made sincerely to serve Krsna.

And of course spiritual protection. Srila Prabhupada would stay up most of the night translating his books and writing purports. He spoke on so many occasions, "If devotees are not reading these books, if they are not chanting their sixteen rounds attentively every day, at anytime they can fall victim to maya." Prabhupada was writing these books and pleading with us to read them, pleading with us to distribute them to others, pleading with us to chant the Holy Names.

He personally, by his own example, was such an inspiration to protect us because if devotees are not protected, whatever else we do is like building a house without a foundation. Everything will fall. If we feel protected, we can feel empowered. By Srila Prabhupada doing that, devotees felt so protected by Srila Prabhupada physically, emotionally, and spiritually that they were willing to take any risk, even risks of death, suffering, poverty. That's how the Hare Krsna movement started - because devotees took such immense risks. How were they able to take such risks? Because in their heart of hearts they felt so protected by Srila Prabhupada: "If I please you it doesn't matter, life or death, I'll go back to Godhead."

Earlier in this chapter, Srila Prabhupada writes in a purport to text twenty-two that the whole process of creation, maintenance, and dissollution of the cosmic manifestation is simply for the purpose of giving the conditioned souls an opportunity to go back home, back to Godhead. That is the only purpose of the material world. And when devotees really feel protected, they feel empowered to continue on with their sadhana, continue on with their fearless preaching endeavors, but we have seen historically within our own society when devotees lose that sense of protection, how so many survival modes come in for our economic situation, for our social situation, for our positions. People lose their sadhana, they lose their taste for the Holy Name, quarrels between devotees over superficial subjects. But what does it mean to protect, to maintain? It is the foundation of our society.

Today is the appearance day of His Holiness Srila Bhakti-tirtha Swami Maharaja. His beloved disciples specially requested me, I don't know why, but they requested me to give class and speak something about this very, very dear, beloved disciple of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Bhakti-tirtha Swami Maharaja, especially in the later years, it was his passion and purpose in life to encourage and protect the devotees in Srila Prabhupada's society.

Today, his appearance day, we think back of the inconceivable way he was born. A vaisnava, who was to be a great spiritual leader of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission, was born in such a simple way. Christians cry when they think of Jesus being born in a little goshalla. [Laughter] Bhakti-tirtha Swami Maharaja was born in a violent, poverty stricken ghetto in one of the downtrodden cities of America, Cleveland. Practically didn't even have clothes to wear. He would just have one or two sets of clothes at a time. His mother would give away anything else.

Being an African American born in 1950, before the civil rights movement actually developed, it meant the African American people were very, very downtrodden and persecuted. You were destined, almost guaranteed to be born, live, and die in poverty and violence. Plus he had a speech defect. He told me, even before he was a teenager, the neighborhood he lived in, you had to carry a gun. If you didn't carry a gun with you every time you walked out of your house, you were subjected to being beaten or exploited. That was the law of the land. Someone tries to exploit you, you show him your gun, then he shows you his gun, then you have some respect for each other. [Laughter] You leave each other alone because you know that if you try to do something to the other, one of you are going to die.

How would you like to grow up in a situation like that? But he struggled, and ultimately, he was given a scholarship to Princeton University. Even there, people hated African-Americans, practically the whole of college. Even there, he went out with a gun every day - and he was a completely non-violent person. He was a local leader of the civil rights movement, fighting for the justice of his downtrodden people. But all his life, he was looking for something deeply spiritual, beyond all these material miseries
and conflicts.

By Krsna's grace, he found everything he was looking for in Srila Prabhupada. He surrendered his life. We know the stories of how Prabhupada was putting so much emphasis on book distribution. At that time, his name was Ghanasyama. He joined the library party to distribute books, but he wasn't ordinary. He was doing such unbelievable services. He volunteered to go behind the Iron Curtain in communist countries. He was so fearless, so amazingly creative in how he was selling entire sets of books of Srila Prabhupada in universities, libraries, homes, all these different places.

He would regularly send his reports to Srila Prabhupada. At that time, Prabhupada was going though his pastime of gradually departing from this world. He was bedridden. Tamal Krsna Goswami Maharaja, as his personal secretary, would read the reports of Bhakti-tirtha Swami, or Ghanasyama Das. Srila Prabhupada would rejoice hearing them. He said, "The reports of Ghanasyama, his fearless enthusiasm to give my books out, risking his life", he said, "this is the medicine that is sustaining my life." Tamal Krsna Goswami Maharaja said that whenever those reports came, it was a highlight for everyone to read those to Srila Prabhupada because it brought him so much happiness.

When Prabhupada went to London, Ghanasyama Prabhu was given a personal meeting with Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada embraced him with tears filling his eyes, embraced him with such love and spoke the words, "Thank you very much. Your life is perfect." He won the heart of his Guru Maharaja. For those of you have ever heard of reports, although we don't have time to speak them, every day was amazing miracles. He would put himself in the most
inconceivable situations, just leaving it up to Krsna to save him. Krsna always saved him.

Some years later, he went to West Africa. His life was very much in danger, especially in the beginning days: diseases, voodoo curses, so many things. He was persistent. He developed temples, farm communities, book distribution, communities, traveled around the world. Prabhupada so much encouraged his creative ways of distributing books, but he also had creative ways of preaching Krsna consciousness because somehow or other, in his heart, he had such a deep passion to reach people's hearts and somehow or other inject Prabhupada's mercy as it is.

Sometimes his techniques were like some sort of anesthesia and people didn't really know what was going on, but once they got that injection, we see the result. They became full-fledged Gaudiya Vaisnavas, loyal, devoted followers of Srila Prabhupada. People that were very difficult and hardly anyone else could reach were becoming devotees.

But as time went on, he did see how devotees within our movement were going through so many struggles and sometimes those struggles were making them spiritually weak, sometimes even making their faith weak. Again, there as a deep passion in his heart to somehow reach them. Some people may agree with how he did it, some may not agree, but what he was trying to give them, what his motivation was, was something very deep. In the eighth canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, in regard to the story of Lord Siva drinking poison to protect the living entities, Srila Prabhupada, Sukadeva Goswami, they both say that the greatest service that pleases Lord Krsna is to make sacrifices in your own life for the welfare of others. That is compassion. He really did have that compassion.

During the last seven and a half weeks of his life, he requested me to be with him. I stayed at Gita Nagari during those weeks. Actually, I had so many other pressing emergency obligations, but when he looked at me with such affectionate eyes and said, "Please stay."

I said, "I'm here, I'm here." How could I refuse? I'd like to share with you a few things I saw in this regard about his real concern and how his concern empowered him to inspire Vaisnavas. He was sitting in his room, one of his legs were amputated, some of his bones were disintegrating, there were tumors all over his body, big tumors, he was physically emaciated, just being plundered by this most aggressive form of cancer. Usually for such people, you come to try to cheer them up, that's why people came, but the
result was completely different.

There was a festival in New Vrindavan, Festival of Inspiration, and on the last day, he felt, and his doctors felt, within a couple of days, he would die. So probably a hundred devotees, I don't know what happened in New Vrindavan at the festival, but a hundred devotees went to Gita Nagari to hear his last talk. Afterward, probably fifty godbrothers and godsisters came into his room. It was amazing. He was just so concerned that each and every one of them, everyone was weeping, weeping in gratitude. Everyone in that room, ask them today, will declare that it was a totally life-transforming experience. They felt so connected to Srila Prabhupada and to Krsna's love just by hearing him.

The next day, a group of very disgruntled godbrothers came to see him. These are people who don't really want anything to do with a leader of ISKCON. For whatever justified or unjustified reason, they are bitter. They sat with him for about an hour. The whole time, they were weeping in gratitude. I saw before my eyes, a total transformation. I knew these men, I knew their attitude. After that meeting, some of them who gave up chanting, started chanting again. Some of them who would never go to the temple, started coming to the temple, doing service again. They came out of that room, they all just sat down weeping. They had such a deep spiritual experience.

On another day, there were some gurukulis that came. Some of them had been abused. Some of them had gone to other maths to look for shelter. What I was seeing was unbelievable, their hearts were totally melting. Maharaja was just speaking Prabhupada's words to them, in such a way, they were all crying from their hearts. They all said, "We never had such a spiritual experience. We never have met such a spiritually advanced person."

After all these meetings, because I was watching, when everyone left and I was alone with Maharaja, I said, "Maharaja, what are you doing? I've known you for thirty years, you've always been compassionate, you've always been dynamic with powerful lectures and amazing kirtans and always really concerned about the welfare of others, but I've never seen you affect people like this. The only thing I can think of is that Srila Prabhupada is really empowering you."

He smiled, he said, "Actually, I don't even know what I'm doing or saying. These people come in, people have to pick me up and carry me, all this pain, I have a missing limb, but I just pray to Prabhupada and I can feel Prabhupada showing his love to these people through me." Then he said to me, "This is perhaps the greatest blessing I've ever had in my life, to have this cancer, because in this situation, in this helpless, painful situation, I can feel Prabhupada's love and compassion coming through me to help devotees like I've never been able to do before in my whole life. This cancer is only a small price to render such a valuable service to Srila Prabhupada."

Tat te 'nukampam su-samiksamano, one of the most often quoted verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam by our beloved Guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada. "Who is rightful to attain the supreme liberation, going back home, back to Godhead? One who even in the most painful, difficult situations can fold their hands and bow down to Krsna with gratitude thinking, 'I deserve worse, Krsna." It is easy to talk about, but to see it is something that is something so beautiful.

Toward the end of Bhakti-tirtha Swami Maharaja's life in this world, the cancer was ravaging his body. I've never seen anything like this. Every day I would spend some hours with him reading from Srila Prabhupada's books, discussing Lord Caitanya, Lord Krsna, Vrindavan. He made a rule that during my time with him there were no other words to be discussed but glorification of Krsna, Lord Caitanya, Srila Prabhupada, and the Vaisnavas, no other talks. I have never experienced such intimacy with another human being than when the focus on our attention is to lovingly try to help each other remember Krsna, lovingly trying to enthuse each other to serve Srila Prabhupada. Try it, it's not of this world.

One day as we were talking, we were just lying down, he started crying. He said, "Maharaja, we are in the spiritual world, we are in Vrindavan, can't you feel it?"

I said, "No." [Laughter]

He said, "Can't your feel it? We are in Vrindavan! What is Vrindavan? Where there is loving exchanges of glorifying exchanges, that is Vrindavan." Then he said, "We have achieved the ultimate goal of life. He said it with such conviction that I actually believed I was in Vrindavan. [Laughter] It was amazing, it was the spiritual world.

Another time, Ekavira Prabhu picked him up and put him on a chair and I would read to him, talk about Krsna with him and he would always be in rapt attention. Usually he was like a great general, just leading the forces, preaching. Remember that time in Mayapur when he gave that, such an empowered lecture, he was so emotionally surcharged that as he was speaking, his hat just flew off his head [Laughter] and everyone went, "Wow!"

But when we would discuss Krsna, he was just like an innocent little boy just gazing with such simplicity and love in his eyes, but on this one day, the cancer was so intense that his entire body was trembling. The cancer was literally making his body tremble with pain. I never saw him cry due to pain, but the pain was so immense, I could see he couldn't concentrate on what I was speaking, so I stopped speaking and just chanted the Holy Names:

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

His body was still trembling, just an emaciated little person, all these tumors all over his body.

[Devotee hands Maharaja a note.] Everyone knows what this is. [Laughter]

When I chanted the Holy Names, as soon as I chanted, he chanted along with me. We were chanting together. Tears literally poured from his eyes. The most effulgent, blissful, almost ear-to-ear smile manifested on his face. His eyes were twinkling. He looked at me and said, Maharaja, "This is it."

I said, "This is what?" [Laughter]

He said, "It doesn't get any better than this." He said, "We are together chanting the Holy Names of Krsna, tasting the sweet nectar of the Holy Name. It doesn't get any better than this." Then, blissful, right from the core of his heart, he said "I would not trade the condition I am in today for anything else or anyone else in the creation because today I am in the association of a devotee tasting the sweet nectar of the Holy Name. It doesn't get any better than this."

From the time Caitanya-Caritamrta came out, his idol [was], of course, Srila Prabhupada, and also Vasudeva Datta, because Vasudeva Datta was willing to suffer for the welfare of others so that they would attain Krsna. For years and years, we would talk about Vasudeva Datta. He meditated on that mood, which Srila Prabhupada so much relished, of Vasudeva Datta. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, when he spoke about Vasudeva Datta, he glorified him as if he had a thousand mouths, because of his compassion to others.

One day when he was lying there, just towards the end, I told him, "Maharaja, today is the disappearance day of Mukunda Datta, the brother of Vasudeva Datta."

He just started weeping, he became blissful. He said, "This would be the perfect day to leave this world." He kept saying, "Vasudeva Datta! Vasudeva Datta! Prabhupada loved him so much!" He called all the devotees to his room in Gita Nagari and requested, "I think today I am going to leave, it is Vasudeva Datta's brother's disappearance day." He had them all doing kirtan and he was really in a very, very difficult situation physically. They did kirtan for several hours. He was disappointed. He stopped the kirtan. He said, "You can go. Krsna is not letting me go today." [Laughter] He said, "I thought He would let me go on Vasudeva Datta's brother's disappearance day, but I guess He's not letting me go today."

But Bhakti-tirtha Maharaja really, what he sincerely gave his heart, life, and soul for is to create community, to inspire loving relationships and care amongst the Vaisnavas because he knew where there are loving relationships, where there is sincere care amongst the devotees for each others' welfare, where there is really a spirit of servant of the servant of the servant, the devotees feel protected, and in that protection, they are inspired, they are empowered to spread this mission and to chant the Holy Names of the Lord:

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

On this very auspicious day, we offer our sincerest gratitude and obeisances to this effulgent, beloved disciple of Srila Prabhupada who gave his life and soul to inspiring us in the essence of bhakti, chanting the Holy Name in a spirit of loving relationships with Vaisnavas and spreading that culture to the world. Let us bow down at the feet of Srila Bhakti-tirtha Swami Maharaja in gratitude.

Thank you very much.

Bhanu Swami - SB 3.12.49-52

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:59:00 +0000

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tato 'param upadaya sa sargaya mano dadhe

TRANSLATION: Thereafter Brahma accepted another body, in which sex life was not forbidden, and thus he engaged himself in the matter of further creation.

PURPORT: In his former body, which was transcendental, affection for sex life was forbidden, and Brahma therefore had to accept another body to allow himself to be connected with sex. He thus engaged himself in the matter of creation. His former body transformed into fog, as previously described.

rsinam bhuri-viryanam api sargam avistrtam
jnatva tad dhrdaye bhuyas cintayam asa kaurava

TRANSLATION: O son of the Kurus, when Brahma saw that in spite of the presence of sages of great potency there was no sufficient increase in population, he seriously began to consider how the population could be increased.

aho adbhutam etan me vyaprtasyapi nityada
na hy edhante praja nunam daivam atra vighatakam

TRANSLATION: Brahma thought to himself: Alas, it is wonderful that in spite of my being scattered all over, there is still insufficient population throughout the universe. There is no other cause for this misfortune but destiny.

evam yukta-krtas tasya daivam caveksatas tada
kasya rupam abhud dvedha yat kayam abhicaksate

TRANSLATION: While he was thus absorbed in contemplation and was observing the supernatural power, two other forms were generated from his body. They are still celebrated as the body of Brahma.

PURPORT: Two bodies came out from the body of Brahma. One had a mustache, and the other had swollen breasts. No one can explain the source of their manifestation, and therefore until today they are known as the kayam, or the body of Brahma, with no indication of their relationship as his son or daughter.

Bhanu Swami: So this whole chapter and many other chapters in the Third Canto are concerning the creation of the universe. This, of course, if we think of our ultimate philosophy, with Krsna as svayam bhagavan and the other forms of the Lord like Rama and Nrsimha and Vamana and other forms in the spiritual world, the material world is not very significant. It is like a small cloud in the vast sky. We may sometimes wonder, what is the use of describing this whole creation? If we examine the Bhagavatam, we will see there is a lot of description of creation.

In fact, if you go to the Second Canto and the Third Canto, there are about six descriptions of the Visvarupa and how the different senses and elements and devas arise from the body of Visvarupa. So we have a very elaborate description of matter when our whole process is actually to go beyond the material world to the spiritual world and become detached from matter and simply absorb ourselves in Krsna.

So we may wonder how the Bhagavatam can discuss these material things since the Bhagavatam is the highest literature, the highest pramana, the summary of all the Vedic literatures, and ultimately, indicating the Absolute Truth in its highest aspect as Krsna. So why do we have to spend so much time on discussion of these mundane things like the creation of the material world and the sex life of Brahma and others?

That is a good question, but if we examine closely, we will see that actually the Third Canto and the Second Canto, where a lot of these descriptions of the universal form take place, are actually the words of Sukadeva Goswami, who is one of the most exalted devotees, even more exalted than Vedavyasa. So there must be some very good reason for this preponderance of topics on creation, etc. Of course, if we look closely, we will see there are good answers to this problem also.

So here we have the description of the creation and our acaryas have actually explained some of the reasons for this. Of course one reason is-- that is explained in the Tenth Chapter of the Second Canto--there is a description of the topics of the Bhagavatam. There are ten topics. Of course the ten topics are also topics of Puranas in general. At least the Maha Puranas, the major Puranas, have ten topics in general. The minor Puranas, the secondary Puranas, have five subject matters in general.

There are ten subject matters which a Purana should more or less conform to if it is a major Purana. So in that sense, Srimad Bhagavatam is also classed as a Purana, so Vedavyasa and Sukadeva Goswami have put it into that sort of form where we have ten subject forms. Why? Because they are also following some sort of formality. Of course Vedavyasa composed the Bhagavata Purana along with the other eighteen. He classed it as a Purana in the very beginning.

There are ten subject matters there, beginning with sarga, which means creation of the material world. The spiritual world is never created, so it is the material world which is created. So we have what is called sarga. This sarga is actually not the creation of Brahma even. The sarga is the creation by Mahavisnu when he glances over material energy and prakrti transforms into mahat-tattva, mahat-tattva transforms into ahankara, ahankara transforms into mind and the senses and sense objects and the gross material elements and we get the whole elements. So that is the sarga, first creation.

Then we have the second creation called visarga. Visarga is actually the creation of Lord Brahma which is explained here. So this is after the universe is formed, then we have to make bodies for the jivas and make planets, places for the jivas, the jivas have to live somewhere. So they need bodies and they need places. So we have material elements in the universe, so they have to form together into certain facilities so that the jivas can enjoy. So we have the visarga, that is, Brahma creates all the bodies for the living entities, that is actually described in these chapters here, and the places for them. Each particular body has a certain place in the universe according to his karma. He is stuck in that, limited in that particular place, in that particular loka for a certain period of time. Then according to his activities he can change to another loka. So all of this is the creation of Lord Brahma, this is called visarga. So that is a topic of a Purana in general also, so if you look at the Visnu Purana, they will have similar types of things.

Then we have the sthana. Sthana actually is part of that creation; that means the places. Of course it refers to the condition of the living entities, or the places of the living entities, that we will find discussed particularly in the Bhagavatam in the Fifth Canto.

Actually, Visvanatha Cakravarti says that from the Third Canto, this is how we can classify things. So he says Third Canto is about sarga, Fourth Canto is visarga, and Fifth Canto is sthana. Sthana means the description of the planetary systems, the hellish planets, the heavenly planets, the earth planet, bhu-mandala, the dvipas, all these dimensions, etc, the shell of the universe. This is called sthana, the geography of the universe. This is where the living entities live. There they maintain themselves and enjoy and commit sinful activities or pious activities and circulate within the universe. So that is the place.

Then we have other topics after that. Once Brahma creates that universe with the bodies and the lokas, then we have the jivas in those bodies doing their activities. So we have topics like posana, how the Supreme Lord protects the devotees in the universe. That is in the Sixth Canto, we see the story of Ajamila, who was in one sense was not a devotee, but the Lord took him as a devotee because he chanted the name of Narayana accidentally, so he protected him. We have other stories in Sixth Canto as well, like Indra, who was also in a sense an aparadhi. That is the posana, another topic.

Then we get uti, which is defined in the Second Canto actually as karma-vasana, or impressions of karma. According to our activities, we get certain results; we are born in certain bodies, in certain lokas in the universe. Then we do more activities, then we die, then we get another body. Seventh Canto is about uti. That is explained in terms of people like Hiranyakasipu, a big demon, commiting all sorts of sinful activities and getting a bad destination. And someone like Prahlad, who gets the mercy of Narada Muni and becomes a great devotee of the Lord. So that is uti.

We get manvantara, which means actually the description of the Manus. This is what happens here--we get the first Manus created by Lord Brahma. These two bodies become Svayambhuva Manu and his wife. Every day of Brahma, there is a creation of Manu and his wife. Then throughout the day of Brahma, there are more Manus. There are actually a total of fourteen Manus appearing, usually descendents of the first Manu, Svayambhuva Manu. There are fourteen of these in the day of Brahma, which means seventy-one yuga cycles they preside over the universe, residing on Bhumandala. These are discussed in the Eighth Canto. There is a whole description of the different genealogies in the Eighth Canto.

Then there is isanukatha. That means talks about the Lord and his devotees. That is Ninth Canto of Bhagavatam. Then there is another topic called mukti, which means liberation. Liberation, of course, means the bad liberation, that is sayujya. That is there, but liberation also technically means to be situated in your svarupa. Your svarupa can also be in the spiritual world. So that liberation refers to getting out to the material world and going to Brahman or going to the spiritual world. That is the topic of the Eleventh Canto.

And nirodha means destruction. We see a description of destruction in the Twelfth Canto. So these are the nine topics. Then there is the tenth topic, which is called asraya, which means the shelter. So all of the other topics actually involve the universe, starting from sarga onwards, then the destruction of the universe, everything, the jivas in the universe trying to get out of the universe, with mukti. Ultimately asraya means what is beyond the universe. So that is the Supreme Lord, then all of his expansions, Brahman, Paramatma, Bhagavan, all the forms of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world and finally Krsna. And the devotees, they are also nirguna, they are beyond the material world as is the process of bhakti.

So all these topics are all over the Bhagavatam, it's not that they are all isolated but we can somewhat classify them in this way. So we can understand that the Bhagavatam is presenting ten different topics that are distributed throughout the Bhagavatam with a little bit of prominence in each of the different cantos. In this way we can see that the Bhagavatm is conforming to the Puranas and therefore also has these ten topics.

Why should the Puranas have ten topics in the first place? Ultimately the whole point of scripture is to point out the Supreme Lord and the process to get to the Supreme Lord and the result of that. That is sambandha, abhideya and prayojana. That is the whole essence of scripture. So Bhagavatam does that. Of course it could be made very simple. We could just say Krsna is the Supreme Lord, don't worship anybody else, peform bhakti, that's it, that's the end of the scripture. The greatest things are actually very simple. That is the truth. As Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita surrender unto me, that's it.

However, scriptures understand that all people are not qualified immediately at least. Therefore they present things step by step according to qualification. And you'll see that even in Bhagavad-gita. In Bhagavad-gita even though Krsna says reject everything and just simply surrender unto me, he explains a lot about karma yoga and jnana yoga and astanga-yoga when actually it's not really necessary. Only bhakti is necessary. But he explains all these things. Why? Because Bhagavad-gita is also reflecting the whole of the Vedic literature, as Srimad Bhagavatam summarises everything, puts everything in there, which means it doesn't reject anything else in the Vedas, it doesn't say everything else is wrong, but it also must indicate what is the highest thing. So the Vedic literatures do contain things that are not the absolute highest truth. Therefore we'll have discussions of karma and jnana and yoga besides bhakti. We have all these different things. That is because all people are not qualified for bhakti. If one has no faith in the Lord what is one to do? But if we get the association of the devotees and by the mercy of them you can develop faith and get bhakti. But if you don't get that association and mercy then what do we do? Therefore you go into these other things; you do karma, practice varnasrama and do all these things. Or you do jnana if you are qualified. You go through varnasrama and get up to be a brahmana and once you are a brahmana then you do jnana. And once you've done jnana then you go into yoga and once you've done yoga then you do bhakti.

Then you are qualified. Of course you're not really qualified like that also, but hopefully on the way because there is a mixture of bhakti in everything--you can't do karma-yoga without a little bhakti, one percent bhakti must be there--you must also worship Visnu in karma-yoga and not disrespect him. And in jnana you also have to worship Visnu, and if you don't you'll never get liberation, you'll never get sayujya-mukti even. And of course in astanga-yoga you have to worship Visnu also as Paramatma.

So there is a little bit of bhakti somewhere in there. But it is very little so it is not called bhakti. Hopefully through all that gradually they develop, they get through yoga and all this and they get association then they are ready for bhakti. That is one way of developing and that is why we'll find in the Bhagavatam and in the Bhagavad-gita all these different methods mentioned for differently qualified people.

Unfortunately that doesn't work in Kali-yuga. And in the Twelfth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita Arjuna asks Krsna, "Well, what should I do? Should I do this gradual process and come up to the Brahman level and then come to bhakti or should I just do bhakti?" To which Krsna said, "Just do bhakti, it's easier, it's quicker."

This is the recommendation in Kali-yuga. We are not qualified to go through this whole process of starting with karma-yoga and then becoming brahminical and then doing jnana and youga and then coming to bhakti. It's a very long process over many births when there is a varnasrama system intact and ideal kings like Pariksit around, then you can gradually develop and become a devotee eventually. That's not practical in Kali-yuga where people are short lived, there are lots of distractions around and there is no varnasrama system and there are no ideal kings so the system doesn't really work too well.

Krsna is very merciful and he says that even if you don't have that whole gradual system you can just do bhakti-yoga also. But it looks like a contradiction because I said if people aren't qualified for bhakti, then they have to go through this other system. The question is how to make people qualified for bhakti without having to go through that system. It is possible one doesn't have to go through that system but it depends upon devotees. If one has association of devotees then one can gradually develop that faith and then one becomes qualified.

That is why Lord Caitanya has emphasized the preaching aspect. Since these other methods don't work in Kali-yuga it is up to the devotees to spread bhakti everywhere by giving mercy to everyone in the material world. And thereby we can develop.

As far as the Bhagavatam is concerned and these different topics like sarga and visarga they are all there because it is a Purana and it is reflecting the Vedic literature, etc. and these topics are all ultimately related with Krsna. Sukadeva Goswami will not speak anything that is not related to Krsna somehow or other. Everything must be related to him because he is completely absorbed in him. Pariksit will also not accept anything which is other than Krsna. These things are related to Krsna. We cannot give the argument that "I will only read the pastimes of Krsna in the Bhagavatam because that is the Absolute Truth and all these other topics are secondary, sarga and visarga and all kind of material things so we don't listen to that."

Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur has made the point that Sukadeva Goswami has recited this. If he is talking about this and Pariksit is listening to it then we should do that to. We should follow their good example. There is some value in this sarga, visarga, etc.

So it will appear to be one thing, if we look at it very critically we may think, "Why is this so necessary; it is all material," but then we examine again that Sukadeva Goswami is reciting this and Pariksit is listening in rapt attention so there must be something more than we think.

So all these topics are there and as I said the most important one is asraya, that is the Supreme Lord, his devotees, and bhakti. These things are all somehow related to that. They have a relationship. By understanding these topics, we will also understand the nature of the Supreme Lord and the devotees and devotional service. They are not unrelated at all, there is a relationship there.

Of course, it will take us time to understand the significance of this. On one level we can read this and technically we can understand something but not everything because this type of creation does not exactly fit into our present experience or the experience of modern day scientists who base their observations on their experiences. It is a little bit of a different type of creation. It may be difficult for us to understand this. Nevertheless, we accept this as the truth.

It is also described in the Bhagavatam that the truth, the Absolute Truth, the Vedas, the scriptures, are a type of sound, but the sound is different. The sound we hear is one type of sound, but there are four levels of sound. When we hear sound, it is called vaikari, to hear with the ear coming from the voice. That is our sense perception working. That is the gross level of sound and information and knowledge, etc.

Then there are three higher levels. We go downwards into the heart and we get madhyama and pasyanti and para. Para is the original sound. That is where sound is equal to realization, object. "Krsna" means Krsna. Gradually, as that sound transforms and comes out in our visible sound, then it becomes vaikari. There is a little bit of difference between what we perceive in the world and the actual information there which means ultimately that we can read scripture and get something from it but the more realized we become, then the more meaning we will get out of it. That's why I say we can read this and understand something of the mechanics of it but probably won't understand everything.

In the Fifth Canto of Bhagavatam, our scientists are trying to figure out how to represent that in the planetarium because it doesn't quite make sense to our modern thinking process. It looks a little bit contradictory in many ways and if we present that as absolute truth, people are going to freak out when they see that, "What does it mean? What does it mean?" That's why I said we can read things and technically we can adjust things a little bit and understand it, but we may not understand it completely because there are levels of understanding from the grosser level, vaikari, up to para, then we get the actual thing, the actual vision.

So we need a proper realization or a proper vision to see the things of Bhagavatam. That's not only for the creation, that's for even obviously Krsna and everything else in the Bhagavatam. So Visvanatha Cakravarti has explained that actually the Bhagavatam presents itself in many ways. One is it is described as a lamp, adhyatma-dipa, a lamp which reveals adhyatma, which means, generally, soul, spirit, God, Brahman, this type of thing. We understand God like that, athato brahma-jijnasa, janmady asya yatah, God in general. So Bhagavatam presents that for people who are qualified for that.

Bhagavatam is also considered to be like the sun, that is a common example, Bhagavatam is the rising sun. So what does the rising sun do? The rising sun obviously brings light and it destroys darkness. When it's light out all the thieves run away and the devotees rejoice. So in other words it is a little more personal. We have aspects of God where God, the Supreme Lord, pleases the devotees and protects the devotees, and destroys the demons and destroys ignorance and delivers the devotees. So we get a personal idea of God.

Then the other thing presented in the Bhagavatam, what is the Bhagavatam, the Bhagavatam is like a fruit, phalam, a very ripe fruit which is very, very sweet, like a big mango with no skin and no seed and no fibres and very liquid so that you don't have to chew it even, you can just drink it, drink it through the ears. Bhagavatam is therefore a tasty fruit also. That refers to the Supreme Lord in his most personal aspect full of rasa, full of personal relationships, full of personal qualities in which we serve the Lord and develop a relationship with the Lord and we relish those qualities and we experience prema and love for Krsna.

Of course that develps also because we see that Bhagavatam is meant to show that not only God is there and not only Brahman is there and not only Paramatma and Bhagavan who has many forms and avataras etc., but that Krsna is svayam bhagavan. That is actually what Narada Muni told Vedavyasa, "You missed the point in this Purana. So you write the whole Bhagavatam and show that Krsna is the svayam bhagavan."

That is ultimately shown in the Tenth Canto of Bhagavatam. That is all rasa. The philosophical aspect is secondary. The creative aspects, sarga, visarga, all that is put into the background and there we simply have Krsna as svayam bhagavan, in the sweetest aspect. That is the fruit of the Bhagavatam.

Bhagavatam presents all these things. It presents the general aspect of God and Brahman, Paramatma, etc., then it also gets into Bhagavan and all those different forms then it also gets into the sweetest aspect of Krsna and his pastimes. All of these things are there in the Bhagavatam for different types of people. Sometimes if we read, particularly the Eleventh Canto, this sounds very impersonal [laughs]. There are all talks of merging and Brahman and jnana and atma, etc. Bhagavatam presents statements like this.

So Visvanatha Cakravarti says not only is Bhagavatam a mango or a lamp or a sun, it is also mohini-avatara. So mohini-avatara is famous because the Lord took the form of Mohini and she bewildered the demons. She was very nice to the demons and the demons thought, "Yes, we will do anything she says." Then Mohini says, "Give me the nectar." The demons thought, "Oh, yes, we will give you the nectar. She will give it back to us anyway because she likes us so much." So they gave her the nectar and what did she do? She gave the nectar to the devatas. That was the end of the demons.

In other words, Bhagavatam fools the demons and the materialists and other people or even the impersonalists. . . the jnanis will read the Bhagavatam and say, "Ah, look after the Tenth Canto we have the Eleventh Canto where we have jnana, we have Brahman. This is ultimate."

Bhagavatam is tricky. So we will not understand everything immediately. We are devotees so we are not going to go for the Brahman aspect anyway, so the devotees get the nectar and the demons get cheated. They get another whole meaning of Bhagavatam. Similarly people who are not demons but are also part devotees will get something from it. They may appreciate karma or jnana or whatever, the but devotees will appreciate bhakti as supreme in the Bhagavatam. Even that is hidden. Even bhakti is hidden sometimes. Why? Because the Lord likes it like that. Bhagavatam itself says that the Supreme Lord likes to be indirect, paroksa-vada. He doesn't like to speak directly. We'll find the whole of the Upanisads are like that, that God walks but doesn't walk, he's inside but he's outside, all these sort of things. Very ambiguous statements.

Even though Bhagavatam is supposed to be the highest truth, it is meant for the devotees. If you are qualified as a devotee you get the very highest truth. If not, you will be puzzled by many things in the Bhagavatam. That is why even devotees will be puzzled: "Why did Krsna disappear like that. Why did he get shot in the foot and suddenly disappear like that? Why did the Vrsnis get drunk and fight amongst themselves?" We find various strange incidents in the Bhagavatam. Or even why did Krsna leave Vrindavan and never come back? We will find very contrary things and even devotees will get disturbed by that sometimes. That's because Krsna hides things, and Sukadeva hides things, Vyasadeva hides. They hide something.

If you are a great devotees, then you understand the meaning of it and the appreciation of Krsna is more. Bhakti is confidential and it is somewhat rahasya, but it is not completely hidden because Sukadeva is writing for the people of Kali-yuga and this is supposed to be the sun that gives everybody knowledge. But still, aspects of bhakti are hidden sometimes so we cannot simply get the truth by reading it very superficially.

We can study, that's good, but also one has to develop spiritually. As we develop spiritually, we will have the proper eyes to see everything. As I said, we have these different levels of hearing sound and only according to your qualification you get to a certain level. So in terms of bhakti, by developing our bhakti and going through the different stages of bhakti, the more we advance and the more taste we have for Krsna, then the more truth we will get out of the Bhagavatam. We will understand why things are like this or like that. In this sense that is why we have discussion of all this creation and Brahma and material things in the Bhagavatam. We will understand it more the more we advance.

As I said, Pariksit and Sukadeva Goswami went through nine cantos before they got to the Tenth Canto and they were relishing all this along the way. So there is something here that is very connected with Krsna even if we cannot understand it completely. We should go through the Bhagavatam with great devotion. Rupa Goswami says in the Nectar of Devotion that one of the angas of bhakti is sravanam. That is not just hearing. It is hearing Bhagavatam, because Bhagavatam is the ultimate scripture. Of course we don't disrespect any other scripture, but Bhagavatam is the ultimate scripture. Not only we hear Bhagavatam, but with great relish, with taste, with devotion. According to that devotion then we have realization or understanding of what everything is.

So back to here, we have a description of Brahma carrying out his creation. This is technically the visarga, the secondary creation. Intellectually we can explain why we have to do this and that is part of sambandha jnana--we have to understand that there is a Lord and there is us and we are not with the Lord, we are conditioned souls in the material world. We don't become the Lord. We are servants of the Lord but we don't understand that because we are covered up a gross body and a subtle body and we are thinking this is it, this is everything. We are in great illusion. So this creation of Brahma is what does that. It creates the big illusion for everybody in the material world.

That is not something done whimsically. There is also a purpose behind that. Therefore we do have a discussion of karma and why the jivas are in the material world and how we can also get out. So we have mukti and the different process of advancement. We have the instructions of dharma given by the Manus and the kings. It is not that the jiva is trapped. We have methods for getting out. The reason the jiva is here is also explained because he likes to enjoy in the material world so he is given a place and a body by Brahma to do that.

In other words, this whole creation, sarga, visarga, and other topics are there to show the nature of the jiva in the material world and how the Lord interacts with the jiva in the material world to get him out. The Lord is not unmerciful, he is merciful even to the jivas in the material world. Therefore we will have topics like posana and isanukatha and mukti. The Lord is instrumental in all that. So in this way we can begin understand a little bit of why these topics are there like creation and all the different material aspects explained in Bhagavatam.

OK, any questions? Need a microphone or something?

Visuddha Sattva Das: You mentioned that in topics of Bhagavata Purana, sarga visarga, creation and secondary creation, you made a comment about the Temple of Vedic Planetarium that we should do that in a very solid way because sometimes there are complexities in the Fifth Canto and difficult to understand. . . ? My point is that when Srila Prabhupada gave instructions how to make the whole draft of the planetarium, the Temple of Vedic Understanding, to Svarupa Damodara Maharaja and to the scientists of Bhaktivedanta Institute, he says that we are not expecting that because the scientists will not accept the Bhagavatam we make some compromise [unclear]. We are doing now a work in progress on this research and having some success. My point is that if there are difficulties to understand the high topics of the Bhagavatam we should be straightforward and not compromise for the scientists.

CC Adi 4.119 Bhaktipurushottam Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 03:38:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Bhaktipurushottam Swami (download mp3), given on the auspicious appearance day of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, March 2, 2007, during the Gaura Purnima festival at the ISKCON Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi 4.119-120

Transcript not available at the time of posting.

CC Adi 3.47 Candramauli Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 03:28:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Candramauli Swami (download mp3), given on March 1, at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi 3.47

suvarna-varno hemango varangas candanangadi
sannyasa-krc chamah santo nistha-santi-parayanah

TRANSLATION: "In His early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful, and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold. In His later pastimes He accepts the sannyasa order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences the impersonalist nondevotees."

PURPORT: This is a verse from the Mahabharata (Dana-dharma, Visnu-sahasra-nama-stotra). In his commentary on the Visnu-sahasra-nama, called the Namartha-sudha, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, commenting upon this verse, asserts that Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to the evidence of the Upanisads. He explains that suvarna-varnah means a golden complexion. He also quotes the Vedic injunction yada pasyah pasyate rukma-varnam kartaram isam purusam brahma-yonim (Mundaka Up. 3.1.3). Rukma-varnam kartaram isam refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead as having a complexion the color of molten gold. Purusam means the Supreme Lord, and brahma-yonim indicates that He is also the Supreme Brahman. This evidence, too, proves that Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna. Another meaning of the description of the Lord as having a golden hue is that Lord Caitanya's personality is as fascinating as gold is attractive. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana has explained that the word varanga means "exquisitely beautiful."

Lord Caitanya accepted sannyasa, leaving aside His householder life, to preach His mission. He has equanimity in different senses. First, He describes the confidential truth of the Personality of Godhead, and second, He satisfies everyone by knowledge and attachment to Krsna. He is peaceful because He renounces all topics not related to the service of Krsna. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana has explained that the word nistha indicates His being rigidly fixed in chanting the holy name of Sri Krsna. Lord Caitanya subdued all disturbing opponents of devotional service, especially the monists, who are actually averse to the personal feature of the Supreme Lord. [End of purport]

Candramauli Swami: So in these last few days prior to the appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Gaura Purnima, we've turned our attention to his personality, his glories, his activities, everything about the Supreme Lord in the form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

This verse is actually from the Mahabharata. It is describing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It's interesting how with careful research, one can find, in various religious scriptures, indication of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's identity, his appearance, and his activities. Here we find in the Mahabharata. Also in Srimad-Bhagavatam, in the prayers by Prahlad Maharaja to Lord Nrsimhadeva, the Lord is also indicated as one who appears in the color of gold, or yellow, pita.

Also in the same Srimad-Bhagavatam, in the prayers by the residents of Jambudvipa, the Lord is mentioned as tri-yuga. Tri-yuga refers to that personality who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who appears as the Lord in three yugas: in Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga. In Kali-yuga he is channa-avatara. Channa means hidden. He appears not as the supreme Lord but as his own devotee. Therefore he is referred to as tri-yuga, or as the Lord who appears in three yugas. But in the Kali-yuga he appears as a devotee of himself.

This is the position of Lord Caitanya that actually he is coming as his own devotee. It is explained in the Caitanya-caritamrta in this fourth chapter that he comes for six reasons. Three of them are external and three are internal. It is explained that the internal reasons are foremost, the primary. The external reasons we all know. He comes to fulfill the yuga-dharma, the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord or to spread the mercy of pure love of Godhead in the form of harinama-sankirtana. That is considered external. Also it is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita:

yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham

paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge

He comes in every yuga. In order to fulfill his own words in Bhagavad-gita, he keeps that principle and appears in the Kali-yuga. But he appears once in every thousand yuga cycles in the Kali-yuga as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as the channa-avatara, hidden. Of course the third reason is to satisfy the desire and the heartfelt prayers of Sri Advaita Acarya.

Jaya Radha-Madhava, Asta-Sakhi ki jai!

Sri Advaita Acarya was praying from the core of his heart that these inhabitants of Navadvipa Dham have become so lost. Before the advent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Navadvipa Dham was considered one of the greatest centers of learning throughout the entire world. People from all over the world would go to get the highest and best education in Navadvipa. It was concerned the greatest of all education bastions. It had some of the greatest scholars in the world. In fact, all of the religious scriptures known were present here. But generally, the population was somewhat pious but not very much absorbed in pure devotional service. People were educated, they had great intelligence, pious activities, good qualities, a lot of material facilities, worshiping demigods, but very little of the essence of spiritual life, pure devotional service.

Advaita Acarya, of course, who is Advaita Acarya? He is a combination of Sada Siva and Mahavisnu. He is praying to the Lord, "Please come."

He was angry to see how people were wasting their lives in material education. They were spending all their money. They would spend practically life savings on weddings and pujas and vratas and homas. They were even doing things like marrying cats and dogs because when you get materially wealthy and situated, after a while, you get bored. You just want to do different things or change. That's what happens when too much material opulence without any real, solid spiritual worship. They get bored after a while, so they do different things. It is explained by Vrindavan Das Thakur in Caitanya-bhagavat that they were engaging in marriage of cats and dogs. Can you imagine?

Advaita Acarya, feeling compassion for the fallen conditioned souls of this age, he went down to the banks of the Ganges with great prayers in his heart, worshiping his Nrsimha-sila with tulasi leaves and praying from the core of his heart, "Please my dear Lord, come."

And Lord Caitanya actually said, "I have come because of the prayers of Advaita Acarya." But there are many reasons. These are the three external reasons.

The internal reasons are actually the primary reasons. What are the internal reasons? These are very interesting. Sri Krsna himself, in order to experience the position of Srimati Radharani, wanting to understand her position in relationship to himself, he took on the position of her. He took on her bhava, her relationship with Krsna. He wanted to understand not only her position but he wanted to understand, "What is so attractive about me. Why am I so attractive to Srimati Radharani?" She cannot, even for a fraction of an iota of an insignificant speck of time, not be absorbed in pure loving service to Krsna. Her love is intense. Even Krsna couldn't understand Radharani's love. He wanted to find out what was the nature of that love and what was it about him that makes her have such deep love. So he wanted to understand his own good qualities.

Krsna is very attractive. There is a story, one time Krsna was walking along and he came across a pillar. The pillar had a reflecting surface. He stopped and looked and said, "Wow, who is that beautiful personality there?" He was so overwhelmed seeing his own image that he just ran toward it to embrace it. Then he realized it was himself. [Chuckles] This is Krsna. He is so attractive that he attracts himself.

But in order to understand his own attractiveness, he had to take the position of the object in order to understand the subject. Also to understand what is the nature of the happiness she experiences from that loving relationship, her happiness, her love, her position, and what are his qualities. These are the internal reasons.

Srila Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami points out in the Caitanya-caritamrta that the time for the yuga-dharma or for descending in order to propagate the teachings of harinama-sankirtana just happened to coincide with Lord Krsna's desire to appear as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to understand the internal reasons of his appearance, in other words, to understand that loving relationship. The external reasons are secondary.

Here in this particular verse it is describing some of his extraordinary qualities. One of the qualities that is mentioned, it was mentioned in the previous class by His Holiness Sivarama Maharaja, that he has a beautiful golden color. Radharani is called Gaurangi and Caitanya Mahaprabhu is called Gauranga, golden complexion. Actually Krsna told Radharani, when he was in the spiritual world, "I am descending in order to taste this loving relationship of your love for me."

When Radharani heard about that, she was quite alarmed because she knew the ecstasy he would experience in trying to experience her bhava. Therefore she said, "Your body will not be able to maintain. Therefore I give you protection of your body. I give you my own color." She gave him the color golden. So here is it is explained: radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitam, that he is decorated with the transcendental color of Srimati Radharani. He is called Gauranga.

ajanu-lambita-bhujau kanakavadatau sankirtanaika-pitarau kamalayataksau visvambharau dvija-varau yuga-dharma-palau vande jagat priya-karau karunavatarau

In that verse it is also mentioned that Lord Caitanya has a golden color. His arms extend down to his knees. His eyes are elongated. His is the best of the brahmanas and he is teaching the highest principles of religion. That is, he is initiating personally himself the yuga-dharma, the harinama-sankirtana movement.

This chanting the Holy Name is the essence of all religious principles. Yamaraja himself, when he was speaking to his followers after they had returned in their failed attempt to take the soul of Ajamila to the courtyard of Yamaraja, they were questioning Yamaraja, "What is your position?"

He explained, "Actually, I am not supreme. I am subordinate. The devotees of Krsna are in all sense worshipable. Therefore, even I worship them." Then he explained that in this age, devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the highest form of religious principles, but the essence of all devotional activities is to chant the Hare Krsna Mahamantra. That is the essence of the essence.

Sometimes when we preach, or even sometimes in a very uninformed understanding, we cannot understand how important it is to chant Hare Krsna. Actually, Srila Prabhupada said, "All your advancement in devotional service depends on chanting the Holy Names of the Lord." Everything else we do in our devotional service is meant to purify our consciousness so we can approach Krsna's name in the proper consciousness, with the proper mood.

Therefore all practices in devotional service are in one sense supporting the quality of our chanting if we are performing those activities in the right mood, with the right understanding: chanting, reading Srimad-Bhagavatam, associating with devotees, engaging in practical devotional service, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These are various principles of powerful devotional service, but Caitanya Mahaprabhu, being the yuga-avatara, emphasized two things that are primary amongst all religious principles. Those two things are association and service to Vaisnavas and chanting the Hare Krsna Mahamantra. These are the essence of the essence.

Here in Sri Dham Mayapur we have such a wonderful opportunity to serve Vaisnavas and to hear and chant the Hare Krsna Mahamantra. Prabhupada said, "This Sri Dham Mayapur is the spiritual world. It is non-different."

One time one senior devotee asked Srila Prabhupada, they were in Mayapur, "Srila Prabhupada, sometimes devotees come to the dham and they are trying to enjoy here." It was kind of a question like maybe it's not right.

Prabhupada said, "The dham, it is for enjoyment. It is the spiritual world, spiritual enjoyment." What is that spiritual enjoyment? Chanting, dancing, associating with devotees, taking Krsna prasadam, hearing the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and purifying our hearts. What is the culmination of purifying our hearts? Then these same activities become transcendentally blissful. It's not that we change our activities. The activities actually are the fundamental principle, the essence of devotional practice. But in a purified state of consciousness they bring the goal of life, that is, the direct connection between the Lord and his devotee.

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to teach that principle here in Sri Dham Mayapur. We are so fortunate to be here to be able to engage in these devotional activities - chanting the Holy Names, serving the Vaisnavas: nama ruci, vaisnava seva. Then he emphasized one other thing, Lord Caitanya mentioned. That is jiva doya. That is taking this mercy and giving it to others. We might call it preaching, but distributing the mercy to others. Not that we become "packed up", Prabhupada said, "packed up". We become packed up, that's nice, but the pack becomes bigger when you give it.

Lord Caitanya said, "I have the storehouse of the fruits of love of God and the storehouse is overwhelmed with fruits. I am just one gardener and I am trying to distribute these fruits to the entire world. How much can I do? Therefore, please help me to distribute these fruits."

He goes on to explain by distributing the fruits, the storehouse doesn't become less. It actually becomes greater. The more you give Krsna, the more you get Krsna. The more you try to keep Krsna, the more it is hard to find Krsna. Krsna is fast. He is always moving. So we are chasing Krsna by trying to catch him in the form of giving Krsna to others in devotional service. So these three things Lord Caitanya emphasized. So this is the essence of Lord Caitanya's movement. So we worship the Lord in this chanting and dancing.

We also have to be very conscience and cautious to avoid the negative. There are things to do and things not to do: anukulya, pratikula. Things I should do and things I don't do. Things that I don't do, if I do those things and I am still doing the things I do do, it's like building a fire and pouring water on it at the same time. One has to be very conscious to avoid things that are detrimental to devotional service.

Lord Caitanya says, "I give my full mercy to anyone chants the Holy Names of the Lord, serves the Vaisnavas, and does not find fault with others." He says, "Finding fault with others or criticizing others is the fastest way one can destroy the mercy that is being given." It is mentioned in the Caitanya-bhagavat that one who criticizes others, Lord Caitanya said, "That is like drinking poison and if you drink poison, you die." But how to neutralize that poisonous effect? Glorify others. By glorifying others, by glorifying the devotees, by seeing the good qualities in devotees and magnifying those qualities, that is like drinking nectar. When one drinks nectar, one attains immortal life.

So Lord Caitanya gives other considerations. We should be very careful not to engage in prajalpa, or useless talk, finding fault, criticizing, because we are just dampening the mercy that is so easily available in the form of this harinama-sankirtana. So it is important to keep these principles in mind. And Sri Caitanya is very merciful, but he emphasized certain principles that in order to practice devotional service successfully one must develop the qualities:

trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

This verse was spoken by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Maharaja sometimes he was asked, "Maharaja, can you tell me what is my svarupa, what is my internal relationship?"

He said, "Your svarupa is:

trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

This is actually the principle that Lord Caitanya emphasized as far as practicing devotional service successfully. And Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami in Caitanya-caritamrta, he emphasizes this verse. He is actually quoting Jiva Goswami, Jiva Goswami says, "You take this verse and string it on the necklace of the Holy Name and wear it as your ornament." What is the result? The result is kirtaniyah sada. One can develop an attraction, an attachment to chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. Lord Caitanya emphasized this verse amongst many, many verses.

So we are here, Sri Dham Mayapur, just on the advent of the appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When he appears, of course he is always appearing in the hearts of the devotees who are following his instructions and the instructions of his representative, the spiritual master, but on this Gaura Purnima festival, the Lord's mercy is bestowed in such waves, such oceans that on his appearance day, this more or less inspires us to become more and more serious in our Krsna consciousness.

Many of us have to go back to our respective areas and we have to again associate with the material energy more directly. Sometimes in occupation or just living in mundane materialistic society. Whatever time we are here, we should try to get as much opportunity to absorb in the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, purify our hearts more, bring it back, and preach that message to others.

Prabhupada says there are two aspects to devotional service: become purified and to help others become purified. Just to become Krsna conscious yourself is not possible. One has to actually be an instrument of the mercy for the Lord in whatever way we can. it's not that everyone has to take up a position of being a great scholar of the Vedas or preaching in a formal way. Lord Caitanya said, "Whoever you meet, tell them about Krsna. Whoever you meet, tell them about the chanting of the Holy Names. By my command, be guru, save the land." That means you come in contact, give them an opportunity to somehow come forward.

Lord Caitanya's mission is a mission of compassion. He has taken Radharani's love, which is his own bhava, in the form of this sankirtana movement, and he is garlanding the entire world with that love in the form of this sankirtana movement. This sankirtana movement is Radharani's love for Krsna. This is the internal mood of this entire lila of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to give Radharani's love in the form of this sankirtana movement to the entire world.

We have a legacy. Our legacy is, as Srila Prabhupada said when someone asked him, "How can we serve you Prabhupada?"

Prabhupada said, "Do what I am doing." He means that we should also take the mission of the spiritual master as our life and soul. That means make his mission our practice in devotional service. To try to in any way, we just see what Krsna has given us, he has given us time, energy, facilities, opulences, intelligence, whatever, use that in any way you can to spread Krsna consciousness.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu when he went traveling through South India, he was spreading the Holy Name and everyone who saw him became inspired. That person told another person and that person told another person and that person told another person. In this way, Lord Caitanya's mercy in the form of the sankirtana movement spread throughout the entire continent of India. In the time of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he made the entire continent of India Krsna conscious by his presence and his travels to South India. That is the power and that same mercy if fully available to us today.

sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Thank you very much.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Do we have time for questions? Are there any questions, comments? Yes?

Question: Hare Krsna. Maharaja, you were speaking about criticism. Can you please explain corrective criticism? Also you were speaking about humility. Can you please explain also . . . ?

Candramauli Maharaja:I'll try. I don't have these qualities.

The spiritual master is in the position to find fault with his disciple. Why? As a service to his disciples, he can correct them to improve their devotional life. In general, a relationship with other devotees, unless it is in the role of a spiritual master-disciple, is to share the six loving exchanges: to talk about Krsna, to hear about Krsna, to give prasadam, to accept prasadam, to give gifts, to accept gifts.

If one finds a situation where one finds there is obligation to do some correction, one should be very, very careful and cautious to do it in such a way that doesn't cause disturbance and that person will accept. Generally when a person is doing something wrong, they are not in a position to understand because already their consciousness is wrong, so one has to be very sensitive in offering corrective criticism.

One should think ahead of time what will be the results. Even if your intention is not to offend and you do offend, it's still an offense. Unintentionally, still it is an offense. The relationships between devotees are very, very sweet, are meant to be very sweet and very, very loving. In order to keep that mood, even in the mood of correction, we should be very, very careful to do it in such a way that that person will accept.

If we feel we can't do that, we should ask someone else who feel may be in a better position to do that correction. It's not wrong to do it, provided it is done in the right consciousness. That means one has to be not in the mood of "I'm the corrector" but in the mood, "I want to help this person and their Krsna consciousness." It is a principle of compassion. Correction means you are trying to make that person act in a more proper way that their Krsna consciousness will not be affected in a negative way. You're trying to help them, but it has to be accepted in that way.

We shouldn't walk around looking for faults to be the all Supreme Personality of Godhead Corrector. Sometimes we find that. Some personalities put themselves in the position of correcting everybody. That is not Vaisnava attitude. The Vaisnava is always trying to see the good. Prabhupada said we should be like bumblebee. Bumblebee goes for the honey. Fly goes for the stool. Devotees may have, practically everyone has good qualities, everyone has faults, except pure devotees.

So you can see what you want to see. You can see the faults or you can see the good qualities. If you see the good qualities, then actually you'll appreciate. We find that as we change ourselves, we also change others. The more we develop our own Krsna consciousness, the more we will see the good qualities in others.

In the form of corrective criticism, if it is done in the proper mood as a service, then that is acceptable. Then again, one has to be careful how to do that. Not, "Hey Prabhu, you're in maya!" That's not going to work. First of all you can't call someone Prabhu and then say he's in maya. "Hey master, you're in maya. Hey, stop that!"

The devotees are humble. Many times they'll accept, but sometimes in their heart they'll feel, "Why did he do it like that? Why wasn't he more gentle and sensitive? I'm not such a demon." So we have to be careful in dealing with Vaisnavas, very careful. We see, we've committed a lot of Vaisnava aparadha in our society. A lot of times devotees go away because these things are done. Therefore, we have to be very, very careful but not foolish to allow things that are against religious principles to go on simply with the idea that we don't want to correct. If someone is doing something wrong of offensive, some attempt should be made. If I can't do it, let me contact someone who can do it more effectively.

Does that help? That didn't answer your question? OK.

[Unclear comment]

Devotees are not fools, but they are humble. Humility does not relegate one to foolishness. Humility is actually a position of empowerment. Humility means, Prabhupada gave different definitions, but one of them is, "I can't do anything; Krsna can do anything. Therefore, the more I take shelter of Krsna and the spiritual master, the more I become empowered."

Srila Prabhupada spread Krsna consciousness around the world, but he was one of the most humble of all personalities ever. He saw himself as an insignificant person, but he was fully devoted to the lotus feet of the Lord. He knew whatever success he is having or whatever he does is simply by the mercy and kindness of the Lord and his spiritual master. That is humility.

Humility also means I don't want to be honored. Prabhupada writes that in Bhagavad-gita in the Fourteenth Chapter. He is describing the qualities amanitvam adambhitvam. The first one is humility, the second one is pirdelessness, the third is tolerance. He explains that these are qualities of knowledge, or principles of knowledge.

The first principle of knowledge is humility because that is the main quality of a Vaisnava. So Prabhupada describes humility means not to want the distinction to be honored by others. Not wanting honor. Therefore amanina manadena, to want to honor others and not want honor for oneself.

If someone gives you honor and if you keep it, then pride can develop. But if someone gives you honor and you say, "All glories to my spiritual master. All glories to the Lord. This person is actually seeing some good qualities in me, that is his good quality he can see something good in me." These are some definitions of humility as give by the acaryas.

Humility also means not to think less oneself, but to think of oneself less. To think of oneself less. We are always thinking about me. We should be thinking about ? or Krsna or how to serve, like that. If we are so much overwhelmed by self consciousness, then that is a perverted principle of humility. "Oh, I am so fallen, I am so useless, I can't do anything. Therefore, I won't do anything." [Chuckles] That is not humility. Humility gives one empowerment, empowers one to do things.

Does that help?

Thank you.

OK, I think we should go on. They say one cannot live by philosophy alone. It's time for prasad.

Thank you very much.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

END.

CC Adi 4.56 Bhakti Vikasa Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 03:20:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami (download mp3), given on February 28, at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi 4.56

radha-krsna eka atma, dui deha dhari'
anyonye vilase rasa asvadana kari'

TRANSLATION: Radha and Krsna are one and the same, but They have assumed two bodies. Thus They enjoy each other, tasting the mellows of love.

PURPORT: The two transcendentalists Radha and Krsna are a puzzle to materialists. The above description of Radha and Krsna from the diary of Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami is a condensed explanation, but one needs great spiritual insight to understand the mystery of these two personalities. One is enjoying in two. Sri Krsna is the potent factor, and Srimati Radharani is the internal potency. According to Vedanta philosophy, there is no difference between the potent and the potency; they are identical. We cannot differentiate between one and the other, any more than we can separate fire from heat.

Everything in the Absolute is inconceivable in relative existence. Therefore in relative cognizance it is very difficult to assimilate this truth of the oneness between the potent and the potency. The philosophy of inconceivable oneness and difference propounded by Lord Caitanya is the only source of understanding for such intricacies of transcendence.

In fact, Radharani is the internal potency of Sri Krsna, and She eternally intensifies the pleasure of Sri Krsna. Impersonalists cannot understand this without the help of a maha-bhagavata devotee. The very name "Radha" suggests that Srimati Radharani is eternally the topmost mistress of the comforts of Sri Krsna. As such, She is the medium transmitting the living entities' service to Sri Krsna. Devotees in Vrndavana therefore seek the mercy of Srimati Radharani in order to be recognized as loving servitors of Sri Krsna.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally approaches the fallen conditioned souls of the iron age to deliver the highest principle of transcendental relationships with the Lord. The activities of Lord Caitanya are primarily in the role of the pleasure-giving portion of His internal potency. The absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, is the omnipotent form of transcendental existence, knowledge and bliss in full. His internal potency is exhibited first as sat, or existence-or, in other words, as the portion that expands the existence function of the Lord. When the same potency displays full knowledge it is called cit, or samvit, which expands the transcendental forms of the Lord. Finally, when the same potency plays as a pleasure-giving medium it is known as hladini, or the transcendental blissful potency. Thus the Lord manifests His internal potency in three transcendental divisions. [End of purport]

[Invocatory prayers]

Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Srila Prabhupada writes here:

"The above description of Radha and Krsna from the diary of Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami . . ."

By above description, he is not referring to this verse which we read today, but the verse before it. It's a famous verse in Sanskrit, a part of a chapter of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, this verse is the beginning of the explanation of the verse which Prabhupada says is the condensed explnation of the famous verse:

radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini saktir asmad ekatmanav api bhuvi pura deha-bhedah gatau tau caitanyakhyah prakatam adhuna tad-dvayah caikyam aptah radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitah naumi krsna-svarupam

"The loving affairs of Sri Radha and Krsna are transcendental manifestations of the Lord's internal pleasure-giving potency. Although Radha and Krsna are one in Their identity, They separated Themselves eternally. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in the form of Sri Krsna Caitanya. I bow down to Him, who has manifested Himself with the sentiment and complexion of Srimati Radharani although He is Krsna Himself."

Prabhupada begins his purport by describing Radha and Krsna as "transcendentalists". Generally we think of transcendentalist as someone who is practicing sadhana with the aspiration to attain the transcendental platform. Another meaning Prabhupada is giving of transcendentalist is those who are on the transcendental platform.

From Radha and Krsna's perspective, they are not on the transcendental platform. That's only from our perspective because we are not transcendental. They are transcendental to us. They are on the absolute platform. We are on the relative platform. We are relative to them. They are the absolute reality.

So Radha and Krsna don't discuss such matters. As here Prabhupada is saying, according to Vedanta philosophy, there is no difference between the potent and the potency: sakti-saktimatayor abhedah. But Radha and Krsna are not discussing this. They are just being Radha and Krsna and enjoying. Technically Krsna is the enjoyer and Radha is the enjoyed, but they are both happy always. Happy in a way that as long as we are in the relative position, we cannot begin to understand

So Prabhupada writes:

"The two transcendentalists Radha and Krsna are a puzzle to materialists."

Not only are they are a puzzle to materialists, but they are a puzzle to most transcendentalists also. They are a puzzle even to most Vaisnavas. Vaisnava means they are worshipping Visnua: visnur yasya devata iti vaisnava: simple definition of a Vaisnava is one who worships Visnu. Karsna means who is recognizing Krsna. Gaudiya means who is worshiping Radha and Krsna. Even most Vaisnavas recognize Visnu is supreme or they may recognize Krsna is supreme, but it is very difficult to understand the pastimes of Radha and Krsna.

We are enjoined not to speak above our realization. These verses are given for discussion. Should we speak on them or not? Well, we shouldn't take a vote. We should follow mahajano yena gatah sa panthah, we should follow what the great personalities prescribe. We should discuss because on one hand we shouldn't speak beyond our realization; on the other hand, unless we know what we are aiming for, we are never going to get there and we are shooting in the dark.

So what is the goal of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas? Srila Prabhupada writes in one purport in his song book, "Do not think this dancing and chanting will be to the desired perfection. It will. The goal of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas is to join Radha and Krsna in their rasa-lila." We may join as a gopi or someone bringing the flowers, arranging the place of rest afterwards, or if we're very fortunate, we could be some grass.

It is an aspiration which even Uddhava, who Krsna told Uddhava:

na tatha me priyatama atma-yonir na sankarah

He says that, "No one is more dear to me. Na tatha me priyatama atma-yonir na sankarah, you are more dear to me than Lord Siva and Lord Brahma, Lord Brahma who is born from my own body. Na ca sankarsano na srir, not even Lord Balarama, or even Laksmi, my wife, naivatma ca yatha bhavan, and even me myself. You are more dear to me than all of them and even to me myself. "

But Uddhava is asking after he went to Vrindavan, he was sent by Krsna to Vrindavan. He is the disciple of Brhaspati. He is very learned, very intelligent, and known as the greatest devotee in Dvaraka. But when he went to Vrindavan he understood that "Krsna sent me here not to bring a message to the residents of Vrindavan, the gopis, I am supposed to be speaking about Krsna to the Brajabasis to make them somewhat pacified, but I am learning from them. I have to learn. I learned from Brhaspati. What Brhaspati taught me is worshiped in the world, but there is this little place called Vrindavan which no one gives much importance to. They're all Hastinapura and Dvaraka and big cities, running up and down and making battle plans, doing politics, and who cares about Vrindavan? But Krsna cares even more than he cares for the Pandavas. He is doing so much for the Pandavas. His heart is in Vrindavan."

So Uddhava was praying, "Ultimately I can become the creepers, the grass, something insignificant in Vrindavan so that sometime the gopis might walk on my head," the head of the grass, trinad api sunicena. "Then I will get their dust on my head."

So who can understand this? It is beyond any material understanding, which is exemplified, although Uddhava is not a material person, he is a fully transcendental person. He is a transcendentalist, but the knowledge that he has, the knowledge of activities of this world that he has received from the greatest Vedic scholar, Brhaspati, that is not enough to even begin to understand radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini saktir asmad. . . , the loving pastimes of Radha and Krsna, which is therefore very difficult to understand.

To help us to understand it, Srila Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami at the beginning of Caitanya-caritamrta has presented the philosophical understanding of who is Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Those who like nectar, they like to hear stories only, will hear the nice stories of how Caitanya Mahaprabhu is dancing in Ratha-yatra, how he is chastising Jagadananda Pandit, how he is rejecting Chota Haridas. There are so many sweet pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Caitanya-caritamrta, amrta means nectar, very sweet. But if we think we shall relish the nectar of Caitanya-caritamrta without taking the whole Caitanya-caritamrta as it is, without trying to understand as Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami has taken the trouble to inform us of who is Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, why is he performing these lilas, what is he doing, even if we think of him as a devotee, it is very sweet to hear, but if we can understand at least theoretically the mystery of his appearance, the reasons.

There are reasons. He who is sarva-karana-karanam, the cause of all causes, there are also reasons for his descending into this world. There are reasons why Radha and Krsna, who are one, they are two. They are the same one truth.

This will be described in the next few slokas. Just like the musk and its aroma are inseparable. You cannot have the aroma of musk without musk and you cannot have musk without its aroma. In the same way, Radha and Krsna, they are one in as much as they are inseparable. All these points will be discussed by Srila Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami so that the readers of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, here we are reading anyonye vilase rasa asvadana kari', they reciprocate with each other to enjoy, to taste the rasa, the mellows of love. So devotees, by hearing Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, they also relish, by hearing, the natural ecstasy of the soul to be happy in Krsna consciousness.

Srila Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami compiled this philosophical section at the beginning of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, even though he was writing he did not know how long he would live because from the non-transcendental perspective it appeared that his body was very old. He said, "I may die at any time. I am writing but I cannot see properly and I cannot even hold the pen properly." Pen in those days meant a feather. He had so much of the pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu to record, but still he took the trouble at the beginning. He considered it important that at the beginning of Caitanya-caritamrta he would give the philosophical understanding of who Caitanya Mahaprabhu is. If we simply hear about Caitanya Mahaprabhu without understanding this, still there is great benefit.

The other two famous biographies in Bengali, Sri Caitanya-bhagavata and Sri Caitanya-mangala, especially in Caitanya-mangala, there is almost no philosophical description there at all. And Caitanya-bhagavata, definitely not in the way there is here in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, here at the beginning, the first four chapters discuss the philosophy of understanding guru-tattva, caitanya-lila-tattva. There is the description of the Caitanya tree, who the Panca-tattva are. Later on in Caitanya-caritamrta there are also extension philosophical discussion of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings to Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami.

All these are there so that we can understand at least theoretically. By understanding theoretically we can begin to enter into the actual understanding of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. That is ultimately to be experienced, but for those who are sadhakas, those who are traversing the path from, acaitanyam idah visvah, everyone in this world is acaitanya. They have no consciousness. They don't have Krsna Caitanya. They don't have consciousness of Krsna or Krsna Caitanya. Those who are traversing the path from being unconscious, acaitanya means also unconscious, to consciousness of Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, for them it is essential to understand that sri-krsna-caitanya radha-krsna nahe anya, what are the implications of Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu being Radha and Krsna.

What does it mean? How is it that Radha and Krsna, who are eternally happy in the land of Vrindavan, who are complete in all respects, they have nothing to gain? Krsna is atmarama, aptakama. He is full and complete in himself. All his desires are automatically fulfilled. Still, he feels some inadequacy. How is this possible? So this is a puzzle to materialists.

Somehow there are certain non-devotees who are attracted to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They are attracted because they are demons, actually. They are attracted just like so many demons are attracted to Krsna. They are always thinking of Krsna, but in an inimical way. Similarly there are mundane scholars, they could study anything. They have to make a living and they are intellectually inclined. They could have studied butterflies or they could have studies frogs or they could have studied mathematics or they could have studied the Napoleonic era, but they decided to study Krsna. It is another subject. Put it in a test tube and see what happens. They have to make a living.

They bring their relative way of thinking to try to understand Krsna. It doesn't work. The very beginning of transcendental understanding is to understand that we cannot understand that which is beyond our brain power:

acintyah khalu ye bhava na tahs tarkena yojayet prakrtibhyah parah yac ca tad acintyasya laksanam

It is almost like a roundabout statement that whatever is acintya, that which is not within the scope of our mind and senses and brain cannot be understood by the mind or senses or the brain. It is almost like saying it is like this because it's like this. Well, that's a fact. Why can't you understand Caitanya Mahaprabhu with the mind and brain and the senses. Because it is not the right apparatus. You can't do it. You can't measure the density of an object with a ruler. It's good for measuring some things. You can measure what is the width of this book. Or you can't measure the distance from here to Hong Kong with a ruler. It's just not capable of doing so.

So the mundane scholars like to understand. They have invented a term: gaura-paramyavan?, the theory that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But none of the devotees of Caitanya Mahaprabhu speak about this because they all accept from the very beginning. Vrindavan das Thakur, from the very beginning, the first major Bengali biographer, writing in Bengali, of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Before that Kavi-karnapura, and the very first biographer, Murari Gupta, Svarupa Damodara Goswami.

From the very beginning, it is not like someone at some point dreamed up like happens with the so-called modern incarnations. Someone at some point in time has a theory. Just like in Bangladesh, more than twenty years ago when I was traveling there, there was a Hindu preacher called Vivekananda Brahmacari. We met him once. He was known as, he had all the usual big, "mahatma", "1008 glories", and all that. The next time we met him, he was an avatar. He had been promoted. That is not with Caitanya Mahaprabhu. From the very beginning, it was understood. The devotees who were with him understood.

The mundane scholars have to give speculations that when in Caitanya-lila it is described how he showed to devotees he is the Supreme Personality of Godhead for seven praharas, twenty-one hours, sitting on the throne of Visnu in the house of Srivasa Thakur. He showed all his devotees he is the Supreme Lord. That was recorded by the devotees in their biographies. So from the beginning there was no doubt in the mind of the devotees that he is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

But the mundane scholars, it is their business to doubt because they are andha yathandhair upaniyamanas te 'pisa-tantryam uru-damni baddhah. They are blind following the blind. When they want to become a leader of the blind, they have to exhibit their blindness. So they make up this theory and that theory and that theory. They have a theory that someone had a theory that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It was never a theory in the minds of those who are actual transcendentalists. They knew from the very beginning. To help others understand this and appreciate this, they compiled their writings. This verse, radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini saktir asmad, this is from the karcha, or the diary of Sri Svarupa Damodara Goswami, which is not extant anymore. It seems he kept it secretly because that wasn't revealed very widely.

Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami has quoted the key verses from that describing the personality of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and why he comes to this world. As Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami describes, he has taken the karcha of Svarupa Damodara Goswami, the karcha of Murari Gupta, who described the Navadvipa pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami heard from Raghunath dasa Goswami who was with Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri. In this way, he took all the lilas and he fluffed it out in his own language. He elaborated on it. Not that he speculated. He didn't add anything of his own. He said, "I am simply chewing the remnants of that which is given by my gurus."

His gurus are Sri Rupa, Sanatana, Bhatta Raghunatha Sri Jiva, Gopala Bhatta, Dasa Raghunatha. With the exception of Jiva Goswami, they all personally were taking part in the pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and they understood who is Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They are also all sakti-tattva.

Radha and Krsna are one and the same. They are saktiman and sakti. Just as Krsna is the possessor of all potencies and Radharani is sakti. Just as Krsna is the root or the fountainhead of all avataras, not only avataras, but all the Visnu forms and even Vrindavan Krsna, from him are manifest, not manifest but eternally existing. It is difficult to say because it is difficult for us to imagine in our constricted consciousness what is the nature of God, but language as far as possible is meant for describing this. There is no use of writing or talking unless we discuss these subjects.

So Krsna expands himself as Mathuresa, the Krsna in Mathura, and Dvarakesa, Krsna in Dvaraka, Partha-sarathi. Then as Balarama, Vasudeva, Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and so many forms. In the same way, Srimati Radharani is the fountainhead of all saktis. That means within Vrindavan, all the gopis and outside Vrindavan, there's Rukmini, Satyabhama, and all the queens. So Krsna and Radha are the original fountainheads and the six goswamis, Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami are also sakti tattva. They are gopis. They have come to join Radha ad Krsna who have come as one, as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to assist him.

Their service, they are meant for serving the saktiman. They are saktis meant for serving, for giving pleasure to Krsna. They give pleasure to Krsna through Radha. She expands herself in so many forms and all these forms of the gopis. And on Krsna's side, Balarama, he is the personification of-- again personification is not a very good term, but what can you do, it's English, it gives the idea of something that didn't exist but comes into existence--but Balarama is eternally existing as the fountainhead of service to Krsna, as is Radharani. Radha, the very name means she who is the best worshiper of Krsna. She only thinks of how to please Krsna. And all her energies, all her expansion, for want of a better term, they are assisting her to please Krsna.

This is a mystery. It is a puzzle, Prabhupada says this. To materialists, it is an enigma. How can they understand? It is an enigma to them because from the point of view of materialists who shouldn't discuss these things at all, the pastimes of Radha and Krsna seem to be vulgar. On the other hand, the great devotees of Radha and Krsna are not at all vulgar.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so strict even in his family life. In his childhood he used to joke with the young girls, but then after that, he was very proper in his dealings. Of course everything Caitanya Mahaprabhu does is proper, even if it seems improper, but from the point of worldly dharma, or worldly cultured behavior, he didn't mix up with the women of Nadia as is wrongly misconstrued by the gaura-nagari apasampradaya.

And after taking sannyasa he was so strict about this that his devotees didn't even say the names of any women to him, even the names of women elder, on the level of mothers. Anyway you don't say the names of women, but when Paramesvara Modaka, one of his devotees came and said, "Oh, Mukunda-ma, she has also come." Means his wife had also come. In the Vedic culture, generally you won't say the name of the woman but you'll say what is the name of her first son and "mother", so Mukunda-mata. So she has also come.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu, "Oh," he was feeling, "I'm a sannyasi. He shouldn't say like that." He was so strict. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu and all the devotees, all the great acaryas who have worshiped Radha and Krsna, their behavior is exemplary in terms of moral behavior. There are certain rascals who criticize Caitanya Mahaprabhu for setting a bad example by abandoning his widowed mother. They're rascals. We don't have to accept what they say.

It is enigmatic. How is it that the pastimes of Radha and Krsna, which appear so vulgar, are worshiped by great sannyasis and persons in whose behavior there is no trace of vulgarity? It suggests that what they are saying, if we are going to approach this at all from the mundane platform, that if what they say is true, that actually hearing about Radha and Krsna is purifying. That is the version of the Bhagavatam, that by hearing about the pastimes of Radha and Krsna, which seem shocking to the materialists.

Of course in the modern age it is not shocking that a man would sport with other people's wives, but actually it should be shocking because for a man to sport with other people's wives is uncivilized. It is subhuman behavior. Or in the case of Krsna, it is superhuman behavior. But those who are only on the human platform, they cannot understand this. Those who are subhumans, they certainly can't understand it. And those who are only human, they also can't understand it.

One has to become transcendental. Then he can begin to understand it. At least in the beginning it should be accepted that the same Vyasadeva who compiled all these sastras for the elevation of human society was not in his old age senile, but in his old age--not his old age, rather, he is still there in the Himalayas--but the last literary contribution he made was the Srimad-Bhagavatam in which he described in detail the pastimes of Krsna in Vrindavan and Mathura and Dvaraka. And he described there, in a guarded way, what is Krsna's gopi-lila. It is there. In a guarded way it is described.

Later Caitanya Mahaprabhu came, the Panca-tattva came and the storehouse of love of Krsna, which is Srimad-Bhagavatam, that required to be opened by the devotees who are described in the beginning Bhagavatam: pibata bhagavatah rasam alayah muhur aho rasika bhuvi bhavukah. Those who are rasika-bhaktas, they can understand to the fullest extent what is the teaching of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Here Prabhupada writes Radha Krsna are a puzzle to materialists, but they are a puzzle to transcedentalists and even to great Vaisnavas who have established that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that the parama-tattva, the supreme principle of supreme reality is Krsna or Hari, Visnu, the supreme person. They have established this very strongly in the world.

Madhvacarya especially has completely smashed the Mayavadi theory that all is one and one is all, that there is no supreme or less, everything is simply one. So Madhvacarya established that but the full ramification of Krsna being the supreme person is that he is the supreme enjoyer, the supreme lover. He's not simply supreme sitting on a throne. He exhibits his supremacy more by dancing in the cowherd pastures of Vrindavan without any shoes on with the gopis. So this is the logical, if you want to take it as far as logic will go, the logical conclusion of Krsna being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but being constricted by sastric understanding, many Vaisnavas, Madhva Sampradaya, for them it remains a puzzle, an enigma.

Even if we go in the temple of the Sri Krsna Matha in Udupi, the heart of the Madhva Sampradaya, when we walk in the temple, do you see the Deity? Who's been there, Udupi? When you walk in do you see the Deity? No, because he is on the other side. You walk in and you go around because he turned around. The story is that the Deity turned around.

But what you do see when you go in, you'll see a big picture on the wall of Radha and Krsna, which according to Madhva philosophy shouldn't be there because they don't accept Radha. But still from the picture being there it seems they don't reject. It's a mystery to them because they are perfect in understanding the sastras. They have perfectly understood that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they haven't perfectly understood the implication of what it means to be a person, which will not be described in the sastra. That's not for everyone.

In the morning newspaper you might read that the prime minister said, whatever nonsense they say, the price of everything is going up, but you don't read how he had an argument with his wife. That doesn't come in the newspaper. That is his own private business. So what Radha and Krsna are doing, that is Krsna's private business. But it may be that the prime minister is reading out, "Here is the price of everything . . . ," and he is thinking, "What am I going to say to my wife when I get back?" because to him his wife is more important.

Of course for Krsna, Radha is more important, but it may not be for the Prime Minister, I don't know. His emotional affairs are more important to him even than the state of the country or his ministers. They are important, he knows he has a duty, he has to look after them, but to him his own personal affairs, because he is a person, that is more important to him.

There was one King of England, he was supposed to become the King of England. He gave up his claim to the throne because he wanted to marry a woman who was already divorced. In those days, that was only seventy years ago, that was considered unacceptable. Nowadays, the president of America can have illicit sex left, right, and center and people don't give a damn. Times have changed. So his emotional affair, he considered it more important. "Yes, I know I've been trained since childhood to be the king, but I just can't do it because I am ruled by my heart."

So Krsna also being the supreme person, he is not simply a wooden or stone statute. Most important for him is just like he says:

na tatha me priyatama atma-yonir na sankarah na ca sankarsano na Srir naivatma ca yatha bhavan

That Uddhava, you are more dear to me than Brahma. Well in the universal creation, Brahma is more important than Uddhava, so is Sankara, Lord Siva, but to Krsna, Uddhava is more important because he loves him more. Uddhava loves Krsna more and Krsna loves Uddhava more.

So these are the internal affairs of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, of Radha and Krsna and we didn't even come very close at all to speaking about why Radha and Krsna are one. They are two but again they become one. Of course it requires a lot of time to discuss these things. No, not a lot of time, unlimited time. Ananta is discussing timelessly. I presume that will be discussed in the next few days because that is the subject matter of the next few verses.

I am supposed to have stopped already so if anybody would like to make any comments or give any questions, kindly do so. And we should go on discussing these things. Why don't we do that for the next few days, at least up to Gaura Purnima? Why don't we make a vow that we are not going to talk about the state of our stomachs or various political matters inside or outside of ISKCON.

Let's discuss about Caitanya Mahaprabhu. How about that? Is it a good idea? I think so. Let's do that. When we meet each other, we should discuss all these topics.

Hare Krsna.

Any comment or question please?

yadi amara prati sneha thake sabakara tabe krsna veti vrikta ??? na gaibe ara

Caitanya Mahaprabhu said if you love me, then do one thing--don't talk about anything else but Krsna.

So see if we can do that for at least a few days. We'll talk about Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Please? Oh, you weren't putting your hand up. There's a fly in the Dham of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have to connect it somehow to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Otherwise we are not following our sadhana.

Q: You were saying that Krsna was in the rasa dance dancing without his shoes on. Can you elaborate on that?

A: Why he doesn't have his dancing shoes on? Well, Krsna doesn't wear shoes in Vrindavan because he loves the cows. He told his mother, "I'm not going to wear, either you make shoes for all my millions of cows or I'll go without shoes." So he goes without shoes. And the gopis are crying that the rough stones and the spikes are hurting Krsna's foot. Also all the living beings who are fortunate to be the grass, they get directly the mercy from Krsna's feet. That's his mercy also. If he had shoes on, it would be a little bit removed. [Chuckles.] It's a speculation.

Hare Krsna.

Srimad Caitanya-caritamrta ki jai! Srila Prabhupada ki jai! Hare Krsna.

CC Antya 1.132 Sivarama Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 03:12:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Sivarama Swami (download mp3), given on February 27, at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Caitanya-Caritamrita, Antya 1.132

anarpita-carim cirat karunayavatirnah kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-sriyam
harih purata-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandipitah
sada hrdaya-kandare sphuratu vah saci-nandanah

TRANSLATION: "'May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Srimati Sacidevi be transcendentally situated in the innermost core of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has descended in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most elevated mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.'"

PURPORT: This verse (Vidagdha-madhava 1.2) also appears in the Adi-lila (1.4 and 3.4). In his commentary on the Vidagdha-madhava, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura remarks, maha-prabhoh sphurtim vina hari-lila-rasasvadananupapatter iti bhavah: "Without the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, one cannot describe the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Therefore Srila Rupa Gosvami said, vo yusmakam hrdaya-rupa-guhayam saci-nandano harih pakse simhah sphuratu: "May Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is exactly like a lion that kills all the elephants of desire, be awakened within everyone's heart, for by His merciful blessings one can understand the transcendental pastimes of Krsna." [End of purport]

Sivarama Swami: There are fourteen verses, slokas, which are like the bija or seed of Caitanya-caritamrta. The author, after mentioning them, he says, "I will now elaborate further on these verses." And that is Caitanya-caritamrta is about. Bija, seed, it is like we also have our kama-bija, klim. From that seed then comes the kama-gayatri mantra. Just like with a tree, within the seed the potential for the entire tree is there. In material world, when you have the seed, you don't have the tree. When you have the seed, the tree is gone. In the spiritual context, these things don't exist. In fact, Rupa Goswami describes this later on in Nectar of Devotion. So both the seed exists as well as the tree that comes from the seed.

This is the fourth of the fourteen slokas. The first six describe Caitanya Mahaprabhu, then Lord Nityananda, Advaita Acarya, concluding with panca-tattvatmakam krsnam. These constitute the basis of Caitanya-caritamrta. This verse, anarpita-carim cirat, is composed by Rupa Goswami. It is to be found in his Vidagdha-madhava. It's interesting that those fourteen verses are a compilation of his own composition. Rupa Goswami, Svarupa Damodara Goswami, and also other sources, they are not his, but all together, they present the tattva of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's lila, his ontology, as well as the nature of his rasa, particularly here in this verse and in the two verses that follow this one.

The history of this verse now been spoken, this chapter is entitled "Rupa Goswami's Second Meeting with the Lord". When Caitanya Mahaprabhu was residing in Jagannath Puri, his daily habit would be to visit Thakur Haridas because Haridas Thakur was not able to go to the temple, being born in, considered to be, a mleccha family, although he was a greatly exalted transcendental personality. Still, he followed all the proper rules and regulations and he wouldn't go. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally came. Caitanya Mahaprabhu being non-different than Lord Jagannath, so Jagannath came to visit Haridas Thakur and he brought him prasadam. This went on for the entire duration of Haridas Thakur's stay in Puri up until he finally left his body.

At this time, Rupa Goswami was also residing there. Following the Ratha-yatra festival, Rupa Goswami composed a very beautiful verse. That verse is found in Padyavali. It was in response to another song that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was singing. During Ratha-yatra, Caitanya Mahaprabhu would sing this song beginning with "yah kaumara-harah sa eva hi varas". This was not a sastric song. It was more like a popular song that was known at that time, but it was more or less a love ballad, but it reflected the spirit or the mood of Ratha-yatra.

When Rupa Goswami heard this, then he presented it in a more direct way. So he wrote this other verse: priyah so 'yam krsnah saha-cari kuru-ksetra-militas tathaham sa radha, and so on. So he wrote this on a palm leaf and left it in the thatched roof of Haridas Thakur's hut. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu came, he saw this. When he saw it, he showed it to his other associates, and he put up this rhetorical question, "How is it possible that Rupa Goswami could understand my heart?"

Because the song actually describes the meeting of Srimati Radharani and Lord Krsna at Kuruksetra and it describes the spirit of the gopis, "You are the same Krsna, these are the same moonlit nights, I'm the same Srimati Radharani - tathaham sa radha tad idam ubhayoh sangama-sukham - this meeting is very nice, it's giving us a lot of pleasure, but it's not the same. There's no Yamuna here, there's no Govardhan Hill, there's no Vrindavan, and there's no flute. Where's your flute? Rather, there is simply the opulence of a great king, so we want to take you back to Vrindavan."

That is the spirit of Ratha-yatra, bringing Krsna, bringing Lord Jagannath from the Dvaraka opulence which he is manifesting in Kuruksetra back to Vrindavan, and ultimately Krsna did go to Vrindavan. They succeeded in bringing him back, but it was a little later time that Krsna followed the inhabitants of Vrindavan back to his home.

So when Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked, "How is it possible he understood this?"

Ramananda Raya replied, "It's only possible by your mercy. How else could anyone understand anything?" How else can anyone understand Lord Krsna because this is describing Lord Krsna's pastimes, but this is Lord Krsna's pastimes as are revealed in radha bhava dyuti suvalitam, in the innermost core of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's heart.

After that follows this whole episode of speaking, Rupa Goswami reading of speaking certain parts of Lalita-madhava, Vidagdha-madhava. Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to actually glorify Rupa Goswami in the presence of his associates. Srila Prabhupada, Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami describes how much great pleasure Lord Caitanya derived from this because ultimately, Rupa Goswami is our paramacarya. We are rupanugas. We follow in Rupa Goswami's line. Even though other personalities are extremely elevated in terms of their relationship with Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Krsna, perhaps a certain sense of seniority, but in terms of sri-caitanya-mano-'bhistam sthapitam yena bhu-tale, in terms of the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Rupa Goswami is empowered to do that and he has also established the mission of fulfilling Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's desire of spreading Krsna consciousness all over the world.

Anyway, Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to glorify Rupa Goswami, and interestingly enough, he was also interested in seeing how his associates would react. Particularly in the next verse, raya kahe, rupa kahe, this is sort of a dialogue going on between Ramananda Raya. . . earlier, in the Eighth Chapter of Madhya-lila, there is this very extensive discussion between Ramananda Raya and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which really reveals the different stages of spiritual life, different stages of devotional service, and the topmost levels of Krsna conscious exchanges, experience between Srimati Radharani and Lord Krsna, and particularly how those are experienced by Lord Caitanya.

It's a very wonderful exchange, one that even back in the late 50's or early 60's Srila Prabhupada wrote this little book, Ramananda-samvada, the discussion or conversation of Ramananda Raya. Anyway, Ramananda Raya was a great scholar. He was now Caitanya Mahaprabhu's associate and he'd also written plays, particularly this Jagannath Vallabha nataka, which is a very beautiful play about the meeting of the Divine Couple, Radha-Madhava, so he wanted to see how he would react and how they would react when they heard Rupa Goswami's composition.

Then they're asking different things and this is in response to the question, "Ramananda Raya said, 'Now please recite the description of the glories of your worshipable Deity.'"

Rupa Goswami was hesitating. He was embarrassed because his worshipable Deity here, Sacinandana, was Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was sitting right there. So Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu encouraged him. He said, "Why are you embarrassed? You should recite it so that the devotees can hear the good fruit of your writing."

"When Rupa Gosvami thus recited his verse, Caitanya Mahaprabhu disapproved of it because it described His personal glories." In the purport Srila Prabhupada is quoting Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur that without Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy, no one can really understand Lord Krsna. Of course this is understand, not describe, the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

This is certainly a most important principle. In fact, it is the essential principle by which we practice, or we are in the Krsna consciousness movement. We are in the Krsna consciousness movement, but Krsna consciousness personified is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore, even in this place Srila Prabhupada on different occasions had repeated that "We cannot go directly to Lord Krsna. We must go through the guru parampara and that begins by going through Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

Otherwise, approaching Krsna becomes extremely difficult. Knowing Krsna becomes difficult. Yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya. So knowing Krsna tattvatah, Krsna also explains mam vetti tattvatah. To know the real truths of Krsna is very difficult.

Rupa Goswami writes:

aher iva gatih premnah svabhava-kutila bhavet

He says, "If you want to understand Krsna or the pastimes of Vrindavan, they are extremely convoluted, extremely difficult." He says, "They are like the movements of a snake." If you have sen the movements of a snake, they move this way, but they also move sideways. So never know really where they're going. They're moving like this. So understanding Krsna, directly approaching Krsna, is a very difficult thing. Narottama das Thakur also concludes his Prarthana by making this statement. But if someone approaches Krsna through Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, then that becomes very easy.

Earlier on, Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami says:

kathancana smrte yasmin duskaram sukaram bhavet

If someone remembers Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the most difficult thing, and this is the most difficult thing, understanding Krsna, Krsna-tattva, becomes very, very easy. But:

vismrte viparitam syat sri-caitanyam namami tam

But if you forget Caitanya Mahaprabhu , the easiest thing becomes very, very difficult. So our whole idea, the whole process of Krsna consciousness is to approach Krsna through Caitanya Mahaprabhu and to learn to glorify Krsna through Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

There are two nice examples of this that come to mind. One is the example of Puridas, who later became known as Kavi Karnapur. When he was a very little boy, his father, Sivananda Seva, who would annually come to Jagannath Puri from Navadvipa Dham, he would go from here to there and take all of the devotees, Caitanya Mahaprabhu's associates. When Puridas came, Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked him to speak something about Krsna. He wouldn't say anything. This sort of went on and on until Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave Puridas his blessings and Puridas actually got the dust of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu lotus feet, at which time immediately he began to talk. In fact, he is known as Kavi because all Gaudiya Vaisnavas consider him to be a great, learned scholar. And although he was a very little boy, he composed this very beautiful verse:

sravasoh kuvalayam aksnor anjanam uraso mahendra-mani-dama vrndavana-ramaninam mandanam akhilam harir jayati

And there he is describing Krsna: Krsna is like a flower decoration for the ears, aksnor anjanam, and just like anjana, premanjana, just like ointment for the eyes, black ointment for the eyes. He is the, Prabhupada says he is the universal ornament for the gopis, and let him be glorified, harir jayati, let that Hari be glorified. Yes, and he is just like a necklace around the neck.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very much pleased with that. In other words, after Puridas received Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy, then he could glorify Lord Krsna.

In fact earlier on, another verse in Caitanya-caritamrta where Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami says:

sri-caitanya-prasadena tad-rupasya vinirnayam balo 'pi

He says bala, bala means a child. He says even a child can describe the glories of Lord Krsna's pastimes in Vrindavan, sastra, according to the way they are described in sastra, sri-caitanya-prasadena, if he has the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is the particular example of Kavi-karnapura, who was just a little boy.

Of course the other example is our Thakur Bhaktivinod. Just recently I was reading his own statement. Since I can't quote it, I won't even paraphrase, but Bhaktivinod Thakur said that when he started to delve into Gaudiya Vaisnavism, he first started reading Srimad Bhagavatam. And when he read Bhagavatam, he read the Tenth Canto, he was really disturbed. He could not accept that this is God. He could not accept that God in the dead of night is enticing other people's wives to dance with him. It's a highly immoral act. It was an immoral act five thousand years ago, but it was also immoral one hundred years ago, Bhaktivinod Thakur's time. In his words, he more or less rejected. He could not accept that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

But when he read Caitanya-caritamrta, then through Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he said then I could understand. Then it became very clear. Of course our Thakur Bhaktivinod is an eternally liberated soul. But still, he is setting this very suitable example for us that if we want to understand Lord Krsna and if we want to glorify Lord Krsna--which Srila Prabhupada encouraged us to do, Srila Prabhupada instructed all of his followers that you should write. He said that this was our lineage, our tradition, Furthermore, he said that Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted all of his followers to write, that's why he empowered all of the Goswamis to do so. It's not possible unless one actually sees things through the eyes, teachings, worship, and the grace of Lord Caitanya. And Bhaktivinod showed us this thing that if one goes directly, it becomes impossible.

Therefore, we have to do, but for that, one requires real faith in Caitanya Mahaprabhu because ultimately, in Krsna consciousness, any level of achievement is only acquired through the degree or the level of faith that we have. Therefore Vaisnavas must have this great faith in Caitanya Mahaprabhu, not only Caitanya Mahaprabhu but also in Caitanya Mahaprabhu's associates. Gaurangera sangi-gane nitya-siddha, that all of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's associates are described as, here Narottama das Thakur says you must accept that they are nitya-siddha, parikaras, they are not ordinary personalities even though they may appear like that.

Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami's elder brother accepted Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but he wouldn't accept Lord Nityananda. He fell down. Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami immediately left his home, left his association. That's how he ended up coming to Vrindavan.

Srila Prabhupada points out that there are Vaisnava schools, what to speak of other religious organizations, who don't accept Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And often, they may propound also that someone else is the yuga-avatara. Prabhupada says that there are some members of the Nimbarka Sampradaya who reject the fact that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the yuga-avatara or that he is directly Krsna. Prabhupada says they think that he is a great saint, that he's a great devotee, but not that he is svayam-bhagavan. That's why here Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami begins by establishing the truth of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This third verse:

yad advaitam brahmopanisadi tad apy asya tanu-bha

He says what the brahmavadis consider to be this Brahman, what is the effulgence of his body, and that Paramatma who is residing within the heart of everyone, who the yogis worship, that is his plenary expansion within the heart of every living entity. And that svayam-bhagavan, that is non-different than this Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

This becomes the first premise, the first statement, vastu-nirdesa, establishing what is the vastu, or the substance, or the goal of Caitanya-caritamrta, that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And Prabhupada states that the most important verse which substantiates this is the verse found in the Eleventh Canto:

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah

Srila Prabhupada quotes this verse any time he talks about Caitanya Mahaprabhu being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yuga-avatara. Srila Prabhupada quotes this verse and he quotes other verses to substantiate. It is actually a very important verse.

If you remember, this is Maharaja Nimi questioning the Nava-yogendras and Karabhajan Muni is speaking. Maharaja Nimi is asking, "I want to know, particulary for the Kali-yuga, what is the avatara, how is he worshipped, what is the yajna by which he is meant to be served?"

Karabhajan Muni has gone through the different yugas. Then he says, "Tat srnu", like Krsna says. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur says he makes this point because "Now I am going to tell you something very important. Now you should listen. Up until now we were talking about plenary expansions of the Lord, but now we are talking about the Supreme Personality of Godhead himself."

Then he cites this verse, krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam, which is described, Srila Prabhupada analyses this verse in many different ways. Krsna-varnam, he points out this word varnam, varneti is explained in different way. Srila Prabhupada gives one, someone who always has the syllables krs-na, who is always vibrating the syllables krs-na, he is krsna-varnam. We saw that five hundred years ago, Nimai Pandit, later Caitanya Mahaprabhu, was always chanting Krsna's holy name. Krsna-varnam, varna also means category, so Srila Prabhupada said, just like he is also in the same category as Krsna. In other words, he is also svayam-bhagavan, but he is tvisakrsnam. Tvisa-akrsnam, his complexion is akrsna.

When this question comes up, tvisakrsnam, does it actually mean, because it simply means he is akrsna, tvisa akrsna, he complexion is not krsna, not blackish. Prabhupada very often, when he refers, he quotes Tenth Canto, one verse, very famous verse, which Gargamuni speaks when he's talking to Nanda Maharaja. And he's talking particularly about Krsna. He says, "Your son, he has many different births. In these births, he appears in different colors. That also starts with varna, that verse, but he says:

suklo raktas tatha pita idanim krsnatam gatah

He says, in previous age, he comes in a white incarnation. So because it says akrsna, but Prabhupada says, sukla, the white incarnation, he cannot be white because white incarnation has already come. And he cannot be rakta, he cannot be red, red incarnation has also come. Therefore pita, he is of yellow or golden complexion. Idanim krsnatam gatah, and now he's appearing in this blackish form.

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and other commentators analyze this verse in great detail. They analyze it using Sanskrit grammar, which I don't have a grasp of, but they point out how particularly the fact that Krsna is being described as the last, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In other words, although the chronology should be sukla, rakta, krsna, pita because that is how the appearance comes, it's described like this in order to give emphasis, idanim, "Now he's coming here." The past is given with the first two, the red and the white. And the idanim, presently he's appearing in this color, which by implication means, "And in the future, pita, yellow incarnation." This is meant to be another affirmation from Srimad Bhagavatam that this golden incarnation who appears is actually Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and not some other personality who neither chants Hare Krsna, neither is a golden incarnation.

Just on another point closing on this, which is a statement made by Lord Brahma, very interesting explanation of a Bhagavad-gita verse that we recite regularly. Locana dasa Thakur quotes this. It's a conversation between Brahma and Narada. Lord Brahma is:

yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham

paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge

So in this explanation he is saying when Krsna saying, "sambhavami yuge yuge," he says, "I come in this age, yuge, and in the next age, yuge, and in the one after this." Generally our translation is Krsna comes in "age after age". This particular explanation says, "In this age now I am here as Krsna speaking Bhagavad-gita in front of Arjuna. And in the next age, I am also coming, svayam-bhagavan, Supreme Personality of Godhead."

So the conviction, or the faith, of Gaudiya Vaisnavas, which is based on sastra, but ultimately rests on our acaryas' explanation of sastra is that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And as is described in the verses which follow:

radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini saktir asmad

This Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir, he is the embodiment of Krsna in the radha-bhava-dyuti, in the mood, the complexion of Srimati Radharani.

We have that ultimately, Srila Prabhupada once was arguing back and forth with a Sanskrit Indologist professor. Ultimately when they were giving interpretation, he said, "We accept Caitanya Mahaprabhu's version and as Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings are given to us by our acaryas. This is our ultimate pramana."

Sruti is the ultimate pramana, but how to understand? Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. Therefore Bhaktivinod Thakur says that the highest evidence in the ultimate sense is the words of the self realized souls. Just like for us, members of the Krsna consciousness movement, the highest form of evidence is Srila Prabhupada's words, how Srila Prabhupada explains Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta, and as he explains it, even though someone else may say something else apparently, we take that as being gospel and that becomes our pramana. By that conviction, then we have the vision of Lord Krsna as derived through Caitanya Mahaprabhu, anarpita-carim cirat.

Then here the first two words, first two lines are the tatastha-laksana. These are the secondary symptoms and the last two are the svarupa-laksana of this verse and also of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When talking with Sanatana Goswami, Sanatana Goswami was asking about this krsna-varnam sloka. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Activities of the incarnation of the Lord constitute his secondary characteristics and his physical characteristics. That is that he is krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam. These constitute the primary symptoms."

Then Sanatana Goswami started to dig. After all, he was a prime minister. He was very, very smart. He said, "Well, does that meant the yuga-avatara of this age has golden complexion, he is always chanting Hare Krsna, which is implying that he is you?"

Lord Caitanya said, "Don't. You're up to your tricks. Don't make too many tricks." Then he just got off the subject and continued on.

So anarpita-carim cirat karunayavatirnah kalau samarpayitum unnatojjvala, all of this is described earlier on by Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami. He says that this verse describes the external reason for Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance, that external reason being that Caitanya Mahaprabhu has come to give, as it is stated here, samarpayitum unnatojjvala. He is giving the topmost process of devotional service, which means that he is teaching us vraja bhakti though the agency of chanting the Hare Krsna Mahamantra.

And ujjvala-rasa, not just vraja bhakti, but ujjvala-rasa refers to in the conjugal mellow. It's not in the translation, but in the word for word, Srila Prabhupada translates ujjvala-rasa - the conjugal mellow and unnata means elevated.

But this is sriyam, this is a treasure. This is a very confidential thing. The next two verse describe the, what Prabhupada uses, he uses words like "confidential reason". He even uses the word "real reason" for Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance:

sri-radhayah pranaya-mahima kidrso vanayaiva-svadyo yenadbhuta-madhurima kidrso . . .

In order to taste the ecstasy, pleasure moods of Srimati Radharani, Lord Krsna has appeared in this form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Then we get this blessing:

sada hrdaya-kandare sphuratu vah saci-nandanah

That we should take this Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu within our hearts with his, here, kadamba-sandipitah. He is like the clouds, like the rumbling of the clouds. Here it is called harih. Hari also refers to a lion. When the lion roars, then all of the insignificant creatures in the forest disperse. Similarly, when we hear the chanting of the Hare Krsna Mantra, when we hear Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching through Rupa-Sanatana Goswamis, this destroys all of the ignorance within the heart. Also kandare sphuratu vah saci-nandanah, when we see the beautiful complexion of Lord Caitanya, the golden complexion as we see here in the form of Panca Tattva, then these two things, Caitanya Mahaprabhu's voice and his complexion, they destroy all the obstacles to Krsna consciousness.

Then kathancana smrte yasmin duskaram sukaram bhavet, what's very difficult to achieve becomes very, very easy by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy. Rupa Goswami is giving us that blessing, benediction. This is part of Caitanya-caritamrta, receiving benedictions, part of the invocation. If we accept those blessings of Lord Caitanya, of our guru parampara, then by Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy, we also can glorify Lord Krsna, understand Lord Krsna, and ultimately become Krsna conscious.

That's it as far as our time is concerned.

Thank you very much.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

[Applause]

Sri Sri Radha Madhava ki jai!

END

SB 3.1.26 BVV Nrsimha Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 02:56:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness BVV Nrsimha Swami (download mp3), given on February 26, at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.26

kaccit puranau purusau svanabhya-
padmanuvrttyeha kilavatirnau
asata urvyah kusalam vidhaya
krta-ksanau kusalam sura-gehe

TRANSLATION: [Please tell me] whether the original Personalities of Godhead, who incarnated Themselves at the request of Brahma [who is born out of the lotus flower from the Lord] and who have increased the prosperity of the world by elevating everyone, are doing well in the house of Surasena.

PURPORT: Lord Krsna and Balarama are not two different Personalities of Godhead. God is one without a second, but He expands Himself in many forms without their being separate from one another. They are all plenary expansions. The immediate expansion of Lord Krsna is Baladeva, and Brahma, born from the lotus flower from Garbhodakasayi Visnu, is an expansion of Baladeva. This indicates that Krsna and Baladeva are not subjected to the regulations of the universe; on the contrary, the whole universe is under Their subjugation. They appeared at the request of Brahma to liberate the burden of the world, and They relieved the world by many superhuman activities so that everyone became happy and prosperous. Without the grace of the Lord, no one can become happy and prosperous. Because the happiness of the family of the Lord's devotees depends on the happiness of the Lord, Vidura first of all inquired about the well-being of the Lord. [End of purport]

BVV Narasimha Swami: We're hearing from the Fifth Canto, First Chapter. Vidura is speaking this chapter, of course, "Questions by Vidura". Vidura had been introduced in the Srimad Bhagavatam, First Canto, Thirteenth Chapter, Dhrtarastra Quits Home. The chapter began with Vidura's entrance into the palace at Hastinapura. It describes that he had come from pilgrimage. During his pilgrimage he had been receiving instructions from Maitreya. The chapter goes on to describe Vidura's preaching to Dhrtarastra and his encouraging his brother to get out from home and to prepare for his fast-approaching death.

Throughout the Second Canto Vidura is not mentioned again. He's only mentioned in the First Canto in the Thirteenth Chapter in relation to Dhrtarastra quitting home. Now it's interesting why this incident is explained in the First Canto without giving a detailed presentation about Vidura. Sridhar Swami, the famous commentator on Srimad Bhagavatam, explains that both Vidura's returning to Hastinapura and also Arjuna's returning to Hastinapura from Dvaraka, both of these incidents have been described in order to prepare the scene for Maharaja Pariksit becoming the ruler of the world. Then also with Pariksit becoming the ruler of the world, how he challenges the Personality of Kali, and how ultimately, he is cursed to death.

So these two incidents are very important in preparing the scene for describing the speaking of Srimad Bhagavatam, which is the cursing of Maharaja Pariksit, these two incidents: Arjuna's returning from Dvaraka and describing everything and then also this incident of Vidura coming back to Hastinapura.

Throughout the Second Canto we have a lot of information about the creation, we have the catur-sloki Bhagavatam described and how it relates to the subject matter of Srimad Bhagavatam. There is a lot of technical information about the creation of the universal form and also about material creation and annihilation. So hearing all these things, at the end of the Second Canto, the sages in Naimisaranya forest requested Suta Goswami to "Please tell us more about Vidura. Earlier you mentioned about Vidura and he had been receiving instructions from Maitreya, so tell us about that."

The sages themselves changed the topic. Just like we're in a class and the class is very technical and it's got a lot of technical details, you can't just take in a lot of technical stuff, you have to vary it. Prabhupada was very expert. He could lace his lectures with wonderful analogies and pastimes and different incidents to keep us interested in the philosophy. If we hear only the philosophy all the time without the lila, it makes it a little difficult for us. I mean, it's difficult at the best of times to absorb our minds in hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, but when it's just straight philosophy, then it's really difficult.

So it seems the sages themselves, Prabhupada mentions in the purport, at the end of the Second Canto, Tenth Chapter, Prabhupada says the sages wanted to hear more transcendental topics. They had had enough of the physical because they had been hearing about creation and annihilation and they wanted to hear something more transcendental. Prabhupada, in that purport, goes on to explain how there are two classes of men. There is the materialist and the transcendentalist. For the materialist, they like to hear about all the physical laws.

Maybe many of us, previously, before becoming devotees, we were scientists or engineers or we were absorbed in the material nature, thinking how wonderful material nature is: The beauty of the rose, how it has such a wonderful appearance, and at the same time, such a wonderful fragrance, how it opens, closes. So many wonders are there in nature to attract the mind.

Prabhupada met one man, he was studying grass and why grass is green and how it grows. Prabhupada said, "You should understand who is behind all of this nature, not just to be caught up in studying the nature only, but see who is the personality who is controlling all of this nature."

Prabhupada touches on this a little bit in this purport because he explains how Krsna and Balarama appeared in this world to perform their superhuman pastimes. Their pastimes are certainly superhuman, but they are attractive not only for the devotees. Transcendentalists are certainly attracted, but even the materialist can take pleasure in hearing of the superhuman activities of the Lord.

You like to hear love affairs? Women often like to read love stories and things like that. There are so many love stories in Srimad Bhagavatam. You can read about Krsna's pastimes with his gopis, with his queens of Dvaraka. We can hear about crime, the stealing of the Syamantaka jewel and how Krsna goes as a detective to bring it back. You like to hear about war stories, so many different incidents are there, killing demons, fighting battles. It's all there in Srimad Bhagavatam, so even a mundane materialist can take pleasure in hearing Srimad Bhagavatam.

A transcendentalist will undoubtedly will take pleasure in hearing Srimad Bhagavatam. Prabhupada writes this in his introduction to Krsna Book, how the Krsna Book is good for three kinds of people: the materialist, one who is endeavoring to become transcendental, and one who is already transcendental. They will all take pleasure in hearing these pastimes of the Lord.

Sukadeva Goswami in quoting the atmarama sloka that even atmaramas, even those who are liberated souls are inclined to discuss topics, hear the narrations of the pastimes of the Lord. We know that Sukadeva Goswami was attracted to hear Srimad Bhagavatam and that brought him back to the home of Vyasa to hear again the Srimad Bhagavatam. Although he had no interest in the material world, he was not attached to his family, he was not entangled in material life, but he was attached to hearing Srimad Bhagavatam.

So transcendentalists will also take pleasure in hearing the topics of the Lord. That is why these sages, they wanted to hear these transcendental topics. When Maitreya and Vidura met, what did they talk about, what did they discuss? This is what is being described now.

Sukadeva Goswami is describing this meeting between Vidura and Maitreya and the questions which Vidura put. He wants to know. He wants to hear. He's asking Maitreya, "What happened to all these different people? Tell me about them." Vidura is concerned about the Personality of Godhead. Are they well? He is not wondering did they catch a cold or have they got a fever or are they suffering from some disease or bodily ailments. Are they well?

How could a devotee be concerned about the welfare of the Lord? The Lord, of course, his welfare is related to that of the devotees. the Lord is concerned for the welfare of the devotees. He comes in this world for the pleasure of his devotees.

Prabhupada explains first of all that the Lord is not just simply one. Sometimes people are confused when they come to our temple because they see so many different gods. They say, "I thought you people were monotheistic. I thought you just worshipped one God. You've got so many different Gods here." But they are the one Lord in many different forms. The Lord is appearing in countless forms, innumerable forms.

Lord Balarama is another of his forms. His original form is called the svayam-rupa, the original form of the Personality of Godhead, complete and full of all opulence, svayam-rupa, Lord Krsna as a cowherd boy in Vrindavan, playing. But Lord Balarama is his first expansion, non-different from Krsna, only difference in color. Lord Balarama possesses all the potencies of the form of Lord Krsna, but he comes in the mood of the Lord's servant. Lord Balarama is able to serve Krsna in all different rasas. He will be the friend. Sometimes he will be friendly with Krsna. Sometimes he will serve Krsna. Sometimes he will play the part of the older brother and he will allow Lord Krsna to serve him. In his form as Ananga Manjari, Lord Balarama is also is serving Lord Krsna in madhurya-rasa. So in all different rasas Lord Balarama is able to render service to Lord Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada goes on to explain that Lord Brahma is also an expansion of Lord Balarama because Lord Balarama expands himself first of all as Sankarsana, then from Sankarsana into the caturvyuha: Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Vasudeva. Then again there is another caturvyuha, secondary caturvyuha. From that we have also the three purusa-avataras: Garbhodakasayi Visnu, Karanodakasayi Visnu, and Ksirodakasayi Visnu. They are all coming from expansion of Lord Balarama. In this way, Lord Brahma is also an expansion of Lord Balarama.

Vidura is saying in this verse that these two Lords, Krsna and Balarama, they have appeared at the request of Lord Brahma, who is born from the lotus flower of Garbhodakasayi Visnu. Queen Kunti mentions like this. She offers different reasons why the Lord has appeared. One of these is: at the request of Lord Brahma because Lord Brahma was concerned that the world was overburdened by so many demoniac kings. Lord Brahma had been approached by Mother Bhumi. She had gone to Lord Brahma and requested for help to alleviate her distressing condition of having so many demoniac kings. At that time Lord Brahma approached the Lord at Svetadvipa, and offered his prayers. This is one reason Kunti offers for the descent of the Lord.

Prabhupada goes on to explain that by their appearance in this world everyone becomes happy and prosperous. Now we should appreciate what is real happiness and prosperity. Actually conditioned souls do not know what is real happiness. They are thinking happiness to simply be some satisfaction of the senses: fill the belly, eat and sleep, mating, and defending. This is their happiness, giving some pleasure to the body.

But factually we know that material sense gratification never satisfies anyone. It simply increases the burning fire of lust. Nobody is satisfied in the material world. No one has enough. Everyone is wanting more. They will have one holiday. After one vacation, they can't wait for the next one. Nobody ever gets any real satisfaction from material life. No one will say, "I have enough wealth. I don't need any more." They are always anxious to increase their power, their fame, and their prosperity because they are thinking prosperity means "my bank balance", having the latest model of a car, or having a big house bigger than the others and having all the latest gadgets in the house. They are thinking prosperity means economic development.

Prabhupada said economic development is just a polished way of saying sense gratification. It is nothing more than sense gratification. The Lord, when Lord Krsna and Balarama come in this world, their business is not just to satisfy our material senses or make us simply prosperous. Prosperity means having peace of mind and control of the senses.

This question is discussed in Tenth Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. The question is raised that the devotees of Siva are so opulent. They enjoy so much wealth, but it seems the devotees of Visnu are not so wealthy, not so opulent. Although Laksmi is the goddess of fortune and the consort of Lord Narayana, it seems that her devotees have the curse of Bhrgu on them. They are bereft of opulence. Lord Siva, although he is austere, lives under a banyan tree, his devotees enjoy lots of wealth. So why is it like this?

It is explained that the real prosperity, the real wealth is not simply in having money in the bank and all types of assets in the form of land and home and family members, but the real prosperity is in having a peaceful mind and controlled senses. That is the opulence of the devotees of Lord Krsna. This peacefulness has to be achieved by the grace of the Lord. How to get the grace of the Lord? the grace of the Lord can be achieved by everyone by recognizing him as the proprietor.

In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna explains the Peace Formula:

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram suhrdam sarva-bhutanam jïatva mam santim rcchati

We simply have to know Krsna is three things: that Krsna is the supreme proprietor, not proprietor of some little land or a little house somewhere, not even the proprietor of one country or one planet, but he is sarva-loka-mahesvaram. He is the proprietor of all the planets, everything is his, all the universes. And yajna-tapasam, everything we do is for his pleasure.

Bhakti Vikasa Swami was explaining to me yesterday that with the coming Ekadasi, we should not think that simply by our tapasya or performing the vow of austerity that Krsna is obliged to fulfill our desires, Krsna is obliged to give us a nice temple in Moscow, Krsna is obliged to take care of our problems in Kazakhstan. Not like that. Krsna is not just our order-supplier.

We have a loving relationship with Krsna. Our business is to please Krsna, to give pleasure to Krsna. Our business is not to tell Krsna what we want, "give me this, give me that". That is material religion. That is already rejected in the beginning of Srimad Bhagavatam: dharmah projjhita-kaitavah atra paramah. That is all kicked out, religion which is materially motivated. Our business is to please Krsna, to give pleasure to Krsna, and whatever difficulties we undergo for his pleasure, that is our pleasure, that is our enjoyment.

In Siksastakam, Lord Caitanya describes:

aslisya va pada-ratam pinasöu mam adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va

"Even if you handle me roughly by your embrace, make me brokenhearted by not being presented before me, you are free to do anything and everything, but always you are my worshipable Lord." This verse is spoken in the mood of Srimati Radharani herself, the greatest, topmost devotee. The mood of the gopis is to serve Krsna in separation, even with a broken heart. The difficulties which we undergo are, for the pleasure of Krsna, our greatest pleasure.

In the material world, we take pleasure in seeing the distress of others. When others are suffering, we say, "Ha, ha, look at them! They know all about it now. Look at them!" We enjoy seeing others suffer. That is material life, but in Krsna consciousness, for a devotee, our pleasure is taking difficulties for Krsna's pleasure without asking anything in return.

A devotee has nothing to ask from Krsna. Devotees' only business is to please Krsna, to give pleasure for Krsna without ever asking anything in return. The mood of the gopis is, "If our crying, if our distress makes Krsna happy, that is our greatest happiness."

I often ask our householders, can you tell your spouse like that? "My dear wife, if my distress makes you happy, then that is my happiness." We don't have that kind of love in the material world. This is only with Krsna. These loving relationships are spiritual. The nature of spiritual love, perfection, is to cry for Krsna. Our dear Godbrother, Gaura Govinda Maharaja used to say that he had opened a crying school in Bhubaneswar. He wanted to train people to cry for Krsna.

Prabhupada also writes in the Nectar of Devotion how perfection can be achieved by this crying for Krsna. Accepting difficulty, undergoing all kinds of trials and tribulations for the pleasure of the Lord, that is our happiness. That is our greatest pleasure. And by pleasing Krsna, by accepting all kinds of troubles, going out preaching, distributing books in all difficult conditions, doing the vow of Ekadasi also, these things, parikrama also, not just going on parikrama thinking, "I will get rid of my sins, I will purify myself," but for Krsna's pleasure. If we are just trying to get rid of our sins, that is devotional service in goodness, but pure devotional service, transcendental devotional service is doing everything for the pleasure of Krsna. We want to please Krsna. This is Krsna consciousness, that we are thinking how to please Krsna at every moment.

Of course the easiest way to please him is simply by chanting his Holy Name. Lord Caitanya has taught everyone how we can give pleasure to Krsna: Simply through chanting his Holy Name. So Krsna consciousness can be easy. It doesn't have to be a great struggle. We don't have to cry, but if we do have that strong desire, nothing wrong with that.

In this way, Vidura is inquiring, "Tell me about these people. These different devotees, how are they? Are they doing well in the house of Surasena?"

Are there any questions?

Yes, Prabhu?

Visuddha-sattva Prabhu: I want to, with your permission, Maharaja, thank you for the nice class. I want to clarify a point. Sometimes, the mood of the gopis, you say this is the mood of Lord Caitanya, crying for Krsna, the mood of the Gosvamis also, as Umapati Maharaja was saying in his class.

Is it the mood ? 11:45 ? in separation, in vipralambha, but sometimes, the ? Gaudiya Vaisnava, this is misunderstood that not only in the mood of separation, but there are some kind of gopis, they want the union of Krsna also. We just suppose that is the high thing, you know vipralambha bhava, but there are explanations from the acaryas that the special manjaris, they want the union. They are separate but they want the union of Radha and Krsna.

I put the example of the couple, the husband and wife. They are separate because they travel some place, but their separation intensifies the necessity for union. But special gopis and manjaris want Krsna and Radharani be united, not only separate. This is an important thing to mention because sometimes we think, no, Gauranga Mahaprabhu came only in the mood of vipralambha bhava, but he wanted also the union between Radha and Krsna.

BVV Nrsimha Maharaja: Well, the feeling of separation itself necessitates that there will be a union.

VSP: It's a play, you know. ?? It's play.

Maharaja: The more the feeling of separation intensifies, then that brings the union.

VSP: With your permission, I want to quote an important point in regard to Bhaktivinod Thakur. It was surprising to me, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Maharaja was saying, "Bhaktivinod Thakur wants to serve in the mood of Kuruksetra." The gopis are waiting for Krsna but they can't meet with him. So there was a mystery, why Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wants to be in that mood? Because the intensity of bhakti is very high at that moment, so he can render better service.

Maharaja: He is explaining that at Kuruksetra, at the time of the solar eclipse, Krsna had come with all the queens from Dvaraka and Nanda Maharaja had also brought all the gopis and the other Brijabasis to Kuruksetra. So they were meeting after a long time. At that time, the gopis along with Srimati Radharani, they were seeing Krsna after a long time, but they were not able to speak to him because Krsna was there with all of his wives. So Krsna, in the presence of all of his wives and his family members and these young gopis, maybe not so young by that time, but they were all there. They could not immediately go and talk to Krsna, "How are you? We haven't seen you in a long time," as we would do because the Vedic culture is such that women would not speak to another man.

VSP: Because Krsna was also in the mood of king, not in the mood of Syamasundara in Vrindavan.

Maharaja: Yes, that's also true, that he was coming more in his Vasudeva form, coming from Dvaraka, but still the gopis, they were attracted. They knew this is Krsna, the same Krsna. They wanted to bring him to Vrindavan. So they were not able to immediately speak to Krsna, they had to wait for the opportune moment when Krsna could free himself from his wives and all of his family members.

VSP: The intensity, they want to meet with Krsna but they can't, so the desire to meet came to a very high point.

Maharaja: Yes. So we can imagine how great the feeling of separation, intensity to be with Krsna was even greatest here at Kuruksetra. So he was saying Bhaktivinod Thakur was aspiring for this mood that the feeling of separation at Kuruksetra was the greatest because they are seeing Krsna, Krsna is there, he's not far away, but still the culture is such that they can't go, they can't meet with him, they can't talk to him. This was the highest fire of separation.

Umapati Swami Maharaja?

Umapati Maharaja: There has to be a desire for union because if there's no desire for union, there's no lamentation in separation. So the desire for union must be there, otherwise there is no seperation. But it is mentioned in several places that the ecstasy of separation is the most intense. In Krsna Book, Prabhupada mentions that when everybody thought that Krsna was dead, that Kaliya had killed Krsna, they were actually experiencing the highest ecstasy.

BVVN Maharaja: Any other questions, comments? Yes, Mataji?

Question: It's probably quite an ignorant question, but I'd like to ask, how is it that the austerity of Ekadasi, say that one fasts all day, how is it that it pleases Krsna?

Maharaja: Because Ekadasi is very dear to Krsna. It is like Krsna's day. Of all the days, it is a special day which is very dear to Lord Krsna.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur writes in his song "suddha-bhakata-carana-renu":

madhava-tithi, bhakti-janani

He says, "By following the holy days such as Ekadasi, which is the mother of devotion, one can give pleasure to Krsna."

Ekadasi is like Krsna's day. Just like Janmastami, we think of that as Krsna's day also, right? Why? Because it's his birthday. But Ekadasi, Krsna's birthday is not only every year, Ekadasi is also Krsna's day, a day that is very dear to Krsna. That is why Prabhupada said he wants us to observe Ekadasi by increasing our hearing and chanting. It is a day on which we increase our remembrance of Krsna. Everyday we have to remember Krsna, but especially it is powerful on the Ekadasi. And if we observe the Ekadasi, it becomes the mother of devotion for those devotees who take shelter of her. Devotion is awakened within us just by remembering Krsna, intensifying our remembrance of Krsna on Ekadasi. Exactly why Ekadasi is dear to Krsna, I don't know.

Anybody know? Anybody like to say? Visuddha-sattva Prabhu?

VSD: If you study in the Purana, there it mentions how Ekadasi appeared. When that bow(?) was after Krsna, while killing Krsna, then appeared. Ekadasi is the internal potency of Krsna, antaranga sakti of Krsna. Because it protected Krsna so it is very dear to Krsna. There are more elaborate descriptions in the Puranas.

Maharaja: So he says Ekadasi is antaranga sakti, internal potency of Krsna. He said this is described in Puranas.

We will find many people they are also observing Ekadasi, not only Krsna devotees, but there many other people that are yogis and tantrics and so on, they observe Ekadasi. Their mood is different. Their mood is not to please Krsna. They are observing Ekadasi, they are fasting on Ekadasi, they may not be sleeping. Why are they following Ekadasi vrata? They are doing it to increase their piety, maybe to develop some siddhis, to get rid of some of their past karmas. Their mood is not for the pleasure of Krsna.

This is the difference between devotees and the other transcendentalists. Our business is to please Krsna, everything for Krsna. By serving Krsna, when Krsna is happy, we also feel happy. When we see the Deities beautifully dressed, we feel pleasure. When we see nice offerings, nice kirtans, everything for the pleasure of Krsna, it is also pleasing for us. We become happy. Ekadasi is another means for pleasing Krsna.

Yes, Prabhu?

Question: There is a letter from Prabhupada where he explains some of the simple rules for cooking, but in it Prabhupada says, "We must follow the rules and regulations, otherwise what is the proof that we love Krsna?"

Maharaja: This is a very clear, basic point. We follow the rules and regulations because we love Krsna. It is proof of our love for Krsna. We want to do all the things we are supposed to do. Why do we do these things? Just out of love.

Sometimes people wonder: "What are you people doing? You people are always out here singing and dancing. Who is paying you?" they often wonder like that, "Who is paying you guys?"

They can't believe we're doing it out of love because material world, nobody does anything out of love: "How much will you pay me? What are you going to give me? You want me to do something? You'll have to pay me."

That's not bhakti. That's not devotion. Devotional service, we do things out of love. We wake up early in the morning, people wiling to stay up all night, sing and dance, not even eating because they have love for Krsna, or they want to get love for Krsna. They're greedy for that.

OK, thank you very much.

Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!

[Applause]

END

SB 3.1.25 Bhima Dasa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 02:53:00 +0000

Lecture by Bhima Dasa on Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.1.25.

No transcript available.

This lecture was given on February 24, during the 2007 Gaura Purnima festival at the ISKCON Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, in Mayapur, India.

SB 3.1.24 Umapati Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 04:48:00 +0000

Lecture by Umapati Swami on Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.1.24.

No transcript available.

This lecture was given on February 23, during the 2007 Gaura Purnima festival at the ISKCON Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, in Mayapur, India.

SB 3.1.20 Candramauli Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:21:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Candramauli Swami (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.20

ittham vrajan bharatam eva varsam
kalena yavad gatavan prabhasam
tavac chasasa ksitim eka cakram
ekatapatram ajitena parthah

TRANSLATION: Thus, when he was in the land of Bharatavarsa traveling to all the places of pilgrimage, he visited Prabhasaksetra. At that time Maharaja Yudhisthira was the emperor and held the world under one military strength and one flag.

PURPORT: More than five thousand years ago, while Saint Vidura was traveling the earth as a pilgrim, India was known as Bharatavarsa, as it is known even today. The history of the world cannot give any systematic account for more than three thousand years into the past, but before that the whole world was under the flag and military strength of Maharaja Yudhisthira, who was the emperor of the world. At present there are hundreds and thousands of flags flapping in the United Nations, but during the time of Vidura there was, by the grace of Ajita, Lord Krsna, only one flag. The nations of the world are very eager to again have one state under one flag, but for this they must seek the favor of Lord Krsna, who alone can help us become one worldwide nation. [End of purport]

Candramauli Swami: So here we are reading about the pilgrimage of Saint Vidura. Why was Vidura on pilgrimage? This is a very instructive point that is being played out here. Vidura was the uncle of Duryodhana and the brother of Dhrtarastra. As we have been hearing from previous verses, he was always the well-wisher of Dhrtarastra, and the whole family, in fact.

His advice was sought after in many cases on spiritual matters. But here, in this particular instance, Vidura's advice to Dhrtarastra fell on deaf ears. He explained how, "Dhrtarastra, you are old. It's about time you take up spiritual life. You've been defeated in battle. Everything is finished." But actually, he was criticized, he was blasphemed, and he was thrown out of the house.

That same house was the house were Lord Sri Krsna actually resided. He immediately took this as an opportunity to visit holy places. We might even say, from his point of view, to purify himself. The question came up, Lord Sri Krsna was there during that particular incident. Why didn't he take shelter of the Lord? Why did he choose to travel to different holy places? Not only for a few years, but actually, for thirty-three years he traveled to holy places. What was his motivation? Sri Krsna is the personification of all holy places.

But the point was made that actually because of his association with Dhrtarastra, and of course Duryodhana, he felt he had become sinful. He felt he had become contaminated. He felt that he was not able to approach the lotus feet of the Lord. So he was thinking, "Let me purify myself. Let me purify my heart, and in that way I will be able to approach the Lord." So he left.

The situation that he left under is explained as an interesting fact. He was actually trying to preach. He was actually the well-wisher of everyone. His motivation was simply to do good to Dhrtarastra and his family. He had no personal motivation. He had no personal interest. He was simply trying to help them by giving them direction, counsel, and spiritual knowledge.

But because Dhrtarastra was blind, it is explained that his blindness was not simply physical, that was one aspect of his blindness; he was actually spiritually blind also. He was attached. He was attached to his family members. He was attached to his sons, even though they were so nefarious, even though they had acted against the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It's amazing. Dhrtarastra actually knew that the Pandavas were favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead and he understood that. But still, he could not, because of his spiritual blindness, he couldn't act intelligently. He couldn't act properly. It's amazing how attachment can overshadow one's good intelligence, how attachment can overscome one's good intelligence. This is very, very instructive because sometimes we know it's right, but still, because of attachment, or let's say weakness of heart, not be able to make that proper decision still based on material attachments.

Material attachments go deep. The conditioned soul has been associating with the material energy for so many million lifetimes. We can't even trace out the sojourn of the living entity in the material world. It is explained that the living entity is called nitya-baddha. The word nitya means eternal and baddha means conditioned. So how is it possible that this term can apply to the conditioned soul? How it is possible to be eternally conditioned? It's not. Because we understand:

nitya-siddha-krsna-prema 'sadhya' kabhu naya sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya

In the hearts of all living entities, eternal, loving relationship to the Supreme Personality of Godhead exists as one's constitutional nature. That love is ecstatic and eternal and completely fulfilling. Yet the conditioned soul, falling into the material world, has been so much conditioned that they cannot even trace out their conditioning. So that term nitya-baddha explains how the living entity becomes trapped by the material energy, even when given good advice.

Vidura was not someone coming from outside. Dhrtarastra wasn't seeking some advice or getting some advice imposed upon him by someone who was a stranger. He was a family member. He was a friend. And everyone respected Vidura, but still the attachment Dhrtarastra had, he couldn't hear. "I know it's right, but still I can't do it."

Prabhupada uses this simple example how you see people in the material world, they smoke cigarettes. On the package it says, the packages are really becoming like horror statements. You read some of these packages nowadays. Especially when you go through the airport in London, these big cigarette packages: "Smoking Kills", two words half the size of the package, "Smoking Kills". And they are selling more cigarettes now than they did before this type of advertisement came out. It's amazing. Isn't that amazing? They tell you. Of course there are subtitles like "Complications in pregnancies", so many other things, emphysema, so many things. Still the living entity cannot give up material attachments, so strong.

Here what is the real deep attachment? Family affection, it goes really deep. Sometimes we see in our Krsna consciousness society how families become interruptions to one's spiritual life. A devotee will try to take to Krsna consciousness, family members will try to bring them back. So many incidents like that.

There was one incident in Bombay. Of course in India, family attachments are a little different than Western countries because the families are closer knit. In the West, families are not. Because of the sociological and somewhat political situation, families have a tendency to be more divided because of these aspects. The Vedic culture and tradition gives the Indian families a stronger sense of bondage and responsibility upon each other.

I remember in Bombay, a young man wanted to join the temple. He came and he was there. His mother, she didn't like it. She came to the temple and she demanded that her son come back.

He didn't want to come back. So there was a light fixture hanging down from the ceiling. She said, "If you don't come back, I'm going to stick my finger in that light socket." In other words, "I am going to give up my life right now." Phew!

So the boy came back. He actually came back because his mother seemed like she was really, really serious. He went home, stayed for a little while, but because of his attachment to Krsna consciousness, he came back again. And again his mother came. Again she threatened, but this time, nobody paid any attention. She was really bluffing. But see what family members can do to destroy one's spiritual life and how others will take to family life.

We have the opposite example in our society. His Holiness Giriraja Maharaja, his father, he was a wealthy, wealthy high court judge in a local district of Chicago, USA. He was a millionaire. When he [Giriraja Maharaja] joined the Hare Krsna movement, he lost contact with his family.

At one time, his mother and his father came to India to see him. Prabhupada was also there. They were begging, they were asking Prabhupada, "Can you please send our son back?"

Prabhupada said, "He is independent, he can do whatever he likes." Prabhupada didn't say one way or the other. "He can do whatever he likes."

Giriraja was there, but he wasn't willing to go. Then his father offered one million dollars, if I could have my son back.

Giriraja swami said, "Nope!" So he stayed, they went back, it went on.

Just about five years ago, just before his father left the world, again he came. He offered this time again, to his son directly, one million dollars, "Come back and be normal again." Be like us, normal, watch television, so many normal things that people do, but he was so fixed in his Krsna consciousness that he considered that one million dollars just a disturbance. So this is the ideal example, but here we have the opposite example how that attachment, Dhrtarastra couldn't.

So Vidura, he just left. It is said when you give good instructions to a fool or you give good instructions to a person who is envious, Dhrtarastra was envious of the Pandavas. He saw the Pandavas as his competitors. Although the Pandavas loved him and took care of him, still because of his attachment to his son, Duryodhana, he considered the Pandavas his enemy.

So Vidura's instructions were like Prabhupada uses the example of giving milk to a serpent. Milk is a very nice substance. Prabhupada said all nutritional qualities are found in milk. But given to a snake, it becomes poisonous. That same milk cannot be taken. Otherwise, it will cause poisonous effect. So Vidura just left.

Prabhupada says the internal energy was working in two ways in this particular situation. For Duryodhana and for Dhrtarastra, it was the external energy, but for Vidura it was the internal energy. He saw that this is Krsna's arrangement: "Here is an opportunity for me to actually take up Krsna consciousness in full determination."

This is very instructive. Krsna says, "One who sees me in everything and everything in me, I am never lost, nor is that person ever lost to me." So a devotee tries to see Krsna in all situations. Therefore a devotee is fearless. He knows that by executing his devotional service according to the instructions of the spiritual master, then whatever happens is the arrangement by the Lord to teach, to purify, or to facilitate, in one way, a devotee's purification. Sometimes a person will get sick. Sometimes a person's desire will not be fulfilled. But sometimes we can see this may be Krsna's arrangement for some higher principle.

We use the example, they say this in the West: Every cloud has a silver lining. Silver lining is supposed to be the auspicious omen that circles the black cloud. This means there is something good that is about to happen because of what appears to be negative. Someone asked Prabhupada, I remember there was a morning walk conversation, Prabhupada was talking about this.

A devotee said, "This principle that every cloud has a silver lining does that apply in all cases?"

Prabhupada said, "No." He said, "No." He said, "For the materialist it doesn't apply. For them a cloud is simply a cloud because they're on the wrong path."

They are looking towards the material energy as a source of happiness, as a source of success. So when they somehow or other their desires are unfulfilled, what does it mean? Are they going to give up? No, they are going to try different ways to fulfill their same desires. Unless they become so beaten down by the same material energy that they wake up and look towards spiritual life, but in general, for a materialist it doesn't lead. But for a devotee, it does. A devotee always tries to see Krsna in everything because he knows that Krsna actually is arranging everything.

Vidura had that consciousness and he left. He took the opportunity to visit various holy places. Here, this whole theme is being played again in another aspect. He is traveling from one holy place to another. Prabhupada goes into the last few purports describing what is the proper consciousness of a devotee when coming to a holy place.

So what is the proper consciousness? Prabhupada says to come to a holy place simply to take bath, to just visit the holy place is not really experiencing the holy place. One should hear from saintly persons, one should worship the Lord that is worshiped in that holy place with devotion, and one should engage in some practical devotional service.

Visiting holy places is one of the nine principles of bhakti. There are nine principles and one of them is pada-sevanam, worshipping the lotus feet of the Lord. So when we come to a holy place, we are actually performing this particular aspect of bhakti, we are worshipping the Lord's Dham.

The Dham is non-different from the Lord, especially Sri Dham Mayapur, very special Dham. It is explained that all the other Dhams, due to the influence of Kali-yuga, gradually start to develop a materialistic covering over their pure, spiritual nature. It is very difficult to perceive unless one is very highly, highly, highly spiritually advanced. The material energy cannot affect holy places, but for one who does not have that vision, it appears to.

There was one time, one man, he heard about Vrindavan Dham. He was living in Germany. He decided to go visit Vrindavan Dham. He had been reading about Vedic culture, about spiritual culture, he had read that Vrindavan Dham is the essence of all the holy places. So he traveled all the way from Germany, took a train to Delhi, somehow went from Delhi to Mathura. Gradually, as he was seeing the countryside, he was thinking, "Holy place?" When he finally got to Vrindavan, he started to see dogs, hogs, so many unpleasant sights, apparently. He never made it to Vrindavan, he turned around and went back. He said, "This is not a holy place." Simply having material vision.

In Kali-yuga, things become more and more difficult. I was just in Vrindavan last week. Dina Bandhu Prabhu made a statement, he said, "Vrindavan's becoming a little like Bombay." Especially in front of the temple, traffic and horns and so many things. Peaceful atmosphere is being challenged in a very strong way. Of course the Dham remains the Dham. It always does.

But one thing about Mayapur Dham, and this is a statement, that this particular Dham, as Kali-yuga increases, it become more and more revealed. It becomes more and more revealed. Sri Dham Mayapur has been given the special, special blessings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his associates. As Kali-yuga continues, people will see this Dham more and more. People will come from all over the world to take shelter. Prabhupada said, "Sri Dham Mayapur, this is our home." This is our home. He said, "When you come here, you're home." This is our home. This is as good as the spiritual world.

Prabhupada was giving a lecture in America back in the '70's. He was in Gainesville, Florida. I don't know how many people, most Americans know about Gainesville, maybe a few others. Gainesville, Florida is right near the Alachua community there, one of the biggest communities in America. So Prabhupada was preaching. At that time there was a small temple. Prabhupada said, "Here we are in Gainesville, Florida, in this very remote corner of the world, so far from Sri Dham Mayapur." Prabhupada was seeing that Mayapur was the center of the world. For Americans to think of Gainesville as remote, that's like heresy. [Chuckles.] It's like making really a strong statement to challenge the American consciousness.

Prabhupada understood this is the center of the world. So this Sri Dham Mayapur is the holy place of all holy places. While we are here, we should take shelter of hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In Sri Dham Mayapur, the essence of Krsna conscious development is harinama-sankirtana, chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. That harinama-sankirtana has become even more powerful and even more glorious when it is performed in this place. When devotees chant and dance with enthusiasm, there is no difference between the spiritual world and the actual Sri Dham Mayapur through the chanting and dancing of the Holy Name. So this is the glory of Sri Dham Mayapur.

So we've come to this very special place. Don't waste time. It's not that we just come and visit, purchase a few things, look at the scenery, meet a few friends, and go back. Take part in the programs, dive deeply into chanting and hearing, visit the holy places, and associate with devotees in the proper mood.

Coming to the holy place actually means keep Krsna consciousness the focus; no time for gossip, no time for prajalpa, no time for things are unrelated to devotional service. Leave that behind. If we leave it all behind, when we go back after experiencing the essence of the bliss, the absorption in Krsna consciousness, when we come back to our respective areas, whatever consciousness we left with will be increased in a positive way. We'll see our environment in a different way. We'll become more and more enthusiastic to become more and more Krsna conscious in our present environment. The dham has so many wonderful benefits.

And Vidura, he is absorbed. He is going from one place to another. Prabhupada makes an interesting point in this purport. So far I haven't even mentioned the purport yet. I guess you're wondering when I'm going to get to the purport. Prabhupada talks about how the whole world was under one rule. There are so many nations now, there are so many so many countries, Prabhupada said, "United Nations, so many flags." At that time, it was just Maharaja Yudhisthira, he was the emperor of the entire world.

People are hankering for peace, they are hankering for unity, at least honest and decent people are. Sometimes we question our leaders, what is actually their motivation. Some of them are motivated in the right way, but in the wrong direction. If you are going ninety miles an hour in the wrong direction, you go to hell faster. It is important not only to go with the right motivation, but in the right direction. The world at that time, Prabhupada says, it was under one flag. It was Krsna conscious.

Now there are so many flags, so many states. They try to make some kind of unity, but there is no unity because the unity that the materialistic people try is that they have to destroy diversity. They have to destroy diversity because as long as there is diversity, from their perspective, there is no unity because everyone sees themselves as the center. So what is the common bondage? There is none.

The real unity in diversity is to keep Krsna in the center or to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the supreme aspect in all situations:

yat karosi yad asnasi yaj juhosi dadasi yat yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurusva mad-arpanam

Krsna says everything you do, everything you do, everything you offer, everything, your whole life should be focused on Krsna consciousness, on religious principles. This is real unity. Even in our day to day dealings with devotees, always keep Krsna consciousness, religious principles in the center. In that way, everything will be for the better.

So here we are in this holy place of Sri Dham Mayapur. We have the wonderful opportunity to dive deeply into Krsna consciousness. Take the dust of the holy place, associate with devotees, and hear and chant the glories of the Lord. This is the essence of Krsna consciousness. It is said throughout the scriptures that this is the essence of Krsna consciousness. By hearing about Krsna, we chant about Krsna. When we chant about Krsna sufficiently, then we remember Krsna. And when we remember Krsna, that is the goal of life because actually that is the ultimate principle: to always remember Krsna, not when it is easy, or not when it is part of the way I usually do it. Always remember Krsna.

The Visnu Purana says, this is a very interesting statement, sometimes one might hear such strong statements, it says that what is the greatest anomaly, what is the greatest catastrophe, what is the greatest mistake? To forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead for one moment. That is from the Visnu Purana. One second. How many times do we forget Krsna? I know I don't remember Krsna all day.

But here in the Dham, the facility to remember Krsna is given a very, very powerful way. So purify our consciousness by hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. Believe me, whatever problems you have, whatever anxieties you have, whatever difficulties you have all become solved within that principle of always remembering Krsna because Krsna does everything else. He makes everything easily understood.

OK, so we have about ten minutes. Any questions, comments.

Yes?

Q: Prabhupada said, "Vrindavan is my home, Bombay is my office, and Mayapur is my place of worship." Could you clarify that for me?

A: You want me to give a purport to that? I don't know if I'm qualified to give a complete purport on it because Prabhupada's statements are very deep, but Bombay, the place of office, the place of preaching. When you speak about office, you speak about preaching. What was Prabhupada's work? His work was preaching. He wanted to spread Krsna consciousness in Bombay. If he could make the city of Bombay Krsna conscious, that would spread throughout India. Same Prabhupada said in America, if we can make New York Krsna consciousness, we can make the rest of the society Krsna conscious, or we can make the Americans Krsna conscious.

As far as home, Prabhupada resided in Vrindavan five or six years before he actually took up his mission to come to the Western world. Prabhupada considered this home. It is the appearance place, the janmasthana of Lord Sri Krsna. The pure devotee sees the Lord's home in that same way. He wants to take shelter of the home of the Lord.

Place of worship, in this age, we worship Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Panca Tattva. We approach Radha and Krsna through Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In fact, that is the only way we can approach Radha Krsna in this age.

I'm sure there is much more purport to that. Yes, Prabhu, would you like to add something?

[Comment inaudible]

Ah, well Prabhupada said that in that one statement. He was referring to the devotees in general. In other words, this is the home of our ISKCON society, Sri Dham Mayapur, the home of the ISKCON society. This is the headquarters worldwide.

Visuddha-sattva Prabhu: Maybe you can clarify that. Whatever Prabhupada said is completely transcendental, but Prabhupada said Vrindavan is my home, also Prabhupada said Mayapur is my home. Prabhupada said, "I live eternally in my bhajan kutir in Radha Damodara." This we will take as Prabhupada's transcendental home is Vrindavan. Also, Mayapur is non-different from Vrindavan, those who have the vision. But he said the home of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is Mayapur.

Candramauli Swami: That was the reference in that case. He was referring to our ISKCON society as a worldwide organization. He said this is our headquarters for the entire world. This is where Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. It is mentioned in Caitanya-caritamrta that the flood of love of God, which will overcome the entire world, begins here. It flows through the many tributaries out and gradually inundated the whole world with the devotion, or with the love of God.

Any other questions? Yes, Prabhu?

Q: Thanks for the wonderful class, Maharaja. We heard in the class, Dhrtarastra, even after knowing that Pandavas are under the protection of Krsna, he didn't really understand that. Even we in our lives, after hearing so much that attachment is not good for the soul, still it's difficult to give up. So our conditioning is so intense, so how to overcome?

Candramauli Swami:

'sadhu-sanga' 'sadhu-sanga'-sarva-sastre kaya lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya

This is the most powerful way: associating with saintly persons and hearing from them, and at the same time, engaging in the process of devotional service. The association of great souls can immediately destroy one's attachments, if that association is of the ultimate perfection, if we associate in the right consciousness.

Prabhupada was traveling and he stopped in Japan, I think, Tokyo. It was overnight. He was changing planes. One man he met at the airport, Prabhupada talked to him. He told him, "Start a center here in Tokyo." The man, first time he met Prabhupada, took it serious. He actually went out and began a center. This is the power of saintly association. Of course that person's consciousness was also in the right way.

How do we understand? We have to hear for a long time. Prabhupada was asked that question about this verse 'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'. How is it that we are associating and we are not getting purified, or it appears we are not becoming fully purified?

Prabhupada said, "When the wood is wet, then it has to dry out before it can ignite." We may still be somewhat deep in attachment, so we have to continue to hear for a long time and associate with great souls and continue the process of hearing. When the consciousness becomes somewhat purified, then one can give up the attachment.

Still we should try to understand the nature of material attachments, simply by intellectual understanding, philosophical knowledge that material attachments lead to suffering. They also lead us away from Krsna. By that intelligence, we should very carefully try to remove ourselves from these attachments. Gradually, by the external activity of distancing ourselves from that, and by the purification of heart that comes from hearing and chanting, that attachment can be destroyed. Both are necessary.

If we are doing one, if we are hearing and chanting, but we are still engaging in the same activity, it is very slow. And if we are just trying to give it up but we are not hearing and chanting, then it is all external. It is artificial because the living entity is by nature ananda, we always look for pleasure. We have to find that pleasure on the spiritual platform. So associate with saintly persons, hear from them, and carefully try to give up one's attachments.

Q: You mentioned that Vidura went on a pilgrimage because he felt unqualified to meet Lord Krsna, so he wanted to purify himself first. But we know that Prabhupada also encouraged that to approach the Lord is the best means to get purified.

Candramauli Swami: So here we are in a holy place. We are being purified. That is what we are doing. We come to the holy place to become more and more purified. As we become more and more purified, we can approach the Lord.

We are looking and we are seeing Sri Sri Radha Madhava. That is Krsna in Vrindavan, but do we see Krsna in Vrindavan? If you have that consciousness, then you have reached perfection. Are we seeing sometimes or not completely? How much of Krsna are we actually experiencing? Coming to a holy place purifies our heart more and more if we engage in the activities. Gradually we can actually approach the Lord.

Just like our worship is in the mood of Laksmi Narayana. We worship the Lord in opulence, with awe and reverence, but Krsna in Vrindavan we don't. That mood is the mood that Krsna is either subordinate or equal. Krsna is a beautiful, loving boy in Vrindavan. Everyone sees him as the essence of their life in all aspects. That mood of Vrindavan, they don't worship Krsna as the Supreme Lord, but as the beautiful boy of Vrindavan. So as we become purified, Krsna reveals himself more and more and more.

Any other questions?

OK, thank you very much for your kind attention.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

SB 3.1.19 Hridayananda Das Goswami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 17:59:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Hridayananda Das Goswami (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.19

gam paryatan medhya-vivikta-vrttih
sadapluto 'dhah sayano 'vadhutah
alaksitah svair avadhuta-veso
vratani cere hari-tosanani

TRANSLATION: While so traversing the earth, he simply performed duties to please the Supreme Lord Hari. His occupation was pure and independent. He was constantly sanctified by taking his bath in holy places, although he was in the dress of a mendicant and had no hair dressing nor a bed on which to lie. Thus he was always unseen by his various relatives.

PURPORT: The first and foremost duty of a pilgrim is to satisfy the Supreme Lord Hari. While traveling as a pilgrim, one should not be worried about pleasing society. There is no need to depend on social formalities or occupation or dress. One should remain always absorbed in the function of pleasing the Lord. Thus sanctified by thought and action, one is able to realize the Supreme Lord by the process of a pilgrim's journey. [End of purport]

Hrdayananda Maharaja: Prabhupada ki jai. So, any questions?

[Laughter]

First of all, I was just kidding, so you cannot ask any questions. Now, let's go over all the words of this verse and, like on computers you can zoom in, let's zoom in on these Sanskrit words. Prabhupada said that if we attend or give Bhagavatam class everyday there will be new lights. So I hope something other than controversy and darkness comes out of me today.

So the first words are gam paryata, literally pari, around, like parikrama, paryatan literally means walking around. So he is walking around the earth, gam. And his vrtti was medhya and vivikta. Medha can refer to sacrifice, so medhya literally means sacrificable and the idea is something which is pure because you cannot offer impure things. For example, if you're going to offer food to the Deities they have to be pure. You can't offer impure, dirty water or a dirty cloth to the Deities. Everything you offer in sacrifice has to be pure and therefore the word medhya, sacrificable, means pure, fit to be offered to the Lord. So that's the word medhya.

Wow. Even a bird has flown into the temple. Just see the potency of bona fide ISKCON gurus. [laughter] These are like the pastimes of St. Francis. I guess he's taking darshan of all the different altars.

A few words on vrtti, If you can tolerate a little linguistic analysis. . . Jai, Your Holiness. All glories to Sivarama Swami. I think the GBC has sent a monitor. [laughter] It's called Swamigate. See if they can get the smoking gun.

The sanskrti root vrt means literally to turn. That's like the first meaning, to turn. In Sanskrit you can make a feminine noun from a root just by adding ti, like sruti, smrti, krti. So this is vrtti. This word is found in the yoga-sutras in regard to mental activity, because turning, going in its cycle, comes to mean function or activity. As we say in English, for example, how did things turn out? It's in that sense of the term. The yoga-sutras begin by defining yoga as citta-vrtti-nirodha, stopping the vrtti, the turning away of the mind, the mind turning off the path.

Vrtti comes to mean a course of life. Therefore when you have a path in your life which is based on the world and engaged in the world and going forth into the world, it is called pravrtti-marga. And if you withdraw from the world, that's called nivrtti. So the word vrtti is used in the sense of the course of your life, a life which goes into the world to engage, in the most simple sense it means grhastha-asrama. And the life when we withdraw from the world, of course we know the principle of yukta-vairagya, that everyone should somehow engage themselves and the world in Krsna's service. Anyway, that is vrtti.

By the way, we have this word in English and in many modern languages; from the root vrt you get the stem. Sanskrit is like an organic language, you get roots, stems, and then words. The common stem is for the word vrt is varta, like pravartate, nivartate, vivartate and so on. So vart in English we still have it as vert, as in invert, revert, subvert. You can see the relationship between Sanskrit and English, not merely that some words sound the same, like matar, which is mother, but in the structure of the language. In Sanskrit basically you have the stems then you can add prefixes and change the meanings. . . samvartate, etc.

So the same thing in English. English actually retains the same linguistic structure from Sanskrit. So you can say subvert, invert, revert, pervert, and so on and so forth. With the same meaning, to invert is to turn in, to extrovert is to turn out, to subvert is to turn down, like bring something down. Anyway, so that is the word vrt, vrtti. One last thing I will say about it, perhaps, is that it comes to mean in Sanskrit, to exist or to function, like how you function in the world because things move in cycles.

It can mean a path. As when Krsna says mama vartmanunavartante, everyone follows my path, that's a course, the way things turn out the way they go, the path. Also in Sanskrit, when you meet someone in the Bhagavatam or other scriptures, and you say like, "What you are you doing these days. Are you into multilevel marketing, what are you doing, what are you doing for a living?" In Sanskrit they'll say, "Ka varta" or "Kaya vrttya", by what vrtti, or what are you doing, how are you getting on? The word varta means the news. If you want to say, "What's the news," in Sanskrit, you say "ka varta". It means how are things turning, how are things going? In so many modern languages, like in German, vigates(?), or in English you say how's it going. So in Sanskrit they say, ka varta, how's it going, what's the news?

Anyway, now you look back at this word in this verse today, that's the word. Vidura is described as having a vrtti, which is a path, a function, an occupation, a way of getting on in the world which is medhya and vivitta. I already explained the word medhya. Medhya means sacrificable in the sense of pure, something which is worthy, fit to be offered to the Lord. And vivitta, this is the same word as viveka as in vivekananda. No more on that. Anyway, my mother said if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything.

So vivikta means to sort of be separated, secluded. The prefix vi is the opposite of san, san means together, like sankirtana, vi means apart, like Vyasa means places the Vedas apart, separates the Vedas. Vivikta means literally to separate yourself, to be secluded. This is the word also that is used in the Bhagavatam to say one should not remain secluded even with one's own mother. This is a remarkable statement. There is of course a lot more incest in the world than people would like to think. When it says that one should not be alone even with one's mother, what it literally says is viviktasana, literally sitting secluded. So that you don't think people in Vedic culture were a little hyper-alert about incest, the word asana, the verb as means seat, but it's also the Sanskrit verb which means to remain, to go on doing something. It's using very commonly in that way.

Like in the Bhagavad-gita where Arjuna says kim asita vrajeta kim, under what circumstances should move onto some other thing and under what circumstances should they remain in the same situation, like when should the sit when should they go.

Therefore in a sense what viviktasana really means in a sense in Sanskrit is you should not remain for extended periods of time in seclusion with a woman, that's really the idea, even your mother. So it's not hyper-vigilance it is actually practical.

Anway, back to our regularly scheduled sloka. That's the word vivikta. Vivikta is the past participle, the noun is viveka. It also means to discriminate, to separate things, the power to put everything in it's own category, to see the distinction between things. What this means is Vidura's vrtti, the way he got on in the world, which doesn't just mean that when he went to pilgrimage places he had a job on the side and he was making some money. . . . What it really means here is in a more simple sense is the way he survived, how did he eat, how did he find his food, how did he dress himself, how did he survive and get on in the world.

And the answer here is his method of surviving or how he got on in the world was medhya, pure, and literally worthy of offering to Krsna. In other words he lived in the world in such a way that his life was offerable to Krsna. When we prepare the Deity offering everything has to be clean and offerable. If the flower fell on the floor and was trampled by a wild atheist, obviously you can't just pick it up and offer to the Deities. The idea here is we should live in such a way that our life is offerable. That's exactly what Krsna says yad karosi, whatever you do, yad asnasi, and so on, tat kurusva, make it, mad-arpana, an offering to me.

So Vidura is embodying, personifying that principle of a life that is fit to be offered to the Lord. Also he lived in such a way so that he could not be recognized. The word alaksita in this verse, Prabhupada translates as unseen. It's unseen in the sense of unrecognized. The word laksana means a visible sign means by which you recognize an object. Alaksita means that even if his relatives passed him in the street they might not recognize him. He wanted to be secluded. Medhya vivikta vrtti, he wandered around the world in this way.

The next word is sadaa, always, which in American Sanskrit is sada, as in Sadaputa, always, but actually it's sadaa, and apluta, always bathed. In other words he took regular bath. Sometimes on the road you don't find a good shower. We all know that when you're traveling you can't follow all the same standards as when you're not traveling. Here it's emphasized that Vidura, even though he was traveling, he was strict about his own hygiene.

Adha sayana literally means lying down. Adha means down, and sayana, lying, so he would just sleep on the earth. I suppose they must have had something like hotel chains back then. People did travel back then and they needed places to stay when they're away from home. There's even the example in the Bhagavatam of merchants that travel. So there were places to stay. Here the idea is that Vidura lived very simply, didn't get entangled.

Then avadhuta, here's an interesting word. The word avadhuta literally means one who has shaken off, dhuta means to shake, like you shake a rug to clean it. It also means purified. What is that verse, vidhuta-kalmasa, there's one verse in the Bhagavatam, one who has shaken away one's sins or contamination. Also you find the same word in the famous Bhagavatam verse about Krsna, srnvatam sva-katha krsna, for those who are always hearing about Krsna, punya sravana-kirtana, because hearing and chanting about Krsna makes one pious, Krsna, hrdy-anta-sthah, standing within the heart, vidhunoti, he cleans away all the inauspicious things, he cleans away, like shaking a rug to get rid of all the dust. That's the word vidhunoti.

Here you have avadhuta means literally one who has shaken off ordinary social customs and often appear to the world as very eccentric. Of course some eccentric people may imagine that they are saintly persons but they must just be eccentric. So this is not a blanket justification of eccentricity. But the way this term avadhuta comes to be used typically is one who has shaken off at least some social customs and is acting more spontaneously according to a higher understanding.

At the same time it's interesting to clarify that Vidura, acting as an avadhuta, did not cross any moral boundaries or did not cross the boundaries of decency and even physical health. It's said here sadapluta, he always observed principles of hygiene, always bathed, and vratani cere, he followed all his vows as a Vaisnava. Because there have times in Indian history, and in the history of other cultures where people get into this "freedom" thing and imagine themselves to be in a higher state of consciousness and therefore not bound by lower rules, and they drift into immoral behavior.

There's a whole weird tantra movement that went on for some time in India. It was the pancamakara, Kara, in Sanksrit, literally making, comes to mean like a letter or syllable like omkara. Or the letter a, you say a-kara. Humkara means the syllable hum, which as you know, somehow or other, it's like those high pitched dog whistles that we can't hear but dogs can't stand them. There are these extraordinary syllables in Sanskrit that are intolerable to weird spirits.

That's kara. Vratani cere, so the tantra people have the pancamakara, the five m letters. Like the 5M Corporation, the 3M Corporation.(?) There's an earlier tantra, just to clarify, which is Vaisnava tantra which means things like Deity worship. The Bhagavatam says that Narada Muni came to this world as an avatara to give the satvata-tantra, the Vaisnava tantra. The word tan in Sanskrit means to expand or extend or stretch. Tra means the instrument. So tantra means the instrument for expanding Vedic knowledge and practice, and typically it's that body of literature like the Narada Pancaratra which introduces on a practical level things like Deity worship and on a philosophical level knowledge of the catur-vyuha and so many things.

The Bhagavatam acknowledges that there are two sources of knowledge, vaidika and tantrika. That is the earlier bonafide tantra. Then there was a later tantra which was the five m corporation. The five m's were, for example, mamsa, meat; or matsya, fish; or maithunya, sex, preferably incest; madira, liquor; and the fifth one for some reason which still puzzles scholars, mudra. Maybe even back then they had obscene gestures. Maybe that's what it referred to like the aksi-mudra. Anyway, these were the original Hindu hippies. In the sense the core belief of the hippie movement was that we want to be free and all these different moral rules are obstacles for freedom and therefore we should break them and free ourselves from all these boundaries.

Of course they totally ignore the entire field of human psychology and the point of addictive behavior and so on and so forth. So as long as you are in a state of blissful ignorance of all of social science you may be attracted to this. Anyway these original Hindu hippies, the tantriks, believed that you should break all the moral rules, all the Vedic injunctions. It is important not to confuse the avadhutas with these people. It's emphasized twice here he was avadhuta, he was dressed in a way that he could not be recognized but at the same time it is emphasized that he followed all the vows and moral and devotional regulative principles, vratani cere, of a Vaisnava. And he kept all the principles of hygiene. So he was not a smelly, sinful - he wasn't a hippy.

Moving right along here in this analysis, it says here, alaksita svair, not recognized literally by his own people. Not simply because he avoided that, but because he really wouldn't be recognized. And avadhuta vesa, he had the dress of an avadhuta. Vratani cere, he followed his vows, I explained.

Actually from the Sanskrit word vrata, you have the Latin word voto, and one who follows a vrata, like drdha-vrata, is a devoto. That is what the word devotee means if anyone's interested. The word devotee, in a sense, is a literal translation of drdha-vrata, one who is firm in one's vows. In that sense at the time of diksa, at the time of making a vow, at least etymologically you literally become a devotee. Or even if before you are initiated, at the time we adopt a formal vow like "I now am going to follow this," you literally become a devotee etymologically. For those of you who become etymology should have greater influence on our culture. . . .

So vratani cere hari tosanani, his vows were satisfying to Hari. In other words, he didn't just make up weird vows. He specifically followed principles that were pleasing to the Lord. I'll go on a little longer in this challenging pre-breakfast environment.

If we ask ourselves the question why would someone do this? Why put on strange clothes, your friends can't recognize you, of course you follow all your principles but you drop out of society. There is a real sense of dropping out here. There are three ways it is emphasized that although Vidura became an avadhuta he didn't become immoral, indecent in any sense of the term. He didn't neglect any of his principles in any sense of the term.

The three ways these are emphasised, last, but very important, he followed all his devotional principles, secondly, he maintained all the principles of hygiene. And thirdly, he got on in the world, including places he chose to rest at night, the way he dressed himself; in every sense, his living habits were pure. They were pure, literally sacrificable. They were worthy of offering to the Lord as a sacrifice.

So the very fact that you have this contrast where it is mentioned twice that he was an avadhuta, dressed like an avadhuta, he was an avadhuta, which means sort of a social dropout for spiritual purposes. Twice this is mentioned and three times it is mentioned that he was in every way decent, regulated, and pure. I think it's not a coincidence that you have two of these and three of those.

Frankly, throughout world history, in India, in America, and everywhere else, there have been hippies. A hippie is a type of person that believes that freedom comes from breaking all the rules. A sort of belief in nature that includes such wonderful things as dirt and sweat so that when your body is sweating it's earthy in the sense of being natural and all that. That is why perfume and nose plugs were invented in the course of human history. There has always been this tendency, it's a certain type of behavior, it's a way of responding to the world, there have always been people who have responded this way.

Therefore in this verse there are two avadhuta references and three bits of data which emphasize that Vidura was regulated, pure, clean, etc, etc. Having said that, with the few minutes remaining to me before people start to sneak out of this class, you can raise a sort of socio-psychological question, "What is the value of dropping out, of going incognito?" Because alaksita is really the Sanskrit way of saying incognito. What is the point of this? For one thing, we become conditioned and when you live in society, just like all of us, not all of us actually, but many of us, when we come to Mayapur, in some subtle ways, we adjust our behavior. We adjust our behavior because we are in east India and we are in Mayapur. Because there are many people here, it is a multicultural situation, multi-ethnic. As we know Prabhupada's great spiritual family is multicultural.

Even when all the devotees were going to Gaudadesa to Puri to see Mahaprabhu, it is always mentioned there were different communities, the Panihati community, Kulina-grama, and people actually traveled as communities. They spoke the same regional dialect of language, they were were using the same kind of food, they traveled together. They were a community. In that sense, even Lord Caitanya's movement, even back then, there were the Bangladeshis, there were the Oriyan devotees, there were the people from this part, all of them had their own cuisine, they were used to certain kinds of food, certain kinds of music. There were communities.

ISKCON, or Lord Caitanya's movement, more than ever is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic. Using objective social science language, this tends to be way over on the conservative side in some ways. So when we come here we adapt in certain ways. Unless you are really into shock therapy for everybody else, you try to fit in as far as possible. When we go to other places, we may have to fit in in other ways. Everyone has to fit in to some extent.

There comes a time when you sort of want to get away from everything. Not get away from the association of devotees, but imagine if you're coming from a material background and happen to live with such spiritually advanced people as Duryodhana and Sakuni. What was that younger brother? Duhsasana, which basically means someone who can never take good advice, or who gave a lot of bad advice. So here Vidura was living among these people and inevitably just to live you have to adjust yourself. You have to some extent be a social creature. He wanted to get away from everything.

Interestingly, among his people were also the Pandavas. The Pandavas were not only his nephews; they were probably his most beloved relatives, the Pandavas and Kunti and so on. It doesn't say alaksita kurubhih, unrecognized by the Kurus, it just says by his people. As we know there is no record anywhere in the Bhagavatam that the Pandavas or the Yadus, who were also very close to Vidura, had any idea where he was.

So here's a question I want to raise just as a way of thinking. This is not meant to be iconoclastic and revolutionary and to overturn everything. Now having said that only half of the people here will come away with that interpretation as opposed to everybody, but we are conditioned souls. We are conditioned souls. Of course I am just saying that to be humble. [laughter] It really applies in the case of everyone else in the room. [laughter]

Anyway, back to my humble persona. We are all conditioned souls and what that means is when we join the Hare Krsna movement we are liberated in one sense that we are literally, ontologically, on the spiritual platform--the temples are Vaikuntha. In an ontological sense of just where we are we are liberated and we're on the spiritual platform. Psychologically we are still conditioned. If we are talking about how our minds operate, the way our consciousness functions, we are still conditioned.

Let's say when we come to the movement if we enjoy eating, we are attached to eating, as we know, that doesn't immediately go away. Imagine some scene where someone was trapped somewhere and the only way they can escape is literally to eat a tunnel out. What if your hands are tied behind your back and you fell into this huge, unnaturally large pot of spaghetti. [laughter] This is a realistic example; things like that happen every day, you can read about it in the newspaper. Say your hands were tied behind your back and literally the only way you can save yourself is by eating your way out. That's a somewhat humorous example.

Many of us, when we first joined the movement, it was like we were eating our way out of danger, eating our way out of material conditioning. That is why Prabhupada personally cooked for the devotees, because they were conditioned souls, I mean we were conditioned souls. I didn't have the pleasure of having Prabhupada cook for me, but Prabhupada set this example.

Prabhupada says, I think in the Caitanya-caritamrta, fools and rascals were criticizing Prabhupada's methods, don't understand that you cannot spread Krsna consciousness in the Western world, and that increasingly that means modern world, if you impose extremely conservative Hindu standards of gender separation. Prabhupada certainly insisted for serious devotees on following the principles, but he created devotional communities where men and women served together and he said that this was necessary in order to spread the movement in the modern world. Why? Because we were conditioned, we were conditioned in terms of gender relations, we were conditioned in terms of eating. As we know we were conditioned in terms of being attached to position. We all have had to suffer through this phenomenon of power corrupts. People take postions in a spiritual society often for mixed reasons: because they want to serve and because they want a position. That leads to all kinds of irrational behavior.

My simple point is, if I am a conditioned soul, and I join a spiritual movement, I continue to be a conditioned sould and gradually when you get a whole bunch of conditioned souls together, they create somewhat of a conditioned subculture. And over time it becomes sacrilized(?). Because human beings are wired in such a way that any behaviour which is repeated over enough in a community or society takes on a sacred glow.

I don't want to just be wild and controversial, but one example is it has become almost a sacred ISKCON principle to sacrifice on the altar of surrender your sense of hearing. In other words, the kirtan is not bona fide unless it's damaging your inner ear. Therefore we have this incredible phenomenon--it ranks with the best of Monty Python--where people come to the sacred service of ISKCON, our temple programme, with earplugs. Imagine this, sravanadi suddha citte, the primary process is hearing and we wear ear plugs. [laughter]

Or Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita that the highest form of food in this world, and therefore the food which should be offered to Krsna, is food which is arogyam, healthy, and ayusam, prolongs life, and there is sort of an understanding amongst certain people that prasadam is not really bona fide and Vedic if it's healthy. It really needs to be unhealthy, it needs to be deep fried, it needs to sugar-soaked. . . real Vedic prasadam. You're not really pleasing Krsna unless it's unhealthy, ignoring what Krsna says.

At the same time there are certain cultural bonds which unify us, which unite us, which keep our solidarity. It's not that everyone can just do their own thing. We need to have a common culture. Uniforms are a very powerful tool of social psychology. There's a very good reason why historically armies wear uniforms. It's not irrational. It's because it can be a very important part of creating an appropriate consciousness in order to perform effective collective activities. I actually really like uniforms by the way, because it's a very powerful way of creating solidarity, unity, and joint determination. Please believe me, I'm sincere.

Now, the good part comes after the pregnant term "but", no actually there are no buts about it, I'm simply saying that we have to, as a group, as a united society, purify our collective culture from irrational tendencies which don't really serve our best interests so we present the movement to the world as a spiritual science.

I was giving the point in a class I gave recently that say you're walking down the street and you see someone who's just been injured in some way and needs urgent medical attention and you're not a doctor and really don't know how to treat the person, you can't just say "The good news is there is a medical science. I personally don't practice it, and there's no one around here who does, but take comfort in the fact that there is a medical science."

In the same way, there is a spiritual science and Prabhupada presented it to us, but if we are not really spiritual scientists, if we're a little crude in our understanding of the spiritual science, we're not going to treat people as effectively as we might.

The last point here is that this whole incognito thing, is there value even for devotees sometimes in Krsna consciousness getting away a bit and finding themselves? I don't mean to say leaving ISKCON. I don't mean cutting yourself off from the association of devotees. I just mean sometimes separating yourself from certain kinds of conditioning. Again, like Vidura, following all your devotional vows, following the principles of hygiene, remaining pure in your life, but at the same time, trying to be a little objective about things.

I'll leave you with this question. I wouldn't presume to give the complete answer to this, at least not in a crowd where I can get in trouble. I'm just kidding. So any questions on these points? Yes, Visuddha-sattva, purified goodness personified.

Visuddha Sattva: An important technical question for me in relation with my research on the structure of the universe on the Sanskrit word vrtti that you explained. In some chapter of the Fifth Canto when the sisumara cakra is being described, the body of Lord Visnu in the form of a dolphin, Prabhupada says vrtti is like string, around that sisumara cakra, the planets, the cakras. . .

Maharaja: Often words like vrtti, there is a lot of jargon in Sanskrit. For example if you're reading a computer book and it talks about a mouse, that is very different from coming across the word mouse in a book about rodents. Sanskrit, the Vedic culture is and was a very sophisticated, diverse, mature culture with hundreds of different fields of knowledge and like today, there was a lot of jargon. The medical people, the botanists, the astrologers, the astronomers, everyone had their jargon. It is very likely that in astronomical descriptions they're using the standard jargon.

[unclear]

I think we'll have to talk about that a little later because I'll have to look at the Sanskrit before I could tell you clearly that I don't know. We'll have to look at that later I think. Any other questions?

Visuddha-sattva: Yes, I have another question. Vivrtti and vrtti, because Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati said from anartha-nivrtti to artha-pravrtti. So what is the difference between vivrtti and vrtti.

Maharaja: Again, there is a lot of jargon involved. Vivrtti literally means to turn away, to expand, to categorize, it could mean many things. I would have to look at the context. Any other questions? Moving right along. What's that?

Ah, the word ontological, from the Greek onto, existence, it means the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of existence. What exists, how does it exist, what are the basic categories of existence.

Microphone back there into the peanut gallery.

Question: You are translating the word tantra and said that tra means expand. Usually devotees explain the word mantra, as in Hare Krsna maha-mantra, that ma means mind and tra means to control.

Maharaja: With that sort of pedagogic etymology, tra is taken as the abbreviation of trana, which means delivering, delivering the mind.

Anything else? Yes, Hari Sauri Prabhu.

[unclear, presumably requesting Maharaja to return to Mayapur next year]

Maharaja: Well, Krsna willing, yes.

Devotees: Haribol! [applause]

Maharaja: Actually, I've got a silver bullet now. It's saved me. It's called grapefruit seed extract. I used to get very sick. I used to have near death experiences here all the time. And Vrindavan too.

So thank you all very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

SB 3.1.23 Makhanlal Dasa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 02:42:00 +0000

Lecture by Makhanlal Dasa on Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.1.23.

No transcript available.

This lecture was given on February 22, during the 2007 Gaura Purnima festival at the ISKCON Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, in Mayapur, India.

SB 3.1.21 Visuddhasattva Dasa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 02:11:00 +0000

Lecture by Visuddhasattva Dasa on Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.1.21.

No transcript available.

This lecture was given on February 21, during the 2007 Gaura Purnima festival at the ISKCON Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, in Mayapur, India.

SB 3.1.18 Jayapataka Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 03:16:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.18

puresu punyopavanadri-kunjesv
apanka-toyesu sarit-sarahsu
ananta-lingaih samalankrtesu
cacara tirthayatanesv ananyah

TRANSLATION: He began to travel alone, thinking only of Krsna, through various holy places like Ayodhya, Dvaraka and Mathura. He traveled where the air, hill, orchard, river and lake are all pure and sinless and where the forms of the Unlimited decorate the temples. Thus he performed the pilgrim's progress.

PURPORT: These arca forms of the Lord may be considered idols by the atheists, but that does not matter for persons like Vidura or His many other servants. The forms of the Lord are mentioned here as ananta-linga. Such forms of the Lord have unlimited potency, the same as that of the Lord Himself. There is no difference between the potencies of the arca and those of the personal forms of the Lord. The example of the postbox and post office may be applied here. The little postboxes distributed all over the city have the same potency as the postal system in general. The duty of the post office is to carry letters from one place to another. If one puts letters in postboxes authorized by the general post office, the function of carrying letters is performed without a doubt. Similarly, the arca-murti can also deliver the same unlimited potency of the Lord as when He is personally present. Vidura, therefore, could see nothing but Krsna in the different arca forms, and ultimately he was able to realize Krsna alone and nothing else. [End of purport]

Jayapataka Swami: So Vidura began his pilgrimage traveling around the different holy places of India. By his traveling, Yudhisthira later made a quotation that you make the holy places holy because you are carrying Krsna always in your heart. He went as a humble devotee. He was going to get purified from the association of Duryodhana and Dhrtarastra.

So here in this verse, the glories of the holy places is mentioned. In the Padma Purana there is a list of holy places. According to a holy place's ability to counteract sin, purify one from different sins, it is rated. So there is a whole chapter that rates little sins like lying and stealing. There are lots of holy places that can do that. But if you murder somebody, then which holy place? There is a list of those. Then if you murdered a brahmana, then there's a list. Then finally there are seven holy places that if you die there you go back to Godhead immediately. Mayapur is one of them.

Devotees: Haribol!

Prabhupada once arrived in Mayapur, we had a big reception for him, we offered guru-puja. Then he gave his class. He went up to his room, he sat in seat, he took a sip of water. Prabhupada would drink water without touching. He taught us, so we had to drink water without touching. If you touch, your hand is dirty. You touch the Bhagavatam, you just committed an aparadha. You spit on the Bhagavatam according to brahminical standards.

He taught everyone. He gave Brahmananda sweet balls and said, "Throw it in your mouth without touching." If you live in India, you have to learn these things because people notice. They know the standard of cleanliness. In the West, nobody cares. If you drink from a glass of water, nobody thinks twice about it, but in India they notice. You drink, you touch. If you drink without touching, then you can touch the Bhagavatam.

Prabhupada always drank without touching. He had a golden goblet. He drank and then, [sighs]. I can't sigh the way he sighed. He sighed an ecstatic sigh. I just sigh an ordinary sigh.

He said, "Living and dying in Mayapur is all the same."

Devotees:Haribol!

Wow, what does that mean?

He said, "You live in Mayapur, you are living in the holy dham, and when you die in Mayapur, you go back to Godhead. You are living in the spiritual world and when you die you go back to the spiritual world."

It's like this year we are going on the safari to Divyadesa. We are going to the holy places designated by Ramanaujacarya. Some of them are considered like the spiritual world on earth. Prabhupada told us even Haridaspur, where Haridasa Thakur was chanting for one day, within a three mile radius it is a holy tirtha. It is called sripat. Where the Lord's murti is established, then it has a wider area that is affected. It is a whole science.

So Vidura was going to all these temples. Just like Ranganatha is the personal Deity of Lord Ramacandra. He gave to Vibhisana, but he got tricked by the brahmana to leave on Ranganatha Island, Sri Rangam, in the middle of the Kaveri river. So all these deities, the Kancipuram diety, Ramanauja's disciple, Kuresa, who was blinded, he got his eyesight back from the Deity. Even in our Mayapur, Lord Jagannath is always performing so many miracles. When we go there on parikrama, you can hear from the pujaris about his different pastimes. Our Nrsimhadeva also saved one lady from blindness, many different pastimes.

I think this verse is very appropriate for me because I travel around the world. I don't know what most of the places look like. Only I know what Frankfurt looks like because I went on harinama in downtown Frankfurt with the devotees. Otherwise, I don't know what. I went to Koln in Germany. I only know what London looks like because I go on Ratha Yatra. I just go from the airport to the temple and see the Deities. The Deities are so special.

Some of our devotees, some did well, some didn't do well, but the ones who did well took groups of wealthy Indians to see the temples in the west. In this way, going around seeing all the Deities, seeing the wonderful devotees practicing Krsna consciousness in the West. Many of them started chanting japa and become devotees themselves. Even they went on a mixed spiritual tour, see Washington, see New York, then they'd go and see Radha-Govinda, they'd see the different Deities. Actually, they'd get purified. These Deities all over the world also, like we heard a few days ago in the class, embassies.

The Dhams are direct extensions of the spiritual world. The temples are embassies. Like Haridaspur,there was no temple there, but Haridas Thakur stopped and chanted 300,000 names of Krsna there. So Prabhupada said it is a holy place, Sripat, wherever some pure devotees gives a class, that is also sanctified. So all the places they especially established Deities.

We go around Gaura Mandala Bhumi and say, "This Deity was established by Lord Nityananda. This Deity was establish by Bhaktivinoda Thakura. This deity was established by one of the associates of Lord Caitanya." We go there, we bow down, remember that associate. It is so sanctified.

Similarly, the Deities which were installed by Prabhupada or worshiped by Prabhupada, those are more special. In New Panihati, Atlanta, Prabhupada taught the devotees how to chant "parama karuna, pahun dui jana, nitai-gauracandra". He was crying before Gaura-Nitai. Tears of love were pouring from his eyes. He said, "How merciful they are. They have come here to America to deliver the fallen souls." Like that there are worshipable Deities all over the world, giving their mercy out.

For me it's a great pilgrimage to go and visit these Deities. Of course in India, if you can't go anywhere, at least come to Mayapur or Vrindavan or both because here all the holy places are exisiting. They all reside. This is Radharani's place. Radharani made Mayapur Dham for the pleasure of Krsna. So to please Radharani, the supreme energy, all of the holy places have come. Or some say they are all here and from here they expand out to their other external forms. We'll see Naimisaranya on parikrama. We'll see Puskar-tirtha, Kuruksetra, Triveni, Pancaveni, Campaka gardens of Campakalata devi. Campakalata is next to Lalita. She has her own gardens in Mayapur to bring campa flowers to Radha-Krsna by her mystical powers. With their supreme energy, they all have so many potencies. We can't imagine. These deities are unlimited, ananta-linga, unlimited potencies.

We pray, Prabhupada would pray to all the Deities, so many pictures of him standing with folded hands, praying. Once some lady came up to Prabhupada and said "What are you praying?"

Everyone was shocked, how can you just ask someone what they're praying. It's private.

Prabhupada looked at her, then said, "I'm praying that I never leave Krsna consciousness." Whether that was what he was praying or that is what he was instructing her she should pray, we should pray like that anyway. Take the tip. You don't want to leave Krsna consciousness. We want to spend ourselves under the shelter of Lord Krsna's devotional service.

Today is a very special day. It's the disappearance day of three great Vaisnavas, one of whom is a disciple of an associate of Lord Caitanya. Shyamananda Pandit, who helped bring the works of the acaryas with Narottama Dasa Thakura and Srinivasa Acarya. His disciple was Rasikananda, his chief disciple. He had thousands of disciples.

Rasikananda was born as the son of a very wealthy feudal landlord. He was married to Icchadevi. As soon as he met Shyamananda, immediately he knew, his hairs were standing on end. Immediately he knew there was a connection from a previous life, this was his preceptor. He immediately surrendered and begged Shyamananda for initiation, Shyamananda initiated him and his wife. He became Rasikananda and she became Syama Dasi.

Rasikananda and Syama Dasi established Deities in their town where they were the lords, previously the lords. The town was so much, he said the people were so devoted to the Deities, that they changed the name of the town to Gopiballabhpur, all were in love with Gopiballabh, the dear to the gopis, Lord Krsna, hoping that all the townspeople would also develop this love for Radha and Krsna.

Somehow I have a really great fortune that Prabhupada made me the life chairman of the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust and gave some of his guru daksina as the seed capital. One of the assignments he gave was to fix up the temples, preserve the ancient temples of Gaura Mandala Bhumi. So somehow this trust has been fixing up the original temple of Rasikananda, which is five hundred years old now, putting up a wall around it, fixing it up. We did so many services, so somehow I got a little mercy there.

Rasikananda was taken to Radha-Gopinatha, Ksira-cora Gopinatha. After Lord Caitanya and Madhavendra Puri visited. Gopinatha stole the ksira, everyone knows that famous story. If you don't, have someone tell you because if I tell it it will take too long. Anyway, the basic thing was, just the short form of it: Madhavendra Puri wanted, since we are talking about Deities, he wanted, everyday they offered condensed milk sweet to this Deity of Gopinatha. Madhavendra Puri was coming from the Sri Nathaji deity. The Gopalji deity, who is now known as Sri Nathaji, was in Vrindavan. He thought, "I'd like to know what this tastes like so that I could offer it to my Gopal deity. Wow! I just committed a big aparadha! It's bhoga. It's an unoffered offering and I thought, 'How would it taste?' This is a big offense. I am an aparadhi."

So he went out and he was chanting his japa and thinking, "Krsna forgive me. I am so offensive."

Then the Deities came in the dream of the pujari that night and said, "We took one of the pots of ksira and put it under our cloth. You can come and get it. In the market there is a devotee called Madhavendra Puri. You can give it to him."

He wasn't thinking about tasting it to enjoy it. He was thinking about offering it to Krsna. So there was really no offense, but he was very humble about the whole thing.

So this pujari woke up. Hours had passed since this Deity stole the offering. He took his shower, got dressed in clean cloth, went, opened the temple, looked, and sure enough, behind the dhoti of Gopinatha, there was the pot of ksira. So the Deity stole the ksira to give to his devotee.

He went out in the market, crying, "Madhavendra Puri! Madhavendra Puri!"

Madhavendra Puri said, "Yes?" No one else was there. It was like one in the morning. He was chanting his japa. He was still feeling so bad. He [the pujari] told him what happened and said, "You are the most fortunate man in the entire world. For you, the Deity has stolen this condensed milk." He gave it to him. Madhavendra Puri offered his obeisances to it, ate the ksira, kept the clay pot. He would eat a little piece of the clay pot every day. So many other pastimes with Madhavendra Puri.

So this Ksira-cora Gopinatha was very famous. There was some king, maybe he was a Muslim king, I don't know. He was a Deity-hater. He was going around smashing Deities in temples. Like the Taliban in Afghanistan were smashing the Buddhas. So when the people in Remuna heard that he was coming, they hid Gopinatha under a pond three miles away.

The king was so upset, "Oh I could not smash the Deity! I love smashing Deities!" What a demon, huh? Some people are like that. So then he broke the Ramacandi, the Durga Deity that was there.

Later, Rasikanada was kept in-charge of that place. He had a dream to excavate the pond where that Gopinatha Deity was hidden. He recovered the Gopinatha Deity, built a temple for Gopinatha, because the temple, the other one, must have been smashed or something, and he took charge of the worship.

Rasikananda and his wife made hundreds of thousands of devotees, according to the history. They were super preachers. Even Shyamananda made Rasikananda a guru in his presence. Like in ISKCON we have a few where the guru orders his disciples to take disciples. Rasikananda was one of the main examples of that kind of that the guru wants one of the disciples [unclear] preaching, so they were both preaching simultaneously in different places. Later, Rasikananda inherited the temple responsibility in Remuna.

There is a famous story that one morning he was sitting brushing his teeth with a neem twing. Prabhupada used to use neem twigs. He said, "These toothbrushes are unclean, using again and again." Of course sometimes he used toothbrush, too, but that is because there was no neem twig in the West. But he would change regularly his toothbrush, not keep them until they are like rotting. But he said, "Best is the neem twig, disposable toothbrush." You chew on the end, make a brush out of it, brush your teeth, divide it in half, scrape your tongue, finished. So Rasikananda was sitting in the asrama, in the courtyard of the temple, brushing his teeth early in the morning and the villagers came, "Gurudeva! Gurudeva! There's a yogi in the village, a yogi!"

"So what, there's a yogi in the village?"

"He's flying!"

"Not important."

Another group of villagers came, "Gurudeva, Gurudeva, there's a yogi in the village and he's flying! He's got a stick under his leg and he's flying around." Like the witches, they put broomstick, but somehow, this guy put some kind of stick and sometimes people get this magical power.

"It's not important."

Again a third group came, "Gurudeva! There's a yogi flying, 'phush, phush, phush,' flying in the sky!"

"I told you, it's not important." He took the twig out of his mouth, put it under his leg, and started flying around the asrama. [laughter] "It's not important. If it was important, I would have taught you a long time ago." Landed down again.

Rasikananda Prabhu ki jai!

He's one of these personalities who came down from the spiritual world to help Lord Caitanya's movement spread. It was on this day, on this tithi, he was chanting in the courtyard in front of the Gopinatha Deity. Suddenly, poof, he disappeared. He went back to Godhead. Some of his associates were so struck with separation that they also went back. His samadhi is in the temple courtyard compound of Ksira-cora Gopinatha. Today was his disappearance.

Today also is the disappearance day of Jagannatha Dasa Babaji, the guru of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Rasikananda was 1590 AC. Jagannatha Dasa Babaji was born in 1780. That was probably before the British got here, 1780 AC. And he left, that year it was 25th of February, this is tithi, 1895. So he lived to be 125 years old. He was born in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Mymensingh is about two hours drive north of Dhaka, the capital. I went there several times to do programs. We have to find out his birthplace. I don't know if we can find it out.

He a disciple of Madhusudana Babaji. He lived in Vrindavan, Kuliya, Navadvipa. Bhaktivinoda Thakura met him in Vrindavan as well as here. So we are going to go to his samadhi mandir on the parikrama on the third day. We tell a lot of pastimes about Jagannatha dasa Babaji. I don't want to spoil all those.

There is his samadhi temple there and behind the temple there is the old Ganges. The Ganges at one point had a channel that ran there. He used to chant his japa looking over the Ganges. One day he was chanting his japa in great separation here in Navadvipa dhama. Radha and Krsna revealed themselves to him. Everyone knew he had realization of Radha and Krsna. He was called Siddha Jagannatha dasa Babaji. He was perfected. He had God realization while he was living.

Because of his God realization, he had very much spiritual vision. One pastime I can tell, some wealthy Indian gentleman came and saw him and asked him, because at that time, in India it is quite popular that babas show a little magic and then everyone thinks, "OK they're God." Without mentioning which babas, there are a number of babas who are thought to be God or some incarnation or something. Similarly, any great Guru, they should show some magic.

Even people asked Prabhupada to show magic. "I went to America with forty rupees. Now I have over forty million dollars of temples all over the world in just five-six years with thousands and thousands of disciples. What more magic do you want to see?"

Devotees: Haribol!

Sometimes they say that someone walks on water, so you save fifty paisa. It costs fifty paisa to cross the river by boat.

So they asked Jagannath dasa Babaji to show some magic, show some miracle. He said, "No, no, I don't do that. . . . Eh, get out! Out, out!" He started with hitting his stick on the ground, "Out!"

"What are you doing? There is nothing there."

He said, "No, no, in Vrindavan," I forget which temple, one of these temples, "the Gokulananda temple, there is a goat who is eating the Tulasi by someone's samadhi, I am just scaring that goat away."

"How can you be sitting in Navadvipa scaring a goat away from eating a Tulasi plant in Vrindavan?"

So they sent a telegram to find out if it is true. They said, "Yes, there was a goat eating a Tulasi and the goat was chased away by something."

But the biggest miracle for us, the most important, is that he found the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. We'll go there tomorrow morning and pay obeisances at the birthplace because on the parikrama, we are supposed to first start and end at the birthplace. The international parikrama, the day after tomorrow when we have the parikrama, we won't go to the birthplace because we'll save three miles of walking. You may not appreciate that right now, but you will the day after tomorrow. Even if you don't go on the parikrama, it is nice to go and hear from the different sannyasis about the glories of the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. He found that. He was carried on the head of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. You'll hear about that tomorrow, so I won't. So today is his disappearance day.

In our own ISKCON, our own saint, Tamal Krsna Maharaja, he left the world on this holy day. When I first went to the temple in San Francisco, I saw him and I saw Visnujana. They were very impressive to me. At that time I didn't talk to them, but I saw that they looked like very enthusiastic devotees. Jayananda Prabhu was the one who talked to me. That's another story.

Here in India we were together when we were building that building. These columns where Prabhupada is seated is in the Lotus Building. Behind Radha-Madhava is the Conch Building. This is the temple, separate, connecting the two. The first building we built was the Lotus Building. Prabhupada was very tight. He gave us a 600,000 rupee budget to build that building, which was about, in those days, about seven and a half rupees per dollar, so 600,000, that's less than a 100,000, maybe 85,000 or something dollars. Now it's forty-four, forty-five rupees a dollar, forty-two, I don't know the latest rates, but in those days it was seven and a half, maybe. I don't know. At one point it was seven and a half. Of course it's been changing.

So we decided we wanted to cut the money, we wanted to really save the money, so we decided we'd go out with the steel in the trucks. Tamal Krsna sat in one truck and I sat in another truck. There was one other devotee, I don't remember who, was in the third truck. The three of us were escorting the steel. Why do you have to escort the steel? Who would steal steel?

Along the way, they stopped, after the weigh bridge, they weigh. We had the right amount of steel. The weight was OK. The drivers offered us glasses of milk at the Punjabi Dhaba. We were traveling the whole day, we haven't eaten anything, so a little milk. Milk you can take from anybody. So we decided to take a little milk.

Then somebody came and whispered in my ear because I was the only one who knew Bengali, "They are stealing your steel. They are unloading it from the trucks and throwing it in the ditch. They will pick it up later." So we ran out. You can imagine Tamal Krsna at that moment. We found they were stealing, trying to unload the steel. Like that, we were together many times, many days, getting cement, getting steel, getting stone chips. He was helping us.

He was a great strategist, great preaching strategist. Some points he was here in India in the beginning. Before that I was temple president in Calcutta. It was very hard to please him. I was not very efficient. He was a very efficient person. He really wanted to do the right thing for Prabhupada. Sometimes I'd get chastised. That was his special mercy. But something I never minded because everything he was trying to do for Prabhupada.

In the end, last days, he was serving Prabhupada so nicely. He was anticipating. Prabhupada said, "First class disciple knows what the guru wants even without him telling." It seemed he would always anticipate what Prabhupada wanted. Sometimes Prabhupada wouldn't say anything, he was just lying there in Vrindavan. He would go, [motions]. So like, what does that mean, "Bring me water? Close the window?" He figured out. I was amazed. Like that, "Go and close the window." How did he do that? He was like that. So many times he would ask Prabhupada, "Do you want this, do you want that something?"

In the last days, when he was here, he was just, I don't know if he graduated or he was about to graduate as a PhD from Cambridge. He came here and he was treating everyone, he started these kirtans that we should come and get more absorbed in chanting the Holy Names. For a couple of years he was having this chanting, really going deep into the nectar of the Holy Name.

One day he went with me to the Ganges. We took our holy dip together. He was very especially loving and affectionate during his visits.

I'm remembering how he was the one who made the six buses on the Radha-Damodara party. Was it six? Prabhupada initiated, I think, one hundred and fifty devotees at one time, Chicago, installed Radha-Damodara. Many amazing things. Later Prabhupada asked him to go to China. He opened up China.

Prabhupada suddenly took him away. He left his body in the holy place of Phulia where Haridasa Thakura was chanting 300,000 names in a cave, just about a kilometer from there. So today is his sacred disappearance day. Devotees should go and pay their obeisances to his samadhi. Previous years we had very big celebrations for his disappearance.

Today is a day when many people, three of our Vaisnavas left and went back to Godhead, so it must be a special day for going back, just before the Gaura Purnima.

So this verse we read today, Vidura is also visiting the holy places, chanting. I hope that your pilgrimage, coming to Mayapur, seeing Radha-Madhava, seeing Panca-Tattva, the other deities, Prahlada-Nrsimha, Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra, and other deities while you are here, will purify you. These deities can grant your wishes. Try to ask for something Krsna conscious. Don't ask for something ordinary that you can get just by your karma. Get the mercy to chant and hear and serve and achieve pure devotion for the Lord. Very important verses here. We are learning from Vidura how all the temples are ananta-linga.

I remember once Prabhupada was telling us, we were at an old temple in Panihati, he said, "Look at, it's a five hundred year old temple, but they are still worshiping." The temple was rundown. He said, "At least they are worshiping. I don't know, we are . . . ." ISKCON was only ten years old. He said, "What will happen after twenty-five years? What will happen after a hundred years?" Will the devotees keep worshipping the deities? Will they be careful?" He told us to, "Install a deity you are very enthusiastic, utsaha, enthusiasm, but then later on you may think that the guru, 'Why he has given me all this burden? I have to get up early in the morning. I have to wash the glasses and the plates, make the offering. So much service to do.' If you start thinking like that, then everything is lost.

[We should think,] "The guru is giving me this great fortune, this Deity. I get to serve the Deity, serve Krsna's incarnation, arca-avatara. One of the eight kind of incarnations is the worshipable deity. So Prabhupada is saying, "Utsaha, enthusiasm, and later if you are in maya, it becomes nigraha, neglect, offense."

Sometimes disciples ask me, "Can I worship Radha Krsna? Can I install?" Who will maintain? Like you go to the temples in Vrindavan. We inherited one temple in Bangladesh where there are a thousand deities. If someone wants a deity, we can give you, little donation for the temple, but you have to take very nice care. There is the main deity that was installed by some rich, wonderful devotee, built a big temple, but over the years, people could not maintain the small deities. The children were not devotees anymore. Like we want our children to take on the worship. So they came and leave an endowment to take care of the Deities. Now it's got a thousand deities. Then they gave to us. Now we have a thousand. You've got to wash them with a hose or something. We don't have a hose, I mean, it's like so many deities. When we took it, it was really run down.

Some of these, many of these grhasthas, gurus who were also grhasthas, great pujaris were also grhasthas. People should also give some time to do the deity worship in the temples. Some of the big temples, here we have enough brahmacaris. Some of the grhasthas also come. In Mayapur, Vrindavan Prabhupada said male public worship in the main temples because of the culture, but in other temples, the ladies, too, they worship. That's also important. Everyone in the community should share this burden of love. It's a loving service. How much mercy you'll get by worshipping the deities, it's incalculable.

So Thank you very much.

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

END

Memorial Program for H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 17:46:00 +0000

Memorial Program for His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Hari Sauri Prabhu: So this morning the GBC requested that we have a special observance for the disappearance of our dear godbrother Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja. There are a number of speakers. We will probably go until about 9:30. I was told there were two senior disciples of Maharaja here but I haven't been introduced to them. So if they could come forward, we can ask them to speak at different intervals. Prasada Prabhu and Devarsi Prabhu, if they can come up and sit at the front there.

To begin with, I'll ask His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja to say a few words. He had a lot of association with Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja over the years.

Jayapataka Swami: Every year, at the New Panihati festival in Atlanta, we have a Prabhupada lila-smarana festival of his visit there. Svarupa Damodara Maharaja was there when Prabhupada was there and he would come to this lila-smarana festival. So we heard from different devotees also how much Prabhupada showered his mercy up on him. There are pictures of him receiving Prabhupada at his car.

He was a VIP devotee. His special service was cultivating VIP's, especially the scientists. We showed a number of his disciples in Bali and different parts of the world some slides we have of him. He also was a wonderful sadhu. It is rare to find probably scientists who are sadhus, but he was a super-wonderful sadhu because he was very gentle, very kind.

Once we did a Panihati festival in Prabhupada Desh. His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, I gave him the first pot of the cida-dadhi. He, normally you get a big pot of this cida-dadhi covered with rasagullas, sandesa, normally what you would do is eat it. But what did he do? He took it and offered it in the mouth of all the devotees. There are pictures of the devotees with their mouths open and he is like birds feeding their babies. He was putting the prasad in their mouth.

He had special tunes, maybe these are Manipuri melodies, he would sing. He reached a very high note. Sometimes we would raise his hand. He had a particular, I can't imitate it, only he can do it. He would raise his hand and then reach this high note. Then he, changed the tune again sang a part of this particular tune.

Prabhupada, I remember that he said that, I heard, I didn't see it in writing, but I heard that the Manipuris were somehow descended from the gandharavas. That is why they are such nice singers and dancers, very cultural. His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja was like that, he was a great kirtan leader, singer, wonderful Vaisnava.

Somehow he was very kind to me always. He invited me to his World Congress Conference for the Synthesis of Science and Religion, both the one in Bombay and the one in Calcutta. I was studying science when I was in university, but I dropped out and joined Prabhupada's university. Prabhupada didn't tell me to keep studying because I was only in my freshman year. So my sophomore year I spent in ISKCON, but Prabhupada had him finish his study and get his PhD and use it.

Somehow he brought me and I tried to do what service I could do discussing with the scientists. One of the Nobel prize scientists in Calcutta, he was the discoverer of the laser. This is how much influence Maharaja had on him, he said, "I came to this function where 20 years ago I would never come, I would never dream, I would say that someone is crazy that I would be sitting here, a scientist, physicist, with religionists discussing about science."

But because the scientists, the physicists, at least, I can't speak for the chemists, the physicist, he came, "As quantum mechanics, quantum theory, now we have gone beyond the classical physics. These little particles act like people. I was hearing from Maharaja how this is, the Vedas have knowledge about consciousness in a scientific way, so I'm here to hear about it, I'm here to discuss it."

So in this way, Maharaja in his tenacious and humble way, he would go and discuss with different scientists and he would convince them to some degree, I don't know how much, but they would definitely come to his conferences they were influenced. He would influence them to be open to read the Vedas, to read Prabhupada's books, to come to the conferences. He was having a great impact.

He also was a member of the World Parliament of Religions. He never invited me for one of those, so I don't know exactly what happened, maybe someone else could speak later. He was very versatile.

I remember one time I was walking with Prabhupada and Svarupa Damodara Maharaja, maybe it was in Bhubaneshwar somewhere, I can't remember now, Svarupda Damodara Maharaja was saying, "If we can influence the scientists, they are the people who are most respected in the world day, everyone follows science."

Prabhupada was saying, "Yes, if you can convince the scientists, we can change the world."

I am a Namahatta preacher, I am trying to get to the masses, so I was saying, "Well, it is very hard to convince the scientists. If we can convince all the people, maybe they'll be more selective about what they accept from the scientists."

Prabhupada told me, "Yes, if you can get people to come up to the scientists and say, 'I don't believe your theory of Darwin,' that will be a big thing."

But then he would go and convince Svarupa Damodara. It was like some kind of a game Prabhupada was playing, but he won. Svarupa Damodara won. Convincing scientists was considered more. . . but I got some good encouragement also.

Svarupda Damodara Maharaja, we were together in many places, but he was able to do things pretty much on his own. Sometimes he would call for help, but generally that was just his mercy. He was a very capable person.

Prabhupada told him to make Manipur a Vaisnava state. It was already a Vaisnava state, but to revive it to its full glory. I had the opportunity to go to Manipur and see. They have what is called Vijaya Govinda deities.

Sometimes he would serve the GBC special Manipuri meals. It's been a long time since that happened. But he would give this special, they have blue rice in Manipuri. Manipur is like seven mountain ranges. In the middle there are two big lakes. What are they called, the Duck Lake or something? The main flower of this lake is lotus, so lotus is one of the main dietary parts of Manipur. He would feed the GBC's lotus stems and lotus preparations and this blue rice. Especially when you make the blue rice, it is a sweet rice. It tastes like blueberries. Like this, he was introducing so much culture.

He was so dedicated to Prabhupada. we were discussing that even in the last moments, he was just thinking, "How can I please Prabhupada?" He was completely dedicated to being in ISKCON and please Srila Prabhupada.

There is some, Prabhupada told him especially do this kind of cultivating of scientists. Svarupda Damodara told me how he had this program in Rome in some special hall where once a year all the top scientists get together and have some program. The mayor of Rome gave it to him to also have a program. They had a number of scientists and devotees speaking. It was so successful that the mayor said, "You can have it every year." It is a very prestigious venue.

I think my time is up. I don't know who is trained up to follow in his footsteps, who can do the wonderful service he was doing. We were all expecting him to be with us for twenty, thirty years more at least. It is a big loss for all of us. He was very dear to all the Vaisnavas.

His Divine Grace Svarupa Damodara Swami Maharaja ki jai!

Hari Sauri Prabhu: Thank you very much Jayapataka Maharaja. Now we'd like to ask one of Sripada Maharaja's senior disciples, Devarsi Prabhu, to say a few words.

Devarsi Prabhu: So my name is Devarsi Das. I received initiation from Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja in 1992 in New Mayapur in France. The day that he gave me initiation, it was re-initiation for me, I asked him to come to the Padayatra in south of France. He accepted. Two-three days after, we were riding to south of France. At that time he had his cane, so it was a little difficult for him to walk on Padayatra. We had very simple accommodation. I invited him to stay in the room I was renting in the south of France. It was about eight meters square room. It was a place for one bed and one mat and a little kitchen. Actually, from the beginning he showed me what is simplicity. He accepted to stay in the bed where I was sleeping before and I was sleeping just on the mat. His simplicity was quite extraordinary. I have always seen this quality in him.

Since Jayapataka Maharaja spoke quite a lot about his different services in ISKCON and his scientific preaching, I may speak a little about different qualities that I have seen in him. One quality that impressed me a lot was his humility. He very often reminded me of this verse:

trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih.

He really exemplified this verse in his life.

I remember one time in Manipur, we were visiting one of his former teachers in a very small school. The teacher was about seventy-five, eighty years old. Immediately as soon as he saw his teacher, he paid full dandavats to his former teacher.

He was so tolerant about life because many of his disciples, including myself, we are not so qualified so we are making quite a lot of mistakes. Like a father, he was always guiding us and always helping us to develop tolerance. On time I asked him in Calcutta, I was also in the Congress in 1997, I asked what is possible to do for the French devotees. He said, "They need to be the tolerant, so maybe I can invite them all to come for five years to Calcutta to learn tolerance!"

He was very joyful, very humorous. Actually in my observation, he was really a perfect gentleman. I have never seen him really angry, even in some disaster. He showed me and he showed to us real Krsna consciousness. It was a question of consciousness. He was so busy working, serving his own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, and a huge toll to present Krsna consciousness to the scientific world. He very peacefully, with a lot of determination and a lot of joy, he was really working a lot, a lot, a lot. Calcutta was his place of work, really.

Prasada Prabhu at the end is going to tell us what was the last days in his life, how he was experiencing something quite special.

One day I was in Calcutta with him. I got the opportunity to get some books from BI and to go to Calcutta to distribute some books in Ultadanga, BI books. He was very pleased to see that it was possible, that people door to door, shop to shop were able to appreciate the books and took some books. He put a lot of emphasis in these books about Bhaktivedanta Institute, about this scientific preaching, about God is a person, about all these things.

Personally, I am quite inspired all that he has done in his life and also for me and also for many non-devotees I know. He has been able to touch the heart of many, many people, actually. Not in a big way like that, but in a very subtle and very deep and very profound way.

Now two days ago I was in Radha Kunda in his samadhi. If you want to know a little more about him, I can invite you to come to Radha Kunda to his samadhi in Gopaldeva Mandir because it was the place he really wanted to be. Although he never stayed there in Radha Kunda, it was the place that was the object of his meditation. You are most welcome to Gopaldeva Mandir in Radha Kunda.

Hare Krsna.

Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja ki jai!

Hari Sauri Prabhu: Thank you very much Devarsi Prabhu. Now we'd like to ask His Grace Sesa Prabhu to say a few words.

Sesa Prabhu: I take it as a very great honor that I can sit before you today to speak a little bit about His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami. As I do so, I remember my godbrother, His Grace Bhojadeva Prabhu. I want to mention his name because he was actually our godbrother, Srila Prabhupada's disciples' godbrother, that was very, very close to His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja. Actually he was sitting on the stage on Janmastami in Manipur when the terrorist attack happened and the bomb blast took place. Bhojadeva is a rather big person. He took a lot of the shrapnel from those bombs shielding His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja and preventing more serious injury from happening to him. Of course he himself was very seriously injured. Fortunately now, by the grace of Lord Krsna, he is recovering. I know he would like to be here today to speak about Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, so I hope that I can do some service to him and Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja by saying a few words here today.

I think that all of us should realize the significance of the loss that we are experiencing by the departure of His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja. He was, and his relationship with His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was very, very special. It taught us a very, very special lesson about the relationship between Guru and disciple.

Srila Prabhupada was very, very fond of His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja. Of course, the spiritual master is very fond of all his disciples, that is not to be questioned, but sometimes we see a very, very special relationship that exists between the spiritual master and one of his disciples. In ordinary material life, such a special affection is the cause of envy for others, but in spiritual relationships, the matter is different.

Whatever pleases the Lord, whatever pleases the spiritual master is the life and soul of all the disciples, of all the devotees. So if one can be pushed forward that offers special pleasure to the spiritual master, that is everyone's pleasure. In my mind, His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja had this type of a relationship with Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Prabhupada would actually call for him, "Where is our scientist?" Whenever he wanted to have some fun debating about smashing the scientists, he always wanted His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja to be there. "What do they say?" he would always ask him, call him very affectionately.

Of course we know that Srila Prabhupada, his point in discussing the scientists and their belief system and how they've gained control in the world was more than just a mere joking session. It was a very, very key essential part of his preaching Krsna consciousness all over the world to destroy the hold, the grip that these materialistic scientists have on the minds and hearts of modern civilization.

Therefore, when he got a disciple like His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, who was a scientist, who was trained by them, who could understand their arguments, and who was so surrendered to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, he was very, very pleased by that.

He therefore called him, trained him, grilled him, provided all the instruction, all the support that he needed to be a key player in Srila Prabhupada's plan to change this world. They had a very, very special relationship. And all of us whose life and soul it is to please His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada have lost something with the departure of His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja.

So the question now becomes, how do we go forward? This is more and more becoming the unfortunate task of those of us who remain behind as our beloved Godbrothers one by one depart to serve Srila Prabhupada in other places. Our task is to remain faithful to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, his mission, his vision, and to try to support that and participate in that mission in whatever way that we can.

Clearly, Srila Prabhupada wanted this materialistic science to be defeated. Clearly and very affectionately, he trained His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja to do that. Clearly, it is our duty to try to further that work which was so dear to both of them.

I know that during the last year of his presence with us here in this material world, His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja became more and more and more determined and fixed on the instructions, the very specific instructions, that Srila Prabhupada had given him about this type of scientific preaching. I had the great fortune to be involved in debate with him about such instructions. Of course, that is very insolent of me to feel that I can debate with my senior godbrother, sannyasi, but somehow or other, by Krsna's arrangement, I was put in that situation. The great lesson I learned from that was that I should be so fixed to instructions given by Srila Prabhupada as Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja was fixed to the instruction given to him by Srila Prabhupada.

I think that none of us will be prepared at any time for such a wonderful Vaisnava to depart, but if we can separate ourselves from the feelings of anguish at his departure and we can look at it objectively--I don't know that looking at it objectively is what we'd want to do, we'd rather look at it in a more heartfelt way--but if we did try to look at it objectively, if we could do that, we would have to say that he, no matter what the circumstances were, was fixed, irremovably fixed, at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada and that such departure was indeed timely. Timely in the sense that he was so fixed.

We can only pray to Srila Prabhupada, Sri Sri Radha Madhava, that at the time we leave this world, we can be as fixed in the determination to serve Srila Prabhupada as His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja was when he left this mortal world.

Hare Krsna.

Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja ki jai!

Hari Sauri Prabhu:Thank you very much Sesa Prabhu. Now we' d like to ask His Holiness Hrdayananda Goswami to say a few words.

Hrdayananda Goswami: Hare Krsna.

I spent a good deal of time with Bhaktisvarupa Damodara in Los Angeles when he, I think not too long after, he began visiting the temple and taking those famous walks with Srila Prabhupada. I was present so I was on many of those walks.

Of course, we became friends. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara was, I was sannyasi then, he was of course a student at the University of California in Irvine. It is certainly true that his presence there inspired Prabhupada to speak on the famous topic of life comes from life.

One time, when I was relaxing in Los Angeles, I am from Los Angeles, I was born there, I was looking at the Vedabase, Prabhupada Vedabase, I looked up Los Angeles. I was curious what Prabhupada had to say about Los Angeles, the sacred place where I was born. I found that there were basically two main things that Prabhupada always said about Los Angeles: One is that he really liked the weather and two that he had a disciple who was becoming a scientist.

That was Thoudam Singh and he became initiated as Svarupa Damodara. Basically that is what Prabhupada had to say about Los Angeles, that he like the weather and there was this disciple there who was a scientist.

It was something new in a sense for the Hare Krsna movement. I think Sadaputa had been a scientist, but he concealed the fact and preferred to wash pots for a while. Actually, Svarupa Damodara was the first. It was the fist time a practicing scientist, a young man still getting his PhD, joined the Hare Krsna movement. He wasn't just someone who had studied science and then got burnt out and joined the Hare Krsna movement, but he was actually involved in science, finishing his doctorate.

Not only that, but from Prabhupada's point of view, because Svarupa Damodara, as we called him then, because he was from East India, of course from Manipur, but he studied in Calcutta University, as I just saw in this book here, Prabhupada could actually talk to him.

There was a sense in which Prabhupada, when he came to the West, his disciples were very enthusiastic, very devoted, and also we were quite immature and sort of awestruck by Prabhupada and also coming from often somewhat fallen backgrounds in the sense that before we met Prabhupada we had gone through a period of, well, non-Krsna consciousness, extreme non Krsna consciousness.

So all these factors including Prabhupada came externally even from a different culture. We didn't know all that much about Indian culture, what to speak of Vedic culture. I personally observed, and Prabhupada said this himself actually, that when Prabhupada would be in the association of devotees who just on a regular external level understood the culture that he was coming from and he understood their culture, in a sense, it was a more mature, more natural relationship.

Spiritually of course, whoever was devoted to Prabhupada got his mercy. We've seen that many devotees from all parts of the world have received extraordinary mercy from Prabhupada and extraordinary empowerment. But if we allow Prabhupada to be a person as well as an icon, for all of us, even for preaching, even we are acting as guru, as sannyasi, it is nice to relax and talk to someone who actually understands what you mean.

That was the case with Svarupa Damodara. He provided that kind of pleasure of Srila Prabhupada. Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita, yuktahara viharasya, there has to be, even in Krsna consciousness a bit of relaxation, there is a need for a certain minimum amount of comfort in order to be peaceful and do your service properly. Of course, like Prahlada, we can sometimes serve in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. It is normal for any soul, for any person, to enjoy that kind of natural intimacy where people understand each other.

I think it was a combination of these two things, thinking in retrospect as a historian: the fact that Svarupa Damodara was not a burnt-out Westerner who had formerly studied science. He was a sober, non-sinful doctoral student studying science. He was from East India. He lived in Calcutta. He spoke Bengali. I think Prabhupada felt a natural affinity. Prabhupada was quite enthusiastic. Prabhupada had the vision to see that a whole new chapter for Krsna conscious preaching was possible. He definitely focused on Svarupa Damodara as the sort of pivot for that kind of preaching.

When Svarupa Damodara establishd the Bhaktivedanta Institute, so Svarupa Damodara had the distinction, or Bhaktisvarupa Damodara, had the distinction of not only dedicating his life to serving Prabhupada to the best of his ability but also for being Prabhupada's special instrument to inaugurate in ISKCON an important new chapter of our missionary activities, and a chapter which we need to continue writing.

He was also a personal friend of mine. I'd like to say a few words about that. We were always friends. Whenever we would meet each other, we would joke a lot. You may find this hard to believe about me. But we had a very friendly relationship. He would always say the same thing, whenever he would see me and I would start joking with him, he would always say to me, "Your pastimes are inconceivable."

Also, I think I should mention that Bhaktisvarupa Damodara was one of the great ambassadors in the history of ISKCON. Especially, in two ways, I think of two ways in which he was an extraordinary ambassador of ISKCON to the world. One way, I'll start with one and go to the other because that's the most important. he was, of course, born in Manipur and he was quite familiar with Manipuri culture. He used that ancient Manipuri culture, which in many ways was Vaisnava culture, to open many doors in the west. He brought the Manipuri troop, sword fighters, rasa-lila dancers, the martial artists.

I remember in Los Angeles, and I'm sure in other place as well, he booked this show in Los Angeles at hundreds and hundreds of high schools. So he did a tour of high schools in Los Angeles. He also presented programs at universities all over the west. So using this facility of his Manipuri heritage, he was able to open many doors and be an extraordinary ambassador of Krsna consciousness throughout the world.

And of course, an ambassador to the scientific word, he had the ability to be charming and to win the hearts of all kinds of scientists, Nobel laureates, people who usually do not come on a regular basis to their local Hare Krsna temple. He had a humble manner. He was really able to sort of get in any door. He was able to ingratiate himself and establish a rapport with all of these different scientists. And by the power of his own personality in Krsna consciousness, persuade them to, in some ways, interact with Krsna consciousness, to participate in various ways in Prabhupada's mission, even if it was just giving advice or writing papers or putting their names on publications.

In this way, I think he is one of the greatest ambassadors that we have seen in ISKCON. Anyway, I am glad to be able to participate here in this literal memorial service in sense of memory establishing or engaging our memory a wonderful Vaisnava. All of us will have to leave this world. I hope no one is trying to stay here too long. In a sense, his final example of leaving the world in a very Krsna conscious way is another extraordinary example from his life.

Thank you very much. All glories to Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja!

[Continued]

Hari Sauri Prabhu: Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja! Thank you very much Hrdayananda Goswami Goswami. Now we'd like to ask another godbrother of Svarupa Damodara Maharaja, Visuddha-sattva Prabhu who was working with Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja since about 1980 on the scientific preaching, particularly in pursuance of the instructions Prabhupada gave to Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja to gather up all our PhDs and present the Vedic Planetarium. So Visuddha-sattva Prabhu, if you'd like to say a few words.

Visuddha-sattva Prabhu: It is my honor to say a few words about my godbrother Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, with whom I had to the work very closely in the last thirty years. I know that it is not possible to glorify Vaisnavas in a short time, eight-ten minutes. I will try to do my best to some glorification of His Holiness Sripad Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja because I have very few things to say that nobody knows about his pastimes, even some confidential things about his departure.

As were saying Jayapataka Maharaja, Hrdayananda Maharaja, Sesa Prabhu, the qualities of Svarupa Damodara Maharaja as Vaisnava are very wonderful. He was a very special disciple of Srila Prabhupada. of course, Prabhupada, like all fathers, eternal well-wishers, he likes every disciple, but there are some special disciples who are more surrendered.

So Prabhupada through his instrument Svarupa Damodara Maharaja made this specific task to preach to the academic community against the atheistic theory that life comes from matter. So there was this conversation in Venice Beach between Srila Prabhupada and Svarupa Damodara Maharaja in the form of a book, everyone knows that book, "Life Comes From Life".

By the arrangement of Krsna, they met each other under very special circumstances. I want to explain to Vaisnavas what is not well-known: how Srila Prabhupada met Svarupa Damodara Maharaja. He was preparing his thesis in physical organic chemistry in University of California in Irvine. His very close friend was Dr. Rao, also a PhD student. He was Indian. Maharaja was also Indian, from Manipur.

In fact, Maharaja was naisthika-brahmacari from birth. This is another quality that should be mentioned. Along with his gentleness, he was a perfect gentleman, very charming, very humble, very simple, at the same time very learned. This is the quality of Vaisnava, to be humble. He was PhD, but he was always very aware of his mission entrusted by Srila Prabhupada.

Hrdayanada Maharaja said Prabhupada made him a perfect instrument to be an ambassador for preaching to the academic community because Prabhupada knew that if we can defeat this materialistic tendency, because the scientists are the leaders, then the International Society for Krishna Consciousness will have credit. So Maharaja was acting in tune with Prabhupada to be his perfect instrument to defeat these, as Bhagavad-gita says:

mayayapahrta-jnana asurah bhavam asritah.

So Maharaja met Srila Prabhupada when he was a PhD student at the insistence of his friend Dr. Rao. It was in Los Angeles, "I want to go to see Srila Prabhupada."

He insisted at different times that he go to see Srila Prabhupada, but he [Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja] said, "No, because I am very busy with my thesis."

For one month again and again he insisted, his friend Rao. Finally, he said, "If you are not coming today, I won't be your friend anymore."

So Maharaja, at that time, said, "OK, I will go with you." So he met Prabhupada.

As soon as he met Prabhupada, he knew that they are both scientists from Manipur and India, he said, "You are both coming to USA to steal scientific knowledge and to get money, but I gave to give a very valuable thing through this Krsna consciousness." Those are the words that very much impressed Svarupa Damodara Maharaja. He became convinced in his heart. The rest is history.

I want to say a few words about his departure. I had the honor to work with him very closely. He was superior to me in many ways, but by his compassion, his mercy, as his disciples were saying, he was always showing a lot of compassion to everybody. He was the perfect ambassador of how to deal with the scientists, especially Nobel laureates.

Prabhupada's message came through him because Prabhupada told him to establish BI, Bhkativedanta Institute, for this specific purpose of preaching to the academic community. Otherwise, they may not accept this wonderful movement as strong and understand consciousness. Prabhupada wanted him to play that role. I think that he accomplished this task very wonderfully.

I remember that I was in Bombay. I came to India in 1979. I was sankirtana leader in Caracas. I was working under the GBC, Hrdayananda Maharaja, at that time. I went to the BBT in Los Angeles. I met Svarupa Damodara Maharaja for the first time there. Svarupa Damodara was brahmacari. He was staying in the BBT apartment. I was very impressed, as with Gaura Govinda Maharaja, when I met him for the first time, with his humility.

He told me, "I know that you are mathematician doing research on Fifth Canto, so please you join BI."

So I went to Bombay and joined. I was in Bombay for many years with other scientists, Madhava Puri, who has a PhD in quantum physics. So we were with Maharaja very closely. We traveled together to different places all over the world, conferences in San Francisco, Los Angeles. Here in India we had a special alliance with Professor George ?, a Nobel laureate in Bombay, and Nobel laureates in Delhi. I remember one All-Indian Science Conference in Delhi, there were three Nobel laureates, and a Nobel laureate in quantum physics also.

Anyway, Maharaja was empowered by Srila Prabhupada as a special disciple. As Sesa Prabhu was saying, his determination, even in the time of obstacles and impediments and disagreement, he was fixed in the determination to follow the instruction of his spiritual master. This is a very nice quality to remember in this memorial about his character. His personality was fixed.

For the last few years, I also had the honor to be very close with him. He was very intensely preaching here in India. Maharaja told me . . . . Maybe I can tell you, even about his departure.

During the Manipur blast, I was supposed to come to India in July. Then by arrangement of Krsna, the ticket never came. I complained to Krsna, "Why, Krsna, why?" In fact, Krsna is unbelievable. His plan is acintya. He had some plan for my humble self. So I could not come to Manipur, it was that blast. Bhojadeva was there. He was severely injured during the rasa-lila. It is Vaisnava state. Some criminal activity threw some grenade. It was big blast. Five local Manipuri devotees died. Almost forty-fifty devotees were injured. Bhojadeva Prabhu was one of them. He protected Maharaja so that he did not die. All these were signs together.

Maharaja told me very confidentially, "Maybe I don't have more time left in this world. I am already sixty-one."

I said, "Maharaja, what will happen to the Bhaktivedanta Institute because the disciples . . . . Who is going to continue this mission, vision of Srila Prabhupada, this legacy?"

He was saying, "Let's see. Everything is in the hands of the Lord. We are insignificant. He should carry on the mission of Srila Prabhupada."

With this very intensity, even in year 2006, we did Govardhana Parikrama together. He never did Govardhana Parikrama, but he did parikrama naked feet. Brijabasis told me, I spent many years in Vrindavan, "We respect Svarupa Damodara Maharaja because he has the qualities of a sadhu, titiksava karunika. He is very compassionate, very merciful, very charming person, also his smile."

He was empowered by Srila Prabhupada how to deliver Krsna consciousness to that difficult academic community. In fact, he was the only disciple of Srila Prabhupada who wrote a book during the presence of His Divine Grace, "Scientific Basis of Krsna consciousness". Prabhupada was very pleased. At that time, '76, '77, we had a conference in Vrindavan. Prabhupada was very pleased with him giving reports every day.

In the departure of Prabhupada, the antya-lila, final pastimes of His Divine Grace in Vrindavan, he also had close association, Svarupa Damodara. In fact, from one o'clock to three o'clock, he was nearby the bed of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada told to him in Bengali. He told to me, "Prabhupada, told me in Bengali." Maybe when we are going to pass away, we talk in our mother tongue. Of course, Prabhupada was transcendental. He came from the spiritual world to save us. He was an emissary of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, parama karuna. He was nearby the bed of Srila Prabhupada.

He was speaking many, many things only about Bhaktivedanta Institute. Prabhupada said, "Bhaktivedanta Institute is a more prestigious branch of ISKCON. If we can convince the scientists that will be for the glory of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness."

I want to say to finalize, I have many, many things to say about him. I was fortunate to get close association, intimate relation. Prabhupada made him GBC for life. One thing I learned from him is tolerance and humility. It may be easy to be humble, but it is very difficult to be tolerant. So the last year, the last two years, he was very disgusted, very sour from many misunderstandings, circumstances from his Godbrothers. He told me, "Anyway, I will be obedient to Prabhupada and I will be fixed in my determination to carry on that mission that Prabhupada instructed to me."

So he was worrying about that conference in Puri, Jagannath Puri. He was the chairman. We organized a Second All-Indian Student Conference for Science. The first was held in Vrindavan after his Vyasa-puja in 2005. So this past December 9-10, we held that conference. I made a presentation on Vedic Cosmology in his honor.

Before that, in Vrindavan, I'll just take one minute more because it's important, about his departure. We say that Svarupa Damodara Maharaja died because of a massive heart attack, but it was not so. I will reveal for the first time in the presence of Radha-Madhava, asta-sakhis, and Vaisnavas what was the real departure.

I called him two days before. From Vrindavan, I called Calcutta. Some disciple told me that Guru Maharaja has high fever. So he was last recorded, his last address to the disciples, "Thank you very much for all the service you are doing for me and Prabhupada, etc." But some perception came to my heart by the mercy of Prabhupada and Radha-Krsna that said that Maharaja wants to leave.

So that night, about ten o'clock, he was in his apartment in Bhaktivedanta Institute in Calcutta, M.P. Road. Maharaja woke up and complained about some pain in his left shoulder. He asked a disciple taking care of his publications, to bring some ice because the pain was going from his left shoulder to his fingers. Then suddenly Maharaja started breathing heavily with difficulty.

He asked for some massage, but he was waiting for the maha-rasa because after the Manipur blast, he was complaining, "My mind came to new spiritual world." He was revealing, very confidential, I can tell you, I have perception also about that. Maharaja left this world because Prabhupada wanted to take him back for his nitya-lila service and Radha-Krsnacandra also wanted to have him back in the spiritual world. I had this perception by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. we said, for the practical sense, to the doctor, that he was passing away form a heart attack, to avoid making [unclear]. But in fact, by Krsna's arrangement, he was waiting for the rasa-lila time, so he passed away at that moment.

Many things to say, but time is short. We don't want to tie-up the Vaisnavas. We should take the wonderful example of this great disciple of Srila Prabhupada, scientist, Vaisnava from birth. He was in the line of Narottama dasa Thakura. He was Vaisnava from the very beginning. This is an example for all our ISKCON society, for disciples of [unclear], the wonderful qualities he had. We want to pray for his mercy.

We want to pray also to the lotus feet of the Vaisnavas and Srila Prabhupada to continue and put forward the legacy, the vision, the mission of Bhaktivedanta Institute that Srila Prabhupada entrusted to us.

Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja ki jai!

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Hari Sauri Prabhu: Hare Krsna. Thank you, Vissudha-sattva Prabhu. Now our final speaker is Sriman Prasada Das. There is a sheet that has been passed around giving a description of Maharaja's last few hours. He will read from that. Then we are going to end with a very short audio clip of Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja singing a verse that he wrote about Radha Krsna lila. Thank you. Prasada Prabhu.

Prasada Prabhu: So I will read about the glorious departure of Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, which is written by Sripada Maharaja's servants, those attending him in Calcutta for the last seven to ten years:

Srila Sripada Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, beloved spiritual son of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, disappeared from this mortal world during the Ratrilila period of Lord Sri Krishna's Astakaliya lila on Vijaya Dasami, which according to this year's Panchangam, is the most auspicious day of this calendar year, 2006. Sripada Maharaja's disappearance took place in Calcutta, the holy appearance place (Janmasthan) of his divine master Srila Prabhupada. Calcutta is also the holy site from which His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur chose to disappear. Due to Sripada Maharaja's deep and intense love for his divine master Srila Prabhupada, he not only chose Calcutta as his place of work but also as his place of disappearance.

Sripada Maharaja's unwillingness to compromise on Srila Prabhupada's instructions is well known and we hope that his dedication to Srila Prabhupada's instructions will serve as an illustrious example for the world-wide devotee community, now and for all times to come.

As most of you may have heard, there was a serious bomb blast inside of ISKCON Manipur's temple complex on August 16, 2006, Sri Janmastami day. Six devotees including two children left this world and over forty devotees were seriously injured. Sripada Maharaja's body was also injured during this blast. He had a deep cut and a fractured bone in his left forearm, a small puncture in his left eardrum and a tiny shrapnel burn on his back. After preliminary treatment in Manipur and performing the sraddha ceremonies for the departed devotees, Sripada Maharaja came to Calcutta on August 25, 2006 where he was admitted into the Apollo Hospital. There, he underwent successful operations on his forearm and ear. He was discharged from the hospital on September 9, 2006.

On September 19, 2006 Maharaja visited the hospital for a routine checkup. At that time the burn on his back had almost healed and the doctors were surprised by how quickly the fractured bone in his forearm was setting. The cut on his forearm was also healing well.

While returning from the hospital to his flat Sripada Maharaja asked us to search his room and find his Manipur Nat Sankirtan (Rasa Lila) audio cassettes. From September 10, 2006, until the day of his disappearance, Sripada Maharaja's mood and behavior was different from what we had previously experienced.

Everyday, he would listen to and sing along with these cassettes for the entire day except for when he was taking his medicine, prasadam or a little rest. We thought that Maharaja was taking it easy during his recovery, as his normal schedule was very active and he never previously took the time to listen to Kirtan cassettes. The Manipuri Nat Sankirtan cassettes that he was listening to are Kirtans sung in the Manipuri language, which describe the pastimes of Lord Sri Krishna and Srimati Radharani. Since we do not understand the Manipur language, Sripada Maharaja, during his lunchtime, would sometimes explain to us what was being sung on the tapes. He said that the songs describing the Rasa Lila are so absorbing that one can completely forget this world. He said, "This world is on one side and that world is on another side." He was always in an extremely happy mood and said he was feeling more enthusiastic than ever.

One afternoon, Sripada Maharaja explained to us that one of the Manipuri songs described Srimati Radhika's walking to be like that of a graceful female elephant. Sripada Maharaja expressed many other details about the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna, however, due to our unfortunate lack of qualification we could not understand them nor did we make any recordings of Sripada Maharaja during this time. Sripada Maharaja described how the Rasa Lila is performed according to the ancient Manipuri tradition. He also told us that once he discussed the Manipuri Rasa Lila with Srila Prabhupada and said that Srila Prabhupada was very pleased with the profound Manipuri Vaishnava culture.

We asked Sripada Maharaja how the Gaudiya Vaishnava culture and these peculiar Manipuri tunes originally came to Manipur. Sripada Maharaja said that the songs and devotional culture are from Narottam Das Thakur whose disciples came to Manipur and initiated King Bhagyachandra Maharaja. The tunes were developed by Bhagyachandra Maharaja himself and some subsequent Manipuri kings. While explaining more, Sripada Maharaja described how the performance of Rasa Lila is done in the Manipuri tradition. It first begins with the glorification of Gaura Lila wherein Lord Gauranga is requested to come and be the principal witness of the Rasa Lila. The glories of the Yuga Dharma Hari Nam Sankirtan are extolled, and prayers are sung to Lord Nityananda. Then only does the Rasa Lila begin.

A week before his disappearance, Sripada Maharaja, in a deep mood, wrote down a wonderful transcendental song in the Manipuri language. He then sang and recorded it for all of the devotees. Many devotees now have a recording of this wonderful transcendental song. It was sung in what we, his disciples, call "his gopi voice".

We are very fortunate to have this recorded. Maharaja often sang these verses in crying mood. So now we will play the recording:

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale srimate bhaktivedanta svamin iti namine

namaste sarasvati deve gaura vani pracarine nirvesesa sunyavadi pascatya desatarine

jaya sri-krsna caitanya prabhu nityananda sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta vrnda

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

(In "his gopi voice":)

VRAJAPREMDA LUPPE ANGAOBAGUMLE RADHABU THIRAKLE SRI GAURANA

KEIDANO BRINDAVAN KEIDANO KUNJAVAN KADAIDA LEIKHRE SAKHISHINGDUNA THIRAKLE RADHABU SRI GAURANA

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

VRAJAPREMDA LUPPE ANGAOBAGUMLE RADHABU THIRAKLE SRI GAURANA

Immersed in the loving thoughts of Vrajaprema, Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu is searching for Srimati Radhika like a mad man. He is constantly heard saying, "Where is Vrindavana? Where is Kunjavan? Where are the loving sakhis?" Crying again and again uttering these words, Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu is searching for Srimati Radhika like a mad man.

My dear loving devotees, by the divine grace of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Krsnacandra and also by your sincere prayers, I am recovering very rapidly. I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your sincere prayers. I look forward to seeing all of you in Puri in November, otherwise December. [Unclear] our protector Srila Prabhupada and Lord Sri Krsna. [Unclear] Hare Krsna. [End of recording.] Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja ki jai! Srila Prabhupada ki jai! Bhaktivedanta Institute ki jai! Gaurapremanade haribol!

Hari Sauri Prabhu: Thank you very much, Prasada Prabhu. Unfortunately we don't have time for any further talks, but there is a printed sheet. If you don't have one, you can see Prasada Prabhu and get one of these. This is an account of the last few hours of Maharaja's stay with us. There is also a wonderful book. There is a very nice book that glorifies Sripada Maharaja, it is called "Bhagavata Sevarpanam". It gives a few details of his early life in Manipur, how he came to the west, how he met Srila Prabhupada, how he took up the instructions he was given, and some of the consequences of his scientific preaching. I think that is available from the BI bus that is parked just opposite this building. You can get that from Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja's disciples.

Thank you very much for attending the program. Let's meditate on Svarupa Damodara Maharaja's wonderful service to Srila Prabhupada as we go about doing our own service to Srila Prabhupada and the Vaisnavas.

Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja ki jai! Srila Prabhupada ki jai! Gaura premanade!

[End]

[The following is the remainder of the document from which Prasada Prabhu was reading:]

On October 1st, 2006, Sripada Maharaja discussed with some of his disciples from IIT Kharagpur about the upcoming conference in Jagannath Puri entitled: 'All India Students' Conference on Science and Spiritual Quest'. The speakers and session topics for the conference were finalized during this discussion. That day, he also wrote a letter inviting the President of India to the conference. Around 8:30-9:00 PM Sripada Maharaja took a little soup as his dinner and after that he went to take rest, as did we.

About an hour later Sripada Maharaja got up from his bed and walked to his connected office room where some of his assistants where sleeping. He woke one of them and asked him to come to his room. He was extremely jolly. He asked, 'What is the time now?' His assistant said it was 10:35 pm. Sripada Maharaja then requested to have some ice put on his left fingers as they were feeling a little hot and on his left shoulder where he felt some pain.

Sripada Maharaja then called in Manipuri language for his elderly Manipuri assistant, who was also resting nearby, to come and massage his shoulder. We were surprised that although Sripada Maharaja stated he was experiencing some pain, he was simultaneously exceedingly blissful and joyous. It was just a moment later that Sripada Maharaja tilted his head back slightly and disappeared from this world. One of assistants cried out "No Sripada! You can't do this!" We were shocked by what was happening. We immediately called two assistants who were in the next room. We all started rubbing Sripada Maharaja's feet and hands hoping our most beloved Guru Maharaja would awaken from his Samadhi. But Sripada Maharaja had already entered Lord Sri Krishna's divine Rasa Lila.

The following day, Sripada Maharaja's transcendental body was brought to Sri Sri Krishna Balaram temple in Sri Vrindavan Dham for one night. There, many devotees had his darshan before the Samadhi ceremony that took place the next day, October 4th, 2006. As per Sripada Maharaja's desire, he was placed in Samadhi at the Gopaldeva Mandir just on the bank of Sri Radhakunda, on the auspicious disappearance day of Srila Raghunathadas Goswami (our Prayojan Acharya), Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami and Srila Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami.

For the disciples and friends of Sripada Maharaja we feel his desire to enter Samadhi in Sri Radhakunda has now opened an eternal residence for us in Sri Radhakunda. For the disciples, the Guru's Samadhi is the place to meditate on the pastimes of their Guru Maharaja and their respective personal association with him. During Sripada Maharaja's pastimes in this manifest body, he arranged for us to have many wonderful pastimes with him at his Sri Gopaldeva Mandir in Sri Nabadvipa Dham. Now as we begin his un-manifest lila, he has brought us all to Sri Radhakunda and we cannot express our gratitude in words. Sripada Maharaja used to say that it is not about how much money you have collected, how many temples you have built or how many men you have, it is about how pure you have become.

SB 3.1.17 Prabhavisnu Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 23:45:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Prabhavisnu Swami (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.17

sa nirgatah kaurava-punya-labdho
gajahvayat tirtha-padah padani
anvakramat punya-cikirsayorvyam
adhisthito yani sahasra-murtih

TRANSLATION: By his piety, Vidura achieved the advantages of the pious Kauravas. After leaving Hastinapura, he took shelter of many places of pilgrimages, which are the Lord's lotus feet. With a desire to gain a high order of pious life, he traveled to holy places where thousands of transcendental forms of the Lord are situated.

PURPORT: Vidura was undoubtedly a highly elevated and pious soul, otherwise he would not have taken his birth in the Kaurava family. To have high parentage, to possess wealth, to be highly learned and to have great personal beauty are all due to past pious acts. But such pious possessions are not sufficient for obtaining the grace of the Lord and being engaged in His transcendental loving service. Vidura considered himself less pious, and therefore he decided to travel to all the great places of pilgrimage in the world in order to achieve greater piety and advance nearer to the Lord. At that time, Lord Krsna was personally present in the world, and Vidura could have at once approached Him directly, but he did not do so because he was not sufficiently freed from sin. One cannot be one hundred percent devoted to the Lord unless and until he is completely free from all effects of sin. Vidura was conscious that by the association of the diplomatic Dhrtarastra and Duryodhana he had lost his piety and was therefore not fit to associate at once with the Lord. In Bhagavad-gita (7.28) this is confirmed in the following verse:

yesam tv anta-gatam papam jananam punya-karmanam te dvandva-moha-nirmukta bhajante mam dròha-vratah

Persons who are sinful asuras like Kamsa and Jarasandha cannot think of Lord Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth. Only those who are pure devotees, those who follow the regulative principles of religious life as prescribed in the scriptures, are able to engage themselves in karma-yoga and then jnana-yoga and thereafter, by pure meditation, can understand pure consciousness. When God consciousness is developed, one can take advantage of the association of pure devotees. Syan mahat-sevaya viprah punya-tirtha-nisevanat: one is able to associate with the Lord even during the existence of this life.

Places of pilgrimages are meant for eradicating the sins of the pilgrims, and they are distributed all over the universe just to give facility to all concerned for attaining pure existence and God realization. One should not be satisfied, however, merely by visiting the places of pilgrimage and performing one's prescribed duties; he should be eager to meet the great souls who are already there, engaged in the service of the Lord. In each and every place of pilgrimage, the Lord is present in His various transcendental forms.

These forms are called arca-murtis, or forms of the Lord which can be easily appreciated by the common man. The Lord is transcendental to our mundane senses. He cannot be seen with our present eyes, nor can He be heard with our present ears. To the degree that we have entered into the service of the Lord or to the proportion to which our lives are freed from sins, we can perceive the Lord. But even though we are not free from sins, the Lord is kind enough to allow us the facility of seeing Him in His arca-murtis in the temple. The Lord is all-powerful, and therefore He is able to accept our service by presentation of His arca form. No one, therefore, should foolishly think the arca in the temple to be an idol. Such an arca-murti is not an idol but the Lord Himself, and to the proportion to which one is free from sins, he is able to know the significance of the arca-murti. The guidance of a pure devotee is therefore always required.

In the land of Bharatavarsa there are many hundreds and thousands of places of pilgrimage distributed all over the country, and by traditional practice the common man visits such holy places during all seasons of the year. Some of the arca representations of the Lord situated in different places of pilgrimage are mentioned herewith. The Lord is present at Mathura (the birthplace of Lord Krsna) as Adi-kesava; the Lord is present at Puri (Orissa) as Lord Jagannatha (also known as Purusottama); He is present at Allahabad (Prayaga) as Bindu-madhava; at Mandara Hill He is present as Madhusudana. In the Anandaranya, He is known as Vasudeva, Padmanabha and Janardana; at Visnukanci, He is known as Visnu; and at Mayapura, He is known as Hari. There are millions and billions of such arca forms of the Lord distributed all over the universe. All these arca-murtis are summarized in the Caitanya-caritamrta in the following words:

sarvatra prakasa tanra-bhakte sukha dite jagatera adharma nasi' dharma sthapite

"The Lord has so distributed Himself all over the universe just to give pleasure to the devotees, to give the common man facility to eradicate his sins, and to establish religious principles in the world." [End of purport]

Prabhavisnu Swami: (repeats translation) So Prabhupada says here, Vidura was undoubtedly a highly elevated, pious soul. As we know, Vidura was actually Yamaraja. Yamaraja, of course, is one of the twelve mahajanas, one of the most exalted devotees of the Lord who fully understands the science of Bhagavat-dharma.

Once there was a sage called Manduka Muni. He lived in a cave. It so happened that some thieves were fleeing from the government and they took shelter in the cave of this sage. The police chased them and arrested them. They also arrested the muni, thinking him to be involved. So they were brought back to the capital city and they were punished by being pierced with lances. So the thieves left their bodies, but this sage, he was very powerful and he didn't give up his body. He remained there alive.

This information was brought to the king, who was very shocked. He immediately went there to apologize, to beg forgiveness from that muni. The muni, he forgave the king, but he demanded to know from Yamaraja, because he knew there is some higher power behind this. So he demanded to know from Yamaraja, "Why has this happened? Why have you ordained such punishment for me?"

Yamaraja said, "When you were a child, you used to pierce insects with a blade of grass."

That muni became very upset, "I was an innocent child. I didn't know any better. This is very severe punishment for such an insignificant offense." He cursed him, "You will have to take birth as the son of a sudrani."

In this way, he took birth as Vidura. Of course his father was Vyasadeva, actually. As we know that story also from Mahabharata. He was born of the maidservant of those two queens, Ambika and Ambalika, who were the wives of Victravirya. Victravirya had died early, could not produce any offspring.

Satyavati was very worried how the royal dynasty would be continued. She pleaded with Bhisma. He was her stepson. He was born from Ganga. So she pleaded with him to kindly marry, but he had taken the vow not to marry so that his father could marry Satyavati.

He suggested that in such cases it sometimes happens that a first-class brahmana can be called upon to beget children in the womb of the wife or wives of the king. Then she recalled, she told Bhisma how when she was a young maiden, Parasara Muni had begotten a child, Vyasadeva, in her womb. The child had grown up fully instantly after taking birth. He told his mother, "If you ever need me, just meditate on me, think of me. I'll come immediately."

In this case, Bhisma advised, "Yes, this is appropriate to call Vyasadeva."

He came and he begot in the wombs of these two wives, but the first wife was so shocked by his appearance, she covered her eyes, closed her eyes, so he said, "The child will be born blind."

The second wife was trembling so the child was born white, like an albino. That was Dhrtarastra and Pandu.

The third time, because Satyavati wanted a very perfect child to be the king, she requested again to beget a child in the womb of the first wife. That wife was so turned off by the idea that she sent her maidservant instead. The maidservant was very humble and pleased Vyasadeva. In this way, he gave blessings: "This child will be a great devotee." That's Vidura. In this way, he took birth as the son of a sudrani, but his father was of the highest caliber.

Thus he played a very important role in all these pastimes of Krsna, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. He was always the well-wisher and protector of the Pandavas, helping them in so many ways when the Kauravas put them into difficulty. He was also the well-wisher of the Kauravas, always giving them good advice even though they didn't like to hear it. He was neutral. He was impartial.

He had the characteristics of a great soul:

titikasavah karunikah suhrda sarva-bhutanam ajata-satravah santah sadhavah sadhu-bhusanah

That the ornaments of a devotee, described by Kapiladeva, are that he is tolerant, he is merciful, and he is a friend and well wisher of all living entities. He was no enemies. He is very peaceful, he always abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.

This verse can be applied to Vidura. Another famous verse Yudhisthira Maharaja spoke directly about Vidura, "Saints like you are likened unto places of pilgrimage because you carry the Lord within your heart. Therefore, you are like a place of pilgrimage."

Places of pilgrimage are also considered non-different from Krsna. Krsna is present in so many ways in his name, form, pastimes, and his abode. So therefore, as Prabhupada mentions here in the purport, since time immemorial, people of India go to visit such holy places for purification.

But just going to holy places to take bath is not sufficient. Rather, it is strongly advised that one should associate with the devotees, the pure devotees, who reside in such holy places, and hear from the about Krsna, engage in kirtan in glorification of the Lord with them. In this way, one will get the real benefit of visiting the holy places.

Therefore Srila Prabhupada established this wonderful Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir and the Sri Krsna Balarama Mandir in Vrindavan. He stressed that when devotees come to these temples, they should attend the programs, join in the kirtans, listen to the classes, have the association of the devotees. In this way, get the full benefit of being Krsna consciousness because in the holy places, one can get the concentrated Krsna consciousness.

But of course, there are also so many other temples of ISKCON throughout the world. Srila Prabhupada said they are embassies of Mayapur and Vrindavan because the same activities are also going on there: devotional service to the Lord, worship of the Lord, hearing and chanting about the Lord. But still there is extra potency in the holy dhams because devotees are living in those temples or near to those temples engaging in devotional service, but still, they go out to preach, they go out into the public for different services. There may be some sort of effect due to the sinful behavior of the people in those countries.

For extra purification and recharging of one's spiritual batteries, it is recommended by Srila Prabhupada that devotees visit these temples of Mayapur and Vrindavan, especially during the time of the festivals when many devotees are gathered together so the potency is increased, the potency of kirtan, the potency of hearing and chanting.

We are very fortunate that we have this opportunity created for us by Srila Prabhupada. Certainly we wouldn't know anything about Krsna consciousness if we simply took birth in the western world during some other time like the first part of the last century, or previous centuries. People were not at all engaged in devotional service in those countries. But now so much facility is available. There are so many temples, books are available in so many languages of the world, so many devotees who are practicing Krsna consciousness and can show us the example of how to do that.

So therefore, visiting places of pilgrimage, but most important is the association of the devotees of the Lord. By that association, one can get strength and inspiration in Krsna consciousness.

Lord Caitanya described sixty four aspects of bhakti, but among those he stressed:

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

sakala-sadhana-srestha ei panca anga krsna-prema janmaya ei pancera alpa sanga

The association of devotees, sadhu-sanga, the chanting of the Holy Names, the hearing of the Bhagavatam, the visiting of holy places, and the worship of the Deities. These are the five most important items of devotional service. We find all these items are there in ISKCON. These are the pillars, foundation of ISKCON, especially we find these present here in the holy dham.

So we welcome all of the devotees here and encourage you to take full advantage of this wonderful opportunity and to spread the glories of the holy dham all over the world, to invite more and more people to come here and help to develop the community of Vaisnavas. The bigger and stronger the community of Vaisnavas grows in Mayapur, the stronger the movement will be all over the world. Srila Prabhupada said that in the rainy season there is flooding in Mayapur and this is the sign that from Mayapur, the world will be flooded with love of Godhead. This is the fountainhead, the source of krsna-prema.

Lord Caitanya is the form of Krsna who has appeared in this Kali-yuga. He came to taste that krsna-prema himself. The Lord wanted to taste the ecstatic love that Radharani felt for him. Therefore, he took the mood and color of Srimati Radharani. She is Gaurangi, so he is Gauranga. In this way he tasted krsna-prema. He tasted it especially by performance of congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord.

So even though one may not have any previous pious qualification, still, by this special mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he can enter into this lila of sankirtana and also taste this krsna-prema.

Here Srila Prabhupada has quoted the verse:

yesam tv anta-gatam papam jananam punya-karmanam te dvandva-moha-nirmukta bhajante mam drdha-vratah

"Persons who have acted piously in this life and previous life, whose sinful activities have been eradicated, can engage in devotional service with determination."

Once a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada that, "We did not perform any pious activities in previous lives, or even in this life, so how is it that we have the chance to engage in devotional service?" Srila Prabhupada said, "I have created your pious activities." So simply by giving the Holy Name, by giving Krsna consciousness, everything is included.

There is a verse in the Third Canto spoken by Devahuti:

aho bata sva-paco 'to gariyan yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam

That one who is chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, even if he is born in a family of dog eaters, it is considered that he has studied all the Vedas, visited all the holy places, performed all kinds of austerities, and done everything necessary.

So just by chanting the Holy Name, everything is included there, all kinds of sub-religious principles. In the Bhagavad-gita also it is described how person who are engaged in devotional service of the Lord, it is considered that they are acquiring -

vedesu yajnesu tapahsu caiva danesu yat punya-phalam pradistam

They have gotten the results of studying the Vedas, performing all kinds of sacrifices, performing austerities, giving in charity. Everything is there. It is included in devotional service, and so much more as well. Therefore, it is not so important to be performing all those other kinds of activities if one is simply engaged in devotional service, chanting the Holy Names.

Of course we may have some yajna, fire yajna here or there. We are studying these sastras of course, mostly Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, but sometimes devotees may study little bit from other scriptures, to give them a little bit broader understanding and to back up their understanding of Krsna consciousness. But ultimately, it is not so important, all those other activities. The most important activity is chanting the Holy Names of Krsna.

Just like when Srila Prabhupada installed the Deities in the Krsna Balarama Mandir, he invited the local brahmanas to perform various rituals, but he said, "Actually this is to satisfy the local people that the installation has been done properly. We could install the Deities simply by chanting Hare Krsna."

Of the five types of devotional service that Lord Caitanya stressed, he did say the chanting of the Holy Name is most important. It is the yuga-dharma. But in order to chant, we must chant in the association of devotees, so the association of devotees is also especially important.

In this way we can follow in the footsteps of Vidura. When he went to these holy places, he absorbed himself in devotional service. He worshiped the Deities. He chanted the Holy Names of the Lord. In this way he was in ecstatic Krsna consciousness at all times. He was not a materially attached person. He just left his home, his family. As we were reading, due to the abusive behavior of Duryodhana, who wanted him kicked out, he simply left, gave up everything because his attachment to Krsna was so much stronger than his attachment to anything else. And because he always carried Krsna in his heart, it was no problem at all for him to leave. He took it as an opportunity to surrender more to the Lord, to become more advanced in Krsna consciousness.

In the lives of devotees sometimes there are difficulties or reverses, but a devotee should learn to see those as the arrangement of the Lord to become more dependent on the Lord. Just as Queen Kunti prayed, "I wish all of those difficulties would happen again for thus we would remember you again and again and remembering you is the only way to cross over the ocean of birth and death."

Now we have such a wonderful opportunity to remember the Lord, to absorb ourselves fully in the devotional service of the Lord. let us take this opportunity and perfect the human form of life. This will be beneficial for us and beneficial for the entire world.

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai.

Grantha raja Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!

Samaveta bhakta vrnda ki jai!

Gaura premanande, hari, haribol!

END

SB 3.1.16 Devamrita Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 22:13:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Devamrita Swami (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.16

svayam dhanur dvari nidhaya mayam
gata-vyatho 'yad uru manayanah
sa ittham atyulbana-karna-banair
bhratuh puro marmasu tadito 'pi

TRANSLATION: Thus being pierced by arrows through his ears and afflicted to the core of his heart, Vidura placed his bow on the door and quit his brother's palace. He was not sorry, for he considered the acts of the external energy to be supreme.

PURPORT: A pure devotee of the Lord is never perturbed by an awkward position created by the external energy of the Lord. In Bhagavad-gita (3.27) it is stated:

prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate

A conditioned soul is absorbed in material existence under the influence of different modes of external energy. Absorbed in the false ego, he thinks that he is doing everything by himself. The external energy of the Lord, the material nature, is fully under the control of the Supreme Lord, and the conditioned soul is fully under the grip of the external energy. Therefore, the conditioned soul is fully under the control of the law of the Lord. But, due to illusion only, he thinks himself independent in his activities. Duryodhana was acting under such influence of the external nature, by which he would be vanquished at the ultimate end. He could not accept the sound advice of Vidura, but on the contrary he insulted that great soul, who was the well-wisher of his whole family. Vidura could understand this because he was a pure devotee of the Lord. In spite of being very strongly insulted by Duryodhana's words, Vidura could see that Duryodhana, under the influence of maya, the external energy, was making progress on the path toward his own ruination. He therefore considered the acts of the external energy to be supreme, yet he also saw how the internal energy of the Lord helped him in that particular situation. A devotee is always in a renounced temperament because the worldly attractions can never satisfy him. Vidura was never attracted by the royal palace of his brother. He was always ready to leave the place and devote himself completely to the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Now he got the opportunity by the grace of Duryodhana, and instead of being sorry at the strong words of insult, he thanked him from within because it gave him the chance to live alone in a holy place and fully engage in the devotional service of the Lord. The word gata-vyathah (without being sorry) is significant here because Vidura was relieved from the tribulations which trouble every man entangled in material activities. He therefore thought that there was no need to defend his brother with his bow because his brother was meant for ruination. Thus he left the palace before Duryodhana could act. Maya the supreme energy of the Lord, acted here both internally and externally. [End of purport]

(Invocatory prayers)

Devamrta Swami: An essential understanding of the material and spiritual reality is that there are two different types of illusion. There is the maha-maya and there is the yoga-maya. In this departure of Vidura from his brother's palace, you will see the different realities that are available to the living entity because of his choice how to relate to Krsna, how to become absorbed. "Shall I be under the shelter of the internal energy, or shall be under the shelter of the external energy?" You have under the same scene persons who are of the same family, but they are of different shelters. This point is being made from the very beginning of the chapter.

When you hear about this momentous incident of Vidura's sudden departure you have to balance or switch or see both together: the workings of the internal energy of the Lord and the workings of the external energy.

The chapter begins with this point, Vidura quitting the prosperous home of his family, tyaktva sva-grham. Why go away from a prosperous home? Why should he do that? Then, besides looking at the material prosperity, the opulence and the refined orderliness of a Vedic home, we have to understand the home of Vidura, being the home of the Pandavas, is so dear to the Lord. That is the next point. How can Vidura go away from a house that is particularly favoured by the Supreme Lord? Of course Vidura is related to both Dhrtarastra's side and the Pandavas' side. He had access to both homes. Seeing that he had that access, why would he go away from such a situation?

Let us look at the reality of the Pandavas' home. The Lord himself considered that that home is identical with me. The Lord would function as a minister in that home of the Pandavas. He showed partiality toward the Pandavas' house, yet he showed no such favourable partiality to the home of Duryodhana. Therefore, why would Vidura want to leave such a house or such an opportunity to be in a place, to visit a place that the Lord considered as dear to him as his own self?

Naturally, Pariksit Maharaja is eager to hear about all this. We must always identify that dynamic of eagerness in the Bhagavatam. And indeed, that eagerness in the audience of the Bhagavatam is what allows understanding.

This is a point that is very difficult for a mundane rationalist to understand. How it is that subjective factors such as eagerness and your pleasing the speaker of the Bhagavatam have to do with understanding? After all, you have your rational, cognitive faculties. You have your ability to partake of an academic education to exercise your brain to its limit. Some brains are smaller, some brains are bigger. Some intellects are fortunate, some intellects are unfortunate. Isn't that all that has to be taken into account? How can you handle this Bhagavatam approach in which subjective factors are all important in understanding the topmost science?

We're going to hear that Sukadeva Goswami is pleased, "pritatma", by Pariksit Maharaja. Therefore, he is going to deliver the goods, so to speak. Sukadeva Goswami is "subahu-vit, he is completely expert at everything. Srila Prabhupada once commented how does a devotee become expert in everything? Because he knows Krsna, who is the source of everything. And in the process of serving Krsna, the devotee develops so many abilities. Because of Pariksit Maharaja having pleased Sukadeva Goswami, and because of Pariksit Maharaja's eagerness, this Bhagavatam history is being presented.

Amidst the glories of the Pandavas' residence, which the Lord identified as his own, in fact, in the purport Srila Prabhupada mentions that the home of the Pandavas' was as good as Vrndavana. This is a general statement of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Of course we know that if you penetrate into the varieties of the spiritual world then Vrndavana is special. Nevertheless the general point is made that Vidura is in one reality; Dhrtarastra, Duryodhana is in one reality even though they're in the same scene. This kind of vision is impossible for a materialist. That is why Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita:

yesam tv anta gatam-papam jananam punya-karmanam

Only those who have made a complete stop to sinful activity and who have some kind of fund of pious activities can take to devotional service and stick to it. It is not that by some kind of material qualification you can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

This taboo is difficult for mundaners to understand. They are thinking, "What does my attitude have to do with what I can understand? You are just throwing in our path religious taboos which confuse people and block the natural development of human progress through the great application of our intellect. As soon as you say there is a Supreme Lord, as soon as you say there is a spiritual reality, the spiritual energy, you have stopped all human inquiry because there is no way that with the human intelligence the spiritual reality can be verified. Therefore as soon as you talk about the spiritual reality, you have stopped human progress." This all makes sense, yes? [chuckles]

Now those who are bhaktas, devotees of the Lord, are intrigued by Krsna's energies. You cannot be a personalist without accepting the potencies of the Lord. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead has potencies, therefore he is a person. Please think about that. You are a limited person; you have various energies, you have various abilities. Similarly the Supreme Lord has unlimited potencies. The devotee tries to understand the various potencies of the Lord, how they are acting and in that way the devotee verifies the personal existence of the Lord. He connects the potencies to the person.

In this way the devotee is not confused by the actions of the external energy, the actions of the internal energy. All the energies are harmonized in their source, in Krsna, and because the devotee is doing devotional service, he can see those energies and their interplay. Otherwise, existence is very bewildering.

Just take this situation that Vidura is in. The verse today describes, he is pierced by arrows through his ears. Please visualize that, this very vivid language of the Bhagavatam. You just try to see someone shooting arrows into your ears. Naturally you are afflicted to the core of your heart. So Vidura concluded, "Duryodhana is speaking like this; there is no point in me sticking around." He quit the palace and he was not sorry. He understood, "This is all the workings of the external energy for Duryodhana, but for me, I see a silver lining in the cloud. I see a chance to get away from palace intrigues and travel exclusively depending on the Supreme Lord."

Now you may say, but you just spoke out the Pandava scene was so fortunate, the Lord considered their house his own. Why would Vidura leave that area where he had access to the Pandavas' house? Why is he talking about palace intrigues? Why, you're going to find out in the future, Vidura considers himself impious and unfortunate because he is related to Duryodhana and Dhrtarastra. He feels by their bad association he has lost the qualification to associate with Krsna. Therefore when he leaves the palace and goes on pilgrimage, he will not seek out Krsna directly because he considers himself unfortunate and impious.

Once again we have the interplay of the material and spiritual energies, interplay according to where you are situated, how you are seeing the reality of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A devotee is skillful. This is the highest technology, to see these energies of the Lord acting. Otherwise you can say, "Vidura, he has gone through a horrible situation. He is spoken to in such horrible words. He has to suddenly leave. What is the good of this?" Without superior vision, we cannot understand anything.

Even in material life, so called good luck, so called bad luck, who can say? The material energy is difficult to understand without a spiritual person giving you insight and the spiritual energy is also even more difficult to understand without your doing devotional service and a spiritual person giving you insight.

I will give you an example from my own family history about how something that materially looked very bad turned out to have limited material good. It is an amusing story, but it shows you how the potencies of the Lord act in various ways. In this case, it's certainly the external energy of the Lord.

My father told me this story. This is back in the 40's near the end of World War II. He had just finished high school and he decided he was going to be an army pilot because in those days the Air Force was part of the army. So he took a test and he came out number one in New York City. Being a young guy, 18 years old, it was going to be an exciting life flying in planes, combat, "I'll develop valuable skills and when the war is over I'll be a pilot for a commercial airline."

He had all these big dreams. The army gathered all the top scorers on the test for pilot and they brought them to one place. They took every one of the pilot candidates aside onto a bus and sent them off to the pilot training school. My father was sitting there. "What's going on? I'm ready for action, I'm ready to fight for the country, the glory of being a pilot. . . ." And so he went and asked the commanding officer, "When am I being deployed? When's my bus coming?" They looked at him and said, [clears throat several times] "Err, we don't have any more room in the army right now for pilots of your colour. [laughs] But we do have many opportunities to be a cook." [laughter]

My father was eighteen years old, he was quite feisty. Naturally he was very angry, "What do you mean? I was told I was number one in the whole city on the test!"

Again the commanders looked at him, "You don't understand, we just don't have any need for pilots of your background." So my father asked to speak to the number one army person. He went and in and said, "You know, I think I'd rather go fight for the Germans." [laughter] Naturally the American army officers were horrified, "How could you say such a thing?"

"Yes, I would rather fight for Hitler." This was like maha-aparadha to say such a thing. [laughter] They asked why. He said at least the Nazis are honest.

So he was sent to be a cook, and the others of the right material designation were sent to pilot school. One year later, after the war ended, my father found out all those pilot candidates were suddenly pressed into the infantry because the Battle of the Bulge had broken out, the Germans had made a counteroffensive. They never made it to pilot school. They had to go to the infantry and 98% of them never came back from the war.

So good luck, bad luck, these are the workings of the external energy. How can we try to understand the spiritual energy with our tiny brains when even the way the material energy works is bewildering. Generally when there are upsetting or confusing material events materialists say this is the proof there is no God. Even my father said he had that attitude: "Why did God let this happen to me? My parents raised me as a God-fearing Christian. Just see, I was number one in the whole city and I was discriminated against." So he used that as a reason not to accept the existence of God.

What you find today is that in the so-called wealthy nations of the world-- of course that list is changing due to the ascendancy of China and India-- but in these traditional wealthy nations, there is a big upsurge this last year of propaganda that religion is ruining the world. The reason given is "Look at the situation in the Middle East. You have people who fanatically pursue religion to such an extent that they crash planes into buildings, there are suicide bombers. Now it's time for every thinking person to wake up and see that religious faith is the greatest factor for disturbance individually and socially in this world."

So much propaganda has been released this past year making this point. There are top selling books are making this point: religious faith is a hazard. And if you find yourself to have some kind of religious sentiment, the media is now offering you a plausible alternative: "You want to be religious? Just accept that God is a mystery, no one can know him. Therefore, everyone is just looking at this mystery in different ways. So they should all just agree that God is a mystery and leave it at that. It is not so much important what your scriptures say. What is important is acceptance of the mystery. What is important is the meaning that acceptance of the mystery gives to your life and the sense of community and love you get by sharing in the mystery. This is the best it can get for all you religious believers. But beyond that, how can you push religion to any deeper goal? It's not possible and by your doing that you are disturbing the whole peace of and economic development of the world."

This is what is going on. We should be aware. We can make an environmental scan and this is what is happening right now. Just like Vidura is giving advice before he was thrown out of the palace. He gave advice based on what was around him and what was going on within his own camp. He said, "Around you don't you see there is Bhima breathing heavily like a snake, so angry, ready to take action to get revenge? There is Yudhisthira, he has no enemy, yet he's been mistreated in such a way. Then, who is the deva of the Pandavas and their friends and family? It is Krsna himself. Who can defeat Krsna? So we scan the environment, what do we see, Dhrtarastra? We see a very inauspicious situation for you to continue on this path. Now let's do an organizational scan of what is happening within your own house. You are maintaining offence personified, you are maintaining this Duryodhana. He is going to destroy everything. Looking within your own organization, your own camp, you've got to toss him out before it is too late."

But of course we know Dhrtarastra is blinded by his unlawful desires. He was treating his son like he was infallible even though his son is envious of Krsna. "What's the big deal," a person today might say, "Just because Duryodhana is envious of Krsna why does this whole war of Kuruksetra have to be just because Krsna is partial to one camp and not the other?"

That question actually involves is the Absolute Truth personal or impersonal? If you are just going to have religion and theology about the "mystery", just recognize the mystery and your life will have meaning, you'll never be able to understand the so-called partiality and impartiality of the Supreme Lord. Once you accept the Supreme Absolute Truth is personal, that means the Lord favours his own--but everyone has the chance to be his own. He makes that point clear in Bhagavad-gita. Because there is no understanding of God and no understanding of the Lord's energies, therefore materialistic persons, immediately, when there is a great catastrophe, they say "Just see, where was God?"

One quite famous spokesperson of neo-atheism, he says, "Look at New Orleans. A whole city wiped out, a million people homeless, so many people killed. Why didn't God warn them?"

A poll has shown that 80% of the survivors of New Orleans say the catastrophe increased their faith in God. The atheistic preachers say this is a symptom of madness in the nation. "Who warned them that the storm was coming? It was science. Did God come and say 'Hurricane Katrina is coming'? No. And why did God let elderly people drown, babies drown? Just the fact that one baby drowned shows that there is no God."

Yet, they claim, the madness of religion goes so deep, that even after being wiped out, losing all their possessions, people say their faith in God has increased and they refuse to look at all those who lost their lives. "Where is God for the ones who lost their lives?" That is their so-called challenge. They say because they cannot understand there is an external energy and an internal energy.

But bewilderment is a fact of life both in the material world, and even in the topmost region in Goloka Vrndavana. This bewilderment caused by the different energies of the Lord reminds me of what happened when Nanda Maharaja came back from the kingdom of Varuna. He had seen Varuna worshiping his son, glorifying his son. Nanda Maharaja had also seen the wondrous opulence of Varuna's kingdom. When Krsna came out of the water back onto land, Nanda Maharaja began talking with the Brijabasis, the cowherd men, telling them what happened: "Varunadeva was glorifying my son, worshiping my son. I've seen such opulence!"

Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur says that actually Nanda Maharaja, because he is under the influence of yogamaya, he is considering himself an ordinary person. He was thinking, "I have seen opulence such as I have never seen before. I have seen majesty that is superior to Vrndavana." He's feeling that way while thinking "Why was Varuna glorifying my son in that way?" In other words, Nanda Maharaja never took leave of thinking Krsna is his son.

But by the influence of the lila-sakti, the cowherd men, the gopas, began to speculate, "Maybe Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead! Nanda Maharaja, you told us before that Garga Rsi said you have a son who would be like Narayana. It could be that your son is Narayana! It just could be and if that is so he should give us a benediction because after all in this village we're all related. So since Krsna's your son and we're all friends, and we're related in a village relationship, a family relationship, we're all tight with you, your Krsna should give us a benediction."

They made a list of what they wanted. [laughter] One said, "I want mukti!" [laughs] Another said, "I want Vaikuntha, I want to see what it's like to be a resident of Vaikuntha."

Krsna is watching all this and he's thinking very deeply. First of all Krsna is always eager to reveal the glories of the spiritual world. That eagerness is for all his parts and parcels. But especially, of course, it's for his pure devotees, and certainly it's for his most beloved devotees in Vrndavana. Krsna is thinking deeply, "They, by their very position in Vrndavana, are far beyond mukti, they are far beyond Vaikuntha. They know this inherently by their very position, but still I see they want some direct experience of mukti, impersonal Brahman. They want some direct experience of Vaikuntha. All right, I should fulfill their desires in such a way that they will taste the supreme sweetness of Vrndavana Dham and they'll know there is nothing sweeter than that." Krsna is thinking to himself and speaks a very interesting verse which points out the interplay, the dual existence of the material and spiritual energies:

jano vai loka etasminn avidya-kama-karmabhih

People wander around in life through various superior and inferior stations. They have no knowledge, they are driven by kama and therefore they perform so many activities.

This is Krsna speaking beautiful perfect double talk. He's referring to the conditioned souls and his own Brijabasis. What is the nature of material nature? Queen Kunti also spoke a similar verse:

bhave 'smin klisyamananam avidya-kama-karmabhih

Prabhupada said those two words "bhave 'smin" and then "kama-karmabhih", those two lines contain the whole history of human existence. Within this material world what's going on, just a struggle, and what powers that struggle? Kama, nescience, ignorance, lusty desire, therefore there are so many activities. Once on a morning walk when Srila Prabhupada was repeatedly quoting this verse and elaborating on it, His Holiness Sripad Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami turned to Srila Prabhupada and said, "You know, Srila Prabhupada, it's quite obvious that scientific advancement simply means increasing bodily demands." A very powerful point for those who have a mistaken understanding of what is progress. Krsna is saying, "People are wandering through various stations in life. They don't know their destination."

How can you live life without understanding where you are going? How many of you flew here with no knowledge of your destination, you just got on a plane and you happened to come to Mayapur? Yet we are living in a world where people are performing so many activities and they don't know their future destination. This is a great tragedy and this wrenches the heart of a Vaisnava. How can you live without knowing what your destination is?

I heard Srila Prabhupada speaking a very interesting psychological point that a great mistake is to equate changes of the body with betterment. When you are little you think when I am older, things will be better, when I become I teenager I'll be free. When you are a teenager, you think when I am in my twenties, I'll be free. Then you have to work so hard and you think when I'm in my fifties or sixties I'll retire. Then things will be better. Then what happens when you retire? Your body is racked by so much pain, old age is there, what do you think? Then you think if I could just die, that will be better. [laughter]

Throughout all the bodily phases, there is the conditioned psychology of thinking the next change of the body will be better Like Queen Kunti says, "bhave 'smin klisyamananam", there's always going to be a struggle. Progress is only when you stop the change of body.

Krsna is speaking about that illusion for materialists, but he's also talking about the yogamaya illusion of his own Brijabasis. "They are here with me in Vrndavana. They are not aware of the unsurpassable nature of their position. All right, I'll show them."

First Krsna momentarily separated the cowherd men from Vrndavana and merged them into Brahman. Generally, in Brahman, you've lost your identity, how do you get out? Krsna by his own personal power put them into Brahman and then pulled them out. Next he took them to Vaikuntha. He showed them Vaikuntha and again by his personal power he then pulled them out of Vaikuntha and then he showed them Maha Vaikuntha, Goloka Vrndavana. The cowherd men were overjoyed upon seeing Goloka Vrndavana. What gave them pleasure ? "Look, Krsna is showing us Goloka Vrndavana, the topmost planet of the spiritual world! It looks just like our home! [laughter] It looks so familiar! Wow, just think about that!"

Then Krsna also showed them some things just to create some flavour for the pastime. He showed himself in Maha Vaikuntha surrounded by the personified Vedas offering prayers. So what did the cowherd men think about that? Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur says the cowherd men went, "Who are these strange effulgent beings? That is Krsna but he is not approaching us like our friend, he's not coming towards us, embracing us. In fact, he doesn't even seen hungry and thirsty. How can Mother Yasoda live without feeding him?"

And then again Krsna employed his yogamaya and brought them back to Bhauma Vrndavana. In this way the Lord clearly established Brahman is dependent upon him, Vaikuntha is dependent upon him, but Krsna becomes dependent on the premis. He becomes dependent on those who have pure love for him.

In this way Krsna shows you there is illusion in the spiritual world. There is illusion in the material world. Your job is not to become all-knowing, your job is simply to become dependent on Krsna. This is what Vidura will realize as he's wandering through the holy places of pilgrimage. He is going to conclude that this dependency on Krsna is greater freedom than so-called freedom within the material energy. Thus we can clearly see how the Lord's energies interact, how his different devotees respond to those energies, we can see the sorrowful plight of those suffering under the material nature.

Now such organized atheistic propaganda is going on: "Or if you can't handle that, then religion is just embracing the ultimate mystery. Just be satisfied with that. Then there will finally be peace in the world, there'll be no more religious warfare, there'll be no more strife caused by so much sectarianism. In this way, economic development and sense gratification can proceed smoothly."

That is the whole point: bhave 'smin klisyamananam avidya-kama-karmabhih. How can we have peace to enjoy our senses? There will never be any peace. Vidura understood that "My brother is condemned. He is facing ruination because of his activities. There is no point in me sticking around."

As devotees of the Lord in the line of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we must have this realization. There is no point in our thinking progress comes from material activities. We quit that understanding and we are endeavouring to live in this world in such a way that our spiritual realization is maximized. We don't want religious belief. We want actual experience of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and his spiritual energies. Through Lord Caitanya, that experience is made available. We don't have to say, "Oh, it is just a mystery that is giving my life meaning. It's just all about communal love while we're experiencing the great mystery." We don't have to say all that. Through disciplic succession, because of the pleasing activities of devotional service, the devotee of Lord Krsna, worshipping Krsna through Caitanya Mahaprabhu, actually gets experience of the spiritual reality and can understand how all the different energies of the Lord operate.

We'll stop here. Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.

[Applause]

SB 3.1.15 Badrinarayan Prabhu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 21:55:00 +0000

Lecture by His Grace Badrinarayan Prabhu (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.15

ka enam atropajuhava jihmam
dasyah sutam yad-balinaiva pustah
tasmin pratipah parakrtya aste
nirvasyatam asu purac chvasanah

TRANSLATION: Who asked him to come here, this son of a kept mistress? He is so crooked that he spies in the interest of the enemy against those on whose support he has grown up. Toss him out of the palace immediately and leave him with only his breath.

PURPORT: When getting married, the ksatriya kings would take on several other youthful girls along with the married princess. These girl attendants of the king were known as dasis, or attendant mistresses. By intimate association with the king, the dasis would get sons. Such sons were called dasi-putras. They had no claim to a royal position, but they would get maintenance and other facilities just like princes. Vidura was the son of such a dasi, and he was thus not counted amongst the ksatriyas. King Dhrtarastra was very affectionate toward his younger dasi-putra brother, Vidura, and Vidura was a great friend and philosophical advisor to Dhrtarastra. Duryodhana knew very well that Vidura was a great soul and well-wisher, but unfortunately he used strong words to hurt his innocent uncle. Duryodhana not only attacked Vidura's birth, but also called him an infidel because he seemed to support the cause of Yudhisthira, whom Duryodhana considered his enemy. He desired that Vidura be immediately put out of the palace and deprived of all his possessions. If possible, he would have liked him caned until he was left with nothing but his breath. He charged that Vidura was a spy of the Pandavas because he advised King Dhrtarastra in their favor. Such is the situation of palace life and the intricacies of diplomacy that even a faultless person like Vidura could be charged with something abominable and punished. Vidura was struck with wonder at such unexpected behavior from his nephew Duryodhana, and before anything actually happened, he decided to leave the palace for good. [End of purport]

(invocatory prayers)

So I'd like to begin by, well, I was going to apologize, but that's a long list. My eyes are going so I have either two pairs of glasses or no glasses. We'll try it no glasses and see how it goes. I've taken some notes so I don't completely waste your time. Forgive me if I fumble with those. Those who are translating, Hare Krsna. I apologize for that as well. Good luck.

Romapada Maharaja spoke very eloquently, such a sober, saintly, thoughtful person. I'm a little embarrassed to follow in his wake, but what do they say? A bird flies in the sky according to its ability. I'll try to tell a few stories, a few jokes, and not offend too many people. If I can accomplish that, please be kind on me. I'll try my best.

The question is often asked, "What is the use of all this business you are doing?"

We did a wonderful skit when the GBC had a little spiritual retreat. We are actually also human beings. We need spiritual nourishment. We actually enjoy hearing Krsna katha. It's true, I've heard it. I've seen it.

One of the skits was about Kolaveca Sridhara. One of the parts of the story is he is calling out in great ecstasy for Krsna and the atheists are thinking, "Oh, he's so poor he can't fill his belly. He's calling out from hunger."

So they look at us and they think, "You guys go through so much difficulty. You're up so early in the morning."

We had a devotee, it's off the track, but that's my nature and style. There was a devotee who went to the doctor and he was describing the story afterwards. They asked him, they're trying to get a medical history, so they said, "Have you ever taken any intravenous drugs?"

He said, I've been a Hare Krsna monk for twenty-five years. I don't even drink coffee or tea."

So OK, all right, they crossed off that. They were thinking, his symptoms, he might have AIDS. So then they said, "I'm sorry, but what about intimate relations?"

He said, "Well, I haven't done that for twenty-five years."

And he said everything just froze in the room. The nurses, they doctors, they were like "Oh my God!" [laughter] First off that someone could do that and that someone was actually happy. He said there was a long pause and they just went on.

In so many ways, we are a mystery to them. What is the use of everything, all that we are doing?

I would offer that this compare and contrast of Vidura and Dhrtarastra is a good example of this. Of course we know that this is raja-vidya, this is the king of knowledge. We know that it is described that on the path of life there are so many painful elements. If one walks on a path barefoot, so many rocks, stones, twigs. They cause great pain. But if one wears shoes, we can traverse that path much better. So the shoes make traversing the path easier, more comfortable, possible.

So it is described that on the path of life the shoes are knowledge. The transcendental knowledge makes one able to traverse through this world. Or as it is said, a child's weapon is innocence. A woman's weapon, marshalled quite effectively, is tears. An old man, he has no strength. What is an old man's weapon? Knowledge, that's his weapon.

The greatest fear of Duryodhana was to lose his palace, to lose his position. All of his plans, all of his intrigues to maintain his material position. So much so, he was going through so many sinful things, and dies a horrible, pathetic death. Actually, on one hand as a ksatriya, but still, materially everything was to nil.

That which he was trying to maintain Vidura gave up willingly and walked out the door. That which Dhrtarastra is trying to hold on to, Vidura gave up like Prabhupada says in one purport, like we leave stool after evacuating. How is it possible? What is the value of that? The point I am making is this: The anxiety that everyone is in, devotees are free from by transcendental knowledge.

Canakya Pandit gives an example that the bees work very hard, "busy as a bee". And evidently in the bee brain, whatever is there, they are always in anxiety. And what are they in anxiety for? In spite of all their working hard for their honey, they never really get to enjoy it and the beekeeper comes and takes it. It is described, in this human form of life, we are all busy making plans, but death will come and take it.

So what have we done with that time? What have we actually got as a permanent show for our time in this world? That's an intelligent question. That question should be asked. That is human form of life.

One of the elements that breeds that fear that Duryodhana is experiencing, that fear and anxiety, he says here. By what he speaks, you can understand his mentality. He says to Vidura, "We've maintained you. We're supplying you. We're feeding you. You should be grateful. You're dependent on us." But the Vaisnava knows nityo nityanam, that actually there is one among all the eternals. There is one chief eternal maintaining all the others. Canakya Pandit says as soon as the child out of the womb, the mother's breast fills with milk. Actually, Krsna is maintaining. There may be so many different agencies but ultimately Krsna is maintaining.

Prabhupada talks about how there was an artificially induced famine by the British to get the Indian populace to join the army in World War 1. Prabhupada says he saw that amongst the Vaisnavas, no one was suffering. Somehow or other Krsna was maintaining all the devotees. So Prabhupada said, "You think you are sitting on the floor, I am sitting on the hand of Krsna." So a devotee has this confidence, he has this fearlessness that ultimately Krsna is maintaining, so therefore, he is free.

Two things: the confidence that Krsna will maintain me, that Krsna is supplying everything and an awareness of the inevitability, the infallible dissolution of this material creation. You cannot stop it. Everything will come to end in this world: dust to dust, ashes to ashes.

We had one brahmacari. His parents were very concerned about him joining this monastic order. He no longer took interest in golfing or his fish tank or whatever it was. He was underage so he had to cooperate with the parents. We should always offer respects. Canakya Pandit says you cannot repay the person who teaches you even a single letter. So no doubt we are indebted to our parents. So they were trying to revive his enthusiasm for material life. Nothing worked out. This is the final version of the thing because I want to say something else. They took him to a wedding. It's a joyous occasion. There's the young man and the young girl on the threshold of life. Bells are ringing, so many gifts. Everyone's happy. It's a wonderful thing, right? He's sitting next to his father. In the Western Christian ceremony, at least in many ceremonies, they have one line at the end, "I now pronounce you husband and wife," or whatever they say, "husband and wife till death do you part."

The son turned to the father and said, "Just see, at death they have to part."

At that point, the father said, "All right, you can have him." He gave him to us, he said, "You've spoiled him. He's useless!"

But this is knowledge. Awareness that this body, whatever it is, what does it come to in the end? Krsna will maintain and what is the inevitable nature of this world. It creates fearlessness.

One of my duties here is to tell a few Prabhupada stories. One is just nice and the other has more of a purport. We were walking with Srila Prabhupada in Lake Shore Park in Chicago, Lake Michigan is there. Prabhupada asked, "Is it sweet or salty?"

"Prabhupada it's sweet."

"Very good," he liked that. We're way off the track, but he looked down because you can look down the lake and you'll see Chicago. There's that famous Carl Sandburg, "Chicago the stacker of . . . ." It's a famous poem, "Booming and building Chicago." Prabhupada looked down with his transcendental glance and said, "They are simply stacking stones." He was not at all impressed by the skyline of Chicago.

On that walk, we were walking along, there were some of these Frank Lloyd Wright houses, these big 'ole houses. And out of one house, this huge dog, like Aristasura, half dog, half horse, snarling, came running down the road. I tell you, it was every man for himself. I jumped behind Brahmananda. A couple of devotees jumped behind cars. Prabhupada, as the point man, Prabhupada just stepped right forward, threw his cadar over his shoulder, swung back his cane and went, "Hut!"

This dog turned right around and ran back up the driveway. It was so blissful. Then he looked at us like, what is the that proverb, "Big, big monkey. Big, big belly. Ceylon jumping, Melancholy." He looked at us like, "What is the use?" We kind of dusted ourselves off, but Prabhupada was fearless.

There is a morning walk that Prabhupada is walking and he is here in Calcutta. He walks past Victoria Memorial. I don't know how high Victoria Memorial is, but it's a very big building. Prabhupada as a young boy, pre-teen, climbed to the top on the scaffolding when they were building it.

So one of the devotees on the walk, you hear they say, "Prabhupada, you must have been very brave."

Prabhupada says, "I am still brave." No, no, he said, "Otherwise, how did I come to your country all alone?"

When you think about it, that age, old man, all alone, but he was completely confident in the words of his Guru Maharaja and the message of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and that Krsna was there. So this state of fearlessness and dependence on Krsna, this freedom. Duryodhana is full of anxiety and Vidura is fearless.

Just another short Prabhupada story. . . . Where's my watch? Oh, on my wrist. That helps. Yeah, I'm going to find Krsna without a guru, I can't even find my watch.

I was going to say, Prabhupada in Bombay, Giriraja Maharaja told me this story. He had been trained by Prabhupada to make sure all the lights were shut off. It's Krsna's energy. We're not impersonal, personalists. He came home from a preaching engagement late at night, after midnight. He saw that the light was on in Prabhupada' s room. Se reached around the corner, switched the light off, and "Oh!" Prabhupada was up working. He offered his obeisances, turned the light back on. He said, "Prabhupada, I'm very sorry. I thought you were sleeping."

Prabhupada said, "No, I don't sleep much any more." Prabhupada said, "And as far as eating, just a little bit. Where is the question of defense and mating? I'm an old man." He said then Prabhupada took an inventory: "No eating, no sleeping, no mating, no defending." He said, "Maybe I'm liberated!"

[laughter]

Prabhupada is far, far beyond that, but the freedom from these things. Prabhupada was free from these things.

We know the story of Puranjana. Actually Narada Muni is explaining it to Maharaja Pracinabarhisat, who, because he is proud, he cannot take it directly, so he's telling with this allegory. Actually he's talking about him, but he uses this allegory of Puranjana, which means the enjoyer. And we are all Puranjana in this world. He is enjoying like anything, but the city of nine gates, this body, is attacked by time. Three hundred and sixty soldiers, there's a whole analogy how it's time. Ultimately, everything is defeated.

I remember as a young brahmacari. Yes, to confirm my point, I was once a young brahmacari. Not any more. But my grandfather, long story, got a type of cancer that worked up his spine. Gradually, everything went out. He lost his legs. He had to wear one of those pouches. I don't want to get too graphic before breakfast, but I said, "Hey Gramps!"

He said, "Ah, plumbing went out."

He had to have this and that. He was having operation after operation, just hacking. When in doubt, whack it out. That's the modern medicine. I went to see him. I was trying to become a devotee, as I am trying now. I could just see, he came to the point he couldn't see, he couldn't hear. Ultimately he came to that point, but the point I was going to make, I went to see him in the hospital. They all said, "Oh, this operation, you're getting better. Oh, you're looking fine." He looked like death warmed over. "Oh, you're looking fine."

I saw him and I went back to my house and I came with this section of the First Canto of Bhagavatam where Dhrtarastra, Vidura speaks to him. As a fired up young brahmacari, I began reading to him, "Your teeth are falling out. You're living. . ." I let him have it, you know. Hopefully I've matured a little since them.

The nurses, the doctors: "Oh my God, you're . . . !"

And my grandmother said, "Oh, stop it! Stop it!"

My father was already fried. He jerked me out of the room.

My grandfather, to his credit, he said, "No, let him read." He said, "He is the only one who is telling me the truth."

See? The point is it's the truth. It happens to all of us. Prabhupada said, Hari Sauri and the others were there, they can confirm, Prabhupada said, "Don't think this won't happen to you."

So Krsna is maintaining. And what is the use of this anyway? It will all be finished anyway in due course of time.

There was a devotee palmist reading palms. This devotee, he is actually making a good living. He's a little worried because he tells everyone the same thing. He looks at them and says, "Oh, you're cruising for a bruising. You've got some trouble coming. But you've got to counter it so you better stop drinking, you better really stop eating meat, and this boyfriend-girlfriend. . . stick with your wife."

So he's instructing the four regulative principles. And he says, "You've got to put something positive in. You really should try this mantra, try chanting these names of God." And people are paying for it, it's great. He's a little worried that if they start hooking up, he's giving them all the same advice. He's going to be in hot water. But so far, so good.

I was in Prabhupada's room one time in Detroit. This man, you know how it is. Prabhupada is teaching so sweetly and wonderfully, and "Yes, yes, Swamiji, yes, yes. Can you read my palm?"

You know Prabhupada gives so many wonderful answers, but this particular time he said, "Give me your hand."

We all thought, "Fantastic! We'll all que up! I'll be next!"

Prabhupada actually tells that story how he played Advaitacandra. That's a whole thing how the play ended and no one spoke. And he looked out and the audience was crying. So Prabhupada had that wonderful, as a rich Vaisnava, rich in qualities, everything was perfect. No doubt about it, so wonderful theatrics were there.

Prabhupada took the man's hand. He turned on the desk lamp, "Hmmmm. . . ." He was, you know how they do, he was pushing the hand. It was so blissful. Then Prabhupada slapped the man's hand and said, "All bad [laughter]: birth, death, disease, old age."

I tell you, I thought this man was going to go into cardiac arrest. He was like, "Oh my . . . !" Because here's this saintly. . . . then Prabhupada let him off gently, he said, "But, you clap your hands in kirtan and the lines go away."

[Laughter, applause]

So the simple point is that we have so many plans. Vidura had, "the best laid plans of mice and men do oft go astray." Our president Jimmy Carter, materially, the smartest man outside of Thomas Jefferson to ever be in the White House, IQ wise, literally a nuclear scientist. The current president can't even say the word "nuclear" but that's another story. [Laughter] We'll save that for another class.

He got the best and the brightest. The American economy had gone into a malaise. This is the middle of the seventies. You get the best and the brightest.

There's a joke about the one-armed economist. The president asked for a one-armed economist. They asked, "Why do you want a one-armed economist?"

He said, "Because every time I ask him for advice, he speaks for two hours and as he's walking out the door, he says, 'On the other hand.'

[Laughter]

Good luck translating that one!

[Laughter]

I apologize. I'll try to stay on course.

The best minds and they came up with an ingenious plan how to prime the pump of the economy. Their idea was, instead of taking so much money back in taxes, give them a rebate. Give everybody a rebate. Being foolish sudras, they'll waste the money. They'll go out spend it at the mall. It will prime the pump, it will filter throughout the economy and everything will be great. Fantastic! The government took money they had, cash in hand, and gave it back.

What happened? In the Eastern half of the United States, they had a freak cold snap, freezing cold. Everyone had to turn up the thermostat. On the West Coast, they had a blazing heat wave. Everyone had to turn up the AC. And just as the rebate checks from the government, the tax money from the government, arrived in the mail, they also got the utility bills, which were also a couple hundred dollars higher than they expected. All the money went to pay the utility bills. The government lost the money and it didn't go into the general economy. They completely failed. They didn't fill their belly and they lost their caste. They lost the money and it didn't go any good. All it took was some deva to just tap the thermostat and their whole plan was finished.

There was a robber. This is the simple version. There was this man, this was an article in the paper one of the devotees showed me, he made a plan to rob this restaurant and bar. He had a getaway plan, a disguise, he had the whole thing figured out, how to wash the money, worked on it for years. Went into the restaurant, turned out it was packed, there were a hundred people there, all in the plan. Only thing is, turns out the policemen were having a retirement benefit in the bar. He pulled out his gun, fifty cops pulled out their guns - and handcuffs! "Phwet!" Scratch that plan, he's in the state pen right now, state penitentiary.

Krsna always wins. The material nature always wins. Prabhupada said, what is it? Krsna has one hundred hands. Prabhupada's father used to tell him, Krsna has a hundred hands. If he wants to give with his hundred hands, what can we do with our two hands? If he wants to take away with his hundred hands, what can we do with our two hands? Krsna always wins.

I saw a Ziploc bag. This one was called "triple sealed", single sealed, double sealed, triple sealed. I was thinking, Krsna has got this world triple sealed: adhibhautika, adhidaivika, adhyatmika. Nobody gets out, nobody gets away. What does it say, "Our father who art in heaven . . ."? Whatever is the whole Lord's Prayer"--"Thy will be done." Whatever Krsna's will is, whatever our destiny is, that is what is going to happen.

Rather than being like Duryodhana, feverishly making plans for that which we will lose anyway, one should stop for a moment and think, "What is the actual purpose of this world?" Do they ever stop?

There is a type of archeology called from function from form. By studying the form of an object, they can understand its function. I think it is called archeological forensics. I think that's the name of it. They can piece together the whole society, how it functioned, the whole thing, from a piece of something. From the form they can determine the function.

If we study the form of this world, what is its function? The claim is this world is made for us to enjoy. What is the next logical question? If this world is made for us to enjoy, this is the best God could do, with its birth, death, disease, old age, three-fold miseries? Give me a break.

So what is its actual function? If one enrolls in school, the success of a school is that it is a transitional experience. Is the success of a hospital that the person stays in the hospital his entire life? Let me ask you a question, is that a successful hospital? "Hey, I've got cable, I've got pretty nurses, I've got a menu everyday. Fantastic!" What is the success of a hospital, the ultimate success of a hospital, assuming that it is not a hospice? That the person gets well and moves on. What is the success of a school? That the guy's forty years old and taking basket weaving? That he goes on. They say, "Get a life!" What is the purpose of this world? The purpose of this world is not to stay and enjoy. A: From its form we can understand it is not designed to enjoy. It is meant for transcendental knowledge. It's meant for seva. It's meant for purifying one's heart. That is the purpose of this world.

We should be confident just like Vidura was confident. We should be confident of our own choice in life to be Vaisnavas, to turn our face from material nature. And we should be confident of our message. We should be confident people want Krsna consciousness, people need Krsna consciousness. We should remember what we have been given and we should remember the value of what we are giving. We are giving the best. Frankly, we are giving the only thing of value in this world.

Not to take it to the extreme, there was an article by the Archbishop of Canterbury, he was interviewed. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Church, he was lamenting. He said, "Our churches, you go to the church and the church newsletter is advertising twelve steps to get rid of addiction. It's got a weight-loss program. It's got couples' counseling. All those things, fine, great. It's got yoga, fine, great." He said, "But what about our core message of sin and redemption? Where is our core message? We're not teaching it."

So the times of London came out with the headline, "Archbishop Says Give Them Hell".

I'm not saying give them hell.

When I was a young brahmacari, yes I was a young brahmacari as I said, we used to preach from the verse of the day. You know, the temple president would select a verse. I remember the verse one day was "avajananti mam mudhah". I remember seeing brahmacaris and young devotees having these businessmen because we'd go downtown Detroit. They'd have some guy by the tie. You knew the devotee was just really giving it to him. No doubt we have to be sensitive. No doubt we have to know how to present. No doubt we have to figure out. Prabhupada said you have to design the book so that people will like, read. The cover has to be nice so they'll open the book. No doubt about that.

Brahmananada told me one time, you know big Brahmananada. His size factors into this story - big Brahmananda. He was visiting the temple once. We had two desserts, we had this pie and we had some cake. So I said to him, "Would you like pie or would you like cake?"

He told me, "Whenever I asked Prabhupada, 'Should I do this or should I do that,' he said, 'Do both.'" [Laughter] And he took the cake and the pie. Just glad we didn't have an all-you-can-eat restaurant.

We should do both, but we should never doubt, diminish, or lose sight of what our core message is. This is not our real home. This body is not meant for us to enjoy. We are meant to come to the point. Prabhupada said, "We don't advertise it, but the whole point of our movement is to bring eating, sleeping, mating, and defending to nil." That is our movement.

Again about confidence in our message, running out of time here. Prabhupada tells the story about Dr. Beecham. Dr. Beecham was a doctor, a British doctor here in India during the British Raj. Just like Prabhupada had "Dey's Liniment". They asked Prabhupada, "What's in it?"

Prabhupada said, "Ninety percent water." [Chuckles] If you read the label, I think it is back here, on the other side, all the things it cures, but in Prabhupada's case, I'm sure it was true.

Anyway, Dr. Beecham invented a powder that you mix in water. It cures the Bombay Blues, it puts glide in your stride, pep in your step, new lease on life. It was fantastic stuff. But he couldn't market it. Somehow or other, destiny, nobody would buy it. He just couldn't sell it. And it was great stuff. Ultimately, the Raj ended, he went back to England. He had a little chemist's shop, pharmacy, or drugstore as we say in America. He gave up on it. One day, this little old lady, twenty years later, came tottering into his pharmacy and asked him, "Do you sell Dr. Beecham's powder?" Asked Dr. Beecham, who's behind the counter, "Do you sell Dr. Beecham's powder? It is such good stuff." The man was so excited to finally find someone who liked his product that he dropped dead of a heart attack.

[Laughter]

Prabhupada said we should be so enthusiastic to find even one person who wants Krsna consciousness. We know it's, what is it, "Good and good for you." We know it is good and good for them. We should be so confident, enthusiastic.

We are building here by Krsna's grace, Ambarisa's devotion, the will of Srila Prabhupada and the previous acaryas, this new temple, which is the temple of Vedic Planetarium. In that is the model of the Fifth Canto, the structure of the universe. It is a bold, as Prabhupada would say, "Boot on the face".

Devamrta Maharaja was telling me that he met Carana Renu, who is an astrophysicist. It's a long story, but the short version is, somehow or other, she's sitting as a guest coming to the temple for the loft in New Zealand. He goes right into, "They don't know a thing about the structure of the universe. They don't know . . . ."

And she turns to him and says, "You know, you're right."

He was shocked. Here she is now. She completely changed her life and she is sitting in front as a surrendered devotee and is one of the lead designers on the Fifth Canto. My point is, we don't know what's in people's hearts, but we know they want Krsna. They are spirit soul. They are looking for pure devotional service. We have to give them that message. It's our duty and they are hungry for it.

Again comparing Vidura and Dhrtarastra. Prahlada Maharaja says that just as distress comes unsought . . . . Suppose I had Badri's Elixir, "You take this and you'll all become ninety years old." How many takers? How many coming forward? I mean, if you're ninety-four you'll take it. Other than that, I'm not going to get a lot of customers. Old age is coming unsought. Distress is coming unsought. Nobody plans for misery. We make every single plan to avoid it and yet it's coming. Prahlada Maharaja says, "In the same way, happiness will come unsought, by karma, by destiny, it will come. You cannot stop it." So we should not worry about it.

We should understand, to summarize, the inevitable nature of this material world, the inevitable nature of this body, that Krsna's maintaining everything, happiness will come anyway, let me get about my real business. That business is to serve as my spiritual master, and deliver the message of Krsna.

There is a dream. Let me give you a nice example, in America they have a saying of crass - crass means low class, manipulative, venal. Suppose a young lady marries an old man for his money. And it works the other way around, a young man marries her for her money. People go, that's so low class. But if you think about it, people are bowing down . . . . Prabhupada says, "'God give us our daily bread,' that's not love of God. That's love of bread."

Or we say, "om jaya jagadisa hare, give me a new car and a house by the sea". This is not love of God. Prabhupada says at least they're coming to the right source. That's a step in the right direction.

But all day long, Prabhupada says, the grocer is putting his head on the pillow, just about to go to sleep, and he thinks, "Oh! Did I lock the back door of my store? Oh God, please did I lock the back door of my store so some robber won't come and steal everything?"

Now the robber, five children, destitute condition, "Oh God, please I hope someone left their door open." Prabhupada says in this way God is perplexed. This is what Krsna is getting, all prayers: "Give me this. Give me that. Give me this. Give me that."

So what happens when someone actually says to Krsna, "I don't want anything. I just want to serve you. What do you want? Please move me?" Just as Vidura, he accepted as Krsna's arrangement, "Krsna is moving me."

There is a joke because Americans have marriage and divorce. So the man says, "I was unlucky in love twice. My first wife left me. My second wife stayed." Ha, ha, ha.

[Laughter]

Delayed reaction there.

The point I'm trying to make is that it may come, it may not come, so what? When someone says, "I don't care, I don't want this, I don't want . . ."

Just because it's sweet and it's from Radhanath Maharaja: I was riding with him in the car. There was a devotee who will remain nameless. He was very proud of his brand new car. He had a big SUV, huge. No problem, have a nice car, use it in Krsna's serve. Hare Krsna. No problem, but this devotee was inordinately attached to his new car. And when he had this new car, the feature he just had, it had one of those OnStar systems. Not to pick on women, but it just happened to be a woman's voice and he was a man. It could be a man's voice, whatever, but this was a woman's voice.

So he said, "Maharaja . . . ," this, that, showed him the car.

You know Radhanath Maharaja, such a saintly, peaceful person, "Oh, very nice, very nice."

So he gets in the car, the first thing you hear, "A door is ajar." It was a woman's voice, but you can imagine, "A door is ajar! A door is ajar!" All right, everybody checks their doors, shuts them. Then, "Fasten your seat belts." Everyone fastens their seatbelts. Then we start going, "You are speeding!" All right, he slows down. Then, "Turn left! Turn left! Turn right!" It's giving directions.

So after being badgered like this, Radhanath Maharaja says, "This is worse than being married!"

[Laughter]

All glories to Radhanath Maharaja! My simple point is, we're being badgered, "left, right", asking for this, asking for that. When someone comes before Krsna and says, "I just want to serve. Whatever's happening, wherever you want to move me, wherever you want to put me, whatever you want to do to me, Hare Krsna, it's for my purification."

Do you know why the potter kneads the clay? You know how they knead the clay? They work it, they work it, they work it. Do you know why? Therapy, working out his angst? Why? What is the reason? Make it stronger, yes, you are close. You are close. Ah, they get rid of the bubbles. And why do they want to get rid of the bubbles? You're all close, I'm sorry.

If there's a bubble in the clay and it goes into the kiln to be fired, the bubble will expand and it will crack. Ante narayane smrti, at the time of death, will we crack? Will we chant Hare Krsna? Prabhupada says you can teach a parrot to chant Hare Krsna. We have a parrot named Sukadeva in San Diego, he can chant, "om namo bhagavate vasudevaya," but if a cat comes, "Meow," he forgets all about it.

So Krsna is moving me, let him move me, for two purposes if not more. He is moving me for my betterment, for my own purification. Prabhupada was thrown out of Jhansi by the women's league. The first temple, the wife of the Mayor pushed Prabhupada out of Jhansi. Prabhupada accepted it as Krsna's arrangement. And if he hadn't kicked him out of Jhansi, we don't know. It was Krsna's arrangement, Prabhupada came to the West. He came to us. He delivered us.

We'll end here, I promise. One of the citizens of Yudhisthira Maharaja came to him with a dream. The dream was this: He saw a fence that devoured all the fields. He saw, from a bucket of water, someone filled five jars, but those jars when poured back couldn't fill up the bucket. There was an elephant that went through the eye of a needle, but the tail was caught. There was a very thin thread, but it pulled down a mountain. So a fence that devoured a field, a bucket that could fill five jars but the jars couldn't fill the bucket, the whole elephant went through the eye of a needle but the little, tiny tail got stuck at the end, and a thin thread pulled down a mountain. What does it mean?

Yudhisthira Maharaja said this are the symptoms of Kali-yuga. That which is meant to give protection is devastating. The government is exploiting people. The child isn't even safe in the womb. These are symptoms of Kali-yuga. The father or mother are maintaining the children, giving them all that they can, and the children send them off to the old folk's ward, Geezer World, Seizure World, whatever they call it. They ship them out. Don't even care for them. The leaders are rogues and thieves and rascals. They are the elephant. They get through, but the common citizen is picked up and harassed for everything, symptom of Kali-yuga. But the Pandora's Box, the hope at the bottom, the light at the end of the tunnel, that is a thin rope can pull down a mountain, simply the chanting of the Holy Name can deliver everyone in the age of Kali. That is Yudhisthira Maharaja's dream.

So my simple point is we should remember what we have been given. We have been given priceless transcendental knowledge that gives freedom, happiness, and eternal deliverance at the lotus feet of Krsna. In turn, we can give that to others. It is the greatest gift we have received; it is the greatest gift we can give. Therefore, we should remain fixed and we should remain happy.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.

[Applause]

END

SB 3.1.14 Romapada Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:43:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Romapada Swami (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.14

ity ucivams tatra suyodhanena
pravrddha-kopa-sphuritadharena
asat-krtah sat-sprhaniya-silah
ksatta sakarnanuja-saubalena

TRANSLATION: While speaking thus, Vidura, whose personal character was esteemed by respectable persons, was insulted by Duryodhana, who was swollen with anger and whose lips were trembling. Duryodhana was in company with Karna, his younger brothers and his maternal uncle Sakuni.

PURPORT: It is said that giving good counsel to a foolish person causes the fool to become angry, just as feeding milk to a snake only increases its venomous poison. Saint Vidura was so honorable that his character was looked up to by all respectable persons. But Duryodhana was so foolish that he dared to insult Vidura. This was due to his bad association with Sakuni, his maternal uncle, as well as with his friend Karna, who always encouraged Duryodhana in his nefarious acts. (end of purport)

[repeats verse and translation, chants invocatory prayers]

Romapada Swami: So we have been hearing about the fearless, faultless, and powerful advice given by Vidura to his elder brother Dhrtarastra, consistently given advice, and Dhrtarastra's inability to hear because of his fault of attachment on the bodily platform. Although given the opportunity for taking the high road, doing the right thing, acting virtuously, he was unable to do it. Again and again, as Maharaja described so very wonderfully yesterday: "Get rid of him!" But he couldn't do it.

There is a sequence in this corruptibility of persons because Dhrtarastra also has elevated qualities. The conclusion of how Dhrtarastra finally takes the advice of Vidura and the capacity he demonstrates shows he was actually a very elevated person. He was a very elevated person corrupted by his attachment. There is a chain of events how that attachment was inflamed by his son Duryodhana and how his son Duryodhana was also influenced by Sakuni, that's what's in this purport: "Duryodhana was so foolish that he dared to insult Vidura. This was due to his bad association with Sakuni." So the focus of this morning's class is going to be role of Sakuni, or the function of bad association.

Sakuni comes into play in Mahabharata from the time that Bhismadeva made an arrangement for the daughter of King Subala, Gandhari was the daughter of King Subala. The Gandahar kingdom was under the rule of Subala. Gandhari had been given a benediction by Lord Siva that she would have one hundred sons. Dhrtarastra had been given a benediction by Vyasa at the time of his conception that he would have one hundred sons. So Grandfather Bhisma considered these two nephews that he was looking after, Dhrtarastra and Pandu. At the time, they were needed to be married. Mahabharata describes that Bhisma, although a brahmacari, was considering, "We must not have a break in lineage." So the successors to the throne, Dhrtarastra and Pandu, needed qualified wives to continue the lineage of kings.

Vidura was so much respected that even Bhsimadeva consulted Vidura. When Bhismadeva consulted Vidura about who were prospective queens for Pandu and Dhrtarastra, Vidura agreed in a very humble way, "You are the grandsire of this dynasty and you are certainly the wisest amongst us all."

So Bhismadeva sent an envoy to King Subala making this recommendation that his daughter marry Dhrtarastra. Subala had some mixed feeling, "How can my daughter marry a blind king? But on the other hand, the Kuru dynasty for generations and generations and generations and generations had been known for being so very strong and powerful and virtuous. This would be suitable alliance between our kingdoms." So he agreed.

He made the arrangement that his son Sakuni would, just like we know Kamsa was the chariot driver of Vasudeva and Devaki, the brother, Sakuni escorted Gandhari to Hastinapura. Gandhari, just hearing that the man she was to marry was blind, immediately covered her eyes with cloth so that she would not be in a superior position to her husband. When she reached Hastinapura, in a very devoted, faithful way she served her husband. After things were settled, Sakuni returned back to his father's kingdom. We don't hear so much about Sakuni until the next stage of events.

Pandu was married to Kunti and Madri. Then children are born. Pandu dies. Madri enters into the funeral pyre of Pandu. Now the boys and Kunti return back to the royal palace. As young boys, they require proper education and training in military skill. Drona enters into the picture.

Drona, with the assistance of Bhisma, becomes in charge of training the boys in military skill. On Drona's request, Balarama also came to Hastinapura and trained Duryodhana and Bhima in the art of fighting with a club. While Balarama was visiting in Hastinapura, he understood the tension and the intrigue that was going on in Hastinapura and reported this to Krsna.

Krsna, being related to the Pandavas and having special affection for Queen Kunti, was very concerned. Meanwhile, in Hastinapura, the reputation of Krsna and Balarama was well known. So Krsna made an arrangement for Akrura, Akrura has got this very special position. Akrura was so good that Kamsa even selected Akrura to be the mission carrier to bring Krsna to Mathura. So after Kamsa's demise, Akrura is sent by Krsna to go to Hastinapura and check out the scene: "Assess the situation, see what you can do to improve the situation, and report back to me."

For three months, Akrura is in Hastinapura. When he reached Hastinapura, he was received by the Kuru dynasty in a very grand way. He is a representative of the Yadu dynasty, and very esteemed and respected, an elder, learned person. After being received by the Kauravas, Akrura then went to Kunti. Kunti couldn't control herself. She just burst out in tears saying, "Does Krsna ever think of his relatives, the Pandavas and myself? Will he someday come and give us his association?" Just thinking of Krsna, she began to cry.

Both Akrura and Vidura pacified Kunti, indicating to her, "We know from Vyasadeva the prophecy that your sons will live a long life and be victorious. We know that your sons are expansions, or manifestations, of the devas. Please don't worry for their welfare." By the pacifying words of Akrura and Vidura, Kunti became relieved. Then she poured her heart out over the turmoil. Because she was who she was, she was such a qualified devotee and also of ksatriya lineage, she understood very, very well what the intrigue was.

She described the recent event that had taken place when Drona asked for the daksina that he wanted, that was his students--the Kauravas and the Pandavas--usurp the kingdom of Drupada, defeat him in battle. The Kauravas' whole army was defeated by Drupada, but just the five Pandavas brothers defeated Drupada. The Kauravas were humiliated. This served to increase the tension between the two. Envy, as we were hearing form Maharaja yesterday. This was a very strong prompt. Yudhisthira understood, Kunti understood, the other Pandavas also understood. The intrigue was intense.

Akrura stayed for some time getting a very clear, detailed picture of the whole situation and then it was time, after three months stay in Hastinapura, to return. Just before returning, he arranged for a private discussion with Dhrtarastra. It is very similar to a Bhagavad-gita discussion, Krsna counseling Arjuna. What Akrura said was very, very similar.

He said, "You are thinking in terms of this body. You know very well, everyone knows very well, the Pandavas by Vedic law are the rightful heirs to the throne. You received the throne only because of the untimely death of Pandu. But the sons of Pandu, being the first born, are the lawful heirs to the throne. Don't discriminate, 'my sons and Pandu's sons.' Please understand, those who are your sons today, previously they were not your sons; in the future, they'll not be your sons. You should make your decisions as the in charge of the kingdom on the platform of understanding the soul and act on that platform of the understanding of the soul. If you act on the platform of the body then you are covered in ignorance. What are the consequences of activities that are based upon ignorance? The consequence is suffering. My dear King Dhrtarastra, don't act in ignorance. Act in virtue. The right thing is the throne should be given to Yudhisthira."

So there were two messages: "Don't act on the platform of the body and act on the platform of what is right according to Vedic instruction. Then you will have a very wonderful outcome. If you don't do that, you will have a disastrous outcome."

In this morning's class, I want to emphasize two main points. This is one of them. That is what the Mahabharata is teaching us, when there is a situation like Dhrtarastra's, or our own, or any situation where we fail to understand and apply the principle of the soul--however high intentioned one may be--it's flawed from the onset and the outcome of acting on that platform will be bad or disastrous. That is ABC understanding for devotees who study Bhagavad-gita. Studying Bhagavad-gita and applying it properly are two different things.

Dhrtarastra's reply was, "Akrura, your words are like nectar. They are ambrosial, everything you have said is absolutely true but it doesn't stay in my heart. What can I do? I'm attached to my sons. It must be fate, it is providential that I have this attachment. I cannot act accordingly. Whatever is the outcome is a providential fruit. What can I do; I am helpless."

Vyasa's explanation of Dhrtarastra's reply is that Dhrtarastra refused to accept responsibility for his own actions: "This is just my nature, what can I do?" Like sometimes devotees will say, "You know I'm the kind of person who. . . (fill in the line). Somebody does like this, but I'm the kind of person who does like that. What can I do, that's just that's my nature."

It's the same principle, not taking responsibility for one's actions. We know that we're spirit soul, we're not this body. We know that intellectually, but the message of Bhagavad-gita, or the message delivered by Akrura--we heard it repeatedly yesterday--or the message delivered by Vidura, the message of the soul is something that we should take shelter of and guide our life by. Dhrtarastra just threw up his hands and said, "I take no responsibility for my actions, whatever the outcome is is the destiny of Providence."

Akrura could understand, because he was a very wise person, what Dhrtarastra would do, the consequence of that and the disaster that would follow. He left Hastinapura and reported that to Krsna. So Krsna had a clear picture of what intrigue was going on. I'm going to back to this point, if time permits, and make the contrast of how good advice can make a difference if properly received. Maybe I'll do it now.

The good advice that Dhruva received from Narada is similar. The dynamic is somewhat similar: Dhrtarastra wanted a kingdom, he wanted something of this world. He was restrained from that by his blindness, but he was so attached that he couldn't receive good advice. Dhruva wanted a kingdom, not just a kingdom equal to his father's--better than his father's, better than his father's father's father's, better than Lord Brahma--and his mentality was "I want to get back at Suruci." Get back mentality, on the bodily platform.

Narada gave multiple points of advice to Dhruva. Dhruva said something very similar to what Dhrtarastra said. Dhruva said, after hearing from Narada, "Narada, what you have said is all true. Unfortunately I have a ksatriya spirit--I want a kingdom! I want a kingdom! And you're a great saint, surely there's something that you can instruct me in so I can get the kingdom. My mother said, 'By the grace of Lord Visnu one can achieve anything. Can you help me achieve Lord Visnu? How can I attain Lord Visnu? I want a kingdom!"

Notice the difference? Dhrtarastra, specifically in yesterday's verses, Vidura said, "Because you are maintaining a nondevotee of Krsna, you are devoid of all auspicious qualities." Dhrtarastra maintaining Duryodhana who was opposed to Krsna had no capacity to take shelter of Krsna. Dhruva had the capacity to take shelter of Krsna even though he had material attachment.

This is the second line. One line is we're all in this material world influenced by the modes of nature. Mahabharata is teaching, "Take the high road, act according to the principles of virtue and the principles of virtue are in the codes of the Vedas. Follow the codes of the Vedas and you'll get released from the influence of the lower modes of nature. By virtue you will ascend to a higher position. Virtue leads to ascending. And the opposite, neglecting, leads to destruction; hellish circumstance on earth and a lower destination afterwards."

The message of the Bhagavatam, embedded in this section we are reading, is that attachment to Krsna, or its opposite, offending Krsna, being envious of Krsna, leads to total destruction. But even if one has attachment on the material bodily platform like Dhruva, if there is somehow genuine shelter with the lotus feet of Visnu or Krsna, all of that can be dismissed.

Dhruva had that aspiration to take shelter of Visnu. "I want a kingdom." Narada gave him specific instructions how to achieve Visnu. There is a sequence. His mother pointed the direction: Visnu. Narada gave him the detail. After examining Dhruva and seeing the strength and intensity of his aspiration to achieve the Supreme Lord, he gave instructions how to achieve Visnu. Then the next step is very, very important: Dhruva's heart started to change because he felt very, very indebted to Narada. He felt deep gratitude that Narada had given his blessings how to achieve Lord Visnu.

He then circumambulated Narada three times, and just as he instructed, he went to Madhuvana, and underwent austerities in the process of worship of Lord Visnu. He achieved Lord Visnu and his attachment to the modes of nature and anything of this world was gone.

That's not what happened with Dhrtarastra. He held on to his attachment. Therefore, that is what is in this verse, even when good association was given, it just made Duryodhana seething with anger. His body was swelling with anger. His lips were trembling with anger. So he had that envious disposition, as we heard yesterday, but that envious disposition was corrupted and magnified by bad association, Sakuni, specifically Prabhupada describes in the purport.

Now back to Mahabharata. After Akrura left, Dhrtarastra, refusing to take responsibility for his actions, began to reflect on Akrura's words. He thought, "Akrura's right; the Pandavas are the rightful heirs to the throne." And he also considered throughout the kingdom the citizens are saying they want Yudhisthira to become the king. Yudhisthira had the affection, adoration and love of the citizens throughout the kingdom. They wanted him to become king and Dhrtarastra knew it. He was getting reports even from Duryodhana, "They are speaking like this. This is terrible!"

And his other advisors were letting him know. Then, being Dhrtarastra, who would never make independent decisions, he consulted with Bhisma, Vidura, and his other ministers. They all affirmed, "Yes, you should give the kingdom to the Pandavas--they are the rightful heirs. Take the high road. Do the right thing."

So he arranged for a ceremony for Yudhisthira to be anointed the prince-regent, or heir apparent, (it's translated in different ways) the incumbent king. Now just as in the verse for this morning, Karna, Sakuni, and Duryodhana had a little conference, a little subcommittee. [chuckles] And Sakuni, as described in Mahabharata, with his fingers pressed against one another and his lips drawn, his eyes pinched, was considering what to do. His consideration was, "The strength of the Pandavas has already been shown to be superior to ours. The citizens already show their support of the Pandavas. There is only one thing to do. We have to get rid of them by unfair means."

Karna, who is in this list in today's verse, didn't like the idea at all. He said, "Let's fight them. We are ksatriyas. We shouldn't do this other business. Stand on the battlefield with them and fight."

Sakuni said, "You are very chivalrous but very foolish. It's already been demonstrated that their strength is superior to our strength."

Karna was seething saying, "That's only because we didn't know how powerful Drupada was. They came to find out how powerful Drupada was, they had the advantage and therefore they were prepared. Let us fight."

Sakuni rejected the idea. So did Duryodhana. Karna left the assembly, their little subcommittee. "I am leaving. You can do what you want. I am not going to part of some corrupt action like this."

But Sakuni supplied the whole plan. As the purport is saying, through the bad association of Sakuni. Prabhupada teaches in relation to the Ajamila story, he specifically says wherever you can find bad behavior, you can go backwards in time and find there is some bad association that precedes that bad behavior. So devotees are taught in Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching, warned, "asat sanga tyaga ei vaisnava acar", that we give up unwholesome association.

When you have unwholesome association, as Duryodhana who was already envious of the strength of Bhima and the prowess of Arjuna and the fact that he would not be king because Yudhisthira is already placed in the incumbent king position. . . just the spark on gasoline explosion: Sakuni, bad association.

He fed Duryodhana the whole plot of how they would remove the Pandavas from Hastinapura and then destroy them. He said, "You can do this because your father, Dhrtarastra, is very attached to you. He won't deny anything that you wish."

Meanwhile, Dhrtarastra was understanding, "My one hundred sons headed by Duryodhana are already having tension with the Pandavas. Now that I put Yudhisthira as the incumbent king, they are going to be very disturbed. What should I do?" So he asked Sakuni, "What should I do?" You ask advice from a fool, you'll get foolish advice. Sakuni brought his brahmana friend, Kanika, "He'll give you advice."

Kanika's advice was, "You eliminate the Pandavas, kill them." After hearing this advice Dhrtarastra dismissed the brahmana and was sitting in his room alone thinking, "This is terrible, how can I do this?" The advice of a brahmana. Where there is no attachment to Krsna the intelligence becomes corrupt. Then Duryodhana came with Dhrtarastra in this condition, huffing and seething, noticeably disturbed. Although Dhrtarastra was blind he could understand by the sounds of the pacing of Duryodhana and his seething breath that he was very, very angry. Duryodhana submitted the detailed plan, removing the Pandavas and killing them. This is on association.

Dhrtarastra's response, his character was, "I can't do this. I can't do this. When we were growing up, I was the elder brother and my younger brother Pandu took care of me through everything. How can I even consider in his absence destroying his sons? No." It wasn't like "I can't do it." It was "No." Duryodhana knew the weak spot of his father and he pressed it, "Then I'll give up my life because I can't stand Bhima throwing us around, the power of Bhima and the might of Arjuna. They're very diplomatic like we are. They're going to know if we're still around after Yudhisthira becomes king, what are they going to do with you and your one hundred sons? What's going to become of us? Do it, give your permission." When Dhrtarastra became silent instead of saying no, Duryodhana knew he had him and he kept pressing.

So the sequence: Sakuni corrupting the diabolical capacity of Duryodhana, Duryodhana pressing on Dhrtarastra, and then the way of intelligence that's not spiritually guided becomes all this calculation of friends and enemies. Like Prahlad said to Hiranyakasipu, "I've heard about this friends and enemies, but now I'm seeing it. What is this idea, the enemy is Lord Visnu and you are on the side of Lord Visnu so you are an enemy? What is that?"

Sakuni and Duryodhana got together: "Dhrtarastra by his silence has given his consent. For the Pandavas to leave Hastinapura, Bhisma will remain neutral because he always remains neutral. Drona will say nothing because his son, Asvatthama, is my dear companion and supporter. Drona won't go against his son." It's all on the body. "And because Drona's wife is the sister of Krpa, Krpa also won't object. There's only one--Vidura. Vidura is an enemy, we must watch Vidura."

Just friends and enemies, on the bodily platform. Just as the demoniac kings do, they bring themselves together and make alliances and so forth. Not on the platform of the soul and doing what's right to achieve the Personality of Godhead. That's a whole other program. So when one departs from this association of saintly persons, just as this verse is describing:

"While speaking thus, Vidura, whose personal character was esteemed by respectable persons, was insulted by Duryodhana, who was swollen with anger and whose lips were trembling."

The value, Prabhupada teaches over and over and over, the importance of protecting brahminical culture. Dhrtarastra was known for not making independent decisions. But if one takes advice one must be very selective in where one takes advice from in the matter of kings: from those who are attached to Krsna and detached from the platform of bodily identification and making actions on that platform, decisions and alliances and all of that business.

This is within the pages of the Bhagavatam. It's certainly following parallel with the line of the message of Mahabharata. For us, the Bhagavatam's message is attachment to Krsna. Vidura had that, he was attached to Krsna, Yudhisthira and the Pandavas, Kunti were attached to Krsna and thus they were protected. They were protected. And those that leave that protection were corrupted by unwholesome association. Whatever weaknesses one may have, in the wrong association they'll become enflamed.

So the whole of Bhagavat-dharma is to bring us more and more to the shelter of Krsna and that's the way of devotional life. The Bhagavatam is helping us to move to that position. Taking full shelter of the way of devotional service, carefully guarding against unwholesome association, carefully applying from the root attachment to Krsna, acceptance of the reality of the eternality of the soul, and not forgetting that acting on the platform of the body, the desires and attractions and repulsions, desires and hates, friends and enemies and all of the terrible, terrible ways of material life. We have a genuine shelter.

We were discussing in one of our GBC discussions the internal cultivation of Krsna consciousness is something that is the responsibility of each one of us. The opportunity and association and process is there. That deepening of our internal cultivation of Krsna consciousness will give us the right protection, keep us on the track of going back home, back to Godhead.

Thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jai! [Applause]

We have to break for breakfast.

END.

SB 3.1.13 Bhakticaru Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:53:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Bhakticaru Swami (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.13

sa esa dosah purusa-dvid aste
grhan pravisto yam apatya-matya
pusnasi krsnad vimukho gata-sris
tyajasv asaivam kula-kausalaya

TRANSLATION: You are maintaining offense personified, Duryodhana, as your infallible son, but he is envious of Lord Krsna. And because you are thus maintaining a nondevotee of Krsna, you are devoid of all auspicious qualities. Relieve yourself of this ill fortune as soon as possible and do good to the whole family!

PURPORT: A good son is called apatya, one who does not allow his father to fall down. The son can protect the father's soul when the father is dead by offering sacrifices to please the Supreme Lord, Visnu. This system is still prevalent in India. After the death of his father, a son goes to offer sacrifices at the lotus feet of Visnu at Gaya and thus delivers the father's soul if the father is fallen. But if the son is already an enemy of Visnu, how, in such an inimical mood, can he offer sacrifice unto Lord Visnu's lotus feet? Lord Krsna is directly the Personality of Godhead, Visnu, and Duryodhana was inimical to Him. He would therefore be unable to protect his father, Dhrtarastra, after his death. He himself was to fall down because of his faithlessness towards Visnu. How, then, could he protect his father? Vidura advised Dhrtarastra to get rid of such an unworthy son as Duryodhana as soon as possible if he was at all anxious to see to the good of his family.

According to the moral instructions of Canakya Pandita, "What is the use of a son who is neither a learned man nor a devotee of the Lord?" If a son is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, he is just like blind eyes-a source of trouble. A physician may sometimes advise the extrication of such useless eyes from their sockets so that one can be relieved of the constant trouble. Duryodhana was exactly like blind, troubling eyes; he would be a source of great trouble to the family of Dhrtarastra, as foreseen by Vidura. Vidura therefore rightly advised his eldest brother to get rid of this source of trouble. Dhrtarastra was wrongly maintaining such personified offense under the mistaken impression that Duryodhana was a good son, able to liberate his father. [End of purport]

(Invocatory prayers)

Bhakti Charu Swami: Vidura is instructing his elder brother, Dhrtarastra. Vidura was the minister of Dhrtarastra. Although he was the younger brother, he was very wise. He was dharma personified. He was the incarnation of Dharmaraja, Yamaraja. So he was perfectly situated in dharma, on the platform of dharma whereas Duryodhana is the incarnation of Kali and his business is to establish adharma, defeat dharma. Therefore, time and time again, Vidura instructed Dhrtarastra to get rid of Duryodhana. As a matter of fact, right after his birth, he told him to get rid of him, to kill him. And he gave a valid reason why Duryodhana should be killed right after his birth: because he saw all inauspicious omens manifesting right after his birth.

A personality like Vidura is tri-kala-jna. They can see time in three aspects. Not only present, they can see past, present, as well as future. He could see that this person is going to be not only the cause of the destruction of the entire family, but he would be the cause of the destruction of the entire ksastriya lineage and he would be the cause of the destruction of the earth planet.

But Dhrtarastra could not accept the wise advice of Vidura. He was so much affected by his affection for his son. Prabhupada mentioned that Dhrtarastra was not only materially blind, but he was also spiritually blind. He was not only blind with his physical eyes, but he was also devoid of spiritual vision. Therefore he could not see what was right and what was wrong, what should be done, what should not be done. Dhrtarastra did not accept Vidura's advice at that time.

Then time and time again, Vidura continued to give him the same advice. When they tried to kill the Pandavas along with Kunti, Vidura was instructing Dhrtarastra, "Get rid of your son. He is evil personified."

When Draupadi was insulted along with the Pandavas in the deceptive game of dice and everything was taken away from the Pandavas and Draupadi was dragged into the assembly and insulted in front of everybody, then Vidura told him, "Get rid of your son."

No one actually stood up in protest. Draupadi was appealing to everyone. All the senior members, elderly members of the Kuru Dynasty were present there. Bhimsadeva himself was present there. Dronacarya was present there. Of course Dhrtarastra was there. No one said anything in protest of this heinous, inhuman act, but Vidura stood up and warned Dhrtarastra right there, "Please, till now you have the time to save this earth from this disgraceful destruction. Get rid of your son." Dhrtarastra didn't listen.

Then just before the battle of Kuruksetra this is what was happening. Again, Vidura advised Dhrtarastra, "Please get rid of your son. He is no good. He is like a blind eye. He doesn't serve the purpose rather causes distress to you. Not only you, he is going to cause the destruction of the entire family. He is kulaghana, he is the fire that is going to burn the entire family, so please get rid of him." Dhrtarastra didn't listen. Rather, then Duryodhana came and insulted him in very harsh words and Vidura then left. He saw that the inevitable couldn't be avoided, so he left.

It is not only Vidura who was giving this advice to Dhrtarastra, even Gandhari, Duryodhana's own mother was advising Dhrtarastra to get rid of Dhrtarastra. She became furious when she saw how Draupadi was humiliated, Draupadi was insulted. Gandhari was not in the assembly, but when she heard Draupadi's cry, she ran to the window. Actually, the women don't go to the assembly usually. The women in Vedic culture don't go to the royal assembly, but there are some small windows. Through that, they can see what is happening, if necessary. So when she heard the cry of Draupadi, she just ran out there. She was blindfolded, so she couldn't see, but she could hear what was going on and she became furious. She immediately ran right after the assembly was over to Dhrtarastra and she appealed, "I have come here with a request."

Dhrtarastra replied, "Tell me, I'm not going to refuse your request. I don't refuse your requests."

Then she said, "Get rid of him."

Dhrtarastra asked, "Who?"

She said," Duryodhana."

Dhrtarastra didn't expect that the mother would expect that her son should be banished in this way. When she saw Dhrtarastra was hesitating, she asked, "You are a king. If one of your citizens molests a woman, what will you do?"

He just spelt out, he said, "I'll banish him."

She said, "Your son has done that, so you banish him."

But Dhrtarastra could not. He reasoned, "After all, it was not what you are thinking."

Then also, Gandhari predicted, "You see, I am the mother. I carried him just below my heart for such a long time. I fed him with my own breast milk. My heart was filled with parental affection, motherly affection when his tiny little hands used to caress me and I am requesting you this. Don't you see the need for that?"

Still Dhrtarastra refused. So that is how a blind man acts, a spiritually blind man acts. He is devoid of clarity of his perception, clarity of his intelligence.

Mahabharata, for that matter, is a very wonderful eye opener for all of us. Mahabharata actually gives in a very elaborate way, the understanding of what should be done and what should not be done. In this way, ultimately it comes to the point of surrendering to Krsna. What is the benefit when we surrender to Krsna and what is the disadvantage when we go against Krsna?

If one goes against Krsna, the ultimate result is going to be inauspicious. No matter how noble, how righteous the person may be, but the ultimate consideration is surrender to Krsna. That is why within Mahabharata, Bhagavad-gita has been placed as the crest jewel of this wonderful scripture.

Vidura is advising Dhrtarastra, but here also we see Dhrtarastra is not willing to listen. He is so overpowered by his attachment to his son. The history also can reveal the fact why. Dhrtarastra is a very unfortunate soul. He was the elder brother, the eldest brother born in a royal family, a very illustrious royal family, the moon dynasty, candra-vamsa. The eldest of the family naturally becomes the king, but he could not become the king because he was blind from his birth. But he had a faint hope, not a faint hope, he had a deep conviction actually that he couldn't become king, but his son would become king. He harbored that hope and he was living with that expectation that his son would become king. But in course of time, before his son was born, Pandu's son was born. Dhrtarastra was again disappointed. Although Pandu was the younger brother, his son came before. Therefore, it is again another Vedic custom that the eldest in the family becomes the king. So Yudhisthira Maharaja became the natural successor to the throne.

And that is why Duryodhana became so envious. He became so envious from his childhood that he won't become the king. Not only that, the Pandavas, especially Bhima, was far superior to him in strength and other qualities. All the Pandavas were illustrious. Everyone used to just adore them, especially Bhisma and Drona. Duryodhana could not tolerate that because these were the two most important personalities in his life at that time. Bhimsadeva was the grandsire, grandfather, and Dronacarya was their astra siksa guru. Arjuna excelled him all respects. Bhima excelled him in strength. So he became extremely envious.

Although Duryodhana otherwise was a very noble character. Otherwise, he was a very noble person. He had so many good qualities. But all his good qualities were destroyed just because of one defect, his envy.

Duryodhana, again, is an incarnation of Kali. Who is Kali? Kali is the son of envy and anger. Kali is the son of envy and anger. So Duryodhana is actually a product of envy and anger. So he is extremely envious, especially of the Pandavas. Otherwise he had many good qualities. He was extremely noble, extremely generous. That is why he had so many people lined up with him--they would give up their lives.

When Dronacarya introduced Asvatthama, his son, to both the Pandavas and Kauravas, Dronacarya expected that Asvatthama would naturally be attracted to the Pandavas, but Asvatthama developed an affinity to Duryodhana. So much so that he committed so many heinous acts, the worst of all the heinous acts one can kill: killing the sleeping individuals, especially the five sons of Draupadi. He did that just to please Duryodhana. His whole mission, the whole purpose of Asvatthama's existence was just to please Duryodhana.

Similarly, Karna was sold out to Duryodhana because of the generous gesture Duryodhana had displayed towards him. Karna appeared in that arena where the Kuru princes were displaying their expertise in using weapons. Dronacarya, after the instructing them in using weapons for many years, finally he was displaying what he taught them. In that assembly, Karna just appeared. Dronacarya expected trouble. He could see that he was an extremely powerful and extremely talented individual. Just from his appearance he could recognize that. Dronacarya asked him, "What is your identity? Who are you?"

Karna had to admit that he was belonging to a lower caste. He was a suta.

Then Dronacarya told him, "You can't contest with the princes. You have to be equal to contest with them. How dare you come here and challenge these princes?"

Right at that time, Duryodhana announced, "OK, I am giving him the kingdom of Anga, a province." He offered it to him and elevated him to the platform of a ksatriya.

So we can see, Duryodhana had many good qualities that way. As a result of that many people became absolutely loyal to him, like Karna. Although Karna was also an extremely noble person, he didn't hesitate to stoop down to a very, very degraded level just for the sake of Duryodhana's pleasure.

In a way, that is what Prabhupada pointed out, that we should be very careful what kind of association we keep. We should be very careful of our association. If we remain in bad association, no matter how good we may be, we will be affected by that bad association. Therefore association is very, very important.

Duryodhana, in this way, won Karna. And what to speak of Karna, Salya, Madri's brother, the uncle of the Pandavas, he was coming to join the battle of Kuruksetra to side with the Pandavas. But Karna had a problem. Karna when he got to know that Krsna is going to become charioteer, he told Duryodhana, "Look, Duryodhana, I won't be able to contest with Arjuna when he has a charioteer like Krsna. "

So he asked, "Then who can you get as your charioteer?"

He said, "The most expert charioteer is Salya, the king of Madras, but he is the uncle of the Pandavas. How to get him?"

So Duryodhana made arrangements to meet with Salya when he was coming. He treated him in such a wonderful way that Salya was forced to join him and go against his own nephews. He fought against them.

So this is how, in one way, one can say that Duryodhana is actually very crafty and he was very scheming and he made his plans in such a way. There was always some motivation, some intention behind his actions, but still, in a superficial way, we have to admit that Duryodhana was a nice guy, a nice person. [chuckles.] So many people actually joined him.

Another nice point in that respect is that when the battle of Kuruksetra was arranged, Pandavas had seven aksauhinis whereas the Kauravas had eleven. And the Pandavas side were just their blood relations, relatives like Drupada and the others. They were all relatives of the Pandvas, Dhrstadyumna and Uttara's father, Virata. But the Kauravas side, the others also joined the Kauravas because they were enamored by Duryodhana's dealings with them. In this way, we can see, in spite of having all good qualities, all these nice qualities, Duryodhana is evil personified, just because of one thing: envy.

Envy leads to anger. Therefore, we should be very, very careful to defeat these two adverse influences for our, not only spiritual progress, but even for our proper sustenance. That is why Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu actually came to counteract the influence of Kali. Kali's influence is quarrel, generated by envy and anger. This is another name of Kali, Kali is quarrel personified:

karala-vadana krurah kalisca kalah

Kali has been described as very vicious looking and very wicked, cruel. He is very wicked and he always generates quarrel. By causing quarrel, he spreads his influence, dividing through quarrel.

Now Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to counteract the influence of Kali and his way of doing it is by unifying us with love. Quarrel is generated out of hatred. Now how do we counteract hatred? Through love. Quarrel is caused by envy and anger. How do we counteract envy and anger? By being humble and by being tolerant.

So often we encounter reasons to be angry, especially someone tries to correct you and you immediately think, "Who are you to correct me?" You get angry, but if you take a humble position, "Maybe I was wrong and he was right." If you take a humble position, then immediately we can avoid the possibility of quarrel.

We become envious. Why do we become envious? We become envious by seeing how the others are excelling. The others are becoming greater. The others are progressing, they are being glorified, they are becoming so qualified. And we become envious, "Why not me?" The heart becomes so much afflicted and tormented, "Why the whole world is glorifying him, why not me? Why don't they see how great I am?"

Just be patient and tolerant. In course of time, Krsna will glorify you also. Krsna is glorifying him or her today, tomorrow Krsna will glorify you. So don't be impatient. Be tolerant. Everyone will have his heyday.

In this way, if we just maintain this mood of our humble disposition and tolerant attitude, everything will become all right and this will generate a wonderful strength of Krsna consciousness, krsna-prema. This krsna-prema will unify the whole world. Kali will try to divide, create dissention among the devotees and that is how Kali will enter into the movement. In the past we have seen so many times Kali has entered into Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement in the form of quarrel among the devotees.

So many times Srila Prabhupada warned us that this movement cannot be destroyed from outside. Only from within this movement can be destroyed because if there are attacks from outside, that will actually strengthen our movement. Attacks will come from outside and we will counteract that attack, we will overpower that attack and we will become strong. Because who can defeat Krsna and his devotees? Who can defeat Caitanya Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement? Nobody. But if the devotees start to fight among themselves, that will the cause of our destruction. Only that can destroy the progress of Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement. Nothing can destroy Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement, but what they can do is stifle the progress of Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement. Therefore we should be very careful that among ourselves we do not fight. We should maintain a wonderful spirit of unity generated out of our love and friendship for each other.

Now that the GBC meeting is going on, as a member of the GBC body, I can assure you, I can tell you that our movement is progressing in a very wonderful way. All the auspicious signs are there. The way things are happening, the way the GBC's are guiding this movement is very, very positive, very auspicious.

In a few days, our GBC Chairman, along with the GBC body will present the results of our GBC meetings. You will get to know that at that time. In short I can tell you that there are many wonderful things happening today. The progress of this movement is assured. This movement, ISKCON movement, the association of devotees worldwide that has been created by Srila Prabhupada, this institution is being very nicely protected by the leading members of this movement. They are paving the way for its wonderful progress in course of time.

Progress means Krsna consciousness will spread, the glory of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will spread, the teachings of Srila Prabhupada will spread. As a result of that, innumerable individuals all over the world will receive inconceivable spiritual benefit and Kali's influence will be thwarted and Krsna consciousness will prevail. Dharma will be reestablished and the golden age will appear once again in the middle of the age of Kali.

Thank you very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

[Applause]

Gaura premanande, hari, haribol!

Hare Krsna. I won't take any questions because we have a GBC meeting and now they all have to take breakfast.

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.

SB 3.1.10-12 Radhanatha Swami

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 18:52:00 +0000

Lecture by His Holiness Radhanatha Swami (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.10-12

Text 10: When Vidura was invited by his elder brother [Dhrtarastra] for consultation, he entered the house and gave instructions which were exactly to the point. His advice is well known, and instructions by Vidura are approved by expert ministers of state.

PURPORT: Political suggestions by Vidura are known as expert, just as, in modern times, Pandita Canakya is considered the authority in good counsel in both political and moral instructions.

Text 11: [Vidura said:] You must now return the legitimate share to Yudhisthira, who has no enemies and who has been forbearing through untold sufferings due to your offenses. He is waiting with his younger brothers, among whom is the revengeful Bhima, breathing heavily like a snake. Surely you are afraid of him.

parthams tu devo bhagavan mukundo grhitavan saksiti-deva-devah aste sva-puryam yadu-deva-devo vinirjitasesa-nrdeva-devah

TRANSLATION: Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, has accepted the sons of Prtha as His kinsmen, and all the kings of the world are with Lord Sri Krsna. He is present in His home with all His family members, the kings and princes of the Yadu dynasty, who have conquered an unlimited number of rulers, and He is their Lord.

PURPORT: Vidura gave Dhrtarastra very good counsel regarding political alliance with the sons of Prtha, the Pandavas. The first thing he said was that Lord Krsna was intimately related with them as their cousin. Because Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is worshipable by all brahmanas and demigods, who are the controllers of the universal affairs. Besides that, Lord Krsna and His family members, the royal order of the Yadu dynasty, were the conquerors of all kings of the world.

The ksatriyas used to fight the kings of various dominions and kidnap their beautiful princess-daughters, after conquering their relatives. This system was laudable because the ksatriyas and the princesses would be married only on the basis of the chivalry of the conquering ksatriya. All the young princes of the Yadu dynasty married the daughters of other kings in this way, by chivalrous force, and thus they were conquerors of all the kings of the world. Vidura wanted to impress upon his elder brother that fighting with the Pandavas was fraught with many dangers because they were supported by Lord Krsna, who had conquered, even in His childhood, demons like Kamsa and Jarasandha and demigods like Brahma and Indra. Therefore all universal power was behind the Pandavas. [end of purport]

(Invocatory prayers)

HH Radhanath Swami: We are reading today from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3, Chapter 1, entitled Questions by Vidura, Text 10 through 12. in this chapter, we find the essential Vaisnava qualities of Vidura, what made him so very dear to Krsna that the Lord was in preference of taking a simple banana from Vidura than an elegant feast and royal reception from Duryodhana. In this chapter, we find what a well-wishing friend and servant Vidura was to everyone, even those who hated him.

In the Krsna book there is story of Brghu Muni kicking the chest of Visnu and Visnu getting off his throne to massage the feet of Brghu, apologizing, "My chest is so hard and your foot is so soft, please let me massage your feet." Therein Srila Prabhupada writes:

"One's greatness has to be estimated by one's ability to tolerate provoking situations."

I'll repeat: "One's greatness has to be estimated by one's ability to tolerate provoking situations."

Krsna tells us in Gita, dukhalaya, this material world is a place of misery. He has created it, he maintains it, and ultimately, only he can destroy it. He knows supremely how this material world works and why. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "This world is no place for a gentleman." Whoever we are, we have to suffer.

In one lecture on the first verse of Sri Bhagavad-gita, Srila Prabhupada explains why this material world is so miserable: because everyone who comes to this world is envious, potentially envious of anyone else. Srila Prabhupada defines why people are envious: because we want to be the Lord, we want to be the proprietor, the controller, and the enjoyer. Therefore, we are potentially in conflict with anybody or anyone in our pursuit.

He gives the example of Duryodhana. He had everything--massive wealth, tremendous influence and power, he was young, he was handsome, he was intelligent. Yudhisthira and his brothers were utterly faultless. They loved him, but he was envious because he wanted what they had. He was envious of the strength of Bhima, he was envious of the morality of Yudhisthira, and he was envious of their rightful heir to the throne. In his envy, he influenced others, including his father, to try through so many ways to destroy the Pandavas, he tried to murder them again and again.

Bhisma, when he was on his deathbed, he was wondering, "How is it that Yudhisthira had to suffer so much? He is religion personified. And how is it that Kunti, their noble and pious mother, had to go through such terrible trauma throughout her life? It is due to the imperceptible, inevitable power of time, which is controlled by the Personality of Godhead, that all of these things have taken place." But ultimately, everything is always perfect for his devotees.

Vidura, who we are reading about today, he had to witness all of these tragedies. A pure devotee in every respect, Vidura was everyone's well-wisher. He was equally the uncle of the Pnadavas and the Kurus. And he was the only surviving brother of Dhrtarastra. His compassion was not sentimental. He saw how his brother was not only blind in sight, but he was blind spiritually and socially as well due to his association with the envious Duryodhana.

Seeing tragedy after tragedy, plot after plot to take the life of the Pandavas, he tried in every way to resolve the issues. It was actually Vidura who sent the message to Yudhisthira Maharaja, "You are living in a house of lac. On this particular day, they are planning to murder you by burning it down." Through that message, the Pandavas were rescued. Then he saw the Pandavas exiled for thirteen years to the forest after being cheated, and all the blasphemy and horrible rumors and various plots to destroy them.

Here we find in this chapter, Vidura is approaching Dhrtarastra, "Because of your attachment to this envious son, who is offense personified, Duryodhana, you will not only be destroyed, they will be destroyed, your entire dynasty will be destroyed. Don't you see? Yudhisthira is faultless, Bhima is angry as a snake, heavily breathing for revenge, and their best well-wishing friend is Krsna, the controller of all controllers, the Lord of the demigods. Don't you see your insanity? Give the Pandavas what they deserve."

He said all this in the presence of Duryodhana, who was absolutely outraged. But Vidura was fearless. Duryodhana screamed out, "Who asked him to come here?" He was so swollen with anger, his lips were trembling. "Who asked him to come here, this son of a kept mistress? He is so crooked that he spies in the interest of the enemy against those on whose support he has grown up. Toss him out of this palace immediately and leave him only with his breath."

This is coming from the words of someone that Vidura loved dearly, his own nephew. These words, it describes, pierced Vidura's heart like arrows through his ears, afflicted the very core of his heart. And Dhrtarastra took the side of his son.

Vidura was not only horribly blasphemed but he was kicked out of his own home. He had to leave his family, his wife, his children, his home, everything, and go to the forest. But Vidura saw it all as the divine arrangement of Krsna to free him from all of the horrible politics of the palace and allow him to go on a pilgrimage to all the holy places alone and seek out the association of holy people. For years and years he traveled all over India to the sacred places. During that time the battle of Kuruksetra took place, the Pandavas were victorious, Duryodhana, all of his ninety-nine brothers were killed by Bhima, Yudhisthira Maharaja was enthroned as king.

Vidura came out of his wonderful pilgrimage to Hastinapura for one reason only--to deliver Dhrtarastra, who was so cruel to him, who banished him from his own home, who offended the greatest devotees and the Lord himself. Vidura understood Dhrtarastra is going to suffer the worst hell unless he is delivered. He came back from the forest only to preach to Dhrtarastra.

Amazing. . . Dhrtarastra was so covered over by illusion, it took that much for him to hear Vidura's words. Vidura was speaking the same thing to him year after year after year, but he couldn't hear because of his attachment to his sons. But now that everything was lost Vidura understood he may be receptive--and he was. "You are being kept by Yudhisthira Maharaja, who you tried to destroy in every way. How shameful! How offensive. Come with me to the forest and atone for your sins and take shelter of the Supreme Lord."

After preaching to Dhrtarastra, Vidura went to the forest with him to show him the path of self-realization and never came back. Srila Prabhupada explains: this is the nature of Vaisnava. Even abused in so many ways, he is always the well-wisher, forgiving, and humble.

This is the recurring theme of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Pandavas, Prahlada Maharaja, abused by his father in every way, atrocities, death threats, blasphemy, but still, when asked for a benediction from Lord Nrsimhadeva, he only wanted his father to be liberated. And he repeatedly went to his father and preached to him the truth. Ambarisa Maharaja, he made no mistake, but Durvasa Muni tried to murder him. He called him such nasty words. He said, "You're not a devotee, you're cruel, you're offensive, you're attached to your senses, and you think you're God." That's a heavy offense to say against a devotee: "You think you're God." After creating that fiery demon, Ambarisa Maharaja spent a whole year only praying for the deliverance of Durvasa Muni, and ultimately, delivered him.

And here in Navadvipa, we find the same theme again and again. Nearby in Phuliagram, Thakura Haridasa, as he was being blasphemed and beaten with the intention of killing him by the executioners, Haridasa was only praying to the Lord for one benediction: "Give them love of God. Don't think that what they are doing against me is an offense. Forgive them and give them your love."

Nityananda Prabhu was attacked with the intention to kill him by Jagai and Madhai, who were raping brahmana's daughters and wives, they were murderers, they were slaughtering cows, they were drunkards, they were burning people's houses together. Nityananda Prabhu prayed to Lord Caitanya, "If I have done any good pious activities, if I have done any good service to you, let all those credits go to forgiving them and giving them love of God."

And Lord Caitanya himself, at one time, he ordered his devotees, "We should give us this sleeping at night, it's a waste of time. We should perform nama-sankirtana in Srivasa Angam all night, every night for the next one year." And they did it. They locked the doors so that materialistic people would not disturb them.

But those materialistic people, how they hated Lord Caitanya and the devotees. They would bang on the doors, "Let us in! Let us in!" But they were not permitted, so they would call out in loud voices amongst themselves and for everyone to hear, "We know what they are doing in there. They are so useless and poverty-stricken that they go out begging for food, but because they aren't getting enough food, in their starvation, they are screaming out all night long."

"They are doing tantric rites to goddess Durga in there. Otherwise, why will they not allow noble, learned brahmanas to come in? Because we will expose them. They are drinking liquor. They are seducing the five types of young girls, bringing them into their house, dressing with ornaments and costly garments, drinking intoxicating beverages, and enjoying illicit affairs all night, every night. That is what they are doing. Because of them, the whole city of Navadvipa is going to be destroyed."

One said, "Nimai used to be a nice boy, but due to his past impious deeds and his association with these devotees and due to his not being trained properly by a father, he has become mad, crazy, and sinful. We should take this Srivasa, capture him, and punish him. We should take his house, tear it apart and throw it in the Ganges."

This is what they were saying. Not only that, they would grab innocent people and bring them to the kirtan, "You hear that screaming, you see what they are doing, do you know why they are not letting us in?" And they would repeat these horrible words.

Lord Caitanya and the devotees just carried on with their nama-sankirtana. This type of blasphemy was going on continuously through Lord Caitanya's nama-sankirtana movement. Those same brahmanas even complained to Chand Kazi, who tried to destroy Lord Caitanya and his movement, made laws against them. It was due to that difficult situation Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ordered the first public harinama-sankirtana procession through the streets of Navadvipa. And even though Chand Kazi was so blasphemous and so violent towards the Vaisnavas, Mahaprabhu went right to his house and delivered him. But it didn't stop.

In our biographies of Lord Caitanya, we read how Lord Caitanya really took a mood very similar to Vidura. He had to leave Navadvipa, and ultimately, come back to deliver those who were trying to destroy him.

Once in the mood of the gopis, he was chanting the names of the gopis, and one arrogant student challenged him, "Why are you saying 'gopi, gopi'? What scripture tells you that? This is bogus. You should chant the name of Krsna."

Lord Caitanya, in his ecstasy, picked up a stick and chased him away. "Why should I chant Krsna's name? He is a cheater. Vali was a good monkey and he killed him for no reason. And Bali Maharaja was a very nice man, and yet, he took everything from him and sent him down to Patala-loka."

He was in his ecstasy, but the student went to the other students and reported it. Due to their arrogance, they were inflamed with anger. They were spreading throughout the town of Navadvipa, "Who is this Nimai Pandit? Who does he think he is? Not long ago, we were students sitting right next to him, and now, he has the right to punish us? All his mad chanting all night long? He is going to bring ruination. He is offending the demigods by not chanting their names. They are going to withdraw rain, there will be a drought, and we are all going to die because of him. He should be destroyed. We should punish him. We should beat him."

At that time, Lord Caitanya sat with Nityananda Prabhu and his devotees and he said, "I have come with a medicine to reduce the congestion of mucus, but I find that the medicine is increasing the disease of excess mucus."

He said to Nityananda Prabhu, "We have to come to deliver the world, but now we see that due to our presence, it is being destroyed. Therefore, because they are seeing me to be an ordinary man like them as a grhastha, I will shave my head, and live my life as a beggar, as a sannyasi. Then they will offer obeisances to me and be delivered."

Nityananda Prabhu was devastated. The Lord said, "I will not do it without your permission."

Nityananda Prabhu said, "Who am I to tell you what to do? You are the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ultimately, you know what is best for everyone, but please ask the other devotees."

Lord Caitanya embraced him. Nityananda mediated on the lotus feet of the Lord Caitanya's mother, Sacidevi: "What will happen to her? Without her son Nimai, as a widow, she will die. She will cry day and night." Thinking of Mother Saci, he fell unconscious. Going to a secluded place, he wept continuously.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had all the innocent and pious people of Navadvipa joining his nama-sankirtana movement. His particular reason for taking sannyasa was to somehow or other deliver the envious people who were blaspheming him and blaspheming the Vaisnavas. It is described by Kaviraja Goswami, he went to South India, and there, he had such greater success than Navadvipa because they were innocent people. Navadvipa was filled with so many arrogant, venomous people.

But then Lord Caitanya, like Vidura, returned to the very place of those who had offended him. He came to Vidyanagar to the house of Vidya-vacaspati, the son of Visarada and the brother of Savrabhauma Bhattacarya. When the people of Navadvipa heard that Lord Caitanya, who was now a sannyasi, had returned, all these blasphemous sinful people, as well as the pious people, they all rushed to his association.

It is explained that so many people, millions and millions, were running, the roads were filled. They ran through the jungles where there were thorns and thickets, and didn't even care. They made all the jungles into like roadways of people just running and running and running. Nothing could stop them. They were embracing each other. "I have blasphemed the devotees unlimited times, I have blasphemed the Lord himself again and again, but I will fall at his feet and I will beg for his forgiveness and I will surrender to him." This was the mood.

They were all running. They came to the river--a single ferry. Thousands and thousands of people jumped on it. The ferryman didn't know what to do. He saw his ferry just fall to pieces and disintegrate. This happened to all the boats. The people, they were so eager to see Lord Caitanya, they just gave some clothes, "Here get a new ferry." Somehow or other, they had to cross the Ganges. Most of them did not know swimming. Some of them just grabbed a clay pot and used that to float. Others took the trunk of a banana tree and floated on that. Others who didn't know how to swim forgot they didn't know how to swim and swam across. [laughter] This was the intensity of their enthusiasm. There was no obstacle that could stop them.

When they gathered around Vidya-vacaspati's house, there were millions and millions of people. All of the agricultural fields were filled. According to Caitanya Bhagavata, thousands of people simultaneously tired to climb a single tree. They were standing by the thousands on a single rooftop and yet nobody died or got injured. Vidya-vacaspati said, "My Lord, they are all coming to see you, please come out."

When Lord Caitanya came out, everyone falling at his feet, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave a simple message, "Always remember Krsna, chant the Holy Names of Krsna, worship Krsna, and always share Krsna with each other. In this way, your lives will be perfect." He raised his arms and induced everyone to chant. Soon there were thousands of kirtan parties with their arms raised, loudly chanting the Holy Names.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu suddenly disappeared. He went to Kuliya-gram. The people couldn't find him. They fell at the feet of Vidya-vacaspati, "We know he is hiding in you house. I won't tell anyone else, just let me in to see the Lord."

Vidya-vacaspati couldn't find the Lord. He didn't know where he was. Soon people were criticizing him, "Why don't you let us in?" Thousands, millions of people were just blaspheming Vidya-vacaspati. "He is so cruel. He is supposed to be a brahmana, but he is only concerned with his own deliverance. He doesn't care if the rest of us go to hell. Even a common, decent person, if he has an abundance of sweets, he doesn't eat them all himself, he distributes them."

He was tormented. On one side he was feeling separation from the Lord, on the other side, he was the enemy of everyone. Someone whispered in his ear, "The Lord has gone to Kuliya-gram."

He called out, he said, "Kuliya-gram! Let's go!" So all of those millions of people had to cross the Ganges again. Now, according to Sri Caitanya Bhagavat, the crowd was even thousands of times bigger.

At the house of Madhava dasa, Vidya-vacaspati was searching frantically. If he didn't find him, he was in big trouble. Finally, he found him. He said, "My Lord, please save my life. They hate me. They are saying horrible things against me. Come out and give your darsana. Rescue my life."

Lord Caitanya came out. When he came out, everyone was offering their lives and their souls to him. It is explained when he was on the roof of the house of Madhava Dasa, the devotees saw Lord Caitanya like the gopis saw Krsna in Kuruksetra. This is explained by Bhaktivinod Thakur. They were praying in their heart of hearts, "You have left Srivasa Angam to become a great sannyasi traveling all around, doing all great things. Now you are here again in Navadvipa. We do not like to see you with this shaved head. We want to see your beautiful flowing, black hair again. We cannot tolerate seeing you in the drab robes of a sannyasi. We want to see you again in your beautiful golden garments with ornaments. Please, we don't like to see you in this way. Return to Srivasa's house where like days before, we can once again be in your intimate association, chanting throughout the day and night the Holy Names of Lord Krsna."

It was at that time that all of the blasphemers and critics came to Lord Caitanya to beg forgiveness and he gave them all love of God. One brahmana fell at Lord Caitanya's feet. He said, "For years and years, I blasphemed you, I blasphemed your sankirtana, and I blasphemed your devotees. I used to say, 'What kind of Vaisnavas are they, screaming out these names all day. What's wrong with japa and meditation?' But now I realize my offense. Please instruct me how I can be delivered."

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said to that brahmana, "Listen carefully, if one drinks poison, it will certainly kill him, but if one drinks nectar, that will counteract the effects of poison and deliver him. Criticizing a devotee is like poison. It kills our propensity for devotional service. There is only one remedy. No prayascita will work if you blaspheme Krsna or his devotees. There is no atonement in any of the scriptures that will counteract it. Only one: you must sincerely and humbly glorify the names of God and you must praise the glories of the Vaisnavas. Wiith the same mouth you blasphemed, you must praise the Vaisnavas. Then you will not only be forgiven, you will attain the perfection of life. Take this seriously always. Praise the glories of the devotees."

Devananda Pandit, who had offended Srivasa Thakur, and offended Lord Caitanya on so many occasions, due to somehow or other getting the blessings of Vakresvara Pandit, his heart changed. That is the power of the association of a devotee. He came and fell at the feet of Lord Caitanya and begged, "Please forgive me."

Lord Caitanya instructed him, "You were preaching Srima- Bhagavatam, but you were not respecting the persons Bhagavatam. Srimad-Bhagavatam only teaches one thing from its first verse to the last: pure, unalloyed devotion to Krsna. Speak only this and give up your offensive mentality."

Gopal Capala, who tried to destroy Srivasa Thakur by ruining his reputation, Gopal Capala put the tantric, ritualistic paraphernalia of durga-puja in front of his house, wine, and all kinds of other things just so the people would hate him and lose all respect for him. Due to that offense, he got leprosy. But at Kuliya-gram, he fell at the feet of Lord Caitanya and begged for forgiveness. Lord Caitanya said, "I cannot forgive you unless Srivasa Thakur forgives you. He is the one you offended."

He went to Srivasa. Sirvasa, the whole while, was only praying for his deliverance. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave Gopal Capala krsna-prema.

Vrindavan dasa Thakur explains that anyone who even hears of the Lord's mercy to the blasphemers and sinners in Kuliya-gram, all the bonds of their karma will be destroyed and they will attain the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

Like Vidura, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu left Navadvipa and then returned only for the purpose of giving his mercy to those who hated him and tried to destroy him.

Dhrtarastra went to the forest along with Vidura and atoned for all of his offenses. That is the mercy of a Vaisnava. Srila Prabhupada explains: "One's greatness has to be estimated by one's ability to tolerate provoking situations." Because this world has inevitable miseries, sufferings, and such provoking situations will come upon everyone, how we respond, that is how Krsna within our heart will see that we are sincere.

Srila Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual maser, how merciful, kind, and compassionate he was to all of us. Devotees asked Srila Prabhupada, "What was our qualification for getting such a glorious chance of perfecting our lives?"

Srila Prabhupada said, "You had no qualifications." And with all humility, he said, "I have made your qualifications." It is how much he tolerated, how much he forgave us, and factually, that was, and will always be, our only qualification to go back home, back to Godhead.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Thank you very much. We must end now. Hare Krsna.

[Applause]

SB 3.1.9 Jagat Caksur Prabhu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 18:12:00 +0000

Lecture by His Grace Jagat Caksur Prabhu (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.9

yada ca partha-prahitah sabhayam
jagad-gurur yani jagada krsnah
na tani pumsam amrtayanani
rajoru mene ksata-punya-lesah

TRANSLATION: Lord Krsna was sent by Arjuna into the assembly as the spiritual master of the whole world, and although His words were heard by some [like Bhisma] as pure nectar, it was not so for the others, who were completely bereft of the last farthing of past pious works. The King [Dhrtarastra or Duryodhana] did not take the words of Lord Krsna very seriously.

PURPORT: Lord Krsna, who is the spiritual master of the entire universe, accepted the duty of a messenger, and, deputed by Arjuna, went to the assembly of King Dhrtarastra on a peace mission. Krsna is everyone's Lord, yet because He was the transcendental friend of Arjuna, He gladly accepted the role of messenger, exactly like an ordinary friend. That is the beauty of the Lord's behavior with His pure devotees. He reached the assembly and spoke about peace, and the message was relished by Bhisma and other great leaders because it was spoken by the Lord Himself. But due to the exhaustion of the pious results of their past deeds, Duryodhana, or his father, Dhrtarastra, did not take the message very seriously. That is the way of persons who have no credit of pious deeds. By past pious deeds, one may become the king of a country, but because the results of the pious acts of Duryodhana and company were dwindling, it became evident from their actions that they were sure to lose the kingdom to the Pandavas. The message of Godhead is always like nectar to the devotees, but it is just the opposite to the nondevotees. Sugar candy is always sweet to a healthy man, but it tastes very bitter to persons suffering from jaundice. [end]

________________

So actually there are three types of pious activities. Here it is mentioned that Duryodhana's pious activities were diminishing and that is why he was going to lose his kingdom and everything. The three pious activities are bhogonmukhi-sukrti, moksonmukhi-sukrti, and bhakty-unmukhi sukrti. Bhogonmukhi-sukrti means pious activities that bring material enjoyment. Moksonmukhi-sukrti means pious activities that can give us impersonal liberation. And bhakty-unmukhi sukrti means pious activities that can awaken devotion, devotional service.

And what are those pious activities? For example, if somebody gives charity to the poor, opens a hospital, mundane school, makes some road somewhere, things like that, those types of material, pious activities bring material happiness in the next life, or this life. Moksonmukhi-sukrti, pious activities that bring impersonal liberation are meditation on the impersonal Brahman, fasting, meditation, controlling the mind, the senses with that purpose, that brings impersonal liberation.

And bhakty-unmukhi sukrti means pious activity that brings devotional service. What are those pious activities? Not any ordinary pious activities, they are related directly to bhakti. For example, somebody just comes to the temple and puts some little water on the Tulasi plant, so that is spiritual or devotional pious activity. Or he meets a devotee in the street and buys a book. That is devotional pious activity, like that.

There are some stories in relation to that also. Once a thief, in the middle of the night, he was looking for a place to sleep. He saw a temple in the middle of the night and went there, but the door was locked, so he just took his cadar, cleansed the dust from the entrance to the temple, and laid down there. But the Lord took that as a service: "This man cleaned the entrance to my temple," though that wasn't his intention. The Lord is so eager that all conditional souls come back to him that he doesn't lose any opportunity to engage anyone in his service, even unknowingly. That is called ajnata-sukrti. This man, next life, became the pujari of that temple and became a devotee of the Lord, went back home, back to Godhead.

There is another similar story with a pigeon. The pigeon was flying around the temple and one hunter pierced her with an arrow. Before she died, she walked around the temple one time. She did parikrama around the temple and then died. Next life, she became a devotee. Due to that devotional service, she became a human being, became a devotee, went back home, back to Godhead. There are so many instances like that.

But here, Duryodhana's pious activities are definitely material, not spiritual, and those were diminishing. Unless somebody has pious activity, he cannot become a king or a prime minister or any high post like that. He has to have some pious activities from the past to achieve some high post. But if it is misused, then next life, who knows what will happen? We lose everything. That is what was going to happen to Duryodhana.

But the interesting thing here, the very important thing here is that Lord Krsna, who is the spiritual master of the whole universe, was acting as a messenger to his devotees, the Pandavas. Specifically Arjuna is mentioned here. Arjuna, due to his loving friendship with the Lord, he asked the Lord, "Please be our messenger." Out of love, the Lord accepted to do like that. He didn't have to do it. He is the Lord of everything, the master of everything.

And why would Arjuna ask Krsna to do like that? He was aware that Krsna is the Supreme Lord. How can you ask the Lord, "Do some service for me"?

The thing is, when there is a very strong intimate, loving affection, you forget that the Lord is the Supreme. You just fix your mind on the friendship relationship. Like the Brijabasis, they don't think Krsna as God, they think Krsna as our hero, or village boy. "We have so many friends but that is our best friend," like that.

So the purpose of this Krsna consciousness movement is that we have to understand very clearly, we have to be truly convinced that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then, when we achieve perfection in devotional service, we have to forget that forever. That is the perfection. Prabhupada once said that in the spiritual world, the devotees who think Krsna is the Supreme Lord, they are not first class devotees, only those who think that he is not the Supreme are the first class devotees in the spiritual world.

So when Krsna accepted that peace mission, he went on peace mission. Of course he knew the outcome. He knew everything. He knows past, present, future. Still, to show the whole world how his devotees, the Pandavas, were not greedy like Duryodhana and company, they were detached. They were prepared to accept only five small villages and avoid war. They were willing to do that. So to show the whole world that the cause of this Kuruksetra war was not the Pandavas but Duryodhana, Dhrtarastra, Krsna went there.

Of course, Duryodhana tried to invite Krsna to have nice food with him at the nice palace of his brother, Duhsasana, the best palace was there, but Krsna declined the invitation. He said, "Somebody accepts somebody's invitation for food if there is love or affection between the two persons or if somebody is in distress. So I am neither in distress, nor do you please me, so why should I accept your invitation? I would rather stay at Vidura's home. He is my dear devotee."

So Krsna stayed at Vidura's home. Vidura's wife was cooking for Krsna, and Vidura, out of fatherly affection, was feeding the Lord with his own hand. Krsna was accepting these loving dealings. After the meal finished, the sweet was just a banana. Vidura peeled the banana and was going to give it to Krsna, but he was so overwhelmed with loving affection for the Lord that instead of giving the banana, he was giving the peel to Krsna to eat. And because it was offered with so much love from his devotee, Krsna ate the banana peel. That is the most important thing here, that Krsna is conquered by the love of his devotees. That is the only thing that can conquer Krsna, nothing else.

So destiny has its way. Actually, when Krsna spoke in the assembly of the Kurus, even Dhrtarastra was moved. He agreed that Krsna's words were for the benefit of his sons and everyone, but he lamented that, "Please convince my sinful, greedy son to stop this war." Of course, Krsna tried to do that, but Duryodhana was fixed in his determination not to give even a pinch of land to the Pandavas. They had to fight for it. He was so proud and greedy. We know pride brings downfall.

There is one story in the Mahabharata of a king who took the position of Indradeva named Nahusa. So Nahusa was a great pious king, a very religious king, but Indra was having some problem because he killed Vrtrasura. He had to hide somewhere from the sinful reaction personified, so Nahusa took his position. But as soon as he took his position and gained so much power and opulence, all mystic powers of the demigods were granted to him, he became proud. He started to look at Indra's wife, Saci, with lusty eyes, saying, "I am now Indra, she must become my wife."

He proposed to her, but of course, she was a chaste lady, she declined, but he was insisting everyday for her to accept him. She went to take advice from one brahmana. He advised her, do like this. So next time he proposed to her, she told him, "Yes, yes, you can come to my home, but on one condition: you must come on a palanquin carried by pure brahmanas. That is the only way I can accept."

"Oh that is no problem. I am Indra. All brahmanas are under my command, they will definitely accept."

He went to her home carried by all the sages and brahmanas on the palanquin. Being very lusty, he was hurrying them up and he kicked with his foot one of the sages. That was it for him. The sages immediately cursed him, "You are envious like a snake, then you become a snake." Immediately he fell down, immediately. He fell to this earth planet and become a big, powerful snake.

But before he fell, he asked mercy, forgiveness from the sages. So the sages said, "OK, two things you will have. One thing is you will very easily find your food, you will overcome anybody's strength and you will capture and eat every day. You will have no problem with that. And next thing, you will be free only when you hear discourses on the Absolute Truth from a sadhu, or a saintly person. That is the only way you can be free from this curse."

In the Mahabharata it is explained that once, when the Pandavas were in exile, Bhima was looking around for roots to eat and fruits, whatever he could find. There was a yellow snake with black spots on his body. That was Nahusa. So as soon as he saw Bhima, he said, "Oh, this is a very big man, I will have a good lunch today." So he captured Bhima. Bhima is very strong. He tried to free himself, but he could not because of the blessings of the sages that Nahusa could overpower anyone he captured. Bhima could not release himself.

So he surrendered to Krsna. Bhima said, "Whatever my destiny is, if my destiny is to die today, let it be so. Let me just fix my mind on Krsna."

Then Yudhisthira started to see bad omens everywhere. "Where is Bhima?" He went to search for Bhima and found him encircled by this big, huge snake. Yudhisthira asked the snake to release his brother.

The snake told him, "Only if you can answer my questions about the Absolute Truth." In this way, he asked all the questions and received the best answers. After the discourse was finished, he gained his celestial body as Nahusa and went back to the celestial world. So it was a good ending for him after all, but see the danger of pride.

If somebody is a humble devotee, he will never fall down. He will offer respect to everyone. He will not try to find faults in anyone, only himself. So with that humble mentality, he will never commit offense and he will never fall down if he keeps himself like that. But as soon as pride comes due high position or power or whatever, then there is danger there. Immediately there is danger that I start to look down on everyone and find fault with this and that. Then, fall down can happen. We have to be very careful. It is a very important lesson here.

Anyway, Duryodhana actually was planning to capture Krsna. He told his friend Karna, "If we capture Krsna, the Pandavas will have no more power. And we can just overcome Krsna, he didn't come with soldiers, he just came by himself. It's no problem." So he tried to do that. Everybody chastised Duryodhana--Bhisma, his mother, Gandhari, Drona, even Dronacarya also, Dhrtarastra, his own father, chastised him.

Actually it was suggested, "Since you cannot control Duryodhana by ordering him not to do this, then just arrest him and put him in prison." But Dhrtarastra could not do that. He was too attached to his son.

He remembered that when he was born, all the sages told him, "Get rid of this son, he will cause the destruction of the Kuru dynasty. All the omens indicate that. Accept our word. Just give him in charity to someone else. Throw him away." But he was too attached.

Try to understand Dhrtarastra's mentality. He was frustrated because although he was the elder son of the Kurus, because of incapacity, being blind, he had to give the post to his younger brother, Pandu. So that frustration was always there with him.

So he thought, "My son is not blind like me, so why he cannot be king?" But the problem is, Yudhisthira Maharaja was born first. When Gandhari heard about it, she was pregnant. She was so frustrated that Kunti had a son before her, that she struck her womb forcibly out of frustration. Then you know what happened, Vyasadeva came, there were a hundred pieces and one more piece.

But anyway, this frustration that Dhrtarastra had and his attachment, his affection for his son, could not help him to make the right decision. Right up to the end, he could not do it. So see how material attachments make people, although they know it is wrong, they cannot help it but to do the wrong thing, like Dhrtarastra.

He was actually, when Duryodhana tried to capture Krsna, Krsna was laughing and he showed his universal form right there in the assembly of the Kurus. All the great sages there, actually many sages came, Narada Muni, all great sages also came. They were all in ecstasy seeing the virata-rupa of the Lord manifest there. Even Dhrtarastra, he prayed, "Please give me the eyes to see your form," and Krsna granted him. Dhrtarastra could see the universal form of the Lord just for that moment, then he became blind again.

Anyway, things were settled and Krsna had to leave and the war was unavoidable and what happened? We know what happened. Dhrtarastra lost all of his sons. Bhima killed all of them.

After the Kuruksetra war, all the Pandavas came to speak to their uncle, Dhrtarastra, and tried to pacify him. He lost all his sons. Dhrtarastra said, "O Bhima, are you here? Yes, come, I want to embrace you."

Krsna made a sign to Bhima: "Don't go." Rather, they brought a statue of Bhima made of iron that Duryodhana used to practice mace fighting, striking this statue. They brought it in front of Dhrtarastra, and behind was Bhima. He said, "Here I am, uncle. So Dhrtarastra embraced the statue, thinking it was Bhima, with such strength that he broke the statue in half. He was so angry at Bhima.

Then he cried and started to lament, "Oh, I lost all my sons and now I lost my nephew, Bhima. Oh, so sad"

Bhima said, "No uncle, I am here. [laughter] I know you were very angry at me, so I did like that." Then he really embraced him with affection. The anger was gone.

Still, Dhrtarastra was very, very sorry. He was suffering because of the loss of his sons. Srila Vyasadeva came. Dhrtarastra asked the question to Vyasadeva, "Please tell me, you gave me the blessing to have a hundred sons and now I lost all of them, why this happened to me? Please tell me why this happened to me. Why I had to suffer like that?"

Vyasadeva told him, "Well, this happened to you because in your past life you were a great king, but due to some bad karma, you contracted some very strange disease on your skin and that was very, very hurting, very miserable for you. You were trying to find a cure for that, consulting different kavirajas and doctors, but nobody could find a cure for it. But one very expert doctor, he told you that he knew the remedy for this. He told you that to make the medicine, he needed the body of a hundred swans.

"But he asked you, 'Are you ready to take the reaction for killing a hundred swans because I am not going to accept the reaction. I am only going to prepare the medicine, but you are going to accept the reaction. If you are willing, then we can make it.'

"You said, 'Yes, I am so desperate, I am suffering so much. Do it.' Because you didn't suffer by ordering somebody to kill these hundred swans, now these hundred swans became your sons and now you are suffering because of their death. See how the law of karma works? In your past life, you didn't care to kill a hundred swans. Now they became your sons and you are suffering because of their death."

He was enlightened by this knowledge. We suffer only due to ignorance, nothing else. Once ignorance is removed by the mercy of the spiritual master and the Vaisnavas, then suffering may be there, but it will not affect us as if we were completely in ignorance.

Once one knows the reason for suffering, then he knows the remedy too. The remedy is to take to devotional service. In the Brahma-samhita it is said: karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam. Only through devotional service karma can be diminished or annihilated. There is no other way to do it.

And of course, in this age of Kali, the best way to perform devotional service is chanting the holy name as inaugurated by Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In the sastra it is said:

naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu va yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah tatra tisthami narada

"O Narada, I am not there in Vaikuntha, nor I am in the heart of the yogis."

Then Narada says, "Then where are you, O Lord?"

yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah tatra tisthami narada

"I am there, Narada, where my devotees are singing my glories."

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Of course this is nectar for the devotees, to hear and chant and remember the holy name and pastimes of the Lord. But for the non-devotees it is bitter like neem leaf. Although neem leaf is good for your health, it helps your digestion. It is advised by Rupa Goswami, even if you have no taste for chanting the holy name, accept it as a medicine to be cured from the disease of material attachments, material entanglement, material consciousness that keeps us bound to this material existence.

The only way to bring this rope of material entanglement is to take shelter wholeheartedly in the chanting of the Holy Name. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu emphasizes three things as most important: jiver daya, nama ruci, and vaisnava seva. Jiver daya means to show compassion for the jivas. Real compassion means to give them the chance to engage in devotional service, to give them Krsna consciousness. that is real compassion--jiver daya. Nama ruci, to develop a taste for chanting the Holy Name. And vaisnava seva, the attitude of serving the Vaisnavas.

And the Vaisnava has all good qualities:

titiksavah karunikah suhrdah sarva-bhutanam ajata-satravah santa sadavah sadhu-bhusanah

He is tolerant and compassionate, titiksavah karunikah. He is friend to everyone, suhrdah sarva-dhutanam. Ajata-satravah, he has no enemies.

That's also a name given to Yudhisthira Maharaja. We read in previous verses, ajata-satru. One may say, "Duryodhana was his enemy." Yes, Duryodhana had Yudhisthira as an enemy, but Yudhisthira did not see him as an enemy. That is the difference. Someone may treat us as an enemy, but we don't have to respond in the same way. And these are the ornaments of a sadhu.

Once, a great devotee called Govinda, he was the nephew and disciple of Ramanujacarya, he was very nice sadhu, very nice devotee. Once, all his godbrothers were praising him, "O Govinda, you have such good qualities. You are very humble. You are very tolerant. You are merciful. You control your senses. You are religious." Like that, they were praising him.

To their amazement, Govinda said, "Yes, you are right. I actually have all those good qualities."

They became completely confused. They went to Ramanujacarya to tell him, "Govinda became proud. We were praising him and he said, 'Yes, it is true.'"

I mean, when somebody praise us, we try to be humble: "No, no, Prabhu, this is not true. Don't speak like that." Although internally we may say, "Finally someone recognizes." [laughter] But at least externally we try to say, "No, no, Prabhu, don't say like that. I am a fallen soul."

Then Ramanujacarya called Govinda and asked him, "What is this pride, Govinda? A Vaisnava should not be proud. Why you are saying like that?"

Govinda answered, "My dear Gurudeva, of course I have no good qualities at all. If I do have any good qualities in me, it is only due to your mercy alone. And how can I deny that you gave me your mercy? So how can I say no? These good qualities came to me only by your mercy. By accepting them, I am accepting that you gave me your mercy."

We have to understand a Vaisnava's mind is sometimes difficult to understand. We should not judge externally. We should try to understand.

So, do not have much time. If anybody has one question, maybe.

Yes, Prabhu?

Q: [inaudible]

Jagad Caksu Prabhu: Yes, of course. He also was an instrument in Krsna-lila. The demons are also instruments in Krsna-lila. They also bring out Krsna's anger to protect his devotees. They are also helping the Lord's lila in some way or another. Same with Duryodhana, but he is an individual living entity, he has free will and he is misusing it. Of course he is under the influence of maha-maya, not yoga-maya. Only pure devotees are under the influence of yoga-maya, nobody else.

Q: [inaudible]

A: What is the other person doing?

I mean, the sun rises for everyone. If somebody wants to keep himself in the shade, the sun is not guilty. Krsna is giving his mercy to everyone, but those who accept or don't accept. Of course, if this happens without the desire of the person, just accidentally, that is his good fortune. Things happen, otherwise, free will is not there. There is free will. Everyone can move, do whatever they want. Freedom is given. If somebody, by chance it happens to him, that is his good fortune. It is not Krsna controlling everybody's desire. Krsna is giving freedom for everyone to do as they like. It is up to them if they want to get the mercy or not.

Q: [inaudible]

Is it?

Q: [inaudible]

Yes, by chance, so chance is there. It is possible. And chance happens because there is free will, free movement. So, it depends on us finally. Krsna is eager that everyone comes to him, but he is not going to force anyone to do it because what is the use? But if he sees a little spark in somebody, he will take advantage of it. It said in sastra, if one gives one step towards Krsna, Krsna will give ten steps towards us. Krsna is more eager than us, but he is not going to force us. Krsna will find some way or other. He will do it through his devotees also. We have to go out and give the mercy.

Q: [inaudible]

No, it wasn't forced. That is the nature of ajnata-sukrti. Ajnata-sukrti means you do something devotional without knowing. That is the good fortune of the person.

I will tell you one real story that happened in the beginning of the movement in South America. One man, he was driving his car to the university and there was one devotee, Hanuman Goswami. He was preaching to the students there, but he didn't know most of them were Marxist, Communist. He was preaching against atheism, Marxism, so they became angry and a big argument went on between them, so much so that the devotee had to flee for his life. They wanted to hang him!

He was running like crazy and a hundred people shouting, "Hang him! Kill him!"

This man, this lawyer, his name was Bolivar, he saw that scene and immediately reacted: "This man is in danger!" He stopped the car, opened the door, and waved to the devotee to come.

The devotee jumped in the car. He saved his life. This is ajnata-sukriti. He didn't know this is a devotee or what he was doing. But because he did that, then he met Prabhupada later, he started to chant Hare Krsna on japa, Prabhupada liked him, he asked nice questions to Prabhupada, like that.

So things happen, we don't know why. It's not under our control. It is not that everything we have to understand in a square way, why it happened. Free will is there and things happen. That is the nature of ajnata-sukrti. We have to accept like that. There is no other explanation.

OK, thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

END

SB 3.1.7-8 Anuttama Prabhu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:56:00 +0000

Lecture by His Grace Anuttama Prabhu (download mp3), at the 2007 Gaura Purnima Festival in Mayapur, India.

Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.1.7-8

yada sabhayam kuru-deva-devyah
kesabhimarsam suta-karma garhyam
na varayam asa nrpah snusayah
svasrair harantyah kuca-kunkumani

TRANSLATION: The King did not forbid his son Duhsasana's abominable action of grabbing the hair of Draupadi, the wife of the godly King Yudhisthira, even though her tears washed the red dust on her breast.

dyute tv adharmena jitasya sadhoh
satyavalambasya vanam gatasya
na yacato 'dat samayena dayam
tamo-jusano yad ajata-satroh

TRANSLATION: Yudhisthira, who was born without any enemy, was unfairly defeated in gambling. But because he had taken the vow of truthfulness, he went off to the forest. When he came back in due course and begged the return of his rightful share of the kingdom, he was refused by Dhrtarastra, who was overwhelmed by illusion.

PURPORT: Maharaja Yudhisthira was the rightful heir to his father's kingdom. But just to favoUr his own sons, headed by Duryodhana, Dhrtarastra, Maharaja Yudhisthira's uncle, adopted various unfair means to cheat his nephews of their rightful share of the kingdom. At last the Pandavas demanded only five villages, one for each of the five brothers, but that was also refused by the usurpers. This incident led to the War of Kuruksetra. The Battle of Kuruksetra, therefore, was induced by the Kurus, and not the Pandavas. As ksatriyas, the proper livelihood of the Pandavas was only to rule, and not to accept any other occupation. A brahmana, ksatriya or vaisya will not accept employment for his livelihood under any circumstances. [end of purport]

(Invocatory prayers)

When I come to Mayapur every year, I always can't help but remember sitting in various places and chanting or listening to class, all of the Vaisnavas who have come and some gone either physically or spiritually in this lifetime from our view. I would like to pause and give thanks to all of those devotees who all of us owe great gratitude for for the work that they did in building this temple, paying for this temple, installing and worshipping these Deities, preaching to many of us who were very young devotees so that we can be here today. Without those persons, even though some of them may not today be active in devotional service, without their kindness and sacrifices, many of us would not be here. So to them, Hare Krsna.

So this is an interesting character study laid out here of the two personalities of Dhrtarastra and Yudhisthira. In the two verses several statements are made about Yudhisthira and about Dhrtarastra. So first of all it is explained that Dhrtarastra offended Draupadi by not forbidding the offence committed to her and he did it even despite the fact that she was crying. She was vulnerable and even she was calling out for protection but still he allowed this offence to go on. He allowed the unfair gambling match, robbing the Pandavas of their kingdom, and he refused the request of Yudhisthira even after they had gone away for so long to the forest, he refused their request, being overwhelmed by illusion. This is Dhrtarastra's nature in a nutshell.

Then Yudhisthira is described in these two verses: he has no enemy, he was godly, he was truthful, and even though he shouldn't have in one sense, he didn't need to, because of his conviction, his dedication to the vow of truthfulness, he went to the forest and underwent so much difficulty.

So these are the two natures described in the verse. And in the purport Prabhupada explains a little bit more: Dhrtarastra used unfair means to cheat the Pandavas. He was a cheater, it was his nature and he used unfair means. And it was he who actually induced the war due to his behaviour and his inability to intercede in his evil son's plans. Yudhisthira was such an exalted soul, he was willing to accept even five villages. Prabhupada explained that not even that they wanted the five villages, but it is their duty as ksatriyas, they cannot accept employment from someone else, they have to administer something. So even that was driven out of their desire to act properly according to dharma. And when they came back from their exile, Yudhisthira only asked for their rightful share.

Such a contrast in personalities is given here and it gives us some insight, we can understand the importance of proper character and proper behaviour of a devotee of the Lord and of a pure-hearted person who is endeavouring to become a devotee of the Lord.

In one sense Yudhisthira and Dhrtarastra are exact opposites, but in another sense they're actually very similar. If we look at their circumstances, they both had some relationship with Krsna, close or far, they both had some relationship to that exalted family. They both were kings. They both were wealthy. They both were powerful. They both came from honourable lineages. They both had full opportunity to hear from great personalities, they had the opportunity to serve great personalities, and to choose to act properly.

One made the right choice; the other made the wrong choice. Thus in history, King Yudhisthira is glorified, whereas Dhrtarastra is condemned. Later we know by the mercy of his brother he was redeemed, but basically one is seen as great and good and one is seen as the personification of evil, or at least foolishness and weakness in his inability to stand up to the evil of his son. Therefore, they chose two different paths. Same opportunity, same position, two different choices. One chose to act in a particular way, one chose to act in a different way.

Yesterday, in Ambarisa Prabhu's class, he quoted Prabhupada saying to all of us that devotees should be perfect gentlemen and ladies. This is in a sense telling us or instructing us that we should be careful that we are following the path of Yudhisthira and not the path of Dhrtarastra. We should also be very careful to understand what is our character, what type of characteristics are we developing or what characteristics are we trying to undevelop, most of us. What is our new set of characteristics, what set of habits are we trying to develop, what set of behaviour are we trying to develop.

Prabhupada is instructing us to be perfect ladies and gentlemen. Perfect ladies and gentleman act as Yudhisthira did even when tempted. When Dhrtarastra was tempted, out of his illusion, out of excessive affection for his son, he made the wrong choice. How many times was he reminded and admonished by his brother and others: "You're making the wrong choice, you're going to ruin your reputation and family, don't do that!" He'd say, "Yes, yes, yes." Words are cheap. But usually by the morning he would make the wrong choice again.

Yudhisthira was continuously tempted, of course we have the one example of his frailty in the gambling match (that was the rare exception) continually made the right choice. Even when he made the wrong choice, because of his vow of truthfulness, he accepted gracefully the reaction to that mistake. They went into the forest: "Yes, OK, I knew I had this weakness, I made a mistake, I accept the reaction." This was the difference in their two types of behaviour.

Also Ambarisa Prabhu was describing how Srila Prabhupada was--he used a beautiful word--he said Prabhupada was so charming. He charmed people by his presence. More than just being a gentleman or lady who does it because one is supposed to, it's just a spontaneous loving behaviour and loving character that everyone who comes into contact with that person is attracted to that person and charmed by them, feels cared for by them, wants to be with them, wants to be like them, wants to take shelter of them. This beautiful description he gave us yesterday of Prabhupada's characteristics.

So all of us are here in Mayapur because we are Prabhupadanugas. We are trying to become servants of Prabhupada, we are trying to be followers of Prabhupada. And the even heavier burden, we are trying represent Prabhupada. We do represent Prabhupada whether we acknowledge it or not or like it or not, people look at us and to one extent or another they consider "Well, if you're a follower of Prabhupada, whatever you do must reflect what he is like."

How many of us have met in different parts of the world, you can change the denomination, sometimes we meet very arrogant Christians and it makes us think pretty ill of Christianity. We think, "If that is what Christians are like, I'd rather go to hell personally, [chuckles] I don't want to be with those guys.

There are different organizations where their followers are understood worldwide as being aggressive, very obnoxious, and very full of themselves. And most people, even scholars who study them, think these people are, to use Prabhupada's words, rascals. Who wants to be like them? You are turned off by the people that supposedly represent the tradition.

So here it's being taught to us the qualities of a devotee so that we can develop that. We need to be careful in our own spiritual practice to develop the qualities and habits and behaviour of a devotee so that we also can somehow help attract people to Krsna consciousness. Certainly that's not the only way people are attracted but it's a very important way that people are attracted to Krsna consciousness or turned away from Krsna consciousness, that we represent the pure devotee of the Lord and that we try to reflect, to manifest, to be a medium of that.

Sometimes there's a tendency among us, just as we can imagine Dhrtarastra, in his long nights of darkness sitting in his palace agonizing over what choice to make. . . it wasn't that he didn't have the information. He had the information, Vidura was always there up to the end in his ear. "Dhrtarastra, I'm telling you don't do it. I know what you're thinking, don't do it. Here's what's going to happen."

And he loved his brother so he would listen to him. You can just imagine the torment of his soul, but again he kept making the wrong choices. In the long run he was thinking, "Yes, I know that's what I'm supposed to do but I've got better reasons to do something else. Vidura, quiet. That little voice in the back of my mind telling me I don't think that's the right way to do it, be quiet. I have other priorities and I have a choice to make."

Sometimes as devotees we're tempted in that same way, but we should remember that because I'm a devotee it really matters how I act. Sometimes we think maybe with devotees it does matter, but with "ordinary people" it doesn't matter how I act. Sometimes we hear devotees use the word karmi in a pejorative way, like second class people. But we all have to remember where we come from. We chose to come into this world of fruitive activities, so we are karmis trying to become devotees. Ultimately it's described in so many places in the sastra we are all devotees. Our vision should be, as Prabhupada's was (or he wouldn't have wasted any time with any of us) that everyone is a devotee and they've forgotten. And our job is to try to help elevate them. And part of that, as explained here, is the need to act properly and to represent the Lord and his pure devotee properly. If we think it doesn't matter how we act, then we're actually contradicting sastra.

There are many places in the sastra describing the qualities of a devotee, I'll just choose two from Bhagavad-gita, one well known. I'll just read the English. Prabhupada said our society is meant for making brahamanas, so what is a brahmana? Krsna says:

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty (that's sometimes a tough one in Kali-yuga. It's supposed to be the last leg; sometimes it's hard to see if it's still there), knowledge, wisdom and religiousness-these are the natural qualities by which the brahmanas work." (Jai Sri Sri Radha Madhava ki jai.)

Again: peacefulness, self-control, austerity. . . notice these are all qualities, these are behaviours. You can act in a peaceful way, you can act in a self-controlled way, you can act in an austere way. They're not just descriptions, they're behavioural. They have to be manifested in the physical platform, in our speech, in our thoughts. Tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness.

Another verse in the Sixteenth Chapter where Krsna describes later the demoniac nature but he begins with a description of the divine nature.

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Fearlessness; purification of one's existence; cultivation of spiritual knowledge; charity; self-control; performance of sacrifice; study of the Vedas; austerity; simplicity; nonviolence; (again) truthfulness; freedom from anger; renunciation; tranquillity; aversion to faultfinding. . ." that's a tough one for some of us, myself included. Not just that you don't do it, you are averse to it, you don't like it, you back away from it, you avoid it at all costs. . . .

"compassion for all living entities. . ." not my brothers and sisters or even Godbrothers or Godsisters, but all living entities. This includes ourselves too. Sometimes we're not very compassionate on ourselves. We have to start with being compassionate on ourselves. Sometimes we're a little too tough on ourselves, that's not productive either.

"Freedom from covetousness; gentleness; modesty; steady determination; vigour; forgiveness; fortitude; cleanliness; and freedom from envy and from the passion for honour-these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature."

So again, qualities, characteristics, character. In Kali-yuga we know, we see around us all the time, is full of people who are convinced they are right, and whatever their goals are, justify the means. Like Dhrtarastra. He's thinking, "Yes Vidura, but I really want my sons in charge. I know I'm related to the Pandavas but it's just not the same. You don't really understand what I'm seeing here."

As it's described, blinded by his family affection, blinded by his illusion. Therefore he justifies "I can do whatever what I want, I can act however I want, I can behave however I want because the means is so important."

But we see Yudhisthira actually had the right goal and he never compromised his behaviour. Dhrtarastra had the wrong goal and compromised his behaviour. Someone might say the solution is to have the right goal and compromise your behaviour. That's Kali-yuga. The world is full of people who have what they think is the right goal, willing to compromise their behaviour. Here Yudhisthira is setting the example for us: he had the right goal and refused to compromise his behaviour. This, Prabhupada says, is the divine qualities, this is a Vaisnava.

Just as Prabhupada was described being so charming, even telling his disciples coming from the most degraded backgrounds that "If you are really my disciple you have to become a perfect gentleman. That's the standard that he set.

We live in a world where people are doing just the opposite. They're thinking that "Whatever my goal is, whatever I'm working for in the world, this is so important and so unique that I can do whatever I like." We see that among atheists and theists alike. If we look at the last century, great, great thinkers, at least powerful people like Lenon and Marx come to mind, who had a true sense that my goal is so important. To one extent or another they genuinely believed this is for the betterment of people. "This Communist system is for the betterment of people and if we have to kill a few million people in the process to get what's right, it's OK." And the whole world suffered because of that deviation.

We're suffering today--there's the atheistic example--because there are so many theists who say, "God's on our side and we can do anything we want because we know what's right for the world. If we have to kill a lot of you in the process, that's OK because we're right, you're wrong."

As devotees, we need to avoid these pitfalls. They don't manifest in such a grotesque means, but by analyzing the extreme we can see how it affects us on a subtle level. Let's look at the wrong understanding first. Sometimes we think, "Because I'm a devotee, I can do no wrong." Dhrtarastra kind of thinks like that, "I'm the king, it's OK, I can get away with it." Sometimes we think "I'm a devotee, therefore, whatever I do is right because it's for Krsna, I'm a devotee." But that's a perversion. We should think, "Because I'm a devotee"--just change one word--"I MUST do no wrong." Not that "because I'm a devotee I can do no wrong, whatever I do must be right because it's for Krsna. No, because I'm a devotee, I must do no wrong."

And it's important for several reasons. Just to analyze that for a minute. First of all, we read a couple of examples here, it pleases Krsna. Krsna says, "If you are peaceful, if you are tolerant, if you are honest, if you show compassion for other living entities, then you please me." He gives a whole list of what we need to do, to at least strive to become to please him. That's a pretty good reason to do it, it pleases Krsna, it pleases Srila Prabhupada.

The second reason it is very important for us as devotees to be following very actively in the footsteps of Yudhisthira and saying, "NO!" to the little Dhrtarastra in the back of our minds is it sets the proper example for others. We are meant to be teachers and preachers and set an example for younger devotees and other people to see. How are people in the world supposed to change their behaviour if they don't see people exemplifying the proper way? Just as we look to Srila Prabhupada, we see the way he acted, and therefore, we have faith that I can do the same.

Just the other day, it struck me again, Prabhupada at seventy years of age. I am fifty-two. So I'm thinking, "OK, so another eighteen years and then you're supposed to get on the boat by yourself." I can hardly get up in the morning at fifty-two, what to speak to get on the boat. It is becoming more clear, such conviction and determination and sacrifice that Srila Prabhupada made for us. So to set an example for others it is also important for us to follow the path of Yudhisthira.

Another reason is that as we can see in this history, if we look into what was the result of Yudhisthira's path, what was the result of Dhrtarastra's path, if we act in the mode of goodness, if we act properly, if we act like perfect ladies and gentlemen, the result will last. With Dhrtarastra, he was influenced by the mode of passion, the mode of ignorance, he allowed himself to be influenced by illusion and what did he get? Well, for the short-term, he got the kingdom. He got rid of all the people that caused him so many problems, and for the short term, his son was enthroned and he thought everything was going to be OK.

Leading right up to the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita, he says to Sanjaya in a great state of anxiety, "What did my sons and the sons of my brother do? Be done with this thing. Finally let it be done! Let it be permanent!" But it wasn't to be because he chose the wrong path. So even though he got some short-term results, the long-term results. . . . His son was king for thirteen years or so, then everything was destroyed.

Yudhisthira was patient. He stuck to his vow of truthfulness, he didn't compromise, he gained the world for himself and his descendents, he gained Krsna's favour, and he gained eternal glory and fame as a devout, fixed, devotee of the Lord because he refused to compromise. He never compromised.

So we can see within our own society also. Sometimes we have these same tests. Dhrtarastra had a test. He was sitting there on the throne, he could have snapped his fingers and they would have stopped insulting Draupadi, but he didn't because he didn't have the moral fortitude to stand up and say, "Stop!" If he had done it, it would have stopped immediately. He was sitting on the . . . because he saw the results: "This is just further leading to the humiliation of the Pandavas. This is leading to their disempowerment. This is all a part of the plot to achieve my evil goals." He didn't see it as evil, but therefore he accepted it because it was in line with what he lustfully wanted.

So we have to be very, very careful. Even though we are trying to align our goals, our community goals, with Srila Prabhupada, with Krsna, with Lord Caitanya, we also, as Ambarisa mentioned the other day, we also have to remember that we are human. We have seen plenty of examples. We look at ourselves every day--we struggle with our own lust, envy, greed, anger, and selfishness. Every single one of us has to pray to the Lord to protect us that we make the right choices. So we see how we are flickering like that drop of water on the lotus leaf that can go either way. So we have to be very cautious, but as a community also, we have to be very, very careful.

Sometimes we act unnecessarily in the mode of passion. Sometimes we take shortcuts. We can see, "This is the proper way to do something, but you know, it's a lot faster if I go this way. A little white lie never hurt anybody. A little dishonesty, who's going to know?" We make choices that aren't fair, that aren't honest, that aren't truthful. We should know from this example, we are risking short-term results. We've seen this. How many examples are there of this in our society?

I'm from North America. In the past, some of our genuinely enthusiastic efforts to try to spread Krsna consciousness, sometimes we weren't very careful of our behaviour. It yielded, often, short-term results, but long-term it's not what we'd like to show for it because we acted in the mode of passion. Sometimes out of our own arrogance, we tend to think it is up to us to twist everyone's arm and make everybody Krsna conscious in our own lifetime so that we can tell Srila Prabhupada, "I did it! Haribol! Prabhupada, aren't you pleased with me?"

But we are planting the seed and building the foundation for Krsna consciousness for the next ten thousand years. We all know, building the foundation, it is really the slowest and the most unglorious task. If you think about a building, everyone likes to be the one who comes back puts on the finishing touches. You know, puts the dome up. Or puts the paint on, you know, when you're building a building, the one who puts the paint on is the one who makes the biggest difference, the last coat that makes it pretty. Everyone goes, "Wow! You really made a difference!" But how many years and years and years went into it before that?

And just like when you're building the foundation of a building, people drive by or walk by, you don't even see it. They say, "What's going on? They've been working on this building for six months, you can't even see anything. These guys, all they're doing is putting a bunch of pipes in the ground. Useless." Because mode of passion: "Put it up, get it up in a hurry. Let's do it now! Fast! Quick!" Well, if you build something like that, we all know what happens. If you build a building and the foundation is not solid, what happens? It falls down.

We know in our own spiritual life, in our own Krsna consciousness, something I work hard on and I am praying Krsna to help pull me out of this illusion, sometimes I get caught up with I want to offer so many results to Prabhupada, I'm not careful that I maintain my own spiritual foundation strong enough. So I'm here thinking, "Krsna, please recharge my battery. I've got to recharge here."

As a community we also come to Mayapur to recharge our batteries, but also to remember our goal, our duty at this time is to build that strong foundation, to make sure it is for the long term. Otherwise, we may gain money, but we lose it. We can see this. we had some opulence, sometimes we didn't build properly, we lose those things. We have lost temples, we have lost communities, we have lost respect, we have lost reputation. Sometimes we've lost devotees. Sometimes we lose years of effort because we weren't careful to do it in a proper way. Our intention was right, but we weren't very cautious. We weren't careful, we weren't checking ourselves. That is a third important reason we have to be careful to follow Yudhisthira's path.

Another one is that because we're preachers and we're meant to actually win people's hearts. There is an English expression, "Example is more important than precept." So people are very bewildered. They are running around out there in the world looking very puffed up because they know that if they don't pretend that they're puffed up, their weakness will be exposed.

It's like you ask people, "How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"How are you?"

"Fine."

Everybody's fine, but if you scratch the surface a little bit, they're a wreck. "I'm fine, but I've just got to get to the gym because otherwise I might have a heart attack." And "I'm fine, but I've got to get to the therapist, otherwise, I'm about to snap. And I'm fine, but I've got to get another drink."

You know, "Let's go relax."

"What do you want to do?"

"Let's go get intoxicated so I can forget everything."

They are very painful situations. People are suffering so much. They are suffering and we are meant to give them hope.

This is our duty, but we should also remember people aren't stupid. Sometimes we tend to think we become a devotee and all of the sudden you become intelligent and everybody else is stupid. They are not stupid. People, they can see, they have some ability to measure, is this real, are these people giving something genuine, are they changing themselves, do they exemplify what they preach, what they are teaching?

People are actually looking for leadership, they're accepting so many bogus leaders, whatever it is, the music leaders, the fashion leaders, and the political leaders, economic leaders because they are offering them different things. And they are all standing in front of them saying, "Follow me. Be like this and you can be like me and I can give you some hope." But they see through all that. Then, when they come in contact with devotees, they are skeptical because they have been cheated so many times. They don't want to be cheated again. We have to be careful that our own impurities and our own passion to spread Krsna consciousness doesn't manifest in a way that people can't see past our impurities to see what Krsna has to offer them. We should pray like that. That is a great challenge.

Many of us have experienced that sometimes a devotee is the greatest obstacle for us to get to Krsna. We want to be humble and respect everybody, but objectively, sometimes we see like that, someone has stopped in their spiritual practice because of the way they are mistreated or cared for by devotees.

We need to change that because people are looking for shelter. We are meant to offer it to people. And as they say, you cannot demand respect. Sometimes we want to demand respect for our movement because we know this movement is Krsna, it is Lord Caitanya, it is non-different from Prabhupada, but actually, we have to command respect by being somewhat of a transparent medium for Srila Prabhupada and for Krsna. It is not just by the knowledge that we have that people will be attracted to Krsna and the process of bhakti-yoga, but as Yudhisthira again exemplifies, by activities and by character.

So we all come to Mayapur to be recharged. We pray to Krsna, "Please purify us. Please give us more enthusiasm to chant. Please give us more enthusiasm to preach. Please give us more enthusiasm, intelligence to manage, but we should also beg Krsna, please give us more ability to become the perfect ladies and gentleman that Srila Prabhupada wanted. Please let us be better of character, to better exemplify the path of Yudhisthira so that we can be instruments in Prabhupada's hands to help bring people to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada and Krsna,

I'll stop here, thank you very much, Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

[Applause]

So there's about five or six minutes for questions. Any questions.

Prabhu, your hand always goes up, so I'm going to see if there is anybody else. Yes, Prabhu. Maybe his hand also goes up, but I don't see it because I'm on this side. I don't know.

Q: [Unclear.]

A: Especially who? Juhu Beach, yeah.

I hope you all heard the question.

It's not that Yudhisthira didn't fight, he led the greatest battle in history, but he fought when there was no other choice. That's one thing. Dhrtarastra and Duryodhana were ready to fight, they were ready to kill, they were ready to poison, they were ready to set them on fire, they were ready to cheat them in so many ways. Yudhisthira also fought and Prabhupada certainly fought, and in certain circumstances, we have to fight.

We are fighting in a sense in Kazakhstan because devotees are being cheated. We fight against the anti-cult movement because they're cheating. They were lying about us and misrepresenting. We have to fight. It's not that being honest and truthful you don't fight. Sometimes you also have to fight. They are two different things. They certainly don't contradict each other, but we have to be careful along that line of fighting. What we are fighting for.

Just like we raise money, well, what are we raising money for? We fight, what are we fighting for? We build buildings, what are we building buildings for?

We have the example in the Bhagavatam like Dhruva Maharaja, when he went to avenge the death of his brother, he got carried away. He was justified in that fighting, there's another example, but he got carried away. His forefathers came and said, "Hey, you're out of control here. You started out down the right path, but you have to check yourself."

In the same way, we always have to be checking ourselves, making sure. Not that I started out right, I'm automatically going to be right in the end. We continuously have to have checks and balances.

Any other question or comment? Any ladies have any questions?

Q: [Unclear.]

Anuttama Prabhu: I'll repeat the question. She said, "Prabhupada said my movement is meant to establish two classes, the brahmanas and the ksatriyas, how does that affect what we are doing?"

I don't know where that quote is from. I've heard a couple of times devotees went to Prabhupada and said, "Prabhupada, I want to be a ksatriya."

And Prabhupada said, "Well, then you're not meant for my movement because my movement is for brahmanas."

Q: I personally typed that . . . .

Anuttama Prabhu: You personally typed that? OK. Certainly there is a need for ksatriyas. There is a need for people to administer, there is a need for people to lead, sometimes there is a need for people to fight. I think the point is, we have to be sure when that type of energy comes in, just as in any other type of activity, we have to be sure who we are doing it for and why we are doing it. Not that we get carried away as Dhruva Maharaja did in his anger. Prabhupada describes in Bhagavad-gita, Krsna was pushing Arjuna to be angry because you have to be angry to fight, but it is also described that anger is one of the gateways to hell. So, we have to be very, very careful in how we manifest that.

Q: [Unclear]

Well thank you, that was a much better answer than I gave. She said that Prabhupada said that ksatriyas will only fight on religious principles. Thank you very much. We have to always be making sure we are acting on religious principles.

Q: What is the compassion for oneself?

Anuttama Prabhu: Very nice question. How do we do that? What does that mean? First of all, one has to be a little patient. It was pointed out to me this morning, it is very interesting, un the beginning of this Canto, there is a picture of Lord Brahma, because it is getting into his creative potency and the development of the universe. Then it quotes one of the verses, this is plate seven:

"After sitting in mediation on a lotus for more than three hundred trillion years, Lord Brahma developed pure intelligence. . . "

It's wrong? Three hundred and twenty trillion? Well, he was there for a long time.

[Laughter.]

Hey, what's a trillion or two this way or that, right? Long time, he sat on that lotus for a long time, and he's the founder-acarya of our sampradaya. So the first thing is, we have to be a little patient with ourselves. It's not that we are going to become pure devotees overnight.

When I joined the movement, I was twenty and I had this plan way into the future. I was going to be sannyasi by twenty-four. Because Lord Caitanya took sannyasa at twenty-four, I was thinking, "Twenty-four, that ought to do it. I don't want to be puffed up and outdo Lord Caitanya, so I'll wait until twenty-four."

We have to be a little patient with ourselves and push ourselves, but just like in athletics, if push yourself too far, you hurt yourself. Just like people go running, then you see them walking with crutches.

"How's your running going?"

"I haven't run in six months."

"Well, I guess it wasn't very good the way you tried to train yourself. It was too much."

So Prabhupada said we shouldn't accept unnecessary austerities. There are already enough austerities within the process of devotional service.

Part of it is just being a little patient and understanding that this is Kali-yuga. We've got a lot of bad stuff in our mind. We've done a lot of bad stuff in this life, and certainly previous lifetimes. It's going to take a little bit of time and we should not expect ourselves to become pure overnight. And if we see some imperfections, we should sometimes be at least as kind to ourselves as we would to someone with the same imperfection.

Sometimes we have to ask, if a Godbrother came to me and said, "Prabhu, I'm having this problem, it's really bothering me," would we blast them as much as we blast ourselves with the same problem?

Probably not, probably we'd say, "Prabhu, just keep chanting, depend on the devotees, have a little more prasadam, and don't be so hard on yourself."

That's part of it. Push ourselves, yes, the spiritual master pushes us, but not to the point of breaking. We don't want to break. We want to go consistently.

Is that OK?

So thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jai!