20050831 Bhagavad-gītā 3.36

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 31st, 2005 at Dāmodaradeśa. The class begins with a reading from Bhagavad-gītā 3rd chapter verse 36.

arjuna uvāca
atha kena prayukto ’yaṁ
pāpaṁ carati pūruṣaḥ
anicchann api vārṣṇeya
balād iva niyojitaḥ

Translation: Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?

Purport: A living entity, as part and parcel of the Supreme, is originally spiritual, pure, and free from all material contaminations. Therefore, by nature he is not subject to the sins of the material world. But when he is in contact with material nature, he acts in many sinful ways without hesitation, and sometimes even against his will. As such, Arjuna’s question to Kṛṣṇa is very sanguine, as to the perverted nature of the living entities. Although the living entity sometimes does not want to act in sin, he is still forced to act. Sinful actions are not, however, impelled by the Supersoul within, but are due to another cause, as the Lord explains in the next verse.

Jayapatākā Swami: Arjuna is a very good person. Therefore, he doesn't want to do battle. He is very concerned, why is it that people also try to do things which are apparently wrong? Maybe, in your life, you ever attempted to do something that you knew was wrong or later, you regretted doing it. Anyone ever experienced such a situation? (Guru Mahārāja and the devotees laugh).. So very relevant. Sārvabhauma Prabhu, he is speaking something which is very relevant *devotees applaud*. And I know that, sometimes, in India, people say, what should I do? We are just controlled by Supersoul. So, it was the Supersoul, who made me do it *devotees laughing*. Here Prabhupāda says in the verse, that, it's not the Supersoul within but it's due to another cause. So, this is very clear, we can't put the blame on Parāmatmā. Not fair to give the 'doṣa', the fault to Him when it's not His fault. So, we should also be interested because how we can avoid this kind of situation? How we can be successful to pass over these tests? These are examinations or tests, just like our students here. How many of you are students? So, students, you have to take tests. You like tests. 'nahi' (all laugh). So, in our life also, we face tests. That and this is the kind of test whether we should do something or not do something. Sometimes, we don't know, what is right, what is wrong? So, at least here in this verse, it is said that someone knows that it's a sin. He knows it's wrong. Still, he does it. But, sometimes, we don't know, is it right or wrong? Should I do it? Shouldn't I do it? So, that's why, it's important that we have a spiritual master, we have a guru so that, we can know what is right, what is wrong. We can have a final judge, Supreme court. There's 3 tests we can put something to. It's called sādhu, śāstra and guru. So, this check and balance system that whether what have great souls done in the past, we can learn from their example. That's the sādhu pramāṇa. Then, we have the śāstras. This is the most important. What does the scripture say? Because books are the basis. Everything is based on the Vedas. So, whatever the Vedas say, that is also, that is the most important. Sometimes, scriptures tell different things. Like, scripture tell us, we should not touch, if we touch the stool of an animal or a human, then, we get contaminated. We have to take shower or bath to purify ourselves. Right? sastras says that! But, then, it tells us, we do abhiṣeka of the deity, we use cow dung. Cow dung is also stool of animal. So, it seems to be contradiction. But, the guru can explain that this, sometimes, there is contradiction but this is that exception. Some exception is there that the cow dung, the gobar, that's an exception, it's pure. My Kaviraj in Kerela, he told me that I should regularly drink cow urine. So, whenever, I am in Māyāpur, I take one glass of cow urine in the morning. But, we're not supposed to eat other kind of, to drink other type of urine, only the cow urine (devotees laughing). So, this is very important that, we have to endeavor to do the right thing. That that one makes the one devotee that Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa appreciates when you do the correct thing. Now, why Arjuna, why Bhagavad-gītā is spoken to him? Because he wants to do the right thing. Duryodhana, he doesn't care, if it's the right thing or wrong thing. He just wants to rule, right or wrong. He promised that after 14 years, you come back. Then, when it was time to come back, he said, no, forget it. But, you promised. You promised. They told him, you promised, you gave your word. Now, I change my mind (devotees laughing). This is Duryodhana, you see. But Arjuna, when he made the promise that big I don't defeat this, who is that? Jayadratha, I'll enter into the fire. He would do it, the big difference between Arjuna and Duryodhana. We see, Mahābhārata teaches us the morality that how these people, they had so much truth for them. It is such an important thing. Now, in Kali Yuga, truth is the last leg of dharma. Cleanliness, truthfulness, mercy, austerity, these are the four pillars of dharma. So, it's Kali Yuga. Just the truthfulness is a little bit there. The other things are more or less gone. So, gradually, truthfulness also going. Lord Caitanya, He took it very seriously that they should be truthful, especially, to the vows that they make, their varṇāśrama vows. In the āśramas, someone’s a vairāgī āśrama, is a brahmacārī, vānaprastha or a sannyāsī, then, they should strictly follow the rules of a vairāgī. For the gṛhasthas, they should be very responsible gṛhasthas. Once, the Lord Caitanya was in Andhra Pradesh, in Kūrmadeśa, about 3 hour drive by car from Vishakapatnam, He was approached by one brāhmaṇa. The brāhmaṇa said, I'm rich. I have family. I have cows. I have a house. I have land. I have good position in society. I have every, all the material success. You see, I got all the material but he said I'm not happy. I'm not satisfied. So, I think I'll give all this up and  I'll go with You as a sannyāsī. And Lord Caitanya said, No!, I don't want to hear these words from your mouth. You are in the gṛhastha-āśrama. You should not think about artificially renouncing things because you are not feeling happy. What type of renunciation is this? You're not happy. So, you want to renounce it (devotees laughing). If you are happy, you want to renounce, that will be another thing (Guru Mahārāja and devotees laugh). He said that this is called markaṭa-vairāgya, monkey renunciation. Monkey looks very renounced but actually, they are very attached (devotees laughing). Monkey renunciation, markaṭa vairāgya. He likes this (devotees laughing). So, He said, rather, you should do yukta-vairāgya. You should engage all the things that you have in Kṛṣṇa's service a d you should spread the message of the harināma-saṅkīrtana to everyone.  yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa ...He fave this famous order, whoever you meet, you tell them the message of Kṛṣṇa. In this way, you become a spiritual master and liberate your country people. So many people we meet, we encourage them, please follow these instructions. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbours. Tell your work colleagues about the message of Kṛṣṇa. Do they come, once in a week day, you can, in the evening, come together, have some bhajan maṇdalī, some kīrtana, some bhakti vṛkṣa nāmahaṭṭa group. Get together. Discuss about Kṛṣṇa in the night. Confirmed (devotees laughing). So, but, you know, many people say, I'm too busy. No time. No time for this. I have to do shopping. I have to do this. I have to do that. I have to watch the television. That's why I'm happy when I come here and I see how you are all busy people. You have lots of work. Lots of jobs in your, you have to do for your employers or your business but somehow you make the time for your spiritual lives. (devotees saying Haribol and applauding) So, very good example. Infact, some of our devotees, they, I know one devotee, he lost his job and he came to me and told me that I have to go back to Middle East because the association there is so nice, satsaṅgas are so nice, I find it better than in India. (devotees applauding) Of course, India should also have made satsaṅga. It's the holy land but people there are too busy.(all laugh) There is a saying in Bengali. There's a story told by Bhakti Siddhānta Ṭhākura that, once, there was a man, living next to the train station and his wife was telling, you have to hurry up, train is about to go. You know, you'll miss the train. Oh the train, we live next to the train station, I can go anytime and get in. No problem. I just hear the, you know, train horn, whistle whistle, then I'll go. (devotees laughing) Gives good sound effect (devotees laughing) So, then, train came. Oooo.. oooo..(devotees laughing) chic chi..chic chi..chic chi.. and he went running for the train. But, he failed. He got there too late. You can see delayed and delayed. So, this is a saying, people, who live next to the train station, they miss more trains. (devotees laughing) To go far away, they plan ahead, I have to go 2-3 hours. They go ahead and they wait there. But who is next door, they think, anytime, I can get. So, they miss more trains. So, this is the problem, sometimes in India, there the people take it, this is my culture. It's here, the holy land. I'll do later, when I get old, some other time and like this, time goes goes and pretty soon, they failed. (devotees laughing) It's very hard to teach the old dog new tricks. So, like that, that's why Prahlāda said, to be practicing from 5 years of age. kaumāra ācaret prājño...how old are you? 6 years beyond. You have been practicing since 5. Only from 6 years. They missed one year. (devotees laughing) Now, that's to be born in a family of devotees, it's a great blessing. Right from their childhood, they can be practicing. Taking, from the annaprāśana, from 6 months, they can get the first grain, it's prasāda. I know some new babies coming at this, 5 or 7th month for girls, 6th to 8th month for boys. First grains, you feed them should be the mahāprasādam offered to Kṛṣṇa, pāyasaṁ. I was just in Rajamundry, Andhra Pradesh. I was there. That temple, they have there is just on the bank of Godavari and Gautam muni Ghat. 10 metres to the Godavari. So, I saw the Godavari here. Now it's rainy season, full of water. It's a great chance. I can get a easy bath in the holy Godavari. Then I saw, I said, I want to take bath and then they were so surprised. We live here. We don't take bath in Godavari, 10 metres. (devotees laughing) They say people, who come from a long distance, to bathe in the Ganges. People, who live next to the Ganges, they don't bathe. So, like that, somehow, here, maybe because all around it's the material energy is very heavy. Lots of temptations for material. So, you need more spiritual support. That's why, the satsaṅgas are giving so much strength to you. Take advantage of this opportunity. Always chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Actually, if we go back to India, continue chanting. (Guru Mahārāja laughing) That's very important. That's the big test. So, while some people are taking initiation, pre-test is, when they go back to India, if, they keep chanting. So, we hope everyone will do that because initiation means that  they'll do for their whole life. So, satsaṅga has very important, we have a good association here and chanting the holy name, reading the Bhagavad-Gītā, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. These are all important things for our spiritual progress. Living in a holy place. So, you can make your house into a temple also by putting nice altar of Kṛṣṇa, by having a tulasī plant and worship by putting water in the tulasī. Make your house like a holy place. Then, you can fulfill them. You know, I was surprised to see, in South America, also in Russia, in Sweden, they have big big tulasī plants.... But, they keep the tulasī with special lights. They spray water. They have the whole, lot of, they have to do lot of effort to grow tulasī. So, tulasī with so much difficulty. Here, in this climate, I think, there's no difficulty, they have tulasī. Just little water, you have to put.. not so cold. No problem. Even here, so, anyway I have to leave some time for some women to speak something, his message. (devotees laughing) You want to speak in Hindi and I translate it in English. (Guru Mahārāja and devotees laughing and applauding) I don't think, I can do it as good as you. ( all laugh) . Maybe....I'm just coming now from the, from Malaysia where I went for the World Hindu Federation meeting and at the same time, I was there for Janmāṣṭamī and Vyāsa-pūjā of Śrīla Prabhupāda. So, that's why, this year, last year, I came here for 2 days, of the Vyāsa-pūjā after our Janmashtami celebration. But, actually, there's also 2 days after Vyāsa-pūjā. So, I'm keeping up the tradition. (devotees laughing and applauding) So, 34:32, you can complain. So, I'm the Vice President of the World Hindu Federation and one of the more prior Vice Presidents. So, we are trying to do something to. We also passed a resolution for the Mayor of Moscow, encouraging him to give the lands for the Moscow temple. So, keep one more day 35:35 (devotees laughing) We have, 44 nations are part of World Hindu Federation. 44 nations, I said, I told them that the Middle East has so many Hindus who are in the ex-patriots working in the Middle East and they are not being represented or they should be brought into the preview of World Hindu Federation. So, nothing new about it. Anyway, that's what I've been doing the past few days and then, so, I tried to come here now. Next weekend after, Vyāsa-pūjā and Janmāṣṭamī.  But I want to stay longer, but I have to go for the Regional Governing Body meeting in Baroda. RGB, you know that, right. Regional Governing Body for India.

*Rest of the speech in Hindi*

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

 Date: 31-Aug-2005

Place: Dāmodaradeśa

Transcribed By: Rādhā Sarojini DD

Transcribed On: 12-Jan-2020

STATUS: Completed

Verified by Bhakta Aruṇeṣa