Verse: Teachings Of Lord Chaitanya
Thank you all for being punctual. This Krsna consciousness movement is the greatest benediction to this world. In 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada mentions that whenever demoniac influence lords over the religious atmosphere, Krsna descends. The present world atmosphere is highly degraded and Krsna has actually descended in the form of ISKCON. This movement is going to spread all over the world and establish the religious principles. It is the only hope of the world. Therefore, the members of this movement have to become the perfect representatives of Krsna.
Whenever I come to South Africa I feel happy as you people have taken up this goal very seriously. It seems that you people have a very important role in world history of propagation of Krsna consciousness. This is the age of sankirtan and the way one does sankirtan depicts his degree of devotion. Mahaprabhu’s mercy is incomparable as no other incarnation gave this much before. Yesterday, we discussed about the sambandha aspect that Mahaprabhu gave Sanatana Goswami. Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and everyone else is His servant. In order to become situated in that relationship, one has to understand the identity of Krsna. Mahaprabhu gave the highest emphasis on Krsna’s position. In general people have lot of misconception regarding the Supreme God. Some say Narayana is God and some other say Vishnu is God. Mahaprabhu established that Krsna of Vrindavan is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead in his svayam rupa. The point I was trying to emphasize is that unless we recognize the supreme position of Krsna, we won’t be able to surrender unto Him wholeheartedly. Sometimes Christians or even Muslims say that the dedication of the Hare Krsna people is remarkable. It is because the Hare Krsna people have the perfect understanding of who God is. Unless one doesn’t know who God is how can they possibly surrender unto Him? Therefore their surrender at the most is sentimental. In spiritual life, it is very important to know who the Supreme Personality of Godhead is, in order to make spiritual progress. The sambandha aspect of Vedic wisdom given by Mahaprabhu, gives the perfect understanding of Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The second aspect of teachings of Mahaprabhu is the process of relating to the Supreme Personality of Godhead (avidheya). This process of becoming related to Krsna is devotional service. It is not possible to develop a relationship with Krsna without practicing devotional service though there could be some sort of spiritual involvement. The first criterion in developing devotional service is faith. Faith (shraddha) according to Mahaprabhu is to have unflinching faith in the process of devotional service. When one realizes the significance of this process then one automatically wants to associate with other devotees (sadhu sanga). Today, you devotees came to Krsna consciousness because initially you developed some faith. Progressively, you started associating with devotees in temple or Bhakti Vedanta College or Nama Hatta etc., to sustain and progress in spiritual life without which it would have been very difficult. Many of us have to leave home just to follow the four regulative principles. If we had stayed at home, we would have been forced to take the non-vegetarian food. We had to relocate ourselves to get rid of this dangerous material influence and to get the association of devotees. It is said in the scriptures that the association of devotees is the internal association of Krsna. The material nature is Lord’s external potency which is insurmountable. It is for the same reason that in Kali yuga, it is very important to have the association of devotees especially when we are weak. In this process, we feel the need to surrender unto one devotee who is able to give us Krsna. He is our spiritual master on whose instruction we become engaged in the service of Krsna. Devotional service is rendering service to Krsna under guidance of spiritual master. Any service rendered to Krsna is not devotional service as even karmis also render service to Krsna according to their whims. Therefore, service under the guidance spiritual master is essential. The position of a disciple in front of his spiritual master is that of a fool. The Sanskrit work for disciple is shisya coming from the root word shashan. The word shashan refers to chastisement. A true disciple is one who is ready to accept the chastisement of his spiritual master. The guru’s business is to chastise the disciple whenever he sees that the disciple is not properly following the process of Krsna consciousness. In that way, the false ego of the disciple is destroyed. A devotee is a person who is humbler even than a blade of grass. It is the only stumbling block on our way to spiritual sky. When a devotee makes progress he is recognized. The more he goes higher, there is more room for his false ego to be become inflated. It is impossible to overcome the false ego but for the spiritual master. Hence a disciple regards the disappearance of his spiritual master as the most unfortunate incident. Spiritual master is not god but to the disciple he is non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The way one acts towards the spiritual master is accordingly recognized by Krsna. Krsna helps the living entities in two ways- internally as the Super soul and externally as the spiritual master. When his vision is external, a disciple has to depend on his spiritual master. But at an advanced stage he hears instructions of the Super soul. A disciple recognizes the presence of spiritual master within himself. He realizes that the Super soul and the spiritual master are non-different. Krsna instructs as the Super soul within and as the spiritual master without. When one becomes engaged in service under the guidance of spiritual master then his material contamination becomes washed out. That stage is called anartha nivruthi. The word anartha refers to the unwanted attachments like the attachment to the opposite sex, wealth, family members etc.., which hinder the living entity from going back to Krsna. Devotional service severs these attachments. There are various unwanted attachments – desire for distinction, adoration and profit. Finally, these attachments disappear and then one becomes more fixed up in this process of devotional service. When one becomes purified from material contamination, one’s attachment to devotional service begins and one develops a taste for it. Consequently, one feels the spiritual emotions towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead which becomes condensed as the love for Krsna. This love is the ultimate goal of life. According to one’s faith in this process one is situated in different categories of devotion. One whose faith is not strong enough is known as a kanishta adikari. A neophyte is not judged by his time of involvement in the movement or his social position with respect to the movement. It doesn’t depend on time. It depends on one’s faith. For example, a householder who lives outside the temple may be an advanced devotee compared a sadhu who might have been in the temple for a long time. The mistake many of the god brothers of Srila Prabupada made was that they didn’t consider Srila Prabhupada as an advanced devotee since he was a householder. A devotee appreciates other’s devotion and realizes his inability to develop one which is the true sign of an advanced devotee. There are three different stages of devotion- first class (uttama adikar), second class (madhyama adikar) and neophyte (kanistha adikar). When one’s faith becomes considerably strong then he is able to distinguish between a devotee, an innocent person and an offender. When he meets another devotee, he yearns for his association with him as he would be able to hear Krsna katha from him. When he meets a person who hasn’t heard of Krsna then he wants to preach to him. He is called madhyama adikari. A first class devotee’s (uttama adikari) vision is so pure that he sees everyone else engaged in the service of Krsna except himself. Thus, the attitude of neophyte devotee is that he is the only devotee while that of a first class devotee is that he is the only one who couldn’t become a devotee. These qualities cannot be artificially developed. Mahaprabhu went on that it doesn’t matter even if somebody is engaged in devotional service for material gain. Krsna will fulfill his desire and finally will purify him. In any case one has to understand that Krsna always acts in the interest of one’s spiritual welfare. Once when a living entity surrenders to Krsna, He personally takes charge of that living entity. He ensures the progress of that living entity’s spirituality. One cannot imagine what one will receive when he returns to Godhead. In spiritual sky the stones are cintamani – stone which on touching any base metal turns it into gold. Material wealth brings misery. A wise man will not hanker for material wealth but desire for spiritual advancement. Even if some one is kanistha adikari he is bound to make progress in due course of time. Therefore, the most important consideration is to stay in Krsna consciousness and in association of devotees. Devotional service is of two types: sadhana bhakthi and prema bhakthi. Sadhana bhakti is again of two types namely, vaidhi bhakti and raganuga bhakti. Sadhana bhakti refers to the practice of devotional service. This practice can be of two types. Vaidhi bhakti is rendering devotional service by following the injunctions of the scriptures. When the devotional service is rendered following the foot steps of associate of Krsna in Vrindavan it is called raganuga bhakti. The associate of Krsna that we follow is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and our line is raganuga bhakthi. The devotional service rendered following the foot steps of Mahaprabhu is raganuga bhakti as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna Himself in the mood of Srimati Radharani. In this respect, there is a beautiful instruction from Nityananda prabhu. Once Nityananda prabhu took Jiva goswami for Navadwip parikrama. At the end of parikrama, Nityananda Prabhu started to explain the types of devotion. Vaidhi bhakthi teaches us to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the mood of a servant. By following the process of Vaidhi bhakthi one can go up to Vaikunta only. But beyond Vaikunta, there is a region of Vrindavan. In Vrindavan, there is the mellow of friendship, parental and conjugal relationship. Krsna considered the unfeasibility of the living entities to enter Vrindavan. In order to enable the living entities to enter into Vrindavan, Krsna made this special arrangement as He descended as a devotee. When one serves that devotee in the mood of servitor ship, then the living entities becomes qualified to develop a relationship with Krsna as a friend or a parent or a lover. We serve Mahaprabhu as the greatest master. The devotees of raganuga bhakthi though externally follow the rules and regulations internally develop a spontaneous love for Krsna. When one follows the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vrindavan out of greed or covetousness, then they don’t care for the injunctions or the reasoning of scriptures. One example is the gopis in Vrindavan. According to the injunctions, a woman is supposed to completely surrender unto her husband. But, gopis just ran after Krsna, neglecting even their husband. This happens at an advanced stage which should not be imitated. Prema bhakthi is the inherent or the spontaneous love one develops for Krsna which is the ultimate goal of life.
Thank you all very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Does anybody have any question?
Question: Can you explain how exactly the internal energy of Krsna takes one back to Krnsaloka?
Answer: Krsna’s internal energy means Joga Maya. Just like external energy, Mahamaya is bewildering the living entity to keep him away from Krsna, the internal energy of the Lord takes the devotee to Krsna. When huge numbers of devotees gather to render service to Krsna, Joga Maya makes an arrangement to enhance this service to Krsna. Devotees who try to serve Krsna do not live in this material world.
Question: At what level of devotion does one realize that he is not the body? What is false ego?
Answer: This material body is a covering caused by the illusionary energy. It is not just a lump of matter but it is a matter arranged in such a way to make the spirit soul think that he is the body. It all starts in the womb of a mother and gradually he/she develops a consciousness that becomes very much entangled to the body. The cause of this bondage is due to forgetfulness of Krsna. When one reverses the process i.e., to engage in the service of the Lord, he begins to become more and more free from this material bondage. Devotional service means to engage the senses in order to give pleasure to Krsna. As a result, one becomes spiritualized and one’s spiritual body begins to manifest. At one stage, he realizes that his body is different from himself. One can understand all these things theoretically but at an advanced stage one realizes practically. False ego literally means mistaken identity. We all are servants of Krsna. But when we begin to think that we are the master then he mistakes his identity.
Question: How could Bhakti Vinod Thakur who came after Mahaprabhu could perceive His pastimes?
Answer: I will answer the question in two different stages. The first consideration is that a personality like BhaktiVinodThakur is an eternally liberated soul. He saw Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes within his heart and Mahaprabhu’s pastimes are going on perpetually which could be perceived only by some fortunate souls. In that way we understand that though he came after Mahaprabhu still he could see all His pastimes with his spiritual vision. The second aspect of understanding is that although they saw, still they don’t write without some substantial material. I don’t know about Navadwip damahatma, but I know about Harinam-cintamani. It is the teaching of Haridasa Thakur. BhaktiVinodThakur wrote as though HaridasThakur and Mahaprabhu are discussing. I believe that BhaktiVinodThakur received some manuscripts from the followers of Haridas Thakur.
Question: Krsna means all-attractive one. What does Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu means?
Answer: The word “Chaitanya” means consciousness. Mahaprabhu’s name is KrsnaChaitanya meaning Krsna consciousness.
Question: How often Mahaprabhu comes? Does that mean that we are fortunate?
Answer: Yes. It is our very rare good fortune that we have taken birth in this planet when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu distributed Krsna consciousness and then Srila Prabhupada came and distributed it all over the world. Had Prabupada have not come probably most of us wouldn’t be devotees today. So, it is a very special causeless mercy that has been bestowed upon us. Therefore, it is up to us to take the full advantage of that mercy by becoming sincere devotees of Krsna. In a day of Brahma, Krsna comes only once on the 28th chatur yuga. In the same Kali yuga, Mahaprabhu comes to give the perfect understanding of Krsna’s pastimes. He will come again only in the next day of Brahma.
Question: Is the Krsna who spoke Bhagavad Gita is manvatar incarnation or original Krnsa?
Answer: In Bhagavad Gita, the Krsna who spoke that He gave the same knowledge to Vivasvan is not the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is the Vasudev Krsna. Manvantara avatars are His vilasha aspect and again not the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krsna who spoke Bhagavad Gita is the kshatriya Krsna. It is not the business of Krsna to kill but that of Vishnu.
Question: Is there any references in scriptures mentioning the identity of Srila Prabhupada?
Answer: So far we haven’t found any description in scriptures. But I am sure in due course of time, Prabhupada’s identity will be revealed.
Question: How should one view his spiritual master? The spiritual master always acts in a way that he is a second class devotee. Should we literally take it or should we treat him as first a class devotee?
Answer: Disciples business is not only to treat his spiritual master as a first class devotee but to see him non different from Krsna. The more he develops his faith in his spiritual master the more he will advance in his spiritual life. Therefore before taking initiation one must determine his level of faith in his spiritual master. The spiritual master should also be bona fide representative of Krsna. He should act as via, medium i.e., to see the teachings in the disciplic succession all the way up to Krsna. This makes the spiritual process transparent and wonderful. We must understand that a pure devotee will naturally be very humble. But, the disciple should consider that his spiritual master is the only means of going back to Godhead and should treat him with all due respect.
Question: After returning to Godhead is there chances that we will fall again?
Answer: When one goes back to Godhead he never returns. If you are talking about the first time, BhaktiVinodThakur says that it is inconceivable to find out the reason why we fell down. Unless we go back in the spiritual realm of time it is impossible to know the exact reason. Another example is that, when we are dreaming it is not possible to find out how we fell asleep. Prabhupada didn’t want us to waste time trying to figure out how we fell. He wanted us to go back to Godhead just by realizing that we have got an opportunity.