Sri Krishna Charitra Part 5 25 08 2024 Janmasthami Special Series HG Chaitanya Charan Das

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Transcript

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Today I’m going to give a lecture on Krishna Krikshetra, which is also called Krishna Krikshetra. So, the first shloka is agre kuruna atha pandavana. What happened in front of Kauravas and Pandavas? What happened in front of Kauravas and Pandavas? rishasamena rtavasrakesa So, rishasamena is to pull Draupadi’s hair and clothes and insult her.
So, at that time, krishnadadakronsa ananya atha So, Krishna is calling loudly. Govinda damodara madhaveti Please rishasamena rtavasrakesa rishasamena rtavasrakesa Now when you call me at that time in a way the situation that is coming the situation that what happened in Kurukshetra why it happened, there are many reasons but here what happened in Asat Sabha in Hastinapur that is a main reason so now the incident in Asat Sabha In reality, there are six stages. The first is the invitation.
The Pandavas accept it. As soon as Yudhishthir comes, he says, Duryodhana, the wealth with which I want to serve the society, the Brahminy that I want to serve, why do you want to steal it from me? Duryodhana says, Who is talking about stealing? We are just playing a game. But in this game, from the beginning, many things are wrong.
First of all, they make it so that Shakuni will play with the Pandavas. In a way, he is an immature, he has to play professionally. So, this was unfair, improper.
It was like, if there is a boy on the street who wants to play boxing, I will ask him to box with Mike Tyson. So, Shakuni, Shakuni is such a person, he never took care of the royal affairs. He was always interfering in other people’s royal affairs.
He became an expert in gambling. So, when the Pandavas said, it is not right for Shakuni to play, Yudhishthira looked at Dhritarashtra and Dhritarashtra remained calm. Then Duryodhana said, if you are scared, then don’t play.
So, Yudhishthira didn’t want to play. What happened was, before this incident, in Bhagavatam and Mahabharata, different things are described. For example, if there is an incident, let’s say, someone goes on a pilgrimage.
Two people go on the same pilgrimage. So, both of them experience it in different ways. And because they experience it in different ways, that is why they describe it in different ways.
So, here, in Mahabharata and Bhagavatam, it is described in a different way. That the feeling of Mahabharata is mostly the feeling of Dharma. What is right or wrong at the level of Dharma, that is to be analysed.
And the feeling of Bhagavatam, that is the feeling of Bhakti, the feeling of surrender. So, whatever is happening, accept it, think of it as God’s plan, and accept it. That is why, in Mahabharata and Bhagavatam, the same incident is described in a different way.
So, the same incident is happening. So, Mahabharata is described in the perspective of Dharma. And Bhagavatam is described in the perspective of Bhakti.
What does it mean? This whole incident, that there is a dual relationship with Draupadi, in Bhagavatam, it is emphasised that through this whole incident, whoever did any work, it was such a plan, so that Krishna could give his protection to Draupadi. So, the emphasis, in the Bhakti tradition, and Bhagavatam is the main verse in the Bhakti tradition, in that, this whole incident, how Krishna protects, that has been emphasised. And here, in this shloka, that we sang, how Krishna protects, that has not been emphasised.
Here, it has been emphasised, how she calls out to Krishna. Draupadi calls out to Krishna, and then Krishna comes. And here, Krishna tadakroshad ananyanatha, she is calling out to Krishna.
So, the first incident, we will see from the perspective of Dharma. And then, after that, we will see from the perspective of Bhakti. I told you in the first incident, that we can see Krishna at four levels.
Does anyone remember the four levels? Literal, ethical, allegorical, devotional. So, which level are we going to see today? Ethical, and then devotional. So, Mahabharata is ethical, Bhagavatam is… It is not that all Bhagavatam is at the devotional level.
In Bhagavatam also, there is an ethical supervision. And in Mahabharata also, there is a bhakti level. But it is not that much.
What happens is that, the effect of time, according to that, the same text, it is told in different ways. This Ramayan, Valmiki’s Ramayan, in that, the feeling of Dharma is more. Like, Ram’s character is ideal.
Bhakti towards Ram, there is not much emphasis on that. The other later texts, Ramcharitmanas, Kambha Ramayan, in such a way, the bhakti towards Ram, there is more emphasis on that. So, in Mahabharata also, there is more emphasis on Dharma.
So now, we can say that, Yudhishthira, why does he play gambling like this? So, if we see Mahabharata, then what is told is that, when the Rajasuya Yagya is completed, then only, Yudhishthira Maharaj goes to Vyasa Deva. He says to him that, by your grace, this huge Yagya got completed very well. And I am very grateful to you.
I want your blessings. He gives him a lot of charity. He says, I want your blessings that after this Yagya, I can rule the kingdom with peace and prosperity.
Only then, Vyasa Deva becomes serious. He says, O King, I am seeing a lot of ups and downs in the future. In the future, there will be a lot of disaster.
After that, there will be a huge war. And after that, you will be able to rule the kingdom with peace and prosperity. So, when he listens to this, Yudhishthira thinks that, I don’t want a war.
How can we start a war? So, now, what is there in Mahabharata? How does the God work? And some things are going to be necessary in our lives. So, Yudhishthira thinks that, I don’t want a war. And then he argues that why is there a conflict, a war? A war happens because conflicts, differences, are unresolved.
So, now, in Ukraine and Russia, there has been a conflict for a long time. Ukraine wanted to join NATO. Russia said, you cannot go.
So, it was going on for a long time. When it was not resolved, then there was a war. So, there are unresolved conflicts.
Now, why are the conflicts unresolved? Because, there is disobedience to authority. Because, when there is a conflict, if both people go to one authority, and the authority agrees, then, the conflict can be resolved. So, disobedience to authority is, Yudhishthira thinks, the cause of conflicts and wars.
So, to avoid this sequence, Yudhishthira Maharaj, after the Rajya Suja, takes a promise. He says, I will always obey my elders. In this way, I will follow the orders of my elders.
And through this, I will avoid conflicts and wars. Now, in a way, his intention is good. His purpose is good.
But, due to misfortune, his elders are not good. So, now, when we do something, in Mahabharata, it is described, the ethics, what is the right thing to do, how to do it, what is the content, why are they doing it, and what is the result of it. Intent, content and consequence.
All three are seen. And now, there are different ethics, and some say, content is the most important. Some say, intent is important.
Some say, consequence is important. So, now, it is like this, in our life too, we see in the Shastras, content, this is the rule, it is important to follow this rule. But, intent, intent means, some devotees are uneducated.
So, they do not follow the rules. But, they have the feeling of devotion. God is inspiring them in a different way.
They are serving God. So, we see their intent, not their content. Prabhupada says, how much devotion you have, how much power you have, how much is being propagated.
So, all three are valid in a way. So, in Mahabharata, Dharma, the driving question of Mahabharata is, what is Dharma? The same question is asked by Arjuna to Krishna. He asks Krishna, So, different people, at different times, out of these three, give importance to one thing.
That, what I am doing is important, why I am doing it is important, and what will be the result of it is important. So, in a way, Bhishma, he is always centred on his content. That, I have taken this promise, I will do it this way.
The promise I have taken, it is necessary to follow it. Now, Yudhishthira, Yudhishthira, in a way, he is known as Dharmaraj, he also wants to do the right thing. But, what happens is, in the beginning, he emphasises on the intent, but in the end, in the war, in the Mahabharata war, when Krishna tells him, tell Drona, your son has been killed.
What does Krishna say to him? If you do not tell him this way, then today, Drona will destroy all your army. At that time, what happens is, Dronacharya, Dronacharya, repeatedly, Duryodhana, is scolding him. When Bhishma falls, then everyone expects that Karna will come, and Karna will be made the commander-in-chief.
So, when Dronacharya is made the commander-in-chief, he is very happy, because he feels that he will have to serve under Karna. So, Drona says, I am happy with you, what do you want? I want to give you something. So, Drona says, take Yudhishthira alive.
So, Duryodhana is very surprised. It is a long story, but here, the promises that Drona gives, he is not able to fulfil, for different reasons. Drona is scolding Duryodhana, repeatedly, saying, if you can’t fulfil your promise, then please step down.
Leave Karna, and make him the commander-in-chief. So, Drona gets so confused, then, on the fifteenth day, he starts using divine weapons against ordinary soldiers. Now, this is completely against the policy of war.
For example, today, nuclear weapons are suddenly used against an enemy. Now, no matter how much we can forget politics, all the wars that have happened, the war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on Israel and Gaza. But those who have nuclear weapons, they have never used them.
So, if any head of state starts using nuclear weapons, then, somehow, he has to be assassinated. So, in the movies made in America, many times, during the Second World War, people tried to kill Hitler. It was clear that Germany was going to lose.
So, they tried to stop it. But Hitler was not ready to stop it. So, the people who tried to kill him, were caught and killed mercilessly.
Hitler was very merciless in his own way. What did he do? He tied them with nylon ropes and hanged them. There was one person who was hanging for 13 days.
He kept cutting his throat and then he died. So, anyway, I was saying that such a person can be killed in any way. In a way, it is a consequence.
Those who are killing thousands, lakhs of people, it is necessary to stop them. Why not in any way? So, when Drona uses weapons on ordinary soldiers, Krishna says, Now, Yudhishthir, it is your primary duty All of them are fighting for you. They are ready to sacrifice their lives for you.
Can’t you lie for them? So, now, Yudhishthir accepts it. So, what is it? Now, it does not mean that every time a good result will come so we can do anything, we can say anything. It is not like that.
It is called in English, The ends justify the means. That our aim is good, so we can do anything for it. This is not right.
But in some circumstances, it has to be done. So, now, Yudhishthir Maharaj, how I am playing the role of Krishna in Kurukshetra, how Krishna helped in his death, I am not going to stress on that. How Krishna guided the decision making of the Pandavas, I am stressing on that.
Now, when Yudhishthir Maharaj decides, he says, I will follow That is why he comes to play Juha. And that is why, when it is completely unethical, that it is against Juha, that some amateur, some professional should play, Shakuni should play on behalf of Duryodhana. Because Dhritarashtra does not say anything, that is why Yudhishthir starts playing.
So, as it goes on, and then, a lot of terrible things happen there. So, now, I was giving a class in America. There were some devotees of Congress and some of their children were also there.
Later, we were asking, what did you learn from this class? So, a boy used to say, obeying our elders is very dangerous. So, I said, that is a very dangerous lesson to learn. So, this is not the solution.
Here, obedience is not the problem. Obedience is an important virtue. But blind obedience, whoever is telling something, what is his ideology, it is not right not to see this.
So, now, Yudhishthir Maharaj, because of this, he has taken a vow, that I will always obey the orders of my elders. What does he do with that feeling? Whatever happens there, it keeps on happening, he does not stop it. Now, if you see from a divine point of view, Yudhishthir Maharaj is a pure devotee.
Whatever he is doing, he is doing it according to Krishna’s plan. But, here, later, when this happens, when all of them go to exile, that is when Ropady gets angry at Yudhishthir. You played so much gambling, why did you play? How did you bet everything? That is when Yudhishthir Maharaj says, that in the beginning, my aim was that I was only playing gambling according to the orders of Dhritarashtra.
But, if there was an order, he could have stopped it at any time. He could have stopped it, but he could not stop it. As long as he was playing gambling according to his orders, he could have played as long as he wanted.
But, he could have said, I am not going to bet anything now. I do not have anything to bet. But, what was his feeling? In a way, he was thinking, I have to serve Krishna, I have to serve Dharma, I have to serve Brahmins.
I have to have something or the other. So, he was thinking, that I will play one more time. So, whatever I have lost, I will get it back.
At least I will get something. At least I will get something. With that, at least I will be able to do my duty.
So, it was not the way Yudhishthir played. It was not greed. Some people say, that Yudhishthir was a gambling addict.
Not at all. It was not greed, it was not addiction. It was basically a misjudgment.
He is a Dharmaraj. But, Dharma is so deep, that even a Dharmaraj sometimes gets engrossed in it. What was his misjudgment? He said, I want to serve.
I want to avoid war. I have a good intention. But, the thing is, good intention is not a substitute for good intelligence.
Our intention can be good, but, by having a good intention, we cannot replace it with a good intellect. To please God, a good intention is good. It is sufficient.
God is emotional. But, to do something in this world, having a good intention is not sufficient. A good intellect should also be there.
If the intellect is not right, then, even with a good intention, a person may have to face a lot of problems. This world is, in a way, the worship of God, is based on the emotions of the heart. But, how does this world function? It functions according to the rules of the world.
So, the world functions according to the rules of the world. What does it mean? Now, suppose, someone has diabetes, and, a big laddoo comes from Tirupati. He says, this is the prasad of Balaji.
I will take it as a prasad. And, a person eats the whole laddoo. Now, what will happen? After that, he will have to take medicines for the rest of his life.
He will have to eat it for several months. He will say, this is a prasad. Yes, this is a prasad.
So, it is right that it is a prasad. This prasad is divine. But, just because it is spiritual, does not mean that it will not have material effects.
It is divine. It will have a divine effect. But, it will also have a physical effect.
So, if someone eats a laddoo from Tirupati, he will die of diabetes. Sometimes. So, he will say, how can this happen after eating a prasad? Yes, it is a prasad.
But, the prasad of God comes in a different form. Why did you have to eat the prasad of God in that form? So, good intention is not a substitute for good intelligence. Now, someone will eat the prasad of God out of greed.
But, someone will also serve God. This is a prasad of God. But, still, it will have a physical effect.
Good intention is not a substitute for good intelligence. And, in a way, this is what is shown in the scriptures. Right now, Draupadi, I will go a little further.
I am just drawing some inferences here. When Draupadi has an affair with Krishna, in the description of Mahabharata, Krishna’s attachment to Krishna is not clearly explained. There, it is explained that he tries to wear and he keeps on doing it, but his attire is unlimited.
When we see Mahabharata on TV or in movies, there is Krishna. We see him with Krishna’s hands raised. An unlimited attire is shown there.
So, there is no such description in Mahabharata. In Mahabharata, people understand that because he is so chaste, so pure, due to his purity, due to some divine power, his attire becomes unlimited. And then, he falls down.
So, what happens in this is very unreligious. Now, some people tell such stories that till the time Draupadi was holding her attire, Krishna did not come. When she left her attire and only took Krishna’s refuge, then only Krishna came there.
So, in this way, we should depend on Krishna completely. Now, in a way, the lesson, the teaching is correct. But, sometimes the teaching of bhakti is to show it.
Again, good intention is not alone enough. There is a retelling of Mahabharata In that, it is said that Krishna is there. Now, this is completely against Mahabharata.
Krishna is there when Yudhishthira is playing But Yudhishthira never asks Krishna, what should I do? That is why Krishna does not interfere. So, if we do not turn towards Krishna, then we will do wrong things. This is the conclusion.
Now, the conclusion is correct, but it is not right to draw that conclusion from that incident. Because, that incident did not happen there. So, here also, it is necessary to depend on Krishna.
But, what does this mean? Earlier, what Draupadi was doing, was it wrong? When Draupadi comes there, Now, Dharma is taking place. It is being brought here. What does Draupadi do now? She tries to remind Dharma.
She says that when Yudhishthira put me on stake, he put himself on stake first. Then, how could he put me on stake? The one who is not his own master, cannot be someone else’s master. Then, she asks a question.
He does not answer. Everyone is quiet. Then, Bhishma says, even if everyone is quiet, Bhishma says, I am in Dharma Samyama.
Which of the two truths is important? That, I cannot tell. That, I cannot tell. Then, Duryodhana tries to fight between husband and wife.
He says, Draupadi, if you say that Yudhishthira has put you on stake and made you Adharma, then, I will cancel And, I will leave you. I will return you to your kingdom. I will return you to your kingdom.
So, Draupadi says, that Yudhishthira had no desire to fight, to gamble. So, the decision to gamble was also made by those Varishthas. Yudhishthira, obeying their orders, has gambled.
So, those Varishthas should decide whether it was Dharma or Adharma. So, what is it? She is seeing what Duryodhana is trying to do. And, she does not let it happen.
Later, if she was alone in the jungle, Yudhishthira would have been angry. But, not here. So, what she is trying to do now, what is it? She is trying to remind the assembly of Dharma.
And, this is right. This is good. As long as there is something in our power to avert misdeeds, this is our responsibility.
And, this is not wrong. When Arjuna says to Bhagavan, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vilā. This does not mean that leave Dharma and become Adharma.
He says, we have to act according to Dharma. But, when we do not understand what Dharma is, when Dharma becomes so complicated, then only we have to think mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vilā. I bow to Krishna.
And, whatever is going to happen, I accept it. So, Bhagavad Gita’s conclusion is not its sole instruction. Bhagavad Gita’s final conclusion is not its only instruction.
It is the final instruction. It is the most important. But, it is not the only instruction.
If that instruction was to be given, Arjuna asks in 2.7, pīcchāṁ ito ām dharma sambhūl jeta, bhagān bolte te, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vilā, bhagavad gita sampūrṇam. Krishna is not doing this. What Krishna is saying is, we should try to understand what is the right thing from our intellect.
And, we should do the right thing. But, when it goes beyond our power, when we do not have the ability to do anything, then only, we go to the Lord and accept whatever is happening. So, what is happening here it becomes very bad.
So, after that, when the government is not able to do anything, even then, Duryodhana does not change. I told you in the last day, even when Duryodhana sees Krishna’s great form, his heart does not change. So, here, when he tries to change Draupadi, even then, his heart does not change.
So, what happens at that time? If he is not able to insult her in this way, then he will insult Draupadi in some other way. He will say, put a broom in Draupadi’s hand. She is a servant.
Now, she should put a broom of the palace in front of all of us. So, when she does this, she puts a broom in Draupadi’s hand. So, Draupadi picks up the broom and now she is crying.
She is in a very pitiful state. And that is when Dhritarashtra is called Bhidur. Now, you stop it.
This is too much. He says, the fire in your yajna kund is always burning. You never allow it to extinguish.
And it has extinguished all of a sudden. This is very inauspicious. Now, seeing this, Dhritarashtra is in a very pitiful state.
So, this is Mahabharata. He does not change in the presence of God. He does not know why he has become like this.
He says, this is a ritual. I am doing this ritual. The fire in my yajna kund should always be burning.
It has extinguished. This is very inauspicious. It should be stopped.
So, people work in different ways, with different ideologies. So, it stops there. But, after that, the incidents increase.
And the Pandavas also get exiled. But here, I will come back to two points, and then we will stop and we will have question and answers. Now, let us see, what happens with Draupadi.
Now, Draupadi has an affair with Krishna. She does not take his clothes. She tries to take his clothes.
But now, Krishna intervenes there. And, he helps her. But, it is not like that, Draupadi… Now, Draupadi calls out to Krishna.
But, what happened there, Krishna continues to tell her. So, later, when she meets Krishna, Krishna comes to meet her in the forest. So, she says to Krishna, I called out to you.
Why did you not come there at that time? I am your relative. I am your friend. I am your devotee.
I am your servant. Why did you not come? Now, Krishna does not say, I had come. I do not know what happened to you.
I did not help you to understand your intellect. I did not believe that nothing happens without my plan. Krishna does not say like this.
How does it happen? He says, What does he say in that? He says, Shalini had attacked. And, I am in Dwarka. I am working there.
As soon as I came to know, I came here. And, he says, I was told how all the devotees were going towards Adharma. But, at that time, you were reminding everyone about Dharma.
He says, Yudhipi, they tried to insult you. Although, you were dishonoured, you emerged as the most honourable person in that ascent. You were insulted.
But, your behaviour was the most respectable, respectful behaviour of yours. And, Krishna is doing sansarat on Draupadi. But, at that time, Krishna gets angry seeing Draupadi’s condition.
And, he gets so angry, that he says, I will destroy the Pandavas and Kauravas right now. And, at that time, Arjuna calms Krishna down. To please Krishna, Arjuna says some prayers.
He sings praises of Krishna. He calms Krishna down. So, here, in a way, the Draupadi gets angry towards Krishna.
And, Krishna gets angry towards Krishna. Not towards Draupadi, but towards Kauravas. So, here, anger comes.
So, the point here is, when bad things happen in this world, God is not causing those things. God is with us. When bad things happen, God is not the reason.
God is with us. And, if there is any atrocity, if there is any injustice, God is concerned. God may also be angry about it.
So, it is not that whatever is happening is God’s will. So, now, Sita is kidnapped. In the kidnapping of Sita, Lord Ram does not interfere.
Ram was there, in a way. So, I was in Manchester. There, a person asked me a question.
When Marichaya screamed and said, Lakshman, Sita, why didn’t Ram scream and say, It is not me, it is Marichaya. So, now, in reality, the person Ramchandra is, he is doing a human play. And, if we look at the hierarchy of the universe, hierarchy means Taratamya.
I don’t know what Taratamya means in Hindi. The one that is above and below. So, God is above, humans are in the middle, and demons are below.
This is at the level of morality. But, at the level of strength, at the level of strength, God is above, demons are below, and humans are below. So, Lord Ram has come in the form of a human.
So, Marich is a demon. So, the physical strength of the demons, the voice of the demon, all this is more than that of a human. That is why Lord Ram comes running back.
So, when Sita is kidnapped, So, when Sita is kidnapped, God is there, but He does not intervene. So, in this world, So, in this world, when we worship God, we should expect that God will intervene all the time and protect us. Devotion Devotion can go in two directions.
One is Expectation. And the other is Transformation or Dedication. What is Bhakti? If I am doing Bhakti, what will happen? If I am doing so much Bhakti, then you should do this.
If I have done so much for you, then you should do this for me. Bhakti can go in one direction. And this is reasonable.
If we do something for someone, then he should do something for us. But the second is when we do Japa, what results do we get? For Japa, it increases even more. By doing Abhyasa, by doing Abhyasa, Maam Ichhaab Tum Dhananjaya So, my desire for God increases by doing Bhakti.
So, if our expectation increases due to devotion, especially the expectation of Krishna’s intervention. That God will intervene. And why will he intervene? He will use his omnipotence to intervene.
If he does so, then our Bhakti will be very unsteady. Sometimes, we will even leave What happens is, when we expect, if we do not have money, and we go to a relative and ask him for some money. He does not have much money, so we go to him and ask for some help.
So, if we go to a very rich person, we have a relative who is very rich, we go to him, and expect more money from him. So, if we apply this logic, if we go to God, we will expect the most from God. So, he is the biggest person, so I have the biggest expectation from him.
If we have this feeling, then we will have the biggest frustration. So, sometimes God intervenes. In Mahabharata, as I am telling you, in Mahabharata, God does not intervene with his omnipotence.
What does he do? He intervenes, but what does he show here? He says, I was there, don’t you remember? He says, I was there, that is why I could not come here. But, your tears, those who have insulted you, those who are shedding tears now, they will definitely be punished. Now, God gives assurance like this.
Now, Ram is not very far from Sita, but he is not able to reach there. Why? Because God always does not his omnipotence. Yesterday afternoon, I had a podcast.
That podcast was about the terrible crime in Kolkata, about someone’s husband. So, they were asking, if this happens, in Bangladesh, if something happens to a Hindu, there is a lot of torture. When something happens in front of our eyes, where is God? Where is God? Why did God not protect him? So, God’s protection, God protects in Kurukshetra.
But, how does he protect? The whole purpose of Bhagavad Gita is not that you do my bhakti, come to my refuge, and I will protect you. No. What is the purpose of Bhagavad Gita? You come to my refuge, and I will make you omnipotent.
I will give you guidance so that you can protect. You can protect your religion. Krishna says, you come to my refuge.
But, Krishna says, when you come to my refuge, how does Arjuna come to your refuge? Does Arjuna lift his hand up? No. Arjuna lifts his hand up. What does he do? He lifts it up with his wrist.
Because, God’s will, Krishna’s will, if we are here, one is, it happens to us. What is happening to us, that is God’s will. But, more important than this is, that God’s will happens through us.
That, through us, God’s will should be fulfilled. So, the incident of Draupadi, especially the last incident which is being told here, when she is lifting her hand up, Krishna, what is that? Whatever happens, I accept it. But, the refuge of Arjuna, what is that? God, So, one is normal, you can say, normal, and one is paranormal.
So, Krishna’s role in the world. How does God interfere? So, now, how does Krishna interfere? He, more than normal, what does it mean? He empowers us. He empowers us, human beings.
He gives them wisdom, power, talent, whatever is necessary, through that, He does His work. Now, the difference between Mahabharata and Bhagavatam, when we know that when Krishna is not able to reach Jaidrath, then what does Krishna do? He takes his own refuge. With his refuge, he covers it.
Now, there are different descriptions of Mahabharata. But, in Mahabharata, it is said that at that time, the sun sets. So, now, Krishna’s refuge is true.
But, not all people see it. It is dark, how did the light come back? So, now, at that time, a friend of mine was giving historical dating evidence of Mahabharata. We can tell that Mahabharata actually took place 5000 years ago.
So, there is a field called Archeoastronomy. What is Archaeology? It is the study of ghosts. So, we dig the ground, we find fossils there.
But, what is Archeoastronomy? It is the study of the position of stars and planets. And, now, through Mathematics, computer models, we can go back and go back for thousands of years to predict the position of planets. So, the devotee was telling me that if we accept that in South India, there is a scientist, what he has done is that on the 14th day, in the evening of the 14th day, he has assumed it to be a solar eclipse.
And, after assuming it to be a solar eclipse, what has he done? He has calculated. In Mahabharata, it is mentioned that at that time it was a lunar eclipse, after that it was a solar eclipse, and so on. So, now, after a lunar eclipse, if a solar eclipse has taken place at that time, then, when did it take place? So, we can calculate that.
Similarly, he says that if he accepts that it is a solar eclipse, then, about 3000 years ago, around 500-1000 B.C., we can deduce that it took place in Mahabharata. So, now, in Mahabharata, it has not been emphasised that Krishna did this. Yes, it has been told, but it has not been emphasised.
The thing is, when God intervenes, then, every time, it is not necessary to do it in a paranormal way. So, if we expect that God will miraculously intervene, then, sometimes, we will be disillusioned But, contrary to that, what is it? Devotion means surrender. Now, surrender, I will conclude with this point, that surrender and surrender, these two words, they are not one.
Surrender is surrender. Surrender is dedication. So, surrender and dedication can be one, but many times, people surrender.
What does it mean? Put your hand up. I surrender to God. But, surrender has one meaning, as it is a devotional tradition, surrender means dedicating.
Arjuna, Prabhupada says in a lecture, Arjuna does not say to Krishna, when Krishna shows him Virat Rukh, Krishna, you have shown me, that everyone is going to die. So, whatever is going to happen, you do it. Arjuna says, I will do it.
So, that is why, in this world, in this world, a lot is going wrong. In our surrounding, in our situation, in our family, in our community, we can see a lot is going wrong. So, keep this expectation, that God will come, and God will correct it.
Prabhupada ji will not sit in this feeling. Prabhupada ji went to America alone. So, Prabhupada ji, Bhagavad Gita says, Prabhupada ji’s bhakti, Prabhupada ji’s bhakti, Pradhana says, devotion means dedication.
So, in the end, Krishna, Krishna’s inspiration, Krishna’s guidance, Krishna’s presence, what happens with that? Arjuna’s dedication. The Pandavas’ dedication. Krishna, how to dedicate? How to fight? If you want to fight a war, how to fight Drona? How to fight Bhishma? How to fight Duryodhana? How to fight Karna? For this, Krishna gives guidance.
But, the dedication is done by the Pandavas. So, when we see Krishna Leela in Vrindavan, Mathura, in Dwarka also, there Krishna is the central character. Krishna kills Kamsa.
So, in Bhagavatam, Swair Dorabhir Asyan Adharmam Sometimes Krishna himself kills people, sometimes Krishna gives power to others, so that he can kill demons. So, here, the description is what Krishna does in Kurukshetra? Krishna himself does not pick up a weapon. Once he picks up a wheel, he picks up a wheel, but most of the time, he does not pick up a weapon.
And, what is a wheel? That can be discussed. A wheel is a weapon. But, is every wheel a weapon? That can be discussed.
So, normally, Krishna’s intervention is done in the form of our intellect. Krishna gives us intellect as to how to work. It is not that whatever I am doing, I am doing it for the service of God.
That is why God will take care of everything. No, that is not the intention. Our intention is that we have to pray to our intellect and we have to serve God with our intellect.
We have to serve God We have to depend on God. But, depending on God, that is not an excuse for irresponsibility. When Prabhupadaji used to build a temple in a different place, when he built the temple, I was in America at one place, there was a small temple, a small community, but he was building a very big temple there.
So, that community, their capacity, their financial capacity, was about 100 times bigger than that. He said, no, no, no, no, we are very enthusiastic. He said, you all do not have faith in God.
Have faith in God. Krishna can do miracles. Krishna is Lakshmipati.
Yes, we can argue for everything. Yes, Krishna is Lakshmipati. But, how did Prabhupadaji build the temple? Prabhupadaji built the temple in Vrindavan.
At that time, Tanayana had come. So, Prabhupadaji thought, how will our Vrindavan temple run? People will donate. Prabhupadaji said, then we will build a guest house here.
And the guest house of MBT, at that time, was one of the best guest houses there. So, he said, we are going to promote everything, so we will bring people to Vrindavan. People will come to Vrindavan, so if we give them the facility to live, then with that, the maintenance of the temple can be done.
So, Prabhupadaji had faith in Bhagwan. He had a lot of ambition to serve Bhagwan. It was a divine ambition.
But, Prabhupadaji, he was not planning to give funds to Bhagwan. Prabhupadaji was making a plan. So, in the same way, what was seen in Krishna Kurukshetra, how with His grace, we will get the intellect and power.
We will get the intellect to understand what is morality. How to work with the material world, we will get the power to understand that. This is the role of Krishna.
And Krishna comes in Janmashtami. We will discuss about Janmashtami tomorrow, about that season. But, Janmashtami comes and ends at one time.
But, Krishna, if His presence awakens in our heart, then the guidance and power that we get from Krishna, we can always get that. And through that, we can always do the right work. The foundation of dharma in this world, we can help in doing that.
So, in conclusion, we will sing the song once again, after summary. So, we started here. How Krishna and Pandavas’ life We saw a similarity, a difference.
And then, how and where Krishna, Krishna’s role in Pandavas’ life. We were focussing on that. So, in a way, there is visible divine intervention, which is showing that I am divine, I am God, I am helping you.
When Krishna was there, when Pandavas were there, that was rare. What was there to help? Empowerment. And, at the time of Draupadi, they saved Draupadi, but did not show that I saved her.
So, we were seeing how in Mahabharata and Bhagavatam, the perspective is a little different. Mahabharata’s emphasis is on Dharma. Bhagavatam’s emphasis is on Bhakti.
And, in that context, I told you the last point. When we do Bhakti, what should be the emphasis of Bhakti? How can we do our Dharma with Bhakti? On that, not only Bhakti, what does it mean? That we should expect from God that you come to help. Will this happen or not? But, if we do dedication with Bhakti, then, God will make us a reason to bring change in this world.
This is what Krishna did in Kurukshetra. And, this is what Krishna does in this world. We can sing a few times.
Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji Yes, Krishna? There were two things. First, I would like to ask a question. As you said, the incidents that took place in Kolkata and others, we also think that Krishna will not show the protection of the paranormal.
But, he will empower us to do something. And, as you said, Draupadi took Arjuna’s shelter with both her hands. But, Arjuna took Gandiva and helped God to establish Dharma.
Similarly, there are many organisations that say that you only worship Krishna in Vrindavan. See what Krishna did in Kurukshetra. So, I am a seeker.
And, if we talk about Prabhupada, he has explained everything from the perspective of Bhagwat. You also said that Mahabharata has a different perspective and Bhagwat has a different perspective. So, we are following Bhagwat.
In this social situation, how can we meet God’s expectations? What is expected of us and what should we do? Thank you. This is an important question. And, I will tell the principle first.
Right now, there is a journey. From Tamoguna to Rajoguna, Satvaguna, then Bhakti, then Shuddha Bhakti. We can talk about this later.
Shuddha Bhakti in the form of Gauri or Vishnu. Shuddha Bhakti in the form of Radharani. You can go ahead.
Right now, what is the Krishna Bhavanam Dantalam? Right now, some people, Bhakts also have different thoughts. I will just explain the thoughts. Then I will try to understand them.
Right now, if we see, Prabhupadaji has emphasised that if I can make one pure devotee, then I will consider writing the Gita to be Yashasvi. And, for that, that was, in a way, Prabhupadaji’s aim. So, to make everyone reach there, this is, in a way, the aim.
So, wherever they are, to make them reach here, this destination is important, one can say. But, if we look at it from one perspective, but if we look at it from another perspective, then Prabhupadaji has told the aim of ISKCON. What is the first aim he has told? To correct the imbalance of material and spiritual values by systematic education.
So, this is very general. The materialism has increased a lot. So, by giving spiritual knowledge, the materialism has been reduced a little.
So, this, in a way, this is a very generic thing. Someone now, from here, from Tamas, to Sattva, this too, in a way, in Tamas, actually, in Tamas, people are not even materialists. They are materialists in their imagination.
In Indra Tutti, people will enjoy a little. People, Indra Tutti, Rajogun, they will date someone, they will take romantic enjoyment. In Tamogun, people will watch it on TV later, someone else is enjoying, his second hand will enjoy with imagination.
So, in Tamogun, people are not materialists. So, someone will say, I will bring Rajogun from Tamogun to Sattogun. Isn’t this also collecting imbalance? Anyone can do it.
Now, Prabhupada ji did many projects. He had many projects. One project, Prabhupada ji, started in America.
He started a political party. The name was, In God We Trust. He took the slogan of America.
It was the slogan of the founding fathers of America. And, Prabhupada ji was very excited. He was a disciple of Prabhupada ji.
He said, you can become the president of America. You can become the president of America. Later, Balwant Rao Prabhupada ji came to meet him.
Prabhupada ji, are you not enthusiastic for this political party? Prabhupada ji said, I am very enthusiastic. But, don’t ask me for any money. Don’t ask me for any money.
What does it mean? Prabhupada ji was very excited at that time. But, Prabhupada ji saw that we have limited wealth. So, if you want to go into politics, there is a lot in politics.
There is corruption, violence, a lot of things. But, it takes a lot of money to do canvassing, to do publicity. So, Prabhupada ji said, we don’t want to use our wealth for this.
Prabhupada ji said, if you can do it, then do it yourself. So, Prabhupada was not against that. So, we can say that this is ISKCON.
This is an organisation. But, through ISKCON, the people who are inspired, and those who are doing it with inspiration, we can say that this is the Krishna Consciousness Movement. The Krishna Consciousness Movement is much bigger than ISKCON.
ISKCON is an organisation and people are inspired by the organisation. But, by being inspired, they can do a lot. They can do a lot.
If someone gets inspired by the satsang of a devotee, then he can start a goshala. So, it may not be in the name of ISKCON, it may be their goshala. But, it is inspired by the principles of Krishna Consciousness.
So, now, ISKCON is an international organisation. So, internationally, different considerations have to be taken. We are in the majority in India, but in some other countries, we are in the minority.
So, if we identify too much, in a political movement, we identify too much. In India, it may be good for us, but in other countries, it may have a negative effect. So, there are many things that ISKCON may not be able to do.
But, this does not mean that ISKCON’s devotees cannot do it. It is important to understand the difference. So, ISKCON may not go directly into politics.
But, if ISKCON’s devotees want to enter into politics, then no one is stopping them. If they want to do it, they can definitely do it. In some western countries, like England, ISKCON has a lot of influence.
America is a very big country. There are devotees, but not in such a large number. So, whenever there are elections in England, there are two parties.
One is the Tory party, and the other is the Labour party. So, both the parties come to our temple. And, both of them come to the temple, and the politicians there are a little refined.
They say, what will I do for your community? What will I do for your community? What have I done? What am I going to do? So, what they do is, when we have a Sunday programme, they ask one politician to come to the party in a week. And, the next week, another politician comes. And, in the next election, the second party will come for the first time.
So, in that way, we are neutral, but that does not mean that we are indifferent. The difference is different. Neutral means that we are not supporting any one party.
But, that does not mean that we have nothing to do with politics. So, whether we can do it in India or not, that is a different matter. But, the point is that ISKCON and Krishna Conscious Movement are two different things.
And, if many devotees are getting a practical inspiration, they need to find out like-minded association. Many devotees have Kshatriya Parvati. Now, most of the people have Kshatriya Parvati when they don’t have to face anyone.
Laughter Laughter In English, they call them keyboard warriors. Laughter They will write a lot of messages but, in reality, they will not do anything. So, it is not like that.
But, if someone has the desire to do something, then, he can definitely do it. Now, what all can our movement do? This is a bit of an evolving discussion. But, overall, it is not like that that, if we look at it from the perspective of devotion, we know that Adav Shraddha, Sadhu Sangh, Bhajan Kriya, Anartha Nivritti, they go on with emotion and love.
Now, we also see that in our temples, in our institutions, there are different kind of preachers. Some preachers speak mostly about Anartha Nivritti. Some preachers speak about Bhajan Kriya.
That means, how to practically apply devotion. Anartha Nivritti means But more internally, what I mean is how to fight them. Some devotees, their primary need is to awaken their faith.
Now, we also propagate, if we are going to new people, we will go to new people. So, that is why we have to awaken our faith in a way. That is why, when I go to a company like Google, Microsoft, I am not going to talk about bhakti directly.
First, we have to awaken their faith in spirituality. And then they can move forward with curiosity. So, basically, there are many roles that can be played.
So, Prabhupada ji has made a big umbrella. And in that, we can lift different small umbrellas. So, devotees can do a lot individually.
And when we should do something, this is the first point, Krishna and Krishna consciousness movement is different. The second point is that we all need like-minded associations. Not just a group of devotees, but those who have the same ideology.
What is the word for it in Sanskrit? Swajatiya, right. So, we need an association of swajatiya devotees. Association means, we may even need a like-minded guide.
So, I will say three criteria of like-minded. First, we understand their mind. If they say something, explain something, then we understand it.
Some people give lectures like this. We have some questions about scriptures. And to explain one point of a scripture, we give another quote of a scripture.
Okay, but how can I understand it logically? It is told in the scriptures. Accept it. Okay, because we cannot understand it.
So, we understand their mind. And then, they understand our mind. The way we are thinking.
Sometimes, we ask someone a question. They say, why have you become so emotional? Why have you become so knowledgeable? Why have you become like this? We say, sarvopadhi vinirmuktam. But, we give credit to everyone.
We give credit to everyone. This is like this. This question came.
You are knowledgeable. This question came. You are emotional.
This question came. You are like this. So, that is not right.
But, those who understand us, they understand our mind. And then lastly, they help us understand our mind. Sometimes, ISKCON opens schools.
ISKCON does not open schools. ISKCON’s devotees build schools there. ISKCON’s name is there.
ISKCON’s name is not there. But, that is a kind of mission. So, I say, I think, Kshatriya is not fighting.
Kshatriya has two roles. In today’s society, we can say. One is Kshatriya.
One is force, which is important. Where is it important? It is called force or security. But, the second is advocacy.
What is the meaning of advocacy? In a way, it is security in terms of narratives. What are our concerns? What is our ideology? How is it happening from our point of view? It is important to tell us. If we do not tell our story, someone else will tell it.
And, maybe, our situation will be told in their way. So, what is our duty? Not only to do our survey. But, to tell our ideology as well.
Now, when Pandavas go into exile, what happens? They stay in exile for 14-13 years. And, at that time, Duryodhana is telling his story. And, because of that, when Pandavas go out, Draupadi was tortured.
She is a direct example of torture. So, with such a person, how can an army of 11 akshahs and their kings come? At that time, Duryodhana is telling his story. Pandavas stay in exile.
Duryodhana meets the other kings. He is telling his story. And, how does the play take place? Balramji is also influenced by Duryodhana’s story.
Earlier, when Krishna and Balramji come to meet, Balramji is also angry. How did Duryodhana do this? But, later, after 13 years, when Abhimanyu is going to get married to Uttara, at that time, Krishna and Balramji also come there. And, at that time, what has to be done? Do we have to propose peace? Or, do we have to fight? That discussion is taking place.
At that time, Balramji says to Yudhishthir, Yudhishthir, you should be a little humble. Everything that happened was your fault. No one told you to gamble.
No one told you to put Draupadi at stake. No one told you to put your kingdom at stake. It was your fault.
That is why you should be humble. Hearing this, Pandavas get very angry. They get disappointed.
Now, Balramji is divine, but this Leela tells us that Balramji is also influenced by the story of Duryodhana. So, this is the power of narratives. So, we should use our intellect to protect what is in our interest.
And, if we do that, that is going to be very helpful. Yes, please. Hare Krishna, Dandat Pradam.
When Yudhishthir started gambling, Lord Krishna was with him. That is why he did not stop him. He did not even give any indication that he should not do it.
This became my question. And later, he protected the Pandavas. This became my question.
What was the second question? When was Krishna present? When was the gambling going to start? Krishna was not there at that time. That is what I am telling you. What is being told is wrong.
Krishna had gone to Dwaraka where he was attacked. So, when the invitation came, Pandavas were in Indraprastha. And then Pandavas came to Vidur.
And then Krishna was not there. And when Pandavas came to Hastinapur, Krishna was not there. So, Krishna was never there at that time.
Directly, the… So, that’s why it happens that we meet Draupadi. Last time when we met, Draupadi was Maharani. And when we meet here, Draupadi has become a Vanvasi.
So, there is a lot of difference. That’s why Krishna is not there, basically. Then my second question is, Prabhuji, even a blade of grass does not move by the will of God.
Then in the life of every human being, whatever good or bad is happening, who is responsible for it? So, not a blade of grass moves without the will of God. That’s a saying. But if we see, what is being said in Bhagavad Gita? Anumanta means permitter.
Bhagwan is giving permission. Is Bhagwan doing everything? Like, the actions in this world, they have three reasons. God’s will, free will and evil.
What does it mean? Ishwar, Jeev and Prakriti. Now, what does it mean here? That Bhagwan’s will is the best. But Bhagwan has given everyone free will.
And every living being works according to their free will. And then, some living beings are like this. Now, according to our scriptures, there is no evil person like Satan.
But, the person who has such bad impressions in his heart, such bad impressions, that person becomes like a stone. In today’s language, we call them psychopaths, sociopaths. They don’t have any conscience.
Usually, we do something and someone feels pain because of it. So, if we know that they are in pain, we apologise. Sorry, my intention was not like that.
But, some people don’t have any desire to give pain to others. So, they have become evil. So, basically, when there is any action in this world, when there is an event happening with someone, it is not that it was Bhagwan’s will.
Now, let’s take it a little extremely. Now, some people say that whatever we do, it is done by Bhagwan. Okay, we can say like this.
So, if Bhagwan does it, does it mean that Bhagwan was wearing Draupadi’s attire through his misconduct? It is complete nonsense. He was doing misconduct. Now, Bhagwan was not doing it.
Bhagwan was saving him. So, Krishna’s will, Sorry, Krishna is the ultimate cause or the supreme cause. He is not the sole cause.
So, sole means the sole cause. Supreme cause means, Vedanta Sutra has been given as an example, that if there is no rain, then nothing will grow in this world. So, whatever is growing, its ultimate cause is rain.
But, it doesn’t mean that where it is growing, that rain is responsible for it. Whichever seed is there, it is responsible for it. So, for this, let’s see.
I had made a diagram for this once. Okay, let’s see. This is told in the sixth verse of Bhagavad Gita, chapter 9. yatha aakashisto nityam vayu sarvatra go mahan yatha sarvani bhutani matsthani tyopdha raya So, assume that the sky, The air in the sky, goes up, down, forward, backward, but it stays within the sphere of the sky.
So, in the same way, the sky, this is God’s will. And the living being here, the living being has this free will. With this free will, the living being can go here, can go there, can go everywhere.
So, in a way, sometimes, the living being misuses its own free will to do something. And when it does something, it is not God doing it. It is the living being doing it.
God is giving it a chance to do something. Why is God giving it a chance? So, what is the reason for this? For this, there is another concept. It is called Kshetra.
What does Kshetra mean? It is the power of the influence of every living being. There is a young boy. He gets angry.
What will he do? Maybe he will move his hands and legs. If he kicks his mother, what is his strength to kick her? But there is a young boy. He will get angry.
If he kicks someone, if he beats someone, he will get a lot of influence. If he is in the police, he has a machine gun, he will get angry. He can kill anyone.
If the president of America or Russia gets angry, he will press a nuclear button, and the whole nation will be destroyed. So, every person has a different Kshetra. And how does that Kshetra come? It comes from their previous karma.
So, every person has a Kshetra according to their previous karma. And in that Kshetra, they can do whatever they want to do. God gives them that much space.
Did you know about the sky? So, that is our Kshetra. Different people have different Kshetras. Now suppose, someone finds out that there is a bank here, and a lot of money has come into the bank.
So, there are 10 thieves. They plan. There are 10 different thieves.
They plan to rob. One of them is SSV. The rest of them are like, this happened, that happened.
They are not SSV. So, why did one of them become SSV? Now, robbing is a bad karma. But, success in robbing.
Robbing is a bad karma. But, to get success in bad karma, good karma is necessary. We need good karma to do bad karma, or to do bad karma successfully.
So, if someone wants to do something, if someone is a terrorist, or wants to blow up a building, then that is a very bad deed. For that deed, one has to plan a lot. One has to do a lot of planning.
One has to do all this. Even after that, when does one become SSV? When that person has done something bad, a good karma. Now, if he had done a good project, even then he would have become SSV.
But, he used his good karma in the wrong direction. So, according to our previous karma, God gives us some areas. So, what we have to do in those areas, is dependent on us.
So, if we want to do something bad, then we can do something as long as those areas are there. For example, there is an American President. Today, he is a President.
So, he can do a lot of things. But, tomorrow he will not be a President. So, his area will be very less.
Now, the President of America is a President, but he is not a President. He does not have any power. So, in a way, even though he has areas, he does not have areas.
So, when we have some areas, for example, Dushasan got some areas from his previous karma. He had the power as a warrior. He had a position as a warrior.
Now, he could misuse it. But, he misused it. He misused it very harshly.
So, yes. The area that he has got, in that too, whether he has to do good karma or bad karma, that too will be decided by his past karma. Isn’t it? If we say like this, if our previous karma decides our present karma, then we do not have any freedom.
So, how does it happen now? The karma that we do now, in that, we are influenced by our past karma. But, we are not controlled. These are two different things.
We are impelled, but we are not compelled. For example, he has drunk a lot. Now, he will come in front of the liquor shop and he will want to drink liquor.
But, it is not like that someone is coming, opening his mouth forcefully and making him drink liquor. It is not forced. So, he is impelled.
So, what happens? Impelled means pushed. We get an inclination to do such things. But, not compelled.
Compelled means forced. So, from our past karma, we get some impulses. But, we have to decide whether to act according to those impulses or not.
प्रवृतिम्च निरृतिम्च कार्या कार्ये भया भये God says that the wise person understands which impulses to act and which impulses not to act. But, just because I have impulses, it does not mean that I have to act. So, from our past karma, our present karma does not decide.
We are influenced by our past karma. But, now we have a free will. And, we can decide Yes, I feel like doing this.
But, I will not do this. And, if a person lives in a good environment, with good people, comes for satsang, does bhakti, then the influence of past karma reduces further. But, it is not like that.
Because, Duryodhana was born in a family. That is why, he was going to do all the evil deeds. He could not do it.
But, he chose to do it. Okay? Thank you very much. Shri Krishna Bhagwan ki, Shreela Prabhupada ki, Gaur Bhakta Vrinda ki, Shreeman Chaitanya Janan Prabhu ki, So, tomorrow, Shri Krishna Janmashtami is going to be held in the temple.
It starts at 5 am.