19931114 Bhagavad-gītā 15.10

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharāja on November 14^th 1993 in Stockholm, Sweden. The class begins from a reading from the Bhagavad-gītā chapter 15 verse 10.

utkrāmantaṁ sthitaṁ vāpi
bhuñjānaṁ vā guṇānvitam
vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti
paśyanti jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ

Translation: The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.

Purport: The word jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ is very significant. Without knowledge, one cannot understand how a living entity leaves his present body, nor what form of body he is going to take in the next life, nor even why he is living in a particular type of body. This requires a great amount of knowledge understood from Bhagavad-gītā and similar literatures heard from a bona fide spiritual master. One who is trained to perceive all these things is fortunate. Every living entity is quitting his body under certain circumstances, he is living under certain circumstances, and he is enjoying under certain circumstances under the spell of material nature. As a result, he is suffering different kinds of happiness and distress, under the illusion of sense enjoyment. Persons who are everlastingly fooled by lust and desire lose all power to understand their change of body and their stay in a particular body. They cannot comprehend it. Those who have developed spiritual knowledge, however, can see that the spirit is different from the body and is changing its body and enjoying in different ways. A person in such knowledge can understand how the conditioned living entity is suffering in this material existence. Therefore those who are highly developed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness try their best to give this knowledge to the people in general, for their conditional life is very much troublesome. They should come out of it and be Kṛṣṇa conscious and liberate themselves to transfer to the spiritual world.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta translation purport of text 10 chapter 15 Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.

Jayapatākā Swami: So we’re all the, we have to understand how we are actually the living force within the body and not simply the body. This is the basis of spiritual life. But practically to see from that vision is a great science, is something that happens when we develop our spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is not something which is, comes accidently. Normally it comes because of the good association with devotees, because of attempt to understand Bhagavad-gītā and similar literatures and due to chanting.

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

A person develops the spiritual knowledge where they actually able to perceive that I’m not this hand, I’m not the arm, I’m not the leg, that actually I’m the living force in the body. And this body is doing so many different things but eventually I also have to leave this body and I take a new body. In this way what is going to the cycle of birth and death. So an intelligent person with spiritual knowledge, jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ, with a vision of spiritual knowledge, they can perceive all these things. But a person who is, doesn’t have this knowledge they’re not able to really understand what is happening. The sad thing is that basically the modern civilization is spiritually foolish because they are not able to see these things. Bhagavad-gītā describes him as foolish because everyone is conceiving that the whole goal of life is how to give sense gratification. How to give pleasure to the senses. But they don’t see that the senses have got serious limitations and that actually we’re not the senses. The senses are instruments for us to gather knowledge and the very things which make the senses feel happy in the beginning, later cause us to feel suffering.

Śrīla Prabhupāda in India he used example that, at that time it was the summer, it was hot, we had the fan going on. He said now we’re enjoying the cool breeze from the fan but if it was the winter and we had the fan going, then we would feel as cold. And if it’s hot out everyone’s like the wind but not if it’s winter then the wind you don't like it, cause it makes you feel colder. Someone, so in material life, in material experience there is not a pure happiness. But it requires more than ordinary vision to understand this because everyone is simply working under this idea that to serve the senses is what life is all about. They don’t even think that there’s an alternative, that actually happiness is coming from within us and the real purpose of life is when we are feeling completely satisfied from within. And that comes very naturally when we are serving Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. When we are pleasing Him, because we are part of Kṛṣṇa then we also feeling pleased, we are feeling happy.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu came in a time when the whole world was basically absorbed, it was a change, there was a change in the society from a spiritually oriented society to a society with superficially had morality, superficially had religiosity. But really all the people wanted was material happiness. And they’d lost this jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ, they’d lost the spiritual vision. So Lord Caitanya came at that time when people were putting on a show of morality and religion, but actually all they wanted to do was enjoy. For instance people would do, have big religious ceremonies, for instance for weddings. They spend a lot of money feeding people, putting on a big festival for the wedding. So became like a competition who can have a bigger wedding. So someone had no more daughters to marry, so then they decide to marry a, a deity, a clay doll of Śiva and Pārvati. Then someone else thought well, I’ll do what better than that, I'll marry a female and a male dog together. Then someone else address to a whole big ceremony marry a cat, a male and a female cat. Had the cat all dressed up, change the garlands, do the whole Vedic wedding ceremony with cats. What is the sense of that? It’s not sense at all. They only doing it simply to put on a show. So they actually were misusing religion for their own name and fame.

So in the midst of so many difficulties Lord Caitanya He appeared and where gradually. When He appeared then He was actually a youth leader you could say, He was there amongst all youth, He was a student. He did His duty also, He was worshipping Viṣṇu in His house, He was worshipping the śālagrāma-śilā, a deity of Kṛṣṇa. But basically He was being a very argumentative student and He was showing off His learning, and this is what He was doing. So sometimes the elderly Vaiṣṇavas would see Him and they think that here is a bright young man, He could be a great spiritual leader but He is wasting His time in showing off His learning and not using it to actually help society become spiritually advanced. So they would sometimes meet Lord Caitanya, He is very respectful to the elderly brāhmaṇas, He’d intellectuals and He touch their feet and they’d say why don’t you do devotional service? Why don’t you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa? He said, I haven’t found a guru yet, until I have a guru how can I know all these things? You bless Me that I can have a bonafide Vaiṣṇava guru. When I get a spiritual master then I’ll do all these things. So the Vaiṣṇavas would give their blessing. So Lord Caitanya was giving His secret that things would change once He finds a spiritual master.

So Lord Caitanya’s father passed away when He was still in teanager. So the whole responsibility in, and His older brother already taken sannyāsa, so He had the responsibility to maintain His mother, His widowed mother. So His mother and sister they’re here in the house, so You should get married. So, then Lord Caitanya so He took, accepted the gṛhastha-āśrama at a very young age, then He decided I had to go and perform piṇḍa. You know what piṇḍa is? That when your father passes away then the elder son or daughter goes and does the special worship in, in the special temples. They do worship for Lord Kṛṣṇa and they give all the sukṛti, all the spiritual benefit of their worship, they give it to their forefathers, to the deceased relative. That’s why in Sanskrit the son is called the putra and the daughter is called the putri. ‘Pu’ means help and ‘tra’ or ‘tri’ means to deliver. So someone who can deliver their forefathers from a hellish condition, they are putra or putri, they are good son and daughter. So Lord Caitanya thought let Me go and perform this worship at the Viṣṇupāda temple in Gaya. It’s a special temple dedicated for this type of worship, for worshipping the lotus feet of Viṣṇu. There’s a footprint where the Supreme Lord stepped in a stone and left His footprint. So that is considered as a very sacred place and devotees know that in worship, by doing abhiṣeka and offering prasāda, bhoga and then offering that prasādam to the departed soul.

So say that somebody had got bad karmas and was in a bad situation. But all of a sudden they would be sent a whole donation from their son or daughter of sukṛti, of a very spiritually like a good karma. You know someone might be in the hospital, all those tubes in the nose in the intravenous, tracheostomy (heavy breathing) all you know, doctor said no hope. We don’t know in the previous life there is a son going and doing the ceremony offering the pūjā to Viṣṇu, all of a sudden (heavy breathing) you know remarkable cure. It’s like doctor! How did it happen? (laughing) So freed from that bad karma. Just remarkable recovery, we couldn’t imagine, it’s a medical miracle, it must be a wonder God (laughing). But actually from the previous life someone is sending a good gift. So this is system which is quite common in India. Every faithful person will do at least once on the death anniversary of the parent and some do it every year. Advaita Gosāñī, he was doing it every year called the śrāddha ceremony. Calling in the brāhmaṇas and then feeding them offering the remnants for his father. That was the famous time when Haridāsa Ṭhākura took the first remnants ahead of all the brāhmaṇas.

Suddenly Lord Caitanya, He travelled up the Ganges to the north from Bengal. He went in to Bihar, went to the place where the, the elephant was delivered from the crocodile by Lord Viṣṇu, the Gajendra-mokṣa-sthāna. He came down from Pataliputra to Bodh-gaya where Lord Buddha had achieved nirvāṇa and then He went to the city of Gaya where the Viṣṇu temple called Viṣṇupada, lotus foot temple of Viṣṇu is situated. In Gaya He met Īśvara Purī Mahārāja, the disciple of Mādhavendra Purī. Today is special day of Giridhāri pūjā of Govardhana-pūjā. The Govardhana pūjā will also made very well known by Mādhavendra Purī because on the Govardhana he found and he had them perform a very big festival. So reestablishing the annakūṭa for the Govardhana-pūjā. So Lord Caitanya met this great spiritual master. He fell on his feet and He said that I cannot advance in spiritual life and thus I can serve Kṛṣṇa through a guru. In order for Me to get spiritual wisdom I require to serve a spiritual master and to receive the mantra from the spiritual master. So you please bless me that I can have this mantra, that accept Me as your disciple. So Īśvara Purī knew Lord Caitanya because he had visited the house of Jagannātha Miśra when he went to Navadvīpa. He knew He was a sincere brāhmaṇa, he might not have know He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that we don’t know, if we do I didn’t know at that time. But then he gave Him initiation. So after Lord Caitanya got initiation then He was chanting very enthusiastically

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

And He went to the temple to perform that worship for His father. So when He first came before the, the beautiful lotus feet of Viṣṇu and He saw this they’re so wonderful, they’re so beautiful the, the impression. But He was lamenting why is that I’m seeing His lotus feet but I’m not feeling any love? My heart is so hard. When I see the Supreme Lord’s footprint I should be feeling so much love. Anyway He went on with the ceremony and He started to bathe His lotus feet with, with milk, yogurt, with clarified butter, ghee and honey and nectar. As He was bathing with ghee the lotus feet He was, the spirit, the love of Kṛṣṇa entered His heart. We actually get love of Kṛṣṇa when we are rendering devotional service for the Lord. By the causeless mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa then one gets the love for Kṛṣṇa. So Lord Caitanya He also manifested His love after getting initiation while He was serving the lotus feet of Viṣṇu. And He started to become so ecstatic, but He just started chanting and dancing loudly

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

And He was just jumping and chanting and the pujaris they also, what is happening? They never saw anyone just so ecstatic. And then Lord Caitanya after the, He decided I’m going to go to Vṛndāvana, I’ll go to the land of Kṛṣṇa. And He ran out from the temple Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Vṛndāvana Bihārī Lāla! Kṛṣṇa! I’m going to Vṛndāvana the land of Kṛṣṇa! Vṛndāvana! Vṛndāvana! And He was running over the fields towards the west heading towards Vṛndāvana in total ecstasy mad in love for Kṛṣṇa. And there was suddenly a voice from the sky that Gauranga! There is a time for everything and now it’s not the time for you to go to Vṛndāvana. Now You should go back to Mayapur Navadvīpa-dhāma and begin the saṅkīrtana movement of congregational chanting of the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. That suddenly that made Lord Caitanya stop. And then the voice said when you take sannyāsa, when you take the renounced order then you’ll go to Vṛndāvana, now you should go back to Navadvīpa. So then Lord Caitanya said alright now it’s the time to go to Navadvīpa, went back to His wife and mother. Otherwise He’d have gone to Vṛndāvana (laughing). Saṅkīrtana movement we don’t know what do happen (laughing). So Lord Caitanya was so merciful that He also postpone His going to the Vṛndāvana-dhāma in order to give us the saṅkīrtana movement.

So this is common understanding that when the body is so called dead that the soul never dies, soul goes on living. The actual person never dies, he simply leaves the body and goes on to the next. So Vedic culture all was this considering to prepare yourself for your next life. How to do that? So much advice is given how we can prepare our self. So that when we leave this body we can go back to the spiritual world, also we can get a better birth whatever our destination. Some people want a good birth in the material world, some people want liberation from birth and death and some people want to serve Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual world eternally.

How many want a good material birth your next life? How many want to get liberated from birth and death and go merging into the light? (laughing) How many want to serve Kṛṣṇa eternally and go into the spiritual worlds? How many are undecided yet? (laughing)

Real Vedic culture is meant to bring you up to the perfection that you want. To give a person spiritual wisdom so they know what is the perfection of life, what should I, what, how to achieve it. But if someone is so foolish, they already think okay, here is a life. Person’s born they go they produce some byproduct, they do a little work, they do something, they get old they die, that’s it finish. So where is the intelligence? Where is the higher vision? In this way life become very shallow, what is the meaning? So for the whole world to really become compassionate for the world to become really a better place for a person to really make a difference in this world. They mean to know who they are and, and develop their spiritual vision. That is the essential, essential fact of life, that if we want to achieve any kind of permanent benefit to our life we need to come up to this ‘jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ’, spiritual vision.

Now there’s so much evidence. I met one professor in, one professor from University of Mississippi. He told me that he has founded over 200 research books and thousands of case histories supporting reincarnation. He told me he’s gonna send me some of the books, but he didn’t, I have to write him, I didn’t. But he said that there’s so much, he’s doing some research himself on the research. And he found that there is so much evidence now. Even in our, in some years ago there was a big conference on science and religion in Rome and apparently at that time the Russians had put forward, some Russian scientists had put forward some evidence showing how, using Kirlian photography photographing the aura around the dying person. They had the whole thing on video using Kirlian video, a rare, a rare kind of experiment where they had kept a person with in a very controlled environment with the ECG going on, the heartbeat, the mental waves all showing on the Seussical . And then they show this in the conference how brain wave, that heartbeat stop, then brainwave stop, clinically dead. But the aura was still there around the body. Then they showed on the video how the whole aura rose above the body, holded in the air over the body for 10 or 12 seconds. And then shh, it flew off. So what does this mean? And it’s so obvious there the ātmā, the self in the subtle body has just left the gross body and then went on to the next body, exactly what the Bhagavad-gītā says. But they’ve seen things like these, many times people don't understand but this is so obvious, you can see. This obviously showing that there’s a subtle existence above the gross existence and thoses with a ‘jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ’ obviously those sign only could understand. This is a proof of life after death but didn’t want to say it because it wouldn’t be very scientific after kind of a, presented not people do all their own conclusions. But that was the conclusion everybody else came up and that was the basic then they also said, of course that was their conclusion.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He returned back to Navadvīpa-dhāma He was a changed person. He was chanting

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

His other students and they were quite, the students were quite surprised that our youth leader has come back, a young professor and but now He’s only talking about Kṛṣṇa, He’s only speaking about Kṛṣṇa. What happened to all the speculation? What happened to all the interesting ideas? Now it’s only Kṛṣṇa idea, so what’s going on here? Now He is only talking about self-realization and the ātmā and the Kṛṣṇa. So they went and complained to Lord Caitanya’s teacher that what happened to Lord Caitanya? Looks like He’s no longer brāhmaṇa anymore. He’s now like a intellectual, He’s more like a Vaiṣṇava devotee. So they called the teacher over and the teacher of Lord Caitanya came and said what happened? You’re no longer brāhmaṇa anymore? You’re not defeating by argument? What do you mean? I can defeat anyone. Let them come forward. I will take the argument, analyze it, I’ll defeat it intellectually, then I will establish after defeating it, getting the person to agree that He has this, been defeated. Then I will take the same argument, I will establish it again, I will convince him that his argument is correct. (laughing) Then after doing that, and he admits argument was correct, again I’ll defeat it and convince him that it’s wrong (laughing). Let who everyone the next person comes I will challenge them, I’ll defeat them, what do you mean? I’m still intellectual. I can debate with anyone, like any brāhmaṇa, what do you mean? So all the students said this is the Lord, this is the Nimāi Paṇḍita that we knew, this is Nimāi Paṇḍita. Now It was like He’s back to His old form, we’re getting worried He’s become you know Hare Kṛṣṇa (laughing), a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

So they all went and Lord Caitanya was there in the corner waiting alright who’s going to come to challenge Me and they all, the students are all fired up, you know this is wonderful. Who comes along but the younger brother of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura and he’s chanting a bhajana about Lord Kṛṣṇa. How Kṛṣṇa is lifting the Govardhana hill, how Kṛṣṇa even as a small baby he was in the lap of mother Yaśoda and the witch Pūtanā came to kill Kṛṣṇa by putting poison on her breast, though this is just a little baby, I’ll kill Him and put Kṛṣṇa on her breast to suck my milk and then I will kill You. of course, she wouldn't, she didn’t say that to Kṛṣṇa but this was her intention. But then Kṛṣṇa, how Kṛṣṇa sucked out her life because she wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa so Kṛṣṇa is reciprocation killed her. But because she offered her breast like a mother the Kṛṣṇa liberated her soul and put the soul in the spiritual world as His mother. All this is being sung by Śrivāsa’s brother and as soon as Lord Caitanya was hearing, Nimāi Paṇḍita was hearing the bhajana of Kṛṣṇa, the worship of Kṛṣṇa he became, He became feel the love of Kṛṣṇa to see how merciful is Kṛṣṇa, somebody is going to kill Him and He gives that witch liberation. And He started becoming so ecstatic Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Oh Kṛṣṇa! And then He fell on the ground He was Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! And He’s just rolling on the ground crying out Kṛṣṇa! You’re so merciful. And all the students are watching, oh no! (laughing) our teacher is finished (laughing).

So then Lord Caitanya He got His composure, He took all His students by the side of the Ganges river and he had to make a confession. He told them look it, I always try to give you the best education, the best training I could give you, but I have to tell you I’ve taken initiation and then I’ve, I’ve now realized that the absolute truth is Kṛṣṇa. That the purpose of life is to realize Kṛṣṇa, to realize the Supreme Godhead, to fully get spiritual vision. So how can I cheat you? I can’t just give you a temporary superficial understanding when I realize that there is something much higher to life. But I want all understand it and accept it, if you want to leave Me I give all of you My permission. You can go and accept any other teacher you want, your liberty to leave. Because now I cannot just give you some knowledge which would not really uplift you spiritually. So you have My permission, this is I have to tell you this, now it’s up for you all to decide what you wanna do, you’re free to go if you want. So it was a silence in the room and then one of the leading students stood up and said, look at how long You’ve been teaching us, this superficial, intellectualism, we didn’t know anything else. Now you’re telling us that the saṅkīrtana, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and studying this bhakti-yoga, that this is actually the best thing. You always given us the best, so we believe You that You’re going to continue to give us the best. You never told us about this before? So how do You expect us to know? You have to bring someone and train us how to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa otherwise we don’t know how to do it. Yes! Yes! We’d all, we want to learn how to chant with You!

So then all the student they decided to stay with Lord Caitanya said we love You, You’ve been our best teacher, we wanna be with You always. So they brought Śrīvāsa and other Vaiṣṇavas they brought and said you please train up these students how to chant. So all the cream of the intellectual, all the best students in the whole Navadvīpa, it’s like a, in those days they have universities they’d have one professor and he would have his students and he would train him everything he knew, teach them everything he knew. So they trained them up how to do harināma and this was a new saṅkīrtana group where all the young would be equivalent to a university student. So in this way the saṅkīrtana movement got a boost, several hundred bhaktas all at a time, the best really cream of the bhaktas. Mukunda, Gadādhara, they’re all there, they all took up the saṅkīrtana movement. So like that Caitanya Mahāprabhu started the saṅkīrtana movement at a young age and He had to face lot of difficulties from all the established older people that, that were misusing religion, misusing. So He was like a spiritual revolutionary and but gradually His movement expanded to the like swept away everyone off their feet. So we need to have a spiritual vision where we had to be able to distinguish what is real spiritual life and what is looks like spiritual life but is not real spiritual life. It’s like the difference between the milk and the lime drink.

You know that example? It’s a famous story from India about the milk and the white lime. So once there was a very rich man who was like a big landlord. He had many, much property like a feudal landlord, landlord of, like a barren or something. So he had a nice habit, he likes to take in the evening a glass of hot milk with two bananas. Is a very healthy habit, milk at night, hot milk helps the brain to understand spiritual subject matters and it makes you have a sound sleep. So he was a, this was his habit, so he thought that in the market I’m not getting a pure milk you know sometime even today people are concerned that you buy milk in the market, sometime the calves are taken away and killed or the mothers are killed when they no longer give milk. So, of course in India they, traditionally they wouldn’t do that, they would protect the cow in the old age. So the drinking milk was not a violent thing, it was a very natural thing and you would be grateful that the milk was been given by the cow. So you wouldn’t kill the cow till they died a natural death. And the calves they would be used either for, like a female to give milk and male they’d be used to plough in the field. And still in most of India cow slaughter is still illegal. So, so like that this, gentleman he wanted to have, however he wanted to have his own cows to get pure milk and he would protect his own cows. So, he got some cows he got a cow man to tend for the cows and milk the cows and then he would send a servant over to get the cow milk and heat it up and then serve him the hot milk with the two bananas every night. But apparently this barren, this lord he was a bit suspicious type. So, he always taught that well the milk isn’t really pure, he was a doubting type of person. May be the milkman is putting a little water in it, selling off the milk on the side. Even though had his own cows he was thinking that I’m not getting the pure thing, the unfortunate.

So one day, you know every day he’d be complaining off and on and the servant would tell the milkman, he’s complaining again thinks he putting water in the milk, how can he think that? He says milkman have a habit even though you’re not selling the milk on the habit you might do it like this so. One day the milk came and the lord thought it was very thin. So he said, today bring that milkman, I’m sure he’s put water in the milk, it’s too thin. So the servant went and told the milkman well you better watch out you gonna get it today he says you’re putting water in the milk. So then the milkman he told the servant, listen I have a plan. Then he went to his house and in his house they were painting the wall using some natural rock lime. Lime is a chemical, you put in the water, it makes the reaction and then you can put on the wall and it was, last for couple of years, it’s a inexpensive type of paint. So he took this chemical lime, not the lime lemon lime, the chemical lime. And he put in the water and then, it start bubbling and make a reaction he mix it up and he made a nice glass of hot lime and a lime paint. Another glass was the cow’s milk, one glass of milk form the cow of the landlord. He took it to the man, the lord said listen today, your milk was very thin I think you’re putting water in the milk. What is this? What is going on? I want an explanation. So the milkman he put down one glass of milk, he said this is a milk from your cows, he said this glass is a milk from my house. Now which milk do you wanna drink? Your cow’s milk or milkman, or the milk from the milkman’s house? So he looked and the cows milk was not so white, you know little creamy color. But the other milk from the milkman’s house milk was very white, very shiny (laughing), very thick. Hmm, I’m having my milk everyday, let me try the milkman’s house milk one day. So he took it, drink ah! Then he was like oh! It’s burning inside! Oh! What have you given me! Ah! And he died.

The police found out unnatural death how messight they came, they made enquiry what happen. You went for, you fed the poison to this man? No no! We didn’t do anything wrong (laughing). We just offered you can take this milk or that milk, he decided take that milk, it’s not our responsibility, was his own choice (laughing), we’ve nothing to do with. Mmm, alright you tell it to the judge, this looks to me like in conspiracy no matter you gave him poison, you know he was drinking poison. No no! But it was his choice. And they also arrested the servant, you also knew about this you and accomplish, we’re, we’re taking you to the prison.

So, you understand the story now? What is the real, what is the cow’s milk compared to this allegorical story? So what is the cow’s milk compared to? Who gives that?

Hare Kṛṣṇa (laughing), Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He speaks so softly we don’t know.

Yes! Pure spiritual life is like the real cows milk. You can say Kṛṣṇa consciousness is real spiritual life, no problem, that is true.

And what is the lime mix then? Sense gratification.

Anything else? What else could it be? I heard a voice but I couldn’t hear what.

Illusion. It looks like milk but it’s not milk. Milk is pure spiritual life, so then what is the lime mix?

Well if material looks like spiritual life. It could be, if we consider the white milk, the cow’s milk is happiness, but real spiritual happiness, then we can consider the lime mix as the material happiness, it looks like it gives you real happiness but instead it kills you. That we consider these allegories are like that depending how you compare it, you get different result. If you considering the pure milk is Kṛṣṇa consciousness then the lime milk will be pseudo spiritual, may be some psychic or some other type of, looks like a spiritual but it’s not actually bringing you to the realization of the self and the Superself, of the Supreme Self. It keeps you on, it doesn't you bring you on to that highest level. So therefore it also forces you to die by taking again birth. Real spiritual life means it should bring you to the point of liberation, bring you back to Godhead.

Now what about those two, the cow man and the servant, how do they fit into this? Who are they? Who are they like?

On this people who give false spiritual teachings just to get some name and fame or get some money, then they all if you say you well look at you’re giving wrong teaching. Well it’s not, it’s their choice, we’re just offering it, it’s not our responsibility. I met one guru in India he said he had 2000 disciples. I said any of them, have you ever taught them any spiritual things? No no! I just give them dīkṣā. Are any of them following? That’s initiation. Or any of them following any spiritual practices? Are they vegetarian? He said one family is vegetarian (laughing). So don’t you know you have to take all the karma for all these initiations? No no! My father never told me that, he just said give them initiation and take the donation (laughing). No but you have to also liberate them and you have to give them spiritual knowledge and you have to also take the karma for whatever they do bad. Oh! That’s very heavy (laughing). I didn’t know about that. So, even this sometime the people they don’t know what is the actual standard of a bona fide guru. That he has to take like a father for the child takes spiritual responsibility and the children, those disciples they had to go to the guru and get spiritual guidance whenever they have some doubts, when they have some misconception.

Now what about the poor lord that took the wrong milk and died, who is he? That’s easy.

That’s the spiritual secret. Someone who is trying to practice spiritual life, sometime he get mislead. Sometime people they’re doing, actually they’re making progress, they’re chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, they’re progressing but it’s a gradual progress, gradual process. And then they think, oh look at there, that’s something very shining, that looks better. Maybe I should do that, maybe sense gratification, maybe material life. But more, maybe some other spiritual process which they promise you can become God overnight, you just take you know some quick process. And sometime people get misled we could get misled it you’re not careful. So these the, so like that Lord Caitanya he wanted to train the people to discriminate to have ‘jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ’ the vision of knowledge to know what is actually good for us spiritually and what is not, to know what is the self, what is this material world, who is the origin of everything, the Supreme Self Lord Kṛṣṇa. So we want, people need to have more than just a superficial knowledge, they need to have a deep knowledge. There’s otherwise not just a yes no very good. You know the story yes no very good from India?

You know the India was under British rule for 200 years. So there was on man he got a new job as a clerk under the British office and but, so he had learned some, someone told him that you wanna speak English, you just say yes, no, very good. And then, so he taught now I know English, I know, I know it’s yes, no, very good. So he taught when the british man comes I’ll impress him how much English I know, I’ll just tell him yes, no, very good (laughing). So it so happened that there was something missing from the, something missing from the office. So the British, the British man he came in and he said what is this? Something is missing, did you take it? He said yes sir (laughing). He doesn’t know anything he’s saying, he just know yes, no, very good, so yes sir. He’s oh! You did it! Alright are you gonna tell me where you put it? No sir (laughing). Alright you stole it, you not tell me you put it, then I gonna have you put in jail! Very good sir (laughing). So I know yes, no, very good (laughing). And he was, he taught that I’ll impress the person because I’m speaking such nice English. He doesn’t know what’s going on. So we, we don’t wanna just know a few names karma, reincarnation, some superficial, but not really know what it means. Then just drop it yes, no, very good, karma, reincarnation, astral projection, psychic, killing, this that. This, we want to have ‘jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ’ actual knowledge.

Knowledge that when we are in difficulty, when we’re in trouble in our own life we can be saved, we can deliver ourselves. This is the whole purpose of the Bhagavad-gītā, the whole purpose of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We want people to come here, learn how to worship Kṛṣṇa, learn the science of Bhagavad-gītā and then practice in their own lives. We want hundreds and thousands of people practicing in their homes, hundreds, and thousands of, every home can be a temple. And also of course we need some missionaries who can help in the saṅkīrtana movement. So some people who are able to, they can also participate in the spreading of the movement. But our mission is to give everyone this knowledge whether they’re a full-time missionary preacher or whether they’re practicing, someone who practices, a devotee who practices in their home, and helps in whatever way they can. This is science of God consciousness, science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Someone may think, well that’s all good, that’s when I get very old. They might think it’s not very essential. Or maybe, but actually it’s a very very essential point.

One of my, wonder was, Italian lady, she’s born 42 and have husband and two children, she’s been practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness for many years. And she took shelter from me about two years ago like she’s preparing, in the future she like to take initiation, But then for whatever reason she didn’t take initiation. This year at the festival in India, in Mayapur, annual big festival she came and she had a letter recommendation from the GBC temple president of Melano temple to get initiated. And he explained that she’s doing everything, she is otherwise qualified also the doctors say that she has got cancer and she may only live a short time. So it’s urgent that she gets initiation, she wants to prepare herself incase she has to leave her body very soon. She explained I was wasting my time, I was delaying and now they say that I don’t have long to live, I want to really prepare myself for my next life, wanna prepare myself to go back to Kṛṣṇa. So I, I need to surrender to the guru and serve. So anyway gave her initiation, Rupeśvari Devī Dāsī was her name, she was Rosa became Rupeśvarī, name of Rādhārāṇī. And she visited Māyāpura, Vṛndāvana, Jagannātha Purī, she went back to Melano and in July we heard that she went to the hospital, she was feeling bad. And then the doctors told her that they’re doing studies, and all of a sudden she’s feeling lot of pain. This actually the cancer has gone through the entire body, just nothing we can do now, you have got 24 hours to live. So what, what would you like us to do for you?

This could happen to anybody it’s, in this day and age nobody can save, it can happen to anyone anytime, AIDS, cancer, so many things are there now all these, somebody may not even get 24 hours warning. In the car driving so many things happen, airline. Even the Pope, he was just walking off of his throne and he just looked a wrong way and he tripped and fell down from the throne and broke his, dislocated his shoulder. There’s a danger even here in the throne room (laughing). You can fall and break your arm, so ‘padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām’ danger every step (laughing). What would you do, you’re not circumstance. She ask the doctor I want a ambulance. Doctor said, you want a ambulance, but you’re already in the hospital (laughing). I said, I didn’t want the ambulance to go to the hospital because say you already can do anything for me. I want the ambulance to go to the temple! Because if I can leave my body in Kṛṣṇa’s temple then I’ll go back to the spiritual world. So I want to immediately be taken to the Kṛṣṇa temple, so I can prepare to die there. So the doctors they’re very cooperative they arranged the ambulance and from the hospital the ambulance went to the temple with the red light going (siren) with everything (laughing). It might have been the first time in history that the ambulance went from the hospital to a temple (laughing). Caitanya Mahāprabhu ki! Jai!

So Rupeśvarī went there and devotees are very cooperative, there they gave a guest room, she bow down to the deities they help to, she was in pain, they started chanting, they send me a fax that, a call message actually this is the situation what to do. I send back how to put the deities garland and put, that give her caraṇāmṛta, different things they can do, read Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam so on, so many advices I gave. She’s very happy they got the message right away and then she was feeling blessed because she got from a guru so much, some message and then she went like into some kind of a coma. The devotees who’re around chanting the kīrtana and all of a sudden she, she had better (laughing). She sat up and they gave a Prabhupāda tapes, and she’s beating, give her prasādam. See very sick, but she was became conscious and then like this she. So one week, they gave her 24 hours, she got one week like this but then at the end of the week again she was feeling very bad. The devotees all gathered together, they’re all chanting, someone is reading on gītā on one side, other side reading Caitanya, alright the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the big kīrtana, 15 devotees in the room chanting and just so happened that the Madhu Sevita Prabhu our GBC guru, he’s also was, just arrived in the, at Melano from Belgium and he went and he was there. He was amazed to hear that devotees that mātāji, she’s there you know, it was chanting and then all of a sudden like she opens her mouth and she shout out Hare Kṛṣṇa! And everyone is chanting:

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

And that was it. She left her body. Everyone chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Bhāgavatam, Gītā everything. He said that, he told me this is a very big impression you know how many times you see someone leaving like that. If I could put it my will I want to die like this (laughing). We want around chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa (laughing). Leaving a body like that, the devotees they, we are there to help people get back to Kṛṣṇa, that’s our purpose and it don’t have to be a, even in a temple to get back to Kṛṣṇa, you can be anybody, you can be any distance, see devotee of Kṛṣṇa and get back to Kṛṣṇa. Right, the point is to prepare always taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, practicing devotional service. So this is, the real problems of life that we had to face. But these problems of life are don’t become insurmountable, where they become easily overcome by taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa. With the spiritual knowledge there then like, she didn’t have any fears, when the doctor told that you're gonna die, she didn’t get out freaked out and okay do, don’t I don’t want to die.

There was this big like, he was like the, he was like the Sylvester Stallone of the Rambo of India. He was a big macho, hero that, in Bengal, he was a big movie star jumping from buildings you know and stopping moving trains you know they were you like (laughing) superhero. But the doctor came to see him and the doctor said, it’s very serious, you only have little time to live. And then big you know, hero, muscles everything he grabbed the doctor’s hand, I don’t wanna die! I don't wanna die! Save me! Save! And he died (laughing). The newspaper men they ask the doctor how do you feel, your patient was holding your hand begging you to save him and he died holding your hand. What do you say about that? And the doctor said, look at, many times he did that and many times I saved him, I only failed once (laughing). So every doctor is gonna fail once, it’s guaranteed (laughing).  Because he didn’t know where he’s going, he didn't know what, what, what was, what was death, we, where was the next point in life, what was he going he was so fearful. He said we can voluntarily bow down before Kṛṣṇa and offer our obeisances while we’re alive, bow down to God, accept Him as our protector, as our shelter. If we don’t, we’ll be forced to bow down at the end of life we’ll be bowing down on the back side, the dead body bowing down. Everyone has to bow before God, if we do it living voluntarily or you do at the end they’d be stretched down (laughing). So anyone, it can be a small child, can be man, women, whoever, anyone who has this knowledge they become fearless.

bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana abhaya-caraṇāravinda re

‘Abhaya’, fearless because of the protection of Kṛṣṇa. We know who we are and where we’re going, what is the purpose of life.

So we thank all of you for your sincere efforts and cultivating your spiritual life. Everyone here was raise the hand it want to go back to the highest perfection of spiritual life. So I appreciate very much for your sincere efforts.

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

On Guru-disciple dynamics: What looks just like, what looks to the spiritual, it should have a formal relationship with a guru, a respect and faith. And one can consider that the guru is a well-wisher or he is your best friend because what is the friend, someone who look out for your interest, so in that sense. Not that we become familiar with the guru and pat him on the back like a friend. We have to maintain a certain formality because thus to protect us from making offence to the guru. Because offense to the guru would be very serious, Kṛṣṇa would be dissatisfied with that. So we consider that guru is friendly that depends on the guru that he how friendly he is with us, we accept that and we consider him our friend because he’s not a friend like a father is a friend also, but not in the sense of familiarity. We don’t want to be familiar with the guru, over familiar we would say. Maybe there’s something that has to develop according to the relationship with the guru.

On sādhanā: Because real milk has a slight differences. Sometime the cows are taking more grass so it become a little thinner. Sometime they’re taking more, thick like some kind of grain or something and it might become a little thicker. Sometime milk is more creamy or less creamy. If you understand that the, if you really wanted, if you really wanted to he could go and he could see the milkman milking the milk and he could watch the milk coming and he could be sure that is pure milk. What is he gonna understand from just complaining. Just by doubting you don’t, if you have doubt you should investigate is it pure milk or not. Is it according to the scriptures? Is it according to the guru? Is it according to the sadhus? The example of other great souls who have achieved success in their life. And when your, understand that this is the pure milk then you have to go on taking it. You go on taking it just like a person go on taking healthy food. If you don’t take it then you’ll die, you have to, by starvation. So you go on taking, of course this one analogy doesn’t answer all the questions but you should go on taking the milk. But simultaneously of course there’s other analogies which will give better explanation that you have to also continue with the spiritual process. So part of that process is to be taking the guidance from the guru, to be serving Kṛṣṇa according to the instructions of sadhu, sastra, guru.

Sometime people come and they think that okay I’ve got this chant Hare Kṛṣṇa within one month or two months or may be a year I’ll become already completely self-realized, I’ll be able to fly to other planets or something in my spiritual body. Like Śrīla Prabhupāda said it took him 20 years to achieve perfection. It may take some time differ someone can achieve God realization, it’s not a small thing. Just to become a doctor people go 12 years of primary and secondary education, then they go to 4 years of undergraduate college, then they go again for another 3, 4 years of postgraduate study, then they go for internship in the hospital for 2, 3 years, then they become a doctor, isn't it? So very once to be self realized soul and he’s counting the minutes and days. Of course if someone’s desire so intense, you can achieve perfection even in one moment. But then you require tremendous desire for that, tremendous enthusiasm. It’s not material you don’t have, just not like a fixed period you had to go through 20 years of education and 2 years of practice or something. It’s not that so rich, cause it may also it may take a lifetimes if you’re, if you are, not very enthusiastic and not properly faithful to the process. All it can happen if you’re very enthusiastic and very determined you can achieve in very short time.

And for instance the Dhruva Mahārāja, he achieved realization of Kṛṣṇa in five months. But the intensity with which he was practicing is, not something we could imitate, but if nothing else when we leave our body if we’re practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness and we’re maintaining our spiritual consciousness then we’ll go back to Kṛṣṇa. And if someone’s a little, is a more enthusiastic, more dedicated that in this lifetime they can also achieve the realization, don’t have to wait to leave the body. But that’s more rare.

Sometimes the devotees when they chant they become so absorbed that they don’t remember anything else but Kṛṣṇa. Although, that usually they’re internally experiencing this ecstasy. But externally they’re also far aware of things that are going on although how you can chant kīrtana right? I mean Lord Caitanya would in somehow associates with sometime go in so much ecstasy that they would lose consciousness of the external world and they would be smashing and, the devotees try grabbing them because they were not aware. But that was very few people, very rare cases that that would happen and even they would, normally when they’re chanting would be aware. Otherwise it would be like a condition course all the time, it happens sometimes with Lord Caitanya. But and sometime with Lord Nityānanda also.

One time five devotees are trying to hold out Nityānanda, and he going Haribol! Haribol! Kṛṣṇa! And he’s running this side and running that. People are, the devotees are afraid, he was smashing something grabbing him and five devotees are being pulled. That time Lord Caitanya went and grabbed Lord Nityānanda and then Nityānanda became very peaceful. Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! And Lord Caitanya they sat down and took Nityānanda’s head on His lap and Kṛṣṇa, and Lord Nityānanda Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Like feeling so much love for Kṛṣṇa, so much separation and then Lord Caitanya touching Nityānanda he became filled with separation Kṛṣṇa and tears were pouring from Lord Caitanya’s eyes and washing Lord Nityānanda's face Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Oh Kṛṣṇa! Where are You Kṛṣṇa! The devotee feel so much love for Kṛṣṇa, they want to be with Kṛṣṇa. This is very rare, this is the liberated, this already liberated platform of, fully perfected. So Nityānanda, when the tears are falling on his face from Lord Caitanya and he became conscious of Lord Caitanya, he sat up, he took Lord Caitanya, put His head on his lap and he was crying holding Lord Caitanya. The devotees are watching what is going on (laughing). One minute Lord Caitanya has Nityānanda’s head, next minute Nityānanda has Lord Caitanya’s head (laughing). So much love is like flowing.

So sometime Lord Caitanya be chanting and chanting and then Svarūpa Dāmodara say wow, the devotees has been chanting six hours now and no prasādam and some devotees they get little tired, Lord Caitanya He’s keeping on with the kīrtana, so nobody can stop. Then he’d say Lord Caitanya you know, Lord Caitanya had superhuman transcendental stamina and strength, He go on chanting the whole night sometime. He said let the devotees take a little rest and take some prasādam, you also take prasāda. Oh okay, Haribol (laughing). So that would happen sometime with. This year in Navadvīpa-parikramā in Māyāpur the kīrtanas are going on four, five hours at a stretch nobody wants to stop. So I’m the responsibility to see that everyone gets prasādam, gets the place to stay as a Māyāpur host. So sometimes you go with the kīrtana and take care of the devotees and have to sometime go out the kīrtana and see okay, cause not everybody is into the kīrtana, they may be 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, depends how many people. But the 1000 devotees are there, they wanna go and take a bath, take lunch. So we have to arrange for them also what to do.

Now you have very good realization that having pure love for Kṛṣṇa means you already have achieved the spiritual world. If we’re able to achieve pure love even in this world then that means that for our practical purpose we’re already in spiritual world.

īhā yasya harer dāsye
karmaṇā manasā girā
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu
jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate

If someone is offering all the thoughts the words the activities to Kṛṣṇa in pure devotional service then even while they’re in this material world they’re already ‘jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate’, even while they’re living they’re liberated. So of course the most important is as you have mentioned is to actually have love for Kṛṣṇa. That is the most important, if we have that then automatically wherever Kṛṣṇa wants we, us to serve Him we have to be where, wherever He is that’ll be the spiritual world or as good as the spiritual world. So they two are not separable but the focus should be on the loving devotion to Kṛṣṇa. That is true, that is the highest vision, and most people they, they don’t realize that so these combine the two together because many new people are there, they might not appreciate love for Kṛṣṇa and they may appreciate spiritual world but actually since you brought it up love for Kṛṣṇa is the highest perfection and the spiritual world is a byproduct. Whoever someone loves Kṛṣṇa they’re in the spiritual world.

This whole material world is not spiritual because we’re trying enjoy it. But this material world if we use it in Kṛṣṇa’s service it also become spiritualized. So that our guru also he has ordered us, we should develop love for Kṛṣṇa, we should go back of Godhead. So part of Prabhupāda’s instruction we should prepare our self but Kṛṣṇa wants or not that’s up to Him, but we should prepare our self to serve Kṛṣṇa eternally. But Kṛṣṇa lives in the spiritual world, He occasionally comes down here into the material world or in some universe or other. So we agreed to serve Kṛṣṇa either in this material world or in the spiritual, wherever He wants. But we want to be engaged in pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa because we realize that in that service then we are actually in the spiritual world, in that service we’re actually in the perfection of life, that’s our constitutional position. We don’t want to just be in the material world without devotional service because that means then again conditional life and so many entanglements and no Kṛṣṇa. We don’t wanna be without Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is the focus.

When I saw Śrīla Prabhupāda and I would try to offer him some prayers and I would also make a prayer. So I remember one time I went to Śrīla Prabhupāda and I said, Śrīla Prabhupāda I want to serve you life after life. And then Śrīla Prabhupāda looked at me, so why do you want to make me come back? (laughing) And I had to think what did I say wrong! (laughing) Thought I said the right thing and I said cause I wanna serve you life after life. Then I said, I mean I wanna serve you even life after life. And even if the Lord wants, okay we’re agreed to come back in the material world to serve Him, but we want to serve Him. We say even life after life because not that we insist we have to serve here, if the Lord wants us to serve in the spiritual world we accept that. So the guru, why Kṛṣṇa would keep somebody in the horrible place! Unless He has maybe some very special service to do, otherwise He won’t keep one here, He’ll take back to the spiritual world. So the devotee is prepared, do you wanna serve Kṛṣṇa, so we say even life after life. Wherever the Lord’s service means we have to surrender to the Lord’s desire whatever He wants.

That’s the jewel, that’s the jewel, that’s everything isn’t it? Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmi, he offered a prayer to his spiritual master where he thanked his spiritual master for all the different benedictions that he got. He said, nāma-śreṣṭham, nāma means what? The holy name, sreṣṭha means the best mantra, the mahā-mantra

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

‘Nāma-śreṣṭham’, I got the mahā-mantra from my spiritual master, ‘Nāma-śreṣṭham manum api’, as well as the Gāyatri mantra, the silent mantra that the, one was given. Raghunātha Dāsa got Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he only got that by the mercy of guru. ‘Śacī-putram’ the son of mother Śacī. ‘atra svarūpam’, he also got by the mercy, he also got the mercy of Swarupa Damodar. He was able to serve Svarūpa Dāmodara as his assistant, he was the assistant secretary of Lord Caitanya. ‘saci-putram atra svarūpam, rūpam’, he also got association of Rūpa Gosvāmī in Vṛndāvana and Jagannātha Purī. ‘tasyāgrajam’, and his older brother Sanātana Gosvāmī.