19860503 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.19.24-25

Jayapataka Swami:

Purport By Srila Prabhupad: As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, men in this Age of Kali are short-lived, devoid of spiritual knowledge, and susceptible to accept false religious systems due to their unfortunate condition. Thus they always remain mentally disturbed. The Vedic śāstras practically prohibit the adoption of sannyāsa in the Age of Kali because less intelligent men only accept the sannyāsa order for cheating purposes. Actually the only religion is the religion of surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We must serve the Lord in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All other systems of sannyāsa and religion are actually not bona fide. In this age they are simply passing for religious systems. This is most regrettable.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purport of Text 24 and 25, Chapter 19, Canto 4.

So, we can see here, the Lord Indra had introduced this irregular sannyas ashrams in order to steal and cheat. So, we find there are sometimes some sannyasis who wear the bright red, very bright orange garments or who go naked too but at the same time they are taking intoxication, other things. These different kinds of orders are seen to have been accepted by Indra trying to use them in order to not be punished by Prthu, and in order to steal Prthu’s horse. Indra was concerned that he is known as the person who has done 100 horse sacrifices. So, Prithu done 99, he was on his 100. If he did it too, then Indra will no longer be the champ. He wouldn’t be the greatest. So, In this regard, with all respect to King of the demigods, then we find that sometimes demigods, they are good devotees of the Lord, but they have got material desires. They are not God, some living entity can also become a demigod. So, they some time get also bewildered by their desires and they being more powerful they can create such things, they can introduce complete bogus religious systems. And some of these systems are still there in the world today, and people are bewildered by these various bogus systems. So, one has to become expert to recognize which is a valid religious system or what is the system which is based upon some form of cheating principle also what is the difference between religion which is meant for material organization or society which is more external religious principle, or what are the internal or more eternal, Internal and eternal aspects of religion. This discrimination needs to be developed. There are external regulations in every form of religion. When Lord Caitanya was, asked Ramananda Roy to say, what was the, where the real religion begin, then he named of a number of religions. He named of even the Varnasrama system. Lord Caitanya said that, its external. Even Varnasram without devotional service is the external, is dry, its not going to give people liberation in the same lifetime. We have to go through the entire circuit, then we become a brahman, its very, it has its organizing society, its conducive for the whole thing, but in itself is external. Actual direct Devotional Service is the internal. So, therefore Daiva Varnasram means using the external varnasrama system, but having everyone engaged in devotional service therefore becoming Daiva otherwise, varnasrama itself is not transcendental. Its a system, material system, it’s a very scientific system, it’s a system meant for educating and for giving people systematic program of spiritual advancement in society. It’s been described as beginning of real civilization because of its based upon higher spiritual principles. But the real perfection of varnasram comes when the people become God Conscious. Hari Toshanam. When Krishna or Vishnu is, Hari is satisfied, then varnasram is successful. So, what to speak of other external forms. Varnasram, although was considered to be by Lord Chaitanya external what to speak of other forms, varnasram at least is a system which is containing many spiritual directions. What to speak of some moral instructions which are given in the scriptures or some other rituals simply for material purposes. Differentiation is main in this higher scriptures, therefore someone who wants to know what to do in this lifetime, so that we could achieve success in this lifetime, then they have to make that discrimination. Otherwise if one is not concerned with going back to Godhead in the near future but just to avoid the grossest kinds of suffering and gradually try to progress may be take few 100,000 births or something no one can say, how long it will take, but at least one doesn’t go down, then of course following normal religious principles helps one from digressing, or gradually take one up. That process is so gradual, and that there are so many potentials to fall down in the future from that path that, In this age of Kali, it,s not good to put too much reliance on this type of materialistic religious formulas. No, they may be valid in other context, it’s just like if a person is in the middle of radiation, as we saw there, if its a complete, In Russia, the reactor is blowing from up and that so fire may goes to put out the fire with his hose wearing his normal fire suit, you see maybe he won’t get wet, the fire won’t, but the radiation goes right through his fire suit. So, its Like that here in this Kali yuga, people are going out with a little shield of, little suit of normal material religious formulas into the complete radiation of the Kali Yuga, and they end up getting burnt, they end up losing their, gradually they are losing their spiritual position. Whatever they had the religious institutions, they have to have rock and roll bands in the basements to keep people coming, or bingo,or this and that, this there is, and they are not able to keep the people’s attention with the spiritual messages and as a result people becoming actually, now the priests themselves is been condoned that they can enter into politics. If it’s going to help people, I have never met a one politician in the democratic system who didn’t think that, did not at least say, that his only purpose for owning power, was to help people, I never met a politician yet who said the only reason I won power is for my own sense gratification. Who vote for? Give me power, So, I can serve you. That’s their, Give me powers so I can serve the people. So, anyway this is state of affairs in the world that even the priests are engaged in the political movements what to speak of common people. So, the situation, why is not difficult to understand, that the environment of Kali yuga is so, the radiation, the vibration of radiation is so intense, that even somebody wants to make spiritual advancement unless they take shelter of complete pure spiritual devotional service. These other protections are not enough, they get mis lead. Just like you need 7ft of ladder, something to protect you from certain amount of nuclear radiation, like that you need the pure spiritual shelter of devotional service to protect against the radiation, the contamination of Kali Yuga, then one can be saved. Others simply material religious formulas may be alright under other context, but in this present time, they are not be able to hold the tide. Just like trying to hold back a tidal wave, by few sandbags or something like that. Maybe if it was a gradual flood, they can hold a bag, but just a big tidal wave comes, ush… wipes out the sandbag. So, here we find just further complicated situation. Apart from those sincere adherence various religions may not be completely spiritual in their approach can’t top of everything else . There’s also false religions. This is mentioned other scriptures as well. Here is given also here in the Bhagavatam, and who started it but Lord Indra, well, this is the problem that very powerful people like this, they can sometimes start these things. Therefore this confused issue, we find that generally the materialistic people, they are more attractive to this type of false sannyasis. Naturally because that they can identify easier. Generally materialistic people will be more attracted to false religion than real religion. Because false religion can easily be adopted to incorporate all forms of material compromises. So everyone is looking for the easy way of how to have their cake and eat it too, they want to have the material enjoyment but they don’t, at the same time, they want to have the spiritual happiness. But they two don’t mix. You can have material activities, certain amount of material sense gratification is there, but a person has to actually have this kind of lifted above that, So that there in such a state of spiritual bliss that even when his way of eating living in the material world, Grihastas are having children, So, material sense gratification is there. Unless we have a higher taste, so that even when sometimes we are put into a situation where our senses are being gratified that we are able to understand and compare that this gratification is insignificant to the real spiritual happiness of Krishna Consciousness unless a person has that kind of realization then the senses are very difficult to control, the senses will completely drag us away even in the beginning stages with those realizations. But still the senses themselves become we forget to do being in the Kaliyuga, the senses are very powerful, even then we have to routine/regulating the senses otherwise, we can be become bewildered and start to forget the spiritual happiness which we had experience in Krishna Consciousness. So, basically what we have to do is not put ourselves simply remembering the happiness we have to remain submerged in the happiness of Krishna Consciousness, then we can be protected. But we have to also become aware of these various forms of deviant spiritual movements and take necessary precautions against being implicated by them and take steps to protect innocent people from being misled by them. This is the basic instruction given here. Renunciates, So Prabhupad he said here, it’s very clear, that all other systems of Sannyas originally. are actually not bonafide. This age, they are simply passing over the aspect of religion which is really valid, which is really justified, which is acceptable is devotional service. So you find in some religions, there is some devotional service, whatever amount, percent of devotional service is there, thats how many octane it has, thats how many spiritual value it has. Just like in the gasoline, you get so many about 80 octane, 98,103, that’s how much combustibility it has. So, in some religions you may find that they have enough octane you can just light a ghee wick, that won’t light engine hardly. But whatever amount it has we will give a credit. That has that money, spiritual credit, That much devotional service is there. You see we are trying to give the refined high octane, complete refined fuel that can propel us back to Godhead like a rocket. So, that requires very high percentage, practically we are shooting for 100% pure devotional service. If it is little bit of mix, then it may not be able to get us all the way back to home, back to Godhead. So, we are trying for the 100% mark of pure devotional service, Simply serving Krishna for His pleasure without any condition. Apart from that they are the mixes are there. In India, In every gas station, they have the signs, that you can get filter paper from the clerk, why to they let you take filter paper? So, any one know? Here the people buy the gasoline and most cases. So, the real purpose of providing them filter paper is lost. So, the reason why the Government pass the regulation that they have to put a sign of filter paper available inside. Its because it is a very common practice in India, whether Kerosene is 2Rs/litre and Petrol or Gasoline is 70,60/litre to mix Kerosene inside your Gasoline which can cause harm to the engine. Little white smoke comes out. But you cross good profit to the Gasoline dealer. So, they have the filter paper so that you can put a drop of your Gasoline on the filter paper and look at it. Gasoline immediately evaporates and dries clean. But then a few seconds, its very volatile, very quickly evaporates. But kerosene is very oily, and it takes several minutes to evaporate. So then if you see that, that you get like a patch and then it evaporates, but then there you look in a minute later, you still see some grease, oily sleak there, you know, that you better been ripped up and the guys dumped in you know certain percentage of Kerosene in your gas. But unfortunately they don’t give all those details, they just say filter paper available. Nobody knows. So, it's like that there are guidelines how to tell. Whether religion is bonafide, or whether it’s been adulterated, whether it’s mixed and depending on how much it makes that how much a person going to get from it. Sometimes someone may actually get certain amount of, even with that kerosene with oil, petrol you can go somewhere, you know but you don’t really go very fast, you leave trails of white smoke behind you. In the end, your engine will get destroyed. But for a while, you can go. So, like that sometimes to the various religious principles, people go somewhere, they make some advancement. Then after a while they realize , that I am just not getting fast enough to where really i wanted to go, I am not feeling satisfied. So, that time Krishna leads him to a bonafide spiritual master, and they can take shelter and go all the way back to home, back to Godhead by taking shelter of pure devotional service. So, this very, in the scriptures, these guidelines are given. We have to know sometimes a person may actually even have a previous guru or may have some previous history of spiritual practices, But then at one point, they realize that, they reach certain platform, you just can’t get more efficiency from your engine, then at certain degree, once you got high percentage of kerosene mixed in your gasoline. No matter what you try, no matter how you tune it, it’s just doesn’t work exactly the same as having real high quality fuel. So this kerosene is a gross example, I am sorry for delivering the example to such an extent, But, since you are talking about adulteration interesting example give some idea, so, in the similar way, when we want to go back to Godhead in this lifetime, we want to make very quick advancement, very fully satisfying advancement, then we have to take shelter of pure devotional service, and that time, even a person who has may be taken shelter of some kind of not complete spiritual process, Krishna helps them to find a bonafide spiritual master, when they find the bonafide spiritual, they come in contact with the devotees who are representing the spiritual master, then they even just by following the instructions of the spiritual master, the process that he has trained others, even before they taking initiate, they are already able to take spiritual shelter and get some taste of spiritual bliss, what to speak of when they take full shelter and completely dedicate themselves to serving Lord Sri Krishna, So, we should avoid following the example of King Indra. This example is given sometimes different example given to follow or not to follow. So, here one of the examples is given, because it is clearly says that “Upadharmesu” that this is the Upadharma. This is a kind of false religious system. Therefore its been told to us not to “bhrāntyā” , in other words, its for bewildering the people, therefore its been told to us that Indra is introduced these things. Watch out. since that time, which is a long time ago, since that time, the world has had this spiritual disease introduced, and we have to watch out for it. Just like we know that in the America today there are AIDS, different other diseases, Cancer and So on. So they also with that they tell us how to avoid getting it, how to avoid contacting it. When we hear that Kali yuga is there, it doesn’t mean that we should become hopeless, or we should then ah! it’s Kali yuga forget it, hopeless, we can’t, you know, nothing we can do. That’s not like it tells us. Just like when there is a some epidemic going on, the government informs the people, So, they can take necessary steps, not everybody dies, that everybody gets infected. We have to take the steps, the leaders of the Government, leaders of the people, spiritual leaders, leaders of families, they should all be educated and take necessary precautions to protect themselves from these influence of kali yuga. Just like people take precautions now and these fallout scare came, immediately everybody in US are buying eye lenses 19:46(Not sure) because that helps to protect against the radioactive contamination. Some people say I don’t, I am not saying it doesn’t, doesn’t but people think it does, I don’t know the scientific evidence behind that but because people know that there is danger, they just take some precaution. So Just like that, here, we explain this is the dangers of Kali yuga, that doesn’t mean now we should just surrender to it or just live with it, we should take precaution. So, we don’t become contaminated, so we don’t become destroyed spiritually by this kali yuga situation. Because along with this description of kali yuga, the principle instruction given is how to protect ourselves just as Sukadeva Goswami said, What is the use of saying all the problems of kaliyuga, its unlimited. kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann, but the real point is that there is one good way you can protect yourselves from kaliyuga, asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya, You just chant the holy name of Krishna. mukta-saṅgaḥ, you will be liberated from all these contamination of the three modes, and this kaliyuga, paraṁ vrajet and you will go back to home, back to Godhead.

Nitai Gaur Premaanande Hari Hari bol!!!

Hari Nama Sankirtan, Krishna Sankirtana Maha Yajnam ki Jaya!!!