Bhakti Shastri (034) – The Nectar of Instruction Text 5, Part 1

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Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the nectar of instruction study course as a part of the Bhagavad Gita Shastra. In the previous class we completed the fourth text.

The fourth text is the beginning of section which talks about association and we discussed about the six-fold loving exchanges that is general for reciprocation with all devotees. Now the fifth verse moves forward and points out that there are multiple levels of devotees and the different devotees we need to reciprocate differently. So let's discuss that based on the fifth text.

So krishna is there on the tongue of some person. That person deserves respect. What kind of respect? Respectful offering with the mind.

One should respect that person. This is not ordinary person. Among the millions and billions of living beings this person is chanting the whole name of Krishna.

It's very special. So I respect that person. And then then if somebody has actually taken initiation and after initiation that person is doing worship.

That means that person is doing deity worship here. It's referred to it. So initiation refers not just to first initiation but second initiation also.

Then so at that time one should offer obeisance to such a person. And then bhajanavigyam shushru shaya bhajanavigyam ananyamanya. Shushru shaya means to serve humbly.

To hear and to serve. So hearing itself is a service and there are other kinds of services also. bhajanavigyam ananyamanya.

So one who is bhajanavigya and what kind of bhagya? bhajana ananya. And then anya nindadi shunya. So this person has no inclination to criticize others.

Rhythm in that not only the person not criticized but the person has no inclination to criticize in the heart also. Rhythm ipsita sangalabdhya. So if one should desire that association, one gets the association, one should cherish that association and treasure it and one should faithfully serve.

So many times we may not criticize because we are afraid of the backlash that will come from criticism. We want to burst out and speak a lot of things but say for example someone is working in a company and the boss is very tyrannical. He wants to burst out but the person does not burst out because there is a backlash that will be feared.

So there is an inclination but there is still not the criticism whereas here there is actually no inclination to criticize also. This does not mean that it never criticizes but there is no inclination to criticize means one does not get any delight in criticizing. So in that sense there is no inclination.

Let's look at Shri Prabhupada's translation. So one should mentally honor the devotee who chants the holy name of Lord Krishna. One should offer humble obeisances to the devotee who has undergone spiritual initiation, diksha and is engaged in worshiping the deity and one should associate with and faithfully serve that pure devotee who is advanced in undeviated devotional service and whose heart is completely devoid of the propensity to criticize others.

This is describing three levels of devotees. So the first is the kanishta level. The person is charged to chant Hare Krishna whatever be the understanding of that person that doesn't matter at least chant Hare Krishna.

So a person comes to a temple and prays in front of the deity, chants the names. Then the person takes and even starts serious worship that is a madhyama and a person who is completely devoted to the worship of the Lord, undeviated worship of the Lord and person is not at all inclined to criticize others. That is the uttama adhikari.

Now among these three kinds of people all three are important for our spiritual advancement. The spiritual master or spiritual guides they need to be more advanced than us. So a spiritual master will be a uttama adhikari or a very advanced madhyama adhikari and then there is kanishta adhikari.

So Vishal Prabhupada wanted all of us to rise from kanishta at least to the madhyama level because we discussed earlier in our Ishopanishad course the primary difference between a kanishta and a madhyama is the appreciation of devotees. So if one doesn't appreciate devotees one thinks oh I have a direct relationship with Krishna. Then such a notion is actually a kanishta notion it is not a uttama notion.

So madhyamas understand that I have a relationship with Krishna but that relationship will be developed by how we relate with others also. So kanishta thinks I just relate with Krishna, I come to the temple, I worship the deity, after that I go back home, whatever I do it doesn't matter and how I deal with others doesn't matter. I can shout at others, I can be in rajoguna, tamoguna while dealing with other people but as long as I come and fold my hands in front of the deity, do some puja, offer some dakshina that's all that I need to do then I'm a religious person.

No but a madhyama understands no bhakti is not a part-time activity. Bhakti is actually a full-time activity. One of the main difference between those who practice bhakti as a traditional culture and those who practice bhakti as a sadhana.

So we could say that in a generic way, not in a very precise sense but in a generic sense, those who are iskcon devotees and those who are general hindus even if they are worshipping Krishna, the difference is that for those who are practicing bhakti because of cultural reasons, traditional reasons, for them bhakti is a part of life. Whereas for serious devotees, bhakti is not just a part of life, bhakti is their whole life. In fact they understand life is a part of bhakti.

What does it mean life is a part of bhakti? It means that actually bhakti is something which goes on to many many lives and it's very rare and special that somebody attains perfection in just one lifetime. So when it extends over many lifetimes, that process of extension over multiple lifetimes means that this life is just a part of the long process of bhakti which ultimately takes us back to Krishna's lotus feet. So we may have done some jnana sakruti in some little previous life or some spiritual infusion we might have in previous life, that's why we come to Krishna in this life.

Now it is of course because of Shetana Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada's mercy that we can return back to Krishna even in this one life, but otherwise it takes effort. So in 6.44 and 45 in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talks about how whatever spiritual attraction one has developed in the earlier life, one still carries that with oneself and then one keeps endeavouring, starts practicing spiritual life and one endeavours strictly. One becomes purified of all impurities and it may take many lifetimes.

One attains the supreme destination. So that means for a serious devotee who has a philosophical vision of things, understands that life is a part of bhakti. That means bhakti has been going on many lives and in this life it can be the last part.

It's like in a marathon, there is a final lap. This is the last session that has to be covered. So this can be our final lap or we can have many more laps after this depending on how seriously we practice spiritual life.

Now when we talk about the practice of bhakti, what are we essentially talking about? That conception is different for Kanishtha and Madhyama. So Kanishtha is just doing some religious rituals like worshipping the deity, going to a holy place, chanting the holy names. That is enough, that is important no doubt.

But all this is meant to develop our relationship with Krishna and our relationship with Krishna is not in isolation. It is in connection with all those who have relationship with Krishna. So spiritual world is not a place of silent meditation, silent exclusive meditation on Krishna.

Yes everybody is focused on meditating on Krishna but they are all in a community and they are all together serving Krishna in the spiritual world. So that's what we aspire to do. Now when we look at this particular verse, so it's talking about different devotees being offered different levels of respect.

So even a new person is Manasa Adriyeta, they should be offered respect with the mind and the serious devotees should be offered obeisances going down and the advanced devotees should not only be offered obeisances but should be offered submissive hearing and one should hanker for that association. Of course we offer obeisances, of course we offer respect but more than that we also hanker for that association because through that association we make rapid spiritual advancement because essentially we get the desire that ananya bhajana vigya, that undeviated desire to serve Krishna from their heart through their lips when we hear from them and we serve them that desire comes to us. And when that desire comes to us then our heart also becomes permeated with similar desires to serve Krishna and other desires get subordinated or silenced and that's how we become progressively purified on the spiritual path.

So let's have a look at this purport. So here we see the description the kanishtha, madhyama and then uttama. The kanishtha, what does kanishtha do? Worships only the deity and then behaves badly with devotees.

It's not that the intentionally badly with devotees but just doesn't realize the value of devotees. So therefore if there are any differences then there are conflicts. As I said the kanishtha is called the neophyte.

So neophyte means new fight, always keeps finding new reasons to fight with each other and then and hence I'm initiated trying to chant. So now when you say krishnaitya sigiritam this is not necessarily with the devotion it is just there is some starting of chanting is some starting chanting is there but it's not very committed, it's not very pure, it's not very focused, it's just a pliable faith, soft and unsteady. Now the term is kanishtha, madhyama and uttama.

They are used by different acharyas and not all the time when they use the word it's all of the time they mean the same thing. The word kanishtha at some other places used by bhaktan or thakur in his krishna samhita and there he uses madhyama and he uses it in a slightly different context over there. So kanishtha he says those who see only external things, madhyama he says those who are more intellectual and uttama are the transcendental devotees.

So he uses the terminology and if you look at the further implications of what he is describing there the madhyama term refers to something slightly different. It's more of people who are intellectually enlightened, they are not necessarily devoted also but they are discriminating. They go beyond appearance and they try to look at the substance.

So when he wrote that book krishna samhita he wanted to attract intellectual people who were repelled by the simplistic ritualism of vaishnavism and those people are thinking all these different people they have their different rituals and they will all get divided by that. So some people will worship kadurga, some people will worship vishnu, some people will worship ram, some people will worship shiva. So all these are external rituals.

So these external rituals create division. So you have to go beyond external rituals. So those people considered ritualism as divisive and external.

So they wanted to go deeper. So nominally sort of flatters them and he says yes there are people who see externals but then you are there are higher people who see substance and they are madhyamas. So indirectly the way he described he says you people are madhyamas, they are intellectual, you can see deeper.

But then he says actually there is a higher level also and that is the uttama and in an uttama level actually one goes beyond the material, the externals. One sees the substance but in that substance one sees variety and there is a transcendental reality that is perceived through samadhi to spiritual vision and the uttama is at that level and the scriptures actually guide us to that level if you follow the scriptural processes properly. So basically when he used the word madhyama to refer to intellectuals who were not even necessarily serious sadhakas, not even kanishtas in a sense, he was using that in a flattering sense to get them to recognize okay there is a higher level.

Don't dismiss the whole religious culture just because you see some superficiality. These rituals, they have their original spiritual foundations, prototypes on which they are based over here and those who understand those originals and based on that they practice, they are very advanced. So of course Krishna Samhita was a complex book and we are not going to go into analysis of that book here.

Our essential focus right now is on understanding the terms kanishta, madhyama and uttama. Now here in this particular section Rupa Goswami doesn't use the words kanishta, madhyama and uttama. He just generally describes the three levels of devotees.

From the Sanskrit we can make out he is talking about three different levels of devotees and after he described these three levels Prabhupada based on the other writings in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition including Rupa Goswami's own writings he gives this typology, nomenclature. Now the Bhagavatam uses these. We discussed this in Aishwarya Upanishad course.

The Bhagavatam gives, there are verses which talk about characteristics of advanced devotee, intermediate devotee and the new devotee, new spiritualist and there also the terms are not used. This is eshavai bhagavato uttama such as uttambhagavata, such as madhyama, such as prakritaha. So there the words are uttama, madhyama and prakritaha are there.

So prakritaha is materialistic like we use our prakrit sahajiyas. So prakritaha means prakriti is material nature. So prakrita is material.

So one who sees material things alone that person is kanishta. So the adhikari, the concept of adhikar is something which is extremely important. It's fundamental in Vedic thought and Vedic culture.

See adhikar means authority. So that is the Sanskrit meaning and adhikari is one who has authority, one who is in a sense authoritative. So kanishta adhikari means one whose authority is inferior.

Uttama adhikari means one whose authority is excellent, superior, excellent. So what determines one's authority? It's not birth. Some people who claim to follow the Vedic tradition they say that only brahmanas have the rights to practice spiritual life.

So no, brahmanas only have the right to study scriptures and they alone can teach scriptures. So Narasimha Prabhupada said yes, that's true brahmanas, but who are the brahmanas? It's not just a person who is born in the brahminical family, one who has acquired brahminical qualifications and somebody sincerely studies under the guidance of a spiritual master and even a person who doesn't have brahminical qualifications can also develop brahminical qualifications. So it's a progression which moves upwards and it's not a static from birth till death something which is forever fixed.

But the adhikar is determined by our level of consciousness, our frame of reference in life. Different people have different levels of consciousness, different frames of reference. The kanishta fails to see anything beyond matter and that inability to perceive higher reality is what makes the person a kanishta.

So it is not that kanishta is forbidden from certain things, it is simply that one's own consciousness makes certain things impossible for a person to see and that's why that person is told okay don't go in these directions right now and this is not necessarily any kind of discrimination. It's simply progression. Now a student who starts studying mathematics isn't right now in say third standard and the student takes up a book of quantum of say triple integral calculus.

Student cannot understand anything. What will the student be told? You don't study this right now, you can study this later. Is it discrimination? Why are you not allowing me to study this? You cannot study this.

Why? I have a right to study it. Yes, but at that level the student cannot understand. Somebody may actually in the early say years if you see the students have to study and when they have to study often they go to school, they pay fees, they purchase books and then they study.

Now if a person goes to PhD or postdoctoral research at that time the person is in a sense doing the same thing. He's taking books and studying. But there the dynamics are very different.

There actually when the person studies, the person is paid for studying. The person is provided the books, the person is provided the facility for studying and on top of that person is provided payment also for studying. So what is the difference? The child is doing the same activity and the postdoctoral research fellows are also doing the same activity.

But one has to pay, the other is paid. Why the difference? Because there is a progression and then the postdoctoral research fellows studies are going to lead to a beneficial output for society. Whereas this is just a beginning stage where the person is building up his own career, his or her own career.

So things are progressive. Similarly in the Vedic culture those who are more advanced they are given more facilities and that is because their productivity, they are more spiritually advanced, they are pleasing Krishna more and even from the world's point of view their productivity is much more. So it's not a discrimination, it's a progression and the important part of the progression is, in the Bhakti tradition at least, the progression is universally open for everyone.

It's not that for some people it's allowed, for some people it's not allowed. It's allowed for everyone. So when we say somebody is a Kanishta, that doesn't mean the person has to permanently be a Kanishta.

He can rise from Kanishta to Madhyama and to Uttama. That's a progression by which the person will rise. So that's how a person grows in spiritual life.

So now after that if you look at the Madhyama, so the Madhyama is having as we have discussed earlier four characteristics. Prema, Maitri, Krupo, Peksha, Eha, Karoti, Samadhyama. So now the Madhyama has Prema for Krishna, the object of love, Krupa for the innocent, Maitri for the devotees and Peksha for the atheists.

In this way the Madhyama understands that I have to interact differently with different people because they have different dispositions towards Krishna and how I interact with them is going to reflect my Krishna consciousness and it's going to affect my Krishna consciousness also. So it reflects and it affects. How do the two relate, reflect and affect? If I am Krishna conscious and if somebody's blasphemous of Krishna, if I don't feel any emotions by that then actually it reflects that my Krishna consciousness is not very deep.

If somebody's blaspheming Krishna I should feel the stress because if I love Krishna, if I love anyone and that person is criticized, my love means that I don't like their criticism. I feel pain by that and I would like to defend that my loved one against their criticism. So same applies to a devotee's relationship with Krishna.

The devotee doesn't want to hear criticism and when there's criticism of Krishna, blasphemy of Krishna or Krishna's devotees, the devotee wants to counter that. So we don't see that Hanuman when he heard Ravana minimizing Lord Ram, Hanuman didn't say I'll be calm, I'll be undisturbed, I'll be serene. No, he got angry and that anger is an expression of his devotion.

So the Madhyama in that sense has discrimination and by the discrimination the Madhyama understands this is the level I should practice, now this is the level I should practice and this is how I should deal with now. So if somebody's blaspheming then either tries to counter it or moves away from there. So like that Madhyama sees that my Krishna consciousness will be reflected through my behavior.

So when Krishna is blaspheming and I don't feel bad that means my Krishna consciousness is very superficial, it's not deep and not only does my behavior reflect my Krishna consciousness, my behavior with different kinds of people will also affect my Krishna consciousness. For example, if I meet a new person who is innocent and then if I try to share Krishna consciousness with that person, the desire to share Krishna consciousness with that person reflects my Krishna consciousness because everyone with the soul is also a part of Krishna but has become estranged from Krishna, now I have to help the soul go back to Krishna. So that sort of attitude, that sort of disposition, that sort of concern for connecting Krishna's lost children with Krishna that reflects my Krishna consciousness.

If that is not there then again my Krishna consciousness is superficial but along with reflecting my Krishna consciousness it also affects my Krishna consciousness. Affects means that it when I try to speak about Krishna that enlivens me. When people ask me questions and I think about the subject, I go deeper into the subject, my own understanding increases.

So my own understanding, my own realization, my own purification increases. So the Madhyama understand that Krishna consciousness is not just something that is in isolation done in the temple, that I go to the temple in front of the deity and I chant and I pray and I worship the deity, that alone is not my Krishna consciousness. My Krishna consciousness is reflected and affected by my behavior with different kinds of people and based on this understanding I behave appropriately so that my Krishna consciousness is protected and nourished.

So now Srila Prabhupada in his purport gives some interesting examples. He talks about firstly George Harrison. He doesn't mention George Harrison by name but he says that this famous musician and he chants Hare Krishna and he takes prasad, he invites devotees to his place, he likes devotees and he speaks about Krishna wherever he gets an opportunity.

So Prabhupada says that we don't hesitate to offer respect to such a person. So Prabhupada is saying that he is at least in the category of Krishna He is chanting Krishna's name and therefore we are we don't hesitate to offer him respects. So the point Srila Prabhupada is making is he is making this whole verse appreciable to the contemporary audience.

So he's saying that as sadhakas we should be able to respect anyone who chants the holy names. So now if we look at George Harrison's life, you know his devotion to Krishna was definitely there. He loved to chant Hare Krishna but he was not exactly a single-pointed devotee in the sense that he was not committed to Prabhupada alone.

He was connected with many other spiritual teachers also and several of them were impersonalists. So all of them combined to help him become attracted to Vedic culture and Prabhupada was well aware of his attractions to other spiritual teachers and when Prabhupada would meet him he would sometimes ask also. So Prabhupada without criticizing any other teachers would just present his message to them and by presenting his message to them of this message of chanting the holy names and serving Krishna he attracted those people.

He attracted George Harrison to him also. So now the point is that George Harrison may have had some other conceptions also of spirituality, not just the pure devotional conception but Prabhupada did not see that. What Prabhupada saw is chanting the holy names that means we should offer respects to each person.

So as sadhakas we should be able to see the good in others. So people generally speaking unless they come to Krishna's lotus feet properly their conceptions are likely to be messed up. So people may be chanting Krishna's name but that chanting of Krishna they may be mixed up with the chanting of some other demigod mantras, they may be uttering some mantras even to worship some semi-gods.

Semi-gods is semi-gods, I am God. So those people who claim that I am God and these people somehow don't know whether that's right or wrong and they just avoid any complication. They also chant the names of those self-made gods.

So at such times we can't label these people as mayavadis. So we offer respects in the mind at least to them. Of course we can offer obeisances also to them if that is practical for us but at least in the mind we have to offer respect and beyond that we also recognize that life itself is progressive.

So those who are kanishta can become madhyama later. Aishwarya Prabhupada also refers to those who are initiated but are not very serious practitioners as kanishta. So it is not that we are going to get a label when we meet people.

This person is a kanishta, this person is a madhyama, this person is uttama. We can't get like that nor can we put a label on saying I am madhyama, pranatevesh, chyapachantamesh, offer obeisances to me or not therapy or whatever, uttama, khandavat pranam and shuroh shaya, render menial service to me. No, things don't work like that.

Any typology, any nomenclature that is there based on what classification purpose is, to translate that into reality is always a complex issue. So the focus is not on precisely categorizing people in our mind and putting them into pigeon holes. This is a kanishta, this is a madhyama, this is uttama.

No, that is not our goal. This is for us to make spiritual advancement and in general we can make out that if somebody has been, speaks very deeply on the scriptures, has been practicing for many years, many decades and is devoted to Krishna, then accordingly we understand that person is definitely not a kanishta, person is a madhyama or uttama and we offer respects accordingly. So the important point is to recognize that there are different levels of devotees, not to pigeonhole devotees into certain categories.

Somebody is a madhyama but because I have a grudge against that person so I treat that person like a kanishta. No, these are objective criteria and we cannot subjectively decide that I don't like this person so I assign a lower category to him. In general, if somebody is new and chanting, we offer manasaadri jyota.

If somebody is initiated to worshiping the deity, they may not be able to practice right now premamaitri krupapaksha. They may not exactly be at that level although they are trying for discrimination among different kinds of people based on one's Krishna consciousness but even if they are not doing that, still by worshiping them, by sort of befriending them and by offering obeisances to them, one will make spiritual advancement. So, Bhaktivinoda Thakur has written elaborately about these various avikaris and he says that one of the characteristics of kanishta is that kanishta, even if that person becomes a worshiper of Krishna, that person becomes a sort of fanatical worshiper and offends the demigod.

People are worshipping demigods? Stupid! So now, there should not be any condemnation. There is a clear explanation of why demigod worship is for the less intelligent people and how more intelligent people should give it up. But beyond that, it is the decision of every individual.

So, Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains that even a bhakta should not disrespect the demigods. We do not worship the demigods as independent lords. We do not consider them supreme but that does not mean that we disrespect them.

We offer them the proper respect as representatives of Krishna as exalted devotees although we may not worship them specifically in altars. Now, going beyond, let's look at here at the bottom, how we discussed this about pre-maitrika Upaksha and Prabhupada writes that the person who is madhyama may have inconclusive knowledge of Shastra. As far as Shastra is concerned, one may not be able to conclusively explain.

This is the meaning. One may not be able to conclusively explain or establish. This is the meaning and not this.

But still, as far as one's internal conviction is concerned, one is undeterred and even if there are some logical arguments for which one does not know the answers, still one keeps practicing undeterred, confused person in any circumstances and then faithful and firm in chanting. This is the madhyama level. So, all of us at least try to situate ourselves in the madhyama level and move towards the uttama level.

So, what is the uttama level? So, uttama. Tama means darkness. Uttama means beyond darkness.

So, first and foremost is they are pure, free from anathas. And then Srila Prabhupada describes the characters of uttama in a very down-to-earth way. He doesn't talk about this in a way that will be too complex or too difficult for the disciples to understand, although those aspects of uttama-adhikari consciousness are also there.

So, he talks about a person who is seriously engaged in the Lord's service and expounds and spreads Krishna consciousness. This person is the guru and serves the guru and this person is offenseless. These are the characteristics of an uttama-adhikari Prabhupada says.

So, based on these characters, I think, oh, I might also be an uttama-adhikari. I am also seriously chanting Hare Krishna. I also think of preaching and sharing Krishna Maharishi with others.

And I have been initiated by a spiritual master. And I try to be respectful to others and avoid offenses. Therefore, am I an uttama-adhikari? No.

One of the basic principles of hermeneutics is to always consider the complete picture, not a fragmented picture. Hermeneutics refers to the art of understanding scripture. You can call it also as interpretation, but essentially it's not interpretation, it's understanding.

The art of understanding scripture. Why is it an art? Because actually, people can simply assemble quotes that they want to support their ideas. I have one quote, another person has another quote, and then we have quotes wars.

There are cold war and there are quote wars. So, cold war is when there is no physical shooting happening so much, but still, people were always killing each other, the United States and USSR at that time during the cold war period. So, quote war means I say this, this is the quote.

Prabhupada said this and somebody said, no, Prabhupada said that. And both sides show their quotes and based on that they have a war. This is what should be done, this is what should not be done.

So, this kind of quote war is not the characteristic of a, definitely not the characteristic of uttama-adhikari. The quotes are there, the quotes are important, but the quotes also have a context. Unless we understand the context, we will not get the complete picture.

So, the uttama-adhikari is also described in the Bhagavad Gita in the same way as Sindhu. And there are very advanced characteristics of the uttama-adhikari also described. So, we all have to aspire towards more and more advancement.

So, here Shrila Prabhupada is giving us characteristics which definitely uttama-adhikari has, but these are not the only characteristics that uttama-adhikari has. Uttama-adhikari has multiple characteristics among which these also are there. And Prabhupada described, what are the characteristics of uttama? Person is uncritical even if a pure devotee criticizes.

That means, it is not that just because you are in devotee association, there will be no criticism happening. Sometimes, even in devotee association, there might be serious criticism. So, then what does the person do? Person tolerates it.

And then person may of course clarify at certain times, but the whole idea is that one does not love criticizing others. Shrila Prabhupada, even when he would use strong epithets like fools and rascals, his intention was not to criticize. It was not that Prabhupada loved criticism.

Prabhupada wanted to enlighten people. Now, for example, this is something very striking. Shrila Prabhupada sometimes would call a person very strongly, would say that person was a rascal.

But, if Prabhupada would meet that person, Prabhupada was very respectful and polite. He would not say that to that person, you are a rascal. Why is that? Because Prabhupada knew what was required to get home towards Krishna.

So, for a person who is completely lost in materialism, to jolt people out of their stupor about what that person is, that person is a rascal. So, for example, some person is the Prime Minister of India and Prabhupada says, that's a rascal. How could you call the Prime Minister a rascal? So, Prabhupada is not just seeing from material vision.

Prabhupada is seeing from spiritual vision and is training us to see from spiritual vision. In the material vision, that person might be a big politician, he might even be the Prime Minister of the country, but that person has no attraction towards God and the person is just living basically like an animal. So, there's nothing glorious about the way the person is living.

That's why we jolt, use the word, rascal. But quite often, when Srila Prabhupada would meet such a person, he was very polite and respectful and cordial and gentlemanly. Why is that? Because Srila Prabhupada was instructing us for many reasons.

But what we know is that Srila Prabhupada gives instructions about how to carry on Krishna consciousness. And the whole point is, those who can understand spiritual vision, for them spiritual vision could be given. Those who cannot understand spiritual vision, for them material vision has to be given.

But material vision, that is sattvic, that is elevating, that is gradually purifying. So, Srila Prabhupada knew how to speak with whom and somebody who is completely Godless, just by speaking strongly to that person after an initial phase of putting the grieving person to calmness, then by that one is able to elevate the person further. That means that if a person is in material consciousness, then suddenly we cannot bring that person to spiritual consciousness.

So, within material consciousness, we can appreciate, we can exhibit sattvic qualities and attract that person to sattvaguni points. So, when Prabhupada meets a big politician, he may speak very strongly about politicians and even that politician also. But when Prabhupada meets that politician, he speaks cordially, respectfully.

Why? Because through that, when he is speaking strongly to his disciples, he is dissipating the ever-present glamour about the material world that is there in minds of all conditioned souls. He says, what are you so excited about? This is all trivial, it is all temporary. Do not get so excited about it.

But then after saying that, if that person, if Prabhupada is meeting that person, what is Prabhupada's focus on? It is on elevating that person. So, that person cannot at this stage understand the whole concept of rascal or anything like that. That person is encouraged to understand the basics of Krishna consciousness.

By understanding these basics, you can make spiritual advancement. So, in this way, the Acharya speaks according to time, place, circumstance, according to what is best for a person at a particular time. And in this way, by understanding this, one can actually move forward in one's spiritual life.

That I understand how I am to practice, how others are to practice. So, such a bhajan vigyananya nanya, without false ego or envy, and then hate the deceased, not the deceased. This is an important point that the pure devotee, it is not that pure devotion means we whitewash everything.

A doctor wants everyone to be healthy. Of course, today doctors may not want because they will run out of business if everybody becomes healthy. But ideally speaking, according to the vow of Hippocrates, which doctors are supposed to take as part of their profession, they want, they are supposed to facilitate and assist in the prevention of disease and the recovery of health of all their patients, irrespective of caste, creed, nationality or anything like that.

So, that's the vow they take, that we will offer care to everyone. Now, the doctor certainly has a caring attitude towards everyone, but that doesn't mean the doctor starts whitewashing everyone, mentally saying that everybody is right now healthy. No, different people will be at different levels of sickness and the doctor has to understand that this person will need this treatment to come from here to here, this person will need this treatment to come from here to here.

There are different people at different levels of consciousness and accordingly they have to be provided spirituality in a way that is accessible to them. So, understanding this, the Acharya can set up various systems by which Krishna reaches people. Those who are new, such a process may appear to be very simple, very primitive.

Now is the age of technology, of Google and Wikipedia and Mac and what are you doing? Chanting, dancing, singing. Can't you do anything more advanced? Actually, chanting, dancing, singing is the most advanced activity that we can do. It is, as Prabhupada said earlier, it is the life and soul of the living entity.

We are all meant to serve Krishna wholeheartedly and a person understands that this is what my life is. To serve Krishna and to help others serve Krishna. So, we want to go out of the hospital, not for our own selfish enjoyment or our selfish freedom from misery.

We want to go out of the hospital of material existence so that we can serve Krishna more purely and fully. Right now, because of our mind and senses, our service remains impure and our service remains incomplete. We are not able to serve Krishna as much as we want and certainly not with as much purity as we would like.

So, we want to go out of the material world, not so that we can enjoy with Krishna. Yes, the enjoyment will be a by-product, but we are going out of the material world. We aim to go out of the material world.

We aim to go closer to Krishna because we understand that by Krishna's presence our heart will become purified and then when our heart is purified, then we can invoke Krishna's presence and then we can become attracted to Krishna. So, there is a progression. So, the pure devotee doesn't whitewash everyone as a devotee.

At the highest stages of Uttama, one doesn't see the bodily coupling. One sees only the soul. So, it's like a progression.

The Kanishtha sees only the body but not the soul. The Madhyama sees the body and the soul and tries to shift the focus from the body to the soul. And the Uttama sees everything but doesn't see that, actually speaking, it is beyond material things to spiritual things.

And that's why at the spiritual level, every soul is a potential devotee of Krishna. That's why the Uttama is completely free from the desire for the name flame glory. So, that freedom is remarkable for a person who is so advanced.

So, by this understanding, one can understand, we can know who is actually a Vajanavikyamananyamanya and how we should serve such a person. There are standards that are described. Now, after describing these standards, Vigyamananyamanya, Nidari, Shunyarudam.

So, we have discussed the characteristic of such a person being Nidashunya. Such a person doesn't want to criticize anyone. But how do we understand the point about such a person having various levels of reciprocation? Levels of reciprocation means such a person is receiving service from others.

Now, receiving service can be quite detrimental to our spiritual life. If we think, oh, I am so advanced that people can take service, people can render service to me, it's not a very pleasing attitude for a humble devotee. Or it may be pleasing for our ego, but it is not very healthy for our devotion.

But at the same time, if you are able to understand that actually Krishna is manifesting through me, so let me do what I can to attract people towards Krishna. So, if doing some service for me is the way they can render service to Krishna and become attracted to Krishna, and if they are not going to render similar service to anyone else, they render to me because they feel inspired by what I am doing. Then at that time, such a devotee can accept service from others.

But from our side, we should not think that, we are all meant to be servants, why is this person taking service from everyone? No, the point is that actually the person, by taking service, is giving us an opportunity for service. He doesn't necessarily need service from us, but by taking service, we are being given the opportunity to render service. And now Prabhupada in the purport goes further and he talks about security.

You can see over here now, this process of anninda dishvinyartha. The person is seriously engaged in the Lord's service. So, now then the person expounds, spreads Krishna consciousness.

The person is offenseless. Actually, these are the characteristics of uttamaadhikari. So, Prabhaktivinoda Thakur, Prabhupada Kaur, Prabhaktivinoda Thakur also over here.

A Vaishnava is known by how many other Vaishnavas a person makes, converts, disinterest to material enjoyment, strictly following the regular principles, self-realized. And why does the person is not critical? Because the person feels that actually I have committed so many sins in the past. Because I have committed so many sins in the past, so I deserve criticism.

Even if I have not committed anything wrong to deserve this specific criticism, in general, I have committed so many wrongs because of which I deserve criticism. And therefore, the person feels regret. Oh, what all I have done in the past? Krishna, please forgive me.

And the person tries to protect new people's faith by not unnecessarily quoting controversies. So, in general, when we see faults in others or others see fault in us, it's important that we don't broadcast it in public. Now, in most traditional societies and even in even sensitive to the modern societies, the parents are there and parents have a difference of opinion.

It's quite possible the parents will become angry with each other. Mother and father want to fight with each other. But generally, the mother and father won't fight in front of the children.

Because for the children to see their parents shout at each other, screaming at each other, throwing things at each other, throwing punches at each other, that can be traumatic. It can be devastating also. So, even if the parents have some difference of opinion, they will go in a private room, close the door and they'll talk whatever they want.

So like that, actually, when there are differences of opinion between devotees, it's best if they are not aired in public. Actually, those senior devotees meet and talk things through privately because it can be especially for young devotees who are growing in their spiritual life, for them to see criticism going on between devotees that can be very very devotionally damaging to their faith, to their inspiration to serve, their inspiration to advance in devotional life. Now, it's definitely true that there will be disagreements, there will be differences of opinion, because different people have different inclinations.

Even different devotees have different inclinations. And different devotees may have different priorities. So advanced devotee understands that different devotees can have different definitions of success in Krishna Consciousness.

It means I have a particular definition, others have another definition of success. Now, of course, all these definitions of success have to be within the purview of what Srila Prabhupada has given us. But still there can be variations.

Somebody can have a definition of success as to distribute as many books as possible. It's very important to distribute books. Srila Prabhupada wanted it and he had a lot of mercy by distribution of books.

At the same time, there are other services. Somebody feels that, oh, I want to build a lot of temples or I want to worship the Deity very opulently. And of course, his life may be just that, opulently worship the Deity and building gorgeous temples.

And we're talking about advanced devotees over here, serious devotees. Somebody else may feel, oh, actually, Srila Prabhupada went to Brahminical culture to study scripture and go deep into scripture, understand the scripture and then systematically educate others. That is where, that is my definition of success.

So now, like that, some people may feel that, oh, we have to build Varanashram. And Srila Prabhupada felt that 50% of my mission is completing Varanashram project. Somebody says, oh, we have to educate the next generation.

We have to make sure that the next generation that is born, they become devotees. So we have schools for them. We have special retreats for them.

And some others may say, actually, those who are inside, they cannot be changed. We have to get new blood. So they say, we have to just, we have to do college preaching.

And by college preaching, we attract young people. And when there's young people with leadership potential come to our movement, then our movement will flourish afterwards. Many, many more people will come to Krishnaswami.

Now, these various definitions of success are all valid. And they don't have to be competitive. They certainly don't have to be exclusive.

Nobody has to say that this alone is what Srila Prabhupada wanted to do. This is the definition of success and everybody has to abide by it. No.

There are different, there are many aspects to Srila Prabhupada's vision and mission. And we as sadhakas, and even as advanced devotees, we select one aspect of Srila Prabhupada's mission and try to advance in that. Try to make spiritual advancement ourselves and try to have an effective outreach in that field.

So for example, Srila Prabhupada said that we make spiritual advancement by refuting atheism. And he specifically quoted atheistic theories, like the evolution theory. So now does that mean that, and he said that the more we refute atheism, the more we'll make spiritual advancement.

Now does that mean that every devotee in ISKCON should study science and should study atheistic theories and scientifically refute atheistic theories so that they can make spiritual advancement? No, that's not necessary. If those devotees were scientific inclinations, they may feel, oh, but if I study science, where is material? I should study about Krishna. This is your service.

What are we doing? We want to glorify Krishna. So one glorification of Krishna is direct glorification. Krishna is so wonderful, Krishna is so good, Krishna is so attractive.

Another is actually to remove the misconceptions that obstruct people from understanding Krishna's glories. And one of the greatest misconceptions is we are saying Krishna is so beautiful that we should surrender our life to him. And here people are saying that Krishna doesn't exist only.

So atheism in that sense is quite a heavy criticism. So those devotees, it's a heavy criticism of God, and those devotees who have the inclinations, they should be able to use those energies, those inclinations, their intelligence for establishing the glory of God and for refuting all misconceptions. Now this doesn't mean that everybody has to do it, nor does it mean that those who do it think that it's just material, it's not spiritual.

So this is a definition of success, which is important for Srila Prabhupada, this is important for the intellectual respectability and the intellectual faith of devotees. But it is not that devotees alone have to, all devotees have to do it. Different devotees, some devotees will choose to adopt this as their definition of success.

Most may not, most may just be practicing the process of Krishna Consciousness and doing other services. It's just as we understand it with respect to a specific field like science, it also applies to other fields. So different devotees may have different definitions of success and accordingly they practice spiritual life.

So when the devotee, advanced devotee understands, okay, this is a person serving this way, this is a person serving this way, this is the way Krishna has inspired. Now if somebody starts compromising on the regulative principles, that's a different issue. That has to be dealt with.

But even that doesn't have to be dealt with by publicly criticizing anyone. Actually, that can be done, that one does it by actually carefully meeting with that devotee who we feel has gone wrong and clarifying, asking questions, getting clarifications and then presenting our perspective and then making sure that a harmonious reconciliation comes about. So actually Prabhupada explains that when you talk about initiation, now the devotee, advanced devotee should be a uttamaadhikari.

But along with that, there can also be the kanishta, madhyamadhikari also can initiate. And beyond that, it's not that an advanced, only the topmost devotees can initiate. The way Prabhupada presented Krishna Consciousness is that anybody can initiate as long as the person is strictly following Krishna Consciousness and is approved by the general leaders of the devotee community.

So now it's not necessary that a person has to be a pure devotee having reached a point of purity beyond return, having gained and given assurance that I will never fall and as the person starts taking his disciples. No, that's not what Sri Prabhupada told us. Prabhupada told us that those who are qualified in terms of their commitment, steady commitment to the practice of Krishna Consciousness, they can initiate.

So certainly our spiritual master has practiced spiritual life for many years and is more advanced than us. And it's not that when we are practicing spiritual life, we alone are advancing. Spiritual master is also going closer and closer towards Krishna.

So the spiritual master is practicing the process sincerely, we are practicing the process sincerely. The spiritual master will always have covered more terrain than us and will be able to guide us. So actually Prabhupada says that if one is not initiated by uttamaadhikari, then one can be initiated by a lower devotee also, but one's advancement will be limited to the extent that one's spiritual master is advanced.

That's true, but at the same time we shouldn't think that the spiritual master is always going to be at one particular place. Spiritual master is also advancing. As the spiritual master is advancing, through his guidance we can also advance.

So that way initially Prabhupada says that we should practice spiritual life in a diligent way. So he says that the test of a Vaishnava is, what is the test of a Vaishnava? How many other Vaishnavas he has made? So eventually Prabhupada came to India with his disciples. At that time some of his godbrothers couldn't digest this, Prabhupada's godbrothers, because during Bhakti Samaj Thakur's time Prabhupada was just on the periphery of the Gaudiya Math.

He was just one grahastha who would occasionally come and meet Bhakti Samaj Thakur and attend some programs. And they had been the leaders of the movement at that time under Bhakti Samaj Thakur. But now Prabhupada started to scorn.

At that time they were sidelined. Krishna Mahaprabhu's prophecy was being fulfilled. People from all over the world were becoming devotees, but still they did not have much roles to play in it.

So they just couldn't stomach it. And often they would try to find out some faults. Why did Prabhupada not do this? Why did Prabhupada? They would not even use the name Prabhupada.

So they objected sometimes saying, why Prabhupada? Why are you using? Some of his godbrothers came to him and said, why are you using the title of that Bhakti Samaj Thakur head? Why are you usurping his title? So Prabhupada became very grave. He told his disciples to leave the room. So this is a significant, you know, there are conflicts between senior devotees.

It's not that they have to be played out in public. Prabhupada told them, leave the room. And Prabhupada told his servant, you get my letterhead.

And when they got letterhead on that letterhead, they saw that it was even Tridandi Goswami, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. Prabhupada said, there is no Prabhupada over here. Prabhupada said, I have never accepted this title.

Actually, the disciples wanted to glorify me. And how it historically happened was Prabhupada suggested, the devotees used to call Prabhupada Swami. Because at that time, that was the name they had for any Indian teachers.

And Prabhupada said, the Swami is not a very advanced name. It's like a, Swami, come here. It's a common epithet also people use.

You need to call an ordinary person also. Prabhupada said, this is not a respectful address for a spiritual master. They asked, what should a spiritual master be called? So Prabhupada said, you could call Vishnupada.

You could call Prabhupada. You could call Bhagavathpada. Like that Prabhupada mentioned three, four names.

So the devotees who was here, they said, can I call you Prabhupada? Prabhupada said, yes, you can call me. And then the Bhagavad Gita was published in an article and got formalized. And then they started calling Prabhupada as Prabhupada.

But Prabhupada never referred to himself as Prabhupada in his own letterhead. He was saying, Bhaktivedant Swami. So then his Godbrothers became pacified.

But then some other Godbrothers, they said, he came to, he came to Mayapur, but why did he not come to the Yogpeeth? Why did he not come to the place which Yadana Mahaprabhu appeared? So, and what was happening was, they were speaking all these criticisms to Prabhupada disciples or to local people and through the local people, Prabhupada disciples were hearing and Prabhupada disciples were hearing, Prabhupada was hearing from them. Prabhupada said that, when he heard this, he said, no, where Lord Yadana Mahaprabhu appeared is not as important as why Lord Yadana Mahaprabhu appeared. Yadana Mahaprabhu appeared to share Krishna Consciousness with the world and I am doing that.

Then he said that, when he heard repeated criticisms, he said that, you know, you go and ask those who are criticizing me. It was many of his Godbrothers only. He said that, actually, ask them, who has opened more temples than me? Who has written more books than me? Ask them, who has made more devotees than me? Now, it is true that Prabhupada had done this more than anyone else.

But we may say, why is Prabhupada bragging over here? What is he saying? I have opened more temples than anyone else. But then Prabhupada became grave and Prabhupada said, I have inherited the legacy of my spiritual master. I have inherited the legacy of my spiritual master.

So, what is the legacy of spiritual master? It is not a material legacy. When the property of Gaudiya Mata was there, phenomenal property, after Upayananda Raghava departed, there were severe property disputes. So, in that property, he did not get any property.

So, what is the legacy that actually Prabhupada was referring to? He said, the true legacy that the spiritual master gives to the disciple is the desire to serve Krishna, especially the desire to glorify Krishna. Because through glorifying Krishna, to serve any service that we do, that is good for ourselves. But when we glorify Krishna, others also become attracted to Krishna by hearing that glorification.

So, Prabhupada was saying that Bhaktivedanta Raghava had such an intense, vibrant desire that let Krishna consciousness spread far and wide all over the world. And then he said, he gave me that instruction and I took that instruction. So, that desire which he had, I took that desire as my life's mission and through that the books have come out, through that the temples have come out, through that the devotees have come out.

So, what he is saying is, I have inherited the legacy of my spiritual master. This was not pride, this was humility, but Prabhupada was also stating facts. So, Prabhupada, whenever there was any function, if his godbrothers were there, he would always ensure that if he was sitting on a particular asana at a particular level, they would also be sitting on an asana at the same level.

He was very respectful. Never violate a Vaishnavite's etiquette with his godbrothers. So, in the Vishwanya rhythm, Prabhupada did not want to criticize anyone.

Even when they criticized, he tried to protect his disciples' faith and give clarification. But in some cases, Prabhupada had to protect his disciples' faith and he spoke a little strongly also. There were some godbrothers who said that he is not teaching this properly, he is not teaching this properly, he should be doing like this, he should be doing like this.

And they were all technicalities, there were some small, small differences. And Prabhupada realized his disciples are new and they will get confused by these sort of things. Then when they started, some of his godbrothers started almost like polluting or even poisoning his disciples against him.

Prabhupada told his disciples, don't associate with them. So, this was not out of disrespect for them, but it was just to protest against his disciples. He said that they are envious of me, don't associate with them.

Now, how can advanced devotees be envious? But Prabhupada was simply saying this to protect them. And they were unfortunately having some extent that emotion. Partially, Prabhupada still respected the service that they had done.

And that's why when one of his servants, a devotee who had strongly criticized Prabhupada and whom Prabhupada also criticized, that person passed away. So, some devotees say, Prabhupada, where did he go? Devotees think if Prabhupada will say yes, he criticized pure devotee like me, he will go to hell. Prabhupada did not say that.

Prabhupada said he went back to spiritual world. He said my spiritual master was very powerful, my spiritual master is very powerful and he did a lot of service to my spiritual master. Spiritual master took him back.

So, the point is that sometimes you may see pure devotees criticizing also, but actually in their heart there is no more desire to criticize anyone. Actually, they have respect, but for the sake of preaching, for the sake of clarifying misconceptions, for the sake of preventing misunderstandings from accumulating, they have to speak the truth. Sometimes the truth may take the form of very strong speech, but that is not to condemn, that is to educate.

And Narsila Prabhupada in his final days, when he got to the scheme there, he said, you know, I may have spoken some harsh words, please forgive me. In the course of preaching one has to speak very hard sometimes, so please forgive me if I offended you. And Prabhupada said at that time, I am Mahapatit.

So, in the Gaudiya Mata Vishnavas, who was there at that time, he said, no, Swamiji, you have never committed offenses. You have actually glorified Krishna in a way which nobody else could have done. And he said, you are not Mahapatit, you are Mahapatipavan.

You have purified so many people. So, in this way, we actually understand that Krishna is acting in the reciprocation of advanced devotees. And in their hearts, Krishna is alive, Krishna is reciprocating.

So, we don't get, even if there are some conflicts, we don't hype up those conflicts. We recognize that there is some plan of Krishna. These are advanced devotees, what they are doing, we don't know.

So, in general, a pure devotee doesn't want to criticize anyone. And by serving such devotees, our heart becomes purified. We make rapid spiritual advancement.

And we return back to Krishna. The classic example is Narada Muni. He is the main servant's son.

But because he served the Mahabhagavats for the four months of Chaturmasya, he developed immense attraction for Krishna. And eventually, he attained Krishna. So, this is the characteristic of the Uttamadhikari.

Thank you very much. Shri Upanishad Amrit Ki Jai.