19900516 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.18.22-23

Following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on 16^th of May 1990 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The class begins with the reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam - third canto, chapter eighteen, verse twenty-two and twenty-three.

Translation by His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedant Swami Prabhupada.

Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, this demon has proved to be a constant pinprick to the demigods, the brāhmaṇas, the cows and innocent persons who are spotless and always dependent upon worshiping Your lotus feet. He has become a source of fear by unnecessarily harassing them. Since he has attained a boon from me, he has become a demon, always searching for a proper combatant, wandering all over the universe for this infamous purpose.

Purport by Srila Prabhupada

There are two classes of living entities: one is called sura, or the demigods, and the other is called asura, or the demons. Demons are generally fond of worshiping the demigods, and there are evidences that by such worship they get extensive power for their sense gratification. This later proves to be a cause of trouble to the brāhmaṇas, demigods and other innocent living entities. Demons habitually find fault with the other innocent living entities… excuse me… The demons habitually find fault with demigods, brāhmaṇas and innocent, to whom they are a constant source of fear. The way of the demon is to take power from the demigods and then tease the demigods themselves. There is an instance of a great devotee of Lord Śiva who obtained a boon from Lord Śiva that the head of whomever he touched with his hand would come off its trunk. As soon as the boon was offered to him, the demon wanted to touch the very head of Lord Śiva. That is their way. The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not, however, ask any fav or for sense gratification. Even if they are offered liberation, they refuse it. They are happy simply engaging in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

Thus, end the Bhaktivedant Swami translation and purport to text twenty-two to twenty-three-chapter eighteen, canto three, of the Srimad Bhagavatam The Battle Between Lord Boar and the Demon Hiraṇyakśa.

So, Lord Varahadev form of Supreme Personality of Godhead came as a Boar was playing with this demon Hiraṇyākśa - fighting - and Hiraṇyākśa he was always in anxiety that there was no one he can fight with. Anyone he fought he would defeat, so he would go and just smash mountains [no clear 0:03:38 – 0:03:41] such a fighting personality wanted to fight with someone. Some people have this nature they love to fight with other people. Of course, because Hiraṇ…Hiraṇyākśa wasn’t a devotee he didn’t know how to dovetail that into Krishna conscious activity, instead, so, he wanted to fight with anything, anybody. So, he had already defeated the demigods, smashing mountains for sport, that wasn’t very interesting… after he got bored doing that. So, he really was hoping he will get someone he could fight with. So, then of course, on the other hand all the demigods and all the human beings and sages they are praying to Lord to take care of this person he was very… such a havoc in society. So, the Lord came, and He gave a good fight to the Hiraṇyākśa. Actually, Brahma is praying now… that let the Supreme Personality of Godhead… so that actually next verse he explains.

ŚB 3.18.24
mainaṁ māyāvinaṁ dṛptaṁ
niraṅkuśam asattamam
ākrīḍa bālavad deva
yathāśīviṣam utthitam

Translation

Lord Brahmā continued: My dear Lord, there is no need to play with this serpentine demon, who is always very skilled in conjuring tricks and is arrogant, self-sufficient and most wicked.

Purport

No one is unhappy when a serpent is killed. It is a practice among village boys to catch a serpent by the tail and play with it for some time and then kill it. Similarly, the Lord could have killed the demon at once, but He played with him in the same way as a child plays with a snake before killing it. Brahmā requested, however, that since the demon was more wicked and undesirable than a serpent, there was no need to play with him. It was his wish that he be killed at once, without delay.

So, he wanted that this demon should be immediately killed. The Lord was satisfying his desire that he wanted to someone to fight with so then the Lord came and was fighting with him. But Brahma is saying that this person is so cruel, wicked that why extent his existence and his body let him… He liberated. Whoever is killed by the Lord gets liberated by the Lord. Snakes… it says in the… in the Vedas are actually… it’s sinful to kill any living entity but snakes are so envious that they will strike someone even without any motive, without any use, not even in self-defence. They’ll just strike. In many cases it’s just because of their envious nature. Normally animals they’ll kill another animal if they are cornered or if they have to… wanted too… if they are… that’s the food for that animal. If a tiger or lion are fully fed, they won’t just go on eat another animal [not clear 00:06:55 – 00:06:58] but someone attacks them they will defend themselves - no doubt. Sometime[s], you can go close to a lion, if they are fed, just sitting [not clear 00:07:04 – 00:07:08] in the safari. But if they are hungry then you don’t want to go near them. But snake doesn’t matter if he is hungry or whatever you don’t go near a poisonous snake, they can… they can bite you at any time. So, for this reason even if a snake is killed, they are also so envious that they are bound to take a better birth so also, it’s not a sinful to kill a snake. The Sages aren’t felt sadden snake is killed but some innocent creatures killed then actually the sages will some morose. So, all these examples are given by Lord Brahma that this demon is more wicked than a snake and a serpent, so You should kill him. They were getting worried although he explains also in the next verse.

SB 3.18.25
na yāvad eṣa vardheta
svāṁ velāṁ prāpya dāruṇaḥ
svāṁ deva māyām āsthāya
tāvaj jahy agham acyuta

Translation

Brahmā continued: My dear Lord, You are infallible. Please kill this sinful demon before the demoniac hour arrives and he presents another formidable approach favourable to him. You can kill him by Your internal potency without doubt.

SB 3.18.26
eṣā ghoratamā sandhyā
loka-cchambaṭ-karī prabho
upasarpati sarvātman
surāṇāṁ jayam āvaha

Translation

My Lord, the darkest evening, which covers the world, is fast approaching. Since You are the Soul of all souls, kindly kill him and win victory for the demigods.

So, although he is saying You are infallible you can kill him, he saying that well night is coming demons become more powerful in the night some kind of universal night is coming. So, they are afraid that the demon become more powerful although.

SB 3.18.27
adhunaiṣo ’bhijin nāma
yogo mauhūrtiko hy agāt
śivāya nas tvaṁ suhṛdām
āśu nistara dustaram

Translation

The auspicious period known as abhijit, which is most opportune for victory, commenced at midday and has all but passed; therefore, in the interest of Your friends, please dispose of this formidable foe quickly.

SB 3.18.28
diṣṭyā tvāṁ vihitaṁ mṛtyum
ayam āsāditaḥ svayam
vikramyainaṁ mṛdhe hatvā
lokān ādhehi śarmaṇi

Translation

This demon, luckily for us, has come of his own accord to You, his death ordained by You; therefore, exhibiting Your ways, kill him in the duel and establish the worlds in peace.

Thus, end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Battle Between Lord Boar and the Demon Hiraṇyākśa.” [00:09:56]

So, now we get the whole picture of what Lord Brahma has wanted. He wanted that stop the play, the night is about to come the opportune movement - abhijit - where victory should be there is about to be finished. So, kindly come and defeat this demon. So, the demigods they are actually concerned with the universal welfare. The demons are concerned with their personal with the…they are against actually with the universal welfare. They want to control things but not according to any law of God. Even demigods are wanting to have things according to Krishna’s law. The demons according to their own whims. The human beings are in… in between, generally interested in their own temporary welfare but human beings can also transcend all these understandings and come to become Krishna conscious and serve the Lord and be a Krishna conscious as they can transfer themself back to the spiritual world – there remain transcendental. The brahmana’s are those who know the meaning of Brahman, the Absolute Truth, at least in the impersonal form that all the material world is temporary but that the Absolute Truth - which is eternal - is the reality. So, the brahmans know that nothing in this world is permanent - everything is temporary. Actually, it’s explained in the Bhagavatam how we should see this material world… that the Brahmanical vision is that the material world is always changing there is no stability in this world. Krishna explains how… confirms in the Bhagavad Gita that dukhalayam ashasvatam. Ashasvatam – it’s always impermeant or unchang… changing. So, that there is a continues creation, maintenance and destruction but this destruction by the time factor is constantly going on. We are seeing here in this room the marble, the wood, the walls, and naturally this appears like something real, permanent but in fact at that this very moment all these things are deteriorating, they are all destroying. It’s just like… now atomic energy they say there is half-life of say uranium at every so many half-lives or whatever it might be is sometimes thousands of years sometimes it[s] days or minutes. In that time that uranium or radio-active substance goes depletes itself one-half… whatever its quality was. So that’s the very easy to understand there were something is in this period of time it is going to be finished. There is not such calculation made for the span of existence of any material subject or object but actually each of the objects are gradually deteriorating. Just like we know that after ten or five or ten years we have to re-paint the wall, wall will lose its lustre may be already [not clear 00:13:08 – 00:13:11] when it was originally painted that over long period of time - stone may last thousands of years but eventually it also becomes dust it becomes powder. Now the Taj Mahal which is very famous monument in the world one of the wonders in the world according to material estimation. But because of the pollution in the air due to oil refineries and other things that actually the marble is chemically reacting with that pollution and gradually the marble of the Taj Mahal is becoming discoloured and they can foresee that in the future it become finished, it will become eroded totally over period of many years. So, actually, everything here is deteriorating, its disintegrating but it is just doing that in very slow period of time. May be paint is much more quick[er] than stone, the wood is more quicker than stone but everything has its own type of deterioration - tempo or momentum. So, actually, what we are seeing in this material world nothing is really permanent if you see from the eternal perspective. Something may be more permanent or less permanent than the human beings, but these bodies are also deteriorating every second. It’s just that we can understand just like you can look at your finger nails so you see that finger nails are fixed they are not moving but actually we know that after several days we have to cut our finger nails. They are growing, hair is growing also but you don’t… but you look at it you don’t see it moving isn’t it? You don’t see that you know I mean it’s moving so minutely so gradually that may be over three-four days we have to cut finger nails again but we just look we don’t see it moving it looks like its stationery. So, we may look in the sky you see the sun the sun appears fixed in one place but if you look an hour later it will be somewhere else. But any time you look you can’t visibly see it moving just by looking at it. You have to look again after some time you look you see there is a difference. So, like this, there is a constant change going on in the material world but we have illusion we think this is all fixed it is all permanent and that is the actual illusion of the material world to say this is the illusory world because we take it to be real we take it to be permanent we take it to be something we can depend on we can depend on as it is always changing. Now, modern physics also accepts that there is a fluidity to matter its constantly in the flux. This is written in the Vedas five thousand years ago that this material world is always in a flux and eventually the whole thing becomes completely destroyed and well that it becomes dissolved back into its subtle state. It’s just manifested for the opportunity to give the living entities who are the real important energy in this entire material world - is the living entity. The living energy, the consciousness, is actually what, is the most important and the whole material world is to allow this consciousness entities to manifest their desires here in the world and ultimately the real purpose is to give them an opportunity to mend their ways and come back to the spiritual world This is the kind of reformatory place, what we call it penitentiary? they call reformatory institution? something like that… modern they don’t like to call it prison anymore they want to call it reformatory… something. So, this is like that, actually the Vedic name for this material world is Durga. Dur means difficult, ga means prison – a very difficult prison to get out of. So, then the prison the trusties are the demigods you see they’re really hardcore criminals and the demon’s; human beings and others they are kind of innocent in between they are also…. Everyone here is the criminal but some are by hardly hardcore getting establishment like a terrorist or something some are there in… there are here… [be]cause they made some mistake but they relatively innocent. The demigods they are actually in favour of the establishment but they have some… still they have some reason for being in a prison but they get some special facility from the establishment so that’s why they are trusties and the prisoner-trusties they are the ones who kind of move around take care of the things on behalf of the government. Anyway, this is the basic situation - we’re in this prison house. The demigods they are also prisoners. Sometime as a demigod they are giving some benediction to the… to others and then it backfires and most demons come, and they create havoc to the demigods. So, then ultimately, they go to Krishna for their deliverance and then the Lord He comes, and He can arrange everything. So, this way He establishes His supreme potency or everything and He also, at the same time, He delivers the demon, He protects the demigods. He is actually neutral to everyone this demon wanted to fight someone and he was envious against God he said there is no God he doesn’t believe in supreme power he wants to fight anyone. So, Lord came, and He fought with him for some time. Lord Brahma said “Okay, satisfied his desire to fight enough now just finish him off and let the world be in peace again.” You see? Sometime violence is necessary if someone who is there against just creating havoc against everyone else and the only way you can defeat him is by violently subduing him - then violence is necessary. If everybody is peaceful then it’s alright no need violence but if somebody is there is going to disturb innocent people, then it require a strong hand to subdue that person to put him under control otherwise he’ll just go on disturbing. Innocent people are looking to the police and government for protection but if the government is ineffective the criminals are just going on do any crime and the police are no effective to stop him innocent people feel unprotective. So, this kind of situation developed in the universe somehow by the blessings of high powers the demon became so powerful that even the high powers couldn’t neutralise him anymore. So, then they have to pray Krishna to please come and deliver them. So, we see in microcosm this material world we see this happen all the time people will some time… some government becomes… Even in the history of American politics sometime they support some dictatorship and become so powerful in the end that country goes against America and America is not even… although it’s more powerful it can’t just go and wipe-out the whole country, so it becomes embarrassed doesn’t know what to do. So, then of course then they go to United Nations there is no supreme power in this world like that where we can go to solve these problems, so things become… you see… very complicated. This we see off and on in international politics that… But in the universal set up the devas they know that the demigods are devas they know that ultimately Krishna or Vishnu is the supreme power, and they pray to Him for their deliverance when they are in extreme difficulty. But then Krishna chastise… why did you give such benedictions to the demons you should be more careful about what blessings you give to people what power you give because some excessive power to unscrupulous person he misuses it.

So, one day Prabhupada was driving with us out (we were driving him actually) out to Mayapur and he was always in his car he would have this picture of Krishna and Balarama and he said actually Krishna and Balarama they appear to be favouring the demigods. They appear to be on the side of goodness and against evil. So in this world there is always goodness and evil and they are fighting against each other sometimes goodness prevails generally prevails sometimes evil also prevails and it appears that God is actually on the side of goodness but actually Krishna and Balarama are neutral because material goodness and material evil neither of them aren’t transcendental. But the difference is that since they those in the mode of goodness are praying to the Lord please protect us, give us your mercy, so He reciprocates with them accordingly and those who are demons they say there is no God they are atheist there is no supreme power we don’t… they are trying in other words indirectly to kill God so therefore God reciprocates with them and fights with them and kill them. You try to kill God, He’ll kill you. You try to glorify the Lord, He’ll glorify you. So, the demigods they glorify Him in this universe and the demons get killed. When it comes to ultimately that the Supreme Lord interferes that’s not that He is taking the side, He is supposed to be neutral everyone is His son everyone is His part and parcel so why He kills demons and protects demigods? This is only because He is reciprocating with each one accordingly. Even Bali Maharaja he was a demon, by worshiping Vishnu he defeated demigods and they approached, and He said well he is worshiping Me he is following his Guru there is nothing there can be done. He then approached their Guru he is so powerful now. So, then he prayed to Vishnu, so Vishnu He couldn’t directly defeat him because he was worshiping Him. He went to him as a dwarf, as a dwarf or midget – young boy; He went to him and begged from him three steps of land. So, by begging three steps of land He took all his kingdom in two steps the whole universe and the third step that the Bali maharaja surrender Him accepted Him and give himself to the Lord. So, this way he became a pure devotee before he was worshiping Vishnu, he is worshiping God for some material motive that later he became converted to a pure devotee. The difference between demigod or any devotee in the material world you find that they worship the Lord for some material benefit they still attach to this material world. They want that peaceful, happy existence in the material world they think this is the solution they don’t realise that this world is all temporary and going to be finished in any time, in due course. But the pure devotee, they can understand, that actually worshiping the Lord and serving the Lord is the real happiness - that is the real goal of life. Why should we be so involved in exchanging things in this temporary material world which is all meant to be finished, when actually we can directly relate and have a direct exchange with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even the demigods praying to the Lord kill of the demon, make the world peaceful. And now we find new-age movement or previously the hippie movement so many different movements that some people are born in mode of goodness they are praying that the world be peaceful that everything be auspicious that everyone have, love amongst each other and their objective of course that let us enjoy material life in a very comfortable peaceful way they are not in the mode of passion predominately that they wanted big materialistic development but at least it should be nice - free love, free everything, free sense gratification for everyone. So, actually what happens is a this is a little bit tinge of the mode of demigods. Of course, in this world is mixed with ignorance and passion because they don’t have pious blessings of the devas so the instead of knowing they don’t know how to use this how to enjoy even in a proper way so they take drugs or they do some other type of sense gratification which actually degrades them and gradually converts them more and more demoniac animalistic consciousness they are not able to maintain that mode of goodness because of lack of proper activities. So, in the Brahmanical culture you find that there are the strict rules those who want universal peace those who want they have to be regulative sense gratification. So, the brahmanas they actually live in a mode of goodness they avoid all kind of illicit sense gratification they avoid intoxication they avoid… they are vegetarian, they avoid meat eating they only eat food in a mode of goodness they don’t do gambling they don’t they only have sex life with their wife of course married by religious ceremony they protect their children so many rules to follow. These similar rules devotees follow the devotees are even more than the brahmana. Actually brahmanas follow these rules in India you find people they always pray that the world be peaceful shanti shanti shanti Om shanti jagat shanti vishva shanti like that they pray let the peace be at everyone this is the Brahmanical prayer. Same prayer that Lord Brahma prayed that the world be peaceful but the devotees they have a transcendental vision they want to people related with Krishna directly. Let them established lost relationship let the purpose of being in this material world become inductive let them go back to the spiritual world and engage eternally in the service of the Lord, why should they be here anyway separate from the Lord, what is there in this material world of permanent value that one should make some permanent arrangement for living here. This is just somehow; he came here we should make arrangement to go back to the spiritual world. This is the actually, purpose of human life as to re-establish our forgotten relationship with Krishna. Relationship is there, we only forgotten. Prabhupada stressed that point people mistake us that we are in the mode of goodness but sometime actually the devotees are pure goodness they are in goodness but more than the normal goodness the pure goodness. Because they don’t even compromise at all with the material nature, they want that… not that we just eat vegetarian food but we eat Krishna prasadam. Not that just once married and… but then one should have, train the children be Krishna consciousness children themselves should be an offering to Krishna that the child can be given at most opportunity to become God conscious. Of course, it ultimately up to the individual but up to sixteen years of age through affection and through proper training the parents have to in different ways give the child Krishna consciousness. After sixteen then they are considered to be an adult in the sense of Vedic culture at that time parents teach them as a friend and tries to convince them as a friend but not exert an authority as an absolute controller. So, if a proper love and affection and discipline has been done first fifteen years then after sixteen the children will also be respectful to the parents even though the father doesn’t laid a lot down as such but naturally they want to follow a good advice of the parents - in general. But you see in modern society that family life has fall apart to large degree, so those initial relationships are not established then the whole thing… We are trying to re-establish things in a proper setting so that progressively society can go back to home, go back to Godhead. So, generally speaking people in mode of goodness are more receptive but sometimes people even in the mode of ignorance and passion are acceptive in need or at the time of difficulty or they are inquisitive those who come out of knowledge they generally in the of mode goodness they realise that all we can be one Absolute Truth because they want to find out what is the truth and they want to be connected with the truth that is the real purpose of yoga. So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu He came to give a opportunity to everyone Papi tapi jata chilo, hari-name uddharilo. He didn’t make this distinction you have to be a person in mode of goodness to be Krishna conscious He said chant Hare Krishna whoever you are you chant Hare Krishna. One-time Lord Chaitanya was walking down by road with His followers and there was a group of people who were drunk from drinking wine or some country wine or something even five hundred years ago in Nabadwip people were drinking the difference is that now everybody drinks at that time few people were drunk you go here Mardi Gras or midnight or new year’s eve everybody is drunk that time few people were drunk not that everybody drinks. Most people Brahmanical culture is very powerful people wouldn’t drink few people were drink. So, when they went by the drunker’s saw Lord Chaitanya few of them got up one of them started dancing Nitai Chaitanya they were praising Oh! This is Gaur Hari what a beautiful this Hare Krishna chanting so nice they are dancing one got up Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna started mimicking Lord Chaitanya dancing behind you do Hari Nam Bourbon Street you see same thing going on. Sometime some drunk comes out start mimicking reminded of Lord Chaitanya’s pastime all the offences the followers you know just like making fun of Lord Chaitanya Lord Chaitanya He just go on casually He didn’t say anything. After some time, they lost the interest went back to the bow. Then they asked why You didn’t obstruct why You didn’t object he was joking. So, Lord Chaitanya said “anyway he was joking but somehow or other he was chanting Hare Krishna. His drinking will pass away next day he will be sober again, but he was chanting that is his eternal benefit.” Whether someone is drunk or whether they sober but they chant Hare Krishna the chanting the benefit they receive they chanted somehow another because they drunk they acted foolishly next day they become sober, their drinking effect only last certain number of hours any intoxication has it’s limit but the chanting that is eternally beneficial. Somehow or another we here in the middle of the city people are coming here for good time some people come for different reasons some people get drunk some people are sober whatever might be but our purpose is give them Krishna Nam - Holy name of Krishna, to give them Krishna prasadam, to give them some spiritual knowledge, try to help them to advance in their Krishna consciousness. By doing a little service for Krishna that stays in their spiritual bank account and brings them closer. Reason we are in this material world because we have forgotten Krishna. By doing Krishna consciousness is so direct is directly bring you in touch with Krishna through the direct chanting of His holy name in all the religions of the world the name of God is glorified “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” in Christianity the name is glorified in a Jewish religion the name is considered so sacred that only the Rabbis will chant the name then we see the name as Rabbis and not allowed to speak it out load according to some traditional system, I don’t know now. In the Ṛg Veda some of the Jewish names of God we hear in the mantras. I was listening to the mantras all of a sudden I heard the name Anonai -----it actually Ṛg Veda that’s interesting. Then of course in the Islamic religion they always chant Allah they chant the name of Allah. So, all the religion they glorify the holy name but as a process Lord Chaitanya revealed that name has got all the potency of the Lord someone chants the name get the same benefit as direct contact with the Lord as an immense unlimited purifying effect. So, our object is somehow or other get people to chant that actually release them so many obstacles in their path. People be peaceful we don’t want people to be not peaceful we want peace, but we want just be peace go on taking birth again and again in material world that come short of that objective. Let them be peaceful in this life let them go back to Krishna in the next. This is our objective. For the demigod they’re happy and peaceful in the world liberation is the consideration. Actually, Krishna is going to kill the demon the demon when he is killed by Krishna immediately merge into the Absolute Brahmajyoti, so he gets immediate freedom from birth and death. Although as impersonal realisation it’s not so envied by the devotees. The demigods they’re forced to remain in the world they want peace in the world so they get peace but again difficulty will come another disturbance come in the future. This world is world of disturbance some time peace, sometimes disturbance. It’s very nice tomorrow there might be a cyclone everyone will have to put tape on their windows there could be a strong tornado. Peace is there also some disturbance comes like that it’s the nature of the material world. Sometime let them all become connected with the Lord directly. In this material life, especially in modern society although people are so intelligent, and educated they know so many technical things about matter they know different aspects of mechanical science, at the same time they are so uninformed about spiritual existence. They don’t know what is the meaning of birth or death they don’t have any clear idea what is the law of karma what is the reincarnation. Now gradually more and more people becoming informed but they are still afraid of God if you are not informed about God so that people tend out what was Buddhism those have little bit scientific minded because there is no concept of God in the Buddhism but all the scientific aspect what is life more clearly explain in the higher sense. But actually, the real realm for discovery the real most wonderful thing is to actually to understand about God, to understand about the Supreme Personality… is not… because of lack understanding people are afraid but actually it is most wonderful. So, Krishna is eternally youthful eternally beautiful His pastimes are going on without any… in such a wonde… actual love that everyone is seeking. Krishna came here to show His pastimes some of these in Krishna Book see how beautiful are these pastimes. How He is playing with His friends, how He is exchanging with all of His devotees. He is talking with Uddhava; Udhhava you are My friend so whatever you tell me what to do whatever you say I have faith in you, I’ll accept it. He is just exchanging like a friend with Uddhava with different devotees. He plays a role as a perfect friend. So, all these things we can find in the Krishna Book. You can find in the histories of Krishna. People can understand what is actually the personality of Godhead what is the Supreme person like, but due to the ignorance people are afraid of any kind of supreme authority or any… they kind of avoid that. So, in the Bhagavad Gita it says this fear is an illusion, anger these are obstacles in our progress of Krishna consciousness and our spiritual progress, we have to transcend these things. So, the devotees are there to gradually bring people to this understanding. We are here in the city still because so many people are here. If someone comes here we can explain them about Krishna consciousness we can easily go from here to the different parts of the city and meet people or preach to them give them Prabhupada books, we have festivals here we can bring them on to the farm where it’s obviously, it’s much more in the mood of goodness. There it’s easier to have a peaceful life. We are not in the city because you want such a peaceful life we’re here because we know that people are suffering. Why the people go to the hospital… doctor work in the hospital? they don’t go there… of course they are going for another reason - for money but hospitals are there to cure people who are suffering. So, Prabhupada said our temples are like hospitals so we go here this is a right in middle of the where the suffering is more - in the cities. But of course, we also have our sanatorium our spiritual hospital in the country were obviously it’s much nicer. But people won’t go there on their own they have to, let’s say, know about it so here we are telling people nice country ashram we have come and visit us. So, in this city and country temples need to coordinate with each other people that want a peaceful life they can go and live in the country and build devotional service there. For those who want to help others who are suffering in the material world they come and stay here and they accept the austerity of living in the city in order to help the suffering living entities who are in ignorance, who are not… who are suffering more and more because of their lack of understanding. So, we have a city temple and the devotees for them they are living in the transcendental level they are not living in the city or the country, but they are living wherever Krishna is. It says that one should live in the Holy Dham, one of the five aspects of devotional service is to live in the kingdom of God. So especially Mathura, so wherever Krishna is there is Mathura so Radha RadhaKanta, Jagannatha, they… where they are living that’s the spiritual world. So, actually the devotees are neither living in a country or the city, but they are living in the spiritual world. If someone lives in a temple but doesn’t actually come to the temple program or doesn’t take advantage of living in the temple of God then they actually living in… not living in the spiritual world they are not getting the real benefit of what it is means to living in the temple or temple community. A temple community is meant for us to live for Krishna’s living that’s is spiritual world so by living in that atmosphere we can easily transfer to the spiritual world. So, whether we live in a country or we live in the city, actually the devotees is… neither… not living either, they are living in the spiritual world. Once you leave the temple then you see another environment you leave the temple… outside in the city you have the whole city environment - outside the country and country environment. But the devotees are living actually in the spiritual world that’s their objective, so they were with Krishna. Then Krishna is not there country or city none of them has any meaning for devotees. Krishna is only thing that counts nāma binā kichu nāhiko āro, caudda-bhuvana-mājhe in the fourteen worlds only the Holy name has any real existence, everything else is temporary. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare. That’s why here in conclusion Prabhupada said that the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not, however, ask for any favour for sense gratification even if they are offer liberation, they refuse it. They are simply happy, simply engaging in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Even the liberation which is not connected with serving Krishna devotees are not interested to serve the Lord that’s okay they are only - happiness. So, you can’t serve the Lord eternally in the material world because the material world is not eternal sometimes one will have to go to the spiritual world to serve the Lord there if that’s the Lord’s desire. For the devotees he is already engaging in the service of the Lord as they become liberated even in this world then they are directly reciprocating with the Lord they are experiencing unlimited bliss.

Any questions?

Could you translate that Kaivalya? Can’t understand the question [laughter]. Yes, you study from your mata and pita Bhagavad Gita [Not clear 00:42:46 – 00:43:48].

Any other question?

Devotee: [Not clear 00:42:52 – 00:43:37]

He may purify his consciousness and then again because he gets drunk the next day you know pollute again but these two things it immediately effect on your consciousness and the…the long range sukruti. That although he is never come out of this mode of ignorance long enough to reflect that things are something like that. Take the person… even sometimes if you give them a chant Mahamantra of Panchatattva has more effect as there is no offence in chanting Panchatattva mantra and then he was such a person he was alcoholic and someone got him to chant the Panchatattva mantra every day and actually after short time he could give it up and he could practice but you know they are very weak. So sometime again they fall down… their willpower is weak. So, some people they may not be able to become fully Krishna conscious in this lifetime they might not have the will power to do it but that remains next live taken a better birth may be they born in a family of devotees may be they get born in such a way that they can again take up Krishna Consciousness in this lifetime they won’t able to get it together but because they chant they put in the orbit of Krishna the orbit may be long may be electrical come close further but then the orbit will go on just like satellite they put up it keeps getting closer and closer to finally falls into the atmosphere in kind of reverse example when the orbit of Krishna but actually becomes closer and closer more we do devotional service, the more material life we are not at all in the orbit of Krishna. We are just here in the material world there’s no connection with Krishna. Once they start to chant or start to do some service their spiritual life begins but may be that orbit is so distant that to give within a certain range before we can actually notice that difference but the fact that he comes every day to the Hari Nama so he has some attraction he had a certain karma that momentum of karma is continuing in that he is already been drinking already like that then somewhere in the middle comes likes chanting he chants with the devotees there are many examples also were people… there was one guy he use to… in Miami he use to come to the Hari Nama and then he start visiting the temple sometime he had to leave the temple because he is always drunk he come with the tambourine [makes sound of tambourine] hit the tambourine, little less drunk so we let him stay in the temple and gradually by chanting, then taking some prasadam, he started to change and now he is a devotee in Miami temple - good devotee.

Devotee: [Not clear 00:46:37 – 00:46:46]

Jayapataka Swami: Transcendental.

Devotee: [Not clear 00:46:46 – 00:47:09]

Jayapataka Swami: Prabhupada said that actually point is that… say those who want goodness, just like now in the world there is actually polarisation coming. Where you find more people they are into vegetarianism, they are into ecology, they are into you know more in the mode of goodness, tendency is there but also simply for sense gratification so that also… Prabhupada said like one side is may be… at one point he said like America and Russia, Russia one point was totally atheistic totally they were like hundred present demonic based society were America “In God we trust” but still it was like eighty or ninety percent demonic only ten twenty percent was actually God conscious so it’s like slight difference if the situation polarises were you have the people actually become more God conscious. So, then the God conscious people who are naturally on the side of goodness they will be praying the Lord to protect us whatever. Then you can have then Krishna can easily take the side one side is obviously demonic and one side is obviously Krishna conscious or at least God, more Godly they are requesting probably. But the other one atheist they don’t have… so this but you have the… you know everybody is like a Buddhist goodness this that nobody other side they are all demons but they no… they just don’t let anything. Right now, there is a big concern that the world is having too many kids that population is going to become six billion by end of the century. Just like mushroom is so much so they said we have to spent something like thirty billion dollars to five billion dollars next couple of years to get all the third world country people to be sterilised and take family planning programs so that the population you know all these although they try they invest billion and billions of dollar to try to tell people to use contraception. In the modern… in the rich countries it’s proven so successful that in some countries they are not able to replace the population. They predicted by ninety but year 2020 finish, population going practically become extinct or something you know it’s like… they are offering five thousand crores everyone has a kid and year and a half free paid leave because nobody wants children in Finland any more. You know it’s like it also in north Sweden they are also getting worried, so they are offering you know gift get a bonus. I don’t know where they Sweden citizenship may be file for bonus, they offer e-sankirtan. But it goes in the other way people why should have child you know it’s dangerous it’s painful, so people don’t want the burden. So now the government they are in a fix even England they are saying the problem is not proper family life. One minister recently said it alright anyway. Actually, this all mention in the Bhagavad Gita that for progressive human society also required this type of responsible family life. So, due to materialism actually all these imbalances come about and by giving more imbalances by chemical or other artificial means doesn’t going to solve it’s not going to solve the problem it’s going to create more problem. What happens before people were worried about, so they were…they were at least in third world countries. In Asia many places promiscuity was in south Asia was restricted because people knew that is just like a part of their culture but as you introduce more and more this type of modern technic you may create more social problems they create other kind of problems. So, the real solution if people become more spiritually conscious then gradually become disinterested from sense gratification as a summum bonum of life. Problem in modern society is people thinks, sex, drinking, and gambling all these things these are the goal of life this is like this is what happiness is and as people become more spiritually conscious then they are happy or have children and you see [not clear 00:51:18 – 00:51:19] what it is to take birth again all the pains and things you have to go through again as an infant. If I don’t become detach from material life and I am going have to also take birth again I have to go through this whole thing. So, then people if they do it in scientific systematic way gradually, they become… they can become more detach from these things. Another hand even if they have more children it’s not a problem if the parent takes responsibility train the children nicely the children are good citizens. We have the crowed place where everybody is cooperative and nice is not a problem. If you have you know even a big house but only few people but if a one person is a real troublemaker then you know [laughs]. The problem is not over population the problem is quality of population. But there is no concentration on quality of population only with the quantity [not clear 00:52:10 – 00:51:12] economics of the whole thing. How to feed them? this-that. So, actually, the Vedas are more concerned with quality than quantity. Quantity is not the biggest problem quantity will naturally adjust if the quality is more, because if the quality is better than the people will consider to do the more responsible thing. So whole Vedic culture is based on quality of the progeny… whole married life everything all the yajna it says that the brahmacharis is meant for tapasy and the grihastha’s meant for scarifies. There are ten scarifies grihastha’s supposed to do every child, from garbhadan samskara to birth scarifies to anna prashanna it’s just like ten scarifies in a life that to help the child to progress whole thing is grihastha’s are… their whole life is meant to be one of scarifies in the sense of various type of scarifies… ceremonies to benefit their family to serve. So, in other words, the whole concern was the high quality of society. What is… what did Arjuna’s one of his biggest argument on why I shouldn’t fight in this battle, I kill so many these warriors their families become unprotected as unprotected woman they are just go here and there and go on produce unwanted progeny, unwanted progeny = varnsakar, this means it will become burden on society this will create whole kind of destruction, disruptions in the society. That was one of his big argument which Krishna defeated. This was well known that the quality of the society must like predominate consideration. But today where is the… there is no consideration of about the quality as such at least may be education should be educated. Education the whole idea is one must read and write some material information you should have on your fingertips, but what about the quality of character there is no training character. Character is the main thing people have good character then great disturbance. So, the Vedic culture was meant that the character in the temple in the home that children should be brought up to be good people they should be trained well. We were brought up in western [not clear 00:54:16 – 00:54:18] don’t eat with you know eat with your fork and spoon how to hold it you know don’t hang it up open… don’t… they give a few kind of general…it’s not so deep you know don’t yell at the dinner table or something. Tendency… resemblance is there it’s not so deep in the Vedic culture idea was to fully systematically have society brought up in a high character. So, this things people need to address this kind of can’t be done by the government must be done by the parents and parents only do if there is proper spiritual training. So, it’s interest in the government they may be secular they may not take the side of this religion that religion but in general they should promote people should practice religion you should practice some system. Of course, our system is a kind of postgraduate we can help all the religions sometimes devotees had invited to preach into synagogues, in churches, as a guest speaker. I don’t know here if they invited but in Atlanta we go often on to different churches. You see in Italy=====sometimes they preach people. But the devotees they did not bewilder that there is different Gods there is only one God but there is different system have come up in different countries not original. Our system is the original system it’s a postgraduate all the other systems we can say that they are just a part of Krishna. It is a same procedure but wanted to… principles are the same we try to encourage to come up to their consciousness people will take to Krishna consciousness when they can understand there is no contradiction and this is actually the sublime method to revive our original consciousness - to get an immediate effect. In fact right in the beginning of the Bhagavatam it says if you do all the religious rituals but you actually don’t feel any spontaneous spiritual attraction to God, you don’t feel any spiritual result from that then you can actually ask you can feel it, you can realise what is the use you are wasting your time Śrama eva hi kevalam. So, our whole process is very much result oriented you get result in personal sense you can experience Krishna consciousness in that very short period of time. People are practicing some religion their whole life; many don’t experience anything; they are just doing it because it’s part of their culture. It is not that very systematically it is not done very purely. So, this is a little bit of refining and they can also experience and if they are experiencing it - very good. That’s all we wanted - that people should actually develop love for Krishna - develop love for God.

Hare Krishna.