19880805 Bhagavad-gītā 9.17 Sunday Feast

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharāja on August 5^th, 1988, in New Orleans, USA. The class begins from a reading from the Bhagavad-gītā chapter 9 verse 17.

Jayapatākā Swami: Today is we’re celebrating the America’s Mother's Day, I’d like to offer all our respects to the mothers who are present and not present whoever they may be. So today we read from the Bhagavad-gītā text 17 chapter 9, The Most Confidential Knowledge where Kṛṣṇa explains He’s both the father and mother of the universe.

pitāham asya jagato
mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ
vedyaṁ pavitram oṁ-kāra
ṛk sāma yajur eva ca

Translation: I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oṁ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.

Purport: The entire cosmic manifestations, moving and nonmoving, are manifested by different activities of Kṛṣṇa’s energy. In the material existence we create different relationships with different living entities who are nothing but Kṛṣṇa’s marginal energy; under the creation of prakṛti some of them appear as our father, mother, grandfather, creator, etc., but actually they are parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa. As such, these living entities who appear to be our father, mother, etc., are nothing but Kṛṣṇa. In this verse the word dhātā means “creator.” Not only are our father and mother parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa, but the creator, grandmother and grandfather, etc., are also Kṛṣṇa. Actually any living entity, being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, is Kṛṣṇa. All the Vedas, therefore, aim only toward Kṛṣṇa. Whatever we want to know through the Vedas is but a progressive step toward understanding Kṛṣṇa. That subject matter which helps us purify our constitutional position is especially Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, the living entity who is inquisitive to understand all Vedic principles is also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa and as such is also Kṛṣṇa. In all the Vedic mantras the word oṁ, called praṇava, is a transcendental sound vibration and is also Kṛṣṇa. And because in all the hymns of the four Vedas – Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva – the praṇava, or oṁ-kāra, is very prominent, it is understood to be Kṛṣṇa.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Swami purport of text 17, chapter 9 Bhagavad-gītā.

Jayapatākā Swami: Actually for the American public this is the mother’s day, but for a devotees of Kṛṣṇa every day is mother’s day, father’s day because everyday is the lord’s day and everyday is the day of the spiritual master. We respect, just like there was a reception offered to me as a spiritual master or vaishnava. The Guru is respected because he is also representing Kṛṣṇa, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like an ambassador is respected because he represents a country. Sometimes an American may visit some country, he may be the only American around. People look at him and they, for them they feel that he is the representative of America. They all make an opinion based upon what they see, how he acts, how he deals. So in one sense he is America, of course America is more than one person. But for that, that moment he is America, he is supposed to be America at that time. Similarly the Supreme Lord comes to us in different ways. Actually He’s maintaining, supporting and creating everything. So just like we get our creation from mother and father so a Kṛṣṇa Conscious person will respect mother and father as a representative of Kṛṣṇa like a spiritual master. So we found that Caitanya Mahāprabhu everyday he would pay His obeisances to His mother and to His father. Of course He thought that all to take sannyāsa, to leave the family life and become fully dedicated in preaching activities. So in order to do that He wanted to take sannyāsa or the renounced order of life.

In the Vedic culture responsibility is the primary teaching for all people. Everyone as a human being must be absolutely responsible. As a human being the responsibilities change according to different stages in life. In order to know what are my responsibilities at a particular time of social system as well as their spiritual system has been given by Kṛṣṇa. The social system is based upon occupational duties, occupational duties according to Vedic culture change a person’s responsibility. If someone is a teacher according to the Vedas, he’s responsible for training for teaching the future adults, the future citizens of the country, the future parents, he’d should be an ideal person.

He should be an ideal person by example, by character, he should believe in the things he’s teaching and he should give that belief and faith to his students. So the responsibility of a teacher is not only to impart material knowledge to the students but to educate the students in the real purpose of life that they can crossover the cycle of birth and death. The real responsibility of mother and father is also not only to feed the children. See that they get educated in material affairs so they can get an occupation in the future, but to also educate them in the purpose of human life in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead so that they can crossover the cycle of birth and death. At the end of life, they shouldn’t again have to come back into conditioned life, they shouldn’t again be forced to take a material birth. The Guru also has the same responsibility of course he’s directly considered his responsibility, that is his main responsibility. Mother and father also have other responsibilities like protecting their children materially, teacher has other responsibility educate the student in oher thing, the Guru’s only responsibility is to see that his disciple, or spiritual son or daughter are liberated from cycle of birth and death and get back to home back to Godhead that they achieve pure devotion for Kṛṣṇa. That is his specific, his very, directly his responsibility to see that his disciples get liberated. So we had a state to see that the citizens have the facility to go back to Godhead is the, some of the responsibilities in society. Because a human being we have debts, actually we should be indebted to mother and father they’re feeding us, they’re giving so much affection in the world that says that there’s actually no pure love. That love is always got some kind of return for, even between man and women or between friends, many times there is some kind of profit motive. The closest one should be pure as the love for the mother the child that the mother takes care of the child in this, beyond the, whatever the return. So this indebtedness one has for the parents that is normally reciprocated by following the instructions of the parents, serving the parents, taking care of them in all needs these are like social responsibilities. Now the parents are also indebted to their parents, grandparents to their parents and great grandparents to their parents and so on. Ultimately everyone are coming from the Lord so everyone are indebted to Him. He is the original mother original father original everything. So ultimately everyone is indebted to Him. So when someone comes to the conclusion that they want to directly serve Kṛṣṇa that means that by serving Kṛṣṇa they will automatically be serving their parents, they’ll be serving everyone. Because everyone being indebted to Him for everything they’ll all be paid by serving Him. And sometimes person has many debts, so what he does he takes a loan out and pays all the other debts and he just has one creditable thing. They have $1000 of debts, 100, the other one pays to, send his letters, notices. So you take a loan and then you pay off all the creditors and you just have to pay one person. Since everyone is already indebted to Kṛṣṇa in this way all the debts can be taken care at one time by serving Him.

So actually, Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is not trying to train, teach people to be irresponsible, to neglect debts but rather one should be more responsible that we are indebted, we should be grateful. And ultimately with a little expansion of knowledge we can understand that ultimately we are guided to, should be to Kṛṣṇa. Like if someone is in the āśrama of the Guru and directly serving Kṛṣṇa then by directly serving Kṛṣṇa the other debts are taken care. But if someone is not living in that type of dedicated āśrama or monastic type of life, they’re living in society, then they obviously have to pay their, not only their income tax but they should also pay their social dues to their relatives to their parents and so on, offering the proper etiquette and respect to everyone to be a good example to others. So responsibility is never neglected, it’s simply transferred in some cases or given with the, directly to Kṛṣṇa who is the person we are supremely indebted to, or otherwise if one doesn’t have that consciousness then at least they should give respect to their elders to the parents to the other people in society who are worthy of respect because they are offering some service or protection to the general people. So the social orders of brāhmaṇa, the teachers, the guru’s the priests those who are responsible for giving spiritual guidance we are indebted to them. They also have the responsibility to act, as I mentioned before in a very pure manner to be a good example. Those who are kṣatriyas that means administrative people, warriors, generals police or something like that, they are more passionate nature but they are there to protect the innocent. They have to be also very truthful, they have to be shoulders, a brave, their character has to be impeccable although due to their nature they may sometimes have many more material desires but if we return for that remuneration they're able to protect the rest of society from people who are breaking the law, who are trying to exploit the innocent. Then that a proper function when those stronger people also start to exploit the weaker sections then it no longer as a human civilization it becomes like a jungle. The law of the jungle is that the strong will eat the weak. Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam — one animal is the food for another. Those who are stronger bigger powerful they eat the weaker. Human civilization is different, there saw the innocent, the women, the children the old people they should be protected, they should not be exploited, this is civilization. And jungle means kill up the weaker. So as the materialistic society progresses away from dharma, away from religious principles the symptoms of the jungle become more prominent. Where you can’t get justice so much you can pay huge some sport where people exploit the weaker sections, where children are not protected, where they're misused and used in various type of illicit activities. In short power or might or strength is the only criterion. Who has more money, more political crowd, or more physical force, they exploit the others. But Vedic civilization means that was stronger should protect the weaker, should be responsible. Because he has the responsibility to God, since God has given him that strength, if he uses it properly he will get more strength. And by helping and protecting others Kṛṣṇa will give more strength to him and he will in the end go back to Godhead. If he misuses his strength in next birth he can become a tiger and he can use strength to exploit the weaker.

I went just recently on the tour in Bangladesh, in Bangladesh last year there were floods, we were distributing prasādam there in the floods, I saw the slideshow here. Now the floods are gone and we went there on a tour of different villages. so we are invited to go Sundarbans, Sundarbans is a very vast jungle which borders the Bay of Bengal. So where the Ganges and various rivers which called the thousand mounts, they just break up into many small islands and we have to go seven hours off of the paid road to get there. Driving through the dirt roads crossing over rivers, stuck at one place there was a ferry and so it's very hot due to low tide, the river was so close to the ocean but that time in the low tide was the ferry couldn't get across and stuck to, on the bottom so we asked if we could go to bathe in, he said no, don't bathe, why not? He said because there are sharks or something. So we decided not to take a bath at that time in the river and we got over that after about one and half hours and waiting for the ferry for the river to come up and we crossed over with our busses. Then finally about 9 o'clock at night we reached the program and there are thirty thousand people waiting. And so the program started at nine and lectures and every, went on another different devotees lectured it’s about 1 o'clock at night people grabbed attention kīrtanas, Gaura-ārati and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, lectures then after 1 o'clock we started Hare Kṛṣṇa films until sunrise (laughing). So after giving our lecture on midnight I returned back to the house where we’re staying about three four hundred yards from the program. Then a person was telling how this is dark, we couldn’t see anything, he said that you see the path that you’re walking that’s a long side of the river. And just on the other side of the river there’s the Sundarbans jungle there’s no more habitation. And just few days before to keep over, going to get honey from the forest they were eaten by tigers. So the tigers they’re very clever, they wait there, they weigh about 500, about 1000 to 800 pounds, (inaudible 20:04), they can swim sometime they swim up to the boats and just pull the boat under and grab a person swim out, they’re not like the cats that don’t swim, but they swim.

So someone could be a tiger if they want to have that exploiting mentality. So kṣatriya, one who’s administrator or army man or something of that nature he’s not meant to exploit, he’s meant to protect. He’s allowed to get sufficient remuneration for what he is doing in the form of taxes or other remuneration. Beyond that if he take he is also a thief. Everyone has a certain amount hey can get. Then there’s the businessman they also have a responsibility. They're able to have capital to make money to, they have to pay taxes, they also have to contribute from their profit for preserving the spiritual life of the people. From the taxes the government is supposed to provide certain infrastructures like roads and charitable institutions. So businessman they have the responsibility of providing the whole economic base for the whole society. Then there’s the employees, employees if they have spare a time or money they are also supposed to give time or energy for serving Kṛṣṇa. In this way everyone has the social responsibility, the whole society is balanced, this is called the varṇa system.

And āśrama system means that in student life one should be trained by a spiritual master, should be trained by spiritual master, teacher, parents in appropriative manner so that they can understand what is the actual purpose of life? What is the material world? How does it work? What is the spiritual world? How to achieve it? Who are we? Who is God? How to develop in a relationship with Lord? All these this are to be understood in student life. Then married life was there, there’s also so many responsibilities one becomes a father and mother. They have to again take the responsibility for their children. They have the responsibility to economically support the entire society, the backbone is the family unit for economic development. Then there’s a retired life, retired life means that one should start to become very focused, in the family life one shouldn’t neglect spiritual life, spiritual life should continue throughout the family life otherwise if we neglect it then in retired life one may find it difficult to again take up. And now there’s no guarantee how long one can live. Someone can be, just recently that one very famous basketball player, he suddenly died at the age of 14. Perfect health, vegetarian he didn’t know why? Unfortunately, found that his heart was missing or the whole artery system was only existing on one side, one side he didn’t have the arteries. Normally people are with that problem die in the 20’s. Somehow he lived till he was 14. One day he exerted himself in a, just playing with some friends in a basketball game and he died, right after it. So everyone got frightened. When they say well the statistics say that only everyone who see only 10% of the people will die before 40 or 30. And then between 30 and 40 you get so many percent and then from 40 to 50 so many percent. So you can count for yourself so many percent that means there’s always 10% 15% that do die. Means somebody has to fill within that, what happens to them? Where do they go when they leave their bodies? So Vedic culture is meant that any stage of life whether student, whether householder, whether retired or whether sanyas or the renounced stage of life where one’s completely dedicated, one should be prepared to leave the body and go back to Godhead. One should be prepared to completely fix the consciousness in Kṛṣṇa and transfer to the spiritual world. One shouldn’t be clocked by surprise.

So they in the New Orleans in yesterday there’s mourning because some people have died due to petroleum accident fire broke out, explosions. And the actual point of process that no one dies, the soul always lives on, the Bhagavad-gītā explains ‘na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin’ there’s no birth, there’s no death of the soul. Body is born and body dies but soul which makes the body alive never is born, never dies. Of course, for the near and dear ones they would naturally feel sad that they are missing, they’re not able to see someone that they love. But there’s a difference that we think the person is born, he no longer exists. And is you know that now he has left this body but he’s born on, his time is come to an end, we have to die similarly, we have to leave the body, we don’t die we just have to leave this body, the body becomes defunct the body dies. ‘na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre’ at that time when soul we are the living force leave the body and goes on and take a new birth if they have material conditioning or if they are God conscious they go back to God.

So the purpose of human life is to develop our consciousness in to full God consciousness. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not a, is actually a culture, a way of life how to lead life so that at any stage of life one will be conscious of the Lord, conscious of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya said He gave this chanting so people could be liberated from old age, from disease, from suffering, from death so they could go back to the spiritual world. Now Nitāi-Gaura Candra they are the most merciful Lords. There are many great religious prophets, teachers, sons of God different category, they have come here in the worlds. Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Guru Nanak so many different levels. Some may be more powerful or directly empowered and some may be coming down in some succession but one way or another, many messengers of the Lord they have come. Sometimes the Lord Himself comes to give people the process, different times and places how to get back to Him. Just like when you are in prison the government tells you how you can get out on, by good behavior. There’s a law, there’s a system, if you act in this way, if you do this you can get out early on good behavior. So how to get out of the material world, how to go back to the spiritual world where we came from. You don’t belong in this material world. This material world is not our eternal home. We are here like fish out of water. No matter how hard we try to be completely peaceful here there’s always some different type of agitation and difficulties. So this is like a rented house, there’s no use in spending too much money decorating a rented house if you have to give it up sooner or later. Just put the furnishing alright but don’t make any structural changes because anyway just goes to the owner. So living in this material body we have to leave sooner or later. Our real home is in the spiritual world known as Vaikuṇṭha or Goloka Vṛndāvana. So Lord comes down to give us how to get back to Godhead, how to go there, how to be well in this material world, how to line in the same atmosphere the spiritual atmosphere that exists in the spiritual world.

So some of these processes like meditation, actually people like meditation. The meditation isn’t easy, it’s actually very difficult to do it appropriate. Meditation doesn't mean sit for 10 minutes inside the kitchen and listen to the refrigerator motor going. Meditation means you go out in a secluded place in some mountain or forest and you just hear like water coming under waterfall with some gentle sound. In there we meditate on some mantra and sitting in yogic posture controlling the breath and the thoughts one meditates for hour after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year until one achieves salvation. There’s actual meditation, the yogīs will meditate like that in Himalaya mountains and some sacred places in India. It’s not so easy to do it properly. If you do it part time you get some partial result or no permanent result, a temporary result with can also lose it. So I can go on detail, there’s so many other processes, not that his is the only way. There are many ways given in the Vedas. Bhagavad-gītā gives 4 5 different ways how to go back to Godhead. But the way which is the most fun, which is the easiest, which is the happiest way was given by Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya here on the left side, this is brother Nityānanda. The process ‘kevala ānanda-kanda’ it’s simply blissful. That’s why I want to just beg all of you to, especially that any newcomers where we all chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa and everyone was dancing and jumping in joy while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, the room became heated. So, this chanting is the expression of the natural happiness which comes from the spirit soul, which is coming from Kṛṣṇa. This is the process of meditation which is very joyfully performed.

So in this day and age everyone’s out for a good time. But good times more of these also bring a lot of problems, legal problem, other problem if they’re not done properly. This is the good time without any bad side effects. This is the best time at the same time it is the transcendental time which is spiritual process. So Lord Caitanya new that in the age of Kali people are, this present modern age, people are a bit more materialistic, they want some very instinct result for their spiritual practices. If someone chants

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Within a very short time they can feel the change in their consciousness, they can feel the, the return to their original spiritual, blissful, joyful nature. It’s not something like you can figure out just by watching. I think people come here, watch people chant Hare Kṛṣṇa for years together. They can never really figure out what is going on. Because how can they? They are trying to analyze of what they experienced, but they’ve not experienced, Hare Kṛṣṇa you cannot experience the bliss of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa unless you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That bliss isn’t available anywhere else, because it’s a transcendental bliss that’s coming directly from exchanging love with Kṛṣṇa. Love means to give something. So by chanting that’s giving our chanting to Kṛṣṇa that’s a form of practical expression of our love knowingly or unknowingly. He takes it like that out of His magnanimity. When we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa then He also, He’s very pleased like that and He in turn gives us the happiness, a drop happiness that He is experiencing. So this process is not difficult like that, because the process seems very simple, it almost seems simple but it’s actually very profound. Sometimes a very simple thing can produce the biggest result. So this may be simple but this is a very great philosophy behind it so therefore we got so many books to explain this process, why this chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa have this profound affect. It’s not an accident, there are reasons for it, it’s not a superstition, they're very good reason for it, very scientifically systematically explained. Whether the reasons why fire burns? If you put your hand in fire and we get the burnt, it’s not an accident, you can predict that. But say if a child may not know that whether, that fire burns. Without knowing if he puts his hand in fire he gets burnt. Similarly someone may not know all the philosophical reasons why chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa has this effect. Of spiritually enlightening us of giving us peace and happiness from within, of bringing back our original remembrance, all our spiritual self and spiritual identity who am I? Who is the me within? This chanting produces all this but because it’s, real. Whether you know or don’t know why it does if one chants it will have the same result. Result will be there. But since down unaware people want to know also we’ve given so many books everyone can know why the chanting has that effect.

When Lord Caitanya started that chanting there are many skeptical people who protested. That this chanting is shouldn’t be performed publicly, this is a very secret type of meditation before the chanting was only be done in private. Just like even today according to the Jewish religion the names of God are not spoken out loud, they’re secret. They say job of a, where other means they don’t repeat, only the priest say like Adonai there’s some names like that. I read some books on it. In there Solomon and others they use to chant these names and get various blessings and powers by chanting the names of God, different mantras. That tradition was there but only the priests and the kings they would practice it. So this tradition is also in India that there are certain mantras or special vibrations names of God they're put together in a certain way by repetition one can get a communion or a contact with the Lord. So this was done by Kṛṣṇa’s, devotees as well as by some caste conscious priests. So when Lord Caitanya He open up for everyone, then everyone chant. So the the priest’s complain that you’re going to ruin everything. If everyone chants these mantras the the mantra will become weaken, that was the idea, the speculation. Lord Caitanya He cannot, why the mantra would become weakened. If you put dirt in the sun, the sun doesn’t become weaker, it purifies the dirty place. With especially the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is recommended in this age it can be chanted without any hard and fast rules. There are some secret mantras, secret because if one chants them and then one is not pure enough that won’t have any effect, that it may cause more offences. But the Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting is the, open for everyone. So Lord Caitanya started His preaching program He started to do the harināma-saṅkīrtana taking the groups of devotees in India all in the street and they would chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Meanwhile Lord Nityānanda who’s with Lord Caitanya there is spiritual brother. He was in Vṛndāvana and then he had a vision that now Kṛṣṇa is come as a devotee, is in Māyāpur Navadvīpa-dhāma in eastern India and there He’s starting this chanting movement, so I have to go immediately and join Him. So then Lord Nityānanda and he went to, to see Lord Caitanya to join His saṅkīrtana chanting movement. But when he reached Navadvīpa, the city where Lord Caitanya lived, it was city of more than two million, religious people, pious people, learned people. It was like a big college now, it’s economy was based on educating. Lord Nityānanda he went to the house of one Ācārya and he initiated them. Lord Caitanya had a dream that Nityānanda prabhu had come. So He told all of His followers to go out and find Lord Nityānanda. So they went everywhere looking, where is Lord Nityānanda? They don’t know who Lord Nityānanda is what does he look like, they just know that one very great personality has come who’s gonna join Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement and they were all looking for him. They went house to house, door to door knocking asking, hundreds of devotees are looking in all directions for Caitanya Mahāprabhu, spiritual brother Nityānanda prabhu. But even by late at night there is knocking on the doors, "Hello is there’s any Nityānanda there?" People those days use to take rest at 8 o’clock 8:30 by 9 and it’s late they open door, what are you doing? Why you Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees disturbing us so late at night. The followers of Lord Caitanya, have you all become mad, go to sleep.

So they went back, reported to Lord Caitanya, not everyone said that but few of disturbed, even in those days. So they went back to report to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He couldn’t find Lord Nityānanda He went all everywhere, we looked far and wide, couldn’t find him. And Lord Caitanya said, after meditating for a moment and He said of course you can't find him because Lord Nityānanda is the Lord Himself come as devotee, expansion of devotee. No one can find God by looking for Him. You don’t go looking for the sun in the flashlight, how to find it? When the sun comes it’s there. The Lord when He appears He reveals Himself, you don’t go look for Him, looking for Him you won’t find Him. All used to say they’re seeking, seeking means to find, we need to seek the path how to realize God. simply seeking you won’t find; we have to seek the path or method. Seeking means seeking who is the spiritual master? What is the process of realizing? Just seeking in itself is not effective. Lord Caitanya taught all of them, by seeking alone you won’t find him, he has to reveal himself to you. You can seek but he doesn’t reveal himself you won’t find. And when the Lord reveals himself, or reveals the way how to achieve then one has to stop seeking and then start practicing, one’s already found. Now it’s the question of realizing. The spiritual life we seek, when we find though this is who the Supreme Personality of Godhead is, this is how to realize Him, this is the process. Until that time seeking is okay, but once we find the process that mean you need to practice and realize. So Lord Caitanya said anyway I can find him. Of course, because Lord Caitanya was Kṛṣṇa himself He can find him, His own expansion. Even I can find him, tomorrow we’ll go and find him. So then Lord Caitanya the next day took His followers in kīrtana they found Lord Nityānanda. They had a very big kīrtana throughout Navadvīpa town, throughout Māyāpur.

Then they went back to the house of Śrīvās Ṭhākura. In there Nityānanda and Lord Caitanya they were discussing with each other about Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. So Lord Caitanya He told Śrīvāsa you chant a prayer for Lord Kṛṣṇa. So Śrīvāsa started to sing a song in Sanskrit from the 10th Canto Bhāgavatam describing the beautiful qualities of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa Supreme Personality of Godhead ever youthful, with a peacock feather on His head, beautiful Śyāma complexion, more brilliant than thousands of moons, playing in a beautiful flute, with lotus eyes, with a multicolor garland going down to His knees, dancing in three fold bending form, smiling gently to all the residents of Vṛndāvana. In this way started to describe Kṛṣṇa in very clear, very poetic words. When Nityānanda prabhu head the praise of Kṛṣṇa, the qualities of Kṛṣṇa, he immediately he started to manifest the intense ecstatic symptoms of pure Love for Godhead. He started to cry, hair started to stand on hands, quivering in his body, he fainted on the ground. Lord Caitanya told Śrīvāsa go on chanting more and more, keep on glorifying Kṛṣṇa. So then Śrīvāsa he kept more and more praising Kṛṣṇa, glorifying Kṛṣṇa’s qualities. The more you glorify Kṛṣṇa the more, it was going to Nityānanda ear for more intense love for Kṛṣṇa. This is not ordinary, we all have some love for God but when one is completely purified that dormant love for God reaches the purity and intensity so great that these type of ecstatic symptoms manifests spontaneously. Now in the case of Nityānanda they were more than the ordinary ecstatic symptoms, there were the extreme, deep manifestations or expressions of love for Godhead. In fact they’re rolling in the ground, if someone may even chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and feel tears come in the eyes sometimes feel the hair is standing and uncontrollably laugh in happiness, jump up and down in joy, different things like this may happen. But it’s very rare that one becomes so ecstatic that they fall on the ground and start rolling back and forth and they rise. Of course, there are people imitate this outside, do some rollers or something they do things but this was not imitation this was the real thing. He actually was experiencing just spontaneously by hearing Kṛṣṇa, this intense loving ecstasy. So then Lord Nityānanda just jumped up in ecstasy and he’d become just totally absorbed looking for Him, where is Kṛṣṇa, he’d become just like a madman. Not that he was mad he would become mad in love for Kṛṣṇa. This is there in liberated souls who come in this world that are totally in love for Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes they just become oblivious to the world they don’t think about what anyone’s thinking, they just become absorbed in their devotion to Kṛṣṇa. So he start running here and there where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa? And the devotees they are trying to grab him, that may be hurt himself or something. They’re trying to grab him, tackle him but he was too strong he kept running they couldn’t catch him. So Lord Caitanya Himself he grabbed him and sat down just kept him on His lap, then Nityānanda was crying in ecstasy. Gadādhara who is the energy of Kṛṣṇa came to assist Lord Caitanya. He saw all these going on, he started to laugh. Balarāma is the Ananta Śeṣa who holds the Mahā Viṣṇu in the causal ocean, he holds Kṛṣṇa in the Śeṣaśāyī pastimes these are a very esoteric things. Now that same Balarāma is being held by Kṛṣṇa on His lap so that peoples are turned. Just like guess when we understand all this is, and he could understand some inner esoteric like, joke going on in the eternal plane it's very difficult to explain it, he started to laugh. Not very, all the other people they were there, they couldn’t understand why he was laughing either, only very few can understand.

In this way Nitāi and Gaura although they met for the first time, they just met. They started to talk with each other because in the previous, in the spiritual world they were together, they came down to this world just to be with each other, but they have been born in different places, the very day they met they’re talking as old friends. So intimately that the other people they, they couldn’t even understand what they’re seeing. It’s like that, sometimes the devotee it may happen that the devotee in the previous life, when they come in the society of devotees they get some association, they get very emotional, sometimes they feel some fear, sometimes they feel some intense attachment various type of emotions are there. If a person comes, he don’t feel anything special, that’s alright. That means that may be in the previous life they didn’t have so much experience. But sometimes if a person has a lot of emotional, can’t explain it, just some reaction when they see the temple, they see the devotees. This is the symptom that in the previous life they had practiced some devotional service and by cultivation they can again very quickly advance to the perfectional platform. Where somehow without any, for anyone of course by practicing they’ll gradually develop. But it’s rare to see someone immediately develop symptoms or enthusiasm. That’s a rare symptom which is usually result of having performed devotional service in the previous life, but not having completed it.

So we all have lived before in different bodies, we continue to live forever. So now this is the opportunity where we have the human form of life to perfect our knowledge, perfect our human life. To actually be responsible for giving the maximum peace and happiness that we can get as a human being and for leaving this world and going back to the spiritual world at the end of this life. This is the object that we use to try to distribute this ancient wisdom from the Vedas which is very timely even now in this modern world. And we hope that everyone will lend their support for this mission. It’s a great culture. It’s not for personality count or something like that, where just one person is putting his own ideas. We’re following the very traditional ancient ideas which have been handed down for thousands of years of Indian guests, probably they know. Similar temple are there in India with same type of worship in deities going on. We haven’t invented anything new. Only thing we invented is the telescopic Ratha Yātrā cart. Ratha car they are but the, where in the India they keep their streets without wires where the possessions will go. But in the America they don’t have this law, that where you have Ratha yātrā procession there should be no overhead wires (laughing). We have cable cars, electric wires so many sign hang over the road. So we have to invent a Ratha car that went up and down. Few things like this you might find innovations but the Ratha cars is still, is the same. Now in India we also have imported this, for the big city in Calcutta, Bangalore, Madras, Bombay, Delhi. In Jagannātha Purī they have open roads but in the other, where in cities they also have these low hanging wires, so we have to have the telescopic Ratha. Like this we use the modern technology like microphones, videos, TVs as a several, but tool to educate in the basic culture, philosophy and way of life based on this spiritual culture coming form India, coming from the vedas. We hope everyone will practice. Either coming here in the temple on weekends or every day or in your homes.

On Kṛṣṇa: The point is that because we always had a relationship with God, with Kṛṣṇa. It’s not something that, it’s like person who has amnesia. He’s forgotten his relatives, his friends, forgets everything. But by repeating the name of some loved ones and they again remember. Oh! Bill! Bill is my husband, Jack! is my son, Mary is my daughter and they gradually remember everything. Why because Kṛṣṇa is our eternal father and mother or, but we haven’t remember thing for long time so we find up for God. So by chanting His name, by acting as we would act in the spiritual world in spiritual world everyone acts in devotion. They do devotional service there. So if we start to act in that way then we start to remember what it was live we start to return to our original spiritual consciousness just by external practice. Because it’s not an artificial imposition. If you want to, everyone work with other methods like meditation or fire sacrifice or some other forms of austerities they are simply by very mechanical repetition. The devotional service may appear to be little mechanical in the beginning when our consciousness is totally, say undeveloped, unexpanded and, so we are going through it in the mechanical way. But after very short time the consciousness starts to become more and more aware of Kṛṣṇa, we do start to experience. And then gradually becomes more and more spontaneous, it is like training wheels for bicycle. You ride a little bit on the training wheels and then you can keep your balance, not exactly very crude example but the superficial effect is like that. By following a certain routine, getting up in the morning, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, worshiping the deities or offering food or reading one makes a certain routine, associating with devotees, discussion about Kṛṣṇa like practicing in a regular way. Chanting a certain minimum times Hare Kṛṣṇa in a day is very important. By doing that then after sometime you’ll start to become more and more get a taste from that, you get some happiness from that. You get some more realization when you read. Many people read but they can’t understand what this is all about. So by after chanting then they read this, oh! now we understand. It is not academic, it’s not just like you study the reader's digest or the encyclopedia. This is certainly have to realize. To realize that means you need the some spiritual energy within you to be awaken. So that comes by chanting, by eating the spiritual food that the feast we’d be giving out, by performing different devotional services. If someone has free time they can come and clean the temple, that cleanses the heart doing using our body or making a Ratha-yātrā cart see whatever they can do. If someone knows how to fix engines they can fix the temple’s car, if they know how to sew they could sew for the deities. Do whatever they can do not that they have to do something totally afford. But by doing it as a devotional service, this is for you Kṛṣṇa, then at the same time chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, then has the effect of purifying our consciousness, bringing us back to our original Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.

If you find Kṛṣṇa there’s nothing more to find. He said that I am the father of the universe, the mother, the support the grandsire, the object of knowledge. When you find Kṛṣṇa then there’s nothing more to find. But since Kṛṣṇa Himself is unlimited there’s no limit to how much of Kṛṣṇa you can know.

Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is God, He is the Supreme truth, God is a person in His complete form. One can realize God partially as the light or in the heart, but in complete form He’s a person. And one of His names is Kṛṣṇa, He has many names, unlimited names. He is the way He is also the goal.

Vaiṣṇava life skills: For some people, has difficulty to be humble to Guru also. If one can be humble to Guru that’s also advanced, those who cannot be humble to Guru they are considered to be very neophyte. They’re considered to be very very neophyte. When they can’t be humble to Guru but then they’re considered to be third class devotee, one is kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. When they can only be humble to Guru and to Kṛṣṇa but they are not able to recognize that the devotees are also very dear to Kṛṣṇa. The devotees they’re all serving Kṛṣṇa directly so because of that they become very dear to Kṛṣṇa. So when one is able to appreciate that the devotees are sacrificing their energy, their consciousness, their time to uplift others to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, to serve Kṛṣṇa then the ones in other words faith and love expands a little bit. Just like sometimes the children they all think that this is my mother this is my father and then they compete for that affection. But if one becomes a little more mature, little more developed they think that whatever pleases the parents that is the, if my brother is able to please the parent then I should do whatever will help my brother to please the parent. But when they’re little more childish then we think that I want to please the, then we try to trip up the other one. You see that’s, that’s not a good activity. Well we may not appreciate the other person we think I’m the only, this is mine. But for the devotee they simultaneously know that there was mine Lord but He is also other devotee’s Lord. So they appreciate the other devotees they want to be friends with them. Because they know that if I am not friends with them then I’ll be either alone or even though make friends with other people who’re not very spiritually inclined. And then I going to have to hear constantly all about various type of just mundane discussions about earthquakes and needs, and this and that, and politics and public it and democracy all vain. And of course some things we have to hear but all is like, it’s all vain. This one has a heart attack, that one got a, this goes on all like this, goes on all the time. So we have to associate with someone. So we don’t have devotees to associate then we gonna have to associate with mundane people and the mundane people are going to not give us the spiritual association.

So the more mature devotee sees that the other devotees they are also worthy of respect. And innocent people those people who don’t know anything they should be helped in spiritual life. Why should they be allowed to suffer ignorance. We should try to bring him up, try to help them. And they of course have love and faith for Guru and Kṛṣṇa. Avoid the demons who are the confirmed atheists or very outspoken in their blasphemy or criticism. Avoid such people in most cases. Just being too negative to do offence. Then there’s the first-class devotee they see everyone is devotee. They think that they’re the most fallen. And they try to uplift every, and they’re always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. So we have to try to get up at least to the second level. Maybe we learn to appreciate the devotees. Now in a hospital we go there you find so many sick people but we go to the hospital when we’re sick also. So temple is like that we go there to get cured of our material disease. But other sick people also gone. So we see the other people will, like if someone goes in the hospital he going who’s got their car accident, his leg is in a cast, someone else has arm in a cast. So look at that one, he’s got an arm in a cast, look at that bloody nose oh! How horrible! your face is startle. But people, what’s all if you got a cast on your leg? Who do think you are? Everybody in the hospital got something wrong with, otherwise what they doing there? So nobody just starts criticizing the other person, what’s the use of it? So we have to expect that devotees the Guru is supposed to be on first level or very solidly on the second level in most cases. We’re following someone who’s on a first level. So in that way it’s easier to appreciate the qualities of someone, who’s on that platform. But say there are other intermediate or beginning devotees. They may have so many rough edges that have been then purified yet, and those who some out in personal dealings in the daily activities. But they're sincere, they’re trying. They are after all they’re practicing the spiritual process. So it’s better to be patient and tolerant because we may also make so many mistakes our self and over a period of time we see they will also get purified. In the future everyone should become a Guru to help others to advance in spiritual life.

Bhakti is the best process: They mention there are many different processes for advancing spiritually. But the devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is considered to be the topmost because the process and the goal is not different. Because Kṛṣṇa is the goal, now Kṛṣṇa is absolute truth. Absolute Truth means there’s no duality. In the material world there’s a difference. I am in a body but I am the living force in the body, it’s a duality. A person body gets older but inside he doesn’t feel old. When we try to do something, the body may restrict his motion but his spirit, his desires they may not change. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So this world is a world of duality day and night, black and white, light and dark, hot and cold but in the absolute all the dualities become one.

Because the goal is the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa the process is serving Kṛṣṇa. So the path and the object become one, meaning that while one is serving Kṛṣṇa one is also associating with Kṛṣṇa. While your chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name, if I say for suppose here is water inside here, if I say water water water water water instead of getting water I get thirsty. So by saying Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa and His name are non-different, because He’s absolute, you can’t separate the name Kṛṣṇa from the person Kṛṣṇa from the form Kṛṣṇa from service to Kṛṣṇa everything connected with God is also divinely empowered or connected. That by saying Kṛṣṇa you feel Kṛṣṇa, may be not the first time because we doubt, but if we say it enough, we start to experience that Kṛṣṇa is there in the vibration Kṛṣṇa. It’s like oh god in heaven hallowed be thy name. The name of God who is spoken is God that’s The Lord will be all equal. Kṛṣṇa and all His manifestations will be supremely powerful that’s their nature. So we just have to find what are the processes which are actually directly Kṛṣṇa, connected with Kṛṣṇa then those will give us the direct potency. The material world is an energy of Kṛṣṇa but it’s separated from Kṛṣṇa. Our devotional service is an activity which is directly connected to Kṛṣṇa. How to connect to Kṛṣṇa that is through the Guru. The Guru connects the devotee’s activity to Kṛṣṇa by authorising it. Just like how we connect with the God? Why all are protecting the president? Like say walk in the way out through the gun and not gonna leave me because I have been hired by the government. I’d be authorized before I can appoint myself as secret servant nothing I’m a terrorist so there was a protector. So how do we get connected with Kṛṣṇa, we get through His representative, the Guru, he initiates us, he guides us, he says you act in this way, under his protection. Kṛṣṇa says what the service of the Guru says Guru is also not independent he cannot just according to his own whim say the today you dress this way or today you do that. He has to say according to some scriptural basis according to the previous Guru’s guidelines. He must in turn hand it down. In this way someone gets linked up with Kṛṣṇa everything they do becomes connected to Kṛṣṇa and then they start to become spiritualize and they start to see that they are also part of Kṛṣṇa. They also have a oneness with Kṛṣṇa. There’s a oneness in quality the difference only is we are very small and Kṛṣṇa is unlimited.

On individual experience: If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and you experience the experience of chanting you know that it’s something that’s not depending on your mind may be you have a backache you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa you still feel good. But normally we have a backache we don’t feel good if you’re bodily conscious. That somehow your consciousness goes to another platform but even though you may have a backache you still feeling good. But your consciousness is not depending, you still feel your backache but you still feeling inner peace and happiness. This is a very crude example but people start to experience this, different type of happiness from chanting then when you explain it they’ll be able to digest it. It’s a question of digestive power. If you get a big meal to someone who’s got a bad liver he can’t digest it. We must give the medicine first, then have to give them a little bit of time and according as they can digest. If you try to give them more than they can digest, they get indigestion. So this happens with philosophy sometimes they want to explain everything in enthusiasm it’s a wonderful message let me tell everything but then we becomes more than the person can digest and then they start to criticize or reject or they get frightened because they can’t understand a lot. So part of the technique of educating people is to tell them you know, as much as they can understand and may be a little bit all what they can understand we see they can’t and leave it then again get them to do some practice to take some prasādam to somehow build up their spiritual force. Then they’ll be able to digest more, they’ll be able to understand more. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

On karma mechanics: Well, how do like a bad things happen to good people? I think he came up with the theory that since people are born blind or because things just suddenly happen to people that seem they’ve be acting good. Therefore, it seems that God must be like ineffective or impotent somehow like. He seem, He start everything created but just kind of out of control just kind of, means they are by the sight you know it’s not really in top of the whole thing you can’t kind of be never, and this he came up with a theory like that actually very offensive. This comes because the problem that the lot of the western or the lot of the, the religions that came to the east in the later, a few millennium have not got such a broad scope to answer a lot of the questions that are coming up today. By according to the Vedic understanding there’s a law of karma. And we are eternal living entities and we remain in the material world until we go back to Godhead, until we develop our consciousness our desire to want to associate with the Supreme Lord to be with Him that means that to do that you actually have to get some happiness to want to be with Him. If you don’t feel any happiness by serving Him or they not really want to go to Him just want some idea, a very rare person will want to go to Him. In any case what happens is that the laws of karma give us the reaction from one life to the next. So that a person when they’re born expect that they’re innocent. They may be innocent in the sense that in this body they haven’t committed so many new karmas. But as they start to develop the personality from their previous lives they start to come through combined with the conditioning that they’re getting in this life. If a child in the former the years trained in spiritual practices of giving love and affection by the mother and father, they may can develop spiritually very nicely. They can overcome the karmas in previous lives. But say someone is born blind it’s not an accident, it’s not that God kind of messed up that means that maybe that person in the previous life he blinded someone. You find that now there’s some gangs, sometimes they capture someone they blind them where they torture them. Even in America there’s certain drug gangs and things that do pretty heavy things mafia just or just cruel people. So someone they may think God got to waste God’s free, nothing happen the whole life, you die, you can verse a justice in that how to God, I'm an honest citizen I'm struggling and both these persons are black marketeer, mafia also and we think whole life and he, he just died in hospital what we get, he didn’t suffer at all. Then maybe next life he gets more cripple, born blind, born in some horrible place, may be born as an animal whatever. So karma comes according to one’s previous deeds so when one realizes that I am suffering not because of some defect on God’s arrangement because of something I did, me as a spiritual entity in this life or previous life I’ve done some.

That’s one aspect, other aspect is that a good person the definition of good is so relative now a days. But there’s actual standard of what is goodness what is passion what is ignorance given in the Bhagavad-gītā. If someone is a pure vegetarian eating fruits and vegetables, milk, things without causing unnecessary harm to other living entities, he is, doesn’t cause harm to others, he does charity in a certain productive manner, follow the religious principles, this is considered a good person according to the Vedas. If a person works to get his money to maintain his family, is a vegetarian but only gives money to his religion where envious of other religions, and he is completely against other families, for his own family maintenance, where identifies of his nation but he’s against other nation, his community but he’s against other communities that person is considered to be, but he follow religious principles but only because for his, mainly for the objective of his own material upliftment, that person considered in the mode of passion. He’s not a good person. He’s a passionate person. Passions are bad. A person in the mode of ignorance he’s someone who’s envious of people who’s cruel, hateful, crazy, mad, dirty, unclean, who breaks the regulative principles, who eats things on, eats any type of meat, rotten things, dirty things, takes intoxication, engages in all kinds of illicit activities many are ought it’s not, to whatever they give reasons are under the influence of mode of ignorance. So in the even the modern what they call good, what they consider good is a mixture of goodness, passion and ignorance, it’s not pure good. So they’re getting reactions which are also mixed because the standard they don’t have an absolute standard. The Gītā was written 5000 years ago, it gives the standard of goodness passion ignorance that’s for all time. Now if you don’t drink while you drive you’re considered a good person but may be 50 years ago you didn’t drink you’re considered a good person. So there’s different relativities.

What is the actual standard of goodness, doesn’t depend on what the popular word is, it depends on what the law of karma is. If I do some something that’s gonna produce a good karma for me that’s good. If I do something's gonna produce neither good or bad that's passion or neutral and I do something’s gonna cause pain to others or painful reactions to me that’s in the mode of ignorance. So people are causing pain to others everyday but they think they’re good because of they may go church or synagogue, mosque, temple once in a month, once in a week, once in a year. Whatever good work, they'll get benefit for that. What they do bad, they’ll get punishment for that. Some may neutralize, some may not be altogether neutralized. If you completely surrender to Kṛṣṇa, you completely surrender to God, you do everything for His pleasure He said I will protect you from every sinful reaction from every karma, that is Absolute word. But how many people can do that? How many are doing that? That’s our objective in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness where there should be some people in society completely dedicated to live their lives for the pleasure of the Lord. And they should help others to at least live their lives as much as possible for this purpose.

As their karma to get a child. Sometimes an enemy takes birth as a cripple child to cause pain to that mother and father because they want to get back it. So the whole life they have to take care of this invalid child. Actually they giving their love and affection whether he’s an enemy. They have to follow their duties as a parent, they don’t that’s bad karma. They’ll be attached to the child, they can’t say whether it’s an enemy or not how will they know? Could be, doesn’t mean every case it is. By suffering they get rid of karma. But that's a slow word, better to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and burn it off very quickly by spiritual purification. You can’t get rid of a fever by swimming it out unless we have a proper medicine you can also cure very quickly.

On mystic powers: As a person develops spiritually they develop certain abilities which are more than one own, we say mystic power. They’re generally either on a mental platform, psychic or there are special supernatural kind of empowered where it has to do with the material world. Mystic powers means some spiritual force which can affect the material world that directly if say so many likes this tape record, it’s again a mystic power.

But that’s all material, you can buy it, you can pick it for him, you can buy a watch. It tends to be a distraction from those spiritual developments, spirituality is directly connected with God, with Kṛṣṇa and mysticism means it’s, it’s a spirit connected with matter. So devotees naturally can get some, just like some devotees would be able to know what the other people are gonna say and before they say it sometimes so many physic things develop spontaneously, some people have it anyway. But these are can also be like distractions. So that’s not, they’re there but devotees don’t get be occupied with them. The devotees were more concerned with developing thier, their dormant God consciousness.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!