Jayadvaita Swami, Questions and Answers on Dhruva Maharaja's Pastimes

Q: Although the association of devotees is glorified we see in Dhruva's case, he had such brief association with Narada, while most of the time he performed austerities alone.
A: A little association of a devotee is all that is needed for one who takes the instruction seriously. Prabhupada did not have so much physical association with his guru, but he took his instruction to heart.
Once during the Communist times Srila Prabhupada told a devotee to back to his country of Hungary and preach. The devotee was worried that he may not be able leave Hungary again to associate with the devotees. Srila Prabhupada told him not to worry for it did not matter if he never left Hungary again.

Modern means to do what feels good to you (or does not feel artificial). Vedic means to do what is your duty. If people always did what they felt like doing, the world would be in more of a mess than it already is.

Q: Can you explain why the following statement by Narada is true. “Every man should act like this: when he meets a person more qualified than himself, he should be very pleased; when he meets someone less qualified than himself, he should be compassionate toward him; and when he meets someone equal to himself, he should make friendship with him. In this way one is never affected by the threefold miseries of this material world.”
A: Well, just think about it. If you are respectful with your superiors, friendly with your equals, and compassionate to juniors, how would you feel? Pretty good, wouldn't you? Uncongenial dealings between people tend to cause a lot of distress.
Srimati Mataji: Could it be that once one gets to such a level of consciousness when he can act properly with others, naturally he will be detached from the distresses of the world?
Krishna-kripa Das: The discussion reminds me in Bhagavad-gita 6.8-9, Krishna says an advanced soul sees arrangements of matter equally, but a more advanced soul can deal with people equally.

While talking about dealing with difficulties, Jayadvaita Swami tells how he was talking with one fellow who had been in the Vietnam War. When the man was recounting his experiences it was clear that all the troubles he went through were the most memorable things. Jayadvaita Swami recalls the time the devotees produced the 17 volumes of Caitanya-caritamrita in two months. It was very intense but a memorable ecstatic experience.

Q: Although Dhruva bathed in the Yamuna and lived in Mahavana, the Lord appeared to Him as Narayana rather than Krishna. Why?
A: Maharaja and the students offered many speculations, but he concluded that we will find out when we attain the spiritual world or we meet someone a lot more qualified than him. Some of the suggestions were:
• That Narada had described the Narayana form of God to Dhruva, and thus it was what he was meditating on.
• Narayana was Narada's own worshipable deity as he worshiped the Lord in opulence.
• Narada knew Dhruva's svarupa was with Narayana, and so he instructed Dhruva thus.

Q: How does sense gratification destroy mercy?
A: Arunzeb put his father in jail to take his kingdom. The U.S.A. killed 600,000 people in Iraq in the recent war to protect their oil interests. The cigarettes manufacturers know what cigarettes do to people's health yet they are always making plans to get innocent young people addicted to them so they can make money.

Q: Austerity is sometimes said to make one's heart harder, yet Dhruva Maharaja performed so many austerities. How do we know what austerities to perform so that our heart will not become hard?
A: That is why the spiritual master is required, to select the austerities. Not that we say no to all austerities claiming that we want to keep our heart soft for Krishna and austerity might make it hard.

Q: I have heard that things get really hard after second initiation why is that?
A: I have not heard that anywhere. Where does it say that Krishna makes life difficult for people after second initiation?

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1, Chapter 19

Devotional service is very simple. It can be attained in a moment. It is a matter of changing perspective. We just have to change our idea that we are the controller and enjoyer to the idea that God is the controller and enjoyer. The whole thing is to convince our mind that devotional service is OK. We worry about losing our identity. If I give up my material identity, will I be maintained? Will things go OK?

We are materially attached because we are in illusion thinking that the material world is eternal and full of happiness. Thus the Bhagavatam is always reminding us that this world is temporary and full of misery. It is not required to tell people that material endeavor is useless since by knowing this world is temporary and miserable, people can figure it out.

Vedic principles involve applying transcendental ideas to the material world.

When devotees would criticize other devotees Srila Prabhupada would correct them by telling them to first take up the service of those they were criticizing, and then they could criticize.

An uttama-bhakti (first class devotee) can be in bhava or prema . From bhava one can fall down, as did King Bharata. So a first class devotee can fall down, contrary to what some people think.

Varnasrama is to insure the depth and quality of the relationships between people so they are satisfied physically, mentally, and emotionally, and can thus peacefully execute their spiritual duties. It is not an economic system. Economics is there so that the other can go on.

Fire analogy: Let say you have a big pile of wood. Some is dry. Some is wet. Some has mud on it. Some has lichens growing on it. And you have a little flame. So what do you focus on, the little flame or the big pile of wood with all its little defects? If you focus on the flame, in time the pile of wood will become a lump of ashes. A devotee focuses on the flame.

In varnasrama one is classified according to one's prominent interests, activities, and abilities, as persons may have characteristics of multiple varnas or asramas.

It is not a problem that people have anarthas (unwanted desires) in the heart. It is a problem when they do not identify them and try to purify or remove them.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura advised that periodically we should analyze our situation and try to increase the quality of our service. If we understand where we are actually at, then we can see how to progress.

Our strategy should be to adjust our situation so the anarthas do not bother the spark of devotion we are fanning. While doing this cultivation, we should focus on the spark of devotion not the anarthas.

Bhagavatam Meditations

11/22/06 Notes on Jayadvaita Swami’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.23
Srila Prabhupada reminds us that the tapasya (austerity) by which Krishna is realized is the devotional service of the Lord, and nothing more. The energy of devotional service is the Lord’s most intimate energy.
Usually we hear penance is voluntary acceptance of discomfort for the purpose of spiritual advancement. Here we learn that penance is also the uncomfortable situation that we are stuck in by the mercy of the Lord.
Material enjoyment is based on the false conception of ourselves as enjoyers of the world. Actually we are servants of the Supreme Enjoyer, Krishna.
Just as when the pillars of a building are removed the building comes crashing down, similarly our sinful existence comes to an end when we give up its pillars, meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling.
The more we serve Krishna, the more we realize that the best thing is simply service to Krishna.
In Goloka, the spiritual abode of Krishna, they all serve Krishna without calculation of self-interest.

Q: Bhagavad-gita 7.28 says we have to be free from sinful reactions to engage in devotional service. What then is our position?
A: The verse actually says that if we are free from sins we can engage in devotional service with determination. We can, however, begin devotional service from before that point.

Our sinful desires are compared to seeds and the process of devotional service is compared to a fire which can fry so many seeds, making them unable to sprout. Sometimes we say that “we are fried” [when we have too much engagement]. Better that we aspire that our sinful desires may be fried.

Bhaktivaibhava Canto 4, Chapter 9, Verses 1-26, Gaura Krishna Prabhu

“Transcendental devotional service cannot be complete and cannot be relishable without the association of devotees. We have therefore established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Anyone who is trying to be aloof from this Krishna Consciousness Society and yet engage in Krishna consciousness is living in a great hallucination, for this is not possible” (SB 4.9.11, purport).

satam prasangan mama virya-samvido
bhavanti hrit-karna-rasayanah kathah
taj-josanad asv apavarga-vartmani
sraddha ratir bhaktir anukramisyati

“In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin” (SB 3.25.25).

Who can realize the Absolute Truth?
"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." [Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23]

My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years” (SB 10.14.29).

Bhaktivaibhava Canto 4, Chapters 1-7, Srimati Mataji
Srimati Mataji had a well organized presentation that she obviously put a lot of time into.
False identification is the cause of our entanglement in material life. We must remember that we are all in Lord Caitanya’s drama, and we are just playing different roles (such as brahmacari or grhasta) for the satisfaction of the Lord.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura once said regarding the necessity of chastisement, “You cannot move a buffalo with a peacock feather.”

Nama-hatta Program

We went to a nama-hatta program with some other devotees; some other students and some friends from the Polish festival tour. The organizers like the foreign devotees to tell something about how they came to Krishna consciousness, and they translate it into Bengali for the audience. Then two Mayapur managers spoke for over half an hour each. One told a feature of the Brahma-mohana lila that I had never heard before. Apparently Paurnamasi knew of Krishna's expanding Himself as all the cowherd boys for one year, and she told the young girls of Vrindavana that that was a very auspicious year to get married, and in this way, the young girls were able to fulfill their desire to marry Krishna, who had expanded Himself into all the cowherd boys for that year.

During the Bhoga-arati song I tried to sing along from the Bengali song book, but I still can't read Bengali fast enough to sing without getting behind. It will certainly be a challenge for me to learn Bengali.

The kirtanas by the Bengali devotees are so lively it is like a festival, and there was much dancing. My friend, Dina Dayal Prabhu, was not feeling very eager to partcipate in the kirtana at first, but it was so lively by the end he was completely absorbed in the chanting and dancing.

One lady was so touched to see the complete happiness of the devotees, that she cried for half an hour.

The prasadam was great as usual. There were even chapatis, which are a little rare in Bengal, compared to the ever present rice. The sweet rice was very nice!

I met a godsister of mine, Nitai-priya devi dasi, who I knew from her posts on the Internet. We talked about her great success in selling Guru Maharaja's books in Vrindavana and made some plans for Vyasa Puja on December 1.

I am trying to post something every day on this blog beginning with today. Krishna in His form of Time will tell how well I do.

Questions and Answers by Jayadvaita Swami

Jadavaita Swami class on Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 2, Chapter 15, Text 15
When Brahma attained perfection he did not merge into the impersonal feature of God. Rather he saw the beautiful features of the Lord, the Supreme Person, and he came to understand his own personal nature as well. The devotees serve the Lord with affection, and the Lord reciprocates affectionately (Bg. 4.11).
A rich man if he wants to create a building, he will not move the bricks by himself. He will hire a contractor who will worry about that. Similarly, if he wants to destroy a building, he also hires a contractor. However to maintain a building, he will oversee the operation himself to make sure it is being done properly. It is similar with Lord Vishnu, who delegates creation to Brahma and destruction to Siva, and who sees to the maintenance Himself.

Q: Why is the all-knowing Lord surrounded by the Vedas to instruct him?
A: To set an example.

Q: How can we understand Goluka is more opulent than Vaikuntha?
A: Real opulence is devotion. A beautiful rural setting is also opulent. In Goluka, Krishna can do as He likes without worrying about formality. This is also opulence.

The gopis, who are the most celebrated of Krishna’s devotees, appreciate the service of Govardhan Hill and each of the other residents of Vrindavana. They do not think “We are the exalted gopis and this Govardhan is just a pile of rocks.”

Jayadvaita Swami, Canto 4, Chapter 4, “Sati Quits Her Body”

Q: Could you discuss the statement that “divorce is generally caused womanly weakness”?
A: Srila Prabhupada was commenting on the phrase in the verse ”straina-vimudha-dhih”, bewildered feminine nature. A summary of the discussion is that women tend to be more emotional than men and because of that they may not choose the best course of action and that will lead to bad result, as is the case here with Sati.

He tells a story that Socrates sent out the women after he took the hemlock poison because they would react emotionally to his dying. When Plato and some of Socrates’ male followers began to lament, Socrates said, “Do not grieve like that. That is why I sent the women out.”

Q: Why is Sati considered chaste if she disobeyed her husband’s order?
A: Because generally she obeyed her husband’s order. This was an exception.

Maharaja asked an older lady in the class for her realization. She said she agreed that women definitely need to be protected.
Although from the spiritual platform we are equal, we have to take into account the material situations. If souls with male bodies unrestrictedly associate with souls with female bodies, souls with children’s bodies will result, so we have to take into account distinctions.
Generally we have not been able to assimilate aspects of Vedic culture such as respect for seniors or respect for mothers, which almost all civilized cultures have. We should teach Vaishnava culture along with the Bhakti-sastri course.

Q: What should I do if someone starts speaking negatively about devotees?
A: Following in the footsteps of Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, you can say “all I know is that all the Vaishnavas are engaged in the Lord’s service.” Or you can change the topic of the discussion.

Bhaktivaibhava Canto 4, Atul Krishna Prabhu

Once Srila Prabhupada defined a falldown as being accidental, if the devotee comes back.

At the Ardha Kumbha-mela, Atul Krishna Prabhu told how the although the Viprasanna yajna adherents try with great endeavor to light their yajna fire by mantra, they would always give up and use a match. We understand that actually only the sankirtana yajna, congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is recommended for this age, as other processes are not practical.

“The way to get out of illusory maya is to engage in the topics of Krishna. Lord Caitanya advocated a process whereby everyone may remain in his present position without change but simply hear from the proper authoritative sources about Krishna. Lord Caitanya advised everyone to spread the word of Krishna. He advised, ‘All of you become spiritual masters. Your duty is simply to talk to whomever you meet of Krishna or of the instructions given by Krishna.’ The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is operating for this purpose” (SB 4.7.44, purport).

The Dangers of Criticizing Others

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1, Chapter 6

Krishna cannot be attained by following the rules and regulations.

Vaishnava association is the foundation of our spiritual life. We have to learn how to appreciate the Vaishnavas. If you feel it is your business to find fault with devotees when it is not (when you are not playing the role of their spiritual superior, guru, teacher, parents, etc.) then you are in a dangerous position. The ability to find fault should be applied to ourselves, without pride, to make advancement by giving up our bad qualities.

The jiva (individual soul) is always small and dependent, and thus we must always follow the devotees, even in the spiritual world. If we analyze how we joined the Hare Krishna movement we will see it was due to association with some devotee. We advance by appreciating the good qualities of the devotees. We avoid falling down by avoiding association of people with bad qualities.

If we criticize someone, according to Mahabharata, we take on their bad qualities. If someone criticizes us and we do not get angry, that person takes your bad qualities.

Lord Caitanya said he would distribute the accumulated sinful reactions of the most evil Jagai and Madhai to those people who criticize the Lord's devotees.

In India many people know the Vedic culture but not so much the philosophy. In the Hare Krishna movement, we tend to assimilate the philosophy, but we have not really embraced the culture.

In preparing Mahabharata Vyasadeva watered down the philosophy so much to make it accessible to the people in general that it had lost the potency to be effective. [When Maharaja said that it made me wonder if we sometimes do that in our own preaching strategies. At least we should be careful not to.]

If one has strong faith in eternal damnation, it means he has little faith in the power of devotional service to God.

Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita:
• Do your duty
• In knowledge
• Without attachment
• Thinking of Krishna
• For the pleasure of Krishna

We tend to have problems understanding the first three.

Notes on Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4, Chapter 4 (entitled “Sati Quits Her Body”) discussion: In a discussion about using anger in God's service, Sarvabhauma Prabhu reminded us of this pastime:
Someone asked Srila Prabhupada, “Is God love?”
Prabhupada replied, “Yes, but God is also hate.”
God hates to see innocent devotees tortured by the demoniac.

“One should be extremely careful about associating with persons who are not respectful to the higher authorities” (SB 4.4.26). This applies to persons within and outside the Hare Krishna movement.

We can learn from the chapter on Sati's quitting her body.
• We should not hear blamphemy of great souls.
• We should try to rectify blamphemers.
• Having all material facility without pure devotional service doesn't satisfy our soul.

Nama-hatta Program

We left around 6:30 a.m. to go to a nama-hatta program about three hours away in a town called Arambhag. It started with a harinama, which they call nagar-sankirtana here in Bengal. Our vehicle got lost and took four and a half hours on some very bumpy roads to get there, so we missed the harinama. We got here in time for breakfast prasadam at 11:00 a.m. Then there was a snack of fruit at 1:00 p.m. and lunch at 2:00 p.m. It made me smile as I recalled that Ayur Veda recommends eating meals six hours apart! I practiced harmonium singing my Radhanatha Swami tune and another sweet tune with Caru Candra Prabhu playing the drum as the other devotees rested after lunch. The program started at 4:00 p.m. It was outdoors and it is estimated two thousand people came. We did some bhajanas and then several of us foreign students told a little about how we came to join the Hare Krishna movement and what our realizations were. I was satisfied to hear the variety of stories that the devotees told, thinking they would appeal to a variety of people. Some devotees warned the Bengalis not to abandon their spiritual culture and imitate the Western materialism, which we have personally experienced does not satisfy the soul. It was also nice to see the great enthusiasm of the Bengali audience for the chanting of the devotees. After the program, we had hot milk and some more prasadam, for the fourth time! You never go hungry on these programs. That is for sure. We returned home at 11:30 p.m.