Tranform adversity into an opportunity for realization and spiritual growth – Avanti brahmana pastime analysis

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so once again let’s get started The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 28. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 29.
The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 30. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 31. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 32.
The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 33. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 34. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 34.
The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 35. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 36. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 37.
The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 38. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 39. The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 40.
The song of the Avanati Brahmana, verse number 41. Hare Krishna. Good morning.
We are discussing from the Uddhava Gita. The Uddhava Gita extends from chapter 6 to chapter 30 in the 11th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. This is Krishna’s instructions to Uddhava just before he departed from this world.
The last word that Krishna spoke, for the benefit of all of humanity, for all of eternity. And in this series of instructions, actually the Uddhava Gita is more elaborate than the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita is known as Krishna’s song, and the Uddhava Gita is known as Krishna’s other song.
Krishna’s first song, Krishna’s second song. And the Uddhava Gita talks about the same essential message that is in the Bhagavad Gita, that is the message of devotion, of how love for Krishna is the ultimate reality of life. But the context, the situation in which the Bhagavad Gita and the Uddhava Gita are spoken are exactly opposite.
Actually, in the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna wants to renounce the world. And doing the will of the Lord for Arjuna is to engage in the world. And that’s why the whole thrust of Krishna’s message in the Bhagavad Gita is engagement.
Engagement with devotion, of course. Engagement with renunciation. But the thrust of the message of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita is engagement.
Whereas, the thrust of the whole Bhagavatam at large is not engagement, but detachment. Because the Bhagavatam is spoken to Parikshit Maharaj, who is about to depart from this world in seven days. Now by the time this eleventh canto is being spoken, just a day or so is remaining now.
So, he is being given all the spiritual messages that will help him to put aside thoughts of everything else. Not just the sinful things, which often allure us towards enjoyment in this world. But even pious things.
So, the Bhagavatam tells us that to go close to God, we have to give up the bad. We simply have the regulative principles which we follow. We give up the bad things of this world.
To go close to God, we have to give up the bad. But to go closer to God, we have to give up even the good. Attachment even to the good can distract us.
And this is what is illustrated in the 22nd chapter of the 10th canto. Actually, that is 23rd chapter. It talks about how the Yajnik Brahmanas, they were attached to good things.
They were in good sensitivity. But that distracted them from God. So, the Bhagavad Gita’s message essentially is to use the good for the service of God.
Kshatriya, who is a ruler, who is a king. The king has power, has influence. And if he can use it for the benefit of the world, he should.
But in the Uddhava Gita, the whole Yudhvamsha has been, in an inconceivable way, removed from the earth by Krishna. And now Krishna is about to depart. So, at that time, Uddhava is completely heartbroken.
And at that time, Krishna gives him a message of detachment. And here, in this particular chapter, the 23rd chapter, so it extends from 6th to 13th. In the 23rd chapter, the message of detachment is brought about in very stark terms through the medium of the story.
So now, how does this message of detachment apply to us? We are mostly in the world. And we have to do our responsibilities in the world. The Bhagavatam’s thrust is not on detachment.
It is on devotion. But when detachment helps a person in devotion, detachment is accepted as Anupama. So, this is a chapter of Bhagavatam which deals with a problem that has troubled believers in God in all ages, in all cultures, throughout history and geography.
What is that? Why do bad things happen to good people? So, why is there evil in this world? So, here, there is a story of a brahmana. He is a brahmana from Avanti, so he is called Avanti brahmana. But he is quite uncharacteristic of the standard brahmanas.
Normally, a brahmana is devoted to God. A brahmana is usually poverty-stricken. A brahmana does not accumulate wealth.
And a brahmana is concerned with connecting others with God. But this particular brahmana is antipodal, is oppositional. This brahmana is wealthy.
In fact, he is not only wealthy, he is supremely miserly. He is so attached to his wealth that he doesn’t share his wealth even with his family members. He doesn’t want to give anything to his family members, to his relatives.
Prabhupada talks about some misers, they are so attached to wealth that they put a wet cloth around their stomach. Why? So that the digestive fire will not burn too much. So that they won’t have to eat too much.
And so they won’t have to spend too much money for eating food. So, when there is excessive miserliness, one cannot enjoy even at the material level, or to speak of at the spiritual level. Material enjoyment is insignificant, but even that enjoyment cannot be had if one is excessively attached.
So this brahmana is terribly attached to wealth and neglects his relatives, neglects his family members, even neglects his dharmic duties. So, when we have wealth, this world is a great paradox. Actually, when we are, Prabhupada talks about this in 1.4, when we are happy, what exactly is happening? Things are going right in our life, our health is good, our finances are good, our family situation is good.
So when we are happy, should we actually be happy? Why? Because our situation right now is a result of our past karma. So, when we are happy, that means we are exhausting the past punya which we have got. When we are happy, actually we are sitting on a stone, you could say, if we are in an ocean, we are sitting on a stone, and the stone is chipping away, it is getting eroded away.
So what is going to happen? We are going to fall into the ocean. So when we are happy, we are exhausting the results of the good karma which we have done in the past, because of which we are presently happy. And when we are miserable, when we are suffering, we are exhausting the results of the past bad karma.
So, if we think of it from a philosophical perspective, actually when we are unhappy, we should be happy. Because our bad karma is getting exhausted. And then when we are happy, we should be unhappy.
Oh, my good karma is getting exhausted. No, it’s not like that. The point is, the Bhagavatam tells us, the Bhagavad Gita also tells us that don’t get too caught up in mental emotions.
That’s what the Bhagavad Gita says. The situations of this world are passing. This world is a station.
It is not a destination. It is a station. When we are going on a travel, we go through different stations.
Sometimes, some station will be very unclean, very ugly, very stinking. You don’t want to look at the station. You don’t want to get down at the station.
And then, as the train goes on, it comes to another station, which is very clean, hygienic, very glaring, very good station. But either way, the station is not going to be there permanently. The train is going to move on.
So, like that, life is a journey. And the different situations, the different events that happen in our life, they are like stations. Everything in this world.
In fact, the world itself is a station. So, when we understand that it is a station, then we don’t get unduly excited or unduly agitated by the ups and downs of life. Unfortunately, we pass through different stations physically, but emotionally, we often stay on.
Something has gone wrong, and we just keep thinking, why did this happen? Why did that person speak like that? Why? Why? Why? So, when we do like this, sometimes, life hands us a raw deal. Things go wrong. Now, when things go wrong, our mind tends to think a lot about it.
Actually, suppose, we go to a market to purchase some vegetables. And then we come back, and we find that one vegetable that we have got is rotten. How did he do that? How did he do that? I don’t know.
He cheated me. He took money, but gave me a rotten vegetable. Now, some person starts thinking, I don’t want this rotten vegetable.
So, what I will do, I will cook it, and I will overcook it. So, by overcooking a rotten vegetable, can I make it good? No, I can’t. The vegetable is rotten.
Similarly, actually, when things go wrong, it’s like life gives us a rotten vegetable. So, what we do is, we overcook it in our head. Keep thinking about it, keep thinking about it.
Actually speaking, overcooking a rotten vegetable in our head is not going to make it good. What has happened has happened. What’s gone wrong has gone wrong.
What can’t be changed, can’t be changed. But, we have the present, and we have the future. So, when we get too caught up emotionally, in certain problematic situations, then we increase our suffering more than it needs to be.
That’s why the Bhagavad Gita tells us, that, that the equipoise in happiness and distress, the equipoise in success and failure, because all these are temporary. So, we may wonder, if everything is to be neglected as temporary, then what will be the goal of my life? The goal of my life, I want to be happy. But, if you say happiness itself is temporary, you don’t get excited about happiness, then what will I aspire for? What will I look forward to in life? Actually, the Bhagavatam tells us, that real happiness, that the real happiness comes, when we devote ourselves to Krishna.
This world, also, what to speak of in the spiritual world, real happiness, is always a by-product. It is never a product. By-product means, when we devote ourselves to some cause, which is greater than ourselves.
Some people, they devote themselves to the cause of the nation. And they are nationalists. There is a famous American patriot.
He said, that the only regret of my life, is that I have only one life to serve America. The only regret of my life is that, I have only one life to serve America. So, when people have a cause to live for, that cause may be the nation, that cause may be society, that cause may be poor people, that cause may be some other cause, whatever it is.
So, everybody needs some purpose to live for. Then, our thoughts are centered on ourselves. For ourselves, we are, for our thoughts, a black hole.
You know what is a black hole? Black hole is a concept in physics. Whatever goes inside it, it doesn’t come out. So, this is a perverse version of Bhagavad Gita.
When we go back to the spiritual world, we never come back. But the black hole is something, once some object goes into it, even light goes into it, it just gets sucked in. So, like that, if we just start thinking about ourselves, we become so self-obsessed.
Me, me, me, I’m not happy. I’m not going according to my plan. This is not going according to my plan.
If we keep thinking about ourselves, we become a black hole for our thoughts. And our thoughts become black, and we go deeper and deeper into the hole. We become so self-obsessed.
We can’t care for others. We can’t care for anyone else. And actually, thinking about ourselves is not very satisfying.
Why? Because, we all know that we have so many faults, so many limitations, we commit so many mistakes. So, when we just think about ourselves, it’s not a very satisfying object of thought. But the more we think about ourselves, the more we get sucked into a cycle of self-pity and self-misery.
We feel sorry for ourselves. Oh, no, this is not working out properly. That is not working out properly.
Health is not good. My family is not kind. This is not right.
That is not right. And that self-pity leads to self-misery. Self-misery leads to further self-pity.
And self-pity leads to further self-misery. And like that, it goes on and on and on. And we just get sucked and drowned in it.
So, we all need something other than ourselves to live for. To think about. To make as the focus of our thoughts.
And the Bhagavatam offers us the highest object of thought. That is Krishna. So, when we live for Krishna, it is not just coming to the temple and taking darshan or chanting the holy names.
It is actually shifting our inner center of gravity. The center of gravity is a concept in physics. It is where an object is centered.
So, for most of us, our center of gravity is ourselves. The whole process of bhakti is not just about chanting the holy names or studying scriptures. All that is important.
It is essential. But what should happen by that is our center of gravity shifts. That means, instead of naturally thinking about ourselves, we naturally think about Krishna.
We naturally think about Krishna. And we think about what will please Krishna. What will make Krishna enjoy it.
And I’ll act accordingly. And that is what happens to love. When love is there, when suppose some danger is there, mother is there, child is there, some thieves are coming or some earthquake is happening, the mother will first of all take care of the child.
So, love means our center of gravity shifts from ourselves to the person we love. And in bhakti, when we are told, we should always think of Krishna. Why are we told this? Because by thinking about Krishna, our attraction to Krishna develops.
And Krishna is already our attractive, but because we are habituated to thinking of so many other things, we do not perceive the all attractiveness of Krishna. It’s like, the sun always gives light, but if my eyes are closed, then I cannot perceive the light of the sun. So, what I have to do is open my eyes.
So, the sadhana of constantly thinking about Krishna is the means for opening our inner eyes. When our inner eyes are open, naturally we will be able to see Krishna and in connection with Krishna we will be able to see everything. But, till then, we fix the mind on Krishna as a sadhana.
And by this sadhana, by this conscientious, constant endeavor, the mind goes here, the mind goes there, bring it back, bring it back to Krishna. By this, gradually, our attraction to Krishna develops. In 12.9, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, Arjitam Samadhatam Nashatno Simaisteram Abhyasayogena Tato Mam Ikshaptam Dhananjaya From 12.8 to 12.12, Krishna gives multiple levels at which we can practice bhakti.
12.8, he says that, it’s best if you can just constantly fix your mind on me, then you will live in me. Mayyegumana Datsvamayi Buddhim Niveshaya Nivasishyasi Mayyeva Ataurdham Naisamshaya If you think of me, you will forever live in me. But in 12.9, he acknowledges that for most of us, it’s not possible to think of him constantly.
So then he tells, what should we do? Arjitam Samadhatam Nashatno Simaisteram If you cannot fix your mind on me, Abhyasayogena Tato Do Abhyasayoga. Abhyasayoga means practice. Practice to fix the mind on me.
That is sadhana. What will happen by this? Just by fixing the mind on me, Mamichapundan Anjaya Your attraction to me will awaken. You will want to attain me.
And the more you want to attain me, the more you will attain me. Krishna is not far away from us. We are far away from Krishna.
How is it possible? If A is far away from B, then B also has to be far away from A. That’s physical distance. But in the case of Krishna, our distance is not physical. It’s emotional.
Krishna is not far away from us. Krishna is closer and the closest. Sarvasti Chaham Revisam Nishto In 15.15 Bhagavad Gita Krishna says that.
He is right next to us in our hearts. So Krishna is close to us, but we are far away from him. Why are we far away from him? Emotionally we are turned away from him.
The whole process of bhakti is actually uniting our emotional world with Krishna’s emotional world. What do we mean by emotional world? Emotional world means those things about which we have emotions. For example, if somebody comes from America.
In America, rugby is very popular. So, one team wins rugby, another team loses. Americans will be very excited.
But for Indians, rugby, what is rugby? I know a rug, I know the word bhai. What is rug bhai? I don’t even know that. So what happens is, it’s not there in our emotional world.
A famous badminton player had come recently to India. He said that, I have never seen Sachin Tendulkar play. Some Indians told him, your life is gone waste.
So you know, Indians in the Indians emotional world, Sachin Tendulkar is very well said that. But for somebody who is from China, plays badminton, because everyone knows Sachin Tendulkar. So all of us have our own emotional worlds.
That means the things which trigger emotions within us. Some of them may be pious, some of them may be impious. But Krishna also has the emotional world.
Krishna performs pastimes with devotees and in that he divides. So the whole process, so these currently, initially when we are not devotees, these two are non-intersecting circles. I have my emotions, Krishna has his emotions.
So most people say, okay, God exists, let him be happy there and let him help me be happy here. That’s people’s idea. So they think the purpose of God’s existence is to I want to perform pastimes here and God should help me perform pastimes here.
That is their idea. So that means God should come in my emotional world and help me tackle my problems. Actually even that is good.
At least we are bringing God in. So Krishna says in 4.16, that even these kind of people, not 4.16, 7.16 in the Bhagavad Gita, even these kind of people I appreciate. जत्रविधा भजन्तेमा जन्या सुप्रतिना आर्जुना आर्तो जिग्ञासुर अर्थार्थी घ्यानेच भरदर्शवा He describes four kinds of people.
Among them three are आर्तो जिग्ञासुर अर्थार्थी. They are distressed and they desire love. And जिग्ञासु is those who are inquisitive.
These people have their own emotional world. And they want Krishna to set their emotional world right. I am upset.
Krishna should set it right. And Krishna says they are सुप्रति. They are good people.
And in fact the next verse and the next verse 7.18, Krishna says उदारः सर्वईवैते यानित्वात्मईवामिवतं So he says उदारः सर्वईवैते They are all उदार. In other words उदार what does it mean? Prabhupada translates it as magnanimous or large hearted. But normally we use the word उदार to mean what? Charity.
वह बहुत उदार है. He gives a lot of charity. So Ramanujacharya in his Bhagavad Gita commentary analyzes why does Krishna use this word उदार? Actually speaking these people are coming to Krishna for their own purposes.
I have a problem. God should solve my problem. He is going to God.
But actually he says Krishna is so hungry for devotion. Krishna wants Krishna is supreme control. He controls everything in all of existence except one thing.
What is that? Our heart. Our heart is not under Krishna’s control. Krishna has given free will and we can give our heart to any worldly thing or we can give it to Krishna.
But Krishna wants us to willingly and lovingly offer our heart. To direct our heart’s love towards him. And when a conditioned soul turns and offers some devotion to Krishna Krishna says you are so grateful.
Krishna says you are उदार. You are so charitable. That’s why he uses the word उदार.
That if somebody offers some devotion to Krishna even if it is self-centered still Krishna says you have come to me after so long. Like a father whose beloved son has left and gone away for any reason the son comes back home. Son says father I want more money.
At least you came back home. So like that Krishna says उदार. So any reason why we approach Krishna Krishna is happy.
At the same time in 7.19 Krishna says that actually we will become supremely happy when we devote ourselves to him. Because whatever we want in life right now we may feel this is wrong, that is wrong that is wrong and at least things have to be set right. Yes they may need to be set right but even if those things are set right will that make us happy forever? शराम लोपा बद्धवानिति Whatever we have certain problems and they need to be solved.
But even if our problems are solved that will not make us happy. It will just make our situation problem free. But a problem free state is not necessarily a happy state.
Happiness comes not by being free of problems, happiness comes by being filled with love. Happiness doesn’t come just by being free from problems. It comes by being filled with love.
If I am sick and I have pain, so any moment that I do it causes me pain. So if I think that, okay, I just want to be free from pain. At that level, it’s desirable.
I want to be free from pain, I just being free from pain is not going to make me happy. I want to actually get health, get energy and do positive activities. That will make me happy.
The same way, a problem-free life is not necessarily a happy life. A happy life is a love-free life. When we have love for Krishna and we have love for others in relationship with Krishna, that will bring real happiness in me.
So, that’s why Krishna encourages that those souls, whatever reason they come to him, if they move onwards and become pure devotees, this may take many lifetimes. In 7.19 he says, भवुनाम जन्मणामन्ते After many lifetimes, यानवान्मां प्रपद्धेते Take surrender to the Lord in me. That is what enables us to actually move forward in our spiritual life.
So, and get real happiness. So here, what do we see in this particular pastime? That this particular brahmana, he was neglecting and just doing his enjoyment. We started this whole discussion from the point of, he was enjoying life, but his karma was getting exhausted.
His good karma was getting exhausted. And he was not doing any dharma artha kama. He was not doing any dharma.
He was not doing any, getting further good karmas. So what happened? Just like if somebody is sitting on a, if we are in an ocean, let’s say we are sitting on an iceberg. And the temperature is rising.
What is happening? The iceberg is melting, melting, melting. And we are sitting at one point, it seems to be a solid rock of ice. And next moment, we are drowned in the ocean.
So like that, we are sitting on an iceberg of past good karma. And every moment, as good things are happening in our life, what is happening? The good karma is getting exhausted. The iceberg is melting.
The iceberg is melting. And for this particular brahmana, it was suddenly, one day, the iceberg didn’t just melt, it disappeared completely. Just disappeared.
Multiple adversities came upon all of a sudden. Now, because some thieves plundered away some of his wealth, fires destroyed other wealth, and then some tax collectors came and took away remaining wealth, and whatever was left, his relatives, they felt that he has never given us anything. Now, what is remaining, let us take it from him.
And they took everything away. And one moment, he was a comfortable, powerful, wealthy person. The next moment, he was destitute, poverty stricken, rejected by everyone.
He was devastated. And to add insult to injury, all the people whom he had wronged during the course of his life, they all decided to take vengeance against him. And they would taunt him and beat him.
And because it was Vedic culture, they said, okay, now I have lost everything, let me take some use. So, they decided to renounce the world. But internally, still, there was that frustration.
Why did this happen to me? Why did this happen to me? And actually, people, the way they treated him, it shook them. How can people behave like this? So, they would beat him, tie him up, and even when he would get some food from somewhere, they would bury it on the floor so they could not eat it. So, you may wonder, did people in Vedic culture behave like this? You have to understand, Vedic culture is not that everybody is a pure devotee.
That whole gamut of human beings are always there. But the role models were clear. The social direction was clear.
So, people who would behave in this way, they were considered low-class people. But in today’s society, in Kali Yuga, the problem is that the social values of themselves got distorted. So, sin is considered to be fashionable.
Sin is considered to be fashionable. You know, in movies, when they have sexually explicit scenes, they say these are bold scenes. They are not bold scenes.
They are shameless scenes. So, now when you use the word bold, everybody wants to be bold. Who wants to be cowardly? So, women who expose their body, they are called bold women.
And who knows, in the next century, women who dress modestly, they will be called cowardly women. So, this is how social values shift. So, actually, what is the problem in Kali Yuga? There are always good people, there are always bad people, even in Vedic culture.
But good was considered to be good, and bad was known to be bad. But in Kali Yuga, that itself has shifted. So, anyway, these kind of people who did terrible things to him, and he was so miserable, suddenly he got epiphany.
Epiphany is a sudden realization. And that realization is described in this verse. येनमे भगवान्स्तुष्टः That suddenly the Lord has become satisfied with me.
And who is that? सर्वदेव मै ओहरी Sometimes, if we have some problems, we may say, Oh, there is a problem of Shani is there, problem of Mangal is there, problem of this, problem of that is there. We feel like that. He says, yes, all these problems might be there, but ultimately, the Supreme Lord is the control of everything.
सर्वदेव मै ओहरी And this problem that has come, the Lord is pleased with me. Now, normally, when problems come in life, people have two reactions. They become angry with God or they feel God is angry with me.
These are two reactions. They become angry with God. Why did God do this to me? Or they think, maybe I have done something sinful and God is angry with me and God is punishing me for it.
You have to understand that God has no personal vendetta against anyone. That is just the law of karma and by the law of karma, reactions come to us. If we start thinking that, okay, this suffering is coming because God is angry with me, then we will not be able to take shelter of God.
Krishna is, as far as the law of karma is concerned, Krishna is बुदावसीम बुदावसीम means judge. He is like a judge. Judge, whatever wrong doing is done, allows the reactions to come, the punishment to come accordingly.
So, it’s not that when we are suffering, Krishna is angry with me. And it’s not that we should be angry with Krishna because it’s not that Krishna has brought the problem into us. I like it.
It is our own karma which is bringing the problem to us. But how can one think that Krishna is pleased with me? When sufferings are coming, how can I think that Krishna is pleased with me? So, he explains that in the next line. By him, I have been brought into this दशा.
This दशा is this condition, this miserable condition. Now, when this condition has come in, why has this condition come in? How can that be the mercy of the Lord? The different religions in the world, they try to find out why is there suffering in this world? So, all of them are actually bewildered. In the Christian tradition, we ask them, why does God allow earthquakes and tsunamis? Is God in control? They have different answers, but one standard answer of Christianity is, actually God is not in control of this world.
Their answer is, God is not in control of this world. How is that? They say, actually, since man rebelled against God, so now this world is controlled by Satan. And whatever suffering comes, they are coming because of Satan.
So, God is not in control. And Satan and God are fighting, but Satan is also very strong. So, sometimes Satan wins.
And that’s why sufferings happen. But there will be a final fight when God will exercise his full effort and Satan will be destroyed. And at that time, there will be happiness there.
So, like that, people come up with different explanations. Why there is suffering in this world? What is he explaining over here? Why has the Lord brought me to this dasha? By this, what has happened? Nirveda is detachment. Detachment, he says, is the plower.
Plower is the boat. Detachment is the boat for Atmanaha, for the soul. We are all drowning in the middle ocean.
So, whatever past good karma we have, because of that, we have some temporary security. That’s like, as I said, like an iceberg. But what we need to go across the ocean is a boat.
And he says that boat is detachment. Nirveda satmana plowa. How does detachment help us to go across the ocean? Because detachment ensures that we don’t get emotionally entangled.
And when we are not emotionally entangled, then we can direct our emotions towards Krishna. Then we can direct our boat accordingly. See, if I’m in a boat and I’m afraid constantly, which we will do, like how it will shake, then all that I’m thinking of, okay, now I’m in this ocean, here the waves are very stormy.
So, there the ocean looks calm. Let me go over there. But even if I go over there and the ocean is calm, what is going to happen? There also waves are going to come.
And there also things are going to get shaken up. So, when we try to improve things only materially, it’s like, okay, this situation is troublesome, so I want to go into that situation. Like, okay, this part of the ocean is stormy, so I’ll go into that part of the ocean.
But that part of the ocean is also going to become stormy sooner or later. But there also waves are going to come. So, it’s not going to be a permanent solution.
People who are living in villages, they think villages are very primitive. So, they’ll come to cities. In the cities, they think, oh, we want to go to metropolis.
We want to go to big cities. And then when they come to Mumbai or Kolkata or Chennai, they think, oh, we want to go to America. When they are in America, they think, oh, we want to go to moon.
And then there is no end to this. Now, there is a whole infatuation with going to Mars. And there is an agency that is saying that, that is taking money from people, international competition they have made.
And millions of people have applied. They said, we will select eligible candidates whom we will send to Mars. And we will send them in such a way that you will be the pioneers of a new civilization on Mars.
So, actually, when we send it to you, we won’t have the resources to get you back here. But we’ll provide you resources by which you can stay there only. So, it’s become very, it’s caught the public imagination.
And millions of people have applied for it. And they’re thinking, oh, we will expand our civilization to Mars. Now, actually speaking, all these ideas stem from a misdirected notion of improvement.
See, all of us want to improve. But at a material level, actually speaking, even if Mars is there, Mars is much more vulnerable to asteroids than Earth is. Mars, it is closer to Jupiter.
And Jupiter has a huge gravity pull. And the asteroids come in. So, it has dangers also.
Everywhere there is danger in this world. So, we can’t be free from danger. So, instead of trying to move from one part of the ocean to another part of the ocean, what we should do is find out a compass which will tell us where is land.
And take the boat towards the land. So, detachment is the boat because detachment frees us from constantly just wanting to be problem-free. What happens is, if I’m not detached, then every small material problem becomes a big problem.
And my whole energy goes in trying to find a solution to that problem. And when I’m just trying to solve problems at a material level, then I don’t have any energy or time to think about the lasting solution. Sri Prabhupada writes in the 6th Canto Purport that we have to be very healthy and stout.
What? Healthy and stout? Eat a lot of pasar? No, Prabhupada, we have to be healthy and stout in mind and intelligence to distinguish the goal of life from a life full of problems. It’s a very profound statement. We have to be healthy and stout in mind and intelligence.
For what purpose? To distinguish the goal of life from a life full of problems. Life full of problems means that there are so many problems in life and we can’t solve all problems. There may be problems in our home, there may be problems in our office, there may be problems when I go on the road, there are potholes on the road, there are problems everywhere.
We can’t solve all the problems. So, we have to find out where should I focus my energy? So, to identify the goal of life from a life full of problems, for that we need to be healthy and stout in mind and intelligence. And that happens by regular study of scriptures and by the mercy of them.
So, what has happened for this Adanti Brahmana is he has got this mercy, he has got this sudden realization. And by that realization, now his problems are far more than the problem of any of us. There is no money, no relatives, no security, no home.
And people are spitting at him, people are beating them. He is gone. Reminiscing his long experience with him.
How is he going to think about this? Because he is understood. Now, because I am detached, I will no longer be caught up in thinking about how to improve this little boy. Let me just focus on spirituality.
See, detachment doesn’t mean we become materially irresponsible. The difference between detachment and irresponsibility is that irresponsibility means I don’t do the duty only. Detachment means I don’t get emotionally caught up in the duty.
We are meant to be detached, not irresponsible. So, when we are detached, we can do our duties responsibly, but we don’t get consumed by them. We don’t get caught up in them.
This is what I have to do. I’ll do it. And let’s see how things work out.
If some other problems come, I’ll deal with it. We don’t get caught up in that. So, he is able to focus entirely on his purpose.
Here is a classic example of a person getting a life-transforming realization. His life was headed for misery, but he described afterwards what happens when he gets this realization. And he becomes a transformer.
And he eventually devotes himself to the Supreme Lord and attains perfection in his life. So, Krishna is narrating the story of his Avanti Brahman to Uddhava and this is like a life-transforming moment. So, he got this realization.
Now, how do we get realization? What exactly is realization? So, realization means that which is a reality, we accept it to be a reality. I’ll repeat this. Realization means what? That which is a reality, we accept it to be a reality.
For example, that this world is a place of misery. Sense gratification leads to misery. Now, this is a reality.
But actually, when we hear it from scripture, we all secretly disbelieve it. Secretly disbelieve it. Secretly leads to happiness.
Actually, it leads to happiness. But the scriptures, they say this and I can’t disagree with them. So, I agree.
But internally, I know there is happiness over there. Or at least we think there is happiness over there. So, that which is a reality, when we accept it to be a reality, that is a realization.
This acceptance is not just intellectual, it is also emotional. Intellectually, I may understand this body is temporary, the body’s capacity to enjoy is temporary. Therefore, all material happiness will be temporary.
It can’t lead me to lasting happiness. But, we may accept it intellectually, but we don’t accept it emotionally. Realization means when we accept it both intellectually and emotionally.
Yes, this is true. Sense gratification leads to misery. This world is a place of misery.
Or, devotion to Krishna is the best thing that I can do. That will give me the best happiness. So, there are times when we experience this.
This is a reality. The devotion to Krishna is the best thing that we can do in life. That is what will lead to the greatest happiness.
But, how do we get this realization? See, when we experience, there are times, say when we come for festivals, when we hear nice classes, when we take darshan, when we participate in kirtans, we experience the spiritual happiness. Or, even alone, when we are contemplating our scripture, contemplating Krishna, we experience great happiness. So, at that time, those moments come, and those moments go away.
At our level, our spiritual happiness may not last forever. Why? Because we don’t stay at the spiritual level of consciousness forever. There is ignorance, passion, goodness and transcendence.
So, spiritual happiness is eternal, but we have to be at the spiritual level of consciousness to experience the eternal. Currently, our consciousness keeps moving up and down. Sometimes, when our consciousness becomes spiritual, we experience spiritual happiness.
Other times, we don’t experience it. But, the more we become purified, the more we will stay on the spiritual level of consciousness. And then, the more we will experience spiritual happiness constantly.
Constantly. So, when we talk about realization, how do we get realization? So, I explain. What is realization? That which is a reality, when we accept it emotionally and intellectually to be a reality.
That is the realization. Now, how do we get a realization? This is a diagram. Maybe it will not be visible to everyone, but I’ll just explain it to you.
See, in the middle, there is a circle. So, this is a soul. All of us are souls.
Now, we hear something from Shastra. What we hear from Shastra is coming from Krishna. That is Shabda.
And here, in this world, we experience things by prediction. In this world, there are so many advertisements. They say, come on, get this, get that.
You’ll enjoy. Get that, you’ll enjoy. So, we get inputs from Shabda and we get inputs from prediction.
Now, what links the input from prediction and the input from Shabda is our Anuman. Anuman, generally, we use the word negatively as speculation or guesswork. But, generically, the word Anuman means use of our subtle faculties.
Use of our mind, use of our intelligence. So, basically, we exist at three levels. Physical, mental, and spiritual.
Body, mind, and soul. So, at the spiritual level, we get knowledge from Guru Sadhu Shastra. At the physical level, we get knowledge from prediction.
Now, at the mental level, we are thinking about this. So, now, our Anu, what the activity that we do at the mental level, normally, it is called as Anuman. But when Anuman is done according to Shastra, then it is called as Vichar.
Anuman is speculation. Vichar is contemplation. Anuman is not very desirable, but Vichar is desirable.
By contemplation, we internalize spiritualities. So, we can use our mental faculty to either think about what we are getting from Pratyaksha or we can use our mental faculty to think about what we are getting from Shabda. Now, most of the times, our mental faculty gets caught in thinking about what we get from Pratyaksha.
We see this, we see that, and we start thinking, oh, if I get this new car, if I get this new bike, if I get this, get that. And that’s how our mental energy gets caught about something. But if our mental energy gets engaged in thinking about what we are getting from Shabda, then our thoughts will lift us up.
If our thoughts are largely based on what we are getting from Pratyaksha, our thoughts will pull us down. So, normally, we can’t avoid what we are getting from Pratyaksha. We can’t walk around with closed eyes.
And even if we have closed eyes, we can’t close our other senses. Maya comes in from all the senses. So, the process of Bhakti is not to reject Pratyaksha.
Krishna uses an interesting word in 9.2 in the Bhagavad Gita, Pratyaksha Vagamam. Pratyaksha Vagamam Dharmayam Susukham Kar Tum Avayam. So, he says, Bhakti can be experienced as real by direct experience.
What is this direct experience? Actually, firstly, Bhakti is not just spiritual. Bhakti brings spirituality down to the sensory level. That is the joy or wonder of Bhakti.
Normally, in the process of Vyana, what people do is, they reject, turn away from the sense of this, withdraw from the world, close your eyes, renounce the world, go to the forest, cut off material inputs, and then turn towards the spiritual. But in Bhakti, Bhakti is sensory spirituality. Sensories will come to the temple, they look at the ladies, which hand and dance and sing.
We are engaging our senses. In fact, in 2.61, Prabhupada quotes the 9th Canto series of verses of Ambarish Maharaj, how Ambarish Maharaj is using all his senses. How he is using his tongue to glorify the Lord, the ears to hear the Katha of the Lord, the nose to smell the fragrance of the Lord, the body to touch the lotus feet of the devotees, the hands to cleanse the temple of the Lord, the feet to go to the holy places, and like that, he is spiritualizing all his senses, and by spiritualizing his senses, he is spiritualizing his existence.
So, when I talked earlier, that spiritual level, mental level, physical level. So Bhakti actually is ultimately a spiritual activity. At the level of the soul, we will serve Krishna in the spiritual world eternally at the spiritual level.
But Bhakti brings spirituality down even to the sensory level. We can use our senses to serve Krishna. So, now, when we come to the temple, our senses are directly engaged in the service of Krishna.
But we are right now talking about realization. So how does realization come? Realization comes when we use our anuman to harmonize our pratyaksha with Shraddha. I’ll repeat it.
They don’t get confused by all the terms. It’s a very simple concept. Realization comes when we use our anuman to harmonize our pratyaksha with Shraddha.
What does it mean? That by pratyaksha we experience certain things. Now, sometimes the experience of pratyaksha may be contrary to what we have heard from Shraddha. And sometimes the experience in pratyaksha will be in agreement with what we have experienced from Shraddha.
How is that? Sometimes we feel, Shraddha, this world is a place of misery. People are enjoying. People go to parties.
People go to movies. People are enjoying. And sometimes we may say, we go to a party, we feel this world is a place of enjoyment.
Go to a hospital and see everybody is happy. This world is a khalayam. In pratyaksha we get both.
Now, what materialistic people do is that they think that misery is the exception and happiness is the rule. Happiness is the standard. Some people are miserable, but most are happy.
And I will be among the happy people. So what happens is at the sensory level, we will get both experiences. Experiences sometimes we seem to agree with scripture and sometimes disagree with scripture.
So, now, if our sensory experiences disagree with scripture, then what happens? Then we start thinking, is scripture really true? Is this world really a place of misery? But then we have to do our reasoning. We have to do our research. Scriptures, what do they say? That actually, even in this world, there is a little pleasure.
But it is so temporary. Madhulla bhai, Madhulla bhai, it is just like a drop of, a drop, a tiny drop of honey. It’s not much.
There may be a little pleasure, but as compared to the amount of pleasure, the amount of misery is the state. So when devotees see people enjoying in this world, they understand, at least they may be enjoying. Actually, there are two possibilities.
One is they are miserable, they’re just making a show of enjoyment. They’re just pretending that they’re happy. And many people actually do that.
And I wrote a poem long ago, when people go to parties. Their hearts are filled with fears. Their minds are pierced by desires.
They are on the verge of tears. And they say, cheers. So, their hearts are filled with fears, so much anxiety.
This may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. It says, In 6.3.11, Krishna says that unlimited anxiety is there. Their hearts are filled with fears.
And their minds are pierced by desires. So, because of this fears and desires, they are on the verge of tears. But, just to pretend that they are happy.
If I tell people that I’m unhappy, then people will think you’re a failure, you’re unsuccessful. So, that’s why I say, pretend that I’m happy. And they say, cheers.
So, one possibility is that people are just putting on a show of happiness. Some other people may be happy also. But, at a standpoint, at a standpoint, just like they have done some good karma, the iceberg is there, so they think, oh, I’m comfortable.
But the iceberg is going to melt. So, this one, there is happiness. So, what we have to do is, we have to do our vichar in such a way that our pratyaksha becomes harmonized with shakti.
My pratyaksha becomes harmonized with shakti. So, if somebody goes to a, somebody is like, we are going to a mashtami, we are going to do some handwritten drive. So, we go to a very wealthy person.
And then, we find that a woman, it was a huge mansion, the person is. Outside, there is a dozen cars. She is so happy.
And we find that she is old and sickly. And she starts talking. Generally, wealthy people, they don’t talk very frankly about their lives in public.
But if they meet sadhus, they talk quite honestly also. Because they feel these are no competition for me. I don’t have to prove myself to them.
And then they tell you, you know, actually, this super wealthy person says, I worked so hard, I sent my son to America, he went to America, and he had a love marriage with a Christian girl, and he doesn’t call me also. Then I had a daughter, I took too much care of her, and she has run away with someone. And the only time she calls me, is she is waiting to find out whether I am alive.
Because after I die, she will get my inheritance. My wife was there, but last year, she passed away because of cancer. Very painful.
And I am all alone now. And then she asked me, look at the house, so much blending out, so many cars. So, so, so happy.
But then, you come to know the reality. Actually, it is not that easy. There is this loneliness, there is insecurity, it is miserable.
Now, if a person is too attached to material enjoyment, then question upon a question, there is something, oh, this person is no one. You know, if I show this person a little bit love and take care of him, maybe he will give the inheritance to me. Then I will become wealthy.
How materialistic person may think like that? But, if a person is, is seriously studying spirituality, then what is this person thinking, the materialistic person is thinking, that this person has wealth and he is miserable. But if I get the wealth, I will become happy. So, what is he thinking? That the misery of this world is an exception.
And the standard is happiness. So, I won’t be the exception, I will be the standard. But what a devotee thinks is, yes, everybody thinks that wealth leads to happiness, but actually what does wealth lead to? So, ultimately, we will only find out where is the happiness.
So, what scriptures have said is actually true. So, you know, this, bhakti, if you want to make spiritual advancement, if you want to increase our conviction, the way we think is very important. We have to be able to think in such a way, we do our vichar in such a way, that whatever we experience in life, it harmonizes with shabda.
It harmonizes with shabda. By that harmonization with shabda, our faith in Krishna and Krishna’s wisdom increases. And then we will make rapid spiritual advancement.
So, as devotees, actually, we never see events as they are. We see events as we are. You know, what causes emotions is the meaning that we give to events.
What do I mean by the meaning that we give to events? As I said earlier, say India lost a cricket match in Pakistan. It’s an event. Now, for somebody in America who has never heard about cricket, that event has no meaning.
So, there are no emotions associated with it. But for an Indian, that event, there are so many emotions associated with it. Why did India lose? They should have selected me, that I would have clean bowled the Pakistani batsman.
You think like that. Or I would have had an FXL on the last ball. So, think like that.
So, what happens is, what causes FXL is not just the events, but the meanings that we assign to those events. What does this mean? The whole principle of bhakti is that we should be able to understand and interpret events according to scripture. When we do that, Prabhupada, he was trying to share Krishna Consciousness.
You have Avanthi Brahman over here. He lost everything. You see, Prabhupada’s life also is something similar.
Prabhupada was working so hard trying to share Krishna Consciousness with everyone. And what happened? Somehow his business did not work out. One of his partners only cheated.
Then he tried to get his family members to cooperate. They were pious. But they were not having any missionary spirit.
They did not cooperate with him much. Then he tried to start an organization in Jhansi. And then there was a whole conspiracy against him.
And he was thrown away. From there, he tried to work with his godbrothers. And his godbrothers had a very parochial vision.
They did not want to expand much. They felt that if Bhakti Sadhana Swami expands too much, then he will become our mathadipati. He will take up my position.
They wanted to curb his activities also. And then, he tried to start Back to Godhead. He was going along the streets, and a cow came and hit him.
And he fell unconscious. So, actually, almost everything that Prabhupada is doing, is going wrong. Finally, he thought, okay, he was trying to invent his place in Jhansi.
He did not have money. So, he thought, I will restart my business and earn some money. But he was trying to restart his business.
And then there was a crippling loss. Somebody completely stole too much money. And what was Prabhupada’s reaction? Prabhupada quoted the verse, So, this is a devotional reinterpretation of events.
This is critical for our steadiness and our advancement. If we want to be steady and advance in spiritual life, it is essential that we be able to reinterpret all events in a devotionally favorable way. That means, that whatever happens, a devotee sees in it, how is this uncool to my body? Prabhupada said, yes, I was trying to serve Krishna in all these ways.
It is not working out. Let me serve Krishna, just wholeheartedly, preaching His message. I am not doing anything else.
So, this is what we need to become adept at, expert at. And when we do this, then what will happen is, no matter what happens, we go on steadily in the spiritual life. Okay, I will conclude with this one last point.
We talk about surrender to Krishna. And what exactly is surrender? Is it surrender that, you know, I just raise my hand, Krishna, I surrender. A student before the exams, he says, Krishna, I surrender to you.
Is that what surrender means? That is Krishna, our Acharya has described six elements of surrender. So, now among these six, accept that is favorable, reject that is unfavorable, have faith in Krishna, have faith in Krishna as the protector, be humble, feel powerless without Krishna, and atmaniksha, consider oneself worthless without Krishna’s help. And among these six, if you see, first two are actions, and the remaining four are emotions.
The feeling, the notion that I am helpless without Krishna, these four are emotions. And we cannot artificially feel those emotions. As we make spiritual advancement, gradually we will feel those emotions more and more.
But for us, at our stage, sharanagati means, he refers to the actions. Accept that which is favorable, reject that is unfavorable. But this is not just in terms of actions.
For example, say, I come to a temple that is favorable. Somewhere people, some of my friends or relatives are doing something materialistic, something sinful, I don’t go there, as unfavorable, I reject it. That is good.
That is at one level. But at a deeper level, we have to do this anukulya se sankalpa and pratikulya se varjanam also at an inner mental level. That means, when things go wrong in life, how we think about it is very important.
If by thinking, things go wrong, my kismati is broken, and Krishna will never help me, I need to stay like this only. If I think like that, what am I doing? I am doing pratikulya se sankalpa. I’m accepting that which is unfavorable.
Even in our thinking, we should be able to think in a way that is favorable for our devotional service. So what should we think? Yes. He’s giving an example, Avanti Brahma.
Everything has gone wrong, saying, this is Krishna’s mistake. Everything that could have distracted me from focusing on Krishna, all distractions are removed. Let me focus on Krishna.
So, this is, these actions that we choose, they will express our sharanagati. And they will enable us to advance steadily. So one example of this anukulya sankalpa pratikulya se varjanam I’ll give, to conclude, this is with respect to guilt.
Guilt means, all of us have standards. This is the standard I want to follow. And many times, we are not able to follow the standards.
And because we are not able to follow the standards, we feel guilty. And this guilt can sometimes, see, the purpose of guilt is that it creates a block between us and things that take us away from Krishna. The sinful things.
If I do sinful activities, I’m going to cause me karmic suffering. But along with that, it’s also going to displease me, displease Krishna. So guilt should create a wall between us and the things that go away, take us away from Krishna.
But somehow, if you’re not careful, guilt creates a wall between us and Krishna. What happens? How does this happen? We start thinking, I’m so fallen. I’ll never be able to chant Hare Krishna.
I’ll never become a devotee. Better let me not practice bhakti. Let me give up.
I’ll never become a devotee. Why? So that, which was meant to stop us from going away from Krishna, that very thing can keep us away from Krishna. Guilt, if it is not understood properly, the purpose of guilt is not to create a wall between us and Krishna.
Even if I am fallen, even if I am sinful, what is the solution? If I fall down onto the earth, then what do I have to do? If I fall down onto the earth, I have to take support of the same earth and rise. Similarly, even if I fall down, actually, even if I fall down, down, down, at the bottom there is Maha Vishnu. There is Garbhodakshara Vishnu.
So he is there to take shelter. So, even if we fall down, we don’t have to fall away from Krishna. Unless, we choose to fall away.
See, fall down may happen because of our conditionings. But falling away doesn’t happen because of our conditionings. What is the difference between falling down and falling away? Falling down means, yes, I am trying to follow some standards and I fall down.
But falling away means, I give up bhakti. Falling away doesn’t happen because of conditionings. Falling away happens because of our wrong decisions, our wrong choices.
So, guilt can make us not, see, sin will make us fall down, but guilt will make us fall away. If we do guilty, then, we will become discouraged in life. Actually, devotees should think, yes, I tried to do this, I tried to follow the standard, I couldn’t follow.
So therefore, what does it mean? That means, I am not strong enough. So, what should I do? I need to become strong enough. How will I become strong enough? By taking more shelter of Krishna.
When I take more shelter of Krishna, that will give me more strength. Then, I will become purer. When I become purer, then, when these temptations come, I will be able to bathe in them.
I will be able to offer. So, in this way, we will, even when guilt comes, the guilt should increase our shelter of Krishna, not decrease our shelter. And, if guilt makes us self-conscious, I have so many conditions.
Then, if guilt is making us self-conscious, then, that guilt is also a temptation. So, generally, we think of temptation as that which gives us pleasure. Lust gives us some pleasure.
Greed gives us some pleasure. We think of those things as temptation. That’s true.
But, in a broader way, anything that takes us away from Krishna is a temptation. If guilt is making me self-conscious, making me think, I, I, I, I, then, that guilt can also be a temptation. You see, Maya can work in such devious ways.
First, she brings sin into our life. That makes us do wrong. That takes us away from Krishna.
And then, guilt comes in and guilt also keeps us away from Krishna. So, that way, if we feel too guilty about things, then that can keep us away from Krishna. So, if I’m fallen, doesn’t matter.
Krishna can lift me up. No matter how I am, Krishna still allows me to practice devotional service. There is nothing that we can do that can ever stop Krishna from loving us.
There is nothing that anyone can ever do that will stop Krishna from loving us. No matter how terrible, whatever be the wrong that we are doing, Krishna always stays in our heart and Krishna always loves us. So, there is no need for us to let anything discourage us in our devotional service.
Even if everything goes wrong externally, in terms of problem is material, even if everything goes wrong internally, we are not even a part of the devotional service. Still, there is nothing to be discouraged. There is no reason to be discouraged.
Krishna is there in Krishna’s heart, ready to help us. We just need to take Shantana Krishna. No more worry, Bhagawan is there to help us.
So, actually, the devotee, whatever situation comes in your life, the devotee will see that this is an opportunity to go closer to Krishna. So, let me find out how can I go closer to Krishna. In that way, I can keep steadily marching ahead in devotional service.
So, to summarize, I started by talking about the Uddhava Gita and its context. It is Bhagavad Gita talks about engagement in the sacred service of devotion and the Bhagavad Gita talks about detachment in the service of devotion. And the central message of both is devotion.
And then we discussed about the first of the class was on our thought process. How our thought process can be made uncool to others. So, we discussed about life is the world is a station, not a destination.
If you get too caught up in the problematic situations of life, resenting over them, then we are overcooking a rotten vegetable in our head, wasting our energy. So, just we focus on what we can do and keep moving forward. And that connection, we discussed that when problems come, when reversals come in life, what we need to do is we need to be able to reinterpret the situation in a way that is uncool to others.
So, in that we can discuss that is the essence of realization. So, we get information from Pratiksha, we get information from Shabda. So, our inner thinking, our Hanuman, when it is done according to Shabda, it becomes Vichara.
So, we get realization when we do our Vichara in such a way that we harmonize our Pratiksha with Shabda. That’s what he’s doing, Avanti Brahma does over there. Everything has gone wrong, this everything going wrong has made the most important thing right.
What is that? The path for my going towards Krishna, all the distractions have been removed. We need to deal with most of it. So, then we discussed also about how sufferings come in a devotee’s life, how a devotee can interpret it positively.
We discussed about someone going to a wealthy person’s house, you know, it has a texture, we’ll experience both happiness and distress. The materialistic people think that the happiness is the standard and the distress is the exception. But a devotee understands that actually this world, misery is the standard, if happiness comes along, that is the exception.
The result of past good karma, like somebody sitting on an iceberg, which is melting because of the heat. So, instead of just trying for material improvement, which is like going from a stormy part of the ocean to a calm part of the ocean, a devotee focuses on going towards land, that is making spiritual advancements today. The spiritual advancement means getting our emotional world to intersect and unite with Krishna’s emotional world.
And lastly, we discussed about how Prabhupada was also able to, Prabhupada was, everything went wrong, he focused on that one thing, just focusing on Cheritiya, just exclusively devoting himself to Cheritiya, to the message. And I saw all of us involved in Krishna consciousness. So, Saranagati involves some emotions, but those emotions will come by gradual spiritual advancement.
What for us Saranagati will mean is, choosing the favorable, rejecting the unfavorable. And that is not just in terms of external actions and circumstances, but it’s also in terms of inner attitudes. I discussed about how guilt should create a wall between us and the things that take us away from Krishna, not between us and Krishna.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions? Yes. So, we say that the world is dukkhalaya, but in 6.7, in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says that, by regulation in our activities, yoga bhavati dukkha, we become free from misery.
So, actually the thrust of that verse is not, what will free us from misery is not regulation, it is connection. Yukta is the regulation, yoga is the connection. So, when we are regulated in our material life and are connected with Krishna, then the connection with Krishna will free us from misery.
When we become more and more spiritually advanced, then, at a spiritual level, we will be experiencing so much fulfillment that at the material level, problems will not matter. It’s like somebody goes to, somebody is a mad cricket fan. The person goes for watching cricket, in India the stadiums are very crowded, there is no proper ventilation, so much physical inconvenience is there, but because that person is in love with cricket, that person goes into samadhi, forgetting all that.
Why? Because there is love. So, that is of course material and temporary, but when a devotee loves Krishna, actually, the absorption in devotion and service to Krishna is so much, that materially, the inconveniences don’t matter. That’s how we tolerate and transcend misery.
So, regulation is required, so that we can have a sustainable connection with Krishna. That doesn’t change the nature of the world, but it changes the nature of our involvement with the world. If we are caught up emotionally in the world, then we will forget.
The less we are caught emotionally in the world, the less we forget. The more we are emotionally engaged with Krishna, the more we will be happy. Is it possible to develop the six qualities of surrender, irrespective of divine grace? Actually, spiritual advancement is both a matter of human choice and divine grace.
So, we all have the capacity to choose. For example, now, you have chosen to come to the temple. You could have stayed at home and watched TV.
This is your choice. So, generally speaking, getting the opportunity to practice devotion and service is Krishna’s grace. Taking the opportunity is our choice.
So, when both are there, so now, for example, there is no temple over here. If the devotees have not endeavored, there is no center over here, then you do not have the opportunity. So, what is there? Giving us the opportunity is Krishna’s grace.
Taking the opportunity is our choice. So, we should focus on making the right choices and by that we will be able to surrender more and more. And surrender is not like a concept of digital logic, that is zero or one, and surrender or not surrender.
It’s a continuum, like analog. So, unless surrendered, I become more surrendered. So, as we keep choosing our actions and emotions in a way that is favorable to Krishna, we will surrender more and more.
When I come to the temple, I can think about Krishna and I can try to develop, cultivate devotional emotions for Krishna. Or, I can think about the cricket match that I am missing at home. That choice I have.
So, the more we make devotionally favorable choices, the more we are surrendering. And on that continuum of surrender, we are moving upwards and upwards. So, generally speaking, on the path of bhakti, we should endeavor as if it is a matter of our choice.
But we should depend also, we should know that ultimately it is Krishna’s grace. See, if I’m chanting Hare Krishna, I think, when Krishna’s mercy comes, then I’ll be able to concentrate. Then I will never be able to concentrate.
I have to endeavor to try to concentrate according to my capacity. And sometimes the concentration will be very deep, will be absorption. So, that is Krishna’s grace.
Other times, just having the opportunity to chant itself is also Krishna’s grace. So, we should focus always on our endeavors. I know that sometimes our endeavors will give us the result in terms of we feel devotionally strengthened, devotionally satisfied.
Sometimes we will not feel. That is Krishna’s mercy. So, in our endeavor, we should always focus.
In our, from our perspective, we should think that Sharanagati is a matter of my, it’s my responsibility. It’s a matter of my choice. I have to surrender.
If somebody starts saying, you know, okay, I need Krishna’s mercy to surrender. It’s like somebody has fallen into a well and somebody throws a rope inside. You know, now hold the rope.
This is, you know, I need your mercy to hold the rope. Hold the rope. No, no, I need your mercy.
Only when I have your mercy, I’ll hold the rope. You just hold the rope. It’ll come out.
So, we can say that I need mercy, mercy and in the end, we’ll do nothing. It shouldn’t happen like that. We should think that it’s, I have to endeavor.
And when I endeavor, Krishna’s mercy will come more. Does it answer your question? Yeah. Yes, perfect.
Great. Thank you. Other questions? Yes.
Hare Krishna, Prabhuji. You explained at the last topic about realization. My question is that, what is the difference between the self-realization and whatever you explained, just only realization? What is the difference between self-realization and realization? Self-realization means realization who the true self is.
That is when I understand actually, not just intellectually, but emotionally also. I am not doing, I am seeing. So, that is the time when we actually realize it.
It’s a progression. Right now, we have intellectually understood it and we are focusing on trying to do the activities which will give us realizations. But if we see emotionally, for us, the activities of hearing and chanting are the nourishment for the soul.
And eating, sleeping, all these activities are nourishment for the body. For us, if you see emotionally, hearing and chanting are prescribed duties. Eating and sleeping are favorite pastimes.
That’s what we look forward to. So, emotionally, we are not yet at the level of the soul. We are very much at the level of the body.
By steady purification, by steady practice, we will become purified. And then, when we understand intellectually and emotionally that I am not the soul, I am not the body, I am the soul, that is self-realization. So, realizations can be at various levels.
I can have realization that the holy name is not a word that is not. That can be a pure realization. I may get a realization that God exists.
That’s also a realization. I may get a realization that the Bhagavad Gita contains life-changing wisdom. That’s also a realization.
So, we can have realizations of various levels. And self-realization means when I understand that I am not the body, I am the soul. That is self-realization.
Can I answer your question? Yes. I have a question. You just said that we have to do things which are unopposed to bhakti.
But, what if the duty that we are doing is not unopposed to bhakti? Say, I do some duty and we have to take the responsibility of the family members. Some kind of things which are not unopposed to bhakti. In that case, what do we do? What do we do if our duties are not unopposed to bhakti? See, the favorableness and unfavorableness of things is not just situated in those things.
It is also situated in our attitudes. So, we shouldn’t think that our family responsibility is unfavorable to us. Actually, the whole principle of bhakti is that how this is written like is that we have a vertical relationship with Krishna and we have horizontal relationships with other people in this family members.
So, the ideal situation is when the horizontal relationships strengthen the vertical relationship and the vertical relationship strengthens the horizontal relationship. What does that mean? That means, if my family members are also devotees then together when we practice devotional service we are all going closer towards Krishna. So, the horizontal relationship strengthens the vertical relationship.
And the vertical relationship strengthens the horizontal relationship means because I am devoted to Krishna, so I can be more calm, more responsible, more sensitive and I can do my family responsibilities also better. So, that is the ideal situation. That when the horizontal and vertical relationships complement each other, they are symbiotic.
Now, there are two other possibilities. One is that the horizontal relationships, they are independent of the vertical. That means our family members, they don’t care for devotional prayer.
Third possibility is that they are openly hostile to devotional prayer. Not only they don’t care, but they don’t want us to practice and they oppose our practice also. So, now, in these two situations also, it’s not always necessarily that the whole situation or the whole obligation and relationship is unpaired.
Even through those, Krishna can give us real relationships. See, nowadays, teachers talk about experiential learning. When you experience and they may take us children to some field or some garden somewhere and they can teach.
So, Krishna is the greatest experiential learning expert. What does he do? He converts a battlefield into a classroom. He converts a battlefield into a classroom.
So, Krishna can teach us in every situation. So, even when our, say, family situation is unfavorable, that is in the vertical, horizontal relationship, we are militating against our vertical relationship. Even through that, Krishna can teach us valuable lessons.
So, we should be focusing on, not so much on the emotional negativity. Oh, this situation is unfavorable. Okay, how best can I serve Krishna in this situation? In general, if we don’t try to, if we are not too insensitive, if we don’t become offensive, then over a period of time, the family members start saying, whatever, whatever this person is, he’s become a better person, right? He’s become a better human being, more sensitive, more responsible.
And gradually, they become favorable. And then they become devotees also. So, actually speaking, in one sense, if the family members are not devotees, we have an opportunity.
One of the greatest ways in which we can serve Krishna is by bringing other souls to Krishna. So, normally, to bring other souls to Krishna, we have to go out and preach. But if the family members are not devotees, then Krishna is providing an opportunity right in our home itself.
So, we can see that as a favorable opportunity. Of course, it’s more difficult to preach to family members, because generally, when we preach to outsiders, we just have to give a class and then they don’t see our actions. So, I give a very good class and people say, oh, he’s a very advanced devotee.
And we follow him. But when we are living with our family members, you know, actually, we can’t pretend to be an advanced devotee. We are forced to become advanced devotees.
Because what happens, they don’t see our actions also. So, we will have to become humble. We’ll have to become tolerant.
And these are favorable opportunities. That’s why a devotee doesn’t necessarily have to see any situation as unfavorable. See, it is not utopian.
It is, I find that in my family situation, I’m getting discouraged in devotional service. Then I also need some places where I get encouraged, where I get some strength. So, I have to come in temple.
I have to have a warm relationship with devotees, where I get strength. But then along with that, we can make, within our family situations, it’s favorable for devotional service. It may take time.
But we should not think that only those activities that are externally devotional service are devotional service. So, everything that contributes to devotional service is also devotional service. So, if I’m doing my family responsibilities, and by that gradually my family members are becoming favorable to Krishna, that is also within the jurisdiction of devotional service.
Now, in the early days of our movement, devotees had a little narrow idea of what devotional service was. So, at that time, everybody, even brahmacharis, grhasthas, everyone used to stay in the temple. And then the temple leaders, it had happened once, several times it happened, but once it came to the notice of Prabhupada.
So, the matajis, they had children, and the matajis were told by the temple authorities, you just leave the children, the babysitter, and go off to the school. Babies were small. One of the matajis, she wrote a letter to Prabhupada.
And Prabhupada, this is what the temple leaders are telling him. And Prabhupada said, what is this? You are a mother. Your first duty is to take care of your child.
But these children are not ordinary. Their wife couldn’t have children. Krishna is giving us an opportunity to render devotional service by taking care of these children.
So, you can do this devotion. You can do other services. But along with that, you have to do take care of your children also.
So, now externally, it may seem that, if a mother is taking care of the child, that’s not devotional service. I’m not in the temple. I’m not chanting.
I’m not doing any devotional activity. But actually, the mother is the greatest influence in the formative years of the child. And the mother is loving, caring.
And from that, she also is a devotee. And the spiritual impressions that come and last for a long, long time, we really need it. So, we shouldn’t think that only those activities that are external devotional service are devotional service.
If we just remove that mental conception, then we’ll be able to see that there is practically nothing outside the jurisdiction of Krishna consciousness. Almost every situation, we can see it as an opportunity for rendering devotional service or creating an arena for rendering devotional service. And that way, we can make it unicorn to others.
Did I answer your question? Okay. How to understand that our vichar matches with shabda or not? The question itself will be a little technically worded. I’ll explain the question.
Then I’ll explain the answer. So, the point is that we experience something with our senses. Then we hear something from scripture.
And then we try to harmonize the two. So, when we are harmonizing, how do we know that the harmonization is correct or not? That’s what the question is. See, bhakti doesn’t mean that we have to do… Prabhupada writes in the letter of instruction, verse 2, par4, that devotional service is not sentimental speculation or imaginative ecstasy.
Its substance is practical service. Its substance is practical service. It’s not sentimental speculation or imaginative ecstasy.
That means what? Every morning I came to take darshan and Krishna blinked at me. And Krishna blinked at me. So now, I may have felt like that.
Did it really happen or not? We can’t say. Or somebody may say, yesterday Krishna came in my dream. Is it possible that Krishna can come in our dream? We can’t stop Krishna from coming in our dream.
If Krishna wants, he is swatantra. He can come in our dreams. But, you know, what will make us spiritual advanced is not whether Krishna comes in our dreams, but whether after waking up we lend up devotional service.
So, that’s the meaning of, its substance is practical. The substance of devotional service is practical activity. So, if somebody feels that Krishna came in my dream, yes, we feel like that.
If that makes us enthused in devotional service, that’s fine. We can still do that. I don’t have to tell the whole world Krishna came in my dream.
Because then, what is a personal spiritual blessing, we try to make it an ornament for our ego. I am such an advanced devotee that Krishna came in my dream. Did Krishna come in your dream? Then everybody starts claiming, Krishna came in my dream also.
And then we have a parampara of dreamers. It’s possible that Krishna can come in our dream. And then, if in that dream, we get some insight or instruction, that is in agreement with scripture, then we understand that, okay, whatever Krishna has told you in the scripture, he is reinforcing through dreams.
One time, some devotee told Prabhupada, Prabhupada, you came in my dream and told me to take drugs. Prabhupada said, it was not me, it was maya in my form, okay. So, the point is that, actually, we focus on the standard scripture instructions and the standard scriptural services.
So, if whatever happens otherwise, if that reinforces, if my dreams, you know, I get a, my standard scriptural instruction gets reinforced, then that is good. If in a dream, I get inspired to enter a particular form of service, which is also within the jurisdiction of the officers, that’s good. So, in general, if we do some reasoning, we have to see whether that matches with guru sadhu shastra.
If that matches with guru sadhu shastra, then we can accept that reasoning as valid. We don’t have to necessarily think that the reasoning has come from Krishna. It’s a revelation from Krishna.
No, it is, I am doing that reasoning, and using the intelligence that Krishna has given me, I find this is unequal to my own. So, the test is whether it is according to guru sadhu shastra. So, whenever we hear something, we try to find out what does guru sadhu shastra say about it, and accordingly we act.
And if there is no explicit statement in guru sadhu shastra about that, then we have to see overall what is the message. Is this favorable according? Is this going to help me in my devotional service? Then we can do that, if it will happen to help us. Sir, we take some decision based on some conviction, but after some time, the doubt creeps in, and the conviction slowly fades away.
So, how to remain above the doubt and keep the conviction intact? So, how to stay free from doubt, and stay strong in our convictions? See, doubt is also important, because doubt is a sign of intelligence. A foolish person cannot doubt, because actually, you know, the advertisers are telling, purchase this and make happy, do this and make happy. It requires intelligence to doubt.
So, in the Bhagavatam, in the 28th chapter, the characteristics of intelligence are described. And the first characteristic is described as samshaya. Samshaya uttame pariyasa.
So, five characteristics are described. Doubt, misapprehension, correct apprehension, dream and conclusion. There are five characteristics of intelligence.
I will go into all five, that will be a whole class now. But suffice it to say that doubt is not always bad. Doubt can also help us in understanding what is, in understanding what is true and what simply claims to be true.
So, that’s the first point. Secondly, if doubts are coming, we have to address those doubts in two ways. One is intellectually, and the other is practically.
Intellectually means, if it’s a doubt, it’s a question that is troubling us, when we find some senior devotee, you can answer that question. Or we read some book, some section, we find out, I have a lot of questions about impersonalism. Say, you know, maybe God is ultimately a light, not a person.
We read the sections, pictures which talk about this. The doubts will be dealt with. So, intellectually, by consulting Guru Sadhu Shastra, we can deal with the doubts.
And practically, we shouldn’t put too much faith in our doubts. What does it mean, putting faith in our doubts? See, doubts will come, we don’t have to think so much about those doubts. Because the whole scriptures are so vast.
So, there are so many aspects to scriptures. So, if the doubt is about some peripheral aspect of scripture. Now, one time, in the 10th canto of Bhagavatam, it is described that Ugrasen had some billions and billions of bodyguards.
So, one devotee told Shila Prabhupada, Prabhupada, when we tell the scholars that Ugrasen had these billions of bodyguards, they laugh and they ask, you know, where were they staying in Dwarka? Where were their toilets? Where were their homes? So now, Prabhupada could have answered, Krishna has inconceivable potency. Krishna can do anything. But Prabhupada gave a very practical answer.
Prabhupada said, among all the thousands of the verses in the Bhagavatam, was that the only thing that you found to speak to the scholars? So, what does that mean? Prabhupada is focusing on relevance of it. You know, okay, this doubt is there. How practically is it important for you? Now, for example, we may get doubts.
You know, we may go on the internet and we may read something. Oh, this happened to this person over here. ISKCON is like this.
ISKCON is like that. That may create doubts in our mind. Now, we have to think practically.
Okay, ISKCON is an international institution. Now, there are different things that can happen in different places. I am not, practicing Krishna Consciousness because somebody gave me a certificate that everything, everywhere in the world is going to be alright.
You know, I use my intelligence. I found the philosophy made sense. And then by my experience, I have seen purification happening.
So, the process works. And that’s why I’m practicing it. So, what is relevant for me? Yes, people can have difficulties.
There can be problems also. Because people are involved. They can call prayer devices.
But the process still works. So, by consulting the Guru Sadhu Shastra, intellectually, I’m getting the out result. And I’m practically, not giving too much importance to those doubts which are not important.
We can keep our conviction steady and move on. Did I answer your question? Thank you very much. Any questions? Thank you very much.
So, let us thank Chaitanya Charan Prabhu for so wonderfully explaining the science of Krishna Consciousness with his erudition and eloquence. Although doctors, they have told him not to travel so much. But he’s so kind that despite the doctors have told him not to travel, whenever I invite him, he always agrees to come.
So, this time he came not just for one day, he came for three days and gave us the nectar of Krishna Consciousness. So, we are very grateful, Prabhuji, for your kindness on us and answering all the, maybe not so intelligent questions compared to your intelligence. So, thank you so much.
Let us express our gratitude and thanks to Chaitanya Charan Prabhu by loudly chanting Hare Rama! Hare Rama! Hare Rama! Please keep visiting us like this. We’ll try to improve our intelligence. Hare Rama! Actually, it’s not the questions that were not so intelligent.
It’s the answers that were not so intelligent. Actually, if Shri Shastrinath would have given all the answers, we would have given much better answers. From the early days of my Krishna Consciousness, Shri Shastrinath has been one of the great inspirations for me.
And he has been an intimate associate of His Holiness Radhanath Maharaj. And that is a position that every disciple cherishes and aspires for. But just to be with all of you, he has sacrificed that position.
He could have been doing that all his life, intimately associated. But that he can come here, and it’s a great fortune of all of you that he’s there. And in the last several years I’ve been coming, every year it’s the Shastrakam first verse, Ananda Ambudi Vardhanam.
The number of devotees is increasing, the devotional atmosphere is increasing. The temple’s beauty is increasing, the temple size is also increasing. So we can see the whole process of Krishna Consciousness come alive over here by His vision, and by the vigorous cooperation of all of you.
So it’s a great fortune that you have His association. And I feel fortunate that I am able to do some small service to Him. And it is His kindness that He encourages me by speaking a few words about me.
I know that the encouragement of Vaishnavas is the way that they give their blessings. I hope that whatever you speak about, I will become one day. Thank you very much.
Vigraya Shikshashtakam Prabhuti! Jai!