Krishna’s presence is more precious than his presents

[Seminar at ISKCON, Sydney, Australia]

Video:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna. Grateful to be here with all of you today. At the good speed of Shraddha Gopinath.
And I will speak today on the topic of Krishna’s presence is more precious than his presence. Krishna’s presence is more precious than his presence. So I’ll start the verse from Mukunda Mala Sutra which describes this moon.
naaham vande tava charanayor dvandvam advandvaheto kumbhi paakam gurum apihare narakam naapaneti ramya ramna madhu tanu gathana naapirandum bhave bhave rudaya bhavane bhavaye yam bhavantam So here he is praying that naaham vande. I am worshipping you oh lord. But for what am I worshipping you? naaham vande tava charanayor I am not worshipping you so that dvandvam advandvaheto That this world is a place of duality.
And I want to go beyond this duality. That refers to the arena of liberation. That I don’t want liberation.
Then the other extreme when I go kumbhi paakam gurum apihare narakam naapaneti That kumbhi paak is one of the hellish planets. And I am not worshipping you so that I can be freed from the suffering of hell. And beyond that he says that ramya rama madhu tanu lata That there might be beautiful members of the opposite sex.
I am not praying so that I can get their association. This refers to the heavenly planets. Where there are angelic women.
And there are lots of material opulences. I don’t want any of these. Then what do I want? bhave bhave rudhaya bhavane Again and again even if I have to go through material existence.
Again and again I have to take birth. rudhaya bhavane In the chamber of my heart in the abode of my heart bhavane yam bhavantam Oh worship of the lord may you reside over there. This last line actually has the play of words also with the word bhav.
bhave bhave rudhaya bhavane bhavane yam bhavantam So bhav bhav bhava bhava bhava So this is in Sanskrit whenever verses are composed there are alankars. Alankar basically means ornaments. And there can be ornaments of different kinds.
So this is a shabda alankar. And there can be artha alankar. Shabda alankar means words are used in a rhyming attractive way.
And artha alankar is where the meaning plays on in a very beautiful way. The Gopi Gita is a very celebrated song. And that also has the shabda alankar.
All the first syllables of every line of Gopi Gita they are rhyming. tab kathaam ritam tapta jeevanam tab tab sound kabhiritam kalma shaapaham The sound is there. Like that there are verses which often feature this play of words.
But the important thing more than the play of words is actually the deep meaning. So he is saying, my dear lord, I pray to you simply for your presence in my heart. Now we may say that actually Krishna is always present in the heart.
sarvasya chaaham surdhi sannivishto In 15.15 in the Gita, Krishna says I am always present. I am always there in everyone’s heart. However, Krishna, although he is always present our consciousness is not present there in the heart.
Our consciousness is turned away from Krishna. We are not aware of his presence. Because athah sri krishna naamadi nabhaved grahyam indriyai sevonmukhe hi jivhadau svayam eva sphuratyada sri krishna naamadi the name and the qualities of Krishna nabhaved grahyam indriyai with the gross material senses, we cannot perceive them.
Then how are they perceived? sevonmukhe hi jivhadau By doing seva to Krishna, service to him unmukha, we turn towards Krishna. Currently we become vimukha from Krishna. Krishna and we are close to each other but it is like we have turned our back to Krishna.
We are completely turned away. Sometimes the two people may be right next to each other. But if they are in a disagreeable mood if they quarrel with each other they may be looking in completely opposite directions.
So it is as if you want to not even acknowledge the presence of the other person over there. So it is like that we have turned away from Krishna. Why is it that? Because we are caught with the hopes of enjoying things in this world.
But if we do seva to Krishna and the seva becomes with the tongue. We chant Krishna’s name, we recite Krishna’s glories. Then sevonmukhe hi jivhadau svayameva sphuratyadam By his own will there is sphurati there is remembrance that comes.
So actually in the literature of the Goswamis especially Jiva Goswami in the Gopalachampu he explains that the recollection of Krishna can be in two ways. It can be called as smriti and sphurati. Smriti we could say is the bottom of recollection.
We conscientiously strive to fix our mind on Krishna. Say when we are chanting the holy names we conscientiously try to absorb our mind on Krishna. So smriti refers to the human effort to fix the mind on God.
Now of course terms are not having only one meaning. Many words have different meanings. So this is a technical classification.
In other places words smriti may also have different meanings. But smriti refers to when we conscientiously try to fix the mind on Krishna. Sphurati means a spontaneous memory arises from within.
A spontaneous memory arises from within and we become lost in Krishna. So we might hear one pastime and while hearing that pastime our thoughts get completely absorbed in Krishna. Maybe we had read about that pastime, maybe we had seen it in a drama maybe we had heard somebody else speak about that pastime.
Our thoughts get completely absorbed in Krishna. So absorption can come both through recollection and we could say through inspiration. Or inner inspiration, sphurati.
Either way it can come. But when it comes through sphurati it is more of what? It is top down. Sometimes you will find that when we are also trying to observe ourselves in Krishna say we are giving a class sometimes we come with a determination I am going to concentrate all day on my life I will just focus on Krishna.
We come with that conviction and then we apply our thoughts. And then we get absorbed. But sometimes the subject itself is so fascinating or maybe the speaker speaks in such an attractive way that we may be having a hundred other thoughts going on in our mind but suddenly we just go back and we just connect and we get absorbed.
So this is at our level we could say an example of where the recollection or absorption comes by our effort or the absorption comes by the attractiveness of the subject itself. So for us both are valid and valuable ways of connecting with Krishna. Here they said that if we keep doing service to Krishna then by that he will manifest within us.
And when Krishna manifests within us then what happens? Actually Krishna is all attractive and a devotee who has Krishna in one’s heart that devotee feels enriched always. In this world we can go through either what is called poverty mentality or an abundance mentality. Poverty mentality means I don’t have this, I don’t have that, I don’t have that.
So poverty mentality is not necessarily the mentality of the poor people. Even wealthy people can have a poverty mentality. If they are always looking at all the things that they don’t have then that is a poverty mentality.
And this way we always stay feeling deprived. Feeling as if I don’t have enough in my life. On contrast we can have the abundance mentality.
Abundance mentality means that what I truly need that is abundantly available. That Krishna provides for my needs and Krishna is the Supreme Lord. He will provide what I need.
So abundance mentality can come in the mode of goodness it can also come in transcendence. The scarcity mentality is typical of the mode of passion. In the mode of passion it is So Krishna is saying that in the mode of passion it is and there Everybody has desire but here the desire is insatiable.
No matter how much one gets that’s how people stay perpetually dissatisfied. So the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance is also similar. At least in the mode of passion one feels poverty stricken and works to get some things.
I’ll work very hard, I’ll buy this, I’ll take this loan, I’ll get this job, I’ll learn this and I’ll get this. But in the mode of ignorance one simply feels sorry for oneself. I don’t have this, I don’t have that, I don’t know what to do, I’m helpless.
So one victim mentality that comes is often a result of the mode of ignorance. But either way, as long as we live in the poverty mentality we cannot be satisfied. Broadly speaking we could say there is the mode of goodness and there is the mode of transcendence.
The mode of goodness means we live in harmony with ourselves. And pure goodness means we live in harmony with Krishna. What does living in harmony with ourselves mean? It means that we understand our nature our psychophysical nature we understand our strengths we understand our weaknesses we understand what inspires us we understand what irritates us and then we make peace with ourselves.
It’s said that most people they try their whole life trying to become very famous and then most famous people spend a lot of time trying to be anonymous. Because for them once they become a celebrity for them privacy becomes a big deal. So here what has happened actually speaking, some people just need their space.
So if somebody wants to have privacy and also wants to be a celebrity well you cannot have both. If you are a celebrity then you have to be at least for some time available. If somebody decides that this is just too much I just get completely drained out, I get irritable then I don’t want to be so much in the limelight.
Being in the limelight is titillating to the ego but it’s too exhausting for me. For my psychophysical nature this is not the way I function optimally. Then somebody will choose to be lesser in the limelight and then they will be in harmony with themselves.
Some people just love to be in the limelight and you say at this egoistic level everybody loves to be but some people actually thrive in the limelight. Not in the egoistic sense but it inspires them. So basically all of us have to come to harmony with ourselves.
In general sometimes we talk about being selfless or we should become selfless. Ultimately selfless simply means that we are actually enlightenedly selfish. There is no such thing as selfless actually.
We can be ignorantly selfish or ignorantly self-centred or we can be enlightenedly self-centred. The Bhagavatam says that most people do not know that there is Svartha. Svartha can be translated as selfishness, self-centredness or self-interest.
The self-interest is actually Vishnu. So what that means is that for all of us when we are transcendental we understand that we need Krishna. But how are we going to connect with Krishna? Some devotees will be very happy connecting with Krishna by doing Diti Gurushi.
That’s what satisfies them. If you tell them to give classes they get so much anxiety. I met a devotee couple in America, in Florida.
So the husband and wife together do the preaching. So first the wife alone was doing the preaching because she became a devotee and the husband became an optimist. So this Mataji was telling me that for me to give one class I have to prepare for one week.
So much anxiety. She is a very gregarious person. She draws people and she talks with them and they open their hearts.
She is very good at mentoring and counselling people. But class she finds very difficult. Her husband is exactly the opposite.
He says the class is what I love to do. And after that socialising with people it just drains me so much. So now if both of them try to do both of the things or if they try to do what they are not meant to do what they are not so good at, it will be draining for them.
Although spiritually the service will be purifying but emotionally, psychologically it will be very draining. So then instead of complaining Oh I can’t do this, why can’t I do this, why am I like this? Instead of complaining you can start complimenting. Compliment means I do this part you become the complimenter and do the other part.
So if I give class and people think people will appreciate how clever I am, how wise I am. Well that may come but in every situation any service that we do it takes something and it gives something. We get some satisfaction having done the service but that service also has some responsibility.
So which for us some satisfaction will be very high but for us in some things the exhaustion will be very high. So when we are in harmony with ourselves then the service that we do whatever strain it causes it doesn’t cause that much strain as much as satisfaction. So that is finding out where we get satisfaction and where it doesn’t cause us that much exhaustion.
Everybody has to face problems in life. That is the nature of the material world. But there are some problems that some people like to face.
Intellectuals like to analyse and study and plan and prepare content. That’s what they love to do. So if you tell them that in Bhagavad Gita there is a verse like this.
Where is it? Maybe here, maybe here. Somebody likes to do fundraising. Where is this verse in the Bhagavad Gita? There are thousands of verses in the Bhagavad Gita.
How will I find it? Anyway you don’t quote the verse. Just speak like that. Who is going to notice? For them, if you tell them that you have to build a new temple and you have to get some millions of dollars.
Now there is something to do. What is this sitting in hearing class? Nobody can live a problem free life in this world because this world is a place of problems. But if the problems we face are in harmony with our gifts are in harmony with our nature then we feel stimulated to face those problems.
Many times positive thinking books or positive thinking pictures say that don’t see problems as burdens. See them as challenges. It is a good point but a person if the problem is not according to their nature it is very difficult for them to see there is a challenge.
For an intellectual you have to raise money to build a big temple. After you build the temple also you want to study Shastra. You can do it as small temples.
Why do you need a big temple? So for them it will appear like a big burden. So when we come to harmony with ourselves then that is where we can peacefully practise Bhakti. Otherwise we may practise in Bhakti but we will still be agitated.
We will still be dissatisfied. So I was talking here about the point of Krishna’s presence. That is our theme and this discussion which I had is to illustrate this point that all of us practise Bhakti with different attitudes.
So just like this poverty mentality and abundance mentality can be there in material life. Oh you know, I don’t have a big enough house. I don’t have a big enough car.
I don’t have a big enough job. Yes, we may not have those things but there are things which we have and we can look at them. So this poverty mentality which is there in material life.
If we practise Bhakti and if we are prominently in the mode of passion that poverty mentality will come to our spiritual life also. Oh no, I can’t sing as well as this person. When I give class only this many people come.
When that person gives class so many people come. So we will always be looking at the things we don’t have. And we will be dissatisfied even in spiritual life.
It is not that spiritual life cannot provide satisfaction. It is that we are bringing our own mood into the spiritual life. Now we all have our moods.
We can’t wish them away. But if we understand them then we will understand what is happening in our life. So in the mode of passion the mode of passion is largely externally directed.
When it is externally directed then we will look for the fruits of our devotion also in external terms. Fruits of our devotion in external terms means that whatever it is. If I am doing a particular service then externally wonderful results should come from that service.
Externally I should be validated. I should be appreciated. So we look for Krishna’s presence.
In that sense. And as long as we are looking for Krishna’s presence till that time our devotion will not be steady. Because the nature of this world is that there are unlimited desires and there are limited resources.
So nobody’s all desires can be fulfilled. A real majority of the desires can’t be fulfilled. So when we come to Krishna expecting this should happen, that should happen, that should happen.
So we are expecting these as the presence from Krishna. This is what Krishna should do for me. And if that doesn’t happen then what is the use of my devotion? And we feel dissatisfied.
So Krishna talks about this mentality in the 7th chapter when he talks about 4 categories of people who come to him. Who are those 4 categories? Artha, Artharthi, Jijnasu, Jnani. In English what does it mean? Artha is? Artharthi.
Artharthi is a residing matter. Artha is? Religious place. And Jijnasu? Inquisitive.
And Jnani? The intelligent, the knowledgeable. So Krishna says, Artha, Jijnasu, Artharthi. 7.6 he says, these 4 kinds of people come to me and they are all Sukrutina.
And next to Sukrutina means they are pious people. They are good people, virtuous people. Then he says, So in 17 and 18 he says, that among these the Jnani is the best.
Because Jnani was a knowledge which has come primarily for the purpose of being devoted to me. Because what is that understanding of that Jnani? Vasudeva Sarvamiti. Understand that Vasudev is everything.
So Krishna is the source of everything attractive in this world. And whatever attracts us, whatever presents us, whatever we are attracted to in this world, whatever pleasure that may give us, all that pleasure and more will come from Krishna. That is the meaning of Vasudeva Sarvamiti.
Krishna elaborates 10.41 later, Whatever is attractive in this world, Krishna says, it is I who give that to you. It is, everything attractive manifests the spark of my splendour. I give it its attractiveness.
So that means, whatever pleasure it gives us, it is like a drop of water. And Krishna is like the ocean. So, Krishna’s presence will give us a drop of water.
If we are in a desert, a drop of water will appear in a big quantity. But actually for satisfying our thirst, a drop is not enough. Similarly, the objects of this world, even if we get them, they will not make us very contented.
They will give some satisfaction, but afterwards, again, another desire will come. And this can apply even for the facilities for serving Krishna. The facilities can be indirect, they can be indirect.
Direct means we are doing some service in the temple. We need this, we need this, then we can serve better. Yeah, we need it, but if we don’t get it, the mood of pure devotion is, that if facilities come, yes, we will be grateful for the facilities, we will use those facilities.
But if those facilities are not there, still we will serve Krishna. Prabhupada is the prime example for this. Even when he had nothing, he was serving Krishna.
Prabhupada, when he went to America, after a lot of struggle, that eventually, he met some people, became a little more serious, and one of them was a high guru Prabhu, Howard Wheeler. He was a professor of English. So he asked, at that time they called him Swamiji, Swamiji, can I do any service for you? He said, if you have something to type, I can type for you.
So Prabhupada gave him something to type, and he brought it back and said, Is there any more typing to do? Yes, come. So Prabhupada took him to his room, and then he had a trunk. And he opened the trunk, and he saw that it was filled from bottom to top with reams of paper.
And all of them was written. And then he looked at it, actually it was not just written, there was a text written on it from the left top margin to the right bottom margin. There was no space left at all.
And then he observed further, he saw actually some of the paper was also not continuous paper. It was like paper that was stuck together. So when Prabhupada was living in Vrindavan, at that time, before he came to America, he had nothing.
He was in Vrindavan, and he had nothing. When he renounced his family life, at that time his business was not working at all. So he had no resources.
And when he came to Vrindavan, people will give charity for basic needs. Food and things like that, sadhu will never starve. But Prabhupada had not come to Vrindavan just to live like a sadhu on Madhukari.
Prabhupada wanted to preach. So when he wanted to preach, he wanted to write books. So he hardly had any money.
So when people would send him letters, Prabhupada would take the envelope in which the letter would come, open the envelope and stick it and make it into paper. And he would type on that. So why was he typing from the left top to the right bottom? Because he wanted to use all the space.
So when Prabhupada had no facility, at that time also he was serving Krishna. With whatever little facility he had, he served Krishna. And then when Krishna gave him enormous facility, not just… He was struggling to write one book, but then devotees came together, they had his contrast, then we had Bhaktivedanta, Nibbidi.
And then thousands and millions of books started being printed and distributed. And Prabhupada lived also in Krishna’s service. So if we become too attached to facilities for serving Krishna, now we may say that if my house is very close to the temple, then I can go to the temple very easily.
And then I can serve Krishna more. Then I can become more Krishna conscious. Yes, it’s true, if my house is close to the temple, we can.
But I know some devotees, some temples, I believe Sydney is also like that, some temples are in a very expensive locality. I know one devotee in a city in the west, he took a huge mortgage to get a house next to the temple so that he could come to the temple more. But then the mortgage has become so much that now to pay the mortgage he has to take two jobs.
And he said, now I am close to the temple, but I am not able to come to the temple. So, when I was staying away from the temple, I could come to the temple more. So, sometimes we may get so caught thinking this facility will help me to serve Krishna.
And then we get the facility and we find that facility is like a white elephant. And with that facility, now I find it difficult to serve Krishna. So, actually, yes, we can seek the facilities, but we don’t think, we don’t evaluate Krishna’s love or our devotion to Krishna in terms of the coming of those facilities.
We focus on the presence which Krishna may give to us, he may not give to us. Circumstantially they may come to us, they may not come to us. But more important than the presence is the present.
So, more important than the presence, the gift of Krishna is Krishna’s presence. Ultimately, Krishna’s presence means that Krishna wants to reveal himself to us and Krishna wants us to be present. Now suppose someone comes to meet us and they have come primarily to meet us and talk with us.
And we think, oh, a special person has come to my house and we are running around, I’ll cook something for you, I’ll get this for you, I’ll get that for you. I remember once a senior devotee had come to meet me. I was staying in a very early age, 25 years ago, almost 25 years ago.
He had come to our hostel. And we thought, oh, a senior devotee has come to our hostel too. So we were thinking, you know, we will make some milk, we will make this, we will make that.
And then, we don’t have a very big group. So, in the morning class, one of us was cooking something, one of us was doing something else. So, right in the middle of the class, he told me, if I want milk, I can go to 100 devotees’ houses and they will give me milk.
I have come here to speak about Krishna. Put the milk aside and hear about Krishna. So, what happened was, that we were thinking that we are doing it for him.
He expected that, more than just giving me things, just give me your attention. Just hear about Krishna. So, sometimes we may be endeavouring a lot to do something, and we think, I’m doing it for you.
But if that other person’s need is something else, then whatever we may do may not be appreciated. Sometimes the father may say, I’m working so hard so that I can provide the best toys for my child. I can get you an expensive bat, an expensive ball, you can play lavishly.
Now, the child may want, I don’t want an expensive bat, I want you to play with me. No, no, I don’t have time for that. I’m working so that I’ll give you an expensive bat.
The child doesn’t want a new bat, the child wants some time to play with the father. So, what happens is, that even if we have the best intentions, sometimes if our expression is not in a way that the other person can appreciate, then our intention does not lead to the expression of affection. The other person doesn’t feel that affection.
So, same way, sometimes you may think, I’m doing this for Krishna, I’m doing this for Krishna, and you say, yes, I do this for Krishna. Or, sometimes the other way it can be. What is Krishna doing for me? I’ve done so much, I’ve done so much bhakti, what is Krishna doing for me? No, this problem is not solved, I wanted this, this does not work out, that does not work out.
So, if we look for, both in our own efforts, what I can offer to Krishna, or too much in terms of what Krishna is giving me, then our devotion will get diverted. The primary connection with Krishna is through His presence and our presence. His presence means when we chant His holy name, when we hear about Him, when we worship Him, He manifests over there.
And if our consciousness is there at that time, then Krishna is experienced. And the experience of Krishna is so enriching. Oh, I don’t need anything else.
This is so fulfilling. This is what life is meant for. We absorb in Krishna.
And then, when we start focussing on Krishna’s presence, we realise that Krishna is never lost from us. That, even if many things in this world, some come, some go, we lose something, we find something, Krishna stays with us. This is the highest level of devotion.
yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra sarvaṁ ca mai paśyati taśyāhaṁ na ganaśyāmi sa ca me na praśyati He says, yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra One who sees me everywhere and one who sees everything. sarvaṁ ca mai paśyati taśyāhaṁ For that person, that person is never lost to me, nor am I ever lost to that person. So Krishna says, this is the perfection of devotion.
And when we see Krishna’s reciprocation, primarily in terms of His presence, and to see that, we also have to see our contribution is primarily in terms of our presence. Presence means our consciousness is present for Krishna. And Krishna’s reciprocation is His presence.
When we see this as the essence of devotion, our presence and Krishna’s presence, then we find that devotion becomes su-sukham. It becomes joyful. It becomes joyful because Krishna is always present and if we are present, then we can always connect with Krishna.
And thus, whatever be this particular situation we have in life, we have to deal with that situation. We have a particular need, we have to deal with that. But, we can deal with that either with a dissatisfied mentality, the poverty mentality, or with the abundance mentality.
So poverty mentality means, this is not working, that is not working, that is not working, even my devotion is not working. Nothing is working in my life. So what am I to do? But abundance mentality means, yes, this is not there, this is not there, but I chant Krishna’s name, I feel the presence of Krishna, I feel strength, I feel peace, I feel joy, and this is the foundation.
Krishna is there with me, that is the abundance mentality. With that abundance mentality, I work for other things. I find out how best I can solve this.
Sometimes some things will work out, some things will not work out. But when we learn to cherish Krishna’s presence the most, then we will find that our life will become much more peaceful and joyful. And not peaceful and joyful and passive, inactive.
Actually, it will become peaceful and joyful also in a productive way. Why productive? Because when we feel connected with Krishna, naturally we want to serve Krishna more. We will serve him also more effectively.
Because our mind will not be agitated so much. In that way, when we experience this, bhāve bhāve bhāveyam bhavantam, when we experience that Krishna is present in my heart, then Krishna takes care of everything else. And this theme that Krishna’s presence is more valuable than his presence, this is famously seen in the well-known incident before the Mahabharata war, where the Kauravas and the Pandavas had to choose.
And when they had to choose, what happened? Both of them went to Krishna, because Krishna is a very powerful person. So, when they went to Krishna, Duryodhana reached for Arjuna and Nidra. And we will see, let’s look at this incident in retrospect.
At the start of the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna, the Bhagavad Gita starts with a very intriguing note. It starts with Dhritarashtra speaking. And not only Dhritarashtra speaking, when Dhritarashtra says, Dhritarashtra is attached to his son.
So, when Dhritarashtra says, kibakurvata sanjaya, what happened? What did they do? So, when Sanjaya replies, he starts, not with Krishna or Arjuna, he starts with Dhritarashtra’s son. What did Dhritarashtra’s son do? So, he says, acharya mukha sanjanya, raja vacinam abhradeet. Your son, Dhritarashtra, he approached Dhritarashtra.
And he started speaking. And then when he starts speaking, at that time, what happens? He is initially very confident. It is not even going to be a match.
They are going to crush the Pandavas. But then he sees their military formation, he sees their confidence, he sees their expertise. He says, we are concerned.
And then he goes and talks with his commander. It looks like a cricket match is going on. And this one team says, we are going to dismiss this team’s batsmen and we are going to crush them.
And then they come out, the batsmen of the opposing team come with a swagger. And they look so confident and they start saying, what happened? I thought we will chicken them out. We will crush them.
The captain calls the vice-captain and they start having a meeting. So, like that, he calls Dhritarashtra and he starts speaking. And then while he is speaking, I mean, it is not a cricket match.
A football match was there. So, the whole team is there, not just two batsmen. So, then, at that time, he starts speaking about the primary warriors on both sides.
And then he says, Bhima, Arjuna, Samayudhi, there are many warriors like Bhima and Arjuna. So, he talks about the warriors on the Pandavas’ side and he talks about the warriors on his own side. Now, it is interesting, it is quite a significant list.
But whom does he miss out over there? Krishna. Completely misses him out. He just doesn’t list Krishna at all.
Bhima, Arjuna, Abhimanyu, so many others. Because he thinks that Krishna is a non-combatant. Krishna has not raised weapons.
So, because he is non-combatant, he thinks he is a non-entity. He doesn’t count at all. Normally, if you look at a chariot, first you see the charioteer and then you see the chariot warrior.
So, if he had seen Arjuna, he would have seen Krishna also. But he saw, but he didn’t register him. Why? Because for him, what does Krishna do? What will he do? He can’t do anything.
He is not going to fight. But then, what happens at the end is, he realises that it was actually Krishna who orchestrated the key battles. All the warriors fought and they fought diligently.
But it was Krishna who guided at the key moments. And Krishna who guided at the key moments, that spent victory for the Pandavas. So, although Krishna did not do anything, Krishna did everything.
In fact, Babruvahan is the son of Ghatotkach. And he sees the whole Mahabharata war from above a mountain. And when he is asked at the end, what did you see? He says, I only saw Krishna with the Surashtra chakra killing everyone.
Now, Krishna did not use the Surashtra chakra to kill everyone in the Mahabharata. But he was seeing them in the ultimate vision. So, the point here is that Arjuna was able to select Krishna because he valued Krishna’s presence.
Not Krishna’s presence. Oh, it’s a big army. So, you know, what is the use of the Narayana Sena without Narayana? Arjuna says no.
So, the Bhagavad Gita demonstrates the setting that God’s presence is more valuable than his presence. His army was there on the opposite side. But because Krishna was present on his side, he was victorious.
And similarly, if we learn to value Krishna’s presence in our own life, then whatever challenges we may have to face, Arjuna had to face challenges sometimes, crisis also he had to face. But Krishna guided him through all. That is Krishna’s grace.
That problems may come, reversals may come, but Krishna will guide us through them. That is Krishna’s mercy. Sometimes, by karma, we may lose something, we may lose reputation, we may lose wealth, we may lose some loved ones, we may lose our health.
Many things we may lose. And how can we manage without it? But whatever may happen because of karma, Krishna is always with us. And if we keep looking at oh, I lost this, I lost this, we will feel deprived.
But if we look towards Krishna, then things will be lost in this world, things will be gained in this world. But if we gain appreciation of the value of Krishna’s presence within us, if that deepens our devotion, that is the greatest blessing. So whatever karma may get us through, Krishna will get us through.
Whatever karma may get us through, whatever presence may come, whatever presence may go, if we value Krishna’s presence, then Krishna will get us through. So I’ll summarise and then you can ask some questions. I spoke earlier on the theme of Krishna’s presence is more precious than his presence.
I started by quoting Kulasekhar Maharaj, how he says, I’m not worshipping you for liberation, for heavenly enjoyment or for relief from hellish distress. I’m worshipping you simply to have you in the abode of my heart. Even if I have to go through lifetime after lifetime.
And then I talked about how we may go through life with a poverty mentality or an abundance mentality. Poverty mentality is not a mentality of poor people. It is the mentality of people who are always looking at what they don’t have.
And that’s why they feel poor, even if they are not actually poor. Abundance mentality is when we look at our blessings, we look at what we have. Now, poverty mentality is typical of the modes of passion and ignorance.
In the mode of passion, we just keep looking outward, I don’t have this, I don’t have this. And we slave to get it. In the mode of ignorance also, we look at all the things we don’t have.
And we don’t have the energy to work hard, so we simply feel sorry for ourselves for not having those things. In the mode of goodness, we have the abundance mentality because we come to harmony with ourselves. These are my strengths, these are my limitations.
And if I do this, the fulfilment, the satisfaction I get is actually less than the exhaustion it causes me. I need my space, I need some privacy. So if I try to come in the limelight, it just drains me.
So I will not do that. So when we understand ourselves, when we harmonise with ourselves, then we, because we see our strengths and work according to our strengths, we feel satisfied. So the abundance mentality comes when we take up the problems that we feel inspired to deal with.
So if the problems are according to a psychophysical nature, then those problems, we can see them as challenges. Otherwise, they will seem to be burdens. And beyond this mode of goodness is transience.
So the abundance mentality comes most fully when we connect with Krishna. And we appreciate Krishna’s presence within us always. So I talked about how different kinds of people come to Krishna and only those who come to the level of knowledge where they understand that Krishna is everything.
Vasudeva Sarovati. Their devotion becomes telling that whatever is attractive in this world, its attractiveness is simply a drop of the ocean that is Krishna’s attractiveness. Therefore, if I get it, it’s good.
But if I don’t get it, if I get Krishna, still I will be engrossed. And then when you talk about bhakti, the process of bhakti centres on connecting with Krishna through our consciousness. Although Krishna is close to us, right now we are turned away from Him.
So the connection with Krishna can be through recollection, smriti, where consciousness is trying to remember Him. Or it can be through smriti, where through inspiration, memory just arises within us. Either way, we can go in that direction by serving Krishna, service attitude.
And if we are in the mode of passion and influence, we will bring that into our bhakti also. And we will practise bhakti with a poverty mentality. Oh, I don’t have this talent.
This devotee is getting more appreciation than me. He is going to get more following than me. So, we will always feel dissatisfied.
But, if we come to goodness and move towards transcendence, then we start focussing on not Krishna’s presence, but Krishna’s presence. We, from our side, we strive not, I have to do this, I have to do this, no, I have to offer my consciousness to Krishna. And, Krishna can give us many things, but we also appreciate Him.
Krishna just reveals His presence to me. I will experience calmness, I will experience joy, I will experience strength. And that is the ultimate enrichment.
And thus, when we focus on devotion as the reciprocation of Krishna’s presence with our presence, then we will find that devotion becomes joyful. And, Krishna wants, from His perspective, He wants our presence more than His presence. He can get whatever He wants from many people, from many sources.
Just like a devotee can get milk from many places. If they want to speak about Krishna, they want an audience for that. Or a child, they say, I don’t want more toys, I want my parents to play with me, my father to play with me.
So, like that, we have to understand, what is it that Krishna really values. And then, we will feel ourselves valuable, because we feel Krishna’s presence. Arjuna chose Krishna’s presence.
And although it seemed like a bad choice, because Krishna was not going to fight a war. And Duryodhana thought Arjuna was being foolish. But, Duryodhana overlooked Krishna and it was Krishna who outwitted him.
Because Krishna, without doing anything, did everything. He gave the strategic insights that are right in the mind. Similarly for us, if we seek Krishna’s presence constantly, then, by the ups and downs of life, by karma, we may lose things, we may gain things, but whatever karma may get us through, Krishna will get us through.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or comments? Yes, please.
I have also heard that in bhakti, we have to go beyond our comfort zone. We have to do services which are beyond our comfort zone. But when we do that, when we go beyond our comfort zone, it is not in harmony with the process.
So it is said that in bhakti, to get more mercy, we should go outside our comfort zone. Yes, we should go outside our comfort zone in the direction in which we are comfortable. What does that mean? Yes, we do have to stretch ourselves.
But stretching ourselves, we can, as a matter of surrender, if a particular service is required, we should be always ready to do that. Say, if a big festival comes up. I was with Giriraj Maharaj in California just a couple of months ago.
So now he is focussing fully on writing. Prabhupada told him to write a book about the Juhu project. So he has completed 700 pages.
A big book about how Prabhupada got the Juhu temple for Krishna. So, he is telling that when he was with Prabhupada, at that time Prabhupada told him, Prabhupada saw one of the articles of Giriraj, he liked it, write well, you should write more. But then the devotees at that time told him, writing can’t be done right now, we have to build this temple.
There is no one else to manage. And then he asked Prabhupada, Prabhupada said, yes, this is required, we need someone to manage the temple. So he managed the temple for that time.
And then he took the temple through various difficult situations. And now he is focussing on writing. Sometimes, as a service, we may have to do something, we cannot just say, this is not my interest, so I will not do it.
If something is required, we should do it. At the same time, for sustainability in devotion, we need to be inspired to practise bhakti. So, from the individual’s perspective and the institution’s perspective.
The symbiotic view would be that the individual, whatever service you tell me, I will do it. That should be the mood of the individual. But the leader’s mood should be that, let me observe and find what this devotee is good at.
And let me engage in that service. If they are good at something, they will do it well also and they will do it happily. So, sometimes it may have to stretch a little bit this way or that way.
Sometimes some emergency might be there, some big project might come up, so everybody may have to do a particular kind of service. That’s okay. But gradually, we need to gravitate towards service according to our nature.
And I don’t necessarily see that serving according to one’s nature has to be in the comfort zone. Somebody may just love to distribute books. But even distribution of books can take hours and hours and hours sometimes.
So, somebody may love to study Shastra. But studying Shastra also requires effort. So, even when we are doing, the nature of the mind is, that even when we are doing something that we like to do, the mind will not like to do it constantly.
That’s just the nature of the mind. So, even if somebody says, for me, say, I love to write. Writing is one of my major services.
So, I love to write. But there are times when I used to think, why have I took this service of writing? An author was asked, writing is very easy. He used to sit in front of a computer and type.
Yes, writing is extremely easy. Just sit in front of a computer and glare at it till drops of blood form on your forehead. Sometimes you write and you just get no ideas.
What am I supposed to do? So, it happens to all of us that the mind is so unstable that even when we do something which we like to do, still the mind will not like to do all this. And even in that we will need to persevere. So, one extreme would be that, anything that the mind dislikes to do, I will not do it.
I don’t feel like it, I won’t do it. So, then we will never be able to do anything at all in a stable way. Because the mind is just too restless.
The other is, I go to the opposite and that which I dislike to do, I will do it only. That way I will become purified. That will just exhaust us so much.
It is, we don’t work for the body-mind machine, we don’t work against the body-mind machine. We work with the body-mind machine for Krishna. So, working for the body-mind machine means, we will only do the things which we like to do and not anything else.
Work against means, I like it, so if I do it, it will be sensuality pain, so I will not do it. Then we will simply be tortured. So, we don’t work for or against the body or the mind, we work with it for Krishna.
Is that answer your question? Any other questions? Thank you for the class. You mentioned in the class that, whatever activity we like to do, based on that activity, is actually present in abundance in Krishna. But, when I practically apply that, I say that here is something tangible like gaming that I really like.
And the thing that I really like about gaming is this, and I can see that, yes, Krishna would have this in abundance, but there is nothing tangible in that respect. So, how do you… Suppose, say, we like a game, and we are completely absorbed in it. And even if I understand that, okay, the attractiveness of this is coming from Krishna, but I can’t tangibly connect with Krishna.
Well, not all connections are necessarily immediately tangible. Now, did Arjuna, when he started practising archery as a teenager, in Drona’s academy, did he know that eventually there is going to be a Dharma Yudha, in which I am going to fight for Krishna, and my archery skill will be used? No, he had an archery skill, he was a Kshatriya, and he used it. He used wholeheartedly, and Krishna arranged for his archery skill to be put to the Supremes.
So, if we find something which impresses us, then it may not be that we will be immediately able to see its connection with Krishna. In some things, the connection may be, if somebody gets absorbed in singing, they can sing for Krishna. That’s a simple solution.
But then, even if somebody wants to become a very professional or a high-quality singer, then they may have to learn so much about singing. And in their learning about singing, they may not seem to get a direct connection with Krishna. So, then we have to learn that, and eventually use it in Krishna’s service.
So, with respect to gaming, at this stage, basically I would say that, there is pro-devotional absorption, there is non-devotional absorption, and there is anti-devotional absorption. So, all absorptions come from Krishna. But all absorptions may not take us to Krishna.
In alcohol, you may say, actually, the thing I get absorbed in the most is alcohol. So, I am tasting Krishna in alcohol. Okay, you are tasting Krishna in alcohol.
Prabhupada also says, if somebody cannot give up alcohol, on the way to Krishna, he says, they can think that the taste of the wine is Krishna. And if they are thinking like this, one day they will become a drinker. Prabhupada doesn’t say, by drinking wine they will become a drinker.
By thinking about Krishna, they will become a drinker. So, in that case, if Krishna is here, at a transcendental level, but if Krishna manifests through goodness, Krishna manifests through something in passion, Krishna manifests through something in ignorance. But when Krishna manifests through something in ignorance, that doesn’t take us towards Krishna.
That takes us away from Krishna. When Krishna manifests through goodness, somebody likes a language, somebody likes poetry, then, all that wordplay and things like that, they can use it in Krishna’s service. Somebody likes passion.
Okay, I want to achieve this, I want to do that, I want to do that. And they get absorbed in that. Then, they can use it in Krishna’s service.
You can take up a lot of challenging services for Krishna. So, gaming specifically, immediately, it may not be so easily visible. But as a broad principle, we may decide that nowadays, there are so many people who just are caught in games.
So, maybe we could have some spiritual games, maybe we can plan like that in future, some devotee may form a group like that and make up some games like that. So, we don’t necessarily have to say that this is not Krishna conscious. See, everyone’s deepest experience is their experience of Krishna.
Everyone’s deepest experience. If a painter is painting, then they get absorbed in painting. And with hours and hours passing, they don’t think of what it is.
So, what is the use of putting some lines on a canvas? What is it that is absorbing them so much? They are experiencing Krishna. They just don’t know that they are experiencing Krishna. They say, I like this painting so much.
But it is Krishna who is manifesting through tantra and everything. So, if they could see the Krishna connection, then they will move forwards. So, we have to be a little creative.
Prabhupada at one level, he said that, actually, he said, I have repeated my spiritual master’s message as it is. In another place, in lecture, he says, I have practically invented the whole Krishna consciousness movement. Now, what does invented mean? Invented means, he says that, if the spiritual master, the Bhakti Samudra says that, we should always fix our mind on Krishna.
So, Prabhupada says, it is the spiritual master’s responsibility to create ways and means by which the disciple can fix the mind on Krishna. And what Prabhupada did was, Vatyatra is a classic example of that. Now, Prabhupada was just at the temple, and Prabhupada was at the balcony of the temple, he was walking.
And he saw below, a flatbed truck. He saw that truck, he said. He could put Jagannath Malishwara Siddhartha on that, and he could make that into a card, and he would draw that.
Now, how many people will see a flatbed truck, and think of that as a Jagannath card? That is Prabhupada’s Krishna consciousness. And then what happened? Then, Prabhupada’s initial followers were hippies. They liked to do wild things.
And further, Krishna consciousness was the wildest of all things. You know, we have strange kind of dresses, we are all strange kind of food, and who are kind of… And then, one of the strange things they would love to do is dance on the streets. But if they danced on the streets, the police would come and arrest them.
But now, Prabhupada created Rath Yatra, and dancing on the streets, the police were escorting them. So, this was Prabhupada’s creativity. So, we have to also become creative, in our particular situation, how can we connect with Krishna? See, one version of outreach is, this is the path to Krishna, come here, and walk on this path.
The another is, where you are, I will show you the path to Krishna from there. When I was in America, I went with the Pandigodi family, and they are telling that, both the husband and wife are very Krishna conscious, but their son, when he is 7-8 years old, he said that he is into robotics. He has made his own robot, some national level competition that is there, he has participated in that, he has won some award in that also.
Constantly thinking, how can I make a robot, how can I make a robot? So, then, they are telling, he is into robotics completely, but, you know, we ask him to come to the temple, we ask him to practise, but he is not interested in that. So, I was talking with him, brilliant boy. So, then I asked him that, you know, what robots do you make? How do you get your ideas to make robots? So, he said, most of the time we make robots, which will very efficiently lift up packages, Amazon, most of the packaging and transporting done by robots.
So, we make robots which have efficient motor movements, they lift, they estimate sizes, they carry swiftly. So, then I was talking to him, I said, just tell me, you know, in the future, what is the competition? If you want to make some new idea of a robot, you know, you could make a robot of Krishna and Arjuna, speaking the Bhagavad Gita. Firstly, the reflex is enormous.
Then, I told him that, no, actually, you will have no competition, nobody will make a robot like that. He says, no. And after, I was talking to his parents, after 5 minutes, he came back.
He said, actually, it’s a good idea. It will be a unique idea, nobody will make a robot like that. So, then after a couple of months, his parents called him and they said, you know, now he is studying the Bhagavad Gita so seriously, you know, what can I tell him through a robot? So, we don’t have to have a stereotype understanding of Bhagavad Gita.
So, Krishna may reveal to us, and we may be able to find wherever I am, how can I connect that with Krishna? Any other questions? Thanks, Prabhu. My question is related to Prabhu’s question, but slightly different. You talked about mentality of abundance and mentality of poverty.
So, in abundance, wouldn’t there be an element of complacency when it comes to our own inner liberty and kind of striving to understand that, well, look, I can’t be complacent about things and just assume that I am comfortable in this, so let me pursue that. Whereas, the second part of the question is mentality of poverty when we read, you know, Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s, for example, the poetry, and it sort of has a lot of lamentation about, you know, not being able to serve Krishna properly, not having this, not having that. So, how do we reconcile these two? Good question.
So, won’t the abundance mentality lead to complacency? Everything is going on nice and nice with your life, and our Acharyas, Bhaktivinoda Thakur exhibit a poverty mentality. I have no devotion, I have no humility. I want, I am begging Krishna for this.
Yeah, definitely. The Bhagavad Gita says that this material world is like an upside-down tree. So, in the spiritual sense, the poverty mentality is the highest perfection.
The Vrajavasis, the Goswamis of Vrindavan, in Vrindavan, say, O Krishna, where are you? Where are you? In separation from you. I am feeling so much agony. So, that is the zenith, that is the culmination.
We constantly absorb in Krishna. Radharani in her prayer says that, Krishna, when you are with me, I see you in one place. When you are not with me, I see you in every place.
The absorption in Krishna becomes so much. So, yes, that is at a very transcendental level. So, we cannot, we aspire for those emotions, but we cannot artificially imitate those emotions.
So, यानिशासन भूतानां तस्यानां जागत से इन्दिन। The poverty mentality is bad in the material world. It is cherished in the spiritual world. But, if somebody needs some psychotherapist, reads Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s song, आमारा जीवन सदा पापे रहत, नहीं को पुल नहीं रहती। My life is filled with sin, there is no good within me.
This person is a serious inferiority complex. They will think like that. It is completely out of their conception.
So, now, we need to act at the level we are at. So, generally, there are times, if this is our spiritual journey, and we have a long way to go ahead. So, if we start feeling complacent, then, we need to look ahead, to see how far I need to go.
It is a long way. Oh, I am an advanced devotee now. When I come to the temple, you know, I feel tears in my eyes.
Okay. But, when I come a hundred times to the temple, one time I feel a tear. Sometimes I feel a tear.
I was constantly crying tears. I said that the Ganga, that earlier came from the lotus feet, now came from the lotus eyes. So, you know, that is devotion.
So, we can look ahead. If we start feeling complacent, we need to look ahead. We have a long, long way to go.
But, if we start feeling disheartened, then we need to look behind. To see how far we have come. I look at my life five years ago, ten years ago, fifteen years ago.
It is a significant transform. I have experienced outer transformation, inner transformation. So, I have come a long way.
So, we have to see, what is our need at a particular time. If you are feeling disheartened, then we need to look back. So, that is, although it seems that everyday I have to face my mind and senses, everyday I have to face the world, everyday I have to face people, but, I am growing spiritually.
Generally speaking, as devotees, there is no one attitude, that is always beneficial. What is favourable, we accept. What is unfavourable, we avoid.
But, the attitude of the Goswamis, of the poverty mentality, that is, sometimes, say, Krishna Askar Raj Goswami says that, I am more sinful than Jagai’s mother. Or, I am more fallen than a worm in stool. I say, you know, is this, how is it true? So, one devotee, in Canada, he asked me a question.
He says, does humility have to come at the cost of honesty? He said, honestly, Krishna Askar Raj Goswami is not more fallen than Jagai’s mother. So, is it that, we have to speak untrue things about ourselves in order to be humble? He said, no, that is not the point. Actually, what is Krishna Askar Raj Goswami thinking about that? He says, Jagai and Madhai, they never had any opportunity to connect with Krishna.
And as soon as they got the opportunity, they completely gave up their sin and devoted themselves to Krishna. On the other hand, he feels, since my childhood, I knew about Lord Jagai, I knew about Krishna. They have offered me so much mercy, but what have I done to reciprocate that? I have not done anything.
So, when a devotee feels Krishna’s love flurrying into one’s heart, and a devotee feels, what have I done to return to Krishna? So, is where this humility comes. When Bhaktivinoda Thakur says, our life is filled with sin, no, that is because he is perceiving Krishna’s purity. And in the light of Krishna’s purity, the smallest impurity there appears within.
And a devotee feels a flood of love from Krishna into their heart, thinking, what am I doing for Krishna? So that, right now, what to speak of flood of love from Krishna, I mean, even a drop of love sometimes. So we can’t artificially imitate those emotions at this time. We appreciate those emotions as emerging from a very profound state of Krishna consciousness.
But actually, Krishna is a failed experience reality for them. So for us, if that is not the case, then we have to work, we have to work with what we have, emotionally and materially. So, dissatisfaction can be a funeral bhakti.
I want to advance more, I want to read more, I want to study more, I want to share more. These are all very good. At the same time, we should not be at the expense of our present, a satisfaction with what we present here.
It means, that yes, Krishna is, we cannot advance faster than Krishna’s plan. No matter how much. I may decide I will fast nirjan from tomorrow.
Whole Kartik month I will fast nirjan. That doesn’t necessarily, because it is very difficult to fast. Even if I fast, it’s not that I will necessarily advance faster.
We do our best to advance, to understand Krishna has a plan, and I will do my part in that plan. So, devotee has to accept, this is the level I am, and from this I want to take steps forward. So, the difference between complacency and contentment is that in complacency, one feels proud of one’s situation.
In contentment, one is satisfied with the situation. Satisfaction doesn’t mean that we don’t want more, but that craving for more is not an unbearable torment in one’s heart. I have come this far, I want to go further.
It’s like if you are a student in a university. A student may be in the first year of college right now. The student knows, I have not completed my degree.
I have a long way ahead to get my bachelor’s, or master’s, or PhD or whatever. But, at the level that I am, he is saying no. So, complacency means the student thinks, I am at a college now, I don’t have to study anymore.
Contentment means, this level, I have studied enough. There are many other levels in the future, and I have to keep studying in the future. Can I answer your question? Very good.
Do you have any questions? Yes, go ahead. In the initial part of the lecture, when you were translating, Kulshikar Maharaj was talking about going beyond duality. Obviously, he is a very elevated devotee, very high.
What more duality is he speaking about? So, if Kulshikar Maharaj is a very advanced devotee, what duality is he speaking about? He says, I don’t want to go beyond duality. Actually, he is not at that level in that particular verse. He is not praying from the position that I am a great devotee.
Because if you are praying from the position of a great devotee, then why is a great devotee ever going to go to hell? Why does a devotee have to pray also? The prospect of anybody going to hell is also not there. Because he is a great devotee. And he is praying from the level of a sadhaka.
And sadhaka, what does that aspire for? Why am I worshipping your lord? I am worshipping you, so that I can become absorbed. So that, your presence will manifest in my heart. So, he is praying from that perspective.
And as far as going beyond duality is concerned, for a devotee, the primary purpose is to serve Krishna. So, for serving Krishna, a devotee may actually accept difficulty also. So, that is, a devotee’s purpose, or a devotee’s devotion is, a devotee doesn’t want necessarily a problem-free life.
It’s not that a devotee wants a problem-full life. It’s not like that. Nobody likes problems.
But a devotee’s purpose is, not a, or devotee’s focus is, not a problem-free life. It is a purposeful life. It is a purposeful life.
This is how I want to serve Krishna, through my family, through my profession, through my service in the temple, through my own sadhana. This is my purpose. And for pursuing this purpose, if some duality comes, if some problems come, I am ready to accept that.
It’s not that a devotee goes out and courts problems on their own. It is not that a devotee goes out of the religious literature. A devotee focusses on the purpose.
So, that’s what is, bhāve bhāve, bhāve bhāvedam. So, if sometimes, say, we decide to go to some place like Vrindavan, in Karthik, and it happens to be very cold, at that time, we may prefer to stay in a place which is warm. Yes, normally, no need to go into a cold place.
It is not required. But if our purpose is to enhance our devotion, and going to that place enhances our devotion, then we may accept the discomfort of the cold also. Does that answer your question? Okay.
So, we will stop here. Thank you very much. Shri Prabhupāda ki jai.
Jau rūla bhakta vinda ki jai. Jau rūla vimāni ki jai. Jai.
Shri Prabhupāda ki jai.