19820210 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.8.41-46

(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 Murāri Sevaka Farm, USA. The lecture begins with a reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.8.41-46.

Ra Har O Translation by his divine grace to the AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the supreme personality of Godhead Vishnu, who can counteract any unfavorable situation, then assume the form of an extremely beautiful woman. This incarnation as a woman, Mohinī Mūrti, was most pleasing to the mind. Her complexion resembled in color a newly grown blackish lotus, and every part of her body was beautifully situated. Her ears were equally decorated with earrings, her cheeks were very beautiful, her nose was raised and her face was full of youthful luster. Her large breast made her waist seem very thin. Attracted by the aroma of her face and body, bumblebees hummed around her and thus her eyes were restless. Her hair, which was extremely beautiful, was garlanded with Malika flowers. Her attractively constructed neck was decorated with a necklace and other ornaments. Her arms were decorated with bangles.

Her body was covered with a clean sari and her breasts seemed like islands in an ocean of beauty. Her legs were decorated with ankle bells because of the movements of her eyebrows as she smiled with shyness and glanced over the demons. All the demons were saturated with lusty desires and every one of them desired to possess her. Report because of the Supreme Lord’s assuming the form of a beautiful woman to arouse the lusty desires of the demons, a description of her complete beauty is given here. Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the eighth Canto, eighth chapter of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam entitled the Churning of the Melt Ocean. So one thing to note is that Vishnu appeared in the form as a woman as the Mahini Mūrti. But especially this was arousing lusty desires in the demons that the demons and devotees.

There is a difference. The difference between a demon and a devotee is that the demon is always self centered, always trying to satisfy his own material interest, while the devotee always places the interest of the Lord in the topmost position. Of course, sometimes even a devotee may be overcome by the material energy in a neophyte stage of all in this material world. But the demons, they are always overcome by the material energy. They are always being attacked by lusty desires and feeling that those lusty desires are the actual goal of their life. These are the highest aim is to fulfill their lusty desires. So this is the difference between a demon who is always interested in his own sense gratification and the devotee who is either having some material desires, having desire for liberation or having no desires in being a completely pure devotee.

But in all cases being faithful and surrendering un the supreme personality of Godhead. Therefore, proportionate to one’s pure devotion, one is possessed of all good qualities. But the demons, because they are not devotees of the Lord, even whatever good quality they may appear to have is simply superficial. Ultimately, their main goal in life is simply their own sense gratification. And everything else is a means to that end. The Rla Prabhupāda also told us to be very careful because some of us may also have so many demania qualities within us. The devotees may have demonic qualities and some of the devotees also, those who are within the society devotees, some demons have also entered in. He warned us that when he left the planet in Vrindavan, he told us that there are some demons amongst my disciples and so you must be careful.

So ultimately demonic influence is that one will stop following the instruction of the spiritual master and start to act for one’s own sense gratification. So we must always be very careful to very clearly differentiate what is pleasing to the spiritual master and what is displeasing and always avoid the displeasing aspects of life and simply act in a way which is pleasing to the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa. Favorable and pure devotional service. So we are reading the vaishist ashtak by Rla Prabhupāda and we are going to read the 8th of the ashtakam glorifying his divine grace to the Śrī Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswati Prabhupāda, which are actually in one way they are really an instruction by Rla Prabhupda to the Vaishnavas who are faithful to Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasi Thakur Sampradāya.

How they should act to fulfill and follow in the footsteps of the great qualities of Bhakti Siddhānta, which will also glorifies those great qualities. So this is written in Bengali, so I will translate it as we go on. The only way that people can be saved from their miseries is by establishing a civilization which is based upon the principles of Vishnu. Bhakti Kṛṣṇa had established Yudhishthira on the Sinhasan or royal throne of the King is the emperor of the world. There all type of wealth, food grains were abundant in their supply to everyone, all by the good graces of the Vaishnavas. The rivers and streams, the forest and the plains as well as the mountains were all filled with opulence and natural resources, showering their natural gifts upon humanity.

The cows, the milking cows were giving unlimited quantities of milk, flooding the populace with this liquid religiosity. Animals and birds, all type of living entities had lost, did not commit violence upon each other and a civilization based on pure devotion to Vishnu. Everything became completely orderly and disciplined in the most perfect organization or family. Everyone were completely absorbed in transcendental happiness, singing the glories of Lord Hari and all of the devotees were dancing in ecstasy, feeling transcendental bliss in their hearts. Pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa without even the slightest tinge of materialistic enjoying spirit filled the hearts of everyone, filled the hearts of the whole world. Therefore they were always in trance and peace. This is all possible. This dream or this aspiration of universal peace, happiness and religiosity is all possible simply by preaching the message of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Now today there are hundreds of millions of fallen souls. So preach the messenger of Caitanya Mah Prabhu and all of these fallen souls will be delivered, will be uplifted from their bondage. O Śrīla Prabhupāda, today I humbly pray at your lotus feet to give your mercy upon me at this time. Please have your mercy on this most insignificant person that I may be free from all illusion, that all type of independent activity may be simply discarded, that all of the independent mood in my heart may be simply immersed in the flow of pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That this insignificant poor Abhaya may today offer this offering unto your lotus feet at the time of your Vyas Pūjā. That’s the end of the Vaishist Ashtaka. So we can understand. It’s very clear.

The aspiration of his divine grace, Rla Si Bhakta Vedānta Swami was that the whole universe would be saturated in the mood of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This was written to Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatakur on the occasion of his 86th appearance day festival, which was sometime in the late 50s, early 60s. In the 50s or early 60s as far as I can understand. So I just often can’t remember back to Siddhānta’s birthday, original year. So Śrīla Prabhupāda aspiration was always to fulfill the desire of Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasi Thakur to spread Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, to spread pure devotional service, Kṛṣṇa Bhakti all over the world. He had unlimited faith that simply by actively preaching, by distributing books, by establishing the process of devotional service and chanting the holy names of the Lord, that all the Māyā, all the illusions would be destroyed.

He was absorbed in the mood that this was the most pleasing thing to his spiritual master, Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswat. Actually, Bhakti Siddhānta Sarsitakur was a Nithya Siddha, liberated soul come down from the spiritual sky. But he engaged constantly in preaching the glories of Lord Caitanya Mahprabhu. In fact, he instructed Rla Prabhupda that better to take out the marble in a temple which is not used for preaching and simply print books, sell the marble and print books so many ways. He instructed Rla Prabhupda to simply distribute, print and distribute transcendent literature on the teachings of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhupāda. Actually, we should be very afraid of being independent from this example and desire of our predecessor Acharyas.

Any type of independent action which goes away from direct satisfying the desires of our spiritual master and the spiritual masters in the simplicity is a fatal, dangerous move. So the Prabhupāda has instructed us that while traversing the path of devotional service, it is just like Wa. Like the razor’s edge. While one is shaving, if one is slightly inattentive, distracted, immediately he will cut himself. In the same way, if we are inattentive, distracted, we forget what is the actual point about devotional service? What is the actual goal? Then we become misled, we become fallen. At the present moment, the whole world, there are hundreds and millions of millions, 4 billion people in the world. They’re all fallen. With the exception of hardly a few. They’re all fallen souls engrossed simply in gratifying their senses, completely forgetful of their relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

Therefore they’re suffering at every moment. Therefore there’s violence, there’s disruption, there’s indiscipline, there’s immorality, degradation. And every aspect of life, every aspect, every place of the world, there’s so many discrepancies. So the vision of pure devotee, the vision of Bhakti Siddhānta Sahara Śrī Thakur with Rla Prabhupāda is fully realized and applied in his own life is that the only thing which is missing is pure Vishnu. Bhakti. This world is also the kingdom of God. Why people are crying, why they’re suffering, People say, since everything is controlled by God, why we are suffering? Because the people have discarded Kṛṣṇa. They have renounced the supreme personality of Godhead, turned their face away from Kṛṣṇa. And they’re desiring instead simply their own sense gratification. They’re overcome by the demonic influence.

Therefore, even though this is also the materialistic kingdom of God, this is also one of the domains under the control of the Supreme Lord. Yet everyone is suffering because they have forgotten what is devotion to Kṛṣṇa. They have forgotten how to serve Kṛṣṇa. They have forgotten how to rejoice in the transcendental glorification of Kṛṣṇa. So the benefits of reestablishing Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the world. Prabhupāda so nicely explained that the whole world will become just as when Judah still was put in charge by Kṛṣṇa himself. Opulence, abundance in food grains, in wealth of the population, all the natural gifts of rivers, forests, plains, hills, mountains. They all shower forth their benedictions on all the human beings. Cows are happy being protected from the slaughterhouse. They provide plenty of milk, enough milk for everyone to take to their heart’s content, which provides very good intelligence.

Milk is very essential foodstuff, the most essential food stuff for the human being because it gives one the intelligence to understand spiritual matters, to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Even the animals, they lose their envious nature under such a Vaishnav, in such a Vaishnava world. So this type of Vaiava civilization makes everyone happy. People all chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, dancing in ecstasy. No more anxiety in their heart. But what does it depend upon? Doesn’t happen by itself. Kali Yuga means by itself. Everything is worse. Quarrel, division. It happens because in this Kali Yuga special facility has been given by Kṛṣṇa because he has promised Caitanya Mahāprabhu that if the devotees get off of their behinds and preach, then immediately by that preaching, literally hundreds and thousands and millions of living entities become delivered simply by taking that initiative to distribute the message of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

The effect, the snowball effect or the effect is so great that no one can limit it, no one can imagine how it is working. But it is all working by the divine mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahprabhu, by the blessings of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Bhakti, Siddhānta, Sashid Thakur, who are all praying.

(Side B of the Cassette)

While praying for deliverance of the whole world, we can see that Śrīla Prabhupāda, by his desire to deliver the whole world, he wants all the people to be happy. He wants everyone to be absorbed in pure transcendental bliss. He has that sentiment, had that sentiment and always will have that sentiment. Therefore, we are today able to sit together here from different countries, from different places and glorify Rādhā Kṛṣṇa Mahprabhu Jagannātha Bhattabalaram. The unique and particular mood that Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda has through these poems and through his other writings and his activities and is not able to appreciate that he has grasped completely the mood of Bhakti Siddhānta Sarthi Thakur, the mood of C. Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Sankirtan movement. That person is simply either a fool or he’s envious.

And anyone who’s following in the footsteps of Sila Prabhupāda to carry out his instructions, to continue in printing and distributing transient literature, to spread the Sankirtan movement of Chaitanya Mahprabhu, to expand the glories of the holy Dhammas, to expand the worship of Kṛṣṇa all over the world that people cannot appreciate, you see their activities. And that is to their very great misfortune, they must be counted amongst the most unfortunate people in the world. Rla Prabhupāda had mentioned that the common people, they are appreciating this movement. But some of the so called Vaishnavas, they do not appreciate the preaching activities due to jealousy or due to enviousness. So the common people are more advanced than such so called devotees. So the family of Śrīla Prabhupāda is the family of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is so large that it can encompass the whole world.

Rla Prabhupāda wants nothing short of that. He wants that every person may be delivered from their miserable condition by preaching unlimitedly, propagating the message of Caitanya Mahāprabhu in his pure form as it is because the international society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is carrying out that instruction of his divine grace. Rla Prabhupāda. Therefore we can understand that so long as it continues to carry out this instruction, so long as that remains its objective and activity, it is completely under the shelter of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and is not different from Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One time one Goswami inquired from Śrīla Prabhupāda. He was some type of Sannyāsī who had previously been a big businessman or something and renounced.

He asked to the Prabhupāda that since you are making such a big organization for spreading the mission of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness all over the world, then isn’t there a chance that just as in the material world one becomes attached to so many material attachment, so many false designations, in this way you’re going to become attached to this movement and that will be like another type of family attachment, another type of Sansar material, illusory attachment. The Śrīla Prabhupāda said that when there’s a mission which is based simply upon spreading the message of Govinda, spreading the message of Kṛṣṇa, so that mission is not different from Govinda. So if one is attached to that mission, that means that’s attachment to Govinda. So that’s a liberated state. Govinda’s message and Govinda is no different. Distribution of Gobinda’s message and Govinda’s message is no different.

Because in the absolute everything is consummated. It is all absolute. Bhagavad Gītā describes that the home or the sacrificial fire is Brahma, is absolute. Vishnu, the Jagyapati, the object of the Lord, of the sacrifice, he’s the absolute. The Puruhit or the Brāhmaṇa, the Pujari who is worshipping the Yaji, he’s absolute. The offering is absolute, the act offering is absolute. And the total sacrificial performance is all on the absolute platform. So in this Kali Yuga, what is the Yuga Dharma? What is the Yuga Jagya or sacrifice, Kalikala, Dharmo, Nama, Shankirtan or Kṛṣṇa, the actual sacrifice in Kali Yuga is many people together, chanting, distributing the glories of the Lord. So the person who’s playing the Midranga, playing the cartels, who’s dancing, who’s singing, who’s following, who’s listening, who’s chanting? They’re all part of the Sankirta. They’re all on the absolute platform.

The person printing the books, distributing the books, reading the books, building the temples to give shelter to the devotees of the Lord, for worshiping the Lord, everything is all on the absolute platform. Simply, the objective must not be diverted away from the pure objective of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda, he warned us, don’t get into material social work. Don’t get into material other type of work. Because by doing, by being, if you become diverted, then the activity is no longer a Vishnu Jagya, then it becomes a punya. Or something else which has got some temporary nature. So because this Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement is simply the pure Sankirta preaching movement of Caitanya Mahprabhu, spreading Kṛṣṇa Kotha, the message of Kṛṣṇa all over the world, everyone who is participating in the activities of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement, they are all absorbed on the absolute platform.

They’re all in the transcendental realm and every activity is a liberated activity. So Rla Prabhupāda has, in other words, very clearly said that someone who knows the transcendental subject matter, who knows about Kṛṣṇa consciousness but who doesn’t preach it, who doesn’t distribute it when the people are suffering in ignorance, that those people are simply Kanishta dakaris. They may be the most learned or they may be possessing of so many apparent qualities. But if they don’t have that compassion to actually distribute that information, that transcendental message, then they are Kanishtadaka. Then they are materially attached. They have got some material vision which is limiting their advancement. The first request, the people who are just staying in holy places but who are not engaged in preaching, to come out personally.

He tried to drag out so many people from different holy places to come out and preach. I just met one pandit from Vrindavan. He was in Bangkok giving lecture. He said also Prabhupāda requested me to come to the West. But I was saying that well, I don’t see what I will do this, that I was a bit afraid to go, so I didn’t go. Now I think that I made a mistake. That’s why I have come here also. So many people, sadhus, saints, godbrothers. Śrīla Prabhu tried to engage and tried to bring them to help in the preaching movement around the world. But he was not able to get any help from anyone but his own Guru Maharaj. And Kṛṣṇa, of course, that is the real dependence we have to give up all independence and simply be dependent on the mercy of our spiritual master.

Therefore, the heritage of this movement is that Rla Prabhupāda has formed together a vast organization called the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, which has branches on every continent, all over the world, which is publishing books in dozens of foreign languages. The heritage is that the Sankirtan movement, which has now got its roots coming from Māyāpur, but spread out all over the world, the branches of the tree cover the whole world. That this is to remain as one huge tree connected with the original source. We cannot sever our connection. If we sever the connection with the original source. If by any way we somehow become cut off and just like a branch cut off from the tree, it may appear like a branch, but it gradually loses its life and dries up.

It’s no longer connected with the tree, it becomes Asar, but a useless branch. So the heritage is to cooperate together in the Sankirtan movement and to go on dedicating our thoughts, words and deeds in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, distributing the message. This is a type of Sadhana. We should understand it as a practice, as a purification, as the best means for approaching Kṛṣṇa and completely absorb ourselves in thinking and planning and working to deliver all the people from their ignorant and miserable condition as slaves of the material nature, bound to take repeated birth and death against their will. Thus, anyone who participates in the Sankirtan movement, he becomes glorified and he becomes immediately happy.

And someone who somehow or another separates his mood from that of pleasing Lord Caitanya Mahprabhu from that of expanding the Sankirtan movement, he immediately becomes dissatisfied. He becomes restless. The process is very simple. Those who are intelligent should understand the basic principles and take it up seriously. This will not only benefit themselves, but this will change the course of the whole world from its destructive direction to a complete reconstruction, to a complete rehabilitation to the perfectional platform. There’s no other way that such harmony can be brought in the world except by pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

This any sober minded person, by deep deliberation, understanding of all the transcendental truths in relation to this material world and our own existence as eternal Spirit, soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, he will come up to the understanding there’s no other alternative in this world. Any questions? Yes. The spiritual master’s aim. He said Kṛṣṇa Consciousness should be spread over the whole world. Then by following the instructions of the spiritual master, one will be doing his part to fulfill that aim. Any other question? Yes. This is described by Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the teachings to Sanātana Goswami that the first thing when a devotee has to watch out for after getting a seat of devotional service.