19950802 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.24.1-3

Lecture Code: 19950802

Scripture: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

Verse: 3.24.133

Date: 2nd August 1995

Place: Melbourne, Australia

 

Transcribed By: Dipadathri Gaurangi DD

Transcribed On: 6-Apr-2020

 

First Level Proofer: Kusum mj, Reading UK Bhakti Vriksha

First Level Proofed on: 17th June 2020

 

Editorial Changes (non voice): Usha

Date: 5-Jan-2021

 

STATUS: Completed

Source:

https://archives.jayapatakaswami.com/courses/304945/lectures/5000898

Title:

 

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on August 2^nd 1995 at Melbourne Australia. The class begins with a reading from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 3^rd Canto Chapter 24 verse 133.

 

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3^rd Canto Chapter 24 first to thirds verses in the matter in the chapter entitled he renunciation of Kardama Muni.

 

Om Tat Sat.

 

So Kardama Muni remembered the prediction of the Lord that He will appear as the son of Devahūti so, he was encouraging his wife not to be in anxiety and disappointed, the supreme personality of Godhead will come as her son.

 

Devahūti was feeling disappointed because she had offered to get liberation but instead, she wanted to participate in the procreation thus she was seeing her husband preparing to leave so she was lamenting.

 

So, He’s now comforting her and telling her that nothing to be sorry about because the Lord is going to appear as your son. So, that a very great…the greatest blessing but can the blessing [ Not Clear – 00:2:35] Kṛṣṇa’s incarnation as her son till he told her that she should engage in service of the Supreme Lord faithfully doing austerities, controlling the senses, following the religious rules and then this way she would get all the blessings of the Lord.

 

Everybody seems to want a quick easy way to salvation that’s natural but no matter what one always has to perform set number of these activities of austerities and penances following rules and regulations.

 

The principles given by Lord Caitanya is very blissfully performed not that there is very sever austerities or very difficult penances or very difficult rules one has to follow. But compared to the previous age look at Aditi, in order to get Indra’s protection, to have someone appear who would again bring back her son’s into powerful position of the universe, she had to perform very severe austerities for one year, slightest error and the whole thing would change like after 11 months once she took water with two hands or something, a slight mistake there was a…so there’s many types of penances like this you make a little mistake then everything is finished so it’s not that Lord Caitanya’s path is so difficult, really basic things, we avoid the most complicated and contaminating sinful activities of the Kali Yuga, those who oppose to the personality of the religion: meat eating, illicit Sex, Gambling and intoxication these are not even considered austerities of the other yuga’s, this is considered that these are Human civilized life even the demon and that in the previous few thousand years ago said that the Demons  like beg butter or was steal butter.

 

So he was a famous demon, he said he could beg butter or steal whatever it takes do it to get butter, he was a vegetarian, he have to get butter to and do whatever he have to do so his ethic is a in justifies the means and so on but he didn’t say to get meat or anything so we become very degraded now the human kind and just to bring us to the level of civilized human life this basic principles were given by Lord Caitanya and

 

Prabhupāda said that penance of the chanting everyday

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare,

 

eating Kṛṣṇa Prasādam, and basic practices of Bhakti Yoga which are already blissfully performed it’s not like heavy fasting or meditating under the…between the fore fires and outside like middle of the hottest day of the year or something like that so His System is called Keval Ānanda Kāṇḍa: simply Blissfully performed, of course for the people who have got no idea of kind of austerity penance it makes appear that its very austere, some austerity we have to accept.

 

Some expression of our sincerity to serve Kṛṣṇa but this is as easy as it gets, doesn’t get easier than this, singing and dancing and taking Kṛṣṇa prasādam, hearing the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, doesn’t get easier, I mean I don’t know you guys.

 

Last night we told a pastime of whether Satyabhāmā she was with Lord Kṛṣṇa and she was wondering How am I so fortunate to have Kṛṣṇa as my husband. So, she asked Lord Kṛṣṇa could you tell me what is it that I did in my previous life to be able to get you as my consort, my husband, must have done some very great austerity or something some great penances to be able to achieve this.

 

 

So Lord Kṛṣṇa …[Not Clear – 00:8:59] So then Lord Kṛṣṇa He then replied to her that in the previous yuga, in the previous birth whatever yuga that was he started telling her story saying once there was a Brahmā na and he was a very pious Brahmā na and he would perform his religious activities very carefully worshipping me every day, he had a very beautiful daughter who was also very religious her name was Guṇavati, possessed all good qualities. He also had a disciple named Chandra Banu Chandra something so they though the disciple needed to get married then he gave his daughter in marriage to his disciple.

 

Now the disciple serving his guru just like his father, I mean those days the children would serve their fathers very…now probably the other way it’s like…he serves his father just like he serves his guru, kids don’t serve their parents so much nowadays. But those days they use to served them just as same served his guru like his father, really was faithful in his serving (JPS laughs)

 

I have to give a little commentary 20th century …(not sure 10:58) and one day the guru and the disciple went out in the forest to get some flowers and the flowers were for worshipping the Lord, Guṇavati  was back at the Ashram preparing bhoga to be offered for the offering and all of a sudden from the depths of the forest RAAAAAAR outcomes a demon (devotees laugh) and attacked the two Brahmā na’s and killed them on the spot, devouring the choice parts of their bodies, he was hungry (devotees laugh) meanwhile Viṣṇu immediately sent his spiritual airplane with his associates assistance to go and pick up these two so the bodies were killed because they were so faithfully engaged in his service, they were being liberated and they didn’t really suffer, it’s a very quick death within a minute they received liberation as soon as they left their body and they were taken back to spiritual world to Viṣṇu Loka in the spiritual biman, Airplane.

 

Poor Guṇavati  there she is back in the ashram nobody comes back so finally she finds out that her father and husband are dead she has the bodies all the final rites performed and the pūjā’s performed and the shraad performed she’s lamenting all alone, no husband, no father, she might have had some minor children so she was there all alone depending on Kṛṣṇa she has no one to depend on and she would very  strictly follow every Ekādaśī.

 

In every month of Kartik in the Damodar month, that’s the favorite month of Lord Viṣṇu, she would perform the pūjā’s and the vrata and the penances that are related to the Damodar month very strictly and she continued like that whole life she never waved within her vows, she didn’t…left he was alone she was in that helpless situation she always had her faith in Kṛṣṇa and just kept performing her devotional service, didn’t think about sense gratification.

 

I think its kept simple service taking care of her domestic situation and on all Ekādaśī Brahmā na vrata worshiping Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, when she was very old and frail and she was living In a place which was called Māyāpur  (devotee laugh) small detail I forgot to tell you (devotees laugh) which is on the side of the Ganges, so she went to bath in the Ganges it was a winter night winter day but she was…decided to bath in the Ganges she went into the water Brrrr its cold…she was shivering and shaking and she became frightened uff!

 

So much shaking all of a sudden Viṣṇu had sent a spiritual airplane for her and she saw death coming but she kind of…immediately she was retrieved from her body and then headed to the spiritual airplane of the Lord and was taken back also to the Vaikunta Loka spiritual world. So, Lord Kṛṣṇa explained that Why I appeared here in this world and you came and joined me, you were that Guṇavati and you became my consort because you observed the Ekādaśī and Damodar vrata so faithfully.

 

She was surprised like you know…[Not Clear -  00:17:03] well of course being a widow whole life and strictly following worshiping Kṛṣṇa and everything He was pleased you know why is Ekādaśī so important so dear to you and then Lord Kṛṣṇa tell the pastimes of how... India was…really big war was going on between the deva’s and the…I mean that’s another pastime but can’t remember why the deva’s, and they really needed Viṣṇu bad I mean this happens all the time with the deva’s but can’t remember exactly what reason it was but it’s just that time of the year that time Viṣṇu was in a yoga nidra so the devas all began to chant and figuring out how we can wake him up from the yoga nidra to help us, so many advice that we do a big kirtan so they have a big Harinam beside of the ocean of milk and it happened to be on the day of Ekādaśī.

 

So, when Visnu woke up hearing the holy name he was so happy saying this is the best day of my life to hear all the deva’s chanting the holy names he said from this time anybody who chants and worships me on this day. There may be other karma kanda reasons but this was the reason that Lord Kṛṣṇa gave.

 

Often Prabhupāda  stresses on the nectar of devotion this is a special day to worship Kṛṣṇa but you know get the big book tells us all the  karma kanda reasons of doing Ekādaśī but in the Padma Purana this is mentioned this is the spiritual reasons why it’s so pleasing to the Lord the history behind it but there are other pastimes like the Damodar vrata also important was a…there was a…that’s what happened there was a had to be end of something big universal so catastrophe in the brahmāṇḍa  and the devas performed a special worship under the guidance of Lord Brahmā  in Prayag before the Ganges had come down and they performed it for one month and it was such a successful yagna that the Lord Himself came and personally accept their worship and blessed them and they also there was so much happiness during the yagna and the Lord felt so much happiness that they prayed to him at this place with the present at the holy place and then the Lord said yes here the Ganges and the Yamuna will come and

 

Meet here one descendent of Sagar Maharaj in particular dynasty will come and bring the Ganges into this world and meet here and this would be a place where people will gather together and just happened the particular month that they done that sacrifice was also Damodar month so that’s one of the reason.

 

There’s another reason why Damodar month is so special and higher level Vṛndāvan reasons also, it’s kind of multiple layers of reasons, this is one of the reasons of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

 

So Satyabhama is also the origin of the mother earth what yuga what descent when this happen we don’t know things are very mysterious with these eternal associates but I don’t know this what Lord Kṛṣṇa told her in the Bhāgavatam we also know how Satyabhama’s origin of earth she’s a great eternal potency of the Lord and when Kṛṣṇa had to go and release the 16108 princess from the clutches of Narakāsura  whose also known as Bhaumāsura  he went on route and took Satyabhama with him, he went to see in the place of Bhaumāsura  in Gouwhati its known as Prachotaspur.

 

In Vedas on the bank of the Brahmāputra river beautiful place, little hill locks, beautiful wide river over 2km wide 2/3 km wide, Bhaumāsura was recently was a good guy, was a good sadhu, muni, he was Bhaumā, Bhaumadeva he was in one of those second-generation devotees.

 

He was a good devotee but being the son of Bhumi some pastime personified Bhumi she had a son and he was a very good king and a good ruler and protected his citizen and went according to the kṣatriya principles but his next-door neighbor in his next kingdom was none other than the diabolical Manasura and some he got invited to go visit Manasura and he got affected by his bad association.

 

Bhaumāsura  had mystical powers and gave a few magical tantric powers to Bhaumā and Bhaumā to do that and began to worship the Kamakya that black powers and just gradually he became from Bhauma deva to Bhaumāsura  , start developing all kinds of bad habits start to become very tyrannical and but bhumi gave him a blessing that when he was Bhaumadeva that no one can kill you without my permission with Kṛṣṇa.

 

He knew he was going to face a tough character to get all these princesses delivered and out of respect for his devotee he couldn’t kill him Bhaumāsura  without the permission of bhumi, it was hard to get permission of Bhumi to kill her own son but since Satyabhama was the origin of bhumi and whatever she said was automatically what bhumi said works that way, bhumi wasn’t in reality with Satyabhāmā.

 

So, took her along, so Bhaumāsura   he had surrounded his kingdom with so many mystical protections and electrifying barbed wire and this and that all kinds of things but Kṛṣṇa just…Mystical things you know electrical just Puff… lightening coming and all kind of powered things different mystical entities would attack Him when they started to enter without permission.

 

So, Kṛṣṇa blew His conch shell and half of the thing disappeared, the other half He took out the Sudarshan chakra and infinite light came out of that knocked away the other half of the defenses all electrical.

 

We know about electrical being cut down based on last night (devotees laugh)  and then He got through all the defenses of Bhaumāsura  and then Bhaumāsura  starts send began to have a very big out one demon after another to attack Kṛṣṇa and then they were also liberated and the Bhaumāsura  himself came out and he began to have a very huge fight with Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa and him start exchanging amazing kind of weapons and things, finally Bhaumāsura go so angry and he got out his special weapon given by Śiva or Durga someone who was like a… mahā weapon…take no other weapons although Kṛṣṇa can’t be destroyed by any weapon.

 

When he lifted that to throw on Kṛṣṇa then Kṛṣṇa asked Satyabhama what do you want me to do and at that moment she said ok ok take him out that way you don’t take any chances and so that was when Bhaumāsura  in particular place he couldn’t see , it was like a particular place in the …particular hill so there wouldn’t be anything pious, he was so angry at him, any way but he was liberated.

 

So, and then Kṛṣṇa went and delivered the 16108 princesses and let free all the princes and the kings that got captured by Bhaumāsura. And the place where Kṛṣṇa…were all the princess were kept was still there, go and see it, we couldn’t go to see it because it’s a restricted area but now they’ve lifted off all the restriction after devotees went and did Harinām it somehow changed their heart.

 

There’s no more restrictions now when we go Assam so if you want to see our a temple in Guwahati, devotees changed their mind, come to India take you know just $30 plane ride or overnight train, there’s many amazing things there.

So, by the mercy of Lord Viṣṇu Devahūti , she’s got the blessing that she can have Viṣṇu  as her son and she was performing simple worship, getting little charity, performing penances following some system of regulation of devotion it’s not that difficult so these things are so powerful they are so pleasing to Kṛṣṇa that he agreed to come down as her son.

 

You see that somehow devotee’s neophyte devotees they find it difficult even to keep up with the basic things like chanting and performing devotional service very easily they get derailed, even an advanced devotee gets derailed older devotees.

 

So somehow, it’s hard to keep one’s attention little bit of carelessness someone can get distracted but if we’re able to keep up. There so many evidences in the purana of people getting back to Godhead and achieving pure love of Kṛṣṇa. Well these achieving Kṛṣṇa’s eternal service.

 

We may under estimate what the importance is for Ekādaśī or why should one follow Ekādaśī but we can see its very important here. It’s very pleasing to the Lord to do these particular services, no one service is difficult but you put everything together than it becomes very powerful, how powerful don’t have any way to measure it, it’s beyond our estimation, we can see from the results it’s so powerful so pleasing to the Lord.

 

So, nectar of devotion and in different Veda’s it says what are the most important services we could do for the Lord , watching His worship early in the morning, worshiping his devotee Tulasī, reading the Śrīmad  Bhāgavatam, chanting the holy names, dancing in front of the Lord  then there’s associating with the devotees, living in the holy place, all these services which is so dear to the Lord.

 

With Prabhupāda’s mercy has it performed every day before 9am we already performed you know so many important services and there living in the holy place where Radha Vallabh staying, that’s also non different from Vṛndāvan  and then mentally remembering Vṛndāvan , Māyāpur  and feeling separation from them wanting to considering the holy Dham as ones eternal home, one can get the same benefit of the living of the Dham, of course we do have our retirement plans for devotees who want to live in Vṛndāvan  live directly, one can live either directly or by separation.

 

So, by Prabhupāda ’s mercy we got opportunity to perform all the perform all the important services, we just need the determination to do it all the way though out the whole life.

 

I mean just like Devahūti, she was lamenting and wasn’t Kṛṣṇa conscious but we had to be very careful not to get into lamentation about a material situation I mean Devahūti  she was going to lose her husband to sannyasa it was already understood and she was lamenting that she wasn’t Kṛṣṇa Conscious, she was a very Kṛṣṇa conscious woman.

 

But I know there was an Indian lady disciple and her husband all family came to Kṛṣṇa conscious in south India and astrologer told her when she was getting married to him that she is not a good match for you, everything will be compatible, everything will be great, you’ll have nice children but your husbands going to leave his body very young and you will be a widow.

 

But she was attached to him, it was not so much of an arranged marriage, spontaneous marriage (devotee laugh) she took her chances and she worshiped Ganesh every day and prayed that my husband will get a long life and hoped it will change his karma but then they came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness the husband came and he took initiation and he was a very good devotee and the year that he was supposed to leave in the a past maybe 5 years longer.

 

One day he was driving home with his son from somewhere and all of a sudden, he pulled the car over on the side of the road

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

 

chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa and just passed away she was really upset, she gave up worshiping Ganesh (devotee’s laugh) she became…she thought it was, she couldn’t you know first she was emotional you know and after a while we explained to her when she was less emotional more settled down ready to hear how she had to like count her gift.

 

Her husband did live longer than what was expected but the thing was instead of understanding that Kṛṣṇa taking her husband she said that how her husband had done so well for her by her being a devotee, the children had become devotees, her husband left his body chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and took on devotional service, it’s like the story of Satyabhama.

 

I mean Guṇavati  husband and father I mean if somebody is going to go we either see it from one side whether this side of the mirror, this side of the window you know, we don’t see what’s the other side, and some time we had to face different challenges of but there was every symptom that her husband was a sincere devotee, he was chanting and there was no pain or anything, it was very peaceful day time Uttara nayan and everything so since he went back to the spiritual world in any case she has the duty to bring up the children.

 

It  saved her  if she hadn’t come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness then  where she would…what a situation would’ve been in try to get into like see the thing from not an emotional part from those things, without her husband but…and any case it was like she knew it was like there’s no guarantee that it would be any different in worship to anybody else, she settled down, she seem responsibly situated.

 

People tend to get very emotional and then sometime people get angry at Kṛṣṇa, why are you causing me to suffer like that, even in her case she knew , she was already told by the astrologer that’s going to happen but you know she accepts the scientific nature of astrology wasn’t something even outside of the predictable karma protect, Kṛṣṇa led everything today she got really well situated devotional service because then you get people in the western world where the, you get situations where people get married then marriages break up then they get married again and it breaks and it goes on and go back many several times in their life always think of their loved one but instead of fixing at Kṛṣṇa they request sometimes they want to, since they’ve gone so they want to remarry, take more and more shelter of Kṛṣṇa.

 

Just like Devahūti  she was lamenting I’m missing my husband’s going to leave and I never became Kṛṣṇa conscious I never took from him the Kṛṣṇa conscious, if you really want to be Kṛṣṇa conscious and you’re really facing some crises then we really open our heart, beg him for his mercy, Kṛṣṇa is very merciful, he reciprocates, and in this case she opened her heart to Deva Kardama and now his explaining that it’s alright and comforting her and telling her that actually I remember that your supposed to be the mother of  Lord Viṣṇu .

 

So he delayed His departure and she did become the mother of Kapila, we read about that how that happened and Kardama muni being a great mystic can see that her son we going to teach her the science of the transcendental reality and the…so he was also saw that ok just because I have son it’s not going to mean I’m going to be tied down, I can still go in fact my…it’s going to better because my sons going to teach my wife…his really fixed in renunciation so he didn’t…he wasn’t fixed like in paternal love and bringing up his son and that was in a different level of consciousness so actually Devahūti  got a special mercy to be able to bring up Kapila deva and then when he grew up she also got the mercy of being instructed by him, also interesting.

 

Lord Caitanya also stressed that a few penances and austerity, one of the ones He stressed was the Ekādaśī, he even requested his mother to observe Ekādaśī when he was a child Lord Caitanya was just a toddler.

 

One day he refused to eat not a baby but a baby that can talk little bit and he refused to eat, he wasn’t speaking why but they brought the doctor why isn’t he eating the doctors checked him over and couldn’t find anything wrong, finally asked why aren’t you eating, what’s wrong and he was crying not eating.

 

Today’s Ekādaśī and Jagadish pandit and Himanya pandit are having a big feast today and I want to go over there and eat, how does a little baby know Ekādaśī they don’t even teach Ekādaśī till their 5 or 4, how does a little baby know what Ekādaśī is, how does he know that Hiranya and Jagadish, I don’t even know and they are my best friends I don’t even know they are having a big feast (devotees laugh).

 

So anyway, he takes the child and takes Nimāi on his shoulder and goes over to find out what’s going on, he turns up and sees a very big spread and they got hundreds of preparations, they’re offering a mahā bhoga, super offering to the Lord, they didn’t tell him that if its Ekādaśī nobody else could eat it but the Lord and they were also fasting from grains but the Lord doesn’t fast on Ekādaśī.

 

So, they were offering to him some special occasion they didn’t invite anybody they were going to invite the next day Dwadashi that date they did invite, people fasting didn’t think it was right to invite anyone.

 

So, later in the [Not clear – 00:41:57]  Lord was saying you know if you wanted to eat, spontaneously in their heart just felt that it was  like it was kind of a miracle a baby little small child saying they’re saying somewhere in their heart they just felt that its inspired by Kṛṣṇa so they gave all the offering to  *…[Not clear – 00:42:21].

 

So, the spontaneously they felt paternal affection for Lord Caitanya even though they didn’t know he was God but, in their heart, they felt just like the residents of Vṛndāvan, they didn’t know Kṛṣṇa was God but they loved Him spontaneously but from a very childhood Nimāi was bring up the importance of Ekādaśī and then he would have all His followers’ practice Ekādaśī, no grains then Lord Caitanya He also introduced everyone should read the Bhāgavatam.

 

In fact, one devotee was giving Bhāgavatam class so nicely when he was going to the Jaganath Puri after taking sanyas he listened to one devotee giving the Bhāgavatam message you give such a nice Bhāgavatam class.

 

My instruction to you is that you should give Bhāgavatam class every day at this place and I give you the name bhagavat acharya and that was his service to stay there and give Bhāgavatam class and you can see still the place unfortunately it’s` taken over by Upasampradaya it’s in a place Varaha Naka and then anyway that’s the original place and Lord Caitanya visited there as bhagavat Acharya gave his bhagavat class that was his service Lord Caitanya said simply by giving Bhāgavatam class you will go back to Kṛṣṇa so we have the opportunity to do everything we have the Bhāgavatam, classes, Damodar, Japa, Mangal arti, tulsi puja everything we can do, if we can just stick to it there’s no question about getting to Kṛṣṇa.

 

Māyā will always try to put up some tricks to test us so we have to be very careful now Kali yuga think sometimes demons think that we’re on the deva’s side so they put up problems so sometime the deva’s get worried that some devotee is doing so much pious activities that they will become a deva start take over their position.

 

The devotees are really not on the deva’s side or the demon’s side because we’re doing so much sacrifice the deva’s get to benefit so sometimes the demons get envious.

 

In the purport of the eight canto Prabhupāda said that demons are smart they don’t have to…both the deva’s and demons both fighting with each other, they’re really smart if they both take up Kṛṣṇa consciousness and go back to godhead, and forget there you know enmity transcend it.

 

So, here’s a special chance in kali yuga Lord Caitanya so merciful although He’s Viṣṇu he doesn’t come down with His weapon of violence, He comes with His weapon of love and even such person whose like demoniac naturally comes to him he doesn’t kill the demon but kills the demonic nature.

Chand Kazi was very inimical aggressive and He killed the demonic nature and became a passive in devotional, Jagāi one time very aggressive, he became converted as pure devotee, papi tapi jotho chilo harir name oodarilo thar sakhi Jagai ar Madhai.

 

Like that many demons who have come from previous births or previous pastimes they all got love of godhead what to speak of so many devas. Brihaspati came as Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya.

 

Lord Brahmā he came down as Haridas Thakur, Brahmā ’s neutral to this demon deva thing, he is the father of everybody both the deva’s and the demon’s, he has to be more neutral.

 

So, elucidates everybody who appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastime all got delivered, whatever nature whether we have demonic nature or demonic nature before we were come before or came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness doesn’t matter.

 

If we simply expand in the shelter of Lord Caitanya Nityānanda we can achieve divine transcendental consciousness and certainly will be able to go back to Kṛṣṇa’s eternal pastimes.

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.

 

Any questions?

 

It’s been a long time (devotees laugh) well you do have Guru’s, Gurus can also tell them the way it levelled basically you have like Prabhupāda has given also very levelled maybe, so its individual adjustment needed that only the Guru can do because He is responsible for whatever karmas they accrued for that so hardly any reaction.

 

I mean we aren’t supposed to do extra austerity, it’s not necessary you know to try. So many different austerities mentioned in the Veda’s that one does not have to do the extra one just do the Ekādaśī, now we’re doing chaturmasya we’re not taking spinach, next month you don’t [Not clear – 00:48:00] you don’t take milk, Damodar month.

 

For [Not clear – 00:49:08] they don’t take high protein and no meat fish or eggs, for the vegetarians we don’t take high protein normally don’t take soya anyway but wouldn’t take Urid daal.

 

Tamal Kṛṣṇa Maharaja is travelling around South India didn’t realize one of the austerity was not to take Urid daal though it was a south India doing month of Damodar, idly’s, Dosa’s everything has Urid daals (devotees laugh) he didn’t know the secret of making idly with from semolina so he was fasting in a bit.

 

But if it’s in the west Urid daal is not such as famous as south India, don’t miss them so much. We follow the basic things that Prabhupāda gave us that’s enough austerity the basic that’s enough.

 

If some reason if one cannot do that they can discuss with the Guru, want to do some like extra, must also take permission we don’t do too much and don’t do too little.

 

So this one sannyasa disciple of Srila Bhaktisidhanta Saraswati Thakur he got in his mind that what I do a special tapasya of circumbalating the mother ganges by walking, like 5000KM at least 3-4/5 thousand KM parikrama, up to Goloka, round the Ganges all the down the other side so over the you know over a boat or something I don’t know  [Not Clear – 00:51:02] over the ocean had moved to the other side of the bank.

 

So Srila Bhaktisidhanta said did I preach (devotees laugh) Kṛṣṇa conscious you know just do kirtan yeah don’t do this ,  this a very serious austerity, it’s not necessary to do this, it’s a pious activity it’s not, but he was so into it that somehow really into it he did it anyway disobeyed his Guru and he came back and was really you know I did it and he came back he sees all his God brothers and he came and sees Bhaktisidhanta and He took away his danda.

 

He said put him in the Brahmācari post, and got demoted back to Brahmācari (devotees laugh) [Not Clear – 00:51:56] anybody demoted, the Guru gave it and he can take it away, put him to washing pots sent him back to washing pots performed some pious activities, we don’t do pious thing we don’t do sin, most thing are forbidden for us, too much austerity just for pious purposes.

 

I mean austerities we do carrying out our sankirtan planning our strategies for preaching, sleepless nights we spend trying to defend the temple from various kinds of attacks and things, these austerities are not Ekādaśī, Janmāṣṭamī, Rādhāṣṭamī and so on but we have to do and the other type of extreme austerity.

 

Austerity will take 15 rings of rice and the full moon you go down till it’s the  dark moon everyday reducing by one grain of rice and on dark moon take no rice take one or two up to next one month fast like that, there’s all kinds of things you can do, it’s not recommended to do things like that.

 

One morning I was chanting I was in the temple for a while somehow or other I was in Kolkata we got into this thing where everybody was to chant 32 rounds but the Prabhupāda was saying that after breakfast it was like 10:30-11:00.

 

Prabhupāda said, “What are you doing here?

I’m chanting, I’m chanting 32 rounds, I was really proud 32 rounds. If you stand here and chant 32 rounds who’s going to go out there and preach? Just do 16 and go out and do your preaching but I was doing extra 32 you know, I had to stay till 11:00-12:00 to do it”.

 

But then Prabhupāda said just do 16 and go out and preach.

 

So, he really wanted us to preserve sometime devotee, He wanted us to extra time spend it on reading, spend on studying, spend on preaching. We want to build our self-up spiritually and we want to spread the message of Lord Caitanya because it’s an emergency situation of the world.

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa.

 

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