When the source of liberation becomes the source of illusion 2 – Mohini-murti pastime analysis

[Congregation program at Charlotte, USA]

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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
How when we practice Bhakti, the Bhagavatam demonstrates Paradharma. Normally people practice Dharma to gain things in this world. We think of these, the gains in this world, fame, position, power, wealth, as very valuable gains.
But life can offer us something eternal, eternal love for Krishna, eternal life. So if we get some inheritance with something which looks like junk, we may get a few hundred dollars for that but we can actually get several thousand dollars for that if we realize its value. So human life, if we think it is meant for worldly gains, then that is like seeking a few hundred dollars.
So we can get the worldly gains also, but we don’t want to let the worldly gains keep us away from the other worldly, the spiritual gains. The Bhagavatam sometimes demonstrates pastimes where there are great souls who give up the worldly gain to get the other worldly gain. And that is what is demonstrated through this Mohini Murthy pastime.
So when Lord Shiva desires to see Mohini Murthy, his desire is a pious desire because he wants to have darshan of another form of the Lord. But sometimes our desires can have, can turn out to be very dangerous for us. So we have to carefully select what desires we desire to fulfill.
And then when he sees Mohini Murthy, he just gets captivated and starts running after her, going after her even in the presence of his wife and even in the presence of sages who respect him. So generally many desires or emotions come up within us, but nature has given us the buffer that we don’t, people can’t see our minds. So civilized society means that the fear of disgrace, the fear of shame keeps us from doing things which are considered reproachable or shameful.
And of course there is the fear of God also ultimately which can also keep us on the right track. So in general we want fame in this world but most people struggle to get fame and fail. Even those who succeed, then they fall from fame to anonymity and that’s very painful.
And even when the fame is there, they struggle to have that privacy. So fame is not all that is touted to be. And Lord Shiva, if this pastime loses his fame, he is considered to be an exalted soul who can never, who instructs others in dharma.
He is among the greatest of devatas. But then when he is publicly disgraced by chasing after Mohini Murthy, then as soon as he regains his sense at that time, rather than beating himself up, he glorifies the Lord. So if you can’t succeed in Krishna consciousness, you can fail in Krishna consciousness, not fail out of Krishna consciousness.
So we normally, there are certain things which make us conscious of Krishna and certain things which make us unconscious of Krishna. But we can become conscious of Krishna even in the things that make us unconscious of him. Everything attractive comes from God.
And if we see the attractiveness of those things as coming from God, then we can become God conscious through those things also. But we don’t focus on those things because everything attractive comes from God, everything attractive doesn’t take us to God. So we try to focus our consciousness on those things which take us towards Krishna.
And other things, we keep a safe distance from them in such a way that we don’t get distracted or deluded. But if at all we get deluded, then at that time, we try to understand that there is something here which is a healthy need which is being fulfilled in an unhealthy way. So rather than just trying to use willpower to curb the craving, we can see what healthy need is this unhealthy craving a distortion of.
And then we try to fulfill that healthy need in a healthy way through something devotional, whether it is a need for belonging, whether it is a need for relief from life stresses, whatever. And lastly, I concluded when such a problem comes in our life, we don’t beat ourselves up but rather we pick ourselves up focusing on Krishna. So we may fall down but we don’t have to fall away.
And if somebody has fallen down, if we start publicly speaking about it and condemning it, we may kick them away. So when somebody falls down, we can see them like a wounded soldier. They need the hospital, not the prison.
And if generally traditional cultures are face-saving, the purpose of that is that we don’t speak about the failures of the great souls, of those who are greater than us. The idea is we help them to maintain their position. Lord Shiva is such a great devotee that he is ready to lose face so that he can glorify the Lord.
Such a test is not normally sent to any ordinary devotee. And we shouldn’t think that we are actually doing anything good for others if we are broadcasting their failures or false. And if at all for the purpose of awareness, making someone aware, making ourselves or others aware, we have to discuss something like this, the test is we should not get any pleasure in discussing about it.
And we should speak in such a way that doesn’t give a negative picture of that person. We appreciate that person as much as we can in that situation. And thus we can have a society where we all encourage others to move towards Krishna in spite of whatever slips or falls we may have.
So Lord Shiva lost fame but through that loss of fame he gained fame. He demonstrated his love for Krishna and he deepened his love for Krishna. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or