NoI 11 Text 4 – How the six exchanges nourish devotion

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so welcome back to our lecture instruction discussions so we have discussed till text 3 and we will start from text 4 so quick recap of the flow of lecture instruction before we move forward the next is a book about sadhana in spiritual life there are two primary things the door of the kitchen both in oneself there is sadhana and there is sadhya sadhya is that which is to be achieved and sadhana is the means by which we achieve that so for example if I decide that I have to go to Mayapur so Mayapur is my sadhya and then I may use a train, I may choose to go by plane there are different ways I decide to go, that is the sadhana so in spiritual life we need to have sadhya and sadhana cleared so that we can move forward now among the four books that we have these two are not totally divided but the general focus is there if you look at bhakti at Ishopanishad it doesn’t talk much about sadhana it doesn’t talk about chanting of the holy names there are some verses which are prayers which come at the end of the Ishopanishad but it’s primarily a book about sadhya it tells us about the nature of the absolute truth and the nature of the seer who has perceived the absolute truth so primarily it is about sadhya whereas there are things about sadhana which can be inferred, no doubt but primarily it is about sadhya if you look at Bhagavad Gita it contains both it establishes the position of Krishna and the supreme absolute reality and then it establishes the position of bhakti as the best the highest sadhana and now if you look at lecture of devotion it also has both it also, initial part 90 chapters that we will study they focus more on sadhana but the subsequent chapters which are for our interview study later they focus more on the nature of Krishna and the 64 qualities of Krishna and the intimate devotional mellows and relationship with him so the qualities of Krishna are more a description of the sadhya and the further mellows of bhakti the description of sadhya so like that, whenever we study any book if we have the goal clear then we can organise our study around that we start studying the Bhagavad Gita and if one goes into the 5th category of cosmology too much if one is a specialist scientist who is a part of the team to make the planetarium then that sort of research is fine but for other devotees that sort of research is not very relevant so if we look at that section in the 5th canto chapter 16 to 25 we will see that the whole context is devotional the idea is start of section, end of the section the idea is by understanding the vastness of the cosmos, one can understand the glory of the supreme lord and by understanding how in the different regions in the world in the universe whether we are in the 3 purusha loka or this loka or that loka everywhere there is dharma and devotion so by understanding the greatness of the cosmos we understand the greatness of the lord of the cosmos and by understanding the pervasiveness of dharma throughout the cosmos we understand the universality of dharma so in any study the purpose has to be clear, otherwise we can get caught up so in lecture of instruction the primary focus is sadhana, it is not so much focussing on sadhya there are practically no verses which talk directly about Krishna there will be later verses which talk about the glory of Radha-Kul and there is a little bit of sadhya but even the glory of Radha-Kul is talked in the context of how that glory of Radha-Kul should inspire us to take shelter of Radha-Kul so this is the book of sadhana so it begins first with physical and mental sense control that the first verse is generic for all sadhakas vachyo vigham manasa prodhya vigham this is relevant for jnanis yogis and bhaktas in fact this verse is universal for all sadhakas then after that what is being talked about is utsahamsya, dhaiya, atyaar, prayasishyam these are also applicable with modification for other sadhakas but the way Prabhupada explains it he explains it he explains how it applies to bhakti but now onwards from the fourth verse onwards what is focused on is primarily for bhaktas jnanis and yogis primarily do sadhana alone so in the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita when Krishna talks about the sadhana of the jnanis so it says that they live alone and then ekanda and lagvashi they live alone, they eat little vivittase vi lagvashi vivittase vi lagvashi Krishna talks about this twice once in 13.11 and then again talks about in 18.51 18.53 so in contrast with that the sadhana for a devotee is in association so as we move forward in the verses the association and how to take association with different devotees within the association that will be discussed so first the fourth verse so this theme of association will go on for several verses fourth verse will give a general theme of how there should be reciprocation among devotees and fifth verse will talk about how to reciprocate with different levels of devotees and sixth verse will talk especially about very advanced devotees how we should not see them materially so that’s the progression now of course all these principles can be applied for all levels and we will discuss that but the basic point is now we are going more into bhakti sadhana not just generic sadhana but into bhakti sadhana so let’s recite the verse dhati pratigranati dhati pratigranati chadvidam priti lakshanam chadvidam priti lakshanam ok so dhati pratigranati dhati means to give pratigranati means to accept so to give and receive gifts guriya maakhyati prichati so to share our heart guriya maakhyati maakhyati means to speak maakhyati meko bhavanu pranupo maakhyati maakhyati maakhyati maakhyati means to ask, maakhyati means to speak so maakhyati guriya maakhyati to speak our heart confidentially and prichati to ask confidentially of others and in bhunte bhojate bhunte is to receive prasad and to offer prasad chadvidam priti lakshanam these six are the characteristics of affection of love of devotion of positive emotions between devotees now again if we look at these principles they are not limited to bhakti this is the way people develop affection anywhere in life two businessmen want to strike a deal they may invite each other to a hotel and they dine over there and over dine they discuss their backgrounds their experiences, their interests, their aspirations and then they may share some gifts and that’s how their relationship develops so this principle is general this verse can also act as a guide for relationships in general and relationships are things which are very much talked about in material life in impersonalism they are downplayed and bhakti again they are talked about a lot so we talk about relationships they centre on Krishna but ultimately it’s a matter of relationships so relationships are like trees now trees in the initial stages when they are small, first there are seeds and then they grow up so we have to pour a lot of water and we don’t seem to get any returns from it but once the trees grow up once the saplings grow up and become trees then they will provide shelter so initially relationships may seem to be demanding a lot of time and energy but eventually they provide shelter so here how do these relationships work giving gifts and receiving gifts now we have to get to Prabhupada’s purport Prabhupada writes the six symptoms of love and he gives a summary of these and Prabhupada gives an example of a businessman over here and he explains that how in devotional life in Krishna consciousness also we are doing the same thing so it’s a straightforward purport, at least this part of it so Prabhupada gives the example that we invite people for food and we ask them to take prasad and then their life members, they give some donation and then we give them some books or gifts it’s a reciprocation so they invite we invite them for prasad at the temple they invite us to have prasad at their house so it’s interesting earlier in the same nectar of instruction that regulating one’s eating was considered to be a very important aspect of bhakti but at the same time in the same nectar of instruction they said offering prasad and receiving prasad that is also limbo bhakti so the idea is that food is not just object for world sustenance the devotional culture subsumes everything subsume means what consume means to devour something and then it no longer exists subsume means it includes within a broader framework so for example if we have a set of odd numbers and then we have a set of natural numbers all numbers the set of odd numbers is subsumed within a set of natural numbers so subsume means to include within a brahmigarh category so like that the nature of bhakti is that it subsumes material activities within it so there are three different attitudes to this world one is to romanticise the world romanticise means oh this world is a place of enjoyment all the movies talk about it you just meet your dream partner and once you meet you will be happily ever after so even when people come to spiritual life many times you search for reincarnation people ask, first thing they ask on reincarnation is see there are modern science so much that they have romanticised reincarnation and the first thing that people ask when people go for reincarnation is how does one find one’s soulmate how does one find one’s soulmate the idea is oh we have some partner who goes on life after life after life and you just have to find that partner so I said it, in the soulmate you focus more on the soul part less on the mate part so the idea is that one attitude is to romanticise the world oh this world is a wonderful place and we can enjoy over there the other attitude is extreme so this is the attitude of karma the path of karma is romanticising the world the path of jnana is demonising the world oh this world is a place of misery and the beautiful objects in this world they are all traps, they are like snakes they bite and this is demonise, demonise, demonise and that is also given in the Bhagavatam, but that is a part of the Bhagavatam which is primarily focused on jnana so the Uddhav Gita talks about bhakti it builds from jnana towards bhakti so there, there are Purvavas friends who talk about this sort of thing so we don’t, in bhakti we neither romanticise the world nor do we demonise the world what do we do, we utilise the world utilise the world for serving Krishna and by utilise we utilise it, we realise we realise this world to be Krishna’s energy meant for his service so food is an object of such glamorisation in material there are so many advertisements of fast food and cold drinks and this and that so it’s romanticised, it’s glamorised the path of jnana is oh people, they just eat only leaves that have fallen from the tree so Vatambu Paranashana Gita Vatambu Paranashana so it is said that in the Govindama Dastotra the perfection of all these very austere yogis the four, three levels of yogis, the highest level of yogis are they who eat water, water is not air they live only on air the second level of yogis are those who are Ambu, Ambu is water so they live only in water and then the third level of yogis are austere yogis are Parana, Parana is fallen leaves so all these level of yogis, whatever spiritual advancement they make by that they can make much more spiritual advancement by Govinda Rama Dharmandhari by chanting the holy names of the lord so on the path of bhakti we don’t demur is who, but we utilise it so food is a natural bodily necessity but the glory of bhakti is it is not reduced to just that, it is seen as a part of a devotional culture and when we cook food and offer food to the lord and then share that food with devotees that becomes something which nourishes not just our body but nourishes our heart and we see that in this chapter upon chapter which talks about how the devotees offered food to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and how the lord accepted food in fact, this is chapter title in which Advaita Acharya invites Lord Chaitanya to his house for food Sarvambhattacharya invites Lord Chaitanya to his house for food so the idea is that food is the medium by which affection is reciprocated so what we do when we offer food is that we are actually offering our devotion for Krishna through that food to the people whom we are offering that food so food is the means by which we exchange Krishna with each other so that’s why prasad we don’t just call it as food we call it as prasad and so now here we have to remember that the reciprocation is the quality of affection it is not the quantity of the food so sometimes Rishikeshis and Brahmacharis go to the house of Brahmastas they offer a lot of food lot of food so now there is a Karmakandi idea that there is a concept in the Abrahamic religions something similar, not in the Abrahamic religions in the pre-Abrahamic religions let’s do this tradition which has a rough analogue that concept is called as sin eater what is sin eater? in the Greco-Roman world they had the idea that we do certain activities that will be sinful so there are certain priests whom you invite to your house and you offer them food and when they eat the food they will eat your sins so you will become free from sin so that’s called sin eater so this sin eater they were respected and offered a lot of food and the idea that the more food they eat the more sin will go away so now some people think that we invite sadhus to our house and then offer them food and then our sins will go away now that is not an attitude that devotees should have when we invite devotees for food the idea is to serve the devotees and serving the devotees means we do it, service is that which is pleasing the devotees so if we do it in a way, just trying to put more and more food and thinking that the more food some devotee takes, the more I am becoming free from sin and there is very little devotion in that attitude, it becomes very self centred and even when devotees offer food to us it is not that we should have to take more food than what is our capacity because yes honouring prasad is also service to Krishna but that is not the only service to Krishna so we should not do that service so much that we are not able to do any other service after that we eat so much food that after that we are going to sleep for hours and hours together that is not a good idea I had gone once with Sona Swapna Sambhav Maharaj to some devotee’s house for food for prasad, and that devotee was offering a lot of food to Maharaj so I was there offering and Maharaj said no he told that devotee the affection of your heart is greater than the digestion of my stomach so that is a devotional sweet and I said no so we can say no also in a way that is firm but at the same time gentle but it is not that this should not is a means for reciprocity of affection this should not become this should not be misused as a means for pandering to the urges of our tongue that has been talked about precaution has already been offered in Atyahar and we should not do Atyahar but within the limits of whatever food we take is bhoomte bhojate jaiva so we offer food and we accept food and through that the whole culture of devotion is maintained in fact this happens even in the spiritual world Radharani cooks food for Krishna and she offers that food and we say it is interesting that in the description of the spiritual world there is mentioned that there is Kalpataru every desire is a wishful fulfilling tree but if you look at the past times of Krishna which are described either in the 10th Canto or in the Anandam Jampu Gopal Jampu or other books we don’t find any of the devotees asking anything from the desire trees the gopis want to do practical services Radharani doesn’t say desire trees produce some halwa, produce some rasgulla produce some paratha no Radharani wants to cook for Krishna because in that service in that service there is the offering of the heart there is a connection Vishwadamayi also cooks for Krishna and she loves to cook so the point is the facility is there and the facility if it is required devotees can use the facility but when they had to make Radha Kumbh, thousands of gopis came and they started digging what to make Radha Kumbh and in certain times even Radharani may use mystic powers, she has mystic powers but the primary focus in devotion is service, is engagement that is now this is a very important statement over here the life of the Krishna conscious society is nourished by these six types of loving exchanges among the members significant the life is nourished so what is the life of Krishna conscious society it is related to relationships we have we have Krishna consciousness which is individual everyone has to develop our individual Krishna consciousness but what is the established following the example given by Chetan Chaitanya the society as an international society so now the society means that there are reciprocations, there are relationships and relationships develop by these six exchanges which is nourished by these six types of loving exchange so we will see that normally how do we perceive or remember other people first is that we look at those people so how they look that creates some perception then second is we see some person who is coming for the first time how does that person look person is dressed decently or dressed in ragged clothes or unclean clothes that creates one impression how they look and second is what do they do what do they do this person is an engineer or this person is an NRI or this person is that or that so that is something which creates that impression third is what they speak another person is just coming here to ask oh I have got some marriage with my daughter and I want to know whether you hire the hall for marriage or somebody comes and asks serious philosophical questions what they speak and fourth is how they speak you know if somebody speaks in very culture refined language it is a very educated person not just in terms of education but in terms of upbringing and everything so basically when we form impressions of others how they look, what they do what they speak, how they speak this is how we develop impressions about people and then afterwards if we see how they behave that’s what forms the subsequent impressions and what does behaviour include, it includes speech it includes the reciprocations that happen and in one sense the Dati Pratikramanati could have included Bhoomte Bhojayate Jai Dati Pratikramanati is giving a lesson Prasad is also an item that is given and received but here this is put separately because it is such an important item although there are many gifts that can be given and received but the idea of this particular food item it is such an important way in which human affection is reciprocated that is talked about separately, so if you look back at the memories of devotees or memories of friends that we have, they will be primarily centred on these things, maybe it was a birthday and somebody gave us some gift for us we may remember that person like that or maybe we met that person that spoke something very witty, very humorous, very inspiring, very instructive or we spoke something and that person heard it and tell me we gave something to that person that person accepted it, so if we look back at the, our relationships have some high points and there is a normal state of relationship normally we deal, how are you, I am doing this, you do that, we do that, there is a normal state of the relationship but the relationships have some high points and the high points are all centred around these things and those high points that are there, they are what nourish the relationship so what does Prabhupada say over there is very deep that the life of the Krishna conscious society is nourished by these six types of loving exchanges, so to the extent we have these to the extent the relationship with the devotees and the relationship with Krishna will deepen within our heart, so we know that prasangam ajaram bhashyam atmana kavayavidhu saiva sadhu shukhuto moksha dvaram apaditam the third canto, in the discussion between Kapila and Devahurthi who described that, that attachment to the material is very difficult to give up prasangam ajaram bhashyam ajaram, jaram means old age, so prasanga is attachment, so the body grows old but the attachment doesn’t grow prasangam is ajaram it’s a pash, it binds us so the atmana kavayavidhu the wise people know that attachment is very very difficult to give up for the atman but saiva sadhu shukhuto, the same is directed towards the sadhus, towards the devotees then moksha dvaram apaditam and the doors to liberation open so attachment to devotees is very auspicious and the attachment to devotees is developed by doing these six activities, so now when we talk about giving gifts so here Prabhupada talks about another point here, sangat sanjayate kamaha so sanga has many meanings, sanga can mean attachment and sanga can mean association so actually if you look at the literal flow of the 2.62 dhyayato vishayan pumsaha sangas teshu prajayate sangat sanjayate kamaha most of you know this verse so there dhyayato vishayan pumsaha contemplate in the sense of objects what happens, sangas teshu prajayate one develops attachment for things I see something, I see something, I realise ok, some object is there, some new cell phone is there new laptop is there, new dress that’s nice, so what happens that’s nice is a sort of attachment is developed, and then if I keep contemplating on it and then I want it it becomes calm and then when I lose it, I can’t have it, I want to have it that becomes chrome that’s how it grows so if you look at the literal translation that is referring to attachment but the bhagavad gita is not a limited book, no it is the word of Krishna and Krishna’s words can have many meanings so here Prabhupada explains the word sanga in a different way, that sanga can also be an association so sangat sanjayate kama at one level can be by attachment, the desire develops, by contemplation attachment develops, attachment, desire develops but sanga can also be association as association, desire develops so Prabhupada himself has said that the bhagavad gita verses can be translated in different ways, in fact the previous acharyas have translated the bhagavad gita verses in different ways also sometimes if you look at Balyam it differs from Krishnacharya’s translation of the verse it differs from Prabhupada’s translation because the gita has very deep import and different translations include different facets of the gita so here Prabhupada quotes that sangat sanjayate kama, so then he goes back to the basic philosophy, saying how we all need to purify ourselves so now the point that Prabhupada is making is Prabhupada is not just sticking to these six exchanges he is going back to the foundations why we need these six exchanges and he explains that our, let’s recite this verse nitya siddha krishna prema nitya siddha krishna prema sadhya kabhula sadhya kabhula shravanadi shuddha chitte shravanadi shuddha chitte paraya yenudha paraya yenudha so nitya siddha nitya siddha means actually it is eternally present but it is sadhya so it is not accessible to us but shravanadi, by shravanadi it will become accessible so the krishna consciousness that is dormant within us by hearing in association it will become manifest to us the purpose of quoting this is again to make the point that by purification we will be able to access our dormant krishna consciousness and that krishna purification happens in the association of devotees so then Prabhupada goes into the conversation between Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Vedas so again the point of this conversation is what it is the process of purification and then he describes over here how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Ahi Ved and the moon’s glance and Vedas Thakur asks to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu how will people be delivered so this he is giving for two purposes one is he is giving this conversation to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Vedas Thakur which is given by the Dhammikha Mahatmya it is for how there is guhiyam akhyati prichiti between the lord and the devotees and also along with that Prabhupada is also saying that this demonstrates the process of purification by chanting one will become purified and then Prabhupada says once you are enquired about the krishna consciousness movement it is guhiyam akhyati prichiti so now here I will just go through this purpose and then we will talk a little bit more about it now Prabhupada contrasts krishna consciousness bhakti yoga with other markers other paths and he says that there are all these other paths but they are samodhi dharmas the bhakti marg is the paranodharma and he quotes Bhagavata 126 for that and then he quotes that when we have to have these six exchanges we need not have these exchanges with those who are non-devotional and especially those who are anti-devotional so he quotes that vishaya anna khaile dushta hai man nahi krishne rasmaran he quotes this from CICC also that these six exchanges should be minimised or avoided with non-devotees because that will affect our consciousness and then Prabhupada comes to the conclusion that we should always keep association and it is the basic principle of yoga service and then the important point is he talks about the madhyamadhikari over here you know that madhyamadhikari what are the four characteristics have you discussed this sorry prema maithri kripa prema maithri kripa in the middle state it is expected to develop love for the supreme lord, make friends with the devotees show favour to the ignorant and reject the jealous of the demoniac so why is he talking about this over here this is a guideline for us to understand with whom we should do these six exchanges so now the uttamaadhikari is transcendental uttamaadhikari can give association without being affected by bad association but we will get affected by bad association so by what do you mean by bad association at one level the middle state association of Sanskrit is bad association but along with that even the association of spiritualists who have different conceptions of spirituality different from the conception given by the acharyas, that can also create disturbing desires and doubts in our consciousness so madhyamadhikari will be able to associate and stay unaffected sorry uttamaadhikari will be able to associate and stay unaffected kanishtaadhikari will be immediately affected madhyamadhikari can stay unaffected but still that will not be for long see how it is, again going back to the example of a tree now when the tree is in the sapling stage very small, at that time it requires enormous care if the sapling is basically a tree in a very small state if the sapling is exposed to storms, is exposed to heavy heat, it will wilt away so in the natural course of the growth of the tree, the sapling requires protection, but when the sapling grows up to a huge tree at that time, it can withstand storms it can withstand heat, so like that our bhakti right now is in the sapling stage, so we need friends we need protection and then as it grows further and further then it becomes a normal tree, it requires less protection, still some level of protection is required so madhyamadhikari also one should be careful and uttamaadhikari one can actually give association without becoming contaminated so now with respect to these activities a little bit more from a practical sense so I will focus more on gudhyamakhyatipurushyati, but let’s start I talked about gudhyamakhyatipurushyati let’s talk about adati pratikarnyati in gifts there is the content of the gift and there is the intent of the gift the content is what I give and the intent is why I give so both are important so the lord is bhavdrahi janatana and we will see for him what is more important, content or intent, intent is more important and we see that in the past time of krishnanamaya shantidurth to hastinapur the content of durgana’s feast was far better than vidura’s wife whatever she offered him but the intent of durgana was exploiting him he wanted to create a division between krishna and the pandavas and he wanted to sort of bribe krishna to come on his side krishna did not appreciate that so among the content and the intent the intent is more important while this is true it is also proved that the intent is expressed through the content generally speaking if somebody’s birthday is there and I give a card and while writing the card I give a card to my dear prabhu and misspell the name of the person while writing the gift now what does that indicate that sloppiness indicates a lack of attention, a lack of care so although the intent is more important but the intent should also express itself in the content so if there is the desire to appreciate or please a person by giving something that desire will express itself by how I offer the gift so I may say that I want to cook for krishna the intent is good but along with that I should also be attentive while cooking if I don’t know how to cook or I don’t cook carelessly then the intent does not necessarily always compensate for the absence of the content most importantly the intent should not be used to justify the poorness of the content but the idea is the intent is there the content that we offer will be the best that we can offer that’s how the intent is expressed so now in the devotee culture we see that there are gifts that are given in different ways so we might just give some gift on birthday to someone or we might give a gift on some special occasion some devotee has done something for us I would like to give this gift to this person so normally speaking whenever we receive a gift we should also do something for that person so if somebody gives donation to a devotee in the temple the devotee should also feel that I should do something for that person maybe I should give some books maybe I should give some something by which that person will learn how to come closer to Krishna so if we take only and not give then the reciprocation is not complete and the reciprocation is not complete not only does the relationship not deepen but also often we may become a little bit implicated because we are accepting but we are not giving because as a brahmana it is said brahmana’s mouth has to do things accept bhojana but also has to do bhajana has to give jnana so if the brahmana accepts only bhojana and does not do bhajana then that brahmana has not done the brahmana’s duty properly and so when we go generally to houses of devotees we speak about Krishna when we accept prasad we also speak about Krishna that way there is padat patigrahanati so when gifts are given the whole idea of giving gifts is to give tangible form to that which is intangible to give what? to give tangible form to that which is intangible we may have some affection in our heart but others cannot see what is there in our heart so if we feel gratitude, if we feel appreciation the gift becomes a means by which the tangible form is given to that which is intangible and then those gifts often become mementos if they are given well then people remember as well those gifts and we remember as well those gifts so these are not items which can just be neglected they are important and the way we may give gifts may vary according to person to person generally the gifts can be best given according to the interest and the need of that person so that indicates thoughtfulness in our part that means if a devotee has interest in reading books then if a new book has come up I give that book as a gift if a devotee has interest in music then that devotee’s birthday something nice which can help the devotee in that particular interest so rather than giving a blanket gift for everyone it’s also good at least some love gift is given but further thoughtfulness is indicated when we consider the other person’s likes and dislikes and help that devotee in service to Krishna according to one’s own interest and talents that is thoughtfulness Now normally in material society this is talked about in 17th chapter that gifts are given so I give gift and then I expect that I should get gifts so on his birthday I give that gift why is he not giving anything to me on my birthday so now at one level this may be a natural human expectation but what we should do is to recognise that ultimately we are doing this as a service so if we are appreciating that devotee, that devotee has done something for us when we appreciate then we just appreciate it if that devotee gives us something back that’s wonderful if that devotee doesn’t give anything on our birthday to some extent it’s natural that we may feel that this devotee did not reciprocate but that doesn’t necessarily have to become a dampener for the relationship naturally if there is reciprocation the relationship will progress further but if some devotee has done something for us we can still appreciate that and we can move on with that level when there is reciprocation, naturally the relationship will go further but when there is no reciprocation then at whatever level the relationship is it can still stay that means if somebody is doing something for me I can still appreciate that person even if that person doesn’t give me any gifts in return now what are the examples of gifts given in Chaitanya Chaitanya Amrit by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to his devotees Govardhan Shiva any other examples actually Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Santantu yes that was a memento for her she would continue serving her lord by that if you look at the interaction between Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the Goswamis Chaitanya Mahaprabhu especially in the last 18 years of his life was largely in ecstasy he was in Puri and he just lived in a state of ecstasy and he himself did not do much preaching even his associates also did some preaching but the systematisation of theology the creation of foundation for future generations to go on that was done primarily by the Goswamis now if you look at the Goswamis they had relatively speaking limited association with their lord very limited and the number of times say the only Goswami who had sustained association with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was Raghunatha Goswami he came and stayed in Puri for a considerable amount of time almost like 12 years but the other Goswami is Rupa Janata what happens is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu they keep writing letters and they meet him in Ramakedi once and then after that they go to Vrindavan Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says I am going to come to Vrindavan and then they come to Puri to meet him so that’s all basically and then they go back to Vrindavan if you read these chapters where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu interacts of course when they are going to Vrindavan at that time Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is also in North India too and the Goswamis are also leaving so they meet him in Varanasi and Banaras so Prayag Varanasi and Banaras are the same thing they meet him there and they basically have interactions over there so if we see what happens in the meeting in Varanasi and Banaras is guniyam akhyam that happens also in Ramakedi so these are the practically the only meetings similarly Gopal Bhatt Goswami once they are meeting in South India Chaitanya Mahaprabhu tells him now you serve your parents and then Gopal Bhatt Goswami comes and serves us his life and then again Chaitanya Mahaprabhu tells him to go to Vrindavan and he goes to Vrindavan Ramanatha Goswami he meets him in Bangladesh in Bangladesh first and then he meets him in Varanasi and then after his parents depart he comes once to Puri and from there he goes back to Vrindavan so the meetings are very few but what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does during his meetings is he intensifies the devotees attachment to him and that is primarily through the second exchange Gopal Bhatt Goswami is writing Vrindavan at that time Chaitanya Mahaprabhu profusely appreciates he says that this handwriting is like pearls and then he looks at the content and he finds the content so beautiful Gopal Bhatt Goswami at that time composed the holy verse the verse about how ecstatic are the holy names that I want hundreds of I want thousands of mouths and millions of ears to relish this and then he calls all his associates and all the associates tells them hear the poetry of Rupa Goswami and they all hear and they all appreciate their perfumes they shower perfumes blessing on Rupa Goswami and so Rupa Goswami was very inspired and goes back Chaitanya Mahaprabhu he may not offer any gift but the gift that he offers is himself, his body is completely filled with pores and what does Chaitanya Mahaprabhu do? he offers his own embrace to him what more can touch a person’s heart when such a situation is there when one feels and one hears he is in a state of repulsiveness Chaitanya Mahaprabhu doesn’t look at that so actually if we look at especially at the antarika of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is not doing much preaching directly but indirectly he is living very deeply with the hearts of those who are going to preach and that is also very important preaching is not just about getting new people to Krishna but also getting people who are to come to Krishna to come closer to Krishna and that coming closer to Krishna happens through these exchanges so now in our spiritual life how do we do this we have we may have our counsellor we may have some senior devotees so we have to find out that association which is Sajatiya Asha Smigdha Sangha Rupa Goswami has written another book nectar of devotion talks about 64 principles one of the principles about association is Sajatiya Asha Smigdha Sangha Smigdha means affectionate Sajatiya Asha means so Jatiya Asha Asha is desire Jatiya is category same category of desires so we have to find out senior devotees who have the same category of desires that we have so if I have interest in cooking and I find out devotees are interested in cooking if I have interest in Shastra study I find out senior devotees are interested in Shastra study and then I enquire more about them and this is vital for our devotional growth we cannot share our heart with anyone and everyone not only will we not feel comfortable sharing with anyone and everyone but even if we somehow share it, there will be counterproductive effects that person may not understand what we are talking about and that person may just misunderstand, misrepresent and spread things about us which will unnecessarily create trouble so we have to have affectionate devotional association so now it is unlikely that we will have many devotees in this category even if we have 1, 2, 3 devotees that’s more than enough for us we can have a general positive disposition towards all devotees but along with that intimate association that is there we can believe in Aakya Vati Naakshati so if I have some other thoughts troubling me I may have to ask them about other anthas I can ask general philosophical questions in classes but along with that if I have some specific problems I have to ask specific senior devotees and similarly I may have some philosophical doubts now when I have to ask philosophical doubts I have to find out devotees who have that inclination to resolve issues properly some devotees they say why bother about all this just chant Hare Krishna and be happy now if that is their inclination that is fine but if those doubts are troubling me then I have to find out some devotees who can systematically resolve the doubts so Govind Aakya Vati Naakshati is vital but at the same time it is also very critical how we choose this with whom we do this when we find the right kind of devotees to do this then our bhakti takes off wonderfully so this may take some time and with respect to relationships it’s important that wherever relationships click we should invest the time we need to have some good relationship with the devotees who are around us but I may be in one project some other devotees I feel very affectionate towards that devotee I feel very close to that devotee then even the devotees far away it doesn’t matter we may meet once in a few months we may talk on phone or whatever wherever relationships work we should treasure those relationships Krishna’s gifts come in many ways one of them is this association what kind of association? we generally say association is very good yes association is good but what kind of association? all association is good but specifically for the nourishment of our devotion we need association that is like-minded so wherever you find like-minded devotee associations you should grab that and treasure that and by that our bhakti will be nourished so guhya maakhyati prichati has to be done carefully and by doing it carefully we make we remove the obstacles in our path see how it works is the basic principle of guhya maakhyati prichati is that we focus on those things which are deep within our heart now see in our heart there are two things there are anarthas which are blocking us from going to association and there are some devotional inclinations also which we can take us to association so we have to do two things one is the anarthas that are there they have to be controlled and they have to be ultimately eliminated and then the inclinations that are there to serve Vishnu they have to be fanned, they have to be nourished so that they grow more and they take us to association so going back to the example of the plant, of the garden, Chitra Mahaprabhu gives the example of Bhakti Lata Beach so Bhakti Lata Beach has to be watered and the weeds around it that are there the weeds have to be uprooted so both these happen in association now at one level just hearing classes attentively can also give us guidance and if we hear attentively ultimately we are not just hearing from a particular person it is Krishna who is speaking to that person for us, when we hear we learn a lot from that person if we have a latitude of learning from Krishna and along with that we can also ask specific questions so when we do this Guhya Nakhya Adi Ujjati we can move forward very steadily and sweetly in our Krishna consciousness we find out the right devotees and if we don’t have then that doesn’t mean that there is no hope whatever devotees we have we value that, we treasure that and gradually Krishna will guide us this is the devotee how we show Krishna our seriousness is by valuing what he has given us and by showing that by valuing what he has given us he will give us more and then we can move forward any questions? so by serving food to other devotees our sins were destroyed and it is also said that the Bhakti one of the characteristics so it is true yes it is true now what I am talking about is two different things one is the mentality, the calculating mentality that I will call devotees and offer them food so that my sins go away that is not a devotional method that is something which is not recommended and even in the path of Bhakti a devotee is not constantly looking for Kleshagni a devotee is looking for remembering Krishna and serving Krishna and Kleshagni happens as a side product just keep practising Bhakti Kleshagni will happen automatically so it will happen, that’s not our purpose when we make that our purpose then we become distracted when our Bhakti is not authentic, it becomes authentic any other questions? there should not be Sikhs? yeah I mean no it’s like whenever the Acharyas make some books they also try to follow the to make it literary ornamented that means that there is a certain symmetry of construction that is a literary ornamentation so for example if we see that Bhagavad Gita, most of the verses are in particular metre and normally the literals don’t change arbitrarily so Bhagavatam if we see, one particular section Shuddha Goswami is reciting then particular metre then generally within the conversation the literals don’t change so what happens is even when the devotional scriptures are composed the content is what is important but the devotion also expresses itself in the beauty of the form so there is a certain symmetry between Sikhs so that’s the consistency of that so now if we go to numerology it’s the part of astrology different numbers have different significances so 6 is also considered an auspicious number so 6 we have 6 and we have 18 these multiples are considered to be auspicious so that auspiciousness is also there so there is a consistency that comes up by the symmetry yeah yeah so literally ornamentation is also important and 6 is also an auspicious number so both are there yes okay so how do we apply it practically sometimes we may not feel like sharing our heart, opening our heart with anyone so is it necessary to be one to one or can we just hear from Guru or Guru Vishastra yes that can also be but along with that if I study Shastra very diligently then certain deep insights will come to me by the study of Shastra and that is good but that is not the primary focus of this and that has already been talked about in principle of scriptural study that is there but here we are talking more about the development of relationships and generally how do relationships gel one of the ideas is that we spend time with people and while we spend time we also invest thought invest emotion in that relationship so relationships may grow slowly and we may not be able to express our heart to some people that’s fine it is also a matter of individual inclination some people are more introvert or some people are more introspective introvert and introspective are not the same introvert is people who don’t talk much introspective are people who are more look inwards and think inwards so the important point is that we should be adequately emotionally nourished while practising bhakti we should not be feeling lonely we should not be feeling neglected we should not be feeling isolated while practising bhakti so now what level of opening of the heart is required for every individual may vary from person to person so some devotees they may feel that by studying shastra calmly deeply I think I need to understand then that’s what may be their primary focus but along with that some devotees with whom we have relationships so relationships may not take a lot of time and may not reveal a lot of things the important principle is that it should be emotionalised some devotees with whom we can reciprocate to some extent can share to some extent and as the relationship deepens the sharing will also deepen so it’s not that we have to be we can think that I don’t need any relationship everything will go on nicely that is one extreme means paying no attention to relationships and the other is becoming frantic about relationships constantly searching with whom can I have relationship no the focus is that relationships also will grow organically that means if I start doing some services with some devotees some relationship will naturally develop if I have some specific interest if I have interest in studying bhagavatam then I find out who are the devotees who are very good in bhagavatam I go and talk with them, I ask questions that’s how my relationship will develop so we should put in some efforts to develop relationships not completely neglect them not obsess over them but if we put in basic efforts then gradually they will grow on their own so these two aspects first is that we should not feel emotional neglected, isolated, lonely and second is we shouldn’t neglect relationships take care of these things and relationships can grow organically and the sharing of the heart will also happen through that Question from audience so if we develop closer relationship with one devotee, other devotees may pass some negative comments about that the important point is that we cannot be intimate with everyone at the same time we shouldn’t think that because I cannot be intimate with everyone I should deliberately neglect others no as we are a devotee community so we should have cordial relationship with everyone so as long as we have cordial relationship with everyone and we have good relationship with others that’s fine, our time is limited our mentalities we all have our particular psychophysical inclination in nature so we are not able to gel a lot with everyone that’s fine sometimes some people may pass comments like that we don’t have to worry too much about that but if some senior devotees are doing that if some senior devotees are doing that then we may have to be a little careful what may happen is some association may not be so good for our devotional life when I was initially introduced to Krishna Consciousness I was staying in the temple and then the place where I was staying with other devotees were not very serious devotees so some senior devotees told me don’t spend so much time with them, spend time with other devotees so then if that association is such that that is not nourishing our bhakti then that association may not be good and some senior devotees said, spend some more time with this devotee instead of that devotee it is fine but if that is a new boon for our bhakti and we nourish, then we don’t have to bother too much about the comments of others if somebody makes those comments repeatedly then we can find out that there is some reason for that comment the reason may be that that person wants us to be friends with that person also you know, that person wants our friendship and that particular expression is just an expression of a lacking in their life they may want us to be their friend or they may want that other devotee to be their friend or they just want a friendship like we have with somebody so if we can help them to develop that friendship that’s good either through us or through our friend or through somebody else but otherwise our focus should be on each of us, we are all individually responsible for our spiritual lives so if some relationship is nourishing us in our spiritual life then we don’t have to give up that relationship just because some people say something how it will work is our relationship will be like concentric circles some devotees will be in an intimate circle some devotees will be in an affectionate circle some will be in a cordial circle some will be in an official circle he is also a devotee, I am also a devotee, we know each other and some devotees will be in a tolerable circle and we may have some in an intolerable circle also so what happens is actually depending on natures different devotees will be at different emotional distances from us so now if there are devotees whom we find it’s difficult to tolerate so you know in Poora Adi Shankar once giving a class, he says sometimes we have to face austerities in devotee association so what is the austerity so one devotee will be discouraged we have to tolerate devotees so that is austerity in devotee association so Radhakrishnan said yes, it’s a good realisation that we understand that I don’t tolerate devotees but when we advance we will get another realisation that devotees are tolerating me so even if there are devotees in that that level also we can try to do something by which we don’t further aggravate or offend those devotees there are different people with different natures, that’s natural that’s just the way we are so we don’t have to necessarily go out of the way to develop relationship but we don’t have to go out of the way to further alienate the relationship also so as long as we have some devotees in intimate circle and most devotees are at least in a cordial or affectionate circle now if most devotees are in that circle of intolerable then there is something wrong with me maybe I have jingoistic nature or I have such a sharp tongue or whatever that I am using it in devotees but if it’s only one or two devotees because you know their natures just don’t match then it’s not wrong because there are different devotees different natures then they will serve in their apartments in their way I will serve in my home, it can go on like that is it clear? can I ask a different question? when devotees circle it will be like it’s like when you can say there are different devotees it’s like it’s like otherwise business