Grihastha ashrama in bhakti – Shifting the focus from grihastha to ashrama

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you.
So, then, I’ll speak on the topic of, shifting the focus, from Grahastha to Ashram. In Grahastha Ashram, we shift the focus from, Grahastha to Ashram, in the, in the Srimad Bhagavatam, I’ll talk about two things, and then I’ll come to the topic. In 1.2.6, one of the most commonly quoted words is, Savai Pumsam Parvatamo, Ito Bhaktiratma Utsu Jai, Ahaituky Apatihata, Viyatma Suvasivati, So, now, it is, adjectives, in our English grammar, adjectives describe nouns.
So, the adjectives which we have here, Ahaituky and Apatihita, Apatihita is that which is, uninterrupted. Ahaitukya is unmotivated. Now, when Shri Prabhupada describes this, he uses this, adjectives, Ahaituky and Apatihita, to focus on Pumsam, that this is how we as people, we as sadhakas, this is how we should perform emotional service, uninterrupted and unmotivated.
Whereas, Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur, while translating the same section, he said that these adjectives describe, not Pumsam, but Bhakti. That means, uninterrupted and unmotivated, are the characteristics of Bhakti. So, what that means, is that, no material circumstance, can interrupt the practise of Bhakti.
And, which ashram we are in, is ultimately, a material circumstance. The Prabhupada, was at once translating Bhakti, Varanashram, Varanam, as a social order, and Ashram, as a spiritual order. Now, this is the main issue, Prabhupada was usually, when he did his translations, he was not usually, very interested in, technical classifications.
That’s why I say, in Dharmapad Gita, I don’t focus on it, I translate sometimes, Karma Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga. His purpose is, the Prabhupada translates, Karma Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga, and actually, in Sanskrit, I use the word too, a translation also. So, anybody who has, eyes to see, and a brain to think, can see the, difference.
Prabhupada is, transparent, about the strategy, that he’s using. And his strategy, focusses on, the essential confusion. So, Varana, and Ashram, Prabhupada is roughly saying, in the sense that, he’s not saying, Ashram is a spiritual order, it’s more of, an order that promotes, spiritual progression.
So, from Brahmachari, Brahmastava, Anubhav, to Sanyas, one is supposed to, expected to become, more and more, spiritually advanced, that’s what Anubhav says. So, it was an order of progression. But we have, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in the famous verse, naaham viparo, sundarapadye, naapi vishyodachundro, naaham varani, chaitanyapadye, vadastho yudheva.
So here, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, is predicting, identification with, all the four Varanas, and all the four Ashrams. So, he’s saying, basically, what he’s saying is that, the Varanas, and Ashrams, both are material designations. And, he says that, I don’t identify with any of this.
So, that Lord, who is the source of, supreme happiness, I am the, servant of the servant, of that Lord, who is the master, of the darkness. So, the Varana, and Ashram, in that sense, are both, material designations. Yes, the Ashram designation may be, more relevant, to spiritual life, and in that sense, it may be called, But, it is ultimately, a designation, of another body.
Soul, is not a, brahmacharya, or a brahmin, or a saint, kshatriya, vishya, shudra. So, so if, the Ashram, the Brahmastra, is also a material designation, then, Bhakti is uninterrupted, it means that, Bhakti cannot be interrupted, by any material, including, the Ashram, on its own. So, Bhakti itself, is transcendental.
And that’s why, the topic is, shifting the focus, from Brahmastra, to Ashram. That, what it means is, this is also a place, where, one can get the, ashram, and in general, there are, two broad ways, in which, the, shantams, to be called, is sought. So, one is, by, rejection of the world, by rejecting everything, in the world, and the other is, by, connection to the world, a visualisation, of the world.
That means, we turn towards, Krishna, to reject everything, for his sake. The other is, what we have, to be connected. Now, if we see, broadly speaking, the path of rejection, is the path of, Dhyana.
The Dhyana Marga, there are basically, three broad approaches, to the world, that different, transcendentalists have. And the materialists, who, are like that, who are the Karmis, materialists, romanticise the world. Oh, this world is, so wonderful, you can enjoy this, you can enjoy that, you can enjoy that.
So much description of, and, imagination, that you can enjoy this world. So the karma, the path of karma, romanticises the world. The path of Dhyana, demonises the world.
Oh, this world is, full of danger, full of misery, full of temptation, full of deception. It demonises the world. And the path of Bhakti, utilises the world.
So if you have Panduva, Karma romanticises, Dhyana demonises, Bhakti utilises. If we, look at the Krishna Bhagavatam, it is a book of Bhakti. No doubt.
At the same time, it is a book of, of Bhakti, which is attained, through Dhyana. Through Dhyana means, through the cultivation of knowledge. In one sense, the Krishna Bhagavatam, is, a spiritual autobiography, of Shukadeva Swami.
Spiritual autobiography, means, not that it is a chronological description, of how people, autobiography normally, okay, I read this, and I went here, I thought like this, and I thought like this. It’s a chronological event, a description of one’s, personal and spiritual development. But, a spiritual autobiography means, that basically, Shukadeva Swami is describing, how he, that he moved from, impersonal to personal conception.
And he describes pastimes, which talk about, the movement from the impersonal, to the personal. The Bhagavad Gita, on the other hand, focusses primarily on, karma to bhakti, not from gyana to bhakti. So, there is karma, there is gyana, and there is bhakti.
The Bhagavatam moves from, gyana to bhakti. Lastly, Shukadeva Swami has always given, the level of gyana. Parikshit Maharaj, has already renounced the world.
So for renouncers, how to be completely, absorbed in Krishna, that’s the focus of, the Bhagavatam. Whereas, in the case of, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, clearly, doesn’t want, Arjuna to renounce the world. And that’s why, you will see that, the Bhagavad Gita doesn’t talk much, about renunciation also.
In fact, it talks about renunciation, often in a negative tone. Negative tone means, it talks about, karmendriya, niryasate, manasasman, niryartham, nirbhutartham, kachanasam, kshite. So, Bhagavad Gita, says that, one who renounces the, sense of, renounces the, world, one who controls the, sense of, senses, but, meditates in the sense of, such a person is a, pretender.
Nitya-Acharya, so to speak. Nitya-Acharya, the strong one, is a, pretender, is a hypocrite. Hypocrite.
And then, as contrasted with that, Krishna, actually recommends, actually, Vishwakundi Shankar, karmendriya, niryasate, manasam, karmendriya, nirghartham, karmendriya, karmayoga, asatmata, samshishe, so, Bhagavad Gita, says that actually, it is far better if one, regulates his senses, and practises karma yoga, as a householder. So, every scripture, has a central message, and it has a context, in which that message is told. So, the context, determines, not substance of the message, but the focus of the message.
So essentially the whole Bhagavad Gita and the Dharbatam are essentially talking about something. But they have spoken to people at two different situations in life. The Bhagavad Gita is spoken to a person who is on the brink of performing the most important responsibility in his own life.
But the whole Mahabharata is developing towards the Kurukshetra war. All of Arjuna’s training in archery, in austerity, that is to climax in his fighting in the war. And it is this context where Arjuna’s action is of paramount importance.
In that context the Bhagavad Gita is spoken. Whereas the Bhagavad Gita is spoken when Parikshit has more or less accepted the curse and he has no intention to counter it. He has accepted death as inevitable, as the will of providence.
And now he simply wants to go through that experience of death in the most spiritual auspicious way. So the context of these two books are entirely different. One is focused entirely on action whereas the other is focused on the concision of action and the direct absorption in the Absolute.
So we see Krishna tells Arjuna, sarva-dharmātma-nityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja That we have all varieties of religions, but I am not going to read them all. Now Śrīla Prabhupāda says in his lecture that sarva-dharmātma-nityajya is what even the hippies have done. That they have given up their duties to their family, to their education, they have given up their profession, they have given up their duty to the government, they have given up all possible duties.
So sarva-dharmātma-nityajya is not the question of the message of the Bhagavad Gita. The message is mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. Surrender to it.
So the hippies have done sarva-dharmātma-nityajya māyā ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. So renunciation is not the message of the Bhagavad Gita. Surrender to Krishna is the message.
And if we see that, what did Arjuna actually do? After the Bhagavad Gita is spoken, Arjuna picks up his bow and fights. He executes his kṣatriya-dharma. So actually it derives from yoga-dharma.
The Bhagavad Gita is spoken in the Viśva-parva. So there are 18 parvas in the Mahabharata. The 6th parva is the Viśva-parva from which the battle begins.
The parva prior to that is the Udyoga-parva. Udyoga means activity. So the Pandavas, before the Kurukshetra war starts, they adopt a two-pronged strategy, which is what most armies who are about to wage a war adopt.
The strategy is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Hope for the best. You hope that no war takes place, no bloodshed.
But at the same time, you cannot just live with hope. You have to prepare to have a partition. Prepare for the worst.
Prepare as if a war is going to take place. And train your resources. The Pandavas are one-sided, striking alliances with various kings so that they have a good economy.
Duryodhana has a head start over them. So Duryodhana has started forming alliances long before. And especially for one year, the Pandavas are at the top because of the Aghyatvas.
Of course, at the end of it, they formed an alliance with Virat because Abhimanyu married Uttara. But still, Duryodhana has a head start over them. When Duryodhana stalls any negotiations, he uses his own diplomatic cunning and he keeps the negotiation process suspended.
All of Pandavas’ own Aghyatvas, he doesn’t respond to them. He doesn’t do anything. And Pandavas sent Drupada’s Brahmana messenger expressing their concern.
They said, now that we have to do this, we have to go back. So Duryodhana has persuaded Uttara and he says, let him go back. We will send our Drupada back.
And they sent Sanjay afterwards. And Sanjay goes and does a long philosophical speech in the sense simply that, ultimately, all Duryodhanas have to become one. Oh Yudhisthira, you are already one of us.
Why do you want to become Duryodhana? Yudhisthira said, stay in Amritsar. So, why do you want to fight with your relatives? For the sake of greed, how much energy do we have to give up? So then Yudhisthira said, I have never accepted one person. I was supposed to go to one, but that doesn’t mean I am one person.
The reason is that I have my Drupada’s side. And Duryodhana, who was already a very cunning person, he had got, at least with the Pandavas, the threat was that the Pandavas may come back. But he wanted to be popular in people’s eyes.
And if the king needed the support of the citizens. So, for that he had curved and strict of his instincts. Autocratic instincts.
And that was in 13 years when he was unofficially the king. But if he had untrammelled power, he would have been absolutely promoted. The Pandavas had dipped their feet in the pond, the society also.
So now, essentially, then Sanjay goes back, after Yudhisthira convinces him that it is not we who are promoting war, it is you, the Pandavas, the Kauravas, who are promoting war. And he does not respond to anything. Dhritarashtra does not respond again at all.
Then Krishna says, I myself will go. So during all this process, which had to take time, Drupada’s son, Brahmana going, then Sanjay coming, then Krishna going, during all this time, that the Kauravas have been forming alliances. So now the Pandavas have started forming alliances.
And the others are preparing. And one side they are forming alliances in case war takes place. It’s like I understand better.
It’s like preparing for the worst. And hoping for the best means, they are also sending these envoys to see if something can be peacefully resolved. So at that time, Duryodhana comes out.
And the resolution comes out that essentially the conflict which Arjuna used voice to, in the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita also, is a conflict between Kula Dharma and Kshatriya Dharma. Kula Dharma means duty to dynasty. And Kshatriya Dharma is duty to one’s Varuna.
So by Kula Dharma, Varuna should protect members of one’s dynasty. It’s an important human duty. Especially, here I am just coming from Marathon yesterday, I came back.
So I saw that there, when Indians go there, Indians often are very strongly having a sense of commonality, congenial bond for other Indians. Especially, Tamils are well connected to Tamils. Bengalis are well connected to Bengalis.
Because they have an alien culture over there. And they feel the need for some sense of belonging. And when they come to temple, this one is culturally quite injured.
And they feel this is like a cultural home for them. So the point is that this sense of greater belonging is helpful. So Kula gives one a sense of greater belonging.
And therefore, in such a time, people are saying, some Tamil forums say, or Tamil has to be practised, other Tamilians will come and help with that. So similarly, in Kula, if some family member is having some problem, we have something related to that for the people. So as per the Kula Dharma, one should protect one’s Hindu relatives.
One should certainly not kill those relatives. But as per Kula Dharma, one should fight against whoever is threatening, whoever is threatening to cause hurt. And now, what to do when the Kula Dharma ordains one thing and Kula Dharma ordains another thing.
In modern psychological theory, this is called conflict over roles. We all have different roles. Let’s say, someone met their same person met their father, same person met their professional, same person met their son, same person met their member from social club.
Now all these obligations pull in different directions. And if all these obligations make demands at the same time, which demands human food? That becomes algebra. Another question is, that how can I destroy my Kula? Kula Dharma sanatana dharma shpreya dharma So it says that people get destroyed by Kula Dharma.
How can I be a part of that? Krishna tells Arjuna essentially, that when he is saying, sarva-dharman prakriti mam ekam sharanam vraja that your father had to surrender to me. Arjuna doesn’t think of our dharma. The focus is on mam ekam sharanam vraja.
So is it that Krishna said to Arjuna, fight? You see, Arjuna when he surrenders, he, at the end of the Namavad Gita, he says, karishye vachanam vraja, I will be your way. He doesn’t say, I will fight. He does fight, but what he says is not, I will fight.
He says, I will do your way. The essence of the Bhagavad Gita is not that one should fight a war. The essence of the Bhagavad Gita is to harmonise human will with divine will.
And in this particular situation, the way Arjuna could harmonise his will with divine will was fighting a war. So, Arjuna had two options, human dharma or Kshatriya dharma. Now, if Krishna simply endorses Kshatriya dharma, or maybe a family, fine.
That’s not what Krishna message is. Krishna message is that you are a soul, you are ready to live in harmony with the Supreme Soul and accept that dharma which enables you to be in harmony with the Supreme Soul. So, in this particular situation, which is that dharma, that is, Kula, is it Kula dharma or Kshatriya dharma? Kula dharma.
Or Kshatriya dharma. So, the point is that both Kula dharma and Kshatriya dharma are material. It is not that Kshatriya dharma is spiritual and Kula dharma is material.
Both are material. In Sanskrit, there is a concept of Paradharma and Aparadharma. Paradharma is considered a religion and Aparadharma is a material religion.
So, the purpose of the Paradharma is to be fulfilled. So, dharma is to be fulfilled. But, as long as one is in this world, one has to function in this world.
So, for functioning in this world, one has to do some duty. So, Krishnayoga dharma you do some duty. To take up that dharma, you should enable him to do that dharma.
the dharma which is looking for him is dharma of Mahadeva. The point is that dharma of Kshatriya dharma. So, the point is that in the Bhagavad Gita from its context, there is no end of renunciation.
Even Sarva Dharma is not a word for supporting renunciation. It is a word that supports renunciation of that which is not available to Bhagavad Gita. Its focus is on action.
So, there is a path, there is a path, and there is a path. So, now, if this is Bhakti, the Bhagavad Gita talks of moving from dharma to Bhakti. We are going to do action, but do action in such a way that it is devotional intention.
And the Bhagavad Gita moves from dharma to Bhakti. So, because the Bhagavad Gita is moving from dharma towards Bhakti, the Bhagavad Gita’s focus is more on action. And that’s why it does not talk about enunciation much.
Whereas, the Bhagavad Gita’s focus is more on Gyan and Bhakti. So, its focus is more on renunciation of the world. And the consistent theme we see in that emotional pastime in the Bhagavad Gita.
So, now, for other sadhakas, we need to unravel when we say that the principle of Bhakti is Anukulyesa Sankalpa or Anukulyesa Bhakti. Except that it is favourable and reject that it is unfavourable. So, all of us, depending on our nature, may find a particular ashram to be favourable and a particular ashram to be not so favourable.
So, when we accept a particular ashram, we need to accept it wholeheartedly, not resentfully, not halfheartedly, not in a negative disposition. Because often, when we accept something in a negative disposition, that disposition itself affects the situation. We have grown something negatively, then things do turn out to be negative.
If you go into a job and you go, this job is going to be very difficult, I am not going to do this job, this job is going to take a lot problems on me, then quite often that attitude shapes the reality. And if you go into that job with a positive attitude, means, what I will tell you is, I have the training, I have the intelligence, I am ready to put in the hard work, and I will, well, with a positive attitude, we do manage the job. Positive attitude does not change the reality of the problems at work, but it can minimise aggravation of the problems.
Similarly, this attitude applies in our day-to-day life, the attitude applies to the ashram. The ashram also. If we accept an ashram with a negative disposition, oh, this is the ashram, well, I will die, I will die, then I will decide where the Bhagavatam is coming from.
The Bhagavatam, it has been spoken to a man who is about to die, and to a man whose primary focus is on becoming undistracted in focussing on the ashram. With only seven days remaining, he doesn’t want to think about anything else. And Shivdaya Goswami’s whole orientation is in that direction.
That is, you see, Shivdaya Goswami, when he narrates the activities of Krishna in the 10th Canto, there must be 35 chapters, out of which 90 chapters are spoken in the 10th Canto. The 10th Canto is almost one-third of the whole Bhagavatam, one-third to one-fourth. So now, in that, when the climactic war of Kurukshetra comes, Shivdaya Goswami doesn’t describe that much.
When the Kurukshetra war is going on, Shivdaya Goswami describes Balram’s pilgrimage. Imagine India-Pakistan war is going on, and somebody is going for trekking over the Himalayas, and the newspaper reports only the Himalayan trek, and doesn’t report the India-Pakistan war at all. You say, what is going on? The what is focused in any book or in any statement reveals the purpose of the first book of the statement.
The same facts can be there. For example, if somebody is going to say, no, he had problems in the past, but he is stable now. Same statement, he is stable now, but he had problems in the past.
You see the difference? The same statement, in the first statement, the stability was the focus. He had problems the past, but he is stable now. The second statement, he is stable now, but he had problems in the past.
So what has happened? The same statement is positioned in a way that the shifts from here to here. The focus can be on the present stability or on the past instability. Now, Parikshit Maharaj went to see his father.
Who was his father? Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu was killed before his birth. Abhimanyu was killed in the Kurukshetra war.
So, out of respect for Parikshit and sensitivity to his feelings, Shri Dev Goswami completely avoids talking about the Kurukshetra war. Doesn’t want him to be filled with any kind of distress or negativity. Just undistracted focus on Parikshit.
He doesn’t mention the Kurukshetra war in which Abhimanyu was a patriot. The point which I’m making is that the Bhagavatam has a particular thrust. And that thrust is undistracted focus on Parikshit.
And that undistracted focus is ultimately the aim for everyone. But it may not immediately be the aim for everyone. See, there are two kinds of letters.
The Bhagavatam will say that first somebody is telling a man to chant, chant, chant. And he says chant, chant, chant. And later there is one letter which is simply a postponement because of laziness or reluctance to do what needs to be done.
I’ll do it later. I’ll chant later when I get time. That is one kind of letter.
And the other kind of letter is saying a father and his son both are going to gym. And the father is lifting 20 kgs. And the son is lifting 20 kgs.
And the son tries to lift 20 kgs. And the father says no, it’s not going to happen. So now that letter is not because of lethargy.
That letter is not because of an unwillingness to do the thing. That letter is simply because one is waiting for the natural process of growth to take place. Similarly with respect to that undistracted focus on Krishna, there can be a letter which is based on the definition that I have to go through the normal process of life, go to the spiritual development and distracted focus.
So with the Yama’s darshan, there will be distractions. There will be distractions of earning money. There will be distractions of killing different family members.
There will be distractions of making the social obligations of different relatives and loves to particular society. Now these distractions, these are from the ultimate point of view distractions no doubt. From the ultimate point of view means that if our goal is to devote ourselves to Krishna, yes.
Our society, our finances, our family members, our society, all of these people say it distracts us from our focus on Krishna. That’s true. But this is a very restrictive understanding of Bhakti.
Bhakti doesn’t mean that the restrictive understanding of Bhakti is that Krishna is restricted only to the direct devotional activities. That means Bhakti is performed only when I come to a temple. Bhakti is performed only when I am doing directly devotional activities.
This is a very restrictive understanding of Bhakti. So for this now I’ll come to the second theme from the Bhagavatam. So one is that Bhakti in principle is not to be interrupted by anything material.
And that includes the ashram. So the second thing in the Bhagavatam says Narada’s instructions to Vyasa that the same thing when applied therapeutically can be the same thing when applied therapeutically just as milk may cause stomach upset. But when one takes milk to change form as curd that actually cures stomach upset.
The similar thing is that the same action which causes entanglement which one does devotionally can actually bring about this entanglement. So when he talks about this that action producing this entanglement what in our body are we doing? At one level we can say Bhakti is a process of action. Yes in Bhakti we chant, we dance, we sit silent, we wave our hands, we wave our legs in the practical service to Krishna.
So in that sense Bhakti is talking about that kind of action. Yes it is. But Bhakti is not restricted to only those kind of actions.
So Karmanatam we have in the 18th chapter Krishna analyses Varanasi from a devotional perspective from 18.41 to 18.48 then he says why is your world worshipped? Very simple. Some people translate this as work is worshipped. The work is worshipped as a principle for imbuing all work with dignity.
Yes, no work and no caste, all work is dignified. As a social principle is ok. But work is worshipped is not a spiritual principle.
If work is worshipped as a spiritual principle then the donkey will become the greatest worshipper. So in the Bhagavad Gita it is said by your work worshipped. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said work is worshipped but work as worshipped.
You can redefine work as worshipped. How does it become worshipped? When we use the word to worship the Supreme Lord. So working to worship the Supreme Lord what does that mean? The Pandavas said again going back to the context that Bhagavatam is a part of the Mahabharata and the Mahabharata what do the Pandavas do? The Pandavas perform a Rajasuri Yajna by which they have Krishna worship as the Agra Purusha and for doing that what do they need to do? They have to conquer the world and conquering the world is a glorious effort.
The Pandavas go on doing that and in that way by conquering the world they establish Krishna’s world. So now when Arjuna is fighting with something or Bhima is fighting with something the fighting is in one day but what makes it divine is their intention. Similarly when we are working in our life at that time as devotees who are aiming for Krishna the mood has to be that whatever I am doing I want to do it for the Lord of my intention.
Most of the students if you do well in your studies other people are interested what makes you great. Do well in your studies and others are interested and they also want to learn about Govardhan. The same applies to our profession also.
they said Yudhisthira did his profession in a way by which he could glorify Krishna. And Yudhisthira is not constantly ranting in the Mahabharata that Oh I am a drug addict of Narasimha. No he is positive and he utilises Narasimha to glorify Krishna.
So whatever profession we do we use that in a way that we can glorify Krishna. Now how we do it specifically that may be called an ideal circumstance. But the principle is in the Mahabharata it is that where all our activities are included in the scope of it.
So we see our job also as not just as a thing we will do it. Yes. But along with that it is also an arena where depending on the situation we can share Krishna’s glories.
If we see the job only from utilitarian perspective utilitarian is what it can give you. Krishna is not saying he is not saying buy the fruits of your work worshipping. He is saying buy your work worshipping.
That means if we see by my work I can earn money and then I can do some charity and that’s how I can serve Krishna. Yes. That is one level of understanding that is You should do charity.
But I will come to charity later once again. But at this point it is Krishna is not talking about worship me with the fruits of your work. You can say that oh if I am worthy I can have a good position in society and with that position when I preach that people will listen.
That is also good. But Krishna is talking about buy your work worshipping. Intrinsically we should see our work as potential spiritual.
Not that work is something one day which I have to do. No. Krishna is present everywhere in this world and he is present even in our world.
So if we have this understanding that bhakti is inclusion. So what do I mean by inclusion? There is a difference between material and spiritual. There is a differentiation that is favourable and there is a differentiation that is unfavourable.
What does it mean? That generally if we are planning our spiritual life for allocating our time we should divide it. This is material this is spiritual. This is time for my job, this is time for my family and this is time for my sadhana, this is time for my satsang, this is time for my swadhyaya.
So like that if we divide then we will give adequate time for our spiritual life. That’s one aspect. We need to give adequate time to our spiritual life.
At the same time after we have done this basic allocation of time in terms of material and spiritual then when we are doing our various activities we don’t have to constantly analyse whether this is material or this is spiritual. We should simply be focussing on how can I connect this with Krishna. When somebody cracks a joke in your class and you start laughing, then you start thinking, oh am I laughing for Krishna’s pleasure or am I laughing for my son’s gratification.
We don’t have to bother thinking about that. It’s all in the context of Krishna and his children that is fine. Now if a family member is sick, we don’t have to bother whether somebody gives us something to eat Nobody has to do that.
When in the last days, a few days before he departed from the world, his son Vrindavan came to meet him and the mankshima was writing in his diary and the one message that Prabhupada gave his son was improve your financial situation. Prabhupada did not tell him remember Krishna. Prabhupada told him improve your financial situation.
That was what his family required. And even at that time Prabhupada gave quite a prabhupada renounce in the world. He did not do much for his family because he was poor in his children.
But when he later came back, he allocated a generous fortune for his family for taking care of the family. During the Lama period, in the 6th or 7th chapter of the Lama, Prabhupada is a Lahabha, one of the persons who had interviews for that book. So he says that Swami is a very deeply spiritual person, but at that time his main question was how can I earn more money? How can I earn more money? How can I earn more money? So, the process of bhakti involves, now it’s not that we are constantly paralysing, whether something is material or something is spiritual.
There is a focus on how can this connect with Vishnu. For a devotee, everything does connect with Vishnu. The health of our family members, the mental health of our family members, our own health, our own financial situation.
Are these material or spiritual? We don’t have to go about constantly analysing this. Now, once we have allocated basic time for our spiritual life, then everything you know in principle is spiritual or spiritualising. And it’s going to affect our spiritual life.
Rather than bothering about material, spiritual, we should focus on how can I connect with Vishnu. How can I connect with Vishnu? Our goal is to become pure devotees. But we cannot become pure devotees without becoming devotees.
We cannot become pure devotees without becoming devotees. What does this mean? That we have to have a relationship with Krishna before we can have a pure relationship. We have to have a relationship first and then that relationship will become purified.
So, if something is burdening our heart, say our job situation is worrisome or say some family member’s health is worrying us, we don’t have to bother about this material or spiritual, we pray to Krishna. We pray to Krishna about it and of course, we express our prayers to Krishna by saying that it is your way. If it is your way, we can say that.
But Krishna, this is what I feel is the best solution. Please, let this happen. Just by unburdening our heart to someone, we go closer to that person.
Similarly, by unburdening our heart, we go closer to Krishna. So, rather than analysing this is material, this is spiritual, the only focus is primarily on connecting everything with Krishna. So, this connection happens at various levels.
So, I conclude with this part that, when Krishna talks about multiple levels of connection in 12.8-12 in the Bhagavad Gita, 12.8 is para mayye mana so many definitions. Just fix your mind, fix your consciousness on me, fix your mind on me, and you live in me. If that is not possible, then ajitam samadhatam shakti no siddhi abhyasmi yogayi ratnam amrit shastri nayanam Then, you can’t do that.
Then, try to fix your mind on me by practising sadhana bhakti. Then you abhyasmi bhakti. In 12.8, he says, if you can’t do that also, abhyasmi pesamarthosi matkarma paramoham malartham abhi karmani purvan siddhi moham Simply, you cannot even strive for sadhana bhakti.
Simply, imagine you can just work for matkarma paramoham and abhyasmi pesamarthosi kartum matyogam ashritam sarva karmam ratyaum tanah kundal atman In 12.10, he says, you cannot even work for me. Then, just use the fruits for a good cause and become the self-sufficient being today. So, detachment.
Krishna is talking about various levels of self-sufficiency. All these levels of progress. Fix your mind completely on me.
Try to fix your mind on me. Work for me. Or, renounce the total self.
Between 3rd and 4th, there can be multiple levels. Work for me. You can directly work for me.
You can come to the temple and stay there. Work for me. Can we do the work and give the fruits to me? Or, now, I say, I’ll come back to charity over here.
Give the fruits for a good cause. In charity, what is the purpose of giving charity? Sometimes, some people just say, OK, now I’m not even giving charity. But, just this business contract works out.
This deal works out. Then, I will give. Now, you should give 50%.
I’ll give 51% like that. Now, I can’t even give 1%. Some people say like that.
Now, even if there is none of the intention, yes, in the future I’ll give a lot. But, they misunderstand the purpose of charity. Charity is not meant to be an activity.
Charity is meant to be a mentality. Charity is meant to be not just an activity that we do. It’s basically a mentality, a disposition that we conjure.
What is the idea of a disposition? We want to give our heart to Krishna. But, our heart is filled with so many other concerns right now. So, a very prominent thing right now in our heart is money.
It is natural. In everyone’s mind, for everyone it is natural. No doubt about that.
But, so, if we can’t give our heart to Krishna, then we should give what is in our heart to Krishna. If we can’t give our heart to Krishna, then we give what is in our heart to Krishna. And one thing that is in our heart is money.
So, by giving money to Krishna, we give Krishna a place in our heart. And that way, we come closer to Krishna. So, that, when we give that money, when we give that money to Krishna, we are connecting with Krishna.
We are giving Krishna a place in our heart. The point is, these are all various levels by which we connect with Krishna. So, in the grasna life, there will be some sadhana bhakti, there will be some seva, and there will be some connection with Krishna through ones who are not dependent on money.
It is available in every situation. And the problems, the distractions, the entanglements in the grasna life, for a sincere devotee, they can become greater impedances for taking shelter of Krishna. So, one can see that, actually, I don’t have much time for the Krishna bhakti, directly speaking.
And whatever time I have, I must use it wholeheartedly. So, one can make the whole grasna ashram, the whole bhakti, by focussing on the ashram, not on the grasna. That, one, okay, whatever social culture, whatever social position I am in, that is not as important as, see, where we are, is not as important as where we want to go, where we are.
Okay, where do I want to go? I want to go towards the supreme ashram. And actually, based on my nature, based on my particular individual disposition, the best way I can go towards Krishna is by the practise of nakshatri, in the grasna ashram. So, Krishna in the supreme ashram, all nine topics of the Bhagavatam which are ashrat, atma.
And if our focus is on seeking ashram of the supreme ashrat atma, then even the grasna ashram will become superior. Shri Mahaguru says that, the world is like a stormy ocean and the grasna ashram is like a boat which enables one to go through this ocean and attain the shore of the boat. So, I’ll summarise.
I started by talking about, the theme is shifting the focus from grasna to ashram. So, the ashram of Krishna is not restricted by anything material. Upratihata is that technique which can describe kumsam or it can also describe bhakti.
So, bhakti cannot be interrupted by anything material. That is because bhakti is transcendental. And both varna and ashram are material designations, ultimately transcendental.
Bhagavad Gita takes us from karma towards bhakti and Bhagavatam takes us from jnana towards bhakti. As in, Bhagavad Gita often looks at renunciation unfavourably, whereas Bhagavatam looks at action entanglement with the world unfavourably. And, while moving from action towards devotion, the Bhagavad Gita focusses on not some saradharma but a mam ekam saranam vraja.
So, Arjuna doesn’t give up all dharma but he gives up his kula dharma and takes up the ksatriya dharma. Why? Because in the ksatriya dharma everyone has to do kaviśyevaśanam vraja. Everyone has to do mam ekam saranam vraja.
Harimuna is human, human, divine. Similarly, this is what applies for Arjuna, applies for all of us. When you do brahmacharya dharma then you do vyāsa dharma.
So, the mam ekam saranam vraja, some of us will be able to do it much better and do vyāsa dharma than brahmacharya dharma. And, that is true. But, when one goes into a particular job or a particular situation, the negative disposition increases the trouble in it.
So, this element of reality can hurt more than reality. When you go into positive attitude, it’s a functionalistic case for ashram, for getting the shelter of Krishna. And then, you may say that, oh, I have so many distractions, I cannot practise bhakti with focus as I can in brahmacharya ashram.
Yes, that may be true. But, this concern stems from a very restrictive definition of bhakti. Bhagavad-gita says, that you worship it through your work, not through the fruits of your work, but through your work.
So, the Pandavas, they, as long as they were in brahmacharya ashram, they fought and they consolidated their whole own freedom on the whole world and then they worshipped Krishna. So, they were not just saying, their duties are something I have to do before I announce them. Now, as long as I have them, they are potential seekers and let me do them in a spiritual way.
So, for allocating our time, we should separate it to material and spiritual and make sure that we give time for directly devotional activities. Those who connect their heart with Krishna. But having done that, we don’t have to worry everything about our life as material or spiritual because ultimately, everything affects our spiritual life and everything is potentially spiritualised.
So, see all our relationships, all our activities as arenas where we can connect with Krishna. Where we can, because Krishna is inclusive, then we can move onwards towards Krishna steadily. And I talked about how we can fix the mind to Krishna directly, strive to fix the mind to Sadhana Bhakti, work for Krishna, work for Krishna and directly do seva for Krishna, offer the boons of God to Krishna.
Offering the boons, charity is not just an activity, it’s a mentality. And the mentality is that if we cannot offer our heart to Krishna, we offer what is in our heart to Krishna. And otherwise we can also just cultivate attachment.
And in this way, we can move onwards towards Krishna steadily. So, it is not just the directly devotional activities within Bhakti that take us towards Krishna. But rather all the activities that we are doing, if we do them with the intention of wanting to move closer towards the supreme ashram, then everything that is the ashram can become something that gives us a greater closure to the ashram, the ashram of Krishna.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions?