19920508 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.12.12

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The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 8, 1992 – in New Talavan, USA. The lecture begins with a reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.12.12.

Thereupon when all the good signs of the Zodiac gradually evolved, the heir apparent of Pandu, who would be exactly like him in prowess, took birth. Translation of Repetition Thereupon, when all the good science of the Zodiac gradually evolved, the heir apparent of Pandu, who would be exactly like him in priori, took birth. Report by Śrīla Prabhupāda Astronomical calculations of stellar influences upon a living being are not suppositions but are factual as confirmed in the Rmad Bhāgavatam. Every living being is controlled by the laws of nature at every minute, just as a citizen is controlled by the influence of the state. The state laws are grossly absurd, but the laws of material nature, being subtle to our gross understanding, cannot be experienced grossly.

As stated in the Bhagavad Gītā 39 every action of life produces another reaction which is binding upon us, and only those who are acting on behalf of Yajna Vishnu are not bound by reactions. Our actions are judged by the higher authorities, the agents of the Lord, and thus we are awarded bodies according to our activities. The law of nature is so subtle that every part of our body is influenced by the respective stars, and a living being obtains his working body to fulfill his terms of imprisonment by the manipulation of such astronomical influence. A man’s destiny is therefore ascertained by the birth time constellation of stars and a factual horoscope is made by a learned astrologer. It is a great science and misuse of a science does not make it useless.

Maharaj Parikshit or even the personality of Godhead appear in certain constellations of good stars, and thus the influence is exerted upon the body thus born at an auspicious moment. The most auspicious constellation of stars takes place during the appearance of the Lord in this material world, and it is especially called Jayanti, a word not to be abused for any other purposes. Mahārāja Parikshit was not only a great Kshatriya emperor but also a great devotee of the Lord. Thus he cannot take his birth at an inauspicious moment. As the proper place and time is selected to receive a respectable personage, so also to receive such a personality as Maharaj Parikshit, who was especially cared for by the Lord. A suitable moment is chosen when all good stars assemble together to exert their influence upon the King.

Thus he took his birth just to be known as the great hero of Rmad Bhāgavatam. This suitable arrangement of astral influences is never a creation of man’s will, but is the arrangement of the superior management of the agency of the Supreme Lord. Of course, the arrangement is made according to the good or bad deeds of the living being. Herein lies the importance of pious acts performed by the living being. Only by pious acts can one be allowed to get good wealth, good education and beautiful features. The samskaras of the school of Sanātana Dharma, man’s eternal engagement, are highly suitable for creating an atmosphere for taking advantage of good stellar influences. And therefore Garbhadant Saṁskāra, or the first seedling purificatory process prescribed for the higher castes, is the beginning of all pious acts.

To receive a good, pious and intelligent class of men in human society there will be peace and prosperity in the world due to good and sane population only. There is hell and disturbance only because of the unwanted insane populace addicted to sexual indulgence. Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta Swami. Translation and purport to text 12 chapter 12 canto 1 of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the matter of birth of Emperor Tarikshit. Oṁ tatsang. In the United States, if the president consults an astrologer, then there’s a lot of hue and cry in the media where he’s become superstitious. Where india it’s quite common. Every politician, every governmental person, they always consult not one astrologer, several astrologers before doing some important thing and nobody thinks anything about it. In fact, india at every stage of life they consult astrologists.

At the time of these days in the calendar they publish which days in the month are auspicious for conceiving a child, which days in the month are auspicious for going into a house for the first time and doing rehab probation in the back of the calabas it gives you two, three pages of auspicious date for doing different activities. Or you can get a custom made date when there’s a marriage performed. If the marriage is performed at the wrong time, even if otherwise there’s compatibility, there may be a lot of troubles in the marriage. So they will pick out a very what they call a suva muhurtam, an auspicious lagna where it’s going to be very favorable for their married life. So these things are observed very minutely india even today. And.

Taking all these things into consideration helps get over the various obstacles that come up in life. This is because there’s higher forces that are playing on every human being and we can attract the malefic or the auspicious influences upon us according to certain Material activities for the materialists. They’re 100% under the influence of the various stars. As Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned here, they are influencing every part of our body. The law of nature is so subtle that every part of our body is influenced by their respective stars. That’s what Śrīla Prabhupāda said. So there are for this reason we put our body, we put our mind, we put our whole existence under the shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.

And one of the ways is we put the tilak in the 12 places of the body so that each part of our body is under the control of Kṛṣṇa. Through these different presiding deities. We have a choice whether we want to be controlled by the stars, by our karma, whether we want to be controlled and protected by Kṛṣṇa, which influence we want. That is the principal use of our free will. We discussed yesterday about the free will, how that naughty child that was very spoiled wouldn’t open the door and window to his house, to his room, said, I am just sleeping. Actually, he was exercising his free will. Every one of us has free will. So we can be naughty, we can be nice, be good, or we can be bad. We can be spiritual, Kṛṣṇa conscious, or we can be materialistic.

That’s our free will. How we’re going to utilize it, how we’re going to. Which aspect of our free will are we going to employ? This is the. Consideration. Which is made here. We have the free will. So those who, if they know the laws of nature, if they know that the Lord is controlling certain and protecting his devotees when they surrender to him, then that intelligent living entity decides to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Those who don’t want to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa, then they cannot complain when they get tossed around by the influences of mature nature. Chanakya, the great political and moral guide in his Arthya Shastra, or guide for proper management of a kingdom or country, he advises that. Someone who is born under good stars is better for a minister than someone who is born with bad karma.

If they’re in a very good situation and they tend to act better on the other end. He said if somebody is too attached to astrology and won’t do anything without consulting astrologers, then they’re also not very good. As a leader. There’s a balance. He should know what the general flow is, you know, what the currents that we are born under, that we are affected by are, then that just kind of tells us the general situation. But apart from very special festivals or occasions, inaugurating some temple or something like that generally you don’t have to consult every moment to some astrologer. Try to decide everything by the astrologer. That way you become mentally weak also. So this is a balance. Know the general flow and then do the needful. So in the case of the Prabhupāda, Occasionally consult an astrologist.

But he didn’t take it very seriously. Just for the fun. Let’s see what they have to say. Let’s see what their ideas are. But he advised that rather we take shelter in Kṛṣṇa. Nowadays it’s very hard to find a good astrologer who can actually give such an accurate instruction. And even all they can do is tell what was the Karma that were born under. What are the influences which are playing on us. But one can cross over those influences by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. If we are 100% surrender to Kṛṣṇa then we’d be 100% free from Karma. This is what Kṛṣṇa promises of course, because we may not be 100% surrendered. So accordingly we’re going to be affected by our Karma. What we should endeavor to do is surrender more to Kṛṣṇa. To get over the difficulties, to transcend the Karmas. Yajark Karmanov Vishnu.

What we have to do is we have to offer our work as a sacrifice to Vishnu, Loko, Yam, Karma, Bandana. Otherwise whatever work we do is the cause of our bondage. These are the two alternatives. You work for Vishnu and become freed from Karma. Or you work for anything other than Vishnu. Whether it’s your family or whether it’s your country or whether it’s your own personal body. Anything you do that has no reference to Vishnu is a cause of bondage. So the devotee learns his art of working. How to work without getting entangled. This is a proper use of free will. Working in such a way that Kṛṣṇa is pleased. So through Grihasta life, to Brahmachari life, through all the stages of life, through our Gurukul days.

If we do everything with the idea that I want to please Guru and Kṛṣṇa then we will be free from the bondage of this material world. But if we want to do things only for some other purpose then we have to take the reaction. If there’s a good purpose, there will be good reactions. If there’s a bad purpose, there will be bad reaction. But any kind of material reaction will bind us to the material world. So they’re all source of bondage here in a prison house. Whether you got an air conditioned prison cell, whether you got a dungeon where you’re chained to the damp walls, it’s still a prison. Devas are in prison and the animals are in prison. The demons are in prison. Everybody’s in the prison of the material world. But some have a very nice prison facility and some have got a hellish facility.

Therefore, throughout the teachings of Lord Caitanya it states don’t do any pious activity, don’t do any good acts, don’t do any bad acts, any sinful activity. Simply do everything as a devotional service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. That’s how we actually get purified. This is very difficult. This is a very esoteric, very secret teaching. Most people, they can’t understand. They think only doing good works is religion. They don’t understand that doing something directly for Kṛṣṇa is the highest principle of religion not simply doing good works. Lord Caitanya, when he was discussing with Ramananda Rai was suggesting various auspicious activities. Varnashra so many things. But Lord Caitanya, he only accepted direct devotional service to Kṛṣṇa without any material tinge that will be all auspicious for the living entity.

So the whole Kṛṣṇa conscious movement is based on this principle of doing everything for the pleasure of Guru and Kṛṣṇa. As soon as we forget that then we come under the influence of our karmas of the zodiac of these stars. If we want to be transcendental to this influence we need to always be under the shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Every work we do, every act we do is done as a sacrifice for the pleasure of Kajaar Dart Harmano Kṛṣṇa. So. One time there was. Who was having a very beautiful daughter. He wanted to get his daughter married but he was a very stingy guy. So he didn’t want to give spend much money on the marriage. So his custom is india when the daughter gets married she changed her karma to the karma of the husband.

Before she’s married she’s linked with the karma of her father and mother. And when she’s given in marriage the karma is shifted over to the karma of the husband and she is united with the husband. So she literally leaves the family. Of course there’s still a friendly, naturally there’s a attachment and relationship. But in terms of family link she becomes part of the husband’s family. So that’s why giving a dowry was done that the father would give her share of the inheritance at the time she was leaving his family.

So while these sons had to wait till the father passed away to get there inheritance the daughter would get it up front at the time of marriage in the form of A dowry which was given to the husband, the bridegroom, which means it’s given to the daughter because he becomes part of that family. So it’s given to that family. So for the well being of the dear daughter of the father in law, the father of the daughter. So that has become a little bit perverse nowadays. But originally that was their intention. Now of course it’s like a double jeopardy because the lawmakers didn’t really understand the purpose of the law. So now daughters also get a share of the inheritance. Just like the sun on top of it, they get a dowry. So that becomes double. Some people give dowry, some people don’t.

But this particular father, he was going to give dowry, but he was trying to get away with giving as little as possible. So he got a big bed made up that looked like it was a first class bed. Put all nice varnish on it and everything. And he said, I am going to give a bed for dowry and a few bicycles, this, that, whatever, somebody. I don’t have a bicycle. But a few things. One of the things was the bed. The bed was actually lousy wood. They just colored it up good so it looked nice. So when the marriage was there, then he gave his bridal gifts. He gave this big bed for the new family and all that number of other things.

So the bride, the son in law, after a while found that the bed that was given at the time of the marriage broke. Whole thing fell apart. He didn’t have enough money to buy another bed. So then he sought. Actually it’s more natural to sleep on the floor. Sleeping in a grass mat on the floor, you’re closer to nature. It’s the natural path. So he got rid of the broken bed and started sleeping in a grass mat on the floor. So it appeared that he was very renounced. Such a renowned guy sleeping on the floor. But our previous acharyas explained actually there’s no question of renunciation. He didn’t renounce anything. His bed broke. He had no choice, he had a broken bed. So where was he going to sleep?

Just that he happened to cover it up with so much fancy philosophy that yes, I will be closer to nature and sleep on the floor. That’s just a whitewash. He had no choice. He had nowhere else to sleep it on. Before, whether he said it was closer to nature or not didn’t make any difference. This is at the Mayavadis. They actually get frustrated in the material world and out of frustration they want to renounce the world. Oh, this world is so much trouble that they renounce it. And they give up this difficulty. So it appears that then they try to say, yes, it’s better to be detached, and so on. So it appears that actually they’re being very renowned. But in fact they’re very attached. And they’re not really renouncing. Renouncing means you have something you renounce.

If you have only suffering, what are you renouncing? Renouncing the suffering. There’s not a real renunciation, He said. Therefore the Vaishnavas, they’re actually the real Renuncian. Because they’re doing everything for Kṛṣṇa. They don’t artificially renounce, but they take their devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. And they do everything that they that is favorable for their devotional service. They take the sacrifice Brahmacharya or Vihasta, Obanaprast or Sannyas and do that sacrificial work as a service to Kṛṣṇa. Somebody says, my husband is always fighting with me, or my wife is always fighting. I think I will renounce this one. There’s not real renunciation. The real austerity is to work it out. And for the pleasure of Guru and Kṛṣṇa, make the marriage work and be Kṛṣṇa conscious. And raise the children responsibly to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. That’s austerity. That’s the sacrifice. Renouncing something that you’re not enjoying.

Anyway, there’s no sacrifice there. So all the activities we do for Kṛṣṇa, this the proper use of sacrifice, this artificial dis. Renouncing something when it goes the way, another way than what we expected. And we think, let me renounce it. Then our mind will create that. How? This is much better to give up this thing and give some good reason for it. But actually it’s just the same old desire of always having happy senses. Where will my senses be happy? Where will I get more sense gratification? How can I be materially happy? Instead of thinking, how will Kṛṣṇa be happy? How will I be able to please Kṛṣṇa more? How will I be more responsible in my devotional service? Just like we bring children into the world. But it’s a very big responsibility to create an ashram in the home.

So that they will have such a positive environment that they can. In that group, Grihasta Ashram, they can be inclined towards spiritual life. That’s the austerity. It may be more gratifying to do many activities in the home which are not spiritual. But as a result, not only will we be reducing our own spiritual force, but the lives of our children will also be affected by growing up in that kind of an environment. One of the big advantages india so far, and anyone can see one of the big disadvantages, some good advantages in this. One of the advantages of India is so far, the television has not penetrated very far. Only a very small percentage of people actually watch television, and only in the cities. The average viewing public is about 17%. In the city, there’s only one show, one station. The station stinks the biggest.

But now they. By satellite, they beamed in satellite stations from Hong Kong. You can watch American shows. So now many people are watching. Many. Still only 3% can afford such a satellite service. So in the village, people are not generally watching. Of course, they go to the movies, and that’s the disadvantage. You see these movie signs all over. And now they have little video pilots. People go and watch. This actually was ruining the morality of the people watching all these videos and movies. But what’s nice is that in the country, when you have an Al Haad, they just get together and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare. They don’t worry about what’s on the TV or not. They just get together every two or three days a week and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. But in the cities, we have to watch. It.

(Side B of the Cassette)

Whenever there’s a World cup or some Saturday night movie, we had to. We see that the attendance to our panel program is more. Once the movie gets over, once the special World cup athletic event is finished, or if it starts at 9, you see everybody there until about 8:45. All of a sudden the candle half empties out. They all want to see who’s going to win the football game or this game or that game. So that’s only in the cities. The city people are more attuned to all these things. I think these are very important events in the life. But they’re really important events which are guided by all these astrological influences. These things people on Kali Yuga tend to neglect. That’s very important when we’re going to try to have a child.

It’s very important how we do it, what consciousness we’re in at that time. It’s important that when a woman is pregnant that we do certain purificatory things to bring a good influence to the embryo in her womb. Instead of that, nowadays it’s. Abortion, which not only doesn’t consider the welfare of the embryo, it kills the embryo. Then at the time of birth there’s gyata karma, the special pujas performed for blessing the child. And there’s at five to seven months for girls and six to eight for boys. This annaprasan with the first grains are given the sweet rice offered to the deities. This is another important ceremony when a child. There is a hair cutting ceremony when the child first is going to learn how to write. There’s a ceremony called hat kori which means you put chalk in the hand of the child.

Like on a slate or a piece of the paper and the pen. You write the names of Kṛṣṇa. In other words, a guru or some Brāhmaṇa will take the hand of the child, put the chalk in the hand and guide the hand and write Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa. Hare Hari. Hari Ram. Hari Ram. So the very first thing they wrote is the name of Kṛṣṇa. So this is like beyond astrological influence. This is very auspicious. Lord Caitanya was old enough to have the grain ceremony. Then Mother Sachi, she consulted with Neelambhar Chakravarti Thakur, her father, and he was a great astrologer. He said, now is a very good time. We should have the annaprasant. This auspicious moment. Astrology. So then they invited all the Brahmanas and everyone. They all came with gifts to give to Lord Caitanya.

They’re all nicely Decorated the wives were. Everyone was wearing a tea lock. And they’re nicely decorated with pearls and jewels, nice silken garments. In this way there was a kīrtana and there was all auspicious ceremonies going on. So then it was time to give the grains to Lord Caitanya. He was giving the grains. Before that there was the name giving ceremony. Usually that’s done at the time, right after birth, called Namkarn. But for some reason they had delayed. They wanted to formally give his name. So india, there’s usually sometimes two names are given. One is the official astrological name and according to which letter of the Alphabet is most auspicious for the child. The name must begin with a particular letter of the Alphabet. And the parents will consider what name to give with that letter. So Nilambar Chakravarti Thakur.

He considered that this child should be given the name Biswambar because by his presence the whole universe will benefited. Viswa means universe and Bhar means to hold up or to benefit, to sustain the universe. So Biswamhara means to sustain the whole universe. So in this lake he wanted to give that name. And all the men approved of that. But the ladies thought that since Mother Sachi was living in a little hut underneath a neem tree when he was born and he was given the name Nimāi, Neem tree keeps away the spoon, keeps away all the evil spirits and ghosts. So they thought it would be auspicious to call Lord Chetan Nimāi this very auspicious tree because he was born under neem tree. So there was the two camps.

Seems that even in Vedic time, there would sometimes be difference of opinion between the men and the women. I don’t know if that still exists today. But so then Milambar Chakravarti was asked to mediate. So he considered, he said, well, Lord Caitanya’s official name, like his formal passport name, they keep it astrological name, which they only use on special occasions and religious functions, that his name can be Vishwambhara. And for normal uses like his nickname, whichever you want to call him, that can be Nimāi. Just like someone, you know, maybe called, you know, william Smith, you know, when they run for election, they put in parentheses Billy or Buddy or whatever, you know, they give some names. So Lord Chaitanya’s popular name was Nimāi, official name was Vishwambar. So everyone agree? Okay, that was a good compromise. Men and women, everyone were happy.

Then they gave him the grains that were offered to the Shali Gramshila, the deities. And they let him loose. They put out. Usually you put grains. Excuse me, you put money and you put books, the bag with them. It’s like the bottom line. But Jagannath Mishra, he wanted to be more accurate. So on the money side, he put gold coins, silver coins, you know, he put little small change. Then in the book site, he had a whole stack of books. He had the Bhāgavatam, the Upanishads, the four Vedas. He had various kinds of books. In between, he put a couple pens and things just to see if someone would literally clang. So like there was a whole spread that Lord Chaitanya could take his pick which thing he wanted that would indicate from his previous life. What tendency was there.

At the six months of age, a child can still have very strong impressions of the previous life. So they show their inclination. Of course, that can be changed by proper association. One can, even if one. Whatever one chooses, that just shows the previous life. Supposed to indicate one’s tendency from the previous life. But in this life, it’s a new life, it’s a new chapter. And so by the parents, proper guidance and association, they can develop new tendencies.

So.

In Lord Caitanya’s case, he crawled straight over to the pile of books. And from the pile of books he grabbed the rmad bhāgavatam. And he took the Bhāgavatam and held it to his chest and he just embraced it. He was just hugging it and smiling at everyone. And all the pandits, they were very surprised. They never saw any child do that. Usually they kind of space out a little bit. Look here, look there, don’t really know what to do. They finally go and grab something, touch it a little bit. But here, Lord Caitanya bzoom straight to the pile of books, grabbed the Rimad Bhāgavatam and was hugging it and smiling. So the pandit thought, well, he is going to be a great pandit. Look how he went for that book. But the Vaishnavas, they thought, well, which book did he grab?

And then they could see it was the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. He must be a great devotee because he went straight for the Rmad Bhgavatam Grantaraj Bhāgavata ki. Which book did you go for? I give in the grand ceremony, number of children. But they don’t even remember. They go up at times. They’re pretty small. So Lord Chaitanya, he was showing his love for the rmad bhgavatam. So this rmad Bhgavatam is especially meant for this age. It can in some parts of the RMA advgavatam. It mentions that by reading this section of the R. Bhgavatam, if one was born under bad astrological influences, that will change to good. The RMAD Bhāgavatam in devotional service are so dynamic they can change one’s karma.

So even that very expert astrologers mentioned that astrology is not very good for prediction when it has to do with the life of a great devotee of a Vaishnava because their life is directly under Kṛṣṇa’s control. For materialists, it’s pretty good. But for devotees, Kṛṣṇa, he can adjust. He can make one come to him quicker. He can put one under extra difficulty to make you surrender more. He can put you under less difficulty to make your service easier. He can adjust. He can shift around the karmas. You put in the turbo mode, high speed mode, directly under Kṛṣṇa. So Prabhupāda said that sometimes the greater devotees would pray, Lord Kṛṣṇa, please take charge of my senses, take charge of my mind and engage me in your devotional service. Prabhupāda explained, just like a cat, when a cat takes his kitty.

Do you have any cats here? Do they have kitties? No. Babies. How do they pick up their babies? Put them on their back. Huh? By the mouth. They pick up the baby by the mouth, the back of the neck and move here and there. So how does a cat pick up the mouse? Also with the mouse. So is there any difference how the cat is picking up the mouse and how the cat is picking up the baby cat? So that’s the point when we are under Ka’s care, that it’s like the cat picking up the baby. That’s in a motherly way, a protective way. When we are not devotees to Kṛṣṇa, then we’re under the material world. The material world is dealing with us very roughly, just like the cat deals with the mouse.

So the same mouth is used, but the mouse gets eaten by the cat’s mouth and the kitty just gets shifted from one place to the next when the kitten gets off the track. So we have to choose whether we want to be under the shelter of Kṛṣṇa or under the shelter of Māyā. Who wants to be under the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, who wants to be under the shelter of Māyā.

So.

This is the what we can do to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. We have to start working for Kṛṣṇa. We have to always think what is policing for Kṛṣṇa. Bhakti Vinod Thakur had brought some mango for the Deity and Bhakti Siddhānta went and he was a small five year old boy. Six year old boy. He just saw the mango. So my favorite fruit. And without hesitating he ate the mango and Bhakti Vino Thakur chastised him. He said, you didn’t know this was meant to be offered to Kṛṣṇa. First we had to offer to Kṛṣṇa. Then we. How could you eat this without first offering to Kṛṣṇa? You have taken Kṛṣṇa’s mango. He felt so bad that he had taken the mango when meant to be offered to Kṛṣṇa. That he vowed never to eat mango in his life. Even though it was his favorite fruit.

So his whole life Bhakti Siddhartha Thakur would never take raw mango. He sometimes takes cooked mango chutney. But he’d never take raw mango. Meaning ripe mango uncooked. So he was so strict that even as a child he made a mistake. He took very seriously. This is a sign of his great devotees. They have so much character. They take their vows. They take their promises so strongly. You see how even Jaggai Madai they were such rascals. We know how they were very naughty, very cruel criminals. Before they were delivered by Nithyananda Prabhu. But once they got delivered by Nithinanda. Once they gave their word that we won’t do these sinful activities anymore. They had so much character that they never did any bad activities after that. Nowadays people have very weak willpower. Even they take vows that I won’t break the four regular principles.

I only do activities for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. But when Māyā presents herself then they forget their vows or they succumb to Māyā. So in many ways you can see how Jaggai Mahbhai were better than the people today. Although they were rascals, they were reformed rascals. Once they were reformed, they were very good. So this is what Lord Chaitanya wanted. No matter how sinful someone was, how much of a rascal they were, he will forgive them. But once they become devotees, they should no longer do any rascal dumb. They shouldn’t do any more nonsense. If they do, then Lord Chaitanya will not be as inclined. Trying to forgive again and again and again. At some point he will put down. So. Therefore we have to be very careful. Being devotee means that it’s very responsible. Even one is born in a devotee’s family.

Each child has to decide themselves if they want to serve Kṛṣṇa. Ultimately, nobody can force anyone to serve Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa won’t accept anyone’s service until it’s volunteered. The question is that child or adult, to come to the point where we voluntarily want to serve Kṛṣṇa, When we want to serve Kṛṣṇa, then that’s when our real vaiava Dharma begins. When we take shelter of Guru, take initiation, engage in our devotional service, that’s when we’re more firmly fixed in our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. So Parikshit Maharaj, of course, when some great soul is born, then they take birth at auspicious moment. So that even though they’re under the direct shelter of Kṛṣṇa, still just to give all auspiciousness, they’re also born under favorable constellations. So everything is going right for them.

Because he was a great devotee Śrī Kṛṣṇa, even before he was born, he was in the family of great devotees. And actually he also was born under a very auspicious circumstance. Prabhupāda mentioned that to be a devotee, it’s very advantageous, almost essential to also be born in the family of devotees, then it’s very easy to be a pure devotee. So Parikshit Mahars had all these advantages in his spiritual life. Of course, Caitanya Mahabhar was so merciful that even if someone doesn’t have those advantages, he still promises to deliver anyone who takes up the process. Any questions?

I got a question.

Bhakta Mike. Bhakti Indra. It says that when you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, all your past karma is eliminated and influence of all the astrology and this and that and other. But it would seem that would mean that your material body would also just immediately disappear because it’s a product of all your past karma. So is it there like a silver certain type of karma that Channing will eliminate or what? Understand what I mean? How about explain that since we have a material body and that already has a certain momentum in terms of Karma, so that doesn’t. Momentum doesn’t completely suddenly stop. What happens is like pulling the plug out of a fan. You’re not adding any more momentum. And then gradually all those previous karmas are burned out by the effect of devotional service.

There may be some superficial affects because we have this material body, but doesn’t affect the consciousness of a pure devotee. This is an example of pulling the plug out from the fan. Normally we’re locked to the laws of Karma and whatever we do, we’re producing more Karma. So when we take, we’re surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, the fan is swinging where we’re pulling out the fan plug so that now it gradually stops According to how much friction there is, it will stop faster. So as we do more and more pure devotional service it burns up the karmas and brings the fan to a stop, to a very slow speed where we have hardly any karmic influence. And whatever is there externally doesn’t affect the consciousness of the devotee so that the devotee is actually liberated.

There’s so many different types of OBEs and we all have so many material g. But at the time of death, how is it that you’re going to be pure, having some material diet and then sending grips and then going into the spiritual world. How is it that we will not map anymore? Until the D went through.

Al Jamil chanted the name of Kṛṣṇa. He got a second chance. He went to Hardwar and there he fully purified himself by devotional service. And from there he went back to death. He didn’t die at exactly that moment. I was with one devotee in a car accident. So happened the car was spinning over and over. At that moment I was just chanting out Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa. But the person with me was the Grihasta and wife and child in the he was crying out his wife’s name, his child name. He was very worried what’s happening in the accident. So he mentioned to me later, heard me chanting Kṛṣṇa. And he said how at that moment he was worrying about his wife, his child, what was going to happen. So you could see how material nature works at the time of death.

Generally we think of the thing which is the most dear to us at that moment. The thing which we’re preoccupied at that moment. Ajameel wanted to see his very dear younger son. So he yelled out the name of his younger son happened to be Narayan. That’s why it’s good to name your children after Kṛṣṇa. But his initial intention wasn’t actually to remember God at that moment. It was by a special benediction that he could remember the name of his son which happened to be the name of God. And when he chanted that for a moment he remembered Kṛṣṇa. That was enough. But just at the right time. But normally people may not be so fortunate. Just like an honorary degree. You can’t expect to get this kind of benediction in every case.

Otherwise everyone can just go on doing their material activities at time of death. Just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. But it’s not so easy. It’s just like the dead man, the dying man who told the doctor that his friend Prabhupāda in Allahabad when he was dying and the doctor told him One year to live or a few weeks to live. He begged the doctor, please give me one more year. Because I have just invested so many hundreds of thousands of rupees in the new business. And after one year it will get on its feet, I will recoup my investment, everything will be stable. So give me just one more year. The doctor said, it’s not in my hands. So Prabhupāda was seeing how the person is about to die. He should be thinking how to fix his mind in Kṛṣṇa.

Instead he’s thinking about his business and what about all my capital? He’s about to leave the world. It’s all finished. The whole whatever he did. Now this chapter is over. But he’s still so attached. And he you can’t stop thinking about it. So generally people are not able to fix their mind on Kṛṣṇa unless someone is habituated to chanting every day, worshiping Kṛṣṇa, actually thinking how to please Kṛṣṇa. Then at the time of death you won’t be able to put your mind on Kṛṣṇa. Generally devotees can remember Kṛṣṇa because they’re accustomed to remembering Kṛṣṇa. If you suddenly hurt yourself or stub your foot or something, if you yell out Kṛṣṇa, that’s a good symptom that you are getting trained up to always depend on Kṛṣṇa in every emergency. And that alone can be enough to deliver you. But it’s not so easy.

So many people, when they’re at great difficulty, yellow, mommy, mother, so many things, whatever they’re.

Children names according to what? The auspicious Astrological. When the spiritual master initiates the disciple and being self, how you take the first letter of that person’s previous name or the spiritual name india, you know, under the assumption that they have been named officiously astrological. Then the spiritual name would also be auspicious. But here in the west, you know, that doesn’t have anything to do with it. So is there some correlation there? Or why does that.

Well, it says in the natives to keep the same first letter. Maybe that’s.