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Lecture: Srimad Bhagavatam 4.28.32
Atlanta, Georgia SDA: (Kirtana
and invocatory prayers for 10 minutes.)
om namo bhagavate vasudeva
Srimad-Bhagavatam Fourth
Canto, Chapter 28, Text number 32.
(audience repeats word by word)
agastyah prag duhitaram agastyah—the great sage Agastya; prak—first; duhitaram—daughter;
upayeme—married; dhrta-vratam—taken to vows; yasyam—through whom;
drdhacyutah—named Drdhacyuta; jatah—was born; idhmavaha—named Idhmavaha;
atma-jah—son; munih—the great sage. Translation and
purport by His Divine Grace, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
savior of the whole universe.
“The great sage named Agastya married the first-born daughter of Malayadhvaja, the avowed devotee of Lord Krishna. From her, one son was born whose name was Drdhacyuta, and from him another son was born, whose name was Idhmavaha.” Purport “The name
Agastya Muni is very significant. Agastya Muni represents the mind. The
word agastya indicates that the senses do not act independently,
and the word muni means "mind." The mind is the center of all the
senses, and thus the senses cannot work independent of the mind. When
the mind takes to the cult of bhakti, it engages in devotional
service. The cult of bhakti (bhakti-lata) is the first
daughter of Malayadhvaja, and as previously described, her eyes are
always upon Krishna (asiteksanam). One cannot render bhakti
to any demigod. Bhakti can be rendered only to Vishnu (sravanam
kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23]). Thinking the Absolute Truth to be
without form, the Mayavadis say that the word bhakti can
apply to any form of worship. If this were the case, a devotee could
imagine any demigod or any godly form and worship it. This, however, is
not the real fact. The real fact is that bhakti can be applied
only to Lord Vishnu and His expansions. Therefore bhakti-lata is
drdha-vrata, the great vow, for when the mind is completely
engaged in devotional service, the mind does not fall down. If one tries
to advance by other means—by karma-yoga or jnana-yoga—one
will fall down, but if one is fixed in bhakti, he never falls
down. Thus from
bhakti-lata the son Drdhacyuta is born, and from Drdhacyuta the next
son, Idhmavaha, is born. The word idhma-vaha refers to one who
carries wood for burning in a sacrifice when approaching a spiritual
master. The point is that bhakti-lata, the cult of devotion,
fixes one in his spiritual position. One so fixed never comes down, and
he begets children who are strict followers of the sastric
injunctions. As said in the Vedas:
tad-vijnanartham sa gurum
evabhigacchet In the line of
devotional service, those who are initiated are strict followers of the
Vedic scriptural injunctions.” [End of Purport]
om ajnana-timirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
sri-caitanya-mano-bhistam sthapitam
yena bhu-tale So, it is my
greatest pleasure, beyond any words to describe my happiness to be here,
especially with my dear God brothers Balabhadra Bhattacarya prabhu and
Vaisnavananda prabhu, with whom I served here back in the old days.
With whom we shared the association of Prabhupada when he came
here, in 1975. So, just
coming around this holy, holy dhama, I'm just reliving all those
memories, and its very powerful actually.
I can hardly express what I'm feeling this morning, to be in this
holy place. To see where I
stood, right there, by Prabhupada.
So many wonderful pastimes were there.
Prabhupada taught us that song Parama Karuna two nights in
a row. The second night we
had the song sheets. The
first night there were no song sheets.
Such a nice song, how Prabhupada, he didn't see the Deities.
He saw Gaura-Nitai.
He didn't see Deities (Laughing), he saw Gaura-Nitai standing.
Just imagine,
you go back in time to Navadvipa, 500 years ago, and you're on the bank
of the Ganges, and there come Gaura-Nitai walking down the road.
“Hari Bol, Hari Bol!
Nitai chanting.”
So, that is what Prabhupada saw.
Prabhupada was actually there in Caitanya-lila directly
seeing Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, when he was here in this temple.
I always remember that this temple was the kirtan capital of
ISKCON in the early days, in the heydays. Devotees:
Yeah! SDA:
(Laughing) And I
still think its the kirtan capital here.
This is one of the special, special places of Prabhupada's
pastimes. The dust of his
feet has so much sanctified this holy dhama.
Even, we saw several years ago at the Panihati festival that
Prabhupada was actually sitting here.
It wasn't a deity of Prabhupada. He was crying tears of ecstasy.
We saw the tears coming down his right cheek.
He was feeling so enlivened by the pastimes of Lord Caitanya
going on here that he was just crying in ecstasy.
So, this is not deity.
This is Prabhupada actually sitting here.
You should never think it’s a deity of Prabhupada.
Its Prabhupada himself sitting here.
So, I was so happy that I got to offer guru-puja today.
It was just so sweet and wonderful.
I just can't describe how sweet and wonderful it was.
So, Prabhupada
has given us this wonderful, wonderful Bhagavatam.
Beautiful Bhagavatam.
Srimad-Bhagavatam to give us the crest jewel of wisdom
available anywhere in the world.
Of course this is the book that Prabhupada brought from India,
Srimad-Bhagavatam.
There are so many Vedic literatures, but what did Prabhupada bring?
He brought Srimad-Bhagavatam. So, this is very nice, very
instructive, what we are reading here this morning.
Super, super instructive information.
Starting at the end of the purport, and working backwards.
Now we can see how Prabhupada is emphasizing the initiated.
This is so important, to become an initiated disciple.
Why? Because that
means you're actually plugged in.
You're fully connected. The plug can be
close to the socket. It can
be associating with the socket.
It can be very close, but the electricity flows when it’s
actually plugged in.
There's some association.
There can be some association between the plug and the socket, even
before it’s plugged in.
It’s sitting near the socket, thinking of plugging in, and that's very
good. We encourage it.
Yes, you come near. This
is called sadhu-sanga.
You come near the socket.
You dear plugs of this material world, you come near the socket.
You associate, and you see the result that those are getting who
are actually plugged in.
This is sadhu-sanga.
You can see those devotees who are fully plugged in to the process of
sadhana-bhakti, who have taken diksa, who have fully accepted
the spiritual master as their eternal shelter.
You see the result they are getting.
You see the bliss they are tasting.
You see the knowledge they have, the realization they have,
having done that, and then you'll start to think, Hmm.
Maybe I should plug in too.
Maybe I should get initiated also.
Plug in to this process of bhakti-yoga.
When we actually plug in that's when the real advancement
happens. That's when it
really begins to move.
The Hare Krishna
movement really starts moving for us when we plug in by initiation.
So, Prabhupada is saying, that is strict following.
Those who are strict followers.. Those who are not initiated are
not strict followers.
That's the obvious conclusion.
So, Krishna says in as much as they surrender to Me, I reward
them accordingly. So, we
have to decide how much nectar do I want to get out of this process of
Krishna consciousness? Do I
want a little, tiny drop of nectar, or I would like oceans of nectar?
That we have to decide.
How much nectar do I want? If you go to
visit Bill Gates, and he says, I will give you whatever amount of money
you want, and you say, well I could use twenty dollars, would that be a
very intelligent thing? Oh,
give me a couple billion at least.
Bill billion Gates.
Give me at least a few billion dollars.
If you could afford a few billion, just imagine what we could do
to spread Krishna consciousness with a few billion dollars.
You see how much we could use that.
So, if you are there, you have the opportunity to get unlimited
oceans of nectar. Why would
you settle only for a drop?
That is not intelligent.
One should fully connect with the process.
Become an initiated disciple into the guru-parampara
system. Connect to
Prabhupada fully through the guru-parampara system.
Just like
sometimes a bunch of friends are swimming in the lake.
Nice summer day, they're having a cool dip in the lake, and
you're there. You come
along, but you're a little hesitant.
You're sitting on the shore.
Well I don't know.
It looks a little chilly in the water.
They're saying come on in.
The waters fine!
Come on in, come on! Well,
I don't know. You know.
You put your toes in, oh, it feels a little chilly, and maybe
you're up to your ankle.
Swish around your ankles in the water a little bit.
They're saying come on in, just dive in!
Come on, just dive in!
Its great! Come on
in! Well, I don't know.
All right, then (Makes splashing sound) dive in.
So sometimes we
are hesitant to dive in to the process of Krishna consciousness fully.
We're thinking it is some spectator sport.
I will sit in the bleachers and enjoy it, but I can tell you, the
real enjoyment is when you get out on the playing field.
Sitting in the bleachers, that is also nice, because, if you sit
in the bleachers long enough, you'll finally, you will not be able to
resist, and you will jump into that playing field.
Finally you will jump in.
So, we encourage, yes, you come and sit in the bleachers very
nicely. We will give you
nice prasadam. We will give
you wonderful loving kindness.
All Vaisnava etiquette we will give you, so you feel very happy
sitting in the bleachers, watching the sankirtan movement
ecstatically emanating unlimited tidal waves of mercy to inundate this
universe. Then when you finally get it, you will be there jumping in
completely also. Because
who can resist this mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and Lord Nityananda?
Their mercy is irresistible.
Absolutely irresistible mercy.
So, very nice
points here are being made by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.
Of course, this bhakti cult, it is for persons, of course,
now they say ‘cult’ is bad word, but actually from an academic
viewpoint, ‘cult’ is not a bad word.
Simply in the media, it is a bad word.
But from a scholarly point of view, the word ‘cult’ is a bona
fide word.
It’s
a culture.
It’s a culture, that's all.
‘Cult’, ‘culture’.
Same thing. This is the
culture of bhakti.
And in the culture of bhakti, what do we do?
We cultivate bhakti.
How do we cultivate bhakti?
This is mentioned here, some hint is given, bhakti-lata.
It is compared to a creeper.
So, there is bhakti-lata-bija.
The seed of bhakti is planted.
When we hear from guru, when we hear from Vaisnava preacher, then
the seed of bhakti is planted in the heart, if we are hearing
with an open mind. If we
are open-minded, we hear from the spiritual master, we hear from the
Vaisnava preacher, and then that seed of bhakti is planted in out
heart. And then if we will
engage in watering that little seedling, which is just sprouting, and
keep out the weeds, then that thing, that wonderful little creeper will
gradually grow, grow, grow.
It will actually penetrate through the coverings of the universe.
You know how thick the coverings of the universe are?
If NASA tried to blast through it with a spaceship, forget it.
They couldn't even get out there to where the covering starts.
It’s so far away.
And if they got there, each covering is ten times thicker than the space
within the universe. And it
becomes ten times progressively thicker.
So, actually, the universe, if you look at it comparatively
speaking, the actual space is just a tiny little hole and the covering
is this huge solid chunk.
Multi layered chunk. So,
there's no way the materialists can ever escape from the prison of
material existence by digging an escape hole.
They'll never make it.
Like the prisoners in the prison, under somebody's bed, they're
hiding all the dirt that they're bringing out.
Getting they're escape tunnel, for the big day when they're all
going to make they're escape.
But there's no way they can ever dig their way out of this
material world, by material means.
It’s not possible.
Absolutely impossible, it is so thick.
But, if you simply, humbly and gratefully accept this seed of
bhakti that you receive by hearing from guru, by hearing from the
Vaisnava preacher, if you simply gratefully joyfully accept this seed of
bhakti in your heart, and you water it every day.
Why does Prabhupada say at least sixteen rounds of japa-mala
every day? Because
that's the minimum amount of water to keep the plant alive.
Well, I'll just do eight.
But the plant won't, the seed doesn't get enough water at eight
rounds a day, or ten rounds a day, or even fifteen rounds a day is not
quite enough water to give the plant what it needs to flourish.
The plant will struggle.
It won't be able to grow unless you give it at least sixteen
rounds of water every day.
Sixteen rounds is the minimum.
That much water is required for the plant to actually grow and
thrive. That bhakti-lata.
And then we keep out the weeds and we keep out the mad
elephant offense of vaisnava-aparadha, and in this way,
Prabhupada explains how it penetrates through the coverings of the
universe, and then it travels through that vast paravyoma. How
many millions and billions of spiritual planets are in that
transcendental world? How
many millions and billions of planets are there?
There's unlimited forms of Vishnu, and unlimited Vishnu planets.
But out of all of those planets, there's one incredibly,
indescribable planet, described in the Brahma-Samhita.
Incredible. So, this
knowledge of Krishna, and His pastimes is not just from 5,000 years ago.
Brahmaji had this knowledge 155 trillion years ago.
The knowledge of Krishna as the Supreme, and
Vrindavan Dhama.
This was known from the very beginning of the universe.
It’s not that only after 5,000 years ago, it became known.
Before that it was just Rama bhaktas, and Vishnu
bhaktas. No.
Krishna bhakti has existed from the very, very beginning
of the universe, 155 trillion years ago.
So, that seed that creeper grows, and finally grows by all those
vast numbers of millions and billions of universes, and then it goes to
that supreme abode, krishna-loka.
Is anybody sleeping?
(Claps hands) Wake up.
This is your wake up call.
Right now you are in this body, and it’s an emergency situation
because you're on your way down to the animal kingdom, if you don't stay
awake in class. Don't go
down to the animal kingdom.
Stay awake in class. So, that
bhakti-lata will go all the way to the topmost planet in the
spiritual world, and there the full-blown fruit of love of God will,
that creeper will actually entwine itself in the lotus feet of Sri Sri
Radha and Krishna. And then
the full-blown fruit of love of Godhead will manifest.
You think a mango is tasty.
You cannot even conceive what is the taste of that full blown
fruit, that Krishna prema fruit.
Even in our wildest dreams, we cannot even begin to conceive an
infinitesimal fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the taste of that
fruit of Love of God. Even
though it is absolutely inconceivable, if we will stick to this pathway
of bhakti so carefully chalked out by our beloved Srila
Prabhupada, and our Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura, and our Gaura Kisora dasa
Babaji Maharaja, and our beloved Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and our beloved
Sad Gosvamis, our beloved Caitanya Mahaprabhu, our beloved Narada Muni.
If we would just carefully, carefully, stick to this path without
deviating, then we will taste it.
We will taste it. We
must know for sure we will taste that fruit of love of God, if we take
this process as it is.
Without watering it down.
Do not water down this bhakti.
If you do, then it becomes karma-yoga, jnana-yoga.
And then, what does Prabhupada say?
One will fall down.
One will fall down. So, do
not mix it with anything else, karma-yoga, jnana-yoga.
Simply pure bhakti.
If you take to the pure bhakti path, you will never
fall down. You say well
what about, so many devotees fell down?
How's it possible.
Was Prabhupada wrong? Well,
my dear prabhus and matajis they were mixing it.
They weren't doing pure bhakti.
Anyone who does pure bhakti will never fall down.
There was some tinge in there practice.
Their practice was not pure.
They were tinged, jnana, karma, they had some tinge in
their practice, so they are not here anymore.
So, how strict we have to be in our practice.
How strict we must be.
That we must be. We
must become pure devotees.
We should not be
like the Christians. I
accepted Jesus. Now I'm
saved. Oh, I got initiated,
so I'm saved. Now, I can do
whatever I want. I can
sleep late. I can chant my
rounds sometimes. I can
follow some of the principles.
I'm initiated.
You're not initiated, sorry.
You're not really initiated.
Real initiation means that you strictly grab onto the feet of
your Guru Maharaja tightly, and you never let go.
That is initiation.
When one is actually initiated, then that very moment, you enter into
immortality. When you're
actually initiated, in the real sense of the word initiated, you're no
longer a resident of this ghastly place.
What is it called?
Martya-loka. You're
no longer residents of this martya-loka.
When you're actually initiated, when you've actually taken
the lotus feet of your Guru Maharaja as your life and soul, then you are
living in transcendental world, and your death will simply be just like
when those NASA rockets go off into outer space, and they have the big
booster rocket to get it out of the heavy gravity area, then a lighter
booster rocket in the gravity area, and then gradually, they get in a
no-gravity area or practically zero gravity area.
There they just go into orbit.
So, this material body is just the big booster rocket to help get
us a little higher, then the subtle body, we can take that.
Those are different booster rockets.
And if you properly utilize your gross material body, and your
subtle body, they're just like a rocket at take-off.
So, at the time of death, you just jettison those bodies.
That's all you do.
You don't die. You're just
jettisoning off one rocket, jettisoning off another rocket, and
sheeew, with Krishna.
As Prabhupada said, if you're a devotee, and you wake up with Krishna.
Prabhupada gives the example of the mouth of the cat.
There are two ways to experience the mouth of the cat.
One is as a kitten; the other is as a rat.
So, for the kitten, when the mother carries the kitten in the
mouth, the little kitten is going meow, meow, meow, having a very
nice ride. My mother is
taking me on a ride. Very
nice pastime for the little kitten to be carried by the mother cat in
the mouth. But, when the
cat catches the rat Kee Kee Kee!
Prabhupada said like that.
He says Kee Kee Kee means dying.
I'm finished. It’s
all over. So, there's a
very big difference. It’s
the same mouth of the same cat!
But there's all the difference in the world in the experience.
So, when one is actually Krishna conscious, death will be a very
wonderful thing.
We have to be
prepared to call out to Krishna at the time of death.
I remember one morning, when I was a brahmacari here
Balavanta decided to test me.
I was coming around the corner here.
Early morning japa.
And I came around the corner and he yelled at me, like he was some thief
getting ready to cut my throat or something.
And I went Hare Krishna.
He said, oh, you passed the test.
(Laughing) So, it’s
the mercy of Prabhupada that somehow or other I passed the test that
day. So, I'm just praying
for all of your blessings when the final test comes, that I will pass.
You all can bless me.
I know what a godasa I am actually.
Complete total mudha, godasa person that I am.
I know how much I am dependent on the mercy of the Vaisnavas.
That without their blessings, I am nowhere, I'm just
finished. I'm simply a
scallywag person. But by
the kindness of the devotees upon me, I have some hope of being Krishna
conscious. By all your
kindness upon me. Even
though I'm not worthy of your association.
I'm such a contaminated person, I'm not worthy, but because
you're very kind you allow me here to become purified. I have some hope
of achieving perfection. So, anyway its
very, very nice to be here.
Maybe there are some questions I can answer.
I'd be happy to try.
By Prabhupada's mercy maybe I can answer a question even though I have
no brain. A question? (question is
indistinct, relates to tolerance of material desires.) SDA:
So, we're still plagued by, as
Prabhupada points out, it is not surprising that we're still attached to
the opposite sex, and to money. Because we've been worshiping money and
the opposite sex for millions of lifetimes.
So, we're still diseased.
Even if we seriously take up the path of bhakti, we're
still suffering from the disease of material desire.
That's a fact. So,
what do you do? We're
recovering, but we are not fully recovered. That's the position.
So, that is the position where one has to be extremely careful.
You put yourself under the physicians care.
The spiritual master.
You're under his care; you have to follow the instructions very,
very carefully. Because
once you're healthy, when you're back in Goloka Vrindavana, then
you're just spontaneously enjoying your pure bhakti to Krishna.
But now in this material world, we're still contaminated with
material desires.
We've seriously
taken up the process of healing ourselves, but we're still not
recovered. So, we have to
be very, very careful we do not have a relapse.
The key is, whatever instruction the physician has given you, you
have to follow it absolutely obediently to the letter of the law.
The physician says no illicit sex, no illicit sex.
He says no meat-eating, no meat-eating.
He says no intoxication, absolutely no intoxication.
He says no gambling, then no gambling.
He says don't offend the Vaisnavas, we have to always be
very respectful in awe and reverence toward the Vaisnavas, so
we're not offensive. So,
whatever instructions are given there, we have to just carefully,
carefully follow them, and the fact is, in our neophyte condition, we'll
be going along fine, and all of a sudden a lusty desire will come into
our minds. What do you do
with that? Do you freak
out? No.
Krishna says as the ocean always remains at the same level even
though so many waters are pouring into it.
So, you just say, OK, this is par for the course.
This is according to our philosophy.
Here comes Mr. Lust doing his little dance in my brain.
Have sex, have sex, have sex. OK
When are you going to get tired of your little dance, Mr. Lust?
I'm not entertained by you.
I don't find you very amusing, Mr. Lust.
Why don't you just go next door?
Those karmis next-door, I think you'll find a better
customer next door. You've
just got to see it like some aggressive salesman coming to your door,
trying to hustle you for some product.
You say, no thank you!
Good luck! Good luck
with the next customer.
Sorry. I've already tried
your product, and I decided it wasn't a very good product.
So, you just have to realize the neophyte devotee will be hit
with material desires. You
just have to have a sense of humor about it in one sense.
Alright Mayadevi, sorry.
Look at Haridasa,
how expertly he handled it.
Its not that we can imitate, but just see how expertly he handled that
prostitute. Yes, yes, yes,
I will give you whatever you want.
Sex? I will give you
sex, no problem. Just wait
here. I will finish my
rounds, then we will have sex.
Let me finish my rounds first.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.
You have to understand, your mind is just like a prostitute.
Yes, my dear mind.
But, right now you chant Hare Krishna.
Bhaja huì re mana sri-nanda-nandana, abhaya-caranaravinda re.
My dear mind,
yes, yes, I will give you whatever you want, but just sit down now, be a
little patient while I finish my bhakti-yoga.
So, one has to be expert.
You have to understand that you are not your mind.
That's the most important thing; you are not your mind.
That's the most important thing to understand.
As long as you think you are your mind, you're going to be
freaked out. But if you
understand that I am not my mind.
Its just some little rascal that's my roommate.
It’s your roommate, that's all. Its not you.
You have some rascal karmi roommate, you got stuck with
somehow or other. Waiting
for his lease to be up so you can get rid of him.
But in the meantime, you've got to deal with him expertly, that's
all. But if he starts
saying come on, have a beer, its good.
Have a beer. Have a
beer. Have a girl.
Come on. Come on.
Or have a man. Come
on. Come on.
Enjoy! What are you
doing here with these crazy Hare Krishna people?
What do you think you're doing here?
(sarcastically) Hare
Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, you stupid Hare Krishna.
Why don't you just enjoy?
Look, there's Kentucky Fried, there's Big Mac, there's Double
Arches. Come on man, have
an enjoyment. Have a double
cheese! You see?
(Laughing) How about
some fish? It’s the fruit
of the Ganga! (Laughing)
The mind will do everything to allure you.
Yes, yes, Mayadevi, that's alright, but you just wait.
I'm just now finishing.
I have some work to do, then we will talk.
You just wait there patiently.
Actually, this
Krishna consciousness movement means that we must revolutionize our
consciousness. We have to
revolutionize our consciousness, and then, what is the next step?
Revolutionize the world.
That is our mission, given to us by Prabhupada.
Revolutionize your consciousness, and then, in that purified
state, revolutionize the whole world.
That is our mission.
That's why Prabhupada said distribute books, take the Holy Names to the
public, distribute prasadam, make devotees.
Turn the karmis into devotees.
Make them into devotees.
This is not something unnatural.
This is the natural original energy of a living being.
Krishna consciousness.
All we are really saying to the world are four simple words.
All we are really saying to them is this, be what you are.
That's all we're really saying to them.
Be what you are.
Because actually, everyone is a devotee of Krishna.
Jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya dasa.
The
constitutional nature of every living entity, not only human beings, the
animals, the plants, the microbial germs, the millipedes, the
centipedes, every single living entity is actually a devotee of Krishna.
So all we are saying is be what you are.
Stop trying to be what you are not. You can never be happy by
trying to be what you are not.
You can only be happy and satisfied by being what you are.
That's all we're saying.
Nothing more. We
have nothing else to say, but be what you are.
“My dear sir, this is a book that tells you how to be what you
are. Would you like to be
what you are? Or do you
want to try to be that which you are not?
You're feeling dissatisfied, my dear sir, because, right now,
you're trying to be what you are not.
You're trying to be that body, which is not you!
No matter how hard you try to be that body, you cannot be that
body, because you are not that body!
Simply, my dear sir, my dear lady, you simply be what you are.
That is all, then everything will be very simple.
Everything will be so simple.
Simply try to be what you are.”
What does Christ
say? Seek ye first, the
kingdom of God, and then all things shall be added unto you.
And Krishna says the same thing.
If you worship Me with exclusive devotion, then I will preserve
whatever you have, and I will provide what you are lacking.
I will personally give you whatever you're missing.
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman So, what need do
we have of anything else, except to become a pure devotee of Krishna?
We have no need of anything else.
We still keep body and soul together, that's all right.
You earn livelihood. You go get your education.
Get a job. Whatever
you need. Make some
arrangement. Either be a
full-time monk, living in the asrama or you support the asrama,
by working a job, on the outside.
The same benefit is there for both groups.
Those who are living in the asrama, those who are living
outside, everyone lives in an asrama.
Grhasta asrama.
You want to be a married man, and live on the outside?
All right. You make
your home into an asrama also, as an extension of the temple,
that's all. So, we are all
meant to live in an asrama, not in a mundane atmosphere.
So, we have just
come from the Festival of Inspiration in New Vrindavana, and we're
seeing how each and every devotee in this movement is actually an ocean
of mercy. It could be a
little child. It could be
an old senior. It doesn't
matter. Every devotee who's
trying to follow Prabhupada, they are an ocean of mercy.
So we were there, thinking how amazing this is that here is an
ocean of oceans of mercy.
Its enough nectar to dive into one ocean of mercy, but if you have
hundreds of oceans of mercy, all merged into one huge maha maha maha
maha maha ocean of mercy, and you dive into that, how much nectar is
there in that? So, we
realized that we've been diving, and now we have to just take that ocean
of mercy, that festival of inspiration, and we have to just inundate the
entire world in one big festival of inspiration.
That is our mission.
So, you all are definitely on the leading edge of this spiritual
revolution. You are doing
very nice seva here, distributing books, distributing the Holy
Names, putting on wonderful festivals to attract everyone to the mercy
of Prabhupada, the mercy of Gaura-Nitai, the mercy of Radha-Krishna,
the mercy of Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra.
You're doing very first-class service here.
Prabhupada said
actually, I can never forget how he said that “I have gone to this
temple, that temple, but I can see that of all the temples, your temple
is the best.” So, I see how
much Prabhupada was appreciating.
I can see that spirit that was going on, that spirit is still
here. It is alive and well
at New Panihati Dhama. You
do the best service for Srila Prabhupada.
So, make this the best temple in the whole world.
That mood of giving the best pleasure to Srila Prabhupada is
still going on here today, and I'm very happy to come here and be
blessed by the best temple,
New Panihati Dhama. Any
more questions?
Yes, Vaisnavananda Prabhu! VP:
(indistinct) SDA:
Can you speak a little louder; my hearing is going bad with old
age.
VP:
(Question continuing indistinct) SDA:
You remember the other temple where Visnujana Maharaja came.
I came through with him.
That's where I first came.
That was the previous temple.
That was very ecstatic.
I remember there was a reel-to-reel tape playing the maha mantra
24 hours a day. I remember
that.
VP:
(Recalling the way Visnujana Maharaja dealt with the issue of
material desires.) SDA:
(Laughing) Jaya.
You don't become bewildered by these material desires.
You just humor them.
You realize that the ocean has so many rivers flowing into it, but it
keeps a level consciousness.
So, OK, here you are, lusty desire.
Alright. Sorry, I
have Krishna. He can
immediately zap you and wipe you out.
Its actually very easy.
You just pray to Madana-Mohana.
Krishna is the attractor.
Cupid is Madana, Kamadeva,
and he's shooting arrows in the
heart. (arrow-shooting
sounds.) Just like the
ksatriyas, they can shoot arrows like a machine gun.
(pshew phsew)
Thousands of arrows they can shoot within a second.
So, Kamadeva can do that.
He can shoot thousands of lusty arrows into your heart within a
second. (arrow-shooting
sounds) But he is attracted by Krishna.
So, if you pray to Krishna that please call off this Kamadeva.
This madana who is right now shooting millions of lust
arrows within my heart. You
call him off. So, he is
attracted by Krishna.
Krishna is Madana-Mohana.
The attractor of Madana.
So, then if his consciousness becomes diverted to Krishna, then
he won't be able to aim properly.
He's shooting into your heart.
He's zeroing in on your heart.
But if his consciousness goes to Krishna, he won't be able to hit
the target anymore. So, we can just
pray to Krishna, Madana-Mohana, my dear Lord Krishna, now I'm
being attacked by lust. I'm
feeling lusty desire in my heart.
Please free me from this lusty desire: This lusty thought.
Please bless me that I can become completely free of this
thought, and just be absorbed in You.
That's all. And Krishna
can easily, its works very powerfully.
And if it doesn't work at first, you just keep praying that way.
I don't care if it takes 20 hours!
You just stay in that prayerful mood of begging Madana-Mohana,
and sooner or later it will go away.
I guarantee it. It
works every time. But you
may have to pray for a while, depending on how contaminated you are.
But, it works. It
does work. The key is don't
be proud. Thinking you're
an advanced devotee. That's
the key. One has to feel
that I'm just a despicable wretch.
Its only by the mercy of Guru and the mercy of Vaisnavas,
mercy of Prabhupada that somehow or other, I'm here, even though I'm
just a lusty dog. Never
think that you're advanced.
That's the key. Never think
that you're advanced.
Always think that you're the most fallen position, just holding on for
the mercy, just begging for the mercy and then you'll become very
strong. And then you can
never fall down. Prabhupada,
in Boston said I'm always praying to Krishna that I will not fall down.
So, one devotee said, “oh that's why Prabhupada can never fall
down, because he's always begging Krishna that he won't fall down.”
So, we have to always be in that mood of begging that we will not
fall down. Feeling that if
I stop begging, that I can fall down in a second.
If I give up begging to be protected from Maya, I can fall
down within a second. We
have to feel always that we are struggling.
Just like our Sridhara Maharaja.
We all know what an advanced, wonderful, totally jolly… (aside) Wake up,
wake up.
So, we know how blissful he was.
And I remember, he gave one memory.
You may have seen it also.
He was remembering when he got initiated.
He was coming in front of Prabhupada.
It was probably in Los Angeles.
He was just nervous, and feeling that he was practically in front
of God. He was bowing down.
He was just “Oh, Prabhupada is saving me.”
and someone tapped him and said, “Look up Prabhupada's talking to
you.” He looked up and
Prabhupada said, “So you are a brahmacari.”
And he was thinking like “Maybe Prabhupada's blessing me to stay
brahmacari.” So, many years
later, somehow, after being a brahmacari and sannyasi for so many years,
then he chuckled, and said, “So, here I am.
Still struggling.”
Laughing.
So, we should
actually be in that mood.
Not thinking, I'm advanced now.
I'm beyond the struggle.
Now I can just enjoy.
I can sit back and can enjoy being an advanced devotee. That's a
dangerous position. The settlers,
going west had a saying.
“When you can't see the Indians, that's when you have to worry.”
Because they could be just over the next ridge. If I'm thinking
that now I'm all free and clear.
I'm fixed up in Krishna consciousness.
No problem. That's
when it’s very dangerous.
Then we're on the verge of falling down.
But, if I think that I'm struggling to be Krishna conscious
I'm struggling to conquer my senses...
You can say, “ut I don't want to struggle.
That doesn't sound like fun.”
But look at Sridhar Maharaja.
He was struggling.
And who was more jolly than Sridhar Swami?
We know how jolly he was.
He admitted that I am struggling.
I'm still struggling.
So, we simply have to embrace the struggle of conquering the
senses. We're wrestling.
A wrestling match with the senses: keeping them fixed in Krishna
consciousness. But, its
actually ecstatic. We just
dive into it. Accept that
OK, I've got to struggle at least until I get to prema.
That's a long road.
Of course, we can get there within a second also.
There will come that moment when we'll become pure devotees of
Krishna. We should strive
for it every day. Today, I
must try to become a pure devotee of Krishna.
So, anyway, I
think I'm going over time here.
What's the time of class ending?
8:30? All right,
question.
Devotee :
My name is Sankarshan das. SDA:
Jaya, that's a wonderful name!
(Audience laughing) SP:
(Speaking indistinctly) SDA:
What is the question?
SP:
(Continuing with Tre accent) SDA:
Puranjana is an allegory.
But the Pandavas are not an allegory.
So, that's a difference.
Any other questions?
Yes? VPM: (Speaking
indistinctly)
SDA: Irresistible mercy.
Yes, this was answered
by Locana dasa Thakura.
Your question has been answered by Locana dasa.
Prabhupada explained in his purport to Parama Karuna that
if someone is not attracted, then they are cursed by Yamaraja.
If someone is not able to take this mercy of Lord Caitanya,
they're simply under the curse of Yamaraja.
Devotee:
How do we get free? SDA: How do you get free of that curse? You have to fall down at the feet of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and just beg mercy. That's all I can say. You've just got to fall down at Their feet and beg, beg, beg, beg, beg for mercy. That's all you can do. It’s all you can do; just beg for mercy. If, in spite of all of the mercy They are giving, you’re still finding that you're absorbed in sense gratification, you've just got to fall at Their feet and just cry for Their mercy. And if you have no tears to cry for Their mercy, then you have to cry to cry for Their mercy. If you can't cry to cry for Their mercy, then you have to cry to cry to cry for Their mercy. In this way, find some level at which you can cry. That's the way to do it. So, we'll stop here. Srimad-Bhagavatam ki, jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki, jaya! Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. __________________________________________ Transcribed by His Grace Jagannatha Dasa |