19850706 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.6.22

ŚB 1.6.22

Translation: O virtuous one, you have only once seen My person, and this is just to increase your desire for Me, because the more you hanker for Me, the more you will be freed from all material desires.

Purport: Vyāsadeva wanted to hear from Nārada Muni, his spiritual master how he came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Nārada Muni explained his life history and at this point after Nārada Muni had been practicing meditation after his mother had passed away and he was materially alone in the world at that time when he was chanting and was in an intense feeling of separation for the Lord, for a moment Kṛṣṇa appeared in his consciousness and he could see the form of the Lord in his meditation while he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. So immediately at that time he became filled with spiritual ecstasy. Just like being taken to the summit of a mountain all of a sudden, just like by a rocket he was made so transcendentally happy to see the Lord. But then just after a few seconds, just a moment the Lord again came out of view and then Nārada Muni’s intense separation became more, as if he was dropped again down to the depth. So this time again he mechanically tried to do some yoga postures, to do some meditation to chant some mantras but nothing would work. He couldn’t bring back the Lord again. Sometimes when the devotee has some ecstatic dream about the spiritual master or Kṛṣṇa and suddenly wakes up and tries to go back into the dream but it doesn’t work. One cannot, it is not possible to do such things. Unexpected mercy. So here not a vision in a dream but directly in his conscious meditation he could have a darśana of the Lord and even after trying again and again in so many different ways he was not able to again bring back the Lord. So then Kṛṣṇa is speaking to him that don’t think that by some mechanical means that I am brought into someone’s vision. Actually the Lord explained that He comes on His own free will. He comes on His own free will and He doesn’t come before people who are not completely freed from all material things, who are not complete in devotional service. Actually of course Nārada Muni had no material desires. Śrīla Prabhupāda is explaining that the purport is that Kṛṣṇa actually wanted to relish the intense desire of Nārada Muni to engage in His devotional service. In this way Nārada Muni was suddenly able to hear Kṛṣṇa. He couldn’t see Kṛṣṇa again but he could hear Kṛṣṇa’s voice. Hearing Kṛṣṇa’s voice or seeing the form of Kṛṣṇa with spiritually awakened senses is all one on the transcendental platform. By hearing the voice of the Lord immediately Nārada Muni was pacified, his heart was feeling relief, by that vibration he was feeling immediate presence of Kṛṣṇa. It is not always the same if someone talks to someone on the phone or sees them personally. Although on the phone even then you can find that vibration, you can feel the presence of the Lord, even though it is a material vibration. But Kṛṣṇa and His spoken word, or His form, or His name are not material, they are all on the transcendental platform. So directly Nārada Muni could feel the presence of Kṛṣṇa, could experience the presence of Kṛṣṇa by hearing His voice. So therefore he felt immediately some relief from his intense feeling of separation in not having been able to again see the Lord after having seen Him. So of course, this further fixed Nārada Muni’s mind in his devotional service. And Kṛṣṇa explained that now you continue your devotional service and eventually you will sure reach Me, you don’t have to worry. Actually, the more we desire Kṛṣṇa then the more we become free from material desire. Sometimes in the beginning neophyte devotees they become very focused on the negative aspects of material sense gratification, and they become preoccupied with it. But in effect that is not enough to end material desires. Rather it is another form of negative meditation on material desires. And as such those material desires will still remain in their subtle form and that repulsion could revert to attraction. But actually the more that we become positively desirous of serving Kṛṣṇa, serving the spiritual master, attached to devotional service, hankering for more devotional service, that is our actual perfection. That is actually what will draw us to Kṛṣṇa. Until we have that attraction to Kṛṣṇa the mere repulsion from certain type of sense gratification will not be enough to take us back to the spiritual world and at best that kind of repulsion could give us liberation into the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord. So practically a positive attachment to Kṛṣṇa in devotional service is essential. So Nārada Muni of course was given an impetus here where he was able to see the Lord and subsequently he was able to hear the Lord. We should understand that the Lord and His name are non-different. We are all getting a very special opportunity to chant the names of the Lord. This is a very special benediction. The Lord’s name contains all of the transcendental potencies of the Lord. nāma nāma akāri bahudā nija sarva śaktis. In fact Vedas also describe how the name is a living vibration. nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto ’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. The Caitanya rasa vigraha, it is the living force, the living transcendental vibration; it is not some dead vibration knocking molecules around in the air. It is actually a vibration which is alive and which is non different from Kṛṣṇa, which is filled with transcendental nectar. In fact there was one devotee who was praying to have thousands of tongues so he could vibrate the holy name of the Lord millions of years simply to hear the vibration of holy name of the Lord. How the Lord is non different from His different aspects may be very difficult for a materialist to understand because we have no such experience in the material world. Actually it is possible for a devotee to understand. For instance when the four Kumāras, they had already realized the Brahman. When they came into the presence of Nārāyaṇa they spontaneously bowed down at His lotus feet. When they bowed down the aroma of the tulasī offered to the lotus feet of the Lord entered into their nostrils, into their noses and they could smell that flavor of Kṛṣṇa’s tulasī offered at His lotus feet. And when they smelt that they became filled with transcendental ecstasies, quivering in their body and although they were in Brahman they became astonished that although we are in Brahman we thought that was the highest but how is it now that we are feeling more happiness in bowing down before Nārāyaṇa and smelling the aroma coming from His lotus feet? At that moment they were converted into bhaktas, into devotees. That is why in Bhagavad-gītā, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyante, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ. That after many, many births a jñānī when he finally realizes vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, that Kṛṣṇa is everything, He is the summum bonum, He is the source of Brahman, He is the source of Paramātmā, He is everything the All in All, the Param Brahman. Then at that time he becomes a devotee, he becomes the rare most elevated of all the liberated souls. So rarely do these Mayavādīs or impersonally liberated souls get the association of Nārāyaṇa or His devotees. Because Nārāyaṇa and His devotees are not wandering about in that Jyoti. Just like in a barren plain. Just like you go in Kutch in Gujarat there is one desert called the Kutch. You can wander for days and you won’t find anyone because who goes in the desert? So some great bhaktas they have, liberated devotees, they have said that this kaivalya, this impersonal Brahman is something for us like a desert. We don’t like to go because there you can’t hear Kṛṣṇa’s name, you don’t see Kṛṣṇa’s form, there is nothing attractive there for devotees, simply the Jyoti. You see that you can see coming from Kṛṣṇa’s body directly but to see Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental rūpam, to hear His glories, to associate with His devotees, that is much more attractive for the devotees and that contains all transcendental happiness, much more than this undifferentiated impersonal realization. So the devotees, they are not going to be attracted by the impersonal and they are attracted by going to the Vaikuntha planets to the Parama Padam and there they engage in the devotional service of the Lord. But somehow or other the four Kumaras they were able to get this association of the Lord and thus immediately they could recognize the far superior status of Bhagavān realization over Brahman realization and thus they became Bhāgavatas or devotees of the Lord. So even in Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes we find some examples of these things. For instance, after Lord Caitanya left the world the devotees were feeling some great separation. They felt that the whole world had become just like a barren place because Lord Caitanya, Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadadhara, Śrīvāsa, They had all left the world. There was Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura and other great ācāryas were present, the son of Nityānanda, Vīracandra, Acyutānanda the son of Advaita, the great ācāryas and they were preaching but the Pañca Tattva, Svarūpa Dāmodara, Rūpa and Sanātana, They had all left the planet. At that time Gopālabhaṭṭa Gosvāmī who came from Śrīraṅgaṁ, he was on the planet in Vṛndāvana, like that there were a few devotees in Vṛndāvana and so many devotees were scattered here and there. For instance the wife of Nityānanda, Jāhnavā Devī was present. So like this one time Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura called a Gaura Pūrṇimā festival. He invited all of the remaining associates of Lord Caitanya to come together and have a big festival on Gaura Pūrṇimā and celebrate the appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu just as we celebrate in Māyāpur every year on the instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Just like Prabhupāda he very sublimely implements these original programs which all of the previous ācāryas had started in the past. So this was you could say the very first Gaura Pūrṇimā festival after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya from the planet. At that time six deities were being installed. This was held in Kheturi Grāma which is just on the Padmā river and now it is on the Bangladesh side of the Padmā river. Padma river is bordering between Bengal in India and Bangladesh. So all these devotees they came from all over Orissa, Bengal, Vṛndāvana, different places they came from all over wherever the followers of Lord Caitanya were situated at that time, who could get the invitation, they all came. So on the day of Gaura Pūrṇimā or Phalgun Purnima, at that time Śrīnivāsa Ācārya was requested to do the installation ārati after the abhiṣeka and everything was over. So when he was performing the ārati at that time I believe that Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura was leading the kīrtana or maybe Acyutananda. At that time the deities started to emit from Their forms the natural aroma of Kṛṣṇa’s body. Much similar kind of aroma that the four Kumāras could experience. And I was reminded in an opposite way when we read the Bhopal gas tragedy. The way the gas went and hit the people; they became incapacitated in a very destructive way. As this aroma of Kṛṣṇa’s form was going and reached the devotees and immediately they could feel intense presence of Kṛṣṇa and their separation reached such an intense level that they immediately started to cry and feel ecstatic symptoms, collapse and faint and as it was moving the devotees were going through all these transcendental it is explained in the śāstras, aṣṭa sāttvika bhāva, eight transcendental symptoms of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa and they could realize gradually that Kṛṣṇa was blessing them and that He was directly present even though simply at that moment through their sense of smell they were experiencing. But at that time it was not the material sense of smell but their spiritual sense of smell was being enlivened by the very presence of Kṛṣṇa’s own bodily aroma. So hardly we can understand, we can smell the beautiful incense or smell the flowers offered to Kṛṣṇa and may think this is a very wonderful smell. But sometimes if we are blessed we can actually smell Kṛṣṇa is there. This aroma of Kṛṣṇa is there and accrue some spiritual happiness for that. Indirectly when one is in Kṛṣṇa’s presence everything about Kṛṣṇa is transcendentally attractive, not simply His form, His form, His speech, His vibration, His aroma, His everything, His action. In this way the devotees in that special festival they became filled with spiritual separation from the Lord. And everyone the devotee who was leading the kīrtana, I think at that time it was Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura, he was able to play on the heart strings of the devotees and they became filled with even more separation from the Lord. All of a sudden in that moment they felt intense separation just like Nārada Muni when he was in the most intense separation from the Lord feeling that the whole world was empty without Kṛṣṇa. All of them wanted simply to have the association of Kṛṣṇa, to be serving Kṛṣṇa, that was the only thing, everything else seemed totally bare and empty, nothing else had even a room for thought in his mind, his consciousness was totally absorbed in serving Kṛṣṇa at the moment Kṛṣṇa appeared to him. That is the kind of intense desire that we have to cultivate. So by the combination of the deities’ mercy and the chanting of Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura the devotees all became so enraptured, so filled with intense desire to serve Kṛṣṇa. There was not even the slightest other thought in their minds. At that time Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, they all appeared amongst them, just they were visible to all the devotees and then a huge kīrtana ensued and they all chanted and the devotees were filled with transcendental ecstasy. That even those devotees who had never seen Lord Caitanya, never seen Nityānanda as they were born after They had left the planet, probably 40-50 years after They had left, they were also able to see the Lord and to chant with Him together in the saṅkīrtana. At that time it was just in that kīrtana it was said to have continued for one day of Brahma. You see the whole clock of the universe was kept back so that the devotees could chant without experiencing any old age or passing of time. But of course from the external view point it was all happening within one day. But for them that period of time was extended and the transcendental joy was going on and on and on and finally all the associates, the second generation and the others suddenly realized there is no more Lord Caitanya, no Nityānanda, no Pañca Tattva, Svarūpa Dāmodara had been there, that kīrtana was never before because all of the Gauḍīya, all of the Vṛndāvana, all of the Aryan devotees, all of the South Indian devotees everyone were all together at that time, they were never physically together and gathered to doing devotional service together but at that kīrtana all were brought back spiritually, they had all come at one time. It was such a transcendental kīrtana that we cannot imagine. Then suddenly all those who were not still in this world physically in the kīrtana everybody is crying in separation, the kīrtana is becoming so intense. So then Vasudhā, the śaktī of Nityānanda she gave everyone a lecture that they are all recipients of the transcendental mercy of the Lord, you again start the kīrtana, you just chant in separation, take this is as the mercy of the Lord and don’t be frustrated or anything like that. The Lord is present in the holy name and they all started chanting kīrtana and by chanting again they started feeling relief again by hearing that vibration. Just as Nārada Muni today we see that how by hearing the vibration coming from Kṛṣṇa he felt transcendental relief. So, we are not so fortunate to have the direct association of Lord Caitanya or Kṛṣṇa in this lifetime, here in this world, They have already gone back to the spiritual world or to Their other pastimes. Some rare souls may be able to see them like Nārada Muni has, you see, that benediction can always be given. They are not limited. They can appear in the dream or directly any moment! If They want to, They are totally independent. Although it says that you have to be totally free of all contaminations, if Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Caitanya want to by Their appearance, They can totally free one from any kind of material pain. Just as by the touch of Kṛṣṇa, Kubja became totally restored to her beautiful form and she became free from all material contaminations and pain. So in this way one can be given the benediction by chanting or by the Lord personally. We should rather focus our mind on this transcendental enthusiasm for rendering devotional service, for serving the Lord. Our desire known as laulyaṁ increases more and more and becomes so intense, you see. At that time Kṛṣṇa is more attracted to come. Just like if we want to invite Kṛṣṇa or if we want to invite a guest. Say a guest comes, you invite them, please come, please come. When actually that guest comes everyone neglects him and don’t pay attention. He walks in, oh, hello, how are you? He feels totally disoriented, they invited me to come but now the people have kept him aside and he feels, what am I doing here? They don’t want me here at all! So if we are not able to fix our mind on Kṛṣṇa, if we are not desiring Kṛṣṇa, if we don’t want to serve Kṛṣṇa very intensely, then even if Kṛṣṇa came we would not be in the proper mood at all. We wouldn’t be giving Him our attention. Of course this is kind of a very grotesque example, I won’t even say bad, you see, grotesque. But the point is that a devotee and that kind of a half attentive, half offensive mentality, how can Kṛṣṇa be attracted to come at that time. He wants to come He can come at any time that’s His own will, if He wants to attract us, He has that potency. But from our side if we try to create the most favorable attitude, well that as much as we can do, He is independent, He does not have to come, He doesn’t have to appear. But if He wants to He can . You see, that opportunity is always there. So the devotee is hoping upon hope because the Lord is patīta-pāvana, He is the most merciful upon the fallen souls maybe we will have His mercy, some time. So this is a special benediction which Nārada Muni got and since we are all coming in the movement in the disciplic succession of Nārada Muni, we can pray to Nārada Muni that he may also bless us that very quickly we can become fully absorbed in devotional service and have no other desire than to serve the Lord in pure spiritual consciousness. Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Are there any questions?

Parama Padam. Means the Supreme Abode. Padam means position, shelter, abode. Like we say Prabhupāda, one at whose lotus feet all of the prabhūs have taken shelter. One who is of the position of Prabhu, Lord of so many devotees. One who is at the lotus feet of the Prabhu who is a representative – pāda and pada are very similar. Pada means position and pāda means lotus feet so Parama-padam means the Supreme Shelter, the Supreme Abode. So this bhavāmbudiḥ the material ocean cycle of birth and death, one crosses over very easily like one crosses over vatsa padam, the foot print of a calf. Then we go to the Parama Padam, the Spiritual Abode in the spiritual world.

Of course, Nārada Muni was engaging in very intense devotional service before seeing Viṣṇu, before seeing the Lord, that is specifically mentioned. By hearing the words of the Bhaktivedāntas, he became inspired. Also by taking the mahāprasādam, remnants from those Bhaktivedanta devotees as well as by taking initiation from them and by chanting the names. “Oh Vyāsadeva in that association by the mercy of those great Vedāntists I could hear them describe the attractive activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa and thus listening attentively my taste for hearing of the Supreme Personality of Godhead increased at every step. O great sage, as soon as I got a taste of the Personality of Godhead my intention to hear the Lord was unflinching and as my taste developed I could realize that it was only in my ignorance that I had accepted gross and subtle coverings of both the lower and higher transcendental. Thus through two seasons, rainy season and autumn I had the opportunity to hear those great sages constantly chanting the unadulterated glories of Lord Hari. As the flow of my devotional service began the coverings of the mode of passion and ignorance vanished. I was very much attached to those sages. I was gentle in my behavior and all my sins were eradicated in their service. In my heart I had strong faith in them, I had subjugated the senses and I was strictly following them with body and mind. As they were leaving those Bhaktivedāntas were very kind toward the fallen souls and instructed me in the most confidential subject which is instructed by the Lord Himself. But that confidential knowledge I could understand clearly in confluence of the energy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Creator, Maintainer and Annihilator of everything. By knowing that one can return to Him and personally meet Him. Oh Brāhmaṇa, Vyāsadeva, it has been decided by the learned that the best remedial measure for removing all troubles is to dedicate one’s activities to the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Once only by their permission I took the remnants of their food and by so doing all my sins were at once eradicated. Thus being engaged I became purified in heart. At that time the very nature of the transcendentalists became attractive to me.” The Nectar of Devotion gives impetuses for other devotional service.

Once they become attracted to Kṛṣṇa then we should introduce the rules and regulations and other things they should avoid to make their chanting better. A person can avoid committing offences, sinful activities from the beginning. It is the best no doubt chanting would be much more effective and less impeded. But in general if you start to introduce other rules and regulations they will become frightened and will not chant at all as they are too attached to those things and they think that if I chant I will have to give up all these things and I will suffer, so they don’t chant. So it is better to get them to chant when they see how happy they become by chanting and then they automatically become detached from the other things, they no longer feel dependence upon those things. So in general the rule is unless a person is very serious we don’t reveal all the things that they will become detached to right in the beginning. Material mind has a tricky way of dealing with these things. They chant, of course their chanting may be offensive. That is why I said there are three stages of chanting. The initial stage is called offensive chanting, then it becomes clearing chanting when one is trying to give up gradually give up various types of negative influences and then finally the stage of offense less chanting. So initially when one is chanting certainly there will be offences that are committed. It will be either on the gross or subtle platform but still even offensive chanting is better than no chanting at all. Because it is establishing a relationship with the Lord which will start to bring one closer and closer. Especially this mercy is given by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Normally if we chant offensively we won’t be able to get love for Kṛṣṇa even after crores of birth. But if we chant the name of Lord Caitanya and then chant Kṛṣṇa’s name even though it is offensive we will be able to experience some kind of spiritual benefit from that even in the early stage. And thus we can try to, when a person experiences some spiritual reciprocation from Kṛṣṇa then in turn they should also reciprocate and try to give up those things which are detrimental to one. Actually one does not have to give up anything which is good for one, it is only the harmful things like taking intoxication and drugs, killing innocent animals and eating their flesh, and engaging in illicit sexual activities and gambling. These are the main things that one has to actually become detached from. None of these things anyone can claim are good for one, they are all regulated by various laws of the country. Even the social norms would indicate that these things are not good. Alcohol, cigarettes, on cigarette packs it is written that it is harmful. We are not saying to give up anything which is good, we are just saying to regulate your diet, regulate your sexual activities, and eradicate harmful things like intoxication. The spiritually conducive activities are also materially known to be good for and not known to be destructive. But due to attachment people are doing all these things, they don’t have their warnings; they go and do it anyway. So let them chant Hare Kṛṣṇa when they get some spiritual strength and attraction they automatically can see that these things are useless and there is no use of dependence on them for happiness when I can get happiness from within by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.

We chant according to Lord Caitanya’s movement. When Lord Caitanya was preaching the brāhmaṇas were criticizing that you have them chant these Vedic mantras because the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is mentioned in the Upaniṣads. And there is also scripture that no one except the brāhmaṇas can chant the four Vedas of the Upaniṣads. So then technically speaking the smārta-brāhmaṇas couldn’t chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahā-mantra. But Lord Caitanya was having Muslims, cānḍālas, śūdras, everyone was chanting. Actually Lord Caitanya said in the Upaniṣads it gives Hare Rāma first then Hare Kṛṣṇa. So we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa first and then Hare Rāma. This is not the exact mantra given in the Upaniṣads. We had everything given in the Upaniṣads in the backside way just to be aware of caste conscious people. In the Nārada Pañcarātrika it says all the power of all the Vedic mantras are combined in those eight words Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare. Eight words, so we follow Lord Caitanya, we chant. It is like chanting mara mara mara by Vālmīki. Once you have uttered the first mantra they all become one anyway. But those who are doing for karma-kāṇḍa basically those who are doing it for some material reason they chant Hare Rāma first and those who are chanting for pure devotion following Lord Caitanya, they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa first. That way we don’t mind whether you chant this way or that way. But we follow Lord Caitanya and we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa first.

Sometimes it says that Kṛṣṇa was the chariot driver for Arjuna. So when Kṛṣṇa plays the pastime as a human being or plays pastimes as a king then sometimes He may also play the pastime of doing some service for Lord Śiva because Lord Śiva, He is the official representative, His expansion. So He would show people that you should respect Lord Śiva because He is My representative. Kṛṣṇa says even I respect the brāhmaṇas, Kṛṣṇa Himself worshipped the brāhmaṇas when they would come to see Him. He would give them all respect. Of course the brāhmaṇas they themselves are saying that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. Lord Śiva Himself is also saying that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. We have to see the things in context. Not take everything out of context. There are 18 Purāṇas – 6 in the mode of passion, 6 in the mode of ignorance and 6 in the mode of goodness. The Purāṇas are written from that point of view. Just like when I was going in to Māyāpur, in Bengali on all the walls it was written chalo Nadia district, rally, this thing that thing, everything was Nadia district this, Nadia district that. When we were in Calcutta there was Calcutta Municipal election, vote for this one, that one. Vote for the CPM, vote for the Congress. Then you go into Orissa and there it says chalo, vote for Janata, vote for Congress and here in South India, here it is M.G. Rāmachandran, AIDMK. So each place has got its particular view point. So when you look from the mode of passion then you see Brahma as everything, he is the creator. You see from the mode of ignorance and you see that śaktī or Lord Siva are all in all. So like that from different points of view you can see something in one particular way. But then if you go all India basis and you see well this is happening here then you get an overall view point. You see the whole Vedas, you see the whole overall picture, you see especially from the mode of goodness and everything else fits into place. That is why the mode of goodness is considered to be the best because from that view point everything else fits in. In the mode of ignorance we cannot understand goodness and passion. But from the mode of goodness ignorance and passion are able to be understood. So those particular Vedas when they are glorifying Śiva, they are not going beyond that point. Just like if you say the greatest person is the chief minister. That may be true for this state. But the next state there is another chief minister, another state another and each state will all be saying chief minister. Then if you see overall there is a prime minister. So like that if you just focus on Indra, you can say Indra this and Indra that, Indra is great, he has a thousand eyes. Like you say Murugan, Murugan is the greatest this and that, all that. But they are not going beyond that, they are just focusing on that one particular deva and they are glorifying all their main qualities. Even within those glories you will find like Caṇḍī glorifying Durgā, there they also describe her as Vaiṣṇavī, Nārāyaṇī, she is a great śaktī, she is the potency of Nārāyaṇa, potency of Viṣṇu. Those who are totally absorbed they want to push their point. Just like modern scientists, they cheat. When they do their experiments they make sometimes something comes up which doesn’t fit into their theory, they just ignore it. In Iran and other countries they redo the thing, they say what about this thing, that thing, it doesn’t work out and then they get exposed. But to do that experiment we have to spend millions of dollars and buy some nuclear reactor and smash atoms so that ordinary countries they don’t have the scope, the Americans say we have found out this thing, it takes five to ten years before the other ones catch up and do the same thing. And when they do it they say it is bad it is totally bogus it doesn’t work. So like that sometimes the person when they are very attached they want to say we don’t mind we also accept whatever the Vedas, certainly the glorification of the demigods in perspective they are true. Just as in the Brahma Saṁhitā it says Devī, she does stithī, she does śṛṣṭī, she does pralaya. But how? Chāyeva. As the shadow follows the head, she follows the will of the Lord. So the will of the Lord is kind of invisible thing, He doesn’t give a hukumnama or something, He just wills and she does it. So all the potency is within her, but she is not independent. But we are just seeing her action that she is creating. We are not seeing that she is creating because of the will of the Lord. So everything they say about the devas is true but they are neglecting so many other aspects, sometimes they overlook certain verses which also say that she is the energy of Viṣṇu or she is the energy of Nārāyaṇa, those things they kind of bypass. But if you see the thing from a broad perspective then all the Vedas are in Him – sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham. All the Vedas are searching after Me and the purpose of the Vedas is to know Me. I am the creator of the Vedas. Vedānta-kṛt. Veda-vit, and I am the knower of the Vedas. Naturally You create them, You know them. The point is that the Vedas ultimately lead to Kṛṣṇa but some people they want to know the different aspects of manifestations of the universe, śaktī, the Vedas, so they are absorbed in those particular studies. Just like some scientist he is studying what is the nature of the mini mini poocha bug, he is studying how they are producing electricity, what is the generation, how long they live, how they reproduce, how they pass stool, how they eat, how they look under the microscope, what type of eyes, what type of lens, what type of habitation, what season they are flying out, what season they stay in, all these studies and write huge books all about the bug. All about one bug you see. Some people ask me what happens to those people when they die? Do they take birth as one of those bugs? It is a possibility they could also take such a birth. Of course if they have any opportunity of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa then possibly they would not have to take such a birth. But any way the danger is always there at the moment of death if they think about the bug. Sometimes these people they are only thinking about their name and fame. They are studying the bug more for becoming the most famous expert in the entire world on mini mini poochas! Ha! Then I will become famous and anyone wants to know about the lightning bug they have to ask me because I am the only one who studied it fifty years of my life. I know everything, all the details. They have to go to him. So in that case they may not be so engrossed in the bug, so the chance is there whatever we are absorbed in at the time of death. So they absorb one particular thing. Some people they are totally absorbed in one deva. But they don’t realize that that deva is not the ultimate deva. We met one person, he was totally absorbed in Gaṇeśa. He was just a devotee. And he was worshipping Gaṇeśa day and night, knew all the mantras and worshipped morning to night. And his prayer to Gaṇeśa was I want to – his prayer was a unique one – he wasn’t praying for wealth or anything. He was saying that I want from you the greatest thing, I want from you the highest thing in life, the best thing in life. And so one time Gaṇeśa appeared to him in his dream and said the best thing in life is – he opened up his stomach and there he showed him Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa! You worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, the summum bonum. And after that he came to the temple and told us, otherwise we didn’t know, he was a Gaṇeśa Bhakta. He said Gaṇeśa ordered me and I had to come.

Transcribed: Jayarāseśvarī Devī Dāsī 2 March 2016
Formatted: Bhakta Aruṇeśa 9 December 2023