Damodarashtakam Texts 1-4 – Hindi

[Talk at Cincinnati, USA] Video:

So, I don't know we are expecting a couple of more students, but only one over here. You understand Hindi, no? Yes. Very good.

So, hopefully. What's the conclusion? I was just about to introduce you a little bit. So, I think many of you know this great person.

So, I don't know how many of you have heard of me. So, Param, you didn't meet me, right? Just a quick compilation. Okay.

Then I think, Amogh, Ajay Prabhu, you didn't meet me. So, Prabhuji, okay. Prabhuji speaks in English.

So, if you really need association, Krishnan Prabhu or Prabhuji can. So, actually, it's very difficult to describe, you know, I would call it Prabhuji. So, I will try to just read out something.

He is a gifted personality because of Krishna. You can see, you can really feel how he is empowered by Krishna. So, he is travelling, even if he has a little limitation on body limitation or whatever it is.

But he doesn't care. If we would have been there, oh, I can't do anything, you know. So, it's Krishna's mercy all around.

So, there are a lot of stories also. Prabhuji can tell his experience. We are seeing something happening that is present.

Maybe I will tell you at some point. So, basically, Prabhuji is a, you know, is a brahmachari, as you see from the saffron dress. And he is totally dedicated, you know, his life to Krishna.

His father was, he is pretty old. So, he made me, Prabhuji made me to talk to his father today and he is in deathbed. Of course, he has another brother.

So, it's amazing, you know. So, even his father is so graciously speaking and the communication between father and son was so lovely. Even if in the material world we will not have that much close interactions.

So, it's something very, very amazing, very rare. And, you know, talking about Prabhuji's qualities, he has, you know, other than Krishna consciousness, he is an author, he edits. Means, he is also editor of Back to Godhead magazine to some extent.

I don't know the much details. Plus, he has written number of books. And, you know, it's not that easy to write a book, you know.

So, unless you have in-depth knowledge on the subject, he has almost a dozen books. I think I have kept them, ten of them. And in one of the occasion or two of the times, Amit Prabhu and myself, Kusum, we went and saw Prabhuji's book.

So, you can, when you have time, you can go through. But I will just read a few of Prabhuji's, you know, excellent work in the field of Krishna consciousness. And, you know, his travel all around the world, you know, to educate us in the basic knowledge.

So, I will read something for you quickly. And we are already running late because it's a working day. And before coming, so people started going and thought of children's education and other things.

So, obviously, kids will not get up early. But we will see how fast we can grab something today. And by the way, whatever we had, you know, this meal, get together tomorrow, that discourse in Kusum's home because of Prabhuji's some urgent preoccupation that moved to sort of Friday.

That would be still better. So, hopefully, we will have bigger attendance. We have two, three families didn't turn up because of some problem in office and other stuff.

So, coming back to… It's okay, Prabhuji. Prabhuji, just one second. I will read something.

So, Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu is a mentor actually. He can teach. He can… You can feel confident to ask any questions confidentially.

Or he can groom you if you are so interested. And by the way, one devotee, his name is Arpan Prabhu, he came once here. He saw and he became devotee.

You know, they are nice to meet Prabhu. He is coming five hours all the way to see Prabhuji. So, it's amazing, you know, how you take it, how serious you are in your devotional path.

And as you know, he is a monk. He is a good speaker which you will come to know. He has authored 25 books on applied mindfulness and purpose of living.

Why we are in this world. So, author of 3,500 daily inspirational meditations on Bhagavad Gita. He is an invited speaker to TEDx, World Peace Conference, UNESCO, Intel, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Massachusetts and Cambridge.

So, there is lot of things, you know. These are the highly rated institutions, you know. They invite daily very high rated speakers.

So, you can imagine. So, let us utilise our time today to learn something from Prabhuji. Even if working day, you are not going to lose anything.

We just see immediately how are affected, what we don't see, what is the benefit in future. So, Prabhuji has given 400 talks at 100 cities in 4 continents. And he moves around a lot each year with whatever limitations he has.

He doesn't care, you know. So, whenever I see Prabhuji, he gives some inspiration to me. And hopefully, we will take something today from and contemplate on that.

So, let us welcome Prabhuji once again and welcome all of you this evening. We will welcome Prabhuji and start the programme. Hari Ho! Hari Ho! Hari Ho! Who remembers the topic? Hare Krishna.

So, happy to be here amongst all of you today. And today is the sacred month of Kartik going on. It is a very special occasion.

And in this month, we sing the Damodarashtakam. It is a special set of prayers composed for glorifying Krishna. So, I have been taking a series of talks on Damodarashtakam.

So, there are 8 verses, one-one talk per each verse. So, I will speak today on the fourth verse in this Damodarashtakam. And I will talk it based on the theme of how Krishna is Krishna's greatest blessing.

Now, as we go over the verse first, it is Varam devamoksham na mokshavadhimva na chanyam runeham vareshad apiha idam te vapurnatha gopala balam sadame manasyami rashtam ki manyai So, the devotee Satyavadpuni is praying that I do not, that you O Lord are capable of giving any and every kind of benediction. You can give happiness in this world, you can give liberation beyond this world. But whatever benediction you can give, I don't want any of those.

What I want is, I simply want to meditate on your attractive form. idam te vapurnatha gopala balam Your beautiful form as a cowherd boy. sadame manasyami rashtam ki manyai Let me always remember that form.

So, all of us… How many of you prefer Hindi? Hindi? Sorry? Hindi? Hindi? Okay. Okay, fine. Everybody understands Hindi, isn't it? So, today we will discuss about Damodar Leela.

We will discuss about Damodar Leela. And in Damodar Leela, we will discuss how God is the biggest gift of God. God is the biggest blessing of God.

This is very… So, we all want different things in this world. There are some needs, some desires. And we try to get all of them.

And when we try like this, sometimes we feel that with our own strength, we can't fulfil our own desires and needs. And then we see if there is someone bigger than us who can help us. We investigate about that.

And then we can know something about God. So, now, many people are interested in God because what can God give me? There is no interest in God. What can God give me? That is the interest.

Many times, psychologists have corrected this, that if you go to a shopping mall, you buy something there, and there is an attendant sitting on the check-in counter, and then you give your list, which you have bought, you give your card, and then they give you receipt. So, when this is going on, what happens is, you give your card, you give your list, and when they return it, the person there changes, means, there is a young person sitting there, and instead of him, there is an old person. And about 90% people don't even see that the person has changed.

Because what is it? They don't care about that person. That person, what I want, let's say, we take our list, and then they give us our bill. If they work according to our expectations, then we don't even pay attention to them.

If they don't work according to our expectations, then maybe they are just giving the receipt, and you are looking at your phone, and then if they don't give, you don't understand anything. Then what happens? Then we look at them. This is called transactional analysis, or transactional interaction.

You just have to make a transaction. I give you this, you give me that. So most of the people who have a connection with God, they are on this level, that I will give you something, I will worship you, I will do something, I will serve you, and you give me this.

And in this transaction, who is God? There is no interest in this. And when that person, as we want, in the shop, as we want, if that person doesn't do it, then we get surprised. What happened? Who is this person? Why is he doing this? In the same way, when God appears in Krishna Leela, then as we expect, God doesn't work.

And then the person has to think, what is this? Who is this? Why is he doing this? So in most of the religions, there is a feeling that God is the supreme father. And we are all his children. We are all his servants.

So this is an ordinary relationship between the soul and God. Between us and God. But in this Leela, we see that this relationship is completely opposite.

That God is not working as a father. God has become a child. How is this possible? To understand this secret, we need Tattva Gyan, in the form of Parashur Bhumi.

So this Shloka, in Damodar Ashtakam, there are 8 Ashtakams, so there are 8 Shlokas. In that, there is this feeling. First of all, we are being told that how many of you know this, Damodar Ashtakam? Does anyone know? Those who know, you can recite with me.

We are going to offer the lamp today. Is it here or there? Do we have sheets? Yes, we have sheets. Then we can read it.

This is the first Shloka. We will not sing it now. We will just recite it.

You can also recite with me. So, Namami Shwaram Sachi Ananda Roopam Who is He? He is Param Purshottam Bhagwan. He is Ishwar.

And I bow to Him. But, if you want to understand Bhagwan, you have to understand two things. His glory and His sweetness.

God's greatness and God's sweetness. So, this glory of Bhagwan, I will tell in two lines and finish it soon. And this complete Shloka is about Bhagwan's sweetness.

So, He is Param Purshottam Bhagwan. But what is He doing? Lasat Kundalam Gokule Rajamanam Lasat Kundalam Gokule Rajamanam So, He is wearing a kundal. What is the kundal He is wearing? It is very attractive.

Why is it attractive? Because Bhagwan is running. When we wear something, and if we run wearing it, that thing also runs with us. So, it is moving.

And it looks very beautiful. Lasat Kundalam Gokule Rajamanam The Gokul Dham is the dham of Bhagwan. Bhagwan in the spiritual world, His most dear animal, who is it? Cow.

So, now, the cow He plays with it. The dham is called Gokul. And Gokule Rajamanam So, in the Gokul dham He appears in a very fiery form.

And He is shining Gokul. Gokule Rajamanam So, now, any small child is very attractive. All people are attracted to children.

All children are attractive in a way. But some children are very attractive. So, this small child is very attractive.

And then, what is happening? Why is it running? Yashoda Bhiyo Loka Lata Vamanam Yashoda Bhiyo Loka Lata Vamanam So, he is running in fear of Yashoda. Now, Yashoda is the mother of Bhagwan. Now, someone may ask, how can she be the mother of Bhagwan? Bhagwan is everyone's mother and father.

There is a famous prayer which says, O Lord, You are my mother, You are my father, You are my brother, You are my friend, You are my wealth, You are my knowledge. O Lord, You are my everything. So, Bhagwan is everyone's mother and father.

So, how can he be the mother and father of Bhagwan? So, this is Leela. Leela means that Bhagwan plays a kind of dramatic role. He plays a drama.

But when he plays a drama, he has a feeling of a lie. But this is not a lie, this is the ultimate truth that Bhagwan in the spiritual world just by showing his wealth I am Bhagwan, all of you come and bow down to me. He does not take interest in that.

Bhagwan does not take interest in becoming everyone's servant. He has to do it. He does it.

But Bhagwan also has a personal life. I have a friend. He has become a very righteous person in India.

He told me that even he is very interested in justice. He has a zeal for it. But still he says that if I have to do justice all my life from morning to evening, then I will get tired.

Justice has a very personal life. It is a practical life. Similarly, Bhagwan has a small role for justice.

Bhagwan has a personal life. And that personal life is in Gokul. It is in Gokul Vrindavan.

And in Vrindavan, there Bhagwan does not show his godliness. What does Bhagwan do there? He shows his maturity. Suppose there is a very rich person.

It's okay. I don't eat right now. So, Bhagwan is there.

There must be a very rich person. So that rich person, suppose he is with his friends or relatives, then only he does a play. And in that play, he becomes a beggar.

And he says, I have not eaten since three days. In reality, I have eaten three times But what is it? It is a play. And if he does a play like this, then everyone enjoys it as much as he does it well.

And the joy of the play comes only when the dancers and the audience all lean into it. Emotions. They accept his emotions.

So, why does Bhagwan do a play like this? He becomes a small child. Because Bhagwan wants that he has all kinds of relations. And he also has all kinds of relations.

So, now, we all have different relations. We are all parents. We are all brothers and sisters.

We are husband and wife. We are someone's sons and daughters. We are someone's friends.

So, now, in every relation there is a kind of joy. There is a kind of joy. Just as we also want different kinds of joy, similarly, Bhagwan also wants different kinds of joy.

And that is why, what does Bhagwan do? He wants that he experiences the love of a mother. And there are such devotees who want to love them as their own children. They want to love them as their own children.

Everywhere, in whichever way devotees want to worship Bhagwan in whichever form, Bhagwan manifests that kind of form. This is Bhagwan's supreme grace. And in this way, what does Bhagwan do? He takes the form of a small child and in the form of that child he does Leela.

Leela means this is a drama. But drama means this is not a lie. This is the ultimate truth.

Because what is the ultimate truth? Bhagwan is the ultimate truth. But Bhagwan also wants love. And whatever is necessary for love, Bhagwan does it.

And in this way, in Vrindavan, Leela is happening. So, from the western countries, in the 18th century, people came to India from the western countries. So, they went to Vrindavan, to the area of Mathura, to South India, to North India.

And at many places, they saw these pictures on the walls, these sculptures. There is a small child, and there is something white on his face, and his hand is in a pot. And they asked him, what is this? He said, this is Bhagwan.

Now, in the western religions, in the Christian religions, Bhagwan is imagined as a very serious, old person, with long beard, and he is sitting on the clouds. And whoever commits a sin, he gives them electricity, and sends them to hell. This is the imagination.

A small child, Bhagwan, what is he doing? He is stealing butter. Bhagwan? Bhagwan is stealing? Bhagwan gives everything to people on the right path. There is a commandment in the Bible, Thou shall not steal.

Bhagwan is saying this, Bhagwan is stealing. He has to steal, but he is not stealing gold and silver, he is stealing butter. What is the use of stealing butter? So, this imagination of Krishna, of Bhagwan, many western people, what happened to them? Their brain got short-circuited.

Intellectually short-circuited. What is this? What kind of Bhagwan is this? This is a subversive notion of divinity. It is like this.

It is the imagination of Bhagwan. It is very wonderful. Maybe we have been hearing this in our culture since childhood.

That is why it does not seem so wonderful to us. But in reality, if you think about it, the Bhagwan who is Parampurushottam, who is the most powerful, why is he a small child? Because he wants to achieve love. And why is he stealing? In reality, everything belongs to Bhagwan.

He is the Maheshwara of the whole world. But he steals because, how does it usually happen? In every work, when there is opposition, there is some excitement. There is some excitement.

Suppose there is a cricket match going on. If one team is very good, and the other team does not know how to play at all. And there is nothing in front of them.

If there is a match between two such teams, then what will happen? Nobody will be interested in watching it. If both the teams are equal, then what happens? One team wants to win, and the other team opposes. So when there is opposition, then there is some excitement.

There is some excitement. And if there is no opposition, then what? You know what is going to happen. If you are reading a book, or watching a movie, if you already know the whole story, then you will think, what is there to see? So what happens? When Bhagwan wants to bring between him and his mother, there is some excitement.

There is some excitement. What does he do? His mother can feed him butter directly. But he does not eat butter.

Krishna stealthily steals something. He does some mischief. And what happens to such mischief? Some run away, some try to catch them.

Some are saved, some are caught. So what happens with this? In their relationship, different kinds of juices come. So Bhagwan steals.

He is not unethical. Because everything is his property. But he is stealing so that there is more juice in the relationship.

Then why is he stealing butter? If he wants to steal, he can steal something else. He is a small child. These small children are called Annamaykosh.

Annamaykosh means that all of existence is potential food. Everything small child, he experiences the world with his tongue. Whatever he gets, he puts it in his mouth.

He will put his finger in his mouth, his foot in his mouth, whatever he puts in his mouth, he experiences. So what happens? For small children, if there is something tasty in the food, it is very valuable. For small children, gold, silver, what is that? So what does Krishna want? He wants to get the form of a small child.

And for a small child, tasty food is very important. He likes it a lot. And especially the butter is a form of love for Yashodamayi and Gopis.

It is a form of love. He worked very hard, he made butter from cow's milk. And when that butter is there, it is very soft.

In the same way, when we do bhakti, the butter of our heart is there. When the butter of the heart is there, then the heart becomes very soft. It becomes sweet.

And then God comes and steals that heart. The butter thief God is actually a heart thief. So what has happened here, in this meela, that God has made a mistake and he is running away.

So when he is running away, Yashodamayi is running after him. And Krishna got scared. And because of the fear, he is running away.

But what happened? The last line in the first shloka param rishtam atyantato dhritya gopya param rishtam atyantato dhritya gopya that Yashoda runs faster than him, runs faster, and catches him. It is very simple. Nobody can catch God.

God catches everyone. If someone in traffic, in traffic, a person who is running faster, a person who is running faster, a police car comes. And now, for ordinary citizens, there are some rules of the police.

But if there is a police car and it is catching a criminal, then there is no speed limit. So when a person sees a police car, he gets scared. What did I do? Why are they following me? But, if, the police are running and someone is following them.

What is this? The police are running. Who scared the police? So, everyone lives in the fear of God. It is said in the Bible that fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The person who does not have the fear of God, everyone should be afraid of God. Because, if one does not have the fear of God, then that person does not care about ethics and non-ethics.

There is no wisdom in it. He can do anything for his selfishness. And such a person is very dangerous.

One should stay away from him. Generally, everyone is afraid of God. But what has happened here? Here, God is afraid.

And God is running. And the criminal is running. God has been caught.

God has been caught. So, this is the complete opposite of God's simple thought. Sarvaarthan Viparitanshya What is happening? So, now, in the next verse, this is the description of Leela.

So, there are eight verses. In two verses, there is the description of Leela. And in the last six verses, there is the explanation of Leela.

It has been expanded. What is its importance? So, the second verse is Rudantam Muhurnetram Yugmam Rajantam Rudantam Muhurnetram Yugmam Rajantam So, what is God doing? He is crying. Krishna is crying.

Rudantam Muhurnetram He is crying. He is crying again and again. And not only is he crying, Netram Unnetram His eyes are shedding tears.

Yugmam Rajantam His eyes are shedding tears. He is wiping his eyes with his hands. Karambhoja His hands are like lotus.

Karambhoja Yugmena Satanka Netram Karambhoja Yugmena Satanka Netram So, now, What are his eyes? How are they? They are of terror. Now, the word terror is used in today's world with terrorists. Terrorists are here.

Everyone will be scared. Terrorism does not mean fear. It is a very big fear.

One is called fear in English. The other is terror. So, terror means a very big fear.

So, in the last verse, it is said that there is fear. When Krishna was running, he had fear. My mother will catch him.

But now that he has been caught, the fear has increased. What has happened? Terror has been created. And, Satanka Netram Krishna is looking down and you are looking up.

What happened? Is my mother really angry? How angry? What is she going to do now? So, Yashoda why is she so angry now? Because, in a way, she is worried about her mother. She is worried about her mother. It is said that worry is a part of the job description of being a mother.

When someone becomes a mother, then what happens? Worrying about her child is natural. So, Yashoda is also worried. What is Yashoda worried about? That he is a small child, but he is also acting like a child.

He is stealing. Now, he is stealing around. But, Yashoda is worried that if he keeps on stealing, then when he grows up, his name will be like that of a thief, then he will be defamed.

And if he is defamed, then no father will give his daughter to my Krishna in the form of marriage. And then, Krishna is a small child, but Yashoda is worried about Krishna's marriage. And because of that, she is thinking, what will happen to Krishna now? That is why, it is not a big deal but what will happen if his name is defamed by stealing again and again? He is very worried.

And, Krishna is thinking, why is Yashoda so angry? And what will happen to me now? He is afraid. And now, both were running. Running means, Krishna was running and Yashoda was running after him.

So, when we run, what happens? Our breath becomes strong. Now, both have stopped, but Krishna's breath is still very strong. So, His breath is very strong.

And his throat, his chest is going up and down. It is coming out, but it is also going up and down. So, there are three lines in his throat.

See, in different cultures, there are different concepts of beauty. In some cultures, if a person's nose is big, he is considered beautiful. If his nose is small, he is considered beautiful.

If his eyes are big, he is considered beautiful. So, there are different concepts of beauty. In ancient India, if a person has three lines in his throat, he is considered beautiful.

So, Krishna is scared, but even in the state of fear, he is looking very beautiful. This is a big feature. Suppose, someone has a horrible dream.

And then he comes running out of his room to someone else. So, when all his hair is visible, all his clothes are scattered here and there, so now, when he is in fear, he does not look beautiful. Some people say, when you are angry, you look beautiful in anger.

But, usually, no one says that you look beautiful in fear. But, God is so divine, so beautiful, that even when he is scared, he looks beautiful. That is why, three lines in his throat.

So, God is very divine. And whatever he does, in that, his beauty, his sweetness, his divinity is always intact. So, what is God doing now? He… like this, Yashoda runs towards him, then catches him.

Yashoda tries to tie him up. But what happens? She cannot tie him up. She tries a lot.

And this, trying to tie him up, not being able to tie him up, not being able to tie him up, is better than this. But here, what is the solution? What happens? In the end, So, this God, Damodar. His name is Krishna.

Now, he has become Damodar. Udar means the part of the stomach. Dam means rope.

So, God is tied up with a rope. But which rope is this? It is not an ordinary rope. No rope is sufficient to tie up God.

The rope is Bhakti Bajdham. God is tied up only with devotion. He cannot be tied up with anything else.

So, God is infinite. God takes darshan of Vishwaroop in Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita. And Arjuna says, O Lord, where is your beginning? Where is your end? Where is your middle? I cannot see anything.

So, such an infinite God, how can anyone tie him up? How can anyone tie him up? It is ordinary. No one can tie him up. But here, he is tied up because he is tied up with love.

So, what is this love? What is the power of the devotees of God? When we appear in front of God as His devotees, what happens in the ordinary world? We want to show our power. That I have done this, I have done that. I am so great, I am so great.

So, we show our greatness. But when we come in front of God, the more we show ourselves to be humble, the more we show ourselves to be helpless, the more God likes us. And then God gives us His power.

And the power of God is infinite. So, how has Yashoda been tied up? Because of her devotion, Yashoda has been able to tie up Krishna. So, this God is ordinary.

It is like this, if we compare God with a judge, then the judge, when someone is accused, then the judge decides and then the person is tied up. But if you go to a court, the judge is tied up. What is happening here? But here it has happened that God has been tied up.

And how has God been tied up? Because of love. So, this whole play has been made up in a way. It is very wonderful.

The relationship between God and the devotee has been completely reversed here. And this reverse is very wonderful. And why has this happened? Because of love, because of devotion.

And this, in the first two shlokas, there is a description of Leela. And in the other shlokas, there is a description of Leela. Now we will see two more shlokas.

And then we will be able to see four shlokas. Iti Druk Swa Leela Bherananda Kunde Iti Druk Swa Leela Bherananda Kunde Iti Druk, see like this. Swa Leela Bherananda Kunde He is doing his own Leela with his great inner devotees.

And what is happening is that by seeing this Leela, those who actually understand what is happening, they experience a great joy. Anand Kunde If there is a big ocean of joy, then someone will be afraid that if I go to the ocean, I will drown. But suppose it is very hot and there is a small swimming pool in someone's house.

So now, if someone jumps in it, then what happens? There is relief. It is small, so there is no fear of drowning. Anand Kunde It is said that such a Kunde has jumped in it and the devotees experience an infinite joy.

In this material world, there are different kinds of sorrows. But beyond all this, there is a divine joy. That is God's Sruti.

Sukha Taram Aparam Naja Tu Jaane Hari Charana Smarana Amrute Natulyam Like God's memory, there is no other joy in this material world. Anand Kunde They are experiencing joy. And what are they doing? They are experiencing joy.

Can you talk a little softly? Swaghosham Nimajantam Akhyapayantam Swaghosham Nimajantam Akhyapayantam Swaghosham So in this way, they are proclaiming. Akhyapayantam With their disciples, they are proclaiming. Nimajantam Akhyapayantam Those who are immersed in joy, they are proclaiming.

What are they proclaiming? Tadeeshi Tadgeshu Bhaktairjitatvam Tadeeshi Tadgeshu Bhaktairjitatvam That, the person who emphasises the glory of God, that God is so great, they will be told, yes, you can know the glory of God, but you have to make God your own. So for that, you have to become the glory of God and understand the sweetness of God. Devotion, there are two parts to it.

One is, when you understand the glory of God, then what happens? Numbness comes. Knowing God's greatness brings submission. And knowing God's sweetness brings affection.

When we know the glory of God, then we feel humble. And when we know the sweetness of God, then we feel affection. And when humility and affection come together, then there is devotion.

In devotion, there is not only affection, there is not only humility. Devotion is a combination of both. So, it is necessary to understand the glory of God.

I was giving a lecture in Pune, and I was telling there that some Brajwasi, Yashodamayi, Nanda Maharaj, they all do not believe Krishna to be God. So one person raised his hand and said, I also do not believe Krishna to be God. So now, one is ignorance and the other is trans-ignorance.

One is having a determination due to ignorance, and the other is having a determination due to love. So now, those who are in ignorance, they think that there is no God, who is God, Krishna is not God. These are all symptoms of ignorance.

But how is it that the person whose heart is not filled with divine love, then their vision is different. So, the knowledge of the glory of God, which is told by Acharya, that it is like stars in the clouds. Now, there are stars in the clouds, in the day also, but the stars are not visible in the day.

In the day, the sunlight is so bright that the stars are not visible. Now, someone is in darkness, there is nothing at night, there is no light, then the stars are very important. So, the solar star, the star, looking at it, let's say, the ships in the sea, they find their way.

They used to do like this before the composition of the compass. So now, the knowledge of the glory of God is like stars. And when we are in the darkness of ignorance, it is very important to understand the glory of God.

Understanding the glory of God, understanding the essence of Bhagavad Gita, understanding the spiritual knowledge of Bhagavad Gita, is very important. Let's say, it is dark, and there are no stars in the clouds. The person will be completely lost.

So, when people are in ignorance, it is very important to understand the glory of God. The glory of God is like stars. And through the stars, we find our way.

But, the person who sees the stars, walks in the darkness. And then, he reaches his destination. And when he reaches his destination, then, the sun rises there.

And the sun rises there. And when the sun rises, then, there are still stars in the sky, but they are not visible. So, in that way, the person who is in ignorance and in darkness, he is in such a cloud where there are no stars.

He is completely lost. But, the devotees who understand the spiritual knowledge of Bhagavad Gita, they find stars in the sky. And through the spiritual knowledge of Bhagavad Gita, the person lives his life.

And then, gradually, he reaches his destination. And what is the destination? The destination is Bhagavad Prem. And when Bhagavad Prem comes, then what happens? Here, the stars are not needed.

When Bhagavad Prem comes, then, the devotee, the great devotee, the Rajvasi, he does not love Krishna because Krishna is God. He loves Krishna because Krishna is so attractive. Krishna is so full of love.

He loves Krishna because Krishna is Krishna. Krishna is God. He has the knowledge that Krishna is God.

But that knowledge has gone behind his consciousness. He does not know. He has the knowledge, but he does not know.

For him, that knowledge is like a star in his heart. It is there, but it is not visible. Now, if this Yashodamayi always remembers that Krishna is God, then that Krishna is God.

He is planning my food. Why should I plan his food? There will be no feeling of service. So, what happens for the feeling of service? He forgets in a way that Krishna is God.

And here, it is told that that God lives only through devotion. He cannot live through anything else. And tatha prema bhaktin sorry tad dheeshita gheeshu bhakta jee tattvam worship such God.

Not once, not twice, but hundreds of times. Hundreds of times I thank him. In a way, he is a great person.

We get attracted to his greatness. But when we see how sweet he is, we get more attracted to him. So, in this way, suppose there is a military general, a national commander, and he fights in a big war without any fear, and he has defeated big enemies.

So, when we get to know him, we will be surprised and happy. In a way, we will get to know him. He is such a great person.

We will respect him. But suppose we go to his house and see that he has a grandson and the grandson has made him a horse. And he is running in the form of a horse.

So, he is such a great person, and when we see him, a different kind of love. The military general who has defeated big enemies, his grandson has made him a horse. And he is running and trying to escape from him.

So, what happens by seeing him? Our respect for him will increase even more. In the same way, Satyaguni is saying that God is so amazing that he becomes bound with the love of his devotees. And I salute God time and again.

The 6th verse is Varam devamoksham namokshavadhimvam Varam devamoksham namokshavadhimvam O God, you can give different types of boons. Your greatness is such that you give boons. And you give different types of boons.

But I want only one boon. Some people say that you give me wealth in this material world. When this feeling arises, it means that we are doing a business with God.

I give you this, you give me that. And if someone does business, if he does business, then people also become dishonest. They think that I will give the least and get the most.

So once a person bought a lottery ticket. And that lottery ticket was for one crore rupees. And then he went to the temple.

And then he said to God, O God, if I get this lottery ticket, then I will give you 50 crores. If I get 1 crore, I will give you 50 lakhs. So after a week, that lottery result was there.

So after a week, what happened? When the result came out, what did he know? Why? He got a ticket for 50 lakhs. So how much was it? He got a ticket for 50 lakhs. So he went to the temple with the 50 lakh ticket.

O God, you turned out to be very intelligent. You had already taken your share. So what happens? When we have a relationship with God in the form of business, so what happens? So there, sometimes dishonesty happens.

So what is this kind of relationship? I will give you something, but you should give me more than that. But it is not like that. I will give you a little, but you give me a lot.

It is not like that. I don't want material wealth. I don't want any position.

What do I want? Now some people are spiritually intelligent, they understand that all these material things trap us in bondage. Attachment comes in our life, and because of attachment, there is pain. The more we are attached to something, the more that thing goes away, and there is a fear of going away, and that is why there is pain.

That is why someone thinks, I don't want these things. So a little intelligent person thinks, I want to be free of all attachments. I want to be free of this bondage.

He says, I don't want that either. I don't want salvation. What is greater than salvation? This is the material world, this is the position of salvation, and beyond that is the spiritual world.

And what is there in the spiritual world? God lives in Vaikuntha, in Vishnu's form. He says, Moksha Vadhimva. The attainment of Vaikuntha is greater than salvation, where God lives with his devotees.

He says, I don't want that either. Moksha Vadhimva. nācānyam runehaṁ vareśād api haṁ nācānyam runehaṁ vareśād api haṁ And, apart from this, if you want to give something, I don't want that either.

Then what do you want? If you don't want anything, then what do you want? The thing is, there is a feeling that we can't just say no. If we don't say no to something, then it is not possible, at the mental level. At the spiritual level, if I touch it, then let's say, there is an electric shock, an electric current, then I will decide that in this entire discourse, I can move my hand, but I won't touch it.

So, if there is a physical object, we can decide that I won't touch it. But, at the mental level, we can't do this. If at the mental level, we say that I won't think about it, then what is it? Let's say, for the next 30 seconds, you don't think about a pink monkey.

Apart from a pink monkey, you can think about anything. Just don't think about a pink monkey. You must have never thought about a pink monkey.

A pink monkey? How did it become pink? Did it fall in the pink paint? Or, did someone change its jeans and it became pink? You started thinking about a pink monkey. So, what is it? If we don't say no to anything, then it becomes difficult to do it. What is it? To think that I will not think of something is also to think of that thing.

I won't think about it. If I think about it, then my thinking power is touching that thing. That's why, in our life, not saying no to anything is neither pleasant nor easy.

That's why, what is more important than saying no? To say yes. Suppose, you are in a room and there is only one person in that room, and you are angry with that person. And you have decided that you won't talk to him.

And suppose, you both have to sit in the same room for an hour. What will you do? You don't even have a phone. If you had a phone, you could do something.

What will you do? If there is no one else, you will have to talk to him. But suppose, there is another person in that room and you are interested in that person. You have a good relationship with him.

So, you will start talking to that person. And then, it will become easier not to pay attention to that person. Similarly, in our life, we might have some bad habits, some bad desires.

It is very difficult to say no to them. So, if he is there and we are there. I won't do this.

I won't do that. What will happen? If I don't do this, it won't end. I won't do this.

I won't do that. I will do that. So, what is it? We don't have to think about what we don't have to do.

What do we have to do? I want to do this. I want to do that. So, you will start doing that.

And then, what you don't have to do, will be left on its own. So, here, he is telling that I won't do this. I don't want this.

But what does he want? idam te vapurnatha gopala balam idam te vapurnatha gopala balam sadame manasya virashtam ki manye sadame manasya virashtam ki manye He says, apart from this, may this form always come to my mind, may it always be in my mind, apart from this, what else do I want? So, I was telling you that we have many desires, many needs, but our most important need is that we need food, we need clothes, we need a house, we need water, we need air. But, apart from all these, our most important need is that we all need a satisfying object of thought. We need an object of thought that gives us satisfaction.

Because, there are many things in this world, and we think of many such things, and by thinking, we get distressed. Like, in western countries, people, generally, in good spiritual, good financial, good physical conditions, they were surveyed. They said that 5% of the time people are happy, 5% of the time people are sad, and 90% of the time people are bored.

And, the entertainment industry is basically a boredom industry. People are bored, and they want to escape from the boring situation. So, people see entertainment because they need a satisfying object of thought.

We need a thought that gives us satisfaction. But, entertainment is like a painkiller. We get a little bit of entertainment, but after that, we need more.

If someone takes a painkiller, we get a little relief, but later we need more dose of painkiller, and later we need more dose, and more dose. So, we need more entertainment. We need more.

Now, there is a psycho channel, and there is internet, so we can see different things, but still people are bored, people are depressed. So, what is it? We need enlightenment instead of entertainment to satisfy our mind. We need to get divine knowledge, and we get to know by getting divine knowledge that यो मामेव असमूर्हो जानाति पुरुष्योत्तमं ससर्वधिन भजपिमाम सर्वभावेन बारता that Bhagwan is the best person When we think about Bhagwan, what comes to our mind? भजभुरे मनः श्रिनन्दन्धन अभय चरणारविन्दरे When we think about Him, our mind is freed from fear, peace and happiness makes us happy and satisfied And this is what is desired here Satyagraha Puri is saying that how can we think about Bhagwan? If we want to think about something, we should be attracted to it I am an American, you are an Indian, Indians are very interested in cricket If we want to think about cricket, we get attracted to it If we want to think about baseball, we don't even know what it is How can we think about it? If we are attracted to something, it becomes easy to think about it So this description of Leela is such a sweet description that after listening to this Leela, we get attracted to Bhagwan When we get attracted to Bhagwan, our desire to think about Him increases So here Satyagraha Puri is saying O Lord, Your Leela is so sweet that I am attracted to it and I don't want anything else Other than this, I don't want anything else What is the importance of anything else? I don't want anything else So this is in our Dhammo Dharmas when we pray to Bhagwan, we can pray that all of us get attracted to Bhagwan and in our mind, Bhagwan becomes a thing that gives us ultimate peace and contentment and then whatever situation comes in our life, problems will come and go but contrary to that, we can remain focused on Bhagwan and remain stable and content So in summary, today we discussed how we can learn from Dhammo Dhar Leela So we discussed about how we can fulfil our desires when we are not able to fulfil our desires we think that maybe there is some Bhagwan who can help us fulfil our desires So at that time, we are not interested in Bhagwan we are interested in what Bhagwan can give us For example, when we go to a shop we are interested in who is there who does his work or not but the one who doesn't do his work we say, who are you? So we see Bhagwan and when we do something contrary to what Bhagwan does we are surprised we say, what kind of Bhagwan is this? So in this Leela, the whole opposite is happening Bhagwan is the father and here Bhagwan has become a child Bhagwan Everyone is afraid of Bhagwan but here Bhagwan is not afraid of anyone Everyone is afraid of Bhagwan because of fear of Bhagwan everyone is doing ethical work but Bhagwan is leaving everything here Everyone can't tie anyone to Bhagwan Bhagwan ties everyone for the sake of karma but here, God has tied Bhagwan So all this is contrary to what is expected When it has happened like this then what happens? At that time, who is this Bhagwan? We understand that it is a attraction attraction and then Bhagwan tells us about it He is telling us, who is this? This is Bhagwan's Leela Why does Bhagwan do Leela? Because he wants to experience all kinds of pleasures in all kinds of relationships Bhagwan has a personal life He is not happy Like a rich person plays the role of a beggar Similarly, Bhagwan does a Leela in Gokul in which he becomes a small child Why is he stealing? Because he gets a little suspense, romance When there is opposition, there is romance So Bhagwan makes his Leela very romantic, exciting and then Bhagwan is tied here No one can tie him but only through bhakti he is tied If you want to know about Bhagwan then two things are there His glory which brings humility and his sweetness which brings love and when both are together then it is love How can it come together? When you want to know about Bhagwan's glory it is like looking at the stars in the dark and walking on the right path But when Bhagwan's love awakens bhakti awakens pure bhakti So what is that? We have reached the dawn and when the sun rises then there is no need for stars Similarly, when we love Bhagwan so much that he knows Bhagwan's glory but he does not know He loves Bhagwan not only because he is Bhagwan but because he is Krishna Krishna is so attractive and Krishna when we understand how much he is hiding his Bhagwan for the sake of love then we are attracted to him and we all want in our life that we want a husband we can give Bhagwan What can we get from Bhagwan? Bhakti That is what we can get What is this? This is the most important need that a satisfying object of thought And when we go to Bhagwan through bhakti we come to know that Bhagwan is the most attractive object of thought and to think of Bhagwan is the greatest satisfaction the greatest happiness like when you are praying that Prabhu, may you always be in my state like this we can also pray that Bhagwan of our time may be awakened and may we be in his state Thank you very much Hare Krishna Any questions? I have a question You said that if there is any bad habit we should not say no we should pay attention to good things and gradually it will go away Why? See if there is any bad thing we should not pay attention to it No, it is not like that we should not pay attention There are many things that we should leave may be we get angry may be we get jealous may be we have bad feelings or bad habits then we should leave them but we should not make them the purpose of our life the purpose of our life is to connect to Bhagwan to do good things and when we force ourselves to do good things then what happens? then we live in a positive direction suppose someone is angry so now if we draw a graph that our anger may be at this level and sometimes it increases very much and now we decide to say something bad in anger and then we regret that we should not have said that so it is good to feel that we should not have done that but what happens when anger has an effect then it is difficult to stop so what should we do? if we say that I will not get angry then what happens? sometimes we decide that I will not get angry and if something happens then we get angry and if someone says that you are getting angry then we say I am not getting angry then they get angry because they do not remember then what happens? that if we keep a negative centre then we decide to get angry then what happens? I was in Canada one day finally I came to know the secret of detachment what secret? I took detachment against detachment laughter if in between we are trying to purify ourselves if we are doing bhakti if we are doing sadhana then what happens? we are getting energy if at that time we are not getting angry then what happens? we are not making ourselves powerful and next time we will get angry again so that is why we have to get rid of detachment but that detachment has not made our centre our centre is what I am going to do because there is an effect of every condition so it is very difficult to stop that effect suppose we are on a road and a big truck is coming I say I will stop that truck that truck will crush us so what happens? our habits many times we have done some work so that has also become like a truck and if I stop it alone then it is like stopping a truck that is impossible so if you want to stop a truck then what you have to do so if that truck is coming then you sit in another truck and if your truck is going that fast then that truck will also crush me so don't try to fight your bad habits try to create good habits and let the good habits fight your bad habits what is it? don't try to fight your bad habits yourself how can a single person fight a truck? create good habits and let the good habits fight the bad habits that is why it is important to stop bad habits but what am I going to do? focus on that someone will say that I waste a lot of time on my phone on facebook I won't do it ok, if you won't do it then what are you going to do? decide that I want to read Bhagavad Gita I will read Bhagavad Gita daily for 15 minutes half an hour so create that habit and what will happen? gradually you will get interested in Bhagavad Gita and maybe you will say that I won't put so much time in social media and still I am wasting time but as soon as you get interested in Bhagavad Gita then it will be easy to leave it so this is Bhavata don't focus on the number focus on half an hour yes you said something about Annamayya Kosha in the starting I have read somewhere that you have more layers correct so can you tell us about it? so there are different types of Kosha can you tell about it? so what is it? it is told in Upanishads there are 5 types of Kosha so what is Kosha? it is a level of consciousness it is a little complicated but what is the level of consciousness? the lowest level is called Pranamayya Kosha Pranamayya Kosha means how I keep my life balanced don't worry about that if there is any danger for example if we are hungry and someone is coming to kill us then leave the food and run away if we are alive then we can eat later so what is it? so first of all Pranamayya Kosha to keep my life balanced but Pranamayya Kosha means to eat food what is Annamayya Kosha? in Annamayya Kosha we don't just eat food to nourish our body we also enjoy food that's why cooking is an art so we are in Annamayya Kosha if someone is in Annamayya Kosha he will come to the room he will see there is a temple, a book where is the food? where is the fridge? so that is Annamayya Kosha Pranamayya Kosha then Annamayya Kosha sometimes these names are different but we will try to understand in that we have Manomayya Kosha the person who is on the mind who is more on the emotions than food suppose if we are eating something tasty but then we get some sad news so what happens then? the desire to eat will go suppose we love someone he has a big accident and he is on the verge of death then what to do? So, what is that? The experience of feelings is more than the experience of sensations.

So, when we talk about Anumaya Kosha, then thoughts, feelings are at this level. Most of the people are at the level of feelings. So, in today's people, a lot of mental problems are coming.

So, most of the people are at the level of mind and a lot of problems are coming in the mind. So, on top of that is Gyanamaya Kosha. There are different names for it.

First is thought. What is that? There is intellect on the mind. And then that person thinks what is the purpose of life.

I am eating food, I am taking care of my life. I want to experience good feelings. I want to stay away from bad feelings.

I am doing all this. What is the purpose of life? Everyone's end is going to be in freedom. So, there is something beyond freedom.

This level is actually the level of spiritual nature. So, in Anumaya and Pranamaya, most of the animals are at this level. There is a little bit of Anumaya in them, but in Gyanamaya, only Manamaya is there.

And beyond Gyanamaya is Anandamaya. And what happens in Anandamaya level? What happens in Anandamaya level? In Anandamaya level, we not only understand that I am a spiritual being, but there is also a supreme spiritual truth. And connecting with them.

And being absorbed in the love of that supreme truth is the ultimate purpose of life. So, one experiences divine bliss. Not physical bliss, not physical bliss, but one experiences divine bliss.

So, that is Anandamaya Kosha. So, our consciousness can be at different levels. To take consciousness to Anandamaya Kosha from those different levels, this is the challenge for all of us.

And to progress spiritually means to take consciousness to Anandamaya Kosha from wherever it is. Ok? Thank you very much. Sri Damodar Bhagwan ki Jai! Sri Damodarashtakam ki Jai! Sri Karthik Mahatma ki Jai! Sri Prabhupada ki Jai! Gaur Premande!