Sankarshan Das: Today we read from Srimad Bhagavatam, Fourth Canto, Chapter 20, Text Number 3.

sudhiyah sadhavo loke

naradeva narottamah

nabhidruhyanti bhutebhyo

yarhi natma kalevaram

su-dhiyah- the most intelligent persons; sadhava- who are inclined to perform welfare activities; loke- in this world; nara-deva- O King; nara-uttamah- the best of human beings; na abhidruhyanti- never become malicious; bhutebhyah- toward other living beings; yarhi- because; na- never; atma- the self or soul; kalevaram- this body.

Sankarshan Das:  Translation and Purport by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.

Translation: O King, one who is advanced in intelligence and eager to perform welfare activities for others is considered best amongst human beings. An advanced human being is never malicious to others. Those with advanced intelligence are always conscious that this material body is different from the soul.

Purport:  In daily life we find that when a madman commits murder, he is excused even by a high-court judge. The idea is that a living entity is always pure because he is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When he falls into the clutches of material energy, he becomes a victim of the three modes of material nature. Indeed, whatever he does, he does under the influence of material nature. As stated in Bhagavad Gita (5.14):

na kartrtvam na karmani

lokasya srjati prabhuh

na karma-phala samyogam

svabhavas tu pravartate

“The embodied spirit, master of the city of this body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature.”

Actually, the living entity, or soul does not do anything; everything is done under the influence of the modes of material nature. When a man is diseased, the symptoms of the disease become a source of all kinds of pain. Those who are advanced in transcendental consciousness, or Krishna consciousness, are never envious neither of the soul nor of the activities of the soul under the influence of material nature. Advanced transcendentalists are called sudhiya. Sudhi means “intelligence,” and sudhi means “highly advanced” and sudhi means “devotee.” One who is both devoted and highly advanced in intelligence does not take action against the soul or the body. If there is any discrepancy, forgives. It is said that forgiveness is a quality of those who are advancing in spiritual knowledge.

Vande ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaishnavams ca sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa jivam sadvaitam savadhutam parijana–sahitam krishna-caitanya-devam sri-radha-krishna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca

nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale

srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine

nirvisesha-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

Sankarshan Das: So here we see a very important point that forgiveness is the quality of a devotee of the Lord. Even if others are very offensive to him, he is very tolerant and forgiving. He doesn't hold a grudge against anyone. He sees all this all coming by the interaction, ultimately by the arrangement of Krishna. From my own purification, ultimately the interaction of the three modes of material nature is not independent. They are under the control of Krishna. Krishna controls both the superior nature and the inferior nature. Both are under His control either directly or indirectly. So, He holds no grudging against anyone. Everything is coming to me by the mercy of Krishna. If somebody is respectful to me, that's Krishna's mercy. If somebody is very disrespectful to me, that is also Krishna's mercy. So, there is no grudge. All the mercy of Krishna is coming, now let me reciprocate with that mercy of Krishna. That's the mood of the Vaishnava. Let me always be in a mood of loving reciprocation with Krishna. This is called Divine love; I was explaining yesterday. Selfless love, giving with no thought of getting something back, giving for the sake of giving. That's called Krishna consciousness. It's not well, you know, if Krishna would give me this and give me that and I'll chant His holy name. No. I'm chanting His holy name just because I'm given the privilege, I'm given this great opportunity to chant the holy name of Krishna. So, I get His mercy. So, the point is in this state of mind one can always be peaceful.

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam

sarva-loka-maheshvaram

suhrdam sarva-bhutanam

jnatva mam santim rcchati. 

A person in full consciousness of Me, who knows Me as the Ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, all sacrifices and austerities, as the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities attains peace from the pangs of material miseries. We simply have to always recognize Krishna. That's the point. Always recognize Krishna. He's the Ultimate well-wisher of all living entities. Krishna has made it very easy. He has come as Lord Caitanya to show us exactly how to do it. Not the way you have to guess how to be a devotee. Krishna has shown. Example is better than precepts as is sometimes stated. So, Krishna has taught the Bhagavad Gita but He has shown how to practice the Bhagavad Gita. It is Lord Chaitanya. and great Vaishnava acharya like His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Tridandi Goswami Maharaj, Prabhupada. Prabhupada has so kindly come to show exactly how to be a devotee. It's amazing, even an elderly man, he's like 78 years old, he was dancing in ecstasy at the Ratha Yatra. He was standing there with his arms in the air, dancing, a really cute smile, dancing in ecstasy and devotees were jumping up and down seeing the Prabhupada’s ecstasy. Jumping, jumping ecstasy. This is an amazing thing, such a personality. He is giving so much like writing letters, answering so many letters, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of letters he was answering. Writing the books, answering letters, giving lectures, hardly slept. It's amazing. Such a personality, traveling, traveling, traveling, traveling. In an old man's body, traveling like that, hardly sleeping at all, I'm seeing all these lectures, I'm seeing all the letters, all the conversations. It's so amazing to hear how he speaks in these lectures and conversations. We have all these recordings, hundreds and hundreds of recordings of his lectures. And how expert he was at giving instructions. Just like in Atlanta, the devotee named Kardama Muni, He was instructed to cut the cutting vegetables, not on the metal table. He was told to do that but he wasn't following the instruction. He was being negligent. He was doing it anyway, cutting on the metal table. And right in the middle of the lecture, the Prabhupada said, what does that sound like? The Prabhupada heard him while he was giving the lecture. Because he wouldn't take the instruction from the devotees, he had to get it from Prabhupada directly, not to do that. So Prabhupada, even in terms of management, Prabhupada was ultimately managing everything by his expertise. So just consider this great good fortune. Prabhupada gave us the order to make our Austin Centre a grand success. And now we're asking all the devotees, please help us. Everything you can, not just in terms of donating money for a new temple, but actually if any devotees can relocate here and actually do service. We need more devotees doing service here in Austin. Any devotees can relocate here to Austin. I'm putting this in thought for the day also. Any devotees can relocate to Austin. Prabhupada gave Austin as my Prabhu datta desh. Make our Austin Centre of Grand Success. The order is sitting on my head. It's a direct order from Srila Prabhupada. Now many devotees can relocate here, that would be very wonderful. They help us do the service. There's so much service to be done. We need devotees, more devotees to do service. By serving the order of the spiritual master, by serving the orders of Srila Prabhupada, our life become glorious. The disciple does not want to act independently, just doing his own thing, satisfying his own desires, no. He wants to think how can I satisfy the desires of my spiritual master? That is the perfection for the disciple. Not living for my own self, but my real satisfaction is satisfying my spiritual master. My spiritual master's satisfaction is satisfying his spiritual master and his satisfaction is satisfying his spiritual master. In this way the knowledge comes down and the satisfaction comes down. You give satisfaction and you get satisfaction. You just try to get satisfaction without trying to give satisfaction, it is not possible. You want satisfaction, you have to give satisfaction.

evam parampara-praptam

imam rajarsayo viduh 

This knowledge was thus received to attain the disciplic succession of the saintly kings and is situated in that way. So, knowledge is coming in the disciplic succession, the satisfaction is also coming in the disciplic succession. It ultimately comes when we satisfy Krishna. When I satisfy my spiritual master, then he is satisfied and that satisfied, when he is satisfied with my service, then his spiritual master is satisfied, and his spiritual master is satisfied, then this goes all the way up. By satisfying your spiritual master, you satisfy every acharya in the line, and ultimately Krishna is satisfied and then the blessings come down through the disciplic succession. It goes up and down through the disciplic succession.

tad viddhi pranipatena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti te jñānam

jñāninas tattva-dārṣinah 

Just try to learn the truth by approaching the spiritual master, inquire from him submissively, render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth. Sometimes they ask me, well, if I really need a guru can't I just chant Hare Krishna on my own? Well, chanting Hare Krishna means that you are wanting to serve Krishna. You are begging Krishna, please engage me in your pure devotional service. It is not just some mantra dancing on your lips. You are actually praying to Krishna, please engage me in your pure devotional service. If you do not say, I want to serve Krishna, I will just chant Hare Krishna, then you are not chanting in the right mood. You have to chant in the mood of wanting to serve Krishna. And how to serve Krishna? He describes in the Bhagavad Gita.

yajna-sistasinah santo

mucyante sarva-kilbisaih

bhunjate te tv agham papa

ye pacanty atma-karanat, 

the devotees of the Lord are relieved from all kinds of sins because they eat food which they do not prefer to sacrifice. Others who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment rarely eat only sins. So, we have to think, well Krishna wants me to offer all my food. So, if I chant Hare Krishna and don't offer my food, then I'm not really chanting Hare Krishna in the proper mood. I'm chanting with offense. To disobey the orders of the spiritual master is a defence against the holy name. In the spiritual master's orders, you must follow the instructions given in the Bhagavad Gita. So having the guru and the Krishna comes as one package. You can't separate it. I'd like Guru without Krishna and Krishna without Guru. It's a package deal. You have to take the whole package. Otherwise, you don't get anything. When you accept the spiritual master, then it becomes actually an amazing process. You can please your spiritual master; you've actually pleased Krishna. So just try to learn how to please your spiritual master. That's the most important thing. Spiritual master is very tolerant. There are so many offenses made, but the spiritual master is very, very tolerant. He sees everything coming as the mercy of Krishna. He corrects the disciples when they make mistakes. He is very merciful also to forgive their mistakes. They're sincerely trying to overcome their deficiencies. The spiritual master is very forgiving but the disciple doesn't want to give up his nonsense and wants to continue doing nonsense. The spiritual master has to correct him. So, this is not correct. Next thing is like sometimes the disciple thinks, well my wife is not really nice, you know, she has bipolar, she's not very psychologically together, so I'm just going to dump her. Some of the foolish disciples are right, the spiritual master. I have a right to dump my wife because she is not psychologically together. But I have to inform the disciple that actually you are not psychologically together either. That's why you have a material body, you rascal. You say you want to dump your wife because she is not psychologically sound, you are not psychologically sound either. That is why you have a material body. We are all psychological bath cases here in this material world. So don't be so proud of thinking, well I'm psychologically together and she isn't so, I'm going to dump her. We have to all take a humble position and realize she's not psychologically sound, I'm not psychologically sound, so let us work together by serving the spiritual master to become psychologically sound. We should not think of our own sense gratification, we should think of duty. What is my duty? To always think, what is my duty? What does my spiritual master want me to do? That's my duty. But if I don't care about my spiritual master, what else am I going to do what I want? Then you are not going to become Krishna conscious. You are not going to get out of the cycle of birth and death. So, we have to become very serious to give up all of our nonsense and become fixed in devotional service. What is that verse?

bhogaisvarya-prasaktanam

tayapahrta-cetasam

vyavasayatmika buddhih

samadhau na vidhiyate, 

in the mind of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, the resolute determination of devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place. We have to kick out this thing of our own sense enjoyment. To kick it out. What does Krishna says,

visaya vinivartante

niraharasya dehinah

rasa-varjam raso ‘py asya

param drstva nivartate 

the embodied soul may be restricted to sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains, but ceasing such engagement by experiencing what? A higher taste. He is fixed in consciousness. So, someone says, well I am not getting a higher taste in Krishna consciousness, so I give it up. That means you are not actually practicing Krishna consciousness, sir. If you are not getting a higher taste, you are not actually practicing it. You are practicing your own concocted version of what is Krishna consciousness, where you are the centre of enjoyment. If you keep yourself as the centre of enjoyment you will not get a higher taste, trust me, you won't get a higher taste as long as you keep yourself as the centre of enjoyment. You actually learn how to put Krishna in the centre, even though you have the taste for sense objects. Right now, we are still addicted to material sense gratification. We come out of that world where we are gratifying our senses, taking sense gratification as the purpose of our existence. So, by restraining the senses you may have that taste to go back to sense gratification, but if you actually practice Krishna consciousness sincerely and properly according to the instructions of Guru and Krishna, then you get a higher taste, a lower taste of body no anymore. You may get, sometimes your mind becomes lusty to enjoy sex pleasure. The mind may sometimes get all enamoured and start meditating on sex and thinking it's a really attractive thing, you know, the sex organs and this and that. The mind may start going off into that tangent and you go, wait a minute. My dear mind, just stop that. Don't get carried away by some nonsense. See the mind is not very intelligent, like a little kid. Not very intelligent, it can do anything nonsense. So, the intelligence is like the parent. So, you have to be like a good parent. Your mind is getting carried away by lusty thoughts. You say, okay mind, let's go back to Krishna. Come on, mind. You shouldn't dwell on that nonsense. Now Let's come back to Krishna. An amazing person standing on the bank of the Jamuna playing His flute. Jamuna-tira-vana-cari is wandering on the bank of the river Jamuna. An amazing person, He is so attracted to His bluish complexion, the peacock feather in His hair, the beautiful lotus feet. Just come back to Krishna. Come back to the higher taste now, my dear mind, give up that lower taste, spit it out, like  Yāmunācārya Ālabandaru:

yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravinde
nava-nava-rasa-dhāmany udyataṁ rantum āsīt
tad-avadhi bata nārī-saṅgame smaryamāṇe
bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭhu niṣṭhīvanaṁ ca

Ever since I have been engaged in the transcendental loving service of Lord Sri Sri Radha and Krishna tasting nava nava rasa, ever increasing nectar in that service, whenever I do my past sinful activities, I might start thinking about sex. My lips crawl with this taste and I spit at these thoughts. We have learned to be good spitters. Telling this, I will say Gurudev, but I can't give it up. I'm still enamoured by it. Well, you just have to spit harder than, make it up, spit up with more determination. Don't be, don't be a halfway spit. Make a totally determined spit. Okay, you damn nonsense, get out. It's like when you want a fast food, you want to linger on it? No, you're going to flush it, get rid of that damn thing, flush it down the toilet. I want to meditate; I'll just see how nice that stool is. Get it out of there, flush it, get it out of here. It stinks, it looks horrible, get it out of here. So lusty thought is like stool, get rid of it. I'm going to flush them down, get rid of them. They're not welcome here in my heart. Lust is not welcome. Mr. Lust, get out of my heart. You are not welcome here anymore. You can get out and don't you ever dare come back. So, this has become a term, Brahmachari. In Vedic culture there are 4 types of brahmachari. There is Brahmachari, Brahmachari, Grhastha Brahmachari, Vanaprastha Brahmachari and Sannyasa Brahmachari. There are four types of Brahmachari. Brahmachari kindness is where it's at for everyone. This idea that it's okay to have recreational sex on your household is completely bogus. It is Grihamedi, not Grihasta. Grihasta means he only has sex for producing children according to the order of the spiritual master. He doesn't have sex for fun. That's Grihastha. He is a Grihamedi, if he has sex for fun. He is not a Grihastha. In Vanaprastha he has no sex at all. Sannyasi no sex at all. Brahmachari no sex at all. In this way Brahmachari means one who only has sex for procreation. That is only in that one order of life, Grihasta ashram. So, we have to come to the higher taste. We have to experience that higher taste. It is available in Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. The taste is there. If you want the taste, you will get it. If you are not interested in it, you won't get it. You have to be determined. It's like a little sparrow who was determined to get her egg back and the ocean wasn't going to give in. She was determined, no I'll dry up that rascal ocean. I don't care how, I don't care if the ocean won't give the eggs back, I'm going to dry up the ocean and force that ocean to give the eggs back. Seeing the determination, Garuda, the king of the birds, swooping in on Garuda Airlines and he said, you rascal ocean, you give that ocean immediately, I will dry you up by my mystic power. The ocean immediately returns the eggs. So we should be that determined to become a pure devotee, completely free from lust, from anger, from greed, from madness, illusion. We become determined to become a pure devotee who is qualified to see Krishna face to face. We should be very determined. Then we become so pure and so free of all contamination that Krishna becomes personally revealed to me. I have become qualified to see Krishna face to face.

yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam. yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam. 

Like that. I have become so qualified that we can anoint our eyes with the salve of love of God. An amazing person is tending the cows.

cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-

laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam

laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, what's He doing? He's tending the cows in abodes built with spiritual gems. Can you imagine a world built with spiritual gems? Pretty amazing. A world built with spiritual gems. It was tending the cows and abode built with spiritual gems. So that in my opinion is a purpose tree and these are wish fulfilling trees. Whatever you desire the tree will facilitate. Just like you have a tree, you might get a mango from a certain type of tree and an apple from a different type of tree, a banana from a different type of tree, but you have a tree that gives anything. It will give mango, it will give apple, it will give anything. You can have a tree that will give you anything, even a harmonium. The wish fulfilling trees in the spiritual world, of course they don't have any material desires there, it's all their desires is to serve Krishna. It's all their desire to serve Krishna. So, these wish fulfilling trees can fulfil any desire. But no one has any material desire in this. Anyone with a material desire is not qualified to live in that world where there is nothing to wish fulfilling trees, the Kalpavrksa is available. I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is tending the cows in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of lakshmis or gopis. That Krishna is waiting for us. He is adept at playing on His flute, He has blooming eyes like lotus petals, His head is decked with a peacock feather. You see Krishna is waiting for us. When will you come back to Me you stupid idiot? Going down to try to enjoy your senses. Why are you so foolish, My dear devotee? Come back now to be once again with Me in my eternal pastimes. Krishna is waiting and waiting and waiting. He has been watching and waiting for millions of lifetimes. When will you come back to Me? When will you come back? Krishna is very eager for us to come back to Him. So, we have to give up our reluctance of surrender and say, OK, mind, you have one business only, one business only. That's fully absorbing in Krishna consciousness. My dear mind, please now engage yourself in the devotional service of the Divine son of Nanda Maharaj. My dear mind, that is your only business now. That amazing boy, the son of Nanda and Yasodha, your only business now is to be a devotee of Nanda twenty-four hours a day, nothing else. It is your only business.

bhajahu re mana sri-nanda-nandana

abhaya-caranaravinda re

durlabha manava-janama sat-sange

taroho e bhava-sindhu re

My dear mind, for countless sleepless nights you have wandered here and there trying to enjoy this material world. So now it's time to give up you’re wandering and roaming in this desolate desert. Go back to your original home and transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord.

Anybody have any objections? Anybody no. Anybody doesn't want to surrender, let's hear your objections. Anybody not want to surrender? Anybody is against surrendering to Krishna? Any questions? Any objections? No questions, no objections.

Local Devotee: I have a question.

Sankarshan Das: Yes.

Local Devotee: So, in the spiritual world there is only pure devotional service right. So then how is it at all even possible to have the thought of enjoying separately Gurudev? The only thing that happens there is pure devotional service. How can I even think about it?

Sankarshan Das: You can't think about anything except pure devotional service in the spiritual realm. It's not possible. You're right.

Local Devotee:  So then how does one think that and then fall down?

Sankarshan Das: He doesn't think that and fall down. He's already fallen down when he thinks that.

Local Devotee: Well, how does that happen then? If it can't happen there then how?

Sankarshan Das:  Love is, as I said many times, love is voluntary. If I hold a gun to your head and say love me or I blow your brains out, love has to be voluntary. So, the living entity chooses to try to enjoy separately from Krishna. He is already in the material world, there is not even a nanosecond delay, it is instantaneous. He is immediately in the material world. Krishna fulfils your desire. You have a desire to enjoy separately from Him to be a controller and actually the first birth is a Brahma. See there are infinite universes and each universe has a Brahma. So, your first birth is you take birth, you find yourself as Brahma, the whole universe, to be the Lord of the whole universe. Every living entity falls down first as the Brahma.

Amala Purana Das: You mentioned Krishna is very eager to get us back, we are also eager to go back. Why there are so many hindrances in terms of our attachment, sense gratification, lust, anger?

Sankarshan Das: Why there are so many impediments and hindrances? Because we are not fully convinced. We are still thinking, maybe I can enjoy separately by being, we are still foolishly thinking, maybe I can enjoy separately. It's our foolishness. We are still misusing our independence to think I can enjoy separately from Krishna. Those hindrances are created by us, not by Krishna. Actually, Maya is giving them because we desire them. Because we are holding on to these desires to enjoy separately, So, maya gives so many facilities. Gabriel from Lithuania.

Gabriel:  So, if I think 24 hours a day about Krishna, can we say we are already in the spiritual realm?

Sankarshan Das: Yes, you are. Just like that verse, how does that go?

yo ‘ntah-sukho ‘ntar-aramas

tathantar-jyotir eva yah

sa yogi brahma-nirvanam

brahma-bhuto ‘dhigacchati 

One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, whose aim is inward, is actually the perfect mystic. He's already a liberated Supreme and he ultimately attains the Supreme. So how can there be a difference between liberated Supreme and ultimately attaining the Supreme? So, the point is you are already liberated soul in the spiritual realm and everything you like Krishna. You reconnected, now you are liberated but because you are not advanced very much you go back. You go like off and on switch, Krishna, not Krishna, Krishna, non-Krishna, Krishna, non-Krishna, Krishna, non-Krishna. So, everything about Krishna you are liberated because you keep going back, so you have to get in that form where you don't go back to Krishna, you are not like flipping back and forth like a little metronome. Krishna, non-Krishna. When you are with Krishna you are liberated. When you go back to your non-liberated position. Liberation, non-liberation, liberation, non-liberation. When you become steady, no more flipping to non-liberation, then you can actually see Krishna face to face, even in this material world. So, Prabhupada is teaching us how to always be Krishna conscious. The first lecture I heard in San Francisco, he said, every day you are drinking water, once, twice, thrice, more than that every day. If every time you drink water, you remember Krishna, the taste of the water, immediately you become Krishna conscious. To become Krishna conscious is not a difficult job, it simply requires practice. But if you become so expert in this practice that flipping back and forth doesn't happen much anymore. In the beginning you are flipping back and forth a lot, but as you are more advanced you become less flippant. We have a flippant nature, Krishna, Maya, Krishna, Maya, Krishna, Maya. We have to curb that flippant nature. It is called steady, becoming steady in Krishna consciousness, not flippant. To become less flippant, less flippant, there is steadiness on the one hand and flippancy on the other hand. So, we have to become less flippant and more steady gradually, gradually, gradually, gradually, gradually, to become to that point where Krishna becomes fully manifest to us. We experience Him at every minute, at every time, place and circumstance. Fully connecting with Him and fully having loving reciprocation with Him at every minute. So, we have to see that Krishna is arranging every minute for us to come to that position. It's not that Krishna, Krishna is not putting any impediments. Maya puts the impediments when we want them. It's only because we want it that Maya gives it to us. But Krishna is always there facilitating our coming back to pure bhakti. Every minute He is doing everything He can from His side to facilitate our coming back to pure devotional service.

Panchatattva Das:  Kindly enlighten me, what is the connection of love and emotions with Vaidhi Bhakti?

Sankarshan Das: So, when we are practicing Krishna consciousness, love and emotions are very important. Actually, I can tell my own story how emotions had a big impact on me. I was coming to Krishna consciousness; I was a singer-songwriter thinking well I want to become a Krishna conscious. I saw that George Harrison had just come out with My Sweet Lord. Some of the people follow the George Harrison example and be a Krishna conscious singer songwriter. That's my idea, but not a disciple. I'm going to do it as a singer songwriter, Krishna conscious music. That was my idea. I had fans here locally. I was being invited by a professor to sing for his class, I was popular on the campus here. I had a Krishna conscious song I sang for the class and they all liked it. So, I was thinking, I'll just be a Krishna conscious singer-songwriter. But I was living in the temple, I had nowhere else to stay, even though I was welcomed to stay there, even though I wasn't ready to become a Brahmachari. They let me stay there. I said, I want to come with a learning experience. .. that's a good attitude. He let me come. You and I didn't want to surrender. The learning experience, quote unquote. So, my service was to vacuum the temple room rug every morning. We were out on Harinam one day and somebody handed this record album called the Radha Krishna Temple produced by Apple Records. They didn't want to play it on their radio shows, and they thought, well, Hare Krishna's will like it. So, we're on a Hare Nama and Guadalupe on the drive. They handed us the album. We, wow, George Harrison, The Beatles, the Apple Records, Krishna Consciousness record album, wow. So, there were many songs on the album. The one was Guruvastakam.

samsara-davanala-lidha-loka

tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam

praptasya kalyana 

So, anyway I was backing the record player, backing the ecord player and I was amazed by the emotion in the devotee's heart, the feelings they had for Prabhupada. It was just amazing. You know, we may talk about love in the material world, love of my dog, love of my family, love of my school, love of my football team, you know, all this love is all selfish love, you see. But here I was experiencing the devotees, the selfless love of dedicating to the spiritual master. I was hearing their loving feelings, their loving emotions they had for Srila Prabhupada and I was completely overwhelmed. I never experienced love like that anywhere in my whole life. I was tuning into the loving emotions of the devotees for Prabhupada and I just carried away. My heart was melted hearing these emotions. The tears were coming down my face as I was experiencing the emotions of the devotees, and I became emotional. The Prabhupada says, the emotional love of God. My heart melted in the loving emotions, hearing the loving emotions, and then I said, when can I get initiated? So, emotions are very, very important. Emotions brought me to Krishna consciousness because of the emotions of the devotee and the emotions I felt for Prabhupada and now I want to give my life to Prabhupada. So, emotions are very, very essential. We have to have that awakening of transcendental emotions within the heart. That will bring us to wanting to surrender to Krishna. Emotions can be grown in us when we are not able to practice Vaidi bakthi properly. What does Krishna say,

nehabikrama-naso ‘sti

pratyavayo na vidyate

sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya

trayate mahato bhayat 

in this endeavour there is no loss or diminution, even a slight amount of advancement on this pathway but to protect one from the most dangerous type of fear. So even a slight amount of advancement you see can save you. So, you can feel that I am not practicing bhakti properly. This is our great acharya's actual prayer. gopīnāth, mama nivedana śuno viṣayī durjana, sadā kāma-rata, kichu nāhi mora guṇa. My dear Lord Gopinath, Lord of the Gopis, I am a materialistic rascal. I am always full of lust. I have no good qualities. Nahi mora guna. Nahi mora, I have no good, nahi is none, none, nahi. I have none, nahi more my guna. I have no good qualities. I have no good qualities. So, if you feel you are not practicing bhakti properly, that is a very good emotion. Just do it as best you can and always lament that you are not doing it properly. It is a very good lament. You should have the lamentation, I can understand I'm not doing bhakti properly, I'm not seeing Krishna face to face. It's just a defect in my service, I'm not seeing Krishna face, eye to eye at this very minute. It's a defect in my service. So, the more one can feel that one is defective in one's service, that's a very good feeling. So just try to overcome these defects.

Bhakta Gabriel:  I understand very clearly, I wanted to also ask where does all this recorded nectar go?

Sankarshan Das: Oh, actually, yeah, I can send you, ask me by email. There's a link that'll give you a, there's a link for all these lectures. I don't have it memorized, but if you send me a link, I mean email, I'll give you the link so you can tune in all this recorded lecture. I'm recording them every day. There's a place where everybody can go back and hear all these lectures again and again. Just send me an email, I'll send you the link.

Matsya Devi Dasi:  Advanced devotee does not take action against the soul or the body. If there is any discrepancy, forgive. Can you kindly explain with an example?

Sankarshan Das: Well, sometimes devotees are very rude to one. Some are very rude and offensive in the way they deal with you. But a devotee thinks, well, I deserve it. This is a reaction from my previous, Krishna has given me a little mercy of reaction from my previous misdeeds. Some devotees have dealt with me in a very rude and offensive way, but actually I deserve worse than this for all my past offenses. This is a little, like a little slap, I deserve to have, I should have had my, I should have had my throat cut if I got a little slap on the face instead. So, take it as a blessing. The devotee is rude to me. It's actually Krishna acting through this devotee to give me a minimization of what I actually deserve in my previous sinful activities. So, take it as a blessing. Instead of devotees’ .. or offensive, take it as a blessing. Always be in this forgiving mood, seeing it as Krishna's mercy.

Anything else from your side? Are you ready to take over the world for Prabhupada? The Prabhupada told us to liberate the world. So, I just think what can I do to make the whole world Krishna conscious? What can I do to spark off a global spiritual revolution? Right now, at this minute. That's the mood. Our mood is Lord Caitanya's desire, Lord Caitanya's order. yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa. Whoever you meet instruct him the teachings of Krishna and in this way, you become a Guru and you liberate the people in this country. So don't be just a laid back, sit back devotee. It's your duty, every one of us, it's our duty to become spiritual revolutionaries. That's the duty of every single member of Lord Chaitanya's movement. Act as an agent of Lord Chaitanya, liberating these fallen souls back to home, back to Godhead. That's why Harinaam is so important, that's why book distribution is so important.

Nitai Chandra Das: To become fully pure in this world looks very, very, very rare?

Sankarshan Das: Very rare, okay. I got your spelling. Becomes very rare. I'll tell you Bulgarian is your natural language, it's okay. To become fully pure, that's P-U-R-E, P-U-R-E is the spelling, and rare is spelled R-A-R-E, not R-E-A-R, which is real. That's okay. You're doing good in English, even though it's not your real language. I couldn't even do close to anything in Bulgarian, you can do it in English. To become fully pure in this world it is very rare how pure we have to be to enter Krishna Leela. Well, it is just like what Krishna said, even a slight amount of endeavour on this pathway can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear. Even if you take one step towards Krishna, He is going to take a million steps towards you. So actually, all that is required is remembering, in spite of all our offenses, all our discrepancies, somehow at the very moment of death we are fixed in Krishna consciousness and we are home, back to Home, back to Godhead. So just train yourself that you can always bring your mind to Krishna even when there is difficulty. If I am in great pain, we should train ourselves to always bring the mind back to Krishna. Bring it back to Krishna. Always be in the habit of bringing the mind to Krishna, bringing the mind to Krishna. Even if he keeps going away, he brings it back to Krishna. Be in that habit of always bringing your mind to Krishna. Because you can train yourself to always bring your mind to Krishna even in times of great difficulty, then you'll be sitting pretty at the time of death because you'll be bringing your mind to Krishna. The qualification for remembering Krishna Leela, for entering Krishna Leela is to remember Krishna Leela and remember Krishna at the time of death. Either one is fine. If you are going to say Krishna at the time of death, even if you can only have a bit, kish, you say na in the spiritual world. Kish and then na you have to have it in the spiritual world. Then you are in good shape.

yato yato niscalati

manas cancalam asthiram

tatas tato niyamyaitad

atmany eva vasam nayet 

from whatever and wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back to Krishna under the control of the self. So, in the most difficult situation, keep bringing it back to Krishna, bring it back to Krishna. Don't become disturbed if the devotee is rude or offensive to you. Take it as a blessing and bring your mind back to Krishna.

Questions Mark? You understand everything? Everybody understands everything clearly? Everybody ready to be a spiritual revolutionary for turning the world right side up. Amala Purana has now sent it to Gabriel, the link. That's good. If everything is understood, we can stop here. Thank you everybody for tuning in. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. Oh, here's another one.

Dristadyumna Das:  Hare Krishna, Sila Gurudev. Sometimes doing devotional duties when you're not in the mood to doing so.

Sankarshan Das: If you're only sometimes in that mood, you're making some nice progress. The Neophytes don't ever want to do devotional service. So, if only sometimes, then you're making some progress. Only some of the time you have that difficulty. Whether it is some of the time or all the time, the same solution is the same. I am asked to do something, I don't feel like doing it, so how can I do it in the mood of devotion? That's the key. That's a real challenge for us neophytes. I'm asked to do something I didn't want to do it but now I've got to do it in the mood of love and devotion even though I didn't want to do it. That's a big challenge. That can be quite a whole book on that one and how to solve that problem. We have to remember that my actual desire is I want to do whatever I'm asked to do, I'm in great ecstasy, my actual heart's desire is to do whatever I'm asked to do with great enthusiasm and pure love, that's my actual nature. But I'm covered by now with this rascal mind that thinks well I like to do this and I don't like to do that. I like to take prasadam but I don't like to wash the dishes. We have a mind that's covered, covering our actual nature. So, you have to understand your actual nature is your enthusiasm to do whatever you have to do with great ecstasy, with great enthusiasm, that's the actual nature of the self. So, when your intelligence remembering that, just tell your mind to shut up if it doesn't like to do something. Tell your mind, my dear mind, your actual nature is you want to do that. Don't think you don't want to do it. Your actual nature is you want to do it, you are enthusiastic to do it, my dear mind. So, you have to distinguish between your mind and your intelligence. With your intelligence you know you are enthusiastic to do whatever you are asked to do for Krishna. But your mind doesn't always agree with that. So, you have to tell, okay mind, get back in shape. Don't go dancing here, dancing there with Mayadevi. My dear mind, you come back and accept whatever service you do with great enthusiasm. It's a matter of bringing your mind under control, Dristadyumna. Okay.

Bhaktin Pronamee:  How do we accept everything as a blessing?

Sankarshan Das: It's a matter of seeing, it's a matter of intelligence. Seeing whatever comes to you as Krishna's mercy. It's a matter of intelligence. If Krishna is there, He's arranging everything to His side to try to bring us back as soon as possible to His transcendental abode. So, whatever is coming to me is a special mercy and Prabhupada has a nice quote in the Sri Isopanishad, if I can remember. One should not be happy or disturbed over pleasant or disturbing situations knowing such feelings are created by the mind. So, the mind wants to think this is nice and this is not nice. That's the mind. But actually, one should be, one should be everything is the loving mercy of Krishna to bring you back to the abode as soon as possible.

Yugadharma Devi Dasi: How can I get more taste for the holy name?

Sankarshan Das: One way you can chant extra rounds is one thing. Do more chanting. Chanting is enchanting. So, the more you chant, the more you become enchanted. And you can stop it and all to carefully avoid the ten offenses. That's another thing, very very important thing, avoid the ten offenses. Disobey the order of the spiritual master and not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names in spite of the maintained material attachments, in spite of hearing so many instructions on this matter, you see. Study the ten offenses given in Nectar of Devotion and try to avoid them because the more you become offenseless in your chanting to be disrespectful to the Vaishnavas, disobey the spiritual master, and the more you can avoid the ten offenses, the more you develop faith for the name. Offenses build senses that block you from actually tasting the nectar. Nectars over here in offenses build a sense that prevents you from tasting the nectar. So, one has to then avoid all the offenses against the holy name and then you get unlimited nectar. Then you get unlimited nectar. Now we have, okay, Bhaktin Pronamee again.

Bhaktin Pronamee:  When we try to help our family by bringing them to this pathway, they don't desire it.

Sankarshan Das: Well, understand who is your actual family, Bhaktin Pronamee. You are thinking in terms of your body, that's your mistake. Your actual family is all living entities throughout all of existence, because we are all the sons and daughters of Krishna. We are all Krishna's children. So, your actual family is all living entities. So, you should see which of your family members are most inclined to be trained in Krishna consciousness and focus on them. You are thinking these people are made of my body and my family, but you're not your body, Bhaktin Pronamee. You're a pure spirit soul and your actual family members are all living entities who are all of existence. So, you find which of your family members are more inclined, you train that. Could be your bodily family or it could not be, it doesn't matter. You should be detached from being attached to your family. And you be attached to your actual duty to liberate all living entities in this material existence back to home, back to Godhead. So that's your duty. Do it for all your family members.

Anything else? Everybody satisfied now? Ready to become pure devotees of Krishna? Free of all lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, envy, totally dedicated to Lord Caitanya delivering all the living entities? Or do you want to hold on to your material attachments, lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, envy? Trying to squeeze a little more pleasure out of material world. What is your actual position? What's the actual position? Some people have left, they thought it was too much, couldn't handle it anymore. A few people dropped out. People dropped out. So, there is no more questions. We will stop here. We thank everybody for tuning in. 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.