Hare Krishna to All
Pranams
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Below is parts of yet another brilliant lecture given by His Grace Srila Prabhupada in Los Angeles, 1973.
Summary:
By hearing the words of God brings relief to the burning heart of unlimited desire and the mind becomes pacified and peaceful and all trash thoughts become removed from our consciousness.
How to do this? Associate with devotees-Its called Krishna Consciousness SOCIETY-not just Krishna Consciousness! This consciousness of God cannot be done alone.
We also have to understand the Lord thru the param para, disciplic sucession.If we try to jump over the present acarya we will not be successful.
The real secret of spiritual success is faith in Guru and God by which we can come to the stage of Bhava.(ecstasy), which precedes perfection or Prema, Love of God.
If we dont associate with devotees what faith we have in Krishna, will be lost.
Hare Krishna
your humble servant,
Damaghosa das
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todays Lord’s…They both look, especially Happy….
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SB 1.15.27 The Pandavas Retire Timely
Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the
Personality of Godhead [Govinda] because they are impregnated with
instructions for relieving the burning heart in all circumstances of
time and space.
SB 1.15.28 The Pandavas Retire Timely
Suta Gosvami said: Thus being deeply absorbed in thinking of the
instructions of the Lord, which were imparted in the great intimacy of
friendship, and in thinking of His lotus feet, Arjuna’s mind became
pacified and free from all material contamination.
SB 1.15.29 The Pandavas Retire Timely
Arjuna’s constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna rapidly increased his devotion, and as a result all the trash in his
thoughts subsided.
731207SB.LA Lectures
So here, if you simply think of Krishna–Krishna recommends also that,
man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah. This Krishna consciousness movement is nothing, just to train people how to think of Krishna and how to become devotee of Krishna. That’s all. So you may become devotee…
But you will become devotee. If you think of Krishna, naturally you will become devotee. So… But think of Krishna, is it very difficult task? Very simple, very easy, even a child can do it. Here is Krishna.
You can think of. So you go on thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, you will be attached. You will be attached. You will be attached. Adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sangah. And thinking of Krishna in association of the devotees. Not alone, then you will go to hell. Alone will not do.
Association is so strong that anyone who is coming to our association, we…not that we are everyone teaching, but by association, he wants to become devotee. By association, automatically. So the association is so powerful…
Therefore Narottama dasa Thakura says,
tandera carana-sevi-bhakta-sane vasa
janame janame haya ei abhilasa
He is praying, “My dear Lord, this is my ambition, birth after birth.”
What is that? “That to be engaged in the service of the acarya guru, and in the association of devotees. This is perfection.”
..Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that “I will not prefer a birth like Brahma if I forget You. But I will prefer to become an insect if I remain with Your devotee.” Because if one remains with a devotee, he will not forget Krishna.
That is the advantage. Just like when you go, people address you, “Hare Krishna.” Oh, it is very great benefit. Automatically they chant Hare Krishna. We have seen it all over the world. And when I was going from London to Nairobi, we stopped at Athens, the dead of night. We are in the…, what is called? That transit room.
Devotee: Transit lounge.
Prabhupada: Yes, lounge. So as soon as they saw us, “Hare Krishna!” You see. So this is advantage. Aho bata sva-paco ‘to gariyan yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam. Even a dog-eater chants Hare Krishna, he becomes glorified.
So this chance should be given. Let them chant Hare Krishna, either willfully, or jokingly, or any way, let him chant Hare Krishna. This is the movement. Let him chant once, let his tongue utter this transcendental vibration, Hare Krishna, his life will be successful…
731208SB.LA Lectures
Prabhupada: Hmm.
So here it is explained what is Bhagavad-gita. Gitam bhagavata. Bhagavata means “by the Supreme Personality of Godhead,” and gita means “spoken.” They say “sung,” you can say. But gita means “spoken by.” Therefore it is called Bhagavad-gita, “the instruction given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally.” Therefore it is called Bhagavad-gita….
So if you want to understand Bhagavad-gita, then we must understand in the same way as the person who directly heard from. This is called parampara system. Suppose I have heard something from my spiritual master, so I speak to you the same thing. So this is parampara system.
You cannot imagine what my spiritual master said. Or even if you read some books, you cannot understand unless you understand it from me.
This is called parampara system. You cannot jump over to the superior
guru, neglecting the next acarya, immediate next acarya. Just like our, this Gau…, Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s cult; we cannot understand Caitanya Mahaprabhu directly. It is not possible. We have to understand through the Gosvamis. Therefore you’ll find in the Caitanya-caritamrta and at the end of every chapter, the writer says,
sri-rupa-ragunatha-pade yara asa
caitanya-caritamrta kahe krsna-dasa
This is the process. He does not say that “I’ve understood Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu directly.” No. That is not understanding. That is foolishness. You cannot understand what is Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Therefore repeatedly he says, rupa-ragunatha-pade… “I am that Krishna dasa, Kaviraja, who is always under the subordination of the Gosvamis.” This is parampara system.
Similarly, Narottama dasa Thakura also says, ei chay gosai jar mui tar das, “I am servant of that person who has accepted this six Gosvamis as his master. I am not going to be servant of any other person who does not accept the way and means of…”
Therefore we say or we offer our prayer to our spiritual master, rupanuga-varaya te, rupanuga-varaya te, because he follows Rupa Gosvami, therefore we accept, spiritual master. Not that one has become more than Rupa Gosvami or more than… No. Tandera carana sebi-bhakta-sane vas. This is the parampara system.
Now here, the same thing is repeated: Arjuna, who directly heard from Krishna.
Sometimes some people say that “Arjuna heard directly from Krishna, but we don’t find Krishna in our presence, so how can I accept?”
It is not a question of direct presence, because you have no idea of the absolute knowledge.
Krishna’s words, Bhagavad-gita, is not different from Krishna. It’s not different from Krishna. When you hear Bhagavad-gita, you are directly hearing from Krishna because Krishna is not different. Krishna is absolute. Krishna, Krishna’s name, Krishna’s form, Krishna’s quality, Krishna’s instruction, everything Krishna’s, they’re all Krishna. They’re all Krishna. This has to be understood…
Just like the South Indian brahmana. As soon as he opened his… He was illiterate, he could not read Bhagavad-gita. But his Guru Maharaja
said that “You shall read every day eighteen chapters of Bhagavad gita.” So he was puzzled, that “I’m illiterate, I cannot….. So he was in a Ramanatha temple. He took the Bhagavad-gita and went like this. He could not read. So his friends who knew him, they were joking, “Well, brahmana, how you are reading Bhagavad-gita?” He did not answer because he knew that his friends are “Joking me because I do not know… I’m illiterate.”
But when Caitanya Mahaprabhu came, he was also puzzled, “Brahmana, you are reading Bhagavad-gita?” He said, “Sir, I am illiterate. I cannot read. It is not possible. But my Guru Maharaja ordered me to read. What can I do? I’ve taken this book.”
This is trying follow guru’s word. He’s illiterate. He cannot read.
There is no possibility. But his Guru Maharaja ordered, “You must read
Bhagavad-gita daily, eighteen chapters.”
Now what is this? This is called vyavasayatmika buddhih. I may be quite incomplete. It doesn’t matter. But if I try to follow the words of my Guru Maharaja, then I become complete.
This is the secret. Yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau.
If one has strong faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead and as much faith in the guru, yatha deve tatha gurau, then the revealed scriptures become manifest. It is not the education. It is not the scholarship.
It is faith in Krishna and guru. Therefore Caitanya-caritamrta says guru-krsna-krpaya paya bhakti-lata-bija. Not by education, not by scholarship, never says. Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, guru-krsna-krpaya, by the mercy of guru, by the mercy of Krishna.
It is a question of mercy.
It is not a question of scholarship or opulence or richness. No. The whole bhakti-marga depends on the mercy of the Lord. So we have to seek the mercy.Athapi te deva padambuja-dvaya prasada-
Prasada-lesa, lesa means fraction.
One who has received a little fraction of mercy of the Supreme, he can understand. Others, na canya eko ‘pi ciram vicinvan. Others, they may go on speculating for millions of years. It is not possible to understand. So Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Therefore we are presenting because we are presenting
Bhagavad-gita as it was understood by Arjuna. We do not go to Dr.
Radha-krishnan, this scholar, that scholar, this rascal, that ra… No.
We do not go. That is not our business. That is parampara.
…called parampara. Evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh. So if we understand Bhagavad-gita, as Krishna…, as Arjuna understood. that is perfect. That is Bhagavad-gita As It Is. And if you try to understand Bhagavad-gita as some rascal commentator says, then you are reading somebody else; rubbish.
There’s no meaning. You’re simply wasting your time. He may be such scholar, such big politician, like this. In our country, big politician, they have commented; big, big yogis, they have commented; big, big scholars they have… They’re all useless. Take it: useless.
If you read such commentary of Bhagavad-gita, it is simply waste of time.If you actually want to study Bhagavad-gita, then as Arjuna understands. Arjuna directly listened from Krishna…..But one who cannot understand, one who thinks, “Oh, Krishna is like us. He has got also two hands, two legs, one head.
We have got also. He is like me,” he is a mudha, rascal. Therefore it
is said in the Bhagavad-gita, avajananti mam mudhah: “These rascal
fools, they deride.”
Manusim tanum as… Param bhavam ajanantah, “They have no knowledge of the param bhavam.” So the param bhavam, that is understood by the devotees. That is the difference. Budha bhava-samanvitah, Krishna has said. Budha bhava-samanvitah. Param bhavam, this bhava… Bhava means assimilation–“Oh, Krishna is so great.”
This is called bhava. That is real understanding, when you understand really this bhava stage. Bhava-bhakti. Bhava-bhakti. Simply engaged in Krishna’s service. Param bhavam. Person who has not come to this stage of bhava, he cannot understand Krishna.
Param bhavam ajanantah. The bhava stage comes…. Everyone can attain that bhava stage. There is process. This
process is described by Rupa Gosvami how to come to the bhava stage.
Bhava stage means just prior to perfection. One must come to the bhava
stage, next stage is perfection. Next stage is full perfection.
So how to come to this bhava stage, that is Rupa Gosvami has described, adau sraddha. First of all little faith.Just like many outsider also come here, “What these people are doing, these Krishna consciousness men? So let us see.” So sraddha. That is called sraddha. Sraddha, real sraddha means complete faith. That is described by Caitanya-caritamrta.
Sraddha-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya. One who has got this much faith, strong faith, that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
this faith, not flickering, firm faith, “Yes, Krishna is the Supreme
Personality…” That is called sraddha. That is beginning of sraddha.
If you have got still doubt, then you have not come to the stage of
sraddha even. Superfluous. You may come, but when you actually believe that “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and if I engage myself in Krishna’s service, I am perfect”–two things–that is sraddha.
And the more you increase this sraddha you become advanced. The
beginning is this sraddha.
Adau sraddha. So how this sraddha, this faith can be increased? Sadhu-sanga. If you keep yourself associated with the devotees, then this sraddha can be increased. If you simply believe, “Yes, Krishna is Supreme Personality,” but you do not live with the sadhus or devotee, then it will drop.
It will finish. So just to keep the standard, the temperature right, you must keep always yourself warm. If you go away, then your fever is gone. Again you become cold. You see. This is the process. Adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sangah. Everything is perfect. The first thing is that you must believe that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yes.
And to keep this faith strong and going on, you must keep association with devotees. Otherwise whatever little faith you got, it will be lost. It become again under the clutches of maya. Adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sangah. And if you actually associate with sadhu, then the next stage is bhajana-kriya, initiation, how to worship Krishna. Then anartha-nivrttih syat.
If you are actually engaged in devotional service, anartha, which are not required, things will vanish. Just like we ask our students, “No illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling, no meat-eating.” Simply by hearing it you cannot follow it. It is not possible.
If you make bhajana-kriya, if you’re actually following–chanting sixteen rounds–then you can follow the others. Otherwise, if you are spiritually weak, you cannot. The government is spending so much money to stop this intoxication, LSD, in your country. They’re all failure.
But here, with our pure association, a person can give up immediately.
Just see how much the association is strong. Adau sraddha tatah sadhu…bhajana-kriya. Anartha.
Then after one is free from these sinful activities, then he comes
to the understanding stage. So long one is sinful, he has no possibility of understanding. Yesam tv anta-gatam papam. One who is completely free from all sinful activities, anta-gatam, finished, yesam tv anta-gatam papam jananam punya-karmanam.
And how you can become free from sinful activities unless you act piously? Because we must have some engagement. If you have no pious engagement, then you cannot become free from sinful activities. You must act. If you do not act piously, then you must act viciously. ..
So you can give up this impious activities provided you are engaged fully in devotional service. Otherwise it is not possible. Simply by moral instruction, that “Stealing is very bad. Don’t steal,” nobody likes it. Nobody likes it. It is practical. One man has stolen, and he’s arrested and he’s going to the police custody. So everyone has seen, and he has heard also that the government says that if you steal, you’ll be punished.
In the Bible or in any other religious scripture it is said that stealing is not good. So he has heard it, and he has seen it that a man who has stolen, he is going to jail. So these two things are experienced: hearing and seeing. In spite of all his experience, why does he steal? Because he has no good association.
He knows that stealing is bad; otherwise why he steals at night?
Nobody can see. He knows he is doing some bad thing. But why he cannot give up that bad thing? Because he’s not associating with good person. That is it.
So association is so… Therefore we have named this Krishna
Consciousness Society. Not Krishna consciousness only. Krishna Consciousness Society. A society’s so beneficial we should understand.
So, in this way, atha bhajana-kriya anartha-nivrttih syat. If we prosecute our devotional activities and keep our association with the devotees, then we can be free from sinful activities. And when you are completely free from sinful activities, then we get nistha. Yes, it is full faith.
Nistha means full faith.Tato nistha. Tato rucih. Ruci means taste. Why you are hearing about Krishna daily, the same thing? We are speaking nothing new. “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and you have to surrender.” This is our daily business.
But why you are coming to see…, hear the same hackneyed words? Because it is very pleasing. This is called ruci, taste, “Yes, I want to hear this repeatedly. Yes. Krishna is the Supreme Lord, I am the eternal servant.” You have got a taste.
Unless one gets the taste, then you’ll say, “What is this hackneyed word?” Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, twenty-four hours you can chant because you have got the taste. Others cannot do. This is called ruci. And ruci means asakti, attraction: “I must go. I must chant. I must do.” Tato nistha, tato rucih, atha asaktih. Tato bhavah. Then bhava: “Ah, Krishna. I will associate with Krishna. Then Krishna’s love, that is perfection.”
…So therefore this Krishna consciousness movement is the only humanitarian work who can save the human society. All are helping them to go to hell. This is a fact. All are helping simply… So many innocent human beings are being slaughtered by education, by culture, by so-called society, friendship… It is very vicious cycle…it is very dangerous.There are four classes: lazy intelligent, busy intelligent, lazy foolish, and active foolish.
The active foolish is a fourth-class man. So at the present moment they’re very active, but they’re all foolish. Therefore the world is in danger. Active foolishness. Foolish, if he stops, he does not work, it is better. But as soon as he becomes active he becomes more dangerous.
So this rajas-tamo-bhava is prominent. There is no sattva-guna,
goodness. It is very rare. The symptom of goodness is that he can see
everything right. That is goodness. Prakasa. Just like in sunshine you
can see everything clearly.
Similarly, one who sees clearly things as they are, they are in the goodness, mode of goodness. There are three modes of the material nature. One who’s acting foolishly, he’s in rajo-guna, and one who does not know what is the meaning of life, simply laziness and darkness, that is tamo-guna.
So those who are in the tamo-guna, jaghanya-guna-vrtti-stha adho gacchanti tamasah. So they will go to the again to the animal kingdom. They’ll go again animal kingdom. Rajo-guna may have their human birth again, but that is also very difficult.
But if you stay in the sattva-guna, then your life is successful even if you do not get Krishna in this life; you’ll get next life if you keep yourself sattva-guna. Urdhvam gacchanti sattva-sthah, they will gradually be promoted to the higher planetary system or in the spiritual world.
Therefore we are trying to keep ourselves, our students always in
the sattva-guna. Cleanliness, sattva…, to remain a brahmana. If you remain a brahmana then you’ll not fall down. You’ll not fall down.
Otherwise, if you remain in tamo-guna, then you are going to be next
animal. This is the process of nature. You cannot check. You may be very great scientist, but you cannot check the process of nature. That is not… Daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya. That is not possible.
That is natural. I’ve given the instance that if you contaminate some poisonous disease you must suffer. That is natural way. Not that why you shall suffer. No, you must suffer because you are already contaminated. Therefore the contamination of the material world is going on, sattva-guna, rajo-guna, tamo-guna. If you contaminate with the tamo-guna, then you must suffer. If you contaminate rajo-guna, you must get disease. That is not in your hand.
You cannot say. But people are so foolish they do not know how nature
is working. They’re puffed up with little knowledge and thinking
they’re master of the thing. That is not possible.
Thank you very much.
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