Wave of Wisdom

Waves of Wisdom
Gopala Krishna Goswami
ri ri guru-gaurgau jayata
Waves of Wisdom
Gopala Krishna Goswami
OTHER BOOKS BY GAURACHANDRA PUBLICATION ENGL ISH B OO K S Amr te ra Tarang i ni Your Insignificant Servant Purpose of Life Freedom by Surrender Back to Home HINDI BOOKS Saranagati Kalyan Kalpataru Prarthana Gitamala Kumbha COMPILED & PUBLISHED BY
Sarva Sakshi Das for Gaurchandra Publications Sri Sri Rdh Parthasarathi Mandir, Hare Krishna Hill, Sant Nagar Main Road, East of Kailash, New Delhi110065
Gaurchandra Publications gratefully acknowledges the BBT for the use of the verses and purports from His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupadas books.
All such verses and purports are Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
Dedicated to
His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swmi Prabhupda

Founder chrya of the International Society for Ka Consciousness
Acknowledgment
e sincerely thank Ananda Dsa, and Goverdhan Dasa for editing and proofreading. We also thank Anuttama Hari Dsa who helped in various ways in printing of this book. I also thank Bhakta Sushant Pati for arranging the design and layout, and Draupadrani Devi Dsi for transcribing the lectures for this book. We pray to rla Prabhupda, Sri Sri Nitai Gaur Sunder, and our worshipable deities Sri Sri Rdh Prthasrath to bless them all with pure devotion.
contents
Introduction 1. MindThe Best Friend or Worst Enemy 2. Source of Peace 3. The Highest Welfare Activity 4. Serving Ka to the Best of Our Ability 5. Supereme Lords Divine Incarnations 6. Always Stay in Ka Consciousness ix 1 15 29 43 59 78
introduction
Since time immemorial, we can see in the pious land of Bhratvarsha(India), which has a great heritage of Vedic Culture and Wisdom. In this land, great personalities appeared and taught us how to attain peace and tranquility which is most required in these days. One of those personalities is rla Vysadeva, who originally compiled the Vedic Wisdom. The final, most perfect and sublime work by rla Vysadeva is rmad-Bhgavatam, which is the natural commentary on the Vednta-Sutra. There is also the Bhagavadgt, which was spoken by the Lord Himself and recorded by rla Vysadeva. After that, in this Age of Kali, which is full of quarrel and hypocrisy, the Lord appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahprabhu, who is no other than Ka Himself. He taught us the simple and sublime process to attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That process is Chanting of the Hare Ka Mahmantra Hare Ka Hare Ka Ka Ka Hare Hare, Hare Rma Hare Rma Rma Rma Hare Hare. Lord Caitanya said that this Holy Name should be spread in as many towns and villages as there are. Lord Caitanya predicted
pthivte che yata nagardi grma sarvatra pracra haibe mora nma
In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard. (Caitanya-bhgavata, Antya 4.126) This great desire of Lord Caitanya was fulfilled by His great devotee and spiritual commander in chief, A.C. Bhaktivedanta
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rla Prabhupda. For this age, rla Prabhupda, taking the essential truths or the timeless Vedic Wisdom of India and communicating them live to all persons, delivered this transcendental knowledge with maximum impact and precision. In one of his purports, rla Prabhupda writes, Vednta is the last word in Vedic wisdom, and the author and knower of the Vednta philosophy is Lord Ka and the highest Vedntist is the great soul who takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord. That is the ultimate purpose of all Vedic mysticism. (BG 2.46) Lord Ka spoke the essence of Vedic Wisdom and the confidential knowledge in the Bhagavad-gt:
r-bhagavn uvca ida tu te guhyatama pravakymy anasyave jna vijna-sahita yaj jtv mokyase ubht
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.
rla Prabhupda has simplified the teachings of Bhagavadgt for our understanding. If we really want to understand the
message of Bhagavad-gt, then we must study the Bhagavad-gt as it is by rla Prabhupda which is available in all important languages. We feel great happiness to present this book called Waves of Wisdom, which is compiled from the lectures of our beloved Spiritual Master, rla Gopl Ka Goswmi Mahrja, who is one of the prominent disciples of rla Prabhupda. For our understanding, he delivers lectures on rmad-Bhgavatam which
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is an ancient Sanskrit Scripture that contains the essence of all Vedic Wisdom, describing the teachings of the Lords devotees as well as those of the Lord in many of His incarnations. This book is a valuable addition on the ever-expanding literary spiritual legacy produced by rla Prabhupda and his followers. By reading and following these instructions, we can easily attain our real goal of life, which is Ka prem. __ Publisher.
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CHA P TER
MindThe Best Friend or Worst Enemy

niyacched viayebhyo kn manas buddhi-srathi mana karmabhir kipta ubhrthe dhrayed dhiy
(SB 2.1.18 )
Gradually, as the mind becomes progressively spiritualized, withdraw it from sense activities, and by intelligence the senses will be controlled. The mind too absorbed in material activities can be engaged in the service of the Personality of Godhead and become fixed in full transcendental consciousness.
Purport
The first process of spiritualizing the mind by mechanical chanting of the praava (okra) and by controlling of the breathing process is technically called the mystical yogic process of pranayama or fully controlling the breathing air. The ultimate stage of this pranayama system is to be fixed in trance technically called samadhi. But the experience has proved that even the samadhi state also fails to control the materially absorbed mind. For example, the great mystic, Vishwamitra Muni, even in the stage of samadhi becomes a victim of the senses and cohabited with Menak. History has already recorded this. The mind although ceasing to think of sensual activity at present, remem-
wav e s o f w i s d o m
bers past sensual activities from the subconscious stages and this disturbs one from cent percent engagement in self realization. Therefore, ukadeva Goswm recommends the next step of assured policy namely to fix ones mind in service of Personality of Godhead. Lord Sri Ka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, also recommends the direct process in the Bhagvad-gt. Thus, the mind being spiritually cleansed one should at once engage oneself in the transcendental loving service of Lord by the different devotional activities of hearing, chanting etc. If performed under proper guidance that is the surest path of progress even for the disturbed mind. In this verse rila ukadeva Goswm is emphasizing on the controlling of the mind. In this verse these three words are very significant. akn, mana, and buddhi. Akn is translated to be the senses; mana is translated as by the dint of the mind; and buddhi is translated to be the intelligence. The working senses or the akn they are described in Bhagvad-gt to be higher than dull matter and the mind is considered to be higher than the working senses, and the buddhi or the intelligence is considered to be higher than the mind and the soul is considered to be higher than the intelligence.
Control The Mind

So just like matter is activated by the living entity because the senses are higher than matter; similarly the intelligence is higher than the mind and hence the mind has to be controlled by the intelligence. Mind has to be controlled by the intelligence and by intelligence senses would be controlled. So, the point is that the senses have to be controlled for one who desires success on the spiritual path and the senses can be controlled if the intelligence is fixed in the service to the Personality of Godhead. Then the mind would be controlled in right direction. In the Bhagvad-gt, it is stated that this
mindthe best friend or worst enemy
mind can be the best of friends, and it can be the greatest of the enemies of the living entity. mana eva manuy kraa bandha-mokayo bandhya viaysago muktyai nirviaya mana For man, mind is the cause of bondage and mind is the cause of liberation. Mind absorbed in sense objects is the cause of bondage, and mind detached from the sense objects is the cause of liberation. (Amta-bindu Upaniad 2) So we see that for the spiritualist great emphasis has been placed on controlling the mind by engaging it positively in devotional service to the Lord. In Caitanya-caritmita it is stated nitya-siddha ka-prema sdhya kabhu naya ravadi-uddha-citte karaye udaya Pure love for Ka is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens. (Madya 22.107) The loving propensity is there within every living entity but this loving propensity has been transformed into lust because of coming into contact with material modes of passion. Just like, milk when it is touched by tamarind it gets transformed into yogurt. So similarly this loving propensity for Ka is transformed into lust because of our having coming into contact with material modes of passion. In the Bhagvad-gt the enemy of the living entity, the enemy of one who want to succeed in spiritual path is described. It is explained that the living entity is covered by different degrees of lust just like the fire is covered by the smoke or as
the mirror is covered by dust or the embryo is covered by the womb; so similarly the living entity is covered by different degrees of lust. Lord goes on to explain that thus a mans pure consciousness is covered by his eternal enemy in form of lust which is never satiated and which is always burning like fire. Pure consciousness refers to lust. So the nature of this enemy lust is that it is never satisfied. That is very nicely illustrated in rmad-Bhgvatam in the story of Mahrja Yayati. Mahrja Yayati and his wife engaged in unlimited sense gratification. Mahrja Yayati once had an affair with one of the maid servants of his wife. He was cursed to take on the body of an old man, but he was also given the benediction that if anyone agrees to switch his youth with his old age, he could again become a youthful man. Mahrja Yayatis three sons refused but the younger son agreed and King Yayati again obtained the form of a young man and resumed sense gratification. But in the end he and his wife concluded that they were just like lusty goats. Just like lusty goat is never satisfied, he and his wife were never satisfied. They both went to the mountains. So, Lord Ka is stating the same point that this lust is never satisfied and it is always burning like fire. One can never hope to satisfy lust. rla Prabhupda used to compare it to the itching sensation. When one feels like itching, one scratches; but it never stops. One just feels like scratching more and more and more. Now that we have established which is our greatest enemy namely lust. Where is this enemy situated? The next question is explained in Bhagvad-gt. The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of the enemy known as lust, which veils the real knowledge of the living entity. So, in the Bhagvad-gt not only has the Lord established who the enemy is but also the location of the enemy is described. Just like when one is engaged in the battle, one
wants to know where the enemy is located. These days, of course, they have the sophisticated cameras which can detect the strategic locations of the enemy. So similarly, Lord has already done all this research for us and he has identified where the enemy is located. The senses, the mind, and the intelligence are the areas where this enemy is located. Therefore, we see over here that the emphasis is that the senses be controlled by the mind and mind be controlled by the intelligence. So the enemy known as lust is manifesting its desires through the different sensesthere are different openings in the body. But one who wants to advance on spiritual path must cover all the nine gates or all the nine openings with this transcendental knowledge. If the senses are uncontrolled then the senses acts like serpent. Just like a serpent, as long as it has its poisonous teeth it is very dangerous. But the moment the poisonous teeth are taken out then the snake loses its dangerous position. Similarly if the senses are uncontrolled they are compared to an unbridled horse or senses are like serpents who dont have poisonous teeth and if the sense are controlled then the same senses, which at one time were the cause of bondage becomes the cause of liberation.
Who is Mad Man

In the rmad-Bhgvatam, there is a very beautiful verse by Nrada Muni where he says, Is it not a fact that the same activity which is the cause of the disease if it is applied in a therapeutic manner becomes the cure of disease. So the uncontrolled senses are the cause of our material bondage. The uncontrolled senses are the cause of a living entity being transmigrated from one body to another body. And the same senses, which are the cause of bondage, are utilized in a therapeutic manner; therapeutic manner here refers to the
process of devotional service. So the same senses if they are utilized in the process of devotional service become the cure of the disease. So the disease is to try and enjoy material existence and Mahrja abhadeva in rmad-Bhgvatam declares that the person who hopes to enjoy sense enjoyment is simply a mad man. Such a person is declared to be a mad man because this individual does not realize that the present body which he has is already giving him trouble. This body is giving him trouble because it is engaged in sense enjoyment and by engaging in vikarmic activities again he will realize a body which will again give him trouble.
Mind can be Controlled by Bhakti

So engaging in sense gratification is not the desired activity of the intelligent entity. The desired activity of the intelligent entity is to control the senses by engaging them in the process of devotional service.
Narada Pancharatra says:

sarvopdhi-vinirmukta tat-paratvena nirmalam hkea hkeasevana bhaktir ucyate Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and ones senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord. This verse is also repeated in Nectar of Devotion to emphasize how important it is. It is stated that one can be free from all these different designations if the senses are
employed in the service of Hrishikesha, who is the proprietor of the senses. So the point is that the same senses which are the cause of so much trouble can become the cause of liberation if it is engaged in the process of devotional service. The enemy known as lust is manifesting its desire to the intelligence, the mind, and senses. Therefore, Lord Ka goes on to say curb this great enemy, a symbol of sin. So lust has been further described to be the symbol of sin. So the lord says curb this great symbol of sin, lust by regulating the senses. In the purport, rla Prabhupda has given this example of Vishwamitra Muni to point out that just samdhi is not the real solution but rather real solution is to positively engage the mind and senses in service of the Lord. The example of Vishwamitra Muni is cited to point out how, when he was agitated by Menak, he withdrew from his path. And in comparison to this we have the situation of Harids Thkur, who was being tempted by this most beautiful prostitute. But this most beautiful prostitute was unsuccessful. There is also an example when the incarnation of sinful life, My Devi took the form of most beautiful woman who had amongst her victim even Brahm and the other demigods, when she came to tempt Harids Thkur, she was totally unsuccessful. Therefore, it is stated that Sukadeva Goswmi is recommending that one should fix ones mind in the service to the Personality of Godhead and if the mind and the senses are engaged in devotional service to the Personality of Godhead then the Lord always comes to the rescue of His devotee. We have this example of Durvs Muni and Ambrisha Mahraja; how Ambrisha Mahrja was being threatened by Durvs Muni but Ambrisha Mahrja never withdrew his mind from the lotus feet of Lord. Because Ambrisha Mahrjas mind was fixed on the lotus feet of the Lord, the Lord came to his rescue and eventually Durvsa Muni had to apologize to Ambrisha Mahrja.
There is also a story in Srimad Bhagavatam about the great sage Jada Bharata. How the dacoits had kidnapped Jada Bharata. They were getting ready to offer him in a sacrifice and the Goddess Durg came out of the Deity and tore these dacoits apart because these dacoits wanted to fear this great devotee Jada Bharata as a sacrifice. While dacoits were preparing to offer Jada Bharata in sacrifice, Jada Bharata has his mind fixed on the lotus feet of Ka and therefore Ka protected his devotee in Bhagvad-gt he says kaunteya pratijnhi na me bhakta praayati.
Offer Mind to Ka
Therefore, in Bhagvad-gt we see that there is very great emphasis upon controlling the mind. Arjuna, as we know did not want to engage in the battle, but Lord Ka induced him to engage in the battle and further said tasmt sarveu kleu mm anusmara yudhya ca. You should engage in this battle but with your mind fixed on me. So it is not that the living entity does not have to engage in any activity; rather one should engage in activity to the service of the Lord but at the same time offer the mind completely to Ka. Thakur Bhaktivinode has also prayed that my dear Lord I am offering everything that I have my body, mind, senses, my family, and my propertyeverything at your lotus feet. So, in order to succeed on the spiritual path, it is being emphasized in this verse by Sukadeva Goswami that the mind and the senses must be controlled. The mind is higher than the senses and the senses are higher than the dull matter, and the intelligence is higher than the mind and the soul is higher than the intelligence. Ka declares the five material ingredients; the earth, water, fire, air, ether, then the mind, and then the intelligence.
Take Shelter of Purified Mind

So, with the spiritual intelligence the mind has to be controlled. With spiritual intelligence, if the mind wants to run in a direction which is not conducive for the spiritual path, one should reject it. Just like Rupa Goswami has given us the characteristics by which one can succeed in devotional service. He is saying that one should accept everything favorable for executing Ka Consciousness and rejects everything unfavorable for executing Ka Consciousness. So if the mind wants to engage in something that is unfavorable for advancement in spiritual life, then one should abstain from such an activity. But if the mind wants to engage activity that is favorable for advancement in spiritual life then one may engage in it. So, the point is that the intelligence must be able to discriminate. The intelligence must be able to discriminate what is right and what is wrong. The contaminated mind cannot on its own determine what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, the scriptures recommend that the contaminated mind should take shelter of the purified mind, namely the spiritual master or the spiritual authority then the contaminated mind through the intelligence will understand what is right and what is wrong. But if one wants to just listen to the contaminated mind then again spiritual progress would become impossible.
So we must recognize the greatest enemy mind and this mind, if it is uncontrolled, becomes the greatest obstacle to spiritual success. If this mind is controlled then it becomes the greatest friend on the path of spiritual progress. Srila Prabhupada once said in a lecture that one may conquer the whole world, one may conquer the all empires but if one has not conquered his mind then he has been a total failure. So the real success is measured not in terms of empire one has conquered but in terms of the extent to which one has
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conquered his mind and it is not difficult to conquer the mind. In the Bhagvad-gt Arjuna says cacala hi mana ka pramthi balavad dham tasyha nigraha manye vyor iva su-dukaram For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Ka, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind. This mind is very difficult to conquer but Lord Ka describes that by constant practice and detachment, it is possible to control the mind. It is not an impossible thing. In Bhagvad-gt Lord Ka says, Those who worship me with devotion, I preserve what they have and I make up what they lack. So, it may be difficult to control the mind but if we worship the Lord with devotion and sincerity, then the Lord will make up the deficiency and give us assistance by which it will be possible to control the mind. So mind should be constantly absorbed in thinking about Ka, thinking about His instructions, and thinking about His pastimes.
The Position of Materialistic Life

Prahld Mahrja engages mind in thinking about fallen souls who have forgotten Ka. Prahld Mahrja was always engaging his mind in thinking about Kas instructions. Prahld Mahrja was very much concerned at looking at the plight of the materialists who are trying to squeeze happiness out of a situation where there is no happiness. The position of a materialist is exactly like a man in the desert who thinks that he can find water. A man in a desert is hoping that he will be able to find some water but actually in the desert there is no water. Prabhupda used to give an example
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of a dog in a desert that is thinking that there is a mirage a little ahead and just went on running, running, and running till eventually the dog gets completely exhausted and died. So that is the position of materialistic life. One is always hoping that there is happiness and he runs after it but at the end he discovers that there is no happiness at all. But unfortunately when he discovers this, it is too late. The point is that the transcendentalist realizes that there is absolutely no possibility of any such thing as happiness in this material world. The claims of happiness in the material world are just a hallucination. Just like someone told that he has found a big pond of water in a desert. Any sane man will say that this is just a joke because in a desert it is impossible to find water. So similarly there is absolutely no such thing as happiness by materialist activities. The only happiness that can be possible is the happiness that is derived the by devotional service to the Lord.
Position of a Devotee
Devotional service to the Lord is described to be pavitram, su-sukha, and Avyaya. It is happily performed, it is the purest, and it is inexhaustible. When one renders devotional service to the Lord happily, one who is absorbed in serving the Lord blissfully does not have to lament or hanker. The disease of the material world is that one is hankering and lamenting. But one who is transcendentally situated he does not hanker or lament. Prahld Mahrja had no material hankering or lamentation. His only lamentation was looking at the condition of the materialists who are trying to neglect the real purpose of human life. Prahld Mahrja was very much concerned about the position of the materialists. That is also the position of the devotees. Devotees are very much concerned when they see that the living entity is
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trying to forget the real business of human life and engaged in sense gratification. Therefore, they absorb themselves in the activities that are most pleasurable to the Lord that is the activity of preaching, that is the activity of propagating the message of the Lord. Prahld Mahrja used to say, My Dear Lord, for myself I have no reason of concern. I have understood the real purpose of human life. Nor do I want to be like those transcendentalists who withdrew to the mountains or go to a place of seclusion; rather I want to be in the place where people are, so that I can give them your message. This is the mood of a Vaishnava devotee. Prahld Mahrja is considered to be one of the twelve mahjana or spiritual authorities. Devotees follow in the footsteps of Prahld Mahrja by being in the mood of Prahld Mahrja by giving Ka Consciousness to everyone, by being in the mood of making the unhappy persons happy, by making a person who is like a crow into a swan. The crow is attracted to dirty objects. But the swan is attracted to a clean environment. So the business of the devotee is to convert the crow into swan and that is only possible if they absorb themselves in the mood of Prahld Mahrja and distribute Ka Consciousness. Jaare dekho taare kaho Ka upadesha whoever you see give him knowledge about Ka. This should be our goal, this should our absorption. The mind can be absorbed exactly like Prahld Mahrja in thinking of techniques how this Ka Consciousness can be distributed. Prahld Mahrja has said that my dear Lord, I am always meditating that how the conditional souls can be employed in devotional service. So, the devotees of the Lord are always thinking of the techniques how the conditional souls can be engaged in the process of devotional service. That should be their absorption and if that is their absorption then Ka, who is situated within the heart will definitely give the necessary intelligence. Kadas Kaviraj goes on to
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say that by the mercy of r Caitanya Mahprabhu the blind can be made to see. So by the mercy of the Lord the inconceivable can become conceivable and the mercy of Lord is realized in proportion to the degree of our surrender. So to summarize Sukadeva Goswami is emphasizing that the intelligence must control the mind, the mind must control the senses and in Bhagvad-gt, it is described that the senses are higher than the dull matter. The one who is serious about succeeding on the spiritual progress must learn the technique of employing the senses and the mind in devotional service to the Lord. The loving propensity to the Lord has been transformed into lust because of coming in contact with the material modes of passion.
Hare Ka
CHA P TER
Source of Peace
rja-vidy rja-guhya pavitram idam uttamam pratyakvagama dharmya su-sukha kartum avyayam
This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.
This text has very important message for all of us. I think everybody is familiar with the Bhagvad-gt and the importance of the message of Bhagavad-gt. Bhagavad-gt was spoken by the Supreme Lord for the benefit of the entire humanity. rla Prabhupda, the Founder of ISKCON, translated the Bhagavadgt in English language from Sanskrit to English and today the Bhagavad-gt has been translated in over hundred international languages ranging from Persian to Arabic to Russian to Chinese, Urdu etc. Thousands and thousands of people all around the world have changed their lives by reading the Bhagavad-gt. People are reading it and finding it to be very educational, informative, and source of peace. If I were to ask you a frank question: How many of you would like to have a peace of mind? Everyone wants that.
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And my next question is: Do you think your mind is peaceful at the moment? Lets be honest. How many of you think your mind is peaceful? When you were in India, hankering to go to America, it wasnt peaceful. Now you have come to America, got nice facilities, still, is it peaceful? The reality is no. The reality is unless we mould our lives in such a way in a particular way we cant be peaceful. So how to make our minds peaceful will be discussed today. The translation of this verse is: This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting and it is joyfully performed. So as you know that Bhagavad-gt is spoken by the Lord Sri Ka to His devotee and friend Arjuna for the benefit of the people in Kali-yuga The Bhagavad-gt is the oldest source of knowledge and it forms a part of the Mahbhrata. Bhagavad-gt is meant to educate us. We all believe in education. We all believe in education but there are two types of education, just like there are two types of knowledge. One is called absolute knowledge and the other is called relative knowledge. Knowledge that you receive from educational institutions, or government legislations or books etc. is called relative knowledge. It may be true today or it may not be true tomorrow. But what the Vedic scriptures present is absolute knowledge which is free of any defects and which is universally true and is meant for the benefit of the entire humanity. The Supreme Lord says in the Bhagavad-gt, aha bjaprada pita, I am the seed-giving father of the all living entities and the Supreme Lord also establishes in Bhagavadgt that this spiritual nature works under His direction. For example, in the Bhagavad-gt, Ka says, maydhyakea prakti syate sa-carcaram this spiritual nature is working
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under my direction. Can anyone order material nature? No. Just like this year, in Idaho is facing a draught but statistically half of America is suffering from draught right now. And Idaho is one of the states. Draught means less rain water or no rain water. And if you do not have rain what can you do? You may have reservoirs of water like many countries have. But reservoirs of water can take you through one, two, three, or four years, but ultimately we are all dependent on the rains. Do we have the technology to order rain? No. Many years ago, about 25-30 years ago, one American company had claimed that they can produce the rains by making artificial clouds. But they never succeeded in that. You cant really produce rain by producing artificial clouds. In the Bhagavad-gt, Ka says that food grains come from rainfall. Isnt that true? You can have the best of fertilizers but unless there is rainfall the fertilizers cannot yield anything. Food grains, Ka say in the Bhagavad-gt, comes from rainfall. Rainfall comes by performing religious sacrifices. And religious sacrifices means following the laws of God. Today we see in the whole world things are changing from bad to worse. Just like the effects of global warming. The effects of global warming, at least in this part of the world, are not as extreme as in the other parts of the world. But it has been quite extreme. We had the major disaster in New Orleans and other places. And the point we are trying to make is material nature is not under human beings control. So Ka says that He is the seed-giving father of all living entities and this material nature also works under Kas direction. Bhagavad-gt is guiding the humanity from ignorance to light. Ignorance is compared to nescience and light is compared to taking one to realize that if we want to be happy we must be God conscious. Now many of us may be God conscious but the question the real God consciousness means
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doing what the Lord wants us to do. To some degree we are all God conscious. But the question is to what degrees are we following what the Lord wants us to do? Bhagavad-gt explains why we should follow the Lord. Bhagavad-gt also explains the philosophy of life. Every major corporation you work for they have their own culture. Your city Boise has two big corporations HP and Micron. These are the two biggest. And Seattle has Microsoft. Every major corporation has its own work culture and its own guidelines. Humanity also needs the guidelines and these guidelines are there in the bona fide texts. Bhagavad-gt contains guidelines for the entire humanity. This verse is from Chapter 9 of Bhagavad-gt. There are 18 chapters and 700 verses in Bhagavadgt and in the previous eight chapters Ka has already established the principle of Karma Yoga, which means that we must act for the pleasure of the Lord. The principle of Dhyana Yoga which means one must control his mind and senses. And in the Chapter two, Ka already explains our real position and the distinction between body and the soul. Just like when we are getting educated what is the first thing we learn in our life? ABCD. It doesnt matter which part of the world you reside in. Doesnt matter what your mother tongue is. The first thing we learn is basic alphabets. Because unless we know the alphabets we do not know how to read and write. So the Bhagavad-gt teaches us the ABCs of spiritual life,i.e., the distinction between the body and the soul, which is very nicely explained in Chapter two. In this verse, Ka says Rajavidya. Rajavidya means king of education. Vidya means knowledge, education. And Raj means supreme. Ka is declaring Bhagavad-gt to be the king of education. Now some may say how is it possible? How Bhagavad-gt can be king of education? Our spiritual master rla Prabhupda in the early 70s or late 60s was lecturing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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in Boston. And in the audience there was the Dean and many learned professors. So rla Prabhupda opened his lecture to the audience with a question. He said that in this great university of the United States of America, is there any department that tells you what happens after death? And there was complete silence. Everyone was wondering when they heard that question and said what is life after death. Because most people today do not bother to meditate on that and the reason they do not bother is because they just think that with death everything is finished. But in the second chapter of Bhagavad-gt, Ka explains that death is nothing but a change of dress. Just like we discard our old clothes and wear new clothes, the soul discards one body and accepts another body. We can see that even in our present lifetime the body is always changing. We all had at onetime a babys body and then a young childs body, then a middle-aged person, then we get old and finally vanishes. Bhagavad-gt explains that the body goes through six stages of development. The first stage is birth, the next stage is growth. The third stage is maintenance. The fourth stage is production of by products. The man and woman get together and they have children. Then dwindling, mainly old age. And finally vanishing or death. It doesnt matter whether you have a paupers body or a millionaires body it is going to go through the six stages of transformation. rla Prabhupda was once giving a press conference in America in the early days. This movement was established in 1965 in New York. Today we have branches in almost every city of the world. This Vedic philosophy has been presented as it is, without any obliteration or interpretation. Prabhupada was giving the philosophy and there was an American journalist who came to Prabhupada and said, Swamiji, You are giving us this philosophy that comes from India. Actually the Bhagavad-gt is not the Indian philosophy but it is for en-
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tire humanity but you are coming from a poor country and we are the leading country in the world. What are you going to teach us here? Prabhupada said whether you are coming from a rich country or poor country one thing is common to both. So he was very keen what is common to bothIndia and America. So Prabhupada said that the death rate in both these countries is 100%. In other words, whether you live in a poor country or a rich country, everyone still has to die. But an intelligent person is one who, before he leaves his body, also cultivates spiritual knowledge so that he knows how to utilize his life. There was recently a survey done in American universities and in the survey students were asked the questions: How often you go to the church? And how religious you are? And it showed that students who were religious and goes to the church regularly had less bad habits and they also secured better grades in school. So the point is if we have spiritual knowledge that helps us to lead a peaceful life. So Ka here is saying that this knowledge is the king of education. He is able to say this the king of education because Bhagavad-gt helps us to understand the nature of the soul; the nature of the body; the nature of this material world; and how the soul transmigrates from one body to another. So Ka says that this knowledge is the king of education. If you understand this knowledge, if you practice this knowledge, peace of mind is guaranteed. One of the reasons why our minds are unpeaceful is because we are multi focused. We have so many material desires and these material desires can never be satisfied. Whereas spiritual knowledge helps you to understand the purpose of life and helps you to realize this purpose. Further, Ka says this is the most secret of all secrets. Now someone may question, how Bhagavad-gt is the most secret of all secrets. If you have a secret document you hide it. Those who work in offices sometimes you have an of-
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fice secret data; confidential data. You do not want your competitors to know all that especially when you are developing products and formulas about how to make a product. No body in the world still knows the formula they use for Coca-Cola. They kept it so secret that no one in the world knows what formula they used. They do not want anyone to know it. Why? They do not anyone to steal their business. But in spiritual life even though on one hand Ka says that this is the most secret of all secrets, we are freely distributing this secret knowledge and openly talking about it. So someone may say how does it makes sense, why does Ka says that this is the most secret of all secrets. There is a reason. What Ka conveyed through this statement is that if you want to understand the real meaning of Bhagavad-gt then you have to receive the Bhagavad-gt from a genuine source. Just like in the Chapter four Ka gives the history of Bhagavad-gt and He tells Arjuna that I am imparting this knowledge to you because you are my most confidential friend and a devotee. Therefore, you can understand the transcendental secrets of this great science. Doesnt He say that? So actually this is a great science. Ka says that. And this science contains transcendental secrets. To understand these transcendental secrets we have to receive this knowledge from a proper source and that proper source is a devotee of the Lord. To be a devotee of the Lord it doesnt mean we necessarily have to wear saffron clothes, or we have to shave our heads, or we have to be a Sannyasi. No. One can be a devotee in any condition of life. In fact, today, most of the ISKCON devotees around the world are professional people like you. We have professional people like you who practice Bhagavad-gt and who preach gita. We have professional Russian, Chinese, and Englishmen. They are all professional people, educated people. But they have decided to lead their life according to Vedic teachings. And hence
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they lead a peaceful life. So Ka says this is the most secret of all secrets to emphasize that this transcendental secret must be received through a devotee of the Lord because a devotee of the Lord can explain the meaning of Bhagavadgt better than someone may be just an academic scholar who just learned (or who knows Sanskrit) but who may not necessarily have the qualification of a devotee. Ka further says it is the purest knowledge. There are two types of knowledge: relative knowledge and absolute knowledge. Absolute knowledge because it is emanating from the Supreme Lord and is also called pure knowledge. With regard to the Supreme Lord we may address supreme Lord by different names in different parts of the world but the meaning is the samethe cause of all causes, and the Supreme Proprietor namely Ka. He may be known by other names in different parts of the world. The knowledge that is coming from Ka is eternally true therefore we also call it Santana Dharma in India. What does Santana Dharma means? Santana means eternal and dharma means duty. So Santana dharma means the eternal duty of the living entity. So what is the eternal duty of the living entity? Regardless of whether you are American, Russian, and Indian etc. it is to engage in the service of the Supreme Lord. So this is the purest knowledge because it is coming from the purest person. We follow a certain discipline. If we do not lead a disciplined life then we can never be happy. Even in the material world people talk about discipline, and some people are so disciplined that they eat at the right time, sleep at the right time, and exercise at the right time. We also believe in discipline. Discipline means we avoid activities that are detrimental to spiritual advancement. We avoid sinful activities and we do activities that are conducive for spiritual development. Lord is all-pure and the knowledge that is coming from
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Him is also all-pure. Generally any knowledge that is coming in material world is subject to contradictions and rejections. The government makes laws. It is passed by majority of votes. Does everyone in the country support it? Somebody may be the president of the country or the prime minister but does that mean that everyone in the country supports it? No. You win by majority votes. This knowledge is free of any inebrieties or shortcomings. Because this knowledge is coming from the supreme Lord and it is called the purest of all knowledge. And it gives the preceptor self realization. This knowledge can be practiced. Sometimes the people have the tendency to say, oh, this knowledge is outdated, irrelevant or not relevant in todays environment. But Bhagavad-gt is a philosophy for life. Bhagavad-gt is an educational book for life. Bhagavad-gt is presenting practical instructions not theoretical instructions. I was once traveling by aeroplane from New York to Moscow and next to me in plane was a Russian professor in St. Petersburg University. I was flying in the Russian aircraft Aerofloat. And as we were flying he started talking. As we were talking he told me that he was a professor of philosophy. This man had no knowledge of ISKCON or anything and he told me that he teaches Bhagavad-gt to his students in the college for the last twenty years. I told him why teaching the Bhagavad-gt; what influenced him to teach that? He said that he has found in Bhagavad-gt answer to every question that he has. Bhagavad-gt presents a path to lead a peaceful life. So this whole philosophy of Bhagavad-gt is not theoretical. For example, we all need to work. Is America a welfare state? Yes or No. No it is not a welfare state. Welfare state means if you dont work the government gives you money to maintain. There are no welfare states left in the world. There were some welfare states like Sweden but they are all going bankrupt. So now even the communist
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countries have given up being a welfare state. If you do not work then you starve, if you work then you make money. So we all need to work. So Ka doesnt say do not work. Arjuna didnt want to work. As a Kshatriya, he did not want to take part in the battle. No you should take part in the battle. That is your duty as a Kshatriya. But He gave a one condition with what consciousness to work. He said, with your mind and intelligence dedicated to Me, do your duty for My pleasure. Ka explains in the Chapters three and five the principles of Karma yoga. Action has to be performed. No one can live without actions. Whether you are a spiritualist or a materialist you have to perform action. Some of you might be going to HP and micron to work but that doesnt mean those who have taken to spiritual life do not go to the work. They also go to work. Action has to be performed. But Ka says with your mind and intelligence dedicated to Me, do your duty. So all of you are working, you have children and families to maintain. Ka in the Bhagavad-gt does not say do not do your duty. Sure you must do your duty. Bhagavad-gt does not say abandon your duty. But Bhagavad-gt teaches us how to do our duty in the God-conscious manner. Such as you are working. So Ka says, dedicate your mind and intelligence to Me. You have family members. Sure. You need food. You cannot starve; you do not want anyone to starve. So Ka says eat Ka prasdam. In the Chapter three of Bhagavad-gt, Ka says one who eats without offering to Me is eating only sin. So we eat, we offer it to the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gt it is also written that what to eat, Patra, pupa, phala, toya. As you can guess we strongly recommend a vegetarian diet, it is also more healthy and it is less prone to diseases and you can offer it to the Lord. You cannot offer meat, fish, and eggs to the Lord. So Ka says this is a direct process of self-realization. Then He says this is the perfection of religion. What
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is the perfection of religion? Religion doesnt mean just go to the temple, ring the bell, and offer flowers to the Lord. Religion is the philosophy of life. Prabhupada used to say religion without philosophy is sentimentalism. Sometimes we are religious but we have no philosophy and we do things sentimentally. When we do sentimentally means someday we do and the next day we abandon it. But if we do something with solid understanding we never abandon it. So there has to be philosophy. So what is the perfection of religion. The perfection of religion means we renounce that is detrimental to spiritual advancement. Just like these days people are very health conscious and thats why people are only taking bottled water. There is not so much difference between tap water and bottled water in America. May be in India there is. But not so much in many parts of America and especially in many parts of America the tap water is almost as good as bottled water. But there is psychological understanding that this is more healthier, so we do not mind spending money in buying bottled water. So the point is that when we are health conscious we avoid things that are detrimental for our good health. Similarly, we should avoid things which are detrimental for good spiritual health. So religion really means developing love for God, following the Lords teachings, and giving up what is undesirable what is detrimental for his spiritual advancement. Then the Lord says in this verse it is everlasting. In other words, this wisdom is eternal. This Bhagavad-gt was spoken 5000 years ago. Where was Bhagavad-gt spoken? It was spoken in the Kurukshetra. The Bhagavad-gt was spoken 5000 years ago to the sun-god Vivasvan. And we are still reading it. You read a newspaper and you throw it away. You read a magazine and you throw it away after a few days. You read text books in college. You keep them for one term in college and then throw them away. But this knowledge of
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Bhagavad-gt is everlasting. Because it remains true eternally and it is universally true. And then it says that it is joyfully performed. Now in material life do we do anything joyfully? You will say yes but I will tell you No. Whether you are working in America or India, no one does anything joyfully. If you did your job joyfully why do you want two days off? Work seven days a week. Why do you look forward to Friday 5O clock evening? If you do it joyfully, why do you want one month a year vacation off? You eat joyfully, so do you ever stop eating. So it doesnt matter whatever your profession is or it doesnt matter what your business is you do not do any activity joyfully. In spiritual life we chant the names of God everyday. We dont say for two days a week we wont chant. We dont take a month off an year we are not going to chant. This is my sabbatical. The reality is that we may be enjoying the remuneration we may be getting. But it isnt that joyful what we do. Because if it was that joyful, you would never want to break from it. Does that make sense or does it not make sense? Because it is not joyful we are anxious to get out of it. We are anxious to get out on holiday. Even when the students are studying in school they are anxious for some holidays to play, they look forward to holidays. Because nobody really enjoys what he is really doing. It is not joyful because if it would have been joyful then you would have never wanted to break from what you would have been doing. Whereas Ka says this knowledge is joyfully performed. In other words if you take Bhagavad-gt as the basis for your guidance then this will give you real selfconfidence in life. This is the real science of self confidence. What does self-confidence means? Self-confidence means being confident about your life, not being nervous, not being a nervous-wrecked. People smoke in America. But the good thing in America is that smoking is going down. There are a few countries in the world where smoking is going
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down. And in countries like India toll is going up. So why do the people smoke? They do not know what to do with their fingers. I was just flying through Aeroflot from Moscow to Los Angeles last month. This is a long flight. Moscow to Los Angeles is a thirteen and a half hour flight, so you get tired sitting so went for a walk on the plane. I met a man, Russian, he had a plastic cigarette. He was just showing as if he was smoking; but there was no smoke coming. And it wasnt the cigarette just the plastic. I asked what was the purpose of the plastic cigarette. He said Aeroflot is now offering plastic cigarettes to smokers so that they do not get bored on the plane. So the plastic cigarette looks like a cigarette but it is not a cigarette. And he was puffing away on the plastic cigarette as the people puff away on a regular cigarette. So the point I am trying to make is that no one is confident in life. People smoke, drink, and take drugs. Why do people take drugs? The American government has raged such a big war on drugs but they havent been able to arrest anything. Why? People are not confident. They are looking for something high. They are looking for something new. They are looking a way out for their present embarrassing nervousness in life. And the solution is spiritual solution. If you want to achieve the science of self-confidence, if you want to achieve the science of self-realization then you must have a basis and the basis is the knowledge of Bhagvad-gita. . The reading of Bhagavad-gt and chanting Hare Ka doesnt mean you have to abandon professional life, it doesnt mean you have to abandon professional ambitions. No. You can go ahead and go for your education as high as you want. You can go ahead and be as ambitious in your professional career. But do it for the pleasure of Ka. If we work for the pleasure of the Lord, even if we be in the material world, we will be free from the ill-effects of the illusory energy. Bhagavad-gt gives us an example like the lotus stem in water but
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is never touched by the water. Be as ambitious as you want in your professional career. Try this chanting of Hare Ka mahmantra and read Bhagavad-gt. At least one thing is certain that Ka is supreme. There are no two opinions about it that Ka is the supreme Lord; Bhagavad-gt is the genuine book of knowledge. It is not something that is experimental or may be or may not be. Chanting the mantra is the bona fide name of God. It is being chanted since time immemorial. So please keep time off. Time and tide wait for no one. There is danger at every step. You can see how the calamities in the world can come anytime and strike anyone in this world. One who is spiritually alert has no fear in life. Just like when the wings of a bird develops the bird flies out of the nest. If you have proper knowledge of the philosophy your mind will be peaceful and you will be free of anxieties and you will be able to achieve the goal of life with self-confidence. If you do not have this knowledge then we will be a nervous-wreck moving from one activity to another. Just like a child when he is holding the hand of his father and mother he has no anxiety. So Bhagavad-gt is the most important book of knowledge. It can be read by everyone. We have distributed over 20 million copies of Bhagavad-gt of just this edition in over 100 languages of the world. People are reading it and perfecting their lives. We also have this Bhagavad-gt in all the regional languages of India including Telgu, Malayalam, Hindi, English, and every international language. So it doesnt matter what your mother tongue is, it doesnt matter what you would like to read, read the Bhagavad-gt and perfect your life. Hare Ka.
CHA P TER
The Highest Welfare Activity

r-uka uvca sa eva bhagavn pa kattr kauravo muni pus nireyasrthena tam ha bahu-mnayan
(SB 3.5.17)
ukadeva Gosvm said: The great sage Maitreya Muni, after honoring Vidura very greatly, began to speak, at Viduras request, for the greatest welfare of all people.
Purport
The great sage Maitreya Muni is described here as bhagavn because he surpassed all ordinary human beings in learning and experience. Thus his selection of the greatest welfare service for the world is considered authoritative. The all-inclusive welfare service for the entire human society is devotional service to the Lord, and, as requested by Vidura, the sage described the same very appropriately. So we have seen in this chapter that Vidura had been inquiring from Maitreya about the transcendental topics related to the Supreme Lord. Vidura had requested Maitreya to please describe the various transcendental activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And earlier in this chapter we have seen of how
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Vidura has condemned fruitive activities to be undesirable. So in the purport rla Prabhupda is making a point that the great sage Maitreya who is described here as Bhagwan. Maitreya had a great fortune of having received spiritual knowledge even from the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. Maitreya was the disciple of Parashara Muni, the father of Vysadeva. And actually he was a lot older than Vidura in age. Earlier we see that when Vidura had approached Uddhava for spiritual guidance, even though Uddhava and Maitreya had received instructions directly from the Supreme Lord. Uddhava thought that Vidura is lot older than me I cannot give him instruction. Then Uddhava guided him to take instructions from Maitreya and Maitreya was a disciple of Parashara Muni and he had a great fortune of receiving transcendental knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. So Vidura, on Uddhavas suggestion, approached Maitreya for spiritual guidance. So we see in the rmad-Bhgvatam that even Nrada Muni is sometimes addressed as Bhagwn. So rla Prabhupda has explained this point by saying that the devotee is sometimes given this respect because he is fully convinced about the transcendental position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Highest Welfare Activity

So from the rmad-Bhgvatam we understand that the highest welfare activity for the human society is to come to the platform of devotional service. Very often people tell us that why are you spending so much money in building all the big big temples. Especially when they see these big temples they say that why so much money is being spend, there is so much poverty, remove the poverty. So the answer is that the pure devotional service is the highest welfare activity because through this medium we learn to establish our lost relationship with the Supreme Lord and thus become permanently free from the birth and death. So just giving somebody philanthropic help or some material help is not the
t h e h i g h e s t w e l fa r e a c t i v i t y
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real solution. It may give some temporary benefit. But unless we learn the importance of coming to the platform of pure devotional service everything is simply a waste of time.
Pure Devotional Service

Therefore, rmad-Bhgvatam very strongly emphasizes the importance of pure devotional service and that is why rmad-Bhgvatam is accepted as the ripened fruit of all Vedic Knowledge. Why it has been accepted as the ripened fruit of all Vedic Knowledge? Because it focuses on this process of pure devotional service.. sa vai pus paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokaje ahaituky apratihat yaytm suprasdati The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self. rmad-Bhgvatam says very clearly that the self can only be satisfied if we take to the process of pure devotional service. Otherwise the self cannot be satisfied. The same point is illustrated in Caitanya Caritamrita where it is said ka-bhaktanikma, ataeva nta bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kmsakali anta Because a devotee of Lord Ka is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jns desire liberation, and yogs desire material opulence; therefore, they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful. It says that the devotees of the Lord are nikma they are not engaged in this endeavor with this motive; hence, they
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are peaceful. Whereas the others the bhuktis, the muktis, siddhis, those who want to be engaged in the fruitive work, those who want liberation, those who want to achieve the mystic perfections they are all lusty, they are all motivated. Hence, they are all sakali anta they are not peaceful. So if you take to the process of pure devotional service this is the highest welfare activity that one can engage in. So the next question is: How do you take to the process of pure devotional service? Again and again we hear the importance of pure devotional service. But the question is how do we get to the point where you understand that devotional service is the ultimate activity where one should engage in? This is also explained. The wonderful thing about our scriptures is that everything is explained in great detail. We do not have to speculate, we do not have to interpret. We just have to accept the process with faith. I remember once I was talking to rla Prabhupda and I said we should set up a research institute because in India there is a certain law which states that if you set up a research institute then donations to that trust is entitle you to a high exemption. That is a way of saving a lot of funds. So rla Prabhupda did not like the use of word research in our name. He said that there is no need to do any research. All the research has already been done by Vysadeva. All we have to do is just to accept it. There is no need to do any research. Similarly we do not have to research how to execute pure devotional service. We do not have to research into the process of how to get to the stage where we would have developed pure love of God. Its already been explained in the shastras and by the great sages. So to explain how in the initial stages there must be a desire shraddha. There must be this desire. There must be this desire that there must be something beyond this material life. There must be some God. There must be something beyond this life of sense gratification. You must have that desire.
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Once this desire is there then the Supreme Lord who resides in everyones heart as Paramtm, who is the witness to all our desires, He is the seer and the ultimate sanctioning authority. Nothing can happen unless the ultimate sanctioning authority approves it. You may desire to take over the whole world or buy a Mercedes car but unless it is approved by the ultimate authority you are not going to realize that. So when the Supreme Lord sees that here is a candidate who desires to understand Him, then the Supreme Lord creates a situation where you meet a Sdhu. This is known as Sdhusanga. Ka explains in the Bhagvad-Gita, sarvasya cha hdi sannivio matta smtir jnam apohana ca vedai ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vednta-kd veda-vid eva cham I am seated in everyones heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vednta, and I am the knower of the Vedas. I am the cause of smtir and I am the cause of apohanam. I am the cause of remembrance and I am the cause of forgetfulness. The ultimate sanctioning is realized from Ka. So when the desire is there or when we manifest the desire to engage in the service to the Lord and the desire is genuine, then Ka brings you in touch with spiritual people, brings you in touch with pure devotee, brings you in touch with the representative of the pure devotee. He will bring you in touch with a devotee who will just transmit to you the message of pure devotee.
Most Important Activity

Just like our devotees go and distribute books all over the world. rla Prabhupda emphasized this activity of book
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distribution as one of the most important activity. So these books are distributed not necessarily by the most advanced devotees or the devotees who have achieved Ka prema; they can be distributed by a new bhakta, who is not even fully convinced about the value of devotional service but who has faith that I am being told to go and distribute books and this is an auspicious activity. Sdhu-sanga may take various forms. You may meet a pure devotee, you may read his instructions or you may just meet a neophyte but he may be just presenting to you the essence of what he has received from the disciplic succession.
The Stages Where You Get Love of God

So when you come in contact with the spiritual association then what you get to understand? You get to understand how devotional service is executed. We have explained the importance of chanting the Hare Ka Mahmantra. We have explained the importance of giving up sinful activities etc. And then by maintaining our spiritual association, by keeping associating with the devotees, we must continue to associate then our faith in the process is reinforced and we begin to execute the process of devotional service. You begin to chant one round then you gradually build up to chant sixteen rounds. You start to follow one regulative principle and gradually you get more and more strength to follow all the principles and so on. And then you begin the process of Bhajana-kriy. You begin the process of devotional service. And if you are sincere and very fortunate you get initiated by a bona fide Spiritual Master and you keep endeavoring on the spiritual path. As we endeavor for anarthas like Kma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, and mtsarya, which are the enemies in spiritual life that are primarily responsible for keeping us away
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from the process of devotional service, they begin to get liquidated. They begin to melt. And as we keep executing the anrtha-nivitti, the anrthas begin to get destroyed. Then slowly slowly we develop nih or our faith in the process becomes stronger. Initially our faith is very weak. We have not been to the stage of nih. Thats why we see people they come and join the movement and even get initiated but they are not executing the process very thoroughly. They have not reached the stage of nih and taking the process and they even give up the process. So when we keep executing the process then we come to the stage of nih. Further progress we get taste or ruchi. And then you get more deeply attached; till eventually you get to the stage where you get love of God or Ka Prema.
Dont Take Any Shortcuts

So this process which is described in brief has been explained and if we follow this process then we will be able to stay in this process of devotional service and we will also be able to inspire others to take to the process of devotional service. Now in the fourth canto there is a nice verse which explains that sometimes we prematurely stop to take the medicine. Just like sometime we are recovering from a disease and we falsely think that we have recovered and we prematurely stop to take the medicine. And then what happens? There is a relapse. So similarly, when we come to the spiritual path we begin to follow the process but then we think now I have achieved Ka Prema, I have understood everything. We begin to take shortcuts. We begin weak in the execution of Bhajana-kriy, in the execution of sdhana-bhakti process and then we get a relapse. And the relapse is we go back to material activities. Our devotional service gradually gets weakened. So we should not take any shortcuts on this
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spiritual path. And if we sincerely keep executing the process then we will succeed on this devotional path.
Great Knowledge
r Caitanya Mahprabhu while explaining the process to Santana Goswmi explains how bhakti-lat-bja has to be watered. We have to regularly water the bhakti-lat-bja. When we talk of the process of bhajana kriya we are talking of the process of ravaa krtana. We are talking about the various rules and regulations. We are talking about the process of sdhana bhakti. And if we take advantage of all this great knowledge that has been left behind by the great sages and the Supreme Lord, then the process is guaranteed to work. There should be no doubt that the process will work, but we have to take to this process with full faith. And if take to this process with full faith then we will be able to advance on this path of devotional service. rla Prabhupda used to often quote rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Mahrjas statement that in this world if there is shortage of anything; there is a shortage of only one thing. Whats that commodity? Love of God. So there is this shortage of the process of Love of God all over the world. All over the world the people are not taking to this process so easily. People want to try and be happy independent of God. We have such a nice process that has been given to us. But the unfortunate people do not want to take it. Prahld Mahrja has explained the nature of a devotee, para-dukha-dukh. para-dukha-dukh means that if he sees somebody else in distress, he also becomes distressed. And that is the true nature of the Vaiava. The true nature of a Vaiava is that he is very anxious to make everyone fortunate. In the rmad-Bhgvatam, Maharaja abhadeva gave a nice example. He said that when a gentleman sees
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a blind man walking on a wrong path does he keep quiet? No. He goes to the blind man and diverts him to the right path. So similarly one who is spiritually educated, he knows that everyone is walking on the wrong path. He knows that everyone is actually spiritually blind. So what does he do? He puts them on the right path. In other words, devotees principle goal is to be Ka Conscious and to make others Ka Conscious. Because this verse is clearly establishing that this is the greatest welfare activity for everyone and in the purport rla Prabhupda is also emphasizing that this is the highest welfare activity for everyone. So devotees have to be fully convinced about what is the highest welfare activity. Sometimes when somebody is coming to Ka Consciousness he is hesitant whether he should come to Ka Consciousness. But actually coming to Ka Consciousness is the highest welfare activity. Because when you come to Ka Consciousness, when you take to Ka Consciousness you are really working for the benefit of the entire society. Ka Consciousness goes beyond the concept of identifying with the body.
Caitanya Mahprabhus Prediction

There is limited sense gratification and extended sense gratification. First you worry about your own body, about your body and senses. Then you worry about your family. Then you worry about your village. Then you worry about your community. Then you worry about your nation. But Ka Consciousness is beyond designation. We come to the single point that is ekale vara ka, ra saba bhtya there is only one real master and everyone else is bhtya that means servant. Everyone else actually is His servant. So this understanding has to be taken to every corner of the planet. We should not forget Caitanya Mahprabhus prediction.
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What was His prediction? As many towns and villages in the world there are, My holy name will be heard. r Caitanya Mahprabhu said that this holy name should be spread to as many towns and villages as they are. Lord Caitanya predicted: pthivte che yata nagardi grma sarvatra pracra haibe mora nma In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard. (Caitanya-bhgavata, Antya 4.126) So that is actually the duty of everyone in this Ka Consciousness movement to help realize Caitanya Mahaprabhus prediction, to help realize rla Prabhupdas great desire that this Ka Consciousness, which is the highest welfare activity is very impressive it is being confirmed in the verse that we are discussing today. The highest welfare activity should be taken to the every nook and corner of the world. But this can only happen if the devotees endeavor to make this happen. Somebody may say that if it is Lords desire then it will happen, what is the need for us to make the effort. The Lord is dependent on His devotees. If the devotees endeavor, just like we say in English, God helps those who help themselves. So we endeavor to help realize Caitanya Mahaprabhus desire and rla Prabhupdas desire then certainly Ka will help make it happen. So this is the highest welfare activity but this has to be brought to everyone. People have to be convinced about it. And how are we going to convince others? We can convince others when we are convinced by ourselves. So we have already explained briefly how we can convince ourselves about the process of devotional service by strictly following the process. Then we have to take this process to the others.
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rla Prabhupdas Great Desire

So one medium is that we go on book distribution. rla Prabhupda emphasized that book distribution as the highest welfare activity. rla Prabhupda said, If you love me then go and distribute my books. As we understand from the shastras that the Vaiava or acharya is present in the Vapu and the Vani form and rla Prabhupda said as long as book distribution goes on I will live forever. We do not say that the true spiritual teacher goes away. He lives forever by his teachings. So when we distribute these books we give the conditioned souls an opportunity to associate with rla Prabhupda, to associate with the great acharyas, and to be reminded about what is the real mission of human life. So it is very nice that our devotees here now are regularly going out and doing book distribution. But we should not be discouraged. Sometimes when we go on book distribution and we dont realize quick results then it is a tendency of the devotees to get discouraged. But they should not be discouraged. They should keep on endeavoring. And Ka will see that here is someone making a sincere and honest attempt. Ka is in your heart and Ka is in the heart of the individual that you are trying to convince. So when Ka sees that here is my devotee who is trying to make an effort to convince. Then Ka reciprocates and inspires the other person to also reciprocate and take the book and show interest in it. So one medium that rla Prabhupda gave to make aware is through this process of book distribution. Then rla Prabhupda gave many cultural methods through which Ka Consciousness can be spread. Another method that he gave us is the process of Prasad distribution that we call as the Food For Life program. Food For Life is in almost every corner of the world and we throw this weapon for getting public support and appreciation of what this Ka Consciousness Movement stands for.
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Spiritual Hospitals
Unfortunately today the people are so degraded when you tell them about God conscious activities they say, Oh, what is that going to do for usGod consciousness? rla Prabhupda explained that our temples are the spiritual hospitals where people are invited to, they come, and they see beautiful archa-vigraha form of the Lord. They bow down to the Lord. They begin to make spiritual advancement. In fact, rla Prabhupda said just come to the temple and bow down to the deities you will make spiritual advancement and go back home, back to Godhead; if you come everyday and just bow down. But now we see that even among the Indian devotees the tradition or custom of bowing down to the deities has faded away. You see people coming to the temple; they just stand or offer namaste. But actually the head should bow down to the deities. In fact, the second canto of rmad-Bhgvatam makes a very daring statement. It says, The head that does not bow down before the Lord should be separated. We have to educate the people that when they come to the temple of the Lord they should bow down to the Lord. We should put one or two signs that this is nice thing when you come to the temple of the Lord you should bow down before the Lord.
This is Wonderful!
When rla Prabhupda went to America he just planted the idea of book distribution and the devotees started scratching their heads, how can we please rla Prabhupda and expand book distribution? And the devotees were just thinking how we can spread book distribution and one devotee came up with the idea, oh! May be I can go to the stores that are
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opened up till late during Christmas season. One devotee had just given a book in exchange for cash in a petrol pump, a Ka Book. And the man accepted a Ka book in exchange for cash. And the devotee Keshava got idea, Oh, this is wonderful! He took Ka Book in exchange. So devotees are constantly taxing their brains, How can we realize rla Prabhupdas desire of seeing books distributed. rla Prabhupda said double it. Double the books distributed. They have been constantly thinking how we can do that. And Ka reciprocated.
How to Get Strenght

We should have full faith that by the mercy of Caitanya Mahprabhua blind man can see, a deaf man can hear, and a lame man can walk. So by the mercy of Caitanya Mahprabhu the impossible can become possible. We have to make the effort and that effort has to be made by the devotees. So all the devotees should think that how should we increase this Ka Consciousness as far as possible. This is an activity for the welfare of the whole world. It is not an activity for the welfare of one or two people. This Ka Consciousness or the process of pure devotional service is the only process that can satisfy us. And we devotees can get the strength to preach the Ka Consciousness if we are serious in the execution of devotional practices. We should be very alert in the executing devotional practices. Make sure we chant our rounds, make sure we read rla Prabhupdas books where rla Prabhupda has explained everything. When we read these books, Ka is pleased; here is a devotee trying to understand me. And if Ka is pleased that here is somebody who is trying to understand me, Ka then gives him the intelligence to understand. And if we are not making
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endeavor to please Ka then Ka does not reciprocate. So we have to make an endeavor to read these books that rla Prabhupda wrote with such great difficulties and along with chanting, reading, and sadhana bhakti this would give us the strength to go on with our Ka Consciousness.
Hare Krishna
CHA P TER
Serving Ka to the Best of Our Ability

r-bhagavn uvca vara vdhva bhadra vo yya me npa-nandan sauhrdenpthag-dharms tuo ha sauhdena va
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear sons of the King, I am very much pleased by the friendly relationships among you. All of you are engaged in one occupationdevotional service. I am so pleased with your mutual friendship that I wish you all good fortune. Now you may ask a benediction from Me.
Purport
Since the sons of King Prcnabarhiat were all united in Ka consciousness, the Lord was very much pleased with them. Each and every one of the sons of King Prcnabarhiat was an individual soul, but they were united in offering transcendental service to the Lord. The unity of the individual souls attempting to satisfy the Supreme Lord or rendering service to the Lord is real unity. In the material world such unity is not possible. Even though people may officially unite, they all have different interests. In the United Nations, for instance, all the nations have their particular national ambitions, and consequently they cannot be united.
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Disunity between individual souls is so strong within this material world that even in a society of Ka consciousness, members sometimes appear disunited due to their having different opinions and leaning toward material things. Actually, in Ka consciousness there cannot be two opinions. There is only one goal: to serve Ka to ones best ability. If there is some disagreement over service, such disagreement is to be taken as spiritual. Those who are actually engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be disunited in any circumstance. This makes the Supreme Personality of Godhead very happy and willing to award all kinds of benediction to His devotees, as indicated in this verse. We can see that the Lord is immediately prepared to award all benedictions to the sons of King Prcnabarhiat.
Collective Austerities
The words of the purport are very sweet. Actually the entire rmad-Bhgavatam is very sweet. The rmad-Bhgavatam is like sugar candy. Sugar candy or sugar cane whether you bite in middle, top or bottom, the taste is always sweet. Similarly, the rmad-Bhgavatam is always sweet but some verses are more nectarean than the other. Therefore, devotees have the habit of memorizing certain key verses that are very useful in preaching and fixing up oneself on the path of Ka Consciousness. Here we are reading about the activities of the Pracets. Who were the Pracets? The Pracets were the sons of a King; the name of the King was King Prcnabarhiat. Based on their fathers instructions they performed extreme austerities. In previous ages the Kings also would send their children to perform austerities before entering into Grihastha rama or before taking on the responsibility of monarchy. They were trained in spiritual life and if one is trained in spiritual life, that doesnt matter in which rama one is, that doesnt matter in which situation one is, one can achieve the goal of life.
s e rv i n g k a t o t h e b e s t o f o u r a b i l i t y
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Spiritual Authority Lord Shivas Mercy

So the Pracets went to perform austerities and there by the will of the providence they met Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is one of the Mahjanas or spiritual authorities. So there are twelve established authorities on spirituality. Just like, in any profession we sometimes say Oh! This man is an authority on computers; this man is an authority on science; this man is an authority on physics. Dont we say that in material world to a man who has read several books. In the material world we have authorities on different subjects. So we also have spiritual authorities. Twelve personalities are identified in the Scriptures as spiritual authorities and one of the twelve is Lord Shiva. When Lord Shiva saw the Pracets, he was very much pleased. He could see they are very sincere. So he gave them a Chant that glorifies the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Ka.
Collective Devotional Service

And then the Pracets stood in the water for 10,000 years and performed this austerity of chanting this mantra glorifying Lord Ka. Now if you were to make this statement to the present day materialists they would say mythology. It is absurd, how can someody live for 10,000 years? What is average life span today? The life span in America is about 78 years or something for a man and 82 for women. In Russia because they drink so much the average life span of a male Russian is only 58 years. So, the life span in todays atmosphere is only 80 years. And someone may say if the life span is only 80 years, how on earth did the Pracets meditate for 10,000 years? They lived longer but they meditated alone for 10,000 years. So the answer is that this pastime took place in Satya Yuga and in Satya Yuga, the life span was 100,000 years. So to have meditated for 10,000 years is not difficult.
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Symptoms of Kali Yuga

There are certain so-called scholars and philosophers who made a serious attempt to discredit the Vedic Scriptures. During the Mohammedan rule of India the Mohammedans were very cruel and brutal. They destroyed the temples. The British came, throwing the Mohammedans out of India. They were more civilized and they stopped the breaking of temples. Thakur Bhaktivinode has given a great debt to the British because he says that they stopped the breaking of temples. But they had their own agenda which was little bit more subtle. They had scholars coming from England who became expert in the Sanskrit language. Then they started studying the Vedas. Then they started writing the books and presenting Oh! This is all mythology. This is not reality. And then a certain classthe so-called educated people said Oh! This is all mythology. We dont have faith in the Vedas. The fourth offence in chanting of the holy name is to blaspheme the Vedic literature or literature in pursuance of the Vedic version; to think that the Vedas were not compiled by God; to think that the Vedas do not contain eternal wisdom; to think that the Vedas do not have relevance in todays society, is also an offence. The Vedic knowledge is emanated from Supreme Personality of Godhead. So as we understand from the scriptures, in Satya Yuga the life span was 100,000 years. In Tret Yuga the life span got reduced ten times to 10,000 years, in Dvpara Yuga to 1000 years and in Kaliyuga to a maximum of 100 years. But if one analyze it correctly, in todays society how many people live even for 100 years, only a few. I dont know what the statistics are in America. But I am sure its only a small percentage of people who live for 100 years. And even if they live beyond 85, though living, they are virtually dead. It is such an artificial living. Just like, till about 20 years ago they would try and keep people artificially alive in hospitals.
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Because they have all these instruments to keep up pumping your heart and keep your organs moving. But then the cost of keeping people alive artificially was medically so high that the insurance companies dont want to pay. They said we would better put the plug out earlier, we dont want to pay. And so there was the whole controversy in the western world which is still going on. At what point should a person be allowed to die, and at what point you should stop using artificial devices to keep people alive. So, the life span these days, though it is ideally 100 years but it is gradually going down. And as Kaliyuga advances a day will come when a 30 years old man would be considered an old man. You may laugh it off today but that is predicted in the scriptures, and a 3 foot man would be considered a tall man. So make plans to get out of the material world. The material world is going to get more and more terrible with passage of each day. This is not something that is spiritual propaganda. If you follow what the materialists talk, if you follow what the scientists these days are talking they are all talking about global warming; they are talking about the effects of global warming on the society and the predictions are that the situation is going to be so terrible that it is going to be almost unbearable. There was recently a United Nations report about the effects of global warming around the world and it was published in the leading magazine in India, about the effects it would have on India and it would be disastrous. The ice glaciers are melting and as a result they are predicting that lot of cities next to rivers are going to get drowned, water level will rise, scarcity of water, etc. So, the point is all this is happening, why? America releases 22% of the pollution or emissions that go on to the world and the highest come from America 22%. What is causing this global warming? Mankinds greed. Our greed to have more and more facilities, our greed to defy the laws of nature, which is simple living and high thinking, is what is contributing to global warming.
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The temperatures around the world are getting warmer year by year. They are predicting around 30 to 40 years Englands temperature is going to be like India.
Srimad Bhagavatam has All the Predictions

So we can see what the rmad-Bhgavatam has to say about the developments of Kaliyuga are coming true. The rmadBhgavatam says that in Kaliyuga people will be so oppressed that they will run to the forests and the mountains for peace of mind. People will be so unhappy and we can see that is happening all the over the world. I recently read a survey that was done in America which shows that Americans are 30% more lonely today than they were 20 years ago. And the average Americas 30 years old is far worse off than his father was at his time. So we can see how predictions of the scriptures are bearing fruit in todays environment. We have to have faith. You can use all this for preaching in todays environment. rmad-Bhgavatam gives us the information about the life span in different ages and in Satya Yuga the life span was 100,000 years. Thus, the Pracets very sincerely chanted the song, the mantra which was given to them by Lord Shiva. Now this proves another point that the Lord Shiva is the greatest of all Vaisnavas, vaiavn yath ambhu. He is the greatest of Vaiavas and if you will read the tenth Canto you will see stories how Lord Shiva glorifies Ka as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the rmad-Bhgavatam you see Shiva, Brahm, and Indra, all glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Pleasing Krishna by Pure Devotional Service

And now the Pracets performed austerities and because they performed austerities, the Supreme Lord was very much
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pleased. How can you please the Lord, with your bank balance? Can you? No, can you please the Lord with your beauty? Can you please the Lord with scholarly achievements? Then how can you please the Lord? Only by pure devotional service.
Capturing Krishna by Austerities

But in this case, the Lord was pleased by their austerities. Just like Lord Brahm says in rmad-Bhgavatam that He is Adhokshajam. Lord Brahm says that one of the various names of the Lord is that He is Adhokshajam. What does Adhokshajam mean? Adhokshajam means who cannot be easily understood. The Lord cannot be easily captured or understood. But the Lord can be captured or understood through the medium of tapasya. Tapasya means austerity. Tapasya means voluntarily accepting some inconveniences for a higher cause. Now in the material world, dont we voluntarily experience inconveniences for the higher cause. Lets say somebody wants to enter university. You really have to work hard, study, study, and study. I know in India they have these board exams. And in these board exams students do nothing but just day and night only study, study, and study. Especially these days unless you get top 95% grade, you cant even get into university. So, they just study, study, and study. They sacrifice the opportunities to watch movies, so that they can get good grades to get to a good school. Then sometimes businessman etc., he works hard to make a profit to establish a business and so on. Even these musicians and sportsmen, before they really become big, they really have to practice 20 hours a day, before they become big. It is not that it happens instantly. So, the point is, in material life also we do sacrifice opportunities to achieve a higher goal and if you dont sacrifice opportunities to achieve a higher goal then you end
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up as an uneducated man. So in material life also we see, like those who become doctors, lawyers, they have to make a lot of sacrifices to achieve the material success. So in spiritual life also we do have to make some sacrifices to achieve a higher goal and we have to voluntarily accept inconveniences for achieving a higher goal. But fortunately our austerities are not as severe as those performed by the Pracets or they are not as severe as those performed by Prahlda Mahrja or Dhruva Mahrja. Prahlda Mahrja, for example, had poisonous snakes around him. He had elephants walk on him. He was thrown from mountains tops.
Easy Austerities in Kaliyuga

By the mercy of r Caitanya Mahprabhu the austerities in this age of Kali, have got so simplified. Just chant, and eat as much prasda as you want but eat Ka prasda. Chant, dance, and feast. So the Lord was very much pleased by the austerities that Pracets had performed and as a result the Lord manifested Himself in front of the Pracets. It is described how the Lord appeared in front of the Pracets, how the Lord was decorated-like in the neck of the Personality of Godhead hung a flower garland that reached his knees. His elongated arms were decorated with garland which challenged the beauty of the Goddess of fortune. So, when Lord appears, He appears so beautiful. This is one of the six characteristics of the Lord. Parashara Muni says that the Supreme Lord is one who has six characteristics to an unlimited degree and one of those six is that no one can compare the Lords beauty. Not only the Lord is most beautiful, the Lords opulences are increasing every second. By the time you finish the class, Kas opulence would have gone up. They are increasing every second. In material life our beauty goes down as we age. As people get older they become more and more
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ugly. They are sweetest when they are kids and as they get older the beauty gets lesser and lesser till finally they become so ugly. But the Lords beauty increases every second. Lords opulences are increasing every second. So the previous verse describes that the Lords beauty was so powerful that it was even more beautiful than the Goddess of fortune and the Supreme Lord was so pleased with the Pracets that He appeared there and addressed them. So, the Supreme Lord is pleased by the austerities of His devotees. When you perform austerities then the Supreme Lord gets pleased and without austerities you cant capture the Lord. These days you have a lot of religious preachers in India, in America, and all over the world. And if we examine the teachings of these so-called preachers, they will talk of everything but austerity. Why? First of all, the preachers themselves dont practice austerity. To begin with they are hypocrites but they dont want to be very big hypocrites. And then they are scared that if they talk of austerity, people will go away. No one will come. Just like when rla Prabhupda came to America in 1965-66 at that time America was very much involved in the Vietnam war and there was lot of anti-government protests; like you see the anti-Iraq protests now. And there were lot of hippies. That was a hippie generation. So lot of Swamis had come from India. Those were the days of Swami boom. So when these Swamis saw rla Prabhupda and what he was teaching, they approached rla Prabhupda and said, Swamiji, you are new to this country. We have been here for such a long time. And no one is going to follow No meat eating, no gambling, and no illicit sex life. You should wear suits like us. rla Prabhupda was wearing a traditional dress. And you should learn to eat with fork and knife the western way. But rla Prabhupda was not interested in a compromise or watering down on philosophy. He had come to give a genuine product. So he did not compromise.
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Decoration of a Spititualist
So austerity is not emphasized and even if it is emphasized, they will say OK, be a vegetarian. That is a good deal, but nothing beyond that. But austerity is a wealth of a Brhmaa. Just like a materialist decorates oneself with ornaments, a spiritualist decorates oneself with austerity. Austerity is his decoration, not jewelry, fancy clothes, and so on. The Supreme Lord was very much pleased with the Pracets. Now what does the Supreme Lord saying in this verse? He is saying, My dear sons of the King, I am very much pleased by the friendly relationship amongst you. The Pracets were several brothers, so these brothers were all united in their service to the Supreme Lord. These verses are spoken by the Lord Himself. He is saying I am very much pleased by the friendly relationship amongst you. Why? Why the Lord is pleased by the friendly relation amongst the Pracets? Because they all had one occupation. All the brothers were engaged in worshiping the Lord.
Real Business Dsevotional Service

So the Lord said all of you have one occupation, so similarly in our Ka Consciousness movement we have individuals. Individuals make up the movement. We have somebody may be brahmacr, somebody may be sannys, somebody may be a Grihastha, somebody may be housewife, somebody may be a student. Doesnt matter. Even in terms of occupations we may have people with different occupations. Somebody may be accountant, somebody may be a lawyer, somebody may be an engineer, or somebody may be a simple street sweeper. Doesnt matter. We dont care what ones profession is. But we care for if he understands the higher profession, i.e., devotional service. So Supreme Lord is saying that all of you
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have one occupation and that is devotional service. So our real business is devotional service. That is our real business. Now since we are living in the material world and we need funds to maintain and we needs funds to run a temple, we may take on different jobs, businesses etc. That may go on in material world but Ka advices in Bhagavad-gt that we should work in a spirit of detachment. Just like lotus grows within water but is not touched by the water. Now, we all have one occupation devotional service.
Devotional Service to Krishna Unites

Someone may say, what is your business? So you may say, I am a foreman or an engineer. But our real business is devotional service. So the Supreme Lord was pleased with Pracets because they were all involved in one occupation devotional service. And further the Lord says, I am so pleased with your mutual friendship that I wish you all good fortune. So, the Supreme Lord is so pleased when He sees individuals engaged in the devotional path and the Lord is saying that I am very much pleased by your devotional and mutual friendship, and I want to bless you that you may get all good fortune. So the point is that even if you are living in the community of devotees, our real business is to engage in devotional service. And the Supreme Lord is very much pleased when He sees that we are united to serve Him. rla Prabhupda used to say, united we stand, divided we fall. So if we are united we can please the Lord. If we are united in serving the Lord then the Lord is very much pleased and then the Lord is ready to give us any benediction that we may want. And if you are not united in devotional service, then there is no question of being united. rla Prabhupda in his purport gave the example of United Nations. It is United Nations but as Prabhupda said in purport, everybody is pushing its own agenda. Every nation is
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thinking, what can I get? What benefit can I get from this? So, in the material world there is no unity. Is there any unity? No. Even amongst the people of the same political party, are they united? No. They may get united temporarily, but inside, they all have their own agendas. But on a devotional path, we get united because our goal is to serve Ka. If our goal is to serve Ka then one can get united.
Unity Amongst All Nations

rla Prabhupda was once taking part in a so-called spiritual conference with certain other spiritual leaders, yogis, pandits etc. So they were talking about unity. How to bring about unity in religions? So, rla Prabhupda said unity in religions is possible by one god Ka; one scripture Bhagavad-gt; one mantra Hare Ka Mahamantra. The point is that you can have unity if you are focused on the Supreme Lord. Otherwise where is a question of unity? It is a question of I scratch your back, you scratch my back. In other words, I help you to cheat and you help me to cheat. That is why rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Gosvm Mahrja used to say it is the world of the cheaters and the cheated.
Common Goal is Krishna

So, over here, it is being said that, in the material world there is disunity between individual souls but if we are serving Ka, our goal is to serve Ka, and we are working in friendship, in unity with one-another, then the Supreme Lord will be very much pleased and if the Supreme Lord is very much pleased then we would achieve the goal of life. And if the Supreme Lord is not pleased then everything is simply a waste of time. So our goal should be to please the Lord. Lord desires that you work in friendship. rla
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Prabhupda used to say, we should not be like the fly but be like the bee. The fly has a tendency to look for dirt. It looks for dirt and goes wherever something is dirty, and the bee has the tendency to look for honey and it goes to a flower. The swan lives in a clean environment whereas the crow likes garbage. Even though both are birds of the same feature. So, similarly, rla Prabhupda says that a devotee should be willing to see other Vaiavas good points and appreciate the good points rather than just talking about the weak points. And that will help promote friendship amongst devotees. So the friendship amongst devotees can be achieved if there is one focal point. If our focal point is Ka then there will be friendship amongst devotees. And if there is friendship amongst devotees then the Supreme Lord is pleased. And one way to achieve friendship amongst devotees is to look at the goods points in others. And if we are looking at the good points in others then, that will help us create a positive mood. And the positive mood will help in uniting devotees. So those who are engaged in the service of Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be disunited in any circumstances. If you are focusing on serving the Supreme Lord then that will actually bring about unity. There may be some difference of views but if we are engaged in serving the Supreme Lord then that will bring about real unity. And over here rla Prabhupda says that when one is working in friendship then the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very happy and is willing to award all benedictions to devotees. So whats the benediction that devotees want? More service and the opportunity to just serve the Lord. The devotees desire is to just have the opportunity to serve. Just like, r Caitanya Mahprabhu instructed His followers to write volumes of books. But r Caitanya Mahprabhu left behind only eight verses identified as r r ikakam. So in one of the verses r Caitanya Mahprabhu says,
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na dhana na jana na sundar kavit v jagad-a kmaye mama janmani janmanvare bhavatd bhaktir ahaituk tvayi O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth. So the Supreme Lord reciprocates with our surrender. Ka makes this very clear in the Bhagavad-gt ye yath m prapadyante. All of them, as they surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. So, Ka reciprocates according to our surrender. And if Ka sees that we have a genuine desire to surrender then He reciprocates and guides us accordingly.
Our Unity Has to be Based on Shastras

So the Supreme Lord was very much pleased with the Pracets because all the brothers were engaged in the devotional service to the Supreme Lord. And when we serve the Lord in friendship the Lord is pleased. And if we serve Lord in the opposite then He is not so pleased. So Supreme Lord wants us to serve Him in friendship. And if we are all engaged in devotional service then automatically there will be friendship. Our binding is based on the principle of serving not on the basis of Nationalities etc. It is on the basis of serving. If we are all engaged in service, then we will be united and the Lord will be pleased by our efforts. And the Lord will reciprocate accordingly. So what is most important is that we constantly engage in devotional service. What is the medium for engaging in devotional service? How do we engage in devotional service? Through the process of ravaa krtanam. Our unity has to be based on Shastras. It cannot be just the sentimental unity. Our unity is based
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on the instructions of the Spiritual Master. To what degree are we following the path which rla Prabhupda has given us? And if we all engage in devotional service, then there will be friendship. Then the Supreme Lord will bless us.
The Supreme Lord is Here Throgh Many Mediums

You may say, is the Supreme Lord come and appear before us just like He appeared in the front of Pracets. Supreme Lord is already manifesting Himself in front of us through the medium of the holy names, through the medium of the Deity. That is Ka, non-different from the Lord. The holy name is non-different from the Lord. The Scriptures are non-different from the Lord. Just like here it is said that anyone who remembers in morning and evening this pastime of Pracets will get unlimited blessings of the Lord. So you can see how much powerful is devotional service to the Lord? Lord says even if anyone remembers this pastime that how the Pracets performed austerities, and how the Lord became pleased with them, just by remembering this pastime you will get unlimited blessings of the Lord and if you were to do the pastime then you can imagine how pleased the Supreme Lord would be. Even by remembering about these pastimes you will get great benediction of the Lord. So to summarize, the Lord was very much pleased by the Pracets because they were all united in serving the Supreme Lord. They served the Supreme Lord on the basis of a mantra chant given to them by Lord Shiva. And the Supreme Lord was so pleased that He eventually came and gave them benediction. So we should serve the Lord in friendship because this is the medium through which the Lord will be pleased. Hare Ka.
CHA P TER
Supereme Lords Divine Incarnations

tais tai svecch-bhtai rpai kle kle s`vaya vibho karma durviaha yan no bhagavs tat karoti hi
(SB 8.5.46)
O Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, by Your sweet will You appear in various incarnations, millennium after millennium, and act wonderfully, performing uncommon activities that would be impossible for us.
Purport
The Lord says in Bhagavad-gt (4.7): yad yad hi dharmasya glnir bhavati bhrata abhyutthnam adharmasya tadtmna sjmy aham Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligionat that time I descend Myself. Thus it is no`t imagination but a fact that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His sweet will, appears in different incarnations, such as Matsya, Krma, Varha, Nsiha, Vmana, Paraurma, Rmacandra, Balarma, Buddha
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and many other forms. Devotees are always eager to see one of the Lords innumerable forms. It is said that just as no one can count how many waves there are in the sea, no one can count the forms of the Lord. This does not mean, however, that anyone can claim to be a form of the Lord and be acceptable as an incarnation. The incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead must be accepted in terms of the descriptions found in the stras. Lord Brahm is eager to see the incarnation of the Lord, or the original source of all incarnations; he is not eager to see an imposter. The incarnations activities are proof of His identity. All the incarnations described in the stras act wonderfully (keava dhta-mna-arra jaya jagada hare). It is only by the personal sweet will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that He appears and disappears, and only fortunate devotees can expect to see Him face to face.
Lords Appearance
Lord Brahma is the speaker of this verse and Lord Brahma is addressing the Supreme Lord. In the verse prior to this Lord Brahma has very nicely established how the Supreme Lord actually is a person. Lord Brahma establishes this by begging for the opportunity to meditate on the Lotus Feet of the Lord and to meditate on the Personality of Godhead. So once again we see that rmad-Bhgvatam is establishing that the Supreme Lord is actually a person as stated in rmad-Bhgvatam vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattva yaj jnam advayam brahmeti paramtmeti bhagavn iti abdyate
(SB 1.2.11)
Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramtm or Bhagavn.
s u p e r e m e l o r d s d i v i n e i n c a r n at i o n s
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Lords Sweet Will

In this verse it is said that Supreme can be realized in different phases namely Brahman, Paramtma, and bhagavn. The Bhagvans realization is the realization of Lords personality. The Lord is a person and He is possessing transcendental qualities. This is the highest of all. Now, in this verse Lord Brahma establishes that the Supreme Lord appears on His own sweet will. Do we appear on our own sweet will? Do all of you have the privilege of appearing on our own sweet will? No, otherwise you would all desire that I may take my birth in a millionaires family in America. But you can not take your birth on your own sweet will. We take our birth influenced by our karma. Based on our karma we take on birth in different species of life and in different situations. You may have a handsome body, you may be born in a rich family, or you may be very well materially educated due to past karma. And if you have very sinful karmas, you take birth in lower species of life or even in human form but not with same privileges. So based on our karma, we take birth in different situations. But here Brahma is saying, My dear Lord, you take your birth based on your own sweet will. In other words Ka doesnt have to go through the laws of karma. Ka is free from the law of karma. The law of karma is for us those who are conditional living entities. The Supreme Lord appears of His own sweet will. rla Prabhupda quotes the famous verse from Bhagvad-gt yad yad hi dharmasya glnir bhavati bhrata abhyutthnam adharmasya tadtmna sjmy aham
(BG 4.7)
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligionat that time I descend Myself.
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rla Prabhupda explains in the purport of this verse, the word sj. He says sj means manifest. So, the Lord does not appear like you and I. He manifests Himself, and the Birthday of the Lord is known as Janamashtmi. Many of us say, Oh! Its Lords Birthday. He took His birth on this day but the Lord doesnt take birth. He manifests Himself by His own sweet will. And why does He manifest Himself? paritrya sdhn vinya ca duktm dharma-sasthpanrthya sambhavmi yuge yuge To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.
Lords Incarnations
Lord manifests Himself in different times to establish the principles of religion. Now this verse discusses the different incarnations of the Lord. In terms of incarnation of the Lord, it has been said by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu that just like you cannot count the atoms that come and go out of a window or standing on the bank of the river, you can not count the waves of the river; similarly, you can not really count the innumerable incarnations of the Lord. But the great sages have even explained to us that there are different categories of avatars or incarnations. Avatar means one who descends, one who descends from the spiritual world. There are six types of avatars called Purusa Avatara, Manvantara Avatara, Lila Avatar, Guna Avatar, Shaktyavesha Avatar, and Yuga Avatar. These are broadly different categories of incarnations of the Lord and the Lord gets recognized on the basis of two characteristics. One
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is known as the principal characteristic and other is known as the marginal characteristic. Principal characteristic refers to the bodily description of the Lord; marginal activity refers to the activity that the particular incarnation was engaged in. For example Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was predicted in rmad-Bhgvatam that He would appear as one who is golden in complexion; so golden in complexion refers to his principal character and as one who would be engaged in singing the glories of the Lord. In other words it explains that what His activity is going to be that refers to the marginal characteristic of the Lord. So on the basis of principal and marginal characteristics we can ascertain who is genuine and who is false. Just like these days there are many people who claim to be incarnation of the Lord but actually on the basis of scriptures only we can understand or accept incarnation. Just because somebody may do some magic, we are not going to accept Him as God. We are going to accept Him as God on the basis of Shastras. Even the appearance of Lord Buddha was actually pre-told in rmad-Bhgvatam. So, Lord Brahma is saying that Lord appears from time to time in his different incarnations on His own sweet will and He performs uncommon activities.
Lords superhuman activities

Lord Brahma is saying in this verse that the Lord appear out of His own sweet will, in different millenniums, performing uncommon activities. So what does it mean uncommon activities? It means the activities that cannot be performed by any other living entity. Ka ll means divya-ll. Divyall means transcendental activities that cannot be equaled by anyone. Ka performed these transcendental activities for many reasons. One is that He wants to establish once and for all that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
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so that in future when any imposter claims to be incarnation He can be tested, on the basis of His activities. And because He is the Supreme Lord, He has to perform something unusual. You can not expect God to just appear and perform the activities just like you and I perform. God has transcendental activities and transcendental characteristics. Just like every morning we greet the deities accompanied by the govindam prayer; what is the govindam prayer? Of course many of us hear that it is very nicely sung and the music is very nice, so that is good, at least you are attracted to Ka. But if you probe deeper and try to meditate on the meaning of the song how Lord Brahma describes the Lord as the cause of all causes; how the Lord can perform any function by any one part of his body. r Brahma-sahit is a wonderful offering of prayers in glorification of the unlimited, transcendental activities of the Supreme Lord. So, the Supreme Lord performs uncommon activities. Just like, in this purport rla Prabhupda has referred to some of the incarnations of the Lord. rla Prabhupda refers to Matsya, Kurma, Varha, Narasimha, Vmana, Parasurma, Rmachandra, Balarma, and Buddha. So these are just some of the incarnations of the Lord but all of them performed superhuman activities. Just like rla Prabhupda refers to Lord Vmanadeva, who appeared as a beggar in a very opulent sacrifice that was being performed by Bali Mahrja and Bali Mahrja was very attracted to the beauty of the Lord. Bali Mahrja had a Guru. There are two types of Gurus. One is Guru on the basis of birth. It goes from the father to the son. The father was on Gaddi and now the son must also sit on Gaddi. And there are many sampradyas in India where the Gaddi is on the basis of birth. And the other guru is on the basis of qualification. Bali Mahrjas gurus name was Sukaracharya. Sukra in Sanskrit means semen. So
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Sukaracharya was his guru on the basis of seminal discharge or on the basis of birth. Sukaracharya became aware that his disciple Bali Mahrja has offered to give Vmanadeva enough land equal to three footsteps. Bali Mahrja greeted Vmanadeva and he said you are a very handsome beggar. Tell me what can I do for you? The beggar said, just give me enough land where I can keep three footsteps. Then Bali Mahrja said, you dont look intelligent to me at all. You are going towards a big man and ask him for some grains of rice. You ask him for something more. You are going to a King and say just give me enough land where I can keep three footsteps. Ask him for something more. Sukaracharya knew that this beggar is not a beggar but is God Himself. So Sukaracharya told Bali Mahrja you fool, you dont know what you have done. You have just given away your entire property. This beggar is not a beggar. He is the Lord and He has come to take away all your riches. So dont honor this promise. You can tell Him that you were joking. So Sukaracharya said there is no harm. Husband jokes with his wife, friends joke with each other, so tell Him that you were joking. So Bali Mahrja said this earth can tolerate the weight of the mountains, this earth can tolerate the weight of the oceans and rivers but it can not tolerate the weight of a liar. So he said I cannot lie. Truthfulness is one of the essential ingredients of religion. Religion means you must be truthful, you must be austere, you must believe in cleanliness, and you must have mercy. So a Vaisnava especially should be very truthful. We practice truthfulness by first being truthful to the instructions of the Supreme Lord; accepting the instructions as they are. And then this concept of truthfulness is extended to follow the instructions of the Spiritual Master, then it is extended to be truthful in our Vaisnava dealings with each other. And if truthfulness is the foundation or
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the basis of spiritual life then spiritual life will be very pleasant and we will be under Kas protection. And if we are not truthful, if we are deceitful, cunning, and untruthful, then materially we may succeed but spiritually we will fail. And our real goal should be to succeed spiritually and not materially. So Bali Mahrja refused to go back on the commitment that he had given to Vmanadeva. He refused to lie and Vmanadeva being the incarnation of the Supreme Lord, did something uncommon. With His first footstep He covered the whole earth, with the second footstep he covered everything from the earth to the sky and then for the third footstep had no place. So what did He do? He kept it on Bali Mahrjas head. So the point that we are making is that the Lord performs superhuman activities when He appears that cannot be performed by any ordinary person. Just like over here, rla Prabhupda also mentions incarnation of Lord Rmachandra. Lord Ramachandra also, when He was on the planet, He performed superhuman activities. When He had to cross Indian Ocean, the monkeys threw stones but they did not sink. They did not get drowned, they were not sinking. So, when the Lord appears He performs transcendental activities. During His reign people were so happy that there was no misery in life. People could even choose their own moment of death. Even the moment of death was on your own free will. If you were given that free choice today, the funeral homes and the shamshan ghts would go broke because nobody would actually choose his moment of death. But there was no disease, there was no old age, there was no death. People on their own will could leave. So even today, people remember Rmrajya, why? Because Rmrajya is a period in history that was associated with immense happiness and that time everyone was engaged in serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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Appearance of Krsna
Even the Supreme Lord, Sri Ka, when He appeared He performed so many transcendental activities. From the beginning to end all His activities were transcendental. That is why in Bhagvad-gt lord says, janma karma ca me divyam eva yo vetti tattvatat yaktv deha punar janma naiti mm eti so rjuna
(BG 4.9)
One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna. My coming and going is all divyam. Just like when Ka appeared in front of His parents, did He come out of Mothers womb with a dirty body, crying? He appeared as a transcendental four handed form. Then His parents requested Him because they were locked up in jail. They knew that if Kansa finds out that the son has appeared He would get killed. So at the request of His parents He at once transformed Himself to an ordinary child. And then He was carried across the river so that Kamsa would not detect. When His father was carrying that time rain was pouring. But Ananta ea gave shelter and there was so much light emanating from the body of the child. In the dense darkness, when it was thundering and lightening, His father could see the path. So there are so many transcendental activities. When Ka was a young child He kicked the carts and they came rolling down. There was a party going on and everybody was amazed, Oh! How those carts came tumbling down; till they discovered when one of the lady said, Oh! It is baby who kicked the cart. Then again Ka was crawling at the
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courtyard of His father He pulled down two huge trees and everybody was amazed, Oh! How did this child do this? Then He killed this very beautiful demon Putan and then this demon Trinvarta. How Trinvarta went up higher and higher in the space. But Ka pulled the demon down and eventually the demon collapsed. Of course, there is a famous pastime of the Lord of lifting Govardhan hill. There are so many activities in Ka book, you read nothing but the transcendental stories. When he appeared and performed superhuman activities which cannot be equaled by any other personality. So we must understand that when we worship Ka we are worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Once rla Prabhupda, after greeting the deities in New York, he started His lecture by saying, Govindam Adipurusham Tama Aham Bhajami. He said we are worshipping the real Lord. We are not worshiping some cheater personality. rmad-Bhgvatam says that the goal of all Vedic knowledge is to understand Ka as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like Ka explains in the Bhagvad-gt by all the Vedas I am to be known because I am the compiler of the Vedas. Vasudeva Para Veda, Vasudeva Para Makhaih. People engage in many different sacrifices but actually the goal of all sacrifices should be to please Vasudeva. Then Vasudeva Para Yoga, one of Kas names is Yogesvara. Yogesvara means the master of all mystic Yogas. There are different types of siddhis which people can acquire. People today do yoga. But yoga today is a very fancy word. Its a fancy word because peoples understanding of yoga is some type of exercise as a result of which your body will be strong and you can have more sense enjoyment. But the real meaning of yoga is to link oneself with the Supreme; to connect with the Supreme Lord. Vasudeva Para Yogaso goal of Yoga should also be to meditate on the Supreme Lord. Therefore, in the
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concluding verse of the Chapter six in Bhagavad-gita Ka says yoginm api sarve. Who is the perfect Yogi? Who is always meditating upon Me. Somehow or the other we must come to the point that we are always meditating on Ka, Kas instructions, Kas desires, and Kas personality. Just like in the Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu Srila Rupa Goswami explains all these rules and regulations that are there in the scriptures, they are meant to bring us to the point where we always remember Ka and never forget Ka. So what is the key to gain the ability to always remember Kato chant and glorify Him? Just like this morning I am very grateful that all of you devotees chanted in the temple or outside and at the end of the class we will review how many rounds everyone did. So I am very happy. So if you chant like this everyday, finish your round everyday before eating Prasad, then to remember Ka during the day will be very very easy especially if you chant nicely and hear the class and read, then to remember Ka will be very very easy. After all it is said Vasudeva Para Yoga. The goal of yoga is to please Vasudeva and real yoga is to always think about Lord and come to the point where we are always meditating on Ka, Kas desires, Kas form, Kas instructions. So that is the goal of Yoga. Vasudeva Para Kriya. Kriya means fruitive activities. You may say this is amazing. Fruitive activities can also be used to please Vasudeva. Vasudeva Para Kriya. Doesnt Ka says in the Bhagvad-gt that whatever benediction you get even though it comes from a demigod it is actually coming from Me. Doesnt Ka says dont go to the demigods, come to me. Doesnt Bhagvad-gt says four types of people come to Me. Who? One who is in distress, one who is inquisitive, one who wants money, and one who is genuine seeker of Ka. So even if one wants paisa, dollars, Ka says come to Me. So similarly Ka says, Vasudeva Para Kriya. The goal of
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all fruitive works is also to come to Me because Ka is so powerful that it doesnt matter what our intention may be, what our motive may be, you will get purified, that is guaranteed. Just like the Sun. The sun can cleanse the germs even in urine water. Isnt it? The drainage that comes out of flush system. The sun can purify anything. So the goal of sacrifice should also be to please Vasudeva. Then Vasudeva Param Gyanamthe goal of knowledge. Ka says in Bhagvadgt, four types of people dont surrender to Me. na m duktino mh prapadyante nardham myaypahta-jn sura bhvam rit
(BG 7.15)
Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me. So one of the four categories is mayayathis category consists of those who may be materially very learned. Who may be big Sanskrit Pandits, PhD degrees, and so on. But actually they use this so called mundane learning to give their own interpretation to the words of God and they distort the original teachings of the Lord. Ka says in the rmadBhgvatamVasudeva Param Gyanamthat the goal of Gyana yoga is also to understand that Ka is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vasudeva Param Tapah. Tapah means austerity. Lord Brahma when he was in deep meditation, what did he hear? Tapa Therefore, Lord Brahma says in the rmad-BhgvatamTapasiva param jyotir Bhagvatam Adhoksajam. He says that the Supreme Lord is actually Adhoksaja, very difficult to understand. But through the medium of Tapasya you can understand the Supreme Lord. Just like there is no question that if you want to succeed on
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the spiritual path you naturally has to follow a disciplined life or life of austerity. Just like we request devotees to get up for Mangla Aarati. So naturally to break your sleep at 3:30 (a.m.) is austerity and to chant your rounds instead of going to sleep in the morning thats also austerity. Then to follow four regulative principles is also austerity. Then to chant 16 rounds, reading is also austerity. So this is austerity. We are not going to cheat the public and sayNo, No, No, there is no austerity. No, there is austerity definitely. But this austerity results in satisfaction; whereas material austerity results in constant frustrations. In material world there is also austerity but in the end everyone is frustrated. Every materialist dies as a frustrated man. But a devotee in his extreme difficult austerity is able to derive satisfaction and happiness. It has been very nicely explained by Lord Rishabhadeva in Srimad Bhagavatam. abha uvca nya deho deha-bhj nloke kan kmn arhate vi-bhuj ye tapo divya putrak yena sattva uddhyed yasmd brahma-saukhya tv anantam Lord abhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, ones heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever. He says that when we perform tapasya or austerity that is transcendental in nature or which is for the pleasure of
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the Supreme Lord then in exchange for this you will realize spiritual happiness and that too Ananta. Ananta means unending happiness. Can you imagine happiness that will never end? Just like when you go to watch a movie. Hopefully you all dont go to watch movies now. But when people go to watch a movie, they are enjoying in the air conditioned theater. But they know that very soon my happiness is going to come to an end. I will have to walk out of this theater and have a sad face and this entertainment is going to get finished. Everyone is watching the cricket match and when it is about 5 oclock. Oh now the match is going to be ended. They know it is going to end. You may be very handsome, very successful businessman with the sweet family but you know that one day this happiness is going to go away. So thats the nature of material happiness. But spiritual happiness is unending. It goes on increasing. So someone may say dont devotees fall sick, dont devotees get old, dont devotees die, dont devotees also have to beg; so whats the difference? Its exactly the same route that we take. But there is a difference. The difference is that the devotee who engages in service to the Lord, in every situation he is undisturbed and because he is connected fully to the Lord through the medium of service he is satisfied even in the position of distress. Otherwise why would queen Kunti pray vipada santu t avat tatra tatra jagad-guro bhavato darana yat syd apunar bhava-daranam
(SB 1.8.25)
I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.
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Why would she say that My dear Lord increase my distress. Why? Because she was satisfied. And she prayed that if my distress increases I will meditate on you even further and the more I meditate on You the faster I get freedom from the cycle of birth and death. So the point is that in exchange of spiritual austerity there is a realization of unending happiness. Then Vasudeva Paro Dharmothe goal of all dharmas. Today there are so many Dharmas all over, isnt it. People say I am confused. There are so many dharmas; which path should I take? Their guru says this path is right that guru says that. Everyone says my path is the right path. Isnt it? A few days ago I was told that there is one person in India who preaches totally Mayavadi philosophy. He is a big guru who travels all around in a suit. He goes on in his suit traveling everywhere. He was given a very big award in England equal to about half a million pounds. For what he was given, I dont know? So there are so many dharmas today. But dharma has to be examined on the basis of shruti and smriti. Therefore, Srila Rupa Goswami warned us 500 years ago. What did he say ruti-smti-purdipacartra-vidhi vin aikntik harer bhaktir utptyaiva kalpate Devotional service performed without reference to the Vedas, Puras, Pacartras, etc., must be considered sentimentalism, and it causes nothing but disturbance to society. So that religion which is not based on shruti and smriti it will simply create a disturbance in society. So Vasudeva Para Dharma. The goal of dharma must be to please Vasudeva. The goal of dharma is not that you follow concocted religious path. The real genuine dharma is the one that teaches
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us to please Vasudeva. Vasudeva Param Gatahthe goal of our lives should be to please Vasudeva. So lord Brahma is explaining that the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears through His own sweet will. He doesnt appear like you and I and He appears in many different incarnations, not one or two. Just like Christians saysGod has one son. rla Prabhupda used to say, who says God has only one son? An ordinary man can have 100 sons and you say God has only one son. God has unlimited sons. God can appear in innumerable incarnations. Just like, incarnation of Lord in the form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Who is Caitanya Mahaprabhu? Sri Ka Caitanya Radha-Ka nahi anya. He is not different from the combination of Radha and Ka. But He appeared in the form of a devotee. Though He appeared in a role of a devotee He also performed superhuman activities just to make His devotees realize. Just like when Lord Caitanya was a small boy, very small boy. His fathers name was Jagannath Mishra. His father was very hospitable. Sadhus would constantly come to his house and His father would take care of them, serve them. Just like rla Prabhupdas father. rla Prabhupdas father was also very fond of feeding sadhus. Anyways, Jagannath Mishra was the father of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so he used to care. Once, there was a Brahmin who had come to live in Jagannath Mishras house. That brahmin was preparing his own offering for the Deity, so he would offer the bhoga to the deities. And as he was offering the baby Nimai came and ate that offering. So the devotee Brahmin was very upset. Not so upset but he said, Oh, now I cant offer this to the Lord because it has been eaten by the child before the offering is complete. So he said ok may be I wont eat today. Lord doesnt want me to eat. A Brahmin never curses anyone; he never gets angry even if he is in a position of difficulty. Brahmin never complains. So the
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Brahmin said, Oh, I am not going to eat today. But Jagannath Mishra saidNo, No, No, you must eat. You cant come to my house and not eat. You must eat and he gave him some more subzi and all that; so he cooked again. So he offered his food stuffs. Again baby Nimai came and ate the offering. His father was very angry at Nimai. He took him and tied Him up in a room, far away from the Brahmin. And he explained to the Brahmin that this is the first time it has happened in our house. We want you to eat so Brahmin was forced by Jagannath Mishra to cook again. He cooked again at midnight. And as he was doing the offering the baby again showed up and started eating the offering. And this time brahmin gave up. Its my bad luck. I cant offer anything to the Lord. But actually it was his good luck because at that time Nimai (baby Ka) revealed His form of Ka, and told himDont tell anyone that you have seen this transcendental form. So that Brahmin was in a dilemma. His dilemma was that on one hand he knew that He (baby Nimai) is God, but on the other hand he was told by Lord Caitanya, not to tell anyone that he has seen this transcendental form and he didnt want others to commit offenses at the feet of the Supreme Lord. Once, Lord Caitanya was doing ecstatic Kirtan at the house of Srivasa Thakur. They were doing very ecstatic kirtan and the devotees were saying we are hungry and thirsty. They said can we get mangoes to eat? So what did Lord Caitanya do? He planted the mango seed and instantly that mango seed fructify into huge tree with very sweet mangoes. And in those mangoes there was no bone inside and for everyday when they would perform kirtan, that tree would give unlimited mangoes to all the devotees who were taking part in the kirtan. Lord Caitanya revealed His transcendental form to His confidential devotees like Haridas, Nityananda, Kolavecccha Sridhar, and Advaita in the house of Srivasa. And then again He revealed his shadbhuja
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form to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. The point is that the Lord comes and He performs His transcendental activities but to understand these transcendental activities we have to approach the Lord through the medium of devotees, through the medium of bhakti. This has also been clearly stated ata r-ka-nmdi na bhaved grhyam indriyai sevonmukhe hi jihvdau svayam eva sphuraty ada [Cc. Madhya 17.136] No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality, and pastimes of r Ka through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality, and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him. (Bhakti-rasmta-sindhu 1.2.234) You try to understand the Lord through your material senses you will constantly be baffled. But if you try to understand the Lord through the medium of devotional service then you can understand the Lord. Just like, in the Ka consciousness movement we have devotees who are materially uneducated. They may be speaking faulty language, faulty Sanskrit but they are engaged in devotional service. And because they are engaged in service they know, who is Supreme? Ka. Whats the medium to realize Him? Chanting Hare Ka. The power of devotion is so powerful that it enables us to cleanse the heart and it enables us to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So Lord Brahma is establishing that Lord appear by His own sweet will. We should never think, Oh, the Lord has to appear because of some material factor, or some material pressure or some law of karma No. the Lord can also appear as a fish, Matsya Avatar. He can appear as Varaha. He can appear as a hog. Normally nobody likes going next to a hog. But we worship
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the Lord in this hog incarnation. We worship the Lord in His fish incarnation. Jayadeva Goswami very nicely glorifies the innumerable transcendental incarnations of the Lord. rla Prabhupda in the purport says, keava dhta-mnaarra jaya jagada hare. So the Lord is Jagadish. He is the proprietor of the universe. The devotee tries to understand the Supreme position of the Lord by taking to the process of devotional service. And by hearing the rmad-Bhgvatam regularly our faith, determination would become stronger. And we will be able to make spiritual advancement. So Lord Brahma is describing that Lord appear by His own sweet will. Lord appears in many incarnations and the Lords incarnations always perform incomparable activities or divine activities or transcendental activities that cannot be compared by any individual. Therefore, He is KaEkala Ishwara Ka. Therefore, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and even the demigods are His servants. The demigods are also anxious to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Hare Ka
CHA P TER
Always Stay in Ka Consciousness

r-uka uvca ekad gha-dsu yaod nanda-gehin karmntara-niyuktsu nirmamantha svaya dadhi yni ynha gtni tad-bla-caritni ca dadhi-nirmanthane kle smarant tny agyata
r ukadeva Gosvm continued: One day when mother Yaod saw that all the maidservants were engaged in other household affairs, she personally began to churn the yogurt. While churning, she remembered the childish activities of Ka, and in her own way she composed songs and enjoyed singing to herself about all those activities.
Purport
rla Vivantha Cakravart hkura, quoting from the Vaiavatoa of rla Santana Gosvm, says that the incident of Kas breaking the pot of yogurt and being bound by mother Yaod took place on the Dpval Day, or Dpa-mlik. Even today in India, this festival is generally celebrated very gorgeously in the
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month of Krtika by fireworks and lights, especially in Bombay. It is to be understood that among all the cows of Nanda Mahrja, several of mother Yaods cows ate only grasses so flavorful that the grasses would automatically flavor the milk. Mother Yaod wanted to collect the milk from these cows, make it into yogurt and churn it into butter personally, since she thought that this child Ka was going to the houses of neighborhood gopas and gops to steal butter because He did not like the milk and yogurt ordinarily prepared. While churning the butter, mother Yaod was singing about the childhood activities of Ka. It was formerly a custom that if one wanted to remember something constantly, he would transform it into poetry or have this done by a professional poet. It appears that mother Yaod did not want to forget Kas activities at any time. Therefore she poeticized all of Kas childhood activities, such as the killing of Ptan, Aghsura, akasura, and Tvarta, and while churning the butter, she sang about these activities in poetical form. This should be the practice of persons eager to remain Ka conscious twenty-four hours a day. This incident shows how Ka conscious mother Yaod was. To stay in Ka consciousness, we should follow such persons.
Chanting Alongwith Sewa

So the Chapter ninth of the tenth canto of rmad-Bhgavatam describes the very wonderful pastime which the Lord enacted with His mother. The Chapter is called, Mother Yaod binds Ka and there are twenty three verses in this Chapter that describes this pastime. So in this pastime, the mother eventually tied her son down with a rope. Mother Yaod was churning the yogurt as described in this verse and other maid servants in the house were engaged in various other duties. As she was churning the yogurt she was also remembering the pastimes which her wonderful son had already performed. Before this pastime was enacted,
a lway s s tay i n k a c o n s c i o u s n e s s
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the Lord has already enacted few other pastimes. He killed the demon Ptan, and then He killed Aghsura, akasura, and Tvarta. All these were powerful demons that were sent by Kasa with the intention of killing. Kasa had information that the child he was fearful has already appeared. When these powerful demons were killed the Brijvasis were amazed, how a small child could kill these powerful demons. They were wondering. Is this child a demigod? He seems to have special mercy of Lord Narayana. The child has also revealed entire universe in His mouth to His mother. Mother Yaod while churning the yogurt, she composed a song remembering all these wonderful transcendental pastimes that her son had performed. In other words, while doing our various duties we can also remember the pastimes of the Lord. Then one may say, should we also compose songs remembering Kas childhood pastimes as Mother Yaod did. Fortunately, we dont have to take that trouble. We can chant the Hare Ka Mahamantra while doing our various duties. Just like, we see Lord Caitanya and His associates were cleaning the Gundicha temple in Jagannath Puri. Hundreds of devotees were engaged in that exercise and hundreds of buckets of water were being transported. Some of the devotees were transporting the water, some were scrubbing the floor, some were scrubbing the ceiling but while performing all these functions, they were all engaged in chanting the Hare Ka Mahamantra at the same time.
Activities for the Pleasure of Krishna

From this example of mother Yaod, we should get inspiration that along with various duties that we may be executing, we should try to chant the Mahamantra. In this process you will automatically remember the different pastimes of the Lord. Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur explains as
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rla Prabhupda has reported in the purport that these pastimes, in which the Lord broke down the container of the yogurt and was eventually tied down by the mother, was performed today in the morning hours on the day of Dipawali. Today this pastime was performed over 5000 years ago. Even today one can see that very location where this pastime was performed. Not only can one see this location, one can see the other locations also, where the Lord performed His various pastimes. We also have another program of Braj Mandala Parikrama, where for the whole month we travel to the places where the Lord performed His various pastimes. So, as stated in the purport, the cows at that time would give milk of different fragrances. These days you only get the milk of one flavor. Doesnt matter how healthy a cow is, the milk is only of one flavor. But, as rla Prabhupda explains in purport, amongst mother Yaods cows, the cows were giving milk of different flavors also because they were eating grass of different flavors. Mother Yaod was also very attentively churning the yogurt. Mother Yaod would regularly hear complaints, your son comes into our house and steals our yogurt and butter. And the elderly gopis would complain to Mother Yaod, control your son, control your child. Though they were complaining they were at the same time very attracted to the Lords pastimes. Mother Yaod would tell them why dont you hide your yogurt and butter? And they would say, we hide it on the top of the shelf in the corner but still your sons manage to reach over there and take it. Even in the night, they manage to reach over there because the jewelry they wear radiates so much effulgence that in the night they can see where the butter and yogurt is hidden. Then Mother Yaod said, OK, I will take the jewelry out. Then they wont be able to find it in the night. Then the gopis would say, No, No, No, He looks very beautiful with the jewelry. But even in mind mother Yaod
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would sometimes also say, why should my son steal butter and yogurt from your house? Do you think we dont have butter and yogurt in our house? These days we measure a persons wealth by seeing how big house he has, which car he is driving, how big his car is? Those days peoples wealth was measured by, how much land they have and how many cows they have and the cows were protected.
Yogurt and Butter for the Pleasure of Krishna

So within her mind mother Yaod used to think that may be neighboring gopis had better quality of yogurt and butter that is why my son is more attracted to their yogurt and butter and stealing from there. She was thinking that why my son doesnt like my yogurt and butter and he has to go to steal from the neighbors. So she was churning the yogurt very attentively to make sure that the best butter would be produced. She wanted to make sure that her butter and yogurt were tastier than the neighboring gopis. Mother Yaod was dressed in a saffron-yellow saree. She was wearing bangles, earrings and she was deeply absorbed in just remembering the wonderful transcendental pastimes of the Lord. She was perspiring and she had mlat flowers on her head. So while mother Yaod was churning the butter, her son had the desire to drink the milk from the mothers breast. Of course, these activities were all being performed to increase the transcendental pleasure of the devotee. The mother was churning the yogurt, you can visualize like this and the son comes to her lap, begins to drink milk and then he catches hold of the churning rod and prevents her from churning. So he began to prevent her from churning the yogurt. Mother Yaod was looking at her son with great love and affection. And because of this intense love, milk was flowing from her breast but at the same time, at a little distance
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was her kitchen and on the oven the milk was boiling. So we see that mother Yaod was performing several functions at the same time. On the one hand she was churning the yogurt; on the other hand, the milk was boiling. The milk was also boiling and intention was eventually to produce yogurt and butter. She was churning the butter that was also for the pleasure of Ka. All her activities were being executed just for the pleasure of Ka. So thats how we should mold our lives. We may be engaged in various activities but the goal should be to please Ka. Doesnt matter, whether you have a male body or a female body, you are a householder or a brahmachari; our basic principle is that we please Ka with all our activities. So naturally since the milk was boiling in the oven and the milk was overflowing the mother had to leave the son behind to take care of the oven. But the son was not satisfied because he was drinking the mothers milk and the mother had to drop him to take care of the milk that was boiling in the oven. So the son displayed another of His pastime. He was biting His reddish lips with His teeth and He was angry that His mother left Him behind to attend to the boiling milk and there were tears coming in His eyes. What did the Lord do? He took a stone and hit the container of yogurt and broke the container. The mother had gone to the kitchen to take care of the boiling milk. She had left the child behind. So, He took a stone, threw it on the container of yogurt and broke it. rla Prabhupda explains in the purport that it is natural that when the child is angry, he has tears in his eyes.
Makhanchor Krishna
Ka has many names characterized by His different pastimes. We may have one or two names but Ka has thousands of names. And one of His many names is Mkhanchor.
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So, here Ka broke the container of the yogurt, took the freshly churned butter and then He ran and sat down in a solitary place. Since the milk was already boiled, it was boiling and overflowing. Mother Yaod, in the mean time, went to the kitchen, took the pot of milk off the oven and kept it on the floor. And then she came back to the container of yogurt which she was churning. But when she came back she saw the container was broken plus Ka was not there. The container was broken. She just went for a minute and in the mean time her son broke off the container plus He stole the freshly churned butter and went away to a solitary place. What was Ka doing over there in that solitary place? He was sitting on an upside down wooden mortar. This was a wooden mortar used for grinding spices. And He was distributing yogurt and butter to His friends namely, the monkeys. Ka stole the freshly churned butter, took it with Him along with the yogurt and in a solitary place called all the monkeys and began to distribute it to them. But at the same time Ka was in anxiety. He knew His mother is going to come after Him. So while he was feeding butter and yogurt to the monkeys, He was always looking back, left, right, front, whether there is somebody coming to catch me. Is my mother coming to catch me? Even the Lord, as the rmad-Bhgavatam describes was in anxiety; here Ka is with the freshly churned butter and yogurt, with a group of monkeys. You know how mother Yaod tracked Ka down. She tracked Him down by seeing the butter smeared footprints. Like how police catches the criminals by seeing the footprints and the fingerprints. So mother Yaod saw that butter smeared footprints were there because Ka had broken the butter pot, taken the yogurt and butter with Him and left the butter smeared footprints. So, it was not difficult for the mother to find out where her son was. Mother Yaod saw that her son was all in anxiety looking around left, right, front to see if someone is coming to
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catch Me and He was very sweetly distributing the yogurt, she smiled. The yogurt was so fragrant that even the crows that were flying could smell the fragrance and they descended to take some of it. Mother Yaod when she came to catch hold of her son, she had a stick with her. And she came looking for her son with a small stick, not a big stick. So when the son saw that the mother was coming behind Him with a stick, He got down from the mortar and He began to run. Everyone is scared of Ka, even the Yamarja, but here the Lord is scared of His mother. So when He saw His mother coming with a stick, He very quickly got down from the mortar and began to run.
How to Catch Krishna?

rmad-Bhgavatam explains, Yogis try to reach Supreme Lord also but they fail. They are unsuccessful. But mother Yaod, influenced by the Yogamy potency of the Lord was thinking that Ka is my son. Now let me catch Him and punish Him. She began to follow her son to catch Him. rla Prabhupda explains that the mystic yogis, the gyanis, they all try to catch the Lord through the medium of tapasya but they cannot catch the Lord. But one who takes to the path of Bhakti can catch the Lord. That is the difference between a yogi and a Devotee. Therefore, Ka says in the Bhagavadgt bhakty mm abhijnti after having discussed different types of yoga. Bhakti is the medium through which I can be known, I can be understood. So mother Yaod is chasing Ka. The Lord is running and the mother is running behind Him with stick. The mother was not as fast as the son. She was a little heavy than her tiny small son. And as she was chasing her son, her hair became loose and the mlat flowers from her hair all fell on the ground. Finally, she was able to catch her son. So when she captured her son, the son
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began to shed tears. In English there is a phrase crocodile tears. Have you heard of that? These are like artificial tears, so when the mother caught hold of the child, the child was naturally in anxiety, shedding tears. And when the mother got hold of the child, the child admitted, yes, I broke the container, yes I stole the yogurt! And mother Yaod could see that my son is really scared of me now. He has tears in His eyes and He is shivering and shaking. She was chasing Him with a stick. But when she caught hold of Him, she saw the son is crying, shivering, and really fearful that the mother may discipline Him, she also got scared and she threw the stick away. Once Yamarja tells his Yamadtas, dont touch anyone who is a devotee of Ka. Yamadtas were bewildered how they were sent on this assignment to bring Ajamila to hell for punishment; but they got stopped by the Vishnudutas. So, the master told them, in the future, dont touch anyone who chants the holy name, bows down before the Lord. So Yamarja even stopped them from approaching the devotees what to catch devotees. This doesnt mean that you may now start thinking that now I am more powerful than Yamarja. Yamarja is scared of touching Kas devotees. Yamarja told his followers not to touch the devotees of the Lord Ka. Yet Ka the Supreme Lord got caught by His mother. When mother Yaod caught Him, the son admitted, I am sorry. I stole all the butter and yogurt. And He began to cry. So mother Yaod threw the stick away and began to mildly rebuke Him, not harshly, mildly. She said, Now I will bind you, so that you cannot commit any other mistake.
Damodar Pastime
This pastime of mother binding the son is known as the Dmodara pastime. Dma mean rope and udara means belly.
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So this is the pastime in which the mother ties the son down with the rope. Mother Yaod wanted to tie Him down for two reasons. One is she has already got so many complaints from the neighboring gopis, so she did not want to receive these complaints any more. The other is having chastised her son, she was worried that my son may not run away from home. Because if Ka ran away from home that would be another anxiety. Mother Yaod was so absorbed in intense love for her son that she did not even think how powerful Ka is. Because of her intense maternal affection for her son, she never cared to know, how great Ka was. Just like the gopis, they never bothered to know how great Ka is. The brijvasis were happy to see Ka as a simple cowherd boy. In fact when they saw Ka dressed up like a king in Kurukshetra, they said, we much rather see you as a simple cowherd boy rather than dressed up opulently as the king because the Lord has come from Dwaraka. And that occasion, when the Lord was transported from Kurukshetra to Vndvana is a theme of the Rath Yatra program. So mother Yaod threw the stick away and she wanted to bind her son on belly with a rope so that He may temporarily suspend His naughty activities. rmad-Bhgavatam explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning and no end and the material modes do not in any way contaminate Him. Just like Ka says, My appearance and disappearance are both completely transcendental. So mother Yaod decided to tie her son down with a rope. How much rope one needs to tie a young kid, hardly two feet, rla Prabhupda says in the purport. So, she took one rope which was longer than two feet and put it around her sons belly and she wanted to tie a knot but it was two fingers short. Ka had already shown His transcendental pastimes in having killed Ptan, akasura, Tvarta, and Aghsura. Now, Ka is going to display another of His various vibhuties or
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transcendental pastimes. So, mother Yaod took a first rope and she discovered it was two fingers short. Then she took on the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth ropes, and all these ropes were two fingers short. Now, as mother Yaod was trying to tie her son down and every time she saw that the rope was two fingers short, she was amazed and she could not understand, how this was happening? As mother Yaod was trying to tie her son down, the elderly gopis were also there watching this transcendental pastime. The elderly gopis were watching this pastime and they were seeing that mother Yaod was not being successful in tying her son down, so they were smiling and laughing. They were thinking how useless mother Yaod is, she cant even tie a young boy. They were making fun of her. But at the same time mother Yaod was smiling and she could not believe Him. She could not figure out what is her son doing that even with all these ropes she can not tie Him down. This incident was especially wonderful because Ka was only a small child with small hands and even 100 feet of rope put together could not tie Him down. So mother Yaod was perspiring as she was trying to tie Him down and she was laughing. The other gopis were also smiling and laughing. Flowers from her hair had come down, her body was perspiring and she was feeling embarrassed. The Supreme Lord saw that her mother was feeling fatigued. At the same time He could see that the mother was feeling embarrassed that she is not succeeding in tying a small baby down. There is a competition between devotee and the Lord. The Lord tries to serve the devotee, the devotee tries to serve the Lord and in this competition Ka even agrees to be defeated at times. In material life does any body like to be defeated? No, nobody likes to be defeated but Ka is happy to be defeated by His devotees. So, here we can see that mother Yaod is laboring so hard in her attempts to try to tie her son down the by
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the belly. She is not being idle or lazy. Her attempt is to tie Him down and Kas attempt is not to let her mother tie Him down. But the Lord is also happy to be defeated by his devotees. The powerful demigods Brahm, Shiva, and Indra, they are all under the Supreme Lord. Ka is the only Supreme Master and all others are subordinate to Him. So, amongst the various transcendental attributes of the Lord, one attribute is He is happy to come under the control of His devotees. Just like one of the Lords names is Prthasrathi he became the chariot driver of his friend Arjuna. In the first Chapter of the Bhagvad-Gita, Arjuna says, Ka, place my chariot in the midst of the two armies so that I can see, who the assembled soldiers are, on the other side. You have agreed to be my charioteer and to execute my order. So drive my chariot in the midst of the two armies. So you may say, Oh! Then Ka is going to start serving us also. The Sudm Brhmaa came to the Lord with a desire. His poor wife had forced him to see his rich friend. And on the way back he was just meditating what am I going to tell my wife, I didnt even ask him for anything. But when he went back what did he saw? He saw, his hut was replaced with a palace. His wife who earlier wore torn saris was dressed up like a queen with beautiful silk sari and ornaments. The Supreme becomes accessible to His devotees and not to anybody else. So the Lord decided, now, I let My mother tie Me down. He surrendered and finally the mother was able to tie Ka down.
Damodar Pastimes Message

Now this pastime in which the rope was always two fingers short has another deep message. If you want to understand the Lord, you cannot understand the Lord just by your efforts. You can understand the Lord when the Lord agrees to
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be understood. You cannot capture the Lord through your money, or material education or through some other mystic perfection but through seva. Another thing you understand is, God helps those who help themselves. If you want to succeed spiritually, if you want to go back to Godhead, if you want to get out of this cycle of birth and death, then you will have to endeavor like mother Yaod was trying to tie Ka down and if you endeavor then Ka will be happy to be captured by you. But you will have to make the effort. You cant just relax and say I will go back to Godhead without making the efforts for purity. Just like mother Yaod eventually succeeded, if we sincerely make the endeavor by following the process of Sdhna Bhakti, by following the instructions of Guru, Sdhu, and Shstra, and then you will also succeed spiritually. So today is that auspicious day when this pastime was enacted in Gokul 5000 years ago. And you devotees have been fortunate of being here in Vndvana on that occasion. Of course Kas pastimes are transcendental. So in a way, even if you are sitting in a Russian city in Saint Petersburg and meditating on this pastime so you may say Oh! Why should we come here? We can just meditate from our home base. You can do both. Because wherever you meditate on Ka, chant the holy names that place become Vndvana. So, mother Yaod tied Ka down with a rope Damodara and she got busy in her household affairs and the Lord could see two huge trees the Yamalrjuna trees.
Narada Munis Benediction

And He could remember, Yes! These trees are the two sons of Kubera, who were cursed by Nrada Muni to become trees. Nalakuvara and Manigriva, the two sons of Kubera were very proud and had false prestige because they were
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sons of a rich man and they were so heavily intoxicated that even when the sage Nrada passed by they didnt bother to cover their body. So the Lord remembered that His Nrada had given them benediction that after remaining for hundred earthly years as the trees they would have darshan of the Lord and then the Lord went and pulled down those trees, thereby fulfilling Nrada Munis benediction. But thats another pastime.
Hare Ka.

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Waves of Wisdom

Gopala Krishna Goswami

Gopala Krishna Goswami

All such verses and purports are Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

His Divine Grace

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swmi Prabhupda

MindThe Best Friend or Worst Enemy

Control The Mind

mindthe best friend or worst enemy

mindthe best friend or worst enemy

Who is Mad Man

Mind can be Controlled by Bhakti

Narada Pancharatra says:

mindthe best friend or worst enemy

mindthe best friend or worst enemy

Take Shelter of Purified Mind

The Position of Materialistic Life

mindthe best friend or worst enemy

mindthe best friend or worst enemy

The Highest Welfare Activity

The Highest Welfare Activity

Pure Devotional Service

Most Important Activity

The Stages Where You Get Love of God

Dont Take Any Shortcuts

Caitanya Mahprabhus Prediction

rla Prabhupdas Great Desire

How to Get Strenght

Serving Ka to the Best of Our Ability

Spiritual Authority Lord Shivas Mercy

Collective Devotional Service

Symptoms of Kali Yuga

Srimad Bhagavatam has All the Predictions

Pleasing Krishna by Pure Devotional Service

Capturing Krishna by Austerities

Easy Austerities in Kaliyuga

Real Business Dsevotional Service

Devotional Service to Krishna Unites

Unity Amongst All Nations

Common Goal is Krishna

Our Unity Has to be Based on Shastras

The Supreme Lord is Here Throgh Many Mediums

Supereme Lords Divine Incarnations

Lords Sweet Will

Lords superhuman activities

Always Stay in Ka Consciousness

Chanting Alongwith Sewa

Activities for the Pleasure of Krishna

Yogurt and Butter for the Pleasure of Krishna

How to Catch Krishna?

Damodar Pastimes Message

Narada Munis Benediction

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