Greater than God’s greatness is his sweetness

[Talk at ISKCON, Manchester, UK]

Video:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
And since Janmashtami is coming, I’ll speak today on the topic of greater than God’s greatness is his sweetness. So I’ll talk this in three parts and after each part we’ll have a brief break where if you have any reflections or questions, you can feel free to ask and we’ll have some questions at the end also. So I’ll speak broadly based on four, nine in the Bhagavad Gita.
janma karma chame devyam evam yo vettu tattvatah tattva deham punar janma naitimame tiso arjuna So Krishna says that those who understand the tattva, that philosophical truth about my appearance and activities, they will attain me. So Krishna is telling over here the truth about him, we have to understand. Now understanding this truth has two aspects.
God’s greatness and his sweetness. So the first part I’ll talk about these two attributes, greatness and sweetness. Then I’ll talk about how these two combine to nourish devotion within us.
And then we’ll talk specially about how Krishna, the conception of Krishna as God does this in a very unique way. So if we consider that whenever we form a relationship with someone of any kind, at one level, if we’re going to meet someone or say if we go for a talk somewhere, then we want to know about the person. And one of the first attributes, whether we are forming a relationship with someone, say if we want to know their introduction, who is this person? So if somebody is someone special, if they’re great, that creates some impact on us.
So okay, this person is worth meeting, worth hearing, worth knowing. So we all, when we want to form a relationship with anyone, appreciating or at least knowing their significance, their greatness helps. So similarly with God, when we look at the world around us, sooner or later, this question comes up, where did everything come from? Basically, everything has an actual aspect and a potential aspect.
Say for example, right now, say all of you may have some children, as a children, they are actually something right now, there may be a 5, 7, 10 and they are also potentially someone. That means, that they have the potential to become someone much better. Say somebody is very good at music, then actually they are good at music, but potentially they can become great at music.
So everything that exists in the world has an actual aspect and a potential aspect. And that which is potential has to be actuated by something outside of itself. Then the potential becomes actual.
That means, somebody might have musical talent, that potential is there, but from the potential to the actual, there has to be some actuation, activation outside of itself. People need some inspiration, some mentor, some guide, some model. And then the potential becomes the actual.
So now, if we consider existence itself, everything exists as a combination of potential and actual and for the potential to become actual, some other cause is required. Now if you go backward, backward, backward like this, there has to be some existence, which is full actuality. That means, another example to illustrate this point is, say, if there is a 100 story building, the 100th level exists on the 99, the 99 exists on the 98.
Like that, now the first level has to exist on something which does not exist on something else. That’s the ground. If there are 100 levels and that’s all there is.
There’s no ground. Then it won’t exist. Isn’t it? So like that, everything is a combination of potential and actual.
But when you go down, down the sequence, there has to be something which is pure actuality. That means, it does not depend on anything else to be actuated. It is self-sufficient.
This is one of the classical arguments for the existence of God. Another simple way of putting it is, there are many causes, but the cause of all causes, that is the supreme. This common atheistic question is, if God created everything, who created God? Have you heard this question? Yes, it’s a very common question.
Now, this question at one level, it appears like an irrefutable question. But another level, it’s not an irrefutable question. It is an insensible question.
By insensible, asking who created God, is like asking, who made a circle circular? Well, a circle by definition is circular. Isn’t it? There is no asking, who made a circle circular? Well, if it is not circular, then it is not a circle. So, we need to look at the definition.
A circle does not need anyone to make it circular. Then, it is circle by definition is circular. Similarly, God by definition is the source of everything.
If God had a source, then the source of everything would be God. So, another way to understand this could be, say, some novel is there, something like, maybe, Harry Potter might be a little old now. But suppose, now, we consider, a child who reads Harry Potter and gets captivated by this character, this character, this character.
And after reading the whole set of novel, then, person comes to know, this novel is written by an author. Who is the author of Harry Potter? JK Rowling. Thank you.
So, now, somebody says, oh, author is JK Rowling. And then they start reading the whole book. Where is JK Rowling? Now, okay, Harry Potter comes, this is his parents, this is his friends, this is his teachers.
But where is Harry Potter? Sorry, where is JK Rowling? Is JK Rowling in the book? No. No. The author created the storyline.
The author created the timeline. The author created the characters. The author created the novel.
But the author exists outside the novel. Isn’t it? So, similarly, God created space. God created people.
God created time. And God exists outside time. This is the definition of God.
And that’s why we need to, when to understand God, we need to begin with the definition, not the depiction. Depiction means somebody comes to a temple and sees a particular image. Somebody goes to a church or a mosque and gets a particular kind of depiction.
How can this be God? Don’t begin with depiction. Begin with definition. The definition of God is the cause of all causes.
So when we ask who created God, why is that question insensible? Because that presumes that God is a being who exists in time. That there is a sequence of time and in time, A comes from B. So then, like that, God exists in time. But God doesn’t exist in time.
Time exists in God. God exists beyond time. Just like the author exists outside the storyline.
You can have the genealogy of all the characters in Harry Potter. But even if you go to great great grandfather of Harry Potter, you won’t find JK Rowling over there. Because the author exists outside the novel.
So similarly, God exists outside the fabric of space and time. So understanding God means understanding God’s greatness. That He is the basis of the existence of everything else.
So Krishna says that nothing can exist without Him. Just as without the ground, no buildings can exist. Just as without the author, no character in the novel can exist.
Without something which is pure actuality, there is nothing which can exist if partial potentiality, partial actuality. Sorry. Can I have that ginger? Sorry.
So when you talk about God, this is His greatness. That He is the cause of all causes. But greatness alone is not enough to appreciate God.
Because when we understand God’s greatness, oh He is so big. But okay, He is great. Now we may be impressed by someone.
Oh they are so great. But if you want to develop a personal relationship with them, there is something more. And that is God’s greatness.
So I’ll come to that. But any questions or comments till now? Thank you. Happy to be of service.
Yeah, sometimes people who are atheistic, now they they have a, not everyone, but they have a intellectual arrogance to them. They think that we are far superior to intellectual. That’s why we need adequately sophisticated explanations of our beliefs.
So I’m happy to provide something like that. Thank you. Yes.
Stimulus. Yeah, of course. When I said that the potential has to come from outside, it’s not black and white.
Generally speaking, growth we can envision it in two ways. Say for example, if there is a seed which grows into a tree. Now the seed has to have some potentiality within itself.
If instead of a seed there is a stone, then no matter how much you water it, no matter how much you nourish it, how many fertilisers you put, it’s not going to grow. So the seed has to have innate potentiality. But for that potential to become actual, there has to be something from outside.
That is sunlight or water or fertiliser or whatever. So similarly for us, at the very least, even if somebody is say a prodigy, somebody like a child genius, now they may grow up and they may become legendary musicians or legendary performers of some field, whatever. But then they need something outside.
What would they need? At the very least, they need a forum where they can express it. Isn’t it? So we don’t necessarily mean that everything is external, nor is everything internal. The whole idea of dynamism means that there is the inner source of the dynamism, but there is also an outer stimulus for the dynamism.
If somebody is a brilliant musician, but nobody knows about them. You could say still they are great musicians, but then their potential is not actualised till now. It’s not fully manifest.
So it’s a combination of the inner and the outer that is the way for the potential to become actual. Does that make sense to you? Is there something else on your mind? That means that if the seed has enough to grow without any outer intervention, then it could grow eventually without an outer stimulus. Similarly, if you want to reach a stage of your potential, then that would also imply that you could have an inner stimulus of that? Yeah, but at the very least, you could say time is needed.
If nothing else, time is a stimulus. Isn’t it? So you could say a newborn baby has the potential to grow up into a fully grown human being. Yes, but time is needed.
So the point I’m making is that we all are dependent on something outside of ourselves. Prabhupada would say God never becomes God. God is always God.
That means God is not dependent on time for His Godhood to manifest. That may happen in His manifested pastimes in this world, and I’ll talk about that in the sweetness part. But the point is that from a philosophical perspective that all of us, even if we don’t need anything else, nowadays, there’s the age of rugged individualism.
You know, I alone will fight against the big bad world and prove my greatness. Even if somebody is like that, actually, nobody is entirely like that. Everybody needs helpers.
Of course, some people might get more help, some people might get less help. Some people have far greater opposition than others. But still, everybody needs lucky breaks, and usually they come from something outside of ourselves.
So, let’s say there is the actuality, there is the potentiality. And for the potentiality to become actuality, the potentiality has to be there, but some stimulus, at least the passage of time has to be there. Make sense? So now, I talked about the greatness of God.
What is the second aspect? Sweetness of God. So now, actually speaking, it is you could say greatness that brings submission. Somebody is so great, I have to submit to them.
If we understand that somebody is far wiser, far more learned than what we are, then, oh okay, let me listen to what they are saying. So, greatness brings submission. But, along with that, it is sweetness that brings affection.
Okay, somebody is very great, you might be impressed by that, you might submit to that. Say, if you have a brilliant professor in college, and you are impressed by them, and they make a particular statement, you accept and you submit to it. But then, that might not really form a personal relationship with them.
Maybe when we come to know about their personal life, how they deal with people, how they are at a one-to-one level. Then, it is the sweetness that brings affection. And so, in the bhakti tradition, the conception of God is there in all the theistic traditions of the world.
But the bhakti tradition goes especially ahead in highlighting the sweetness of God. And how is the sweetness highlighted? Actually, it is affection, affection is kindled by sweetness. But sweetness essentially means to some extent, some admission or recognition of vulnerability.
Say, imagine now, if you have a child, and now, if you say, okay my child, actually he has this weakness, physically a little sick. Suppose, we could have the power to refashion our child according to our dreams. Suppose we had that power.
Okay. Sorry? How scary is that? So, okay. He is a little physically weak.
I will make him physically like a superman. Or, maybe what now? I don’t want to be gender neutral, maybe Wonder Woman. Or whatever.
Okay. But then, okay, and I want to be not just physically strong, I want to be brilliant. Okay.
Then you make them something like Albert Einstein. Now, if you redesign them in a way that is every way, they are completely perfect. They become like a superhuman, genetically engineered, maybe superhuman being.
You will find that actually a large part of the sweetness in a relationship comes by feeling needed in the relationship. If the child will be completely perfect, the child doesn’t need you. Isn’t it? And, it’s normally when I said vulnerability, a particular, see, all of us in our day-to-day lives, we put on a facade of strength.
Not necessarily facade in a negative sense, but the world is a cruel place. And people can exploit us if they sense some weakness in us. So, that’s why we put on an appearance of strength.
And, especially when two people want to come close to each other. One very vital way of coming, the thing that brings people close to each other is the admission of vulnerability. That means, oh, I’m not sure about this.
Maybe I can’t do this. Then when we see that vulnerability in someone, then we feel, oh, this person is great, but maybe I can do something for them. I am needed here.
And that creates a special bonding which is otherwise not there. So, here I’m talking about the concept of sweetness. So, sweetness comes in a relationship when we sense some vulnerability and not that we want to exploit that vulnerability, but that vulnerability creates a sense of need.
Even my presence in this relationship counts. I can do something. And then that brings a particular flavour, a sweetness to that relationship.
And this same principle applies to God. Although God is supreme and invulnerable, although God, Om Purnam Adah Purnam Vidham, although God is complete, but still, God in order to manifest his sweetness subordinates his Godhood. God as Krishna in Vrindavan does not always manifest his omnipotence.
He acts not as the supreme king presiding on a majestic throne, but as a simple, sweet, small coward boy. And Mother Yashoda feels, if I don’t feed him, he will go hungry. He will become weak.
He will become sick. He will die. And that is Is it an illusion? Is this an illusion? What do you think? Is it an illusion? Yes, it is an illusion, but our tradition has a special word for it.
Yogamaya. Now, the word Yogamaya, if you think of it philosophically, it is very peculiar. Maya is illusion.
That which takes us away from God. Yoga is not just physical exercises, although that’s what people will think of. Yoga is what? Connection.
Connecting with God. So, Maya is that which disconnects us from God. Yoga is that which connects us with God.
So, what are these two words doing together? Isn’t it? Yogamaya. What is this idea? Perfect. Yogamaya is the illusion that intensifies connection.
So, in a sense, this is an oxymoron. Does anyone know what is an oxymoron? Oxymoron is? Yes, what is it? Yes, two words with opposite meanings brought together. Say, for example, if you tell somebody that’s brilliantly stupid.
What do you mean? Either it’s brilliant or it’s stupid. So, we have two opposite words. Then, if you say that is spectacularly ugly.
What? So, it’s like suicide is said to be an act of courageous cowardice. It requires courage to actually end your life. It’s not easy.
Many times somebody might decide I want to commit suicide. And they go and lie down on a rail track. And then they hear the sound of the rail coming.
And the sound comes, the whistle comes and they think, maybe another time. And they get up and go. So, it requires courage.
However, if somebody is ending their life because they feel their problems are so many and I can’t deal with them. They don’t have, then, in a sense, it’s cowardice. So, it’s courage because one is ending one’s life.
It’s cowardice because the cause is not glorious. Like somebody who is a patriot or somebody who is a firefighter or somebody who is a coast guard. They risk their lives to save someone.
Then, that is courageous. That cause is glorious. But in this case, the cause is inglorious or just inability to face life’s problems.
So, the point is that yoga maya is an oxymoron. And that means that this is the illusion that fosters connection. And what is the illusion? The illusion is that the supreme invulnerable appears vulnerable.
The supremely independent appears dependent. The supremely complete appears incomplete. And that is what intensifies the affection.
So, in Vrindavan, every devotee feels that they can do something for Krishna. Krishna is so wonderful but still, I can do something for him. So, when Krishna is playing with the cowherd friends, every day, when they take their food, the mothers pack their lunches and they take them and go out into the forest.
In the Gopi Gita, the Gopis are contemplating that every morning when we see you going out to the forest, we start feeling as if one moment of separation from you is like one million. But when they go out, Krishna goes out, at one level he is God, he is perfect, but he works. It’s his profession.
He is a cowherd boy. charayan pashun, he goes out to graze the cows. And when he goes out in this way, at that time, the Gopis go with him and they take their particular lunches.
And then, when they are all sharing lunch, they all say, Krishna, please take this. Krishna, please take this. We can offer something to Krishna that actually, this food is so nice, I want to offer this to Krishna.
Now, if we consider Krishna to be complete and perfect, then nobody can do anything for him. He doesn’t need anything. So, the sweetness of Vrindavan is that the one who doesn’t need anything, he creates an illusion by which it appears as if he needs something.
And that’s how the sweetness comes out. Now, the sweetness is, we can hear sweet pastimes of Krishna and especially Krishna’s Baal Leela is very beautiful and very sweet. And it’s wonderful to hear.
But when we understand what lies at the foundation of the sweetness, that the omnipotent God appears deficient in someone. Now, this deficiency is not defect in him. Why? Because he can transcend the deficiency whenever he wants.
So, let’s consider, for example, the Brahma Vimohan Leela. At one moment, Krishna is with the Gopas and they are all grazing. They are all chatting and eating food while the cows are grazing.
And then, Brahmaji through green grass lures the cows away. And then, when they go away, the Gopas become concerned, where have the cows gone? And Krishna says, you eat, I’ll go and find them. Then Krishna says, I’ll go and find them and he walks away.
So, at that time, it appears as if he’s not omniscient. It appears as if he doesn’t know where the cows are and that’s why he’s gone searching for them. And he searches far and wide.
They’ve disappeared without a trace. And he is puzzled and thinks, maybe I went so far away that maybe they’ve come back from some other path. And he comes back and what happens? What happens? The cows, the cowherd boys are also gone.
What happened? For all of us, there is change in our life, but there has to be something that is unchanging. If everything is changing, then the bigger the magnitude of the change, the greater is the uncertainty. So, he goes over there, the cows have disappeared, he comes back, the cowherd boys have disappeared.
What’s happening? So, he appears to be bewildered. But then the next moment, Oh, this is Brahma’s trick. Oh, Brahma is creating an illusion like this.
Now, Krishna is so expert that what Krishna does is that Brahma creates an illusion, but Krishna creates an illusion within that illusion. What does that mean? The cows and cowherds disappeared, then Krishna expands. So, there is the reality there in Vrindavan, there is the illusion that they have been taken away, another illusion that they are all still there.
But what Krishna does is he creates an illusion within an illusion, but this illusion takes Brahma to the supreme reality. What happens? Brahma comes back and he says, Hey, what’s going on here? I thought everybody had disappeared and everybody is there. Hey, he just can’t make sense of anything.
Sometimes, you know, we speak something to disturb someone and then if they are not disturbed, we become disturbed. Why are you not disturbed? Say, somebody is a very powerful person and they punch someone and nothing happens to that person. Hey, what happened? Has my punch lost power? So, like that, Brahmaji creates a disturbance and there is no disturbance.
He becomes disturbed. What’s going on? And he goes and sees all these Gopas, he had taken the cows and the cowherd boys and hidden them in a cave, in a mystic slumber and they are still there and they are here also. He goes back and comes back and goes back and comes back.
He just can’t make sense of things and then, that is when, as he is going more and more into illusion, then Brahmaji, he is seeing that he is becoming so bewildered so there is reality, there is illusion, there is an illusion within an illusion but then Krishna reveals the reality and Krishna reveals that actually he is, it is he who has expanded as all the Gopas and the cows but he doesn’t show it that, so he doesn’t show that all of them are Krishna. He shows all of them are who? Yeah, but Vishnus. Specifically, he shows, if you see this picture of Brahma, Vimohan, Leela, it’s Krishna and there are all Vishnus around him.
Why Vishnus? Because Brahmaji knows that Vishnu is great. He goes and he seeks help from Vishnu whenever there is a trouble which he can’t solve. So, if you consider the hierarchy, the cosmic hierarchy or the trans-cosmic hierarchy, you could say, this is the earthly level, this is the celestial level where the Gods live and among the celestial, the topmost is Brahma’s level and above Brahma’s level is Vishnu’s level.
So, now, Brahma knows Vishnu is above him. So, there is a terrestrial, celestial and transcendental. So, now, he knows Vishnu is above him but Krishna is on the terrestrial or the earthly level and therefore he thinks, is this Krishna really God? And it is Krishna’s sweetness, his vulnerability that is bewildered.
So, how Brahmaji decides to figure, is this really God? Aghasu has been killed and it creates a big news. How? How did Aghasu get killed like this? Who killed him? In the Abrahamic religion, there is this story of David and Goliath. A small child kills a big giant and in fact, every Krishna Leela is like a David and Goliath story.
Isn’t it? Krishna is so small and his demons are so big. So, what power did David have? What power did Krishna have? And then when he comes and sees at that time, what does he see? That Krishna and Krishna and the cowherd boys are eating food and then it is not only that they are eating food but the cowherd sometimes they take some food and then they eat a little food and then they give it to someone else. And then they give it to Krishna also.
Now, this is sacrilegious. How can you give the food that has touched your mouth to God? You just can’t digest. Krishna just can’t.
Brahmaji says, you just can’t digest it. Sometimes there are certain things which are, the gravity of them in the cultural context you understand it. I was travelling once with some western devotees or western yogis, westernised yogis or westernised people and then we were going for a programme and I have my bottle of water with me and usually when I drink it, I just touch my mouth so that it doesn’t spill out.
So, one of them said, I am very thirsty. Can you give me some water? I said, actually I have touched my mouth I can’t give it. Some people are completely new and in English there is not even a proper word for Jhoota.
You can say remnants but it doesn’t convey that meaning. So, I said, in our tradition if you touch the mouth to water you cannot give. He says, but I am thirsty.
He says, no I am sorry. You mean, if I am dying of thirst and you will not give me water? So, it becomes very difficult if the cultural context is not there but the idea of giving something which is Jhoota you cannot do that and especially to God. How can you do that? So, Brahmaji when he sees this manifestation he is bewildered.
Is this really God? So, again I started by talking about look at the definition not at the depiction or look at the definition first then at the depiction. But what Brahmaji does is he sees the depiction. What is going on over here? This can’t be God.
So, the sweetness bewilders him. So, what Krishna does is when he manifests he manifests the Vishnu forms and that he knows Vishnu is above me. And then he sees actually all these Vishnus are coming from Krishna.
And then he understands oh, this Krishna must be someone very special. This Krishna must be great. But it is very interesting that if you look at Brahmaji’s prayers in the 10th chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam the 13th chapter is the bewilderment of Brahma and the 14th chapter is Brahmaji’s prayers.
And those prayers initially started oh, how I mistook you to be an ordinary person but you are the supreme person. So, it is initially appreciating Krishna’s greatness. But he does not stop with Krishna’s greatness.
Then as he starts offering prayers the subsequent prayers are appreciating Krishna’s sweetness in Vrindavan. And he says, how fortunate What is the fortune of Nanda? What is the fortune of Yashoda? What is the fortune of these cows? That you drink their milk. What is the fortune of these cowherd boys? That they offer the food that they have eaten to you and you take it.
So, he starts appreciating the sweetness of Vrindavan. And that is divine. At the end of it he prays, oh Krishna all these Vrindavans are so great.
I want their blessings. I want that they put their feet on my head. And thus he aspires and eventually Krishna rewards him so that he becomes a hill in Vrindavan.
The hill on which Krishna lives and the Maharaj’s house that is considered to be manifestation of Brahmaji. So, basically he appreciates Krishna’s sweetness. So, the sweetness of Krishna in Vrindavan is not simply that he is vulnerable.
It is that the supreme invulnerable appears vulnerable and dramatically whenever he wants he casts aside his vulnerability and manifests his invulnerability. Whenever he wants. He is omniscient and he appears ignorant and then suddenly he becomes omniscient.
So, this dynamism adds to the sweetness. And if we analyse Vrindavan pastimes this way, Krishna is sometimes all-powerful sometimes Krishna is apparently powerless. And then again he becomes all-powerful.
So, when Krishna is a small baby he is so light that the demon Trunavat comes and effortlessly takes him higher to the sky. And then suddenly he becomes so heavy that Trunavat crashes down. So, this dynamism of how Krishna uses both his sweetness and his greatness to flavour his pastimes.
That makes Vraja Leela spectacular. So, there is God’s greatness but there is his sweetness. And the sweetness helps us to appreciate God better and even his greatness better.
So, in Brahma Vimohan Leela we see that he encounters Krishna’s greatness. Oh, he killed a Dasa. But then he is impressed by that.
He encounters Krishna’s sweetness and bewildered by that. How is he eating somebody’s Jodha? And then he encounters Krishna’s greatness. Oh, Krishna is manifested as all these Gopas as Vishnu.
They are expanded from him. And then he appreciates Krishna’s sweetness. Oh, that Lord, who is the source of Vishnu, that Lord is now here with us.
He is here among the Brajabasis as a simple cowherd boy. How great is that Lord! How wonderful is that Lord! How sweet is that Lord! Thus, his devotion flows in waves completely inundating his heart and making him utterly absorbed in Krishna. Such is Krishna’s sweetness.
So, any questions or comments about this? Yes, please. On? Okay. It’s not necessarily one or zero.
Is it that the Brajabasis appreciate Krishna only because of his vulnerability? Okay. Yeah. Yes.
It’s not necessarily So, do the Brajabasis appreciate Krishna only for his vulnerability? We have in the Damodar Leela, there is the mention of the aama and reverence, but then it’s all sweetness after that. There is a priority. Priority means that for the Brajabasis, they love Krishna because he is Krishna, not because he is God.
But that doesn’t mean that they don’t know he is God or they don’t care that he is God. It’s like we love Krishna and he is also God. That’s so wonderful.
So, Krishna’s being God is like additional which flavours their love for him. So, it’s like even the daytime, the stars are there in the sky. But because the sun is so bright, we don’t see the stars at that time.
So, similarly for them, Krishna’s sweetness is so great that they’re not even aware of Krishna’s greatness. But that doesn’t mean they’re ignorant. It is that it’s in the background and when needed, they will also manifest awareness of that.
That’s why the same Brajabasis who at one level want to do things for Krishna, feel that Krishna will be deficient if I don’t do this for him. The same Brajabasis, when they are in trouble, they also pray to Krishna for protection. The same Brajabasis, they actually ask Krishna for his protectors.
Indra is showering down rains. When they ask Krishna like this, they implicitly have that faith that Krishna has the potency to protect us. So, as I said, it’s that unpredictable combination of omnipotency and lack of omnipotency.
That flavours Krishna’s pastimes. But in terms of priority, you’re right. The Brajabasis, they love Krishna because he’s Krishna.
Not because he’s God. And that he’s God is additionally sweet for them. Now with respect to Damodar Leela, we do see that God is bound over there.
And that’s his vulnerability. How can he be bound? But then, while he’s bound, what is happening? While he’s bound, he is liberating those who are bound. Rather than needing someone to unbind him, he is unbinding someone else.
So he is, while he is vulnerable, still he is also omnipotent. Any other questions? Yeah. So, how can Brahmaji, who has composed Brahma Samhita, forget Krishna’s greatness and sweetness? And, if it happens to Brahma, how can we protect ourselves? Or can we protect ourselves? There are two distinct things over here.
First is, when we look at great characters like Brahmaji, we have to understand that they are not like ordinary characters. They are not ordinary characters. Their illusion is not like our illusion.
So, let’s take Indra. In the Bhakti literature sometimes, Indra almost appears like a cartoon character. He keeps making such stupid mistakes.
And you start thinking, Indra, Indra, you are the king of gods. You have to understand that actually, Indra is a very powerful and venerable person. Especially, if you read the Vedic literature.
There, Indra is glorified so much. Because in the path of Karmakand, Indra is the summit of achievement. And, it’s important to know his position.
But, the Bhakti literature have a particular purpose. And, that purpose is to demonstrate the paramount, the supremacy of Bhakti. And, to demonstrate the supremacy of Bhakti, the contrast is drawn with someone who is very great, but as compared to Bhakti, he is insignificant.
So, say for example, if somebody wanted to learn cricket, somebody wants to learn spin ball. And then, say, there is a videos of this leg spinner who is just clean bowling, outwitting, foxing and getting this batsman out. Now, when you want to show a leg spinner bowling out, you will not just show him bowling out some ordinary street batsman.
You will show that leg spinner in clean bowling may be a champion batsman. Now, if you are reading that book or watching this video on leg spin bowling and you see this champion batsman, you may think this batsman does nothing except get out. But, if you want to know about the batsman, you have to watch another video where the batsman is batting very well.
The batsman is not a champion just so that this leg spinner can get him out. The batsman is a champion in his own right, but while you are talking about leg spin bowling, you will show how this champion batsman gets out maybe 50 times. So, like that, Indra and Brahma, they are all great people.
But, to demonstrate the potency of bhakti, it is shown as if they get outwitted. And, of course, you could say that there is a reason why Brahma, maybe Brahma was overconfident of his knowledge and that’s how he got eluded. That’s also a possibility.
So, these pastimes can be seen from different perspectives. For us to learn something, we can say, okay, this is what Brahmaji did, this is what I should not do. But, while drawing lessons like this, we shouldn’t judge those characters as wrong.
Because they are a part of the lord’s pastime and just to be a part of that pastime, they are exalted. So, that’s the part about Brahmaji. How does he get bewildered? It’s a part of Krishna’s plan so that the glory of Rajivasi, the glory of Krishna and Vrindavan is manifested in an extremely attractive way.
As far as we getting bewildered, yes, that is not only possible, but it’s probable in the world. Because this world is a place of temptation and illusion. And that’s why I write every day an article in the Bhagavad Gita, as I mentioned in the introduction.
I’m just in the process of writing an article. It’s called The Essence of Commitment is Recommitment. The Essence of Commitment is Recommitment.
You know, we commit ourselves to something and the nature of this world is we’ll get diverted from it. And when we say somebody is committed, it doesn’t mean we as conscious beings have free will. So, that commitment is not like it’s like a mechanical glue.
You know, you fix something to the wall and it stays fixed forever. We as conscious beings can’t be like that. You know, I become fixed in Krishna Bhakti and I’ll stay fixed forever.
No, because we are conscious beings, there will be temptations in the world. And those temptations, distractions will divert us. But the essence of commitment, the key to commitment is recommitment.
We’ll go off, come back. Go off, come back. Wherever and whenever the mind wanders, Krishna says, bring it back under the control of the Self.
It will no longer. Krishna is not saying that, Krishna is not asking or expecting from us that your mind will not wander. Mind will wander, but get it back.
If it wanders, get it back. So then, we will forget. We can’t avoid that.
Because the world is a place where there are so many ways in which we might be allured into forgetfulness. But, if we expect that and prepare for that and one preparation is having practises, having situations or settings, surroundings that reorient us back. That’s why we regularly come to the temple.
That’s why we regularly associate with devotees. That’s why we regularly have a programme of sadhana. So we get diverted, we come back.
We get diverted, we come back. And by this diversion and reversion, diversion and reversion, what will happen gradually is that the diversion will become lesser and lesser. Krishna will enter more and more into our consciousness.
And the diversion will be there, but it will be less, less, less, less. So it’s like sine waves go up and up and down, up and down. Gradually the amplitude of the sine wave will decrease.
And thus we will become steadier and steadier in our devotion. Thank you. Yeah.
What are the practical steps? I know you said to come to the temple and associate with devotees. I want to know in a slow video how do we actually progress forward more on a daily basis without sadhana bhakti so that we achieve real bhakti. So in today’s modern world, how can we practically practise Krishna bhakti and go towards loving Krishna? Just as whether it’s modern times or ancient times, we still need the sun for illumination.
We might have street lights and home lights that might make us feel that we don’t need the sun so much. But still we need the sun. So like that there are certain principles which remain unchanging.
No matter whether we are in modern, pre-modern or post-modern times. Whatever. And that principle is that devotion, devotion is conscious, continuous cultivation.
Devotion is not just emotion. We think of devotion as emotion and oh the kind of emotion that great saints had. I don’t have any of it at all.
And it’s true. We may not have it. But devotion is not just that emotion.
There can be some emotional effervescence which great saints manifest. But just that emotional ecstasy doesn’t solely define their sainthood. Their sainthood is because of their dedication.
It is their consistency. So we might not have those emotional highs. But devotion is conscious, continuous cultivation.
So at our level we can see how can I cultivate my heart. So just like as you said coming to programmes like this. That’s a cultivation.
And we try to make our friends as much as possible devotees. So basically there’s a principle for this conscious, continuous cultivation. We talk about ABCD.
A is association. Come in like minded, spiritual minded people. B is reading books.
That gives us intellectual, philosophical orientation for our spiritual journey. C is chanting of mantras. Especially spiritual sound vibration that can spiritualise our consciousness.
And D is deity. And diet. We worship Krishna in the form of deity.
We offer him the food that we take. We offer it to him and then we take it. So if we do these things, we all can be nourished in our devotion.
Any other questions? Okay, so I’ll conclude with the last point. I talked about Krishna’s greatness. Then I talked about Krishna’s sweetness.
And now for all of us, when we are practising bhakti, I said greatness, what does it do? It inspires submission. And sweetness inspires affection. And we need deep devotion or genuine devotion is a combination of submission and affection.
So for all of us, in our spiritual journey, we need an awareness of both. So sometimes, we need reminders of Krishna’s greatness. See, we are going through our lives.
There are daily struggles. And sometimes, things happen completely opposite to the way we wanted. Why is this happening like this? We are even praying to Krishna and nothing seems to be happening.
So at such times, when everything seems to be falling apart, humility means to know that we don’t have access to Krishna’s plan. That Krishna’s intelligence is far bigger than our intelligence. Sometimes when we are bewildered, not knowing what is happening, we need to remind ourselves of Krishna’s greatness.
That sometimes when we go and pray to Krishna, also, Krishna, please help me. At that time, what do we mean by Krishna, please help me? What it means is Krishna, I have this problem and I know the solution to this problem also. You know, this person is troubling me so much.
The solution is this person should stop behaving like this. So, we are forming a relationship with Krishna but the terms of the relationship are my intelligence and your power. I know the solution.
I know the solution. You just make the solution happen. So we are trusting Krishna but we are actually half trusting Krishna.
That means we are trusting Krishna’s power but not his intelligence. Yeah, Krishna, you know, you can do this but probably this thought didn’t come in your mind. So, I am giving you this thought now.
You please do this. So, of course, we can pray to Krishna and if we feel that things should be in a particular way, we can pray to Krishna. I want to serve you and if things work out like this, I can serve you better.
We can express our desire to you and express our desire. Certainly, we have our individuality but if things are not working the way we want them to and Krishna is also not responding to our prayers or at least it seems like that, then we need to be aware of Krishna’s greatness. That Krishna’s plan can be far bigger than our conception also.
Then, Krishna’s, that awareness of Krishna’s greatness can also bring submission. Okay, I am in this situation and let me just do my best in this situation. Although it’s a difficult situation but there is a purpose for this.
What is the purpose? I do not know. But Krishna is in charge. Krishna will guide me.
So, that awareness of Krishna’s greatness can help us accept situations when they don’t make sense. Accept situations which are very difficult for us. But at that time, we may also there are times when we also need Krishna’s sweetness.
That means that I have this problem in my life, that problem in my life and sometimes we may have this question, when we come to Krishna, should we just strive to solve the problem and then devote ourselves to Krishna or should we just forget the problem and just devote ourselves to Krishna? Now, it’s not this or this. It can be both. So, sometimes when we have a problem, at that time just put everything aside, absorb yourself in Krishna.
Get an experience of Krishna’s sweetness. Come to the temple and maybe look at the Lord’s beautiful darshan, participate in some kirtan, hear some katha. Just forget everything else and experience the sweetness of Krishna.
Yes, this is a big problem, this is terrible, this is troublesome but Krishna’s sweetness is still there. Krishna is still there in my heart. Remembering Krishna can still fill me with a sublime emotion and that can pacify our minds, that can soothe our hearts and then when we experience Krishna’s sweetness, that can rejuvenate us.
Yes, all these issues are there, I have to deal with them but by experiencing Krishna’s sweetness, we get strength to deal with them again. So, when we are practising bhakti, both of these when we are practising bhakti in this world where there are so many troubles for us, the awareness of Krishna’s greatness that his ways are different from ours, his plan is not just different but it is better than our plan. So, let me just wait.
But while waiting, life is unbearable, then let me just absorb myself in Krishna. Don’t let the problem dominate my consciousness so much that I can’t think of Krishna. Put the problem aside, absorb yourself in Krishna and when you find that you’ll get strength.
So, when we connect with Krishna, we may have to live with pain but we won’t have to live in pain. With pain, because yes, the difficulty is still there but in pain means that we are consumed by that. We can’t think about anything else.
When we connect with Krishna, our consciousness expands. Yes, this problem is there but Krishna is bigger. Don’t tell God how big your problems are.
Tell your problems how big God is. And then what will happen is we’ll be able to move forward in our life. Yes, the problems will be there but we will recognise if we practise bhakti that the world can hurt us in many ways but greater than the world’s power to hurt is Krishna’s power to heal.
Greater than the world’s power to hurt is Krishna’s power to heal. So, rather than looking at the world, we look beyond the world to Krishna. We turn toward Krishna and we will be healed no matter how much the world hurts us.
So, this understanding of Krishna’s greatness and sweetness can empower us to withstand the world’s hurt and to open ourselves to Krishna’s healing and thus we can march forward in our life. So, I’ll summarise. I spoke today on this topic of greater than Krishna’s greatness is his sweetness.
So, first I talked about the conception of God is not just an image to be depicted in some temple. Talking about God is that being who is pure actuality. All of us are a combination of potential and actual and we need something outside ourselves to transform the potential to the actual.
Like a multi-story building, it has to have a ground. So, there has to be one being which is pure actuality, which is not caused by anything else, which is the cause of all causes. So, to ask who created God is like asking who made a circle circular.
By definition, God is the cause of all causes. God does not exist in time. Time exists in him.
To ask who created God means to think that God is a being in time. It’s like asking where is the author? Where is JK Rowling in the Harry Potter novel? God exists outside the fabric of time and space. So, this is God’s greatness.
Then I talked about God’s sweetness. Although God is pure actuality, full actuality, but in his pastimes in Vrindavan, he manifests vulnerability. So, I talked about how sweetness comes in a relationship.
First, we want to know the greatness with someone so that we want to form a relationship with them. But then, when we want to go deeper into that relationship, if we see their vulnerability, then we feel needed. Then if we could redesign our child so that the child was completely perfect, the child wouldn’t need us at all.
And then where would be the parent-child relationship at all? So, God, although he is completely perfect, he manifests vulnerability. Mother Nishoda, to her, feels that without me, Krishna will starve and die. And this is an illusion, but it is a divine illusion.
Yoga Maya. It’s an oxymoron. So, God manifests illusion so that there can be greater devotion.
And then we talked elaborately about the Brahma, Vim, Mohan, Leela. How the sweetness caused illusion, but then the greatness was manifested and the illusion went away. And then there was appreciation of the sweetness of the Lord also.
So, Brahma created illusion. Krishna created an illusion within that illusion. But through that, he took him to the ultimate reality.
So, we all can appreciate the sweetness of Krishna’s past times when we see how there is an unpredictable combination of invulnerability and vulnerability that manifests in those past times. And in conclusion, I talked about how we, in our day-to-day lives, in our practise of bhakti, when we are bewildered or overwhelmed by life’s difficulties, we can appreciate God’s greatness. He’s so great.
He’s so wise that his plan, I can’t know. But let me just keep moving on. Accept the situation and move on.
So, awareness of Krishna’s greatness can bring a submission and acceptance of life’s difficulties. And reminder or absorption of Krishna’s sweetness. So, I have these problems, how do I deal with them? Just absorb yourself in Krishna.
And that sweetness can give us strength, rejuvenation. And then we can be healed to again face life’s problems. So, we may have to live with pain, but we don’t have to live in pain.
If we expand our consciousness and absorb in Krishna, greater than the world’s power to hurt is Krishna’s power to heal. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Prabhupada ki