Verse: Srimad Bhagvatam 10.51.56
Date: April 14th, 2005
Place: ISKCON Melbourne, Australia
Transcription: Radhikeshwari Mataji & Labonya Bikash Prabhu
Editing: Vraja Kumari Mataji
tasmād visṛjyāśiṣa īśa sarvato
rajas-tamaḥ-sattva-guṇānubandhanāḥ
nirañjanaṁ nirguṇam advayaṁ paraṁ
tvāṁ jñāpti-mātraṁ puruṣaṁ vrajāmy aham
Synonyms:
tasmāt — therefore; visṛjya — putting aside; āśiṣaḥ — desirable objects; īśa — O Lord; sarvataḥ — entirely; rajaḥ — with passion; tamaḥ — ignorance; sattva — and goodness; guṇa — the material modes; anu-bandhanāḥ — entangled; nirañjanam — free from mundane designations; nirguṇam — transcendental to the material modes; advayam — nondual; param — supreme; tvām — You; jñāpti-mātram — pure knowledge; puruṣam — the original person; vrajāmi — am approaching; aham — I.
Translation:
Therefore, O Lord, having put aside all objects of material desire, which are bound to the modes of passion, ignorance and goodness, I am approaching You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for shelter. You are not covered by mundane designations; rather, You are the Supreme Absolute Truth, full in pure knowledge and transcendental to the material modes.
Purport:
The word nirguṇam here indicates that the Lord’s existence is beyond the qualities of material nature. One might argue that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s body is made of material nature, but here the word advayam refutes that argument. There is no duality in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s existence. His eternal, spiritual body is Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is God.
Lecture: "Krishna – I Love You!"
The Glorious Personality of King Mucukunda
So Mucukunda is praying to the Lord. Kṛṣṇa blessed Mucukunda by appearing in front of him. Not only appearing in front of him, but allowing to render some service unto him. The ultimate perfection of life is to become engaged in the service of the Lord. The living entities are the parts and parcels of the Lord. Therefore as parts and parcels, the living entities’ purpose of existence is to serve the Lord. The purpose of the part’s existence is to serve the whole. When the part does not do that, it naturally becomes isolated from the whole.
An example in this respect can be given: a huge banyan tree has innumerable leaves but every single leaf is rendering some service to the tree no matter how insignificant that service may be, but as long as the leaf renders service to the whole tree, the leaf is connected to the tree. What service does the leaf render to the tree? Cooking the food for the tree - the tree collects the food from the ground and the leaves, with the help of the sun’s rays, transform that food into energy. So the moment a leaf stops to render service to the tree what happens? It falls down from the tree. So the connection to the whole depends upon the parts rendering service to the whole. Similarly, we, the living entities are parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute whole and we all are parts and parcels. No matter how insignificant we may me but we have the responsibility to render service to Kṛṣṇa. And as long as we do that, we are connected to Kṛṣṇa. The moment we stop doing that we become isolated from Kṛṣṇa.
So the reason why we have fallen to this material nature lies in there. We stopped serving Kṛṣṇa. How and when and why, that is another matter. The reality is that we stopped serving Kṛṣṇa that’s why we are here, separated from Kṛṣṇa, in Kṛṣṇa’s external energy and in this material nature. In Kṛṣṇa’s external energy (the illusory energy) what is happening? We are constantly suffering. So we have become separated from Kṛṣṇa because we stopped serving Kṛṣṇa. Now if we want to become connected to Kṛṣṇa what do we have to do?
We have to begin to serve Kṛṣṇa - as simple as that. So the moment the living entity begins to render service to Kṛṣṇa he becomes connected to Kṛṣṇa. Whether he understands it or not doesn’t really matter. The reality is the moment a living entity begins to serve Kṛṣṇa he becomes connected to Kṛṣṇa. Due to his conditioning, because of his bewilderment, because of him becoming illusioned by the material nature, he may not be able to recognize that fact initially, but the reality is, that as soon as a living entity begins to render service to Kṛṣṇa he becomes connected to Kṛṣṇa. So here we are seeing that. That point has become so wonderfully established.
[Guru Maharaj reads the translation again]
“Therefore, O Lord, having put aside all objects of material desire, which are bound to the modes of passion, ignorance and goodness, I am approaching You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for shelter. You are not covered by mundane designations; rather, You are the Supreme Absolute Truth, full in pure knowledge and transcendental to the material modes.”
Surrender to Krishna – The Prime Consideration for Entering into the Spiritual Reality
So, Mucukunda is submitting himself to Kṛṣṇa, now that I have seen You, now that I have found You, let me offer myself to You. Because taking shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the beginning of our spiritual life. In the material nature we do not want to submit or surrender to anyone. That is the nature of this material nature. That’s the characteristic of material nature, that’s the natural thing that happens when an individual comes to the material nature. I want to control everybody and I want to Lord over everybody and I don’t want to surrender to anybody. The spiritual reality is just diametrically opposed to that. The spiritual reality is the reality of surrender. In the material nature we do not want to surrender whereas in spiritual reality everyone is surrendered and the entrance to the spiritual reality actually begins. The prime consideration for entering into the spiritual reality is surrender, submission.
I am surrendering, but to whom? To Kṛṣṇa, and through Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. The devotees of Kṛṣṇa are the representatives of Kṛṣṇa. Spiritual life is a life of surrender and the more we advance in spiritual life the more the sphere of our surrender will increase. It is not that we surrender only unto to Kṛṣṇa and no one else.
Stages of Advancement through Purification of the Heart
Yes, one does that. That’s a neophyte consideration. The definition of a neophyte devotee is that he recognizes Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead- arcayam eva haraye (SB 11.2.47). Kṛṣṇa, he worships Him - arcayam eva haraye. He worships Hari. Pujam yeh sraddhayate. He does that. He worships Hari with great respect and faith but na tad bhaktesu ca anyesu he doesn’t recognize His devotees. That’s why he is a neophyte. But anyway, it is good even though he is a neophyte his surrender to Kṛṣṇa is good, it is the beginning. So initially we surrender unto Kṛṣṇa but then we begin to recognize the greatness of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees and when we do that then we transcend the neophyte stage and come to the madhyama adhikari platform advanced stage, somewhat advanced stage.
So at that point he recognizes Kṛṣṇa’s devotee and that also we notice. The first stage, the first action towards that advanced stage is surrendering unto Kṛṣṇa’s devotee. He may not surrender to many, but at-least he surrenders to one, accepts him as the bona fide representative of Kṛṣṇa i.e., the spiritual master. He surrenders unto the spiritual master. But in that stage also there is a neophyte consideration. Yes, I accept only my spiritual master and no one else. That's also a neophyte stage. The advanced stage is that we recognize other devotees who are also helping us in our spiritual life and we submit to them and in this way we keep on making advancement.
And then there is the madhyama adhikari platform. What is the madhyama adhikari platform? Madhyama adhikari platform has been defined as the platform of a preacher, a preaching devotee. And what is his qualification, his qualification is:
īśvare tad-adhīneṣu
bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca
prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā
yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ
[S.B. 11.2.46]
Isvare - unto Kṛṣṇa he has prem, he has love and tad-adhinesu - to those who are submissive to Kṛṣṇa, that means towards His devotees, he has friendship(maître). To those who haven't come to the platform of devotional service but are innocent, to them he has compassion (kripa) and that’s why he goes out and distributes Krishna Consciousness. He gives Krishna Consciousness out to them. He says: “Please become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, please recognize that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, please chant His Holy Name because this is the only way to express our devotion to Him or this is the best way to express our devotion to Him.” And opeksa, to those who are offensive to Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa’s devotees, he disregards them: “I have nothing to do with you, you are offenders so I avoid your association.”
So these are the considerations of a madhyama adhikari. He discriminates between Kṛṣṇa’s devotee, innocent and offenders. And unto these four different people he has four different attitudes but actually it’s the same attitude. It is his love for Kṛṣṇa that is reflected unto the devotees in the form of friendship, it is his love for Kṛṣṇa that is reflected on the innocent in the form of compassion and it is his love for Kṛṣṇa that is reflected on the offenders in the form of disregard.
But then comes the uttama adhikari platform and in the uttama adhikari platform he cannot discriminate, why? He sees that everybody else has become a devotee, only he himself couldn’t become a devotee (laughs). So that is the most advanced stage. So here we can see - the gradual progression of our devotional life.
With all due respect, first we think that “I am the greatest devotee, I am the best devotee.” Then we begin to see that, “Well, there are some other devotees also (laughs)”. And then we come to a platform when we realize or begin to feel, it is not that one becomes that, but he feels like that. That I could not become a devotee and this has been so wonderfully displayed by many of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's associates and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.
Prabhodananda Sarasvati is saying:
Vañchito’smi vañchito’smi vañchito’smi na saṁśayah
viśvaṁ gaura rase magnaṁ sparśo’pi maam nābhavat
[Caitanya Candramrta Text 46]
“I have been deprived; I have been deprived; I have been deprived. The whole world has been inundated by the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu but I couldn’t even get the touch of it.”
Now he is such an advanced devotee and a very intimate associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a brilliant personality, a brilliant poet, a brilliant writer and one of the most exalted acharyas and he has such intimate association of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu but he is saying, “I have been deprived; I have been deprived. Mahaprabhu came to inundate the whole world with Kṛṣṇa prem but I couldn't even get a touch of it - sparśo’pi maam nābhavat, I could not even get the touch of that prem.”
Kṛṣṇadas Kaviraj Goswami is saying:
jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha
purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
[C.C Adi 5.205]
“I am more fallen I am more degraded than a worm in the stool and I am more sinful than Jagai and Madhai. Whoever sees my face he becomes sinful; he acquires sins just by seeing my face and whoever takes my name, he loses everything.”
Now, is he just making some sentimental statement? No. He is feeling that way and that is the sign of spiritual advancement. The more we make spiritual advancement the more we will feel how unqualified we are to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa Himself, when He comes as a devotee, as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He is displaying that mood in the most wonderful way. When He was told that Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya (Nimai) - Kṛṣṇa is here, why are you crying for Him? You have so much love for Him. He is with you all the time.” And Mahaprabhu responded by saying that, “If I had an iota of love for Kṛṣṇa, then how am I still alive. Due to His separation, I shouldn’t have been alive.
I am doing my things; I am eating; I am sleeping; I am carrying on with my daily affairs; do you call that love?” If I had an iota of love for Kṛṣṇa then I would have been dead by now.” So this is the way a pure devotee of the Lord feels. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appearing as the devotee, he is teaching us that, but one thing of course we must remember, that it should not be artificially done.
Just Become Conscious of Krishna's Greatness - Humility will Automatically Follow
If we artificially try to display these moods, then that will become sahajiya, cheap imitation. Let it happen. As the process of Krishna Consciousness works in our hearts, as the hearts become purified, then it will automatically happen. So there is no need to artificially try to do something. If we are in the kanistha adhikari platform lets be a kanistha adhikari, what is the harm? If I’m a baby let me act like a baby. When I’m a baby why should I act like a grown up? If I do then I'll look like an old man.
So Krishna Consciousness is a very, very natural process of purifying our hearts and it is all a matter of purification of heart. What is the criterion for our advancement? The criterion for our advancement is: purification of our hearts. As the heart becomes purified, naturally you will make advancement. What is the meaning of advancement? Advancement means coming closer to Kṛṣṇa.
First you become aware of Kṛṣṇa and then we get closer and closer and closer to Kṛṣṇa as you make advancement and Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute and we all are minute. So as the minute approaches the Absolute the more it becomes aware of the nature of the Absolute how will he feels himself in relation to that?
He will feel more and more humble. So again this humble disposition is not a matter of practice. We don’t have to practice to become humble, we do not have to try to artificially to become humble, let us just become Krishna conscious, and we will automatically become humble. When the fire is lit, heat and light will automatically be there.
At the same time we must take the process seriously that is what is needed.
This Process Given by Srila Prabhupada is Perfect
The process is perfect and if we practice the process properly, then we will achieve perfection and what is the perfection? The perfection is becoming completely surrendered to Kṛṣṇa as he is saying that “I do not want to have anything to desire from the material nature. All I want is to surrender unto You, accept You as my Lord and Master and when we accept Him as the Lord and Master then what happens? Automatically, we naturally begin to render service unto him and as we render service unto him, the relationship becomes more and more stronger. The relationship, the bond becomes stronger and as the bond becomes stronger we experience loving exchanges. This is also another important consideration.
Krishna Consciousness – A Transcendental Love Affair
Krishna Consciousness is actually love affair; it’s a love affair. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to give Kṛṣṇa prema, love of Kṛṣṇa; show us the way to love Kṛṣṇa. Now if we consider that love affair, then it’s a reciprocal thing; both the parties have to love then only the love becomes complete. If one person loves and the other person doesn't, then what happens? The love is incomplete. Like, a boy loves a girl; a young boy loves a young girl. He fell in love with her and he tries to attract her attention in so many ways. But the girl doesn't respond, how does he feel? He feels miserable. But then, one day he receives a note from her and the note says I love you. How does he feel? Now in this case, Kṛṣṇa is in love with us, but we are not responding. Kṛṣṇa loves us, that is why He is taking care of us in so many wonderful ways. Kṛṣṇa loves us because we are His parts and parcels. We may have become unaware and oblivious of that, but the reality is that we are Kṛṣṇa's parts and parcels, therefore Kṛṣṇa loves us.
Just consider: this little finger is a part of your body. If something happens to your little finger how do you feel? Say, there is an accident and the finger was cut off. What will you not do to get the finger back to your body that is how the whole feels about the part, that is how Kṛṣṇa feels about us, His parts and parcels, the living entities and that is why Kṛṣṇa is going with us wherever we are going as a Supersoul. Wherever we go no matter how degraded our condition is, how miserable our environment is, Kṛṣṇa is always with us, why? Because He loves us. Kṛṣṇa made all these arrangements for us, why? All the food that we are getting, who arranged for us? Supermarkets? No. Kṛṣṇa made this arrangement, such wonderful arrangements He has made.
Just take one small little seed of an apple, that seed falls on the ground and it develops into a tree and in the tree there are so many apples and in each apple there are so many seeds and each seed there is an apple tree and in each tree there are innumerable apples and in each apple there are seeds. So an eternal arrangement has been made for our food supply. Who made this arrangement? Kṛṣṇa, why? Because He loves us. When somebody does something for somebody, why does he do that, especially when he doesn't get anything in return? Why does he do that? Why does the mother stay up the whole night taking care of the baby, why? Because she loves him. So Kṛṣṇa is doing all these things for us, making all these wonderful arrangements for us, because He loves us.
Consider the amount of water that we need and what a beautiful arrangement He has made for water supply. There is plenty of water but all this water is in the ocean and that water is useless, neither can you drink that water nor can you use that water for cultivation.
But look at Kṛṣṇa's arrangement; He made a massive arrangement for distillation. With the rays of the sun He makes the water evaporate and then it becomes a cloud; then He has the wind to distribute the cloud all over and then the cloud condenses into rain drops. Water is supplied everywhere unless there is a drought. Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad Gita has pointed out that:
annād bhavanti bhūtāni
parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ
yajñād bhavati parjanyo
yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ
[B.G 3.14]
The living entity survives by eating foodstuff and food is produced because of rain parjanyad anna-sambhavah and the rain is caused by yajna (sacrifice). Therefore the human beings must perform the sacrifice. So when there is no rain, we have to understand that because of people stopped sacrifices that’s why there is no rain. What to speak of sacrifice, people have become so selfish and avaricious, they do not want to sacrifice for the Lord; they want to grab everything for themselves and the result is they will be in acute scarcity. These are the symptoms of the age of kali. There won't be rain and when there is no rain there won't be any food production and this is due to the sinful activities of this age, this age will become very, very dangerous; the situation of this age will become extremely dangerous and the solution to that is yajnah karma-samudbhavah -to perform sacrifices and what is the sacrifice for the sage, yajna sankirtana prayair- the sacrifice for this age is the congregational chanting of the Holy Name.
The other day while coming to Australia, I was told by some people that there has been a drought in Australia. It is going on for the last so many years and immediately it just occurred to me, “Why don’t you organize a massive Harinaam Sankirtan?” And let us see, let us see invite all the people and say, “Ok! You want rain? Come let’s chant Hare Kṛṣṇa together.” And I tell you, rain will be there immediately and this is how people's faith in the holy name will increase. The situation will become extremely difficult and the solution to all those difficulties and problems lies in chanting the holy name and people will have a clear, clear demonstration of that. The power of chanting the holy name and as a result of that people’s faith will be established in chanting the holy name.
So, anyway to go back to that love affair that we were talking about. Kṛṣṇa loves us that is why Kṛṣṇa is providing us with all the food; Kṛṣṇa is providing us with all the water; Kṛṣṇa is providing us with even more important than water is oxygen, right? Now we take oxygen and give out carbon dioxide, if the process continues, then the whole atmosphere would have been filled with carbon dioxide and there wouldn’t have been any oxygen left. But is it happening since time immemorial? There has not been a case of scarcity of oxygen in the atmosphere. Why? Because we are giving out carbon dioxide and trees and plants are taking carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen. So you can see there is no dearth of oxygen for us due to this certain arrangement and there is no dearth of carbon dioxide for trees and plants. Now, who made this arrangement? [Some answer from devotees] Why did He do that? Why did He make this arrangement? Because He loves us.
Krishna’s Love For Us
Now let us consider this situation: when one person loves the other but the other doesn't respond then what happens to that love affair, it's incomplete. So Kṛṣṇa loves us but we do not love Him. Now if we just try to write a small little note to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa I love you, how will Kṛṣṇa feel? Kṛṣṇa will be jumping with joy. So that is what Kṛṣṇa is waiting for.
Now let us consider this situation: when one person loves the other but the other doesn't respond then what happens to that love affair, it's incomplete. So Kṛṣṇa loves us but we do not love Him. Now if we just try to write a small little note to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa I love you, how will Kṛṣṇa feel? Kṛṣṇa will be jumping with joy. So that is what Kṛṣṇa is waiting for. So a simple response from us: Kṛṣṇa I love You and that’s what Krishna Consciousness actually means.
Krishna Consciousness ultimately boils down to just this simple fact, that our relationship Kṛṣṇa is a loving relationship. Kṛṣṇa loves us but now it’s our turn, now we have to respond to that love and therefore Prabhupada used to say, that if we take one step towards to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will take a thousand steps, a billion steps to come forward and pick us up.
We Simply Have to Desire
To go back to Kṛṣṇa is not difficult; to develop our relationship with Kṛṣṇa is not difficult. We simply have to desire; we simply have to want it; we simply have to work towards establishing that relationship. That has been so wonderfully demonstrated here by His very, very exalted devotee, the son of Mandhata; he appeared in the dynasty of Sri Ramachandra; he is his forefather; he appeared in surya vamsa the Sun dynasty that came from Vivasvan, the Sun god.
In Bhagavad Gita we heard:
imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha
manur ikṣvākave ’bravīt
[B.G 4.1]
This knowledge was first given by Me to Vivasvan, Sun god, then Vivasvan gave it to Manu, Manu gave it to his son Iksavaku and evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ. In this way among through the lineage of rajarshis, this knowledge had been flowing and who are these rajarshis? Mucukunda is one among them. Mandhata, his father was another one of them and in this way it came to Raghu, Ajara, Dasarath, Rama.
Always Remembering Our Position - “Kṛṣṇa, I am your humble servant.”
These are not fairy tales; these are chronological records of this glorious dynasty and we can see the attitude of these rajarshis –“Kṛṣṇa, I am your humble servant.” These are such great personalities; they were ruling over the entire earth planet. Mucukunda was fighting on behalf of the demigods in the heavenly planet. Can you imagine how exalted a personality, how powerful a personality he was? The demigods felt they were lacking in their fight with the demons and they invited Mucukunda to fight on their behalf and he was fighting on behalf of the demigods against the demons - such a powerful individual, such an exalted personality. Now what is he saying to Kṛṣṇa? “Kṛṣṇa please allow me to surrender myself to you.”
Krishna
So in this way we can see how glorious it is to be able to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa and that’s the ultimate spiritual perfection for all living entities no matter how exalted he is. That’s what Indra is praying for, that’s what all the demigods are praying for, that’s what Brahma is praying for “Kṛṣṇa please allow me to serve you; allow me to become completely surrendered to Your lotus feet; allow me to become a speck of dust at Your lotus feet .” Why? because therein lies the perfection of my existence and in this age the process has become so simple, all we have to do is just chant the holy name of the Lord and this chanting of the holy name is whether you understand it or not but when you say:
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
The Ultimate Meaning of Chanting Hare Krishna
So what is the ultimate meaning of this mantra? The ultimate meaning of the mantra is: “Kṛṣṇa I love you, Kṛṣṇa I love you.” So this is how we write our love letter to Kṛṣṇa, “Kṛṣṇa - O all attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead, O giver of the supreme pleasure, forgetting You I am suffering in this material nature since time immemorial, now that I have realized that fact, please allow me to become engaged in Your devotional service and in that way, allow me to express my love for You.” So, it’s as simple as that and then how Kṛṣṇa will respond, we can't even imagine how Kṛṣṇa will respond. So Kṛṣṇa is simply waiting for that and when He sees us chanting the Holy Name, He becomes so pleased, so happy that, “Finally this particular living entity is pledging his love for Me. Now our love affair is complete.”
On the mundane platform one person can love only another person and that also they cannot actually do. On the spiritual platform Kṛṣṇa has the ability to fall in love and make every single living entity feel that Kṛṣṇa is absolutely his and no one else’s. A living entity has that opportunity, that is why Kṛṣṇa is there in our hearts as the Supersoul to develop a very, very special and individual relationship with every one of us. Therefore, there is no need to feel that well this pure devotional service is not for me. Developing love for Kṛṣṇa is not for me. No, every single living entity has this opportunity to love Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa is waiting for that love and then Kṛṣṇa will reciprocate.
When Kṛṣṇa was dancing in a rasa dance, He was dancing with sixteen thousand gopis and every single gopi was thinking that Kṛṣṇa was dancing alone with her. So that’s how we also will experience our relationship with Kṛṣṇa that we do have a personal relationship with Kṛṣṇa and it’s up to us how we are going to develop it and the process has been so wonderfully given by Srila Prabhupada. Now it’s just a matter of practicing the process and the perfection will be there. Thank you all very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Does anybody have any question or comment? Yes Aniruddha Prabhu.
Anirudha Prabhu : It seems paradoxical Maharaj that the most advanced devotee thinks he is still not a devotee at all & it seems to me like a contradictory position.
HHBCS: Right.. Well what to do, that’s how he feels and the thing is that so , even Prabhupada used to say that a uttama adhikari devotee cannot preach because when you feel that everybody else is a devotee and you couldn't become a devotee yourself, how you can go out and preach to them?
Therefore in order to preach an uttama adhikari devotee has to come down to the madhyama adhikari platform meaning, he has to give up his bhajan and come down, he has to give up that solitary relationship with Kṛṣṇa and come out for the benefit of all and preach, distribute Krishna Consciousness and in that platform, in order to preach we have to discriminate. We have to recognize who is a devotee and who needs to become a devotee, who is waiting to become a devotee Who is innocent and who is an offender. SrilaPrabhupada said that ISKCON is a preaching mission. That means in ISKCON we all are madhyama adhikari devotees and at a later stage of our lives some devotees will become a Mahajan, will go into the solitary bhajan state. But otherwise we all have to distribute Krishna Consciousness for the benefit of this world, fulfil Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's prediction. So we have to remain in the madhyama adhikari platform no matter how difficult it is. Sometimes it has been described like to be in a madhyama adhikari platform means no matter how advanced or whatever we are, we have to go along with the rest like the engine of a goods train moves with the same speed as the last compartment. The advanced devotees cannot afford to shoot ahead of everyone although he can but for the sake of benefitting others, he has to remain with them and move with the same speed with which the last devotee is moving. Yes.
Devotee: but the last verse if you are because of this pain of the first one…
HHBCS: Right, because he is pulling them alone and that’s why, you see, like, the senior devotees the more advanced devotees have to make that sacrifice. Like our own spiritual progress is not important. He preaches just to benefit others that’s the mood of Vasudeva Dutta, “Let me take the sin of all living entities and let them go back to godhead and let me go to hell and suffer eternally I don’t mind.” That is the mood of a preacher.” I’m prepared to undertake any amount of difficulties and struggle, but let others make spiritual advancement. Let others experience the joy of Krishna Consciousness.” Yes
Devotee: We are talking about the loving affair with Kṛṣṇa and do you like to tell us how you met Srila Prabhupada so that we can also develop that spirit? to have a...(inaudible)
HHBCS: My first encounter with Srila Prabhupada was in a dream. I wouldn’t say the first encounter with Prabhupada was in a dream actually. The first encounter was through his book, through one book. I got the Nectar of Devotion. Actually I wanted to have Bhagavad Gita butut they didn’t have Bhagavad Gita so I said give me any book that you have. So of the same size was Nectar of Devotion (Laughs).
I feel very fortunate that I got the Nectar Of Devotion and as I started to read from the very first page it dawned in me that this was what I was looking for because I was searching for a spiritual master, I was searching for spiritual life but I was totally disappointed, completely frustrated in my endeavor for over a year searching for a guru. And then when I got the Nectar of Devotion, from the very first page of it became so clear. Prabhupada is explaining how Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and although (I mean as you know), in India practically everyone grows up with some sort of understanding of Kṛṣṇa but although I knew Kṛṣṇa but I didn't know who Kṛṣṇa was. But just in a one (you know) sentence Prabhupada made it very clear: Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and developing our relationship with Kṛṣṇa is actually what liberation is and then Prabhupada explained how there are five kinds of liberation and so forth. So, from the very first page it became very clear to me that this was what I was looking for. And I just couldn’t stop reading until I fell asleep. The next morning when I woke up the first thing I did is just pick up the book and start reading and throughout the day I just read and as you know in the Nectar Of Devotion after some time things just fly over your head (laughs) but still I couldn’t stop reading and then that night I had a dream; I saw Srila Prabhupada and
Devotee: there was.. [inaudible audio]
HHBCS: And I don’t know whether it was a (dream). No, I cannot even say it was a dream. It was something, some perception of another plane which appeared to be a like a dream, I would say. And I saw Prabhupada sitting on a throne. Those days I did not know what a Vyasasana was and sadhus generally sit on simple seat in India. But Srila Prabhupada was sitting on such a grand elaborate throne and there was a brilliant light around him and just by seeing him, my heart became filled with joy, with the awareness that finally I found my spiritual master and that was my first encounter my first meeting with Srila Prabhupada was and then I actually moved into Mayapur. Actually I am from Calcutta, this all happened in Calcutta and then inquired where Prabhupada was and I was told that Prabhupada was in America at that time. So I thought “Okay! until Prabhupada came back to India I would travel to different places where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu performed His pastimes and Kṛṣṇa performed His pastimes and thinking that, the first place I went to was Mayapur and I thought that I would just stay there for a day or two and then move on, visit the different places of Mahaprabhu’s pastimes and then go to Vrindavan.
But when I went to Mayapur the devotees were so inviting, so warm, so kind and practically everybody was asking me why don't you stay here (laughs) and I felt that already I made up my mind that I will join and these devotees are so nice so kindly inviting me to stay then why don’t I stay? I arrived in Mayapur in evening; in the next morning I went to a barber, shaved my head (laughs) and got a dhoti and kurta, went to Ganga, threw away my old clothes and put on my new dhoti and kurta and that’s how it all began and fortunately when Srila Prabhupada came back to India first he came to Bombay and from Bombay he went to Allahabad, Kumbha Mela in 1977 January and a group of devotees from Mayapur went there to Kumbh Mela and I also was included in the team and at the Kumbh Mela there were so many devotees and it was difficult to meet Srila Prabhupada and Prabhupada's health also was not very good at that time, so he was just coming out only twice during the guru puja in the morning and in the evening he would give darshan when thousands of people would come to have his darshan. So there was no possibility of approaching Prabhupada or I was just happy standing in one corner listening to Prabhupada speaking, answering questions of the devotees. Then one morning Prabhupada decided to leave Kumbh Mela and go to Calcutta. So I just took it: , “Ok, Prabhupada decided to leave” and then that day Bhavananda prabhu, he was a sannyasi at that time, Bhavananda Maharaj, he came and told me that Prabhupada is leaving today and a group of devotees will travel with him and you have been included in that team!
And naturally I was very excited and actually a whole first class compartment was hooked into train to Calcutta and that compartment was made for Prabhupada and his entourage and at night the train started. There were only few of us about 14 of us with Srila Prabhupada travelling. And in the morning after the train started, we all took rest.
The next morning I was chanting, Bhavananda Prabhu came and told me, “Come I’ll take you to Srila Prabhupada.” Now all these days I was dying to meet Srila Prabhupada, but when the final opportunity came to meet Srila Prabhupada, I felt completely unqualified or something just I didn’t say anything but I was kind of, I was taken aback a little. Probably Bhavananda could understand that and he grabbed me by my hand (laughs) and he dragged me through the corridor, opened Srila Prabhupada’s compartment door and pushed me in (laughs). And I felt flat offering obesiances (laughs) and when I got up, I saw Prabhupada was looking at me and then Prabhupada told me to sit next to him. The first class compartment in the trains in India has two seats facing each other and on the other one Rameswar Maharaj, Jayapataka Maharaj and Bhavananda Maharaj were sitting. Abhiram prabhu was the temple president of Calcutta, he was sitting on the floor and Prabhupada was sitting on the other one and Prabhupada was asking me to sit next to him.
So I said, “Prabhupada no, I would rather sit on the floor and Prabhupada said, “No you sit here.” So when Prabhupada insisted, there was a blanket spread over the seat so I fold the edge of the blanket and sat down and then Prabhupada gave me the first service after few exchanges Prabhupada just told me: “You translate my books into Bengali.” and that service actually enabled me (to come) to be in very close proximity with Prabhupada because I used to translate and take it to Prabhupada and I used to read it out to Prabhupada and Prabhupada used to correct me. Sometimes he used to appreciate the way I translated.
Then one day Prabhupada called me and gave me a stack of letters in Bengali and he asked me to reply that. So I started to reply those letters. So when I finished that stack Prabhupada asked me whether I could write in Hindi and I told him, “Yes that I can write in Hindi but my handwriting is not so nice.” Then Prabhupada said actually nobody’s Hindi handwriting is nice (laughs) and then he told me a joke. He said once one received a letter from his friend in Hindi. So he replied that next time you write to me please send me the train fare to go to you. So he asked, he wrote back saying why did you ask for train fare to come to me if I write to you. He said because to figure out what you wrote I have to go back to you (laughs).
So then I started to reply Prabhupada Hindi letters also and then one day Prabhupada told me that he was appointing me as his secretary for Indian affairs and Tamal Kṛṣṇa Maharaj was his secretary at that time and he called Tamal Kṛṣṇa Maharaj and told him and asked him that I should move into his room, his secretary’s room next to Prabhupada's room in Mayapur. That gave me another good fortune to be with Tamal Kṛṣṇa Maharaj living with him in the same room and that way we actually been together for over ten months serving Prabhupada and that is how my relationship with Srila Prabhupada started.
Devotee: Thank you.
HHBCS: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Yes
Devotee: In first part you had discussed about the potency of the order of the spiritual master and whether one has to receive personal instruction to be successful.
HHBCS: All instructions of the spiritual master are personal instructions whether he says it verbally or not but like, sometimes he may give somebody a verbal personal instruction sometime he may not. But the main thing is that one executes the mission of his spiritual master. Like I mean well with all due respect and with a heavy heart I must say that so many devotees receive so many personal instructions from Srila Prabhupada but where are they? But those who are loyally serving Srila Prabhupada, who had probably never even met him, now whose relationship with Prabhupada is stronger? It is through our service to the spiritual master that we develop a relationship with him. Yes, sometimes some individual may be fortunate to have personal association, but even if one does not it doesn’t matter because spiritual master has two aspects vapuh and vani. So vapuh is the physical form but more important than vapu is association with his vani because that is what constitutes the spiritual advancement; the vani association, meaning associating with the spiritual master by executing his mission, by following his instructions. So in that case like for example of Prabhupada - how much of vapuh association Prabhupada had of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur? But of all the devotees disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur who is the most intimate? Prabhupada. Right, why? Because of his vani association he made his orders, his instructions his life and soul and that’s why he is glorified in such a way with such a wonderful achievement fulfilling Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction spreading Kṛṣṇa Consciousness all over the world.
Devotee: [indistinct]
HHBCS: Right, exactly.
Devotee: Just like in Kṛṣṇa Kathamrta there is an excerpt from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu giving instruction to Sanatana Gosvami. Sanatana Gosvami begs for the....to fulfil the order of Mahaprabhu and asks Him to place His feet on his head which He does. In that little section Prabhupada writes a disciple can receive instructions but he is going to get the blessings, so how do we get the blessings? If we are not connected to Prabhupada through vapu we have access of him through the vani. Everybody gets the vani not everybody gets... the blessings so where is...(inaudible)
HHBCS: The thing is again about the blessing part of it: sometimes Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or the spiritual master may place his lotus feet on the head of the disciple and empower him but all the time Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is placing the devotees in the heart. Mahaprabhu is not miserly; Srila Prabhupada is not miserly; and they are not making, they are not biased that I will give it to him and I won’t give it to him rather their attitude is it is for all - come take it. Whether he places his feet or not physically, but we can always carry his lotus feet on our head. So through that expression Prabhupada probably implies that when one executes the mission of spiritual master he should do it exclusively for the spiritual master that is the blessings of the spiritual master. Not for our own self-aggrandizement that we should try to serve the spiritual master’s mission. Thank you very much. You brought up a beautiful point.
Devotee: [indistinct]
HHBCS: Yes, you have a question?
Devotee: Maharaja you mentioned earlier about kanistha adhikari.... by imitation no one how you make that distinction or how you make sure that you are using your heart and not mind.
HHBCS: You see mind is very tricky or mind can be very tricky, meaning mind can mislead you. Therefore don’t listen to your mind. Listen to the Vaisnavas, right and execute your devotional service under the guidance of your Vaisnava authority, right? And you will always find the authority structure. Like in Iskcon the authority structure is: temples are managed or led by the temple presidents. The temples are the units and the temple presidents are in-charge of the temple. So the local preaching is executed through the leadership of the temple president, right? And higher than the temple president is the GBC of the zone. The GBC is over all in-charge of the zone. So, the GBC is there to guide the temple and then finally we have the GBC body. So that’s the authority structure that Srila Prabhupada created.
So our responsibility our duty is to follow the authority structure. I am saying for example you render some devotional service. Now depend up on your mind and figure it out yourself how you are going to render the temple service. Go to Aniruddha Prabhu temple president and ask him. You are from Melbourne area? So ask him- how can I render some service. Because Iskcon’s service should be executed through the unit of Iskcon and the unit of Iskcon here, is the temple. Everywhere is the temple. Then of course we have branches and sub branches like we have preaching centres and we have Namahatta centres and so forth. So you will always find an authority. Like say you don’t have access to temple president but if you belong to a group of devotees in that group there must be a leader ask him how can I serve, how can I render service, right? So don’t depend upon your mind.
Devotee: What about intellect?
HHBCS: Intellect! Again it’s another mental factor, another subtle factor, right? Intellect will act towards what your mind wants, right? So, if instead of your mind you allow the devotees to take control, right? So that is the wisest thing to do. Surrender right. If you don’t want to surrender you will surrender to the mind but the mind will mislead us.
You see, in this respect, this body has been compared to a chariot. The senses are the horses, mind is the reign and intelligence is the chariot driver and the soul is the person on the chariot. Now consider what Arjuna did. He gave the reign of the chariot to Kṛṣṇa and who can be a better chariot driver than Kṛṣṇa, right? Therefore we don’t depend upon our intelligence, buddhi rather we depend on Buddhi Yoga which is devotional service which means give the reign of your mind to Kṛṣṇa and let him guide you. And the first consideration for that is surrender. You surrender to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will take your responsibility. You don’t surrender to Kṛṣṇa, you are on your own, alright? Now what’s the better choice? To be on your own or to be depend on Kṛṣṇa and let Him take care of you.
Devotee: [indistinct]
HHBCS: No, you didn’t answer my question [laughter]. Which one is a better choice?
Devotee: Allow Kṛṣṇa to take control.
HHBCS: Right! When you were a little child, did you have any anxiety? You didn’t have any anxiety. Why not? Because you were surrendered to your parents and your parents were making all the arrangements for you and you didn’t have to worry about anything. So can I get back into that situation not with our own parents? Even if they are alive now we have to take care of them isn’t it? But if there is somebody who can really take care of us, if we can surrender to Him won’t you become free from anxiety once again? That’s why the spiritual platform is called Vaikuntha, no anxiety. Why no anxiety? Because everyone is surrendered to Kṛṣṇa and they know that Kṛṣṇa can take care of them better than anyone else. Okay what was your subsequent question?