Bhakti Shastri (006) – Sri Isopanisad Mantra 04

Podcast

Hare Krishna So, today we begin with the second section of the Ishopanishad, which talks about how we can know the Ishwara. So, before we move forward with the fourth mantra, let us look at the Ishopanishad overview once again. The first section which we completed, discussed, live in harmony with Ishwara.
That was the invocation through Mantra 3. The last mantra was, if we don’t live in harmony with Ishwara, then we will suffer in this life and the next. So, if we want to live in harmony with the Ishwara, we need to know who the Ishwara is. So, how can we know about the Ishwara? That is the second section.
That is, Mantra 4 to 8 is, the Ishwara can be understood by spiritual vision. So, this is the section that we will discuss. I want to live in harmony with the Ishwara, but how do I understand Him so that I can feel inspired to harmonise with Him? That will be through spiritual vision.
So, we will discuss about that spiritual vision in this section. Now, let us look at this section more closely. So, understand Ishwara by spiritual vision, that is the section title.
Within that, the first two mantras, 4 and 5, talk about Ishwara is inconceivable to our normal intelligence. So, in these three mantras, the Ishwara’s attributes will be described in terms that seem contradictory. Then, in the next sub-section within this, Mantra 6 to 7, it is said that, how do we make sense of these contradictory ideas? First, develop spiritual vision towards material things by seeing worldly things, events and people with equanimity.
Don’t get caught up with the dualities of this world. So, when we see the spiritual here in the material, then we can see the spiritual beyond the material. So, that is the last section.
So, first we learn to see things of this world spiritually with an equal vision, and then we look beyond this world. When that vision is focused on the Ishwara, then we will be able to understand that Ishwara. So, we will begin with the fourth mantra.
Let us look at the Sanskrit mantra first. तस्मिनपो मातरिश्वा दधाते So, अनेजिद एकम That one Lord is situated in one place. अनेजिद एकम is fixed in one place.
At the same time, मनसो जदियो He moves faster than the wind. Now, actually, what that is, there is no pronoun used in a specific sense to describe it. That absolute truth, that whatever it is, which is the subject of the Ishwara is described, that absolute truth is situated in one place, and yet that absolute truth is swifter than the mind in terms of its movements.
नहिन देवा आपनुवन पूर्वमरश्यत So, none of the Devatas can actually approach that Lord. He is so far away that nobody can approach Him. तधावतो अन्यान अत्येतितिष्ठत That when people try to run to catch Him, He leaves all of them far behind.
तस्मिन अपो मातरिश्वा दधाति And that Lord is actually the master of those who provide आपो, water, and the various necessities of this world. He is the master of all of them. So, here the attributes of that Lord are described in the sense that He is fixed, but He is faster than everyone else, faster than the Devatas, faster than even the mind.
And He is the controller of all those who control the big, big elements like rain and wind in this world. So, let’s look at Prabhupada’s translation. Although fixed in His abode, the personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind.
अनेजदेकं मनसोजवियो Although fixed in His abode is अनेजदेकं, the personality of God is swifter than the mind, it is मनसोजवियो. तधावतो अन्यान अत्येतितिष्ठत can overcome all others running. नयिनत् देवा आपनुवन पूर्ममर्षित That is, the powerful demigods cannot approach Him.
And although in one place, that is the beginning, अनेजदेकं, that is Prabhupada repeating it here, He controls those who supply the air and rain. तस्मिनपो मातरिश्वादधाति So, what is the point in saying that He is controlling those who supply the air and rain? See, air is everywhere, rain also spreads everywhere. And the Lord is one place, but from one place He controls everything.
So, in thus, He surpasses all in excellence. So, this is the mantra which describes the absolute truth in terms that are mysterious. So, now let us look at Vishwaprabhupada’s parpot.
So, the parpot has seven paragraphs, which we can divide into five broad sections. So, 80 refers to the absolute truth. So, the first point that Vishwaprabhupada makes is, absolute truth cannot be understood by speculation.
Then, he says, how do we understand absolute truth? It is through revelation. Not through speculation, but through revelation. That can help us understand God and His energies.
And then, what is the understanding that we get? That those energies are non-different, yet different from Him. And then, how is it possible? Different and non-different, that doesn’t make sense logically. Then the point comes, as we are limited, we can understand the unlimited only through revelation.
We can’t understand it through logical inference. And then, the concluding part is, how do we understand? Through revelation. But what do we have to do? We have to play your part, and you will be given understanding.
This is harmonising with the absolute truth through devotional service. So, let us look at each of these sections now. The absolute truth can’t be understood by speculation.
So, why can the absolute truth not be understood by speculation? Because, speculation is always uncertain. If I speculate about that which I don’t know, suppose I am sitting in this room, and I hear a noise from outside. Now, how can I know what the source of the noise is? It might be somebody falling down, it might be somebody watching a movie in which something has fallen down, it might be anything.
So, speculation, because there is no certainty in it, we always stay unsure. Some people say that there is no conclusive way to know Him. So, the only thing we can know is that actually, whatever we know is uncertain.
So, that is fine, in principle, if there were no certain way for us to know Him. But there is. So, one extreme is, we can never know the absolute truth, so whatever we know is uncertain.
The other approach is the approach of some religions. In their religious traditions, there is no positive knowledge about God given. So, for example, in the Abrahamic religions, the Abrahamic religions refers to Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
So, all these three religions accept Abraham as one of their prominent prophets. That’s why they are called by the common reference as Abrahamic religions. Now, in these Abrahamic religions, there is no positive description about God.
So, what does God look like? What does Yahweh or Allah or Christ, what does He look like? It’s indicated that He has a face, He laughs, His eyes are shining, but beyond that not much is described. So, they say that God is so great that we can’t know God. So, that idea is based on the notion that there is certain incomprehension, that what is certain is, we can’t know God only.
Some people have that idea, we are finite, God is infinite, so we can never know God. But it is true that we are finite and God is infinite. So, we can’t know God by our efforts.
But by His will, we can know Him. So, how does it work? So, if God is truly infinite, if God is truly omnipotent, then He can do anything. And doing anything includes giving the finite the ability to understand the infinite.
So, the finite cannot understand the infinite by His own effort. But when the infinite desires to reveal Himself to the finite, then the infinite has that power. If we say the infinite doesn’t have that power, then that means the infinite is not truly infinite.
Infinite is limited then. Infinite becomes finite because infinite cannot do certain things. But gradual revelation through increasing devotional dedication.
So, the way we understand God is gradually our understanding increases more and more. Gradual revelation through increasing devotional dedication. That means the more we surrender to Krishna, the more we turn towards Krishna, the more we start understanding Him through increasing devotional dedication.
So, how does this work? When we talk about, say, the sunrise in the morning. Now, in the morning, when the sun is rising, the sunrise is gradual. Slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, the sun is rising, rising, rising.
But our realisation that the sun has risen is sudden. Oh, it’s morning now. It is dawn now, it’s morning.
So, in the morning when we are doing our chanting and we are closing our eyes, opening our eyes sometimes, trying to concentrate and we see the sun rising in the distance. And suddenly, oh, the sun has risen. So, now what has actually happened is the sunrise is gradual.
It’s gradual, gradual, gradual. But our realisation that the sun has risen is sudden. Similarly, every day that we are practising devotional service, every day that we are becoming dedicated to Krishna, we are getting purified, we are getting illumined.
The Krishna sun is rising in our heart. But our realisation, oh, yes, now I believe in Krishna, I love Krishna, I want to offer my life to Krishna. That realisation is sudden.
It happens at one moment. Although the background for that realisation is being created gradually, there are moments, flashes of inspiration that come to us at certain times. But those flashes don’t come abruptly or arbitrarily.
There is a background that is being created. So, that way, revelation works by giving us the opportunity to understand the infinite by the grace of the infinite. We cannot understand the infinite by our own efforts.
Now, when we talk about understanding the infinite, what does it mean? So, the first point is that God is not alone. God has his energies. Actually, Prabhupada gives the example in the Purport that fire is always connected with heat and light.
Wherever there is fire, there will be heat and there will be light. At the same time, heat and light, they are different. Heat is something which we perceive with our skin.
Light is something which we perceive with our eyes. And yet, we cannot really analytically separate. Here there is heat, here there is light, here there is fire.
They are organic whole. And still, there is a difference. So, in thinking, there are two categories of thinking.
One is called as analysis and the other is called as synthesis. Analysis means to break things down into their parts. So, when we take, for example, we take a computer and then we analyse it.
Here there is a CPU, here there is a keyboard, here there is a mouse, here there is a power cord. So, like that there is analysis. So, analysis is for understanding.
But then, when the computer is to work, it is not that the keyboard will work here and the monitor will work there. They all have to come together. So, analysis is for understanding, synthesis is for working.
So, in real life, analysis alone does not work. There is synthetic understanding that happens. Synthetic working that happens.
Another example to understand this is, say, when we talk about grammar. When a small child learns a language, at that time, how does the child learn the language? The child hears the mother speaking, the father speaking, maybe the brother, sister, the other acquaintances speaking, and the child starts speaking. Now, when the child is learning the first few words, when the child says, Papa, Mama, first the parents tell.
Papa is a noun. And then, big Papa, big is an adjective. If you start telling the child adjectives and nouns, the child will just shut up.
What is this noun, what is this adjective, what is this pronoun? So, when the child naturally learns a language, how does the child learn the language? It is not by analysis, it is by synthesis. What does synthesis mean? The child learns. Mama, I want water.
So, the child hears the mother speak this, and the child speaks it. So, the child understands the language through functioning. And then, later on, when the child goes to school, Mama, I want water.
So, Mama is a noun. I is a pronoun. Want is a verb.
Water is a noun. So, this is something which comes later. So, normally speaking, when there is working, the working happens through synthesis.
So, when a child naturally learns a language, it is through synthesis. Language is a working tool for communication. And while using the working tool for communication, the child naturally learns the language also.
But say, if I decide to learn German, I don’t speak German, nobody around me speaks German. What do I do? I take a German textbook. In German, these are the nouns.
In German, these are the pronouns. These are the verbs. Now I try to see how a sentence is made.
So, this is the analytical way. So, normally speaking, when we learn a language, we learn it through synthesis primarily. And later on, for more systematic understanding, we may use analysis.
That way, Krishna consciousness is learned not primarily through analysis. It is through synthesis. That means, when we come in the association of devotees, and we find devotees are kind, devotees are loving, devotees are devoted, committed to Krishna, then we see the culture of Krishna consciousness that attracts us.
For us, Krishna consciousness attracts not just because of its theoretical propositions, but because of its living demonstrations. We see devotees living in an exemplary way, and that’s what attracts us. So there we see Krishna consciousness in synthesis.
Why are devotees so kind? Oh, because they understand they are not the body, the soul. Because they understand we should live in goodness. Because they understand that as souls, we are all parts of Krishna, so we are all related as a family.
Or because they want other souls also to come to Krishna. There will be so many reasons. But first we see the result, then we look at the reasons.
So the point which I am making over here is, there is the analytical mode of thinking, and there is the synthetic mode of thinking. So in real life, when things are working, whether it is the working of a machine, the working of a language, or the working of relationships, it is the synthesis that makes things work. And then later on, when we want to understand, why do things work like this? Why does the computer work so well when I type it? Everything comes on the screen properly.
There is a keyboard, and the input goes from there to the CPU, and from the CPU it comes on the monitor, and there is a power cord. The power cord makes sure that everything is working. So analysis and synthesis both are important.
Synthesis makes things work, and analysis helps us to understand how things work. So now Srila Prabhupada uses this point of analysis and synthesis in the purport, and he says that, in the Vishnu Purana, his potencies are compared to the heat and light that emanate from the sun, from a fire. Although situated in one place, a fire can distribute its light and heat for some distance.
Similarly, the absolute personality of Godhead, although fixed in his transcendental abode, can diffuse his different energies everywhere. So the Supreme Lord is one unit, one absolute truth, and he has energies, and those energies are distributed everywhere. Now, let’s move forward to understand, to apply this concept of analysis and synthesis.
So, how do we apply it to the Lord? So, the example is given in Indian philosophy, and our Goswamis also quote this. See, fire burns, if I make this statement. So now, actually, in a sense, fire is that which burns, and burning is that what happens when fire is there.
So fire and burns, they are in one sense together. If I say there is a fire, but I find it doesn’t burn, then it seems very odd. If I see something is burning, naturally I want to see where the fire is coming from.
So, where is the fire that is causing this burning? So the fire and burning are two things which are naturally related to each other. But although they are related, are they entirely the same? Fire burns. If they were entirely the same, then there would be no need to say fire burns.
I could just say fire. But when I want to tell a child, I want to say fire burns. So then I will be able to understand, what does this mean that the fire is, in this particular sense, the source of energy, and the burning is the action of that energy.
It is the way things act. Similarly, the Absolute Truth is one complete, perfect being. The Absolute Truth and the Absolute Truth is energy.
It is material energy and spiritual energy. So, are the energies of the Lord same or different? They are same and different. So, is burning the same as fire or different from fire? It is same and it is different.
It is same in the sense that there is no meaning to fire without burning. At the same time, burning is a property of fire. So it is different also.
So like that, the Lord and His energies are same as well as different. So, Srila Prabhupada explains this point, that the energies of the Lord are different. Now, let us look at a further point.
As we are limited, we can understand the unlimited only through His revelation. We discussed this point briefly. But let us see this elaborately now, once again.
So, be apart, be not apart. What does this mean? We have to be apart of Krishna’s plan. We have to be apart in the whole, that is the Supreme Lord.
Be not apart. That means, do not try to live separate from Krishna. When we try to live separate from Krishna, that causes us suffering.
So, 15.7 in the Bhagavad Gita says, mamai vamsho jeevaloke jeevabhutah sanatanah manah shashtani nriyani prakriti sthani karshate So, Krishna says there, that mamai vamsho jeevaloke that all living beings are My parts and parcels. So, they are My parts. Be apart.
jeevabhutah sanatanah They are eternally My parts and parcels. But when they do not act on My part, manah shashtani nriyani, then they come under the control of the mind and senses, prakriti sthani karshate. Karshate means there is friction.
There is constant friction between the soul has limited power but the mind and senses have unlimited desires. And the soul gets tired trying to fulfil the desires of the mind and senses. That is karshate.
So, what does this mean, be apart? Our material talents come from God and are best used to glorify God. Then they will bring us the greatest happiness and we will do the best service for others. So, some different people have different ideas.
Basically, there are the materialists, there are impersonalists and there are devotees. So, the materialists believe that the material world is the only thing that exists, the only thing that matters, and they want to enjoy over here. And they think, we have to live here, we have to die here, there is nothing beyond this world.
So, that is the materialistic idea. There is no world beyond this world. Then the other idea is the impersonalist idea.
The impersonalist idea is that everything in this world is false, that everything in this world is meaningless. So, we just have to get beyond this illusion and go to the reality of Brahman, which is just pure consciousness. And the devotees understand that this world is real and Krishna’s world is also real.
But this world is temporary, that world is eternal. And this world is a means to go to that world. So, now let us try to understand this in terms of practical application.
Practical application means that when we talk about the materialists, they think that suppose somebody has the talent of singing and that person will just sing songs about everything of this world, about the attraction between male and female in this world. And by that attraction, that person will become captivated. And will try to captivate others.
And basically that person, by singing mundane songs, will expand illusion. The sweeter the voice of that person, the more expert the singer, the greater the illusion that will result. So, that person has talents, and that person is using those talents.
But the use of those talents is actually causing greater bondage for that person as well as for others. Because when that person glorifies mundane love, more and more people can be attracted to that love. And more and more people get trapped in the illusion.
So, using our material talents only for material purposes will in many cases expand our material bondage. Will only increase our illusion. So, on the other hand, the impersonalists say, we are singing, what are we singing? Actually, your voice is an illusion, the subject that you are singing about is an illusion, and you are an illusion.
Ultimately, the only thing that exists is Brahman. You don’t exist. Your sense of you-ness is false.
So, what do I do with my talents? Just forget them. Of course, there are many different brands of impersonalism. But the broad idea is, they think this world is an illusion, and we just have to go beyond this world.
So, the material talents are really not of much use. Now, beyond that is the idea of devotion. In devotion, we understand, if somebody has singing ability, singing ability is not false.
Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, He says that it is I and the ability in human beings. रसोः अप्सकौन्तेय प्रभाष्मि यशि सूर्यो प्रणवः सर्ववेदेशु शब्दखे पवरुशंदरुषु Krishna says in 7.8, He gives a list of various things of which He is the essence. I am the taste of water, I am the light of the heat and sun.
प्रणवः सर्ववेदेशु I am the Omkar in the Vedas. शब्दखे I am sound ether, and पवरुशंदरुषु I am ability in human beings. So actually speaking, Krishna is the ability in people.
So if a person has singing ability, that ability is coming from Krishna. But the question is, if the ability is coming from Krishna, but is it taking that person to Krishna, or is it taking that person away from Krishna? So our abilities are God given. But are they taking us towards God, or are they taking us away from God? That is the free will that we have.
So bhakti doesn’t deny the fact that there are talents, there are abilities, but it says that these should be used to take us towards Krishna. Srila Prabhupada had such an expansive vision of Krishna consciousness, that he said even science should be used to glorify God. So in 1.5.22, in the Srimad Bhagavatam, इदम्हिकुम् सर्थपसाशुतस्यवासु इश्टस्यसुक्तस्यबद्धिदत्यो अविच्चुतर्थाकविभी निरूपितो इदुःतमश्लोक गुणानुवरणनम् So there it is described that whatever branches of knowledge that are there, their ultimate perfection is इदुःतमश्लोक गुणानुवरणनम् Their ultimate purpose is to glorify the Supreme Lord.
Srila Prabhupada writes in this paraphora, if a person is a scientist, that person should use science to demonstrate the existence of God and to glorify God. So, in this way, what the bhakti philosophy tells us is that we should use all our talents to glorify Krishna. And when we glorify Krishna in this way, then that brings the greatest good for us and the greatest good for others.
So Srila Prabhupada writes in the paraphora that all of us have initiative. So now what are we talking about over here? The thought flow that was going on in this verse was that we can understand God through revelation. But when will God reveal Himself? When we serve Him.
And how do we serve Him? By the talents that God has given us. So Prabhupada writes over here, Every part and parcel of the complete whole is endowed with some particular energy to act according to the Lord’s will. So we have energies, but what is the purpose of those energies? To act according to His will.
So be a part. And then, Prabhupada uses the same phrase over here, That’s from the very beginning, Sri Isopanishad warns us to be very careful to play the part designated for us by the Lord. So how do we know what is the part for us that is given by the Lord? That earlier happened through Varanashram.
So now Srila Prabhupada says that, actually speaking, the essence of Varanashram was to help people live in harmony with God. It was not discrimination, it was cooperation. Srila Prabhupada says, Varana is for the body, Ashram is for the soul.
Varana Ashram. Varana means the Brahmarshi Tevasya Shudra, that is basically the arrangement by which people’s body needs can be taken care of. Brahmachari Rastha, Vanaprastha Sanyasi, Ashram, that is the means by which people can make spiritual advancement.
So now, the essence of this system of social and spiritual division is, that different people have different talents, different natures, and they can be most productively engaged according to their natures. So, the Varanashram recognises people’s individuality and engages them according to their individuality. So at one time, in the history of our moment, book distribution was taking off in a big way and there were some devotees who were expert book distributors.
So these expert book distributors were told by Srila Prabhupada that he was very pleased with them and he wanted them to distribute more and more books and to train other devotees also to distribute books. So then they came up with an idea and they approached Srila Prabhupada and they said that, Prabhupada, we have learned how to convince people to take books. You know, if you make certain, say certain sentences, if you have certain facial expressions, if you make certain gestures, and we talk in certain ways, then that makes people take books.
Now can we go temple to temple to temple and tell devotees, this is the way you should speak, this is the way you should convince people. When they heard, when they spoke, Srila Prabhupada became very grave. And then Srila Prabhupada said, devotional services, individual, voluntary, and spontaneous.
When the soul feels inspired to serve Krishna, then devotional services will be performed. So, Srila Prabhupada says, don’t tell people what to say. Essentially what Srila Prabhupada told them is, inspire them to serve Krishna and they will find their own inspired way to serve Krishna.
So, individual, voluntary, and spontaneous. Let’s look at what this means. See, you are unique.
The person next to you is also unique. I am unique. All of us are unique, just like everyone else.
What does this mean? Now this uniqueness, that there is no one in all of creation like us. Is this meant to make us proud? No, it is just a fact of nature. All of us are different.
Is this uniqueness material? That means, because of my conditionings, I am in a particular way, because of your conditionings, you are in a particular way. We could say like that, but actually, the Bhakti scriptures describe that even in the spiritual world, everyone is unique. Every soul is different from every other soul.
Every soul has a unique set of characteristics and those characteristics have a unique relationship with Krishna. So in this way, actually speaking, individuality is ingrained in our fabric. Whether we want to say material fabric or spiritual fabric.
Individuality is ingrained within us. Every one of us is individual. And that individuality cannot be negated or rejected.
It has to be dovetailed. So how do we dovetail it? We individually find out what is the best way we can serve Krishna. Then it is voluntary.
No one can force anyone else to serve Krishna. To some extent, different people can be pushed. Different people can be inspired.
Srila Prabhupada would ask how much can we push a person? Somebody is not chanting, somebody is told by others, please chant a few rounds, please do this, please do that. How much can we push a person? Srila Prabhupada would give the example that if a person wants to drive a car and the person sits in the driver’s seat, puts on the key in the ignition and starts and the car doesn’t move. So sometimes the car just needs a push.
2-3 people come from behind and start pushing the car. Push, push, push. And the person from inside is also moving the steering wheel and switching the ignition key.
The car starts and starts moving. Initially when the car is not moving, to give it some initial propulsion, some starting momentum, other people can come and help. But imagine that this person is sitting inside the car and people come and start pushing from inside, but inside this person sits and goes to sleep.
And what will happen? Why should we push? Or worse still, people from outside are pushing the car and inside this person is pressing the brake. If you don’t want to move, how long can we keep pushing? So similarly, we are like inside this body, we are the driver, the car is like the body, yantra rudhani maya, Krishna says in 18.61 in the Bhagavad Gita, that the body is like a vehicle, yantra. So because of our psychophysical, that means bodily and mental conditioning, we may have some difficulty in starting off in Krishna consciousness.
So other devotees will come and help us and they will tell us, Prabhu, please do this, please do this, this is eternal, this will be so beneficial. And if we are also trying to serve Krishna, this is also helping us, then our spiritual life will take off over a period of time. But if we show no interest, like this person inside the car goes off to sleep, then others will stop pushing.
So if we show no interest, then devotees will also say, okay, maybe you have to wait for some more time, in the future you will take interest. Or if we show active opposition, inside I press the brake, then what will happen? Devotees are telling us to practise spiritual life and we are telling them, practise material life. And there is constant opposition, devotees will say, okay, you be where you are, we be where we are.
They will find out somebody else who is more interested. So ultimately devotional service is voluntary. We can inspire others, but we can’t force others.
So, recognising that it is voluntary, it actually often frees us from the anxiety that comes when we try to control others. And we want others to do something and they are not ready to do it. And we realise that it is voluntary, then we have to work to actually take care of things.
So devotional service is voluntary. And then it is spontaneous. So spontaneous means that actually speaking, it is something which I have to perform based on my inclination, based on my inspiration.
So only when I have that inspiration, then I will be able to perform devotional service. So therefore, devotional service is individual, voluntary, and spontaneous. So recognising this is extremely important.
And sometimes devotees feel, if I just start chanting Hare Krishna and do everything that so many other devotees are doing, will I lose my individuality? No, not at all. We will all actually develop our spiritual individuality. This is one of the main concerns that people have.
If everybody wears the same dhoti kurta, if everybody chants the same mantra, everybody reads the same books, everybody eats the same similar prasadam, then what will happen to my individuality? Actually, our real individuality is not based on our externals. Our real individuality is based on our internals. And internally, every one of us is unique.
So it’s like, if a person is sick, the person has to take treatment. Now imagine there are 50 people who are sick. Now all the 50 people if they are sick with the same disease or similar disease, they will be given the similar treatment.
Now all of them are taking the same medicines, but when they recover, all of them will be distinct, unique individuals. And they will have their own personality, their own likes and dislikes, and they will live life in their own individual way. Similarly, devotional service, the practises of devotional service are like the treatment.
They are not going to curb or suppress our individuality. The treatment basically is to cure the diseased side within us. And then after that, the healthy individuality will surface once we have become purified.
So as sadhakas, bhakti does not reject our individuality. It sublimates our individuality. However we are right now, bhakti encourages us to start practising devotional service and to start getting elevated.
So, the whole idea of varnashram dharma is, from our place, at our pace, join the race. From our place, wherever I am in varnashram, at our pace, some people may be very serious about spiritual life, some people may not be so serious about spiritual life. Join the race.
Ultimately it’s a race that we want to go back to Krishna. Different people may want to, some people may want to take the race as a sprint, some people may want to take it as a jog, some people may want to take it as a walk. Different people will go at different paces, but we all want to go towards Krishna.
At least those who are wanting to practise spiritual life. So, bhakti accommodates it. All of us have our energy and we use that energy for the service of Krishna.
So, Prabhupada is emphasising individual, voluntary, spontaneous. That means, from our place, wherever we are right now, we are all individuals, based on our past choices, conditionings, whatever. We are at our place.
From our place, at our pace. So, not everybody can practise spiritual life at the same level of seriousness. Different people have different natures.
So, at our pace we can practise. Some people will be brahmacharis, some people will be grahasthas, some will be more serious grahasthas, some will be less serious grahasthas. Now, everybody, if they are accepting Krishna as Supreme Lord and they are trying to serve Krishna, then they are making spiritual advancement and gradually everybody will become more and more serious as they get taste.
But what Srila Prabhupada is emphasising here is that we should live within the shelter of the Lord. We live up, we do our part within His plan. Be in harmony with Him, not in disharmony with Him.
And then, join the race. From our place, at our pace, join the race. So, we will discuss about this later again more elaborately.
But here, the point is everybody can be accommodated in devotional service. And Srila Prabhupada says our initiative is meant to be cooperating with Krishna’s overall initiative. And then, things will work out wonderfully.
This world is like a hospital, as I said. And then, the doctor has a plan about how the patients are to be cured. So, what are the patients to do? The patients are to cooperate with the doctor.
Similarly, when we cooperate with Krishna, Krishna cures us in the fastest possible way. And what is the cooperation? The patient’s cooperation is often passive. Just lie down and rest and take some medicines.
But a devotee’s cooperation is not like that. Devotees actively engage in Krishna’s service. But the point is, the devotee works to please Krishna, to serve Krishna.
And in that way, the devotee gets cured. So, Srila Prabhupada would often emphasise this point of the individuality of a person. So, once Srila Prabhupada was in London, and at that time, the devotees from various parts of Europe had come to London.
London had become like the beachhead, the starting point for the expansion of preaching in Europe. And the headquarters of the European preaching at that time was London. So, Srila Prabhupada would come to London and devotees from France, from Germany, from various other parts would come there.
And they were all giving reports. So, Srila Prabhupada was asking, So, Bhagwan, how are things going on in France? So, Sivanand, how are things going on in Germany? Like that he was asking. And all the devotees were giving their reports.
There was one devotee over there, Ishan Prabhu. So, he was saying, he was saying that Prabhupada is asking everyone and everyone is offering their services to Prabhupada. So, then he said, But I don’t have anything to do for Prabhupada.
So, after the various meetings, he went to Srila Prabhupada and said, Prabhupada, Can you give me something to do for you? So, Srila Prabhupada looked at him in the eyes and said, What do you want to do for Krishna? So, he thought, Whatever you want, Prabhupada, I’ll do it. Please tell me what I should do. So, Prabhupada said, What do you want to do for Krishna? So, he started thinking about it.
Suddenly, Prabhupada is testing him. He said, No, whatever you want, Prabhupada, I’ll do it. Prabhupada became great.
He says, Let’s try to understand our philosophies. What do you want to do for Krishna? Think what you want to do for Krishna and when you do that for Krishna, your own service will be performed. You’ll be doing bhakti.
He said, I had never thought like this. What do I want to do for Krishna? Then he thought, Prabhupada, I’ll have to think about it. Prabhupada said, Think and come.
Then he thought for some time and then he came back and he told Srila Prabhupada the next day that, Prabhupada, we have these mudangas. So, they would bring the mudangas, clay mudangas from India and then often while bringing they would break or sometimes while playing kirtans they would break and when they would break, they would just crack apart. So, he said, Prabhupada, I’m thinking instead of using clay, we can use some other material by which it will not break.
We’ll make unbreakable mudangas and then there will be so much inconvenience that somebody has to get the mudanga from Mayapur that will not be there. So, Prabhupada said, very good. Prabhupada said, your god brothers are very passionate.
So, make the mudanga such that even if they throw it down it will not break. And then, he took that as a service and lifelong he has been doing this service and he has made many, many mudangas using locally available indigenous materials and other such things. The point was that Srila Prabhupada encouraged the devotee to use his individuality to find out what was his inspiration for serving Krishna.
So, then when he served Krishna, that way he would wholeheartedly continue. Now, this expressing our individuality doesn’t mean whimsicality. It doesn’t mean that we do something which is not in harmony with the principles of devotion and we say, this is how I’m serving Krishna.
No. It has to be overall in harmony with the principles of devotion but many devotees often wait for their spiritual master to give some instruction. I want to do some service but I want my spiritual master to give some instruction.
Then I will do that seva faithfully. But actually speaking, with the practical reality of our movement is such that spiritual masters have so many responsibilities. They are not able to think of each disciple very carefully and give a service according to nature.
So, if the devotee takes responsibility for spiritual advancement and thinks, how can I serve Krishna? This is what I’d like to do. These are my talents, these are my interests and this is what is required, so let me do this for Krishna. And then present the proposal to senior devotees, get their blessings and do it.
Because it’s our inspiration, because it’s our interest, because it’s our inclination, we’ll be able to do it enthusiastically. And this is the practical way we can apply Varanashram in today’s society. Because there has been so much cross marriages between various castes and because today the Varanashram system is mostly defunct, so just by the birth, we don’t know what is our nature, what is our inclination.
And because we don’t know, so that’s why we often spend a lot of time thinking, what should I do in my life? So we take up the responsibility of finding out what is our way of serving Krishna and then we serve Him accordingly. Ultimately, we have to remember that my spiritual advancement is my responsibility. It is not my spiritual master’s responsibility.
It is not Krishna’s responsibility. It is my responsibility. This does not mean that I can become spiritually advanced without the mercy of the spiritual master, without the mercy of the Vaishnavas, without the mercy of Krishna.
No. Responsibility means we have an important part to play in it. Just like in our material career.
If I am having my own business, I will think, how can I expand my business? Expanding my business will not be somebody else’s responsibility. I may have some guide, some mentor, some well-wisher, and that person may give me periodic inputs. But ultimately, expanding my business will be my responsibility.
Similarly, making spiritual advancement, developing my relationship with Krishna, growing closer to Krishna is my responsibility. The spiritual master will be there to guide me. If I go wrong, spiritual master will correct me.
Spiritual master will show me the way. But it is for me to move along that way and to find out what are the ways in which I become inspired, I become motivated. It is my responsibility.
So when we understand this point, that Krishna has given me some energy, and this energy, this talent, this initiative is meant to be used to glorify Krishna. So I discover myself. So discover myself has two phases.
Discover myself has a spiritual phase, where I understand that I am not the body, I am the soul. It is important. But discover myself also has a second phase.
Second phase is that I understand what is my psychophysical nature. What are my talents? What are my weaknesses? What are my interests? What are my skills? What are my inspirations? And then I use them in Krishna’s service. So this second phase of discover yourself is also important.
Because that will enable us to serve Krishna enthusiastically lifelong. So Srila Prabhupada is saying over here that we have to play the part which has been assigned for us. Now how do we know which part is assigned for us? Krishna is not going to come in some dream and tell us I wanted to build a temple over here.
No. For some exceptional devotees, Krishna may do something like that. But more importantly, it is through a process of introspection and examination.
I look within and I look around. And then I try to understand how best I can serve Krishna. So, in this way, we move forward and we make spiritual advancement ourselves.
So in one lecture, Srila Prabhupada says, what is Krishna consciousness? He says that when we go in the temple and we stand through the deities, if we feel that Krishna is asking us what are you doing for me? If Krishna is asking us what are you doing for me? Then we are Krishna conscious, Prabhupada says. So Srila Prabhupada gives such an eminently practical understanding of Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is not, Prabhupada doesn’t say that when we go in front of the deities, we see the deities and we start thinking of Vrindavan Leela.
We think about what Krishna is doing in the forests of Vrindavan with the gopis. That is not Krishna consciousness. That is Krishna consciousness at a very advanced level.
But for us, to just dwell on that will be mostly hypothetical. It will be sentimental. It will not be substantial.
For us, the substantial way we can serve is by practically engaging So when we go in front of Krishna, Krishna is asking us what are you doing for me? This is not just in terms of quantity. It is not that Krishna I distributed so many books for you. Krishna I raised so much funds for you.
The quantity is also a way in which we can express our devotion. But the important point is, we have a relationship with Krishna. And in a relationship, there is reciprocation.
And reciprocation is through various ways. It is through emotion, it is through action, it is through intention. So when we go in front of Krishna, the reciprocation happens.
What are the practical services we are doing for him? That is action. What are the emotions we are bringing in front of Krishna? Are we becoming more pure? Are we becoming more attracted to Krishna? And what is our intention? So reciprocation happens through action, emotion and intentions. So we focus on reciprocating with Krishna and taking responsibility for our spiritual advancement, for developing our relationship with Krishna.
Now when we move forward in our spiritual life in this way, the more we offer ourselves to Krishna, the more Krishna offers Himself. That means the more Krishna reveals Himself. ye thamam prapadyante tam sthathaiva bhajamyaham As all people surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly.
What is the reward? Krishna is Krishna’s greatest blessing. What is Krishna’s greatest blessing? It is Krishna Himself. Ability, fame, wealth, all these can be blessings of Krishna.
But Krishna’s greatest blessing is Krishna Himself. When Krishna reveals His beauty in our heart, when Krishna reveals His glory in our heart, when Krishna reveals His love in our heart, and then through these revelations of glory, beauty and love, He attracts us to Him. Then that is Krishna’s greatest blessing.
Because if we are attracted to Krishna, then we won’t be attracted to things of this world. And if we are not attracted to things of this world, then we are on the path to liberation. If we are attracted to Krishna, we are on the path back to Krishna directly.
So, when the more we offer ourselves to Krishna, the more Krishna offers Himself to us. And when Krishna offers Himself, that is Krishna’s greatest blessing. Krishna Prabhupada writes over here that when we want to understand Krishna, it is not just a hypothetical exercise.
Yes, we study scripture, but also we want to be a part. Krishna has a role for us. Krishna wants a service to be done.
And when we do the services for Krishna, then gradually we make spiritual advancement. And our relationship with Him unfolds. And the more our relationship with Him unfolds, the more clearer our understanding of Krishna becomes.
The clearer our understanding of Krishna becomes, the more we feel attracted to Him. And the more we feel attracted to Him, the more we become liberated from material existence. So, in this way, devotional service is very dynamic and ecstatic.
Dynamic because there is constant reciprocation between us and Krishna. We offer ourselves, Krishna offers Himself. And inspires us more, we offer ourselves more.
And Krishna reveals Himself more. And it’s ecstatic because the more Krishna reveals Himself, the more there is joy in the heart. Because Krishna is like an ocean of happiness.
Sab-sukh-sagar, sab-gun-agar, roop-ujagar, Shri Krishna. So it is said in the Vraja song that Krishna is sab-sukh-sagar. He is the ocean of all happiness.
Sab-gun-agar. He is the abode of all qualities. So when we become attracted to Krishna, He has all the qualities in unlimited quantity.
So we can completely fall in love with Him. And He is the reservoir of all happiness. The more we connect with Him, the more happy we’ll become.
Just like if I put my hand in an electric socket, then I’ll get electrified. Electricity will flow through me. So similarly, when I connect myself with Krishna, then a surcharge, a current of happiness passes through.
The connection with Krishna is not physical. It’s not that I go and touch the deity and a current of happiness will pass through. It’s not physical.
It’s devotional. It’s when we connect ourselves to Krishna by offering our heart to Him, and by that connection, Krishna permeates us with happiness. And that is life’s ultimate success.
So here Srila Prabhupada is explaining that we all have to do our part in our service to Krishna. And he says, All power is obtained from the Lord. Therefore, each particular power must be utilised to execute the will of the Lord and not otherwise.
And then he says, The Lord can be known by one who is adopted submissive service attitude. The service attitude is that we want to serve Krishna. Submissive means, Krishna, you reveal to me how I can serve you, and I serve Him accordingly.
And in this way, we understand Krishna more and more and we fall in love with Him more and more. So I’ll summarise. We started by talking about the second section.
The second section talks about how the Ishwara can be understood through spiritual vision. And the first verse in that is talking about how the Ishwara has paradoxical attributes. Attributes that seem contradictory.
So how he is at one place, but he moves faster than the wind, faster than the great devatas and from that one place he controls those who control things that spread all over the place. So then we discussed how the absolute truth cannot be understood by speculation. It is understood by revelation.
And we discussed understanding the Lord and His energies. They are different yet non-different. We discussed synthetic and analytic understandings in that with respect to the example of machine, language, and devotional culture.
And then we discussed elaborately about the concept of dovetailing our individuality in devotional service. So our talents, if we use them at a material level, they will cause us and others bondage. If we reject our talents with impersonal ideas, then there will be no joy at all.
Because everything will become dry. But when we utilise our talents to serve Krishna, then there is joyful engagement for us, which is also purifying, which takes us closer to Krishna, which glorifies Krishna and brings others also closer to Krishna, thereby benefiting them also. So in this way, bhakti enables us to utilise the material in the service of the spiritual and thereby attain the spiritual.
Use our material talents to glorify Krishna. Krishna is Krishna’s greatest blessing. And we get that supreme blessing to the extent of we offer ourselves to him through our individual surrender.
Thank You very much.