Spiritual Master
Book:
Canto:
Chapter:
Verse:
Location:
Date:
Srimad Bhagavatam
4
23
21
Austin, TX, USA
29 August 2023
Sankarshan Das: Ecstatic adventure Srimad Bhagavatam. Srimad Bhagavatam 4th Canto, chapter 23, Text 21
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
dehaṁ vipannākhila-cetanādikaṁ
patyuḥ pṛthivyā dayitasya cātmanaḥ
ālakṣya kiñcic ca vilapya sā satī
citām athāropayad adri-sānuni
Synonyms
deham — body; vipanna — completely failing; akhila — all; cetana — feeling; ?dikam — symptoms; patyu? — of her husband; p?thivy?? — the world; dayitasya — of the merciful; ca ?tmana? — also of herself; ?lak?ya — by seeing; kiñcit — very little; ca — and; vilapya — lamenting; s? — she; sat? — the chaste; cit?m — unto the fire; atha — now; ?ropayat — placed; adri — hill; s?nuni — on the top.
Translation
When Queen Arci saw that her husband, who had been so merciful to her and the earth, no longer showed symptoms of life, she lamented for a little while and then built a fiery pyre on top of a hill and placed the body of her husband on it.
PURPORT
After seeing all the life symptoms in her husband stop, the queen lamented for a while. The word kinship means for a little while. The queen is completely aware that her husband was not dead, although the symptoms of life, action, intelligence, and sense perception had ceased. As stated in the Bhagavad-Gita 2.one3, as the embodied soul continually passes in this body, from boyhood to youth or old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not liberated by such a change. When a living entity transfers from one body to another, the process generally noted as death. The same man is not lamented, for he knows that a living entity is not dead, but is simply transferred from one body to another. The queen should have been afraid of being alone in the forest with the body of her husband, but since she was a great wife of a great personality, she meditated for a while, but immediately understood that she had many duties before him. So instead of wasting her time in lamentation, she immediately prepared a five-ring pyre on top of a hill and then placed the body of her husband on it to be burned. Maharaja Prithu is described here as Dayita for not only was he the king of the earth, but he treated the earth as his protected child, similarly his protected wife also.It was the duty of the king to give protection to everyone, especially to the earth and land which he ruled, as well as the citizens and his family members. Since Prithu Maharaja was a perfect king, he gave protection to everyone, and therefore he is described here as dayaita. (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
So, this is a very nice point, as Prabhupada says, a living entity is not dead. So actually death doesn't really happen. We call it death, but actually it's not death. Simply just like you're staying in some apartment and you decide to move to a different apartment. You're still living, but you're not living in the old apartment. Now you're living in a new apartment. Now some person may look in the old apartment and say, where is Mr. Jones? He must be dead because I don't see him here anymore. But actually he's just gone to a different apartment. So this is the great value of Krishna consciousness movement. We're educating people that you don't really die. Death is an illusion. Death is simply for those who misidentify themselves with their material bodies. So one has to understand I am not this body. I'm an eternal spiritual being, qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. And me being part of him, I'm also eternally in knowledge and bliss. It's like the ocean, the drop of ocean water contains the same chemical composition as the entire ocean although it's much smaller. You can float a battleship on the ocean but you cannot float a battleship on a drop. So qualitatively one and quantitatively different. Just like the Supreme Lord is Amrita, he has the quality of deathlessness, so the living entity also has the quality of deathlessness. There is a famous lecture from Prabhupada, deathlessness begins from the day of initiation. So if one takes initiation of the bona fide spiritual master and takes his initiation vows very seriously, he doesn't neglect them to go back to material sense gratification, eating, sleeping, mating, defending. If one takes his initiation vows very seriously, then he is, from that very moment of initiation, he has now achieved deathlessness. So this is actually a great boon to the human society. Now they're so worried about death. It's a great anxiety for everyone. Oh, I'm going to die one of these days.I'm going to die very soon. So when one gets older, it becomes very painfully obvious that death is coming. And it's a great anxiety for one who is misidentified with his body throughout his whole life. So the intelligent thing to do is to enter into deathlessness by taking initiation from the bonafide spiritual master, taking his order as one's very life and soul, and this way you become free of anxiety. You are liberated in a bodily conception. We have to understand this body is not me. This body may want this, his body may want that, it may want eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The body may crave these different things, anchor to them. But one who is Krishna conscious, he's not carried away by eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. He's always not me. The body out there is demanding these things. That's called the bodily platform. Eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. But the spirit soul doesn't need eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Of course we engage in these things when we have the body. We eat, we sleep, we bring, create some offspring, We defend ourselves from the rascals. As long as we have these material bodies, we engage in eating,sleeping, mating, and defending. Of course, when they become asexual and give up this sex life business, which is simply trouble anyway, if one can avoid it altogether, it's great. When they give up the mating position, one has a strong desire, he can get married and have the children, but not check for recreation. But anyway, someone has to eat and sleep. And some attack comes, one has to defend oneself. So these things are there because the self is sitting within the body just like you have to take care of your automobile even though it's not you. So we have to take care of these bodies with eating, sleeping, and defending, even though it's not really us. So, but because of this eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, we should not misidentify with the body. We have to hear from the sages and the spiritual master. We have to hear from the scriptures, that I am not this body, I am an eternal spiritual being. So we have to become very intelligent and realize that this body has nothing to do with me, it's simply a tool I can use in the service of the Lord. Of course this human body is a very great boon. Now after transmigrating to the 84,00,000 species, you've got the opportunity in the sum and form of life to Athato brahma jigyasa now you can inquire about the absolute truth. You can hear from the sages and the bonafide spiritual masters and the scriptures and actually understand I'm an eternal spiritual being. So one has to then act as if one is an eternal spiritual being. If you want to act as if I'm this body gratifying the tongue, the belly, and the genitals, You're not going to become self-realized. You have to realize this tongue, this belly, this genital, this is not me. I don't need to gratify, for my Krishna consciousness, I don't need to gratify this tongue, this belly, this genitals. All I really need to do is satisfy my beloved Krsna. That's all I really need to do. Of course, they take care of the body while I live, but that's not my satisfaction. Material sense gratification gives some temporary satisfaction, and you go back to being unsatisfied once again. And you can't go on doing it 24 hours a day, how long, when you feel hungry, you get relief by eating, but can you eat 24 hours a day? So if somebody can eat 24 hours a day or sleep 24 hours a day, somebody who can mate 24 hours a day, They make for a few minutes and they're tired of it. But the material sense gratification, it's a temporary relief. You can't go on 24 hours a day, gratifying your tongue, your belly, and your genitals. It's not possible. No ex-de-ci-bles, they say in Spanish. You cannot enjoy your tongue, your belly, and your genitals 24 hours a day. Therefore, the enjoyment of the tongue, the belly, and genitals is inferior enjoyment. Because you can't do it 24 hours a day but Krishna consciousness is the superior enjoyment because you can go on enjoying Krishna consciousness 24 hours a day in all times, places and circumstances. So if there's something better, you see, then we should go for it. If there's a better enjoyment, why should we take the inferior enjoyment? Is this intelligence? It's like when people go shopping, they want to get the best bargain, they want to get the best thing for their money. They're very careful to buy, get the proper thing that's going to be the best for their money. They don't want to waste their money on some tenth class thing. They want to spend their money on the first class thing. People are very discriminating when it comes to shopping. They want to get the best thing for their money. Because if somebody is completely indignant they may just, they may not think about that. But intelligent people, they want to manage their money wisely and get the best things with their money. So just like an intelligent shopper, a discriminated shopper will make sure he gets the best for the money. The intelligent person, the intelligent person, whether it's a man or a woman, they will say, well, I'm spending, I'm investing my time, 24 hours a day doing this and that, So let me invest my time where I get the best bargain, the best thing for my time spent. Time is more valuable than money. Actually one minute lost can only be bought back with millions and billions of dollars. So time is much more valuable than money. Money you can get it back if you lose it. But time you can never lose it. Once the time is spent it's finished. You never get that moment back again. So we have to take every moment, every moment is the rarest treasure, every moment, we like those moment after moment after moment after moment. So every moment is the rarest treasure. We have to see how am I spending my time so I get the ultimate benefit. So that is Krishna consciousness. So let us now be intelligent, my dear listeners, let us not be fools running after sense gratification. Let us now become intelligent and spend our time in such a way that we get the ultimate benefit, awakening our dharma in Krishna consciousness. There is not much more to be said in this connection. You simply have to be intelligent and follow the Vedic injunction, the athato brahama jigyasa. Now that you have got this human form of life, you must utilize it in self-realization. We should not imitate the pathway of the animal. Simply Eat, eat, eat, mate, mate, mate, defend, defend, defend. Sleep, sleep, sleep. We shouldn't follow that pathway of the animal. Human life is meant for more than animalism. The difficulty is that modern day civilization, what do you speak of animalism, is going lower than animalism. The animals, they follow the laws of nature. So the human beings, they're not defying the laws of nature with their so-called happiness based on eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. They're lower than animals. So you want to be a true human being, you want to be lower than an animal. You have a choice. Unfortunately, 99.9999% of the human civilization now have chosen to be lower than animals. So how are they going to be happy in such a place? It's not possible. Because they're acting against their own natures. The nature of every living entity is to be a Krishna's eternal servant. So those who engage in sense gratification, they're committing spiritual suicide because they're acting totally against their real nature. The fish tries to act against his nature by being a creature of the land, he will die, slapping on the beach. But the human being tries to ignore his own nature and tries to live under the water, he will drown very quickly. So one has to live, speak and act according to one's nature. So we have to find out what is my actual nature, what is my actual identity and the scriptures tell us? This verse Prabhupada quoted
dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati
(BG 2.13)
So we have to take lessons in the Bhagavad Gita which is the teachings of God himself. The Bhagavad Gita is not speculative knowledge. It is the teachings of the Supreme Authority himself. It is like when you get some piece of equipment, do you speculate on how to use it? It is like some aboriginals that were given an automobile. What do they use it for? A place to take a nap. Well this is a nice comfortable place. They lay down in the back seat. They had no idea you could drive it somewhere. They use it as a place to take a nap. The car, I would give them a car as a gift. You know, you have aborigines in a different area than I do. You can drive through this. They've actually given a jeep, a four-wheel-drive jeep, so they could drive through the forest very nicely. But no, they just lay down in the back seat. So we are like those aborigines, we have been given this human form of life and we are utilizing it to sense gratification only. We are not utilizing it to awaken our dharma in Krishna consciousness. It is a great tragedy, it is a great disaster, it is a horrible misuse of our free will to engage in sense gratification. So we should take advantage of Srila Prabhupada and the great Vaishnava Acharyas to get out of this madness and illusion of thinking of the source of everything and thinking of his body and me. We have to come out of this illusion. It's time to wake up, my dear listeners. Let us not remain sleeping in the lap of the Maya witch. Lord Caitanya is calling, jiv-jago, jiv-jago,Gaurachandra bole. My dear sleeping souls, now you should wake up, jivjago, jivjago, wake up, wake up you poor suffering souls. The purpose of human life is to awaken your dharma and Krishna consciousness. So do you have any objection? Do you want to continue suffering or would you like to attain unlimited happiness? What's your choice? If you want to suffer or you want to be in bliss, what's your choice? If you want to be in bliss, then you have to learn how to do it. You have to learn how to enter into a spiritual family. It's a family mood. If we keep a separatist mood that no I'm doing my thing, you do your thing and I'll do my thing. If we keep a separatist mentality we will not awaken our Krishna consciousness. We have to learn the art of how to enter into spiritual family.
‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya
(Cc Madhya 22.54)
By association of the saintly devotees of the Lord, one can achieve all. Sarva-siddhi-hoi.
One can get all the siddhis, all perfections. So we come to the association of devotees, we keep a separate mood, you do your thing, I'll do my thing. No. We keep a separatist mood, we will not be able to awaken our Krishna consciousness. We have to learn the art of how to enter the spiritual family. The family spirit. Here we are with the family. It's the Prabhupad's family. We're all the Prabhupad's family members here. His children, his grandchildren. Just like in a traditional family, everyone is there, the father, the mother, the children, the parents of the father and the father, the grandparents are there, two sets of grandparents are there, everyone is there, all many many generations in one house, that was the original system. But now the modern day system is as soon as you go off to college that's it, finished. Now you're out on your own, you get your degree, you get your own house, and this way everybody's separatist mentality, separatist. And they go to college, they fell down to illicit habits, drugs and illicit sex. They can pollute anything. So this is going on. This idea of family spirit is practically non-existent in the world today. So we have to bring this family spirit back. You see, we're all the children of Prabhupada. Now let's be merged together as a loving spiritual family, not a separatist mentality. So what can I say? Arci was a very ideal example. She executed her duty even though it could be kind of murdering your husband, you're alone in the forest, your husband just died, your so-called died. Now what do you do? You just lament. No, you do your duty. She made a funeral pyre and she burned her body, burned her husband's body on the funeral pyre. So we have to learn how to be dutiful, not just acting according to our whims, our senses. We have to always understand what is my duty? What does my spiritual master want me to do now? What does Krishna want me to do now? But how does Krishna want me to think now? How does Krishna want me to, how does my spiritual master want me to think now? What does Krishna want me to do now? How does he want me to speak? How does my spiritual master want me to speak. We have to always see, am I acting in such a way that my spiritual master is pleased or am I acting in such a way that he is blissed? We have to always act in such a way that it is pleasing to our spiritual master because then we know we are pleasing Krishna. You can't take out the guru from the equation. Krishna says you have to take a spiritual master.
tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
(BG 4.34)
He is the spiritual master is part of Krishna's equation. He is the external manifestation of the super soul. So one has to be thinking, speaking, acting in such a way the spiritual master is pleased. And if he's not pleased, then you're in bad shape. You have to think, what pleases my Guru Maharaj? Is he pleased by this or not? So what I'm doing does not please them. We have to kick it out with boot. Get out of here. You're not welcome. Just like Yāmunācārya Ālabandaru who formerly was a king, having so much pleasure having sexual intercourse with so many women in the palaces. But now he's a sadhu. He's given it up. But sometimes he remembers those past activities. He'd have flashbacks of the sexual intercourse with those women. He'd have flashbacks. But what would he do? He'd spit it up. He says, ever since I've been engaged in the transcendental loving service of Sri Sri Radha Krishna, tasting newer, nava nava rasa, newer, newer pleasures in that service. Whenever I have flashbacks of having sexual intercourse with those women, my lips crumbled in the states and I spit at the thought. Way to be good spitters of whatever nonsense we did before we came to Krishna consciousness. We shouldn't put a flashback and enjoy it by meditation. We should kick it out with boot, spit at it, get rid of it, flush it down, get it out of the consciousness. Now we have a new mood, now at every thought, at every minute, at every step, I want to please my thinking, speaking, acting in such a way that it pleases my spiritual master and pleases Krishna. That's why we should be very strong and very heavy with ourselves. Okay, you know, you rascal, you start being such a nonsense and now you become the pure devotee but you become very heavy with ourselves Everyone should be their own guru. You should be your own disciple be your own guru. Guru means heavy So you should be heavy with yourself, heavy with your rascal mind. My dear mind, now your only business is to think, speak and act in such a way that pleases the spiritual master, anything else is nonsense, give it up, give it up, give it up right now. Become a pure devotee and not a nonsense pseudo devotee. Now I should become an actual pure devotee of Krishna. In this way we have to train our minds how to get out of this quagmire of material existence and come back to the Transcendental Platform. So I've been rambling on here for quite a long. Does anybody have any questions?
Vraja Kishore Das: Yes. So, Srila Gurudeva you mentioned the example of Yāmunācārya Ālabandaru. You mentioned also in that verse that he was tasting ever,increasing pleasure. Yes.So, we know that when one gets to higher tastes it is very easy to reject lower states. But the biggest problem is that a huge amount of devotees doesn't have a higher state and they try to reject lower taste and then when you don't have a higher taste it's very difficult.
Sankarshan Das: Yeah, so what do we do? We come to my body and deny it? Or you should go back and try to enjoy it. But if you're not getting the higher taste, I go back to the lower taste. I go back to the lower taste. All those days I was enjoying as a hippy or whatever. I go back. I try to go back and enjoy those because I'm not getting a taste of what I'm doing now. So that's the problem. I'll always neophyte that. So how do we get out of this neophyte mentality of not getting any higher taste and going back to the so-called enjoy the memories of our days of sense enjoyment? That's the real challenge. But First of all, we have to learn how to cut, we have to learn how to understand, we have to train ourselves to understand that was not really enjoyable. We thought we were enjoying, but we weren't really enjoying. That's the first thing we have to do. Understand that was false enjoyment. We thought it was enjoyable, but actually, if we think at it very deeply, we realize that was actually suffering. We had sense enjoyment, but that sense enjoyment was very brief. It didn't go on 24 hours a day. It was a very brief thing in the middle of so much suffering. So we have to cut away the fascination for those simple activities we did before. Realizing even though I did them and I got some temporary pleasure out of them, actually I was a very miserable person. That's why I come to Krishna consciousness. So in this way we have to philosophically cut those away and realize they don't satisfy me. We have to philosophically understand I can only be satisfied by awakening my Krishna consciousness. So then what we have to do is intensify our Krishna consciousness. Just like it's, what is it that a laser beam can burn, can cut through. They said I use laser like to cutting. So we have to, We have to intensify, we have to make our Krishna consciousness sharp like a laser beam. So we can cut through all that and cut it away, cut it out, cut it out, cut it out by not denying everything but by the laser focus of Krishna consciousness meaning now you're awakening your Krishna consciousness. We have to intensify our awakening in Krishna consciousness. So there means my japa going deep, going deeper in the japa. Sometimes even during japa their minds go back to these illicit memories. So that means you're not focused on your japa. So you have to intensify it. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. You have to realize there's unlimited pleasure right there. You can have it immediately. You don't have to wait for it. You can have unlimited nectar, unlimited pleasure right here right now just by going into your realm, diving deeply in the nectar of the holy name, you see. Or by hearing or preaching, there's so many things we can do. We have to learn how to laser focus our consciousness So we actually get some higher taste. It's a very, very important thing. Haridasa Thakura, some beautiful young girl she exposed her part of the body naked to him. Can you imagine? He is all alone in the hut. She said, I must have se with you my dear sage. Otherwise I cannot even die. I will die if you don't let me have sex. He was so putting such a heavy, heavy thing on him, posing to everybody naked, a beautiful young girl in the dead of night. They were all alone. Can you imagine how, but he wasn't moved by it at all because he was facing jack nectar and Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. You'd think what I would do in that situation I'd be alone in the forest some beautiful young girl came she undressed herself and begged for sex. What would I do? Would I give in? Would I say, yes, yes, yes. I'd say, no, no, I have other business more important to do. I can have sex in millions of different species, as an orangutan, as an elephant, as a dog, as a cat. I've had sex in so many different species, where did it get me? Another body material body. So now I'm not interested in sex pleasure. Now I'm not interested in it. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna,Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. We have to intensify our focus on hearing, on chanting, and remembering, of offering prayers, of offering obeisances. Everything we do, we have to do with intensity. Intensify our absorption in the holy name. We're offering an arti with whatever we're doing. I'm cleaning a pot. Then make sure it's totally clean. Not partially clean. Totally clean. Let me do everything first class. Everything first class. I'm associating with devotees. Let me do it first class. No offenses. You see that family mood is very important a loving family spirit is very important not a separatist mood. A separatist mood means contamination of the heart. I think I'm God. We have to kick out this separatist mood, this halfway to the emotional service mood and intensify everything we're doing. We may not get immediate results. You may be still battling these illicit desires, and you're still battling with it. But I can guarantee you this, every time you make the effort to make it, that's when you'll go. Every time you make the effort to become intensely absorbed in Krishna consciousness, gradually, gradually, gradually, that fascination for those memories will go away and a day will come when it won't even bother you anymore. It takes time. In the beginning you're one% Krishna conscious, 90% absorbed in sense gratification. Then you go to 2% Krishna consciousness, 98% sense gratification. 3% in this way. We have to make that battle. Even that one% at the beginning. You have to get your foot hold in the spiritual sky where that one% of devotion and go to 2% and as you get to 50% that gets really good. In the beginning, that gratification seems more attractive than Krishna consciousness in the beginning. And you get really bad over that first 50%. Once you get to 50%, it's like going on a journey and there's a big mountain, right? And you're going up, up, up, up, and you get to the top and it's downhill after that. Easy. Right? Once you get to 50%, then it's a downhill journey, because now sense gratification is only 49% and Krishna consciousness is more attractive. In the beginning, sense gratification is more attractive than Krishna consciousness. So you have to really battle it out to the 50% line. That's a 50% and you're not 100%. Once you get to 50% it's very easy, very easy to make progress. You have to really battle it out to the 50% line. That's a 50% you're not 100%. Once you get to 50% it's very easy. It's very easy to make progress. You have to really battle it out and work really hard to the first 50%. That's when it's going to be really tough because you're only 2% Krishna consciousness, you're 98% in sense gratification, it appears a lot more attractive. So that might be neophyte, Kanishtha Adhikari, we have to work very hard. At least get to that Madhyama stage, the 50% line. Once you get to Madhyama it's easy to go to Uttama. The difficulty is we're a Kanishtha that's trying to come to Madhyama. That's the problem. We have to be very, very, we have to strict, very strictly, rigidly stick to the regulated principles. Think very rigidly to the regulated principles without deviation. Like some men they write me they have trouble with masturbation they can't give it up. They're addicted to masturbating. So I told them, you just buy me a daily report. Well I did or I didn't do it. They'll be embarrassed to do it now because they have to give a daily report. So in that way, it'll help them not to do it. They have to make a report, oh I fell down Gurudev. I can't, I fell. It would be too embarrassing. Just for the sake of their own reputation with the spiritual master, they have to not do it anymore. So finally they get to the point where it's not even attractive anymore. Right now it's very attractive, they're into masturbation. But upon the point where it's no longer attractive, who cares anymore? Finished. So in this way we have to be very, very, really fight hard. It's a battle against maya. It's a declaring war against maya. When you declare war it's an all out battle. You've got to get your rifles, your guns, your tanks, even the atom bomb, whatever it takes to win the war. When you're engaged in a war, you got to call up all the soldiers, get all the ammunition. It's a big thing, declaring war. If a nation declares war, the whole nation has to be geared up for it, not just the soldiers. The whole nation has to be geared up for the war. Everybody cooperates and wins the war. So to become Krishna consciousness they need to declare war on Maya. So we have to be totally, 24 hours a day, this is a battle against Maya to really fight hard. So anyway, now we got some questions rolling in. That was a nice question. Very good question. That was yours, the Lithuanian. Very good question. Okay.
Vishnurata: Yamunacarya’s distaste emerged from his overindulgence in lusty desires which mitigated his desires which mitigated, what does mitigated mean? Mitigate. What does it mean to mitigate? It's a very nice scholarly word for those who are learned I'm not much of a scholar let me look at mitigate to cease. To stay submersion is overindulgent in lusty desires which God ridded his desires entirely. What? I mean what? I don't understand the question.
For the materialistic justification.
No, Krishna. People who are overindulged in Sanskrit, I think it's wonderful. You don't get rid of it by overindulging in it. These rascals are overindulging in so much nonsense, they still are addicted to it. Overindulgence doesn't get you free from it. You become more addicted the more you indulge in it. So but because he got Krishna consciousness, that he got, he didn't get, he did not get taste of overindulgence. He got this taste when he became Krishna conscious.
Tarun Lalchandani:I go to the office sometimes I have to test devices in a closed room alone I get desires to enjoy those devices in the mind. I'm able to say no to these desires but at that time it's saying what kind of devices are these? Enjoy a device? I'm able to say no to these desires but at the same time I think my shastrik knowledge goes out. What kind of device that would be? But anyway, yeah, the difficulties are battling it out. We know that sometimes it's not good to desire this, but yet we desire it anyway. So it's a real battle. We know that desire is not good, but still we get into it because we're so attracted to it. So what to do when you're in that situation? You know it's bad to desire something, but you do it anyway because you're so attracted to it. We have to pray for mercy. My dear spiritual master, my dear Lord Chaitanya, my dear Srila Prabhupada, here I am attracted to something. I know I'm not supposed to be attracted to it. Please help me get free. We have to beg for the mercy. And we can chant Hare Krishna also to help us.Shusrus.
Bhakta Rob: How to remain strong and dutiful even in such difficult situation like death of a close relative.
Sankarshan Das:You have to take shelter of the Bhagavad-Gita. Understand they haven't really died. They just left behind this body and gone somewhere else. You have to be convinced of the Bhagavad-Gita. And how do you become convinced? Study the Gita. Keep studying the Bhagavad-Gita, especially Chapter 2. You have to be totally convinced that this, beyond any doubt, the Bhagavad-Gita is absolutely true. That will help you, Rob.
Devotee: Does Krishna consciousness get naturally easier the longer you're committed or the increased.
Sankarshan Das: no, The more you commit the easier it gets. It's
like any skill. It's like somebody wants to learn how to play the guitar. In the beginning, it's very tough, they sound horrible, but the more they practice, the easier it gets. So the more you practice Krishna consciousness, the easier it gets. So take it up with enthusiasm and you'll be amazed at the results that come.
Bhaktin Sheela: How to remain humble in a proper ratio of association I have with seniors, juniors, and friends.
Sankarshan Das: Actually, The best thing is to take as much senior association as you can get. The more the better. It's like when Prabhupad is here, everyone is out here hankering, When can I get Prabhupad's association? Every chance we can get Prabhupad's association. Every chance we can get it. The more the better. So take senior association as much as you can get. Be greedy for senior association as much as you can get. That's how to do it.
Sahil Zelai: What can be done so that we can cry and cry for the mercy of Srila Prabhupad and Acharyas?
Sankarshan Das:It's like you have to cry for Krishna. Well, you have to understand how much you're actually suffering in this material world. You have to kick out any ideas you're getting that this so-called enjoyment here is actually bringing you happiness. You have to be absolutely convinced there's zero happiness in this material existence. My only hope is to get the mercy of Guru Acharya, that Guru Acharya is in Krishna. You have to be absolutely convinced there's no happiness at all in this material world. My only happiness is the holy name. My only happiness is the mercy of the spiritual master. Then you will cry for Krishna. And it's also stated by Lord Caitanya
tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
(Siksastaka 3)
one should be lower than the straw in the street but he offers all respects to others in such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly. There's also prayer, but when will I cry tears of love while chanting your holy name? We should hanker for that awakening in the heart when our heart melts in love of God. We should hanker and hanker and hanker for that day.
Bhakta Gabriel: I offer my humble obeisances, how does fasting help in a day like the Ekadashi and Janamashtami?
Sankarshan Das: When you follow the junctions of the scripture, that regulated principle will help you just like you go to the doctor, he says, okay, you have to take this pill 2 times a day and you have to avoid this food and that food. It's not much. You have to sleep every day. So if you follow the injunctions of a doctor, you'll get well. So if you follow the Shastra injunctions to fast on this day, to take no grains on this day, if you follow the Shastra injunctions, you'll get well. You think, well, what are the scriptures now? No. You have to follow the injunctions of the scriptures and then you'll get the awakening of love of God within your heart. It's already there you already have pure love of God within you but it's buried by lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, and envy. The regulated pen will help you wash that lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, and envy. Flush it out of your heart so that pure love of God becomes fully manifest.
Bhakti-sunanda: Which, when something goes wrong in life, even if we fall sick, sometimes why do people point out, point in our bhakti rather than attack how to react to such things?
Sankarshan Das: I don't understand. Well, they say your devotional things are going wrong because of your devotional service. Why are you subjugating with such people even listening to such rascals? I don't understand. Maybe I don't fully understand the question these people devotees or non-devotees you can give me foreign information okay let's see.
Devotee:I'm struggling with my anger issue kindly help me.
Sankarshan Das: Well be a lion at home and a lion in the chase. Those who, the blasphemers, should be angry like fire. And the devotees of the Lord who engage in devotional service you ought to humble them. You're more tolerant than tree where you offer all respect to others even if they even they're offensive to you you be give them some devotee is offensive to
you or rude to you you should repay him with love. If they're offensive they commit they're offensive to Krishna and the Vaishnavas. For yourself you have no you have complete humility. If somebody's offensive to devotees, offensive to Krishna, then you should make them very angry and chastise them for their nonsense. Okay.
Zaheel Zalek: Why does the lotus feet of Guru compared to lotus?
Sankarshan Das: Because there's, well lotus is a very wonderful thing. Here's the amazing quality of the lotus. It has a leaf which exudes a waxy substance. And any water comes on that leaf, it doesn't soak into the leaf, it rolls off the leaf. So that is why the spiritual master's feet and guru's feet are compared to lotus. Because even though they are in contact with the material nature, they are not affected by the material nature. The material nature simply rolls off. That's why they compare it to a lotus. That's one reason. Okay devotees.
Bhaktin Sunanda: Bhakti is to know the devotees. Devotees point out our bhakti, not, rather than attack it, how to react to it, they're saying. Why do devotees point at our bhakti? Still not real clear. Why do we fall sick? Why do devotees point at our bhakti rather attack it attack our bhakti let me get more clear about this I want to answer it correctly you got to make it more clear It's a very not very clear question. You have to become an expert at asking your questions. Okay.
Anything else we can wait for Bakhtin Sunanda to make a more clear explanation. What are they attacking? Attacking our body? You say, you point out our bhakti rather than attack it. They attack, they point out your bhakti, they attack your bhakti. It doesn't make sense. Here's what she says, this is devotee, if something goes wrong in life even if we saw that sometimes while devotees point at our bhakti rather attack it how do we react to that thing? Attack it? Attack the Bhakti? Doesn't make sense to me maybe you can figure it out. And if we fall sick sometimes why do devotees pointed or Bhakti rather attack it how to react to this thing? Is this the first option which she wrote or the second? Why do people point at our bhakti? So I'm not sure what she's... It could be saying that because you're bhakti. It doesn't make sense to me.
Vraja Kishore Das:So maybe she's looking at what happens in India if somebody gets sick or something they can't start blaming Krishna because you are a devotee or something.
Sankarshan Das: He's a devotee she said. So it's really a...
Vraja Kishore Das: Maybe Sudha devotees. They start blaming you too much seriously in Krishna consciousness.
Sankarshan Das: I don't know. It's not clear. I'd be happy to answer your question if I understand it. Any questions from you?
Devotee: Yes, good. Thank you for the beautiful class. With this question. When we don't enjoy the higher states, they say just like we are conditioned, so we are in disease state, we are sick. So when we have high fever, we have to increase the dose.
Sankarshan Das: When we have high fever?
Devotee: When we have high fever, if the temperature is not coming down, we have to increase the dose. When we have high fever, if the temperature is coming down, we have to increase the dose. We understand that we are sick. We don't understand that we are in lower case because we can't remember when we were pure so how to help you.
Sankarshan Das: You don't understand what?
Devotee: Like sick, when we are diseased we know we are physically diseased. But when we are in lower states we don't know we are in lower states.
Sankarshan Das: Even though we are in lower states we think we are very advanced.
Devotee: Yes, we don't know.
Sankarshan Das: That's why they learn to take instructions from the Vaishnavas. When they point out your faults, the Vaishnavas point out your faults, you have to submissively hear and learn from them. When they say your attitude is not right, your actions are not right. You have to think how to learn from them and not be puffed up and thinking I don't need these instructions. I have to learn to take instructions and corrections from senior devotees. Become humble, lower than this tree on the street, more tolerant than this tree, offer all respect to others. If devotees are pointing out your faults, you have to learn from the devotees how to get freedom from your faults. Not continue to hold on to your faults, get freedom from your faults. Isn't that true?
Devotee: Yes. Thank you so much. And one more question. When Queen Arci saw that her husband had been so merciful to her and the earth?
Sankarshan Das: The Prithu Maharaj was so merciful to the earth? The earth planet is overburdened by the sinful activities of the people. It's a great burden to the earth. So when you can rule the kingdom in such a way that there's no sin, that gives great relief to the earth. The earth is burdened by all these sinful activities, the slaughterhouse, the abortion clinic, the illicit sex, all these things are a great burden to the earth. She's suffering like anything, all these sins going on on her, on her, on her surface. All over the world, all these sins are going on. Mother Bhumi is in great distress. All these sins are going on. On her, on her, on her, on her. She's giving shelter. She's giving shelter to all these living beings and giving all these sinful activities. It's a great distress for her. For such a king who abolishes all sin on planet earth. It's a great service to mother earth. Great service. It gives great pleasure to the earth. This king is ruling so nicely there's no sin. It gives great happiness to mother earth.
Devotee: Thank you so much Srila Gurudev.
Sankarshan Das: Anything else from the assembled devotees? That's it? Okay.
Bhaktin Sheela: So mind doesn't like someone lesser. Doesn't like someone lesser than Thank you so much. Me and mine is envious to greater than us. There's 2 things, those who are lesser doesn't like them, the mind is envious to those who are greater. I don't like those who are my juniors and I'm envious of my seniors. What does the mind want really?
Sankarshan Das: The mind wants to be God. I want to be the center of all I survey. I want to be God. If the juniors don't worship me as God and the seniors don't respect me as God, then they're not very happy. It means you want to be the center of all existence. Actually, the problem would be to take shelter of your seniors and be merciful to your juniors and make friends with your equals. That's the actual position. To be very kind to those who are less advanced, have very good friendship with those who are equally advanced, and take shelter and serve the orders of those who are more advanced. That's the actual position. Anything else? There's nothing we can stop here. Thank you all for tuning in. Take this process seriously and your lives will be memories of life.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Hare Hare