19840926 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.7.9

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on September 26, 1984 in Murāri Sevaka Farm, Mulberry, Tennessee. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1st Canto, Chapter 7, Verse 9.

śaunaka uvāca sa vai nivṛtti-nirataḥ
sarvatropekṣako muniḥ
kasya vā bṛhatīm etām
ātmārāmaḥ samabhyasat

—(ŚB 1.7.9)

Śrī Śaunaka (Śrī Śaunaka asked Sūta Gosvāmī): Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī was already on the path of self-realization, and thus he was pleased with his own self. So why did he take the trouble to undergo the study of such a vast literature?

*repetition*

Purport: For the people in general the highest perfection of life is to cease from material activities and be fixed on the path of self-realization. Those who take pleasure in sense enjoyment, or those who are fixed in material bodily welfare work, are called karmīs. Out of thousands and millions of such karmīs, one may become an ātmārāma by self-realization. Ātmā means self, and ārāma means to take pleasure. Everyone is searching after the highest pleasure, but the standard of pleasure of one may be different from the standard of another. Therefore, the standard of pleasure enjoyed by the karmīs is different from that of the ātmārāmas. The ātmārāmas are completely indifferent to material enjoyment in every respect. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī had already attained that stage, and still he was attracted to undergo the trouble of studying the great Bhāgavatam literature. This means that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a postgraduate study even for the ātmārāmas, who have surpassed all the studies of Vedic knowledge.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purport of text 9, chapter 7, canto 1 of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the matter of “The son of Droṇa punished”.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda ki…

Devotees: Jaya

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here is the conclusive proof of how exalted is the study of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? Actually, by the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam alone one can achieve all perfection. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is known as Amala Purāṇa – as a spotless Purāṇa, the Purāṇa that is free of all material conceptions.

In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says that, “Those who are too attached to fruitive activities, their minds are bewildered by the words of the flowery Vedas”. But here, we can understand that the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam surpasses the Vedas, because the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is teaching one nivṛtti-mārga or the path of renunciation, the path of becoming completely fixed up within God consciousness.

Most scriptures teach one the pravṛtti-mārga, which is the path of material sense enjoyment, and they tell one, how one can enjoy so that in the future there is a better chance for going back to Godhead. But here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, this is specially explained that the real purpose of the Bhāgavatam is not to perpetuate one’s material enjoyment, but to fix one up on the transcendental platform so that one can return back to home, back to Godhead without any difficulty.

So, this is very wonderful that the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is on, at the one hand such a rare book that even completely liberated souls, they study it to gain further insight into the Absolute Truth. And this highest of all Vedic literatures is now available to the western people in their own languages, especially English, German, Spanish, Swedish and so on. French, Italian. Because by this study, in the same perfection that was achieved by Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī might also be achieved or may also be achieved by the devotees who are studying the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam today.

We can understand that the standard of pleasure that one achieves by studying the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is many times, millions of times more, unlimited times more than the happiness that one would achieve through any form of material activity. Even the jñānīs, they have already rejected material happiness and they have become liberated. But here it clearly explains that even those liberated souls, they find further enlightenment and transcendental bliss by studying the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore, this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the most elevated transcendental literature. The… When Lord Caitanya was touring, when He was going on His travels, He came to a place which is known as Varāha Nagar or the city named after Vārahadeva. And when He reached there, He found that there was this paṇḍita who was giving lectures on the Bhāgavatam. So, Lord Caitanya was naturally very pleased. But then He found that that paṇḍita, that his Bhāgavatam was a little bit old. At the same time, He liked the Bhāgavatam class that the paṇḍita was giving, very much.

So, when that paṇḍita asked Lord Caitanya for an order, how he should lead his spiritual life, what should be his specific practice of devotional service, then Lord Caitanya ordered him that, “His practice should be that he should daily read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He should read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam”. And actually, he became known as Bhāgavatācārya.

His daily sādhanā was that he would 18-20 hours, 24 hours a day, he would simply be giving Bhāgavatam class. It is a non-stop yajña. Dispraised, he would just continuously give Bhāgavatam class regularly basis. That was his specific service assigned by Lord Caitanya to him. And of course, they claimed that Lord Caitanya gave him a few fresh pages from memory that Lord Caitanya had the entire Bhāgavatam memorized, and when there was, that He wrote some pages. And they claim that the original papers written by Lord Caitanya are there. That’s hard to ascertain. But this is a fact that this āśrama of the Bhāgavatācārya is still there, and that actually he was, this one an associate of Lord Caitanya. That was his specific service was continually just to read the Bhāgavatam. By that he became completely perfected.

So this Bhāgavatam is very, very important. Because there are so many religious books in the world. And religious books and scriptures, they contain transcendental words, but most of the instructions of the scriptures are not actually transcendental. The transcendental words are very few, and far between, and they are mixed up within the other instructions, so that one is continuously hearing compromises, for how to enjoy in the material world, how to enjoy and at the same time how to do that in such a way that it is not offensive to God very much.

But actually, how to develop love for God, and how to realize the Absolute Truth, how to remain on the transcendental platform, how to return back to the Kingdom of Godhead, this process even liberated soul is interested in knowing more and more about. Plus, the details about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the transcendental nature of His devotional service, this topic is nowhere discussed in its great clarity and voluminous manner as in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is accepted by all the paramahaṁsas and great souls as the most authoritative literature on the science of God consciousness. The Vedas describe it as the ripened fruit of the Vedic tree.

There is a saying in Bengali, if you want to know what tree that is, then by its fruit it is known. Just like on the side of the hill over there are some trees. If we ask what is that tree, they say apple tree because it produces the apple fruit. Or it is a peach tree, or it’s a pear tree, or it’s an oak produces oak seeds or something. But generally, a tree, mango tree, orange tree, they are all known by the fruit they produce. So similarly, they say that the ripened fruit of the Vedas is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If you want to know the actual purpose of the Vedas, then you study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

The purpose of that particular tree is, actually what is the value of it. If you take an apple tree and study its bark, you study its roots, you study its leaves, but the real greatest value of the tree is the apple fruit. That is actually what, that is why people plant it. Because that is the most valuable thing that it produces. So, the Vedas most valuable thing that they produced, its fruit, its essence is the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If someone wants to know what is the entire purpose of the Vedas, what is the real secret nomenclature of the Vedas, you don’t have to read all the Upaniṣads, Purāṇas, Mahābhārata. Simply by reading the Mahā-Purāṇa, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then all of the purports of the Vedas, all of the objectives of the Vedas are fulfilled, simply by perfectly reading the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

When Lord Caitanya was instructing Rūpa Gosvāmī, then He explained the different categories of animals, and life, and jīva, living entities and then the different categories of human beings. So first He said that, “Amongst all the animals of course the human being is the most important, but there are many tribal kind of uncivilized human beings – śabaras, bauddhas and so on. Then more elevated than these type of uncivilized are human beings those engaged in meat eating, and hunting, and other kind of violent and uncultured activities without any reference to Vedic authority. Higher than them are the veda 'mukhe' māne dharma nāhi gaṇe - those who give lip service. 'mukhe' māne - they verbally say yes, I am a Hindu, I believe in the Vedas, or I am a follower of the Vedas, or I am a devotee, or something like that – say by mouth, they give lip service but they don’t actually do it. Whatever the forbidden activities of the Vedas are, they don’t take those very seriously, they neglect them, and they do them anyway.”

“Then higher than that are the karma-niṣṭhas – those who are following…” [Aside: you have the, what is that, it is there at Madhya 8, I think. Instruct Santana - Maybe it is, May be 7th. He instructs Rūpa Goswami right now]

tāra madhye manuṣya-jāti ati alpatara
tāra madhye mleccha, pulinda, bauddha, śabara

—(Cc. Madhya 19.145)

"Although the living entities known as human beings are very small in quantity, that division may be still further subdivided, for there are many uncultured human beings like mlecchas, pulindas, bauddhas and śabaras."

Next verse is:

veda-niṣṭha-madhye ardheka veda 'mukhe' māne
veda-niṣiddha pāpa kare, dharma nāhi gaṇe

—(Cc. Madhya 19.146]

"Among human beings, those who are followers of the Vedic principles are considered civilized. Among these, almost half simply give lip service while committing all kinds of sinful activities against these principles. Such people do not care for the regulative principles."

Prabhupādaa mentions in the purport that the highest type of religious system is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.6 thus,

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje

The highest form is religion is that by which one becomes fully conscious of the existence of God, His form, name, qualities, pastimes, abode and all-pervasive features. When everything is completely known that is the perfection of Vedic knowledge. The fulfilment of Vedic knowledge is systematic knowledge of the characteristics of God. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā 15.15 – vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo. The aim of Vedic knowledge is to understand God. Those who are actually following Vedic knowledge and searching after God cannot commit sinful activities against the Supreme Lord’s order. However, in this Age of Kali although men profess to belong to so many different kinds of religions most of them commit sinful activities against the orders of the Vedic scriptures. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore says herein ‘veda-niṣiddha pāpa kare, dharma nāhi gaṇe’. In this age, men may profess a religion, but they actually do not follow the principles. Instead they commit all kinds of sin.

dharmacari-madhye bahuta `karma-nishtha'
koti-karma-nishtha-madhye eka jñānī shreshtha

—(Cc. Madhya 19.147)

So "Among the followers of Vedic knowledge, most are following the process of fruitive activity and distinguishing between good and bad work. Out of many such sincere fruitive actors, there may be one who is actually wise."

koṭi-jñānī-madhye haya eka-jana 'mukta'
koṭi-mukta-madhye 'durlabha' eka kṛṣṇa-bhakta

—(Cc. Madhya 19.148)

"Out of many millions of such wise men, one may actually become liberated [mukta], and out of many millions of such liberated persons, a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is very difficult to find."

So, research is going on for the karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs but until the search is complete no one can attain peace. Therefore the Bhagavad-gītā says ‘jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati.’ One can actually attain peace when he knows Kṛṣṇa. This is described in the next verse

kṛṣṇa-bhakta--niṣkāma, ataeva 'śānta'
bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī--sakali 'aśānta'

—(Cc. Madhya 19.149)

"Because a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jñānīs desire liberation, and yogīs desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful."

So here the objective of all the processes of yoga, karma, jñāna, the ultimate objective is to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And that is achieved by studying the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The purpose of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam therefore is different than the other scriptures. When we try to explain to people what is the purpose of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is very difficult to use the reference of other scriptures, because the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sails far over their objectives.

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam’s purpose is to actually leave the material world and go back to Godhead, when most of the other scriptures’ purpose is how to live in the material world with the blessings of God. “Oh God, our Father who art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread.” The objective is normally not to return to God.

Even I was once preaching to one person, and just the thought of seeing God, the person started to get really nervous, and said that, “I don’t want to see, I am not ready. Ah, ah, what would I do?” And he got suddenly, and he got all just like completely hysterical you know, just the thought that suddenly what if you know, there came God. You know, he was like completely flustered with even the idea.

People, they are so far from God consciousness that it is very pitiful that here is a human being, they have the opportunity to achieve this highest consciousness and that is made even more easily attainable by the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But they are completely neglectful of this, the summum bonum of life, the prime purpose of life. So, studying the Bhāgavatam is so important.

When the son of Caitanya das, Śrīnivāsa, he became about sixteen years old or so, he immediately knew that the whole purpose of life was to study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam under a bonafide spiritual master. By this the supreme goal of life could be achieved. So, he wanted to study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam under a pure devotee. So, he decided he would go to Jagannath Purī to find Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and that he would ask Caitanya Mahāprabhu to decide someone to teach him.

So then his journey, how he walked through the jungles, walked all the way to Jagannath Purī and finally when he reached there Lord Caitanya was – he saw big crowds of people, everyone were there. He said, “What is happening? Is it big festival?” They said, “Yes, the festival. Lord Caitanya entered into the temple, He didn't come out. So it was the festival of His disappearance, of His going back to the spiritual world”.

He said, “no, no, oh no, how will I study the Bhāgavatam?” And he was just beating his head. ''Ah, ah, how will I know the Bhāgavatam, Lord Caitanya is gone! I might as well take my life!” And he was contemplating committing suicide. And then he fell unconscious and fainted. Then in his dream Lord Caitanya came and said that, “Advaita and Nityānanda prabhu are still on the earth, they are in Navadvīpa, you go there and by Their mercy you will be able to study the Bhāgavatam. So, don’t take your life.”

No. No. He told him actually to go to Gadādhara prabhu, I am sorry. He would teach him the Bhāgavatam, he would, and by His mercy he would learn the Bhāgavatam. Then he couldn’t take his life. And then he went to see Gadādhara prabhu. So, when he went to see Gadādhara prabhu, to make a long story little bit condensed, then Gadādhara prabhu was in complete separation of Lord Caitanya. He couldn’t speak to anyone, he wouldn't see anyone, he was always just crying and chanting and reading. He just couldn’t focus his attention in any other way. When he saw Śrīnivāsa, he became very happy because he knew that Śrīnivāsa was actually sent by Lord Caitanya, so he could feel the presence of Lord Caitanya in Śrīnivāsa’s coming, and that really relieved his separation.

Śrīnivāsa fell at His feet and paid His obeisances and begged for his mercy. He wanted to learn the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from him. Lord Caitanya appeared to him in a dream and everything, in a vision. So then he said, “Well, I will be glad to teach you. But my Bhāgavatam, by reading it, because it is all handwritten and then meditating on the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, we cannot help, we cry and the Bhāgavatam became washed out.” He looked in the whole Bhāgavatam, the pages were completely merged. So he said, “You have to get a new Bhāgavatam otherwise how can I teach you?”

So in that day, those days you did not go to the local drug store I mean book store and buy a Bhāgavatam. He had to go and hire a brāhmaṇa and for months he sits there and write the 18,000 verses of the Bhāgavatam. And if you want purports then, ha! (laughter) So Śrīnivāsa went back to Navadvīpa, got a brāhmaṇa, there are some brāhmaṇas to start writing the Bhāgavatam. Then after they completed writing the Bhāgavatam, he took his big package of Bhāgavatam on palm leaves, walked all the way back to Jagannath Purī, went to the Ṭoṭā Gopīnath temple where Gadādhara was.

He saw that there, there was a festival going on. He said, “What is the festival?” They said, “Gadādhara prabhu disappeared!” (laughter) And… Of course, it was a crushing experience for Śrīnivāsaa. Again, he practically went mad. Somehow Gadādhara prabhu appeared in his dream. He fainted and Gadādhara prabhu said, “Don’t worry, you go back to Navadvīpa, find out Advaita and Nityānanda prabhu, and they will help you.”

So then again, he went back to Navadvīpa. He was hardly there, and he couldn’t… When he got back then again, he found out that Advaita and Nityānanda meantime, within that period, when he was there, they were there. But in that period, they disappeared. Because after Lord Caitanya then one by one all the associates, they were in so much separation, they just wound up their activities and they went back to the spiritual world. No one wanted to remain in this God forsaken world! God had forsaken the world; He had left the world. So those personal associates, they who were so intimately connected with God, with Kṛṣṇa, with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they wanted to just rejoin Him. So then again, he was completely destroyed.

Somehow, he got the order to go to Vṛndāvana to find Rūpa and Sanātana, from Lord Nityānanda and Lord Advaita. So, then he headed off towards Vṛndāvana, just a long walk, with his Bhāgavatam, Bhāgavatam. So finally, he reached Vṛndāvana and he was very, very, happy to reach Vṛndāvana. He decided to take a bath in the Akrura kuṇḍa where Lord Kṛṣṇa – just on the outskirts.

As he was taking his bath, he overheard two brāhmaṇas talking that how Vṛndāvana just wasn't the same since the disappearance of Rūpa and Sanātana! “WHAT! WHAT!” He jumped out you know. “What did you say? Rūpa and Sanātana, where are they? What do you mean?” Just they have gone back to the spiritual world. Even now the festivities, kīrtanas from their recent disappearance is still going on at the Govindaji temple. Then he ran all the way to the Govindaji temple, and there he learnt that yes, Rūpa and Sanātana had disappeared. Then he just went like completely into coma, in the back of the temple he just was unconscious.

When he woke up, rather he didn't wake up, but what happened was Jīva Gosvāmī had received a dream where Rūpa and Sanātana said that, “One great devotee Śrīnivāsa is coming, you take him, and you teach him the Bhāgavatam, and you have him take initiation from Gopal Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī”. And… So Jīva Gosvāmī he went to the temple, and he found. Rūpa Goswami, Gaurāṅga, just you know, this person like in complete unconscious state just chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa at the back of the temple, tears pouring from his eyes. Then he thought, this must be the person, so he picked him up, and brought him over to his little hut, whatever, his little āśrama. And then when he awoke, he said that, “you Śrīnivāsa?” He said, “yes”. “I am Jīva Gosvāmī”. Then he explained that Rūpa and Sanātana ordered me to do this.

In this way finally Śrīnivāsa Ācārya was able to find a spiritual master, able to find someone to teach him the Bhāgavatam. He walked literally thousands and thousands and thousands of miles, through unlimited – just he wanted to study the Bhāgavatam. With this type of determination, we should actually vigorously, with full attention be studying the Bhāgavatam regularly, trying to understand what is the actual essence; what is the purport of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You see.

As especially we are so fortunate that Śrīla Prabhupāda has written the purport, we don’t have to carry around palm leaves, it has been put into this printed form, very convenient to carry. You can get it in one volume, you can get it in 60 volumes, get it on microfilm, get it even on tape. So, in this way we are very fortunate that we have the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and we should regularly study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with that type of eagerness as was exhibited by Śrīnivāsa, who was later given the title ācārya by the Gosvāmīs, so he became Śrīnivāsa Ācārya.

It was Śrīnivāsa Ācārya after reading the Bhāgavatam then he was ordered to distribute the Bhāgavatam. So this is also the purport that we should understand that by reading the Bhagavad-gītā,the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, these transcendental literatures, then it is our duty to also give them to others. To preach this message to others. Not simply we read and become liberated, and then we – it ends there. But we should continue on, it’s like a transcendental chain letter. If each person that gets the science of Bhāgavatam in turn teaches at least one other, but say if they teach ten others or one hundred others then in this way the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can expand manifold, and that is the only way of even trying to repay, although we can never fully repay, this is the only way of showing our desire for repaying the debt, is to be Kṛṣṇa conscious and try to make others Kṛṣṇa conscious.

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

Is there a question?

Question: (Inaudible)

Jayapatākā Swami: Through preaching. Preaching is not stereotyped – so many types of preaching. Festivals are one aspect of preaching which is, brings it to the public in a very visible way, involves them in a very wonderful way. So, festivals are something which is very important. Book distribution, home preaching, farm preaching – yena kena prakāreṇa manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet - by any means we are to bring a person to the point of accepting Kṛṣṇa. Then after that we introduce the rules and regulations. So initiation means at that time they accept to follow certain rules and regulations and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa regularly.

Question: (Inaudible)

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes, if they are trained by brāhmaṇas and they can learn how to do those things. Nucleus is always the preacher. If they are trained by preachers how to do those things, then they can start doing them in their home. ‘gṛhe thāko, vane thāko, sadā ‘hari’ bole ḍāko’ - whether one lives in the āśrama or whether one lives in the house everyone should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

But even in India now, we find that it is very hard to have a peaceful Kṛṣṇa conscious life outside the āśrama. Of course, it is even hard in the āśrama, what to speak of outside! But in some cases, for instance in one family in India he became Kṛṣṇa conscious, so because he was a born brāhmaṇa, he had a temple. When he took initiation then the other caste brāhmaṇas said you took initiation from a mleccha. Therefore, now you are no longer a brāhmaṇa, they tried to ostracise him, because they were smārta-brāhmaṇas, they weren't Vaiṣṇavas. So they tried to say that because the guru was not a born brāhmaṇa therefore somehow there was something defective in the initiation.

But through preaching, you show these, those so called born brāhmaṇas they were doing nothing. They were not vegetarian, neither did they do pūjā, but by birthright they were claiming, and they were accusing the others, foreign born Vaiṣṇavas who were following everything very strictly, who were initiated into the Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, they were trying to bring in the caste consciousness with them. So, there was a big war, threats, attempts to beat up, and so many different things. They kidnapped one of the Nāmahaṭṭa preachers and kept him locked up in a house for a while. But then finally we went there and did a big festival where twenty thousand people came. And all the people came up and pledged to chant, and it was overwhelming effect that these brāhmaṇas you know, the caste conscious brāhmaṇas became smaller and disappeared! You know.

Today many of them are coming to the program and surrendered. Really the bitter ones are just like, what do you call them, they are just in a distance, eating their bitter pie. So, but that person had to endure. He kept telling me, he wanted to come and live in the āśrama. But in his particular situation, he already had a temple, he had deities. I saw that it would actually almost be detrimental in his specific case to immediately come. He had a big family and we are not really set up for these big families yet. So, it is not always so good in some temples you know. We have to mature how to provide and engage big families.

Prabhupāda wanted us to develop that type of farm projects where we can actually accept all families and engage them, give them proper varnāśrama, categorized engagement, so that they can be completely fulfilled. But that person went through so much trouble.

I remember once Prabhupāda said in Māyāpur, when he told the people that you just come and stay here, we are providing you this facility so you can peacefully practice your Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That even in India, if a person, for instance we had before we had our own gurukula, we had gṛhasthas and they sent their kids to the school at the Bhakti [Vedānta] Vinod Institute which was established by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākur or in his name by Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati Ṭhākur. Originally only the sannyāsīs and brahmacārīs would preach and teach in that school. But after the demise of Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati Ṭhākur, the Gauḍīya Matt, they gradually reduced their preaching spirit and they put hired teachers in there, and finally they took the government aid, and then now it has become like a public school. But you know, private school funded by government, so it is like a public school practically speaking. The teacher made fun of the student that why he was doing all these things, and made some wisecrack you know, completely atheistic wisecrack in the Bhakti Vinod Institute against this whole Vaiṣṇavism, and even against the existence of God, like a complete atheist. And then the students came and said, pulling the kid’s śikhā in the middle of the class. He had to run back to the temple crying you know. This was the Bhakti Vinod Institute, what to speak of other schools.

So even in India if you, you know, you can be a Hindu, but you can’t be a Vaiṣṇava. As easily as it is to be Hindu, you wear your śikhā in some places and you wear a big tilaka, you wear neck-beads. I have girls who are disciples who go to school with the neck-beads, the other girls chide them, ‘so you have become a sādhu, you have become a sannyāsinī’, you know because they are standing out, they are, they are making you know the others see that alright they are making drive for becoming liberated, and then you know, and they are forced to either preach and defeat them or otherwise they are just made you know mock of. So it is very difficult even in India what to speak of in the West. That is what is so surprising that of course when you have programs, the more mature people,the older people, they are still religious minded but then if their son or daughter becomes a devotee you see all hell break loose!

In Bangalore I went, the son was becoming a devotee, he was already initiated for three years, they said let him get his Bachelor of Science. He got his Bachelor of Science and then they put him in for Master of Science, and the boy was so attached to his parents that he did it. He came to me once and I just asked him, what you are going to do, what he was studying? He was studying some kind of computer communication, not programming, but some other really abstract use. And I said, “How are you going to utilize them in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?”

He said, “I never thought about that”. He thought a little and said, “After I graduate I want to be a devotee and live in the temple”.

“You study something you can use. How are you going to use that? I don’t mind in one sense, but there is a big investment of time and energy – how are you going to use that?”

Then he meditated on it and he couldn’t find any use for it. But it was just because his parents were pushing him that he had to get his Masters degree. So then he left, and became a devotee in one of the temples. Then his parents came crying and said, “Our son, he was the valedictorian, number one in the class, he should get his Masters degree”.

Then I said, “How he will use this Masters degree to serve God? You said he could also join after he gets his degree, how will he use that particular?”

“We don’t know all these things, that is for you to say, you are the guru. But we just know that our son should get his Masters degree. That we are parents and it is our duty in life, if our son gets a Masters degree then our life is perfect.”

This is their conditioning. They didn't think that if their son gets back to Godhead then that is their perfection. But you know the society, if their son gets the degree then, our son is a degree holder then everything is good. They are so conditioned now by the social pressure even in India that they think that my son has a good job, or if he has a degree, then everything is alright. He may have the lowest character, but you know if he has a degree, then good, everything is alright. So somehow, they have agreed finally through some reverse psychology to let their son be a devotee, but it is very, very difficult.

So, what to speak of in the West, you find here a person wants to be a devotee, they live outside. Unless they get association with the devotees, everyone is telling them, come and see the football game, let’s have a drink, have a joint, have a this, have a that, so many māyās are there. So it is very difficult here. Here the māyās are more gross, there it is more family affection, get a degree, mother crying and rolling on the ground and having fits. “Mother serious, come back immediately”, they say. “Your mother is dying, you have to go!” You know, literally.

One time, Prabhupāda he told us, “I don’t even want to take any Bengali devotees anymore.” He was so disgusted you know! Ha! One mother who came and was rolling right on the floor in his room, and was rolling back and forth, screaming, ohhhhhhh…. Crying, rolling...going through you know, all the ecstatic symptoms in reverse! (devotees laughs) And the boy was there you know and Prabhupāda said, “Listen, he is free to go.” “Do you want to go?”

He said, “I don’t want to go!”

“What can I do? He doesn't want to go. I can’t force him.” (Devotees laughs)

In fact, one boy was pressed so much by his parents because he was a devotee, he was pressed so much to leave the temple and come back. And when he left, he was so miserable that he committed suicide. Being this you know, because they were very affectionate, the parents were very loving and instead of they could with a little push their boy could go back to Godhead, because they have some attachment for parents, it is natural because parents actually treat their children nice. That is why I feel that, when parents if they give love and affection to their children in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and they have, just for the parental affection, just for the love of their parents that they can make so much advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

But instead the parents you know due to their own materialistic sentiments, they want the best thing for their son but just they don’t understand that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the best thing! They think that if he gets a degree, gets a job, have a family, have a house, this is the best thing. They are like Dakṣa Prajāpati, they are in the karma-kāṇḍa, they don’t understand nivṛtti-mārga. They haven’t understood the Bhāgavatam philosophy.

Even though they are pious people, even though they respect sādhus, but when their son enters the nivṛtti-mārga, all hell breaks loose! Don’t even talk about what happens if the daughter wants to enter nivṛtti-mārga. That practically speaking Prabhupāda said, “Don’t stand in between a father and his daughter.” We don’t even let daughters join the āśrama unless the father gives a letter of consent. And basically, we don’t even encourage it. The sons you know who are over eighteen, we take the risk.

One boy just recently his mother and father took him to court in India, we couldn’t believe it, they took him to court saying he was mentally insane, trying to do like deprog… They had 150 boys from the neighborhood go to the courthouse, waiting for him to come out to kidnap and drag him back.

He had to go to court and he wrote an affidavit out that, “I am in good consciousness, I am on of my free will, I am 23 years old, I got my Bachelor of Commerce, I have decided I want to be a devotee, I am a major, I don’t want to work you know as a slave or whatever.” Just wrote the whole thing out and gave it to the judge.

The judge said, “He cannot be very insane to write all this! Seems to be…” (Devotees laughs) So he gave the order, “Well, he is over 21. The law is that he is free to do what he wants.” But then just you know, just, just this whole mob you know, just you know, but of course boy you know she is your mother, you should… Even the judge you know… But he was writing the order, you are free to do what you want as that was the law. But even he was like giving moral pressure.

And the boy said, “Listen, I am not leaving the courtroom unless I get escorted by a police van, taken to the… taken out of here. I cannot leave because they are going to kidnap me.” He like took asylum of the court. Finally, they had to give him like a police jeep to take him to the ghāṭa in Navadvīpa and then he got cross over to māyāpur. This is you know in the dhāma! (laughs)

So, you know, it is difficult for people to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, it is difficult. In our āśramas, in our temples, actually we are, we are trying to do this congregational preaching. But, and if a person really gets serious there are some people that to be in a certain situation that is very, very hard for them to actually be Kṛṣṇa conscious outside, just because the total environment is so rotten. So that is why these farm projects are there to provide a very peaceful, nice place where people can use all of their energies in the Kṛṣṇa conscious in a nice environment of Kṛṣṇa conscious association.

But of course, we are also trying to do this by making many people chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and then combining them together as little groups and they provide a type of association. And they… Nāmahaṭṭa is making congregations where there is no temple. Let me see. Where there is a temple you have your congregation and where there is no temple then you have many people chanting, you group them together, and form them as a congregation and they have like a preacher goes there and create the atmosphere of a temple with regular meeting. But that is something that is just now being instituted in the West. It is something we had to do in India otherwise even there people without association is very difficult.

Everyone likes. People can identify with that very much easier in India, it is not too much opposition except by communists, atheists and other sampradāyas. There is a lot of bogus yogīs who claim to be avatāras, and they give opposition. But… And these smārta-brāhmaṇas who say well this… is this very complicated. In India there are very many varieties of opposition. In the West it is mainly just māyā, just kind of gross māyā. Just not so much complicated opposition. Maybe in the South, we have the Baptist Christian opposition, and we have just the gross sense gratification opposition. In South America, the Catholics they don’t really oppose much, they are very receptive. Then you just have māyā. That is why it is a very nice preaching here.

So, these temples, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur said, “They form the nucleus. They are the place from where the preachers are trained, where they are sent out so people can come and get purified. They can see the Nitāi Gaura deities, the Lord Himself is there, by having darśana, by coming and seeing how He is worshipped, they get purified. They can learn how to do this in their home.”

Or, if it is too difficult, they can come and take shelter here, and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy! And they can then practice nivṛtti-mārga, be very happy, and go back home back to Godhead!

Is it all right?

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Devotees: Jaya!