Bhagavata Dharma Series 3 – SB 01.02.17-22 – Practice bhakti-yoga cheerfully

Hare krishna so we today come to the concluding part of our bhagavad dharma series of classes so we have discussed in the previous class about the process of bhakti in brief how it works and how it purifies and elevates a person in this class we will discuss the concluding part of this section from 1.2.17 onwards so 1.2.16 was that how do we develop vasudeva katharuchi the previous class gist was that we all need to develop attraction to krishna and the attraction to krishna can be developed by hearing but how do we develop attraction to hearing about krishna that is that is by serving the devotees so that is what we will discuss in today’s class that flow of thought will move forward so 1.2.17 onwards so this is also one of the oft quoted verses by shloka prabhupada shrunmatam svakatha krishna so shrunmatam when we hear about krishna svakatha his own pastimes of krishna then punya shravana kirtana but this itself is purifying punya shravana kirtana and beyond that that that lord about whom we are hearing he is situated in our own heart and what does he do from within that heart abhadrani abhadrani is the impure things vidhunoti suhrut satam vidhunoti he completely cleanses it all away why because he is suhrut satam he is the well-wisher of the satam the spiritualist the devotee satam sat refers to eternal and satam refers to those who are dedicated to the eternal those who are devoted to the eternal satam so in this way vidhunoti suhrut satam so what is this verse telling in the previous verse it said that okay by serving vaishnava and serving devotees we will develop vasudeva katharuchi so what is so great about vasudeva katharuchi once we start hearing about krishna hearing purifies us now this is talking about purification at two levels one is the content of hearing itself is purifying and the second is the intent of the person about whom we are hearing that also contributes and accelerates the purification that means that first is the content generally whatever we hear about that influences us if we hear say if we are in a association of people who are who are very infatuated with cricket we hear about cricket then we also over a period of time start getting attracted to cricket similarly if we are in the association of devotees who speak about krishna then we also get attracted to krishna and this getting attracted towards krishna itself is purification so punya shravana kirtana hearing and speaking this itself is punya now punya means pious activity but bhaktivinoda thakur in his writing explains that there is there are different kinds of piety there is mundane piety and there is devotional piety mundane piety means somebody does give some charity does some good work then that is mundane piety but devotional piety means that which involves doing those activities which are connected with krishna even if the person is not aware of that connection with krishna that means that somebody just likes to go to religious gatherings because that has been the culture and then their the specific intention is not to become attracted to krishna but still because of that cultural inclination one goes to say religious programmes and hears about krishna that that hearing itself is purifying but over and above that what happens is that rudi antas thoya badrani when we see the krishna sees that we are eager to hear about him then he becomes very pleased we are all his lost children and he wants us to come back to him and we are lost from him because we have forgotten about him and he wants us to remember so when he when we show our eagerness to him that we want to remember by trying to by hearing about him then he also accelerates the process of purification so the content itself is purifying but along with that that potency is increased all the more because of the intent of the person about whom we are hearing that person is krishna and krishna wants to cure our amnesia krishna wants to restore our memory and when we show him through our desire that that is also what we want then he rapidly takes us onwards in that direction so vidhunoti vidhunoti means to cleanse vidhunoti means to cleanse thoroughly thoroughly cleanse so actually in the sixth kancho of shamit bhagavatam the example is given that if a person drinks liquor and then if through a person drinks liquor through a pot and then after drinking the liquor then the person wash cleanse cleans away the pot but still after that also a little bit of the the smell the odour of that liquor remains so like that a consciousness that is contaminated by material desires even if one does pious activities the desires don’t go away entirely desires remain the order of the past indulgence remains but one when one practises devotional service then devotional service not only cleanses away the negative desires but it it injects us with positive desires and those positive desires crowd out the negative desires so it is more like the bhagavatam example that so how does bhakti remove the sinful desires and contaminations just as when the sun rises the mist disappears the fog just has no scope of remaining once the sun rises so unlike a order that remains in a pot even after the liquor is removed and pot is washed but when the sun rises the fog just dissipates completely so similarly the material contamination in the heart of a devotee dissipate completely when the son of krishna rises in the heart and that son of krishna arises when krishna is pleased by our devotional intention and when he sees that oh this devotee is hearing about me regularly then the krishna becomes attracted and krishna wants to help that devotee come closer to him so vidhunoti suhrutsatam vidhunoti suhrutsatam he’s the well-wisher sometimes when we are trying to practise devotional service you may feel that you know krishna is in the spiritual world and i am here and i am struggling in the material world and krishna does he really know about how much i am struggling does he really care for how the struggles that i am going through krishna definitely cares krishna is definitely completely satisfied ecstatic in his past time in the spiritual world but krishna is not limited krishna can be performed can be fully available to his pure devotees in the spiritual world and yet be available to all of us also in our hearts that is the glory of krishna being god he can be present at different places and he can offer his help to us here while he’s also reciprocating love in the spiritual world so we shouldn’t think that i am struggling alone no actually whenever we are trying to call out to krishna krishna is there with us to help us and after that the next verse goes on further describing how this vidhunoti happens so 1.2.18 so the abhadra the inauspiciousness things that are there an auspicious thing that are there in their heart so what happens this is the verse which we say we recite almost every day when the bhagavatam class happens in the temple and it’s a very important verse which talks about how hearing is empowering almost all the abhadras are removed by regular service to the bhagavata and then not only the abhadra is removed not only is the negative removed but also the positive is revived bhagavati bhagavati is supreme lord he is uttama shiloke he’s glorified by choice words so what happens to the about that lord bhaktir bhavati naishtiki so bhaktir bhavati bhakti manifests what kind of bhakti naishtiki naishtiki means unshakeable irrevocable prabhupada translates so the word naishtika is used for one who is not wavering that is the vedic culture there are two kinds of brahmacharis upakurvan and naishtika upakurvan is those who take a brahmachari training and then they enter into grahasthashra they are also considered to be in the progressive religious path and naishtika brahmacharis are those who continue lifelong so the unshaken from the path of undistracted devotion to krishna but the point is naishtika refers to that which is unshaken irrevocable unchangeable so but what happens when we hear about krishna is that devotion to krishna becomes an irrevocable fact bhaktir bhavati naishtiki how does this happen that bhakti becomes a irrevocable fact because the impurities pervert our vision just as a person who is alcoholic wherever such a person goes person sees okay there’s an alcohol bottle over here or is there some bar close by or how can i get some alcohol person who is greedy sees everything in terms of money a person who is lusty sees everything in terms of sexual gratification so like that our vision is coloured by our contamination that means the kind of contamination that is there in our heart accordingly we pursue things but when the contaminations are removed as is mentioned this is naishta abhadreshu the abhadras contaminations are removed then the pure spiritual vision of the soul which sees krishna everywhere that is awakened and krishna is so so attractive that when we perceive krishna with even a little bit of a devotional disposition then that disposition becomes stronger which with each perception of krishna with each contact with krishna the attraction to him becomes stronger and deeper that’s how bhakti becomes an irrevocable fact so here the point that is being made is that bhakti is not just a feeling that we get in our heart oh i feel great devotion what now when we say bhakti is not just a feeling what does it mean that sometimes we go to the temple and we dance in we look at the deities and we feel we feel some bhakti in the heart yes that is definitely bhakti but that is not the only thing that is bhakti because with that actually bhakti is not just a feeling in the heart bhakti is the original nature of the soul and that nature comes because we are parts of krishna krishna has his ladini shakti we will discuss about this a little bit later more when we talk about a prasannata the cheerfulness that comes in bhakti because when our love for krishna is spread is developed but here the point is and just as krishna has a pleasure impotency we also have a we being parts of krishna also have that nature of pleasure and when we get connected with krishna that is our natural state so that means the here bhagavata sevaya the serving the bhagavata brings about two results one result is the impurities get removed and the other result is that the pure attraction to krishna gets revived and not just revived but so strongly revived that it becomes an irrevocable fact so now why is it the word prayeshu used over here praya means almost almost entirely but not entirely because all the anarthas they get the removing them entirely may take long time but even if all the anarthas are not removed a substantial amount of anarthas if they are removed then also we can keep moving steadily towards krishna and what happens is that some anarthas there are many offences and sins that remain and in the the writings of jiva swami and bhaktivinoda thakur they describe how the different anarthas get removed in different stages of bhakti there are nine stages of bhakti and the fifth stage is attained the attainment of the fifth stage is described over here adhau shraddha shraddha initially begin with faith and sadhus and come to the association of devotees bhajanat kriya we start practising devotional service and thereafter anarthini vritti we start becoming free from the anarthas and then we come to nishtha so actually this this when the nishtha is there when strong faith is there at that time bhakti becomes a lived reality for us bhakti becomes not just a theoretical or a sentimental concept for us it becomes a lived and living reality just like i may hear from some doctor okay this medicine is very good or i may hear from some other people also this medicine has worked for me but when i take the medicine and i get cured by that then i understand oh this is a medicine that works this is a medicine that is great this is like at that time after we have seen the effect the medicine we don’t have any doubts after that because we’ve already seen the result so like that the important point is to at this stage when one is practising bhakti one has come to the level of nishtha so at the stage of nishtha the faith is very strong at the level of shraddha which is the first stage in bhakti the faith is tender like a banana like a banana tree can be shaken very easily but at the stage of nishtha the faith is like a banyan tree with strong and deep roots cannot be shaken very easily and then after that we move forward shraddha bhajana kriya, anartha nivritti, nishtha so nishthita bhajana kriya now there are some anarthas which remain after nishtha also some anarthas there after that there is ruchi, asakti, bhav and frame there are four mosaics after nishtha and some anarthas will get removed at that point now sometimes we practise devotional service for one year two year five years ten years and then sometimes still after that also some nasty thoughts come in the mind and we start thinking oh i’m practising bhakti is it really working how can i have such thoughts even after i’ve been practising bhakti for so long actually is we may wonder is the is the process working at all or it’s not working so it is definitely working and how is it working that there is a change of our values even if there is no change of our desires what does it mean change of values means change in our perception of what we consider valuable our values determine our valuables now people who are very money-minded their values are all centred around money okay everything they value in terms of money but our when our values change that means we start perceiving reality and perceiving the priority of things in a different way in the past the same material desire most in the most materialistic people when they get material desires they look forward to those sensual desires because they feel that this is what life is meant for the more sensual desires we get the more we will enjoy life there are very advertisements which said discover the passion so devotees want to rise beyond passion but materialistic want to increase their passion and probably we were also like that in the past so the very fact that what we were looking forward to earlier the kind of desires which we had what we are looking forward to now we are look we are trying to look away from we are instead of welcoming those desires we are now regretting their presence and trying to drive them away so this change itself is a sign of spiritual advancement and it may happen that still some desires may come some but we shouldn’t get too disturbed as long as we are not entertaining those desires and as long as we’re not indulging in those desires the desires will come and if we don’t dwell on them too much they will go away they’re just like some trespassers who come by and if they’re not allowed entry they go away so that’s how a devotee doesn’t get discouraged so some impurities may remain and even if those impurities remain without getting disturbed a devotee moves forward so those impurities which are removed later at the stage of bhava, ruchi, asakti, bhava, prema they are mentioned by using the word over here prayeshu most anarthas are removed but some remain and bhagavata sevaya again the point is Prabhupada will often explain that bhagavata comes in two forms one is the book bhagavata and the person bhagavata and we serve both of them and then by that bhakti awakens so now let’s go to the next verse after this so after describing this what happens when the bhakti is awakening well this is described in 1.2.19 so the mentalities that are created by the modes of passion ignorance bhava the mentalities the mindset that are created by passion and ignorance they are what are the characterised by lust and greed so these typically characterise the materialistic mentality and lust means enjoying the opposite sex and means wanting to enjoy more and more materialistic things of the world what happens is means we are no longer affected by this our consciousness is no longer aware when one becomes situated in sattva guna and then one becomes cheerful one becomes joyful let’s look at this verse so Prabhupada would say that now how can we know that we are spiritually advancing Prabhupada said that there’s no need for anyone to give us a certificate that you’re that we are becoming spiritually advanced he said it’s very simple just like when we eat food at that time does anyone need to give a certificate that our hunger is being satisfied now no as we keep eating the hunger satisfaction happens automatically because it is a natural result of eating and just as naturally internally we realise that yes now i’m eating i’m getting nourished similarly when we remember krishna and absorb krishna in our consciousness then we find yes we are getting internally enriched we are getting internally fulfilled we are getting internally satisfied and what happens is when we are hungry then we want to eat more and more and when we have food then when we are full then we are not so desperate for food anymore similarly when we are spiritually satisfied then the material cravings no longer trouble us that’s what cheta etai anavidham so anavidham one is not affected one is not troubled by lust and greed now this doesn’t mean that lust and greed go away completely but one is not troubled so much by them and titam sattve prasidati prasidati means one becomes cheerful cheerfulness results when we come to the original nature of the soul and start perceiving that nature just like when there is darkness we can’t see but even when the sun starts rising then there is twilight and then there is illumination that increases progressively so like that the illumination increases as we become spiritually advanced and here prasidati means cheerful happy now but the pure soul entirely pure soul is not just happy it’s ecstatic he’s dancing and singing in love for krishna now that may not be the level that is definitely not the level at here but even when one comes free from the lower modes and becomes situated well in goodness then itself the gross cravings they torment us because it’s like we are being tormented by some thorns or needles from within come on do this enjoy this get this buy this go there so many desires torment us just like a elephant is very heavy is a giant beast but there is a gourd ankush it is called in transcript that the elephant which is huge but with the gourd it can be prodded and when it is prodded the gourd is having a nail or a sharp object attached to it and that is so stinging so sharp the elephant becomes docile and obedient to the mahout the to the person who is supervising the elephant so similarly the soul is spiritual but material desires they act like the gourds and those gourds they make the soul run here and there desperate to somehow satisfy the craving so it’s described that the bhagavatam describes that when a soul becomes purified then it’s like the elephant there is no gourd prodding the elephant then the elephant cannot be controlled the soul is pushed into materialistic activities by the gourd of material desires but when there is no gourd the soul cannot be pushed into material desires and thereby the soul stays purified and the soul advances this is how so that is what is described comes situated in goodness now proceed with the as i mentioned earlier krishna has a ladini shakti that is his pleasure giving potency when god wants pleasure he doesn’t depend on anyone else for pleasure he has his own potency which gives him pleasure and now because krishna is infinite so even his pleasure potency is infinite krishna can enjoy infinitely and in contrast we are finite and because we are finite the amount of enjoyment that we can get is also finite however although the amount of enjoyment we can get is finite this limitation is only as long as we remain disconnected from the infinite that means when we try to enjoy in this material world we do get some pleasure but our capacity to enjoy is limited because we are us as limited beings however when we connect with krishna our enjoyment is no longer limited by our finite capacities our enjoyment goes beyond to the to far greater limits by the grace of krishna because we connect with the infinite so although the soul which is finite can get some pleasure that is to jump that is which is insignificant gulab manas says it is very tiny but when the soul becomes connected with krishna the pleasure the soul gets is infinite and proceed the so in this way the soul becomes more and more cheerful and then what happens when the soul becomes cheerful things keep moving forward and as they keep moving forward then it is described in 1.2.19 now that this is 1.2.20 now in this way with a prasanna manasa the cheerful mind when one starts practising prasanna manaso when one engages in devotion to supreme lord at that time the spiritual tattva the spiritual truths start awakening in our heart this is a science we start seeing it as a scientific truth and then and we become free from all sangha from all material attachment we become so here what is being described is the advanced stages of devotion normally when we perform bhakti often our bhakti is half-hearted or resentful half-hearted because we also want to enjoy material things and we also want to serve krishna so our heart is half in material things and half in krishna that’s why our bhakti is half-hearted but along with that sometimes it is also resentful resentful because we feel that actually why is krishna the angel i want to be the angel i don’t want to be a servant actually in the spiritual world to be a servant is not a bad thing because even the servant gets great enjoyment and in fact by connecting with krishna we get immense enjoyment far greater enjoyment than what we can get separately from krishna but that resentment is there as long as we think that material enjoyment is a very great thing how can i live without it but as the modes of passion ignorance start the spell of those modes starts going away from us then we start realising that something great just like a person who is sober a person who is not an alcoholic understand that a person who is under the spell of alcohol is that person really enjoying no the person is suffering you think there is a little bit of enjoyment but after that little bit of enjoyment there is so much suffering before that and after that there is so much suffering that comes so how is this actually enjoyment just a sober person is no long is not under the spell that alcohol casts on alcoholics similarly a serious and purified devotee not necessarily pure devotee but a sufficiently purified devotee is no longer comes under the spell of the gross greedy and lusty desires that are created by the modes of passion ignorance and that’s why what happens is the perception becomes much clearer when we the craving is no longer there then we feel cheerful we are not half-hearted we are not resentful we start saying actually i’m not missing so much what i saw a person who is allured by alcohol if he’s told don’t drink alcohol that person will feel oh why i’m not allowed to drink but a person is not allured then person is not missing anything so like that when a devotee becomes spiritually sober then materialistic pleasures no longer tempt the person and then bhagwat bhakti yoga taha so with present man one is cheerful because one doesn’t feel constantly i’m missing something i’m missing something i’m missing something no one is cheerful i understand that i’m the right path now as devotees can we say that we are happy actually happiness is a progression it is not a destination what does it mean that actually we shouldn’t think that it’s like if i’m going by a railway now i come to a particular stop and now i have reached the destination so it’s not like that with respect to happiness in spiritual life it’s not that we come to a particular destination and stop yes we ultimately have a destination that we want to go back to the spiritual world that is the ultimate destination that is true but what do we do in the spiritual world that is a there is an ongoing relationship and in that relationship there is constant ecstasy and that ecstasy there is a reciprocation we do something for some service to krishna and krishna reciprocates and he does something for us and in that way there is eternal reciprocation which brings enormous ecstasy so the happiness of devotion is an eternal progression it is not a it is not just a static destination it’s ongoing so if somebody asks us are you happy we can if we think about it if we just let the mind decide am i happy or not happy the mind will even as devotees the mind will think oh this problem is there that problem is there that problem is there if i’m not happy there’s so many reasons to be irritated about frustrated about yes we may feel like that but if we look at our life from a long-term perspective if a devotee looks at life from say five years ago ten years ago and if you look at it then the kind of aimlessness emptiness that was there because we didn’t know what we were living for as compared to that definitely we can say that we are happy so if i look back at my life then i can say that i’m i’m happier than now than what i was earlier and i can see that those devotees were dedicated to this path those are more advanced than me they are happier than what i am and in this way i am on a progressive path that will lead to more and more happiness and this is how a devotee is confident that i am on the path to happiness and as i keep moving forward i’ll become increasingly happy as we start realising what is the truth of life actually material pleasures are are listed deceptions and spiritual happiness actually real happens when we start realising this then the scientific truths of the conscious become more and more clear because our hunger for pleasure doesn’t distort our vision anymore and then we become liberated from material attachments the metal attachments they bind us to material existence sangha in the bhagavad-gita is described the soul becomes bound in matter because of in 13.22 in the bhagavad-gita this verse 13.22 is called by many acharyas as the bija bija is the seed in the bhagavad-gita there is a the material existence is compared to a tree upside down banyan tree so every tree comes from a seed and the seed from which the material existence grows is the seed of the desire to enjoy sangha means the desire to enjoy matter the attachment the infatuation to enjoy matter so what happens is mukta sangha se jayate there is liberation from infatuation one is no longer obsessed by the desire to enjoy because one recognises you know there is a higher happiness available and that is the happiness that I should aim for and I am on the path of that happiness mukta sangha se jayate so this is now describing onwards how the process of bhakti ultimately takes one to the supreme destination and afterwards next verse 21st verse so bhidyate hrudaya granth is bhidyate means to cut away cut away what hrudaya granth is the knots of the heart knots of material attachments they get cut off and then all doubts go away so actually on the spiritual path we are distracted by two things desires and doubts several times in the bhagavad-gita krishna says offer your mind and your intelligence to me and then you will come back to me in the 8th chapter in the 12th chapter several places krishna says this so now why mind and intelligence the mind and the intelligence are the primary components of subtle body and they cause the soul to go under illusion and when the soul goes under illusion the soul can no longer perceive the spiritual reality anymore so therefore the the soul goes under illusion in two ways one is because of desires which are created by the mind and the doubts that are created by the intelligence in today’s society our culture creates many desires and our education creates many doubts in this way the both the mind and the intelligence become tools which take us away from krishna but as we become purified more and more both the desires and the doubts go away desires and doubts both are dangerous however among the two in many ways doubts are more dangerous than desires because when desires come up they may drag us away but desires actually make us humble they make us feel the need for krishna they make us think oh actually i’m so fallen i’ve got such petty desires how will i be able to give them up i should be i should take shelter of krishna more intensely so desires make us feel the need for krishna whereas doubts uh doubts actually create suspicion about the reality of krishna within us so the doubts create a feeling of superiority in us oh these foolish devotees they believe such things i have intelligence i won’t i won’t fall for such beliefs and by this ultimately what we do is we we cheat ourselves of spiritual advancement because the doubts are natural an intelligent person will naturally doubt but the doubts have to be directed properly that means the doubt should be done in such a way that we ask the appropriate devotees or read the appropriate books and get them resolved if without proper intellectual examination if i just decide oh i’m not going to believe in this i doubt this then we are passing judgement before the hearing and one who passes judgement before the hearing is actually not passing is not actually giving a having a fair trial at all the person is simply biassed and simply wants one’s own opinion to be validated now there is a saying there’s an american comedian who wants to say that i have already made up my mind now don’t confuse me with the facts i have already made up my mind don’t confuse me with the facts now how can facts confuse if you don’t want to know the facts then on what basis has the mind been made up this is a example of a bias mentality and many people think that if they have doubts then they are superior they are more intelligent because oh sentimental people they believe anything i don’t believe yes uh bhakti doesn’t want us to be sentimental that’s why we see there’s so much philosophy the scriptures contains profound philosophical discussions because they want to address our intellectual faculty so our intelligence in our spiritual life we it has a reasoning faculty okay does this seem logical does this make sense reasoning faculty the reasoning faculty is important but the reason should be our mass should not be our master reason should be our minister a master is one who commands and dominates whereas a minister is one who guy who offers counsel so if we make our logical faculty our reasoning faculty itself the our master that means if we let everything be decided simply by our finite intelligence then we deprive ourselves of the spiritual realities which especially the reality concerning krishna which is far greater than what our intelligence can fathom now actually the finite can never completely understand the infinite and this itself is a logical truth so because it is a logical truth that the finite can never understand the infinite so therefore to to reject propositions of the infinite just because they don’t make logical sense they that is actually illogical so it is logical to recognise that god will be beyond logic why because our logical capacity is finite whereas god is infinite because logical to recognise the limitedness of the logical faculty and go beyond that logical faculty towards a transformational facility so what bhakti offers us is a transformational facility which helps us develop a higher vision to perceive a higher reality in bhakti we have to be intelligent enough to recognise that we are not intelligent enough we have to be intelligent enough to recognise that we are not intelligent that we need something more than our intelligence if we want to advance in spiritual life steadily and that is the process which krishna is giving us so bhakti doesn’t require blind faith but bhakti requires us that we don’t have blind devotion to logic blind devotion to doubt but an open-mindedness to experience the higher realities of life and bhakti offers the transformational process just like a person sleeping cannot see what is the colour of the wall overhead but when the person wakes up then they can one can see the ceilings colour similarly when we wake up spiritually bhakti offers the process by which we wake up spiritually and then we perceive higher realities that’s why what happens is the desires and the doubts go away not such tyres material attachments they are basically desires they go away and then along with that all doubts go away they get cut off because we experience a higher reality and we experience a higher happiness and then kshiyante means stop here karma refers not just to all action but it refers to material fruitive activities the activities done to gain material pleasures that one becomes and stops doing materialistic activities in the name of in the pursuit of pleasure because one understands that there’s a higher happiness available at the spiritual level one is able to see within one’s heart the Ishwara so here as I was talking when we wake up we see things which we’re not able to see when we are asleep and our eyes were closed similarly when we wake up spiritually then we are able to see Krishna who is right there in our heart but whom we were not able to see till and then what happens when we are able to see Krishna this way actually this is the practically the perfection of life that we are able to see Krishna directly and this is the supreme goal of life that we when we see Krishna then naturally that is the attraction for Krishna increases manifold and when the attraction for Krishna increases manifold then we can no longer be captivated by anything material and we march straight back to the spiritual world and then the conclusion okay after this analysis how the process of bhakti works how the process of bhakti liberates how the process of bhakti banishes doubt and desire after this is after all this has been described and the conclusion is given in the 22nd verse therefore what happens is the wise people constantly what do they do paramaya mudha they perform bhakti how they perform mudha mudha means joyfully means greatly immensely with supreme joy they perform bhakti unto that lord Vasudev and this has been happening nityam since time immemorial the word nityam can mean they perform bhakti constantly and nityam can also mean since time immemorial people have been performing bhakti so this is a time honoured process in which many many people have experienced the transformational transformational potency and they have become liberated and therefore wise people in our value they practise bhakti this is deeply satisfying to the heart and in this way a person becomes supremely ultimately liberated so what we learn from this whole section is that bhakti is not just some sentimental cultural activity that is being done in some part of the world or within some religious tradition if you look at these verses which are being talked about you will see that there is nothing sectarian that is being talked about over here it’s a systematic process which is universal it’s like if there is a medicine and the medicine is curing a disease if medicine is not sectarian if some say italian scientist or a a german scientist discovers some medicine which cures patients now it’s will it be that say if italy and germany they were the axis powers and they were they were fighting against the allies so if germany or italy one of the scientists discovers some medicine which is going to cure a rampant disease will it be that america or britain the allied countries they will not take that medicine they go this is a german medicine no this german these allies and axis german and american these are divisions which are man-made but just as the potency of a medicine is scientific and science cuts across at least the scientific potency of a medicine that works it cuts across our sectarian distinctions similarly the potency of bhakti cuts across sectarian distinctions so actually whoever practises bhakti that person makes spiritual advancement and we understand that bhakti is not just some it’s not just one of the many hindu paths some people say that in hinduism there is karma there is jnana there is bhakti so it is one of the paths within hinduism no bhakti is the universal spiritual drive of the soul towards krishna and bhakti underlies and unifies all the great great religious traditions of the world then bhakti may be expressed differently when hindus they may come in the temple they may fold their hands the muslims they may go in front or go in their mosques and they may raise their hand in front of them the christians they may go they may assemble for mass and they may move their hands and touch different parts of their face and chest when they offer prayers in mass but the essential principle is they’re all offering respects to that same supreme lord they are expressing through that particular activity a devotional disposition toward the supreme lord so this principle that i’m talking about are universal the speciality of bhagavatam is that it gives us a systematic process an explanation of a systematic process and it gives us a clear perception of the destination which inspires us to follow that process that means what is described in other religions is also bhakti they also talk about in some most religions there is some kind of chanting of the names of god there is emphasis on recitation of scripture all this is good but then the process of the transformational science is not so well described in these religions it is that one does some rituals and then if one has faith say one has faith in jesus the saviour or one has faith that muhammad the last prophet then one will become liberated one will become one will not exactly liberated their idea is that one will go back one will attain heaven heaven attain paradise so that is there is more emphasis on faith in a particular messiah or a particular particular teacher and there is not a clear understanding of a transformational process as a spiritual science that’s what bhagavatam offers so the clarity of the process is much more much better described in the bhagavatam and along with that the clarity of the destination where are we going who is the god that we are worshipping if you look at the quran or the bible there’s not much clear description of god but bhagavatam describes a very clear description of god about who he is how he looks what he does and how we relate with him in the spiritual world and this makes the spiritual reality much more attractive and enables us to attain that spiritual destination much more easily because we feel inspired to go to go on that journey and ultimately if you look at the first verse where we started it this was first verse that so which is the paradharma it doesn’t say that this particular religion that particular religion paradharma it is the paradharma is that which enables one to develop love for krishna it is the one which helps us to develop love actually it doesn’t even use the word krishna that which enables one to develop bhakti for krishna that is and here the verse concludes the section concludes by describing that the wise people they recognise the potency of bhakti and therefore delightfully they practise bhakti now when a person is sick the person has to suffer but if a person gets a good medicine then they’re just getting that good medicine itself is a big relief now i have got a good medicine now i won’t be so troubled i won’t be so tormented i will be able to march ahead i will get cured so actually getting a good medicine itself brings a big relief because one knows now i am in the process to be cured at an external level devotees will be suffering and non-devotees may be suffering the miserable nature of material existence will trouble both devotees and non-devotees but at an internal level there is a big difference a materialistic person a non-devotee is like a person who is in a hospital who is sick and suffering but the sickness has not been diagnosed and so a proper treatment is not being administered in contrast a devotee is like a patient whose sickness has been diagnosed and the treatment has been prescribed the correct treatment so externally both may be crying in pain both may be seem to be in a similar situation but there’s a huge difference when the person who has not been diagnosed properly whose cure who doesn’t know what is the treatment to be taken person’s condition is going to not only be perpetuated but aggravated it’s going to continue and it’s going to worsen as the disease takes its toll on the other hand the devotee is like a patient who’s because the treatment has been prescribed and is being administered the devotee knows what is wrong and what has to be done what is wrong is my desires are gone too much from material to the from Krishna toward materialistic things and by the process of bhakti i have to redirect my desires towards Krishna so devotee also may have problems in material life but we shouldn’t get discouraged and start thinking that oh Krishna doesn’t care for me and that is why i am suffering no no it is not that Krishna doesn’t care for us actually the reality is that Krishna does care and the care is being manifested by giving us the process of bhakti which will ultimately free us from misery so we may not be constantly happy when we are practising bhakti but here it is said paramaya mudha if you meditate that we have we are among the few fortunate people in this world who have got this spiritual curative process by which we can become free from misery then that itself will bring mudha that itself will bring a sense of gratitude and cheerfulness in our practise of bhakti and as we practise bhakti gratefully and cheerfully we make rapid advancement till we ultimately become fully purified and return back to Krishna so to summarise let’s look at these i’ll give a quick summary of the seven verses that six verses that we discussed today and then the full section so the 17th verse talked about how when we hear hearing itself purifies and Krishna also purifies us and then what is the 18th verse talks about what is that purification that purification means the lower desires start going away that actually the impurities go away and then our attraction to Krishna becomes stronger abhadra go away and bhakti becomes naishtiki when the bhakti becomes naishtiki the 19th verse explains that the modes of passion ignorance which have the effects of this of say lust and greed they no longer torment us and we become cheerful and then the next verse says when we practise bhakti cheerfully then the spiritual illumination becomes more and more clear we can see bhakti as a transformational science and then our we become liberated and how we become liberated that is described in the 21st verse that we become liberated from desires and we become liberated from doubts and because of this liberation then we no longer feel impelled to do material fruitive activities and we start seeing Krishna and that’s why the 22nd verse says that the wise people since time immemorial have been practising bhakti cheerfully and the bhagavatam calls upon us also to practise bhakti cheerfully So, we discussed this section of bhagavad dharma in three parts the first part was 10 to 11 6 to 10 6 to 10 we discussed where we discussed about all how among the various processes of dharma how bhakti is supreme and then 11 to 16 we discussed how among all these processes bhakti is supreme but how does bhakti lead to the perception of the absolute truth that is when you perform it according to scriptural description equipped with knowledge renunciation and then that same transformation process is described in a more in more systematic progression in this last section and the conclusion is offered therefore practise bhakti cheerfully jubilantly wholeheartedly and we will attain auspiciousness in this life as well as the next.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.