Sankarshan Das: Ecstatic adventure Srimad Bhagavatam. Srimad Bhagavatam 4th Canto, chapter 22, Text 31

Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya

SB 4.22.31

bhraśyaty anusmṛtiś cittaṁ

jñāna-bhraṁśaḥ smṛti-kṣaye

tad-rodhaṁ kavayaḥ prāhur

ātmāpahnavam ātmanaḥ

Synonyms

bhraśyati — becomes destroyed; anusmṛtiḥ — constantly thinking; cittam — consciousness; jñāna-bhraṁśaḥ — bereft of real knowledge; smṛti-kṣaye — by destruction of remembrance; tat-rodham — choking that process; kavayaḥ — great learned scholars; prāhuḥ — have opined; ātma — of the soul; apahnavam — destruction; ātmanaḥ — of the soul.

Translation

When one deviates from his original consciousness, he loses the capacity to remember his previous position or recognize his present one. When remembrance is lost, all knowledge acquired is based on a false foundation. When this occurs, learned scholars consider that the soul is lost.

Purport

The living entity, or the soul, is ever existing and eternal. It cannot be lost, but learned scholars say that it is lost when actual knowledge is not working. That is the difference between animals and human beings. According to less intelligent philosophers, animals have no soul. But factually animals have souls. Due to the animals’ gross ignorance, however, it appears that they have lost their souls. Without the soul, a body cannot move. That is the difference between a living body and a dead body. When the soul is out of the body, the body is called dead. The soul is said to be lost when there is no proper knowledge exhibited. Our original consciousness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. When this consciousness is misguided and one is put into the material atmosphere, which pollutes the original consciousness, one thinks that he is a product of the material elements. Thus one loses his real remembrance of his position as part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as a man who sleeps forgets himself. In this way, when the activities of proper consciousness are checked, all the activities of the lost soul are performed on a false basis. At the present moment, human civilization is acting on a false platform of bodily identification; therefore it can be said that the people of the present age have lost their souls, and in this respect they are no better than animals. (End of Purport)

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

Lost their souls. Actually they haven't, technically they haven't, their souls, they are their souls, so how they can lose their souls? Because they are their souls. They eternally are their souls. But, instead they lost their souls when they don't realize their special identity. It's like having a great inheritance from one's father but not realizing you have it. He's actually a multi-millionaire but he's living as a pauper on the street because he doesn't realize he's inherited millions of dollars from his father but he doesn't know it. He forgot He's suffering from amnesia, he forgot he's the great grandson of Henry Ford and he's a huge inheritance, that he's living like a beggar on the street because he forgot. So actually he's not really a pauper, but he's said to be a pauper because he's living like a pauper. So they haven't really lost their soul but it's said they have lost their souls because they've forgotten that they are souls, forgotten that they are spiritual beings.

So the Krishna consciousness movement is dedicated to reawakening their consciousness of who they actually are. Know who you are and be who you are. That's our philosophy. Why should you go on not knowing who you are and trying to be something you're not? See they try to be their bodies. The reason they want to live, the reason they want to hold off old age, disease and death is that actually the soul doesn't get old, doesn't get disease, it doesn't die. That's why they're trying to hold off these things because these things are unnatural to the actual soul. So the thing is as long as they try to hold off old age, disease and death on the bodily platform by so called scientific advancement they'll never be successful. It will never work.

Actually the life span is going down. Previously in the Satya Yugapeople lived to be 100,000 years old. In the Treta Yuga they lived to be 10,000 years old. In the Dvāpara Yuga 1,000 years. In the Kali Yuga 100 years used to be the standard but now it's going down, down, down, down, down. It will come eventually into the age of Kali, when you live to be a teenager, you can be seen to be a grand old man. So, because we're not identifying with the actual self, that's the problem. But in the Krishna consciousness movement we are learning from Srila Prabhupada that we are not this material body. We are learning, revealing to us from the scriptural wisdom -

jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’

the constitutional position of living entity, is being the eternal servant of Krishna. So how do you get back then to being who you actually are and get out of the illusion of bodily consciousness? That's called Sadhana bhakti. Hearing the instruction from the spiritual master, from the scriptures, you understand this is the process of reviving my original identity. Even though I don't realize it right now, even though I'm still identifying with this body which is suffering in so many ways, isn't it? I'm still thinking this is me, I'm suffering this, I have this, I have that, I have this, I have that, but actually it's not me. If it was self-conditioned we actually think I am itching, I am tired or whatever it may be. Actually the soul is never tired, it never needs sleep. But we think, yes I'm very tired, I need a nap. But actually I don't need it, the body needs it. But we keep thinking, I'm the body, I'm suffering in this way and in that way.

But the thing is that we take this body and we engage it in the service of Krishna. We bow down before the deity, we chant the japa, fingering the beads in our hand, chanting the mantra on our lips, hearing, using our ears to hear, using our eyes to see the beautiful form of the Lord. If we engage all these senses, making garlands for the Lord, cooking offerings to the Lord, cleaning the dishes of the Lord, going out and preaching to the Lord, making garlands for the Lord like Gurumataji is making right now. Of course she says I'm crazy, but actually Gurumataji says I'm crazy. Actually I am crazy because I agree that I'm a crazy fool because I still think I am this body that I'm itching or I'm tired or I'm this and that. I agree completely with Gurumataji that I am a crazy fool. Because I am a crazy fool. Here I am thinking this and that. I am sitting here on the Vyasa Aasan. Actually I am not sitting on the Vyasa Aasan. The body is sittingon the Vyasa Aasan . So as long as we think we are this body, we keep identifying with the body, we are crazy idiots at the back.

So we have to hear from Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada is enlightening us with transcendental wisdom. It's amazing Prabhupada came here and started this movement. I was hearing a lecture today on my morning walk. It was so nice. Prabhupada actually had with him right there the original kartals he brought on the ship with him from India. He said, I brought these cartels. Just imagine where those kartals are right now. They are probably in a museum somewhere, maybe in Los Angeles or somewhere. Just imagine the original kartalsthat Prabhupada brought with him. They are great. They are actually worth millions and billions of dollars. There is no limit you can put on the value of those kartals. And the devotees had the most ecstatic kirtans you can ever imagine. On the recording of the lecture they put the kirtans, The devotees were singing the kirtans, Prabhupada was there relishing the kirtans. They were singing for Prabhupada's pleasure actually. That is what it used to be like. When Prabhupada came, we would sing and dance with the greatest ecstasy that pleased Prabhupada. You can't imagine those kirtans. They were just unbelievably powerful kirtans, oceanic kirtans. Everyone wanted to chant and dance to please Srila Prabhupada and have him relish in the kirtan and see him relishing the kirtan. You can't even describe the ecstasy of being there and chanting and dancing to please Prabhupada and having a relish of kirtan. You can't even imagine what it would be like.

So anyway, Prabhupada has made it very clear here. There is a difference between a living body and a dead body. A living body and a dead body. And that is the soul. These rascals say there is no soul. I mean it says that there is no God, there is no soul. Such a rascal philosophy going on, so called philosophers. These are not so called scientists, so called philosophers. You want to be an actual scientist, you want to be an actual philosopher, then you have to see things as they are. You present bogus philosophy and bogus science, you are not a philosopher, you are not a scientist, you are simply a rascal, maha mudha. To be an actual scientist, an actual philosopher, you have to see things as they are.

The soul and the body are different. Every minute, I can remember when I was a little kid riding a tricycle, you know whatever we all remember is the experience of being little children, I did this, I did that, but actually that body is gone. The body that went through those experiences, all the cells and molecules, they are all different now. The body is completely changed. I remember experiences I had when I was a little kid. So if you analyze it scientifically and philosophically, you can see that me and the body are different. Myself and this body are 2 different things. So once you actually realize that I am not the material body, I am actually the spiritual self sitting within the body, what is the intelligent thing to do?

The intelligent thing to do is act for the welfare of your actual self. Why should I only think of the pleasures of this body which is a temporary vehicle which is going away today or tomorrow? Why should I spend all my energy simply taking care to satisfy the bodily desires? Is that intelligent or is that foolish? I spend my whole life serving this temporary body, the time of death is finished, it goes to be buried in a tomb or be cremated. Why should I spend my whole life simply serving the bodily requirements, the tongue, the belly and the genitals? Why should I spend my whole life serving the tongue, the belly and the genitals? But it's not really me. The intelligent thing to do is let me serve my actual self. What is the real self-interest that I actually have? Since I can scientifically, philosophically analyze that me and the body are 2 different things, what is actually beneficial for me? The actual self within, the body, what's actually beneficial for me? So how do I find out if what is taught in elementary school or junior high school or high school or college is beneficial to me?

No, all these rascal so-called educational institutions are bogus. They are based on the eye and the body. So you have to find someone who is fully realized he is not the body. That is the spiritual master. Our spiritual master is Prabhupada. From Prabhupada being someone who is fully realized, he is not the body, the eternal servant of Krishna, and how to be, how to take care of the higher self-interest of a living being at every minute 24 hours a day. This we learned from Prabhupada. We saw his example. You see, we can study it philosophically, but to actually see it in practice, to see here's a person who's fully living for the welfare of his actual self at every minute. And the beauty of it is that he's not only for his own self, such a self-realized person acts for the highest self-interest of all living entities throughout all of existence. That's the amazing thing. When you water the root of the tree, all the leaves and branches are nourished. When you feed your belly, you nourish every part of your body.

So when you actually act for the highest self-interest of a living entity, yourself, which is to serve the Supreme Self, then you actually act for the highest self-interest of all living beings. So this is why to become Krishna conscious means to act for the welfare of all living entities by serving the Supreme Living Entity, Supreme Self. That's why Krishna consciousness is said to be full of bliss. The actual nature of the living entity is eternal, he is full of bliss and full of knowledge, like the actual nature of the self. It's only due to misidentification with matter we experience temporality, ignorance and misery. So we have to stop misidentifying with matter. Now how do you do that? You start acting in the consciousness of Sadhana Bhakti. It means you act for the actual welfare of the self. You engage the ears in hearing the glories of the Lord, in hearing the holy names of the Lord. You engage the tongue in chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

You may ask, why Hare Krishna? Why not Aum or something else? Well those are also benefits. Aum is also very good. We chant Aum, actually we chanted Aum today.

Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Aum is a very auspicious invocation mantra and Krishna says I am Aum. So you can chant Aum and also become self-realized. But in this age, Kali, the Supreme Lord Krishna came Himself in the form of his own devotee, Lord Caitanya, and he said," In this age, this mantra is the most powerful and effective." So they say according to time, place and circumstances. So why not take advantage of that specific mantra. There are actually millions of mantras in the Vedas and they are all powerful. But in this age, this particular mantra -

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

is the most powerful and effective. And Prabhupada said to chant it everywhere. When you are walking down the street, Prabhupada was saying, I heard him speaking yesterday, you chant it everywhere, whatever you are doing. When you are working, I mean whatever you are doing, you are going to sleep at night, you can chant Hare Krishna while you fall asleep. When you wake up, you can chant it while you are brushing your teeth. If you are taking a shower, you can chant as much as possible.

Some devotees say, I have trouble controlling my senses, I get carried away by lusty desires. But if you chant Hare Krishna, that will satisfy all desires. You won't be carried away by lust anymore if you chant Hare Krishna. So chanting Hare Krishna actually satisfies all the desires. So if you chant with focus, with attention and with a mood of humble surrender to Krishna, Krishna is the Supreme Personality, the eternal servant, So let me chant in the mood of begging Krishna to engage me in His service. And I will have that mood of loving service to the Lord and my spiritual master and the Vaishnavas.

So we learn how to chant in this proper mood of loving service, without being offensive to the devotees, always being respectful and loving relationship with the Vaishnavas, the spiritual master, then the Holy Name will actually become fully manifest. You can get a shadow of the name or you can get the actual name. If we commit offenses, if we are offensive to the devotees, we are not attentive, we commit different offenses against the name, we only get a shadow of the name, we don't actually experience the nectar. But if we carefully avoid being offensive against the name, offensive against the Vaishnavas, carefully avoid being offensive against the Vaishnavas, spiritual master, then the result is we actually get what is called Shudha-naam, the pure name. The pure name becomes manifest. So when you get the pure name instead of the shadow of the name, then you can actually relish the nectar of your eternal identity and qualitatively become one of the Supreme Person.

So let's see if we have any questions or objections coming in. Gurumataji, do you have any corrections, objections? Nothing coming in yet. I really don't have a whole lot to say. I'm not very advanced in spiritual knowledge and spiritual realization. By the mercy of my spiritual master at least I am still here after 52 years of practicing this. Unfortunately many of my God brothers and God sisters they left. Somehow or other by the grace of my spiritual master and the Vaishnavas I'm still here after 52 years. And I'm still convinced that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of God and I'm his eternal servant. Even though I have so many faults, so many deficiencies, at least I'm still here. I haven't quit and I haven't given up.

Because of that I know that day will come when I become absolutely pure devotee. That day will come. Because every day you chant your beads, every day you take the prasadam, every day you have darshan of the deity, you are going step by step by step by step, today, today, today, closer and closer and closer to the supreme perfection of pure love of God.

So, let's look again at this purport. At the present moment, human civilization is acting on a false platform. This is why there are so many problems. I mean it's so horrible what's going on. I mean it's really horrible. So many criminal activities. Just like some soccer coach. He would invite young boys to his house, he would give them some drugs, make them unconscious and he would rape them. Some soccer coach, supposedly a respectable person, soccer coach. All these horrible things going on, I mean the wars, rapes, murders, you know horrible things.

I was shocked today to find out that India is one of the largest exporters of beef in the whole world. India is the home of cow protection, one of the worst cow slaughters in the whole world. I was shocked, I was shocked. India is one of the leading exporters of beef in the whole world. I mean it's just horrible what's going on in this Kali Yuga. India is supposed to be the home of spirituality. But actually except for the Prabhupada's movement there is very little genuine spirituality happening in India nowadays. It is so covered over with sinfulness.

It is like Vaishnavas don't take tea. It is an intoxication. You go to the train station, you hear chai, chai, chai everywhere, tea, tea, tea. Indians are totally carried away. The Indian cinema is very popular, all these bogus movies about sense gratification. So it is really shocking. But the Prabhupada is now bringing India back with the original culture and bringing the whole world back. Actually the whole world is actually India. That's why when Columbus came to America he called the people Indians. He thought he had come to India. Actually they were Indians. The whole world was actually India. The Maharaj Yudhisthira, he ruled over the whole planet earth. That's Hastinapur, the capital of the entire planet earth. But due to the influence of the age of Kali, India has shrunk, shrunk more and more. Even recently Pakistan was cut off. But actually that was part of India. Now Pakistan was formerly India. So Indian culture is being destroyed by the age of Kali, but now Prabhupada is bringing it back. Bringing back the real culture, the real glory of India is now being re-established by Srila Prabhupada all over the world.

And actually it's predicted that the name of Lord Caitanya will be known in every town and village throughout the entire world. So that is our mission, the Krishna consciousness movement. We want to make every town and village throughout the entire planet earth, we want to make everybody Krishna conscious, that's our mission. So let's see if we have any questions yet or we can end the class early today.

Hare Krishna das : Kindly enlighten, the devotee engaging in service with the same body in line realizes that one is not his body, how can it be explained scientifically?

Sankarshan Das : It is very simple, Hare Krishna. You leave your body, at the time of death, he is gone. We say, oh he has passed away. The body is lying there, why do you say he's gone? We intuitively know at the time of death the person has passed away, he's gone away. Everyone knows that intuitively. We all know that intuitively. So how can you explain it scientifically you are not your body? Well the Vedic science explains it very clearly. The jiva is a tiny particle, one ten thousandth of the tip of your hair, sitting within the heart of the body. It is like the driver is sitting in the driver's seat. How can you scientifically explain that the car and the driver are different. Well it's very simple, the car will only operate when the driver is sitting there operating it. The car doesn't start itself on it's on, the driver has to get it and turn the ignition. That's a very scientific difference between the driver and the vehicle. The same thing, your body doesn't operate unless you're sitting there in the driver's seat. Very scientific.

Leela Manjari devi dasi : We are supposed to come out of bodily consciousness at the same time we have to follow some etiquette as male or female, different material roles, how to get these 2 concepts together.

Sankarshan Das : Yes, I'm not the body, at the same time we have etiquettes. It's like, male and female live in separate quarters, not that they, you know, we have some communal showers many men are showering together I know sometimes for the brahmcharis we have a communal shower we used to have it in Dallas you know like 5 or 6 showers in one room we all go in and shower at the same time. But it was only for the men there's no women naked there in the communal shower. The reason we separate is that we have a tendency to get lusty. We have a tendency to become lusty. Now lust can be used in Krishna's service. Krishna says,

kāmo ’smi bharatarṣabha

'I am not sex life which is not contrary to religious principles.'

Sex can be used for Krishna, producing Krishna conscious children. The difficulty is we have a tendency to use it for fun, for entertainment, because it is the most pleasurable thing in the material world, sexual intercourse. So we have this tendency to want to use sex for fun and not use it properly for procreation. So because of the tendency to utilize sex for recreation instead of procreation we have to keep it cool, we give some separation.

Men and women when they come together they get lusted. So we keep it separate to keep the lust from coming up. Like we have the Brahmachari ashram, sometimes they have the Brahmacharini ashram also, not in India. In America we used to have Brahmacharini ashram also. Brahmachari, just like we had in here Gainsville, there was a dormitory, a building, dormitory with many rooms, there was an upstairs and a downstairs. The Brahmacharis were upstairs and the householders and the women were downstairs, to keep it separate so the lusty desires don't come up. Even though we are not these bodies, we do have male and material bodies and we have a tendency to misuse sex for pleasure instead of for procreation. So therefore we keep it separate. Some etiquette is there. It's like Gurumataji was explaining yesterday, Lord Chaitanya said he becomes agitated even seeing the wooden form of a woman, a mannequin. So the tendency to become lusty is there, therefore in the Vedic culture we keep it separate. Keep some distance between male and female even though we are not these material bodies. Because we have material bodies we have a tendency to misuse our genitals for pleasure. Therefore we keep them in separation and keep it cool so that lusty desires don't come up.

Sharda devi dasi : Even if one is fully engaging the senses in Krishna's service, still one may be on the bodily consciousness. Kindly clarify.

Sankarshan Das : Yes, we are so conditioned to bodily identification, even if I am fully engaging my body in Krishna's service, Still I have a tendency to think I am the body. I am bowing down before the deities. Of course the soul is, when the body is bowing down before the deities, the soul is also there bowed down before the deities. So if I think only I am the body, that's a problem. It's not wrong to have the body engaged in Krishna's service. The body is a tool. Just like I have a tool, a hammer for example, but I use that, it's not me, but I use that tool to build a nice temple for Krishna and that hammer is properly engaged. So even though I'm not this body, if I engage this body in Krishna's service, I am the engager and the body is the engaged. So if I am engaging this body in Krishna's service, it is very good.

But I should not be thinking I am the body. I should not think I am the hammer. If I am using the hammer, I should think I am using the hammer. You should think I am using this body by engaging in Krishna's service. That is what you should think.

Bhakta Prantik : How to love the Supreme controller instead of fearing him?

Sankarshan Das : Well actually fear of God is better than atheism. The love of God is a great contribution of Chaitanya's movement. How do you develop love of God? Well, there are so many nice ways. You can take prasadam, relish the prasadam, you can sing and dance. Actually, Lord Chaitanya's movement is of chanting, dancing and feasting. It's not a fearful thing, oh I'm afraid to sing and dance and feast, am I afraid to sing and dance and feast? No, it's an ecstatic thing, singing, dancing and feasting is ecstatic, it's like a party. So have a good time singing, dancing and feasting and develop your loving feelings that the Supreme Lord has so kindly appeared in His holy name.

Bhakta Rob : Hare Krishna, help me understand, all Krishna conscious beings are self-realized. But is it true to say not all self-realized beings are Krishna conscious.

Sankarshan Das : There are different levels of self-realization. Now in this Kali Yuga, they are practically non-existent. But there is a, there are what's called the impersonalist thinking. Someone who is an impersonalist, a jnani, can become impersonally realized that he is non-different from the Supreme Brahman. That is a certain type of self-realization. But it is not permanent. They may undergo great penances and austerities for many thousands and millions of years and actually realize their oneness with Brahman, but then because they haven't developed a loving feeling with the Supreme Brahman, because everyone desires relationships. Ultimately we all have the innate desire for relationships, but eventually they fall back to material existence. The other type, that type of self-realization is not, you don't really see people who have that. Of course, you hear people talking that philosophy, it's all one, I'm God, you're God, you're all God. But those who actually are Brahman realized, practically are non-existent. There might be a few somewhere in the Himalayas, it's possible, but highly unlikely in this age of Kali, that anybody is truly Brahman realized. But that is a type of self-realization which is not eternal. It is only a temporary type of self-realization.

When you become fully Krishna conscious, you don't fall back into material existence. So that is the difference. Krishna consciousness is eternal, self-realization, other types of self-realization are temporary. That's one difference.

Bhaktin Surabhi : Being a part of this fallen age, Kali Yuga, I sometimes fear will I be able to make it back home.

Sankarshan Das : That's a good fear. Therefore you should become very serious to become a fully cemented Devotee of Guru and Krishna.

Vishnurata : Materialistic people have philosophy of life as ice cream, enjoy it before it melts. How to refute this argument?

Sankarshan Das : So okay, enjoy it before it melts. Why not take an enjoyment, an ice cream that never melts? Why not take an ice cream that never melts? You take an enjoyment which is only going to go away. So don't you think that enjoyment that will never go away will be better than enjoyment that is going to go away? It's very common sense. Why should I take a temporary pleasure when I can get an eternal pleasure? It's very easy to see that argument.

Now we have everybody finished? Anybody else? Now everybody's finished? Anybody else? We have an early ending today. I'll give you a couple of minutes to think if you have any questions or objections or corrections or whatever. If you're really happy, otherwise we can have an early ending and everybody can go out and save the world. It's our mission to deliver the world. Become Guru and deliver the world. That's the order we got from Prabhupada. I see nothing else coming in. So here we go.

Bhakta Zele : How can we defeat Mayavadis by Bhagavad Gita?

Sankarshan Das : It is very simple. In chapter 2, chapter 12, Bhagawad Gita -

na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ

na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ

na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ

sarve vayam ataḥ param

'Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.'

Now Mayavadis say 'Actually there is only one, the impersonal oneness is all that exists. Any conception beyond impersonal oneness is maya or an illusion. Actually all that exists is one. There is no person, there is no duality, it is just the one and that is all there is, the one.'

Krishna says, never was I an idler, I exist, I am always existing. He says Arjuna and you are also eternally existing. All these kings, all these great warriors on the battlefield. So remember it is all living beings. Krishna exists eternally, Arjuna is existing eternally and actually all living entities are existing eternally. They never merge into oneness. So that Bhagavad Gita 2.12 completely smashes Mayavadi philosophy. That is why they don't accept, they don't like that verse. The Mayavadis don't like that verse. They try some way to gloss over it, defeat it.

Abhay Charan Das : Bhaktivinoda Thakura is the regular associate of Lord Krishna and in his songs calls himself the most fallen soul. In a similar way in you, as a Mahabhagwat, your ecstatic mood of Krishna consciousness, you call yourself a struggling neophyte. That is a very nice mood of having one spiritual master. But what happens to anybody like me who may not understand your exalted mood?

Sankarshan Das : So the more you can feel yourself a person with no understanding, that's very good. I have no understanding. What is that? I have no knowledge, I have no understanding. So your mood of not having understanding is very good. We can see the mood of these great Vaishnava Acharyas as they pray, they are completely bereft of knowledge or understanding. So the feeling of no understanding is a very good mood. That is your humility. The feeling that you don't understand things properly is very good. So if you can take a shot of these songs of the great Acharya, it is very powerful. I especially like that Kabe Habe.

kabe ha'be bolo se-dina amar

(amar) aparadha ghuci', suddha name ruci,

krpa-bale ha'be hrdoye sascar

'When, O when, will that day be mine? When will you give me your blessings, erase all my offences and give my heart a taste [ruci] for chanting the Holy Name in purity?'

When will I get out of maya and illusion and actually be fully enlightened by your loving mercy?

This is the mood of the great Acharyas, so the more you can have that mood, That's your advancement in Krishna consciousness. Very good.

Amala Purana : In the first line it is mentioned 'when one deviates from the vision of consciousness.' What causes one to deviate from this consciousness when we are absolutely ecstatic in Krishna's association?

Sankarshan Das : I explained many times Amala Purana. I will explain it again. Love is voluntary, it cannot be forced. I put a gun in your head and said love me or I'll blow your brains out. No, love is voluntary. So free will must exist otherwise love cannot exist. And free will must have the opportunity of being abused otherwise there is no free will. So what are the odds of somebody abusing their free will? There has to be some mathematical odd of it happening, otherwise it doesn't exist. So it's a matter of simple mathematics, Amala Purana. Since there must be a chance of misusing free will, it has to exist. It has to be absolutely the smallest possible number because who would want to give a loving relationship with Krishna, right? So it has to be the smallest possible number. What is the smallest possible number? 1 divided by infinity. And how many living entities are there in the spiritual world? An infinite number. So if you apply the odd of 1 divided by infinity against infinity, what does it come up to? What's an indecimal fraction of infinity? Well guess what? Infinity is the answer. So mathematically an infinite number of living entities have misused their free will. Because mathematically it has to be able to happen otherwise there is no free will. So there is the answer in pure mathematics.

Sharda Devi dasi : Srila Gurudev, oneay not right away follow some standard set up by Srila Prabhupada due to some managerial reasons. It may take some time to implement it if you still consider it to be a regulation.

Sankarshan Das : I don't know what you are talking about, managerial, some standards. The standards are 16 rounds of job everyday minimum and no illicit sex, no meat eating, no intoxication, no gambling. Those are the standards. You can't say well managerial I can't do those. It's basking if you can't follow those. Anybody in any situation can follow these. Of course I have some students who are kids living at home and their parents make them eat this and that and it's a managerial difficulty I admit. Their parents are saying well you can eat vegetarian but we're going to put onions and garlic in it and we don't care what you think, you can have onions and garlic in your food. What's the kid going to do? Well, he could be very strong and say, okay, I'll just eat fruits and nuts, fruits, nuts and milk, I'm not going to eat your cooking anymore. The kid could be very strong, but it's hard to inspire somebody in an email, it may not be the wisest thing managerially to tell the kid to disobey his parents, it may not be good for our preaching to do that. So there's a managerial issue sometimes. And I just have to tolerate it. Sometimes when they get older, they'll be able to live separately. I don't know how to deal with it. I don't tell the kids, tell their parents, that no, I'm not gonna eat your food. There's a managerial reason. So do you have a managerial reason that you can't follow the principles? You have to eat onions and garlic, do you have some managerial reason that you cannot follow the principles? So let me know if you have some managerial issue. You're living with somebody, your parents and they make you eat chicken or something. Let me know. We'll talk about it. Okay.

Govardhana Das : What measure one can take to avoid cow-selling in India, please enlighten me.

Sankarshan Das : We have to take over the government basically. We have to make the government of India Krishna conscious. And if a democratic elected government, we have to educate the voters to only vote for Vaishnava political leaders. That's by preaching and making the voters Krishna conscious so we can put a stop to the rascal cow killing in India. Preaching, preaching, preaching, preaching, book distribution, Harinama Sankirtan, Prasadam distribution, in so many ways spread Krishna consciousness to make the majority of Indians Krishna conscious and then you will get rid of cow killing.

Bhaktin Anima : We are totally dependent on Krishna, this thought makes us helpless, how to boost confidence.

Now wait a minute Bhaktin Anima, being totally dependent on Krishna, that makes you helpless? Actually when you become totally dependent on Krishna, You become empowered by Krishna. You do not become helpless, you become empowered. You are totally dependent on Krishna for everything. It's like you be the puppet and Krishna be the puppeteer. Then you can act powerfully, Krishna will act through you. You can actually turn the whole world, the whole upside down world right side up. You become, the more you become helpless, the more you become empowered. You understanding is incorrect.

Bhakta Hari Ram : Guruji, I am a beginner. Can you please tell me basic principles of celibization and how to develop tolerance?

Sankarshan Das : The basic principles Hare Ram is to chant Hare Krishna mantra on Japa Mala beads every day at least 16 rounds and to give up all the illicit sex. Sex is only for procreation, not for fun. No illicit sex, no meat eating, no intoxication, no gambling. If you go through the basic principles and by feeling a taste for Krishna consciousness, by following his principles, you become naturally tolerant of so many disturbances in the material world because you find your happiness within. For those whose happiness is without, they are being intolerant in so many ways. Because that did make me unhappy because of that situation. But no, when you find your happiness within by chanting Hare Krishna, you can tolerate whatever is happening in the external realm.

Sharda devi dasi : No, I am following the regulative principles. My question was about second initiation, it's taking time.

Sankarshan Das : Well it's up to your local temple. They are the ones who are going to recommend you. So that's between you and them. We have a proper system, we actually have a governing body commission, that's how we remain one movement. If I acted independently from the local temple, then such actions would be intended to hinder our movement and break it apart. By agreeing to act under the GBC and the local temple, we are able to stay together as 1 spiritual family. So, you should be tolerant of it, Don't be too disturbed about it. That's all I can say. I tend to be a little tolerant sometimes, even if others are not doing things properly, we have to be tolerant. And in order to keep our unity of the movement we need to be a little tolerant sometimes. I know there is some difficulty there. Just be tolerant is all I can say. Be tolerant.

Actually one should not be doing puja unless one is second initiated. The local managers say no you do the puja we are not going to give you second initiation. Not actually correct, but I don't want to make a big issue out of it because it may create some of these difficulties in our preaching. So I can say that even if there is some irregularity, just now we will just tolerate it and be patient. In due course of time it will work out.

Bhakta Hari Ram : Guruji, What happens when a person's all karma is destroyed, he loses family, money, home.

Sankarshan Das : Actually, the only way to destroy your karma is to surrender to Krishna, otherwise you are always creating karma, good karma and bad karma. Even with every breath you are creating karma. When you inhale you are killing microbial germs and now you have to become a microbial germ so they can inhale you in a future lifetime. I mean we are creating so much karma at every minute. The only way to get rid of karma is to surrender to Krishna. When you surrender to Krishna, you don't lose anything, you gain everything. It's like you have your family, you want to take responsibility for your family. When you become Krishna conscious you become truly responsible now for your family. Just like you have your wife and your kids. When you become Krishna conscious you become the best husband, the best father because now you know how to actually act for the ultimate benefit, ultimate welfare of your wife and your children. Before you didn't know how to do that.

Bhakta Zaheel Zele : How can we implement the chopping technique of Srila Bhaktivinoda Sarasvati Goswami.

Sankarshan Das : The chopping technique means to cut away all nonsense. Any bogus philosophy you chop and you cut it away. Somebody says we are all God, you defeat it. Chopping means defeating all bogus philosophies. So it is very simple, you defeat all bogus philosophies. Read Transcendental Knowledge, become learned through these books. So if someone brings a bogus philosophy, you can immediately cut it to shreds. Become learned and be enthusiastic and see all opposing arguments. That's how you can implement the chopping technique of Bhakti Sidhhant Sarasvati.

Bhakta Hari Naam :Please tell me how I can submit it in 100%.

Sankarshan Das : Harinaam, you have to chant 16 rounds of Japa, avoid illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication and gambling, and become qualified for initiation at your local ISKCON temple. You work with them, do a nice new service in your local ISKCON temple, cooperate with your local ISKCON temple so they will recommend you to be initiated disciple of the bona fide spiritual master and then by fully surrendering yourself to the bona fide spiritual master, you begin doing whatever he says to do and avoiding whatever he says to avoid. And that is how you become 100% surrendered. Spiritual master is a representative of Krishna. You become fully surrendered to the spiritual master, now you are fully surrendered to Krishna.

So, is there anything else? Now we can stop here. Anybody have anything else? Are you satisfied now? All doubts are now erased. Anyone have any doubts? Speak up, now is your chance.

Bhakta Hari Naam : Can you please explain the mystery of surrendering to the Guru?

Sankarshan Das : It's not a mystery. Surrender to the spiritual master, whatever he says you do, you do whatever he says you should do, and you don't do whatever he says not to do. It's very simple. There's no mystery at all. Very simple, no mystery at all. And you read Prabhupada's books and do exactly what Prabhupada's says to do and avoid whatever Prabhupada says. Prabhupada is the grandfather spiritual master for all of our followers. Bhakti Sidhhant Saraswati Thakur is the 10th in the line of the Disciplic Succession of the Lord Caitanya. Prabhupada is 11th in the line of the Disciplic Succession. Prabhupada's disciples including myself, we are the 12th in the line of the Disciplic Succession. Now you all are the 13th in the line of the Disciplic succession of the Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

So it's not difficult. You simply have to read Prabhupada's books and become very clear of what should be done and what should not be done. It's my duty to train you, my students, how to do what Prabhupada says and not do what Prabhupada says not to do. So its not a mystery at all. Read Prabhupada's books. It's clear as day. It's very, very clear in Prabhupada's books. Do you have Prabhupada's books, Harinaam? If not, you can go to your ISKCON Temple, get Bhagavad Gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam, get all the Prabhupada's books and study them every day, every spare minute, study these books. And do what Prabhupada says in these books and your life will become successful.

Anything else? Everybody satisfied? Now's your chance. Type it in. We can actually, if somebody wants to speak up, we can try that too. Let me try that. Anybody wants to speak up? You unmute yourself and I'll try with my defective ears to hear what you're saying. If you have a question you can unmute yourself and ask the question verbally. I'm going to ask the question verbally.

Devotee Mataji : Hare Krishna Guruji. , I have a question that can I carry out worship of other gods also? Because in Bhagavad Gita Krishna says us to abandon all the religious activities and surrender unto Him.

Sankarshan Das : Hare Krishna. Actually, there is no need to worship others. See there is God, Krishna is God, These other gods are demigods, they are not the supreme gods. So many demigods, there are 33 million demigods actually. There so many temples throughout India, they worship different demigods. They are not gods, they are demigods. They are subordinate to Krishna. So there is no need to worship all these gods. If you just worship Krishna, you can give the best service to all the demigods. Any other questions? Any questions? Any questions?

Devotee Mataji : Guruji, can you please explain me the levels of Bhakti? Sorry, levels in Krishna consciousness, The different steps involved like niṣṭha and āsakti.

Sankarshan Das : There are different levels of bhakti. There is the kaniṣṭha adhikārī, the beginner devotee, the mādhyām adhikārī, the intermediate position, the Uttama Adhikari, the pure devotee, at a different level. It is like when you, in the very beginning, that is called a kaniṣṭha adhikārī, He still has material desires, but he is taking up the Krishna consciousness. He is not incurring material desires, he has become fixed, he has kicked out the material desires, he is now purifying himself, he becomes completely pure, that is called Uttama Adhikari. He is partially pure in the mādhyām adhikārī stage and completely pure in the Uttama Adhikari stage. So once you take up it seriously, you get initiated, When some brand new person is coming, he is called a kaniṣṭha adhikārī . He is just starting, but when he gets serious, he takes initiation, then he is called a Madhyama Adhikari. Then when he comes to fully realized stage, he is called an Uttama Adhikari.

Any other questions? If there is nothing else, we can stop here. We thank everybody for tuning in.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare