Directing the four lanes of our consciousness – intellectual emotional devotional and motivational – towards Krishna Gita 5.17

So, we are discussing in Bhagavad Gita 5.17, the title of this topic is Directing the Four Lanes of our Consciousness towards Krishna. So, what are these four lanes? These are Buddhi, Atma, Vishtha and Parayana. These are emotional, intellectual, devotional and motivational aspects of our consciousness.
So, normally if we have an express way, a broad road, there are many lanes and generally the lanes all go in the same direction. But in our consciousness, the different lanes go in different directions. As in 2.41 Krishna says, Bahu shakhaaya nandasya buddhaya avyavasayinam.
So, for those whose intelligence is not fixed, those are avyavasayinam, they are Bahu shakha. So, first Krishna says there are many shakha and in fact not many, there are infinite shakhas. Bahu shakhaaya nandasya, there are unlimited branches.
So, these unlimited branches of our consciousness, they dissipate our effectiveness. Now, in a river, there are tributaries and there are distributaries. When a river is flowing, the tributaries contribute water and the distributaries distribute the water.
So, when the river is flowing onwards, at that time the quantity of water in the river will depend on how many tributaries are coming in and how many distributaries are going out. If more tributaries are coming in, then the water will be more. And if less distributaries are going out, then the more water will remain as it is.
So, if the tributaries are more than the distributaries, then the water in the river will increase. On the other hand, if the distributaries are more than the tributaries, then the water will decrease. So, we know that Yamuna is drying and dying.
In fact, in many ways, Yamuna is not there only. In Vrindavan, what has happened is, the water comes from Yamunotri, from the Himalayas down, but there are many distributaries. This water is taken away for irrigation purposes.
And from the top, there are many distributaries that are coming in, but the distributaries are so many that for several kilometres, there is no Yamuna river only. It is completely dried. And then later on, the water that comes in to the Vrindavan dham, that actually is not Yamuna water.
That is the sewage water that is coming from Delhi. So, there is not one drop of Yamuna water actually there from Yamunotri that is there in the Yamuna in Vrindavan. So, why is that? Because actually all the distributaries have taken away that water.
So, now we know that famous verse. This is a theme which comes repeatedly in the Bhagavatam. Kunti Maharani is praying, that just as the river flows towards the ocean, let my consciousness flow towards you, Lord.
So, actually the same theme is taught by Kapil Dev when he is describing his pure devotee. Just as the river flows towards the ocean, the consciousness of my devotees flows towards me. So, now in the purport to this verse, Vishwanath Chakravorty has done a beautiful explanation.
He says that the example of river flowing towards the ocean has two implications. When the river is flowing towards the ocean, nothing holds it back and it holds nothing back. They are two different things.
Nothing holds it back means even if there is a big rock, what will happen is the river will find some way. So, above, below, around, this way, that way or somehow just you roll the rod and go right through it. So, nothing holds it back and it holds nothing back.
Let me, nothing holds the river back and the river holds nothing back. What does it mean the river holds nothing back? It is how the river thinks that okay, maybe 50% water will go, 50% let it stay with me. Now, all the water goes.
So, similarly for a pure devotee, nothing holds the consciousness back and the devotee holds no consciousness back. The devotee is not checked in directing the consciousness towards Krishna either by external or internal factors. So, nothing holds it back refers to the external factors checking the flow of the river and it holds nothing back refers to the internal factors checking.
So, for the river flowing towards the ocean, the flow is such that there are no external nor internal factors that stop the ocean from, from the river from going towards the ocean. So, actually that is the aspiration of a devotee that whatever may be external circumstances or even the internal circumstances, generally in this world, most people even in the name of spiritual, they mistake the internal to be the, they mistake the mental to be the spiritual. They think that if something feels good, you know, my office is a very spiritual place.
So, what is the idea of a spiritual, you know, we all are very sensitive, we talk politely together, we are very cordial, the mind is nice, that is their idea of spiritual. But actually, the Bhagavad Gita tells us that there is external, there is internal and there is transcendental. It is not all three are not the same.
Generally, we talk about external and internal, but everything internal is not transcendental, isn’t it? So, external is physical, internal is mental, and what is transcendental is spiritual. So, actually for the practise of our bhakti, there are both external and internal obstacles. The external obstacles come from the world, the internal obstacles come from the mind.
So, if you want to become steady and strong in bhakti, you have to go beyond the external and the internal to the transcendental. So, this verse describes how a devotee can move along the path of no return, the path from which one will not return, how a person can move along on that path. And what he says is, Krishna says, jnana-nirdhuta-kalma-saha, by, this person becomes purified of all impurities by knowledge.
jnana-nirdhuta-kalma-saha. So, it is interesting here, Krishna is talking about knowledge as having purifying potency. Krishna has talked about, this is 5.17, Krishna has talked about this earlier in 4.10. He talks there about, So, prior to this, Krishna has described how, I descend into this world to re-establish order, and those who understand my pastimes, that is 4.7 and 8, 4.9 is, those who understand that my pastime and truth, they will come back to me.
And Krishna in the next verse says, many have already come back to me. And there he describes this word, so, jnana-tapasa-bhago, jnana-tapasa-bhuta, that jnana-tapasa, jnana-tapasa is the austerity of knowledge. So, in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna often uses compound words.
Compound words means that there are two words which are joined together. Like there is the word Rajya-Rishi. Now, these compound words have often profound significance.
Now, if you see from the literal semantic Sanskrit point of view, the Rajya-Rishi, it will be translated as, that’s how most scholars translate it. Rajya is king, Rishi is sage. So, they translate it as royal sages.
But Prabhupada translates Rajya-Rishi as saintly kings. So, it’s like Prabhupada is almost using a Tushiraj. Actually, Prabhupada wants to emphasise the point that these are kings.
They are in the world, but still they are able to maintain their saintliness. So, we often say be in the world, but not of the world. So, these Rajya-Rishis are examples of that.
And that saintly kings uses the word. So, compound words, when we contemplate on them, we can get a lot of meaning in that. So, this word, Jnana-Tapasa.
So, what does it mean? That’s why we’re talking about it. There also Krishna says, Bahavo Jnana-Tapasa, Poota Madhava Mangataha, that by the austerity of knowledge, they become purified. And here also Krishna is saying the same point, Jnana-Nirdhuta Kalmasaha, that by knowledge they become purified.
So, here Krishna is simply saying Jnana-Nirdhuta, by knowledge they’ll become purified of impurities. But there he says, by the austerity of knowledge, one will become purified. So, what is this austerity of knowledge? Jnana-Tapasa.
So, actually speaking, the Jnana itself is a form of Tapasya. Cultivating this knowledge is an austerity. Why? Because the conditioned soul doesn’t want to know about the glories of God.
The conditioned soul wants the world to know his glories. He doesn’t want to have glories and let everyone know my glories. So, the knowledge that is centred in the glories of God is often an austerity.
It’s not necessarily an austerity in terms of intellectual complexity. Yes, the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness is also very profound. If you study Govinda Bhashya, that is Baldev Vidyabhushan’s commentary on the Govindana Sutra.
He studied Sandarbha’s, he was talking about Gopi Parampara and Bhanumaha just translated the Govinda Bhashya. So, I was doing the editing for him. So, he was saying that Gopi Parampara also said something similar.
He was saying that basically in all of his con, around 12 to 15 people can understand this book. So, Govinda Bhashya. So, you know if somebody thinks that Prabhupada’s books are very simple, they can try reading Govinda Bhashya.
And they will understand that they have not understood. Actually, that they have not even understood even the fundamental points of the profound philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. So, there is a lot of complexity also if somebody wants it.
But when we are talking about Jnana Tapasa, you know how the Vedanta Sutra basically is. See, you have seen some exercises called reference to the context in English you had. So, you are given a passage and you are told, okay, who said this to him and what context they said, tell that.
So, the Vedanta Sutra is basically a commentary where the reference to the, no, it is a debate and discussion where the reference to the context is assumed to be known to the readers. That means, so, for example, the Vedanta Sutra may say, touch Shruti Nyaya. So, that is confirmed by Nyaya and Shruti.
Now, actually what that touch is nobody, that is not mentioned in the Vedanta Sutra only. So, actually in the Upanishads, there is say a conversation between Indra and Prajapati. And in that conversation between Indra and Prajapati, Indra has made a particular statement.
What is the meaning of that statement is under discussion only. But all these references are not given only, it is assumed. So, what happens is, it is imagine that there are some PhD nuclear physicists.
Now, there is a say Einstein has written a book on atomic physics. It is a very complex book. Now, all these scholars have studied that book dozens of times.
And, but still the meaning is very complex. So, when these scholars come to discuss what is the meaning of this book, you know, they already know, okay, this passage is complex and this passage we are discussing. You know, this could mean this because this, this, this, this, or this could mean this, this because of this.
But what that this is, they will not discuss only because all of them know it. So, Vedanta Sutra is like that. You know, Vedanta Sutra can be understood only when a person has studied all the Upanishads.
And only studied, he knows everything about the Upanishads. So, as soon as you go to a reference, okay, this is the reference, this was the context. And this could be the meaning, or this could be the meaning, or this could be the meaning.
And what the Acharyas are debating is, say what Shankaracharya is studying or Madhacharya is studying, basically, okay, this passage means this, no, this passage means this, this passage means this. So, there is a huge debate. But it is a debate, it really requires a lot of, you know, even in my engineering days, I did not read such a complex book.
The Govinda Vasha is extremely complex. So, Sandarwad also, some of the Sandarwads are very complex also. So, if somebody wants that complexity that is there, but the Jnana Tapasa is not primarily in terms of intellectual complexity.
The basic principles of Krishna consciousness are not too difficult to understand. Actually, the Jnana Tapasa is in terms of emotional acceptance. It is an austerity to accept Krishna’s glories.
It is an austerity at the level of emotions. Now, God is great and I am his servant. It is not very easy to accept.
So, this knowledge is an austerity because, not because the knowledge is complex to understand, but because the knowledge is difficult to accept at an emotional level. So, Jnana Tapasa, but those who can do this austerity, those who can perform this austerity of cultivating this knowledge, what will happen? They will become purified. And by purifying, they will, they will return back to me.
And this was also, Krishna is saying the same thing. He is saying, they will go on the path of no return. It is return back to him.
So, here Krishna is referring to himself in the third person. First person is I, second person is you, third person is that or he. So, in the first six chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna does not refer to himself in the first person much.
Because the focus is on karma. The focus is not on bhakti. That is why, on a few times, in 2.61, in 3.30, in 4.35, and of course, intersections from 4.1 to 4.14, then 5.29, then 6.15, 6.31, 30, 31, 32, 6.47, a few places, no.
The point I was making is, only in a few places, Krishna refers to himself in the first person, in the first six chapters. Because, Krishna’s focus is on karma. His focus on, so the idea is, be detached from your world.
And then, be detached, but he is not telling whom you should be attached to or what you should be attached to. That will come in the bhakti section. And that is why, the seven to twelve chapters, if you look, if you know Sanskrit grammar, you will find that the whole mood of the discussion changes in seven to twelve chapters.
It becomes a more devotional mood. So, anyway, the point is, that here Krishna is referring to himself in the third person, as tad buddha, and to that, that, fix the mind on that, fix the intelligence on that. How that is, he will make it clear in this chapter only at the end, in 5.29, when he will say, So, that tad is not a mystery, if you look at the whole flow of the Gita.
But in the context, Krishna is not emphasising himself. So, anyway, the point you are making over here is, that Krishna, he guides us towards the path of liberation. And he says that knowledge will purify, and the knowledge will liberate us, the truth will set us free.
The Bible also says this point, the truth, know the truth, the truth will set you free. So, what is that truth? So, now, knowing that truth is what we are concerned about. So, now, Krishna says, see, I was just, I started by talking about the lanes of our consciousness.
So, normally, our consciousness is played, distributed over various things. So, our intelligence thinks of one thing, our emotions go somewhere else. Our faith, actually speaking, our faith is not really very strong.
And the problem with the world is that the wise are doubtful, and the foolish are confident. And the wise are doubtful. Those who have got Krishna consciousness, they think, that’s crazy.
Is there spiritual happiness actually in this person? Will I be able to go to the spiritual world? Will I become purified? Does the spiritual world actually exist also? So, we have so many doubts. But the foolish are confident. Now, materialistic people have confidence.
If I go to America, I will become supremely happy. If I do this, I will become happy. People are ready to sacrifice anything and everything is for the sake of something material.
Why? Because somehow they got that conviction, this thing will make me happy. So, these are where our faith is, where our goal is, where our destination is. So, these four lanes of consciousness are the intellectual, the emotional, the devotional, and the motivational.
So, intellectual is vuddhayas, emotional is atmanas, the devotional is nishthas, and motivational is parayana. So, let us look at these four lanes of consciousness and how we can direct these four lanes towards Krishna. It is not that we have to choose one of these lanes.
Actually, our consciousness goes along these four lanes anyway, because we always have a mind, we have an intelligence, we have a heart, we have hope, we have faith and we have hope. So, actually speaking, our consciousness is always going to go somewhere. But if it goes in different directions, then we cannot make much progress.
Just like there is too many distributors going in too many directions, the river will not remain to move forward straight. So, what Krishna is saying, all these distributaries, let them focus on me, on the one I am sending to them. So, that is Krishna himself.
So, let us talk about these four aspects. The first he says is tad-buddhayas, use your intelligence, fix your intelligence. Now, this is logical, because he is talking about the power of knowledge.
And whenever we talk about knowledge, the intellect plays a very important role. Without the intellect, we cannot cultivate knowledge, whether it is material or spiritual. So, the path of bhakti actually requires the intelligence.
Jiva Goswami says that in the siddha stage, priti will keep us on the spiritual platform. But in the sadhaka stage, buddhi will keep us on the spiritual platform. In the siddha stage, priti, because we attract, we love Krishna, that is why we will stay on the spiritual platform.
But in the sadhaka stage, it is the buddhi. It is the intelligence which will keep us on the spiritual platform. And sometimes we think that, actually, to think of Krishna, even when I am doing it intellectually, actually, I do not have to think about the philosophy so much.
I will think about past times of Krishna. And sometimes people think that, if you think of the past times of Krishna, you are more advanced than if you think of the philosophy. But this is a misunderstanding.
Actually, if you see the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, chapter 19, Shukadeva Goswami is describing the past times of Krishna. And actually, his thoughts are in Vrindavan. But when he is contemplating on the forests of Vrindavan, he is not talking about Krishna dancing with the gopis.
He is talking about basic points of philosophy. He said, when a road is not used regularly, the grass grows on it. Similarly, when a brahmana does not study scripture, then the path of his intuitions gets overgrown with the grass of maya.
Now you may say, is this really bhakti? Vrindavan grass, you are not thinking about Krishna lotus feet, you are thinking about basic principles. He is telling us, he is demonstrating to us that actually, we are never too advanced to study philosophy. We are never too advanced.
You do not think, now I have graduated beyond philosophy, now I have become a roughing one. I am just studying the past times. No, philosophy is important.
All of you know this verse from Chaitanya Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He will repeat after me. So, Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami is parodying.
Parody means critiquing, criticising. Those who say that, it is all philosophy. We do not need this.
We do not need this. Do not become lazy about siddhanta. Why? Why the siddhanta? The mind becomes fixed on Krishna.
By studying the philosophy. So, what happens by the study of philosophy? How it makes our mind fixed on Krishna? Actually, the philosophy tells us how Krishna is the only substance and everything else is insubstantial. Everything else is a shadow.
That helps us to fix the mind on Krishna. Without the philosophy, I think Krishna is nice and maya is also not bad. Krishna is nice, maya is also okay.
So, sometimes Krishna, sometimes maya. So, what happens is, if we do not have the philosophy, then when the material temptations come, see a person is well alert in the philosophy, when the temptations come in the consciousness, an alarm bell rings. Danger here.
But when we are not rooted in the philosophy, when the temptations come, a welcome tune rings. So, what happens is, when the temptations come, we think that there is so much pleasure, let me just enjoy. If we are not philosophically astute, then we become susceptible, become vulnerable to the temptations of maya.
That is why buddhahyas is very important. It is said, study makes us steady and sturdy. Study makes us steady and sturdy.
So, study means siddhant. Study means, what happens is, the mind tends to get hyper excited by things. But when we are strongly rooted in the philosophy, we do not get upset by too many things.
Because we understand that the mind’s emotions will come and go. Study makes us, first is steady. We do not get shaken by the mind’s ups and downs.
And sturdy means, we develop an inner toughness. Because on one side, we are not shaken by the mind, but study connects us with the inner reality, connects us with Krishna. And then by that, we become tough.
We become capable of facing the battles of life without becoming discouraged or defeated. So, study makes us steady and sturdy. Steady is in terms of our response to emotional ups and downs.
Sturdiness is in terms of our inner toughness. So, tad buddhahyas. So, first he says is, if we want to fix our consciousness on Krishna, move towards Krishna, we have to use our intelligence.
We use our intelligence to study and understand the philosophy properly. And then, next thing is, tadatmanas. Then we have to, here is what atma refers to the mind.
Tadatmana means to fix the mind on Krishna. The mind is connected with our emotions. So, we do not just want to be intellectually fixed on Krishna, we want to be emotionally fixed on Krishna also.
We want our emotions to stay connected with Krishna. See, if we are only intellectually connected with Krishna, but not emotionally connected with Krishna, then we will know about God, but we will not know God. What is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God? It is the difference between how a child is known by a doctor and how the child is known by a mother.
Then the doctor treats the child, the doctor basically treats the child as a biochemical unit to be examined. See, when the child comes along, they may smile and talk a little bit with the child also, may give some chocolate. But primary interest is what? The primary interest is okay, what is your blood count, what is your urine composition, what is this, what is that.
So, basically, the doctor’s interest when interacting with the child is not to develop a relationship with the child as a person, it is just to examine the body. Now, this is one of the effects of modern medicine. When the first stethoscope was made, at that time, several doctors opposed it.
They said, when an instrument comes between the patient and the doctor, then that will create a wall between the patient and doctor that will destroy the trust and eventually the relationship between the patient and doctor. But still, the stethoscope became very popular and eventually what has happened? Now, today, one of the biggest problems in modern medicine is that when a patient goes to the doctor, the doctor is not so much concerned with the patient’s words as the doctor is concerned with the machine’s report. So, not only has the machine come between the patient and the doctor, in fact, for all practical purposes, the machine has replaced the patient.
And the patient’s feelings are not considered very important at all. What is considered important is the machine’s readings. And that is why we have this whole phenomenon of psychophysical diseases.
That means the patient is feeling miserable, but the machine says it’s all right. So, what has happened is, the doctor is not connecting with the patient. So, that is an inherent problem that is there in modern medicine.
So, on the other hand, when the mother is connecting with the child, and the doctor may know more about the child, doctor may know about urine composition, stool composition, blood composition, but the mother knows the child, because the mother is emotionally connected with the child. The doctor is not emotionally connected. So, we want to relate with Krishna, not like a doctor studying a biochemical bag.
We want to relate with Krishna like a mother relating with a child. So, we have to be emotionally connected with Krishna. That’s why Tadatmanas takes the mind in Krishna.
Tadatmanas means that we actually experience emotions that are similar to Krishna’s emotions. What does similar to Krishna’s emotions mean? That when we love someone, we just don’t think about things from our perspective. We think from the perspective of the person whom we love.
So, for example, now if a child doesn’t get good marks in the exam, the child doesn’t think only, oh, I didn’t get good marks. He just thinks, oh, my parents, what will they think about me? You know, how will they feel about this? So, what happens is, when we love someone, our emotional world is intertwined with the emotional world of our beloved. And that is how two hearts come together.
So, when our emotional world becomes intertwined with Krishna’s emotional world, what does that mean? For example, now if some person is becoming a devotee, some boy is coming to a programme regularly and suddenly he stops coming. Maybe he gets some misconceptions and because of which he stops coming in time. Then, I’m okay, coming is not comfortable.
Actually speaking, I may feel that I have nothing to do with me, but then if I’m connected with Krishna emotionally, then we understand Krishna will feel distressed. The soul after so many lifetimes was coming towards me, but now suddenly he’s become obstructed. So, we feel emotions the way Krishna will feel emotions.
Not in a Sahajyayik sense, we don’t imagine Krishna’s emotions, but we know about Krishna’s emotions from the scriptures. So, that way, we don’t think about Krishna just in an intellectual sense as an object to be contemplated. We think about Krishna in a personal sense, as a person to be loved and pleased.
So, whatever happens, the devotee immediately reflects it in terms of Krishna. Prabhupada, whenever some devotee would do some wonderful service, what he would say, Krishna will be very pleased with this. Krishna will be very pleased with this.
So, devotee always sees everything from Krishna’s perspective, not in just an intellectual sense, but in an emotional sense. So, we have to emotionally connect ourselves with Krishna. That means, whenever things happen in the Ramayana, it is described that when Bharata and Kshatrughna came back and they found a whole of Ayodhya and they come like a ghost town.
And then they realised what Kunti had done. Bharata was so infuriated. He said, if you had not been a woman, I would have killed you.
He says, I reject you. You are no longer my mother. And then after he says that, when Mantara saw that, Bharata was so furious, Mantara just hid herself.
And then, one day after the cremation of Dashrath Maharaj’s body had been preserved in an oil casket so that the sun would come back and then do the last rites. Then when they were coming back, as Bharata and Kshatrughna were coming back. So, Bharata was checked by some ministers who wanted to talk about the ensuing coronation.
Kshatrughna went ahead. And at that time, Mantara was walking along. Mantara was dressed in royal silken clothes.
Her hump had been decorated with ornaments. She was looking very, very flashy. So, at that time, when she saw Kshatrughna, she got frightened.
Kshatrughna was furious. She started running away. And as she started running, she ran into Kaikeyi’s palace.
And as she was running, the guard in Kaikeyi’s palace caught her. They caught her and he dragged her towards Kshatrughna. And he said, here is the cause that has flooded all of Ayodhya into grief.
Punish her now. And then behind her, Kshatrughna took her and started violently shaking her. Violently shaking her.
And he said, that is screaming. She realised that Kshatrughna is not so angry. She screamed for Kaikeyi.
Kaikeyi came running out, hearing the screams of her favourite maidservant. And he said, Kshatrughna, stop. And Kshatrughna was blinded and deafened by fury.
He paid no attention. And at that time, Bharata came along. And Kaikeyi realised that Kshatrughna is not listening to her.
At least my own son, Bharata, tell Kshatrughna to stop. Frantically she called out. And Bharata looked coldly at Kaikeyi.
He looked at Kshatrughna. He looked at Mantara. He said, Kshatrughna, stop.
He said, now what you are doing with Mantara, I would have done long ago. He’s been glaring at Mantara. And then he looked at Kaikeyi and he said, I would have done not only with Mantara, I would have done with Kaikeyi also.
He was so furious. Kaikeyi was shocked. He was not even referring to Kaikeyi as his mother.
He said, I would have done with Kaikeyi also. But he said, if we do anything to them, Ram will never forgive us. And Ram will never, ever come back to the kingdom.
This is all my hopes of rescuing Ayodhya from this great distress are resting on persuading Ram to come back to the kingdom. And therefore, we should not do anything that will give cause for displeasure to Ram. So here we see that Bharata’s emotional world was so intimately connected with Lord Ram’s emotional world.
So from his perspective, his anger was justified. You know, Kaikeyi and Mantara had conspired in such a diabolical way and caused so much misery. So Shatrughna’s anger was justified.
But Bharata did not focus on whether my emotions are justified or not, whether my emotions are right or not. He focused on whether my emotions were pleasing to Lord Ram or not. So in many situations, it is natural for us to have certain emotional reactions.
For example, when there is a male and when there is a young boy and a young girl. Now for the boy to be attracted to the girl is natural. But natural in terms of biologically natural.
We are not biological creatures, we are spiritual creatures. So what we see natural at a biological level is actually not natural at a spiritual level. But how do we check it? We say, no, if I do something wrong, Krishna will not be pleased.
Devotees will not be pleased. Spiritual master will not be pleased. So actually, you know, generally our emotions drag us down.
So in the Mahabharata, in the Ramayana, there is another incident where Bharata comes. So after this incident, Bharata comes to the forest to try to persuade Lord Ram to come back. He comes with the whole army because his idea is that the whole army is there and so many citizens are there and warriors are there.
Then that weight of the public opinion may cause Ram to sway his decision, to change his decision. But when the army is coming, Lakshman climbs on top of a hill and sees and he says, the whole army is coming. And he thinks that Bharata has come to kill us.
He gets very angry. And then after that, whole incident happens. So at that time, Lord Ram completely deflates Lakshman’s anger.
Initially, he says, you know, Lakshman says, Bharata, he is so cruel that he is not satisfied by sending you to the forest. He has now come to kill you. But I will make sure that far from you being killed, he will get killed.
Today, he will see the power of the wrath of my bow. And then Ram is very calm and he says, oh, oh, Lakshman, has Bharata offended you in any way that you are so angry with him? I know. Or is it that, you know, in a wave of emotions, you decided that you wanted, you decided to come with me, but now you are seeing the reality of the austerity of the forest.
You are getting frustrated and you are taking that anger out on Bharata. If that is the case, then I will tell Bharata to stay in the forest in your place and you can go and be the ruler. So, Lakshman becomes completely deflated and then Lord Ram says, I know that Bharata’s love for you is as much as your love for me is as much as your love for me.
Why do you have doubts about it? And then when he sees actually how Bharata has come to try to beg Lord Ram to come back and then how Bharata goes back with the Padukas of Ram. So, Lakshman feels very mortified. And then after that, Lakshman asks, I know, I don’t know why I get angry so quickly.
It is good that you checked me, otherwise I don’t know what would have happened. So, Lord Ram is the older brother, he pats Lakshman on the back and he says, you know, you are sentimental. So, then Lakshman becomes a little bit, are sentiments bad? So, then Lord Ram replies, no, sentiments are not bad.
Sentiments are the ornaments of life. But he said, we should choose the sentiments that take us towards dharma and not the sentiment that take us away from dharma. So, there are religious emotions, there are spiritual emotions and there are material religious emotions.
So, we should choose the emotions that take us towards Krishna and reject the emotions that take us away from Krishna. So, it is not that we are servants of our emotions. We need emotions, but we can, we don’t have any servants of our emotions, we can be selectors of our emotions.
This emotion, I will nourish. This emotion, I will neglect. So, when a boy is attracted to a girl, that is an emotion, which we will possibly neglect.
When we are serving Krishna, by whatever emotions we sometimes experience in Kirtan, in sharing Krishna consciousness, in seeing the success of Krishna consciousness, people becoming devotees, those emotions we nourish. So, in this way, by selecting the emotions which we nourish and the emotions that we neglect, what will happen is, see currently, we have our emotional world and there is Krishna’s emotional world. The things that please Krishna and the things that please us, they are not entirely overlapping.
Maybe there are some small intersections there. But there are many things which please us, which actually displease Krishna. And there are many things which please Krishna, which are irrelevant for us.
What happens? Who bothers about it? But by choosing dharmic emotions to nourish, when we experience emotions in the process of devotional service, we nourish those emotions. By that, what will happen is, these two circles will overlap more and more and more. And then gradually, our emotions will become similar to Krishna’s emotions.
So, by nourishing the emotions that take us closer to Krishna, we will connect and unite our emotional world with Krishna. That is also how we will bring one more of our lanes of consciousness to direct towards Krishna. Tad buddhayas tad atmanas tan nishthas tat parayana tan nishtha.
That is, faith in him. What is this idea of faith in Krishna, tan nishthas? Actually, Krishna Prabhupada explains that the whole process of advancement of spiritual life is an advancement in our faith. So, if you see the nine stages of bhakti, they begin with shraddha.
So, if you see first, fifth and ninth. First is shraddha. Fifth is also shraddha, but it is deepened shraddha.
That is nishtha. And the ninth is prema. Prema is actually the ultimate level of shraddha.
See, when I may have shraddha at an initial level, now I say I trust my doctor. Okay, I have faith in my doctor. But when it is at the most refined level.
Now, many people may trust the doctor, but we trust the doctor for some utility purpose. I go to the doctor, I take the medicine, come back. It is not that I love the doctor.
I am not sick, I am not going to call the doctor. Doctor, how are you? We are not going to do that. So, trust is one level of relationship.
But when the trust matures, it becomes nishtha. Nishtha is very deep. So, Prabhupada explained that at the stage of shraddha, basically it is serious inquisitiveness.
You know, in 1.2.12, Bhagavatam, that is the verse, So, the previous 1.2.11 in Bhagavatam is madantra to do this. And the three aspects of the absolute truth. And now, in the next verse, Krishna is telling, how we can, how, not Krishna, Suta Goswami is telling, how one can know these three aspects of the absolute.
And he says, equipped with knowledge and renunciation, he performs bhakti, according to scripture, what will happen? You will see the absolute truth within the heart. So, here, in this verse, relevant to our point is, our discussion is the word shraddha. Now, Daya Sri Prabhupada translates shraddha in a very interesting way.
He says the seriously inquisitive sage. So, he translates shraddha as serious inquisitiveness. That means, what, that, in the initial stage on the spiritual path, we may not have faith that God exists and God loves us and God’s abode is our actually eternal destiny.
We will not have all this faith. But at the very least, what we can have is serious inquisitiveness. Is there something beyond life, as I know it? No, I am just living, living, living.
And one day, some bang may hit my body, some car may hit me, or a bug may hit me inside. So, one bang or one bug, it is finished. So, is that all that there is to life? Isn’t there something more? So, this inquisitiveness, is there life beyond what I am told ordinarily? So, not just a casual enquiry, not God exists, but serious enquiry.
That is also an emotional shraddha. It is not that in the beginning we are expected to have faith completely in Krishna. But we can start with serious inquisitiveness.
Tannishthas, there are so many people, wise people who have written so many books about spirituality. So many acharyas have written so much about Krishna. There must be some substance in it.
So, that is a beginning level. That is serious inquisitiveness. What is the meaning of serious inquisitiveness, as contrasted with casual inquisitiveness? See, if I am sick, and I am seriously sick, terribly sick, then if there is a good doctor or not, I will be seriously inquisitive.
Isn’t it? Because I need the treatment. On the other hand, if I am healthy, I just come to a new place, is there a doctor here? This is not a doctor, this is a casual enquiry. So, actually to the extent we recognise this world is a place of misery and I want to get out.
This world is like a second condition. I am in a second condition. Then we become seriously inquisitive.
So, when we understand life is temporary, as they said that life takes off when we understand how soon life takes us off. What that means is, life takes off. That means our journey in life starts moving rapidly.
Life takes off when we understand how soon life takes us off. That means we are on the stage of life and we do not know when, but soon it is taken off. Death will come and take us away.
So, when we understand that how soon life takes us off. Now, this body is like a car. And suppose somebody has hired a taxi.
Now, what the person is doing with the taxi, the taxi is sightseeing, the taxi is going in the wrong direction, taxi is going in the opposite direction entirely, but the metre is ticking, metre is constantly ticking and the bell is going to come. So, like that in our life, whether we are going in the right direction, wrong direction or whether it is stationary, the time is ticking, metre is ticking. So, when we understand and you know a person who has hired a car, he has a limited amount.
So, when that amount gets over, the person is thrown out of the car, thrown out. So, like that we are in this body and the metre is ticking every moment, every moment metre is ticking, metre is ticking. When we understand that, then we understand how soon life takes us off.
Then what happens? Life takes off. It becomes serious. What is the really important thing in my life? What should I focus on? What should I prioritise? So, this is serious inquisitiveness.
Is there something beyond this world, in this life that we find out seriously? So, that is the preliminary level of Nishtha. But at a deeper level, when we have ourselves got experience, this chanting Hare Krishna does purify me. I have seen when I had so much lust, so much anger, now the lust and anger have decreased and the more I practise Krishna Consciousness, the more I stay calm, the more I stay pure.
So, when we have ourselves experienced the potency of Krishna Consciousness, then the faith becomes much more deeper. So, Tan Nishthas. So, now the question comes up, sometimes people ask, you know some people say, I have seen that devotee has so much faith in Krishna.
I don’t have that faith. So, is faith a result of grace or is faith a matter of choice? Now, is it that faith is given by God? Now, he has faith, I don’t have faith. Is faith a matter of grace or is faith a matter of choice? Actually, it is both.
It is both. Because just like some faith you can say is like our inner muscles. Now, some people may have strong muscles, they may have healthy biceps.
So, you could say that is the result of grace. But beyond that, that person, depending on how that person uses the body, the muscles can grow or the muscles can atrophy. So, the muscles that we have as a starting point, you could say that is a matter of grace.
But what we do thereafter, that is a matter of choice. So, just as our muscles are a matter of both grace and choice, similarly our faith is also both a matter of grace and choice. That means some devotees may have more faith, some may have less faith.
But all of us can choose to do the activities that will increase our faith. And when we do those activities, then we will feel that our faith increases. I want to strengthen my muscles, let me lift weights, let me do workouts.
So, like that, if I find my faith is weak, then what do I do? I do the activities that strengthen my faith. It means studying Shastra and not just studying Shastra. If our faith is an issue, then we have to find out what are the sources by which my specific doubts can be resolved.
So, study that. Study that. Address that.
There are so many Acharyas who have written so many books. Before that Prabhupada has written so many books. And then there are so many devotees who are specialised in different departments of different sections of the philosophy.
So, some devotees specialised in science, some specialised in Kaurya Vaishnavism, some specialised in refuting impersonalism, some specialised in the Madhuryas, some specialised in Bhagavatam, some in Bhagavad Gita. So, wherever we have doubts, we should take the initiative and ask questions and get the answers. So, yes, sometimes we may have some spiritual experiences.
That time we get a lot of faith. We go to Yatra and we experience some Darshans, some very deep experiences or some Kirtans. Sometimes those experiences may come also.
So, we could say that is a matter of grace. But it’s also a matter of choice. And here Krishna is talking about faith as a matter of choice.
He says, put your faith in the Absolute. Actually, nobody can be faithless. A faithless person has faith in faithlessness.
What does it mean, faith in faithlessness? Somebody says, I don’t believe in God. Well, I don’t have faith in God. That means you have faith in the non-existence of God.
You cannot, because ultimately, everything, every belief is a matter of faith. There may be some basis for the faith and no basis for the faith. But ultimately, it’s a matter of faith.
An atheist also cannot prove the non-existence of God. That’s a matter of belief for an atheist. So, nobody can say, I don’t have any faith.
The question is, where is my faith directed? The 17th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is called as Shraddha Trayvibhaga Yoga, the three divisions of faith. And the essential message of that chapter is, our faith determines our fate. Our faith determines our fate.
That means, if my faith is tamasic, my fate is tamasic. What does faith being tamasic mean? Somebody has faith. There is no problem so big in the world that a bottle of alcohol cannot solve it.
So, this is faith. This is faith in the mode of ignorance. God has told us, just drink and forget.
But of course, we can’t forget. After that, we come back to the world and the problems have become worse. But still, people have faith in alcohol.
So, that is tamasic faith. So, our fate will determine our fate. So, all of us have faith, somewhere or the other.
So, as devotees, we need to choose to put faith in Krishna. How do I choose to put faith? That means, just like when I am walking along a dark road, then what do I do? I am cautious. I put one step forward and see if there is a tree, if there is a snake or something over there.
And then I find a firm ground, then I take the one step forward, then I lift my other leg. Then I take the other leg forward and see if there is something. So, like that, cautiously we take steps forward.
But somebody may say, so dark, I don’t know what is there, I will stay here only. No, then if you stay here only, then you will not get anywhere. So, you know, Krishna doesn’t expect us to take giant leaps of faith all the time.
But all of us can take steps of faith. Steps, one step, one step, one step. And actually speaking, the steps of faith, they are very clear and visible in the initial stages of our spiritual life.
Let me say somebody is chanting, starts chanting, starts chanting one round and starts chanting four rounds and eight rounds and 16 rounds. The steps of faith are very clear and visible externally. But that progression has to continue onwards after we come to the standard level of external commitment.
So, we can explore how can I take steps of faith forward in my spiritual life. So, each of us will have our own blind spots. Blind spots mean things which we can’t perceive, things which we can’t digest, things which we can’t accept.
And then we can take steps accordingly to make our faith strong. So, it’s a matter of choice. And the choice is not a big leap, gentle steps, one step, one step.
And sometimes we will be inspired to take leaps also. But as devotees, we should have faith. Many people, unfortunately, they don’t put faith in Krishna because they put faith in their doubts.
They put faith in their doubts. This question, I don’t know the answer. And the history of ideas of the world has shown, even if you find that I have some question which nobody has an answer for, still we shouldn’t think, oh, this is a fatal flaw in the philosophy of Krishna.
Why? Actually, for example, many devotees sometimes get bogged down. Why did the soul fall from the spiritual world? So, actually, Swin Jaydev Maharaj wrote an article, don’t figure it out, get out. Now, of course, there are some level of intellectual answers to that, no doubt.
It’s not that we don’t have any answer. But the important point is that these are things which are outside the scope of space and time. So, it’s difficult for us to conceive it in its completeness.
So, therefore, now, even if we don’t have an answer, it’s not an all-important point of our philosophy. So, what we do is, sometimes we give our doubt, we put too much faith in our doubts. That means we give our doubts too much importance.
But the history of ideas of the world shows that no idea stays for very long. That means this person comes up with this philosophy, and at that time, the philosophy is very popular. And then a few decades later, some other philosopher comes up and smashes that previous person’s philosophy, and establishes his own philosophy.
And then another person comes up, establishes his own philosophy. So, no idea has held prevalence for a very long time. That’s why the doubts that seem irresolvable right now, they are after all the creation of the human mind.
So, they are not going to last for very long. Doubts will come, the doubts will go. So, we shouldn’t put too much faith in our doubts.
We should put faith in Krishna. It is the human doubts, they are limited, they are finite, because human mind itself is finite. Whereas Krishna’s revealed world is infinite, because it is manifesting from his infinite brain.
So, tan nishtas, and this nishtha at the deepest level. So, I said, first, fifth, and ninth stages. First stage is nishtha ishraddha, that is serious inquisitiveness.
At the stage of nishtha, it is determined commitment. At the stage of nishtha, it is not just inquisitiveness. What is all this? It is determined commitment.
Why? Because I have seen anartha nivrtti happening. Nishtha comes after anartha nivrtti. When I have seen anartha nivrtti happening, then naturally I have nishtha.
This works, therefore I will do it. Now, one important point about these nine stages of bhakti is that it is not that they are discrete. It is not that after one gets over, then the next one starts.
They are overlapping. See, it is not that even if somebody comes to the level of nishtha, it is not that person gives up sadhu sangha. So, sadhu sangha always goes on.
So, it is like, you know, when we climb a higher step, the lower step is still there below us. Isn’t it? The lower step is still there, but the higher step is taken one level higher. So, these are progressive, but the low previous stages are always there.
So, now for us, are we at the level of nishtha? You may say, no, I am just doing anartha nivrtti right now. So many anarthas are there. But actually speaking, it is not like that.
You know, for some aspects of bhakti, we may also be at the level of nishtha. It is not that we are completely at the level of nishtha, but we may say, you know chanting Hare Krishna, it really, if I really take shelter of it, it purifies me. Or if I go in front of the deities and pray, it purifies me.
So, it is not that all these stages are like digital logic one zero. You are there or you are not there. It is a matter of consciousness.
We are moving towards that direction. So, anartha nivrtti also, some anartha nivrtti has happened, a lot is remaining, but some has happened. So, that means we may already have some nishtha in some things.
And we, what do we do? That nishtha becomes our determined commitment, determined commitment. So, faith expresses itself as this determined commitment, which takes us onwards. And then at the level of prema, then the faith is unquestioned.
Whatever, like we see this highest level of faith. See, first is faith that God exists, and faith exists that God will help me. So, but at the level of prema, what is that faith? Whatever God does, I will accept it.
So, whatever you do, this is the moda pradhanani, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is speaking in the moda pradhanani, whether you embrace me, or you trample me under foot, whatever you do, you are my Lord. So, actually, this is your prema where the faith has become so deep rooted, that it has become unconditional. Whatever you do, you are my Lord.
So, this faith will come gradually, but we can make choices. So, if we want to advance, we have to unmistake us, put faith in Krishna, unmistake us. And tatparayanaha, tatparayanaha means make Krishna our goal.
See, there are a lot of people who do the previous three without doing the fourth one. That means they may study scriptures, they may also have some emotional attraction towards Krishna, they may also have faith in the power of Krishna. But their idea is, this God is there, I am here, and I have faith that God will make my life here happy.
So, what has happened is, at that level of religion, this is karmakanda, Krishna is performing pastimes in the spiritual world, and he is inviting us, come to me, enjoy my pastimes. But at the level of karmakanda, the soul says, I want to perform pastimes in this world, you help me. So, that is the basic idea, I want to do this, I want to do that, I want to help God, please help me do all these things.
So, that is not actually a very advanced level of devotion. It’s good that there is connection with God. As Prabhupada would say, Christians pray, O father, thou art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, give us our daily bread.
So, he said, yes, they pray to God for bread, that is good. But it shows their love for bread, not love for God. So, that is not a very lofty level.
So, if we want the river of our consciousness to move towards Krishna, then Krishna is not a means to an end in this world. Rather, everything in the world is a means to the end of Krishna. There is a sense, means and ends, means means end is what you want to achieve.
So, for the religious materialists, for the Karmakandis, God is a means to the end of material enjoyment. God is a means to the end of material enjoyment. God is a tool by which I will get material enjoyment.
Whereas, that is the religious materialist, whereas for a devotee, God is the, the world is a means by which to attain God. The world is a means by which to attain God. So, Tatparayana means Krishna is our goal.
Krishna is our goal. The things of this world are not our goal. We want the things of this world so that they help us in serving Krishna.
So, actually this is where sometimes we are tested. Even when we are doing services for Krishna. Sometimes some devotees say that when I make plans, the plans don’t work only.
Sometimes people say that better not make plans. Sometimes our devotees also say, if you want to make Krishna laugh, then make plans. But actually it’s not like that.
It’s actually every morning in Kurukshetra, when Arjuna would go out for a war, they would have a serious plan. We’ll have this formation and we’ll do this, this, this, this. We cannot fight a battle with a war without a plan.
It’s slaughtered completely. So, it’s not plans that are a problem. It is attachment to the plan that I’ve got.
See, plans we have to make definitely. But what happens is, sometimes when we make plans, we think that everything should work according to my plans. And then we become attached.
That is the mode where we want to become the controllers. And then material nature smashes us, doesn’t allow us to be the controllers. But the important point is, plans may not work, but planning works.
What is the difference between the two? Plans are specific. Planning is generic. So, plans may not work.
I’ll do this in the morning, I’ll do this year, I’ll do this year, I’ll do this year. But suddenly some problem comes up and I have spent a lot of time dealing with that. So, plans may not work.
But planning work means, planning works means, planning gives us general direction for our life. This is what I should be doing. These things I have to do.
And okay, if I did not do this today, I’ll do it tomorrow. But this is the direction which I’m supposed to do. So, planning is a characteristic of the mode of goodness.
Because what is planning? Planning essentially means, planning essentially means thinking before acting. Isn’t it? And thinking before acting is a characteristic of the mode of goodness. So, planning is important.
But if I become very attached to the plans and I think everything should work according to my plan, then that is the mode of passion. The mode of passion is, I am the controller. So, tatparayanaha means that we make Krishna our goal and then plan, how will I make my, how will I serve him? So, Krishna, so what happens is, in our life, when our plans come up, planning is important, but when our plans get frustrated, I have decided to do something, but suddenly some other situation comes up and I’m not able to do that.
Then, that is the time when often we have to choose between our plan and Krishna. Krishna has some other plan for us. So, if we are tatparayanaha, if we are attached to Krishna, then, just like Parishad Maharaj, he was a king and he was doing his royal administrative duties very well.
But then, when suddenly God occurs, what did he do? He did not stay attached to Krishna, just left it. So, sometimes what happens is, we, as a part of our long-term plan of developing Krishna consciousness, we make short-term plans. Okay, I will do this class, I will do this class, I will arrange, manage this programme, I will do this service.
So, the short-term plans are important, no doubt. But at the same time, quite often it will happen that the short-term plans may go wrong. So, if we are too agitated by short-term plan, then we will get so disturbed by it, that we will forget Krishna.
So, what happens is, when things go wrong, essentially what is happening is, the short-term plan that we have made, they are not working. Then we feel very agitated. But if we remember that the opportunity to serve Krishna is never going to go away.
Nothing can take away from me the opportunity to serve Krishna. Specific ways of serving Krishna may go away. If I fall sick, then maybe I cannot go for a yatra.
But that does not mean I cannot remember Krishna. I can read, I can hear. So, what happens is, whenever things go wrong in the world, that time, basically things going wrong is like our motivation tester.
If I am motivated by worldly things, then when those worldly things are no longer available to me, then the motivation drops down. Why should I do this? But if I am actually motivated by the desire to love Krishna, then no matter what happens in the world, I can still keep loving and serving Krishna. So, that’s why when things go wrong, what happens is, we just get caught in resentment.
Why this happened? Why this happened? Why this happened? And that resentment prevents us from thinking of Krishna, prevents us from serving Krishna. So, whenever things go wrong, we often ask the question, why this? Why did this happen? But a more productive question to ask is, how now? How now? Not why did this happen? Because we really cannot know. Suppose I am going along, I meet with an accident.
Why did the accident happen? How am I going to find out? I can’t. So, the question, why this, is often just an invitation for frustration. Because we can’t know the answer.
It’s an invitation for frustration. Why? Why? Why? But how now? How now means, okay, now this has happened. How does Krishna want me to serve him? How can I serve him now? So, if our goal is fixed on Krishna, then we will not get caught and imprisoned by resentment.
Okay, this has happened. How can I serve Krishna? If our goal is fixed on Krishna, then no matter what happens in this world, we will be able to continue serving Krishna. We continue marching ahead and moving on towards Krishna.
So, actually, sometimes we feel there’s so many problems in my own internal practise of Krishna Consciousness, in my preaching, which we will be able to practise. Actually, will Krishna Consciousness spread? Will I become Krishna Consciousness in the world? Will I become Krishna Consciousness? We have some doubts. Sometimes, preaching Krishna Consciousness seems to be like a mission impossible.
But actually, when we understand that it’s Krishna’s power, isn’t it? Krishna is saying, that I have killed all your enemies. You just become an instrument. So, what Krishna is telling through the Virat Gopu Darshan is that actually, his mission is not mission impossible.
It is mission unstoppable. It is mission unstoppable. But what stops us is our own attachment to specific things.
This is how I should serve Krishna. And if I’m not able to serve Krishna this way, what is the use? Then we become frustrated. But actually, if we are attached to Krishna, then nothing can stop our spiritual advancement.
We will always keep finding some way onwards, some way onwards, some way onwards. So, this is the motivational aspect. What is our motivation in practising Krishna Consciousness? Is it the worldly gains that we get by the service of Krishna or is it Krishna himself? So, we should always remember that Krishna is Krishna’s greatest blessing.
Krishna is Krishna’s greatest blessing. Now, it is not our ability to give good classes, ability to sing great kirtans, our ability to manage big projects. They are also Krishna’s blessings.
But Krishna’s greatest blessing is Krishna himself. And irrespective of what happens in the world, Krishna is available in our heart. If we turn towards him, he will reveal himself, he will manifest his remembrance to us.
And we can go deeper and deeper in our relationship with him. And then, Vachantya punaravrttin, we move along on the path from which one does not return. So, let us go back to the spiritual world.
So, I will summarise. I started by talking about how in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is talking about moving on the path back to him. So, directing the four lanes of our consciousness towards Krishna.
So, tad buddhayas, we discussed about how buddhi is what keeps the sadhaka on the spiritual stage. Buddhi is what enables us to understand this is temporary, this is eternal. This is Krishna is substance, everything else is shadow.
Then we discussed about tadatmanas. We discussed about how we have to relate with Krishna like a mother relating with a child, not a doctor relating with a patient. And our emotional world should be united with Krishna’s emotional world.
We should focus, nourish those emotions which are in the intersection and neglect those emotions which are outside that. So, the pastime of Bharat, saying that don’t punish Mantara or Kaikeyi because Rama will be displeased. So, we choose, nourish those emotions which lift us towards dharma and neglect those emotions which take us away from dharma.
Then, tan nishthas. So, faith is at initial level, it is just serious inquisitiveness. Is there something in spiritual life? Then later on, it is determined commitment and the level of prema, it is unconditional surrender.
So, this is how faith deepens. And we discussed that faith is not just a matter of grace, it is also a matter of choice. By doing the activity that will give us faith, we can increase our faith.
Just as by exercising, a person can improve his muscles. And takparayanaha. The karmakandis, for them, this world and its pleasures are a goal and God is a means to those goals.
They are not takparayanaha, they are ihaparayanaha. They are parayanaha for them, they are caught up in this world only. As devotees, we intellectually accept that Krishna is the ultimate goal, but still we may also get caught up with the this-worldly results of our specific services.
And when those this-worldly results don’t come, then we may feel discouraged and frustrated. But at that time, if we become takparayanaha, even if this doesn’t work, still I can keep serving Krishna in some way or the other. We can keep marching ahead.
So, these four aspects, they can, say our consciousness is like a river, we want it to move towards Krishna. So, these four can act as distributaries or they can act as tributaries. So, if we direct them towards Krishna, they will add more and more of our consciousness in the stream that is moving towards Krishna.
But if we let them get misdirected, they will act as tributaries, which will take our consciousness away from Krishna. So, in this, when we invest all these in Krishna, then we move smoothly on the journey back to Krishna. Thank you very much.
Are there any questions? We have a few minutes. So, making plans and following it seems to be very difficult. So, in general, we have to individually decide how much level of organisation with our life we are comfortable.
We should not make others our model. Because different people are of different psychophysical natures. So, we have to have some direction for our life.
There is, as we said, there is planning by compass and there is planning by clock. Planning by clock means morning, this time I will do this, this time I will do this, this time I will do this. That planning by clock is planning for frustration.
Life is just going to allow us to do that. So, but planning by compass is essential. Because otherwise, you will just get lost.
We want to go in this direction and suddenly one comes here, move a little bit this way, another comes here, move this direction, another comes here, move this direction, another comes here and we are taking a U-turn. So, what happens is, at least you have to have a compass. That means, I may want to say every day, I will wake up at 3 o’clock and before morning programme for one hour I am going to read.
That may not work. But if I decide, okay, in a month, I am going to read, say 30 hours. Some days I am able to read more, some days I am able to read less.
And do not just make it a quantity, we can also make it another quantity. Okay, if I read 30 hours, I will be able to come half complete half the canto of Bhagavatam. So then that means more inspiring goals.
So we have to decide how much level of planning we are comfortable with, and make that level of planning. So we decide what are the important things that I want to achieve in my life, in my devotional life, in my material life also, which is also connected with Krishna, and what all I need to do towards that. And then make some important landmarks and see how we can move towards that.
So certainly nobody can micro plan everything, but even within macro planning, that is planning broad direction in our life, how much planning we are comfortable with, we can adjust. So rather than becoming frustrated when the plans don’t work, we can say okay, I don’t have to make so much planning, I can make a little lesser level of planning. And then we can move around.
Can you give an example? What do you mean? So sometimes when we are tempted by worldly things, say opposite sex or food or things like that, at that time, we know intellectually that they are entangling, but still we get attracted to them. And at that time, emotionally, it feels as if these are real, in fact, they feel as if they are divine also. So how do we actually come out of mayan situations? So Krishna talks about this in the third chapter of Bhagavad Gita.
And he talks about basically three stoppers at the sensory level, at the intellectual level, at the spiritual level. So, at the sensory level, Krishna says, regulate the senses, that is 3.41. So, at the sensory level itself, we can try to minimise the provocations that come to us. Although we cannot eliminate them, but we can definitely minimise them.
Many small, small things that we do, we can decrease the exposure that we get to the provocations. That is the first stopper, the first guard. So, very gross temptations, we can check if we just regulate the senses itself.
Then, beyond that, Krishna says, evam buddheh param buddhva. So, in the 3.42, he says that actually your senses, higher the senses of the mind, higher the mind of the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul. So, evam buddheh.
So, with intelligence, understand that you are transcendental. So, the second block to temptation, it is like Vaikuntha, somebody wants to come in, and there are seven gates, there are guards. So, like that, we can have guards at the sensory level, at the intellectual level, and at the devotional level.
So, at the intellectual level, what happens is, if we are philosophically astute, if we are studying the philosophy regularly, then we are able to see through the facade of these temptations. That means, at that time, when they appear pleasurable, we remember. Yatta dagreyam rittopamam pariname visyameva.
This looks like nectar in the vein, but it is poison in the ear. So, we remember the philosophy, that also acts as a guard, the second guard. The third guard is at the devotional level, at the level of the heart.
At the level of the heart is, when we have decided that I am going to live my life in a way that will please Krishna, that will please the spiritual master, that will please the Vaishnavas. Then, that desire to please Krishna also gives us a willpower to reject those activities which will be displeasing to him. So, that way, when our heart is filled with Krishna, not necessarily in terms of pure love for Krishna, but at least in terms of the commitment to want to please him, then that also gives us an impetus to turn away from those things which will displease him.
So, it’s a war, and in a war, you can’t say that which weapon will work. We say chanting is the ultimate weapon, that is true. But, the problem with Maya, or the danger of Maya is, she makes us think that the weapon is a burden.
Two warriors are coming to fight, one warrior is swinging his mace, other person also got a mace, they can fight. But then, this warrior tells, this mace is so heavy, where are you carrying it? Your arm will get strained, put the waist down. He calmly puts the waist down, it gets smashed.
So, like that, what happens is, we have the weapon of the holy name, but especially when temptations come, the holy name itself starts feeling like a burden. We don’t feel like chanting only. And that’s how, at that time, we need other supports also.
So, some sensory checks help, some intellectual checks help. Ultimately, we have to have the devotional check only. The devotional check is our connection with Krishna.
But the philosophy helps when we start feeling, this weapon is not a burden, this is my survival tool, without this I will die. So, if we have some philosophy at that time, the philosophy doesn’t save us in and of itself, but the philosophy helps us to take shelter of that which will save us. The philosophy helps us to take shelter of Krishna and that saves us.
So, that’s why keeping ourselves philosophically also, philosophically alert is regularly studying the philosophy, that also helps. So, at a sensory level, we avoid, avoid provocations. At an intellectual level, we also block, knowing that they are dangerous, they are misleading.
And at a devotional level, at the level of the heart, you know, this is, it is not just because they are degrading, not just because they are sinful, not just because they are, they will cause me defamation in the society of devotees. No, because this will displease Krishna, so I will not do these things. So, that way, we can resist the temptations.
So, yeah. Clear? Any other questions? Yes, sir. Okay.
Speak loudly. Little loudly. Yeah.
Okay. So, when I said that we neglect those emotions which are not favourable to Krishna consciousness, what does that mean? So, for example, if somebody wants to become a brahmachari, and then, at that time, attachment to the parents can be an unfavourable emotion. So, now, there is a natural human attraction to the parents.
We are grateful to them for what they have done for us. But if we want to join a particular ashram, then the emotional attraction to them can be unfavourable. Then we neglect that.
That doesn’t mean we have to become totally insensitive. But every particular ashram has its particular responsibilities, and we have to cultivate specific attitudes. So, then, we may have to, that emotion is natural, that emotion is human.
A child’s son’s attraction to the parents is in no way irreligious. I mean, it is virtuous in many ways. But there is aparadharma, and there is paradharma.
There is material religion and there is spiritual religion. So, that is unfavourable. So, we may have to neglect that emotion.
Similarly, a boy’s attraction to a girl, you know, that is, for the sake, that is not necessarily religious if one is planning to marry and everything. But still, that can be unfavourable. So, then, that’s how certain emotions can be unfavourable for the practise of bhakti.
And those emotions, we have to neglect. Clear? Yeah, take it out of the mind means we understand that these emotions are there, but they are not based on my identity as a soul. So, they are based on a bodily platform, and they’re not favourable to the practise of bhakti.
Therefore, I will not dwell on them. See, our emotions also grow based on how much we dwell on them. For example, even when we see some sense object, we see some advertisement.
So, first, it’s just a thought. But then, when we think on it, then the thought becomes an emotion. And then, as we keep letting that emotion grow, then it becomes a passion, then it becomes an obsession, and then it causes destruction.
So, that’s how it goes. So, if we don’t invest in emotions, then that will actually subside. So, especially unfavourable emotions I’m talking about is in general for all devotees.
As I said, biologically, we may say that attraction with opposite sex is natural. So, the eyes, the forms of the opposite sex look attractive. But then, we understand this is unfavourable.
Therefore, we neglect those emotions. Clear? So, thank you very much. So, my talk will be in four broad parts.