Sankarshan Das: Srimad Bhagavatam, 4th Canto, Chapter 22, Text number 63.

kīrtyordhva-gītayā pumbhis
trailokye tatra tatra ha
praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṣu
strīṇāṁ rāmaḥ satām iva

Synonyms

kīrtyā — by reputation; ūrdhva-gītayā — by loud declaration; pumbhiḥ — by the general public; trai-lokye — all over the universe; tatra tatra — here and there; ha — certainly; praviṣṭaḥ — entering; karṇa-randhreṣu — in the aural holes; strīṇām — of the women; rāmaḥ — Lord Rāmacandra; satām — of the devotees; iva — like.

Translation

Throughout the whole universe — in the higher, lower and middle planetary systems — Pṛthu Mahārāja’s reputation was loudly declared, and all ladies and saintly persons heard his glories, which were as sweet as the glories of Lord Rāmacandra.

Purport

In this verse the words strīṇām and rāmaḥ are significant. It is the practice amongst ladies to hear and enjoy the praises of certain heroes. From this verse it appears that Pṛthu Mahārāja’s reputation was so great that ladies all over the universe would hear of it with great pleasure. At the same time, his glories were heard all over the universe by the devotees, and they were as pleasing as Lord Rāmacandra’s glories. Lord Rāmacandra’s kingdom is still existing, and recently there was a political party in India named the Rāmarājya party, which wanted to establish a kingdom resembling the kingdom of Rāma. Unfortunately, modern politicians want the kingdom of Rāma without Rāma Himself. Although they have banished the idea of God consciousness, they still expect to establish the kingdom of Rāma. Such a proposal is rejected by devotees. Pṛthu Mahārāja’s reputation was heard by saintly persons because he exactly represented Lord Rāmacandra, the ideal king.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fourth Canto, Twenty-second Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Pṛthu Mahārāja’s Meeting with the Four Kumāras.”

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

So, that is the predicament of the modern day society. They want the kingdom of God, without God, but they cannot have it. We want to enjoy the opulences of God, without God. This is the difficulty. We want to be the enjoyers without giving enjoyment to the Supreme Person. We want to enjoy independently of God. This is our disease. Actually, just as the hand enjoys by giving the food to the stomach and getting therefore the nutrition it requires, we are like the hand and Krishna is like the stomach. We try to enjoy independently by squeezing the food in our fingers. We may say, oh it feels so nice, gulab-jamun, oh it feels so nice squeezing the gulab-jamun in my fingers, the sugar juice is running down my wrist, oh, it's so ecstatic, squeezing this gulab-jamun, but you get any nutrition from it? Zero. So we have to give up this tendency of wanting to enjoy separately from Krishna. It is our disease that has kept us entangled in this cycle of birth and death, since time immemorial.

When are we going to learn our lesson, devotees? When are we going to learn our lesson to stop trying to enjoy separately from Krishna? This tendency is called the lower-self. The higher-self wants to enjoy by satisfying the Supreme-Self. The lower-self wants to enjoy independently of Krishna. So we have this battle going on between the lower-self and the higher-self. Sometimes the higher-self predominates and sometimes the lower-self predominates. We neophyte devotees, we go back and forth between higher-self and lower-self, higher -self and lower-self.

We have to learn how to subdue the lower-self. Okay, you lower-self, get down there where you belong. You should not take predominance, my dear lower-self. My dear lower-self, you must now be always under the direction of the higher-self.

In other words, take all of your material propensities and engage them in the service of the Supreme Lord. Do not try to enjoy independently, that's the lower-self. But take all your natural tendencies to enjoy and engage them in the service of the Supreme lord and that way you subdue the lower-self and you become situated in the higher- self.

These government people are actually completely off the track. Just like a few years ago, there was a big disturbance when the United States bombed the capital, the large cities there in North Vietnam. So many people were killed. They bombed major population areas in North Vietnam, were bombed by the U.S. People all over the world were very disturbed. All the other governments were criticized in the U.S. The U.N. was criticized in the U.S. So they decided to have a big peace rally at the U.N. And they invited Prabhupada and the devotees to come to this peace rally, even did Prabhupada gave a speech. So they came, Okay, with the kirtan, and they said, no, no, no, this must be a silent, they wouldn't allow the kirtan, this must be a silent peace rally. So Prabhupada decided not to go back into these nonsense, so-called peace rallies, you see. They want peace but they don't want the kirtan. They want peace but they don't want to hear the holy names. They don't realize, this sankirtan movement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the way to have peace. Not silent vigil or sit here in silent peace.

You can't have peace by going into silence. Actually you cannot go into silence because the mind is very active. It's dancing this way and dancing that way, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing. You cannot just silence the mind and go into oneness or nothingness. They try to do that. Let me make the mind blank, make the mind blank, turn off the mind, relax and float downstream. That was a popular song back in the 60s. Turn off your mind and relax and float downstream. Is it glowing? Is it glowing? Turn off the mind. You can't turn off the mind. The mind requires engagement. The natural thing is for the mind to be always engaged. So instead of engaging the mind in the lower self, engaging the mind in lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion and envy, we must engage the mind in transcendental thoughts, the pastimes of the Lord, the teachings of the Lord, the qualities of the Lord, the form of the Lord, the fame of the Lord. This we have to do. We have to engage the mind in Krishna. What is this called? What's that called? Oh yeah, Krishna consciousness, right? So is this just an empty slogan, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness or is this what we are supposed to be doing at every nanosecond? Well, it's a very nice name, a very catchy name, yeah, ISKCON. But I tell you this, my dear devotees, if we don't actually practice Krishna consciousness by always bringing our mind to Krishna, the lotus feet of that amazing Lord who is all powerful, all beautiful, all renounced, all wealthy, all famous and wise. If we do not bring our minds always to His lotus feet, to His pastimes, His qualities, His entourages, His teachings, etc, this is not ISKCON, it's MISKCON, we're missing Krishna consciousness. So let us not make ISKCON into MISKCON by meditating on sense gratification and running after sense gratification. Let's kick out sense gratification with a boot. Kick it out, kick it out. It's like a stool, flush it down the toilet. Flush it down the toilet, get rid of it. We don't want to have this tendency towards material sense gratification lurking in our hearts. The lower-self has to be completely conquered by the higher-self. So Krishna has made it very easy in the Bhagavad Gita, he is teaching exactly how to conquer the lower-self with the higher self.

He has made it very, very clear. Actually there is a verse, a specific verse in the third chapter which says, one must conquer the lower-self with the higher-self, in this way to defeat that insatiable enemy known as lust. Insatiable enemy. This tendency to enjoy separately from Krishna is called lust. And you can never satisfy it. You think, well, let me satisfy my lust and then I'll be happy. No. When you satisfy your lust, it's insatiable.

You can never give your lust enough enjoyment to satisfy it. It goes on demanding more and more and more. It's like a fire. The more you give fuel to the fire, it gets hotter, more fire, more fire, more fire. Like this huge fire going on in Hawaii yesterday. It was so bad, people jumped into the ocean to save their lives, devouring everything. Humongous fire.

So we have this fire burning our hearts called lust, wanting to enjoy separately from Krishna. This lower-self is taking predominance. You see, I'm thinking I'm the body, let me satisfy my senses, and this way I can be happy. But no, by satisfying your senses you never become happy. It's insatiable. No matter how much gratification you much give to your senses, they demand more, more, more, give me more, give me more, give me more, give me more. They never give up. So we have to use our intelligence, we have to hear from the great sages, we have to hear from the saintly devotees of the Lord, we have to hear from the great Acharyas, we have to hear from Krishna Himself who is telling Arjuna exactly what needs to be done. So why do you want to invent your own philosophy? This is crazy. Sometimes devotees, they want to invent their own, so-called devotees, they want to invent their own philosophy. They don't want to take what Krishna is saying. They think they have more, they have better understanding than Krishna has. Can you imagine the absurdity of that? Some of these so-called devotees, they think they know better than Krishna. They don't want to follow what Krishna says. They think they are a bigger authority than Krishna, we should follow them. Can you imagine how idiotic this is? This is going on even in, so-called devotees, right now in this movement. They think they know better than Krishna, we should follow them instead of Krishna. So let us not be carried away by those who are under the influence of lust. Let us listen to those who are purely absorbed in Krishna consciousness.

Every thought born in the unit of all time, places and circumstances is for the pleasure of that beautiful lotus standing in the bank of the Yamuna in Keshighat, playing the fifth note on his flute and the beautiful full moon night in the Sharad season. That's the person you want to be attracted to. That amazing person, it's actually an amazing thing.

I was reading yesterday in the Caitanya Caritamrita, that Krishna is the Supreme enjoyer of Rasa, there is no greater enjoyer than Krishna, but you know what? He is saying that this girl, Srimati Radharani, how is this? I am the Supreme enjoyer of Rasa, but she is enjoying me, she is enjoying serving me more than I am enjoying being served by her. She is getting more nectar out of loving me than I am tasting out of being loved by her. So Krishna doesn't want to be outdone, so what does he do? He says, I will become, and I will become like Radharani. I will enter that female mood of being the servitor. And so he takes the complexion and the mood. This is the original transgender actually. Krishna decides to be a female, take the female mood of being the servitor. So he becomes Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. To taste that is the primary reason for Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's advent. His delivering of fallen souls is secondary actually. His primary thing, Krishna wants to take the mood of being his own servant. So he becomes Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in this way. And then is a secondary benefit, to deliver all the fallen souls of this world.

Some people think there is no fallen souls, everybody is already delivered. Why should we think about delivering the fallen souls? No. People are suffering in the cycle of birth and death. This is not the kingdom of God. You may think this is the kingdom of God, but it's not the kingdom of God. Don't think that this is the kingdom of God. No. This is not the kingdom of God. This is the kingdom of Maya. This is Maya's kingdom. We're actually being suffering according to our sinful activities. Every sinful activity we do is noted down by Yamaraja in his book.

Yamaraja is a very good record keeper. He actually keeps record of infinite number of living entities. He is such an amazing record keeper. He keeps a precise record of every nonsense thought, every nonsense word, every nonsense thing that everybody does here. So the time of death, boom, now is the time for punishment my dear soul. Now you come to the judge, summarize with the judge and now it's time to face the music, get your reaction, get your reward for all the things you did. But, the good news is, my dear devotees, Krishna also has his book.

And Krishna is noting down every thought you had that was Krishna conscious, every word you spoke that was Krishna conscious, everything you did that was Krishna conscious, Krishna is noting that, every bit of it. So, my dear devotees, do you want to be in Yamaraja's book or Krishna's book? Whose book do you want to be in? If you let this lower-self predominate, you are going to be, I guarantee you, you will be in Yamaraja's book. Very carefully noted down by Yamaraja, Every stupid, nonsense, rascal thing you did, it will all be noted down by Yamaraja.

So it's your choice whose book you want to be in. If you let the higher-self predominate, you're going to be recognized as Krishna. So what about other neophytes who are in a mixture, the lower-self and the higher-self? If you sincerely endeavour, you see,

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

(BG 18.66)

(Translation: Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me (Krishna). I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.)

If you sincerely desire to surrender to Krishna. Okay, this lower-self is predominating me, what can I do? Krishna, please accept me as your surrendered servant. Please help me out of this lower-self mentality, lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion and envy. Please Krishna help me out of this lower-self mentality. If you make that sincere endeavour, Krishna is going to help you. He is going to give you special mercy, special blessing.

How do you get the special mercy of Krishna and Guru? It's very simple. By your sincere desire to conquer the lower-self by the higher-self. If you have that sincere desire, Krishna and Guru and all the Vaishnava-Acharyas will give you special blessings.

Here's one of the beautiful things about this process. For every step you take towards Krishna, Krishna takes 10 steps towards you. Just imagine there is a million mile journey and you have to take it on foot. How many steps? It would be interesting to do the mathematics on this. I haven't done the maths. Very interesting mathematics, at least I'm going to do it during the class. If you have to walk for a million miles and each step is say 2-3 feet, how many steps would it take to go a million miles is 3 feet steps. You get 10 steps, 3 equals 30, and 30 equals 300. If everything gets multiplied by 10 times, how long will it take you to go a million mile journey? It's an interesting mathematical thing to calculate. Those who are mathematicians, maybe they can do that by giving the class, they can post it. Krishna takes 10 steps towards you for every step you take. The first step is feet. The first step is 10 feet. The second step is 10 feet. Maybe it will still take a while. Maybe it's only 10, 100,000 steps. Anyway, the point is Krishna gives you an amazing mercy.

When you take serious desire to get out of maya, my dear Lord Krishna, I am burning in this fire of sense gratification. My thoughts, my words, my deeds are all full of lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, envy. Krishna, please save me. I am burning in this fire of sense gratification.

Krishna, please shower your mercy upon me. Put out this fire of insatiable lust that's burning in my heart. Please Krishna, save me. If we have this sincere desire, Krishna will come.

Krishna has been waiting actually. As I explained the other day, Krishna wants our love. That's why we exist. Krishna is manifesting us to enjoy loving relationships with us. Krishna's only desire is that we have a loving relationship with him and we stop trying to enjoy independently. So we actually, after millions of lifetimes of not loving Krishna, trying to loving or accented instead, as a dog, as a monkey, as a hog, as a camel, as an ass, in so many ways trying to enjoy separately from Krishna.

When we make this endeavour, we realize, I've been a stupid idiot to try to enjoy separately from Krishna. I've gone through millions and millions of births, trying to enjoy it separately, which is absolutely impossible. Now by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, the spiritual master and the great Vaishnava Acharyas, I'm getting this opportunity to get out of this maya and come back to being who I actually am, the higher-self, the eternal spiritual being. So let me do it now, let me come out of this hallucination. So here it comes from Google, 1 million miles is 473,485 steps. So anyway, it's much easier, it's 10 times easier than Krishna.

And Krishna can actually do this. Krishna can actually do this. The first step we go, if every step is 10, and he accepts that as hundred, the second step is a hundred, the third step is a thousand, Krishna can do that also. If every step is 10 times, the previous, first step is 10 steps, second step is 100 steps, third step is 1000 steps, fourth step is 10,000 steps, how many steps would take you a million miles to get Krishna, done like that? That would be interesting mathematics.

Visnu-Priya Devi Dasi: Hare Krishna.

Sankarshan Das: Hare Krishna. Yes? Question from Gurumataji.

Visnu-Priya Devi Dasi: We talk about that Krishna takes 10 steps. Krishna is always within as Paramatma. So where to take of steps? He is already there.

Sankarshan Das: But we are separated. The question is Krishna is already there. The thing is that it is like a million miles away because of our consciousness. It's like a million miles away, it's like a million miles away. Because of our consciousness. Do you understand or not?

Visnu-Priya Devi Dasi: I understand. Krishna is already there.

Sankarshan Das: But he is like a million miles away because of our consciousness. Okay, we have some questions coming in.

Bhakta Sunil: I found out.

Amala Purana Das

Sankarshan Das: Oh, there is the answers for that, Okay.

Alright, so, just imagine how stupid these rascals are, they want the Kingdom of God without God. The difficulty is, they go to God, please give me this, give me, give me, give me, give me, they have a shopping list. They go to the temple, the synagogue, the mosque, the church, give me this, give me that, give me, give me, give me, give me.

It's like that old song. Give me a Cadillac, a brand new Cadillac, replete with Michelin tires. Give my wife a new silk sari. Give my kids a Harvard education. Give me a house by the sea!

Om Jaya Jagadisha Hare!

You see how stupid they are, these fools and rascals. They don't realize they can achieve something much better than all these things just by giving themselves to Krishna. Instead of asking Krishna, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, Krishna is already saying, you give me. Don't ask me to give you. I'm asking you to give to me.

So we actually take that very seriously, now let me give myself fully to Krishna. Let me give up this stupid habit of trying to enjoy separately. My, all my senses, my mind, all these different senses I have, all these sense organs, here they are trying to enjoy separately from Krishna. I wake up in the morning and immediately think, how can I enjoy? How can I enjoy? As soon as I wake up, how can I enjoy? How I want to enjoy, I want to enjoy. How can I enjoy? You see how stupid and idiotic we are.

Instead of thinking, How can I please Krishna? We wake up? How can I enjoy? We wake up, the lower- self, certainly when we wake up the lower-self is in charge. How can I enjoy? How can I enjoy? How can I enjoy? Therefore getting up and chanting Hare Krishna is very important. Because all night long we are dreaming, I am the enjoyer, I am the enjoyer, I am the enjoyer. All night we are dreaming in that mood. So as soon as you wake up, how can I enjoy, how can I enjoy, how can I enjoy? So that is why it is very important in the morning we chant Hare Krishna mantra. As soon as you wake up start chanting Hare Krishna.

Get back to your original constitutional position. The higher-self is your original constitutional position, the lower-self is your misidentification with your material body. So as soon as you wake up, get back your actual identity as an eternal spiritual being. That's very, very, very, very important. Otherwise we are just cheating ourselves, my dear devotees. We are simply cheating ourselves. Do you want to cheat yourself? Who would want to cheat themselves? We are so idiotic, even if we know better. We have been educated by Prabhupada and the Vaishnavas. We know better. But still we keep running back. We've been told it's not good to go after sense gratification, but yet we still keep doing it. We know better, but we know better the higher-self has already been established, but yet we think, let me run back to the lower-self. Let me get a little, let me get a little enjoyment in the lower self. We keep running back, running back, running back to the lower-self. We know what's wrong, we do it anyway. Well Krishna forgive me, but I'm going to go to the lower-self now. No.

We have to get out of this running of the lower-self, kick it out with boot.

As Yamunacharya Alabandaru, South Indian, spit at it, spit at it, spit at it. Get rid of the lower-self, come to the higher-self, that is intelligence. So it's not difficult if we are simply sincere. One endeavour’s sincerely, Krishna will bless them. So we have to make that sincere endeavour to get out of this and not keep thinking, but maybe I can have a little enjoyment and then get back to Krishna consciousness. No, not even for a nanosecond should we turn to the lower-self to try to enjoy it. Not even for a nanosecond. Because you give maya an inch, you take a mile. Don't give in to maya even a little bit. Say, maya devi, I served you for millions of lifetimes, but what you will give me, an another damn rotting material body? That's the reward I get for serving you so faithfully, my dear material energy. What is the point of doing the service to the Maya? We know better, but yet we keep running back. A little sense gratification is okay. A little bit, just a little bit and then I come back to Krishna consciousness.

Actually it inspires me to be more energetic if I have a little sense gratification. No. You give in to sense gratification, it pulls you tighter and tighter and tighter in the knots of the material nature. Three modes of material nature are ropes, they are called guna or rope, and when you give in to maya you get tied up in these ropes and the knot gets tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter. But you can take that sword of transcendental knowledge and boom, you can cut through that knot. The sword of transcendental knowledge and cut through the knots. So you have to cut through it. My dear spiritual master, my dear Vaishnavas, please help me. I now want to cut this knot. It has me totally tied up in the modes of nature. Please help me. I can cut through it with so much strength, it's completely severed. Not just a little tidbit, a little slight cut. No. I want to cut all the way through and finish it. It's like sometimes we try to cut with a pair of scissors that is not very sharp and we can't cut. If the scissors are not sharp enough we try cutting, cutting, cutting and it doesn't cut. So what do you do? You have to get a very sharp pair of scissors and then boom you can cut right through it. So we have to take the sharp means with no mix-in with sense gratification. We have to take this philosophy of Prabhupada and not mix any sense gratification into it and then it will be very sharp and we can cut through this hard knots of modes of nature.

So in this way my dear devotees we can actually become happy and satisfied, free from this insatiable enemy called lust. We can cut through and be completely liberated souls. So do you want to be liberated or do you want to be a prisoner of maya? It's your choice. Be a free person or be a slave of maya, which do you prefer? So anyway, let's see if we have any questions rolling in. Any challenges? Maybe you want to challenge Gurudeva, you're off the track, you're really an idiot to think about losing the people of this world. So if you have any criticism let me know. I think you're an idiot to be so fired up about preaching because actually we can't preach anyway. Nobody wants to hear so why are you so fired up about preaching? If there's any criticism please let me hear them. Maybe you can enlighten me to a higher consciousness. Okay.

Bhaktin Sheela: Please enlighten what to do when mind brings in self-hatred, how hated with all flaws I have.

Sankarshan Das: Actually don't hate yourself but hate your flaws. The more you hate your flaws the more you love yourself. You are not your flaws Bhaktan Sheela, you are actually a pure devotee within all those flaws. So you should hate the flaws and that way you truly love yourself, by hating your flaws so you can bring yourself back to pure Krishna Bhakti. So do a favour to yourself and hate your flaws, vehemently hate your flaws.

Okay Shivani.

Bhaktin Shivani: I remained neophyte for decades, now, How happy is Krishna?

Sankarshan Das: That's the problem we all face Shivani, we remain neophyte for decades after decades after decades. We don't kick out maya, we say a little maya is okay, a little maya is okay. We are neophytes struggling in this battle between the lower-self and the higher-self. Krishna is very unhappy with our falling out of his neophyte consciousness. Krishna is very unhappy about it because he wants pure love. We only give him a little. He wants our full hearts, we will only give him a little tiny, like 1% or maybe 0.1% of our heart we are giving. The rest we are giving to Maya. You think Krishna is happy? No, Krishna is very unhappy, that we are remaining neophytes, decade after decade after decade.

Bhaktin Sheela: I am not able to pray to Krishna, nor able to see him out of my shame.

Sankarshan Das: Actually when you chant Hare Krishna, you are praying to Krishna. You are already praying to Krishna. Can you say Hare Krishna Bhaktin Sheela?

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna,

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,

Hare Rama Hare Rama,

Rama Rama Hare Hare.

If you can chant Hare Krishna, you are praying to Krishna.

Not able to see him, well you can see, he is merciful. Even though we are not qualified to see Krishna face to face like a pure devotee, he is mercifully coming in the form of a deity, even a painting of Krishna. He is very merciful. We have so many in our books, we have so many pictures of Krishna. He is actually present in those pictures. It is not just a picture. Krishna is personally present in those pictures. He is personally present in Deity. Even though we are so fond of, we are so full of lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion and envy. Krishna is constantly coming and appearing in front of us. We can actually see Him with our material eyes. In this way we purify our material eyes.

Sharada Devi Dasi: I always get carried away by the modes very easily.

Sankarshan Das: Join the club

Sharada Devi Dasi: And it takes time to make the intelligence active again.

Sankarshan Das: Yaa, that's why reading these books is very important. Hearing the lectures and reading the books. We lose our intelligence. Here's a nice example we've been given many times. The senses are the horses, the mind is the brain, the intelligence is the driver and the soul is the passenger. So many times our intelligence takes a little nap and just lets the brain go and the senses go wild. They go wild and it’s just sense-gratification. Yeah, sense-gratification. But the intelligence fell asleep and the horse is now going to take the chariot off the cliff. How do you keep the intelligence always active?

That's why reading these books, Prabhupada gave us all these books. How much were we reading? He said read the Nectar of devotion three times. How many of us have read the Nectar of devotion three times? By reading these books, hearing these lectures, hearing to the Vaisnavas, that's how we activate our intelligence, stay in the intellectual plane, the transcendental intelligence plane.

So we have to, instead of giving in to the senses, okay senses, here we go. Let's go, let my dear senses, please take me on a pleasure ride. That's the difficulty. The senses are screaming, give me pleasure. Okay, senses, let's go for a pleasure ride. Take me on a pleasure ride, my dear senses. That's the difficulty.

So we have to understand, I should not think anything that is not beneficial for my Krishna consciousness. I should not say anything that is not beneficial for my Krishna consciousness. I should not, this is the intelligence speaking. The intelligence knows not to give in to the lower-self, to stay always in the higher-self. When you don't use your intelligence, you flip back into the lower self. So how do you have the intelligence? Hearing, hearing, reading, reading, memorizing verses and being able to recite them. When you are in difficulty just recite a verse. So if you are in difficulty you can recite a verse to get back your intelligence.

So it is very important this transcendental knowledge. This is not just something to sell books, this is knowledge to save us, to save us from the cycle of birth and death. Because you read these books, you hear what Prabhupada says, you become fixed in your intelligence. Prabhupada said see through the eyes of scripture, what is it called in Sanskrit? Shastra Chakshus. If you see everything to the eyes of scripture, you are now fixing your intelligence and then you can do those things which liberate you. But if you don't see to the eyes of scripture, you see to the eyes of your senses, you are demanding, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. You see, if you are senses then you are lost, you are finished. They will drag you down to the cycle of birth and death. So see through the scriptures not through what your senses want. So that's the key. Okay.

Lila-Manjiri Devi Dasi: Spiritual life means eating, sleeping, etc. has to be minimum. Just like the life of  six Goswamis, is it correct? When does that stage come?

Sankarshan Das: Well probably by initiation you've already got it to a certain extent. No illicit sex, no meat eating, no intoxication, no gambling. So she's talking about the anartha-nivrutti stage actually. When is the anartha-nivrutti stage? Well actually we begin anartha-nivrutti, as soon as we follow regulative principles, that's the beginning of anartha-nivrutti. I was having illicit sex and I gave it up. I was eating meat, I gave it up. I was taking marijuana, coffee or tea. All these things we were doing, many of us, the hippies were engaged in all these nonsense things. Then Prabhupada came and convinced the hippies, you become happy. Why become hippies? Become happy by giving up all these things you were doing.

So as soon as you give up the unwanted things, you are already beginning in the anartha-nivrutti. And as you gradually become more expert, even giving up the bad thoughts, the sinful thoughts, the sense gratification thoughts, then you become more and more fixed and finally when you are totally, completely free from the anarthas, then you come to nishta, the nishtha stage. Now you are steady in Krishna consciousness. And then you can actually achieve, have the awakening of spiritual emotions in your heart at the bhava stage. And then from there you become fully awakened and you are in the Krishna prema.

But my dear devotees, please know, even in the Bhava stage you can still fall. You cannot fall from the prema stage. But even from Bhava stage you can fall down. So today be very careful. Look at Bilvamangala Thakur. In his previous life, he attained the Bhava stage, Prabhupada explained, but he fell down once, for his girlfriend, an illicit relationship with a girlfriend, Chintamani. But luckily his girlfriend was Krishna conscious. And, my dear Bivalamangala, if you were just as much attached to Krishna as you are to my material body, then you would be a pure devotee. And he took it very seriously. He went to Vrindavan and became a great Vaisnava Acharya, following the advice of his prostitute girlfriend, Chintamani.

So please know, my devotees, that maya is always there, less and less and less, but maya's influence is always there, even in the bhava stage, a little bit of maya left. So be very careful. Remember Maya is always there until you become absolutely pure devotee. Always be Aware. Maya is always lurking, she is always there testing you to see if you are really sincere about Krishna consciousness or if you are making just a show up being a devotee. Maya is always there to test us. We have to be careful and pass all those tests and go all the way to prema. Okay, let's see here.

Devotee: Your divine grace mentioned, there is always a battle between the higher-self and the lower-self. So how can one get out of this repentance and not let the modes carry away right away and be myself?

Sankarshan Das: You have to take complete shelter of Guru and Krishna, that's the key. Take the orders of your spiritual master as your very life and soul.

That's the key how to get free of the influence, how to get out of the lower-self.

Dwijamani Gaura Das: My prostrate obesainces Gurudeva. How to speak about detachment from hog dog society without getting angry or offended?

Sankarshan Das: Preaching means you, preaching has to be done intelligently. It's like the doctor gives you a medicine according to what you can handle. He doesn't give you... He gives a dose that's just for you. That's why prescriptions are very important. Some medicine is good, but if you take more, it is very dangerous.

So the doctor gives just that little amount that will help you become healthy and doesn't give you an overdose. So a preacher is like a doctor. He deals with each person individually, understanding and judging how much can I take and actually appreciate and get value from it so I don't give them too much and they become offensive. That's a good judgment of a preacher. And Krishna from within will help as the Super-soul. If you try to preach to someone, Krishna, and you are sincere, you are humble and you are genuine, the Super-soul will give you intelligence how to give them as much as they can handle without going over-dose.

Hare Krishna Das: Kindly enlighten. What does it mean to be serious in chanting? How to be self-disciplined and avoid being sloppy?

Sankarshan Das: Well, we have to simply remember Prabhupada’s instruction, every syllable must be clearly chanted and heard.

We have a tendency to think, well, I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do this, I have to get the rounds over, boom, boom, boom, boom. We have to kick out that tendency of rushing through our rounds and become very serious about hearing and chanting every syllable carefully.

Visnurata Das: When it says, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, truth of Krishna-consciousness is also…

Sankarshan Das: Absolutely. Take difficult times as a great blessing, just like Kunti Devi took it as a great blessing.

vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat
tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād
apunar bhava-darśanam

(SB 1.8.25)

(Translation: I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You (Krishna) again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.)

In this way, she was begging for difficulty. May those difficult times come, because when the times were not difficult, Krishna wasn't there. She didn't need him. Krishna was gone. When Krishna was there, it was easy. In difficult times, Krishna was there.

So difficulties are a great blessing, but now you can actually call out and beg for Krishna and Krishna comes. Difficulties are a great blessing.

Tarun, wow this is a big one.

Bhakta Tarun Lalchandani: Hare Krishna Srila Gurudeva, please accept my humble begging. I don't want to experience just the energy of Krishna, I want to experience Krishna and His beauty. For example, the taste of water is the energy of Krishna because it is not different from Krishna. Krishna tells I am the taste of water but it is not the same as Krishna.

Sankarshan Das: Oh, Wait a minute. You can actually fully experience Krishna within the water if you are Krishna conscious. It’s actually, it is a matter of your own consciousness. If you are fully awakened in Krishna consciousness you can fully experience Krishna in everything. Because we are not fully awake and therefore I can't really experience Krishna in the water.

Prabhupada, the first lecture I heard in San Francisco in 1971, Prabhupada said Krishna, he said you have all seen God because Krishna says I am the light of the sun and the light of the moon. He said, every time you drink water, you immediately think of Krishna, as taste of water, you immediately become Krishna conscious. To become Krishna conscious is not difficult, it simply requires practice.

So you have to practice Tarun Lalchandani and then you will actually be able to experience Krishna fully in the water.

Bhakta Tarun Lalchandani: Similarly, Krishna is present in offense-less chanting but not in Nama aparadha.

Sankarshan Das: He is covered. Krishna is there in the holy name even if it's not chanted purely. In offensive chanting, he's still there but you're not experiencing him. He's actually present. He's fully present in his name, even in the name of the offenders, but they are not actually tasting, they are not actually experiencing. Because they are blocked by their offenses, they are blocking them from experiencing Krishna in full.

Bhakta Tarun Lalchandani: It appears a long time to go for the pure name.

Sankarshan Das: Well, it is up to us, Tarun Lalchandani. To be very sure, a very long time. It is up to us how intense we are to awaken our pure love for Krishna within our hearts. We still have a tendency to want to enjoy separately from Krishna. It can be actually you can experience, you can achieve Krishna-prema within one nanosecond.

But the thing is we are not convinced. We still think I can get some enjoyment, trying to enjoy separately from Krishna. We are not convinced yet. We still think, well, I can get some enjoyment from these senses. I can get, surely I can get some enjoyment from these senses. Because we are not fully convinced, convinced, therefore it is taking a long, long time for us who are not fully convinced. We are convinced we can still get some pleasure by enjoying separately. That is our disease.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Srila Gurudeva. Please accept my humble obesainces. I don't want to experience the energy of Krishna. I want to experience Krishna and his beauty.

Sankarshan Das: It's always the same thing. All right.

Kirtan Devi Dasi: What is the most important thing one should work on first, good quality japa, working on anger?

Sankarshan Das: Actually good quality japa will get rid of your anger. Even if somebody is very rude and offensive to you, if you are tasting the name, you can just say Hare Krishna. If somebody is very angry and rude to you, very offensive to you, if you are patient and Krishna conscious. Hare Krishna, it just bounces right off, it doesn't agitate you. It just bounces right off.

Hare Krishna.

Because you are getting so much nectar in the name. Who cares even if they are coming to kill me.

Just like when they beat Haridas Thakura. When they want to beat him in the 22 markets, beat him to death. He was just bouncing off him, he wasn't disturbed at all. No problem. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Beaten in 22 market places, no problem. So what could be heavier than somebody trying to beat you to death? But he said, I hope you haven't, you know, hope it wasn't too much trouble, you're going to kill me. Hope you weren't in trouble in your attempt to kill me!

Raja Ram Das: How should we be cautious from illusory energy which gives suggestions to distract from regular sadhana?

Sankarshan Das: Be very very cautious, very very, extremely cautious.

How you should be? Extremely extremely cautious. Because one little slip, maya devi, so many God brothers I've seen, they're long gone. They weren't extremely cautious about their material energy. They were a little loose. Maya caught them and pulled them out of ISKCON. I've seen so many. They were very dear God brothers, they were serving nicely together, they seemed very advanced, but they were not so cautious and boom, finished. We should be extremely cautious. I can recognize their tricks,

Sometimes we can't recognize them. Sometimes maya is so clever we don't recognize the tricks. You see this is some bona fide thing happening. It's bona fide. It's actually not wrong what's happening right now. It's actually a bona fide thing, let me go with it. But then after a while we see it was actually Maya's trick. So we have to be very clever to see in the very beginning if Maya is coming to distract us. Maya, we may in the beginning think it's not really a distraction, but in the end we find out, wow, it's a humongous distraction. I didn't realize how much I was being distracted. So we have to be very, very cautious and always analysing everything.

Is this a trick from Maya to divert us from Krishna consciousness? This thing happening right now, this email I got, these words I got from this person, this situation I'm in, is this a distraction from maya to pull me away? In every step maya is there trying to pull us away from Krishna consciousness. So we should be very, very alert and always careful.

It is like the government is very careful about letting secret agents into the country. Secret agents. The government is very, very cautious about secret agents coming into the country. They do havoc in the country. So we have to understand that maya is always there sending secret agents to pull us away from Krishna's service. So we have to be very very cautious of everything that comes to us. Is this a trick from maya to divert me away from Krishna? We have to be very very cautious. And sometimes it happens, they get carried away by maya's tricks and they get, they are lost finished.

Anasuya Devi Dasi: As mentioned by your grace, the right, the tight guna ropes can be cut, very sharp sword. What does that sharp sword represent?

Sankarshan Das: It’s transcendental knowledge. The sharp sword of transcendental knowledge will cut through the gunas.

Kirtan Devi Dasi: Being conditioned soul, I forgot what I read very soon.

Sankarshan Das: Joined the club. In Kali-yuga you, we have very poor memory. Previously, they could hear all the Vedic wisdom and remember every syllable. There's no need of written, even written languages. The answer they had to put in writing before that time, you could hear the whole Vedic wisdom and remember every syllable perfectly. But our memories are so sharp, So loose and so hard, so depleted now we have to have all these written books. Written books were not even required before.

Kirtan Devi Dasi: So what do I do to increase my remembrance power?

Sankarshan Das: All I can say is, well, just like you might learn a verse, learn it and then repeat it and recite it, repeat it again and again. It is like I am working in this bhajan, very nice bhajan of Narottama. I have a hard time remembering it, I have been working on it, doing it again and again and again and again so I can sing it anywhere, walking down the street I can sing every syllable perfectly. So it's a very nice bhajan, Lalasamayi, what is it, what name is it? It's called Lalasamayi Prarthana. It's a very wonderful bhajan.

So I just keep drilling it and drilling it and drilling it so I can get the whole thing from memory perfectly. So you just take something you want to learn and keep drilling it and drilling it and drilling it and drilling it until finally you got it down. Take a verse that really inspires you and drill it and drill it and drill it and any time of the day you can recite it, whether you are taking a shower, whether you are walking down the street, whether you are washing the dishes, in every situation you can pull it up and recite it. It will be working, working, working, working, working, that way.

Paramahamsa Das: Is there any way to provide simple living high thinking? Ram Rajya, when I have already made my life extremely civilized in the opposite direction?

Sankarshan Das: Yes. You can actually do it. You can bring Krishna back to the centre. Keep bringing back to the centre. Krishna is the centre.

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matvā bhajante māṁ
budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ

(BG 10.8)

(Translation: I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.)

I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.

Please understand, this is everything here, the energy of Krishna. It is His energy, therefore it is all meant for His pleasure and satisfaction. The city of Toronto, the city of Austin, wherever you are, it's all the energy of Krishna. The trees, the flowers, the earth, the buildings, all the people, all the men, all the women, all the kids, the dogs, everything is meant for Krishna satisfaction. So I shouldn't try to enjoy any of it separately. Everything should be engaged. Sometimes Brahmachari, One Brahmachari, an aspiring Brahmachari asked me, how much should I smile at and talk with women? I said as little as possible. So the tendency is to be carried away by our passions and then sex desire can awaken. So Brahmachari, how much should I smile at women? As little as possible, dealing with women, for example. Okay let's see.

Bhakta Sahil Zele: Please accept my humble obesainces to your holy lotus. Why is the Caitanya Charitamrita the PhD study?

Sankarshan Das: It's very simple. If you read it, you'll know. Because as I mentioned to you, I think it which Leela was it, it is explained that where else do you read that Krishna, … of Radharani, is enjoying more than he is. What book tells you that? It is a very high esoteric knowledge. Why Krishna comes as Lord Caitanya.

You don't read that in the Bhagavad Gita. It is very intimate, esoteric knowledge why Krishna comes as Lord Caitanya. He wants to taste what it is like to be Radharani. That you won't find anywhere else. Caitanya-Caritamrita, is therefore the PhD level.

Bhakta Tarun Lalchandani: Thank you Gurudeva, for giving the wonderful secret to me how I can get full experience of Krishna.

Sankarshan Das: Thank you for asking such a nice question.

Devotee: Is CC heart of Lord?

Sankarshan Das: Actually every word of Krishna is his heart. Anything else? Okay. We have something from Lithuania?

Devotee: I didn't know but someone else asked me why there are so little people who believe in God?

Sankarshan Das: Why are so many atheists not believing in God? Because they, well I can tell you why, because the preachers, the teachers, the rabbis, the priests, they are not presenting pure bhakti. They are presenting a watered down thing where you take God's teachings, because they are not teaching pure bhakti. That is the problem. Because you can't enjoy by asking God to give me this and give me that. You can't relish God's presence and God's association by going to him and asking for this and that. That's why there's so many atheists. But Prabhupada's teachings will actually teach people how they can actually be joyful and ecstatic in their relationship with God.

Coming to him in a greedy way, give me this, you can't be happy asking God. It's an unnatural position. It's like a fish out of the water. Approaching God to give you this and give you that, that's a fish out of the water. You can never be happy. They're really big, they think, like the Russians said, communists said, You're praying to God for your daily bread, but just pray, just serve us instead of opening your bread. Who needs God? And they bring a whole truckload of bread, you take as much bread as you want. Who needs your God?

As long as you take God for your order supplier, you will not be satisfied and happy in that relationship. But if you take yourself as a servant of God, as Prabhupada is teaching in his book, then you can actually relish the association of the Supreme Lord like anything. Unlimitedly you can relish. So that's why, because the teachers, the priests, the rabbis, etc., are not teaching pure bhakti. That's why there are so many atheists. Okay, here we go.

Yuga Dharma Devi Dasi: Chanting alone without reading shastra, associating the devotees is still beneficial?

Sankarshan Das: Absolutely. Chanting alone without reading shastra, or associating the devotees is still beneficial. Absolutely. But the difficulty is, Yuga Dharma Devi Dasi, you do not associate with the devotees, you do not read the books, you may stop chanting. Chanting is enchanting, but you may stop, you may not be able to relish the chanting without reading about the chanting, without associating with the devotees, going to a nice ecstatic kirtan.

Kirtan Devi Dasi: Thank you Gurudeva for guidance.

Bhakta Sahil Zele: Thank you for enlightening.

Sankarshan Das: That's it, all the Thank you’s are coming in.

So I'm going to give my thank you. Thank you very much, so nice to hear in the class and asking so many wonderful, wonderful questions. I'd like to thank you all very much. I thank everybody here in Austin also for being here to bless me by this sangha. So we thank you very much.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare