19840509 Bhagavad-gītā 2.66 - Disturbance is Due to Want of an Ultimate Goal

Following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 9^th, 1984 in Los Angeles, USA.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavaṁ śrī-caitanya-īśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Bhagavad-gītā 2.66
nāsti buddhir ayuktasya
na cāyuktasya bhāvanā
na cābhāvayataḥ śāntir
aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham

Translation: One who is not connected with the Supreme [in Kṛṣṇa consciousness] can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?

Purport: Unless one is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no possibility of peace. So it is confirmed in the Fifth Chapter (5.29) that when one understands that Kṛṣṇa is the only enjoyer of all the good results of sacrifice and penance, that He is the proprietor of all universal manifestations, and that He is the real friend of all living entities, then only can one have real peace. Therefore, if one is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there cannot be a final goal for the mind. Disturbance is due to want of an ultimate goal, and when one is certain that Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer, proprietor and friend of everyone and everything, then one can, with a steady mind, bring about peace. Therefore, one who is engaged without a relationship with Kṛṣṇa is certainly always in distress and is without peace, however much he may make a show of peace and spiritual advancement in life. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a self-manifested peaceful condition which can be achieved only in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

Thus ends the Text Sixty-six, Chapter Two of the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā, in the matter of the Contents of the Gītā Summarized.

* * *

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here, Kṛṣṇa has first summarized that if somebody is satisfied in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then all of the threefold miseries of material existence cease to exist. On the other hand, someone else who is not connected with the Supreme, even if they try to achieve some kind of spiritual consciousness, then it is not possible for them to have a steady mind. To have a steady mind, one requires transcendental intelligence, and that is not possible without Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So, therefore, everything is in a very turbulent state, wherein it is not possible to have any peace; kamala-dala-jala, jīvana ṭalamala, the description is given that just as a drop of water is floating on top of a lotus leaf. If you have ever seen a picture of a drop of water on top of a lotus leaf, floating on the water, it just spins around the top, always moving. It is very unsteady. It is much more static and smooth, but in its own way, it is like if you have a very hot pan and you throw a drop of water and it... That is very violent. The lotus leaf is, of course, much more smooth and passive in its own way. But that drop of water just spins on the top, it has no fixed place.

Like that unless the mind is anchored to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, unless it is fixed on Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then the mind will always be susceptible to be swept away by any one of the six senses, including the mind. So, as a result, the mind cannot be steady. Therefore, one cannot be peaceful. In the next verses, it also explains this. It is like a boat which is on the ocean, and it is being swept away by the winds. If a boat loses its rudder, steering mechanism in the back, then the whole boat just gets blown away.

So, if our intelligence is not fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then even if we try to remain in some aloof position, in a so-called transcendental position, the senses, the mind will always tend to rest somewhere. It is like a bird that cannot fly forever. It is going to settle on some tree. So, if we do not take shelter of Kṛṣṇa is lotus feet, the mind is going to take shelter of one of the senses, and then the senses will be agitating the mind, will be drawing the mind away in this way. One again gets drawn into material consciousness. Just like Viśvāmitra, he was born a kṣatriya, but he wanted to become a brāhmaṇa.

At first, the society would not accept him, that he was a kṣatriya. “How could he become a brāhmaṇa?” But the guru said, “It is possible,” and following their advice, he did some tapasya, and he was finally recognized as a brāhmaṇa. But Vasiṣṭha Ṛṣi did not accept him as an equal. He was proud that he was a brāhmaṇa. But Vasiṣṭha was himself much greater than an ordinary brāhmaṇa. He was a brahma-ṛṣi.

Apparently, in the level of brāhmaṇahood, there are different stages of potency, from a brāhmaṇa to a ṛṣi, to a mahā-ṛṣi, finally a brahma-ṛṣi, who can go up to the planet of Lord Brahmā even. So, it is a very long story. There is often some competition between Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra. But Viśvāmitra is trying to gain recognition, trying to advance. At one point, he, of course, had such a scene with the demigods. One, he would do tapasya, and he would gain his strength, and he would become so powerful.

So, one time there was a śūdra, and he prayed that he wanted to go to Svarga. He wanted to go to the heavenly planet. His name was Hariścandra. It is mentioned in the Bhāgavatam. So, then Vasiṣṭha, Viśvāmitra, he sent him by his mystic power up to Svargaloka. But Indra said, “This person is not qualified. He has not gone through the necessary pious activities. He does not have that type of karma. He should not come here.” He sent him back. Then Viśvāmitra had kept him up. So, he was halfway between Svarga and the earth, between the Indraloka, just hanging there.

And Viśvāmitra was very angry that Indra was refusing to accept the person he had sent. So, then, since he could not... But Indra is also not an unpowerful person. So, then finally, Viśvāmitra, he created an entire duplicate heavenly planet. “Alright, you will not let him go in that? Then I will make my own.” So, with his mystic power, he created an entire heavenly planet and gave that to Hariścandra. So, then that confused Indra, that to have simultaneously... It is like even in Switzerland, I am sure if you had two Züriches, it would confuse everyone. The old Zürich would become envious of the new one, something like that, but probably even more confusing when you are talking about the whole planet.

So, Indra’s whole position was becoming a little bit dubious. So, then to end the confusion of having the whole duplicate planetary systems, he agreed, he made the agreement with Viśvāmitra, “All right, we will take Hariścandra into the Indraloka. You please cancel out these duplicate planets.” But in the meantime, Viśvāmitra lost all of his... because by tapasya, he had gained so much power, he completely expended it. After all that, because it was not in pure devotional service. So, when you are doing devotional service, the more you give to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa again supplies more and more energy. But this Viśvāmitra was doing not in devotional service. So, his energy was depleted, he was finished. Again he had to do tapasya to build up his strength.

So, somewhere in one of those many, you see, episodes like this, he is moving up in the levels of ṛṣi-hood. So, Indra, at one point, thought, “We have to take care of this person.” So, he sent one of his society girls, Menakā, to see if she could distract him. And even though he was so much absorbed in meditation, when he heard her ankle bells, it broke through his meditation, his austerities and as a result, Śakuntalā was born. So, it is said that even the mind is, you see, very advanced with austerities and everything, if it is not fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it can always be drawn away. Sometimes, if somebody is coming up too fast, the demigods get afraid that maybe this person will want to take over our position. They may also obstruct or test.

The same way there was an attempt to test Haridāsa Ṭhākura, but because he was completely fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he could not be distracted. Even so much so that Māyādevī herself came to try to distract Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

māyāra bandhana chindāi’ harināma laoyāya
haridāsa-ṭhākura tāṅre nā pāre dekhāya
[Cc. Antya 3.250]

Even Lord Śiva has a difficult time in some ways. Anyway, of course, he is transcendental to our position. But it is difficult. Of course, nobody can resist, except possibly Lord Śiva, the attractions of Māyādevī. And... but because of his complete absorption in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s mind remained fixed, did not leave the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, did not go to any of the senses. So, by being fixed in Kṛṣṇa and not taking shelter of any senses, only māyā can attract through the senses. So, when Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s total intelligence was fixed in Kṛṣṇa’s service, he was not at all taking shelter in any of the senses. So, Māyādevī did not have a hold. Rather, she also confided in him, and she took initiation from him into chanting of,

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare,
 Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Of course, you read in Bhāgavatam that even great sages, you cannot underestimate the power of these great sages. They are able to, through their austerities, they are able to do such wonderful things but sometimes because they are not cent percent fixed in serving Kṛṣṇa, they have some separate motive. It may be a good motive or it may be to elevate themselves, but the intention is not to give Kṛṣṇa satisfaction. So, as a result, there is also some karma, there are some reactions and some instability there. So, we find in Bhāgavatam, even Vasiṣṭha Muni and Viśvāmitra, one time they got to cursing each other, and they turned each other into ducks and birds or something like that. So, they were such great sages that they became angry and lost their equilibrium, and thus they began cursing each other. So, here they became ducks and things.

So, apparently before that, Viśvāmitra, one time he tried to curse Vasiṣṭha Muni, but that curse was caught by Vasiṣṭha Muni on his daṇḍa. It could not affect him because he said that, “Not a Brahmaṛṣi, you are a Mahaṛṣi. You do not have the power over me.” So, then Viśvāmitra, he again did tapasya, went to Lord Brahmā or something, and he said, “How can I become a Brahmaṛṣi?” He had to do intense tapasya and things. And finally, Lord Brahmā came and he said, “I want to be a Brahmaṛṣi.” So, He gave him the blessing to become a Brahmaṛṣi.

Then he came to Vasiṣṭha and said, “Now I am also a Brahmaṛṣi.” Vasiṣṭha said, “Yes. Congratulations. Now you are a Brahmaṛṣi. But do not think that that is the ultimate. There is something higher.” Viśvāmitra said, “Something higher?” Because all along he had been thinking that that was the highest. “If I can become a Brahmaṛṣi, then I will have made it as the topmost position.” He said, “What is higher?” He almost felt cheated after so many years of tapasya and work. I mean, not years, but yugas, by our calculations.

And Vasiṣṭha Muni said, “No, the nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa, the pure devotees of Kṛṣṇa, they are far above even the Brahmaṛṣis.” So, even a mental son of Brahmā, like Durvāsā Muni, he was defeated by Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. So, even Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, he was attacked, but his mind was steady because he was fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so sublime that even though one does not have this, it is not necessarily that one has all this superficial tapasya and things, but by complete dedication at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, by complete surrender and service, one becomes fixed and one is under the complete shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is Yogeśvara. He is the master of all mystic powers.

In our sampradāya, you see, therefore we are not concentrating on these mystic powers. Some yogīs teach their disciples that they should meditate so they can levitate. And they come up a few inches and then bounce down, and they think that this is a great achievement. But Śrīla Prabhupāda gave the example that once there was a disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura where he had one or two German disciples. And he mentioned that what inspired that scholar who was studying Sanskrit, and what inspired him about Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service, he said that, “Whatever the eightfold mystic system is, they want to get smaller than the smallest, greater than the greatest, bigger than the biggest, levitate, all these things. It is already the modern scientists, they have the same objectives, through their microscopes, they are trying to get smaller, through their telescopes and rockets, they want to go farther, get bigger, through their jet planes, they are able to travel, the objectives are the same. So, these mystic powers, they are also material. It is not that they are spiritual. Actually, to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is pure spiritual desire.”

So, in our disciplic succession, these mystic powers and such things are always considered on a subordinate level, not very important. One example, one time in Remuṇā. Remuṇā, you know that when Lord Rāma was coming back from Śrī Laṅkā after having rescued Sītā in the puṣpaka-vimāna, they came over Orissa on their way to Ayodhyā. And there was one very beautiful place. Sītā said, “Let us stop there.” It was all coconut trees and mangoes and very luscious and beautiful. So, they just stopped there. And in the discussion, they were having a discussion and Rāma was telling about His future avatāra, where He would appear as a cowherd boy and be playing flute. So, Sītā wanted to know what that avatāra would look like. So, they stopped at that place and there, with His arrow, Lord Rāma carved a Deity of Kṛṣṇa in a stone with an arrow from His hand to show Sītā-devī. That Deity is being worshipped in Remuṇā as Gopīnātha. It is the Kṣīra-corā Gopīnātha Deity, the Deity that stole the condensed milk for Mādhavendra Purī. So, the sevā or the worship of that Deity came to the student of the Six Gosvāmīs and associate of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, who was Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita. His chief disciple was Rasikānanda dāsa.

And one time some yogī, he apparently came to Remuṇā and all the villagers, the pūjārīs there tell this story, that there is a samādhi there to the neem twig that Rasikānanda brushed his teeth with. So, why have they put that into a samādhi? So, they explain that one day all the villagers came running to Rasikānanda that, “Come, come, immediately there is a yogī who is flying to the village on a stick, on a branch.” Rasikānanda was brushing his teeth early in the morning.

You know in India they take a twig. It is called neem. Lord Caitanya appeared under neem. So, the same neem, they take a small section of the branch, and you chew on it. And then it, because it is a soft branch, it becomes like a brush. In fact, even the modern medical dental surgeons, they say the best motion for brushing the teeth is the vibrationary circular motion. So, when you brush with a twig, the only motion you can do is this vibratory circular motion. But anyway, that is another point. Everything Vedic has got its perfection.

Anyway, so he was brushing with a twig, just in case you might think it may seem very primitive, but the neem branch itself contains all kinds of juices which are very good not only for the teeth and the gums and everything, but they are good overall for the airs in the body. There is a story about a man who walked to some place and on the way, he kept using this babul, another type of tree they use to brush the teeth. By the time he reached that place, he got leprosy. Just although that is very good for your teeth, it is very bad for the airs in the body. Then he was told on the way back, “You just brush your teeth with neem.” And by the time he reached back home, he was cured of the leprosy because neem is very good for the airs in the body.

Anyway, so he was brushing his teeth with a twig, not to get off the point. Not very interested, and they kept pressing him. They go, “No, no, you should come and see this yogī. He is flying, flying.” Just, you know, villagers, they are very simple. And our Padayātrā, Śuhotra Mahārāja was saying, I think, that the most simple people in the entire world are these villagers. Very simple people. They are just very innocent, very simple people. So, when they see someone flying, you see, even when they see somebody walking, thousands of them come to see somebody flying. (laughter) So, they kept saying, “No, no, you should see this. He is flying.” And Rasikānanda said, “This is not important.” And he took his twig from his mouth and put it under his leg, and he flew around the āśrama four or five times. “This is not important. Simply chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare,
 Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Landed back down and finished brushing his teeth. (Jaya!) So, they took that twig and they put it in the middle of his samādhi. So, our ācāryas, they do not stress these things because Kṛṣṇa is the master of all mystic powers. So, if you are carrying out Kṛṣṇa’s work, well, His will will be done. Because these things also, they can become very distracting for the mind, so the devotees, they avoid them. In our devotional service, of course, previously, to engage in this type of devotional service was especially organized by the brāhmaṇas and by the twice-born people, the kṣatriyas and the vaiśyas.

You see, type of people who are born outside of Vedic culture normally would be very far from this kind of spiritual concept of life. But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is so kind that He has given this special benediction that anybody, they can take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I mean, they can get this mercy no matter what their qualification or disqualification maybe, and where normally it might be difficult to fix the mind on Kṛṣṇa, but by this process of chanting,

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare,
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

It is . . . and engaging in the saṅkīrtana movement, it is quite easy to fix the mind on Kṛṣṇa. Still, some effort has to be made on our part. We should try to depend on Kṛṣṇa, and He will also give us the intelligence.

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
[Bg. 10.10]

And of course, we should follow the intelligence given by the bona fide spiritual master. Here, just like, you see, Viṣṇupāda Harikeśa Swami giving always such good intelligence for printing and distributing Śrīla Prabhupāda is transcendental literatures, involving everyone in this spiritual sacrifice, so pleasing to the Lord. Like this, we follow the higher intelligence, avoiding that type of intelligence pulled by the material senses.

Our material senses may always be pulling us how to enjoy the sense of touch, the taste, the hearing, the seeing, the mind, the smelling, but rather we engage how to do everything for Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure. This way the mind becomes fixed, becomes linked with Kṛṣṇa is lotus feet and therefore it does not become tossed about by these currents of material desire. Śrīla Prabhupāda explained that as soon as we begin to desire something material, immediately we become in anxiety. So, to avoid that anxiety, we should always desire to serve Kṛṣṇa, which is essential.

This is explained in this verse. If we are not connected with the Supreme, then we cannot have a steady mind, cannot have transcendental intelligence, no possibility of peace. If there is no peace, how can there be any happiness? So, it is a very important point.

Tomorrow we are observing Vāmana-dvādaśī, fast on Ekādaśī. And I think you know about how Lord Caitanya observed Ekādaśī when He was two years old. This Ekādaśī was always very dear to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In fact, when He was just two years old, hardly speaking, one day, so, normally Lord Caitanya, He would cry and then when the ladies would go, “Haribol! Haribol! Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare,” then He would stop crying. But this day, even no matter what they did, He would not stop. So, after about ten, fifteen, twenty, and a half hour of chanting different things, He was not . . . For two years, right from that time, He would always stop crying, but this time He was not stopping crying. So, they called in Jagannātha Miśra that, “Please, your son is not stopping crying.” It was a new phenomena.

So, then Jagannātha Miśra, he put little Caitanya right on his lap and said, “Why are You crying? You always stop crying.” He said that, “Jagadīśa Paṇḍita and Hiraṇya Paṇḍita are having a big feast today, offered to the Lord for Ekādaśī. I want to have that prasāda.” (mimicking the sounds of crying) (laughter) Jagannātha Miśra himself, he did not know about any invitation. Because... how did a two-year-old son know? With Ekādaśī, you know, it takes a few years to know about Ekādaśī. Children do not observe Ekādaśī normally. Or even if they do, they just eat what you give them anyway. They were astonished that . . . I mean, of course, Jagadīśa Paṇḍita was Jagannātha Miśra’s close friend. But he lived about two or three kilometers away on the other side of the Jalāṅgī, Sarasvatī River. They had not informed him of anything. It was Ekādaśī. But how did Lord Caitanya, I mean little Nimāi, know about Ekādaśī? They could not figure it out. They had not taught Him about Ekādaśī at that point. And whether there was really a festival that day or . . . they did not know anything. But He was not stopping crying, so he went on to the house of Jagadīśa Paṇḍita.

So, there, this was once a year, maybe on the same day, I am not sure, one of these days. Because for the Lord, He does not have to observe Ekādaśī for Ekādaśī. The Lord can take grains. So, they were offering some special offering for the Lord on Ekādaśī. But they would be taking it the next day. And then they went there and sure enough, there they had prepared like there were one hundred and eight preparations, all little pots in front of the Deity. And then Jagannātha Miśra was astonished. “How did Nimāi know? I did not even know. How did He get the information?”

So, then Jagadīśa Paṇḍita said that, “This Viśvambhara, Nimāi, you know . . . this thing happened.” And then even Jagadīśa Paṇḍita, he said that, “I did not tell anybody because nobody can take the feast. Ekādaśī is just for the Lord. I tell everybody the next day.” So, he took it that nobody knew anything, but He knew, therefore somehow the Lord is acting through Him. Some kind of āveśa or something. So, He should take that. He can have that offering. He can take that prasāda. And they were very happy to give all the offerings to little Nimāi. Lord Caitanya, He partook of that prasāda. And both he and Jagadīśa Paṇḍita and Hiraṇya Paṇḍita, they were very overwhelmed.

So, in this way, Lord Caitanya, even from two years old, He was actually encouraging everyone that they should follow this Ekādaśī. He requested His mother. When He went to Jagannātha Purī, one of the few things He requested was that you follow Ekādaśī. We heard one time the pāṇḍās in Purī, they wanted to force Lord Caitanya to take grain on Ekādaśī. “It is prasāda, You have to take it.” He said that, “The prasāda, I can take tomorrow.” They said, “No, no, You have to take it now.”

So, apparently, this is one of those things that the devotees in Purī tell. Lord Caitanya bowed down to offer His respects to the prasāda. He stayed in that position until the Ekādaśī was over. Then He got up and took prasāda. This way He was able to outsmart the brāhmaṇas. The special purpose of Ekādaśī is that we should increase our glorification of Govinda, that we do not take grains on Ekādaśī. That is especially to help us to remember the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. And that is why we are also trying to increase our chanting. Of course, if we are doing important service, then we go on. But that day is especially for making a little special effort to be a little more conscious about Kṛṣṇa.

One time somebody asked Śrīla Prabhupāda that, maybe it was me, I forget, (laughter) about some of these special days like Ekādaśī and Kārtika month that you get so many bonuses. You get thousand times, hundred times, something like that, the effort by doing things in Kārtika month as if you were doing them at another time. Similarly, on Ekādaśī, you get bonus points.

So, Śrīla Prabhupāda, in fact, there are stories about how even a husband and wife, they were having a big argument over something and yelling and throwing things, just, you know, full-out fight. Even in the Vedic times, I guess sometimes these things did happen. And as a result, they were just so absorbed in fighting and arguing with each other over some point, that they fought through the whole day and through the whole night. Their argument did not cease until the next day. They did not eat, they did not stop for anything. So, because that day they had observed Ekādaśī, if that particular day happened to be Ekādaśī, they did not eat the entire day, both of them got . . . got heavenly planets or something like that, just because they were fasting, even though fighting with each other.

So, somehow each one of those Ekādaśīs, it says, has some name. It always says some Mokṣadā Ekādaśī. Something happened. Like that on that Ekādaśī, that husband and wife, they were having an argument and then they forgot to eat that day because they were so angry at each other that they got elevated because it happened that that day was Ekādaśī. What to speak if somebody is doing it to please Kṛṣṇa? Oh, so then Prabhupāda wrote me. He wrote me that these special days are like in the shops, in the stores, sometimes they have special clearance sales, discount sales. So, this is to attract new customers. He says the regular customers, they are already coming. The regular custormers, the certain clientele is there for the shops. But to attract the new customers, on some holiday they offer some discounts.

So, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that those who are fully engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are already getting the unlimited mercy. But for those who are in material consciousness, just to attract them by, “Alright, on this day you get some special bonus”, to get the new customers, so, these facilities are offered. But for the devotees, they are anyway twenty-four hours, three hundred sixty-five days a year engaged, so that is not a problem. They are regular customers. Just like you are supposed to fast on Ekādaśī, you have to have a feast on Dvādaśī. So, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, fasting and feasting, whenever there is a fast, it is always followed by a feast. Or for the devotee, fasting or feasting, it is the same. It is all for Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure.