19950810 Bhagavad gītā - 9.22

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharāja on August 10th, 1995 in Warsaw, Poland. The class begins from a reading from the Bhagavad-gītā chapter 9 verse 22.

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ
ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham 

Translation: But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.

Purport: One who is unable to live for a moment without Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot but think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours a day, being engaged in devotional service by hearing, chanting, remembering, offering prayers, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, rendering other services, cultivating friendship and surrendering fully to the Lord. Such activities are all auspicious and full of spiritual potencies, which make the devotee perfect in self-realization, so that his only desire is to achieve the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a devotee undoubtedly approaches the Lord without difficulty. This is called yoga. By the mercy of the Lord, such a devotee never comes back to this material condition of life. Kṣema refers to the merciful protection of the Lord. The Lord helps the devotee to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness by yoga, and when he becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious the Lord protects him from falling down to a miserable conditioned life.

Jayapatākā Swami: Absorption in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness or in thinking about Kṛṣṇa was described by Nārada Muni as the most important feature to bring one back to Kṛṣṇa. Being absorbed in thinking about Kṛṣṇa is such, that even the demons, who are thinking of Lord Kṛṣṇa out of fear, anger or enviousness, they also achieve the Absolute Truth, because they were absorbed. What to speak of someone who is absorbed in thinking about Kṛṣṇa favorably, in pure devotion. Kamsa, he was afraid of Kṛṣṇa, day and night he was thinking about Kṛṣṇa. When is Kṛṣṇa going to come and kill me? I have to take care of this Kṛṣṇa, he was always thinking about Kṛṣṇa. Sleeping, waking, taking a shower.  No matter what, just always be thinking about Kṛṣṇa.  For his, it was not favorable, but, still Kṛṣṇa is all good and if you think of Kṛṣṇa then you know, you get purified.

Ajāmila, he was thinking about Kṛṣṇa accidently. Because he called his son Nārāyaṇa. He wasn´t so much absorbed, but he was very attached to his son. And so that he always was calling his son to come by his side.  When he was trying to eat he would call, ¨NĀRĀYAṆA! 

What did he call?

Devotees: NĀRĀYAṆA!

Jayapatākā Swami: Come here , sit, eat with me. When he would go for a walk, then he´would call NĀRĀYAṆA!

Devotees: NĀRĀYAṆA!

Jayapatākā Swami: Come here let´ś go for a walk. Then when he wanted just to sit somewhere.  He´d NĀRĀYAṆA

Devotees: NĀRĀYAṆA

Jayapatākā Swami: Come here sit with me, So throughout the day, he´d be calling a hundred, a thousand … you know so many times NĀRĀYAṆA!

Devotees: NĀRĀYAṆA!

Jayapatākā Swami:: He didn't know  every time he was calling Nārāyaṇa, for his son,  ...unlimited karmas, and contaminations and all these.. cleared away.  So he was simply calling the name of the Lord without even thinking consciously of the Lord but thinking of his son.  and the Viṣṇudūtas said that actually by chanting so many times the name ...¨NĀRĀYAṆA¨.

Devotees: NĀRĀYAṆA

Jayapatākā Swami:: He was already purified from so many sins. More than he could..that's just from chanting the holy name, even accidently. When somebody is actually absorbed in worshipping the Lord with devotion. Meditating on the Lord´s transcendental form. In this way Prabhupāda explains,  Such a devotee undoubtedly approaches the Lord without difficulty. In the beginning of devotional practices one might not be fixed. So it's considered mixed devotion. Some Kṛṣṇa..some other things. When a person gradually by good association, by training, by philosophy when they finally understand that there is no other happiness. The material world has got no real happiness. The happiness of the senses is simply something which is leading to suffering. The very thing that gives us happiness today , will  cause us suffering tomorrow.  This verse is coming after the previous verse  describing the people who follow the Vedic path and enjoy vast heavenly sense pleasures, but their pious activities are exhausted. And then again they have to come back down to the mortal planet of birth death. So Kṛṣṇa says, those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas, they only achieve birth and death.

te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ
kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti
(Bg. 9.21)

Again falling down to martya-loka. Lord Caitanya describes in Bengali Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, kabhu svarge uṭhāya... (Cc. Madhya 20.118) It´s considered like a kind of  punishment, Like a king would punish a criminal in the old time, ducking them in the water, until they are about to drown and then giving them a gasp of air. Suffering in the material world, Martyaloka, birth, death, old age, disease. Taking a little breather in heavenly planet, enjoying some rest, sense pleasure, burning out all the pious results, again coming back down, and going through the whole cycle again. In terms of eternal life being in the heavenly planets to live for a billion years is nothing. What is a billion years compared to eternity? Those who are enjoying vast sense pleasures for extended periods of time in the heavenly planets, they're only getting birth and death. But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.

So in other words, by the mercy of the Lord  one.. A devotee doesn't come back again to the material world. Doesn´t come back to the material condition of life always remains in devotional service. The devotee from their side,  they try to always please Kṛṣṇa, serve Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with His protection.  With the spiritual protection. You probably know the story of uh.. Satyabhāma asks Kṛṣṇa what did she do in her previous life to become His queen. What type of tapasyās did she perform and ..needs to be research from the Māyāpur (inaudible 11:53) from the Padma Purāṇa. (inaudible 11:57) … caught my attention.. There it mentions how.. Lord Kṛṣṇa explains to Satyabhāma that once there was a great brāhmaṇa…I think his name was Satyavrata (inaudible 12:12) He was worshipping he was very much absorbed in  my service and he had a  beautiful and devout  daughter whose name was Guṇavatī. So on the order of his guru he also accepted some disciple. And his disciple´s name was Candra something. So then he decided..when he saw that  Candra was more suited to gṛhastha life so that he arranged to marry his daughter to his disciple. So the disciple was serving the guru just like a very devout son would serve the father, very carefully, very ...without any separate interest. And Guṇavatī was preparing the bhoga to  be offered to the deity.  One day the guru and disciple went out in the forest together to bring things to offer to the deity. While they were in the forest, deep forest,..dark, dense forest. There was a movement, they looked...AHHH!! Jumped a demon and just killed them! Right on the spot! Dead instantly! Now you might think, why didn´t Kṛṣṇa protect them? They were killed, they were good devotees…this and that. We´ll see how... Immediately as soon as they left their body, Kṛṣṇa sent His spiritual airplane and the occupants were immediately taken back to the spiritual world. Because they were good devotees. Fixed and absorbed in His service. So it was just the way they happened to leave in that way. Poor Guṇavatī, there she was in Māyāpur dhāma, that´s where the āśrama was, in Māyāpur. And husband didn´t come back, father didn´t come back, nobody didn´t come back.(inaudible 14:42)  She made the offering. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Some people looked for them and finally found them. They were dead. She performed the final rites. Performed the śrāddha and everything that was supposed to be done. Of course they are already back in the spiritual world. She did her duties on this plane,  one should do. But you know she was really heart broken. No father, no husband, all on her own. Maybe she had children, I can´t remember. I guess she was all alone. No one to protect her. So first she was very emotional about it, but then afterwards...she was just decided she was going to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Noone else to take shelter of . So very carefully she took shelter of Kṛṣṇa. She observed every Ekādaśī, very carefully. And she observed the Dāmodara-vrata. In the month of Kārtika or Dāmodara. We do Dāmodara pūjā, offering a lamp. In this way she passed her life. Following the regular pooja, doing the Ekādaśīs, Dāmodara.  She was very old and frail. It was the winter, she went down to the Ganges to take a bath. She entered into the water and started shaking..it was so cold.  She´s shaking and she saw all the sudden personified death was coming...what´s going to happen. Then immediately the Viṣṇudūtas came and took her back to the spiritual world. Lord Kṛṣṇa said, "You were Guṇavatī. And your father Satyavrata is the brāhmaṇa and Candra has taken birth as Akrura. They´re all here."

The point is that Kṛṣṇa can protect us. But the real protection that comes is the spiritual protection. Book distributor might be distributing books something may happen. Kṛṣṇa takes these distributors back. There was a case in Italy, someone got hit by a car, carrying a whole stack of Bhāgavatams. Śrīla Prabhupāda said he went Back to Godhead. I´ve lost disciples while they were in the field of preaching. Killed in act of devotional service. We need preachers to make devotees. Kṛṣṇa takes them away. We know that Kṛṣṇa protects His devotees, so if they leave their bodies engaged in devotional service, they are ok. And there are so many evidences of that in the śāstra. Sometimes I know that sometimes people are in an emotional state and they think "Well, how did this happen?" Just like in the case of Guṇavatī, it may happen. It may happen. We don´t know.

In the case of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. Right, during the kīrtana of Lord Caitanya, wife started crying and he heard the crying and he said, "What´s going on?" And he came in and saw that his wife was holding the dead body of his son. And he said, "What´s wrong?" She said, "Your son Gopāla is dead!" "Are you sure he is dead?" "He’s dead." "Well, if he is dead there is nothing we can do, so stop crying or it’ll disturb the kīrtana of Lord Caitanya."

She kept crying and he said "Look if you don´t stop crying, I'm going to take my life and you are going to have to cry for a dead husband too." So then she stopped crying because she was in a state of shock.

He went out and joined the kīrtana. So the kīrtana was going on. After the kīrtana was over, Lord Caitanya asked why, what was that noise from your house, what was  the commotion? He said, "Oh my son Gopāla has died."

¨What! Your son, a beautiful devotee, he died? Why didn´t you tell us?”

“Well, I didn’t want to disturb your kīrtana.”

“What do you mean...What devotee in the world when his son dies, you won’t tell us? Śrīvāsa there is no devotee like you. No where! We wouldn’t have taken it otherwise if you would have told us what’s wrong."

“No, no, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Lord Caitanya’s like, “This Śrīvāsa, he’s so selfless. Unbelievable.”

Anyway, bring Gopāla out. So they brought Gopāla, the body of Gopāla.  The wife was crying.

Lord Caitanya called, "Gopāla stand up. Stand Up! Come back. Why you have left your mother and father?" Gopāla stood up, opened his eyes but now he wasn’t the Gopāla, the eleven year old boy.  He was Gopāla, liberated soul. Gopāla could see back into his entire existence in the material world.

He said, “Which parents? I’ve had millions of parents. Which mother and father?”

“No, no… Śrīvāsa and Mālinī.”

"Oh, Śrīvāsa, Mālinī. You're great devotees. By their blessings, by their mercy, I could achieve your service." And he was praising. I forget all the things... The interesting thing was that Gopāla, he was feeling a completely transcendental position. The mother, she became satisfied seeing that the son actually wasn’t conditioned. The son was liberated. "So why are you leaving?" Lord Caitanya asked. Gopāla said “Why would you ask me this? It’s not under my control when I come when I go, we’re all under superior control. By your mercy I could take birth in Śrīvāsa’s family and by your mercy can go back to the spiritual world." So we only see one side of the...the window. One side of the picture here. We don’t see the other side. We don’t see what happens when people leave. How they take them back to the spiritual world . Maybe somebody (inaudible 23.33). But generally people on this plane we’re not able to see…(inaudible 23: 39) transcendental occurrences. Śāstras and Kṛṣṇa in this verse is also confirming. He protects His devotees who are absorbed in Him. What they should do is commit to be completely absorbed. No hesitating. What is one life 60 years 70 years, How many years you have left?

There’s not that many years. So if we can just stay in devotional service, absorbed in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness ..short life..It’s not that we have to be..It’s not that everyone has to be a sannyāsī If you can just live a normal regulated life, Being absorbed in serving Kṛṣṇa, chanting  Hare Kṛṣṇa, .. (inaudible 25:12) spreading the glories of Kṛṣṇa. One will go back to Kṛṣṇa. Lord Śiva explained in the Bhāgavatam. That if someone does their svadharma, according to the varṇāśrama for 100 births perfectly, they can achieve the planet of Lord Brahmā. But if someone is even more pious than that they can achieve my abode. It’s kind of a long range, 100 births. Every birth must be following everything perfectly, then they get Svargaloka. More than that they’ll achieve Śivaloka. Lord Śiva said that the devotees of Kṛṣṇa by being absorbed in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in one lifetime. They're going beyond my abode, back to Goloka Vṛndāvana, back to the spiritual world. Therefore, the devotees of Kṛṣṇa are very dear to me and I am very dear to them. Normally it is very difficult, normally people don’t know this. Still it’s difficult to be absorbed in Kṛṣṇa because one needs to have a taste. And Lord Caitanya is so merciful he is giving this taste freely.

parama karuna pahu dui jana nitai guara chandra
saba avatāra-sāra śiromaṇi
kevala ānanda-kanda

Of all the incarnations of the Lord, He is the crown jewel . Why?  He is giving the process that’s blissful, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, engage in devotional service, today’s a wonderful festival, Balarāma’s sacred appearance day. The festivals of the Lord and His different incarnations. In this way, the process, festivals, chanting, hearing, feasting, distributing the mercy. Helping to Improve the situation so all the living souls (inaudible 27.49). It is a very blissful process. Supremely blissful process. It’s natural for anyone to do this kind of activity, it’s not very unnatural. Extreme austerities. Lord Nityānada is so merciful, he’s making it even more easy. Lord Balarāma, who appeared today. He came down as Lord Nityānanda. He gives out the mercy of Lord Caitanya, without even considering who’s qualified who’s not qualified. Not considering who should get who shouldn’t get, just giving to everyone. When Lord Nityānanda was touring all over India and He got to Vṛndāvana.   He was received... Remember this is Balarāma this is the Lord of Vṛndāvana came back.  They licked His lotus feet, they worshipped Him…. all the who? Who licked His feet? The cows of Vṛndāvana and the deer. They naturally came up to the Lord. He had a vision that Lord Caitanya is going to start the sankīrtana movement in Navadvīpa Māyāpur dhāma . But there was one devotee who was still there in Vṛndāvana from Dvāpara-yuga, Śrīdāma, Śrīdāma prabhu, he never came, he never went back to the spiritual world. He just stuck it out there. Down in a cave somewhere in Govardhana, he was feeling separation from Kṛṣṇa … 5000. 4500 years were gone. So Nityānanda went looking for him and then said, "Hey, Śrīdāma, Śrīdāma! Come out! Śrīdāma!" Somehow Śrīdāma's samādhi broke and he came out from the cave.

“Who are you ?”

“Śrīdāma! It’s me!”

“Nityānanda, you're small “

“I’m Balarāma.”

“You’re not Balarāma, Balarāma’s big. Who are you?”

“It’s Kali-yuga, I took this form for Kali yuga. We went back to the spiritual world. Lord Kṛṣṇa came as Gaurāṅga, and I’m Balarāma and I came as Nityānanda. We came to do pastimes.”

“I don’t know. How can I believe you?”

“You test me.”

“Alright. Balarāma, you used to be the only one who could beat me in a race around Govardhana. If you can beat me, then I will believe you are Balarāma”.

“Let’s go.”

He took off running. (devotees laughing)

Running around, running, running, running. And Nityanānda is neck on neck, down the turn, all the way down the straight coming around and, in the end Nityānanda, He won the race.

Then Śrīdāma, said, "Alright, I believe you. You must be Balarāma, nobody else could beat me."

Balarāma said, “So come on, do you want also to be part of this pastime?”

He said, “Alright”

“But you can’t come like this, you’re gigantic, you won’t fit in. I know what we have to do.” So Nityānanda put HIs hand on his head and, huh! (devotees laughing) Shrunk him down. Now you will be known as Abhirāma Ṭhākura. You can see Abhirāma Ṭhākura’s deity in Kṛṣṇanagar.  And the deity there just went in and sat down and turned into a deity. He entered inside the deity.   It’s still there never left (inaudible 32:00) Whenever you like you can go and have darśana. Halfway between Māyāpur and Calcutta on the western side of the Ganges. Then Balarāma, He came as Nityānanda. Giving the mercy freely, so it’s not hard for us to be absorbed, because the Lord’s giving us prema-bhakti, giving us devotion, if we just take it. We follow Their process, follow the process of Gaura-Nitāi then we’ll be absorbed very easily. When we’re absorbed always worshipping Kṛṣṇa in exclusive devotion always meditating on His form and chanting HIs holy names, then Kṛṣṇa will protect us. Nityānanda. He’ll give us whatever we need. To get the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, we need the mercy of Balarāma. To get the mercy of Gaurāṅga, we need the mercy of Nitāi. Balarāma’s the original guru. All the gurus are coming from Balarāma, representing. Balarāma ki!

Devotees: Jai!!

Jayapatākā Swami: Nitāi-Gaura ki!

Devotees: Jai!

Jayapatākā Swami: Giridhāri ki!

Devotees: Jai!

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda ki!

Devotees: Jai!

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā ki!

Devotees: Jai!

Jayapatākā Swami: Jai Gaura-premānande!

Devotees: Hari Hari Bol!

On chanting: If you chant even offensively long enough you can get forgiven for the offenses.  Even offensive chanting is better than no chanting. The only quote that I can think of right now is that these professional kīrtana singers who chant Hare Kṛṣṇa for money, they’re not proper. They’re just in it for the money. So people that go on listening to that, they’re hearing the names of Kṛṣṇa, externally it’s what they are doing.  But because, I’ve heard, they get pious results from that. They never actually change their heart to surrender to Kṛṣṇa or change their lifestyle because it’s a pious activity. A pure devotee, their chanting is revolutionary, penetrates. Chanting to please Kṛṣṇa it penetrates the heart.

Balarāma ki!

Devotees: Jai!

Nitāi-Gaurapremānanda ki!

Devotees: Jai!

Devotees: Jayapatākā Mahārāja ki!

Jai

Devotees: Śrīla Ācāryapāda ki!

Jai!