Mahaprabhus Glories IIT Acronym

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, I am delighted to be here with all of you today.
And, we have the Gaur Purnima Festival coming in just about 36 hours now. So, we will discuss about the glories of Shaitanya Mahaprabhu. That’s it.
No, no, this is too too comfortable to be comfortable. I prefer something harder. I will sink in while I am writing.
You just move this away. So, we will discuss today about Shaitanya Mahaprabhu and some aspects of His descent. So, I hope that all of you by the end of this class will become IIT graduates.
So, we will discuss three things. The identity of Shaitanya Mahaprabhu, His intention, His mission, and then, the transformation that He inspires in our hearts. There is a beautiful beautiful song about Shaitanya Mahaprabhu.
We will recite some verses from that song and then we will move forward. So, this is Vedite Haripada Saroja Sudha by Bhaktivinoda Thakur. Godhrum Chandra Bhajana Updesh.
So, Godhrum Chandra is Shaitanya Mahaprabhu. Bhajana Updesh. So, it’s an interesting concept that there is bhajana, it’s more a song but through the bhajana, Updesh is being given, instruction is given.
There are many verses in this. We won’t be able to do all the verses but we will look at some of them. So, what is His identity that is described in this particular verse? Who He is? So, I will explain each line and we will decide that line and then we will decide the verse together.
First, we will decide the verse responsibly and then together. Then we will discuss something on the verse and then we will decide the verse again. So, avatara varam paripoorna phalam So, He is the avatara varam.
He is the essence of all avatars. He is paripoorna phalam. So, He is the highest manifestation, the ultimate, paripoorna.
So, what He is giving, who He is and what He is giving, that is paripoorna, that is complete. avatara varam paripoorna phalam avatara varam paripoorna phalam We will do it twice responsibly and then once collectively. I have a tune for this.
Please. avatara varam paripoorna phalam paratatva miratma vilasamayam Can we do one line at a time? avatara varam paripoorna phalam avatara varam paripoorna phalam paratatva miratma No, no, no. Wait a minute.
So, one line, we will just recite it and then I will just explain the meaning and then we will go to the next line. So, one line, twice we will do and then twice we will recite responsibly and then once collectively. We can just do once more of this.
First line. avatara varam paripoorna phalam avatara varam paripoorna phalam avatara varam paripoorna phalam avatara varam paripoorna phalam paratatva So, he is not just the best of the avatars here when it is said. He is himself the highest reality.
paratatva And then ihatma vilasa mayam So, what is he doing in this world? Atma vilas So, his own personal pastimes. So, vilas is joyful pastimes. Atma is his self.
Atma vilasa mayam So, he is filled with mayam means full of. He is full of. He is enriched with.
He is manifesting fully his personal pastimes in the spiritual world. paratatva so, So, what is his Atmavilas about, let’s describe, what is his delighting in, that Vraja Dham, so Vraja Dham is the abode of Vrindavan and there, that is like an ocean of rasa, of divine emotion, rasa ambudhi and even in that ocean, there is Gupta Rasam, there is something which is confidential, so a very secret pastime, very intimate experience of love is there, so that is what he is both savouring himself and he is sharing with others, that sharing part will come, but here he is manifesting those pastimes with the most intimate of confidential emotions, Vraja Dhamara Sambudhi Gupta Rasam, Vraja Dhamara Sambudhi Gupta Rasam, Vraja Dhamara Sambudhi Gupta Rasam, Vraja Dhamara Sambudhi Gupta Rasam, Vraja Dhamara Sambudhi Gupta Rasam. Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana, so Godhrum is one of the 9 grooves, the 9 vipas of Vrindavan, Vrindavan? Mayapur.
Mayapur, yes, so sometimes I will commit an intentional mistake and sometimes an unintentional mistake, either way if you don’t detect it, that is a mistake, so Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana, so Kaanana is the forest, forest of Godhrum Kunjamidhum, so that lord who is, who is the lord, who delights in the forest of Vrindavan, so he is, let us worship that lord, so this Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, as you notice is the chorus line for all the verses, so that the meaning is given below over here, so just worship that lord, the moon, Kaanana is actually Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, the moon of Godhrum, let us go back, Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, let us recite all of it together, we will do it once and then we will do it together afterwards. Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, Bhaja Godhruma Kaanana Kunjamidhum, he appears sometimes almost as if he is like an ordinary person, so this is the spiritual level of reality and this is the material level of reality and at the spiritual level, the lord resides eternally, he is always there, now from there sometimes he descends to the world, so the avatar, avatar literally it means the one who descends, avatariti is the avatar, so sometimes avatar is translated as descent, sometimes as incarnation, now many times when terms from one language are translated to another language, some of the subtleties or nuances are lost, the word incarnation basically came in the English vocabulary from the Christian context, where Jesus is considered the incarnation of Christ and in that there is a word Karna, Karna is the carnal desires or carnivorous food, so Karna basically means fresh, so incarnation literally means to come in flesh, like reincarnation means to again come in a fleshly or a material world, so in that sense, incarnation is not an accurate word, why is that? We lose our body. Sorry? God doesn’t come in flesh, he is a spiritual body.
Yes, Krishna comes, Ajopsa Navyatma, Bhutanam Ishwaropasam, Prakritim Swamadishthaya, Krishna says, I manifest by my own nature in 4.6, so in that sense, it’s not an accurate word, now the word incarnation also has a non-literal meaning, now Prabhupada used incarnation, but Prabhupada didn’t really clarify what it means. So, when we talk about the avatar, there is also, especially in our tradition, there is a word Archa Avatar, Archa Avatar is what? The deity form, then there is the Yuga Avatar, now of course, in Sanatana Goswami’s Laghubhaga Tamarit, he gives an elaborate analysis of different kinds of avatars, but the key principle is, the Lord descends from the spiritual domain to the material domain, now here we can remove the screen, so the example that is given is that, say there are clouds in the sky, now the clouds may be there in the sky, but sometimes the clouds come down as rains, the clouds are like the Lord in the spiritual world, the rains are like the avatar, now when the avatar comes, the rains often come where we are, the rains come everywhere, but the rains are not always there, the rains come and they go, then there is a well, so there is a well, so this well, so this avatar is like the Yuga Avatar, now the well is the Archa Avatar, the well or we could have a lake, we will come back to this metaphor a little later, so that means, water is accumulated over there and water is available even when the rain stops, so like that, the Lord’s mercy is available at a particular time when he descends, but he is also available later through other manifestations, that is the avatar, so he descends to this world from the spiritual world, now this is the divine descent, now like the word Karma became popular in mainstream western language, may be 20-30 years ago, so the word avatar has become popular in the last 10 years, there is an idea of a digital avatar, everybody has their avatar in social media, they have the avatar movie also, so the idea is what, like there is some kind of transposition, some kind of moving from one domain to another domain, so from the physical domain to the digital domain, so what is our manifestation, so that is the idea of avatar, so now what is the purpose of the Lord’s descent, we will come to that later, but here it is described where the Lord has descended, Avataravaram and Paripoornapalam, he is a complete manifestation, the word Paripoorna is used in many places, it means total completeness, see whenever somebody seeks a relationship, there are two reasons for the relationship, is to seek completeness, one is I feel incomplete, so I need someone in my life, and therefore we seek a relationship, and that is the normal way we human beings seek relationships, that is the Lord, this is his reason for seeking relationships is different, it is not to seek completeness, but to share completeness, he is himself complete and he wants to share that completeness with others, like suppose I don’t have food, then I go to someone, can you cook for me, can you serve me some food, I go to a hotel somewhere, so I am going because I need something, but suppose I have so much food that I can’t eat all of it, then I go out to find someone to share the food, so in both cases somebody else is being sought, but the underlying dynamic is very different, so when the Lord descends to this world, Paripoornapalam, he is complete in himself, he is not coming here because of any material sense of incompleteness, and then when he comes here, so what is he doing over here, it is Paratattva, he still remains the supreme reality, it is not that he becomes, when he comes to this world, he becomes a conditioned reality, it is he remains fully transcendent, so he is the Paratattva and he remains the Paratattva, now this is important to understand because many times there are various ways, there are some concepts which are very common across the broad Vedic tradition, so for example the concept of Avatar is very common, so what happens is this concept of Avatar is very different, so in the Advaitic tradition, that is the tradition coming from Chaitanya, from Shankaracharya, so what he says that the only ultimate reality is Brahman, and then when the Brahman comes in contact with Sattva, that leads to Ishwara, and that Ishwara comes as Avatar, they consider he is also contaminated, although less contaminated, when that Brahman links with Rajas, then there is the Jeeva, and then the Brahman becomes covered by Tamas, there is the Prakriti, so this is their idea, so they consider Avatar is presently not the Paratattva, the Avatar is contaminated, but that is not the Vaishnava understanding, that is not the Vedas teaching, that is not the Bhagavata teaching, Paratattva is still the supreme reality, and what does he come here for? So the Lord comes, the Avatar has two purposes, he offers us a trailer, you know what is a trailer? Sorry? It’s a short. I appreciate how all of you are pretending to be ignorant.
Well, we sometimes have to celebrate ignorance as a proof of our transcendence. So, trailer is like a short description, a very attractive description, so when the Lord comes over here, he displays his pastimes, and those pastimes are like the trailer of the movie that is going on eternally in the spiritual world. And when we watch the trailer, we become inspired to actually, I want to see the whole movie.
We want to rise to the spiritual world. And the Lord offers us a trailer, his pastimes. In many ways, if you see Chetan Mahaprabhu’s pastimes, that was a time when India was under Islamic rule and so many things were happening at a political level.
But Mahaprabhu only occasionally interacts with the political reality of his times. His focus is on simply displaying the divine exchange of love between him and his devotees. Rather he is playing the role of a devotee, so it is between him and those who are following him, centred on the Lord, centred on Lord Krishna.
So, this is a trailer. And essentially, when the Lord comes, there are two broad purposes. So, if you consider the verses 4.7 to 4.10, this is where the purpose of the Lord’s descent is described.
So, 4.7 and 8, they talk about establishing Dharma. धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे यूगे And then after that, 4.9 and 10, they talk about Bhakti. So now, Dharma is not a religion per se.
It is basically order, like in law and order. Krishna says, those who are disruptive people, I stop them. And those who are law-abiding, those who are good people, I protect them, I empower them.
So now, Dharma, it is mandatory. Law and order is not a matter of choice. I don’t like to follow traffic rules, I won’t follow the traffic rules.
And if you don’t follow the traffic rules, those who implement the traffic rules will follow you. They will catch you. So, order is not a matter of choice.
But Bhakti is voluntary. Bhakti cannot be imposed. And that’s why Krishna is saying, those who are attracted to my pastimes.
जन्मकर्मच्यमेइदिये एवं योवेत्ति तत्वतः त्यक्त्वादेहं पुनर्जन्मन् नहिति मावेति सुवर्जिना So, that is His ultimate purpose. Both these purposes are related. But one purpose is implemented, even enforced.
The other purpose is more inspired. It is something which not everybody will practise. But those who want, they have that opportunity.
So, when we consider Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in one sense His primary focus is in establishing this Bhakti. He does establish the Yuga Dharma of chanting, but that is centred on Bhakti. When the Lord comes as a Kshatriya, the Lord focusses on bringing about political change.
But when the Lord comes as a Brahmana, He doesn’t focus on that. So, He primarily gives a trailer to inspire Bhakti. इहात्मविलास्यमयम् So, He is exhibiting His own personal pastimes.
Quite often, when the other avatars come, like when Buddha comes, or Kalki comes, they are fulfilling the purpose of avatar. But in those cases, fighting and destroying miscreants, that is the mission of Kalki. That is not what happens in the spiritual world.
And Prabhupada asks, are there demons in the spiritual world? Prabhupada says, there are rumours of demons. So, what he meant is that, there is sometimes talk of demons to sometimes create some excitement, some anxiety, and thereby to have some tension. Generally, if there is no tension, then there is no attention.
For example, if in a class, you fully know what the speaker is going to speak next. Because the speaker speaks the same thing all the time. Then, there is not much attention about it.
Okay, he spoke this way, I didn’t expect this point. What is going to go on over here? So, when there is some tension, there is a push-pull going on, and that is why there is a tension. So, they are not demons in the spiritual world, but there is a rumour of demons.
So, when we consider avatars like Kalki or Buddha, what they are doing in this world is different from what they are doing in the spiritual world. There is no Ihaatma Vilasamayu. So, this is for avatars like Ram, Krishna, and Shaitanya Mahaprabhu.
But what is being done over here is the same as what is actually being done over there. So, what is exactly going on here? This is a screen displaying the Vraja Dham Rasamudri. In the nirvana, there is an ocean of the emotion of devotion.
So, Rasamudri, the concept of rasa, is a very interesting concept. Probably, before you were introduced to bhakti, the only time we heard the word rasa was aam ras or mango juice or sugarcane juice or something like that. Or as they say, rasagulla.
That’s interesting. So, rasa has a particular connotation. Like something associated with juice.
Something like that. Something sweet, flavory, juicy. Prabhupada sometimes translates it as mellow.
So now, rasa, basically, it refers to refined emotion. It’s emotion, but it’s not just ordinary emotion. So, rasa is experienced by those who have some refinement of their consciousness.
So, for example, say if somebody is doing a Bharatanatyam dance. Now, they are depicting Krishna Leela. And say, some beautiful female dancer is depicting Krishna Leela dancing.
Now, somebody who is not refined, all that they might see is, Oh, this is an attractive woman. And all that they feel is some physical attraction. So, there could be the refinement of emotion.
At a basic level, there might be just lust. But if there is a little more, say, appreciation of the dance. Oh, this person is dancing so well.
So, there might be more aesthetic appreciation. Aesthetic appreciation of what? Of the dancing ability. Dancing is… No, dancing is not easy.
Because it’s also a skill. People have to have a particular kind of grease in their body. Of course, everybody can dance.
But some people, when they start dancing, people wonder when they are going to stop dancing. Then this trailer ends. So, now this person is expert at dancing.
So, there is some appreciation. But then if there is further refinement of consciousness, then, say, they not only appreciate dancing ability, they are also seeing, okay, this person is depicting Krishna Leela. And they know the Krishna pastime.
And they say, okay, what is the expression being depicted over here? What is this expression? What does it stand for? They are moving their hands. Oh, this is for maybe a bucket, maybe a bowl or a container on the top of the head. The gopis are this.
What is this? So, what happens is, it’s almost a complete different universe being opened. So, the same aesthetic appreciation can be centred on remembrance of Krishna. So, rasa is basically refined emotion.
So, rasamalayam means, now Prabhupada says that Radhakrishna pastime, somebody might just take them as mundane male-female interactions. But if you become a rasika, then we understand that there is so much more over there. There is practically nothing mundane about it.
So, Vrindavan is the abode of refined emotion. Not just the abode, it’s the ocean of rasambhuti. And even among those refined emotions, there are the topmost refined emotions, the supremely refined emotions.
So, gupta-rasam. In other words, gupta gupta has distinct connotations. Sometimes it’s translated as secret, sometimes it’s translated as confidential or hidden.
So, gupta is hidden. So now, if you consider confidential, so actually there is a difference between secret and private. The secret means, you don’t want to tell it to anyone.
But private means, it doesn’t concern you. So, for example, if there is some event going on at home, at our home, at a particular home, say, and then maybe the wife wants to talk with the husband, the husband is talking to some guest, can I have a private word with you? It is not necessarily secret, but it is something about domestic affairs or whatever, some practical thing is there. It’s not relevant for humans.
So, it’s not that this is meant to be hidden. It is not necessarily to be hidden, but it is not relevant for others. So, generally when Krishna uses the word guhyam, he is using it more in the sense of, not that Krishna deliberately wants to hide it from us.
He says, this won’t be relevant for you. When I was introduced to bhakti, I started sharing bhakti with my relatives. So, my uncle, I told him, I believe in God.
He said, he is happy there, I am happy here. So, many people may not feel the relevance of God at all. So, the idea is that Krishna says, don’t thrust what is confidential on those for whom it is not relevant.
They will just not comprehend it. They will try to quickly understand something. Something is complex and you try to quickly understand it.
Most likely you are going to misunderstand it. Like there is some complicated passage that is supposed to be read. You decide, I will read it for one minute.
In one minute, what you will gather out of it is something which will take one hour to clear the misconception of it. What is it? So, it is gupta rasa. Gupta rasa is the love of the gopis for Krishna.
Especially, the love of Radharani for Krishna. So, there are many aspects of what is gupta about it. But specifically, I will just quickly mention one of those aspects.
When Krishna goes away from Vrindavan, Radharani and the gopis, they experience immense agony in separation from Krishna. And, in one sense, this agony doesn’t seem to be like happiness at all. And yet, that is considered to be the highest state of Krishna consciousness.
Why is that? Because, in bhakti, there might be agony, there might be ecstasy. But the foundation is the remembrance of Krishna. This is at the spiritual level.
Now, at the material level, there might be happiness and there might be distress. But the foundation is what? Forgetfulness of Krishna. So, the thing is that at the material level, what is experienced is considered for the soul to be like poison.
Because, essentially, we are forgetting who we are. So, happiness at the material level is like sweet poison. And distress is like bitter poison.
Now, in one sense, sweet poison is more dangerous. Because you just keep drinking it more and keep seeking it more. But that doesn’t mean we have to be deliberately miserable.
The point is that the happiness of this world can also point us towards the spiritual happiness. But for most people, they get caught in it. Now, remembrance of Krishna is like nectar.
sukhataram aparam na ja tu jane hari charan smaranam rute na tulyam Remembrance of the Lord is like nectar. So, now, when there is agony of separation, in one sense, you could say it is like bitter nectar. And ecstasy is like sweet nectar.
Now, whether it is bitter or sweet, that is the immediate experience. But fundamentally, it is nectar. That is at the spiritual level.
So, now, the gopis could reject Krishna. You know, we gave up everything for you, and you gave us up. Why should we care for you? We will give you up.
But the gopis don’t do that. Although they experience immense agony because of separation from Krishna, they still… mat prananathas tu sa eva na paraha That last verse of Shikshashtakam is spoken in the mood of Radharani. Vachetanirahata.
You are the Lord of my life. mat prananathas na paraha No one will ever else be the Lord. So, that is actually unconditional love.
Generally, whenever there is love, we give something to the other person, we expect something from the other person. So, the gopis, in one sense, they give everything to Krishna, and Krishna just gives them up and goes away. There is every reason to abandon that love.
But they don’t. So, their being in the state of this bitter nectar is demonstrating their unconditional love for Krishna. Most people will think of such unconditional love as unwanted love.
I don’t want this only, isn’t it? But this is where Krishna’s special position comes in. When Krishna leaves Vrindavan, but actually Krishna lives in the hearts of those who live in Vrindavan. Krishna enters deeper into the hearts of the gopis.
And therefore, when they are away from Him, they are remembering Him even more and more. So, this is not very easy to understand, that it is actually an exalted level of devotion. So, it is this highest love, that the level of selflessness, the level of the unconditional nature of love of the gopis for Krishna, it is that love that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has come to demonstrate.
Such is the Lord, Vajagodhru Makanan, one who is the moon of Godhru, Kunjagodhru. Let us worship that Lord. So, let us recite this verse once again.
And then we will move on to the other verses. Shree, you want to recite? Anyone else would like to recite? That metre is quite nice. Would you like to recite? Hari Priya? Shree, you want to do? Avatara Varam Paripoornapalam Paratatvamihatmavilasamayam Avatara Varam Paripoornapalam Paratatvamihatmavilasamayam Prajatamara Sambuddhi Guptarasam Vajagodhru Makanana Kunjavidhu Prajatamara Sambuddhi Guptarasam Vajagodhru Makanana Kunjavidhu Let us recite it together.
Avatara Varam Paripoornapalam Paratatvamihatmavilasamayam Prajatamara Sambuddhi Guptarasam Vajagodhru Makanana Kunjavidhu Thank you. So, what are we discussing? IIT What is IIT? Identity Intention I had a friend who got through IIT. He was just not meant to be an engineer.
He was supposed to be an artist, but he somehow went to IIT. He said, IIT is the institute of infinite torture. Did he graduate? Yeah, he did.
So, he said the torture inspired him to become a devotee. So, now we are talking about his intention, his mission. So, Kali Kukkura.
So, Kali is like a dog. Right? In the past, because some people say, you are like an animal. In the past, that was like an insult to a human being.
But now, it might be an insult to the animal. People often behave in inhumane ways. So, Kali Kukkura Mudgara.
So, he said that Kali is like a dog. What kind of dog? Kali Kukkura Mudgara is like a rabid dog. Now, rabies is a disease that actually makes the dog not only sick, not only the cause of sickness for others, but also rabies is a disease which is characterised by both sickness and madness.
Normally dogs, they can be stopped. Go away. But when a rabid dog is there, that combination of sickness and madness makes the dog very difficult to control.
So, Kali Kukkura Mudgara. So, Mudgara is having a club, a mace to control the dog. Bhavadharam.
He has taken on the mood of a protector, a warrior. That the mood of the club he is protecting from the rabid dog of Kali. Anyone else would like to sing? I’ll lead with the singing.
Haripriya. Once more. So, now, it’s not enough just to stop the rabid dog from biting people.
What about people who have already been bitten? They need to be saved. So, Mahaprabhu the protector not only stops that, but also has a medicine to cure those who have been bitten by this rabid dog of Kali. That is Harinam Mahamsadhi.
Harinam, the name of Lord Krishna, not just an aushadhi, but a maha-aushadhi. And when the pandemic came, the vaccines were made, whatever the management of the vaccine, but when they were being sold, the pharma companies, they made a huge amount of money. So, India proposed at that time that the vaccine should be distributed free.
Trying to save humanity. But there is a lot of opposition that they should be not given free, whatever. So, medicines can be very expensive.
But here, Mahaprabhu is the maha-aushadhi dana param. He is just giving it freely. That is His charity.
Harinam Mahamsadhi Harinam Mahamsadhi And whom is He giving it to? Patitaarthadayadra Sumurtidharam So, patita is those who are fallen. Those who are not just fallen, but they are distressed. They are fallen and distressed.
And then dayadra, He is Himself filled with so much compassion, that seeing the suffering of others, He is having tears. And sumurtidharam, His beautiful form, that, actually there is a shower of tears that is coming from His eyes. Seeing the distress of others.
That is His extraordinary compassion. Patitaarthadayadra Sumurtidharam Let’s do all of it together. Harinam Mahamsadhi Patitaarthadayadra Sumurtidharam So, now, so, the Lord’s mission, at one level, is to just display His pastimes.
But while He is displaying His pastimes, He is also addressing the situation that is there in this world. Now, Kali Yuga is highlighted in many different ways as being extremely dangerous and degraded. Now, why is it so much degraded? What exactly is degraded about Kali Yuga is that, we all as human beings, there is a natural search for happiness within us.
And, in the past ages, this search for happiness, it was gradually directed upwards. This is the path of Dharma or Punya, where people live piously and gradually they get elevated. See, across the world, certainly in the Vedic tradition, but beyond also, there is some understanding that there is an ultimate reality, that there is God, and that we need to live in harmony with God.
In the past, death was very much an evident reality for everyone. Although there was prosperity, although there was well-being, but the kind of comforts that we have created in the world today, it often sedates us. It’s like a sedative, which makes us forget the reality that life in this world is temporary.
But in the past, people were aware of that, more or less. They said, there is a focus on something higher. So, there was a path of Dharma, and most people, to varying degrees, they followed the path of Dharma.
Now, there was also the path of Moksha. Now, Moksha ultimately culminates in Bhakti. This was followed by few people.
It’s more like a rapid advancement. And of course, there was the path of Baba, which is again, few people. There were always people who were going to be like this.
But this was followed by few people. But in today’s world, this was overall in the past. But in Kali Yuga, what has happened is, if we consider this path of Moksha and the path to Swarga, now this, both of these to some extent, are largely declared as imaginary.
Most people think that there is no other world. And see, the people who say, there is no such thing as a spiritual world, those people take the digital world very seriously. Isn’t it? They actually get completely immersed.
The way people watch movies, play video games, get caught in characters. There are these comic cons and all those things. People actually wear the kind of costumes of those characters.
They act like those characters. So, you know, people create another world. So, we rejected the reality of the spiritual world.
But then what has happened is, if there is no idea of a higher world, then we start seeking pleasure in this world itself. When we start seeking pleasure in this world, in this path, this is unfortunately what most people follow. And the problem in Kali Yuga is twofold.
There are always people who are going to do wrong and degrade themselves. But in Kali Yuga, this particular path is intellectually rationalised. That means, this is what life is meant for.
Why should there be any restrictions at all? This old-fashioned religion and morality, it’s all stifling. It’s all suffocating. It’s not what you need.
So, I was in… I was in California, and there it is a Western outreach programme. And there, there was a Western couple and couple were talking with me. So, I asked the professor what he was doing.
And then he asked me this. I’m a stay-at-home dog mom. I’m a what? I’m a stay-at-home dog mom.
He said, dog mom. He said, is that a real thing? He said, you know, that means I have a puppy and the puppy is like my baby and I’m a stay-at-home dog mom. So, now, the way the world has become, I googled and it seems to be a cool thing.
There are people who are stay-at-home dog moms and stay-at-home cat moms also. So, now, if somebody wants to have pets, that’s up to them. I’m not criticising that.
But the point I’m making over here is that people think, you know, why should we have children? Now, there’s no need for children. In fact, the whole anti-natal movement, which is, you know, says the planet is burdened with so much of human carbon footprint. So, why bring another human being? Well, the planet is not burdened because of the number of human beings.
The planet is burdened because of the level of consciousness of the human beings. So, if we can bring up a child and bring it up to be, bring the child to be virtuous, that’s a great society to live in. So, I mean, the point I’m making is, this is just one example of, this is not a, it’s not a very serious thing, but I’ll give the example of things being intellectually rationalised.
That, that which is, so, having a pet and choosing not to have children and thinking that we have been virtuous for not having children, that is something which is not so advisable. It is, there’s, there are all kinds of addictions that have always been there in society. But now, quite often, say, what is wrong is glamorised.
In movies, when there are some explicit scenes, they’re called as bold scenes. Now, what does it mean? The opposite of bold is what? Cowardly. That means if somebody is not exposing their skin, they’re cowardly.
It’s a subtle change of, subtle use of language. But there’s a, there’s a value system that has been changed over. So, in Kalyuga, sin is intellectually rationalised.
And then, it is unfortunately, socially glamorised. Glamorised means, see, in the past, somebody was a wrongdoer, that person would scrutinise, you know, maybe what I’m doing is not so good. Maybe I should stay away.
I should do it discreetly. But now, what’s wrong with it? This is what I want to do and this is what I will do. It becomes like that.
So, this makes the path down. It becomes like a express way on which everybody will go. So, for example, in today’s world, meat-eating, intoxication, gambling, unrestrained sexuality, these are just the natural path that everybody will follow.
Because that is the way society has become arranged. And that is dangerous. So, kalikukkura mudgara bhavadra.
So, this is the rabbit dog. So, when Mahaprabhu comes, through his shiksha, he counters, he emphasises that there is a higher world. Not only is there a higher world, but that, that higher world is filled with higher happiness.
And he offers Harinam Maha Ushada. So, what happens when we chant this Hare Krishna mantra? Essentially, it elevates our consciousness so much that we start experiencing higher happiness. So, this Maha Ushada, we started talking about Rasabi, refined emotion.
So, by the chanting of the holy names, by the glorification of the Lord, our capacity for emotion starts becoming refined. So, what the Harinam, when you say Harinam, it’s like a medicine. Harinam, as a medicine, essentially, what it does is, it refines our emotions.
We start experiencing subtler, sweeter emotions. That capacity is something which deeply uplifts us. And that is how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he gives this particular medicine.
And whom does he give to? He gives to everyone. He gives to, especially, as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu travelled all over India, he wanted him to go to all the places which were especially fallen. And so, Prabhupada came to America.
So, Prabhupada embodied this compassionate mood of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, where he offered this Danaparam, this charity of love of God, by which our tastes will be transformed. When we chant the holy names, it is not just a religious ritual. We’ll find that if we practise the chanting of the holy names, our, the things that we seek pleasure in, the things that we find pleasure in, that itself will change.
So, sometimes what happens when we chant, we think that the holy name itself should give me pleasure. And yes, it will. As kirtans it gives us pleasure, sometimes as japa also, we get some pleasure.
But, more important than, when you talk about the holy name, it is a source of pleasure, but it is, at our levels, we can say it is sometimes. But, but it is more importantly, the source of transforming our source of pleasure. What actually gives me happiness, the holy name changes that.
And we’ll start finding the things, the things which we are craving for earlier, and we found them irresistible. We’ll find, there is nothing there in this world. Maybe if we are young, and you want to experience something new, we may go and experience, but then after sometime we’ll realise, there is nothing really over here.
We will realise that soon, and we will come to Krishna. And it is this, that is used profusely. Prabhupada demonstrated this dramatic transformation, when he actually, he actually came to the west and transformed those who were completely caught in the counterculture, as he said, those hippies, he made them hippies.
So, that same mission of Shaitan Mahaprabhu is still very much alive and active. And, that, so he has come to enable every one of us to transform what we see as our source of pleasure. And that is the mercy, that we can pray to Mahaprabhu for.
When we celebrate God Purnima, and you know, I think of this and this, and this as source of pleasure. But, you know, all those are just tiny sources of pleasure. Please help me realise, that it is your name, it is your glorification.
It is your glorification, it is the source of the supreme pleasure. It is the blessing of Shaitan Mahaprabhu. So, that brings us to the transformation that will come inside us.
We will discuss that and conclude, but let us recite this together once again. Kali Kulkura Mudhkara Bhava Dharam Harinama Mahaushada Dhaana Param Aditartha Dayatra Sumurti Dharam Vajagodhru Makaanana Punjavigam So here, he is saying that Abhilash Chayam Sad Abhed Dhyam So, we have many many desires, but Abhilash Chayam, select your aspirations. It is not so much to reject your aspirations, as Chayam, select.
So, we have desires, and we can desire many things in this world. But select that is truly worldly. And that Abhed Dhyam, that is this, that can be material desires, we put them aside, worldly desires.
Thinking that the world’s things will be the source of happiness. Abhed Dhyam is the mentality, which thinks that we will become God. Now, when I first heard this philosophy, that we are God, my first thought was, if I am God, the world is in big trouble.
I was struggling to manage my own life, if I have to manage the whole world, the world is really in big trouble. So, Abhed Dhyam, this, this particular mentality. And then, while we are serving the Lord, Ok, we will just recite this.
And we will recite this. So, while we are, Ok, so we decide, I just want to focus on serving the Lord. We give up mundane desires, we give up the impersonal conception.
But then, still, in the course of life, sometimes good things will happen, sometimes bad things will happen. Don’t get caught, oh this is good, this is bad. Like we are on a path, just keep moving straight towards the Lord.
Sometimes bad may happen, sometimes good may happen. Just don’t bother about those conceptions. So, is idam meant to be in this line or next line? How will the metre count? Is it the right metre? I think idam should be in the next line.
So, rather than worrying that, oh this is good, this is bad, just focus on what is favourable for bhakti. Ok, how can this situation be favourable for my bhakti? So, how can this situation be an opportunity for me to serve the Lord? So, when Prabhupada, his business didn’t work out, no, it tried again and again and again, it didn’t work out, Prabhupada could have said, better, I am doing this for you, why is it not happening? My dear Lord, you are always dearer to me. So, I see this, you don’t want me to serve you as a business person, you want me to serve you as a teacher.
So, a devotee means, you don’t look at things from what is materially good or bad, materially auspicious or inauspicious. You see, how can I see this situation as favourable for my devotion, as something by which I can go closer to Krishna. So, you want to recite this? Right.
Is it possible? Second and third. Shubham Abhilasha chayam tada vedadhiyam Ashubham chashubham Jagaja sarvam idam Abhilasha chayam tada vedadhiyam Ashubham chashubham Jagaja sarvam idam Anukulataya Priya Sevanaya Anukulataya Priya Sevanaya Anukulataya Priya Sevanaya Anukulataya Priya Sevanaya Anukulataya Priya Sevanaya Bhajagodhrum Akhanana Kunjavidum Bhajagodhrum Akhanana Kunjavidum Bhajagodhrum Akhanana Kunjavidum Bhajagodhrum Akhanana Kunjavidum Abhilasha chayam tada vedadhiyam So, here you talk about, now what is the transformation that we seek now? At one level, the transformation that comes through bhakti, at one level it is automatic. In the sense that, just by the chanting of the holy names, our inclination or infatuation with worldly things will decrease.
That is just a natural consequence. So, what happens is, when we practise bhakti, that gives a bhakti, we get an experience of Krishna. And once we get this experience of Krishna, the result of that is, all other experiences.
They become, relatively speaking, unimportant, insignificant. So, not that we neglect them, not that we reject our responsibilities, but the point is, we are not so agitated by them. I want this to happen, I can’t bear this happening.
In the world, things will happen by their own course. So, we are able to be steady. So, at one level, this will be automatic.
Just by the practise of bhakti, say, if we come to a temple, we have a nice darshan, participate in a wonderful festival, and whatever ups and downs are going on in our life, we will find that we won’t get so agitated by them. We will just become calmer. Not only at that time we become calm, but later on, for a few days, when we go and face life’s ups and downs also, we are still steady.
Life will always have these ups and downs. Now, for people who are not connected with Krishna, like the ups, they really go up, and the downs, they totally go down. So, but for us, as we keep practising bhakti more and more, we start becoming steadier.
Little up, little down, but not much. So, we start becoming steadier. So, this, at one level, will naturally happen to the practise of bhakti.
But at another level, it can also be intentional. Intentional means done with our intention. It’s like, say, somebody is very sick.
They take the proper treatment, they will become healthy. Say, somebody had their arm fractured or something like that. Now, if they are taking the proper treatment, they become healthy, naturally.
But along with their becoming healthier, they also need to start exercising their arm. Okay, maybe lift it a little bit. Their exercising is not the main component that is healing them.
It’s a medicine. But their exercising is also important. If they are not exercising, then the medicine may be curing their arm, but their mobility may not return.
So, like that, so for example, when we are recovering from a fracture, there is an automatic thing which happens to the medicine, but there is also a conscious thing which has to be done in the form of exercising. So, for us, we can also consciously try, that when we get attracted to worldly things, over a period of time, automatically the attractions will go down. But when those attractions come, this is favourable to bhakti, anukulataya.
If it is not anukulataya, let me try to keep a distance from it. Let me try to say no to it. And in bhakti, we focus not so much on saying no to the things of the world, but we focus more on saying yes to them.
So, by Mahaprabhu’s mercy, we have so many ways in which we can connect with Krishna. So many ways in which we can practise bhakti. So many ways, so many services are there to be done.
So many pastimes are there to be heard and relished. So many multifarious activities are there. So, I met one devotee recently.
He was a Christian monk. And he was actually a Christian preacher. So, he designed courses for teaching the Bible.
So, for many years, teaching the Bible was his profession, and chanting Hare Krishna was his personal devotion. So, he was doing that, and finally he came out. He came out, so he had a Facebook page called Thomas Haribol.
That is an anonymous name. So, he was telling me that, now I was teaching the Bible, but when I started chanting Hare Krishna, living the Bible became so much easier. I knew that I should be doing this.
But, in the Christian tradition, with all due respects to Jesus, there is not much of a sadhana that is given. Okay, you go to a temple, go to church once a week, participate in mass, it’s good. But, there is no tangible sadhana that is given.
So, there is no practical tool by which you can transform our desires. So, this, we make some effort to transform our desires. And we’ll see that there will be like a magical multiplier effect.
We make a little effort, and things may not change dramatically in our outer world, but in our inner world, there will be a dramatic change. Just fight against a little desire. Fight a little against a desire, but fight more for serving the Lord.
Think of, you know, how can I fill my consciousness? So, Prabhupada says devotional service. Bhakti translated as devotional service. So, devotion is what fills our consciousness internally.
And service is what fills our day or our time externally. So, in this way, if we focus on filling our consciousness internally with devotional remembrance, and externally our day with service, then we’ll find that this higher-ties, this param vrishtva, that will naturally come. And then, this will become the natural flow of our heart towards the Lord.
That is what you all can pray for on the occasion of Shaitan Mahaprabhu’s appearance. That is, mercy, bring about a natural flow of our heart’s aspirations towards Krishna and His service. So, I’ll summarise.
We discussed, based on this song, three things. What was the first? Identity. So, we discussed this is the Lord Himself.
He has come from the spiritual domain to the material domain as an avatar. So, avatar is more of a descent, and that descent is for the purpose of, at one level it is dharma, but it is also bhakti. Bhakti.
So, especially the Lord comes and gives us a trailer of His pastimes to inspire us to come towards Him. So, now when He comes, He has… So, we discussed what, especially, what was the gupta part of His pastime is the total, the unconditional nature of the love. That unconditional theme comes in shubham cha shubham cha taja sarvam idam That for us, Krishna is not going to reject us the way the Gopis did.
But for our level, the way we practise and practise unconditional bhakti is Krishna. Whether good or bad happens in my life, I am your servant. You are my Lord.
So, that is what we can try to do. So, then we discussed about the intention of the Lord. The intention of the Lord is to ward off, to fight off the toxic influence of Kali.
The rabid dog of Kali. So, why is it considered rabid? Because while the wrong was always there, but this path down of papa is both rationalised and glamorised. That’s why more and more people just go down this path.
And the maha ushad that he gives, what does it do? It gives us a taste, but it also is a transformer of taste. And sometimes when we don’t realise that it is a transformer of taste, we just feel that, oh, I don’t get any taste in chanting of the holy names. Even if we don’t get taste, if we just chant, we’ll find the taste in the rest of our life will be changed.
And then lastly we discussed this transformation, this transformation, that bhakti transformation that happens, that is about giving up other desires and just seeing everything. How can bhakti transformation, that means we see not things as good, bad. Good and bad will keep happening.
We don’t see this vision, we see favourable, unfavourable. And even what is bad, we can see how it is favourable for my bhakti, favourable to bhakti. And that way we can stay connected.
And this is something which both happens automatically and also intentionally. So recovery will happen through the medicine, but if we consciously try, then it can happen even more. And bhakti is about not rejecting, but it’s more about filling.
We fill our consciousness with devotion and we fill our life with service. And in this way, Mahaprabhu’s magical mercy can transform all our lives. Thank you very much.
Shri Gaurang Mahaprabhu ki Jai. Gaur Purnima Mahamotsav ki Jai. Shri Chaitanya Charan Prabhu ki Jai.
Do we have time for questions? Yes. Any questions or comments? It’s a very nice class. In Kali Yuga, like what he says, it’s kukara, like a mad animal.
So whenever we deal with a mad animal or a mad people, which is really very vigorous, we will use very hard way to have to give medicines or anything. But how Mahaprabhu is using is very soft and he’s like a devotee. He’s just more merciful to contact with the people and all that.
So it really looks so contradictory. So how such mercy will transform to that level? So that’s what I was thinking. It’s such extreme.
Okay. So, the way people are right now, how will even the Lord’s mercy reach them? Yes, there has to be, is there a strong message delivery required? Well, in every society, we could go into the value system of modernity and how you see in the past, one of the major values in society was duty or responsibility. That for everyone, I’m a part of society, I’m part of family, I’m part of community, I’m part of country.
I have a part to play. That was a primary value. But in the present, we’re talking about the primary value over here.
It’s not duty or responsibility, it is autonomy. I am my own person. I want to do what I want to do.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean people will be irresponsible. Even people can autonomously choose responsibly. But the primary value is autonomy.
The primary value is you cannot impose anything on me. So we have to recognise the ethos of the times. So, for example, in the past, marriage was more of a duty or responsibility.
Most people never got to choose their partners. It was like social arrangement, political arrangement, whatever. And it is a responsibility to do it.
But today, it’s very much a matter of autonomy. I’ll make my choice, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll opt out of the choice. So, in every area, autonomy is very important.
So, for example, feminism emphasises autonomy for women. Women should make their own choices. If they want a career, they should have one.
That’s fine. That’s true. But it is not that men were suppressing women for thousands of years.
Even men, before 300-400 years, men also didn’t have much autonomy. You know, whatever… In India, there was a caste system. In the West, there was a class system.
You know, whatever class you were born in, that’s the class kind of job you’ll get. So, autonomy was not there for anyone. Not completely not there, but that was not even considered that important a value.
And men themselves, only by 17th-18th century when industrialisation started, actually men got autonomy. In the sense that men got some options. Okay, I don’t want to have this job.
I can choose something else. And within 200 years, women also got. Now, children want autonomy from their parents also.
That can be problematic, isn’t it? So, there is this… In California, they made… I don’t know how it’s connected with California. They have a rule that if a child thinks that, you know, actually I’m not a girl, I’m a boy, they can actually take hormonal treatment and do surgery without even informing their parents. So, you know, that level of autonomy from the parents is completely unhealthy.
It’s dangerous, actually. But anyway, the point I’m making is, autonomy is very much valuable. So, autonomy can also become dangerous.
But the thing is, we cannot completely go against the ethos of the world. That’s why Mahaprabhu’s mood as Channa Avatar is actually very appropriate in this Kali Yuga. Mahaprabhu doesn’t say that, I am God and you surrender to me.
Mahaprabhu says, this is how we all can find ultimate happiness. Mahaprabhu is demonstrating bhakti. So, we, although people need urgently, we cannot impose it on others.
We can only propose it to others. So, sharing of devotion… In fact, nowadays, I’m one of the editors for Back to Godhead. So, from several years, we stopped using the word preaching also.
Because preaching sounds very preachy. Like I’m sitting, somebody, the preacher is sitting holier than thou, high up and issuing diktats for everyone else to follow. That’s not the mood of Shilapurama.
That’s not the mood of our movement. But still the word comes. So, we use the word sharing bhakti.
When we are sharing, it’s not meant to be an imposition that won’t work. It’s actually first, it is a proposition. There’s a different way of looking at life.
There’s a different way of living. And then, after the proposition, you know, there is inspiration. Not only this is a different way of living, but you can live this way.
So, the more we present bhakti in this way, not so much prescriptive, that you do this, but descriptive, this is what I do, this is why I do it. And then we inspire others. That’s what will reach people.
And more and more, various traditions, other religious traditions are also adopting this ethos only. That, you know, you cannot be very vertical in outreach. You have to be much more horizontal.
That’s the ethos of the word. So, the autonomy is very much emphasised. So, you have to persuade people.
And one advantage of bhakti is that, in today’s world, if you consider that, historically, there are pre-modern times, then there are modern times, and now what they call is post-modern times. So, in pre-modern times, the primary authority was scripture. That is, whichever religion it might be, people followed scripture.
In modern times, it was science as the primary authority. Now, in the post-modern times, the primary authority is experience. If I experience something, and it is good, it feels good, it adds value to my life, then I will do it.
And this is where we have a big advantage in Mahaprabhu’s process is eminently experiential. So, when we can just help people experience Krishna, then we can actually, we can help them take up bhakti in extraordinarily effective ways. So, Prabhupada, not just give classes, Prabhupada gave people experience of Krishna.
Any last question before? Yes. So, you talked about devotion fills the heart and service fills the day and time. So, the question is like, can there be devotion without service and service without devotion? Okay.
Can there be devotion without service and service without devotion? Well, it is possible, but it is not sustainable. So, for example, somebody might, nowadays people just like to do volunteer work. So, in many of our temples in India, we have created like community service projects.
So, many colleges, schools, they want students to do some community service work. So, you know, maybe 50 hours in a semester you have to do some community service. So, they come to the temple and help in the gardening, they come to the temple and maybe even help with social media, whatever.
And they do that and then the temple is authorised to give them certificate. That you did this service. So, now they are doing service, they could go anywhere and do the service.
So, they don’t have much devotion. They are doing service. And just by associating with devotees, they are coming to the temple, they are spending time with devotees.
So, from that service, so basically you could say, there is service, then there is devotional service, and then there is pure devotional service. So, it’s incremental steps. Krishna talks about this.
This is 12.8, this is 12.9 and 10, and this is 12.11. Now, quite often people will go step by step only. So, in one sense, if somebody is only doing service without devotion, then what is going to happen is, okay, if they never develop devotion, then they will find some other form of service to do. They feel, okay, let me go and do some humanitarian work.
Let me do something else. Now, can there be devotion without service? Well, again, suppose somebody is sick, and they are in bed, they just can’t do anything. So, they may not be able to do any service, but still they can hear about Krishna, they can remember Krishna, they can pray to Krishna.
That’s possible. But, suppose somebody recovers, and after recovering also, they don’t resume the service. Then, in that time, the devotion will be there, but unless the devotion is expressed, it will not be sustained.
So, over a period of time, yes, it’s possible sickness, say, for example. Here, it will be possible volunteerism. Somebody wants to do volunteer work.
So, in general, from devotion, there has to be some expression through some service. And through service, there has to be some infusion of devotion. That’s when it will become sustained.
Thank you. Devotion without service is a good thing. Healing service.
Well, it can, sometimes, you know, some treasure is buried so deep that even the person forgets that I have a treasure. So, like some people say, Bhagwan ka smaran 24 gante chal raha hai. I’m always remembering the Lord.
Why do we need to chant the Lord? And you chant, you, you just chant and you fall asleep, and you wake up and chant. Bhaav nahi hai. Bhaav se jab karna chahiye.
It’s true, we should chant with devotion. But the problem is, it’s not that bhaav is going to manifest automatically. No, what comes automatically will also go automatically.
Like, even in ordinary relationships, people fall in love, and then people fall out of love. Isn’t it? See, if you want to have a serious relationship, you cannot just be dependent on the emotion. There has to be some dedication.
That’s why the love is not just a noun, it’s also a verb. So, you can say, devotion is also not just a noun. It’s not just something we experience.
It’s also something that we… I’ll give you a hint. So, anusheelanam. Yes, somebody may have some devotion, but if they never express it to themselves, then whether it will last for long.
So, in one sense, you could say that devotion without service is gupta, in the sense that there is devotion hidden in everyone’s heart. But it won’t just stay unmanifest, it will often be directed toward other things. So, thank you very much.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki! Jai! Prabhupada ki! Jai! Gaura Bhakta Vrnda ki! Jai! Gaura Prema Vrnda ki! Jai! Mahaprasade govinde! Mahaprasade govinde!