19820210 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.5.22

(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 February 10, 1982 – in New Talavan, USA. The lecture begins with a reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.5.22.

You Namo Mahabharana Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇamonasindudinagorangi Radhe Shabanu Sutade Pranani Hari Priya Shikṛṣṇa Jaitana Prabhunisha Gura Sadi Bhaktaminda Hari Kṛṣṇa Rāma Bhāgavata Sudebaya Devasudeva Sudebaya Nārāyaṇa namaskitya naram jayvana I don’t know she go, don’t be mad.

Enough for the man and she chaitanya which verse 25 Nayasha bhakti Oksaniya Adaraniya Shamyama mayasyavadyo Nacharakshaniyo no piksha tapi sagasikali Nayasya Vajo Nacharakshaniyo Nayasya Vashayani Paksha Tapi Sagasti Sanyama the Deva Jasatamam Sikali Rajasthanamdeh nay raja nah by whom the Lord anyone is to be killed creation stiki maintenance maintenance sanyama and annihilation and annihilation our time for the sake of Rajasatwa Rajasi passion, goodness and ignorance passion, goodness, and ignorance due course of time the supreme personality of Godhead there’s no one to be killed, no one to be protected, no one to be neglected, and no one to be worshipped nonetheless for the sake of creation, annihilation and creation maintenance and annihilation according to time he accepts different forms as incarnations, either in the mode of goodness, passion, or ignorance. Either in the mode of goodness, mode of passion, or the mode of ignorance.

Good part this verse explains that the supreme personality of Godhead is equal to everyone. This is confirmed by the Lord himself in Bhagavad Gītā 929 Samohang Sarabha bhuta namay graciousina priya bhajanti kuman bhaktia maite shuja biaham I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all, but whoever renders service unto me in devotion as a friend is in me, and I am also a friend to him. Although the Lord is impartial, he gives special attention to his devotees. Therefore the Lord says in the Bhagavad Gītā 418 rita nayasatunam binasaya duskritam samsta translation deliver the pious and annihilate damiscrians as well as to reestablish the principles of religion I had met myself millennia after the Lord has nothing to do with anyone’s protection or destruction, but for the creation, maintenance and annihilation of his material world.

He apparently has to act in either goodness, passion or ignorance. Actually, however, he is unaffected by these three modes of material nature. Actually, however, he is unaffected by these two modes of material nature. He is the supreme lord of the everyone. As a king sometimes punishes or rewards someone to maintain law and order. The supreme personality of Godhead, although having nothing to do with the activities of this material world, sometimes appears as various incarnations according to the time, place and object. Thus, in the Bhakti Vidanta Swami translation purport of text 22, chapter five captain eight in the matter of the demigods appeal to the Lord. We discussed how the Lord is impartial, how he answers the prayers of both the householder and the thief.

Here this is elaborated on because no one is actually enemy to the Lord, known as object of worship for the Lord. Yet we find that in the vedas sometimes Kṛṣṇa protected Arjuna and sometimes even Kṛṣṇa worship or Ram worship shiva. So how these appear to be apparent contradictions. How to understand this? The point is that everyone has certain duties. A parent needs to has a duty to protect the children or husband, to protect the wife or the wife to serve the husband or the children, to listen to the parents. Everyone has got certain responsibilities. They don’t do that actually. They get deprived of the auspicious nature of their life. They were expecting. However, Kṛṣṇa, since he’s everything and he has everything, he has nothing to attain. So it’s not like he needs something. He’s not in any kind of need.

He’s Ātmā Rāma, totally self satisfied. Still, Kṛṣṇa acts sometimes as if he was obliged. Sometimes he just acts totally independent. This is their nature. He doesn’t actually owe anything, Krista. He’s ready personal. He will reciprocate with someone according to how they reciprocate with him. Someone serves him over a long period of time, very sincerely. Then Kṛṣṇa can recognize as devoted. In other words, why does the Lord give special attention to his devotees if he is impartial to everyone? Because the devotees are always anxious for his special attention. They are praying for that constantly. So he offers to everyone. They can all get the same facility. But since the devotees are the only one to take it, they’re very fortunate. So that’s why this all called the pastime for the Lord. He’s totally independent. And what he’s doing, it’s not because of any kind of obligation.

He’s simply doing it out of his own sweet will just to demonstrate some of his transcendental qualities to the world. It’s like Lord Caitanya. He is totally independent. He had a beautiful wife, a loving mother. When he snap his finger, 200,000 people will come running. Hope Navadip is under his control. He has everything that someone could want. But he desired to go out and preach all over India. He wanted that people would not try to control him. So he decided to take sanyas. Now, he knew his mother wouldn’t give permission. He knew his wife would never allow. So in the middle of the night, one day, he only told five people he was going to do this. In the middle of the night, he left. This drama of Lord Caitanya Levi, his home, has been covered by many dramatic writers, playwriters.

Any production show that the extreme separation of Lord Caitanya’s intimate devotees, his mother and wife felt. When he left, went to a play with Śrīla Prabhupāda in Calcutta, which had been playing for like 13 years, called Śrī Chaitanya. They invited Prabhupda to come, gave free tickets. So he went to accompanied. They’re a very good troop. Only problem was, because they have been playing it for 13 years, Lord Nitsin Nanda started to look a little old. The same players, but dramatically, they’re very effective. It was a dense drama, and the side of the stage, they had the singers and speakers. The actors would not actually speak. They’d move their mouth as if they were speaking with someone on the side, would speak into the microphone. It’s kind of a unique technique. So you would think that they were speaking, but actually they weren’t.

So you look on the side and someone else is speaking, you can hardly see them. You have to strain. You can see on the side that they’re there, but it didn’t interrupt the flow. Actually, Chechinanda was very beautiful. He had nuports and was dancing. Remember that? When Lord Caitanya left and mother Sachi realized that he was gone, then she ran out, was crying. Where is Nimāi? Where is Nimāi? Actually, this time in the flood, the one village which always gets the worst flood, it’s called ni doya, which is short for near Doya. Doya means mercy. Doya moiya koro prabhu. And near means no, like, no mercy. No mercy. When mother Sachi went out into the night, calling Nimāi. And she was like mad in separation, she went. She got to that village, and she called out to the village.

It was like two in the morning or something. One in the morning. Where is nay nimāi? Tell me, tell me, where is Nimay and Nashir? The village didn’t answer. It was silent. I remember the sleep. So then she like cursed it and said, you’re near Doya. You have no mercy. No mercy. You don’t tell me where my Nimaya is. That’s as far as she got that she collapsed crying. I don’t know whether since giving that name, the name has been known as Nidoya. Whenever there’s a flood, it gets at the worst. I think mother Sachi never forgave them in their play. Of course, Lord Caitanya went to Katwa, took sannyas. Then he was going off to Vrindavan. But Nithinanda was very merciful to mother Sachi, the devotees of Vrindavan.

He told some cowherd boys that were there that if Lord Caitanya asks you where is Vrindavan? You show the wrong way. You say it this way. So that’s the way point to the south. So Lord Caitanya came in his ecstasy, going to Vrindavan, going to his complete ecstasy. So he wasn’t very conscious about external details. Complete ecstasy of love for Kṛṣṇa. So he asked which way to Vrindavan, the officer. So then he started down the wrong way. When Itinand saw right, he’s headed in the right direction. He jumps in the river and it’s about. Well, by the road to Navaj is 45. From Navaj to Shantipur is another 40 km from Tukatu. So that’s 85. So that’s about 50 miles the way the road by road. But the Ganges is very curvy, so it may even be double that.

So maybe 75 to 100 miles. Niti Nandaprabhu floated. He just floated in the Ganges. That’s how he went down to Shantipur. I was thinking one time, since when they had the annual year of sports, they every year of youth, year of sport. I thought that to have a marathon swimming, falling Nintendo’s roof, I don’t know if anyone can do it. So then Lord Nithyananda, he arrived at Shantipur and he told dvaita to get ready. Lord Caitanya is headed this way. He’s already taken sannyas. Send someone quickly to Navadripe and get mother satchi and other devotees. So mother Satchi was brought Shiva’s taku and all the devotees from Avadip, they came down the lord Caitanya, he’s headed off to Vrindavan, but he’s headed in the wrong way. So as he’s going down the river, they see Lord Caitanya.

So then they head off in a rowboat across the ganges. Lord Caitanya is chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa is dancing, heading down the side of the river. Then he says, who is this? How did Advaita and Nitinamna end up in Vrindavan? Then he came to his external senses and said, oh, wait a minute, I was tricked. Please get on board before you go out. All the devotees, they have your mercy on them. Otherwise how they all die. So I remember that play when the messenger went to tell mother Satchi, the lord Caitanya has taken sannyas, he’s in Shan Tripur. You should go to see him. Like, mother Satchi was just still, like, in the place. She was like, there in the stage, the down in complete separation, like in a stunned state.

All of a sudden, a messenger came, said, lord Caitanya, he’s taken sannyas. He’s waiting for you in Chantipur. Then it was like in some kind of madness of her love, she said, ami Chabona, I will not go. Ami jabu, nah. Ami jabuna, I will not go. I will not go, man. Like. Then she, like, came to her senses. I am like, remember those lines? It was very poetic today. Then she went, everyone. So prophet liked that dramatru very much. He said that he invited them. Please come. We will take you all over the world to perform this. Caitanya Leela. We like people to know about Caitanya Leela. And since they had the voices on the side, you could even introduce some explanation. They said, only one condition during the trip, you have to be pure, total vegetarian.

Well, you all know whether they all visit, they couldn’t give up for even touring all over the world, which was their big desire. They couldn’t give up for that. They couldn’t promise to be vegetarians for that time. So they lost a chance. Well, the real pastime, Mother Satchi went to Shantipur, and there Lord Caitanya, of course, when she saw Lord Caitanya without his hair and robes, it was a big shock for her. She wanted to, you know, mothers want to say that children always materially very comfortable to think of a child going through some great austerity. Being a monk was a big shock for Mother Satchi. You know, so many times in the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, the parents write, all right, I will send you a donation, I will send you some money.

But as long as you don’t, you use it to the temple only for your body, you have to spend it on yourself. So many times they say like that. So it’s a long standing tradition. Mother Sachi, she was of course upset. So Lord Caitanya, he expressed really amazing sentiments for his mother, said that he went, touched her feet, paid obeisances, said, actually, you have given me this body. This body belongs to you. So I am so indebted. You gave me this body at the same time. Now I have taken these vows, dedicated myself to serving Kṛṣṇa. I cannot turn back or whatever you order, I will do. Since his body belongs to you. So then there was a big dilemma for mother Satchi, what to do.

So she knew that since he took the vows, if he broke his vows, it would be a destruction for his spiritual life. But she couldn’t. It was too late. She couldn’t say to do that. At the same time, she could hardly live without Lord Chaitanya. She didn’t know what to do. So then she requested Lord Caitanya. Instead of staying in Vrindavan, which is too far, please stay in Jagannath Purī, which is always devotees that are coming, going from Jagannath Purī will get some information. And this way, hearing some news from you, we can survive. So then Lord Chetanya, request that mother Satchi remain in Jagannath agreed to go to Jagannath Purī instead. Actually, Lord Caitanya doesn’t owe anything to anyone. Kṛṣṇa doesn’t owe anything. Kṛṣṇa is simultaneously the most renounced. At the same time, out of his cause, his mercy, he can do anything.

So pastimes display different qualities of the lord. If he wants to leave, he will leave. At the same time that shows his supreme renunciation that he’s totally detached. At the same time, if he wants to give mercy to his devotees, he can also do that. Actually, it’s not that he has any obligation. He does it out of his sweet will. If he doesn’t want to do something, well, he doesn’t do it. One time, Lord Chaitanya, Washington, leaving Jagannath Purī to go to Vrindavan and Gadadhar Prabhu, who was of course, one of the Pakshatatra, took a vow of not leaving Jagannath Purī, which is an area about 68 miles in circumference called Śrī Kshetra, the land of Lakshmi. It was called Sikshatra because that area was simply built up by Lakshmi conscious.

So the whole land is actually like filled with pulverized conscience, considered a sacred abode. People that reside there are seen by the demigods to have four hands. So Gadada Prabhupāda was, except Sannyāsī, he wouldn’t leave the dam. The lord Caitanya, when he was accompanied up to the border of the dam, and he was feeling such separation that he asked Lord Chet to just take me with you. But you see, you will break your vow. Say whatever. I cannot bear to be without your association. So then, like he stepped, you know, like 1ft over the border, Lord Caitanya said, no, don’t break your rope. Lord Caitanya backed up. He stayed this for some time. But then again Lord Caytanya said, now I am going. This time Lord Caitanya wouldn’t let him come. So Gadana felt such separation seeing Lord Caitanya leave.

I think there was a river that was about. He was on the boat that he just fainted on the side of the river, on the side of the bound Aloche didn’t even look back. He just went on. So if he wants to, he can be detached. He wants to, he can act as if he’s attached. That’s his independence. Although he doesn’t owe anything to anyone, but because of the love of a devotee, sometimes he allows himself to be controlled by that love. Otherwise no one can control Kṛṣṇa, no one can control the supreme lord. But only as we read in every morning in Damadar Astaka, he can only be controlled by pure love, which is free from awe, reverence, which is completely spontaneous. Even that control, that’s not normal attachment, that’s his own sweet will. But the holy loves him, so he reciprocates.

When Kṛṣṇa was leaving Hastināpur and going back to Dvaraka, Kunti Devī offered him many prayers. Those prayers, the prayers that Queen Kunti have been put in a nice book, the Prabhupāda’s purports. I remember Prabhupāda was giving a lecture on that and he mentioned how so many nice prayers. Kṛṣṇa stopped listening to all the prayers, accepted them, smiled and he went on, even though she begged him, please don’t go, even still went on. Then as he went a little bit, then there was judiciary and yudistira. He saw Kṛṣṇa and he just like embraced Kṛṣṇa, like holding Kṛṣṇa. Then he thought that Kṛṣṇa is leaving you just there. He just choked up, he couldn’t speak. Tears were coming from his eyes, he was shaking in his body, complete ecstasy. Love for Kṛṣṇa, feeling intense separation of thought that Kṛṣṇa is leaving.

Then he just requested please stay for a few more days. Because of such an intense love, the Kṛṣṇa is. He didn’t go for two days. Sola Kṛṣṇa is a jita. He’s unconquerable, but he is conquered only by the pure love of his devotees. This is recently saying that Kṛṣṇa gives his causeless mercy. He’s not required to give any mercy. It’s not that we’re doing or anyone can do something which is actually a fair exchange for the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. For instance, if you work so many hours a day, according to american law, you should get a minimum wage. You can claim I have minimum wage. If they pay you less than that, maybe you have some recourse to claim minimum wage for some. If you’re working in some material employment. So there’s a certain value to someone’s work.

But if one does devotional service, he’s doing some work. Maybe in the material exchange, that would have some value. But in exchange for that, Kṛṣṇa is not only eradicating unlimited sinful reactions, not only is giving unlimited shelter, liberation, all these like side benefits which are in themselves even immensely valuable, incalculably valuable, but he’s giving that pure love in exchange for this service. Maybe not even very efficient service, maybe not even very valuable service in some way, even if it’s very valuable. But whatever value it has, if you compare it to what Kṛṣṇa is giving, there’s no comparison. It’s like someone doing a job and someone pays you by giving you a million dollar diamond. It’s just a gift. You can’t say that I earned it. What’s a million dollar diamond compared to what Kṛṣṇa is giving? So therefore, Kṛṣṇa’s mercy is pause this mess.

Giving it out of his own kindness, out of his own mercy. The devotee, they go through the motions. They make the effort to demonstrate to Kṛṣṇa their sincerity. It’s not so much that the exact quantity of service that we perform, as much as the desire and the effort we’re putting into it. Someone may be doing x amount of service, but may not be actually trying as hard as they could. They may have a greater capacity, just like Hanuman was able to lift up mountaintops and throw them into the ocean. But Lord Ram considered the little squirrel throwing, or was it squirrel or spider throwing, the specks of ducks working up to his capacity. So the devotee never thinks that, oh, because my score is bigger than the other person’s score. Therefore, now I have got it made.

They always just think that whatever I am doing, I should try to increase it. I should try to please Kṛṣṇa more because the actual thing which pleases the Kṛṣṇa is our desire and our sincere effort to serve him. Even if a devotee is in rocky waters, rough waters or whatever, sometimes having difficulty with the mind. That doesn’t mean that person is disqualified from Lord Caitanya’s mercy. The test is whether that person remains determined and keeps on trying. How many times a little child falls down in the attempt to learn how to walk? I think if you kept track, you would have to fill up volumes of books. So many times in the first two years of their life, when they try to walk, they poom. They fall on their behind suddenly. Then they get back up and keep on trying. Then again, kaboom.

Of course, nature pats them a little bit. It doesn’t seem to hurt them so much. Although occasionally they cry. But they go on trying. After millions of births in the material universe, who knows what level each person is on? Maybe some people are relatively children in that spiritual life. So maybe more advanced. Ultimately, Kṛṣṇa is the judge. But he sees. He’s known as Bhava Graham. He sees the mood of the devotee. If the devotee sincerely tries, keeps on slugging, even there’s difficulties. Of course, Kṛṣṇa is more pleased when the devotee is able to cross over the difficulties. But sometimes we have to learn due to our own offenses or due to our own previous dead activity, whatever. We have to learn sometimes to surrender through practical tests. If we cross over the test, then there’s no problem. And after that, it’s a smoother sailing.

Maybe some have already crossed over the test. Or by some special mercy there, elevated over that stage. But Kṛṣṇa is seeing our sincerity. How will you react if Māyā knocks us down? We become bitter to Kṛṣṇa. Do we become bitter at the guru? Do we become so pitiful? Or do we actually become shameful? Filled with shame and remorse and repentance for devotional service. If we make a mistake, the only prize, Chitiya, the only purification or atonement is to feel sincere repentance. And then to engage completely and sincerely in devotional service. It’s practical how hard we actually struggle when Māyā attacks, how carefully we take the precautions. Sometimes there are certain guidelines, certain things we can do to help. We take those remedial mixers and we go on.

The point is that we try to refine our mood of devotion, try to increase our enthusiasm and determination, being patient. Even though maybe we don’t always get the immediate results we hope for. Ultimately, it’s up to Kṛṣṇa. It says, cause this mercy. We pray for a little special mercy. Because Nitinande, he just gives us a drop of his mercy. We can just cross over all the hurdles. It’s not that he owes it to us. He gives it. It’s his kindness. It’s his mercy. Just like people that are on death row. They committed horrible it.

(Side B of the Cassette)

That’s their sweet will. They’re not obliged to. If they don’t, the person gets elected. It’s not that he, that is the president’s or the governor’s fault. It’s because that person committed horrible acts. As a result, he’s forced to suffer the consequences. If we suffer anything in this life, it’s nothing. Not because of anything. Kṛṣṇa did something. We did something we deserve. Maybe we deserve much more than what we’re getting. Of course, the devotee hopes and prays for that pardon, that special mercy, that little extra benediction that siddhi. To get that, we need to actively demonstrate that we have a sincere desire to actually transcend this material entanglement, to sincerely serve in Kṛṣṇa, we can enjoy the material world and be free from the material reactions.

We have to engage in the process of devotional service as it was handed down by the previous acharyas, and actually desire to ascend to Kṛṣṇa, desire to be detached from the material entanglement. Just as namadharastika, he prays that just I am entangled. That word was griha nisha mam. Again, they translated that worldly sorrows. But I don’t think I have to translate what Rihanna. Worldly sorrows in this world, very complicated desires are there, attachments are there. Those may interfere with our natural flow of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. So he’s praying that just as you delivered, you gave your immediate mercy to those sons of Kuvera. Kindly give that mercy to me, that I can be spontaneously attached to you. So this Dahmedar month is a special month because Lord Damodar is very merciful. If he wants, he can give that mercy.

It’s a good month to get spontaneous devotion. Spontaneous devotion is priceless. But some months it’s more easily available, especially this month. Some days, like Ikadoshi or gymasky, it’s more easily available. If we can feel even a little separation, even a moment of feeling that, oh, how wonderful it would be to actually have pure love for Kṛṣṇa. You see that moment of real spiritual sentiment, a real. That’s a type of like realization. Sometimes due to Māyā, we lose that. It’s like a avast. It’s like a glimmer, like a glimpse. So we can remember that. And those moments actually are what bring us, pull us back to Kṛṣṇa. They’re more valuable. It’s more valuable than any material thing. I mean, you can’t even pile up billions of material experiences. But it doesn’t even equal just 1 second of actual spiritual realization like that.

That’s a form of spiritual realization. It’s not just that people go through their whole life, they don’t even think about God, they don’t think about spiritual life. And even great yogis, they do meditation, and they never feel once that feeling to a spontaneous attraction for the Lord. They’re just doing because they want to be free from material, to actually feel, even for a second, a little spontaneous separation from the Lord, a little spontaneous appreciation. How beautiful he is, how wonderful he is, how merciful he is. If only I could be devoted. That little desire. That is a rare jewel. If someone can maintain that desire consistently to be fixed in devotional service, to satisfy the Lord, then that person is considered to be liberated, simply a matter of time. And they will be in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes completely, no doubt.

So even if for a second, we can experience, that will assure that sometime in the future, as long as we avoid committing any mad elephant offenses or something, we will be able to quickly get back to Kṛṣṇa. Somehow or another, we just have to do whatever it takes to struggle against Māyā and remain fixed. In our devotional survey, we plug on with the regulative principles, a regulated practice. Whenever we get a little bit of special boost, a little bit of special inspiration, that’s something which can just lift us up to another platform. Of course, eventually one becomes fixed on that spontaneous devotion. Then, of course, there’s no suffering at all in the material world.

One doesn’t feel any kind of anxiety or depression like people might feel in the material world, although having the body may be disturbed by the encumbrance of it, but it doesn’t cause that depression. So although the Lord is completely independent, but in certain forms, like in the form of Lord Caitanya, nyetinanda de form of very merciful forms. While singing the Dhamma diastolica, while chanting Lord Chitanya’s name, if they want, they may just, all right. Give out the mercy. The devotees are eager for that mercy. So the great sages, they can understand Brahma. He’s explaining to ma’ad that even when the Lord, in his expansion, he takes the form of Vishnu or Brahma for maintenance, annihilation, destruction, creation. It’s not that he is obliged as Vishnu to take their form. He’s somehow entangled. He’s always transcendental.

He wants to create the material world, all right, he goes to the motions. It’s not that Kṛṣṇa is really afraid of his mother, but he’s playing a pastime just to see the reaction of his mother, to generate it’s like a dramatic performance, but he gets absorbed himself into it, his mother. Every while, the devotees, they get absorbed. And then this causes different ecstasies to be experienced. And after he gets tied to the mortar, mother is gone. All right, let’s go on to the next business. Noah has cursed those two Kuvera’s sons. They’re standing there in the form of the trees. Let’s go and liberate them. Fulfill the desire of my devotee. Although he’s just a little toddler crawling on the ground, he just goes in between the two trees and then grudges that big mortar and pulls over the trees.

Out come the two demigods, freed from their bondage by the curse of Nad, and they offer their obeisances to Kṛṣṇa. They thank him for freeing them. Kṛṣṇa smiles. You’re free. I am still tied. He’s tied by the rope of his mother. Well, they’re freed. So they pray that they never lose that devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, seeing his transcendental qualities. Now they want to simply be devotees. So although they were Devachis, they were. They’re really fallen. They were Kurds. Somehow, by Nārada’s mercy, they could be there in Ka’s backyard and see all of his pastimes. So they wanted now to be the bodhisattva of Kṛṣṇa. This is the nature. If we have association with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if we just practice this wonderful system handed down through the Lord Caitanya, brought here to the west by Śrīla Prabhupda, we develop a desire to serve Kṛṣṇa.

That’s the actual that desire to serve Kṛṣṇa is the most important thing, lalasa, an intense desire to serve the lord. In fact, Raghunath Das, he had a special prayer to the spiritual master, which was, I heard it was a very. The most favorite obeisance is chanting of obeisances by Bhakti Siddhartha Śrītak. I don’t know. That’s what I heard. He used to always say, it’s before my time. Namaste sachiputra matra sadupam sajan urupurin ghosting rādhākum dangiri varam yasya praptam, pratita kipaya. Śrī guru understand that Nama Shashtam that is offering, these are like the things that he’s. These are actually all things he got by the mercy of Guru. The last is a yasya praptam. And I got all these things. Prabtam means to receive. Just like prabhti siddi. I got this simply by the mercy of Śrī Guru cause this mercy.

So then he, in other words, he elaborated, these are the things I got for which I completely indebted and I can never repay this debt. First I got the holy name Naamashta, the best transcendental holy name Nama. And then also I got the mantra Gayatri mantra. By chanting the holy name, by chanting the Gayatri, we can advance in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness very nicely, always in association with the Lord. So Raghunathas, he was first of all grateful for getting the hari naam, getting the gayatri from his guru nama shaistang mu nuwapi. Then of course, by the mercy of his spiritual master, he was so fortunate, he got Sachi Putram, he got the son of mother Sachi, Lord Caitanya. Raghuna Adas was so fortunate, he could directly get by the mercy of Guru, he could get the association of Lord Caitanya. He was assistant of Damodar.

At first he tried directly to go to Lord Caitanya. He was rejected. But when he went through the guru, by the guru’s mercy, he could get Lord Caitanya. Not only did he get Lord Caitanya, Sachi Putram, Atra, Sodupa, but he got the association of the great devotee of Lord Caitanya, Sarupa, who is non different from Lalitha, Sadup, Damadar Goswami, atra saru pam. Not only did he get the association of Sarub Damodar, he also got the association of Rūpa Goswami, so Rupam and Saratin Goswami, his older brother Tasyagarajamde, and here’s older brothers, that means Salatan. So everything he got in his spiritual life, he sees how this is all the mercy of the spiritual master. Holy name, Gayatri Mantra, Lord Caitanya Sluvdamada, Rupert Sanatans association.

And then there was, when he went to Vrindavan, there were other six goswamis, other great devotees, the residents of Vrindavan, the dam vasis. He got the association with those great devotees. He didn’t think it was accident. He thought, this is all the mercy of the guru. I could get all this guru puree, ghosting that association. We need association. Very difficult to practice devotional service without a positive association. We need a good association of like minded devotees or Kṛṣṇa conscious devotees. Maybe sometimes they tell us when we’re on the wrong path, but that’s what is their mercy. Then, of course, raghunathas, he was very fortunate. He was given especially the place to stay is Rādhā, Kundalin, Giri, Varam and Govardhan. He used to chant his joppa and do his. Sir, he used to circumambulate Govardhan. Paying thousand was 2000 obeisances every day.

So many joppas and a thousand. He had a whole routine. How many times he would pay obeisances. How many times he would chant Jaffa. He would be there around Govardhan and Rahakunda. Hardly sleeping day and night chanting and serving. So to get the shelter of Govardhan shelter which is we’re having Govardhan pūjā tomorrow. To be able to be at that sacred place of Rahakunda. He took this also. All special mercies. Then of all the mercies the last mercy that he mentions after Rādhā, Kundan, Giri, Varun, oho. And finally of course the most important of all. They say aruna, Koriho, Monirasa don’t have any other desire than the desire to hear the message of your spiritual master. Because by that service to the attachment to the guru then all the desires are fulfilled. What desires? The first says don’t have any desire.

Then it says all your desires will be fulfilled. Because Asa, I mean having no separate desire, no material desire from Kṛṣṇa. But whatever spiritual desires to be Kṛṣṇa conscious to be fixed in devotional service those desires will all be fulfilled. The greatest desire if one is fixed in that firm desire simply to serve Rana Kṛṣṇa. The mind isn’t disturbed by other desires. Other thoughts come in the mind. They don’t have any place. They go right out. Because the mind is fixed, the intelligence is fixed. The soul is fixed. In the desire to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. That is a real peace. That is the real bliss. That is the real gift. What higher gift is there than that to be completely fixed in simply having the desire to serve in loving devotion. Rādhā, Mara. A whole article. Raghunath dies. He had that desire.

He didn’t have any other desire. But then he feel. He didn’t feel any false pride at all. All these things. I got all these things because of something that I have done. No. Yes. Your problem particularly nothing is due to me. It’s all due to the mercy of Guru Vaishnava. Guru’s mercy. Therefore all these things can happen like that. The devotee takes it that to the disciplic succession the mercy is coming down and the mercy, causeless mercy. And the devotee is always aspiring for that mercy to be fixed in the desire to engage in pure devotional service. If we don’t have any other desire, that’s perfection. If other desires are all subordinate, therefore they can all be dovetailed to serve. The real desire of serving Kṛṣṇa, then other desires is no, they’re like snakes, Prabhupāda said, without the poison paints.

If we don’t have that constant, intense desire simply to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, then we should hanker to heaven. We should endeavor for help by as much as we can, desiring to surface, maybe sometime in a neophyte platform, that desire is distracted for a moment, for a period, as much as we can. We should bring our mind away from any distraction, back to Kṛṣṇa, until it becomes completely fixed in that pure desire to serve. Rana Mahara, rakantha, nitāi Gord, Prabhupāda, guru paramparā, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Any question?

Did Lord Catania suffer?

Lord? Lord who?

How do you pronounce it? Catania. Oh, I am sorry. Catania. Did he suffer in his life? Is there any similarity between him and Jesus?

He didn’t go through any. His suffering in the sense that he took sanyam, he took the renounced order. He lived as a very simple mendicant, only having one or two cloths, walking barefoot or whatever, everywhere, living very austerely as a sacrifice for the sake of uplifting everyone. In that sense, a great sacrifice for the sake of uplifting everyone. But Harida, as far as undergoing some torture, being the supreme lord, he didn’t let anyone. He voluntarily accepted this renunciation that no one could. They tried torture him, but he defeated them. But Harira is Thakur, one of his great devotees. He was tortured. He was tortured, but he was. Although he was tortured, he never doubted once in Kṛṣṇa, and in the end, he was also vicarious and he converted his torturers, who become believers. Any other questions? Yes.

In the secular world, when they talk about hinduism or even the Hare Kṛṣṇa, he mentioned that it’s Vishnu constantly. Vishnu. Why is he more, let’s say, popular in the secular sense of historical, think that he is the creator and what we say is Christian. Where did that get started?

Well, Vishnu is the formal expansion of Ku. He’s the official form of the personality of Godhead. He’s the one that normally comes in the material world and corrects things when it gets wrong. Prophet explained this, like in a high court judge. In a high court, everyone calls him my lord. Your honor are Very formal. It’s like the Vishnu form. You go to the House when he’s with his wife and kids, and they’re informal. That’s like the Kṛṣṇa form. So the Vishnu form is very constant. It’s very formal. So for those who know more about the philosopher, who just, you know, from a material point of view, there’s no contradictions in anything Vishnu does. No apparent contradictions. He always maintains a complete strict formality, majesty, power. So that’s very easy for them to understand. This is Goddesse Kṛṣṇa. Pastimes are very informal.

He’s playing with his mother. His mother ties him up by the rope, with the rope, and he’s crying. And so for a great save, they can’t figure out, is this a God or this is a boy, or who is this? If he’s God, then how he can be tied up by his mother? So. And. Or when Kṛṣṇa is dancing in the ras Līlā with the gopī girls and they think, is this an ordinary, like, boy and girl thing? Or what do they. They don’t really. Kṛṣṇa is very mysterious. They can’t. Kṛṣṇa for them. Vishnu, everyone tell me, sorry. This is God. He’s always sitting on the throne as everyone’s praying prayers to him. He’s the one who creates the material world. He makes the material world at the end, on his order, gets annihilated. All right, this is God they can accept.

But then how Kṛṣṇa, they don’t know. They get confused because his pastimes are so personal that they really don’t know how to explain it. And due to lack of being able to explain it, they just. Well, he said. He said, like, comes from Vishnu or something. And they give all kind of strange interpretations because they don’t know the actual interpretation that Kṛṣṇa is the highest spiritual planet there. He’s enjoying all these playing pastimes and different types of enjoying personal, different relationships for the overt external. So he presents his Vishnu form to know what. I mean? Every time you see Regan, right, it’s always the same smile, the same way. What really goes on behind the general public doesn’t know, but there’s something going on behind. Maybe have arguments with Nancy or what is. Who knows what goes on behind the scenes? So those are.

That’s the private life. What is Kṛṣṇa’s. What is God’s private life? What does he really have? What does he do on his own? You know, free time resolves free time. That’s a Kṛṣṇa festival. So this has been understood that Kṛṣṇa has got more qualities. There’s actually opulence. That Kṛṣṇa, the supreme Lord, that Vishnu, in his original form, he manifests these different pastimes without compromising his supreme position. That’s another form of opulence. If God is only formal, and he cannot be personal. Informal, he cannot have. Then it’s like he’s lacking something. Then human beings, they have a little more because they have these little intrigues and they have different types of relationships. Where do these all come from? Everything originally comes from the spiritual world, from God. It’s not that we have something that he doesn’t have.

Rather, actually he, everything we have here, he has it much better. He can do it far better than we can. And he doesn’t have any of the inebriates. None of the dirty things in him remain dirty. We may steal, but for us it’s a crime. But if Kṛṣṇa goes and steals butter from his mother and gives it to all the monkeys, actually his mother, they’re not butter. It’s not that they’re going to starve or something, but it just sets the scene for a number of very interesting pastimes. The mother doesn’t want the son to be stealing, so she’s reprimanding him. Don’t do this. Give all the butter to the monkeys. There will be nothing left for you. She’s only concerned about him. The monkeys are actually great sages and devotees who are coming up just to get a little butter from the hand of God.

It’s a whole behind what the actual significance is totally different. But all these different pastimes allow intense kind of emotional exchanges. And actually, Mother Yaśodā, she tried to catch Kṛṣṇa so many times that she couldn’t do it. Actually, her hair started coming loose and her clothes were getting sweaty. And she couldn’t catch Kṛṣṇa. And finally she catches him once he ties, to tie it. But no matter how big a rope she’d bring, she’d wrap it around. His way was too short because you can’t tie God. But then she got really. She looked for another rope. Get a bigger rope. Put that around. Still be always two fingers too short. And finally she started getting real anxiety. I want to just tie Kṛṣṇa down so it won’t get in trouble. What’s going on?

And finally, out of her intense desire, the Kṛṣṇa let her tie him. No one ever tied Kṛṣṇa before or after. So the great sages, they start meditating. Why is it that the rope was two fingers short? What does that mean? Every time she was two fingers short. So then it was revealed two fingers short because Kṛṣṇa only allowed himself to be tied because of two causes. The pure love of his mother, her pure desire, the desire of the devotee and his own sweet will, his own causes mercy. Without those two factors, nothing can Thai Kṛṣṇa like that, all the pastimes, they have so many different inter meanings and discussions. So these pastimes go on, and someone can participate in them, take a role.

But they’re very difficult for someone who’s just trying to understand everything by logic and reason, to really figure out, they get confused. So that’s why Vishnu is all right. First of all, the first stage, they think of, there’s so many gods. When one gets above that and realizes there’s one supreme God, who’s the supreme God, Ayo, that’s Vishnu. But then to go to the Vishnu has different forms. So one of the known forms of Vishnu is Kṛṣṇa. Which of the Vishnu forms is the original form? That’s ANOTHER Thing. There are different sampradayas. Only the vaishnavas. Vaishnavas are those who accept that Vishnu is supreme. So we accept all the vaishnavas. We only eat the food that cooked by vaishnavas. The others who believe in many gods, we don’t eat their food. We don’t associate with them very closely.

We don’t consider them to be spiritually situated at all. Amongst the followers of Vishnu, that there’s one supreme goddess, there’s some that think that Kṛṣṇa comes from Vishnu, and there’s some that accept that Kṛṣṇa is the original and that Vishnu comes from Kṛṣṇa. Then there’s some that accept Kṛṣṇa as original. But then they have other complicated understandings, which I won’t get into that right now. So the Lord Chaitanya was in South India, the Ramanuja Sampradāya. They basically accept that Vishnu is the supreme. So they would always tell Lord Caitanya, why don’t you worship Vishnu? Why do you worship Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is the only expansion of Ishmael. That was their interpretation. Then Lord Chetanya would ask them, well, with Vishnu or Nārāyaṇa. Vishnu is. Sometimes Vishnu is also called Narayan. Narayan is the form of Vishnu in the spiritual world.

And Vishnu is the form of Narayan that comes in the material world to create the material world, maintain it, and ultimately to order its destruction. So actually, it’s a functional form. See all the clerks with big stacks of files on their desk? Everyone’s working. You go into the. The chief executive officer, his desk completely empty. So he’s sitting there. They just bring in a form of signs that goes out. Sidhakṛṣṇa, he doesn’t have the big stacks of filings. He delegates that to other expansions or devotees to do and keeps himself free just for being with his devotees. Lord Caitanya, he was in south India then that big Brahmins there, they would say, why don’t you worship Vishnu? So he said, well, Lord Chaitanya said, all right, I just have two questions to ask you. The Vishnu’s consort is Lakshmi.

It’s like we worship Kṛṣṇa’s consort. His energy is Raha. So Vishnu’s energy is called Lakshmi, which is why the Lakshmi, although she was always with Vishnu, why she did Tepashi, she did like a type of penance and austerity with making prayers, to be allowed to enter into Vrindavan and be part of Ka’s pastimes, where he would have pastimes dancing with the Gopīs. So those priests, they didn’t know how to answer them. If Vishnu is the supreme, then why would Vishnu’s consort be wanting to go anywhere else? She’d be happy where she is. Rather, the others would be wanting to go there. But that wasn’t the case. She wanted to go. Then Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya’s second question, why was she refused? So they know the answer to that one either. So listen. But it’s very esoteric.

But when you get up to that point that you understand there’s one God, and then just trying to figure out who’s Kṛṣṇa, or is it Vishnu or Nārāyaṇa? Those are like the deeds. That’s like a fine point. At least you got to the point there’s one God and then the other things where we can be, we can discuss that.

Can I ask another question?

Well, first, you can get. Second, we got already. Two will come around. Yeah.

Arjuna being Kṛṣṇa’s eternal associate, and that he was probably present when Kṛṣṇa was instructing the son God. The matter of self realization. I was curious, when the Lord descends, his associates, does he take them with him or do they follow him because of.

Well, when he descends, he’s also simultaneously in the spiritual world and he can make unlimited form. There are some devotees that specifically accompany the Lord in the material world when he’s here. There’s some that come down sometimes. Arjuna is one of the associates that regularly is with Kṛṣṇa whenever he’s in the material world. Any other question?

Can I ask my question? In ancient Egypt, the word Rāma is mentioned. Is there any connection between that Rāma and the Rāma that is in the mantra?

Could be they consider Rāma to be God. As you mentioned before, the verse in the dhamma says that the Lord can be conquered only by the devotee, who is devoid of all conceptions, of all reverence. However, when Chant probably said, I bow down to this low speed in Jadon. Reverend, why is it that the relationship between the devotee and the spiritual man cannot be intimate? It becomes intimate when you go back to the spiritual world. We’re in the material world. Until we achieve pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we need to approach in awe, reverence to avoid committing offenses, to take instruction. Familiarity breeds contempt. Different advices are there. We can’t artificially imitate just being free of awe and reverence. It’s not that those devotees who achieve that devotion to Kṛṣṇa, it’s not that they just come up, hey, Kṛṣṇa, how you doing?

You know, just, like, start getting familiar. That’s something that happens naturally. They first approach an awe and reverence. They approach in devotional service through regular principles. And when their love becomes so intense that through the yoga māyā, they forget thinking about Kṛṣṇa as God. They think of Kṛṣṇa more in that relation to whatever relation they have. That’s not something that you just artificially come up and just start being familiar. Just like somebody comes off the street and he starts saying, hey, Reed, how you doing? You know, just like, it doesn’t mean that. Who’s this guy? I don’t know him. You know, the security agency beg him off. But if somebody comes and he’s a friend, is introduced to the family, becomes a friend of the family. Eventually, after some time, you can be very familiar. It can be. It’s like that’s something developed.

Like just walk up to somebody, you know, start being familiar. That’s artificial. You don’t just go up to Christian and start imitating as if your mother. Your soda or something. Something like that. That’s what the sahaja do. The sahajas, without purifying their desires and purifying themselves. They want to directly approach Kṛṣṇa as if there’s some liberated devotee. When they’re still in Māyā. They cheapen the whole thing by imitating some liberated devotee and just imagining, now I am already liberated. I am some great associate. They commit unlimited offenses, and they add so many materials to their understanding of Kṛṣṇa. So even Raghunath Das, who was completely on the spontaneous platform, he said we should always approach the Lord looking at his lotus feet. Approach to the mood of devotion, of service, as a servant.

Servant means there’s some on reverence as we develop in our desire and our devotion. And that desire burns away all the material desires. Then Kṛṣṇa himself will come. And I just, like, grab our chin and lift our face up according to our relationship with him. So in the initial stage, yes, we don’t want to consider the guru to be an ordinary person. We don’t want to approach in some familiar way because we want to accept whatever orders the guru gives as very serious. It’s not different from Kṛṣṇa’s orders and carry those out of. So we can develop this attitude of being submissive to kas as we become purified. And that submission will further develop into an intense taste and attachment for Kṛṣṇa, and finally an ecstasy. Then after, from that ecstatic platform, it will further grow into our eternal relationship.

These things happen in their own accord. But from the beginning we just spoke, we approached in a very humble, very submissive way, as Lord Caitanya recommended. Tranada psami chaina. More humble than a blade of straw in the street, more tolerant than a tree. We approach from that. Then, as our devotion increases, then also the mood or outlook that will also go through certain changes. That’s not artificial, that happens in a natural way. But one starts to develop a very strong sense of belonging to Kṛṣṇa at that time. No matter what happens, they can’t forget Kṛṣṇa. It’s a totally different level. So go ahead, parama Garnam.