How our intelligence acts as our enemy – and how to make it our friend

[Bhagavatam class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.08.08-09 at ISKCON, Sydney, USA]

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Books are there Hare Krishna So today morning We are discussing from the Srimad Bhagavatam The 10th Canto Where Krishna’s name giving ceremony Is about to take place Krishna was born In Mathura As the son of Vasudev and Devaki But because Kamsa was antagonistic Bent on killing the sons of Vasudev So he was whisked away Secretly To Vrindavan Where he was considered By most people to be the son of Indra Maharaj And that’s how Through that secrecy He was protected And here When Gargacharya Gargamuni is a priest who has come To Vrindavan And Narada Maharaj Has requested Please perform the Name giving ceremony And he is expressing reservation Saying that I perform the Ceremony for I am the priest of the Yadus So if I perform the ceremony Then people will infer Manyate Devaki Suttam They will consider that He is the son of Devaki And that’s What reasoning he will give For not performing the sacrifice But then they will come to a conclusion about How they can perform the ceremony More discreetly We will come to that In the future classes Today I will speak on the theme of Surrender And intelligence Should we surrender The intelligence Or should we surrender With intelligence Surrender Is a process where we Offer ourselves to Krishna So when we Surrender is it that Krishna everything is mine Whatever you tell I will do I surrender the intelligence Or we surrender with Intelligence that means We use the intelligence that we Have been given To find out how best I can Answer Krishna So we can look at different Conceptions of surrender To understand this more clearly First of all The word surrender often has A negative connotation So why am I talking about this theme Because here Nanda Maharaj, Garga Muni They are all concerned about Krishna And Krishna is God He will take care of everything But that is not the mood They are thinking actively How can Krishna be Best protected So they are using their intelligence To anticipate What could be the possible complications And then they are going to come up with The most Safe course of action in that Situation So we can see that they are using their intelligence So the intelligence Can be seen In two different ways One is That Actually Our intelligence is Limited It can never know God And intelligence comes in the way Of surrendering to God This is what happens With people who claim to be rationalists Those who Claim that we are very rational We don’t believe anything without evidence So They claim that because they are so intelligent They don’t accept God So in this case For such people The intelligence seems to be coming In the way of Even approaching God Believing God, what to speak of Surrendering to Him At the same time We see the scriptures Are filled with Intelligent discussion Like the Bhagavad Gita Concludes With Arjuna surrendering Give up all varieties of religion and surrender to me And Arjuna responds That was 18.66 In 18.73 Arjuna responds by saying yes I will surrender to you So therefore here we see That when does the surrender come Here it is coming After an elaborate Discussion Which is very philosophical With various kinds of questions and answers going on And even at the end of this discussion Three verses before Krishna calls for surrender In 18.63 18.66 is surrender to me 18.63 is Deliberate deeply On what I have said And then do as you desire This means Krishna Even at the end Is asking Use your intelligence To deliberate To think properly about what I am saying And then you decide what you want to do So Krishna Is not Demanding The abandonment of intelligence As a Test of surrender So we see these two distinct Conceptions Where intelligence can come in the way Of surrender to God Or even a knowing God Believing in God also And intelligence in the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna deliberates, hears, understands And then surrenders So the intelligence Can Obstruct us in going towards God It can take us away from Krishna Or it can take us towards Krishna It depends on How we see The relation of the intelligence with Krishna In the Chatur Shloki Bhagavatam In the There are four verses in the Bhagavatam Which are considered to be its essence So there it is said Ruteyartham yat pratiyeta Napratiyet chatmani Dyadatmano maya Yathabhaso yathatamaha Now anything which seems meaningful, but which has no connection with the supreme truth, with Krishna, that is Maya.
That is illusion. So illusion is not so much an object, nor is it a perception. No, illusion is more a conception.
We may see some attractive sense object and say this is illusion, but the object itself is real. Even the attractiveness of that object is real. There are certain things which look attractive, which are attractive.
We don’t have to deny their attractiveness. But to think that this attractiveness can give me pleasure separate from Krishna, that is illusion. So to see something as separate from Krishna, that is illusion.
Similarly, if we see our intelligence as separate from Krishna, then the intelligence itself can become a cause of illusion. So in the Bhagavad Gita, we see this slight contradiction. In the third chapter, Krishna tells about selfish desire, about kama, lust.
He talks from 3.36 to 43. And there he says, where all is this selfish desire, kama, lust situated? It’s interesting, he doesn’t say that it is situated in sense objects. This person, because of this person, I am feeling lusty.
So therefore this person is where lust is situated. No, Krishna says, In 3.40, he says, The senses, the mind and the intelligence. These three are the places where kama, lust is situated.
And then three verses later, in 3.43, the last verse of that chapter, Krishna says, He says, He says, therefore, using your intelligence, with your intelligence, know that you are transcendental, know that you are spiritual. That means, know that these material things cannot give you pleasure. Therefore, fix your mind on the spiritual platter.
Don’t let it get agitated with worldly things. In this way, mighty-armed Arjuna conquered this formidable enemy. So it’s interesting that Krishna is telling, use your intelligence to conquer over lust.
But these three verses earlier, he has said that lust has conquered the intelligence. So if lust has conquered the intelligence, then how can we use intelligence to conquer lust? Actually, Krishna doesn’t say lust has conquered the intelligence. Krishna says, It’s present over there.
It’s like, say, if in a particular area, there are some terrorists who are living there, some separatists, some insurgents. They are living in that area. Now there is a government over there, but the terrorists are also there, and they can pop up and they can disrupt the law and order over there anytime.
So some area is infested by terrorists. It’s not that they are constantly in control over there. But they have influence.
So similarly, our intelligence is not one monolithic unit. Some part of the intelligence is occupied by lust. And some part of the intelligence is not occupied.
It can think calmly. Just like if we are attached. Say somebody is an alcoholic.
Then they are attached to alcohol. That means some part of their consciousness is occupied by the desire for alcohol. And they can rationalise and say, you know, one drink is not too much.
I’ll just take one drink. I’ll not take more than that. People say, drink but don’t become drunk.
You know, you just regulate it. So what is happening, their intelligence is at one level occupied, but at another level, it is not necessarily occupied. Sometimes when people go for a party where they are going to drink, and they are driving by car, they may appoint one person.
No, you should not drink. Because we cannot drive back if we are all drunk. So you take some non-alcoholic beverage.
And everyone else will take the alcohol. And next time, we will take turns. This time is your day for renunciation.
So here what is happening, although the desire for alcohol is there, still there is some intelligence also. Okay, we can’t drink if we are, we can’t drive if we are drunk. We’ll get into trouble.
So that means, if we consider intelligence to be like a territory, there is some part of the intelligence which is occupied by our lower desires, which makes us think, I want to drink and I am going to drink. But there is another part of the intelligence which also thinks, okay, I shouldn’t drink too much. Or if I am drunk, I should not drive.
So our intelligence is not one monolithic unit. There is a part of it which is occupied by our lower desires, and there is a part which is relatively free. Now sometimes, the impulses become very strong.
Then the lower desires can completely occupy the intelligence. Just like sometimes some insurgents, they come and start attacking. And they attack so fiercely that the police drop their weapons and run away from there.
And there is no law and order over there. In many, many cities, in Mumbai for example, there are some areas where criminals rule the roost, where there are gangs which are in charge. And somebody goes there and gets robbed and then they go and complain to the police.
The police say, why did you go there? Even we don’t go there. So, there are some areas where actually the insurgents may be too much in control. Just like that, just as in a city, some places the insurgents may be too much in control, the criminals may be in control.
Like that, some parts of our intelligence are controlled by our lower desires. And there, we just become vulnerable. So, from there, sometimes the lower desires may come up and occupy our full intelligence also.
So, it’s like insurgents may take control temporarily of a territory. And then they have to be beaten back. So, when this happens, when our lower desires take over our intelligence, then normally we use our intelligence to restrain our desires.
Or at least to regulate our desires. Restrain means I won’t drink. Regulate means okay, I’ll drink but in moderate quantity, whatever it is.
But when the intelligence takes over, the intelligence is taken over by the lower desires, then we have no protection left. Then we rationalise. Now rationalise, what is the spelling? R-A-T-I-O-N-A-L-L-I-E-S.
Rationalise. When we rationalise, we speak lies. But they sound like rational lies.
So, actually we use our intelligence to perpetuate our illusion. So, some people who drink a lot, I saw one joke, a traffic cop caught a person who was driving very fast. So, the traffic cop, did you see the speed limit? Yes cop, I saw the speed limit, I just didn’t see you.
So, the idea is, people think that breaking the law is not the problem, getting caught while breaking the law is the problem. So, when we rationalise, we try to use our intelligence to justify what we are doing. And then, we go very much into illusion.
So, when Krishna is saying, use your intelligence to fight against lower desire, and to conquer that lower desire, what he means is, that there is a part of the intelligence which is not controlled by the lower desire. Use that intelligence to understand your spiritual identity. And then, by situating yourself on the spiritual platform, combat these lower desires.
In our own life also we will see, that our lower desires don’t trouble us 24 hours a day. They come up intermittently. Depending on the extent of our attachment, they may come repeatedly several times a day, they may come few times a day, few times a week, few times a month, whatever.
But, they come intermittently. That is the time when they are taking over our intelligence. But remaining time, our intelligence is reasonably strong.
So, the intelligence, when it is taken over by our lower desires, it becomes like our enemy. And when the intelligence is fighting the lower desires, when the intelligence recognises the dangerousness of the lower desires, then it is our friend. Now, applying this to the practise of bhakti, to surrender to Krishna.
So, basically on the spiritual path, we can be obstructed or diverted in two ways. We can be obstructed by our doubts and by our desires. Hare Krishna.
You want to give class? So, we have our mind and our intelligence. So, children are largely the mind. There is very little intelligence at that time.
So, whatever they feel like, they will do. Our mind is like that. Whatever we feel like, we start doing that.
That is what the mind wants to do. So, we have our mind and our intelligence. And the mind usually pops up with desires.
And that is how it can frequently divert us. I want to eat this. I want to watch this.
I want to do that. I want to do that. The mind creates the obstacle of desires for us.
And the intelligence creates the obstacle of doubts. Does God really exist? So, for example, when we are trying to practise bhakti, the mind will trigger desires. You could go and watch a movie.
You can go on the beach and enjoy. You can do this. Why are you sitting here and just hearing these lectures? No need to do this.
So, the mind creates desires which distract us away from Krishna. The intelligence creates doubts which stop us from going towards Krishna. Hey, what is this? This doesn’t make sense to me.
Does God really exist? Does this muttering the same sound again and again, how is it going to help? I don’t want to do all this stuff. So, it’s like if I am driving a car. If sitting next to me is somebody else, and that person suddenly tells me, let’s go that way.
I want to go this way. Let’s go that way. I see that.
There is a nice park over there. See, there is a nice movie over there. There is a sports match being won over there.
If I listen to that person, what will happen is, I will get distracted. So, that person will lick the mind. And if some other person says, Hey, why are you going this way? This is the wrong way.
Don’t go this way. You stop over there. That is the intelligence which creates doubts.
So, basically, desires and doubts are two obstacles which originate from the subtle body. And, of course, desires can also lead to doubts. When I have a desire to enjoy something, then if somebody tells me, If I have a desire to drink alcohol, and then a doctor tells me, No, don’t drink.
You will get diseased by that. The intelligence will create a doubt. But I know this friend.
He has been drinking for 30 years. He has not got any problems. So, the desire takes over the intelligence.
Once an anti-alcohol campaigner, he wanted to demonstrate to people how dangerous alcohol is. So, he was giving a talk in between. He took out a bottle which contained alcohol.
And he took out a small box. In that he had kept a small insect. He opened it and flung it into the water.
And it fluttered for a few moments and just sank down. Dead. And he asked all the alcoholics, What do you learn from this demonstration? They all started looking down.
One of them, very enthusiastic, said, Yes. Yes, what do you learn? He said, When I drink alcohol, all the worms in my stomach will die. So, here what has happened? The desire has taken over the intelligence.
So, we don’t want to believe what is being told over there. So, desires can also lead to doubts. But desires basically take us away in one direction.
And doubts stop us going in the right direction. So, when the intelligence either creates doubts, which stop us from going towards Krishna, or the intelligence justifies the desires, which are taking us away from Krishna. In those two cases, the intelligence acts as our enemy.
And we need to be cautious. No, nothing doing. I am going to go onwards towards Krishna.
But while we are serving Krishna, we do need to use our intelligence. We need to use our intelligence to understand the philosophy. We need our intelligence to understand the glory of Krishna.
Now, Chaitanya Charitambar had said that, Siddhanta baliya chitte na kare alas, Iha hai te krishna lage sudhrudha manas. That, Oh, this is all philosophy. I am not interested in this.
Saying like this, don’t be lazy. Why? Iha hai te. By studying the philosophy, Krishna lage sudhrudha manas, the mind will become fixed on Krishna.
So, it’s interesting, the philosophy is not understood by the mind. It’s primarily understood by the intelligence. So, I said, the mind is like a child.
It’s very restless. The intelligence is supposed to be like a mother. When a medicine is to be given, suppose the medicine is very bitter, the child says, No, I don’t want to take this.
I don’t want to take this. But the mother is, Krishna is, No, this disease is dangerous, I have to give the medicine to the child. If the child says, Ah, I am not going to take this medicine, the child starts crying.
The mother thinks, Oh, dear, I don’t want my child to cry. Okay, you don’t want to take the medicine, don’t take the medicine. The mother, who becomes too sentimental, can actually hurt the child.
So, the mind will have its moods. I don’t want to do this, I want to do this, but the intelligence has to protect. Do it.
Take this medicine. So, the intelligence is what helps us to stay fixed in the practise of bhakti. Sometimes we will feel like, when we start chanting, sometimes we feel like, we get so much taste, that we feel chanting should never end.
Just keep chanting, keep chanting. That’s on few rare occasions. Most of the days, we feel chanting never ends.
Sometimes we take our beads out of the bead bag. Somebody change the beads. Instead of 108 beads, are there 1008 beads over here? So, what happens is, that the mind is moody.
Mind will sometimes like to be fixed on Krishna, sometimes it may not like to be fixed on Krishna. But when our intelligence is nourished, this is important for me, this is going to purify me, then we will fix our mind on Krishna. So, yes, let me focus, let me concentrate.
So, intelligence gives us the conviction by which we can get the wandering mind to focus. The mind will by nature wander. But when we study the philosophy, use our intelligence to understand the philosophy, then when the mind wanders, we will get it back.
Oh, don’t go, come back. So, do this, study. Absorb yourself in Krishna.
So, that’s how the intelligence can aid us in bhakti. By using, by helping us gain the conviction to apply ourselves to the process of bhakti. Another way the intelligence can help us is to actually explain our faith.
Explain what we are doing. Say, I believe in Krishna, but why do I believe in Krishna? If people ask us questions, people who do not share our faith, if we want to share our faith with them, then we need to have logical, rational, intelligent answers. So, intelligence helps us to apply the process better, intelligence helps us to share the process better.
And not only these two things, Bhagavata Krishna says, intelligence is the way we worship Krishna. In 18.70, he says, He says, those who study the sacred conversation of ours, they worship me with their intelligence. Just like sometimes you may go on the altar and use a lamp, a diya to worship the Lord.
So, Krishna is saying, same way, when you study this message, you are worshipping me with your intelligence. So, that means in bhakti, using the intelligence is not simply an intellectual activity. If you are doing it in the mood of devotion, it is a devotional activity like worship.
Just like we worship the altar, the deity on the altar, similarly we worship the deity of the Lord as the book with our intelligence. Now, I’ll conclude with one last point about how even with a devotional disposition, while trying to serve Krishna, the intelligence can sometimes come in the way and prevent us from moving towards Krishna. That can happen when we are unable to understand some things.
We study some philosophy, we read some section of the Bhagavata, this doesn’t make sense to me. How do I understand this? Or, even more practically, sometimes we are trying to serve Krishna and terrible things start happening in our life. This goes wrong, that goes wrong.
And at that time, why is this happening? I am trying to serve Krishna and the very facility I need for serving Krishna, that is being taken away from me. I need my health to serve Krishna, I have got a terrible disease, my job is giving me some stability by which I can serve Krishna and I am about to be fired from my job. So, sometimes our intelligence will be backfired.
When, either when we are studying the philosophy or when we are trying to apply the philosophy in our life. Things just won’t make sense. So, of course, with respect to the philosophy, if things don’t make sense, sometimes we need to consult devotees who are experts in that area of the philosophy and get answers.
And sometimes, even if we don’t get answers, the important thing is to recognise that we have to be purposeful. The Bhagavatam, for example, the 5th Canto cosmology is there, or the chronology is there, there are certain figures in the Bhagavatam. Sometimes it may be very difficult to understand what is going on, how does this cosmology make sense.
So, you have to see, what is the purpose of the cosmology, this Krishna. It is to help Parikshit Maharaj fix the mind of Krishna. So, it is being explained that before and after that pastime, in this way, those who understand this vast universe, they become more devoted to the Lord.
Now, if we find that studying that cosmology is agitating our mind, is not helping us to fix the mind of Krishna, then we have to be purposeful. That means, this is not really helping me in my service to Krishna. So, let me put this aside.
Later on, when there are some expert devotees, I will ask some questions, get some answers. But let me move on. Actually, Prabhupada has this purposeful attitude in his purports also.
Prabhupada doesn’t get into technicalities. Even in the Bhagavatam, he is describing many technical things. Prabhupada focusses on the principles of spiritual life in his purport.
And they are something which we can apply and we can grow towards Krishna. So, when things don’t make sense, we just focus on the ultimate sense. That is, I am meant to fix the mind of Krishna.
Let me fix that and move on. And in due course, things will be revealed. And in our own life, when things don’t make sense, when things are going wrong, at that time, that is the time we need to surrender our intelligence.
We surrender with intelligence, but we surrender the intelligence also at times. So, basically, in every situation in our life, there are some things in our control, some things which are out of our control. So, for the things which are in our control, we do the best that we can.
We surrender with intelligence. We use our God-given intelligence to prepare the best that we can. But, when things are beyond our control, at that time, surrender the intelligence.
Krishna, I am your servant. Please guide me how I can serve you in this situation. So, when I started giving classes about 25 years ago, some devotees gave me some guidelines about how to speak in Krishna’s service.
So, the last guideline was, depend on Krishna. But in bracket was, but only after you have prepared. So, preparing is surrender with intelligence.
But after that, even after I prepare, when the question answers come, who is going to ask what question, I don’t know. I depend on Krishna at that time. So, dependence on Krishna is not a substitute for using one’s intelligence.
We use our intelligence as much as possible. But, beyond that, we take a leap of faith. So, similarly, in our day-to-day life, when things just don’t make sense, why is this happening like this? Why are things going wrong like this? Why is this happening? So, sometimes, the why question is simply the express way to frustration.
The why question. Why is he speaking like that? Why is she doing like that? Why is this happening? Why is that happening? The why question is simply an express way to frustration. So, at that time, a purposeful devotional attitude means we change the question from why to how.
Krishna, how can I serve you now? I had this plan, but this plan is not working. What do you want me to do, Krishna? You are my lord, I am your servant. I want to serve you.
Please guide me. How I can serve you? Initially, Prabhupada was asked, what is the best prayer that we can offer to Krishna? Prabhupada said, pray to Krishna, please give me the strength to serve you. So, even when we don’t have the intelligence to understand what to do, at that time, we can surrender the intelligence.
Krishna, please guide me how I can serve you. So, one understanding of intelligence is to know what to do when we don’t know what to do. To know what to do when we don’t know what to do.
So, just like, say, if we are caught, if a firefighter is caught in a fire, fighting operation, suddenly some unexpected situation has come. We don’t know what to do. We even take a walkie-talkie and call their boss.
What should I do? Or they may say, this is too much dangerous, let me just move on. So, if we are trained, even when we don’t know what to do, we will arrive at a reasonably sound decision. So, for us, that training means, if we don’t know what to do, simply pray to Krishna, please guide me how to serve you.
So, chanting is basically a prayer for service. We start chanting. We start praying to Krishna.
Start reading scriptures. Take one step forward. And, even when the, one understanding of faith is that we take one step forward even when the road ahead is dark.
Let me take one step forward. Okay, there is a ground sound over here. Let me take one step forward more.
Okay, there is also ground sound. Take one step forward. And like that, if we keep one step forward, one step forward, eventually the lights will come back.
The power which is gone will return. And then, we will not only be illuminated in our path, but we will also become more convinced that surrender to Krishna works. By surrendering to Krishna, I just took small, small, small steps.
And eventually, adversity disappeared and I grew stronger in my bhakti. So, at such times, when things don’t make sense, at that time, you surrender the intelligence. And, Krishna, I am your servant.
I am going to serve you. And this is what I am doing at this time. If you want to do something else, please guide me.
So, if we keep asking the why question, then our intelligence becomes our enemy. It takes us away from Krishna. But we change the question to how.
Krishna, how can I serve you? Then, Krishna says, I will give you the intelligence by which you can come to me, by which we can make wise choices. So, Krishna is the one choice that enables us to make better choices. So, we are confused.
Should I go this way or this way? Should I do this or should I do that? The first thing is, we choose Krishna. Pray to Krishna. Connect with Krishna.
Become determined, I want to serve Krishna. And when we do that, then the other choices will become clear. Okay, let me do this.
Let me do this. And in this way, we practise bhakti as a combination of surrender with intelligence and surrender the intelligence. And in both ways, our goal is Krishna.
If using our intelligence can help us to go closer to Krishna, we use the intelligence. If the intelligence starts obstructing us and moving towards Krishna, we put aside the intelligence and just move towards Krishna with whatever capacity we have. And in that way, we will ultimately become absorbed in Krishna.
Where Krishna will become a direct experienced reality for us. Where we won’t depend on our intelligence for our faith. Rather, our own personal experience will become the basis of our faith.
9.2 Bhagavad Gita says that. You can experience Krishna as a direct reality. Sanatana Goswami in the Brihad Bhagavatam says that there are various ways of acquiring knowledge.
But the highest pramana, the highest way of acquiring knowledge is Anubhava, experience. By consistently practising the process of bhakti, Bhakti is a process that gives us experience of Krishna. And that experience of Krishna is the ultimate conviction booster.
And with that experience, when we go beyond worldly desires, we go beyond worldly doubts and we become joyfully absorbed in Krishna. Sukham kartum avyayam. So I’ll summarise what I spoke today.
So I spoke today about should we surrender with intelligence or surrender to intelligence. Garga Muni and Nanda Maharaj are discussing about possible dangers for Krishna if Garga Muni does the name giving ceremony. That means they are using their intelligence.
So I talked about how the intelligence can be an obstacle as it happens for rationalists who say I don’t believe in God. Our intelligence can be an aid where Arjuna deliberates in the message of the Bhagavad Gita and that inspires him to surrender to Krishna. So what determines whether intelligence is an obstacle or an aid? I discussed how the intelligence is not one monolithic unit.
It is divided. There is a part of our intelligence which is covered over by our lower desires and there is a part which is free from it. Just like alcoholics, their intelligence is covered over by because they think I want to drink.
But it’s not so covered that they will drink and then drive. So like a disputed territory where some terrorists are there. They don’t have full control over the territory but they have some sway over there.
So our intelligence is like that where some part of it is controlled by our lower side and from there if sometimes the lower desires pop up and they control the full intelligence when that happens then our intelligence becomes our enemy because we start rationalising the wrong that we are doing. So when our lower desires take over the intelligence that is the first case when the intelligence becomes an enemy. Second is that from our subtle body there are desires which come from the mind and doubts which come from the intelligence and both of them they impede our progress towards Krishna.
Desires prompt us to go away from the path of Krishna. And doubts tell us this doesn’t make sense. I don’t want to go here.
So they stop us. So like that when we give in to our doubts too much at that time also the intelligence becomes our enemy. And when is the intelligence our friend? When we see when we use the intelligence as a resource for serving Krishna.
So we talked about the mind is restless like a child but the mother has to be like a mature intelligence. Make the child study. Make the child take the medicine.
So the Chaitanya Chaitanya Amit says that if we study the philosophy with our intelligence then that will help us to fix the mind in Krishna. So the intelligence gives us conviction to practise bhakti. Similarly the intelligence can be used to rationally share bhakti wisdom with others.
And thirdly intelligence is a way by which we can worship Krishna. So to study this conversation of ours they are worshipping with the intelligence. And then also this is surrender with intelligence.
Also in the path of bhakti the intelligence can become an obstacle when some sections of the philosophy don’t make sense and then we become confused. What to do? How can I practise this if this doesn’t make sense? Then at that time we need to focus on the purpose. Cosmology doesn’t make sense but my purpose is to serve Krishna.
Remember Krishna. That was Bhagavatam’s purpose and that’s my purpose. So if this is not helping me to remember Krishna let me move on to those sections of the Bhagavatam that help me to remember Krishna.
And this later I will clarify with some expert devotee. And when in our day to day life when things don’t make sense at that time if our intelligence keeps coming up with the why question then that why question is the express way to frustration and delusion. So at that time surrender to Krishna means surrender the intelligence.
Even if things don’t make sense the one thing that makes sense is Krishna you are my lord I am your servant please guide me how I can serve you. And with that even if our life’s path seems dark we just take we feel our way one step ahead at a time. And eventually the path will become clear.
Lights will come back. And if we in this way surrender with intelligence whenever the things are in our control and surrender the intelligence whenever things are out of our control and this way we keep moving towards Krishna then ultimately we will experience Krishna as a living reality. And at that time we will go beyond all worldly desires and all doubts and become ecstatically absorbed in Krishna.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. So are there any questions or comments? Yes.
Can you please explain this to us? Ok. So if we think that ok by reading I am able to control my senses so let me just read and not do anything else. How do we understand that the whole package of bhakti helps us in getting purified and advancing spiritually? Yes.
Reading is meant to be done as a service to Krishna. Our defining identity is not that we are scholars of scripture. Our defining identity is that we are servants of Krishna.
And service can be done in various ways. So deity worship is a service. Distributing books is a service.
Cleaning the temple is a service. Studying scripture is also a service. Now if we feel inspired to do a particular service that’s fine.
But we have to see whether that service doing that service is actually increasing my connection with Krishna my conviction with Krishna. So sometimes circumstances may put us in a situation where we may have to do some service which we don’t feel inspired to do. Which is against our inclinations.
So surrender there is a dynamic that surrender means readiness to do whatever we are told to do. That’s one understanding of surrender. But another understanding of surrender is that all that I have I want to offer it to Krishna.
See somebody is a millionaire. And the spiritual master tells them you come to the temple and sweep the floor. Like Maharaj Pratap Rudra.
He was a great king. Much more than a millionaire. But he was humbly cleaning the streets in front of Lord Jagannath.
That was his surrender. But that was not the only thing he did throughout his life. He was a king.
He had phenomenal resources. And he used those resources for facilitating the Sankirtan mission of Lord Chaitanya. So if we have certain gifts which Krishna has given us then using what we have or rather using all that we have in Krishna’s service is also one form of surrender.
Surrender means doing whatever we are told to do. But surrender also means giving all that we have to Krishna. So if we have been gifted with an intelligence and if a particular service doesn’t use that intelligence then it is our initiative and our responsibility to try to find a service where we can better use our intelligence for Krishna’s service.
So surrender has both these dynamics. Do whatever we are told to do but then also do so that all that we have, the best that we have can be offered to Krishna. And when there is a tension between the two there has to be cooperation.
So we are individuals who are a part of an institution. So the individual has to be flexible. Sometimes the institution needs a particular service.
And the individual should be ready to do that. But at the same time the institutional institution also has to be responsible and has to think this individual is not just here for us to get things done. We want this individual to grow.
We want this individual to use their talents so that this individual can he or she can serve Krishna steadily lifelong. The success of the institution is not just in expanding the number of people who come to the, expanding the number of temples or number of visitors to the temple or number of books distributed. It’s all important.
These are definitely parameters of success. But the success of the institution is that the individual should be inspired to serve Krishna lifelong. Each of us, now we, over a period of time, we need to find a service that we can do even if nobody is standing over our head telling us do this service, do this service, do this service.
We should come to that level of inspiration and motivation in our bhakti that with no one ready to tell us anything we are ready to do a service. So Prabhupada, the spiritual master gave an instruction. Spread Krishna consciousness in the western world.
How much follow up did Bhakti Sahasrao Thakur do? He would not call on phone, send a email Hey, have you gone to America? I used to be preaching in America. Nothing. One instruction was enough.
So like that, we all have to come to a level where we feel so inspired to serve Krishna and we find a service that is sustainable for us that even if there is nobody there pushing us to do it, still we will do the service. So the, this is, this should be the institution’s long term goal also. Not just to get the individual to do whatever is required but to equip the individual to serve Krishna lifelong.
So both the individual and the institution have to be accommodated. Sometimes based on circumstances, the individual may have to do what the institution requires. But in the general long term sense, the institution should facilitate so that the individual can serve lifelong and help the individual find a service that they can be inspired to do lifelong.
So for us, surrender may require us to do some service which is circumstantially needed and we should do that. At the same time, we can also be looking for opportunities, ways by which we can use our best in Krishna’s service. And that is not independent minded or insecurity.
That is also surrender. If it is done under guidance, with blessings of senior devotees, then offering our best to Krishna is the way we surrender to Krishna. Does that answer your question? Thank you.
So if here Gargacharya is the priest of the Yadu dynasty, were other priests also affiliated with particular dynasties? If so, then who would take care of the general people? There have always been sages and priests in the Vedic tradition and there may be some who are affiliated with particular dynasties. Now that does not mean that they are restricted to those dynasties. But that is their primary affiliation.
Just like we may have devotees, preachers, they may be associated with a particular temple. That doesn’t mean that they will speak only in that temple or serve only in that temple. They go somewhere and speak there also.
But they have affiliation with a particular temple. So, now there in the traditional setting, every village would have some sages, some saints, either they would stay near the village on the outskirts or they would travel through the village and they would give spiritual guidance to people. So, basically the spiritual guidance came in two ways.
One was through the renowned sages who gave philosophical knowledge and there were quite often householder priests who would do the practical priestly functions. The name giving ceremony, the annaprashan, the food giving ceremony and all those ceremonies. The priestly duties, they were done by situated in every village, every town.
They would have their own priests and they would do those activities for them. So, some priests would be affiliated with certain dynasties. Vashishtha is said to have been there with Lord Ram’s dynasty, the Raghuvamsha for quite some time.
But it is not that they were restricted to that. They were just primarily connected. So, that means if a ceremony is to be performed over there, they would be the first preference.
If they are not available, then somebody else would do it. And also, if they could go and do ceremonies elsewhere, but if a ceremony was there in their dynasty, they would first be available there. Then they would take some other services.
Okay? Thank you. Yes. So, this local authority is asking for service.
So, instead of taking that service, is it using your intelligence, serving your intelligence or serving with intelligence? Okay. With the instruction comes the empowerment, it is said by Shri Prabhupada. So, if our local authorities give us instruction to serve Krishna in a particular way, and we take it up, is that surrendering the intelligence or surrendering with intelligence? Well, firstly, I have never read a direct quote by Shri Prabhupada, which says that with the instruction comes the empowerment.
I am not saying that it is not true, but it is just that we have to be careful when we attribute something to Prabhupada. It may be there, but I have not found it. I have talked to several devotees, they have not been able to locate an exquisite quote to that purpose.
So, we have to understand what is empowerment. Empowerment doesn’t necessarily mean a successful result. If you see, Bhakti Siddhanta Chittagore got a vision, where the previous Acharyas came and told him to preach Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s vision all over the world.
And he tried, and some of his disciples came to the west, to England, they opened two centres, one in London, one in Hamburg, but they were not really very successful. So, was it that he was not empowered, was his vision false? What happens? Empowerment means, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a particular service will work out in this way. So, Prabhupada was empowered to preach, but even for him, for almost 30-40 years, no results came.
And even after that, it is not that every single thing that Prabhupada did worked out. The Bhagavatam itself, Prabhupada, by Krishna’s inconceivable plan, couldn’t complete it. Completed up to 14 centres.
Of course, it would be external vision to say that Prabhupada did not complete it. The more internal understanding is that Prabhupada completed it through his disciples. Similarly, it is an incomplete understanding to say that Bhaktisanshu Thakur’s vision was not fulfilled.
It was fulfilled through his disciples, Sri Adi Prabhupada. So, the point which I am making is that empowerment doesn’t necessarily mean that the external result will always manifest. So, we have to always like have the attitude Krishna, I am going to serve you.
At the same time, while serving Krishna, we do what we are told to do. At the same time, we are using our intelligence. How best can I do this? So, Srila Prabhupada was told by his spiritual master to preach in the Western world.
And he did that. But then, the later part of this consistency, from 72-73 onwards, Prabhupada spent far more time in India than in the West. And, from what Prabhupada told us, we understand the two main reasons.
Prabhupada felt that in the Western world, his disciples could do the preaching. And they did it wonderfully. They got a lot of people to become devotees.
But he felt that if the Krishna consciousness movement is to be sustained, it needs a home, a home base. And he felt India was the most conducive place for doing that. And so, he focused a lot of his energies on India.
He said, my spiritual master told me to preach in the West. I have done that. But now, my desire is to preach in India.
Now, his desire was not independent or arbitrary. It was also ultimately to fulfil the purpose of the spiritual master. So, what we have to see is that there is a specific instruction and there is an overall purpose.
So, the instruction has to be executed. But sometimes, circumstances may imply, because of circumstances, the instruction may not work. So, then we have to see, okay, how can I fulfil that purpose? So, Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur said that if nobody comes for the programme, just speak to the walls.
Now, is that instruction to be taken literally? If Prabhupada had taken literally, he could have said, okay, nobody is coming, I will speak to the walls. I am fulfilling the instruction of my spiritual master. But Prabhupada came to America, travelled all over the world.
He looked for interested people. So, the point is that when we have decided to serve Krishna, if we go for a programme, nobody comes, we don’t lose our interest. We speak about Krishna.
But it is not that we just keep lifelong speaking to the walls. Is it? We find out interested people and try to share that message with others. So, we cannot say that surrender means rejecting our intelligence.
We use our intelligence to understand the instruction and understand the purpose of the instruction. And sometimes that purpose may be served in one particular way. And sometimes that particular may not work for serving that purpose.
Then something else may have to be done. And also, we have to consider that if I am doing a particular service, my purpose is at one level to get this service done. See, everything that we do, we have multiple levels of, we could say, results.
There is, or multiple purposes that we have. There is an immediate purpose, there is an intermediate purpose, there is an ultimate purpose. Say, if somebody is giving a class, if I am giving a class, or if you are hearing a class, the immediate purpose is, let’s say, I want to speak on this topic.
And your purpose is, okay, I want to understand this class. This is the immediate purpose. The intermediate purpose could be that, okay, I want to understand the Bhagavatam.
And if I come, keep on understanding, keep giving classes regularly, if I keep attending classes regularly, I will be able to understand it. So, the ultimate purpose is, we want to learn to love Krishna and attend Krishna. So sometimes, the immediate purpose may not work out.
So if, if the immediate purpose comes in the way of the ultimate purpose, then we may have to put aside the immediate purpose. So, Shri Prabhupada, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission was to do Harinam Sankirtan all over the world. But when the devotees were doing Harinam Sankirtan, when Prabhupada brought his western disciples to India, and they were doing Harinam Sankirtan in Bengal, at that time, the devotees reported that people, passers-by, were throwing coins at them.
And then, in that time, in Bengal, Vaishnavism was considered like a beggar’s religion. When people had no way to earn any living, they would sing on the streets and people would give some charity. So, when Prabhupada saw this negative perception, people were lumping devotees with beggars.
Prabhupada said, don’t do Harinam Sankirtan. Now he said, what do you mean? Our mission is to do Harinam Sankirtan. One of the seven purposes of this coin is to do Harinam Sankirtan.
How can we stop Harinam Sankirtan? No, in that context, that was what was required. So, if the immediate purpose is coming in the way of the ultimate purpose, then we stop that. If it’s not helping people to develop appreciation for Krishna and come closer to Krishna, then don’t do it.
So, what we have to see is that we try our best to serve Krishna, but at the same time, it is not that serving Krishna has to be a painful experience. We all have our particular natures, our particular inclinations, our particular inspirations and austerity means sometimes we go against that, but longevity requires that we do something which is in harmony with our nature. Austerity as a principle is important, but austerity as a practise has to be practised intelligently.
It’s like on Ekadashi, we fast Nirjan. I mean, fasting Nirjan is good, it helps me to fix my mind on Krishna. But if I decide lifelong, I’ll fast Nirjan.
My life won’t last for long. Isn’t it? So, austerity is good, but then it has to be done in moderation. So, normally what I do is, I eat in a moderate way, not too much, not too little, and I serve Krishna.
So, same way, as an austerity, whenever it’s required, we do services which are difficult for us to do. They may be not immediately satisfying, they may not be compatible with us. But we shouldn’t make austerity itself, austerity in terms of doing incompatible services, as a virtue to be cultivated lifelong.
Longevity requires that we work with our body-mind. See, we don’t work for our body-mind, we don’t work against our body-mind. We work with our body-mind.
We work for our body-mind means, whatever the body-mind does, I do that. We work against our body-mind means, okay, am I, am I, oh, you know, I like to study scripture. Therefore, I’ll not study scripture, because that is sense gratification.
I will only do that which I don’t like to do. Then I am getting purified. Well, Krishna doesn’t say that.
Krishna tells Arjuna that you are a Kshatriya, you do the duty of a Kshatriya. Don’t do the duty of a Brahmana. You won’t be able to do it.
What does that mean? Krishna says, whatever is your nature, you do that. So, in emergencies, we do whatever is required, but the individual and the institution should come together in a way that for longevity, the devotee is engaged in a way that is harmonious with the devotee’s nature. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. So, if you are giving an instruction, and if you deviate from that instruction, is that an offence? I would say that we don’t have to go into that zone of deviating or offensiveness.
There can always be discussion. This is what we are told to do. We don’t defy if some senior devotee, some spiritual authority has given us an instruction.
We don’t have to defy that. But, we can discuss. Okay, this is my situation.
See, nobody expects us to do that which is impossible for us to do. If there are two services which require us to be in two different places at the same time, obviously we can’t do that. So then, we talk with them.
Should I do this or should I do that? So, there can be discussion. And then there can be a reasonable resolution. I feel that we don’t have to openly reject an instruction.
But, we also have a we also have a we understand our situation and sometimes we need to communicate our situation. This is my situation. That’s why I feel that I won’t be able to do this.
What do you think I should do? Usually, authorities will be reasonable and they will give the guidance. Okay, you can do this. So, I feel that it doesn’t have to be like a 1-0 thing.
Either you are following the instruction totally or we are totally rejecting and being defiant. When instruction is given, we discuss, we understand what exactly needs to be done. If an instruction is given, there is a purpose for that instruction also.
Maybe I can serve that purpose without necessarily being able to do this specific instruction. So, we don’t have to see bhakti in black and white terms. There is.
There are many shades of grey. And learning to see that. Somebody may not be able to do a particular thing but that doesn’t mean that they are insincere.
And sometimes we just, basically we move onwards serving Krishna to the best of our capacity. And we don’t want to be openly disrespectful or defiant towards any senior authority. But that doesn’t mean that we have to be completely neglectful of our own nature, our own gifts.
And we have to in a sense, torment ourselves. We have to find a balance. And with maturity, it’s possible to find that.
So, it’s possible that we can serve our individual, we can act according to our individual nature and also serve the institutional needs. We find a balance between the two. And sometimes it may be this way more, sometimes it may be that way more.
Which is okay. Life is always about balance. And balance is not always, is rarely static.
Balance is rarely static means, say if somebody is driving a bike. Then, while driving a bike, what is the balance state? We say the vertical state. Where the bike has to take a right turn.
Then the right state is the tilted right is the balance state at that time. But after turning right, the bike still stays tilted. Then you just go around in circles.
Right, stop now. Okay, now come back vertical. Now move on.
And then, now you get tilted and lift. And then move on. So like that, we try for a, we have the purpose of serving Krishna.
Our authorities also have a purpose of serving Krishna. And we work together. Sometimes we may have our own family issues, professional needs, our personal needs, which may take more issue, we tilt in one direction.
Sometimes, there is a big festival, some special occasion in the temple. At that time, it’s absolutely needed that somebody be there for services. We tilt in that direction.
Do a little bit more. And basically, by sound discussion, we can work in a way that serves both needs. Okay.
Shall we stop here? Thank you very much. Pranth Raj Shrimad Bhagwatam Ki Shrila Prabhupada Ki Gaur Bhakta Binda Ki Dai Gaur Premanam Gaur Premanam