Lecture by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on JPS Live
Type Of Talk:
Darshan
Location:
Coimbatore
Date:
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Collection:
Youtube Videos
Youtube Video:
GURU MAHARAJ LECTURE ON 26 APRIL 2011 IN COIMBATORE INDIA
Jai Radha Madhava….
Reading from the 7th Canto on the appearance of Lord Nrsinghadev and the events
that led up to that.
HH Bhakti Vinoda Swami Maharaj(Srimad Bhagavatam 7.3.35):
TRANSLATION: O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly
grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the
living entities created by you.
PURPORT
After being created from the navel of Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, Lord Brahma, the
original created living being within the universe, created many other different
types of living entities to reside in this universe. Therefore, from the beginning of
creation, the living entities were born of a superior living entity. Ultimately,
Krishna is the supreme living being, the father of all others. Aham bija pradaha
pita: [Bg. 14.4] He is the seed-giving father of all living entities.
Thus far, Hiranyakashipu has adored Lord Brahma as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead and has expected to become immortal by the benediction of Lord
Brahma. Now, however, having come to understand that even Lord Brahmä is not
immortal because at the end of the millennium Lord Brahmä will also die,
Hiranyakashipu is very carefully asking him for benedictions that will be almost as
good as immortality. His first proposal is that he not be killed by any of the
different forms of living entities created by Lord Brahmä within this material
world.
SB 7.3.36
TEXT 36
TRANSLATION
Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the
daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not
be brought by any being other than those created by you, nor by any weapon, nor
by any human being or animal.
PURPORT
Hiranyakashipu was very much afraid of Vishnu’s becoming an animal to kill him
because his brother had been killed by Vishnu when the Lord took the shape of a
boar. He was therefore very careful to guard against all kinds of animals. But even
without taking the shape of an animal, Vishnu could kill him by hurling His
Sudarshana cakra, which can go anywhere without the Lord's physical presence.
Therefore Hiranyakashipu was careful to guard against all kinds of weapons. He
guarded against all kinds of time, space and countries because he was afraid of
being killed by someone else in another land. There are many other planets,
higher and lower, and therefore he prayed for the benediction of not being killed
by any resident of any of these planets. There are three original deities—Brahmä,
Vishnu and Maheshvara. Hiranyakashipu knew that Brahmä would not kill him,
but he also wanted not to be killed by Lord Vishnu or Lord Siva. Consequently, he
prayed for such a benediction. Thus Hiranyakashipu thought himself securely
protected from any kind of death caused by any living entity within this universe.
He also carefully guarded against natural death, which might take place within his
house or outside of the house.
GM: Hari bol! So was Hiranyakashipu successful? Was he happy? What do you
think? Was he very happy? He got all the powers, still he was not happy. Because
he got control over all the planets, all the universes, but he didn’t have control
over his senses. Jai! So when Prahlad told him that to use his senses in the nine
processes of devotional service is the perfection of life sravanam, kirtanam,
smaranam Visnoh, archanam, vandanam, pada sevanam, daasyam, sakhyam and
atma nivedanam – these nine processes are the perfection of life and the highest
thing I was taught, Hiranyakashipu became angry. So we also see that the
materialists, they like also to achieve immortality somehow. Although he could
not ask directly so many benedictions - not to be killed by this, by that but some
Lord Nrsinghadev, He matched all these different benedictions. Hiranyakashipu,
when he saw that his son was not submitting to him, then he said, oh, you are
against our kula and family traditions where we are enemies of Lord Vishnu and
you are a devotee of Vishnu, identify your enemy first. In these verses he is trying
to think, how I can be saved. How I can be secure. Even though he was as close to
immortality as possible. So that is why he knew that Hiranyaaksha was killed by
Lord Varaha, so he was thinking well, the Lord came as an animal, so I should not
be killed by man or animal, of course he did not mean a combination of the two
and Lord Nrsinghadev came as half lion and half man! Narahari! But he was trying
his best to think all the ways how he could avoid being killed by Lord Vishnu. Of
course, this was not possible. Prahlad, when he said to Nrsinghadev, I didn’t see
that form of You who killed my uncle, Hiranyaaksha – I would like to see that form
– so then Lord Nrsinghadev showed the form of Varahanrsimha! Hari bol! And
that deity is there in Vishakapatnam. And that is called Simhachalam. So I was
fortunate to actually see that deity. It only opens for 12 hours on one day in the
whole year. So Somadas(?) He invited me to come by saying you would have
special darshan at this time. So with that promise we went and we had a pass and
we went all the way up on the reverse exit and entered and got up to the final
door and there one policeman stopped us and said, I don’t care, you cannot
enter. We were stuck and could not enter. So somehow he climbed over the
fence and he saw the EO and the EO said well, the police are in charge for one day
but I will see what I can do. So he opened the door and then we were allowed and
somehow I went behind all the servants and somehow got into the temple and
there the deity was there, uncovered. Normally he is covered with sandalwood
but He was uncovered and I could see the Varaha Head and the Nrsingha body.
Hari bol! And I was there for a long time and they were all busy with the crowd
and did not seem to see me! Hari bol! Ha! Ha! So then I was shooed out. One
devotee gave me some special mercy! That deity is millions of years old! Like that
there are very many sacred deities in India, especially Nrsinghadev in various
places. In Karnataka we saw Melkottai – Yoga Nrsimha and of course in Andhra
we have all the deities in Ahobilam in the Navarup – in nine forms, and also in
Vijayawada there is the Paanaka Nrsimha. We heard that in Kali Yuga He takes
Paanaka but in Dvapara Yuga, Treta Yuga and Satya Yuga He takes different
things. In Satya Yuga He takes soma ras – I forget, I may or may not be right – in
one yuga He takes milk, in one ghee and in one soma ras and so. We had the
mercy to visit. Also, Lord Caitanya visited all these temples. His footprints are
there in Simhachalam and also near the deity of Paanaka Nrsimha.
So, Nrsinghadev, He came to save His devotee and we can see that
Hiranyakashipu rather than chant Hare Krishna, how he wanted to become
independent from Krishna or independent from Vishnu and how he can defeat
Him. He thought well, I will kill Vishnu! This was his foolishness. So modern
science says that God is dead. Of course some scientists now say that well,
Einstein said that the way the world is so organized, there must be some
intelligence behind. So some of them understand that the universe has some
order and therefore there is some intelligence. So Brahma, he created the living
entities and Vishnu created Brahma. And Vishnu is also the expansion of Krishna.
Vishnu or Krishna, not much difference. That is why Krishna says that I am the
seed giving Father – aham beeja pradaha pitaa. So He is the Father, He is the
Seedgiver and He is the one who started everything. So this universe is practically
was organized – and because the planet earth fell out of the orbit, to the bottom
of the Garbodhaakshaayi ocean, therefore Varahadev came and lifted up the
earth. So He was attacked by Hiranyaaksha and so They had a fight and He
defeated Hiranyaaksha. Hiranyakashipu, he was afraid of this and He vowed, I will
kill this Vishnu! How dare He kill my brother! But he should have understood that
Vishnu is transcendental and He cannot be killed. It is like Naradama, he told
Narad Muni that if you don’t surrender to me I will kill you! Narad said, I am
already dead, you try. So Naradama took a sword and tried to kill – swish, swish!
He couldn’t kill, whatever he did. Narada said I am transcendental. Like that, we
want to surrender to Krishna and want to take His shelter, but the demons, they
want to kill Krishna. So, when everybody bows down, we bow down face down,
and chant namo maha vadaanyaaya Go brahmana hitaya cha …And the demons
they lie face up and lie also flat in front of Vishnu. So we offer prostrations before
the Lord. Those who want to prostrate as demons raise your hands! Those who
want to prostrate as devotees, raise your hands! Hari bol! Now we will ask Bhakti
Vinoda Swami Maharaj to speak and then we will take questions.
Bhakti Vinoda Swami Maharaj – I don’t think I have anything much to add. Just
that we should understand the difference between the demoniac temper and the
devotees’ temper. How a devotee is always interested in serving Krishna and he
has a feeling that I am a servant of Krishna. But a demon is always thinking how I
can enjoy like Krishna, how I can take the position of Krishna. So Hiranyakashipu
obviously envied the Supreme Personality of Godhead and wanted to take His
position and therefore he made these types of plans which was very foolish, like
Guru Maharaj said. So by the blessings of the devotee of the Lord we may not lose
our intelligence and we may not become foolish. Maya apahrita gyana – that our
intelligence if it is stolen by maya then we can think of all these crazy things. So by
the mercy of Srila Prabhupad, the mercy of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami
Maharaj, and many such wonderful devotees, we are able to keep our intelligence
intact and continue to worship Krishna and continue to offer our service to guru
and Krishna. That is our very great fortune. So it is important for us to keep in the
association of devotees so that we don’t lose our intelligence. It is very easy for us
to have wrong association and think wrongly. It is just about how Prahlad actually
gave association to his school mates and converted all of them by his association.
It is very important to have good association so that our intelligence is intact and
we can always offer our service to Krishna and reach perfection in our lives. Hare
Krishna!
Guru Maharaj: With regard to association… Banasura was previously also known
as Baumasura but before that he was Baumadeva, he was the son of the earth
and he was a devotee. By association with asuras he became a demon. So we can
choose who we want to associate with and if we associate with the wrong people
we also become demons. If we associate with devotees we become devotees! So
it is very important what Maharaj said, it is very important you have to associate
with the right people – with devotees. And that is mentioned in the
Upadeshamrita – there are six things favourable to devotional service - one of
them is satsanga – to associate with devotees. So please associate with devotees.
Prabhupad said that is why he made Iskcon so that all the devotees would get
good association and we havesome place to associate with each other.
Question: Hiranyakashipu asked so many various kinds of benedictions from Lord
Brahma, he could have also asked a benediction that ‘I should not be killed by
Vishnu directly. ‘ Why didn’t he? – Gopala Gaur Guru das
GM: You see Brahma cannot give such a benediction because he was himself
created by Vishnu.
Question: You said Hiranyakashipu was lord of the universe but he could not be
able to control his senses. So is it our life’s mission that we should control our
senses? Rasika Gaura das
GM: You see if mind and senses are not controlled, then we don’t have any peace.
I think everyone wants to be peaceful. And if we are engaged in Krishna’s service,
automatically they become in control. That only happens when we do our
devotional service, we can achieve our life’s mission which is to develop our pure
love for Krishna.
Question: Jaya and Vijaya became Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. They were
already pure in their devotional service, that is why they were in Vaikuntha. So
they have been in Spiritual World (Vaikuntha). So when they descend to the
material world won’t they reflect any of their devotional quality? Santa Gopi Devi
Dasi
GM: They were cursed by the four Kumaras to fall down. They were given a choice
of either being a devotee for seven life times or a demon for three life times. They
thought well, we are the gatekeepers here and we should get back quick to our
service, so we will become demons. So they were programmed as such. So they
forgot who they were and they only knew they were Hiranyakashipu, and the
brahmana and Kamsa and they installed in Tirupati Jay Vijay deity to guard the
temple. Now if we enter the temple there will be the deity of Jay Vijay.
Question: I am learning spiritual knowledge from Srila Prabhupad’s books. Why
that at particular point of time I am forgetting all the spiritual knowledge even
though I learnt many things? Srinivasa Hari das
GM: Krishna says that the conditioned soul is covered by lust. We are thinking we
want something material – either position or followers or something. So whatever
we are attracted by at that time if we are not careful we can lose our intelligence,
we can forget. That is why it is important we have good association. It is
important to understand how many times Prabhupad said, ‘You are not this
body’. We should understand that we are not this body and the pleasures and
pains of this body are not ours but that is as a brahmachari. You think as a
grihastha, you have to engage yourself, all your activities in the service of the Lord
and at that time you will have to have some attachment to your wife but we see
in the material world people want to enjoy women and drinks and so many
things. So they say well, we want to live life to its fullest! But the question is there
is a tamasic way of the fullest, and then there is a rajasic way and a satvic way and
the shuddha satvic way. So when we want to live life to the fullest – that means
side by side, some material activity and knowledge and some spiritual activity. If
you pray to the Lord, if you try to engage all your senses in Krishna’s service, then
you will be freed from this forgetfulness. Otherwise, Krishna, He gives us
knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness. So if you want to enjoy the senses,
then Krishna gives us forgetfulness. If you want to serve Krishna and please His
senses, then Krishna will gives us remembrance and knowledge. Jai!
Question: How to conquer sleep while chanting?
GM: This stage of feeling relaxed while doing japa is first stage of advancement.
Because it means you are feeling very peaceful! Ha….. Snore…. Ha! Ha! Of course
we would like to rise above that stage! To the stage when we feel very
enthusiastic. I don’t know if you are getting enough sleep in the night. It is
important to sleep 6 or 7 hours usually but some people don’t. But
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Prabhupad said would walk and chant japa. He
liked to walk and was a very active person. So some people if they sit down and
chant they might feel sleepy so they have to get up and walk and chant. You have
seen in Mayapur, some are walking around the deities, some are sitting, so it
depends. So initially it is a stage of advancement to be very peaceful and then rise
above that and you feel very enthusiastic when you chant. Some people have a
distraction that they think of all the things around when they chant. It happened
to me as well and I would keep a notebook and write down the thing otherwise
the thing would keep coming in my mind again and again. So I would write down
and then put it away and then I would just concentrate. At the end of my japa I
would see my notebook and see what the points are but during japa I just want to
concentrate on that while chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna …I was reading how
Haridas Thakur when he had some thought in his mind he would chant louder. So
I would chant louder and louder and louder! At that time I was a bhakta in
Montreal with GopalKrishna Maharaj. He was a grihastha and I was a brahmachari
and now I believe he has entered here in Cabin 1. Jai Gopalkrishna Maharaj ki jai!
So since 1968 we are together! All the devotees went and complained to
Prabhupad, this bhakta, Bhakta Jay, he shouts so loud, we can’t listen to our own
chanting. Ha! Ha! Because as a young bhakta so many thoughts crossed my mind
and I would chant louder and louder! HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA…and that
way I disturbed everybody else. So they all went and complained and Prabhupad
called and asked me, you are disturbing all the other devotees, what happened?
Ha! Ha! I explained and he said, well, that is a good reason. But you can chant in
the park. So they exiled me to the park! And when I chanted the squirrels and the
birds, they listened! Jai! … so somehow I found that I should chant once loud and
then stay loud.. Any way you could chant different tunes, different melodies of
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna…(Guru Maharaj sang three different types of Hare
Krishna tunes which was ecstatic! Hari bol!). Like that there can be different tunes
of japa. So if your mind is off you can change the tune of chanting, of course the
japa melodies are very fast but they can also be like a song. Also you can chant
the Pancha Tattva mantra, Sri Krishna Caitanya…
GM: Last question, any on the internet?
Question: From Sanjay and Sapna (GM: Acha! From Dallas!): How do you know
from devotee vs non devotee, can we get cheated by people who look like
devotees but are not devotees?
GM: Hello Sanjay! Prabhupad said as far as business is concerned he would be
very careful. Business is business. He did not consider devotees If they were
disciples and if they got along, he would still be very careful. Of course we had
Bhakti Vinod Thakur, he talks about the apa sampradayas. There is one song :
bhakti tilak gale mala, peeche aache sundara baala – that he wears tilak on his
nose and he has neckbeads on his neck but always behind him although he is a
sanyasi there is a beautiful lady! Ha! Ha! There were 13 apa sampradayas during
Bhakti Vinod Thakur’s time. Now there must be a few more. Ha! So we have to be
very careful. They may be good devotees but may not be good business people.
So like that way, some of our devotees are disappointed because they give large
sum of money to some devotees and some sastra says, don’t do business with
brahmanas. Because someone who is a devotee they may or may not pay back. So
you have to see whether they are business people or not. Just because they are
good devotees does not mean they are good businessmen. Jai! But you could
always give devotees donation! But doing business you have to judge not by their
devotion but by their business nature.
Question: How to uproot the bad habits? Gopathi Govinda das
GM: How to overcome bad habits? Of course we can take some guidance from
some advanced devotee or the guru. Because there are different ways for
different habits. There was one… he was by profession a thief, then he became a
Vaishnava, so his profession was to steal. In the night he would go and move
around the devotees’ clothes but he wouldn’t take anything. So that way he
satisfied his habit to steal. Next day he would hear the brahmacharis shouting,
you have my dhoti, you have socks and he would be happy! Ha! Ha! I don’t know
what your bad habits are but basically, those things which can be dovetailed we
do them for Krishna. And those things which are against our principles, we try to
avoid them. Say, some buys lottery tickets and they also gamble. Gambling is one
of the things that – Kali resides in four places, gambling, prostitution, meat eating
and intoxication. So these things we try to avoid. Other minor bad habits they can
be overcome as I said by good association, like say one has the habit of drinking
tea, you can take decaffeinated tea or herbal tea and other hot drinks that don’t
have caffeine but we try to avoid tea or coffee which have caffeine. Of course
these are minor bad habits. Alcohol and such things are more serious. I don’t
know what your bad habits. I don’t think you have major ones but minor bad
habits also have to be overcome. You can preach to your mind that this thing is
not good and you can get rid of it.
(The class ended here)
Hare Krishna!
JRD/30 April 2011
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