19970627 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.6.33

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 27th, 1997 in Calcutta, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Third Canto, Chapter 6, Verse 33.

Hari oṁ tat sat

It’s very interesting to see how in this verse regarding the service was manifested to the lakes of the brāhmaṇa. (So) Prabhupāda, he really picked up the service as essential factor here. Service, śuśrūṣā is the whole basis of our relationship with Kṛṣṇa-

jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa
[Cc. Madhya 20.108]

Our nature is to be the servitor of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya said not only the servant of Kṛṣṇa but the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa.

gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
[Cc. Madhya 13.80]

So without service attitude there is no religion. There is no spirituality and bhakti is completely dependent upon service. Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, everywhere this service to the Lord is given as the essential factor. And service to be satisfied means that it should be without any condition.

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
[SB 1.2.6]

(That we 02:38) render devotional service to the Supreme Lord, apratihatā - in an unbroken; ahaitukī - unmotivated manner. For that to be real service, the motive needs also be to please the Lord. Pleasing the Lord is what is the basis of devotional service. Without this basic service attitude, there is no devotional service. If for instance somebody is serving the Lord and, “Please, (have), I am serving you because I want to have money or position or power or some material object”, then it’s not a pure devotion. It’s like a business deal. “You, I give you this, you give me that” and, but because somehow service is included to the Lord, even such kind of conditional service is recommended as being better than not serving at all. But it is not satisfying to the self. In exchange for that service if one gets the material objects and material objects don’t satisfy completely. They give temporary happiness and then they give suffering.

So why this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is called the Amala Purāṇa or the spotless Purāṇa, history of the Lord and the Universe is because here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, pure devotion, devotion offered for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa is what is being promoted. People are seeking to be happy but they are looking in the wrong places. They are thinking that if I satisfy the senses of my, the body, if I simply satisfy the demands of the mind, the intellect then I will be satisfied, and so we make plans and programs in order to satisfy our senses. To satisfy our mind. But in spite of making all the plans and programs we are never satisfied.

There’s a Mādhavendra Purī, he made a prayer where he said, “My dear senses and mind, I must kindly beg your pardon that I have served you very faithfully. Whatever you have desired I have given you. Day and night I have given you all kinds of gratification. But still you are not satisfied. So I have decided that I am not going to remain your slave any longer. I am not going to be your servant. That instead I am going to serve Rādhā and Govinda. I am going to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa and I, because by serving Lord Kṛṣṇa...”, he goes on and explains in his own words how he is going to serve Kṛṣṇa. 05:48 by serving Kṛṣṇa one becomes satisfied. Serving Kṛṣṇa , He is our real master

hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate
[Cc. Madhya 19.170]

In the Nārada-pañcarātra, it mentions that the real definition of bhakti is to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa, Hṛṣīkeśa with our senses. Serve the master of the senses with the senses. We have senses, you see that. Yogīs or Māyāvādīs , they try to artificially stop the activities of the senses. That also doesn’t work. We have senses. Senses need to be active. We cannot go without eating, especially in Kali-yuga, nobody has the strength to do all the types of very severe austerities. Also it’s not required, in any case. Since it’s not possible we don’t (need to even 06:41) considering. But instead of artificially stopping all sensual activity, rather if one uses the senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa, then the senses become purified.

So we use all our senses, the sense of taste and hearing and smelling, everything in Kṛṣṇa’s service. We eat kṛṣṇa-prasāda, we see the deity. We use our senses but we limit the senses to activities which we can directly link up with satisfying Kṛṣṇa. We use, all the senses can be used but there’s some areas in which uses are permitted, and beyond that we don’t want to use the senses because the senses then will simply become the master and not Kṛṣṇa be our master. And then we will be in a very difficult situation, becoming a slave to the senses and being dragged all over the planet. Because of our restlessness to satisfy the senses we get no peace anywhere. We have to go, roam from one place to the next. One activity to the next. But then rather if for a short time we purify our senses by engaging them in Kṛṣṇa’s service.

Initially when we do Kṛṣṇa’s service we think this is not so pleasing. Prabhupāda said like a man who has jaundice. Sugar to candy tastes bitter but by taking the sugar candy for some time it becomes sweet tasted, not because sugar wasn’t always sweet, it’s because we were diseased. When we get cured of the disease then the sugar tastes sweet.

So like that in the beginning when we are addicted to sense gratification and we start to do devotional service, our mind become very restless. We want to go here and there and try to gratify the senses but if we actually allow our senses to become purified, then we start to develop a taste for serving. When that taste is there, everything will become very auspicious. The problem is that this material world is (the) very dangerous place and although one may understand all these things, these are very basic things of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Maya tests our determination to serve Kṛṣṇa in various ways. When we are engaging our senses, which were previously doing gross sense gratification, in Kṛṣṇa’s service then we get some spiritual bliss but then (mind), if that cannot attract us on the physical, sensual level then she begins to attack us on the mental level, that, “I should have position, I should have respect, I should have honor and distinction, lābha, pūjā, pratiṣṭhādi”. “What is my gain by doing these things? I am working so hard. If I am getting the proper appreciation and reciprocation”. This type of things are there. So why, if they feel, “I am not being appreciated, I am not getting any profit for what I am doing”, then they start to lose their motivation.

Actually it’s nice to appreciate devotees and to encourage them in this way, that I have been trying to tell and preach. 10:07 but it’s a good habit to appreciate the devotees because they are all very dear to Kṛṣṇa. In the twelfth chapter Bhagavad-gītā, the last five - six verses are simply dedicated where Kṛṣṇa is saying who is very dear to Him. We find that the devotees are very dear to Kṛṣṇa. Anyone who is doing devotional service, sacrificing for Kṛṣṇa is very dear to Kṛṣṇa. So it’s nice to encourage the devotees.

But from the devotee’s side, even if sometimes they don’t get the encouragement that the mind would like, it’s not a justifiable excuse or reason to give up devotional service. Rather, it’s, if you get appreciation. Lord Caitanya said māna-deya, amāna-neya:

tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
[Cc. Ādi 17.31]

Without desiring any kind of personal respect, one should simply go on giving respect to others. So (definitely it’s our 11:12) karma, to give respect to others. But it’s not our karma, that if I don’t get respect, then I should, I have a reason to become disgusted and stop serving. Rather, the mind may always think, “I wasn’t respected enough. I wasn’t honoured enough. (i / you) deserve better than that”. So, rather than getting to that false expectation, we should expect nothing. If we get something we should think, “Oh, this is something very nice. Normally we shouldn’t get respected at all and somebody is respecting for what I have done, then we should feel humble, then, “Oh, this is all mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa that I could do anything. It’s not due to my personal effort. I am just trying to serve and Kṛṣṇa is giving the fruits. Kṛṣṇa is giving a causeless mercy. For me, I am just doing my duty to try to serve”. So that service attitude, (bhāvagrāhi janārdana). Kṛṣṇa accepts the service attitude.

Whenever I hear that story about how the householder couple was offering the, preparing the offering for Kṛṣṇa in the kitchen and suddenly Kṛṣṇa appeared and said, “Give me the offering directly”. 12:34 everybody has heard that story so many times. Somehow whenever I hear that story the picture of the Calcutta kitchen always come in my mind. I don’t know why. Especially the whole kitchen that used to be out behind. Somehow I get the, 12:52 that picture, this comes. I don’t know why. Rādhā-Govinda are very close there so how I am thinking of Govinda’s, “Okay, give me the offering”.

Devotee: Because you are President here.

Jayapatākā Swami: (Laughter). And maybe, something like that. For eleven times I was President of Calcutta. I was President more times than anybody else. Plus I was the first President of this centre here, 3C Albert Road, Founding President. But I don’t know why but somehow I remember (it) but anyway we saw that here the devotees they were so happy to get to offer Kṛṣṇa the service. They offered him the banana peel and then Kṛṣṇa said that, then Krsna is eating the peel. Then they see they are holding the banana and they gave the peel in their eagerness to serve Kṛṣṇa. They said, “Oh no! Please don’t eat that. Take the banana”, and Kṛṣṇa said, “Actually the banana, the peel for me, doesn’t make much difference but, any difference you see. I am enjoying your enthusiasm to serve”.

So actually what is pleasing to Kṛṣṇa is our service attitude. Sometime we are put under difficulties and that’s also a kind of a test. How determined are we to serve? How are we free from motivations? By engaging in Kṛṣṇa’s service, in a unmotivated way then Kṛṣṇa is won over. Kṛṣṇa told Durvasa Muni that he was under the control of his devotees

ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno
[SB 9.4.63]

That I am under the control of my pure devotees. 14:34 actually to be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa is a very big thing. But to be that level of devotee where Kṛṣṇa is actually putting Himself under your care (means 14:47) that devotee has to be a selfless devotee.

When Kṛṣṇa sees that someone is selflessly serving Him and His devotees. In fact, in that same verse He said, “Also, the devotee, bhaktir bhaktau, the devotee of My devotee is also very very dear to me. In fact, that is the actual secret that if we serve the devotee of Krsna, in that way, we become pleased. (Actually 15:22 ), Kṛṣṇa become pleased with us by serving His devotee more than when we serve Him. Therefore Lord Caitanya said :

gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
[Cc. Madhya 13.80]

That I am the servant of the servant of the servant. In fact, Lord Caitanya, when He was one time testing Śrīvāsa, “Why do you worship Lord Nityānanda? He is avadhūta. He acts in unusual ways. Running around and yelling Haribol! Haribol!!”

Devotees: Haribol!!!

Jayapatākā Swami: “Like a madman playing with the children in the Ganges and so many things He does, you see. You are respectable brahmana, you have position, society, how you are worshipping Lord Nityānanda? It will be a bad image for your position, your social standards, your esteem and respect in the society. You will have no prestige. So why you are worshipping Nityānanda? You see, you are associating with Him”. Then Śrīvāsa was shocked that why all these things are being said by Nityā.. by Lord Caitanya against Lord Nityānanda. He said, “Why you are testing me like this?”. He said, “I have full faith in Lord Nityānanda that everything He is doing is simply for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. He has no other purpose but to please Kṛṣṇa.

Then Lord Caitanya, when He saw the complete faith in guru that he had, that Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura had, He became completely won over. He said that, “Because you have this implicit faith in your spiritual master therefore, Lord Nityānanda, I am very much pleased with you. Actually you have purchased Me. Now, I belong to you. You can do with Me whatever you like. I your property, you’ve won Me over. If you want, you can sell Me in the market. 17:25. You can just auction me off in the, like in the, the bazaar, you can take me like a hawker and sell, who wants to buy Lord Caitanya? Come here and buy.

Of course, Lord Caitanya knows that His unalloyed devotees (done with the 17:40) selling in the streets. He has that faith but the conditional devotee may sell off Kṛṣṇa, in the sense, if we, if we give away our Kṛṣṇa consciousness for some sense gratification, we have sold Kṛṣṇa. We have Kṛṣṇa and we sold Him off. Some people sell off Kṛṣṇa for cigarette. Some people sell Kṛṣṇa for some drugs. Some people sell off Kṛṣṇa for illicit sex or some people sell Kṛṣṇa for name and fame, for followers, for so many temporary reasons. “Okay, now this is more important to me than Kṛṣṇa”.

But when someone is completely dedicated in serving Kṛṣṇa’s devotee, then Kṛṣṇa knows that this person is actually very much dependable and fixed on Me so He gives Himself to His devotee’s devotee. I heard Śrīla Prabhupāda said that devotional service is a gradual process. So even while they are serving and falling and serving and falling, it’s like little baby, learning how to walk, they fall many times. But for a little baby, that’s not considered to be a big offence or anything, you know, they fall down, nobody thinks twice about it and nature also pats their body with the soft fat so when they fall (it’s padded 19:11).

So like that for the very new devotees it’s not expected that they are going to do everything perfectly, they will make so many mistakes. In fact, even when someone is first initiated by the guru, Prabhupāda explained how the guru expects that he has to solve some problems just like mother, the little baby knows she has to change the diapers, has to clean up the stool, part of having a baby. Only after the baby is certain age, is the baby able to control what time to pass, to train up the baby to go to the bathroom, it’s a big thing.

Actually there was an interesting, it’s a bit, so I asked him a (20:07) you know, “What is the system, how do you (decide).”, I’ve never been a householder, I don’t know all these things. I got curious actually, 20:13, “How do you train a baby to go the bathroom? To, you know, tell the father, ‘I have to go’ and not just pass everywhere”. And they told the system is you have to take off the diaper and they have to let them run naked and that way, then, they are trained that, not to pass everywhere, they have to tell but if they’re long as they’re wearing that western diaper, then they just think, it doesn’t matter, I can just pass it, it goes inside. So you have to have them run naked, then they know that they are passing here and there, it’s not allowed, they are, they, they get trained to tell the parent, “I have to go”. So I thought this is our Indian system.

In the village, I have seen their children running naked all the time. So, I never thought that was an advancement of civil..21:10, you know, I just didn’t think much about it but I was bit surprised to hear that even that aspect of India is also scientific. That’s how you train the children to go to the bathroom by having them run naked and teaching, “Don’t pass here, don’t pass”. Then they learn where they have to pass, otherwise so long they are wearing that white thing, they go anywhere, anytime they like.

Anyway, (that’s off 21:38) the point. But back to service attitude. So little point here is that we need to develop our service attitude. That’s why we (take under a 21:49) spiritual master and we personally serve the spiritual master and follow his instructions. The spiritual master’s duty is to personally give guidance to the disciple and to train the disciple in service attitude. (Doesn’t 22:05 ) matter if the guru has to be perfect in all respects, he’s not like, has to be Nārada Muni, that he knows what’s going on past, present and future.

Normally the spiritual master is a madhyama-adhikārī, guru who is there to preach because he is preaching, people want to surrender and then he takes disciples. Sometimes, a uttama-adhikārī comes down to the madhyama level in order to preach. Actually to preach one has to be in the madhyama consciousness. That madhyama means he can distinguish, one is devotee, who is non devotee, who is a demon, who is innocent, who is the Supreme Lord, all these discrimination he has to make.

But uttama-adhikārī feel that, “I am the fallen, more than anyone. I am the most fallen, everyone else is better devotee than me”. So he has practically already got his consciousness in the spiritual world. He’s not, how you can preach if you think you are, everyone is better devotee than I am, including the demons, the Māyāvādīs, the, all the nonsenses, that everybody is better devotee then me. That is a very elevated position but it’s not suitable for a preacher.

The preacher has to help people go from the total neophyte and totally in māyā level to come up to the discrimination level. Once you are on the madhyama level then finally before liberation, you start to see how everyone is somehow carrying out order of Kṛṣṇa directly indirectly. It’s me and my rebelliousness that I am not serving Kṛṣṇa like I should and the, the, the uttama-adhikārī feeling very much fallen in the presence of Kṛṣṇa and so much so that he feels everyone is doing better than I am and he is in, like (I am) total ecstasy of that humility but in that particular mood, it’s not possible to preach to others (then).

So therefore, even if someone, uttama-adhikārī has that mood, in order to preach, they should come down to the madhyama-adhikārī consciousness and discriminate. So generally the preaching and making of devotees is the work of a madhyama-adhikārī guru. So great ācāryas of uttama level, they come down in order to deliver the fallen souls. That was the desire of Lord Caitanya, that at this point, we preach and flood the world with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So it’s not expected that the guru has to be a trikāla-jña or some kind of, you know, so much of a great liberated soul but by preaching in devotional service with thought, word and deed automatically, anyone is liberated. That is explained by Rūpa Gosvāmī, jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate. How does that verse start? manasā girā..

īhā yasya harer dāsye
karmaṇā manasā girā
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu
jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate
[Brs 1.2.187]

Īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā girā; when our thoughts, our words, our activities, everything is offered in the service of Kṛṣṇa, then even while we are in this body, we are liberated. So anyone who is offering their thoughts, words and deeds fully to Kṛṣṇa, they while living in this world they are also liberated, you see. And by serving in that way, as good as liberated situation then eventually one becomes completely liberated with a sac-cid-ānanda form.

You see, Nārada Muni has sac-cid-ānanda form. When the Universe is destroyed he doesn’t again lose his consciousness. He goes into the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu or the Mahā-Viṣṇu but he remains fully conscious. You see, we are not like that. We are not having a sac-cid-ānanda form. We are having form of skin and bones. You see, (this is you 26:20). Put the needle or anything, blood will come. This is a physical form but Nārada Muni is having totally spiritual form. He’s already has a sac-cid-ānanda form just like the residents of Vaikuṇṭha. It’s not like the guru has to have such a transcendental form but by serving Kṛṣṇa fully, then he is also considered transcendentalist.

Prabhupāda called it spiritual (lives). Just like if you hold electric wire, touch someone, shhhhhh they also get the shock. By holding the guru paramparā, the energy is flowing through. But what the guru’s duty is, is to train in the service attitude. Sometime people would ask Prabhupāda some question, he said, “I don’t know”. (It didn’t 27:08) I have to know everything in order to be the guru. He is not like the encyclopedia of all Vedic knowledge but what he knows, he knows accurately from his spiritual master and that he is giving without changing.

Sometimes things are not important. If I don’t know and also it’s not necessary to know all these things. Sometime we would ask some detailed question about deity worship, then Prabhupāda would say,”I didn’t live in the temple as a brahmacārī (or san 27:35) , I was a householder and I became sannyāsī from household life. So I don’t know all the details about Pañcarātric worship.You should consult this person and get these details, these are not...”, he didn’t, these are not details you need to know but it’s all how you, where you can get it. Just like in his books he says that all the things are in his books but in his books it mentions that, “You can further, Sārvabhauma Vaiṣṇava, Sārvabhauma, you can study the works of the six gosvāmīs, the previous ācāryas, the four Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas, all these things should be studied on the advanced level”. These are in his books that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, everything we follow according to the Vedas. Right in his books it is mentioned that the:

śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-
pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
aikāntikī harer bhaktir
utpātāyaiva kalpate
[Brs. 1.2.101]

That if something is not authorized, you see, by the Vedas, by the Purāṇas, by the Upaniṣads, by the Saṁhitās. If it’s not given in there, it is simply a disturbance to our spiritual life. Everything that Prabhupāda did was according to the Vedas. It’s not that Prabhupāda established himself independent of the Vedas.

Now in modern Bengal we’ve got so many people who are claiming to be avatāras and they say, “You don’t have to follow Veda. You follow me”. 29:04 brahmacārī was saying like that, “You don’t need the Vedas when I am here”. So people are there saying such things but Kṛṣṇa, He doesn’t say that. Kṛṣṇa is Himself, is the knower of Veda, veda-jñā, vedānta-kṛd, eva cāham. He always said, “Follow Vedas”. Kṛṣṇa Himself follows the Vedas because if He doesn’t follow then nobody will follow, and Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also based on the sastra. Sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya. Right, we must follow the scripture, the guru and the sādhus. The three things are there. These are all given in Prabhupāda’s books. Prabhupāda’s books are also sūtra. But before we go to read other books we should thoroughly read Prabhupāda’s books because these are the foundation. Sometimes we find new devotees, going and reading so many other books.

I was sitting in this temple, in Calcutta temple, where that kitchen is today. That time that was a room, we didn’t have, that was prasādam hall. Sometime we would take prasadam there with.. I was sitting there reading this book by, in English, there is one book of the lectures of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. He is my paraṁ guru so I am reading and then Prabhupāda said, “Why is it, what book you are reading?”. Then I showed that book and he said, “You are my disciple, how will you understand the teaching of my guru? (It is) very difficult to understand his teachings. You have to understand through me. I will teach you.” He said, “Anyway, actually this book was written recently. Even if you have to refer to my guru’s books for something that you should get a copy, publish before 1936 because whatever they publish in Gauḍīya maṭha after, many thing they are changing to suit their own way. They are not the original teaching as it is”.

So, Prabhupāda, he was instructing, 31:29 he said, actually the, I was bit shocked to31:33 but anyway, I accept whatever Prabhupāda said. Yes, so right. But then he also said, “Actually, you can pray to your grandfather guru that he give you blessing to serve your guru because grandfather guru is more merciful to the grandson than to the son because guru means he is physically present and he has to chastise the guru, the disciple. He has to chastise them and guide them and get on their case like father for the son. but grandfather, he is giving the son cookies and sweets and 32:12. He is not giving into that disciplinary mode so much. So actually grandfather is simply giving out the mercy.

Like that grandfather guru is giving out the mercy. 32:24 I think how fortunate are the grand-disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Because I always was just getting chastised by Prabhupāda. Being in Māyāpur and being a Māyāpur was Prabhupāda’s projects. Like in other project Prabhupāda would let GBC guide. Actually, GBC at time in India was like regional secretary. Prabhupāda was really GBC and especially for Vṛndāvana, Māyāpur, Bombay, he was personally guiding all the things. So in Māyāpur, anything he would call me, “Why this? Why that?” and he would be guiding directly so. But actually he was using me like example to train others what standard he wanted. He knew that even if he chastised me, I’d take it because for me it didn’t matter. Whatever Prabhupāda said I would want to just carry out his order.

I remember one time Prabhupāda was going on walk and he went to that 33:31 where the Samādhi office was. Now there’s nothing there but it used to be one round toilet was there, and that was my design, crazy design but 33:44 anyway, I made. We really had one 33:47 toilet, all that boundary wall was used for the devotees. So we made a toilet. Outside was the men, inside were the women. So the toilet was designed like that, and you would go inside, it was all covered area and the women had the one hand shower and one hand toilet and the men were outside. But Prabhupāda just went to see that and he took his cane in, knocked the door open and in one of the toilet that voila, that stool was there, lying there. And then Prabhupāda, he started chastising me that why this is going on. He said, “The brāhmaṇa means that everything must be clean. If the brāhmaṇa is there, must be cleaned. So anyway, why this dirtiness is going on, people are passing and not cleaning. What you are training the people?”. So Prabhupāda is training us what we have to train the other devotee. That time they are all my godbrother also. I am also the President, co-director of Māyāpur and senior devotee then but I have to train the others how to do the things so he (used to chastising), “Why this is going on?”.

Meanwhile, that time I was in GBC, one GBC member came, just arrived from London or something and he came from behind and he was watching Prabhupāda chastise me and he was like laughing, like smiling and like look at the fun but you see, when Prabhupāda chastising, (one) he actually teaching everyone but he picked out one person just to give like example. So I 35:29 the example that time, “Okay, you just take it”. You don’t get rebellious like, “Oh, why he, I, you know, I didn’t, I didn’t pass that. I wasn’t mine”. You know, I could get so much rebellious, you know, “That this is not just. Why he 35:44. But that, that wasn’t..”, could not be like that with Prabhupāda.

You have to just take it and learn from that, and bas, that was it. So I was just taking and, Haribol, and trying to make it my white plan, how to get everyone to clean up, so and fulfil Prabhupāda desire. But this GBC came and he is saying, “We get the socks”, and he is like laughing, like, smiling, like, you know like (devotee- happy moment) and then Prabhupāda is seeing everybody, very serious. This is like when he is on the anger mode for instructing. You really want to (be very) humble otherwise, but this (one he is) coming like, smiling, like, ha ha, you know, look at you (you have got 36:32). And Prabhupāda saw his like attitude was not proper, so then he just like switched from me to him and all of a sudden he is chastising, “You think you are a brāhmaṇa? What kind of brāhmaṇa are you? Brāhmaṇa means, wherever brāhmaṇa is, there is cleanliness. You are here, here is dirt, then what kind of brāhmaṇa are you?”. He just really, really got on the taxi from the airport and walked there and he is being blasted by Prabhupāda, “What kind of brāhmaṇa are you? There is stool here in the toilet”. I knew what was going on but Prabhupāda was teaching what attitude you should have. Actually how he can be responsible. He just came.

But, anyway the real point was he was not learning from what Prabhupāda was saying. Prabhupāda is instructing one disciple, every disciple should learn from that. He is not instructing only for my sake. He is instructing everyone, there are 30 people in that morning walk, all walking with Prabhupāda. He is teaching me, so everybody learn what should be the standard in ISKCON. There should be total cleanliness to the, to the (last 37:37) but instead he is, you know, in his other mood so that Prabhupāda shifted, “What do you think? You think you are in, this doesn’t apply to you? You are a brāhmaṇa, you should be also considering how things should be clean, not laughing because I am instructing him.” So with Pra.., it was very intense. I don’t know (if) today, if we were so heavy with disciple, they will swallow it. If we chastise like that, they may think, you know, “Why the guru is saying like this to me? I give my love to him, everything and he is chastising me”. How surrendered they are today to guru, I don’t know.

So Prabhupāda, that’s why he didn’t chastise everybody the same way. There was a example that when Prabhupāda came to the New York temple in 1966, ‘67, (was it) ‘67, all the devotee paid the daṇḍavat to Prabhupāda as he walked in and the deities opposite side, you know, like entrance here, deity there. So everyone put their foot to the deity and put their head to Prabhupāda. So then 38:47 Prabhupāda took his cane and he hit Brahmānanda on the tail and said, “What you are doing, bowing down to me, pointing your feet to deity? This is not the way, you should not point your feet to deity”. So if, later Brahmānanda, of course he was wondering, “Why me? Everybody was doing same, why did he”, you know. (Laughter). “Right, everyone did the same thing, (when) was I given the chastisement?”, you know. But then he thought that (maybe he told 39:23), “Actually that is a blessing because Prabhupāda knew that I am not going to rebel, you know. Maybe he thought I will take it.”

So someone he has to instruct, as example. So that way the guru picks out one devotee, thinks it’s a 39:40, humble and sometimes he get 39:42. Sometimes the devotee who is more surrendered to give him more service, (one might think 39:50), “Why I have to do all this service? I get all the dirty job”. But actually that’s the, the guru’s mercy, showing through one devotee how one should serve, how one should tolerate. If we passed the test of guru, passed the test of Kṛṣṇa then like Lord Caitanya said, “You buy Me out, I am yours now”. Then we can purchase Kṛṣṇa.

So many people may say so many things to confuse us and dilute our devotion to guru and Kṛṣṇa, so we have to, even Kṛṣṇa Himself. Look at Lord Caitanya went to Śrīvāsa, “Why you are worshipping this guru, Nityānanda? He is avadhūta, He’s just wandering here and there. Sometimes He forgets to put on clothes also. What people will think of you? What is your position in society by associating with such an outcaste of society, such a renegade, who (do not), doesn’t care for anything”. Śrīvāsa is shocked, “How the lord Himself is telling me these things. (that) I don’t care what you say but I know Nityānanda is only meant for serving Kṛṣṇa and I have full faith in him”.

Kṛṣṇa may test us, even himself, what to speak of (to) anyone. We have to be very fixed in our service attitude to guru and Kṛṣṇa. The whole principle is to serve the Vaiṣṇava. Of course, not only we should be grateful to the guru but we should be grateful to all the Vaiṣṇavas who are giving us association. We should serve all the Vaiṣṇavas, we should respect all the Vaisnavas. We should respect and be a friend to all living entities because the whole basis of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is service attitude. The more that we can become a dedicated and humble servitor of Kṛṣṇa and His devotees, the least that we are desiring for name, fame, position, profit, distinction, adoration, lābha, pūjā, pratiṣṭhā and all these things. The more that we all go deeper into bhakti, the more that we can win over Kṛṣṇa, He is (pleased), “This devotee has no other motive”. We are dealing with Kali-yuga minds. The mind may automatically desiring all these things.

Actually, it’s a real blessing that Kṛṣṇa has made that what our mind thinks, we don’t get the reaction. Lord Brahmā, he is so great that his mind gets polluted he just leave the, just leaves that body because his body is 42:18. he leaves it and takes on a new body. But we are not able to leave this mind and purifying it is taking so long time. That’s why we are kind, we are very grateful to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura that he told us that using the intelligence, intelligence is the master of mind. Intelligence is representing the spirit soul, so we see every day the mind is coming up with crazy thoughts, offensive thoughts, rebellious thought, materialistic thoughts. We take the intelligence and you see, with the ātmā and intelligence, they are using the shoe, mental shoe and you smash the mind down. Don’t think all this nonsense. Hundred times in the morning and you take a broom, and hundred time in the night and smash the mind. You stop this nonsense.

Sometime the mind is come up with so many crazy thoughts, so many disturbances that I try this- mentally taking a pair of shoes and, the mind surrender to Kṛṣṇa. (tu tu tu..) Actually, when I got up to about 49, 50, it was 100 times, the mind is suddenly become surrendered, “Please stop smashing me. I will only think of Kṛṣṇa conscious thought”. I never tried it. I heard, so I thought, let me try it and actually the mind after a while gets tired of getting smashed (tish tish... ) but as soon as we give it a chance and come up with some crazy thought.

Actually Kali-yuga mind, especially I don’t know maybe if somebody is born again and again, I mean from various births as a brāhmaṇa, Vaiṣṇava family after several generation and born up in a very Kṛṣṇa conscious environment, the mind won’t come up with so many crazy thoughts. No cinema, no TV, fully if one is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness from birth or generation after generation, then maybe the mind will also be very cooperative. But even, we find our previous acaryas, there was no TV, no cinema, (there are none of these 44:29) simple things going on today, still they are saying also the mind is disturbing in so many ways. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura prayed like that. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

mana! tumi kisera vaiṣṇava?
pratiṣṭhāra tare, nirjanera ghare,
tava ‘ari nāma” kevala ‘kaitava”
[Vaiṣṇava ke? 1]

Your hari-nāma is cheating, you are going away to show off to everyone. That was the big thing, you see. Every era there is one big, māyā comes up. So before everyone want to show, “I am more vairāgī then anybody else”, so they leave everything and go in some solitary place, “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare”. What they are thinking. They are thinking so much maya thought. So he is saying, “This is all cheating. You should simply go and preaching. Don’t imitate some great six Gosvāmī and go in some solitary place. Your mind is only thinking of how everyone will say, “Oh, he is a great Vaiṣṇava. he is very renounced, very austere and come and do the pūjā. Oh, let me bow down to you. You are very austere.”. “Great. Now they are all respecting me. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa...”, and what is that?

The real great Vaiṣṇava, he don’t want anybody respect. He don’t, who is doing that type, uttama-adhikārī bhajan. When Mādhavendra Purī, he knew that he got the deity’s prasāda, deity took the prasāda and gave it to him, He stole it, Kṣīra-corā Gopīnātha and he got that prasāda, he was so happy but then he thought, “If I stay here all the people are going to come and worship me. They are going to hear - deity stole the pot for me. I better get out of here (otherwise) I don’t want all these people coming and say, “Give me āśīrvāda, 46:14, this that, you know all these crazy things and everyone going to come and worship me”. He ran away. Someone 46:22, “Now I got the bless 46:23, now everyone will recognise me”, you know, not that mood. This mood is 46:29, “I want to serve the Lord, I don’t want all this name, fame and all these things”. But Kṛṣṇa made him the most famous. He don’t want anything but he became the most famous amongst the Vaiṣṇavas, everyone knows, even Lord Caitanya accepted that he is the moon. He is the root because he had no lābha, pūjā, pratiṣṭhādi, desire, he desired (only) to serve the Lord. He had no money, no manpower, nothing and Gopal was actually, when 47:01 as bhakti.

The Gopāla deity said, “I am feeling hot. I want sandalwood”. Now he will get sandalwood. He has to walk all the way to Purī from Vṛndāvana, maybe he has to go to Karnataka, where he will get sandalwood? To bring that sandalwoods back to Vṛndāvana, put on big candana yatra for his deity but because Lord wanted, he did it. That is the nature of pure devo, whatever Lord wants, he does it.

Anyway, so Prabhupāda, he could be in Vṛndāvana enjoying a nice life in Rādhā-Dāmodara temple, sitting there, looking at Rūpa Gosvāmī samādhi mandira and writing literature, and doing bhajan but he knew that his guru wanted him to spread the saṅkīrtana movement around the world. So he gave up the protection of Vṛndāvana to go to New York and no manpower, no friend, crazy people spitting on him, drunkards attacking him, even the people he is staying with and preaching, taking drugs and acting crazy. He is tolerating so many problems. They are stealing his tape, typewriter, every what, how much he had to tolerate the one year and he’s just praying to Kṛṣṇa, you, “How I can tolerate all these things but I have came here, you must have sent me here for some purpose. Let me do something for you”.

And then finally one by one he found some people willing to take some instruction. Not very capable, not expert or anything but somehow they are willing, so if (you) try to train them up. After many years when ISKCON was starting to get organised and there was standard in the temple and people are following, but someone said, “Prabhupāda, what about the good old days?”. “How is it good old days, these are the good old days. Those were so difficult for me”. (Laughs). Had a good bad days, isn’t it a good 48:58 very bad old days, forget. There was so much trouble he faced. Now it’s very easy, people come and try to steal devotees from ISKCON, already they are trained up.

But Prabhupāda had to go and from the zero point. They don’t know how to wear sārī or dhotī, they don’t know how to cook the halavā or capātī, they don’t know how to eat, they don’t know how to sleep, they don’t know how to act, they don’t know how to speak, they don’t know how to do japa, they don’t know, nothing. Zero point and no one else to give example that anyone else can train, you know. All the thing he had to do himself. He said, “Others have, may have tried to do this, they won’t make it. My disciples 49:38 , none of you could have done it”.

So Prabhupāda, he took all this austerities, you see like Jesus was crucified but Prabhupāda, he went, one, if the crucifixion was 2 mins, 2 hours but Prabhupāda was like crucified for a whole year and more, for several years he is going through so much difficulty. And Brahmānanda told me, I didn’t know this. He was giving darśana once, and how Prabhupāda, in 1967 he got a stroke and his whole body was paralysed. One side everything is paralysed, he couldn’t also move and still he is, but his mouth is going, still he is preaching. And at that time the disciples had to bathe Prabhupāda, change Prabhupāda, had to take out the stools everything, whatever the externally he had to do, all the things. He couldn’t move, he was paralysed for some days, and then gradually he could get back his faculties.

And when he explained the detail I remember vaguely now, but when he was explaining all the details and the suffering Prabhupāda was going through still he is going on instructing. Cause I came in ‘68, it was at the ‘67, (were / there) about 30 devotees before me so, or 50, I don’t know how many. But so I didn’t know all these (things), this one thing and, when I heard, I, I tried, I couldn’t stop crying for so long, like how much Prabhupāda actually suffered and endured, how much determination, nobody would do these thing. It wasn’t like, you know, just came and people think, Oh, it was the hippie era- come in, everyone just surrender. They are looking for alternative life. To train up hippies in those days, it’s no joke and not everyone was a hippie. Many other people are also coming. Businessman and students, professor, others people came, but like, okay, many hippies came but it’s not 51:41 at all. You think you, you try training up a hippie today, we have so many devotees, it’s difficult in that. What to speak of them, and Prabhupāda with his health problem and so many problem. It’s a miracle, it’s a complete miracle that Prabhupāda did all these things and miracle mean we have to have mercy of Lord Caitanya, mercy of Kṛṣṇa,

(verse)

Without Kṛṣṇa’s mercy you can’t spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So we should be so grateful to the, for the austerities and the things that Prabhupāda did, understand how much he is empowered by Prabhupāda, by Lord Caitanya but definitely everyone ISKCON who is simply dedicated to following his teachings as they are, you see, and apply them as he wanted them to be applied.

Śrīla Prabhupāda kī - jaya!

Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda kī - jaya!

Jagannātha Baldeva Subhadrā kī - jaya!

Nitāi-Gaura 52:44 - Hari Hari bol!