19950823 Bhagavad-gītā 2.69 | Nāmahaṭṭa Program

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharāja on August 23^rd, 1995 in Singapore. The class begins from a reading from the Bhagavad-gītā chapter 2 verse 69.

yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ
tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni
sā niśā paśyato muneḥ

Translation: What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.

Purport: There are two classes of intelligent men. One is intelligent in material activities for sense gratification, and the other is introspective and awake to the cultivation of self-realization. Activities of the introspective sage, or thoughtful man, are night for persons materially absorbed. Materialistic persons remain asleep in such a night due to their ignorance of self-realization. The introspective sage remains alert in the “night” of the materialistic men. The sage feels transcendental pleasure in the gradual advancement of spiritual culture, whereas the man in materialistic activities, being asleep to self-realization, dreams of varieties of sense pleasure, feeling sometimes happy and sometimes distressed in his sleeping condition. The introspective man is always indifferent to materialistic happiness and distress. He goes on with his self-realization activities undisturbed by material reactions.

Jayapatākā Swami: Here in this verse the analogy of day and night and awake and asleep is used. Normally people are awake at day time and sleep during the night. That is just the analogy is used like that. So the time for sleeping for the materialistic people is the time of awakening for the transcendental conscious persons. Śrīla Prabhupāda someday saw in his article who is crazy. Many times when people begin to do their spiritual activities, their friends and family members accuse them of being crazy. Why you are wasting the best part of your life and chanting the holy names of God, you should simply try to enjoy life in sense gratification. This is what people who are materialistically oriented think. But the person who is spiritually intelligent understands that the happiness of the senses is very temporary, it comes and it goes. Sometimes the senses give us happiness and sometimes the senses give us suffering. Therefore going after the senses and being a slave to the senses demands is not considered a very useful activity by the spiritually intelligent person. Rather they control the senses engaging them as much as needed for being healthy, peaceful, happy and use the maximum time possible for developing spiritual consciousness. So the self-realized person is peaceful and happy in this lifetime and at the end of this lifetime such a person goes back to the spiritual world. When they leave their body chanting the holy names of the Lord they are picked up by the messengers of Lord Viṣṇu and take him in a special spiritual airplane back to the spiritual world from where they don’t have to suffer anymore birth or death.

nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ

So who is crazy? This is the question that Prabhupāda raised. The person who is living a peaceful happy life in this life and next life they’re achieving the eternal life. Or someone who is struggling to enjoy the senses, who is suffering various kinds of anxieties and frustrations and finally at the end of life they go to hell. Someone may say well how do you know there is God? Of course, we know from all of the śāstras, we know from the great rishis and great devotees who have realized the Lord and we can also experience from our own realization by chanting the Lord’s holy names.

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

Everyone was chanting very blissfully. This chanting gives one spiritual happiness especially when we can gather together in a nice big roof and everyone can sing loudly one can experience the mercy of Lord Caitanya in bigger amounts. I was very happy to be here few weeks ago when there was, a month ago almost, few weeks, when there was the special ceremony of the Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā here in Singapore where we could chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. And so many people even they didn’t know very much what was going on they came forward and also chanted. So by doing that one gets special mercy called ajñata sukṛti, unconscious benefit. The whole world is benefited by this chanting. So the materialist, they may not understand this, they’re living in a fool's paradise. We can see how much they’re suffering but even a little benefit if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa they get the benefit. Where the devotees, they know that the Lord exists but even if we take the materialistic logic and say that the Lord doesn’t. If there is no God, if there is no afterlife then what does one lose? Still the devotee is living here very peacefully with less anxiety. And if there’s no higher truth and nothing matters anyway, what is the use of leading a selfish life and being in so much anxiety. Fortunately life continues birth after birth ‘bahūnāṁ janmanām ante’ and if one is fortunate very after many many births they can realize that Kṛṣṇa is everything vāsudevaḥ is everything.

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ

So these persons who realize that Kṛṣṇa is everything, they are very rare ‘sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ’. There are more materialistic intelligent people and less Kṛṣṇa conscious intelligent people. But Lord Śiva, Mahādeva, he has explained why he likes the Kṛṣṇa bhaktas in the Śiva Bhāgavata. That if someone follows varṇāśrama-dharma, their svadharma for one hundred births very properly they can reach Brahmaloka and if they do more pious activity they can reach to Śiva-loka. But he explained that those who do Kṛṣṇa-bhakti in one lifetime they can go beyond the Brahmaloka and Śivaloka and go to Goloka, go to Vaikuṇṭha in the one lifetime. Therefore Śiva likes the Kṛṣṇa bhaktas very much and the Kṛṣṇa bhaktas they love Lord Śiva very much ‘vaiṣṇavānām yatha śambhuḥ’, he is the greatest of all the vaiṣṇavās.

Worshipping Viṣṇu Kṛṣṇa is especially for those who want to go back to the spiritual world, it is considered the topmost of all the systems. This is explained in Śiva-purāṇa where Lord Śiva is explaining to Pārvati. Pārvati asked what is the recommended worship, the best worship one can do as a human being. And Lord Śiva said ‘ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param’ that one should worship Lord Viṣṇu, that is the topmost of all the systems of worship. ‘tasmāt parataraṁ devi’ but with one exception, ‘tadīyānāṁ samarcanam’, worshipping those who are dear to Viṣṇu, who are close to Viṣṇu, connected to Him, that is even more important. Therefore, if you worship the great Vaiṣṇavas if we worship Lord Śiva of more again as a Vaiṣṇava that is pleasing to Kṛṣṇa. Always the devas must be respected and never disrespected at any time because they are connected to the Lord. Similarly if we worship tulasī or the holy śāstra, if we worship the guru, if we worship the holy dhāma like Vṛndāvana, Dvārakā, Tirumala, Māyāpur then these are connected to the Lord so we get special blessing. So these systems are authorised by the great authorities of the Vedas. So someone who is spiritually intelligent they know how to organize their life under the guidance of the bona fide guru so that they always remain in contact with Kṛṣṇa, always remain in contact with the spiritual life. They know how to adjust the material activity so that they can do the essential material activities at the same time they keep some time for practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness with their family and with the devotees together. So this process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is meant to be practiced in the home, is meant to be practiced in the ashram, is meant to be practiced everywhere. But since most people in this world are householders, therefore Lord Caitanya He gave the instruction ‘gṛhe thāko, vane thāko, sadā ‘hari’ bole’ ḍāko,’ whether you are in a household or whether you are living in a forest everyone should chant

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

The holy names of Kṛṣṇa all of the time. Lord Caitanya when He started to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa alone when He was travelling to south India, at that time He went to a place called Kūrmadeśa. There was the deity of Lord Kūrma which they were worshipping the tortoise incarnation. He stayed at the house of one brāhmaṇa and took His muse there. As He was about to leave, the brāhmaṇa requested Him that I’m finding my household life too difficult, so many disagreements, so many difficulties, so much materialistic worries, I want to leave it all, I want to give it up and go with You wandering like a sannyāsī. Lord Caitanya said Viṣṇu Viṣṇu, don’t say such things again, I never want to hear you repeat such things again, don’t become a marakaṭa-vairāgī, monkey renunciant. Monkeys look very renounced living in the forest with no clothes, they look like they’re very great yogīs. But the monkeys are what they’re doing? They simply enjoying the senses. Like that if somebody artificially wants to leave their material activities thinking that this is all māyā but they’re not actually spiritually develop a higher taste what will happen is even after leaving they’ll simply think about the materialistic activities end up become a false renouncer. So Lord Caitanya advise them you simply remain in your home and you preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness to your family members, you give Kṛṣṇa consciousness to your friends, you give Kṛṣṇa consciousness to all of the people you know to your country people

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa

Whomever you meet, tell him about Kṛṣṇa, in this way being a spiritual teacher you deliver your country people. So this was the way that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is spread from one person to another person to another person. Think that mostly people come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness because somebody gave you a book, somebody told you about Kṛṣṇa, somebody invited you to come to the program, because of the personal contact somebody brought you close to Kṛṣṇa. There are very few cases where a person is not by instrumental to bring someone to Kṛṣṇa. There is the maximum way in which Lord Caitanya spread the saṅkīrtana movement and still today that is how we saṅkīrtana or chanting of the holy names of Kṛṣṇa and spread.

Now here I didn’t count, may be a hundred devotees are here. If we consider Lord Caitanya’s principle where he would give His teaching to a person, then that person would give to one, two, three, four more, five more, then intend most people would go and give to their friends, so in this way the movement spread very quickly. Lord Caitanya didn’t say that only a selected few would be the only preach that no one else could preach. He said everyone should be a preacher, but we take guidance from the most advanced devotees how to do it. But everyone in their own way they should learn to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness and to help to spread it to others. To bring people to the temple, to bring people to the programs like this, to train people to chant in their own homes:

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

Of course Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books answer so many questions and people can directly get association with Kṛṣṇa and with Śrīla Prabhupāda by reading Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So we bring people also to read the books of Prabhupāda and understand them. Here we’re having a program, we’re having elderly people, middle-aged people, young people and even children. Of course, the children they may not be able yet to focus their mind, they may need some special children program more adaptive to the level of consciousness. But during the kīrtana all the age groups can participate, everyone is chanting and dancing and hearing the holy name. So that is the special quality of the saṅkīrtana movement that it’s for everyone.

So practically the whole was sleeping, if we take this verse in the Gītā that what is the time of awakening for the self-realized soul since the whole world nobody was interested in self-realization or able very few people that most of the whole world was sleeping. That’s why Śrīla Prabhupāda he came to wake everyone up just like Lord Caitanya He use to say ‘jīva jāgo, jīva jāgo, gauracānda bole’, wake up wake up sleeping souls. How long you will stay sleeping in the lap of the witch. Dear devotees we should understand why is there suffering in the world? Why the people get unhappiness even though they don’t want it? This material world is ruled are by strict laws, laws meant to be impersonal. If we break the law we get fine. I think here in Singapore you know about this system of breaking the law and getting fine, I heard this is a fine place and I appreciate. So when there is a strict law and you break it you have to take that sometimes in a family situation you expect more understanding from your parents. That the loving parents or grandparents, especially grandparents are very loving, they don’t always be so hard. So a more personal approach can be taken, in this material world the approach is not very personal, it’s quite strict. You do this karma you get this reaction, you do pāpa you get suffering, you do puṇya, you do pious activity you get this enjoyment. And the material nature is very strong, much more strong than we are.

So the example is given just like Durgā driving on her big lion, her siṁha. Anyone who breaks her law like when she did the Mahiṣāsura-mardinī, she kill the demon, the Mahiṣāsura, the buffalo demon. If you see that form of Durgā she’s riding on her lion and she is putting the trident in to the heart of the Mahiṣāsura, of the demon, the buffalo demon. That Śrīla Prabhupāda explained the mother Durgā was a daiva-śaktī controlling the material nature, she is the Goddess if the material nature. And her trident means adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika suffering. If the break the laws of Kṛṣṇa then we have to suffer the three kinds of suffering from our own body and mind, from other living entities and from natural causes. That she is, even the Mahiṣāsura is her own son but she is killing, not that she spares anyone, if you break the laws you suffer. So the example is given like a cat, when the cat catches a mouse the cat is lifting the mouse in the mouth. But that lifting is of one kind, the same cat also lifts up the baby kitten by the mouth. So is the lifting of the kitten the same as lifting of the mouse? What do you think? When cat lifts the mouse that’s for eating it, right, and for lifting the kitten that’s for protecting. When we surrender to Kṛṣṇa He protects us. So even though the new devotee we have to sometime go through some suffering and tests in the material world but Kṛṣṇa is taking personal care of us through His yoga-māyā śakti. But when we are in the material world without the shelter of Kṛṣṇa then we are in the hands of the cat dealing like with the mouse. And we have to suffer and enjoy according to our karmas and for that we don’t have much scope. So the devotees understand and they want to be under the personal protection of Kṛṣṇa even if there some tests. All the śāstras formulas could be engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service for the whole life, we go back to Godhead. So it’s very important we fix ourselves in the practice of spiritual life. Problem is we may not be so inclined. It’s saying here the self-realized soul, they’re naturally inclined to the spiritual activities but we might not be so inclined, then what to do? That’s why we need to chant:

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

This chanting is ‘ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ,’ it cleanses the heart from all the materialistic tendencies and causes ‘ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaḿ,’ all the suffering, the burning in the heart could be extinguished like a rain cloud going on the forest fire. It is giving us the moon of all auspiciousness. ‘śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaḿ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam,’ it increases the transcendental knowledge. So this chanting is bringing all kinds of good effect. It’s a cleansing process in the beginning, but as we advance ‘prati-padaḿ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaḿ,’ every step you’ll taste nectar. We can’t expect to taste the nectar in the beginning because our spiritual senses are poured up. We have to clean the consciousness, then we can taste the sweet nectar. I was discussing with one gentleman, he said I don’t find anytime to chant. I said you have find time to take a bath in the morning? He said yes, of course. You put on clean clothes everyday? Yes! So just like you’re bathing the body every morning we also have to bathe the consciousness. But we can’t bathe the consciousness by eating soap or detergent. We bathe the consciousness by chanting the holy names.

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

So Lord Caitanya, He was a youth leader, He was a great professor, He was a leader of the brāhmaṇas. So when in an young age He took up the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa many of His colleagues thought He have gone crazy and they went and complained to mother Śacī. Your son Nimāi, He seems to have gone mad! But they didn’t say it so crudely they say seems that He’s got some vāyu-doṣa, some disturbed airs in the brain, now He is only chanting, so better you do something to cure Him. One neighbor said yes I think you should give Him some tender coconut water. If he drinks the tender coconut water will cool down His brain. Then other neighbour said no no tender coconut is not strong enough, you’ll have to rub some Viṣṇu-tailam, some oil on the head, ayurvedic oil like a tiger balm type, ayurvedic oil and cool down the brain. No no no! Another neighbour said that won’t do, he’s too far gone, you have to tie Him up with the ropes and just keep Him left in the house. Mother Śacī wouldn’t listen to anyone, no no why do you say all these things, leave me alone. Nimāi! Nimāi! Where are you Nimāi? Nimāi was the name of Lord Caitanya because He was born under the neem tree, His nickname was Nimāi. So hearing the rumors the people were saying that His airs were disturbed He went to Śrīvāsa-paṇḍita and he asked Śrīvāsa-paṇḍita if he could just speak with Him for a moment. Śrīvāsa said yes yes please come in. My dear Śrīvāsa you are very great devotee, you are very experienced in devotional service, I want to ask you one question. Please, please go ahead. People are saying that I have got a disease, that I’m sick, every time I chant:

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

Tears are coming in My eyes, My hairs are standing on end, I can’t help it but dancing and chanting. So they say I got sick, that I got the mental problem or some disturbed airs in the body. Can you confirm whether I got a disease or not. Then Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura looked at Him very seriously and said yes, you have a disease and I also want that disease, then he smiled. Then Lord Caitanya, I have a disease, why would you want that disease? Nobody wants disease. Anybody here wants disease? Then why Śrīvāsa is saying you have a disease and I want that disease? So there must be some hidden meaning to his words. So you have the disease of Love for Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa-prema and I also want that disease. Lord Caitanya said, you saved my life, if you would have told me I have a material disease and all the love and all the happiness that might experience serving Kṛṣṇa and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is all false. In illusion I would have just gone and taken My life in the Ganges, what would have been the use of living? You’ve saved My life. Śrīvāsa said yes You have the disease, even Brahmā and Śiva they want that disease, they want to get Kṛṣṇa-prema. Śiva did tapasyā to go to see the rāsa-līlā. But he was told to approach the gopīs and Rādhārāṇī said, during rāsa-līlā only one puruṣa can be there, Kṛṣṇa. So if you want to be in rāsa-līlā you may cannot come as a puruṣa, you have to come also as a gopī. So then Lord Śiva requested okay change me in to a gopī cause I want to see the rāsa-līlā. So they change him in to a gopī and he became known as gopeśvara and he stands at the gate of the rāsa-līlā watching the rāsa-līlā in the form of a gopī and he doesn’t let anybody in who is not a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So you cannot go to Kṛṣṇa without the blessing of Śiva. So be very careful never to offend Lord Śiva rather we take his blessing to go to Kṛṣṇa. So Śrīvāsa he’s saying even Brahmā and Śiva they want to get kṛṣṇa-prema, they want that disease.

So the common people they, they don’t understand what You’re doing, they don’t understand Your happiness cause they only know the happiness of one to get from rubbing their together, the sense happiness. They don’t know the happiness that You get from spiritual life, so You can’t blame them, they just don’t know about it. But the devotees who appreciate this, they want Your association, why don’t You come to my house? I have a garden here in the house, I have a wall around the garden with a doorway. We can lock the door, we can have the private kīrtana, nobody will be there to be disturbed and we can go on chanting in this way and all the devotees will be very happy. So in the beginning in the house of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura Lord Caitanya regularly chant. And after a while when all the devotees became very strong in Kṛṣṇa consciousness then they went and spread to so many people throughout the town. And then Lord Caitanya arrange that they could go out and preach to everyone. And this way finally the whole town became Kṛṣṇa conscious. So that was Lord Caitanya’s formula in the beginning. So He gave His mercy to everyone very freely without considering who’s qualified and who’s unqualified. Whoever wanted the mercy could get the mercy of Lord Caitanya and get this greatest gift of love for God.

How many appreciate this mercy of Lord Caitanya that He didn’t consider who is qualified and who was unqualified, He just freely gave the mercy to everyone. How many appreciate that? How many of you like that quality of Lord Caitanya?

Anyone who likes that quality can raise your hand, I wanna see, how many like that quality?

(All hands go up in the air)

How many of you want to get the mercy of Lord Caitanya?

(All hands go up in the air)

Devotees (screaming): Nitāi-Gaura Sītānātha premānande! Hari Haribol!

So Kṛṣṇa Himself as the Lord was here five thousand years ago. but He predicted He would come again in Kali-yuga as His own bhakta in order to spread bhakti. Here Kṛṣṇa is speaking in Gītā but so many people don’t understand the Bhagavad-gītā. So like a teacher comes and shows by writing on the blackboard Kṛṣṇa came Himself as a teacher, Mahāprabhu, the great master to come and teach everyone by His own example. This is how to apply Bhagavad-gītā and how to apply the Śrīmād-Bhāgavatam and the Vedas in the practical way. So He came to give out his mercy to everyone in the Bhagavad it was predicted that the Lord will come in a golden form in age of Kali.

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

So those who are intelligent they would take to the process of this chanting of the holy names and along with the Lord and all His associates who’ve come from the spiritual world. This not a secret, we know so many great ācāryas so many alvārs, so many devotees are there. Even the Skanda purāṇa is saying you chant the name of Hari it will steal away all your bad qualities still you alter the material world back to the spiritual world. All the Purāṇas, all the Vedas are telling but why we weren't doing? Because we needed that example from someone. So Lord Caitanya is given the example and He request every human being to take up this Kṛṣṇa consciousness and to give it to others.

So we hope that all of you since you’re all desiring the mercy of Lord Caitanya we pray to Lord Caitanya Nityānanda to give their mercy, the divine mercy to all of you as Prabhupāda use to say chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy and help others to be happy also.

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

Oṁ tat sat!

On love: Kṛṣṇa promises ‘ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham,’ according to how people approach me I reciprocate with them. If someone is attracted to Him and is worshipping Him then Kṛṣṇa He reciprocate, He becomes attracted to that devotee. So according to how we approach Kṛṣṇa He reciprocates in a very personal way. So when you love Kṛṣṇa then He naturally love you plus the other thing that we see we’re all part of Kṛṣṇa, is a natural thing. Why does a father like it if the son and daughter would come up and show lot a of love and affection for the parent? Usually the child comes up with the parent and be very nice, you know the child may be asking for ice cream or something. But if the child really came up with the parent and said mommy I wanna help you wash the dishes. Oh! What a wonderful child. Father I want to help you, it’s a natural thing because Kṛṣṇa loves us, we’ve forgotten Kṛṣṇa, but He already loves us. So when we reciprocate with that love and we show our love for Him, our devotion for Him, He’s naturally very happy because He loves us. He wants us to go back to Him more than we want to do more. But He takes a neutral wall, if you don’t want to be with Me, alright, you can stay in the material world and you can have your virtual independence. Like a virtual reality we have virtual independence in the material world, we don’t have real independence but we have virtual independence.