19850610 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.27.3

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on June 10, 1985 n Toronto, Canada. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4th canto, chapter 27, text 3.

tayopagūḍhaḥ parirabdha-kandharo
raho ’numantrair apakṛṣṭa-cetanaḥ
na kāla-raṁho bubudhe duratyayaṁ
divā niśeti pramadā-parigrahaḥ
[ŚB 4.27.3]

Translation: Queen Purañjanī embraced the King, and the King also responded by embracing her shoulders. In this way, in a solitary place, they enjoyed joking words. Thus King Purañjana became very much captivated by his beautiful wife and deviated from his good sense. He forgot that the passing of days and nights meant that his span of life was being reduced without profit.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: The word pramadā in this verse is very significant. A beautiful wife is certainly enlivening to her husband, but at the same time is the cause of degradation. The word pramadā means “enlivening” as well as “maddening.” Generally a householder does not take the passing of days and nights very seriously. A person in ignorance takes it as the usual course that days come, and after the days, the nights come. This is the law of material nature. But a man in ignorance does not know that when the sun rises early in the morning it begins to take away the balance of his life. Thus day after day the span of one’s life is reduced, and forgetting the duty of human life, the foolish man simply remains in the company of his wife and enjoys her in a secluded place. Such a condition is called apakṛṣṭa-cetana, or degraded consciousness. Human consciousness should be used for elevation to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But when a person is too much attracted to his wife and family affairs, he does not take Kṛṣṇa consciousness very seriously. He thus becomes degraded, not knowing that he cannot buy back even a second of his life in return for millions of dollars. The greatest loss in life is passing time without understanding Kṛṣṇa. Every moment of our lives should be utilized properly, and the proper use of life is to increase devotional service to the Lord. Without devotional service to the Lord, the activities of life become simply a waste of time (śrama eva hi kevalam). Simply by becoming “dutiful” we do not make any profit in life. As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.8):

dharmaḥ sv-anuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ
viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ
notpādayed yadi ratiṁ
śrama eva hi kevalam

If after performing one’s occupational duty very perfectly one does not make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it should be understood that he has simply wasted his time in valueless labor.

Thus ends the purport and translation by His Divine Grace Śrīla Abhaya Charan Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda to the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Canto 4, Chapter 27, Text 3.

Jayapatāka Swami:

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

So this is a continuation of the history of King Purañjana. An allegorical story told by Nārada Muni to the King Prācīnabarhi, which illustrates the way that the material nature, our bodies our environment conditions us in the way in which we become entangled in the material activities. Of course also through these illustrations, Nārada Muni, is expert in. enlivening the devotees enlivening the fallen souls to take up devotional service. Because, in contrast with the material activities, when (the illustrations) properly explained and understood, one can understand that to actually perform devotional service is the. perfection of life.

So here in this example, King Purañjana is coming home, greeting his wife, and he is enjoying the nuptial bliss of household life. This can be equally reversed to women. This is from the other angle of vision. In this way life is passing by, and they are forgetting, everything else, just absorbed in their little material happiness, and gradually before they know it, their life span is decreased.

Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura sang in his song, “udilo aruṇa pūraba-bhāge”. One verse which also says similar. statement that, whatever rising and passing of the sun, our lifespan is decreased. Wake up Don’t you see how you are losing the valuable time to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

According to Vedic culture, everyone is given a certain period to live on this earth in this particular body. It’s like the new. the motor automobile manufacturers have a planned obsolescence that the vehicle should fall apart after so many years. So according to the law of karma, this body is to last a certain number of breaths, how you use your breaths, how many breaths you use, the more every time you breathe, what to speak of everyday. Every time your heart beats, that’s one more moment you have become closer to leaving your body. If a person is built up enough spiritually, but then if, then if they are Kṛṣṇa consciousness enough, they can go back to Kṛṣṇa when they leave their body. But just at the last second, it’s not always possible to focus the mind unless one has got some already pre-cultivated consciousness.

So Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he was cursed for seven days. As soon as he knew I have only seven days to live, immediately he concentrated himself, seven days - day and night, he simply heard the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and of course, after that, he was able to achieve the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

There was Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga, he had been fighting for the demigods, and the demigods offered him, “anything you want in the material world.” The first thing he asked is, “how long do I have to live?” What’s the use of asking anything in the world, if you don’t have any time? So he said, “how long do I have to live?” Then didn’t take them long to figure out through their vision. They told him, “well, you have one moment to live.” When he heard that, then immediately, he stopped everything, and absorbed himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Time’s up. And in one moment, he was able to achieve pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He was able to absorb himself. But. that’s very rare.

Not sure if he is the same person, one person had a very small period of time, maybe it is the same, and he used that reading the Bhāgavatam, then he was given another week, so then he used the whole or given a day, then he used the whole day to read the Bhāgavatam. So then he got a week, then he used the whole week. Then he got a month, he used the whole month. He got one year, so then he read the Bhāgavatam for the whole year, then after that it took him back to Godhead. He kept extending his life one more period by reading the Bhāgavatam. And so then finally by reading the Bhāgavatam, he just went back to Godhead, achieved eternal life. So this Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is very important for the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not very important; it is the most important.

So all these different great personalities, they knew how much time they had. Śrīla Prabhupāda explained in the purport, we are at a disadvantage. We can’t go to anyone and say what’s on our scorecard. What if we knew we had one year to go, or ten years to go? Sometimes devotees leave, already from our midst, our some godbrothers and devotees have left the planet. Can anyone say how long we are going to be here emphatically? Astrologers can say something, but it is not definite. it can be changed. Because astrology doesn’t apply perfectly for devotees. They defy the principles of astrology.

So Lord Caitanya, He has given a process that everyone can practice. Rather than simply being, I mean even in the animal birth, one can enjoy this happiness You see, sometimes in India, you see the wild dogs running around, stray dogs, enjoying their little family affairs right there in the street all the time, sniffing each other, and cuddling up and everything, running around, fighting each other on the neck and rolling, doing so many other things. So they seem to be enjoying life. So the same kinds of things if the human being uses their valuable time, then what is the advantage? That’s why Lord Caitanya sings, “jīva Jāgo, jīva Jāgo, wake up, wake up to the opportunity we have, wake up to the opportunity we have to become Kṛṣṇa conscious in this lifetime, and achieve the real happiness.”

I remember one time, Prabhupāda was giving a lecture at this railway station called Chākdaha. Chākdaha, we went there because there was a temple of Maheśa Paṇḍita, one of the associates of Lord Caitanya. Maheśa Paṇḍita was a very great devotee of Lord Caitanya. Chākdaha is about halfway between Māyāpur and Calcutta. About say, an hour and a half drive. It’s very near the picnic place where Prabhupāda used to stop whenever he'd go out. Ever since we were in Māyāpur, we know about the picnic place. So the sādhu that was there, he asked Prabhupāda to come, that he wanted to give. that temple for surrender, to become a part of ISKCON, many other sādhus had said the same thing, and some of them like Bhakti Prābhava Swāmī, they actually surrendered their temples.

So this sādhu invited. Prabhupāda gave very strong lecture, how the people there, he gave a fantastic idea, he said, “Look you people are so fortunate”. And this was in the Pālpara. This was in the place of Chākdaha, Maheśa Paṇḍita, I will get back to Chākdaha later. It’s about two miles from Chākdaha. He got all the villagers together, he said, “you are so fortunate, here in your village, you have this ancient shrine of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So you should make this temple the center of your lives.”

So they said, “we are very poor, how can we?”

He said, “you should all take kṛṣṇa-prasādam.”

They said, “The temple is very poor, we are very poor, how can we afford to take?” The temple cannot afford to give us, how can we take kṛṣṇa-prasādam?”

So Śrīla Prabhupāda suggested that, “You all." Most of the people were commuters into Calcutta for jobs and a few were local agriculturers, but most of them were commuters. So he told them, “every Sunday, whatever you would normally eat, that you all eat so whatever you would normally eat, you all put together, and you come and give here to the temple, jointly cook it together, the brāhmaṇa the better, you know, cook it together. Offer to the Deity of Nitāi-Gaur, beautiful Deities of Lord Caitanya. Offer, and then you all take prasādam.” What a simple idea, kind of like a spontaneous transcendental picnic, everyone can come together and offer. But you know, people are so lethargic, that is very hard, unless one constantly is encouraging them to take up a little bit of spiritual practices.

Then, Prabhupada started to realize that this sādhu had couple of dīdīmās, who were an intrinsic part of his temple, and he was very familiar with these didimas. Dīdī mā, Dīdī means older sister, and usually they call any kind of, usually we supposed to call everyone mother, so they call like some older type of aunty, dīdīmā. Out of some respect, something like that, like saying aunty or something. But these dīdīmās weren’t that old, and the relationship was seemed a little bit mushy for a sādhu, sannyāsi kind of person to be there. So Prabhupāda started to pick up and he said, “I think you should come and stay in our temple for six months in Māyāpur, or otherwise get rid of the dīdīmās, let them come and stay in our temple, and you just stay here with Acyutānanda Swāmi, just stay here.” Well he was very attached to these dīdīmās, seems something was a little fishy, so then in the end it didn’t work out. We didn’t take the place, because Prabhupāda, he didn’t want to take the place, unless the person became a little bit more strict in his association with women as a sādhu or a sannyāsi, or get married, but not what he was doing. So in India there is a lot of things like that where there's temples and people just don’t follow strictly. They appear to follow but when we go into it, we see that there is a lot of discrepancies. So Prabhupāda only wanted have people associate with ISKCON who represent a pure standard, at least for our temples and shrines.

So then Prabhupāda went back to Chākdaha, which was a much bigger city. I mean about say 20-30,000 people. Also, all commuters. So then the first thing he said in his lecture was, he quoted the verse in the 5th canto, where he said that, “Don’t go after the pleasure which is available in the species of stool eaters, such as hogs and dogs. Simply working hard for little momentarily pleasure. Try to achieve the unlimited happiness of transcendental bliss through Kṛṣṇa Consciousness”. Totally, the first thing he said, he quoted that verse in Sanskrit and translated it perfectly, then he said that, “you people are daily passengers, you wait for half an hour for the train to come, go on the train for two hours to Calcutta, then, an hour you go by bus or walk to your work. You work hard, you take for lunch a little tea or biscuit, then at the end of your work again one hour by crowded bus, two hours by train, and then come back to your house, you see your family and kids some nights you enjoy some little sex life, some nights you just go to sleep, and again the next day you do the same thing. So, is this the purpose of human life? Simply to work hard like this, like an ass?”

They were totally overwhelmed by Prabhupāda’s words, but many of the people started nodding their heads. So he said, “So what is the solution?” So Prabhupāda said the solution is you have to begin chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.”

So of course due to economic reasons, many of those people couldn’t give up their jobs and stop the commuting and just. but what happened was remarkably, after Prabhupāda gave this one lecture in Chākdaha, it was noticed that on a daily commuting train, at least 50% of the cars, at least those cars that were coming from Chākdaha, the people brought karatālas with them and chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa, all the way in and all the way out while on the commuting train!

ŚRĪLA PRABHUPĀDA KI… JAYA!!

The point is that, it is not that one has to necessarily 100% change everything that one is doing. One may not be able to, in the Kali-yuga. But actually one has to change one’s consciousness. One has to start practicing spiritual life chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, associating with devotees, hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, doing devotional service. Of course, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that, sometimes people say, “Listen, it is so hellish out there that we just can't be Kṛṣṇa conscious, working in the normal jobs, associating with all the materialistic people.” So then Prabhupāda said that, “Then you come husband and wife, whole family, you come and live in our communities, you do some service, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy.”

Even in India, you will be surprised there is so many obstacles. People in general, maybe the standard of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is higher than the standard in the West, but the standard there may be say is 10% or 20% Kṛṣṇa consciousness, maybe here it is .05 or something like that, or .02 whatever. But the actual inertia in India is so incredible, that if somebody else moves up and becomes even 50% Kṛṣṇa conscious, the other people feel intimidated. "What’s wrong with you? You becoming a sādhu or something?"

If a kid wears a neck bead to school, where there is practically nil Kṛṣṇa consciousness even in India. Before we had our gurukul, we sent one boy with shaved head, śikhā, kaṇṭhi-mālā to the Bhaktivinoda institute which was started by Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura to preserve the teachings of Bhaktivinoda. But because of the failure of the Gauḍīya maṭha, it has been turned into a public school with all karmī teachers. So it is just in name. It is like a private, you know private school funded and aided by the government. So the name is Bhaktivinoda Institute, but the whole management has to toe the line with the government standard, all karmic teachers. In the Bhaktivinoda Institute, the boy was sitting there, the teacher started to blaspheme Kṛṣṇa. “What’s wrong with you, why are wearing these things? This is archaic, this is the ruination of our country" This that just blasting this little 12-year old kid for being a Vaiṣṇava in the Bhaktivinoda Institute at the birthplace of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So I mean, what to speak of if he had gone you know to some other schools, So even in India you have to be surprised.

I had one Nāmahaṭṭa disciple, who is a brāhmaṇa by birth, and by profession, he is a quack doctor. Don’t laugh! In India just like a person is a pharmacist, or one is a. doctor, MD, homeopath, and then there is one gradation “Quack”. This is considered little below of full doctor. Means, maybe he served as an assistant to a doctor for five years, and now he has become a bonafide Quack. (Laughter) but they say very seriously, “I am a quack doctor.” (laughter) It doesn’t have the same kind of connotation it does here. It means that he is a country doctor that doesn’t have a degree, but he knows something. So, in the… No regular doctor will go, that places he will go and he will take, the regular doctor will take 20 rupees, he will take five. So if you just have a little something wrong, then you know little poor, then go to the quack. At least they don’t hide what they are. If it is something heavy, then they have contact with the higher doctors, then they will tell the people, it is beyond my capacity, better go to the. MD or M.B.B.S, or whatever they have their other things.

So. anyway, he is very nice devotee, has a little Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Deities. So when he became a disciple of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, all of the caste brāhmaṇas of his area boycotted him, and they they actually put him under house arrest. They said, “you taken initiation from you know from a non-Indian or a mleccha. This, that Now you have ruined the brahminical culture, it’s a sin." Whole thing, and they wouldn’t let him leave his house, they wouldn't let anyone go, he was like just virtually kept there, the whole day, they degraded, you know blasphemed him to the whole village.

So we had to send in one of our brahmacārī preachers to go there and rescue him, challenge the brāhmaṇas, defeat them in a major debate, what is the real qualification of a brāhmaṇa, of a Vaiṣṇava, how the initiation, what is the meaning, defeat them in a, in a public debate, you know and then, free the disciple so he can’t do his doctory and this and that. And then, that was like two years ago. So then, finally… He was even beaten up one time by some of the sons of the brāhmaṇas who thought you know they are just trying to keep away this whole. So we went there and did a big Nāmahaṭṭa program like you saw in the slide show, and then again this year we went there, and so now there is two, three Nāmahaṭṭa centers there, and really has a big following of about 30-40 people, who are regular coming, and all those caste brāhmaṇas are just like faded out.

So in India, you have to go through a tremendous amount of this kind of thing. It’s not, I mean here you have different problems you know with devotees who are addicted to intoxication, addicted to illicit sex, addicted to these kind of things mainly meat eating to some extent. In India it is little bit meat eating, and there we have people very attached to their family situation, and very hung up with all these kinds of more subtle casteism, brahminism, māyā, social problem. Nobody wants someone else to step out and become more advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore, even in India, it is very difficult for some people. But that devotee, wanted to give up his temple, wanted to live in Māyāpur. But I told him, “No, you have to stay there, because I want you to make the whole village Kṛṣṇa conscious.” Because I experienced lot of families, they just come to Māyāpur, they just end up switching the floor, and if they stay in their own village, they actually become like temple presidents of their Namahatta centers. And now he is a upacakra-senāpati, in charge of five namahatta groups, and he established one namhatta group in an industrial, not industrial but a trading center of the area and all rich people, so they are financing all the Nāmahaṭṭa activities in the other areas, and that is really given him a boost. So therefore, even in India, it is very difficult for some people. But that devotee, wanted to give up his temple, wanted to live in Māyāpur. I told him, “No, you have to stay there, because I want you to make the whole village Kṛṣṇa conscious.” Because I had experienced lot of families, they just come to Māyāpur, they just end up switching the floor, and if they stay in their own village, they actually become like temple presidents of their Nāmahaṭṭa centers.

So anyway, the point is that, generally, even the so called somewhat Kṛṣṇa conscious Indian type even an Indian, who may occasionally chant, or occasionally do some pūjā, something. They also. just absorbed in the kids growing up, in the daily affairs, and things like that. What to speak of someone who is really in an enjoying mood and just absorbed in this time. The King here is totally absorbed in playing with his wife and enjoying his intimate little pastimes. So they totally lose sight of the way the time passes by. When they wanted to do something, then they don’t have the strength anymore. Finally when their bodies become too weak to get into the to enjoy anymore the physical pleasure, which in the west people, they never they don’t wake up at all, even in their old age. There was one person who had a heart transplant, he was ready to die, and then the thing that he broadcast, that 65-year-old man that, I feel greatest ever I just had sex with my wife. At 65 years, he had a heart transplant and that was it. So they don’t even think that there is something. They are trying every last bit, right to the very end. There is no consciousness that there is something after this.

Even if they say and even if the people believe that they are twice born but actually. what goes after this, people don’t understand. And so this is very very applicable for everyone this type of instruction that how our life goes by and actually if we use our life for practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in that case we would become so blissful. Where is the actual bliss if you try to measure it? How much bliss do they really get? And so this is very very applicable for everyone, this type of instruction. That how our life goes by and actually if we use our life for practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in that case we would become so blissful. Where is the actual bliss? If you try to measure it, how much bliss do they really get?

In Montreal, Canada, Prabhupāda said in one lecture, I never forgot that. Just one little example, but it stuck in my mind, maybe it helped me in my. initial days to the point of accepting the sannyāsa-āśrama. But, the point that how everyone is working very hard during the day, they are doing their work, and they come home in the night, and some people they are enjoying sex life, and some people, they think that they are unhappy because they are not enjoying sex life they are sleeping. People enjoy sex life for short time then they sleep. Then they wake up, then they work. So actually the whole day tirelessly, they are not enjoying! Everyone working is just thinking when can I get off. Or some people they may like what they are doing to some extent, they might be an artist, or they might pick an occupation that is the most agreeable to them, but still it’s not! In most cases, I mean it is not bliss. They might like it to some extent, but the fame, the money they get from it, there is something else they are working for. If they don’t get paid for it, they wouldn’t do it. In itself it is not giving any transcendental pleasure or something, so the little fame or money and in the end of the day the little bit of the material happiness, then they think, well they're just working blindly. So that standard of happiness is decried in the Vedas, it is not the real human standard.

That actually if one should experience, by Nityānanda prabhu’s mercy, so much happiness that the pleasure of material life would seem insignificant. That is the wonderful thing of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Everyone says give up this, give up that, but actually. Practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness! Develop your realization of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the extent that you reach ruci, āsakti, bhāva, that your transcendental bliss is at such a level that the material things will seem totally insignificant. That’s real. Everything else is theory, give it up, this… that. in the future. But this is something you can actually achieve at a level of Kṛṣṇa consciousness where material happiness, compared to the happiness you experience by the mercy of Nitāi-Gaur, materially happiness is totally insignificant. Trivial. Therefore kṛpā bindu diya… we cry, "Give me the drop of your mercy, which Lord Nityānanda gave, you are premānanda-sukhī, you are an ocean of transcendental happiness, you are always in ecstasy, kṛpābalokana koro, by the strength of your mercy, give me your mercy now, āmi boro duḥkhī, because I am miserable, I am just wasting away here in the material world, no nectar, SO GIVE ME JUST ONE DROP..!! of your transcendental pure love for Kṛṣṇa, one drop of Lord Nityānanda is just like a tidal wave!

For those of you who don’t know what a tidal wave is, you can just read the recent newspaper what happened in Bangladesh. The cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, all of a sudden a 30 foot wave, 30 foot high wall of water came rushing over! Just knocking down trees, houses boom! You just look. 30 feet, three storys high wall of water. *boom* We're thirsty, because we want a tidal wave of Lord Nityānanda’s mercy that'll just sweep us away in pure love for Kṛṣṇa. Knocking down with it, all of our material attachments and fetishes and things, which are superflous, which are irrelevant to our eternal life. Bring everything down to size.

So in spiritual life, tidal waves are alright, if they are tidal waves of love for Godhead. Not in material life, they are very destructive. But in Lord Nityānanda’s case, His tidal wave of mercy is desirable. So that’s the wonderful thing with Lord Nityānanda, He doesn’t consider who is qualified, who is unqualified. He is very independent, He is totally independent, He can give to anyone. Without any consideration. Therefore. not only Lord Nityānanda but even His disciples, His devotees like Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa, he would just go up to people, he had a little flute that was given to him by Lord Nityānanda. He would just go up to people, and he just taps him with the flute and HARI BOL… They just start becoming ecstatic, and jumping, and chanting Haribol. They just feel a total just. ecstasy of pure love for Kṛṣṇa.

So if we had known where the flute was today, maybe the research will uncover the flute, it will be wonderful too. But actually, although maybe Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa is no longer there, actually he became so angry at one point that he broke his flute when Kṛṣṇadāsa Kaviraj’s brother-in-law was offending Lord Nityānanda. So I don’t know if the flute is available anymore, but Lord Nityānanda’s mercy is still available. “Adyāpīha līla kare gaura rāi Kono kono bhāgyavāna dekhibāre pāya” (Cb.) One can still get the mercy of Lord Nityānanda and Caitanya Mahāprabhu even today. Therefore, they are asking, “Lord Nityānanda please! You are always happy in spiritual bliss, I am miserable, please give me. I am very unhappy. due to not having pure Krishna consciousness. Give me Your mercy.”

We should cling to the lotus feet of Nitai-Gaura. We don’t know how many minutes we have left, how many seconds time up! So this not very long, this life. And it is very blissful to be practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So we should just cling somehow or another to the lotus feet of Nitāi-Gaura. By Their mercy we can experience this pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, pure love for Kṛṣṇa, and that means automatically every moment of our lives, will be utilized properly.

Say by chanting Hare Krishna and engaging in this movement that Srila Prabhupada has given us, automatically one’s time is properly used. Even the government, people they come and see our temple in Mayapur, they look, they say, “everyone here is working”, which in India is… They say, everyone is working, so we have never seen a temple where everyone is busy, everyone is In fact, a guest complained, when they go to Mayapur, they can’t, they want to talk to a devotee, they are all rushing from the… someone is going to the art gallery, someone is going to the constructions site, someone is going to the gurukula, someone is…, Pujāri is running, the time for. So many activities, someone is going out on a sankīrtana in all our temples. I think there are so many activities. But in Mayapur it is variegated. The people, they want to "Excuse me!", they hardly get someone to stop long enough to find out where is this, where is that, whats happening… So now we have given a.. creating a new service, in Māyāpur because we have about 20,000 guests coming in some weekends. Guide! Full time service. Say another devotee says, “I have no time, I have to talk to the people”

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so wonderful, that a person actually enjoy what they are doing because it's for Kṛṣṇa. We should come in the habit of consciously offering what we are doing to Kṛṣṇa. Doing that which is devotional service, remembering this is for Kṛṣṇa. When we are washing the floor, or washing the pots, or whatever whatever we are doing, whether working in the office or puja or sankīrtana, we should remember that this is an offering to guru and Kṛṣṇa, and as our consciousness becomes absorbed as we read yesterday in Bhagavad Gīta… it’s like “yukta-vairāgya”. One is absorbed in Krishna consciousness, then the service itself will give us transcendental happiness. The service will give us bliss. Then we don’t become nine to fivers. In fact people have to drag us, come on it’s time to take prasādam, or it’s time to take rest or it’s time to We have to regulate ourselves, because the service is itself blissful, because it is connected with Kṛṣṇa. So just stay closely.

Remember how Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He ran into the into the ocean at Puri, thinking it was the Jamunā, and He was floating in the ocean, totally extended. His joints when He would get into that ecstasy they would become disjointed, only the joints would be held together by the skin, so He has become 18 inches longer, and He is already golden color, but laying in the water you know how your fingers become wrinkled and everything, so He became even more pale.

So a fisherman caught Him, and thinking He was just like some weird half-goblin or some creature What is this? So He caught in the net. When he took Him to shore, he wanted to get this thing out of the net. By touching Lord Caitanya, immediately, he achieved love for Godhead, tears started coming, all the ecstatic quivering, he was just a total fisherman karmī, didn’t know what was going on. He was crying and laughing and “My God, I have gone mad!", you know, "What’s happening!?”

And so the devotees are there, they have gone mad too, looking where is Lord Caitanya, they looked up and down the ocean, looked everywhere, looked in all the temples, they couldn't find Him anywhere. Because they were all walking together, it was a little dark All of a sudden Lord Caitanya just ran and jumped in the ocean, no one even saw Him do it. So they, “Where did He go?" They couldn't find Him. So then, Swarūpa Dāmodara, all the devotees they were looking in the beach. Finally, here they find a fisherman. *Mimics fisherman expression* He is laughing but he is also very afraid. They said, “Where is Lord Caitanya?” (Fisherman says:) "You know I have been taken over by a ghost.” but he kept intermittently chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Then Swarūpa Dāmodara said this is not. This is not the sign of madness, this is the sign of… this is what happens when somebody has love for Godhead ecstasy but, this person is tremendously afraid, but I can cure you of your ghost haunting, You just wait or just just stand there, one second. Don’t worry it is not going to hurt you much, wa… wa…wa… (slapping sound) he slapped him, you know three times on the face. So alright, shook him, “You are alright now!” Actually, he was not afraid, actually he was just feeling ecstasy of love of Godhead. So then Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare. So then he (fisherman) said, well "Where is it where is it!?" (referring to Gaura) (Devotees ask) "What happened to you?”

“Well I was just, there was just a thing, I caught in my net and touched it, it was a horrible ghost…!!”

“That must be Lord Caitanya!”

“No, No, No, Lord Caitanya is so beautiful! He is…. I have seen Lord Caitanya… This is horrible thing… this is all white and extended, and this is horrible… horrible…. Oh, I can’t think about it.”

“So where? Where is it?”

“It’s over there.”

There sure enough, Lord Caitanya totally in ecstasy. All His bones dislocated, His teeth chattering jaga jaga… jaga chanting Jagannath’s names. So they said… Fishermans saying Lord Caitanya. This creature it was making this horrible sound, *random sounds* he couldn't understanding what Lord Caitanya was saying in His ecstasy, he is totally petrified. So they went there, lay down the cloth, picked Lord Caitanya up and bathed Him up with the sea water, and then they started the kīrtana.

As soon as the kīrtan reached the crescendo, Boom! Lord Caitanya came back. *sound effects of re-alignment* started coming back together like a tortoise is going… came all the bones, suddenly came back… there Lord Caitanya Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa. He came out of that ecstasy. So Lord Caitanya, just by touching Lord Caitanya that fisherman, he got love for Godhead. Actually Chand Kazi, just by touching.. the Chand Kazi, he felt love for Godhead.

So somehow if we can get Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda just to put Their lotus foot-dust on our head, or somehow if we get Their mercy, immediately we can have pure love for Godhead. So we are always hoping for that special mercy, but we just don’t say that sorry we are waiting for that, and we don’t do our service. We hope for that mercy. We pray for it. We want to get that mercy from guru and Gaurānga, and short cut everything. But to show our sincerity, to take advantage, we practice devotional service by sādhanā, by following the rules and regulations, regular routine, and even in that we gradually we can also achieve the same, by the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Prabhupāda, spiritual master, in a very quick period of time, we can also achieve the same realizations. The devotee is also always hankering. for the mercy of guru and Gaurāṅga to get little bit early benediction.

Jaya Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu Nityānanda
Śrī Advaita Gadādhara Śrivāsādī Gaura Bhakta Vṛnda

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.