19980310 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.13.9

The following is the class given by HH. Jayapataka Swami Maharaja on March 10th 1998 in Sridham Mayapur, India. The class begins with a reading from Srimad Bhagavatam 5th Canto, Chapter 13, Verse 9

kvacin nigīrṇo ’jagarāhinā jano
nāvaiti kiñcid vipine ’paviddhaḥ
daṣṭaḥ sma śete kva ca danda-śūkair
andho ’ndha-kūpe patitas tamisre

Translation by His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

The conditioned soul in the material forest is sometimes swallowed by a python or crushed. At such a time he is left lying in the forest like a dead person, devoid of consciousness and knowledge. Sometimes other poisonous snakes bite him. Being blind to his consciousness, he falls down into a dark well of hellish life with no hope of being rescued.

Translation repetition

Purport:

When one becomes unconscious due to being bitten by a snake, one cannot understand what is taking place outside the body. This unconscious condition is the condition of deep sleep. Similarly, the conditioned soul is actually sleeping on the lap of the illusory energy. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, kota nidrā yāo māyā-piśācīra kole: “O living entity, how long will you sleep in this condition on the lap of the illusory energy?” People do not understand that they are actually sleeping in this material world, being devoid of knowledge of spiritual life. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore says:

enechi auṣadhi māyā nāśibāra lāgi’
hari-nāma-mahā-mantra lao tumi māgi’

“I have brought medicine to awaken every living being from perpetual sleep. Please receive the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Kṛṣṇa (Devotee repeats) mahā-mantra, and awaken.” The Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.3.14) also says, uttiṣṭha jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata: “O living entity, you are sleeping in this material world. Please get up and take advantage of your human form of life.” The sleeping condition means loss of all knowledge. In Bhagavad-gītā (2.69) it is said, yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī: “What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled.” Even in the higher planets, everyone is under the spell of the illusory energy. No one is really interested in the real values of life. The sleeping condition, called kāla-sarpa (the time factor), keeps the conditioned soul in a state of ignorance, and therefore pure consciousness is lost. In the forest there are many blind wells, and if one falls down in one there is no chance of being rescued. In a state of sleep, one remains perpetually bitten by some animals, especially snakes.

That’s the end of the Bhaktivedanta swami translation and purport to Text 9 Chapter 13, Canto 5 of Srimad Bhagavatam,

Bhaktivedanta swami translation and purport ki jaya (Devotee says jaya,,)

Jayapataka Swami Maharaj :

This is the matter of king Rahugana and Jada Bharata, what is the special thing about snakes, … what reason the snake needs to bite , no reason, they say that the tiger , lion bites for its food, but the snakes, it bite everybody, nature is like that, snakes, scorpions and few animals like that are by nature envious, you know the story about, horse wanted to cross the the Scorpio wanted to cross the river, he asks the horse , __can you take me, the horse says while crossing if you bite me, I will die, it says if I bite you I will also die, so they were riding , so the horse took the Scorpio on the back and swimming were across the river, there the Scorpio bite the horse, , why did you bite for ? Then we both will die? Then the Scorpio said it is my nature, I cannot be (Devotee laughs) my nature is to bite.

So we are hearing about the forest, of the material world, and this forest is dangerous entities, so people are __ happened directly right, the material world have to fear snakes in the forest, they have to fear so many _ pythons, gigantic snakes, 10metres long, they say that it is 10 meters long, they can swallow the whole cow, human beings are easy to swallow, they expand the jaws and hips sometimes people are swallowed by snakes and they cut open the snake and take out the person is still alive.

They are just very dangerous, lying in a forest like a dead person, devoid of consciousness, sometimes devotees are, people in material world , who get absorbed in some material desires, some emotional state, saying they were attached, one person told me that they were associating with someone, in order to see about getting married, it didn’t work out. The other person said No,we are not compatible , and he got so much attached to that person that for like a week , the person just like dead, unconscious, coma, thinking three times trying to commit suicide, he was rescued by the guru and sent to the Navadvip Mayapur festival, navadwip parikram and now he is alright.

Sometime, we all devotees are supposed to know that, the body , we are dedicated our life to Krsna and Guru , we have to surrender and serve, somehow we are attached to some situation or decision of the situation, it so happened and then they get frustrated and what is the use of living. It is very easy for the mind to get into some kind of depression. Look at this, the whole material world is a hopeless place. if you start to thinking about all the hopelessness, just like if someone wants to live, will they get into one will leaving all the situations, sometimes, they are trying to climb the hill or a mountain but there is no sufficient foot wear , then _ , __ someone grieved _ in the family… take care of ….. (GM narrates with weeping voice… )_ you can get him, what is the use of living, I can’t take it anymore, and how many people I meet you know,are telling I can’t take it, I can’t take it, it’s too much.

But that’s not the Jada Bharatha, he is trying to king Rahugana, but king Rahugana is an intelligent person, king Rahugana is saying, what is the use, I will give it all up, the whole point is that when we hear these things, we are going to be hopeless, whether in material life, there is no hope. No matter what, whatever may be, there is going to be problem, we are trying to make, “the best use of the bad bargain”.

Prabhupada used that word so many times, best use of bad bargain. We know that material life is a bad bargain, within that we try to make the best use, what is the best use of bad bargain you can get? We become Krsna Conscious .Thank you very much. Then,this is really the greatest gift, this opportunity we have.

Here we are in the the material world which are hopeless case, even if you want to be happy, something will happen tht will disturb you. So there will never be pure nectar. Even in this material life there is always problems that needs the attention. Who was there, yesterday Adiram prabhu, that material statistics have found that 90% of the people in the world are suffering, but 10% are happy materially I mean. They get enough money, they get enough sense gratification, that’s what everybody is trying to be the 10%, They think they are happy, then we read this chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam, we find that even the 10% are not happy. Jaya Radhamadhava Ashta Saki vrinda ki jaya (Devotee says jaya)

Because even the 10%, the merchants, they are the rich merchants who are the 10%, they get stranded in some forest, they get stranded in some big city. One business man, I met him when I was travelling , preaching and then for some reason, one day he became angry with me and he started to shout at me, he said, I am rich, I am a millionaire, you are just a sanyassi, you have nothing bigger, but why is it when you go anywhere people pick you up in a car, they feed you like anything , __ (Devotee laughs_) I ride, people don’t care about me, I have to get my taxi, (Devotee laughs) Sorry prabhu … (Devotee laughs) he was a person, he was a millionaire, he was feeling sad that nobody was picking him up. so even the so called 10%, they have so much of frustrations, problems.

Besides that there is always problem in the material world and even amongst my disciples, give me that so many years disciple are feeding me that I have lot of pressure and Doctor said you can’t eat so much after two years, low salt, low fat, give them, simple sadhu diet and you cannot do anything too much, so disciple too kind to me, please offering some nice preparation, its only one day tell me one day , just a one day, like a every year , that day they wanted to feed you feast only one day (Devotee laughs), then after one day after one day after one day , a feast very soon the body will become hahhhhh… so doesn’t work because in material world there is no way , to overdo it, _ So by the end of the whole story, reading by verse by verse, you know, at the end Rahugana maharaj become Krsna conscious , suppose to be happy, at the end of the story, suppose be real life, since there is no hope to be completely happy in material life, you don’t do it, everything in that material basket (not audible) we give to the material life for requires maintenance for survival and we save a very significant major part of our life energy for Krishna consciousness because that is what really gives us happiness, gives us everything that we are looking for and if you don’t do that is simply frustration.

With with every energy we put in the material side and we are roaming out there, this is going to work and at the end of the golden part, that is all we know then there is frustration, then there is depression, all the other comes, so , we started to detach from that side to whatever extent you are detached, not too attached for loss or gain.

If there is going to be loss, there is going to be gain. sometimes we dont know we may think haha I want , now I want only Krsna,(Not clear) that’s another trick of Maya , then little victory, little success takes you further and further away from Krsna, and boowowowo crashed, what happened , So by discussing the things in such a very open way like this, someone can understand what I should do in my life?

Actually, Jadabharatha is giving the greatest mercy to Rahugana. He says, that when a renounced person goes to house of the householder, they shouldn’t only take something from there, they should give something, they actually go there to give them spiritual enlightening. Instead they shouldn’t go there (not clear) when it comes to talking about the reality of the material world because they need to hear what the dangers are so that they don’t get so much sentimentally involved in the material things, so that when these reversals happen, they get so depressed with the life, without any hope, they won’t be happy.

Because this happened to Arjuna, he is trying to calculate how will I be happy? By killing my relatives, I won’t be happy, if I am victorious on their blood, then I will not be happy, if I leave the battlefield, I don’t kill them, i will not be happy either because my brother, other brother (not clear) he is like, anything I do , I am not going to be happy. So when we start thinking about what is going make us materially happy, it is a sure formula for frustration because of some point we reach calculation, that A doesn’t work, B doesn’t work , C doesn’t work , D doesn’t work , nothing works.

Therefore Bhagavad Gita is spoken by Krsna to take Arjuna out of the illusion. That what comes for if we do for Krsna ‘s pleasure, this is the problem,,, it is said, Maya put so much (devotees) at the crucial moment (not clear) what would be pleasing to my Guru , because that will be pleasing to krishna or what will be pleasing to Guru and Krsna? How can I please them , how can i actually satisfy Krsna, if Krsna is pleased, I will be pleased, so instead of trying externally to calculate, what will make me materially happy, how will I be comfortable, how will I be peaceful, How will I get the things, when these things workout, we get totally frustrated.

We mean to actually be thinking how we can please Krsna, and by pleasing Krsna, who becomes happy, and if we say ok I have got these material desires, bargaining with the lord and disturbing my life, so how Krsna has shown us so many times how that Krishna knows better than we know,what we need.

We should never give up serving Krsna, because for anything, we should never, ever give up serving Krishna. We have to see how we can dovetail our desire in such a way that I can move towards Krsna conscious purpose , somebody want to do music,see how music can be used for Krishna, arati, how to arati for Krishna. We were discussing about last night, here in Mayapur we want to facilitate people, so that they can do the service, do the things that I could do for Krishna.

And here we have an opportunity, because we were in small temples we have puja, sankirtan, temple cleaning,bigger temple got accounts, cashier, we have the congregational preaching, there are so many things that you can do, sky is the limit, Prabhupada says Think Big, what can we do , practically almost anything, _ ashram in India, so the secret is how we remember to ___ towards Krishna.

___heavy rain, material life anyway, at least to please Krsna, I can be more peaceful, my material life is a way that my desires _ all my Krsna consciousness , whether I can do more energy to Krsna, we have to always keep Krsna in the centre that’s what it means. Somebody can take drastic step to control the senses by pure renunciation and that is wonderful. That is if one can can be peaceful by renouncing, then it is a big boon, not everyone can be a candidate for renunciation, even the so called peace in the renunciation means may be itching , may be inviting certain amount of disturbance in the mind, we have to deal with fight.

So the difference in the ashram is what is dealing with renunciation and tolerating and other person is also tolerating but he has little scope for some regulated gratification. I remember one disciple came and told I cannot be because material desires ….. what we do? but desires are goes on increasing. That’s the point, we can never satisfy all the material desires, by material reasons, by material means the mind has got more desire and the body has limited capacity to satisfy. That is why the atma, when the atma becomes satisfied, then the mind and the senses become satisfied.

Somehow have we have to _ but we can actually our energy to )_ so that we can absorb in Krsna consciousness and taste the spiritual happiness. Then everything becomes alright. We have to be fixed up that the real happiness for us is in spiritual happiness. Material happiness is just coming and going, that’s not the essential thing, just like medicine or something, we tolerate, we get better.

But the real happiness, like for example, like the drug addict, drug, they may have a little bit of something, they might try to bring it under some control, so, they can lead a normal life. So someone who is diabetic has insulin injections. That’s not the goal of life. The real thing, the real happiness is something different. It is not just about survival from diabetes. So, here we are in some kind of situation, where sometime, we are forced to deal with sense gratification. The senses, the mind, how to deal with it in such a way that we don’t lose our spiritual life. That is the whole purpose of varnasrama. That is the whole purpose of human life, the spiritual situation, the sadhana bhakthi.

But to deal with it, we have to deal first with the mind, the mind and the intelligence has to understand clearly. When the mind says that this is what is going to make me happy, nothing else is going to work. If this doesn’t happen, everything is hopeless. That is how we get pulled into difficulty and maya is very very expert in creating these circumstances. And if we fall for the trap, eventually we can learn our lesson. This is what we shouldn’t do. We really should pray hard to Krishna. We should pray to the Lord, My dear Radha Madhava, I surrender to you. My life is in your hands.

Sometimes we may have to make sacrifices for Krishna which you may _. That is part of surrender. Giving up something that you like for Krishna. Accepting something which we don’t like for Krsna is part of surrender. If we say anything which I like I will do it, but what I don’t like, don’t expect me to do it. So, what is that level of surrender? The soldier looks for loyalty in the army, as long as it doesn’t bother me or affect my country, ___ How many would last if all the soldiers were to tell that ______

Nothing in the world works like that. That is what the whole Mahabharata is teaching us the character is that we actually accept tapasya, voluntarily accepting difficulties for a higher purpose. Who would become an olympic star, who would become a college graduate if they didn’t make difficulties in order to finish their education course? Who has become a rich business man if they didn’t take some risk, If they didn’t take some austerity, didn’t make some investments that involves taking up some difficulty for a higher purpose.

We were discussing last night, how sometimes Krsna puts us in such a circumstance, so difficult situation that we don’t know how to surrender to Krishna. What about Draupadi? If she had not been put in that circumstance, will anyone know how much love she had for Krishna? How much of faith she had in Krishna and how much Krishna loved her. She was put into the most difficult situation. Why did Krishna do such a thing for His pure devotee? But by doing that His pure devotee became more pure. And the whole world could see how much Krishna loves Draupadi, it is His love for her that protected her chastity, her modesty.

So sometimes we are put into a difficult situation, that is the chance to surrender more. That is the chance to prove how much we love Krishna and if you do it, Krishna will forever be grateful and He will reciprocate with that. When we are put in the most difficult situation, it is the opportunity to win over Krishna . Now I am surrendering when I am put into so much difficulty, but I know that Lord Krishna, You are my only shelter.

Let us read the 9th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita,18th verse where Lord Krishna states that He is the goal, He is the shelter, He is the refuge, He is the final resting place, He is the suhrd – He is the most dear friend. The devotee seems completely helpless but then depends on Krishna and then Krishna reciprocates. But if we don’t depend on Krishna, then we cannot expect Him to reciprocate. Just like this, what a test, the head is put under jumping block, if the Bhadrakali puja is going to offer him as a human sacrifice,lifting up and he is depending on Krishna, thinking about Krishna

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Ma Bhadrakali….. then Bhadrakali comes out of her mukti mode to anger mode, because even Maya loves the devotees of Krishna. She is just doing it as part of her program inorder to make us surrender more, although if we fail, it is horrible, but if we are victorious, she helps us to graduate. so this is the graduate course, if you pass it, you graduate, welcome back home, back to GodHead! If you fail you can come back again for another birth.

If we actually are graduating this life, I don’t have to come back again and do, if I do it , this is the last one. Whateverit takes, I am surrendering to Krsna, Prabhupada says you take initiation, you will take over maya. OK, you want to go back to GodHead, just make sure that you use everything you have to ensure that you don’t come back to the material world. That means you can offer all kinds of bribes, of sense gratification , she can give all types of frustration,she can do anything, she has no rules, she is free _ what you called, anything goes, in regular boxing that someone said,you cannot hit below the belt, but she can do anything, there is no rules for her.

Krishna explains in the Gita:

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā

Very difficult to cross over this maya

Anything , to cross over this Maya,

mām eva ye prapadyante

for those who surrender unto me,

māyām etāṁ taranti te

I take them out of this material world. I deliver them.

So this is the training ground. Actually when I travelled with a devotee few years ago, 1984 and he was riding a flighter plane.___ He took out in his airplane many years ago, in1984 and he was flying a plane, by the way then plane engine just got off, came down in the airplane, (Devotee laughs) ,_____ exactly like about 10000 feet up, jump out ,

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

___Between, what happens if the engine stops (Conch blowing sound)… you freak out, you are in big trouble. thank you very much (Devotee laughs), ___…. But anyway, I am flying, you are flying, so they teach you like that. So here in this material world, we are trained by maya how to surrender to Krsna, and its real life, sometime you so, sometime she does all kinds of things, so for Guru, when he kind of sees disciples failing, they are not taking shelter of Krishna, they are not taking shelter of the Guru, they are not taking shelter of the scriptures, the holy name, the vaishnava, they take shelter of the material mind and what does the mind do? __ you know the answer, more and more complications, more and more complications.

So that to teach the disciples, actually sometimes Maya says, not strong, ok , don’t give too much test, give some lighter test, why do what, sometimes Krsna___ has too heavy. If we fail at the lightest test, what is the use of a heavy test? But we have to become so strong no matter what test comes, we should be able to pass. That’s when a devotee is strong in devotional service. We pray to Krsna, ____This is one qualification. Krsna I left my job, please don’t give me anymore test (Devotee laughs) make it easy for me, Prabhupada has a very good prayer, just like we pray to Krsna, Let me always remain at your lotus feet. Prabhupada was saying that ___ _ I think instructions are that all devotees should pray.

Many devotees ask me to please pray for them, please pray to Krsna, so I am trying to do the prayers, but the danger is there, Maya is very strong, mind is very bewildered, not so intelligent, therefore we need to read Bhagavatam, read Bhagavad Gita, and believe it, and practice it, put it into practice. when we are in difficulty we shouldn’t think I am not strong, I am not Krishna conscious, I am not strong so I should pray to Krishna, Krishna please help me if am strong enough on my own.

I have got Krishna consciousness and I should take help from my senior godbrothers and godsisters, from the spiritual master. I have to strong enough and know how to take help from Krsna, and not take frustration, and giving out _ . Sometime initiated devotee I want to take my life, you want to become a ghost, wander like a ghost ,what is that, they can take another birth and do the whole thing over again, there is no solution.

Devotee should not but some have Maya puts so much tamas in the brain.So please don’t be discouraged by hearing about all these difficulties, Be encouraged that although it is the material world, _ very difficult, how many of you get bitten by a poisonous snake, how many _ some of these things,we should always pray everyday,how can I serve Krishna, how to serve the vaisnavas, this what , in a mystic yoga, sanyasis, , real __ sanyasis go into the forest and simply depend on Krsna, that Krsna will protect from tigers, and poisonous snakes, lions etc, that Krsna will protect from these, you can do that but with our minds and to do that falsely.

So instead, do according to your ashram, it is said, to do the type of sanyas, to do a type of renunciation, to do the type of householder life, all these in association of devotees, we are all Krishna conscious family, family of devotees , where as in a family each other how to be Krsna consciousness, take the help of vaisnavas, in the spiritual master, we should not d___ our mind material ideas we should take the intelligence from sadhu, sastras, and guru , try to build up our strength and never give up, we don’t gain anything by giving up.

We heard, that have every sport in the Olympics , ends first three crossing the line, expect in America )26kilometer run, it is not over the last one who reaches the end., I would surprised if our mind be Krsna consciousness until the last breath even someone died ,__ wife has difficult, even in his last breath, if he can think of Krsna and make advantage, so we shouldn’t give up , because sometimes it is the last breath that we might win , that’s how the _ overuntil we leave the body and that is the end of this body, this to see what we have done, so this life time never cater ourself to serve Krsna, no matter what until get everybody in dark, this is the place do __ to do the service to vaisanavas, to do the service for the deities, to do service for Krsna, to get one’s spiritual strength, this is not the place to go onto the mental platform for sure, here we want to come here.

What happens sometimes in Mayapur is that everybody comes here, dumps all their karma, all their problems and they go back recharged, and we have the closest festival, lila, everybody, we have big kirtans you know, we really had some kirtans and get rid of anything you like things domestic.

Hare Krsna Thank you very much, ______

Any Question

Q; Why don’t we see Krsna helping us?

Krsna not Maya, you can see on back way also, some people like to see in different ways, sometimes it is due to our karma, it is due to our attractions, karma, therefore, Maya is giving us these difficulties. So once we surrender to Krsna we know that Maya is not dependent and it is happening to us, because Krsna is allowing it to happen, Krsna is putting us in this situation so, we are being tested by Krishna. So you can, some people see it better when they see that Maya is attacking, why? Some people are more good, in by make it as a initial thing, but higher level of seeing is to see everything as Krsna.

As people become more attached to Krsna, they become more Krsna conscious, and see _ difficult to Krsna, why you are doing it for me, might be for my benefit, so please help me, so I can cross over. There are many factors why things happen, but the devotee takes that almost Krsna’s care, so __ Krsna. He is permitting it.

That means there is an opportunity to be Krsna conscious when Krishna put us in the situation so that we can come closer to , its helpful for devotee sometime if you see , if you , people see the material world as a dangerous place , then they tend to be more careful , see the material world is too friendly a situation one might not be cautious , is just like , when you are aware of the danger then you take cautions, the steps , when you not aware of it then you might make more mistakes, simply out of carelessness , that’s why both sides are essential aspects to appreciate the_____

We appreciate other aspect or any other doubt, question.

Srimati. ___ (Voice not clear)

Guru Maharaj : What is the best way, that ‘s a really an art, the art of helping people, it is such a personal thing. Swarup damodar met a fisherman who was on a total mental platform, when he touched Lord Caitanya,and he got ecstasy and he thought that he had touched a ghost haunting and he began chanting,

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Then the ghost began chanting

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

So what did Swarup Damodar do? He went up “ Haw Haw Haw”, slapped him three times and said that I, in the name of Krishna order the ghost to leave you (devotee laughs) Att that it was like I go and slap everybody ___, he was chanting hare Krsna, he must have touched by Lord Caitanya, chanting hare Krsna, anybody haunted by ghost does not chant Hare Krishna. So he is really not haunted by Ghost but attracted by Radha Krishna because showing ecstatic symptoms, and one thing, I will talk to him and find out who Lord Chaitanya is.

Alright, in another case also you see sometimes, Lord Nityananda Prabhu and other devotee they are very merciful and would talk to devotees and preach to them, encourage them. Sometimes when Lord Chaitanya was very heavy,sometimes there are different ranges to be caring, generally you have to be caring, you have to really do what is right for the person, the person sould not find it too heavy , expert or having a relationship with that person , to see all the connections to see how much you can help, how the person can be taken to some one more qualified, like sometime we are the the most highly educated doctors here, we have some basic medical degree and in case of a severe case, they call big doctors from Navadwip or Krishnanagar, so then we have to know when we try to help a person, we have to check if that person really has a serious problem.

We have to take the person to guru to senior devotee or somebody who can help, We should not ignore the person, nor allow the person to remain in the diseased condition, we should try to do something to help him , otherwise just like, somebody who is sick and dying, we cannot leave him to die, ___we have to take steps , if you can cure that great, how, what the person ask,do they need care or do they need some strong preaching.

__ just like king rahugana he doesn’t need you know, he is big kstriya, emperor kind of proud, ok jada bharata, telling like it is, all prthe oblems of life, this is to be solved. Do you think you can be happy , no way , isn’t it, no surrender that’s the way he dealt with , sometimes you have to do to liberate, ok what you are thinking , you are not _ sometimes we have to be helpful and sometime we have to be caring, and overall , sometimes we have to be very caring, you know, sometimes you have to be so many different things, so there is no direct pat answer. it’s really an art, something Krsna has to deal , how to help this person , this person needs help, __ what can I do?

Hare Krsna