Verse: Yuga Dharma - The Means Of Spiritual Perfection
Date: December 10th, 2012
Place: MAYAPURA, INDIA
Transcription: Ranga Radhika dasi
Editing: Ranga Radhika Dasi
So how was your Ganga-snana? Did you all enjoy bathing? Was it cold? The thing with Ganga, it appears to be cold but once you take a dip then did you feel cold? That is like the spiritual world: you are afraid to go there but once you go there you'll love it.
So then how was the prasada? Did they serve chapatis? [devotee: it's Ekadasi] Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, today is Ekadasi. What did they serve today? Subji khichari? Okay. Did you get some rest or you have been ecstatically travelling around seeing holy places and submerged in Mahaprabhu's pastimes? Very good. Enjoy your stay in the Holy Dhama.
So today's topic is? Where is the board? Disappeared? So today's topic is the yuga dharma of this age. Yuga dharma, two words. What is the yuga? You know Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, Kali Yuga, Divya Yuga. So a yuga is a cycle of time. How does time move? Anything moves. Everything moves in waves. You know what is the meaning of a wave movement? The meaning of a wave movement is cyclic movement. Of course, the waves in a river moves like that, goes up and down, but when it goes up and comes down then again it goes up. That means it is moving in cycle. At least time moves in cycles. Other things may move in a wave movement, like sound moves in waves, light moves in waves, light waves, but time moves in cycles. Cycle means, one second, what happens after one second? Another second comes. Isn't a cycle? One cycle ended, another cycle began. Then a minute: what happens after a minute? Another minute comes. Hour: another hour comes. Day: another day comes. Week: another week comes, month, year, right? So it moves in cycles. And you can see, in this way the time cycle is becoming bigger and bigger. One of the biggest concept of time cycle is the yugas. One yuga has four phases. One Divya Yuga, one complete yuga has four phases, four yugas: Sattva Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, Kali Yuga. Morning, noon, afternoon, evening. So in this way the time moves. So the largest concept of time is Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, Kali Yuga. So there are four yugas and four yugas together make one Divya Yuga. Now one thousand such Divya Yugas make a day of Brahma. Can you imagine? What is one day of our time? Twenty four hours. But you can see the concept of Brahma's time is so large: one thousand chatur-yugas make a day of Brahma. According to that calculation Brahma lives for one hundred years. So there are four yugas. So that is the concept of yuga. What we are going to discuss today is a combination of two words: yuga and dharma.
What is dharma? What is the definition of dharma? Everybody knows the word dharma. Okay, you want to define dharma? [devotee: inaudible] Very good! Very good. Dharmam tu sakshad bhagavat-pranitam. [SB 6.3.19] Dharma is the law given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. But what goes on in the name of dharma in this material world is not exactly that dharma. In the material world generally we think dharma means religion, isn't it? But dharma is not actually religion. Dharma is the law given by the Lord. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself gave this law. Can anybody make law? In India can anybody say, "Well, this is the law of India?" Who makes the law? The authority of the nation makes the law, right? If it's a king he makes the law. If it is a democratic society then that parliament makes the law. Their collective body makes the law. The government makes the law. And what is everybody expected to do? What is everyone expected to do? Everyone is expected to abide by the law. So that is one concept of dharma: the law given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
And then there are various laws given by the Lord. One concept of the dharma is varnashrama-dharma. Did Krishna say in the Bhagavad-gita, chatur-varnyam maya sristam guna karma vibhagasah? So this varnashrama system, who gave it? Who made it? Krishna Himself. Varnashrama-dharma. Another concept of dharma is given by Manu, Manu Samhita, the law that has been given by Manu. Manu Samhita is actually the law given for the human society. And especially Indian law is actually based on this Manu Samhita. Many other laws are also actually based on Manu Samhita. Originally the human civilization is coming from one source. That is the Vedas. They became distorted in course of time and place but that is how the law actually came, the concept actually came.
So anyway, one concept of dharma is the law given by the Lord. Another concept of law is an even deeper concept, a more profound concept of dharma. That actually means the inherent characteristic of a substance. The inherent characteristic of a substance. For example, you take a substance and the characteristic of the substance is the dharma of the substance. For example, fire. What are the inherent characteristics of fire? Heat and light. So heat and light are the dharma of fire. Liquidity is the dharma of water. Can you think of water without liquidity? You can, when water becomes solid. When it loses its liquidity and becomes solid do you call it water? Although the molecules are the same but we call it ice. Then ice has another dharma. When the water becomes vapor, do you call it water? We call it vapor, water vapor. So in this way when the characteristics of the substance change the identity of the substance also changes. Now you consider any substance, say for example, you consider, this is what? Karatala. Now the moment you say karatala, does it have some inherent characteristics? So that becomes the dharma of the karatala.
In our school also, when we studied our different subjects, then also we learned like what is the characteristic of water? What is the dharma of water? Did you use the word dharma there in Hindi? Characteristics of water, what is the Hindi expression for that? [devotees: guna] Okay, guna, but in Bengali there is an expression, "dharma, they use the expression "jaler dharma", paani ka dharma. [the dharma of water] In Sanskrit also, Bengali is more close to Sanskrit. Anyway, you get the point.
Now these characteristics are not only in inert objects. You get these characteristics in living objects also. Say for example, the moment you say "tiger", do you think of the dharma of the tiger, the characteristic of the tiger? Does the tiger behave like the cow? Or does a cow behave like a tiger? Does a fox behave like a lion? So you can see, similarly human beings they have their characteristics. Every substance has their inherent characteristics and that is the dharma of the substance. Now atma is a substance. Do you believe in atma? So what is atma? Atma is something that is existing. So atma is a substance. So atma has a dharma also. So what is the dharma of atma? To love whom? To love the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So that is the dharma of the atma. And since atma is nitya or sanatana, this dharma of the atma is also considered to be nitya and sanatana. So this dharma is called nitya-dharma or sanatana-dharma: to love the Lord.
Now the way to love God or the way to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead differs in different times according to the ability of a person. In Satya Yuga when people are very competent, very able, spiritually very advanced, then the dharma of that yuga was dhyana. Then what yuga came after that (Satya Yuga)? Treta Yuga. So the dharma of Treta Yuga also changed from Satya Yuga. As yuga changed the dharma of the yuga, yuga dharma, also changed. What is the yuga dharma of Treta Yuga? Yajna. I can see that you all are very learned scholars, very expert in Krishna conscious philosophy. Okay, what is the yuga next to Treta Yuga? [devotees: Dvapara Yuga] Dvapara Yuga. What is the yuga dharma of Dvapara Yuga? [devotees: worship] Worshipping, archana, worshipping the Lord in the temple. And which yuga we are in now? [devotees: Kali Yuga] Kali Yuga, and what is the Yuga dharma of Kali Yuga? [devotees: chanting Hare Krishna] Chanting the Holy Name of the Lord congregationally, sankirtana. Krite yad dhyayato vishnum [SB 12.3.52] Krite means Satya Yuga. Dhyayato vishnum, meditating on Vishnu. Tretayam yajato makhaih. The dharma of the age of Kali is yajato makhaih. Makhaih means Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yajato means performing sacrifice to please Him. Dvapare paricaryayam, in Dvapara Yuga the dharma is to serve the Lord, worship the Lord in the temple, paricarya. And kalau, in the age of Kali, tad dhari-kirtanat, the dharma for the age of Kali is to chant the Holy Name of the Lord.
So this is the yuga dharma of the age. Now the question may arise why the dharma is changing in different yugas. Why there is not the same dharma? The yuga dharmas are changing according to the yugas because the ability of individuals are changing according to yuga. In Satya Yuga everybody was very pure and at that time Dharma was standing in a perfect way. Dharma stands on four pillars. What are those four pillars of dharma? Austerity, mercy, cleanliness and truthfulness. These are the four pillars of dharma. In Satya Yuga all the four pillars were intact. Everybody followed these principles. Everybody was austere. Everybody was merciful. Everybody was very clean, absolutely pure, and everybody was absolutely truthful. So that is Satya Yuga. So when people are situated in such a way, aren't they naturally going to be very, very capable? The more pure you are, the more capable you are spiritually. So that's why in Satya Yuga people very easily could meditate upon the Lord. Because they were so pure they were not diverted by the allurements of the material nature. That is why they could meditate.
How many of you read the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-gita? Okay, what does the sixth chapter describe? [audience: dhyana-yoga] Dhyana-yoga. Now what are the criteria for meditation or dhyana? Do you remember? What is the first consideration? One must go to a solitary place, go away from city, town or even villages. Don't even stay in the villages! Go away! Go to a holy place. Sucau dese pratisthapya sthiram asanam atmanah. [Bg 6.11] So go to some holy place, but in a solitary place, there, on the bank of a river you start to live. And then there you create that asana. Cailajina-kusottaram, on deer skin. Kusha-asana on deer skin. And there you sit, with your head, spine and neck, grivam, your chin holding in, in a straight line, very straight. Because these are the criteria for fixing your mind.
So then you perform, this astanga-yoga has eight levels, eight aspects. Like the first consideration is yama, external purification. Then niyama, internal purification: purification of the mind, purification of the subtle body. And then asana: sitting in a proper way. And not just sit for five minutes or ten minutes. Just stay sitting there. Sometimes they would not even sit. Like do you remember what Hiranyakashipu did? He just stood there, standing on one leg. The other leg was folded up. And that also was not standing on one leg; standing on his toe! Can you imagine how powerful this person was? And then what happened? He fixed his mind, withdrew his senses. Before that, before withdrawing the senses - that is actually the fifth stage, pratyahara. After asana comes pranayama. Pranayama is the controlling of breathing. We are breathing - inhaling, exhaling. But there is another very important consideration for yoga meditation. That is called kumbhaka, holding the breath. Take the breath, hold the breath (kumbhaka). And then, after a long time leave your breath. And take another breath! And in this way ultimately what should one do? That also Krishna is pointing out in the fifth chapter of Bhagavad-gita, that this breathing process is the inhaling and exhaling and pranapanau samau kritva nasabhyantara carinau. [Bg 5.27] The breath is not going out. It is just remaining within and that is called pranayama parayana. That is pranayama. That means he stops breathing. Stop breathing completely.
Now that is not meditation. That is the preparation for meditation. And you know what is the fifth stage? You withdraw your senses from the objects of the senses. Now what happens? A little mosquito bites and we become so agitated, so disturbed. Not even a mosquito bites, you hear the mosquito buzzing around your ear. You hear the sound of the mosquito, how do you feel? You feel disturbed, right? Just see this is how sound is dragging your consciousness. Or you are trying to focus on your studies and from outside there is a film song playing in the loudspeaker - what happens? Can you focus your mind on your books? The mind is dragged by the sound. But a yogi, he withdraws his senses. That means he doesn't get affected by anything from outside. So much so, that Hiranyakashipu's whole body was eaten up. Can you imagine? What does it mean? His senses were completely withdrawn. So that when the white ants, termites, were eating up his body he didn't feel anything. Of course, Hiranyakashipu was not meditating on...Unfortunately, Hiranyakashipu's problem was Hiranyakashipu was not meditating on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was meditating on himself. He was not meditating on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Why not? This is an important consideration: why not? Who can answer that? [devotee: inaudible] No, why Hiranyakashipu could not meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yes? [devotee: because he was envious of the Lord] Yes, very good point, because he was envious of the Lord. Yes? [devotee: inaudible] He wanted to become equal to the Lord. [devotee: he was aspiring for material benefit] He was aspiring for material benefit. All the points are very good, but still, the main point is missing. [devotee: he wanted to enjoy without Krishna] Okay, he wanted to enjoy without Krishna. [devotee: he wanted to take revenge with the Lord] Okay, yeah, very good point. He could not meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead because he did not have a bona fide spiritual master! [laughter] Because only a devotee of the Lord can give you the information about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All the points you made were very good. That is why he was meditating on I but why he could not meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Because no one came and told him who the Supreme Personality of Godhead is! And he was not willing to listen to who the Supreme Personality of Godhead is. That
is the problem.
Now do you believe in the Supreme Personality of Godhead? How many of you believe in the Supreme Personality of Godhead? How did you get to know about the Supreme Personality of Godhead? [devotee: because of the devotees] Very good! Because you came across a devotee and the devotee gave you the information of the Lord. See how important it is to come across a devotee to hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Anyway, so in this way we can see Hiranyakashipu, because he was in Satya Yuga, he could meditate in this way. But although he could meditate in such a severe way, you know ultimately what Hiranyakashipu did? His whole body was eaten up, not only his skin, not only his fat, not only muscles, not only his nervous system. Whatever was inside his body was also eaten up. His stomach, intestine, was eaten up. His heart was eaten up. His lungs were eaten up. His brain was eaten up. Everything was eaten up, just a skeleton standing there. So where was his soul? His soul was within his bone. Within the bone there is marrow, bone marrow. So his soul was within the bone marrow. Can you imagine? Such a severe austerity! One in the Satya Yuga only could do such a thing. In Treta Yuga they couldn't do that. Therefore they are not qualified to meditate. Therefore, what is the process for Treta Yuga? Yajna. Now what does yajna mean? Just offer some ghee in the fire saying, "Svaha! Svaha!?" No, the real yajna is - as we use the expression in English - sacrifice. The English expression of yajna is actually more easy to understand: sacrifice. Sacrifice means give away. The mantra of yajna therefore is, "idam krishnaya na mamaha." Not me, this is for Krishna, not for me. Whose is this for? Not for me. Whose is this for? And in this way you give away everything. Who are you? Krishna's, not yours. So that is the ultimate objective of yajna: give away everything. Then the yajna would be perfected, the yajna would be successfully executed and the Supreme Personality of Godhead would appear from the sacrificial fire. How many of you can do that? Anybody?
Okay, so that was for Treta Yuga. In Dvapara Yuga they lost that ability also. Therefore the process became even more simplified: worshipping the Lord in the temple. This worship also, following all the rules and regulations, is a very, very difficult task. But when one perfectly worshipped the Lord in the temple in this way, he would get the association of the Lord. He would see the Lord. The Lord would appear to him. He would serve the Deity but the Deity would reciprocate with him.
Now what to speak of worshipping the Lord in the temple, in the age of Kali what happens? How many of you go to the temple? How many people go to the temple? [To a devotee] You are a very good boy [laughs], but can you go everyday to the temple? You are good. You are going to the temple, but how many people go to the temple nowadays? Hardly anybody goes, isn't it? And even if they go, like we see in Mayapura, people come but they don't really come to see the Deity. They just come for pleasure, for fun, picnic. Most of the people come here for a picnic. So in this way we can see in the age of Kali how difficult it has become to pursue any kind of spiritual activity. Therefore in the age of Kali the Lord gave an even more simple way. And what is that way? Chanting the Holy Name of the Lord. To chant the Holy Name of the Lord do you have to go to a temple? Can you do it anywhere? And can you perform it quite easily? While studying, you can chant. While working, you can chant. While running your business you can chant. So this is how the process for this age has become very, very simplified. And in the age of Kali the other consideration is that this chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord, although it is the simplest process, but its result, its benefit is the highest. It is the simplest process but the result is the highest. Most beneficial.
Say for example, a father has four sons. The eldest son is very capable. He is very well established. Then the second son is doing okay, but he is not doing so well. The third son is still in college. He is studying. And the fourth son is a little boy. Now for which son the father is most concerned? Is the father very concerned about the eldest son who is competent about himself, can take care of himself? No. The second one who is not doing so well, the father feels quite concerned and when he is in some difficulty the father sends him some help. The third son is in college, the father sends him money every month. Although he is in college the father is...And the youngest son who is at home, the father is most concerned, isn't it? Now the people in Satya Yuga, they're like the eldest son. He is very well situated, has a big position. The father is not so concerned about him. The people of Treta Yuga, the Lord is little more concerned about them because they are not doing so well. The people in Dvapara Yuga, the Lord is taking care of them more than any others. And the one who is the youngest, the father is the most concerned about him. And now if that little child, the youngest son, when he becomes sick then what happens? The father becomes even more concerned. He stays up the whole night, sitting by his bed. We, in the age of Kali, are the youngest children who are sick. That's why the Lord has become so merciful in this age. And His mercy has become manifest in such a wonderful way: in the form of yajnaih sankirtana-prayair, sankirtana yajna. [SB 11.5.32]
All we have to do is to simply surrender to the Lord. All we have to do is simply chant His Holy Name. All we have to do is simply pray to Him and the Lord will reciprocate in a most wonderful way, as He is doing. He is saying, "You just chant the Holy Name. I will take care of you in all respects."
sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu jive doya kori
swa-parsada swiya dhama saha avatari
atyanta durlabha prema koribare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana
[Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura, Saranagati, song: Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Jive Doya Kori]
Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in order to bestow His mercy upon the living entities of this fallen age of Kali, has appeared with His associates and with His Dhama. This is the Dhama, Mayapura. This is non-different from the spiritual sky. Actually, the spiritual sky has come down. Mahaprabhu has come here. Atyanta durlabha prema, and here He is distributing the most rare, extremely rare Krishna-prema which is extremely difficult to get. Krishna gives liberation very easily, but Krishna doesn't give His prema-bhakti so easily. But He is giving it to us. Why? Because we are most unqualified, because we are most incapable. That's why the Lord's mercy has become most wonderfully manifest in this age.