1985 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.5.40

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami in 1985 at New Tālavana Farm in Carrier, Mississippi. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 6th Canto, Chapter 5, Text 40.

netthaṁ puṁsāṁ virāgaḥ syāt
tvayā kevalinā mṛṣā
manyase yady upaśamaṁ
sneha-pāśa-nikṛntanam

na — not; ittham — in this way; puṁsām — of persons; virāgaḥ — renunciation; syāt — is possible; tvayā — by you; kevalinā mṛṣā — possessing knowledge falsely; manyase — you think; yadi — if; upaśamam — renunciation of material enjoyment; sneha-pāśa — the bonds of affection; nikṛntanam — cutting.

Translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Prajāpati Dakṣa continued: If you think that simply awakening the sense of renunciation will detach one from the material world, I must say that unless full knowledge is awakened, simply changing dresses as you have done cannot possibly bring detachment.

*Translation with repetition*

Purport: Prajāpati Dakṣa was correct in stating that changing one’s dress cannot detach one from this material world. The sannyāsīs of Kali-yuga who change their robes from white to saffron and then think they can do whatever they like are more abominable than materialistic gṛhasthas. This is not recommended anywhere. Prajāpati Dakṣa was right in pointing out this defect, but he did not know that Nārada Muni had aroused the spirit of renunciation in the Haryaśvas and Savalāśvas through full knowledge. Such enlightened renunciation is desirable. One should enter the renounced order with full knowledge (jñāna-vairāgya), for the perfection of life is possible for one who renounces this material world in that way. This elevated stage can be reached very easily, as supported by the statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.7):

vāsudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ
jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam

“By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.” If one seriously engages in devotional service to Lord Vāsudeva, jñāna and vairāgya are automatically manifest in one’s person. There is no doubt of this. Prajāpati Dakṣa’s accusation that Nārada had not actually elevated his sons to the platform of knowledge was not factual. All the sons of Prajāpati Dakṣa had first been raised to the platform of jñāna and had then automatically renounced this world. In summary, unless one’s knowledge is awakened, renunciation cannot take place, for without elevated knowledge one cannot give up attachment for material enjoyment.

Thus end the Bhaktivedānta purport of text 40, Chapter 5, Canto 6 of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, chapter entitled “Nārada Muni Cursed by Prajāpati Dakṣa.”

So here Dakṣa is continuing to ... give his critic, or chastisement over Nārada muni’s actions in turning all of his ...sons into renounced practitioners and preachers of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Prajāpati Dakṣa’s point of view is the point of view of the very orthodox vedavādi, karma-kāṇḍī ... frutive gṛhasthas. Lord Caitanya mentioned that there are unlimited living entities, which are above matter. The cit-kaṇa jīva is sūkṣma. The jīva is very minute, but that infinitesimal spark of life is far more powerful that even millions of suns. It is of the spiritual potency. Therefore should always be considered totally a different from matter and transcendental, you see, but in this conditioned life, the spirit soul or jīvātmā is bound by different material bodies. So it wanders. "brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva / guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja" It wanders through different species, going... it describes, Lord Caitanya that... first it goes into the evolution of eighty-four lakh species, then finally it comes up to the human beings. It mentions that, sthāvara jaṅgama dūibe, that there are two categories, those are moving and those are immovable. Amongst the moving and the immovable, the movable is more advanced, you see. Movable means things like birds and ... animals and so on. So amongst the moving creatures the most elevated is the human being, but amongst the human being there are many uncivilized. Sābara, baudha, yavana, so on. This ... type of ... uncivilized, you can say like ... tribal type, uncivilized ... people, aboriginal uncultured, meat eaters and so on who don’t know about the progressive value of spiritual life. They follow some type of primitive religion, where they accept the body to be somehow as the soul, and they don’t understand about the science of reincarnation, or about the existence of the spiritual world, so on. But rather, they are just ... following some kind of primitive ... if any religious principles, and basically they are in ignorance. Lord Caitanya said, ... greater than those are those understand the vedic principles of transcendental knowledge. Those who at least apart from acce... understanding atleast those who... veda 'mukhe' māne, dharma nāhi gaṇe. They may atleast give lip service, that I believe in the vedic wisdom. “Oh yes, I know.”, but practically speaking they don’t practice it. They don’t follow. Lord Caitanya, He put these on the lowest strata, those who don’t practice, what they preach. There may be many who say, “I am Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee”, or may say, “I follow the Vedas.”, or may say “I am a Hindu.”, but factually speaking if they don’t practice it, they are considered to be on the lowest stratum. At least they give some lip service. So they get some credit. Sometimes they might do something, but they are considered just little bit above the aborigines, above the... meat eating... gross materialistic civilizations. Then better than them, Lord Caitanya 10.22 for those who are karma-niṣṭha, those who follow the principles of fruitive work, the regulated principles of Vedic knowledge very carefully. Even then they follow dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa. Religious activities for economic development, for sense gratification, ultimately for liberation. Even they are very systematically trying to achieve liberation. They understand reincarnation, but their idea is that first let me enjoy the material world, when I enjoy I will suffer the frustrations of material life, and that practical experience of frustration in trying to enjoy this material world, this will give me the real sense of renunciation. This is what Dakṣa is saying. Just by preaching to someone, that’s is not going to do it, they have to go out and enjoy it. They have to in the enjoyment take the suffering, and this will be beneficial for them, for instance, say that someone who has never had a child. So, how they are going to understand what is the suffering of giving child birth? They say, “first you should get married, have a child, and then the suffering that is there during child birth that you will experience, then you will lose all taste for sex life, or practically speaking it doesn’t, material experience is such that we forget the suffering, and we want to go on tasting the enjoyment. Instead of course people, they had invented other ways of avoiding child birth, which they, the paṇḍitas, sages, couldn’t even imagine, the mother would be... killing the child to avoid that pain but not avoiding the enjoyment. So Dakṣa, if he knew, could believe, the people would do what they are doing today. Anyway, the point is that, he is on that particular state, he is a quite elevated stage in relation to the lower stages of life like animal, aborigine, uncivilized people but in spiritual idea there are many higher stages. Its said that higher than the karma-niṣṭha is the jñānī, one who actually realizes factually by full knowledge that this material world is a place of suffering, and therefore doesn’t have to personally go and have his head beat against the wall. Doesn’t personally have to go and be put into that type of suffering. Actually why does Kṛṣṇa a... a... give this teaching? Just like in the Bhagavad-Gītā, Kṛṣṇa in the 9th... Chapter describes to Arjuna, idaṁ tu te guhya-tamaṁ pravakṣyāmy anasūyave / jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ yaj jñātvā mokṣyase śubhāt. That simply I am giving you this knowledge, so that you can be freed from all the miseries of life. I am giving you this knowledge which is ... both the theoretical knowledge as well as the applied knowledge, because you are never been envious, you are not envious soul, anasūyave.. Kṛṣṇa is giving though this whole education, so that we can be freed from the sufferings of material life. It’s not a fact that... the... someone gives an advise that, “don’t go over there, you might get hurt, there is a snake there.”, but someone may, “Oh! I won’t go there.” It’s not that you have to experience everything. That is not... even if someone experiences something, they don’t have any knowledge, they also won’t ... necessarily develop renunciation, because they don’t have any alternative, they just think, “Well, this is life, I will have to live with it. There is no alternative.” They develop a callous mentality, and then they counteract that by some other artificial means, such as intoxication and so on. So that way they are not conscious of the suffering of material life, and so they more or less sidestep this problems and they don’t solve them. So instead of achieving liberation, they just stay on the same level or gradually they go down, back into animal life. So Prajāpati Dakṣa, of course he was looking for that... from that particular angle of view, the angle of view of the karma-kāṇḍī. They mention higher that it is the jñānī, higher than that is the yogī, and higher than that is the devotee. Lord Caitanya describes, “bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī — sakali ‘aśānta’ / kṛṣṇa-bhakta — niṣkāma, ataeva ‘śānta’.” That all this ... desiring material elevation, liberation, or mystic powers, they are all agitated, they are all in a very disturbed type of stage in different levels. They are not ... peaceful, because they have got some other motive. They are always ... trying to obtain some other status, but the devotee is very peaceful, there is no other desire except to render devotional service, he is niṣkāma, he is ... selfless, desireless, ataeva śānta, therefore he is very peaceful, so we are teaching the science of self-realization through the process of devotional service. This is the guru-paramparā or disciplic succession coming down from Nārada Muni. It’s not that the devotees don’t have any desire, just like today I saw that -51.50-52 appearance of Jagadīśa Panḍita, he had tremendous desire to serve Lord Jagannātha, tremendous desire... he wanted to have a festival for Lord Jagannātha in Bengal, so he carried this huge Jagannātha deities all the way back from Purī, all the way up to Bengal. Somehow he also had the stick of Nityānanda, you got how they got that, even today devotees they go and they touch their head to the stick that was carried by Lord Nityānada, I think they say that it was a part of the daṇḍa that was broken by Lord Nityānanda and Lord Caitanya, sannyāsa daṇḍa. This Jagadīśa Paṇḍita, he was... Jagadīśa devotee, Jagannātha...even today you see his Jagannātha deities, Prabhupāda personally went to see those deities. So the devotees, they do have desires but their desires are always devotional desires. Desire to serve Kṛṣṇa, maybe even a desire to... have a child, but that would be to bring a devotee into the world and it’s happened sometimes, praying to Kṛṣṇa. Whatever their desires, they dovetail those desires with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore we don’t become desire less, in the impersonal kind of void sense. Then suddenly we stop thinking, feeling and willing and we try to become like a stone, that is the Māyāvadi philosophy, become like a stone. Stop thinking, stop feeling, and stop willing. Practically speaking even living or dead, they want you to just become... cease to exist. This is basically the idea. So the devotee, becomes desireless in the sense that they don’t desire anything separate from Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Whatever desires there are is always dovetailed. So that is very difficult for this karma-kāṇḍīs to understand, I mean the more difficult for the jñānīs. They think that ... sometimes they mistake these things might be material activities. Of course Rupa Gosvami explain quoting the Vedas, īhā yasya harer dāsye / karmaṇā manasā girā / nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu /  jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate. That someone who is on this transcendental platform of offering their thoughts, their words, their activities to Kṛṣṇa, he is to be already considered to be liberated even while living, and practically you can see, that for those impersonalist, even though they are living or even the materialists, even though they are living, practically they are dead. Jīvasya mṛtasya...there was a... I forget the exact śloka, there is a śloka like that, even though they are walking dead. Infact Śrīla Prabhupāda, one time he was sitting in a Calcutta airport, his flight was delayed, he was watching the people rush by here and there, and he said you know from the viewpoint of a pure devotee all these people are dead. From the viewpoint of Kṛṣṇa consciousness they are all dead people. They are just walking dead. None of them realize their eternal self. None of them understand that they have a spiritual identity. They are just walking as the, you see... bodies, which are all heading only for death. Bodies are actually dead. Body is not alive. It’s made to appear alive because of the presence of the ātmā, of the soul. You take the soul out of the body, it’s again appearing as it actually is- dead. Due to the presence of the ātmā, that the body... appears to be alive. So we put so much emphasis on the body and trying to make the body satisfied, the body... comfortable. Rather the body is a vehicle, we should use it to take us back to home, back to Godhead. We should use it, as Prabhupāda used to say, “Make the best use of a bad bargain.” We have a material body, that means we have to suffer birth, death, old age, disease. We have to suffer different types of miseries in the material world, but at the same time this body can also bring us to eternal happiness and liberation. So we should make the best use of a bad bargain. Just like if you ... get lost in the sea, you might have a little life.. liferaft, but it’s better than being there swimming with the sharks, the Jaws, better to be even in the liferaft. So similarly, in this material world, having a material body itself is dangerous, but we have a human body. With this human body we can cross over the ocean, so even though we are in the material world we should take good use of this facility that’s been given to us by Kṛṣṇa, that is the facility of having this material body... human body, whereby we can become God Conscious, we can understand what is the actual purpose of life. We can engage in transcendental activity. Then here, you see, Dakṣa, he is again saying, “Well, unless one has full knowledge he cannot renounce.” So that’s his basic point that people should enjoy life and then renounce. He thinks you can’t get full knowledge, just by theory. Prabhupāda gives the example, that sometimes if it is raining outside, you see someone getting wet, you don’t have to go out in the rain yourself. You can stay inside, you can see, “They are all getting wet, why should I go out?” So similarly, in our devotional life, it’s recommended that we should practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we should try to understand this philosophy, we should always remain active. Now we basically follow for organization sake, as it is also recommended in the śāstra, although a Vaiṣṇava is above all castes, creed, colour whatever. He is transcendental, not the body at all. So similarly, they are not really brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas or śūdras, or sannyāsīs, vānaprasthīs, gṛhasthīs, or brahmacarīs. Actually our real identity is, we are Kṛṣṇa dāsānudāsānudāsa. We are the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa. jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’, we are the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. Nonetheless, because we are living in the material world, we have to follow some system of organization, so the vedic system is the best for our progressive social as well as spiritual advancement. So as far as ... possible and applicable, we do follow this basic ... varṇāśrama system. At least ... in the transcendental sense, initiating everyone to be Vaiṣṇavas, not in the materialistic sense of birthright and so on. Just considering everyone to be on the transcendental platform, but according to the different stages in their life, they follow different rules and regulations. For instance, the gṛhasthas are allowed to associate with men and women, you see, husband, wife, can associate together, but a brahmacārī, or a vāna... or a sannyāsī specifically, they are not allowed to associate intimately, familiarly with the opposite sex. Vānaprasthīs are allowed to associate with their wives, but not for sex life, but in a type of more retired way, preparing for renunciation. So Dakṣa, he is saying everyone has to go directly from brahmachari to grihasta, then in this way go through the entire ... stage of material life. This also is generally followed, you see. It’s not that he is that, completely unorthodox, he is very orthodox, he is too orthodox. He is so orthodox that, he doesn’t know, that if one is actually inspired by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they can become so ... spiritually enlivened, that in fact they... truthful understanding of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they don’t have to engage in the gross material activities, they don’t have to actually personally experience the pains and pleasures of gṛhastha life, in order to... achieve renunciation. But Śrīla Prabhupāda, he recommended, that between the ages of.. 25 and 30, basically type of final decision should be made, specially at the age of 30 or over, you see, whenever one gets the sense, a person should... make a commitment to remain as a life long... brahmacārī, or if he can’t make that commitment, then to take gṛhastha life, because one just can’t indefinitely stay in some type of a non-committal stage. At the time of death we definitely have to make a commitment. Are we going back home, back to Godhead, or are we going to stay in the material world, what we are going to do. So our whole lifetime is a preparation for our spiritual realization. So in this regard a person has to make some kind of a commitment, can’t just remain... uncommitted, indefinitely. So Śrīla Prabhupāda said that... basically recommended as a guideline, as a person’s joining, of course it may vary because some people join older and are different things, but under normal circumstances at the age of 30, one should make that commitment. You are over 30, you should definitely make that type of a commitment, one way or the other. You can say, “Well I will decide later, putting it off, because ... that’s not training, it’s just trying to avoid the issue. You can’t avoid it indefinitely, and after ... 30 and 35, in fact gṛhastha life is ... is not exactly the same. So if a person puts it off ... too far, then they may also say, “Well, actually, I would have been happier, if I had married younger, you see. The problem was I waited too long.” Then if think like that they will take another birth and try it out in the younger age. That’s not... We should leave this world with just our mind just on Kṛṣṇa, we shouldn’t be looking back, we shouldn’t look back to see what’s happening, we should be completely going back home, back to Godhead. So whatever is our position of greater strength, even then it is not like a material fall down or something like that. It’s not going into Dakṣa, I hope it’s not, and it shouldn’t be. Going as I mentioned yesterday, into the activity like a Dakṣa mahārāja, or Dakṣa rather, Prajāpati, was conceiving, but rather what it is, is taking up the position of greater strength. Some people, they are more... they are rather stronger in renunciation, and others they must be stronger in the association of family. Their mind will be just more peaceful, it will be, it doesn’t mean that one, ultimately what service the person is doing, how fixed up they are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, ho steady they are, that’s what’s going to count. Where is the energy going? If a person is in gṛhastha life, but their... still the energy is going to Kṛṣṇa, that’s what counts. If a peron enters into sannyāsa life, and if their service is not going to Kṛṣṇa, it’s going into... politics or some other kind of activities, that would also be a fall down. So the... in all cases the question is that, in fact a sannyāsī theoretically should be, be not have to care for the family and other... responsibilities, on that side would be able to give more energy, that is the whole attraction. You can give more energy without... so much material maintenance. What is family means, you have to do, little more maintenance work, you see, but for some people, for some devotees that may not be a position of strength. In fact the mind may be so... either...either disturbed or just not serious ... to get, not responsible enough, that even though one doesn’t have that family responsibility, doesn’t also become very responsible in sannyāsa life, and so the energy ultimately doesn’t go to Kṛṣṇa, and they just kind of display. So all this things have to be analysed. Sometimes the person may also have to discuss with senior godbrothers, but that is the basic thing that also we find here Prabhupāda mentioned in this particular verse, that enlightened renunciation is desirable. One should enter the renounced order with full knowledge, jñāna, vairāgya, for the perfection of life is possible for one who renounces the way in that way. So there is impetus to do that. Actually speaking our gṛhastha devotees are entering into... if they are very careful, they are also entering into a type of renounced life as compared to what to speak of the materialist in the modern world, even compared to Prajāpati Dakṣa’s analysis which is that you should enjoy life and then through the enjoyment you get hit on, you get suffering, and then you renounce. So basically, just being very pragmatic, utility is the principle. Taking whatever is strongest position of ... for that particular devotee. Whatever decisions made we shouldn’t look back, we should just... forge forward and try to give all of our energy to Kṛṣṇa. The whole point is that... everything we do should be always be a very committed, determined, devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. This is very important that we remain very serious in all of our activities, you see. Someone who is... doing devotional service without full commitment won’t be getting the full result. It’s like doing something without full knowledge. You don’t get the full result if you do something without the full commitment. Just like somebody going ino college, "I don’t know, I am just going to sit in the class, see how I like it." Even after taking initiation, if we still not fully committing ourselves, to preaching, not fully committing ourselves to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we are not fully committing ourselves, are we going to be acting in this ... platform of life or that platform, or whether we are going to be not, we are just remaining in a uncommitted state, that means that actually our mind were letting in a little bit of a loose rope, in which it can kind of remain un-surrendered. So it is better that we tighten the rope, you see, the point is that we have to tighten it one way or the other. At least before we die we should have a... totally under control. The safety valves are there in the beginning of our spiritual life, just like when someone joins, we tell them that you can do any service, but actually they can’t. Just try to somehow or other do the service which is very easy, which is very natural for you. If you like to do farming you do farming, if you like to do artwork you do artwork, if you like to do driving then drive, teaching whatever. Then as a person becomes more advanced. ......if they take more and more responsibility from the spiritual master, then you see in the higher stage of devotional service it’s more important for those devotees to carry out the order of the spiritual master, than simply to follow the regulative principles. I think they don’t give up the regulative principles, but just following the vaidhī-bhakti. For instance by nature it might be someone’s nature to be a carpenter, but the spiritual master he may need someone to do something urgently. So that persons learns how instead to be a typist or how to do ah.. be a preacher. You see, that’s a additional, higher type of ... higher type of ... responsibility. When we were in India, Śrīla Prabhupāda of course, he wanted us to finish buildings at record time. He wanted us to finish his huge building... finish it in three months. In fact we finished, we had at one point, six hundred people working at one time. We had six hundred people, we are digging simultaneously a man-made lake, constructing a seventy-five foot, a hundredānd-three room building of another ... two storeyed ... building, and a prasāda pavilion that could feed two thousand people all at the same time, it’s six-hundred people working in two shifts, and it looked like the pyramid, and the people going down into this man-made lake, cutting and ... putting the baskets on their heads and they can go out ten feet, and give it to the next person, it’s like the whole pyramid, you know, there are so many people working everywhere. May be running around all the time, some places they build a wall where there is supposed to be a door, “What are you doing.” , the engineer was there, oh I am sorry.. so you had to cancel it, you are going everywhere, if you are engineers, contractors, they still make thousands of mistakes. Or the labours they kind of go slow, you see... they don’t work as fast as they could, or they try to skip on the mixes, and it’s always you see, you just have to be everywhere at the same time. Then ... when you are building fast like that, there are so many things you have to put in, dirt ... we have flood area there, so you have to lift the floor but if just put in dirt, then it’s not settled. When the first rains come the moisture go in and the whole floor will cave down. You just can pile up more than four inches of dirt at a time. There are air pockets there. When the moisture reaches it, it settles and then your whole floor... caves in, so all this type of things, we have to put in sand and...we don’t have any pumps to pump in the water, all this uses, all this things are going on simultenously. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that I want it done in three months. “I will be back here”, he came in November, so I will be back here in Gaur Purnima, I wanted to finish by then, you know, something like that. So then ..., you know, sometimes devotees will be there you know, “Where is he?”, “He is in Mangala arati.”, “What the heck is he doing there.. got a twenty-four hours shift now... its three weeks, get him out of there.” (laughter) Or Prabhupāda phoned and called up and wanna keep me up, and 1’o clock, he had someone knocking on your door. He just had finished the twelve-o clock shift ph... ph..., he would go there, and Prabhupāda would say, “Why is there no construction going on?” It’s one-o clock in the morning, Prabhupāda just up for midnight shift, not twenty-four hours shift. And he expected us to be there all twenty-four hours (laughter). I don’t know, it was very intense. One time, there was one government man had come, in October, then he came after Gaura Pūrṇimā, about four months later, and he was a little envious type of person. He was a communist type of person. He came, and I was showing him around, and he came and saw this buildings that we had just built you know in that time, in that three months, and I literally saw, he was literally shaking, he couldn’t speak, he say oo uuu aa uu... just like that he was thoroughly choked. “Where did this come from?” “how did it? Uu ya ya”... just totally you know flabbergasted. I said, “We just built it” He just aa uu .... i mean totally you know, this guy was.... I never saw a person who was so shook up in my life, he was no colour left. He said, “It will take us three years just to get the permission from the government to build this.” (laughter) “to get the budget approved, you know, and it takes five years to build it. How did you do it?” He just, you know... he just walked up holding speechless, he couldn’t imagine you know, it was beyond his conception that it could even be done, to mobilise you know... that many man, you know... they can’t even dream of that. Normally even the government they just do something, you know, in India, very gradually, to say the least. So I mean... it’s... I didn’t think, I didn’t think, that Prabhupāda would finish it in three months, but he did it. Whatever it took, but then you know when I saw that persons reaction I can realize that for India that was something very amazing. So once we got all the war schedule, of course we went right back to our normal activities, but during intense period I mean, that was more important, to carry out Prabhupādas order to us than the normal routine that we are going through. Of course then he... he developed you know, habits like that, so that you know when there isn’t such a war type of you know intense situation we have to again go back into normal activities and routines and everything like that, because that’s a very strong position, that’s a good example as well. When we are going through this different type of situations, so that’s also a type of level, that in the higher stage of devotional service it’s actually mentioned in the Nectar of Devotion that carrying out the order of the guru takes precedence over any other consideration. If the guru orders you, that you have to do this particular service, this is more important. But in the beginning therefore we don’t give any special orders to neophyte devotees because, what they need to do is be very steady in all of their practices and let their mind become very peaceful. Once they develop a taste for devotional service, even this intense pressure given, because of their commitment given to serving the spiritual master,that will carry them over all the obstacles. So the point is that, there has to be that commitment developed, and as we are going closer and closer towards changing our bodies, we should gradually have a full commitment. We shouldn’t allow our mind to stay in some type of nebulous state, where we are not committed. We should gradually come up. Just as a bhakta, they come in, they first have a look and see, “Let me test it out, let me see if that is what I want or maybe this is not what I want.” Now when they get trained up, they get more and more convinced, their faith increased, they see actually, this is what I want, this is ...going to give me my ... spiritual emancipation or spiritual life, this going to... this is making me happy, this is making me peaceful. Alright there might be some obstacles, but ... this are the different stages we go through, and then take a commitment, they take initiation, that is their commitment. The spiritual master gives the basic ...general principles. Four regulative principles, chant your 16 rounds, attend all the temple programs, they gradually take a little more responsibility. May be sometime they will do saṅkīrtana, or sometime take or gradually they may become like a temple commander, then they may in some places even become in more and more responsible position of devotional service, in this way devotional life goes on. When we become spontaneously committed to Kṛṣṇa we are actually we are in anxiety and we are actually identifying our service to Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master. That spiritual anxiety or spiritual concern actually keeps us satisfied. It’s not the same as the material anxiety because in there, there is actually a loving exchange with Kṛṣṇa where we are so firmly identified with Kṛṣṇa that our interest and Kṛṣṇa’s interest are one. Therefore that service, that commitment is on the transcendental platform. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that, “ I am the heart of My devotees, and My devotees heart, ...”, actually He says, “I am in the heart of My devotees, and My devotees are in My heart. My heart is My devotee, and the devotees heart is Me.” So therefore we feel in the presence of ... a pure devotee, the presence of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is saying, “ Yes, when you are in my associa.. you feel that in My heart I am the devotee.” That’s what He says when four Kumaras came, when Duvasa muni came, “and in My heart I keep the devotee.” No separatism. It’s a total unity. That whatever Kṛṣṇa’s interest, that is the devotees interest, and if the devotee want something, because he so thoroughly in tune with Kṛṣṇa, that is also Kṛṣṇa’s desire, therefore Kṛṣṇa He also tries to fulfil the desire of the devotee, because the desire of the devotee is just another manifestation of Kṛṣṇa’s own desire, only applied in a specific circumstance. So at that time that devotee is not in the material world. That has nothing to do with karma. It’s only acting on behalf of Kṛṣṇa. So gradually we try to come up to that platform by trying to come into more and more responsible positions of devotional service, being committed to serving the spiritual master in different ... ways, being very ... careful to keep our mind on a progressive path of spiritual renunciation in the real sense and in the sense of trying to act for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa, in every circumstance.

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.

So before about nine-fifteen, if one doesn’t break ones Ekādaśī, it doesn’t mean that he is not committed. It just might also be that type of service. You rather say that in a rather negative way, if one is feeling a sincere concern that Kṛṣṇa’s service be properly done, even a pujārī, anyone will anyway feel some concern, some anxiety that things are don’t properly, but the intensity may vary not only because of ...a lack of ... commitment, but also due to the nature of the service. Some services are high, the risk high, that’s why Śrīla Prabhupāda said that certain types of service you can go back to Godhead very quickly because by the nature of the service you are forced to very intensively depend upon Kṛṣṇa at all times, and that type of service is therefore able to purify one more rapidly. In general, the preaching activity or accepting any activity, where a lot of ... renunciation, just like even to establish a firm project it requires... for some people it might be a totally foreign thing. Someone born in the firm knows everything, for them it may be easier. But if the spiritual master asks someone, “Please try to develop this firm, for a city boy or something It’s a tremendous surrender, just to come into the... or like to win a... we just take it easy but just as devotees when they go to India often they totally ... crack up you know, because it is so different, it is a totally different situation. I guess we term it austere here but ..., for an Indian, when they are told to go and preach in the West, because everything is so rājasika and tāmasika in the West, it’s very austere for Indians. The few devotees I got from India on tours, they said that the West is a nice place to visit, but hate to live there, which is you know... that time Westerners here... India is a nice place to visit but hate to live there. It’s a totally different atmosphere, so sometimes ... to leave the holy dhāma and come to the West, this a great austerity for...for... so that could be very purifying, if one did that kind of activity on the order of the spiritual master. Similiarly sometimes for someone to accept some ... special service from the spiritual master, even though it is difficult, just knowing that this is the desire of the spiritual master, that can be very purifying. Doesn’t mean that we have to artificially look for, like if we can drive from here to mogul in a straight way but instead if we decide to go you know via Jackson village or something just to make it a little more... we are not impractical in any way, we are just trying to find the easiest way of doing whatever we have to do. So we have more time to perform other Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, but it does happen, like the good example is the Marathon we just went through. Every marathon requires an intense ... Kṛṣṇa conscious situation. Devotees are outside, they are separate from the temple, they have to be personally responsible to go for their sadhana and everything, but for the... for preaching or for ... collecting, so that we can have enhanced preaching rest of the year. It has book distribution, so they take that austerity you see, but than naturally we are relieve, should be relieved to be able to come back and ... have a nice more regulated life, temple life once again. So, when there is opportunity, then sometimes when there is some emergency, or when there is.. there is some certain specific situation, that’s what we take it up. Let’s say opportunity. Just like overtime work, you get higher pay, so we take it as an opportunity when it comes up. It is opportunity for me to make more advancement. If I do fasting on Ekādaśī, and chant more rounds, I will get more effect from that than If I do it on any other day, than if I do it on that day. If we work very hard to make a wonderful Ratha-Yātra festival, so I will get more mercy from Lord Jagannātha. So let me do that. There is a saying in England, I don’t know if it is said in America. “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.” Its a Vedic saying that something like that, says that the more that you beat the sugar cane the more sweet juice comes out it. The more that you rub the sandal wood stick the more you get the sweet smell. The more time you burn the piece of gold. The brilliant the golden colour become. The more that a devotee is put through different type of trials the more their true glory becomes manifested. Devotee may be totally committed. We don’t know that until you know... it’s like in Army, don’t know who is committed until right in the front line, and then who tries to run... runs away from the battle. He wasn’t committed.
The one that...That’s why they give people medals, just to show that this person was committed. So when the going gets tough that time, that’s when you can see to what extent the person is actually committed. So if we rise up to the occasion, we shouldn’t... It’s actually another opportunity for us to get further advancement. Devotees doesn’t rest on the laurels so to speak, doesn’t alright I went through all this campaigns, should also know that I should also relax because our devotional service never ends. We don’t have any other desire. We are not... we are doing devotional service to get liberation, then we can say, alright I did enough now, by this time I should get liberated. Now I can sit back or I will get to the heavenly planets. I can just close now, and somehow or another I am well ahead of the pack, if I just kind of close... to win the marathon. But because our desires is not like that we don’t have a separate desire. At least this pure devotee is... they don’t have a separate desire. The desire is to please Kṛṣṇa, so it just keeps going higher and higher and higher... the intensity, until it goes so intense that even Kṛṣṇa Himself is forced to come to that devotee. It’s like Nārada Muni when he was just a small child, he was chanting, more intensely he was crying, Kṛṣṇa appeared to him, Dhruva mahārāja he became so intense, in his desire to see Nārāyaṇa that Nārāyaṇa personally came. Sometimes the Vraja vāsīs like... Rādhārāṇī's love for Kṛṣṇa is sometimes is so intense that Kṛṣṇa can no longer hide Himself, He has to come forward, when it reaches like, what you call it, the ultimate man, the critical man, the intensity of devotion becomes so intense, so deep that even Kṛṣṇa Himself is ... He is overwhelmed, they have so much devotion for Me, what can I do for them. And then the devotee doesn’t want anything separate, I just want to please you Kṛṣṇa, so then Kṛṣṇa He allows more service, alright? This way it goes on. That’s the mood of Vṛndāvana, that’s the difference, that’s why Vṛndāvana pastimes are so intense, they are very deep, they are very sublime, they are beautiful. Jay Śrī Śrī Nitāi-Gaura, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rādhākānta kī

Devotees: Jaya