19820529 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.18.5

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 29, 1982. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 8, Chapter 18, Text 5.

On the day of Śravaṇa-dvādaśī [the twelfth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Bhādra], when the moon came into the lunar mansion Śravaṇa, at the auspicious moment of Abhijit, the Lord appeared in this universe. Considering the Lord’s appearance very auspicious, all the stars and planets, from the sun to Saturn, were munificently charitable.

Prabhupāda kī Jaya!

Purport: Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, an expert astrologer, explains the word nakṣatra-tārādyāḥ. The word nakṣatra means “the stars,” the word tāra in this context refers to the planets, and ādyāḥ means “the first one specifically mentioned.” Among the planets, the first is Sūrya, the sun, not the moon. Therefore, according to the Vedic version, the modern astronomer’s proposition that the moon is nearest to the earth should not be accepted. The chronological order in which people all over the world refer to the days of the week — Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday — corresponds to the Vedic order of the planets and thus circumstantiates the Vedic version. Apart from this, when the Lord appeared the planets and stars became situated very auspiciously, according to astrological calculations, to celebrate the birth of the Lord.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Vāmana-avatāra-līlā kī jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami: When Rūpa Gosvāmī, rather Rāmānanda Rāya was asked by Caitanya Mahāprabhu to explain what was the most auspicious thing, he explained so many different things such as, “varṇāśrama-dharma, giving up everything to the Lord.” But Lord Caitanya said, “No. This is external, go higher, go higher.” When he said, “Listening to the Bhāgavatam in the association of devotees”, then Lord Caitanya said, “Iha haya. Yes, this is a purely internal aspect, this is a transcendental process.”

So, to hear the pastimes of Vāmana avatāra is most auspicious or any of the avatāras in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. To hear the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the association of devotees is a special benediction. Because the vibration of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is purely transcendental.

So here it is describing the auspicious moment, [Aside: Listen. Fix your machine outside.] describing the auspicious moment of the appearance of the Lord. The Lord is all auspicious. So, when He appears everything is auspicious. So, when He appears everything must be in the most auspicious arrangement. So, the stars, they automatically took the most auspicious arrangement for the appearance of the Lord. This is a natural thing with the Lord. Similarly, when an eternally liberated soul appears, he also has the most auspicious arrangement. But not always… but the Lord’s arrangement is the most auspicious. And this is being described here.

Similarly, when our consciousness is fully fixed on hearing the transcendental message of the Lord, then immediately our consciousness also becomes auspicious. As soon as we begin to think about enjoying sense gratification, then our consciousness becomes contaminated.

By the mercy of the spiritual master to whom I offer my respectful obeisances, we today are able to hear the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Even though we are coming from so many different places to hear the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, this is a very, very wonderful opportunity.

It mentioned that when Vāmanadeva appeared everyone in the whole universe became very happy. In other words, the Lord’s appearing at an auspicious moment is not only good for Him. He doesn’t need anything good, He is already the topmost, pure, transcendental personality, but it creates all good fortune for everyone.

So similarly, when we chant the holy name of the Lord and the Lord is present as His holy name, then that brings all auspiciousity or good fortune to all of the living entities around the chanting of the holy name. The Harināma festivals which are being taken around Calcutta are causing an immense, unlimited amount of auspicious result to all of those devotees.

Śrīla Prabhupāda, he stressed to us how the holy dhāma is also non-different from the Lord and how there it is all auspicious for the devotees. Similarly, we place the Lord in temples all over the world and this creates a very auspicious atmosphere for the devotees.

To commit an offense against a pure devotee creates inauspicity. Just like when Dakṣa cursed Lord Śiva [Aside: Don’t sit like that.] then it created such an inauspicious situation that the followers of Dakṣa and Dakṣa himself, they became cursed and destroyed due to their offenses.

Citraketu, who was a devotee of the Lord. He created, committed an offense against Lord Śiva for which he was cursed but he was not destroyed. A devotee may sometimes make a mistake, commit an offense, but Kṛṣṇa promises, “na me bhakta vinaśyati - My devotee will never be destroyed.” But a non-devotee like Dakṣa, when he committed an offense, practically speaking, he was destroyed, it was only on account of other… praying on his behalf to Lord Śiva, and because Lord Śiva was so magnanimous that Dakṣa was forgiven for his offenses, and thus he was delivered.

In this regard, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura in his poem that Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly referred to – duṣṭa mana! tumi kisera vaiṣṇava?? He describes to us about the dangers of giving up the saṅkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the preaching, the glorification, the chanting with other devotees – kīrtana.

This is verse 7:

kīrtana chāḍiba, pratiṣṭhā mākhiba”,
ki kāja ḍhuḍiyā tādṛśa gaurava mādhavendra purī,
bhāva-ghare curi, nā karila kabhu sadāi jānaba
(Vaiṣṇava Ke? Verse 7)

He describes if one thinks that, “Let me give up the association of these Vaiṣṇavas who are chanting the glories of the holy name, who are preaching and engaging in the saṅkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, let me give up their association because of whatever reason…” they may, such a person, he may find some superficial defect. Such a person may find it too difficult to worship the Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in this difficult way. Or that person who is [contemplate] contemplating giving up the saṅkīrtana movement, may do so simply out of illusion or false pride. So, that is being described here that this desire to leave the movement of Lord Caitanya is a great mistake.

One may think that “If I go off by myself or somehow I do some very severe austerity, that this would create a very good name for me. I will leave the association of devotees; I will become independent and then I will do something very great by myself. I will chant 300,000 names, or I will do some very difficult austerity, or I may do some other so-called preaching work by myself.” But this is described as simply the desire for name and fame. This is not going to actually bring any glorification to Lord Caitanya, or it is not going to bring any auspiciousness to the world.

Kīrtana - this process given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu is especially a complete and perfect process. By chanting in kīrtana we have to cooperate with so many others. In the ordinary kīrtana with mṛdaṅga, karatāla, there are one or two or more playing drums. Others are playing the cymbals, one is leading the kīrtana, and all the others are replying, and some are dancing. In this way there is a cooperative mood. Someone may be playing a conch shell or ringing bells or in this way a whole orchestra effect is achieved. But the whole operation is meant for glorifying Kṛṣṇa.

In a broader scale, the bṛhad-mṛdaṅga or the greater kīrtana is described by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder-Ācārya of ISKCON. The bṛhad-mṛdaṅga or distribution of transcendental literature to everyone also requires a great cooperative effort amongst various types of devotees of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Some are writing, some are translating, some are editing, some are proof reading, some are typing, and some are printing, some are packing, some are shipping, some are distributing the same books all over the world.

[bird calling]

[Aside: Peacock?]

So, in this way from the point where one is distributing the books to the time where it is being written it is all a transcendental cooperative spirit. Similarly, bringing people to the temple, training them in the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, these are all forms of the saṅkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

So, one’s false ego or a false desire to be independent from Kṛṣṇa, to want to simply follow the dictations of the uncontrolled mind or senses, that is the nature of this material world. So, whether one does that simply on a gross way to enjoy the senses or whether on a subtle platform to achieve some kind of independence from surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, both of these are considered to be a fall down.

So, to leave the saṅkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu means a fall down from the highest spiritual platform. And someone who is advanced in spiritual life, naturally the mind may already be somewhat trained to avoid such a fall down. So, the mind is very clever at trying to find some excuse for doing something which is wrong. As it’s said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

So, just recently, there was one criminal in America who from his very birth he was always killing and harming people. He was put in jail. Some so called social worker, a journalist made a campaign since he was in jail since he was six years old, to remove him from prison as he was there for over twenty thirty years, he was already a middle-aged person, to let him out, let him not have to suffer such a stigma. But as soon as the person was let out, within a week or two, he broke a bottle and attacked a woman and raped her by force using the broken bottle as a weapon. When he was arrested, and he was asked, “Why he did this?”

He said, “It’s not my fault. Actually, this is all the fault of the society. Why the women are dressing like this? Why a person is not immediately able to have his desire satisfied? It is not my fault, I am simply doing a good thing, but everyone else is not cooperating, they are all wrong. It is very difficult.” so on, so forth.

He had so many excuses. He would never have thought that he did a wrong. This was his illusion. So even a person does something wrong, the mind is such it will say, “Oh, yes, this is, this is alright.” Even though he knew he would return back in jail, he was committing a bad activity, he knew it was illegal, but somehow his mind adjusted that it is alright to do this. So many thieves, they think that it is alright I am stealing from someone, they don’t deserve it, I deserve it.

So, like this, the mind is being addressed in this prayer that, “Don’t be such a fool, don’t think yourself to be a Vaiṣṇava and at the same time by any trick of the consciousness give up the saṅkīrtana of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, so that you can become more important in some material calculation or this way you can stand off aside.” This saṅkīrtana means take the humble position, be one of the members of the saṅkīrtana, one may lead the kīrtana, another one may dance, other one may follow, the other one may play the karatālas, everyone can’t lead, everyone can’t dance, everyone can’t play the karatālas, everyone has to take their part!

If someone wants to take another’s part, that is simply their enviousness, you see. Automatically, the Lord will call, “You lead, you play the karatālas, you play the drum.” as it happens in kīrtana. One is not always leading, he gives way and another leads. He gives way, and another plays the mṛdaṅga for some time and he gives it to another. In this way everyone gets the opportunity as desired by the Lord as it happens. But if someone doesn’t play the karatālas very properly, just like Śrīla Prabhupāda always said, “No no, you don’t play. Ask someone else to play.” So, in this way if one out of some false pride or illusion thinks let me go aside from the saṅkīrtana movement, then he should question his mind, “What is the use of that? This pride, what is the use of it?”

Mādhavendra Purī is the example given here, that nobody can imitate him. Actually, Mādhavendra Purī is on the transcendental platform. And Mādhavendra Purī, his good name, his good fortune was always expanding, he was serving the Lord. The Lord stole… Kṣīra-corā… Kṣīra for him, and he naturally became famous as a devotee for whom the Deity stole condensed milk. But Mādhavendra Purī, he did not want any false pride, he did not want any kind of name or fame. Rather, he fled away that so many people would come to him and disturb his service to Kṛṣṇa and try to agitate his mind in different ways. So, he fled away avoiding this type of false or this type of… in that sense, it was a real fame, but he was trying to avoid it. But in any case, because he was a real devotee even if he tried to avoid the fame, he was always simply trying to make the Lord glorified, but nonetheless he was also glorified by the Lord’s own intervention.

So, a devotee does not have to independently desire, rather it is a great danger to do so, to desire for any personal fame, personal type of pratiṣṭhā or importance. Rather, the Lord Himself will lift up the devotee as Śrīla Prabhupāda described, the cream rises to the top by itself. And if someone ever thinks that it is other than the Lord’s mercy to get any type of mercy in devotional service, then the risk is always there the Lord can remove one’s shelter at any moment. The spiritual master can remove the shelter. So, one should always remain in this mood of simply participating in the saṅkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu in a humble attitude and that is the greatest protection against all types of illusion. And the mind must be trained in this way and trained not to go on this independent path even if it seems very alluring. We should know it as an illusion, and as a grave danger which can destroy our actual advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Goes on to say in verse 8:

tomār pratiṣṭhā,-’śukarer viṣṭhā’,
tār-saha sama kabhu nā mānava matsaratā-vaśe,
tumi jaḍa-rase, majecho chāḍiyā kīrtana-sauṣṭava
(Vaiṣṇava Ke? Verse 8)

The mind is being addressed, being chastised that, “What the mind is thinking to be very important, or to be a great name or fame, is actually lower than the stool of pigs. It is simply a mental concoction. A distasteful thing which has no beauty and no attraction for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Real devotees are automatically attractive even for Kṛṣṇa because of their dedication, their surrender, their purity of purpose, their austerity. All of their good qualities are manifest because of their devotion to the Lord. So, if one does something for any other reason than pure devotion, even it may seem to be very important, that importance is considered to be simply the lowest of the low, lower than the stool of the pigs, according to the great opinion of the most exalted Vaiṣṇava, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.”

tār-saha sama kabhu nā mānava

Devotee: He will not accept equal to his.

Jayapatākā Swami: You’re not even equal to a human being.

Devotee: tār-saha sama

Jayapatākā Swami: I understand that kabhu nā mānava?

Devotee: Will not accept, never accept. A human being is not in that level. He is not considered…

Jayapatākā Swami: Means, he is lower than a human? In other words, you’re lower than a human or an animal, that a real civilized person would never do something like that. The human mind is meant for becoming God conscious. Animal mind is absorbed in sense gratification, absorbed in its own particular bodily consciousness and absorbed in enjoying mood.

When a mind of an animal sees something, it only sees it in relation to how it is enjoyable to the senses or not. But a human mind is meant to be developed to the stage of seeing everything in relation to service of Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied, hari-toṣaṇam, that is considered to be the real qualification. If Kṛṣṇa is not satisfied then that means that that work is considered to be sa eva gokhara (ŚB 10.84.13), or rather, śrama eva hi kevalam (ŚB 1.2.8), simply a useless waste of time. So, a mind which giving up surrender to the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, instead is absorbing itself in any type of subtle or gross sense gratification, is not even a civilized human mentality, it is lower than the human mentality, it is like the mentality of the animals. Because such a mind is simply absorbed in tasting the different type of flavors of sense gratification in this temporary, material world.

That sense gratification flavors are available in the animal species. Sex, intoxication, eating, mating, sleeping, and defending, different types of activities are sources of happiness for the animals and not a suitable source of happiness suitable for human beings. So when a person due to envy, as it says here, matsaratā-vaśe, due to some type of enviousness, gives up the saṅkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and then starts to enjoy the mind and senses and the objects of enjoyment, this is considered to be a fall down not only from spiritual life but from human life to the platform of animal life. We can understand that, that means one will have to lose one’s spiritual progress and take many, many rebirths before one can again achieve the transcendental platform, if one takes such a gross step, after having achieved such a great fortune as joining the saṅkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

So what type of enjoyment is that when one has given up pure spiritual happiness which is not tinged with any material misery, with any material inebriety which is unending and permanent, and due to some type of false prestige, due to over proud mind, that one absorbs himself instead in imitating such activities and actually simply enjoying sense gratification of mind and senses? What type of transcendental activity is that? It is simply uh, a very disgusting, and very unfortunate activity which any sincere seeker of the truth or transcendentalist or a devotee should avoid, as the most dangerous of all dangers. Rather if one surrenders and simply absorbs himself in the saṅkīrtana movement, then one is always tasting the transcendental reciprocation with Kṛṣṇa that is fully satisfying.

The question may come up, “How can someone give up the saṅkīrtana if one has practiced?” Due to this false pride, if one gives up the saṅkīrtana, loses the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, and allows his mind to take control, thinking the mind to be his friend when in fact his mind is acting as his enemy, and because of his pride not hearing the good advice of other Vaiṣṇavas, of the spiritual master, of śāstra, of spiritual intelligence, and instead follows the mind which is fixed in a false misidentification as to what are the real values of life, then due that false pride, one can forget his real duty and fall into this type of illusion. So, one therefore has to constantly remind his mind, control the mind, with his superior intelligence. Therefore, this process of bhakti-yoga is known as buddhi-yoga or yoga of the intelligence, where the intelligence is always controlling the mind and senses, keeping them out of the dangerous waters of material sense gratification, of material, mental sense gratification of desiring fame, distinction and adoration.

And Verse 9:

tāi duṣṭa mana, ‘nirjana bhajan,’
pracāricho chale ‘kuyogī-vaibhava’
prabhu sanātane,parama jatane,
śikṣā dilo yāhā, cinto sei saba
(Vaiṣṇava Ke? Verse 9)

So here again the mind is being addressed, chastising the mind, “So my very naughty mind! You, materialistic mind, you have led me astray! You have given so many rationales, so many logics, but they are all like the false yogi. Simply misleading me out of my real duty, leading me into nirjana-bhajana or solitary worship, leading me away from the saṅkīrtana shelter of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, you have cheated me. You are cheater, my mind. Why should I follow a cheater? My master, Sanātana Gosvāmī, he has so carefully given his teachings to avoid all types of weeds in devotional service.”

Just as it mentions the different types of weeds in devotional service, in the teachings to Sanātana Gosvāmī by Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

‘niṣiddhācāra’, ‘kuṭīnāṭī’, ‘jīva-hiṁsana’
‘lābha’‘pūjā’, ‘pratiṣṭhādi’ yata upaśākhā-gaṇa
(Cc Madhya 19.159)

And many other verses. That breaking regulative principles being devious or duplicitous in one’s dealings with the spiritual master and other Vaiṣṇavas, being violent to living entities, desiring to be worshipped, desiring some special position in the society of devotees, or desiring some kind of profit in exchange for one’s devotional service and many other similar weeds in devotional service should be given up and avoided. So, the mind here is constantly being reminded and put in its place.

The mind should be very humble. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, we are told by Śrīla Prabhupāda, he used to tell his disciples that every morning, he would get up and he would beat his mind a hundred times with a broom and a hundred times with a pair of shoes to pound the mind into submissiveness to the order of the spiritual master, to the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Without that basic submissiveness and surrender seated in the mind, then the mind always becomes our enemy, trying to drag us away from the pure path of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s saṅkīrtana movement.

So, Indra, he assumed the false garb of a false sannyāsī to steal away the sacrificial horse of Pṛthu Mahārāja. And thus, he started so many apasampradāyas or false disciplic successions based upon this imitation yogī or imitation sannyāsī. Even today there are many false sampradāyas which do not preach the transcendental truth but rather preach some type of distortion which looks similar to the truth, but which is actually simply based upon misidentification of body, mind and soul and is not authorized by the authorities like Sanātana Gosvāmī or like the authorized revealed scriptures.

So, the mind is very expert in presenting distorted, philosophical presentations. It can take a śloka from the śāstra and completely misinterpret it to give us a reason to perform sense gratification. This the mind has capability of doing. Therefore, one has to simply surrender to the instruction of one’s own spiritual master.

The initiating guru is the ultimate shelter. Unless he authorizes one to take an instructing spiritual master, one should not take any another instructing spiritual master. Śrīla Prabhupāda has told us that, “We have him as our initiating guru and as our śikṣā-guru for all of his disciples.” He said that “I am the dīkṣā and śikṣā-guru for all of my disciples.” He did not authorize us to go anywhere else apart from his shelter. Like that one has to follow the instructions of the superior authority, the spiritual master, because if we follow the mind, the mind will give us so many reasons which appear to be philosophically correct, but our mind can cheat us in that way. Therefore, we have to follow the instructions of the spiritual master, then we are safe.

It is said in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, “One who has implicit faith in the order of spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that he very quickly achieves the full shelter of the Lord. Everything, all the secrets of the Vedas are revealed to him.” So, it is the duty of every transcendentalist to train the mind.

The yogīs are doing prāṇāyāma, doing haṭha-yoga exercises to control the body. When their body is controlled, they do breathing exercises to try to control the mind. When the mind is controlled, they engage it in meditation, keep it out of mischief, and finally in their meditation they try to achieve samādhi or trance when the function of the mind is stopped, and they are meditating on the form of the Lord. So, the path of bhakti-yoga is avoiding these mechanical processes of breathing exercises and acrobatic exercises and is directly dealing with fixing the mind on Kṛṣṇa. So, when the mind tries to resist, the bhakti-yogī with full determination and strength smashes that mind, makes it surrender, defeats it with the higher intelligence, based on words of scripture, based on the words of the spiritual master, does not allow the mind to become independent and forcefully brings the mind to listen to the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare and to engage in the saṅkīrtana process of glorifying the holy name.

In this way the mind is kept under control. If we allow the mind to go out of control, then we are in a very, very dangerous position. As in Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that, “The controlled mind is our friend, and the uncontrolled mind is our worst enemy.”

So here today we are reading about the appearance of Vāmanadeva how everything was auspicious.

So when we can keep Kṛṣṇa in our mind, when He appears in our mind and we don’t allow the mind to just deviate anywhere else, then everything is auspicious. Then our consciousness is happy. Just as it mentions here that all the people here, they became happy. The demigods, the cows, the brāhmaṇas, the hills and the mountains were all filled with joy. There was happiness in all directions. So, when the Lord appears in our consciousness, we will be happy. If we are not happy in devotional service that means that somehow, we have not been able to bring Kṛṣṇa into our consciousness. If we were able to bring Kṛṣṇa into our consciousness, we must become happy.

The way we bring Kṛṣṇa in our consciousness is by serving Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not object of our enjoyment, we cannot enjoy Kṛṣṇa, that is material. We don’t enjoy chanting the holy name, we surrender to chanting, we chant and if the holy name is pleased with our chanting, we feel joy. The sahajiyās want to enjoy Kṛṣṇa, want to enjoy the holy name, they want to enjoy the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore due to that offense they miss the real joy which comes from the spiritual platform and thus they fall into various type of illicit activities, feeling their inner desires unfulfilled. So, real happiness begins when we can bring Kṛṣṇa in our consciousness by preparing that consciousness through proper service attitude, and that service attitude is best achieved by serving the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa’s pure devotee, either personally or by following his instruction. So Vāmana avatāra has come, He created all auspiciousness. Similarly, the Lord, He also will come to us just suited for the particular need that we may have to serve Him. Our particular relationship with Him to serve Him. He will come in the form just suitable, that we can serve Him appropriately.

Vāmana came suitable to the need. Kṛṣṇa will come in each of our minds, in our hearts, when we approach in a proper devotional attitude just suited to our relationship with Him and He reciprocates perfectly. This is why, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is complete, and He is all perfect. So, if we feel any incompleteness, any imperfectness, there is no other solution but to further fix ourselves, take our mind in the hand of intelligence, and purify it, engage it in devotional service until it becomes the proper receptacle to allow the Lord to appear there. Then we achieve real happiness. There is no other short cut, no other type of happiness or so-called happiness will satisfy us. So, we should give up all other desires, all other hopes, except for simply surrendering to this chanting, to the saṅkīrtana, and allowing the Lord to appear at His own sweet will in our mind, thus giving us complete fulfillment, and allowing us to engage perpetually in His service, even life after life.

jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare