Seeing Friends Coming to Mayapur

Today I met some Vaishnava youths I knew from Alachua. I talked with Arjuna about getting him in touch with the disciples of Bhakti Tirtha Swami here as he was attached to Bhakti Tirtha Swami, and I reminisced with Dattatreya about how nice it is on the Polish festival tour. I also met a devotee from Russia I knew from the tour. And I met Janananda Prabhu, a Prabhupada disciple from Vrndavana who gives thoughtful classes and who will be teaching a couple of seminars. The devotees always say I look so happy, and I explain it as a result of seeing all my friends from America , Europe, and other parts of India come here to Mayapur Dham. I also explain how Mayapur is my favorite temple because of the beauty of the Deities and the enthusiasm for chanting, especially during and after the evening arati.

Notes on Romapada Swami's class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.14

Because of Dhrtarastra's bodily attachment he could not hear Vidura's repeatedly given good instructions. Dhrtarastra was an elevated person, but because of the influence of his son, Duryodhana, and by the influence of Sakuni, he acted wrongly. Vidura was so much respected that Bhismadeva, who was very much his senior, consulted him. Vidura recommended the Gandhari marry Dhrtarastra, Bhisma agreed, and Sakuni drove Gandhari and Dhrtarastra to Dhrtarastra's home after the marriage. Later, after Pandu died untimely and his wife, Madri, entered his funeral pyre, Duryodhana and his brothers harassed the Pandavas. Krishna , the eternal well-wisher of his devotees, the Pandavas, was concerned and sent Akrura to investigate the situation in Hastinapura. Kunti, her eyes full of tears, inquired from Akrura if Krishna had plans to protect the Pandavas, and he and Vidura reassured her. After observing the situation for three months, Akrura advised Dhrtarastra:

(1) Do not act on the platform of the ignorant bodily conception of life by differentiating between the sons of Pandu and your own sons. Each life one has a different set of sons, so one should not be so attached to “one's own.”

(2) You should act out of virtue.

Dhrtarastra praised the wise and ambrosial words of Akrura but said that due to attachment to his sons those words could not remain in his heart and he could not carry them out. He was content to let whatever would happen as a result of that happen as ordained by fate. This failure to take responsibility for his actions resulted in his downfall, and we must be careful not to helplessly act according to our material attachments, neglecting higher principles, or that will also be our downfall.

That Dhrtarastra wanted a kingdom for his sons was not the problem. Dhruva also wanted a kingdom, but Dhruva went about it in the proper way, by asking the sage Narada how he could rightfully obtain it. Dhrtarastra, however, cast righteousness aside to further his ambitions and thus his sons were destroyed. Because Dhruva was respectful to Krishna and his devotee Narada, his ambition was achieved, but because Dhrtarastra disrespected Krishna and his devotees, the Pandavas, his party was destroyed.

Dhrtarastra later reflected on Akrura's advice and inquired from Bhisma and Vidura about their opinion. He decided that since Yudhisthira deserved the kingdom and the citizens wanted him to be king, he would perform a ceremony making Yudhisthira the incumbent king.

Meanwhile Duryodhana met with Karna and Sakuni. Karna thought that they should fight the Pandavas and take the kingdom rightfully by conquering them, but Sakuni, seeing how the Pandavas easily conquered King Drupada, who had previously conquered Duryodhana's party, was afraid they would lose and thus wanted to use unfair means to deprive them of the kingdom. Outraged, Karna left the meeting, and Sakuni revealed to Duryodhana a nefarious plan to get the Pandavas out of Hastinapura and then kill them, explaining how they could do this without objections by Bhisma and Dronacarya.

Dhrtarastra, because of his sons ambitions, worried what they would think of him making Yudhisthira the incumbent king, and thus he consulted Sakuni, who engaged a materialistic so-called brahmana to advise Dhrtarastra to kill the Pandavas. King Pandu had taken good care of his blind elder brother Dhrtarastra, and the thought of killing Pandu's sons was not at all palatable to him. However, Duryodhana knew how attached Dhrtarastra was to himself, and thus he threatened to commit suicide if Yudhisthira became king. He further argued that Dhrtarastra and all his sons would have no position if Yudhisthira became king and the whole situation would be miserable for them. In this way, Dhrtarastra's mind was changed, and he heard the plans Sakuni made for getting rid of the Pandavas, and let them be carried out.

The moral of the story is that because the Pandavas took shelter of Krishna, they were not affected by bad association, but because Dhrtarastra had no such shelter he became a victim of bad association and was destroyed. Actually we can always trace destruction to some bad association in the past. Thus we should always follow the example of the Pandavas and escape bad association by taking shelter of Krishna.

Nama-hatta Program in Baduria

We went to a nama-hatta program in a town called Baduria, only three and a half hours away! I brought my computer so I could accomplish some of my regular work as well. After a solid breakfast of rice, dal, and sabji, we went on harinama for just over two hours. We went through the town to the outskirts and then back through the town to the outskirts on the other side. Gaura Nama Prabhu engaged some of the devotees in distributing a Bengali book about Lord Caitanya's life and teachings and many were sold. The event must have been well advertised because we were greeted nicely wherever we went. Some people washed the road ahead of us with buckets of water, some even splashed water on the devotees' feet, others threw sweets made with sugar which the kids madly tried to grab, others, including a six-year-old girl, blew conch shells, and some brought rice, vegetables, and coins as donations. The harinama ended at the site of our pandal program in the middle of the town. After a sizable lunch of three sabjis, dal, chapattis, rice, papadam, chutney, and rasgullas, we took a break for an hour and an half or so, and then chanted Hare Krishna on the stage at the pandal for over an hour. We encouraged the attendees to chant along. The devotees from foreign countries introduced themselves telling where we came from. The places included America, England, Finland, Italy, and Israel. All the devotees were really enlivened by doing the program. As we left, many people smiled, embraced us, touched our feet, shook our hands, and in this way made it clear they appreciated our presentation. We were given puris and sabji for dinner on the way back, which I gave away in charity. One has to guard against overeating on programs like this!

Saturday Festival Memories

The Saturday festival in Mayapur with its Deity procession is so lively here, even without the elephant. The big Gaura Nitai Deities from Prabhupada's Bhajan Kutir are pulled by ox cart. Following them are the big Prabhupada murti and the small Radha-Krishna Deities. The kirtanas are so lively. Then always chant my favorite tunes. A friend of mine told me today that most of the tunes are Bollywood tunes (from India's entertainment industry) and that the traditional Bengali tunes are too hard to follow. I do not know if it is true, but the tunes are attractive and very easy to sing and dance to.

After participating in the festival I stopped at the brahmacari kitchen for their hot milk from the goshala which is really good. As I walked back home, a tourism bus from the parking lot near Vamsi Bhavan past me. There was a lively kirtana going on in the back of the bus and the people waved and cheered as they passed. I was thinking the chanting is so nice they could do it all the way home and they would be full of ecstasy when they arrived. Then they could get together with their family and friends each evening and spread the wonderful gift they received at Mayapur to others. We should encourage them to create the nice atmosphere of Mayapur's evening program and Saturday festivals in their homes and villages, and share the ecstasy with others.

“Sri Panca-tattva themselves danced again and again and thus made it easier to drink nectarean love of Godhead. They danced, cried, laughed and chanted like madmen, and in this way they distributed love of Godhead. . . . Although the members of the Panca-tattva plundered the storehouse of love of Godhead and ate and distributed its contents, there was no scarcity, for this wonderful storehouse is so complete that as the love is distributed, the supply increases hundreds of times” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita 7.22,24).

I met the Gaura-Nitai Deities on the way back to Their temple and participated in a small kirtana led by the people pulling Them. It was a beautiful way to end a beautiful evening.

Sastric Knowledge is Perfect

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 1

King Pariksit asks how to apply the mind so that the mind becomes free from dirty things. This is needed because the usual ways we apply our minds, do not free them from dirty things but often create more dirty things.

Using the scripture, we must connect everything with the Lord, in order to purify our minds.

There are different kinds of knowledge:

1. pratyaksa - knowledge gained through sense perception
2. paroksya - knowledge gained from others
3. aparokysa - knowledge that is experienced
4. adhoksaja - knowledge beyond sense perception
5. aprakrta - knowledge that is transcendental

There are so many books on management and more come out every year. But if you take knowledge from scripture you won't have to look for new knowledge each year because the scriptural knowledge works in all circumstances not just some.

Principles always apply. Details change according to time, place, and circumstance.

According to the sastra, the varnasrama system is considered to be the Lord's body. Thus we must accept varnasrama. We must also accept each of the varnas and asramas to be important because every part of the Lord's body is important. It is not that the Lord's head is important, but His feet are to be neglected. Each division has something inspiring to contribute to society. The brahmanas teach. The ksatriyas protect and are true to their vows. The vaisyas give their hard-earned money in charity to benefit others. The sudras do their arts under the direction of the others. Michelangelo, who worked under the direction of superiors, contributed many more great works of art, appreciable by a greater variety of people, than Van Gogh, who worked on his own.

Shoe Saga

Inconceivably enough, I was separated from five pairs of shoes in this year alone! One in Calcutta, one in Russia, one in Hungary, one in Ukraine, and finally one in Mayapur in November. Fortunately they were all about $3 shoes, so it wasn't a great loss. I decided to go without shoes as long as possible out of a sense of frustration and defeat. However, day by day it has been getting colder in the mornings here, and I have been afraid of getting sick.

Last night I read in my diksa guru's book, Prabhupada Nectar (Vol. 2, No. 25): “Srila Prabhupada did not like his disciples to perform artificial austerities. When one devotee appeared bare-chested in the cold at a Kumbha-mela, Prabhupada reprimanded him. On another occasion, in America , he teased his disciple Nara-Narayana, who came into the cold temple room wearing only a light T-shirt.

“Nara-Narayana,” said Prabhupada from the vyasasana, “you must be eating chickens.” The other devotees turned and stared.

“Yes,” said Prabhupada, “this is how the Mohammedans keep warm. Are you eating chickens, Nara-Narayana?”

“No, Srila Prabhupada.”

Prabhupada then began telling a story how the Mohammedans keep warm: “The system is that a man tries to eat one hundred chickens by eating a single chicken. A farmer will take a hundred chickens and then feed one of them to the ninety-nine. He then feeds another one to the remaining ninety-eight, and another one to the remaining ninety-seven. Finally, when there are only two chickens left, he feeds one chicken to the other. Then that chicken is fed to the emperor. In that way, it is considered that he is eating one hundred chickens.”

As a result of reading this, I decided to give up my artificial austerity of going barefoot in December. After harinama in Navadvipa, I decided to look for some shoes. The people in Bengal are so short the stores do not carry size 11. Size 10 is the largest. Thus I tried on at least five pairs of shoes before finding something that fit. Because the top part is cloth, at least they won't give me blisters, like the five pairs that were stolen. We will see if my big toe wears a hole in the top of them before too long, or more likely, if someone rips them off. I will keep them indoors at night to be safe. At any rate, they were only 135 rupees ($3) and if they last the winter, I will be grateful.

World Vedic Civilization and Macrocosm Within the Microcosm

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 1

The knowledge of the soul, God, and their relationship is called para-vidya. Other knowledge in the Vedas is called apara-vidya. This other knowledge can become para-vidya if it is used in Krishna's service. Non-Vedic knowledge can also become para-vidya when used in Krishna 's service.

Suhotra Swami:

The sahajiyas accept Krishna is their worshipable Deity but do not perform any abhideya (approved process to attain Him).

Boredom and pride cause one to fall from the mode of goodness.

The whole Vedic civilization fell apart because people did not transcend the mode of goodness and come to the transcendental platform of pure goodness. Instead the mode of goodness became mixed with passion and ignorance as the false ego of pride developed in first the brahmanas (intellectuals) and then the ksatriyas (administrators).

Temples in Turkey that have been unearthed have inscriptions with the names of Hindu gods on them.

In Memphis, Egypt, in 500 B.C., there were Indians worshiping Hindu deities.

Temples in South American, as well as Egypt and India, were built using the same mathematical and astronomical principles.

They are fourteen centers along the spinal column where the nadis meet. These correspond to the fourteen planetary systems.

Because the macrocosm (the universe) is represented within the microcosm (our body), the many descriptions of the universe in the Srimad-Bhagavatam are relevant to our lives.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami: Krishna dasa Kaviraja Goswami says in his Sri Caitanya-caritamrita that as soon as a person becomes sincere, Krishna sends a bona fide spiritual master to enlighten the person.

Suhotra Swami: There is a devotee who originally hated the Hare Krishnas, and so he stole a book from a devotee book distributor. The devotee ran after him but could not catch him. Ultimately the thief read the book and became a devotee himself.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami: In difficult situations we take shelter of those things that give security. Ultimately our emotions must be directed toward Krishna. Therefore in whatever position we find ourselves, we should hear about Krishna from a devotee who has faith in Krishna.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami on Relationship, Culture, and Sanskrit

Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 1

Krishna acts according to scripture although He can do anything. The relationships described in the scriptures are how he likes relationships to go and if we follow the scriptural direction we will get the best out of a relationship.

If you think of Krishna as a big, nasty guy, then Krishna will act like a big, nasty guy. If you think He is adorable, like the residents of Vrindavana do, then he will be most adorable.

We are all goal-oriented, either to please ourselves, to please God, or to please others with the expectation that we will also become pleased.

Krishna is looking to see that one performs penance to benefit others.

Q: How are we supposed to relate to the people that we are preaching to?
A: You have to think about presenting the information in such a way that they will be interested to hear. Most people would be willing to consider that they are lay people and a practicing spiritualist may have something to offer them, so that is not the problem, although often we think that is the problem. Generally we do not have a problem with the philosophy but with the culture of relating to people.

Once in America there was a poll taken about religion. It came out in the poll that millions of people identified themselves as Hare Krishnas. They thought that the Hare Krishnas had the best philosophy, but that they had the worst attitude.

First you have to be comfortable with yourself. No one will follow you if you are not comfortable with yourself. People comfortable with themselves are attractive to people who are not comfortable with themselves.

Maharaja was sitting on a subway car in New York City, happily talking with another devotee, when a man came up to them and asked them if they had some practice that made them so happy, which he could also follow. The person was so shocked to see people happily conversing on a New York subway!

In Srila Prabhupada's books in many places the superior position of a husband in relationship to his wife is mentioned. However, if you notice all the husband-wife dealings in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and Mahabharata, you do not see any macho, exploitative males, not even one. So the literature also teaches the application in the culture, but unfortunately many people miss that. Krishna is masculine and His energies are all feminine, but how does Krishna relate with His energies, forcefully? No, sensitively.

Q: Is there a difference between penance, sacrifice, and austerity?
A: In all three there is restriction for some superior benefit. It could be said that penance is sambandha, sacrifice is abhideya, and austerity is prayojana.

Srila Prabhupada said that of mundane subjects, Sanskrit is the most important. Sanskrit can teach us how language functions. Knowing that, we can use English more effectively.

Later I mentioned what Maharaja said about Sanskrit to Vidvan Gauranga Prabhu, my Sanskrit teacher. He had mentioned that he had been to a Gaudiya Math to pick up some Sanskrit and Bengali commentaries on some Upanisads. The person there said that actually you people from ISKCON are the only people who buy these books. Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to write these books establishing Vaishnavism on the basis of these scriptures. Otherwise the world will only have the Mayavadi misinterpretation of them. The Gaudiya Math people are all into the rasika literature, which was around even then, but Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Thakura was more interested in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, Vedanta Sutra, Upanisads, etc. If it wasn't for you people in ISKCON, this emphasis would be forgotten. Please don't let it happen. It is up to you.

Vidvan said that in India no scholar takes you seriously as a Vaishnava scholar unless you are fluent in Sanskrit and have read the original texts and the commentaries on them.

A Visit with Sri Prahlada Prabhu

Today a disciple of Bhakti Caru Swami named Srivasa Prabhu, who was recently married, sponsored a feast for the whole Mayapur community. At the feast, I sat next to Sri Prahlada Prabhu, who I knew from the Polish tour. I asked him if he had any special appreciation of the Mayapur dhama from living here. He mentioned how it is easier to perform devotional service here and harder to get into maya. He said he is personally attracted to more of the pilgrimage places in Vrindavana, but he read about Mayapur to cultivate an appreciation for it. In the course of his reading, he found out that the area from the grhastha housing project to the Jalangi River corresponds to the gardens around Radha-kunda in the Vrindavana area. Also the place where Lord Caitanya first met Lord Nityananda is just behind the housing project. At the Radhastami feast in Mayapur, he asked a visiting Gaudiya Math sannyasi if it would be better to be in Varsana, the residence of Srimati Radharani, on that most holy day. The sannyasi said no, it is better in Mayapur because in Mayapur one's offenses are not considered, only one's devotion. Mayapur dhama ki, jaya!

Suhotra Swami, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 2, Chapter 1

When Mahamaya got initiated by Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada explained, “Mahamaya is another phase of Srimati Radharani.”

Laksmi acts either as Laksmi or Maya depending on how we approach her.

In the Sixth Canto, Chapter Nineteen, Kasyapa glorifies the worship of Laksmi-Narayana and explains the whole Bhagavata philosophy in just a few verses.

In the Second Canto it is described that the Lord draws energy from the marginal energy to run the cosmic manifestation.

Lord Buddha said his dharma would last one thousand years. His leading disciple told him that there are many young women who want to become nuns. Buddha said that that was alright, they could come, but in that case, his dharma would last only five hundred years. This is written in the Buddhist scripture itself.

Lord Buddha defeated the best Vedic scholars who knew the Vedas backwards and forwards. If God wants to preach atheism, then who can defeat Him?

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami mentioned that we generally do not tell new people that Laksmi can present herself as either the spiritual or material energy, because in the beginning it is important to clearly understand the difference between the spiritual and the material.

Devotion Transforms Matter into Spirit

12/5/06 Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami class on Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 1
One thousand names of Vishnu is equal one name of Rama. Three names of Rama are equal to one name of Krishna (SB 1.19.6, purport).

Due to ignorance people think that they can get something for nothing. Materialists capitalize on this weakness of the people by arranging schemes like lotteries to make money for themselves. Devotees have nothing to do with either of these mentalities. They act in spiritual knowledge.

The first step of God realization is to learn to see everything is a manifestation of God's energy, although we initially have difficulty seeing in it that way. Thus, everything that we value is actually Krishna. Therefore Krishna is always there for us, while nobody else is always there for us.

Q: When something is engaged in devotional service does it change physically?
A: Does a copper wire change when electricity goes through it? The effect is different, and the effect is what matters. When a devotee speaks through the microphone the cit potency from the devotee enters the sound and affects the audience, who hears it, in a spiritual way. A nondevotee speaking the same sound would not have the same effect.

One mataji tells that a Kirlian photographer took a picture of some prasadam after it was offered, and it had a nice aura around it.

Maharaja said that we are so affected by the influence of the prominent shaktas of the age (the modern scientists who are devoted to the material energy) that we think that things have to change physically for the change to be significant.

If a brahmacari is happy with the food that is given to him, it will nourish his body, but if he is dissatisfied with it, it will destroy his body.

We are instructed to absorb our mind and intelligence in the Lord fully. The prohibitions exist for those who cannot do that.

Devotional service can attract the karmis by giving them the relationship they always wanted, and it can attract the jnanis by initially giving them the liberation they want and ultimately giving them higher spiritual pleasure of devotional relationships.

After class my friend Santi Parayana Prabhu, while convincing another friend of mine to take the Bhaktivaibhava course, mentioned that the elder Maha Vishnu Goswami tells a story of someone named Kaccha that illustrates the importance of knowledge. The conclusion is that one must be willing to die three times to get knowledge. I later found the colorful story of Kaccha on the Internet: http://www.indiayogi.com/content/indgods/kaccha.asp

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.

Airport Meditation

I am sitting on the floor in the departure lounge at Borispil airport in Kiev . I came to the airport with Niranjana Swami who is traveling to Moscow as I travel to Delhi. I scanned a 900-page book for him with a digital camera with some help from some other devotees, and we stopped at a store on the way to the airport because he wanted to buy me a digital camera as gift because I didn't have one. He couldn't find a model that had a matching flash card, so it didn't work out, but I appreciate his kind sentiment. I ended up only sleeping two hours the last night as I wanted to complete the scanning of the book before I left.

The Ukrainian devotees had a very lively kirtana for Niranjana Swami 's departure, and they packed nice prasadam for both of us. I praised him for his training the devotees to be so respectful and having such a serving attitude to the senior devotees. I told him I was thinking of doing a seminar at Odessa, and I proposed to speak on the first four verses of Nectar of Instruction. He thought that was a good idea. Bhagavad-gita is often discussed, but Nectar of Instruction, although highly relevant to our lives, is less so.

It was nice to meet some very nice disciples of Niranjana Swami who came to Kiev to spend this holiday season of Karttika with their spiritual master.

Niranjana Swami walked past me on his way to his plane. He said he made one last attempt to find me a digital camera in the airport, but they did not have any there. He gave a little devotee girl, who is also going to India with her parents, a sweet from his lunch, and he also gave one to me. And he told me to keep in touch with him.

Notes on Dhanesvara Prabhu's class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.3

Now that there is an increase in communications, there is talk of a world government. International treaties are the beginning of this. Generally, however, many people protest such treaties. People are distrustful because of the corruption of the government.

Historically the brahmanas, the intellectual class, abused their power and become degraded. Then the ruling class abused their kingly positions, and were overthrown. Now the productive class is trying to exercise governmental power, but they are also corrupt. Thus the laborer class will try to take control as they did with communism. Democracy is destined to fail due to lack of spiritual vision. All these ideologies for ruling society are imperfect and will fail because of neglect of the supreme truth. Srimad-Bhagavatam offers of a description of a perfect God-centered government. When people read Srila Prabhupada's books, they can learn of the actual qualifications for true leaders and demand them.

In the CIS countries there are many people looking for a superior ideology. So there is an opportunity to interest these people in the God-centered society described in Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Srila Prabhupada said that history will record how the Krishna consciousness movement saved the world in its darkest hour.

Q: If all but the five Pandavas were killed in the Battle of Kuruksetra, who was there left to play the role of leaders.
A: It is a fact that most of the administrator class was killed in the war, but the brahmanas recreate the administrative class when it becomes dysfunctional or nonexistent.

Government does not need to be complicated to take care of the material needs of society. But due to selfishness, we make things unnecessarily complicated. We cannot elect better leaders, because it is our karma to get the corrupt leaders we have, but if we give up our sinful activities, we will deserve better leaders. Srila Prabhupada said a Vaishnava leader would immediately close all the slaughterhouses, gambling casinos, and liquor shops, and thus put an end to all these sinful activities.