19800929 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.2.7

(Disclaimer: The following is a machine-generated transcript and may contain errors or inaccuracies. It will be reviewed and verified against the original audio soon.)

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on September 29, 1980 – in Los Angeles, USA. The lecture begins with a reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.2.7.

King Nanda was itself very beautiful. And when Yoga Māyā was ordered to go there and encourage the devotees with fearlessness, it became even more beautiful and safe. Because Yoga Māyā had the ability to create such an atmosphere, the Lord ordered her to go to Nanda Golkula. Thus end the purport of text 7 by his divine grace. Rla Prabhupāda the basic quality of this world, especially of the animals, is fear. You see any bird, any cow, any dog, any type of animal, they’re very apt to become afraid. Especially in their wild state, when they have no protector, they’re very afraid. As soon as you move or look at them, then they immediately become fearful. So this is a basic quality of animal life is fear, practically speaking.

Although in our modern society there’s a big advertisement of so much advancement, people have not become fearless, which means that they have not been able to transcend animal existence. Rather, people’s fears may have been solved or to some degree pacified in one area, but in another area they’re increasing. In so many areas, people may have been originally afraid. Actually, where has their fears been allayed? That’s what I am trying to consider. I said maybe, but I can’t even think. Of course they say that like for tuberculosis or for malaria or certain diseases, well, there are vaccines, so the fears are laid. But then so many other diseases have come. People are practically always afraid of leukemia, cancer, so many type of thrombosis and this and that. So many type of diseases have come up. People are definitely afraid of contacting some disease.

Therefore, when they go, especially leave the country, they have to get so many inoculations. Then of course, before people were always afraid of. In America at least, there was even less of a fear about foreign attack. But now that fear has even grown. And the American people, they’re always afraid of when the Russians may attack. This fear is increasing also day by day. So the multibillion dollar expenditure on defense must be done to help allay that fear. So many fears are there fears of not making the ends meet. The different type of fears, these are part of material life that are very prominent animals. But in the human life they can be actually limited. The fear of death, the fear of death is something which everyone has.

Of course, there are some people who are so ignorant that somehow they avoid thinking about it until just at the very moment that some danger comes before them. This is considered to be very ignorant, very foolish. They say ignorance is bliss. An intelligent person, he considers what is life? What is the goal of life? What Is the end of life and death for him poses a question, why am I working so hard? It’s all going to be finished. What is the actual purpose of life? Just like Teddy Roosevelt, President over in the group, who had a book on the president. So when he died, he said life and death all part of the great adventure. Something like that. That of course, death no one expects. No one expects that they’re going to have to leave this body.

So someone who is ignorant, just like a stone or a tree, doesn’t think about it. Then of course, for him, there’s not that much worry. He doesn’t have to fear that he can just ignore it. But for an intelligent person, the obvious fact that my grandfather has died, that my father has died, I am going to die. So what is the actual meaning of life? What is life? What is birth? What is death? What is this world? That consideration comes so that fear can also be Nibbleron. That fear can be destroyed by nullified by knowledge. Knowledge is real bliss. Ignorance is not real bliss. Ignorance is type of bliss. But in one sense, one who is completely ignorant and one who has knowledge, they’re both free from anxiety. One is falsely free just because he’s ignoring all the danger.

And the other one is free because of factual knowledge. To not prepare one’s borders against the attack of enemy. That type of freedom from fear would be simply utopian. At the same time, simply to go on fearing without taking necessary steps would also be considered to be foolish. So the wise thing is, if there is a fear, there’s a danger. Then one should prepare for it. So what seems to be a great anachronism is that while all the other fears, everyone takes precaution. Why no one is taking precaution about the fear, the danger which is looming before us, we have to leave this body. That is the great mystery that although everyone knows that there’s a number one danger, anyone may escape from any danger, but who has escaped from death, yet they don’t think how to cross over or how to.

What is the actual nature of all this? So this is Māyā or illusion. And this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement is meant to give them factual knowledge. As we sang Fearless Śrīla Prabhupāda’s name, Abhoya Charanara Vindhu named after that. So one becomes really fearless when he becomes fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Because he knows all the basic mysteries of life. Who he is, where he is, where he’s going, how to avoid the difficulties of life. The devotee becomes fearless. Not the type of fearlessness that the materialist has, like sleeping, but an actual fearlessness. So actual fearlessness is needed. Everyone wants to be actually free from fear. So this is described here that Yoga Māyā, Kṛṣṇa’s internal energy, she has the ability to create an atmosphere free from fear.

So she was ordered to gokula, the residence of Kṛṣṇa’s father Nanda Gokula, to create such an atmosphere and encourage the devotees. Similarly, if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, we serve Kṛṣṇa, we can create a proper environment. And mother Subadhya Devī, mother Yoga Māyā, she then will create in that place an atmosphere of fearlessness. An atmosphere where people can in a harmonious way serve Kṛṣṇa. Factually, that is seen, a person may be materially beautiful, but that material beauty always has some defect. And actually it lacks a luster. But when devotional service is added, then one becomes actually beautiful. Because one is in the shelter of Yoga Māyā, one is under the shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Connection with Kṛṣṇa Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was so kind to bring this message to the west with the purpose of making the people fearless.

When he landed in one time, he sent me a newspaper clipping from Melbourne. Melbourne or Sydney. I forget now the age. Maybe someone knows whether the age is the Melbourne paper. Probably Melbourne, the age from Australia. And the headline was, swamiji has come to hound us. Big headlines. And the subheading was to save us from a cat and dog’s life. A very big newspaper. As big as the number one newspaper was the headline. Number one newspaper in Australia in that city, the biggest city in Australia. So Prabhupāda explained that when he arrived there, he told the people, they asked him, swamiji, why you have come from India as a poor country, so on and so forth, why you have come? He said, I have come to save you from a cat and dog’s life. Cat and dog’s life. How was that?

I said, well, cat is eating, you are eating. Kyle is sleeping, you are sleeping. Cat is having sex, you’re having sex. Cat and dog is fighting, you are having your war machinery. Where is the difference? And they laugh. They like that very much. Yeah, there’s no difference. There is a difference. I have come to save you from that by giving you actual knowledge. They have a good sense of humor in Austria. So Prabhupāda, he was uncompromising. And actually he simply wanted people to become fearless, to actually make people fearless, to make them free from the anxiety. But someone might say that, well, your devotees have left or even your spiritual master left. That is the Cause of grief for you. How can you say that devotees lives are free from grief? But of course when the spiritual master leaves, the devotee cries.

But that crying is actually of a different nature. Very hard to explain to these people that actually the devotees grieve, not real grief. The separation that he feels from the spiritual master from other Vaishnavas is actually something which is very transcendental and very at the same time as one is feeling a separation, feeling a type of satisfaction or closeness to that person. This could be demonstrated, you know about Śrīnivasa Acharya, Lord Caitanya, when he left then most of his associates left very quickly. They. They couldn’t take the separation. There were a few associates left. Rupin Sanātana quickly left and Śrīnivasacharya Bhagadhar Prabhu quickly left after a short time. Nithyananda Advaita, after a few years they all left. Within a few years time most everybody had gone. So Śrīnivasacharya was a disciple of.

He was the son of Caitanya dad and he wanted to study the Bhāgavatam under bona fide spiritual master. So of course the great ordeal and trial he went through to finally reach Gopal Bhaṭṭa Goswami who became his spiritual master. There’s of course a great history and epic in itself. So Śrīnivasacharya of course was the first one to bring the books, the Gauria Vaishnavs, to distribute them amongst the general devotees. Kṛṣṇa Das Kaviraj had written the Chaitanya Charit Amita and other books were written by these other Goswamis. And so those were all being taken by Śrīnivasa Acharya to distribute amongst the eastern states, Bengal or Issa, where all the principal devotees of Lord Caitanya were at that time and to have them duplicated there in Navadip by the pandits. In those days the printing procedure was by hand, so it was a very tedious thing.

So he was a contemporary of the son of Nithyananda Birbhadra Prabhu. Prabhu and Narottam Das Thakur and Shamma and the Pandit were intimate associates. Intimate associates. The three of them actually brought the books together from Vrindavana to the eastern states. But main Śrīvacharya was responsible. Ramchandra Kabiraj, who was a dear friend of Naruto Dast Thakur was also the disciple of Śrīnivasa Acharya. So in this way a very intimate relation. Although they were contemporary, sometimes they would preach together and sometimes they would separate and preach in their own areas. Some areas were contiguous and some were different. So what happened was there was a devotee called Dwija Harida who was a very great devotee of Caitanya Mahathava, and Narahari, who was a direct associate of Lord Caitanya. Also.

We always sing every night in the Kīrtana, Kiba Jaya Kiba Narayadhi Kari Tama Rasula used to fan with the Chamar, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So he’d already disappeared and practically there was hardly any devotees left. But one of the few devotees that was left was Dwija Haridas in Vrindavana. I believe he was in Vrindavana. So when the news came that he’d also finished up his pastimes and gone, and just about the same time Gadar had died, Narahari, they had just gone a little before. It was a very big loss for the whole Vaishnava world at that time. So having spent some time in Vrindava, knowing the qualities of Dwija Hari Dars, especially that previously had a festival for Garādhār Dars and Arahari, then Śrīnivas decided that there should be a big Samalan, a big gathering of all the Vaiavas in a commemoration of Dwija Harida.

So at that time, all the Vaiavas were called, invited all the great preachers. And Birbhadra, the son of Nithyananda, he came Raghunandan, they all came to Śrīkhando, the place where Narahari used to live. Chiranjeev Raghunandan, all these associates of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, some two of the sons of Nitinanda, I believe, Kṛṣṇa. Mr. Gopal. Mr. They came, excuse me, of Advaita, like there’s so many different associates came. Nyadhanath, Yadunandan, Acharya, I believe, was there so many hundreds and hundreds about actually direct disciples of the Parshads and the Parshads themselves, about a hundred or more came. And then general public, regular devotees who wanted to see them have the Darshanavi. There was literally hundred thousand packed up. Just everyone came. So when they came, Śrīnivasacharya, he greeted them all.

And they were having several days nonstop Kirtans and Bhāgavatam classes and just a whole like a parikram taking prasadam together. And all the people were gathering. So then one night, Birbhadra Prabhu, he had a kīrtana, began with his associates and he started to Dance, of course, Birbhadra himself is Kirudakshaya Vishnu. And Birbadra was a tremendous preacher. I mean, sometimes just as a one time the Mohammedan ruler went into a village and then so called, you know, converted about hundred Hindus to Mohammedans. And then Birbada heard about it, went there and he initiated a thousand Muhammadans into Vaishnavis. He was very strong preacher, performed many miracles, also being a Vishnu avatar. So he began dancing and naturally, just like Nithyananda was by his dancing, while Caitanya was always present. Well, Bhiravada’s dancing, you can imagine, was something which was beyond this world.

So here’s dancing in kīrtana, the people all gathered around to see and the other associates, they became all filled with a deep ecstasy. Then he started to praise the qualities of Dvicha Haridas and started to say, where is Goranga? Where is Nityānanda? Where is Adoita? Where is Godar Haro? Where we will find Śrīvas? Where is Vasudeva Ghosh, Govinda Ghosh? Where is Narahari Garad Haradar? Where is Roopan, Sanatan Saroop, Ramanundarai? In this way they were all submerged into a. Into a separation. Where is Dwija Haridar? When will we see the Lord and all his associates together? Together in the big Mahasankirta? When will we get the association of these great devotees again? And then the devotees, they just became mad in separation, started just weeping and crying and pounding their. And just pounding their heads.

And they fell on the ground unconscious and conscious and just crying. And this way Śrīnivasa saw that the whole Buddha became practically everybody was crying. The people were watching. They all started crying, literally thousands, they all started crying in separation. That how unfortunate. All of these great souls that left were here all alone. All of a sudden, how it happened, no one knows. But Kṛṣṇa, by his inconceivable potency, the whole mood went from that deep separation, that complete absorption in the separation of all these great vai navas, it suddenly changed. And everyone, all these devotees, they became jubilant. And just the whole mood suddenly changed by some inconceivable power of Kṛṣṇa. And then everyone, the kīrtana changed. And everyone started jumping up and down and laughing and calling to each other and became filled with a whole other mood of ecstasy.

And this kīrtana went on. Before they knew it, the sun was rising. So the kīrtana had gone the whole night, and no one even knew how the time was going. So since they had gone the whole night. Then everyone attended the mangalati of the deity Lord Caitanya that Narahari established. And in this way the people were also praising in so many ways how fortunate they were to be present at that time. So the devotees are feeling some transcendental mood of separation. But see the how the mood even ones in that pits of so called pits or depths of separation within this moment that can be transformed into another type of ecstasy. Because one is actually going into the flow of the Yoga Māyā’s eternal ecstatic ocean of devotions to my Parasam govir bhakti rasa s Hindu tumay chakayte yami kohi akobindu.

In the middle of the ocean, tidal wave is only 6 inches. But the whole ocean right down to the very bottom is moving. It shifted because of some tremendous shock. Tidal shock, earthquake shock or something. There’s a meaning of tidal waves. The whole ocean is, you see, shifted and it’s just moving like that. Ordinary waves are just on the surface. So that type of a shift may only in the middle of the ocean create a six inch or one foot wave. One and a half, just a big ship, just hardly notice it. But it’s going right from the top down to the bottom. And when that comes up to the shore and then the depth becomes less and it turns into a huge wave.

So in the shallow water, some people may show so many symptoms, of course, because Prabhupāda was right from the top down to the very depth of spiritual realization. So we could only see the little surface symptom. But actually it was going so deep, someone without such a depth of realization, they may show more of a wave on the surface. And it goes so deep, the Prabhupāda has that complete depth. So of course people externally, they can’t understand either they see, oh, I think he’s very serious. Externally you can understand even there’s a story about, just like I remember a Chuchananda Maharaj told me how I was india and there was this one Sohajiya, you know, Sahajiya, Sohajiya means someone just like we keep telling about transform ecstasy. So sometimes some people say, well, transcendental ecstasy, why wait?

So they just start imitating laughing or crying for Kṛṣṇa without actually letting it come spontaneously. So in so doing, one actually will experience some shadow symptoms with it. Actually, if you imitate crying for Kṛṣṇa, that will also feel different than ordinarily crying. Because somehow it’s in connection with Kṛṣṇa, but it’s not the real thing, just a Shadow. But there was this one professional guru and he was to read the Bhāgavatam. While he was reading, of course, he would always be crying. And therefore hundreds, thousands of people, they would gather and give him donations big, like a Hindu evangelist. So he would convince the people by crying. So Chuitananda went to see him off stage. And when he went there, then he saw that there, the person he had, when he would read the Bhāgavatam, he’d say like this.

And then there’d be two people, one on either side. Say to the chammar, they’d have these little napkins and they would go like this, you know, and very dramatically wipe the tear off, you know. So everyone, you know, like in case no one saw it in the back of the place, you know, they could just, you know, the guy would go and kind of wipe it off. From a distance, everyone could see that what was happening from two sides, it was the regular and constantly the tears would be. So when he went back there, he saw that as soon as he got backstage, just right behind him, as you know, how he went and he went, pulled the chilies out of his nose, you know, then he’d go.

So there are all kinds of people, if you put two little tillies in your nose, no doubt that they’re. I don’t know how he kept from sneezing. That was the real city. So Rla Prabhupāda of course was Vaiava’s sister. You thought vaiava was supposed to keep his sentiments confidential as far as possible, sometimes looking grave, that’s the only way one can stop from revealing different type of symptoms which would not be appropriate. Of course, people don’t realize what is a real standard of happiness. Real happiness is complete right down to the depth of one’s heart. So all this type of good fortune, being fearless, having a nice facility of happiness, even material life and complete satisfaction of the self, all this is possible by Yogamaya. Who is Yogamaya giving that shelter to?

He’s giving that shelter to those who are the devotees of Kṛṣṇa, dva, Prakriti, Astitam, those who are under the protection of the divine nature. Yogamaya, those are the. The mahatmas are the great souls who are surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. If one wants to get that divine shelter, then one has to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. And of course then one will become more and more mad after Kṛṣṇa. He shouldn’t be afraid that, oh, there will be some type of misery and separation. All become attached. Just like nowadays the People, they want to have sense gratification with no attachment. They don’t want any attachment because they know when attachment grows. Then also there’s so many types of pain. The people they just meet on the street and go and they have their relations. And then they don’t even reveal each other’s names and they depart. Just no attachment.

There should just be unattached sense gratification. This is the latest mood. Maybe not the latest, but one of the later moods. Because people say that, oh, not good to be attached. But if one is attached to Kṛṣṇa, that is very good. And even one thinks that, well, then I will feel bad because I won’t be able to immediately see Kṛṣṇa or I will become separated from my spiritual master. But someone who actually tastes that feeling of devotion to the spirit, he would not trade that for a billion dollars for anything material, even liberation. Because along with that comes the knowledge that this relationship is real. All the other relationships were superficial. Therefore they were not satisfying. Even to be in separation is satisfying. In separation there’s union of a different kind.

And by separation, when one does unite with a loved one, then that is hundred times, so many times more ecstatic or fulfilling. This was revealed also that Lord Kṛṣṇa, he leaves the residence of Vrindavan so that when he again rejoins them, so that actually their ecstasy is increased. And when he does join with him again, there are even more satisfied. Actually, he never leaves them, he just becomes invisible. But he’s actually with them in the form of transcendental Bhava expansion. So we should try to become more and more absorbed in Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master qualities. All it takes is simply meditation, glorification, listening. It’s not something one has to artificially impose. It’s contagious. It’s very contagious. Simply, if one hears again and again about the glories of Kṛṣṇa from pure devotees, he will become attached more and more. Can’t help it.

You stay near the fire, then you will become hotter and hotter. We just have to be careful that we don’t leave the fire by any means. That will be very undesirable. Kṛṣṇa says Namay Bhakto, Chaturvedhi, Madh, Bhakto, Sva, Pacho, Priya. That even someone who knows all the Vedas, who is not Ka’s devotee, he’s not very favorite of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa finds even someone who’s born in the family of the dog eaters, but who is his devotee as most dear to him. And whatever he gives that should be accepted as if Kṛṣṇa was giving it. That’s how dear Kṛṣṇa’s devotees are. Things so one doesn’t have to concern himself with what I was before. I am too fallen and too unworthy. No. Somehow or another, if one can connect himself with the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. He has to tie up the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. How?

Just clinging to the feet of Nitāi. Goar clinging. Then his life will be perfected. Doesn’t matter what he was before, how many defects he may have had or didn’t have. By their mercy one can reach that highest pinnacle of spiritual realization and complete satisfaction and good fortune. So one should begin clinging by chanting very regularly and sincerely. Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Ka Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Hare Hari. And using as much of one energy for Kṛṣṇa consciousness as possible. Thank you very much. Is there any questions? Have to become a fish. As long as you’re swimming on the surface, then it’s very difficult. You have to become a deep water fish and dive deep into it. To become a deep fish or Chaitan Nage. The basic program in the Shikshastikam. His eight Shlokas.

This Māyā, she’s also casting her net on the surface. But if one is a deep fish, go deep, far below the nets of Māyā. Being very humble, very determined. Always more humble than a straw in the street. More tolerant than the tree. Always ready to offer respect to others and not desiring respect to oneself. One can constantly chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahā mantra. So in this mood one stays deep in the ocean of transcendental nectar. Cultivating on Nya Bilashita Sunnu devotion deep in the ocean. Deep in that ocean, there’s nothing but that pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But if one has other Obilash desires, then of course he surfaces. And then there’s a danger of being caught by the nets of Māyā. So one has to cultivate on Myavi, Lashita, Sunya Bhakti. Desireless devotion to experience the high. If one sees it, I have other desires.

And I have not yet been able to dovetail these desires in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Why aren’t I tasting the highest ecstasy? He’s not being sincere with himself. He said no, so long as I have these other desires, I will only be able to just taste a small fraction of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One maybe even then be able to experience something about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Because Vocaitanya is so powerful. And by practicing one will gradually transcend those desires. If he wants to transcend them even a little bit, then it will be very sad. But when we are harboring so many other different type of desires. So our mind is absorbed not in Kṛṣṇa, but in so many other desires. And then we wonder why I am not getting that deep realization.

You see, people in that state, the only way they could get such a deep realization is by Kripacidhi. It’s like when Munikitamram would walk up to people and touch them with his flute. And they would start crying and laughing in ecstasy and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Apart from such type of alokik or uncommon mercy, one would generally speaking have to gradually or immediately give up the desire for other things. Even someone may be in a certain situation which may appear to be materialistically entangled. But if his desire is that oh, somehow, if I could just be completely Kṛṣṇa conscious, if I could somehow just this is not at all what I want to be, see that desire itself, I He may actually taste the deeper realization about Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

But someone who even superficially appears to be very renounced, very absorbed in the spiritual environment, but mentally is contemplating on the objects of the senses, who still has so many desires other than Kṛṣṇa conscious to be fulfilled. He’s got longer to go. Everyone does not immediately. Some people, what happens is that they can immediately see that there’s nothing in this world except Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Nambina, Kichun, Nahika, Chodda, Bhuva, no Maje, nothing except the holy names, nectar. That’s actually worth desiring. Either by seeing other people are all miserable, even they have all type of material facilities. Or by seeing that how the devotees are always those who are advanced devotees are always extreme. Or by whatever he may come, some by reading the Shastra, by hearing the histories of great Mahajana, somehow this realization may come to him.

So that person, of course he doesn’t have any obstacles ahead of him. He’s understood. But some other people, they’re such less intelligent that they have to experience for themselves being entangled by Māyā. And what is the actual misery of that pursuit of happiness? The right to pursuit of happiness. Pursuit of happiness. Right to pursuit happiness means the right to get kicked by Māyā. So Kṛṣṇa also gives that right pursuit of happiness, but recommends that one should do it with some regulative principle. So at least that way one will be able to have a controlled pursuit of happiness, material happiness, which will be a limited kicking. But it will be enough that one will be able to realize that except for Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, there’s nothing in this world worth desiring.

Some people may realize that by their and be able to maintain that faith or that determination by KA’s Mercy. Some just by hearing about it. Other people, they have to go through a little more direct perception to be able to control their mind. Their mind doesn’t have the strength to just maintain by hearing that realization hasn’t come, tries to be sincere. And then if one maintains, however, very strictly his Kṛṣṇa consciousness chanting, then in the midst of those difficulties, if he continues serving Kṛṣṇa and dovetailing his everything he can to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following the instructions of the spiritual master, then the realization should come, which will create a nya bilashi. The goal is you have to get desireless devotion. So that will automatically come if one perseveres in serving. They’re the difference.

There’s like the direct routes, and then there’s the little more indirect routes, if you can understand what I mean. It.