Dhruva pastime analysis 3 – DHRUV acronym – Realization and reconciliation result from devotion
Premanandam.
Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Good morning.
We are discussing Krishnabhagavatam, the fourth canto, the pastime of the Guru Maharaj. So, here, he has attained the spiritual world and Shri Prabhupada explains two characteristics of the spiritual world. Self-refugeance and selflessness.
The spiritual world does not depend on anything external for illumination. And those who attain the spiritual world are concerned about others. So, the spiritual world is not just a matter of location.
Sometimes you may say, okay, this is the map of India, this is the map of China. If you want to go from India to China, we move upwards. So, like that, we may think the spiritual world, this is the material world, this is the spiritual world.
We need to go from here to there. And the spiritual world does not exist at the same level of reality as the material world. That's why, going to the spiritual world is not a matter of physical transportation or physical relocation.
It requires elevation of consciousness. So, the spiritual world exists at another level of reality itself. And that level of reality is attained by attaining a level of consciousness.
So, Bhakti Sanath Prabhu put this as, you cannot get crashed into the kingdom of God. You cannot say, I've performed so much austerity, I did so much sadhana, therefore, I'm going to enter into the kingdom of God. Now, we cannot, we cannot immigrate into the kingdom of God.
Actually, we have to be invited there. It is when the doors open, only then we can enter over there. No matter what our endowment is, they don't make us qualified.
Actually, it's Krishna's mercy which makes us qualified. And Prabhupada explains that for going to the spiritual world, we need spiritual consciousness. And a simple way to understand the difference between material and spiritual consciousness is that who is the centre? Am I the centre? Or is Krishna, the service to Krishna, that is the centre? So, when we meet someone, if we think, what can this person do for me? That is material consciousness.
If I think, what can I do for this person? That is spiritual consciousness. Now, of course, in every relationship there is reciprocation. So, there is something that we contribute to that relationship.
There is something which they contribute. So, there is reciprocation, no doubt. But the thrust is not taking, but giving.
And that sense of service is manifested in this world also. And that is through, as Prabhupada says, compassion. That we try to share Krishna with others.
And Prabhupada himself is a prime example of this. In an advanced age, he travelled tirelessly across the world to give Krishna to as many people as possible. So, this concern about others rather than about oneself, this is actually the result of growth in spirituality.
And you see, this happens even in the life of Dhruva. We are discussing the acronym Dhruva. So, D, I talked about distress and direction.
H, I talked about humility and honesty. So, R, I talked about realisation and reconciliation. That when Dhruva is just a small boy, he goes in the forest, performs immense austerities.
And by the performance of those austerities, he gets the darshan of the lord. That lord in the supreme reality appears as a reality in front of his eyes. Realisation means that that which is a reality, we accept it to be a reality.
We experience it to be a reality. So, Krishna is the supreme reality. But presently, we do not experience Krishna directly so much.
But when we experience Krishna, that is when the realisation comes. Bhakti, Pareeshanbhav Viraktir Anyatra Chah. The process of bhakti, the Bhagavad Gita says, is meant to give us Pareeshanbhav, experience of that lord who is transcendental.
So, many people are interested in spiritual experiences. They say, oh, I am into disciplines. In terms of spiritual.
This wasn't so spiritual. I feel so spiritual in the association of that person. That's good.
The spiritual experiences, if you get them, they may prompt us to explore life's higher side. To understand that there is something more to life than the pursuit of wealth, sense enjoyment, power, pleasure, and other worldly things. So, that kind of spiritual experiences are good to have.
But, the purpose of spirituality is not just to experience spirituality. It is to become situated at the spiritual level of reality. When people talk about spiritual experience in their ideas, suddenly I experience something.
But, it is that spirituality is not just something which we experience, but spiritual level of reality is somewhere where we reside. And there is a process for going there. So, that process is the process of bhakti yoga.
So, this is the material level of reality, this is the spiritual level of reality. Sometimes, even when we are at the material level, somehow some experiences may come to us which may seem like spiritual. They are percolating down from there.
That is wonderful to have those experiences. But, the purpose of those experiences is to inspire us to raise our functions upwards. And the test that we have experienced Krishna is that bhakti pareshan bhava viraktir anyaja.
Some people, they say God is a delusion. The people who are non-intelligent, people who are sentimental, they imagine God to be existence. However, God is not a delusion.
The idea that God is a delusion is a delusion. Because God is the foundation of all existence. Some people ask if God created everything, who created God? They think this is the ultimate unanswerable question.
But, the question who created God is reflective of fundamental ignorance of the conception of God. To ask who created God is like asking who made a circle circular? Who made a circle circular? No, a circle by definition is circular. So, God by definition is the creator of everything.
If God had a creator, then the creator of God would be God. So, wherever this chain going backwards stops, that is God. It's like if a child reads a novel.
Then, the child will know this character, this character, this is the son of this person, this is the daughter of this person, this is their life dimension, there's all these characters. And finally after reading the novel, the child hears oh, there's also an author. So, where is the author in the book? As I said, the book is pouring through the book from the first page to the last page.
In the book, the author is not to be found, especially if it's a fiction book. Then, or the storybook, in the storybook, the author is not to be found. The author exists at a different level of reality.
The author is the source of the timeline, the plot, the characters, the dialogue, the setting, everything. But the author exists at a different level of reality. Similarly, God exists at a different level of reality.
He exists beyond the chain of cause and effect that is pervading this world. That's why the question, who created God is self-contradictory. And God is not just real, we could say that he is realer than reality.
What we consider as reality, what we are experiencing right now, this is one level of reality. But this is a temporary level of reality. And Krishna is at a higher level.
He is realer than what we consider as reality. He is the supreme reality. And the test that one has got experience of God, bhakti, parikesha anubhav, the test is that if you have got parikesha anubhav, viraktir anyatra.
One becomes detached from other things. Because one feels that the experience of God is so fulfilling that why do I need anything else? Actually speaking, we could say that there can be an external symptom and an internal symptom of somebody being spiritually idealised. The internal symptom is that they feel satisfied, they are happy.
They are experiencing, they are having rich experiences within themselves. In the Bhagavad Gita also, Sanjay says that as I remember the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna, I feel thrilled. parcha samsutya samsutya rupa matya adbhutam hare vismayo me mahadralam vishyamicha punar punar abhishyamicha muhurbhuhu sambhadana masyaksham He says, I am thrilled at every moment remembering the message of Krishna and remembering the form of Krishna.
So, that is thrill. That is the experience of Krishna. Prabhupada then proposes that once you become conscious of Krishna, you experience life with the thrill at every moment.
Now, how do we know whether somebody is thrilled or not internally? We can't peek into their hearts, but we can see their actions. Their actions would be, if they are so fulfilled internally, they will not crave for external things. And that will lead to that will manifest as detachment.
And this is what happened with Dronacharya. When he saw Krishna, when he saw the Supreme Lord, it was such an enriching, fulfilling experience for him that he felt, what am I doing? Why did I ask for a kingdom? He says, I came to your Lord, performed tapasya, for getting sthana, for getting unfiltered. But now that I have seen you, I understand that that you, O Lord, are like a shining jewel, and all worldly possessions are like broken pieces of glass.
So, I do not want any of this. Swamini Krutartha says, I am satisfied, simply by seeing you, I do not desire anything else. However, although the devotees don't want anything in this world, often Krishna wants the devotees to be glorified in this world.
And therefore, Krishna made Dhruva Maharaj a game up by manifesting him. He enriched Dhruva Maharaj, not just materially but also spiritually. However, normally in the material world, when we have been worded by someone who is more powerful than us, then we feel very bitter, we feel very angry, we feel very vengeful, but at that time we may just be powerless.
Because those people, that person is more powerful than us. But, if in future, the equations change, if we become more powerful than that person, then a normal human tendency is to use that power to fit back in that person. Because now, you thought you could do this to me? No, I don't know what I can do.
Dhruva Maharaj had got such blessings and power from Vishnu, but when he went back home, he just reconciled. He did not hold anything against his father. He did not hold anything against his step-mother.
He did not hold anything against his step-brother. His father was actually very aggrieved. Because for him, everything happened so fast.
His son was climbing up in his lap and his wife pushed him down. His son went away crying. Now, all this happened so fast, he just couldn't think of what to do with it.
Normally, within our hearts, a tug of war goes on. We all have certain attachments. And, we tend to act to take care of those things which are attached to us.
And, things which are important for us, in the matter of principles, in the matter of values. Now, when certain situations come up, our consciousness gravitates towards our attachments, not towards our values. After some time, this was much more important.
This is what I should have taken care of. So, our mind which is attached, it pushes our consciousness towards our attachments. Whereas, our intelligence, our conscience, these, they push us, they prompt us to go towards our values.
So, often, when sudden temptation comes, when sudden provocation comes, when sudden agitation comes, at that time, the first response is usually from our mind. The impulse. And then, that's why the first response is rarely the best response.
When there's an argument between two people. And then, we feel, you speak this, I will show you how well I can speak. It is said that words spoken in haste are regretted at leisure.
We speak hastily and then, for a long time, we regret those words. So, at that time, it just happened so fast, he just couldn't react. How can I displease my wife? She's so dear to me.
But, in the process, when his son ran away, he started feeling bad. He found his son and ran out of the palace, but ran out of the kingdom. He felt mortified.
He said, what have I done? I have driven my son out of my home. And then, Arun Muni came there and he told him, don't worry. Your son is an auspicious thought.
He is soon going to become famous. He's going to be celebrated in three words. And, he felt grateful that what had happened was not a disaster, that his son was safe.
And now, when Dhruva came back, he welcomed him joyfully. At one level, he was regretful about what had happened, but he was joyful that at least his son has come back. And Dhruva did not hold anything against his father.
Why? Because, let the past bygones be bygones. Love does not keep a scoreboard of wrongs. You make this and that way.
If you start keeping a scoreboard like that, then, it will impede our capacity to grow internally and to help the relationship grow. Yes, if somebody has hurt us, it will hurt us. But, we have to look at the overall life of the person.
And, if we know that that was just an uncharacteristic response that happened under the pressure of some situation, we don't have to hold that against the person. So, his father, Dhanapada, had otherwise taken care of Dhruva. So, Dhruva did not hold it against him.
And, even his stepmother, she sought forgiveness and he forgave her. Actually, the test of our spiritual advancement is that we don't hold past forms against people. Now, this doesn't mean that we can simply let others be in a position where they hurt us again.
We have to be cautious about that. But, if we see that others are also contrived, they are also remorseful, that they are apologetic, then we don't have to hold the past in between us and them. Reconciliation is what helps us move forward in life's journey, in relationship with others.
Sometimes, in the life journey, sometimes we make some mistakes, sometimes others make some mistakes. And, we all need to help each other. So, that we should see each other's through.
Not that we see through each other. See through each other means, you are apologising but actually it's all a show. Internally, you are still the same person.
And, I'm not going to accept this show. So, if somebody apologises, how do we know whether they are sincere or not? And, even if they are not sincere, we are not meant to judge people that way. If somebody says, I apologise, I reject your apology.
That is outrageous. If somebody is apologising, will you accept it? Yes, there is a situation where that person has been repeatedly doing the same wrong thing. Then, we may not trust that person.
That is fine. That is certainly a functional need because we are the protagonists. But, in general, when we are in material consciousness, material things seem very big.
Every material gain seems very big. Every material loss seems very big. But, when we are in spiritual consciousness, Krishna himself is so big, he dwarfs everything else.
So, when we have Krishna with us, other things just don't matter. Other things just don't matter. Now, suppose somebody is playing a sports match and during the sports match, one fielder politely hits another fielder and they get injured.
One fielder gets injured. Both of them are trying to catch up. They catch up both of them.
Now, they may be injured. They may be annoyed. But, eventually, if the player wins the match or the team wins the championship, now that small collision, that small scratch, it just doesn't matter.
So, similarly, if what happens is they lose the match, then everybody is happy. Because of this, that happened. Because of this, that happened.
Somebody has won and everyone is so delighted with the victory. That victory is so big and that small collision, it doesn't matter at all. So, similarly, if we are conscious of Krishna, Krishna is so big and the remembrance of Krishna is so fulfilling that small upheavals, small frictions, that they don't matter so much.
And now, this, that's why if we are taking small small wrongs very seriously, then we have to check whether we are actually conscious of Krishna. Or is it that we are not conscious of Krishna and then we are trying to assert ourselves not by growing in bhakti, but by throwing our weight around material. But Dhruv Maharaj, he had no need to throw his weight around material.
Although he had been given enormous power by the Lord, but he was satisfied. So, Yudhisthira Prabhupada, when he came to India, at that time he wanted his disciples to learn Indian culture, to learn Gaudiya Vishwanathism and he introduced his disciples to some of his godbrothers. And unfortunately, some of them, they felt that some of the things Prabhupada was doing was different from what Maharaj was doing.
And they started telling them that actually, if you really want to learn Gaudiya Vishwanathism, if you want to love Krishna, you should come to us, learn from us. And at that time, Prabhupada became very, very protective. And he said, don't associate with them.
Not with all his godbrothers, but some of them, don't associate with them. And then, there's one particular situation where one of his godbrothers tried to poison one of his disciples and Prabhupada said, he's like an envious snake. And then, later on, Prabhupada told his disciple that I can say this, you can't say this.
They are respectable for you, but you can't say this. This difference is something which we may not be able to understand. So eventually, when that godbrother passed away, his devotees get a get a perverse perverse pleasure in condemning those who they consider non-devotees.
So when that godbrother passed away, the devotees came and asked Prabhupada, Prabhupada, where did he go? He called him an envious snake. Where did he go? Did he go to hell? That was their idea. Prabhupada said, he went back to Godhead.
He said, my spiritual master is very powerful and he served my spiritual master. So what does this mean? That at one level, if Prabhupada calls him an envious snake and Prabhupada says, he went back to Godhead. How can somebody's envious go back to Godhead? What we have to understand is there are statements which are sometimes made in context.
And those statements are meant to be seen in context. Say, if a child is very restless and a child goes out of the house, keeps running away, the mother may tell the child, outside there are kidnappers. Don't go out.
Go out only on Tuesday at all. And mother may say, you see that man walking along? That person may be a kidnapper. Don't go there.
Now, if the child goes and tells that person, you are a kidnapper. My mother says, you are a kidnapper. That is not the purpose.
The mother's statement is meant to protect the child. So, the protection of the child, when that is the purpose, then certain statements are made in that context. They are not absolute statements yet to be seen outside the context.
So, Prabhupada respected his Godbrothers. When he actually started the Krishna Consciousness Movement, he wanted his Godbrothers to come and also join with him in preaching and share Krishna Consciousness all over the world. And before he departed from the world, his Godbrothers came to see him and he apologised to them.
He says, during the course of preaching, sometimes you have to speak strongly. So, if I have spoken anything anything wrong, please forgive me. So, Prabhupada said, I am a fallen soul.
He said, I am Mahapatit. I am very fallen. His Godbrothers were also religious.
He says, Swamiji, Swami Maharaj, you are not Mahapatit. You are Mahapatit Bhavan. You are the great deliverer of fallen souls.
So, there may be conflicts in particular situations which arise because of those situations. And in those situations, certain things are spoken. There is no need to take them as absolute statements out of context and label of people accordingly.
So, reconciliation requires that we keep small things small. And Dhruva was able to do that. And because of that, he was able to move forward.
That was actually, in a sense, the test of his Krishna Consciousness. That he kept small things small. So, I will quickly go to the next two parts.
You and He. Realisation led to Reconciliation. That was, You is upheaval.
Even when somebody has seen the Lord, even when somebody has exhibited pure devotion, such that they are able to reject a flourishing kingdom for the sake of the Lord. Even then, even for them, the world is a place of upheavals. And when upheavals come up, the world is a place of upheavals, the world is a place of ugliness.
And the ugliness when we see the harshness, the cruelty, the terrible thing that happened in the world, that can cause an upheaval even in our consciousness. So, although Dhruva Maharaj was a pure devotee, but when he heard that the Yakshas had killed his brother, he got so angry that he went on a rampage, started attacking all the Yakshas to annihilate them. And then, there had to be a higher intervention.
And they told him, Dhruva Maharaj, Manukya, he said, don't kill all the Yakshas. You know that? It's only one of them who killed your brother. And then immediately, he immediately dispersed.
So, in this world, the nature of the world is that kama, grodha, lobha, these can come. For a devotee, it is not that they may not affect. But, even if they affect, it's very temporary.
If one is devoted to Krishna, then, even if the force of impulse comes, then the force of impulse may directly serve you. But soon, the Krishna consciousness comes back. Either from within us, through the voice of consciousness, the Supersoul will speak, or outside some guidance will come.
And, we will be able to take that guidance. So, even when somebody is very advanced, sometimes, just the force of the situation may cause some shaking. So, Dhruva Maharaj, the Bhagavad Gita, in that sense, actually does not idealise its characters.
It describes characters who also, they are very transcendental, but at the same time, it also describes them in human situations. And, in those human situations, they go through different emotions. When Prabhupada came to India, after he had established Krishna consciousness in 1976, one reporter has gone and become very big at that time.
So, one reporter asked Prabhupada, journalist asked, Swamiji, many movements, which have been started by a founder, after the founder departs, they collapse. So, what do you think will happen to your movement? So, Prabhupada said, why are you discouraging me? He said, Swamiji, I am not discouraging you, I am just asking a question. But your question is discouraging.
So, now, you may say, Prabhupada, can Prabhupada get discouraged? Prabhupada was such a person, that even when he was all alone, when he went to America, no single person was there with him. He had no monetary support, he had no institutional support, he had no assistant, he had nothing. He had so many sources of discouragement around him.
Still, Prabhupada was determined and persevered. So, you see, how can Prabhupada be discouraged? But the point is that discouragement as an emotion may come. Prabhupada would sometimes write a report to his disciples, or if a disciple would do some preaching reports, he would reply.
And he would say that, these are so encouraging reports. And Prabhupada told one of his disciples, excellent Buddhist tradition, behind the Soviet bloc at that time. He told him that, your reports are keeping me alive.
So, naturally, there are emotions. And there can be, if success comes, there will be encouragement. If some failure or reversal or obstacle comes, there will be disheartenment.
But, those emotions don't determine our demotion. Emotions are natural. We will sometimes feel encouraged, sometimes we feel discouraged.
But our devotion goes on. Our bhakti goes on amidst encouragement or amidst discouragement. So, even if there is some upheaval, because of the ugliness of the world, because of the harshness of the world, we don't have to make that into a big issue.
For a moment it happens, and then it goes off. When Krishna Prabhupada was in his final days, very sick, he had a very protracted and painful illness. Sometimes it would seem to recover, sometimes it would seem not to recover.
So, Tamal Krishna Maharaj, he had written a whole book about it called TKG's Diary. And then he described sometimes, you know, once when the doctor had given hope that he will get cured, and Prabhupada started taking the medicine, and he started feeling better, it seemed to be recovering. And he was recovering, recovering, recovering, and then suddenly, one night, it was a very bad night, and his health became worse than previously.
Not even before recovery, could be even before the sickness. So, at that time, Tamal Krishna Maharaj said, Prabhupada said, why is this happening? Now, you may say, Prabhupada thought I am praising Krishna, and he thought, why is this happening? Sometimes we get this question, we say, I am a sadhaka, I don't know why is this happening. But what about a pure devotee? Actually, when Prabhupada is asking why is this happening, Prabhupada himself explains, this is a purport, that a devotee may be perplexed, but a devotee is never discouraged.
Discouraged in this context means, confused, I don't want to practise bhakti. Perplexed means, that we don't know how to practise bhakti. So, Prabhupada says, why is this happening means, Prabhupada at that time, should I try to continue, should I live on, or should I just leave this body? What does Krishna want? Krishna's plan is revealed to a devotee in different ways at different stages.
When Prabhupada said that, I can see the temple site, only time is separating. Now that was his faith, and the faith gave him that vision. But it is not that, Prabhupada knew, ok, this person is going to become a devotee, this person is not going to become a devotee, this person is going to be a great disciple of mine, this person is going to take me see and follow me.
It's not, Prabhupada said clearly, only Krishna is omniscient, a devotee is not omniscient. So, Prabhupada also had to make decisions. Should I do this, should I do that? And sometimes there can be confusion at that time.
So, this actually is the aspect of Shri Prabhupada, wherein he is, his purpose is transcendental, but at the same time that transcendental purpose is being executed in this world. And when it is executed in this world, then, we have to see that, actually that purpose remains transcendental. And occasionally, there might be some ups and downs.
So, now, this way, when we see that the material is incidental to the essence of a devotee, the material is incidental, it's a circumstantial, the essence of a devotee is the purpose to serve Krishna. And the last one is Vaikuntha, where Dhruva Maharaj is going now. He is also a devotee.
He ultimately attains the victory by going to Vaikuntha. So, how does Dhruva Maharaj ultimately go to the spiritual world? He lives a life of devotion, and at the end of that life, the celestial aeroplane, the transcendental aeroplane comes. And not only does it come for him, it comes for his mother also.
Because she has guided him to Krishna. So, for a devotee, if one, if the devotee pursues the service of Krishna lifelong, then it is Krishna's part. Krishna will elevate us directly to the spiritual world, or he will take us to a place where we can move forward.
Ultimately, to attain the spiritual world. So, for us, Krishna is not just a destination in the future. It is not that for Prabhupada, Krishna was some person who was to be attained in the future.
Krishna was always there. For Dhruva Maharaj, he had already seen Krishna. He was living in the presence of the Lord.
So, for a devotee, the victory at one level is that we attain Krishna and we go back to the spiritual world. That is called as Videha Mukti. Videha means the body is given up and we become liberated.
But even before that, there is another form of Mukti which is called as Jeevan Mukti. Jeevan Mukti means we may be in this world, but we are not bound to this world. That if one is fully serving Krishna in this world, then it is as good as that person is liberated.
So, liberation is only a matter of time. So, for us, sometimes we start thinking, oh, you know, when I die, how will I die? Will I go back to Krishna? What will happen if I die like this? What will happen if I die like that? Sometimes you may hear of some devotees dying in some distress, accidents or something like that. So, at one level, this is a normal human apprehension.
But another level, we have to understand that we go back to Krishna not just when we die and we remember Krishna. We can be with Krishna right now. I started this talk by saying about how the spiritual world is not just a place where we have to relocate ourselves.
It's a level of consciousness we have to have. And in that sense, Krishna is very close to us. Even if somebody hugs us tightly, that person can only be as close to us as Krishna.
Now, how far is Krishna from us? He is just one thought away. He is just one thought away. Right now, if you think of Krishna, we are with him.
He is always with us, but our thoughts are away from us. So, if we direct our thoughts towards him, we are with him. And that means, if we strive just now to keep our thought with Krishna, let me keep this thought with Krishna.
Let me keep the next thought with Krishna. If we just strive for that, we don't have to worry about the future so much. What will happen in the future if this happens, if that happens? Krishna will take care of that.
We just have to take care of the present moment. Whatever has happened in the past for us, it may be good, it may be bad, but that is all a part of Krishna's plan for our spiritual evolution. What is going to happen in the future, that also is in Krishna's control.
He will take care of that. All that we have to take care of is the present. If we take care of the present moment, we take it and offer it to Krishna.
Then, if we just keep doing this, the future will be taken care of. Guru Maharaj went back to Godhead not just because at the moment of his death, the Vaikuntha aeroplane came and he ascended over there and went back. He went back to his Godhead because he lived a life devoted to Krishna.
The Bhagavatam sometimes gives demonstrations of how somebody dies in a dramatically devotional way. That means, the Vaikuntha aeroplane comes and takes him back to Vaikuntha. But, the Bhagavatam is candid.
Such a thing may not happen all the time. The hero of the Bhagavatam, apart from Krishna, of course, is Parikshit. Parikshit Maharaj is here in the Bhagavatam.
And Parikshit Maharaj's death doesn't seem to be materially dramatic. He renounces the whole world. He devotes himself to Krishna.
Fasts from food and water for seven days. Here is the Bhagavatam. And what happens? Finally, a snake bird comes and bites him.
And as soon as the snake bird bites him, his body explodes in fire. Body erupts in fire. And, he perishes.
But, Arjuna explains that even before the Takshak comes, the snake bird comes, Parikshit has already gone to the spiritual world. Because he has heard the Bhagavatam, he has absorbed himself in Krishna and he has attained Krishna. So, the whole Bhagavatam is meant to help Parikshit Maharaj attain Krishna.
And the Bhagavatam is candid and riveting that no Vaikuntha aeroplane comes to take Parikshit back to Vaikuntha. But, Parikshit Maharaj goes back to Vaikuntha. So, how death occurs, the Bhagavatam depicts both a dramatically devotional way and a materially jarring way.
How death occurs is not important. How we live is more important. If we live in a devotional way, then however we die, we'll go to discussion.
Because, we have given our life to Krishna and death in Krishna has no reason to keep us in this world. If, before we die, our love for Krishna becomes greater than our love for this world, then Krishna will take us out of this world and take us to His eternal abode. So, I'll summarise.
I spoke about how Dhruva Maharaj gained the realisation of Krishna and thereby, with that realisation, he reconciled with his mother. But, all those communion is strange. So, I talk about realisation means that which is a reality we understand to be a reality.
Bhakti is not just what we do as a spiritual experience, but rising to a spiritual realisation. That means realising the spiritual level of reality to be the ultimate reality. Krishna is realer than reality.
Those who think Krishna to be an illusion, a product of the mind, those who ask who created God, they don't understand the definition of God itself. Asking that question like asking who made a circle, it's intrusive, the definition itself. So then, the internal test of realisation of Krishna is inner satisfaction.
And the outer test is external renunciation. So, Dhruva Maharaj, he was so internally enriched that he said, I don't want that but Krishna gave that to him. And, when he came back, he did not try to get even with those who had heard him.
Uttanapada, he was a principled person, but at that time, he turned out, his attachments surfaced. So, for us, we have our values and we have our attachments. Our attachments may mislead us, but if we are overall in a principled way, our values will resurface and they will help us come back on the right track.
And, when I talked about how Dhruva Maharaj, when we are, he did not hold any grudges against any of the elders, any of those who had hurt him. Similarly, when we are enriched with Krishna, that joy is so great that any hurt that we may have got can become incident like a small collision in a match after the World Cup has been won. Joy is so great at that time.
So, we can keep small things small and focus on the big thing, the ultimate big thing that is Krishna. I talked about the ugliness of this world, which can lead to upheavals temporarily even in the life. Dhruva Maharaj got angry when his father was killed.
But, because his life was devoted to Krishna, when that anger started leading to ugly expressions, we needed higher intervention, guidance and we reconciled. Similarly, circumstantially, certain emotions may come up within us. But, for a devotee, those emotions don't divert them from the path of emotion.
Devotee may be perplexed, but a devotee is not discouraged in the sense of giving up. That never happens. I discussed about Prabhupada.
There were emotions that came from the situation and there was a purpose that was transmitted till the situations. And then I talked about Vaikuntha. Going to Vaikuntha is not just a matter of relocating to a place.
It is a matter of getting a particular consciousness. And that consciousness is the consciousness of absorption in Krishna. Spiritual consciousness means we put the other person first.
It is the consciousness of service. Service to Krishna is service to all entities in relationship with Krishna. And rather than worrying about how we may die and where we will go today, we can focus on how we are living, where our consciousness is going right now.
At every moment, Krishna is just one thought away from us. The past may have had terrible things, but Krishna will integrate that past into a plan for us into the future. The future is uncertain, but in the future, Krishna is in charge.
And He will take care of the future. We just have to take care of the present and offer it to Krishna. If we keep doing that, then in the future, no matter how we die, whether it is like Dhruv Maharaj or Kunta has been coming or it is Vaisakhi Maharaj, the body burning, it doesn't matter.
We will still attain Krishna. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Are there any questions or comments? Hmmm. Hmmm. Yeah.
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Hmmm. Invited, agrees. Yeah.
Yeah. Hmm. That's true, yes.
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Yes. So, Dhruv Maharaj started off with a selfish motive, but to attain Vaikuntha, we need to be selfless. So when did that transition from selfishness to selflessness happen? And similarly, he started off with his own endeavour.
By his endeavour, he got the darshan of Krishna. But we need grace. So how much is the role of endeavour and what is the role of grace? How should we endeavour in our spiritual life? That's a thought-provoking question.
I'll say two, three thoughts and then you can also add. I'm sure you also have some thoughts about it. The first one would be that there is some starting impetus and whatever it is, initially, somehow or other, face the mind of Krishna.
Whether with material desires or no material desires or with a desire for liberation, just start worshipping Hari. So the initial starting purpose doesn't matter so much if we are ready to change the purpose afterwards. And the most dramatic change that happens in Dhrumaraj is when he has darshan of Krishna.
He has come there for the kingdom. But then, he says, I don't want the kingdom. There's a devotee in Mumbai, he's a disciple of Prabhupada.
He was a thief before he came to Krishna consciousness. And he saw a picture of Prabhupada wearing a Rolex watch. He thought, Swami, I can steal that watch from you.
And then he came and Prabhupada was not there at that time. He just came and stayed there in the temple for some time. And the devotee told him, just do some surveys.
So he started doing some surveys waiting, when will Swami come, when will Swami come. And then, as he stayed with the devotee, he chanted Hare Krishna. And he started practising bhakti.
And the day Prabhupada came, because he was a new person there, the devotee was introduced to Prabhupada. And Prabhupada himself took out his watch and gave it to him. And he said, I don't want this Prabhupada.
So, the transition happened. So now, how did that happen? Because when he got the darshan of the Lord, there was a higher taste. And that higher taste, a higher understanding, this is better.
I don't want this. So that is a very conscious decision that he made. So selflessness and selfishness can be both dispositions and decisions.
Some of us, may be, almost all of us, may be selfishly disposed. In the sense that we think of ourselves disposed. But, when a conscious juncture comes in our life, an important juncture comes in our life, we may simply act according to our disposition or we may take a different decision.
So he took that decision. Bhagavan took that decision to turn towards the Lord. Bhagavan also describes how Pururava, when he lost Urvashi, he became so agitated that he performed a yajna to please Vishnu.
And when Vishnu came in front of him, Vishnu was supremely attractive, his mind was still filled with the attractiveness of Urvashi. Totally, I want Urvashi. And then that's what he got and Vishnu went away.
So, in his case, even when he saw Vishnu, his attachment was so strong that he could not change him. However, the darshan of Vishnu did not go away. Later on, when again Urvashi left him, and he was frustrated, that frustration inspired him to go towards devotion.
So, we have to make that decision. When we are practising bhakti, we may have at present some selfish motive. I want to be famous, I want to be appreciated, I want people to follow me, whatever.
I want some position. But there is also the desire to self-pursue. Most of the time, if somebody had been 100% selfish, they would not be in bhakti.
Because there are also rules and regulations which involve giving up self-selfishness. But, to be 100% selfless, it takes a lot of effort. So, we will do the service normally in whatever level of consciousness we have.
We can't artificially imagine that I am at a selfless level. We will do it the way we do it. But, there will be certain crossroads that will come.
At that time, what do we choose? Do we choose a selfish or a self-centred alternative? Or do we choose a selfless alternative? And, those will determine our trajectory. So, our consciousness change happens gradually, also just like the practise of bhakti, but it is sometimes manifested dramatically at particular moments. Just like every morning when the sun rises, the sunrise is a gradual event.
But, while chanting and walking, suddenly one day, the sun has risen. Our realisation that the sun has risen happens at one particular moment. Although the sun is rising constantly.
Similarly, by the practise of bhakti, the journey from selfishness to selflessness is automatically happening. But, there are certain moments when we become aware. When we make a conscious choice, which we might not have been able to make earlier.
So, Dhruv Maharaj, his motive was selfish, but when he saw the Lord, he chose the selfless option rather than the selfish option. And, as far as his own endeavour was concerned, it was not just his own endeavour because he was directed by Narad Muni. Narad Muni instructed do this, do this, do this and he did accordingly.
So, endeavour is very important in the path of bhakti. Sri Prabhupada himself endeavoured so much. He travelled in old age, he stayed awake or woke up early in the mornings to write his books.
He was tireless in his effort to share Krishna bhakti with the world. So, we understand that our endeavour alone doesn't bring the results, but we need to endeavour to show Krishna that we want to offer him the results. Arjuna also practised tirelessly for becoming an expert archer and then he could use that archer in Krishna's service.
So, whichever service we are doing, we need to endeavour wholeheartedly in that service. Only when we endeavour wholeheartedly, we show Krishna our diligence. And the endeavour itself does not produce the result, but the endeavour shows Krishna that we want the result.
Prabhupada gave an example. Once he was going on a morning walk and there was a man who was feeding some ducks in a pond. And those ducks were quacking and he was throwing some food to them.
And there was one duck that was quacking very loudly and that duck was quacking very loudly and this man was giving more food to that duck. So, Prabhupada said we should be like that duck. The duck's quacking itself does not produce the food.
The duck's quacking does not necessarily compel the man to give that more food to him. But, the duck's quacking shows his diligence and the man the result of it. So, similarly our endeavour is showing Krishna that we want his mercy.
If we think our endeavour alone produces some advancement, then that is a misunderstanding. Sometimes we make a full plan. I am going to study Shastra, I am going to chant attentively.
And we make a full plan and still our mind wanders all over the universe. Just not able to… so many things happen, we are not able to study Shastra, we are not able to do what we want to do. Even if we are able to do it externally, internally our consciousness doesn't stay focused.
But sometimes, just we may have either a stressful day or we are not having any spiritual consciousness, we start chanting and we get absorbed. Sometimes we study Shastra and we just feel, I just want to do other things. Sometimes we study Shastra and we get absorbed in it.
So, why does this difference happen? Actually, it is not our endeavour is important, but Krishna's mercy also comes into picture. So, नश्चप्रायेश्यो बद्रेश्यो इत्यम् भागत् सेवया भगवति उत्तमि श्लोके भक्ति भावति नश्टि In that purport, Prabhupada explains that just the mechanical activity of hearing and chanting also wards off Samanathas. But not everything.
The full transformation happens when it is not mechanical, but it is devotional. So, we invest our consciousness in it. So, when we invest our consciousness, Krishna reciprocates and He reveals Himself to us.
But for us, our endeavour is to try to keep ourselves in Krishna consciousness. Try to be in devotional activities, be in devotional association. Try as much as possible to have devotional disposition.
But ultimately, it is Krishna who will attract us. And when Krishna attracts us, then the inner struggle ceases. Till the point Krishna reveals His mercy, we show our endeavour by our struggle to focus on Krishna.
But when Krishna reveals His mercy, the inner struggle ceases and we become spontaneously attracted to Him. Does that answer the question? You want to comment something? Very often, we come to Krishna consciousness with a desire for self-revelation. How do we make the comment or make the point that.