Pandava Nirjala Ekadashi Special

Gita-daily Meditations:

1. “So much, O Krishna, do I long for you”

2. Use fasting from food as the launching-pad for feasting on Krishna

3. Fasting is an opportunity to sacrifice not just the evil, but also the good for Krishna

QA Article:

Isn’t fasting self-torture?

Audio Lecture:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
In ISKCON, but still some of you who might have come for the first time, and for my own purification, I would like to introduce Chaitanya Charan Rao.
So, Chaitanya Charan Rao is associate editor of the Back to Godhead magazine of the Indian and the International edition. And he is also the author of the Spiritual Scientist magazine and he has written many books. You may be seeing this stall.
He is also part of the Shastric Advisory Committee of ISKCON and is very well known for his devotional scholarship on Srila Prabhupada’s books and books of the Vaishnavacharyas and is very well known for his presentation of Krishna Consciousness in an appealing way for the youth. So, let us welcome his way Chaitanya Charan Rao for our IBM monthly IBM meeting in our traditional slate. Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Hare Krishna! So, let us start with prayers.
Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Prayers Till Paramdrishtvani Vartate, we get a higher taste. Now if you look at the Sanskrit, different Acharyas have given us different insights. So if you look at the Sanskrit itself, the word is Niraharasya Dehinaha.
So Ahaar is food and Nirahaar is absence of food. So Vishaya Vini Vartante, when we go away from the sense objects, Niraharasya Dehinaha, so the Dehinaha, the embodied soul, feels as if the sense objects are his Ahaar. So Ahaar is not just what we eat with our tongue.
For the eyes, looking at beautiful objects is Ahaar. For the ear, to hear sweet sounds is Ahaar. For the fingers and the hands in the body, to touch soft, soothing objects is Ahaar.
Like that, each of the sense has its Ahaar. And when we try to live a regulated, principled life in Krishna Consciousness, at that time, the senses feel as if they are becoming Nirahaar. They feel as if they are being starved.
And Rasavarjam, Rasopyasya. So Rasavarjam, even when the rasa is taken away, still the desire remains. But Param Drishtva Nivartate.
Now Srila Prabhupada translates Param Drishtva as higher taste. If we look at the Sanskrit, a more complex and complete picture emerges. The word is Drishtva.
Drishtva is connected with Drishti. And Drishti is connected with vision or sight. So Param Drishtva means a superior vision.
A superior vision. So if the Sanskrit is saying superior vision, then why is Srila Prabhupada translating as a higher taste? Generally we think of vision as something to do with the eyes, taste as something to do with the tongue. So actually, Srila Prabhupada is conveying, even when he uses the word higher taste, this higher happiness is nothing like sense gratification.
So when Krishna is talking about Param Drishtva, he is talking about a higher spiritual vision of all of reality by which we can see reality deeper than what we normally see with our senses. And when we see the reality deeper, we see the presence of Krishna over there. So that’s why neither the concept of taste nor the concept of vision conveys the totality of the experience of Krishna.
In the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, in the sixth chapter, when Narada Muni is describing to Vyasadeva about how he became Krishna conscious, at that time it is described that when he actually saw Krishna, every one of his senses became individually and immensely enlivened. Individually and immensely enlivened. He felt as if he was experiencing Krishna with all of his senses.
So Krishna, at the spiritual level, is the complete sense object. Krishna is the complete sense object. Krishna is Netrayi Pibanti Nainabhirama.
He is extremely beautiful to see. When we behold the beautiful deity of Krishna, then it is like a shower of nectar for our eyes. But when we hear Krishna’s flute or Krishna’s speech, Madhurayagira, Valgo Vakyaya, Buddha Manogyaya, Pushkarekshana.
In the 31st chapter of the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, the gopis, in separation from Krishna, are praying, Madhurayagira, your voice is so sweet. Valgo Vakyaya. The words that you speak with that sweet voice are so charming.
And how charming are they? She is giving an example. Buddha Manogyaya, Pushkarekshana. Buddha Manogyaya.
A sweet, a glib speaking person, may be able to fool a naive person. But an intelligent person is not easy to bewilder. But Krishna, your speech is so sweet and your content of the speech is so charming that even the wise get bewildered.
So in this way, Krishna is the, I just gave two examples, one of the eyes and the other is of the ear, hearing. So Krishna, we know in the Chaitanya Mangal, Rukmini Devi tells Lord Krishna that what your lotus feet mean to a devotee, you can never understand that. You can never understand that.
So Krishnaraja Kaviraj Goswami has written a very beautiful, ashtakam glorifying Lord Krishna. And there he describes that how extraordinary are the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. So he says, Mani Ranjita Ganjita Bhringamadam Mani Ranjita Ganjita Bhringamadam So the honey bees, they are always looking for honey.
But when they come to the lotus feet of Krishna, lotus feet of Krishna are adorned with Mani. But greater than the adornment of the Mani is the adornment of the lotus feet. The honey bees get completely intoxicated.
And then similarly it is described that the Kumaras, when they went to Vaikuntha, at that time when they saw, before even they saw Lord Vishnu, actually we know what happened, the Kumaras cursed the Jai Vijay. So at that time, Lord Narayana immediately came there. And as Lord Narayana was coming, at that time they smelled the fragrance of the Tulsi at the lotus feet.
Now in Vaikuntha, Tulsi is there everywhere. What attracted them is not the Tulsi plant that is there everywhere. What attracted them was the Tulsi that was there at the lotus feet of Lord Narayana.
किंजल कमुष्ट तुलसी मक्रण्द वायो संख्षोभम अक्षर जुशाम पिचित्त तन्मो So, when that Vayu, wind carrying the Tulsi came to them, अक्षर जुशाम, they were fixed in impersonal meditation but they got agitated. So they were in a situation where they would not have got agitated by anything material. Only something higher than material, higher than impersonal would have agitated them.
So that is the capacity of the fragrance of the lotus feet of Krishna. So, we talked about the touch, the fragrance, the speech and the sight. So like this, Krishna, we can go on this elaborate discussion, Krishna is actually the complete sense object for the soul.
Of course, we consider ourselves as objects for Krishna’s pleasure. We don’t consider Krishna as the object for our pleasure. But the relationship is reciprocal.
As Bhaktivinoda Thakur says in that Atma Nivedana song, He says, अमी तो तोमार, तुमी तो अमार, कि का जया परधाने, पुर्व इतिहास भुलिनु सकल। So, पुर्व इतिहास भुलिनु सकल। He says, whatever I have lived in the past, I will just forget it all. And what will I do? अमी तो तोमार, I am yours, and you are mine. तुमी तो अमार, कि का जया परधाने, Why do I need any other wealth? So, the relationship of Krishna with us is reciprocal.
And we experience Krishna in the spiritual world through our spiritual senses. In the material world, how do we experience Krishna? We experience Him through His manifestations in the material world. So, we see the beautiful deity of Krishna.
We experience Krishna through that. So, as souls, the soul has the power for desiring. And that power of desiring is always directed somewhere.
So here, in this material world, we have all come in search of substitutes for Krishna. In one sense, we say that we have come to imitate Krishna. We were envious of Krishna in the spiritual world.
So, we came from there to imitate Krishna. But, at the same time, we are also looking for an object that we feel is worthy of our love. Krishna is supremely worthy of our love, but we are looking for some object now that we have forgotten Krishna.
And we may look for that in a member of the opposite sex, we may look for that in a car, in a bungalow, in social prestige, in fame, in bodily strength, in our bank balance. Through all these, we are looking essentially for substitutes for Krishna. That means something that will give me the happiness that I was originally getting in relationship with Krishna.
So, generally, the luxuries are what attract our heart. Now, everyday, I need air to breathe. But, nobody sings songs of love for the air.
Oh, air, I love you so much. Why? Because that’s a necessity that is so innate to our existence and more importantly so readily available to us that we don’t feel the separation from it any time, maybe except when we are suffocating or drowning or some other terrible incident like that. Normally speaking, we, our heart longs not for necessities, if our necessities are provided for, it longs for luxuries.
If a new cell phone model comes up, I want that new cell phone. If a new bike comes up, I want the bike. If a new car comes up, I want the car.
So, like that, the luxuries are what attract our heart. And as devotees, we try to regulate our life so that we don’t get caught up in the luxuries. The chase for the luxuries in life is an endless chase.
Actually, the chase for luxuries leaves us with no luxury of time. The chase for luxuries makes spare time a luxury that we can’t afford. Because the desires are endless.
The desires are endless. So, as devotees, we understand to some extent that, okay, in material life, whatever arrangement Krishna has provided for me, I can work for attaining a certain level of respectability. But beyond that, it’s an endless pursuit.
Not only is it endless, it is not going to be satisfying also. Because even after I achieve something wonderful, it’s temporary. So, therefore, I will search for spiritual advancement.
I’ll seek spiritual advancement. So, to some extent, if we are philosophically sound, then we understand that, okay, I should not pursue the luxuries. So, we don’t search for substitutes for Krishna in the luxuries.
At least we curtail that search. But at another level, even the necessities of life also become substitutes for Krishna. They become distractions from Krishna.
Why? Ultimately, we have only one heart. And that heart has to be offered somewhere. So, the heart, if it is offered to Krishna, it brings us the supreme happiness.
If it is offered anywhere else, at best, it will bring disappointment. At worst, it will bring devastation. At best, disappointment.
That means we offer our heart to somebody else, and that person maybe turns out to be somewhat compatible. But at the end, no two people are compatible in this world, except the soul and Krishna. It is the only compatible pair that is there.
All other pairs, the best that we can strive for is minimum incompatibility. The best that we can strive for is minimum incompatibility. Because it is not the problem of any particular person, it is just the nature of the world that we have loved Krishna in the spiritual world first, and now we have come to this world looking for a substitute for Krishna.
So, no person, no matter how many good qualities that person has, can ever equal Krishna. So, our own expectations when we offer our heart to somebody are unrealistic. And that’s why our expectations are bound to be at best disappointed.
That means if there is a minimum incompatibility, sorry, at best, they will be disappointed. That person will not be able to live up to our expectations and will be disappointed. But, if that person just rejects us, there may be even devastation of our heart.
So, that means in material life we have these two options, devastation at worst, disappointment at best. But only when we direct our heart towards Krishna, then there is fulfilment, there is ultimate fulfilment. So, even our body’s necessities.
Now, food, we don’t just eat for the sake of eating. We eat because we love to eat. We love to eat.
If we were just eating for the sake of eating, the whole cooking industry would be out of business. Animals eat for the sake of eating. That’s why a cow when a cow is eating grass, it doesn’t think, oh, today I have to put some spice in the grass.
It eats the same grass because for the cow, the grass is simply a biological necessity. And it treats it as a biological necessity. It may hanker for it.
If it is starving, it may crave for it even at the risk of its own life. That is fine. But, it is basically a biological phenomenon.
But because we as souls, see the human condition is very unique among all the other species. We know at one level humans alone can practise spiritual life. But what does that mean practically? See, the soul is here and the soul gets covered by a body.
The body covers the consciousness of the soul. Krishna explains, He says in 3.39 that the soul’s consciousness is covered by the body. So, now in the animal species, the consciousness is entirely at the bodily level.
So, animals more or less function like machines. Programmed machines. And their instincts are their programming.
Say, tomorrow is Ekadashi. So, we can say, I will fast. If a cat sees a rat, it can’t think, oh, today is Ekadashi.
It can’t. If it is hungry, it just has to pounce on it. It is just going to work according to its instincts.
And, the soul’s consciousness is so covered that it will seek happiness through those bodily activities and whatever happiness it has got through the bodily activities, it is satisfied by that. A grass, actually, we talk about eating, sleeping, mating, defending as the pleasures that the soul seeks for in material existence. But, think about a grass, actually speaking, what is the pleasure of mating for a grass? Or, even if you took a plant, okay, it is a flower and it is an andrushyam and a gynushyam and the seeds come from here, fly and they come in contact.
And, what is the pleasure there? Actually, Sri Prabhupada explains in this purport of 3.38, Dhumenavriyate Vahanir, that in the tree species, the soul is so covered that there is very minimal experience of pleasure. Very minimal experience of pleasure. So, the point I am making over here is that all the lower species, their capacity for happiness is more or less determined by and limited to their bodily capacities.
Whereas, we in human species are in an anomalous situation. Because the soul’s consciousness is uncovered much more than any other species. And, because the soul’s consciousness is uncovered more than any other species, we long for more happiness than what the body can provide.
Every species longs for happiness, but in the animal species, the consciousness is covered enough that whatever is the capacity of the body, that much is their capacity for happiness at that level of consciousness. So, that’s why we will see that animals mate during the breeding season. During the breeding season, it’s almost impossible to stop the animals from mating.
But at other times, even if the male and female are there, they are not really attracted to each other. But what about human beings? Human beings are constantly fantasising about it. And, they want to indulge it at every possible opportunity.
So, what is that saying? Man is the only animal who eats when he is not hungry, sleeps when he is not tired, fights when there is no reason, and mates when there is no procreation wanted. So, why is this? This is because actually, we as souls have our consciousness so much developed, that we long for more happiness than what our body can provide. And because of this, we eventually become forced to go in the direction of spirituality.
How can we become forced by this? Actually, Prabhupada explains in the purport of 3.37 that, he says, He says, the soul searches for a long time for happiness. And when he doesn’t get that happiness, then he starts thinking, where is real happiness and where is reality? What is reality? And then Prabhupada says, Then he starts enquiring about spirituality. So, in one of the first Rath Yatra that was held in America, Prabhupada had hundreds of young hippies coming.
And he told them, thank you for coming for this Rath Yatra festival. And he says, I know in your country, all of you are not appreciated very much. People criticise you, calling you as hippies, saying that you are all frustrated people.
He says, but I appreciate all of you. He says, human life is meant to become frustrated. Human life is meant to become frustrated.
And Prabhupada quotes this verse, Athato Brahma Jignasa. He says, only when somebody is frustrated with the search for material happiness, then will he start searching for spiritual happiness. And if one doesn’t become frustrated with the search for material happiness, then he is not yet become a human being.
Prabhupada writes in the first canto that in Kali Yuga, the human beings are a royal edition of animals. Now, what do we mean by a royal edition of animals? It is a very curious phrase. If you have a book, normal edition is there.
Royal edition means the covering is very attractive. The binding is very attractive. But the content is the same.
So, like that, we have got human body, so the covering, we may have a shirt, a coat, a tie, and we wear a tie, and then we wear a coat, and then we turn on a AC because we are sweating so much, and we think we are progressing so nicely. So, the point is that in Kali Yuga, if we don’t become frustrated with the search for material happiness, then, actually, we have not realised the inherent futility of material pleasures. Now, this frustration can come in two ways.
Sometimes people feel that you take to spirituality. A few months ago, one of my friends had come and he was asked, after almost 15 years I met him. So, he was telling, you know, many times I have seen people take to spirituality because they become frustrated by the failures of material life.
They try to get success in material life. They fail and when they become frustrated, they turn to spiritual life. I said that’s possible.
Some people may take up spirituality like that. But many of the people I know who are practising spirituality were very successful in spiritual life. And they were frustrated not with the failures of material life but with the successes of material life.
What do you mean? What do you mean to be frustrated by the success of material life? That means that you succeed and after success we find that the happiness is so little. Happiness is so little. So, when the conditioned soul gets the enjoyment of his dreams and asks at that time, Is that all? Is that all? I dreamt for years and years for this pleasure and now I got it.
It’s over in a few minutes. Is that all? There must be something more in life. This is Brahma Jigyasa.
We get material happiness and we find it disappointing. So, when I was in my college days, since my childhood, because of my family, my culture, all had just given me one dream. I wanted to be the topper in my college.
And of course I was always among the toppers but I was never the topper. And I would be joined first, second, third, but never number one alone. So, that was like my lifelong dream.
So, then in my senior college I gave GRE in my third year and somehow since childhood I had a lot of love for English language. So, then at that time, this was almost, how many? 15 years ago, 15-16 years ago. So, at that time, out of 2400, I got 2350.
So, I was not only the topper in the college, I was the topper in the history of the college and I was the topper in the whole state at that time. So, I thought, I’ll be so happy. And then many people were coming and congratulating me and after that I found something very peculiar.
You know, I found myself observing who all are not coming and congratulating me. Laughter Laughter And I found myself thinking, why is he not congratulating me? Doesn’t he know what I have done? Or is he envious of me? Then it struck me that actually after achieving this I have become more dependent on happiness on others. I have not become happy, I have become more dependent on happiness on others.
And ultimately, okay, one becomes a topper, people come and congratulate and it’s over. Is that all? Is that all? Isn’t there something more to life? So, the point is, in the material body which we have as human beings, we have a desire for happiness that is greater than the capacity of the body to provide happiness. And that is why what we do is, we try to increase the variety of the bodily enjoyment that we get.
As I said, a cow will just eat the same grass, but we will cook newer and newer and newer delicacies and try to get some enjoyment. Similarly as in every field, we try to get something new and try to get better and better happiness. So, this doesn’t work because the body’s capacity for happiness is limited.
The body’s capacity for happiness is limited. How is it limited? Because if I decide to eat and I get my favourite item to eat and as much as you want, you can eat it. Start eating, start eating, start eating.
After sometime, no matter how much is there, my body’s capacity is exhausted. Now, the most over glamorised pleasure in modern society is the pleasure of sex. So, when people have sex, there may be some pleasure in it, but when they stop the sexual enjoyment, it is not because they are satisfied.
It is because the body’s capacity is exhausted. It is because the body’s capacity is exhausted. The body has a limited capacity to generate and secrete and excrete chemicals and the essence of the pleasures is that thrill that comes when the hormones are secreted and excreted.
But that capacity is limited. So, at the bodily level, our longing for happiness will never be satisfied. But because our society, our culture glamorises material pleasure so much that our minds are constantly in a hyperactive mode thinking, okay, this will make me happy, this will make me happy, this will make me happy.
So, there is always the option of material pleasure and spiritual pleasure throughout history. And to take the option most extreme, there is the option of spiritual pleasure and there is the option of sinful pleasure. The great evil of Kali Yuga is not that there are these two options, they are always there.
But the great evil of Kali Yuga is that the evil pleasures, the harmful pleasures, the sinful pleasures, they are culturally glamorised. That never happened in the past. Ramana was going around the universe, grabbing whichever woman he wanted.
But he was not glamorised for that. But in Kali Yuga, now, every hoarding, every commercial, every movie, what is it doing? It is glamorising sinful pleasure. And that’s what, when Kali Yuga makes sin fashionable and you see how subtly and sinisterly values are shifted.
If a woman does sexually explicit scenes where she is exposing her body in a very obscene and vulgar way, it is said that she is a bold actress. Now, what is the boldness in that? In vulgarity, in obscenity, you know, if we can sacrifice political correctness, we can say it is shameless. Isn’t it? But it’s called bold.
Now, if you think about it as bold, then who wants to be cowardly? So, that becomes the idea that everyone wants to aspire. Who knows, maybe a few years down the line, a woman dresses herself nicely, she will be called cowardly. It is the opposite of bold.
Isn’t it? So, this is how values are shifted. So, subtly, what is happening? By calling obscenity and vulgarity as boldness, what is happening? Sin is being glamorised. When sin is glamorised like this, then we lose the clarity of the choices for us.
This is virtuous, this is vicious, this is noble, this is ignoble. But when ignoble, when the vicious is glamorised as fashionable, then it becomes almost impossible to resist it. So, the necessities of the body, they occupy not just our bodily capacity, but they occupy our heart, our heart’s desires.
That means, delicious food items, good-looking sense objects. They, at one level, we can say they are bodily necessities. They are.
But the way our culture glamorises it, and the way our human form makes us look for happiness more than what the bodily capacity allows, we give our hearts to the bodily needs. And that’s why they can become distractions. So, in one sense, even the sense objects that are not sinful, they can also become substitutes for Krishna for us.
So, when we try to do some devotional austerity, like fasting, what are we trying to do? We are trying to say, Krishna, no more substitutes for you. Only you. So, that is the romance and the resistance.
What is the romance? If our physical appetite for food is forgotten due to our devotional appetite for Krishna, that means we are so eager for Krishna. It may be hearing Krishna katha, chanting Krishna’s name, taking Krishna’s darshan. We have a devotional appetite for Krishna.
Krishna is not an object to be consumed by the mouth. But we do consume prasad with our mouth. So, the word appetite is used in the sense of inner hunger.
So, what we do is, we intensify our devotional appetite so much that we forget the physical appetite. Krishna at least for this one day, no substitutes for you. Only you.
So, if we can think of fasting in this way, then it becomes like an expression of our love for Krishna or expression at least of our intention to love Krishna. So, that is the romance in fasting. But what is the resistance in fasting? The resistance is, sorry, it’s not appetite.
Our devotional appetite for food, sorry, for Krishna, I’m sorry about this. Our devotional appetite for Krishna is forgotten due to our physical appetite for food. That means that if when we are fasting, we can’t get our thoughts away from the bodily level to Krishna.
Then what happens? We’re just thinking about food, food, food, food. When will I get food? Then, that hunger is so great and the thoughts of the hunger dominate our mind so much that they create an immense resistance to our fasting. So, now, if we look at the romance, the example of fasting at the level of romance is the Vrajavasis under Govardhan Hill.
For seven days, not only were they not eating or drinking or sleeping, they were not even thinking about it. Why? Because they were absorbed in Krishna. They were so absorbed in Krishna that instead of longing when the seven days will end and we’ll get something to eat, they were actually lamenting when the seven days ended.
They were lamenting when the seven days ended. So, for them, the fasting was actually, in one sense, incidental. They neither intended to fast, nor did they struggle to fast.
It is just something that happened because their devotional appetite for Krishna was so thoroughly satisfied. For all of them, they would rarely have darshan of Krishna for so long. Krishna has his pastimes and when he performs his pastimes, different devotees have his darshan at different times.
Although there is no time in the spiritual world in the material sense, but there is time in the spiritual sense. In the material sense, time controls and destroys. What does it do? Control.
I may like to do something, but then time is running out. So, time controls me. I can’t control time.
And time destroys. I want to be young and good looking, but I grow old. But in the spiritual world, time flows but without any control or without any destruction.
That’s why when Lord Krishna defines time while describing his Vishwaroopa, he says, कालोस्मि लोकक्षय कृतप्रभृत्धो कालोस्मि लोकक्षय कृतप्रभृत्धो लोकक्षय. One of the defining attributes of time is, it destroys. So, in the spiritual world, there is a flow of time, but it neither controls nor destroys.
When Krishna is performing Rasleela with the Gopis, you know, he doesn’t have to look at his watch, hey, time is out, now I have to go. He is performing Rasleela with the Gopis. Rasleela is going on.
Krishna expands time. And one night can become the night of Brahma. As long as he wants, he can enjoy.
So, Krishna can expand time, but even when Krishna expands time, the devotees don’t feel that the time has been expanded. Because they are so much relishing Krishna’s association. So, every morning, when the Sakhas come to take Krishna out to the forest, प्रभातकाले वरवल्लगवः प्रभातकाले early in the morning, वरवल्लगवः, the best among the Gopas, they come, गोरक्षनार्थम् दृतवेत्रदंडः So, they have their sticks.
For what? गोरक्षनार्थम् आकारयनासुरणन्तमाद्यम् गोविन्ददामाधेरमाध्यमेति Govindadhamadheramadhaveti So, they come and stand outside Krishna’s house. And they say, आकारयणासुर, they are calling out, अनन्तमाद्यम्, that lord is अनन्तमाद्यम्, that lord is आध्यम् They are calling, Krishna, are you still sleeping? You are so lazy, come, it is time to go. And, as the Gopas are coming, Krishna says, Krishna is still sleeping.
Krishna, nobody knows, Krishna has been performing pastime with the Gopis throughout the night. So, when he comes, at that time, Mother Yashoda comes, and she gently, what does she do? She says, प्राभोधयत् पाणितलेन मन्धम् प्राभोधयत्, she comes and wakes Krishna, पाणितलेन, with gentle tip of her hand, मन्धम्, Govindadhamadheramadhaveti Govindadhamadheramadhaveti Krishna, wake up, wake up, it is time. He says, all your Gopas have come, the cows are ready, they are going, so wake up.
So, Mother Yashoda is duty bound. Krishna is the son of the cowherdman king, king of the cowherdmen, and he has to do his duties, but she is thinking, now I am able to see Krishna, but when he goes out, I will not be able to see Krishna. So, as they start going out, Yashodamayi starts coming behind, and Krishna just wants to play with these Gopas.
Yashodamayi says, I will be okay. He says, oh, that’s fine, but I will come with you. He says, no, I want to play, let me go.
Yashodamayi says, no, I will just come for a little distance. And then finally, Krishna just goes into the forest, and Yashodamayi is just looking, looking, looking. So, there, they experience separation from Krishna.
Why? Because the hankering is so great. So, none of the associates of Krishna can have the association of Krishna constantly. Of course, internally, they are always having the association of Krishna, but they cannot have the association of Krishna directly.
So, in the Govardhan Puja, in the post-Govardhan Puja, when the rains were being showered by Indra, at that time, all of them had the association of Krishna. The beautiful presence of Krishna, Krishna was smiling, talking with them, looking at all of them. Krishna was glancing at them, and all of them felt that Krishna is glancing at us.
So, they were so happy. For them, fasting was incidental. Similarly, we may say that the Vrajavasis are the eternal associates of Krishna.
They are very lofty. That level is not for us. That’s true, that level is not for us.
Even if you look at the Goswamis, they fasted. But they fasted not because they wanted to prove how renounced we are. They fasted because they were so busy in serving Krishna, they just didn’t think about eating.
So, nidrahara vihara kaadi vijitau. Vijitau, they had conquered over nidrahara vihara. But how? Because of Radha Krishna padarvind bhajananandena mattalikau.
Because they were mad in serving Krishna. So, Sri Prabhupada writes in the fourth canto, Parpot, that the determination to serve Krishna is tantamount to seeing Krishna. The determination to serve Krishna, when we are determined to serve Krishna by following the instructions of the spiritual master, that is equivalent to seeing Krishna.
Because we can experience Krishna’s presence at that level. So, therefore, at our level, we may not have a devotional appetite like the Vrajavasis. We may not have a devotional appetite even for service to Krishna like the Goswamis.
But, we do have some devotional appetite. If we had no devotional appetite, we wouldn’t be here. The very fact that we are chanting Hare Krishna and practising Krishna Consciousness indicates that we have experienced some devotional taste, some devotional happiness we have experienced and we want to experience it more now.
So, in general, sometimes you may get doubts. Actually, am I really getting purified by Krishna Consciousness? Every day, I am getting trouble by lust, by greed, by anger and I keep fighting and saying no to them but again they keep coming. So, where is the purification actually happening? So, actually speaking, is something changing in our life, in our heart? There is a big change and the proof of that change is, we are asking this question.
What does it mean? You know, if we see ordinary materialistic people, you know, if they become lusty, they feel happy. Isn’t it? They are inventing ways to become lusty. Isn’t it? There is an advertisement Discover the Passion! So, what does it mean now? As devotees, we feel, I don’t want to become greedy, I don’t want to become lusty, I don’t want to become angry.
So, this indicates that the process of Krishna Consciousness has worked at a much deeper level. More than changing our desires, Krishna Consciousness has changed our values. What is the difference between desires and values? Desires come and go.
But values refer to those things that we value. So, in material, when we are entirely materialistic, we value lust. When lust comes, I feel so good.
Actually, that good feeling is just It’s only flickering. After that, there is a long feeling of being miserable. There is a saying that nowadays, pornography is such a big mess.
It takes 20 seconds to see a pornographic image and it takes 20 years to forget that image. So, it’s like that. So, the nectar is just for 20 seconds.
But after that, especially when we see obscene images, these images have a sort of mental glue by which they stick to the mind. They stick to the mind. And even if they want to, they don’t go away.
So, that’s how material pleasures are. But, with respect to devotional pleasures, it’s entirely different. Actually speaking, when we remember Krishna, every moment we remember Krishna, It gives us deeper and deeper happiness.
So, as devotees, what has happened? Our values have changed. That means, earlier, we look forward to becoming lusty. We look forward to becoming greedy.
Now, we are wondering, why am I becoming lusty? I don’t want to become lusty. So, actually, as long as we are in the material world and we have a material mind, the desires will keep going up and down. But, which desires do we value? Do we value impure desires or do we value pure desires? The very fact that I’m asking, then will lust go away? That means, I’m no longer valuing material desires.
I’m valuing purity from material desires. I’m valuing purification. So, actually, even the material desires will go away over a period of time.
They will go away, but that process takes a little more time because these material desires are so deep-rooted. But, the devotional desires, they also awaken in our hearts. With material desires, sometimes some of us might have been eating meat regularly before we were introduced to Krishna consciousness.
But now, if somebody shows us meat, we don’t have to resist much of a desire, isn’t it? Prasad is literally a higher taste, isn’t it? So, what happens? Actually speaking, sometimes if somebody is eating meat and the sight of the meat or the smell of the meat goes, I just want to go away somewhere else. So, what happened? Hasn’t the process of Krishna consciousness worked? Not only have our values changed, but even our desires have changed. We don’t even get the desire.
So, this way, the process has worked. So, with respect to others, it will work. But at a deeper level, the values have changed.
And that is important. So, for us to change our values at a deeper level, we need to get experience of the happiness of Krishna consciousness. And we get the experience of the happiness of Krishna consciousness to the extent that we free our consciousness from other distracting experiences.
So, when we are trying to fast, what are we trying to do? The thought of food is a distraction. So, we just put aside. Now, Krishna prasad is not a distraction from Krishna.
Krishna prasad is a way to Krishna. But Krishna prasad is not the only way to Krishna. And, what happens most of the time is, we may take Krishna prasad, but we are not remembering Krishna.
So, because still there is purification, but there is not as much purification if we are not remembering Krishna. So, as devotees, prasad is always pure. So, there are some stories about Ekadashi Mahatmya, about how food becomes pure.
Grains become impure when we, on the days of Ekadashi, and that’s why grains should not be taken. But, that is actually only for the karmakand, material religiosity level. When we are offering food to Krishna and taking prasad, prasad can never become contaminated.
So, we fast, not just because the food is impure, we fast because we want to focus on Krishna. We fast because our acharyas have told us that on these days we should fast. So, as devotees, when we are trying to practise Krishna Consciousness, these opportunities, like the Nirjala Ekadashi, we can mine these opportunities.
Mine means, gold is underground, so we have to dig and mine it. So, these are mining the opportunities for experiencing deeper levels of Krishna Consciousness. As I said, the underlying principle is that Krishna no more substitutes for you, only you.
So, when we have this mood, we make our appetite singularly focused in the devotional dimension of Krishna. And then we will experience that the fulfilment that comes from it is far greater than the fulfilment that can come from anything else. So, as devotees, we are not interested in torturing our bodies.
That is the path of Jnana. But we are interested in nourishing and awakening our soul. And for us, bhakti is primarily, for us, in the process of bhakti, fasting is meant primarily to nourish and awaken the soul.
So, we intensify our Krishna Consciousness as much as possible these days. And when we intensify our Krishna Consciousness, we get extraordinary experiences of the sumptuous satisfaction that Krishna Consciousness offers. Kula Shekhar Maharaj, in his prayer, says, Sukha Tarama Param Naja Tu Jaane Hari Charana Smarana Amrute Na Tulyam This is Hari Charana Smarana.
The Smarana of the Lotus Feet of Lord Hari Amruta. What kind of Amruta is it? It is Tulyam. There is nothing to this.
Sukha Tarama Param Naja Tu Jaane I don’t know any happiness like this. In the Govinda Damodara Stotra, Bilwa Mangal Shakur says, O my tongue, I have only one prayer to you. Jive Rasagye Madhura Priyatvam Satyam Hitam Tvam Paramam Vadami Aavarna Eta Madhura Aksharani Govinda Damodara Madhaveti So he is saying, Jive O tongue, Rasagye You, he is actually flattering his tongue.
Flattering his tongue, O my tongue, you are very wise. Tongue is not wise actually. Tongue is foolish and it makes us foolish.
But he is flattering the tongue to make it see sense. Jive Rasagye You know Rasa’s very well. Madhura Priyatvam And I know that you like sweet tastes.
You like delicious tastes. Jive Rasagye Madhura Priyatvam Satyam Hitam Tvam Paramam Vadami He says, I am going to speak the truth to you. Paramam, the supreme truth I will speak to you.
What is he saying? Aavarna Eta Madhura Aksharani He says, these akshara are very madhur. I know that you know what is good taste and I know that you like sweetness. So here I tell you where there is a supreme sweetness.
Aavarna Eta Please enunciate these letters. Madhura Aksharani This is a very sweet word. Govinda Damodara Madhaveti He chants the names of Krishna.
So here, Govinda Damodara Madhaveti, like that Hare Krishna Mahamantra All these are names of Krishna. So, actually speaking for us maybe our mind is at the phase of the resistance to fasting. How can I fast? It’s not possible.
Full day. But if we can get this devotional vision, actually it’s an opportunity to go away from the resistance and experience the romance aspect of fasting. We deepen our loving connection with Krishna.
And when we deepen that loving connection with Krishna the austerity is for one day. But the memory is lifelong. The austerity will last for one day.
But if we can actually fast and experience. I thought some people think if I just don’t take breakfast, I will die. But if I die, not only I didn’t take any meal throughout the day and far from being dead, I realised that all the days of my life before I was dead.
That means I have experienced a new level of life. So much fulfilment if we can just fix our mind on Krishna. And to some extent the fasting offers us a good opportunity to fix the mind on Krishna.
Why? Because normally fixing the mind on Krishna is optional. Why optional? Okay, I can think of Krishna. But don’t think of Krishna.
There are so many other things to think about. And they are so important also. Our mind makes us think.
They may be important also. But when we are fasting as soon as we stop thinking of Krishna the body starts tormenting us. So what? I am hungry.
I am hungry. Give me something. Give me something.
So then we have only two options. Either if we keep listening to the torment then we will not be able to maintain the fast. But if we want to maintain the fast then we have to force ourselves to think on Krishna.
So fasting is a way to make remembrance of Krishna non-optional. Non-optional. We make it mandatory.
We make it compulsory for ourselves. And there is a great joy in that. So that is the opportunity that we have.
We don’t want to torture the body. And if somebody has great physical difficulty, it’s not necessary to fast. But if it is possible, we can have a very wonderful experience.
And Srila Prabhupada did not recommend regular fasting. But on Ekadashi and special days like Janmashtami Srila Prabhupada always talks about austerity in two terms. Austerity means Brahmacharya, controlling the sex surge and fasting on certain days.
And generally he talks about these two. Ekadashi and Janmashtami and other major festivals like that. So among all Ekadashis there is a big story I won’t go into but just the essence is that Vyasdev once told the whole story about how important fasting on Ekadashi is.
And then Bhima said fasting? He says even the most powerful enemy doesn’t give me as many shivers as fasting gives me. He says, I can’t fast. Most of us probably know that when Kunti, when Draupadi was brought first time by Arjuna and after he won her hand in the Swayamvar, then Kunti told her, she is the new wife and she has to serve.
So she told him how to serve. He says, I know how to serve. He says, you know how to serve food.
No, there is a special way to serve these people. He said, what is there? She had served in her family. He says, actually we have to serve in a special way.
Whatever food is there, divide it into two. Take one part, take the other part, divide it into we normally divide it into five, now we will divide it into six. She is not able to understand.
He said, these six parts are for the four Pandava brothers, for you and for me. And this whole thing is for Bhima. So Draupadi looked at Arjuna, Arjuna smiled and nodded.
So, the idea is that Bhima, he used to eat so much and he used to do so much service. In the forest when they were lost, after the Lakshagriha was burnt, then everybody felt tired. So Bhima said, all of you, Arjuna, Yudhishthir, Nakula, Sahadeva and Kunti, all of you sit on my shoulders.
I will take all of you. He ran through the forest. So he could lift all of them, carry all of them and do huge amount of service.
He used to eat a lot also. We told Vyasadeva, I can’t fast. So then Vyasadeva said, you must fast.
Ekadashi is very important. He says, no. He says, please have some mercy on me.
So he said, okay, I will do one thing for you. If you can’t fast throughout the year, you should fast once a year, but fast completely. And if you fast once on this Ekadashi, then I will arrange by my mercy that you and everybody who fasts on this Ekadashi will get the benefits that will come by fasting for all the Ekadashis.
So it is 52 times multiplied result. We fast once and we get that. Of course, we are not interested in the material fluid calculations, but we are interested in intensifying our Bhakti for Krishna.
So we don’t want to torture our body and if we find something very difficult to fast, then we can always take some water and better to take water and think of Krishna than to not take water and while hearing about Krishna, think of water. So whatever it is. But at whatever level we can, if we try to fast and we understand the principle that actually this is not meant to torture my body, but it is meant to increase my appetite for Krishna and experience the joy of remembrance of Krishna, then we can have a very wonderful experience through fasting.
So I will summarise quickly and we can have a few questions if there are any. I started by talking about how in this world we are all looking for substitutes for Krishna. We are looking for something that will give us happiness the way Krishna gave.
And when we are not able to experience it, we try to get better and better material things. So unlike the animals whose longing for happiness is more or less equivalent with their bodily capacity for happiness. In humans, our longing for happiness is far greater than our bodily capacity for happiness.
So even the bodily necessities we try to process and manipulate and improve them so that we can experience more and more happiness. But overall this makes us frustrated. As Prabhupada said, human life is meant to be frustrated.
We are frustrated not just with the failure to get material success, material happiness but even after the successes in material life. Is that all? There has to be something more. And that something more is Krishna consciousness.
So fasting offers us, the romance of it is increasing our devotional appetite. The resistance to it is starving our physical appetite. So if we keep our mind fixed on Krishna, we discuss fasting at different levels where we are not even aware of it because it is absorbed in Krishna, the Vrajvasis.
Because it is absorbed in service to Krishna. At our level, whatever devotional appetite we have, we can increase that by trying to fast. And if we do it, we tell Krishna, Krishna on this day no substitutes for you.
Only you. That will open us to a very wonderfully fulfilling experience. Thank you very much.
Are there any questions? Yes. Hi Krishna. Prabhu, the lecture you gave was very scholarly.
And the thing is that I also write articles on Krishna consciousness. I read many places, Shrila Prabhupada, he was saying that devotees should write. He is asking devotees to write.
And you are such a wonderful great writer. So please give us some tips and you know, because we are all young boys, so how we can become writers and use that talent in service of Krishna and write more and more. There are so many mundane material newspapers and magazines.
We should also write about Krishna. So please guide us in that direction because there is practically nobody who does it. Asking people to write on Krishna.
So how can we write about Krishna? I can give a whole seminar on this. Suffice it to say, for most of us, not everybody is a writer. In the sense that we may not write articles that will be published and will be read by others, but all of us can become writers for our own devotional advancement.
How is that? That all of us, if it is possible, we can make a simple personal diary where we write down even briefly our realisations, our experiences, our special incidents and special emotions in our Krishna consciousness. See, in material life, if we have some enjoyable experiences, our mind grabs onto them and holds onto them forever. As I talked about that, seeing some obscene images.
But in devotional life, many times we have extraordinary experiences, but soon after the experience happens, our mind presses the F2 button. It gets deleted almost. Just forget it.
So, we need to cherish our devotional memories. And one way to cherish the devotional memories is by writing them down. So, if we have some wonderful experiences, penetrating insights, some very heart-touching interactions with some devotees.
So, I talk about three things. One is, we have some experiences going somewhere, doing something. Or, we get some penetrating insights, we hear some class.
This is a very good point. And we rewrite it in our own words. Or we have some very heart-touching interactions with some devotees.
So then, so that means basically the incidents that can happen are, they can be events, they can be emotions in our heart, or they can be interactions with others. So we can write these down. And then, our mind is like a sine wave, keeps going up and down.
So when it goes down, we start feeling disheartened in Krishna Consciousness. We need to bring it back up. So these memories can help us to bring it back up.
So, that is one way all of us can write. Write our experiences and memories in Krishna Consciousness. Another way is, if you feel very disturbed by something, so I’m talking about writing only at a personal, application level.
Because that’s what is most relevant for everyone. So if you feel very disturbed about something, and if we have somebody with whom we can share our heart, that is good. We can share our heart with a counsellor.
If the counsellor is not available, then our person, our diary can become like a counsellor. Just write down all the anger, all the frustration, all the despair, whatever is there, just pour it out. Onto the diary, just write it down.
And then once it is vented out, the mind becomes calm. And then re-read it, then our intelligence starts working. How could that person have spoken like that about me? Who does he think he is? How did he do that? I’m going to bash him up.
I feel so angry. Just write the whole thing down, and the mind becomes peaceful. How could he have spoken like this? Maybe somebody told him.
Maybe somehow I spoke something which was interpreted in a particular way. I think before arriving at a judgement, I should at least find out what actually happened. So, in this way, what is happening? We are making our intelligence act as the counsellor of our mind.
I mean, our mind is jumping to judgements. This is like this, this is like that, this is like that. Okay, fine.
You speak it out, and the mind calms down. Then re-read the whole thing and use our intelligence, use our philosophical vision to understand. So then, we can in this way, use our diary as a tool for our spiritual advancement.
And beyond that, if some of us are inspired, we hear some points, have some experiences, we share that with others, that’s wonderful. Ultimately, the most important qualification for writing is a desire to share a message. Our English language command, our grammar, all those are secondary.
The most important thing is the desire to share a message. So, if we have the desire, we can share it. And gradually, Krishna will give us the ability to improve our linguistic skills, our expressional skills.
But most important is to have that desire to share a message. Okay? Prabhu, nowadays there is a lot of craze of blogs and websites, and lot of people are and that is free for everybody. Everybody can write.
In fact, there is a huge revival in writing because of the generation of e-space, internet. So, as devotees, if we want to write, we can just take up any point that we hear in a class or read in a book and rephrase it in our own words. That’s the best way to start.
And as we start off, we’ll find that we’ll get more and more ideas to write. So, writing can be, in general, have three motivations. In the sense that, how will it start off? It can be study-motivated, it can be inspiration-motivated, it can be task-motivated.
Task-motivated means somebody tells us, can you write on this topic? Can you write an article? Somebody gives us a task, and we write something on it. Of course, we can also set a task for ourselves. Another is inspiration-motivated.
That means, I feel inspired about this, I want to write about this. And third is study-motivated. That means, I studied a book, studied something, I understood the concept, I want to present it.
So, either of these we can use. So, as devotees, we can surely use this e-space to write and share. So, these are the three ways we can do it.
In general, we can get the triggers for writing from our study, from our inspiration, or setting a task for ourselves. You are saying about internet, the whole world can read what we write. Will that help them also in becoming Krishna conscious, or is it that only if a pure devotee writes, that will help? No, no, no.
Will it help others? Surely. If we are repeating the words of Shri Prabhupada and senior devotees, in our own words, surely it will help others. But someone says, write your own realisations, and what you feel.
Just like you said, write an article on Janmashtami, or maybe something. Suppose I come to this temple and write about this. Generally speaking, when we are writing, it is good to, for example, we have a magazine.
So, we have a team of editors over there who will review our articles. So, we can get some experience of reviewing. So that our writings are in good quality.
But yes, as long as we are not speculating in terms of coming up with our own new examples, or if you use new examples, we should always get them checked from senior devotees. But if we are just putting in our own words what we have heard from Guru Sadhu Shastra, then that is wonderful. That will surely benefit.
In fact, that writing is the testimony that the parampara is alive. It is not frozen. We have the books of the previous Acharyas.
They are very important. We have the books of Srila Prabhupada. But the parampara is a living parampara.
Living parampara means, people even now are getting realisations and are writing. So, it will surely help others. Any other questions? We can have one or two more.
Okay, quickly. Where is the mic? Was there a question here somewhere? Yeah, please. There? You can come ahead.
Yeah, quickly, quickly. My question is in regards to the timing of fasting. Generally, it is considered that one should not eat food after sunset.
And we consider the British timing of 12 midnight. And we eat by 11 or 10.30 also. So, is it correct to follow this timing or we should stick down to our Vedic system of eating before sunset? Should we stick to the Vedic system of eating before sunset or should we follow the Western calendar? See, in the Vedic system, also there were multiple levels of fasting.
When when Vishwamitra, before he became a sage, when he was a king, he went to the ashram of Valmiki. He found there were hundreds of sages. And he says, the average standard of the sages was that they would live on air.
Vata, ambu, paranashana, poota, deha. Vata, ambu, paranashana. Vata is air.
They were just living on air. Those who could not sustain that level of austerity, they used to drink water. Ambu.
And those who were the least austere, they were eating leaves. So, vata, ambu, paranashana, poota, deha. In this way, they were purifying their body.
So, the Vedic standards are of entirely different dimension. We can’t even conceive of it. So, Srila Prabhupada, in formulating ISKCON, was pragmatic.
Pragmatic means what is practically possible for us. So, if it is possible for us to fast before sunset, that is fine. But, we see the essence.
In Jyotisha, fasting is quite complex. And essentially, the important principle is that diet per day starts from, as I say, the timing, the clock is not British or European or anything. The clock is a clock which is universal.
We may have different kinds of timing, but the essential sacred time, the idea is that just as Krishna manifests as an avatar, so, just as Krishna manifests as a deity, just as Krishna manifests as a dham. So, dham is a geographical area in space. The geographical area in space.
But, at the same time, it is mystically manifesting Krishna. So, just as a dham is like a manifestation or an incarnation of Krishna in space, similarly, these holy days are like manifestations of Krishna in time. So, Janmashtami is a manifestation of Krishna in time.
In the 13th chapter of Adilya of Chaitanya Mahapuram’s Amrit, when Krishnadas Kaviraju Swami is talking about Gaurapurnima, the day of Lord Chaitanya Mahapuram’s appearance, he says, I am offering obeisances to the day on which Lord Chaitanya appeared. Very interesting. Offering obeisances to the day.
Because that day is itself sacred. So, that day begins chronologically from 12 to 12. So, we can prepare ourselves for that day by fasting, say, from 6 o’clock.
But, it is important at least from 12 o’clock to fast. Because that is the time when we want to make ourselves open for receiving the spiritual potency that is available on that day. So, this is flexible.
If we can fast from 6 o’clock, that’s fine. But, that’s not essential. And in general, as devotees, when we live in a community, it is best to follow the standards that everyone else is following.
Because otherwise, often the tendency is that we become proud. I am following higher than everyone. And, it’s not necessary that that will purify us.
Because the pride may contaminate us also. So, in general, it’s not necessary. If you want to do it, you can do it.
But better do it discreetly. In order to impose these standards on others. Because the Vedic culture was very vast.
And Srila Prabhupada has given us what is best for us. So, in general, he did not insist that the fasting has to be from the previous sunset. The timing is the chronological 24 hours.
And, of course, the fast-breaking has to happen at a particular time in the next day. That’s why, we can follow higher standards if we want, but discreetly. Being careful that we don’t judge others as inferior or think of us as superior.
Okay? Yes. Yes, please. Rekhisha Guruji, we usually heard that at the time of difficulties, we remember Krishna.
My question is that, what is the best way to remember Krishna? Through pastimes or through the beauty of deities? How? What is the best way to remember Krishna? Again, whatever works for us. There is no standard in this. So, once Jayadvait Maharaj asked this question.
How should we become serious about Krishna Consciousness? He said, somehow or the other. Somehow or the other. What does it mean? Rupa Goswami is saying that, somehow or the other.
What that means is, that actually, although the process of Krishna Consciousness is standard, there is abundant room for individual expression of the process. That means, how Krishna attracts you is different from how Krishna attracts me. And I have to find out how Krishna attracts me.
You have to find out how Krishna attracts you. So, we all do the standard processes. So, we’ll all chant sixteen rounds, we’ll follow the four principles, we’ll read Sri Prabhupada’s books.
But beyond that, if we want to absorb ourselves in Krishna more, we’ll have to find out, each one of us, which aspect of Krishna Consciousness can I link with easily? So, Rupa Goswami says that there are four kinds of Dhyana. There is Rupa Dhyana, Naam Dhyana, Leela Dhyana and Seva Dhyana. So, whichever we can link with, we should.
So, there is individuality. There is no need to impose our standards on others and no need to feel pressurised by other standards. By standards, I am saying, in addition to the standard process of devotional service.
We all chant sixteen rounds, we all do the standard activities, but over and above, we always have individuality. Some of us may like Shirtans, some of us may like to memorise Shlokas, some of us may like to hear pastimes, some of us may like to hear philosophy, I think there are very few, but some of us may be there also who will like to exercise our intellectual muscles. So, whatever, whatever works for us and that’s why whenever we are practising our Krishna Consciousness activities, we should also be observing, which activities I really like to do and we can maximise them.
Those are the activities through which Krishna is revealing himself to us. Okay. Is there a question there? Yeah.
Pravji, I had a question in my mind that we follow a different calendar for fasting. Our Ekadashi comes one day after the normal calendar what we see outside and you said that sin enters into the food. So, on which day the sin enters? The one day before or on which we are fasting? Because we consume rice and other grains.
Isn’t it not that we are consuming sin? Okay. So, are we consuming sin because our calendars are different from other calendars? See, the thing is that India had the most sophisticated system of time measurement in the whole world. First of all, numeric system itself.
They call it Arabic numerals, but they are not Arabic. They are Indian. So, they originally originated in India.
But still the point is the Vedic calendar system is quite complex. And that’s why sometimes you practise Janmashtami at one place and you go to another place and they are having Janmashtami today over there. So, there are many people, especially on Diwali, they like to feast.
So, they go to 2-3 places where every time Diwali is celebrated. It happens like… So, here, we should not get in the zone of Niyamagraha. We don’t need to worry too much about the technicalities of the rules.
Because on the path of Karmakanda, the technicalities are important. But in the path of Bhakti, the Bhav is important. And that’s why we respect the technicalities and as much as it is practical, we follow them.
But we don’t go into paranoia about them. Paranoia means excessive anxiety about them. So, it doesn’t matter.
There is the traditional Vedic calendar and there is the Vaishnav calendar. So, there are some differences between that. So, we don’t have to worry about that.
Krishna is not a God out to catch us doing wrong. You ate sinful food. Dog’s offer.
You know. Krishna, he knows our faults. But he is not a critic.
He is a coach. A critic is out to find faults because he considers finding faults as a sign of his cleverness. But a coach is aware of the faults so that the ward can be helped to become free from the faults.
So, we don’t have to bother about that too much. So, whatever Srila Prabhupada and the Krishna conscious movement have given us, we follow those dates and we make forward the spiritual advancement. And if others are having other dates, we respect that.
See, these are again, these are there is beyond the technicality there is the bhav. And on the path of the bhakti, the emotion is what is important. What is that verse? Dheero vadati krishnaya murkho vadati dheero vadati krishnaya murkho vadati krishnave.
So, upayo samam punyam bhavagraha janadana. In Sanskrit, different words are pronounced differently. So, but if you pronounce the word, even if accurately, without devotion, there is not as much benefit as if you pronounce wrongly but with devotion.
So, don’t bother too much about these things. About sin entering. As I said, we are taking prasadam, sin is not entering anyway.
So, we are fasting not so much for the sin aspect but for the purification through the following instructions of of gurusadhu shastra. Yes? Some other question there? Yes. Thank you very much for the wonderful class.
My question is regarding the, if we are involving if we intensify our devotional service or Krishna consciousness through involving the various devotional service like chanting, listening, hearing and involving in some physical services. So, as we increase this, so, at the same time, we get the interest in the same these activities, devotional service activities but at the same time, we lose interest from our material things like our job and other activities. And most of the times, maybe in a day, 9 to 10 hours we have to be there in our job and we have to involve in our office activities also.
But it is very difficult to maintain this balance like it is it looks like inversely proportional to each other. So, how to balance this means it is very difficult for when we increase our sadhana, increase our devotional service. So, please guide regarding this.
So, how can we maintain the balance between our material activities which we do for a larger part of the day and our devotional activities and especially when our devotional activities cause us to lose our interest in material activities. See, in the 18th chapter, Krishna talks about renunciation in three modes. And he says that if somebody renounces his duty because it is too troublesome, one will not get the true fruit of renunciation.
So, actually speaking, as devotees, we are not primarily interested in renunciation. We are primarily interested in Krishna. So, to some extent, we may feel that the devotional activities are more relishable, more joyful than our material professional activities, whatever they may be.
And that is certainly true. At the same time, the whole process of bhakti involves not rejecting the world but engaging the world. Not rejecting the world but engaging the world.
And materialistic people, they romanticise the world. This world is so wonderful. We can enjoy this world.
There is so much happiness here. In the path of jnana, jnana demonises the world. It is filled with maya.
So dangerous is this. Get out of this world as quickly as possible. The path of bhakti neither romanticises nor demonises.
It utilises the world. So, utilises the world. But, for us to utilise the world, we should be connected with it.
So, Krishna is here, we are here and the world is here. Krishna is in our hearts, we are next to it and the world is here. So, our morning sadhana is meant to strongly connect us with Krishna.
When we strongly connect ourselves with Krishna, even when we go outside the world, we don’t let the world pull us out. We connect the world with Krishna. So, we have our jobs.
We use our jobs so that, for whatever purpose we may use the earnings to serve Krishna. We may use the position to preach about Krishna consciousness. If we are planning to get married, then we can raise our family in Krishna consciousness.
So, whatever it is, if our hearts are connected with Krishna, then we can engage the world also in Krishna’s service. So, that’s why the important principle is our morning sadhana. If we do that well, then even if we have to go out into the heat and the passion of the world, we will stay protected.
And, if we sincerely strive, Krishna will give us intelligence. How we can utilise and Krishnaize even our material activities. दामि बुद्धियोगम्तम् येने मामो पयान्तिते So, we can find out ways and means by which we can cultivate remembrance of Krishna even in those situations.
So, we as devotees want to discover Krishna in his holy name, but we want to discover Krishna even in the actions of this world. Because through the actions of the world, through the things of this world also, we can offer these to Krishna. So, that’s the basic point.
First, connect our hearts with Krishna through sadhana. And to the extent we are lazy in our sadhana, to the extent we are lazy about controlling our mind in the morning and fixing it on Krishna, to the extent to that extent our mind will trouble us during the day time. So, there is no easy way out.
Either we struggle with the mind for the two hours of chanting or we struggle with the mind for the remaining 22 hours of the day. So, it’s better if we can struggle and intensify our sadhana. We will find that the mind will be much more peaceful.
Of course, at the practical level, we may have to consult with some counsellors and see. If our job is so demanding that it just doesn’t allow us time, then we may have to consider changing our situation a little bit so that we are more compatible. But, on a more sustainable level, we have to solidify our sadhana.
And that helps us to professionalise our professional activities. So, shall we stop here? Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna.