Fourth canto chapter 19, text 34.

māsmin mahārāja kṛthāḥ sma cintāṁ
niśāmayāsmad-vaca ādṛtātmā
yad dhyāyato daiva-hataṁ nu kartuṁ
mano ’tiruṣṭaṁ viśate tamo ’ndham

Synonyms

mā — do not; asmin — in this; mahā-rāja — O King; kṛthāḥ — do; sma — as done in the past; cintām — agitation of the mind; niśāmaya — please consider; asmat — my; vacaḥ — words; ādṛta-ātmā — being very respectful; yat — because; dhyāyataḥ — of him who is contemplating; daiva-hatam — that which is thwarted by providence; nu — certainly; kartum — to do; manaḥ — the mind; ati-ruṣṭam — very angry; viśate — enters; tamaḥ — darkness; andham — dense.

Translation and Purport by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada

My dear King, do not be agitated and anxious because your sacrifices have not been properly executed due to providential impediments. Kindly take my words with great respect. We should always remember that if something happens by providential arrangement, we should not be very sorry. The more we try to rectify such reversals, the more we enter into the darkest region of materialistic thought.

Purport by Srila Prabhupada

Sometimes the saintly or very religious person also has to meet with reversals in life. Such incidents should be taken as providential. Although there may be sufficient cause for being unhappy, one should avoid counteracting such reversals, for the more we become implicated in rectifying such reversals, the more we enter into the darkest regions of material anxiety. Lord Kṛṣṇa has also advised us in this connection: we should tolerate things instead of becoming agitated.

vande ’haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-
kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca
śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-
raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam
sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-
sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ
śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-
lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine

namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe

nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

Reading the verse once again.

māsmin mahārāja kṛthāḥ sma cintāṁ
niśāmayāsmad-vaca ādṛtātmā
yad dhyāyato daiva-hataṁ nu kartuṁ
mano ’tiruṣṭaṁ viśate tamo ’ndham

(All the locals are gone, just me and you & that's on the internet.)

So, we face reversals, isn't it? The ultimate reversal is death. This reversal, that reversal, this reversal, that reversal. So how should we take these reversals? Prabhupada explains take them as providential. This is the key. With the hand of providence, and by Krishna's arrangement this has happened. So, we should not be disturbed by reversals, even death. Take everything as a blessing, that's the key. There's a nice statement given in the Īśopaniṣad purport, I quoted the other day in the “Thought for the day”. One should not be happy or disturbed over favourable and unfavorable circumstances, taking them all…. One who is disturbed, I forget how to say it now…. The point is… one should not be happy or disturbed over the positive and negative things, it's just the mind…. If you become elated when things are going great and depressed when things are going bad, the cause of your happiness and distress is your mental state, that's all, it's just your mind. So the point is we have to rise beyond the mind seeing everything as providential. If Krishna is putting me in this situation so that I can increase my loving service to Him in every minute, take every situation, this is Krishna's special mercy to enable me to become more and more absorbed in loving service. If one makes all kinds of arrangements and trying to counteract what's happening, you're just going to become more miserable actually. Instead of trying to counteract the reversal, take them as providential. This is the point. Just like Krishna says,

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

The non-permanent appearance of happiness and distress and their disappearance in due course are like the appearance and disappearance of the winter and summer seasons, one should learn to tolerate them without being disturbed. So we have spring, we have summer, we have fall, we have winter, these changes are going on in cycles. Just tolerate them. All right, if it's too hot, it's tolerated; if it's too cold, it's tolerated; if it's the right temperature…just be equipoised in every situation. Equipoise, that's the key. Seeing everything equally as the loving mercy of Krishna.

So the question is how can we… because right now we are being so much affected by the dualities, bounce this way, bounce that way, How do you actually come to that point where you can see everything as Krishna's mercy and appreciate everything as a blessing of Krishna at every minute? How do we come to that state? Well, that's the whole point of Krishna consciousness. That's the whole point of chanting Hare Krishna.

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

By diving deep into this mantra and learning how to chant without any offense… this is the key how we become equipoise. So it's very important we know what are these 10 offenses and how to avoid them.

So let's take a look at the 10 offenses because if we're committing offenses against the holy name we're not able to dive into the sublime nature of Krishna consciousness and we're going to be continually bounced around by these dualities, happiness and distress, pain and pleasure, etc. etc. etc…. So what are these 10 offenses?

Well, the first offense is to blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives to propagating the holy names of the Lord. We have to always have a mood of respect, always being respectful. Sometimes there may be difficulties in our relationships, maybe rough, sometimes our relationships are going smoothly, sometimes they are rough, sometimes we have difficulties in our relationships. But in every case, we have to take this as a blessing, to have a devotees’ association is a greater blessing. Just imagine to not have the association of the devotees, how horrible that would be. By having the devotees' association, it helps us to become fixed in Krishna consciousness. So, we should never be blasphemous, even if we have some disagreement with the devotees, still we have to say, “OK, maybe I am wrong, maybe that devotee is right”. Then we always have a humble mood, being respectful to the other devotees in all situations. That is very important because asat-saṅga-tyāga. Once you give up the association of non- devotees, sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya. All the sastras declare that by even one moment's association with the devotee of the Lord we can achieve all perfection. sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya”Even one moment's association with the devotee will do it and give all perfection. So we have to always have that sweet loving mood even if there is disagreement sometimes it happens naturally. We have to have that sweet loving spectral mood towards all the Vaishnavas. That's the first offense.

The second offense is to consider the names of the demigods like Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma to be equal to or independent in the name of Lord Vishnu. So, we have to see that Krishna is supreme. It is like …we can study in the Brahma Samhita... I can’t remember that verse … right now…. I worship, I adore the primeval Govinda…. I'm not remembering the verse. I don't remember the verse. It is described very clearly how Lord Brahma and Lord Durgadevi, Lord Shiva, they are all … they are all subordinate to Krishna …very clearly described.

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā

chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā

icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

The external potency, maya, which is the nature of the shadow of the cit potency is worshipped by all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Govinda in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself. So, we can study in the scriptures and see that Durga Devi, she is acting in the direction of Krishna. So we should not think that they are on the same level. We should understand that Krishna is the Supreme and the demigods are subordinate to Krishna. It is very important to understand that relationship.

The third offense is to disobey the orders of the spiritual master. Sometimes the foolish disciples think, “Well the spiritual master should follow my instructions. I should teach the spiritual master.” Some of these foolish disciples think they should teach the spiritual master. No, the disciple has to be in the mood of learning from the spiritual master. Very important, this proper relationship between Guru and disciple, just like between husband and wife. If the husband is sexually potent and the wife is sexually potent, then by sexual intercourse one time they can produce a child. If either is impotent, the child will not be there. So, the husband or wife both have to be potent to produce a child. Similarly, the spiritual master has to be enlightened with transmittal knowledge and the student has to be submissive. Then the proper transmission of transmittal knowledge takes place. Disciples may come enlightened with transmittal knowledge. The spiritual master is not enlightened with transmittal knowledge, the disciple is puffed up and is not submissive, there is not going to be any proper transmission of Transcendental Knowledge. The spiritual master may be potent, but the disciple is not humble and submissive, there is no transmission of Transcendental Knowledge. The disciple may be submissive and humble, but the Guru is not enlightened with Transcendental Knowledge, there still will be not any transmission of Transcendental Knowledge. So, both have to be there. Spiritual Master has to be potent and the disciple has to also be potent. So the mood of the disciple is to obey the orders of the spiritual master. Just like the kṣatriya kings, they would not think the kingdom was theirs... “This is my property….” No, they would think I'm managing this kingdom on behalf of my spiritual master. The spiritual master is the actual provider and I'm just the servant. I'm managing this kingdom on behalf of my spiritual master. The kṣatriyas were not independent, they were under their spiritual masters. So, the spiritual masters ordered them to always be obedient.

The fourth offense is the blaspheming of the Vedic literature or literature in pursuance of the Vedic version. Just like these wonderful books of Srila Prabhupada, we have to eventually worship it. These books are worshipable. …We should find fault with ourselves that we are not able to understand these books purely and fully. There are limitations. The books are always worshipable and we should understand that any difficult understanding is not that there is something wrong with the books, it is something wrong with me. So we should always have a greater respect for the Vedic literature, the literature pursuant to the Vedic version.

The fifth offense is to consider the glories of chanting Hare Krishna to be imagination. Actually, there are unlimited glories in chanting Hare Krishna. Why? The Supreme Personality of God in Himself is dancing on my tongue. And Srimati Radharani also is coming and saying, “Hurray”. I have Radha and Krishna coming and dancing on my tongue, even though my tongue is so filthy and dirty, They are coming and dancing on my tongue. Can you imagine? Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare... Just to bless me and purify me and get me out of this horrible maya that I have been going through. So the holy name is non-different from Krishna himself and Krishna's glory is unlimited. Everything that exists is His expanded energy. So anything that has any value or any glory is simply due to the fact that it is coming from Krishna. So there is unlimited glory in chanting Hare Krishna mantra.

Number 6, to give some interpretation of the holy name of the Lord. Well, Krishna means black and black means ignorance, so Krishna is ignorance. No, we should not take any mundane grammatical interpretation. We have to understand the name of Krishna is Krishna himself.

7thoffense committing sinful activities in chanting of the holy names. So, it should not be taken that because by chanting the holy name of the Lord that one can become free of all kinds of sinful reactions. So, “I can go on and act sinfully and then chant Hare Krishna and neutralize the sin. I feel like having a little illicit sex tonight so I'll have a little illicit sex but I'll chant some extra rounds tomorrow to make up for it.” No. This is the idea in Christianity. You go out sinning all week and on Saturday morning you go to the priest, as the Catholics do, you go to the priest and make your confession and that neutralizes all your sin. You go back to sinning the next week. Again, go to confession on Saturday morning. No, don't take the holy name like that. The holy name can relieve you of all sinful reactions, but it's not that you continue to sin on the strength of the holy name.. Just like one disciple has written…one of my students has written me, she's not initiated as a disciple, she actually aborted her first child and she felt very bad, she actually went and murdered, she was guilty of murder, yes, she was guilty of murder. And now she is not able to have any more children. She is getting a karmic reaction. You killed your first child, now you can't have any more children. So of course she can, she surrenders to Krishna now, takes initiation, takes up the vow, chants 16 rounds a day. She can overcome the reaction. Her reaction is she has to be aborted. In her next life she will become aborted. That's her reaction. But if she takes seriously this process of Krishna consciousness and become initiated by the bona fide spiritual master, chant 16 rounds, follows regulative principles, she won't take birth again, she will go back to home, back to Godhead.

So, the eighth offense is to consider the chanting Hare Krishna as one of the auspicious ritualistic activities offered in the Vedas as fruitive activities, karma kanda. I wonder about… you know…” I want to get hired, I am looking for a job, so I will do some chanting, … do some chanting …for getting a job, or I want to get a raise, I want to do some extra chanting to get a raise at my job” ...Don't chant Hare Krishna for some material purpose. You take it as a ritualistic activity to get material benefits. No, that's an offense. We chant Hare Krishna for one purpose, to awaken pure love of God within my heart. That's why I chant Hare Krishna.

Number 9 is to talk to a faithless person about the glory of the holy name. Does that mean I shouldn't preach? No. You preach according to the level of the audience, you say, well, this Hare Krishna mantra is God himself to someone who is not able to understand or appreciate it, they may be….” that's crazy, let me say, that's nonsense, that's a stupid thing, the holy name is God himself”…So you have to preach according to that level. Tell them, “Well, my dear sir, you're not a material body. You're an eternal spiritual being. If you actually tune in and awaken your eternal identity as a spiritual being, you can experience eternal knowledge and bliss, but right now by misidentifying your material body, you are experiencing temporality, ignorance and misery. So the point is you have to preach according to the audience, you have to be tuned in to the level of understanding that your audience can appreciate and to that level you instruct them. Don't go to a high level to someone who is not able to handle it at the point. You take them gradually to the higher level. You can see how Prabhupada also, if you study all the lectures, You can see the lectures he gave at 26th Second Avenue in the beginning and the lectures he gave later on. You can see how Prabhupada's preaching according to the level of the audience.

Number 10, I have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names and to maintain material attachments even after understanding so many instructions on this matter. So you have to understand the holy name is Krishna himself. You have to have unlimited faith in the benefits I can get from chanting Hare Krishna. And I have to give up my material attachments and hold on to these materials. Why should I hold on to material attachments? At the time of death, I have to give up everything anyway. So why should I hold on to those things that I have to give up? Let me be detached now from all material attachments and simply become attached to my spiritual master and Krishna. It is also a sense of being inattentive about chanting. Not that, I am chanting Hare Krishna but I am thinking about something else, my mind is going here and there, what is on the agenda for the day, what am I going to do here, do this, do that. No… You go to the chanting, you just fully absorb the chanting, let everything else aside. Just like Krishna says,

yato yato niścalati
manaś cañcalam asthiram
tatas tato niyamyaitad
ātmany eva vaśaṁ nayet

From whatever and wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self.

So, when you see your mind wandering here, wandering there, bring it back, bring it back, bring it back to Krishna. There's a lamp in a windless place, it's not wavered, so the transcendentalist whose mind is controlled remains always steady and his meditation on the transcendent self. So it has become like a lamp in a windless place, not like a flickering lamp, blowing here blowing there. No, a lamp in a windless place. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. And that's where you can enter into the transcendental dimension, Krishna Consciousness. You can enter the spiritual world. The spiritual world is within you. The kingdom of God is within you right now. By going deep, deep, deep into Krishna consciousness, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, you will enter the spiritual world. You will actually feel how Krishna is present and blessing you every minute. Whatever is happening out there in the material world, there is something happening out there in the external energy. It is not me. It does not touch me. See what is happening, when you take shelter of Krishna, what's happening is the external energy doesn't touch you or doesn't affect you. That's a very advanced stage, no doubt. Right now we're so much affected by this and that, this and that, constantly being affected by this and that, this and that. It means we're lacking in Krishna consciousness. It's like Bhaktivinoda singing, “When my offences ceasing, Taste for the name increasing, When in my heart will your mercy shine?”

aparadha ghuci’, suddha name ruci,
kripa-bale ha’be hridoye sancar, kabe ha’be bolo se-dina amar.

When, oh when, will that day be mine?

So we should hanker, hanker, hanker. When will that day come when I can take complete shelter of Guru and Krishna and not be any more affected by what's happening in the external energy. So we have to hanker for that day. By hankering for that day, that will accelerate the arrival of that day. When I become completely free from my lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, and envy, having only one thought, how can I please my spiritual master, how can I please Krishna, how can I please Vaishnava, you see, we have to become very, very intense in that desire to awaken pure love of God within our hearts? And then they will not be blown this way and blown that way but the reversals and seeing them all as providential.

Anybody have any questions? Let's see if we have any questions coming in. Yeah, we have some questions here.

Lila Smriti: How come we are presented with some distress at first and at once we are lamenting and hankering, we come to our senses and realize that it's all.

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Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Sorry for the interruption. Yes, why because we are not Krishna conscious, it is a very simple thing, we are not Krishna conscious very much. That is why we are so much bombarded by the dualities. This and that are blown this way, like a lamp in a windy place, flickering, flickering, blowing this way and that way. Happiness and distress, happiness and distress, happiness and distress. It is simply due to mental concoctions. I am thinking I am the Lord of all, I still think I am God, that is the problem. I am still trying to be God, I am still trying to be the controller. That is the problem. I am still trying to be the controller instead of just being completely controlled by Guru and Krishna. That's the problem. I'm still trying to be the controller. That's why I'm in this mood of trying to be the controller.

Mahaprabhu Kripa: Does every individual experience setbacks in their life according to how well they can tolerate?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Yeah, definitely. What is Lord Caitanya saying..? “One should become more tolerant than a tree,  ready to…

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

One should be more tolerant than the tree,ready to offer all respects to others without expecting any respect for oneself.

In such a state of mind, we can go on chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, 24 hours a day. So because we are not in that humble mood, loving.. all respect to others…instead there is something ,”yes I must be respected. I don't respect that person, I must be respected”. Because of that desire of thinking ourselves the Lord and deserving so much respect therefore we are being experiencing one setback and another setback and another setback. The intensity varies person to person. Every devotee has his own level of advancement of Krishna consciousness. Some are slightly advanced, some are more advanced, some are very, very, some are perfectly advanced like Prabhupada. So every devotee has their own individual level of awakening of Krishna consciousness. Some are 1%, some are 10%, some are 50%, some are 80%, some are 90%, 100%. Everybody has their own level of awakening. And the intensity of how they are being bombarded by how much they are experiencing the dualities, to whatever extent they are not Krishna conscious to that extent they will feel the intensity of the material atmosphere, the material experiences. Someone is completely awakened and they no longer feel any, they

are no longer being affected by the material nature.

Question: How does Krishna work on a particular soul when tolerance occasionally seems intolerable.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: That's an interesting question. Well,.. subject to Krishna, I can't say exactly how Krishna works because Krishna has His own unique style and method of dealing with every individual soul. Everybody is an individual case. I can't say that there is some set way that Krishna acts when one becomes intolerant. Krishna has his own way of acting with every individual according to the needs of that individual, according to the psychology of that certain person. So there is no set way that Krishna deals, that is according to his understanding which is perfect, of how to bring one out of this state of intolerance to the state of tolerance. 

Hare Krishna Das:  A person… kindly enlighten… a person wants some material desire to fulfill, he intensely prays to the Lord. Why I can't intensely pray for pure devotion?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari:  You can, Hare Krishna das, you can intensely pray for devotion. You are thinking you cannot do it, but you can. So stop thinking that you can't. And thinking, ‘well, I cannot be a pure devotee, it is not possible’…. Kick out that rascal idea you have that you cannot pray intensely to the Lord. You can. You absolutely can intensely pray to the Lord. So just kick out this idea that you can't do it and just start doing it. ‘My dear Lord, please bless me. I can intensely pray to You with desire for pure devotion”. Beg Krishna to help you and He will.

Amalapurana das: Inattentive chanting is the biggest problem I am facing. I'm not sure what is the best way to overcome this.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari:  Early morning chanting is a good tip. Guru Mataji and I chant, get up early. We chant before maṅgala -ārati. Because after maṅgala -ārati we do this and do that, this and that, do so many things…. We got to make up a plate, you've got to clean the plate…Tulasi worship.., one thing after another after another. We like to chant before maṅgala -ārati because there's nothing else to do except chant. We rise very early and chant our rounds before maṅgala -ārati. That's one tip that we found is very helpful. There's nothing else to do. So early, and another point is if you can't do that at least before sunrise because the modes of nature before sunrise, the mode of goodness is very prominent until sunrise. And the mode of goodness during that time, it's much easier for the mind to be meditative. The mode of goodness is the time for meditation, then when the sun comes up, the mode of passion .. to do this, do that, do that, do this. That's the mode of passion. So chanting before sunrise… should be done… get all your rounds done before sunrise. Whatever it takes, get all your runs done before sunrise. That's one tip that definitely works.

Gabriel from Lithuania : Is trying to change reverses in life like war to peace also a waste of time.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Yeah, just like reverse, the ultimate reversal is death. So of course, you can do something to hold it off by medical treatment, that's alright. Not that you have some sickness, it's not that you can't go to the doctor. Those things can be done. But the point is, whatever you take it off, I may go to the doctor, he may not be able to cure it, but I have some deficiency in my body and the doctors have no cure for it. All right, just take it at Krishna's mercy and live with it. So you can take some… make some endeavor to see if it can be dealt with. But don't be too attached to it. I have to get this sorted out… Just take it… it may not work. It's like I have certain deficiencies in this old man's body, and the doctors don't have any cure for it. So all right, let's take it as Krishna's mercy. Live with it, that's all.

Question: We can chant and change the world, or should we actually, ….?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: It is possible to  whatever extent we change ourselves, to whatever extent we purify ourselves, to that extent we can have an uplifting impact on other people. So we should try to become pure devotees and try to make others into pure devotees. That is the duty that we have been given by Lord Caitanya. yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’ upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa

Wherever you meet, instruct them in the teachings of Krishna. In this manner you become a guru and you deliver the people of this country.

So you are there in Lithuania, you should try to make Lithuania Krishna conscious. That is the duty given by Lord Caitanya.

Akuti Devi: Please accept my humble obeisances. What will help me for attentive chanting.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: I already mentioned… before sunrise is the key, early morning chanting. And you can even beg Krishna, ‘my dear Lord, please help me to chant Your holy name with full attention now’, and then start.

Anything else? I see no more questions here. I can try hearing. My hearing is not the best, but I can try doing it on mute and see if anybody... Unmute yourself and ask a question. I'll try to hear you with my defective ears. Anybody wants to ask a question? Give it a try. No one has any questions?

Devotee 1(Govardhan Das): Hare Krishna, Srila Gurudeva, Dandavat pranam.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Jai, Hare Krishna

Srila Gurudeva, when we say that all the reversals are providential… these things… all the… whatever the sins we commit… is it for karmic reaction or is it both are same?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: I heard you say that our reverses are providential, what did you say after that?

Devotee 1(Govardhan Das): The providential what we refer to… is… and the karmic reactions what we get, are both the same?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: I couldn't make out what you are saying. Can you speak more slowly and clearly?

Devotee 1(Govardhan Das): Yeah, Srila Gurudev, like here it is written that such incidents should be taken as providential.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Yes for devotees everything is providential…arrangements of the Lord, that’s right

Devotee 1(Govardhan Das):Yeah..So whatever the reversal comes in our life, is it we should take it as providential or is it the karmic reactions?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Even our karma is providential.

Devotee 1(Govardhan Das): Okay, okay Gurudeva.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: The karmic reactions, that's also Krishna's….., yeah, that's also providential. Karmic reactions are ultimately going under the arrangement of Krishna to purify us from our past sins. Even reactions are providential. But then Krishna can also, Krishna…to whatever extent we surrender, Krishna is taking away your karmic reactions is also providential. ..

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

Just like Krishna also says

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. …

So that’s how Krishna taking away our karmic reaction is also providential

Does that help a little bit, Govardhan?

Govardhan Das: Yes, yes, Gurudev. And moreover, Gurudev, it is written here, like, such reversals… contract… it is written here, like, such reversals… for the more we become implicated to rectify such reversals, the more we enter into the darkest region of material energy, material anxiety. So how do we understand this, Gurudev? Like..

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Oh, the point of it. Yeah, if we think,’ I have to change the situation, that I am the Lord and I have to change the situation,’ that is the darkest region of ignorance. You think ,’I have to change it. I cannot accept it. It has to be changed. It has to be stopped. Whatever is happening to me, I can't accept it, I don't want this to happen, so I must change it’. That is the darkest region of ignorance. Because ultimately you have to take whatever Krishna's arrangement. It's not that I'm God and I can change things.

Ultimately it is Krishna's arrangement, not my arrangement. So you think,’ it is my arrangement and I will arrange things the way I want them’. That is the darkest region of ignorance. Does that make it clear?

Govardhan Das: Yes, Gurudeva. Thank you. Dandavat pranam Gurudeva

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Jai.. Anybody else?

Devotee 2 ( Shyama Priya devi dasi):Hare Krishna, Srila Gurudev. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you actually Your Divine Grace. Srila Gurudev, are there any reversals where we should try to help ourselves or everything we take it as providential? Are there any reversals where we try to if they're interfering with our spiritual life or anything?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: What is that about spiritual life?

Devotee 2 ( Shyama Priya devi dasi):Yeah, if any reversals are affecting spiritual life or anything, do we try to rectify or?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari:  Our spirit…, we can accept what is coming by Krishna's arrangement, that is hurting our spiritual life. Just like Krishna says “one should not be disturbed..the appearance and disappearance of happiness and distress are like the appearance and disappearance of the winter and summer seasons, one should learn to tolerate them without being disturbed, oh Scion of Bharata”. So instead of being completely overwhelmed when things are going bad, we have to say, “well, let me just see it as Krishna's arrangement, not be disturbed. We have to learn to tolerate these dualities and not become...’ my happiness depends on this situation. my happiness does not depend on this situation breaking away. I don't want it to work.’… ‘My happiness depends on my accepting everything as Krishna's arrangement’. Does that make it clear?

Devotee 2 ( Shyama Priya devi dasi): Yes, Gurudeva  I understand. Thank you so much, Gurudeva.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Anything else? Okay, we'll stop here. We thank you everybody for tuning in.

Devotee 3( Guru Vandana devi dasi):  Hare Krishna Srila Gurudeva

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Yes?

Devotee 3( Guru Vandana devi dasi): Please accept my humble obeisances. I have posted a written question Srila Gurudeva.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: Okay, let me look at it in the postings… Okay, is there room for emotions when one is equipoised?

Well, our emotions, what we are after is …the emotions of love of God. That's the emotion that we're after. We only become elated and depressed. Those kind of emotions we go beyond. Our emotions are the awakening of the love of God within our heart. That's our emotions that we want to experience. Just like when Prabhupada came to Atlanta... He was looking at the deities of Gaur Nitai, he was speaking and actually he became totally overwhelmed with emotion, he had to stop speaking. He had tears of love flowing from his eyes and he could not even speak, he was overwhelmed with emotion just seeing the beautiful Gaur Nitai deities there in Atlanta. So we have much more powerful devoting experiences, much more powerful emotions than any karmic experiences. So we want to have the emotional experience of love of God within our hearts. That's the highest, most powerful emotion. Prabhupada certainly had tears and laughter, but it was all in relation to Krishna, not in relation to sense gratification.

Kirtan devi dasi: I do Krishna conscious activities according to my desires. How do I know what Krishna desires for me?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari: You have to see what are the instructions of the spiritual master. You have to see what are the instructions in Prabhupada's books. Prabhupada wants us to work cooperatively as members of ISKCON. We work together as a spiritual family cooperatively to help each other advance their Krishna consciousness and to make more and more people Krishna conscious. So you should act in accordance with the instructions of the spiritual master. That's the key. What does the spiritual master want me to do? What does Prabhupada want me to do? And read Prabhupada's books and know what you should be doing. Anything else? Okay,

We'll stop here. We thank everybody for tuning in. 

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, 

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.