Focus on Krishna’s glories while studying Bhagavatam – don’t be distracted
It gives us Buddhi. Hare Krishna.
So, today morning we're discussing the genesis of the Shramad Bhagavatam. How the Bhagavatam manifested. In fact, we could say that this is describing even before how the Bhagavatam manifested, what was the thought process going on.
Vyasadeva took the timeless knowledge of the Vedas and put them in a written form. So, I'll tell this class in four parts. First, I will talk about the principle of revelation.
Then I'll talk about the purpose of the Vedas. Then I'll talk about the mood in sharing the Vedas. And then I'll talk about Srila Prabhupada's and our responsibility while sharing the Vedic knowledge.
So, if we look at the first is the principle of revelation. Today, people often recoil against the idea of any knowledge that claims to be revealed. There must be some sages who wrote, some people in the past who wrote it down.
How do you know that there is a God? How do you know that He gave knowledge? And how do you know that this particular book is a knowledge which has come from God? Yes, all these are valid questions. And before we get caught into the technicalities, sometimes people do historical analysis. Oh, this book was written at this time, this book was written at this time.
How do you think it has come from God? So, this, before we get into the technical analysis, is an important principle. We see that for living in the world, whatever is necessary is provided for life. We need food and there are food items.
Srila Prabhupada writes in a purport that there are actually so many different species and many of these different species eat different kinds of food. But for every single species, there is food that is available. Now, somebody may argue, yeah, but if the food had not been there, that species would not have lived.
Yes, that's true, but that's an observation of consequence. That's not an explanation of cause. Explanation of cause means, okay, if this species is there, why is the food there? So, we need water, water is there in nature.
We need air, air is there in nature. So, the basic needs for living are provided for and provided for in quite a remarkable way. Our body is a complex machine.
So complex that scientists, the more they study it, the more they realise its complexity. And the world provides for its needs. So, if somebody send us by mail a very complicated machine as a gift and provided no inkling of any knowledge, what is this machine meant for? You would think very strange.
If anybody put the time, effort, money to send us a machine as a gift, they would provide the knowledge of how it is to be operated. So, similarly, if we consider the body that we have, it's a very complicated machine. The world we live in is a complicated arrangement.
And not only are they too complicated, but there is compatibility. The world provides what the body needs. So, if this has been arranged, if the basic needs for living have been arranged for, have been provided for, would the knowledge for living not be provided for? If somebody sends us a device with the power cord, with the battery, with everything that is required for the running of the device, but doesn't tell what is the purpose of the device, why would anybody be so deficient? So, in principle, we can understand that, at least we can be open to the possibility that if that there could be a source of knowledge who has provided us knowledge, which can guide us in our life, which can tell us about the purpose of life.
So, this is the basic principle of revelation. Now, if you consider in the revelation, the scriptures are considered to be revelations, they are, yes, they are originating, they are manifested through certain sages, but it is the Supreme Lord who speaks through them and reveals the knowledge. So, if we find a particular book and somebody tells us this is the manual for this device, how can we know? It may come written, but if the cover page is cut off or something, how do we know that this is a manual? Two simple criteria.
Does that book help us to better understand the device? And does that book help us better operate the device? If these two things are there, we can reasonably infer that this book is a guidebook for the device. Similarly, if we look at the Vedic wisdom, we study it and then look at ourselves, look at the world, we'll find that it helps us make better sense of life. What is the purpose of life? What are we meant to live for? How are we, what is all this about? This question, we get reasonable answers, quite coherent answers actually, when we study the scriptures.
And secondly, does it help us to live better? If we start moulding our life according to scripture, we find that the quality of our life becomes better. We become more peaceful, we become more contented, we become more positive in our life. So, broadly speaking, we can say that if we try to understand the world through scripture and live in the world through scripture, our life becomes better.
So, we can reasonably say that scripture is the word of God, is a revolution which is meant for guiding us. Now, yes, scripture contains, now there are many different religions, they all claim their scriptures to be revealed and we don't have to get into a technical debate, you know, is this right, is this wrong? There is an essential purpose that is important. So, if we look at the Vedas, the word Veda generically means knowledge.
The word Veda can have multiple meanings. At a broad level, it simply means knowledge. At a specific level, so we could have three levels of meanings of the word Veda.
At the broadest level, it means knowledge in general. So, when Krishna says, by all the Vedas I am to be known, he is meaning that by all knowledge, we should be seeking him. Now, that is the broadest meaning of the word Vedas.
The narrowest meaning of the word Vedas could be, it refers to the four Vedic literature, the four books which are known as Vedas, Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. Generally, Srila Prabhupada uses the word Veda in a more intermediate sense that he refers to Veda to the body of knowledge that has emanated from the Vedic tradition. So, he includes the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavatam, and other books also in the Vedic tradition.
And he uses the word Vedas generically. And that's how it has also been used in the tradition. So, the Vedas, they were a comprehensive body of knowledge that guided about various aspects of life.
And the purpose was so that we could live harmoniously in this world and progress towards a higher world. devān bhāve tāne na te devā bhāve parasparambhāve antah śreyah paramavāpsitah That śreyah parasparambhāve antah, we satisfy each other and śreyah paramavāpsitah. In 3.12 in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, we also attain life's ultimate destination.
Now, here, among the Vedas, the Bhagavatam is, this section of the Bhagavatam is describing how the Bhagavatam itself manifested. And before that, what was done with the Vedas? It's a beautiful word over here. We ask her, krupana-vatsalah.
Krishna is known as bhakta-vatsalah. He is the lover of his devotees. Vatsalah is lover or affectionate, caretaker.
And bhakta is devotees. Now, Prahlad Maharaj, in a prayer in the 7th canto of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, uses the same word, krupana-vatsalah, for referring even to the Lord. So, krupana means those who are miserly, those who are short-sighted.
So, the Lord is not just affectionate to the devotees. The Lord is affectionate even to those who are non-devotees, those who are materialistic. The word miserly is interesting in this context.
Misers are people who have money, but they just hoard it. And they hoard it so much that they don't use it even for their own purposes. Instead of using it, money should be used selflessly for helping others also.
But what to speak of helping others? They don't use it for even themselves. So, some misers, they put wet cloth around their stomach and they live like that. Why? Because the cloth is wet and the digestive fire will go down.
If the digestive fire goes down, they will eat less. If they eat less, then they will have to spend less money on money, less money on food. And thus, they will be able to keep their money more.
So, sorry. So, strange. So, basically, krupanas are those, misers are those, who don't use their money even for their own good.
They keep their money locked in a treasury, in some closet, where it is not of use even to them. What to speak of to others? So, like that, misers are, see the greatest power of the soul in this world is desire. We all have the power to desire and with this desire, we can do various things.
With our desire, it is by desire that devices are developed. It is by desire that planes were invented. It is by desire that temples are built.
It is by desire that ultimately God is realised. This desire is the most powerful resource of the soul. And, how that desire is used is what requires intelligence.
So, the misers are those who keep their desires locked in the closet of bodily drives. Eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Just keep seeking these things.
And, these things actually don't give much pleasure even to them. If we consider food, food is a need for the body and we don't just eat it as fuel for the body. We also want some pleasure from it.
But, if somebody lives only for eating, how much can the body eat? We can eat maybe a few times a day. And, if we consider the total duration of the day, how much time can we eat? Well, it's not much. It may be an hour, two hours or whatever.
And, if eating is my definition of pleasure, then what do I do with the rest of my time? When I get good food, I enjoy. When the food is bad, I suffer. The rest of the time, I'm bored.
So, material existence, when it is lived at the bodily level, basically becomes boring. Because sensory pleasure is not available constantly. And, sensory pleasure is the goal of my life.
When sensory pleasure is not available, what do I do? I don't do anything. There's nothing interesting in life. And, that's why we see that in today's world, entertainment has become such a big thing.
People pay millions of dollars to entertainers. Why? Because the whole entertainment industry is basically a boredom industry. People are bored and relief from boredom is such a big felt need for people that they're ready to spend millions for that purpose.
So, the point I'm making over here is that most people's desires, they stay locked in the realm of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. And, when they keep their desires locked like this, they're miserly. Because such locking, such hoarding of their desires doesn't give happiness even to them.
How much happiness is there in pursuing food, sleep, sex and show of power? It's a little. So, what to speak of benefiting others, they don't benefit themselves also. That's why they're called as misers.
And, the point is, Krupana Vatsalah. Vyasadeva was compassionate even to such Krupanas. Just as the Lord was compassionate.
Krishna says, Sarvasya chaaham hrudisannivisto. In 15.15 the Bhagavad Gita he says, I am present in the hearts of all living beings. So, there are people who are godless.
But, God is not present less in the hearts of the godless. Now, God is equally present in the hearts of everyone. He is compassionate to everyone.
They may not be aware of His presence and His presence may not be manifest to others through them. But, He is still present. So, Krishna is Krupana Vatsalah.
He is compassionate to everyone. And, Vyasadeva as His representative is also compassionate to everyone. So, when he saw the Vedas contain abstruse principles, the Vedas themselves are technical manuals for performing sacrifices.
That's the major content within them. And the Upanishads, which are a philosophical section within them, they are quite abstruse metaphysical ponderings. And then he found that people in general could not understand those things.
Then he is going to do things to make them accessible. He is going to write the Mahabharata. He is going to write the Puranas for people in different moods.
And the whole mood is to make spiritual knowledge accessible. And ultimately, after writing all this, when he finds that he is still despondent, then his spiritual master Narada Muni comes over there and Narada Muni tells him that you should glorify the Supreme Lord. And that glorification of the Supreme Lord is the Srimad Bhagavatam.
He says, by this glorification, people's distresses will end. So, अनर्थोपशमं साक्षाद पक्तियोगम अधोक्षजे लोकस्य जानन्तो विद्वां स्चाक्रे भागवतसंद्धाम That he compiled the Bhagavatam because people in general are caught in misconceptions and they cannot overcome that unless they have proper understanding. That proper understanding of the glorification of the Lord will come through the Bhagavatam.
So, the purpose of everything, of all Vedic knowledge is to elevate human consciousness towards God. To raise our desires from just bodily level to higher spiritual level. Now, when people come to the Vedas they will come to knowledge.
Prabhupada talks in the Parapura about how some people say, Oh, why should only Brahmanas study this? Everybody should study this. There is an argument on this. So, now when we look at things, you know, we don't look at things as they are.
We look at things as we are. And because of this, often we may miss out on the purpose of a thing. So, once there was an anti-alcohol campaigner who was addressing alcoholics.
And he was trying to convince them about how dangerous alcohol is. So, he decided to do a demonstration. And in that demonstration, he had a glass, transparent glass filled with alcohol.
And in a small box, he had caught a small insect. And he opened the box. And he flipped the insect into the alcohol bottle.
And the insect fluttered a little bit. And it just sank down. Dead.
And then he looked at all the audience. What do you learn from this? So, all of them started looking down. And one of the audience was very enthusiastic.
He raised his hand. What do you learn from this? He says, when we drink alcohol, all the worms in our stomach will die. Laughter Laughter Laughter So, our desires shape our perception.
This is obviously a very brazen rationalisation where one wants to continue believing whatever they want to believe. But, this applies at all levels. Sometimes it is very brazen.
Sometimes it's subtle. But, we don't look at things as they are. We look at things as we are.
Based on our desires, based on our conceptions, we see certain things. And sometimes if our conceptions are focused on particular things, then we may miss out on the essence. And we may just catch on to some peripheral detail.
We may bring our purpose into the reading of Scripture. So, sometimes the study of Scripture can become politicalised. In India, the caste system and the issues around it, they are politicalised a lot.
And often the Vedic literature is seen as Brahminical. So, there is a prominent lower caste leader who who publicly on his birthday burned the Manu Samhita. And from that day it has become a tradition that people get copies of Manu Samhita and burn it on their day.
And they say by this we are, Manu Samhita talks about the discriminatory caste system and we want to destroy it. We are making a statement against this. Now, actually the Manu Samhita itself says, this is a division that Manu has suggested, Manu has given, but the Manu himself says that according to time, place, circumstance things need to be adjusted.
And if wise people feel that something else needs to be given, then these are what the Manu Samhita gives, are principles. The practises can be applied accordingly. According to time, place, circumstance.
So, the important thing is that we keep the purpose in mind. The purpose is to raise people's consciousness. And if we are to raise people's consciousness, we have to be where they are.
Suppose, say we build an elevator. It is a big building, very difficult to climb by just stairs. So, we build an elevator.
But suppose, it's a 100 floor building and the elevator starts from the 10th floor. And most of the people are on the ground level. And the elevator may go down a 100 times, but very few people will go up.
The elevator, if it is to elevate, it has to start where the people are. It cannot start from somewhere high up and expect the people to come there. And then we'll start.
So, the Vedic knowledge, when we are talking about this elevation, what we mean is that different people are at different levels of consciousness. And we have to take the Vedic knowledge where people are and then raise it upwards to help them access it. To help them appreciate it, to help them apply it.
And this was Shri Prabhupada's expertise. When Shri Prabhupada came to America, he brought that same Vedic knowledge. Just as Vyasadev, because of being Krupana Vatsalaha, because of being very compassionate, he edited Chakar Vedas so that they could become accessible to people.
Shri Prabhupada did the same thing. He presented the Vedic knowledge in a way that people could access. He was very intelligent.
One time a person who was just over, who was almost recovering from a drug-induced high, he came to Prabhupada and he asked, Swamiji, what is the bliss of Vaikuntha like? What is the bliss of the spiritual world like? Prabhupada told him. Prabhupada looked at him and compassionately said, the bliss of the spiritual world is like an ocean of LSD. Now, why? Now, in scripture it is not said, we will verify it in scripture, ocean of LSD.
Now we will not find that. But Prabhupada took the spiritual knowledge of the glory of the spiritual world, of the attractiveness of Krishna and of the absorption of Krishna consciousness and made it accessible to people at that level. And that's how they could rise.
So the purpose of sharing any knowledge, scriptural knowledge, is to help people raise their consciousness. And that purpose has to be kept foremost in our mind. When we are ourselves studying scripture and when we are sharing scripture with others.
If we lose track of this purpose, then even in scripture we can get lost. And Kulashekhar Maharaj is a great saint and he has written a prayer and he says how everything religious that we may do, we may fast, we may make sacrificial offerings in the fire, we may study scripture, he says all of this is useless without remembrance of Krishna. And he gives an example, he says, medas cheda phalani avga hanani.
He says if you fast but without remembering Krishna, then fasting is simply a fat reducing exercise. It has no purificatory value if there is no remembrance of Krishna. He says if we, if we do sacrifices, we offer ghee in the fire sacrifice, if we are not remembering Krishna, then it is as if we are putting the ghee on ashes.
There is no illumination of knowledge, of understanding, of realisation that will come through that. And similarly he says, if we study scripture, aranya rudhitam, studying scripture is like crying in the wilderness. Now if a child is crying, the mother will come there.
But if the child is lost in the forest and is crying there, nobody will come there. So it's striking that he even says studying scripture can be like crying in the wilderness. Because scripture is also very big.
It has, in traditional subhashita he says that, aneka shastram bahuveditauvyam alpashchakalabhavashchavigna tatsarabhutam upasitauvyam. He says aneka shastram, there are many many scriptures, bahuveditauvyam. Even one one word has many different meanings.
And we have so little time, we are so distracted. So therefore, just focus on the essence. That essence is, how can I raise my consciousness? How can I become attracted towards Krishna? How can I elevate my desires out of this lock of eating, sleeping, mating, defending and cultivate higher desires? Now whatever is required for elevating people's consciousness, that needs to be done.
And when we do that, then people can benefit from the spiritual knowledge. So in the Bhagavatam, there is there are various different subjects given. For example, the 5th canto there is cosmology given.
And in cosmology you can seem quite bewildered. Murali Gopal Prabhu who is here to free us from our bewilderment, he has a whole course on how to understand the Vedic cosmos. He has taken Sadaput Prabhu's book and he is explaining in an accessible way.
Now when we try to understand it, we can make our efforts. But still it's very complex. And we need to again focus on the purpose.
The Bhagavatam is not a book on cosmology. When Parikshit Maharaj is about to die, he is not interested in studying cosmology for the sake of cosmology. Some people are curious about space research.
He was not like that. His purpose was to remember Krishna. So the purpose of studying the cosmos is to remember Krishna.
Now how best can one remember Krishna? Vishwadeva Swami says that by this, by understanding this, our devotion to Krishna will increase. Our appreciation of the Lord's greatness will increase. Now if we are studying the Bhagavatam and we find this very bewildering, how do I make sense of this? It doesn't make sense.
Then what should we do? How is the purpose of remembering Krishna, glorifying Krishna being served? There are some technical sections in the Bhagavatam. And if we don't seem to understand them very well, we could keep our focus in mind. In the first canto of Shiva's Bhagavatam, Prabhupada has the same very purposeful guidance in the tenth chapter.
And Krishna goes from Hastinapur to Dwaraka. That time the path he has taken is given. And when he is going by that path, at that time, Prabhupada writes in a purport that sometimes some scholars may try to retrace the exact path that Krishna took.
And he says, yes, this is very difficult to do because the earth's geology is such that the earth's surface keeps changing. As far as we are concerned, we are simply satisfied that Krishna has reached Dwaraka and is going to perform pastimes with his devotees now. So, the point again is that that we have to focus on what is the purpose of the Bhagavatam.
So, with respect to cosmology, I have a PowerPoint presentation on this, that if we consider scriptural knowledge to be like a circle, within that there is one sector which may agree with our current material knowledge. There is another sector which may disagree with our current material knowledge. But the major body of scriptural knowledge is that which transcends material knowledge.
That there is a spiritual world in which there is a world where a bluish black divine personality resides. How can science either prove or disprove it? It is just outside the scope of science. So, we could equate broadly science with material knowledge, although material knowledge is much more.
There is some section of scripture which agrees with scientific knowledge, some which disagrees with scientific knowledge. But the important thing is the section of scripture that transcends material knowledge. That is where we need to focus on.
Now, if there is a disagreement, we have to analyse and understand why there is a disagreement. If there is an agreement, that can help people to develop faith. But the point is, scripture is not giving us material knowledge.
It is giving us spiritual knowledge. So, we need to get off both the agreement part and the disagreement part and focus on the transcendental part. The transcendental part is what will elevate our consciousness.
That is the part which will take us to Krishna. And we don't have to unnecessarily increase the, highlight the contradictions. One of the offences against the holy name is to instruct faithless people about the glories of the holy name.
One understanding of this is also that if we talk to people about things which they can't have faith in, given their level of our consciousness, then we are committing that offence. We have to, the purpose of education is elevation. The people are here, we help them understand from this step, this step, this step.
So, we need to present knowledge in a way that helps people understand. And so, in the Bhagavatam, there is this fifth canto cosmology, which can seem very bewildering. But it's interesting that in the Vedic tradition, the Bhagavatam's cosmology was always venerated, but it was never used for the purpose of practical astrology.
That when astrological charts are to be done, the planetary positions are required. But at that time, they did not use the Bhagavatam's cosmology. They used another set of cosmologies, given another set of books.
And how the both two of them can go together? See, one of the fundamental insights in Vedic literature is that reality is unconceivable. So, there can be different ways in which the same thing can be possible. So, we focus on the purpose.
And by that purposefulness, we can move towards Krishna. So, the Bhagavatam is revealing here Vyasadeva's compassion, by which he can, he is making the knowledge accessible. And that is what we try to do when we study this knowledge and share this knowledge.
So, when we start studying scripture and we find that this doesn't make sense, we can become very doubtful. How is this true? But instead of letting, instead of believing our doubts, you know, we need to, what happens is we believe our doubts and doubt our beliefs. We believe our doubts and doubt our beliefs.
There is a thinker who said, the problem with the world is that the wise are doubtful and the foolish are cocksure. The foolish are cocksure. People who are alcoholics, they think that, the next bottle of alcohol, that is where the happiness in the world lies.
They are convinced about that. The foolish are cocksure and the wise, how is this to be understood? How is this to be understood? How is the wise are doubtful? So, actually, we will all have doubts, but if we don't get distracted by the doubts, okay, this doesn't make sense. Maybe in future it will make sense.
Let me focus right now on the principle of connecting with Krishna. We can all see that by chanting Hare Krishna, by practising Bhakti Yoga, our consciousness does get elevated. And that, the central purpose of scripture, and that is being fulfilled.
So, we don't have to let incidental doubts distract us. Focus on the central process and by that we get elevated. And as we get elevated, then our conviction deepens, our understanding deepens and then we can separate what is essential from what is peripheral.
And move onwards steadily in our own bhakti, helping ourselves rise and helping others rise in their consciousness. So, I'll summarise what I spoke. I spoke today on the topic of how to understand the Vedic message.
So, I talked about how the revelation is a common sense principle. If somebody gives a complicated manual with all the supplies needed for powering it, obviously they will give us a complicated device if they give, then they'll give the manual for it. So, like that the world provides for food, water, shelter, food, water, air.
It will also provide the knowledge of what to do. That is scripture. How do we know that a particular book is a manual? It helps to understand the device better, helps us operate the device better.
Like that, scripture, if we live according to it, see, it helps us understand the world better and live better in the world. And the Vedas are a vast body of knowledge, but their purpose was to help people raise their consciousness. The Lord is the merciful, even to the fallen, Krupana Vatsala, and so are his devotees.
Most people are miserly, just as misers hoard their wealth without benefit even to themselves, misers hoard their desires in bodily drives, eating, sleeping, mating, defending, which doesn't give pleasure even to them, what to speak of to others. So, life becomes boring at the bodily level. So, to raise the consciousness, to expand people's scope of desires, the Vedic literature give various bodies of knowledge.
And here, Vyasadeva is making that knowledge, which is technical or metaphysical, accessible through the Puranas and then through the Bhagavatam. So, an elevator which is meant to elevate people can't start from a high floor. It has to start from where people are.
So, Prabhupada did the same thing by explaining those concepts of the Vedic literature in ways that we could understand. And thus, we can get elevated. So, while studying the Bhagavatam, if we get distracted by various things, at that time, we need to remember that okay, this is meant for glorifying Krishna.
If somehow, my attraction to Krishna is not happening by reading this, I am getting agitated, I am getting doubtful, then, let me just put this aside for the time being, respectfully, but purposefully. And try to focus on Krishna. And instead of obsessing over the knowledge in the scripture which agrees with material knowledge or disagrees with material knowledge, focus on the section that transcends material knowledge.
And that way, we can become elevated. And we can help others become elevated. The core process of scriptural knowledge, that is bhakti, connecting our consciousness with Krishna, that works for everyone.
That brings us peace, that brings us joy, that elevates and purifies our consciousness. And when we experience that, then, our doubts will either be removed or they will be contextualised and addressed. And thus, we can joyfully move towards Krishna.
So, I would just like to speak a few last words. I was here for a couple of months and I'm grateful to His Grace, Kalakant Prabhu, for allowing me the opportunity to serve all of you. It is, I would say that in the Western world, Krishna house is probably the, in America, it is the only institute which is focused on outreach that is customised to the Western mind.
There are few other places, but this is now become a tradition which has been going on for many years. And I learned a lot by associating with all of you, by talking with devotees, understanding, understanding how to make spiritual knowledge understandable. So, I'm grateful for all your, for your association and if I have committed any offences to anyone, I seek forgiveness.
Please accept my humble obeisances. Kalakant ki, Kalakant Prabhu pad ki, Taigaur preman. Do you have time? Okay.
There is something in this verse that caught my attention and I've been thinking about it the whole entire class. It said that Vyasa wrote Krishna Vajrasangha But I find it interesting that in this verse, he refers to himself as the great sage, who is very fine. Sorry? Yeah.
He's writing about himself. Yeah. Oh, OK.
He's not writing, but he writes, thus, the great sage Vyasa, who is very, very fine. It's like a letter you might get from Shri Vishwamitra. OK.
I think that's just purely what you have in mind. OK. So how is it that the Bhagavatam is talking about the great sage Vyasa? Yeah, so there is two different points over here.
I'll give two different contexts in which something similar happens and explain. Firstly, here it said it was edited by him. So that means that the Bhagavatam we have is a book in which Vyasa, for which Vyasa is the author, but Vyasa is also a character in the book.
And Vyasa traditionally doesn't refer necessarily to one person. There have been many sages who have been named Vyasa. Now, if we see in the second verse of the Bhagavatam, it says, Mahamuni krute kimba pare nishvare.
And this Mahamuni has written this. And what is the need for any other book? So when this kind of writing is given, the understanding is that there are different understandings. I'll tell various ways in which this can be understood.
That in the scriptures, this is a place where Vyasa Dev, his purpose is to glorify the scripture. To glorify the scripture means, in a later chapter, in the ninth chapter of the first canto, Bhishma Dev says that, He says, because I am his pure devotee, therefore, O king, just see how merciful Krishna is that he has come to give me his darshan when I am about to depart from this world. He is saying, I am a pure devotee.
Now, which pure devotee will say that? I am a pure devotee. But if you look at the scriptures, look at the context, what is going on over there. Actually, what is Vyasa Dev, what Bhishma Pradama is saying over there, that those who take shelter of the Lord are always protected.
So, O Yudhishthir, you have faced great adversities, you are in distress, but just take shelter of the Lord. And by his plan, his plan is inconceivable, but it is always beneficial. You just stick to his plan and you will be protected.
And to illustrate this principle, he is giving himself as an example. He is saying, I stuck to his plan, I was an unflinching devotee and just see how he has blessed me now. So, to glorify the principle of bhakti, sometimes a devotee may give one's own example.
And when that example is, when he is saying that I am a pure devotee, his point is not that I am a pure devotee, bow down to me. He is saying that, when I practise pure devotion, just see how the Lord rewarded me. Therefore, you also strive to practise pure devotion.
Sometimes, a devotee may speak positively about oneself to exemplify the process that one is speaking about, to illustrate that process. In fact, there is one commentator on the Gita, he says, Krishna is such an egoistic person. He says, Krishna is saying, I am God, everything good comes from me, all people's abilities come from me, all people's knowledge comes from me.
He says, Krishna doesn't have any humility. But actually, just look at the setting of the Gita. Krishna has become a charioteer of Arjuna.
So, charioteer is like a chauffeur. And he is himself a great warrior. Greatest warrior you could say.
Krishna has become a chauffeur. So, Krishna is humble. But at that particular point, Krishna is simply speaking the reality.
He is God. So, suppose, a doctor wants a patient to take a medicine. Now, the patient is a little ambiguous, maybe I should go to this doctor, maybe I should consult that doctor.
The doctor says, I am the best doctor in town. That doctor was trained by me only. So now, if he is saying like this, it can appear as egoistic.
You think you are the best doctor. But if that's a fact, the telling of the fact is for what purpose? Is to inspire the patient to take the medicine. So, a devotee's purpose is always service.
Now, if for service, a devotee has to take a humble position, a devotee will take a very humble position. If for service, a devotee has to emphasise one's credentials, a devotee will do that also. Once a devotee, they made a programme for him in Jaipur.
And at that time, they had made a pamphlet. It says, Bhaktivedant Swami with his foreign disciples. And Prabhupada told them to, they had made the pamphlet, they said, trash it and make a new pamphlet.
It says, Bhaktivedant Swami with his American disciples. He says, why? He says, in India, foreign can be anywhere. It can be any part of the world.
But America is glamorised. He says, we must emphasise that. Why? Because that will attract people.
Prabhupada had been ready to give two classes when he had not a single disciple also. But when he wanted, the purpose was to attract people to come and hear Krishna's message, he was emphasising that. So like that, if sometimes a devotee speaks positively about oneself, then that is for the purpose of giving people, helping people develop, recognise the authenticity of the knowledge that is being given.
So when he is using the word great sage, we ask him, the point over here is that it is meant to highlight that this whole incident is happening among great people. And the protagonist over here is a great person. So, I conclude with one last point that in general, scripture, at least the Vedic scriptures, use, even the author does not address oneself in the first person.
So, I had met Satsvarupa Maharaj a couple of years ago. So he said, when he wrote the Ilamrut, one of the major decisions he had to take was whether to write it in the first person or a third person. Does he put himself that I am writing this book, and he refers to himself as I as I. Or he refers to himself as Satsvarupa, as one character in the book.
So now he has written many books in which he writes in the first person, I am I. But in the Ilamrut, he keeps it, he refers to himself in the third person. Satsvarupa did this, Satsvarupa did that. So, generally when Vyasadev is writing the book, he is, he doesn't refer to himself by the first person in the book.
He refers to himself in the third person, Vyasadev. And it is not that he is only saying Vyasadev is a great sage and everybody is a small sage. No, he is glorifying everyone.
In fact, at the start of the Bhagavad Gita, when Suta Goswami starts speaking, he addresses the brahmanas as Viprotama. That the best of them are the brahmanas. And we think all these brahmanas, I am speaking to them, so I am the best of the brahmanas.
But he doesn't think like that. He thinks about his audience is the best of the brahmanas. So, respectful forms of address are used for everyone in the Bhagavad.
For the speaker, for the audience. Everybody is addressed in respectful ways. So, Vyasadev, also keeping in tune with that general form of address, he, when Vyasadev himself is being referred to also, he keeps that respectful tone of address.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Prabhupada Ki Namaskar. Thank you.