Bhakti Shastri (023) – Preface and overview of The Nectar of Instruction

Podcast

Hare Krishna welcome to the bhakti shastri course where we start with the ishopanishad now that we have completed the ishopanishad we will start with the nectar of instruction of the Upadesha Amrit by Shri Arupa Goswami so let’s recap what we discussed at the start of the ishopanishad about the importance of the four books essentially in spiritual life we need to know sadhya and sadhana sadhya is the goal that which is to be achieved that is ultimately Krishna and sadhana is the means, the process by which we are supposed to achieve that so if I want to go where do I want to go I want to go to Delhi I want to go to Mayapur so if I have to go to Mayapur then the next destination is fixed then the process, am I going by train or plane or ship whatever so that’s the sadhya and sadhana now the sadhya and sadhana they are established through Bhagavad Gita and Ishopanishad that means how among the various sadhyas bhakti is the highest how among the various sadhanas Bhagavan, Krishna is the highest that is established through Bhagavad Gita and Ishopanishad and how they are to be practised for further knowledge, how bhakti is to be practised and who Krishna actually is as a person is talked about in the Nectar of Devotion, Nectar of Instruction now of course this division like any other division is not waterproof even in the Bhagavad Gita we do get directions about how to practise bhakti when Krishna says machitta, madhgata, prana in 10.11 or in 10.9 when he says that or when he says satatam kirtayantoma 9.14 so there is descriptions of bhakti also but the systematic delineation of bhakti, the details of how it is to be practised, the way it is given in Nectar of Devotion, Nectar of Instruction it is not given in Bhagavad Gita Bhagavad Gita analyses various processes and then establishes the supremacy of bhakti Nectar of Instruction we will see, it doesn’t mention much about Ashtanga Yoga, Dhyana Yoga or Karma Yoga because that is not its focus it assumes that the seeker has accepted the point that bhakti is the best way and now how is bhakti to be practised now Nectar of Devotion will compare bhakti a little bit with other processes it will glorify the supremacy of bhakti in the beginning and then immediately we will start off by explaining the details of bhakti and then describing the 64 qualities of Bhagavan also so sadhya and sadhana how they are established through Bhagavad Gita and Isopanishad now they are established preliminarily through Isopanishad Isopanishad we saw that it moved from a universalist understanding of Ishwar as the controller of the universe to a personalist understanding as a person who has a face and who bestows mercy and removes obstacles and who can be called to at the moment of death now the mode of approach in the Isopanishad the last 4 verses 15 to 18 they were focussing on prayers that is essentially bhakti so the Isopanishad points towards Bhagavan in bhakti, a personalist understanding and a prayerful attitude towards the absolute truth this will be elaborated further in the Bhagavad Gita and we will go to that gradually now we are focussing on the Nectar of Instruction because it elaborates the process of bhakti and enables us to apply those principles in our day to day life so our process will be first we will establish then we will look at the application so philosophical understanding through Isopanishad then practical application through Nectar of Instruction then again philosophical understanding through Bhagavad Gita and then practical application through Nectar of Devotion that is the way we are going to take these 4 books and in the first 2 books that means the Bhagavad Gita that means the Isopanishad and the Nectar of Instruction we will be focussing on the purports of Srila Prabhupada analysing them categorising them and then based on that we will be understanding Srila Prabhupada’s mood and vision and how he wanted us to practise Krishna Consciousness when we come to Bhagavad Gita because the book is so big we will not be able to go too detailed into the purports analysing the purports we will be focussing more on the flow of the Gita and the way that flow is understood through Srila Prabhupada’s purports as well as the previous Acharya’s purports when we look at the Isopanishad we will discuss a few we will look at the Nectar of Instruction we will also look at a few points which Bhaktivinoda Thakur makes in his book Bhaktiya Loka occasionally Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur also wrote a commentary on the Nectar of Instruction called Anuvakti Commentary which Srila Prabhupada quotes quite frequently in his own purports we will look at that also but our primary focus will be on the Bhaktivedanta purports we discussed this approach at the start of the Isopanishad also we want to go systematically so first we build our philosophical fundamentals by understanding the mood that Srila Prabhupada wanted and the message that Srila Prabhupada delivered so once we understand that then we can look at what the previous Acharya is also saying to supplement our understanding so in the Nectar of Instruction the essence is actually the practise of Bhakti so let’s look at the themes in the Nectar of Instruction there are various themes which are all related with practical life, it talks about mind and sense control in the practical very important in the first three verses then it talks about attitude, how we should have attitude in spiritual life and towards devotees and towards the process then Srila Prabhupada also explains how ISKCON is fulfilling the purpose of providing Sadhu Sangha and ISKCON is basically a facility to apply Nectar of Instruction many instructions then it talks also about the dynamic relationship between Guru and disciple and a very important aspect of the Nectar of Instruction is the principle of Sadhu Sangha the association of devotees how we should associate and how we should not associate with devotees and when we talk about devotees, not all devotees are at the same level so devotees are in a hierarchy some are higher, some are lower so what are the different kinds of devotees and how do we know the kind of devotee that a particular person is what is their behaviour, what are their qualifications and then based on that we also talk further about Bhakti so we understand that devotees are at various levels and what are the levels of devotion that will be more systematically elaborated in Nectar of Devotion but here also it is given in Bhakti, there are various stages of Bhakti and there is a gradual development of Bhakti so how all this happens will be the theme of Nectar of Instruction so here is an overview of Nectar of Instruction from the point of view of the 9 stages of Bhakti as explained by Sri Arupa Goswami in his other book the Nectar of Devotion so it is described that Bhakti progresses in 9 stages Shraddha is the first stage when we come in the association of devotees when we with a preliminary inquisitive attitude enquire decide to investigate what is going on, what are these Hare Krishna what is this Krishna business what is there something beyond this life what is the meaning and purpose of life so Srila Prabhupada explains that this is basically a positive curiosity this is Shraddha and Shraddha has to be expressed through action when a person has Shraddha at that time a person does something so that if I have faith ok I have a disease I have to go to a doctor and when I go to the doctor I talk with the doctor so that is talked about in the first stages so we go and enquire so first 3 mantras basically talk about the preliminaries which help us to develop Shraddha and which nourish Shraddha then after that there is Sadhusangha Sadhusangha means the association of Adav Shraddha Sadhusangha when we come in the association of devotees in that association we learn to practise the process of devotion service so this Sadhusangha is elaborate aspect of this process of this book just as when we go to a doctor and the doctor explains what is the disease then we start taking the treatment so similarly when there is Sadhusangha after Sadhusangha comes Bhajana Kriya the practise of devotion service which is like a spiritual treatment when we take a spiritual treatment the next thing that happens is we start getting cured so especially the prominent symptoms of sickness that are there, they start subsiding so that is the stage of Anartha Nivritti Anartha Nivritti essentially means that Nivritti means retirement, Anartha is the undesirable Anartha, Artha means meaning Anartha means that has no meaning Artha also means value or money and Anartha means that which has no value no money so our sensual desires based on lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion, they have no meaning and they have no value but somehow we assume that they have a lot of meaning and a lot of value so Anartha Nivritti means that these this misconception of ascribing a meaning and value to that which is meaningless and valueless, that stops that this misconception retires from our consciousness and when the misconception retires when we see how we are feeling and becoming better by this actually our faith increases just as when we take a treatment and the treatment cures us, and when we become cured by the treatment, we feel that oh this is good, this treatment works, I want to take this treatment become fully healthy, so after Anartha Nivritti comes the stage of Nishtha Nishtha means the faith has become very strong at that time the faith has in fact become like a banyan tree, at the stage of Shraddha the faith is like a banana tree a banana tree can be shaken if an elephant comes it can just shake it and uproot it also, but even if an elephant comes to a banyan tree the elephant, it may put its trunk around it, it may dash its head against it, it may try to pull with all its strength but a banyan tree is so deep rooted that it cannot be shaken, so like that we come to the stage of Nishtha, when we do bhajana kriya and experience Anartha Nivritti so this stage is also talked about in the 7th verse hinted at, then there is Ruchi, Ruchi means that time as we become spiritually healthy, we start developing a taste for Krishna Consciousness, right now we have a taste for worldly things, for sensual things, but we develop a taste for spiritual things, for Krishna and service to Krishna and the paraphernalia connected with Krishna at that stage, we may feel glimpses of the taste now also but that is a step, it is far deeper and richer taste that we get as Ruchi and from Ruchi comes Asakti so in Asakti one goes much deeper and one is getting a taste, but this is a taste when it is developed, one gets attached so in negative sense when a person takes and a person is given a free taste of drugs initially, person takes drugs, first the person likes the drugs and then after that the person gets hooked to it becomes attached to it, can’t live to it that’s in a negative sense but similarly in a positive sense, when we get experience of the joy of of the taste of devotion then we become attached, not just to devotion but also to Krishna, the person around whom our devotion is centred and then after that comes Bhava, Bhava is spiritual emotion and it is just the preliminary to Prema, it just Prema is just the next stage so Prema is the full development of love for Krishna which is systematic, which is comprehensive, which is all consuming of our being, so it just fully floods our heart with ocean of emotion and then we feel that there is no need for us to be attracted to anything worldly and it is at this stage of Prema that the devotees of Vrindavan live, the devotees of the spiritual world live and at this stage of Prema that is our ultimate aspiration and how do we come to this stage of Prema? By the steady practise of devotional service Now Jaitanya Mahaprabhu explains that Bhakti Lata Beach is like a creeper it is given by the spiritual master and it has to be protected protected in two ways one is that a fence has to be built so that no predators come and damage or destroy it and secondly it has to be watered so that it will grow, so it has to be protected and nourished how it can be protected and nourished? so that it will eventually grow and blossom and give the fruit of love of God fruit of Prema, that is what Nectar of Instruction talks about so in this way Nectar of Instruction is a very important book which will guide us on the path of devotion.
Now let us look at the introduction of the preface of Nectar of Instruction which Shri Prabhupada has given us so in this preface Shri Prabhupada starts very strikingly he explains that the Krishna Consciousness movement is conducted under the supervision of Srila Rupa Goswami so this is a very deeply indicative of Srila Prabhupada’s profound sense of humility and connectedness with the Acharyas and with the Parampara Srila Prabhupada is not saying that this movement is conducted under my supervision he has started it for all practical purposes without him there would have been no Krishna Consciousness movement in the West and Srila Prabhupada is constantly involved in preaching, guiding, overseeing and doing practically everything that is necessary for the expansion of Krishna Consciousness movement in the initial days he was a one man army and then later on he was the commander of a fallible army many of his soldiers would fall but he would go and raise them and inspire them again to fight and keep winning and they won glorious victories. The way the Krishna Consciousness movement spread just within 11 years all over the world has few parallels in world history, few at all for that matter if any parallels it is extraordinary. But Srila Prabhupada is so humble here he is saying that it is under the supervision of Srila Rupa Goswami.
Initially when Srila Prabhupada published this book the devotees saw that ok this is meant for devotees and they published a very limited run when Srila Prabhupada came to know he said no distribute it widely although it is meant for devotees we want eventually the whole world to become devotees and even new people can learn about this book and they can benefit from it. Srila Prabhupada’s vision was not just limited that only a small number of people are devotees, he saw the whole world as filled with potential devotees now Srila Prabhupada then explains who is Rupa Goswami so we have to understand that there is a progression in the Vedic revelation so the Vedic scriptures give us the Bhagavatam where the highest truth about Krishna’s supremacy is given. However that truth was not widely propagated in the intermediate period after the start of Kali Yuga other processes gave more prominence, Karmakanda was there and as a refutation of Karmakanda Buddhism came up, Jainism came up and then as a refutation of that impersonalism as propagated by Shankaracharya came up then Vishishtadvaita by Ramacharya and then Dvaita by Madhacharya came up.
So like that Bhakti was re-established but when Shaitanya Mahaprabhu came, he established the conclusion of the Vedic literature of pure devotional service to Lord Sri Krishna and once this conclusion was established then that became central to our understanding, to the subsequent understanding of the Vedic literature in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition which Shaitanya Mahaprabhu started. So Shaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna himself who has come again and he has come to reveal the essence of his descent as Krishna 5000 years ago. When Krishna came he revealed the Bhagavad Gita and he revealed his wonderful pastimes but the way to access those pastimes is through Shaitanya Mahaprabhu.
So when Shaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared the Lord can do everything himself but he always asks his associates to play part and he makes various of his associates play roles in this world. Shaitanya Mahaprabhu called the six Goswamis who were prominent respectable intelligent and charismatic individuals in different parts of the country and he got in a sense recruited all of them when he was travelling to various parts of the country and he got all of them to go to Vrindavan and there he gave them four missions. First was to build temples, to glorify the pastimes of Radha and Krishna.
Second is to to rediscover the lost places of the pastimes of Radha and Krishna. Third is to write literature establishing the supremacy of devotional service as the ultimate teaching of the Vedic literature. And fourth is to exemplify and teach the practise of pure devotional service and the Goswamis did all these four missions.
So the first two are in terms of say finding places and building places and second two is in terms of books. Vishalabh Rao often said these are the prominent signs of success within the movement. He said somebody builds a temple somebody writes a book.
It’s like a part of the material world has been offered back to Krishna. Place is made into a temple and the material world is spiritualised over there. So that is a significant sign of success.
Every time a book is published I feel as if empire is won. Why? Because a book is an empire of thought. He said there can be an empire which spans in space.
Similarly a book can be an empire of thought. And when that book is read by people then that book’s wisdom attracts and conquers the people’s hearts. And in this way the empire expands within.
And of course both the building of the temples and the building of, writing of books both are meant ultimately to attract people. So the third success Sainila Prabhupada said is how many people are becoming devotees. So how many books are distributed and how many temples are built and how many people are becoming devotees.
These are the ways in which we can tangibly measure the success of the spread of Krishna consciousness. So in Vrindavan, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave to Goswami these two missions. One is write books about Vaishnava Siddhanta and Vaishnava Sadhacharya.
Vaishnava Siddhanta is Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the conclusion of all the Vedic teachings. And pure devotional service to Krishna is the ultimate message of the Vedic teachings.
And then how to practise pure devotional service? Teach that through books. These are two kinds of books that he told them to write. And of course when you are teaching pure devotional service, he told them to exemplify pure devotional service also.
And then he also told them to build temples and also rediscover the lost places of the past in Radha and Krishna. The Goswamis were very important critical representatives of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s desire for spreading Krishna Consciousness. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in his later part of his life, last 18 years, he stayed in Puri and he basically relished pure love of Krishna over there in the association of his intimate devotees.
Basically there he demonstrated the spiritual world and the love for Krishna that floods the devotees’ hearts in the spiritual world. But at the same time Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had a mission and that was to share Krishna Consciousness with everyone else. So who was going to do that? That was done primarily by the Goswamis.
The Goswamis not only preached to the various scholars who were in the Vrindavan area, but along with that, they laid the foundations for future generations of preaching. They especially wrote books and through the writing of the books they systematised the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. All the books written by the other associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are mostly pastime books.
We have the Bengali associate Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wrote pastime books and those books are important, no doubt, but they don’t establish the dhant of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu so thoroughly. Chaitanya Bhagwat, Chaitanya Mangal, Chaitanya Chandrodaya Natak, Chaitanya Charit, these are books written by Vrindavan Das Thakur, Luchinda Das Thakur, Kavi Karanapur, Murari Gupta and all these are very important books. But they focus primarily on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes.
So what was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings? They don’t come so systematically in those books. Therefore, that was the role of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan. They wrote the philosophical teachings and they established the teachings in a very systematic way and then the two literary heritages, the Bengali literary heritage of pastimes and the Vrindavan literary heritage of philosophy, that was integrated into one book, the magnum opus of Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, that was Sri Chaitanya Charita Amrit.
So, Chaitanya Charita Amrit was written by a person, Vrindavan Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, who was born in Bengal and he was steep since childhood in the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. But then Nityanand Prabhu instructed him to go to Vrindavan and there under Vrindavan he got systematically trained by the Goswamis and after a comprehensive lifelong training under them, then he wrote the Chaitanya Charita Amrit. So, the literary heritages of Gaudiya Vaishnavism are integrated into this one book, which is extremely important, Chaitanya Charita Amrit.
So, the pastime heritage and the philosophical heritage, both are integrated together in Chaitanya Charita Amrit. Now, going backwards to the philosophical heritage and the practical heritage that is there. And generally, the Goswamis in their books don’t focus so much on pastimes.
Even when they talk about pastimes, for example, Rupa Goswami has written, Sanatana Goswami has written a book called Brihad Bhagavata Amrit. So, in that book, he describes the pastimes of Lord Krishna and his various incarnations not in a comprehensive chronological sense of all the pastimes. He describes those pastimes to illustrate the Siddhanta.
The Siddhanta that Goloka Vrindavan is the highest among all the abodes of the Lord and the Gopis are the highest among all the devotees of the Lord. So, the Vaishnavas had a particular focus. The Vaishnavas of Vrindavan, the Goswamis had a particular focus.
So, just by hearing the pastimes of either Radha Krishna or even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we cannot understand their full glory. That’s why here Prabhupada quotes Narottam Das Thakur. Narottam Das Thakur was a prominent disciple of the Goswamis.
So, Narottam Das Thakur was a shiksha disciple of Jiva Goswami. So, only when I develop a taste for understanding the life and the teachings of the Goswami, means great attraction. So, when I develop a great attraction to the lotus feet of Rupa and Raghunatha, to their feet, now the feet of Vaishnavas manifest through their instructions.
So, we can go and touch the feet of the Vaishnavas, that is very good. If they allow us and if we get the opportunity. But we can’t just force ourselves on that.
The way the lotus feet manifest in a much more accessible and transformational way is by the instructions that they give. So, the instructions come, not just through the books that they write, but also the life that they live. So, here he is telling that when we read the books of the Goswamis, then we understand what actually is devotion to Radha Krishna.
Because they are exemplary devotees and they are absorbed in the mood of selfless devotion to Radha Krishna. So, the whole Krishna consciousness movement, which comes down through the parampara, starting from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu down. So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is not the starter of the Vaishnava sampradaya, but Gaudiya Vaishnavism is primarily started by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
So, in the Madhava sampradaya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu revealed a flavour that was not there before. So, we are the Brahma, Madhava, Gaudiya sampradaya. So, in that sense, the knowledge comes from Brahma through Madhvacharya and then ultimately it comes down through Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, through Srila Prabhupada and our spiritual master to us.
At the same time, it is also important to understand that this whole process of devotion is enriched at a particular historical moment by the incarnation of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So, when we talk about the Gaudiya Vaishnav sampradaya, it is not a different sampradaya from the Brahma, Madhava sampradaya, but it is also different in the sense that revelation is richer. So, it’s a chintabhidaabhida.
So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Prabhupada writes, he appeared in order to bestow upon human society the benediction of the science of Krishna. It’s interesting, the benediction of the science of Krishna. Now, how do we know the science of Krishna? That is, by looking at the devotees who are the most vivid exemplars of that science, those who exemplify that science the most, and that is the gopis.
So, the most exalted of the Krishna’s activities are the associated activities of the gopis. Now, at a deeper level, the goswamis are actually the associates of Radharani. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna himself in the mood of Radharani, and the various associates of Radharani have manifested as the associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
So, for example, Lalitavishaka Sakhya manifested as Sarodamadar Goswami and Ramanandaraya. So, like that, along with the gopis, there are associates called as the Manjaris, and these Manjaris are assistants in the past times of Radha Krishna. They are younger, and they assist in the past times.
So, Rupa Goswami is a Rupa Manjari in the spiritual world. That means Rupa Goswami knows the intimate past times of Radha Krishna, not just by some intellectual analysis, or just by scriptural study, but by personal experience. He is manifesting in this age, in this incarnation, which Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, not in the form of a Manjari, but in the mood and form of a sannyasi.
So, he exemplifies renunciation. At the same time, while exemplifying renunciation, he also exemplifies extraordinary devotion. He exemplifies how renounced devotion can be practised.
So, now the example of renounced devotion is important because it is very easy to misunderstand the past times of Radha and Krishna, and do at a material level what they are doing at a spiritual level, imitate them, and cause self-destruction by that. Therefore, the past times of Radha and Krishna can be understood only through the teachings of Rupa Goswami and great saints like them. Otherwise, we will get a thorough misunderstanding.
Now, Vishalaprabhupada comes to what is the teaching, after explaining that we have to understand through them. So, the first point in the purport Vishalaprabhupada makes is that we have to have self-mastery. So, the necessity of self-mastery on the spiritual path.
It is explained in the scriptures that the body and the soul are quite opposite to each other. The body is asat-achit-nirananda, the soul is sat-chit-ananda. The body, being of opposite nature, is temporary, the soul is eternal, the body is dead and unconscious, the soul is conscious, the body is prone to so many diseases, distresses and miseries, whereas the soul is ananda, it is constantly blissful.
Because of this essential incompatibility between the body and the soul, the soul cannot really enjoy at the bodily level, although there may be a few pleasures here and there. Now, for the soul to become divorced from the body, soul to become detached from the body and to experience spiritual reality, requires a process of purification. And that process of purification is centred on self-mastery.
Because as long as we are engaging in bodily pleasures, as long as we are engaging in Sanskritification, we are so caught up in bodily consciousness that we cannot become detached from it. Just like a person who is drinking cannot become sober. Now, just by stopping drinking, one doesn’t become sober.
By stopping drinking and then finding some other constructive activities that free the person from the obsession with drinking, that’s how the person will become free from that drinking habit. But, the first thing that is required is one has to stop drinking. So, as long as the person is stupor because of alcohol, thinking, oh, I am the king of the world, the person cannot even begin the process of recovery.
Similarly, spiritual life means that we have to regain spiritual consciousness. And regaining spiritual consciousness means that we have to give up bodily consciousness. And bodily consciousness is caused largely by our uncontrolled mind and senses.
The senses want to enjoy, I want to eat this, I want to get that, I want to get that. And because of this, now, generally as soon as the sense objects come in front of us, they cause forgetfulness of our spiritual identity. Now, as soon as a, say, a male sees a female or a female sees a male, both of them become riveted to their bodies.
And the male starts thinking, oh, this female, how can I attract her? She is so attractive, how can I attract her? And the female starts thinking, oh, this person, this male looks so, looks quite well to do, how can I attract him? So, both of them basically become riveted to their bodily identity. Now, as long as we are pandering to the senses, we remain riveted to the bodily identity. Riveted means, sometimes when we have to fix something, you just close it, we use rivets and seal it shut.
So, like that, the soul’s consciousness becomes riveted to the body by the uncontrolled mind and senses and the material desires that come and the attachment that results when we act on those material desires. So, when we want to become free from bodily consciousness, we have to begin with self-mastery. Some people feel that spiritual life is all about experiences.
I go to the temple and I dance in front of the temple. Oh, I feel so nice. That’s what spiritual life is about.
I feel so peaceful. That’s good to feel peaceful when you go to the temple. But, we just don’t want an occasional feeling of peace.
We want a steady feeling of peace that can come only through purification. So, going to external may make me peaceful, but my goal is not just to stay peaceful at those times. To be peaceful at other times also, I have to become free from the desires that rob away my peace.
And which are the desires that rob away my peace? That’s lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion. Now, we may feel that I have so many anxieties in my life. Yes, there are anxieties which rob away our peace, but those anxieties, if you look deeply, generally, they originate from lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion.
Either our lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion or others’ lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion. So, when we suffer because of others’ lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion, we are basically getting the karmic reactions for our past misdeeds. But essentially, the sufferings of this world are because of the uncontrolled mind and senses of everyone.
The more people’s mind and senses become controlled, they will become happy and they will contribute to the happiness of others. Even in this life, what to speak of the next? So, that’s why spiritual life requires self-control. Without self-control, there cannot be any steady practise of spiritual life.
One can practise, but one will not be steady. One will practise spiritual life for some time, again one will be dragged down. Practise for some time, again dragged down.
So, if you want steadiness, we have to have a regular sadhana, a regular programme which keeps us detached from gross sensual enjoyments and helps us progress further towards spiritual advancement. Now, Shri Prabhupada writes in the Purport that, that’s why he says, in all spiritual affairs, one’s first duty is to control his mind and senses. Unless one controls his mind and senses, one cannot make any advancement in spiritual life.
This sort of statement may be a little frightening for us. You may feel that, I have been chanting Hare Krishna, but still I am not able to control my mind and senses. Is it that I will make no spiritual advancement? To understand that it’s a serious matter.
You know, if I if I am lighting a fire, actually the fire will give illumination. But if at the same time I put water on it, then the fire will not be blazed forward, it will not give illumination, but it will get extinguished. So, the two efforts will almost cancel each other.
Bhaktisanth Siddhartha could give the example of a person rowing a boat, but if the person, a boat person is rowing a boat throughout the night, but the person forgot to remove the anchor. As long as the anchor is there, then the person cannot the boat cannot really move. So, the anchor is the anchor of attachment.
As long as we stay attached to material things, we may be rowing, that means we may be making spiritual, we may be doing the activities that lead to spiritual advancement, but we won’t lead to, we won’t make so much spiritual advancement. Those activities no doubt don’t go waste. They will accumulate to our spiritual credits at a subtle level, but eventually they will become manifest when we get the resolve to stop pandering to our senses and break free from the shackles of the senses.
That’s why Prabhupada writes that one has to one cannot make any advancement in spiritual life. Now, when Shrila Prabhupada asked this question, especially when he was preaching in America, at that time the idea of sense control was radical. And some people asked Prabhupada during one talk show, Swami, why are you against sex? Prabhupada said, we are not against sex.
We have our students who get married. But then why are you against illicit sex? Prabhupada said that for spiritual advancement, the mind should be focused on spiritual truth, ultimately on Krishna. But if the mind is constantly thinking how can I get an attractive sexual partner? Then how can the mind think of God? So, it wasn’t accepted.
Shrila Prabhupada gave a simple explanation. Ultimately, if I want to become purified, I have to develop love for Krishna. When I keep the mind fixed on Krishna, then my mind becomes purified and the natural attraction to Krishna awakens.
But if I am attached to so many worldly things, then how can my mind think of Krishna at all? So, even from a practical point of view, we will see that our attraction to Krishna increases only when we think about Krishna. And for that thinking, we need some level of sense control. Shrila Prabhupada explains very significantly that we are all in passion and ignorance.
And then he says, one must promote himself to the platform of goodness, by following the instructions of Rupa Goswami. And then everything concerning how to make further progress will be revealed. Very striking point Prabhupada says over here that once we come to sattva guna, then we can actually sense Krishna’s inner voice also.
And then in the second chapter of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, in the series of verses which will later become a part of Dharma book, Shrila Prabhupada has explained the sequence very nicely. And there, once a person comes to sattva guna, then one becomes joyful. One practises bhakti.
And by the practise of bhakti, what happens is bhagvat-tattva-vijnanam. One gets knowledge of bhagvat-tattva, the spiritual knowledge. mukta-sangha-sijayate.
By that one becomes mukta, one becomes liberated. This is how further progress is made. So, we will get knowledge of Krishna further, but at least by the practise of instructions of guru, sadhu-shastra, one has to come to the mode of goodness.
It is not that we give up the instructions of guru, sadhu-shastra after we come to the mode of goodness. No. Then also we have to follow the instructions of guru, sadhu-shastra.
But there are many situations when the instructions of guru, sadhu-shastra will not be clear at a particular time. So, at that time, we have to decide based on our own discretion. And the inner voice will become much clearer to us about what we should do, what we should not do, when we are situated in the mode of goodness.
Then Srila Prabhupada makes a memorable statement, Advancement in Krishna Consciousness depends on the attitude of the follower. It depends on the attitude of the follower. So, attitude is a popular word in today’s world.
Everything depends on attitude. You should have positive attitude. So, attitude is important.
But what does attitude, what is Srila Prabhupada referring to by attitude? Is he saying we should always think positive? Is he saying that we should think that we will be able to achieve whatever we are dreaming of? Srila Prabhupada has a specific context. If you look behind after what he has said in the statement, it’s clear that Srila Prabhupada is talking about sense control and mind control. So, sense control and mind control seem to be a very difficult task.
But if a devotee is determined that no, I will become sense controlled, I will become mind controlled, then that practise will eventually lead to sense control and mind control. So, Prabhupada talks about Goswamis in the Parpona. He says the Goswamis are those who control their mind and senses.
to achieve the highest success in life by becoming a Goswami and then a pure devotee of the Lord, one must follow the instruction known as Upadesha Amrit. So, Prabhupada says the highest success of life is to become a Goswami. Goswami means we learn to control our senses and with the control senses we serve Krishna and thereby develop love for Krishna.
The Bhagavatam says that the Lord is conquered by the love of those who have conquered their senses. The Lord is conquered by the love of those who have conquered their senses. Because those who have conquered their senses, their love is pure.
It’s undistracted and the Lord is conquered by such love. Therefore, we also have to focus on both these aspects. We want to develop devotion to Krishna but at the same time we also have to control our mind and senses and the Bhagavatam and the Nectar of Instruction will describe to us how we can control our mind and senses and how we can become Goswamis.
Then Srila Prabhupada writes that those who can do like this, for them spiritual advancement will be easier. So, Srila Prabhupada writes one should follow these instructions very strictly. Then it will be easier to make one’s life successful, easier to make one’s life successful.
What does this mean? That actually spiritual advancement is not easy. When you say this is easier, that means that is tougher. That means easier is a easier is, the word is used easier when we are talking about something in comparison.
So, if you don’t follow the instructions then spiritual advancement will be much tougher. Just as if I have to drive on the road, if I don’t follow the traffic rules my driving will be much more tougher. Temporarily it may seem easier, I can just turn wherever I want, I can go wherever I want but then there will be constant hazard, there may be vehicle shooting from the other side, there may be police chasing me to give me a ticket or there may be there may be hazard in so many ways if I am not following the rules.
So, when you follow the traffic rules then journey is relatively easier. Of course, there are hazards even when you are following the rules but they are lesser because there is some level of orderliness in our journey. Similarly, when you are practising spiritual life, if without considering the instructions of Guru Sadhu Shastra you try to practise spiritual life, our advancement will be very difficult.
There will be lot of trouble because we will be struggling on our own trying to find out in various situations what to do and how to go ahead. So, the scriptural rules and regulations as given in books like Rupa Goswami’s Desha Amrit, they are like the road and when we know the road we move along the road and sometimes the road may be blocked, sometimes it may be congested, sometimes following certain rules may be difficult and accordingly we will have to do time-place adjustments. That is also talked about in Niyamagraha by Rupa Goswami but that is later but the important point is when there is a road moving along is easier, journey is easier.
When there is no road then moving along is much more difficult. Shri Aurobhama says that if you follow the rules that are given by the Acharyas then your life will become successful more easily. So, we will discuss this Desha Amrit more in detail in our next class.
We will start with the first verse in it. Today we discussed primarily about how the nectar of instruction takes us from Shraddha to Prema. We discussed the nine stages with the metaphor of a person taking treatment and getting recovered and then with the position of Rupa Goswami discussed in our canon and then after that we discussed the necessity for sense control.
We said it is important not to pour water on a fire if you want it to blaze forth. And then lastly we discussed about how a devotee should have the attitude that I can and I will become a sense-controlled person. Thank you very much.
Shri Shobhana, Shri Desha Amrit Ki Jai. Shri Prabhupada Ki Jai. Tai Gaur Premanand.