Special lecture on Valentine’s Day

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Yes, thank you. Sri Radha Krishna Padaan Sahaguna Lita Sri Vishakha Nithamscha Namaam Vishnupadaya Krishna Peshtaya Bhutale Nimate Bhaktivedanta Swami Nithinamine Namaste Saraswati Devi Gauravani Pracharine Nirvishesha Shunyavadi Pashyatya Vishakarine Mo Mahavadanyaya Krishna Prema Pradayate Krishnaya Krishnachaitanya Namane Gauratvishaya Namaha Hey Krishna, Karuna, Sindhu, Inabandhu, Jagatpate, Gopesha, Gopika, Kanta, Radha, Kanta, Namostute Aptakanchana Gaurangi Ahe Vrindavaneshwari Vishwanusute Devi Pranamaamin Haripriya Pancha Kalpataru Vyascha Kripa Sindhu Devachan Adhikanaam Pavadebhyo Vaishnavebhyo Namoha Jai Shri Krishna Chaitanya Bhuvanityananda Shriyatvaitadadha Rishi Vasudeva Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare So are there any devotees who are not chanting any rounds at all? So all are devotees who are well connected.
So today we are talking about the upcoming festival. In the material circle. Valentine’s Day.
When you finish you can just move this way. Take your time. So I was just doing some searching to find out what is the origin and history of this immensely popular event.
So according to the American Greeting Card Association. One billion greeting cards are distributed on this day. And this is second with respect to greeting card distribution only to Christmas.
The biggest festival. So. It’s very interesting that.
Actually, historically speaking. There is no. No real rationale.
Or logical connection between the festival and what goes on in the name of the festival. Because even when I was in college. Some of the students.
Not so India was not so materialistic at that time. But I was always puzzled. This seems to be a festival of mundane romance.
And how is it celebrated in the name of a saint? So it’s a saint valentines. That’s a valentine is a saint actually. So.
I should have in the Christian tradition. There are almost 25 saints by the name Valentine. And none of them have any romantic correlation with them.
But. There were a couple of saints. Whose.
Martial day. Falls on February 14th. That is, again, as an occasion for lamentation.
If somebody has been. Persecuted and killed on a particular day. So.
In the 14th century, there was an author, Jeffrey Chaucer. Who in his book. Wrote a poem.
Saying how. On this day. Valentine on Valentine’s Day.
All the birds. Did they search for their mates? And he was writing a poem. To.
Commemorate the first anniversary. Of the wedding of the British King at that time. And since that time.
Festival started like that. But this was in England. And England.
February is not the time of mating for birds. So, actually, birds don’t go out in search of their mates. They generally go out in the rainy season.
Cold season. Is not very conducive for. Reproduction.
Or procreation also. So, the history is shrouded in mystery. So, some people say that there was one of the Saint Valentine of Turney.
Two Saint Valentines who had this. One was in Turney and the other is from Rome. So, the one who was from.
Rome. Some say the one from Turney. He.
Had a. Peculiar King as a Roman Emperor. If you know the history of Europe. Almost till the 10th, 11th centuries.
Christianity was. Not till 10th, 11th centuries. For several centuries after.
The. Crucifixion of Jesus. Christians were persecuted.
Till finally. The Roman Empire. Which was.
Empire which was persecuting them. Itself adopted Christianity. And that’s how Christianity spread very rapidly.
So, before that. Adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire. Many Saints they were persecuted.
So, this particular Valentine. He had a peculiar King during his age. That’s what the legend goes.
Now, this legend. Is not there anywhere in the history. Of the Saints life.
But. This is there in. Lore associated with the Valentines.
That. The King over there. The Roman Emperor.
He made a rule. That. Young men cannot get married.
Force Brahmacharya. Why? He was not a spiritually minded person. He wanted people.
To join his army. So that he could expand the Roman Empire. And.
He felt that. If men get married. Then they won’t join the army.
So, he made a forcible rule. That. The men should be.
Kept single. And the legend goes. Again, this is not there in the Saints biography.
This is in the lore associated with. The. Valentine’s Day.
That this Saint Valentine. He secretly arranged marriages. In spite of the ban on marriages.
Because he was a Saint of Love. So. And that’s how this day came to be celebrated.
It was originally in Europe. And then now. It was in America.
Since around. One hundred and one hundred fifty years. It’s going on in America.
But. Because of the aggressive marketing that’s associated. Although the face.
First of all with the Christian Saint. This is celebrated even in the Middle East. Even in.
China. Even in Japan and Korea. And.
It’s just. Their culture has nothing to do with it. Not only with the festival.
But also the. Male-female relationship. Is also different.
But somehow because of marketing. And on top of that. In Japan and Korea.
This is. This Valentine’s Day is a red rose day. As you know.
So then they have a white rose day on. One month after this. What is that white rose day? So on this red rose day.
And that day. In their culture. The women give gifts to men.
And one month later. The men give gifts to women. And the whole idea is that.
By this giving of gifts. The. Greeting card industry flourishes.
So. And one side if we see the history. It’s just the.
Some legend. Which has no. Actual basis in fact.
Spreading. Because of two reasons. One is.
That everyone has a innate longing for love. And people want means to express that longing. And secondly.
There is the. Industry. Which is out.
To make money. Out of people’s loving longings. So Valentine’s Day for the greeting card industry is big business.
And so is it for all other gift industries. That’s why. In India.
It became popular especially after India was. Liberalised. Whether it was liberalised or bound.
That we don’t know. But when. Manmohan Singh earlier was the finance minister.
During the earlier rule of. Congress. 17-18 years ago.
From that day on time on the MNC started coming in. And. If you see interestingly.
From that is the time from which. Indian women. Started winning Miss World and Miss Universe Awards.
Is it that. In 1992 onwards Indian women suddenly became beautiful. Or that.
The world did not have the eyes. To see the beauty of the Indian woman. No.
The whole sort of beauty contest. They are a big business. The idea is.
That. If Western commodities are not going to be marketed in India. Then what is the use of giving Western awards to Indian women.
So the whole. Is sort of beauty contest industry. Any.
This. Anything associated with love. And romance.
Is commercialised. Then it becomes. Very very.
Self-seeking. So. Now many Indians.
Modern. Quasi-modern Indians. They have a perverse pride.
So many Indian movie stars. Or models or whatever. They are so famous all over the world.
But. The point is. That why only after liberalisation.
So. You see the connection. The connection is.
That only when the Western goods can come inside Indian country. Then. Western laurels also come inside.
Western prizes also come inside. Why? Because. Those who are.
The beauty queens. When they advertise the products. Then because of their glamour.
The products will sell. And generally who is going to be attracted to Indian women. It’s Indians.
Now Westerns will be attracted to Western women. Africans will be attracted to African women. And of course Africans may be attracted to white women.
Or whatever. But in general. The.
The. Biological attraction is such that. That’s what is realistically possible.
So therefore. What is the use of giving awards to Indian women. Unless.
Through them some products can be sold. So the Valentine’s Day is also a festival. Which is unfortunately degenerated like this.
That it is just. Mainly a commercial event. So apart from that.
That’s the history. But apart from that. If we go deeper.
We said earlier that. All of us have a longing for love. And this longing for love.
Is. What is the. At the core of all human activities.
Actually even a terrorist. Who is blowing up the WTC. Is also longing for love.
Why is he doing such a. Horrendously hateful activity. Because. His loving hunger.
Has not been fulfilled. Has been frustrated. Somehow or the other.
And because it has been frustrated. Now that frustration. Is expressed in such a violent way.
Every action. That everyone does. Originate.
From that longing for love. Some actions are. Explicitly.
Seen to be expressions of love. Just as. When a mother cuddles her baby.
The baby is crying. Or the baby runs to the. Child runs to the mother’s feet.
When he has a lightning bolt. And is fearful. Or.
Whenever there are. Situations of danger. And one person who loves another.
Protects that person. These are expressions of love. It’s obvious that.
The actions are originating from love. But actually. All actions.
That everyone does. We’re all looking for happiness in life. Isn’t it? That’s what.
Everybody wants. And happiness actually comes from love. Imagine.
If. Somebody could make a nuclear. Nuclear proof.
Dress for himself. And then. He could.
Detonate a nuclear weapon. Kill everyone. Be the only person to.
Own and enjoy all the wealth of the world. Would he be happy? Because. What will you do with that wealth? The whole pleasure of wealth comes.
When we show our wealth to others. Isn’t it? What is that? I saw an advertisement. Of a. Housing complex.
What are the advertisements? Purchase this house. And enjoy the envy. In your colleagues eyes.
So actually. In material life. The success.
Of possessions. Is to flaunt them before others. By exhibiting them to others.
Then. I feel that I am great. I am respected by others.
But that doesn’t actually make us happy. That just titillates our ego for some time. So what we want by that is.
We want the love of others. Everything that everyone does. We actually want the love.
We want to love others. And we want to be loved by others. And for that purpose.
What are we trying to do? We are trying to acquire more and more possessions. It’s like for a man. The attractive thing is his bank balance.
And for a woman. It’s physical beauty. So both.
Try to keep increasing that. More and more. By artificial.
By whatever means possible. So that. They can attract the love of the other person.
But. The sad reality is. That people are attracted.
Not to us. But to what we have. When a man flaunts his wealth.
Many women will be attracted. In America. There was a 72-year-old man.
Who was. A perverse person. Who said I want to get married.
Who will want to marry a 72-year-old person? But he said. Whoever I select for marriage. That woman has to be less than 20 years old.
Can you 72-year-old marry a person less than 20? And he said. Whoever I marry. She will get.
My estate in inheritance. 45,000 women applied. Are they interested in the old man at all? This is a very graphic example.
To illustrate how. People are not attracted to us. But to.
What we have. Unfortunately. Not realising this.
People try to increase. Their possessions more and more. To get more and more love.
They think that if I have more things. Then. I will get more love.
We may get more attention. But we will not get more love. Wow.
What is that saying? Most people. Spend the money. They have not earned.
To purchase the things that they don’t need. To impress the people they don’t like. Most people.
Spend the money. They have not earned. How can we spend money that we have not earned? Credit card.
Yes. Credit card. Exactly.
And for what? To purchase the things that we don’t need. Why? To impress the people we don’t like. You don’t like me.
I will show you how great I am. Come to my house. See my.
Furniture. See my car. See my cell phone.
And be impressed. So that is actually. That’s why we are talking about the misdirection of love.
The original nature. Is to reciprocate love. Between hearts.
But. When that loving nature is not fulfilled. We try to acquire more and more positions.
To attract. Actually other people’s love. But.
What happens is we attract only their attention. And their attention is attracted to us. Not with love.
But with envy. And so that’s why. It’s.
It leads to. Great disappointment in loving affairs. When people try to.
Make themselves physically more attractive. Especially. Both.
In the physical loving relationships. You know. I read an article in.
Reader’s Digest. About. Four years ago.
In the front. Front of the book. They had in a man’s worst nightmare.
So. I was intrigued. And I found.
What is that worst nightmare? It is sexual impotency. Actually nowadays. Because people are.
Squandering so much of their seminal fluid. Indiscriminately. So many people.
Even by the age of 40 or 50. Lose their capacity. And then.
Life becomes a nightmare for them. Because. The purpose for which they have lived.
And try to enjoy life. That purpose itself. Just goes away.
And they don’t know what to do with the body. And then they try to take drugs like Viagra. To try to increase their virility.
To increase their. Sexual potency. So Viagra became very popular.
It was called what? Become young drug. But then within one and a half years. After it was launched.
They made it. Banned all over the world. Because they found it causes cancer.
So. What people need is not Viagra. But Vairagya.
Same way with women also. Women who just live. To flaunt their bodily beauty.
When they grow old. And their body is no longer beautiful. It becomes very.
Pathetic way of living for them. Because. They have not cherished.
Any virtue. Other than. Being an object of.
Sexual attraction for others. And that is their virtue. Like.
Advertisement. Or that. Some cream like.
Skin cream like. Fair and lovely. Or something like that.
You will make heads turn. Wherever you go. That was the advertisement.
That is what you will look so attractive. Why are heads turning? They are out of lust. Isn’t it? People who are looking at you.
At that particular woman. They are looking like jackals at a prey. Wanting to.
Exploit that prey. But that’s what the value they live for. And when they live for only that value.
Maybe you can move inside. When they live. Only for that value.
Then. When they are unable to. Have that physical beauty to attract others.
They become. Extremely. Broken down.
They feel that their life is worthless. What am I living for? There was a French superstar. Her name was Brandon Brigitte.
She was a very famous superstar. And then. Once she was in her.
She was in her late twenties. Or early thirties. And she had become very popular.
Once she was doing her hair, makeup. And somehow she found. One.
Silver hair. And she was so petrified. So mortified.
So horrified. By the thought that now. Our beauty is fading away.
That from the day she saw that. White hair. She did not make a single public appearance after that.
Whenever she would go out. She would wear a mask and a goggle and go out. Because she was thinking.
Let my fans always remember me. Only as a beautiful young woman. And let them never see how I grow old.
What’s the use? So. When we. We have a loving propensity.
Sometimes now. With the technology available. People when they grow old also.
They try to look young. Isn’t it? They do all these facelifts. Hair dyes.
There’s another actress in. America. And she was beyond forty.
And she had a teenage son. And she. She would still in her forties.
With the help of technology. She would look young and alluring. And one day her son came to her house.
And he was aghast. He asked what happened. He was telling.
He was holding his head. How can I tell you mother? He said what? He said that he had gone to his friend’s house. And his friend.
Had kept. You know his house. Filled with.
Semi naked and naked posters. Of his mother. Like a. Model.
So the son was so horrified. And that day when his mother heard it. She retired from her career.
So we see that this. Artificial way of life. So the love is there.
But when we try to. Express and experience that love. On the bodily platform.
Then it leads to so much. Chaos in society. So the scriptures explain that just as this.
Bulb is white. And the light that is coming out of it is pure white. But if somebody puts a. Red film on it.
And the soothing white light that is coming out. Becomes a jarring red. Similarly the original soul is pure.
And the soul has a pure nature. To give love and to receive love. But when the soul becomes covered over by the body.
By the subtle body. And the gross body. Then.
That original love of the soul. Becomes expressed in this world as lust. And this lust.
Is actually the misdirected form of love. So. One of our senior devotee leaders.
His whole name is Bhakti Teertha Maharaj. He once wrote an article about. Lust to love.
But devotees are very intelligent at. Presenting philosophy. So he wrote an article.
And he wrote the title of the article. Harnessing sexual energy for world peace. And.
That was the article. Out of all the thousands of articles that he wrote. That was the article that was read the most.
And then. In that article basically. You have story after story about how.
Misdirected sexual energy. Has been the cause of wars. Throughout history.
Generally. You see world war one. Mussolini was on one side.
And the others. But the whole thing started when a prince. In the Italian.
He wanted to marry a woman from the other side. And that was refused. And the prince was killed.
And the killing of the prince. Started off the war. And then.
Similarly there are actually. Many many examples of how. The.
Like we say. Lust when unfulfilled leads to. Anger.
So that’s what happens. So basically. You know.
As long as. What was the theme of the article which Bhakti Kirti Maharaj had written. How this.
Original energy of the soul. Which is spiritual. When it is.
Expressed through. Uncontrolled sexual energy. That is what causes war.
So the way to harness that energy is to. Re-spiritualise that drive. Re-spiritualise that drive means.
That. We recognise our spiritual nature. Try to awaken our spiritual love.
So now. If you see. Throughout all the great religious scriptures of the world.
They all talk about the existence of God. And they all talk about how. We should obey God.
Surrender to him and return back to him. Interestingly enough. Most of the religions in the world.
Do not talk. Much about the. Positive.
Nature and attributes of God. Many of the earliest con leaders. Were from Western Christian backgrounds.
So one of our. Devotee scholars Ravindra Swaroop Prabhu. Who did his.
PhD in Religious Studies from Templeton University America. He narrates his experiences. He says as a child.
When he would go to the church. And. He asked the priest.
What does God do in heaven? And the priest looked as if. The question had never come in his mind. What does God do in heaven? If you see.
Nowadays there are many Christian missionaries in India. Who distribute Christian books. Free.
If you see their books. Their books are very colourful. Filled with many pictures.
But all the pictures. Are about. Men.
Women and children. Where is God? The books are supposed to be about God. But all the pictures are about men, women and children.
So when Michelangelo. The great sculptor. Was told.
To make a. Picture. Make a. Actually Michelangelo was a painter. But he was told to make a. Sculpture.
On the roof of the Sistine Chapel. In Europe. Of God.
Giving his grace. To the human being. So he wrote a. Article about it.
The agony and the ecstasy. Agony why? Because he was a painter. And sculpting was not in nature.
So that was agony. But because he was serving God. That was the ecstasy.
So. Anyway. He started.
He made a. Picture of a man. Man is stretching out. To his hand.
Towards. To reach God. And he started the.
Not the picture. The sculpture. In.
Engraved in the roof. It’s like. Called like a mural.
So. Then. When he wanted to make the.
Engraving of God. He asked the priest. What does God look like? Another priest had any idea.
And then. He had. The priest searching in the.
Biblical scriptures. And they couldn’t find anything. And finally.
He. Thought and thought and thought. And by his thinking.
He came to a. Peculiar speculative conclusion. He said. God.
The father of all living beings. And there have been so many. Living beings.
For so many millions of years. God is the father of all of them. God must be.
Extremely old. God must be the oldest person. And therefore.
In this. In this same mural. If you see.
He depicts God. As an old person. With a long beard.
And then. He’s stretching out his hand. To give his grace.
To the soul. The person. So now.
Yes. The image of God. As an old person.
May attract a reverence. Reverence means respect. Respect.
But. It won’t attract. Love.
So. The way. The Christian idea of God.
Is more like Brahma than Krishna. Brahma is having a long beard. Of course.
According to Vedic conception. That is the. Brahma having a long beard.
Is the. Hindi movie idea of Brahma. Or the Mahabharata Ramayana idea of Brahma.
Or the Mahabharata Ramayana. Actually. Even Brahma is very.
Handsome looking. But the Vedic scripture. Is laying that.
Adhyam purana purusham. Navayuvanam ja. And the Supreme Lord is.
Yes. He Adhyam. Original person.
Therefore. He is purana purusham. He is the oldest.
But still. Navayuvanam ja. He is.
Eternally youthful. That is his. Inconceivable ability.
Why? Because. He is not in the control of time. So.
Although he is the oldest. He doesn’t become old. He doesn’t age because of time.
He is eternally youthful. And. In the Vedic culture.
There is positive description about God. His personality. His activities.
And his relationships. And here. We understand.
How. The Lord. Reciprocates love with his devotees.
And that reciprocation. Is actually. The fulfilment of the heart’s longing for love.
Everybody in the world is suffering from hunger. Some people are suffering from. Physical hunger.
That is the hunger of the stomach. But. More pervasive.
And in some ways more painful. Then the hunger of the stomach. Is the hunger of the heart.
The hunger of the heart is for love. To love and be loved. That is the greatest human need.
And all over the world people are. Hungering for that love. But in the Vedic scriptures.
The fulfilment of that hunger for love is. Described. In the.
Reciprocation between the Lord and his devotees. So. At one level.
We understand that all religions. Are. God’s revelations to help.
People to get elevated. And that is absolutely true. So Sri Prabhupada.
Was asked. By some western people. By some Christians.
You know. Why do you call Krishna as God? Prabhupada said. Why do you not accept Krishna as God? And what are the attributes of God? We don’t know.
We will tell you. What is the definition of God? The attributes of God? That there are six opulences. Everybody is attracted to a person who is wealthy.
If you see Bill Gates. His voice is squeaky. His voice is not all attractive.
But he is very attractive. Why? Because he has phenomenal wealth. So.
Wealth is a very attractive thing for people. Similarly beauty. That is also attracting people.
Knowledge. That attracts people. Fame attracts people.
Strength attracts people. And. Renunciation attracts people.
Why renunciation attracts people? Because. Actually Prabhupada would give the example of Mahatma Gandhi. He.
Became extremely popular in India. For many reasons. One of the prominent one being.
His dress. He sympathised through his dress and his life with the poor people. So he had the facility to live in luxury.
Because he was so popular and influential. But he was renounced. And his renunciation attracted people.
So. These are six opulences. There are six attributes in people.
That attract us. So. If God is supreme.
That means he is supremely attractive. So. Once.
Our devotees were distributing books in Israel. Now Israel is a country that is dominated by. Jews.
Now Jews are. Among all the religions of the world. Jews are almost fanatically against deity worship.
For this devotee first he saw a spiritual person. He was a. Car garage owner. And.
He first saw. Oh. Books.
Spiritual books. I am interested. He took the book.
And he opened it. And he saw. Oh forms.
We don’t worship forms. Their idea is impersonal God. And the devotee looked up.
And all over the car garage. There were posters of heroes and heroines. He said you are already worshipping so many forms.
Isn’t it? Actually in this world. Form. The beauty of the form.
Is one of the most attractive things in the world. And if we say. God does not have that which is most attractive in this world.
Then God becomes more deficient. Than the world that he has created. How is that logically possible? So God has a form.
And his form is supremely attractive. So. This is a. Objective definition of God.
Will there be any faithful religionist. Who will say that my God is not all powerful. My God is not all knowledgeable.
My God is not all wealthy. My God is not all renounced. My God is not all beautiful.
No. So it’s a universally acceptable. Definition of God.
But along with this universally acceptable definition of God. Vedic scriptures. Give a personality.
Who satisfies this definition. Just like if some beggar on the streets claims. I am the Prime Minister of India.
You just take him to the police and beat him up. What nonsense. Isn’t it? So.
People will consider him to be mad. Once Pandit Nehru went to a mental asylum. To visit the mental asylum.
And there while he was going around. At one particular side he saw. Dangerous.
Do not go here. Let me go and see what is there. And there he went and he saw on a bed.
There was a person wearing specs. Very smart and elegant looking. Clever looking person.
And he was thinking what is dangerous about him. He was thinking about that the person asked. Who are you? He said I am the Prime Minister of India.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He said what happened? He said when I came here I was saying the same thing. And they locked me up.
So. The idea is. That if an ordinary person.
Claims to be the Prime Minister of India. Then he will be considered mad. Because the Prime Minister of India has certain powers.
So if the Prime Minister of India orders. Let the army move from here to there. If he is living in the Prime Minister’s office.
He is living in the Prime Minister’s residence. Then when those attributes are seen in the person. Then it is not a subjective opinion whether he is the Prime Minister or not.
Yes these are the powers of the Prime Minister. And here is the person with the powers of the Prime Minister. Therefore he is the Prime Minister.
So same way. If any ordinary person. Any Swami, Baba or somebody claims to be God.
Then that is foolish. But if there is a person who has the six opulences of God. Then.
It is universally acceptable. That he is God. Here is the objective definition.
Of God. And here is the personality to satisfy that definition. And that is Krishna.
So Prabhupada would say that. Why don’t you accept Krishna as God? No no. If Jesus had wanted.
Us to worship Krishna. Then he would have told us that Krishna is God. So then.
Actually the answer is. Jesus told one thing. Thou shall not kill.
And for that he was only killed. Isn’t it? So Jesus also said. There are many things I have to say.
But you have not the ears to hear. So he gave basic knowledge. But.
If we see that way. The teaching that Jesus gave. Based on the personality.
Krishna satisfies the. Definition of God. And apart from that.
Sri Prabhupada would say that. Ok. We are presenting a personality Krishna as God.
If you can present a better personality. Who is God. Then we will accept.
We will leave Krishna and worship that person. But there is no better personality. So it is not that we are being sectarian.
Accepting Krishna as God. Rather those who refuse to accept Krishna as God. Are fanatical.
Another simple example. To explain this point. Suppose now all of you are studying in R.V. college.
And say you. Say you are studying computer science. And suppose there is another student.
Who is. Studying in some other college. Close by.
And he comes to know that. In R.V. college. Computer science is taught very nicely.
And he is also studying computer science there. But if he says. I will study computer science only what is taught in my college.
I will not go to any other college to study. Whatever is taught in my college. That is what I will study.
Is that intelligent. He will ask. Are you interested in the college.
Or are you interested in the subject. If you are really interested in the subject. Then wherever knowledge of that subject is there.
Take it. Similarly. The different religions.
Are like different colleges. And if somebody is really interested in. Knowing God and loving God.
Then why should he be narrow minded. And say that. I will study only in this.
Institute. Wherever knowledge of God is available. Avail of that knowledge.
And develop one’s love for God. So. That’s why.
It’s quite objective. We just discussed. Objectively that there is not.
There are huge amount of biblical scriptures. Apart from the Bible. So many of the saints have written.
Further books. So the amount of scriptures. In the biblical.
Tradition is huge. But the positive description about God. Is very much lacking.
So therefore. Why we are talking so much about. Christianity.
And Christian consciousness. Because. This particular occasion.
Is supposedly originating from a Christian saint. So now. Let us come to the point of Krishna.
So the. Which is described. How Krishna.
Reciprocates love with his devotees. Another important point in this. The secret behind love.
So. If you see. In the.
Most. Most of the religious traditions. The idea is that God is a father.
And we are his children. So father. Thou art in.
Hello. Heaven. Hello.
Be thy name. Give us our daily bread. That is the prayer.
Now. Yes. It’s good.
We are approaching God. But. If we see.
The cats. The birds. The rats.
The fishes. They are getting their food. Without going to God.
Isn’t it? So what is the need to go to God for this? This is love for bread. Not love for God. Again.
This is not to. Minimise those religious traditions. See.
Somehow or other they are approaching God. That is glorious. And then we understand that there is a higher level also.
So. So why in the Vedic tradition. We know there are five Rasa’s.
That are described. Five Rasa’s in which we relate with the Lord. What are the five Rasa’s? Shantara.
Shantara. Shantara is passive admiration. I said.
Oh God is so. Great. I’ll just sit and meditate.
Admire. How great. How.
Grand he is. Then. Last Rasa means.
Service. Yes. My Lord.
In Shantara’s. Why is the devotee inactive? God is so great. What can I do for him? He is so great.
But in the last Rasa he thinks. Okay. Yes.
God is great. But still let me express my love. By serving him.
Like a wealthy man. Okay. Today is father’s birthday.
Everything is given to me. By father only. But let me give chocolate on his birthday.
Using his own money only. It is father’s money. So.
That’s the last Rasa. So that is. We express love by.
Service. That is. And then after that there is.
Sakya Rasa. Where. Actually the love becomes.
So intense. That. One thinks of the Lord.
As a. Friend. As an equal. Idea the Lord is greater than me.
Is not there. The Lord is equal. So what is the example for.
Dasya Rasa first. Dasya. Hanuman.
Yes. Classic example. For Sakya.
Arjuna. Arjuna. Yeah.
So Arjuna. They would. Arjuna and Krishna would talk like friends.
So why. Arjuna knew that Krishna was God. But actually it is described.
In the higher Rasa. But the love. Overshadows the knowledge.
So. Just like. Especially with respect to Vrindavan.
It is described. The stars are there in the daytime also. But because the sun is so bright.
The stars cannot be seen. So similarly. The Brajwasis.
Have. In the sky of their heart. The stars of spiritual knowledge.
They know. Yes. This Krishna is.
He is. Adi Vishnu. He is the person who is worshipped.
By the. Prayers of the Purusha Sukta. He is the person who has come in all incarnations.
And if you read the prayers of the Gopis. That is described over there. But.
Those stars. Of the. Spiritual knowledge.
Are overshadowed. By the sun. Of their.
Pure love for Krishna. So. They think that.
Yes. Krishna is just the object of our love. And then.
There we see. Sakhi Rasa. When Vatsalya Rasa.
Is the example. So this is the. The Vatsalya Rasa.
Is the. Antithesis. Of the.
Conventional idea of God. Is it? How is it the antithesis? God is the father. And here God becomes.
Ya. So here. We will have questions at the end if you don’t mind.
We will have time for that. So. It is the antithesis.
God becomes the child. The devotee thinks that. I will.
I will feed my. Feed the Lord. And if I don’t feed him.
The Lord will go hungry. And he will become weak and sick. And he may even die.
That is what Yashoda Mai thinks. And then the highest. And the most secret.
And the most misunderstood. Of all Rasa’s is the. Madhurya Rasa.
Madhurya Rasa. Where. One approaches the Lord as a conjugal lover.
You see like the. Either relationship. Between.
The male and the female. It’s not like the relationship between the male and the female. Actually.
The relationship between the male and female here. Is like the relationship between the divine couple. Between the devotee and the Vatsalya Rasa.
It is the highest. Now why is it. That in the Vedic tradition.
The relationship between the father and the son. Is not. Mentioned.
Explicitly. And especially that is not there. Between God and us.
In the spiritual world. That’s because. In the father son relationship.
The idea of the son keeps. Papa give me this. Papa give me that.
Papa give me that. So. The son is demanding.
And the father is providing. So. Then.
People go to the temple sometimes. And they ring a bell. And they say.
Oh God. Now you are sleeping for so long. Wake up.
And please fulfil my demand list. So. Their idea.
That God. Just like sometimes people go in a hotel. And ring the bell.
Oh waiter. Please come and give all the demands. So.
Instead of bell being on the floor. The bell is in the roof. Oh God.
Please give all my demands. And sometimes people come to Iskcon temple. And they say.
There is no bell. What is the use of a temple without a bell. They think like that.
So. The idea is. That.
A child keeps demanding for the parent. And that is not so. There may be some aspect of love in that.
But that is more or less like business. Whereas. Real love is.
In the US band. Love. Means sacrifice.
Love means service. In modern society. People are taught that.
Love means. Romance. Love means excitement.
Love means romance. But actually. That is not real love.
That’s why. Most of the love marriages. In the West.
End in divorce. Within three years of the marriage. Sixty six percent.
Of the marriages. Two out of every three marriages. That means.
In America. And the European Union. In America.
Practically all the marriages. Are love marriages only. There are no arranged marriages.
But they. End in divorce. Why? Because real love.
Is not about romance. It is about service and sacrifice. When.
Romance means. You know the other person. Is so wonderful.
And. That other person. Will satisfy all my desires.
With that other person. I’ll be happy. This.
Romantic idea. Of the other person. Builds up a big tower.
Of expectations. From that person. And when actually.
We come to live. With that person. Then the tower collapses.
Love is blind. Marriage is an eye opener. That’s why.
There is a saying. Actually even materialistic people. They recognise the fallacy.
Of their romantic conceptions. So they recognise it. But they can’t.
Cure it. Because they don’t have higher knowledge. But anyway what they say.
Before you marry a girl. Look at her mother. Why? Because that’s what she’s going to become soon.
That beauty is temporary. So that’s why. When love is thought of as romance.
It is thought that. There’ll be so much enjoyment. And this myth.
Is perpetuated by the movie industry. The movie industry portrays. Generally love.
Before marriage. Because after marriage. What happens? Then you have to go to the market.
And purchase Sabji. And you have to bargain. With the tenant.
Or the tenant. Or the owner. And then you have children.
Who cry all the time. And then it’s not at all exciting. In the material sense.
So if we see. The Vedic culture. Now let’s compare.
In an objective way now. Generally if you see. In the Indian tradition.
There are no very gross. Or even visible. Expressions of.
Romantic love between. The husband and the wife. Probably most of us.
When we saw our parents. Normally with a respectful distance. They are talking with each other.
So generally. We never think of romantic love. In terms of our parents.
But if we see. Despite all their quarrels. Most Indian families stay together.
But the relationship that are formed. Based on. Romantic love.
What happens? They just burst. Burst like a balloon. They make a big noise.
And then they disappear. So. Why because.
So that means. In India. The traditional system.
When people get married. They understand. That this is a relationship.
Where of service. The husband understands that. I have to protect my wife.
And the wife understands that. I have to serve him. And I have to.
Look after the house. And look after the children. The husband understands that.
I have to earn a living. So that is the basis of the relationship. And that’s why.
The relationship survives. So that it’s. Implicit that.
Love means. Sacrifice. And that.
Where that understanding is there. Only then. Can the relationship be sustainable.
But when people think that. Love means romance. As they are taught.
By the modern media. Then. Their dreams are shattered.
And actually. It is heartbreaking. When people find their dreams shattered.
And. Generally. Whenever there are divorces.
Actually. Divorces are very unfortunate. In Marathi.
The word for divorce is. Ghatta sport. Ghatta sport means.
Ghatta is the word for ghar. Ghar is house. The sport within the house.
And that’s what actually it is. To people. Who go through that.
There’s so much trauma. And if they have children. My God.
Children suffer so much. Because you know. The two people whom they love.
And whom they depend on. They see. They’re at cold and hot wars with each other.
It’s miserable. So. Why does this happen? It’s all because of the misdirection of love.
So that love. When people talk about love marriages. They’re actually lust marriages.
And because they’re lust marriages. They don’t last for long. And when they break.
They cause tremendous suffering. But in the Vedic scriptures. It is described that.
Our real hankering for love. Is fulfilled in our relationship with Krishna. So let us.
See some examples. So one thing is that. The male female.
Bodies that we have. Are actually just like dresses. They are covering their illusions.
Once I wrote an article. Is God male or female? So the first sentence was. That before we can understand.
Whether God is male or female. We have to understand that. We are neither male nor female.
Because as long as we. Think that we are male or female. Then.
We will drag that conception on God. Then is God. Actually in the western tradition.
There is female chauvinism. There is. Sorry.
There is male chauvinism. In retaliation to what they have perceived as male chauvinism. That means male domination.
There is feminism. We were mentioned to be free. So there in the.
King Luke’s Bible. And several other Bibles. Generally if you say for God.
The pronoun is he. God said. And then he continued.
So there in that. He. In bracket.
Or she. There is feminism. But in this he or she idea.
That is just dragging our material conceptions. On the divinity. So first.
If you want to understand real love. We have to understand our spiritual identity. Because at the bodily platform.
What we call in love is just. Just a bodily function. It’s just lust.
The article in Times of India. I said you know romance has a bench life of nine months. Romance has a bench life of nine months.
What was it? Scientists found out. That. When.
A person relates with a new person. Then. Within the body.
Because of the newness of the other person. Certain hormones are secreted. And those hormones.
Apart from of course the hormone. Which is. Excreted.
Which is passed out at the time of. Coitus. At the time of sexual union.
But there are certain hormones which are secreted. Which create excitement in the person. Oh this person is so wonderful.
And the way she talks. The way she walks. The way she does everything.
You know. So people imagine so many things. But this hormone.
Lasts. For nine months. And after nine months get over.
Some people it may be ten, eleven months. Some people it may be six, seven months. But once the hormone gets exhausted.
Then. That person loses all charm in the eyes of that person. Like when that hormone is being secreted.
And sometimes. There are movies which show that a man picks up a. Kerchief. And say oh it is a woman’s kerchief.
Start dreaming how beautiful that woman will be. Doesn’t it? That kerchief actually contains the dirt of the nose. But that’s because the hormone is secreted.
So. So that’s why in general. The relationship might last for a few months.
But afterwards. Then. Once that hormone gets excited.
Exhausted. And one will. Start seeing all the faults in the other person.
And one cannot live on. And then. It’s not that the hormone is completely exhausted on the body.
That hormone is secreted in relation to some other person. And then people have extramarital affairs. And they bring their own problems.
But the point here is that. What people call as love. Is just a bodily hormonal function.
And that has nothing to do. With the soul. And that has nothing to do with our actual self.
And because it’s a bodily function. And the bodily function gets exhausted. Just like when we feel hungry.
Or when we feel thirsty. That thirst controls us completely. We forget everything else.
And we just want to fulfil that thirst. But it’s a bodily attraction. Just to fulfil the thirst is important.
Because we need to live on. But then. That is not.
It’s not that getting that drop of water. Getting that glass of water is going to solve all the problems of life. So it’s just a bodily function.
And similarly. What people call as romance. What is celebrated so much on this Valentine’s Day.
Is just a bodily function. But real love is. It begins when we understand our identity as souls.
And then we relate. With the supreme soul. So that’s why.
If you want to study. The scriptures. First.
Let’s put aside the bodily. Relationship. The bodily conception.
Male. Female. But if you want to see the love between Krishna and Arjuna.
What is that love? Actually it is described. That. Arjuna.
As you know. Chose Krishna before the war. He had a choice.
Whether he wanted to choose Krishna. Or the Narayana Sena. And Arjuna chose Krishna.
And Duryodhana was thinking. Oh Arjuna is sentimental and foolish. That I got a very good bargain.
And then. And after that Krishna asked Arjuna. Why did you choose me? Why did you not choose my army? So Arjuna gave a simple reply.
My dear lord. What is the use of your army without you? You are the essence of that army. And I know when you are on my side.
Victory is guaranteed. Because ultimately I am fighting this war also for you. So.
Where you are. There will be victory. So then.
Krishna had also taken a vow. That I will not fight in the war. I will not.
Lift the weapons. Then. Let us now see some amazing.
Exchange of love between Krishna and his devotees. So Bhishma Pitamah was also a devotee. Pure devotee.
But he is. Given an extraordinary service. His service is to fight on the side of Adharma.
Why? To demonstrate that. Bhishma was so powerful. Now he was trained.
By Parashuram as his military guru. And Parashuram single handedly. Had defeated all the Kshatriyas 21 times.
And there was a war between Parashuram and Bhishma at one time. And Parashuram could not defeat Bhishma. Bhishma almost defeated Parashuram.
So he just came and said no no. He is a Brahmin. Don’t kill him.
And then Parashuram embraced Bhishma and he said. I am proud of you. So he was equal to his guru.
He was so powerful. Militarily. And he was a child of Ganga.
So Ganga had taken him to heaven. And he had learnt scriptures from Brihaspati. So he was as learned as Brihaspati.
And as proficient in warfare as Parashuram. But what the Lord wanted to do here. That even such a qualified person.
Goes against the cause of Dharma. Even he will not succeed. He will be defeated.
So to demonstrate this principle. That we should not become intoxicated by our power. And think that we can go against God.
Bhishma took that role. But Bhishma was a devotee at heart. And then Duryodhana.
Actually Karna. Is also a misunderstood character. So because Karna had lost his Kundala and Kavach.
So Bhishma. Before the war. Bhishma was asked by Duryodhana.
Please estimate the strength of all the warriors. So he gave the estimate and he said. Karna is a Ardharathi now.
Every Maharathi means one who can fight thousands of warriors. He is Ardharathi. So Karna was very angry.
Why are you calling me Ardharathi? So he said. You have lost your Kavach and Kundala now. Then he got very angry.
Karna said that. You know. If by my strength.
By my valour if I won the war. And if Bhishma is the commander at that time. Then Bhishma will get the credit of having won the war.
See therefore as long as. Bhishma is there as the commander on the war. I will not enter the war.
He refused. Because he wanted the credit and the glory. So Bhishma was fighting.
And several days the war was going on. And one particular day the Kauravas had a severe routing. And then Duryodhana came.
And he pierced Bhishma. With words like daggers. He said.
You know. If I had known that you were going to be affectionate and partial. To the Pandavas and not accept.
Not exhibit your whole strength. Then. I would not have courted.
This devastation of my army. By having Karna of the field. My dear grandfather.
He said. Please exhibit your prowess. Or.
Let Karna become the commander. Now for a Kshatriya. To be accused of not fighting whole heartedly.
That’s a great insult. So Bhishma flared up. And he said.
Tomorrow. I will kill all the five Pandavas. With these five arrows.
Now we know this story. But the internal psychology that was happening. Is known only to the Vaishnavacharyas.
So actually our Acharya described. That Bhishma. He knew that Krishna would not allow the Pandavas to be killed.
So he took that vow. Tomorrow these five arrows will kill the five Pandavas. When he was taking that vow.
He was externally showing anger. But internally was just excited. To see.
How Krishna will protect the Pandavas. So. He took that vow.
These five arrows will kill the five Pandavas. Out of. His love for Krishna to show.
To show the world. How Krishna loves his devotees. And then we know what happened.
Arjuna was sent by Krishna. To go to Duryodhana. Earlier Duryodhana had been saved from the Gandharvas by Arjuna.
So he said. What do you want Arjuna? Duryodhana said when he went. In the night.
At night they would be like friends. What do you want? If you want the kingdom I will give it to you. Duryodhana said.
And Duryodhana knew. Arjuna will never ask for the kingdom. So Arjuna also said.
No. The kingdom Krishna came to ask as a Shantidute. That time you said no.
Now I want the five arrows. Five arrows. Duryodhana.
Ok. I will give it to you. Duryodhana tried to maintain the culture.
But he said. Just tell me. Who told you about the five arrows? Top secret.
In Bhishma’s tent. When all other spies. All other guards had gone away.
Only Duryodhana and Bhishma had the discussion. So. Who told you? Arjuna just took the arrows.
Krishna. And Duryodhana went. Krishna.
How does he know everything? So angry. Maybe he is God. Otherwise how could he know everything? And then.
After that. When the next morning. The war was assembled.
So. Bhishma asked smilingly. Please give me the five arrows.
And Duryodhana became embarrassed. And then he told what had happened. And Bhishma laughed.
He was delighted to see how Krishna had protected his devotees. And then in his. In his extraordinary.
Loving excitement. He took another bow. No problem.
Even if the five arrows are not there. He said I had chanted special mantras. And invested special power.
I had invested my yogic and ascetic power. Bhishma was a brahmachari. So he had ascetic power.
So in that the arrows. So I cannot again create the five arrows. But.
He said today. I will fight so fiercely. That.
I will kill Arjuna. And the only way Arjuna can survive is. If Krishna picks up weapons.
And again Bhishma was just thinking. What will Krishna do to protect Arjuna? So. That’s why he took that bow.
And then the war started. And then. Bhishma’s chariot was straight taken to Arjuna.
And Arjuna was fighting. Arjuna was fighting. But his heart was not there in the fight with Bhishma.
He was thinking. There is the same grandfather. On whose lap I sat.
And with his beard I played. And how can I shoot arrows at him? But Bhishma was motivated by his love. He was.
He was just. He wanted Krishna to show his love. And he was fighting with his full strength.
Bhishma. Earlier Bhishma also had a soft heart. For the Pandavas.
That’s why he was. He was trying. He was fighting very fiercely.
But he had been avoiding direct confrontation with the Pandavas before. But here he had a direct confrontation. And he was fighting wholeheartedly.
Because. He was motivated by the. Loving desire.
To see Krishna’s love for his devotees. And then as he was fighting. Now all the other Pandava warriors saw that.
Arjuna is being overpowered. They came to assist. And that excited Bhishma’s heroes all the more.
And he just demolished all of them. And they all fled. And Arjuna was alone.
And Arjuna’s. His chariot. Top.
The flag was. Attacked. His own bow was broken.
And he was taking up the bow and stringing and fighting again. And at that time. Krishna became very grave.
He realised. Even he was surprised. The ferocity.
Of Bhishma’s attack. And he said. If this continues.
Soon Arjuna will die. And I cannot let that happen. And all of a sudden.
Arjuna was shooting. And suddenly he saw Krishna had jumped. Krishna was not there on the chariot.
And he looked. And he saw Krishna had jumped off the chariot. And there was a chariot wheel.
Of a chariot that had been broken down in the war. And Krishna picked up the chariot wheel. And he just ran towards Bhishma.
And he shouted. Oh Bhishma. Oh grandfather Bhishma.
You are the cause of this whole war. When a king goes on an evil track. It is the responsibility of the minister to bring him back.
You did not bring him. And therefore you deserve to die. And he was charging across the field.
And Bhishma very happily put aside his bow and arrow. My dear lord. To die at your hands is the perfection of my life.
Please kill me. He said. I tried my best to give good advice to Dhritarashtra.
But he was not listening. And when Arjuna saw this. Krishna charging towards Bhishma.
Arjuna was mortified. He knew that Krishna had taken the bow. And he did not want his dear friend to break that bow.
Of course the chariot wheel was not a weapon. But still critics would point out that he had used arms. He had attacked.
So Arjuna leapt out. Oh Krishna. Please stop.
He shouted. But Krishna was deaf and blind to everything. Except charging towards Bhishma.
And then Arjuna just ran behind him. And he jumped. And caught the feet of Krishna.
He caught the thigh. But Krishna was running so fast. That Arjuna was dragged along.
And they went. Already Krishna had gone half the distance between the two. When they are shooting arrow.
They are quite a large distance. And then for one fourth of the distance. Arjuna was dragged along.
By Krishna’s momentum in moving. And finally Arjuna had powerful Kshatriya feet. So there was a small hole in the ground.
Arjuna just dug his feet under the ground. In that hole. And when his feet went there.
They made the hole very big. And somehow he stopped Krishna. Krishna please stop.
I will fight tomorrow. And I will overcome Bhishma. Please don’t break your vow.
And then Krishna became calm. And at that time the sun set on the horizon. So the day’s hostility ended.
And then everybody went back. Discussing this extraordinary event. And then later on.
When Bhishma was in the arrow bed. About to die. At that time.
Krishna came in front of Bhishma. And Bhishma offers such amazing prayers to Krishna. He says.
So he is remembering. Krishna as Vijaya Sakha. Who is Vijaya? Arjuna’s name is Vijaya.
So Vijaya Sakha. So our Acharya described. That when Krishna was the charioteer.
Of Arjuna. At that time Krishna. Was.
Sweating because of the effort. Of. Controlling the horses.
And not only was he sweating. But his hair was scattered. And his hair and face was covered with the dust.
That had been raised by the horse’s hooves. And Bhishma had shot arrows at both. Arjuna as well as Arjuna’s charioteer Krishna.
Because there was blood. On Krishna’s body. Of course Krishna’s body is spiritual.
But whatever is required for his leela is manifested. Just to increase the intensity of the emotions of Krishna. So there appears to be a lot of blood on his body.
And our Acharya described that. Because Bhishma was in Virya Ras. Virya Ras means.
Just like in the Vedic times there were kings. And the kings. They had big muscles.
And they would enjoy exhibiting their prowess. And fighting by fighting with wrestlers. So some wrestlers would fight with them.
Who were not their enemies. But they would fight with them. And it would be a real good fight.
But by that the king enjoys. So like that the Lord enjoys in Virya Ras with some devotees. And Bhishma was one of those devotees like that.
At least in this leela. So when Bhishma was shooting arrows at Krishna. Krishna was feeling.
He was because his body is spiritual. He does not feel the pain of the arrows. He was actually sensing the love.
And the loving offering of Bhishma. So he described that his arrows were like flowers being offered by a devotee. For Krishna.
And with respect to the blood. The Acharya has given an example. That when there is passionate love between a man and a woman.
Then they kiss each other. And while kissing each other sometimes they bite each other. And because of the biting the blood comes out.
So that is not considered as a sign of pain. That is considered as a sign of love. So that was the blood that was on the Lord’s body.
It was out of love. So Acharya described that when Krishna was like this. So Krishna’s beauty was seen by Bhishma but not by Arjuna.
Because Arjuna was in the back side. So therefore he said. And Krishna came at the moment of the departure of Bhishma.
And he was there with him. Showing him his. Giving him his beautiful darshan.
And then Bhishma departed from this world. So this is. Bhishma in the final stage he offers such extraordinary prayers.
You know. Bhishma was such a learned person that. The Lord wanted to glorify Bhishma also.
See Bhishma wanted to glorify the Lord. And that is why he exhibited this pastime. So when Krishna lifted up the weapon.
Krishna had three choices. Either. He could preserve his word.
And let Arjuna die. Or. He could.
Break his word. And. Kill Bhishma.
And protect Arjuna. So mainly two choices. So what did the Lord prefer to do? He preferred to break his own word.
Why? Because he. Generally for a person his ego is. What is that? That is the ego of a person.
My words are very great. But the Lord has no ego. Lord’s heart is filled with love.
He said let my words go. I don’t care for my words. I care for my devotee.
So therefore he broke his words. So Krishna, Bhishma did all this actually with the intention of. Glorifying the Lord.
And revealing to the whole world the glory of the Lord’s love. And the Lord loves his devotee more than his own word. And for a Kshatriya his word is very important.
So now the Lord wanted to also glorify Bhishma. Because Bhishma had always been misunderstood. So what he did? Yudhisthira became very disconsolate.
Because of me the whole war took place. Because of me thousands of people were killed. What a greedy person.
And everybody convinced him that you were not the cause. Duryodhana was evil. And that’s why the war took place.
So now Krishna tried to convince him. He couldn’t understand. Vyasdeva tried to convince him.
He couldn’t understand. All the great Kshatriyas just couldn’t accept it. He said no, no, no.
Actually I am to be blamed. And Krishna told let us go to Bhishma. And generally when a person is dying everybody is very sober.
But Krishna told the Pandavas you dress in your royal opulence. Go to Bhishma. Because Bhishma had always wanted to see the Pandavas enthroned as the kings.
And now his heart’s desire was fulfilled. Bhishma is also an amazing character. He could easily have departed from the world.
Why did he have to live on and serve Duryodhana and tolerate his taunts. And see the indignity the Pandavas were going through. Because he knew that after going through all this the Lord will ultimately protect his devotees.
And he wanted to see that. And that’s why he stayed on. So then when they came in front of Krishna at that time Bhishma understood what is Yudhishtira’s heart.
And then he spoke. On the deathbed with thousands of arrows piercing his body. That time Bhishma spoke the Rajadharma.
Now that is the Mahabharata itself in which we have Krishnamurti that is almost like 4000 pages. And apart from that if we take the Rajadharma what he spoke Rajadharma itself is 7000 pages. 7000 pages of instruction Bhishma gave on the deathbed.
Exalted instruction. That was his extraordinary learning. And the Lord empowered him to do that and then he was able to console Yudhishtira.
So this is the love between the Lord and his devotees. So at one time Arjuna asked Krishna. So you see that there is three love.
Krishna and Bhishma and Krishna and Arjuna. Both this love is seen in the same past time. So at that time Arjuna asked Krishna Krishna if today in the war I am killed what will happen? What will you do? So Krishna became very angry.
He said the sun may become cold. The oceans may dry up. The earth may crack into pieces.
But my dear Arjuna you will never die. But somehow or the other if you die then I will take up my Sudarshan Chakra and I will kill all the Kauravas. No! I will exhibit my Vishwaroopa and devour up the whole universe.
You will never die Arjuna. That was Krishna’s love for Arjuna. And so this is Sakhira.
This itself is so extraordinary. We see that beyond that there is Vatsalya Ras. Where Mother Yashoda loves Krishna just like a small child.
Beyond that is Madhuri Ras. So where the Gopis they love Krishna with total selflessness. Often this love is misunderstood to be like the material love.
But it is not. And the proof is as I said love means sacrifice. So if people today see the Ras Neela people imitate the Ras Neela so what they do is not Ras Neela it is Rascal Neela.
What they actually do. They are just trying to imitate the Lord. So it appears to a large extent like ordinary boy-girl relationships only.
But when do we come to see the Gopis love, love means sacrifice. Which is the pastime which shows that? When Narada Muni came. Isn’t it? Krishna has got a headache and you need to give the dust you need the dust of his devotee’s feet to remove himself from the headache.
So we went to great Munis, Rishis, Yogis and they all said our feet is dust and the Lord said we will go to hell we can never do that. And they went to the Gopis and the Gopis immediately they were on the bank of Jamuna only they put their feet in Jamuna and they put their feet in the dust and go and relieve Krishna’s headache. And then Narada Muni became very grave.
He said do you understand what this means? The dust of your feet is put in the Lord’s head you will have to go to hell. So Gopi said of course we know that we have to go to hell. And he said we don’t care if we have to go to hell for the rest of eternity if that can relieve Krishna’s headache for one moment.
Then Narada Muni understood the glory of the love of the Gopis. He knew but this past time revealed through him to the whole world. That is sacrifice.
So what actually the scriptures show is the original pure love in the spiritual world. It is completely selfless, it is completely spiritual. And this is a what we see, what people try to enjoy on Valentine’s day is a perverted reflection of that.
You know in the Bhagavad Gita 15th chapter first verse Krishna says that this world is like an upside down banyan tree. So now upside down banyan tree means that which is the highest the fruit that is on the top becomes the lowest. So that is the highest love in the spiritual world becomes very abominable if it is especially relationships which lead to so much abortion, crimes, murder, so many things.
But the important principle is the Vedic scriptures give us an understanding of the secret behind love. Everybody who seeks love they are all distracted and everybody who seeks God they are distracted by the material love of this world. But we understand through the Vedic scriptures where there is real love.
And the love of this world is like a reflection. So we can channelise our whole love towards Krishna. Now of course for the pure devotees when they see the male females of this world they are reminded of Radha Krishna because they understand this is a reflection.
Why this is called a reflection? For two reasons. Because even in the reflection the mango looks very beautiful. Now one ripple comes, one stone is thrown by someone.
What happens? The mango can’t even be seen. Like that the beauty of this world is so attractive. It just looks like real.
One disease and the whole beauty goes away. One small change takes place and the beauty goes away. That’s like a reflection.
And secondly in a reflection even if somebody says I got the mango you jump in and get the mango, you don’t get it. But even if we think that I have the mango the mango is there, I am here. But we can’t enjoy the mango.
So like that in this world even if somebody is able to fulfil the loving propensity that loving propensity doesn’t satisfy the heart. And anytime it can be broken. The reflection can be broken.
So at our stage what the Acharyas recommend for us they say at our stage we understand the philosophy and try to purify our heart. Rise from the bodily platform to the spiritual platform. And till now we are not yet convinced that this is a reflection.
There is real enjoyment over there. So therefore they say don’t look at the reflection. It’s not love denying.
It’s not life denying. But it’s just something which protects us from bondage and misery. They say don’t look at the reflection.
And they say don’t look at the reality also. Because if we try to read the Radha Krishna past tense too intimately then ideally speaking the reflection should remind us of the reality. But for us the reality will remind us of the reflection.
So therefore don’t look at the reflection, don’t look at the reality. But purify the heart. And when you purify the heart then we experience real love in our hearts.
So it is described by the Acharyas that the same love that we can offer to the Lord in the spiritual world the same love that can be expressed between the soul and the Lord, devotee and the Lord in the spiritual world that love can be experienced between the devotee between the sadhaka and the Lord represented, the spiritual master in this world. The spiritual master-guru-shishya relationship is extremely intense and it is beyond human comprehension. Visheshila Prabhupada just because of the instruction of the spiritual master people they say out of love we will do anything.
But who at the age of 70 will go all alone to a distant land braving heart attacks and poverty and loneliness? Why? Because it was the spiritual master’s instruction. And Visheshila Prabhupada’s disciples they went all over the world. When Prabhupada first came back in 1968 from India to America, he had come back when he was sick.
So there were all these young devotees who were there. They were happy to see Prabhupada and they had a globe in their temple hall. So Prabhupada gave a talk and said, now all of you pick up one-one country and go to the country and preach there and make devotees.
Shocked, they were just at that time 18-20 years old. And then there were young matajis, they asked Prabhupada, what about us girls? He says, we are not boys or girls. We are souls, servants of Krishna.
You can also take one country. You can also go and preach. So that’s what they tried to do.
So actually people want excitement, people want in the romance we say Lord’s attractive is excitement. But actually when we try to express our love for the spiritual master and for Krishna by serving them amazing excitement comes in our life. So when the devotees tried to preach all over the world what kind of amazing things happened.
When the devotees went to London they met George Harrison. George Harrison was a bigger VIP than the heads of state in the presence of America. He was so popular in the West.
Some of the devotees met him and they made him into a devotee. How they ruled me? Because when we try to serve Krishna and Krishna’s devotee Krishna creates amazing excitement in our life. So I’ll just conclude this with one or two stories about how excitement what we want actually, what we want is in romance what is attractive is excitement.
But what excitement is actually possible for a devotee when he wholeheartedly tries to serve the Lord. So one of our senior leaders is Indra Dunda Swami Maharaj. So at one time he had a desire that let us go and preach where nobody has preached till now that is along the Amazon.
Amazon bank in South America. So they went to a place where you cannot go by land or water or air. It is inaccessible.
So how they went? They first went by air then they went by ship then they went by boat then they went by canoe then they went by boat and that’s how they reached this inland. And when they reached the inland they found amazing and these tribals were completely untouched by modernity. So when their boat reached the island where all these tribals were living and then they got out and all these tribals came running because nobody had come there and they didn’t know what and these tribals you know they had fears, they had spears and they had knives in their bodies and they had like feathers they looked very dangerous people and the devotees were unarmed and when they came there they were all glaring at the devotees and the devotees heart were pounding we came here to preach Krishna’s message and then sometimes the tribals might be cannibals also so instead of you offering prasad we will become their lodgers So Indrajit Maharaj said start Kirtan and started singing and all these tribals were standing with their knives and their spears and their bows and arrows and the devotees were chanting and dancing and they were afraid of dancing also but as the Kirtan started the fear started going away and they started dancing and as the Kirtan spread they were all watching they were dancing in love of God and then to their great wonder the tribals started dancing the tribals started dancing and the tribals took them in their village and they introduced them to the head tribal and the head tribal arranged a programme for them they had a local devotee who translated and then they had a big programme and all the tribals came together and all of them danced and sang and then they stayed for 3 days over there and they stayed for 3 days and when they were about to leave at that time the tribal chief the head tribal translator told Maharaj something which stunned Maharaj he said you people are so wonderful so he said this tribal chief is selling you become the chief of our tribe and you stay here with us for 3 days and then then he told thank you very much for the offer but we have to give call far and wide we have to live and the tribals heard that they were so heart broken and they came with them right till the coast and they gave gifts and they were crying and they were watching so Maharaj said we all devotees are watching those tribals in those 3 days they had so many kirtans they had so much Krishna katha they had taken prasadam they had come so close to each other when they were leaving they were looking at us till the last moment when we were visible and we were looking at them till the last moment when we were visible and Maharaj said I remember at that time I got a glimpse of how the gopis must have felt when Krishna went to Mathura so just with 3 days that sort of love and then another time they were in a boat and the boat got stuck in a marsh and then in that area there are piranhas and there are crocodiles piranhas are like flesh eating fishes and crocodiles and the boat got stuck and the boat would not come out and then the captain said we have to come out of the boat and we have to put your feet in the ground and you have to push out the boat who was going to do that and Maharaj thought I only started this preaching so I have to do it so he put his feet inside the boat outside the boat pushed the boat pushed it pushed it and the boat started and then he just came inside and just he came inside something hit the boat and they looked out and they saw the shining eyes of a crocodile so just 5 seconds later his feet would have been out and he would have been caught but then he remembered how Krishna says protect the devotee and then whenever they were going along whenever people when the tribals would see their boat they would start sounding drums and then Maharaj asked you know what why are they sounding these drums he says through these drums they convey messages to each other because they don’t have any mobiles or something like that he says so what is the message that they are conveying Maharaj asked casually he says oh they are saying very nice white men coming with nice white nice food please welcome them that is the message that tribals are conveying to the next tribals and after that wherever they went they were welcomed with open arms by all the tribals the tribals all they started chanting dancing and singing it was so amazing so so that’s how Krishna said Jai Osmi Jai Osmi he says I am victory and I am adventure what does it mean that means I fill my devotee’s life with joy and victory and adventure and he tries to preach his message so similarly there are stories we are getting late now so I won’t tell any other stories but there are amazing stories every story of how a devotee has gone and preached it’s amazing the devotees sometimes they face reversals but ultimately how they triumphed recently there was a flood in Australia and the devotees went inside the flood to distribute to preach and to have festivals amazing festivals they had in Poland you know there is a big Woodstock festival thousands of youths come and in that festival the devotees go and do food for life so there are around 3 lakh youths who come and the devotees distribute food to 2 lakh people from the youth to come so then they cook Khichdi and the Khichdi vessel is huge and the cook he has to climb on a ladder to go on top of that and that’s how he cooks so at one time the devotees did Kirtan and it’s a festival only and they had the Kirtan they thought at 7 o’clock we will start the Kirtan half an hour and then we start the lecture the people loved the Kirtan so much because there were so many musical events but nowhere was a musical event where you could also sing and participate because everywhere you just had to watch then sometimes people ask devotees why don’t you go for movies so he says we get better entertainment without payment actually all the enjoyment in the movies is second hand enjoyment somebody else is dancing and we think oh if I was dancing it would have been so nice but as devotees we dance we sing so people loved it at 7.30 they tried to stop the Kirtan and then the people said more more they wanted more Kirtan they went on till 8 o’clock 8.30 and 8.30 the lecture was supposed to end but at least 5 minutes talk we will have but no more Kirtan and then 9 o’clock then they went ok people are so into this let us go on for some more 10 o’clock just Kirtan going on 3 hours and people were dancing and singing and then 11 o’clock and then they stopped you know the devotees were singing they were playing they were exhausted but the people said more and they said if they want to get the holy name how can we not give 12 o’clock 1 o’clock 2 o’clock at 2 o’clock the amplifier started giving out smoke then they had to end the Kirtan so then they said and all the devotees reached Mangal Aarth in the wrong way in the wrong way means that staying awake throughout the night they completed the Japa and then they went for Mangal Aarth and then next morning when the devotees woke up and then one young couple came and they were talking and they didn’t know the language English they said we want to ask some questions he said yes please he said yesterday was the happiest night of our life he said you know happier than all our honeymoon nights we are very happy we want to ask one question what is the question he said yesterday we were singing something we want to know what was it that we were singing so they were hearing something something they were singing that is the power of the holy name even if one doesn’t understand what one is singing one can experience ecstasy greater than the highest pleasure that the body can offer so we may not have a glimpse of that pleasure but these are not pure devotees these are pure materialists so to speak but they are experiencing ecstasy that is so the real fulfilment of love will be when we go back to the spiritual world and reunite with Krishna but while we are here if we try to offer the love of our heart in service in sacrifice to the spiritual master by spreading the message that he has given then we can experience the same excitement that people are looking for the same excitement that they think that romance will offer them and of course when our relationships in this world are connected with Krishna when a man and woman come together also but if both of them are devotees and both are serving Krishna then even in that relationship also real love can be experienced that is the fulfilment of love so the holy name of Krishna is the password to the world of love just like password means without the password you may have computer filled with information but nothing can be done so but the love is there in our heart and Krishna is the object of that love is also there in our heart but unfortunately between that there is a big door that closes it like in so that is the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra by chanting that Hare Krishna Maha Mantra all the walls that are there between us and Krishna break apart and then you can reciprocate real love with Krishna and that is actually the real fulfilment of that intense craving that is misdirectedly expressed in Valentine’s Day so I will summarise we started with how history actually there is there is a Saint Valentine who appears on two saints on 14th but there is no history of them having any romantic connotation but there is lore that is added to it and later on it has been commercialised so in the misdirection of love we discussed how everybody is looking for love but the tragedy is that people try to increase their opulences their beauty their wealth their fame in order to get love but people the others love what they have not who they are people don’t love us people love what we have and therefore our heart’s love is never satisfied and at the bodily level even if we get some attraction and attention that also fades away when say the body’s sexual potency goes away or the body’s capacity for the female the body’s capacity to attract others goes away so it’s misdirected leads to great frustration and disappointment but the secret is that as soul just as the light of the bulb is white it can become red by a covering so the original soul is pure and it has pure love for Krishna but in the covering of the body it is misdirected so real love can be experienced on a spiritual level and we discussed how God as a loving and lovable person is revealed only in the Vedic scriptures so we discussed elaborately about how it is not sectarian there is an objective definition of God and that is fulfilled by Krishna and therefore it is objective and then we discussed how the relationship is higher than just give me this give me that son and this father so with respect to Sakharas we discussed Arjuna Krishna and Bhishma extraordinary implications of love and then Madhuras we discussed that is the reality and what is shown in Valentine’s day is a reflection at our stage don’t look at the reflection don’t look at the reality purify the heart and then you will experience real love and the same love that can be experienced between Krishna and the pure devotee in the spiritual world can be experienced between the spiritual master and the disciple in this world and we discussed how real love doesn’t mean romance but even sacrifice and that is how Indian families are sustaining because the culture of sacrifice and service is there the western love marriages they collapse in short while so that same culture of service and sacrifice if we have in the service of the spiritual master the same excitement that romance promises is actually delivered by preaching of Krishna we discussed that in Amazon in the Woodstock festival and this love which is the nature of the soul and the object of understanding Krishna’s love and offering our love back to him thank you very much do we have time for questions or what is we have time okay few any questions yes you had a question there is the Vrindavan in this world is not different from the Vrindavan in the spiritual world if we had a spiritual vision to see it so yes the Lord’s pastimes are going on eternally over there and even the Rastila is going on and those who have spiritual vision can see that but we don’t have so we are unable to see now with respect to the trees being gopis I have not heard of that because the Rajvasis said there might be truth in that at the same time not everybody who lives in Vrindavan is actually a Rajvasi many people have come from outside so then I can find out about that because generally the trees are in the spiritual world they are the Shantaras there might be some pastime I am not sure about this I can find out about that I will let you know any other questions oh yes surely that’s how we worship see actually when they are the supreme mother and father there is there is Tattva and there is Leela Tattva is that Krishna is our father Krishna also says this I am the seed giving father so there is the philosophical Tattva Gyan and there is Leela Gyan so as per the Tattva Krishna is our father and Krishna’s consort is like our mother but in the Leela in the spiritual world there is not that relationship that’s why if you see Prabhupada’s books he doesn’t talk so much about we are all the children of God we are the servants of God and generally when a servant why should I be the servant the word servant often evokes resentment in our heart why should I be the servant yes we are also sons of God but Prabhupada emphasises that we are servants because love means sacrifice and service so our relationship with Krishna will develop when we develop when we imbibe that culture of service and sacrifice and because we are not doing that that’s why we have fallen from the spiritual world in this world now the emphasis is on service does that answer your question any other questions yes oh good question actually when a mother gives birth to a child the child disturbs her life so much from the superficial point of view child may cry any time wake up any time and cry disturbs her life totally in general people want shanti they want peace if the mother wanted shanti why did she forget the child and if she wants shanti so the mother by taking care of the child and by serving the child by sacrificing the child gets a very great satisfaction so that gives an indication of how sacrifice brings joy and that is the actual nature of the soul so how does sacrifice actually bring happiness to the heart first is the soul nature of the soul is sat chit shanti is it sat chit ananda everybody says we want shanti shanti shanti but actually the nature of the soul is not shanti its ananda and ananda comes with the reciprocation of love so love means that we go out of our way do something special for the object of love so in the middle life also we see that why people want to say love means sacrifice so its expressed through sacrifice love means what am i ready to do for the other person what trouble what effort am i ready to take to please the other person love means we try to please the other person and we are ready to do service and do sacrifice for the pleasure of the other person so there are three gunas sattva guna raja guna and tamo guna so that love is differently misdirected in different gunas in tamo guna we love no one except ourselves thats called narcissism the i generation people in tamo guna are i specialists i i i i everything about me i i i i i i i for this love of the nation.
Now, obviously, they got some pleasure in that. Otherwise, why would they leave? So actually, in sacrificing for the object of one’s love, there is great pleasure. So many of the independence fighters left their homes.
And Subhash Chandra Bose, he called for the National Army. You know, he told them that. I’ll promise you only one thing.
He said, food, hunger, thirst, and death. That’s what I’ll give you if you come with me. But if you do that, if you give me your blood, I will give you independence.
And people came in thousands. Why? Because sacrifice attracts the heart. But why we don’t want to sacrifice at our stage? Because we have not found a person worthy of sacrifice.
So when we see that there is somebody whom I can love, and I can give my heart to him, give my life to him, then we can sacrifice anything for that person. Because we have not found that person, or we doubt, then what happens? We don’t give our heart. And then, rather than giving ourselves to the other person, we try to get from the other person more and more.
And then there’s not much reciprocation of love in that. One last question? Anyone else? If there is. Yes? We don’t have any love for the nation.
Oh, actually, that is, in the early stages of life, love means discipline. You see, there’s a child, when he loves his mother, and says, mommy, papa, I love you very much, but I will not go to school. No, if you love us, go to school.
So now, at that time, he might feel like going to school, but he goes. Why? Because his parents tell him. And by that discipline, he expresses his love for his parents.
And when he grows up, then his love will mature, and he’ll feel grateful, because his parents give him education. Actually, the parents are only giving him education. They’re paying for the education also.
But he thinks that education is a burden. When he grows up, then he feels grateful for the education the parents have given him. So similarly, at our stage, as you’re rightly saying, we might feel like we are acting, but not entirely acting.
If we’re entirely acting, then we would not be able to give up the gross pleasures of this world. We would not be able to follow the regularity principles. The very fact that we are following the regularity principles means that we are getting some higher happiness.
We have some love for Krishna. Of course, that’s not a huge amount of love. We have some.
Oh, yes. So it’s like we have got a very tiny, tiny, tiny glimpse. And by doing these activities of devotional service, we develop that love.
Nitya Siddha Krishna Prem Sadhya Kabuna Shirvanadi Shuddha Chitte Karaye Uday So that is there in our heart, dormant. But by the process of hearing and chanting, that is awakened. See, sound is extremely powerful.
Sound, you know, when these aeroplanes, they move at a very high speed. When they first made aeroplanes, which cracked the sound barrier. And not only did they crack the sound barrier, it cracked the window panes of many houses.
Because sound vibration is so powerful. But similarly, the Vedanta Sutra says, Anavrtti Shabdaat That Anavrtti means uncovering. So the covering that blocks us from our Lord in our own heart, that covering is cracked by the sound of the Holy Name, by the sound of the vibrations of the Shastra, Guru Sadhu Shastra.
So by hearing and chanting, that love will awaken. And of course, we don’t only hear and chant. When we are hearing and chanting, we are hearing that we should serve Krishna.
And chanting is, we are praying, please engage me in your service. So we also should do some service. And by this hearing, chanting and service, our love will awaken.
And it’s a time-tested process. It’s amazing how devotees develop so much love for Krishna just by a few years of practise. I was told by Bhaktivedanta Maharaj, in his final days, he was in mortal pain.
And in the final stage of cancer, people cannot live without pain killers. But Maharaj was sharing constant Kirtans. And that Kirtan was his pain killer.
He didn’t need anything else. The Holy Name, it was so absorbed in the Holy Name, that the body pain was not felt for him. That was the extent of love that he developed.
So we all can develop that love. And the process is there. We just have to follow the process.
Without love, we would not have been practising devotional service. That is some love. And it will grow.
Thank you very much. Shri Prabhupada ki… Gaur Bhakta Vindaki… Thai Gaur Prem Anandai… We would like to thank all the second years who have come here in such large numbers to attend this very, very, very, very, what do you call, exciting topic of Valentine’s Day special. So, along with this, we would also like to thank His Grace Chaitanya Jain who has taken his time to come here to give his valuable association.
So, we would like to thank him very much by loudly chanting… Hari Om! Hari Om! Hari Om! So, along with this, actually, this is a… Most of you have already seen this. This is a spiritual scientist… book written by Jigesh R. N. Z. Puru It has many of the articles which are most… many of them are even published in papers like Times of India, Maharashtra Herald, Election Chronicle. Many of them are papers, newspapers.
So, actually, these are articles which are very, very, like… Some of the articles are… Basically, it is very simple to understand. It is like only one page, like from this time, from here to here. So, it is like very easy to understand and very simple and lucid.
So, and maybe it depends whether if you… maybe just before the bedtime, you can just read one article and you sleep or something like that. So, it is like the book contains many of the articles that he has already… that has already been published in newspapers. And so, they are very interesting topics.
So, actually, if anybody would like to purchase this book, the book is available at very, very low price of just rupees 30. So, if anybody would like to purchase this book, you can contact Satya Prabhu. So, he will be in charge of this.
Actually, most of you have already seen this. So, you have got a nice opportunity also. Those who are purchasing this book will also get a message written by his great Satyanjay Prabhu with the… We search for autographs, right? So, he will give his message with his autograph with this book.
So, those who want to purchase this book, you can actually contact Satya Prabhu and he will do the needful. Actually, the… Generally, when I travel with the book, we distribute the book at 25. So, it’s a special concession that you can have it at 25.
Yeah, so this is Chetan Kaur’s mercy that he is giving this book at just rupees 25. So, it’s still again released. It’s not my mercy.
Yeah, it’s like… Everyone must have one book like this. So, you’ll never get such a… what do you call… very invaluable, priceless book actually. So, it’s available at a cheap price and so, if anybody wants to purchase this book, you can please contact Satya Prabhu.
Jai! Jai! Jai!