Right and wrong definitions of success in grihastha life

Lecture Summary: Don’t offend bhakti by minimizing its potency unfavorably in comparison with the problems of grihastha ashrama (g. a.) Pessimistic attitude towards g a becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy Pendulum in definitions of success:

1. Extreme: adopt grihamedhi’s definition eg “all this bhakti is too much.” Regular practice of sadhana ensure that we don’t get carried away by materialistic conceptions of success
2. Extreme: adopt renunciate’s definition eg. “see wife and children as temptations”

Balanced: see as opportunity to serve Krishna Find individual comfort level for practicing bhakti Success is not just leaving the world and coming to Krishna in the temple, but also taking Krishna from the temple to the world Have healthy respect for profession – don’t alienate professionals Don’t alienate children – “My parents made me feel bad about myself for not being a reincarnation of Prahlad Maharaj” ISKCON’s maturation from the revolution mode to the re-establishment mode Revolution – get joy in breaking down things including respected and essential edifices of social and spiritual stability including g. a. SP adopted a hands-off policy towards g. a. because no sense of commitment To glorify giving up of family responsibilities to those who never had an ethos of responsibility leads to a culture of irresponsibility But re-establishment requires patience, learning and a service mood  

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Today we will discuss about right and wrong definitions of success in Maharashtra. All of us are not just guided but governed by our definitions of success. For example, in India, societies are normalized.

And our definition of success almost sets up a mental path or trajectory for us to traverse. And whether our life will be successful or not depends not just on our succeeding in reaching the definition of success. But it also depends on selecting the right definition of success.

For instance, a construction worker wants to paint the ceiling and then places a ladder in it. Climbs up the ladder and goes high, high, high, says a 50-toed skyscraper. And then finds a hole in the top and says, oh, this hole is already painted.

I was supposed to paint the other one. So the whole climbing up becomes non-functional. Because the whole foundation was not.

So, now in material life in general, people labour under the definition of success. Like material enjoyment, material possessions, material possessions, possessions and possessions, pleasures and pleasures. These include happiness.

And based on this definition, materialistic people govern their lives. Their lives are governed and they act accordingly. And I was going around how this sort of life has its own rituals.

For example, we see that people may, in movies you may see in bars, people may just cling their bars of liquor together and say cheers. So now, what is the reality of change? Their hearts are filled with fears. Their minds are filled with desires.

They are on the verge of tears. And they say cheers. So what do you have to do? Their hearts are filled with fears.

They are coming, they are going down to the job, they are going home. How will I be able to pay the mortgage for my house? What about the EMI? So what is it? Their hearts are filled with fears. Their minds are filled with desires.

I want this, I want that, I want that, I want that. And then, because of this combination of fears and desires, they are on the verge of tears. And by it all, they say cheers.

Cheers. So there it is. Does it work? That means, you can conceive the emptiness of material life by putting on a facade of pleasure.

A facade of being happy. But that facade isn't lasting long. And perhaps the most graphic example in current times, this is Sushaila's academy award winning actor and comedian, Robin Williams.

You all got a dream. A personal dream of becoming. And even after that, it was so unfulfilled, so different, that it became unreal to us.

So if you conceive a pendulum, one extreme of the pendulum is the idea that just getting more and more material pleasures, that will bring happiness. That is a normal human existence. Now, because as devotees, who are going to live in the world, we will have to associate with professionals and devotee companies.

We will have neighbours who will not be devotees. So that other association can affect us. And we may subconsciously or unconsciously pick up that definition of success.

So that's why the ideal of contact with devotees, hearing spirituals, understanding of the mantra philosophy, all these will protect us from this, being misled by this definition of success. In 3.16, Krishna says that we are all part of the cosmic cycle. There is contribution to the cosmos from our side, and there is benediction from the cosmos, from Krishna's side, Anandam Devas.

So, evam pravartitam chakram. There is a pravartitam chakram. There is a cyclic nature of our existence.

Now, we do sacrifices, we do japa, we do gita, but by this we contribute to the universe. And the universe returns it back to us. But what does it participate in this? naanuvartaya pihaya Does it participate in this? Like what happens? aghah indriyavaram aghah means a person who is very much sinful.

indriyavaram a person who is a person with a sense of gratification. moghah is a person who is very greedy. moghah means a person who is a mogra, ill-willed.

Now, if we conceive a pendulum, this materialism is one extreme of the level of success. And the other extreme is one enters darshan but continues to have a brahmachari definition of success in darshan. That means, one starts thinking that it is as if in darshan, I should be like a brahmachari or sanyasi.

So, for example, when Mr. Prabhupada started being sanyas, the first time he was gone. He gave kirtanam to Swami for sanyas. Then afterwards, he gave the sanyas to other devotees also.

So then, at that time, Gurudasrava asked Prabhupada, Prabhupada, he also takes sanyas. Prabhupada said, no. Your wife is also a sannyas devotee.

And you are doing so much preaching. And he said, no. At that time, what had happened? He had been made a new chaplain.

And his wife was also a devotee. She was working somewhere else. And she was doing sanyas in some other place.

So, he said, you are not even with your wife for several months now. Therefore, you are almost like a sannyas. You are almost like a sannyas.

So, you don't need to take sanyas. Now, what happened at that time, the devotees had come from such a culture, they had no idea of the four ashrams. And then, within the devotional community, this whole idea started to circulate.

Dad, Prabhupada said, he is like a sannyas. He is a sannyas. People started thinking that, this is how a sarasvati should be.

Wife should be in one place, husband should be in another place. And then, Prabhupada will be very pleased by that. But then, that's how they are living.

How are the children going to learn a lot of things? How are the children going to learn a lot? How are the children going to be nourished in life? Are they nourished practically in life? Are they living a normal material life? So, because we were a very young movement at that time, the devotees did not have the proper culture in which to contextualize yoga constructions. So, often, this wrong definition of success was repeatedly accepted. So, for example, now devotees wanted to do misdirection.

And, in the early days of our movement, not just brahmacharis would stay in the temple. Matajis would stay in the temple. There was also a brahmachari ashram.

And, eventually, they would get married. So, at that time, in the grounds, they would sometimes stay in the temples and they would work in the temples and do some book distribution or something like that. So, now, Prabhupada would say, double the books.

Do more and more book distribution. Do more and more book distribution. So, what happened? So, now the temple authorities were not in any way ill-intentioned, but they were just immature.

So, they told the devotees, in the matajis, Hey, no! You don't have to bother about your children. Just go out and distribute books. Now, one of the matajis, she had apprehension.

She said, my child is so small and the child needs more time. How can I just leave him and go like this? So, she wrote a letter to Prabhupada. And, she asked Prabhupada, that, now, I am the daughter of the temple authority, that what you please is the distribution.

So, you know, I shouldn't bother about your child. This letter came in the temple. And, I should go and distribute books.

So, Prabhupada said, why are you asking a question like that? She said, you are a mother. For a mother, a child is a deity. You serve your children just like you serve the deities.

And, these are important children. They are very good matajis. And, they are gifts of Krishna.

You see, you should take care of them. So, then, later on, this letter was a revelation for this woman. He said, take care of the children nicely.

And, then, after that, basically, the whole idea was that, A, to the extent, the Vrajastha devotees had no time for Vrajasthas, had no time for their duties, no time for their obligations, for Vrajasthas, to that extent, they are successful. And, to the extent, they are engaging in the activities responsible for Vrajasthas, to that extent, they are a mother. To the extent, they are intact.

Now, now, Prabhupada had not lost that conviction. And, he gave a proper understanding of these books also. But, even the books, if they are read well, they go according to their filters.

Whatever we think is important, we find and confirm that in the books. So, now, as devotees are preparing, in our movement, manuals for Vrajastha ashram, and they realize, Prabhupada, there are so many instructions. And, there are so many instructions, that there are few scriptures in the book about Vrajastha life.

So, sometimes, devotees get a imbalanced picture of Vrajastha life. There are scriptures, we say, for example, that, ah, just a place of bliss, a great walk, a path, and we have to go there. And, this sort of person, just a deep blind well, and things like that.

And, you just take that in your mind. Now, if we approach Vrajastha ashram with a pessimistic attitude, then that pessimism will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Self-fulfilling prophecy means, that I think something will be like this, and then that's how it becomes.

So, especially in sports, many sports are just mental games. If a sportsman thinks, oh, for this spin bowler, I can't play with. And, therefore, I am going to get out.

And, then what happens? Although that spin bowler doesn't bowl very badly, that lack of confidence in the mind, that pessimistic attitude, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You say, I have played in sports, it can happen to me as well. So, now, we should know first and foremost, that, Vrajastha life is also an ashram.

It's a place for getting ashram of Krishna. And, ultimately, whether it is Vrajastha ashram, or Brahmacharya ashram, or Sanyasa ashram, these are material arrangements. These are material arrangements.

And, bhakti, being translated, cannot be interrupted by any human being. One of the definitions of bhakti is, Praval Tukhi, Praval Bhakti. Now, at one level, Prabhupada interprets this Praval Tukhi as, we should perform unmotivated and uninterrupted devotional service.

That is true. That is how we should practice. But, Vishwachandra Thakur interprets this in a different way.

And, he says that, this is the inherent nature of bhakti. Bhakti is uninterrupted. It does not depend on material cause.

And, it is not interrupted by any human being. That means, no material circumstance can stop us from practicing bhakti. So, if we think that, oh, there are so many distractions, there are so many entanglements, there are so many attachments, and therefore, I cannot practice bhakti in the best fashion.

Then what are we doing? We are actually minimizing the positive potency of bhakti. The potency of bhakti is greater than the problems of birth and death. And, what we need to be conscious of is not the problems of birth and death.

We need to be conscious of the potency of bhakti. And take shelter of that potency. Certainly, from an external point of view, we may not get in best fashion as much time as we get in the announced hours for coming to the temple, for assessing the doors, for doing directly devotional activities.

That is true. But, it is a very superficial understanding of bhakti to think that only directly devotional activities constitute bhakti. In general, in the early stages of our humanity, the whole definition of success for devotees was that you just drop out of the world and join the temple.

Now, many stories of good decisions also end up wrong. So, this person bought a book and he read the book and he showed off and joined the temple. And, happily ever after.

It's like the happy and the miserable story. But, it's not. After the master left and it's not that all people of the world or even the majority of the world is going to join the temple and live together.

So, if the storm is going to spread and influence society, we will have to have a broader definition of success. So, in the early days, the only definition of success we had was that person leaves the temple, leaves the world and joins the temple. So, if you are living in a temple, you are, you are in Krishna.

If you are living outside the temple, you are in Maya. If you are living close to the temple, you are still a little bit in Maya, a little bit in Krishna. If you are living far away from the Maya temple, you are deeply in Maya.

So, what is this, what is this our psychological analysis doing? We are reducing the transcendental to the geographical. So, now, of course, coming to the temple does help us to become Krishna conscious. But, Krishna consciousness is not meant to be limited to the temple.

So, one aspect of Krishna consciousness is to leave the world and come to Krishna in the temple. Another aspect of Krishna consciousness is to take Krishna from the temple to the world. And, this taking Krishna from the temple to the world is not just about giving classes.

It is not just about preaching. That is an ordinary thing. It is also about learning in the world.

And, the primary preaching in terms of not just impressing people intellectually or just even inspiring people, Oh, these devotees are so great. So, like you just said, awe and reverence. If all the examples of devotees were just sannyasins and brahmacharis and even if they are very good preachers, the result would be, Oh, these people are so great.

I cannot become like them. I just admire them from my distance. How much transformation in society will happen? Yes, some will happen in terms of jnana-suprati.

Yes, you are appreciating devotees. That's good. But, in terms of transformation, not much will happen.

So, what we need is examples of people living in the world. And, living in the world doesn't mean that they are just only physically in the world. But, all the time, they are in the temple.

It's not like that. They have to have a responsible job in the temple. They have to have responsible lives.

And then practice it. Bhakti within a responsible setting. So, if we want to spiritualize the culture, we need a broader understanding of bhakti.

So, initially, the idea of bhakti that, actually, the idea of bhakti that devotees got in the early days of our movement was quite different from the idea of bhakti that has sustained bhakti in Indian culture for millennia. The initial definition of bhakti that people got was, basically, bhakti is a revolution. Like what I was talking about earlier devotees, we didn't come to join a religion.

We came to be a part of a revolution. Now, that is good to be a part of a revolution. But, do you know what happens in a revolution? Revolution is all about breaking down things.

For example, Ancestors, they want to do a revolution. So, then they go to some village where they think everything will be exploited. There is a bridge over there.

And then they, they just blow up the bridge. And then the whole place gets disconnected from other places. And then, they overrun the place and they take over power over there.

And then there is some negotiation between the government. And the government says, okay, you have your serpents here. You have your administration over here.

And you rule. And then what happens? Those maxes, after they come to power, now they are there for almost 6 years. But still, that bridge has not been given.

So, what happens? Breaking down things is very easy. But, rebuilding things is not all that easy. So, initially, what happened? The hippies, they already had a rebellious movement.

The hippies, they called it rebel without cause and rebel without a cause. They were rebels, but they did not have a cause. Okay, we are rebelling against mainstream society.

We don't like the mainstream religions. We don't like the mainstream education. We don't like the mainstream government.

It is sending us to war in Vietnam, which they sent back. We must be killed over there. It's all useless.

Okay, we rebel. But then, rebel without a cause. We rebel without a cause.

We just keep rebelling against everything. So, now what happened? Then Prabhupada came with his stones and rascals. Those were the soundbites that caught the hippies' imaginations.

How? Yes. Now what happened? They already wanted to rebel and Prabhupada gave them physical justification for rebelling. But these hippies, they had no experience of constructing anything.

So, rejecting, destroying, they were expert at that. And Prabhupada channelized their energy by just not letting them reject one materialistic view for another, but by helping them to come to spirituality, to Krishna. But then, we may come to Krishna in the sense of taking shelter of Krishna.

But even after that, we have to live in the material world. And when we have to live in the material world, we have to have a sustainable system for living in the material world. At one level, we say we should always be prepared and we die tomorrow.

It is true. But Shastra also says this that you know, when you want to study Shastra, think as if you are going to live for a hundred years. Why? Because if we are thinking that we will die tomorrow, we really know that Shastra is a technical map of our lives.

If we keep it in the subject, it will go extinct. Certainly, we want a sense of urgency in our activities. But along with urgency, we also need patience.

So, the sense of urgency makes sure that we don't waste our time in unnecessary things. We don't waste our time in doing this and that and that and that. So, for example, I'll explain this with the balance of urgency and patience.

For example, suppose I have a car which is with me for, it is at least with me for 7 days. And I have to go a distance of 1000 km. And my car can go about 1500 km per day.

I go very fast. Assume. Simple example.

So now, if I just go everyday 1500 km, I will reach that 10,000 km by the time I reach. So, I need to have a sense of urgency. If I start going in sightseeing, I go here, I go there, along the way, then I will not reach the destination.

And what will happen is, my car will get over and I will be left without a car and I will not have reached. So, I have to have a sense of urgency. Everyday, I must have covered 1500 km.

But, even if I am covering 1500 km, it is not that I want to cover the 10,000 km distance in one day. So, even if I am covering that 10,000 km, I need patience. Isn't it? So, similarly, in our Bhakti, the remembrance of death gives a sense of urgency that I should not waste time.

But, any constructive activity that I have to do in Bhakti, it requires patience. If I have to study Shastra, no, it is not that because I am urgent, I am not doing 700 verses in one day. I may read it, but I do not understand anything.

No, I have to read them back. I have read 10,000, 120 verses every day. And I have read them seriously.

Like that, if I do, then probably in three months I should cover whatever. If I read 7 verses, whatever, in 100 days I will be able to cover it. If I read 40 verses, in 50 days I will be able to cover it.

So, if you want to do something long term, you need urgency so that you do not become distracted in other things. But you also need the patience so that you can go along in the long way. So now, when we enter into Dhrarashtra, developing relationships and helping to spiritualise our household life, to help our children to grow up, all these are conversations.

And if you do not have patience, you say, except this is just a tangle, but I want to get out. If that's not a idea, then I may not be able to do justice to my question. So, if one is just in a revolutionary mood, ah, come on, let's break things down, make things down, what happens? Anything that requires time and effort, one starts thinking that, hey, it's just a tangle, why do this? If we are a train of children, we require so much patience.

And then, when we are caring our children, helping them to grow, we can't think of the children as a distraction, think of them as potential solutions. So taking care of children was a service to their selves. In our first generation ultimately, unfortunately, we did not understand this.

And that's why, many of the children of the first generation, they didn't become teachers. And that's didn't become teachers. they did become teachers.

Incarnation of Prahlad Panchal So he is the author now So he can write in very cutting ways So You cannot expect children to come in the argument playing with dolls of Krishna And make children feel bad about that What happens is now The parents may have a well retention Retention we haven't got but the problem is Our concern for people's future destination should not make us blind to their present emotion Oh My child should have a future without any worry But right now he is feeling completely unloved. What about that? So we want Yes we want to take care of their future destination But we also have to be concerned about their present emotion And If we offer the children Love and we offer exposure to Krishna They will by their own choice come to Krishna So what happens is Childhood impressions of Krishna Bhakti They create new impressions And even if they explore the world in their teenage years, in their youth The impressions of Krishna Bhakti bring them back Mukund Seva Angri Vinayak Senthil Jana What he says in the first part of Narayana is that That one who stays in the Asavid Graha will never suffer from the impressions of Krishna Bhakti They come back But the point is that Parents need to give them time to change And if we have a negative notion of children Oh it's taking so much time Now you see There is a very wrong attitude That In many of the verses In the Shastras which Maharaj has taught Are very easily misinterpreted And For example That is it that Suppose the children don't become good ones Does that mean that the grahasakasana is a failure Now we know Guru Narashtra Guru Narashtra One should not become a father Or a guru Or a master If one can be worth it Now Literally If we read these words Without understanding the context It seems As if The parents Success Or the Personal authority Leadership position Success is determined by the support institution But then we also know Support is not a freedom So is this a verse A denial of the freedom of the children Can parents Control whether the children become Devotees or not No they can't Now if that were the definition of success If a guru cannot deliver his dependence Then the person should not become a guru There are many of Prabhupada's disciples who fell Does that mean That Prabhupada should not have become a guru Have you heard of that Many of Bhakta's disciples have problems Do we say Bhakta should not have become a guru No There are two distinct Important When we Assume the responsibility Or we assume the responsibility of the Narashtra position We should take it up With clarity We should be prepared To go the long way To do the responsibility But then whether we will be successful or not For that We have to look at the Narashtra's responsibility Bhagavata also says Karamanyu Adhikara say Na phule Rishabhya Rajya So we should do our duty But we cannot get the Rishabhya Rishabh So As Devotees Most important thing is That We Need to Feel good about Krishna So if we can feel good about Krishna Then take it up Feel good doesn't mean just a sentiment It also means philosophy It also means culture But if the children feel good about Krishna Then why will they not take it up They will take it up But the important thing is not that The parents make their love to the children Conditional to the devotional To the children The parents Are there to take care of the children And if they do it in a devotional Attitude Then irrespective of the children Become devotees or not What would happen is The Parents So what happens Sometime It's a very dangerous Statement You know Because we all Want to be respected In whatever society we belong So what happens Is that So for example If there is a preacher Then the preacher comes Say we go to Maharaj Yatra And the preacher has got 100 people with him Oh it's a great preacher Isn't it So what happens is That The Successes Spiritual successes Can just Become Profits For our material Profits for our material Say I am a good preacher Everybody thinks I am a good preacher So what happens Slowly This One's are We care not so much for the people But that the people create a good image About me And then people start seeing that Other persons are using me And Just repress them It's so utilitarian I am a good preacher Why don't they do it So if parents start thinking of their Children as Social profits of their Devotion to their spiritual Then what happens The children's individuality Every child is individual Child will practice bhakti According to one's own nature So basically they will practice According to their nature So Arjuna Now if a brahmachari Preacher is there And a brahmachari preacher finds Okay this person has now become A very serious person Then the brahmachari preacher can decide Okay I won't spend much time with this person I can find some other people And I'll spend time with that person But one cannot carry that definition Of success of a brahmachari preacher and Deal like that with one's children There is a Material obligation Material is not necessarily in that sense A source of knowledge or energy Material is also a responsibility There is paradharma There is aparadharma And there is adharma Paradharma is our transcendental Aparadharma is our material Adharma Is our Is the real child So often we think of In only two terms Paradharma and Adharma But actually you So I talk about these two extreme definitions of success One is materialistic definition has nothing to do with God This is a waste of time I watch you so much of time No need to do this channeling, no need to do this Just forget it That will take us to Adharma Unlike one extreme definition But the other extreme definition is The focus is only on paradharma And neglect aparadharma One cannot do that even if they are Advanced to some extent But we certainly can't do that The aparadharma is extremely important In a brahmachari Certainly Paradharma is most important But aparadharma is also important So aparadharma means our job We have to be competitive See we should not Treat our job Simply as a forum for proselytizing Proselytizing means teaching To others Because if the devotee is at a job Then the devotee has to perform Competitively in the job We read about Prabhupada Telling George Harrison to write songs About Krishna And he didn't write songs Anywhere Krishna was talking But there is much more to the story You know Joshu Kri Yogeshwar Quite a literary devotee So he has written several He is a movie maker He has written several movies In the hollow cast of a Jew And there are ordinary movies So he wrote a biography of George Harrison Called Here Comes the Sun And then he describes How when George Harrison Was Got connected to Krishna He describes how he met He heard of Swami Vivekananda He met Narasimha and Shobha And he met so many people Then finally he met Prabhupada He was attracted to Prabhupada And Prabhupada One of the first things Because at that time Being a devotee meant living in the temple What was it? Three couples were born in London From America to London But they were all living in the temple And at that time There was no model Of devotees living outside the temple Even Devastas were not living outside In the temple So to become a devotee means to live inside the temple And that's why When Why did George Harrison tell that Prabhupada didn't want Krishna to join the temple You know because That was the definition of a devotee at that time And that's why Prabhupada said No, you stay in the temple Stay safe, stay as you are But you write songs about Krishna And so he was doing that But then what happened Almost In every song he was talking about Krishna And then One time there was a Madison Square Avenue Biggest podium Where no one would be able to talk And so there he would give the performance And he was expected as a Pop musician To have music And sing Songs And there he started telling people, Jai Jai Krishna Jai Jai Krishna And the crowd started looking What has happened to them? Is this some ghost possession? And People were cheering Inside they were cheering And then all his records Started plummeting And all his Popularity charts started soaring And All of a sudden George Harrison Became a brainwashed Pride member And then So much anti-bullying happened by that He met Krishna And he said Gopal, you know for one minute I have been doing what you are telling me So what is happening is For every one person that is coming That I have been meeting Krishna I am thinking that 10 people are going away So what should I do? Gopal said You use your intelligence You are in the world And how is Krishna in the world? You use your intelligence And decide that Now Let us see what A simple example to explain this Suppose now Now say in India cricket is Like a religion People are madly in love with cricket Suppose now some top cricketer MS Dhoni becomes the head of cricket And Say he is leading India and a world cup is coming up next year And India just performs pathetically in the world And doesn't even go beyond the qualifiers And India is lost And the press conference is over Dhoni comes and says no problem You can imagine The bad press that will come by then Now If you are a devotee then be a devotee But if the Indian public has Appointed you as a cricket captain You have to perform as a cricket captain You cannot use Cricket You cannot not perform in cricket And then use cricket as a 4 or 5 person Yes If a person is successful, does well And then also talks about the spiritual side That's fine You know Michael Chan was a champion Tennis player, he is retired now So when he was 17 He won the tennis fringe open or something And he said The credit for my victory Goes to Jesus Christ And that's fine If somebody says we are losing the first round And he says the credit for the You should all become Christians and worship Jesus Christ This is what happened I will never do this This is what happened to me So If we are working in our jobs I am not just talking about If we don't do our jobs properly We will not even stay in jobs We will get fired Even if somebody is in such a position One will not get fired But still If one doesn't do one's job competitively And instead uses the job As a forum for proselytizing If we are in a job We have to do our job well And along with that In addition to that You can also share Krishna and that property So what happens is As a If I am going to be a brahmachari I can always be talking about Krishna But if I am a grasta I have to do my job Actually even as a brahmachari It is not that all the time I talk directly about Krishna If I am a writer Then I may be discussing so many things About what is the best writing technique What is the How to write grammatically correctly What is the punctuation mark used here What is the best figure of speech used over here But that is for nothing to do with Krishna directly Indirectly it is Because I am using it for my Krishna But the point is Whatever we do We need to be competitive Otherwise What we will do is We will end up doing anti-puncture So if you take the brahmachari definition of success in the grahastha ashram And try to see Everything is opposite to the picture Then what will happen? Yes ultimately it is opposite to the picture But first we have to do our work Do it competitively And then we can also speak about Krishna So What happens is The Devotees in the early days They would just say All work is simply mine You don't need to do your work It is your research Krishna So what happens? If one has that conception One cannot do one's work well And you do not succeed To some extent What I am saying may not be true because Probably as students And you know that If you get good marks Then that contributes To Attracting people to competition The same applies in our jobs also And we need to Have a balance So now How do we see our jobs? One very negative way of looking at it is Actually If I am an employer Or anybody who takes a salary You may have heard in some classes Anybody who takes a salary is a Shudra So if I am taking a salary I am a Shudra Now actually speaking It means First of all Varnamashram Whole thing is material And the pillar I am not a Ramana I am not a Shudra So do those Designations Really matter in today's society? If a person has a respectable job And brings respect to society And we bring respect to society We are attracting people to competition Why that? Now how Prabhupada gives Explanations about time, place, circumstances You can see There is this verse Where if we have material possessions Then they may take away Our impetus to serve competition So interestingly How does Prabhupada interpret Janma He is talking To Americans And then he is telling All of you have a very good Janma You are born in a prosperous country America Where all your necessities You have so much wealth So much comfort Now add Krishna and your life will become successful Now Now if you look purely From the Vedic point of view Actually Bharat Varsha is the land of Dharma And America is a military area And birth in America Very unfortunate Very unfortunate circumstances But you know those kind of definitions Don't really apply in today's society They may be true But today If a person is born in America It brings respect and sustenance You know why? Because America is in many ways a global leader So Prabhupada is not just sticking to Traditional stereotypes about what a good Janma is In today's context Yes a birth in Janma is good Janma in America Brings respect, brings certain level of comfort Then you live to serve Krishna So in today's context We can say that a Janma In some place like Somalia or Syria Or somewhere else A Janma there Is a little bit bad And say a Janma In a country where things are little bit peaceful Where basic necessities of life are available That is a That is a good thing Now of course what a man does That is different Now some many times Where lot of mental facilities are available easily People may do a lot of sinful activities also But the principle is We have to Understand the scripture called Timeless Ecstasy So if a career man gives up Respectivity in this situation We should have a Healthy respectful attitude You know we cannot engage in any activity In a commutative way Unless we have respect If I say for example I am a writer If I have to write a book I have to respect the English language It has certain rules And I have to learn those rules I have to learn the grammar, I have to learn the financial speech Then I have become a proper writer If I say English is a lecture Sanskrit is a pure language Ok fine I will learn Sanskrit, I will write in Sanskrit And I think nobody will read it What have I done by that So Whatever it may be Now if I say all these rules Lecture Basha All the rules are grammar Grammar also made by lectures I am a grammar, why do I waste my time Well I can be a self-congratulatory Grammar and nobody will care about it Eight I have to present this message in English I have to learn English, Prabhupada was a pure writer But Prabhupada Writer Nagmata commentary is writing Our attempts To present this message in a foreign language Will certainly fail But still It's a science of technical values And we hope that people will focus on the values That's why Prabhupada Engaged editors So Prabhupada knew his grammar was poor He didn't improve So Prabhupada at one time A devotee, Prabhupada had used He was doing this dictation And he had used some word That was not there in the Vishnu Yuga Some of the editors had to discuss If a pure devotee has used a word Then rather than changing that word You change the Vishnu And introduce the word in the Vishnu There in Jainism Maharaj was there He was the wise of sanity In Jainism what happens Anything that glorifies bhakti Glorifies Krishna's devotees And we think oh it's very good But then we also have to be honest So So Jaitin Bhai said let's ask Prabhupada He asked Prabhupada No change the word And use the right word Now the purpose of language is communication Satcharita Bhai will give an example You know Prabhupada says And then there is going to be a TV interview And says Then if a tilak is theda Then if a tilak is theda Is tilted Because the purity word was applied As the tilted becomes straight and right What should I do What should I do Everything that a pure devotee said So even if the tilak is theda You know I will let Prabhupada go like that only I will let millions of people see Prabhupada With a twisted tilak on his head He said no He said what should I do And he did that He appreciated it Yes I will do that So you know what I am talking about is I am going to say what is English grammar What is this thadak theda If you are in the material world We have to respect material conventions If we are in the material world Now by material conventions I am not talking about material conventions With simple activities It's not that because everybody is doing the hard work I am talking about simple material conventions Which are there Which bring about orderly functioning in society Now ultimately If there is English grammar What is the purpose of English grammar It's to be able to have Intelligible communication Different people use Different ways of Grammar Then nobody will understand what is being said So therefore Just as a writer If I am going to use writing Then the tools of my trade I have to respect So even if I am a Brahmin Jai Gurudev Maharaj He trained me in writing and told me He has read so many books of writing And he does writing seminars And most of those books are written by He reads them because it is a skill Which needs to be learnt Some of them can do it Some of those writers can be atheists Many of them can be materialists We have nothing to do with that Writing is a skill which I have to learn So that I can excel And when I have to learn that skill I have to respect that particular skill So that respect will enable me To respectably do that service And bring respect to it If I am dismissive About the area where I am working Then I will not need to do a quality job If I don't do a quality job Then not only will I not need to Earn my living But also I will not need to bring people to Krishna So a healthy respect For our material profession Is important Now I was asked this question On my website By Professor Sathe He said I am a scientist and I like Krishna consciousness very much But I find that devotees Constantly criticise scientists They say scientists are fools So I have been very irritated by that He said Can't I have a healthy Respect for my field of study So then I got an answer on my website Here it is It's a very nice take of Prabhupada's conversation Prabhupada says that We are not against The The Desire of the scientists to know more We are against Their desire to know more So we are not Against their desire to know more Their quest to know more Yes Now we can say at one level that science can never Give us complete spiritual knowledge It's fine But to a large extent it is science Which is enabling us to preach in our lives And if I am going to Engage in science I have to study science Science It's a very Ridiculous example, simple example If I am doing online coaching And if I don't learn how to do online coaching How to operate the internet How to upload How to do things properly What is going to happen? I say I don't care, this is always my hand My message is not working To stay healthy, a healthy respect for our profession is important So Get this out of the system If I am working as an employee I am a sutra or something If I am working as an employee If it's helping me to earn a living for serving Krishna If it's helping me to be in a respectable position By which I can bring others to Krishna If it is A nuke into my Krishna It's quite different Of course If I find that taking up some other profession Like preaching is more according to my nature And it helps me to serve Krishna better In fact it can be Whatever profession I take up I need to have respect for that And that means what? This is the way I am connecting with Krishna And that's how We move forward in our life Now When we talk about About Material life There has to be this division As I said material life itself There is aparadhana and there is paradhana So Aparadhana means There is Our material duties They are not interrelated But they are much more important So I talked about Children I talked about our profession Now I talk about one spouse So I will ask you a question On the website It's quite a distressing question It's a Mataji's question She says that My sister and I Since our childhood We are always interested in religion And we are always interested in religion And we have decided That we will marry only men Who are devoted to God So my sister Developed a Relationship with a Christian man And she converted and she is married to a Christian And while I was working You know I met a Christian devotee And I was like reformed in bhakti So then we got married He says My brother-in-law is a religion He teaches him To cherish his wife As a gift to God But My husband constantly Makes me feel As if I am a temptation Deviated from God You say Is this the way I am meant to feel Throughout my life I feel as if I am a temptation I have also married a Christian And I have a picture of Krishna So now I said to my husband I said to him And he said This is your father's attitude I don't know how when Sita kidnapped Ram Did Ram think This is all a temptation which is gone I feel He fought for that So Actually speaking The whole point is That When women get initiated What do they get They meet us Not just us, they meet us So women We can see that all the men They are very fragmented Other men They are also They are also Krishna And they are also So yes There are regulated principles and things like that But I didn't know For the first time everything is written by Krishna And not just Krishna Others are written by Krishna So we have to use the Regulated principles To make our relationship better Not to make our relationship better Thinking that This is my husband So we have to have a healthy relationship With ourselves And the whole idea In the Vedas itself They said that In a house where the women are happy That is where the government Do their business In a house where the women are miserable The government never do their business So we have to understand that Actually the whole process of bhakti Is about developing relationships We want to develop a relationship with Krishna Now of course we can say My relationship with Krishna is spiritual My relationship with devotee is spiritual But in my relationship with my family members Is material So it will become a source of attachment See when we are developing the relationship Especially a relationship which is going to be long term At that time We cannot be psychoanalyzing All the time this is material or spiritual To focus on developing the relationship We gradually spiritualize the relationship A simple point to explain is That If we just go too much Into this material spiritual zone We can come across very insensitive Like sometimes When we go to school If I do a particular activity I will be bad And therefore I should not do that activity So for example I am doing a perception practice Now You see this concept of bad happiness Okay But then We say I will not be charitable I will not give money to poor people But then Is it that in all my remaining life I am not doing anything which is bad karma That conscientious Concern for bad karma Does it similarly pervade All my life Or am I just using The concern for bad karma As an excuse For not doing charity Isn't it? So there has to be human sensitivity That we should always Caring for someone And we give prasad to that person And if you don't have prasad, give money Why? Because if you give money why the next time You will remember to care for yourself So anytime somebody comes to us If you don't give help He says that will make your heart hurt And For turning to Krishna You need a soft heart If your heart is heartless You cannot turn to this Krishna So the point is I will give you this example of Misusing the philosophy for insensitivity If Say Sometimes you may argue Why are those beggars poor? They are poor because of their bad karma And therefore I should not Interfere with their life Now To what extreme will I take this Non-interference? Say a baby is crying Keep it down So A baby is crying Now will the mother say Oh the baby is crying because of the pastor I should not interfere with the pastor It's just a horrible attitude The baby is crying The mother's concern is No the mother should not Oh the baby is crying If I stop the crying Then you should have been present with my devotee Then what is happening? I don't feel you have to be at a bad time I will get it back in time Just forget consideration of karma Focus Not on karma Focus on dharma What is the best thing that I can do So So If there is a beggar Then You will find Even the Even the pradesh Those who have control their mind So give some charity Similarly Modern mothers do not take care of the child No other outcome Similarly When we have a relationship Yes Yes We are developing a relationship And we would like to make that relationship spiritual But we cannot be selective In the sense that If only in the relationship I will have the relationship Doesn't work that way Relationships have to be continuous And we can gradually Spiritualize the relationship But we have to make sure that The relationship is strong And we are sensitive to each other's feelings And We Actually if Visualize the situation That 50% of the population And more than 50% of the developing population Is demons There is no mathematics And if If they feel unwanted Then it is not just humanly insensitive But actually We are just missing out Sharing Krishna consciousness With people In our own community also So there has to be sensitivity And The sensitivity of how to align it In one's own position In one's own reflection That is something which every devotee Will have to decide on one's own position So we learn From ourselves in our classical education But how are we going to align that That will be a point Where practice comes to life It takes courage But I have to use my intelligence I have to use my basic human sensitivity And I have to talk about it So We should not Let Our In the name of being spiritual See how things work I can only respond That The Bhagavatam talks about people being entitled And converse the life And says don't stay entitled And converse the life Now announce the world And take Krishna as your water Now here is the Bhagavatam But first of all He is the Bhagavatam talking this to He is talking to Parikshit Maharaj Who is at the verge of death So If you see the whole camp Bittu Maharaj is there And Bittu Maharaj is the king And when he is the king At that time He faces This crisis Or famine in his kingdom There is no food for the citizens And citizens come and tell Oh we are starving Just as a Forest fire will burn The creatures in the forest like that Jatharaj means burning or something So now does Bittu Maharaj Say that oh this world is a dukkha Then we are getting Israelites in the dukkha Get out of this world When you see that He takes responsibility I am a king It is my citizens And while they are living here I have to make sure they are free from this And he takes corrective action Vigorous corrective action So If we have to address the history We should also look at the Bhagavatam Not the Bhagavatam as what it is We see that there are other things You know If you look at their charity There doesn't seem to be anything spiritual Directly in charity You know a bird comes to Ramakrishna He is there to give his flesh To the bird's flesh All of them in the story Rantideva also He gives so many things Why is he giving that? Because when he is a king When he is in the world He cannot restrict his charity He can only do spiritual It is about administrative duty Responsibility of the citizens And it provides charity Now of course This spiritual consciousness The important thing is That We recognize our responsibilities And we don't get into So many responsibilities That we don't have time for us to take responsibility But We don't take In the name of spiritual responsibility Give up our mental responsibilities So the point which I was making is The Bhagavatam is talking to people Who are Who have already taken The administrative responsibilities And they tell him Don't take administrative responsibilities ever You have to do your Spiritual duties also But When Spiritual responsibilities are glorified And mental responsibilities are trivialized In a culture Where people anyway don't take Responsibility seriously Then what happens? At a material level there is chaos So what happened? Prabhu Parameshwari Now he was Hypnotic about his marriage He just told everyone He told his wife And he arranged for marriage with her And now he expected That Because of their sense of Commitment to their Guru They should get married But when he found that it did not happen Now Prabhu Parameshwari himself has written in his books That you know marriage has to be arranged According to Jyotish Shastra is there Prabhu Parameshwari talks about it So arranging marriage itself is a Complex thing How at a material level it is generated Through the But Prabhu Parameshwari expected That the sense of commitment to the Guru Would enable his disciples To transcend those and continue But when he found that It didn't happen You know many of the marriages were falling apart And they don't have complete Spouses Prabhu Parameshwari asked Took a handful of advices You can get married, you deal with the problems So what does he mean by this? He meant that basically That we cannot just If we are not Transcendental Or if we are not committed enough to be transcendental Then we have to Respect the material conventions And find our place according to the conventions So then material compatibility Has to be considered And then marriage has to be arranged according to Compatibility and that's all Now it's not new to everyone That there are marriage bureaus And there are sconces And how they can develop The relationships Why? Because At a material level Things also have to be harmonized And it doesn't happen just like any other marriage So we have to do it properly Sensitively So The conclusion which has to be made Is that if As devotees in the mosque which are responsible Because I am Jain and Hare Krishna Because I am just a simple devotee If others don't understand me That's simply because they are not We can't We can't do that We have to be sensitive to others And recognize their emotions And accommodate them And move forward So otherwise What has happened is we think I am transcendental But we are simply insensitive And then in the end What happens is we lose the responsibility So How each devotee can Manage is all Manage one's material level Situation, material job, material Harmony life and Responsibility And each person Has to learn This is a learning curve It's not just that That's the philosophy of every Jain Every Jain also knows How I can best serve Krishna And there is a variety of different Cultures and religions And faith will Happen in the rest of the world So the Bhagavad Gita is a verse In Uddhav Gita Where it says that It says that Actually What is right and wrong Will break out timelessly And what is right for one person Will be wrong for another person So Vishwanath Prakash Connected with the example Now for a renunciate to have Contact with women is not But for a grahastha To not approach his wife In the right season To have children So what is right and what is wrong And the way you conduct this is a question So we have to understand What are the requisites Of the ashram that we are joining And at what level We can realistically Live there And then accordingly develop the relationship And develop our devotion And more personalization And when we do that We will be setting An example which is approachable And realistic for people also It's not utopian And people when they see that They will also come to Krishna So in this way By recognizing That bhakti Is a Transmitted process But it is realistically Transmitted It is not utopianly transmitted It is not recommending any principle That will be possible at that time Yes there are principles But their pathway is gradually Realistically towards the principles And what is realistic at our level Krishna accepts that also And Krishna accepts that And helps him rise to a higher level So by recognizing That it is realistically Transmitted And we adopt the right definitions In our life and move on to the next session So I summarize I started By talking about Firstly, how we are going to do Extreme definitions There is a materialistic definition No time condition Oh I apply all these things And then I come to Krishna So that is one thing Which you have to be careful against And for that, you need to associate the devotees And hear the philosophy Then you will remember that it is a practice But the other extreme is Take the renunciation's definition of success It is not that And I discussed the problem with that With respect to changing the free media media With respect to colleagues With respect to spouses And Overall The Whole grass dash No longer works And people, for you devotees They find that So much money, agitation They can't chant Krishna's name properly They can't practice it properly So we discussed This example Those who are in the group They have to sit in response And arrive at a balance According to our time conditions According to our nature And according to our individual And our Social situation Thank you very much Are there any questions?