Focus on the Bhagavatam’s universal purpose beyond its specific details – invest one’s emotions in Krishna not the world
This morning we are discussing about the theme of frustration of desires and fulfilment of desires. So, here the specifics are that may be very different from what we may think of in today's culture. Somebody wants a child and they perform a yajna to get the child.
And at that time, while the priest is offering the final oblation, there is a sudden deviation in the thoughts. Instead of thinking of the male child that was delivered, desired by the father, he thought of the female child that was desired by the mother. And because of that, a female child is born.
And then, the sponsor of the sacrifice is expressing his displeasure, disappointment. Aho kashyam viparyayam. This is so unfortunate.
This is a matter of great distress. Viparyayam. Viparyayam.
Opposite of what was desired. Brahma vikriya. Vikriya.
Kriya is action. Vikriya is the opposite action. So, how is it that the opposite is happening? Now, all this might seem to a modern rational mind all too fantastic.
What is this idea of doing yajna to get a child? What is the idea of this changing of thoughts at that moment of yajna? It leads to the change of the progeny who is born. Change of the gender of the progeny. Now, scripture talks about a very different time, place, circumstance.
And the specifics in scripture are often not immediately relevant to us. And we focus on the specifics. Then we may just feel this is just something exotic.
We may not be able to relate with it so much. The sceptical mind, we might just dismiss it as esoteric. As mythological or unscientific.
Irrational. With not sceptical mind. Even if we have a faithful mind.
We accept this narrative. But we may still wonder, how is it relevant to me? Am I audible or is there too much of echo? Audible? Okay. Yeah, a little bit.
Do I need to repeat what I spoke? Or do I understand it? So, when we go to the specifics of scripture, they may either seem irrational or at least irrelevant. But we need to go beyond the specifics to the universes. There are certain, there are specific activities that may be given in scripture, but the principles underlying it are universal.
If you look at the Bhagavad Gita, at one level it may appear the Bhagavad Gita is a book about war. A particular warrior asking, should I fight a war or should I not fight a war? Now, why would the decision whether to fight a war thousands of years ago in some distant part of the world, why should that discussion matter to us? In fact, why should that discussion matter to anyone except people in that history or geography? It matters because the discussion was not about specifics. In the Bhagavad Gita, there is no discussion about war strategies.
In fact, the enemies, the Kauravas, don't even get much mention after the first chapter. And then later in the 11th chapter when Krishna reveals the Vishvarupa. Apart from that, there is not even any mention of the Kauravas, practically speaking.
So, the conversation is not about specifics. The conversation is about universals. Arjuna does not ask the question, should I fight, should I not fight? He asks a universal question.
That, I ask you, what is dharma? Dharma is basically right action. Action that harmonises us with the innate order of the universe. Action that enables us to be what we really are.
That is dharma. And that question about what is right action, that resonates across all time and all places. It resonates across history and geography.
It is because the Gita focusses on this universal question that the Gita has been relevant for millions of people for millennia. Similarly, when we are studying the Bhagavatam, when we get into the stories, the settings of the stories, they seem odd, unbelievable at times. And sometimes even the storyline itself may seem odd, may seem questionable.
Sometimes even great saviours act in morally questionable ways. You wonder what is going on over here. So, the specific storylines are not unimportant.
But their importance primarily is in a universal principle. What is the universal principle? The principle is Parikshit Maharaj is about to die. And when he is about to die, he is asking the question, what should I fix the mind on? What is the ultimate reality? We all tend to live with the presumption that the world we function in is the reality.
And this is what matters. But when we are confronted with death, at that time the biggest question that comes is, what really matters? What really matters? What really counts? I am working hard to get money, I am working hard to develop a successful career, I am working hard to take care of my family. I am doing this.
But what counts ultimately? So, when Parikshit Maharaj is asking, what should I do at the time of death? What should I do? So the question ultimately is, what is it that counts? And how should I connect with that which counts? How should I focus on that which counts? And the Bhagavatam describes that it is the absolute truth, the supreme reality, Parat Paratattva, the Satyam Param Dhimahi, the absolute truth, Param Sattva, that is Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. That absolute truth Vasudev, He is the one that counts. And it is Him that we should fix our mind on.
So the Bhagavatam's focus throughout is on helping us to fix the mind on the absolute truth, the truth that ultimately counts. This world is also real, but it is temporary reality. Krishna is the eternal reality.
Krishna's love for us is the eternal reality. And it is that love which we are meant to realise and relish. And how do we realise and relish Krishna's love for us? By redirecting our love from the world towards Him.
It's like if there is light on this side, but if I face on the other side, I can't see light, I can see only the shadow. Light is there. And if I want to see the light, I need to turn my eyes towards the light.
Like that, Krishna loves us. But we are turned away from Krishna. Krishna Bahirmukha Ji.
Our face is turned away from Krishna. Now, the whole process of Bhakti Yoga is meant to turn our face towards Krishna. By seva, by doing devotional service to Krishna, we turn our face towards Krishna.
And when we do that, starting with the tongue, chanting His holy names, by that what happens? Krishna manifests by Himself from within. Krishna reveals Himself. And God's self-revelation, is life's most fulfilling experience.
Because Krishna is all-attractive. Everything that attracts us in this world, it may be a movie star, it may be a sports star, it may be a painting, it may be a building, it may be whatever it is. Whatever it is that attracts us, the attractiveness of it all is present in its fullest in Krishna.
And therefore, when we experience Krishna, when we turn our heart away from this world towards Krishna, when we become unmukha, then Krishna reveals Himself. And that self-revelation grants the supreme fulfilment. So, when Parikshit Maharaj, he is interested in specific stories, but his interest is not just there to be entertained, he is not there to hear some bedtime stories, just some nice stories, oh, everything is nice, everything is humki dori, now go to sleep.
He is not here, Parikshit Maharaj is actually not hearing bedtime stories, he is hearing death-time stories. Death-time stories. It's a very different dimension.
And what would be a death-time story, basically? A death-time story is the story that enables us to focus on that reality which survives beyond death. So, if we keep the purpose of Parikshit Maharaj in mind, which is also the purpose of the Bhagavatam, if we keep that in mind, then we won't be distracted inordinately by the specifics of the story. We can go into the specifics and we can try to understand those specifics to the best of our capacity, if that is what inspires us.
But understanding those specifics is not vital for understanding the principle of the Bhagavatam. So, the principle is we are meant to fix our mind on Krishna. And only by fixing the mind on Krishna, fixing the mind on Krishna is not a mechanical activity.
It's like, I take a tag and fix the tag on this board. So, it's fixed over there. So, fixing the mind on Krishna is not a mechanical activity like fixing a tag somewhere.
Fixing the mind on Krishna is actually an activity of the consciousness. Because our mind goes there where our emotions are invested. I may be sitting here right now, but if I am attached to cricket and say the Indian Premier League is going on in India and right now there is an important match.
So, I may be here physically but my thoughts are, who scored how much? Who won the match? What is going to happen? So, our thoughts naturally go where we are most emotionally invested. So, when we say fix the mind on Krishna, essentially it means we have to invest ourselves in Krishna emotionally and intellectually. Krishna says that, how will you come to be? When you offer to be your mind and your intelligence.
The mind, we can say, refers to our emotional faculty. The intelligence, of course, refers to our rational or intellectual faculty. So, our mind will naturally go to Krishna when we are emotionally invested in Him.
And we cannot immediately become emotionally invested in Krishna. So, right now we are emotionally invested in so many things in this world. That's what comprises our various attachments.
And the process of understanding the philosophy, understanding the philosophy, what it does is, it helps us realise that actually investing my emotions in the world is not a worthwhile investment. Now, how do we decide what is a worthwhile investment? What returns does it give me? When we invest our emotions in the world, we find that the returns they give are most unfulfilling. When we invest so much emotions in a particular project, in a particular relationship, in a particular hobby, in a particular profession, and then, in return, we might get some pleasure, some fulfilment, but along with it comes so much tribulation.
So, most people still keep investing in the world because they don't know that there is any other alternative. But when we understand the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness, we study the Bhagavad Gita, then we understand that there is an alternative. The supreme alternative, supremely attractive alternative is Krishna.
And so, the more we become philosophically rigorous in our understanding of the nature of reality, we will become more intellectually convinced to disinvest emotionally from the world and to invest in Krishna. And the more we become emotionally invested in Krishna, the more naturally our thoughts will go towards Him. So, this particular story, how a child is born, how a yajna leads to the birth of a child, and how a slight mistake in the yajna can lead to changing the gender of the child, all these are specifics.
If we want to understand them, we can study the esoteric Vedic texts, try to understand how mantras work. But that is not the essential purpose. The essential purpose is, as I started by saying, this story demonstrates the frustration of desire and fulfilment of desire.
Basically, what is happening? A particular child was wanted, and then the child, Viparyaya, came of some other gender. So, the specific means by which the technology or the methodology by which that desire was being fulfilled, was attempted to be fulfilled, that particular methodology may not be accessible to us. Because we live in a different cultural milieu.
If, say, somebody from 500 years ago, or for that matter, 50 years ago, somebody comes today, and they see what we do in a supermarket. We just go, we take out some small piece of card, and swipe it, and then we get a whole cartload of amenities. How are you getting it? How are you paying for it? Where is the money? What are you paying? So, the specific method of exchange may vary according to time, place, and circumstance.
But the principle is enduring. And the principle is that, okay, we give something, we get something. So, yajnas are performed, and by that, something is to be got.
So, this is the normal way things work. Now, we do activity A, and we expect the result B. But sometimes, activity A does not lead to the result B. Sometimes, we may study very well, and still, we get poor marks in exams. Sometimes, we may do a job very diligently, and still, the result doesn't come.
That is the nature of this world. That action to result is not simply a straight line actuated by us. There's a complex connectedness between action and result.
The action and result, it's not a simple causal chain. Yes, action produces result. But there are many other factors involved.
Sometimes, our past karma is involved. And this action is normally meant to produce the result. But by past karma, some other factors may come into the picture, and the action may not produce the result.
So, normally, even in a field as empirical as medicine, you know, doctors or medical researchers may have tried thousands of times, this medicine cures cough. But sometimes, in specific cases, people take that medicine and still, their cough is not cured. So, A normally leads to B, but sometimes, A doesn't lead to B. Because some other factor may be involved.
A person may be having cough, but along with that, there's some other disease involved, because of which, the normal medicine for cough doesn't work. So, life is not so simple that A will lead to B or the A's. Sometimes, it leads to… Sometimes, an action produces the expected result.
Sometimes, the action doesn't produce the expected result. And sometimes, the action produces the opposite result. Sometimes, certain medicines are contraindicative for certain conditions.
That means, I take a medicine, and instead of healing me, it starts hurting me. It has produced a contrary effect. So, similarly, in this particular case, what has happened is, that a yajna was performed to get a male child, but a female child was born.
And there is frustration. So, the frustration of desires, when we do a particular thing, expecting a particular result, and it doesn't come, that raises the question, what is happening? So, Srila Prabhupada, in his parivart, directs our consciousness upwards. He says, the specific methodologies, chanting mantras, to get results, they have to be done very precisely.
Not just in terms of utterance, but also in terms of consciousness. And if that is not there, then the results won't come. Therefore, Prabhupada says, don't bother too much about trying to control things in this world.
Just focus on raising the consciousness beyond this world. Focus the consciousness, focus on fixing the consciousness in Krishna. And that's why, instead of chanting the Vedic mantras, he recommends the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
And, chanting is also not an isolated activity. Chanting is the linchpin, the centre point, of our relationship with Krishna. So, that means, by our chanting, we become connected with Krishna, and our whole life blossoms in our relationship with Krishna.
So, the whole process of Bhakti Yoga, of that Parikshit Maharaj is following, and that the Bhagavatam is recommending, ultimately is, fix the mind in Krishna. Become emotionally invested in Krishna. Become emotionally disinvested from the world.
So, sometimes, we ourselves have to face frustrations. And then, we learn. Sometimes, we can observe from others.
See how they were frustrated, and from that, we can learn. Here, the Bhagavatam tells the stories about people who were karmically much more pious than what we are. Who were dharmically much more endowed than what we are.
And yet, even their desires are frustrated at times. So, in the Bhagavatam, Prahlad Maharaj, in his prayers to Narasimhadeva, states, Narasimhadeva is just coming in a few days now. So, he says, यस्मात्प्रियाप्रियवियोगसंयोगजन्म चोकाविनासकलयोगिषुदं यमानः दुखवुशदं तदपिदुखमतद्धियाः मुमान्ब्रमामिवदमेथवदास्ययोगम् So, he says, यस्मात्प्रियाप्रियवियोगसंयोगजन्म Janma, our whole life, it goes away in what? प्रिय and अप्रिय प्रिय is that which is desirable अप्रिय is that which is undesirable So, we want संयोग, संयोग is union वियोग is separation So, we want संयोग with the प्रिय we want union with the desirable and we want separation from the undesirable but the opposite happens we get union with the undesirable and we get separation from the desirable and because of this what happens? शोकागना शोकागना we are all lamenting as it is, विपरियं अहोकष्टम् when the opposite thing of what we want happens we lament शोकागना सकलयोणिषु दहियमानः all living beings are burning in the blazing fire of lamentation like सकलयोणिषु and then, दुखवशधम् तदपिदुखम् अतर्धियाः and in such a situation sometimes I am suffering and I do something to cure the suffering sometimes the remedy turns out to be worse than the disease दुखवशधम् तदपिदुखम् that when we achieve something and we find that doesn't give satisfaction there is the frustration that comes because of failure that is distressing but even more disorienting is the frustration that comes after success you may wonder why the frustration comes after success the thing is when we become successful we expect if I just achieve this, this will make me happy if I do this then my dreams will be fulfilled and then we achieve it and then we find it is good but afterwards what is so great about it material success inevitably turns out to be an anticlimax anticlimax just when we climb up on top of the mountain of success we get to the top and we find on that peak there is a quicksand it just sucks us down so we can look back at our dreams and look back at our past and look at what we have achieved we may look back and see the many things which we have not achieved those may be the disappointments of our life but we can look at what we have achieved and if you think about it how much happiness has that brought yes it has provided some shelter some pleasure, some happiness but it was never as much as was anticipated as was promised as we had hoped for so when we get frustrated after failure that can be profoundly disorienting because what am I meant to live for what am I meant to do in my life so Balad Maharaj gives the example of Hiranyakashipu Hiranyakashipu had achieved the fulfilment of all his desires but yet he was described he was always dissatisfied, always drunken he was always always unhappy why? because his senses were uncontrolled what happens is as long as our mind and senses are uncontrolled they will always look at that which we don't have and that will keep us dissatisfied you know what we have or don't have doesn't determine our happiness what we are looking at or not looking at that determines our happiness and when our senses are uncontrolled by default we will keep looking at the things we don't have and thus satisfaction requires not just acquiring what we don't have it requires redirecting our vision from what we don't have to what we have unless that redirection has taken place no matter how much we achieve we will never get satisfaction so the Bhagavatam says especially when Krishna was about to die now no more business about trying to acquire what one doesn't have just forget the whole thing just focus on Krishna now in our case we have to work in our day to day professions we have to work on day to day family responsibilities and those involve certain aspects of progressing we have a house, we want a better house we have a job, we want a raise in the job now that's fine there is nothing wrong in pursuing material progress but if material progress becomes the sole definition of progress and we pursue material improvement so compulsively, so obsessively that we don't have any time for spiritual progress then we will never get satisfied because the mentality of looking for what we don't have will keep us dissatisfied and therefore what does Prahlad Maharaj say? what should we do? I tell, dhyaham dhyah, intelligence my intelligence is awakened now and what does he say? Bhuman, oh lord oh supreme being, brahmami I have been wandering in material existence now why does the soul wander? because the soul thinks this didn't give me pleasure maybe that will give me pleasure and then we get that that doesn't give me pleasure maybe that will give me pleasure maybe that will give me pleasure it's like sometimes some people they start surfing on the net and then they look they read this look at that picture watch that movie go here, go there sometimes people just spend hours just hours and hours go away so just like we may surf in the digital world like that we are surfing in this material world as souls going here, going there, going there, going there brahmami and he says, what is the solution? vadame tava dasya yogam oh lord, please teach me instruct me vadame what? dasya yogam please teach me oh lord how can I serve you? how can I practise the yoga of service to you? bhakti yoga so bhakti yoga means that Krishna how can I connect with you? how can I direct my love to you? how can I engage what I have in your service? so rather than letting our decisions in life be determined by whether this will give me the desirable or whether this will avoid the undesirable we focus on whether this will take me closer to Krishna otherwise we are always focused we all are taking decisions at every moment and usually we take decisions based on attaining the desirable and avoiding the undesirable but there is nothing wrong in that why should we be more uncomfortable than we need to be and why can we not seek comfort? that is fine but if that alone becomes the purpose of our life say for example if we are caught in a traffic jam and then we may try to find maybe if I go this way I can go ahead if I go this way I can go ahead so to find a way ahead during the traffic jam is fine but if I see this road is very crowded this road is clear that road is not taking me to my destination but still I go there just because that road is clear then what is the point? I won't get to my destination so like that what is desirable, what is undesirable wanting to attain the desirable and avoid the undesirable if that just takes away from the course of our life then that is definitely undesirable that's why in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says when he talks about the symptoms of knowledge or 20 items of knowledge there he says how does a devotee act? fixed devotion to Krishna and fixed devotion to Krishna means Ishtam Nityam cha sama chittatvam Ishtam ishtopapatishu that means when I get the desirable or I get the undesirable still sama chittatvam one stays focused on Krishna now this is the direction I am going to go in my life if I get the desirable good if I get the undesirable still my direction is not going to change so this way when Prahlada Maharaj is saying while pursuing Krishna if our desires are fulfilled wonderful you know if we want something in material life our focus is on Krishna while pursuing Krishna if we get those things that's ok, that's good but if we don't get those things we don't change the direction of our journey and go somewhere else we keep moving towards Krishna vada me tava dasya yoga me my dear lord please instruct me about how I can serve you how can I come closer to you oh lord with this attitude when we have frustration of our desires won't frustrate us frustration frustration of desires is unavoidable but frustration of the self is avoidable when the self is invested in a desire then the frustration of the desire causes frustration of the self but if the self is not very highly invested in the desire then the frustration of desire doesn't lead to frustration of the self so if we are invested in Krishna if things work out in life, good if things don't work out ok, life goes on let me move on with life let me live this way then without getting too upset by worldly ups and downs we can march steadily towards Krishna as Parikshit Maharaj fixed his mind on Krishna and he faced the greatest tribulation of his life with serenity with absorption in Krishna similarly whatever ups and downs we may face in our life we can face them with serenity through our absorption in Krishna regularly hearing the Bhagavatam helps us to become, does absorb in Krishna so I'll summarise I spoke today about how the Bhagavatam stories this particular story talks about the theme of frustration of desires and fulfilment of desires so in scripture there are many specifics which may seem irrational or irrelevant we can understand those specifics also but the important thing is the universal principles that are there the Bhagavad Gita resonates people with people all over the world not because it is a discussion of whether to fight or not fight a particular war it is a discussion about Dharma what is the right course of action so the Bhagavatam has many stories and the Bhagavatam's enduring appeal is not because everybody loves those stories some stories may just not be seem so relevant for us but what are the principles that those stories are illustrating if we focus on that Bhagavatam is not a bedtime story for entertainment it is a death time story or for redirection of our consciousness death forces us to think what really counts what matters and when we focus on the temporary reality when we are emotionally invested in this world we realise it is a bad investment I put in so much emotion but I get so little satisfaction and so philosophy helps us to recognise this that this world is a bad place for investing myself emotionally let me invest myself in Krishna so philosophical understanding inspires us to redirect ourselves and when we are trying to redirect ourselves the process of Bhakti Yoga assists this redirection so the whole purpose of the Bhagavatam is to intellectually and emotionally help us disinvest from the world and invest in Krishna so seen in this slide this story talks about the point is not the specifics how a child is born and how sacrifices change the child how the particular utterance of the sacrifice changes the gender of the child the point is that there is a desire and there is a process followed for fulfilling the desire but still there was frustration so the philosophical understanding of this is that A may normally cause B but there are many other factors involved which we don't know about action to result is not a simple straight linear chain our past karma is involved just like normally a particular disease will be cured by a particular medicine but sometimes there are other complications that disease may not be cured rather the disease may get aggravated so throughout our life we are focused on fulfilling our desires getting the desirable avoiding the undesirable but frequently life gives us the opposite and that's distressing and worst is when we get the desirable and it turns out to be an anticlimax then we have achieved the goal of our life and then we start wondering what am I living for? so frustration caused by failure is frustrating but frustration caused by success by realising success to be unfulfilling that is even more frustrating and the way out is focus not on simply getting the desirable or avoiding the undesirable focus on serving Krishna moving closer to Krishna understanding that investing ourselves in Him will bring the supreme fulfilment so while moving towards Krishna we can try to adjust and get whatever is desirable or avoid what is undesirable but we don't let this pursuit divert us off course just because there is traffic doesn't mean that we take a different road to a different destination so if we keep our goal fixed in Krishna then we won't be so oscillating because of desirables and undesirables rather we'll take both in our stride and the more we become absorbed in Krishna the more we become internally fulfilled and life's ups and downs don't shake us so much whatever storms come we'll be able to weather them an ultimate storm of death as it happened to Parikshit Maharaj instead of being devastating will become liberating taking us to Krishna to be eternally united with the Lord of our heart Thank you very much Hare Krishna Are there any questions or comments? That's cool Thank you so much for coming Good evening, Dr. Thank you for being here I wanted to ask you a question the principle that you provide one of the principles that you highlight in your presentation is I wonder how important the application of the logic when we have a particular desire that is impossible we have a particular in the belief we have desires and we have ideals and Krishna does that so often in our spiritual life that we find out the way we want and we face that frustration of desire and obviously you say it so nicely that the focus will be in the day so our meditation does that yes however sometimes we find that inconsistently sometimes we may find ourselves oh let's just commit to Krishna and avoid all these sources of frustration and when we want to solve ourselves it is unlikely and then we see the impact of that sometimes we may fear for ourselves and we may not avoid the dharma that we have so how do you say that situation how do you be aware and also sometimes help ourselves ok so sometimes we have some devotional desires and we are doing it for Krishna so we understand sometimes they will be fulfilled sometimes they will not be fulfilled but if repeatedly our devotional desires to do something practical for Krishna are frustrated then we may start feeling that better not get involved in all of these things I will just focus on chanting, connecting with Krishna and not do anything practical so how should we respond in such situations there are three things I will say, first is that oh it is not always that even when we are serving Krishna our desire will be fulfilled, we see that example in the life of Srila Prabhupada itself from 1922 when he met Srila Prabhupada when he met Prakrishnan Swetakar who was also Srila Prabhupada so from that time onwards till almost 1966 Prabhupada had no significant success all his desires were devotional he wanted to start a magazine he wanted to start an organisation he wanted to inspire people to start practising bhakti he wanted to work with his god brothers he wanted to start a business so that he could give money to his spiritual master mission none of them worked the only thing that worked was he published his Bhagavatam and then several prominent people along with the Prime Minister of India at that time appreciated it so even Prabhupada faced so many frustrations of his desires so if it can happen to a devotee who can be more exalted than Srila Prabhupada it can happen to him it can happen to us also so first thing I am talking about this is we shouldn't think that this is either a failure of the process of devotional service or it is a failure of even my devotional service it is not that bhakti yoga doesn't work or it is not that even bhakti yoga doesn't work for me it may happen like this for anyone even for the most exalted devotee having said that the second point is that we need to practically deal with it Prabhupada also we saw that when one thing didn't work he kept trying something else kept trying something else kept trying something else so just as the Bhagavatam says about Kunti Maharani 1.8.42 it is said Ganga flows towards the ocean always let my consciousness flow towards you so if there is an obstacle sometimes the water goes below it round it, left, right above it or sometimes just keeps going, going, going, erodes and then goes on so like that we have to find a way to keep moving towards Krishna and if one service doesn't work out then another this doesn't work out another this doesn't work out another so empowerment doesn't mean absence of obstacles empowerment means perseverance amidst obstacles so the obstacles come but they don't stop us we keep moving despite obstacles somehow or the other we keep moving so the spirit of a devotee is that whether the results come or not Krishna is seeing my endeavour and my endeavours they bring the result of purification for me if the endeavours lead to a tangible result in the world then they bring the result of contribution in this world so the endeavour itself brings purification and when the endeavour gives a result in this world that amounts to a contribution in the world but the result for myself is there it always happens if we start a programme and very few people come for the programme if we are going and speaking about Krishna we are getting purified so in that sense we shouldn't think that our service is going in vain the result at the external level may not be manifesting but at the internal level it is manifesting purification is happening but just like Prabhupada his goal was not simply purification it was also contribution if Prabhupada's goal had only been purification he could have been happily chanting Hare Krishna in Vrindavan he wanted to contribute in this world that's why he took so much risk and travelled all over the world similarly we at one level we are satisfied because we are getting purified so if we just have an external vision of things then we think what did I get I worked so hard, I got nothing we got purified but because we want to follow Sri Prabhupada's footsteps, we want to contribute so we have to adjust this didn't work, let me try this and the last point I'll make is that we all go through phases in our spiritual life so sometimes if we made 1,2,3,4,5,6 frustrations at that time I just want to focus on connecting with Krishna now it's perfectly fine that's what we may need at that time but we don't have to make that as a lifelong resolution this phase in my life this is what I need so next 6 months, next 1 year next 2 years, whatever it is I'm just going to focus on connecting with Krishna and when we connect with Krishna deeply Krishna will guide us from within Krishna will give us the intelligence of how we can come to Him so all of us have been given a particular set of abilities and we also have certain set of limitations sometimes we may be pursuing projects, pursuing services which are we are pursuing them because that is what is glamorised in the community, in the devotee community we should be doing this, we should be doing that but we may just not have the particular abilities for doing that that doesn't mean we can't do anything we can do something else which is more according to our nature according to our set of abilities so when we connect deeply with Krishna we stop seeing ourselves through the mirror of the world we start seeing ourselves as we are, as Krishna has made us and then we can start saying ok, this is see basically when we are going to do a service guna karma vibhagasya krishna says, call it guna and karma the way I understand guna and karma is that what we are, what we feel comfortable doing that is guna I have the quality for doing something if I feel comfortable doing it and karma means what I am competent at doing so if we can find a service which has few things, I feel comfortable doing it and I am competent at doing it I may not be very competent now but if I keep doing it I improve and I become more and more competent then we can just keep doing that service lifelong, the results will come sooner or later but if we are comfortable doing that service if we are competent at it then we will be much more satisfied then what we would be if we are doing some other service which is glamorised which is successful, in which we are successful also but we are not comfortable doing it, we are not competent at it so we all have to act according to our nature so the more we understanding our nature takes time and sometimes the rebuttals not the rebuttals, the reversals that we get in life, in our services they force us to go inwards and examine what is it that Krishna wants us to offer to him and when we go inwards, understand who we actually are, what our strengths are, what our inspirations are and then we bring that out then eventually by Krishna's grace the results will manifest when we are doing that which we are meant to so going through phases where we feel, I just don't want to do anything, I want to connect with Krishna, that is good we don't have to make it a lifelong commitment, we can see this is what I need right now and we stay open to Krishna, Krishna you guide me how you want me to serve if you want me to serve you simply by chanting, I am ready to do that, but if you want me to do something else, please guide me how I should do it and we have that openness we have the determination to serve and openness about how I serve then we find that Krishna will guide us towards the service that will bring both internal satisfaction and that will lead to outer contribution, does it answer your question? Apart from that I was just appreciating that when you were a man you always persevered inside that he would have become very upset he arranged both to achieve the desired son he would have become very upset but he was very polite respectful very respectful he requested that but in a very civilised manner yes, thank you for that comment I have a question about people's culture so nowadays people saw all these people doing what they would like to survive so they know what they are my question is is there some way to know what kind of nature you are like I know you are a swami so I know, so how can we know what is our nature, I just explained that we look for rather than what we are comfortable doing and what we are competent at doing we have to do various activities in our life whether it is a devotional life or in our professional life or in our family responsibilities, we do various things and whatever is required to do, we do them but while doing them we are internally observant hey, I like doing this this is what I am good at and then gradually in an organic way we can gravitate towards that we may not have we may not need to or it may not be possible for us to make some abrupt changes and while trying to understand our nature we have to be careful that we don't get tricked by the mind because the nature of the mind especially the mind in Rajoguna is to be dissatisfied so if I start thinking what is my nature the mind will say whatever you are doing now that is not your nature and in that way it will keep us forever dissatisfied so we have to understand that I want to serve according to my nature but I want to serve so if we keep our focus on service not on nature then the nature will be revealed but if we shift our focus to nature and give up service then we will end up deluded by nature so if we focus, Krishna I am a servant whatever situation you put me in, I will serve if I have to do this, I will do this if I have to do that, I will do that if I have to do that, I will do that but while doing that we observe so we if we keep the focus on service the nature reveals itself and then gradually we can move towards serving according to our nature so how can we stay patient and enthusiastic in our devotional practises when we want to do something and it doesn't work out when somebody hurts us and instead of meditating on Krishna we start meditating on taking vengeance against that person and similarly the frustration of a desire causes our thoughts to just go in that direction instead of staying fixed on Krishna see at one level our emotions are just natural occurrences are just natural occurrences so when when something goes wrong we feel frustrated that's natural so we are conscious beings as conscious beings we we feel some emotions so emotions are just natural inevitable occurrences the problem comes when we let those emotions control our actions say for example I am sitting on this chair and now if there is say a thorn on this chair it will hurt me now I will feel that pain or if there is a nail protruding from that chair if I was sitting on a chair while I was travelling in a train there is a nail protruding from that so now that will hurt me but if that is the only seat that is available and if I give up that seat I have to stand then I may decide I will just move myself a little bit and I will keep sitting over there but if I just give up that seat at that time then okay I might be getting into bigger trouble so just as we will feel physical pain but we don't let physical pain alone determine our action when a weightlifter tries to lift weights, lifting a heavy weight causes pain but the weightlifter tolerates that pain because the weightlifter wants to strengthen the muscles wants to achieve a medal or whatever, so like that just as physical pain is a sensation that comes but with some higher purpose we feel that sensation but we tolerate that sensation the same applies to emotions when things go wrong we will be frustrated if I am lifting a heavy weight somebody tells me your muscles should not feel pain how can it not feel pain it's heavy, it's going to feel pain so like that if something we want to do something which we are really invested in it doesn't go, it goes wrong he says don't feel frustrated, how can I not feel frustrated you know obviously I spent so much time and energy in it I was frustrated and when Prabhupada when he was when he was distributing back to Godhead in Indian streets and at one time a cow came and hit him Krishna why is this happening so you know that it was a reaction that came even to Sri Prabhupada but the test of Sri Prabhupada was he continued serving Krishna so though our emotions are just natural responses to life situations the problem is not the emotions the problem is letting those emotions control our actions just as we can tolerate physical sensations by the power of a higher purpose similarly we can tolerate emotions by the power of our higher purpose now the difference however is that sensations because they are physical I will tolerate this and I will move on but because emotions are internal we think I am those emotions so identifying with the emotions happens much more frequently and much more below our understanding level below our perception level subconsciously then identifying with sensations but if we are analytical now this person did like this I am angry with this person I am resentful of this person I want to get even those feelings are fine but you know when there are different there are different anarthas which tempt in different ways lust tempts by promising pleasure anger tempts by promising power if this person did like this I will show them right now I will beat this person up verbally lash out at this person put them in their place but what happens often anger makes things worse for that person suppose a snake has bitten me I am feeling pain in my leg at that time I decide how dare the snake bite me the snake is slithering away I run after the snake to pound it to death even if I succeed in pounding that snake to death the poison is spreading in my body and I am going to die so when I am bitten by a snake my priority should not be to get even my priority should be to get safe first I have to become safe I have to remove this poison from my body now after that snake is a danger and it has to be dealt with but afterwards similarly when we are overwhelmed by emotions and the emotions impel us towards a particular reaction our first purpose should be to get back in control to get safe don't let that emotion overwhelm us this doesn't mean we neglect the emotion if that snake is a menace it has to be dealt with but not at the expense of the poison running through my body so first when the emotion comes instead of acting on the emotion we get safe that means we connect with Krishna we do some activity which enables us to become absorbed in Krishna it raises us above the control of the emotions after that we acknowledge this has hurt me this has angered me and we evaluate if what that person has done is wrong we may have to do something to correct it how specifically to act that is a secondary thing but we need to first set ourselves right with Krishna so rather than letting our emotions govern us we stay in charge we stay in our position as servants of Krishna and then act appropriately in response to the situation that induced that emotion we can acknowledge emotions without acting on the emotions this is the way the emotion wants us to act we may act in some different way for that we need our intelligence so when if somebody comes and starts taking too much of our time we are gone somewhere and that person just hangs on to us I don't have so much time we may be a little polite but we'll be firm, I can't spend so much time so we'll be quite curved or we'll be quite firm if somebody is eating too much of our time physically but when that same person starts eating our time mentally we keep thinking of that person why did he do that, why did she do that how could he have done that no, we should think does this person deserve to do so much of my mental time we think, no, I have so many more important things in my life this person has hurt me and I may have to do something to settle the issue but this person doesn't deserve to monopolise my mental time we think of it that way I have many more important things to do in my life that's why we won't, we will break that monopoly and we will make sure that we focus our energy on doing that which is important for us so three things I said first is, emotions are natural reactions but just as we can tolerate sensations for a higher purpose similarly, we can tolerate emotions also for a higher purpose and specifically when the emotion of anger comes at that time, rather than getting even, we need to get safe so we connect with Krishna and then we get safe by that similarly, whenever an emotion comes up first, we get connected with Krishna, get ourselves right then, we acknowledge the emotion and act appropriate not act simply the way the emotion impels us to, and lastly if a particular circumstance a particular person is just bugging us we will think, does this deserve so much of my mental time the answer will be, no then we can just fix our mind on something else with a strong purposeful intention thank you very much.