Understanding Surrender – Meditation on Prabhupada’s prayer Markine Bhagavata Dharma

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Understanding surrender meditation on prabhupada’s prayer markine bhagavata dharma from Chaitanya Charan

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Understanding surrender meditation on prabhupada’s prayer markine bhagavata dharma from Chaitanya Charan

Understanding Surrender – Meditation on Prabhupada’s prayer Markine Bhagavata Dharma – 3

Understanding surrender meditation on prabhupada’s prayer markine bhagavata dharma from Chaitanya Charan

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Understanding surrender meditation on prabhupada’s prayer markine bhagavata dharma from Chaitanya Charan

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Understanding surrender meditation on prabhupada’s prayer markine bhagavata dharma from Chaitanya Charan

Understanding Surrender – Meditation on Prabhupada’s prayer Markine Bhagavata Dharma – 6

Understanding surrender meditation on prabhupada’s prayer markine bhagavata dharma from Chaitanya Charan

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

Hare Krishna. So, this is our concluding session of Narakini Bhagavad Dharma, and here, Krishna Prabhupada takes his contemplation to a prayer. Krishna, please make my words understandable.

He said, by your mercy, the words will become understandable. He'll take this forward, and they'll come to a particular, specific prayer. So, he says, So, my dear lord, so, miraculously, you brought me here to speak about you.

Whatever you desire to do with me, oh lord, that is up to you. Here, Prabhupada is expressing how there is acknowledgement of Krishna's role in our life. Krishna, you have brought me here.

Miraculously, you have brought me here. So, Prabhupada, as we discussed earlier, is to work out everything and him to come. It is extraordinary.

So, like that, for every one of us in our life, Krishna is our guide. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said, So, the lord is present in the hearts of all living beings, and Brahman is directing the wanderings. Now, actually, it is Prabhupada who said the word directing over there.

Brahman means to wander, and brahmayan means to cause to wander. So, if I make you do something, that is brahmayan. So, actually, when it means the lord causes us to wander, that doesn't mean the lord wants us to wander.

Rather, that according to our desire, the lord directs us. So, Prabhupada is over directing the wanderings. Now, the word directing is very significant.

Because in a movie or in a drama, the director is behind the scenes. We don't see the director. But everybody is moving according to the direction of the director.

Now, that doesn't mean that the actors don't have their skills, their talents, their personalities. They have it all. Their individuality is there, but the director is actually making them act.

Similarly, in our life, we all have our individuality, we have our freedom. But it is Krishna who is directing us. And, Prabhupada is saying that for fulfilling my special master's instruction, Krishna has got me so far now.

I have crossed so many oceans at such an old age with so much difficulty. So, if Krishna has brought me so far, Krishna will take me all the way also. Krishna, you do whatever you want with me.

So, sometimes, we feel that we are all alone in this world. And Krishna is in the spiritual world, he is having his pastimes. Now, Krishna is with us, he is directing us.

And, if you look at our own life, if we consider, say, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, whatever time, when we were and now we are, where we are, there is a significant difference in our life. And we have, from where we were, come significantly closer to Krishna. And if, at least I look at my life, my practice of bhakti has been very half-hearted, distracted, many, many attachments to fight over.

But in spite of that, Krishna has got me this far. So, we have not, some day, actually, at least I can say, I have not advanced because of me. Whatever advancement I have made, I have advanced in spite of me.

Somehow, Krishna has arranged circumstances in such a way that he got some services that I have been moving on. You know, some of Shri Prabhupada's disciples, they went out in search for God. They travelled across the world to search for God.

Most of us, we didn't go out in search for God. It was God's devotees who came out in search for us. So, it is, despite our distractedness, despite our attachments, still, Krishna has got us this far.

So, if you look at what Krishna says, manushya naam sahasreshu, thousands few start practicing. Somehow, we are among those thousands, few among those thousands. So, it happens, Krishna is acting in our life also.

And if he has got us this far, he will take us all the way. And by looking at the big picture in our life, we can see Krishna acting. Now, if we look, if we look only at the immediate situations, oh, I have this health issue, I have this job issue, I have this family issue, we may feel our life is just, now what's the difference? All the difficulties are there.

But if you look at the big picture, we'll see. There's a huge difference in our life. And so there is, by looking back at our life, we can understand how Krishna is acting in our life.

I once wrote an article about SHARE YOUR STORY. SHARE was acronym, S-H-A-R-E. Now, five reasons why we should write and share the story about how we came to Krishna Consciousness.

It's not that sometimes we tell our friends. But writing it down, even if you don't write it for others, my devotees have also made a website called How I Came. So, the idea over there is that, that will help us to remember how Krishna has acted in our lives.

And sometimes we may feel, is Krishna there? Is Krishna far away? Is he acting in my life? Is he there with me? So, when we look at the big picture, we understand that Krishna is acting in my life. And that faith is our great treasure. So, by looking back at our life, seeing how far we have come, we can get that faith.

Krishna has brought me this far. He will take me all the way also. Can you operate it for me to find the cursor? It's a little difficult.

You can keep it down if you want. So, now we can adjust our focus depending on our level of consciousness. That means sometimes in our spiritual life, we may start becoming proud.

See, I have made so much spiritual advancement. So, if that happens, then when we feel proud, then we need to look how far we have to go. We have Haridas Thakur.

He just wants to keep chanting and chanting and chanting. So, the exalted devotees, their consciousness is that they just want to chant more and more. Chanting should never end.

That's what they feel. They just want to keep chanting. For us, chanting never ends.

It's just going on and on. When will it end? So, if we feel proud, we can look ahead to see how far we have to go. But at the same time, if we become discouraged, then we can look back to see how far we have come.

And by that, we can get the faith. We can get the encouragement. And we can get the enthusiasm to start moving again.

So, Krishna is acting in the lives of each one of us. And he is taking us forwards. So, now, Prabhupada is further telling, whatever you want, you do with me.

But then there is a plan as Prabhupada has. Akhila jagat kuru, vachana se amar. So, valankrita koribara, khamata tomar.

So, O Guru of the Universe, my speaking ability to ornament you, you have the capacity. So, alankrita koribara. Ornament.

Alankara is ornament. What is the ornament that Prabhupada is seeking? It is not some western accent to impress people. That is not the ornament.

He says in the later verses that the ornament he is looking for is purity. He says with the ornament of purity is there, then this will become, this katha, what I speak will become effective. So, more kathas he is speaking.

He has, all of us have our particular abilities. Prabhupada is a preacher and he is going to speak. My speaking ability is there but you have to ornament it all over.

So, our ability, we all have certain abilities. But it is for Krishna to take that ability to its completeness. So, we can have a spiritual vision of our talents.

What we are is Krishna's gift to us. What we become is our gift to Krishna. Whatever abilities we have, we want to use them to develop them and then use them for Krishna's service.

So, we don't know at this stage in our spiritual life which abilities we have. We don't know how they can be used in Krishna's service. Some abilities, if somebody is singing ability, somebody is speaking ability, they can be directly used in Krishna's service.

When Arjuna was fighting archery, he did not know that in future there is going to be a great war and that I am going to fight. And my archery skill will be helped by that. So, we see that if we think that my talents are my talents, then I will become proud.

But if I see these are gifts from Krishna and I use them in Krishna's service. As I said, some talents can be directly used in Krishna's service. Some may not be directly usable.

So, devotees' mood is that whatever I am doing, I will try to do it the best that I can. Bhaktivinoda Thakur says that he longs for a day when the high court judges will have tilak on their head. Now, what does this mean? How at all will it come true? One way is that, say in future, devotees take up the government and they appoint devotee judges.

That's one possibility. Another more likely is that the devotee judges are so competent that the government appoints them as high court judges. So, Bhaktivinoda Thakur himself was competent in this field.

Now, competence doesn't have to be all-consuming. That is workaholism, where people just get caught in their work. People just make their work their whole life.

That is not our attitude. But whatever time we are spending in our, whatever abilities we have, we just use them to the best of our capacity. How we can use them in Krishna's service, Krishna will reveal the goal.

We use those abilities for serving Krishna. And so our goal, from ability to spirituality. So, let talent take us to the source of all talent.

Most people use their talent to simply get a big name for themselves, make a lot of money, become famous. That is simply a mundane motive. A devotee's goal is that let me use this to serve Krishna.

I was in an Indian university a few months ago. And one student asked, how can I preach to my other students? How can I preach to other students that they can also become devotees? So, I told him, by studying nicely. I said that if you study nicely, there is no guarantee that they will become devotees.

But if you don't study nicely, there is a guarantee they will not become devotees. So, the people don't understand what is spiritual. What they understand is how do you practically behave.

And Prabhupada was asked, how do we know your followers? He said that they are perfect gentlemen. Now you could have said they chant Hare Krishna constantly. Or they chant 16 rounds, they follow 400 principles.

But all that, for new people, what does it mean to them? They see how we behave with them. How we are responsible, how we are sensitive. How we are practically conducting ourselves.

So, when we use whatever abilities we have, whatever interests we have. Whatever be our nature. We use it in a mood of service to Krishna.

So, the Bhagavad Gita talks about, स्वकर्मनातमः भेर्जु सिद्दिन्दिन्दिनानवा That by your work, worship Him. So, it is work as worship, not work is worship. What is the difference? Work is worship means automatically the work is worship.

Now if work were worship, then the donkey would be the greatest worshipper. So, work can be made into worship. And that happens by our worshipful consciousness, by our devotional consciousness.

But the point is, the Bhagavad Gita is not just giving us a whole rejected philosophy. When ISKCON, this is a whole big subject and I'll mention it very briefly here. When ISKCON started, at that time, most of the devotees who came were people who had already rejected the world.

They were hippies who had rejected their family, rejected everything. And then they came, and when they came to Prabhupada, Prabhupada gave them philosophical rejections for rejecting the world. Philosophical reasons for rejecting the world.

So, the government is rascals. The education, spiritual slaughterhouse. Industries are bad, this is bad, that is bad.

Yeah, it's alright, yes. The hippies, it was said about them, they were rebels without a cause and rebels without a pause. Just rebelling against everything.

So, Prabhupada made them rebels with a cause. He gave them a cause. Now, at that time, our movement was mostly a temple-based movement.

Virtually everybody was staying in the temple. Now our movement is largely a congregation-based movement. So, at that time, the primary mode of spirituality was rejection.

All the world out there is bad, and you have to practice bhakti, rejecting the whole world. But now, most devotees are living in the world. And traditionally, if you look in India, how Krishna bhakti has been practiced is, there were a few renunciates, but most of the people were grahasthas.

So, there has to be a balance to be fulfilled. For us, we look at Prabhupada as an acharya, we also look at Prabhupada as a grahastha, how he lived his life. And you also look at the example of what Prabhupada did in India.

In India, when he came, the devotees tried to use that same model of smashing. It didn't work. There are very, very few Prabhupada disciples who are Indians.

Even most of the leading Indian disciples became devotees not in India, but abroad. So, a few are there, no doubt. But the point was, when Prabhupada saw this, Prabhupada created another much broader system for people to connect with Krishna.

He just made a life membership program. And there's nothing expected from them, except that they take Prabhupada's books and they give some contribution. And they come to the temples whenever they want, and gradually they will become devotees at their peace.

Prabhupada accommodated them also. So, the reason I'm talking about this is that the rejection model of the world, of spirituality, that is one model. But that is not sustainable if we are living in the world.

Yes, there are sinful activities in the world which we have to reject. But the whole process of bhakti, as known in the Bhagavad Gita, is not rejection, but connection. So, we have to see how we can connect everything with Krishna.

Connect my family with Krishna. Connect my job with Krishna. Connect my abilities with Krishna.

And we try to use them in Krishna's service. How specifically? That will vary according to person to person. So, now in the case of Prabhupada, of course, he is directly on Krishna's mission.

And he is telling Krishna, I want to speak your message, but you ornament it. He has a speaking ability, but he wants Krishna to add something to it. So, like that we have our abilities.

Prabhupada is not rejecting his speaking ability. Not calling it one leg. He is using it in Krishna's service.

And he is adding something. Krishna, you add your mercy to it. So, similarly for us, we use our abilities, but we do them for Krishna's service.

So, Krishna becomes the factor that spiritualizes everything that we are doing. The more we have this devotional attitude, Krishna, I am doing everything for you. You are the goal of my life.

Then whatever I do, I will do it for Krishna. Vishwanath Chakrada gives an example of what does it mean to always remember Krishna. Now, is it like being a schizophreniac? You are doing your job, maybe software job, typing code, and half of my mind is thinking of Krishna, half of my mind is at the job.

It's not like that. Like when Arjuna was fighting, was he shooting arrows? Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. There is no account in the Mahabharata of that.

When he was fighting, he was fighting wholeheartedly. But what was spiritual about his fighting was his intention. Intention means his life was for Krishna.

His life was for Krishna and therefore he was remembering Krishna and he was doing everything for Krishna. So, Vishwanath Chakrada gives an example. Let's say a householder is staying away from one's family and they are working at a job.

And then they may be doing business, dealing with many people, traveling here, going there, but in their heart, thinking of the family. You know, I have my family and I am taking care of them. Whatever I am doing is for them.

So the connection is through the intention, through the heart. Prabhupada also writes in the introduction to the Bhagavad Gita that the art of Krishna Consciousness is to spiritualize our subtle body. Mayi arpita manobuddhi, mind and intelligence is offered to Krishna.

That happens gradually by the practice of bhakti. So we use our abilities in Krishna's service. And from ability we move to spirituality.

Tava kripa holim mora katha shuddha pe. Shunai shuniya sabara shoka dukha gujji pe. So by your mercy my words will become pure.

Hearing it, their sorrows will go away for sure. So he is confident, like earlier he said that sitam sattve prasirati, by hearing Krishna katha, those who hear will become purified. So Prabhupada is saying that by your mercy my words become pure, then they will become free from distress.

Go ahead. So it is said purity is the force. So what does it mean purity is the force? It means that when we are speaking about Krishna, when we are trying to serve Krishna, we have no agenda except to serve Krishna, except to please Krishna and expect to benefit people.

And Prabhupada was once asked that in Australia one young girl asked Prabhupada, Swamiji, why didn't you come earlier? Prabhupada said, because you were not born earlier. I came to give this message to you. In America one lady asked Prabhupada, Swamiji, can you please pray for me? Prabhupada said, I am always praying for you.

She said, otherwise what reason do I have to come here so far away, across so many oceans? He said, I have come here just for you. So Jadurani Mataji, she came to Prabhupada and she said, Prabhupada, I hope I am not disturbing your service to my spiritual master. Prabhupada just smiled at her and said, you are my service to my spiritual master.

I am serving you. So Prabhupada, another time one of the early disciples, she asked, Swamiji, did you have any children? And Prabhupada said, Prabhupada gave a very strange look to her and said, you are all my children. She said, you are all my children.

So Prabhupada, for him this was not just a vocation. He has to become a preacher. For him it was a matter of compassion.

He cared for him. And because he cared for them, his goal was to help people wherever they are to take one step up. So our goal is not that people should simply become my followers or people should become even members of our movement.

Our goal is simply to elevate people, to raise people's consciousness. And how they do it is up to them. But we are not here to, in a sense, convert people and make them follow some ideology.

We are understanding that this is the best for them and we want them to understand this is best for them. And we are sharing it that way. So to the extent that mood of service is there, it touches people's hearts.

And Prabhupada, he initially, some of his disciples said that when he came, they couldn't even understand his pronunciation much. But they said that Prabhupada cared. And he was very interested in us.

He was talking with us, understanding us. He was helping us. So what happened? Prabhupada saw this and got them to come.

So Prabhupada's purpose was simply to help people come closer to Krishna. And that is purity. Purity doesn't necessarily mean we have to have pure love for Krishna.

Purity simply means we want to be instruments. Now we may have certain desires for our own name, fame, glory. But we resist those desires.

They'll come, but we push them away. It's not that we can wish them away. They're there.

But when they come, we don't nourish them. This is not what I'm doing. I'm not doing this for this purpose.

I'm doing it for Krishna's sake. Say, name, fame, glory, same old story. Life after life, that's what we have been chasing.

So now we have come to Krishna for glorifying Krishna, for helping Krishna, for helping people to come closer to Krishna. So for us, preaching is both an act of compassion and an act of purification. For those who are very exalted devotees, they can see that people are actually, without Krishna consciousness, they are distressed and they have compassion.

And that's why they want to share. For us, sometimes we may not have that much compassion. But for us, it's purification.

Just by speaking about Krishna, just by sharing about Krishna, what happens is we become more comfortable to Krishna. Now, if a new person is coming to Krishna Bhakti, one of the easiest ways to know whether such a person is becoming serious is whether they see themselves as guests or hosts. Initially, we have a guest.

We want devotees to come and we want devotees to welcome us, take care of us, provide us everything. And that's nice. Devotees will do that.

But after some time, say if somebody comes for a program and then they get another person to the program. This is like this, this is like this, this is like this. That means what has happened? They have become hosts.

So once they start becoming hosts, that means they are becoming serious. So for us, we may not have purity right now. But if you just simply understand that this is what will purify you.

And what about others? They will be benefited. So our mood is that nowadays people don't like anyone to preach to them. In fact, the word preaching itself is considered like a dirty word.

Now people say that. You think that you are high up there and you are preaching to me? No, that is not, that is never the mood of Shri Prabhupada. Our mood is simply the mood of sharing.

So this was a medicine. Suppose we had a sickness for a long time and we found a medicine that works. And then you see somebody else has that same sickness.

Naturally we will tell you not to try this medicine. So that is our mood. That we had impurities, we had worries, we had cravings.

And those have decreased. So therefore, we speak about Krishna so that we can share with others that which has benefited us. And in this mood, when we practice bhakti and try to share Krishna bhakti with others, we get benefited and others also get benefited.

And actually, in the initial years of our bhakti, there is quite a dramatic transformation that happens. We see some of our bad habits falling away. We see some of our gross unworthiness going down.

And really we, this Krishna bhakti works. But after a few years of practice, we start wondering, what is working? It's like, you know when a baby is very small, the baby grows quite fast. Isn't it? But once the child comes to teenage, after that also growth.

But growth is very gradual. Isn't it? You can't every one month see the height increasing or something like that. So like that, as we start practicing bhakti steadily over the years, then the transformation in our heart is happening, but it is gradual.

So one of the best ways we can inspire ourselves to practice bhakti is by seeing the potency of bhakti at work. So when we share Krishna bhakti with others and we see their lives getting transformed, then our own faith in Krishna bhakti increases. So we can see this dramatic transformation in people's lives.

And when that happens, that's when actually we start realizing this really works. It's very powerful. So for us, the dramatic transformation happens initially in our lives, but later on we see it happening in others' lives and we become an agent for that happening.

And then that gives us faith that we should practice it. In a pharmaceutical company, the managers found that the staff was becoming very careless about the medicine. They were not keeping it properly, preserving it properly, not handling it properly.

And then they tried to give talks, saying this is very important, take care of it. But they're not taking care. And finally they made a plan.

They took these employees to a place where there was an epidemic. And the medicine which they were handling was a cure for the epidemic. And they told them, you go and give this medicine.

And then they went and gave the medicine. And they saw actually people who were suffering terribly, they got relief. And then they started realizing this is not just some ordinary object that I'm handling.

It's a very powerful medicine. So then they started handling it with more care. Similarly for us, when we start sharing Krishna Bhakti, then we start appreciating its value.

So with that mood, when we share, then Prabhupada is saying let me have purity by which this message will be effective. But we practice it and we get purification with that. That is our level right now.

Go ahead. Now come to your conclusion, second last time. आनियाच जद प्रभु अमारे नचाते, नचाओ नचाओ प्रभु नचाओ से माते, कश्ठेर पुत्ति जथा नचाओ से माते.

If you have brought me here to dance, O Lord, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance. To your tune as a puppeteer makes a puppet dance. So here this metaphor of dance.

Can you go ahead and talk a few things about this? Now dance as a mode of surrender. I talked about two aspects in bhakti that there is dependence and there is diligence. So in the Bible it is described that when Jesus, the last day, the last supper which he had, after that he knew that the next day he was going to be betrayed and he would be crucified.

So he prays, O Father, let this cup pass. Cup means at that time when a person was to be executed or was to be killed, they would be given a cup of hemlock. Hemlock is a poison.

You drink that and then you die. So Socrates was killed like that. So he says, let this cup pass.

But then he concludes, let thy will be done, not mine. So he expresses his desire but then he surrenders. So there are things which are beyond our control for which we say, let thy will be done.

Krishna, whatever you want, let it happen. And there are things which are in our control also. Arjuna, we see at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, what does he tell Krishna? Karishe vacinam tava.

He says, I will do your will. So where things are in our control, we have to do our will. So Prabhupada says, Krishna, make me dance.

Now to dance what is required? Two things are required. One is, first of all a stage is required. An audience is required.

And then a dancer is required. So the setting, the stage, the audience, everything, that is to be arranged. And then the person comes and dances.

So Prabhupada is saying that, make me dance. That means, I am ready to dance, O Lord. Now dancing requires skill.

It requires expertise. But you make me dance. You guide me how I should act.

How I should serve you. So both these moods are there in this metaphor of dancing. That, you know, you make me dance means I am dependent on you.

I am surrendered to you. But, it is I who will dance. That means, I am diligent also.

Diligence is also there. So, now we are all, this puppeteer metaphor may seem, what is this? Don't I have any free will? That I should dance like a puppeteer to Krishna's tune? Actually, we are already dancing like puppeteers. It is, when we say that this world is sometimes a Durga.

Durga means it's a prison or a fortress where we are trapped. Now the reason why we often don't understand we are trapped is that our bonds are not like prisoner's shackles which fix us to a place. Our bonds are like a puppeteer's strings which make us run around.

So I go here, I go there, I go here, I go everywhere. And I think I am free but I am being pulled by desires. From this part to that part, everywhere.

So our bonds are like puppeteer's strings. And because of this, we may not easily realize that we are bound. I am working on a book on addiction and how bhakti can help us when we are free from addiction.

There I read one story. This is a real life incident from addict's life. How for addicts, it's very important to come to the realization that I am bound.

It's only after that they can try to become free. So there was this alcoholic. One night, early in the morning, he just got a desire to drink.

He woke up on the bed and went to his fridge. And the particular brand of alcohol he wanted was not there. So then he got out, it's freezing cold.

He got into his car and drove to a nearby bar. He went to that bar, he found that that particular brand was not there also. So he had to go halfway across the town to another bar.

He went there and while he was going there, his car broke down. And when the desire grabs us, it can be so forceful. Although it was freezing cold, he had forgotten to wear the warm clothes also.

So he just got out of his car and ran to the bar. And he ran to the bar, got there and he ordered the drink. He got it, drank a gulp.

He drank it and said, no, I worked so hard to get it. I will drink this, I will savor this. So he closed the lid and started walking back.

He was walking back and in the snow, he slipped and fell down. And he had not put the lid properly. So what happened was, he bathed himself in the water.

He was lying down and he looked back. There were all these big buildings, all lights closed. And at that time it struck, what am I doing? I could be comfortably in my bed.

Here I am, lying in the snow in the cold night. I am bound, I am shackled. That was the time when he got that realization.

So we all are bound, by our bondage we don't easily realize it. Often when we have particular desire and that desire is not fulfilled, we get frustrated. We feel dissatisfied.

Now dissatisfaction is caused not just by the frustration of desire. More fundamentally, dissatisfaction is caused because of domination by desire. That desire is dominating me and making me say, go and get this, get this, watch this, touch this, eat this.

And then when I don't get it, I get frustrated. And I think that my frustration is coming because this particular desire is not fulfilled. But is that desire really necessary for me? So we are all bound.

And to the extent we realize this bondage, to that extent we can start practicing bhakti seriously. So, sometimes when we are practicing bhakti, it may happen that, actually, sometimes our desires at one moment are so pure, so devotional. We feel like, I just want to practice bhakti, I don't want anything mundane.

And then a few moments later, suddenly, many sensual desires start coming. What happened? Just now I was so spiritual, what happened now? Why did my consciousness change like this? So actually, it is like, there are different metaphors. As a puppeteer, strings are there.

As long as the puppeteer is letting me move in a particular way, I move. But if the puppeteer pulls the string, hey, what happened? I thought I was pure, and suddenly the impure desire is coming. So it's not that we were pure and we became impure.

Rather, we had glimpses of the pure state. So, the sword of remembrance of Krishna. Bhagavatam says, the remembrance of Krishna is like a sword.

And wise people use this sword to cut off the bondage of karma. And to remember Krishna, you have to hear about Krishna. So who is the person who will not hear about Krishna? So, rather than getting frustrated or agitated, why am I having this desire? Or indulge in that desire? You have to understand, when the desire is coming, that means, the puppeteer's string is pulling me.

Many of you have seen the Bhagavad Gita as it is in the picture. There are three goddesses, they are represented as three modes. And they are pulling the strings.

So we are all bound like that. And for us, the remembrance of Krishna is like the sword. So when the desire has come, just intensely remember Krishna.

Chant His holy names. Hear some kirtan. Have some darshan of the deities which we may keep in our phone.

Remember some philosophical points, some shloka. Somehow remember Krishna. And cut off.

Cut off that bondage. So now, basically, we are all already puppets. So we can never be not controlled.

We can be either controlled by maya or we can be controlled by Krishna. So, Prabhupada says in the Krishna book, at the start of the Rasa Mila Vastan, everybody is dancing. Some people are dancing in Krishna's Nila.

Some people are dancing in Maya's Nila. So, when we surrender to Krishna, it is not that we lose our independence. Rather, whatever free will we have, we learn to use it for the best purpose.

So, when we surrender to Krishna, that means that we use our energy, we use our intelligence, but for the purpose of serving Him. And that way, Krishna bhakti doesn't actually limit us. Yes, there is one, you could say, circumference that I am going to serve Krishna.

But within that one circumference, there are many different ways in which you can serve. So meet me dance, O Lord. This is a prayer of active surrender.

It is surrender, but it is not passive surrender. It is active surrender. Go ahead.

Now, so here, bhakti naya, veda naya, nama kubhadaro. Bhaktivedanta nama ebe sarthakaro. Go ahead.

Neither devotion nor knowledge do I have, but firm faith in thy name I do have. Bhaktivedanta, name you have granted, may it by your grace be vindicated. So, he is praying, Krishna, please let this name come to me.

What does it mean? Let me manifest bhakti, let me manifest Vedanta and knowledge of Vedas. And meet me dance, O Lord. Now, we conclude by saying, how I said there is dancing, there has to be a stage and there has to be a dancer.

So, I'll conclude this whole session by talking about how Krishna set the stage for Prabhupada and how Prabhupada danced. See, Prabhupada came at the advanced age of 69-70 to America. And yet, historically speaking, if we see, it was just the right time when Prabhupada came.

I'll talk about, this is a whole talk I have on this topic, but I'll just make this brief here. I'll talk from a political perspective, the religious perspective and the cultural perspective. So, actually, initially till 1905-1910, America had a very open immigration policy.

But after that, they clamped down quite a bit. So, it was in 1965 that actually they opened up. So, when Prabhupada came, he actually came with a two-month visa.

And then he had to keep extending it. So, he came for two months, one month almost he stayed in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the second month he had to come to New York. And then, he just applied for extension.

At that time, if Prabhupada had come one year earlier, the immigration policy would have been very strict. And Prabhupada would have to go back after two months. And he just kept coming, kept coming.

And when this happened, he came, and these two months he kept extending, kept extending. And actually, it was almost for one and a half years, 1965 he came, one year. Prabhupada did not even need a lawyer.

Just went and told, I want to stay for one more, some more time. And two, he kept extending, kept extending. And then, finally, they got, they incorporated the International Society of Professional Consciousness.

And then, they got a lawyer. And Allen Ginsberg came, and he provided the funds for a lawyer. And then, they said that they extended further for Prabhupada.

And then, Prabhupada told one of his disciples. He says, you know, this American government is creating a lot of problems. So, you do one thing, you adopt me as your child.

She was at the age of Prabhupada's granddaughter. So, Prabhupada was just very nonchalant about the whole thing. It just worked out wonderfully.

So, how the timing, Krishna arranged in such a way that without much difficulty, Prabhupada was able to stay for a long time. And he could travel, he would come in, go out. Especially once he had an international society, it started spreading.

It was not that difficult. But the first two years, two, three years, how he stayed, that is amazing. And that is just the right timing that was arranged for that.

And also, religiously, from 1960 to 1965 was the Catholic Church, what they called the Second Vatican Council. And that was the time when the Catholic Church became more open to other religions. Till that time, even now they believe that Jesus is the only way.

But till that time, more or less they believed that all other religions, they are not ways to God. They are the arrangements of the devil. To take people away from God.

So, it was 1965 that the Vatican Council, they declared that, that which is noble and good in all religions of the world, that which fosters spirituality and takes people closer to God, we value that. This is a simple basic statement. But it took Krishna 2,000 years to come up with that statement.

So, but after that, Christians became very open. And that's how they started exploring. And now, how did it affect Prabhupada? Not directly, but indirectly that when Prabhupada started speaking about Krishna Bhakti, sometimes he would go to universities and give talks.

Sometimes his disciples in the early days, they were from very different background and the parents would get alarmed. What is this child doing? So, at one time, a Catholic monk, he came to see what are these Hare Krishnas. And he heard so many weird things about them.

And sometimes devotees are also very provocative. See, normally, we have to be intelligent in presenting ourselves. Now, say, a few months ago this iPhone X has come.

Now, if Apple is going to advertise the iPhone, is the first thing they are going to say? The price is $1,000. The price will not come at all. No, they will say, this is the feature, this is the feature, this is the feature, this is the feature.

And then, at the end, we have to say, what is the cost of this? So, first we tell the product, get people attracted to the product, and then we tell the price of the product. But what devotees do is, no, what is this Hare Krishna? It means no meat-eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex, no gambling. So, sometimes, when we start practicing some principles, there is a kind of pride that comes, I am practicing so much.

And then we want to tell the whole world about it. And people say, hey, no Krishna Bhakti Baba, we can't do it. So, we have to tell about the product first, not the price of the product.

We have to tell how Krishna Consciousness, how the Bhagavad Gita's philosophy helps us make sense of the world. How it transforms us, how it benefits us. So, when we focus on that, then later on people can, they can pay the price.

So, anyway, the point I was making is, devotees sometimes get, they don't present in the best possible way about Krishna Bhakti. So, there was this Christian monk, he came on a, came on a, what you call, a reconnaissance mission. See, what are these Hare Krishnas? So, he came and talked with some people and he said that, he was completely bewildered on seeing the conviction in the practice and the confusion about the philosophy.

So, because these were just devotees who were there for one year, six months, one and a half years. They were so convinced and there was such commitment to the practice. But when you ask them a little few questions, they had no idea.

So, he says, I just couldn't reconcile it till I met Prabhupada. And he said, there, he is the secret, he is attracting people, he is inspiring people. And then he came and actually stayed in Hare Krishna monastery.

So, when he went back, he gave a report, he says, you know, he says, I have not felt as close to God even in the church as I felt in the Hare Krishna temple. He says, don't speak this in public. But then he told that later in an interview.

But the point was that, because they were open at that time to explore. So, when there were some concerns which were raised, what are these kids getting into? So, parents would ask, go to their local bishops, local churches. And many times they actually said, yes, that's what they are doing.

Anyway, these hippies are not going to come to our church. So, at least let them go to temple. Only when the number of devotees had become a lot, then they became a little concerned.

But then Prabhupada's pastor came to Prabhupada and he said, Swamiji, why is it that these young people don't come to our churches? They come to your temples. Prabhupada said, Prabhupada is very practical. He said, he showed them a prasadam feast.

He said, we give a six course meal and you give one piece of paper. So, they actually had a lot of openness. And especially when the brainwashing case came against us.

At that time, many of the Christian scholars and Christian leaders, they came out to support us. They said, this is a bona fide tradition. And that helped us a lot.

So, of course, they also had their own motives. Because they felt, today this religion is being persecuted. Tomorrow we will also be persecuted.

So, they wanted to protect against that. But the point is that openness helped Prabhupada to not have too much religious hostility when he started speaking. So, this kind of openness is not there in the Islamic countries.

So, it was there largely because of the Second Vatican Council. And that just got finished in 1965. In fact, it was about a month before Prabhupada came to America, the Vatican Council passed its resolution.

So, I died after that. And another thing that was wonderful happened was that for many of the Christian scholars who even knew something about Hinduism, their idea was that Hinduism is impersonalistic. Because that's what most of the Indian spiritual teachers who had come before Prabhupada, that's what they had taught.

So, for them the discovery of a personal conception of God within Hinduism was a very pleasant surprise. That's why there was a lot of bonding that happened. And third of course was culture.

Prabhupada came at a time when the counterculture was prevalent. So, after 1940s, when the Second World War got over, America became a superpower. The main reason was America had very little casualties.

Because America is surrounded by oceans from all sides. So, it's not so easy to attack. Most of the war happened in Europe, Africa, Asia.

America supplied weapons to all of them. And it made money. American soldiers also went and they also fought their casualties.

But largely, America became very prosperous. So, what was considered like the great American dream. You know, you have a nice house, a good car.

We have a prosperous life. But that was handed on a platter to the children of the 1940s generation. So, almost everything that is considered as a goal of life by people in the materialistic world view, that was already available for them.

And they felt there's nothing in this. There must be something more. And that was the time when they started, some thinkers started saying that you should experience something higher.

And they said that drugs are the way to something higher. Now, LSD is the name of a chemical, short form of a chemical. But when this drug was touted as the way to higher spiritual levels of consciousness, they renamed the drug or rather they gave a new acronym for the drug.

LSD is League of Spiritual Discovery. All those who take LSD, you're joining the League of Spiritual Discovery. So, it was at that time, in 1965 when Prabhupada came, this whole counterculture was just beginning.

And if Prabhupada had come by the 1970s, at that time people had become addicted to drugs. Here they were into drugs, but they had not got addicted. Because they were into drugs, not because they wanted drugs, but because they wanted something spiritual.

And when they found an alternative way to getting something spiritual, they took it. So, again a few years earlier or a few years later, it would not have worked out. Krishna arranged for Prabhupada to come at the right time.

And the people who were drug addicts, many of them, they just started chanting Hare Krishna and started getting transformed. And Prabhupada was also an expert. One time a hippie came to him and he said, Swami, Prabhupada is talking about a spiritual world.

So, what is the bliss of the spiritual world like? So, Prabhupada answered, it is like an ocean of LSD. Oh, yeah, I want to go there. Now, somebody may say that the seventh offense to the holy name is to give some… No, one of the offenses to the holy name is that to give mundane interpretation.

So, how can you compare the bliss of Vaikuntha to LSD? Again, I told earlier that the point is not just to get it right, the point is to get it across. So, if the only conception of happiness of people or the primary conception of happiness of people is drugs, then you have to explain the highest happiness also in those terms. So, Prabhupada was an expert in that.

And Prabhupada attracted hundreds and thousands of people. In America, in Canada, in Europe. So, it was Krishna who set the stage for Prabhupada to dance.

Now, here is an important point. Some people say that, okay, it was because the circumstances were right, that's why Prabhupada was able to preach. No, even if the best stage is there, still the performance will depend on the dancer.

You may get the best stage, but if the dancer doesn't know how to dance, what will come out of it? So, it was, when we are talking about the setting made by Prabhupada and Krishna, that is in no way taking away the credit from Prabhupada. It was Krishna who arranged the setting, but then Prabhupada also was an expert dancer. The way he expertly presented Krishna Bhakti to thousands and thousands of people all over the world, that has very few parallels in world history.

So, I'll conclude with a quote of one western scholar of religion, Thomas Hopkins. So, Prabhupada Krishna is saying that, may Krishna make me dance. I saw now, there is dependence and there is diligence.

So, the dependence is Krishna arranged the stage, the diligence is how Prabhupada danced. So, it's an astonishing story. If someone told you a story like this, you wouldn't believe it.

Here is this person, he is 70 years old. He is going to a country where he has never been before. He doesn't know anybody there.

He has no money, has no contacts. He has none of the things you would say that make for success. There is a Christian pastor.

He is known to be one of the most organized preachers in the world. So, he has written a book about what is the best way to start a temple or start a church. So, our devotees also use the strategies that he has given.

So, if you look at all the factors you look for to start a center, not one of the factors was there for Prabhupada. So, it is the most unlikely place. He says, he had none of the things you would say that can make for success.

He is going to recruit people, not on any systematic basis, but just picking up whoever he comes across. And he is going to give them responsibility for organizing a worldwide movement. You would say, what kind of program is that? Normally, if you have a big company, there are interviews.

Who can qualify for the company? Even to get an ordinary job in the company, there is so much grilling that is done. Here, Prabhupada got people. The head guru Prabhu, Prabhupada told him, now you run back to Godhead magazine.

So, he said, Prabhupada, the only thing I have done with the magazine is read it. How do you publish a magazine? I don't know anything about it. He said, no, Krishna will help you.

So, Prabhupada had that faith that Krishna, not just he had the faith, Prabhupada would create that faith that Krishna is a real person and Krishna will help you if you try to serve him. So, because that faith was induced by Prabhupada, the devotees were ready to do anything and everything. Just as Krishna, when he played the flute, the gopis left everything and came running to Krishna.

So, like that, Prabhupada just gave a command and devotees were ready to go anywhere in the world and preach in all parts of the world. One time, one man in India said, Swami, you say you have your organization all over the world. Do you have a temple in Pakistan? So, Prabhupada said, we will soon establish one.

And then some of his disciples, he said, Prabhupada just looked at him and said, I will go to Pakistan. And then he went to Pakistan and in Pakistan, he was doing public Hari Ram Sankirtan. And then the Hindus came and said, don't do this.

But he said, he was fearless. Some Muslims came and they wiped off his silak and they pushed him and he kept doing. He kept doing kirtans.

And then Prabhupada got the news that, it came at that time in the Times of India that Hare Krishna monk has been killed in Pakistan. And Prabhupada was very distressed. And then after, they didn't know what had happened.

But after a few days, Mahanand Prabhupada had gone there. He came to India. And Prabhupada was so happy.

Prabhupada blessed and embraced him. He said, you risk your life for me. And the point was that, Prabhupada, he just gave an instruction that the devotees are ready to do anything for Krishna's sake.

So, the way the devotees went to England and they met George Harrison. That's also an amazing story. So, what happened was, Prabhupada infused that faith, that spiritual desire, that conviction.

So, what kind of program is that? Many of those devotees, they said that, we had some power. And now, one of the Buddhist gurus was telling me, now if I go and distribute books, you know, I might distribute 5-10 books. But at that time, you just go and distribute, 100 books will go.

One of the distributors was telling that, he once was distributing a book. And he gave a book to someone. And he saw, that person said, no, I don't want a book.

And he was distributing at the airport. And that person was just watching. And then, after some time, he came and he gave his card.

And he was like the HR head of one of the biggest companies in America. And he said, you know, I have done courses for 20 people in marketing. But I have never seen anyone market like this.

How do you do this? He said, you know, if ever you want a job, come to me, I will give you a job. I have the best job. So, actually, at that time, there was an empowerment that was there.

Satsvaru Maharaj writes that, in one of his books about Prabhupada, he said that, actually, he got the realization, many people have the realization that, Prabhupada had such a sincere desire to glorify Krishna. Sincere desire to share Krishna's message with the world. And Krishna was so pleased with Prabhupada, because Prabhupada had sacrificed so much for Krishna's sake.

So, Prabhupada wanted to fulfill Krishna's desire. Now, for acting in this world, for functioning in this world, Krishna needs agents. So, he said that, Krishna used us because he wanted to fulfill Prabhupada's desire.

So, this was like a loving affair between Prabhupada and Krishna. Prabhupada wanted to please Krishna by sharing his glories. And Krishna wanted to fulfill Prabhupada's desire.

So, we became the accidental beneficiaries of that. And so, the way the movement spread was amazing. And so, I said, what kind of program is that? Go ahead.

There are precedents, perhaps. Jesus of Nazareth went around saying, come, follow me. Drop your nets or leave your tax collecting and come with me and be my disciple.

But in his case, he wasn't an old man in a strange society. Dealing with people whose backgrounds were totally different from his own. He was dealing with his own community.

Bhaktivedanta Swami's achievements then must be seen as unique. Shri Prabhupada Ki Jai! So, practically never in the history of religion in the world has a religious movement spread so rapidly. And yes, there are movements which spread very fast.

But most of them collapse after the departure of the founder. Our movement also has had its difficulties. But, despite the difficulties, it has kept spreading.

And the point is not just that it's been spreading in numbers. The point is also that devotees are becoming Krishna conscious. And one of the tests is our goal is not just to have a big number of followers in this world.

Our goal is ultimately to go back to Krishna. So many devotees all over the world they are departing in such wonderful consciousness. Krishna is arranging for them in their last moments.

They are around devotees, devotees are chanting for them. They are remembering Krishna, praying to Krishna. And that is also a test of Krishna bhakti.

Sridhar Swami was Prabhupada's one of his dear disciples. He was known as the Jolly Swami. So, he had some severe liver problem.

Because of which he couldn't very he couldn't function very easily. So finally, he had gone to Europe to preach, to America to preach, to Canada. And then the doctors told him that there is nothing going to work.

So, he decided to stay there itself. But in the end Maharaj told him, they were friends, he said, you know, you should depart in my abode. So, then he was in Africa.

So, he said, I will come to London. You also come to London and we will go back together. So, when both of them met in London.

So, at that time he just he went to his room they were supposed to go abroad, go back. So, at that time he just came out and he had gone to bath and came out and his blood vessels instead of being red, they were blue. So, because of that liver disease.

So, he was taken aback and he saw this. So, this is just the blood vessels. One of the big ones go, then I will go.

He was completely nonchalant. And then they were just checking through the tickets and everything because he was quite sick. So, he checked through the ticket and then most of the devotees when they come from America to India, they have a two-way ticket.

And then he told Maharaj, Maharaj, you have only a one-way ticket. And then he realized what he was thinking. So, then it was an embarrassing moment.

Shidhar Maharaj said, yes. Now, Prabhupada has given a one-way ticket to Krishna. This was cheerful.

So, then in the plane when he was there he started getting a lot of pain. So, he was moaning a little bit. The air hostess came over there.

He says, is anything wrong? And amazingly Shidhar Maharaj, he said that in this material world there is always something wrong. And he started preaching to her. And then he told her that that actually if you want to learn more, here is this book.

This is the best solutions to get out of this world. So, she looked at him and she saw that he was a monk's dresser. Is that what you are doing? Someone said, that is exactly what I am doing.

Then came to Mayapur. So, the devotees had arranged a car for him to receive him. So, he was lying on a stretcher behind.

And then some of his leading disciples were there. So, Maharaj started speaking. He said, when I decided to become a monk then I knew I was going to have a family.

So, I would never have the joy of having children. This is all of you have been more than children to me. Appreciating all their service that they had done.

And then when he came to Mayapur, he reached early morning around 7.38. So, the devotees arranged to cancel the Bhagavatam class. And the GBC meetings were going on. So, practically all the leading disciples of Sri Prabhupada, they were there at the entrance and all the way doing kirtans to welcome Chandran and Prabhupada's army to come back.

And then he said he had three desires. He wanted to be in Mayapur. He wanted to go there for Panchatattu festival.

And then he wanted to be there for Gaur Purnima. He wanted to celebrate Gaur Purnima. So, Krishna arranged that all three desires are fulfilled.

On the day of Panchatattu he was there. Actually doing one of the first aratis for the deities. And then the devotees said that when the Gaur Purnima came he says that Gaur Purnima was a very auspicious day to leave.

It was clear that he was going to die. So, when he, actually before this, when he came to Mayapur, he went and had darshan and then they went to his room. So, he was extremely tired and exhausted.

You see, he was almost falling unconscious. So, they rushed and got a doctor. Everybody was very sober.

Maharaj was almost unconscious. He came back to consciousness. He looked around and saw all these green faces.

And the doctor with a stethoscope trying to check. So, doctor, is it a boy or a girl? So, when I had gone to Mayapur for a camp, so I got to have his darshan at that time. I had met him a few times before.

So, he knew me. So, there we were talking. So, he said that you know, maybe the ONGC should come and exhibit a plant over here.

There is so much gas over here. ONGC is the Oil and Natural Gas Company of India. So, he had terrible sickness but he was just so nonchalant about it, so cheerful about it.

And then he said, do you know what he said? Gaurapurnima will be an auspicious day for him to depart. He said, no. He said, I don't want to depart.

I am not departing Gaurapurnima. Because then, Gaurapurnima is a festival about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. I don't want it to be a festival about Shri Dharaswami.

So, he says, I don't want to die. So, a few days later after that, a few days around Shiva Shastaka's appearance day, early morning at 4 o'clock, the devotees around him now cheerfully departed from the world. So, actually this is the ultimate test.

There were many organizations which spread far and wide. But at the moment of death, what is the consciousness? And Shri Prabhupada himself exemplified how to depart. He was in Vrindavan.

He left Vrindavan. He established the plicas of Vrindavan all over the world. And Krishna arranged for him to come back to Vrindavan.

And he departed also in the midst of his loving devotee disciples. And Prabhupada, he said that when he was asked that who will be your successor? So, Prabhupada did not appoint any one successor. And when he was asked what did Prabhupada say? Whoever wants to be.

Where wants to be means the succession from the spiritual master to the disciple is not in terms of any property. Property might be there. But Bhakti Sannyasi Thakur, what did Prabhupada get from him? The main legacy of the spiritual master to the disciple is the desire to serve Krishna.

The desire to glorify Krishna. So, the body might have a lot of properties, but Prabhupada did not get any of that. But what Prabhupada got from Bhakti Sannyasi Thakur was that burning desire to glorify Krishna.

And with that desire, everything else manifested. So, for all of us, when we are practicing Krishna Bhakti, we all have our conditions, we all have our difficulties. And as for us, our difficulties are serious.

It may be our mind and senses, it may be our family issues, it may be job issues, it may be other social issues. We all have difficulties. But if you consider the difficulties in the perspective of the difficulties that Prabhupada went through to establish the Krishna Consciousness Movement, to give us the opportunity to practice Krishna Consciousness, then our difficulties will take into significance.

Suppose a child is very sick and at that time the child is given a medicine and it's a very bitter medicine. The child says, I don't want to take it. I don't want to take it.

But then, if the child comes to know that although the medicine is very bitter, it's actually a very expensive medicine. And to get that medicine, his mother has actually sold her own jewelry. The taste of the bitterness of the medicine will still be there.

But the child's whole focus will shift to, my mother has sacrificed so much. So, when the child takes the medicine, the focus will not be on the bitterness of the medicine. The focus will be on the love of the mother.

So, like that, for all of us, we have a difficulty in practicing Krishna Bhakti. But if we shift our focus to the sacrifices that Sri Prabhupada has done and that Sri Prabhupada has inspired his followers to do, so that we have the opportunity to practice Krishna Bhakti, then these difficulties, they will not appear all that big. Yes, they are there, but it's not that much.

I'll get over it. If Prabhupada could overcome so many obstacles for my sake, then I can overcome these small obstacles. So, Krishna Bhakti is not mission impossible.

It is mission unstoppable. Mission impossible, it may seem like. I have so many conditioning.

I have so many attachments. How will I be able to overcome it? But actually, by Krishna's mercy, we will be able to overcome it all. Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, He says, by my arrangement, all your enemies have been killed.

You just arise and fight and take the glory. The Bhagavad Gita concludes, 80.78 is, where there is Krishna, where there is Arjuna, there is victory over there. Now, recently, I like to, the book I contemplate on the most, recently I had this thought that, actually, where there is Krishna, there is victory.

Isn't it? Krishna is Lakshmipati. So, why does Arjuna have to be mentioned there at all? Where there is Krishna and Arjuna, there is victory. You could say, where there is Krishna, there is victory.

But the point is, there is a contextual reason, because Dhritarashtra is asking, what happened? He wants to know what is the fate of the battle. So, he is indirectly saying that, the Pandavas are going to win. But more importantly, actually, the Bhagavad Gita's mood is not just to demonstrate God's omnipotence.

The Bhagavad Gita's mood is to harmonize humanity with divinity. Now, Krishna could have destroyed all the Kauravas by his own power. But he wanted Arjuna to fight.

He wanted Arjuna to take the credit. So, similarly, actually, the point is that, for Prabhupada and for Krishna, Krishna could have arranged everyone to become devotees. But Krishna wants us to become his instruments.

So, in every generation, Prabhupada came about one or two generations ago. Prabhupada and by Krishna's arrangement, by Prabhupada's mercy, in every generation, there will be devotees who will purify themselves, who will become elevated, who will go to Krishna and will take many other people to Krishna. So, this, the removal of our inner Arthas is a mission unstoppable.

Once we have got a taste for Krishna Bhakti, that taste is always going to be there with us. No matter what happens. We may go on enjoying worldly things, but we are not getting satisfaction with that.

And we will come back to Krishna. But there is no need to waste that time going and trying to enjoy that which has been enjoyed. Just focus wholeheartedly on Krishna Bhakti.

And even if the enemies seem, the Arthas seem impossible to overcome, they will be overcome by Krishna's mercy. And especially if we try to become instruments for Shila Prabhupada, for fulfilling Shila Prabhupada's desires, then Krishna will use us, he will purify us for Prabhupada's sake. So that we can become instruments for him.

And in that way, by Prabhupada's mercy and by Krishna's desire to fulfill Prabhupada's desire, we will become the accidental beneficiaries. So that is a parampara of accidental beneficiaries. And we all can be a part of that.

Now in every generation, Krishna needs representatives of that generation. There have been great Acharyas, but those Acharyas preached in their generation. In our generation, they will not preach directly.

In our generation, it is people from our generation who have to do it. And if we take up that responsibility, if we try to become pure ourselves and we try to share Krishna's message with others, then we will find that we will be empowered in extraordinary ways. In ways that we can't even imagine.

Our hearts will get purified, we will become transformed, we will become empowered, and Krishna will do wonderful things to us and wonderful things through us. Thank you very much. Prabhupada Ki Jai Gaur Bhakta Vrinda Ki Jai Da Gaur Prema Anande Jai Applause Applause Applause.