19821027 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.6.28

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on October 27, 1982. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 1st Canto, Chapter 6, Verse 28.

prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum
ārabdha- karma- nirvāṇo nyapatat pāñca- bhautikaḥ

prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum
ārabdha-karma-nirvāṇonyapatat pāñca-bhautikaḥ

But actually every letter is pronounced just as it’s written. So instead of seeing the whole word and becoming confused because you don’t know what it means or exactly how the… if you just pronounce each syllable, pra-yu-jya-mā-ne, ma-yi-tāṁ, just as you see it, you just divide into syllables, pra-yu-jya-mā-ne, ma-yi-tāṁ, śu-ddhāṁ, bhā-ga-va-tīṁ, ta-num, ā-rab-dha, kar-ma-nir-vā-ṇo, nya-pa-tat, pāñ-ca, bhau-ti-kaḥ. If you don’t look at the whole word but you just see each syllable, each vowel... uh, each uh, co… uh, letter with the vowel and you pronounce like then, it’s very easy. But if you see the whole word then you… it becomes uh… you get scared you know (chuckles).

prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum
ārabdha-karma-nirvāṇo nyapatat pāñca-bhautikaḥ

Anyone else that want to try?

Translation: Having been awarded a transcendental body befitting an associate of the Personality of Godhead, I quit the body made of five material elements, and thus all acquired fruitive results of work [karma] stopped.

Purport by Srila Prabhupāda: Informed by the Personality of Godhead that he would be awarded a transcendental body befitting the Lord’s association, Nārada got his spiritual body as soon as he quit his material body. This transcendental body is free from material affinity and invested with three primary transcendental qualities, namely eternity, freedom from material modes, and freedom from reactions of fruitive activities. The material body is always afflicted with the lack of these three qualities. A devotee’s body becomes at once surcharged with the transcendental qualities as soon as he is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. It acts like the magnetic influence of a touchstone upon iron. The influence of transcendental devotional service is like that. Therefore change of the body means stoppage of the reaction of three qualitative modes of material nature upon the pure devotee. There are many instances of this in the revealed scriptures. Dhruva Mahārāja and Prahlāda Mahārāja and many other devotees were able to see the Personality of Godhead face to face apparently in the same body. This means that the quality of a devotee’s body changes from material to transcendence. That is the opinion of the authorized Gosvāmīs via the authentic scriptures. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that beginning from the indra-gopa germ up to the great Indra, King of heaven, all living beings are subjected to the law of karma and are bound to suffer and enjoy the fruitive results of their own work. Only the devotee is exempt from such reactions, by the causeless mercy of the supreme authority, the Personality of Godhead.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purport and translation of Text 28, Chapter 6, Canto 1, in the matter of “Conversation Between Nārada and Vyasadeva”.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is a very important verse, because this tells us exactly what is the position of material life, what is the position of the material body, devotional service and the perfectional stage of reaching the transcendence, all in one verse. Because here, Nārada Muni is transferring from having a material body and going to having a spiritual body, a spiritual form. So, this is a very wonderful thing to understand that how the Lord told him that, “I will give you a spiritual body, a transcendental body just suitable to associate with Me.” And that also happened just in the due course.

We should understand the difference between a material body and a spiritual body. They are not the same. See the material body is afflicted in various ways. The spiritual body is invested with… with uh, wonderful qualities. The three qualities are mentioned here. One, is that the spiritual body, or the eternal body or the transcendental body is eternal. This is the first point, that this material body is not eternal, it doesn’t live forever. Some time or another we have to give it up.

Normally if a person is considered a healer, he can cure people, then they are known to be very great religious people. If you can cure someone, common men will come and worship such a person. If you can tell how this life will be you can read their future, or if you can heal someone from disease, that’s considered to be very great, in ordinary, in ordinary life. In fact, you find that Buddhist monks often that it is like one of their side-lines. Either they will read the future for you or they will give a lucky… In Thailand often they come up to us and ask can you give lucky number for lottery? (laughing) It is a big thing, and if you can give a lucky number then everyone is very happy. (laughs) This is the purpose of a religious man - to give you the lucky number. (all laughing) That is what people think, or if you can cure them from a disease, you see. But here we can understand that actually this body is not eternal, it is going to die, sooner or later.

There is nobody who can claim that by the blessings of such and such a holy man this body has lived forever. Or by the blessing of material science, or by any blessing or any means this body, no one has been able to make it last forever, you see. This is the first point. But the body that Nārada Muni is getting, that transcendental body, first quality, it’s eternal, you see. It never dies. Therefore, it can travel in the fire, it can go to the sun, it can go to the moon, it can go all over the universe, and it can go outside the universe. You don’t need a suit. Nowadays, if you want to travel in outer space you have the space suit. Because if you take off the suit you be… you’re finished, you’ll die in a second, you can’t live in that atmosphere, you see. But this transcendental body does not require oxygen and all these things, so it can go anywhere, you see. So, this is the first quality that Nārada Muni, his transcendental body was eternal, you see. So, this body is not eternal.

There is also a pastime; you must have… you might have heard, how one-time Lord Caitanya was chanting in kīrtana and while in the house of Śrīvāsa, and while the kīrtana was going on Śrīvāsa’s son died, inside the house.

So, at that time, Śrīvāsa, he came into see what was the noise? All the women started to wail, crying that the son was dead. And they said, “Well, your son is now gone, he is dead.” and they are crying. (sobbing) “Your son is gone, he is gone…” naturally they are crying. So, he told them all to shut up. “Stop your crying, why are you lamenting? The son has died while the kīrtana is going on. That means that he is going to get a spiritual body or going at least up to a very good destination. Don’t cry, don’t disturb the kīrtana outside.” (devotee chuckles) But then they couldn’t be convinced like that. So, then he told, “If you don’t stop crying, I’m going to jump into the Ganges and also commit suicide, I’ll also die. Then you will have to cry for both son and for husband.” (devotee chuckles) So they got scared and they stopped crying. They kept quiet.

So, then Śrīvāsa again he went out, and he was dancing in kīrtana with all the devotees, as if not… just normally dancing. Of course, Lord Caitanya, He is in everyone’s heart, He knew what was going on inside, He went on chanting He did not interrupt. And it was very ecstatic kīrtana, the whole night it went on until the morning. When the sun was coming up they broke the kīrtana. So, when the kīrtana was over and they all paid their obeisances, then Lord Caitanya, He asked everyone that, “I think that something must have happened in Śrīvāsa’s house, I’m feeling something in My heart, that something is amiss, something is wrong. What is that?” They started talking amongst each other. They said, “Well, Śrīvāsa’s son is dead!” Said, “What? When did he die?”

“He died yesterday afternoon in the evening just uh, during the kīrtana.”

“Why no one told me?”

So Śrīvāsa said, “I did not want to disturb your kīrtana.”

He said, “What?!! you did not tell me such a terrible thing happened? And you did not tell me, you didn’t want to disturb My kīrtana? What is this? Why I was not told?”

“Well I don’t know, Your kīrtana is going on. What we… If he is already dead, what can we do, you see? Better not to disturb the kīrtana.”

So then uh, Lord Caitanya He embraced Śrīvāsa, “What a devotee! How can I ever leave such a devotee.” You see. Such a thing happens, he is so unaffected, he is so detached, that all he is thinking about is how he can please Me, he is not at all thinking about his family situation. So, you bring Me that, you bring Me that body, where is the body? Where is the son of Śrīvāsa?”

They brought out the son outside in the courtyard. He told Śrīvāsa’s son, “Why you have gone away? Why you left Śrīvāsa? Come on now! Speak up! Why did you go away?”

So Śrīvāsa’ son sat up, stood up, offered his obeisances and started to speak. Everyone was amazed. He was dead, how he is speaking? He was speaking from the… from the… from the platform of ‘jivātmā’, from the platform of spirit soul.

He came back, and He spoke, “Why you have left your father?”

He said, “Which father? (devotees laughing) I had so many fathers.”

“Your father is Śrīvāsa.”

“Of course, You have desired that I go. You’ve given me orders that this time… my time is up in this body, so I have left according to Your desire. It was by Your mercy that I was able to come in the house of Śrīvāsa and serve You and get the association with the great Vaiṣṇavas. And by Your desire also, I have to leave. I only pray that by Your mercy I will always be able to associate with the pure devotees and be able to serve You.”

In this way there was a discussion going on. So, then Lord Caitanya, He looked around and saw everybody was very happy, that they could see that Śrīvāsa’s son although he had left the body, but he was going onward under the shelter of Lord Caitanya, and that there was actually nothing to lament for. So, then Lord Caitanya said, “Alright.” Again, Śrīvāsa’s son, uh… son’s body laid down and Śrīvāsa went on. He did not save the body, you see. When a person’s time is up, you can if he wants you can make him live for few more years. But uh, what is the advantage of that? The main thing is that when they leave, they go to the proper destination, you see. Just like as if you are in a rented house and you get an eviction notice. You have to leave in one month. You can talk to the landlord, “Please give me another two months.” He says, “Alright take two more months.” That is not the real thing just to get two more months in the house. But you want to get the next place where you are going to live, you do not want to be thrown out on the street with nowhere to go. You have to live in some slum or something. “You let me get… where is my next place?” You want to see it is same or better. So, everybody is very anxious to somehow or another stretch out the time they can spend in this body. No one is thinking that we have to give it up, what’s the next position after this? You get evicted from your… from your uh, apartment; you want to know where is the next house I am going to stay. Why people are so foolish they don’t think that, “I am going to be evicted sooner or later? Let me think about the next house now.” That’s their nonsense. They are working everything for this life, fixing up their apartment, when they know that the rent gets out, they have to be kicked out, they are not going to be able to stay, you see.

So that way Nārada Muni he got the best thing. Naturally if the person owns his own building, that is better than renting. But you can’t own a material body. It’s not yours, it’s given by the material nature. It belongs to the material nature. You are of the spiritual nature, you see. So, we can’t own a material body, we can only rent it. We can only live in it temporarily, and then we have to give it up. Because this is not our natural position, you see.

Just like Hong Kong, Hong Kong they can’t forever stay here, because it is the property of China. Ultimately, they want to take it back, sooner or later, you see. Although everybody is hoping, “Well, extended for more and more time”, but they have to pay dearly for that, if they want that. And there is no absolute security. Anytime any crazy person gets in charge of the government he may do anything. Right? This is the situation. But we try to extend on and on.

But if you can transform the body, then also you become free. Just like somehow or another, although this was originally this was China, they transformed it into a British colony. So, everything here is not living under Chinese law but under British law. So, then everything has a nicer situation according to material standards.

In the same way if you can transform this body by owing allegiance to Kṛṣṇa, then just like a magnet, if you put iron on a magnet you can take that iron also and pick up other iron, that iron also becomes like an extension of the magnet. In the same way, this body when it is engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service through bhakti-yoga then you can also immediately become freed from all the material laws, all the other laws that ordinarily affect the other bodies and be directly under the spiritual transcendental free position. What is that position? That’s mentioned here, in the next verse.

The second thing, freedom from the material modes; that material bodies are always being attached… attacked by the modes – mode of passion, mode of ignorance, mode of goodness. Ignorance, passion, goodness – these three modes are always affecting the body. Therefore no one is free. Sometimes someone feels very charitable, very… very nicely disposed to help others is in a, much in the mode of goodness. Sometimes the person is feeling very greedy, simply, “I want more money, I want more enjoyment, I want immediately for myself” and very anxious and passionate for achieving that profit, the mode of passion, you see. Don’t want to give anything to anybody, don’t want to hurt anybody, “I want simply to get whatever I need, unless someone stands in my way I don’t care, but I want this”, this is passion. Ignorance very angry, you see, I don’t care even if I get any profit, simply I want to kill you. You see that in the movies sometimes they show, this is the mode of ignorance. He doesn’t care even if he loses his whole life, “I want to get you.” This is the mode of ignorance, you see. They don’t think about what is the future, what is the… ultimately going to be, whether they will profit? And obviously mode of ignorance is not at all for any one’s good. It is insanity, madness, anger, like that. So, in this body if we are not fully engaged in devotional service, then we can be affected by ignorance, by passion or by goodness, or a combination of all three, you see.

To whatever extent we engage in devotional service, we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then our body becomes free from these influences. We become free, and then we can realize that natural freedom, the happiness that comes with it. So even a person is free from the influences still another question is there, what about all the previous acts we have done? What about the reactions for those? You see, just like so many animals are killed so… so we can eat them. Or just out of punishment, sometimes as little children they sometimes pull apart the insects, sometimes they play with snakes and they chop off their tails. Sometimes they do so many cruel things without thinking about it. And those all will bring reactions in the future. This is the law of karma, no one can escape.

So even now we are engaged in devotional service, what will protect us from all the acts we have done before? Now even if I am not influenced, but still I’ll have to suffer and enjoy so many things that I’ve, for the results what I have done, and this may also affect me in many ways. This is also a question. So, people are not freed from that, they have to get the results of what they do, you see.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate
(Bg 3.27)

Bhagavad-gita describes that prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni - material nature is doing everything, you see. guṇaiḥ karmāṇi… sarvaśaḥ… uh, guṇaiḥ… prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ - that due to the material qualities of passion, ignorance and goodness, and due to the karmas, the material nature is putting everyone in different situations. And the foolish living entity he thinks, ”I am doing everything.” Doesn’t see that you work hard and get a good results that is due to your previous karma. Or you work hard in spite of that you lose everything, that is also due to your previous karma. And you don’t do anything, and still you’re lucky fellow, you get lots of results. Hardly you work at all, just a little bit, and you some results, big results, that’s also due to karma. And you don’t work at all and you don’t get anything, that’s also karma. Everything in the material world is due to this karma and the material qualities, you see. If a person even he has good karma, but his association is mode of ignorance, he gets money what does he do? He spends it on drinking, gambling, and he’ll waste the whole lot, doesn’t have anything to show for it. And a person if he has good karma and he has mode of goodness, mode of passion, he reinvests it. In the mode of goodness, then he spends it for helping others and in the future, he gets more good karma. So, in this way [Aside: close the door] everything is going on in the material world.

So here the third freedom is there, freedom from reactions of fruitive activities. That this transcendental body is free from all those reactions of fruitive activities. This is very important, because everybody wants to be freed from the reactions of all the fruitive activities. We made so many mistakes in our lives, if we can start with a clean slate, that’s what we need. If we have to try to make advancement with all the reactions still there, then it’s very difficult situation, how we’ll progress? Just like there are different processes of yoga. The process of Buddhism is indirectly like a type of yoga, in a sense. Although we don’t generally call it yoga, we call it Buddhism. But it is like a prog… a process of realization. Then there is of course the process of mystic-yoga, the process of bhakti-yoga, karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga like that. Mainly the mystic yoga and the bhakti-yoga are the main divisions. And Buddhism where one practices the renunciation and a type of meditation. There is a story in Buddhist history about there was one demon who was called Anguliasura. I don’t know the full detail, but just a little bit I know. What he used to do is he was a demon that used to would cut off the little fingers of people and wear them around his neck in a big garland.

Devotee: Anguli?

Jayapatākā Swami: Anguliasura, and naturally he was not well liked by the people in general. Whenever they saw him they would run, because he would try catch them, and chop off their fingers and put it around his brace…

Devotee: Anguli-māla.

Jayapatākā Swami: Anguli-māla – you have heard about him. So, he was a ferocious fellow. Now what happened was that he met the Buddha. He also wanted to cut off his fingers. But by the association of Buddha, instead he could understand that uh… that uh, this whole world was a temporary world and that he was in a wrong position. So he became himself a bhikśu, he became a monk. But the problem was that although was a monk, being in Buddhism, you don’t immediately get purified from these reactions. The reactions are still there, you stop creating more reactions. So what happened, all the other reaction, he had such a pile, chopping off people’s fingers. So he couldn’t get freed from that. When the people saw he was a monk, they still did not have any fingers on their hands, they weren’t happy about it. So they all chased him and beat him to death. Eventually, he was killed. He was beat to death by all the people he had tortured, you see. Because he was not freed from those karmas.

So this is the disadvantage of other practices. But, Kṛṣṇa promises in the Gītā that, “If you simply surrender unto Me

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo

I will protect you from all reactions. mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ (Bg 18.66)- I will liberate you, bring you to Me, this is My promise.”

Just like there was Mṛgāri he was killing so many animals, Right!! But when Nārada Muni, the same Nārada Muni came, he was able to not only make Mṛgāri into a saint, but he was able to free him from all the reactions to all the animals he had killed, because he taught him bhakti-yoga. How to free from the reactions.

Similarly, there was a great robber and murderer was Dasyu Ratnākara. He used to kill so many people and steal, the same Nārada Muni met him, and Nārada Muni is very important is because he is the guru, spiritual master of bhakti-yoga. He is written a book also Nārada Pañcarātric, and there the whole system of worshipping the deities is given. All the deity worship we do is according to the Nārada Pañcarātric system.

So, we use two systems, one is Bhāgavata-vidhi, which is chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and mantras. Within bhakti there are two systems, other is deity worship. So, we use both. We use Bhāgavata and Nārada-Pañcarātric, both systems. The Nārada system is about the rules and regulations and the Bhagavad is the pure expression of devotion by dancing and chanting. So, we use both, both are required to help us.

Dasyu Ratnākara he met Nārada Muni, that’s a whole story, how he converted him. Of course, I’m not telling the whole thing. But after a lot of discussion and convincing, and he revealed some secrets about reactions. What happened was, just in a nutshell, he said he wanted to steal also from Nārada. Nārada said, “Well, all I can give you…” All he had was his tāmbura. You know Nārada carries the tāmbura, the vīna. He could give him that only, but he wasn’t about to give. But anyway, he said, “I’ll give you whatever you want, you see. First you have to answer this one question to me, that all the killing and murdering you are doing, who is sharing the karma with you? Who is sharing the reactions? You have to suffer the reactions. Who is sharing it with you?”

He said, “Well, my wife and my grandmother, my mother, my father, my children, they all will be sharing.”

“Are you sure? You go and ask them. Tell me who is sharing with you.”

You see, because technically according to karma husband does something, whoever is dependent on him doesn’t, is not responsible for the reactions directly. Because they are dependent, how the person who is supporting them is maintaining them that’s his worry. They are dependent, so that means they are not in control of the situation, so how can they be held responsible? You see,if a baby is there and the father is working in a job or if he is a thief, what is the, how is it, the baby is not telling the father that you be a thief, he is just dependent, so that’s the law of karma. So, he went back and asked his mother and father, “You are taking the karma?”

They said, “Listen, we wanted you to become a doctor or lawyer or something, whatever, (laughs) you became this, what can we do? We tried to train you up, but.” So, whatever they said in that day and place they said appropriately that, “We tried to train you up, but you became a thief, what could we do? Now we are old and invalid. Now we… How could… don’t give us the sin now because when we die then we’ll have to suffer anyways so many things so we can’t take any share.”

Then he asked his children, they wouldn’t take. “We are just children, you brought us in the world, don’t, don’t we have just, don’t start us off with all this burden. We’re already starting with a fresh life; don’t let us have all these reactions.” They refused.

So, then he asked his wife that, “Well, you are my companion to life. You should be grateful; I am doing so much for you, bringing you everything, so you should take the share.”

She said, “What do you mean? I have not had a new dress for so long. You never take me out anywhere, we are always in hiding. And, you think I like this kind of life? Why should I take also a share of yours, because I’m already washing your clothes and I’m doing everything else for you, raising your children? Now you want me to take also the karmas for all the murders you are doing?”

He gets nuts. He was shocked of course. So then he came back to Nārada and said, “No one is taking any share. No one is grateful, they all take the money, but they are not taking a share of my karma.” So, then Nārada gave him this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, he gave him the chanting and said, “You should chant the name of God.”

He said, “No, I cannot chant any such thing as you are mentioning. I cannot say anything which is to do with anything except for violence and killing, and I cannot speak any type of holy words.” He could not even say God. He could not say anything like that, he was so uh, against this idea that he could not say anything about God or Kṛṣṇa or anything. So, then Nārada asked him, “Can you chant the word ‘murder’, ‘murder’?

“Oh yes, I can chant ‘murder’ easily.”

So you chant, ‘Marā Marā Marā’, ‘Kill Kill Kill’, in Sanskrit. You… this is my mantra to you. You go on chanting ‘marā marā marā...’”

So, he said, “Yes, I can… I can... I can chant this with great enthusiasm.” (All laughing) “Kill kill kill, marā marā…” But as he is chanting, “marā marā..”, Nārada was so clever that he combined the word that when you chanted in a line, it comes out ma… the… after the first ma, it comes “Rā-ma Rā-ma Rā-ma Rā-ma Rā-ma Rā-ma”, so he was chanting Rāma.

Even though he was thinking and chanting “kill kill kill” but the vibration was coming out “Rāma Rāma Rāma Rāma”, after the first ma then it was “ma Rā-ma Rā-ma Rā-ma” In this way he became free from all those reactions. It is the power of Kṛṣṇa’s name, it’s a great secret, we don’t tell people right off the, right from the beginning, that how powerful is this name. People they may not believe it and they might say something offensive, so we do not tell them right in the beginning all the secrets about chanting. We just tell them it will make you healthy, happy, whatever. But the actual secret is, it will free them from these types of influence of the modes of nature and influence from karma. It will develop a spiritual body, especially once one surrenders to the spiritual master and takes to chanting without offense then the full effect of the name manifests.

So, this is very important to understand that how this material body differs from the spiritual body. And one other thing that Prabhupāda mentions here, very important, is that, “A person becomes uh, uh, unaffected, freed from material affinity.” You see. Material affinity is something we like. It’s something we naturally, we are attached to. You are born in the world and your mother and father they take care of you. You become very attached to them. Because it is a very intimate relationship, because they are feeding and taking care, you see. But the relationship is based on the body. We have the material body it is based on this body. We are not thinking, just like Śrīvāsa, his son, what about the previous life, he had a mother… mother and father. This life we have a mother and father. After we die, we get a new body, new mother and father. So, this material affinity is another kind of uh, bondage, another kind of uh, illusion. We don’t realize that because of this affinity, we are putting ourselves in more and more anxiety and difficulty. Just like because of this relationship… just like we have a baby. Now if the baby is sick, the parents they very, they feel bad. Really because there is such a close affinity. Even it is difficult, even if you are Kṛṣṇa conscious it is difficult not to feel when your child is sick. At least there you dovetail it that, “I am raising my child to be God conscious, to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. So, I have to take care of the child.” So that natural love which is there for the children that becomes offered to Kṛṣṇa in an indirect way, or in a direct way as the child is trained in Kṛṣṇa conscious. Still the feeling is there sometimes, even amongst the really advanced yogīs, what to speak of materialists. If their child is in danger, they are out of their skin. Even a cow if they lose the calf, it become, it is crying, tears are there. It is not that this is only a human quality, even a cow loses its calf it cries like anything.

In India sometimes what they do, the cow once it loses the calf it will stop giving the milk. The cows are little bit stupid. They don’t know the difference between the body and the soul. So they will do this, they will take the calf, and they will skin it, and they stuff it, and they will hang it up by the cow, and he will be licking the skin of the calf even if it is dead, just the skin, but they are a little bit stupid, they think that my calf is still alive, I still have my calf. Human being knows the difference between a live body and a dead body. A cow doesn’t know the difference very well, you see. But if the human being still thinks that, “Well, alright, this is live body, this is dead body…”. but what is the difference? They know that there is a difference. That much intelligence we have. What is the difference, that we don’t know? We have so many big jets, big buildings, we have Walkman tape recorders, we have everything, right? But we do not know what is the difference between a living body and a dead body? We know there is a difference. So, we think that we are better than the cow. But what is the difference we don’t know in this material world. That is where bhakti-yoga or Kṛṣṇa consciousness comes in.

What is the difference between the living body and the dead body? The difference is that the soul is not there. We are the soul. So, when we identify, “I am not this body, I am the soul”, immediately we become free from anxiety. As soon as identify with the body we have so many affinities, and those affinities bring the anxiety and misery. They bring desires which can never be fulfilled fully. As soon as we realize that the body is my machine, it is my automobile, nobody spends so much money on their automobile and lets the driver starve. First, he will feed himself, he’ll have his apartment, then if he, he will spend money on the automobile. You see. There is a priority. A person won’t be putting petrol in the [in his] car and then not eat day after day, starve and die. No one does that. Only we are doing that, that we are putting everything in our body but spiritually we are practically dead in this material life, that is the nature. We don’t know how to be satisfied. So, they are working so hard trying to dress the body, clean it, make it enjoy and still they are not satisfied, because the driver is starving, the spirit is starving. So, we should know the difference between the spirit and the body. And actually, we don’t need this material body, forever. We can use the material body to achieve like Nārada Muni did, his spiritual body.

There is another pastime, just in conclusion. That Lord Caitanya when He came, He did not come in His material body, that His form is spiritual form. Similarly, He came with His associates, just like Śrīvāsa. All these associates, some of them are eternally liberated souls, who also came in their spiritual body. Some of them were material persons who by devotional service spiritualized their body. These two categories were there. So Śrīvāsa, he was actually, he is Nārada Muni, came to help Lord Caitanya. He took this form; his body is accepted as a fully spiritual body.

One-time Lord Caitanya told everyone that, “I am going to dance. We are going to have a drama, of Lakṣmī, of Rukmiṇī and Kṛṣṇa. We are going to have this drama.” And so, He told one of the devotees to arrange all the costumes and everything. So, then He told that, “I am going to dance tomorrow as Lakṣmī, dancing to attract Kṛṣṇa.” Everybody became, “Oh! To see Lord Caitanya dancing like Lakṣmī, wow, this is something inconceivable.”

He said, “Everybody is allowed except for those who still have some material attachments. They shouldn’t see.” Then everybody became very sad. Then of course nobody could say anything. But everyone knew what they were thinking. But Advaita and Śrīvāsa they spoke out, “Lord Caitanya, I don’t know about others, but we are not free yet from material affinity. So, how can we, then we cannot see.” They took that position, actually they were the only ones that were, or they are the only ones, but they were free. But they were speaking on behalf of the conditioned souls that, “We are not free from material attachment, how can we see You dance then? We are not in this position.” They took that to show an example. So, then Lord Caitanya said, “Alright, by My special mercy tomorrow all of you devotees will be freed from any material affinity, from any material attachment, so that when you watch this dancing you won’t be deluded by māyā.”

So the next day Lord Caitanya He dressed up as Rukmiṇī, as Lakṣmī, and He told Śrīvāsa, “You have to dress up as Nārada Muni.” And then of course this is Nārada Muni is actually there is no position. But this was Lord Caitanya’s trick to advertise to everybody who actually Śrīvāsa was.

So, then the next day Gadādhara he had dressed as Ramā, one of the expansions of one of the other Lakṣmī forms. And Śrīvāsa was dressed as Nārada Muni. So then, when Lord Caitanya what He did is, by His mystic power all the people that were there although they were putting on costume, they were appearing to the other devotees not in any costumes, but they were able to see those personalities in their original form. When Mother Śacī saw Śrīvāsa and actually was seeing Nārada Muni. She became so stunned with love, with ecstasy that she fainted. In this way there were so many transcendental things that were going on. And Lord Caitanya when He was dancing, there all the, so many others dressed up as Lakṣmī, no one could any more tell who is Lord Caitanya. All were Lakṣmīs, Nārada Muni, no one could anymore tell. Even mother Śacī could not tell that, “Who is Lord Caitanya?” They had all assumed their spiritual forms. You see.

So, in this way Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya told that, “Why Nārada has come here? Because he went up to the spiritual world to see Kṛṣṇa. When he went there and found that the whole spiritual world was empty, all Kṛṣṇa’s palace, everywhere is empty. Then he asked, ‘Where everybody gone?’ So, they all came to Navadvīpa because they heard that Kṛṣṇa is going to dance as Lakṣmī (all laughing). So, he is come down here to see also.”

Devotee: He came.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, like this, so many transcendental pastimes, so many transcendental enjoyments are there. He was the original form of Nārada Muni, how he was, he was only working as, as the little son of a, of a cleaning woman, who was washing pots and who was doing menial services. He was the son of a cleaning woman. Cleaning his mother died by a snake bite. And she was the cleaning woman in the house of great devotees. So, he used to get this mahā-prasāda from the devotees. How sacred devotees are, we have no idea.

Because although we think that, well, they are having material bodies, because they are using their body only for the service of Kṛṣṇa, their body becomes purified, just like magnetized. It becomes transcendentalized. Although it appears to be a material body, sometimes it may even appear to be old or young, or may appear to be sick or healthy, or thin or fat, or strong, or weak. But that is all superficial, has nothing to do. Because the body is always being engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service, that even though apparently to vision it is a material body, it has become just like magnetized. It has become transcendentalized. Therefore, it is considered to be pure. Just like the Ganges river is considered to be pure all year round. But in the rainy season there are so many bubbles, and sometimes mud is coming in the river, because the floods are there. Still a spiritually advanced person will bathe in that sacred river Ganges, not thinking that, “This is winter, or this is summer, or this is rainy season.” Like that a devotee’s body, a devotee who is purely engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service, that body will always be spiritualized. So, therefore the devotees, their means they are already having transcendentalized bodies by association with Kṛṣṇa through devotional service. Therefore, we respect the devotees and we offer our respects them and our obeisances to them, we touch their feet, in this way to get special spiritual blessings, to help us on the spiritual path.

So, these are some of the important things we can know. Actually, this verse we can go on speaking month after month, it has so many, so many spiritual instructions for us. But few things only I am explaining here, today. Basically we can sum up the whole thing is that this is all the causeless mercy of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that He allows us to be completely attracted and attached and close to Him, to immunize us from all the other temporary attractions of this world, which only causes pain in the long run, you see. That is His special mercy that even though we are in the material consciousness He attracts us, He allows us to taste the happiness of spiritual life, to free us from the miseries of this material world, and the attachments which will cause us future misery in the material world. That is His special mercy. Therefore, we should always offer our obeisances to Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa, by whose mercy we become attached and attracted to His spiritual existence, and we can become freed from all the material miseries of life.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Are there any questions? Yes!

Devotee: So, someone may think that, “Well, these… this sounds good. This yoga, but actually, there are a lot of other things first, and maybe I’ll take up this process later, when the time is better.” Someone may think like that. Is that a good plan to just, take care of our uh… uh... some material obstacles first, you know. Take care of the… the family, or any… any other things that might be in the way, then later take up the yoga process?

Jayapatākā Swami: The point is that, that will, whole thing will depend on how much amount time the person has, theoretically. Just like when I came here six months ago, then the Hong Kong Dollar was very strong, but then after the Prime Minister of England went to Beijing [I don’t know Beijing or Beiking whatever they] and they told so many things like, “Well, if they are all… that the Chinese government said so many things that we may, we may just throw you out, this or that.” They were exerting some force, for whatever reason. Now the Hong Kong Dollar uppsh…(gasps). Like everybody wants to take the money somewhere else, where it is safe. They are afraid, “What if they do throw us out, then? We have to have our money somewhere where it, it won’t, it will be safe.” Because they are thinking that maybe they won’t have so long after all. Before that they are thinking, it is going get extend, there is no problem. So, they won’t worry. But then they became afraid that, “Well, if we don’t have that much time after all, then we better make some arrangement.” So, it is like that. People are thinking, “I am young now, so now I should take care of my material things, when I get old, I will take care of the spiritual matters.”

Well, there are two problems there. The one problem is that, we do not know how long we are going to live. Of course, in the normal course of events, we will live to old age. But that is not that everyone lives to old age. I do not know the percentage of people who die untimely. But say at least 25% may die. Actually, I do not know the exact percent, but a good percentage, not an insignificant number, but a good, significant number die at an age which is young. So that danger is always there, that if we get suddenly evicted from this body then we will have no alter… then we’ll have no hope. So that would also make us that we should make some preparation even now. Just like saving money in the bank. Therefore, showing to put money now in other accounts overseas, just in case, you see. That is not for sure. Hong Kong may be able to make some deal later on and stay here, for some time. But it is for sure that we have to leave the body That’s for sure! There is no definite… I mean, that is definite, sooner or later. So that’s the one problem we do not know when.

The other problem is that, even say we live till old age, but to do spiritual practices also is not something that can be just done abruptly. Naturally, we’ve been practiced… it’s not all the sudden. If someone can do it immediately, that is also a great, good fortune. It means some great spiritual asset or blessings have been bestowed on that person. Prahlāda Mahārāja gave the example that his children friends told him also the same thing, “We don’t want to chant, we don’t want to do this yoga, because we want to play now, we are kids. When we grow old we will do it.” He told them, “You play like this for the next ten years as children, then after that you will be busy with your school work and other type of play. Then you are going to be getting into family life, you are going to have children, you will be working hard to make money to maintain your families, to raise your children, in this way you will be all busy with the family life. Then in your old age, you will be weak and sick, and you won’t have any energy to travel, or to do anything. And half your life you are spending sleeping anyway. So where is the time? Therefore ‘athāto brahma jijñāsā’ you should inquire now, or uh… uh… uh, ‘kaumāra ācaret prājño’ you should start inquiring and preparing yourself even in the kaumāra, even in the childhood.”

Actually, if a person is already 18 or 20 or 25 years old, that means already 18 years was wasted. That means one quarter of the life is wasted, because we don’t generally live over 80, maximum is 100. That means 1/4th of the life or more has already been wasted. How many? Now you want to waste again how many another quarter? If you waste another quarter, then you will become so engrossed in family affairs that you won’t be able to stop. That’s why a person has to start practicing yoga either partially or fully from immediate moment. Take whatever time is already been wasted, you have to make up for that. If a person starts up at 75 years, that means he has to make up for 75 years of wasted time. How is that possible? At that time, you are weaker.

At least if you start at 25, that means 25 years were wasted. So then, At least you have strength enough to try double speed, to make up for lost time. So generally, we find that you get people either young or old. Middle age is very hard because they are already so involved in so many material entanglements. They don’t find any time. When they are young, they are just in college, or they are out of high school, or they haven’t yet got married, or got deep into the whole family situation, there is a good chance for them to start the good habits of yoga. Otherwise, at the end of life we get a few, but usually by the end of life they develop so many bad habits even if they want to practice yoga, they don’t… it is too hard for them to learn at an old age. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

So, for these two reasons, one is that we don’t know when we are going to die. Second is that if we keep delaying it, it becomes harder and harder, and we waste more and more time. For these 2 reasons we should immediately start the practice of yoga, if at all we want to become free from these material problems and achieve spiritual perfection.

Any other questions? Do you have any question?

Devotee: When the disciple takes initiation from the guru, the guru takes away all his karma. Then, why is it a disciple even after initiation suffers (indistinct)…

Jayapatākā Swami: The guru takes responsibility for their karma. And depending upon how the disciple surrenders then that karma is either taken away directly by Kṛṣṇa withdrawing it, or by giving the disciple some tokens, to help the disciple to come to the proper frame of mind, which will allow all the karma to be removed. The total responsibility is taken away by the spiritual master, and therefore the karma is not given to the disciple at face value. But some momentum from the previous uh… from the previous activities is there, some desires are there. And also, even after taking initiation sometimes devotees, they are also performing sinful activities against their oath, so for various reasons the person is put into difficulty.

One time, Srila Prabhupāda cut his finger, and one drop of blood came out. He said that, “I should have had my head cut off, but instead Kṛṣṇa has just given me this token, just to remind me and I was released from such a big sinful reaction.” So, once we surrender to the spiritual master then we’re under the care of Kṛṣṇa; once we take initiation. But then we have to also practically practice devotional service and then more and more for relieve from all these reactions.

Just after initiation, we come into what is called the clearing stage where all these reactions are cleared away. It is not that just immediately everything is gone, unless we can immediately completely fix our mind, every thought word and deed completely, without any material attachment, we can completely absorb ourselves in the service of guru, then we are completely free.

But just after initiation, it is not that people suddenly forget their parents and forget their everything material. They may get a different, may become more detached, they may become, still there may be some slight attachments there. So how to get free from those? Whatever attachments we have those are linked with reactions. As detached as we become that is as free as we become from the reactions. These two things are told today. The 3 modes are there and their reactions, these are linked. As we have attachments within the 3 modes of nature those attachments are linked with reactions. As we get rid of the reactions of fruitive activities, we get rid of these attachments also. Just like a person is very attached to getting a $1,000,000. Once they get $1,000,000 they are not so attached any more, then either they want $2,000,000 or they want something else.

Just like in Hong Kong, in Japan, people they get very attached to material things. They want to get a brand-new tape recorder. They get the tape recorder. After a while they get tired of the it, they just throw. A perfectly good tape recorder, they throw it away in the garbage. Just fed up, that’s the mood they are in. They just throw it away. You can find good tape recorders lying in the garbage, you see. When you get the thing, that means that now your desire is fulfilled. That is one way of getting your material fruitive action is you get what you want. That’s one, that’s called the reaction for pious activities. That also makes you detached, in some cases. You get tired of it, you want something else.

And another way of getting rid of attachment is by suffering. When that thing you want causes some pain you become detached. So, both these reactions, pain as well as pleasure the devotee becomes detached to. Because now, both of them simply cause material attachment. They want spiritual ecstasy, spiritual bliss. So, already the plug has been pulled out, you are not creating any more karmas, you’ve been freed. And Kṛṣṇa promises that, “According to how you surrender that is how you will be rewarded.” So, already you are free from any direct reaction of karma. If any karma is given it means that you still have some attachments, and this is to help you become more and more advanced. And you are only getting a small token of what you deserve.