20251209 Bhagavad-gītā 5.15

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Bhagavad-gītā 5.15

kasyacit pāpaṁ
na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ
ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ
tena muhyanti jantavaḥ nādatte

Translation: Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.

Purport: The Sanskrit word vibhu means the Supreme Lord who is full of unlimited knowledge, riches, strength, fame, beauty and renunciation. He is always satisfied in Himself, undisturbed by sinful or pious activities. He does not create a particular situation for any living entity, but the living entity, bewildered by ignorance, desires to be put into certain conditions of life, and thereby his chain of action and reaction begins. A living entity is, by superior nature, full of knowledge. Nevertheless, he is prone to be influenced by ignorance due to his limited power. The Lord is omnipotent, but the living entity is not. The Lord is vibhu, or omniscient, but the living entity is anu, or atomic. Because he is a living soul, he has the capacity to desire by his free will. Such desire is fulfilled only by the omnipotent Lord. And so, when the living entity is bewildered in his desires, the Lord allows him to fulfill those desires, but the Lord is never responsible for the actions and reactions of the particular situation which may be desired. Being in a bewildered condition, therefore, the embodied soul identifies himself with the circumstantial material body and becomes subjected to the temporary misery and happiness of life. The Lord is the constant companion of the living entity as Paramātmā, or the Supersoul, and therefore He can understand the desires of the individual soul, as one can smell the flavor of a flower by being near it. Desire is a subtle form of conditioning for the living entity. The Lord fulfills his desire as he deserves: Man proposes and God disposes. The individual is not, therefore, omnipotent in fulfilling his desires. The Lord, however, can fulfill all desires, and the Lord, being neutral to everyone, does not interfere with the desires of the minute independent living entities. However, when one desires Kṛṣṇa, the Lord takes special care and encourages one to desire in such a way that one can attain to Him and be eternally happy. The Vedic hymns therefore declare, eṣa u hy eva sādhu karma kārayati taṁ yam ebhyo lokebhya unninīṣate. eṣa u evāsādhu karma kārayati yam adho ninīṣate: “The Lord engages the living entity in pious activities so that he may be elevated. The Lord engages him in impious activities so that he may go to hell.” (Kauṣītakī Upaniṣad 3.8)

ajño jantur anīśo ’yam
ātmanaḥ sukha-duḥkhayoḥ
īśvara-prerito gacchet
svargaṁ vāśv abhram eva ca

“The living entity is completely dependent in his distress and happiness. By the will of the Supreme he can go to heaven or hell, as a cloud is driven by the air.”

Therefore the embodied soul, by his immemorial desire to avoid Kṛṣṇa consciousness, causes his own bewilderment. Consequently, although he is constitutionally eternal, blissful and cognizant, due to the littleness of his existence he forgets his constitutional position of service to the Lord and is thus entrapped by nescience. And, under the spell of ignorance, the living entity claims that the Lord is responsible for his conditional existence. The Vedānta-sūtras (2.1.34) also confirm this. Vaiṣamya-nairghṛṇye na sāpekṣatvāt tathā hi darśayati: “The Lord neither hates nor likes anyone, though He appears to.”

* * *

Jayapatākā Swami: So our actual intelligence should be to serve Kṛṣṇa, but somehow we are not in the spiritual world, we are in the material world. So, Kṛṣṇa gives us the freedom to love Him or to try to lord it over material nature. So in this world, according to the work we do, He gives results of karma. And so if one does sinful activities, they get appropriate reactions. And if they do pious activities, they get elevated. But if they do Kṛṣṇa conscious activities they do not get any material reaction, they go back home back to Godhead. We are trying to promote Kṛṣṇa consciousness, God consciousness and this is the real consciousness that we should have. But we are trying to lord it over material energy. One is thinking, how I can get the maximum happiness from this material nature. But the material senses not only give us pleasure, but they give us suffering as well! Like we are trying to pursue being happy, but in this material world there is not only happiness but also suffering. So the Lord comes down in His different līlās and He wants to show how His loving service gives the real happiness. Kṛṣṇa spoke the Bhagavad-gītā, He gave the instructions how to come back to Him.  He said janma karma ca me divyam (Bg 4.9) – My birth and activities are transcendental, and that one who understands this goes back to Godhead. But we have forgotten, not everyone reads Bhagavad-gītā.

This month of December we try to distribute as many Gītās as possible. But the Bhādra Pūrṇimā is the special day when Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sets are given, and Kṛṣṇa says by doing this we go back to the spiritual world.

Lord Caitanya came to give out this consciousness of love of Kṛṣṇa. Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Śrīla Prabhupāda brought this message of Lord Caitanya all over the world! As the Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while inaugurating this temple, that Śrīla Prabhupāda spread the preaching in every nook and corner of the world, koṇe koṇe! Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! So here in the temple around the parikramā path, are Lord Rāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa līlās depicted. So Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are very attractive. But Kṛṣṇa came as His devotee in the form and name of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So He was showing how to be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa! Whatever Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Caitanya put to practice! He spent 24 years in Navadvīpa. And 18 years in Jagannātha Purī and 6 years around India.

In Juhu temple, we established some lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya also came to Maharashtra and near Mumbai, and then He went to Gujarat and went back to Jagannātha Purī. Then He went to Vṛndāvana, then Benaras. In Benaras, on the way there from Vṛndāvana, He did not stay very long. But on the way back He spent a long time. So, devotees were very upset that the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were criticizing Lord Caitanya. So, to please His devotees, He accepted the invitation to have lunch with the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. At the doorway, they were washing their feet. So Lord Caitanya, He sat there. Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī said, “Why are You sitting in that dirty place?” Very humbly He said, “I am not worthy to sit amongst you!” So then, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī held Lord Caitanya by the hand and made brought Him in the midst of the sannyāsīs. And He asked Lord Caitanya, “Is it not the duty of the sannyāsī is to study the Vedānta-sūtra? Why are You chanting the holy names with these sentimentalists?” So, Lord Caitanya replied that, “My guru told Me, I was a fool! I should chant the names of Kṛṣṇa!”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma,Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

And then He gave some quotes from the śāstras:

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
[Cc. Ādi 17.21]

We should chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and there is no other way in this Kali-yuga. So, like this He also explained the Vedānta-sūtra, and He convinced the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs to become Vaiṣṇavas. So they were all chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra! In fact, one day, Lord Caitanya was bathing in the Ganges, and He went to temple of Bindu Mādhava and was chanting and dancing. Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī came and he touched the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya! And Lord Caitanya in His humility said, “I am not even worthy to be one of your disciples, why are you touching My feet?” But Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī said, “In many ways I have offended You, but now I actually see that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead! So I want to be forgiven for my offences.” Like this, Lord Caitanya made a great impression and changed the whole situation in Benaras!

So, like this we should have an exhibition of Lord Caitanya here. We got Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, we have the other altar also. We have only one photo of Lord Caitanya. So caitanya-līlā is downstairs! Show me, I want to see that! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! So, we see how Godless the present society is. The more we are God conscious, the more the world will become a peaceful and happy place to stay!

Any questions today? I was late because we were discussing in a worldwide meeting how we will have the fourth floor of the TOVP, the spiritual world displayed in Māyāpur. And so, first floor shows we are eternal spiritual entities. The second floor shows how we transmigrate through different species. Third floor is the cosmos. Fourth floor is the spiritual world. So the consultants met with the scientists and the devotees to make the first three floors. But the fourth floor, the spiritual world, is beyond the scientists! A devotee team is working on that. Any questions?

Question: Is it okay to believe that whichever life I make it to Goloka Vṛndāvana, I will be serving under you and His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja? Is it okay to have this desire?

Jayapatākā Swami: In this material world the spiritual master has to find faults and help you to advance. In the spiritual world, there your relationship is with Kṛṣṇa, but the guru becomes like your friend and he helps you. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Question: Thank you very much for your association, Mahārāja. In any situation how to remember and take shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu?

Jayapatākā Swami: Good question! First of all, if we read the books of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Prabhupāda translated the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. And also gave the Teachings of Lord Caitanya. So, these are very esoteric teachings. So, if we know the pastimes and teachings of Lord Caitanya, it is possible to keep Him in our mind all the time. Lord Caitanya told people that you can stay in whatever position you are. Just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and tell people the instructions of Lord Kṛṣṇa! Yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. So that is why I am encouraging everyone to read Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta. And get the degrees. So in this way you can fulfill Lord Caitanya’s instructions. Hare Kṛṣṇa!