Verse: Uddhava Gita
Date: May 29th, 2013
Place: Gita Nagari, US
This morning and in two classes we practically covered up to the seventh, eighth and ninth [chapters of the Eleventh Canto]. Three chapters we covered. So we will come to the tenth chapter now. From seventh to ninth chapter described about the twenty four gurus of the avadhuta and this tenth chapter is actually describing the nature of fruitive activities.
Fruitive activity is the natural tendency. In the material nature one is fruitive. That means he does something and he wants to enjoy the result of his action. That is called karma and the goal of karma is bhukti. Bhukti means enjoyment. The goal of karma is enjoyment and the goal of jñana is liberation, bhukti-mukti. The goal of yoga is siddhi and the goal of bhakti is prema. This prema is the ultimate goal of life. Prema pum-artho mahan. [Caitanya-mata-mañjusha] Caitanya Mahaprabhu pointed out that beyond this bhukti and mukti one should aspire for love of Godhead, prema, prema pum-artho mahan. Actually Caitanya Mahaprabhu is pointing out that this desire for liberation and desire for enjoyment, even desire for liberation, is like a pot of poison. It has also been described in Caitanya-caritāmṛta [CC Mad 19.176] as a pisaci. A pisaci means a witch who sucks blood. Bhukti and mukti have been compared to a witch, because they allure us away from our ultimate goal and ruin our existence. Even desire for liberation has been considered to be a pot of poison like the influence, or the work of a witch.
So here Krsna is telling Uddhava about the futility of karma. What is the point of trying to enjoy in this material nature? What is the nature of fruitive activity and how to transcend that influence. Everybody naturally wants to enjoy in the material nature. Only when one becomes situated in knowledge, then he understands. What is the knowledge? This knowledge is that the endeavor for enjoyment leads to suffering and the way to get out of this suffering condition is to become a devotee of Krsna. That is the essential knowledge. Real knowledge is to understand the nature of our situation, our situation in this material nature and the actual remedy for that suffering condition.
“A purified soul should see that because the conditioned souls who are dedicated to sense gratification have falsely accepted the objects of sense pleasure as truth. All of their endeavors are doomed to failure.” (SB 11.10.2)
Meaning that those who are thinking that the goal of life is to enjoy in this material nature, they are thoroughly misled. Their life is a failure.
“One who has fixed Me within his mind as the goal of life should give up activities based on sense gratification and should instead execute work governed by regulative principles for advancement.” (SB 11.10.4)
So Krsna is actually giving direct instructions; what should one do? That is the beauty of this Uddhava-gita. In Bhagavad-gita Krsna was not so direct. In Uddhava-gita He is just to the point. What is the goal of life? Now we can see, anyway it will come to that, let me just read these few points:
“One who has accepted Me as the supreme goal of life should strictly observe the scriptural injunctions forbidding sinful activities and, as far as possible, should execute the injunctions prescribing minor regulative duties such as cleanliness. Ultimately, however, one should approach a bona fide spiritual master.” (SB 11.10.5)
So this is the essence of devotional service. Actually this point has been very nicely established by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. In his Madhurya-kadambini Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura is considering what is the cause of devotion? How does one get devotion? He is making various possibilities. This is how they do. They call it purva-paksha and uttara-paksha. They come up with a possibility and then remove that possibility. No, that is not possible. Is it possible to achieve devotional service through pious activities? That is one of the first things he is considering, but he is coming to the conclusion, no. Pious activities cannot give devotion to Krsna. He is even going to the extent of questioning or proposing; does one get devotional service by Krsna’s mercy? Even that he is rejecting. See how wonderfully he is coming to the conclusion. If Krsna gives devotion to someone, and if Krsna does not give devotion to someone else, then it means that Krsna is being partial to somebody. Now Krsna is totally impartial, Krsna is completely equipoised. So it is not possible that Krsna gives devotion.
Then who gives devotion? How is it possible to get devotional service? It is possible to receive devotional service by the mercy of a devotee. Not by the mercy of Krsna, but by the mercy of a devotee only that you get devotion. That is why it is so important to approach a devotee of the Lord who is practicing the process of pure devotional service. Here devotion also has different colours, different types. There is mixed devotion and there is pure devotion. Mixed devotion is when devotional service, even to Krsna, is mixed with some other desire, then that is mixed devotional service. Other desires, what are the other desires? Again we are going to these two points, bhukti and mukti, karma and jñana. When the devotion is mixed with karmic fruitive desire then it is karma-misra bhakti which is known as karma-yoga. When the devotional service is mixed with the desire for liberation then it is mixed with jñana and it is called jñana-misra bhakti or jñana-yoga. But when devotional service is devoid of these two influences, karma and jñana, then it is called pure devotional service. How many of you remember the definition of pure devotional service from Nectar of Devotion?
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
[BRS 1.1.11]
Jñana-karmady-anāvṛtam. Avrta means covered. When devotional service is free from the covering of jñana and karma, no covering, no mixture, therefore it is called unalloyed devotion. Sometimes Prabhupada selected these words so wonderfully. Alloy means what? Alloy means mixture of other metals. Like iron mixed with other metals becomes steel. So this is an alloy , steel. But pure devotion is unalloyed. No alloy. Alloy actually blends together. Even the atomic structure changes, for an alloy. They put nickel, cadmium etc. and iron, simple ferrus, becomes an alloy. So, unalloyed, no mixture, that is pure devotional service. Pure means the substance in its original state, no other mixture.
For example pure water, you need pure water. For medicines they need distilled water, pure water. If the water is mixed with something will that be considered pure? No. Even is that water is mixed with gold, it will not be considered to be pure. Water means pure water. Devotion means pure devotion. That is what Krsna is actually pointing out here. One should be free from all these tendencies of desire for sense gratification. Devotion should be simply motivated to please Krsna. That is the purpose.
As we were discussing, how does one achieve pure devotional service? By approaching a pure devotee of the Lord. We can consider, was devotional service available in the Western world? How did it become available to the Western world? Because of the arrival of Srila Prabhupada. Now this is the effect of a pure devotee’s influence. Prabhupada came and then pure devotional service became available; first to America, then to Europe and then gradually all over the world. That is the effect of a pure devotee. What does a pure devotee do? A pure devotee makes pure devotees. Prabhupada came and so many devotees appeared, so many individuals became devotees. Now sometimes some people say that in ISKCON no one is qualified. This was a big thing. I do not know how prevalent this mood is now, but there was a time when there was big thing which was called ‘ISKCON Reform Movement’. In colloquial terms they are known as Satviks. Their point was, in ISKCON no one is qualified to be a guru. Therefore only Prabhupada is the guru and Prabhupada will continue to give initiation. Although there is no such precedent in the scriptures that one continues to give initiation after his disappearance from the planet.
Now we can see how they are wrong. To say that Prabhupada was a pure devotee, but Prabhupada could not make a single pure devotee. Does it not signify a total failure of Prabhupada? Prabhupada failed, if they stick to that concept. Prabhupada could not make a single pure devotee. But what is the reality? What is the influence of a pure devotee? The influence of a pure devotee is that he makes pure devotees. Therefore pure devotees are often compared to a touchstone. By coming in contact with a touchstone others also become touchstones, in the spiritual context. Touchstone makes touchstone. Just by touch and that is the effect. By coming in contact with the pure devotee one becomes a pure devotee and then by coming in contact with those devotees others become pure devotees. This is how the influence of devotion spreads. That is what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was doing. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would go to a village, stop there only for one night and throughout the night He would instruct the people, those who gathered there.
In the morning He would leave and then Mahaprabhu would tell them, “Now, what I have given you, you go and give that to others.” yare dekha, tare kaha ‘Krsna’-upadesa. [CC Mad 7.128] “You give it to others.”
That is how Mahaprabhu spread the Krsna consciousness movement. That is how the Krsna consciousness movement spreads and that is how Srila Prabhupada also spread the Krsna consciousness movement. He came and he influenced others, young Americans who did not have any contact whatsoever with Vedic culture. What to speak of Vedic culture, they did not have any contact with spiritual life. They could not have cared less about spiritual life, but by coming in contact with Srila Prabhupada they all became pure devotees. They went to different other places and by coming in contact with them those people became pure devotees. This is how the Krsna consciousness movement spreads.
That is why it is so important [to come in contact with a pure devotee]. One of the most important criteria for receiving pure devotional service, as has been pointed out here, is to accept initiation from a bona fide spiritual master. Who is a bona fide spiritual master? What is the qualification of a bona fide spiritual master? Yei Krsna-tattva-vetta sei ‘guru’ haya [CC Mad 8.128]. One who knows Krsna in truth he is a bona fide spiritual master. It is not that only Prabhupada’s disciples are pure devotees. It is not that only Prabhupada is a pure devotee. Then we go to the next stage. Prabhupada’s disciples, those who came in contact with Srila Prabhupada, they are pure devotees. Those who are coming in contact with them, they also are becoming pure devotees. Those who will come in contact with them they also become pure devotees. So this is how the Krsna consciousness movement is going to spread; is destined to spread.
Krsna is pointing out that when one becomes serious about spiritual life. That means when one realizes that this material nature is a place of suffering and somehow or other we have to get out of this suffering condition. Only when one comes in contact with a devotee of Krsna does one get to know the real way of getting out of the suffering condition, because there many other processes. Many of us had that experience. When we were searching for spiritual life, even in India, we came across people.
They said, “This is the way. That is the way.”
There are various processes; performing austerities is considered to be one way, yoga is considered to be one way, performing sacrifice is considered to be one way. Different individuals from their field will give direction in those respective areas, but those are not the real way.
Pariksit Maharaja also faced that situation when he was cursed. He went to the bank of the Ganges. He knew he had only seven days and he was considering; now what to do? Different exalted personalities who gathered there, they were giving him different directions, “Do this, perform austerities, perform yajña.” and so forth.
But only when Sukadeva Gosvami came did he get the real path. What is the way? Surrender to Krsna. Besides surrendering to Krsna there is no way one can get out of this suffering condition.
“One should see one’s real self-interest in life in all circumstances and should therefore remain detached from wife, children, home, land, relatives, friends, wealth and so on.” (SB 11.10.7)
That is what a devotee reminds us. The business of a devotee is to point out what are the causes of bondage and what is the way to become free from bondage. The uniqueness of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s line is that in other ages, even in the devotional path, there was a consideration of rejection, but in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtan movement the unique thing is that there is no need for rejection. There is a consideration of proper application. This proper application Prabhupada pointed out as; what expression Prabhupada used for that? Dovetailing. Dovetail means, you fit in to that mold.
Actually one day we were discussing about the meaning of that word dovetailing and Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, who is an extremely brilliant scholar, he actually explained the word ‘dovetailing’. Dovetail is a word that is used in carpentry. Have you seen two pieces of wood, how do they joined together? One piece has a slot in an angular way and the other piece has a protruding wood in an angular way. What do the carpenters do? They just press it together and it becomes fixed up. That is the meaning of the word dovetailing, to fit in. So that is the uniqueness of sankirtana. In other ages renunciation, detachment etc. was the way, but in the Kali-yuga Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave a very unique process. What is that process? The process of sankirtana; what is sankirtana? Dovetailing.
Whatever is there, just use it in Krsna’s service, apply it in Krsna’s service, apply it in glorifying Krsna. Just use it in Krsna’s service and it will become spiritualized. In other ages the process was to give up the material and then embark on spiritual. In simple words we can say the senses are running towards the material direction. The process was to withdraw your senses from matter and project them onto the spiritual. The process of yoga was actually to withdraw. The fifth aspect of ashtanga-yoga is pratyahara. Pratyahara means withdrawal. Withdraw the senses and then comes the projection to Krsna, dhyana. Can you imagine how difficult this process of withdrawal is? We do not even have to go as far as withdrawing. Let us go to the area of pranayama. You know what is the goal of pranayama? The goal of pranayama is to stop breathing, because when you can stop breathing then only you can stop the activities of your mind.
Breathing and the functioning of our mind have a very close connection. We can see that. When you are very agitated, very disturbed in your mind,