19881101 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.26

The following is a lecture given by Jayapataka Swami on November 01, 1988 in New Tālavana, USA. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 9th Canto, 4th Chapter, 26^th Verse.

Jayapatākā Swami: (leads chanting of the verse) (devotees repeat) 

saḥ — he (Ambarīṣa Mahārāja); ittham — in this way; bhakti-yogena — by performing transcendental loving service to the Lord; tapaḥ-yuktena — which is simultaneously the best process of austerity; pārthivaḥ — the King; sva-dharmeṇa — by his constitutional activities; harim — unto the Supreme Lord; prīṇan — satisfying; sarvān — all varieties of; kāmān — material desires; śanaiḥ — gradually; jahau — gave up.

Translation: The king of this planet, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, thus performed devotional service to the Lord and in this endeavor practiced severe austerity. Always satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his constitutional activities, he gradually gave up all material desires.

Purport: Severe austerities in the practice of devotional service are of many varieties. For example, in worshiping the Deity in the temple there are certainly laborious activities. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau. One must decorate the Deity, cleanse the temple, bring water from the Ganges and Yamunā, continue the routine work, perform ārati many times, prepare first-class food for the Deity, prepare dresses and so on. In this way, one must constantly be engaged in various activities, and the hard labor involved is certainly an austerity. Similarly, the hard labor involved in preaching, preparing literature, preaching to atheistic men and distributing literature door to door is of course an austerity (tapo-yuktena). Tapodivyaṁputrakā. Such austerity is necessary.Yenasattvaṁśuddhyet. By such austerity in devotional service, one is purified of material existence. (kāmānśanairjahau). Indeed, such austerity leads one to the constitutional position of devotional service. In this way one can give up material desires, and as soon as one is freed from material desires, he is free from the repetition of birth and death, old age and disease.

Thus ends the Bhakti Vedanta Swami Translation and purport to the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam text 26 chapter 4 canto 9 in the matter of Ambarisa  Mahārājaa offended by Durvāsa muni.

Jayapataka Swami: (leads chanting of the verse)

sa itthaṁ bhakti-yogena
tapo-yuktena pārthivaḥ
sva-dharmeṇa hariṁ prīṇan
 sarvān kāmān śanair jahau

So…..for the kingdom Mahārāja Ambarīṣa had performed various ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices but personally, as is explained here today he engaged in devotional service.  Devotional service is itself an austerity, analyzing from the external point of view. In other words one has to engage in many laborious activities. Prabhupāda gives example here of deity worship. Worshiping the deity takes some time to decorate the deity, to bathe the deity, to cleanse the temple. There are many temples. They don’t use the tap water for the deity, especially because in India they use pumps, the hand pumps they have leather washers in them. The ones they make in India, so the people they don’t use it for the deity because they won’t bathe the deity with water that has touched the leather. So they walk to the nearest pond where the water is natural and bring the pond water or the river water: Ganges, Yamuna. This way they do a lot of different activities: preparing food, performing ārati and the deity is never left unattended. There is someone always with the deity. This is a different system, if they leave the deity unattended they have steel gates and fence that no one can come. In case some madman or fool wants to come and touch the deities unless the deities are closed and the temple is locked.

Its actually is a full activity. So from one point of view it’s an austerity. If we just take it for an activity in the material aspect, it’s an austerity to do all of these things. Of course for the devotee who has awakened his spontaneous devotional service, he very joyfully performs these activities. For that devotee it’s a burden of love. It’s not an unpleasant austerity. It’s something which they enjoy doing. So in the beginning of devotional service we are in the vidhi-mārga that means we do it because it’s a rule. These are all the rules, we have do it. Sometimes the devotee say,….even they just think the rules are most important without knowing that there is a purpose behind the rules also. The rules are there to give us the procedure to keep us engaged all the day in Kṛṣṇa’s service.

10:16 When we actually become a little more advanced, then the devotee actually likes to perform. First or the second stage is that it becomes very natural to follow the rules. This is a spontaneous level of practicing vidhi-mārga.Then there comes a stage where one actually enjoys performing devotional service, gets a real bliss from that. So at that point then, the austerity is fun. (pause) The austerity itself is enjoyable. So the devotee at that spontaneous level, for them then it is very easy to continue. People who are working, they think it’s a drudge that we are working. They waiting for when they can leave their work and go and have fun. For very few people the work is also fun. Material business,material activities, we do it because we need money. So people do it, but they don’t actually- in most cases they don't enjoy doing it. There are some people, they do what they like to do. They can do something that more or less they like doing and thus people consider, ‘Oh, he’s very fortunate!’ but the majority of people don't even like doing what they are doing necessarily or they’re just accustomed to doing it but it’s not that they are really... if they weren’t getting money for it, they would never do it.

12:11 You see, but the devotees, they do devotional service. The difference between a hired priest and a devotee is that the hired priest, they are doing the worship because he is paid for that, but if he wasn’t being paid well, if there is no one to pay him to do it then he will do something else. So that’s not really devotion and therefore when we go to the temple with the paid priest the deities look unhappy. So, they are not really taken care of. It’s like the difference between the babysitter and the mother. You know, maybe you are lucky if your babysitter is like a relative or someone who cares about the children. Sometimes it’s just, you know, someone watching the kids to get 20 bucks. They may be expert, some professional priests they are very expert but there is a difference. If they are regularly doing devotional service, if they would do it anyway, see that's the criteria.

13:27 So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he impressed this point that devotees do devotional service because of their devotion to Kṛṣṇa, not because they get some material facility for it. Even without material facility, devotee is going to do his devotional service...(child crying)...So, when one actually reaches the spontaneous level of devotional service and enjoys performing it, that's the perfection. That's the beginning of the perfectional platform. Prabhupāda said that, if I give the group, the spiritual master installs a deity and requests the disciples to worship... so first there is utsāha, great enthusiasm to worship the deity but later on, if the disciples think that, ’Oh the guru has given me such a burden. I have to get up in the morning and I have to do the ārati and I have to offer the bhoga. I have to do so many things. These deities are such a burden. That's called nigraha. It goes from utsāha to nigraha (neglect), then everything is a failure. Then everything is spoilt. So this Prabhupāda he was very much afraid of making  so many nice temples so that people can come and worship Kṛṣṇa, but if the devotees don't continue chanting very carefully, if they don't keep their mind in reading the transcendental literature but somehow they get down in the modes of nature, they start saying that all these austerities and devotional service these are burden they miss the whole point even in the vidhi-mārga someone who is performing austerities even with a good aspiration and desire to go back to Kṛṣṇa knowing that by this process I will achieve success even if there is a slight problem Kṛṣṇa can also correct that, by sticking to this process I will eventually achieve success.

The symptoms of success are becoming more and more spontaneous actually getting transcendental bliss for doing the devotional service, when someone is thinking that oh it is a burden to do so much service that means their intelligence is bewildered they have forgotten the whole purpose of life, they lost the perspective of what is the actual meaning of devotional service, who they are we are the eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa that we are meant to serve Kṛṣṇa eternally, by serving we will turn to our constitutional position, Prabhupāda mentions these always satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his constitutional activities he gradually gives up all material desires, how to give up material desires unless we satisfy the supreme lord, then how can we satisfy him unless we are engaged in our constitutional activities, our constitutional position is what "jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa' to be the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā that we are eternal servitor

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru

that you think of me you become my devotee you bow down to me you worship me, actually he gives this instruction twice once in the 18th chapter once in the 9th chapter.

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
pratijāne priyo ’si me

you come to me if you follow me, In the 9th chapter "yuktvaivam" you will be connected with me, these activities connect us to him, so we stay connected with Kṛṣṇa our material desires go away, then we actually develop a desire to serve Kṛṣṇa then actually if we have we will have feeble desire we intellectually understood that we are suffering in this material world, so we start serving Kṛṣṇa we get some shelter but then the mind can still forget intelligence gets bewildered we get ...Someone, sometimes they get some relief from devotional service, then because they relax in their devotional activities they didn't really understand the philosophy or keep it in the forefront of their consciousness they start to get bewildered. They again to desire to join the material world. You start to desire or want to enjoy the material world. Then the devotee thinks oh these devotional activities are a burden they are taking away from our enjoyment of the senses but it what it takes them their constitutional position that I am an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa so these activities are engaging me in my constitutional position of serving Kṛṣṇa so these activities are a special mercy of Kṛṣṇa.

If I didn't have these activities then māyā would catch me then i would be engaging in material activities. In fact, we need varieties of devotional service according to our nature according to our different situation to keep us always occupied. Of course there is some problem with some people they are basically under different modes even a material (inaudible) recently there was an article ... in one of the magazines in the airplane, it was about because some of our devotees were talking about psychologists and psychiatrists, things like that so this was interested, it said how you will lose your time on a coach with psychologists, they have now rabbit service you just drive in get a quick session to get you back out of it and get out there. They call it dynamic psychotherapy or something like that.

But anyway, there was one relevant point they say that there is a lot of people that are totally illogical, they due to the association with their families with certain friends with material society they develop illogical thought panels and it is a very scientific way to say we are all nuts. (Audience laughing) If we think something and say logical and you take it to be true then mean you take something which is false that is real that means you are crazy right. But anyway, they don't say that because many of them will not go there, nobody things they are crazy, but it is not like a ghost like totally illumined it just means that they take certain things which are true. But they mean in their real senses worth being saying this if you take something totally false as real, I will be pulling it (audience laughing) right so they are not going to but that guy is not but I will not satisfy, but I will take something which is a  little bit not true then i will take it as true but i won't think i am crazy see nobody things they are crazy but what is it material mode of ignorance it makes us see ah ... a little crazy so anyway they never use the word crazy I can't see why? i don't know why is ah but they use this point that people develop negative attitude based upon simply illogical thought change like someone is in devotion. I know people like that, they say illogical thinking, I will go sit and elaborate but you know they say you can go for 40 sessions and you will be back on your feet, probably that seems to be a small number of sessions to go to a psychiatric help, otherwise if they were to go long I don't know I mean I never had gone to a session.

And definitely we can see this is a problem that in our devotional service you can accept illogical unreasonable ideas as a fact and if we base our consciousness on that everything else becomes off. So, they are all therapies based upon showing a person how good thoughts are off, you should adjust your thoughts so in Kṛṣṇa consciousness we can see that the whole material world is based on certain thoughts which are not reasonable. This is like you live forever everyone thinks will love forever that's not the reasonable or that the world is bodied is not reasonable, we are not the body and so and so therefore we consider although depending on how you know superficially something may appear reasonable so that works to some extent, but ultimately because it's not the absolute truth down eventually it will produce various difficulties various frustrations.

So this is like it grows deeply as reasonable and then a kind of spiritually being off, although the degree would be more or like if you have a devotee that's in a totally negative mood even there is no reason to be negative. They are doing devotional service they are getting their prasādam they are serving Kṛṣṇa but somehow they always take everything and then due to their particular own modes of nature they enter into something unreasonable and say like a 1000 good but why is that like this why is it that why this has to be in cloudy today. Why is it cloudy today, i don't want to be cloudy today *shouting* and they get all frustrated because of today's overcast so that you know they will say cloudless and like that.

 (Not sure)  What Bhagavad-gītā tells us that is always going to be changes just like the coming and going of the seasons some season is cloudy some season is sunny "śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha dah" so there is no need of being frustrated because sometimes is going to be happy sometimes you may have material little bit unhappiness in terms of sensual perception. So it's going to be sunny days it's going to be rainy days so there is no need of getting frustrated because it's a rainy day This is not in your control so why be frustrated its rainy or sunny just go on with your duty.  So actually, what they are going to teach their patients is already in the Bhagavad-gītā 1000 of years before it's just how to accept the realities of life and not be affected by them, for sometimes you will get to know why is someone fall down why is someone like this why and then they will let their mind be absorbed in that and they go into a kind of a negative attitude. And they walk around you know with a long face and they wonder why things that are not happy it's because they are just not being reasonable. They are accepting things which are out of our control which are just the effects of nature, things which are not to be a cause of frustration for individuals and they are also to be frustrated by that.

Or they allowing themselves to get out of their constitutional position of just being the servitor of lord Kṛṣṇa being happy that i am serving Kṛṣṇa. And for the Babas its more simple and for them austerity is their wealth, austerity is their wealth to the babas. You see Ambarīṣa was a kṣatriya he was also very wealthy and austerity therefore he was a rajarṣi. He was a rājā also he was a rṣi, he was a great king and he was a great devotee a great spiritualist. So whether we are rājarṣīs and in India once we started a program called vaiśyarṣi because there was no more king's system of democracy but it's many business man become a vaiśyarṣi they like it. And here in America we have śūdrarṣīs (audience laughing). All the workers, there are plenty of vaiśyas here too  but whatever it is we will only need to be rṣis they need to actually see what is the truth.

So they admit all these psychiatric help, they don't guarantee that it will last very long (not sure 29:54)  it will take you one off but again your mind can go into unreasonable thoughts again and you have to go back, so once you like you have been hooked for the whole life. Because you don't have any absolute truth to link on they will just show you this is off then we should think like this alright then, after a while your brain goes off some other way and you come back again for another fix up.

So that's the way you are going to  leave your body what's the difference between us and them then, the difference is that, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness is getting you absolute truth so you can fix your mind in it absolute truth, once you fix in the absolute truth you don't have to go any psychiatrist anymore. You don't have to be in negative mood anymore because you are understanding what is the absolute truth you become the most saint person and you can help others. And also, the psychiatrist they don't know what's the difference between the modes of nature then why people think you will ask what is this association they know that this association and thoughtenings (not sure 31:04) negative will build up a negative attitude they will create these type of irrational thought which causes depression and frustration, anger, illusion etc...

They don't realize what is the particular type of association causes that we know what causes that it's the mode of ignorance. Bhagavad-gītā says that clearly by association with the mode of ignorance one develops his qualities anger, illogical, insane, mad, frustrated depressed, illusioned etc.. Now to get out of ignorance you have to get yourself into pure goodness, no one gets out of ignorance when you remain in ignorance, sleep, sleeping too much. One gets out of ignorance by engaging in activities of pure goodness, so if we are depressed and if we are (not sure 32:10) negative what is the solution to engage in devotional service, to associate with positive people. Positive people meaning the positive alternative of devotional service when someone stands and give out negative vibrations. They are not to see to accept that they have to counteract that. They have to dovetail those persons thought changes back to Kṛṣṇa back to Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, back to Kṛṣṇa's devotional service.

If we remain simply absorbed like Mahārāja Ambarīṣa all the time serving Kṛṣṇa, he has got whole entire kingdom to deal with surely the kingdom (not sure 33:03) in other ages still have some problems that had to deal with. But out of it he always he remained joyful because he was always engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service everyday he had a routine. He sweeps the temple floor he will go in and see the deities, he chant the mantras, people come and say why you are so happy so happy, many people come up there you are really happy, (audience laughing) what do you think? look at him (aside) ... you seem to be happy ... you seem to be a happy person but what, yes we are happy why because we are engaging in devotional service. Because we are filling ourselves with devotional activities, if it wasn't for the process, we are following the process therefore we are happy.

I wouldn't be happy if i wasn't following the process, if I wasn't chanting, if I wasn't talking about Kṛṣṇa, hearing about Kṛṣṇa, serving Kṛṣṇa, i don't know I wouldn't be happy who would be happy? It's not that just we are happy because of some accident we are following or engaging in Kṛṣṇa's service. Maharāja Ambarīṣa, he was a liberated soul, Sudarśana Cakra was sitting there in his palace just for his protection. It wasn't that, no I already got this Sudarśana Cakra here, I already been got the mercy of Kṛṣṇa so i don't need to wash the temple floor anymore, I don't need to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa anymore, i don't need to do my devotional service anymore, i have already made it and its time for retirement i paid my dues. No, its just the same he goes on with his devotional service, Prabhupāda went on chanting and attending the temple darshan seeing the deities every day, lecturing to the devotees, taking prasādam right till the last moment of his past time. And he is continuing now even in this spiritual world, the whole spiritual world is doing devotional service.

Lakṣmī sweeping the road for Kṛṣṇa. This devotional service is an eternal occupation, it's the eternal constitutional position, it doesn't change. In the beginning, we do it may be mechanically because we haven't purified ourselves yet. But when we become free from material desires then we really start to taste the nectar. We never stop devotional service thats never a point where we stop devotional service. We try to tell mother Yaśoda, stop devotional service you think she is going to stop cooking for Kṛṣṇa? Stop dressing Kṛṣṇa, stop worrying about where is Kṛṣṇa now, protecting Kṛṣṇa. By serving Kṛṣṇa only then (not sure 36:10  you love Kṛṣṇa then you serve Kṛṣṇa more.

36:14 Anything which is distracting us in servicing Kṛṣṇa is māyā. There is no other word for it. And those things which are encouraging us and in  fructifying our devotional service there actually there is a special association we need. They say in South America we need "incargas chubila" you recharge your batteries. I like to relate with this. We have to charge up our spiritual forks. As we become less in devotional service actually we get down, then the material modes start to attack us more, like a spider, like an aeroplane, start to crash, they start to spin and it is very hard to get him out of the spin.

One of the training things they do is that they take you off to a plane before they give you the license and 20,000 ft above and they turn off the engine, they set out to see what do you do. (audience laughing). They make the plane go into a spin and see now you take it out. Because it may happen sometime in the storm or something and if you don't know how to do it, then there's an experience pilot there before it's too late if you don't do it, he will do it (audience laughing). Guess what happens if you are going in a plane and if you go too slow and there is not enough wind blowing by the wings the plane just falls down, when it falls down it starts to spin so what do you do, that's flying that's what you have to do to get your license. So apparently what you have to do there, we have to aim the plane down and then gradually as it builds and speed up again you have to take it out again. Where it has enough speed by falling then you pull it up, then we are not planes (audience laughing) I don't know if we can use the same thing to speed up in māyā (audience laughing).  I don't know, they have their technique we have our different technique.

The point is that when its spinning if you don't get out of the spin, ok, so what is the spin in devotional service, this is like a signal (audience, somebody coughing) you weaken your devotional service in the mode of ignorance you start and your mind starts looking for excuses then it starts to be logical. This is bad, that is bad, everything is bad-bad, then we start getting and that further disturbs us and can't seems to concentrate on our chanting and as we start chanting less and mind just warm up for this way, it goes to bad to worse. So in the sense (not sure 39:36) we have to speed up not to speed up going down we have speed up your devotional service to pull out of it. I mentioned this once before to a disciple he is an engineer for the jumbo jet in the Malaysian airline and we were landing in London and the pilot was coming down going very slow over London and all of a sudden there was a big thunderbolt and there was a big gust of wind and it went in the wrong direction and put the plane into a like a vacuum and the plane... Starts falling from the sky down write over London and the pilot didn't know what to do? Everybody got frozen then all of a sudden, the engineer, my disciple he just took the throttle, WWOWWW!! PHEWWWW and pulled it out of it, (audience: Haribol) ... Just in time... So it's like that when we actually there is an illusion when we are in māyā that it wraps up (not sure 40:43 ) our devotional service, should get out of that. We have to do more intensive devotional service we can absorb and this devotional service or that service we have to do intensive devotional service. Prabhupāda realized that we are not Haridāsa Ṭhākura that we sit and chant 300,000 names of Hare Kṛṣṇa everyday.

Two devotees came to Māyāpur trying to do that and they just fall asleep you know even at 16 rounds devotees you know without developing that level of spontaneous taste for chanting and even when one does develop taste for chanting, Prabhupāda said once that we should preach and bring the other people to chant. So therefore it is not recommended actually to imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura at all. So Prabhupāda gave us the whole program of devotional service, deity worship, distributing books, temple management, temple fund management, developing projects, fund raising. He made everyone busy in Kṛṣṇa's service. That is not material activity. We have a full spiritual program because those who are doing the deity worship well they are very fortunate because after sometime they get familiar with the deity.  Therefore, even for them sometimes going out and preaching, specially here in the west if one is very advanced working with the deity, they might not be able to concentrate, so there is ones service or a combination so we have to give our full energy for Kṛṣṇa and for giving energy to Kṛṣṇa, giving our mental intellectual power to Kṛṣṇa we stay out of the modes. We get our velocity our devotional service gets too slow then we start to fall, we loose the altitude.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami, he mentioned how when he was in Bombay he was like the temple president, the GBC ,the incharge of the book publication, the BBT, so many different services, then Prabhupāda, then he was asked to do the construction on top of it all. He came to Prabhupāda, and said, Prabhupāda, i don't have any time, day and night like this one and that service i don't have any time, how I am going to do, i don't have any time for anything. Prabhupāda said very good, no time for māyā so keep you fully engaged. This is actually what. In fact even Prabhupāda even said that Māyāpur project so you all have something to do, some devotees they require big projects in order to keep, use all of their abilities, just the routine work isn't enough, they need something where they really expand their service un-limitedly.

Like some are happy just to do their ārati and there are some pūjārīs who want to bring outfits to the deities takes everything out expands out and they want to see the whole deity worship expand more and more to take it as the whole project. And some devotees take the build on whole village for Kṛṣṇa, the temples and parks and gardens and agriculture fields and diaries and everything nice communities, schools is also there, Thats the mercy of Prabhupāda  to keep devotees engaged, we can expect the Americans, they built up a whole nation from scratch 200 years right. So he wanted us to do something here in the west to show the wonderfulness of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So he gave us these projects like a New Tālavana project to build like this something wonderful he engaged so many active devotees they like to use their energies their creative abilities so many different facets. Someone may develop the deity program, agriculture program, the diary program, the school program, community program, business for raising the funds, preaching aspects, cultivating, congregation in Indian members and everything. So we can have chant our rounds, see the deities and engage all our energy, all the day long. Engage our intelligence, if we are not somehow engaging our mind and our energy then we are missing out.

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja is considered an example of ātma-nivedana. In one way he is considered an example for all. Bali Mahārāja is ātma-nivedana, he just surrendered everything but Ambarīṣa he did all nine practices of devotional service. He is considered the best devotee, he was a gṛhastha, he was a king but he did nine practices, hearing, chanting, remembering, offering prayers, bowing down, being a servant, being a friend, he did the deity worship and he did everything he did complete surrender. He never stopped doing it not for a moment, therefore he won the heart of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Sudarśana Cakra, Kṛṣṇa sent Sudarśana Cakra, you protect Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, so he doesn't have to worry about the demons he can go on with his devotional service. Kṛṣṇa helps those who help themselves in keeping themselves engaged in devotional service. (Not sure 47:37) Serving, nice mercy of Kṛṣṇa, Sudarśana Cakra and left here in new Tālavana (audience: laughing, Haribol).

But to get those type of special mercy, devotees, it's a causeless mercy of the devotees they work very hard they engage very hard and Kṛṣṇa protects. Even though there may be many legal problems but by Kṛṣṇa's mercy they were cleared up. Because the devotees are working so enthusiastically, so we have to be careful never to relax, never to allow the eleven qualities of the material nature to enter in, problems may again come.  Its Kṛṣṇa's causeless mercy we always will be able to overcome the problems and in the material world there is always problem and even Ambarīṣa for a pure devotee Durvāsa Muni going to create a problem. But ultimately it didn't matter anything to him because he was so pure that the Sudarśana cakra just took him in his own hands, to protect Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. So what is our duty, our duty its simply to serve to become pure, by engaging in devotional service constantly.

That is the reason for having a temple and a community, anybody can work, anyone can make money, anybody can do anything, that everyone is doing in the material world, but not everybody can engage in devotional service and eat Kṛṣṇa prasādam and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and associate with Vaiṣṇavas and create a spiritual environment. This is something very rare this is the most valuable thing in the whole world because it is like creating the most positive influence for the entire universe, anyone who comes in that association can get purified they get benefited by taking prasādam. It's like in India there are many holy places, so Prabhupāda is creating holy places and holy places is not just a place in India alright Kṛṣṇa appears, Lord Caitanya appears but even in that cases to go to a holy place and bath in a river without seeing the saints of that holy place and hearing from them about the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is like a cow going and bathing in a river what's the difference. Sa eva go kharaḥ, here in the west the deity, is present and the place of deity becomes a pilgrimage and the devotees are living and serving the deity and when people come here, they need to hear about Kṛṣṇa from the devotees and this way it becomes a place of pilgrimage, it's a place of purifying the people in the material world, so actually we have very big benediction from Prabhupāda from Kṛṣṇa. A great great opportunity to do something which is inconceivable even the demigods they don't go back to godhead from the heavenly planets, ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ

punar āvartino ’rjuna. need to come back again even they go to  Brahmaloka unless they become fully Kṛṣṇa consciousness they will come back.  But by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and by the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda for giving us Lord Caitanya's message, if we simply remain fully absorbed in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness, atleast try to be fully absorbed, if you are a few percent off Kṛṣṇa is very kind, Lord Caitanya is very kind, they may take us anyway.

We have to try to be fully Kṛṣṇa consciousness then we go back home back to godhead. We engage in Kṛṣṇas service eternally wherever Kṛṣṇa is, where the saṅkīrtana movement is. So the devotees they perform very hard labour but this austerity is a burden of their love, they do it because they love Kṛṣṇa and this service offered to Kṛṣṇa this is for your pleasure Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa is the most reciprocal. For one step if we take, he will take 10 steps towards us, so if we offer anything to him without asking anything in return to him to Kṛṣṇa, simply for your pleasure then Kṛṣṇa is more desirous of pleasing his devotees. And if our real desire is to love Kṛṣṇa then he will give us that and if we have other desire he will give even us those desires. But the best possible means of satisfying ones desires is to engage in Kṛṣṇa's service we should be careful to desire the right thing. Not to let our desires go into things which will not be fully Kṛṣṇa conscious. Always by engaging in devotional service and trying to purify our consciousness automatically we give up our material desires because Kṛṣṇa is so attractive as we get purified we start to manifest our spontaneous attraction for Kṛṣṇa, we start to get a taste we start to get attached, then we start expressing ecstatic love, then actually Kṛṣṇa reveals his glory to the devotee to develop prema pure love.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare

Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Any question?

Mohanarupa devi dasi: How far when we go in helping some devotees as a friend ..i know it's always depending on the situation of the devotee they wants to love but..

Jayapataka Swami: It depends doesn't it, on the devotee how receptive the devotee is if someone is willing to listen, really listen you can help them completely, if they are willing to listen and they act on what they hear you can help them, some people they are not willing to listen, they want to listen a little bit, then only think we had to be, we can help them best by being strong ourselves, you can't help someone by becoming weaker. we can't help someone by coming down to a lower level it's not that we come down to some one's lower level in order to help them we can relate with what they are going through but we remain in a strong spiritual position we can and being kind and friendly and encourage him and we go on with our service. so by being very absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness the devotee is so positive that even by associating with such a devotee the other person becomes purified and become enthused. It's like action speaks more than the words so when you say something they may not accept it but later they see that the devotee is living by what the devotee is  saying therefore what they are saying is what they are doing and they are happy and that person realizes that  I am unhappy then they get by Kṛṣṇa's mercy they can sometimes they get intelligence back and stay on, had to admit defeat, Everybody is trying to compete who is better than, who is happy, I got a bigger car i am happy.

We used to ride bicycles we had no money no car in Māyāpur, we had little money for construction but Prabhupāda said they can't use it for maintenance, so we won't use any, so we didn't have money to go by car so we went in bicycle to Kṛṣṇanagara we buy some nuts and bolts and hardware, nails, steel things from one hardware shop, they loaded into a horse and buggy and by Horsecar they carried to Māyāpur for 20 rupees , 2 dollars, 20 miles. One time, So then one day, the owner of the shop.. I was chanting. I was happy. I was building Mayapur for Prabhupāda, I don't know he must have been in a bad day or something he just looked at me and said why are you happy (screaming), why do you have to be happy, I should be happy because I got a two storied house made out of bricks, I got a car, got a wife, got a kids , i have money and my own business i got everything but why you are happy , you have nothing you just wearing one thin cloth ride your bicycle , you give it up your rich country and everything, you don't have anything why you are happy and I am not. *laughing*  Can we get a lighter? ( audience laughing, Haribol).  He is not fully happy because he has not surrendered yet for serving Kṛṣṇa.

Any other question, YES

Devotee: There are some devotees that they do a lot of service and always work hard but sometimes they get a mentality that I am doing so much service no one else is doing anything but I am working so hard due to the service but they say that no one else is doing so much but i am working so hard and giving so much and no one is helping and there is so much to be done no one is you know helping me .. they are actually engaged in devotional service but it's their mentality ..

Jayapataka Swami: That's illogical ... that.. what they are thinking doesn't make any sense because what are we serving for, we are serving for pleasing Kṛṣṇa so he serves up to his capacity, Hanuman would have said to Rāma that i am lifting all the rocks what about these other guys they are not lifting the rocks as I am, everyone try to do their full capacity to serve as much as you can, may be one person has more capacity, if we serve less than our capacity we would be a liar.

Even when Hanuman told the little mouse, not a mouse was it a squirrel or something, sometimes they say squirrel, sometimes they say spider (audience laughing), I heard it was squirrel, কাঠবিড়াল (Kāṭhabiṛāla) they call in Bengali. But anyway the thing is this, squirrel only, I heard spider sometimes, whichever.  Just get out of my way, that I am doing this service for Lord  Rāma, throwing mountain tops into water. Then Rāma said don't get puffed up, you are serving up to your capacity, he is serving upto his full capacity, I may be more pleased with his service than with your service. So don't disturb him in his service, he is helping, is that a little squirrel or whatever was throwing into the water also some little pebbles.

Or maybe someone is been serving for several births in devotional service and they have a much bigger capacity. You see in Olympics of course the people they always run better if they have very good competitor, is that they always try to beat that competitor. If there is no competitor then sometimes is running against the clock, sometimes it's hard for them to beat the world record. One who has a lot of good competitors they get you know I had to do really hard to win and they try harder.

In devotional service sometimes there is devotees have a very  similar ah level so it's easy for us to compete and try to compete with ourselves and try to just do more service, that devotee is doing do nicely I should try to do more. May be that some devotees is doing more service than everyone else. Although i would be hard to believe it could also be the mind's illusion but might be that someone is doing that time a little more service than the others. So then there is no, in that particular temple of course you will see in the whole universe if you would compare, therefore we don't really you know if we have a association like that in saṅkīrtana or something that helps (not sure 1:03:23 ) us to pace them. It could be like an encouragement but if we have to do better but then we don't continue to compare you know, this is for a kind of beginning stage you might compare yourself (not sure 1:03:36) with different devotees (not sure 1:03:37), it seems that, oh, I should start doing more service then we don't want to slow down then others can catch up.

The point is that we know that the real pure devotees are like Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. 24 hrs a day was engaged in the devotional service or actually like Hanuman or like Arjuna or like the residents of Vṛndāvana ultimately Śrīmati Rādhārāṇi, who are engaged  in so wonderful service, Śrīla Prabhupāda example he gave, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, the six Gosvāmīs sleeping 1.5 hrs only a day, who can say that i am always sleeping only 1 hr a night and there is so much service i don't even feel tired. Are we in the level of these great ācāryas? They are role models, they are the great devotees who like to follow in their footsteps. Even if we are able to apparently surpass all these false ego because Kṛṣṇa may say that they are doing what to their capacity more than you. We shouldn't think like that even, but even if apparently it seems that someone is doing more service than the other devotees in the temple, anyway our goal is to do sixteen rounds attend the temple program and do as much service as we can do, more service, that's more mercy.

This was why Jayānanda went back to godhead, why we celebrate his disappearance day? Because he was the one devotee was the senior most devotee and in fact, he was one of the first devotees in ISKCON. And he never complained about service, he always wanted to service. In fact, he saw that if no one clean the kitchen up, he will clean the kitchen himself, he will carry out the garbage. And how he enthuses the other devotees to do service was was by doing it. And says this is great prabhu, why won't they help? Actually, he is such a good devotee I am not a good devotee he will praise everyone, they say No, you are a very good devotee Jayānanda, he will say no no i don't have any qualification, I just like to serve otherwise you are actually very much more sincere than I am, I have been so long and I have not still surrendered, look at how you has just joined, you are very enthusiastic and surrendered.

So I was in Philadelphia for his disappearance this year and there were many devotees who had worked with him, I had a very short association about 10 days, he was the one who shaved me up, first time he engaged me in the devotional service during the Ratha Yātrā cart in San Francisco. in 1968, as much as anyone he has responsible for encouraging me to surrender to Prabhupāda. But after that i didn't have much association because I was in Canada he was in America, I went when Prabhupāda was in Canada. But there are many devotees working with him for many years they follow all his qualities.

Even he will do all the service and still at night he will be chanting at 11'o clock while he had few rounds, he will finish all the service even other devotees and take care of everyone in the temple. And then he will finish his rounds if he had didn't, he will finish. Then he will take rest and he still be up the next morning, I was thinking the Ratha Yātrā cart, How to build the Ratha Yātrā serving, wasn't a big temple president, wasn't a big GBC but he was a pure devotee ,that's what we are trying to be, Pure devotee. Pure devotee doesn't think like that so why should we think like that? Pure devotee thinks that i got so much mercy Kṛṣṇa has given me so much service. I see these other devotees little bit in the modes they are not engaging in the service, then how to let them share the nectar? So they do the devotional service and by their spontaneous enthusiasm they are able to bring in other people to doing this service, they can see what. This person is always serving, it is contagious right, it's like if someone is really always in negative mood it is contagious, if you hang around that person you are not very strong. Pretty soon you know everybody is because you are talking, thinking in negative ways and then they will get your mind off from Kṛṣṇa. But someone who is really always thinking about Kṛṣṇa very enthusiastic and as soon as someone tries to bring some māyā thought  just spin it around, back Hare Kṛṣṇa. See how that prabhu did it? Kṛṣṇa is always testing us we have to be firm you know whatever they come with a little bit of negatives, throw it back, you know, Viṣṇudvāra vs Śivadvāra (audience laughing), so usually what happens all the negative people try to hang around with themselves after a while when they can't call anyone else down they stay by themselves in the modes. But there are positive devotees were able to bring common prabhu this is ecstasy, its nectar we are serving Kṛṣṇa, I saw Jayānanda's, I just walk by and he said Haribol, oh we are having a festival you know Ratha Yātrā festival, I thought that festival was already started (audience laughing) we were just doing the cart you know. Really, yeah...You know, (Not sure 1:09:55  )There was 2x4 pieces of nails, (audience laughing), he says wait, you just hold this for a second, gave me a nail, you know. Ah! you hold that nail great!! (audience laughing) you are a professional carpenter (audience laughing) you really held it straight, you know, I means it's very hard to hold a nail straight (audience laughing). And he held that nail, let me hit it and he told wow! you hit that nail good (audience laughing). The way you handled it, will take their hand and you are working for Ratha Yātrā and everyone chant Hare Kṛṣṇa  hammering away. Ecstatic!!

You can very well please him, Kṛṣṇa, we are serving Kṛṣṇa. (Not sure 1:10:49) start serving Kṛṣṇa, Prabhupāda was the only person  in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Everyone was in mode of ignorance and passion. Still he tried to give them Kṛṣṇa consciousness even everyone else was in māyā you won't serve them. I mean it's totally illogical how do you accept that as if they accept in the mind this is a logical thing. I am serving I am doing all the work, probably that person is not even chanting properly or reading you know because therefore you know they are not able to focus, that they are serving Kṛṣṇa, if they just surrender to Kṛṣṇa, I am trying to serve whatever I am doing it's not even enough, still the temple is not clean? still there is not enough money? still not enough devotees?, still not enough books going out?, I may not able to do enough... then how do i do encourage the other devotees to do more? How can i do more? To achieve all this goals, it's always wonderful to go and give everyone the message of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Nice question

Devotee: We can perform our service in a humble way, sometimes we become so proud always, more quantity of service gets started and its always we become more offensive how we can move ourselves in the humble way.

Jayapataka Swami: That's  the other point if someone may think he is doing more service but actually it is just due to false pride we should be humble we are supposed to think we are lower than the straw in the street and to see others with all respect to others, amānīna mānadena, giving respect to others not just I will expect first. Sometimes people just speak like that because they just want people to give them them respect, I am working so hard,, I am doing so much, what they really want to get it just say to them, yes , you are doing so much you are working so hard, you are the greatest devotee. But that's not ...We don't mind doing I will tell to everyone who is working very hard, you are doing great, wonderful, what's the harm?

Of course the guru not supposed to say the disciple they will really get puffed up but Vaiṣṇavas to others, it's alright to do this. We shouldn't desire, we shouldn't desire, we shouldn't think like that, we should think. Ourselves to become more efficient, more expert, Prabhupāda used to cry when someone falls in maya, Kṛṣṇa send us but we are not able to save him, I was a more expert if i was more surrendered may be could have reached his heart convinced his intellect somehow to stay as a devotee, even though is totally his independence but out of his hands to be in māyā, but still Prabhupāda felt responsible how we could how that soul left us, Kṛṣṇa send us we were not able to serve Kṛṣṇa properly. (audience:cough sound) You see, I didn't read but I heard that someone read, Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura said that every day before we take rest you can just review what we did during the day, what services we did how many moments we wasted, how many opportunities we had where we could have done this service better, where we failed how to improve again tomorrow then we take our rest, Then in the next day we start like that every day we are trying to improve  actually we want to improve our own service. We are not comparing ourselves with others we have to compare ourselves with ourselves. Our self with the pure devotees who are in the perfection of life. Sometimes in competition on a particular service  if it is that type of service like saṅkīrtana we may use others just because very easy.. thats not absolute, (not sure 1:14:57 ) best saṅkīrtana devotee, like Prabhupāda used to some temple would do so much when they win the marathon Then Prabhupāda would say alright very nice,congratulations, everyone congratulation, (not sure 1:15:08 ) have won the marathon (Audience: haribol, Guru Mahārāja clapping), its alright, now double (audience laughing). Its not that I am in the top, you always try to increase. Therefore, we have to follow Śikṣāṣṭakam to be

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

We follow this formula and then we can chant hare Kṛṣṇa.  If we get puffed up eventually we will even stop chanting , I am doing so much for Kṛṣṇa no one is doing anything in the end what's the result we don't do anything for Kṛṣṇa then  this shows that it is illogic, who wants more mercy of Kṛṣṇa, we are competing for Kṛṣṇas favor if we can do more service than Kṛṣṇa can see us that this devotee is so nice doing such nice service i go and meet this devotee, we should serve that Kṛṣṇa can see us whether others see us or not that doesn't matter. We want that Guru and Kṛṣṇa should see, if they see us, they give us their mercy it's all we want, you may please someone in the material world one day the next day you may not please him because they are not free from the modes of  nature, they are seeing things through the colors of the influence of nature's modes, you want to be seen, our service should be seen and recognized by Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa is pleased we are pleased, automatically we feel transcendental pleasure.

Hare Kṛṣṇa...

(Audience: Jayapatākā Swami ki jaya !!!)