20110426 Lecture by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on JPS Live

Lecture by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on JPS Live

Type Of Talk:

Darshan

Location:

Coimbatore

Date:

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Collection:

Youtube Videos

Youtube Video:

 

GURU MAHARAJ LECTURE ON 26 APRIL 2011 IN COIMBATORE INDIA

 

Jai Radha Madhava….

 

Reading from the 7th Canto on the appearance of Lord Nrsinghadev and the events

 

that led up to that.

 

HH Bhakti Vinoda Swami Maharaj(Srimad Bhagavatam 7.3.35):

 

TRANSLATION: O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly

 

grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the

 

living entities created by you.

 

PURPORT

 

After being created from the navel of Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, Lord Brahma, the

 

original created living being within the universe, created many other different

 

types of living entities to reside in this universe. Therefore, from the beginning of

 

creation, the living entities were born of a superior living entity. Ultimately,

 

Krishna is the supreme living being, the father of all others. Aham bija pradaha

 

pita: [Bg. 14.4] He is the seed-giving father of all living entities.

 

Thus far, Hiranyakashipu has adored Lord Brahma as the Supreme Personality of

 

Godhead and has expected to become immortal by the benediction of Lord

 

Brahma. Now, however, having come to understand that even Lord Brahmä is not

 

immortal because at the end of the millennium Lord Brahmä will also die,

 

Hiranyakashipu is very carefully asking him for benedictions that will be almost as

 

good as immortality. His first proposal is that he not be killed by any of the

 

different forms of living entities created by Lord Brahmä within this material

 

world.

 

SB 7.3.36

 

TEXT 36

 

TRANSLATION

 

Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the

 

daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not

 

be brought by any being other than those created by you, nor by any weapon, nor

 

by any human being or animal.

 

PURPORT

 

Hiranyakashipu was very much afraid of Vishnu’s becoming an animal to kill him

 

because his brother had been killed by Vishnu when the Lord took the shape of a

 

boar. He was therefore very careful to guard against all kinds of animals. But even

 

without taking the shape of an animal, Vishnu could kill him by hurling His

 

Sudarshana cakra, which can go anywhere without the Lord's physical presence.

 

Therefore Hiranyakashipu was careful to guard against all kinds of weapons. He

 

guarded against all kinds of time, space and countries because he was afraid of

 

being killed by someone else in another land. There are many other planets,

 

higher and lower, and therefore he prayed for the benediction of not being killed

 

by any resident of any of these planets. There are three original deities—Brahmä,

 

Vishnu and Maheshvara. Hiranyakashipu knew that Brahmä would not kill him,

 

but he also wanted not to be killed by Lord Vishnu or Lord Siva. Consequently, he

 

prayed for such a benediction. Thus Hiranyakashipu thought himself securely

 

protected from any kind of death caused by any living entity within this universe.

 

He also carefully guarded against natural death, which might take place within his

 

house or outside of the house.

 

GM: Hari bol! So was Hiranyakashipu successful? Was he happy? What do you

 

think? Was he very happy? He got all the powers, still he was not happy. Because

 

he got control over all the planets, all the universes, but he didn’t have control

 

over his senses. Jai! So when Prahlad told him that to use his senses in the nine

 

processes of devotional service is the perfection of life sravanam, kirtanam,

 

smaranam Visnoh, archanam, vandanam, pada sevanam, daasyam, sakhyam and

 

atma nivedanam – these nine processes are the perfection of life and the highest

 

thing I was taught, Hiranyakashipu became angry. So we also see that the

 

materialists, they like also to achieve immortality somehow. Although he could

 

not ask directly so many benedictions - not to be killed by this, by that but some

 

Lord Nrsinghadev, He matched all these different benedictions. Hiranyakashipu,

 

when he saw that his son was not submitting to him, then he said, oh, you are

 

against our kula and family traditions where we are enemies of Lord Vishnu and

 

you are a devotee of Vishnu, identify your enemy first. In these verses he is trying

 

to think, how I can be saved. How I can be secure. Even though he was as close to

 

immortality as possible. So that is why he knew that Hiranyaaksha was killed by

 

Lord Varaha, so he was thinking well, the Lord came as an animal, so I should not

 

be killed by man or animal, of course he did not mean a combination of the two

 

and Lord Nrsinghadev came as half lion and half man! Narahari! But he was trying

 

his best to think all the ways how he could avoid being killed by Lord Vishnu. Of

 

course, this was not possible. Prahlad, when he said to Nrsinghadev, I didn’t see

 

that form of You who killed my uncle, Hiranyaaksha – I would like to see that form

 

– so then Lord Nrsinghadev showed the form of Varahanrsimha! Hari bol! And

 

that deity is there in Vishakapatnam. And that is called Simhachalam. So I was

 

fortunate to actually see that deity. It only opens for 12 hours on one day in the

 

whole year. So Somadas(?) He invited me to come by saying you would have

 

special darshan at this time. So with that promise we went and we had a pass and

 

we went all the way up on the reverse exit and entered and got up to the final

 

door and there one policeman stopped us and said, I don’t care, you cannot

 

enter. We were stuck and could not enter. So somehow he climbed over the

 

fence and he saw the EO and the EO said well, the police are in charge for one day

 

but I will see what I can do. So he opened the door and then we were allowed and

 

somehow I went behind all the servants and somehow got into the temple and

 

there the deity was there, uncovered. Normally he is covered with sandalwood

 

but He was uncovered and I could see the Varaha Head and the Nrsingha body.

 

Hari bol! And I was there for a long time and they were all busy with the crowd

 

and did not seem to see me! Hari bol! Ha! Ha! So then I was shooed out. One

 

devotee gave me some special mercy! That deity is millions of years old! Like that

 

there are very many sacred deities in India, especially Nrsinghadev in various

 

places. In Karnataka we saw Melkottai – Yoga Nrsimha and of course in Andhra

 

we have all the deities in Ahobilam in the Navarup – in nine forms, and also in

 

Vijayawada there is the Paanaka Nrsimha. We heard that in Kali Yuga He takes

 

Paanaka but in Dvapara Yuga, Treta Yuga and Satya Yuga He takes different

 

things. In Satya Yuga He takes soma ras – I forget, I may or may not be right – in

 

one yuga He takes milk, in one ghee and in one soma ras and so. We had the

 

mercy to visit. Also, Lord Caitanya visited all these temples. His footprints are

 

there in Simhachalam and also near the deity of Paanaka Nrsimha.

 

So, Nrsinghadev, He came to save His devotee and we can see that

 

Hiranyakashipu rather than chant Hare Krishna, how he wanted to become

 

independent from Krishna or independent from Vishnu and how he can defeat

 

Him. He thought well, I will kill Vishnu! This was his foolishness. So modern

 

science says that God is dead. Of course some scientists now say that well,

 

Einstein said that the way the world is so organized, there must be some

 

intelligence behind. So some of them understand that the universe has some

 

order and therefore there is some intelligence. So Brahma, he created the living

 

entities and Vishnu created Brahma. And Vishnu is also the expansion of Krishna.

 

Vishnu or Krishna, not much difference. That is why Krishna says that I am the

 

seed giving Father – aham beeja pradaha pitaa. So He is the Father, He is the

 

Seedgiver and He is the one who started everything. So this universe is practically

 

was organized – and because the planet earth fell out of the orbit, to the bottom

 

of the Garbodhaakshaayi ocean, therefore Varahadev came and lifted up the

 

earth. So He was attacked by Hiranyaaksha and so They had a fight and He

 

defeated Hiranyaaksha. Hiranyakashipu, he was afraid of this and He vowed, I will

 

kill this Vishnu! How dare He kill my brother! But he should have understood that

 

Vishnu is transcendental and He cannot be killed. It is like Naradama, he told

 

Narad Muni that if you don’t surrender to me I will kill you! Narad said, I am

 

already dead, you try. So Naradama took a sword and tried to kill – swish, swish!

 

He couldn’t kill, whatever he did. Narada said I am transcendental. Like that, we

 

want to surrender to Krishna and want to take His shelter, but the demons, they

 

want to kill Krishna. So, when everybody bows down, we bow down face down,

 

and chant namo maha vadaanyaaya Go brahmana hitaya cha …And the demons

 

they lie face up and lie also flat in front of Vishnu. So we offer prostrations before

 

the Lord. Those who want to prostrate as demons raise your hands! Those who

 

want to prostrate as devotees, raise your hands! Hari bol! Now we will ask Bhakti

 

Vinoda Swami Maharaj to speak and then we will take questions.

 

Bhakti Vinoda Swami Maharaj – I don’t think I have anything much to add. Just

 

that we should understand the difference between the demoniac temper and the

 

devotees’ temper. How a devotee is always interested in serving Krishna and he

 

has a feeling that I am a servant of Krishna. But a demon is always thinking how I

 

can enjoy like Krishna, how I can take the position of Krishna. So Hiranyakashipu

 

obviously envied the Supreme Personality of Godhead and wanted to take His

 

position and therefore he made these types of plans which was very foolish, like

 

Guru Maharaj said. So by the blessings of the devotee of the Lord we may not lose

 

our intelligence and we may not become foolish. Maya apahrita gyana – that our

 

intelligence if it is stolen by maya then we can think of all these crazy things. So by

 

the mercy of Srila Prabhupad, the mercy of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami

 

Maharaj, and many such wonderful devotees, we are able to keep our intelligence

 

intact and continue to worship Krishna and continue to offer our service to guru

 

and Krishna. That is our very great fortune. So it is important for us to keep in the

 

association of devotees so that we don’t lose our intelligence. It is very easy for us

 

to have wrong association and think wrongly. It is just about how Prahlad actually

 

gave association to his school mates and converted all of them by his association.

 

It is very important to have good association so that our intelligence is intact and

 

we can always offer our service to Krishna and reach perfection in our lives. Hare

 

Krishna!

 

Guru Maharaj: With regard to association… Banasura was previously also known

 

as Baumasura but before that he was Baumadeva, he was the son of the earth

 

and he was a devotee. By association with asuras he became a demon. So we can

 

choose who we want to associate with and if we associate with the wrong people

 

we also become demons. If we associate with devotees we become devotees! So

 

it is very important what Maharaj said, it is very important you have to associate

 

with the right people – with devotees. And that is mentioned in the

 

Upadeshamrita – there are six things favourable to devotional service - one of

 

them is satsanga – to associate with devotees. So please associate with devotees.

 

Prabhupad said that is why he made Iskcon so that all the devotees would get

 

good association and we havesome place to associate with each other.

 

Question: Hiranyakashipu asked so many various kinds of benedictions from Lord

 

Brahma, he could have also asked a benediction that ‘I should not be killed by

 

Vishnu directly. ‘ Why didn’t he? – Gopala Gaur Guru das

 

GM: You see Brahma cannot give such a benediction because he was himself

 

created by Vishnu.

 

Question: You said Hiranyakashipu was lord of the universe but he could not be

 

able to control his senses. So is it our life’s mission that we should control our

 

senses? Rasika Gaura das

 

GM: You see if mind and senses are not controlled, then we don’t have any peace.

 

I think everyone wants to be peaceful. And if we are engaged in Krishna’s service,

 

automatically they become in control. That only happens when we do our

 

devotional service, we can achieve our life’s mission which is to develop our pure

 

love for Krishna.

 

Question: Jaya and Vijaya became Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. They were

 

already pure in their devotional service, that is why they were in Vaikuntha. So

 

they have been in Spiritual World (Vaikuntha). So when they descend to the

 

material world won’t they reflect any of their devotional quality? Santa Gopi Devi

 

Dasi

 

GM: They were cursed by the four Kumaras to fall down. They were given a choice

 

of either being a devotee for seven life times or a demon for three life times. They

 

thought well, we are the gatekeepers here and we should get back quick to our

 

service, so we will become demons. So they were programmed as such. So they

 

forgot who they were and they only knew they were Hiranyakashipu, and the

 

brahmana and Kamsa and they installed in Tirupati Jay Vijay deity to guard the

 

temple. Now if we enter the temple there will be the deity of Jay Vijay.

 

Question: I am learning spiritual knowledge from Srila Prabhupad’s books. Why

 

that at particular point of time I am forgetting all the spiritual knowledge even

 

though I learnt many things? Srinivasa Hari das

 

GM: Krishna says that the conditioned soul is covered by lust. We are thinking we

 

want something material – either position or followers or something. So whatever

 

we are attracted by at that time if we are not careful we can lose our intelligence,

 

we can forget. That is why it is important we have good association. It is

 

important to understand how many times Prabhupad said, ‘You are not this

 

body’. We should understand that we are not this body and the pleasures and

 

pains of this body are not ours but that is as a brahmachari. You think as a

 

grihastha, you have to engage yourself, all your activities in the service of the Lord

 

and at that time you will have to have some attachment to your wife but we see

 

in the material world people want to enjoy women and drinks and so many

 

things. So they say well, we want to live life to its fullest! But the question is there

 

is a tamasic way of the fullest, and then there is a rajasic way and a satvic way and

 

the shuddha satvic way. So when we want to live life to the fullest – that means

 

side by side, some material activity and knowledge and some spiritual activity. If

 

you pray to the Lord, if you try to engage all your senses in Krishna’s service, then

 

you will be freed from this forgetfulness. Otherwise, Krishna, He gives us

 

knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness. So if you want to enjoy the senses,

 

then Krishna gives us forgetfulness. If you want to serve Krishna and please His

 

senses, then Krishna will gives us remembrance and knowledge. Jai!

 

Question: How to conquer sleep while chanting?

 

GM: This stage of feeling relaxed while doing japa is first stage of advancement.

 

Because it means you are feeling very peaceful! Ha….. Snore…. Ha! Ha! Of course

 

we would like to rise above that stage! To the stage when we feel very

 

enthusiastic. I don’t know if you are getting enough sleep in the night. It is

 

important to sleep 6 or 7 hours usually but some people don’t. But

 

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Prabhupad said would walk and chant japa. He

 

liked to walk and was a very active person. So some people if they sit down and

 

chant they might feel sleepy so they have to get up and walk and chant. You have

 

seen in Mayapur, some are walking around the deities, some are sitting, so it

 

depends. So initially it is a stage of advancement to be very peaceful and then rise

 

above that and you feel very enthusiastic when you chant. Some people have a

 

distraction that they think of all the things around when they chant. It happened

 

to me as well and I would keep a notebook and write down the thing otherwise

 

the thing would keep coming in my mind again and again. So I would write down

 

and then put it away and then I would just concentrate. At the end of my japa I

 

would see my notebook and see what the points are but during japa I just want to

 

concentrate on that while chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna …I was reading how

 

Haridas Thakur when he had some thought in his mind he would chant louder. So

 

I would chant louder and louder and louder! At that time I was a bhakta in

 

Montreal with GopalKrishna Maharaj. He was a grihastha and I was a brahmachari

 

and now I believe he has entered here in Cabin 1. Jai Gopalkrishna Maharaj ki jai!

 

So since 1968 we are together! All the devotees went and complained to

 

Prabhupad, this bhakta, Bhakta Jay, he shouts so loud, we can’t listen to our own

 

chanting. Ha! Ha! Because as a young bhakta so many thoughts crossed my mind

 

and I would chant louder and louder! HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA…and that

 

way I disturbed everybody else. So they all went and complained and Prabhupad

 

called and asked me, you are disturbing all the other devotees, what happened?

 

Ha! Ha! I explained and he said, well, that is a good reason. But you can chant in

 

the park. So they exiled me to the park! And when I chanted the squirrels and the

 

birds, they listened! Jai! … so somehow I found that I should chant once loud and

 

then stay loud.. Any way you could chant different tunes, different melodies of

 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna…(Guru Maharaj sang three different types of Hare

 

Krishna tunes which was ecstatic! Hari bol!). Like that there can be different tunes

 

of japa. So if your mind is off you can change the tune of chanting, of course the

 

japa melodies are very fast but they can also be like a song. Also you can chant

 

the Pancha Tattva mantra, Sri Krishna Caitanya…

 

GM: Last question, any on the internet?

 

Question: From Sanjay and Sapna (GM: Acha! From Dallas!): How do you know

 

from devotee vs non devotee, can we get cheated by people who look like

 

devotees but are not devotees?

 

GM: Hello Sanjay! Prabhupad said as far as business is concerned he would be

 

very careful. Business is business. He did not consider devotees If they were

 

disciples and if they got along, he would still be very careful. Of course we had

 

Bhakti Vinod Thakur, he talks about the apa sampradayas. There is one song :

 

bhakti tilak gale mala, peeche aache sundara baala – that he wears tilak on his

 

nose and he has neckbeads on his neck but always behind him although he is a

 

sanyasi there is a beautiful lady! Ha! Ha! There were 13 apa sampradayas during

 

Bhakti Vinod Thakur’s time. Now there must be a few more. Ha! So we have to be

 

very careful. They may be good devotees but may not be good business people.

 

So like that way, some of our devotees are disappointed because they give large

 

sum of money to some devotees and some sastra says, don’t do business with

 

brahmanas. Because someone who is a devotee they may or may not pay back. So

 

you have to see whether they are business people or not. Just because they are

 

good devotees does not mean they are good businessmen. Jai! But you could

 

always give devotees donation! But doing business you have to judge not by their

 

devotion but by their business nature.

 

Question: How to uproot the bad habits? Gopathi Govinda das

 

GM: How to overcome bad habits? Of course we can take some guidance from

 

some advanced devotee or the guru. Because there are different ways for

 

different habits. There was one… he was by profession a thief, then he became a

 

Vaishnava, so his profession was to steal. In the night he would go and move

 

around the devotees’ clothes but he wouldn’t take anything. So that way he

 

satisfied his habit to steal. Next day he would hear the brahmacharis shouting,

 

you have my dhoti, you have socks and he would be happy! Ha! Ha! I don’t know

 

what your bad habits are but basically, those things which can be dovetailed we

 

do them for Krishna. And those things which are against our principles, we try to

 

avoid them. Say, some buys lottery tickets and they also gamble. Gambling is one

 

of the things that – Kali resides in four places, gambling, prostitution, meat eating

 

and intoxication. So these things we try to avoid. Other minor bad habits they can

 

be overcome as I said by good association, like say one has the habit of drinking

 

tea, you can take decaffeinated tea or herbal tea and other hot drinks that don’t

 

have caffeine but we try to avoid tea or coffee which have caffeine. Of course

 

these are minor bad habits. Alcohol and such things are more serious. I don’t

 

know what your bad habits. I don’t think you have major ones but minor bad

 

habits also have to be overcome. You can preach to your mind that this thing is

 

not good and you can get rid of it.

 

(The class ended here)

 

Hare Krishna!

 

JRD/30 April 2011