Practicing bhakti yoga in grihastha ashrama

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, today morning we’re discussing from Lord Krishna’s teachings to Uddhava, which constitute the heart of the 11th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
In fact, several Acharyas have called this the philosophically most important section of the Srimad Bhagavatam. So, this extends from chapter 7, Lord Krishna instructs Uddhava and it goes on to chapter 29, where Bhakti Yoga is the last chapter. Before that is instruction on deity worship, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.
So, in this, this is a comprehensive overview, which is often called as an expanded version of the Bhagavad Gita. So, here Lord Krishna, just before he departed from the world, gave Uddhava instructions. And he gives an overview, as he does in the Bhagavad Gita, of the whole gamut of Vedic literature, with its multiple processes for different levels of people.
And in this chapter, the beginning is, the beginning is a question by Uddhava. At the end of the last chapter, that was chapter 19, the perfection of spiritual knowledge. Krishna said that, real good is to see beyond good and bad.
Real good is to see beyond good and bad. And this theme is talked about in the Bhagavad Gita also, that, In 5.20, Lord Krishna says, one should be equipoised in goodness and good and bad results. And, this is good, this is bad, all this is an illusion.
Ultimately, actually everything auspicious and inauspicious in the world is just concoction. So, when Krishna speaks this, Uddhava poses a question. That question is the first five verses of this chapter.
So, Krishnaji therefore explains, that actually Uddhava understands what Krishna is saying, but he is asking for our benefits. So, he asks Krishna, you have only given us the Vedic literature. In the Vedic literature, this is kunya and this is paap.
And the kunya one good swarga, paap will one good maraka. So, kunya is good, swarga is good, paap and maraka is bad. So, if you only later say that there is no need to look for good and bad, then how will the Vedic literature’s validity be maintained? And how will people continue with their prescribed duties? Then Krishna says that I will give you overview.
And he says basically there are three paths for spiritual advancement. So, there is a path for the attached, is the path of karma. The path for the detached is the path of jnana.
So, in the path for the attached, path of karma, one has to look for this is good and this is bad. Because kunya and paap are primary consideration in the path of karma. But then he says on the path of jnana, because one has transcended, one has become disgusted with material existence, one does not want anything material.
So, therefore, one goes beyond it and one doesn’t look at good and bad. He understands that the whole material world is bad. So, the whole material world is bad.
And from that perspective, there is no difference between good and bad. Even the good in material existence will keep one in material existence, which is a place of suffering. So, then Krishna says that actually the path of bhakti, which I will now talk to you, is neither for those who are too attached or for those who are too detached.
If one is very attached, then such a person will follow the path of karma. Nirvinna is related with the Buddhist word nirvana. One is completely disgusted with material existence.
Then such a person will follow the path of jnana. He just leaves the material world and goes out into the forest. So, Krishna has described that one who is neither too attached nor too detached, for such a person is the path of bhakti.
And he says that both in the path of jnana and the path of bhakti, one does not need to look at what is good and what is bad from the material perspective. So, now, in the lead up to the words that we are discussing, this one of the later verses in the chapter. So, before this a lot has happened, but the key theme which we are going to discuss today, sve sve adhikare ya nishta, sarva gunanam parikirti taha.
So, now, Krishna is saying that adhikar, adhikar means qualification. In our normal Hindi language, adhikar normally means authority or right. Kya adhikar hai tumhara aise bolne ka? Which means, adhikar means authority or right.
But in the Vedic context, adhikar is more like qualification. So, for example, do we have the adhikar to understand rastika? It will mean we will never have the right, but do we have the qualification? So, Krishna is saying over here, sve sve adhikare ya nishta, that means according to one’s adhikar, when one practises. Then, sarva gunanam parikirti taha, that is considered, parikirti taha is described as gunaha, that is described as virtue, that is described as a right activity.
So, in a similar context, Vishwanath Chakravartha in his commentary mentions that one’s duty varies according to one’s situation and he gives the same thing, sve sve adhikare ya nishta. So, he says, for a sanyasi to associate with woman is a dosha, but for a grahastha to not associate with wife is a dosha. So, sve sve adhikare ya nishta.
So, according to one’s adhikar, one’s practise will be determined. Therefore, the spiritual practises which are given in the scriptures are according to one’s level. When one understands this principle, then one can understand how one needs to practise devotional service.
So, in general, the Srimad Bhagavatam as a whole and the Uddhav Gita in particular, they are spoken in a particular context. In every scripture, there is a contextual message and there is an eternal message. There is a contextual message that is specific to the context and there is an eternal message that is universal, which applies at all time, place and circumstances.
So, for example, in the Bhagavad Gita, the contextual messages are in a fight, isn’t it? But if somebody tries to eternalise the contextual message, you know, for example, there is a Hindu leader, he says, when Indians should follow Bhagavad Gita, if Indians had followed Bhagavad Gita, what they would have done? The day Pakistan was created, we would have run over it and destroyed it out of existence. All of India’s problems are because Hindus have not followed Bhagavad Gita. And what is his understanding of following Bhagavad Gita? Wipe stamp Pakistan out of the Govinda.
Now, the fighting is not an eternal message, it is a contextual message. It is, in fact, if we see the Bhagavad Gita, initially in the second chapter, Krishna is talking about Yadasma, Vidya, Subhaharata and in the eleventh chapter, he talks fight. But after the eleventh chapter, when he says, Vishwaroopam, Uttishta, Tasmat Uttishta Kaunteya, Krishna describes, Therefore, Arjuna, rise and conquer, your enemies are already killed by my arrangement.
Just become an instrument in my hands. So, in 11.33, that is the last direct call to fight to Arjuna. From 11.34 onwards till 18.71, where Krishna’s speech ends, so almost one third of the Bhagavad Gita, there is no reference to fighting.
And even when Arjuna exceeds the request, Arjuna doesn’t say, I will fight now. He says, So, by that time, the Bhagavad Gita’s message is ascended to a much higher level. So, the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita is to harmonise the human will with the divine will out of devotion.
To harmonise the human will with the divine will out of devotion. That is the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita. That is the eternal message.
And how it will be done for Arjuna is contextual. That is, for him, harmonising his will with the divine will is by fighting. But for all of us, it may be by chanting Hare Krishna.
It may be by doing our worldly profession. It may be by doing our studies. So, the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita is what will apply at all times.
The contextual will change. So, similarly, the Bhagavatam has a contextual and an eternal message. So, what is contextual? For example, Parikshit Maharaj has to prepare for his death.
So, of course, all of us also have to prepare for our death. In that sense, that principle is eternal. But all of us may not be about to die in 7 days.
We don’t know. But we may die in 7 moments also. But we are not exactly given a notice that we are going to die after 7 days.
So, as a contextual side, when the Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam is spoken, the focus in the Srimad Bhagavatam is on getting everyone, getting Parikshit Maharaj basically to shed aside all thoughts of everything else except Krishna. To shed aside all thoughts of everything else except Krishna. That is the focus of the Srimad Bhagavatam.
And that, in a sense, is the purpose of life itself. But this was not necessarily the message that Srimad Bhagavatam, message that is conveyed through the life of Parikshit Maharaj. When Parikshit Maharaj is on the banks of the Ganga, Ganga chadevi ditchita ishi.
He is saying that I have taken the Lord in my heart and I am just going to pass to death, not going to do anything else. So, Parikshit Maharaj did not do this when Kali came to attack. Kali came and tried to attack the cow and the bull.
Parikshit Maharaj did not say, okay, whatever here he is saying, even if the snake comes and bites me, it doesn’t matter. I will just absorb myself in Krishna. So, when Parikshit Maharaj was functioning as a king, he was actually going around the kingdom, vigilantly observing what is happening.
And he did not say at that time, oh, if Kali is coming and killing the cow, let it happen. I’ll simply absorb myself in hearing and chanting. So, what does this indicate? This indicates two distinct things.
That when one is focused on hearing and chanting, one needs to absorb influence within. At the same time, when one has a functional responsible role in this world, one cannot use hearing and chanting as an excuse or justification for neglecting one’s responsibility. When His Holiness Radha Maharaj gave the inaugural talk, one of the inaugural talks at the Bhakta Hospital, he told all the doctors over there and the staff over there, he says, for the smooth and effective functioning of this hospital, all of you should act in the mood of goodness, irrespective of whether you are below it or above it.
So, whether you are below it or above it. So, imagine if a doctor, devotee doctor, there is a patient who has come in emergency and there is surgery to be done. And he says, today Maharaj is in Bhakta, I have to go to the temple.
Now, it won’t work. At his eyes, it is nice to hear Bhagavatam, but can a doctor say, you know, whatever happens, let the patient die, I will hear Bhagavatam. It won’t work over there.
Isn’t it? So, this is not to say that our devotional responsibilities are to be undermined in any way, but there is a time and place for everything and there has to be a range of time and place for everything. So, this is the point of swesve dikade ya nishta. So, in the Mahabharata, when Narada Muni comes to meet Yudhishthir Maharaj, his enquiries are very interesting.
So, we look at two kinds of enquiries. We know, Prabhupada often quotes this, that when Dashrath Maharaj greeted Vishwamitra, when Vishwamitra came to meet him, what was Dashrath Maharaj greeting to him? He asked, how is your conquest over rebirth proceeding? How is your conquest over rebirth proceeding? That means the idea that you have renounced the world. What is the purpose of renouncing the world? That one wants to conquer the cycle of birth and death.
How is your conquest over rebirth proceeding? So, that is the enquiry of a grahastha to a sanyasi. Narada Muni is like a sanyasi. So, when he comes to a grahastha, what is his enquiry? His enquiry is very interesting.
He says, O Yudhishthir Maharaj, householder life means that there should be a balance between profit, pleasure and religion. He says, are you, so what is profit, pleasure, religion? Profit is artha, pleasure is kama and religion is dharma. So, this is a progression, dharma artha kama and moksha.
So, when a sanyasi is enquiring from a grahastha, he is enquiring, how is dharma artha kama going? When a grahastha is enquiring from a sanyasi, what is he asking? How is moksha going? You see the difference in the focus? So, he is asking that, are you able to, in your grahastha life, balance between religion, profit and pleasure? So, dharma artha and kama, he says, a responsible householder is one who gives up any one of these for the sake of other two or any two of these for the sake of one. If somebody pursues only pleasure and gives up profit and religion, or somebody pursues only religion and gives up profit and pleasure, or somebody, we will see examples, that somebody just gets into so much sense gratification, that they only do this responsibly, what to speak of spiritual duties. So, he is pursuing pleasure at the expense of profit and religion.
On the other hand, somebody might pursue, this is often the trend, that people pursue profit at the expense of religion and pleasure. People have no time for their families, what to speak of any time for God. He is working 15 hours, 16 hours.
Why? For the sake of money. So, profit is being pursued at the expense of pleasure and religion. So, here, pleasure does not have a narrow meaning of just carnal sexual pleasure.
Pleasure means the pleasure of family life. So, when it talks about kama, kama in the sequence of dharma artha, kama moksha, is not just gross sense gratification. Kama actually means love, just like artha is not just, is not just money, artha is prosperity.
And Prabhupada explains, prosperity means that it has to be generally measured in natural sustainable terms. That means, it is, traditionally it was measured in terms of how much cows one had, how much grains one had, how much gold one has. These are natural sustainable repositories of wealth, not just currency whose value is prone to devaluation by just one stock market crash.
So, just as artha means holistic prosperity, similarly, kama doesn’t refer only to a sexual pleasure, it refers to the overall pleasure of family life. So, all the three need to be balanced. Now, this progression is dharma artha kama is for, is the path of karma basically.
And moksha is the path of jnana. Now, in bhakti, what is the purushartha, what is the goal that we are pursuing? Yes, these are the four purusharthas. What did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu give us? Yeah, pancham purushartha.
What is the first purushartha? Prema. This is what Krishna Puri Maharaj said. Prema kumartho mahaan, aradhyo bhagavan vijeshthanis tad dham vrindavanam, ramyaakarchidupasnaam vajavadhu vargenamakalpitam, shreeman bhavatam pramana mamalam, prema kumartho mahaan, sri chaitanya maha prabhor matamitam, tatradharanaparaham.
He is describing, and this was Chaitanya Manjusha by Srinath Chakravarti. He is describing that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has given these special gifts. What have they given? He has told us aradhyo bhagavan.
The Vedic literature might tell us that Lord Vishnu, he is the supreme, he is the supreme. But that same law has a more intimate form. Aradhyo bhagavan vijeshthanis.
So he is Krishna. The highest abode we want to go to is not Vaikuntha but Vrindavanam. And then the worship that we want to follow in the Putsa of the Prophets.
That the worship we want to follow in the Putsa of the Gopis. The way the Gopis practise giving up their homes, their families when Krishna played his flute and called them. And then how do we know all this? Srimad Bhagavatam pramana mamalam.
The spotless pramana is Srimad Bhagavatam. These are the four things. These are the four distinct gifts.
Now fifth is, that is what he is telling. Prema puma artha mahan. So puma artha is purusha artha.
Puma is short for purusha. Puma artha mahan. So he is telling that our goal is not dharma artha kamaya moksha.
Our goal is prema. It is love of Krishna. So it is a pancham purusha artha.
The fifth purusha artha. The supreme purusha artha. Purusha artha.
Artha doesn’t just mean money. Artha also means meaning, purpose. In hindi we have shabda artha.
What is the meaning of that? So purusha artha, what is the meaning of a person’s life? The meaning, the shaping meaning of a person’s life is the attainment of prema, is the attainment of love for Krishna. So for us dharma artha kamaya moksha is not the primary goal. It is prema that is our primary goal.
So now the point which I was making is that the focus of the duty for grahasthas and brahmacharis is different. For grahasthas and renunciates is different. Renunciates are asked in the traditional system, how are you conquering over rebirth? And grahasthas are asked, are you balancing dharma artha and kama? So now how does this play out for devotees? Now devotees are neither interested in dharma artha kama primarily nor are renunciates within the devotional life.
Devotee grahasthas are not interested in dharma artha kama and devotee renunciates are not interested in moksha. Both are actually interested in prema. Both are interested in becoming purified so that one can go back to Godhead.
So how does this work out in a devotee’s life? In the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna describes bhakti that can be practised at multiple levels. So if you see how the Bhagavad Gita is progressing, it’s like an ascending ladder. So the Bhagavad Gita starts with Krishna talking about karmakand.
Arjuna, in the 2nd chapter, 4th, 5th verses, Krishna says, 2nd, 3rd verse is anarishtam asvargyam akirti karma arjuna. He says Arjuna not fighting, it is asvargyam. Anarishtam asvargyam.
This will not lead to swarga for you. This is unbecoming for you. So at the start of the Bhagavad Gita, swarga is a consideration for whom? Those who are on the path of karma.
So Krishna in the initial level, the whole Mahabharata is more or less at the level of karmakand. Although everything can be seen from the devotional perspective, the Mahabharata itself is primarily at the level of karmakand. So Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of the Mahabharata, Bhishma Parama, chapters 23-40.
So he is telling over there that, oh Arjuna, by this sort of action, by giving up your duty on the battlefield, you will not go to swarga. So he is talking at the level of karmakand. And then slowly the Bhagavad Gita progresses.
So the 2nd chapter talks about karmakand and then it talks about sankhya. This is slowly the path of jnana. Then karma yoga is talked about in the 3rd chapter.
Then transcendental knowledge is talked about in the 4th chapter, which is a part of karma yoga. 5th chapter talks about karma yoga in greater depth. And along all these chapters, bhakti is hinted at.
In the 6th chapter, ashtama yoga is introduced. And then from the 7th chapter, bhakti starts getting focused on. The first 6 chapters basically talk about from karma to bhakti.
So the 7th chapter first verse starts with mayya saptamana partha, with your mind attached to me, that is the characteristic of bhakti. And then slowly the Bhagavad Gita ascends upwards, upwards, upwards to go into the heart of bhakti in the 9th chapter, where Krishna is telling, even if a person commits sins, still he is glorious. Krishna is describing his affection for devotees.
No matter how sinful a person is, still he is considered to be sadhu, 9.30 he describes. Similarly, he describes, basically what is he telling, how bhakti turns upside down the normal hierarchy. Normal hierarchy point of view, if somebody commits sin, he is a verminable.
But Krishna is telling, no, he is considered glorious, because he is practising devotional service. Then he says, want to speak of somebody committing an occasional sinful activity, this is 9.30-31. And Krishna says, he will soon become virtuous, because he is my devotee. Even if somebody is born sinful, is low born, that he describes in 32 and 33 verses.
He says, want to speak of somebody incidentally committing a sinful activity, even if somebody has an inherent sinful nature, an inherent low born nature, like a shudra or a vaisya or a sthiri, even such a person can attain the supreme destination by the practise of bhakti. So, essentially, Krishna is turning upside down the normal hierarchy of progression by the power of bhakti. And we see this repeatedly in the Srimad Bhagavatam.
From the normal point of view, the deva is, the deva is, asura is lower, the deva is higher, the manava is in between, isn’t it? That is the normal hierarchy. But in the Srimad Bhagavatam, as we progress towards the 10th canto, again and again, this hierarchy will be reversed. In the 6th canto, we will see Vritrasura is more glorious than whom? Indra.
Vritrasura is a demon, Indra is a demigod, but still Vritrasura is more glorious. Similarly, Vritrasura is one time glorious, only at the moment of death. But the next is Prahlad Maharaj.
Prahlad Maharaj is lifelong glorious. And how much he is more glorious? He is more glorious, not just any one devata, but all the devatas. None of the devatas can pacify Lord Narasimha, but Prahlad Maharaj pacifies him.
Similarly, actually all the devatas capitulate to Hiranyakashipu, Prahlad doesn’t capitulate. That means again the hierarchy is reversed and not just at the moment of death, but throughout the Similarly, in the 8th canto, which is the pastime, which turns this hierarchy upside down, Bali Maharaj. In Bali Maharaj, normally, the idea is that one should be able to sacrifice everything for God.
So actually, Indra engages God in his service. Isn’t it? Indra has lost his kingdom and he engages Vishnu as Vamana to serve him by getting his kingdom back for him. Whereas Bali, what does he do? He sacrifices his kingdom for the Lord Sikh.
So again, Bali is much higher than Indra. So the Srimad Bhagavatam, as it progresses, it shows how bhakti turns the traditional hierarchy upside down. So devata is considered higher than a demon.
But no, if a demon is a devotee, the devotee is much higher. The same principles continue in the 9th canto, in the pastime of Durvasa Muni and Ambarish. Durvasa Muni, actually both from the Varana and the ashram perspective is higher.
From the Varana perspective, Durvasa Muni is Brahmana and Indra is Sanyasi. Ambarish Maharaj is a Grahastha and a Kshatriya. So both from the Varana and ashram point of view, Ambarish Maharaj is lower than Durvasa Muni.
But what happens? By the power of bhakti, so things turn upside down. So Ambarish Maharaj becomes higher than Durvasa Muni. So the essential point which the Srimad Bhagavatam is leading to is that bhakti radically revises the traditional hierarchy.
And the culmination of this will be the 10th canto, where the simple cowherd girls, they are declared to be higher than the highest sages. The cowherd girls, first of all women are not considered very elevated and Vaishyas in general are not considered very elevated. So they don’t have Varana, they don’t have ashrama, they don’t have jnana, they don’t have tapasya.
They have none of the qualifications that other religionists or transcendentalists possess. And still the gopis are considered the highest. So the point which I am driving home over here is that in bhakti, the traditional hierarchies don’t matter.
The traditional hierarchies may be what is one’s family birth, is it Asuri or Daivi, what is one’s ashram, what is one’s Varana. All these things don’t matter. All that matters is bhakti.
If one has bhakti, one is advanced. If one does not have bhakti, one is not advanced. So this of course does not mean that the other things are unimportant.
They have their utility, they have their value, but they do not define a devotee. A devotee is not defined by his Varana, his ashrama, his birth. A devotee is defined by his devotion to Krishna.
So now the point which I was making earlier is, I was talking about a flow of the Bhagavad Gita. In the Bhagavad Gita, by the 9th chapter, Krishna has established supremacy of bhakti. In the 10th chapter, he shows how one can practise bhakti by observing material nature.
And then 11th chapter, he talks about how the object of bhakti, that is Bhagavan, that is Krishna, he is the source of the virat. And then in the 12th chapter, Krishna compares bhakti and gyana. And then he describes how the path of gyana is quite difficult.
In 12.5, he describes that 12.5, he describes that actually this glacier is too much in the path of gyana. And then he contrasts that in six or seven verses with the path of bhakti. The path of bhakti, Krishna says, I will personally help you advance.
Krishna says, you must have seen that picture of a person drowning in the ocean and Lord Vishnu coming on Garuda and extending his hand and the person raising his hand and being lifted out. So Krishna says, I will come and deliver you from the cycle of material existence. So in this way, by 12.7, Krishna has established the supremacy of bhakti.
But then the question comes up, how can bhakti be practised? Bhakti is supreme, but we may not be at the level of devotion, pure devotion. So the remaining class, we will be discussing this section on Bhagavad Gita, 12.8 to 12.12. We’ll see how many verses we can discuss. This section actually defines the various levels at which we can practise bhakti.
And here, we’ll be able to understand how brahmacharya ashram and grahastha ashram, how they interrelate, how they facilitate and how they sometimes obstruct in the practise of bhakti. So in bhakti, we are not considering dharma, artha, kama or moksha. We are considering prema.
Now, how can prema be attained while living in the varna ashram structure? That is what we’ll discuss. So let’s go to 12.7. We’ll discuss from 8 onwards. 12.7, what was the verse? I just recited that.
Krishna says, I’ll personally come and deliver you from eternal existence. So you can recite this. So, I write a daily meditation in the Bhagavad Gita.
So this is the article I’ve written about this. Locating ourselves on the Gita’s ladder. So we’ll discuss this today.
So, this is for the verses. So now, this is the first level. So, Gita’s ladder of now.
So, what is Krishna doing over here in this verse? He’s saying, okay, bhakti is the supreme, but how will he come to that level? From that supreme level, he’s offering a ladder. And the ladder extends downward, downward, downward, downward to as far as a person wants to go down. As far down as a person might be.
So, where we are, we are at a particular present level, the ladder will come down to us and we climb up over there and we keep moving forward. So, let’s look at the first verse. This is the 8th verse.
So, what is Krishna telling over here? Mayyeva manadhatsvamayi buddhir nivesaya. So, offer the mind and intelligence to me entirely. And by this, what will happen? Nivasishyasi mayyeva.
Nivasishyasi means nivas, reside. Krishna says, you will reside in me by this. So, this verse is talking about a pure devotee.
A pure devotee is internally absorbed in Krishna. Mind and intelligence are all offered to Krishna. And that’s why a person like Prabhupada, a pure devotee, he may even go to America.
But he’s actually not in America. He’s in Vaikuntha. He’s in Vrindavan.
You know, it is said that you can take a devotee out of Vrindavan, but you cannot take Vrindavan out of a devotee. You can take a devotee out of Vrindavan. Physically, a devotee may have to go out, a devotee may be forced out also.
But you cannot take Vrindavan out of a devotee. Because a devotee’s heart is forever in Vrindavan. This Srila Prabhupada, wherever he went, he never left Vrindavan.
Actually, Srila Prabhupada carried Vrindavan in his heart. And wherever he went, wherever people were interested, he manifested Vrindavan over there for their purification and upliftment. So, this is the highest level which all of us aspire for.
Now, we aspire for, but we are not at this level. So, then what is the next level, Krishna says? Okay, try to make your mind attached. So, who would like to read the second sentence? You would like to read, you can read.
If your mind cannot be satisfied in constantly thinking of Krishna, is not capable of thinking of Krishna constantly, then what should you do? By the practise of Sadhana Bhakti, what will happen by that? By the practise of Sadhana Bhakti, your Iccha for me will increase. So, every day when we wake up and chant Hare Krishna, what is the purpose of this chanting? We are not just getting ourselves ready for initiation or fulfilling our initiation vows. It is good, but we are actually trying, chanting is a process by which our desire for Krishna will increase.
See, why can’t we think of Krishna always? Because we don’t love Krishna sufficiently, we don’t desire him sufficiently. Suppose there is a cricket lover, he may be doing some work on his computer, but in the background, maybe some other window is open, where the latest cricket score is coming. And why is he able to think of cricket constantly? Because he has a desire for cricket.
So, the essential difference between a Sadhaka and a Siddha is in desire. A Siddha has a strong desire for Krishna. A Sadhaka has a relatively weak desire for Krishna.
So, then what does Sadhana do? Sadhana is the process by which a seeker becomes a seer. Sadhana is the process by which a seeker becomes a seer. A Sadhaka becomes a Siddha.
And how will a Sadhaka become a Siddha? By his desire becoming stronger. So, essentially, our practise of Bhakti is to make our desire for Krishna stronger and stronger. So, Krishna is saying, By the practise of Abhyas Yoga, increase your desire for me.
So, Abhyas Yoga for us refers to the Sadhana that we do. So, we study, we discuss, we chant, we do Bhakti. All this is Sadhana Bhakti for us.
So, now if you see, all the scorned devotees, whether they are grahasthas or brahmacharis, they aspire for the level one. But where do they normally reside, normally function? All of us, Srila Prabhupada gave us 16 rounds and 64 limbs of devotional service, at least the five potent forms. So, all of us practise at level two.
And by this practise at level two, we aspire to go to level three. So, the essential difference will be between say brahmacharis and grahasthas will be that brahmacharis will be able to spend more time at level two, then will be grahasthas. Now, maybe brahmacharis can have four, five hours full morning programme, and they can have brahmachari class, they can have more time for studying scriptures.
So, directly if you see Shravanam, Giridhanam, Vishnu, Smaranam, these activities, the brahmachari ashram facilitates it more. So, in that sense, brahmachari ashram is Anup. But Krishna reassures in this section, that whichever level one is situated at, one will attain the ultimate perfection.
So, then he describes the next level. So, that next level is, okay, we will recite the verse. No, you can see that we will recite it better.
Abhyasepya Samarthosi Matkarma Paramobhava Madarthamati Karmani Kurvan Siddhima Vapsyasi So, Abhyasepya Samarthosi. Asamartha means incapable. So, if you are incapable of Abhyas, if you cannot practise sadhana bhakti constantly, then what should you do? Matkarma Paramobhava, work for me.
And Madarthamati Karmani, by working for me, what will happen? Kurvan Siddhim. Siddhim is perfection. I talked about Siddha just now.
Perfection, you will attain perfection, Krishna is saying. So, Matkarma Paramobhava, work for me. Now, in working for Krishna, there are two implicit levels over here.
These we can understand with functional level. So, working for Krishna can be direct. When we do his work, that is, we render service to him.
For example, say you come to the temple and do some seva, take up some temple manager responsibilities, do some preaching, do some distribution. So, this is, we are doing directly Krishna’s work. Matkarma Paramobhava.
So, do work for me. So, brahmacharis also do the same thing. In a way, brahmacharis do sadhana 24 hours a day.
Sadhana may be 5-6 hours. Remaining time, they are doing matkarma, that is, work for Krishna. So, then this matkarma can also be at another level, that is, the grhasthas have their own house and they have their own job.
So, when they work, their work, it will be Krishna’s work if they offer the fruits to Krishna. If they don’t offer the fruits to Krishna, then it is their own work. Then it is not matkarma.
It is tvatkarma. It is your karma. If we complete this, then we’ll discuss.
So, if you see again, the difference would be that, so, most brahmacharis, their life will be either at level 2 or level 3.1. 3.1 is do Krishna’s work. On the other hand, for grhasthas, their life will be at 2, 3.1 and 3.2. 3.2 is what? In that, we do our work and offer the fruits to Krishna. So, the offering of fruits can be done in various ways.
One can arrange programmes in one’s house. One can make an altar in one’s own house and decorate the altar. But one of the most important ways in offering fruits is actually giving charity because that is what connects our life and our work with Krishna.
Now, what is the essential principle of charity? Actually, the essential principle is that we want to offer our heart to Krishna. We all want to offer our heart to Krishna, but our heart is caught up in various things. So, for example, if somebody is a Brahmin, if somebody is an intellectual, then for such a person, his heart is caught up in his books.
So, you can visualise this now. There is one circle of devotion to Krishna and there is another circle of our own interests and attractions. One circle of devotion to Krishna, another circle of our own interests and attractions.
So, the whole expertise of Varnashram Dharma lies in finding the intersection of these two and situating the seeker devotee in that intersection. That means I have my own interest, this one circle, and Krishna’s devotion is another interest, is another circle. Now, I cannot artificially live in this circle forever.
For example, if all of us are told, chant 64 rounds every day and do not do anything else. You know, maybe once a year, 64 rounds is fine. Or maybe sometimes if we have really taste for chanting, I do it once a fortnight.
But every day do that. It is nearly impossible. So, we cannot situate ourselves artificially in this circle of Krishna’s devotion.
But at the same time, if we situate ourselves only in the circle of our interest, then we will just be like materialistic. So, the whole expertise of Varnashram is to find out an intersection between these two circles. So, for example, a Brahmana, what is this intersection? A Brahmana is an intellectual, he likes to read books.
But then he is told, read books about Krishna. So, read scriptures and teach those scriptures. Now, it is not that all Brahmanas will teach only scriptures.
There may be Brahmanas who teach Ayurveda. There may be Brahmana like Drona who teach Dhanur Vidya, Arjuna. So, now are they also in the intersection? They are in the intersection because ultimately they are offering the proofs to Krishna.
They are doing it in the purview of Dharma. So, the expertise is to find out the intersection of these two circles. So, when we do our work, so the principle is what? Our heart is in the circle, Krishna is in the circle.
So, when I find out an intersection, then my heart and Krishna will intersect. So, now I will make this a little more easy to understand. I want to offer my heart to Krishna, but my heart is filled with thoughts of money.
Then how will I let Krishna enter my heart or how will I offer my heart to Krishna? If I cannot offer my heart to Krishna, then offer that which is in my heart. So, what is in my heart? In my heart there is money. So, when I offer money to Krishna, naturally Krishna gets a place in my heart, my life.
So, if I am attached to my family members, if I am attached to my spouse, then I try to engage my spouse in devotional service and then in that way my attachment to my family becomes spiritualised. So, in this way, the whole principle is to find the intersection between the two. So, because inevitably when we are in Rohas Darshan, money becomes a crucial factor.
Even if we don’t want it, it has a prominent place in our thoughts and in our heart. That’s why charity is a very important principle. Because through charity, we offer a part of our heart to Krishna and therefore, we offer Krishna a place in a part of our heart.
This hierarchy goes downwards further, where it becomes a little technical. And Krishna says basically the next level, he will say that if you can’t work for me, then offer the fruits of your work to a good cause. And then he says even by that, you will eventually get elevated.
But the Acharya described that is not a part of Bhakti. So, when he says that if you can’t offer the fruits of your work to me, offer the fruits of your work to some good cause. And by that what will happen? You will also eventually, gradually come back to me.
But that will take a lot of time. Why? Because you’re not connected with me. But what is the principle? Why should one give charity? That means if I cannot give charity, Prabhupada explains in the Purport, that sometimes because of some circumstances, one may not be able to give charity to Krishna.
Then if one gives some charity to some good cause, basically by that, a culture of selflessness is created. And that culture of selflessness eventually helps us to move towards the culture of devotion. So, it creates a foundation.
It is not a part of the take-off. So, you need a take-off foundation, runaway plane and then we actually take off. So, these three are part of the take-off.
What comes lower, that is giving charity to a good cause, that is not part of take-off. But that is part of setting up the runaway plane, setting up the floor from which the plane takes off. So, in this way, essentially, the ultimate goal of both the ashrams is the same.
The only difference will be in terms of which level at which one practises bhakti and how much one gets the time and the facility for direct connection with Krishna. So, as devotees who are trying to practise Krishna Consciousness, whichever be our ashram, our primary goal is to return back to Krishna. And we orient our life accordingly, whatever requires to be done.
Whether it requires our time and facility, it may sometimes allow us a lot of time to practise devotional service, sometimes with relatively less time. But the principle is, as he said over here, that whatever be one’s adhikar, one keeps practising devotional service and accordingly one advances. So, I’ll make one concluding point and then we can have question answers.
In the section of Uddhava Gita, which we discussed, Lord Krishna says over there to Uddhava that whatever, when one tries to practise devotional service, one should not get too dejected if one is not able to practise devotional service with purity. If one is not able to practise devotional service with the requisite standards. So, the Acharya described over there, that one should not become a frustrated devotee of detachment.
One should not become a frustrated devotee of detachment. One should remain a hopeful devotee of Krishna. Okay, we’ll discuss this verse.
So, what is he describing over here? Jata is born, Shraddha. Faith is born. Then one has awakened faith in Krishna Katha, in the principles of Krishna Consciousness.
And by this faith in Krishna Consciousness, what happens? Nirvinay Sarva Karmasu. One understands that the path of karma will not lead to any good. The path of pursuing Sanskrit education, even with the religious means, it will not lead to any good.
Why? Because one understands, It’s a very interesting phrase. Veda means to know. One knows that what is the characteristic of Kama? It is Dukha Atmakaan.
Atma is Dukha. It’s a very poetic phrase. That for Kama, the Atma is Dukha.
It is intrinsically filled with misery. Veda is Dukha Atmakaan Kama. Why is Sanskrit education filled with misery? Because, actually from the moment the mind gets filled with the desires for Sanskrit education, actually we start feeling misery.
It’s like, we know the fish. When the fish comes out of water, from the moment the fish comes out of water, it may come out of the water to cheat after a mirage. When it gets to the mirage, it will understand there is no pleasure over there.
But from the moment it comes out of the water, till it goes back again, there is nothing but misery. From the moment it comes out, it’s tormented by the hot sand below, tormented by the hot sun above, and it is moving, moving, moving towards the mirage. It gets to the mirage and it says, oh, there’s no water over here.
If it’s unfortunate, that fish gets caught by another mirage, captivated and starts chasing it. It goes further and further away. But if it’s unfortunate, it somehow turns back and goes back to the ocean again.
But the point is, from the moment it comes out of the ocean, till it returns back into the ocean, this fish will suffer. Like that, the ocean is like Krishna consciousness and the fish is like us, our consciousness basically. So, from the moment we forget Krishna, our misery begins.
We may be infatuated by the Pope for sense gratification. But actually speaking, we are simply agitated. And the pleasure in sense gratification is actually not pleasure.
It is just relief. Relief. The mind is being gripped.
Do this, do this, do this, do this. And finally, when we do it, the lust stops in the mind. And we consider it to be pleasure.
It’s not actually pleasure. It’s merely relief. But after we get the relief, then what after that? The relief ends in a few moments and then again we have to struggle to come back to Krishna consciousness.
So, from the moment we forget Krishna, till the moment we return back to remembrance of Krishna, we will get nothing but misery. And a devotee has experienced that. Non-devotees have no experience of the happiness of Krishna consciousness.
That’s why they can be satisfied. Even by the little pleasure that is there in sense gratification. But devotees cannot be satisfied.
That’s why for devotees, they find they should read Khama is Atma is made of Dukkha. But still, one tries to give it up but One is not in control. One is not able to give up sense gratification.
One wants to give up or one cannot give up. So, it’s a very frustrating situation. One understands that this leads to misery but still one cannot give it up.
In such a situation, with affection, try to keep serving me. Try to keep practising yourself. How? With faith and determination.
What is the faith? That over a period of time, I will become purified. Although one is overpowered by lust. Although one is conquered by lust and one is not able to conquer lust.
But Dukkhodarkamshigarhayan means one repents. One gets into misery and one repents. But still, one doesn’t get frustrated.
So, what will happen if a devotee gets frustrated? If a devotee becomes frustrated, that frustration is actually the same temptation in a false God. See, when Maya comes directly as sexual temptation, she directs us away from Krishna. But when she comes as frustration, she comes as rejection, she comes as depression, Oh! I am so fallen.
I cannot make such an advancement. What is the end result of that thought also? It takes us away from Krishna, isn’t it? Whatever takes us away from Krishna is a form of Maya. So, it may be direct sense gratification or it may be hopelessness about whether I can give up sense gratification.
Both will take us away from Krishna. Therefore, what A. A. Krishna is saying Even if one is unable to give up sense gratification, don’t become frustrated, don’t become discouraged. Keep affectionately serving.
Over a period of time, one will become purified and one will return back to Krishna. So, we do want to come to the required standards gradually. But while this struggle is going on, it is very critical to always have a hopeful and positive attitude.
And if we don’t have that attitude properly, then we will not be able to wholehearted in what we are doing. In our movement, if it is to flourish, it needs examples of happy grahasthas. Because if you see, how does a movement’s influence spread? It spreads in terms of concentric expandment circles.
So, the innermost circle will be say, the pure devotees or the near pure devotees. So, they are very, very close to Krishna. Then say, there are those who are living in the temple and they directly dedicate to Krishna.
That is another circle. Then there are the grahasthas. They are another circle.
So, actually, they are the ones who are living in the temple. So, they are spreading the influence of the movement further and further. And those who come in contact with those grahasthas, they are inspired by them and they want to come towards them.
They form another circle. And like that, the influence of Krishna spreads further and further outward in terms of expanding concentric circles. So, especially those devotees who have, I have seen this, not just in a few centres, but several places, that those devotees who had some association with brahmacharis.
And maybe they have seen some of their equals becoming brahmacharis. Now, often they start getting a feeling that maybe I am not such a serious devotee. That is why I did not become a brahmachari.
That is why I have become a grahastha. But this attitude will spell the death knell of grahastha ashram. It is not that one ashram is higher and one ashram is lower.
It is not that grahastha ashram think that I am superior to brahmacharis. But at the same time, we just have to understand that it is a different way. It is a different way.
If one starts into grahastha ashram with a negative attitude, oh, then the result will be that whatever opportunities are there in grahastha ashram, one will not be able to take them also. One should be able to actually understand that the grahastha ashram is an arrangement created by Krishna for the practise of devotional service. And there is one extreme example of this.
It is quite tragic actually. So, in the early days of our movement, the whole movement was in the mood of book distribution, distribute books. So, the Prabhujis and the Matajis both would distribute books.
And they would stay in the temple. Earlier, actually ISKCON meant temple community only, whether people were brahmacharis or grahasthas. So, actually speaking, the Prabhupada never taught this.
But at that time, some of the devotees got the idea that when the grahasthas beget children, the children were seen as products of lust. The children are a gift of God. Now, if the parents and the community sees children as products of lust, then what hope is there for the children? And the result of such a negative attitude is that the second generation of devotees who are born in ISKCON, very few of them are called the guru-pullis.
Even the leaders are trying to help them become devotees. And there is a lot of effort going on. But it was not anyone specific’s fault.
It was just inevitable reaction to the culture of Krishna consciousness when it was immaturely applied. So, one has to have a proper attitude. Actually, when one is grahasthashtam, one has to see one’s material relationship.
They are not material. They can be spiritualised. They are spiritual.
But one has to have proper perspective. Only when one has the proper perspective, then one can advance in Krishna consciousness properly. There are several devotees in Radha Gopinath temple.
I know Radhanath Maharaj’s policies quite well, his guidance quite well. So, he said that if a mataji has a child at home, for her to take care of the child is as important or more important than to come to the temple for programmes. If a husband has family responsibility, he has to come to the temple.
He has to keep practising Krishna consciousness. At the same time, he has his family responsibilities also. He has to spend time with his family, take care of the family properly.
So, we see even in Prabhupada’s life. When Prabhupada was in Allahabad, his primary concern was, how will I earn? Of course, he wanted to earn for a transcendental purpose, to give Lakshmi to assist the Gauri Amrit in the preaching. But still, the nature of grahasthashtam is that one has to do certain duties.
So, tato bhajit maam pritah. If one becomes a frustrated devotee of renunciation, then one will not be able to happily practise grahastha life. Grahastha life has its challenges.
Brahmachari life has its challenges. Grahastha life has its opportunities. Brahmachari life has its opportunities.
So, just as, I’ll just give an extreme example of this. Suppose, some boy doesn’t get any job, doesn’t get any girl to get married. So, becomes a brahmachari.
How can such a person really have a bright future in brahmachari life? Why? Because, he’s not doing it with his heart. Now, it may happen, ye na ke na prakare na vada krishna nivet chahiye. So, it may happen that somebody with that attitude also comes to brahmachari life.
But, if eventually that person has to flourish in brahmachari life, he shouldn’t be thinking of what he is missing. He should be thinking of what is the opportunity for him here. Similarly, if one enters grahastha life, one needs to focus on the opportunities that are there.
So, one has to have a positive attitude towards grahastha life and then one can make spiritual progress. So, what is the shraddha? Now, the shraddha has multiple definitions. Initially, when we are talking at discover yourself level, we talk about how shraddha means faith in the existence of God.
We believe in the existence of God. But, what is the definition of shraddha that Krishan Das Kaviraj Mohan Swamy gives? shraddha sapte vishwasakahe sudrude nishchayah krishna bhakti kaile sarvakarma krutahayah krishna bhakti kaile sarvakarma krutahayah That if I do krishna bhakti, all other work will automatically be done. All other work will automatically be done.
That means that I don’t have to practise karma. I don’t have to practise jnana. Everything else will automatically be done.
So, whatever fruits are there in one particular ashram to the practise of bhakti, it is what is giving the fruits is not the ashram. What is giving the fruits is bhakti. So, if I practise bhakti, I will also get those fruits.
So, if we have this clear understanding, positive, hopeful understanding, then one can advance nicely in Krishna Consciousness. So, I’ll summarise. I started by introducing the Uddhava Gita and I mentioned how swespe adhikare anishta.
One has to practise according to one’s level. So, what is right at one level may be wrong at another. What is wrong at one level may be right at another.
And then while describing this, I talked about the contextual and eternal message of the Bhagavad Gita and of the Bhagavatam in general. So, just rejecting the world and absorbing oneself in Krishna is the contextual message of the Srimad Bhagavatam. That is what Parikshit Maharaj, when he’s sitting now, unworried about anything else.
But that same Parikshit Maharaj, when he’s living, he’s concerned about the administration. Then I discussed about how the sweswe dharme. So, how for a brahmachari or sanyasi, what is the enquiry? How are you attaining moksha? For a grahastha, what is the enquiry? How are you balancing dharma, artha, kama? But for a bhakta, whether he’s a brahmachari or whether he’s a grahastha or a renunciate, it is how are you progressing towards prema? And then how are you progressing towards prema? For that, we entered into Bhagavad Gita.
And I discussed the overview of the Bhagavad Gita, first 12 chapters to show how. First, Bhagavad Gita establishes the supremacy of prema. And while establishing the supremacy of bhakti and prema, I discussed how the Bhagavatam reverses the normal hierarchy.
Asura becomes greater than a deva. A grahastha kshatriya becomes higher than a brahmachari, sanyasi, brahmana. And vaisya ladies become higher than the greatest sanyasis.
So, that’s how bhakti reverses the hierarchy. And while discussing that, but within bhakti itself there is a hierarchy also. We discussed locating ourselves in Krishna’s ladder of love.
So, what is the highest level which we aspire for? Pure devotion, mind and will speaks to Krishna. And then what is the level below that? Sadhana bhakti, yes. So, as much sadhana bhakti as possible.
And then we discussed the third as level as to work for Krishna that has two parts. What are the two parts? Directly work for Krishna, indirectly offer fruits to Krishna. So, basically brahmacharis live in 2 and 3.1, grahasthas live in 2, 3.1 and 3.2. We discussed the principle of charity is that charity places us in the intersection of what is our interest and what is devotion.
So, we give Krishna a place in our heart by offering that which is in our heart to Krishna. So, I concluded with talking about how wherever we are situated we need to have a positive attitude towards that ashram. We should lead to misery but still we are not able to give it up.
So, still we should understand instead of being a frustrated devotee of renunciation, one has to be a hopeful devotee of Krishna and know that wherever one is situated, Krishna ladder of love will come down and lift one up from there to kurvan siddhi mavapasi, to the ultimate perfection. Thank you very much. Are there any questions? Yes.
How does it work out for students? Certainly, the mental aspect is one aspect but the mental aspect does not substitute for the aspect of actually giving charity. Why is that? For example, once there was some group discussion between some grahasthas saying how much percentage devotees should do charity. So, some of the devotees started saying that actually all our family members are devotees and our house is a temple.
So, everything that we are doing is for devotees only. So, we are actually giving 100% charity without giving any charity. So, that doesn’t work because although it’s in my home and everybody might be my devotees but still I may not always see them as devotees.
My relationship with them may be not because this is my wife or this is my husband. This is not Krishna’s devotee. This is my wife.
So, I am taking care of her. It may be that relationship. That’s why even Kunti Maharaj is saying that it’s cut out whatever attachments to my family members.
So, therefore, giving a percentage of charity, of the earnings is very important. Now, in student life, it is not practical because one is not earning at that time. So, because one is not earning, one is not expected to give.
Actually, money is one of the things which very strongly entangles the soul in one’s existence. So, that’s why one has to offer that. But at the stage of student life, one can learn the art of connecting oneself with Krishna so that one can mentally offer our work to Krishna.
And when one starts earning, one should offer. Mentally offering it to Krishna means various things. First is that if Krishna is the goal of our life, overall goal of life is to please Krishna, to love Krishna, to return back to Krishna.
And everything else that we are doing is for that purpose. Then that itself, mat paramo Krishna says, make me a supreme goal. So, then that itself will shape everything else in our life accordingly.
So, but how do we, somebody can, anybody can claim that Krishna is the supreme goal of my life. But then how will we know that? Well, then that is seen through the execution of devotional service. So, how much time does one give to devotional service? So, actually, the more one gives exclusive time to devotional service, the more one will be able to connect everything else which one is doing to work to Krishna.
But if one is not giving exclusive time to devotional service, the other things will not be connected with Krishna. It will just remain a mental conception which will not really have a tangible connection. That’s why we have to have exclusive activities that connect us with Krishna.
And then based on that foundation, even when we are engaging in worldly activities, because our desires get connected with Krishna, our desire to serve Krishna becomes very strong. Then our other activities, even if they create some other desires, even if they create some other desires, those desires don’t dominate us. For example, if I have to work in a research labs and in the research lab, everybody else is thinking of getting a big grant and going to America and doing research over there and becoming famous and becoming big.
Now, in and of itself, there’s nothing wrong in these. These are not irreligious activities. They are the activities of Artha.
But if one gets too caught up in these activities, one may give up the process of bhakti for that. So, that will create certain desire, that association. So, now, if one just stays in that association constantly and doesn’t come in association that kindles devotional desires, then gradually those desires will dominate us.
And then our conception that I’m doing all this for Krishna will remain only a conception. And we’ll actually be doing everything for our own sense gratification. That’s why we need to have exclusive time for Krishna.
And then other times, maybe when we do some other things, we will be doing it for Krishna’s sake. Because one has to do some conceptualisation at that time, a mental balancing act that, okay, I’m doing my research and I’m also thinking of Krishna. Well, one has to focus at a functional level on doing the work the best that one can.
But at the same time, generally before we start and after we end, we can offer a simple prayer to Krishna. Or if you can’t do it at the start and end of that particular work, at least you start at the end of the day. You start this day, I want to serve you.
And at the end of this day, I offer this day as a service to you. So that way, we can connect everything to Krishna by firstly connecting our heart to Krishna. That is done through our sadhana and through our exclusive ocean activities.
Does that answer your question? Any other questions? Yes. Why is Narada Muni asking about dharma, artha and kama to Yudhishthira Maharaj? This question comes in the Mahabharata. It doesn’t come in the Bhagavatam.
So, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavatam, they are at two different levels. The Bhagavatam reveals Vishnu Pitamah as a pure devotee. The Mahabharata also refers to Vishnu Pitamah as a person who is devoted to Krishna and Krishna also loves him.
But that is not the focus. In the Mahabharata, Bhishma doesn’t tell that because Krishna has instructed me to fight against you, so I am fighting against you. He doesn’t tell that.
What does Bhishma say? That actually he says, artha hi purusha siddhaso, he says actually I have become a servant of wealth. I have become bound by the wealth of the Kauravas and that’s why I have to fight on their side. That is true at one level but not at the highest level.
So, in general, the Mahabharata as we know is for the masses and masses are not really interested in pure devotional service. So, for them the karma kanda principles are illustrated and the pure devotional principles are also given but they are not the highlight. So, that’s why because the overall Mahabharata is at the karma kanda level, that’s why all these sort of questions come in the Mahabharata.
Clear? Yes, Bhishma. How do we, to what extent do we follow the morning programme in home? It will depend on every individual situation, every individual situation. The more we can do, the better it is.
At the same time, we also need to see what is the, what are the exigencies, what are the requirements in the situation. So, there is no absolute principle on this, what needs to be, what can be done or what should be done. The principle is as much as is possible.
So, among all the devotional activities, chanting is critical and studying scriptures is also critical. Studying scriptures is not on a daily basis, on a regular basis. These two are absolutely critical and over a period of time, Granthas should have deities in their house.
So, when they have deities, they have to offer some bhoga to the deities. Mangal Aarti, as much as possible, one can do that, but some kind of aarti have to be there, so that the deities are worshipped properly along with the offerings. And so, in general, for all sadhakas, hearing and chanting.
Hearing can be in classes as well as studies and chanting. These two are essential and because these two are a part of Bhagavad Vidhi. In our, so, Roshan Saraswati Ramzan, these two, Bhagavad Vidhi and Pancharatra Vidhi.
So, Bhagavad Vidhi is hearing and chanting, Pancharatra Vidhi is deity worship. So, both have to be there in every sadhaka’s life to a large extent. So, deity worship is also important.
Now, deity worship, if one can manage Mangal Aarti, that is excellent, but that’s not an initiation vow. In the same way, Chinese history is also not an initiation vow, but actually without scriptural study, without hearing classes, you will not be able to sustain the inspiration for the 16 rounds also. So, apart from these three things, that means, chanting and hearing by coming in the presence of devotees and studying scriptures on one’s own and deity worship.
You see, these are basically the five potent forms of devotional service which Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has talked about, you know, that is hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, associating with devotees, worshipping the deity, chanting the holy names, going to holy places. Going to holy places will be like for us, going for yatra, going for camps. These are five potent forms of devotional service which need to be practised.
Now, specifically which one is done, how much, that will vary according to person to person. You know, the spiritual master cannot live our life for us. The spiritual master cannot live our life for us.
It is each of us who has to individually live our life. So, we’ll have to decide. Lord Krishna tells in the Mahabharata, Vidhiyate means to be regulated by rules.
It is not that everything is regulated by rules. It is not that there is a rule for everything. These are individual things which we will have to decide.
As much as possible is the broad guideline, but specifically how much will vary according to person to person. Answer the question? Any other questions? Yes, please. Like, if we have some impurities in our devotional service, like lust or money or anything.
So, like, if we practise devotional service, it may be reduced. But how much of our life time, if we have to be sincere, how much of the sincere effort that we have to put, how much is that, if we do the devotional service, that will be manipulated. Okay, if we have some impurities like lust or greed, now for overcoming it, how much is the role that will be played by our endeavours in devotional service and how much will be the role of grace, of Krishna’s mercy.
This can be understood at two levels. One level is that the very opportunity to practise devotional service is a grace of Krishna. So, I have that grace already.
And if I just busy myself in practising devotional service, then lust and anger will have, lust and greed will have no time for it. But just absorb myself. So, in that sense, we already got Krishna’s mercy and all that is required is endeavour.
All that is required is just the attempt for us to absorb ourselves. But then we could argue that, okay, absorption doesn’t come so easily. So, do I need mercy to become absorbed also in it? Well, yes, certainly we need mercy for that also.
So, that will come over the period by practising devotional service. I said, what is the result of sadhana bhakti? 12.9 says, you get the desire for me. So, rather than trying to quantify things like this, how much of this, how much of that, we try to rather take inventory of our own endeavours and see if we can keep increasing them.
And then over a period of time, Krishna’s grace will come. Generally, Krishna’s grace, when it comes, it is not a sudden one moment of magical grace. It’s a gradual ascent, but for all it is sudden realisation.
Just like when the sun is rising, every morning in the sun, if you wake up early in the morning, say Mangalarthi, you wake up, it’s dark. Five o’clock after Mangalarthi, when you come out to Tulsi, I think it’s still dark. But a little reddish glow we can start seeing on the horizon.
Now, as the sun is rising, rising, rising. Now, it seems to be, yes, it’s night, it’s twilight, it’s early morning. And suddenly at one moment, oh, it’s daytime.
So, now the rising of the sun is gradual, but our realisation that the sun has risen is sudden. So, like that, the purification is happening gradually. So, every day that we are chanting, every day that we are hearing, we are getting purified.
But the realisation, oh, yes, this lust that is there, I can beat it out. I don’t have to succumb to it. This greed that is there.
So, basically, how is greed is this? Right now, greed is this strong, I am this strong. So, whenever I try to fight greed, just greed crushes me. But every day by the practise of devotion service, I am becoming bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger.
Now, if I am feeding greed, then even greed will become bigger. But as devotees, we don’t feed greed. It is there from whatever past conditioning is there.
So, I am growing bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger. And then one day we will realise, yeah, I can beat this. I can crush this.
So, when will that happen? That realisation will come on one particular day. But till then, we should keep practising devotion service. We should be keep feeding ourselves, keep feeding ourselves.
And then one day when we fight, we will be able to conquer it. Till that time, we just ensure that the greed or lust don’t make us violate moral boundaries. Lust and greed, we don’t have to give them up entirely.
Now, we can indulge in them within the limits of morality. That means, if a grasta wants to earn more money, it’s not wrong to earn more money. Only if a grasta goes into corruption or something like that, then it’s a problem.
So, as long as these don’t overwhelm us so much that they force us to violate moral boundaries, then they are not necessarily a disruption in our devotional life. They are certainly not facilitators for our spiritual life, but we can go along, we can live with them. See, certain level of lust, certain level of greed, we can live with them.
But if those become so great that they force us to act immorally, then we can’t live with that level of lust or greed. So, as long as we are able to keep lust and greed within moral limits, then we just keep focussing on practising devotional service. And by that, we’ll keep growing and one day we’ll be able to bash it completely.
That’s the question. Yes, you had a question. Yeah.
Frustrated, don’t become a devotee of frustrated devotion. Frustrated renunciation. What does it mean to say that we shouldn’t become a frustrated devotee of detachment? That means that one’s consciousness is so centred on one’s inability to do something that that becomes the focus of our thought.
So, the focus of our thoughts should always be Krishna. It should not be, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do this. Thoughts of what we couldn’t do are not empowering.
They are weakening. They are disempowering. Empowering thoughts are thoughts about Krishna.
So, the meaning is that we shouldn’t become frustrated devoting of renunciation means that we thought that renunciation itself is the most important thing in spiritual life. So, we became first a devotee of renunciation. And then when I found that I cannot become so renounced so that I become a frustrated devotee of renunciation.
But then what happens? I can’t make spiritual advancement because I’m not thinking about Krishna and rather the fact that I couldn’t follow certain things, I couldn’t do certain things that eats into my enthusiasm and I cannot do what I would at least have been able to do otherwise. So, on the other hand, we say we stay hopeful devotees of Krishna. That means whatever happens, we keep focussing our mind on Krishna and keep practising Krishna consciousness no matter what the other situation in our life, no matter what be the level of renunciation that we are able to practise or not practise.
So, stay, you know, if we focus on Krishna, we know that Krishna will help. Thoughts about Krishna will purify me. So, I’ll be hopeful.
So, the difference is what is the focus of our thoughts? Is it renunciation and our inability to practise renunciation or is it Krishna and the facility to practise those and services that we have irrespective of whatever be the level of renunciation that we can practise. So, renunciation is secondary. Krishna is primary.
For us, renunciation is a tool by which we can serve Krishna more. In 1.2.12, just after the Vadanti Tattva Purga’s verse, he described the Muni is the faithful. The faithful transcendental is Gyan Vairagya Yuktaya.
Equipped with Gyan and Vairagya. So, Gyan and Vairagya are like tools. They are what equip us.
But what takes us forward is Bhakti practised with hearing. So, when we hear and practise Bhakti, that is what takes us along with the Guru. Gyan and Vairagya are tools.
They are equipments. So, if I have knowledge, it may be easier for me to remember Krishna. If I have renunciation, then there are less distractions for me in remembering Krishna.
But it is not that knowledge and renunciation will help me to advance. It is remembrance of Krishna and service to Krishna that will enable me to advance. So, therefore, I don’t focus on renunciation as a goal and get myself frustrated.
I couldn’t achieve this goal. I focus on Krishna as a goal and okay, I couldn’t use renunciation as a tool for going towards Krishna. Let me use some other tool and through that I will go towards Krishna.
Clear? Any other questions? What do you mean by attire? Some devotee is wearing dhoti, some devotee is wearing a sweat pack. That’s what you mean? Okay, so your question is that when we are in a devotee circle, the majority of devotees follow a particular devotion service in a particular way. Say, we are in dhoti kurta and there are a small minority of devotees who follow it in a different way.
Say, they are wearing a shirt pack. Then this minority group is looked at disapprovingly by the majority group and that creates some sort of discomfort. So, what should be the decision? Is that your question? Yeah.
Okay. So, whenever there are certain standards that are to be followed and then are expected and then one is not according to that particular expectation, then others become suspicious and that creates a mental blockage. So, in general, all of us need to belong to a group.
You know, man is a social animal, human being is a social animal, man or woman, everyone. So, we need a sense of belonging in a group. And if we want to belong to a particular group, now we are not talking about a group in terms of political groups over here, that one group tries to outmanoeuvre or outplay the other group.
We are just talking about a social circle. So, if we want to belong to a particular group, then we have to follow the norms of that group. And if we find those norms a little more difficult to follow, then we should have our own small group where we are accepted.
Of course, provided that the other norms that we are following are also in harmony with devotional principles. If they are in disharmony with devotional principles, suppose somebody would say, okay, you know, all of us will sit together and watch TV. And then the remedy would say, why are you watching TV? This is a standard that we follow.
Well, that may not be very sound thing to do. So, the thing is that what we are talking about is, we have to either confirm to the expectations of the group that we belong to, or we have to find a group whose expectations are suitable to us. Otherwise, we will always be in a state of conflict.
And sometimes it may be that we want to belong to a particular group, but we cannot follow one or two standards of that group, expectations of that group, others we can follow. Then it is best to clarify with the members of that group. Okay, this, this, this, this is the reason why I cannot do this, this, this.
So, that way, if it is done, and it is explained that these are the reasons why I am doing this, then that is perfectly okay. In general, it is not that devotees are out to find faults, but ultimately devotees want to help each other. And we are not so advanced that we as all of us seekers, we cannot see the heart of another person.
We can only see the externals. And to a large extent, the externals are an influence of the internals, to a large extent. And if somebody is not wearing any tilak at all, somebody comes in the morning programme without wearing any tilak, and somebody comes in the morning programme, looking as if that person is not bathed also.
Now, naturally, now that does not mean that necessarily he is not a serious devotee. But the externals do indicate something, okay, something is wrong. So, then maybe, maybe the devotee is sick, and he will come to ask for help, or something, some other problem has come up.
So, naturally, you know, people cannot look into our hearts. So, when they see the externals are not according to the expected standards, naturally, that causes concern. Then we need to alleviate that concern.
Okay, this is, these externals are like this, because of this, this is the reason. And if that is accepted, then that suspicion will go away. So, that is the best way to deal with it.
Whenever the expectation, we either try to conform to the expectations of the group that we belong to, if we are unable to conform, clarify. And then that will remove the suspicion or the doubt that is there. Otherwise, unnecessarily that will linger, and that will cause discomfort to other devotees, it will cause discomfort to us also.
So, best is to clarify. Clear? Yes, there is a question. What is dharma? Dharma, now this is, now, this is in terms of the karma kind of way of looking at things that working to earn a living is artha, pleasant dealings of family is, with family is kama.
Dharma would be the religious activity that one is ordained to do. So, generally, they are in terms of yajna, dana, tapa, karma, pavana, nimishana. Yajna, dana, tapa.
Yajna is in traditional Vedic culture, every dharmic person is supposed to do yajna. It can be fire, sacrifice, poras and kalyavayas, chanting of the holy names. Dana, nicharity and tapa.
Certain level of austerity in fasting on specific days. Tapa also refers to some level of sense control within family life. And tapa also refers to whatever austerity is required for the practise of devotional service.
So, Krishna describes this should never be given up. So, in the traditional context, yajna, dhana, tapa may have had specific applications. For other devotees, they may have different applications.
For us, yajna would be chanting the holy names, for us, dana would be charity, tapa would be waking up in the morning, following the four regulative principles. So, we can integrate them into our devotional life. Similarly, just pleasant dealings with the family, if they are not ultimately meant for devotional purpose, we will do that because that’s a duty, but we would like to spiritualise it ultimately.
Similarly, we are not just interested in only charity, we are interested in devotional charity. So, that’s how we integrate them all into the devotional practise. Okay.
Yes, last question. Yes. So, if we go home for rituals, for festivals like Durga Puja, then we have to do some local rituals over there.
So, in what consciousness should we see and do these activities? So, in the purport of this chapter itself, Vishwanath Chaturthi Rathore mentions that sometimes, Vishwanath Chaturthi Rathore is Nrindavan. So, he is telling sometimes the devotees in East India have to perform certain rituals because of the local pressure. So, East India is referring to the Bengali Vaishnavas, he is referring to.
And he says that although externally they may look like karma, but he quotes Bhagavad Gita 17th chapter last verse, he says that any religious ritual which is performed not without faith, that is asat, that doesn’t lead to any results. So, because devotees don’t have faith in the principles of karma, therefore, even if they don’t do those rituals, they don’t become incriminated by those rituals. That means our understanding is, and this is called, for example, it is said that Kutu Maharaj was performing fire sacrifices, which were meant for the demigods.
So, Vishwajitha Puri described that he was performing the fire sacrifices because the culture at his time expected a king to do his yajnas. But he says internally he envisions that all these demigods are subservants of Krishna. And in that sense, all the sacrifices are going for Krishna.
And although externally the yajnas were Karmakand yajnas, internally, by his practise, he was not getting involved in Karmakand, he was simply remembering Krishna. So, like that, if you remember, maybe you use Krishna’s energy. Then, So, we understand the position.
And you see, there are also yajnas which we internally recite. And then we offer that. Then we can sort of devotionalize these activities.
So, we don’t have to disrupt our relationship with the family members by saying, I will not do these activities. We can defer to local tradition, defer means show respect to local tradition, do those activities, but internally not get entangled emotionally. Internally, remember Krishna.
Thank you very much.