Bhagavad-gita chapter ten – How to see Krishna’s vibhuti everywhere?

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Thank you very much.
What happens? Arjuna is asking, So Bhaveshu, in the material existence, how can I remember you? And in answering that, Krishna introduces the concept of Vibhuti. So before we go into Vibhuti, broadly speaking, there are two ways in which we can remember Krishna. We can call them as intensive and inclusive.
Intensive means we focus solely on Krishna. Say like Sadhana is there. Say our hearing is there.
So at that time, we are focussing only on Krishna. That’s intensive remembrance of Krishna. And then inclusive remembrance of Krishna means while we are working in the world.
So we are doing our services, we are doing our family responsibilities, we are doing our professional obligations. We try to see Krishna in that situation also. So intensive and inclusive.
Krishna is talking about a blend of both. So remember me and fight. But that doesn’t mean remember me and fight means don’t remember me when you’re fighting.
Rather, you cultivate remembrance of me so that when you’re fighting, also you’re remembering me. So there’s intensive and inclusive. So in the Chatur Shloki Gita, Krishna has talked about intensive remembrance.
They would love to do it constantly. The world doesn’t allow us to do Krishna Katha constantly. There are so many other things which we need to do in the world.
So Arjuna has to fight a war. So intensive is not, even if it were possible for us, it’s possible for us individually. Practically, it will not be possible because society requires us to do so many things.
For most of us, the intensive will be too intense also. We cannot do it. We like to hear a class for half hour, one hour, one and a half hours.
Okay, after that, yeah, you know, what else can I do? Like that. So there is inclusive remembrance also. So Arjuna has to practise inclusive remembrance while fighting, he has to remember.
So this is where Krishna introduces the concept of Vibhuti. So let’s see what is first, let’s try to understand what is Vibhuti. So you could, your broad definition as Vibhuti as the one above the many manifests as the one among the many.
The one above the many is the Supreme Lord and one among the many is some special empowered person in human society. So let’s try to look at it diagrammatically or visually. So Krishna exists above all living beings.
So he’s one above the many. Now in the general mass of humanity, there are some people who are special. Now different people may be special in different areas.
So somebody may be very powerful intellectually. Somebody may be very good musically. Somebody may be excellent managerially.
So there are different people who stand out in human society. So that capacity to stand out, that is there in that person, Krishna says, that is my Vibhuti. That is my Vibhuti.
How is that person able to stand out? Because they are manifesting a spark of my opulence. So whenever we see somebody very intelligent, very smart, very fluent, whatever it is that we are attracted to, that one among the many represents the one above the many. That is Vibhuti.
So the list that Krishna gives in the Bhagavad Gita from 1020 to 1039, that is, it is an indicative list. It is not an exhaustive list. It’s indicative, not an exhaustive list.
Why? Because this list can expand unlimitedly, expand unlimitedly. So wherever there is anyone, anything or anyone opulent, you see that as a manifestation of Krishna. And once Prabhupada was travelling on a flight and there’s a movie over there and the movie was there on the TV.
So at least during those times, there was like a common television for every passenger, for all passengers. Nowadays TV means you have a TV for each passenger right in front of you. But there was this other common television, the Charlie Chaplin movie was going on.
And Prabhupada was watching and Prabhupada was laughing. And the dude just thought, isn’t this self-identification? And Prabhupada said that Charlie Chaplin’s humour is a manifestation of Krishna’s supreme humour. So Prabhupada was not just seeing Charlie Chaplin over there, he was seeing that, okay, he has the capacity to make jokes, he is humorous.
So where is he getting that humour capacity from? That is from Krishna. So Prabhupada was able to see that. Now that doesn’t mean we should start watching Charlie Chaplin movies.
But the point is, we can see Krishna everywhere. So when Radhanath Maharaj’s book, Journey Home was written, at that time they got reviews from different eminent people. So in Bengal, they got a review from Sourav Ganguly.
So Maharaj asked, who is he? So Maharaj says, he is a famous cricketer. So Maharaj said that 500 years ago, when Mahaprabhu descended, he descended as, he actually took sannyas in the Advaita Sampradaya, because that was what was respected at that time. So if the Lord descends and can take sannyas in a Sampradaya which is opposite to what is teaching, he can do that much.
So he says, if the Lord descended now, he would descend as a cricketer. So at one level, he says cricket is just a mass illusion. Well, okay, that’s one way of looking at it.
But there are a lot of people who watch cricket, and they’re not just watching for entertainment. People get inspiration from how cricketers perform, how they play in difficult situations, how somebody’s character and determination comes out. So it can be seen, dismiss the Rajasikha or Tamasikha, or you can draw some sattvic lessons also from it.
So that is the capacity to see Krishna everywhere. And this capacity to see Krishna everywhere actually arises from a fundamental understanding of divinity. So let’s look at that understanding of divinity which Krishna reveals.
So there is one conception of divinity is like a hierarchical conception of divinity. Hierarchical means there are many different living beings, and they’re all in a hierarchy, and the topmost at the hierarchy is Krishna. So in some ways, this hierarchical conception is correct.
We also talk about how the Jiva manifests up to 50 qualities. Shiva manifests 55, Vishnu manifests 60, and Krishna manifests 64. So that is indicative of the hierarchical conception.
But then we understand that Krishna doesn’t manifest only 64 qualities. He is endowed with unlimited qualities. So within an analytical framework, we can say, okay, this is analysis where Krishna has 64 qualities.
Krishna has unlimited qualities. And in one sense, Krishna is not just the best of all beings. In the hierarchical conception, we think Krishna is the best of all beings.
But Krishna is not just the best of all beings. He is the basis of all being. Basis of all being means nothing can exist without him.
No one can exist without him. Nothing can exist. So the hierarchical conception would mean like say, there are team sports and there are individual sports.
They consider individual sports like tennis. There is one player who is number one. But if some other player performs better and better, they can displace and they can become number one.
So this is the hierarchical conception. That was what Hiranyakashipu had in mind. He knew about the eternity of the soul, but he thought because I am the soul and the soul is eternal, I will perform Tapasya lifetime after lifetime till one day I’ll become powerful enough to kill Vishnu.
So that his idea is what? It’s a hierarchical conception. But that hierarchical conception is different from what we can call as a categorical conception. Categorical means that God exists in a different category of being.
And that is why when Hiranyakashipu angrily asked Prahlad that what is the source of your strength? Now Prahlad is not just being cheeky in answering back to him. Prahlad is giving him a deep truth. What does Prahlad Maharaj say? The source of my strength is the same as the source of your strength and the source of the source of your strength.
And the source of your strength is Brahmaji. So now it is quite an outrageous thing to say to someone, you know that, okay, how are you so strong? He says, you know, actually even what to speak of my strength, your strength is not your strength. Is he being provocative? He is not being provocative, he is being educative.
He is trying to get Hiranyakashipu out of this competitive conception. You cannot compete with God because whatever you have for competing with God comes from God. So he tells him that Vishnu is not your enemy.
Your only enemy is your uncontrolled and So this is the categorical conception. The categorical conception is that God exists in a different category of being and we Jivas can never enter that category of being. So that’s categorical difference.
However, the Vedic understanding is not just God is categorically distant. That is the understanding of the Abrahamic religions that God exists in a completely different category and God is so different from us that there is no way we can even conceive God. In fact, that’s why one of the Ten Commandments is don’t worship graven images.
Why? Because God is so much other, God is so much different from us that there’s no way to depict him and therefore any depiction is a falsehood. So that is why they are so much against idolatry and Islam takes that even further. Islam is a concept of Shirk where they say that associating God with anything material is the greatest sin and according to them that Allah can forgive all sins but he will never forgive the sin of idolatry.
That’s why they just can’t comprehend the idea of deity worship. We may talk about the difference between idols and deities but it just doesn’t enter because it’s a fundamental, it’s almost like an irreducible difference between the traditions. So our understanding is yes, God is categorically different but God doesn’t keep himself always different.
God also descends as avatar and so as you see over there Krishna is existing in a different category but whoever exists in this world they are sustained by Krishna. Everybody in this world whatever ability they have that is provided by Krishna. So this is Krishna says that means you are going to fight in the war, you will see different warriors and you will see how powerful, how chivalrous Bhishma is.
You will see how wise Drona is. You will see how excellent in archery Karna is. See their abilities as my Vibhuti’s.
So we can see Krishna in this world also in this way. Remembering Krishna is not just turning away from the world and remembering Krishna. Yes, that’s important.
Sometimes you have to do that but remembering Krishna also means the capacity to see Krishna in the world, see Krishna in the events of the world, see Krishna in the people in the world. So now with this, now if we say that okay Krishna should see even Karna’s and other Karna’s ability as his Vibhuti then the question may come then why should we fight against Karna? Isn’t it? Why should we? If everything attractive in this world comes from Krishna, so then that is the difference. That is one reason Krishna talks about Daivi and Asuri that there are many attractive things in the world.
In fact everything attractive comes from Krishna but everything attractive doesn’t take us to Krishna. There is a difference. Everything attractive comes from Krishna but everything attractive doesn’t take us to Krishna.
So how do we understand this? See different people have different Vibhuti’s. Different people have different Vibhuti’s but they also have their Svicha, they have their free will and some people may use their Vibhuti to go toward Krishna and take others toward Krishna. So somebody has beautiful singing ability and they sing about Krishna.
Then they’re taking people toward Krishna but somebody sings about mundane songs, sensual songs, they’re simply spreading rages. They’re not taking people toward Krishna. We don’t deny that their singing ability is very special.
It is special no doubt but that singing ability although it is a Vibhuti of Krishna, it is not taking us toward Krishna. So everything attractive comes from Krishna but everything attractive doesn’t take us toward Krishna. So when somebody is exercising a Vibhuti, exhibiting a Vibhuti, we may get attracted and that’s just natural.
We human beings are naturally attracted to attractive things. But we have to see what is the follow of this attraction. Is this Vibhuti, this is attraction to this thing taking me toward Krishna or away from Krishna? And that same applies to our own abilities.
We also have certain abilities. So are those my ability? Is it just filling me with ego? So that I become proud or am I using this ability to serve Krishna, to go closer to Krishna myself and do things which take others closer to Krishna? So let’s try to understand this principle of how everything attractive comes from Krishna but everything attractive may not take us to Krishna. So you can conceive of this as a, say there’s an ocean.
Krishna says that Krishna is the ocean of all qualities, all happiness. So now when there’s a water body like an ocean and from there, there’s a beach and then it goes into a desert. So now there are drops of water along the path, along the desert path.
Now all those drops of water have come from the ocean. But suppose say somebody is in the middle of the desert, where the place the middle drop is and there they start following the drop of water just going away from the ocean. Then what will happen? They won’t go, although the drop of water has come from the ocean, that drop of water won’t take them toward the ocean.
They have to follow the drop of water which is actually going toward the ocean. So similarly we can say, let’s say everything attractive comes from Krishna. So you can see these three are sattva, rajas, tamas.
So there’s a beauty of nature that comes from Krishna. So we are in a place like Govardhaniko village. It is so natural and so spiritual.
So I remember there’s quite an atheist celebrity. So he went to a very eco-friendly community. The environmental consciousness is very much spreading in the world today and there’s a new reason for that.
So he went to eco-friendly community which is run by atheists and he said this place is so wonderful, you know, I can just peacefully never think about God. He said that these cities are filled with these religious nuts and you deal with them when you don’t want you to think about God. But in this village, there is nobody who talks about God.
So I can peacefully never think about God. So what is happening is sattva is there, but sattva is not taking them towards shuddha sattva. So there is, so depending on where we are and where we are going.
So there is nature is attractive, wealth is attractive, even intoxication is attractive. If it was not attractive, why would so many people become addicts? So the point is all of these are attractive, but the question is what is that attraction doing to us? So where are we and where are we going? So if somebody is simply alcoholic and somebody is drinking and wasting their lives, then if they at least say they think okay I need a better life, I want to take up a job, I want to earn some money, I want to be responsible, then that is a step forward. They are making their life better.
So drugs is a big problem across the world. So the Scandinavian countries have been quite successful in overcoming drug addiction among the people. So what they did was they stopped criminalising drugs.
I’m not recommending this, but I’m illustrating a principle over here, that they stopped criminalising drugs and they focused on rehabilitating drug users. So they said that normally if somebody is a drug user, nobody wants to give such a personal job because you may do something unpredictable or you may peddle drugs over there. So they said that the government said yes these people are drug users, they are trying to reform and if employers give a job to them, we will pay half their salary.
So they help people get rehabilitated. And when that happened, what happened is that as people started doing something meaningful, they say it’s ultimately meaningless, they’re just temporary, but instead of just wasting our life in drugs and liquor, it’s actually okay, take up a job, do something responsible in society, that’s better. And they found when they focus on rehabilitating people, then they were much more successful than simply penalising drug users.
So Bhaktivinoda Thakur actually says that sometimes we just equate rajas and tamas and both are bad. He says rajas is sometimes useful as an antidote to the toxicity of tamas. Tamas means a person is materially also not productive, it’s terrible.
But rajas, at least the person has been materially productive. Then we think rajas and tamas are the same thing, but it’s not, it’s hugely different. Most of us say we grew up with parents who had a lot of expectations from us, you know, study this, do this, do that.
So generally Indians and Chinese, their parents are very expecting and demanding. But there are books about Indian-Chinese parenting style written. There was one book called Tiger Mom.
The mom is like a tiger who is so possessive, protective of the child, you know, don’t do anything else, just study, build a career. But, you know, so they contrasted with western parenting, they call it squirrel mom. Then the western parents, you just do whatever you want, it’s your life.
So we may find sometimes our parents a little bit overbearing. But in one sense, it’s far better than having parents who are completely negligent. If the parents are doing drugs and parents don’t care of their children, and oh, you study, you don’t study, what is the big deal? It doesn’t matter.
So then tamasic parents are actually far, far more toxic than rajasic parents. So of course, sattvic parents are better and shuddha sattvic are the best. But the point is, from what is good and what is bad depends on where we are and where we are going.
So everything attractive doesn’t take us to Krishna. Depending on where we are, something attractive may take us towards Krishna, something attractive may not take us towards Krishna. So this is the overall understanding of the concept of vibhuti.
Now what is the purpose of understanding vibhuti? It is for redirecting our remembrance that whatever naturally attracts our attention, that has the capacity to attract us. So sorry, if it naturally attracts me, then what can I do? I can use this. I can see this as a spark of Krishna’s all-attractiveness.
If I see this as a spark of Krishna’s all-attractiveness, then I can use it to reconnect with Krishna. So I was in the western world and I was talking with devotees after I had given a class. So one mataji came to me and she said that how she had become a devotee they had a women’s training ashram also they were living there and she said that I lived there for a year or so but I was always very restless and she said that she had grown up as an orphan and she had been moved from one home to another home to another home and the only thing she had, the steady thing in her life was a dog, a pet dog.
So she said when I was in the ashram, they said no pets. She says I was longing for a dog, longing for a pet and finally I said I cannot give up this longing. So that was my childhood.
The dog was a shelter. So now she has left and she started her own shelter for orphan children and there so it has been found that for children who have been traumatised by some childhood trauma or something, letting them interact with pets is a very good way of soothing them, comforting them. So she started this whole thing with pets, with the pet dogs who take care of, who care for or who are who comfort these traumatised children and in that she showed me pictures of her shelter and it’s all filled with pictures of Krishna, you know pictures of Krishna with Agasur and Bakasur and all those things and so these children they are in one sense interacting with dogs but they are learning what is the story, they learn about the story.
So we may say that if you love dogs you won’t love God. That is true at one level but other level people are in a frame of reference where loving God is not in the picture only. So actually in one sense loving a dog is better than maybe just playing video games or surfing porn on the net or just compulsively being on social media or just feeling depressed and lonely and sorry for oneself.
So one of the non-intrusive ways of dealing with depression people say is just adopt a pet. Now I’m not advocating pets over here by any chance. I’m making simply the point that actually for somebody Krishna’s vibhuti may manifest through a dog.
So that the dog was a constant in my life. Somebody loves me and now she’s using a dog and children’s natural love for dogs to get people closer to Krishna, to get small children closer to Krishna. So that is the inclusive understanding of Krishna Bhakti that everybody may experience shelter, strength, attraction in different places and instead of just simply dismissing it as mundane we need to be able to say actually this is how they are seeing Krishna.
Now they may not know that they’re seeing Krishna but then it is for us not to dismiss their experience but to help them see Krishna over there. There’s a famous author I think Oliver Wendell Holmes. So he wrote a letter to his friend and he said I had a very productive morning today.
I worked on one of my poems. He said after breakfast I added a comma before lunch I deleted the comma and that was the productive use of the morning. So if you say what is this removing one comma but then he in that time what did he do he actually recited the poem almost 500 times.
Okay which way does it sound better? Which way does it sound better? So why would somebody recite a poem 500 times? Well they’re experiencing something there for most of us it’s just a waste of time but it is not a waste of time because for somebody who’s author they are actually experiencing something higher over there. It is not just mundane. So our deepest experience is our experience of Krishna.
Even if we don’t know it. A person who’s doing music they can just spend hours just trying to train themselves in music. Somebody who doesn’t have that music what is this? Why do they take so much time? But no they get immersed in that.
So our deepest experience is our experience of the deepest reality that is Krishna. But we may not know it. We may not know it.
So it is for the devotees to tell us and when we encounter people like this it is for us to tell them. There’s a famous author who said that and he was asked an interview. If you come to know that you are going to die in five minutes what will you do? I will type faster.
I will type faster. He said okay I’m going to die but writing is my life. It’s my dharma.
So I’ll write more. Now if this is Monday you should remember Krishna. Then yeah that person doesn’t know anything about Krishna.
But they feel that the calling of their life is to write. So what are they doing over here? Actually they’re experiencing Krishna in that. Now they may not that’s why if you see in the Krishna book George Orwellson introduced it and he wrote that everybody is attracted to Krishna.
Some people know it and most people don’t. But what does it mean? That means that whatever it is we are attracted to actually it is an attraction to Krishna. So with this understanding now let us look at we look at how when somebody is attracted to some things we can see it as a vibhuti and we can try to spiritualise our vision of them and we can help them spiritualise their vision of those things.
So two things we see somebody impressive rather than getting impressed only by them. We see them as they’re manifesting as Krishna’s opulence and if they are somewhat devotional inclined we try to help them spiritualise their connection. But beyond that now what about ourselves? What about ourselves? So we all have certain abilities and being able to see the gifts that we have been given and trying to get a better self-understanding that is not self-obsession.
That is also a way in which we learn what Krishna has given us what Krishna has given us. So if you want to holistically connect with Krishna there are two aspects there’s Maa Manusmara and there’s Yudhaja. So Maa Manusmara is our inner connection with Krishna and Yudhaja is our outer contribution for Krishna’s service in Krishna’s service and Krishna wants Arjuna to do both the inner connection and the outer contribution and now what will be the balance that may vary for different people.
Not everybody may want the same level of inner connection some people may be more outward orientated and for them the outer connection is more important but that connection should also be taking to Krishna. For some people they are more internally connected. So this is a holistic and this is a pragmatic and a personal balance.
It is not someone something which others can tell us this is how you have to balance. It is based on our position in society and our disposition the particular subhava that we have. So this is this is what we can strive for and let’s try to understand this from other framework now that see there are now these are terms which I’m using in English.
So there is self-actualisation and there is self-realisation. So self-realisation generally means what that which is a reality I understand it to be a reality that’s a realisation. Actualisation is that which is potential I make it actual.
That which is potential I make it actual. So for us to to holistically grow both self-actualisation and self-realisation is required. Self-actualisation means Krishna has gifted our body and mind with certain abilities certain interests and we need to discover that develop that and use them to contribute in the world.
That is self-actualisation. Now Arjuna’s name Gudakesha comes from two reasons. One is because of his devotion he had conquered his sleep.
The other is due to his diligence to archery he conquered his sleep. Now his guru will teach him how to shoot and all light practically practising that is also Gudakesha. So both aspects are there.
So Arjuna discovered his archery skills and he developed it. So when we say improve body and mind it doesn’t doesn’t mean just look look better it’s that very superficial. Improve body and mind means manifest the potentials that are there in our body and mind that is self-actualisation.
So self-actualisation and self-realisation both are required the Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s dream of a Krishna conscious world. What was that? He didn’t say that is he said that at one level he said that when will people from all over the world come and at Mayapur Dham they’ll say Jai Sachinandana Gaurahari. That was one aspect of his dream.
But another was since when will the high court judges be wearing Vaishnav Tilak. Now what does that mean? How is that going to happen? Now one way is that the Krishna conscious has spread so much that we have Krishna conscious government and the Krishna conscious government appoints Krishna conscious judges. That’s one way but whether Prabhupada said I won’t be the king I’ll be the guru of the king.
Isn’t it? Even if we have a Krishna conscious government you know our devotees going to manage the whole world we find it difficult to manage our own movement. So no it’s not a joke actually what I’m saying is that management is a very difficult thing. Now devotees who are doing management are doing a great sacrifice and service.
It is not easy and there are some people who have that vibhuti. It’s not that devotees automatically get every vibhuti necessarily. So that somebody who is so one way could be that that the whole world becomes Krishna conscious and then we have Krishna conscious judges also.
Another way could be that devotees become so competent in their fields that the secular government has no hesitation in appointing devotees to highly respectable places. So Bhaktivinoda Thakura is himself an example of that. He was a pioneer at that time not many Indians.
Racism was very much there imperialism more specifically but Bhaktivinoda Thakura was one of the few people who was a district magistrate at that time which is more or less equivalent to a high court judge. So that is also one way that means the gifts that we have been given we we actualise them we manifest them fully. So that is so we self-actualisation and self-realisation both are required for holistic development.
So now self-actualisation to understand it so one example could be that it is as I said means to make the potential actual. So if somebody has been given a seed it might be a precious seed but that seed alone is not enough. The seed has to be nurtured.
It has to be developed then it will give a rich harvest. If somebody is farming now with Monsanto and other kind of these commercialised brands coming up they want to destroy all traditional seeds and then seeds people have to purchase and it requires a lot of money to purchase them. So seeds are not a small thing they are very valuable.
So all of us have certain seeds of talents interests which Krishna has given us. Now it is for us to find what seeds we have and is for us to develop them that is self-actualisation. So Prabhupada was in England and Vandrochan Prabhu he asked Prabhupada England was London was at that in the headquarters of Europe for us.
So devotees from Germany, from France, from Netherlands all of them were coming and they were telling the reports and he Vandrochan Prabhu I met Vandrochan Prabhu in Alachua when I had gone also he told me the same story. Incidentally he told the story after he came a little late for the class so in the class I had spoken that story and then in the comments he spoke the same story again. It was nice he spoke with great devotion.
For me it’s just one pastime of Prabhupada but for him it is the most treasured remembrance of his life. So he said that he asked he felt that everybody has something to do for Krishna. So for Prabhupada he says but I don’t have anything.
So he went to Prabhupada and asked Prabhupada what can I do for you and Prabhupada said what do you want to do for Krishna? Just prove whatever you do whatever day I’ll do. He says no what do you want to do for Krishna? He thought is this a test because he had been educated to want your want is your independence your material desires give it up. Is this a test? No Prabhupada whatever you want I’ll tell you I do for Krishna.
Prabhupada became very very persistent. Understand our philosophies. Find out what you want to do and do it for Krishna.
Find out what you want to do and then do it for Krishna. Now this is not the full philosophy of Krishna consciousness of course there’s much more but Prabhupada is talking here about how each of us has to take individual responsibility for developing the gifts that Krishna has given us. It’s like say if our parents leave us some inheritance maybe and it is in the in a backyard of our house dug somewhere and we just neglect it and that was meant for us it’ll get wasted.
So Krishna has given us abilities interests so why is he giving it it’s not meant to be wasted. So that self-actualisation is like a seed which you have been given we develop it that’s one aspect and that is the basis of our social contribution and then there is self-realisation. Self-realisation is to recognise the reality of who we are.
See ultimately we can’t base our identity only on self-actualisation. Somebody may become a great musician, a great author, a great political leader but ultimately what are they going to do? What are they going to achieve? It is that I write a few writing is one of my main services so I’ve read quite a few books on writing about writers. So in the last century out of the 10 top authors the seven of them actually committed suicide and now I mean I was a little shocked when I read that but then I found out what actually happened.
So it is that see if a person is we all have an innate calling for progress now we want the future to be better than the present and we want that we play a part in bringing the better future that we can play a part whether it is our own family, our own health, our society, our movement, our youth centre, whatever it is. You know what makes us wake up every day is the hope that I can make tomorrow better than today or today better than yesterday. That’s innate to the living condition but what happened to these authors is that they wrote a landmark book which is that these are top authors means their books are considered to be top books in the whole say century but what happened is even authors know that there is something mysterious something like inspiration that comes and that’s when you write.
Now in modern workplaces they talk about flow they talk about various words like that but it is almost as if something beyond you takes possession of you and does things to you. This is true in every field but especially in creative fields it is all the more true. So what happens is they write a stunning book and then there is a pressure of that expectation when they write the next book and when they write the next book it just doesn’t look that good.
It’s not that good and then so one of the authors in her suicide note she wrote that I cannot bear to live with the idea that my best is behind me not ahead of me. That my best is behind me not ahead of me and I’ve already done the best work and I’ll never be able to write anything which is as good as what I had written. So what has happened over here is yeah as you grow older if one of my friends is doing his American the upcoming devotee is doing his PhD in the post-celebrity likes of sportsmen then this is sports is a career which peaks very early but generally it’s like if you’re 35 or 40 you’re like a dinosaur in sports isn’t it? It’s a career which peaks very early and the same applies to other glamorised careers like say Hollywood or Bollywood.
Generally unless somebody can get a change their role from a hero to the parent of a hero they can’t continue very easily. So what happens is after people have achieved that fame if they achieve that fame then to go from celebrity to anonymity it is very very difficult. So when people get depressed it is not just that the careers cause depression what has happened is in that in that Krishna says I am adventure I am victory.
So when they achieve when a sportsman achieved something special when a movie star achieved fame in some ways they are experiencing Krishna over there but that fame has come and gone and now what is next what is next after that? Well if there is nothing they just can’t live they can’t live because once having now they may not know that they experienced Krishna but actually they have experienced a glimpse of Krishna and they can’t settle for ordinary life after that it’s only when they can reinvent themselves we may make cricketers become cricket commentators or something like that they have to settle for a less high-profile identity and only if they can settle for that they can continue with their lives. So one author they wrote in their book about how they overcame the suicidal urge they said that I realised that for me the real strength was not just in being read it was in just writing just writing so that requires maturity to realise but the point I’m making over here is that for self-actualisation alone is not enough even if one succeeds fully in a phenomenal way person becomes an international celebrity one becomes one of the most influential people of the whole century but still that is not enough the soul will still long for Krishna. So self-actualisation has to be balanced with self-realisation otherwise it will not be fulfilling not only will not be fulfilling rather because when I experienced the high of self-actualisation then one will have a low and it will be a very painful low if one doesn’t know how to psychologically cope with it it will be very very difficult so that’s why self-actualisation and self-realisation both are required and for all of us we may have different degrees of talents so when we actualise ourselves in the sense that we develop our abilities now some of us may be like Hanuman who can do lots of wonderful things for Krishna some of us may be like squirrels but the key thing is we need to understand that our satisfaction comes we will get satisfaction not by getting a bigger part but by doing our part better not by getting a bigger part if the squirrel tries to become like Hanuman the squirrel is never going to become like Hanuman but the squirrel can be the best squirrel in the service of Lord Rama so not getting a bigger part but doing our part better and that is where sometimes in Bhakti what happens is we may not use the word self-actualisation but we also do a lot of services you know we may preach we may distribute books we may cultivate new people to come and some devotees seem to be so talented you know they are extremely good in studies they are extremely good in public speaking they are extremely good in cultivation and then we feel I am nothing in front of them and then what happens is that creates insecurity that creates uncertainty and then that creates instability within us so the point is that yes they may be they may be preaching a lot they may be able to get a lot of people to come to Krishna and that’s wonderful but just their ability to get a lot of people to Krishna is not what is going to take them to Krishna it is how they are turning their heart toward Krishna that is what is going to take them toward Krishna so for us in one sense our service is also our means to connect with Krishna so yes some of us may be empowered to be like Hanuman but if we are empowered to be only like a squirrel that doesn’t mean that we are that we are going to be neglected by Krishna no Krishna’s circle of love includes every one of us whether our service is small or large so we some people may have been given a very great vibhuti we might have been given a very small vibhuti but from the in the world’s eyes our vibhuti may be small but that small vibhuti is enough for us to contribute according to our capacity and it is enough for us to connect with Krishna so generally if we don’t understand this principle if we start seeking a bigger role rather than doing our own better that is when self-actualisation will come in the way of self-realisation that we will say why spend so much time on chanting why speaking this sadhana why do this why do that i just want to do more service why it’s not just so that i can get more people and i won’t call it it just ego you want to be famous no it’s actually it’s insecurity i want a sense of identity i want a sense of self-worth and if you’re a devotee community where do we get our self-worth from if you’re getting it externally it’s from how much our services are recognised to get it internally from our connection with krishna is going to take a lot of time so we it’s not just individual responsibility but also community’s responsibility that you know how much are we valuing devotees who may not be doing a lot of visible services so i was once i’ll conclude this point that i was once with jayadvait maharaj and one devotee asked him maharaj what gives you faith in krishna consciousness so maharaj said that you know every last 25 years i’ve been going to vrindavan and every year i go over there i see this one elderly brahmachari he serves charnamrut every day and says seeing him serving charnamrut every day gives me faith in krishna consciousness now what did he mean by that he meant that you know yes we must say oh we got thousands of people becoming devotees there are so many temples so many people are practising that gives me faith well that’s that’s also can give us faith but the fact that this devotee is able to continue this small service of serving charnamrut year after year that means they are getting some higher taste that means the taste in serving krishna is real and that is faith in krishna that is the ultimate faith in krishna consciousness if you are only going to see how many people are becoming devoted as the basis of our faith well then you may say far more people are maybe becoming a follower of this this guru and this cult and this this group and that group that can’t be the basis so for us we both as an individual and as a community now we encourage everyone to balance the self-realisation and self-actualisation that we develop the gifts that krishna has given us and we ultimately realise ourselves as souls and that is the balance that krishna tells arjuna to do so seeing the vibhuti is one way that krishna tells that you can you have to function in the world but that doesn’t have to be simply mundane consciousness there can also be krishna consciousness so i’ll summarise i spoke initially about the 17 questions on the bhagavad-gita and we did a quick overview of the bhagavad-gita there and then i focused on the concept of vibhuti so there i took four main points first was introduce the concept of vibhuti itself what is that the one above the many manifests as the one among the many so arjuna when he has to fight you can see this extraordinary abilities of the warriors on the opposite side also has manifestations of krishna and in that connection you talk about hierarchical and the categorical conceptions of divinity god is not just the best of all beings he’s the basis of all being then the second point to talk about is that everything attractive comes from krishna but everything attractive doesn’t take us to krishna so we based on where we are we have to see what will take us toward krishna what is away from krishna and so we will be able to see anybody who’s attracted anybody has anything attractive we see that their attractiveness is coming from krishna and if they’re attracted to something their deepest experience is their experience of krishna and we need to help them connect with that connect that experience with krishna i give the example of a dog and how through the dogs one can experience krishna and help others experience krishna and then the last point was this balance of self-actualisation self-realisation so self-actualisation means that we understand some vibhuti of krishna has given to me also and it’s like a seed which i need to develop and only when i developed it then i can contribute and at the same time while it is it is important to self-actualise to understand and develop our talents but that alone is not enough because even if we succeed in doing that succeed in the world’s eyes but still that is not our vibhuti that is krishna’s vibhuti so we may be to do wonderful things once but you’re not able to repeat it so somebody say authors become suicidal because celebrity authors because i can’t live with the thought my past is behind my best is behind me not ahead of me so they experience krishna and they don’t know how to experience krishna through their self-actualisation anymore so that’s why we need self-realisation also and so self-realisation when we do then we connect with krishna internally then we will understand that our real satisfaction will come not just in getting a bigger part but in doing our part better so thank you very much hare krishna thank you