19930430 Bhagavad-gītā 8.13

Bhagavad-Gita 8.13

Type Of Talk:

Evening Class

Date:

Friday, April 30, 1993

Collection:

Enlightenment 7

Audio player:

19930430_Bhagavad-Gita.8.13_Melbourne_Australia The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on April 30th, 1993 in Melbourne, Australia. The class begins with a reading from the Bhagavat Gita, chapter 8, verse 13. oṁ ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma vyāharan mām anusmaran yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ sa yāti paramāṁ gatim Translation: After being situated in this yoga practice and vibrating the sacred syllable oṁ, the supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets.

Purport: It is clearly stated here that oṁ, Brahman and Lord Kṛṣṇa are not different. The impersonal sound of Kṛṣṇa is oṁ, but the sound Hare Kṛṣṇa contains oṁ. The chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is clearly recommended for this age. So if one quits his body at the end of life chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, he certainly reaches one of the spiritual planets, according to the mode of his practice. The devotees of Kṛṣṇa enter the Kṛṣṇa planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana. For the personalists there are also innumerable other planets, known as the Vaikuṇṭha planets, in the spiritual sky, whereas the impersonalists remain in the brahma-jyotir. Thus ends the 02.37 of Bhagavata Gita translation and purport, the text 13, chapter 8 of the Bhagavata Gita as it is, in the chapter entitled attaining the supreme. How many people here know what Brahmajyoti is? How many know what Vaikuntha planets are? Anyone doesn’t know what the Vaikuntha planets is? Anyone too shy to admit? It is very interesting verse because, telling how somebody can reach the spiritual planets by meditating on the transcendental sound vibration, and meditating on the supreme personality of Godhead. Here in the translation it is said that if one thinks of the supreme personality of Godhead and quits his body, the actual Sanskrit it says, vyāharan mām anusmaran, mam means me, Krishna is saying if you remember me. So remembering Him, He is the supreme personality of Godhead, that’s why Srila Prabhupada is saying here that chanting Om or Hare Krishna, chan... meditating on Lord Krishna, the time of leaving the body, one must certainly reach the spiritual planets. So, of course in the West most people unders... have heard, Well if you do good work and die you go to heaven, and if you do bad work you die you go to hell, but in Krishna consciousness it is a little bit more complicated than that, it is a little more detailed where you could go. And there is no disagreement with that basic statement, there is a lot of varieties, Bhagavat Gita explains that according to our consciousness when we leave the body, that is destination that we will attain. So in within the universe there is a very good planet where life is pleasant to live, there is no prejudice, no prejudice, no hatred, lot of sense gratification, there are beautiful gardens, no pollution, no need for machines, you can fly around without machines, there woman when they get pregnant they have just one day of pregnancy and then the child, then don’t have to labour for ten months, and ah... similarly the old age is also...they stay young until the last date, and one day old age, die. So lot of nice facilities for nice, comfortable life, then the hellish planets are described also, where there is... all varieties of different hellish planets where people who have caused other’s suffering in this life they have to go and suffer. Of course there is all other category when there is people who do not do good or bad, they are mediocre or middle of the range as far as goodness and badness, they are just little self-interested, so they come, one of them come right back to the earth again, they take birth again in this planet. They are not bad enough to go to hell, they are not good enough to go the heaven, they come back here, start all over again, and that’s it. ..05.39-40 fit in that category. May be that is the 05.42-46 we talk about I don’t know, but that’s where everybody 05.53-54 destination to go in the material world. None of this places are eternal, every place has got it’s limited time, period. So the Vedas, the Bhagavat Gita explains to us that we should be concerned about where we are going at the end of this life and rather than worrying about just getting to a good material planet we should actually try to get back to God, try to get back to Krishna. ..6.30-32, we live in the material world, Supreme Lord has His own abode far beyond the material universe, where there is no birth, no death, no old age and no disease, where there is the...no material body, one has the spiritual form. Doesn’t get old, so the mature yogis they want to go to the spiritual planets. Around and between the spiritual planets there is a light that’s called that brahmajyoti or the effulgent. Sometimes some great philosopher or yogi realizes that spiritual effulgence, and they consider that is form of God realization. So there is varieties of realizations, varieties of destinations and a human being has got the ability to decide where he wants to go and work for that. Of course some people we have that potential but that we have to be able to utilize. People don’t ah... find the spiritual master, if they don’t find a guru then they never know what the destination is, they don’t know what the proper activities they should or shouldn’t do, .... In India it is very customary that everyone finds a guru and takes the shelter of the spiritual master. The spiritual master gives one guidance how one can achieve the perfection in human life, this is the ancient system that everyone finds a spiritual master, just like when Jesus was a spiritual master to his apostles, or Buddha he was a guru to his so many of his direct followers, buddhasatwiks. So in the vedic tradition there is always a guru and a disciple. Our founder His Divine Grace Srila A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami, he coming in the line of spiritual master, he has a guru and now on his guru’s order he came to Australia, and gave Krishna consciousness here. Similarly he has initiated so many disciples, some of those disciples are also initiating, in this way the disciplic succession is continuing, it is going back to history to Krishna, 5000 years ago, when Krishna was present, of course it goes beyond that, but that’s too far beyond to calculate, so we just, of course we do calculate to Lord Brahma, our succession is coming from the creator of the universe, Lord Brahma, it’s been handed down since the beginning of the universe. There are some people say that no matter what you do, you get the same result, no matter what type of worship one does, but if you pay ah....a certain fare, you buy a ticket to Sydney...you cant fly it to Brisbane or Austin, but for Perth you can fly to Singapore and to India. According to how much ticket you pay, that’s how far you can get. So if a person wants to get to the spiritual abode with his no birth, no death, no disease, where there is eternal life, so he has to pay that ticket, at least one has to practice ah... spiritual activities 10.15, so that at the end of life one can get back to Krishna. One wants to remain in the material world or show a better place in the material world, then one can also chant Hare Krishna for that also. Simply by desiring to be elevated materially, you can get that. If you want to go to hell, then you don’t have to chant, then you better not chant Hare Krishna. People who chant Hare Krishna don’t go to hell usually. This is a very interesting point, we should consider where we are going, what is the purpose of life. Most people are preoccupied with the recession, about getting a job, getting to college, having the next child, so many temporal consideration. So they kind of put on the back burner all this considerations of spiritual life, then again we don’t know how we are going to leave this body. Here it says one quits his body at the end of his life, who here can say when the end of life is going to be, anyone can say, nobody knows when the end of life is. So then if at the end of the life we chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare and remember Krishna, then we go back to Krishna, but that means that we have to be practicing that chanting enough, so that when that moment comes we can chant and remember. So that’s why it is recommended that we should go on chanting everyday, kirtaniya sada hari, everyday we should chant without fail, as a regular practice. The common ideas is that when someone is in old age then one should chant. That might have been practical in the satya yuga because at that time the people would die when they were old, but in Kali Yuga nobody can say that I will die only when I am old, that is not so courteous, to give us such a predictable time. Nowadays people are dying at 13.05, that’s why life insurance companies are getting a lot of customers, because people know that anytime they could die. So this is another type of etenal life insurance, that we chant the holy name and that we are always prepared to anytime to go back to the spiritual world. At the same time Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He stresses the point that even if we don’t go to the spiritual world we can be in the spiritual world now if we are actually... elevate our consciousness to that level. If we elevate our consciousness to the level of Krishna consciousness, then we are actually immediately now, in the spiritual world. Iha yasya harer dasya karmada manasa gira Nikhilasya avasteyu Jivan Mukta sa uchyate That when is using one’s thoughts, words and deeds in the service of Krishna, that they are liberated even while living in this world. So devotee who is fully practicing this process of Krishna consciousness or bhakti yoga, they actually are in a special shelter, when they are feeling spiritual peace for themselves, just feeling a spiritual happiness. They are not being affected directly by the Laws of Karma in the same way. Throughout practical purposes they are liberated. That liberated stage is difficult to achieve ordinarily, but if one can achieve it by this full practice of Krishna consciousness. Sometimes you find like a devotee, although he is well situated, actually he is concerned what about my mother, what about my father. One devotee went to save his mother when she was dying, requested the mother, “You please chant Hare Krishna.”, knowing that at the time of death if she chants she will go back to the spiritual world. But the mother said, “No, I can’t I am too weak, I can’t say that, I don’t know how to say it, not feeling well”, ah... so many words, finally she died. (laughter) If she had said, “I can’t chant Hare Krishna.”, she would have gone back, instead she was just saying I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, so that Of course there was another case in ah... Orissa, West of ah... India, is one of the states in eastern India, where Jagannath deities.... anybody came from Orissa, Orissa is a wonderful place, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spent 18 years in Orissa and Bhaktisiddhantha Saraswati Thakur our Guru’s Guru, he comes... he was born in Orissa, in Jagannath Puri, that is very special place for us. So in Orissa we have lot of Namhattas. Namahattas are special groups of devotees who live in their home, who get together and chant Hare Krishna on a regular basis. So one of our Namhatta groups there, they...they are very active, they have been 15.56-58.....for about 10 years. The day when we have or annual get together, about 1000 or 1500 delegates come, so they explained them what happened to them, this is about two years ago. You heard the story already, they explained how in their, because in Orissa, in some parts of Rural India, there is still quite a bit of caste consciousness. So because they...some of them have taken diksha from me, although I now I am an Indian citizen, I was born in America, so castewise some of the brahmanas took it otherwise, oh you took initiation from American or because I was born in a Christian family so ......a Christian. They don’t consider that whether now I a Vaishnava or I a guru and I have taken diksha. They were just trying to ostracize because they saw everybody was going to the Hare Krishna namhatta, what will happen to the brahmana because they are doing all weddings, death ceremony, all... So they are afraid that if everybody becomes Hare Krishna, maybe this will cut into our, whatever. So they... those people if you go to the Hare Krishna group then we won’t perform anymore death ceremony for you or anything. So why not, there is only a quarter of devotees who is chanting there, but they was one Landlord. Of course now in India there is no more Lord system but upto independence, there was a feudal system under the British and there were many Kings and Rajas and there were so many Lords. So there was ah... big mansion, he was the Lord, he was under the British. But after independence all arms were taken away, not all but say lot of his lands were distributed to the .17.50, to the common people and he had his big property, bit house. So in the British time you know he was big Lord, he was a drunkard, he was in all... almost things that people... British society do, he was doing all those things. So he was, he was already outcaste, so that point of view he was considered rich but fallen. But he in the end of life, he like to...somehow he got a fancy for the Hare Krishna devotees and he used to call them over to his house. And then he heard their preaching and heard their kirtan, so he started chanting Hare Krishna and he gave up bad habits. And then ah...at one point he was about to die, his doctor said, “You are very sick, you are going to die.”, he called for the devotees and the whole Namhatta went there, and they were chanting and while he was leaving his body he was chanting Hare Krishna, and ah... very peacefully he left his body. So the word came out, here this person who was you know spiritual, he was quite fallen, materialistic Lord and all that, so he...but the Hare Krishna namhatta devotees they went at the time of death, they chanted Hare Krishna and this person was chanting the Lord’s name when he left and everyone was ....quite a religious people, they all know it that when you are chanting Jagannath’s name, when you are chanting Krishna’s name you go, then you are going back to Godhead, they knew that. So then they started thinking, when we die the brahmanas come and do the last rites, that’s already after the 19.38, but Hare Krishna devotees the come before we die and they are getting us to chant and they are sending us back. So they all said that we are safer with the Hare Krishna devotees. They started coming again to the Namhatta programme. (laughter) So the brahmanas, they got themselves isolated. So they had a discussion amongst themselves, and now they also joined the Namhatta. (laughter). So now everyone is ah... integrated, no problem. Everyone chanting Hare Krishna. Actually it’s a very interesting work in India because people are already very religious, but it’s just that people have somehow got different 20.22 now. Now after independence a lot of people want economic development and so many things, so you see like in Orissa there is a thing called Bhagwat Tungir, every village has a place to read Bhagavatam. But now, hardly anybody is reading Bhagavatam there, you go, you will see, they are playing cards or something there. (laughter) So we are trying to revive this. In India we don’t have to teach people, they know, what happened is that they are forgetting or they are just neglecting, so we are just trying to revive what they already know. In Bengal, everybody knows about kirtan, and so we are reviving and we found out that we have thousands and thousands of groups in Bengal and Orissa who are chanting Hare Krishna, and we are organizing them, coordinating, having festivals and they get a lot of inspiration by this ah... interest and they really like it when devotees come, specially we brought two devotees from Australia, and different parts of the world, going into the different villages of rural India, and they really love it to see devotees from all over the world. So then it’s wonderful, one can’t imagine, because four years ago there was the big British Lord’s coming in there telling them what to do, but nowadays they are seeing devotees from England, Australia, from America chanting Hare Krishna and dancing with them not on a ego... but embracing them in brotherly love, especially the ladies come... then the Indian ladies they get to associate with the foreign ah... devotees, ladies from all over the world, they really like it. It is a very big inspiration. So we have this programme, when we go to the villages also and do this little programmes. It is not only in India also, in nearby countries like Srilanka, Bangladesh, this time we went to Srilanka and it was very nice with the Tamil people there we had beautiful programmes in all the temples, ISKCON Vinayakam, morgan....anyway, Krishna temples, beautiful programmes. So we are trying to, in India just revive an interest and ah... to focus also on this process, there is so many processes, people don’t know which is the best one, so Bhagavat Gita is saying like if you chant Hare Krishna, you think of me Krishna is saying, think of Krishna, when you leave your body you go back to me. So we want people to do that, but it’s not like this only works in India, this works in Canada and Australia, America, in Africa, everywhere, like you find somebody from China starts to chant

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Rma Rama Hare Hare, he gets spiritual bliss.

So sometimes people chant Hare Krishna, they don’t feel a big change, because maybe they are very covered over by so many conditionings, so they chant Chaitanyas Mahaprabhu’s name, Shri Krishna Prabhu Nityananda, Sriadvaitya, Gadadhara, Srivasadi, Gaura Bhakta Vrinda, then you chant Hare Krishna, you will get more effect by the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was so merciful that ah...he induced everyone to chant but he wanted his... he wanted help, so devotees started to join Him and started to help Him to spread the sankirtan movement. There was one devotee who was almost a same height as He was, who came and joined Him in spreading the sankirtan movement, does anyone knows who that is? Nityananda. Lord Nityananda, so Lord Nityannada was also golden in colour but with a slightly reddish hue, and Lord Caitanya is the colour of molten gold. So of course thats...when Nityananda Prabhu joined Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the very amazing reunion. Lord Chaitanya when he understood that Nityananda Prabhu was in Nabadwip and He sent everyone off to find Him, and no one could find Him, then he went looking everywhere, He said I will go and find him, you come with me, you cannot find Him because he is also the incarnation of God, nobody can find God by seeking Him. Just like here the people, they are trying to seek out God. God can’t be found by seeking. God reveals Himself, Lord reveals Himself, the supreme Lord reveals Himself to the sincere devotee. We have to simply open out 25.13 and He reveals Himself. But if we are looking for Him, He is not obliged to reveal Himself. So the process of Bhakti Yoga is by chanting we open ourselves and then the Lord reveals Himself to us. Thus He appreciates, He reciprocates with our love and devotion. In the house of Nandan Acharya ...and there Lord Caitanya saw Nityananda saw Lord Nityananda saw Lord Caitanya and they were so ecstatic, cannot express that in words, just like they went looking at each other like they are drinking each other through their eyes. As soon as Lord Caitanya saw Nityananda, He said, Nitya, Nityananda saw Lord Caitanya and said, Gaura. Lord Caitanya is also known as Gauranga. If you know the word Gauranga. Gaura means golden, anga means body or form, so Gauranga means the Golden incarnation, the golden form, the golden avatar. JPS: So then Nityananda, what did He say? Gauranga! Devotees: Gauranga! JPS: Gauranga, what did He say? He said Nityanada Devotees: Nityananda. JPS: Gauranga Devotees: Gauranga JPS: Nityananda Devotees: Nityananda JPS: Gauranga Devotees: Gauranga JPS: Nityananda Devotees: Nityananda They ran at each other and they embraced, and they are crying in happiness and the devotees, they could the two Lords meeting was so ecstatic, actually from the sky flowers were flowing down like rain. Devotees were chanting, Haribol Devotees: Haribol JPS: Gauranga Devotees: Gauranga JPS: Nityanada Devotees: Nityananda There was a big kirtan, they were going all over Nabadwip, people would say, “Oh, how there is two (laughter) Who is that with Lord Caitanya? So beautiful, and everyone they were chanting, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishn Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Rma Rama Hare Hare. So like that the first day went in kirtan. Then the next morning Lord Caitanya told Lord Nityananda, You have to come over and take lunch with us. Mother sachi wants to cook for you. So Lord Nityananda He went, when he say mother sachi, the mother of Lord Gauranga, He paid His obeisance, offered Their respect and then he said that, from today you are my mother, that I am accepting you as my mother, and ah... mother Sachi she said ah...she was so, she couldn’t explain it, but she got so much motherly affection for Nityananda. Actually in previous pastimes, Nityananda was Balaram and mother Sachi was Yasoda, Yasoda loves Balaram, so mother Sachi loves Nityananda, even though in this life they have never met before, but immediately there was that motherly and son relationship was established. So then ah... motherly affection she embraced Nityananda, blessed him and ah...So Yes you are my son, now I have two sons. JPS: Gauranga Devotees: Gauranga. JPS: Nityananda Devotees: Nityananda She cooked a very big feast for Gaur-Nitai, for Lord Caitanya, Gauranga and Nityananda, and ah... offered them very nice Prasad, I don’t remember all the details but ah... in this way there was... immediately, Lord Nityananda the first day he was totally integrated,simply everything was waiting for Him. Nitai-Gaur They are so merciful, actually it was Nityananda Prabhu who went and begged everyone to chant Hare Krishna on behalf of Lord Caitanya, Jagai Madhair who were hopeless case, we are hopeless, He also requested them to chant Hare Krishna and eventually ah...by His mercy ah... they were delivered. So you are very fortunate here at this temple because here this is called Mahaprabhu Mandir, because here Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Mahaprabhu, their the first deities were established, installed here, they were installed here, the ah... Gaur Nitai deities, so you are very fortunate. Of course you are fortunate with all the deities, but by mercy of Gaur Nitai you can Radha Ballabh and Jagannath, the deities behind this door, this deities are special incarnation called archa avatars, worshipable deity incarnation, they are brought into this world by the request of a great devotee according to ah... vedic system, rituals and ceremonies. As since the Lord is everywhere, He is also in the spiritual abode, He is also ah... be present in ah.. deity form. I saw in one museum in ah... Tirupati, the Ramanuja Sampradaya was quoting from one purana that said while a deity is established by a very great Rishi then that has effect for like hundred yojanas, that’s about 800 miles, and this is just... deity is established by any devotee, may not be very great devotee, just any devotee, even then one yojana. So this deities are installed by Prabhupada. So much...so much being area purified by worshipping this deities, so devotees can come here and worship the deities, offer some flowers, offer some prayers, this is a special opportunity, we cannot see God with our material eyes because He has got a spiritual form, but He agrees to come in the deity form, we shouldn’t get this mistaken with what...some people call it ah... idol or false idol Idol is when someone concocts some image and just speculates something and worship something which is not God, as if it was God. We are against that type of false activity but in the Vedas there is a prescription given that according to the scriptures description of great devotee of the Lord, where the Lord Himself if you make an image according to that description and if according to certain procedures, the great devotee request the Lord to be present to activate that before it is called the Bimba reflection, when the Lord actually becomes present there, to activate that...that, before it is called the bimba reflection, then the Lord actually becomes present there, and there are many ah... pastimes, where such deities talk with devotees, where the deities have done amazing different things. He reciprocates with the devotees love and faith. Just like you have a mail box, if you put a mail, a letter in your house, you don’t have to go all the way to the central post office, that similarly you can watch and worship the Lord through the deity form, even before you are in the spiritual world you can worship in the deity form, and He is present in this form Depending on your own purity, gradually you can realize, the Lord will reciprocate with your devotion. So like a little earlier today, so we can have time for your questions and answers, People have a little time for question and answers. Our basic programme is how to fix our consciousness on Krishna through chanting, through serving, through hearing classes, through worshipping deities, if our... our consciousness is fixed in Krishna, in the absolute truth or God, then that consciousness actually becomes illuminated, consciousness becomes purified, people don’t realize how much happiness, how much satisfaction that actually is in Krishna consciousness and in God consciousness. Even one doesn’t have to, you don’t have to shave your head or move into the temple to practice Krishna consciousness. This is especially for person who want to be very absorbed and help in our missionary activities.

But you can also practice Krishna consciousness also from your home, it’s simply a change of consciousness. So this is a process meant for everyone. Our mission is the whole world, you want the whole world to be happy. The whole world should be God conscious. So there is any question on todays topic? I will just read the verse over for you again that after being situated in the yoga practice and vibrating the sacred little syllable OM, the supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets, then Prabhupada explained that Hare Krishna mahamantra is especially recommended in this age, it contains the sound Om. So also if you chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishn Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Rama Rama Hare Hare, when you leave your body you will certainly reach some of the spiritual planets according to the devotional practice you are doing Any questions. Devotees: JPS: If someone who is not very fixed up ah..., specifically in ah...developed in the relation with Krishna, they are first get transferred to the... get transferred to the Vaikuntha planet, if somebody is ah...very absorbed in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishna, devotional service, then they go to Krishnaloka. That’s all according to the model of worship. Though they only go to Krishnaloka with you, have developed some spontaneous devotion. Of course, sometimes by some special mercy, when there always may be exceptions. The general rule is that those who have developed spontaneous devotion for Krishna, they can go to Krishna. Of course then Prabhupada he said also that for devotees serving in the sankirtan movement, when they leave their bodies chanting that they get a facility to go.

Sadananada Krishnaprem Das Mayapur, 15-10-2015