Memorizing scriptural verses – Whys and hows -1

[Bhagavatam class at Connecticut, USA]

Video:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so if we have to always remember Krishna then what are the ways in which we can remember him practically what are the things that we can do by which remembrance of him becomes easier so remembrance can be in various ways we can remember Krishna by beholding his beautiful form we can remember Krishna by remembering his pastimes in the bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu there are four kinds of dhyana are described nama-dhyana rupa-dhyana leela-dhyana and seva-dhyana so remembering the names of Krishna remembering the form of Krishna remembering the activities of Krishna and remembering our service to Krishna now all these are important in their own ways now if we consider the name of Krishna the form of Krishna the pastimes of Krishna each of these involves ultimately the heart but for many of us there are different ways in which we reach the heart that means psychologists talk about how there are different kinds of intelligences so that means depending on the particular kind of intelligence that is strongest within us we may be it may be easier for us to remember things accordingly so for somebody whose visual intelligence is very strong, for them if they see the form of Krishna then they can remember Krishna relatively easily for somebody whose musical intelligence is strong, for them remembering Krishna is easiest when they have some tunes about Krishna and they can just hum the tunes constantly, if they remember the tune then anywhere and everywhere they can just hum the tune and they can remember Krishna so in this way there are different ways in which we all can remember Krishna one of the most important ways in the tradition has been memorising the scriptural passages and verses so there are two broad bodies of knowledge the Shruti and the Smriti and especially in the Shruti the letter is considered to be very important in the Smriti more than the letter it is the words that are considered important the meaning is considered more important in the Smriti so if we consider Shruti and Smriti among both of them then we have the principle that the more we can remember Krishna in terms of the exact words that are being recited in the Rig Veda then we move forward and a person is considered very learned therein but the problem with that is that the Rig Veda is often not very deeply a spiritual book it is ultimately spiritual but it is often filled with material injunctions and because of those material injunctions the attitude frequently is there is literal recitation and very precise recitation and memorisation of the verses but the import is sometimes lost people forget why we are memorising why we are doing what we are doing when something like that happens then the ultimate purpose gets lost in the Puranas the stress is more on the meaning we need to understand the meaning and to the extent we understand the meaning to that extent we move forwards and learn how to apply those verses in our life at the same time even in the Puranas there is emphasis on memorisation if we consider the Bhagavatam says Suta Goswami that he was not very expert at recitation of particular Vedic verses but still he was very learned and he was chosen as the person to speak the Bhagavatam although there were others who could have spoken also but he was chosen and the reason for that is he was the most realised over there more realised than even the great sages and great Vedic reciters also so here the theme is that we all need to keep our priorities clear so I will talk my theme today in today’s class will be we talk about remembrance of Krishna there can be intellectual remembrance and there can be devotional remembrance and we want to move from intellectual remembrance to devotional remembrance the two are different at the same time one can help in the other so to understand the difference between intellectual remembrance and devotional remembrance let’s consider the example of say a doctor who knows who is a paediatrician who treats a child the doctor knows about the child but the mother knows the child the mother has a personal relationship with the child the doctor for the relationship but not exactly a personal relationship the doctor’s focus is on primarily the relationship is of is centred on earning money they may care also for the patient but the personal relationship with the child is not there so much so for us as devotees when we memorise verses our purpose is to develop a personal relationship with Krishna and for developing that personal relationship with Krishna we want to focus on remembering Krishna as our lord, as our master as our lover and for that purpose we have to keep the devotional recollection, devotional mood prominent now I’ll take two examples of how the intellectual can help in the devotional and how the intellectual can impede the devotional you see at the end of the Bhagavad Gita in 18.70 Krishna says those who study the sacred conversation of ours Arjuna, they are worshipping me with their intelligence so worshipping Krishna with the intelligence means that they are actually focussing on Krishna as the supreme person and they are seeing that my intelligence is a resource which I can use to serve Krishna just like we may do aarti with a ghee lamp similarly we worship Krishna with our intelligence now a primary function of intelligence is remembrance if we consider in the way say a person who is spiritually situated falls down that sequence comes in 2.62-63 so here Krishna is saying that means if the memory is lost then intelligence will be lost it’s interesting so he is saying that intelligence is based on memory so now if we consider what exactly actually is intelligence now say if we go to a doctor and doctor sees some symptoms your pigment is your nails are discoloured that means you have got anaemia so what has happened over there it is the doctor is seeing a particular symptom we also see that but we don’t have the knowledge what does the symptom mean the doctor knows that so we can say this is jnana chakshu this is the eyes of knowledge but to use the eyes of knowledge that knowledge should be accessible the doctor may have learned about so many diseases and they may see this and they may forget what is the symptom of what so jnana is what enables us to see things but jnana or buddhi is based on smriti now Krishna differentiates slightly between jnana and buddhi in the Bhagavad Gita in 18.20-22 he talks about buddhi in the 3 modes jnana in the 3 modes and 18.30-32 he talks about buddhi in the 3 modes so the primary way he differentiates the 2 ways jnana is in terms of how we take in the world so we interact with the world in 2 ways the knowledge acquiring senses and the working senses so Krishna uses the word jnana to refer to how we take in the world with the knowledge acquiring senses and he uses buddhi to refer to how we act in the world we are actually using our knowledge so that means Krishna uses buddhi more in terms of you could say applied knowledge whereas jnana he refers to more of knowledge of how we pursue things of course to pursue also properly we need some realisation but either way without getting into technicalities of the difference between jnana and buddhi that’s a different class but the point is for both of them smriti is required when I see something if I am driving a car and if I see the car is waving then moving very jerkily then I may remember jerky driving means maybe the driver is drunk so now I may see the jerky driving but for me when people get drunk they drive jerkily I have to remember that to make sense of what I observe and then I have to remember what do I do I can press the brake and I can turn the car off so recollection is required both to make sense of the observation and recollection is also required to do something so you know if say we are in a range if our car has broken down in a remote area if you remember my phone has an emergency call facility then although the network may not be there still I can make an emergency call so then the remembrance is what enables us to act intelligently so remembrance helps us to see with knowledge and remembrance enables us to act with intelligence so remembrance is the basis of knowledgeable or intelligent functioning and we see that when people get brain degenerative diseases at that time they may have been very intelligent in their previous life but if they get Alzheimer’s or any other kind of dementia then it’s almost like they are not the same person they are physically there but behaviourally intellectually, emotionally they are different so remembrance is not required just for intellectual purposes actually remembrance is required even for emotions otherwise if somebody’s brain is wiped out then they may be with their spouse their child but they don’t recognise so remembrance is vital for functioning in life now we often talk about how vijnana is important jnana, vijnana, truptatma in the 6th chapter 8th verse Krishna says that it is knowledge and realisation that make a person satisfied that is true and realisation is what is vitally important but realisation is impossible without knowledge without knowing what we are meant to realise otherwise we can’t realise it and for realising that knowledge should be there not just somewhere in the back of our brains it has to be in front or accessible to us in language they say there is sometimes teachers of English differentiate between what they call as active vocabulary and dormant vocabulary active vocabulary means the words that we use so dormant vocabulary means if somebody else uses the word oh yeah, that makes sense I understand what they are saying but sometimes we want to say something and the right word we don’t get it but when somebody else expresses this was the right word, this is what I wanted to say so what happened, we knew the word but that word was not in our active vocabulary it was in our dormant vocabulary so if we want to speak articulately we need to not just know words but we should know them as a part of our active vocabulary similarly for us, scriptural knowledge we may know but it has to be a part of our active vocabulary so memorisation if we do recollection is the basis of both buddhi and dhyana of knowledge and how we see the world and how we function in the world and for us to be able to recollect, memorising is important now memorising can be done in different ways for those devotees who have no background in Sanskrit then for them, scripture essentially means the translation of the scripture so we have many, I know many Prabhupada disciples who have memorised Bhagavad Gita verse translations and exact translation they will recite Prahladananda Maharaj is one of the sanyasis in our movement and he has actually memorised the whole Krishna book so as if you are reading it out, he will say chapter 15 and he will start he has memorised everything in the Krishna book and in the ISKCON leadership sangha he does seminars about how to memorise now that’s wonderful that is the way he is accessing scripture and remembering scripture and if we consider the Bible in the Bible the language, the Hebrew or the Latin that is practically not spoken by anyone nowadays not practically, it is not spoken only so that’s why when in Christianity they quote the Bible, usually they quote the translations they have many different translations if we consider three main religions in the world, Christianity, Islam and the broad Hindu tradition within which we follow Vaishnavism so if we consider the language of Christianity in which the Bible was originally written, that is so remote that they quote only the English occasionally they may quote the original but original is not used in conversation at all with respect to Islam, the Muslims they have the idea that the Quran is not actually translatable serious Muslim scholars have to study the original, of course they translate it and there are differences of opinion but they value the translation quite a bit they value the original quite a bit and they try to learn the original language and memorise and quote from the original in the Indian tradition if we see Sanskrit is still an active language it’s not like Hebrew or Latin which is extinct so Sanskrit may not be used very much for daily conversation by people but still it is very much recognised as a as a very potent and sacred language and we call it Devabhasha, the language of the gods and so as much as possible, see we want to remember but what do we want to remember, is it that we want to remember the translations or do we want to remember the verses if I started by telling about how in the Vedas what is the remembrance, the exact letter is important so there are broadly the idea is that the Vedas are like Vedic mantras are like formulas, if I know the formula is equal to mc2 even if I don’t really understand the whole whole you could say philosophy or theory behind is equal to mc2, if I just get the formula put in the figures I will get the results so the Vedic mantras are considered to be like that if you just know the mantras, chant the right mantra at the right time you will get the power, so they are like formulas but in Puranas it is not just the mantras that are considered important it is the meaning that is considered important more than the letter the meaning is considered important so if say for example if somebody can remember even the English translations of the verses and thereby the meaning stays accessible to them then that is also valuable when we memorise scripture it can be the translations also because ultimately what matters is the meaning at the same time for those who have a background or at least come from the they have the background of being a part of some family of languages which originates in Sanskrit then memorising the Sanskrit is especially helpful for many reasons, one primary reason is that that is the original language of the text and there is the special potency of the original which is also there in the translation but at the same time the original is the original, say for example if we consider the Bhagavad Gita as a very dramatic we can consider the Gopi Gita now the Gopi Gita it’s a very beautiful song which the Gopis sang when they were separated from Krishna and they were begging to Krishna to come back the 31st chapter of the 10th canto of the Bhagavad Gita, now if we have a translation of the Gopi Gita and we read the translation very little of that emotion will be conveyed there is of course somebody can make a musical translation of the poetic translation of the Gopi Gita and then that might some amount of the musicality may come or poetry and musicality may come through it but the experience of emotions, the experience of rasa which is there in the original is not there in the translation Vishal Prabhupada all over the world when he had the morning programme there were sometimes proposals that we should have the morning programme songs in the local languages because people can understand it better, but Prabhupada said no we can have it in the traditional languages only especially in the western world in the temples we will see if they have Guru Pooja usually after the Guru Pooja they all in English recite the Guru Pooja in India we don’t do that because the meaning is understandable and for those of us who know the meaning the English recitation might sometimes become mechanical but for those who even if they know the meaning it is the English that brings out the mood so still the English translation cannot be sung as the poetry so there is the original and there is the translation and as far as meaning is concerned translation can also convey the meaning but as far as the mood is concerned the emotion is concerned each of us has to see what works best for us so for me when I go in front of the deities if I recite some words that’s when I feel connected with the deities otherwise so for me the memory is triggered or the thought process is triggered primarily by the verbal stimuli not so much the visual stimuli so for those who are stimulated by the visual stimuli I remember I gave a class once where I said that it is very helpful if we memorise verses when we go in front of the deities we recite the verses so one devotee after a couple of days he came and told me that actually I tried this and he said that normally when I go in front of the deities I feel so much devotion just looking at the deities but now when I think of memorising and reciting verses when I go in front of the deities I have so much tension whether I remember the verse or not that all my devotion goes away so in this case what happened was the memorisation was not a stimulus for the recollection rather that became a burden in the recollection because for that person the visual stimuli was the primary means of triggering thought and that’s wonderful so each of us when there are limbs of bhakti we have to see which limb is the most favourable for us to grow in bhakti so with respect to taking darshan if we can just behold the lord and that triggers our thoughts about the lord, about his beauty about his glory, that’s wonderful but very often like Prabhupada, he had the deities darshan everyday but he also had Govindam Adipurush so we have the Brahma Samhita prayers being recited generally the visual and the verbal both come together and the recollection becomes stronger this is just one aspect in front of the deities but in general, whenever we live in the world whenever we face temptations broadly the purpose of studying scripture is twofold we want to become detached from the non-spiritual things of the world materialistic things in the world and we want to become attached to Krishna so now, scriptural knowledge is meant to help us in both these things to help us when we are tempted in the world to be able to distance ourselves from the temptation and to increase our attraction towards the lord to stay perseverant in our determination to connect with the lord so now when we memorise scripture it helps us to it can help us to do both these things so here I took the example of Krishna telling Adhyashyatecha Imam when we worship the Bhagavad Gita when we study the Bhagavad Gita we are worshipping with him in intelligence then I talked about how here the recollection is talked about in a anukul way how study and intelligence when we can study the Bhagavad Gita when we can recite the Bhagavad Gita that is all we are worshipping Krishna with the intelligence so here the whole aspect of intelligence is seen as favourable to our devotion and we have in the Bhagavatam two examples Gacchindra was in great danger and he recited the Gacchindra Moksha prayers and when he was on the verge of death he was fighting, fighting, fighting just couldn’t fight anymore at that time he recited the Gacchindra Moksha prayers and the Lord came and delivered him at that time so here we could say verse recitation helped it delivered him Bhagavatam also gives this example this is the 8th Canto, in the 6th Canto the example is given when Ajamil was tempted at that time he tried to recollect the scripture verses that he had heard earlier but somehow the temptation overwhelmed him at that time so now is it that recollection worked here and recollection didn’t work there no it is not exactly like that ultimately it is our intention that is the most important if our intention to serve Krishna is strong, at that time the recollection will help us develop the connection with Krishna but if our intention is weak then the recollection will not help us I remember I had one devotee had gone to Kumbh Mela and he was telling me that they were having different sadhus and sadhus do yagya and he was beautifully reciting Vedic mantras and there was a fire sacrifice, so he was sitting in front of the fire and he was reciting very eloquently, very sweet pronunciation very precise pronunciation and as he was reciting this Vedic mantra suddenly from his side he took out a beedi and he used the fire from the yagya to light the beedi and he was smoking the beedi and he was reciting the mantras so here what has happened there is precise recitation but actually there is no ultimate absorption there is, so the precise recitation is not necessarily because the intention is not really absorption it is just a profession for them so recollection there is a recitation of the verses recollection of the verses but when the recollection is infused with the intention to serve Krishna, the intention to connect with Krishna then it becomes a very powerful tool but if that intention is weak then mere recitation of verses will not help one to either transcend delusion or connect with Krishna so Jiva Goswami in his Shatsandarbha analyses elaborately how, what is the role of Gyan in Bhakti in the 64 items of Bhakti he says that in 64 items which are given by Rupa Goswami Gyan and Vairagya are not included and in his Durgam Sangamunitika, Jiva Goswami this is a commentary on the Bhakti Sambhut Sindhu where Jiva Goswami elaborately analyses this and he says that Gyan sometimes is condemned in Bhakti circles that is Shushka Gyan so he talks about the Gyan of the impersonalist that focusses on Jiva Brahma Ekatur it focusses on we and God are one but the Gyan of the devotees focusses on the Ishwar Mahima so on one side the impersonalist knowledge focusses on how we are one with God I am spirit, God is spirit so Aham Brahma whereas for devotees knowledge is purpose, the focus is not that I am one with God, yes we are spirit, God is spirit but God is supreme spirit and the focus of the knowledge is how Krishna is so great how the Lord is so great and he says this knowledge, if knowledge is studied if knowledge is pursued in this way to understand the greatness of Krishna not just to understand one’s oneness with Krishna then that knowledge is very favourable for devotion similarly knowledge can be favourable or unfavourable it depends on the intention with which it is studied same applies with recollection also so when we memorise verses at that time if our intention is to aid in the remembrance of Krishna then that is very favourable so Srila Prabhupada himself had memorised a phenomenal amount of verses over the years as we keep serving Srila Prabhupada’s mission and keep trying to do our part in Prabhupada’s service over a period of time the greatness of Prabhupada starts becoming more and more apparent so I had always a profound appreciation for how Prabhupada came alone to America at old age and travelled and met people who he had never known and he shared Krishna consciousness but as I am travelling now I have started getting another appreciation for Prabhupada is that how Prabhupada wrote his books normally, traditionally when scholars would have to write books they would have a huge library and they would stay at one place and they would write books using the library so at one time there was a story Dwaitavadis and Advaitavadis they would fight so at one time in the Madhava tradition there is a story that there was a prominent Acharya who wanted to write a book and the Advaitavadis were afraid that he would refute the book so they arranged for his library to be stolen so then if the library is stolen how do you write the book so now without a proper library it is very difficult to write and if we consider now of course we can have an e-library we can have thousands of books on our computer itself and Prabhupada was travelling at that time the concept of e-books was not there at all and Prabhupada did not travel with a lot of books with him so Prabhupada had a very strong memory and he knew so many verses he quoted so many verses in his classes and he quoted so many verses in his books the verses he quoted in his books he did refer to previous Acharyas commentaries but beyond that it was his recollection he did not carry an extensive library with him so to write any book while travelling is not easy but to write a book which involves research and referencing that is much more difficult and to do it all without a library and Prabhupada did not have like nowadays we have a whole community of devotees if sometimes I have to quote a verse and I don’t remember a verse then I just have a group of friends and I just tell them there is a verse in the Bhagavata which says this and then the old friend suggests this is the verse Prabhupada did not have anyone like that at that time if you send a letter even if you send a letter to his god brother it will take 15 days to reach and then by that time it will be too late so Prabhupada did not have anyone to access like that but Prabhupada was he had memorised a lot of verses I agree with what Prabhu writes he has written a book called the Hare Krishna Explosion and there he said that Prabhupada he was pleasantly surprised that when Swamiji came he thought Swamiji was a very otherworldly extraordinary person and Prabhupada was very sublime spiritually conscious but he was very practical Prabhupada he said the greatest surprise for us was Prabhupada Swamiji could cook and he could cook so well and then he says that that is one two three so many items he could cook and then he said initially when Prabhupada would give classes he would be impressed by his scholarship but now we were impressed by his culinary expertise and then he says we discovered that Prabhupada’s knowledge metaphor to illustrate we were delighted to discover that Swamiji’s knowledge of recipes was as extensive as his knowledge of verses so Prabhupada did memorise verses now actually Prabhupada he would travel a lot like a traditional student teacher Prabhupada recommended that we should stay in a Gurukul and learn from the Guru but Prabhupada himself couldn’t do that because he met his Guru when he was in his 20s and by that time he was already married so he had his family responsibilities so Prabhupada studied books while he was travelling for his business he would travel all over India and during he used his travel time very efficiently so he would study the book, scriptures and he would memorise scriptures at that time so Prabhupada had memorised a lot of verses as a founder Acharya for us he is also an example a prominent example of how memorising verses can bring authenticity to our outreach at the same time it can also bring absorption for ourselves there are times when Prabhupada especially when Prabhupada was recovering first time in 1968 he had a stroke and he was sick so at that time when he was recovering the devotees took him because America was cold so they got a place for him which was relatively warmer like a small retreat on the coast and Prabhupada would sit there and he would just recite Vaishnav bhajans and recite verses and he would play the harmonium and recite the verses and it was not a performance just he absorbed himself some of the devotees recorded that also some of those have been recorded by devotees also so here I am moving now to a different aspect of the purpose of recitation one side is application when we are observing the world our perception of the world is based on our knowledge and knowledge is based on recollection I will talk about another aspect and then I will conclude and tomorrow we will talk about how to memorise but another very important aspect purpose of memorisation of scripture is absorption one is application and one application is itself remembrance smaranam is one limb of bhakti also in fact in some ways smaranam is the essence of bhakti kirtanam if it is done without smaranam then it is not of much use shravanam is done without smaranam it is not of much use so smaranam is the central theme which is meant to underlie all aspects of bhakti but smaranam as a separate limb of devotional service means that the devotee does not do anything else it is not that in shravanam we are hearing and we are also thinking we are also absorbed we are also remembering normally how does hearing become more absorbing it is not just when we are hearing but we are also hearing and connecting oh this point here I heard this point here this example is like this this example is like that the more we are able to connect what we are hearing with what we have heard in the past and that connection is based on recollection so the more we are able to connect we can absorb ourselves so even for hearing if there is recollection by which I connect what I am hearing with what I have heard then that brings absorption otherwise this hearing ok I am hearing it is passive hearing actually Prabhupada says in one lecture that one don’t hear like a hog what do you mean hear like a hog the hog for then there is nothing inside the head so what is coming in it is not connecting with anything inside so recollection underlies all limbs of bhakti our hearing will lead to absorption when there is recollection simultaneously our recollection will help us grow when we similarly also limb of bhakti separately called as recollection is remembrance and remembrance is primarily focused on when we don’t do anything else we just absorb ourselves in remembrance so Prahlad Maharaj is an example of smaranam now as I said we are told to remember Krishna now how do we remember Krishna one very powerful resource by which we can remember him is if we have some template for remembrance say if we have picture of Krishna then we can look at the picture and we can remember Krishna at that time similarly if we have verses then verses we could say are templates for recollection and if we can use a template we recite the verses, we memorise the verses memorising itself is quite absorbing because we are exercising the intellect but after memorisation when we recollect we can recollect and we can think ok I heard this point I heard that point and we try to absorb ourselves further in that so the recitation of verses, the memorisation of verses, the recitation of verses both of them are very powerful tools for absorption and if we have some taste for that then even if we are in a difficult situation in life even if when we are say caught in traffic, feeling irritated just recite some verses we feel ourselves lifted above the situation if we get a taste for that then it can give us absorption wherever we are so for us we do want to do a lot of practical services but sometimes we get put in situations where practical things we can’t do much so at that time we can just connect with Krishna through our absorption in Him and verse recitation is a very powerful tool for absorption because otherwise it may not be so easy, I may have seen the beautiful darshan of Krishna but I close my eyes, I try to visualise Krishna I may be able to visualise, I may not be able to visualise if I memorised and I can just recite what I memorised and then we recite it, contemplate it, call out to Krishna through it so then that can lead to deep absorption so there are prayers initially when we sometimes recollection itself seems to be, sometimes memorisation seems to be effort I’m forgetting this, I’m forgetting this after sometime even if I memorise recollection seems to be an effort but this is a part of the process anything that we do, say first we start to drive then initially when we are driving there is a lot of effort I have to press the brake I have to make sure that I move this lane change signal, I make sure that I keep a track on the speed who is coming, there are so many parameters to be aware of and initially it takes some effort to be aware of that but over a period of time as we become absorbed then as we become habituated to driving then all that thing starts happening automatically and then we can even talk with others we can relish the scenery, we can enjoy the experience of driving so similarly for us initially the memorisation the recitation is effortful but over a period of time when the verses become a part of us then we naturally remember and at that time the effort is not there as the recollection becomes effortless absorption becomes easier rather it’s not that absorption becomes easier, even during memorisation and recollection absorption is there because memorisation what is that word after this we are absorbed during memorisation, during recollection also there is absorption but during that the absorption is simply on the letters of the words the absorption is primarily on which sentence, which line comes after which line but that is also intellectual, that is also absorption but as we memorise after that when we memorise then when we recite the verses become a part of us, it’s not so much that we have to remember the verses rather then our consciousness becomes freed to see the verses as a tool for remembrance the tool for remembrance of Krishna of course the Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita are in one sense manifestations of Krishna, so just by reciting we are connecting with the manifestations of Krishna but we may not remember that we are connecting with Krishna but just like when we are driving, if we are driving to a beautiful scenery if we are just too caught in driving, initially we don’t see the scenery, but once we are habituated to driving then we can see the scenery such a beautiful place, so like that of course in driving, the activity of driving and the scenery are two different things in memorising the verses about Krishna, actually Krishna is manifest in those spiritual sounds of the verses so initially our focus is just getting the words right but once we have memorised then as we, the words naturally come right but from them the words become stimuli for the manifestation of Krishna in our heart and that’s when there can be deep absorption in Krishna, so for us to become thus absorbed through the recitation of verses, the memorisation is a precondition, now this doesn’t necessarily for absorption if we see, it’s not that we have to memorise the astronomical number of verses, even if we memorise a few verses which we feel inspired by and we recite them again and again, that can also bring absorption so the specifics of how to memorise I’ll discuss in tomorrow’s class I’ll summarise here I spoke about how to memorise verses and, or rather how and why to memorise verses, today I’ll focus on the why so I started by talking about, we are told to remember Krishna and recollection recollection is a function of memory we cannot remember Krishna unless we have some memory about it, so we have to have facts on which we can remember I talked about buddhi and jnana in both, the memory is important smriti brahmacharya, buddhi nasho, so for us to see the world and make sense of it, we have to have some knowledge within us in the past, and for us to act properly, we also have to have knowledge of what is proper action, so in that sense memory is a precondition for knowledge and intelligence and memory is to some extent, it is memory requires memorisation and then I talked about memorising English or memorising Sanskrit, or memorising the original language, meaning is what is important, and for somebody who, for whom the original language is very remote and difficult and even the translations can have, can convey the meaning, and translations can also be phrased in a way that some amount of the mood is conveyed but for those who can connect with the original language, then the original language has its special potency, because it is the original text, and also the mood the poetry, the artistry it all comes in the original, like the gopigit being translated, and the gopigit in original, so in Vedas the important thing is the precise enunciation of the words, memorisation is important, in Puranas, there is a meaning that is important, but even for meaning, memorisation helps I talked about how it is our intention that is most important we can have knowledge about something, knowledge about someone or knowledge of someone, that means we see them as an object, without which facts are remembered, or we see a person who has features, and we connect with them by knowing those features, so we want to know, not just know about Krishna we want to know Krishna so, with the, if the intention is strong, like it happened in Gajendra Moksha then the prayers stimulate recollection, and invited us to perfection from the Lord, but if the intention itself was weak, as happened in Ajamil, the recollection alone did not help now from intellectual recollection to devotional recollection, that happens through intention and habit, intention means I talked about how the impersonalists their Jnana focusses on Jiva Brahma Ikatu but for devotees, their Jnana focusses on Ishwara Mahima the glory of the Lord and to the extent we have this intention of connecting with Krishna, to that extent, we can become, our recollection can become an aid in that so recollection can be for application, just like there is active vocabulary and passive vocabulary, dominant vocabulary the scriptural knowledge wants to be we need scriptural knowledge to be part of our active knowledge, so scriptural recitation and recollection that can help make sure that scriptural stays in our active knowledge, and then we can apply it, apply it to distance ourselves from worldly temptations and apply it to stimulate our remembrance of Krishna so application is one purpose and similarly there is absorption so in all forms of devotional service Smaranam is foundational Shravanam becomes more absorbing when there is Smaranam, when I’m hearing and I’m connecting what I’m hearing with what I’ve heard in the past and it becomes absorbing, but Smaranam means we don’t do anything else, simply absorb ourselves, so that’s a separate level of devotional service also, now for verses and recollection to lead to absorption we have to go through the initial effortful phases of memorisation and recollection just like initially we have to be conscientious about driving a car, but once we become habituated to driving, then we can enjoy the scenery, similarly initially the absorption comes primarily in the attempt to get the words right get the verse right but once the verse is memorised the verse can become the take-off point for us to think about Krishna and to become absorbed in Krishna thus, verse recitation can help us in application and absorption Thank you very much, Hare Krishna Are there any questions or comments? Thank you so much Pramusi for your very very class it’s a really really deep I like the point that how all the start from the devotion is more necessary and then how we can move in by this intellectual and then how we can more observe to develop the attitude and then we remember all the whatever scripture has given and then after that, when we in the beginning to remember all the things is very difficult but when we try, slowly slowly we can remember and the absorption is more important and even after that we will remember the point is very nice Thank you so much Pramusi I request all the devotees, they can go ahead and ask if they have any questions Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Pramusi Hare Krishna Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you Very nice class Pramusi it was very very informative and benefitting I want actually I didn’t realise that you know intelligence is dependent on mind if memory is lost intelligence cannot function this is how come because intelligence guides mind, I thought mind is dependent on intelligence if you can allow me little bit more so that I can get connection how is that as Krishna says in Gita that how is that mind is without memory intelligence cannot function then how is that intelligence is superior to mind Ok, so if the intelligence cannot function without memory but then the memories are stored in the mind then if the intelligence is dependent on the mind then how is the intelligence superior to the mind Ok actually the word mind can have different meanings in different context so for example we may say that have you lost your mind if somebody is about to do something foolish there we use the word mind to refer to intelligence or somebody may say that child is being attentive in class where is your mind that means you are saying where is your attention give this your full mind so the word mind can have different meanings in different context so here I give an example of intelligence and attention both being referred to by the word mind so when we think about in the Bhagavad Gita’s context the intelligence and mind are two distinct faculties with two distinct functions so the intelligence is concerned with more with discrimination analysing, evaluating whereas the mind is concerned more with feeling with emotions and likes and dislikes but when we use the word mind in connection with memory, our memories are stored in the mind there we are not using the word mind specifically to refer to the emotional aspect of the subtle body we are just using the word mind to refer in general to the subtle body so our memories we can say our memories are stored in our mind but that doesn’t necessarily mean the memories are stored in the emotional side of the subtle body sometimes when we talk about our existence we may say there is matter, mind and consciousness so matter refers to physical body or there is the mind refers to subtle body and consciousness refers to the soul so the word mind can be used as a shorthand for referring to the entire subtle body also at times so when I said that so in that case when you say the mind memories are stored in the mind that refers to the mind as a whole subtle body our memories are stored in the subtle body and our memories are partially stored in the brain also that’s when people get brain damage some of the things they are not able to remember at that time so our memories are stored at various places some memories are stored in the brain and those memories which are very deeply rooted they become impressions in the subtle body which can be referred to as the mind so when we go from one body to another the impressions go from this body to another now what is it that travels? we say the mind that travels the subtle body actually, what is the mind? so the difference between the mind, intelligence and ego is more functional than structural if we consider a computer software the software there may be the operating system, there may be the pre-installed apps there may be some viruses all of them are software but functionally they are different the OS is foundational for functioning the pre-installed or user installed apps they do particular functions and the virus actually harm the functions but they are all software so like that the mind, intelligence and ego they are all the subtle body they are all structurally more or less the same but it’s functionally that they are different so here our memories are stored in the mind that is in the subtle body in general and the intelligence uses the memories to analyse and evaluate properly the mind also now when I use the word mind I am referring to the feeling aspect so for example somebody has got diabetes and then they see some sweet item now the mind will draw on memory and the intelligence will also draw on memory but when the mind draws on memory this tastes so good, I want to eat it but when the intelligence draws on memory last time my sugar level went up it created so much problem for me so the mind will recollect in an impulsive way whatever goes along with its feelings if it feels attracted, whatever will help it to get attracted, increase the attraction the mind will remember that but the intelligence will remember that which will help him help us to become connected towards Krishna, to choose wisely and ultimately the intelligence helps us to choose those things to help us to become connected with Krishna so the memory is something which both the mind and the intelligence draw from but the mind draws from it impulsively and therefore sometimes it is destructive whereas the intelligence draws from it wisely and therefore it guides us towards constructive action one more question anyone and we will stop after that yes, we have a question here the question is you mentioned about the Madhvachara writes in his teachings that there are three levels of the scriptures or the Puranas can be understood the literal, the moral or edification or at the metaphorical level so when we say that at the literal level the Puranas are purifying, which particular, are you talking about the exact verses or we are talking about the meanings of those verses ok so if you say the literal recitation of the verses also is purifying so what exactly is purifying is it the meaning that is purifying or is the recitation also purifying well in the Ramayana Mahatmya it is said that so it is just the letters themselves are purifying and I have seen many people if they have a habit of reciting the Bhagavad Gita regularly or daily also they come to a level of piety and they live they don’t get too much into sensual or sinful activities they may not become very spiritual in the sense of totally devoted to the Lord but just the recitation of the verses on a regular basis can bring a certain level of piety where one gets some happiness in in Sattva Guna actually some of the verses are so sweet one gets a taste for reciting them there is a lot of joy in just the recitation of the verses it may not be that one is necessarily relishing Krishna in that joy one is simply relishing that joy so purification happens at various levels in various ways if the intention to move towards Krishna is very strong then the purification happens much faster but if there is not much intention to move towards Krishna then the purification will happen but it will be slower so if I am doing the literal recitation of the Ramayana or the Mahabharata or the Bhagavad Gita or the Bhagavatam and I am doing the literal recitation I also have a desire to develop my devotion to the Lord then the literal recitation will help it can infuse us with devotion but if I do the literal recitation of the verses simply because it feels good. Some people say going to singing there are some people who sing bhajans they sing songs and if they are paid to sing bhajans, they sing bhajans also and it feels good but any song feels good, this also feels good maybe this feels a little more good especially but it is not a categorical difference for them because they are not in it primarily for devotion they are primarily in it for musical titillation or for profession so even the literal recitation of the verses of scripture is purifying if there is a desire to purify be purified if the desire is weak then also there is purification but it is very gradual so if we understand the meaning now again when I say understand the meaning it is not just intellectually comprehend the meaning, it also means that we understand that Krishna is the ultimate goal of life bahunam janmanamante jnanavan mam prapadyate vasudeva sarvamiti samahatma sudurlabha so when we want knowledge of scripture, that jnana is not just philosophical knowledge, ultimately it is devotional knowledge the jnana by which we understand vasudeva sarvamiti that vasudeva is everything that whatever I look attracted to in this world, all that and more can be attained by my devotion to vasudeva, so therefore let me just become wholeheartedly absorbed in him so that, that means it is we are talking about understanding the meaning but it is not just understanding the meaning intellectually, but understanding the meaning intellectually in a way that prompts a devotional redirection of the heart so if we are reciting scriptural verses with that devotional understanding and the devotional intention, then scriptural verses recitation can be extremely purifying, otherwise also it is purifying but it is quite gradual so thank you very much shila prabhupada ki gaur bhakta vrindaki dai gaur prema anandi this session is no longer being recorded thank you very much thank you thank you