Cultivating non-judgmental attitude 2

Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Brisbane

Hare Krishna Today morning we are discussing Shravan Bhagavatam, chapter 28 entitled the Jnana Yoga, in the 11th Canto this is a section of the Uddhava Gita, the last few chapters of the Uddhava Gita wherein Krishna is instructing Uddhava and he is specifically in this verse saying that if one criticises or praises others then asatya abhinivesha that one gets absorbed, obsessed and consumed by material ignorance therefore one should not criticise or praise.

That is the essential message that Krishna is giving here to Uddhava. So yesterday I mentioned that I'm taking this three verses in a sequence on cultivating non-judgemental mentality. So yesterday I spoke up morning I spoke about how we have our own ideas depending on different cultures different backgrounds different natures and this is good this is bad and when we superimpose it on others we become judgemental and even in the sharing of Krishna consciousness we may alienate others by our judgmentality so we continue that same theme here that criticism and praise what do they reflect essentially.

In the Bhagavad Gita second chapter Arjuna asked Krishna what are the symptoms of a person who is enlightened Sita pragya-se ka-bhasha samadhi-stasya-keshava-cid-dhikim-prabhasheta-kimasi-tavracheta-kim So he asks in 2.54 that ka-bhasha for one who is self-realised one who is enlightened what is the bhasha. So now the word bhasha literally means language but essentially in this context means that bhasha language that which we that with which we do bhasha that with which we describe things that is language. So Krishna is saying what are the symptoms of a person who is enlightened samadhi-stasya-keshava-cit-dhikim-prabhasheta and how does such a person speak so what is his language how does he speak.

Arjuna is not asking here you know does he speak Arabic or Sanskrit or Swahili or French no he's asking symptoms, the first bhasha means symptoms not literal language and second kim prabhasheta, how does he speak? Now Arjuna is also not asking here how does he speak means is he fluent or is English a second language or third language or whatever he's not asking such things. kim asita vrajeta kim, how does he sit, how does he walk? Arjuna is obviously not asking whether he is qualified for walking on a fashion ramp. He is asking how he walks.

So we cannot always take everything in scripture literally. What Arjuna is asking, kim asita vrajeta kim how does he sit, how does he walk? What that means is that how does he control one's senses and how does he engage one's senses. So there he asks kim prabhasheta one of the questions is how does he speak? So how does he speak means that when the world acts in various ways sometimes giving pleasure sometimes giving pain at that time how does this person respond and there also in 2.55 first Krishna tells bhasheta what is the nature of such a person and in 2.56 then he tells what is his prabhasheta.

So what is his bhasha in 2.55 he says that prajahati yada kamaan sarvaan partha manogataan atmanyeva atmana tushtaha sita pragyas tada uchyate. So he says the enlightened person has two defining characteristics one is person turns away from outer pleasures prajahati turns away from outer pleasures gives them away sarvaan partha manogataan understanding that they are just products of the mind that oh because of the mind's conceptions I think this is nice and this is not so nice. So such things person puts aside and what does the person do? Atmanyeva atmana tushtaha.

The person is satisfied in within. Atmanyeva atmana. So the mind is turned inwards the atma here can mean mind as well as soul.

So the mind turns inwards and is satisfied in the soul. This is the characteristic giving up outer pleasures and seeking happiness within. Then he answers this 2.55. In 2.56 he answers the next question okay how is kim prabhasheta? How does he speak? And there he says Dukheshvanadvigna manasukheshu vighatas pruhavita ragabhaya krodha tithadhir munir uchyate yaha sarvatra nabhisneha tattat prapya shubhashubham nabhinandatina dveshti tasya prajna pratishthah.

So in 56 and 57 he says internally he does not delight when something good happens and he doesn't lament when something bad happens and then externally he does not praise when something good happens and he does not curse when something bad happens. So Vishwanath Chakravarthy in his Sarartha Vakshini commentary on the Bhagavad Gita explains what this implies. So he says how this can apply to renunciate first of all.

If somebody is a sanyasi and traditional sanyasis will go out asking for alms. So if a sanyasi goes up to somebody's house and asks for alms and that person gives very delicious food and then the sanyasi becomes very pleased and says may God bless you profusely. And the sanyasi goes to somebody else's house and that person gives only very raw food or doesn't give any food.

He says may you be cursed to go to hell. So he says if a sanyasi does like this then that indicates that he is far from sthita prajna. So in this world we will all get sometimes good sometimes bad and how we respond to the good and bad there will be some natural response.

Something wrong goes, something wrong happens we will feel irritated. But there are the feelings that come and there are the feelings that we choose. There is an instinctive reaction that naturally comes within us.

But whether we let that instinctive reaction become our express reaction, whether we let that instinctive reaction become our visible reaction for others and whether we continue that reaction that's what we have to see. Now suppose there is some person you know who has say because of some accident some terrible burn on the face or maybe some mark of leprosy or something like that. Now when we see it we will be a little shocked at that time.

But a cultured person will not show that shock. They will restrain that and will act normally with the person. So like that we may have certain instinctive emotions.

But culture means that we subordinate our instinctive emotions to what is the right proper behaviour. And this is what a self-realised person does. But in different cultures different people may have different conceptions of what is right behaviour.

But a spiritually advanced sage sees from the perspective of self-realisation. Sees from the perspective of what is anukul for one's spiritual growth and based on that such a person responds. So the praise and criticism at the material level come from our considering certain things as desirable and certain things as undesirable.

Now for example the difference between say person who is spiritual neophyte and a person who is spiritually seasoned, spiritually advanced is not in that certain emotions or certain desires don't come in them at all. It is how they respond to those desires. That means say there is a new firefighter and the new firefighter just learned a little bit about how to use the hose, how to shoot the water and the first time there is an emergency and the firefighter goes to the place where there is fire and when he goes there there is such a huge fire burning everything.

He tries to pick up the hose and he just panics. The hose falls off. What to do? He is overwhelmed by panic.

Now if it is a giant fire that might trigger alarm or a little fear even in a seasoned firefighter. But in the seasoned firefighter because of the training and the reflexes the panic reaction is immediately curbed and the trained reflexes spring into action. So even the seasoned firefighter will be horrified.

At that time that initial horror might be there but immediately okay let's take this hose, let's attack from here, let's attack the fire from here. You go that side, you go that side. Immediately they will spring into action.

So that way the difference between the seasoned firefighter and the new firefighter is not that they are not afraid of fire. Both are afraid of fire and fire can cause panic. But their training kicks in and therefore they do not panic.

So fear is itself not a problem. What comes after fear is a problem. Fear is initial reaction and fear is often a healthy reaction.

Sometimes if a child goes near a terrace and starts peering down the terrace the child doesn't know what is going to happen to me if I fall down. A child is fearless and that fearlessness of the child makes the parents fearful. So fear is a healthy reaction.

But what comes after fear? That is important. If we give in to the fear and there is utopia, utopia means we fantasise a very bright positive reality in the future. The opposite of utopia is dystopia.

Dystopia means we imagine all kinds of terrible things happening in future. And that is undesirable. So the point I am making is that there is an instinctive emotional reaction that might come and then there is a chosen emotional and physical reaction that we adopt.

And both social culture as well as spiritual advancement means that our instinctive emotional reaction doesn't become our chosen action, our chosen response. We are able to choose what is right, not just what feeling comes to us. And so similarly when we are dealing with others, we cannot avoid at a mental level passing comments.

Our mind is very expert in that. As soon as we see a person, it's a lazy person. Or this egoistic person, irresponsible person.

Our mind passes comments about everyone. But we shouldn't entertain those comments. We have to change.

In the Rig Veda there is a saying that let good thoughts come to you from all sides. Let good thoughts come to you from all sides. Now all sides, it's not that the walls are going to give us good thoughts.

Usually there are people around us. And when we look at people, if we try to see their good and remember whatever good is there, then we can avoid the critical judgemental attitude which by default our mind comes up with. So sometimes finding faults with others is seen in some social circles as a sign of cleverness.

The more sarcastic, the more biting, the more stinging a comment that somebody can pass about others, oh, you're so clever. So, shato nishkriti ko lasaha, one of the characteristics of intelligence in the mode of ignorance, Krishna says, is that one considers expertise means expertise in insulting others. So that's what people consider as expertise.

That is a very distorted understanding. Now, judgmentality, when it comes, we often have certain perceptions about others and based on those perceptions, whatever we see, we try to reinforce that, we try to reinterpret that so as to reinforce the perception. So, psychologists call this phenomena as the attribution error.

Attribution error means that we see certain behaviour among certain people and then we attribute a cause to that behaviour. And what cause we attribute to someone's behaviour. So, for example, say in a class, a child is restless.

If you don't like the parent of the child, you may say the parents are responsible. If you like the parent of the child, you say the child is restless. Same thing, we may attribute to different things.

So, if we don't like someone and we see that person eating a lot, we say, oh, he's a glutton. If we like someone and we see them eating a lot, he must be very hungry. So, actually, it is just a matter of how we attribute.

And of course, we are most charitable when it comes to self-attribution. Now, if we see somebody sleeping for a long time, such a lazy person. If we ourselves sleep for a long time, I was tired.

This is how we basically, there is action that we observe and there is intention that we ascribe to that action. And the gap between the action and the intention, the observed action and the ascribed intention, that is filled based on what is our opinion of those people. So, quite often, this opinion may often be subconscious.

We may not even consciously know, this is what I think about this person. But time and time again, if we introspect, we'll observe, you know, we tend to have some negative gut reaction with some people and some connecting vibes with some other people. So, why is that? Sometimes some people say that, with some people, you know, my wavelength doesn't match.

With these people, my wavelength doesn't match at all. Yes, it's possible. Different people are of different natures.

And it's possible that with some people, it may be more difficult for us to get along. But humility means that we change our wavelength so that it matches with others. Humility doesn't just mean I am fallen, I am good for nothing, pray for me.

All that is fine. But humility is seen in conduct. शिगालिताई भिक्वानकी जाने So, when we strive for humility, that means that we understand that I am a servant.

I'm a servant of Krishna and service to Krishna. I want to interact with this person in a way that can help them also come closer to Krishna. So, in that case, I need to adjust myself so that I'm understandable to them.

Now, how much we can adjust our wavelength, that will vary depending on our nature, others' nature. But that is basically human sensitivity by which we adjust ourselves so that we can present appropriately to others. So, when we judge others, that means at that time we put ourselves in a superior position.

This is like this. We are putting ourselves in a position of superiority and looking down at others. And this is wrong from a devotional point of view.

From a moral point of view, we may say that I am living a more pure life and this person is doing so many wrong activities. Therefore, I am higher. We may think like that from a moral perspective.

But the devotional perspective is actually not based on just claiming moral superiority. The devotional perspective is based on considering what is best for my service to Krishna. We have great Vaishnavacharyas.

Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami in the Chaitanya Charita Amrut says that I am lower than Jagai and Madai. He says I am more fallen than a worm in stool. You wonder how is this possible? Why is he speaking something like this? This is objectively not true.

Jagai and Madai were very fallen. So, why does he say something like this? Actually, the more we become conscious of Krishna, the more we become conscious of Krishna's greatness, the more we become aware of Krishna's sweetness, the more we appreciate how much Krishna loves us. The more we start living in the light of Krishna, the more we start seeing that whatever good I have, whatever good I am doing, it is all insignificant as compared to how great Krishna is.

So, when we are seeing things in the light of Krishna, then whatever we may be doing, it becomes insignificant. Krishna has been with me lifetime after lifetime. For so many lifetimes, I forgot him, I neglected him.

I chased after worldly objects and yet Krishna was there all the time with me. He never gave up on me. So, Gajendra in the 8th canto in his prayers says that, My dear Lord, in your love for us, you never get tired.

You never give up. You are always there for us. So, when we understand how great Krishna is, how greatly he loves us, then whatever we may be doing in comparison, we understand it is insignificant.

So, for example, if we are on the earth, on the earth I am staying in a 10-storey building and somebody else is staying in a 1-storey building. Then I may be in the 10-storey building and I say, My house is so big. Your house is so small.

But if I am high up in the plane, from the plane, the difference between a 10-storey building and a 1-storey building, there is no difference at all. So, if I am on the ground, being on the ground is more or less like being in bodily consciousness, being in material consciousness. So, when I am in material consciousness, then I may think, Yes, I am materially higher than you.

I am more moral than you. I am wealthier than you. I look better than you.

I earn more than you. Whatever. So, we may think of these differences very significant.

But when we are high up in the sky, that means if we are in spiritual consciousness, we are living in the light of Krishna's love for us, then material differences, they don't matter so much. And that's why we don't praise something which is materially very good and we don't criticise something which is materially very bad. And the judgemental attitude, the critical attitude can be avoided when we are absorbed in Krishna.

And that absorption in Krishna enables us to stay spiritual in all situations. Now this is, so when Krishna's Kaviraj Goswami is saying that I am more fallen than Jagai and Madai, so what does it mean? He is thinking that the Lord has bestowed so much mercy on me and yet I have not reciprocated adequately. The Lord, he has given me so much association, so much guidance, so much mercy, so much blessings, but I have not reciprocated that much.

The Jagai and Madai, they were always materialistic. The Lord gave them mercy and they accepted and they got transformed. But alas, my heart is not yet transformed.

Although the Lord has given so much to me. So when the world is the centre, the dualities in this world will seem very important for us. But when Krishna is the centre, then the dualities in the world will not matter so much to us.

That's why when we say we should not judge others, we should not criticise, we should not praise, this does not mean that we become utterly unemotional. It certainly does not mean that we don't observe things objectively. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, In 6.8 he says, This is one who is spiritually realised, such a person sees stone and gold equally.

Now what does this mean? Is it that a pure devotee, if a stone is there, if the stone is on the way, will you just push aside the stone? But if gold is on the way, will you just push aside the gold? The gold may use it to ornament the deities. Would you put stone around the deities? Not exactly. So in a functional sense, there will be differentiation between stone and gold.

What here is being talked about, when we should not praise or criticise, that means that as long as we are in material consciousness, we think this will give me pleasure, this will not give me pleasure. And therefore something that gives me pleasure, I praise it. Something that causes me pain, I criticise it.

But when we are in spiritual consciousness, we understand that both material pleasure and material pain, they will come and they will go. There is no need to get unduly worked up about them. But from the spiritual perspective, we do differentiate and we see what can be used in Krishna's service.

And something can be used in Krishna's service, we treasure it. We use it carefully because we recognise that this is meant for serving Krishna. So Vishal Prabhupada, when he was in Vrindavan, at that time he had asked the devotees to build a temple.

And because his early followers were all non-Indians. And in India people have this notion that people from the West, they have a lot of money. So they thought all this is gone as a lot of money.

And anything they had to purchase, the local people would charge 10 times the price, 15 times the price, 20 times the price. And the devotees had no idea, they did not know the local language properly, they had no idea of the local prices. And Prabhupada was very conscientious.

He said you should not waste Lakshmi like this. So the devotees were having a lot of difficulty in procuring cement for building the Krishna Vallabha Mandir. And finally, so Vishal Prabhupada came to Vrindavan, the first thing he asked was cement.

How are you planning to get cement? And finally Prabhupada himself contacted some people and gave the devotees some guidelines. And finally they got cement. And late at night, finally several trucks of cement came along.

And Prabhupada told, as soon as it comes, tell me. So Prabhupada was resting and they woke him up. And Prabhupada came out, where is the cement? I want to see it.

And there Prabhupada stood by while all the cement was being unloaded. And then it was put in the godown and it was locked. And Prabhupada asked him, have you locked it properly? So the devotees, Gurudas Prabhu and others who were there with him, they write that we felt that Prabhupada treated the cement like it was gold.

Carefully counting everything, carefully keeping it in the godown. So why? When we say because that was vital for serving Krishna at that point. So when we say a devotee sees stone and gold equally, that does not mean the devotee neglects both.

The devotee does not see them in terms of what will give pleasure to me. But if something will serve Krishna, then even stone may be considered as precious as gold. Because that can be used in Krishna's service.

So that brings us to the next point, concluding point of our class about judgmentality. This I will be elaborating much more in detail in tomorrow's class. But I will hint at this today that see we talk about not being judgemental.

That is true, but there is something apart from judgmentality, judging and that is discerning. Discerning is based on recognising this is right, this is wrong. More in terms of whether it is beneficial for me or it is non-beneficial for me.

So that means that when we are living in the world, we do have to discern that okay, this is a devotee, this is non-devotee. We associate with devotees more and more, then our bhakti will grow. If we associate with non-devotees more and more, then our material desires will grow and we will go away from bhakti.

So discerning is essential. When we are going out to take food, we have to discern. Is it vegetarian food, is it non-vegetarian food? Is it offered food? It is not offered food.

So when we say we should not judge, that does not mean that we should not discern. The difference between judging and discerning primarily is in the attitude. In judging, we put ourselves in a superior position.

This is not good, this is good. So like that when we place ourselves in a superior position, that is a judgemental mentality. But a discerning attitude is based on recognising that we are conditioned beings and certain things will increase our conditioning and certain things will decrease our conditioning.

So the example which we could use is a sick person. A person who is sick has to discern okay, this thing if I eat, it will aggravate my disease. This thing if I eat, it is a good diet for me.

So that is not based, that discerning is not based on a sense of moral superiority or inferiority. It is based primarily on evaluation of objective utility or inutility. What is useful for me in my recovery of health? What is harmful for me in the recovery of my health? And seeing this, we can recognise that we do need to discern.

But discerning can be done without a judgemental attitude. That means rather than say if somebody is doing something which is inappropriate, which is incorrect, then if we look down on those people, if we condemn those people, then they get alienated. They start thinking that we are very righteous, we are trying to be like moral police and they get alienated from us.

So the point is that we want to be true to our standards. But when we are true to our standards, we need to focus on ways in which we can make our standards intelligible to others. So if we tell, suppose there is a company which is making an advertisement.

Have you seen any advertisement which begins with a prize? Purchase this product, it costs 1 million dollars. Who would want to purchase that? Maybe it might intrigue a little bit. What is this? It costs so much.

But if you really want to attract people to purchase something, the first thing that we do is we tell them what is the utility, what is the benefit, what are the specialities of the product. In most advertisements, the prize is somewhere like a small and significant detail. You have to see where is the prize.

Why? Because that is not the important thing when something is being advertised. The prize is something which you have to tell. But that comes later.

So generally, we say we should not be envious of others. We should not be, when somebody has something good, we should not be envious. Envy is an artha that is to be avoided.

But there is one more aspect to this. Not only should we not be envious of others, but also we should not act in a way that makes others envious of us. That means if we have something, we should not parade it in front of others in such a way that others feel envious.

That is also not appropriate. We want to help each other come out of an arthas. So there is no need for us in that sense.

If we are having our standards, the people, if we just start spouting off about our standards, I follow this, I follow this, I follow that. People say you are nutcase. People might just say that.

They will get alienated. If we want to talk with others also, we focus on making sense of things. What is our philosophy? We are spiritual beings.

And therefore we need to nourish ourselves spiritually. When we nourish ourselves spiritually, there is higher fulfilment that comes. And when there is higher fulfilment, then we don't crave for other things, especially some material things, and especially those material things which are detrimental to our spiritual growth.

So if we explain things, that is fine. But if we simply parade, I am doing this, I am doing that, I am doing that, then that is not very good. Say suppose today is Ekadashi.

If somebody fasts on Ekadashi, and then goes to the kitchen to see who is eating what, and then you think, you are so attached. You are so attached. You are so attached.

Then if you are doing that, then our body may be fasting, but our ego is feasting. Our ego is feasting. And that sort of fasting, it, at best, the benefit of that fasting is, we may lose some weight.

That's all. Kulasekar Maharaj says, that we are fasting without remembering Krishna. And that fasting is just a weight reducing exercise.

It is nothing more. The spiritual benefit of fasting comes when we remember Krishna. And if we are thinking, oh, this person is so fallen, I am so great, then where are we remembering Krishna? We are simply remembering that person's fallen condition and our elevated condition.

And that is not real, that is not Krishna consciousness at all. So we do need to discern, so that we do the things which nourish our bhakti, and we avoid the things that do not, that harm our bhakti. But in doing this, we focus not so much on making the other people feel low, or thinking of us as superior.

We focus on how we can observe ourselves in remembrance of Krishna. And when we do that, when our basic attitude is to striving to remember Krishna, with that attitude, we will be able to be Krishna conscious, and be true to our standards, without alienating others, without making others feel as if we are self-righteous, or we are superior, something like that. Therefore, the verse, it says that, vrashyati, vrashyati means if a person falls, if a person is lost, vrashyati ashu, quickly if a person falls and is lost, and that person simply focusses on praising or criticising at the material level.

In fact, those who praise and criticise at the material level, they fall into two categories. One are flatterers, and others are cynics. So, there are some people who flatter, just because they want something out of that person.

In the past, kings would have bards. Bards means that those people were paid, just so that they would praise the king. And there are people who have this, they like sycophants who will speak big, big things about them.

That sort of flattery is material consciousness. And similarly, cynicism. Now, whatever, just find faults in it.

Actually, finding faults in Kali Yuga is not very difficult. It does not require cleverness. To find faults in Kali Yuga requires as much cleverness as is required for finding water in an ocean.

Kaler dosho nidhe raja, Kali Yuga is an ocean of faults. So, water is there everywhere in an ocean. If we want to be benefited, say, if we are lost in the ocean, what we need to look for is land.

If we look for land and find land, we will get shelter. So, like that, in Kali Yuga, faults are there everywhere. If we are looking for faults, there is not much benefit in it, not much intelligence in it, not much benefit in it.

If we look for good and fan that good in others, then that enables them to grow. And if we are devotees of Krishna and we encourage the good in others, we appreciate others, with seeing their connection with Krishna, that inspires them to come closer to Krishna. And that is the mode in which Prabhupada always functioned.

When he went to America, if he had been hypercritical, he would have said, these hippies, they are such degraded people, I can't be with them. Or if he had been material conscious, he would have been praising, America is such a flourishing country, such a prosperous country, so progressive. Prabhupada did neither.

Prabhupada was neither impressed by the material prosperity of America, nor was he appalled by the material degradedness of the hippies. He focused on where is the opportunity to serve Krishna. And he found, amidst the materially prosperous people in America, they were not so interested in Krishna.

Found that the hippies were interested in Krishna, so he left the uptown and went downtown. And he stayed over there and there he shared bhakti. That was because he was focused on syad apramato vyavasaya buddhi parishyam tatra samikshamanah The Bhagavatam says that.

Actually, everything in this world is ultimately, from the material perspective, it is just a jugglery of names. This is something, this is something, this is something. It's all jugglery of names.

atah kavibhir namasu yavadarthah It's all just names. And the wise persons are syad apramato vyavasaya buddhi apramato, spiritually realised person is not intoxicated by all this jugglery of names. apramato vyavasaya buddhi with one-pointed intelligence.

What is intelligence? siddhyanyatra nayateta tatra Is there any spiritual growth available in this? nayateta tatra Otherwise, person at the end they were thinking parishyamam tatra samikshamanah Recognising that it's simply labour. It's a waste of time and energy. So Srila Prabhupada gave us the example of how to be focused on Krishna and how to use everything in Krishna's service and to encourage and inspire others also to serve Krishna.

So to summarise, I talked about the second part of overcoming judgemental mentality and I started by talking about when we are in material consciousness material good and material bad seem to be hugely different. If I am in a ten-story house and somebody has a one-story house that seems very small. But if I am high in the sky in a plane what is the difference between ten-story and one-story? Nothing.

Like that, if we are in material consciousness we will praise that which is materially good and we will criticise that which is materially bad. But when we are in spiritual consciousness when we are absorbed in Krishna then material good and material bad doesn't matter so much. So we discussed Bhagavad Gita 2.54, 55, 56, 57 about how the self-realised person is internally, basically doesn't get caught in external pleasures but focusses on finding happiness within.

And therefore, in external good or bad comes one is not elated or dejected internally and one does not praise or criticise externally. And the great devotees when they say that I am very fallen I am more fallen than Jagai and Madai when Krishna Raksha Bandhan Swami is saying that is not just sentiment that is not falsity that is a statement made in the light of Krishna's love. As compared to all that Krishna is doing whatever I am doing for him is so insignificant.

Therefore, what am I? I am just a fallen person. We discussed humility does not just mean saying I am fallen, I am fallen. Humility means actually focussing on the service of Krishna and doing whatever it takes to serve Krishna.

So humility means adjusting our wavelength so that we can get along with others. We discussed how there is other's action and there is our ascription of intention to their action. And somebody overeats if they like that person we will say okay he must have been hungry.

If we don't like that person we will say he is a glutton. So this link between action and intention we form it based on our perception of people. And as long as we are in material consciousness we will perceive them in a way that is disconnected from reality.

Then we discussed about the difference between judging and discerning. We shouldn't judge because that is going to keep us in material consciousness and that often eliminates people's judgemental mentality. But for our own safety and growth in bhakti we do need to discern.

This is just like a patient needs to know this food is healthy, this food is not healthy. Similarly, we discern based on what is conducive for our bhakti and what is not conducive for our bhakti. But even while discerning we should not focus on trying to make others feel inferior because they are not following our standards.

Our focus should be on telling people about the rationale why we are following the standards. When somebody is advertising something they don't show the cost first. They tell about the benefits first.

Similarly, while sharing Krishna consciousness if we tell people if we go on the street and say I don't eat meat, I don't drink, I don't do any sex, I don't gamble want to become a devotee? Who would want to become a devotee like that? Very very few people. But if we show the price first we are alienating people. And we may also make people if some other people are striving to follow some moral standards and they feel our standards are very high they may even become envious.

So avoiding the anartha of envy doesn't mean only not becoming ourselves envious. It also means that we shouldn't behave in a way that makes others envious. And then while talking about discerning we said the devotee discerns first of all based on what is good for my bhakti and then based on how I can attract Krishna to others.

Attract others to Krishna. I have discussed with Srila Prabhupada he did not, was neither impressed by the material prosperity of the west nor was he repelled by the material depravity of the hippies. He focused on where is the posture to serve Krishna and accordingly he focused and he did what it took to serve Krishna.

By focussing on Krishna and our service to Krishna we can avoid judge mentality and we can act in a way that is discerning at the same time appealing. We can be appealing in a way that brings people closer to Krishna. Thank you very much.

Are there any questions or comments? Yes. Today we have a question of the session also. Do you have any questions related to the class or not related? Still you can ask questions.

Is the session weekend? Yes. While in the neighbourhood especially our relationship with Krishna is very tangible more dependent on the grace of Krishna. Finding all the shortcomings and conditioning is just described.

Often when we suffer especially physically and find it very difficult to talk to Krishna and if you feel things improve then you feel a certain connection that Krishna is helping you. But when things are going really difficult then you may feel that Krishna doesn't care. He is not going to get involved and I am sort of alone so there is a disconnection.

How do we sort of maintain that connection or not lose that connection? So when we are practising bhakti in the neophyte stage we don't feel a very tangible connection with Krishna and if we are especially going through distress and we pray to Krishna and he helps then we feel that Krishna cares and Krishna reciprocates. But if we don't get any help then we may feel that Krishna is not going to get involved and our connection with Krishna becomes weak. So what can we do at such times? First thing is that Krishna is always involved.

Krishna is so involved that he is right there in our heart with us. He is there always in our heart and he has been there throughout. So we should never think that Krishna is somewhere far up there and he doesn't know what is happening or he doesn't care what is happening.

Krishna is right here in with us. He is closer to us than what the closest person to us can ever be. Even if a very loving person holds you in a tight embrace that person cannot come as close to us as Krishna is always.

The philosophy helps us to understand Krishna's eternal proximity to us. Now as far as our perceiving Krishna's proximity or our perceiving Krishna's involvement, there are different aspects to understand this. Now our present existence is at three levels.

There is the physical, there is the mental and there is the spiritual. So the purpose of life, we are presently existing at the material level although even now mental and spiritual are aspects. Our consciousness primarily right now is the material level of reality.

And the purpose of human life is to raise our consciousness to the spiritual level. And Krishna orchestrates things in our life in such a way that our consciousness gradually gets elevated towards the spiritual level. Rather he gives us impetuses, he gives us prompts by which we can raise our consciousness to the spiritual level.

That is the broad plan of Krishna in this world. Now while he wants us to elevate our consciousness to the spiritual level, that does not mean that he wants us to be miserable at the material level. But at the same time, if making things comfortable at the material level would mean that we will lose the impetus to rise to the spiritual level.

Then Krishna may not arrange to make things comfortable in the material level. So primarily the relief that we get in Krishna consciousness by the practise of Krishna consciousness is at the spiritual and mental levels. And at the physical level the relief may sometimes manifest immediately, sometimes it may take some time to manifest.

And sometimes it may not manifest. So what do we mean by relief manifesting at the mental and the spiritual level? If we, whatever be the circumstance we are in, if we can strive to absorb ourselves in Krishna then we feel a relief from whatever it may be that is troubling us. Suppose it is very hot outside and we are feeling that heat burning on our body and then we come to an air-conditioned room.

Immediately we feel relief. So the heat is still a reality, it is still there but by our coming into an air-conditioned room, we get relief from that heat. Similarly the world is filled with problems and those problems are like the heat afflicting us.

So tapanti vividha sthapa, there are many miseries in this world but in Kapila's teaching, the third canto it is said naitan madgata chetasah The various afflictions of life, they are going to afflict us in this world but madgata chetasah, if I absorb myself in Krishna then those, then I don't feel those afflictions. So it is like we are taking our consciousness from this material level of reality and placing it in a Krishna conditioned reality. Like air-conditioned reality, a Krishna conditioned reality that means we absorb ourselves in Krishna.

So for example in kirtan, in prayer, in japa, in study of shastra we absorb ourselves. So that is the first relief that can come to us in all situations. Even no matter how much material distress we may be in if we can absorb ourselves in Krishna the material problem is not solved that I'll come to later about dealing with that but the fact is that just that relief which we can get by absorption in Krishna, that is itself a is itself a living testimony to Krishna's love for us.

It is. The same, different people may think I can get absorbed in different things some people may just get frustrated and they think I'll drink and I'll get some relief but that is actually not a relief that creates much more trouble. Absorbing in Krishna gives us tangible relief in the sense of at least our mind is not burdened by that trouble, by that problem.

Even somebody sick and having physical pain, if at that time somehow one can just raise one's consciousness and absorb oneself in Krishna, at that time one says yes. We have to find out how we can absorb ourselves in Krishna. See bhakti is not a ritualistic activity.

There may be certain situations when we may not be able to chant and absorb ourselves in Krishna. There may be certain situations when we may not be able to come to the temple. There are certain situations when we may not even be able to associate with devotees.

But we have to find out how we can absorb ourselves in Krishna. If we absorb ourselves in Krishna, we get relief from the tension and trouble of the problem. And then with that relief we become calm, we gain a sense of security.

We gain a sense that yes, something is right in my life. Everything else is falling apart but Krishna still exists. And in remembering Krishna, I can get relief, I can get strength.

With that security, we can turn and then look at the problem. So, if there is heat outside and I have come to an air-conditioned room, I get some relief. If I have work to do outside, I have to go outside.

So, it's not that we can just for a lifelong be absorbed in Krishna and not deal with any of the realities in our life. We do have to deal with the realities. But quite often the more we think of a problem, the bigger the problem becomes in our mind.

Life determines our problems but we determine their size. If I am sick, yes, the sickness is a fact of life. But if I am constantly whipping myself, why did I fall sick? Why did I get such a bad luck? Why did this happen to me? That makes the problem worse than it needs to be.

I am in a hospital. I may be in a sick bed. But there if I can think of something positive, think of something constructive, then I can minimise the amount of suffering that comes because of the problem.

The problem is there. It is going to cause a certain amount of suffering. But if we dwell on the problem, it's like say, if there is a porter who has to carry luggage.

Say, the porter is carrying 20 kg luggage on one's head. Now, 20 kg luggage is difficult. But the same porter is given 60 kg luggage to carry.

You will get crushed under it. You find it impossible. So, life sends problems our way.

That is like a 20 kg luggage. But when we keep dwelling on the problem, when we keep agonising over the problem, when we keep resenting the problem, then that adds burden. And then that burden often becomes crushing.

If we look deeply, we will often find that resentment of reality hurts more than reality. Reality is a problem. But resentment of reality sometimes hurts much more.

So, what we need in such situations when we are hurting for whatever reason is we need a satisfying object of thought. If we can turn our thought away from the problem towards some satisfying object. And the most satisfying, most elevating object is Krishna.

So, just by turning our thoughts towards Krishna, we will get relief. That is relief firstly at the spiritual level, but that also comes down at the mental level. Anytime we are chanting Hare Krishna, we are getting spiritually nourished.

Even if we are feeling utterly bored by the chanting, still we are nourished. But of course, we don't just want nourishment at the spiritual level. We also need to feel the nourishment.

So, we try to see how we can connect our mind, absorb our mind, and then we will start feeling relief at the level of the mind also. Then after that, when we just calmed ourselves, then we can think more calmly, think more objectively, and then we ourselves, when Krishna solves problems, it is not necessary that Krishna solves problems by miraculously intervening in our problem-free situation. Krishna's solutions can come in various ways.

So, sometimes we may feel, this person is acting in such a way that is causing me so much trouble. If only this person's behaviour would change. Yes, we may pray to Krishna to change that person's behaviour.

And Krishna can sometimes do that. People can transform miraculously. But often, the world is so subtle that we may go and shake a mango tree and apple may fall down.

What that means is that if a child is hungry and child goes to orchard and says Oh God, give me fruit and shakes mango tree, the child is caught in looking at the mango only. And nearby apple falls, child will not see that. So, sometimes when we pray to Krishna, we pray, expect and demand for a solution in a particular term only.

And solution doesn't come in that term. There may be some other solution that may be coming. But we are just blinded to that.

So, Krishna works often. He always works for our good. But often he works in ways that are not exactly the way we want them to.

We pray for. So, he answers our prayers but in ways different from what we expected. And that's why certainly using our intelligence, we can think, okay, this is my problem and this seems to be the solution.

So, I pray to Krishna that let this solution come. At the same time, rather than focussing only on when will this solution come, we can stay open. Krishna may give us some insight, some idea, some plan by which we might be able to do something else by which the problem may get solved.

The way Krishna works is unlimited. There are unlimited ways in which Krishna might work. So, being open to Krishna's wisdom, Krishna's guidance, that is also very important.

And quite often when we are just focussing on praying and expecting the result, at that time we are close to Krishna's answering our prayers in ways different from what we expected. Again, the philosophy helps in this because Krishna is omniscient and Krishna is omnipotent. Omniscient means he knows everything.

He is much more intelligent than us. Omnipotent means he has all power. He can do things which we can't do.

So, quite often if we are not very philosophically sound or if we are not rooted in philosophy, then we accept based on faith that Krishna is omnipotent. And this problem is there in my life. I can't solve this problem.

And Krishna can solve this problem. This is good. To have faith in Krishna's omnipotence is good.

That Krishna can solve the problem that I can't solve. But, if we are properly philosophically grounded, then we understand that faith in Krishna's omnipotence is actually half faith in Krishna. If you want to have proper faith in Krishna, we have faith not only in Krishna's omnipotence, but also in Krishna's omniscience.

That means Krishna is more intelligent than me. Then, when we have this in mind, then we pray to Krishna, we seek his help, but we understand, if we make our prayer very conditional, this is the problem, this is the solution. Then the idea is, Krishna, you know, yes, let us work together, but the combination should be my intelligence and your power.

You know, I have the intelligence, I have solved this problem like this, and you use your power and execute the solution. But you know, Krishna doesn't work like that quite often. Often, we may think, you know, many people like to serve God.

Almost everyone likes to serve God. Even atheists like to serve God. You know how? As advisors.

God, why don't you do this? Why don't you do that? Atheists argue, if God had been really intelligent, he would have designed it like this. He would have designed it like this. So, for them, the non-existent God just pops into existence for the sole purpose of gratefully accepting advice from them.

And after they have instructed him with their advice, then God disappears into non-existence. So, what happens is, Krishna is more intelligent than us. And therefore, we need to recognise that, yes, Krishna has greater power than us.

With our intelligence, we can, we may feel, this is the solution to the problem, we can pray to Krishna for that solution. At the same time, Prabhupada was asked, what is the best prayer? Prabhupada said, best prayer is to ask Krishna, please give me the strength to serve you. Please give me the strength to continue on your service, whatever happens.

And within that strength, Krishna will also give us the intelligence of what to do, how to act in that situation. So, rather than thinking that Krishna is not reciprocating, because the problem is not solved, we can focus more on recognising that just absorption in Krishna is itself one part of the solution of the problem. Absorption in Krishna itself ensures that the problem doesn't burden us.

We don't increase the burden of the problem by obsessing over it. And secondly, absorption in Krishna also opens us to recognise that Krishna can act in various ways. Sometimes Krishna may give a solution, but we are so obsessed in looking for solutions in our terms that we miss the solution.

As they say, many people look for opportunities, but when an opportunity knocks on the door, people complain about the noise. Sometimes that's what happens to us when we are too caught in our own problems, and more importantly is we cannot avoid thinking about our problems, but we are too caught in expecting solution on our terms. So, sometimes Krishna may let a problem go on for some time, because He may want us to recognise our need for Him.

Many times when people are distressed, they come to Krishna and they solve problems to get their problems solved. And Krishna can solve the problems also. But then they come to Krishna and they come to the temple and say, Krishna, please solve this problem.

When the problem is solved, bye-bye Krishna. They become like that. But a devotee, when the problem comes, the devotee becomes absorbed in Krishna.

And if we think that Krishna is for real and Krishna really cares only in terms when He solves our problem, then when the problem is solved, we will feel what is the need for practising? But with Krishna, we see that even in the presence of problems, if we absorb ourselves in Krishna, the problem becomes more bearable. The problem becomes more livable. Then, irrespective of whether that specific problem has come or gone, we will realise the value, the potency of Krishna consciousness.

Now, of course, having said all this, when we are actually going through problems, it is not easy. It is extremely difficult and it requires a lot of determination, a lot of willpower, a lot of faith and especially we need at least some devotees who understand what we are going through, who understand our problems and sympathise with us, who care for us. Many times when problems are there, what we need is not just even if we don't get the immediate solution to the problem, if we just understand that someone understands, that itself is a solution.

So, when we, if we look in the Bhagavatam, when many times the Vaishnavas offer, the devotees offer prayers to Krishna, sometimes the prayers have no request at the end at all. The Brahma Samhita prayers, it is simply praise of Krishna. Govindam Adi Purusham Tamaham Bajami So like that, sometimes it is just an expression of one's heart.

Similarly, when we are having problems, we can just go in front of Krishna and we can just pray to Krishna in terms of opening our heart. Rather than demanding a specific solution, just by opening our heart that also will unburden the heart significantly. And that will enable us to be released of some of the unnecessary weight of the problem.

So when problems are there, we often may go to God and tell God, how big a problem I am facing. Why are you not doing anything about it? But don't tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big God is.

That means, we focus on Krishna. If we focus on the problem, the problem seems to become bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. And we feel dwarfed and crushed by the problem.

But if we focus on Krishna, then we start seeing, yes, this problem is there. But if we look back at our life, we will see that throughout our life we have had problems. Some problem we may have had five years ago.

At that time, we might have felt my life is going to, my world is going to come crushing down. But now we look at it, yes, that problem has come, that problem has gone. So, like that, the problem which we are facing now, this may seem like a big problem now, but it will go.

One of the problems, one of the ways the mind crushes us, is when I said it makes the problems bigger and bigger, one of the ways it does is by eternalising the present. That means, because something is a problem now, the mind makes us feel, this problem is going to be there forever for me. Say, in India, when we travel in locals, local trains, sometimes the trains are very crowded.

So, we barely have place to stand over there. But then people tolerate it because they know it's a 15 minute, half an hour, one hour journey. Now, suppose those same people were told that you have to stand with cramped locals throughout the rest of your life.

If they are told like that, then standing 15 minutes will become restless. Because we will be thinking, throughout my life I have to be like this, how is it possible? So, the mind tends to eternalise the present. That means, whatever problem I have, start thinking, this problem is going to be there lifelong.

How can I live with this? But if we look back, if we actually fix our vision on eternity, on Krishna, that which is truly eternal, when we fix our vision on that, then that which might seem otherwise as eternal, we understand that is ephemeral, that is temporary. And if we look back at our past and think, there were big problems, they have come and they have gone. Similarly, this problem has come, it will also go in due course.

That way we can avoid eternalising the present by focussing on that Supreme Lord who is eternal and who is available to us also in the present. Does it answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? Swamiji, the problems we face, are they also normal? Are the problems we face not related to karma and the modes of material nature that we are going through, that we may be subjected to? Yes.

At a philosophical level, that is true. At the same time, when we face problems, our response has two aspects, the intellectual aspect and the emotional aspect. Intellectually, we will understand, yes, I am getting some reaction for what I have done.

But emotionally, that does not offer any shelter. And sometimes if you just focus on karma, especially if someone is suffering, at that time we say, you are suffering your own karma. That is monstrously insensitive.

When Sita was abducted by Ram or when Draupadi was being dishonoured, nobody goes around telling that it's your own karma that you are suffering. That is very wrong to think. So, at a philosophical level, for our own personal understanding, we think, yes, the problem is coming because of my karma.

But when people are suffering, at that time, to try to rationalise the suffering, to try to justify the suffering by saying that you must have done some bad karma in the past because of which you are getting it. That may come off as very insensitive. Our purpose is to help others.

And in some cases, the knowledge of karma can help us to make sense of our suffering. In some cases, the knowledge of karma may not help us to make sense because sometimes people say, yeah, well, I am not such a bad person. I have so many problems coming in my life.

So, our purpose is, the purpose of philosophy is also to help others come closer to Krishna. So, if we speak philosophy in a way which alienates people, then that is we are doing a disservice. Hiranyakashyapu in the 7th Canto, he knows that the soul is eternal.

But then, what is his reasoning? He says, because the soul is eternal, therefore, I am going to perform severe austerities to gain power enough to kill Vishnu. And I know killing Vishnu is very difficult. But, because the soul is eternal, even if this body dies, in my next life, I will continue the austerity.

I will continue the austerity lifelong, lifetime after lifetime, till I become strong enough to kill Vishnu. See, here, what is happening? The knowledge of the eternality of the soul is increasing his envy towards the Lord. He is increasing his animosity towards the Lord.

So, Krishna talks about gyanam, gyanagamyam, that there is knowledge, there is the object of knowledge, and there is the purpose of knowledge. So, sometimes we may have knowledge, but that knowledge may defeat the purpose of knowledge. If I, so, I was in America, so after one programme, I had a long question and answer session.

After that one, Mataji came, and she said that, she had first time come to ISKCON, and she, after that, did not come for 10 years. Why? Because, she had asked a question. She had asked a question, you know, if someone is raped, does that mean that they have raped someone in their past life? Now, this is a very personal and very sensitive question.

So, the preacher said, yes. And she felt so offended, she felt so alienated, she just left. Now, are we Paramatma to know what a person has done in the previous life? Actually, that Mataji had gone through that kind of thing.

And she was so offended by that. And I had, in India, there was a terrible gang rape in Delhi. So, at that time, I had written an article about it, and somebody had asked a question that, you know, if that girl was raped, so what was the karma that she had done because of which she was raped? So, I said, we should not even ask such a question.

The whole purpose of analysing karma is not post-mortem. It is prognosis. Post-mortem means, it is not that if we start focussing so much on karma, then our whole service attitude may get eroded.

It will get destroyed completely. When Draupadi is dishonoured, nobody asks what was her karma because of which she was dishonoured. Our focus in this world should not be on what is people's karma.

Our focus should be on what is our dharma. What is my duty? So, Lord Ram, he did not think Sita must have done some bad karma because of which she was abducted by Ravana. Ram thought, I am her husband, it is my dharma to protect her.

And I must do whatever it takes to protect her. Pandavas thought similarly. Now, if we start thinking, whenever any problem comes in anyone's life, that's their karma.

Then, all civility, all morality, all arrangements in this life, they will all lose all impetus to do them. And that is not the way of working in life. When somebody is having problems, our focus should not be what is their karma.

Our focus is on what is our dharma. So, if some woman has been abused, then it is the dharma of society, it is the dharma of the social leaders, it is the dharma of the police to protect them. And they are failing in that.

By talking about that woman's karma, they are completely misunderstanding the situation. So, I had answered this question and she had heard that answer. That the purpose of karma, as I said, is never post-mortem.

If we start doing post-mortem, then sometimes we may see some senior devotees. Some senior devotees may get some terrible disease. And then we may think, oh, I thought you were a great devotee, but now you have got some terrible disease.

That means you must have done some terrible karma in the past life. Now, that may well be offensive. We don't know what somebody has done in the past life.

We can't really judge people like that. So, we have to be very sensitive when we talk about karma. So, anyway, the point was that this mataji had heard this answer to that question and then she came to New York and I was giving class and then she told that it is only because after she heard that answer, she started practising bhakti again.

She felt very offended and alienated. So, we can't really, the purpose of karma, talking about karma is primarily prognosis. Prognosis means in future what is going to happen.

So, if a doctor says, see, you have got diabetes, if you eat sugar, then you are going to suffer more. So, like that, there are certain actions which we know will bring certain consequences. So, we have to be careful not to do those actions.

So, karma, the focus in understanding karma should be in what are the choices that I am making right now. Am I making healthy choices? And am I avoiding harmful choices? We shouldn't use karma as a lens to judge everyone else. When people are suffering, we are meant to help them.

When, say, in Prithu Maharaj's kingdom, when citizens are suffering and starving, they come to him and they say, you know, the Rajasthi fire is burning us from within like a forest fire burning animals in the forest. Prithu doesn't say, it's your own karma that you are suffering. He usually takes action to rectify.

So, when people are suffering, we should focus on what is our dharma. And our dharma is that we should help them in whatever way is possible for us. So, philosophically, it is true that whatever happens, now, going back to that earlier point, karma is not that simplistic.

That is, some woman has been violated. Now, that does not mean she's her. She's the man in the previous life and she violated someone else.

Karmic reactions can come for various things. And we can't simplistically say that because I did something, so something happened to me like that. Sometimes, one reaction can be a result of many different actions.

One action can produce many reactions. Krishna says, gahana karma nambati. So, even thinking about karma, if it is anukula to bhakti, we should think about it.

If it is not anukula to bhakti, put aside the thoughts of karma. Because, even by thinking about karma, if I start thinking, I am very fallen, I am very sinful, then if one problem comes in our life, it must be because of past bad karma. If we start thinking too much about our past bad karma, we become paranoid thinking, oh, maybe I must have done a lot of bad karma and a lot of more suffering is going to come my way.

And if you are constantly fearful, constantly paranoid, how can we be Krishna conscious? So, our focus should be that whatever karma may get us to, Krishna will get us through. Whatever karma may get us to, Krishna will get us through. So, we don't focus on karma, we focus on Krishna.

Does it address your question? Yes, brother. Thank you so much. What I was trying to say is of course, we should not focus on karma because it is very offensive.

I agree with you. But there is this philosophical concept of karma. That was what I was trying to say.

Of course, that is true. But when devotees are facing problems, at that time, say it's their karma. That is usually spectacularly unhelpful.

We all know that philosophy. We all know that it's because of our karma. But that's not devotee culture.

That was all that I was saying. Any other questions or comments? Yeah, my detailed answer was not a response to your statement about karma. I was just thinking about something else.

So, my long answer was not at all implying that you were blaming people for their karma at all. It was just a philosophical point which I made in this particular context. Because we have good karma and bad karma as well.

That's true. That's true. Definitely.

Yes. I have two questions. One is about may not be related to this class.

But in India, we have so many ceremonies, birth ceremonies, marriage ceremonies. So some of the ceremonies it looks, is it really required to do? Because there are some really ghastly. Ghastly? Things which are very violent.

Because Such as? What do you mean by violent? Killing animals. So is it really there in the shastras or is it someone's concoction thing happened or was it? The second question is when I came to Krishna consciousness Let's take one question at a time. So there are many ceremonies that go on in the Indian tradition and some of them are quite ghastly like killing of animals.

So are they really given in scripture and are they really necessary to do? No. The what is present in the Indian tradition today is a diluted contaminated and perverted version of Vedic teachings. Diluted what is given that is made very diluted or contaminated.

Other things have been added or it's completely perverted sometimes. So we have to often when certain things are talked of as part of the tradition we have to look back versus scripture to see whether something like that is being talked about or not. There is a verse of Kalidas where he says that not everything old is good, not everything new is bad.

The wise person evaluates everything and then decides whether to accept something or not. So just because something is traditional that does not necessarily mean it is necessarily scriptural. And of course it doesn't mean at all that it is beneficial.

Having said that depending on certain rituals some rituals are indeed they feature some amount of violence and animal killing is described in the Vedic scriptures but that is specifically for those people who are anyway addicted to meat eating. Those people who are addicted to meat eating they are going to anyway eat meat. And if they are so the animal sacrifices, for example there is certain puja of Kali in which goats are killed and offered.

So the idea is that this sacrifice of goats is to be done only on an Amavasya, only once a fortnight. And even when it is done once a fortnight the focus has to be on that one cuts the goat oneself into seven parts and gives six parts in charity and takes only one part for one's own consumption. So even while doing it, so actually when one is oneself going to cut the animal, the ghastliness of it all becomes apparent to us.

And then there is a mantra which is chanted which essentially centres on the word Mamsa. Now Mamsa simply we say it means meat but etymologically Mamsa is part of two words, maam and sapa. I and you.

So Mamsa means I will become you. So it is a sobering meditation that now I am killing you, that in future you will become a human, I will become a goat and you will kill me. Now things may not literally happen every time like that but the point is there will be karmic consequences.

Painful karmic consequences that will be there. So therefore this should be avoided. And say if there is a community of people who are eating meat regularly and those who are eating meat regularly are almost daily same.

I mean 2-3 times a day people eat meat also. So when they are eating meat like this at that time if among them one person starts eating meat only once a fortnight and that person will be considered like a saint in that community and others when they see that he is so saintly, so he or she will get the impetus to stay focused on that level and others will see this is the level and they will also aspire to come to that level. And because that person now many times in the rituals are performed the focus centres on just killing the animal but actually the focus should be on, there is a whole ritual that is done involves chanting of mantras, offering of prayers and part of it is killing the animal.

So when one does all the other parts of the rituals also, chanting of prayers and mantras then that elevates one's consciousness and gradually the people who are stupid in ignorance they come towards passion and eventually they will come towards goodness. So Prabhupada explained that this is like this allowance for violence in certain sacrifices it is like the government allowing permit rules. The government knows that alcohol is bad alcohol consumption may spoil health but still there are certain places they allow people to drink alcohol.

Why? Because that's what people want to do and if that is not allowed then people are anyway going to drink alcohol they often manufacture alcohol underground and they will drink it that way and then there will be no regulation and that may cause even worse complications. Therefore this sort of sacrifices which are there in scriptures they are not the instructions of scriptures they are not the recommendation of scriptures they are the concessions within scriptures so instruction means I tell you to do it recommendation means I suggest that you do it concession means you want to do it, I allow you to do it so scripture contains many statements which are concessions and if say a person is diabetic and doctor tells all sugar but then the patient says no I cannot live without sugar doctor says ok take sugar once a week and doctor also says take this medicine take this medicine now the patient comes home and pushes aside the medicine and says doctor told me to take sugar and that was not the doctor's instruction that was the doctor's concession so similarly these statements are given in scripture about animal sacrifices but they are concessions unfortunately some people take them as the main instruction of scripture and they neglect what is the main instruction and then that leads to it's like a person who takes sugar as the main instruction of the doctor that person's disease will worsen so like the people who do only these rituals and they do not do the purificatory rituals which are meant to elevate consciousness in the name of being religious and doing religious rituals they often end up becoming more degraded so if you see the overall picture of scripture there is a plan for progressive elevation from wherever we are so even if you are a meat eater scripture doesn't say you are going to go to hell you do this by this also you will become gradually elevated scripture accommodates everyone but we shouldn't think that what is given as accommodation is itself the instruction does it answer your question? thank you what is the other question? because when I came newly I was like I had this period syndrome period syndrome I am such a pure person I don't eat anything because of that what happened most of my family members they are repelled but later on last year I was trying to accommodate them and somehow they are not favourable but what I see is when I am accommodating is it right to accommodate them or is it should I continue what I was doing earlier because when I am accommodating I could see that they are doing something which is against the grade of this place so how to deal in this ok so sometimes very strict and rigid in dealing with family members then they get alienated if we are accommodating then they also become appreciative at least the relationship doesn't remain so thawed but then accommodating them they are breaking regular principles so how should we to what extent can we go in accommodating others first thing is that we can't control others especially in today's world we just can't control others essentially we can do three things for others in any relationship we can share knowledge we can set example and we can provide inspiration or no sorry we can provide facilities all three these three comprise inspiration so knowledge means say for example parents want their children to become devotees they can give philosophical knowledge this is right this is wrong that is important to me don't just tell this is right wrong but explain why it is right or wrong why this is beneficial why this is harmful so we can give knowledge then second thing is I can set an example so if our relatives see that oh by this bhakti he or she they become a better person they may have certain things which I can't understand they don't like but overall they are there to help us they are kind they are sensitive they are more tolerant less short tempered so if they see some positive changes in our life that will be the best way we can attract them because everybody wants to become better everybody wants to improve so if they see that this bhakti has improved us they will also be more inclined to practise bhakti and third is we can provide facilities that means rather than we ourselves constantly preaching to them we can when I was introduced to Krishna Consciousness I also did something similar I alienated my relatives quite a bit then I asked one of our sanyasi leaders I asked Jai Dvait Maharaj how should we preach to our parents Maharaj replied by letting anyone except you preach to them so even that your parents have seen you as a small baby they cannot take philosophy from you very seriously at least not initially they said let others preach to them and that's what when I did I connected them with other devotees especially devotees of their age group devotees from their maybe not a generation but from their cultural setting devotees with whom they could be like minded then they started taking up bhakti very nicely so we tried to provide facilities so these are the three main things we can do, knowledge, example and facilities and if we do this we have done our part even if others are breaking their principles if we try to become very strict and rigid, you should not do this you should not do this we don't really have much control over people in today's world so it is better that they may be doing something wrong and have the right attitude towards devotees then eventually they may give up that wrong and come towards Krishna but in the effort to get them to do the right thing if we come off as very judgemental, very demanding and they get a wrong attitude towards devotees then that makes it even more difficult for them to ever come towards the right path so the important thing in our relationships is that we should ensure that people get a favour, at the very least a favourable perception of Krishna even sometimes we may have vigorous philosophical debates with people at the end of it we should just put aside we are relatives and I appreciate you as a relative and we can be courteous with them so people should as much as possible ensure that when people have interaction with a devotee we are acting as devotees now we are representing devotees that interaction should not leave them with a bad taste in the mouth I met a person I would like to meet this person again that should never happen if they get an appreciative attitude towards devotees that itself is ajnana sukruti and that is by appreciating devotees they are doing some unknowing pious credits and those unknowing pious credits will contribute and eventually enable them to come towards Krishna does it address your question? thank you very much shall we stop here? ok so Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita also doesn't talk much about the Vedas per se so when we talk about Shastra what is the parameter by which we decide what is Shastra yes aneka shastram bahude dita uvyam alpascha kaala bhavescha vigna tatsara bhutam padupasita uvyam hamso yatha sangaha so what it says is there are aneka shastram there are many many scriptures and bahude dita uvyam that each of them each of the verses in the scripture can be interpreted in many ways interpreted not just in terms of speculation but it can have many levels of meaning also and alpascha kaala we have very little time on top of that bhavescha vigna even with the time that we have there are so many obstacles we start studying scripture and suddenly our cell phone rings we start studying scripture and suddenly maybe our child or grandchild comes and wants to play so we because the scriptures are so big their import is so deep because our time is so little because our obstacles are so many so therefore rather than going into rather than even attempting an exhaustive study of scripture tatsara bhutam padupasita uvyam therefore focus on the essence focus on cherish that and just as a hamsa focusses on milk takes the milk out of the water and uses that so broadly speaking scripture is essentially scripture is god's guideline to humanity to elevate our consciousness god has provided us knowledge sorry arranged for provision of food, of water of air of heat, light so just as all these are the necessities of life and god has provided for them similarly knowledge is also necessity of life and god has provided for that also so that means from the basic understanding of god and his provision we can infer that god will provide knowledge also and that knowledge comprises revelation, scriptures which are the revealed knowledge coming from god now within this god recognises the different people at different levels and he gives guidelines for which they can be elevated so the broad vedic message can be categorised into three categories there is karma kanda there is jnana kanda, there is upasana kanda and there is bhakti so karma kanda focusses primarily on how we can religiously enjoy this world we can do certain punya, we can do certain activities by which we can get good results and we can enjoy this world jnana goes to so if we consider the pendulum, karma is one extreme of the pendulum we do dharma and enjoy jnana is the other extreme of the pendulum which is this world is a temporary place, it is a place of illusion, of bondage get out of this world and renunciation is the focus and then the balance stage is bhakti where we understand that this world is meant neither for my enjoyment, nor is it meant for my renunciation it is meant for god's service so in karma people romanticise the world in jnana people demonise the world in bhakti we utilise the world so jnana comes in the often jnana comes in the jnana marga I'll come to the point, wait a minute the significant difference between jnana itself and jnana kanda or jnana marga jnana marga, the path of jnana, it focusses primarily on knowledge and on the renunciation of the world the path of bhakti focusses on utilisation of the world now within bhakti, there is karma and jnana both so it's the words when we talk about karma marga that is different from karma itself so karma, if you just use it generically to mean action and jnana to mean generically knowledge, then karma and jnana are both included in bhakti so karma and jnana are both uncovered, purified and then they are utilised in bhakti but jnana marga itself means which focusses primarily on renunciation of the world so the vedas in terms of the four samhitas they primarily focus on karma kanda the upanishads they focus primarily on jnana kanda and that's why if you look from the vedas to the upanishads the upanishads strongly reproach many of the sacrifices that are glorified in the vedas down with the sacrifices they are all temporary, they will keep you in the realm of darkness so that's it like that in the upanishads so the point is there is gradual elevation from karma towards jnana initially when a person is materialistic at least acknowledging that god exists and I should worship him and thereby I will be able to so I should worship him and by worshipping him at least I become some level pious, that is good then one says okay getting good things in the world is not the goal of life I have to go beyond this world, that is jnana but bhakti is, recognises that yes we have to go beyond the world but going beyond the world doesn't mean rejecting the world because god of the absolute truth doesn't exist just beyond the world the absolute truth is accessible even in this world so Krishna says by your work worship him and thus you can attain perfection so scriptures there is karma kanda within it, jnana kanda within it bhakti within it so the bhagavad gita it it strongly points out the limitations of karma kanda and says that whatever we attain by it, it will be temporary in 9.21 Krishna says that whatever we attain even if we go to heavens we will fall back from the heavens therefore one should not strive for that and Krishna talks about jnana relatively more positively but there also he points out that renunciation renunciation is not practical he says so renunciation means what he is talking about is within bhakti there can be renunciation that is different from the renunciation of jnana marga jnana marga means one just renounces the world goes into a forest and absorbs oneself in samadhi within bhakti when we talk about renunciation whether in the vanaprastha ashram or the sanyasa ashram or the brahmacharya ashram there the focus is not so much on renouncing the world the focus is on serving Krishna and the different ashrams brahmacharyas also quite often stay in the world, sanyasis in fact travel so much in the world so the point is they are not rejecting the world they are using the world in Krishna's service and they are guiding others how to use the world in Krishna's service so the Bhagavad Gita focusses primarily on bhakti the Bhagavad Gita has 18 chapters and with those 18 chapters the first 6 chapters talk about how karma culminates in bhakti the last 6 chapters talk about how jnana culminates in bhakti the middle 6 chapters focus primarily on bhakti so the vedas, upanishads puranas, ikhyasas all of them come in the ambit of shastra but the acharyas have explained that we should focus on those books which talk about that which is most immediately relevant to us that which is most potent in elevating us and that's why under Srila Prabhupada's guidance we focus on the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam these are the primary scriptures for us the Bhagavad Gita basically tells us sadhya and sadhana what is the goal? that is Krishna and what is the means? that is bhakti and the Bhagavatam elaborates more on the sadhya and sadhana who is Krishna? so his pastimes are described in detail in 90 chapters of the 10th canto and many avatars are described in the Bhagavatam and bhakti, how is that to be practised? that sadhana that is also described elaborately through the examples of various devotees so Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam, these are primary scriptures and then the books that elaborate the teachings of those they, for example those which talk, explain more about Krishna those which talk elaborately about how to practise bhakti they are they are expansions of the scriptural canon but scripture essentially means the Vedic body, the Vedas Puranas, the Vedayas, Upanishads, Puranas and among them the most relevant for us in Kali Yuga is Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam does it answer your question? thank you very much Hare Krishna.