How bhakti fulfills the aspirations of social justice

[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Sydney, Australia]

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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Nithyanandeshwara Samaarambhaam Nithyanandeshwari Madhyamaam So the point I am making is in the Bhakti tradition also many of the saints suffered great persecution, exploitation because of the Brahminical orthodoxy and the Bhakti tradition is a tradition of internal reform within the broad Vedic tradition. So the Bhakti tradition actually enfranchised everyone.
The doors of religion and spirituality that were closed for most people by the caste conscious Brahmins these doors were opened by the Bhakti saints. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu famously said keeva vipra keeva san keevanasi shudra khenanai yei krishna tattva vetta sei guru hai Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s declaration is revolutionary because what he is saying is not only can anyone practise Bhakti but rather anyone can become a teacher of Bhakti. This is revolutionary.
What Chaitanya Mahaprabhu he was in Bengal there are many other saints in different parts of India and Bhakti saints often they actually went against the Brahminical orthodoxy and the essence of the universality of spirituality that was stressed by them of Bhakti spirituality and this is actually coming from the scripture maa bhi partha vyapashritya ye pi syu paapayon hai sthriyo vaishyastha shudras te pi aanti parangatin In this verse Krishna is saying that ok according to some social cultural classification some people may be considered lower class but that doesn’t matter when they practise Bhakti they can all be elevated and liberated. The stress of this verse is that Bhakti opens the doors for everyone and not just to enter and stay in some corner of the house no to come to the sanctum sanctorum to come to the middle of the temple to te pi aanti parangatin to attain life’s supreme perfection and this understanding actually is extremely appealing that Bhakti opens the doors for everyone yes we have our bodies we have our minds and there are differences based on that which we acknowledge but beyond it all everybody has a personal relationship with Krishna God is not the monopoly of any particular class actually God is present in the hearts of everyone and the spiritual master the guru the brahmana sometimes people feel oh you know why can’t I have a direct relationship with God why do I need someone to come between me and God someone meaning the guru actually it is tragically it has happened that many times the whether it is in India the brahmanas or whether it is in Europe the catholic clergy they often came between the people and God around this time in the Christian world they are observing the 500th anniversary roundabout with the protestant reformation the protestant reformation was primarily because the catholic liturgy the catholic clergy rather they came in between the people and God they said we don’t need you and protestant basically meant that we don’t want we can study the sacred books ourselves we can understand it ourselves they rejected the need for anyone in between but the point was that it has happened sadly that those who are meant to connect people with God came between people and God and when that happens then people start resenting that authority so the guru is not meant to come between the soul and God rather the guru is meant to remove that which is between the soul and God the guru is meant to remove the misconceptions the misdirections that obstruct us from going towards Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says he says that if you want to attain me what you have to do offer your mind and offer your intelligence to me so now the mind has desires cravings and the intelligence has conceptions and both of these can direct us towards Krishna or direct us away from Krishna so the guru is meant to remove these misdirections misconceptions that are present in our subtle body and help us to connect with Krishna so thus the spiritual Prabhupada writes in the 18th chapter purport that the this this experience of Krishna through the parampara but it is direct that we connect with Krishna through the parampara but we connect with Krishna personally we have every one of us has a personal relationship with our spiritual master and has a personal relationship with Krishna so this understanding of bhakti has actually been universal as making spirituality universally accessible for everyone that is what needs to be stressed in today’s ethos if we want to connect with people now the spiritual master’s authority are here Prabhupada is talking about the brahmana’s authority the brahmanas are important because they guide how the soul is to connect with Krishna and to the extent this connection with Krishna is there for the brahmanical guide for the spiritual guide and people can see this person actually connect with Krishna people feel inspired let me also take the guidance so that I can have a personal relationship with the absolute that is extremely appealing if we can focus on that in our own personal practise and in our sharing of bhakti with others then we have a tremendous potential to attract people who are very conscious of social justice so Srila Prabhupada himself was very revolutionary he not only went to the west and made his followers made devotees over there but he inspired and instructed and trained those devotees to become sharers of Krishna bhakti all over the world and they have carried on Srila Prabhupada’s legacy yes like any other religious movement we have had our difficulties and that is not to be unexpected because if we consider Srila Prabhupada’s level of spiritual advancement even his material age and his followers never before in the history of any religious movement has there been such a gap between the founder and the first generation so because of this gap naturally there have been some difficulties but overall the bhakti legacy is alive and it will stay alive to the extent that the soul gets the facility to connect with Krishna and to experience Krishna and ultimately social justice cannot be established without spiritual justice social justice means that the idea that everybody should be treated equally but at the material level there are differences at the material level we always are dominated by what is called the scarcity mentality scarcity mentality means oh there is only this much cake if they get that much cake then I will get that much less cake so in America they had the first African American president and as a reaction to that now they have almost what they call as white triumphalism there is a reaction coming a strong reaction where there is more of insular outlook instead of universal outlook so what has happened is at a material level we may strive for social justice and it is good but at a material level people who had power will always feel insecure when they lose their power and they will try to recoil and gain power again and the power struggle will keep going on among India and Pakistan there is always hostility going on now if you look at the history of Pakistan as it is told in Pakistan Pakistan doesn’t consider that Pakistan began on August 14 August 15 1947 they think Pakistan existed from the 11th century and their idea is that India broke away from Pakistan and that land which belonged to Allah was stolen away by the Hindus and now we have to ensure that it comes back to Allah so they have their own distorted version of history so the point I am making is at a social level everybody will come up with their own ideas of what is right and what is wrong and even if one person’s narrative seems fair, correct and another person’s wrong people will always think this is my rights, why are you taking it away from me so equality as a value is appealing to everyone but at the material level of consciousness equality is unsustainable because all of us want facilities all of us want to enjoy and if material enjoyment is the goal of life then if others progress materially and the number of material resources in the world are limited then we lose it is only when people understand that the purpose of life is spiritual growth that we are meant to move towards spiritual advancement it is there that real happiness lies our happiness does not depend so much on what we have our happiness depends much more on what we do with what we have our happiness does not depend on what we have it depends more on what we do with what we have so we may have little money but if we are using it to serve Krishna to live in life harmony with Krishna we will get satisfaction we may have a lot of money but if we don’t know how to use it and if we are using it for sensual activities for self destructive activities we will be suffering so actually it is only when there is a spiritual orientation to life when we understand that in the development of our spiritual side in the connection of the soul with Krishna there is real satisfaction then there will be sustainable social justice because the innate human resistance to the idea that others take my pie of the cake that resistance will go only when there is transcendence so to the extent the bhakti tradition presents the universality of bhakti and presents the opportunity to experience Krishna through the practise of bhakti that experience is so fulfilling bhakti pareshan bhava viraktiranyatra cha that when we experience Krishna then other experiences they just say I don’t need this this is so fulfilling and then the whole fight oh this is my cake this is my cake all that fight will subside and then through spiritual harmonisation the drive for social justice will become fulfilled in a sustainable way so I will summarise I spoke today about the principle of how bhakti wisdom intersects with social justice or fulfils the aspiration for social justice in this verse we are talking about how Krishna’s sanskara for becoming a brahmana is to be performed by Gargamuni Prabhupada talks about the position of a brahmana at the distortion of the brahmanical caste system so the in the pre-modern age the predominant source of knowledge was scripture in the scientific age in the modern age it was science in the post-modern age it is social justice that’s what people are looking for so people say scripture ok we don’t know whether it is scientific or not science it is all political cultural motives are there we don’t know whether it is giving the truth but nobody should be discriminated against and so any religion which seems to promote discrimination becomes very becomes taboo and becomes very difficult to propagate that and people often identify India with the discriminatory caste system but this is because of the communist leftist narrative of Indian history that has been peddled but if you consider comparatively speaking wherever there has been power there has been exploitation but if you consider the natives here in Australia or in America they were not only discriminated against they were exterminated in India still the caste system is not denying the atrocities done by the caste system but we cannot distort reality and make it seem to be worse than what it is and more importantly from within the Indian system itself there has been a tradition of reform and that is the tradition of bhakti which in which the great saints tolerated persecution and still practised and shared devotion making it accessible to everyone so the bhakti tradition is a tradition which opens the door for everyone irrespective of whatever external differences might be there and to the extent we can present bhakti as offering universal access to spirituality to that extent bhakti wisdom can appeal to those who are conscious of social justice and we can bring them closer and closer to Krishna and yes in bhakti there is the central position of the guru but the guru is not someone who comes between us and Krishna the guru is connected with Krishna and guides us to connect with Krishna ultimately removing the misconception and misdirections that block us from moving towards Krishna and by understanding how the principle of bhakti is universal and presenting it appropriately as a means for changing the vision from the scarcity mentality oh there is only so much and others get then I will not get to spiritual growth where there is abundance I can get happiness in remembering Krishna and you can get happiness in remembering Krishna your happiness will never decrease mine mine will never decrease yours by seeing that the source of happiness is not material accumulation but spiritual realisation then the social justice drive can be sustained and fulfilled without being sabotaged by the reactionary forces which will feel threatened when there is material consciousness so all aspirations no matter what noble how noble they may be they cannot be fulfilled without spiritual knowledge and bhakti wisdom offers the spiritual wisdom spiritual knowledge by which the aspiration for social justice can be sustainably fulfilled thank you very much Hare Krishna are there any questions or comments yes okay good question so yeah how do we apply bhakti in our lives the essence of bhakti is the loving remembrance of Krishna so when we love someone we naturally remember that person but with respect to Krishna the converse is also true when we remember him love for him also awakens he is all attractive and he is all pure to the extent we remember him to that extent he that remembrance purifies us and the absolute truth is purifying he removes whatever contaminations are present and prevents further contaminations from coming so Prahlad Maharaj says that he says that just as an iron filing is attracted to a magnet similarly he says my soul my heart my very being is attracted to Krishna I am captivated by Krishna so sometimes it is said that when some people’s astrological charts are unfavourable some say Saturn’s influence is there they may behave irrationally so they are afflicted by that planet so Prahlad is saying I am afflicted by the Krishna planet and because of that his teachers are asking him why are you doing like this why are you provoking Hiranyakashyapu why are you going against our teacher he says I am helpless he says the magnet is attracted the iron filing is attracted to a magnet my heart is attracted towards Krishna so now Krishna is like the magnet who not only attracts the iron filings but who also removes the rust on those iron filings if it is there normally if iron filings are not attracted then we have to polish remove the rust and they will become attracted afterwards so we as souls are covered by the contaminations Kama, Krodha, Mohamad, Mansari so we need to remove those contaminations but Krishna is so wonderful he is like a magnet who not only attracts but who also removes the contaminations so to the extent we remember Krishna by chanting the holy name by doing kirtan by speaking and hearing about Krishna by doing various services so by doing all these if we remember Krishna then that itself purifies us and by that purification the attraction to Krishna emerges so in the Bhakti Samasindhu Smriti remembrance is talked about four types there is Nama Dhyan there is Rupa Dhyan there is Leela Dhyan and there is Seva Dhyan so remembering the name remembering the qualities remembering the past times remembering the form that is the deities remembering the past times and remembering the service of the lord so through all these ways we can remember and to the extent we remember him to that extent we become purified so the essence of Bhakti is cultivating remembrance of Krishna and because we can’t remember him constantly we also do services for him from 8 to 12 Krishna talks about various levels at which you can practise if you can’t remember me then strive to remember me if you can’t even strive to constantly remember me at least do some service for me if you can’t do service for me then do whatever work you are doing offer the fruits of that work to me if you can’t do that also then at least offer the fruits to some higher cause be selfless so in this way Krishna gives multiple levels at which we can connect with him and thus by trying to connect our consciousness with Krishna we can nourish our devotion ok thank you yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes encourage them to continue that social role and practise bhakti in that role. But when his disciples were from the west, where they had grown up almost like man and woman are equal, then he engaged them in service appropriately.
It’s not that he forced people to change their social mode so that they can practise bhakti. The principle in my understanding is that we don’t have to make bhakti more difficult than it needs to be. Controlling our mind and senses is difficult enough.
But on top of that, if we add that you have to fit this social mood, then that is not going to work. So yes, we could say that living in a farm, eco-friendly society, and practising bhakti spheri, that is wonderful. Yes, it is good.
But for people who have lived in urban places with a lot of comfort, if we tell them to practise bhakti or to go and live in a village, then that itself will be so difficult that they will not practise bhakti. Some people who have lived in cities but they are fried out with city life, I want to go to a village, live in a farm, chant Hare Krishna, that’s what I want to do, wonderful. That facility is there.
So to the extent we make the material structure mandatory for the practise of bhakti, to that extent we will come off as anti-social justice. But to the extent we present the material structure as facilities for spiritual growth, which is universal, and we focus on the principle of spiritual growth, and then depending on time, place, circumstances, we create facilities for people to practise bhakti according to where they are at. Then they will grow wonderfully in bhakti.
So we can’t compromise the principle that we are all meant to grow spiritually, that we are not the body, we are, souls are meant to love Krishna. At the bodily level, how we adjust things, that is something which we all have to not whimsically just capitulate to the social ideas, but intelligently present so that from where people are, they can rise up. Otherwise, I’ll conclude with this point that at one time, I was sick for almost like one year, and the doctors were trying to detect what was the problem, and they had taken so many blood samples, that my whole hand was filled with blood, with pins, with pricks of the injection.
So the nurse once came to take a blood sample, and that nurse was almost touching my hand for ten minutes. To find out where they could pierce the needle so that it would not pain so much. That nurse could have said, if you have got so many wounds on your body, that’s your problem.
My problem is, I have to take the blood, and you could have pierced me wherever I already have a wound, and it would have hurt unbearably. It hurt a lot. They don’t do that.
So the point I’m making is, if people have certain sore spots, then if we are meant to be like spiritual doctors, who are giving the medicine, yes, the medicine piercing the body with the injection is going to cause pain, but it is our responsibility to cause as less pain as possible. Sometimes in the name of saying that, oh, we will not compromise, we may become insensitive and pierce people where it hurts them the most, and then they will just go away. At least when people are sick, they understand, I have a sick, I need a doctor.
Today, people don’t even understand that they are sick, so they will just go away. So we have to present our message, and sometimes our message is going to ruffle feathers, sometimes it is going to hurt people, anger people, but that is for the sake of their spiritual elevation. But we don’t have to make that message more alienating or agitating than it needs to be.
So if people have some sore spots, we have to present bhakti in such a way that it doesn’t aggravate their sore spots. If we can do that, then the principle of spiritually universal access for everyone is actually very resonant with the ethos of social justice. Does that address the question? Thank you very much.
Do we have time? Okay. Yes, bro. So when Nandamaharaj is asking that the reformatory activities to be performed, is it karmakanda or is it bhakti? At a cultural level, karmakanda and bhakti are not necessarily rigidly differentiated.
The differentiation is primarily in knowledge and intention. Yajnas can be performed for the devtas, yajnas can be performed for Vishnu, deities can be worshipped. The deity may be of the Supreme Lord Vishnu, the deities may be of the devtas.
So it’s not so much the cultural forms that differentiate karmakanda and bhakti, it is more the consciousness, more the intention. So when samskaras are performed, the reformatory ceremonies are performed, yes, if somebody is the worshipper of a devata, they may invoke that particular devata. And they may do it with the understanding that, oh, we want this child to live nicely and go to swarga or whatever, go to heavens, then it will be karmakanda.
But in the case of the vrajavasis, they are all absorbed in Krishna. And Gargamuni also, it’s revealed that he’s also avaishnava. So in that sense, the performance of the reformatory ceremonies, that is basically required for creating a religious orientation in the consciousness.
Now within that religious orientation, what particular aspect of religion is stressed, that will depend on the consciousness of the performance. So we can’t simply say that this practise is karmakanda, this practise is bhakti. More than the practise, the purpose is important.
So if the purpose is devotional, in the fourth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, where the story of Pruthu Maharaj comes, there in a purport, Vishwanath Chakravarti Akur explains in his commentary that, that for the sake of setting an example for society, because people in general cannot be expected to practise pure bhakti, some people also practise karmakanda. So, Maharaj Pruthu was performing yajnas in which the devatas were also worshipped. But internally, Vishwanath Chakravarti Akur says that he was contemplating that these devatas are the servants of the Lord.
And he was remembering the Lord and worshipping the Lord. So the activity might even seem to be devata puja. But his consciousness was, in his consciousness he was worshipping Krishna.
So rather than rejecting certain cultural practises simply as karmakanda. If we can infuse them with spiritual understanding and spiritual purpose, then they can become bhakti. Okay.
Okay, okay. That’s a good question. See, the Vrajavasis are pure devotees, why do they need to perform the samskaras? Okay.
The Vrajavasis are perfected beings, but they don’t act as if they are perfected beings. Their perfection is in that they are completely absorbed in Krishna. But even there, if you see when Gargamuni comes, Nanda Maharaj doesn’t tell him, I am a devotee of Krishna, I am a pure devotee and you are lower than me.
Nanda Maharaj thinks, I am a Vaishya, you are a Brahmana, I respect you. So broadly speaking, they all follow the broad principles of Vedic culture. So Brahmanas will be respected.
Even if you see that there are devatas, devatas may also be worshipped. But devatas are like the Gopis, they worship Katiyani. But they are worshipping so that they can get Krishna as their lord.
So the Vrajavasis at one level, they act as if they are a part of the broad Vedic society where people used to follow Varanashram, respect the Brahmanas, worship the devatas. But whatever they are doing, they are doing it for Krishna. When in the Govardhan Puja, Krishna stops Nanda Maharaj from worshipping Indra.
But that means that Indra was being worshipped before. Indra Puja was regularly happening. So the point is that they all, in the Bhagavad Gita for example, it is said, In the spiritual world, there is no sun, there is no moon, there is no fire.
But then, in the past tense of Krishna, it is described. I think in the 19th chapter it is described that when the Gopis are envisioning, when Krishna goes out in the forest, the sun becomes so hot. And they are thinking, oh, Krishna will be sweating.
And they see a cloud is coming. Oh, they see a cloud is acting as an umbrella for Krishna. And then in Sharad Purnima, the beauty is that there is a full moon.
So, and there is fire also. The forest fires are there. So, the sun, the moon, the fire is there in the spiritual world also.
So, in the Bhagavad Gita it is said, What it means is, in that abode, it is not illumined by sun, moon, fire. That means it is self-luminous. It doesn’t need the sun, moon, fire for illumination.
But sun, moon, fire are there for facilitating the past tense. There is day time, some past tense are performed. Night time, some past tense are performed.
So, like that, the Vrajavasis don’t need brahmanas to purify them. The Vrajavasis don’t need to worship the devatas so that they will get some punya. But all these brahmanas, just as the sun, moon, fire are present for facilitating the leela, similarly the brahmanas and devatas and various rituals of samskaras, they are all performed for the enhancement of leela.
So, the Vrajavasis are expressing their love for Krishna when they are performing his name giving ceremony. And it gives an occasion to congregate, to celebrate and to rejoice with Krishna at the centre. Thank you.
Yeah, one last, okay. How much time do we have? Okay, yeah. Yes, Guru.
Okay, yeah. That’s a good question. So, if we say that the Guru doesn’t come between us and Krishna, does it mean that the Guru is not needed at a particular time? See, we often have these extremes.
Either we make one thing into everything or we make that into nothing. So, sometimes if you do a particular activity, just maximise it or reduce it to nothing. It’s not like that.
See, if we consider the bhakti, it’s a personal relationship. So, if we have a personal relationship with the spiritual master, it’s a personal relationship. It’s not that that relationship is rejectable or dispensable.
We have a personal relationship with the spiritual master and the spiritual master has to develop a personal relationship with Krishna. So, the spiritual master is our guide. The spiritual master is our mentor.
And the point is that Krishna is not like any other limited object. Sometimes in romantic movies there is love triangle. Two boys love one girl.
Now that girl can be available only to one boy. When we love Krishna, Krishna is not like that. Krishna can be with each Gopi and each Gopi can be fully satisfied with Krishna.
And yet Krishna is fully available to other Gopis. He says that Krishna, who was available fully, who delighted the hearts by his love of hundreds and thousands of Gopis, I know no lord other than Krishna. He said in Venkateshwar Prabhatam.
So, the point is that Krishna is not like any other person or any other object. So, we can fully relate with Krishna and Krishna can fully relate with every soul. And yet we can have a relationship with the spiritual master.
So, we are always grateful to the spiritual master. Janme janme Prabhu se. So, we are always grateful to the spiritual master because it’s a personal relationship.
If we consider simply from the perspective of utilitarianism. Okay, my goal is to connect with Krishna. And okay, now I am connected with Krishna, why do I need the guru? It’s not like that.
The spiritual world is a web of relationships. There are so many relationships. All the Vrajavasis, they have their relationship with Krishna, but they also have their relationship with each other.
So, we have relationships which we cherish. So, if we see that their goal is not just some abstract going to the spiritual world or coming to a particular level of consciousness. The goal is developing an ongoing relationship which goes on eternally.
Then we can have an eternal relationship with Krishna and an enduring relationship with the spiritual master also. So, we focus on the personal reciprocal aspect. Then we can avoid this idea of use and throw.
I use the guru and then discard. No, that’s based on impersonalist idea that the guru is simply a tool. But if you see the spiritual world as centred ultimate realities relationships, then it’s understandable.
Thank you very much. Maybe we can talk personally. Prabhupada ki? Jai.
Granthraj Shri Madbhagavatam ki? Jai. Itai Gaur Premanande? Jai. Prabhupada ki? Jai.