Narasimha Special: SB 7.10.02 to 7.10.11

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
this begins from the 4th verse and goes to the 10th verse of the last verse over here so if we move back it starts from the second verse actually so 2 to 10 is what it goes on and 11th the lord replies so Narasimhadev has been asked Narasimhadev is asking Prahlad what do you want and his reply is I paraphrase these verses to just so that we can get understanding of the flow so I will tell the overall sequence of what is happening and then we will see how much time we have to go into each of the verses so the first verse Prahlad says is my dear lord please don’t tempt me please don’t tempt me and then he says I am born in a demoniac family and I have come to you for a shelter from the temptations of this world and then he says now it’s like chikravarti padaracharya they envision a conversation that is going on so the lord says Prahlad you are not you are not a demon you are my pure devotee so he says next verse says that actually yes my dear lord I know that you have sent me in this family to exhibit the characteristics of your devotion but right now I am in this particular situation and I am vulnerable this is a dangerous situation so therefore my dear lord please don’t tempt me so he is first taking on the fallen role of being a fallen person but he says the lord says you are not fallen yes my dear lord otherwise the two verses seem almost contradictory the previous verse is saying I am born in a demoniac family next verse is saying you have sent me here to exhibit the symptoms of pure devotion so how can that be they say yes that there is a mission with which you sent me here but I am in a vulnerable situation and then the next verse he says but then the question comes up the lord says do you really think I will tempt you is that what you think about me how can I tempt you he says yes my dear lord I know that you can you can never tempt anyone but you are so kind that even if a devotee gets tempted by material things you don’t reject that devotee you accommodate even that devotee but then he goes on and says that such a person who comes to you because of material desires that person is actually not a pure person that person is not a pure devotee it is your kindness that you accommodate such a person but while it is your kindness that is not the speciality of that person and he expresses his desire my dear lord I don’t want to be like that I want to be I just want to be your unmotivated devotee and I want you to be my unconditional master so it’s basically I don’t want to be tempted you are not tempting me and even if somebody gets tempted you accept that person but I don’t want to be that kind of person I just want to be purely devoted to you he says you know that I know that you love me you know that I love you why are you even worried about these things so he replies that therefore oh lord I am saying to you if at all you want to give me anything you have asked me for blessing the only blessing I want is that you free all material desires from my heart I don’t want any single desire at all in my heart and then he says there are no material desires in your heart why are you so worried I am worried because I know how dangerous material desires can be he says that one desire it can contaminate the entire being on the other hand he says next words that if one can become free from desires then one can be intimately united with you one can be truly situated in the same spiritual position in which you are situated and then finally he says my dear lord I surrender to your plan I offer my obeisances to you I will do whatever it is that you want me to do I will do your will the lord will eventually tell him that you become the king and you serve as the king that is what my will is and the lord also tells him how you can stay protected he says that he goes on and speaks various verses this is probably one of the most important verses about practically living in this world so the lord replies to him but let’s look at these verses so this is the overall sequence where the lord is saying please do not tempt me so we could say that this has three sections broadly one is the first section is about Prahlad’s concerns then he says the lord’s characteristics and then lastly material desires and devotion so let’s look at these three things this goes from the second verse till the tenth verse so let’s recite some of these verses let’s go backward Shri Prahlad Vacha Maa Maam Pralobhaya O Thya Shri Prahlad Vacha Maa Maam Pralobhaya O Thya Saktam Kamesh Tairvare Tatsang Bheeto Nirvigno Mumukshu Swamupashvita so here the theme is that of shelter shelter shelter from desire so this is the difference between bhakti and punya in the lord is the shelter from desire whereas in punya the lord is the shelter for desire shelter for desire means I have all these desires I am not able to fulfil it my dear lord please you become an instrument for fulfilling my desires so now this may be mundane but it is still the lord is happy the devotee is at least coming to me so in the progression where it’s like if you consider desires and devotion or desires and Krishna so at the level of papa at the level of sin desires they take us away from Krishna now at the level of punya the desires take us toward Krishna and bring us back to the desire so the desires don’t take us entirely away from Krishna we go to Krishna but it is the desires that take us towards Krishna just like we have Dhruva very intense bhakti but it is because he wanted a king he had a strong desire but bhakti is where we can say at this level a devotee only desires the lord so that’s why in 12.8 and 9 Krishna when he is talking about pure devotion he talks about first a devotee is completely absorbed in him and if one cannot do that that the purpose of trying to fix our mind on Krishna is to ultimately become absorbed to ultimately to become immersed to get to increase our desire for our lord so at that point a devotee doesn’t care for the material world if something happens in the material world that’s wonderful I don’t want anything in the material world the lord wants to give devotee abandoned things in the material world so that the devotee can use those things in Krishna sense but so initially what is happening is Prahlad Maharaj is positioning himself here so Prahlad Maharaj is positioning himself here and he is saying my dear lord why are you tempting me that please don’t tempt me this desires, this indulgences this temptations will take me away from you the lord is saying the lord is saying you are not actually here Prahlad you are here you desire me only that let’s look at what the next verse is vrityala ok vrityalakshanajigyasu vrityalakshanajigyasu bhaktam kameshvachodaya bhaktam kameshvachodaya hudaya krantishu prabho so here he is saying that yes my dear lord you have sent me to this world vrityalakshanajigyasu vrityalakshanajigyasu is inquisitive so those who want to know what are the characteristics of a pure devotee what are the characteristics of a servant of yours to demonstrate to them bhaktam kameshvachodaya you are desiring this you have sent me to this world but the very fact that I have come to this world means that it is a place of I am in a contaminated place it’s like generally speaking when we talk about desires we can take a moral view of desires or we can take a clinical view of desires what do you mean by moral view if somebody has a desire that is wrong you should not be having this kind of desires that’s a moral view of desires and there is utility in taking that view but a clinical view is that desires are basically what arise because of the interaction of the material body with the material objects so for example in 523 Krishna takes us more of a clinical view he says that shaknoti haivaya sorum praakshari vimokshanat kama krodhod bhavam vegam sayukthah sa sukhi narah he says as long as we have a body we will have desires so is that just a natural result of our embodied condition but he says that doesn’t mean that we have to succumb to those desires we should learn to tolerate but a clinical view is it’s just natural so it’s like suppose somebody is a doctor and that doctor goes into an area where there is a pandemic the doctor is also vulnerable to become infected so a clinical view is more like a doctor going to a pandemic zone so Prahlad is saying that this material world is like a pandemic zone it’s filled with material desires and those desires are not just out there he is saying that the desires come in the heart also because just by the embodied condition some desires come so at a clinical level it’s just more like a functional reality, those desires will come but a moral level so clinical means it arises out of the condition it’s a condition that’s external it can be conditioning internally also moral is more of a choice that when the desire comes what do we do about it so Krishna says in 270 for example that apurya manamachala pratishtam samudra maapaha pravishanti yadvat tadvat kamayam pravishanti sarve sa shanti maapnoti na kamakami na kamakami means don’t be a desirer of desire it’s a very interesting phrase don’t be a desirer of desire that means what it is saying is desire is from a clinical perspective desire will naturally arise because we live in the material world but from a moral perspective don’t accept that desire this is what Krishna is saying desires may come we don’t have to accept that so you could say that it’s more like this is like a proposition and this is more like a decision so a proposition comes up oh eat this watch this touch this enjoy this yes I’m going to do it so proposition may be unavoidable so that’s just the nature of the world but decision is avoidable so he is saying my dear lord I am in this vulnerable zone you have sent me on a pure mission but I am in a vulnerable zone right now so please don’t put me in further danger so you have sent me for a higher mission but these dangers are there let’s move on to next verse now naanya thaate khila guro ghateta karunatmanah yast aashish aashaste nasa bhrutya savai vani so then the lord is saying that why do you consider desires to be so dangerous there are so many people who have desires and still they come to me still they are connected with me still they are also worshipping me he says yes my dear lord they do worship you but they are not bhrutya they are not servants they are vanik they are having a relationship when you talk about a relationship with the lord the relationship can be transactional or the relationship can be transformational transactional means like we go to a business person we go to shopkeeper we give the money and they give us a product now that is simply a transactional relationship neither that person is transformed by it nor are we transformed only some things exchange hands but for a devotee the primary purpose so it’s like the transactional relationship means what the lord and devotee come close to each other the lord doesn’t go away the devotee comes close to the lord or the transactional person they come to the lord and they go away this is the lord you come for a particular purpose you offer something get something and then go that’s transactional but transformational means that the devotee keeps coming closer and closer and closer to the lord and it’s eternally devotee’s heart the lord says in Ambarish Mahat’s prayers that the saintly devotees reside in my heart and I reside in their heart Krishna also says the same thing in 9.29 it says that they exist in me and I exist in them so that eternal union is there we could say eternally increasing union is there so this is a transformational relationship this is the kind of relationship that I seek so some people come to the lord but their interest is not the lord their interest is what? their interest is their own desires I don’t want to be like this so this is my concern I want to I don’t want to have business relationship it happens with us say we are talking with someone and if that person is just interested in their interest ok I told you to do this have you done this have you done that and they have no interest in us at all it leaves a bit of a bit of a bad not a pleasant feeling in our heart do you really even care for me at all so that way this relationship he says I don’t want that kind of relationship with you but then so many people have that kind of relationship what is the issue with that so he says that he is now moving from his so it’s like the prayers how they are happening is that the prayers are personal universal and personal it’s like he is expressing his personal emotions then he is talking about some universal principles personal concerns the universal principles and then there are personal aspirations aspirations is what does he aspire for what does he want so 2 to 4 are his personal concerns my dear lord I don’t want to be tempted then after that now he is giving the principles of devotion so he is saying that one who comes primarily to you for desires now he is in one sense what he is doing is he is comparing at one level a person a materially motivated person with a devotee but he is also comparing the lord with other masters he is saying that there can be in the relationship between say the worshipper and the worship the worshipper can be unsteady unsteady means the worshipper is not really interested in the lord if you give me this wonderful if you don’t give me this then I am not interested in you but he is saying even the worshipped worshipped can be insecure what does he mean by that sometimes it may happen that we are afraid if I don’t do this for this person this person will go away and although something may not be good for that person but still we may do it for that person because we want to hold on to that person so basically insecure means there can be attached in a material sense, in a negative sense attached and there can be negative sense attached over here also so sometimes a person see how it is that from our perspective we need the lord we need Krishna although we don’t realise we need Krishna we think I can go on my life can go on without but from Krishna’s perspective Krishna does not need us Ramana has mentioned that that he has talked about how the lord nijlabhapurno in the previous chapter he has completed himself from our perspective we need the lord from the lord’s perspective the lord does not need us he wants us he does not need us he is completing himself but he wants us because he cares for us so while he wants us he does not need us so if a devotee he says my dear lord you are such a person that you just to satisfy someone you will not give them something that is harmful to them like a doctor if a patient wants something diabetic I cannot live without sugar the doctor may give some may allow the doctor to take some sweets but the doctor will not prescribe something that is actively harmful to the patient so like that he says you are not so worried that people may go if somebody wants to go away still you will not give them something that is harmful to them so he is talking about from your perspective you are not insecure you are not a possessive lord but on my side I don’t want to be unsteady so he is talking about the characteristics of of a utilitarian relationship from both sides some people bestow favours just so that they can hold on to their followers like Duryodhan when he was a king recently I was asked this question I was in India University Duryodhan was not a bad king when he was a king as per the Mahabharata he was a good king in the sense that he was administering the kingdom well and that’s why Yudhishtira also says that it is for my own personal greed that I got this kingdom Duryodhan was managing the kingdom quite well well he was managing but why was he managing it was because he just wanted to hold on to people it’s he wanted that in future when Yudhishtira and Pandavas will challenge I want people to be on my side but did he really want the good of people or he just wanted them to be good to him it’s like a government it can give it can empower people by creating employment by creating facilities or the government can just give freebies you know we will give you this we will give you that we will give you that but that creates an unhealthy dependence so Duryodhan was giving a lot of favours but that was not out of any concern for the people it was concern for power not for people so that’s a very different thing now after this he says this is one of the well known verses from the section and he is saying what is the what is the standard of devotion that he wants to follow so he says I am your devotee without any motivated desires and Swami Anapashraya. That means when you are a master, you are not, you don’t need us.
You’re not taking shelter of us. So like a master sometimes gets a sense of shelter by how many followers are there. If I don’t have followers, the master starts feeling insecure.
So tam che swami anapashraya. You don’t need followers for your shelter. And this is a standard of your relationship.
So this is the standard of your relationship that I seek from you. And because I want to seek this relationship, therefore, the prayer that I ask you for is that my only desire is that there be no desire in my heart. That is my prayer.
Yati dasya sime kamaan. Varam svambhara darshabha. Kamaanam ruddhya samroham.
Bhavata sthuvrune varam. Now, in general, bhakti is actually characterised, in fact, defined by desires. The defining characteristic of bhakti is desire for Krishna.
So if a devotee does not have desire for Krishna, then there is no devotion at all. So when the word kama is used, it is used primarily for desires that take us away from the Lord. We may call it material desire, but how do we exactly define a material desire? Sometimes a devotee may desire a material thing for the sake of the Lord, for serving the Lord.
So the test is that in one sense, desire is equal to devotion. Why? What do you mean by that? If there is devotion, naturally there will be desire. Devotee will desire to chant the holy name, to take darshan of the Lord, to do service for the Lord.
Prabhupada was, Prabhupada’s distinguishing characteristic among many was that he had the strongest desire to share Mahaprabhu’s, spread Mahaprabhu’s mission all over the world. And many of his other Godbrothers may have been more learned than him in terms of literal scripture learning. They may have been more renounced than him in the sense that they will be lifelong renunciates.
But Prabhupada was defined by that overpowering desire to serve the Lord. So in one sense, you could say as desire for Krishna increases, that is a sign that our devotion is also increasing. Tatra laulyam api maulyam ekar.
That in fact, that strong desire is the characteristic, is a prize for Krishna Consciousness, Bhaktisamudra Sindhu says. So when we say that we should not have any desires, so we may say we don’t have material desires. But kamam, in the word kama is used.
So how are we going to define material desires basically? It is not just desire for material things. Because as long as we are in the material world, even to serve the Lord, we need material things. You want to offer bhoga to the Lord, that is a material thing.
You may say it’s being offered to the Lord, so it’s spiritual. Okay. But it is a thing in the material world.
It is made of matter. So it does not, material desire is not desire for material things. It is more for desire that takes us away from Krishna.
Now the question comes up, what if we want the, so there is desire for the Lord. And there is desire for things for the Lord. Isn’t it? I can, I can, you know, I want to have a big house so that I can have a big altar, which I can serve the Lord.
Even I want to build a big temple for the Lord. So what about those desires? So there is desire for Krishna. And there is desire for things for Krishna.
So now the test is that we could say that both of them could be devotional desires. And it is definitely possible. But the test is that the desire for Krishna needs to be stronger than our desire for the things for Krishna.
Sometimes what happens is we are trying to do some service and that service is not working. And because of that, we become so irritated. You know, this person is not cooperating, this is not happening, that is not happening.
And then our heart itself becomes very bitter because of that. In trying to offer the world to Krishna, we make our heart unofferable to Krishna. That should not happen.
Krishna says, bhajatam priti purvakam. Not bhajatam resentment purvakam, not bhajatam anger purvakam, not bhajatam. So yes, we want to offer things to Krishna.
So this is, you want to offer the world to Krishna, but you want to offer our heart to Krishna. Offering our heart is the most important thing. Srila Prabhupada wanted to offer the whole world to Krishna.
And yet, when Prabhupada came to America and devotees, the new people who later became devotees, they met him, they didn’t see that Prabhupada was bitter or unsatisfied or resentful. I have tried so much to serve Krishna, nothing is working. Even then Prabhupada was cheerful, happy speaking about Krishna, happy about glorifying Krishna.
And whatever worked out, Prabhupada was doing his best to make things work out. But his desire for Krishna was greater than his desire for things that he wanted to offer to Krishna. And that’s why a devotee is, on one side, a devotee has aspirations.
We have many aspirations, but a devotee also has satisfaction. If this combination of devotion is both, Krishna, whatever situation you are going to put me in, I accept that situation because I just want to connect with you. So I’m satisfied in that.
At the same time, there is so much more I want to do for you. So in that sense, devotion is a combination of both satisfaction and aspiration. If there is only satisfaction, then that will lead to lethargy.
That will lead to apathy. We will not do any service to Krishna. Okay, I’m satisfied.
Like, Krishna, you are happy there, I’m happy here. Let’s be happy. That will lead to lethargy.
On the other hand, if there is only aspiration, and there is no satisfaction, then eventually this will lead to bitterness. Krishna, I’m trying to do so much. Why are you not helping me? Why are people not helping me? Why are things going so wrong? So we need a combination of both.
Satisfaction plus aspiration. There is so much more I would like to do for Krishna. But whatever I’m able to do, I’m grateful for that opportunity.
I’m happy that I’m able to connect with you, Lord. So when Prahlad is saying, let there be no desires in my heart. His point is, let no desire become so strong in my heart that it takes me away from you.
That the desire for doing things for you should not take me away from you. And then after that, next verse he says, then he talks about how the power of desire, desire may start small, but the desire keeps growing, keeps growing, and it takes away one’s entire being. His whole life can be ruined by desires.
Let’s skip this verse here. And then on the other hand, if one can give up such desires, so we desire the Lord, and we desire things for the Lord. But if something is not working out, one is able to give up that desire.
Then what happens is, the mind becomes stable. The mind can be achchala or the mind can be chanchala. Chanchala is constantly going here, there, and everywhere.
Achchala means it’s fixed on the Lord. So when our mind becomes steady, then we attain the same spiritual nature that the Lord has. And that is what we aspire for.
Now how exactly the Lord will bring that about in our lives, that is up to Him. So we surrender to Him. So this last verse is also a verse expressing acceptance of the Lord’s plan.
So this is the heart of Prahlada Maharaj that is being expressed in these verses. And we can also aspire for this kind of pure devotion. So I’ll summarise what I discussed today.
So we discussed a quick overview in the beginning of the verse. That’s what we did again. Overview was what? There is His concerns, characteristics of devotion, and then there are the aspirations.
So 2 to 4 are the characteristics, and then 7 to 10 are the aspirations. So in this connection, we discussed how when a devotee is practising bhakti, the important thing is that the relationship, we want it to be not transactional, but transformational. That means the transformation is that our desire for the Lord, that we come closer to the Lord.
And then with respect to desires, we want, it’s not that we just want to give up desires, it’s like our desire for Krishna, we want it to increase. Then desire for things for Krishna, that is also good to have, but it should not become stronger than the desire for Krishna. And desire for things that take us away from Krishna, that we want it to decrease, and we want it to become zero, ultimately.
So that is Prahlada’s prayer saying that, let this become decreased so that it becomes ultimately zero. And that way, we can become, our entire being, our whole consciousness can become Krishna-mind, it can become filled with Krishna. Thank you very much.
Thank you so much for very nicely detailing out the inner mode of Prahlada. Beautiful presentation this is going to be a reference, I would never dare to do. So, while we were hearing this beautiful Katha, there was some perception came and I just wanted to get some clarification on that.
It apparently looks like there are three horizons. On one horizon, Prahlada Maharaj and our great Acharyas are there, such a higher platform. They are already living in the heart of Krishna, like you talked about, it is both ways.
For them, practising Bhakti, apparently, though there are challenges in their life, but because they are so much dedicated to Krishna, they are not affected by that at all. There is a second horizon, which I was thinking about Guru Maharaj, who did not actually bend to Krishna with the desire that I want the world to move to its sides. So, he was going there, but by the mercy of the Lord, he immediately went to the first horizon and cut the second horizon.
I was thinking about devotees like myself, who are on the third horizon, who cannot go to that level, because there are, like you talked about, very particular worlds, they are always attacked by material desires, even if I don’t want them, I know this is not favourable for me, but the Lord comes and you shall go to a point where you don’t act on that, which is good. But it looks like, to go to the spiritual world, or to attain the lotus feet of Krishna, I cannot continue on this horizon, I have to go to the third horizon, but this is not under my capacity. So, we see that Dhruva does also become angry when Uttama is killed, and starts killing disproportionately also.
So, now, of course, you could say that’s the Lila of the Lord, but the point is then, he accepts. So, the point is that the nature of the material world is sometimes even somebody after seeing the Lord can come under the spell of anger, but then he’s protected. When Manu comes and gives him instruction, he lets go of his anger.
So, rather than just expecting pure devotion, expecting that we will always stay at the standard of pure devotion all the time, we need to keep ourselves in good association, or at least be accountable to good association, be subordinate to good association. And even if we go off track, we will be brought back on track. And as far as the level we are at, one aspect of devotion is satisfaction, that where we are right now, we need to be satisfied by that.
It is not that the Lord has rejected us because of where we are. The Lord knows where we are. And we want to become purified and attain the Lord, but then things take time.
And which we don’t have to, we don’t have to put, in the name of seeing pure devotion as very lofty, we don’t have to make Krishna into an unreasonably demanding God. Krishna is an understanding God. From wherever we are, we are taking steps towards Him.
We are moving closer to Him. And just like if we consider a parent and a child. Now, if our child is learning to walk, every step that our child takes, we are happy with that.
Now, if our child is just learning to walk, it’s not that we expect our child next year to run a marathon. So, if as parents, we are understanding towards our children, why will Krishna, the Supreme Parent, not be understanding towards us? So, Krishna knows where we are and Krishna will guide us forward. So, somehow, in the name of, yes, we want to go back to Krishna.
And it’s not that Krishna doesn’t want us to come to Him. Krishna also wants us, as Prabhupada said in the first canto, that Krishna’s desire that we come to Him is more than our desire that we go to Him. So, His desire is very much there.
So, He will help us become purified so that we can come closer to Him and ultimately attain Him. So, how that will happen? That is something which life will be an unfolding adventure in that direction. So, we don’t have to put ourselves down too much or catastrophise the future.
So, even if we are not purified enough to go back to God at the end of this life, that’s not the end of existence. We have served Krishna lifelong. Krishna will take us to a place where we can continue serving and coming closer to Him.
If you are pure enough to go back to Him, wonderful. If you are not pure enough to go back to Him, that doesn’t mean we are doomed. Krishna is not going to forget what we have done for Him.
So, our desire for purity should create intensity, not insecurity. That we want to be pure, but in that name, we should not become insecure. Because otherwise, if we are insecure, then that means we don’t have faith in Krishna.
Sometimes we have more faith in our fallen condition than in Krishna to elevate us from our fallen condition. That is not necessary. So, desire for purity, it should lead to intensity, not insecurity.
Any other question? One question is on the satisfaction I got from your work. Especially, aspiring pearls are in a different place. You are a master of how things will not be falling according to your desire as to how to handle them.
So, most of the times, you find out the data and then you feel very satisfied and good. But, not aspiring anymore for those things. That’s why we need to have the association that will bring the balance to us.
If we tend to go too much towards aspiration, and because of that we are constantly dissatisfied, then we need to associate with devotees who have satisfaction. And if we are having too much satisfaction, then we have to associate with devotees who have that aspiration. Who have that urge to do a lot for Krishna.
So, largely bhakti sanjayate bhakti. It’s that our desires will arise from association. So, we have to see what is it that we need.
Sometimes we need zeal. Come on, we have to do a lot of things for Krishna. And then we associate with that kind of devotees.
But, sometimes we need calmness, we need acceptance. We need a sense of peacefulness. So, then it’s inspiring even to associate with devotees who are doing simple services.
Jaya Dvait Maharaj once said that one devotee had asked him, what gives you faith in bhakti? So, he said there was one devotee, a brahmachari in Vrindavan temple. He had been, for almost 50 years he was a brahmachari there. He would do pujari services and other services.
In the morning when he is there, he would like to serve charnamruta. So, day after day, month after month, year after year, to see him happily serving charnamruta, that gives me faith in bhakti. It’s a very interesting answer.
He is not a well-known devotee. He is not having thousands and thousands of disciples. But that he can continue this lifelong, doing this service, that indicates there is some intrinsic joy and devotion also.
So, now, but did that mean that Maharaj said that I will also, from like that I will also start serving charnamruta in Vrindavan? No, that was not what he did. He continues travelling and preaching according to his capacity. So, I think both are required.
So, we get the, depending on where we are, we seek the kind of association that will balance our devotion. Yes, please. Please explain how this is a wonderful balance in the Maharaj’s experience.
So, my question is that, in his verses there, that one who surrenders unto him, he becomes free from Maya. We are talking about Sarvajanam Pitthi, which verse? So, that verse. So, it’s like you mentioned that Krishna is very reasonable, and Krishna is very understanding.
So, at every point in our spiritual life, how can I determine that, for example, at this point, am I fully surrendered and can I wish to surrender? I don’t know about fully surrendered. I would say surrendered fully according to our capacity. Because full surrender, it may not be possible for us, because we have our capacity right now.
So, that is, it is not so easy to determine. But broadly, two, three things we could say that. One is that we can try to change our context.
That means, change our context means what? Say, if I had been, instead of serving Krishna, I had been working in the company, and I had a lot of aspirations. You know, how much would I be invested in my job and my career? Am I similarly invested here? So, consider some other context and see how we would put efforts like that. And then we can get a fair idea.
Okay, you know, even if I had a job, it is okay. One or two days, I can stay awake late and I can work, meet project deadlines. But every day, if I have to sleep late, I can’t.
But if I say no day, can I extend myself? It’s good to be regulated, but we don’t want to be more attached to the regulation than to Krishna. Isn’t it? So, changing our context, mentally changing our context, not physically, but mentally changing our context, that helps us to evaluate what is our capacity. Are we exercising according to our capacity? Another thing is that sometimes in that moment, it is difficult to decide.
But afterwards, when we do some introspection, basically, when we say we can’t do something, is that an explanation or is that an excuse? This, how do we decide that? So, basically, one thing is change of context. Second is retrospection. Retrospection means look back.
Look back and then decide. So, at that time, we just go along with the gut feeling. I can’t do this or I can’t do this because of this, this, this.
But then afterwards, we don’t just want to practise bhakti at that moment. Sometimes we focus on practising bhakti intensely, which is true, but we want to practise bhakti intensely and sustainably. Not just today I want to practise bhakti so much that today I lift a huge crate of books and tomorrow somebody has to lift me up and carry me because their back is broken or something like that.
I don’t want to be like that. So, we want to practise bhakti sustainably also. So, I think the whole thing comes up is ultimately it’s a relationship with Krishna.
So, rather than thinking about in fragmental terms, am I serious about this activity? Am I serious about waking up in the morning? Am I serious about fasting on Ekadashi? It’s like see that it’s a relationship with Krishna. So, in that relationship, in every relationship, we stretch ourselves. But it’s not that we can stretch ourselves so much that we just break down completely.
We don’t want to argue with Krishna. Krishna has not given us our individuality so that we lose our individuality. Isn’t it? So, Krishna wants us to use our individuality.
Our individuality gets perfected in our relationship with Krishna. So, that’s why we can again consider in terms of other relationships, how much are we able to stretch ourselves. So, if you keep the point of a relationship, that gives a more holistic picture.
It’s not just about the quality of our chanting. It’s not just the quality of our waking up in the morning. Not just how many hours we are studying Shastra.
All that is important. But all of that is, Prabhupada ultimately what pleases me is, that we love Krishna. So, if we keep that in mind, that we keep that relationship with Krishna as our purpose, then it becomes easier.
When I was growing up, most of you know that I have polio. I can’t walk very well. So, my mother took me to various places to get treated.
There were a lot of med treatments and exercises. At one time, I was doing some exercises. Eight hours we used to do exercises.
I stayed for one year at that place. I was attending school from home. School from the hospital only.
From the clinic. So, the exercise was very tiring. So, I told my mom, there’s too much exhaustion, too much discomfort.
I can’t exercise. So, my mother told me, if you say that there’s too much pain, I’m not going to push you. Because I don’t know how much pain you’re going through.
This is that it is your mobility in the future that is at stake. So, you have to be honest with yourself. And you decide, don’t let your pain become an excuse for not exercising.
The pain is an authentic reason. You decide that, and I trust you for your judgement. So, we ultimately have to take responsibility for ourselves.
And don’t be too hard, but don’t be too soft also. So, we learn from experience. What would be too little or what would be too much.
Well, yes. Think about Krishna more and more. But thinking of Krishna is also not an isolation.
It was not that when Arjuna was fighting a war, was Arjuna thinking of Krishna? Of course, he was thinking of Krishna’s mission. But he was also focussing on the service to Krishna, just fighting against particular warriors. So, yes, definitely thinking about Krishna will increase.
But we shouldn’t think of Krishna, that Krishna only exists somewhere up there, and I’m sitting alone in my room and thinking about Krishna. It could be dynamic through our service also. So, while we are doing our service, we are giving a class.
Maybe initially when we are giving class, our concern is, how many people are coming for my class? How many people are becoming my followers? How much can I impress my seniors and my peers by how many people follow me? That could be our initial consideration. And that’s not bad because still within the purview of serving Krishna. But then over a period of time, when we are trying to share Krishna, our focus is that Krishna is in the heart of this person.
And when we pray Krishna, let this person be drawn towards you and let me be an instrument for that. And sometimes it may happen that some people may be more attracted by someone else rather than us. They may be introduced by us, they may be attracted by someone else.
But if they are becoming steady in their devotion, then we are not so attached to them. So basically, yes, our remembrance of Krishna will increase. But remembrance of Krishna is not in isolation necessarily.
Yes, true. See, it’s like, if we are here, initially the world is big for us and Krishna is small for us. But as we grow in bhakti, the world becomes small and Krishna becomes big for us.
So Krishna becomes the bigger reality. And this essentially is spiritual growth. So it is not that the world becomes unimportant.
The world is still important because the world is our arena for service to Krishna. But another point is that initially it’s also like the Krishna is the means to the world for us. We are more concerned about how our service is recognised and rewarded in the world.
But as we grow, the world is our means to Krishna. And that’s how, if all that I have to offer is a leaf or a flower, I’m offering it to Krishna. That is the most important thing.
I don’t need a huge, grand offering to me. If I can make, that’s wonderful. So yes, in that sense, the quality increases.
Thank you very much. Kantra Shubhagatam ki Jai. Respected Acharya Prabhupadi ki Jai.